The Times-Picayune 05-06-2026 by The Advocate

City,SchoolBoard settle taxfeesdispute

BY MARIE FAZIO Staff writer

The Orleans Parish School Board and the city of NewOrleans haveagreedto settle ayearslonglegal battle over the city’spractice of taking hefty fees from taxes it collectsfor theschool district. Under the deal, which the School Board approved Tuesday,the city will stop chargingafee on propertytaxes itcol-

lects for the district and slightly reduce the fee it charges on sales taxes. The city also will payback millions of dollars to theSchool Board,which sued in 2019 to stop the taxfees,leading to along court ﬁght and stalled negotiations.

Thelong-running dispute had put Mayor Helena Moreno in the hot seat, forcing her to choose between urgently needed city revenue and acampaign-trail pledge to end thefees, which critics say improp-

erly pull money outofschool budgets.

“Weﬁnally have adeal,” Moreno said at anews conference Tuesday.“This ultimately is promises made andpromises kept.”

The City Council still must approve the agreement. It comes more than ayear after an earliersettlement, which would have eliminated the fees entirely and effectively given schools $90 million in back pay, fell apartafter former Mayor LaToya Cantrellsaidthe citycould notafford those terms.

Race to redraw mapposes problems

BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer

As Louisiana Republicans scramble to redrawthe state’s congressional map by month’send, they are grappling with whether to draw amap with one majorityBlack,Democraticdistrict— or one with none at all.

At horn y question complicates that decision: Under theSupreme Court’snew interpretation of the Voting Rights Act, in whichit’snearly always unconstitutionaltouse race to draw district lines, is creating amajority-Black district still legal?

“The Legislature shouldpass a map that is defensible,” Gov.Jeff Landry said Tuesday.“Defensible means that once we go to court, that we will winand we don’thave to go into this continuouslegal viciouslegal cyclethatwe’ve been in.”

Any mapthe Legislature passes will need Landry’sblessing to take effect.

Louisiana has six congressional districts. Currently,four are held by White Republicans and two are held by Black Democrats from Baton Rouge andNew Orleans.

The GOP-controlled Legislature is

ä See MAP, page 6A

BY JONAH MEADOWS Staff writer

ELECTION 2026

U.S. SENATE

event

disparages him

BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer

16.

Letlow and Fleming clashed repeatedly during the 90-minute debate, with each claiming to be the most conservative candidate in the election. The two Republicans barely mentioned theman they want to unseat —U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy— andhad to be proddedtocriticize himby

ä See WORDS, page 7A

PHOTO By ROBINMAy

Republican Senate candidates U.S. Rep. Julia Letlowand state Treasurer John Fleming square off Tuesdayinadebate hosted by conservativetalk radio host MoonGriffoninthe KPEL studios in Lafayette.

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Orleans Parish School Board President Leila Jacobs Eames speaks during anewsconference Mondaytodiscuss thesettlement of

the tax fees dispute between the CityCouncil and School Board

Man sentenced to death for killing 7-year-old girl

DALLAS A former FedEx driver was sentenced to death on Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to killing a 7-year-old girl he took from her Texas home while delivering a Christmas gift.

Jurors in a Fort Worth courtroom decided on Tanner Horner’s punishment after hearing about a month of testimony and evidence that included audio of Athena Strand’s last moments from inside his delivery van Horner, 34, pleaded guilty to capital murder last month in the 2022 killing just as his trial began. Athena’s body was found two days after she was reported missing from her home in the rural town of Paradise, near Fort Worth.

Horner didn’t visibly react when the judge read the sentence, according to a livestream of the court proceedings.

Jurors found there was a probability Horner would commit criminal violence and be a continuing threat to society They said there was nothing in the commission of the crime or in Horner’s background to warrant life without parole instead of death.

Police: 2 killed and 3 injured in shootings

CARROLLTON, Texas A man shot ﬁve people in Texas on Tuesday killing two of them, after meeting at a shopping center north of Dallas, police said. It was not a random act of violence and the attacker knew the victims, Carrollton Police Chief Roberto Arredondo said

“It was a known business relationship. We are still working through trying to identify his causes,” Arredondo said After a short chase on foot, the 69-year-old suspect, Seung Han Ho, was arrested about 4 miles away at a grocery store, police said. It was not immediately known if he had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf.

Police were at a nearby apartment complex where Ho was listed as having recently lived. Neighbors said they didn’t recognize the name.

Three people were injured in the shooting but are in stable condition, Arredondo said. Shortly after the shooting, officers with their guns drawn walked past doors at K Towne Plaza in an area of Carrollton known as Koreatown. Agents from the FBI were among law enforcement collecting evidence in the parking lot.

Explosion at Colombia mine kills 9, injures 6

BOGOTA, Colombia An explosion in a coal mine in central Colombia killed nine miners and injured six others who were recovering in a hospital Tuesday, ofﬁcials said.

There were 15 miners inside the Carbonera Los Pinos mine in Sutatausa, about 80 kilometers north of Bogota, when the explosion occurred Monday, Cundinamarca provincial Gov Jorge Emilio Rey said on X.

Three of the miners escaped on their own, and the remaining three survivors were rescued.

Colombia’s National Agency for Mining said in a statement that ofﬁcials inspected the mine in early April and had recommended sealing off areas no longer being used for coal extraction, because of a potentially dangerous “accumulation of gases including methane.” The agency didn’t say whether the recommendation was implemented. The agency expressed its solidarity with families of the victims and said it “regrets this accident in which, thanks to the opportune action of rescue workers, six miners were saved.” Mining accidents are common in central Colombia, where dozens of small operators run coal and emerald mines.

GOP pushing bill for ballroom

Legislation adds $1B for White House security upgrades

BY MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press

WASHINGTON Senate Republicans have added $1 billion in White House security upgrades to legislation that would fund immigration enforcement agencies, a proposed boost for President Donald Trump’s ballroom project after a man was charged with trying to assassinate him at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner last week.

The GOP bill released late Monday would designate the money for the U.S. Secret Service for “security adjustments and upgrades” related to the ballroom project, which Trump and Republicans have been pushing since Cole Tomas Allen allegedly stormed the April 25 media dinner at the Washington Hilton with guns and knives. The legislation says the money would support enhance-

ments to the ballroom project, “including above-ground and belowground security features,” but also speciﬁes that the money may not be used for non-security elements.

White House spokesperson Davis Ingle praised Republicans for including the money for the “long overdue” project, saying it would “provide the United States Secret Service with the resources they need to fully and completely harden the White House complex, in addition to the many other critical missions for the USSS.”

The money is part of a larger bill to pay for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, as Democrats have been blocking funds for both agencies since mid-February Congress passed bipartisan legislation to fund the rest of the Homeland Security Department on April 30 after a recordlong shutdown, but Republicans are using a partisan budget maneuver

to push through the ICE and Border Patrol dollars on their own. The House has not released its bill yet, but the Senate is expected to start voting on its version of the legislation next week.

It is unclear exactly how the $1 billion would be used and the amount far exceeds the proposed $400 million for construction of the ballroom. The White House has said in court documents that the East Wing project would be “heavily fortiﬁed,” including bomb shelters, military installations and a medical facility underneath the ballroom. Trump has said it should include bulletproof glass and be able to repel drone attacks.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has sued to block construction of the project, but a federal appeals court said last month that it can continue in the meantime.

The White House has said that

A gold-fueled mining rush spikes deforestation

Mercury contamination a growing concern in Brazil

BY GABRIELA SÁ PESSOA Associated Press

SAO PAULO The surge in gold prices in recent years has fueled a renewed mining rush in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, accelerating deforestation in protected areas and driving mercury contamination to hazardous levels, ofﬁcials and experts say

A study released Tuesday by the nongovernmental organization Amazon Conservation, in partnership with Brazilian nonproﬁt Instituto Socioambiental, found illegal mining sites drove clear-cutting inside three conservation areas in the Xingu region, one of the world’s largest expanses of protected forest, spanning the states of Para and Mato Grosso. The analysis combined satellite imagery with ground research.

The Terra do Meio Ecological Station recorded its ﬁrst cases of illegal mining in September 2024. By the end of 2025, mining-related deforestation there had spread to 74 acres. At the Altamira National Forest, illegal mining accumulated 2,056 acres of deforestation between 2016 and September 2025. A new mining front that opened in 2024 expanded to 89 acres by October 2025, accounting for nearly half the mining-related deforestation recorded in the unit during that year

Satellite monitoring also detected a clandestine airstrip used by illegal miners at the Nascentes da Serra do Cachimbo Biological Reserve last year. Illegal mining in the reserve grew from 5 acres to at least 66 acres in 2025.

In 2023, Amazon Conservation teamed up with Earth Genome and the Pulitzer Center to develop the Amazon Mining Watch, a platform that uses satellite imagery to track mining across the Amazon since 2018 About 1,225,640 acres of rainforest have been cleared for mining since then, including approximately 551,045 acres in the Brazilian Amazon. Amazon Conservation estimates that 80% of mining-related deforestation in Brazil carries a high risk of taking place illegally Mining remains a relatively small driver of deforestation in Brazil, where forest loss is largely linked to agribusiness expansion. In 2025, for example, some 1,432 acres of the Brazilian Amazon were cleared, according to ofﬁcial data. About 42,000 acres were related to mining, according to the Mining Watch. “What makes mining particularly prob-

lematic is that it targets protected areas and Indigenous territories,” said Matt Finer, director of Amazon Conservation’s MonitoringoftheAndesAmazonprogram.

Protecting Indigenous territories is widely seen as an effective way to curb deforestation in the Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest and a key regulator of global climate. Researchers warn that continued forest loss could accelerate global warming.

In 2023, Brazilian authorities launched a major crackdown on illegal gold mining in the Yanomami Indigenous territory in Roraima state, along the border with Venezuela, after a surge led to a humanitarian and health crisis. Annual growth in newly mined areas there fell sharply after that year, according to Amazon Conservation data. Although mining has not been fully eliminated, nearly all deforestation inside the Yanomami territory — about 13,590 acres had taken place by 2023.

Still, localized enforcement has not curbed illegal mining across the Amazon. When authorities destroy dredges and equipment in one region, miners often relocate or resume operations once ofﬁcials leave. Federal prosecutor André Luiz Porreca, who investigates illegal mining in the western Brazilian Amazon, described enforcement as a “cat-and-mouse game.”

“Last year, I took part in an operation that destroyed more than 500 dredges on an Indigenous land,” Porreca said. “The following week, Indigenous people showed me photos proving the miners had already returned.”

While enforcement eased pressure in Yanomami territory, illegal mining has intensiﬁed elsewhere, particularly across Indigenous lands in the Xingu River basin The most critical situation is on the Kayapo Indigenous land, where roughly 19,620 acres of rainforest have been cleared by illegal mining, the largest such area in the Brazilian Amazon.

Record-breaking gold prices, driven largely by investor demand for safe assets amid rising global risks, have provided a strong incentive for illegal mining.

“It’s basic market logic. With more buyers, there are more people exploiting gold,” Porreca said. He said Brazil’s mineral export control system remains weak, allowing laundering schemes that give illicit gold the appearance of legality.

Environmental damage extends beyond deforestation Illegal mining operations dump mercury into rivers, contaminating waterways and accumulating in ﬁsh consumed by riverine and Indigenous communities.

private money would pay for the construction but public money would be used for security measures. Some Republicans have suggested that public money pay for all of it, arguing the security breach at the dinner shows the president needs a secure place to host events.

“It would be insane” to hold the dinner at a hotel again, said Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who introduced a bill to pay for the ballroom’s construction with Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala. Democrats have said they will oppose any efforts to pay for the ballroom.

“While Americans are struggling to make ends meet as a result of President Trump’s failed policies, Republicans are focused on providing tens of billions of dollars for the President’s vanity ballroom project and cruel mass deportation campaign,” said Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees the U.S. Secret Service.

Proposed

U.N. resolution threatens Iran with sanctions

Efforts aim to establish freedom

of navigation

BY EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS A proposed U.N. resolution threatens Iran with sanctions or other measures if it doesn’t halt attacks on ships intheStraitofHormuz,stop imposing “illegal tolls,” and disclose the placement of all mines to allow freedom of navigation.

The draft Security Council resolution, co-sponsored by the United States and Gulf nations and obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, also demands that Iran “immediately participate in and enable” United Nations efforts to establish a humanitarian corridor in the strait to enable the delivery of vital aid, fertilizer and other goods.

It is the latest diplomatic effort by the U.S. and its Gulf allies after a watered-

down resolution aimed at opening the strait was vetoed by China and Russia hours before Washington and Tehran announced a temporary ceasefire in early April. The U.S. and Gulf nations proposed the new draft as the Trump administration tries to restore freedom of navigation in the strait, which carried about 20% of the world’s crude oil before the U.S. and Israel began the war on Feb. 28. The proposed resolution, which was drafted under Chapter 7 of the U.N Charter and thus could be enforced militarily threatens “effective measures that are commensurate with the gravity of the situation, including sanctions” if Iran doesn’t comply The earlier resolution removed a Chapter 7 reference but was still vetoed. The new draft resolution reaffirms the right of all countries to defend their vessels from attacks and provocations.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By EDMAR BARROS

Redistrictingbattles heat up across thecountry

Severalstates seizeopportunity afterruling

BY TRAVIS LOLLER, KIM CHANDLER, DAVID A. LIEB and JEFFREYCOLLINS Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. As civil rights advocates protest, Republican lawmakers in several Southern states are seizing on the opportunity afforded by aU.S.Supreme Court ruling to redraw congressional districts ahead of the November midterm elections. Protesters marched up to Tennessee’sCapitol on Tuesday as aspecial legislative session began that could carve up amajority-Black district in Memphis. In Alabama, meanwhile, Republicanlawmakerspressedahead with aplan that couldupend thestate’scongressional primaries. And Republican leaders in South Carolina announced Tuesday thatwould try to eliminate aHouse district held by alongtime Black Democratic lawmaker Louisiana lawmakers also are making plans for new U.S. House districts after the Supreme Court last week struckdownthe state’scurrent map. The highcourt’s ruling said Louisiana relied too heavily on race when creating asecond Blackmajority House district as it attempted to comply with the Voting Rights Act. The ruling signiﬁcantlyaltered adecades-old understanding of the law,giving Republicans in various states grounds to try to eliminate majority-Black districts that have elected Democrats It could lessen congressional representation for Black Americans and otherminorities, reversing decades of gains in minority voting rights.

resents predatesthe Voting RightsAct.

“Memphis has been amajority Black districthistorically,becausethat is where thepopulation is,”hesaid. “It’sadistrict that is compact, andithas community purpose.”

MartinLuther King III sent aletter to Tennessee legislativeleaders expressing “grave concern”about the plantodivide Memphis’ congressionalrepresentation.

tricts drawn by legislators in 2023,” said Republican state Rep. Chris Pringle, the bill’s sponsor During aHouse committeehearing, severalBlack residents urged lawmakers nottochange thecurrent congressional districts.

“Representation matters —not just politically but in access, in powerand in who gets to be heard,”said Eliza Jane Franklin, of rural Barbour County

Democrats denounced legislation as aRepublican power grab that harkens back to the state’s shamefulhistory of denying Black residents equal rights and representation.

Republicansare “working to secure an electoral victory by taking Alabamaback to the Jim Crow era, and we won’tgoback,” Democratic U.S. Rep Terri Sewell told a crowd gathered outside the AlabamaStatehouse.

Eight statesalready have adopted new U.S. districts ahead of themidterms. From that, Republicans thinkthey couldgainas many as13 seats in five states,while Democrats thinkthey could gain up to 10 seatsfromnew districtsinthreeother states. But someofthe new districts couldbecompetitive in November, meaningthe parties may not getall they sought The newly proposed redistricting in Southern states could add to the Republicans’ tally

S. Carolinatotestits will Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn hasrepresented South Carolina’s6th Congressional District since it wasredrawntofavor minorityvoters in1992. He’srunning for an 18th term. But that could get harder if Republicansredraw his district. Leaders inthe stateHouse and Senate said aredistrictingeffortneedstostartwitha two-thirds vote in each chamber. Theissuecould come up as soon as Wednesday. But if only afew Republicans aren’t on board, it can’tsucceed.

“Wedon’t know ifwehave the votes in the House,” Republican Speaker Murrell Smith said Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey has warned

President Donald Trump has been encouraging more states to join in redistricting as Republicans seek to hold on to their narrow House majority in this year’selections.

thatredistricting could backﬁre because of thin political margins,resultinginasecond Democrat in the U.S. House. Masseytoldreporters Tuesday thathehad acordial conversation with Trumpabout redistricting, each laying out their concerns. The state’s primaries are June 9and early voting startsinthree weeks.

Tenn.targets

Memphis

Republican Gov.Bill Lee calledTennesseelawmakers into aspecial session to considera plan urgedby Trump that could break up thestate’slone Democraticheld U.S. House district, centeredonthe majorityBlack city of Memphis.Republican lawmakers said little about the plan Tuesday

As theSenate began work, shoutsof“shame, shame, shame” could be heard inside the chamber from protesters gathered in the hallways. On thechamber ﬂoor, Sen. Raumesh Akbari,a Black Democrat from Memphis, called the redistricting “an act of hate.”

At arally earlierTuesday, stateRep.Justin Pearson of Memphis,who is running for Congress, denounced the Republican plan as a“racist redistricting.”

U.S. Rep. SteveCohen, who is White, said theMemphis-baseddistrictherep-

“This decision undermines thework that my father,Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr ,carried out to help secure passage of the Voting Rights Act,” he wrote, noting that his father was assassinated in Memphis.

The candidate qualifying period in Tennessee ended in March, andthe primary electionisscheduled for Aug. 6.

Ala. looksatnew primary

Alabama legislative committees swiftly advanced legislation Tuesday that would allow aspecial congressional primary,ifthe Supreme Court clears the way for the state to change its U.S.House districts.

In light of thecourt’sruling on Louisiana’sdistricts, Alabama officials have asked the high court to set aside ajudicial order to use aU.S.House map that includes two districts with a substantial number of Black voters andinstead letthe staterevert to amap passed in 2023 by Republican lawmakers. Thatmap could help the GOP win at least one of those two seatscurrently held by Democrats.

Alabama’sprimaries are scheduled for May 19. If the SupremeCourtgrantsthe state’srequestafter or too close to the primary,the legislation under consideration would ignore the results of that primary and direct the governor to schedule anew primaryunder therevised districts.

“This is an opportunity for thevoters to vote in the dis-

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO By GEORGEWALKER IV

Charles Uffelman yells on Tuesdayduring arally against thespecial session ofthe state Legislature to redrawU.S congressional votingmaps in Nashville, Tenn.

Indiana, Ohio andMichigangive

Trumpvictories in primaryraces

Severalsenators targeted by president lost earlyelections

BY JONATHAN J. COOPER, HUMERA LODHI and SIMRAN PARWANI Associated Press

President Donald Trump is having some success in his latest attempt to politically punish Republicans who stand in his way

At least three of the seven Indiana state senators targeted by Trump lost their primaries Tuesday.One incumbentwasvictorious,andthree otherraceshavenotyetbeencalled.

Trump got involvedinthe races because he was angry that state senators rejected his redistricting plan. InneighboringOhio,primariesfor U.S. Senate and governor locked in the candidates for two major races with national implications.

And in Michigan, voters in abellwether district were weighing in on avacancy in the stateSenate, which could decide the chamber’s balance of power in abattleground state.

Trump’sinfluenceremains strong

Trump took aim at seven Republican state senators in Indiana who opposed his plan to redraw congressional district boundaries to help the party gain seats in the U.S. House.

Groups allied with the president spent more than $8.3 milliononadvertising, an extraordinaryﬂood of cash and attention into races that are typically low-proﬁle.

The races were atest of Trump’s enduring grip over his party as Republicans grow increasingly anxious about the midterm elections in November

TheresultsTuesdayareasignalto Republicans everywhere that they can still get thrown out of ofﬁce if they distance themselvesfrom Trump even as his popularity fades. And they show the president he can stillcrediblythreatenconsequences for Republicans who cross him.

The Trump-targeted state senators all represent districts he carried in 2024, mostly by 20 percentage points or more.

Ohio racesrampup

The state’sprimary was the wind-up to the big show.Although Ohio hasbecome increasingly conservative, Democrats believe their path backtoaU.S.Senate majority runs through the state.

They’re putting theirhopes behind formerSen.Sherrod Brown, who lost Ohio’s other Senate seatto Bernie Moreno in 2024. Brown easily won the Democraticnomination Tuesday and will face off with Republican Sen. Jon Husted, who was appointed last year to ﬁll the vacancy createdwhen JD Vance becamevice president.

The race is aspecial election to ﬁll the last two years of Vance’s term.

Brown has consistently done better in Ohio than Democratic presidential candidates as thestate has shifted to the right. Evenin2024, when DemocratKamala Harris lost Ohio to Trumpby11points, Brown lost byless than 4points.

In the campaign for governor, Republican VivekRamaswamy has parlayed his national namerecognition, tech industryconnectionsand alliance with Trumpintoa record fundraisinghaul.Helargelyignored Republican rival Casey Putsch, focusing his ralliesand television ads on the general election, and won the primary decisively

An engineer and vehicle designer who calls himself “The Car Guy,” Putsch attracted fans with provocative YouTube videos that trolled Ramaswamy and criticized national Republicans over theirhandling of the Epstein ﬁles,

positions on energy-guzzling data centers and support for Israel.

Ramaswamy willface Amy Acton, Ohio’sformer public health director,who ranunopposedfor the Democratic nomination. She playeda keyroleinthe state’sresponse to the COVID-19 pandemic. Will Democratssweep another?

The special election for astate Senateseat in central Michigan carries outsized importance.

It’s another test of enthusiasm in a series of special elections thathave swungalmostuniversally toward Democrats since Trumpreturned to the White House.Italso could affect thebalance of power in the Michigan State Capitol.ADemocratic victory would give the party aﬁrm majority in the state Senate, while a Republican win would deadlock the chamber in a19-19 tie

The district is closely matched. Harris beat Trumpthere by less than 1point in the 2024 presidential election.

The seat has been vacant for more than ayear,since Democrat Kristen McDonald Rivet resigned to takeaseat in Congress.

Democratsare showing surprisingstrengthinspecial electionsand off-year contests across thecountry,winning races in unexpected places and signiﬁcantly narrowing the gap, even when they fall short

There’snoguarantee the trend will continue through themidterms, when turnout will be much higher, but it hasnonethelessenergized Democrats andspooked Republicansworried aboutkeepingtheir congressional majorities.

BY STEPHENMCGRATH and VADIMGHIRDA Associated Press

BUCHAREST,Romania Romania’s pro-European coalition collapsed Tuesday after lawmakers voted against Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan,less than ayear after he was sworn in,triggering freshturmoil in the European country

Theno-confidence vote was ablowtoBolojan,who came to power with the aim of ending one of Romania’sworst political crisesinits post-communist history

TheSocialDemocratic Party, or PSD, andthe nationalistopposition Alliance forthe Unity of Romaniansparty,orAUR, jointly submitted the motiontoParliament on April28. PSD withdrew from the coalition last month. On Tuesday,281 lawmakers voted in favor andfour voted against.

Lawmakers fromBolojan’s National Liberal Party,orPNL, and coalitionpartners, Save Romania Union party and the small ethnic Hungarian UDMR party, abstained.

Romanian President Nicusor Dan called for calm on Tuesday, saying that while it is “not ahappy moment …itisa democratic decision by Parliament,” andthat negotiations and informal consultations to form anew governmentare underway

“Wewill have anew governmentwithin areasonable time,” Dan said. “I exclude the scenario of early elections. And Iemphasize: at theend of theseprocedures,wewill have apro-Western government —wewill calmly get through this.”

Unrest gripscountry

Romania has faced along periodofinstability after the annulment of apresidentialelection in December 2024. The country hasalso grappledwithone of the highest budgetdeficits in theEuropean Union, rampant inflation, anda technical recession. In June when the coalition was votedin, it pledged to reduce the budget defi-

cit, marking it atop priority

The PSD had often found itself at loggerheads with Bolojan over austerity measures, including tax hikes, public-sector wage and pension freezes, and cuts to state spendingand public administration jobs.

Lastweek, theparty accused Bolojan of “failing to implement anygenuine reform” in his 10 months leadingthe government, and said Romania needs aleader who is “capable of collaboration.” Bolojan said that he tooktough but necessary fiscal measures that effectively “regained the trust of the markets in the Romanian government.”

Bolojan also calledthe no-confidencemotion “cynicaland artificial”and said before thevotethat it “seemstobewritten by people who were not in government every day and did not participate in all the decisions.” “It is cynical, because it does not take into account the context in which we find ourselves,” he said. “I assumed theposition of primeminister,being aware that it comes with enormous pressure andthatIwould not receive applausefrom thecitizens. But I chose to do what wasurgent and necessary forour country.”

Callsfor an interimpresident

The PSD party’spresident, Sorin Grindeanu, said Bolojan should appoint an interim prime minister until oneisvoted intoofﬁce by lawmakers. He also said he expected Romanian President Nicusor Dan to consult PSD. “I would like us to quickly ﬁnd asolution …together with the other partiesand move forward,” Grindeanusaid. “All optionsare open.” The secretary-general of Bolojan’sparty,Dan Motreanu, posted on social media, saying PSD and AUR “have aduty to take over the government, to come up with aprime ministercandidate and aclear program,”accusing the twoparties of “playing political theater.”

reﬁner of cane sugar,were joined by stateand parish officials for the groundbreaking of anew processing building at the Arabi refinery, the largest in the Western Hemisphere.

“Thisisthe cornerstone of our American business. This is thebiggest,most important asset we have,” said Luis Fernandez, president and chair of West Palm Beach-based ASR Group

In theexpansion’s initial phase, which is expected to cost more than$200 million, the company is building a 40,000-square-foot ﬁltration building.

Subsequent phases, still in the planning stages, will includecontinued expansion of the new building.

“This is the largestcapital project we’ve ever undertaken as acompany,”Fernandez said. “This is abig, big project. It reflects our commitment to innovation, our employees and the communityhere that we proudly call home.”

Dubbed Project Lafitte, the reﬁnery expansion will create15direct new jobs, addingtoa current workforce of about 500 employees, accordingtocompany and state economicdevelopment ofﬁcials.

The new building is being built on an 8.2-acre parcel ASR purchased from Sidney Torres last year.Itwillallow ASR to replace ﬁltration equipment, some of which is as much as 80 years old, used to purify raw sugar syrup by separating impurities andpressing it through massive ﬁlters.

The upgradedbuilding willprocess sugar faster and more efﬁciently,signiﬁcantly reducing the amount of power and water consumed by the plant.

“Due to the age of our site, we have current bottlenecks,” Rob Gentilcore, reﬁnery vice president and general manager,said. “A big bottleneck here is in ﬁltration.”

Construction on thenew building is already underway,with completion of the ﬁrst phase expected in 2028.

Aresilient refinery

Themassive reﬁnery has beenaﬁxture of theSt. Bernard Parishlandscapesince it opened in 1909 on 70 acres along the Mississippi River that hadpreviously beenthe site of plantations.

Therefinerychanged hands in 1988 when the Domino brand and itsparent company’sU.S. operations were acquired by the British company Tate &Lyle. It returned to American ownershipin2001 with the formation of ASR Group, a jointventure between Florida CrystalsCorporation and theSugar Cane Growers CooperativeofFlorida.

Sincethen, theplanthas survived several signiﬁcant disruptions, from adeadly explosion in 1965 that was soonfollowed by Hurricane Betsy,tolost market share from soda producers’ shift to high fructose corn syrupin the1980s, to the devastation of its facility and equipment following HurricaneKatrina.

Today,the Chalmette reﬁnery,one of just two that

makes Domino-branded items, can produceabout 6 million pounds of sugarevery day,with32production lines turning out 70 different types of sugar products.

Economic sweeteners

Thestate of Louisiana gave ASRGroup a“competitiveincentivespackage” to encourage the companyto modernize the reﬁnery,accordingtoLouisiana Economic Development. That package included a 10-year,80% property tax abatementthroughtheIndustrialTax Exemption Program for new buildings, as well as reimbursement for money spent on wages through the Quality Jobs Program

According to the company’sapplication for the payroll reimbursement program, which sunsetlast summer,the 15 newjobs created by theexpansion will have an average annual wage of $73,000.

St.Bernard Parish President LouisPomes, who signed off on the incentive package negotiatedbythe state economic development agency,said the refineryexpansion will bring significant economic benefits to

thearea.

“More jobs, more money spent in the parish, with the

inventory taxesand allof that that comes in,” Pomes said. “Iteventually can help

us andmaybe we can roll back on someofour taxes.” The company’scommitment of more thanthree quarters of abillion dollars to its Louisiana refinery follows ASR Group’smove to consolidate its U.S. sugar refinery operations. The Chalmette refinery has fewer production constraints than the Baltimore facility,allowing it to handle overflowproduction and making it strategically critical to the company’seastern operations, according to Gentilcore,the plant general manager Apart from its Domino refineries in Maryland and Louisiana,ASR Group owns and operates three other sugar refineries in North America— in theSan Francisco Bay Area, Toronto and Veracruz, Mexico —aswell as sugarcanefarms and sugar mills in Mexico and Belize.

Email JonahMeadows at jonah.meadows@ theadvocate.com.

Supreme Court fast-tracks La.’s map

BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer

WASHINGTON The U.S. Supreme Court late Monday took the unusual step of accelerating its decision that has led Louisiana lawmakers to redraw the districts from which voters will elect six representatives to the U.S. House this fall.

The high court agreed to hurry its paperwork ordering lower courts to apply the new standards from its decision last week to weaken the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in Louisiana v Callais Six conservative justices joined to find Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District, represented by U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, unconstitutionally relied on race when drawn by the Legislature in 2024.

The usual practice gives

“The Court’s decision in these cases has spawned chaos in the State of Louisiana. Louisiana’s hurried response to the Callais decision unfolds in the midst of an ongoing statewide election, against the backdrop of a pitched redistricting battle among state governments that appear to be acting as proxies for their favored political parties.”

SUPREME COURT JUSTICE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON

the Supreme Court 32 days to ofﬁcially deliver its guidance for the lower courts to apply This allows time for the losers to apply for a rehearing The high court’s decision Monday night fasttracks that timeline. After the court’s Callais ruling last week, Gov Jeff Landry suspended the congressional election, early voting for which was to begin Saturday, to allow state lawmakers to pass a new, more GOP-friendly conﬁgu-

ration of voting districts.

The court’s emergency ruling clears the way legally for Louisiana legislators to redraw congressional maps. They are likely to dramatically change the district that Fields represents, but could also alter the 2nd Congressional District, the state’s other district that includes enough minority voters to give a Black candidate an opportunity to win. That district is represented

by Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden and opposed the majority’s Callais ruling, disagreed with hastening usual protocols Her dissent set off sniping with conservative members of the court who were among the Callais majority Justice Samuel Alito, who was tapped by President George W. Bush, answered that Jackson’s dissent was “baseless and insulting.” Jackson pointed out that some mail ballots in Louisiana have already been distributed and some people have cast votes. A number of lawsuits challenging Landry’s election delay have been filed by candidates and voters who have already cast ballots. She

also noted that the Supreme Court had only chosen to speed up its 32-day timeline twice before during the past 25 years.

“The Court’s decision in these cases has spawned chaos in the State of Louisiana,” Jackson wrote in her dissent “Louisiana’s hurried response to the Callais decision unfolds in the midst of an ongoing statewide election, against the backdrop of a pitched redistricting battle among state governments that appear to be acting as proxies for their favored political parties.”

MAP

Continued from page 1A

planning to eliminate either one or both Black districts.

As they undertake that process, Republican lawmakers “absolutely” need to be careful about how they frame any decision to draw a majority-Black district into the new map, said Michael Gilbert, an election law professor at the University of Virginia.

“If there is any evidence that they were motivated to draw the lines they drew by racial considerations, that is probably unconstitutional,” Gilbert said.

If lawmakers did create such a district, it could be vulnerable to challenges like the one in the Louisiana v. Callais case that caused the Supreme Court to overturn the state’s current map, which has two majorityBlack seats. The court ruled the map violated the Constitution by using race as a factor in the redistricting process.

Said Gilbert: “I know it’s possible to create a district that is majority-minority

The question is whether the Legislature can say with a straight face they’re doing it for some nonracial reason.” But Republicans are also concerned that drawing a map with no majority-Democratic districts could leave Republicans vulnerable.

Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, R-Port Allen, said Monday that Louisiana’s Republican members of Congress “have serious concerns” about whether they could easily hold onto their districts under a map that has six GOP districts.

Robert Hogan, a professor and chair of the political science department at LSU, said creating one Democratic district could help protect Louisiana’s powerful incumbent Republicans, like U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise. A map with six GOP-leaning seats would add more Democratic voters to those districts, which could make it tougher for them to win reelection, he said.

The Supreme Court in 2019 ruled that political considerations, like protecting incumbents, are legally permissible factors in redistricting.

Gilbert said lawmakers are allowed to draw a district to, for example, protect incumbents or achieve another political objective — which just happens to be a majority-Black district

“That’s OK because in that case it wouldn’t be race driving the decision it would be politics, which just happens to correlate with race,” he said.

Hogan echoed that perspective.

“They can’t use race, but they can talk a lot about political party,” he said. “I

think a lot of that is going to be focusing on what is advantageous to the Republicans.”

Hogan also noted that race and partisanship “are very much aligned” in Louisiana — Black voters overwhelmingly vote Democratic.

He said map-drawers in the Legislature are likely facing enormous pressure — both from President Donald Trump, who is demanding GOP-led legislatures across the country deliver him more Republican seats in Congress — and from Louisiana’s Black Democrats, who are calling to keep two majority-Black districts.

Eliminating both majorityBlack districts “would be very detrimental to the relationship that Republicans have with their AfricanAmerican, Democratic colleagues,” Hogan said.

Sen. Sam Jenkins, DShreveport, said that, whether Republican lawmakers decide to eliminate either one or two Black districts, that choice necessarily takes race into account.

“How do you explain that’s not race-based in some form?” he asked.

Landry says he’s conﬁdent the state can ﬁnd a way to draw either a 5-1 map or a 6-0 map.

“I think you can pass just about any kind of defensible map if you put the right type of evidence into the record,” the governor said.

“That is a groundless and utterly irresponsible charge.” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement: “This case is a major win for Louisiana. We are moving forward immediately to ensure the constitutional rights of our citizens are protected and to fix the unconstitutional map.

Alito countered that the Robinson intervenors, the group of Black voters whose lawsuit led to the district conﬁguration at issue in Callais, didn’t express an intent to ask for rehearing. His opinion was joined by conservative justices Clarence Thomas, who was picked by Republican President George H.W Bush, and Neil Gorsuch, who was a President Donald Trump choice. “The dissent goes on to claim that our decision represents an unprincipled use of power,” Alito wrote.

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conservative talk radio show host Moon Griffon, who organized and moderated the debate at his station on KPEL-96.5 in Lafayette.

Cassidy skipped the event because Griffon regularly lambastes him as “Psycho Bill.” Fleming accused Letlow of distorting his opposition to illegal immigration and carbon capture sequestration and downplaying his ties to President Donald Trump.

“There you go again, Julia,” Fleming said several times, reprising a line that Ronald Reagan made famous in a 1980 nationwide, televised debate with thenPresident Jimmy Carter Letlow said Fleming distorted her opposition to vaccine mandates and to diversity equity and inclusion policies and didn’t acknowledge that she self-reported her failure to report stock trades on a timely basis as a

debate as he asked questions of the two candidates, who stood side by side at podiums squeezed into a refashioned conference room. Also serving as a moderator was Jeff Beimfohr, an anchor at KTBS-TV in Shreveport.

Beimfohr had hoped to moderate one of the three televised, primetime debates that Cassidy sought during the Republican primary But Letlow agreed only to the debate during Griffon’s regularly scheduled talk radio program, which included commercial breaks that reduced the actual air time to about 70 minutes.

Letlow came to the debate prepared to note repeatedly that she has Trump’s endorsement.

has endorsed Letlow — is working behind the scenes to ensure her election At one point, Letlow felt compelled to remind Fleming that he is running against

gerrymander, and Landry

canceled the May 16 House elections. Those elections will be held later this year after the state Legislature this month draws a new map

Fleming came prepared to undermine her point by noting that he served as Trump’s deputy chief of staff during the president’s ﬁrst term and had a strongly conservative voting record during his eight years in the House.

Fleming said he never had the chance to get Trump’s endorsement because the president’s senior aides kept him from asking for the endorsement. Fleming blamed Landry’s inﬂuence with the president. Fleming said he ﬁnally got to talk to Trump, and Trump told him that he’s “fantastic.”

Letlow sought to undermine Fleming’s claim by saying it shows that the state treasurer has no stroke with Trump.

“My opponent was running for 13 months and couldn’t get in touch with the president,” Letlow said. “That tells you all you need to know. I can pick up the phone and easily access him because I have his cell number.”

While the debate highlighted their differences, Fleming and Letlow agreed on a number of issues.

They both said they oppose abortion, mandated vaccines and giving more aid to Ukraine in its war

with Russia.

In response to a question from Griffon, they both said they would not have voted with Cassidy to convict Trump on impeachment charges of inciting the assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

“There was absolutely no reason to believe that Donald Trump was guilty,” Letlow said. “That was the worst mistake that Cassidy could have made. He turned his back on Louisiana voters, and they have never forgotten it.”

Fleming said “arguably, the 2020 election was stolen, and President Trump, thank goodness, overcame it and returned to office. We’ve researched Julia Letlow’s statements about this and we can ﬁnd nothing where she actually defended Trump during Lawfare.” After the debate, Letlow and Fleming both pronounced themselves satisfied at having the chance to describe their views and contrast their records.

PHOTO By ROBIN MAy

Conservative talk radio host Moon Griffon hosts a debate between Senate candidates U.S Rep. Julia Letlow and state Treasurer John Fleming on Tuesday in the KPEL studios in Lafayette.

Under the latest deal, the city also agreed tostopusing school taxes to cover some pension obligations, apracticethathas been paused for several years while the boardchallenged it in court.

The changes willsave the school district about $6.6 million per year and give schools an extra$150 per student, board members said.

The city willrefund someofthe fees it previously collected by paying the School Board $6 million thisyear and an additional $2 million annuallyfor the following 15 years, under the terms of the agreement. Starting in 2030, the boardalso will receive $4 million annually from CaesarsCasino’s lease with the city FirstLine Schools CEO Sabrina Pence,one of severalNew Orleans school leaders who have been urging the city to drop or reduce its fees, said sheisgratefulbothsides came to an agreement.

“At the end of the day,thisis about kids,” she said, “andprotecting the resources they need.”

The dispute centered on about $11 millioninannual fees thecity charges the School Board forcollecting taxes on its behalf. In a 2019 lawsuit, the School Board arguedthat the fees —1.6% of the sales tax revenue the board receives and 2% of propertytaxes —are illegal and the city owed the board at least $140 million in back pay As acouncil memberand mayoral candidate, Moreno pledged to eliminate the fee, but shechanged herstance after taking officeand finding the city faced asignificant deficit.The settlement leaves in placea 1.5% fee on theboard’s sales taxes revenue, which is the maximum tax-collectioncharge allowed by state law,though there is some debate about whether it applies to New Orleans

“It’sagood deal,” saidSchool Board memberOlin Parker.“Everyone wanted alittle bit more, and that’sasign of agood compromise.”

The board voted 6-1 on Tuesday to the accept the settlement agreement, which the City Councilisexpected to consider Thursday

The lone no vote was cast by SchoolBoard member KaTrina Chantelle Grifﬁn, who argued that the city should pay back moreof

the taxfees it charged over the years. School Board President Leila Jacobs Eames responded that the board could have won alarger judgment in court,but it would be meaningless if the city can’tafford

to pay it

“The cityisbroke,”she said. “So let’sbegrateful.”

Theterms

Thesettlementincludes less

money for theschool system,at least initially,than an earlier deal that collapsed.

Under theNovember 2024 agreement, thecity said it would stop charging the tax-collection fees and pay the School Board $20 million cash and provide $70 million to educational programsover the next decade.But thedealfell through after Cantrell said she had not agreed to it.

Both sides came back to the tablethisyearafter Moreno took office. But with the city facing a$160 millionspending deficit last year,officials hadtofind new ways to fund anysettlement, Moreno said.

“Weknew that we could kindof patch it alltogether,”she said.“We just had to be creative.”

In thenew deal,the city will give the School Board $6 million up front, compared with $20 million in the ﬁrst year underthe previous agreement.

The city also hasagreed to reviseits long-term lease with Cae-

sars Casino to direct $4 million per year to the school district beginningin2030. That funding would increase if the city negotiates amore expensive lease with the casino

TheCityCouncil currentlycontrolsthe casino money,giving the SchoolBoardabout $2 millionper year to fund programsthat support incarcerated, special-needs and truant students. Parker said the agreementensuresthatthe money will keep going to the school district.

“The protection of those fees in perpetuity is aprotectionfor the mostvulnerable students in our district,” Parker said.

Chief Administrative Officer Joe Giarrussosaidthe settlement terms must be signedand read into the court record. The city would pay $6 million, pulled from bond funding, by June.The $2 million payments will begin next year andcome fromthe generalfund, Moreno said.

Deal-making

Negotiations over asettlement have ramped up in recent months after coming to anear-total standstill after Cantrell squashed the last deal.

Earlier this year,the city offered to drop the property tax fee but raise the sales tax fee to 7.5%, but the School Board rebuffed the offer after dozens of school leaders and teachers protested. Agroup of school leaders whohave said they felt boxed out of negotiations attempted to join the lawsuit.

State Rep. MandieLandry,DNew Orleans, filed abill that would have capped the feeNew Orleans could charge any taxing body at 5%,thoughitwould still require an agreement between the entities. That bill, which the OrleansParish School Boardopposed, sparkeda school-led email campaign to legislators opposing the bill. School leaders also commissioned areport that found a 5% feewould cost schools more than $7 millionannually andresult in cuts to programsand potentially staff.

Caroline Roemer,executive director of theLouisiana Association of PublicCharter Schools, saidina statement that the agreementthe city andSchool Board endedup with is fair

“It recognizesthe City’srole, respects taxpayers, andmostimportantly, protects children,” she said.

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Publishers allege Meta

CEO OK’d infringement

NEW YORK Five publishing houses and author Scott Turow

sued Meta and CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday, alleging the company illegally used millions of copyrighted works to train its AI language system Llama.

The class action lawsuit, ﬁled in federal court in Manhattan, accuses the tech giant of copyright infringement and opens up a new front in the ongoing battle between the book community and developers of AI.

The plaintiffs allege that Zuckerberg and Meta “followed their well-known motto ‘move fast and break things’” by illegally drawing upon a massive trove of books and journal articles for Llama.

“Defendants reproduced and distributed millions of copyrighted works without permission, without providing any compensation to authors or publishers, and with full knowledge that their conduct violated copyright law,” the complaint reads in part. “Zuckerberg himself personally authorized and actively encouraged the infringement.”

Hiring improves, little change in job openings

WASHINGTON U.S. job openings were essentially unchanged in March but hiring improved before the full impact of the Iran war hit the economy

Employers posted 6.87 million jobs in March, compared to 6.92 million in February, the Labor Department reported Tuesday

The job market has been up and down so far this year after a dismal 2025. And the Iran war, which began Feb. 28, has clouded the outlook for the economy and hiring.

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed that layoffs rose in March. But hiring improved: Employers added 5.55 million gross jobs, most since February 2024. More Americans also quit their jobs a sign of conﬁdence in their prospects.

Job openings have come down more or less steadily since peaking at a record 12.3 million in March 2022 as the U.S. economy bounded back from COVID-19 lockdowns. High interest rates, a response to an outburst of inflation in 2021-2022; uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s policies; and, potentially, the disruptive impact of artiﬁcial intelligence have discouraged robust hiring.

Pa. alleges chatbot portrays itself as doctor

HARRISBURG, Pa Pennsylvania has sued an artiﬁcial intelligence chatbot maker, saying its chatbots illegally hold themselves out as doctors and are deceiving the system’s users into thinking they are getting medical advice from a licensed professional.

The lawsuit, ﬁled Friday, asks the statewide Commonwealth Court to order Character Technologies Inc., the company behind Character.AI, to stop its chatbots “from engaging in the unlawful practice of medicine and surgery.”

Gov Josh Shapiro’s administration called it a “ﬁrst-of-itskind enforcement action” by a governor and it comes amid growing pressure by states on tech companies to rein in chatbots’ potentially dangerous messages, especially to children.

That includes a consumer protection lawsuit ﬁled by Kentucky against Character Technologies, and warnings by state attorneys general that chatbots are potentially violating a raft of state laws. Character.AI declined to comment on the lawsuit Tuesday but sent a statement saying it prioritizes responsible product development and the well-being of its users It posts disclaimers to inform users that characters on its website are not real people and that everything they say “should be treated as ﬁction,” the statement said

BUSINESS

NOLA.COM/BIZ

Stocks rally after oil prices ease

BY STAN CHOE AP business writer

NEW YORK The U.S. stock market is rallying toward records Tuesday after an easing of oil prices let Wall Street turn its focus back to the big proﬁts that companies keep producing.

Stocks got a boost after oil prices gave back much of their big jumps from Monday The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 4% to $109.87 after brieﬂy topping $115 on Monday, though it’s still well above its roughly $70 price from before the

war with Iran. U.S. military leaders said Tuesday that a ceaseﬁre with Iran remains in effect, even though Iran was blamed for attacks against the United Arab Emirates, a U.S. ally the day before. The U.S. military is meanwhile trying to force open a path in the Strait of Hormuz, which would allow oil tankers to resume shipments from the Persian Gulf and hopefully bring down the price of crude.

Even with the war ongoing, the U.S. stock market has remained remarkably resilient on its recordsetting run That’s in large part

due to the strong proﬁts that U.S. companies have reported for the start of 2026 despite the rise in oil prices since the end of February “This has been a ‘why ask why’ market,’” according to Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. “You just have to go with it.”

Even though many risks are still weighing on the market “investors are looking at earnings” and how much companies are spending on AI data centers and other investments, he said.

DuPont’s stock rallied 8.3% after the chemical giant led another

cavalcade of companies reporting better-than-expected profits for the latest quarter

DuPont said its water technologies business felt some impact from the war due to logistics disruptions in the Middle East. But it nevertheless raised its forecasts for ﬁnancial results over the full year

Other winners included American Electric Power Co., which rose 3.2%, and Cummins, which added 2.4%, after they likewise made more money during the ﬁrst three months of the year than analysts expected.

SELLING OFF SPIRIT

Airline begins liquidation as skeleton crew oversees process

BY RIO YAMAT AP airlines and travel writer

Lawyers for Spirit Airlines returned to a U.S bankruptcy court in New York on Tuesday to seek approval for dismantling the once-busy budget carrier and turning its parts into cash for creditors.

The liquidation marks a dramatic turn for Spirit, which filed for bankruptcy protection in August 2025, hoping to escape financial ruin. The airline’s parent company was attempting to restructure the business for the second time since November 2024, when it abruptly stopped operating flights over the weekend

Since the going-out-of-business announcement early Saturday, lawyers ﬁled a series of court motions laying out a rapid wind-down plan centered on selling off every possible Spirit asset, from airplanes and engines to spare parts — and limiting additional payroll, leasing and other costs.

The shutdown itself was tightly choreographed. The company, Spirit Aviation Holdings Inc., said it made its announcement in the middle of the night to ensure the jetliners making their ﬁnal runs for the airline were safely on the ground and their crews accounted for

Three days later, the sense of urgency car-

ried into U.S. Bankruptcy Court, where the company’s lawyers were asking a judge to move quickly They asked for expedited approval of the proposed wind-down plan, arguing that speed would beneﬁt Spirit’s creditors and customers.

“Any delay will cause chaos, confusion and cost the estate signiﬁcant time and money,” one motion stated, noting the airline was “not generating any revenue.”

Spirit attorney Marshall Huebner said during a Tuesday court hearing that rising jet fuel costs since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran “engulfed Spirit entirely.”

The airline’s fuel expenses grew by roughly $100 million “in March and April alone,” and rapidly drained Spirit’s liquidity and derailed its restructuring efforts,” Huebner said. He apologized directly to Spirit’s employees and customers, especially passengers who he said may now be completely “priced out” of certain routes without the ultra lowcost carrier Huebner described a swift effort by other airlines and other segments of the aviation industry to assist Spirit’s employees and customers once the airline’s end looked inevitable.

“The entire industry sprang into action to get our people home,” Huebner said Spirit

employed about 17,000 people and carried about 50,000 passengers on its final day of operations. The final flight, which traveled from Detroit to Dallas, landed after midnight Saturday

With its planes grounded, Spirit said it planned to keep a skeleton crew of about 150 employees initially, eventually shrinking to roughly 40. The group, largely made up of veteran staff and executives, including some “senior management employees,” will be responsible for securing aircraft, coordinating logistics and overseeing the liquidation process.

The company also was seeking Judge Sean Lane’s approval to provide retention incentives to keep those workers in place through the liquidation.

In the last two weeks, Spirit was in discussions with the Trump administration about a hoped-for rescue deal that fell through, eliminating what the company described as its last viable path forward. Of the potential bailout, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Saturday, “We oftentimes don’t have half a billion dollars laying around.” Duffy said other U.S. airlines, including United, Delta, JetBlue and Southwest, were offering $200 one-way fares for a limited time to travelers holding Spirit conﬁrmation numbers and proof of purchase.

BY JOSH BOAK Associated Press

WASHINGTON White House economists estimate that President Donald Trump’s deals with pharmaceutical companies to drop some of their U.S. prescription drug prices to what they charge in other countries could save $529 billion over the next 10 years.

The analysis obtained by The Associated Press includes the ﬁrst economy-wide projections behind a policy at the core of Trump’s pitch to voters going into November’s midterm elections for control of the House and Senate Democratic lawmakers have been doubtful about the savings claimed by Trump and these new numbers are likely to trigger additional questions about the data.

Iran war have deepened the public’s anxiety Trump has tried in part to address affordability concerns by focusing on his efforts to cut deals with companies so that the cost of prescription drugs in the U.S. would no longer be dramatically higher than in other afﬂuent nations.

“Now you have the lowest drug prices anywhere in the world,”

Trump said at a Friday rally before a crowd of seniors in Florida.

“And that alone should win us the midterms.”

struck by the Trump administration and 17 leading pharmaceutical companies have been made public, making it hard to independently verify the projected savings The White House analysis sought to estimate the prospective savings as more medications come onto the market and fall under Trump’s framework — with one model in the report tallying the possible savings at $733 billion over a decade.

tration to disclose the terms of the agreements signed by pharmaceutical companies.

“If these deals are so great, why is the Trump administration afraid of showing them to the public?” Wyden said when announcing the measure. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr said his team would share details that didn’t include proprietary information or trade secrets.

Cost-of-living issues are at the forefront of voters’ concerns and higher energy prices tied to the

The analysis was done by administration ofﬁcials for the White House Council of Economic Advisers. They also estimated that federal and state governments could save a combined $64.3 billion on Medicaid during the next decade because of what Trump calls his “most favored nation” policy on drug prices. Few of the details of the deals

Trump and his Department of Health and Human Services have touted his drug-pricing deals as transformative and urged Congress to codify their principles into law Democratic lawmakers have challenged the administration’s claims of savings. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and 17 Senate Democrats in April proposed a measure requiring the adminis-

The potential savings estimated by the Trump administration would be substantial as Americans spent $467 billion on prescription drugs in 2024, according to the most recent government data available.

The analysis is premised on the idea that foreign countries would also pay more for their prescription drugs, which would diversify drugmakers’ sources of revenue and preserve their ability to innovate with new treatments. Drugmaker

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By LEKAN OyEKANMI

A traveler walks past covered Spirit Airlines kiosks at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.

PUBLIC NOTICE SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL

ADVERTISE‐MENT

THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 1900 02 AND1904 06

SAINTANN STREET,THIS CITY,INTHE MATTER ENTI‐TLED:CITYOF NEWORLEANS VERSUS THE BAT2,LLC

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-7288

AN ALLEY3 FEET WIDE OPENINGONST. ANNSTREET THEIMPROVE‐MENTSTHERE ON BEAR THE MUNICIPALNO. 1904 06 ST.ANN STREET, NEWORLEANS LOUISIANA 70116

p at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and the balance within thirty days thereafter

ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans

(s): 4/1/2026 & 5/6/2026 apr1-may 6-2t

2024-10715

CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2024-6652

Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certiﬁed CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

GH 24

MCCABE LAW FIRM,LLC 504782-3436

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 4/1/2026 & 5/6/2026 apr1-may 6-2t

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans GH 4 CITY OF NEW ORLEANS504 658 4346 DEISHA LA‐GARDE

PUBLIC NOTICE

SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT

By virtue of a Writ of FieriFa‐cias directed to me by theHon‐orable Judges of CivilDistrict Courtfor the Parish of Or‐leans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground ﬂoor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue, in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on May7,2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit: IN GLOBO: THAT PORTIONOF GROUND,TO‐GETHER WITH ALLTHE BUILD‐INGS AND IMPROVEMENTS THEREON, AND ALLRIGHTS, WAYS,PRIVI‐LEGES, SERVI‐TUDES, APPURTE‐NANCES AND ADVANTAGES THEREUNTOBE‐LONGINGORIN ANYWISE APPERTAINING, SITUATED IN THESECOND DISTRICT OF NEWORLEANS IN SQUARE NO.238, BOUNDEDBYST. ANN, N. ROMAN ANDN.PRIEUR STREETSAND ORLEANS AVENUE,DESIG‐NATEDBYTHE LETTER “A”ONA PLAN OF SUR‐VEYMADEBY GILBERT ANDKELLY,SUR‐VEYORS,DATED SEPTEMBER26, 1951, ANDAC‐CORDINGTO WHICH SAID LOTCOM‐MENCES AT A DISTANCE OF 34 FEET,4 INCHES FROM THECOR‐NEROF N. ROMAN STREET AND MEASURES THENCE 34 FEET 7LINES FRONT ON ST.ANN STREET,35FEET, 6INCES,7 LINES IN WIDTHINTHE REAR,BYA DEPTHONTHE SIDE LINENEAREST PRIEUR STREET OF 62 FEET,AND AFIRST DEPTH ON THEOPPO‐SITE SIDE LINEOF32 FEET ON LINEOF AN ALLEYIN COMMONWITH LOT“B”, THENCE 3 FEET ON AN OBLIQUE LINE, THENCE ASEC‐ONDDEPTH OF 27 FEET,5 INCHES TO THE REAR LINE, TOEGTHER WITH THEUSE IN COMMONWITH SAID LOT“B” OF

PARCEL 2 THAT PORTION OF GROUND,TO‐GETHER WIH ALLTHE BUILD‐INGS IMPROVE‐MENTS THEREON, AND ALLRIGHTS, WAYS,PRIVI‐LEGES, SERVI‐TUDES, APPUR‐TENANCES AND ADVANTAGES THEREUNTOBE‐LONGINGORIN ANYWISEAP‐PERTAINING SITUATED IN THESECOND DISTRICT OF THECITY OF NEWORLEANS, DESIGNATED BY THELETTER “B”INTHE SQUARE BOUNDEDBYST. ANN, ROMAN, ORLEANSAND PRIEUR STREETS, ON ASKETCH DRAWNBY GEORGE DE ARMAS, DATED AUGUST 3, 1891, ANNEXEDTO THEINVENTORY TAKENBYJ.F MEUNIER, N.P., ON JULY 27, 1891, ACCORD‐INGTO WHICHSKETCH, SAID LOTMEA‐SURESINAMER‐ICAN MEASURE, 31 FEET 4 INCHES FRONTONST. ANNSTREET,60 FEET,8 INCHES DEPTHAND FRON ON ROMAN STREET (OF WHICHIS FORMSTHE CORNER), 32 FEET ON AFIRST DEPTHONTHE LINES OF AN ALLEY, THENCE 3FEETONAN OBLIQUELINE RUNNING TO‐WARDSLOT “A”, THEN ASEC‐ONDDEPTH OF 26 FEET,1 INCH TO THEREAR LINE, WHICH HASA WIDTHOF32 FEET,10INCHES; TOGETHER WITH THEUSE IN COMMONWITH LOT“A” OF AN ALLEY3 FEET WIDE OPENINGONST. ANNSTREET ALLASFMORE FULLY SHOWNON PLAN OF SUR‐VEYMADEBY JOHN E. WALKER,LAND SURVEYOR, DATED JULY 5, 1974 A COPY OF WHICH IS ANNEXEDTO ACTBEFORE SIDNEY I. GOLD‐MAN N.P.,DATED FEB‐RUARY7,1975, ANDACCORD‐INGTOWHICH THESAIDLOT OF GROUND IS SIT‐UATEDIN SQUARE NO.238. THEIMPROVE‐MENTS THEREONBEAR THEMUNICIPAL NO.1900 02 ST ANNSTREET NEWORLEANS, LOUISIANA 701216

WRIT AMOUNT: $7,260.00

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH The purchaser

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 4/1/2026 & 5/6/2026 apr1-may 6-2t

PUBLIC NOTICE

SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBERS4120 AND4124 ERATO STREET,CITY OF NEWOR‐LEANS, IN THE MATTERENTI‐TLED:U.S.BANK TRUSTCOM‐PANY,NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEEFOR VELOCITY COM‐MERICALCAPI‐TALLOAN TRUST2024-4 VERSUS SWEAT THERAPYLLC

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-9935

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground ﬂoor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on May7,2026, at 12:00o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit: 4120 AND 4124 ERATOSTNEW ORLEANS, LA 70125 LOT: F, SQUARE: 501 FIRSTMUNICI‐PALDISTRICT ACQMIN: 1445180 WRIT AMOUNT: $242,067.57

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter

THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 6022 CAMERONBLVD, THIS CITY,IN THE MATTER ENTI‐TLED:HOME BANK,N.A.VER‐SUSKJT TRANS‐PORTATIONOF LOUISIANA, LLC; KEITHJ.JACK‐SON ANDKELLIE M. COOPER

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2024-7636

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground ﬂoor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on May7,2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit:

6022 CAMERON BD NEWOR‐LEANS, LA 70122 SQUARE 4, LOT 85-B THIRDMUNICI‐PAL DISTRICT ACQ MIN:1405905 WRIT AMOUNT: $366,668.07

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter

Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certiﬁed CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans

PUBLIC NOTICE SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 505 CONSTANCEST, CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, IN THEMATTEREN‐TITLED:GULF COASTBANK ANDTRUST VER‐SUSCBA HOME BUILDERS INC.

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-2984

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground ﬂoor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue, in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on May7,2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit:

3505 CON‐STANCE ST NEW ORLEANS, LA 70115

LOT14ASQUARE 213 6THMUNICIPAL DISTRICT ACQMIN: 1400376 WRIT AMOUNT: $734,610.64

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter

Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certiﬁed CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, ParishofOr‐leans

RB 26

NEWMAN, MATHIS,BRADY &SPEDALE, APLC 225-3433456 WAYNEA.MAIO‐RANA,JR.

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 4/1/2026 & 5/6/2026 apr1-may 6-2t

PUBLIC NOTICE

TITLED:LIBERTY BANK AND TRUSTCOM‐PANY VERSUS SANDRA AUBERT CADE andHERBERT A. CADE

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2023-7532

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans RB 27 NEWMAN, MATHIS,BRADY &SPEDALE, APLC 225-3433456 WAYNEMAIO‐RANA

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 4/1/2026 & 5/6/2026 apr1-may 6-2t

PUBLIC NOTICE

SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground ﬂoor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on May7,2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit: 1241 SOUTH‐LAWN BD NEW ORLEANS, LA 70114 SQUARE 1, LOT 26 FIFTHMUNICI‐PALDISTRICT ACQ MIN:1404421 WRIT AMOUNT: $810.00

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter

Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certiﬁed CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans RB 33 CITY OF NEW ORLEANS504658-4346 CHARMAINEL MARCHAND

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 4/1/2026 & 5/6/2026 apr1-may 6-2t

PUBLIC NOTICE

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and the balance within thirty days thereafter Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certiﬁed CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans GH 1 CITY OF NEW ORLEANS504658-4346 DEISHA LA‐GARDE

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 4/1/2026 & 5/6/2026 apr1-may 6-2t

PUBLIC NOTICE

SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CETAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 5132 MUSIC ST,CITY OF NEWOR‐LEANS, IN THEMATTER ENTITLED:SE‐LENE FINANCE LP VERSUS RYAN MICHAEL CUNEO

g scribedprop‐erty to wit:

5132 MUSIC ST NEWORLEANS LA 70122 LOTS 9AND 10SQUARE#66 THIRDMUNICI‐PALDISTRICT ACQMIN 1129724 SUBDIVISION GENTILLY GAR‐DENS WRIT AMOUNT: $67,844.53

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certiﬁed CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans

RB 6 HALLIDAY WATKINS& MANN P.C. AT‐TORNEYSAT LAW318-3881440 ASHLEY E. MOR‐RIS

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 5/6/2026 & 6/10/2026 MAY6 JUN10-2T

Note:The pay‐mentmustbe Cash,Cashier's Check, Certiﬁed CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS

BD 25 NEWMAN, MATHIS,BRADY &SPEDALE A PROFESSIONAL LAWCORP225343-3456 WAYNEA.MAIO‐RANA,JR.

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date

SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT

THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 3518 MONROE ST, CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, IN THEMATTEREN‐

THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 1241 SOUTHLAWN BOULEVARD, THIS CITY,INTHE MATTER ENTI‐TLED:CITYOF NEWORLEANS VERSUS CURTIS ORSTIN GWATH‐NEY, HIS SUCCESSORS, HEIRSAND AS‐SIGNS, IDONIA SIMMSGWATH‐NEY, HERSUC‐CESSORS, HEIRS ANDASSIGNS ANDKEIMY‐EREIALEWISJONES

SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 1522 GORDON STREET,THIS CITY,IN THEMATTEREN‐TITLED:CITYOF NEWORLEANS VERSUS LYDIA CHAPITAL JOSEPH,ALLI‐SONL.CHAPI‐TAL, JR.,SHARON CHAPITAL GRIF‐FIN, KARENL CHAPITAL, ELEANORM CHAPITAL,GARY CHAPITAL,OR HIS SUCCESSORS, HEIRS, ANDAS‐SIGNS, ERIC D. CHAPITAL,KEN‐NETH S. CHAPI‐TAL, SHAUNE CHAPITAL, JAMAR C. CHAPITAL, ANDRAPHAEL CHAPITAL

CI VI L DI ST RI CT

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No:

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-11161 By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parishof Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground ﬂoor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on June 11, 2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐ib d

Trumppausesefforttoguide stranded vesselsout of strait

Blockade will remain in place

BY AAMER MADHANI, ADAM SCHRECK, BEN FINLEY and ELENA BECATOROS Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates— President Donald Trump said on Tuesday evening that he is pausing the U.S. effort to guide stranded vessels out of the Strait of Hormuz to allow time for adeal to end the Iran war,but that the American forces’ blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place.

Trump announced the decision in asocial media post, sayingthe effort —which started on Monday in the vital waterway for global energy —would pause for ashort period to see whether an agreement with Tehran on ending the war in the Middle East could be ﬁnalized.

Trump said the move was based “on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success thatwehavehad during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been madetowarda Complete andFinal Agreement with Representatives of Iran.”

TheWhiteHousedidnotimmediately respond to arequest forcomment for furtherdetail on the progress in negotiationsthatTrump mentioned. The talks have largely stalled though aceaseﬁre that took hold nearly amonth ago is holding.

The United Arab Emirates, akey U.S. ally in the Persian Gulf, said it came under attack from Iranian drones and missiles for asecond day on Tuesday,even as U.S. military leaders and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted the ceaseﬁre was stillholding and that —while the conﬂict is not resolved —theinitialmajorU.S.militaryoperation against Iran hasconcluded.

Before the Trump announcement, Rubio tolda White House press brieﬁng that for peace to be achieved, Iran must agree to Trump’sdemands on its nuclear program and also agree toreopen theStrait of Hormuz.

“Wewouldprefer the path of

peace,” Rubio said. He also expressed hope that during the expected visittoChina by Iranian ForeignMinisterAbbas AraghchionWednesday, Beijingwould reiterate to Tehran theneedtorelease itschokehold on the strait.

Effortstoreopenstrait

Tuesday was onlythe second dayinthe U.S. pushtoreopen the strait to maritime trafﬁc —anoperation Rubio described as defensive and aimed at helping thousands ofcivilian sailorsstranded there by thewar

“They’re sitting ducks,they’re isolated, they’re starving, they’re vulnerable,” Rubiosaid. “At least 10 sailors have already died as a result.”

On Monday,the U.S. said it had opened alane and sunk six small Iranianboats that had threatened commercial ships. So far,only twomerchant ships are known to have passed through thenew U.S.guardedroute,withhundredsmore bottled up in the Persian Gulf.

Iran’seffective closure of the strait, through which major oil and gas supplies passed before thewar,along with fertilizer and other petroleum products, has sent fuel prices skyrocketing and rattled the globaleconomy.Breaking Iran’sgrip would deny its main source of leverage as Trump demands amajor rollback of Tehran’sdisputed nuclear program.

Iran says ceasefire violated

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth andGen.Dan Caine, the U.S. military’stop ofﬁcer,told a news conference that Iran’s renewed attacks had not reached thethreshold of whatCaine called “major combat operations.” He saidTuesday markeda“quieter” dayinthe strait

At the White House, Rubiosaid clashes with Iran related to American efforts to reopen the strait were “defensiveinnature.”

“There’snoshootingunless we’re shot at first, OK?” Rubio said. “We’re not attacking them.”

Iran’sparliament speaker and chief negotiator,Mohammad

Bagher Qalibaf, signaled thatIranhas yet to fully respond to theU.S.attempttoreopen the waterway “Weknowfull well that the continuation of the status quo is intolerable for America; while we have not even begun yet,” he said in apost on X. Hisstatement did not mention negotiations with the U.S. thatare now in the form of passing messagesvia Pakistan.

Disputing Washington’sclaim of sinking sixIranian boats,anIranian military commander said two small civiliancargoboats were hit Monday,killing ﬁve civilians, Iran’sstate TV reported.

Caine,the top U.S. generalwho servesaschairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said morethan 100 U.S.military aircraft are patrolling theskies over the strait. The U.S. has imposed anaval blockade on IranianportssinceApril13,deprivingTehranofoilrevenueitneedsto shore up its ailing economy.

TheTrump administration has cited the April 8ceaseﬁre in asserting that thepresident does nothavetogive aformalupdate to Congress on thewar under the WarPowers Resolution. That law typically requires presidents to seek formal approvalfromCongress for war activities 60 days after beginning militaryaction.

Shippers remainwary

So far,just twocivilian vessels, both U.S.-ﬂaggedmerchant ships, areknown to have passed through thestraitaspart of thelane the U.S.says it hascreated.Shipping company Maersk saidone of them, avehicle carrier that it operates, exited the straitsafely Monday withU.S. militaryassistance.

Formermilitary officers who have served on the straithave said openingitwould be dangerousand highly challenging, even withmilitary escorts, which the U.S. is not providing now

There’slittleroom to maneuver in the waterway that is just 21 miles wide, and Iran can reachall ofthestraitanditsapproacheswith cruise missiles. It also can target vessels with longer-range missiles, drones, fast attack craftand mines.

ship struck by rare virusremains anchored

Antarctica and several isolated islands in the South Atlantic.

BY CHINEDU ASADU and ANNIE RISEMBERG Associated Press

PRAIA, Cape Verde— Footage obtained by The Associated Press of acruise ship at the center of arare-virus outbreak shows deserted decks and gathering areas, medical teams in protective gear,and a still landscapeahead as the vessel andits nearly 150 passengers and crew waited another day off the coast of West Africa.

Threepassengers have diedand at leastfour people have been sick in what health officials sayisan outbreak of hantavirus, which usually spreads by inhaling contaminated rodent droppings. The World HealthOrganization saidpassengers are isolating in their cabins.

The company that operates the vessel —currently anchored in the Atlantic off Cape Verde —said it plans to move to Spain’s Canary Islands once three people have been medicallyevacuatedandputonspecially equipped planestothe Netherlands. Earlier Tuesday, Spanish ofﬁcials said that they were monitoringthe situation and hadn’tmade adecision.

The MV Hondius,aDutch ship on aweekslong polar cruise, departed April 1from Argentina for

“Our days have been close to normal, just waiting forauthorities to ﬁnda solution,”passenger QasemElhato,31— who sent AP the video footage —said via WhatsApp. “But morale on the ship is high andwe’rekeeping ourselves busy with reading, watching movies, having hot drinks and that kind of things.”

Helene Goessaert, another passenger,toldBelgian broadcaster VRTthat everyone on board is “in the sameboat, literally.”

“You don’tembark on atrip with theideathatone of your fellowpassengers won’tmake it,” she said.

“Wereceive information at regularintervals.Itisaccurate.For the rest, it is awaiting game,” she added. “Today we received fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. That was very important to us.”

AuthoritiesinCapeVerde have said they sentteams of doctors, surgeons, nursesand laboratory specialiststothe Hondius. They were seen in Elhato’svideo footage —wearing white overalls, boots and face masks as they disembarked to asmaller vessel.

Ofﬁcials in Cape Verde’s capital of Praia, acity of less than 200,000 people,saidtheyhave stepped up safety protocols, particularly near the port, as aprecautionary measure against the rodent-borne illness whichdoesn’tusuallyspreadperson to person, though health authorities say it might be possible

S&WB communitymeetingskickoff

Firstone hasmostlyempty house

BY BEN MYERS Staff writer

It was amostly empty house at the Dryades YMCA on Tuesday evening as the Sewerage &Water Board, under ﬁre from New Orleans elected ofﬁcials, kicked off aseries of community meetings to engage directly with residents. Few showed up. Nearly all of the 20 or so people in attendance were S&WB board

Man pleads guilty in killing of priest

Plea deal callsfor two life sentencesin deaths of reverend, church worker

BY WILLIE SWETT Staff writer

Antonio Tyson pleaded guilty

Tuesday to two counts of firstdegree murder inthe 2022slaying of aCovington priest and church worker,avoiding the deathpenalty but agreeing to spend the rest of his life in prison. Tyson, 49, will receive two life sentences forthe murder charges plus 40 years for obstruction of justice, which will be served consecutively,according to northshore District Attorney Collin Sims. He will be sentenced by ajudge on June 8. Tyson made his guilty pleain front of Judge Ellen Creel and over two dozen people at the St. Tammany Parish Courthouse, including Parish President Mike Cooper.Hewas remanded to the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, wherehewillserve out his sentence.

The 49-year-old was accused in the brutal deaths of theRev Otis Young, aretired priest at St. Peter Catholic Church in Covington,and Ruth Prats, alongtime church worker who helped care for Young. He was arrested hours after their badly burned bodies were discovered behind adowntown Covington business. Months before the murders, Tyson had been released from Rayburn Correctional Facility after serving 30 years of a40-year prisonsentence for forcible rape, armed robbery and burglary Authorities ﬁrst discovered the bodiesofPrats and Younginthe early-morning hoursofNov.28. Officials allegethatTyson had forced hisway into Prats’home theday before, beatingand killing her and Young, and then burning their bodies and stealing Prats’ car Covington police later found Tyson and awoman insidePrats’ Honda CRVina drugstore parking lot, according to ofﬁcials. Both victims’ cause of death

members and staff, who listened as

Executive Director Randy Hayman cycled throughtalking points about the utility’sfunding challenges, recent watermain failures and upcoming projects

“I know thecrowdissmall, but I think it’simportant to share information,”Hayman said before giving his45-minute presentation.

The meeting was the ﬁrst of two scheduled forthe Dryades YMCA in

Central City, with another planned forWednesday at 6p.m. Additional meetings in each council district are planned for coming weeks, although dates haven’tbeen announced.

S&WB spokesperson Ceara Labat said afterward that the meeting hadbeenadvertisedonthe utility’s social media channels and through neighborhood association mailing lists.Aspokesperson forDistrictB council member Lesli Harris said Harris’ ofﬁce had also promoted the meeting through social channels.

“We’re trying to be in the commu-

nity and listen to people, give people aforum wheretheycan come and talk to us and we can provide them answers,” Labat said.

District Dcouncil member Eugene Green, who attendedthe meeting on Tuesday,said he commended the S&WB for itsoutreach effort

“Nobody is ignoring problems withwater mains. Nobody is ignoring big problems,” Green said.

The meetings come at aturning point for theS&WB, which is facing monumental changestohow it is governed andfunded. Mayor Hel-

enaMorenoand theCityCouncil are pushing abill in the Legislature that would give the council broad authorityoverthe utility,although it’s not clear what the councilmight do with itsnew powers if the bill becomes law Morenoand some council members lambasted theS&WB andHayman after aseries of major water main breakscaused fourfloods this year in Central City and Uptownneighborhoods. They accused

Abudgetboost

Give NOLA Daycollects millionsasnonprofits seek support

BY VIOLET BUCARO Staff writer

As abig screen behind them tallieddonations in real time, staff from the Greater New Orleans Foundation on Tuesday rushed around their St CharlesAvenue ofﬁce to help supporters make online gifts.

By 4:27 p.m.Tuesday,the community

foundation for the13-parish southeast Louisiana regionhad raised over$4.3 millionduring its giving frenzy known as Give NOLA Day

The event, whichofﬁcially lasts 24 hours but inspires heftydonations in the days surrounding it,isaimedat bolstering the budgets of thehundreds of nonproﬁts thefoundation partners with.

“There are studiesthat showthis southeast Louisiana region is the most giving in the country,” saidBreizen Peralta,a program associate with the foundation.She said she believestheir effortsare apowerhouse for philanthropyinthe region.

Last year,the foundation raised nearly $7 million, andthisyear, its goal is to topthatnumber. The event officially ends at midnight Wednesday Staffers’ day started early on Tuesday, with many arriving to work early as 5a.m. to promote the event and visit local nonprofits that standtobenefit. Earlier Tuesday,Peralta visited MarketUmbrella’s farmers market at The Batture,one of nearly 1,000 nonprofits the foundationpartners with.

Fresh orange juice in hand, Peralta spun awheel setupbythe organizers for the occasion, which gave donors

See BOOST, page 2B

Bill wouldmake public sleeping acrime

Homeless shelters already squeezed

BY SOPHIE KASAKOVEand MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writers

Abill that would make sleeping on thestreet acrime is steps away frombecominglaw as Louisiana homelessservices providersface looming federal funding cuts. House Bill 211, akey part of Gov Jeff Landry’slegislative agenda, would make sleeping on public streets amisdemeanor.Itwould let local governments establish “homelessness courts,” which would allow people charged under the new law to avoidjail time by completing drug or mental health treatmentprograms.

The bill, by stateRep. Debbie Villio, R-Kenner,passed the state

House and is awaiting avote from theSenate after aSenate committeeamendedittoremove felony chargesfor repeatoffenders. If passed, theHouse must approve amendments before thebill heads to Landry’sdesk for his signature, which will make it law

Backers andcritics agree that thebill comes at atime when federal funding for housing programs is set to be reduced. President Donald Trump’sadministration has shifted itsfocus toward treatmentprograms, instead of permanent housing. At ameeting of the state House in April, Villio said the bill is “not aboutjailing people,it’sabout helpingthem—helping them wheretheycan’t help themselves.” While Villio and other supporters arguethe new lawcould un-

BY MISSY WILKINSON Staff writer

The New Orleans Police Department’spayroll issues are under renewed scrutiny after theOfﬁce of InspectorGeneral issued an open letter to Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick warning that weak oversight of timekeeping and overtime has left the department vulnerable to fraud and abuse. “Strengthening theNOPD’s oversight andmanagement of itstimekeeping and overtime is essential to ensuring the Departmentusesits resources responsibly and in supportof public safety,” Inspector Gen-

eral Ed Michel said in astatement accompanying the April 29 letter Thenine-page letter builds on aJanuaryreportthat probed the NOPD’s failure to budget for or oversee its overtime hours, whichwere a major contributor to the city’s 2025 budget shortfall. In itsongoing investigation, theoffice identified multiple problematic, recurring payroll practices Supervisorsapproved overtime that exceeded policy limits, and officers routinely logged overtime in four-hour blocks rather than theactual time worked. Officersalsoleft their districts while on duty “Insome cases, OIG investigators determined NOPD officerswerenot even in Louisiana whilereporting to be on

STAFFPHOTO By BRETT DUKE

Dawn Nulty handsa papertoateam member while assisting withdonor supportand engagement during Give NOLADay at the Greater NewOrleans Foundation in NewOrleans on Tuesday

ä See S&WB, page 3B

Young Prats

Tyson

Manpleadsguiltyinfatal shooting

Authoritiessay 2

groups planned to robeachother

BY MICHELLE HUNTER Staff writer

Another co-defendant pleadedguilty in the caseof aWaggaman man who died of a“survivable” gunshot wound that authorities say he suffered whenthe men he intended to rob tried to rob him, as well Marlon Borras Jr 23, of Marrero, was scheduledto head to trial Monday ona chargeofsecond-degree murder in the death of Jeremy Norrman, a29-year-old fatheroftwo.

But Borras agreed to plead guilty Thursdaytoa lesser charge of manslaughter,Jefferson Parish court records said. He also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit armed robbery Judge E. Adrian Adams, of the24th Judicial District Court, sentenced Borras to 30 years in prison for manslaughter and 25 years for

SLEEPING

Continued from page1B

lock more federal support, critics say it willleadto more homeless people being incarcerated.

The CEO of Ozanam Inn, one of New Orleans’ largest homeless shelters, pointed out the present lack of drug and mental health treatment options.

“There’slanguage about putting people into some sort of treatment facilities —where are those? Do they have to build those?” said Renée Blanche. “(Treatment)isnot goingtoget them off the street if there’s not aplace to stay.”

Impact on NewOrleans

There are no long-term residential mental health treatment facilities in New Orleans, whichhas the state’slargest share of homeless residents. Shelters are at capacity most nights

The bill comesonthe precipice of asea change in federal funding for homeless services, with the Department of Housing and Urban Development expected to issue apolicy in June that would redirect millionsof dollars in grants awayfrom permanent housing and toward mental health and addiction treatment beginning in 2027.

TheJunepolicyisexpected to closely follow an earlier versionissued in

the conspiracy charge, court records said. The sentences aretobeserved at thesame time.

Borraswas oneofsix suspects arrested inNorrman’s death. The defendants include Booker McKinley, 59, Norrman’sgetaway driver, who authorities say drove hisinjured friend around for more than an hour before ﬁnally taking him to a hospital.

By the time they arrived, Norrman wasalready dead of what would have been a survivablegunshot wound to his leg, according to JeffersonParish Sheriff’sOfﬁce investigators.

Tommy Encalade, 27, is still awaiting trialoncharges of second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit armed robbery andobstruction of justice.

Sheriff’s Ofﬁce detectives said they believe Encalade wasthe gunmanwho shot andwounded Norrman during the early morning hours of Feb.16, 2024.

Encalade, Borras and codefendant JoviBoudreaux, 31,were at ahouse in the

November,which was later rescinded, that proposed more funding for homelessness programs that enforce camping bans.

During ameeting of the state HouseinApril, Villio saidbefore those new funds aredeployed, the cities could use the option under the bill to create designated encampment areas.

Landry’s administrationset up adesignated encampment inNew Orleansin October ahead of aTaylor Swift concert and other city events.

“I expect that they will exercise that option,” Villio said.

But the bill limits where municipalities could open designatedencampment areas:Theywould have tobe in places where theywould not“adverselyormaterially affect the property value or safetyand security of other existing residential or commercial property.”

Ofﬁcials with Mayor Helena Moreno’sadministration have committed to focuson moving homelessresidents into housing, acontinuation of the city’seffortsin recent years. Officials did not answerquestions this week about whether the citywould seek to enforce the newbill if it becomes law,orifitwould operate adesignated encampment.

The New Orleans Police Department alsodeclined to comment.

“The Moreno administration’scommitmenttowork-

2800 block of Dolores Drive when they cameupwith a plan to rob Norrman, accordingtoauthorities. Borras called Norrman andlured him to the residence withan offertosell a9mmpistol, the Sheriff’sOfﬁce said.

Norrman agreed to buy the gun but secretly intendedto rob Borrasofthe weapon, according to detectives. He recruited McKinley to drive him to the residence.

Once insidethe house, Encalade shot Norrman, authoritiessaid. Norrman limped out of the house and climbed back into McKinley’struck.

Though ahospital was less than 5miles away,McKinley drove the bleeding Norrman around in the neighborhood for more than an hour.Adeputy even stopped McKinley at one point for driving the wrong way down astreet, but the ofﬁcer didn’tsee his wounded passenger,authorities said.

Authorities aren’t sure why McKinley didn’ttake Norrman to ahospitalsooner.McKinley was sentenced to ﬁve years in prison after

ing with unhoused individuals through outreach, shelter residence, rapid rehousing, and permanent housing will not change,” said Dr Jennifer Avegno, deputy mayor of health and human services.

Strong reactions

The bill has faced some of the ﬁercest pushback of anybills this session

“I’vegotten probably thousands of emails saying howterrible this bill is,but Ithink it’sacompassionate bill,” said stateSen. Valarie Hodges,R-Denham Springs,who supported the bill at aSenatecommittee hearing last week.

Sheri Combs, with CovenantHouse NewOrleans, ayouth shelter,told the lawmakersthather shelter is operating at more than a third above capacity,and thatthe need exceeds that.

“Noyoung personshould be penalized for alack of available options 24/7 or the circumstances they ﬁnd themselves in in the middle of the night,”Combs said.

Asmaller showing of people came out in support of the bill.

“It’snot fairtothe homeless individuals, it’snot fair to the citizens, it’snot fair to the businessestodo nothing,” said developer Brian Gibbs to theSenate committeelast week,saying quality of life issues are creating “economic destruction” in New Orleans GNO Inc., the New Or-

pleading guilty to negligent homicide in November

Twoother suspects, JohnneyCates,39, andSeth Friedley,38, pleaded guilty Oct. 30 to obstruction of justice. The shooting took place at Cates’ home.

The pairwas charged with cleaning up the bloody crime sceneand not notifying authoritiesabout the violence,accordingtothe Sheriff’s Ofﬁce. Bothwere sentenced to three years of probation.

Boudreaux was charged with second-degree murder,but the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’sOffice dropped the charge as part of aplea agreement, court records said.

Boudreaux pleaded guilty on Feb. 23 to conspiracy to commit armedrobberyand being afelon with aﬁrearm. Adams sentenced him to 15 years in prison,court records said.

Thecourt on Monday granted amotion to continue Encalade’strial in light of Borras’guiltyplea, according to court records. He will now stand trial July 13.

leans area’seconomic development agency,also registered its supportwith the Senate committee, but did notcomment.

The Senate committee approved the bill, but with one change: reducing the punishment for asecond offense froma felony with amandatory prison sentence to amisdemeanor,afterstate Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter,R-PortAllen, said he worried the bill would turn homeless people,including veterans,into felons

“Theymay havefallenon hard times andthey’re in atough spot,” said Kleinpeter.“On the second offense, we’regoing to turn them into afelony —I think thathinders them if theyget their life back on track.”

On Tuesday afternoon, MichaelDorseywas wheelinga small suitcase under the Pontchartrain Expressway,trying to figure out where to spend the night after reaching the end of the 21 days in arow allowed at theNew Orleans Mission

Dorsey said he worries aboutmissingachance to getinto apermanent housingprogram if he endsup in jail.

“Toput me in jail and force me through aprogram, to pay for beingin jail, the court costsand all that,”said Dorsey. “You’re putting me there at atime whenanopportunity might come along.”

Second person arrested in robberyscheme

BY MICHELLE HUNTER Staff writer

More than aweek after a19-year-old manwas shot and killed during an attempted robbery in Grand Isle,authorities announced thearrest of asecondsuspect in thecase.

Jordan Morvant, 20, of Thibodaux, was booked Saturday with conspiracy to commitarmed robbery, according to the Grand Isle Police Department. His arrest waspartofthe JeffersonParish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce’songoing investigation into theApril 21 death of Drevon Mixon

Another suspect, Wallace Ledet, 18, of Grand Isle, wasarrested April 26 and booked with manslaughter,conspiracy to commit armed robbery and attempted armed robbery Authorities have notreleased anydetails about Morvant’salleged involvementinthe plot. Butinvestigators say Mixon andLedet, the stepson of an unnamed GrandIslepoliceofficer, hatched ascheme to rob three people who thought they’dbebuying drugs from

GUILTY

Continued from page1B

was blunt force trauma, according to the St.Tammany Parish coroner Sims said on Tuesday thathis office had been pursuing the deathpenaltyfor thekillings until the defense counsel presented evidence of Tyson’sintellectual impairment weeksago. The defense provided evidence, according to Sims, thatincluded historical IQ tests showing Tyson’sintellectual disabilities going back to childhood. They also introduced MRIfindings that showed traumatic brain injury.

Sims said that because of Tyson’simpairments, the U.S. Supreme Court caseAtkinsv.Virginia likely would have prevented the death penalty from being carried out.

In thatcase, the court ruled that executing a person with intellectual disabilities violates the Eighth Amendment ban

PAYROLL

the chance to win abasket of strawberries or alion’s mane mushroom kit.

“The energy is really high,” she said. Other staffers on Tuesday hopped aboard alarge bus to visit several nonprofitorganizations hoping to benefit from the event, including CommonGround,Bridge House and The 18th Ward. More than 16,200 donors had signed up as of Tuesday afternoon. Visitors to the Give NOLA website had the option of selecting individual nonprofits to support, and they could see how much in cash each organization had raised that day

“Weare working hard to make sure that all of the folks in our region have the opportunity to really easily support the nonproﬁts that make such abig difference in our lives,” said Andy Kopplin, the foundation’s president and CEO.

For the NOLA Tree Project, which maintains New Orleans’ tree canopy, donations made Tuesday will support needed maintenance of the city’solder trees, Executive Director Connie Uddo said. The organization had raised about $3,300 as of Tuesday afternoon; Uddo saidithoped to raise $5,000 to $10,000.

Give NOLADay comes at atime when the NewOrleans Department of Parks and Parkways, which also manages thecity’s green spaces, has cut funds, which makes the NOLA Tree Project’s work allthe more vital, she said. “It’s great because it gives everyone anice boost,” Uddo said.

Second HarvestFood Bank, meanwhile, set a goal of raising $100,000. By Tuesday afternoon, it was nearly halfway there.

Second Harvest distributes food to 23 parishes in Louisiana.

SecondHarvest’slargest summer food effort in its history will takeplace June 1, said itsCEO,Jon Toups. He saidhelooks forwardto having theirbest year yet.

“Weare preparingtoserve literally 10,000 meals aday 10,000 kids,”Toups said.

Toups said SecondHarvest has distributed roughly abillion pounds of food in its 43 years. By Tuesday afternoon, the

top three nonproﬁtswith the most dollars raised were Ogden Museum of Southern Art, Louise S. McGehee School and unCommon Construction, which had raised around $208,000, $198,000 and $106,000, respectively An hourly“Rock Around theClock” event on Tuesday gave additional bonuses to individual organizations. Donations start at $10, and there is no maximum donation Individualscan donate at givenola.org.

thepair

The three people drove to an RV parkinthe 3100 block of La.1,whereMixon lives, about11:20 p.m.Instead of sellingnarcotics, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto saidMixonbrandished a weapon to rob them. Oneofthe peopleinside the vehiclewas also armed andopenedfire, hitting Mixon. The would-be buyers drove away but stopped afew blocks from the RV park to call police, authorities said. Mixon waspronounced deadatthe scene.The person who shot Mixon was notarrested, according to Lopinto,who said investigators believe the shooting was justiﬁed Grand Islepolice, however,have said the three people inside the vehicle may stillfacedrug-related charges.

Morvant was being held Tuesday at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna in lieu of $250,000 bail.

Email Michelle Hunter at mhunter@theadvocate. com.

on cruel and unusual punishment.

“This outcome should notbeinterpreted as a reﬂection on whetherthe deathpenaltywould otherwise be appropriate, Simssaid. Relatives of Young and Pratscould not be reached on Tuesday.Inanews release, Simssaid his ofﬁce had multiple discussions with thefamilies and that they had agreed to negotiations.

“This is one of the most tragic situations I’ve been involved in in my career,” Kerry Cuccia, one of Tyson’sfour defense attorneys, said. “There were clearly mental healthissues at thevery heart of this thing.”

“I think he certainly is verysatisﬁed and appreciative of theconsideration given to him by the victim’sfamily in asituation where it would be easy forthem not to give him any consideration,” shesaid.

As part of the plea agreement,Tyson will be held on deathrow,Sims said.

Gallagher

Continued from page1B

duty,” the reportstates.

NOPD supervisors shared their login credentials, allowing ofﬁcersto enter and approve their owntime. Some supervisors allowed officers to workremotely,despite policies limiting such arrangements

The NOPD did not respond to arequest for comment.

At least two NOPD officers, Chad Cockerham and Henry Burke,have been ﬁred this year following payroll investigations.

Former officer Jeffrey Vappie was indicted last year on charges including wire fraud in connection with about $7,000 in allegedly falsiﬁed payroll records submitted during histimespent with former Mayor LaToya Cantrell as her bodyguard.

The department has implemented guardrails includingbiometric time clocks and acentralized system to track off-duty work and prevent “double-dipping” by logging on-dutyand paid detail hourssimultaneously.But despite recent ﬁrings,arrests and afederal probe in 2021, payroll fraud remains “endemic” within the NOPD, according to whistleblower and UNO chemistry professor Skip

“Thereare so many methods of cheating,” Gallagher said. “The double dipping is gone. But now ofﬁcers cheat in adifferent way.” Gallagher estimates that payroll fraud has costtaxpayers millions of dollars for services never rendered —losses the OIG noted are especially significant as more than 50 NOPD civilian employees face furloughs due to the city’sbudget crisis “As the city contends with abudget shortfall, to the degree of furloughing city workers, it is imperative that the NOPD use public resources more efﬁciently and effectively,” Michel wrote.

STAFF PHOTO By BRETTDUKE

Alarge screen displays real-time GiveNOLA Daydonation totals as staff at the Greater New Orleans Foundation assist supporters withonline giving in NewOrleans on Tuesday

Manconvicted in 2022 fatalshooting

BY MARCOCARTOLANO Staff writer

Aman was convicted last week in thekillingofhis girlfriend nearly four years after authorities say he shot her to death, Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams announcedMonday

AjuryonApril 29 found Nickolas “Ducktape” Stackpoole, 44,guilty of second-degreemurder in the killing of Toiannie Odom, 32. He wasalso found guilty of obstruction of justice and illegal possession of aﬁrearm by afelon, court records show On Aug. 24, 2022, police found a woman, later identifiedasOdom, shot near her car in the 11000 block of ChefMenteur Highway.She was pronounced dead at the scene. Stackpoole,Odom’sboyfriend, was arrested seven monthslater at ahome in the Lower 9th Ward.Cellphone data placed Stackpoole near thescene of Odom’skilling and forensic evidence connected ashotgun found in his car to the killing, Williams said.

Witnessestestiﬁed to ongoing violence in Stackpoole and Odom’srela-

tionship,accordingtoWilliams.

“As aparent, we lie to our children, we tell them that monsters do not exist,but when you work on acase like this…you really get afeel that Nickolas Stackpooleisamonster, Matthew Derbes, assistant district attorney and lead counsel on the case, said Monday.

Darlene Brown, Odom’saunt,said her family will keep pressing on for justice through Stackpoole’ssentencing.

“For us, until we get asentence, and until we see himserving time every day behind those walls, would we be able to gettoaplacewherewecan continuetosmile about my beautiful, beautiful niece,” Brown said.

Stackpoole, who is scheduledto be sentenced by ajudge on May 12, faces amandatorylife sentence.

Williams emphasized Mondaythat resources are available to help people lookingtoescape domestic violence.

“Weunderstand that just walking away isn’tassimple as it sounds; it can becomplicated and at times dangerous. But Iwant you to know and hear this clearly,that your safety comes ﬁrst,” Williams said.

WDSU promotes Scot Piliéto station’schief meteorologist

BY KEITH SPERA Staff writer

Scot Pilié has been promoted to WDSU-TV’s chief meteorologist,the station hasannounced.

Pilié joinedWDSU on aparttime, freelance basis in October. TheNew Orleans native previously workedatWGNOTV and The Weather Channel. He and his husband, Ben Mount, alsohave asizable social media presence on TikTok, where theypostvideos about New Orleans and other towns along theGulf Coast.

“I am so excited to have Scot leading the WDSU First Warning Weather Team and most importantly bringing thepassionand expertise to keep us all safeand informed, in good timesand bad,” WDSU President and General Manager Mike Neelly said in anewsrelease.

WDSU chief meteorologist Margaret Orr,aﬁxtureatthe station for 45 years, retired in March 2024.

Damon Singleton, aSt. Augustine High School graduate and former naval ofﬁcer who joined WDSU’sweather team in 2006, had hoped to succeed Orraschief meteorologist. After learning he wouldnot become chiefmeteorologist, Singleton opted to retire from thestationinAugust2024.

Ayear later, Singletonjoined thestaffofNOLA.com and TheTimes-Picayune to deliver daily forecastsfor Wake Up NOLApresentedbyLCMC Health, aweekday morning vertical videoplatform.

Pilié also worked brieﬂyasa content creator at TheTimesPicayune in early2025, posting about the Super Bowl in New Orleansand Mardi Gras.

In August2025, WDSU named Devon Lucie as the station’schief meteorologist.But by October2025, he hadparted ways with the station after Jefferson Parishdeputies arrested him in Marrero on charges of domestic abusewithchild endangerment and resisting

arrest by refusing to identify himself.

AJesuit High School graduate, Pilié got his startinmeteorology in 2014 as asummer intern for Orr He graduated fromMississippi State University in 2016 with adegree in broadcast meteorology.Hespent three years as ameteorologistatKLAF/ KADN in Lafayette.InMay 2019, he movedtoNew Orleans to join the meteorologyteam at WGNO.

In early2021, Pilié left to become acommunications specialist at the Environmental Defense Fund. That jobproved short-lived:Six months later, in November, he moved on to the WeatherChannelinAtlanta In 2024,hemoved backto New Orleans and worked as a ﬁll-in meteorologist at WGNO. He will appear on WDSU’s newscastsat5 p.m., 6p.m.and 10 p.m.

Email KeithSpera at kspera@ theadvocate.com.

utility ofﬁcials of lacking urgency in addressing the water distribution network, much of which is nearing or past acentury old. Plans for upgrading it hadn’tbeenupdated in more than two decades.

The S&WB scrambled tocome up with an outline for the water mains that will form the basis formore detailed capital improvementplans down the road. More than $700 million in immediaterepairs and replacements for the water mainsare needed over the next two years, according to the S&WB. Billionsmore will be needed for acomplete overhaul in years to come.

In fact, the bursting water mains came as the S&WB put the ﬁnishing touches on extensive plansfor adifferent part of the water system: two

treatmentplants on each side of the Mississippi River.Those upgrades, which includea complete replacementofthe East Bank plant, are estimated to costabout $600 million over the next ﬁve years, and another $2 billion or sooverthreedecades.

Capital improvementstothe water system are traditionally funded with bonds backed by revenue from water rates, but the S&WB says existing water rates, which haven’t changed since 2020, don’tgenerate enough to issue new bonds. The up-

grades to thetreatment plants and distribution networkare almost entirelyunfundedasofnow,and public ofﬁcials have notsuggested rate hikes.

“Weare entering anew era to think about howwemakesubstantial, signiﬁcant improvements to our system on aregular pace,” Hayman said during hispresentation.

As the staggering costofﬁxing the water system becomes more evident, the S&WB is separately struggling to come up with funding fordrainage, which is adifferent system funded by property taxes, as opposed to consumptionrates that users are billed for.One of the three drainage taxes that pay for drainage operations expires next year, and S&WBofﬁcials, mindfulofthe utility’spoor favorability ratings, are worried voters won’trenew it Theexpiring millage generates morethan $20 million annually about one quarter of the S&WB’s

drainage revenue —whichisalready insufﬁcient to cover operations and maintenance. Foryears, the S&WB hasbeen working on a proposal for anew stormwater fee thatwould force tax-exempt property owners to kick in for drainage alongwitheveryone else. While astormwater fee would generate additional revenue by tapping anew group of payers, it’s not clear if it would be enough to make up for the loss of the millage or to begin chippingawayata billiondollarbackloginneeded drainage system upgrades. In any case, the S&WB fee proposal ran into interference from Moreno, who is now calling for a new proposal to combinea stormwater fee with anovel way to pay for the water system andother infrastructure. Exactlyhow the new fee —called aparcel fee would work hasn’tbeen hammered outyet.

need dental insurance in retirement.

ManyAmericans arefortunate to have dental coveragefor their entire working life,through employer-provided benefits. When those benefits end with retirement,payingdental bills out-of-pocket can come as a shock,leading peopletoput offoreven go without care.

Simplyput —without dental insurance, there may be an importantgap in your healthcarecoverage

Whenyou’recomparing plans ...

 Look forcoveragethat helps pay formajor services. Some plans maylimit thenumber of procedures —orpay forpreventive care only.

 Look forcoveragewithnodeductibles. Some plans mayrequire you to pay hundredsout of pocket before benefits are paid.

 Shop forcoveragewithnoannual maximumoncash benefits.Some plans have annual maximums of $1,000.

Medicare doesn’tpay for dental care.1

Previous dental work canwearout

Even if you’ve hadqualitydentalworkinthe past,you shouldn’t take your dentalhealth forgranted. In fact, your odds of havinga dentalproblemonly go up as youage.2

That’s right. As good as Medicare is,itwas never meanttocover everything. That means if youwant protection, youneed to purchase individual insurance.

Early detectioncan prevent small problemsfrom becomingexpensive ones

Treatment is expensive especially theservicespeople over 50 often need

The best way to preventlarge dental bills is preventive care. TheAmerican Dental Association recommends checkupstwiceayear.

Consider these national average costsof treatment. $274for acheckup $299 for afilling $1,471 foracrown.3 Unexpected bills likethiscan be areal burden, especially if you’reonafixed income

STAFF PHOTO By BEN MyERS

S&WB ExecutiveDirector RandyHaymanaddresses amostly empty gymnasium at theDryades

Albert,Carroll

Albro, Marlene

Karen

Baird,

Bellanger, Baby Ray

Brennan, Lincoln

Brooks,Alice

ButlerSr.,Darren

Byrd,Doris

DuBose,Antonio

Jacquot,Sylvia

ManeauxJr.,Paul

McGinnis, Timothy

Quirk, Shirley

Richardson, Mary

Stalcup, Thelma

Williams-Thomas, Deborah

EJefferson

Garden of Memories

ManeauxJr.,Paul

NewOrleans

Boyd Family

Bellanger, Baby Ray

ButlerSr.,Darren

Byrd,Doris

Charbonnet

Jacquot,Sylvia

Dennis FuneralHome

Brooks,Alice Greenwood

Brennan, Lincoln

Lake Lawn Metairie

Albert,Carroll

Quirk, Shirley

St Tammany

Audubon

Baird, Karen

EJ Fielding

Stalcup, Thelma

West Bank

DavisMortuary

Williams-Thomas, Deborah Obituaries

Albert, Carroll Joseph

Carroll Joseph Albert, age 93, passed away on April 30, 2026. Born on September 4, 1932, in New Orleans and aresident of Metairie. Carroll graduated from high school and went on to serve his countryin the U.S. Army. He later built along career in sales and retired from Frito-Lay. He will be remembered with respect and gratitude by all

Lombard; his parents, Lawrence and Nora H. Albert; and his brother in law, Vernon Kliebert, Sr. He is survived by hisdaughters, Ann AlbertTaravella (Marc) and Mary Beth Albert Lassere(David);his step daughter,Wendy Lombard; his stepson, Paul Lombard; his grandchildren, Michael Taravella (Rebecca),Daniel Taravella, David(D.J.) Lassere, and JamieGates Nipe (David);his greatgrandchildren, Evelyn and Lena Taravella,Jaxon and Colton Keller,and Bailey, AshtinStuartand Peyton Nipe;his great-great grandchildren, Elijah JamesStuart; and his sister, Marlene A. Kliebert The family wouldliketo give special thanks to the staffatMetairie Healthcare Center fortheir care and kindness. In lieu of flowers, the familyasks you toconsider adonation to acharity of your choice in Carroll's name. Visitationwillbeheldat Lake LawnMetairie Funeral Home,5100 PontchartrainBlvd., New Orleans,LAonMay 9, 2026, from 9:00amto10:00am. A Funeral Mass willbegin at 10:00am. Graveside will follow in Lake LawnPark

Albro, Marlene Babin

Marlene Babin was born in New Orleans on August 3, 1936 to George J. Babin and OraMay FiegelBabin. Shewas the oldest of five children having two youngersisters, Royce and Margaret("Ray"), and two youngerbrothers,Ernest and GeorgeJr("Roy"). While stillinhighschool, Marlene met her future husband, JohnAlbro Jr at abackyarddance. They marriedonJanuary29, 1955.Together they founded and ran numerous businessesinthe IrishChannel including abar,a neighborhood grocery, and even adonut business. In 1969, they welcomed their only child Anissa into their lives.Inaddition to being adevoted mom, Marlene stayed busy outside the home, workingat several different shops along Magazine Street, servinginthe PTA, and belonging to several social clubs including the Eleventh WardLadies Club and The Clique Club Following John's retirement, they went on to organize and lead group bus tours with aloyal following of family and friends. After John died in 2003, Marlene movedtoAustin to be near Anissa andher husband. Shebecamea parishionerand member of the SeniorWomen's Club at St.LouisCatholic Churchand aregular at water aerobics at thenearby gym. She soon welcomed her belovedgranddaughter, Evan Louise, to the world. Memaw" hosted Evan most Saturdays forpizza and movie nights. In addition to her parents and herhusband Marlene was precededin death by hersiblings Ray and Roy. She is survived by her daughterAnissa Albro

Allbritton, son-in-law Jack "Lee" AllbrittonJr, granddaughter Evan Allbritton, sisterRoyce Bowman and brotherErnest Babin, as wellasa host of friends and family.She willbe sorelymissed, especially at family holiday get-togethers (where youcould always count on her to tell youexactly what she thought of your outfit and/ or your latesthairstyle!) But we willtakecomfort in allthe cherished memories we have.

Baird, Karen Ruth Linhardt

KarenRuthLinhardt

Baird,ofSlidell, Louisiana, passedawayonApril 30, 2026, at theage of 78, leav‐ing behind alifemarkedby devotionand steadfast lovefor herfamily. She was born October25, 1947, inSt. Louis, Missouri, to her loving parents, thelate Carleen Schultz Linhardt and Edward H. Linhardt

Karen is thebeloved wife ofWilliam RichardBaird Jr.;adoredmotherofCar‐rie BairdNettles (Cris), Anne BairdBrandt, and WilliamRichard BairdIII (Lana); proudgrandmother ofBlake Baird(Dari), Zoe Nettles,CateNettles, William“Liam”Richard Baird IV,AubreyBrandt, and Ryan Baird; andtrea‐sured sister of Joan E. Schepis.She also leaves behind, to cherishher memory, ahostofex‐tendedfamilymembers and dear friends. Karen graduated from John Mc‐Donogh High School and later earned aBachelorof Science in Biology from Texas ChristianUniversity. Karen wasformerlyem‐ployedasanofﬁce man‐agerfor SlidellFamilyDen‐tal Care,where shewas re‐spected forher profession‐alism,reliability,and kind manner. Shealsodevoted herself to herhomeand familyasa homemaker, a roleshe embraced with pride anddedication. Karen wasdeeply involved inher community andwas a foundingBoard Member ofthe KreweofSeleneCar‐nival Club.She valued friendship, tradition, and the joyofsharedcelebra‐tion. Shewas also an avid bowler, andshe found hap‐pinessinbakingcookies, pies, andcakes forthose she loved. Afterretirement, Karen spenther time en‐joyingthe simple plea‐sures that meantthe most toher.She lovedbeing withher family, playing cards,sewing, andcruis‐ing.These moments brought herhappiness and gaveher theopportunity to spend time with thepeople she lovedmost. Hergrand‐childrenand herdogs were her prideand joy, andshe cherished hertimespent withthem. Karenwillbe rememberedfor herloving heart,her devotion to fam‐ily,and themanywaysshe enrichedthe livesofthose around her. Shewillbe deeply missedand forever heldinthe hearts of those who knew andloved her. Relatives andfriends are invited to attend avisita‐tiononFriday, May8,2026, from6:00p.m.to9:00p.m atAudubon FuneralHome inSlidell. Memories and condolencesmay be ex‐

pressedatwww.Audubon FuneralHome.com

Bellanger, Baby Ray Gordon 'Ray'

Baby Ray“Ray” Gordon Bellanger,82, passedaway onApril 15, 2026. Born in LakeCharles,LAonMarch 7,1944, shespent most of her life in NewOrleans,LA. Ray graduatedfromW.O BostonHighSchool in Lake Charles,LA. Following graduation, shemarried Harry D. Bellanger, and theysettled in NewOr‐leans,LA. From theirunion two daughterswereborn, Tynia Bellangerand the lateCarla Reese. Ray workedatCharity Hospital and wasa member of St Mark’s4th BaptistChurch Ray is preceded in death byher parents, Louisand TenaGordon; husband, Harry D. Bellanger; daugh‐ter,Carla B. Reese, and11 siblings. Sheissurvivedby her daughter,Tynia A. Bel‐langer; grandchildren, Reneé D. Reese, Donald (Oshé)Reese, Jr., Jazzma Reese, andReginaldBel‐langer; great-grandchil‐dren, Ross L. Roussell,II and CarlaM.Reese; anda hostoffamilyand friends. Familyand friendsare in‐vited to attend theFuneral Service on Friday,May 8, 2026, at TheBoydFamily FuneralHome, 5001 Chef Menteur Hwy.,New Or‐leans,LA70126 for1:30 p.m.Visitationwillbegin at 12:30 p.m. Rev. Dr.Robert Turner, Sr.ofﬁciating. In‐terment is private. Guest‐book Online:www.anewtra ditionbegins.com(504)2820600. Linear BrooksBoyd and DonavinD.BoydOwn‐ers/FuneralDirectors

Brennan, LincolnDavid

LincolnDavid Brennan was born August 26, 1925, inMetairie, LA.Hehas been alifelongresidentof Metairie, LA (Old MetairieHog Alley).Hepassed awaypeacefully at his homeof66years on April 29, 2026, at theage of 100.

He is preceded in deathby his wife,VirgieMary Dufrene Brennan; his daughter, Lynn MarieBren‐nan;his parents, Harold GeorgeBrennan andEtelka LouiseLincoln;and his three brothers,HaroldG Brennan,Jr.,JohnJ.Bren‐nan,and Albert P. Brennan. Heissurvivedbyhis three lovingchildren, Ann Pineau, CarolB Ricau (PatrickRicau), andLin‐colnD Brennan, Jr.(Kerrin Brennan), 13 loving grand‐children, and28loving Great-grandchildren.Lin‐colnwas agraduateof MetairieHighSchool which he completedafter heenlistedinthe United StatesNavyonNovember 5,1943, at theage of 17 duringWorld WarII. After being honorablydis‐charged,hereturnedhome toMetairie, where he, along with afriend, started their business, Brennan& Bostick Sheet Metal& Roofing Repairs. When the KoreanWar arose, he left his business andjoinedthe conflict. Again, after re‐turning home with an hon‐orabledischarge,he founded hisown business, Brennan Roofing andSheet Metal,which he retired fromatthe ageof86. Lin‐colnwas devotedtohis familyand community Familywas most important tohim.Hewas always proud of alltheir accom‐plishmentsand partici‐pated in alltheir events.By becominga member of the AmericanLegionPost350, a chartermemberofVFW Post6640, TheBenevolent and Protective Orderof Elks#30 anda longtime memberofFriends of Jef‐fersonParish, formerly known as theGood Ole BoysofMetairie. As oneof the firstparishionerstobe baptizedinthe parish of St Francis Xavier Church in Metairie, he hasremained a lifelong member untilhis death.OnApril 23, 2018, he had thehonor of riding on the USSKearsarge,a naval boatinNew Orleans. On October 30, 2022, he was honored with Dream Flights to flya planelike thatwhich he had flown duringthe war, builtin 1943. On November 8, 2025, hewas theGrand Marshall ofthe Veterans DayParade inLakeviewinNew Or‐leans.Hehas been the Grand Marshofthe Elks of Jefferson Parade,the Hara‐han ChristmasParade, and the IrishParadeon MetairieRoad. Lincolnwas recentlyhonored by Jeffer‐son Parish on his100th birthday with therenaming

of hisstreet (Lincoln Bren‐nan Way),followedbya celebration of hisbirthday atthe Elk’sclubin Metairie, where he was honored with songsfrom WWII by theDixie Bell’s fromthe D-DayMuseumin New Orleans. He will be deeply missedand loved byall who knew him. Pleaseprayfor therepose ofhis soul andall thoseof the faithfuldepartedto restinpeace.Relatives and friends areinvited to visit St. FrancisXavierChurch, 444 Metairie Road Metairie, LA 70005, on Thursday,May 7, 2026 startingat10:00 AM.A Fu‐neral Mass will follow the visitationat12:00 PM.Bur‐ial to immediatelyfollowat the Greenwood Mau‐soleum. We also invite you toshare your thoughts, fondmemories, andcon‐dolencesonlineatwww greenwoodfh.com.Your sharedmemorieswillhelp uscelebrate Lincoln’slife and keep hismemoryalive

Brooks wasborn on September 7, 1943 in NewOrleans,LAtothe late William andEvelyn Nickles. she transitionedfromthis life on April 28, 2026. She was82yearsyoung. Shewas preceded in death by herparents, William andEvelyn Nickles 3brothers, 2sisters, and 1 daughter, Karen Hurst. Sheleaves to cherish herpreciousmemories; herlovinghusband,Ellery (Costly) Brooks; son,Kevin Buck Nickles;daughter, DorethaKerdell Nickles; daughter-in-law, Donetta AllenNickles;stepson Byron Brooks, 6sisters, 3 brothers, grandsons, Nolan Hurst,Gerald and FerdinandNickles;granddaughters, Jeanie Thomas Danielleand Keva Hurst; herdevoted cousin Elizabeth "Liz"Landry, and ahostofnieces, nephews,

Brooks, Alice

Alice

cousins, great-grandchildren, and friends. Relatives and friends of the family are invited to attend aFuneralService at First Zion Baptist Church, 1221 S. Causeway, Jefferson, LA, on Thursday, May 7, 2026, at 11:00 AM. Visitation begins at 10:00 AM. Pastor GraylinBurl, officiating. Interment: Garden of Memories Cemetery. Arrangements entrusted to Dennis Funeral Home, 1812 Louisiana Ave., New Orleans, LA. Please visit www.dennismortuaryservi ce.com to sign the online guestbook.

Darren Butler Sr.passed awayonApril 16, 2026,at the ageof56. Darren is sur‐vived by hischildren, Dar‐ren Butler Jr., FaithPrice and Danial Price-Butler.He isalsosurvivedbysiblings HilliardButlerJr.,(Sheryl), Sybil Butler Hall and Oolinka Butler anda host ofother relativesand friends.Precededindeath byhis mother,Audrey Septh Butler,father, HilliardButlerSr.,and his brother,RickeyButlerSr. Familyand friendsare in‐vited to attend theCele‐bration of Life Serviceon Thursday,May 7, 2026, for 1:30p.m.atThe Boyd Fam‐ily FuneralHomelocated at 5001 Chef MenteurHwy., New Orleans, LA 70126. Vis‐itation will beginat12:30 p.m.PastorRobertBrown ofﬁciating. Guestbook On‐line: www.anewtraditionbe gins.com(504)282-0600 LinearBrooksBoydand Donavin D. Boyd Own‐ers/Funeral Directors.

Byrd,Doris

DorisByrdentered eter‐

nal rest on April27, 2026, at the ageof71. Sheissur‐vived by herpartner,Jef‐feryLawson; hersix chil‐dren, ChantelleByrd Matthews(George III) PrinceByrd(Rosalind), Erika Lawson,Anjanique Lawson(Andre),Trevor LawsonSr. (Sherrie), and Aaron Lawson (Lashanda); twentyfourgrandchildren; six great-grandchildren; one sister,Josie Cooper; and threebrothers, Amos Isiah,and AaronByrd. She isalsosurvivedbyher three godchildren—Sharon Coleman,TravisHamburg and Monika Gayden—and a hostofrelatives and friends.She waspreceded indeath by herparents, Easterand Willie Byrd; her son,Tremaine; andher brothersWillieJr. Sylvester,Johnny, Kenneth, and George.The family in‐vites allrelatives and friends to join in honoring and Celebratingthe Life of Doris Byrd on Friday,May 8,2026, for11:00 a.m. at Regular BaptistChurch, 901 5th Street,Gretna, LA 70053. Visitation will begin at10:00 a.m. Reverend Roo‐seveltWashington, Ofﬁ‐ciant.Interment will follow atRestlawnParkCeme‐tery, 3540 US 90,Avondale, LA70094. Guestbook On‐line: www.anewtraditionbe gins.com(504)282-0600 LinearBrooksBoydand Donavin D. Boyd Own‐ers/Funeral Directors.

DuBose, Antonio Plumbers & Steamfitters Local Union 60: Funeral services willbe held for our late Brother Antonio DuBose on Wednesday, May 6, 2026 at Tracy Morton Memorial Chapel, Pensacola,FL. By order of Jacob R. Newton, President Attest: Ronald R. Rosser Business Manager

Sylvia R.Jacquot passed awayonMonday, May4, 2026 at theage of 89. Sylvia was born on March8,1937 toLeroy andIsabelB.Robi‐net.She worked as asecre‐taryinthe OrleansParish School system until herre‐tirementfromFrederick A. Douglas High School in 2001. Sylvia is survived by her companionof44years, Emile J. Martin Jr.; onesonin-law, GarryColeman;one sister, Brenda Nunnally; and caregivers,Cynthia Christian andCyrilliaDup‐lessis; as well as ahostof nieces, nephews, otherrel‐ativesand friends. Shewas precededindeath by her parents,Leroy andIsabel Robinet;daughter, Crystal J.Coleman;sisters,Martha R.Coleman andOliviaR Thomas. Aviewing will be heldinthe Chapel at Char‐bonnetLabat GlapionFu‐neral Home,1615 St.Philip Street,New Orleans, LA 70116 on Thursday.May 7, 2026 from 4:00 -6:00pm. BurialPrivate.Pleasesign the online guestbook at www.charbonnetfuneralho me.com. Charbonnet Labat Glapion Directors,(504) 581-4411.

Paul ManeauxJr. passed peacefullyathomesur‐rounded by love andfamily onApril 22, 2026 at theage of87. Paul affectionately known as “Doc”, wasborn April 14, 1939 in St.Mart‐inville,LAtothe late Paul and Gussie Maneaux. He is survivedbyhis spouse, Genevia Clark; hisfour dedicated children:PaulIII, Cornelius,Chauntelle,and GenordManeaux;his four beautiful grandchildren: Cornelius,Jason,Kion, and KadeManeaux;aswellas his devotedniecesand nephews.Relatives and friends of thefamily, em‐ployees of LSUHealthcare Network Multi-Specialty Clinics,UMC speech and ENTclinic,and Touroinﬁr‐mary(W5, M8 nursing units and respiratory dept.) areinvited to attend the visitation on Friday May 8, 2026 at Garden of MemoriesFuneralHome& Cemetery, 4900 Airline Drive,Metairie, LA 70001 from12:00 pm to 1:00 pm followedbyMassofChrist‐ian Burial at 1:00 pm RepasttofollowatGarden ofMemoriesFuneralHome. You maysignthe guest‐book online at www.gar denofmemoriesmetairie com. Garden of Memories FuneralHomeinchargeof arrangements.

McGinnis, TimothyBryan

Timothy Bryan McGinnis Sr. (Pops) entered into his eternal rest on April29, 2026.Hewas doing what he loved most, spending time with his childrenand grandchildreninWest Virginia, whathereferred to as God's Country He is survived by his Mother: Winifred Robinson McGinnis; Children: Carol McGinnis (Charles) and Timothy McGinnisJr. (Michelle); Grandchildren: Kaylee Lawtum, Frank Lamonte IV, Carter McGinnis and Cambri McGinnis; Siblings:Cheryl McGinnis (Ed Woolman), Thomas "Skip" McGinnis III (Lauren),Shannon Cummings (Jim)and Sheilah Orgeron(Ray). He was precededin death by hisFather: Thomas McGinnisJr.; Paternal Grandparents:

Thomas McGinnis Sr. and Verna Schuler McGinnis; Maternal Grandparents: Frank RobinsonSr. and Ida LaGrandRobinsonand his Best Friend: ManuelRotolo Jr Timothywas born in Philadelphia, PA and raised in Harvey,LA. He graduated fromWestJefferson High School and then spent 41 years working as adispatcherfor Carlo Ditta. In his spare time, he enjoyed hunting, fishing, reading, crossword puzzles,spending time with friends and family and travelling to WestVirginia. Pops was alocal weatherman, unmatched storyteller and an expert on all thingsbigfoot. What he lovedmost was being a grandfather and talking abouthis grandchildren was somethingthat worked itsway intoevery conversation. He was larger than life with apersonality that put asmileonanyone's face he encountered. He willbe greatlymissedbyall who knew him. Acelebrationof life will be held from4:00 PM to 7:00 PM on 2026-0508 at Stonebridge Country Club, 1500 Stonebridge Dr.

ShirleyHaydelQuirk

entered eternal rest on Tuesday, April 28, 2026. Belovedwife of thelate RonaldE.Quirk, stepmother of Ronald E. Quirk, Jr., LeslieQ.Reid, and thelate SharonQ.Pepper. Step grandmother of Lauren Pepper and Alaina Quirk. Daughter of thelate Alfred F. Haydel of BelleHelene and thelate MarieDaigle Haydel of Dutchtown. Sister of Maude H. Temento. She was preceded in deathbyher siblings Alfred F. Haydel,Jr.,Marie H. Uzee, Georgette H. Chachere, and Irene H. Warren. She is survivedby many nieces and nephews, grandnieces and nephews and greatgrand nieces and nephews. Shirley was born in Westwego, LA., educated at WestwegoHigh School and Dominican CollegeofNew Orleans. She was employedfor 30 years in NewOrleans, Metairieand Atlanta,GA as an administrative assistant. She has been aresident of Kenner,LAfor the past 29 years. In lieu of flowers,Massesora donation to Divine Mercy Catholic Church in Kenner, LA preferred. Relatives and friends are invited to attend services forShirley at Divine Mercy Catholic Church, 4337 Sal Lentini Pkwy Kenner, LA on Thursday, May 7, 2026. Visitationwillbefrom 10:00am untilMass begins at 12:00pm. Interment will follow in AllSaints Mausoleum.

Richardson, Mary Ethel

Mary Ethel Richardson, 75, of NewOrleans, passed away on April 16, 2026, surrounded by lovedones. BornJanuary 1, 1951, she was adevoted caregiver who served at Charity Hospitaland in private care, known forher compassionand dedication. Mary was abeloved wife to thelateWilliam Richardson III, afaithful member of St.Maria GorettiCatholicChurch, and ajoyful presence at family events and community gatherings. She is survivedbyher five daughters, many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and ahost of loving family &friends. AMass celebrating her life will be held May 7, 2026, at St. Peter ClaverCatholicChurch for 9:00am.

Thelma Jo CallStalcup, age90, of Mandeville, Louisiana, passed away on Wednesday, April22, 2026. She wasborn on February 7, 1936, in Gober, Texas, one of 10 childrenofBill and Willie Williams Call. She was agraduateof Bailey HighSchool and East Texas State University. She also studiedatSouthwestern TheologicalSeminary in FortWorth, Texas where she met and marriedthe love of her life.They spent their 58 years of marriage in Texas,New Mexico, and Louisiana. Following college graduationThelma spent 6years teaching Physical Educationinthe Dallas and Arlingtonschoolsystems.

Thelma spent five years teaching at MeadowsDraughns Business College in NewOrleans then went on tobeAssistant to the Headmistress at Louise S. McGeheeSchool where she spent thelast sixteen years before retirement.

Thelma's love of sewing not onlylead to alifetime hobby butalso professional dressmaking and alterations. She spent many hoursmaking lovely quilts and wallhangings. Other hobbiesincluded reading andplaying card games with friendsinthe Northshore Newcomers Club. She spent many hourswiththe Hosana Quilters makingquilts to be donated to hospitals, hospices, and otherphilanthropicorganizations. Her quilts willbecherished by her family for many years to come. She willbedearly missed by allofher loving family and friends.

Thelma and Bob enjoyed travelingthroughout the states,Canada, Mexico, and Europe Sheissurvivedbyher children, Jeffrey Lee Stalcup (Jackie) and David Scott Stalcup (Rhonda); grandchildren, Alexandra PaigeStalcup,Gabriel Scott Stalcup, and Amber ElizabethStalcup (Garrett); and great-grandson, Kieran. She is also survived by her sisters,Nancy Call Alexander (Donald),Retha Call Owens, and Carolyn CallJohnson (Jimmy); and many extended family members and friends.

She was preceded in death by her loving husband of 61 years, Dr. Bobby Lee Stalcup;her parents, Willie RayCalland Willie Pettus Williams Call; and siblings, DorisCallMackey, Imogene Call Sells, John Call, Royce Call, Loyce Call Murley,and Sophie Call Lansdell.

Relatives and friends are invitedtoattend the memorial serviceson Friday, May 8, 2026, at 11:00 AM at Covington Presbyterian Church, 222 S. JeffersonAvenue, Covington, Louisiana.

E. J. FieldingFuneral Home of Covington, Louisiana, is honoredtobe entrusted with Mrs. Stalcup'sfuneral arrangements. Her family invites youtoshare thoughts, memories,and condolences by signing an online guestbookat www.ejfieldingfh.com

Williams-Thomas, DeborahRhea'Nunnie'

DeborahRhea“Nunnie Williams-Thomas, age78, passedpeacefully in her sleep at home with herde‐voted nieceJerlindaand husband in Humble,TXon Thursday,April 23, 2026

She wasa native of New Orleans,LAand aresident ofHumble, TX.Deborah was educated in theOr‐leans Parish School System and latergainedemploy‐mentwiththe school sys‐tem as aFoodService Technician. After, many years of dedicatedservice, Deborah retiredand be‐camea PrivatePersonal Caregiver.Devoted mother ofthe late EdwinLee Thomas, Jr.and Michael Christopher Thomas.Lov‐ing grandmotherofEdwin L.Thomas, III, AriannaL Thomas, Devontay Ray‐ﬁeld, andEdmondA.(Shar‐iann) Thomas.Great grandmother of Chosen Bolden, SkyMims, Edwin Mims, E’risThomas, De‐lahni Thomas,Elanii Thomas, andEvyanna Thomas. Daughter of the lateTheodoreAuthor Williams andEulaMae Bur‐rell-Williams.Sisterofthe lateMalenda Louise Williams-Bellazer. Aunt of Robert(Emmorey) Williams,Jerlinda(Joseph) Odum-Austin,III andFel‐ishaParker. Belovedcom‐panionofEdwin Lee Thomas, Sr.Alsocherish‐ing hermemoriesare her goddaughter LargineJohn‐son (Rodney) Fobbs, 5 great nieces 1great nephew, 3great great nieces, 3great great nephews,and ahostof other relativesand friends. Relatives andfriends of the familyare invitedtoattend the HomegoingCelebration atDavis Mortuary Service, 6820 Westbank Express‐

way, Marrero, LA on Thurs‐day,May 7, 2026, at 11:00 a.m.Rev.Aldon E. Cotton of Jerusalem Missionary Bap‐tistChurch,ofﬁciating. Vis‐itation will beginat10:00 a.m.until servicetimeat the parlor.Interment:Rest‐lawnParkCemetery, Avon‐dale, LA.Toviewand sign the guestbook,pleasego towww.davismortuaryse rvice.com.Inlieuof ﬂow‐ers,monetarydonations may be made to thefamily inc/o Jerlinda OdumAustin, III in memory of Deborah Rhea WilliamsThomas.

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OUR VIEWS

Yetagain, aJazzFest forthe ages

There was something magical about how the skies cleared and the temperature and humidity dropped for the last two glorious days of this year’sNew Orleans Jazz&Heritage Festival. In truth, throughout the festival’seight days over two long weekends,wewere reminded yet again that the annual extravaganza at the Fair Grounds is always magical, rain —and yes, we saw plenty of that too —or shine. The numbers tell part of the story.With headliners Stevie Nicks and the Eagles drawing hugecrowds both Saturdays, some 475,000 people poured through the gates. That wasn’ta record —500,000 showed up in 2024, the year the Rolling Stones ﬁnally played after twofalse starts —but it was an increase overlast year’s total attendance of 460,000. And for the ﬁrst time in the fest’shistory,organizers declared a sellout on the second Saturday

The rest of the tale played out in countless individualpleasures: The discovery of an upand-coming local band or chance tosee aliving legend up close. Hearing multiple Grammywinner and Kenner native Jon Batistehappily shout “Hello, Home” from the big stage, watching Baskin native Lainey Wilson gamelyplay throughatorrential storm or dancing tohomegrown superstar Trombone Shorty’sannual closing set. The transporting tasteofanold favorite dish or that rare new one that made organizers’ exacting cut (charbroiled oysters? Yes, please). Encounterswithold friends we see yearafter year and new ones we meet in the bathroom line. And everywhere, Louisiana’s easygoing, welcoming vibe.

We’re always gratiﬁedtowatch fest visitors absorb what makes this place special. This year,that number included singer and Georgia native Teddy Swims, who graciously donned aSaints jersey forhis Festival Stage set, and also found time to sing on Bourbon Street and discoverthe wonders of Irma Thomas’ voice. We’re also keenly aware thatittakes avillage to make all this areality.Sowewant to salute everyone involved —the musicians, the vendors, the legions of volunteers —for doing their part with such gusto. We also want to recognize the companies that make the fest ﬁnancially feasible, including title sponsor Shell, which stepped up in the dark days after Hurricane Katrina and has now been backing the fest for two decades.

And it’snot like Jazz Fest is the only thing going on. New Orleans wrapped up French Quarter Festjust days before the Fair Grounds gates opened. Downtown Lafayettehosted Festival International de Louisiane, another of our state’sgems, at the same time. Countless other cultural celebrations large, medium and small dot the calendar all over Louisiana.

These festivals are important economic drivers, and we know that Jazz Fest whets visitors’ and locals’ appetites to explore further

We also know how lucky we are that we have this all in our backyards —and thatweget to do it again next year

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE

WELCOME. 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.

TO SEND US A LETTER, SCANHERE

Bill won’tsolve S&WB governance problems

Pending before thestate Legislature is abill that would grant New Orleans City Council legislative authority over theSewerage &Water Board. The bill would not solve theS&WB’sproblems. It promises to exacerbate them

The S&WB suffers from afractured governance system,characterized by amisalignment of responsibilities and powers. It is tasked withdelivering water,sewer and drainage services, but it does not control the funding required to do so. That authorityrests with the City Council.

This structure guarantees dysfunction:Those responsible forperformance lack resources, while those controlling resources avoid accountability. The consequences of thecurrent arrangement are evident. Decades of inadequate investment have left critical infrastructure deteriorating, with much of thesystem far beyond itsuseful life. Available resources are wholly inadequate to meet critical needs. For example, after operating costs and debt service, theS&WB has about $3 millionannually for drainage capital improvements.

Avisit to the Goldring/Woldenberg Riverfront Parkduring French Quarter Festconﬁrmed my sense that New Orleansismovinginto anew,positive era. While fate seems intent on the city spending 2026 unearthing and addressing surprises from thepast, this park represents everything that awaits New Orleans: acommunity thriving outside amid the arts.

The design beneﬁts from its natural surroundings, of course, but the pastoral pleasure is multiplied by the planted shade trees whose gifts, even in their nascent state, are providing thekind of frictionless existence that so manypeople online wish for in thereal world. Nestled between two stages of music and an avenue of culinary delights, theEpicurean in me is left only to wonder where else might we entrust thevisionaries behind this park to worktheir magic, for this approach to infrastructure —more Green Thumb than Midas Touch —is

It is time to resolvethe structural dilemma that has strangled the utility for so long. This can be done by making the S&WB independent of the city government or by incorporating it fully into that government. Since the former appears to be politically unrealistic, we think it is time to pursue the latter The city should be given full responsibilityfor the S&WB. The utility should be folded intolocal government.

There are risks involved in transferring theS&WB to agovernment entity whose historic performance leaves muchtobedesired. But the current arrangementisworse. It allows the City Council to constrain funding while disclaiming responsibility forthe results.

The city cannot function without sewer,water and drainage. If the council controls the funding, it must also own the outcomes. The timefor divided responsibility has passed.

LYNES R. SLOSS JANET R. HOWARD formermembers, NewOrleans Sewerage& Water Board

part of the healing. It’snosecret that thedigital revolution of this century’sﬁrst quarter has diminished our social behavior and dented our collectivesense of morality,but apark like this reimagines a future that seems bedeviled by doom scrolls. Instead of the worst scenarios, what if kids start going outside again? What if sweet music andacool breeze are better therapists than AI bots? What if we learn to co-exist with each other and our environment? No place on earthhas the secret weapon of homegrown culture like New Orleans to combat the artiﬁcial, algorithmic plans of technocrats, and Itrust our leaders to choose play,dance and joy over the alternative. As they say, “If you build it,they will come.” Further investment in parks like the one at Gov.Nicholls Street wharf may just save theplanet.

ANDREWGIBBS NewOrleans

It’s concerning that the restoration of Lincoln Beach is still adream deferred. The narrative seemstobe delay,put off, postpone and reschedule. Being close and almost there have been the phrases of the hopeful foryears now.Commissions were formed, task forces were appointed and committees werecreated each with the purpose of revitalizing Lincoln Beach.

Ihave heard manywonderful stories about Lincoln Beach and how it wasanenjoyable place to be. Families had agreat time, whether it was swimming or other social activities. Lincoln Beach gave residents aplace to be proud of and to have fun. Many folks came as strangers and, because of Lincoln Beach, leftasfriends, somelifelong friends.

Why is it that work started simply can’tbecompleted? Roadblocks and detours have stiﬂed this goal. The inner workings of government at any level are complex and complicated. Those in charge and elected have the answers and maybe the explanations. All that is clear to me is that NewOrleans East has taken another blow.Citizens like me whoreside here just endure the promises made to do better Is having to waituntil 2027 the end, or will something else get in the way? That seemstobethe question when it comes to someprojects and programsinour fair city.Are urban planners involved in this process?

Iwould humbly request that two or three updates be provided so that we can know how this initiative is progressing.

That is fair and reasonable given where we are now.Communication is apowerful tool when you want people to trust and believe in you. It may be the balm needed to heal the disappointing newsabout Lincoln Beach not opening.

JAMES EWERS JR. NewOrleans

Redistrictingreformers arehypocrites

Hypocrisy was triumphant,as it usually is in arguments over redistricting, in Virginia as votersapproved a“fairness” constitutional amendmentallowingthe Democratic-majoritylegislaturetoenact acongressional districting plan that is expected to increase Democrats’ edge in its congressional delegation from6-5 to 10-1. This is a state that former Vice President Kamala Harris carried over then-candidate Donald Trump by a52% to 46% margin Before this year,Virginia Democrats had been bragging about the bipartisan redistricting process they created and voters approvedin2020. Each party was to appoint an expert, and if they agreed on aplan, it wasadopted. After the 2020 Census, Virginia’s congressional map was drawn by politicalscientists Bernard Grofman and Sean Trende, alongtime friendof Grofman. The result was four strongly Democratic districts, fourless strongly Republican ones, two narrowly Democratic seats in Northern Virginia, and one true tossup in the Hampton Roads region In aDemocratic-leaningyear,as 2026 appears to be, Democrats could easily win seven or eight of these seats, and, in amore Republican-leaningyear than 2024, Republicans could easily winsix or maybe seven. About what you’d expect in a52-46 Democratic state But when Trump successfully urged Texas Republicans last summer to revise their post-2020 plan andsaid he hoped they might winanadditional ﬁve seats, Virginia Democrats sidelined —just temporarily,they said —their heartfelt commitment to bipartisan districting and set about putting in place their plan to gain four seats.

force in the Lower Rio Grande Valley And Virginia voters’ approval of the Democrats’ plan by only 51% to 49% margin, in astate that elected Democrat Abigail Spanberger governor last November bya 58% to 42% margin, suggests that their new bacon strip maynot elect all Democrats (my candidateisthe lobster-shaped 7th district).

Whostarted all this? Virginia

Democrats blame Texas Republicans. National Democrats, including former President Barack Obama and his attorney general, Eric Holder,blame Republicans empowered by Tea Party gains in the2010 off-year elections, just in time to redistrict with thenew 2010 Census ﬁgures.

The good news is that there’sapenalty,exacted by voters, for hypocrisy Texas Republicans’new plan looks unlikely to net the promised ﬁve seats, given the collapse of Trump’spopularity among Hispanic voters, amajority

Partisan districting goes back alot further than that. The original gerrymander was produced by America’s ﬁfthvice president, Elbridge Gerry, who was born in 1744. Gerry,arevolutionary and aditherer,signed the Declaration of Independence and attended the Constitutional Convention but declined to sign thedocument. He professed to oppose political parties but,asaMassachusetts anti-federalist, designed an Essex County district that acartoonist famously depicted as asalamander —the original gerrymander In the2000s and especially in the post-Obamacare 2010s, Republicans had ademographic advantage in redistricting: Democratic voters became highlyconcentrated in central cities, sympathetic suburbs and university towns, while Republican voters were more evenly spreadacross the restof thecountry.That Republican advantage has lessened in the Trumpyears, as manyareas outside million-plus metroareas have becomeheavily Republican, while Hispanic and Black areas in central cities, at least in 2024, have become less Democratic. Still, the most grotesquely shaped congressional districts post-2020 have been in heavily Democratic Illinois, where thedistrict shapes on amap look

like bacon strips extending outward from politically connected Chicago wards and close-in suburbs extending out across miles of prairie. Virginia Democrats’ plan, provided it’sapproved by thestate SupremeCourt, is of asimilar ilk. Youcan drive across ﬁve district lines in afew minutes in Northern Virginia’sArlington or Fairfax counties, knowing all thewhile that it might takefour or ﬁve hours to drive through those districts’ extensions out to theShenandoah Valley or Southside. Equally grotesque, in my view,are Republican mapsthat slice up Democratic central cities with just about the right population for asingle district. Examples include thepost-2020 Tennessee plan that slices up Nashville, and the post-2024 Missouri plan that slices up Kansas City. Asimilar plan in Indiana was defeated in December 2025 by Republican statesenators. It would have sliced Indianapolis four ways and divided thehistorically Democratic steel mill areas around Lake Michigan (where Chief Justice John Roberts grew up).

My own experience analyzing and occasionally drawing districts, starting in the post-1960 cycle, convinces me there’snopolitically neutral way to deﬁne what is unduly partisan districting. Supposedly nonpartisan commissions staffed by political scientists produce what you’dexpect from aprofession that votes 95% Democratic. Electing House membersstatewideorbyproportional representation severs any members’ connections with localities and disenfranchises millionsinlarge states. Virginia Democratsactually did a pretty good job of creating aminimally partisan redistricting process.Now,six years later,they’ve voted tokill it only temporarily,they say.Proof once again that, as Iwrotesome years ago, all process arguments are insincere, including this one.

Michael Barone is on X, @MichaelBarone.

Symptoms of ourgovernment’sdenial of climatechangereality areeverywhere

For some time, it’sbeen obviousthat

President Donald Trump, Gov. Jeff Landry and the politicianswho follow them are afﬂicted by CCDS andGEP

An unworkable butusefulthought experiment aboutguns

America has spent decades passing (and frequently repealing) creative ways to makeitharder to buy guns. After all that effort, what do we have to show forit? Hundreds of millions of guns in circulation and agun homicide rate of 4.7 per 100,000 people. Maybe we’re looking at the problem wrong. Maybe instead of putting so much energy into efforts to keep people from buying guns, we should be trying to change which guns they buy.Instead of trying to makegun purchases moreonerous, we should try something more radical: Help people buy long guns instead of handguns.

No, Ihaven’tgone crazy.I’ve just been reading a provocative new paper from economists Bradley Shapiro, Sara Drango and Sarah Moshary

They start from afew simple and correct premises. First, handguns are associated with more harm than long guns —they are involved in 90 percent of ﬁrearm violence and ahuge number of suicides. People own signiﬁcantly morehandguns because they are just easier to carry around and easier to conceal.

Second, mostpeople whobuy guns say they wantthem forpersonal or household safety That’sause forlong guns as well. Displacing handgun purchases with purchases of less convenient long guns could reduce the likelihood of tragedy when the owner becomes angry or despondent.

So, what if the government gave ﬁrst-timegun buyers asubsidy to choose along gun instead? If you’re thinking this is not aserious proposal, well, it isn’t, exactly.It’smore of athought experiment, not apolicy brief.The authors estimate that under optimal (read: unrealistic) conditions, their idea could prevent up to 275 deaths ayear at acost of up to $1.5 billion. Under morerealistic conditions, that number would be lower,maybe none —and it might be too costly to even consider.Other implementation hurdles would also be daunting, to say the least.

Then whyare we talking about it? Because it offers amore productive way to think about gun policy

Gunpolicy in America is often atug of warbetween two groups: people whodon’town guns and don’tsee whyanyone would wantto, and people whowant to own alot of them. The former group often seemswilling to impose any inconvenience on the latter if the intervention will be minimally effective. The latter unsurprisingly resents this and also suspects that what the other group would really like to do is take away all their guns.

That’sClimate Change Derangement Syndrome and Green EnergyPhobia —both of which are brought onbyLOM Love of Money

Bob Marshall

The symptomsinclude denying theexistence and impact of climate change even in the face of overwhelming evidence (accelerating sea level rise more and larger fires,droughts, floods and hurricanes) while fightingthe cure —the conversation to green energy with every governmental weapon at their disposal. And that’sbecause of LOM. Climate impacts, including the drowningof Louisiana’scoast, are caused byemissions from the use of oil,gas andcoal producedbyindustries funding politicians’ campaigns The last few weeks haveshown some of the most damaging examples of these maladies.

Many come from Trump’s2026-2027 budget proposal, the followingexamples of which expose the seriousness of his CCDS and GEP:

n Canceling $15.2 billion in Department of Energy funding forrenewable projects.

n Slashing $449 million from renewable energy initiatives that were part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

n A$1.6 billion cut to theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’sOfﬁce of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research targeting“climatedominated research programs.”

n Cutting $3.4 billion from the science budget of NASA, an agency Trump thinks spends too much time on climate research.

n Eliminating $4 billion in DepartmentofTransportation funds for EV charger programs,whichwould addressthe biggest concern forpotential EV buyers: ﬁnding rechargingstations.

n Endingtax credits for EV battery manufacturers, another blow to EV sales.

n Cutting U.S. contributionstothe

Global Environment Facility and Climate Investment Funds. Of course, Trump earlier withdrew from the Paris Climate Accords, joining Iran, Libya andYemen as the only nations outside that effort.

n Cutting $1.1 billion from theDOE Ofﬁce of Science, which supports national labsworking on climate issues.

n Spending billions in taxpayer money to cancel offshore wind leases, with companies agreeing to reinvest in domestic fossil fuels.

n Allocating$18 billion in new and expanded tax incentives for the oil and gasindustry,including bonuses and exemptions.

n Reducing fees energy companies pay to extract oil and gas on public lands andwaters, which meansless money to state and federal budgets.

n “Repurposing” billions in DOE fundingoriginally for green energy to “ﬁrm baseload power” like natural gas and coal.

n Slowing fees on methanegas, the mostpotent greenhouse gas, which beneﬁtsindustries producing it. Youcan see Trumpisﬂipping the script of previous Democratic and GOP administrations from trying to reduce emissions to increasing them. This, even as the costs of those impacts, including unaffordable home insurance in Louisiana, have risen tens of billionsofdollars ayear Indeed, Trump seemstobevery sick with CCDS and CEP.Ofcourse, his

Emissions rise from the smokestacks at the Jeffrey Energy Center coal powerplant as the suns sets near Emmett, Kan., in 2021. AP FILE PHOTO

LOM plays alarge role. After all, he promised all of this and more to theoil industry if they pledged $1 billion to his campaign.

Landry’ssymptomsstartwith his unqualiﬁed support for each of Trump’s moves andpromises

Butwhen you’re thepolitical leader of the state that faces the most immediateand long-term impacts from climate change, this amounts to political malpractice.

Ourcoast is considered the most vulnerable to sea level rise in thenation because it’s sinking at the sametime sea level rise is accelerating. The oil and gas industry is largely responsible for both of those disasters. It dredged more than 10,000 miles of canals to recover oil and gas, destroying the hydrology of our wetlands, and theemissions from itsproducts cause sea level rise.

ButLandry is supporting Louisiana House Bill 804, known as theLouisiana Energy Protection Act, which would deny residentstheir right to sue oil and gas companies for economic damages caused by climate change.

The only cure for CCDS and GEP is elections. Let’shope that happens before they rename ourstate Oilyana. Bob Marshall, aPulitzer Prize-winning Louisianaenvironmental journalist, can be reached at bmarshallenviro@ gmail.com, and followed on X, @BMarshallEnviro.

This is not helpful. Gunviolence is ascourge that makes all manner of things worse in society It makes cities worse because people are rationally afraid of being shot and either stay homeor take expensive countermeasures such as Ubering instead of walking. It makes policing harder because ofﬁcers are (also rationally) afraid of being shot and try to minimize that risk with preemptive aggression. It also results in countless deaths. These are bad things, and society has an interest in mitigating those harms.

But we have mostly tried to address them by making gun ownership moredifﬁcult, and that has practical as well as political problems.

The practical problem is that it’sdifﬁcult (and often unconstitutional) to enact restrictions that motivated criminals can’tget around. The political dilemma is that gun owners whobear the costs of those policies are often single-issue voters on gun control, while the other side isn’t. For people whosupport gun control, it’sone of manyleftwing policy commitments, rarely topping the list. That’swhy limiting gun access has been such a political bust, even though aclear majority of Americans support tighter restrictions.

The three economists’ paper sidesteps that debate by examining the problem purely in terms of harm reduction. It’s like safeinjection sites for drug users. Sure, we could try to hassle people until they stop using, but we tried that and people are still doing drugs, so what if we instead tried to maketheir dangerous hobby as safeaspossible?

The irony of advocating formore long guns instead of handguns is that mostpeople whosupport safeinjection sites would probably hate it, and vice versa. People have strong moral viewsabout drug use and gun ownership, and they don’twant apolicy that makes something they abhor less dangerous; they want apolicy that makes it less. Iwon’targue that they’re wrong, either.America would be abetter place with less fentanyl and fewerguns. Ijust don’tsee how to get there, and certainly not without incredible cost to personal liberty.Soit’srefreshing to consider aproposal that looks to work with gun owners instead of against them —tellingly,the title of the paper is “Firearm Policy Buyers Would Accept.” In the real world, Idoubt we’re going to pay people to buy ashotgun instead of ahandgun. But Ican’thelp wondering what other,more practical policies we might be able to develop, if more people thought about the problem like that. MeganMcArdle is on X, @asymmetricinfo. Email her at Megan.McArdle@washpost.com.

McArdle ega McArdl M n

Michael Barone

SPORTS

HOME COURTING

BY JIM KLEINPETER

Contributing writer

LSU softball and Georgia go head to head in the SEC Tournament on Wednesday at John Cropp Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky, but advancement might not be the only thing on the line.

The two teams are similarly positioned with the NCAA Tournament looming, and this game could wind up as somewhat of a tiebreaker on Selection Sunday No. 18 LSU (37-16, 13-11 SEC) ﬁnished eighth in the conference standings, and No. 17 Georgia (36-17, 12-12) ﬁnished

ninth. They are in the second tier of teams ﬁghting to host a regional. LSU has a No. 11 RPI with a No. 8 strength of schedule, and Georgia is No. 15 in RPI with a No. 5 strength of schedule. LSU has 11 Quad 1 wins and Georgia has 10.

“We have a strong resume,” LSU coach Beth Torina said. “We’ve done a good job of winning all the games we should win without any bad losses. We’ve played a really tough schedule.

“The best thing is to not get ahead of yourself; one pitch at a time. Each game

is valuable. Any one win can make a difference.”

The Tigers started the season 1-5 in SEC play but closed strong with a 7-2 mark to eke above .500 in SEC play for the ﬁrst time this season last weekend with a sweep of Auburn. Meanwhile, Georgia was taking two of three from No. 5 Florida at the end of a murderous schedule that included Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas A&M.

“They are an incredibly talented team,” Torina said of Georgia. “They played a tough, tough schedule, and are

Newly signed DE says New Orleans has the ‘chance

BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer

After the New England Patriots released him in March, defensive end Anfernee Jennings heard interest from the Saints. When mulling over the next stop of his career, Jennings looked at how the Saints closed the season strong, how their draft further cemented the idea this was a franchise on the upswing and how there would be an opportunity to earn playing time. He even saw parallels to his former team.

“We got a chance to be really good,” Jennings said.

Last year, Jennings was part of a Patriots squad that had a rocketlike ascension to get back to being one of the NFL’s elite. With quarterback Drake Maye entering his second year,

Wade: LSU has more than 1 player on its roster

BY TOYLOY BROWN III Staff writer

Will Wade has heard the jokes about LSU having only one player on the roster almost a month after the transfer portal window opened.

Wade

“Everybody thinks I can’t count right now, we only got one guy on the roster,” the new LSU coach said on the “Tingle & Co.” podcast. “I said, ‘I know I’m from Tennessee, but I’m not that dumb I can count to ﬁve.’ ” Wade spoke publicly for the ﬁrst time since his March 30 introductory news conference on a pair of podcasts released Tuesday He answered questions about his team, which has Kentucky transfer Mo Dioubate as the lone player publicly committed.

While he’s the only player committed, there are several players on the team, Wade said on CBS Sports’ “Inside College Basketball Now” podcast.

“Low volume in terms of what you guys know,” Wade said. “We got seven or eight guys, so we’re not too worried. We’ve got some good guys. Look, for a bunch of reasons, we’re not announcing things.”

Wade said the plan is to get more from the international player market. A couple of reasons why some of those players haven’t been announced are because they are competing in the playoffs or “negotiating” with their current teams, Wade said.

He also cited the reported new NCAA ﬁve-year eligibility rule that might be approved.

This change will give athletes five years of eligibility starting at the earliest of two dates: when a player turns 19 or graduates from high school.

“This will be the last year some of those guys will be eligible, so we’re gonna lean a little heavier on the international route,” Wade said. “Those kids have a lot of experience. There’s just some natural things that they’ve learned over there that really help in college basketball and can translate to us in college basketball.”

Wade also said he has a couple of players in the transfer portal and shared another reason why other names haven’t been released.

“Some of these guys we’re ﬁling waivers for, and we need to let the waiver process take place,” he said. “So there’s a lot of other things that are going on that, you know, not necessarily need to be out in the public all the time.”

ä See WADE, page 5C

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By CHARLES KRUPA Defensive end Anfernee Jennings, a 2020 third-round draft choice, was signed as a free agent by the Saints after the New England Patriots released him in March.

PHOTO By PATRICK DENNIS

LSU pitcher Paytn Monticelli is surrounded by teammates after getting the last out of LSU’s 8-5 win over Ole Miss on April 19 at Tiger Park. The Tigers take on Georgia in an SEC Tournament first-round game on Wednesday.

PHOTO By PATRICK DENNIS LSU catcher Cade Arrambide celebrates his two-run home run to center field in the first inning that scored Mason Braun against Tulane on Tuesday night at Alex Box Stadium. The Tigers broke out to a 9-0 lead after

4p.m. North Carolina vs.Clemson ACCN

4p.m. TBD vs.Tennessee SECN

6p.m. Penn St. vs.NorthwesternBTN

6:30 p.m. Pittsburgh vs.Virginia ACCN

7p.m. Georgia vs.LSU SECN MLB

1p.m. L.A. Dodgers at Houston MLBN 6p.m. TexasatN.y.yankeesMLBN

9p.m. Pittsburgh at Arizona MLBN NBA

6:10 p.m. PhiladelphiaatNew york ESPN

8:30 p.m.Minnesota at SanAntonio ESPN NHL

6p.m.Montreal at Buffalo TNT 8:30 p.m.AnaheimatVegas TNT MEN’S SOCCER

2p.m.ParisSaint-Germain at Munich CBS

6:30 p.m.Calgary at CF Montreal CBS

8:30 p.m.LAFCatDeportivoToluca FC FS1

WOMEN’S SOCCER

9p.m.Houston at Utah CBSSN

PGATour’s schedule toopacked

LIV Golf had aseemingly endless supply of Saudi money that suddenly is coming to an end. Overlooked is another of its assets —this one with no price tag —the PGA Tour would love to have.

Ablank canvas.

Even as LIVGolfCEO Scott

O’Neil was trying to present hope for afuture without the ﬁnancial muscle of Saudi Arabia’ssovereign wealth fund, the PGA Tour wasmoving from one signature event to anotheronthe short road to Aronimink for the PGA Championship.

Astros losecatcherDiaz due to left oblique strain

HOUSTON Houston catcher Yainer Diazwas placed on the 10-day injuredlist with aleftoblique strain Tuesday

Diaz was injured in batting practice Monday and manager Joe Espada didn’tprovide aspeciﬁc timeline for his injury but said he’d be out for“awhile.”

The Astros selected the contract of catcher CésarSalazar from Triple-A Sugar Land on Monday afterDiazwas injured. He’llserve as the team’s backup until Diaz is healthy with veteran Christian Vázquez stepping in as the starter

“Part of me wondershow much of an appetite there is for20major tournaments,” MattKuchar said late last year,after having spent afew hours with Rolapp trying to see the vision.

Thatled to another question.

“I still scratch my head at what happened to the World Golf Championships,” Kuchar said. “They hada greatﬁeld—certainly had some obscure names, but for the most part the top 40 or 50 guys in the world played. Tigerwon half of them, so clearly they weresuccessful from aTVstandpoint.

It’saschedule that doesn’tmake sense. From the ﬁrst major at the Masters through the second major at the PGA Championship, the top players face three $20million signature events and two majors over six weeks. That followed another brutal stretch of three $20 million events and The Players Championship over ﬁve weeks on both sides of the country

What’sthe solution? The Future Competition Committee is working on it, and no doubt has found it difﬁcult to blow up and rebuild a model in placefor 100 years with tweaks along the way The idea was to get the best players competing againsteach other more often, and not many would be opposed to aconcept like that. It was four years ago when 23 players met privately in Delaware to rally around the tour and against LIV Golf (three of them later defected to LIV).

From that emerged a 2023 schedulewhere the top players committed to a20-event schedule in which they would compete against each other at least 17 times. Rory McIlroy skipped two of them.

And McIlroy already has missed twosignature events this year after winning another Masters. Four other players from the top15inthe world didn’tenter the Cadillac Championship last week at Doral. World No. 1Scottie Schefﬂer isn’tplaying this week at Quail Hollow because he faces as many as four in arow —two of them home events in the Dallas area —startingwith the PGA

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By JONFERREy CharlSchwartzel,ofSouthernGuardsGC, is introduced at the Lion’s Denatthe 17th tee during the final round of LIV Golf South Africa at The Club at SteynCity on March 22 in Midrand,South Africa.

Championship. Brian Rolapp, the PGA Tour CEO who appointed Tiger Woods to lead thecompetition committee,was awareofthis crunch when it was announced last August

“How do you actually drive a competitive schedule where every event matters, thatisconnected to apostseason, but do it in away wherethe best golfers can gettogether and actually perform well?” Rolapp saidatthe Tour Championship. “I think that’sall an open question, andthose are the things we’re going to look at with an open mind.”

Butit’snot an open-and-shut case, not with so much history behind the PGATour.History is one of sport’sgreatest assets untilit becomes ahurdle when trying to effectively start over Rolapp shed some light on the committee’sprogress in March when he mentioned two tracks

—one for theelite playing the big-money events on notable golf courses, the other aproving ground of other tournaments on the schedule. The trickwas ﬁnding the ladder to getfrom one to the other.But it still doesn’t solve the crunch that playersare facing and when to playthem.

The simple part forthe tour wassinking twoeventsinHawaii. Wisconsin-based Sentry,the titlesponsor at Kapalua, would seem to be the right ﬁt forTorrey Pines. Thatgivesthe West Coast Torrey Pines, Pebble Beach and Riviera,withthe “GreatestShow on Grass” (Phoenix) in the mix.

Florida now has five tournaments. March has four weeks. And perhaps the biggest questiontowhich thereare more opinions than answers: What’s the right amount of tournaments? How often should all thebest be on thesame golf course?

“Why do we think someother versionwillwork?” he said. “I don’t know.”

The last year for afull slate of WGCs was the year before LIV launched. Sponsorship issues and the COVID-19 pandemic played a bigpart.

But this is about reinventing thewheel, andthere’s sure to be plenty of bumps in the road.

That’swhere LIV Golf and its ﬁrst leader,Greg Norman,could have usedamulligan. Theshotgun start and 54-hole competition. Theteam concept (remember the Niblicks and Punch among the early names?). Golf,but louder maybe too loud.

LIV had ablank canvasand came up with paint by numbers.

O’Neilisleft to create abusiness plantotakeits teams to potential buyers, which probably should have beendonelongago when it was ﬂush with cash in abid to pattern itself after the popular and veryglobal Formula 1series.

Now the future is in serious doubt.A lot of obits have been written the past few weeks. Media thatlargely ignored LIV Golf areall over Trump National in Virginia, at leastuntil the competition starts on Thursday Norman boasted on the day that LIV announced the field for its first event, “Free agency has finally cometogolf.” He might have been ahead of histime. Because if LIVGolfcan’tsurvive without Saudi money,orcan’tfind enough investors, therewillbeplenty of freeagents.

Meanwhile, Rolapp hasanews conference the week after the U.S. Open for an update on the newcompetitionmodel the PGA Tour is trying to create. There’sa lotofmoving parts. Alot of paint.

The 27-year-old Diazishitting .248 with two home runs and 14 RBIsin26games this season. In othermoves on Tuesday,the Astros recalled right-hander Jason Alexander and outﬁelder Zach Dezenzo from Sugar Land.

WNBA all-time leading rebounder Charles is retiring

NEW YORK Tina Charles, the WNBA’s all-time leading rebounder,is retiring from the league, the eighttimeAll-Star announced Tuesday on social media.

Charles, who had 4,262 rebounds in hercareer,also ﬁnished as the league’s No. 2all-time scorer behind Diana Taurasi. The 15-year veteranscored8,396 points in the regular season.

“Today,I officially announce my retirement from basketball. Fifteen years at the professional level and alifetime of love forthis game,” Charles wrote in her post.

Charles was theNo. 1pickby the Connecticut Sunin2010 after helping the UConn Huskies win consecutive NCAA championships in 2009 and2010. Shewas theAP Player of the Year in 2010.

Seahawks, veteran Fowler workingon1-year deal

The reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks and veteran edge rusherDante Fowler are working on aone-year deal worth up to $5 million,aperson with knowledge of the deal told The Associated PressonTuesday

Theperson spoke to the AP on condition of anonymitybecause the contract hasn’tbeen ﬁnalized. Fowler,31, played forthe Dallas Cowboys last year and had three sacks in 17 games, starting in 11 of those Fowler should help Seattlereplace edge rusherBoyeMafe, who signed athree-year,$60 million deal with the CincinnatiBengals in free agency.Mafe had20sacksinfour seasons for Seattle.

Fowler wasthe No. 3pickby Jacksonville in the 2015 NFL Draft.

Giants HOF LB Taylor released from hospital

BY BEN NUCKOLDS AP sportswriter

STERLING, Va Jon Rahm has resolved his ﬁnancial dispute with the European tour, amove that potentiallygives him aplace to compete in 2027 and beyond withLIV Golf facinganuncertain future Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton took questions Tuesday at LIV Golf Virginiaafter LIVCEO Scott O’Neil spoke to reportersabout his efforts to court investors for aleague that is losing its chief financial backer,Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, at the end of the season. Both players declined to speculate on their futureand noted that they remain under contract with LIV for years to come.

“As of right now Ihave several years on my contract left, and I’m pretty sure they did apretty good job when they drafted that, so I don’tsee many ways out,” Rahm said.

Asked whether Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund had committed to honoring contracts beyond 2026, O’Neil said,“Idon’t even know how to think aboutanswering.”

The Saudishave spent $5 billion on LIV Golf over ﬁve years without achieving proﬁtability,including$1billion on player contracts Players compete for $30 million purses at each event on the LIV schedule, an amount that couldbe reduced next year without Saudi funding.

The PGA Tour does not allow

players to compete on both circuits. However, LIVplayers have been welcomed back to the European tour after paying ﬁnes for playing in conﬂictingevents.

Rahm refused to paythe ﬁnes andthe resulting standoff put at risk hisparticipation in next year’sRyder Cup at Adare Manor in Ireland.

“There is nolonger astandoff. We were abletoreachanagreement. There were some concessions on both sides, and Ioffered some, they extended an olive branch,” Rahmsaid. “So that will not be astress anymore.”

Rahm said he planstoplay European tour events this fall, including the Spanish Open, unless family considerations get in the way He and wife Kelleyare expecting their fourth child.

The two-time major champion hasplayed only six European tour events since joiningLIV in late 2023. LIV hasnoeventsonits schedulebetween the U.S. Open and the British Open, andRahm’s settlement wouldallow himto play the Scottish Open, which is co-sanctioned by the PGATour, theweek before the year’sﬁnal major.

Speaking in Spanishatthe end of hisavailability, Rahm said he knew there was risk in coming to LIV andcomparedhis situation to asoccer team knowingits coach wasleavingatthe end of the season.

“You know you have to play,but thereisambiguitybecause maybe you are not going to follow the

same system,” Rahm said before making areference to PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, known as “His Excellency,” who has stepped down as LIV’schairman.

“It was asurprise for everyone. We didn’texpect it, after the supportthatHis Excellency hasgiven us.”

O’Neil makesapitch forLIV

O’Neil took questions from aLIV media ofﬁcial for 28 minutes inside the tennis building at Trump National Golf Club outside Washington beforeanswering reporters’ questions for 17 minutes.

Behindhim was ascreen with thenames of six sponsors, four of which are ownedorbacked by the PIF: Maaden, Riyadh Air,Roshn Group and Aramco.

O’Neil mentioned sponsorships, ticket sales, television contracts andthe league’sglobal footprint as reasons for optimism that it could secure funding. The league plans to take its 13 franchises to market, andO’Neil said those teams would be offered to potential buyerswith players in place.

Rahm acknowledged that players might have to acceptless money to keep the league going.

NEW YORK New York Giants Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylorwas discharged recentlyfrom the hospital following astint for a stomach-relatedissue,his attorney said Tuesday Mark Eiglarsh said in an email to The Associated Press that Taylor is returning hometoFlorida after being hospitalized in Morristown, NewJersey,since April 20.

“He is grateful to now be on the road to recovery and hopes to be back on the golf course soon,” Eiglarsh said, adding that the67-year-old expressed appreciation to the staffatMorristown Medical Center Taylor spent his entire 13-season NFLcareer with the Giants from 1981-93 and helped them win the Super Bowltwice.

Source: Giantsare signing defensive tackle Reader

NEW YORK The NewYork Giants are signing defensive tackle D.J. Reader to atwo-year contract worth $12.5million, according to a person familiar with the move. Reader,who turns 32 on July 1, ﬁlls the void left by trading Dexter Lawrence to Cincinnati prior to the draftlastmonth.The Giants hosted Reader fora workoutonApril 13 while there was uncertainty about Lawrence’sfuture with the team. He startedall 17 games forthe Detroit Lions last seasonand made 28 tackles. In 137games with the Texans, Bengals and Lions since Houston pickedhim in the fifth round of the 2016 draft,Reader has 328 tackles and 12 ½ sacks. Reader is part of arebuilt defense fornew coach JohnHarbaugh, after theunit ranked 30th out of 32 teams last season.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By CHARLES LABERGE JonRahm greets fans as he walks to the sixth tee during the final round of

Doug Ferguson

Moving closer to home

Many WNBA stars find newteams after league reaches newdeal

BY DOUG FEINBERG AP basketballwriter

NEW YORK All-Stars Brittney Griner,Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins and Satou Sabally all found new places to play this season, taking advantage of free agency.Angel Reese has anew home after she was traded to Atlanta.

This might have been the most movement by All-Stars during an offseason in WNBA history.Not that it comes as ahuge surprise. More than 80% of the players in the league were free agents after last season, knowing ahuge pay day awaited with thenew collectivebargaining agreement that was signed in March. With the money about the same, moving closer to home wasone factor in players’ decisions.

Ogwumike returnstoL.A

The 2016 MVP has long considered Los Angeles home after getting draftedNo. 1bythe Sparks in 2012. She helped the franchise win achampionship in 2016. The 10-time All-Star left the Sparks for Seattle in 2024 and spent two seasons with the Storm before returning to L.A. The Sparks are trying to get back to the top of the league.

“It was always see you later, now I’ll see you soon…” Ogwumike wrote on social media when announcing her decision to return to Los Angeles.

Ogwumike joins astrongcore in Los Angeles, including Kelsey Plum, Ariel Atkins, DearicaHamby andCameron Brink.

DigginstoChicago

Diggins grew up in South Bend, Indiana —a90-minute drive from Chicago. The six-time All-WNBA player and seven-time All-Staris still looking for her ﬁrst championship in the league and may be hard-pressed to get it in the Windy City.The 35-year-old guard spent the last two seasons in Seattle.

She’ll provide veteran leadership for the Sky and eventually pair in the backcourt with Courtney Vandersloot, who is recovering from an ACL injury

PhoenixMercuryforward Satou Sabally looks to passagainst the Minnesota Lynx during Game 2ofa WNBA playoff series on Sept.23in Minneapolis.

Griner to Connecticut

The No. 1pick in the 2013 draft will be playing for her thirdteam in three seasons. Grinerspent the ﬁrst 12 years of her career in Phoenix, which selected herwith the top pick. She movedontoAtlanta last season and now is in Connecticut.

The Sun will be movingtoGriner’s hometown of Houstonnextseason.

Griner,a10-time All-Star,was excited for the chance to be aveteran leader for the Sunbefore eventually getting to play back home in Houston next year.

“Comingherefor theone year with hopes of next year being in Houston and having that opportunity to potentiallyplayinfront of my family,play at home, it meansa lot to me, meansawhole lot to me,” Griner toldThe Associated Press.

SaballyinNew York

Sabally wasborninNew York, so joiningthe Liberty was ahomecoming forher.Her family moved to Germany when she was young. Beingonthe East Coastmakes it easier for the German startoget to Europe than it was while playing in Phoenix. It also puts her in atime zone that is more friendly for talkingtoher family in Germany “Phoenix was very far away from

home for me as an international player.Like, nine-hour time difference. Icould only talk to my little brothers before practice,” Sabally said. “So Ithink it was apersonal decision just to get closer to my own home.”

The three-time All-Star played with Sabrina Ionescu in college at Oregon. Theirsenior season was cut short by theCOVID-19 pandemic,but nowthe duo will trytowin aWNBA championship together with theLiberty Freshstart forReese

Atlanta acquired Reese from the SkyonApril 6for draft picks. One of the WNBA’smost recognizable stars, Reese led the league in rebounds in each of hertwo seasons with theSky.The Dream hope she’s themissing piece that can get them back to theWNBA Finals for the ﬁrst time since 2013.

“I am not satisfied with whatI am as aplayer andI felt likebeingaround these kinds of players would help me be better,” said Reese, who added she is happy to be with an organization “that really cared” aboutits players.

“I can help themindifferentways to win,and that’sall Ieverwanted,” Reese said. “I don’tcare about anything else. Iwantto win.”

Timberwolves star Edwardsreturns early to help stun Spurs

BY RAUL DOMINGUEZ Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO Anthony Edwards announced to the San Antonio Spurs he had returned —not thatanyone in thesold-out FrostBank Center needed to be told.

The Timberwolves guard made an unexpected return 10 days after hyperextending hisleft knee, leading Minnesota to a104-102 victory MondaynightinGame 1ofthe Western Conference semiﬁnals.

After hitting hisfirst 3-pointer with 1:27 remaining in the first quarter,Edwards turned to the Spurs benchand screamed: “I’m back! I’m back!” They were already fully aware. The four-time

All-Starhad 18 points, including 11 in the ﬁnal quarter as the Timberwolves held on to hand the Spurs just the second loss in their past 17 series openersathome.

“That’skindofwho he is,” SanAntonio guardDylanHarpersaid. “Superstar in this league. He’sgoing to come back andhavegames likethat even though he hasn’tplayed for a little bit.”

Edwards, who averaged 36.7 points, 4.0assists and3.0 rebounds in three games against the Spurs this season, has stated previously thatheenjoys competing against SanAntoniostar Victor Wembanyama.

They hadanother duel in Game 1. Wembanyamahad 11 points,15 rebounds and setanNBA postseasonrecord with12blocked shots.

“I don’tthink me coming back was because of nothing theygot going on,” Edwards said. “Itwas moresoI wanttobeout there withmybrothers. Yeah,just thatsimple.”

Edwards was expected to miss at least the ﬁrst twogames of the series in San Antonio, but the6-foot-4 guard expedited his rehabilitation to play in the opener.Hewas cleared to play 90 minutes before thescheduled tipoff Monday night when Minnesotacoach Chris Finch simply said: “He’sin.”

“He loves to play the game, Finchsaid. “Wedodgeda bullet when it happened. He’s done an incredible job. Our medical staff has

done an unbelievable job of getting him to this point. Andhewas super motivated by thefact that we were able to getthatﬁrst series. Ithink that was kind of alittle bit of an inspiration for him, too, just gave him something to work towards.”

Edwards suffered abone bruise, in addition to hyperextending his left knee, on April25during Game 4ofMinnesota’sopening-round series against Denver

“I think Igot the best physical therapist in the world withDavid Hines,” Edwards said of the Timberwolves’ vice president of medical operations and performance. “So, just trusting him and working through all the pain thatI felt throughout the ﬁrst two days,three days, and just getting in the pool, running on it.Band work. Justa lot of resistance. So, yeah, he got me right.”

Edwards did not start, but played 25 minutes off the bench, including 9:52 in the ﬁnal quarter

“Everybody in the arena is against us,” Edwards said. “Yeah, Ithink that’sthe best thing aboutit. You start on the road, everybody got on pink, blue, and whatever color shirts there is,chanting ‘Go Spurs Go,’ and doing all that. I’m withMinnesota. Igot Minnesota back at all times.

“I’m out there with my brothers and we’re going to war.”

It was uncertain if Edwards will start Game 2onWednesdayorifhis minutes restriction will be lifted, but he is ready regardless.

“I felt great,” Edwardssaid.“I don’tthink I’m limited at all. And just whatever coach needs from me.”

Edwardsaveraged 28.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and3.7 assists in 61 games during the regular season. He averaged 36.7 points, 4.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds in three gamesagainst San Antonio this season.

“Wefigured he would want to play,” Spurs forward Julian Champagnie said. “So, we wentover him as if he was playing. There was no difference in thestrategy. There was no difference in what we were trying to do. This is what he wants to do. This is what we’re going to do to counter it.”

The Timberwolves were 2-1 againstthe Spursduring theregular season.

Sans more pay, Sabalenkacalls forFrenchOpenboycott

BY ANDREW DAMPF AP sportswriter

ROME Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka believes tennis players should organize aboycott if they don’tstart receiving abigger share of tournament revenue at the Grand Slams —and the likes of Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina and Jasmine Paolini are prepared to protest, too.

Sabalenka andfellowNo. 1Jan-

nik Sinner were amongleading players —most of them rankedin thetop 10 —who issued astatement on Mondayexpressing “deep disappointment” over the French Open prize money “Without us there wouldn’tbea tournament and there wouldn’tbe that entertainment. Ifeel like deﬁnitely we deserve to be paid more

percentage,”Sabalenka,a fourtime GrandSlamchampion, said on Tuesday at theItalianOpen. “I think at some point we will boycott it. Ifeel like that’sgoing to be the only waytoﬁght forour rights,” Sabalenka added on her 28thbirthday Theplayers arealsoseekingbetter representation, health options and pensions from the four Grand Slam tournaments: Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open.

French Open organizers announced last month they were increasing overall prize money by about 10% for an overall pot of 61.7 million euros ($72.1 million), with thetotal amount up 5.3 million euros from last year.But the players’ statementsaid “the underlying ﬁgures tella verydif-

ferentstory,” claiming they will receive asmaller share of tournament revenues. The players claim their share of Roland Garros revenue has declined from 15.5% in 2024 to 14.9% projectedin2026.

Gauff, the defending French Open champion, cited alandmark newWNBAcollectivebargaining agreement reached in March as an example of thebeneﬁtofworking together

“From the thingsI’ve seen with other sports, usually to make massive progress and things like this, it takes aunion,” Gauff said. “We have to become unionizedinsome way. We definitely canmove more as acollective.”

Regarding aboycott, Gauff said, “If everyone were to moveasone andcollaborate,yeah, Ican 100%

seethat.”But she added she hasn’t heard of anydiscussionsabout a walkout.

“I deﬁnitely think there’saconsensus around that this needs to be addressed forall playersofall levels, especially the lower-ranked players, too,” Gauff added. “I want to leave the sport better than I found it. If Ican say Iplayedmy part when Iretire, that’ssomething Ican be proud of.” Rybakina, atwo-timeGrand Slam champion who won the AustralianOpen this year,would followthe other players.

BY LARRYLAGE AP sportswriter

“If we’reall in agreement and I think we are —the menand the women areunited right now —it’s something we could do,” Paolini said.

French Open organizers did notrespondtoa requestfor comment after the playersissued their statement.

The French Open starts on May 24 and the singles champions will each receive 2.8 millioneuros and therunners-up 1.4 millioneuros. Semiﬁnalists earn 750,000 euros and ﬁrst round losers get 87,000 euros

“If the majority sayweare boycotting, we are notplaying, then of course I’mupfor it,” Rybakina said. “It’snot only on the Grand Slams andit’snot only about raising the prize money.Alot of people are not aware that there is taxes which are big. Youeven make more prizemoney,but you giving it all to the taxes.” Paolini, theItalian whoreached theﬁnal of theFrench Open and Wimbledonin2024, also believed in aboycott option.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By MATT KROHN

‘Adapt andget better’

NewPackers DC Gannon willingtoadjusttoplayers

BY STEVE MEGARGEE

AP sportswriter

GREEN BAY,Wis. New Green Bay Packers defensive coordinatorJonathan Gannon said he doesn’tconsider himself a“huge rah-rah guy,” but there’s one point the former Arizona Cardinals coach is trying to make sure he gets across This is his message:You are under no obligation to be the person you were ﬁve minutes ago.

“I said it for the players, but it’sfor us, too,” Gannon said Mondayduring his ﬁrst media session since taking this job three months ago. “And what that’sbasically saying is grow and adapt andget better.And if weall have that mindset and can continually stick to the process, we’ll get better.”

That adaptability is apparent from Gannon’sschematic approach.

The Packers had run a4-3 defenseduring Jeff Haﬂey’s two years as coordinator before the Miami Dolphins hired him as their coach. Green Bay previouslyhad utilized a3-4 alignment un-

der JoeBarry,the Green Baydefensivecoordinator from 2021-23.

Gannon said he wants to adjusthis scheme to reﬂect the strengths of his personnel

“I don’treallyget caught up in 4-3, 3-4,” Gannon said “We’re an NFL-style defense hopefully,right?Ijust believethat you’vegot to be, you’vegot to continually every year try to adapt and solve problems and really with yourguys in mind.”

Gannon has some speciﬁc principles he likes toutilize, but he said he’snot going to force adefense to do somethingthat doesn’tsuitits players’ talents.

“We’vegot to put them in thebestpositions possible, that they feel comfortable that they can go out and play thegame,” Gannon said. “Before scheme, Itruly believe it’snot what you play, it’show you play.”

Gannon comes to Green Bay after an unsuccessful head coachingstint. He went 15-36 at Arizona before gettingﬁred late in his third season. Before goingtoArizona,

Gannonhad aproductive two seasons as the defensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Eagles reached the Super Bowl, ranked second in the league in total defense and hadafranchiserecord70sacks —15more than any other NFLteam —inGannon’sﬁnalseason with them.

Gannon described the interview processwith Packers coach Matt LaFleur and howitmadehim eager to join theGreen Bay staff.

“I thinkMatt’sa savant,so he can go from topic to topic to topic, and you’ve got to be pretty wired up or you’ll fall behind pretty quick,” Gannonsaid. “Itwas intense. I was sweating. Iwas in acoat andtie,and Ithink Iwas sweating alittle bit.”

Gannon takes over adefense that ranked 12th in yards allowed pergame (311.8), ninthinyards allowed per play (5.0)and 11th in points allowed pergame (21.2) lastseason. That defense wasn’tthe sameafter All-Pro pass rusher Micah Parsons tore his anterior cruciate ligament, an in-

jury that occurred during the ﬁrst of Green Bay’sﬁve straight losses to endthe season.

Parsons hassaidhehopes to be back for thestart of the 2026 season, but has indicated aWeek 3orWeek 4return is more likely.Gannonbelieves thedefense has plenty of otherproductiveplayers to go along withParsons.

“It’sagood mix of some younger players, (and) we’ve got somevets that are some really good players— that sweet spot,” Gannonsaid. “(SafetyXavier) McKinney youthink he’s beenplaying forever because he’ssuch ahigh performingvet, but he’s still pretty young. And then you got some guys that are youngerand in theirﬁrst contract that have played really good football.”

Gannonknows the type of defense he wants to see. He believes thePackershave the pieces in place to play that style, no matter how they line up.

“I thinkthat’s what agood defenselooks like —afast, violent,physical team that takes the ball away,” Gannon said.

Maye-like jump. Jenningsalso knows that talking aboutthe possibilitycan getthe Saints only so far.

“Last year,nobody gave us achance to be where we were,where we endedupat the end of the season,” Jennings said. “But we kind of kept that within ourselves.

“Weworked every day and we held each other accountable. We executed the gameplan and we was able to complement each other (on) offense, defense and special teams.”

In Moore’stenure, the Saints have collected a numberofveteranswith that kind of prove-it attitude.

This offseason,the Saints also added running back Travis Etienne andguard David Edwards —each of whom made theplayoffs last season. The year before that, the Saints signed safety Justin Reid, atwotime SuperBowl champion with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Jennings, too, brings plenty of experience

Now entering his seventh season, he’shad timeto reflect on ajourney that almost didn’tget started becauseofa significant leg injury in 2017 in which he damaged an artery and developed ablood clot.

In the NFL, Jennings’s career has taken its own twistsand turns. He’s been abackup who became a

LSU

Continued from page1C

probably better than their record shows. They’ve got two good arms, adeep offense, aton of seniors who have been around the block.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

Georgia boasts atough lefty-righty pitching duo. Junior left-hander Randi Roelling (16-5, 3.01 ERA) is the ace with 10 complete games and 120 strikeouts in 1252/3 innings pitched. Addisen Fisher is 10-5 with a2.84 ERA. Catcher Sarah Gordon is batting .451 with 10 homers and 39 RBIs, while designated player Tyler Ellison is batting .390 with ateam-best 42 RBIs.

Torina has to like her team’s chances as it has shownmarkedimprovement down the stretch, especiallyonoffense.Jalia Lassiter was named SEC Player of the Week after the sweep of Ole Miss. She had nine hits in four games and batted .600 with three doubles and ahomer.LSU outscored its opponents 51-2 and had 56 hits.

starter,and then abackup again.Throw in another injury that cost him all of 2021. But that range of experience is whyJennings believes he cancontributeto the Saints. He wasn’tfazed, forinstance, when thePatriots went back to relying on himinthe playoffs once edge rusher Harold Landry went down with an injury Jennings hadbeen used to beinga full-time starter for thetwo seasons prior,he said. And as apro,Jennings hasdeveloped into astout run defender— one who could help improve aSaints defense that allowed the 14th-mostrushing yards last year “I feel like I’m versatile, physical (and) adisciplined player,” he said.

In NewOrleans, Jennings will have to earn his role. He joined an edge rusher room that also recently added former LasVegas Raiders ﬁrst-rounder Tyree Wilson and could still bring back CamJordan.Jennings’ contract, according to Over The Cap, contained only $187,500 in guarantees, making it relatively easy forthe Saints to move on if he doesn’tsecure a53man roster spot. But if he sticks around, he’ll try to help the Saints makethe sameleap he just experienced in New England.

“It’saprocess,man,” Jennings said. “You don’tget to the Super Bowlbywhat youdointhe beginning of the season or anything like that.”

“They’ve gottwo good arms,a deep offense, a ton of seniors whohave been around the block. We’ve gotour work cut out forus.”

BETH TORINA, LSU coach

BY LARRYFLEISHER

Associated Press

NEW YORK Brandon Nimmo was hesitant about waiving his no-trade clause withthe New York Mets but hearing the team had nottalked to free agentPeteAlonsoabout acontract was among the factors that inﬂuenced his decisiontoaccept atrade to the Texas Rangers.

Nimmo, who was not in the lineup for the RangersonTuesday night because of alingering hamstring issue, explained some of the thingsthatwent into him agreeing to atrade from the team that drafted him inthe first round of the 2011 draft.

“It deﬁnitely went into the decisionmaking processjustbecause Iwasn’t sure. If they were willing to trade me, thenwho else aretheygoing to try and trade?” Nimmo said before Texas faced the Yankees in theopenerofa three-game series. “And obviously, who are they going to bring back and all that stuff.

“When Pete said they hadn’treached out to him, there was deﬁnitely alot uncertainty into which direction they were going. But ultimately Ihad to make other phone calls, andIhad to talk with many more people and deliberate over and over for many more days. So, it wasn’tjust his conversation that went into it. Italked with dozens of people.” Nimmo waived his no-trade clause and was traded forMarcusSemien on Nov.23. About three weekslater, Alonso signed a$155 million, ﬁve-year contract with the Orioles.

On Friday,the ﬁrst baseman saidthe Mets never reached out to himinfree agency

Nimmo is dueannualsalaries of $20.25 million each season through 2030. The left-handed hitter will get an additional $1 million assignment bonus from the Metsfor waiving the no-trade provision. As part of the trade, the Mets will send Texas $5 million bySept. 18. After hitting .262 with single-season highs of 25 homers and92RBIs in his ﬁnal season with the Mets, Nimmo is hitting .300 with four homersand 12 RBIs in 33 games with the Rangers. He exited games Wednesday night and Friday night with right hamstring tightness but will avoid the injured list for now

“It’sdeﬁnitely coming along,”Nimmo said. “It’sjust about trying to bal-

ance this.We’ve had this point in the schedule where we’ve been fortunate to have some offdays and maybe we can grab one more here and there and be smart about it.”

While Nimmo avoided the IL, the Rangersput inﬁelder and former LSU star Josh Smith on the 10-dayILbecauseofa right glute stain.The move is retroactivetoMondayfor Smith, whoishitting .350 in hislastseven games but .217 overall. Texas replaced Smith on its roster by recalling inﬁelder Justin Foscue from Triple-A Round Rock.Foscue was hitting .287 with two homersand 14 RBIs forRound Rock and has appeared in 19 gamesinthe previous two seasons with Texas.

The Tigershave 12 more homeruns than in 2025 and eight more extra-base hits.

“There’sbeen aton of growth throughout the year (offensively),” Torina said. “That’swhat we’re most proud of. If you look at our power numbers, they are up.”

The pitching also has solidified with the emergence of Paytn Monticelli to go with Jayden Heavener and Cece Cellura.

Monticelli haswon her last fivedecisionswhile

Heavener bouncedback from some rough outings with ashutout of Auburn on Saturday

“Wealways thought they would do some good things,” Torina said of her pitching staff.

“The way we used them maybealittle different from what we thought. They all bring something different to the table. In combination, they’ve been tough.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By PAUL SANCyA

TexasRangers right ﬁelder Brandon Nimmo catches aﬂyball from Matt Vierling of theDetroitTigers on FridayinDetroit.

East Jeffersonfootball hiresRosetobecoach

Rose has overseenthe offseason conditioningprogram ahead of thestartofspringpractices that began this week

is seeing the kids’ improvement from Day1towhenever it’s over,” Rose said. “I liketosee thekids grow and get better.”

BY CHRISTOPHER DABE

Staff writer

DerekRosehas achieved plenty of football success as aplayer and as an assistant coach. Now comes his first crack at beingahead coach at East Jefferson.

The formertwo-time Football Championship Subdivision AllAmerican linebacker at Northwestern State playedinhigh school at O. Perry Walker.He returned home after collegeto coach linebackers when LandryWalker (now L.B.Landry) won the Class 5A state title in 2016.

Since arriving at East Jefferson

“We’re lifting weights and tryingtoget bigger,faster and strongerright now,”Rose saidbefore practices began.

East Jefferson, aClass 4A state champion in 2013, is comingoff a 0-10 season with an interim coach in place.

At NorthwesternState, Rose led the team in tackles three consecutive years and was aBuck Buchanan Award ﬁnalistasone of thetop defensiveplayers in the country.Hewas the recipient of the JoeDelaneyMemorial Leadership Award in 2012.

Rose

Rosemost recently coached linebackersat Arkansas-Pine Bluff forthe pastthree seasons.

Other coaching stops includedSophie B. Wright as adefensive coordinator from 2018 to 2020, plus stops at theUniversity of Fort Lauderdaleand Millsaps College.

“What Iget from (coaching)

EastJefferson is in adistrict that hasnew head coaches at John Ehret (Wallace Foster) andWest Jefferson (FrankDaggs). Bonnabel won the district title with former LSUstandout Andre Anthonyinhis ﬁrst season as head coach. Warren Easton will jointhe district after playing thepast two seasons in 9-5A

ContactChristopher Dabe at cdabe@theadvocate.com

Jesuit,SacredHeart win statechampionships in golf

BY CHRISTOPHER DABE Staff writer

Jesuit’sDuke Nitcher andSacred Heart’s JadeNeves led their teams to state golf championships Tuesday in Lafayette.

Nitcher carded ateam-best 2-under142 at The Wetlands as Jesuit won the LHSAA Division I golf state title for the sixth time —the first since 2017. He tied for second behind medalist Maddox Mowad of Neville, who shot 7-under 137 The Blue Jays shot 587 as a team, six strokes better than runner-up St. Thomas More. Mandeville finished third, two strokes behind St. Thomas More. St. Paul’s was fifth.

“I felt like we neededsomebody to come under par today, even though we had a10-shot

lead (after theﬁrst day), to give us achance,”Jesuit coach Bryan Bairnsfather said.“And(Nitcher) was the guytoday.”

In the Division II girls tournament,Neves became athree-time individual state champion with a 2-under 144at Le Triomphe Golf and Country Club,helping Sacred Heart to its second consecutive statechampionship —finishing ahead of runner-upNewman. Neves, asophomore,has won three titlesin thepastfourseasons, startingwhen shewas in seventh grade.

Among other individuals in the Division Iboystournament, Mandeville’sParker Green tied for second at 142 and Brother Martin’sSawyer Bernard finished sixth at 145. Bennett Lanasaof St.Paul’sand AugustinGros of Jesuit tiedfor seventh at 146. Je-

suit’sBrooks Blanchardfinished 10th at 147. In Division II boys, HolyCross golfers FultonPigeon (11-over 155, third) and Brandon Fuselier (157,seventh)earned top-10 finishes fora teamthatfinished fourth behind championTeurlings Catholic at Cane Row.Brooks Monica of St.Charles wasninth (161).InDivision III boys, Country Day’sPearce Weinstein (7over 151) tied forseventh at The Wetlands. Othertop girls finishersincluded Mandeville’sSteffi Heitz (15-over 161, seventh) in Division Iand Ursuline’sAshleyBiehl (16over 162, second) and Newman’s Abby Hui(17-over 163) in Division II.

Contact Christopher Dabe at cdabe@theadvocate.com

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

The LSUwomen’s basketball team announced Tuesday that it hasaddedneutral-site games against North Carolina State and Villanova to its 2026-27 nonconference schedule.

Thematchupsare part of the Women’sFort Myers Tip-Off event, which will takeplace on Friday,Nov.27, and Saturday Nov.28, this year at Florida SouthWestern State College. The Tigers, Wolfpack and Wildcats are three of eight participating teams.The other five are Kansas State, TCU, Indiana, Mississippi State and Georgia Tech. The games against NC State and Villanovaare the first two202627 nonconferencematchups LSU has finalized. Coach Kim Mulkey and her staff have been working toward adeal to face UConn in Nashville, Tennessee —asESPN analyst Rebecca Lobofirst revealed in January —but the details of that showdownhave yet to be announced.

Both NC State and Villanova made the 2026 NCAATournament. TheWolfpack was aNo. 7seed that lostinthe second round, and

WADE

Continuedfrom page1C

Wade also discussed a“mistake” he learned last season while coaching NC State was not to build depth with too many expensive players.

“(We)got 11 guys and had alot of depth,”Wade said. “Depthisreally important forpractice. It’snot as importantfor games whenyou’re only playing seven or eight guys nine max. Andsowehad some dead money on the roster

“So onething I’m focusing on hereiswe’re really goingtopay seven or eight guys at LSU this year.We’ll fill out the back half of the roster with some guys who could help us in apinch. But we wanttoput our resources into those main guys.”

theWildcats were aNo. 10 seed whowere bounced out of the ﬁrst round.

Nextseason will be Mulkey’s sixth in Baton Rouge. LSU has had to replacesix contributorsfrom herfifthroster,either because they exhausted their eligibility or decidedtotransfer.AsofTuesday,the Tigers have 11 players on board fornext year: six returners, three transfers, one freshman and one international player

The top newcomerisformer Iowa State point guard Jada Williams, arising senior whowas one of the top ﬁve players in ESPN’s transfer rankings. LSU also added McDonald’sAll-American Lola Lampley,Florida transferLaila Reynolds, Tennessee Tech transfer ChloeLarry and Spanishforward NoaMorro.

The four players Mulkey and her stafflost to the transfer portal were all guards: Jada Richard (Ole Miss), Bella Hines (TCU), Divine Bourrage (Illinois) and Kailyn Gilbert (Texas A&M). Star guards MikaylahWilliams and MiLaysia Fulwiley are set to return fortheir senior years.

Email Reed Darcey at reed. darcey@theadvocate.com.

rotation.” Wade spoke highly of the 6-foot7forward Dioubate,who played twoyears at Alabamabefore his junior year at Kentucky,where he averaged 8.8 points and 5.5 rebounds in 21.6 minutesper game.

“He’sjusta winner,”Wadetold Rothstein.

“You look at the comments from coach (Nate) Oates of Alabama, how they missed him, and you look at the comments during the season from coach (Mark)PopeatKentucky,and just the mentality that he brings. He’sahard-playing guy He can play multiple positions.

“He’ssomebody that’s going to help lay thefoundation for your program, be acornerstone of your program.”

He said that it’snot important how much people like his team during the offseason. His focus is to have the “best seven, eight guys that we canpossibly assemblefromall around the world by August,” Wade said.

Martin, Westlake151. 7.Ezra Eberts, OuachitaChristian 151. 7. Pearce Weinstein, Country Day151. Division IV boys At Farm d’Allie, par 72 Team scores: 1. Cedar Creek 632. 2. Sacred Heart 674. 3. Glenbrook 676. 4. CentralCatholic 683. 5. Castor 689. 6. Vermillion Catholic 697. 7. Catholic-PC 738. 8. Choudrant 765 Top10individuals: 1. Ivan Popp, Berchman’s Academy137. 2. Alex Roebuck, Cedar Creek 148. 3. LukeWainwright, Grand Lake149 4. Landon Lotz,First Baptist 152. 5. Jase Martin, CedarCreek 155. 6. TrippKordisch Episcopal School of Acadiana 156. 7. Pierce Regard, Avoyelles Charter 159. 8. George Pullin, Cedar Creek 163. 8. Levi Joyner, Castor 163. 10. LouieCollins, Glenbrook 164. Division Igirls At Le Triomphe, par 73 Team scores: 1. Southside 320. 2. Barbe328. 3. St. Joseph’s334. 3. Mandeville 334. 5. St. Thomas More335. 6. Brusly348.7.Benton 355. 8. St. Scholastica 380.

Of theeight or nine rotation playerswhome Wade expectsto rely on, he said LSUhas “all but onespotﬁlled.” He said that rushing to make player decisions is howyou make mistakes, and that this year’sportal class wasn’tas strong as 2025.

“Only 9.4% of theplayers who went in theportalare good enough to playfor LSU,” Wade said.

“I’m not talking about good enoughtostart, I’m talking about good enough just to play,beinthe

Top10individuals: 1. MaciWilliams,Brusly 144. 2. Evelynn Artieta, Walker 147. 3. Tymber Joubert, St. Thomas More 151. 4. Rhyan Marcelissen,Southside 152.5.Grace Goodwin 154. 6. Mattie Purgahn, Barbe 160. 7. Stefﬁ Heitz, Mandeville 161. 8. Scarlett Kirsch, St. Joseph’s 163. 8. Kate Boersma, Ruston 163. 8. Morgan Goudeau, Tioga 163. Division II girls At Le Triomphe, par 73 Team scores: 1. Sacred Heart-NO 305. 2. Newman 342. 3. St. Mary’s352. 4. Episcopal 353. 5. Ursuline 376. 6. St. Fredrick 381. 7. Elton 400. 8. Loyola Prep 403. 9. Christ Episcopal 446. Top10individuals: 1. Jade Neves, Sacred Heart-NO 144. 2. Ashley Biehl, Ursuline 162. 3. AbbyHui, Newman163. 4. Lily Osbon, Evangel 165. 5. MadelineRudolph, Sacred Heart-NO 166. 6. Emery Kane, Sacred HeartNO 169. 7. Marcella Rabalais, Episcopal 172. 8. Lacey Boyd,St. Mary’s 176. 8. Lilly Boyd,St. Mary’s176. 10. Ann Schonberg,

Whenasked where he thinks his team can ﬁnish if everything plays outthe wayheexpects, Wade didn’tset abar of justmaking the NCAA Tournament.

“Our roster finishes outhow I need to,and everybody’seligible andeverybody goes out,we’ll have atop-15teaminthe country,” Wade said.

PROVIDED PHOTO

Jesuit golfers and coaches posewith thestate championship trophyonTuesdayatThe Wetlands in Lafayette

1, SanAntonio0

Monday, May4:Minn. 104, San Antonio 102 Wednesday, May6:Minnesota at San Antonio, 8:30 p.m. Friday, May8:San AntonioatMinn.,8:30 p.m. Sunday, May10: San Antonio at Minnesota, 6:30 p.m. x-Tuesday, May12: Minn. at SanAntonio, TBA x-Friday, May15: San Antonio at Minn TBA x-Sunday, May17: Minn.atSan Antonio, TBA Hockey NHL playoff glance

SECOND ROUND

(Best-of-7; x-if necessary)

Eastern Conference Buffalo vs.Montreal

Wednesday, May6:Montreal at Buffalo

6p.m. Friday, May8:Montreal at Buffalo, 6p.m Sunday, May10: Buffalo at Montreal, 6p.m

SCOREBOARD

Tuesday, May12: Buffalo at Montreal, TBA

x-Thursday, May14: Montreal at Buffalo, TBA

x-Saturday, May16: BuffaloatMontreal, TBA

x-Monday, May18: Montreal at Buffalo, TBA Carolina 2, Philadelphia0

Saturday, May2:Carolina 3, Philadelphia 0

Monday,May 4: Carolina 3, Philadelphia 2, OT

Thursday, May7:Carolina at Philadelphia, 7p.m. Saturday, May9:Carolina at Philadelphia, 5p.m.

x-Monday, May11: Philadelphia at Carolina, TBA x-Wednesday, May13: Carolina at Philadelphia, TBA x-Saturday, May16: Philadelphia at Carolina, TBA

Western Conference Vegas 1, Anaheim 0 Monday, May4:Vegas 3, Anaheim 1 Wednesday, May6:AnaheimatVegas, 8:30 p.m.

Friday, May8:Vegas at Anaheim, 8:30p.m. Sunday, May10: Vegas at Anaheim, 8:30p.m.

x-Tuesday, May12: Anaheim at Vegas, TBA

x-Thursday, May14: Vegas at Anaheim, TBA

x-Saturday, May16: AnaheimatVegas,TBA Colorado 1, Minnesota 0 Sunday, May3:Colorado9,Minnesota 6

Tuesday, May5:Minnesota at Colorado, 7p.m Saturday, May9:Colorado at Minnesota, 8p.m. Monday, May11: Colorado at Minnesota, TBA x-Wednesday, May13: Minnesota at Colorado, TBA x-Friday, May15: Colorado at Minnesota, TBA x-Sunday, May17: Minnesota at Colorado, TBA College softball NFCA Top25poll Through Sunday’s games

at Philadelphia (Wheeler 1-0), 5:40 p.m. Baltimore(Young 2-1) at Miami (Pérez 2-3) 5:40 p.m. Boston (TBD)atDetroit (Flaherty 0-2), 5:40 p.m. Minnesota (Ober3-1)atWashington (Mikolas 0-3),5:45 p.m. Texas(Eovaldi 3-4) at N.Y. Yankees (Warren 4-0), 6:05 p.m. Cleveland (Cantillo 1-1) at Kansas City (Ragans 1-4), 6:40p.m. National League Monday’s Games N.Y. Mets 4, Colorado 2 Philadelphia 1, Miami 0 Chicago Cubs 5, Cincinnati 4 St. Louis 6, Milwaukee 3 L.A. Dodgers8,Houston 3

(McCullers 2-2),1:10 p.m.

(Waldron 0-1) at

(Houser 0-3), 2:45 p.m. Atlanta (Holmes2-1)atSeattle(Woo1-2) 3:10 p.m. Athletics(Springs 3-2) at Philadelphia (Wheeler 1-0), 5:40 p.m. Baltimore(Young 2-1) at Miami (Pérez 2-3) 5:40 p.m. Minnesota (Ober3-1)atWashington (Mikolas 0-3),5:45 p.m. Cincinnati (Singer 2-2) at Chicago Cubs (Rea 4-1), 6:40 p.m. N.Y. Mets (Scott 0-0) at Colorado (Quintana 1-2), 8:20 p.m. Pittsburgh (Skenes4-2)atArizona (Soroka 4-1), 8:40 p.m. Pro hockey NHL playoffs SECOND ROUND (Best-of-7) Monday’s

DakarNOLAisgetting anew home

BY IAN McNULTY Staff writer

The New Orleans restaurant

Dakar NOLA has drawninternational accolades and diners fromall aroundtoits doorat 3814Magazine St.Soonthey will be headed to anew address. Dakar NOLA is relocating to 937 Leonidas St. That was the bargeboard cottageand patio

NOLA

3814Magazine St.until May16 l 937 LeonidasSt., slated to open June 2

facing theMississippiRiver levee that was previously home to the restaurant Mat & Naddie’s, which closed in 2017. The last day forDakar NOLA at its MagazineStreet location is scheduled forMay

16. The new restaurant is slated to open June 2. The centerpiece of themodernSenegaleserestaurant will remainits tasting menu, which is servedtoeveryone at each seating simultaneously in acommunal fashion.

But the new restaurant will also expand thedining options. It will add amorecasual àla

Battle on Wednesdays.

Letitroll

NewOrleans chefscompete forthe best burrito at this Freret Street restaurant each week

BY MATTHEW HAINES

Contributing writer

Chefs Joaquin Rodas, left, and Tyler Spreen trytheir burritos

Admiration for the humble burrito —aswell as alovefor creativity,collaboration and the New Orleans dining scene

—has fueled aseries of competitionsthat hasunexpectedly become ahit event in Uptown. “Who doesn’tlove aburrito?” said Alfredo Nogueira, chef and co-owner of Vals,Freret Street’s popular casual Mexican restaurant. “If that person exists, I haven’tmet them.”

Anyone walking down Freret Street on arecent Wednesday evening would havefound packed tablesatVals’ outdoor courtyard and indoor bar area for itsweekly,bracket-style BurritoBattle. Themonthlong firstround of this three-round marathon features eight burritos from New Orleans chefs. From pop-up chefs like Chris Blanco of Waska to ﬁne dining professionals like

chef Tyler Spreen of Herbsaint to culinarycelebritiessuch as Nini Nguyen, Nogueira said he takes his mosttalented friends out of their comfort zone while providing aunique experience.

“Diners get to seeamazing talentslike Joaquin Rodasfrom Bacchanal make his take on aburrito for them,” Nogueira said, “and we get the beneﬁt of ﬁlling up our restaurant on aWednesday night, whichisinfamously abad night for the food and beverage business. It’sa win for everyone!”

Depending on the Wednesday, diners mightﬁnd aburrito stuffed withchicken vindalooor ﬁlled with marinated skirt steak and covered in Oaxacan queso. Lastyear’sdefending champion, Jackie Blanchard of Sukeban, used her Japanese-inspired burritofeaturing pork tonkatsu, queso, sweet corn furikake rice, shaved cabbage andspicy Kewpie mayonnaise to defend her crown againstMason Hereford

‘THATWAS THE MOST I’VE EVER HAD. LITERALLY.’

BY KASEYBUBNASH Staff

writer

Patrice Farooq has been working in the food service industry for more than adecade, ﬁrst as acaterer,baker andrestaurant owner in Houston and now as the owner of comfort food popup Cupcake KitchenNola.She’s been booked for countless parties, festivalsand events, and kept Mardi Gras revelers fed near the corner of Magazine and Jena streets during big Uptown parades. Bu ts he ’s neverseen a rush quite like the one at Pal’s Loungeafter the ﬁrstThursdayofthe 2026 New OrleansJazz&HeritageFestival.

“That was the most I’ve ever had,” Farooq said. “Literally.” Crowdsofhungry, tipsyfestivalgoers descended on Pal’s, where Farooq serves food every Thursday night. They hopped off their bikes and out of Ubersand headed straight for theCupcakeKitchen line, which wrapped around thebar’s patio forwell over an hour All Farooq had for help was herself, herson anda single grill. Afriendwho came by to getfood endedupjumping in to help out. By 10:30 p.m., things had ﬁnally started to slow down. Ahalf-hour later,Farooq was soldout She adjusted herexpectations for the festival’ssecond Thursday,withplans to ﬁreupa secondgrill andbring on another employee.

“Wesurvived,” she said. “And we are more than prepared, hopefully,for this Thursday with sometweaks.”

Chef Tyler Spreen’ssoft-shell crab burrito and Joaquin Rodas’ carne asada burrito are servedtogether for the Burrito Battle at Vals on Freret Street.

STAFF PHOTOSByENANCHEDIAK

Late-night customerswalk intoVals on Freret Street in NewOrleans on April 29. Vals holds its weekly,bracket-style Burrito

The new home of the NewOrleans restaurant Dakar NOLA is under renovation by the river leveeinthe former Mat & Naddie’s.

Later-in-lifebabyonlyneeds your love

Dear Annie: My husbandand Iare raising asurprise baby at astage in life when we thought ourchildrearing years were mostly behind us. Our older children are already teenagers and young adults, and while we adore this little one,Iwould be lying if I said the large age gap has not brought some unexpected emotions with it. On one hand, this baby is deeply lovedand has brought joy to our whole family On the other,Isometimesworry that he will grow up feeling more like an only child than part of asibling group. By the time he is old enough to reallyknow his brothers and sisters, they may be off at college, building careers or starting families of their own

By The Associated Press

Todayinhistory:

Iworry hewill miss out on the closeness andshared experiences that the older kids had with one another There is also astrange emotional divide in the house. My older children are loving,but they are naturally in acompletely different phaseoflife. While Iampacking diapers andplanning pediatrician visits, they are talking about driving, dating, jobs andthe future. Some days Ifeel as thoughIamliving in two different worldsatonce. People often say,“Howwonderful, built-in babysitters!” but I do notwant my older children to feel burdened,and Idonot want my youngest to feel like he came alongafter thefamily story was

TODAYINHISTORY

Today is Wednesday,May 6, the 126th day of 2026. There are 239 days left in the year

On May 6, 1937, the hydrogenﬁlledGerman airship Hindenburg caught ﬁre and crashed while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey; 35 of the 97 people on boardand one crew member on the ground were killed.

Also on this date:

In 1882, President Chester Alan Arthur signed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which barred Chinese laborers from immigrating to theU.S. for 10 years. (The act would remainineffect until 1943.)

In 1889, the Eiffel Tower opened to the public as part of the Paris World’sFair

In 1935, the Works Progress Administration was established under an executive order signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In 1994, the Channel Tunnel connecting England and France beneaththe English Channelwas ofﬁcially opened in aceremony attended by Queen Elizabeth II andFrench President François Mitterrand.

In 2004, President George W. Bush apologized for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers at AbuGhraib prison,

POP-UP

Continued from page1D

Still, no matter theobstacle, Farooq’sfood tends to speak for itself.

Spicy brisket tacos packedwith melt-in-your-mouth tender beef on crispy,grilled shellsoozing with gooey cheese. Velvety Gouda mac ‘n’ cheese that’screamy on the bottom and crispyontop, broiled to bubbly caramelized perfection. Smothered turkey wings, oxtail sliders, jerk chicken and brisket queso fries —all perfect for soaking up the daiquiris and Summer Shandys consumed at the Fair Grounds.

Farooq’slocal pop-up menu has the kind of foodthat helped her build afull-scale restaurant in just afew years back in Texas, but with an outdoor twist.

“So my menu was kind of curated around having that same comfort food vibe but from a grilled perspective,” she said.

Farooq started off catering in Houston before launching aspecialty cupcake and cake business in 2015. She wasworking as ateacher at the time, but eventuallyquit to pursuebaking full-time. She’d always planned to expand to offer more than desserts, so she called her business Cupcake Kitchen Houston, hoping “kitchen” would leaveroom forthe savory lunch and dinner dishes to come.

Soon, she did have akitchen, opening abrick-and-mortar restaurant around 2017 and expanding to offer brunch and lunch by 2019. But then COVID-19 hit, and people’sdining habits changed. She felt theimpacts even years after,with more people opting for takeout rather than diningin. She made the difﬁcult decisionto close in 2024.

“It took me awhile to get over that,”Farooqsaid. “It really hurt.” New Orleans had alwaysbeen acity Farooq thought shecould

already written. How can Ihelp my youngest feel fully connected in afamily where theage gap between siblings is so wide, and how do Istop worrying that he will always feel alittle left behind? —Starting Over With Love Dear Starting Over: Abig age gap does not have to mean abig emotional gap. What children remember mostisnot matching birthdays or life stages. It is whether they felt loved, included and wanted.

Your youngest is not an afterthought. He is part of the family’s continuing story.Let the older siblings be siblings, not spare parents, and trust that connection can grow in its own way Families do not have to look alike to be close.

BURRITO

Continuedfrom page1D

but rejectedcallsfor Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation.

In 1954, medical student Roger Bannister brokethe four-minute mile during atrack meet in Oxford, England, ﬁnishing in 3:59.4.

In 2013, three women who had beenkidnapped andheld for years are found aliveattheir captor’shome in Cleveland, Ohio. (Ariel Castro pleaded guilty months later to kidnapping, rape andother offenses and died by suicide weeksafter starting alife sentence plus 1,000 years.)

In 2023, King Charles III was crowned at Westminster Abbeyinagrandiose ceremony replete with pomp andritual. Charles was the 40thsovereign enthroned in theabbey —and, at 74, theoldest.

Today’sbirthdays: Rock musician Bob Seger is 81. Country musician Jimmie Dale Gilmore is 81. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is 73. TV host Tom Bergeron is 71. Actor Roma Downey is 66. Actor-director George Clooney is 65. Hockey Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur is 54. Actor Adrianne Palickiis 43.NBA point guardChris Paul is 41. Actor-comedian Sasheer Zamata is 40. Rapper Meek Mill is 39. Actor-singer Naomi Scott is 33. WNBA forwardAngel Reese is 24. Actor Emily AlynLind is 24.

live in if she wantedtomix things up,sowhena friendsuggested shestart anew in theCrescent City,she packed up her things.

Sheﬁrstconsidered a food truck,but eventually decided to takeadvantage of the city’s proliﬁc bar and pop-up scene

There’saDIY,smalltownvibe to New Orleans’ food culturethat Farooq said she’sgrown to love, where chefs and restaurant ownersand even strangers make an effort to help each other succeed. Back in Houston, she said, things are much more competitive.

She’sstill working to develop amorestable customer base through recurring jobs at local bars. She’sbeenatPal’severy Thursday nightsince last June, and will alsobeatSecond-Line Brewing every SaturdayinMay Findthe rest of herschedule at a regularlyupdated link in her Instagram bio.

Farooq saidshe’s still trying to get afeel for the ebb and ﬂow of New Orleans’ jam-packed festival and holiday seasons. At least when it comes toJazz Fest, she nowknows what to expect

“We’re gonna be ready,” Farooq said. “I’m gonna have to wear my backbracefor that day.”

Email KaseyBubnash at kasey bubnash@theadvocate.com.

Dear Annie: My sister and Ihave always been close, but ever since she retired,she has becomefar moreinvolved in everyone else’s lives than anyone asked her to be. She comments on how Irun my house, what my children should be doing andeven what Iought to say to my husband during disagreements. If Ipush back, she says she is “only trying to help” and acts hurt, as though Iamungrateful. Iknow she meanswell, but her constant opinions are exhausting. Ihave started screening her calls because Idonot have the energy for another lecture disguised as concern. At the sametime, Ido not want to damage our relationship, because Idolove her and know she has been there forme through difﬁcult times.

How do Itell someone Ilove that their “help” feels morelike control? —Smothered by SisterlyLove

Dear Smothered: Your sister may be calling it help, but if it leaves you feeling managed instead of supported, then it is timefor a gentle boundary.Love does not require unlimited access to your decisions.

Tell her kindly that you value her concern, but you need less advice and moretrust. She may be hurt foramoment, but better abrief sting than alasting resentment. Families stay closer when everyone minds their own garden a little more.

Sendyour questions forAnnie Lane to dearannie@creators. com.

from Turkey and the Wolf. Discerning judges

The idea for BurritoBattle came from asimilar ramen competition that Nogueira sawyears ago while living in Chicago. He thought it would be aclever way to bring NewOrleans dinersback to restaurants during the slowsummer season,but ultimatelydecided to focus on quietnights during the spring months.

“Wehavethis large outdoor space, and the weather is amazing right now,soI thinkour customersjust needed agreat reason to come out on aWednesday night,” Nogueira said.

Not only do customers get to taste ahalf of each of the two competing burritos, but theyalsoget to voteontheir favorites. Whoever gets the most votes moves on to thenext round.

It’sa recipe for success that has brought diners to Vals every Wednesday of thecompetition That includes10-year-old Rahm Sossamon, who was there April 29 with his mom andother friends and family.Hehasn’tmissed a BurritoBattle Wednesday in the two years that Vals has been holding the competition.

“It’ssoexciting to see what interesting thing the guest chefs that week aregoing to do with their burrito,” he said. “I get to try new foods —one burritowas sweet and sour —and Ireally like to debate with my family over which burrito everyone likes best.”

Other restaurants alsohavehad success with collaborations and competitions to drawdiners. Turkey andthe Wolf recently hosted aHot Dog Safari event beneﬁting NOLA Community Fridges, where patrons voted on their favorite hot dog—DaWeenies took the top spot

Sossamon proudly declared that the burrito he voted for has won every week of the competition.

Is hisfamilyequallysuccessful

DAKARNOLA

Continuedfrom page1D

carte menu, served on thecovered patio,opening adifferentdimension of the dining experience here. Menudetails are still taking shape, butexpectsmall plates,snacks and dishes inspired by Senegalese street food.

The patio will open after thedining room, slated for July

Still, both the tastingmenuand àlacarte menuwill share the samesource material —the chef’s Senegalese roots andhis journey through modernAmerican cuisine. Dakardistilled

The move represents the 2.0 phase of the restaurant chef Serigne Mbaye and business partner Efﬁe Richardson opened together Uptown in late2022. This time they bought theproperty, rather than lease.

“It allows us to build alegacy on ourown terms,” said Mbaye. “I think we’vebuilt atrust with people, and now we can take it to thenext level.”

In the dining room,where the tasting menu will be served, the restaurantwill have 18 seats, down from 30 today,inorder to focus the attention of the staff more fully on asmaller number of diners. Mbaye said it’s part of elevating the experience people alreadyknowfrom Dakar NOLA.

Now,colorsofsoftpinkand deep green correspondwith the look of theoriginal restaurant.Inside, the main dining room has wall ﬁnishes basedonthe look of traditional

in their judging?

“No!” he laughed. “They always judge based on thewritten description, but Ithink it’simportant to trust what you taste.”

Weekly tradition

Julia Alfonso, a32-year-old communications professional in the hospitality industry,saidshe and her husband have attended Burrito Battle nearlyevery Wednesday

“Wegoevery week we’re in town,” she said, “Some of my girlfriends asked me to hang out afew Wednesdays ago, andI told them only if it’s at Vals!It’sbecome atraditionfor us thatwe don’twant to miss.”

“Tomeit’sthe epitome of the New Orleans dining scene,” Alfonso continued. “It’scollaborative, it’s creative,and it’s fun.The chefs walk around andhangout with diners —it’ssuch ablast.”

The semiﬁnal round of Burrito Battle will likely kick off later in May.(Protip: Keep an eye on Vals’ Instagram, and reserve atable as soon as dates are set.) Alfonso said hermoney is on Blanchard from Sukeban to winthe competition a secondtime. Herhusband, however,said he wasimpressed with Southerns,afriedchicken-focused food truck that now has brick-andmortarlocations in Metairie and Hammond.

buildings found around Senegal, with amottling of colorsasif weathered paint on concrete. Abroad marble counter fronts thekitchen, giving viewstothe chefs at work andﬂames leaping from anew woodgrill.

The patio, with abamboo-lined fence, fans andupbeat music, is aiming to create alush African terrace scene. In theMat &Naddie’sdays, this wasanenchanting restaurant destination. Views out the windows or over the patio rail of passing trains andthe greenriseofthe river levee could make it feel like an escape.

In both the dining room or patio, thepartners said theywant the new Dakar NOLA to be an embodimentofteranga, the Wolof term for hospitality and agenerosity of spirit that goes above and beyond.

“This is where we transport people to Senegal,” said Richardson. Accolades, inspiration Dakarhas accrueda remarkable list of accolades in its short tenurev. Last year,itwas ranked No. 6onthe list of the 50 Best Res-

Southerns’ co-owner Anthony Cruz, who said his nickname as a child was “Tonyoboo” —translating in Los Angeles-Filipino slang to “Anthony Burrito,” anickname earned because he loved burritos so much—said he is already working on his recipe forthe next round.

“I don’tknowwhatwe’llcall it yet, something like Pork Four Ways —smoked pork belly braised pork belly,chicharron and an Oaxacan queso using bechamel, pork fatand jalapenos,” he explained. “The key to aburrito is you need to taste every ﬂavor in every bite.”

Cruz said the competition has introduced his business to new customersexcitedtocome to Southernstotry their menu. It’salsojust alot of fun, he added, hanging outside on aspringtimeWednesday on Freret Street, collaborating and competing with other chefs. But neither of these is the reason he mostloves Burrito Battle.

“Ifyou’re like me, you hate hearingthose announcements when a local New Orleans restaurant closes,” he said. “But those announcements come too often.”

“(Alfredo) and his team at Vals have comeupwith acool way to engage customers for them and forall of us.Ithink that’sworth coming out to support.”

taurants in North America, from the group that also produces the world’s50Best restaurant and bar lists. It was named best new restaurant by the James Beard Foundation in 2024,and thisyearMbaye is aﬁnalist forthe regionalJames Beard award forBest Chef:South. Dakar NOLA was one of two dozenrestaurants to land on the recommendedlist in the Michelin Guide last year,adesignation below Michelin star rankings. Its story goes back to the chef’s mother,Khady Kante. Sheran an underground Senegalese restaurantinNew York fora few years, and she would host homesickexpats formeals at her home. This inspired Mbaye’searly popups, which he hosted on the side while working in New Orleans restaurants, including Commander’s Palace and Mosquito Supper Club. His communaldinners of Senegalesefoodand storytelling around hospitality earned the chef aloyal following, andthatincluded Richardson. She partnered with him to open Dakar NOLA as afullﬂedged restaurant in 2022.

The partners hope the new locationwill host afullervisionofwhat Dakar NOLA can be. They’re excited forthe newformat, in part because it will give their staffmore opportunities to grow “I just want to help the next culinary generation of NewOrleans,” Mbaye said. “Allthe awards we get are cool, but what are we doing with it? That’swhat’sonmymind.” Email IanMcNultyat imcnulty@theadvocate.com.

PROVIDED PHOTO By PATRICE FAROOQ The smothered turkey wings at CupcakeKitchenNola

STAFF FILE PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Chef Serigne Mbaye decorates a plate of redfish at Dakar NOLA

STAFFPHOTO By ENAN CHEDIAK

AudreyPugh prepares drinksatthe bar at Vals on Freret Street.

tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Speak up and share your thoughts, intentions and feelings, and be willing to back what you say with actions. By reaching out, you will gain insight into unexpected opportunities and options.

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Your desire for change requires your attention. Review your options and hit the reset button. Embracing something that's new and exciting will bring life and joy back into your life.

cAncER (June 21-July 22) Take a tour of your community and see what's available. Participation is necessary if you want to bring out the best in yourself. Be the one to make a difference.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Share your history, background and experience. The more you offer, the more you'll receive. Stand up for your beliefs, go through the proper channels and take a position that has an impact.

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Participating in events will bring you closer to a decision or change you need to make. A personal change will help fine-tune your daily routine to suit your needs.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Embrace change, discover what's available and put your energy where it counts and brings the greatest satisfaction. Simplify your life to ensure you can focus on what's important to you.

scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Refuse to let anger set in and overreaction take over. Focus on compassion, understanding and finding resolution in your words

and actions. Opportunity comes when you make the right decisions. Listen carefully.

sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Stick close to home and to the ones you love. Protect your assets and possessions from loss or damage. Use common sense and discipline if someone tries to take advantage of you.

cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Think before you act. Problems will surface if you are too rigid or unwilling to see or understand the gravity of a situation. Stick close to home, listen to experts and take the simplest path forward.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Be bold in your actions, not with your words. Take pride in how and where you live. Spend more time and money on how you look and feel and less on criticizing or making unrealistic comparisons.

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Think matters through. Time is on your side, and considering the consequences of your actions prior to making a move is in your best interest. Keep your thoughts and intentions secret.

ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Slow down and get a grip on what's possible to make your life easier. Let go of what you have no control over, and focus on where and how you can make a difference.

FAMILY CIrCUS

Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present. Each letter in the cipher stands for another.

toDAy's cLuE: y EQuALs n

CeLebrItY CIpher For better or For WorSe

SALLY Forth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon

dooneSbUrY

bIG nAte

Sudoku

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

Yesterday’s PuzzleAnswer

THe wiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

CurTiS

By PHILLIP ALDER

Stanley Milgram, asocial psychologist who died in 1984,said, “It is easy to ignoreresponsibilitywhenoneisonlyan intermediate linkinachainofaction.”

The player who will become the dummy is atad like that, but in particular must notignorehis responsibilitiesin the bidding Today’sdeal,though,featuresanother word in that sentence. Look at the South hand. West’s openingbid of one heart is followedbytwo passes. Whatshould Southdo?

In the second seat, immediately over aone-level opening bid, asinglejump overcall in asuit is weak, indicating a respectablesix-cardsuitand some 5-10 high-card points. In the balancing seat, though,thejumpovercallbecomesintermediate. It showsadecent six-card suit and some14-16 high-card points —one winner more than aminimum opening bid.

Here, over South’s two-spade bid, presumablyWest would rebid three hearts, and Northwould compete with three spades. Thenlet’s assumethat Southshrugshisshouldersandbidsfour spades.

West leads the heartking. East overtakes with his ace and returnsthe heart two.West wins,cashes the club ace, and continueswithanotherclub.Howshould declarer continue? This deal is easy for someone whoremembers thechain of actionand inaction during the bidding. East passedover one heart, but has producedtheheartace.Hecannotalsohave thespadeking;otherwise,hewouldhave responded. So South should play aspade to his ace,beingrelievedwhenthekingcomes tumblingdown. Declarer drawsthe last trump and claims. ©2026 by nEa,inc., dist. By andrews mcmeel syndication

Each Wuzzle is awordriddlewhich creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: nOOn gOOD =gOOD aFTErnOOn

Previous answers:

word game

InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of fourormore letters. 2. Words that acquire fourletters by the addition of “s,”such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3 additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit wordsare not allowed toDAy’s WoRD EXPEnsIVE: ek-SPEN-siv: Costly.

Average mark14words

Timelimit 35 minutes

Can you find 27 or morewords in EXPENSIVE?

yEstERDAy’s WoRD —cHARIty

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

hidato

mallard fillmore

dIrectIons: make a 2- to 7-letter word from the letters in each row. add points of each word, using scoring directions at right. Finally, 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. “Blanks” used as any letter have no point value. all the words are in the Official sCraBBlE® players Dictionary, 5th Edition.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

ken ken

InstructIons: 1 Each row and each column must contain the numbers 1 thorugh 4 (easy) or 1 through 6 (challenging) without repeating. 2 The numbers within the heavily outlined boxes, called cages, must combine using the given operation (in any order) to produce the target numbers in the top-left corners. 3 Freebies: Fill in the single-box cages with the number in the top-left corner. HErE is a

WiShinG Well

Scrabble GramS

Get fuzzy

jump Start

roSe

DuStin

Drabble

Wallace the brave

breWSter rockit

luann

CITY OF HARAHAN LEGALS

AND APPEALS

ADVERTISE: APRIL 29, MAY6& 13,2026

TO BID

Bid No. 26-6969 May 6, 2026 Furnishand Install Solar Lightsand Poles Sealed Bid No. 26-6969 The CityofKenner (alsoreferencedas“Kenner” and “Owner”) will receivesealed bids for: FURNISH AND INSTALL SOLAR LIGHTS AND POLES

Biddersmay obtain copies of thebid documentsbyvisitingthe CityofKenner’swebsiteatwww.kenner.la.us. Biddersmay also obtain copies of thebid documentsand submit bids electronically byvisiting www.centralauctionhouse.com. Sealed bids may alsobe received by mail or in-personuntil Monday,June8,2026 at 9:45 a.m.

CST, by theCityofKenner in theFinance Department locatedat: 1610 Reverend Richard Wilson Drive BuildingD Kenner,Louisiana 70062

All interested parties are invitedtoattend theBid Opening on thesameday at 10:00 a.m. CSTinthe City of Kenner,BuildingD Auditorium,1610 Reverend Richard Wilson Drive, Kenner,Louisiana 70062 at which time thebidswillbepublicly read.Therewillbe an optional pre-bidmeeting on Thursday,May 14, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. CST at VeteransPark locatedat1900 WilliamsBlvd, Kenner,LA 70062. All interested biddersare encouraged to attend. CITY OF KENNER /s/ElizabethHerring Chief Financial Officer

Advertisement: The Advocate May 6, 2026 May 13, 2026 May 20, 2026

INVITATION TO BID Sealed Bid No. 26-6970 May 6, 2026 Refurbish,Furnish and Install One (1) 2.0M KlampressBelt Filter Press Sealed Bid No. 26-6970

The CityofKenner (alsoreferencedas“Kenner” and “Owner”) will receive sealed bids for:

REFURBISH, FURNISH AND INSTALL ONE (1)2.0 KLAMPRESS BELTFILTER PRESS

Biddersmay obtaincopies of thebid documentsbyvisitingthe CityofKenner’s websiteatwww.kenner.la.us. Biddersmay also obtain copiesofthe biddocuments and submit bids electronically byvisiting www.centralauctionhouse.com. Sealed bids may alsobe received by mail or in-personuntil Friday,June5,2026 at 9:45 a.m. CST, by theCityofKenner in theFinance Department locatedat: 1610 Reverend Richard Wilson Drive BuildingD Kenner,Louisiana 70062

All interested parties are invitedtoattend theBid Opening

JOURNAL OF THE CITY OF KENNERCITY OF KENNER LEGALS

THONY

D I S T R I C T CO

OR PA

SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-11764

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the above entitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground ﬂoor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City onJune 11, 2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit:

THAT PORTION OF GROUND,TO‐GETHER WITH ALLTHE BUILD‐INGS AND IMPROVEMENTS THEREON, AND ALL OF THE RIGHTS,WAYS, PRIVILEGES, SERVITUDES, ADVANTAGES ANDAPPURTE‐NANCES THERE‐UNTO BELONG‐INGORIN ANYWISEAP‐PERTAINING, SITUATED IN THETHIRD DIS‐TRICTOFTHE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, BLOCK“A” DE‐SAIX PLACE, BOUNDEDBY DESAIX CIRCLE, MOSS STREET ANDDESAIX BOULEVARD, DESIGNATED AS LOTNO46, AC‐CORDINGTO SURVEY BY J.J. KREBS& SONS,M SUR‐VEYORS,DATED SEPTEMBER14, 1953, ACERTI‐FIED COPY OF WHICHIS ANNEXEDTOAN ACTPASSEDBE‐FORE EDWARD HASPEL,N.P, DATED SEPTEMBER22, 1953,AND WHICHCOM‐MENCES 2255.43’ FEET FROM MOSS STREET, THESOUTHERN BOUNDARY LINE OF DESAIX PLACE, AND GENTILLY BOULEVARD (FORMERLYDE‐SAIX CIRCLE). FORGREATER CERTAINTY, REF‐ERENCE IS MADE TO SKETCH OF SURVEY BY GILBERT, KELLY ANDCOUTURIE ERROLE.KELLY,

ERROL E KELLY, SURVEYOR, DATEDDECEM‐BER19, 1974,A COPY OF WHICHISAN‐NEXEDTOAN‐OTHERACT PASSEDBEFORE WILLIAML ADRY,N.P., DATEDMARCH 20, 1975 FOR REFERENCE, ANDACCORD‐INGTOWHICH THEABOVE DE‐SCRIBEDLOT IS DESIGNATED SITUATED AND MEASURES AS ABOVE SETFORTH AND SHOWSTHAT BLOCK“A” OF DESAIX PLACEIS BOUNDEDBY DESAIX BOULEVARD, MOSS STREET, THESOUTHERN BOUNDARY LINE OF DESAIX PLACE AND GENTILLY BOULEVARD (FORMERLYDE‐SAIX CIRCLE). (THE “PROP‐ERTY”) WRIT AMOUNT: $216,630.67

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH

The purchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certiﬁed CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans GH 9 JACKSON& MCPHERSON LLC504 5819444 CRIS JACKSON

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 5/6/2026 & 6/10/2026 MAY6 JUN10-2T

PUBLIC NOTICE SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 1301 CHIMNEYWOOD

CHIMNEYWOOD LANE ,UNIT13, CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, IN THEMATTEREN‐TITLED:CHIM‐NEYWOOD HOME OWNER'S ASSOCIATION, INC. VERSUS AMANDA REED ANDCJR TRUCK‐ING, LLC

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-8704

Beingthatsame propertyac‐quired by Amanda Reed from RobinBell, by Quitclaim dated October25, 2016,and regis‐teredasCIN 608559onNo‐

608559 on No vember 9, 2016 in theofﬁcial recordsof OrleansParish, LouisianaasIn‐strument Num‐ber2016 45131.

WRIT AMOUNT:

$6,750.00

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter

Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certiﬁed CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐

Parish of Or leans

GH 5

LAWOFFICE OF CRAWFORD A ROSEIII, ATTOR‐NEYATLAW 504 920 0028

CRAWFORD A ROSE III

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 5/6/2026 & 6/10/2026

MAY6 JUN10-2T

PUBLIC NOTICE SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBERS213 NEIL AVENUE, CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, IN THEMATTEREN‐TITLED:CAR‐RINGTONMORT‐GAGE SERVICES LLCVERSUSAN‐THONY

GULLAGE, SR ANDSTEPHANIE R. GULLAGE

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-10238

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by the Honorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground ﬂoor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue, in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on May7,2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit: THAT CERTAIN LOTORPOR‐

LOT OR POR TION OF GROUND,situ‐ated in the Parish ofOr‐leans, Stateof Louisiana, in the FIFTHDISTRICT of theCityof NewOrleans in AURORA GAR‐DENS SUBDIVISION, in PLOT "J'', bounded by Neil Avenue,desig‐natedasLOT NO.SEVEN (7), all in accordance with thesurvey of AdloeOrr, Jr andAssociates C.E.,dated Au‐gust 26, 1959, which said lot commencesat a distance of 264.14 feet from

264 14 feet from thecornerof Neil Avenue and Aurora Drive andmeasures thence eighty (80')feet front on Neil Avenue, thesamein widthin therear, by a depthof152.50 feet between equaland paral‐lellines Whichhas the addressof213 Neil Avenue, NewOrleans,LA 70131

WRIT AMOUNT: $170,712.42

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH The purchaser t th t

NOTICE OF ELECTION

Peter G. Vicari,President Roy M. Carubba, VicePresident David A. Martin, Treasurer Gregory S. Marsiglia Secretary Kerwyn King, Commissioner Ronald Schumann,Jr. Commissioner Elton J. Meyers, Commissioner

PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOUTHEASTLOUISIANA FLOOD PROTECTION AUTHORITY –EASTSPECIAL BOARDMEETING HELD ON THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2026

TheSpecial BoardMeeting of theSoutheast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East(Authority or SLFPA-E) washeldonThursday,April 23, 2026, in theOrleansLevee District Franklin AdministrativeComplex, 6920 Franklin Avenue, Meeting Room 201, New Orleans, Louisiana, after duelegal notice of themeetingwas senttoeach Board member andthe news media andposted. Mr.Vicari called themeetingtoorder at 2:01 p.m. andled in thepledge of allegiance.Mr. Marsiglia called theroll andtherewas aquorum:

PRESENT: Peter G. Vicari, President RoyM.Carubba,Vice-President David A. Martin, Treasurer GregoryMarsiglia, Secretary Ronald Schumann, Jr

ABSENT: Kerwyn King EltonMeyers, Commissioner

OPENING COMMENTS BY PRESIDENT

ADOPTION OF AGENDA: Themotionoffered by Marsiglia and seconded by Mr.Carubba to adoptthe agendawas adopted PUBLIC COMMENTS:

NEWBUSINESS: 1. Discussion of proposedbylaws changes. There wasnofurtherbusiness; therefore, the meeting wasadjournedat3:12p.m. 186560-644722-may6-1t $97.02

SLFPA-W Officials

SLFPA-West Commissioners Scott M. Burke, President KyleJ.Galloway,P.E Vice-President Stephen P. Gauthé, Secretary-Treasurer Larry B. Ardoin, P.E. Commissioner WilliamB.Fogle, Commissioner MitchellL.Kirkland, P.E. Commissioner

RonnieL.Robinson, P.E. Commissioner Jesse D.Noel,P.E RegionalDirector Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-West 7001 River Road Marrero, LA 70072 (504) 340-0318 www slfpaw org

SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA FLOOD PROTECTIONAUTHORITY –WEST BANK (SLFPA-W) Minutes of the RegularBoardMeeting Tuesday,March 24,2026

The SLFPA-W Board of Commissionersmet at approximately4:00P.M Tuesday March 24, 2026 at the Moreau Center –MCConferenceRoom–University of Holy Cross, 4123 Woodland Drive, Algiers, Louisiana

Mr. Burke called the public meeting to order anddirected Mr.Gauthé to call theroll. Commissioners in attendance at theMoreau Center –MCConference Room: Mr Burke, Mr.Fogle, Mr.Galloway,Mr. Gauthé, Mr.Kirkland, andMr. Robinson.Mr. Ardoin was absent.

Mr.Burke led all in attendance in the PledgeofAllegiance.

It wasmovedbyMr. Gauthé, seconded by Mr.Galloway,and unanimously approved bythe Commissioners in attendancetoaffirm theagendaaspresented.

It wasmovedbyMr. Burke, secondedbyMr. Gauthé, andunanimously approved by theCommissioners in attendance to accept andapprove theminutesofthe February 24, 2026 regular board meeting.

Mr.Burke openedthe public hearingat4:01P.M. There were no public comments forthe public hearing.

It was moved Mr.Gauthé, seconded by Mr.Fogle, andunanimously approved by the Commissioners in attendancetoapprove andadopt theproposed budgetfor theSoutheast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority –West,West Jefferson Levee District, andAlgiers Levee Districtfor the fiscalyear ending June 30,2027. Theroll call vote on the motion was as follows:

YEAS: Mr.Burke, Mr.Fogle, Mr.Galloway,Mr. Gauthé, Mr.Kirkland, Mr

Robinson NAYS: None

ABSTAINED: None

ABSENT:Mr. Ardoin RECUSED: None

Mr.Burke closed the public hearing at 4:03 P.M. There were no public comments forthe public meeting.

Mr.Burke gave the President’sReport forthe month of March.

Mr.Gauthé reported on theactivities, meetings, andissuesofthe Administration Committee during the month of March.

Mr.Robinson reported on the activities,meetings, andissuesofthe Operations and MaintenanceCommittee during themonth of March.

PursuanttoResolution R-26-107,asadoptedbythe City Council of NewOrleans on March12, 2026,NOTICEISHEREBY GIVEN,that an electionwillbeheldinNew OrleansonSaturday,June27, 2026 Thefollowingproposition will be submitted to allregistered voters (whoare qualified andentitledtovote at this electioninaccordance with allstate andfederal laws) residinginthe Lake Forest Estates Improvement District (“District”), whichiscomprised of theareaofthe City of NewOrleans within theboundaries of theLake Forest Estates Subdivision: LAKE FORESTESTATES IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT PROPOSITION Shall theCityofNew Orleanslevy an annual feeoneach parceloftaxable real property located within theLake Forest Estates ImprovementDistrict(“District”), theboundaries of whichare coterminouswiththose of theLake Forest Estates Subdivision, in theamountof$550, for sevenyears, beginning January 1, 2027 andendingDecember31, 2033,which is estimated to generate $99,000annually,tobeused exclusively for thepurpose of promoting andencouraging thebeautification, security, andoverall betterment of theDistrict, except for a1% City collection fee, andprovided that,ifused to fund additional lawenforcement or security personnel andservices, such personneland servicesshall be supplementaltoand notinlieuof those providedbythe NewOrleans Police Department?

This electionshall be held at thepolling place(s) provided below whichwillopen at 7:00 a.m. andclose at 8:00 p.m. in accordance with La.R S. 18:541.Registeredvoters in each of thefollowingprecincts whoare residentsofthe District shall be eligibletovote on said proposition: POLLING PLACE(S) WARD PRECINCT LOCATION 944M(P)Household of Faith Church 9300 I-10 ServiceRd

Theestimated cost of this election, as determinedbythe Louisiana Secretary of State andbaseduponthe provisions of Title 18 Chapter 8A of theLouisianaRevisedStatutesand theactual costs of similar elections, is $8,200 TheCouncil, acting under thepowersgrantedtoitbythe City Charterand state statutes, shall meet, in opensession, in theCouncil Chamber, City Hall, 1300 Perdido Street, NewOrleans, Louisianaon Thursday, August 6, 2026,beginningat10:00a.m.toexamineand canvass thereturns anddeclarethe electionresult AISHA R. COLLIER CLERKOFCOUNCIL

PUBLICATION DATES: April 29,May 6, 13 and20, 2026 NOCP 9036

185754-642317-apr29-may6-13-20-4t $388.08

NOTICE OF ELECTION

Mr.RobinsonrepresentedSLFPA-West at the Mississippi ValleyFlood Control Association (MVFCA) Washington D.C. 2026 Spring Legislative meetings. He briefed theBoard on hismeetings with members of Congress regarding WRDA 2026 and fundingrequests.

Mr.Noel presented the RegionalDirector’sReport for the month of March. It was movedbyMr. Gauthé, secondedbyMr. Fogle,and unanimouslyapprovedby theCommissioners in attendance to approve billsfor paymentfor the Southeast LouisianaFlood Protection Authority –West Bank, West Jefferson Levee District, and Algiers Levee District. Thevote on the motion was as follows:

YEAS: Mr.Fogle,Mr. Galloway,Mr. Gauthé, Mr.Kirkland, Mr.Robinson

NAYS: None

ABSTAINED: None

ABSENT:Mr. Ardoin

RECUSED:None It wasmovedbyMr. Robinson,secondedbyMr. Galloway,and unanimously approvedbythe Commissioners in attendance to award Bid2026-314, the WBV 16.2 Bayou Segnette3rd Levee Lift, to Procivil L.L.C. in an amount nottoexceed $1,583,545.00; andtofurtherauthorize the President to execute anycontracts, agreements, anddocuments to carry outthe intent of this action,and to amend the budgetaccordingly. Thevote on the motion was as follows:

YEAS:Mr. Fogle,Mr. Galloway,Mr. Gauthé, Mr.Kirkland, Mr.Robinson

NAYS: None

ABSTAINED: None

ABSENT:Mr. Ardoin

RECUSED:None

It wasmovedbyMr. Robinson,secondedbyMr. Gauthé, andapprovedbya majority of the Commissioners in attendance to authorize Arcadis-US, Inc. Task Order#2026-01for the WBV14a.2 HarveyCanal Levee Lift inanamount notto exceed $198,827.00;and to furtherauthorize the President to execute anycontracts agreements, anddocuments to carry outthe intent of this action,and to amend the budgetaccordingly. Thevote on the motion was as follows:

YEAS: Mr.Burke, Mr.Fogle,Mr. Gauthé, Mr.Kirkland, Mr.Robinson

NAYS:None

ABSTAINED: None

ABSENT:Mr. Ardoin

RECUSED:Mr. Galloway

It wasmovedbyMr. Gauthé, secondedbyMr. Fogle,and unanimouslyapprovedby theCommissioners in attendance to adopt the revisions to SLFPA-WPolicy #11-42 Crisis Leave, as presented with an effective date of March 24,2026. Thevote on the motion was as follows:

YEAS: Mr.Fogle,Mr. Galloway,Mr. Gauthé, Mr.Kirkland, Mr.Robinson

NAYS: None

ABSTAINED: None

ABSENT:Mr. Ardoin RECUSED:None Mr.Burke announced the next board meeting of the Authority is to be held Tuesday April28, 2026 at the SLFPA-W– Office –Board Room, 7001 River Road, Marrero Louisianaat4:00PM. Theagendabeing completed, Mr.Burke declared the meeting adjournedat approximately 4:39 P.M.

Pursuant to theprovisions of Resolution R-26-76, adopted by theCityCouncil of NewOrleans on February12, 2026,NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that an electionwillbeheldinNew Orleanson Saturday, June27, 2026 andatthe electionthere will be submittedto allregisteredvoters (whoare qualified andentitledtovote at thesaid electionunder theConstitution andLaws of theState of Louisiana andthe Constitution andLaws of theUnitedStates) residinginthe Garden District’sSecurity District(“District”), whichiscomprised of theareaofthe City of NewOrleans located within andincluding thefollowingboundaries: both sidesofCarondeletStreet, Jackson Avenue,Magazine Street, andLouisianaAvenue,towit: GARDEN DISTRICT’S SECURITYDISTRICT PROPOSITION Shall theCityofNew Orleansbeauthorized to impose and collect an annual feenot to exceed nineteen mills (subjecttothe homesteadexception) on each parcel of land locatedwithinthe Garden District’sSecurity District(“District”), delineated by La R.S. 33:9091.2(B)asthe area bounded by andincludingboth sidesofCarondeletStreet, Jackson Avenue,Magazine Street, andLouisianaAvenue,for eight (8) years, beginningJanuary 1, 2027 andendingDecember31, 2034,which fee(estimated to be $852,000 in the first yearofcollection) shall be setby theresolutionofthe Districtboard of commissionersand used exclusively,subjecttoa 1% City collection fee, to promoteand encourage security within theDistrict?

Pursuant to La.R.S.18:1285(A)(1)(a)(iii), noticeisfurthergiventhat if implemented, aportion of themonies collected from thespecial taxorfee shall be remitted to certain state andstatewideretirement systems in themannerrequired by law.

Said electionshall be held at thepolling placeslocated within the precinctsdelineated hereinbelow.The pollsinsuchprecinctswillopen at seven o’clock in themorning (7:00 a.m.) andcloseateight o’clock in theevening (8:00 p.m.),inaccordancewiththe provisions of La R.S. 18:541.Registered voters in each of thefollowingprecinctswho areresidents of theDistrictshall be eligibletovote on said proposition: POLLING PLACES

DATES: April 29,May 6, 13 and20, 2026 NOCP 9037 185755-642318-apr29-may6-13-20-4t $498.96

PUBLIC NOTICE SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 2602 DREUXAV, CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, IN THEMATTEREN‐TITLED: DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL TRUSTCOM‐PANY,AS TRUSTEE,IN TRUST FORREGIS‐TEREDHOLDERS OF LONG BEACH MORTGAGE LOAN TRUST 2005-WL2, ASSET-BACKED CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2005WL2VERSUS PHALONCOR‐NIST ANDRENEE

S Case No: 2025-4973

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSale di‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by publicauction, on theground ﬂoorofthe Civil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue, in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on June 11,2026 at 12:00o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit: 2821-2823N ROCHEBLAVE ST NEWORLEANS LA 70117 LOTB -SQUARE 1318 3RDMUNICIPAL DISTRICT ACQMIN: 1318234 WRIT AMOUNT:

$160,635.82

S Case No: 2025-3283

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the above entitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground ﬂoor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City onJune 11, 2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit: 2602 DREUXAV NEW ORLEANS, LA 70122 LOTS 31 &32SQUARE 71 3RDMUNICIPAL DISTRICT ACQMIN: 322868 GENTILLY GAR‐DENS WRIT AMOUNT: $84,550.66

Seized in the above suit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment ofadjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter

Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash, Cashier's Check, Certiﬁed CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans RB 10 JACKSON& MCPHERSON, LLC504-5819444 CRIS JACKSON

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 5/6/2026& 6/10/2026 MAY6 JUN10-2T

PUBLIC NOTICE

lowing de scribedprop‐erty to wit: 1444 EGANIA ST A/K/A1444 A& BEGANIAST NEWORLEANS LA70117 LOT11ASQUARE 580 3RDMUNICIPAL DISTRICT ACQMIN: 1432242 WRIT AMOUNT: $125,218.37

Seized in the above suit, TERMS -CASH. Thepurchaser at themoment ofadjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter

Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certiﬁed Checkor Money Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPONENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans 14 MCCABE LAW FIRM,LLC 504782-3436

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter

Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certiﬁed CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans

RB 11 LAWOFFICESOF HERSCHEL C. ADCOCK,JR., LLC(225) 7560373

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 5/6/2026 & 6/10/2026 MAY6 JUN10-2T

PUBLICNOTICE

SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT

THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 1444 EGANIA ST A/K/A1444 A& BEGANIA ST,CITYOFNEW ORLEANS, IN THEMATTEREN‐TITLED:U.S BANK TRUST COMPANY, NA‐TIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEEFOR VELOCITY COM‐MERCIALCAPI‐TALLOAN TRUST2024-2 VERSUS M&N2 INVESTMENTS, LLC

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 5/6/2026 & 6/10/2026

MAY6 JUN10-2T

PUBLICNOTICE SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBERS2747 SAINT ANN STREET,CITYOF NEW ORLEANS, IN THEMATTEREN‐TITLED: AUDUBON MORTGAGE AND FINANCIAL SER‐VICES, CO., INC. VERSUS ELLA O'CONNOR TATE BENSON

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-9886

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground ﬂoor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue, in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on June 11,2026 at 12:00o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit: 2747 ST ANNST NEWORLEANS, LA 70119 LOT: 36, SQUARE:356 SECOND MUNIC‐IPALDISTRICT ACQMIN: 1397351 WRIT AMOUNT: $40,637.45

MICHEAL J WINSBERG 504581-9322

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 5/6/2026 & 6/10/2026 MAY6 JUN10-2T

PUBLIC NOTICE SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT

THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 5830 FLORIDAAV‐ENUE,CITYOF NEW ORLEANS, IN THEMATTEREN‐TITLED:U.S BANK TRUST COMPANY, NA‐TIONAL ASSOCI‐ATION, AS TRUSTEE FORVELOCITY COMMERCIAL CAPITALLOAN TRUST2025-4 VERSUS 5830 FLORIDAAVE NEWORLEANS, LA 70117 L.L.C. CI

OF OR

AN S Case No: 2026-1059

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground ﬂoor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue, in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on June 11, 2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐ertytowit: 5830 FLORIDA AV NEWOR‐LEANS, LA 70117 LOT15- SQUARE 1450 3RDMUNICIPAL DISTRICT ACQMIN: 1462868 WRIT AMOUNT: $91,460.51

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certiﬁed CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonal Checks FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans

RB 13

MCCABE LAW FIRM,LLC 504782-3436

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 5/6/2026 & 6/10/2026 MAY6 JUN10-2T

Civil District Courtfor the Parish of Or‐leans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwill pro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground ﬂoor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue, in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on June 11, 2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit: 8739 EDIN‐BURGHSTNEW ORLEANS, LA 70118 LOT13- SQUARE 555 7THMUNICIPAL DISTRICT ACQMIN: 1471862 WRIT AMOUNT: $7,760.00

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at the moment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter

Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certiﬁed CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans RB 3 CITY OF NEW ORLEANS504658-4346 ANNA T. LEE

TheN.O Advo‐cate Date (s): 5/6/2026 & 6/10/2026 MAY6 JUN10-2T

PUBLIC NOTICE

SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBERS261820 LASALLEST, CITY OF NEW ORLEANS,IN THE MATTER ENTI‐TLED:CITIBANK, N.A. NOTINITS INDIVIDUAL CA‐PACITY,BUT SOLEYAS OWNER

TRUSTEEOFTHE NEWRESIDEN‐TIAL MORTGAGE LOAN TRUST 2019-1VERSUS MADELINE GAINES WILKERSON A/K/AMADE‐LINEG.WILKER‐SONINDIVIDU‐ALLY ANDAS SURVIVING SPOUSE IN COM‐MUNITY WITH HAROLD WILK‐ERSON

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-9509

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter Note: Thepay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certiﬁed CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans RB 11 JACKSON& MCPHERSON LLC504-5819444

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 4/1/2026 & 5/6/2026 apr1-may 6-2t

PUBLIC NOTICE SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 38163818-3820 NAPOLEON AV‐ENUE THIS CITY,IN THEMATTEREN‐TITLED:WELLS FARGOBANK, N.A.,SUCCES‐SORBYMERGER TO WELLS FARGOBANK MINNESOTA, N.A.,AS TRUSTEEF/K/A NORWESTBANK MINNESOTA, N.A.,AS TRUSTEEFOR THE REGISTERED HOLDERSOFRE‐NAISSANCE HOME EQUITY LOAN ASSETBACKED CER‐TIFICATES, SE‐RIES 2004-1VERSUS MICHAELM OGDENJR. (A/K/A MICHAEL M. OGDEN, MICHAEL OGDEN, JR.)AND THEUNITED STATES OF AMERICA

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2008-11774

UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans GH 15 LAWOFFICESOF HERSCHEL CAD‐COCK JR LLC (225) 756-0373 DENNIS F. WIG‐GINS

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 4/1/2026 & 5/6/2026 apr1-may 6-2t

PUBLIC NOTICE SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 4666 ARTHUR DR CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, IN THEMATTEREN‐TITLED:FREE‐DOMMORT‐GAGE CORPORA‐TION VERSUS RONALD D. MCMILLAN

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-8436

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil DistrictCourt forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground ﬂoor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue, in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on May7,2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit: 4666 ARTHUR DR NEWORLEANS LA 70127 LOT40- SQUARE 7 3RDMUNICIPAL DISTRICT ACQMIN: 742641 CASTLE MANOR SUBDIVISION WRIT AMOUNT: $25,029.48

COURTNEY MPAGI CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 00 2025-11165

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground ﬂoor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue, in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on May7,2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit: 9751 ANDOVER DR NEWOR‐LEANS, LA 70127 LOT48- SQUARE A 3RDMUNICIPAL DISTRICT ACQMIN: 1397685 WRIT AMOUNT: $241,253.87

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter

Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certiﬁed CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans RB 9 DEAN MORRIS, LLC318-3881440 CANDACEA COUTEAU

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 4/1/2026 & 5/6/2026 apr1-may 6-2t

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter

Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certiﬁed CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans

GH 22 LOGS LEGAL GROUPLLP 504838-7535 WILLIAMS TEBBE

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 4/1/2026 & 5/6/2026 apr1-may 6-2t

SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBERS28212823 N ROCHEBLAVE ST, CITY OF NEWORLEANS, IN THEMATTER ENTITLED: ROCKET MORT‐GAGE,LLC F/K/A

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2026-1060 By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by publicauction on theground ﬂoor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue, in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on June 11,2026, at 12:00o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐ib d

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter

Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certiﬁed CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPONENTERING BUILDING

PUBLIC NOTICE

SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER CITY OF NEWOR‐LEANSVERSUS SPLENDID DWELLINGS, LLC

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans GH 15 MICHEALJ

CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2026-799 By virtue of a Writ of FieriFa‐cias directed to me by theHon‐orable Judges of CivilDistrict f h

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground ﬂoor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue, in theFirst Dis‐trictof theCity on May7,2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit: 2618-20 LASALLE ST NEWOR‐LEANS, LA 70113 LOT12- SQUARE 331 4THMUNICIPAL DISTRICT ACQMIN: 825828 WRIT AMOUNT: $19,847.39

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter

Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certiﬁed CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans RB 8 HALLIDAY, WATKINS& MANN P.C. AT‐TORNEYSAT LAW318-3881440 CANDACEA COURTEAU

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 4/1/2026 & 5/6/2026 apr1-may 6-2t

PUBLIC NOTICE SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBERS2448 CUMBERLAND COURT, CITY OF NEWORLEANS, IN THEMATTER ENTITLED:CAR‐RINGTONMORT‐GAGE SERVICES, LLCVERSUS EXTON GARRETT HURT CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-11562

PUBLIC NOTICE SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBERS1661 PAUL MORPHY STREET,CITYOF NEWORLEANS, IN THEMATTER ENTITLED:VE‐LOCITY COM‐MERICALCAPI‐TAL, LLCVER‐SUSAUSTIN VENTUREPROP‐ERTIES,LLC CI VI L DI ST RI CT CO UR TF OR PA RI SH OF OR LE AN S Case No: 2025-9111 By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground ﬂoor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on May7,2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit: 1661 PAUL MOR‐PHYSTNEW OR‐LEANS, LA 70119 LOT: 21, SQUARE:1533 THIRDMUNICI‐PALDISTRICT ACQMIN: 1453962 WRIT AMOUNT: $246,000.00

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- CASH Thepurchaser at themoment of adjudication to make ade‐positoften per‐cent of thepur‐chaseprice,and thebalance within thirty days thereafter Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certiﬁed CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING

PUBLIC NOTICE SALE BY SHERIFF JUDICIAL ADVERTISE‐MENT THAT CERTAIN PORTIONOF GROUND BEAR‐INGMUNICIPAL NUMBER 9751 ANDOVERDR, CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, IN THEMATTEREN‐TITLED:PLANET HOME LENDING, LLCVERSUS MONTRELL MPAGIAND COURTNEY

By virtue of a Writ of Seizure andSaledi‐rected to me by theHonorable Judges of Civil District Court forthe Parish of Orleans, in the aboveentitled cause, Iwillpro‐ceed to sell by public auction, on theground ﬂoor of theCivil District Court Building,421 Loyola Avenue in theFirst Dis‐trictofthe City on May7,2026, at 12:00 o'clock noon,the fol‐lowing de‐scribedprop‐erty to wit: 2448 CUMBER‐LAND CT NEW ORLEANS, LA 70131 LOT: 19, SQUARE:51 FIFTHMUNICI‐PALDISTRICT ACQMIN: 1304960 WRIT AMOUNT: $362,336.94

Seized in the abovesuit, TERMS- 100% CASH AT THE MOMENT OF AD‐JUDICATION Note:The pay‐ment must be Cash,Cashier's Check, Certiﬁed CheckorMoney Order. No Per‐sonalChecks. FACE MASKS ANDTEMPERA‐TURECHECKS AREREQUIRED UPON ENTERING BUILDING

SusanHutson Sheriff, Parish of Or‐leans GH 23 LawFirm: MC‐CABE LAWFIRM, LLC504-7823436

TheN.O.Advo‐cate Date (s): 4/1/2026 & 5/6/2026 apr1-may 6-2t

Seized in the