The Advocate 02-05-2025 by The Advocate

“These commitments andmyexpectation that we canhaveagreat working relationship to makeAmerica healthyagain is the basis of my support.”

Cassidyvotes to confirm Trumpnominee RFKJr.

Decision came despiteconcern aboutKennedy’s vaccinestance

BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer

WASHINGTON Health chief nominee

RobertF.KennedyJr. wouldn’t deny his long-held skepticism about vaccinations, buthe agreed not to discourage parents from vaccinating their children —and that wasgood enough for Louisiana U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy on Tuesday

After much handwringing, Cassidy,R-BatonRouge, backed President Donald Trump’scontroversial pick to run the U.S. Department of

BY MATT BRUCE Staff writer

Prosecutors are determined to ultimately get aNew York doctor into state court in Louisianatoface felony charges for allegedly prescribing abortion pills to apregnant West Baton Rouge teenager,

Health and Human Services.He said Kennedyand theTrump administration pledged “an unprecedentedclose collaborativeworking relationship” with Cassidy as chair of theSenate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which oversees the agency.Thatcollaboration would include plentyofvisits and lotsofconsultations, including input on agency hiring decisions.

Withoutcomment, Cassidy joined the 14-13 party-line vote on the Senate FinanceCommittee that advanced Kennedy’snomination to the

but theylikely will need afederal judge’shelp It’sshaping up to be aprotracted uphill legal battlefor Louisiana authorities, because it seems clear New York’sgovernor and state attorney generalwilldowhatever necessary to block extradition of Dr.Margaret “Maggie” Carpen-

full Senate. Still,the nominee doesn’thaveuniversal support. That’swhy all eyes were on Cassidy as one of ahandful of Republican senators whohadn’t endorsedTrump’scontroversial pick to run the$1.7 trillion agency Later in the day, Cassidy explained the reasoning behind his decision to votefor Kennedy after having raised so many reservations about his embrace of disproved studies that link vaccinations to autism and

ä See CASSIDY, page 7A

tertoLouisiana. Shewas indicted Friday in aﬁrst-of-its-kind criminal indictmentinthis stateoranywhere in the nation.

Carpenter,55, wasindicted by a West Baton Rouge grand juryfor sellingmifepristone tabletscausing the pregnant teen to have a miscarriage that ended her preg-

La.panel meetsin secret to cut spending

BY TYLERBRIDGES Staff writer

Anewlycreated commission formed by Gov.

Jeff Landry to reduce wasteful government spending has been meeting in secret, which independent experts sayviolatesthe state’sopen meeting laws.

Known as the Fiscal ResponsibilityProgram, it consists of eight state legislators and Steve Orlando, a neighbor and ﬁshing buddy of the governor,and has met twice in the past week. One took placeinthe main dining room of the Governor’s Mansion, the otherinthe governor’ssuite of ofﬁces at the Capitol.

“We’re just talking to people aboutwho we’re going to hire,” state Sen. Valarie Hodges, R-Denham Springs, said in an interview Tuesday

“We’re just talking to people about who we’re going to hire. We’retrying to decide what we’re going to do. They’re not meetings.”

STATESEN.VALARIE HODGES, R-Denham Springs

“We’re trying to decide whatwe’re going to do. They’re not meetings.”

That’snot the view of experts.

“Weappreciate the governor’sgoal to make state government more efficient and fiscally responsible,” said Steven Procopio, president of the Public Affairs Research Council, aBaton Rougebased nonprofit.“However, as apublicbody, the task force has alegal obligation to hold open meetings. Transparency is not just arequirement under the law —itisessential forbuilding public trust and ensuring thetask force hasaccess to diverse perspectivesand critical information that could strengthen its work.”

In each meeting, adifferent consulting ﬁrm madea pitch to be hired to identify unnecessary government spending, said Hodgesand Rep.Jack McFarland, R-Winnfield, another commission member “Wediscussed hiring aconsulting ﬁrm that does

Inspired by Elon Musk’s DOGE, Landry’s task forceskirting open meetinglaws, expert says ä See SECRET, page 6A

nancy.Aseparate indictment Friday alleged the teen’sPort Allen mother coerced her daughter to takeone of the pills, after the teen bought them online from Carpenter’s Nightingale Medical clinic in upstateNew York.

The Louisiana AttorneyGeneral’s Ofﬁce plans to work closely

with Tony Clayton, the district attorneyofthe West Baton Rouge Parish, on piercing the Empire State’s laws thatprotect doctors who provide abortion care and prescribe related medicine. “It’simportant to remember

ä See DOCTOR, page 6A

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE

Sen.Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, confers with an aide during Tuesday’s Senate Finance Committee meeting.

Blue Origin mimics moon gravity for NASA

Jeff Bezos’ rocket company gave NASA abrief taste of the moon’sgravity Tuesday,without straying too far from home.

Blue Origin launched the29 lunar technology experiments to the edgeofspace fromWest Texas. The company laterconﬁrmed that roughly two minutes of artiﬁcial lunar gravity were achieved by spinningthe capsule 11 times aminute.

It was Blue Origin’sfirst attemptatmimicking lunargravity,which is one-sixththat of Earth. NASA said it wants to test equipment on shortspaceﬂights to weedout any problems before sending them to themoon. The experiments —mainly sponsored by NASA —included ways to keep lunar dust off futuremoonwalkers’ spacesuits and tools.

Mimickingthe moon’sgravity on spaceflights can accelerate research at much lower costs and future trips can “closely mirror Mars and othersolar system gravity environments,” Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp postedonX ahead of the flight. The New Shepard rocketlanded as plannedfollowing the late morning liftoff. The capsule with the experiments parachuted back to the desert to close out the 10-minute flight.

New Shepard alternates betweenﬂying passengers andexperiments on short spacehops. BlueOrigin’smuch bigger orbital rocket,New Glenn, made itsdebut launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, lastmonth.

Heavy snow disrupts lifeinnorthernJapan

TOKYO— Record-breakingsnowfall fell on Japan’snorthernmain island of Hokkaido, disrupting trafﬁc, causing airport closures and delaying deliveries on Tuesday

The Hokkaidoprefectural government said record-breaking snowfall hasbeen observedespecially in the eastern regions of the island, including Obihiro and Kushiro, whose city ofﬁces received dozensofcalls forhelp from driverswhose vehicleshad stalled in the snow

The heavy snow and trafﬁcdisruptions came just as apopular snow festival began in Sapporo in southern Hokkaido, although the city did not face major disruptions.

Televisionfootage showed residents shoveling snow and passengers pushing vehicles that got stuck. So far,noinjuries or major damage have been reported. In Obihiro, record-breaking snowfall of 4feet was detected earlier Tuesday

The Japan Meteorological Agency said two powerful low pressure systems are moving on both sides of the Japanese archipelago, sending cold air into the region. The agency predictedup to 3.2 feet of snowfall in northwestern Japan and 1.6 feetmore snowfall in Hokkaido over the next 24 hoursthrough Wednesday evening.

Scottish government: Cats won’t be banned

LONDON

The Scottish government wants everyone to knowit does not plan to ban cats.

First Minister John Swinney was forced to issue the statement after areport by independent experts branded felines athreat to Scotland’swildlife and suggested “containment” measures be considered to reduce the damage.

The Scottish Animal Welfare Commission said cats killatleast 700 million birds and other animals each yearinthe U.K.Itadvisedthe government to consider arange of measures, including keeping domesticcats indoors or on leashes,toprotect endangered species such as Scottish wildcats.

The report said “cat containment”measurescould also include “restrictions on introducing cats to households in vulnerable areas” —interpreted by some as effectively aban.

The Scottish governmentsaid it would “fully consider” the recommendations. Cats Protection,the U.K.’s biggest catcharity, gave theidea of draconian containment measures short shrift, saying“pragmatic solutions like keepingcatsindoorsatdawn and dusk can balance the needs of domestic cats and wild animals.”

Congocallsceasefire declaration‘false’

BY JUSTINKABUMBA and JEAN-YVES KAMALE Associated Press

GOMA, Congo— Congo’sgovernment on Tuesday described the unilateralceaseﬁre declared by Rwanda-backed rebels in easternCongo as “false communication,” while the United Nations noted reports of heavy ﬁghtingwithCongolese forces in the region.

The M23 rebels on Monday announced the ceaseﬁre on humanitarian grounds afterpleas forthe safepassage of aid andhundredsofthousands of displaced people.

But “all we are waiting for is the withdrawal of the M23,” Congo’sgovernment spokesperson Patrick Muyaya told journalists.

The M23 last week seized control of Goma, acity of 2million people at the heart of aregion home to trillions of dollars in mineral wealth. It remains under rebel control.

TheM23 had been reported to be gaining groundinotherareasofeastern Congo and advancing on another provincial capital, Bukavu,inSouth Kivu.

OnTuesday,U.N. spokespersonStephane Dujarric told journalists they had reports of heavyﬁghting in South Kivu, though “we don’thave any reports of the M23 movingcloser to Bukavu.”

The M23 rebels are backed by some 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts. That’sfar more than in 2012, when they briefly captured Goma then withdrew after international pressure. The M23 are the most potent of themore than 100 armed groups active in Congo’seast, which holds vast deposits critical to muchof the world’stechnology Congo’sgovernment has said it is open

to talks to resolve the conﬂict, but that dialogue mustoccur within the context of previous peace agreements.

Rwanda and the rebels have accused Congo of defaulting on previous agreements.

Regional leaders are meeting Friday and Saturday in Tanzania to discuss the conﬂict.

Also Tuesday,Congo’sinterior minister Jacquemain Shabani, said the death toll in last week’sﬁghting had reached 2,000, asserting that bodieshad been putinto one or more mass graves. Shabani called them “victims of massacres perpetrated by the Rwandan occupation army.”

There was no immediate Rwanda comment.

On Monday,the U.N. health agency said at least 900 people had been killed in the ﬁghting in Goma between the rebels and Congolese forces.

Residents continued to bury bodies.

“I just saw the conditions in which our Congolese brothers were buried, our children whowereshot duringthe events in Goma,” Elisha Dunia, thefather of one victim, told The Associated Press at acemetery in the city.“We are heartbroken, and we ask for peace to return to our country.”

Debors Zuzu, alsoatthe cemetery,said he lost three family members, two in a bomb explosionwhile anotherwas shot He said he was devastated.

“Our biggest plea is for the leaders to ensurethat the war ends because war has no value. We want peace in Goma,” Zuzu said. “If everyone dies, Idon’tknow who the leaders will govern.”

The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Congo,Bruno Lemarquis, calledfor the urgent reopening of the airportinGoma, calling it “a lifeline” for the evacuation of wounded people and the delivery of aid.

Allremains from D.C. planeand chopper collisionhavebeenrecovered

BYSERKANGURBUZ and MARYCLAIRE DALE Associated Press

ARLINGTON, Va The remains of all 67 victims of last week’smidair collision of an American Airlines flight and an Army helicopter nearthe nation’scapital have been recovered,authorities said Tuesday Thechief medical examiner is still trying to positivelyidentify one setof remains, ofﬁcials said in a news release.

“Ourhearts are with the victims’ families as they navigate this tragicloss,” they said in ajointrelease from the city and federal agencies involved,including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Navy dive teams and Washington, D.C., police and ﬁre crews.

The news came as crews worked to trytorecover thecockpitand other partsofthe jetlinerfrom the Potomac River.Officials said their work might depend upon the wind and tidal conditions in the river, where theaircraft crashed last Wednesday night after collidingasthe plane was abouttoland at nearby Ronald Reagan National Airport,killing everyone on board thetwo aircraft. Throughout the day,

Apiece of wreckage is lifted from the water onto a salvagevessel near the site in the Potomac River of a midair collision between an American Airlines jet and aBlack Hawk helicopter at Ronald Reagan Washington National AirportonTuesday in Arlington, Va

crews could be seen lifting large pieces of the plane from the river.The National Transportation Safety Board said it didn’t plan to provide further updates from the scene.

Authorities saidearly on in the effort that they had expected to recover the remains of everyone who died. They arefocusing ﬁrst on the jet and hope to recover the Black Hawk helicopter later this week.

Col. Francis B. Pera, of theArmy CorpsofEngineers, said salvage crews on Monday were able to pull one of the two jet engines from theriver along with large pieces of

About10killedinwhat officialssay is Sweden’s worstmassshooting

BY STEFANIE DAZIO Associated Press

About 10 people, including the gunman,were killed on Tuesday at an adult education center in what Sweden’sprime minister called the country’s worst mass shooting. But aﬁnal deathtoll, aconclusive number of wounded and amotive hadn’tyet been determinedhours later

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson gave anews conference in the aftermath of the tragedy,which happened on the outskirts of Orebro. The city is located about 125 miles west of Stockholm.

The school, called Campus Risbergska, serves students over age 20, according to its website. Primary and upper secondary school courses are offered, as well as Swedish classes for immigrants, vocational training and programsfor people with intellectual disabilities

“Today, we have witnessed brutal, deadly violence against completely innocent people,” Kristersson told reporters in Stockholm. “This is the worst mass shooting in Swedish history.Many questions remain unanswered, and Icannot provide those answers either

“But the time will come when we will know what happened, how it could occur,and what motives may have been behind it. Let us not speculate,” he said.

Gun violence at schools is very rare in Sweden. But there have been several incidents in recent years in which people were wounded or killed with other weapons such as knives or axes

Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer called the shooting “an event that shakes ourentire society to its core.”

WhileSwedes read about such violence in other places, Strömmer said that the country previously felt it wouldn’thappen there. Othertragedies in Swedish schools weren’t to the extent of Tuesday’sattack,

he said, calling it “indescribably sad” for the community

The shooting also sent shock waves through Europe, with officials in Brussels expressing their outrage at the carnage “What happened today in Örebro is trulyhorrifying,” European Commission President Ursulavon der Leyenwrote on social media. “Such violence and terror have no place in our societies—least of allin schools. In this dark hour, we stand with the people of Sweden.”

The damage at the crime scene was so extensive that investigators were unable to be more deﬁnitive about the number of fatalities, said Roberto Eid Forest, head of the local police.

Police said that the death toll could rise. Eid Forest told reporters that the suspectedgunman wasamong those killed. Police believe the perpetrator acted alone, and he wasn’tpreviously known to police, ofﬁcials said.

Authorities said that there were no suspected connections to terrorism at this point, butpolice didn’tprovide amotive.

“Of course, we all want to understand why this happened, what occurred, and what motives the perpetrator may have had,” Kristersson said. “Wewill have to wait forthose answers in due time, the picture will become clearer.”

Police raided thesuspect’shome after Tuesday’s shooting, but it wasn’timmediately clear what they found. Eid Forest said there werenowarningsigns before the attack. Authorities were workingtoidentify the deceased.

Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf praised police and the rescue and medical personnel who responded to the shooting, and issued words of comfort to the families of the victims. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen expressed support to neighboring Sweden, calling Tuesday’sshooting “a terrible situation.”

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the plane’sexterior.They were also working to recover awingofthe plane, which had flown out of Wichita, Kansas.

Sixty passengers and four crew were on the American Airlines ﬂight, including figure skaters returningfrom the2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita.

The Black Hawk was on atraining mission.

Federal investigators are trying to piece together the events that led to the collision. Full investigations typically take ayear or more, but investigators hope to have apreliminary report within 30 days.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO BY BEN CURTIS

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO BY MOSES SAWASAWA

Red Cross personnel load bodies of victims of the fighting between Congolese government forces and M23rebels in atruck in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, on Monday as the U.N. health agency said 900 died in the fight.

Some U.S. businesses close around a‘day withoutimmigrants’

BY GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO and MELISSA PEREZWINDER Associated Press

Several businesses from day cares to grocery stores and hair salons closed Mondayacross the U.S. in aloosely organized day of protest against President Donald Trump’simmigration policies.

But participation in the “day without immigrants” faced headwinds from employees and business owners who said they need the income —especially as rumors of widespread raids, often false, areleaving many migrant communities afraid to venture outside, affecting even some schools. Monday’s event also came on the heels of street protests Sunday in California and elsewhere

Noel Xavier,organizingdirector for the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters, said that while it’simportant to remind the country of the value migrant workers bringtothe communities they toil in, many workers couldn’tafford to take aday off.

“If Idon’tgotoworktoday,that’sone day less that Ihave, you know,tobeable to pay for my next rent,” Xaviersaid of the prevailing sentiment among the workersheorganizes.“Ididn’t see this big rallying around being able to do that, or having the luxury to be able to do that.”

Jaime di Paulo, president of theIllinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, noted that small restaurants and retailers in Chicago’s biggest Latino neighborhoods closed, but most major employers as well as those in construction and other industries were operating normally

“This is only hurting our own community,” he said Andrea Toro decided to closeher hair salon in Chicago’sPilsen neighborhood. She added that many of her clients are teachers and have seen children missing school since Trump took ofﬁce last month because they fear it may not be safe to go. In Chicago, as in San Diego, school districts said some students and families wereparticipating in Monday’sprotest.

“If we don’thave immigrants, we don’thave anything work around here,” said Toro, who is from Puerto Rico. “If we’re mute, we’re in silence,then they’re going to do whatever they want.”

El Burrito Mercado, which boomed from asmall Latino market in the 1970s to one of the most widely recognized restaurant, catering and grocery businesses in St. Paul, Minnesota, shutfor the whole day in 2017 —when the latest major such event was held at the beginning of the ﬁrst Trump administration.

But on Monday,itstayed open for afew hours with a skeleton crew,said co-owner Milissa Silva.

Her parents emigrated from Mexico, and most of the 90 employees have Mexican roots. But many staffers expressed concern about losing aworkday and about depriving people in

the neighborhood of access to groceries.

Similarly, theSpanish-immersion day care provider Tierra Encantada kept its 14 locationsopen. Butmany parents decided to keep their children home Monday in solidarity with themostly ﬁrst- and second-generation immigrant workforce, said CEO Kristen Denzer Families —most of them not immigrants —pulled some450 children from day care andpreschool, about 70% of thoseenrolled in Minnesota alone, where most of the organization’s centers are, Denzer said. Several staffers who had been on the fence decided to take the day after the show of support.

In Utah, several Latinoowned stores, restaurants andsupermarkets closed their doors.

“The movement today,it’s more about beingcompassionate,” said state Sen. Luz Escamilla, aDemocrat and Senate minority leader.“A lot of companies and communities are comingtogether in the state just to raise awareness of how much this has createdafear.”

BY TARA COPP and LOLITAC.BALDOR

Associated Press

WASHINGTON The first U.S. military flight to deport migrantsfromthe United States to Guantanamo Bay has departed and is expected to land Tuesday evening, two U.S. officials said. It is the first stepin an expected surge in the number of migrants sent to the Navy base in Cuba, which for decades was primarily used to detain foreigners associated with the Sept.11, 2001, attacks.

President Donald Trump has eyedthe facility as a holding center and said it has the capacitytohold as many as 30,000.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who wasassigned to Guantanamo Bay when he was on active duty,has called it a “perfect place” to house migrants. Additional U.S. troops have arrived at the facility in the past few days to help prepare.

Amy Fischer,director of the Refugee andMigrant Rights Program at Amnesty International USA, decried the use of Guantanamo to house migrants.

“Sending immigrants to Guantanamo is aprofoundly cruel, costly move It will cut peopleoff from

lawyers, family and support systems, throwing them into ablack hole so theU.S.government can continue to violate their human rightsout of sight. Shut Gitmo down now and forever!” Fischer said in astatement.

In addition, the U.S. flew Indianmigrantsback to India on Monday,and that flight was still in progress as of midday Tuesday,one of theofficialssaid.The officials spoke on thecondition of anonymity to provide de-

tails not yet made public. There had previously been seven deportation flights, to Ecuador,Guam, Honduras and Peru. In addition,Colombian officials flew to the U.S. andtooktwo flightsofmigrants back to their country

Trump: U.S. exploringsending jailed criminalstoother countries

BY MATTHEW LEE AP diplomatic writer

GUATEMALA CITY President Donald Trump saidTuesday that he was exploring whether he can move forwardwith El Salvador’soffer to accept andjailviolent American criminals in the“mostsevere cases” evenasheand Secretary of State Marco

Rubio both say it raises clear legal issues.

Rubio reached an unusual agreement with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukelea dayearlier that theCentral American country would accept U.S. deporteesof anynationality, including American citizens and legal residents who are imprisoned for violent crimes.

“I’m just saying if we had alegal right to do it, Iwould do it in aheartbeat,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Ofﬁce. “I don’tknow if we do or not, we’re looking at that right now.”

during avisit to the aircraftmaintenance firm Aeroman in SanLuis Talpa, El Salvador,onMonday

lawmakerswere blocked from its Washington headquarters Monday after Elon Musk, who is running abudget-slashing Department of Government Efﬁciency,announced Trumphad agreed with him to shut theaid agency

tenceofthatorganization,” he told reporters. “Or Iwonder whether they’re deliberately sabotaging it for purposes of making apolitical point.”

strengthen our ﬁght against international organized crime,” Chaves said,adding that Rubio had offered to continueU.S. support through waivers to allow that foreign assistance to continue ﬂowing.

Hours earlier at anews conference in San Jose with Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves, Rubio said there were “obviouslylegalities involved. We have a Constitution.”

BY MARCIA DUNN AP aerospace writer

CAPE CANAVERAL,Fla. New research shows that when an asteroid slammed into the moon billions of years ago,itcarved out apair of grand canyons on the lunar far side.

That’sgood news for scientists and NASA, which is lookingtolandastronauts at the south pole on the near,Earthfacingside untouched by that impact andcontainingolder rocks in original condition.

U.S. andBritish scientists used photos and data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to map the area and calculate the path of debris that produced these canyons about3.8 billion years ago. They reported their ﬁndings Tuesday in the journal

Rubio notedthatitwas “a very generous offer. No one’sever made an offer like that —and to outsource, at afraction of thecost, at least someofthe most dangerous and violent criminals that we have in theUnited States.”

Rubiodiscussed immigra-

tion with Chaves —aTrump administrationpriority —as America’stop diplomatalso faces major upheaval at the U.S. Agencyfor International Development that has left many at the aid agency and the State Department fearful for their jobs.

While Rubio has been on a ﬁve-country visit in Central America thisweek,USAID staffers and Democratic

Thousands of USAIDemployeesalready had been laid off andprograms worldwide shut down after Trump imposeda sweeping freeze on foreign assistanceafter takingofﬁce. Rubio later offered awaiver for life-saving programs, but confusion over what is exempt from stop-work orders —and fear of losingU.S. aid permanently —isstillfreezing aid and development work globally

“I would say if someorganization is receivingfunds from the United States and does not know how to apply awaiver,then Ihave real questionsabout thecompe-

He also saidhehas “long supported foreign aid. Icontinue to support foreign aid. But foreign aidisnot charity.”Henoted that every dollar the U.S. spends must advanceits nationalinterest.

Amid the turmoilback home, Rubio andChaves spoke of immigration and security challenges that Costa Rica faces as it has become not just atransit country for migrants headed to the U.S. but also adestination as thousands of Nicaraguans since thatcountry cracked down on opposition starting in 2018.

Costa Rica also hasstruggled againstsoaring drugrelatedviolenceduring the past two years. “Wealso understand thatweneedto

Nature Communications.

The incoming space rock passed over the lunar south pole before hitting, creating ahuge basin and sending streamsofbouldershurtling at aspeed of nearly1 mile a second. The debris landed like missiles,digging out two canyonscomparable in size to Arizona’sGrand Canyonin barely 10 minutes. The latter, by comparison, took millions of years to form.

“Thiswas avery violent, a very dramatic geologicprocess,”saidlead author David Kring, of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston. Kringand his team estimate the asteroid was 15 milesacross andthat the energy needed to create these two canyons would have been more than 130 timesthatin

the world’scurrent inventory of nuclear weapons.

Mostofthe ejected debris was thrown in adirection away from the south pole, Kring said.

That meansNASA’s targeted exploration zone around the pole mostly on the moon’s near side won’t be buried underdebris, keepingolder rocks from 4billionplus years ago exposed for collection by moonwalkers. These older rocks can help shed light not only on the moon’s origins, but also Earth’s.

Kring saidit’sunclear whetherthese twocanyons are permanently shadowed like someofthe craters at the moon’ssouthpole. “That is something that we’re clearly going to be reexamining,” he said.

As quakes rattle islands, afew brave tourists have Santorinitothemselves

BY DEREK GATOPOULOS Associated Press

SANTORINI, Greece The hundredsofearthquakesthat have rattled Greek islandson the Aegean Sea are a“seismic swarm” and could continue for weeks before eventually diminishing, the Santorini mayor told The Associated Press on Tuesday —pausing to chuckle as new tremors shookitems on his desk.

“This phenomenon may playout with small quakes or asingle, slightly stronger one, followed by gradual subsidence,” said Mayor Nikos Zorzos, adding he was cautiously optimistic after speaking to seismologists who described the swarm as aseries of tremors of simi-

lar magnitude occurring in clusters.

Thousandsofresidents and seasonal workers have left the Cycladic Islands as quakes up to magnitude 5 have been recorded in the volcanic region since Friday. Ferry and commercial ﬂight operators have added services to accommodate departures. More Greek islands closed schools Tuesday. Ahandful of hardytourists enjoyed having Santorini’s stunning views to themselves Santorini earlier canceled public events,restricted travel to theislandand banned constructionwork in certain areas. The quakes have causedcracks in some older buildings, but no inju-

rieshave been reported.

Efthimios Lekkas, head of the state-runEarthquake Planning and Protection Organization, said theepicenter of the earthquakes in the Aegean was moving northward away from Santorini, and emphasized there was no connection to the area’sdormant volcanoes.

“This may last several days or several weeks. We are not able to predict the evolution of thesequenceintime,” Lekkas told state-run television.

In Santorini’smaintown, Fira, the narrow,whitewashedstreets alongthe island’sclifftops were deserted—araresight even in theoff-season—exceptfor small pocketsoftour groups, many from Asiancountries

Afterhis meetingwith Chaves, Rubio arrived in GuatemalaCitytomeet with Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo.

Aday earlier,Rubio metin SanSalvadorwithBukele, who confirmed the deportation offer in apostonX, saying El Salvadorhas “offeredthe UnitedStates of Americathe opportunity to outsourcepartofits prison system.”

Bukele said his country would accept only “convicted criminals” and would charge afee that“would be relatively low forthe U.S. but signiﬁcant forus, making our entire prison system sustainable.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY MARK SCHIEFELBEIN

U.S. SecretaryofState MarcoRubio speaks to the media

Trumpsuggestsdisplaced Palestinians be resettled

BY AAMER MADHANI, TIA GOLDENBERG and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be “permanently” resettled outside the war-torn territory

Trump made the provocative comments at the start of his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, wherethe two leadersare expectedtodiscuss the fragile ceaseﬁre and hostage deal in Israeli-Hamas conﬂict.

“I don’tthink people should be going back,” Trump said. “You can’tlive in Gaza right now.Ithink we need another location. Ithink it should be a location that’sgoing to make people happy.”

Trump’scomments came as he and top advisersmade the case that athree-to-ﬁveyear timeline for reconstruction of the war-torn territory, as laid out in atemporary truce agreement, is not viable.

“You look overthe decades, it’sall death in Gaza,” Trump added. “This has been happening for years. It’sall death. If we canget abeau-

well as other Arab nations, have ﬂatlyrejected calls by Trump to relocate the territory’s2.3 million Palestinians during post-warrebuilding of the territory

But senior administration officials continue to press thecase forrelocation of Palestinians on humanitarian grounds.

“Tome, it is unfairtoexplain to Palestinians that they might be back in five years,” Trump’sMideast envoy,Steve Witkoff, told reporters. “That’sjust preposterous.”

The White House’sfocus on reconstruction comes as the nascenttruce between Israel and Hamas hangs in the balance.

remaining hostages home and for the 15-month conﬂict to end.

Trump, meanwhile, remains guarded about the long-term prospects forthe truce, even as he takes credit for pressuring Hamas and Israel into the hostage and ceasefireagreement that went into effectthe daybefore he returned to ofﬁce last month.

and Jordan, even as Egyptian PresidentAbdel Fattah el-Sissi and Jordanian King Abdullah II have rejected it. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar,the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League have joined Egypt and Jordan in rejecting plans to movePalestinians outoftheir territoriesin Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

tifulareatoresettlepeople, permanently,innice homes wherethey can be happy and notbeshotand notbe killed and not be knifed to death like what’shappening in Gaza.”

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that “theGaza thing has never worked” as he and topadvisersmade the case that athree-to-ﬁve-year timeline for reconstruction of thewar-tornterritory,as laid out in atemporary truce agreement, is not viable. Trump renewed his call

to Arabnations to relocate displaced Palestinians as he welcomed IsraeliPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House on Tuesday saying “you can’t live in Gaza right now,you need another location.”

“The Gaza thing has never worked,” Trump toldreporters. “If we could findthe right piece of land, pieces of land, and build them some really nice places Ithink that would be alot better than going back to Gaza.”

Egyptand Jordan,as

FBIagentssue effort to ID employees involved in Trump-relatedinvestigations

BY ERIC TUCKER and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press

WASHINGTON FBI agents who participated in investigations related to President Donald Trump have sued over Justice Department efforts to develop alist of employees involved in those inquiries thatthey fear could be aprecursor to mass firings.

Twolawsuits, ﬁled Tuesday in federalcourt in Washington on behalf of anonymous agents, demandanimmediatehalttothe collection and potential dissemination of names of investigators who participated in probes of the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol as well as Trump’s hoarding of classiﬁed documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

The suits mark an escalation in ahigh-stake dispute that burst into public view on Friday with revelations that the Justice Department had demanded from the FBI the names, offices and titles of all employees involved in Jan. 6investigations so that officials could evaluate whether any personnel action was merited. Thousands of FBI employees were also asked over the weekend to fill out an in-depth questionnaire about their participation in those probes, astep they worrycould lead to termination.

Respondingtothe Justice Department’srequest, the FBI turned overpersonnel detailsabout roughly 5,000 employees but identified them only through their unique identiﬁer code rather

than by name, according to aperson familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matterand internalcommunications seen by The AssociatedPress.

The scrutiny of career agents is highly unusual given that rank-and-ﬁle FBI agentsdonot selectthe cases they are assigned to work on, do nothistorically switch positions or receiveany sort of discipline because oftheir participationinmatters seen as politically sensitive cases andespecially because there’sbeen no evidenceany FBI agents or lawyers who investigated or prosecuted thecases engaged inmisconduct.

But Trump, dating back to his first term as president, has long been furiousatthe FBI and Justice Department and sought to bend federal law enforcement to his will.

Hewas investigated as presidentbyagents examining potential ties between his 2016 campaign and Russia, and then after the leaving theWhite House, faced new criminal inquiries into his efforts to overturn the2020 election andhis retention of top-secret documents.His efforts to overturn election results and his retention of those documentsbothresulted in indictmentsthat were dismissed after he won the presidency in November

The agents who brought Tuesday’stwo lawsuits are not identified by name and are instead referred toas anonymous John and Jane Does.” They say theywere told on Sunday to either ﬁll

out surveys about their involvement in the Jan. 6or Mar-a-Lago investigationor that their supervisors would do it for them andthat their responses would be “forwarded to upper management,” says one of thelawsuits,ﬁled on behalfofnine agents.

“Plaintiffs assert that the purpose for this list is to identify agents to be terminated or to suffer other adverse employment action. Plaintiffs reasonably fear that all or parts of this list mightbepublished by allies of President Trump, thus placing themselves and their families in immediate danger of retribution by the now pardoned and at-large Jan. 6convicted felons,”the complaint said.

The lawsuit notes that Trump on thecampaign trail “repeatedly stated that he wouldpersonify ‘the vengeance’ or ‘theretribution,’ for those whom he called ‘political hostages,’ for their actions during the Jan. 6attack.”

The agents contend “the very act of compiling listsof persons who worked on matters that upset Donald Trump is retaliatory in nature, intended to intimidate FBI agents and other personnel and to discourage them from reporting any future malfeasance and by Donald Trump and his agents.”

The complaint also cites theJusticeDepartment’s ﬁring last week of prosecutors on special counsel Jack Smith’steam as proof that the effort to compile the list is rooted in adesire for retribution.

The Israeli prime minister is facing competing pressure from his right-wing coalition to end atemporary truce against Hamas militants in Gaza and from warweary Israelis who want the

“I have no guarantees that the peace is going to hold,” Trump told reporters Monday Theleaders’talks areexpected to touch on alongsought Israel-Saudi Arabia normalization deal andconcerns about Iran’snuclear program, but hammering outthe second phase of the hostage deal will be at the top of the agenda.

Sincereturningtoofﬁce Trumphas called forrelocating Palestinians from Gaza to neighboringEgypt

YetTrumpinsists he can persuade Egypt and Jordan to come aroundtoacceptdisplaced Palestinians because of the signiﬁcant aid that the U.S. provides Cairo and Amman. Hard-line right-wing members of Netanyahu’s government have embraced the call to move displaced Palestinians out of Gaza. Netanyahu’sarrival in Washington for the ﬁrst foreign leader visit of Trump’s second term comes as the prime minister’spopular support is lagging.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO BY OHADZWIGENBERG

People wave the U.S. flag and hold photos of hostagesheld by Hamas in Gaza, during arally calling for their return, in TelAviv,Israel, on Tuesday, ahead of the planned meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

DOCTOR

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this case involves allegations of aforced abortion.This doctor’s actions facilitated the death of a wanted child,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said Tuesday On Friday,Murrill, aRepublican, traded barbs with Kathy Hochul, the Democratic governor of New York.Hochul pledgedtoprotect the doctor from any extradition attempts and called the Louisiana indictment “outrageous.”

Then Monday,Hochul took abig step to thwart the prosecution of Carpenter,signing into law abill that bolsters New York’sshield laws for telemedicine health care providers who prescribeabortion medications across statelines. The new law allows familydoctors like Carpenter to keep their names off prescription bottles in states with abortion bans.

The shield laws empower New York’sgovernor to refuse demands for extradition from other states seeking to hold health care professionals criminallyliable for

aiding abortions. One gap in the New York protections is if the governor’s extraditionrefusal would violate federal law,according to a factsheet from theUCLA School of Law’s Center on Reproductive Health, Lawand Policy

Providing an abortion, including abortion medication, hasbeen bannedinLouisiana sincethe summer of 2022,whenthe U.S Supreme Court overturnedRoe v. Wade with its Dobbs v. Jackson ruling Murrill remained steadfast on having Carpenter delivered to Louisiana to face criminal charges.

“New York officials,including the governor,are notatliberty to ignore interstate compactsand laws regarding extradition,” the attorney general said Tuesday “As to the new(New York)law adoctor prescribing these drugs and delivering them in our state iscommitting acrime. Masking their identityona prescription bottle will not protect them. We intend to protect women and their unborn children from this grossly negligent conduct,whichisalso a crime.”

Following the grand jury indict-

Landry acting less transparently than his predecessor, Gov.John Bel Edwards.

adeep dive,” McFarland said. The consulting company that made the presentation last week wasGuidehouse, whichisbased in Virginia. Guidehouse’steam included Tara LeBlanc, aformer senior ofﬁcial at the Louisiana Department of Health. Her LinkedIn page lists her as a “director” at Guidehouse.

Hodges said she could not recall the name of the company that made apresentation on Monday and expressed concernabout making it public.

“Wemight get aflood of requests,” she said.

Procopio and Terry Ryder, who served as aseniorattorney to three governors Buddy Roemer,Mike Foster and Kathleen Blanco —say the entity is apublic body, which makes it subject to the public records law As aresult, the Fiscal Responsibility Program has to advertise when and where it will meet. It also has to allow the publica chance to speak at the meeting, andit has to take minutes that will become publicly available, they said.

“It is essential to themaintenance of ademocratic society that public businessbe performed in an open and public manner and that the citizens be advised of and aware of the performance of public officials and the deliberations and decisions that go into the makingof public policy,” statesthe Louisiana publicmeetings law. “Towardthisend, the provisions of this chapter shall be construed liberally Ryder said thegroupis subjecttothe public meetings law even though Landry created it through executive action.

“They are an advisory body,” he said. “That doesn’t get them out of the open meetingslaw.I’m stunned that they are so blatantly ignoring the law.”

It’sanother example of

Edwards regularly advised the media on his public appearances, whileLandry only occasionally does so.

Edwards provided aschedule of his past activities when it was requested, while the schedulethatLandry turns over is full of holes.

Edwardsalso regularly informed thepublicwhen he would travel out of state and abroad, while Landry haskeptthatinformation private.

Landry was inspired to create thecommission by thefederal Department of Government Efficiency headed by billionairebusiness ownerElon Musk.

“I think we in Louisiana are facingsome of thesame issues that PresidentTrump is facing withhis DOGE,” Hodges said. “Weare very aware that the voters who elected us are demanding quick action. And we intend to deliver.”

State legislators, speaking privately,said they believe Landry created thecommission to placateconservatives unhappy that they had to votefor asales tax increase in November and that Landryhas madenoserious attempts asgovernor to reduce the state government spending that lawmakers control.

Conservatives are also miffedthatLandryvetoeda high-proﬁle bill that supporters saidwouldreduce payouts to car accident victims and their trial attorneys.

Landry issued the executive order creating thegovernmentefﬁciency groupon Dec. 12.

“In Louisiana, we always strivetohaveagovernment that is of, by,and for the people,” he said in astatement that day.“Agovernment that runs efﬁcientlyand effectively is agovernment that best serves her people.”

His executive order called for Orlando to serve as its chair. Orlandomadea fortune by owning an offshore supply company thathe sold several years ago. He

“Astothe new (New York) law, adoctor prescribing these drugs and delivering them in our state is committinga crime. Masking their identity on aprescription bottle will not protect them.Weintend to protect women and their unbornchildren from this grossly negligent conduct, whichisalso acrime.”

LIZ MURRILL, Louisiana attorneygeneral

mentFriday,18th Judicial District Court Judge AlvinBatiste issued warrants for thearrests of both women. Murrill said thearrest warrant went into the National Crime Information Center’sdatabasefor law enforcement agencies across the country Louisianaprosecutors said Tuesday they are waiting until Carpenter is arrested in New York or any state in thecountry, beforethey proceed withtrying to extradite herherefor apossible criminal trial. That could be along wait if,at

is aneighbor of Landry’sin Broussard andfrequently accompaniesthe governor on ﬁshing trips.

Orlando did not respond to aphone call. Nor did Senate PresidentCameron Henry, R-Metairie; House Speaker Phillip DeVillier,R-Eunice; Landry’soffice or Guidehouse.

Thegovernor’sexecutive order called for the commissiontohave four senators andfourrepresentatives. The senators are Hodges; Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia; Jeremy Stine,R-Lake Charles;and Gerald Boudreaux, D-Lafayette.

“It’stime to cut wasteful spending,” Miguez said in aFacebook post on Jan 28 thatshowed thegroup meeting at the Governor’s Mansion. It served to alert the public that thegroup had met.

The group also includes representatives McFarland; Stephanie Berault, R-Slidell; Phillip Tarver, R-Lake Charles; and AdrianFisher, D-Monroe.

Landry’sexecutiveorder asks the task force to study state governmentstaffing, acquisitions andcontracts to ﬁnd ways to eliminate wasteful spending.

The commission must issue areport by Dec. 31.

Email TylerBridges at tbridges@theadvocate. com.

Hochul’sbehest, New York lawenforcement agents dig in and refuse to take Carpenter intocustodyon theLouisiana arrest warrant. Even if that happens,Carpenterstill facesthe threat of arrest if she travels to states where abortionsare illegal and gets picked up there by local law enforcement.

“There’s an arrest warrantinthe NCIC system,” Murrill said. “The doctor could be arrested in other places. If New York won’tcooperate, there are other states that will.”

If Carpenter gets arrested, Clayton said prosecutors will ﬁle a motion in federalcourt on behalf of Louisiana Gov.JeffLandry to request Carpenter’s extradition from New York to face thecriminal charges in Louisiana court.

If Hochul snubs the extradition request,asshe has publicly promised to do,prosecutors will seek afederal writ of mandamus in the U.S. MiddleDistrictCourt of Louisiana,asking afederal judge to order New York ofﬁcials to apprehend and hand over the doctor

“A governor refusing to honor an extradition is just ministerial,” Clayton said, noting he has never

personally encountered sucha case. “That’saprocess that we mustgothrough andwewill go through it.”

Claytonciteda unanimous 1987 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, in which justices said federal courts can intervene during unconstitutional state actions in extradition cases. In doing so, the SupremeCourt reversed what had been the law of the land regarding interstate extraditions formore than acentury

TheHighCourt haddecidedin 1861 federal courts had no power to order agovernor in an asylum state —such as NewYork in this case —tofulfill an extradition request. It wasacase involving afree person in Ohio whowas wanted for suspicion of helping a slave escape captivity in Woolford County,Kentucky.The attorney general in Ohio refused Kentucky’srequest, andcourt at that timeagreed with that. In their 1987 reversal, Supreme Court justices said the 1861 ruling was“the product of another time” when states were seceding from theUnionasthe threat of aCivil Warloomed.

PresidentTrump to attend Sunday’s SuperBowl

BY MARCOCARTOLANO Staff writer

President Donald Trumpwill attend theSuper Bowl on Sunday in New Orleans, the ﬁrst sitting president to do so.

Hisvisit brings even more prominence to an event that is expected to bring tens of thousandsoffans, internationalmedia attention and a massive economic boost tothe city Trump will also do apregame sit-down interview with Fox News’

CASSIDY

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other neurodegenerative maladies.

Kennedy’scelebrity augmented social media canards and kept some parents from vaccinating their children, Cassidy said.That’sa key reason why the health carecommunity,particularly pediatricians, opposed Kennedy

As adoctor for about 30 yearsbeforejoining Congress, Cassidy said he was saddened at the number of patients who died or were debilitated by diseases because they refused to get vaccinated.

“Regarding vaccines, Mr Kennedy has been insistent he is only interested in solid science,” Cassidy said. “But on this topic, the science is good. The science is credible. Vaccines save lives.” Cassidy said he was persuaded when Kennedy and the Trump administration committed to work within current vaccine approval and safety monitoringsystems and not establish parallelsystems.Kennedywill maintain the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention immunization practices, recommendations and published statements that vaccines do not cause autism, he said. Additionally,the Senate health committee chair gets to choose amember on any boardorcommission formed to review vaccine safety,plus the agency will provide a30-day notice before making changes to the monitoring programs, he said.

“These commitmentsand my expectationthatwe can have agreat working relationshiptomakeAmerica healthy again is the basis of my support,” Cassidy said. “If Mr.Kennedy is conﬁrmed, Iwill use my authorityaschairmanof(theSenate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee), with oversight of (the DepartmentofHealth and Human Resources) to rebuff any attempt to remove the public’saccess to life-saving vaccines without ironclad, causational, scientificevidencethatcan be accepted and defended before the mainstream scientiﬁc community.” About an hour before the committee voted, President Donald Trump wrote on TruthSocial: “20years ago, Autism in childrenwas 1in 10,000. NOW IT’S 1in34.

Bret Baier,the networksaid.

The big game will be Trump’s ﬁrst visitto New Orleanssince he was sworn in for asecond nonconsecutiveterm Jan.20.

In June, he came for acampaign fundraiseratthe home of Louisiana business owner and major Republican fundraiser Boysie Bollinger,where he raised $5 million.

In 2020,Trump attended the collegefootballnational championship game in theSuperdome,

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, waits tovote Tuesday on the nomination of RobertF.KennedyJr. to lead theHealth and Human Services Department.

WOW! Something’sreally wrong.WeneedBOBBY!!!

ThankYou!DJT”

Kennedy’s unconventional statementsand political positions include access to abortions up to viability,which previous Republican administrationsnever would have countenanced in anominee. He also holds the unique position ofappealing to several groups of frustrated voters: people who want healthier food options; parents who doubt the safety of vaccinations;and people who feltthe government overreached when trying to slow the spread of COVID-19 during the pandemic

Kennedyalsoargues that thegovernment hasn’t spent enough toresearch the causes of chronic diseases that keepAmericans from beingashealthyasthe people in otherdeveloped nations. Kennedy alsohas been willingtotake on the huge industries that make ultra-processedfoods and sellcaloricand fatty fast foods.

Cassidy’spositiononKennedy was beingwatched closely by his GOPcolleagues, enough of whom have not endorsed Kennedy to potentially deny him conﬁrmation.SomeRepublicans were wary aboutsupporting the former Democrat but also didn’t want to anger Trumpbyrefusing to confirm hisnomineewithout good reason.

Louisiana voters were monitoring Cassidy’svote, with many Republicans ready to make himpay at the ballot box for refusing Trump.

U.S.Rep.Clay Higgins, RLafayette, threatened CassidyThursday in asocial mediapost.

“RFK isgoingtorun HHS whether you like it or not.

So, voteyour conscience Senator,ordon’t.Eitherway

where LSU defeated Clemson. Then-President Joe Bidenvisited NewOrleans lastmonth in thewakeofa terrorist attack on BourbonStreet thatleft 14 peopledead Presidential visitsbring with them trafﬁc disruptions caused by themotorcade and tight security

The U.S. Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting the president,saidina statement Tuesday thatithas had staff on theground for days preparing for

We’rewatching.”

Higgins had nothing to say on social media after Cassidy announced his position in support of Kennedy

State Rep.Beryl Amedée, R-Grayand head of the rightwing Louisiana Freedom Caucus, told Cassidy that he would be judged by hisvote on Kennedy’sconﬁrmation She noted that Kennedy had testiﬁed before aLouisiana Legislature committee on the problems with masking andvaccinations during the COVID pandemic.

“He is clearly concerned about our health —especially thehealth of our children. Andhehas theright ideas to turn this crisis around,” Amedée wrote.

State Rep. Danny McCormick,R-Oil City, urged his constituentstophone Cassidy’sofﬁce.

Senators from bothparties seeCassidy as an independent legislator who holds very conservative views. He is one of ahandful of Republicans willing to work with Democrats.

Cassidy is one of thefew GOP senators still in Congress who voted to convict Trump of impeachment chargesstemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol by conservatives bent on halting theofﬁcial count of electoral votes.

Cassidy was censured by the Louisiana Republican Party for thatvoteand has since beencussedonconservative radio, blogs and in many speeches by partisans.

In April, Trump called Cassidy “a total ﬂake” in ascathing social media message. Opposition from Trump could further endangerthe political future of Louisiana’ssenior senator

He faces reelection next year and already has picked up an opponent, state TreasurerJohnFleming, whois challenging Cassidy from theright. Fleming is aformer U.S.representative and worked in theWhite House during Trump’sﬁrst administration.

Other staunch conservatives, suchasLouisiana Public Service Commissioner Eric Skrmetta,ofMetairie, and state Sen. Blake Miguez, of New Iberia, are saidto also be weighing arun.

Miguezalso lobbied Cassidy to back Kennedy as healthchief.

“SenatorBill Cassidy,it’s timetoshow what kind of manyou really are! No more playingbothsides.Louisiana deservesrepresentation that reﬂectsour values,”Miguez wroteonX,the social media platform

his visit

“Extensiveplanning andcoordination have been in place to ensure the safety of allattendees, players, andstaff,” Secret ServicespokespersonAnthony Guglielmi said in astatement. “Security measures have been further enhanced this year,given that this will be the first time asitting President of theUnited States will attend the event.”

Fans attending the game can expectmoreinformation in the

coming days about what to expect regardingsecuritycheckpoints,he said.

The area around the Superdomeisalready blanketed in law enforcement; afterthe attack, the federalgovernment gave the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras the highest-possible security status forfederal help.

Email Marco Cartolano at Marco.Cartolano@theadvocate. com.

Louisianaiswell-positioned to become aglobal forceinmultipleindustries,including healthcare artiﬁcialintelligence,energy,transportationandmore “It’sabout bigideas andbig opportunitiesand how they advanceus,”saidDr. SteveNelson, Chancellor of LSUHealthNew Orleans. “Louisiana used to have bigideas.That’swhatled to theopening of places like theSuperdome andthe Causeway.Now,itseems thetimeisright to have bigideas again. It’s allabout moving forward.” Dr.Nelsonwas joined by Beth Branch,President andCEO of Port NOLA;Phillip May, Presidentand CEOofEntergy Louisiana; andDeannaRodriguez Presidentand CEOofEntergy NewOrleans,for a recent discussion aboutthe opportunitiesahead for thestate.Avideo of thefullconversationcan be viewed at www.nola.com.

Healthcare haslongremainedatop industry in Louisiana, andone whereLSU Health playsa key role.Dr. Nelson notedthat70percent of physicians and75percent of dentists in Louisianatrained at an LSUfacility. Akey focusisonmaintaining those numberswhile also attracting talented clinicians andresearchers from otherareas.Dr. Nelson said that is onereasonwhy theLSU-LCMCHealth Cancer Center is seekingtobecomeaNational Cancer Institute(NCI) Designated Cancer Center .The Center wouldbethe ﬁrst andonlyinstitution in Louisianawiththatdesignation,which would enable itsstaff to better care for Louisiana’scancer patients andtheir unique needs. “Our driveistoget that NCIdesignation for Louisianasowecan providethe best cancer care andalsogivepeoplethe opportunity to participate in clinical trials,” Dr.Nelsonsaid. “Itnot only saves lives, butitoffersopportunities in termsofprevention, state-of-the-art treatmentand hope.

Themaritimeindustry is anotherkey driver of Louisiana’seconomy,withapproximately onein five jobsinthe stateconnected to thesector. The Port of NewOrleans (PortNOLA) playsa keyrole, onethatisexpectedtogrowsigniﬁcantlywiththe construction of acontainer terminal in St.Bernard Parish.Branchsaidshe expects“shovelsinthe ground”onthe projectin2025. Officialsestimate theterminalwillresultinabout 18,000 newjobsin Louisiana, including4,300 in St.Bernard Parish

“Weare partneringwithworkforce groups,city leadersand others from themaritime, transportation andlogistics sectorstomakesureweunderstand what theneeds are,”Branchsaid. Sheadded that Port NOLA is workingclosely with DelgadoCommunity College, NunezCommunity Collegeand others to connectstudentswithfuturejob opportunities. Thepanelists also notedthattheyare proudtosee Louisianaleadersembrace neweconomicsectors such as artificial intelligence.Lastyear, Meta –the parent companyofFacebookand Instagram–announcedplans to builda $10billion data center in Richland Parish.The center will bringhundreds of permanentjobstoNortheast Louisiana. May said abouttwo-thirdsofthose jobs willbeabletobe filledbyindividuals with ahighschooldiploma and appropriatecertifications.Headded that Meta has committedtoworking with area schoolstoensure thosejobsgotolocalresidents as much as possible “Whatyou sawwithMetaisquintessentially a partnership,”May said.“This is atremendouswin It’s notasurprisingwin.Weknowwhatwe’re capable of.Weneedtolet people outsidethe stateunderstand that,and we do that throughpartnerships.Ittook a team to win. No matter theindustry,businessesneedpower to operate, andthatmeans Entergyhas steppedupas a keypartner in multiple areasofthe state’seconomic development.Inadditiontotransportation,healthcare andAI, Rodriguezsaidthe companyisproud to play aroleinthe state’shospitality,entertainment and tourismindustries, whichcontinue to thrive.With more businesses taking acloserlookatopportunities

Tariff threatstakeaim at fentanyl trafficking

BY JESSE BEDAYN Associated Press/Reportfor America

President Donald Trump’s plan to impose tariffson goodsfrom Mexico, Canada and Chinaispartly aimed at combating the illicit ﬂow of fentanylintothe U.S., where the opioid is blamed for some 70,000 overdose deaths annually Mexico agreed Monday to send 10,000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico borderas part of adealwithTrump to pause the tariffs for a month—and hold off levying its own. Canada reached its own deal with Trump hours later,delaying the trade war and pledging several steps against fentanyl trafﬁcking.

Chinahasn’tsignaled major changes in tackling the flow of fentanyl into the U.S., andhas saiditwould retaliate for any U.S. tariffs. What role do Mexico, Canada and China play in fentanyl reaching the U.S.? And how much cantheir governments do?

Fentanyl source

The ingredients in fentanyl are largely produced by companies in China and used by pharmaceutical companies to make legal painkillers. But aportion of those chemicals is purchased by the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels in Mexico.

Cartels make the synthetic opioid in labs and then smuggleitintothe U.S., largely at ofﬁcial land crossings in California and Arizona. The small amounts of fentanyl in any shipment —the drug is 50 times more potentthanheroin —and its lack of odor,make detection and seizures extremely challenging.

Fentanyl is also made in Canada and smuggled into the U.S., but to amuch lesser extent.U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian

border during the last ﬁscal year,compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border Seizures of fentanyl jumped by as much as tenfold under PresidentJoe Biden, an increase that may reﬂect improved detection. What changed?

Mexico announcedinDecember the seizure of more than aton of fentanyl pills in what it described as the largest bust of synthetic opioids in the country’shistory.The haul was striking becausefentanyl seizures in Mexicohad fallen dramatically in the ﬁrst half of 2024.

UnderPresidentClaudia Sheinbaum, who took ofﬁce in October,Mexico’ssecurity forces appear to be far more aggressive than they were under her predecessor. Former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador denied that fentanyl was even produced in Mexico, contradicting ofﬁcials in his own administration.

To pause the tit-for-tat tariffs, Mexico agreedto immediately deploy 10,000 National Guard troops to the bordertobattle drugtrafficking, while the U.S. committed to do more to stop the trafﬁcking of guns into Mexico, said Trump and Sheinbaum on social media.

Facing tariff threats, Canadian PrimeMinister Justin Trudeau has highlighted his country’srecent $1.3 billion investmentinborder enforcement, including chemical detection tools at entryportsand anew unit focused on the oversight of precursor chemicals.

Once Trump ordered the tariffs, Trudeau rebuked the move and geared up for atrade war before reaching adealwith TrumpMonday to pause the use oftariffs for at least amonth. Trudeau posted on Xthat Canadawould appointafentanyl czar,list Mexican car-

Rushdietotakestand in trialof mancharged with stabbing him

BY CAROLYN THOMPSON Associated Press

MAYVILLE, N.Y.— In 2022, Salman Rushdie wasabout to deliver alecture before alive audience in western New York when aman ran towards him and plunged a knife into the author’s hand as he raised it in self-defense.

“After that there are many blows, to my neck, to my chest, to my eye, everywhere,” Rushdie recalled in amemoir that followed. “I feelmylegs give way,and Ifall.”

In the coming weeks, Rushdie is expected to re-

turn to the same New York county to recount the experience as one of the ﬁrst witnesses in the trial of the man charged with wielding the knife that day,Hadi Matar Juryselection got underway Tuesday.Matar,27, of Fairview,New Jersey,has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder and assault.

Under different circumstances, Rushdie’sbook, which details his account of that day and his recovery might offer importantevidence in the Aug. 12, 2022, attack that left the 77-yearold blind in his right eye and his hand permanently damaged.

But “this isn’taback alley event that occurs unwitnessed in adarkalley,” said Chautauqua CountyDistrict Attorney Jason Schmidt fol-

tels as terrorist groups and launch a“Canada-U.S. Joint Strike Force” to combat fentanyl, organized crime and money laundering.

China defended its effortstocombatfentanyl in what has been yearsof touch-and-go cooperation with the U.S. China doesn’t have the same fentanyl crisis amongits own population, and doesn’tview it as apriority,said Zongyuan Zoe Liu, asenior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. What canbedone

Combating the production and movement of illicit fentanyl is particularly challenging.

Unlike heroin and cocaine, which are produced from plants, fentanyl is made with ingredients used for legal pharmaceutical drugs, and can be made in cheap labs thatcan be erected relatively quickly And despite the dangers, demandinthe U.S. for the highly addictive drug remains strong.

Mike Vigil, the former chiefofinternationaloperations at theU.S.Drug Enforcement Agency,said he was skeptical that Mexico’s extra troops at theborder on their own would make much of adent in trafﬁcking.

Once fentanyl leaves the labs, it’susually well concealed in hidden compartments of vehicles or in huge cargo trucks; better detection technology is crucial, in addition to more troops, he said. The other challenge, Vigil said, is that combating the fentanyl trade will likely requiremore than just collaboration between the U.S. and its neighbors.

“Even if Mexico, Canada and these other countries snaptheir fingers and did away with the drug trade, as longaswehavethat demand, there will be another countrythatwill satisfy that demand.”

lowing apretrialhearing

“This is something that was recorded, it waswitnessed live by thousands of people.” Jurors will be shown video of the attack, as well as photos anddocumentation, and an estimated 15 witnesses are expected to take the stand. Judge David Foley said once jury selection is complete,the trialwould take up to aweek and ahalf.

Matar’slawyer,Nathaniel Barone, has not explained how he plans to defend his client and has clapped back at critics who question why Matar did not take aplea deal.

“That’snot what this is about. It’sabout due process,” Barone said.“It’s about receiving afair trial If someone wants to exercise those rights, they’re entitled to do that.”

Matar

AttacksnearKyiv infrastructure heighten preparedness scrutiny

BY SAMYAKULLAB and HANNAARHIROVA Associated Press

KYIV,Ukraine Moscow’srenewed attacksonUkraine’s electricity infrastructure this winter have heightened scrutiny over the Ukrainian Energy Ministry’sfailure to protect the country’smost critical energy facilities near nuclear power sites

Despite more than ayear of warnings that the sites were vulnerable to potential Russian attacks, the Energy Ministry failed to act swiftly,current and former Ukrainian ofﬁcialsinKyiv told The Associated Press Twoyears of punishing Russian strikes on its power grid have left Ukraine reliant on nuclear power for more than half of its electricity generation. Especially vulnerable are the unprotected nuclear switchyards located outsidethe perimeters of its three functioning nuclear plants, which are crucial to transmitting power from the reactors to the rest of the country

“The switchyards that handle electrical routing from nuclear power plants are avital component of Ukraine’snuclearenergy infrastructure —powering homes, schools, hospitals and other critical civilian infrastructure,” said Marcy R. Fowler,head of the ofﬁce for research and analysis at Open Nuclear Network, a programofthe U.S.-based NGO PAXsapiens that focuses on reducing nuclear risk.

“Given Ukraine’s heavy reliance on nuclearenergy, military attacks on these switchyards would be devastating, severely impacting civilian life and undermining the resilience of the energy grid,” she said.

Onlyinthe fall, after Ukrainian intelligence agencies warned of potential Russian strikes targeting the nuclear switchyards, was action taken to begin buildingprotection —far too late in the event of an attack, analysts said.

“If two (nuclear switchyards) are hit, we are out of supply for aminimum of 30 to 36 hours, and there willbe ahuge limitation on energy supply for at least three weeks, best-case scenario,” said Oleksandr Kharchenko, aUkrainian energy industry expert.

He said it would take three to five weeks to transport and install newequipment, amiserablescenario for Ukraine’speople during the bitterly cold winter months

Even more worrying, nuclear switchyards also have asecond critical function: delivering electricity to nuclear plants from the offsite grid that is essential to cooling their reactors and spent fuel. Adisruption could potentially spell disaster,the U.N. nuclear agency has repeatedly warned since the Russian attacks began in August.

And while Ukraine’snuclear plants have backup emergency power systems, these “are designed to providetemporary support,” Fowler said. “Without functioningswitchyards, the backup systems alone wouldnot be sufficient to sustain operations or prevent safety risks during an extended outage.”

Lawmakers citedfailure to protect these sites in aresolution lastmonth calling for the removal of EnergyMinister Herman Haluschenko. Thelist of grievances, which also censured Haluschenko for alleged systematic corruption and inadequate oversight of the energy sector,muststill bevoted on by parliament.

Haluschenko maintained at anews conference Tuesday the allegationswere “a manipulation” and that fortiﬁcations for the electricalgridwere“done.” But he wouldnot answer direct questions about whether Ukraine’snuclear switchyards in particular were protected.

“Today we havelight, we havenorestrictions” on electricity,hesaid,suggesting that was proof that despite “massive attacks” on Ukraine’senergy infrastructure, fortifications were in place.

Delays in fortifying RussianattacksinNovember andDecember came dangerously close to the country’snuclear power plants, causing ﬁve out of its nine operating reactors to reduce power generation. The attacks did not strike thenuclear switchyards abouta kilometer (half-mile) away from reactorsites but came alarmingly close.

The task of building protections for energy transmission substations, both nuclear andnon-nuclear,fell to state and private companies, with the Energy Ministry supervising.

Three layers of fortiﬁcationswere ordered: sandbagsfollowed by cement barricades capable of withstanding drone attacks and —the most costlyand least complete —iron-and-steelfortiﬁed structures.

Following agovernment decree in July 2023, many state energy companies began immediately contracting to build first- and second-layer fortifications for their most critical power facilities.Inthe spring of 2024, the government repeated the urgent call to get the work done.

But nuclear switchyards, under the responsibility of Ukraine’sstatenuclear company Energoatom, did not issue contracts to build second-layer concrete fortiﬁcations until this fall. By then, state energy company Ukrenergo, which manages the high-voltage substations that transmit power from the nuclear reactors to the grid, had already completed 90% of its 43 sites.

U.S. aidfreezeputsUkraine at risk

BY HANNA ARHIROVA Associated Press

PAVLOHRAD, Ukraine— In what used to be the concert hall in thistown in eastern Ukraine, cots arearranged on stage. Instead of music, the room is filled withthe muffled sobs of local people driven fromtheir homes by fighting in the country’s almost three-year war with Russia.

The Russianarmy’s recent advances have engulfed towns and villages in the area. The Pavlohrad concert hallwas requisitioned as atemporary center forlocal civilians ﬂeeing the relentless Russian bombardment.

“It’sgood here. There’s food, warmth, and aplace to wash,” said83-year-old Kateryna Odraha, who lived through the Nazi German occupation of hervillage during World WarII.

That refuge may now be in peril.

The shelter costs the equivalent of $7,000 amonth to run, and60% of that was being covered by U.S. funds sent to help Ukraine.

President Donald Trump’s decision last week to freeze for90daysthe humanitarian aid thatthe UnitedStates provides to countries overseas was felt in places far from Washington, including here, afew kilometers from the front line in eastern Ukraine.

Trump’sdecision immediately halted thousands of U.S.-funded humanitarian, development and security programs.The consequences have rippled across the world.

“This news was abrupt and unexpected,” saidIllia Novikov,the coordinator of the Pavlohradtransit center,which is run by the charity organization Relief Coordination Center.“At this moment,wehave no idea what the future holds.”

The U.S. funding covered fuel for evacuation vehicles, salaries for aidworkers, legal and psychological support, and tickets to help evacuees reach safer locations, he said.

Usually about 60 people pass through theshelter each day,but when the Russian bombardmentworsens, that can climb to more than 200, according to Novikov Manypeople heading here have spent months living in their basement without electricity,running water or enough food.

Vasyl Odraha, 58, remained in his local village for months, even as artillery ﬁre and Russian guided bomb strikesbecame more frequent as the war moved closer

He said he initially believed that Trump would stop the war within 24 hours of taking ofﬁce, as he had promised during his election campaign.

“Wepinned our hopes on Trump’selection,”hesaid, sitting on acot beside his 83-year-old mother

When the fighting didn’t stop, and the front line moved to withinlessthan 2 miles of where they lived,

der infrastructure projects have been affected. The aid was intended to help cushion the war’simpact.

Ukrainian President VolodymyrZelenskyy says his government expects $300-400 million in aid to be cut. Most of that was for the energy sector thathas been targeted by Russia

Ukraine hopes to make up the shortfall from European sources of aid or internal ones, Zelenskyy said.

they ﬂed at dawn.

“If we hadn’tleft, we would have died that very night,” said Kateryna Odraha.

Across Ukraine, many other sectors are reeling from the aid freeze, which

places additional strain on Ukraine’sstretched wartime ﬁnances.

Energy projects, veteran support programs, psychological helplines,cybersecurity,health care, independent media, and even bor-

The World Health Organization, aU.N. agency which Trump wants the U.S. to leave, launched an emergency appeal Tuesday to raise $110 million forits humanitarian response in Ukrainewhere it said almost 13 millionpeopleare “in dire need” of assistance.

“The humanitarian crisis in Ukraine has reached a scale of undeniable severity,” the WHO said in astatement.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTOBYEVGENIY MALOLETKA

An East SOS NGO volunteer helps an elderly man exit abus after evacuation from the front line at acenter for displaced people in Pavlohrad, Ukraine, on Saturday.

BRIEFS

Dutch Bros. to open La. coffee shop

Dutch Bros., afast-growing West Coast coffee chain known forits friendly employees and sweet drinks, is set to open its ﬁrstLouisiana location near LSU.

Afinal development plan to open a950-square-foot drivethru-only coffee shop on West Lee Drive is set to go beforethe EastBaton Rouge Parish Planning Commission in March. If approved, the Dutch Bros. location will be between Wendy’sand Andy’sFrozen Custard.

Dutch Bros. wasstarted by brothers Dane and Travis Boersma in 1992 as acoffee pushcart in GrantsPass, Oregon.The chain began franchising in 2000 and now has more than 950 locations. Over the past coupleof years, it has moved aggressively into the South, opening scores of locations in Texas and Tennessee. Dutch Bros. is going into apart of town that’sonthe vergeofbeing coffee-saturated. CC’sCoffee House has long had alocation in Arlington Marketplace, while Dunkin’, 7Brew Coffeeand Starbucks plan to open stores near West Lee and Burbank.

WaffleHouse adds egg surcharge of 50 cents

Waffle House restaurant chain is putting a50cent per egg surchargeinplace due to thebiggestbirdﬂuoutbreakin adecade.

The 24-7 restaurant said that the resulting egg shortage has led to adramatic increaseinits costs.

Bird ﬂu is forcing farmers to slaughter millions of chickens a month, pushing U.S.egg prices to more than double their cost in the summer of 2023. And it appears there maybenoreliefin sight with Easter approaching.

The average price per dozen eggs nationwide hit $4.15 in December.That’snot quite as high as the $4.82 record set two years ago, but the Agriculture Departmentpredicts egg prices are going to soar another 20% this year

The Wafﬂe House, areliable source of acheap breakfast, said that its egg surcharge became effective this weekand that it applies to all of its menus.

The company continues to monitor egg prices and said it will adjust or remove the surcharge as marketconditions allow

U.S. job openings fall to 7.6M in December

U.S. job openings fell in December,asignthat thelabor market is cooling butstill healthy Openings fell to 7.6 million, from 8.2 million in November, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.They were down from 8.9 million ayear earlier and a peak of 12.2 million in March 2022 when the economy was rebounding from COVID-19lockdowns. The openings fell short of the 7.9 million that economists had expected. The number of layoffsfell, suggesting that Americans enjoy unusual job security.The number of people quitting their jobs rose modestly but stayed below pre-pandemic levels. After surging in 2021 and 2022,quits have come down as workerslose confidence in their ability to find betterpay or working conditions elsewhere

Erik Wahl, of Globalstar,enjoys aslice of kingcakeTuesday duringmedia dayatthe Louisiana

Louisiana’sdifferent economic industries.

Officialsuse SuperBowl spotlighttosellLouisiana

BY ANTHONY McAULEY Staff writer

Susan Bourgeois, Gov.Jeff Landry’seconomicdevelopment chief, wasdoing dozens of back-to-back mediainterviews Tuesday morning to kick off aweeklong campaign to promote the state, while the world’sfocus is on NewOrleans for the Super Bowl.

“Everybody is paying attention to us because of the game,” said Bourgeois, who took over as secretary of Louisiana Economic DevelopmentinJanuary 2024.

“They know that we’re good at throwing aparty, thatour food is great and our cultureisgreat. We’re using this as an opportunity so the world also knows us for our economic opportunity.”

LED has taken over the “Whale Lot” next to the Hilton Riverside for the week and put up the Louisiana NOW Pavilion, alarge tent that will be thefocus of a round of cocktail parties, symposiums and other promotional events during the week. Bourgeois, Landry and otherregional economic boosters will make their pitch to top executives and investors at that andother venues during theannual NFLspectacle.

Tuesday was “media day,” as Bourgeois gave interviews to outletsincluding The Wall Street Journal and Forbes magazine, Kansas City and Philadelphia TV stations and websites like Cheddar.com LED hired Mandeville-based advertising agency People Who Think to design the interiorspaceinthe pavilion, withthe idea of visually telling thestory that Bourgeoisand

Landry want to convey Oldand new

That story centers on explaining Landry’s “all of the above” energy policy,which seeks to embrace investment in “legacy” oil, gas and petrochemicalsbusinesses, while also backing “future energy” projects.

An example of the state’spolicy is its backing of the Japaneseelectric vehicle battery maker planning a$500 million factory in Jefferson Parish, which is slated to be built adjacent to the Cornerstone Chemical Plant,whichhas been makingchemicals like cyanide and sulfuricacidfor half acentury

Another Landry administration message is that it plans to be more aggressive in pursuing cutting edge technology companies.

“The department is pivoting into awhole innovation vertical that didn’texist before,” Bourgeois said, noting that Thursday in the NOW Pavilion will be “Innovation Day,”led by Josh Fleig, who was hired last year as LED’sﬁrst chief innovation ofﬁcer Jay Connaughton,People WhoThink founder,said the other message for visitors to the pavilion is about Landry’sincome tax cuts and other business friendly policies.

Among the two dozen top executives being wooed by Landry this week are executivesfromthe toptechcompanies in the U.S. otherwise known as the “Magniﬁcent Seven”: Amazon, Meta, Alphabet (Google’s parent), chip maker Nvidia, Tesla, Apple andMicrosoft. LED declinedtodisclose which speciﬁc company executives would be there for securityreasons.

LED is leaning heavily on the news that Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has announced plans to build a$10 billion artiﬁcial intelligencedatacenterinRichlandParish. The state already has 13 data centers in four markets, with major providers including Lumen and DartPoints. But the Meta news is of adifferent order of magnitude.

GNO Inc.’schief executive, Michael Hecht,has also been ﬁelding interviews from visiting media. It’s part of thewider campaign of advertising and signage aroundthe city,someofwhich serveda dual function of covering up blight like the Plaza Tower in the Central Business District, said Matt Wolfe, GNO spokesperson.

“You can’ttell the world that you’re open for business by not telling the world,” he said.

LED had someLouisiana-based companies on the ground in the NOW Pavilion to help sellthe message. Barbee Ponder, Covington-based Globalstar’stop lawyer, was there to talk about the satellite mobile services company’sexperience since it moved from California to the northshore 15 years ago.

“We’re asmall company but we have alarge footprint in space and around the world,” Ponder said, noting that the company has doubled its workforce to 395 since it relocated. “I don’tthink most high tech companies think of Louisiana as aplace to move but they should.”

Email AnthonyMcAuley tmcauley@ theadvocate.com.

BY STAN CHOE AP business writer

NEW YORK Calm returned to Wall StreetTuesday,and tech stocks led U.S. indexes higher following astrong profit report from PalantirTechnologies, adarling benefiting from the artificial intelligence boom

TheS&P 500rose aday after swinging sharply on worries that President Donald Trump’stariffs could sparka trade war that would

hurt economies around the world, including the United States.

Palantir Technologies jumped 24% and was one of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500 after reporting abetter proﬁtfor the latest quarterthananalystsexpected. The Denver company also issued forecasts for upcoming revenue that were aheadofanalysts’projections, as CEO Alexander Karp said his company is at the “center of the AI revolution.”

The DowJones Industrial Aver-

age and the Nasdaq composite also climbed.

Trump on Monday agreed to delay his taxes on U.S. imports of Canadian and Mexican products for amonth, with the announcement on Canada coming after trading closed for the day.That bolstered Wall Street’slongstanding hopes that Trump’stough talkontariffs may be just that —talk. The hope is that Trumpseestariffs as astick he canuse in negotiationswith trading partners rather than as a long-term policy

That hope is built in part on traders’ belief that Trump would likely be turned off by the damage Wall Street wouldtake if aworst-case, long-term trade war were to occur.Trumphas pointed in the past to the stock market as areal-time measure of his performance. But atrade war is still possible, and some analysts say more swings may be coming because Trump’sthreats should be taken both seriously and literally

STAFFPHOTO BY JAVIER GALLEGOS

DEATHS continued from of 62, aftera courageous 19-month battlewith esophageal cancer. She was surroundedbyfamily at home.

cousin and close companion, Becky Allen Morgan and her dear friend and neighbor, Jenny Redhead. Betty was an avid Tiger and Saints fan, enthusiastically cheering on her teams. She also loved to travel, attend concerts, wear brightly colored clothing, and accessorize She learned to love horse talk and the rotationof students that brought through her home. Her warmth, wisdom, and gracious support for those she loved willbedeeply missed by anyone fortunate enough to know her.

Acelebration of Betty's life will be heldon February 22, at Central Funeral Home from 12 -4

McGraw,Molly Lynn

AresidentofStFran‐cisville, MollyMcGrawdied SaturdayFebruary1 at the age of sixty-seven. Molly was born in Monahans, Texas andgrewupin Marksvilleand Baton Rouge,where shegradu‐atedfromLee High School After earninga graduate degreeinClassical Archae‐ology from IndianaUniver‐sity, Mollyworkedonexca‐vations at theagorain Athens, Greece, andlater helda position at theVan‐couverMuseumofAnthro‐pology.After scoringinthe top onepercent on the Law School Admissions Test, Molly completeda lawde

greefromthe University of California, Berkeley,and had alongcareer as a practicingattorney. She represented Piccadilly Cor

porationfor severalyears, started herown titlecom

pany, andlater worked for the ﬁrmNavratil, Hardy and BourgeoisinBaton Rouge.A beautifulwoman witha remarkable intel

lect, Mollywas apassion

ate loverofthe arts,and a charmingand engaging personality.After Hurri

caneKatrina,she movedto StFrancisville, where she cultivateda circle of dear friends.Her absenceis deeply felt,and sheis missed. Mollywas amem‐ber of GraceEpiscopal Church.She is survived by a daughter,CoraFuller, of Spokane,Washington. Visi‐tationwillbeatGrace Episcopal Church in St FrancisvilleonThursday Feb.6,2025 from 12pm until service at 1pmconducted byFr. CraigDalferes. Burial willbeinGrace Episcopal Church Cemetery,St. Fran‐cisville. Sharesympathies, condolences andmemo‐riesatwww.CharletFune ralHome.com

Born to the late William "Billy" Powell and Sarah Powell, Laurie is survived by her husband of 39 years, Robert "Bob" Minarik; her brother, Johnny Powell, his wife, Victoria, and theirchildren, Luke and Grace; her fatherand mother-in-law, Charles and Valdyne Minarik; and her brother-in-law, Darren Minarik, his wife,Suzanne, and their children, Harper and Graham.

Laurie developed apassion for dance at ayoung age, which shapedher lifelong career. She earned a bachelor's degree in dance from LSU in 1984 and continuedher studies in New York and California. She owned and operatedthe Baton Rouge Ballet Academy from 1989 to 1997 and dancedprofessionally with the localmodern dance company In the Company of Dancers. She also created the dance program at McKinley Senior High School,where she taught from 1989 to 2018, inspiring generations of students.

Laurie grew up in University Acres and attended Robert E. Lee High School. She loved riding her horse through the neighborhood and surrounding pasturesand trails (now Woodstone and Woodgate subdivisions) and met her futurehusband while doing so—she on horseback, he on amotorcycle. They dated for nine years beforemarrying in 1986. In lieuofflowers, donations to the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center would be greatly appreciated. The family expresses deep gratitude to the doctors and nurses who provided compassionate care. Aprivate servicewill be held, with acelebration of life plannedfor alater date.

Mitchell,Eunice 'Yvonne'

Eunice “Yvonne”Mitchell, 91 yearsold,was calledtobewithher Lord and Savior,Jesus Christ,on February3,2025, sur‐rounded by herlovingfam‐ily. Sheentered this world

on January23, 1934, born toEunice andWilliam “Bill” Wicker,inFred, LA.Yvonne was knownfor herpassion for servingher Heavenly Father. Sheloved herfam‐ily dearly andwillbe missedbyall who knew her.Yvonne is survived by her son, Gary Mitchell and wife, Elke;daughters,Lori Ray andLisaAlfordand husband,Roland; 4grand‐childrenand theirspouses, KristiWatson(Kyle), Bryan Alford(Jen),and Kaitlyn Haralson(James),Braxton Ray (Parker);and 7greatgrandchildren,who were the lightofher world. Yvonne is preceded in death by herlovinghus‐band, Robert “Bob”Joseph Mitchell; father,William HarperWicker; mother,Eu‐niceAline Rodriguez Wicker;brother,Billy Wicker;and sister,Peggy Spangler. Relativesand friends areinvited to join the family forthe visitation atBaker FuneralHome, 6401Groom Road,Baker LA, on Thursday,from9:30 AMuntil theFuneralSer‐viceat12:30 PM,ofﬁciated byPastorJimmy Babin. The gravesideservice and burialwillfollowat Louisiana National Ceme‐tery, in Zachary, Louisiana. Familyand friendsmay signthe online guestbook orleave apersonalnote for thefamilyatwww.bak erfuneralhomeonline.com

With deep sadness, we announce the sudden passing of beloved mother grandmother, and sister, Monica Lynn Nicholson, on December 23, 2024, at the age of 69. Lynn was born January22, 1955. She was aregistered nurse and had along nursing career working in many fieldsof healthcare. Lynn was a generous and kind person, fun and full of life, loved by her family and friends. She loved and adored her grandchildren. Lynn was preceded in deathbyher mother, Lucille Vinson Montgomery, her father, Col. Thomas Herbert Montgomery Jr,and her brother, Thomas Herbert Montgomery III. She is survived by her daughter,

Lauren Nicholson White, her son-in-law, Paul Piazza White, her grandchildren, Rhodes Thomas White and Wren Piazza White, sister, Nancy Montgomery Boyd, and nephews, Jonathan Boyd and Ian Boyd. Lynn will be deeplymissed. A Celebration of Lifewill be held on Friday, February 7, 2025, at Blackwater UMC. Visitation from 10-11, then aservice from11-12. In lieuofflowers, please donate to afavoritecharity.

AudryJosephRomeJr. a lifelong resident of Romeville,passedawayon February2,2025, at theage of84. He is survived by his two children,Dean(Mel) Romeand Lori (Mark) Gau‐thier. Preceded in deathby

theloveofhis life,Joyce CopponexRomeand his son,Raymond Jude Rome Relatives andfriends are invited to attend theFu‐neral Services.Visitation willbeheldonFriday, Feb‐ruary 7, 2025 from 9-12 p.m. atSt. Michaelthe Archangel Catholic Church, Convent,LAfollowedbya FuneralMassat12p.m See Rose Lynn Funeral Home’swebsite forfull obituary.

Triplett, John Gravesideservicesfor JohnTriplettwillbeheld ThursdayFebruary6,2025 atLouisiana National Cemetery, 303W.Mt. Pleas‐ant.Zachary,La70791 Graveside services will begin at 11:00a.m.Profes‐sionalservicesentrusted toCharles Mackey Funeral Home.

Rome Jr., AudryJoseph

Nicholson,MonicaLynn

Minarik,Laurie

Laurie Powell Minarik, beloved wife, sister, teacher, and friend, passed away peacefully on January 29, 2025, at the age

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Satellitemayor’s office to open

Move to increase BR’s northern residents’ access to Edwards

BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER Staff writer

Making good on one of his campaign promises, East Baton Rouge’s mayor-president is opening anew satellite mayor’soffice in north Baton Rouge to increase the city’s northern residents’ access to the mayor “A lot of folks asked me during the campaign, ‘Why asatellite ofﬁce?’”Sid Edwards said in anews

Court blocks LSU professor’s return

Appealsjudges

overturn part of court orderreinstating educator

BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer

Astate appeals court has overturned part of adistrict courtorder that would have required LSU to reinstate aprofessor it suspended after he used vulgar language to criticize Gov.Jeff Landry and President Donald Trump. LSU last month suspended Ken Levy,atenured law professor, saying it wasinvestigating“student complaints of inappropriate, vulgar,and harassing statements.” Levy sued, arguing LSU was interfering with his free speech and due process rights, and adistrict court judge ordered LSU to return himtoa classroom while thelegal battle playsout.

On Tuesday,athree-judge panel of the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal agreedwith LSU that it was

ä See LSU, page 2B

conference Tuesday.“Ithink people need to understand, there’s alot of ourcitizens that transportation is a problem, access is aproblem,not to mention them having avoice being aproblem.”

Asecond office in north Baton Rouge was an idea the mayor mentioned frequently on the campaign trailin2024.

Opening Wednesday, theofﬁce is located at 3773 Harding Blvd., within the same complex as the Mayor’s

Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.

Edwards said the facility will provide away for constituents to access all of the same services as City Hall without having to travel to downtown Baton Rouge.

“This is going to help people not having to ride all the way downtown if they got an issue or theyneed to deal with stuff,” he said. “With this facility here and thisbeautiful building, they’ll have aplace to go to that

is easy to access and will be open to them to handle everything from complaints to ideas or thoughts or anything they’re needed.”

The mayor’soffice will soon release aschedule to the public detailing when he’ll regularly be in the ofﬁce to meet with residents.

Former Mayor’sYouth Advisory Council member Cydni Raby will oversee theofﬁce’s dailyfunctions as operations manager

“This is very important for him

to be able to set this up,” Raby said.

“I’m really grateful for him to trust me to be able to set this up, because this is aﬁrst forthis administration.”

The mayor said his staffiscurrently looking into opening athird location at the McKinley High School Alumni Center,and is also exploring the feasibility of providing planning andzoning services at the Harding Boulevard satellite ofﬁce, which will have itsribbon-cuttingceremony Feb. 10.

“We’re going to be here and we’re going to grow this thing,” the mayor said. “It’sgoing to be tremendous.”

PIECEBYPIECE

Southern also performedatthe 1978 SuperBowl

CRIME BLOTTER staff reports

Aman has been arrested ina Friday homicide in which the victim was fatally shot while in his vehicle on Oswego Street, Baton Rouge police said The shootinghappened shortly after 9p.m. in the3000 block of Oswego Street, police said in anews release. The victim, Robert Hills,37, was found dead of gunshot wounds in his vehicle. The suspect, Jonathan Christopher,59, wasbooked into East Baton Rouge Prisononcounts of second-degree murder,illegal use of weapons and aggravated criminal damage to property,police said. The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the Police Department’sViolent Crimes Unit at (225) 389-4869 or Crime Stoppersat(225) 344-7867.

ä See BLOTTER, page 2B

BYJAN RISHER Staff writer

KedricTaylor, band director of the Human Jukebox at Southern University,announced Tuesday morning that theBaton Rougebased,high-stepping band withthe big sound will be performingin Caesars Superdome for Super Bowl Sunday in New Orleans. This is not the band’sﬁrst rodeo. They have performed at nine previous Super Bowls.

Theband appeared on “The Jennifer Hudson Show” Tuesday morning, with Taylor excitedly announcing Sunday’sSuper Bowl performance. “The Jennifer Hudson Show” stars the multitalented former “American Idol” contestant who has gone on to win all sorts ofawards, including an Oscar, a Grammy,Emmy and aTony Robyn Merrick, Southern University system vice president for external affairsand universityrelations, conﬁrmed the band’sSuper Bowl appearance.

Kenny Ricard knows alittle something about the experience of playing for the Human Jukebox at the Super Bowl. Ricard, wholives in Baton Rouge, played clarinet in the Human Jukebox band in 1978 when the band performed apregame show at Super Bowl XXII, which was also in New Orleans.

“Dallas played Denver.Dallas beatthemup. It was like none other,” Ricard said. “I still remember when we got the word. ‘You’re going to the Super Bowl,’ Dr.Greggs walkedinand said. We went crazy.”

Ricardplayed in theHuman Jukebox for four years in the 1970s. He now works for Baton Rouge Mosquito Control, but when asked if he had amoment to talk about the band’supcoming performance at this year’sSuperBowl,hesaid, “For the Jukebox, Ihave all day every day.”

Ricard doesn’tremember what songs the band played, but he clearly remembers going to the Superdome to rehearse.

“When we showed up to the Superdome to rehearse, the Dallas Cowboys walked in right by us,” Ricard said. “I saw Roger Staubach.

STAFFPHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON

Aworkerremovesbolts from abillboard frame along Airline Highwaynear Coursey Boulevard as acrewuses acrane to dismantle the billboard on FridayinBaton Rouge.

STAFFFILE PHOTOBYSOPHIA GERMER

Jukebox of SouthernUniversity enters during the Bayou

Anthony Mitchell receivedthe keys to his new home from NewOrleans Area Habitatfor Humanity.The organizationcalled construction of Mitchell’shometheir “Super Build” as it was accomplished between Veterans Day and the Super Bowl. Mitchell is aVietnam War veteran. Habitat Executive Director Marguerite Oestreicherpats

Mitchell on the back in congratulations on Tuesday

McCUSKER

WARM WELCOME

BLOTTER

Continued from page1B

Diesel spill cleared by hazmat personnel

Adiesel spill on westbound Interstate 10 slowed traffic Tuesday morning, but it hasbeen cleared afterBaton Rouge Fire Department hazmat teams responded. The spill was caused when alight pole generator fell off the backofa truck, spilling 30 gallons of diesel fuel onto the St. Louis entrance ramp to I-10. Around 150 yards were coated, accord-

LSU

Continued from page1B

premature to force the university to reinstate Levy

“A temporary restraining order,when in mandatory form and commands the doing of something, may not issue without afull evidentiary hearing,” said the decisionfrom judges Allison Penzato, Tess Stromberg and Curtis Calloway But the appeals court also allowed other parts of the district court’srestraining order to stand. Under that ruling, LSU is barred from interfering with Levy’semployment on account of constitutionally protected speech and from

ingtoBaton RougeFire Department.

“Due to the inclineand curvature of the roadway HazMat personnel have requested asand truck to absorb residual dieseland improve traction,” the fire department said on Facebook. One booked on suspicion ofDWI

One person was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. WalterDent, 46,Baton Rouge, was booked on one countofdriving while intoxicated; ﬁrst offense.

infringing on his free speech or dueprocess rights.

“Weare thrilled about the fact that, although LSU sought to do awaywith the entirety of theTRO the court only carved out one phrase inwhat is a substantial temporary restraining order prohibiting LSU from taking action against my client,” said Jill Craft, whoisrepresenting Levy But from LSU’sperspective, the fact that the appeals court threw out amandate to return Levy to histeaching duties is what matters most, said Jimmy Faircloth Jr., an attorney retained to represent LSU in the case. He noted the portion of the order that remains in place

JUKEBOX

Continued from page1B

Ricard said the band gave a12-minute pregame show similar to their halftime performances, but with some New Orleans spice.

“Our knees were all up in our noses. Our knees were so high,” he said. “One of our drills we played aNew Orleans song, and coming off the ﬁeld, we played a NewOrleanssecond-line song. The Dancing Dolls held umbrellas in their hands. I’m still talking

prohibits LSUfrom taking action againstLevy “that’s contrary to law.”

“He’sbeen suspended for valid reasons,” said Faircloth. “Our position is LSU has handled this appropriately and continues to handle it appropriately.”

According to legal ﬁlings in the case on Levy’sbehalf, Levy said “F*** the governor” in front of students “in ajoking manner.” He also told students he was aDemocrat and gave his“rather colorful opinion” on the outcome of theNovember presidential election.

Levy’s lawsuit argues the university punished him for protected speech and “chills the rights of academic freedom.” LSU, however,has argued

large about playing Super Bowl XXII.”

daughter that Isaw Tony Dorsett.”

Unlike the band members this year who will be able to document thousands of moments from each member’sperspective,Ricard has one photograph of the day He says, in the grand scheme of things, marching with the Human Jukebox at the Super Bowl made atremendous difference in his life.

“Think about it, as ateenager —I waslike19or20 —wewere at theSuper Bowl,” Ricard said. “Then we saw those legends walk by.Ioften tell my grand-

that Levy’scharacterization of hisclass lecture was “sterilized” and his actual comments were “far moreinappropriate.” The university said Levy is being investigated for inappropriate behavior and potential harassment, not his political or academic speech.

Landry weighed in on the controversy Tuesday afternoon with asocial media post.

“Is this the type of language and attitude you expect your tax dollars to pay for?” the post stated.

Landryaccused Levyof saying, “I couldn’tbelieve that f***** won,” regarding Trump’svictory in theNovember presidential election.

In 1978, the Human Jukebox performed and then sat in the stands to watch the game. Ricard isn’tcertain, but he doesn’tthink the band on Sunday will be able to stay inside the Super Dome to watch the game. Taylor confirmed that the band will notbeable to stay for the game due to space in the Superdome. Nonetheless, he says the experience is aremarkable opportunity for the students and is grateful for the chance to be there with them.

He also said Levy threatened students who recorded his lectures. “No judge would tolerate this conduct in their courtroom or any legal professional setting,”Landry’s post stated. “It should not be tolerated at our taxpayer funded universities either.”

BELOW: Anthony Mitchellreceives the keys tohis new home, and ahug and ﬂowers from Anita Sites. RIGHT: Aband welcomes Anthony Mitchell.

January 26, Clarity Hospice of Baton Rouge. He was bornSeptember 5, 1949 in NewOrleans, La.,to Rogers (Alice)Chenevert He was aproud resident of Baton Rouge and an Army veteran. We will be celebrating the life of Mr. Douglas on February 6, 2025 at St. Aloysius Catholic Church. Visitation at 9a.m. and memorialservice at 10a.m. The repast will be held at 2835 Balis Dr. Baton Rouge, La.

Scenic Highway,Baton Rouge at 10:00am. Crosby, Anna

Dupuy,Jerome

11:30am.

Obituaries

Aucoin, EvelynFaye

Evelyn Sanchez Aucoin

departed this life Friday, January 31st at the young age of 86. She was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister and cherished friend to many. Evelyn was born in Baton Rouge, LA on December 5th, 1938, daughter to the late Catherine Sanchez Paszkowski and Leon Paszkowski. Evelyn was survived by the love of her life William "Billy" Aucoin whom she was married to for 67 years, her identical twin, Beverly Sanchez Landry, daughter Tamara Anglin and husband Randy, son Jeffrey Aucoin and significant other Dawn Dugas, grandchildren Jennifer Anglin, Brittany Meyers and husband Adam, Braeden Aucoin, Julia Aucoin, great grandchildren Dayton, Jude and Ali Meyers. Evelyn is also survived by her special sisters -in-law Patsy Cambre and husband Glynn, Elaine Vince and husband Tommy. Evelynwas a1957 graduate of Baton Rouge High School, ahomemaker, member of the Merry Worlers Dance Club and Associate member of the American Legion Lodge #38. She enjoyed dancing, talking on the phone, taking care of her grandkids, visiting with friends, taking group vacation bus trips. Pallbearers willbeDavid Sharp, Dayton and Jude Meyers, Glynn Cambre Jr. Randy Anglin and Adam Meyers. Visitation willbe at Greenoaks Funeral Home, 9595 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA on Wednesday, February 5th, 2025. from 10 a.m. to 2p.m. services to follow. Burial and graveside service at Roselawn Memorial Cemetery. The family would like to give aheartfelt thanks to the staff of Audubon Hospice.

On Thursday, January 30, 2025, the Lord called our precious motherhome. Although we weren't ready, Heavenneeded anotherangel, and we were left with our memories of her. She was the perfect example of awonderful mother, grandmother and great grandmother. Her children and grandchildren were her pride and joy and she spent many hours with them. Betweenbrief stints as abank loan officer and apreschool teacher, she lived to be with herimmediate and extended family. She burnedupthe roads from Texas to Mississippi, visiting family as often as possible. She lovedto travelwith her late husband and went "abroad many timesinher life. She was afantastic cook and kept abeautiful home. She loved to entertain."Miss Anna", as most people knew her,was precededin death by the love of her life, James"Buzz" Crosby; her parents Leonard and Fairy Stuart; her brother Don Stuart; her sister Sue Nowell; and two nephews, Leonard Doyle Stuart and John StuartSharp. She leaves behind many relatives to mourn her passing: her daughter Teresa Frank (Garry); son Greg Crosby (Terri); three grandchildren, Kristen Sheffield (Will), Alex Frank (Megan), and Chandler White (Lauren); andtwo great grandsons, James Frank and Rawlings White. She also leaves behind five sisters: Wanda Sharpe, Betty Kilgore (Haimes), Martha Ashley (Danny), Joan Vines, and Frances Hollingsworth (Fred); and nieces and nephews

Hollingsworth(Fred); many nieces and nephews and great-nieces andnephews to miss her. A viewing will be held on Saturday, February 8, 2025, from 9-10:30am at the John Stephens Chapel in Philadelphia, Mississippi, with agravesideservice to follow at 11am at the Old Pearl Valley Baptist Church cemetery. Special thanks to those wonderful people who participated in her care: Dr. Lara Falconand her staff; Dr. Andrew Rees; the staff at Our Lady of the Lake on the 8thfloor (Heart and Vascular); and the staff at the Carpenter House of St. Joseph Hospice. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to St. Joseph Hospice in memory of "Miss Anna" at 10615 Jefferson Hwy. Baton Rouge, LA. 70809. We will miss you Mama but you taught us to believe: "So also you have sorrow now, but Iwill see you again, and hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you" John 16:22.

Linda Savario DeBate passed away peacefully on February 1, 2025 at the age of 86. She is survived by her beloved husband Lawrence Eugene "Mickey" DeBate; her children, Lorna Marchand Weber (Robert), Elise Marchand Ducote (Randall), Rob Marchand (Michelle), Aaron Perry Marchand,SharonDeBate Leroy (James), Blake DeBate (Ramona), Larry DeBate, Barry DeBate, Sandy DeBateAckerman, CandyDeBate Sheets (Todd), 24 grandchildren, 37 great grandchildren, and 2great-great grandchildren. She is also survived by her siblings, Rosemary Savario Brian (Elvis), Michael Lane Savario (Trilby) and numerous nieces, nephews and family members. She was preceded in deathby her parents, W. J. "Bill" Savario, Jr. and Cleopatra Mary "Cleo" Ferguson Savario and her siblings, Diana Savario Welch, Billie Savario Nicol and James KennethSavario.Linda was aloving wife, mother, grandmother, and

loving wife, mother, grandmother, "Gram" and friend to many. She worked at BASF for over 30 years, where she excelled in various roles. She always found joy in helping others in any way possible. She also had asoft spot for all the children in her life; she loved them all so very much. Her kind soul and radiant smile will be greatly missed by allofthose who knew her. Family and friends are invited to attend aFuneral Service at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 502 E Hwy 30, Gonzales, LA 70737, on Thursday, February 6, 2025 at 11AM. The visitation will begin that morning at 9AM. The burial will followatHope Haven Garden of Memory Cemetery. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.oursofh.comfor the family.

Eubanks Dixon

September 18, 1942February 1, 2025-Mary Louise was born on September 18, 1942 to Minerva &Saul Eubanks in Zachary Louisiana. Mary was an avid musician from the age of 10 years old, she played thepiano. Throughout her entire life she was agifted pianist and played forvarious churches, but most recently for her church, New light Baptist Church. Mary worked for the City of Baton Rouge for 20 years and retired from theBaton Rouge CityPolice Department. Mary was married to Edward Dixon, Sr. for 45 years and through their union they raised and parented 8children, Margaret Smith; Edward Dixon, Jr. (Lucille); Mary Dixon; Arnetta Dixon; Patrick Dixon; Naomi Nelson (Curtis); Angel (Marcus);

(Curtis); Angel Harris (Marcus); Mary had 15 grandchildren and a host of great grandchildren. Sheispreceded in death by her husband (Edward Dixon); Son, (Marcus Dixon); Sister (Emma Eubanks); Brothers (Bill Eubanks, Saul Eubanks, Charles Smith). Visitation for Mary will be held on Wednesday, February 5th from10:00amNoon at hall &Davis Funeral Home, 9348 Scenic Highway, Baton Rouge, La. The family will have aprivate graveside ceremony proceedingthe visitation In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the music departmentof NewlightBaptist Church, 17954 South Spur Lane, Baker,La. 70714. We would like to extend our gratitude to the physicians at Baton Rouge General for their exceptional care.

Helen Jo Ingram passed away on Saturday, February 1, 2025, at the age of 86. Shewas born in Powell, TX, anda resident of Baton Rouge, LA. She enjoyed sailing, and traveling through Europe and the USA. Above all, she cherished the time she spent with her family and friends. Helen is survived by her husband of 69 years, Preston;children, Gary Ingram (Sherri), and Paula Dye (Terry); grandchildren,BJRichard, Bonnie D'Antonio (John), Scott Phillips (Wendy), Kyle Phillips, Wayne Ingram (Ashley), William Ingram (Alex), Anjel Womack (Sondra Richard), Ashley Capello (Joey), and Craig Dye (Kim); 15 greatgrandchildren with another on the way; granddaughter-in-law, Betsy Greener; son-in-law,Barry Richard; and ahost of other loving family members. Helen is preceded in death by her daughter, Louanne Richard; grandson Nicholas Greener; and parents, Felton andBillie Lewis. Visitation will be at Greenoaks Funeral Home,

Ingram, Helen Jo

DeBate, Linda Savario

Dixon,Mary Eubanks

Mary

Kellerman, John Anthony 'Jack'

OPINION

OUR VIEWS

La.an underdog champion in education

The hundreds of thousands of Super Bowl visitors to Louisiana already know they are coming to acultural and entertainment mecca,but they might be surprised to learn the state is arising educational star,too Truth be told, we Louisianansare still getting used to this reality.The trick willbetokeep the educational momentum going.

The news came last week: On the National Assessment of EducationalProgress, often known as the nation’sreport card,Louisiana has moved from 49thof50states up to 32nd in just ﬁve years. Better yet, thestate’sfourth graders led the whole country in therate of progress in readingscores,climbing from 42nd to 16th in just two years.Indeed, Louisianawas one of only two states whose fourth graders’ raw scores in both reading and math outpaced the scores from before the coronavirus outbreak.The other was Alabama.

The state’seighth graders’ readingscores remained ﬂat, but as scores nationwidefell purportedly becauseofthe aftereffectsof the pandemic —Louisiana’sﬂat scores helped it rise 10 spots, to 29th, in the comparativerankings. As it does make sense that pandemicdisruptions would cause measurable repercussionsfor several years, the very fact of maintainingthe earlier performance while other states failed is anoteworthy achievement.

In math, Louisiana’soverall standings —38th and 43rd in fourth and eighthgrades, respectively —aren’tasimpressive, but even there the state is moving up. Indeed, Bayou State fourth graders were among the nation’stop ﬁve in comparative math improvement.

Also noteworthy: Students with disabilities or economic disadvantages “outperformed the national average in both achievement and growth,” to quote the state education department’ssummary State education leaders and some national education specialists say the improvements in readingresult from are-embrace of aback-to-basics approach that emphasizesphonics and foundational comprehension skills. Thestate also has expanded what it calls a“high dosage tutoring program” for more individualized instruction and state ofﬁcials say they havereduced bureaucratic rigmarole and classroom disruptions, so teachers can focus more on students.

Likewise, ofﬁcialscredit early-childhood attention to basic skills for the lesser,but still noteworthy, comparative advances in math.

Therest of the nation should take note. For years, unambiguous evidence from peer-reviewed studies hasshowed that aphonics-based approach yields the best results for reading.Yes, there is something to be said for other,newfangled teaching methods as supplementary tools for students for whom phonics doesn’twork as well.Asupplement, though, is different from a replacement of what has proved effectivefor thevastmajorityofstudents.

Finally,Louisiana’simprovementsshow why it is important to allowstates to choose their own educational paths, rather than insisting on anational, one-size-ﬁts-allapproach. When areturn to basics amounts to an innovation,that reality in itself teaches avaluable lesson

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE AREOUR GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’scity of residence The Advocate |The Times-Picayune require astreet address and phone 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

YOUR VIEWS

Medicalfacilitiesoffer Super Bowl qualityofcareevery day

The value of academic medicine cannot be overstated. It serves as thelifeblood of communityhealthcare, bringing cutting-edge treatments,advanced testing and groundbreaking solutions to patients. New Orleans is fortunateto host tworenowned academic medical institutions: LSU HealthNew Orleans and Tulane UniversitySchool of Medicine, bothinpartnership withLCMC Health, forming apowerful alliance that delivers the highest qualityofacademic medicine to the people of not just New Orleans,but the entire Gulf Southregion. The critical importance of this partnership to allofuswas on full displayduring the New Year’s Day terrorist attack, when thetraumateams at University Medical Center New Orleans,the only Level 1TraumaCenter in the region, showcased its unparalleled expertiseand commitment.The effortsofthesemedical professionals saved lives and underscored the signiﬁcance of having sucha resourceembedded in our community Justasthey do for Mardi Gras and other major events including unanticipated masscasualty incidents,our LSU and

Tulane teams at UMC have meticulously prepared for any medical contingencies during the Super Bowl. They have partnered with LCMC Health to continuously engage in routine drills, coordinate with regionalpartners and participate in the SuperBowl Medical Planning Subcommittee to ensure rapid response capability in the eventofanemergency Academic medical institutions likeLSU Health, Tulane University andour ﬂagship hospitals of UMC and East Jefferson General Hospital do more than respond in moments of crisis. Theyare hubs of innovation, education andprogress. They train the next generation of health care professionals, engageinground-breaking research and continuouslyreﬁne thequality of care delivered to patients. Together, theyensure thatNew Orleansremains at the forefront of medical advancements while providing unmatched care to every patient,every time.

STEVE NELSON, M.D chancellor,LSU Health NewOrleans L. LEE HAMM, M.D senior vice president and dean Tulane University School of Medicine

Nation goinginthe wrongdirection

What have we done? The people, and the planet, both cry out for help. This is no longer my world. Idid not spend my life breaking glass ceilings only to seewomen being forced to go back to the 1950s, the timewhen women who were married would not be hired because of the disruption they would bring to the workplace when taking time off to give birth. Womenwould be asked when being interviewed for ajob whether theyintended to get pregnant Access to contraception and when necessary,abortion, allowed women to take their places in our society.The argument presented against giving women those libertieswas thatthe embryo might be another Einstein or equivalent. How about half the population —women —being prevented from giving their intellectual gifts to beneﬁt society? Why are we forcing immigrants to

leave America when they are sorely needed to help during natural catastrophes, when crops are readyfor picking, when no citizen will perform janitorial or garbage collecting or other moremenial tasks? Our economy will surelysuffer when there is no onetotake up thehard jobs. Will there be shortages? Higher prices?

What about the military? Immigrants have earned citizenship by serving. Do we have enough citizenstosign up? What about our planet? We have abused it for so long thatnow we are paying the price. We ignore cutting down trees in the forestswhen we know that they can help by cleaning the air. We continue to harvest oil when we knowthatgasoline emissions have contributed signiﬁcantly to poisoning the air we breathe.

MARYLARSON

Baton Rouge

Louisianaknows thevalueofimmigrant workers

Twentyyears ago, after alevee break caused devastation during Hurricane Katrina, the rebuilding in New Orleans would never have been possible without the inﬂux of Hispanic workers. Today,many of those people are valued contributing citizens, contractors, service workers, restauranteurs and business

owners. Their skills andwork ethic saved this city. The decimated areas of Los Angeles will desperatelyneed this same kind of help to rebuild. Ihopegovernment grandstanding will not keep them outof California.

HARRIETT DAVIS CORTEZ NewOrleans

N.O. should consider settlement forvictims of terror attack

We ae all shocked by the senseless tragedy that occurred in the French Quarter on New Years Day. Iamsure New Orleanians wish that everything possible should be done forthe families of those killed, and injured, and then the city must moveback to normalcy But the future is clouded by the inevitability of multiple lawsuits against the city which will tie up the courts foryears to come and present anegative picture of our city both locally nationally and internationally Someconsequences of these lawsuits will be higher insurance rates, severe reduction in city ﬁnances and even bankruptcy, and adisincentive to visitors and tourists.

Perhaps the New Orleans legal community can come together and structure asettlement that will fairly reward the victims, and once passed, allow the city to moveforward.

ANDREWKING

Hubris is usually thedownfall of leaders

Gov.Jeff Landry,his minions and others need to stop dictating to their fellow citizens and educators about what they should read, hear,say and how they should conduct their lives. The “myway or the highway” attitude and Washington’ssimilar afﬁnity forbravado and chaos will lead to ahard reversal of allegiances.

We are not feudal vassals who have an obligation to their liege. We want and demand freedom from imposed fear and willful malice. Claiming to know all and having the ability to ﬁx it all is hubris or simply incredibly poor judgment. Ignorance of and deﬁance of the law are not virtues. I’mjust wishing forimproved quality of governmental leadership —and no morecaged tigers.

MICHAEL HUBER Prairieville

Trumpmoves fast outofnecessity

Move fast and break things. That’s the original operating philosophy of Facebook founder and Meta mogul Mark Zuckerberg, and it seems to be the operating procedure ofPresident Donald Trump in these first weeks ofhis second term. That makesacertain sense.Inalargelysuccessful society,unrocked by revolution,institutions come to be in needof repair,revamping and reconstitution. Just as tools rust, barnacles adhere and roofs leak, institutions andprofessions, government agencies and private industries needtobereformed or evenabolished. The high-tech firms that nowdominate the American —indeed, world equity markets moved fast and broke many of the business plans of many long-established entities in the early 2000s. Now,with the suddensupport of many of their leaders,Trump in his first two weeks of his secondterm is moving fast and breaking things. And so far with surprisingly little backlash. As these major changesgo intoeffect, it’safair question to ask about the long-term consequences Start with Trump’sexecutive orders dismantling the misnameddiversity, equity and inclusion apparatus. Opponents started changing thenames of DEI programs, and someone in the Air Force said the order required nonmention of the TuskegeeAirmen. That’savariation of what the late Washington Monthly editorCharlie Peters called the “shut down the Washington Monument” strategy,to which incoming Defense Secretary Pete Hegsethquickly put the kibosh.

More importantly,Trump’sexecutive order repeals the 1965 LyndonJohnson order that got the government and large parts of the private sectorﬁghting racial discrimination with racialdiscrimination. DEI bureaucracies and enforcement were stepped up after the death of George Floyd in May 2020. Now private companies, subject to lawsuits for discriminating against Asians and whites, are scrambling to defund their DEI commissars. Not many will miss them. Polling, and referenda in California, hasshownlarge majorities disapproving racial preferences. Controversy over Black Lives Matter’sleaders’ purchase of a$6million house and the implosion ofIbramX Kendi’sacademic center suggests a weariness even among DEI recipients. DEI repeal seems likely to be,as Christopher Caldwell writes, “the most signiﬁcant policy change of this century.”

Likely in second place are the highly publicized deportations of criminal

Hindsight,asthe old saying goes, is always 20/20. That thought came to mind after acoupleofthe roughly 1,500 Jan. 6offendersgiven pardons by President Donald Trump said they didn’twant it. Finally,Ithought, abright light of sanity showsitself.

Iamheartened by the example of Pamela Hemphill,71, of Boise, Idaho,rechristened the “MAGA granny” by some. Now she’smaking new headlines by declaring her desire to refuse to accept Trump’spardon, although refusing apardon is not easy in asystem unaccustomed to such requests. She no longer supports Trump orbelieves his lie that the 2020election was stolen.

andotherillegal immigrantsfromsocalled sanctuary cities.Illegal border crossings, already vastly reduced last springwhenthen-President Joe Biden, facingdefeat,startedusing powershe had said he didn’thave and changed the open-borders policy evidently inspired by those in-this-house-we-believe-nohuman-being-is-illegal signs you see all over affluent metro Washington, D.C., neighborhoods. Nowillegalborder crossings are reduced to atrickle, and Trump’sfirstterm “Remain in Mexico” policy seems back in force. Trump’sXpost Sunday afternoonthreatening 25% tariffs and visa shutdowns had Colombia’s left-wing president reversing within minuteshis ban on incoming deportees. Venezuela’s left-wing president reciprocatedpreemptively this week. Mybet is that thethreat of further deportations and workplace enforcement will prompthundreds of thousandsofillegal immigrantsto, as Mitt Romney put it in 2012, “self-deport” to theAmericasand Middle East,just as the housing market collapse prompted similarnumbers of illegal immigrants toself-deporttoMexico after 2006. Thateffectmay be reducedifthe courts, asIthink likely and justifiably, reject Trump’sassertionthat the14th Amendmentdoes not confer birthright citizenship. The excesses of Bidenimmigrationpolicy have reduced public support ofand Democratic politicians’ demand for themasslegalization advanced as necessary for compromise immigrationbills in decades past A third change that didn’tget frontpage headlines but is likely to endure will come from incoming TransportationSecretary Sean Duffy’soverturning of the Bidenelectric vehicle regulations.These were effectively,though not labeled assuch, bans on gasolinepoweredcars in the 2030s

This may causeshort-termproblems for Detroit-basedauto manufacturers who have been muscled to ramp up production of money-losing EVs. But over thelongerrun, they’relikely to be grateful: It’seasier to sell cars consumers want.

In the meantime, the casethat outlawing gas-powered SUVs will preserve the planet is being undercut by events. Whether EVs reduce emissions depends on how the electricitythatpowersthem is produced, and the artificial intelligence boom threatens huge increases in demand for electricity,fulfillable perhaps only by emission-emitting coal Simultaneously,the Los Angeles County wildfires have shown thatthe green policies for which California politicians preen themselves don’tcut net emissions if those politicians don’tfulfill their less glamorous duties to fill reservoirs and cut back flammable brush. Not all the Trump initiatives are likely to be successful, and his Democratic and journalistic opponents, as thereactiontohis aid cutoff proposals showed, are ready to pounce on any ambiguity or weakness. But it’sstriking so far how subdued the response hasbeen to the volley of Trump’srecent actions The DEI lobby,which bulldozed corporate America, theopen-doorsimmigrationlobby,which purported to speak for the nation’sfastest-growing electoral bloc, theclimatecontrol lobby, which muscled pastconcernover purple Michigan’selectoral votes —all these forces prevailed utterly in setting Bidenadministration policy and succeeded mostly in setting theboundaries of permissible debate.

Now,asTrumpmoves and breaks things, theyare responding notwith a bang but awhimper Michael Barone is on X, @MichaelBarone.

Donald Trump cannot Make AmericaGreat

Again by shutting down one of this nation’smost vital sources of strength and vigor.His antiimmigrant crusade is not only morally wrong, but economically self-defeating.

While Trump demonizes the 11 millionundocumented immigrants now living in the United States, he’s trying to terminate many avenuesof legal immigration as well. With America’sbirth rate plunging to historic lows —atrend even Vice President JD Vance has called “profoundly dangerous and destabilizing” —the best wayfor the nation to prosper is to import younger hardworking, taxpaying people to ﬁll the demographic gap.

Which reminds me of author Tom Wolfe’soften-repeated observation: acultisareligion that lacks political clout.

“Absolutely not,” she told The New York Times. “It’saninsult to the Capitol Police, to the rule of law and to the nation. If Iaccept apardon,I’m continuing their propaganda, their gaslighting and all their falsehoods they’re putting out there about Jan. 6.”

Hemphill, whose wish to reject the pardonwas previously reported byThe Idaho Statesman, pleaded guiltyinJanuary 2022 to amisdemeanor offense for entering the Capitol during the riot. She was sentenced to 60 days in prison andthree years of probation.

Now she looks back with regret, relieved by atherapistwho helpedsee that she was “not avictim of Jan. 6; I was avolunteer.”

“I lost my critical thinking,” shetold theTimes. “Now Iknow it wasacult, and Iwas in acult.”

She’s not alone. In New Hampshire, Navy veteran Jason Riddle also reacted uncomfortably to his pardon for offenses he regrets He admitted to entering the Capitol on Jan. 6, drinking from an open bottle of wine and stealing abook from the Senate Parliamentarian ofﬁce. He eventually pleaded guiltytotheft of government propertyand illegally protesting inside theCapitol, for which he was sentenced to 90 days in jail andthree yearsofprobation But now, as he told ABC News,he feels grateful for the help his arrest and mandatoryalcoholism treatmenthave givenwith his struggle with alcoholism

“It was deﬁnitely 100% warranted gettingarrested. (I’m) thankful Idid,” he said.“Goodthing it didn’thappen before my life was turned around. I’m grateful he couldn’tpardon till now,because my life was terrible at thetime of the riot.”

After years of being tempted to dismiss the individual rioters as members of the tinfoil hat brigades, it has beenilluminating to see how easily well-meaning folks can get swept up in what appears to be an insidious formof mass politically charged hysteria.

AsRiddle said, no one should be celebrating that.

“Capitol Police ofﬁcers are dead. People have died, and, you know,more peopleare going to die if, you know,by

feeding this lie and carrying on with thecharade,” Riddle said. “Obviously, it sounds better to say that I’m ahero and apatriot who Iwould love to, you know,Iwould love to believe that, but I know it’s not true.”

That probably sounds familiar to Robert Pape, who directs the Chicago Project on Securityand Threatsatthe University of Chicago.

He’sspent monthsporing over court documentsand researching more than 700 arrested for unlawfully entering theCapitol that day

He found that the motives of people interviewed by ofﬁcials tended to be political morethan criminal. They believed Trump’sbig lie that he had won alegitimate electoral victory that was being snatched away from him and his voters.

Andwhile membersofextremist groups such as theOath Keepers and Proud Boyswere arrested and convicted for their participation in the riot,Papeestimates that 87% of those who were convicted were not members of such groups. The awful truth, he told NPR, tends to show that “this is coming from part of the mainstream.” That meansthose of us who live in themainstream need to be extra vigilant about extremevoices that are eager to exploit our legitimate grievances and frustrations for their own power grabs.

Toooften thecures they offer are worse than the malady

Email Clarence Page at cpage47@ gmail.com.

And yet, as The New York Timesreports, Trump’sﬂurry of executive orders focusing on immigration threatens to “reimpose an agenda that would fundamentally upend the UnitedStates’ global role as asanctuary for refugeesand immigrants.” Sharif Aly,president of the International Refugee Assistance Project, adds: “These are attacks on the very idea of the United Statesasa nation of immigrants.”

Yes, chaos on the southern border poses aserious threat to national order and security,and the Biden administration was painfully slow to meet that challenge. But it’salso true thatasylum is a globally recognized, completely legal concept, and many of the migrants who seek entry into the U.S. can legitimately argue that they qualify for protection from dangerous conditions backhome. In order to hear those cases in asensible way, Biden eventually created asystem calledCBP One, which enabled asylum-seekers to make an online appointment with an immigrationofﬁcer Almost 1million migrants have scheduled sessions through the app in the last two years, andin December alone, 44,000 were able to pleadtheir cases.

But on the day of Trump’sinauguration, all pending appointments —about 30,000 of them —were cruelly and abruptly canceled. About 270,000 other asylum-seekers who were still trying to make adate saw their hopes dashed.

“The termination of the CBP One appointment process means there is now no way foranyone to seek asylum at the border,even for families,” Lee Gelernt, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyerwho is challenging Trump’saction in court, told NBC.

Asylum is only one legal pathway blocked by Trump. Another is the refugee program, which resembles asylum,but with one key difference: Refugees don’tappear at the border or enterthe country; they ﬁrst make their cases for sanctuary to aUnited Nations agency abroad.

Trump decimated the program, allowing only 11,000 refugees into the country during 2020. Biden resurrected the effort and uppedthe number to 100,000 last year,but one of Trump’sexecutive orders closed down the program entirely for at least four months.

“The U.S. refugee resettlement programhas in many ways been an extraordinary win-win situation for the UnitedStates and the refugeesit welcomes,” reports the Migration PolicyInstitute “A generous refugee resettlement policyhas long bolstered the United States’ moral standing globally and also has fiscal benefits. From (fiscalyear) 2005 through (fiscal year) 2019, refugeesand asylees contributed $123.8 billion more than federal, state and local governments spent on them.”

“Ending refugee resettlement as we knowit would be devastating, notonly to thousands of families desperate for safety but also to our reputation as aglobal humanitarian leader,”Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president of Global Refuge, a faith-based nonproﬁt that aids refugees,toldUSA Today.“When we step back, other countries use that as an excuse to also shut their borders.” Trump also closed down aprogram that has helped bring almost 200,000 Afghans to the U.S., many of them former employees of American forces before they withdrew from thatcountry in 2021. Other executive orders are shuttering aprogram that gave temporary refuge to more than half amillion migrants ﬂeeing Cuba,Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela; preparing the way to issue travel bans against nations Trump once derided as “s***hole” countries; and ending birthright citizenship, the legal principle that makesany child born in the UnitedStates acitizen.

“What the Trump administration is readying goes well beyond immigration policy,” Vanessa Cardenas, executive director of America’sVoice apro-immigration think tank, said to The New York Times. “The push to gut 150 years of settled law and hard-won progress by attacking birthright citizenship, for example, seeks to reshape America’sfuture by moving this nationbackwards.”

Many of Trump’sorders are already being challenged in court, and some will neverbeimplemented. But whenitcomes to immigrationpolicy, Trump is determined to take the country backward. His own policies make America weaker,not greater

Email Steven Roberts at stevecokie@gmail.com

Steve Roberts

Clarence Page

Michael Barone

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY EVAN VUCCI

President Donald Trumpspeaks as TreasurySecretaryScott Bessent, left, and CommerceSecretarynominee Howard Lutnicklisten as Trump prepares to sign an executiveorder in the Oval Office of the White House on Monday

DEATHS continued from

Kitchen and Bath with his brother, Kurt. Even though in life Jack faced many health challenges, he was always faithful, caring, wildly creative, talented, quick witted, and optimistic. His unique talents allowed Jack to connect with many people, whether it was through gardening, music, woodworking, or design He was aparishionerof Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church and was humbled to receive the 2018 Mercy Men's Club Award for his many contributions to the church and school. And although Jack's achievements go far beyond, he considered his greatest successtobehis marriage of 34 years to his wife, Suzanne, and the family they built together. He is survived by his wife, Suzanne Guerin Kellerman, and his beloved children, Norma Anne Kellerman, Yvonne Kellerman Hogan (Paul), Marshall Joseph Kellerman, Carmen Elizabeth Kellerman, and Catherine Renee Kellerman. He was beloved "Papa Jack" to grandsons Walter and William Hogan who brought immeasurable joy to his final years. Jack is also survived by his mother, Carmen VancherieKellerman, and siblings, Susan Yoshida (Ty), Brett Kellerman (Elaine), Eric Kellerman, and Kurt Kellerman (Ramona). He is preceded in death by this father,Dr. Harry Kellerman. The Kellerman family would like to thank Dr. Joseph Albergamo and the hospice Life Source team for their unwavering love and support. In lieu of flowers, thefamily has asked for donationstoOur Lady of MercyChurch and the National MS Society. Funeral arrangements will be held at Our Lady of Mercy CatholicChurch, February 6, 2025,with visitation from 1pm-3pm followed by funeral mass at 3pm. Burial willfollow at the Our Lady of Mercy Garden of Peace.

Betty was welcomed into her heavenly home by her parents, Robertand Doris Kraft;a sister, Bobbie Robinson; abrother,J.B. Kraft;a stepdaughter Kelly Williams; and beloved cousin and best friend, Amy Allen. She leaves behind aloving husband of 41 years, Russ Mixon, her stepchildren; CindyBarry, John Cox, Holly Benoit,Ty Mixon, and Britt Chandler; 13 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren; asister-in-law, Judy Kraft;a brother-in-law, Dr. Jim Robinson; and nephews, Mathew, Mark, Luke and John Robinson; along with all of theirfamilieswho loved and adoredher. She is also survived by her

Kraft, Betty Lou Betty Lou Kraft, alifelong educator and loving wife, passedaway on January 20, at age 81. Born September 15, 1943, in Winnfield, LA, Betty lived a life of kindness, generosity, and alove of education and family.

Lessonslearned

FEB. 9•NEW ORLEANS

Counting down to the big game with alook back at Super Bowl moments in NewOrleans: CHIEFS DEFENSECAMEUPBIG AGAINSTFAVORED VIKINGS

TheKansas City Chiefs had eightfuture Hall of Famers on theirrosterinSuper Bowl IV,and sixwereondefense Nearly atwo-touchdownunderdog, Kansas City wastaskedwithstopping a Minnesota Vikingsoffensethat had scored more than 20 points in both of their playoff games.Thejob wasn’t tootoughfor Willie Lanier,BuckBuchanan, and Co Lanier wasone of threeChiefswithan interception, along with JohnnyRobinson, aformerLSU star,and Emmitt Thomas Buchanan, aformerGramblngstar, led theteamwith five tackles and wasone of threeChiefswithasackinthe 23-7win onJan. 11, 1970, in Tulane Stadium. TheChiefshavegone on to addthree Super Bowlssince,all in thepast five seasons.They’ll look to wintheir thirdina rowSunday againstthe Eagles.

Chiefs DC Spagnuolosayshebecamebetter coachafter disappointingseasonwithSaints

BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

Believe it or not, Steve Spagnuolo is happy thatNew Orleans occupies achapter of his career

“Everybody that was here was really good tomewhen Iwas here in New Orleans,” Spagnuolo said. “This city is vibrant;I love this city.Wedidn’tplay as well as we wanted to, and sometimes when you’re not doing as good,you learn more from thatthanyou do from the successes.”

It wasn’tpretty.Hespent oneseason as the New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator, and it was arguably the worst year of his professional career.Itwas 2012, head coach Sean Payton was suspended by theNFL for aseason, and Spagnuolo’sunit allowed 7,042 yards —which remains the most singleseason yardageallowed by ateam in NFL history.When Payton returned to his post in January 2013, he dismissed Spagnuolo.

“Thatparticular year,I took alot of lessons,” Spagnuolo said.

Allofwhich is hard to square withthe person who stood on the Superdome turf Mondaynight forSuper Bowl LIX’sopeningceremony.Spagnuolo is nowone of the mostaccomplishedassistant coaches in NFL history,seeking his ﬁfth Super Bowl title as a coordinator (fourwith theKansasCity Chiefs, one with theNew York Giants).

“Wedidn’tplayaswell as we wanted to, and sometimes when you’re not doing as good,you learn more from that than you do from the successes.”

STEVE SPAGNUOLO, Chiefs defensivecoordinator

Andthis year,perhaps more than any other of Spagnuolo’ssix in Kansas City, his defense has been thedriving force behind the Chiefs run to thechampionshipgame.

While the Chiefs’ renowned offense sputtered forstretches thisseason, with superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes putting up career-lowtotalsinpassing yards and passing touchdowns, Spagnuolo’sdefense was aconstant. The Chiefs allowed 20 or fewerpoints in 12 of their17regular-season games in 2024, one off theNFL lead.They won all12ofthose games, with eightofthemdecided by one score. Under Spagnuolo’sdirection, Kansas City managed to be both disciplined and aggressive. Butitisthe latter that is Spagnuolo’scalling card.The coach is known for his defensive pressurepackages, and it showed in the biggestgame theChiefs have playedthis season. With the Buffalo Bills driving late inthe fourth quarter of the AFCchampionship game, Spagnuolo sent acorner blitz on

ä See SPAGNUOLO, page 6C

LSUmen mayneed different approach in SEC

BY TOYLOYBROWN III Staff writer

Afew teams were bound to have their record torpedoed once Southeastern Conference playstarted. LSU men’s basketball (12-9, 1-7 SEC) is among the crop that haslost the most. LSU is second to last in the conference, above only South Carolina who is winless in SEC play. However,But the Tigers are the lowestrated SEC team on KenPom (78th)asof Tuesday after a 31-point home loss to Texason Saturday

The SEC, which has 12 teams in the top 40 of KenPom, is not getting easier

TheSaturdaydrubbing compelled coach MattMcMahon to tell reporters thatpractices leading up to the 8p.m. Wednesday game against GeorgiaatStegeman Coliseumin Athens would inform himabout what histeam wouldlook like “Gonna have to have some really competitive practices and try to determine who needs to be on the ﬂoor,what combinationsare best, who can help us in the areas of ball security,defensiverebounding, offensive execution, to give ourselves abetter chance,” the third-year coach said. “That’s the only way Iknowtodoit.” Apair of true freshmen who could rise in importance after having success against Texasare Vyctorius Miller and Robert Miller,who are of no relation.

VyctoriusMiller’sshooting

The 6-foot-5 Vyctorius Miller had nine points on 2-of5shooting alongwith going 4 of 5from the free-throw line against the Longhorns. He hadjust one turnover in 19 minutes, and it was his highestscoring game since posting 20 points on Dec. 29 Saturday was just his second game back fromanankle injury that sidelined him for three games. Aproductive night was encouraging as LSU searches forareliable third scorer behind CamCarter and Jordan Sears. His 3-point shooting is paramount as the Tigers are among the worst shooting teams in the SEC. In conferenceplay,LSU is second to last in 3-pointshootingpercentage (26.7%). Miller, who made1 of 3from beyond thearc against Texas, will assist with spacing. If he drawsahard closeout,hehas provencomfortableinmakingshots in the mid-range

Robert Miller’s growth

BY JOSH DUBOW AP pro football writer

Carson Wentz once again will mostly be aspectator on the sidelines during aSuperBowl appearance by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Seven years after he watched his backup Nick Foleswin the MVP after delivering the Eagles their ﬁrst Super Bowl title, Wentz is back on the big stage asa backup to KansasCity’sPatrick Mahomes as the Chiefsprepare to take on his former team and his former backup, Jalen Hurts.

“It’s been awhirlwind,” Wentz said. “It’sbeen ajourney for sure. Feels like acouple of lifetimesago. Grateful for all the stops along the way.Itdeﬁnitely didn’tgoexactlyasplanned when Iﬁrst gotdrafted, but I’m thankful to still be playing the game Ilove.” Wentzwas supposed to be the quarterback tolead Philadelphia to greatness after theteam traded aboatload of capitaltodraft himsecondoverall in 2016. Wentzdidn’ttake long to make

WENTZ, page 6C

Robert Millernot only had his best offensive performance in conference playagainst Texasbut also in his career

The 6-10 big hada season-high nine points on 4-of-6 shooting, four rebounds and asteal in a season-high 24 minutes. Miller, who was astarter to open the season, also had the best plus-minus amongLSU players who played at least 15 minutes (-8). In apoor game forthe team, he was solid on the glass and played with the most conﬁdence on offense his six shot attempts were the most he’s hadina game this season.

Miller’sfeathery touch on a hook shot was promising, and he hada nicemomentasavertical spacer The freshman usedhis 7-4

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY GERALD HERBERB Kansas CityChiefs quarterback Carson Wentz arrivesatNew Orleans

in Kenner

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOBYREED HOFFMANN

Kansas City Chiefs defensivecoordinator SteveSpagnuolo, left, speaks with Chiefs owner Clark Hunt,center,and his wife, TaviaShackles, after the AFC championship game against theBuffalo Bills on Jan. 26 in Kansas City,Mo.

5:30 p.m. Oregon at Michigan BTN

5:30 p.m. Butler at Seton Hall FS1

6p.m. Louisville at BostonCollege ACCN

6 p.m. Cincinnati at UCFCBSSN

6 p.m. DukeatSyracuseESPN2

6p.m. ChattanoogaatWofford ESPNU

6p.m. Missouri at Tennessee SECN

7:30 p.m. Illinois at Rutgers BTN

7:30 p.m. Creighton at Providence FS1

8p.m.

8p.m.Villanova

8p.m.Arkansas

8p.m.

Doncic excitedtojoinLakersafter trade

BY GREG BEACHAM AP sportswriter

EL SEGUNDO,Calif. Luka Doncic

was nearly asleep last Saturday nightinDallas when his phone buzzed. Only then did he learn that the Mavericks had just stunned the sports world by trading him to the Los Angeles Lakers.

“You canimagine howsurprised Iwas,” Doncic said. “I had to check if it was April 1.Ididn’t really believe it.”

The superstar has begun to recoverafter his ﬁrst two days in LA, and he’sgrowing increasingly excited aboutanew chapterwith LeBron James and his famed new team on the sunny West Coast And while his past andfuture teammates say Doncic has never lacked motivation to be great,he has allthe fuel he’ll everneed after the Mavericks inherently questionedhis talent and determination by making this seismic trade.

“It was abig shock,” Doncic said. “(Dallas)was home, so it was really hard moments for me …(Butnow) Iget to play in the greatest clubinthe world, and I’m excited for this new journey.”

The Lakers formallywelcomed Doncic on Tuesday,less than three days after they traded Anthony Davis and Max Christie in athreeteam deal for the Slovenian scorer who won his first scoring titlelast season before leading the Mavsto the NBA Finals. Doncic is afivetime All-NBA selection and afivetime All-Star Stars of Doncic’sage and accomplishments are almost never traded in any sport, and particularly not in such an abruptmanner.But when Dallas decided to move on from its 25-year-old centerpiece, the Lakerseagerly gave up Davis—one of basketball’s best big men —tomake it happen.

Doncic is still processing the upheaval, but he already is seeing the limitless upside of acareer in Los Angeles that will begin alongside the 40-year-old James, the top scorerinNBA history

“Honestly,itwas hard at ﬁrst,” Doncic said. “That ﬁrst daywas really hard.Ifelt likethese last 48 hours wasone month. Emotion-

BY DOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. Leave it to Rory McIlroy to make thesecond dayofFebruary feel as though the second week of April wereright around the corner

That’sbound to happenwhen a player of his immense talent— and deﬁciencieswhen it comes to the Masters —deliversasublime performance on aspecial stage like Pebble Beach, especially early in the year

Starting strong is nothing new

This is the third straight time McIlroyhas won within amonth of a new year.Hebeat strongﬁeldsin Dubai in 2023 and 2024.

“Start as you mean to go on,” is what McIlroy said to caddie Harry Diamond as they walkedupthe 18th to atwo-shot victory in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

He already has contemplated the possibilities even before winning at Pebble Beach. McIlroy is enteringhis 11th year without winning amajor.The Masters has been at the forefront for him since it became the missing leg of the career Grand Slam, if notsooner But there’smore than Augusta National.

The PGA Championship is at Quail Hollow Club, where five times no one has posteda lower 72-hole score than McIlroy —four victories and one playoff loss. The British Open returns to Royal Portrush in his native Northern Ireland. If that’snot enough incentive, he also has ascore to settle from 2019 when he hit his opening tee shot out-of-bounds, madean8, shota79and missed the cut. Still, what stood out about

ally,itwas really hard, but today was much better.This is the Lakers. It’sone of the best clubs in history,soI’m excited to be here.”

General manager Rob Pelinka didn’thide his glee at landing Doncic when they met with the media at the Lakers’ training complex.

In histypicallyﬂoridstyle of discourse, Pelinkasaid Doncic’sarrival would bring “basketball joy to theworld.”

“Wehaveone of the game’sbiggest superstarsand an international playercoming to jointhe Lakers,” Pelinkasaid. “I think it’s going to be something incredibly special that the NBA and basketball has never seen before.”

Although James was blindsided by the deal along with the rest of the NBA, he quickly made acall to Doncic to welcome him to the Lakers.Doncic has often described James as his idol.

“It’s just like adream come true,” Doncic said. “I always looked up to him. There’ssomany things Ican learnfrom him, and I’m just excited to learn everything and get to play with him. It’s an amazingfeeling.”

Doncic hasn’tplayed since

Pebble Beach was the manner in which McIlroy won.

In windSaturday strong enough to bendﬂagsticksata 45-degree arc, heplayed bogey-free for a65 that got him back into the tournament.Temptedtohit driver on some of the short par 4s when the tournamentwas still up for grabs Sunday,helaid back with irons.

Whether that’scalled beingdisciplined or conversative, it was a formula that worked.

McIlroy talked alot about “impulses” thathave made him one of the most exciting players to watch but alsomight have cost him tournaments over the years

He is good enough to think he can pull off anyshot.

His new strategy came from the one player that ﬁgures to present thebiggest obstacle.

McIlroy has been fawning over Scottie Scheffler the last few months, particularlyScheffler’s impressive habit of turning in a relatively clean card.

“I’ve never —this is anyone, this is Tiger,this is inthe history of golf —Idon’t thinkI’ve ever seen agolfer play as many bogey-free rounds as Scottie,” McIlroy said.

“Hejustdoesn’t make mistakes He plays the right shot at the right time over andover and over again. And when you don’tmake mistakesonthe golf course, the gamecan become pretty easy.”

That’show McIlroy made it look at Pebble Beach

It wasn’tboringashesuggested

Christmas becauseofacalf strain, but he is close to areturn. He will participate in 5-on-5 work at practice Wednesday,and theLakers will make aplan for Doncic’sdebut afterward.

The Lakers have four games in the Los Angeles area in the next seven days, with aroad game against the Clippers on Tuesday night followedbythree straight home games. The trade caused an uproar in the sports world, leaving most Mavs fansfurious— including Doncic’sfather,Sasa, who said his son “absolutely did not deserve this.”

Thebasketball world alsowas bafﬂed by how quiet the Lakers andMavericks kept thetalks Pelinka clearly took pride in keeping alid on these negotiations, which began at acoffee shop with Dallas GM Nico Harrison, alongtime friend. Some of the league’sbiggest names —names who, like Doncic, would generally be considered untouchable in trades —have reacted in complete disbelief.

The Lakers also acquired Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morrisinthe

trade with Dallas. Both praised Doncic’swork ethic and leadership —and both laughedatthe widespread notion the Mavs were irredeemably concerned about Doncic’sconditioningand work ethic.

“I hear the stuff about him not beinginshape, but if you can go in an NBA game and get 30 and 15 and10likeit’snothing,thenI don’t really know what shape is,” Morris said. “You’re gonnasee it really soon. You’ll make the (determination) if he’sinshape or not.”

Morris returns to the Lakers after winning achampionship ring with the team in the Florida “bubble” in 2020. He said the Mavs informed him he had been traded Saturday night, butnot wherehe was going —helearned that on television and social media. Kleber is on crutches after having surgery on his broken right foot. The German veteran —best known in LA for hittingaparticularlyspectacular3-pointerat the buzzer to beatthe Lakers in March 2023 —says he will be reevaluated in eightweeks, hopefully allowing him to return around the postseason.

“Tome, thoseare thetwo big things that he does better than anyone else,” McIlroy said. “There’simpulses that Ihave on the golf course that it looks like Scottie doesn’thave, and Ihave to rein those in and Ihave to try to be alittle more disciplinedabout it. And that’swhat I’m trying to do.”

McIlroy now has 27 titles on the PGA Tour to go along with 11 others worldwide, but he is not chasingnumbers at this stage in his career.That includes the No. 1inthe world ranking, firmly in the grasp of Scheffler.Winning against astrong field gotMcIlroy only alittle closer to No. 2, double major winner Xander Schauffele. Schefflershowed plenty of rust in his return after puncturing theinsideofhis righthand while making ravioli, and he still tied for ninth at Pebble. What matters to McIlroy is April through July,the major season. His victory at Pebble Beach is only going to bring that into view, starting with theMasters.McIlroyistrying to findthe rightformula, another example how much of this game is between the ears.

Astros to retire number of saves leader Wagner

HOUSTON Houston Astros alltime saves leader Billy Wagner will have his jersey number retired, an honor that coincides with his inductioninto the Hall of Fame, the team announced Tuesday Wagner’sNo. 13 will be the 10th number retired by the Astros during aceremony Aug. 16. He’ll be inducted July 27 in Cooperstown with Ichiro Suzuki,CC Sabathia, Dave Parker and Dick Allen.

Wagner,athree-time All-Star, saved 225 games for the Astros from 1995-2003. The hard-throwing lefty ﬁnished fourth in 1999 NL Cy Young Award voting after recording 39 saves in 42 opportunities and recording a1.57 ERA with 124 strikeouts and 35 hits allowed in 742/3 innings. Opponents batted just .135 against him that year

Mavs get Martin in trade, send GrimestoSixers

DALLAS Caleb Martin and Quentin Grimes areswitching locker rooms in Philadelphia. The Dallas Mavericks acquired Martin on Tuesday in atrade with the 76ers that sends Grimesback to the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia also gets a2025 second-round pick in adeal that was announced afew hours before the teams were set to play at the Wells Fargo Center The Mavericks made the move three days after the seismic trade that sent LukaDoncictothe Los Angeles Lakers for AnthonyDavis in arare swap of superstars. Martin, who has been out since Jan.10with groinand hip injuries, and Grimes both werein their first seasons with their teams.

Contract details are in for newLSU assistant

LSU signed new assistant football coach Alex Atkinstoa threeyear deal worthanaverage of $450,000 per year,according to acopy of his contract obtained Tuesday by The Advocate through apublic records request. Atkins, who is expected to be named tight ends coach and run game coordinator,will make $250,000 during his ﬁrst year with the Tigers.

His pay increases to $450,000 the next year and $650,000 in the final year of the contract, which ends after the 2027 season.Atkinswas previously at Florida State forfive seasons, spending the past three as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. He was fired amid multiple staff changes at the end of a2-10 season.

Halep announces her retirement at age 33

Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep announced her retirement from tennisatage 33 after afirst-round loss at atournament in her home country of Romania on Tuesday,ending an injury-filled comeback from adoping suspension. It was thefirst match of theyear for Halep, who reached No. 1inthe WTArankings for the first time in 2017 but is now 870th and was given awild-card invitation to play in Romania.

She had pulled out of qualifying for the Australian Open and a tuneup tournament in Auckland, New Zealand, last month.

Halep once stood atopwomen’s tennis, winning major singles trophies at Wimbledon in 2019 by beating Serena Williams in the ﬁnaland at the French Open in 2018

Golfer Woods announces death of his mother,80

The eye candy was his towering tee shot onthe par-5 14thand his 7-iron to justoutside 25 feet for an eagle that all butclinched it. That was more about timing than power —12other players hit longer tee shots Sunday on the 14th hole. It was his 6-iron from abunker on the 10th to 18 feet for abirdie that gave him the lead for good, andhis 7-iron into thetough par312th to 8feet, that stood out to McIlroy

If anything, the manner in which he played looked familiar. McIlroy said two keys for him were strategy and picking conservative targets. That’swhat he has learned from Schefﬂer

“I think for me it’salways the mental side of it,” he said. “That probably is the biggest barrier between me being good and being great. For the most part over the course of my career,I’ve had the physical attributes and hit the ball long and been able to do things that maybe some other guys aren’table to do. But it’s. my thought processes held me back alittle bit.

“I think I’m muchbetter equipped now to handle whatever is thrown my way.” There are more tests to come.

Kultida Woods, the Thai-born mother of Tiger Woods who instilled his dominant spirit and encouraged him to wearared shirt on Sunday as his power color,died Tuesday. Woods announcedthe death of his 80-year-old mother in asocial media post. He did not disclose acause or other details. She was at hisindoor TMRW Golf League match last week in South Florida, where she lived. He described herasa “forceof nature” who was his biggest supporter.“Tida,” as she was called by many,was working as acivilian secretary in the U.S. Army ofﬁce in Bangkok when she met Earl Woods. She spoke minimal English when she married him and left Thailand for the ﬁrst time in 1968 to Cypress, California, where Woods was born in 1975.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTOBYJAE C. HONG

From left to right, LosAngeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka, Luka Doncic and head coachJJRedick pose for photos during anewsconference on TuesdayinElSegundo, Calif.

AP PHOTO BY NIC COURY RoryMcIlroy, of NorthernIreland, hits from the 18th fairwayduring the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am tournament on SundayinPebble Beach, Calif.

Pelicans wastingtorridstretch from Murphy

BY RODWALKER Staff writer

The good news for the NewOrleans Pelicans is Trey Murphyhas been playing like an NBA superstar

The bad news is Murphy’sstellar play,particularly over thelast three games, hasn’ttranslatedinto wins.

ThePelicans will take asix-game winning streak into Wednesday’s game in Denver againstthe Nuggets. It’ll be the second timeinthree daysthe teams have played. The Pels lost to the Nuggets 125-113 on Monday night.

Murphy scored 41 pointsin that one, tying the career-high he scored against Portland in 2023.

“He was fantastic,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “He’sa problem. He’sshooting it from3 He’sgetting to the basket. He’s making plays off the dribble. Everything he brought to the game (Monday night), we needed it.”

It was the second straight 40-point game for Murphy,who scored 40 in aheartbreaking loss to the Celtics on Friday

The only other player in franchise history to score40points in back-to-back games is Anthony Davis, who accomplished the feat in the 2018-19 season.

In Monday’sloss, Murphy made

ä Pelicans at Nuggets. 9 P.M.WEDNESDAY,GSN

eight 3-pointers. He scored 24 points in the third quarter,tying the franchise recordfor points in aquarter.He’smade 21 3-pointers in the last three games and is averaging37.7 points over that same stretch

Even more impressive is that he’sshooting ascorching 70.7% form the floor and 63.6% on 3-pointers.

But itwasn’tenough Monday and hasn’tbeen enough in most games.

Zion Williamson, who missed the previous gamewitha stomach illness, scored only 14 pointsMonday to go with six rebounds and ﬁve assists.

“I think he’sjust knocking off some rust,” Green said. “He missedsome time being sick. He’ll get in the gym, continue to work andbemore likehimself next game.”

They’ll need to somehow ﬁnd a way to slow down Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, who has recorded atriple-double in each of the last seven games he’sfaced the Pelicans.

Wednesday’sgame is the second of afour-game road trip. The Pelicans play the Sacramento Kings on Saturdayand the OklahomaCity ThunderonMonday.

Southern off to best SWAC startthiscentury

BY CHARLES SALZER

Contributing writer

TheSouthernmen’sbasketball team already has had its shareof closecalls this season,but none was closer than its game Monday night against Jackson State. Michael Jacobs made two free throws with two seconds left in overtime, and Cam Amboree knocked the ball away from Jackson State’sDaeshun Rufﬁn as time ran out to allow Southern to slip past the Tigers 91-89 at the F.G. Clark Activity Center With the win, Southern (14-8,

9-0SWAC) is off to its best conference start since the SWAC moved to an18-gameschedulein 2000.

TheJaguars lead TexasSouthernbytwo games in the loss column in the league standings after Texas Southern lost 69-68 to Arkansas Pine-Bluff on Tuesday night. Despite blowing a15-point second-half lead, Southern appeared to have the game won in regulation.

Brentay Noel’salley-oop dunk off apassfromJordan Johnson gave the Jaguars a77-74 lead

with 17 seconds left. JacksonState (6-16,6-3)responded with Rufﬁn’s3-pointer from the right wing.

Johnson’s3-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark, and the teams went to overtimetied 7777.

Andre Nunley,who wasscoreless in regulation, made two 3-pointers and two free throws to give Southern an 85-79 lead two minutes into the overtime.

Including ﬁve points from Rufﬁn, Jackson State quickly put up a10-2 run to take an 89-87 lead. Amboree’sjumper tied the

game at 89-89, and Jacobs was fouledafter rebounding Rufﬁn’s missed 3-pointer with two seconds to go.

Amboree led Southern with 18 points while Jacobs scored 17. Dionjahe Thomas had 14 points and nine rebounds, and DaMariee Jones added 12 points. Rufﬁn led four Jackson State playersindoubleﬁgures with 23 points.

Theﬁrst half was tight for the first eight minutes when there were ﬁve lead changes. Thanks to the effort of Amboree, Southern put together a13-2 run to take control.

Howard addsexperienceasFever chasetitle

BY MICHAELMAROT

AP sportswriter

INDIANAPOLIS Natasha Howard

signed withthe Indiana Fever to make one more title run.

She’shoping it happens this season.

The two-time WNBA All-Star and the league’s2019 Defensive Playerof theYearisthe face of an offseason overhaul for the Fever

Teaming with superstar Caitlin Clark, the veteran forward could help turn one of the league’syoungest and most promising franchises into a championship contender.

“Wehave the talent, and we have the people, too,” Howardsaid during her reintroduction to Indy,where her pro career beganin2014. “I’m happy to be part of this and also from aleadership standpoint to show the young people what it takes to win achampionship.”

Howardknowswhat’srequired after winning one title with the Minnesota Lynx and two with the Seattle Storm during an 11-year career

And that’sone reason Fever president of business and basketball op-

erationsKelly Krauskopf andnew generalmanager Amber Cox decided to target Howard. Cox was hired in October after spending threeseasons in the Dallas Wings’front ofﬁce. Howard spentthe last two seasons with Dallas.

Howard joins arosterwith three other All-Stars —Clark, shooting guardKelseyMitchell and forward Aliyah Boston. Clark and Boston are the league’smost recent rookies of the year,and the Fever gave Mitchell anew contract last week to keep her offthe free-agent market.

Former Fever star Stephanie White is returning to Indy for her second stint as head coach after being selected the league’s2023 Coach of the Year with Connecticut.

She was an assistantwith the Fever when the 6-foot-2 Howardlastplayed in Indy

Krauskopf expects Howardtoadd as much value off the court as on it.

“The young group we’re bringing back,they asked us to protect our locker room, to protect the culture we got started,”Krauskopf said, “So knowing Natasha as ayoung player and

then watching how when you go to other teams and youhelpteams winchampionships, that’sreally something special andeverywhereshe’s gone,she’s won. She’sawinner.”

That’sahuge beneﬁt for ateam that opened lastseason in themidstof seven-year playoff drought and with back-to-back No. 1overallpicks.

Everything changed when theFever drafted Clark, agenerational player who drew huge television ratings and crowds everywhere she went during ahistoricrookieseason.

Clarkbroke the league’ssingle-season records for assistsand 3-pointers by arookie while becoming the ﬁrst rookie in WNBA history to post atriple-double. She washonored as The Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year

“She’sworked on her shooting, she can dictate the ﬂoor as apoint guard and she’sanamazing passer,”Howard said, referringtoClark.“So I’m just really excitedtobepartofthis team and to catch her passes.”

With afulloffseason to work out with teammate and anew coach, the team grows closer to theirtitle goal

Johnson started the run with a 3-pointer and Thomas scored on afollowshottohelpSouthern forge a13-13 tie. Amboree then scored the game’snext eight points. He got going with asteal and breakaway layup, and then he made back-to-back 3-pointers. Both 3s were from the top of the keyand gave Southern a21-13 lead with nine minutes left in the half.

The Jaguars went on to lead by as many as 13 points before taking a41-29 lead into halftime.

Continued from page1C

wingspan to catch alobbed pass by Dji Bailey thathe didn’tforce into an alleyoop dunk. Miller instead patiently maneuvered under the basket for the finish with 53 seconds left in the first half. Although histhree turnovers were ablemish, one turnover was an offensive goaltending call when he slammed aput-back dunk with the ballstill on the rim Whileanegative play on the box score, that was afine example of the improvement in his motor skillsasheadjusts from being atrue power forwardto LSU’sbackup center since Jalen Reed’sseason-ending knee injury Dec. 3. The team-wide defensive rebounding and turnover issues aren’tgoingtodissipate just because of the pair of freshmen. But their success can make LSU abetter team and keephopealiveto turn around the season. “Weneed it,” Sears said about the two freshmen’s positive play Saturday

LSU forwardRobertMiller

on Saturdayatthe

“It’sbetter forusthatthey continue to build their conﬁdence moreand moremoving forward. “Especially VJ and Rob, you know,really good players forus. “So as much as Ican help them with their conﬁdence moving forward, that would really be helpful for the team.”

Email Toyloy Brown III at toyloy.brown@theadvocate.com

STAFF PHOTO BY HILARY SCHEINUK

drives against Texas forward Ze’Rik Onyema

PMAC.

STAFFPHOTO BY SCOTT THRELKELD

NewOrleans Pelicans guard Trey Murphytries to protectthe ballfrom Boston Celtics guard DerrickWhite during the first half at the Smoothie KingCenter on Friday.Murphy scored acareer-high 41 points Monday against the Nuggets.

THE VARSITYZONE

Episcopaldefeats CountryDay in OT

BY CHRIS CHAPPLE Contributing

Episcopal senior Yaseen Zaid scored agoal in the 97th minute to help lift the Episcopal boys to a 2-1 victory over Country Day in a Division IV regionalsoccerplayoff match Tuesday at Episcopal. Two-timereigningstatechampion Episcopal, theNo. 6seed, had to rally from a1-0 deﬁcit after Country Day’sAndres Lang scored on aheader in the 62nd minute. Episcopal’sJossAnderson converted apenalty kick in the 68th minute to tie it.

The teams played two 10-minute extraperiods with Zaidgetting his seventhgoal of the season “Wehad abig kick frommidfield, and David Olinde got a header on it and ﬂicked it to me,” Zaid said. “Their outside back had creeped in alittle on the play and Islipped in behind him. Itook atouch and calmed down and scored withmyright foot.We wanted the game to be over.Itwas

ourlast home game and we knew we needed to show up. Now we can moveontothe next one.”

Episcopal(15-6-1) advances to thequarterfinals forthe ninth straight season. The Knights will play the winner of Wednesday’sVermilion Catholic at No. 3 Northlake Christian match. No. 11 Country Day ﬁnished at 9-12. “Luck was notonour side today,” Country DaycoachRaquel Bueno said. “Wehad more percentage of possessions and more shotson goal. But youalsohave to be effective onyour shots. My guys really battled, and we improved at the right time.Episcopal’skeeper had an amazingsaveonour penalty kick and rebound shot.”

CountryDay’sChristian Myers had apenalty kick attempt in the 69th minute, butEpiscopal goalkeeper Luke Stelly dove to the ground to break it upbut couldn’t secure the ball. CountryDay got aclose rebound shot that was also deﬂected

Stelly had six saves forEpisco-

pal. Jacob Luder had four saves for Country Day “I’m really proud of theboys,” Episcopal coach Kiran Booluck said. “Luke Stelly is areal difference-maker for us in goal.

EPISCOPAL GIRLS 5, COUNTRYDAY 1: Sydney Bonnecaze scored in the 16th minute off an assist from Caroline Netterville to jump start the scoring for thethird-seeded Episcopal girls in the nightcap of the doubleheader Bonnecaze later scored in the 50th minute (Olivia Graham assist) and the 73rd minute (Grace Waguespack assist). No. 3Episcopal (16-4-1) also got a30-yard goal from Claire Moore in the 60th minute.

Eloise Tharphad theinitial goal Episcopal led 2-0 at half. Louise Stewart scored on apenalty kick in the ﬁnal minute for No. 14 Country Day (10-8-3).

Episcopal plays the winner of Episcopal of Acadiana at No. 6St. Thomas Aquinas in the quarterﬁnal round on Thursday

St.Michael rolls to bigwin over Broadmoor

BY WILLIAM WEATHERS Contributing writer

St.Michael theArchangel boys basketball coach Drew Hart didn’t sound like someone whose team had just reached aseason high in points after a80-46 win.

Instead, the focus was clearly on his team’sinability to keep Broadmoor out of the paint in the early in the game, an area Hart wants to remedy if hisWarriorsare to make arun at theDistrict 6-4A championship.

“We’re abetter defensiveteam than that,” Hart said. “Sometimes they think that they can gamble. We get alot of steals. They get antsy and they want to make things happen against ateam that can’t handle the pressure.

“We’re about to go up against UHigh (Thursdayathome), Brusly, Plaquemine and then the (Division II select) playoffs. In order to play with those people, the defense cannot be porousand that upsets me.”

St. Michael (19-7, 4-0 in 6-4A) reached the halfway point of district play with ashare of the lead with Plaquemine, ateam they face on the roadFeb. 11.

TheWarriors, whoextended their winning streak to aseasonhigh seven games, had ﬁve players in double ﬁgures led by Sean Brown’s15. There was also outstanding contributions from their guards with C.J. Levingston and Brian Gales each adding 12,Boogie Levingston 11 andKhy Harvey 10.

“Everybody they had was able

to do whatever they wanted,” said Broadmoor coach TerranceGillette, whose team was led by Jason Pitcher’s12points. “Wewere unable to stop them.We’ve gotto do abetter job of getting the guys ready to play.Noexcuses. They just played aheck of agame.”

The point in the gamethat drew Hart’sire was the ﬁrst 10 minutes when Broadmoor (15-8, 1-3) made 10 of itsﬁrst 15 shots and trailed St. Michael 23-19. Brown had 11 of his game-high output in the second quarter and Boogie Levingston, afreshman, came off the bench to scoreall 11 of his points, including seven during a19-7 run in the last 3:23 when the Warriors opened a42-26 halftime lead.

Broadmoor missed its ﬁrst four shots of the third quarter,and turned the ball over six times, enabling St. Michael to open with a 12-0 run to make it 54-26 on Harvey’ssteal and drive with 4:10 left. Gales madeone of histeam’s six 3-pointers on apass from Josh Bertrand, added afree throw and converted another steal into alayup, forcing Broadmoor to take a timeout.

Bertrand’sspin moveresulted in alayup and 56-26 margin that eventually reached 36 points (7842) on reserve Jacob Farr’slayup with 30 seconds left.

“In the third quarter we sprung the half-court trap, and they panicked for three possessions in a row,” Hart said.

“If you don’tplay well for four or ﬁve possessions in arow,you’re in trouble.”

St.Michael volleyball coachSmith stepsdown

BY ROBIN FAMBROUGH Staff writer

Asports banquet wrapped up St. Michael’sfall sports seasons Mondaynight.Italsoprovided aformal ending for Rob Smith’s career as the school’svolleyball coach.

for seven years. He played akey role in the planning/construction of the school’s multi-purpose facility and it’sthe newWarrior Stadiumbuiltoncampus.

21 Ascension Christian 50, St. John 43 Woodlawn 40, Liberty 38 Madison Prep 60, University 50 East Ascension 66, LiveOak 28 St. Amant 65, Dutchtown 42 Glen Oaks 38, GEONext 22 Walker 64, Prairieville 22 Central 32, Scotlandville 23 Zachary 81, St. Joseph’s Academy25 White Castle 60, North Iberville 7 West Feliciana 63, Plaquemine 44 St. Michael 48, Broadmoor 9 Ascension Christian 50, St. John 43 Ascension Christian 15 91016-50 St. John 6121411-43

SCORING: ACHS: L. Harrison 16,K.Jones 11, G. Hudson 8, G. Aucoin 8, A. Wells 5, L. Leblanc 2; SJ: A. Seneca20, A. Gaudet 16, O. Sanchez 4, M. Dupont 2, M. Landry 1 Walker64, Prairieville 22 Walker 28 16 911-64 Prairieville 07 78 -22

SCORING: PRAIRIEVILLE: C. Sheets 11, M. Gatlin 4, A. Jordan 4, W. Kliebert 3; WALKER: L. Cookmeyer 17, D. Goza 11, A. Patterson 10, K. Green 9, T. Goza,K.Fountain 4, L. Clay 4, P. Childress 3 3-POINT GOALS: PRAIRIEVILLE 4(Sheets 3, Kliebert); WALKER 10 (Cookmeyer 3, D. Goza,P.Childress, Green)

RECORDS: Walker 28-1; Prairieville 14-7

Zachary 81, St. Joseph’s 25 Zachary 27 15 22 17 -81 St. Joseph’s 61027 -25

SCORING: ZACHARY: T. McPipe 17,A Ramon 15, C. Rideaux 11, A. Walker 9, K. Whitﬁeld 8, M. Alcerro 6, R. Quibodeaux 5, A. Bell 4, KP Blake4,J.Patterson 2; ST JOSEPH’s: MB Bradford7,A.Sudden 4, K. Williams-Smith 3, A. Sanches 3, K. Barrilleaux2,E.Giscleir 2, L. Bernhard2,J Hasller 1, S. Arseaux1 3-POINT GOALS: ZACHARY3(McPipe, Quibodeaux, Rideaux); ST.JOSEPH’s 3 (Williams-Smith, Sanches, Bradford)

RECORDS: Zachary 20-3, 2-0 District;St. Joseph’s 9-9, 0-2

Boys soccer playoffs

Division I Regional Round No. 17 St. Amant at No. 1Denham Springs

6p.m. Wednesday No. 13 Lafayette at No. 4Catholic-BR, 6p.m. Thursday No. 14 Dutchtown at No. 3Baton Rouge High, 6p.m. Thursday Division II Regional Round No. 9TaraatNo. 8North Vermilion, 6p.m. Wednesday No. 10 Rummel at No. 7Prairieville, 6p.m.

III

Round No, 9ShawatNo. 8St. Michael, 6p.m.

No. 14 Parkview Baptist at No. 3Bossier, 6p.m. Wednesday No. 15 Morgan City at No. 2University

7p.m. Thursday Division IV Regional round No. 3Episcopal 2, No. 11 Country Day1 Girls soccer playoffs Division I Regional Round No. 16 Barbe at No. 1St. Joseph’s Academy, 6p.m. Wednesdaysitepending

Round No. 9Prairieville at No. 8Neville, 5:30 p.m. Thursday No. 7Lutcher 5, No. 10 North DeSoto 1 Division III

Round No. 16 Patrick Taylor at No. 1Parkview Baptist, 5:30 p.m. Monday No. 14 Haynes AcademyatNo. 3University 5:30 p.m. Thursday No. 10 St. Michael at No. 7E.D.White, 5p.m. Wednesday Division IV Regional Round No. 3Episcopal 5, No. 14 Country Day1 No. 10 Dunham at Catholic-NI, 6p.m. Wednesday Boys golf At Webb Park Par: 36 Team scores: 1. Live Oak, 175. 2. Parkview Baptist, 183. 3. St. Michael,246. Individual medalists: 1. DavidGary Parkview Baptist, 38.2.ColeCarlos, Live Oak, 39. 3. Brady Keller, Live Oak, 41. At City Park Par: 32 Team scores: 1. Prairieville, 189. 2. Southern, 274. 3. Central, 281. Individual medalists: 1. EdwardSan-

Smith told team members and their families that he is stepping down as the Warriors’ volleyball coach after 21 seasons in order to focus on growing duties as the Class 4A school’s athletic director He has been the school’sathletic director for eight years.

“This was hard. In the last two months it started to be aconversation we had,” Smith said. “With the newadministrationand new facilities there are alot of things we want to do. Andoflot of those will include more thatIwill be involved in.

“I want to be 100% at whatever

I’m doing. And with all the that we are planning …program development, coaching development and athlete development …it’shard to see away to 100% with allofthat and coach too.”

The Warriors lost to local rival Parkview Baptist in the Division III quarterfinals at the LHSAA state volleyball tournament in November

In 21 seasons, Smith won more than 500 matches. His teams were twicestate runners-upand advanced to the quarterﬁnals at least 15 times. Smithwas voted All-Metro Coach of the Year ﬁve times.

Smith also served as assistant softball coach (four years), assistant boys soccer coach (four years), golf coach (threeyears) and was assistant athletic director

Twoother high-proﬁle volleyball coaches announced their departure previously

Sivi Miller of St. Joseph’sAcademy retired from high school coaching. Central’s Michele LeBouef steppeddownasvolleyballcoach but remains at the school as dean of students and an athletic administrator

Prochaskanetsmilestone

Catholic High wrestlingcoach

Tommy Prochaska reached another milestone in additiontowinning the boys team title at theGreater Baton Rouge Wrestling Championships last weekend.

The Bears gave Prochaska his 450th dual meet victory with a4925 win over Chalmette during the Louisiana Duals tourney held over the Christmas holidays.

Prep notables

Erin Hart of St. Joseph’sAcademy Baton Rouge High’s Dayna Kohn and Joey Sanchez of Walkerwere recognized for completing coursework to became certified athletic administrators during the Louisiana High School Athletic Directors Association meeting held in conjunction with the LHSAA convention last week.

The three local school athletic directors were among the eight administrators from across the state who were recognized. Atotal of 120 athletic directors attended the LHSADA meeting.

Email Robin Fambrough at rfambrough@theadvocate.com

St. Michael volleyball coach Rob Smith talks to his team during amatch against University on Oct 1.

STAFF PHOTO BY HILARY SCHEINUK

Jacob Berg of Episcopal dribbles the ball around CountryDay’s Noah KaplaninaDivisionIVregional playoff match TuesdayatEpiscopal.

Catholic edgesMadison Prep in thriller

Staff report

Jeff Jones offeredatelling onesentence assessment of Catholic High’s52-50 victoryover his MadisonPrep squad.

“The only thing we didn’tget that we came for was the win,” Jones said after the nondistrictgame played Mondaynight at Catholic.

The Chargers overcame a10-2 deficit to grab a24-23 halftime lead. Madison Prep led by as much

as sevenpoints in the third quarter Tate McCurry’s3-pointer from the right wing gaveCatholic its ﬁrst lead of the second half —at 49-48— with 40.9 secondsremaining.

Ablocked shot by the Bears’ Matthew Trahan helped put McCurry,who ﬁnished withagamehigh 25 points, on thefree-throw line with 6.5 seconds.

McCurrymade both freethrows toput the game between two of Baton Rouge’straditional powers away It was the 15th straight win for

the Division Iselect Bears (27-1).

Thevictoryalsogave Catholic coach Derrick Jones his ﬁrst win over Madison Prep and Jeff Jones in seven seasonssince returning to the Baton Rouge area as head coach at Port Allen High.

McCurry was the only doubleﬁgures scorer for Catholic. Wes Favorite, one of Madison Prep’s two seniors, had 20 points. William Nelson added 10 for the Division II select Chargers (18-7).

“We’ve been in this situation before,” Jeff Jones said. “Weplay all the teams in District 4-5A

Catholic, Liberty,Zachary,Central, Scotlandville andWoodlawn fora reason.

“Wetook another step toward where we want to be,which is be astate tournament-caliber team. We just have to learn to finish and make plays. We didn’tmake enough of them down the stretch.”

McCurry scored eight firstquarter points to help Catholic build a10-2lead. TheChargers gottowithinthreetwice in the first quarter.Catholic led 19-13 after the ﬁrst period. Madison Prep turnedthe tables

with a11-4 second-quarter surge andled 24-23athalftime, thanks to as basket by LandonWatson. Catholic made just 7of16free throws and struggled at times with Madison Prep’sheight. Nelson, afreshmanand one of the Chargers’ two 6-foot-6 players, scored six third-quarter points, while Favorite added ﬁve

“It’sgreat to competeagainst someone Iconsider to be afriend andmentor,”Derrick Jonessaid. “He’sabout all the right things with his program. It’sagreat game for us every year.”

SOUTHWEST Ark.-PineBluff 69, TexasSouthern 68 Houston 72, Oklahoma St. 63 Women’s state schedule Tuesday’s games No games scheduled. Wednesday’s games Marshall at UL, 6p.m Appalachian State at UL-Monroe, 6:30 p.m. Tulane at Rice, 7p.m. Tuesday’s national scores

EAST George Washington 69, Fordham 59

MIDWEST E. Illinois 67, SIU-Edwardsville 61, OT

SOUTHWEST TexasSouthern 75, Ark.-Pine Bluff 65 UTSA54, North Texas52 Southern 91, JacksonSt. 89, OT

LATE MONDAY JACKSON ST.(6-16) Mansel 2-9 6-10 10, Grant 5-8 1-1 11, Hunt 5-6 3-4 14, McMillian 7-13 4-5 19, Ruffin7-14 8-9 23, Hoover4-5 3-3 12, Reyna 0-5 0-0 0, Watson 0-0 0-0 0, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Canoville 0-1 0-0 0, Samuel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals30-6125-3289. SOUTHERN (14-8) Jones 5-7 2-5 12, Thomas 3-5 8-8 14, J.Johnson 2-9 0-0 6, Manning 3-7 0-0 8, Nunley 2-5 2-2 8, Amboree 7-11 0-0 18,Jacobs 5-8 7-8 17, Noel 2-3 0-1 4, Tezeno 1-2 0-0 2, Dobuol 0-2 0-0 0, Barnes 0-1 2-2 2, McReed 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-60 21-26 91. Halftime —Southern 41-29. 3-Point Goals —Jackson St. 4-15 (Hoover1-1,Hunt 1-1, McMillian 1-4, Ruffin1-4, Mansel 0-2, Reyna 0-3), Southern 10-26 (Amboree 4-7,Nunley 2-3, Manning 2-4, J.Johnson 2-9, Dobuol 0-1 Jacobs 0-2). Fouled Out —Mansel, Grant. Rebounds —JacksonSt. 31 (McMillian 7) Southern 32 (Thomas 9).Assists —Jackson St. 17 (Ruffin10), Southern 18 (Nunley 4) Total Fouls—Jackson St. 21,Southern 21 A—5,621 (7,500). Pro basketball

Nnaji 2-4, Jokic

J.Murray1-4,Strawther 1-5, Pickett 0-1, Braun 0-4). Team Rebounds: 8. Team Turnovers:1 BlockedShots:6(Jokic 2, Jordan, Nnaji, Porter Jr., Tyson) Turnovers: 5(Strawther 2, Jokic, Nnaji Porter Jr.). Steals: 7(J.Murray 2, Strawther 2, Braun, Jokic, Pickett). Technical Fouls: None. New Orleans 23 27 35 28 —113 Denver33352532—

A—19,587 (19,520). T—2:09 NBAindividual leaders Through Monday’s games Scoring average GFGFTPTS

Gilgeous-Alxndr, OKC47538

Antetokounmpo, MIL 41 521

Joki, DEN 44 493

Maxey,PHI 41

Durant, PHO 39

Tatum, BOS

Edwards, MIN 49

Booker, PHO 44

Brunson, NY

Davis, LAL

Field goal percentage

Allen, CLE

Gafford, DAL241

Duren, DET

Gobert, MIN208

Zubac,LAC 319

Poeltl, TOR278

Antetokounmpo, MIL521

Sabonis, SAC371

Ayton, POR

Capela, ATL189 330

3-point ﬁeldgoalpercentage 3FG3FGAPCT Kennard, MEM 82 169

Jokic, DEN 89 191

Sabonis, SAC52113

Prince, MIL 84 185

LaVine, CHI 136 305

Powell, LAC136

Green, MIL91209

Allen, PHO 98

Curry,GS127

Lillard, MIL249

Irving, DAL137

Johnson, BKN115

Valaninas, WAS95106

and RW Linus Karlsson from Abbotsford(AHL). SOCCER MLS ATLANTAUNITED FC —Signed FLatte Lath to afour-year contract.

PHILADELPHIA UNION —SignedDNeil Pierre to afour-year contract. PORTLAND TIMBERS —SignedDJimer Fory to afour-year contract. COLLEGE MARYLAND —Hired PepHamilton as offensivecoordinator/quarterbacks coach. Pro tennis ATP-Dallas Open Tuesday At Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex-Dallas Purse: $2,760,000 Surface: Hardcourt indoor Seedings in parentheses Men’s Singles Round of 32 TommyPaul (3), United States, def. Jenson Brooksby, UnitedStates, 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-4. Cameron Norrie,

Philadelphia Eagles general managerHowie Rosemanbuilt the franchise’s first Super Bowl titleteamin2017 andrebuilt it five yearslater when the Eagles reachedthe Super Bowl before losing to the Chiefs 38-35. He’ll getanother shot at the Chiefs on SundayinSuper Bowl LIX.

HOWIESEASON

GM Roseman’ssuccess in offseasonhas Eagles in SuperBowlagain

BY ROBMAADDI AP profootball writer

Howie Roseman’sjourney to becoming one of the top executives in professional sports began as an unpaid summer intern with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2000. Roseman rose to become the youngest generalmanager in the NFL at age 34 in 2010, fulﬁlling a childhooddream that beganinelementary school when he would evaluate college playersand put together adraft board.

But Roseman didn’thave immediate success and he ended up getting exiled in 2015 following a power struggle with former coach Chip Kelly That didn’twork out forthe Eagles and Rosemanregained personnel control ayear later after Kelly was ﬁred.

He quickly built the franchise’s first Super Bowl championship team in 2017. Then,after adisastrous2020 season, Roseman rebuilt the roster again and Philadelphiareached the Super Bowl two years later only to lose to the Kansas City Chiefs 38-35. They’re backagain facing the Chiefs in arematch on Sunday in the Caesars Superdome.They wouldn’t be here if Rosemandidn’t make all the right moves last offseason following an epic collapse from a10-1 start.

“I really feel like the onlything thatmatters is theoutcome on Sunday,”Roseman said Monday “I’ll trade every (personal) award you can everget for another world championship.”

Theremay be no otherteamexecutive who has been criticized

SPAGNUOLO

Continued from page1C

on fourth down,forcing arushed incompletion that effectively punched Kansas City’sticket to the Super Bowl.

“Wepride ourselves inbeing multiple, but Iwill say this: You can’tdoall those things unless you have really good assistant coaches —which we are blessed tohave and really smart footballplayers,” Spagnuolo said. “Wehave abunch of guys that get football.”

His players agree withthatassessment. Safety Justin Reid described Spagnuolo —known as Spags in the building—assomeone who will take time to meet individually with players to pore over ﬁlm. When they get down to thedetails, he is meticulous and expects his players to be the same way drop to 12 yards, not 11; step with this foot ﬁrst, not that one.

As linebacker Drue Tranquill put it, Spagnuolo’ssuccess in Kansas City is acombination of everything —his ability,yes, but also theway he trusts his staff and players to execute the vision.

more severely and lovedmore passionatelythanRoseman.Eagles fans once vilified Roseman but now refer to the offseason as “Howie Season” or #HowieSzn becauseofhis abilitytomanagethe salary cap and addplayers.

It was Howie season when the Eaglessnatched Saquon Barkley away from therival New York Giants and watched him run for 2,447 yards with seven touchdowns of 60-plusyards.

It was Howie season when the Eagles signed aspecial teams player in free agency and turned former Saint ZackBaun intoan All-Pro linebackerand ﬁnalist for the AP NFL Defensive Player of theYear award

It was Howie season when the Eaglesdrafted cornerback QuinyonMitchell in the ﬁrst round and added cornerback Cooper DeJean in thesecond, reshaping the secondary into aformidable part of the league’sNo. 1ranked defense.

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve saidhow good of ajob Howie hasdone in gettingthese guys in here,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “Then it’sabout building the team and buildingthe habits and theguys continuingtoget better.I think that’swhat you’ve seen. With eight new starters on defense, really good defense in 2022, really gooddefense herein2024.

“So much credit to Howie and hisstaff,and thenthe guys themselves going out thereand playing their (behinds) off.”

Nobody talks anymoreabout Roseman drafting JalenReagor ahead of Justin Jefferson in 2020 or J.J. Arcega-Whiteside ahead of DK Metcalf in 2019. Drafting

CHIEFS’REIDSAYS

HE’LL BE BACK

CoachAndyReid doesn’t plan to leave the Kansas City sideline any timesoon.

As Reidprepares the Chiefs for their fifth Super Bowl appearance insix seasons,the 66-year-old put to rest anytalk that he was readytohang it up if Kansas City winsa third straight title.

“Yes, I’ll be back,”Reid said Tuesday.

Chiefs owner ClarkHunt saidhe hopes Reid has manyyears left onthe sideline.

“I don’t have asense that he’s remotely close to wanting to be done,”hetold Kansas City-area reporters.“I think he’salways said he’ll knowwhen the time is right and I’m sure he’ll share with me before he shares with everyone else —atleast, Ihope so. Idon’t sense he’sanywhere close to being done.

The Associated Press

“Like any great recipe, it needs great ingredients,”Tranquill said “He’sgot experience, he’sgot a high level of football acumen, he’sgot great respect in terms of what he’searned from hisplayers andhis staff, he’sgot agreat staff aroundhim, and he hasagreat mindfor breaking down the game

GM Veachkeeps Chiefs humming

Kansas City executivegoesfromdelivering cheeseburgerstodelivering championships

BY DAVE SKRETTA AP sportswriter

KANSAS CITY,Mo. Chiefs coach Andy Reid ﬁrst metBrett Veach after he’d been recommended for an internship with his Philadelphia Eagles. OneofVeach’smany tasks?

Running out for the occasional lunch order Cheeseburgers werecommon.

All theseyearslater,Veach is still delivering the goodsfor Reid, only now as the general managerofaChiefs franchise that is chasing an unprecedented thirdconsecutive SuperBowl title.

Veach is the one who Reid freelycredits with rebuilding the roster each year,and whose collection of players will face the PhiladelphiaEaglesonSunday night in New Orleans.

Kansas City in 2013, hiring the former Delaware widereceiver —and teammate of Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy —asapro and college personnel analyst.

Twoyears later,Veach waspromoted to co-director of player personnel. And whenthe Chiefs movedonfromJohnDorsey, they gave thegeneral manager jobto Veach,making him oneofthe youngest in the NFLatthe time. The ﬁnal draft with Dorsey in chargebecame famous in large part becauseofVeach:Hestood up in the draft room that night and lobbied —insisted, even thatKansas Citytrade up to select agunslinging quarterback from Texas Tech. Veach had delivered Reid his franchise quarterback in Patrick Mahomes.

DeVonta Smith in theﬁrst round in 2021 pannedout andacquiring A.J. Brown in atrade was asteal, giving the Eagles one of the best wide receiver tandemsinthe league. Selecting Jalen Hurtsinthe secondround of the2020 draft even when the team had Carson Wentz could be Roseman’sbestpick. He selected Jordan Mailata in theseventh round in 2018 even though the Australian rugby star had never playedfootball. He’s become one of the NFL’s best left tackles But Roseman won’t gloat about his success. He’snot holdingany grudgesagainst fans or media who wanted him ﬁred.

“When you work in Philly,you know you’re one step away from banners ﬂying over stadiums(saying “Fire Howie!”),” Roseman said. “So Ithink that yougotta be humble.You have to keep your head down. All that mattersiswinning. Isaidthis to Nick when we hired him:‘Youwin or lose.’ At the end of the day, nothing else matters. Ican explain my bad moves andthe reasoning behind them and therationale that Ithink Ihad. Nobody cares. You’re judged by your record and you’rejudged by the success of that. AndI’m OK with that.”

Shown aphotoofaseason ticketholder wearing an Eagles jerseywith “Howie” on the back and the No. 52 representing the Super Bowl victory over New England in February 2018,Roseman said: “Want to make him proud. Onemore.”

If theEagles beat theChiefs, fans maystart referringtoSuper Bowl week as “Howie season” instead of just theoffseason.

and ﬁguring out what our team has andwhatwecan do to take away what they want to do.”

His one-year ﬂopinNew Orleans came immediately after adisastrous run as thehead coach of the then-St. Louis Rams,during which he went 10-38. He had to build himself back up, spendinga couple of seasons with Baltimore before landing another coordinator jobwith the Giants. He found himself out of football in 2018 after NewYorkﬁred Ben McAdoo 12 games into the 2017 season

And then, in 2019, Spagnuolo took acall from an old friend. He’s known Chiefs head coach Andy Reid for nearly40years, anditwas Reid whogave Spagnuolo his NFL start in 1999,when he hired him to be adefensive assistant on his Philadelphia Eagles team.

In Spagnuolo, Reid didn’tsee the failures in places such as NewOrleans; he sawsomeone wholearned from them and gotbetter.His one season here, tumultuous as it was, helped pave theway for the coach he is today

“That’s part of this game,”Reid said. “Sometimes the ﬁt is right, and sometimes it’s not. He didn’t have enough time here necessarily to really get thewhole thinggoing. But he’sa good coach, he’sgot great playersand he utilizes allof them.”

Email Luke Johnson at ljohnson@ theadvocate.com.

“You could see rightfrom the get-go his energy and how smart he was,” Reid said. “Then his passion forthe players side of it. Thoseguys thatcamein, Igave them the opportunity to either go personnel or to the football side, and he was so passionate about digging in with it and finding guys.”

Veach did his time as acoaching intern, spending mostoffour years in therole. He learned not only the nuances of identifying prospects —somethingReid largely handled himself in Philly —but also what Big Red valued in players on his team That would become invaluable as the years went by Veach was promoted to acoaching assistant, thenmoved into a scoutingrole, and helped to identify DeSean Jackson, LeSean McCoy and Fletcher Cox, all players who contributed so greatly to the Eagles’ success while Reidwas thecoach.

“All those guys, he’sthrowing thoseguys on my desk saying, ‘You have to get these guys,’ Reid recalled with asmile.“He just had an eyeand aknack forit and that hasn’tchanged.”

That track recordiswhy Reid brought Veach along with him to

“WithBrett, it starts early in the offseason, and what an amazing job he does in putting this team together,”Chiefschairman Clark Hunt said. “It’sanamazing achievement to keepturning over the roster every year.”

The Chiefsthat won their first SuperBowl titleinfive decades in the 2019 season are much different thanthe Chiefs going for ahistoricthree-peat this season They have lavished massive contractsonMahomes,tight endTravis Kelce, defensive tackle Chris Jones and others, and yet they’ve managed to massage the salary cap in such away as to keep plugging their biggest holes. It might be signing wide receiver Marquise Brown to aclubfriendly contract. Or running back Kareem Hunt off the couch when nobody else wanted him Or it might be through the draft, where Veach’shit rate on everyone from cornerback Trent McDuffietopass rusher George Karlaftis to speedywide receiver Xavier Worthy is virtually unmatched across the league.

“He and his crew there in the personnel department —he’s done an exceptional job,” Reid said Tuesday.“He’sdone it since he’sbeen in that position and no morethan this year.”

WENTZ

Continued from page1C

amajor impact. In his second season as astarter,Wentz helped turn the Eagles into acontender and was an MVP candidate before amajor kneeinjury in Week 14 after helping the Eagles improve to 11-2 as NFCEast champions.

Foles took over and put together one of the greatest postseason runs, throwing for352 yards and three TDs in an NFC title game win over Minnesota and then outduelingTom Bradyinthe SuperBowl when he threwfor 373 yards and threetouchdowns and also caught aTDpass. Wentz could only watch.

“Itdeﬁnitely was bittersweet without adoubt,” he said. “It’s something you dream of as akid. Youdream of being on that stage andplaying that game. Then life unfolds andyou get that opportunity and you’re in street clothes.” That didn’tend Wentz’srun with the Eagles, but he never

again reached the heights he achieved in 2017. Wentz was shut downwith aback injury late in 2018 and missed the playoffs again that season, and his popularity waned as theyears went on.Hegot the chance to appear in the playoffs in 2019 but leftawild-card loss to Seattle in the ﬁrst quarter with a concussion.

The Eagles then drafted Hurts in thesecondround in 2020 and moved on from Wentz after that season, trading him to Indianapolis. But Wentz still has fond memories of his time in Philadelphia —including getting married and having his ﬁrst child there —and the relationships he built with his teammates.

“A lot of good times,” he said “Winning theSuperBowlwas amazing. Alot of memories and friendships that I’ll have therest of my life. There aredeﬁnitely no hard feelings.

“You wish it would have went a different way,all those things. But you can’treally kind of have any regrets on that front.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY CHRISSZAGOLA

ASSOCIATEDPRESS FILEPHOTO BY JESSICA STEWART

Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach, left, talks with coach AndyReid during training camp on Aug. 3, 2017, in St. Joseph, Mo.

Lauren Cheramie BONVIVANT

Holidays inspirenew menu offerings

Bon vi·vant /noun/ asociable person who has cultivated andreﬁned tastes, especially with respect to food and drink.

Trythe new Valentine’sDay cocktail at Tap65,515 Mouton St., Baton Rouge. The Lover’s Lane features vanilla vodka, bourbon-vanilla syrup, Disaronno and heavy cream

The ﬂavor of Mardi Gras is back at City Roots,1509 GovernmentSt., Baton Rouge, in the form of aMatcha Gras Latte (made withwhite chocolate sauce, brownsugar cinnamon and Mardi Gras sprinkles)and Carnival Latte (made withking cake sprinkles and ﬂavors).

On that same note, Brew Ha-Ha,711 Jefferson Highway,BatonRouge, has introduced its seasonal drink menu, which includes MardiGras, Valentine’sDay and St. Patrick’s Day-themedofferings, such as the Spanish Town Queen whitechocolate raspberry shaken espresso andthe Cupid Shufﬂe almond matcha latte with cherry cold foam.

Love is in the air at Andy’sFrozen Custard,606 W. Lee Drive and18451 Highland Road, Baton Rouge. The Red Velvet Jackhammer,madewith vanilla custard, afull slice of red velvet cake and hot fudge, will be available Feb. 13-14.

Var’sPizza,3030 Perkins Road,Baton Rouge, released new menuitems, including these subs, all on St. Bruno bread:

n The Emma Jane, madewithbeef and pork meatballs, house-made marinara, provolone cheese, onions and peppers

n The Malik, made withfried chicken cutlet, mozzarella, Parmesan, basil and house-made marinara n The Sunny,made with roasted chicken, tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, vinaigrette and abalsamic reduction Forthe biggame

The Queen’s 1717 Kitchen +Cocktails, 1717 River Park Blvd., Baton Rouge,

See BONVIVANT, page 3D

Trufflefried gnocchi was on Nino’s Restaurant Week menu as aside or an appetizer

BEST THINGS WE ATE THIS WEEK

Trufflefried gnocchi with tomatojam and garlic aioli

n Nino’s, 7512 BluebonnetBlvd BatonRouge

Nino’sRestaurant Week menu was full of delightful dishes and ﬂavors, but the menu item to getwas the trufﬂe friedgnocchi with itshousemade tomato jam. It was offered as aside to the lunch entree, Croque Milano,orasanappetizerfor its dinner menu. This delightfultakeon gnocchi wasaneasy decision.It’sall the comfort of french fries withall the joy of treating yourself to something nice. The tomato jamissweet and light, and the garlic aioli (served atdinner) is heavenly. Alittle side is simply not enough.

—Serena Puang, features writer

MATTER OF TASTE

Maintenance superintendentTonyBarber gives atour of the bottlingfacilities at the LSUAgCenter Food Innovation Institute’sSensoryServices Lab and explains howtenants can produceand bottle products at

Witoon Prinyawiwatkul, from left, professor and sensoryscientist; AshleyGutierrez, assistant director; and Dr.AchyutAdhikari, interim director, help business owners make informed decisions about consumer perceptions throughfood testing at the LSU AgCenter Food Innovation Institute. The sensorybooths behindthem are where volunteers eat the products FOODii is testing

BY SERENA PUANG Staff writer

How much of abotched batch of hot sauce cana companyput in anew bottle before consumers begin to notice adifference? Howmuchsaltcan be removed from lowsodium mayonnaise before people startto complain? Will the new recipe foraproduct feel “new and improved” to people?

These arethe kinds of questions thatresearchers help answer at the LSU AgCenter Food Innovation Institute’sSensory Services Lab. With the help of students and volunteers from across the city,researchers test new products before they go to market.

“Our job is to run the study,” said Witoon Prinyawiwatkul, professor and sensory scientist. “Weobtain the data, we interpret the data,but we arenot making recommendations —whether you should launch your product or not is not our job, because it’s risky.”

Rather,the lab seeks to answer speciﬁc questionsthatcan help business owners make informed decisionsabout consumer perceptions. It allows companies to test a new recipe for aproduct before launch to see if people like it.Maybe they used adifferent part of the ﬁsh in acanned tuna product and wanttoknow if consumers can tell. Perhaps they want information about what their potential customer base would pay for the product. From

Andrea Armstrong FOODii facility coordinator points to Tre’sStreet Sauce, one of her favorite products produced at the lab

STAFF PHOTO BY SERENA PUANG

STAFFPHOTOSBYJAVIER GALLEGOS

Newfriendshiponthe rocksafter shared vacation

Dear Miss Manners: Twoyearsago

Iintroduced my close, longtime friend, Nora,to Lauren, an acquaintance whose husband is my husband’s boss.To my delight, they hit it off —somuchso that afew months ago, they decided to go on athree-week trip together The vacation was adisaster.The women fought constantly.Asmyclose friend, Nora spared me no details.

Iwill most likely have to socialize with my husband’s boss and his wife soon. How shouldIrespond

LAB

Continued from page1D

TheSensory Services Lab is away to ﬁndout without confounding variables such as other people’sreactions or biases that may ariseif the company does this research themselves. Companies set their parameters of what kind of demographics they’re looking for and what questions they want answered, then the researchers at FOODii design an experiment to accommodateit. Sometimes, thatmeans following very precise cooking instructions.

One studyinvolved cooking bacon in aspeciﬁc kind of griddle for exactly 3 minutes and20secondson each side, said Yupeng Gao, sensory scientist at FOODii. The studies themselves usually take onlyaday to conduct, but the team has to work two weeks in advance to get the product, train student workers to prepare it, and set it up. After the study it takes two weeks to analyze the results.

“Weonly do like almost one studya month,” said Gao. “But that’sstill areally tight schedule.” These studies run the gamut from tests for companies to student research projects. Their “Tiger Taster”email list is their ﬁrst source for finding taste testers, and after that, they recruit on social media.Participants are rewarded for their participation with LSU AgCenter Dairy Store ice cream or LSU swag.

Beyond testingfood

The sensoryserviceslab is the part of FOODii that is the most publicly visible, but it’s so much more. Since 2014, FOODii has been an incubator for products that local businesses bring to shelves. The lab helps people to develop, brand, test andeven produce their products before they go to market. For aminimal cost, entrepreneurs can join the program, use the facilities and join in training workshops.

Davie’sSalsa, City Gelato and Primo’sPeppers in Lafayette are among the many products that have gone through the program or use the facilities.

“That way they don’thave to spend alot of money to buy equipment,” said

if LaurenasksmewhatNorasaid about her and their trip together?

Ihave afeelingshe will ask. The last thing Iwantistoinﬂame the situation and to be placed in atight spot Can Ipretend Idon’tknow anything, otherthanthat they had a goodtime?

Gentle reader: One generally assumesthatthe boss’swife is not the pork-chop-throwing type of hostess, but given your friend’sreports fromthe trip, you are right to be prepared.

Aready answertoa question of, “Did youhear aboutthe trip?” can saveyou fromhaving to outright lie:“Oh? How was it? Did you two have awonderful time?”

If the boss’swife is smart, she will alsobeprepared: “It was such aremarkable place. Are youand your husband getting away this summer?” But if she is not, you will be able to listen passively until an opportunity presents itself to run away

Dear Miss Manners: The other night, around 6p.m., my mother-in-law came to our housewithout acall or text. Just randomly showed up and startedtalking to us in thedining room. Iwas in the middle of cooking dinner and had timed it so that I could do other things while the food was in theoven. However, thatwas interrupted when she came by

PROVIDED PHOTO

BaileyMonet, right, and Harper Juliet, left, with their mother/‘momager,’ EbonyMcCallister,are the founders of Posh PopGourmetPopcorn, acustom popcorn company.

The 14-year-old and 9-year-old use the LSU AgCenter Food InnovationInstitute’sSensoryServices Lab for market research.

AchyutAdhikari,interim director of FOODii. “They comehere, get trainings, they bring their family,or they hireworkers, they work,and thentheyproduce their food. Then they take it back to ourwarehouse and then sellittothe grocery store.”

Acurrent tenant at FOODii is Posh Pop Gourmet Popcorn, acustom popcorn companystarted by Bailey Monet, 14, and Harper Juliet, 9. Posh Pop opened abrick-and-mortarstore last fall on Perkins Road in BatonRouge. After coming up with their concept in 2020 andselling popcorn onlineout of theirhome, at the Zachary Farmers Market and Live After5,they neededtoscale up

“My entire home smelled likepopcorn for six months because we were making it in betweenour kitchenand aspareroom where we were storing everything,” said Ebony McCalister,the girls’ mom and self-proclaimed “momager” of the operation. “What the incubator was able to teach uswas things that we had wondered about, butwe weren’tnecessarily clearonhow to ﬁndthatinformation out.”

By usingFOODii’scommercial kitchens, the Posh Popladies were able to cut production time by more than 50%. They werealso able to test theshelf life of theirproduct, ensurethey were providing customers with correct nutritional la-

beling/calorie counts for their popcorn andexpand their selection of flavors from six to the14they have in store today McCallister marveled at the fact that her daughters were 6and 11 when they started at FOODii, but they’ve always been treated as professionals.

“Theynever baby them,” she said of the program.

“That’shuge.Itinstilledanother level of conﬁdence in my daughters. It hasliterally been adirect reﬂection of what we teach children, whichis: Youcan do anything, you can go anywhere, you can be anything. But they (FOODii’sprogram) have shown it.”

For example, shesaid, the incubator gave Bailey the opportunity to pitch their product to LSU’spresident, William F. Tate IV,when shewas 12 years old. In addition to opportunitieslike that, FOODii alsoconnects entrepreneurs to grocery stores or wholesalers to help them get their products into stores.

Bright future ahead FOODii is expanding. It’s getting anew building, and the labaspires to have tenants graduate fromthe program so more peoplecan develop productsatLSU.

“Bythe endofthis year, we will probablyhave this new facilityworking on and thatwillprovide newopportunities for our local tenants,” said Adhikari.

After15minutes, Itook the food out,added sauce and put it back in for an additional 5minutes. She saw me do this, and instead of leaving since it was clearly our dinnertime,she pulled out a kitchen chair and sat down! I’m not sure how she failed to read the room. What is the best way to let her know,without seeming rude, that she should call or text before just popping in?

Gentle reader: This was not just any guest,and the term mother-in-law carries often-unjust overtones that areirrelevant to your situation. If your husband’smother wants to drop by unannounced and stay for dinner,and your husband is unwilling to toss her out, you are stuck. But Miss Manners does not see why this should ruin your night. Set her aplace at the table. After dinner,she can sit with the rest of the family while you go about your evening. If she is still around when the kids go to sleep, your husband can sit with herwhile you catch up on work —oronagood book. Send questions to Miss Manners at her website, www missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City,MO 64106.

Amongtheseopportunities is workingwithmore established restaurant brands to bottle/package their products for retail use. Adhikariwas in recent talkswith Mo’s Pizza in

Westwego aboutbottling its pizza sauce. From regulation to nutritional information to the logistics of getting into stores, FOODii is there to help. To sign up to be aTiger

Taster,check out https:// lsu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/ SV_3FeEyuuhkStqy57. EmailSerena Puang at serena.puang@ theadvocate.com.

By The Associated Press

Today is Wednesday, Feb. 5, the 36th dayof2025. There are 329days left in the year Todayinhistory

On Feb. 5, 2020, the Senate voted to acquit President Donald Trump, bringing to aclose the third presidential trial in American history.Though amajority of senators expressed unease with Trump’spressure campaign on Ukraine that resulted in the two articles of impeachment, just one Republican, Mitt Romney of Utah, broke withthe GOP and voted to convict.

On this date:

In 1917, the U.S. Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1917 over President Woodrow Wilson’s veto, an actthat severely

curtailed Asian immigration andmandated immigrant literacy testing. In 1918, more than 200 people were killedduring World WarIwhen the Cunard liner SS Tuscania, which was transportingover2,000 American troopstoEurope, was torpedoed by aGerman Uboat in theIrish Sea In 1971, Apollo 14 astronauts AlanShepard and Edgar Mitchell stepped onto the surface of the moon in the first of two lunar excursions. In 1973, services were held at Arlington National Cemetery for U.S.Army Col. William B. Nolde, thelast official American combat casualty before theVietnam cease firetook effect In 1993, PresidentBill Clinton signed the Family

andMedical LeaveAct, granting workers up to 12 weeksofunpaid leavefor family emergencies. In 1994, White separatist Byron De La Beckwith was convicted in Jackson, Mississippi, of murdering civil rights leader Medgar Evers in 1963 andwas sentenced to lifeinprison. In 2017, TomBrady led oneofthe greatest comebacksinNFL history,highlightedbya spectacular JulianEdelmancatch that helpedlift New England from a25-point deficit against the Atlanta Falcons to the Patriots’ fifthSuper Bowl victory,34-28; it was the first Super Bowl to end in overtime. In 2023, Beyoncé won her 32ndGrammy to become the most decorated artist in the history of theaward Today’sbirthdays: Tony-

winning playwright John Guare is 87. FootballHall of Famer Roger Staubach is 83. Film director Michael Mann is 82.Actor Charlotte Rampling is 79. Racing Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip is 78. Actor Barbara Hershey is 77. Actor ChristopherGuest is 77. Actor-comedianTim Meadows is 64. Actor Jennifer Jason Leigh is 63. Actor Laura Linney is 61. Rock musician Duff McKagan(Guns N’ Roses) is 61. GolfHallofFamer Jose Maria Olazabal is 59. Actor-comedianChris Parnell is 58. SingerBobby Brown is 56. Actor Michael Sheen is 56. Country singerSara Evans is 54. Actor-singer Darren Criss is 38. Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo is 40. Actor Henry Golding is 38. Soccer star Neymar is 33.

BONVIVANT

Continued from page1D

has several specials Sunday forthe Super Bowl. Enjoy $3 wells, house wines and drafts, $1 wings during the game, Philly cheesesteak nachos, brisket mac and cheese, and more.

Valentine’sDay festivities

Galentine’s Daycookieclass: 5p.m. to 8p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13, at The Crown Bistro, 16016 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge Learn the basics of cookie decorating using royal icing to decorate your own set of Valentine’sDay cookies. The class includes cookies to take home, all icing colors needed, a cookie-decorating scribe and sample icing and cookie recipe. Tickets are $60 per person, available at eventbrite.com.

Valentine Extravaganza:7p.m. to 11 p.m.Friday,Feb. 14,

at Baton Rouge Gallery, 1515 Dalrymple Drive, Baton Rouge Enjoy anight of love and funwith live music, great food and activities. Celebrate with your signiﬁcant other,take your friends or ﬂy solo. Tickets are $85 per person, available at eventbrite.com.

Three-course dinner:5p.m. to 10 p.m.Friday,Feb. 14, at Soji, 5050 Government St., Baton Rouge Make this holiday unforgettable with athreecourse dinner and complimentary Champagne at Soji, including menu options like Beet and Goat Cheese Salad, Lobster Bisque Ramen, Peppercorn Steak with Broccolini

Hints from Heloise

Birria flautasat Victoria’s MexicanFood andGrill n Victoria’s Mexican Food and Grill, 31899La. 16, Denham Springs

Aftera rousing night at the Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy show,myhusband andI were starving, so we stoppedatone of the ﬁrst restaurants we saw on our wayback to the interstate. It was Victoria’sMexican Food and Grill, and fortunately,weordered the birria ﬂautas.

funky art and collectibles.

—Joy Holden, features reporter and Louisiana Inspired coordinator

two or three bars of soap this way My mother used to do this duringWorld WarII when soap washard to get. It’sathrifty way to use all of abar of soap. DorothyF., Corbin, Kentucky Send ahint to heloise@ heloise.com.

Thebirria flautas are crispy rolled flour tortillas filled with birria and seasoned brisket and served with aflavorful birria consommé for dipping or slathering, depending on the levelofdeliciousness desired. The flautas were served withguacamole, sour cream and tomatillo salsa. One aspect of the flauta that made it standalone was the homemade tortilla crisped to perfection. In fact, the flour tortillas were so good, we ordered more to take home along with our leftovers. When in Denham Springs, look for the Victoria’ssign and enjoyanunforgettable meal in acozy atmosphere with

Vanilla cake at Five Mile Eatery

n Five Mile Eatery, 317 Heymann Blvd., Lafayette

This Oil Center breakfast and lunch spot is known for its menu focused on whole, healthy (even if decadent!) ingredients. This vanilla cake with afruit compote on top is agreat example of how delicious mindful eating can be. Five Mile Eatery’sdesserts are made in-house, and this tender, moist, sweetly complex slice of cake goes great withacup of espresso and good company

—Joanna Brown,staff writer

STAFF PHOTO BY JOYHOLDEN

Birria Flautas from Victoria’sMexicanFoodand Grill in Denham Springs

STAFF PHOTO BY JOANNA BROWN Vanilla cakeisonthe menuatFiveMile Eateryin Lafayette.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Know and use the rules to your advantage. Refuse to let suggested changes scare you. Listen, revise and use your charm to bend others to see things your way.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Concentrate on what you wanttoaccomplish and forget everything else. Refuse to let anyone or anything stand between you and the victoryyou deserve. Positive change is heading your way.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Ask, and you shall receive as well as gain respect and an opportunity. Refrain from pondering your next move for too long. Ideally, thequicker you take theinitiative thebetter the results.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Change begins with you. Be inventive, show discipline and start putting your plans in motion. Your drive will determine how well and howmuch you achieve.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Think twice before you trust someone hyping something you knowlittle about. Get the lowdown and research before you participate in something foreign to you. Avoid excess.

CANCER (June21-July 22) Take better care of yourself, your reputation and your position. Trying to please everyone is impossible. Strive to achieve your expectations, and you'll maintain your status quo.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Think twice before you bend to someone's whims. It's up to you to choose opportunities that can help you get ahead. Let your intuition

lead the way, and your experience help you ward off interference.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Reluctance to acknowledge what others want will prevent you from getting your way. Indulge others by listening, observing andofferingvalid alternatives.When uncertainty arises, take control, ask questions and lead the way. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Draw from your reserves and participate in something that offers aunique perspective. Immerse yourself in conversations, events and research that provide insight. Personal growth is favored.

SCORPIO (Oct.24-Nov. 22) Ignore the riffraff you hear in the background. Taking charge and getting things done will have amuch grandereffect on youthan someone pontificating on the sidelines. Choose the people you want to associate with.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Stick to the script. Any deviation will lead to trouble. Someone will be eager to send youona wild goosechase.Trust and truth will help you find the best way forward.

CAPRICORN(Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Pay attention to what's happening at home. Someone is experiencing emotional changes that can alter your life. Your reassurance will make adifference.

Andrews McMeel Syndication

Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present. Each letter in the cipher stands for another.

CLUE: WEQUALS O

CeLebrItY CIpher

For better or For WorSe

SALLYForth

beetLe bAILeY

GooSe And GrIMM

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1to9inthe empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Sudoku increasesfrom Monday to Sunday

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

THe wiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

Bridge

BY PHILLIP ALDER

Ricky Gervais, an English media star who is perhaps best-known as the deviser of “The Office” and “Extras” with StephenMerchant,said,“Peopleconfusethe subject of the joke with the target of the joke, and they’re very rarely the same.”

Havingthoughtaboutthatforawhile,I deemed it to be correct, not ajoke.

In this tough example deal, West was defendingagainst three spades.Heled the heart ace and continued with the heart king, East playing high-low to indicate adoubleton. What did Westdo next?

North’s second-round pass indicated a minimum opening bid (and, if your partnership usessupport doubles, denied three spades). Then, when South jumprebid three spades, inviting game with at least asix-card suit, North was tempted to raise. But those three low hearts rang awarning bell.

West wondered from where five winners would come. He couldsee three in hearts and one in spades, but where was the fifth?

There were 28 high-card points between his hand and the dummy. South had indicated 10 or 11 with his gameinvitational rebid. So East could not have much. Andsince East wasmarked with at most one trump, there was no point in West’s shifting to his singleton club, hoping to win the next trick with his spade ace, give hispartner aheart ruff, and receive aclub ruff in return.

Instead, West cashed histhird heart trick (East carefully discarding the club two) andcontinuedwiththe heartseven When East ruffed with the spade eight, it effected an uppercut, promoting asecond trumptrick for West.

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

Previous answers:

word game

INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

TODAY’SWORD CLINQUANT: CLING-kent: Glittering with goldortinsel.

Average mark 22 words

Timelimit 40 minutes

YESTERDAY’SWORD —REVERENT

Can you find 30 or more words in CLINQUANT? reenter

never teen tern tree

you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk youinhim:” Colossians 2:6

wuzzles

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

hidato

mallard fillmore

or part ofanestablished business, or thesameis incidental or germaneto thesaidbusiness, or of themonthly leaseor rental pricepaidby lesseeorrentee, or con‐tractedoragreed to be paid by lesseeorrentee to theowner of thetangi‐blepersonalproperty. TheTax is levied at the rate of 2% of theamount paid or chargedfor tax‐able services,asdeﬁned by law, performed in the i y p City SECTION3 Effective Date.The Taxshall be ef‐fectiveonApril

2025. SECTION4 Term.The Tax shallremainineffect withoutlimit as to term or duration SECTION5 Purposes.The proceedsofthe Taxshall be used forthe purposes setforth in theproposi‐tion approved by thevot

SECTION8 Powers of Collector. TheCollector is hereby authorized,em

poweredand directed to carry into effect thepro

visionsofthisordinance to appointdeputies, as

sistants or agents to as‐sist it in theperformance of itsduties, andinpur

suance thereoftomake andenforce such rules as it maydeem neces‐sary SECTION9 Revenuesof Tax. Alltaxes,revenues, funds, assessments, moneys,penalties,fees or otherincomewhich maybecollected or come into theposses‐sion of theCollector under anyprovision or provisions of this ordi

nancerelatingtothe Tax shallbepromptlyde

positedbythe Collector forthe account of the City in thespecial fund establishedand main

tained forthe depositof such proceeds, which fund maybea separate bank account estab

lished andmaintained with theregularly desig‐natedfiscal agentofthe City;provided, however, anyamount whichis paid under protestor whichissubject to litiga‐tion maybetransferred to aseparateaccount es‐tablishedbythe Collec‐torwithsaidfiscal agent pendingthe final deter‐mination of theprotest or litigation

ersinthe specialelec‐tion held in theCityon December 7, 2024, autho‐rizing theTax,which propositionisset forthin thepreamblehereto. SECTION6 Incorporation of Ordinance18732 of the Metropolitan Councilof theParishofEastBaton Rougeand theCityof BatonRouge.ThisGov‐erning Authorityhereby incorporates andagrees to theprovisionsofOrdi‐nance18732 adoptedon February 8, 2023, by the Metropolitan Councilof theParishofEastBaton Rougeand theCityof BatonRouge,asitmay be amendedfromtimeto-time, with respectto thefollowing matters: A. Collection andEn‐forcementProcedures, B. Collection of MotorVe‐hicle andSimilarItems C. Vendor Compensation D. Exclusions andExemp‐tions, includingLimited Exemptions E. Interest on Unpaid Amount of TaxDue F. DelinquencyPenalty and G. AllOther Penaltiesand Remedies SECTION7 Collector. The Taxleviedby this ordi‐i h i d b y nance isauthorized to be collectedbya "Collec‐tor" whichtermshall mean theDirectorofFi‐nanceofthe City of BatonRouge andthe Parish of East Baton Rouge.

MINUTES CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY OF BAKER PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE STATEOFLOUISIANA

COUNCIL CHAMBERS 3325 GROOM ROAD, BAKER, LOUISIANA 70714 ZOOM Pleaseclick the link below to join the webinar: https://us06web. zoom.us/j/86032330393?pwd=R1d4OHVTL1JPajFZOVVmRlpmckhr Zz09 Passcode:217106 Telephone ConferenceCall Dial In: 646-558-8656 Webinar ID: 860 3233 0393 Passcode: 217106 January28, 2025 -6:00 p.m.

The City Council of the City of Baker,Louisiana,met in regularsession on January 28, 2025, with the following membersin attendance at the meeting: MAYOR Darnell Waites COUNCIL MEMBERS Desiree Collins Rochelle Dunn Cedric Murphy Dr.Charles Vincent Robert Young CALL TO ORDER –Mayor Waites presided The invocation was given by Council Member Murphy.

The Pledge of Allegiancewas ed by Council Member Dunn.

DISPOSITION OF THE MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

The motion was made by Council Member Young, seconded by Council Member Vincent to approve the minutes of the meeting held on January 14, 2025.

YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy, Vincent, Young

NAYS: None

ABSENT:None

ABSTAIN: None The motion passed with avote of 5-0.

RECOGNITIONS

1. Recognition for Stewartfamily(Mayor)(Collins)

The mayor and Council Member Collins presented acertificate of recognition honoring Mr.Warner Stewart to his family

2. Recognize Don Jones forhis heroic and life-saving actions in saving Mr.Darrell Wilkinson (Vincent) Council Member Vincent recognized Don Jones forhis heroic and lifesaving actions in saving Mr.Darrell Wilkinson.

PLANNINGAND ZONING MATTERS

RESOLUTIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS

1. Proclamation declaring February2025 Cervical HealthAwareness Month in the City of Baker (Vincent) City Attorney Fabreread the proclamation.

The motion was made by Council Member Vincent, seconded by Council Member Murphy to accept the proclamation.

YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy, Vincent, Young

NAYS: None

ABSENT:None

ABSTAIN: None

The motion passed with avoteof5-0.

2. Proclamation declaring February 2025 GlaucomaAwareness Month in the City of Baker (Vincent) City Attorney Fabreread the proclamation.

The motion was made by Council Member Vincent, seconded by Council Member Dunn to accept the proclamation.

YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy, Vincent, Young NAYS: None

ABSENT:None

ABSTAIN: None The motion passed with avoteof5-0

NEW BUSINESS

1. Introduce Ordinance2025-1, an ordinance to amend, supplement and re-enact Article II, Section6-21 of the CityofBaker Code of Ordinances and to provide forothermatters relative to the same (Mayor) Discussion regarding the proposed ordinance was initiatedbyCouncil Member Vincent. He expressed his concerns regarding the proposed ordinance and provided the mayor and council with documentation relative to said concerns.Council Member Vincent feels entitiesseeking a business license should continue to come beforethe councilfor approval. He contends this function is anecessary and vital role of the legislative body

Discussion regarding the proposed ordinance and concerns expressed by Council Member Vincent continued.

The motion was made by Council Member Murphy,seconded by Council Member Young to introduce Ordinance 2025-1.

YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy, Young

NAYS: Vincent

ABSENT:None

ABSTAIN: None

The motion passed with avoteof4-1.

2. Approve by-laws for Keep Baker Beautiful (Mayor)(Vincent) Council Member Vincent gave abriefhistory of his involvement with beautification efforts in the city.Hesaid he began his Friendly Neighbor Keeper Initiative in 2016 with ahuge component of the programbeing regularly scheduled litter/trash pickup days on the thirdSaturday of every month. The creation of Keep Baker Beautiful is an outgrowthofsuch programs. Council Member Vincent introduced Dr.Ebony Iheanacho. Dr Iheanacho is the affiliate director of Keep Baker Beautiful. Dr.Iheanacho provided an overviewofthe Keep Baker Beautiful program and the proposed by-laws.

In acontinuing effort to do all he can to eradicatelitter/trashfromthe CityofBaker,Council Member Vincent providedeveryone with the Litter Hotlinephone number and encouraged them to use it. The number is

In compliance with the said specialelectionof December 7, 2024, autho‐rizing theTax,after all reasonable andneces‐sary costsand expenses of collecting andadmin‐istrationofthe Taxhave been paid as provided for above, theremaining bal

ance in said specialfund shallbeavailable forap

propriationand expendi

turesbythe Governing Authoritysolelyfor the purposes designated in theproposition authoriz‐ingthe levy of theTax SECTION10. Severability. If anyormoreofthe pro‐visionsofthisordinance shallfor anyreasonbe held to be illegalorin‐valid,suchillegalityor invalidity shallnot affect anyother provisionof this ordinance, butthis ordinanceshall be con‐strued andenforcedasif such illegalorinvalid provisions hadnot been containedherein. Any constitutional or statu

tory provision enacted after thedateofthisor

dinancewhich validates or makeslegal anyprovi‐sion of this ordinance whichwould notother‐wise be valid or legal, shallbedeemed to apply to this ordinance. SECTION11. Uniform SalesTax Controlling. If anyprovision of this or‐dinanceconﬂictswith theprovisionsofthe Uni‐form LocalSales Tax Code,the provisions of theUniform LocalSales TaxCodeshall control. SECTION12. Publication andRecordation.Thisor‐dinanceshall be pub‐lished in oneissueofthe ofﬁcial journal of theCity i bl

j y as soon as isreasonably possible. Acertiﬁedcopy of this ordinanceshall be recorded in themortgage recordsofthe Parish of East BatonRouge,State of Louisiana. Section2.Severability. If anysection,subsection, sentence,clause, or pro‐vision of this Ordinance is declared by acourt of competentjurisdictionto be invalid,suchdeclara‐tion of invalidity shallnot affect thevalidityofthe Ordinanceasa whole, or partsthereof,other than thepartdeclaredinvalid Theremainder of theOr‐dinanceshall notbeaf‐fected by thedeclaration of invalidityand shallre‐main in forceand effect Section3.EffectiveDate. This ordinanceaffecting thepublicpeace,health andsafety shallbeinfull forceand effect immedi‐atelyuponadoption. This Ordinancehaving been submittedto a vote,the vote thereon wasasfollows:Ayes: Cook,Edmonds,Heck, Monachello Nays:NoneAbsent: Him‐mel Introduced on January 14, 2025.

/s/ Lorraine Beaman Lorraine Beaman City Clerk DeliveredtoMayor on January29, 2025. /s/ Lorraine Beaman Lorraine Beaman City Clerk Approved: /s/ Dustin Yates Dustin

/s/ Lorraine Beaman Lorraine Beaman City Clerk Ordinancepublished in TheAdvocateonthe day of ,2025. 126091 Feb. 5, 1t $155.69

3.773acrepropertyon Siegen Lane southof QuailRidge Avenue (Case No.CU24-02); and WHEREAS, twoexisting church buildingsand

1-888-548-7284.

The motion was made by CouncilMemberVincent, seconded by Council

Members Dunn/Murphy to adopt the by-laws for Keep Baker Beautiful

YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy,Vincent, Young

NAYS:None

ABSENT: None

ABSTAIN: None

The motion passed withavoteof5-0.

PUBLIC MEETING

ANNOUNCEMENTS/COMMENTS

1. The MagnoliaRoseFoundation willhost aspecial education resource faironThursday,January 30, 2025, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the BakerMunicipal Center (Collins)

CouncilMemberCollins recognized the men of RenewChurchand New

BeginningsChurchfor theircommunity-wide cleanup held on Saturday January 25, 2025. She thanked the BakerFireDepartment forproviding pastalaya, the publicworks department for theirparticipation, the mayor forhis support, Dr.Iheanacho for being there, and all the volunteers who gave of theirtime andeffort.

CouncilMemberCollinsannounced the MagnoliaRoseFoundation will host aspecial education resource faironThursday,January 30, 2025, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the BakerMunicipal Center

2. The BakerAreaSportsAssociation and City of Baker Recreation will host aMardi Gras SneakerBallonSaturday,February 8, 2025, in the BakerMunicipal Center Auditorium (Collins)

CouncilMemberCollins announced the BakerAreaSportsAssociation and City of BakerRecreation willhost aMardi Gras SneakerBall on Saturday,February 8, 2025, in the Baker Municipal Center Auditorium.

3. AfricanAmerican History program on SouthernUniversity –the First 100 Years at BakerBranch Library on Saturday,February 8, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to noon (Vincent)

CouncilMember Vincent announced he willhost an AfricanAmerican History program on SouthernUniversity –the First 100 Years at the Baker Branch Library on Saturday,February 8, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to noon.

ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS

The mayorprovided awinter weather recap, saying the citydid reallywell He said therewerenomajor accidents on the roads, and he has received no negative feedback.

The mayorannounced Waste Prowillpick up recycling tomorrow and they areset to resume theirregularly scheduled service.

The mayorannounced bid openings for the N. Magnolia baseball field will be Thursday,February 27, 2025, so the project can begin.

The mayorstated the citywillbegetting new Christmas decorationsand adecoration committeewillbeestablished to oversee the decoration of the citygoing forward.

APPOINTMENTSTOBOARDSAND COMMISSIONS CONDEMNATIONS

REPORTSONBOARDSAND COMMISSIONS

1. Planning and Zoning Commission

2. Annexation Review Committee

3. EconomicDevelopment Team

4. HeritageMuseum/Related Committees

5. ABCBoard

6. Other Special Committees

a. BuffaloFestival

b. Prayer Breakfast

c. Strategic Planning Committee

d. Citizens AdvisoryBoard to Law Enforcement

e. MainStreet District Committee

ADJOURN

The motion was made by CouncilMember Vincent, seconded by Council

Member Murphy to adjourn.

YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy,Vincent, Young NAYS:None ABSENT: None

ABSTAIN: None The motion passed withavoteof5-0.

CITYOFBAKER PARISH OF EAST BATONROUGE STATEOFLOUISIANA

I, Angela Canady Wall,certify that IamClerkofthe Councilfor the City of Baker, Louisiana, and that the above and foregoing is acopy of the minutes of aregular meeting of the Councilfor the City of Baker, Louisiana held on January 28, 2025.

Angela Canady Wall,LCMC Clerk of Council

MINUTES BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS HILLCREST MEMORIAL GARDENS CITYOFBAKER PARISH OF EAST BATONROUGE STATEOFLOUISIANA 3325 GROOMROAD BAKER, LA 70714 January 28, 2025

The City Councilofthe City of Baker, Louisiana, sitting as the Boardof Commissioners forHillcrest Memorial Gardens, met in regular session on January 28, 2025, withthe following members in attendance at the meeting:

COMMISSIONERS

Vincent

Themeeting wascalledtoorder andthe motion wasmadeby Commissioner Vincent, seconded by Commissioner Waitestoapprove theminutes of themeeting held on January 14,2025. YEAS: Collins, Dunn,Murphy, Vincent, Waites,Young NAYS: None

ABSENT:None

ABSTAIN: None Themotion passedbya vote of 6-0.

PUBLIC NOTICE NEW BUSINESS

OTHERNECESSARYBUSINESS

1. Monthly BusinessReport

2. Other Reports

3. Items RequiringAction

ADJOURN Therewas no other business to come beforethe commission. Themotion wasmadebyCommissioner Waites, secondedbyCommissionersDunn/ Vincenttoadjourn.

YEAS: Collins, Dunn,Murphy, Vincent, Waites, Young NAYS: None

ABSENT:None

ABSTAIN: None Themotion passedbya vote of 6-0.

CITY OF BAKER PARISHOFEASTBATON ROUGE STATEOFLOUISIANA

I, AngelaCanady Wall, certify that IamClerk of theCouncil for theCity of Baker,Louisiana,and that theabove andforegoing is acopy of the minutes of aregularmeeting of theBoardofCommissionersfor the HillcrestMemorialGardens held on January 28,2025.

Angela Canady Wall, LCMC ClerkofCouncil

MINUTES BOARDOFCOMMISSIONERS

BAKERCONSOLIDATED UTILITIES SYSTEM CITY OF BAKER PARISHOFEAST BATONROUGE STATEOFLOUISIANA 3325 GROOM ROAD BAKER, LA 70714 January 28,2025

TheCityCouncil of theCityofBaker,Louisiana,sittingasthe Board of Commissionersfor theBaker Consolidated Utilities System, metinregular session on January 28,2025, with thefollowingmembers attending: COMMISSIONERS Desiree Collins RochelleDunn Cedric Murphy Dr.Charles Vincent DarnellWaites Robert Young

CALL TO ORDER –Commissioner Waitespresided.

DISPOSITIONOFMINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING Themeeting wascalled to orderand themotion wasmadeby Commissioner Vincent, secondedbyCommissioner Waitestoapprove theminutes of themeeting held on January 14,2025.

YEAS: Collins, Dunn,Murphy, Vincent,Waites, Young NAYS: None

ABSENT:None

ABSTAIN: None

Themotion passedbya vote of 6-0.

PUBLIC NOTICE

NEW BUSINESS

OTHERNECESSARYBUSINESS

1. Monthly BusinessReport

2. Other Reports

3. Items RequiringAction

ADJOURN Therewas no other business to come beforethe commission. Themotion wasmadebyCommissioner Waites, secondedbyCommissionersDunn/ Vincenttoadjourn. YEAS: Collins, Dunn,Murphy, Vincent, Waites, Young NAYS: None

ABSENT:None

ABSTAIN: None Themotion passedbya vote of 6-0.

CITY OF BAKER

PARISHOFEASTBATON ROUGE STATEOFLOUISIANA

I, AngelaCanady Wall, certify that IamClerk of theCouncil for theCity of Baker,Louisiana, andthat theabove andforegoing is acopy of the minutes of aregularmeeting of theBoardofCommissionersofthe Baker Consolidated UtilitySystem held on January 28,2025.

Angela Canady Wall, LCMC ClerkofCouncil

Street,Suite 700,Dallas, Texas75201 andare availablefor in‐spection during regular business hours. Photo‐copies of thenon-confi‐dentialportion of theap‐plicationfile will be made availableuponre‐quest. Anypersonwish‐ingtocomment on this applicationisencour‐aged to submit com‐mentsthrough theFDICs websiteathttps:// www7.fdic.gov/CRA/.Al‐ternatively, comments maybefiledinwriting with theRegionalDirec‐torofthe FederalDeposit InsuranceCorporation at itsRegionalOffice at 600 NorthPearl Street,Suite 700,Dallas, Texas75201 Commentsmustbesub‐mitted by February 28 2025. Anypersonwishing to comment on this ap‐plicationwiththe LouisianaOffice of Finan‐cial Institutions mayfile hisorher comments, in writing, with theCom‐missionerofFinancial In‐stitutions,POBox 94095, BatonRouge,Louisiana 70804-9095. TheOffice of FinancialInstitutionsis notrequiredtoconsider anycommentsreceived more than 30 days after thedateofpublication of this Notice.The Public Sectionofthe applica‐tion will be availableat theOffice of FinancialIn‐stitutions forpublicin‐spection during theregu‐larbusinesshours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,Monday throughFriday This notice is published pursuant to Part 303.7 of theRules andRegula‐tionsofthe FederalDe‐positInsurance Corpora‐tion andLAC 10:I.Chapter 5ofthe LouisianaRegis‐ter. Currency Bank 7054Jefferson Hwy, Ste100 BatonRouge,LA70806 By:WilliamS.Gaudin President& CEO January29, 2025 125049-jan29-feb5-12-3t $899.08

g vention and Improve‐ment District (the "Gov‐erning Authority"), act‐ingasthe governingau‐thorityofthe Wedge‐wood CrimePrevention andImprovement Dis‐trict(the"District"),on June 11,2024, NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVENthat a specialelectionwillbe held within theDistrict on SATURDAY,MARCH 29 2025,and that at thesaid election therewillbe submittedtoall regis‐teredvotersinthe Dis‐trictqualiﬁedand enti‐tled to vote at thesaid election underthe Con‐stitutionand Laws of the StateofLouisiana and theConstitutionofthe United States,the follow‐ingproposition,to-wit: PROPOSITION (PARCELFEE RENEWAL) Shallthe Wedgewood CrimePrevention andIm‐provementDistrict(the "District"), be authorized to continue to levy and collectanannualparcel feeoneachimproved residentialand improved commercialparcelwithin theDistrictfor aperiod of 10 years, beginningin 2027 andendingin2036, in theamount nottoex‐ceed $95per year per parcel zonedresidential and$250per parcel zonedcommercial, sub‐jecttoincreaseaspro‐videdinLa. R.S. 33:9097.3, provided said feedoes notexceed $150 peryear perparcelzoned residen‐tial and$400per year per parcel zonedcommer‐cial,withthe proceedsof theparcelfee (after de

ductingadministrative costs) to be used to aid in crimepreventionand to addtothe security of District residentsbyen‐hancingsecuritywithin theDistrictbyproviding an increase in thepres‐ence of lawenforcement personnelinthe District andanincreaseinsecu

rity patrolsinthe Dis

trict, to beautify andim

provethe commonareas within theDistrict, andto providefor theoverall betterment of theDis

trict(an estimated $60,825reasonablyex

pected at this time to be collectedfromthe levy of thefee forthe initial year)?

Thesaidspecial election shallbeheldatthe polling places forthe fol‐lowing precincts, which polls will open at seven o'clock(7:00)a.m.and closeateight o'clock (8:00) p.m.,inaccor‐dancewiththe provi

sionsofLa. R.S. 18:541,to wit: PRECINCTS 01-098A(PART) 01-098B(PART)

p g p precincts set forth above areherebydesignatedas thepolling places at whichtoholdthe said election,and theCom‐missioners-in-Charge andCommissioners,re‐spectively,shall be those personsdesignatedac‐cordingtolaw

Theestimated cost of this election as deter‐minedbythe Secretary of Statebased upon the provisions of Chapter8-A of Title18and actual costsofsimilarelections is $10,000 Thesaidspecial election will be held in accor‐dancewiththe applica‐bleprovisionsofChapter 5and Chapter6-A of Title 18 of theLouisiana Re‐visedStatutesof1950, as amended, andother con‐stitutionaland statutory authority, andthe ofﬁ‐cers appointedtohold thesaidelection, as pro‐videdinthisNoticeof SpecialElection, or such substitutesthereforas maybeselectedand designated in accor‐dancewithLa. R.S. 18:1287, will make duere‐turnsthereof to said GoverningAuthority,and NOTICE IS HEREBY FUR‐THER GIVENthatthe Gov‐erning Authoritywill meet at itsregular meet‐ingplace,15317 Way‐wood Avenue,Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on June 17,2025, at sixthirty O'CLOCK(6:30)P.M., and shallthenand therein open andpublicsession proceed to examineand canvassthe returnsand declarethe result of the said special election.All registered voters of the District areentitledto vote at said specialelec‐tion andvotingmachines will be used $1,397 122075-JAN 12-FEB8

ScopeofServices: The work shallconsist of,but is notlimited to,site earthworkand excava‐tion,subsurface drainage,fencing,base‐ball field construction andapplicationofboth naturalgrass sprigging andsynthetic turf grass as shownonthe con‐structionplans andspec‐ificationsfor this project. Bidding Documentsare availabletoviewonlyat cityofbakerla.com. Con‐tractormay requestthe bidpackage electroni‐callyfromC.H.Fenster‐maker& Associates,LLC (337)237-2200, Attention: AimeeLatiolais, P.E. Thesedocuments may be obtained without charge andwithout de‐posit. Thebidding documents shallnot requireany bid‐der, otherthanthe ap‐parent lowbidder, to fur‐nish anyother informa‐tion or documentation, includingthe Attestation Affidavit andthe E-Verifi‐cation Form,any sooner than tendaysafter the date bids areopened; however, theapparent low bidder maysubmit such informationordoc‐umentation at anytime priortothe expiration of theten-day period.Ifthe apparent lowbidder does notsubmitthe proper informationor documentationasre‐quired by thebidding documentswithinthe ten-dayperiod, such bid‐dershall be declared non-responsive,and the public entity mayaward thebid to thenextlowest bidder,andaffordthe next lowest bidder not less than tendaysfrom thedatethe apparent lowbidderisdeclared non-responsive,tosub‐mitthe proper informa‐tion anddocumentation as required by thebid‐ding documents, and maycontinue