State has not carried out death penalty since 2010
BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer
Louisiana has approved a protocol for executions by nitrogen hypoxia, which will allow death sentences to be carried out again after nearly 15 years, Gov Jeff Landry said Monday.
“For too long, Louisiana has failed to uphold the promises made to victims of our State’s most violent crimes; but that failure of
the Oval Office on Monday.
Approximately 19,000 in Louisiana eligible
BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer
WASHINGTON A federal district judge temporarily postponed President Donald Trump’s buyout program to entice federal employees to quit their jobs.
INSIDE
leadership by previous administrations is over,” Landry said in a news release. “The time for broken promises has ended; we will carry out these sentences and justice will be dispensed.”
Louisiana has not carried out the death penalty since 2010.
In an execution by nitrogen hypoxia, the inmate’s face is covered by a mask and pure nitrogen is pumped in instead of oxygen, causing death by asphyxiation.
“These capital punishment cases have been reviewed at every judicial level, have had decades of unsuccessful appeals, and the death sentences affirmed by the courts,” Landry said in the release. “I expect our DA’s to finalize these cas-
es and the courts to move swiftly to bring justice to the crime victims who have waited for too long.”
The Louisiana Legislature passed a law permitting nitrogen hypoxia executions in the second 2024 special session amid a shortage of lethal injection drugs.
State Rep. Nicholas Muscarello, R-Hammond, sponsored the law, which also added electrocution to the list of state-sanctioned execution methods.
Louisiana stopped using electrocution to carry out the death penalty 34 years ago. Legal challenges and reports of burns on the bodies of those executed helped pressure
ä See EXECUTIONS, page 4A
There are more than 50 people on
BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer
ä Trump steps up his 2018 tariffs on steel. Page 2A
U.S. Senior District Court Judge George A. O’Toole Jr., of Boston, issued a temporary restraining order following a Monday afternoon hearing. The judge, who was selected by Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1995, said the pause would remain in effect until he has a chance to weigh the issues and rule. The administration offered to allow more than 2 million federal civilian employees to quit now but continue receiving pay through September
Roughly 19,000 employees in Louisiana are eligible.
ä See BUYOUT, page 4A
A worker sweeps the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. After the Philadelphia Eagles’ big win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday in the Super Bowl, on Monday, it was New Orleans’ turn to celebrate. After years of readying the city to host the largest sporting event in the nation, cleanup began around the Caesars Superdome and the streets of New Orleans More than 100,000 people poured into the city for the event, generating an economic impact that experts estimate is at least $150 million. Crowds packed tightly on Bourbon Street on Sunday with minor issues Infrastructure repairs held. The airports deftly handled the tens of thousands of passengers without long waits And the national media gushed about the city’s ability to host a party, giving New Orleans the kind of positive PR that makes the whole thing worthwhile Story, Page 4A.
“This is not a grievance policy issue; it’s a constitutionally protected property right.”
A lawsuit accusing LSU of violating a law professor’s right to free speech, academic freedom and due process can go forward, and Gov Jeff Landry must hand over records related to the professor’s suspension, an East Baton Rouge Parish district court judge said Monday Ken Levy, a tenured LSU law profes sor , sued the university last month after he was suspended over what the university said were “student complaints of inappropriate statements.”
for suspended LSU law professor
Levy is asking the court to make LSU return him to the classroom and to block LSU from interfering with his employment because of his constitutionally protected free speech and due process rights.
In the courtroom Monday, LSU’s attorney, Jimmy Faircloth Jr., argued that Levy should have first addressed his grievance over the suspension through a university process outlined in the faculty handbook, and it was too early to file a lawsuit.
“The simple truth is that Professor Levy is under an administrative suspension caused by his own improper actions, and LSU is merely taking appropriate steps to move toward a final decision,” the university said in legal filings.
But Jill Craft, Levy’s attorney argued the dispute wasn’t about whether or not Levy should have followed a university procedure.
“This is not a grievance policy issue; it’s a constitutionally protected property right” to due process, Craft said.
Fairthcloth disagreed, saying,
“This whole argument is centered on the absolutely incorrect legal notion that he has a property right to be in that classroom. He does
ä Trump told to release frozen funds. Page 3A ä See LAWSUIT, page 4A
Guatemala: Bus plunges off bridge, killing 51
GUATEMALA CITY At least 51 people are dead after their bus plunged off a bridge Monday on the outskirts of Guatemala’s capital, said Hector Flores, who was helping coordinate the municipal government’s response.
Firefighting spokesman Edwin Villagran said a multivehicle crash sent the bus off the bridge before dawn. Others were seriously injured.
The bus fell 115 feet into a sewage-polluted stream. It landed upside down and half-submerged.
The bus had come from Progreso, northeast of the capital. Volunteer firefighting spokesman Óscar Sánchez said children were among the victims.
President Bernardo Arévalo offered his condolences and declared a day of national mourning.
Man pleads guilty in SEC social media hack
An Alabama man admitted Monday to taking part in a January 2024 hack of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission social media account designed to manipulate the price of bitcoin Eric Council Jr 25, pleaded guilty to an identity theft charge in U.S. District Court in Washington, court records show His sentencing is set for May Council was arrested in October and charged with helping to break into the SEC’s account on X, formerly known as Twitter, allowing unnamed co-conspirators to falsely announce the approval of long-awaited bitcoin exchange-traded funds, prosecutors said.
The price of bitcoin briefly spiked by more than $1,000 after the hacked account posted: “The SEC grants approval for #Bitcoin ETFs for listing on all registered national securities exchanges.” Soon after the initial post appeared, then-SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said on his personal account that the SEC’s account was compromised. The price of bitcoin swung from about $46,730 to just below $48,000 after the unauthorized post hit on Jan. 9 and then dropped to around $45,200 after the SEC’s denial The SEC officially approved the first exchange-traded funds that hold bitcoin the following day Bitcoin has recently been trading around $100,000.
A ring of light surrounds the center of the galaxy NGC 6505. Captured by the European Space Agency’s Euclid telescope, it is an example of an Einstein ring
Space telescope spots Einstein ring on galaxy CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Europe’s Euclid space telescope has detected a rare halo of bright light around a nearby galaxy, astronomers reported Monday The halo, known as an Einstein ring, encircles a galaxy 590 million light-years away, considered close by cosmic standards. A light-year is 5.8 trillion miles. Astronomers have known about this galaxy for more than a century and so were surprised when Euclid revealed the bright glowing ring, reported in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.
An Einstein ring is light from a much more distant galaxy that bends in such a way as to perfectly encircle a closer object, in this case a well-known galaxy in the constellation Draco. The faraway galaxy creating the ring is more than 4 billion light-years away Gravity distorted the light from this more distant galaxy, thus the name honoring Albert Einstein. The process is known as gravitational lensing. Euclid rocketed from Florida in 2023. NASA is taking part in its mission to detect dark energy and dark matter in the universe.
BY JOSH BOAK Associated Press
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Monday removed the exceptions and exemptions from his 2018 tariffs on steel, meaning that all steel imports will be taxed at a minimum of 25%. Trump also hiked his 2018 aluminum tariffs to 25% from 10%.
“We were being pummeled by both friend and foe alike,” Trump said as he signed two proclamations changing his orders during his first term. “It’s time for our great industries to come back to America.”
The moves are part of an aggressive push by the president to reset global trade, with Trump saying that tax hikes on the people and companies buying foreign-made products will ultimately strengthen domestic manufacturing. But the tariffs would hit allies as the four biggest sources of steel imports are Canada, Brazil, Mexico and South Korea, according to the
American Iron and Steel Institute.
Trump also intends this week to reset U.S. taxes on all imports to match the same levels charged by other countries. All of that comes on top of the 10% tariffs he already put on China, China’s retaliatory tariffs that started Monday and the U.S. tariffs planned for Canada and Mexico that have been suspended until March 1.
The tariffs carry inflation risks at a moment when voters are already weary of high prices and fearful that price increases will eclipse any income gains. Trump maintains that the tariffs will level the playing field in international trade and make U.S. factories more competitive, such that any pain felt by consumers and businesses would eventually be worthwhile.
“‘Fairness’ is in the eye of the beholder but the more fundamental question is whether the U.S. actually benefits from such new tariffs,” Benn Steil, director of international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations, a New Yorkbased nonpartisan think tank, said in an email. “The costs to the U.S. will include higher prices to U.S. consumers, retaliatory tariffs
abroad, and the loss of U.S. jobs and competitiveness in firms hit by higher input costs.”
Steil noted that other countries are already adopting Trump’s approach from his first term as the president imposes tariffs on the premise that the imports create national security risks. That’s because national security-related tariffs are legally unchallengeable at the World Trade Organization, meaning that so far Trump’s approach has encouraged other countries to increase trade barriers.
“Not surprisingly, everything from ‘door frames’ to ‘alcoholic beverages’ have of late been subject to new import barriers in the developing world on the grounds of national security,” Steil said.
Of the roughly 29 million net tons of steel imported into the United States last year a little under 2% came from China. But the White House maintains that exemptions to the tariffs provided over the previous four years by the Biden administration enabled steel and aluminum from China and Russia to go through other nations to reach the United States.
While the tariffs could help the
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By
BY MELANIE LIDMAN and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press
JERUSALEM — Hamas said Monday it will delay the further release of hostages in the Gaza Strip after accusing Israel of violating a fragile ceasefire that now faces its most serious crisis since it began three weeks ago Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under heavy pressure to secure the release of remaining hostages after three Israelis freed Saturday came home emaciated after 16 months in captivity. Yet in a sign of the precarious nature of the truce, the Israeli military said late Monday it had canceled leave for soldiers assigned to Gaza
Hamas said its plan to delay the next hostage release “until further notice” depended on whether Israel “abides by its obligations.” The announcement came as Palestinians and the international community seethed over President Donald Trump’s recent comments that Palestinians from Gaza would not have a right to return under his proposal for the U.S. to take over the war-torn territory
In an effort to improve relations with the Trump administration, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday ended a controversial system that paid stipends to the families of Palestinian prisoners, including those convicted in deadly attacks on Israel. The U.S and Israel have said the so-called “martyrs fund” rewarded violence against Israel.
Israel and Hamas are in the midst of a six-week ceasefire during which Hamas has committed to releasing 33 hostages captured in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners
The sides have carried out five swaps since the ceasefire’s first phase went into effect on Jan. 19, freeing 21 hostages and over 730 Palestinian prisoners. The next exchange, scheduled for Saturday, called for three more Israeli hostages to be freed in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners
The war could resume in early March if no agreement is reached on the more complicated second phase of the ceasefire, which calls for the return of all remaining hostages and an indefinite extension of the truce.
An Israeli official said Netanyahu was consulting security officials after the Hamas announcement The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said Netanyahu also pushed forward a scheduled
meeting of his Security Cabinet to Tuesday morning from later in the day
In addition to canceling leave for soldiers in Gaza, the Israeli military also said Monday it was bolstering defensive forces responsible for areas along the border with Gaza.
A judge granted Netanyahu’s request to postpone his testimony in an ongoing corruption trial on Tuesday due to the security situation.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said Hamas’ plan to delay the next release of hostages was “a complete violation” of the ceasefire agreement and that he instructed the Israeli military to be on the highest level of alert. The prime minister’s coordinator for hostages said the Israeli government intends to live up to its end of the agreement
Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida said on social media that Israel has obstructed key provisions of the ceasefire by not allowing Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, carrying out strikes across the territory and failing to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid.
The group later put out a statement calling its planned postponement a “warning signal,” adding that “the door remains open for the exchange to proceed as planned if Israel abides by its obligations.”
The group representing many of the families of hostages called on mediating countries to prevent the deal from collapsing.
“Recent evidence from those released, as well as the shocking conditions of the hostages released last Saturday, leaves no room for doubt time is of the essence, and all hostages must be urgently rescued from this horrific situation,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said.
In Gaza, Palestinians fretted the possibility of the truce falling apart
“People are all afraid. Today, people have begun to stock up on supplies for fear that war will return again,” said Mohammad Yusuf of Khan Younis. “There is no safety, because any defect in the agreement leads to the return of war and the threat of a return of war.”
Trump made his latest comments about Gaza in an interview with FOX News set to air Monday, less than a week after he floated his plan for the U.S to take control of Gaza and turn it in “the Riviera of the Middle East.” He has also ramped up pressure on Arab states, especially U.S. allies Jordan and Egypt, to take in Palestinians from Gaza, who claim the territory as part of a future homeland.
finances of steel mills and aluminum smelters, they could also increase costs for the manufacturers that use the metals as raw materials to make autos, appliances and other products.
Glenn Stevens Jr., executive director of MichAuto, said that the auto industry would likely need to raise prices in response to the tariffs. In turn, higher prices would decrease sales and hurt companies’ bottom lines, leading to fewer factory jobs.
“If you look at sudden tariffs to a system, there isn’t a lot of good that comes out of that,” said Stevens, his remarks challenging Trump’s own statements that his policies would stimulate massive gains in auto industry jobs.
The White House has yet to fully counter economic analyses showing that tariffs would hurt growth and intensify inflation, only saying that such analyses are incomplete without including the full extent of Trump’s planned income tax cuts and regulatory curbs. But Trump has yet to propose a budget plan that would flesh out his policies so that economists can judge them.
BY MIKE STOBBE and JONEL ALECCIA Associated Press
NEW YORK A dairy worker in Nevada was infected with a new type of bird flu that’s different from the version that has been spreading in U.S. herds since last year federal health officials said Monday
The illness was considered mild. The person’s main symptom was eye redness and irritation, similar to most bird flu cases associated with dairy cows. The person wasn’t hospitalized and has recovered, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The newer strain had been seen before in more than a dozen people exposed to poultry, but this is the first time an infection was traced to a cow The Nevada dairy worker was exposed at a farm in Churchill Coun-
ty, in the west central part of the state, state health officials said. CDC officials said there is no evidence the virus has spread from this person to any other people. The agency continues to say the virus poses a low risk to the general public. The bird flu currently spreading through animals, and some people, is known to scientists as Type A H5N1 influenza. But there are different strains. A version known as B3.13 was confirmed in March after spreading to cattle in late 2023, scientists said. It has infected 962 cattle herds in 16 states, the vast majority of them in California. The newer version, known as D1.1, was confirmed in Nevada cattle on Jan. 31. It was found in milk collected as part of a monitoring program started in December
Judge says administration hasn’t fully followed his ruling
BY LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press
WASHINGTON A federal judge found Monday that the Trump administration hasn’t fully followed his order to unfreeze federal spending and told the White House to release billions of dollars in funding. The Trump administration quickly appealed the ruling.
U.S. District Court Judge
John McConnell became the first judge to find that the administration had disobeyed a court order Federal money for things like early childhood education, pollution reduction and HIV prevention research has remained tied up even after his Jan. 31 order blocking a planned halt on federal spending, he found.
McConnell ordered the Trump administration to “immediately take every step necessary” to follow his temporary restraining order halting plans for a sweeping freeze of federal funding.
McConnell’s temporary restraining order issued Mon-
BY JILL COLVIN Associated Press
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump says he has directed the Treasury Department to stop minting new pennies, citing the rising cost of producing the 1-cent coin.
“For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!” Trump wrote in a post Sunday night on his Truth Social site. “I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies.”
The move by Trump is the latest in what has been a rapid-fire effort by his new administration to enact sweeping change through executive order and proclamation on issues ranging from immigration, to gender and diversity, to the name of the Gulf of Mexico.
Trump had not discussed his desire to eliminate the penny during his campaign. But Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency raised the prospect in a post on X last month highlighting the penny’s cost.
day also blocks the administration from cutting billions of dollars in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health.
“These pauses in funding violate the plain text of the (temporary restraining order),” McConnell wrote.
“The broad categorical and sweeping freeze of federal funds is, as the Court found, likely unconstitutional and has caused and continues to cause irreparable harm to a vast portion of this country.”
The ruling comes after top Trump administration officials over the weekend openly questioned the judiciary’s authority to serve as a check on executive power as his wide-ranging agenda draws pushback from the courts.
Judges have also blocked at least temporarily, Trump’s push end birthright citizenship for anyone born in the U.S., access to Treasury Department records by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Effi-
ciency and a mass deferred resignation plan for federal workers.
The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. The Justice Department appealed the ruling to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals.
The administration has said it was making goodfaith efforts to comply with the judge’s ruling in a lawsuit filed by nearly two dozen states. But the Justice Department also argued that
his ruling only applied to a sweeping spending freeze outlined in a late January memo that has since been rescinded.
The ruling doesn’t apply to other spending pauses outlined in different memos, including funds that were part of President Joe Biden’s signature climate, health care and tax package.
But McConnell, who is based in Rhode Island and was nominated by President Barack Obama, said his order blocked the administration from a wide range of funding cuts.
The Republican administration previously said the sweeping funding pause would bring federal spending in line with the president’s agenda, and the White House press secretary has indicated some spending halts would continue as part of his blitz of executive orders.
Trump has sought to increase fossil fuel production, remove protections for transgender people and end diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha applauded McConnell’s ruling.
“This is a country of laws We expect the administration to follow the law,” Neronha said in a statement. “We will not hesitate to go back to court if they don’t comply.”
In Oregon, a group that provides services and support to immigrants working to become U.S. citizens received a letter immediately freezing their funding on Feb. 4, Frank Jay So, executive director of the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, told The Associated Press. As of Monday, the group has not received any notice that would indicate the funds are now available, he said.
“It’s sooooo frustrating!” he said. “We have a workshop planned for next month and will do so without federal funds if needed but at some point, our savings will dry up and so will this work.” The group has received funding since 2010 and has helped more than 4,000 immigrants from 80 countries become citizens. This work, So said, benefits citizens who depend on the migrant workforce as well as immigrants. “Haphazard actions like
A different federal judge in Washington has issued a temporary restraining order against the funding freeze plan and since expressed concern that some nonprofit groups weren’t getting their funding.
BY ELLEN KNICKMEYER Associated Press
WASHINGTON The U.S. Agency for International Development has lost almost all ability to track $8.2 billion in unspent humanitarian aid following the Trump administration’s foreign funding freeze and idling of staffers, a government watchdog warned Monday
The new administration’s rapid dismantling of the agency has left oversight of the humanitarian aid “largely nonoperational,” the agency’s inspector general’s office said. That includes a greatly reduced ability to
ensure no aid falls into the hands of violent extremist groups or goes astray in conflict zones, the watchdog said.
The Trump administration’s actions have “significantly impacted USAID’s capacity to disburse and safeguard its humanitarian assistance programming,” said the watchdog, which also cited the risk of hundreds of millions of dollars in commodities rotting after staff was barred from delivering it.
The inspector general, however, also noted that it has “long-standing concerns about existing USAID oversight mechanisms.”
Meanwhile, the administration and billionaire ally Elon Musk continued their swift dismantling of the aid agency The General Services Administration, which manages government buildings, told The Associated Press that it had stripped USAID from its lease on its Washington headquarters. Staffers who tried to enter the building to work Monday were barred from entering. “Go home,” a man who has
identified himself as a USAID official told some. “Why are you here?”
The eviction from the building, which USAID had occupied for decades, comes as a court late Friday temporarily blocked a Trump administration order that would have pulled all but a fraction of workers off the job worldwide. A steady stream of agency staffers — dressed in business clothes or USAID
sweatshirts or T-shirts — were turned away Monday Some were denied entry to their offices to retrieve belongings. Two workers’ groups that sued over the targeting of USAID asked the court to find the Trump administration in violation of the judge’s order Despite the judge’s instructions, some workers were still locked out of USAID’s system, the organizations said.
By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON President
Donald Trump has fired the federal government’s top ethics official as well as the leader of the agency dedicated to protecting whistleblowers the latest moves by the Republican to push out officials in his quest to overhaul the government Hampton Dellinger filed a lawsuit Monday claiming he was illegally removed as the head of the Office of Special Counsel, which is responsible for protecting the fed-
eral workforce from illegal personnel actions, such as retaliation for whistleblowing. Also on Monday, the U.S. Office of Government Ethics posted on its website that Trump had removed its director, David Huitema. Dellinger and Huitema were both confirmed by the Senate last year to serve fiveyear terms Their removal comes as Trump is testing the limits of well-established civil service protections by moving to dismantle federal agencies and push out staffers.
BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL Staff writer
On Sunday night, Eagles fans took to the streets of the French Quarter to celebrate their team’s whopping victory over the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.
On Monday, it was New Orleans’ turn to celebrate.
After years of readying the city to host the largest annual sporting event in the U.S. and the premier corporate marketing opportunity — local leaders behind the effort let out a collective sigh and congratulated themselves for pulling off a Super Bowl that received plaudits from a wide spectrum of fans, media members and NFL leaders.
“In terms of giving an experi-
ence that the fans loved, the players loved, the NFL loved, and the people of the city loved, it was more than I could have hoped for,” said Michael Hecht, CEO of the city’s economic development nonprofit Greater New Orleans, Inc., and the city’s Super Bowl infrastructure czar “This was an unprecedented hosting.”
Data on the exact number of visitors, the overall hotel occupancy and the estimated economic impact of the weekend weren’t available yet. But an estimated 100,000 people poured into the city for the event that was expected to generate at least $150 million. Yet despite the crowds packed tightly on a purple-carpeted Bourbon Street, there was barely any major street crime all weekend, according to
New Orleans police The airport managed to handle tens of thousands of passengers. And the national media gushed about the city’s ability to host a party giving New Orleans the kind of positive PR that civic leaders argue can result in a boost to future tourism.
To be sure, not everyone felt the positive effects. Some small businesses said they didn’t see the crowds materialize in numbers that boosted their sales. Street closures and security made it hard to get around, keeping some locals away from the action downtown.
Still, business owners were philosophical about it.
“We had two good nights but it wasn’t busy like we would be for a big convention because it’s hard to compete when the NFL sponsors
Faircloth.
not. He has a property right in his job.”
But District Court Judge Tarvald Smith sided with Craft: “Professor Levy has every right, in this court’s opinion, to bring this action, because removing a tenured professor from his duties is a harm to that professor.” Smith also sided with Craft on records she sought from Landry’s office. She subpoenaed phone records, text messages,
Continued from page 1A
the state to retire its electric chair
It is unclear if and when an execution will take place. Over 50 people sit on death row Death penalty cases can be stuck in limbo for years, as a special set of laws gives inmates up for execution special protections and extensive means of appeal. Litigation is typically costly for defense attorneys and prosecutors alike.
Some Democrats and criminal justice advocates criticized the state’s decision to ready Louisiana for executions by gas
State Rep. Mandie Landry, a Democrat from New Orleans and one of the most progressive voices in the Legislature, called the decision a waste of money
“This is being done for optics,” she said.
“Even conservatives know that having the death penalty on the books is very expensive, and that it is not a deterrent. This money should be put towards teaching incarcerated people job skills so that they don’t return to prison.”
In a statement, Samantha Kennedy, executive director of the Promise of Justice Initiative, said Louisianans should feel enraged at the government for choosing “to make us cruel and violent” instead of “safer, better, and
Continued from page 1A
The initial deadline for workers to decide was Thursday O’Toole had delayed implementation of that deadline until Monday night to give the parties a chance to present their case.
emails, recommendations and investigations between the governor and LSU President William Tate IV, law school Dean Alena Allen, LSU Board of Supervisors Chair Scott Ballard, members of the Board of Supervisors and Lindsay Madatic, director of employee relations for LSU human resources.
Landry’s counsel, James Evans, produced two pages’ worth of documents and gave them to Craft and the judge. It was not immediately clear what was in them.
Testimony began Monday, and Levy took the witness stand for questioning by both Craft and
“This is being done for optics. Even conservatives know that having the death penalty on the books is very expensive, and that it is not a deterrent. This money should be put towards teaching incarcerated people job skills so that they don’t return to prison.”
STATE REP MANDIE LANDRy, D-New Orleans
brighter.”
The Promise of Justice Initiative is an advocacy group based in New Orleans.
“Killing people is wrong. Always. Using gas to kill people is barbaric,” she said.
State Attorney General Liz Murrill, who has typically been in lockstep with Jeff Landry on criminal justice issues, praised the state’s move toward resuming executions.
“Those sentenced to death have been convicted by a jury of their peers for the most heinous and barbaric crimes imaginable. These are the worst of the worst,” she said in a statement.
“Governor Landry and I are committed to moving this process forward to finally get justice for victims.”
State Rep. Debbie Villio, R-Kenner also released a statement in support of Jeff Landry Villio heads the House Administration of Criminal Justice Committee
A group of labor unions argued that the Trump administration didn’t follow the proper procedures in declaring a need for layoffs and that the administration could not offer any guarantees that the money promised would be paid Trump’s Department of Justice lawyers argued that the deferred resignation is a “humane off ramp” as the administration seeks to re-
Levy said that being removed from teaching has been “absolutely devastating.”
The lawsuit arose after LSU suspended Levy from teaching duties after the first week of spring semester classes in January
Levy, who has tenure, received a letter from the university’s human resources department informing him he was suspended with full pay “pending an investigation into student complaints of inappropriate statements made in your class during the first week of the Spring Semester 2025.”
He then filed suit the last week of
so many events,” said Dickie Brennan, owner of Palace Cafe and four other restaurants around the city
“But we had a $4 billion ad campaign for the city of New Orleans. That helps everybody.”
Just five weeks ago, New Orleans was reeling from the high profile terrorist attack on Bourbon Street that killed 14 people and gripped the nation on New Year’s Day
Then there was an unprecedented snowstorm that shut Interstate 10 and much of the city down for days.
The attack and then the storm threw already hurried Super Bowl plans into high gear
“We had a great plan in place before that but everything changed and we had to rethink everything,” said Jay Cicero, president and CEO
January accusing LSU of violating his constitutionally protected right to free speech and to academic freedom, as well his due process rights.
LSU says the case is not about academic freedom or free speech. Instead, it says, its investigation found that Levy created a classroom environment “demeaning to students” and “threatening in terms of their grades.”
The university’s attorneys have said the “matter is simply an employment dispute” and that the suspension is fully within the bounds of the law On the first day of the first-year
and is a prominent “tough on crime” voice in the Legislature.
“Justice for the victims is long overdue. I fully support Landry in his efforts and his administration in following the law as overwhelmingly approved by the Legislature,” she said.
Jeff Landry’s office included a brief summary of the new execution protocol along with the news release, saying it “builds upon Alabama’s constitutionally approved method.”
The condemned person will have access to a spiritual adviser “Designated victim relationship witnesses” and media will be authorized to observe so long as it is in accordance with Louisiana law.
Staff at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, where the executions will be carried out, will check all aspects of the system.
“Once escorted to the death chamber, medical monitors will be attached to the inmate to evaluate the relevant vital signs,” the summary says. “The inmate will be offered the opportunity to make a final statement, and then, the specialized mask for administration of the nitrogen will be fitted onto the inmate.”
The coroner will confirm the death, and the warden will issue a statement confirming the death.
Email Meghan Friedmann at meghan.friedmann@ theadvocate.com.
duce the number of federal employees. A group of Republican attorneys general, including Louisiana’s Liz Murrill, filed a brief in federal court supporting Trump’s orders.
The administration had hoped that up to 10% of the federal workforce, or about 240,000 employees, would accept the deal. Only about 65,000 have.
of the New Orleans Sports Foundation, of the terrorist attack.
The upshot of that revised plan was an intense security presence in the city’s tourist district that included 2,900 armed law enforcement officers, security checkpoints, armed guards and barricades at every intersection on Bourbon.
At a news conference Monday, New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said there was one major incident during the weekend and a deputy also suffered minor injuries while directing traffic.
Police also made a handful of arrests in the 8th police district, which includes downtown, for personal crimes, and 13 arrests for weapons violations.
law course, Administration of Criminal Justice, Levy told students he had a no-recording policy, citing Landry’s use of social media to publicly target a colleague, law school professor Nick Bryner who was critical of President Donald Trump.
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JAKE OFFENHARTZ, ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press
NEW YORK — A top official at the U.S. Department of Justice has ordered federal prosecutors to drop charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat who has cultivated a warm relationship with President Donald Trump.
In a two-page memo obtained by The Associated Press, acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said the decision to dismiss the charges was reached without an assessment of the strength of the prosecution and was not meant to call into question the attorneys who filed the case
duties to face accountability for alleged crimes.
Public officials at the highest level of government are routinely investigated by the Justice Department, including Trump while he was president, without prosecutors advancing a claim that they should be let off the hook to attend to government service.
Williams did not immediately respond to a message requesting comment.
A spokesperson for the Southern District of New York prosecutors who had been ordered to drop the charges, Nicholas Biase, declined to comment.
The Justice Department’s order directs that the case be dismissed without prejudice, which conceivably means that it could be refiled later
The memo is a radical departure from long-standing Justice Department norms both in terms of the directive to dismiss an alreadycharged case that prosecutors had already deemed meritorious and because of its stated rationale that a powerful defendant could be too occupied with official
But, Bove said, that the timing of the charges and “more recent actions” by the former U.S. attorney who led the office, Damian Williams, “have threatened the integrity of the proceedings, including by increasing prejudicial pretrial publicity that risks impacting potential witnesses and the jury pool.” Bove also wrote that the pending prosecution has “unduly restricted” Adams’ ability to “devote full attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crime that has escalated under the policies of the prior Administration.”
The development comes after months of speculation that Trump’s Justice Department would take steps to end the criminal case against Adams, who was accused of accepting bribes of free or discounted travel and illegal campaign contributions.
Trump had hinted at the possibility of a pardon in December telling reporters that the mayor had been “treated pretty unfairly.” He had also claimed, without offering evidence, that Adams was being persecuted for criticizing former President Joe Biden’s policies on immigration.
By The Associated Press
Jan Risher
LOUISIANA AT LARGE
On one of the coldest mornings in memory I found myself in a big red barn in Port Allen taking a blacksmithing class.
“Strike while the iron is hot” has gained new meaning since the two-day workshop.
Ben Deshotels, of the West Baton Rouge Parish Museum, was my teacher The one-on-one class left me with more to consider than the three nails and the bottle opener I made.
On both mornings I arrived at the barn, Deshotels was already stoking the fire in the forge. I was grateful for the warmth.
He started by explaining the process of making the right fire for the forge.
“You never want to put green coal because it makes a nasty yellow billowing smoke,” he said, explaining where to put the coals so they would turn to coke, which burns hotter and cleaner than coal.
Once the fire was right, Deshotels began to demonstrate the process of making a nail Then, we went through the nail-making process step by step. He would do a step, then I would try and follow suit. He offered safety tips as he moved around the workspace.
“Metal doesn’t start to glow until about 800 degrees. So, just assume everything is 800 degrees before you touch it,” he said. “What I really mean by that is, don’t ever just snatch something.”
I assured him that I would give it my all not to snatch anything, but on the off chance that I did, he pointed to a bucket of water
“If you do burn yourself, the metal’s so hot that it heats up your flesh to where, even though you let go of the piece, it’s still cooking the flesh underneath,” he said. “So you want to dunk your hand in the water.”
With that graphic warning, I approached the experience with appropriate caution Despite the risks, I loved the blacksmithing process. I like practical things, and blacksmithing made complete sense to me. It requires the right tools, know-how, brute force and finesse. Placing a piece of steel in the fire and waiting until it got red hot, then using a hammer to beat and shape it, was empowering.
A point of pride is that after I made my first nail, Deshotels said it was the best first nail he had ever seen — perhaps he tells that to all the girls. Regardless, I’ve never been so proud of a nail in all my life.
We went on to make two more nails as he explained that he and any good blacksmith could make a nail in one firing. With my limited skills and strength, I had to put the piece of metal back in the fire at least four times — just to make a single nail Getting to that point is tricky and requires holding the hammer at 45 degrees and hitting it just right, repeatedly
The smallest hammer available for me to use weighed about 3 pounds. After making three nails, my right arm was a wet noodle. The day after the blacksmithing workshop, I could barely lift my insulated stainless steel cup filled with ice water
On two occasions when my arm was wavering, to help move the process along and save my arm, Deshotels stepped in, and we took back-and-forth turns hammering in a rhythmic singsong approach that reminded me of a chain gang.
After my first class, when I proudly showed my husband my three nails, he looked at them and said, “Did you know that on certain Pacific islands long ago, each of these nails would have been worth three goats?”
Oversight of the Sheriff’s Office over after six years
BY STEPHEN MARCANTEL Staff writer
The Evangeline Parish Sher-
iff’s Office is no longer being supervised by federal officials
after officers detained people up to dozens of hours for witnessing crimes.
The Department of Justice announced it will stop supervising the Sheriff’s Office after six years following reports that officers used illegal “investigative holds” and violated the constitutional rights of hundreds of people in stops, searches and arrest practices, Sher-
iff’s Office officials announced Monday
The office has implemented significant reforms that have enhanced policing and addressed its Fourth Amendment violations, which involved unreasonable searches and seizures, DOJ officials `said.
“The Command Staff at EPSO, under the command of Sheriff Charles R. Guillory, worked tireless(ly) and put in place numerous new policies to help meet the requirements set forth by DOJ,” the announcement stated. In 2018, the Sheriff’s Office entered an agreement with the agency after a 2016 federal investigation revealed that the department engaged in a pattern or
BY ADAM DAIGLE Acadiana business editor
Big Towns, a national two-day summit that focuses on midsized cities and their success, will return for a second year April 23-24 in downtown Lafayette. The event is designed for visionaries, changemakers, economic developers and community leaders and is being hosted by The Current and the United Way of Acadiana. The event will feature national speakers on urban revitalization, economic innovation, housing solutions, public health, local journalism and arts and culture development. Featured speakers will in-
clude Chattanooga, Tennessee, Mayor Tim Kelly; former New York Times journalist Dean Baquet; former Grand Rapids, Michigan, Mayor Rosalynn Bliss; and Robert Blaine, of the National League of Cities.
More speakers will be announced.
“Big Towns is about celebrating the unique challenges and opportunities of midsized cities,” The Current executive editor Christiaan Mader said. “This summit gives us the space to collaborate and develop practical solutions that truly fit communities like ours.”
Early bird tickets are available through Feb. 28 for $178 For tickets, visit bigtowns.org.
TOP: Conductor David Torns leads the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra on Sunday as it performs the 15th annual ‘A Prelude to Spring’ concert at St. Peter Catholic Church in New Iberia. The theme was ‘Romantic Gems for All.’ The selections were billed as a blend of classical music, opera and Broadway tunes. The concert was presented by Iberia Cultural Resources.
ABOVE: The audience applauds the orchestra.
LEFT: French horn players play with the orchestra.
Iberia man fatally shoots wife, self in car
CRIME BLOTTER Advocate staff reports
of the vehicle. During a verbal altercation, Kevin Brown drew a firearm and shot Shentell Brown multiple times, according to police. She died as a result of her injuries. Kevin Brown then turned the gun on himself, suffering injuries from which he later died at a hospital. The children exited the SUV, police said. One child was able to flag down a passing motorist, who took her to the Police Department. The other child was struck by a passing vehicle and suffered minor injuries. This incident remains under investigation. Man arrested on counts of solicitation of a minor
One man has been arrested after an investigation by Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office juvenile
OUR VIEWS
The Eagles took the Lombardi Trophy home with them to Philadelphia, but the city that hosted the Birds’ trouncing of the Kansas City Chiefs emerged from Super Bowl LIX as a big winner too.
The city and state’s arts and culture were on full display, from the gorgeous logo by ”Queen” Tahj Williams honoring New Orleans’ Mardi Gras Indian tradition on the field to the toetapping rendition of “America the Beautiful” by Trombone Shorty and Lauren Daigle and Jon Batiste’s lovely, jazzy national anthem before kickoff.
Outside the Caesars Superdome, streets were clean, lights lit and potholes filled. And with an imposing security presence visible throughout the French Quarter the site of unspeakable tragedy just over a month ago, visitors reported feeling safe.
We congratulate everyone who worked to put our best foot forward before the world. And we’d like to take this opportunity, while everyone’s still focused on all that went right, to talk about what comes next
We’re not worried about the culture other than to note that finding ways to properly compensate the people who produce it is an ongoing challenge.
As for the impressive infrastructure fixes, we say keep it going and bring the focus and can-do spirit that produced quick results to the rest of the city, the places where most residents live And on public safety, we’re glad to see so much thought now being put into preventing a repeat of the deadly terrorist attack early New Year’s morning that claimed 14 innocent lives
The iconic, highly congested French Quarter is now far better protected from another vehicular attack than before.
But a key vulnerability remains, one that would be easy for state lawmakers to remedy Louisiana’s new concealed carry law, passed last year and signed by Gov Jeff Landry, allows people to carry firearms without a permit or training.
Local and law enforcement officials had pleaded to create a carve-out for the densely packed, economically vital French Quarter noting that the new law impedes police officers’ ability to take preemptive action and head off potentially dangerous situations
Even after the Jan. 1 attack, officials argued that this is the most important step the state can take to protect the people who live here and those who visit the central tourist zone.
Here’s how Walt Leger III, president and CEO of New Orleans & Company, the city’s main destination marketing organization, recently put it:
“Do I think that the biggest risk to Bourbon Street is a truck accessing it and driving the way that this one did? No, I think the biggest risk right now continues to be the law change on concealed carry, and that is something the Legislature should take another look at.” We agree, and continue to find the arguments against a carve-out mainly centering on individual gun rights — weak. Exceptions in the name of public safety already exist, including school zones.
And the arguments in favor of making the Quarter as safe a place to gather as possible — and for giving police all available tools to keep it that way — are unimpeachable. As we were reminded once more over the weekend, the Quarter helps keep New Orleans on must-visit lists. So when they gather later this spring for their regular session, we ask lawmakers once again to do everything possible to protect it so that it continues to draw visitors, keep them safe and send them home happy — with or without a trophy — for years to come.
YOUR VIEWS
As Los Angeles burned for days on end, scientists made an announcement that 2024 was the hottest year on record.
With temperatures rising around the globe, scientists are warning that the world has entered a dangerous new era of chaotic floods, storms and fires made worse by human-caused climate change.
The firestorms ravaging our country’s second-largest city are just the latest of extreme weather that is growing more furious as well as more unpredictable.
Wildfires are highly unusual in southern California in January, which is supposed to be the rainy season.
The same is true for cyclones in Appalachia, where Hurricane Helene tore through mountain communities in September
Wildfires are burning hotter and moving faster Storms are getting bigger and carrying more moisture.
And soaring temperatures worldwide are leading to heat waves and drought, which can be devastating on their own.
Around the globe, extreme weather and searing heat killed thousands of people last year and displaced millions. In Europe, extreme heat contributed to at least 47,000 deaths in 2023. In the United States, heatrelated deaths have doubled in recent decades.
“We’re in a new era now,” said former Vice President Al Gore, who has warned of the threats of global warming for decades. “These climate-related extreme events are increasing, both in frequency and intensity, quite rapidly.”
The question remains: When are we going to stop killing our planet from burning fossil fuels to power our homes, cars and industries?
RON SADLER Lafayette
Causeway experience reaffirms faith in government
For the past 20-plus years, driving across the Causeway has been uneventful for me save a few weatherrelated delays from time to time.
Other than this, my experience with the Causeway is watching the quarterly deduction from my checking account.
On Inauguration Day, while crossing the Causeway on my way to the airport, I had the dreaded misfortune of having a front tire blow out causing me to steer slowly and erratically to a safe haven area for emergency disabled vehicles. I felt like I was in the “Top Gun” danger zone. Traffic zoomed past me as I was able to stop the car, call the posted emergency number, and it was promptly answered. Within minutes, a police car was behind me directing traffic. Shortly thereafter, the Causeway repair truck appeared. The tire was changed, and the old tire placed in my trunk. After profusely thanking the policeman and the repairman, I
was on my way within 15 to 20 minutes from the onset of the potential nightmare.
To me, this level of service after my vehicle breakdown on the Causeway was a remarkable display of efficient, friendly polite and competent public service. In my world, especially in Louisiana, I have a rather jaundiced view of spending money on government services. This recent experience on the Causeway was so refreshing, so hopeful. The people that run this organization, I hope, are receiving the accolades they deserve. Maybe it is fitting then that our new president was being sworn in on that day My experience is a precursor of signs that happy days are here again. I may sing a song of cheer again, the sun is out, the skies are blue, and the evidence seems to be that government works for us again. May we never tire of winning.
DAVID STUART Covington
Johnson’s defense of Jan. 6 pardons at odds with what Bible says
The only thing worse than President Donald Trump breaking his promise to pardon only the nonviolent Jan. 6 insurrection criminal rioters — including the felons who attacked Capitol police — is the embarrassment of House Speaker Mike Johnson. Johnson stated he was not upset with President Trump’s decision to pardon all Jan. 6 criminal rioters with no screening of any of those who were violent. Johnson then misrepresented what’s in the Bible, saying “the Bible says everyone is entitled to redemption.” That is not what the Bible says. The Bible says you are only entitled to redemption if: 1) You admit your fault and that you did wrong, 2) you say you are sorry, and 3) you make it right. None of the leaders of the violent mob, including the leaders of The Proud Boys, have admitted any wrong and, in fact, say they did nothing wrong and have no regrets. Johnson is an embarrassment to Louisiana and knows better as he touts he is a Bible scholar What is dangerous is now there is no deterrent to such criminal behavior, and it will happen again. Democracy is once again endangered. GLENN MCGOVERN Metairie
Deregulation of banks a bad idea if you know history
Remember the Great Recession of 2007-2009? John Wittman of Americans for Free Markets, who wrote a guest column touting an unregulated free market for banks, hopes we have short memories. It was the deregulation of banks — more specifically, the repeal of the Glass-Steagall protections in 1999 — that led directly to the housing market meltdown and then the Great Recession. Not all of us have forgotten.
CHRIS DAY New Orleans
Two contemporaries born in the 18th century provide reasons for guarded optimism about 21st-century U.S. politics. Democrats are suddenly, if only situationally admiring James Madison (1751-1836). And Republicans will soon be sadder but wiser for having ignored British economist David Ricardo (17721823).
Democrats since Woodrow Wilson have been impatient with the federal government’s Madisonian architecture: the separation of powers that enables Congress to constrain presidents. Now, however, Democrats indignantly oppose Donald Trump’s aspiration to refuse to spend appropriated funds, thereby vitiating Congress’s core power: control of the purse.
Democrats have the strange strength that comes from being incapable of embarrassment. They applauded Joe Biden’s attempt to make — unilaterally, without Congress — perhaps the largest single expenditure in U.S. history: $400 billion on student loan forgiveness The Supreme Court disapproved; Biden shrugged and pursued his unconstitutional objective piecemeal.
Democrats are so enamored of presidential power that they are intellectually disarmed when the 47th president advances his agenda via executive orders — such as Trump’s order moving the U.S. Agency for International Development into the State Department. Only Congress can eliminate USAID, which it established as an independent agency in 1998, but the president can exercise discretion about its administration unless and until Congress speaks in legislation.
Some of Trump’s executive orders violate pertinent laws. He dismissed about 17 inspectors general of various agencies without the required 30-day notice to Congress or the required written statement of reasons. But in 2021, Biden
fired 18 people Trump had appointed to the military service academies’ advisory boards This violated not just longstanding norms but also the law, which specifies three-year terms for these appointees and contains no provision for removal by the president
With a pettiness, fervor and thoroughness akin to Trump’s in 2025, Biden in February 2021 purged four Trump appointees to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, including the chairman, who said that “in the Commission’s 110-year history, no commissioner has ever been removed by a President.” Legal scholar Richard Epstein warned that the next Republican president would reciprocate Biden’s vindictiveness, further politicizing historically nonpartisan committees. If Trump does this, silence from Democrats will be seemly
When asked to name a social science proposition that is important and true but not obvious, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Samuelson cited Ricardo’s doctrine of comparative advantage, which is the division of labor applied to nations: If Nation A is better than Nation B at making both cloth and wine, but relatively better at making cloth than wine, then it should concentrate on cloth.
Promises made, promises kept: Trump promised to raise taxes — by promising tariffs, which are paid by U.S. consumers. If prolonged, they are going to make Americans (a) less affluent than they should be and (b) disciples of Ricardo. For a taste of the coming madness, read the Cato Institute’s Jan. 29 report by Scott Lincicome and Alfredo Carrillo Obregon on how tariffs on Canada and Mexico will harm the U.S. auto industry and car buyers: Many vehicles sold here are assembled in Mexico with U.S. and Canadian parts, so much, sometimes most, “of the vehi-
cles’ value comes from work performed by American workers and companies during production.” And: “About half of automobiles and light trucks exported by Mexico to the United States in 2024 were made by Detroit automakers.” And: “An engine, transmission, or other automotive component might cross the U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico borders as much as seven or eight times before it ends up in a finished vehicle.” Why? Comparative advantages. The Trump administration’s frenetic frivolity has infected its foreign policy. Greenland? Buy it The Panama Canal? “Take it back.” Gaza? “Own it” — and empty it by resettling the Gazans. Trump, perhaps bored with banging his spoon on his highchair tray for attention, soon had second, or more likely first, thoughts about making Gaza a “Riviera of the Middle East.” Theodore Roosevelt another rambunctious president who was impatient with inhibiting institutions and norms, had a close friend who, whenever he was asked to explain TR, said: “You must always remember that the president is about 6.”
Fumbling with this nation’s separation of powers, and with the interlocking, overlapping complexities of global commerce, Trump resembles a 6-year-old treating Limoges porcelain plates like Frisbees. But presidential high-handedness is a bipartisan affliction that predates George W. Bush’s presidential “signing statements” announcing portions of 171 laws that he would not take care to faithfully execute. More presidential aggrandizement has now been encouraged by Senate confirmations of Cabinet nominations that surely were partly, and successfully, calculated to humiliate senators.
Email George Will at georgewill@washpost.com.
As President Donald Trump tramples the Constitution, vandalizes the federal government and trashes our vital international alliances, the reaction from leading Republicans is: see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. They should be ashamed of themselves, because they know better Ultimately, we all will pay the price for their cowardice
Take Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana for example a physician whose sharp and specific questioning at Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation hearing illuminated Kennedy’s woeful unfitness to be secretary of Health and Human Services. Beyond the fact that Kennedy is an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist, Cassidy showed that the nominee couldn’t even keep straight the difference between Medicare and Medicaid. Yet when it was time to decide whether to send Kennedy’s nomination to the full Senate for confirmation, Cassidy voted yes. Or take Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, a decorated Army veteran who served in Iraq. During her time in the Senate, Ernst has fought fiercely on behalf of women in the military, with a special emphasis on revealing — and ending — the sexual harassment that many servicewomen face. Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, was a Fox News talking head who had faced accusations of sexual misconduct, and was on record as saying that women should not serve in combat roles. (Hegseth denied the misconduct allegations.) Yet he was confirmed — with Ernst voting yes. Or take Sen Todd Young, R-Indiana, a former Marine Corps captain who served as an intelligence officer Young had tough questions for Tulsi Gabbard, the president’s nominee to be director of national intelligence. Gabbard has often endorsed the views of adversaries such as Vladimir Putin of Russia and Bashar al-Assad of Syria; and Young was especially critical of her opinion that Edward Snowden was a whistleblower and not a traitor Yet Young announced that when Gabbard’s nomination comes to the Senate floor, he will vote yes. None of those nominees, mind you, has anything resembling the experience necessary to do those jobs; their thin résumés alone should have disqualified them. But GOP senators are afraid that doing what is right for the country rejecting Trump’s unacceptable choices — would
be very wrong for their own political careers Cassidy and Ernst are up for reelection in 2026, Young in 2028. Each of them knows that to provide the vote that sinks one of Dear Leader Trump’s unqualified nominees would be to invite a primary challenge from the MAGA far right. The opponent would likely have Trump’s backing and a brimming campaign war chest.
There is nothing subtle about this threat. Recently Trump’s moneybags enforcer, Elon Musk, posted on X that Young was a “deep state puppet.” A few hours later, after he and Young had a conversation, Musk deleted that post and replaced it with another predicting that Young “will be a great ally.” A couple of days later, Young announced his support of Gabbard. It doesn’t matter whether Musk explicitly demanded that Young get in line. He didn’t have to. Pressure on Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, to overlook his serious reservations about Hegseth was even more intense, as it appeared Hegseth’s nomination was on the brink of failure. Tillis is also up for reelection in 2026. Even if he survived a primary challenge from the far right, he would probably have to embrace MAGA policy positions that could make it hard for him to win the general election in a purplish state. The GOP’s failure goes far beyond Senate confirmations. With Trump’s
blessing, the unelected and unaccountable Musk is trying to decimate and ultimately destroy the nonpartisan civil service, without a peep of protest from Republicans. Foreign aid programs that long enjoyed bipartisan support have been axed — and only Democrats complain. Trump seizes powers that the Constitution clearly gives to Congress, not the president — and Republicans in Congress pretend not to notice.
Rather than push back, leaders of Trump’s party lavish him with North Korean-style praise. I’m confident that if the top Republicans in Congress were meeting with Trump and the president accidentally spilled Diet Coke on his red necktie, they would all promptly spill Diet Coke on their red neckties, too I base this prediction on how they reacted to Trump’s pronouncement about somehow moving all the Palestinians out of Gaza so that the United States could develop the land into a luxury beach resort. As the leaders of neighboring countries such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt have said in no uncertain terms, the idea — or hallucination — is pure lunacy
But Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, called Trump’s nonsensical proposal “a bold, decisive move.” Anyone who expects the GOP to protect our democratic system is dreaming. Eugene Robinson is on X, @Eugene_ Robinson.
It’s not true as has been reported that Democrats don’t have a “coherent message” and are wallowing in confusion. They DO have a message. Unfortunately for them, it’s the same one that caused the party to lose the White House, the Senate and the House in November’s election. Democrats suffer from a cultural and economic addiction that is stronger than some of the drugs we have allowed to come over our borders. The latest example that proves Democrats have learned nothing from voters who are tired of the same old, same old, was visible in the recent meeting of party leaders in Maryland.
Outgoing DNC chairman Jaime Harrison explained the party’s new rules for electing officers. He sounded like he was doing a skit on “Saturday Night Live” or a parody for the satirical Babylon Bee.
Here’s the verbatim quote from Harrison: “Rules specify that when we have a gender nonbinary candidate or officer, the nonbinary individual is counted as neither male nor female and the remaining six officers must be gender balanced. With the results of the previous four elections, our elected officers are currently two male and two female.”
Question: If all these people hold to the same beliefs, what’s the difference? For Democrats it’s not about character or workable ideas, but externals like race and gender Harrison continued: “In order to be gender balanced, we must, we must, elect one male, one female and one person of any gender.” Confused? He further explained: “The order of balloting is designed to ensure equal access to the ballot regardless of gender identity.”
If that’s not enough to make you shake your head, consider what Democrats have been saying about the Trump administration’s goal of cutting spending, along with the size of the federal workforce. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which admittedly does some good work in especially poorer countries, was revealed to have been spending tax money on ludicrous projects. The White House gave a few of many examples: $1.5 to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities; $70,000 to produce a “DEI musical in Ireland” (don’t look for any tune equal to “Danny Boy”), $2.5 million for electric vehicles in Vietnam (did 55,000 Americans die in that war so the Vietnamese could drive electric cars?), $47,000 for a transgender opera in Cambodia, $32,000 for a transgender comic book in Peru (Superman and Batman comics aren’t enough?) and on it goes. USAID defenders say these amounts are only a “small” portion of the budget, but that’s what they say when other outrageous spending is exposed. Small portions quickly add up to big portions and deepen our debt. Clearly, cultural activists are pushing these agendas. Trump and Elon Musk are right to root them out.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., tried some visual messaging about what he considers the downside of President Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on countries that don’t help with border control and have refused to address the trade imbalance.
Schumer claimed the costs of a popular Mexican beer and avocados — the key ingredient in guacamole would have cost more at Sunday’s Super Bowl in New Orleans if tariffs against Mexico were enforced. He awkwardly held up the two items before cameras, looking like a food station worker at Costco.
Trump offered a 30-day reprieve on tariffs to Mexico and Canada when Presidents Sheinbaum and Trudeau agreed to commit more resources to border security and to fighting fentanyl trafficking, so the Mexican beer and guacamole were sold at the Super Bowl at the normally inflated prices. Let’s see if Democrats go beyond gender identity to support another USAID gift: “Hundreds of thousands of meals to fighters affiliated with al-Qaida in Syria.”
Email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub. com. He is on X, @CalThomas.
Continued from page 1B
That’s the kind of trivia he has at the ready, but the insight helped put the way blacksmithing transformed the world into perspective.
One of my favorite moments of the workshop was when we were working on the bottle opener, which had a delicate curly cue at one end and a twist in the middle. I loved learning to cate features a feeling of twisting steel round and round was mind-bending. Intellectually, I knew that heat makes metal
malleable, but being a part of and even controlling that process gave me a connection to tools, the process and a different time. I expect to use that bottle opener come. It is a thing of beauty Weeks later, blacksmithing is still with me. Shaping metal, hammering out imperfections and
Continued from page 1B
detectives into sexual assault allegations. Johnathon Richard Jr , 22, was taken into custody Thursday when Sheriff’s Office detectives, with the assistance of the SWAT team, executed an arrest warrant for Richard.
Richard was booked into the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center on counts of sexual battery and computer aided solicitation of a minor This case remains under investigation.
injured after train hits car at crossing
One person was injured after a passenger train struck a car in Lafayette. The incident occurred about 1 p.m. in the 2300 block of SW Evangeline Thruway, near the Lafayette Regional Airport, at an uncontrolled train crossing according to a Lafayette Police Department release.
watching raw material transform into something useful is both reality and a metaphor A good teacher, hard work, the right tools, patience, practice and heat are the basic elements of bringing something beautiful into being.
The West Baton Rouge Parish Museum offers the blacksmithing
Continued from page 1B
practice of unconstitutional conduct.
In 2016, after a yearlong investigation, the DOJ concluded that the Ville Platte Police Department and Sheriff’s Office under Eddie Soileau “engaged in a pattern of unconstitutional conduct,” according to a 2016 report.
The probe stemmed from the practice of using investigative holds to arrest hundreds of people based on little evidence and even de-
workshop for $200 a person, along with a variety of other workshops on woodworking, tatting and other fiber arts/sewing classes. Learn more about their workshops and how to sign up at westbatonrougemuseum.org/522/workshops.
Email Jan Risher at jan.risher@ theadvocate.com.
taining possible witnesses to crimes, federal officials said. People were strip searched and slept in cells without beds and toilets for days.
The Police Department was also cited for investigative holds more than 700 times between 2012 and 2014, according to the report. The Sheriff’s Office used the practice 200 times, but federal officials indicated that total could be higher
Both departments used the practice for more than 20 years and its use contributed to the community’s lack of trust in law enforcement, federal offi-
cials said. In 2018, the DOJ reached a settlement with the departments and pressed them to end the practice of investigative holds and that “EPSO officers do not rely on information known at the time of reliance to be materially false or incorrect to justify an investigatory stop, search, interrogation, citation or arrest,” according to the agreement.
The DOJ said the departments did take steps toward eliminating investigative holds when they were first notified by the FBI in 2014 of the DOJ’s investigation.
The train struck the car, sending it into a ditch. The victim received minor injuries and was taken to a hospital. The train also came to a stop Traffic in the area was flowing normally, according to the release. The Police Department is determining whether the driver will be cited for the incident.
If anyone has any information regarding this incident, please contact the Police Department or Lafayette Crime Stoppers at (337) 2328477.
SUNDAY, FEB. 9, 2025
PICK 3: 2-3-5
PICK 4: 5-3-6-8 PICK 5: 3-3-6-5-8 Unofficial notification, keep your tickets.
Roger Goodell wasted no time.
Less than 12 hours after Super Bowl LIX had ended, the NFL commissioner already was looking forward to the next Super Bowl in New Orleans.
“It was a great Super Bowl for us,” Goodell said at the annual handoff news conference Monday morning at the Ernest N Morial Convention Center “Eleven Super Bowls in the books here in New Orleans, and we look forward to Super Bowl (No.) 12 in New Orleans pretty soon.”
By now you probably know that LIX was New Orleans’ 11th Super Bowl, tying it with Miami for the most among NFL cities. Hosting the NFL’s signature event more than any other city is a significant achievement, one of New Orleans’ greatest accolades. And there’s nothing New Orleans wants more than to claim the mantle outright by securing a 12th Super Bowl in the near future.
“We’re going to get another one,” Saints owner Gayle Benson said. “It’s coming back.”
But when?
No one knows for sure. The decision is up to the NFL, which likes to award games four years ahead of their play-
ing date for planning purposes. Publicly, local officials are keeping mum about their plans, but the grapevine tells me that 2031 is the target.
The league has awarded the next three Super Bowls to San Francisco
BY REED DARCEY Staff writer
ä LSU at Texas, 2 P.M.SUNDAy,ABC
(LX in 2026), Los Angeles (LXI in 2027) and Atlanta (LXII in 2028).
The 2029 and 2030 games are not being considered because of scheduling
BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer
The last chapter in Zack Baun’s storybook season was a doozy Back in the building where he couldn’t crack the lineup, Baun recorded one of the biggest plays of Super Bowl LIX when he intercepted Patrick Mahomes deep in Kansas City Chiefs’ territory as the second quarter was winding to a close. The big play helped propel the Philadelphia Eagles to their second Super Bowl title, and it was the latest in a season full of them during Baun’s debut year with the franchise. What a year it has been.
“Maybe I’ll write a little book on it, because it’s been crazy,” Baun said.
Baun signed with Philadelphia shortly after free agency started, a one-year, $3.5 million deal that barely registered as a blip in the relentless coverage of players signing mega contracts. For the first four years of his career with the New Orleans Saints, Baun was almost strictly a special-teams player who had shown brief glimpses of potential. His son, Elian, was born in New Orleans in April. Baun moved to Philadelphia three weeks later to begin the process of announcing his talent to the football world. It was defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who had his own ties to the Saints organization as the linebackers coach for the famed “Dome Patrol,” who thought he saw some inside linebacker traits in Baun. The Saints drafted Baun with that idea in mind but could never make it click.
“He made me right in a big way,” Fangio said after the game. After what he did in the 2024 season, Baun will almost certainly cash in with a rich free agent contract this offseason. He recorded 151 tackles 31/2 sacks and five forced fumbles, enough to make him a first-team All-Pro and a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year He built on that performance in the playoffs, leading all NFL defenders with 33 tackles while also intercepting two passes, forcing a fumble and recovering two others. That kind of production is hard to square with the player he was in New Orleans — one who often played too inside his own head. His transformation ä Northern Illinois at UL, 4:30 P.M.FRIDAy
Ole Miss at UL, 7 P.M.FRIDAy
It wasn’t just any five games, but five games at the beginning of a transition season filled with question marks. So while it’s a natural question to ask what was learned after UL softball’s 3-2 showing in the 39th annual Louisiana Classics at Lamson Park, the answer is not very illuminating. In a streaky sport such as softball, early batting averages and ERAs aren’t to be taken seriously although senior Kayla Falterman certainly shined with a .700 average and three RBIs. We’ll know a little more when UL begins play in the Ragin’ Cajuns Invitational, starting at 4:30 p.m. Friday against Northern Illinois. With that said, there are a few observations to be made about the first weekend under firstyear coach Alyson Habetz. Perhaps the most obvious
BY DOUG FEINBERG AP basketball writer
Notre Dame moved up to No. 2 in The Associated Press women’s basketball Top 25 on Monday for the Irish’s best ranking since 2019. The Fighting Irish replaced South Carolina in the second spot behind UCLA after the Gamecocks lost 66-62 to Texas over the weekend. It is Notre Dame’s best ranking since the team was No. 1 on Jan. 21, 2019. The Bruins remained the unanimous No. 1 choice of the 31-member media panel.
The Longhorns climbed to third with their victory South Carolina dropped to fourth after seeing its 57-game conference winning streak in the regular season end. No. 5 LSU and No. 6 USC followed the Gamecocks, each moved up one spot after UConn lost at then-No. 19 Tennessee last week.
The Huskies fell two places to seventh. Tennessee, which lost to LSU on Sunday, moved up four spots to 15th. LSU will travel to Texas in another Southeastern Conference showdown on Sunday Kentucky moved up to eighth, giving the Wildcats their best ranking since Dec. 8, 2015, when they were seventh. Ohio State was ninth and North Carolina State jumped up four places to 10th. The Wolfpack had wins over then-No. 10 Duke and 22ndranked Florida State last week.
Ins and outs
Creighton and Baylor came into the poll at No. 24 and 25 while Vanderbilt and California dropped out.
The Bluejays were ranked in
the preseason Top 25 before falling out.
Baylor has been in and out of the poll a few times this season.
Milestone ranking
The appearance this week was UConn’s 600th straight in the poll. It’s the longest streak ever, dating to the preseason poll in 1993.
South Carolina has the next longest active streak with 242 consecutive weeks in the Top 25.
Receiving recognition
Grand Canyon received its first vote in the poll as the Antelopes were ranked 25th on a ballot. The program underwent the transition to Division I beginning in 2013, joining the Western Athletic Conference that season.
They are 22-2 this season and have won 20 consecutive games after losses to Middle Tennessee and Oregon.
Conference breakdown
The Southeastern Conference still reigns with seven ranked teams. The ACC has six, the Big Ten and Big 12 each have five, and the Big East has two.
Games of the week
No. 1 UCLA at No. 6 Southern Cal, Thursday First place will be on the line when the Bruins visit the Trojans in the first of two meetings over the next few weeks.
No. 7 UConn at No. 4 South Carolina, Sunday The Huskies will have their last chance to get a victory against a top opponent before the NCAA Tournament.
No 5 LSU at No 3 Texas, Sunday. Two of the three teams atop the SEC face off in a key conference showdown.
BY JOHN MARSHALL AP sportswriter
Auburn’s run at No. 1 is still intact despite a loss to No 3 Florida. UConn’s latest loss has dropped the two-time reigning national champions out of the poll for the first time in two years
The Tigers held the top spot in the poll for the fifth straight week Monday, receiving 34 first-place votes from a 61-person media panel. No. 2 Alabama moved up a spot and had 23 first-place votes, just nine total points behind Auburn, while Florida earned three top votes and No. 5 Tennessee got one.
Duke was tied with Florida at No. 3, with No 9 St John’s moving into the top 10 for the first time since finishing the 1999-2000 season at No. 9. UConn dropped out of the poll from No 19 after a 68-62 home loss to St. John’s on Friday ending the nation’s fourth-longest active streak of being ranked (53 weeks)
Florida has its highest ranking since reaching No. 1 in 2013-14 after beating Auburn 90-81 for the first true road win over a topranked team in program history
It was the Gators’ second win over a top-ranked team this season after beating then-No. 1 Tennessee at home on Jan. 7. Auburn had won 14 straight and was the unanimous No. 1 the past three weeks. The Tigers weren’t the only top team to lose. Duke dropped two places to No. 4 after a 77-71 loss to Clemson ended its 16-game winning streak
No. 10 Iowa State also dropped two places after losing 69-52 to No. 17 Kansas. The Cyclones reached their highest ranking ever at No 2 last month, but lost three in a row before blowing out TCU on Saturday
Sinking Huskies UConn started the season at No. 3 and climbed to No. 2 in its bid to become the first team since John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins to win three straight national championships in the early 1960s UConn (16-7, 8-4 Big East) has lost three of five and is down to fourth in the Big East, 31/2 games behind St. John’s
“I’m very optimistic,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “I think right now is a really good time to play us. I think we’ve got a chance in February to kind of get this thing rolling and be looking a lot different in March.”
Rising and falling No. 13 Arizona had the week’s biggest jump, climbing seven places after beating BYU and No. 12 Texas Tech last week. No. 16 Ole Miss moved up six places after taking down No. 15 Kentucky and beating LSU 72-70 on Dre Davis’ last-second shot. No. 18 Marquette and No. 25 Maryland had the biggest drops of
teams still in the poll, each losing seven places. No. 21 Missouri fell six spots after losing to No. 5 Tennessee and to No. 8 Texas A&M on a last-second 3-pointer Conference watch The SEC had at least nine teams in the poll for the seventh straight week, including the top three and five of the top 10. No other
Sabathia to enter Hall as Yankee, Wagner as Astro COOPERSTOWN, N.Y CC Sabathia will have a New York Yankees logo on the cap of his Hall of Fame plaque and Billy Wagner will have the symbol of the Houston Astros. The hall announced the decisions for all five inductees. Ichiro Suzuki will have the cap of the Seattle Mariners, Dave Parker of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Dick Allen of the Philadelphia Phillies. Players and their families give input on the choices to the hall, which makes the final decisions. Inductees could make the pick through 2001, and the hall took over the decision ahead of the 2002 vote. The change followed reports in 1999 that Tampa Bay offered to compensate the newly retired Wade Boggs if his plaque bore a Devil Rays logo. Boggs was inducted in 2005 and his plaque has a Boston Red Sox logo.
Woods pulls out of tourney as he mourns for his mom SAN DIEGO — Tiger Woods has withdrawn from the Genesis Invitational. He says he planned to play and tried to get ready but is still processing the death of his mother.
Kultida Woods died unexpectedly last Tuesday at the age of 80. Woods says he hopes to be at Torrey Pines later in the week. He is the tournament host of this $20 million signature event that benefits his foundation. The tournament is held annually at Riviera, but it had to be relocated to Torrey Pines because of the deadly LA wildfires.
Woods has won eight times as a pro at Torrey Pines, including the U.S. Open.
He was replaced in the field by Jake Knapp.
Reds to wear patch to honor hits leader Rose
Pete Rose may be on baseball’s permanently ineligible list, but the late hit king’s No. 14 will be on Cincinnati Reds’ uniforms this year Cincinnati posted a photo of the patch on X on Monday with the message “14 on our side all season” and a heart emoji.
Rose, who died in September at the age of 83, played 19 of his 24 major league seasons with his hometown Reds.
A Major League Baseball investigation found he wagered on the Reds to win in games from 198587 while playing for and managing the team, and Rose agreed in 1989 to go on the permanently ineligible list. Rose was a 17-time All-Star and member of three World Series championship teams.
Brewers to wear patch in remembrance of Uecker
The Milwaukee Brewers have unveiled a patch they will wear on their uniform this season to honor longtime broadcaster Bob Uecker following his death last month at the age of 90.
The patch will appear on the sleeve of the Brewers’ uniforms. It features Uecker’s signature over a gold-and-navy plaid print to honor the various sportscoats he occasionally wore.
Uecker died Jan. 16. He had completed his 54th season of broadcasting Brewers games last year even as he battled small cell lung cancer
The Brewers plan to hold a public celebration of life honoring Uecker sometime this year Details will be announced later
Groin injury will sideline Davis through All-Star break
Anthony Davis is out at least through the All-Star break after suffering a groin injury in his debut with the Dallas Mavericks after the seismic trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. Davis was replaced for this weekend’s All-Star festivities by new teammate Kyrie Irving. Multiple media outlets cited anonymous sources in reporting that Davis could miss several weeks with a left adductor strain.
Any extended time without Davis will only intensify the criticism directed at Dallas general manager Nico Harrison over the trade. The first missed game for Davis with Dallas was Monday night against Sacramento, and the Mavericks have home games against Golden State on Wednesday and Miami on Thursday before the break.
conflicts, making 2031 the primary target. Granted, that’s a relatively quick turnaround, considering the city experienced 11- and 12year breaks after our last two games here. But it might be the only option available for the foreseeable future.
Booking a Super Bowl in New Orleans is complicated. The game’s traditional playing date in early February falls at a busy time in the city’s calendar, with Mardi Gras and national conventions potentially cluttering up things.
While not ideal, it’s possible for New Orleans to host the game on the first weekend of Mardi Gras, but the second weekend is a nonstarter because of the stress it would place on resources such as security, transportation and hotel room inventory
With that in mind, 2031 looks like the next available date that works for the city in its jampacked calendar
“We are counting on the NFL to come back to New Orleans as soon as they can, to make New Orleans an even dozen in the number of Super Bowls that we have hosted,” said Marcus Brown, the chairman of the city’s Super Bowl Host Committee.
The competition for Super Bowls is fiercer than ever Los Angeles and Las Vegas have become fixtures in a rotation that includes New Orleans, Miami,
Phoenix and Tampa, Florida A new $2 billion stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, will make it a major player for future Super Bowls. New stadiums in Buffalo, New York; Jacksonville, Florida; and potentially Chicago and Washington, D.C., will put those markets in the mix for at least a one-off game in the future.
In recent years, the NFL has abandoned the big process it employed for years where multiple cities competed for games in specific years. The league now extends invitations to cities to bid exclusively on certain Super Bowls.
“We’re hoping that this week will serve as our biggest audition to be invited to bid again,” said Jay Cicero, the president and CEO of the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation, which oversaw the local efforts to organize the game. “It’s difficult for us sometimes, because of the timing of the Super Bowl. We have to be able to work that calendar in a way to find the right year, and hopefully they will want to come back here again soon.”
New Orleans has momentum on its side. By all accounts, the city made a positive impression with Super Bowl LIX.
As always, there were a few minor glitches, a given with an event so massive. But overall, the city and its team of local organizers received glowing reviews for their execution, hospitality and performance.
Bay Area Host Committee president Zaileen Janmohamed called it “an incredible week” and acknowledged San Francisco-San Jose has “very, very big shoes to fill” in succeeding this
Philadelphia Eagles
at Caesars Superdome on Sunday
year’s game.
“It’s clear to me why the NFL keeps coming back (to New Orleans),” she said. San Jose, California, mayor Matt Mahan added that New Orleans “set the bar high. This city has once again proven why it’s a champion host.”
Super Bowl LIX proved New Orleans is the undisputed
G.O.A.T of Super Bowl host cities. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait 12 years for the next one.
Email Jeff Duncan at jduncan@ theadvocate.com.
Kansas City Chiefs
and safety C.J
Continued from page 1C
was never more evident on Super Bowl Sunday than when he intercepted Mahomes.
In New Orleans, Baun struggled to play in space. During one of his first big opportunities, a start against the Carolina Panthers in Week 2 of his second season, he was routinely exposed by Christian McCaffrey in coverage. Baun was back on the bench the next week and played only 15 defensive snaps in the next nine games. Regardless of which team he played for, Baun needed to be better in coverage to get onto the field. His hard work showed on Sunday when he dropped into his shallow zone and felt the receiver crossing behind him With his eyes on Mahomes, Baun drifted into the win-
can finish the game, I want her to finish the game,” she said.
Continued from page 1C
difference is the new coaching staff’s philosophy in handling pitchers. Senior Sam Ryan had her first complete game at UL, as did true freshman Mallory Wheeler
“Mallory Wheeler had a different look in her eye,” Habetz said. “That was real exciting to see. I think she wants the ball and just goes after hitters.”
Senior transfer Tyra Clary appeared headed for her first complete game as a Cajun when an injury derailed her in the sixth inning of her first start.
“I hope it does (continue), because if a pitcher is doing well, I want to keep her in there,” Habetz said about sticking with pitchers. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The rhythm of the game, she’s throwing strikes and getting some mishits and we’re playing defense, I want to keep it the way it is. I’m not going to change it until it’s broke, or we’re having an issue or maybe they’re having a rally.”
Habetz said once a pitch count gets near 120, it’s likely time for caution. Two pitchers crossed 100 pitches in a game over the weekend.
“So yeah, if a starting pitcher
Clary, who was seen on crutches Sunday with a knee injury, visited the doctor Monday to learn more about her injury
Another difference is it does not appear the pitching staff will feature a ton of strikeouts. The Cajuns had only 11 strikeouts in 31 innings over the weekend.
On the offensive side, the Cajuns used an expected small-ball approach. There were times when runners were left stranded at third with fewer than two outs, but there were also times when small ball resulted in a crooked numbers.
“I’d say it was about average,” Habetz said about her offense.
“When it comes to execution, the bigger the game, the better your execution has to be. You have to know your artillery what kids are up to bat and who can do that.”
It didn’t matter if it was the three-hole hitter or a slap hitter batting ninth, bunting and slapping were utilized if the situation called for it.
“Laney Credeur slap and run with a runner at third,” Habetz said. “She ran through the box and slapped it’s like a squeeze play, she’s stealing home. So if she doesn’t get it down or pops it up, it’s a double play or she’s out.
“Same thing with Ciss (Cecilia
dow and made an athletic play on a pass that sailed wide of its target thanks to Philadelphia’s pass rush.
“It’s special,” Baun said of the play within the context of his struggles with the Saints. “It’s something that I’ve been working on for years, my coverage skills. To have it pay off in this big of a moment is crazy I’m proud of myself.”
Email Luke Johnson at ljohnson@theadvocate.com.
Vasquez). For those two hitters to do that, I think it makes everybody else excited to know that I can do that, too. It’s exciting for us and I hope it’s exciting for the fans.”
Moving forward, there are a few issues to monitor
True freshman first baseman Emily Smith looks as good as advertised after hitting two homers in her first 10 at-bats, but she’s battling a hip injury Managing her playing time is critical.
“Yeah, we need her in the lineup, but we also want to be smart in how we use her in the lineup,” Habetz said.
Right field remains a question mark both offensively and defensively It could take a while to settle, although Erin Ardoin is hitting .400 in five at-bats.
True freshman Lily Knox is close to returning from an injury
If she hits the ground running, the California native could provide a solution in the outfield or perhaps even first base when needed.
One thing that didn’t change: The UL defense still excels at double plays, leading the nation after the first weekend with seven turned already
“That’s such a rally killer for the other team,” Habetz said.
Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@ theadvocate.com.
Philadelphia Eagles fans hug as they leave Caesars Superdome after the Eagles beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 40-22, in Super Bowl LIX on Sunday.
Continued from page 1C
equaling the number of shots she hit across the Tigers’ previous seven games. Over that stretch, she missed 45 of the 53 shots she took.
Gilbert now has bookended that cold spell with two 20-point performances against the No. 19 Lady Vols.
On Jan. 9, her 22-point outing included a game-winning shot.
Exactly a month later, Gilbert’s production helped the LSU bench score 36 points — the second-most it’s contributed during an SEC game this season.
“I don’t change shots,” Mulkey said. “I don’t go and say ‘This is why it’s not going in.’ I’m not that kind of coach. What you do is you get in a gym, and she and Flau’jae (Johnson) and Mikaylah (Williams) they all stay in the gym on their own. I don’t even know how many times at night they’re up here. They just come in and put up shots.”
Gilbert wasn’t the only LSU bench player who left a mark on the game. In the 27 minutes Mjracle Sheppard spent on the floor, the Tigers outscored Tennessee by 13. Freshman Jada Richard logged only five minutes but hit two crucial shots, including one to cap a third-quarter stretch that both Johnson and Aneesah Morrow watched from the bench while in foul trouble.
But no reserves had a greater impact on the LSU win than Gilbert, who scored 15 points in just the final six minutes of the third.
First, the junior scooped up Mikaylah Williams’ cross-court bounce pass before lining up a 3-pointer from the left wing Then she stepped into a transition jumper at the elbow, bur-
ied a 3 from the right corner and scooped in a driving layup through contact.
Gilbert scored similar buckets in LSU’s previous win over Tennessee, a team that still hasn’t quite figured out a way to defend her In those matchups, she averaged 23 points per game on 50% shooting.
First-year Tennessee coach Kim Caldwell said in January that the Lady Vols unsuccessfully tried to double-team Gilbert. On Sunday she said they failed to recognize she was in a groove and adjust their defense accordingly
“She killed us at our place, too,” Caldwell said. “She just does such a good job of finding her spots, hitting big shots, getting other people into the game just by getting the crowd into it, really She makes big plays. She’s a good player.”
At the root of Gilbert’s two performances against Tennessee, she said, is a perceived slight that the Lady Vols took too long to pursue her in last spring’s transfer window Tennessee, though, didn’t hire Caldwell until three weeks after Gilbert entered the portal and two before she signed with LSU. Still, that motivation fueled the work that lifted Gilbert out of her slump and into another offensive groove, just in time for the Tigers to hit the stretch run of the regular season.
“It’s been pretty tough,” Gilbert said. “A lot of looking at film, late nights. Just trying to get myself up out of this, and hopefully, this is the start of something.”
Email Reed Darcey at reed. darcey@theadvocate.com. For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/ lsunewsletter
BY SCOTT RABALAIS Staff writer
The rankings are in and it’s now official: The nation’s top two gymnastics teams — No. 2 LSU and No. 1 Oklahoma will square off in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Friday First vault is at 8 p.m. on ESPN2. Regular-season gymnastics rankings and postseason seedings are done strictly by season average in college gymnastics LSU is at 197.400, while Oklahoma is at 197.746. Florida was No. 2 last week but slipped to No 3 at 197.290 after a season-worst 196.625 at Arkansas on Friday The showdown, the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 regular-season meet for LSU since 2021, is likely an elimination meet for the Tigers in terms of the Southeastern Conference regularseason title. OU is 4-0 in the SEC while LSU is second at 3-1.
The PMAC will host big stakes, a big crowd that is expected to be standing room only and big exposure on national TV Despite all of that, the LSU gymnasts are trying to focus on what’s right in front of them.
“We’re not just competing against Oklahoma, but ourselves,” senior KJ Johnson said. “Stick to our process. That’s the main thing.”
“I wish it wasn’t at 9 p.m. East Coast time,” LSU coach Jay Clark said, “but it’s great for college gymnastics. Any time the arenas are full and the competition is intense, it’s great. We certainly love it for our fans that they get to see what are now the two best teams in the country.”
No bars for Bryant
Fifth-year senior Haleigh Bryant added vault to her repertoire in last Friday’s 197.300-197.075 win at Alabama along with floor and balance beam. But Clark ruled her out of doing uneven bars against Oklahoma as she continues to work back from a December elbow injury
“How long before (she does bars), I don’t know,” Clark said.
“Hopefully shorter than longer.”
Johnson might be closer to getting back on floor, but Clark said her sprained ankle from a month ago remains a factor despite the fact she vaulted the past two weeks.
“The ankle is still tender and still hurts,” he said.
Clark did say sophomore Konnor McClain, who tore an Achilles tendon last May, is getting closer to being able to do floor And he continues to be optimistic that sixthyear senior Alyona Shchennikova, who missed all of last season with an injury, will be able to perform soon.
“We’re still moving in the right direction,” he said.
Clark on Bama fans
Clark was asked about his interaction with Alabama fans specifically fans he identified as male members of the Alabama swim team — who he said were making inappropriate comments while the Tigers were on beam.
Clark said he told one fan he would have him removed from Coleman Coliseum and halt the meet if he didn’t stop. Clark said the swimmers were heckling the Tigers and urging them to fall.
“It’s not at all that unusual,” Clark said “Like I said on the broadcast, there’s a proper way to be obnoxious. “TV made it a bigger deal than it was. I’m sure other teams have felt they had to address things that have happened here.”
BY WILSON ALEXANDER Staff writer
LSU athletics turned a profit once again during the 2024 fiscal year, supported by continually rising football revenue and an uptick in contributions.
The department recorded a $1.73 million profit, according to an annual NCAA financial report obtained by The Advocate, roughly $400,000 more than the year before.
The figures covered July 2023 to June 2024, a period that included gymnastics’ first national championship.
LSU reported $220.2 million in total revenue, a significant jump from its $200.4 million in revenue the previous year Before fiscal year 2023, LSU never had exceeded $200 million in revenue, and now it has in back-to-back years. The difference came from an additional $20 million in contributions. LSU received $43.8 million in contributions that were not specific to one team, up from $23.8 million during fiscal year 2023. The report stated contributions can be used on departmental operations or facilities.
But as revenue continues to increase in college sports, so do costs. LSU spent $218.5 million, which was $19.4 million more than the year before. It was the first time LSU reported more than $200 million in expenses according to available financial reports that date back to 2003. The highest expenditures came from $81.2 million in combined compensation for coaches, support staff and administration. LSU also spent $36.1 million on unspecified operating expenses. Compared to the year before, LSU paid an additional $7 million in salaries and $8.4 million more on other operating expenses. As usual, the majority of the revenue came from football. LSU football reported $107.9 million in revenue and $55.4 million in expenses, creating a $52.6 million surplus during coach Brian Kelly’s second season. Though football profit took a slight dip from $54 million in fiscal year 2023, it still lifted the rest of the department. LSU football’s largest moneymakers — tickets ($40.8 million), contributions ($27.6 million) and
9 p.m. Pro football Super Bowl LIX Sunday, Feb. 9 At New Orleans Philadelphia 40, Kansas City 22 Philadelphia 40, Kansas City 22 KansasCity 0 0 6 16 — 22 Philadelphia 7 17 10 6 — 40 First Quarter Phi: Hurts 1 run (Elliott kick), 6:15. Drive: 7 plays 69 yards, 3:25. Key Plays: Hurts 20 pass to Goedert; Hurts 27 pass to Dotson. Philadelphia 7, Kansas City 0. Second Quarter Phi: FG Elliott 48, 8:38. Drive: 7 plays, 27 yards, 3:59. Key Plays: Hurts 22 pass to A.Brown on 3rd-and-7; Hurts 2 run on 3rdand-5. Philadelphia 10, Kansas City 0. Phi: DeJean 38 interception return (Elliott kick), 7:03. Philadelphia 17, Kansas City 0 Phi: A.Brown 12 pass from Hurts (Elliott kick), 1:35. Drive: 2 plays, 14 yards, 00:10 Key Play: Baun 0 interception return to Kansas City 14. Philadelphia 24, Kansas City 0.
Third Quarter
Phi: FG Elliott 29, 5:18. Drive: 12 plays, 69 yards, 6:42. Key Plays: Hurts 16 run on 3rdand-5; Barkley 10 run; Hurts 14 run; Hurts 22 pass to Barkley Philadelphia 27, Kansas City 0. Phi: D.Smith 46 pass from Hurts (Elliott kick), 2:40. Drive: 1 play, 46 yards, 00:07 Philadelphia 34, Kansas City 0.
KC: Worthy 24 pass from Mahomes (pass failed), :34. Drive: 6 plays, 90 yards, 2:06
Key Plays: Mahomes 50 pass to Worthy; Mahomes 13 pass to Kelce on 3rd-and-7. Philadelphia 34, Kansas City 6. Fourth Quarter Phi: FG Elliott 48, 9:51. Drive: 11 plays, 40 yards, 5:43. Key Plays: Shipley kick return to Philadelphia 30; Hurts 11 pass to Barkley; Hurts 17 run Philadelphia 37, Kansas City 6. Phi: FG Elliott 50, 8:01. Drive: 4 plays, 1 yard, 1:41. Key Play: Barkley 1 run on 3rd-and-5. Philadelphia 40, Kansas City 6. KC: Hopkins 7 pass from Mahomes (Ju. Watson pass from Mahomes), 2:54. Drive: 13 plays, 75 yards, 5:07. Key Plays: Remigio kick return to Kansas City 25; Mahomes 12 pass to Worthy; Gardner-Johnson 0 interception return to Philadelphia
PENALTIES-Yds
FUMBLES-Lost
TIME OF POSSESSION 23:02
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING: Kansas City, Mahomes 4-25, Hunt 3-9, Perine 1-8, Pacheco 3-7. Philadelphia, Hurts 11-72, Barkley 25-57, Gainwell 6-10 Pickett 3-(minus 4).
PASSING: Kansas City, Mahomes 21-32-2257. Philadelphia, Hurts 17-22-1-221, Pickett
0-1-0-0. RECEIVING: Kansas City, Worthy 8-157, Kelce 4-39, Hopkins 2-18, Smith-Schuster 2-16 Brown 2-15, Hunt 1-5, Pacheco 1-5, Gray 1-2. Philadelphia, Barkley 6-40, D.Smith 4-69 A.Brown 3-43, Dotson 2-42, Goedert 2-27
PUNT RETURNS: Kansas City, Remigio 1-5. Philadelphia, DeJean 3-27
KICKOFF RETURNS: Kansas City, Remigio
3-84. Philadelphia, Shipley 1-25
TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS: Kansas City, Tranquill 7-4-1, Reid 5-2-0, Bolton 4-5-0, McDuffie
4-1-0, Conner 3-3-0, Wharton 3-2-0, Karlaftis
3-1-1, Chenal 3-1-0, Cook 3-0-0, Pennel 2-3-0, Hicks 2-1-0, Omenihu 2-1-0, Anudike-Uzomah
1-1-0, Nnadi 1-1-0, Ja.Watson 1-0-0, Danna 0-1-0. Philadelphia, Baun 3-4-0, Burks 3-2-0, Williams 3-1-2, DeJean 3-0-0, Mitchell 3-0-0, Sweat 2-4-2.5, Davis 2-0-1, Ojomo 2-0-0, Slay
2-0-0, Blankenship 1-2-0, Gardner-Johnson 1-2-0, Hunt 1-1-.5, Graham 1-0-0.
INTERCEPTIONS: Kansas City, Cook 1-0. Philadelphia, DeJean 1-38, Baun 1-0. MISSED FIELD GOALS: None.
OFFICIALS: Referee Ron Torbert, Ump Mike Morton, HL Max Causey, LJ Mark Stewart, FJ Mearl Robinson, SJ Boris Cheek, BJ Jonah Monroe, Replay Kevin Brown.
College basketball
Men’s state schedule
Sunday’s games No games scheduled. Monday’s games Southern at Alabama State, n East Texas A&M at McNeese, n Northwestern State at Nicholls, n UNO at Incarnate Word, n Southeastern at Houston Christian, n Grambling at Alabama A&M, n Tuesday’s games No games scheduled. Women’s state schedule
Sunday’s games North Texas 69, Tulane 64 LSU 82, Tennessee 77 Monday’s games No games scheduled Tuesday’s games No games scheduled. Women’s national scores EAST Howard 66, Md.-Eastern Shore 56 College softball Sunday’s games UL 8, Longwood 1 LSU 3, Southeastern Louisiana 2 Wednesday’s games Louisiana Tech at Southeastern Louisiana, 5 p.m. Thursday’s games UT Arlington at McNeese, 6 p.m. Nicholls at Lamar, 6 p.m.
media rights ($15.3 million) remained steady The team also made $1.5 million more in bowl revenue ($10.6 million) from the SEC compared to the previous year, helping create a slight bump in overall revenue.
But LSU football’s expenses rose, partially because of a combined $26 million in compensation for coaches and support staff. The Tigers spent $23.1 million on coach and staff salaries the previous year Recruiting and travel costs also went up by around $500,000 each. LSU football spent $2.46 million on recruiting.
The only other LSU sport to turn a profit was men’s basketball, which finished with a $1.03 million profit. Ticket sales and contributions dipped slightly during coach Matt McMahon’s second season, causing a smaller profit than the year before ($1.34 million), but the sport remained in the black for the third straight year
Every other sport lost at least $1 million, with women’s basketball the furthest in the red.
LSU spent more on its women’s basketball team than its men’s team, $11.8 million compared to $10.7 million because of a difference in salaries. Compensation for coach Kim Mulkey and her staff ($6.3 million) cost more than for McMahon and his staff ($5 million). The investment has turned LSU women’s basketball into a consistent national contender under Mulkey, but the program lost $8.57 million overall.
Though ticket sales and contributionshaveskyrocketed LSUmade $1.37 million on women’s basketball tickets, surpassing $1 million for the first time — the team suffered financially from the lack of a mediarights deal and significantly lower NCAA and SEC payouts.
LSU women’s basketball made only $333,232 in NCAA and SEC distributions, while men’s basketball received $3.5 million.
Though LSU baseball has recorded a profit in the past, it lost $1.9 million during coach Jay Johnson’s third season. The team nearly broke even the year before while winning the national championship Expenses continued to climb, reaching $9.9 million. LSU baseball spent $5.9 million just two years earlier
Friday’s games Southern vs. North Carolina Central, 2 p.m. Nicholls vs. Tulsa, 3:30 p.m. UTSA at Southeastern, 3:30 p.m. Grambling vs. Maryland Eastern Shore, 4 p.m. UT Arlington at LSU, 4 p.m. Northern Illinois at UL, 4:30 p.m. Tennessee at McNeese (DH), 5 p.m. Mississippi Valley at Southeastern, 5:30 p.m. Grambling vs. Howard, 6 p.m. Southern vs. Coppin State, 6 p.m. Arkansas at Louisiana Tech, 6 p.m. Northwestern at LSU, 6:30 p.m. Ole Miss at UL, 7 p.m. Golf
PGA Tour Statistics
Through Feb. 9 FedExCup Season Points 1, Sepp Straka, 854. 2, Thomas Detry, 832. 3, Hideki Matsuyama, 814. 4, Rory McIlroy, 700. 5, Nick Taylor, 626. 6, Harris English, 515. 7, Sungjae Im, 502. 8, Collin Morikawa, 460. 9, Justin Thomas, 443. 10, Cameron Davis, 440. Scoring Average 1, Bud Cauley, 69.330. 2, Webb Simpson, 69.524. 3, Sepp Straka, 69.570. 4, Gary Woodland, 69.804. 5, Alex Smalley, 69.808. 6, Matt Kuchar, 69.844. 7, Hideki Matsuyama, 69.916. 8 (tie), Min Woo Lee and Scottie Scheffler, 69.919. 10, Adam Schenk, 69.923. Driving Distance 1, Aldrich Potgieter, 328.7. 2, Gary Woodland, 326. 3, Min Woo Lee, 324.9. 4, Tim Widing, 321.7. 5, Alejandro Tosti, 320.9. 6, Rasmus Hojgaard, 320.8. 7, Jeremy Paul, 320. 8, Trey Mullinax, 319.4. 9, Adam Schenk, 318.6. 10, Keith Mitchell, 318.3. Driving Accuracy Percentage 1, Takumi Kanaya, 80.61%. 2, Collin Morikawa, 77.59%. 3, Aaron Rai, 75.00%. 4, Ben Kohles, 74.29%. 5, Brice Garnett, 74.12%. 6, Russell Henley, 72.67%. 7, Chez Reavie 72.62%. 8, Sepp Straka, 71.48%. 9, 2 tied with 71.43%. Greens in Regulation Percentage 1, 10 tied with .00%. Total Driving 1 (tie), Daniel Berger and Kevin Roy, 39. 3, Rico Hoey, 57. 4, Alejandro Tosti, 59. 5, Taylor Pendrith, 64. 6, Gary Woodland, 66. 7, Rasmus Hojgaard, 77. 8, Ben Griffin, 90. 9, Ricky Castillo, 91. 10, Henrik Norlander, 93. SG-Putting 1, Francesco Molinari, 1.841. 2, Will Chandler, 1.672. 3, Brandt Snedeker, 1.247. 4, Brendon Todd, 1.099. 5, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, 1.025. 6, Shane Lowry, .934. 7, Trey Mullinax, .894. 8, Braden Thornberry, .857. 9, Lee Hodges, .847. 10, Thomas Detry, .845. Birdie Average 1, Collin Morikawa, 6.5. 2, Adam Scott, 6.25. 3, Russell Henley, 5.92. 4, Sepp Straka, 5.85. 5, Patrick Cantlay, 5.83. 6, Cam Davis, 5.79. 7, Justin Thomas, 5.38. 8, Will Zalatoris, 5.25. 9, Harry Hall, 5.22. 10, Robert MacIntyre, 5.19. Eagles (Holes per) 1 (tie), Rasmus Hojgaard, Justin Thomas and Alejandro Tosti, 48. 4 (tie), David Skinns and Jackson Suber, 49.5. 6, Cam Davis, 50.4. 7, 10 tied with 54. Sand Save Percentage 1, 10 tied with .00%. All-Around Ranking 1, Collin Morikawa, 293. 2, Rasmus Hojgaard, 315. 3, Sepp Straka, 318. 4, Cam Davis, 355. 5, Scottie Scheffler, 356. 6, Patrick Cantlay, 357. 7, Alex Smalley, 359. 8, Justin Thomas, 362. 9, Taylor Pendrith, 383. 10, Shane Lowry, 407. LPGA Tour Statistics Through Feb. 9 Scoring 1, Yealimi Noh, 65.75. 2, A Lim Kim, 67. 3, Jin Young Ko, 67.63. 4 (tie), Jin Hee Im, Nelly Korda and Miyu Yamashita, 67.75. 7, Minami Katsu, 68. 8, Linn Grant, 68.25. 9, Nasa Hataoka, 68.5. 10, 5 tied with 68.75. Driving Distance 1, Julia Lopez Ramirez, 303.75. 2, Auston Kim, 291.5. 3, Nataliya Guseva, 270.75. 4, Polly Mack, 280.25. 5, Bailey Tardy, 279.75. 6, Emily Kristine Pedersen, 279.25. 7, Nanna Koerstz Madsen, 278.75. 8 (tie), Bianca Pagdanganan and Dewi Weber, 277.5. 10, Lauren Hartlage 276.5. Greens in Regulation 1, Yealimi Noh, .93%. 2, Ana Belac, .92%. 3, Gurleen Kaur, .86%. 4 (tie), Pajaree Anannarukarn, Jin Hee Im, Megan Khang and Albane Valenzuela, .85%. 8, 4 tied with .83%. Putts per GIR 1, Nataliya Guseva, 1.68. 2 (tie), Celine Borge, Minami Katsu, Jin Young Ko, Minjee Lee and Maja Stark, 1.7. 7 (tie), A Lim Kim and Yuri Yoshida, 1.71. 9, 7 tied with 1.72. Birdies 1, Nelly Korda, 43. 2, Jin Young Ko, 39. 3, Celine
LSU AGCENTER
It’s a good idea to label which seeds are planted in which containers.
Start seeds indoors now to enjoy flowers, veggies and herbs once spring arrives
Tired of the cold, gray doldrums of winter?
Here’s something to look forward to — spring isn’t all that far away, and now is the time to get your seeds started for many warm-season annuals, vegetables and herbs
While it may seem early to think about spring gardening, it’s really not, especially when we are talking about growing plants from seeds. We want to be able to transplant seedlings into the garden soon after the average last frost date. In south Louisiana, the danger of frost usually passes by about March 15, and in northern parishes, that date is typically around April 1. Because it can take up to eight weeks for a seed to grow into a small plant that’s sturdy enough to be transplanted, it’s important to get started now Go ahead and make a list of what plants you want to grow and acquire your seeds. It’s still winter, so you should start your seeds indoors That means you’ll need good-quality potting mix and some kind of planting containers
You can purchase seed-starting trays or miniature pots. But you can grow your seedlings in common household items like egg cartons or paper cups — anything that can hold small amounts of potting mix and that either drains or can be modified to do so. There’s a plethora of do-it-yourself inspiration online.
Once you have all your supplies, fill your planting containers with the potting mix Before you start planting seeds, carefully read the package, which will indicate how deeply seeds should be planted. Some seeds won’t germinate if they are covered with too much or too little growing media.
After you’ve sown your seeds, it’s a good idea to label what you’ve planted in each container
Place your containers in a bright, warm spot. Don’t let them dry out, but don’t drench them either Aim to keep them moist. If you find that the heater in your home dries out the potting mix quickly you can place a clear cover over the containers to help retain moisture. Some commercially available seed-starting trays come with a dome-shaped lid for this purpose. If you are improvising with household materials, you can shroud the containers in plastic wrap; just be sure not to seal the edges completely so air can still flow in and out
After seedlings have their first few sets of true leaves, fertilize them very lightly with a balanced liquid fertilizer mixed at half strength. Make sure they are getting enough
ä See PLAN, page 6C
Christian youth Theatre of Baton Rouge production l 7 p.m. Feb 13-14, and 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Feb 15. l Standard tickets are $19 and $16 for children younger than age 12 and groups of 15 or more. All tickets are $22 at the door l For tickets, visit cytbatonrouge.org/shows/Seussical/27
BY ROBIN MILLER Staff writer
The Cat in the Hat may be the narrator and navigator as he guides a boy named JoJo — along with the audience — through the story’s terrain, but Horton the Elephant will be the true star when Christian Youth Theatre of Baton Rouge opens “Seussical” on Feb. 13. On stage, the fun of Dr Seuss’ odd characters speaking in gobbledygook rhyme mixes with life lessons. That was partly Theodor Seuss Geisel’s intent when he penned 60 children’s books under the name of Dr Seuss, and this musical of his works follows suit.
Christian Youth Theatre, or CYT, will stage the show for four performances at Abundant Life Church,
BY JOY HOLDEN Staff writer
In April, Jamie Freeman will open the doors to her TBR Bookshop at 7276 Highland Road, Baton Rouge. TBR stands for the acronym “to be read,” which is commonly used among book reviewers and influencers.
ABOVE: From left, Kennedy Callender is Gertrude McFuzz, Nickolas Frith is the Cat in the Hat, Joshua Williamson is JoJo and Samuel Punkay is Horton in Christian youth Theatre Baton Rouge’s production of ‘Seussical.
206 Edgewood Drive Denham Springs.
‘Seussical’ premiered in 2000
“Seussical” has been around since 2000 when it premiered in Broadway’s Richard Rodgers Theatre. Stephen Flaherty and Lynne Ahrens teamed up for this story primarily based on Suess’ books “Horton Hears a Who,” “Gertrude McFuzz” and “Horton Hatches the Egg.”
Other Seuss characters also make
appearances as the tale progresses through a surreal world of splashy stage sets in bold colors. Then again, would any Seuss tale be truly authentic if it weren’t surreal?
“It’s a story that weaves together some of Dr Seuss’ most famous works in unexpected ways,” director Melissa Beatty said. “These characters will meet in the musical, and over the course of time, some will fall in love, some will be transformed, some will have desperate adventures and some will even save the world.”
More than 70 kids ranging in age from 8 to 18 have been cast in this show, which will be performed to a recorded soundtrack. The main thread holding this cast together is found in Horton, played by 17-yearold homeschool sophomore Samuel Punkay
ä See 'SEUSSICAL', page 6C
Dear Harriette: I’m currently living in a so-called “luxury” apartment that was built just last year, and I pay a significant amount of money in rent Unfortunately, my room is absolutely freezing, and it’s making it nearly impossible to feel comfortable in my own home. I’ve already had maintenance come to seal the windows and walls, but that hasn’t solved the problem. I’ve had multiple meetings with management, hoping they would take responsibility and offer a solution, but they keep telling me there’s nothing they can do. I feel like I’m being taken advantage of because this apart-
By The Associated Press
Today is Tuesday, Feb. 11, the 42nd day of 2025. There are 323 days left in the year
Today in history
On Feb. 11, 1990, South African anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela was freed after 27 years in prison. (Mandela would be elected president of South Africa four years later.)
On this date
In 1847, American inventor Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan, Ohio.
In 1945, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin signed the Yalta Agreement, in which Stalin agreed to declare war against Imperial Japan following Nazi Germany’s capitulation.
In 1990, in one of the biggest upsets in sports history, 42-1 underdog Buster Douglas knocked out the previously undefeated heavyweight champion Mike Tyson at Japan’s Tokyo Dome.
In 2008, the Pentagon charged Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and five other detainees at Guantanamo Bay with murder and war crimes in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks In 2011, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigned in the wake of pro-democracy protests, ending three decades of authoritarian rule.
In 2012, singing superstar Whitney Houston was found dead in a hotel room bathtub in Beverly Hills, California, on the eve of the Grammy Awards; she was 48. In 2013, during a routine morning meeting of Vatican cardinals, Pope Benedict XVI announced he would resign as pope effective Feb. 28; it was the first papal resignation in nearly 600 years
In 2020, the World Health Organization gave the official name of COVID-19 to the disease caused by the coronavirus that had emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
Today’s birthdays: Actor Tina Louise is 91. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is 72. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., is 63. Musician Sheryl Crow is 63. Former Alaska Gov Sarah Palin is 61. Actor Jennifer Aniston is 56. Actor Damian Lewis is 54. Surfer Kelly Slater is 53. Musician D’Angelo is 51. Singer-actor Brandy is 46. Singer Kelly Rowland is 44. Actor Natalie Dormer is 43. Actor Taylor Lautner is 33.
Continued from page 5C
sunlight and keep up with watering. Before long, you’ll be ready to transplant your seedlings. Vegetables generally germinate and grow faster than flowering plants. Most seed packets will tell you how many days germination takes and how many days until harvest or bloom.
ment is advertised as a luxury property, yet the living conditions aren’t up to standard. I’ve tried using space heaters, but that’s just driving up my electricity bill and still doesn’t solve the issue. I don’t know what my rights are as a tenant in this situation or what steps I can take to escalate the issue further Is there anything I can do to hold management accountable or advocate for myself in this situation? How can I ensure I’m not stuck paying so much for a home that doesn’t meet basic living standards? — Too Cold Dear Too Cold: It’s time to engage your local government Call 311 to
report the lack of heat Provide all of the details that you can, including any promises management has made. Talk to other tenants to find out if you are the only one having this issue, or if others are also suffering. The more people you can get to complain, the better chance you have of getting results. Dear Harriette: This letter is a reply to “Weed Invasion,” the woman who wrote in to say her husband smokes too much weed: It’s not that weed isn’t addictive; it’s that it isn’t medically addictive. The guy is probably depressed and using weed as a crutch, or he’s a jerk who doesn’t respect his partner Some people use food as a crutch, which is similarly not addictive but can be the symptom of
of ‘Seussical.
Continued from page 5C
Horton in the spotlight
“I think that Horton obviously, is very caring and compassionate,” Punkay said. “He tends to look on the bright side of things and doesn’t really see the faults in life. He tries to find the good in the bad.”
In his 1954 book, “Horton Hears a Who!” Seuss tells the story of an elephant saving Whoville, a tiny planet located on a speck of dust He carries the speck on a clover, which an angry mob tries to incinerate.
“It’s said Dr Seuss wrote this story as an allegory for the American postwar occupation of Japan after World War II,” Beatty said. “The Whos are representative of the Japanese and how they were treated And the blackbottomed eagle that steals the clover from Horton and drops it in a clover field is representative of the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. There are a lot of meanings in his writings, and they weren’t just written in gibberish.”
Horton’s Who adventure was actually the elephant’s second appearance in Seuss’ world of books, the first being “Horton Hatches The Egg,” in 1950, where the elephant is tricked into sitting on Mayzie the bird’s egg while she takes a permanent vacation to Palm Beach
Punkay is right Horton is compassionate, putting his own needs aside for a little life inside an egg
“But Mayzie isn’t,” Beatty said. “All of the characters in this show learn lessons. All of them except
Continued from page 5C
She has signed off on the floor plan and construction, and she is going to place her first book order this month. Freeman plans to offer all genres, including a very cute children’s books section. She will also have a barista area that will serve tea, coffee and baked goods, because “nothing goes better with books than a cup of tea,” she said. TBR Bookshop is a family endeavor when it comes to all the different parts of starting a business. Freeman’s father has offered
for Mayzie. She’s the only unredeemable character in this play She just leaves and never comes back.”
Gertrude’s mission
Wedged between the musical’s Horton stories is the tale of a bird named Gertrude McFuzz, who has only one tail feather She is told to eat certain berries to grow more feathers, but when the feathers appear, she suddenly can’t fly
She learns a valuable lesson in the end, and in the musical, she meets and falls in love with Horton.
“Dr Seuss was very much about morals and of teaching children morals of the story,” Beatty said. “And the story about Gertrude in this play is she thought she needed the tail feathers to make Horton notice her, but it actually stopped her from her purpose, because she couldn’t fly.”
When Gertrude stops to think, she realizes the tail feathers weren’t what she needed for her mission.
“Being Christian Youth Theatre, I’ve been kind of teaching the kids that when we lay down our ideals and what we think we should be and just to give everything over to the Lord and say, ‘God, what do you have for me? What is my purpose?’, that’s when you will fulfill your purpose,” Beatty said. “One of my favorite scenes in the show is when once Gertrude’s new tail feathers are plucked out, she sails and is able to fulfill her purpose. And she is able to help Horton with the Whos, right by his side. So, it’s a beautiful story.”
Email Robin Miller at romiller@theadvocate. com.
business and permit guidance, and her mother has provided design assistance. The younger members of Freeman’s family have also joined in on the bookstore planning.
“I told my niece, 4 years old, and nephew 9 years old, that I would need help figuring out which books to put in the kids section,” Freeman said, “and they both gave me lists of books they want me to stock. I just think that’s adorable The whole family is really involved!”
To follow along the process, visit instagram.com/ tbrbookshop.
Email Joy Holden at joy holden@theadvocate.com.
another issue. — Issue Not Addiction
Dear Issue Not Addiction: Thank you for your response. Without question, the man who feels compelled to smoke weed from sunup to sundown is dealing with some kind of issue. Many would argue that this is not healthy behavior There are differing views in the medical community about whether marijuana is addictive. The American Addiction Centers, as well as any number of medical professionals, believe that marijuana can be addictive. The AAC says: “Marijuana (cannabis) can be problematic for some individuals who use it. Despite relatively widespread perceptions that would suggest otherwise, frequent marijuana use is associated
Dear Heloise: Here’s a hint for those who have more jewelry than storage space and end up with tangled necklaces or earrings that get separated from their matching “mates.”
This took a bit of time, but here’s what I did: First, I sorted through all of my jewelry and matched necklaces with earrings, bracelets and pins. Then I put these matching pieces in a plastic baggie. I did the same for bracelets or earrings without matching necklaces. I continued this process until all of my matching jewelry pieces were together in baggies. If I had numerous bags of the same jewelry color, I placed all of them together in a larger baggie. Now I can easily grab a bag with the jewelry that I want to go with my wardrobe for the day Happy sorting! — D.S., in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Heavy pet food bags
Dear Heloise: I have always
with the development of physiological dependence, a distinct withdrawal syndrome and addiction. About 14.2 million people aged 12 or older struggled with marijuana addiction in 2020.” That said, regardless of the label, excessive use of this drug or any other is not advisable. It can be extremely difficult to stop smoking if it is a habit that one has formed. If you are struggling, please get help. Many addiction programs can support you, including Marijuana Anonymous. Send questions to askharriette@ harriettecole.com or c/o Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.
bought large (and economical!) bags of pet food, potting soil, etc. After celebrating 77 birthdays, handling 25- to 40-pound bags became difficult for me. So, I now ask someone at the store to load the heavy bag into my car, and when I get home, I separate the contents into bread bags (or other similar-sized plastic bags), then carry these into the house and garage. Not only are the smaller bags lighter to move, they are also easier to dispense things from. — Pamela S., Prairieville
Restaurant leftovers
Dear Heloise: My husband and I eat out often and usually bring home leftovers, but I bring a small tote bag with several plastic containers and use them for the extra food. It is easy to pop them into the refrigerator when we get home. Not using the restaurant’s Styrofoam to-go containers saves them money, takes
up less space in our refrigerator, and reduces waste. Donna, in Iowa
Meatloaf like mama’s
Dear Heloise: With five boys, I have some very large meals to make, so I usually make two meat loaves. Of course, like most people,
AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Rather than challenge others for having different opinions, channel your energy into pursuing the most agreeable path. Focus on personal improvements and projects that bring you joy
PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Participation will be in your best interest. Sign up for something that interests you. An open mind and a desire to try something new will lead to something exceptional
ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Keep busy. Tidy up, clear space and update your surroundings to better accommodate your plans and prospects. Someone you encounter will grab your attention.
tAuRus (April 20-May 20) A skeptical approach to what someone proposes will give you time to ask questions and check out the facts. Tame your emotions before getting into a conversation that can damage a friendship.
GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Distance yourself from people who try to exploit your generosity. Indulge in chasing information that will keep you up to date and informed. An emotional connection you have with someone will gain momentum.
cAncER (June 21-July 22) Take nothing for granted. If you love someone, be upfront about your plans and determine where you stand. Put more time and energy into maintaining a good reputation.
LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Look before you leap. Have everything in place before you initiate something or someone new
into your life. Not every offer will have the same value or positive impact.
VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Set high standards, and don't back down just because someone challenges you. An efficient plan will come in below budget and offer long-term benefits. Your discipline will pay off.
LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) A passionate approach to what you want will help you convince others to tag along for the ride. Your vivid description of how you see things unfolding will put you in the spotlight.
scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Engage in activities that ease stress and take your mind off situations you cannot control. Look inward and focus on what you can do to improve yourself, your skills and your future.
sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Today is all about maintaining equality and striving for common ground. Take a unique approach to running your home and dealing with personal relationships. Be compassionate toward yourself.
cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Protect your health, well-being and reputation. Relying on others will lead to disappointment. Change can be good if you take the initiative and do the work yourself.
The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2025 by NEA, Inc., dist.
By Andrews McMeel Syndication
InstructIons: Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.
Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer
By PHILLIP ALDER
Tom Flynn, an author, journalist and novelist, said, “Be sure you positively identify your target before you pull the trigger.”
As I mentioned yesterday, defenders should identify their target, the tricks that they need to defeat the contract. Then they should pull the trigger play the necessary cards. In this deal, how should West have defended against three spades? He led theheartace:three,nine,five.Hecontinued with the heart king: six, four, seven. What should he have shot next?
South’s jump to three spades was game-invitational, guaranteeing at least a six-card suit.
Since East had played high-low in hearts, West knew that South had begun with three hearts. So West could see four tricks: one spade and three hearts. But where was the fifth winner?
If West shifted to his club, took the next trick with the spade ace, and gave hispartneraheartruff,perhapshecould receive a club ruff in return. However, from the bidding East could not have two spades.
Instead, West had to gain a trick with the diamond king. But if South had the diamond ace and queen, East had to lead the suit How could West get East on lead? Right — he led his heart jack (not the two, which East might have read as a suit-preference signal for clubs, indicating that West was void in that suit). East, thinking that South still had the heart queen, ruffed. And when South played a low heart, East correctly understood his partner’s play. East shifted to the diamond jack — down one. © 2025 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel
Each Wuzzle is a word riddle which creates a disguised 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’s WoRD — GRAtIn: GRAT’n: A crust formed on food that has been cooked with cheese, as under a broiler.
Average mark 19 words
Time limit 25 minutes
Can you find 23 or more words in GRATIN?
yEstERDAy’s WoRD — JAEGERs
BRIEFS
Globalstar completes reverse stock split
Globalstar has completed a reverse stock split, designed to boost the share price of the Covington satellite company. Under the reverse stock split that took effect after the markets closed Monday, 15 shares of Globalstar stock will be converted to one share. Shares of Globalstar closed at $1.56 Monday, up 5 cents.
Globalstar also transferred the listing of its stock from the NYSE American to the Nasdaq Global Select market. That change will take effect at the start of trading Tuesday By moving to the techfocused Nasdaq, along with boosting its share price through the reverse stock split, Globalstar CEO Paul Jacobs said he expects the company will be more appealing to a broader range of investors, including institutional shareholders.
Ochsner announces
$35.5M BR expansion
Ochsner is planning a $35.5 million expansion at The Grove, which will double the number of operating rooms, add 30 exam rooms and increase the amount of parking spots at the medical facility
The proposed expansion is set to go before the Baton Rouge City-Parish Planning Commission in March.
The work will involve adding about 20,000 square feet to the building, located behind the Mall of Louisiana The medical complex is currently about 206,000 square feet.
The additions to the medical center will add four operating rooms, an MRI and a lab for women’s and children’s services.
The expansion is part of an effort to meet community demand for outpatient surgeries and procedures and orthopedic services, Charles D. “Chuck” Daigle, CEO Ochsner Baton Rouge, said in a statement.
McDonald’s sees global sales improve
Improving international sales helped McDonald’s overcome some weakness at home in the fourth quarter, but the company said it expects U.S. sales to pick up later this year
McDonald’s said its sales are continuing to recover from an E. coli outbreak last fall tied to its Quarter Pounder hamburgers. The Chicago burger giant said it’s also struggling to get low-income consumers back into its stores despite expanding discounts.
McDonald’s U.S. same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year, fell 1.4% in the fourth quarter
On a conference call with investors Monday, McDonald’s Chairman, President and CEO Chris Kempczinski said industry-wide fast food sales to lowincome consumers were down double-digits in the U.S. in the October-December period.
McDonald’s said it is working to get customer traffic back up in the U.S. and will then layer in new products that will generate excitement and increased spending The snack wrap will return sometime this year, and McDonald’s is also planning a new chicken strip offering, Kempczinski said.
BY MATT O’BRIEN AP technology writer
A group of investors led by Elon Musk says it is offering about $97.4 billion to buy OpenAI, escalating a legal dispute with the artificial intelligence company that Musk helped found. Musk and his own AI startup, xAI, and a consortium of investment firms want to take control of the ChatGPT maker and revert it
back to its original charitable mission as a nonprofit research lab, according to Musk’s attorney Marc Toberoff.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman quickly rejected the deal on Musk’s social platform X, saying, “no thank you but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.”
Musk bought Twitter, now called X, for $44 billion in 2022.
Musk and Altman, who together helped start OpenAI in 2015 and later competed over who should lead it, have been in a long-running feud over the startup’s direction since Musk resigned from its board
in 2018. Musk, a former OpenAI board member sued the company last year, first in a California state court and later in federal court, alleging it had betrayed its founding aims as a nonprofit research lab benefiting the public good. Musk had invested about $45 million in the startup from its founding until 2018, Toberoff said in court last week.
Musk and OpenAI lawyers faced off in a California federal court last week as a judge weighed Musk’s request for a court order that would block the ChatGPT maker from converting itself to a for-profit
company
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers hasn’t yet ruled on Musk’s request but in court said it was a “stretch” for Musk to claim he will be irreparably harmed if she doesn’t intervene to stop OpenAI from moving forward with its planned transition toward becoming a for-profit corporation. But the judge also raised concerns about OpenAI and its relationship with business partner Microsoft and said she wouldn’t stop the case from moving to trial as soon as next year so a jury can decide.
BY MEAD GRUVER Associated Press
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Putting carbon dioxide from power plants and industrial facilities underground where it won’t contribute to global warming could see less federal support and enthusiasm under President Donald Trump. But experts and industry advocates doubt demand for the technology will go away as long as utilities face state-level climate change goals.
Trump has vowed to “drill, baby, drill” for fossil fuels and ordered the U.S. to withdraw from the landmark Paris agreement to try to limit Earth’s warming. Meanwhile, his new energy secretary Chris Wright has vowed to prioritize “affordable, reliable and secure energy” in a policy-setting order that criticizes zero-carbon goals and makes no mention of carbon capture.
Carbon capture’s doubters include both conservative policy organizations and environmental groups. Even so, its outlook in the U.S. isn’t all bleak.
Carbon capture got a $12 billion boost under former President Joe Biden through increased tax incentives and funding through the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
With projects scattered nationwide, including dozens in Republican states, there may be less appetite to include them in budget cuts, said analyst Rohan Dighe with the energy and resources research firm Wood Mackenzie.
But a broader trend away from “environmental, social and governance” investing, or ESG, could sap momentum for carbon capture Dighe said by email.
“So even absent government rollback of funding, we could see fewer project announcements and movements due to lower interest in decarbonizing,” Dighe wrote.
Carbon capture involves separating car-
bon dioxide from the emissions of power plants and other industrial facilities and pumping it underground. The goal can be either to store it permanently so it doesn’t contribute to climate change, or to pressurize an oilfield to help increase production.
Carbon capture has deep support in Republican Wyoming, home to projects including an ExxonMobil plant that separates CO2 from sour gas wells for use in aging oil fields and another experimenting with putting power plant CO2 underground.
In 2021, GOP Gov Mark Gordon pledged to make the sparsely populated state — which exports 12 times more energy than it consumes — not just carbon neutral but “carbon negative.”
Carbon capture features prominently in that plan. In 2020, Wyoming, which contributed tens of millions of dollars for a carbon capture research facility at an operating power plant, became one of the first states to regulate underground carbon dioxide injection itself rather than through the EPA. That list now also includes Louisiana, North Dakota and West Virginia.
Gordon is sticking with carbon capture to help protect Wyoming’s coal industry Eighteen states that account for almost two-thirds of Wyoming’s coal market have renewable energy and carbon-neutrality goals, Gordon spokesman Michael Pearlman said by email. “To keep that market, we have to use carbon capture,” Pearlman wrote.
BY STAN CHOE AP business writer
NEW YORK U.S stocks rose Monday as Wall Street took President
Donald Trump’s latest threat on tariffs in stride.
The S&P 500 climbed, coming off a losing week that was bookended by worries about how potential tariffs could push up inflation and threaten the economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up and the Nasdaq composite rallied as Nvidia and other Big Tech stocks led the way The bond market also remained relatively firm, with Treasury yields making only modest moves after Trump said over the week-
end that he would announce 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, as well as other import duties later in the week.
Fear around tariffs has been at the center of Wall Street’s moves recently, and experts say the market likely has more swings ahead
The price of gold, which often rises when investors are feeling nervous, climbed again Monday to top $2,930 per ounce and set another record. But Trump has shown he can be just as quick to pull back on threats, like he did with 25% tariffs he had announced on Canada and Mexico, suggesting they may be merely a negotiating chip rather than a true long-term policy Trump, of course, has already
gone ahead with 10% tariffs on China. Those will likely affect Wall Street by cleaving winning industries from losing ones, but they won’t necessarily drag the entire market lower, according to Michael Wilson and other strategists at Morgan Stanley A big, marketwide impact would be more likely “if we were to see sustained tariffs on a range of countries including 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada.” Stocks of U.S. steel and aluminum producers jumped Monday, banking on expectations tariffs could help their profits, while the overall S&P 500 index remained relatively calm. Nucor rose 5.6%, Cleveland-
Cliffs jumped 17.9% and Alcoa climbed 2.2%.
Some companies that have to buy steel in their manufacturing swung, but not so sharply General Motors fell 1.7%, Caterpillar slipped 0.2% and Ford Motor was flat.
Big Tech stocks were some of the strongest forces pushing the S&P 500 higher, including gains of 2.9% for Nvidia and 4.5% for Broadcom. They had come under pressure last month after a Chinese upstart upended Wall Street’s artificial intelligence boom by saying it had developed a large language model that could perform like the world’s best without having to use the most expensive, top-flight chips.