The Acadiana Advocate 02-14-2025 by The Advocate

Landry takes national spotlight

Governor promotes Louisiana and himself amid recent events

BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer

An elegant reception at the French ambassador’s residence. A White House bill signing. A fancy Washington Mardi Gras ball. An extravagant dinner at New Orleans’ City Park hosted by Saints owner Gayle Benson.

Flights on private planes of big campaign donors A forum to promote investment in Louisiana. Forgoing a hotel in New Orleans during Super Bowl week for nights on a friend’s yacht. Watching the game in a Superdome suite with President Donald Trump.

Gov Jeff Landry had an eventful time over the past month, spent mostly in Washington and New Orleans, showcasing Louisiana — and himself.

Landry traveled at least four times to Washington to join with the crowd of conservatives trying to impress Trump and his inner circle.

Landry accompanied two cabinet

“When

you’re a governor promoting your state, you’re obviously promoting your own brand. I don’t know how he does one without the other. There’s no two ways about it.”

CHARLIE COOK, publisher

of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report

secretaries during their visits to New Orleans to view security measures before the Super Bowl, and he hosted investors business executives, elected ofﬁcials and public relations ofﬁcials at a pavilion erected by the state on Convention Center Boulevard.

“He was visible and passionate.

That gets people excited about visiting and hopefully makes them want to invest here,” said Lt. Gov Billy Nungesser

Said Jefferson Republican U.S House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Landry: “He was everywhere

in town I ran into him at so many stops.”

Charlie Cook, a Shreveport native who gained renown in Washington as publisher of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, said one of a governor’s roles is to be the state’s chief salesperson. “When you’re a governor promoting your state, you’re obviously promoting your own brand,” Cook said. “I don’t know how he does one without the other There’s no two ways about it.”

In trying to gain favor with Trump and his inner circle, Landry has invited speculation about his political future.

The governor has pledged to serve his full term and is raising money for his reelection in 2027.

John Breaux, who spent more than 30 years in Congress split between the House and the Senate, guesses that Landry is positioning himself for a run as a MAGA-style candidate

ä See LANDRY, page 7A

Louisiana ends mass vaccinations

Seasonal vaccine promotion banned by state surgeon general

BY EMILY WOODRUFF Staff writer

Louisiana Surgeon General Dr Ralph Abraham sent an internal directive to state health workers Thursday ending long-standing mass vaccination efforts and banning staff from promoting seasonal vaccines, while publicly issuing a

letter criticizing the state’s COVID-19 response and public health institutions. The letter was posted on the Louisiana Health Department’s website as the U.S. Senate voted to conﬁrm Robert F. Kennedy Jr a vaccine critic as Health and Human Services secretary Abraham’s message directed employees to avoid recommending vaccines and instead provide data and encourage residents to consult their health care providers.

“Rather than instructing individuals to receive any and all vaccines LDH staff should communicate data

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sworn in as health chief. PAGE 5A

regarding the reduced risk of disease, hospitalization, and death associated with a vaccine and encourage individuals to discuss considerations for vaccination with their healthcare provider,” Abraham wrote in his communication, obtained by The Times-Picayune. Ofﬁcials with the state Health Department did not respond to a request for

ä See ENDS, page 5A

Lafayette interim police chief gets job

Trouard appointed to position following national search

BY MEGAN WYATT Staff writer

Interim Lafayette Police Chief Paul Trouard has been named to the permanent position, MayorPresident Monique Boulet announced Thursday Trouard’s appointment follows a national search after years of leadership upheaval at the Lafayette Police Department. He is the seventh person to hold the position since 2020.

“With public safety as a top priority, I knew it was important for our City to have a fair process with good candidates I want to thank all four applicants and 10 panelists who went through this process with us,” Boulet said in a statement. “Paul Trouard stood out at every stage. His steady leadership, strategic vision, and commitment to Lafayette earned him overwhelming support from the evaluation panel. I have full conﬁdence that Chief Trouard will continue to bring stability, accountability and a forward-thinking approach to the department. I look forward to

La. schools tops in reading recovery

Report ranks success in bouncing back after pandemic

BY ELYSE CARMOSINO Staff writer

Louisiana students led the nation in recovering from pandemic learning loss in reading and made the second biggest recovery in math, according to a new report. It also found that Louisiana is the only state where the average student has returned to pre-pandemic achievement levels.

ä Lafayette Parish students performing above pre-pandemic levels. PAGE 1B

Between 2019 and 2024, Louisiana students gained an average of one-fifth of a grade level in math and nearly 30% of a grade level in reading, even as their peers in many other states fell further behind, according to the latest Education Recovery

ä See SCHOOLS, page 7A ä See CHIEF, page 5A

Trouard

ä Vaccine skeptic

STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

Gov. Jeff Landry talks to the media inside the Louisiana Now Pavilion during Super Bowl festivities last week.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Louisiana Surgeon General Dr Ralph Abraham has put an end to mass vaccination efforts by state health workers.

Ex-Mississippi sheriff

going to federal prison

Former Hinds County interim sheriff Marshand Crisler has been sentenced to 21/2 years in federal prison for soliciting and accepting bribes during his unsuccessful 2021 campaign

U.S. District Court Judge Tom Lee sentenced him Tuesday for the two counts he was convicted of in November Crisler received concurrent sentences of 30 months in custody of the Bureau of Prisons, followed by three years of supervision and an order to pay a $15,000 ﬁne, according to court records.

Crisler faced up to 10 years in prison. He remained out on bond until his sentencing.

The court recommended Crisler to be assigned to the nearest facility to Jackson. Nearby federal facilities are in Yazoo City, Aliceville, Alabama, central Louisiana and Memphis.

Crisler was charged with soliciting and accepting $9,500 worth of bribes during his 2021 campaign for Hinds County sheriff in exchange for favors from a man with previous felony convictions and giving ammunition the man can’t possess as a felon.

The jury heard from several witnesses, including Crisler himself and Tonarri Moore, the man with past felonies and pending state and federal charges who the FBI recruited as an informant.

Parts of recorded conversations between the men, which Moore made for investigators, were played in court.

During several meetings in Jackson and around Hinds County in 2021, Crisler said he would tell Moore about investigations involving him, move Moore’s cousin to a safer part of the Hinds County jail, give him a job with the sheriff’s ofﬁce and give him freedom to have a gun despite prohibitions on Moore having one.

Crisler was found guilty after a three-day trial in Jackson. The jury took about two hours to reach a unanimous verdict for both charges.

NOAA, weather service

renaming Gulf of Mexico

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its ofﬁces, including the National Hurricane Center and National Weather Service, will be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

All maps, nautical charts, websites and weather products will reflect the name change that is part of an executive order President Donald Trump signed focused on what the administration says is “restoring names that honor American greatness.”

“Work is underway to update the naming convention as quickly as possible,” a spokeswoman for the National Weather Service said in an email

On the NHC website, the new image of the Atlantic basin now shows the new label for the body of water known to brew up tropical activity and plague Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana Texas and Mexico.

The NHC’s daily tropical outlook, which through Wednesday still referred to the body of water as the Gulf of Mexico, shifted Thursday morning. It included a “Gulf of America Gale Warning” discussing a cold front that extended from the Florida Panhandle to just north of Veracruz, Mexico.

On Sunday, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced on X that the agency had updated its maps to reﬂect the change The following day, Alphabet Inc.’s Google announced it would make the change for U.S. users. Apple Inc. did so for U.S. users of its map product Tuesday and said it would eventually roll out the shift for all users globally

CORRECTION

In the preprinted Mardi Gras Guide inserted into subscribers’ home-delivered editions of The Times-Picayune | The Advocate today, information about the Krewe of MadHatters is incorrect. MadHatters will roll at 5 p.m. Feb. 22 on the Metairie parade route with the theme “Magic of Wonderland.” The Mardi Gras Guide regrets the error

Driver plows into crowd in Munich

30 injured; Afghan man arrested

BY GEIR MOULSON Associated Press

BERLIN A driver drove a car into a labor union demonstration in central Munich on Thursday injuring 30 people including children, authorities said. Officials said it was believed to be an attack.

The suspect, an Afghan asylumseeker, was arrested. The incident follows a series of attacks involving immigrants in recent months that have pushed migration to the forefront of the campaign for Germany’s Feb 23 election.

Participants in a demonstration by the service workers’ union ver di were walking along a street at about 10:30 a.m. when the suspect’s Mini Cooper overtook a police vehicle following the gathering, accelerated and plowed into the back of the group, police said.

Ofﬁcers arrested the suspect after ﬁring a shot at the car, deputy police chief Christian Huber said. Some of the victims sustained serious injuries. The car, with a battered front and a shattered windshield, was lifted onto a tow truck late Thursday afternoon after investigators inspected it among

debris including shoes.

The suspect was a 24-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker, police said. Bavaria’s state interior minister, Joachim Herrmann, said ofﬁcials believe the protest was likely targeted at random.

The state’s justice minister, Georg Eisenreich, said a prosecutors’ department that investigates extremism and terror was looking into the case.

Police said the man, who they added lived in Munich and had a

valid residence permit, was known to authorities from investigations in which he had been a witness because of a former job as a store detective.

“It is suspected to be an attack — a lot points to that,” Bavarian Gov Markus Söder told reporters at the scene.

Mayor Dieter Reiter said that children were among those injured.

The Munich incident comes three weeks after a 2-year-old boy

and a man were killed in a knife attack in Aschaffenburg, also in Bavaria. An Afghan whose asylum application was rejected was the suspect in that attack, which propelled migration to the center of the German election campaign. Germany’s main opposition conservative bloc, in which Söder is a prominent ﬁgure, has demanded a tougher approach to irregular migration, calling for many more people to be turned back at the border and for an increase in deportations. Curbing migration is also a core issue for the far-right Alternative for Germany, which polls put in second place behind the conservatives.

“This is more evidence that we can’t go from attack to attack and show dismay, thank police for their deployment,” Söder said. “This is not the first such act We are determined that something must change in Germany, and quickly.” Alternative for Germany’s coleader, Alice Weidel, posted on social network X: “Is this supposed to carry on forever? Migration turnaround now!”

Center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government said it already has done a lot to reduce irregular migration, and that the opposition’s plans are incompatible with German and European Union law

Vance visits Dachau concentration camp

BY AAMER MADHANI Associated Press

DACHAU, Germany U.S.

Vice President JD Vance visited the Dachau concentration camp memorial on Thursday, walking the solemn halls with a group that included a Holocaust survivor once held at the site of so much suffering and mass murder

His experiencing firsthand a powerful symbol of World War II came at a time of ongoing conﬂict in Europe. Vance on Friday has critical talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the three-year Russia-Ukraine war A light rain and sleet mix fell as the vice president and his wife, Usha Vance, spoke to a group of dignitaries near the concentration camp’s gate.

The couple then listened intently to details about the camp from its director and other museum ofﬁcials. Among those participating was 96-year-old Abba Naor, a Holocaust survivor who was held at Dachau.

“I’ve read a lot about the Holocaust in books,” Vance said. “But being here, and seeing it up close

JD Vance and second

in person, really drives home what unspeakable evil was committed and why we should be committed to ensuring that it never happens again.“

The second couple, holding hands, eventually moved inside to a long concrete room in front a large map plotting concentration camps. The area was Dachau’s administrative room.

They next saw the intake room, where those interred arrived at the camp. It included a series of museum cases filled with personal belongings of those who were held there, like watches and government ID cards.

“That’s where you started?” Vance said to Naor Vance laid a wreath with a red, white and blue ribbon stenciled with “We re-

Russia rejoices at Trump-Putin call; Zelenskyy rejects talks without him

BY BARRY HATTON, ILLIA NOVIKOV and DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press

Russian ofﬁcials and state media took a triumphant tone Thursday after President Donald Trump jettisoned three years of U.S. policy and announced he would likely meet soon with Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate a peace deal in the almost three-year war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meanwhile, said he would not accept any negotiations about Ukraine that do not include his country in the talks. European governments also demanded a seat at the table.

Trump’s change of tack seemed to identify Putin as the only player that matters in ending the ﬁghting and looked set to sideline Zelenskyy, as well as European governments, in any peace talks The Ukrainian leader recently described that prospect as “very dangerous.”

Trump’s announcement created a major diplomatic upheaval that could herald a watershed moment for Ukraine and Europe.

Russian ofﬁcials and state-backed media sounded triumphant after Wednesday’s call between Trump and Putin that lasted more than an hour

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that the “position of the current (U.S.) administration is much more appealing.”

The deputy chair of Russia’s National

Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, said in an online statement: “The presidents of Russia and the U.S. have talked at last.

This is very important in and of itself.”

The pro-Kremlin Russian tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda went even further and published a column stating in the headline that “Trump signed Zelenskyy’s death sentence.”

“The myth of Russia as a ‘pariah’ in global politics, carefully inflated by Western propaganda, has burst with a bang,” the column said.

In his first comments to journalists since Trump held individual calls ﬁrst with Putin and then Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian leader conceded that it was “not very pleasant” that the American president spoke ﬁrst to Putin. But he said the main issue was to “not allow everything to go according to Putin’s plan.”

“We cannot accept it, as an independent country, any agreements (made) without us,” Zelenskyy said as he visited a nuclear power plant in western Ukraine.

Trump also effectively dashed Ukraine’s hopes of becoming part of NATO, which the alliance said less than a year ago was an “irreversible” step, or getting back the parts of its territory captured so far by the Russian army Russia currently occupies close to 20% of the country

Some European governments that fear their countries could also be in the Kremlin’s crosshairs were alarmed by Washington’s new course, saying they must be part of negotiations.

member” and “United States of America” embossed in gold lettering at a large sculpture known as the Inter-

national Monument. Inaugurated in 1968, the monument was designed by Nandor Glid, who was persecuted as a Jew by the Nazis in his home country Yugoslavia and joined the resistance to Nazi occupation forces.

“I really am really moved by this site,” the vice president said in subsequent comments. He added, “It’s very important that it’s here, and it’s very important that those of us who are lucky enough to be alive and can walk around, can know what happened here and commit ourselves to do everything to prevent it from happening again.”

On Friday, Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are set to sit down with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. They’ll discuss Trump’s intensifying push for Ukraine and Russia to begin negotiations to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.

DPA PHOTO By MATTHIAS BALK

Emergency services attend the scene of an accident after a driver hit a group of people in Munich, Germany, on Thursday

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MATTHIAS SCHRADER

Vice President

lady Usha Vance enter the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site outside Munich, Germany, on Thursday

Two La. executions set; nitrogen gas could be used

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN and JOHN SIMERMAN Staff writers

Louisiana has not executed anyone in 15 years. Now under a pair of death warrants signed this week, the state could soon execute two people back-to-back.

Judges in St. Tammany Parish and DeSoto Parish have signed death warrants to schedule executions for March 17 and March 18. Judge Alan Zaunbrecher of the 22nd Judicial District Court signed a death warrant Wednesday for Jessie Hoffman, who was sentenced to death for the 1996 execution-style killing of Mary “Molly” Elliott. Hoffman was accused of raping Elliott, a 28-year-old advertising executive, in a remote area of St. Tammany Parish before killing her Hoffman’s execution date is set for March 18, according to the warrant. Collin Sims the district attorney for Washington and St. Tammany parishes, requested the warrant on Monday Hoffman’s defense team filed a motion to recall the warrant Thursday and asked to stay the execution pending the outcome of a long-pending challenge to the state’s execution methods. If his execution date holds, Hoffman could be executed by nitrogen gas. His execu-

tion is scheduled for one day after the ﬁrst scheduled execution in 15 years, of Christopher Sepulvado. DeSoto Parish District Attorney Charles Adams sought Sepulvado’s death warrant this week, and a judge signed off for his execution on March 17. At 81, Sepulvado is the oldest of the 57 people on death row in Louisiana. He was convicted in the 1992 murder of his 6-year-old stepson, Wesley Allen Mercer Shawn Nolan, Sepulvado’s attorney, says Sepulvado’s health has taken a bad turn and that he has been recommended for palliative care.

“This is really pretty outrageous that they’re moving forward with this execution,” Nolan said Thursday Sepulvado is “in a wheelchair and is dying.”

Nitrogen gas is untested in Louisiana, Nolan added.

The scheduled executions of Hoffman and Sepulvado are far from guaranteed. Their lawyers are expected to ﬁle a ﬂurry of state and federal challenges to both the state’s protocols and claims particular to each of their cases.

State Public Defender

Rémy Starns released a statement this week that criticized the decision to move forward on executions, saying that death penalty cases are expensive for the public.

He said his ofﬁce has spent at least $7.7 million annually defending death penalty cases, which excludes additional costs from district attorneys’ ofﬁces, courts and law enforcement

Starns said that while his attorneys “will zealously and vigorously defend the rights of each and every person facing execution,” doing so will diminish his ofﬁces’ resources.

“Resuming executions will undoubtedly increase the expenditure of every entity involved,” Starns said. “Its usage redirects state and local government resources that would be much better utilized in other areas that make communities safer The death penalty only serves to champion retribution.”

Legal challenges and a shortage of drugs used for lethal injection have left Louisiana’s execution chamber dormant since 2010, when the state killed death row prisoner Gerald Bordelon at his request Last year, Gov Jeff Landry and state lawmakers set about to change that, adding nitrogen hypoxia and electrocution to lethal injection on a new menu of execution methods for the state.

Alabama is the only state so far to execute someone with nitrogen gas and last week killed its fourth condemned prisoner using the

method. On Monday Landry announced that Louisiana has a protocol and is ready to join Alabama in carrying out an execution by gas.

Another Louisiana district attorney, Phillip Terrell of Rapides Parish, was denied in his request to secure an execution warrant calling for Larry Roy to be put to death on March 19 Roy was convicted in the 1993 stabbing deaths of Freddie Richard Jr and Rosetta Silas at a home in Cheneyville.

The judge, Lowell Hazel, at ﬁrst granted the death warrant for Roy this week, but then dismissed it as “null and void” after Roy’s attorneys argued he hadn’t yet exhausted his rights.

On Wednesday, Terrell again asked Hazel to sign a death warrant, according to the case docket which shows Hazel denied the motion Thursday

Mixed views from victims Top state ofﬁcials, including Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill, have vowed to see the executions carried out and promised justice for families

“For too long, Louisiana has failed to uphold the promises made to victims of our State’s most violent crimes; but that failure of leadership by previous administrations is over,” Landry said in a news re-

lease Monday “The time for broken promises has ended; we will carry out these sentences and justice will be dispensed.”

Family members of victims have mixed views about whether perpetrators should be killed. During a special session on crime last year, some were vocal advocates of Landry’s push to see the executions through.

One was Wayne Guzzardo. Death row inmate Todd Wessinger was convicted of killing Guzzardo’s daughter, Stephanie Guzzardo, in 1995 inside the restaurant she managed. Guzzardo has fought for nearly 30 years for Wessinger’s sentence to be carried out, saying the evidence in the case is clear and that Wessinger has had the chance to visit his family over the years, while he has to visit his daughter’s grave.

Meanwhile, Brett Malone, whose mother was killed in 2000, has pleaded for mercy for the death row inmate, Jeremiah Manning, convicted in his mother’s case. Malone has cited his faith as among his reasons to oppose Manning’s death sentence, saying the death penalty is “reactionary rather than proactive or reparative.”

Opposition mounts

Opposition has also mounted from some members of the Catholic and Jewish com-

munities, who are gearing up to ﬁght the executions.

The Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops, who opposed the state’s decision last year to expand execution methods, released a statement Thursday opposing the death warrants.

“We promote a culture of life, not death, in this great State we love,” the statement reads. “As bishops, we will continue to promote life from conception to natural death and work to end the execution of another human being.”

As Louisiana began to pursue nitrogen hypoxia as a new execution method last year, some Jewish leaders formed the coalition Jews Against Gassing. The group plans to rally Feb. 17 in New Orleans to oppose the death warrants, according to a news release.

“The use of poison gas for state sanctioned execution unmistakably and immediately evokes for millions of American Jews horrific memories of the depravities our ancestors endured at the hands of Nazi Germany, when lethal gas was used to mass murder our people,” said Rabbi Phil Kaplan of Metairie’s Congregation Beth Israel.

Email Meghan Friedmann at meghan.friedmann@ theadvocate.com.

N.Y. governor rejects La.’s demand to extradite doctor

BY MATT BRUCE Staff writer

Shortly after receiving an extradition request Thursday from Louisiana Gov Jeff Landry New York’s governor ﬂatly rejected it, saying “not now, not ever,” will she send a family doctor to this state to face criminal charges for allegedly prescribing abortion pills online for a Port Allen teenager The actions escalate the cross-state legal battle to prosecute upstate New York Dr Margaret Carpenter, 55, in what is likely the ﬁrst criminal case of its kind nationwide. With New York Gov Kathy Hochul’s refusal to hand over Carpenter, Louisiana authorities would need to ask for an assist from a federal judge.

“There’s only one right answer in this situation. And it’s that, that doctor must face extradition to Louisiana, where she can stand trial and justice will be served,” Landry, a Republican, said in a statement Thursday “We owe that to the minor and to the innocent loss of life, and to the people of this state who stand by life overwhelmingly.”

As promised, Hochul, a Democrat, immediately slammed the door shut on extradition. She signed an order that rejected Landry’s request and it was broadcast on a live feed in front of news media cameras. She also told reporters her ofﬁce sent notice to law enforcement agencies across the Empire State letting them know out-of-state warrants like the one issued for Carpenter’s arrest aren’t enforceable in New York.

“She was practicing women’s reproductive health, which I believe is an essential right,” Hochul, the state’s ﬁrst female governor, told reporters in her New York City ofﬁce.

“Louisiana has changed their laws, but that has no

bearing on the laws here in the state of New York,” Hochul said. “Doctors take an oath to protect their patients. I took an oath of ofﬁce to protect all New Yorkers, and I will uphold not only our constitution, but also the laws of our land. And I will not be signing an extradition order that came from the governor of Louisiana. Not now, not ever.”

Hochul’s refusal sets the stage for state prosecutors in Louisiana to seek a writ of mandamus in U.S. District Court, Middle District of Louisiana, where they could ask a federal judge to order Carpenter’s apprehension on the national arrest warrant, over the objections of New York authorities. It’s not known if or when Louisiana authorities will go into federal court to seek a forced extradition of Dr. Carpenter, who was indicted Jan. 31 by a West Baton Rouge Parish grand jury Landry’s bid for extradition and the speedy refusal from Hochul were the anticipated next steps, in what is shaping up to be a protracted legal ﬁght to force Carpenter into a Louisiana courtroom to face criminal charges. It’s a scrap between leaders in the respective red and blue states that has played out live and on social media along political battle lines surrounding the hot-button abortion issue. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, the state’s top prosecutor, has been in lockstep with Landry, her Republican predecessor in championing Carpenter’s indictment as critical enforcement of the state’s abortion ban.

Providing an abortion, including abortion medication, has been banned in Louisiana since the summer of 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with its Dobbs v. Jackson ruling. West Baton Rouge pros-

Judge extends stay of USAID order

By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON A court order halting Trump administration plans to pull all but a fraction of USAID staffers off the job worldwide will stay in place for at least another week.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols ordered the extension after a nearly three-hour hearing Thursday, much of it focused on how employees were affected by abrupt orders by the Trump administration and ally Elon Musk to put thousands of USAID workers on leave and freeze foreign aid funding. Nichols, a Trump appointee, closely questioned the government about keeping employees on leave safe in high-risk overseas areas. When a Justice Department attorney could not provide detailed plans, the judge asked him to file court documents after the hearing USAID staffers who until recently were posted in Congo had filed affidavits for the lawsuit describing the aid agency all but abandoning them when looting and political violence exploded in Congo’s capital last month, leaving them to evacuate with their families.

ecutors said Carpenter, 55, illegally sold mifepristone pills online to the mother of a pregnant Port Allen teenager The mother subsequently allegedly coerced the teen to take the pills that

caused her to have a miscarriage ending her pregnancy, according to the indictment.

Both Carpenter and the teen’s 39-year-old mother were charged with criminal abortion by means of abor-

tion-inducing drugs. It’s a felony punishable by one to ﬁve years in prison.

The mother turned herself in days after the indictment in West Baton Rouge and was released on $50,000

bond. She’s slated to appear in court March 11, according to West Baton Rouge Parish court records.

Email Matt Bruce at matt.

bruce@theadvocate.com.

Manhattan prosecutor quits

2 Justice Department officials also resign rather than drop charges against mayor

BY LARRY NEUMEISTER, ALANNA

DURKIN RICHER and ERIC TUCKER

Associated Press

NEW YORK The top federal prosecutor in Manhattan resigned Thursday after refusing a Justice Department order to drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Before quitting, Danielle Sassoon told President Donald Trump’s new attorney general that she was “confident” Adams had committed the crimes. Two senior Justice Department officials also resigned after the department leadership moved to seize control of the case. The acting deputy U.S. attorney general, former Trump personal lawyer Emil Bove, who had ordered the Adams case dropped, said in a letter accepting Sassoon’s resignation that the Justice Department in Washington would file a motion to drop the charges and bar “further targeting” of the Democratic mayor Sassoon, a Republican serving as interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced her resignation in an email to her staff The move, confirmed by a spokesperson for the office, came after a dayslong standoff between the Manhattan prosecutor and her superiors in Washington

ney General Pam Bondi, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press Sassoon urged Bondi to reconsider the directive to drop Adams’ case. With Sassoon refusing to comply with the Trump administration’s order, the department’s public integrity section was asked to take over the case, according to a person familiar with the matter Two senior ofﬁcials who oversee the unit, including the acting chief, resigned in response, according to the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.

The exits came days after Bove directed federal prosecutors in New York to end the case against Adams, who was accused of accepting illegal campaign contributions and bribes of free or discounted travel from people who wanted to buy his inﬂuence. He has pleaded not guilty

Bove said in a memo Monday that the case should be dismissed so Adams could aid President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and campaign for reelection free from facing criminal charges. The primary is four months away and Adams has multiple challengers.

Bove scolded Sassoon in a letter accepting her resignation. He wrote that she was incapable of fairly and impartially reviewing the circumstances of this prosecution.” Bove said he would open internal investigations into her “conduct” and that of prosecutors who worked on the Adams case. They will be placed on “off-duty, administrative leave,” he said.

immigration and other policy matters with dismissal of a criminal indictment,” Sassoon wrote. She calling the purported offer “an improper offer of immigration enforcement assistance in exchange for a dismissal of his case.”

In an email, Adams’ lawyer, Alex Spiro, said the allegation of a quid pro quo was a “total lie.”

“We offered nothing and the department asked nothing of us,” Spiro said.

The department’s decision to end the Adams case because of political considerations, rather than the strength or weakness of the evidence, alarmed some career prosecutors who said it was a departure from long-standing norms.

The directive from Bove, was all the more remarkable because Bove had been a longtime prosecutor and supervisor in the Southern District and because department leaders are historically reluctant to intervene in cases where charges have been brought Bove’s memo also steered clear of any legal basis for the dismissal despite decades of department tradition dictating that charging decisions are to be guided by facts, evidence and the law

Trump signs a plan for reciprocal tariffs

BY JOSH BOAK Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Thursday rolled out his plan to increase U.S. tariffs to match the tax rates that other countries charge on imports, possibly triggering a broader economic confrontation with allies and rivals alike as he hopes to eliminate any trade imbalances.

“I’ve decided for purposes of fairness that I will charge a reciprocal tariff,” Trump said in the Oval Ofﬁce at the proclamation signing. “It’s fair to all. No other country can complain.”

The dueling letters from officials in New York and Washington laid bare in starkly personal language the gravity of a simmering, behind-the-scenes dispute over the handling of one of the government’s most significant current public corruption cases The outcome not only threatens to create an irrevocable fissure in the relationship between the department’s headquarters and its most prestigious prosecutorial offices, but also risks reinforcing the perception that Trump’s administration will employ a transactional approach to law enforcement decisions.

“I remain bafﬂed by the rushed and superﬁcial process by which this decision was reached,” Sassoon wrote Wednesday in a letter to U.S. Attor-

Bove had directed Sassoon to drop Adams’ case as soon as “practicable,” but there have been no public statements or actions by the prosecution team On Wednesday Bondi said she would “look into” why the case had yet to be dismissed. As of Thursday afternoon, the charges remained in place.

In her letter to Bondi, Sassoon accused Adams’ lawyers of repeatedly and explicitly offering what amounted to a “quid pro quo” during a meeting with the Justice Department last month. She wrote that the lawyers had offered the mayor’s assistance with the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement priorities if the case were to be dismissed.

“It is a breathtaking and dangerous precedent to reward Adams’s opportunistic and shifting commitments on

Sassoon, a former clerk for the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, was not the prosecutor who brought the case against Adams last year That was then-U.S Attorney Damian Williams, who stepped down after Trump’s election victory in November Sassoon had only been tapped to serve as acting U.S. attorney on Jan. 21, the day after Trump took ofﬁce. Her role was intended to be temporary. Trump in November nominated Jay Clayton, the former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, to the post, an appointment that must be conﬁrmed by the Senate. That has not happened yet.

Adams was indicted in September on charges that while he worked as Brooklyn borough president, he accepted over $100,000 in illegal campaign contributions and lavish travel perks such as expensive flight upgrades, luxury hotel stays and even a trip to a bathhouse.

The indictment said a Turkish ofﬁcial who helped facilitate the trips then leaned on Adams for favors, including asking him to lobby the Fire Department to let a newly constructed, 36-story diplomatic building open in time for a planned visit by Turkey’s president.

Under federal law, foreign nationals are banned from contributing to U.S. election campaigns.

Trump’s Republican administration has insisted that its new tariffs would equalize the ability of U.S. and foreign manufacturers to compete, though under current law these new taxes would likely be paid by American consumers and businesses either directly or in the form of higher prices.

The politics of tariffs could easily backfire on Trump if his agenda pushes up inﬂation and grinds down growth, making this a highstakes wager for a president eager to declare his authority over the U.S. economy

The tariff increases would be customized for each country with the partial goal of starting new trade negotiations. But other nations might also feel the need to respond with their own tariff increases on American goods. As a result, Trump may need to find ways to reassure consumers and businesses to counteract any uncertainty caused by his tariffs.

The United States does have low average tariffs, but Trump’s proclamation as written would seem designed to jack up taxes on imports, rather than pursue fairness as the United States also has regulatory restrictions that limit foreign products, said Scott Lincicome, a trade ex-

pert at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. “It will inevitably mean higher tariffs, and thus higher taxes for American consumers and manufacturers,” he said Trump’s tariffs plan “reﬂects a fundamental misunderstanding of how the global economy works.” Trump’s proclamation identiﬁes value-added taxes which are similar to sales taxes and common in the European Union — as a trade barrier to be included in any reciprocal tariff calculations. Other nations’ tariff rates, subsidies to industries, regulations and possible undervaluing of currencies would be among the factors the Trump administration would use to assess tariffs.

A senior White House ofﬁcial, who insisted on anonymity to preview the details on a call with reporters, said that the expected tariff revenues would separately help to balance the expected $1.9 trillion budget deficit. The official also said the reviews needed for the tariffs could be completed within a matter of weeks or a few months.

The possible tax increases on imports and exports could be large compared to the comparatively modest tariffs that Trump imposed during his ﬁrst term Trade in goods between Europe and the United States nearly totaled $1.3 trillion last year, with the United States exporting $267 billion less than it imports, according to the Census Bureau.

The president has openly antagonized multiple U.S. trading partners over the past several weeks, levying tariff threats and inviting them to retaliate with import taxes of their own that could send the economy hurtling into a trade war

The White House has argued that charging the same import taxes as other countries do would improve the fairness of trade.

Administration orders layoffs of probationary government workers

Some employees have not yet gained civil service protection

BY CHRIS MEGERIAN and MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press

WASHINGTON The Trump administration on Thursday intensiﬁed its sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce, the nation’s largest employer, by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who had not yet gained civil service protection — potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers.

In addition, workers at some agencies were warned that large workplace cuts would be coming

The decision on probationary workers, who generally have less than a year on the job, came from the Office of Personnel Management, which serves as a human resources department for the federal government. The notiﬁcation was

conﬁrmed by a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly

It’s expected to be the ﬁrst step in sweeping layoffs President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that told agency leaders to plan for “large-scale reductions in force.”

Thursday’s order was an expansion of previous directions from OPM, which told agencies earlier this week that probationary employees should be ﬁred if they weren’t meeting high standards.

It’s not clear how many workers are currently in a probationary period. According to government data maintained by OPM, as of March 2024, 220,000 workers had less than a year on the job the most recent data available.

The ﬁring of probationary employees began earlier this week and has included the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Education workers.

At least 39 were ﬁred from the Education Department on Wednesday

according to a union that represents agency workers, including civil rights workers, special education specialists and student aid ofﬁcials. The layoffs also hit Department of Veterans Affairs researchers working on cancer treatment, opioid addiction, prosthetics and burn pit exposure, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said Thursday Murray said in a statement that she heard from VA researchers in her state who were told to stop their research immediately, “not because their work isn’t desperately needed, but because Trump and Elon have decided to ﬁre these researchers on a whim.”

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a group that defends government workers, said the Agriculture Department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service would be hit especially hard by laying off probationary employees because it has trouble recruiting inspectors required to be present at all times at most slaughterhouses The civilian federal workforce,

not including military personnel and postal workers, is made up of about 2.4 million people While about 20% of the workers are in Washington, D.C., and the neighboring states of Maryland and Virginia, more than 80% live outside the Capitol region.

Layoffs are unlikely to yield significant deficit savings. When the Congressional Budget Office looked at the issue, it found the government spent $271 billion annually compensating civilian federal workers, with about 60% of that total going to workers employed by the departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs.

The government could, in theory, cut all those workers and still run a deﬁcit of over $1 trillion that would continue to grow as tax revenues are needed to keep up with the growing costs of Social Security and Medicare.

Trump’s initial attempt to downsize the workforce was the deferred resignation program, commonly described as a buyout

which offered to pay people until Sept. 30 if they agreed to quit. The White House said 75,000 people signed up, and a federal judge cleared a legal roadblock for the program Wednesday However, the number of workers who took the offer was less than the administration’s target, and Trump has made it clear he would take further steps. Employees at the National Science Foundation and Department of Housing and Urban Development were told this week that large reductions, in some cases a halving of the workforce would be coming, according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it.

The order Trump signed Tuesday stipulated that government functions not required by law would be prioritized for cuts and hiring will be restricted. With exceptions for functions such as public safety, only one employee can be added for every four that leave.

Sassoon

Adams

Vaccine skeptic RFK Jr. sworn in as health chief

BY AMANDA SEITZ Associated Press

WASHINGTON Robert F. Kennedy

Jr was sworn in Thursday as President Donald Trump’s health secretary after a close Senate vote, putting the prominent vaccine skeptic in control of $1.7 trillion in federal spending, vaccine recommendations and food safety as well as health insurance programs for roughly half the country

Nearly all Republicans fell in line behind Trump despite hesitancy over Kennedy’s views on vaccines, voting 52-48 to elevate the scion of one of America’s most storied political — and Democratic — families to secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Democrats unanimously opposed Kennedy.

Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell,

who had polio as a child, was the only

“no” vote among Republicans, mirroring his stands against Trump’s picks for the Pentagon chief and director of national intelligence.

“I’m a survivor of childhood polio. In my lifetime, I’ve watched vaccines save millions of lives from devastating diseases across America and around the world,” McConnell said in a statement afterward. “I will not condone the

re-litigation of proven cures, and neither will millions of Americans who credit their survival and quality of life to scientiﬁc miracles.”

The rest of the GOP however has embraced Kennedy’s vision with a directive for the nation’s public health agencies to focus on chronic diseases such as obesity

“We’ve got to get into the business of making America healthy again,” said Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, adding that Kennedy will bring a “fresh perspective” to the ofﬁce. Kennedy — joined by his wife, other family members and several members of Congress was sworn in Thursday afternoon in the Oval Ofﬁce by Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, hours after confirmation. He said he’d first been there in 1961, and told stories of seeing his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, there as a child.

comment.

Parish health units will continue to stock vaccines, the document said, but the Health Department “will no longer promote mass vaccination.” Previous efforts across the state have resulted in thousands of ﬂu shots given in a single day, according to news reports.

The directive is the first time the instructions about vaccine promotion have been put into writing, according to multiple employees who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal. In recent weeks, the department has discouraged promoting flu, COVID-19 and mpox vaccines verbally, according to the employees and reporting from NPR.

While much of Abraham’s public-facing letter focused

CHIEF

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working alongside him to support our law enforcement officers and ensure the safety and well-being of Lafayette.”

Rachel Godeaux, Boulet’s chief administrative officer led the search effort for a new police chief after former Police Chief Judith Estorge stepped down from the position in May

After the ﬁrst round of applications were exclusively from south Louisiana residents, the City Council approved a budget amendment to increase the chief’s salary from $135,880 to $170,000 in an effort to attract a wider pool. The next round of applications included a more diverse group from across the country

Although a total of 12 people applied for the position, only six showed up for the civil service test last month. All six passed the test Boulet’s administration invited four of the six candidates to proceed to panel interviews with law enforcement, community and government leaders.

Trouard has spent his entire law enforcement career at the Lafayette Police Department, where he was named assistant chief by Estorge just before she stepped down from the appointed position last year

He spent about four years working in patrol then spent about six years training recruits and seasoned ofﬁcers

on the state’s response to the pandemic and the erosion of trust in public health authorities, he took aim broadly at what he called “promotion of specific pharmaceutical products.”

“Perhaps there are some treatments that every human being should take, but they are few and far between, and things that are good generally don’t have to be pushed by the government,” Abraham, a family physician, wrote in the letter also signed by Deputy Surgeon General Wyche T Coleman, an ophthalmologist In New Orleans, City Council President Helena Moreno ﬁled a resolution Thursday after hearing testimony from the city Health Department to support the distribution of vaccine information and continue to help New Orleans residents get inoculated.

Moreno said the state has some of the highest rates of ﬂu, and also has high rates of

for ﬁeld work. From there, he began working as a detective of ﬁnancial crimes, which he described during a 2024 interview as having “no real excitement,” so he transferred to the violent crime and homicide section, which he said is where “I really found what I was supposed to do.”

He took over as the supervising sergeant then later as the administrator over the violent crime and homicide section. He would continue to patrol from time to time and eventually became a captain, where he led Precinct 1 in northwest Lafayette. In April 2024, he was named assistant police chief of the agency A month later, Boulet appointed him interim chief.

Trouard holds an undergraduate certiﬁcate in criminal justice from the University of Virginia, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and a master’s degree from Columbia Southern University He is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy Trouard was also among three finalists to be nominated in 2020 for the role of police chief under former Lafayette Mayor-President Josh Guillory. He was nominated by Lafayette Parish Sheriff Mark Garber

When asked in 2024 how he would address the rise in violent crime, Trouard said he’s a big fan of targeted enforcement, which he regularly implemented when he oversaw a precinct in northwest Lafayette. He would look at the depart-

chronicdisease,whichmakeit more likely a seasonal illness could have lasting effects

“When you get a ﬂu or COVID vaccine, you may still get ﬂu or COVID, but your level of illness will be lessened and (that’s) potentially lifesaving,” Moreno said.

The timing of Abraham’s announcements coincided with the confirmation of Kennedy as leader of the nation’s health agencies.

In 2021, Kennedy appeared before the Louisiana Legislature as a guest of then-Attorney General Jeff Landry and falsely claimed that the COVID-19 vaccine was “the deadliest vaccine ever made.”

In a hearing ahead of his confirmation, Kennedy walked back his previous anti-vaccine stance, saying he vaccinated his own children and would not prevent or discourage people from taking the polio or measles vaccines, though he refused

ment’s reporting system, talk to ﬁrst-line ofﬁcers and use data analytics to track what crimes are happening at what times and in what areas to determine what resources to deploy

“You just start hitting that area, trying to target the different areas, the different types of crimes to try to reduce the violent crime,” Trouard said in a May 2024 interview “And that’s been very effective, and I would like to ramp that up. I’d like to do more of it. Now granted, we’re subject to our budget. With that said, what’s more important? Dropping crime? Or my budget right now?”

The search for a new chief began last May with more than 10 local, regional and national advertisements followed by Lafayette Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service qualifying, Louisiana Ofﬁce of State Examiner testing, multiple rounds of evaluations, structured interviews and a ﬁnal panel assessment. The stated goal was to identify a leader who embodies integrity, professionalism and a clear vision for the future of the Lafayette Police Department.

“This selection panel was really well put together, with the right mix of community members, law enforcement, and city leaders,” City Marshal Reggie Thomas said in a statement. “It truly reﬂected Lafayette, and I appreciate the Administration for making sure the selection process was fair and inclusive.”

Trouard will ofﬁcially assume the role effective immediately

to say that vaccines do not cause autism.

Afterstrugglingwithvoting to conﬁrm Kennedy, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, offered his support after assurances from Kennedy that he would not dismantle the nation’s vaccine systems or take down the government’s vaccine guidance. Cassidy a physician, also said Kennedy has pledged not to change vaccine policy without ap-

proval from the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which Cassidy leads.

The developments have sparked concern among pediatricians and public health experts.

It’s not unusual for parents to be skeptical about vaccines, said Dr Margot Anderson, a New Orleans pediatrician board-certiﬁed in infectious disease. It’s hard for

and

BRIEFS

International Paper to close Campti facility

International Paper’s Red River containerboard mill in Campti will close permanently this spring as part of the company’s effort to streamline its footprint.

The Natchitoches Parish facility is one of four facilities the ﬁrm announced Tuesday that it will close.

According to Communications Manager Amy Simpson, about 450 employees will be impacted by the closure A news release from the ﬁrm said that employees will receive outplacement assistance, access to mental health support resources and severance beneﬁts where possible.

The Red River containerboard mill closure is expected to reduce the company’s containerboard capacity by approximately 800,000 tons on a yearly basis.

Wall Street rallies after yawning at tariff threat

U.S. stocks rallied to the brink of a record Thursday after more companies reported fatter profits than expected. Wall Street mostly yawned, again, at the latest announcement on tariffs by President Donald Trump, which may not take full effect for at least several weeks

The S&P 500 climbed to pull within 0.1% of its all-time high set last month The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained and the Nasdaq composite jumped MGM Resorts International leaped to one of the market’s biggest gains, 17.5%, after reporting stronger proﬁt for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It cited growth in China and said trends are looking up for its Las Vegas and North American digital businesses.

Other companies reporting better proﬁt than expected included GE HealthCare Technologies, which rose 8.8%, Molson Coors Beverage, which gained 9.5%, and Robinhood Markets, which jumped 14.1%.

Such reports, along with a remarkably solid U.S. economy, have kept U.S. stocks near their records. A report on Thursday said fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment beneﬁts last week, the latest signal of a ﬁrm job market.

Cocoa costs make hearts shudder

Valentine chocolates always seek to show how deep your love is. This year, it might just also show how deep your pockets are. With the price of cocoa beans setting unprecedented records on the commodities market, it will certainly turn the gift of love into a bigger ﬁnancial commitment than it once was. Turns out that if love is reputed to be eternal, a low price for cocoa, the essential ingredient in chocolate, is not.

“The price increase of cocoa is absolutely spectacular now for 2, 21/2 years,” said Philippe de Sellier, the head of both Leonidas and Belgian chocolate federation Choprabisco. When it stood at less than $2,000 a ton in the summer of 2022, it really took over early last year and peaked at well over $12,000 during the Christmas season and has been hovering around the $10,000 mark since.

Nexus Louisiana finds new CEO

Board votes to enter negotiations with local software executive

BY TIMOTHY BOONE Business editor

Nexus Louisiana has found its new head, after being without a permanent president and CEO for almost 3 years.

The Nexus Louisiana board voted Thursday afternoon to enter into negotiations with Tony Zanders, a local software executive, to head up the nonproﬁt business development organization.

Zanders said he will accept the

job. While he’s still working out the particulars he said the plan is to start around Mardi Gras.

Nexus Louisiana has a unique opportunity to expose and connect disparate talent from LSU, Southern University and Baton Rouge Community College with opportunities to develop, he said.

“All across our schools, we have students learning engineering and how to write code,” Zanders said “But maybe they haven’t seen the connection yet on how to use those skills to impact industries and solve critical problems.” The plan is to lean into emerging technology such as robotics and virtual reality Zanders is a native of New Or-

leans who founded Baton Rougebased Skilltype Inc a software platform that allows libraries to develop and share expertise. More than 200 libraries, archives and museums across the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia and Israel use Skilltype, according to the company’s website.

Before starting Skilltype, he was the ﬁrst entrepreneur in residence for Boston University Libraries

Zanders has served as a coach and entrepreneur mentor for Nexus Louisiana and Idea Village. He earned a bachelor’s in philosophy and English from Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania.

Nexus Louisiana was originally a subsidiary of Research Park Corp., concentrating on connecting growth-focused companies to capital, resources and talent. But in 2020, Research Park was rebranded as Nexus Louisiana. Genevieve Silverman stepped down as president and CEO in June 2022 after ﬁve years of leading the organization. Calvin Mills was interim head of Nexus Louisiana until the end of 2024.

Zanders and David Collins, a Canadian management consultant who has worked with Innovate Mississippi, were the two ﬁnalists for the Nexus Louisiana job. Both were in Baton Rouge this week for in-person interviews.

Email Timothy Boone at tboone@theadvocate.com.

January wholesale prices up a hot 0.4%

Inflation fight appears to have stalled

BY PAUL WISEMAN AP economics writer

WASHINGTON U.S. wholesale prices came in hotter than expected last month with progress against inﬂation appearing to have stalled, further undercutting expectations for lower interest rates this year

Economists and ﬁnancial markets fear President Donald Trump’s policies will push inﬂation higher yet. His tariffs on foreign goods and plans to deport millions of undocumented workers could translate into higher prices and on Thursday, Trump said that he’ll sign an order that increases U.S. tariffs to the rates other countries charge on imports.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that its producer price index — which tracks inﬂation before it reaches consumers — rose 0.4% from December and 3.5% from January 2024. The monthly increase was down from an upwardly revised 0.5% in December, and the year-over-year uptick matched December’s.

But forecasters had expected a 0.2% change month over month and 3.2% year over year

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core producer prices rose 0.3% last month from December and 3.6% from a year earlier

Wholesale services prices rose 0.3%, pushed higher by increasing hotel costs. Goods services climbed 0.6% on higher energy prices, including a 10.4% in the price of diesel fuel.

Wholesale food prices jumped 1.1% in January as the cost of eggs rocketed up 44%, reﬂecting the impact of bird ﬂu.

The wholesale price report arrived a day af-

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By DAVID ZALUBOWSKI

Shoppers guide their carts through the milk display in a Costco warehouse in Sheridan, Colo. U.S. wholesale prices came in hotter than expected last month with progress against inflation appearing to have stalled, further undercutting expectations for lower interest rates this year

ter the Labor Department delivered some bad news about inflation at the consumer level. Its consumer price index rose 3% in January from a year ago, up from a 2.9% year-overyear increase in December Wholesale prices can offer an early look at where consumer inflation might be headed. Economists also watch it because some of its components, notably health care and financial services, flow into the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge the personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, index.

Despite the higher-than-expected wholesale price increase, Paul Ashworth of Capital Economics wrote in a commentary “The components that feed into the Fed’s preferred PCE price measure were, on the whole, very tame,” including modest changes in some health care prices.

Inﬂation ﬂared up in early 2021 as the economy rebounded with unexpected strength from COVID-19 lockdowns, overwhelming factories, ports and freight yards and leading to shortages, delays and higher prices.

Japanese automakers end collaboration talks

this was not going to realize Nissan’s potential, so I could not accept it,” he told reporters. He said that Nissan was going to aim for a turnaround without Honda instead.

BY YURI KAGEYAMA AP business writer

TOKYO Japanese automakers

Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi said Thursday they are ending talks on business integration.

Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida said the talks had changed focus from setting up a joint holding company to making Nissan into a subsidiary of Honda.

“The intent was to join forces to win in the global competition, but

Honda Chief Executive Toshihiro Mibe said in a separate news conference that Honda had suggested a stock swap to speed up decisionmaking.

“I am really disappointed,” Mibe told reporters. “I felt the potential was great, but I also knew actions that would bring pain were necessary to realize that.”

The automakers ended their agreement on considering a structure for a collaboration, according to a joint statement. The decision was passed by board meetings at each of the companies.

Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Corp. announced in December that they were going to hold talks to set up a joint holding company Mitsubishi Motors Corp. had said it was considering joining that group. From the start, the effort had analysts puzzled as to the advantages to any of the companies, as their model lineups and strengths overlap in an industry shaken by the arrival of powerful newcomers like Tesla and BYD, as well as the move to electriﬁcation.

Honda and Nissan initially said they were trying to finalize an agreement by June and set up the holding company by August.

The three automakers will con-

tinue to work together on electric vehicles and smart cars, such as autonomous driving, they said Thursday In recent weeks, Japanese media had various reports about the talks breaking down, citing unidentiﬁed sources. Some said Nissan balked at becoming a minor player in the partnership with Honda.

Mibe denied he knew or heard anything about the media speculation that Taiwan’s Foxconn was considering taking a stake in Nissan. Uchida also denied have held any ofﬁcial talks with Foxconn but stressed that various options will be considered as Nissan attempts a turnaround, promising a more detailed plan within a month.

Zanders

LSU law professor again barred from classroom

Appeals court sides with university

BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer

A state appeals court has halted a lower court’s ruling requiring LSU to return a tenured law professor to his teaching duties after the university suspended him from the classroom in January

The order from the Louisiana 1st Circuit Court of Appeal came Thursday, just two days after state district Judge Tarvald Smith late Tuesday night signed off on a preliminary injunction barring LSU from interfering with professor Ken Levy’s em-

ployment.

As part of his ruling, Smith ordered LSU to immediately reinstate the professor to teaching and refrain from violating his free speech and due process rights while Levy’s lawsuit against LSU played out.

LSU asked the appeals court to block the reinstatement, and it did.

“To the extent the district court issued a mandatory preliminary injunction, such injunction is stayed pending further order of this court,” the order from the 1st Circuit says.

Jill Craft, who is representing Levy in the lawsuit, said the order issued by the 1st Circuit isn’t clear as to which part of the lower court’s order is blocked.

by allowing Louisiana to build infrastructure projects more quickly.

“I don’t know if it applies to a portion of it or all of it,” she said.

But Jimmy Faircloth Jr., who is representing LSU in the lawsuit, said the 1st Circuit is clear in stopping Smith’s order “dead in its tracks.”

“It relieves LSU of the obligation to return him to his teaching responsibilities,” Faircloth said. Faircloth also noted that the appeals court has not yet issued a full ruling on the matter and that will come at some point in the future Thursday’s order is merely a “stay” that ensures LSU doesn’t have to return Levy to teaching.

LSU suspended Levy with full pay last month, saying it had received student complaints of in-

appropriate comments and was investigating. Audio recordings of a class lecture include Levy saying “f*** the governor” as well as “I can’t believe that f****r won,” referring to President Donald Trump. Levy, who has taught at the law school since 2009, sued the university over the suspension, arguing it violated his free speech and due process rights.

LSU has pushed back on both claims, defending its actions toward Levy as entirely within the bounds of law Its lawyers contend that due process entitles Levy to keep his job as a tenured professor, but not necessarily remain in class as an instructor during an investigation.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill early Thursday afternoon applauded the decision.

“I’m glad to see that the Court of Appeal paused this clearly improper order,” Murrill said in a statement. “This matter will proceed now in an ordinary course, and I’m sure Professor Levy will get the process to which he’s due.” Gov Jeff Landry, who was the subject of one of Levy’s vulgar comments the first day of a law class this semester, also weighed in. “Good ruling out of the First Circuit this morning,” Landry said in a social media post at noon Thursday “Levy should stay far, far away from any classroom in Louisiana!”

from page 1A

for president.

Others believe that the next logical step for Landry would be to run for Senate, although he has ruled out challenging Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, when he’s up for reelection next year Cassidy is already facing one Republican challenger, and others could jump in the race as well

U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-Madisonville, who will be 76 when his current term ends in 2028, has given no indication he won’t run for reelection.

Breaux said he doesn’t have any special insight into Landry’s thinking but added, “All politicians are always thinking about their political future.”

Landry dismissed suggestions that he is promoting himself.

“This is not Jeff Landry’s brand,” he said in an interview last month “My brand is Louisiana. How would it be about Jeff Landry and not be about the state?”

Landry traveled to Washington to tell members of the House Transportation Committee on Jan 15 that easing federal rules would generate new jobs and investment

SCHOOLS

Continued from page 1A

Scorecard. The report by researchers at Harvard, Stanford and Dartmouth tracks students’ progress in bouncing back from learning disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic by analyzing reading and math test scores from every state over the past ﬁve years. Louisiana is the only state that’s stronger in reading now than before the pandemic, and one of only two states, with Alabama, where math scores are back to pre-pandemic levels, according to the analysis. By contrast, students nationwide remain almost half a grade level below where they were before the pandemic in both reading and math.

“It really sets Louisiana apart,” said Thomas Kane, faculty director of the Center for Education Policy and Research at Harvard University and a co-author of the report. The report comes just weeks after Louisiana’s fourth graders led the country in reading progress on a closely watched national test.

The researchers also identified 100 school districts across the country where students have recovered academically mean-

Landry remained in Washington to ingratiate himself with the incoming Trump administration.

But he skipped the inauguration on Jan 20 to take an early morning American Airlines ﬂight back to Louisiana to oversee preparations for the historic snowstorm that covered the southern part of the state the next day His return to Louisiana meant that he missed two fundraisers in Washington that raised $1 million for his reelection campaign.

With the state returning to normal, Landry ﬂew to Washington on Jan. 23 on a private plane owned by Boysie Bollinger a business owner, Republican megadonor and philanthropist.

In Washington, Landry held the Bible while former South Dakota Gov Kristi Noem took the oath administered by Justice Clarence Thomas to become Trump’s secretary of homeland security Landry also attended a national anti-abortion march and put on a tuxedo one night to join his wife and son at a Washington Mardi Gras ball.

Landry returned to Washington several days later to be with other Republicans governors at the White House as Trump signed an

ing their reading and math scores have returned to or surpassed exceeded pre-pandemic levels. Thirteen Louisiana districts made the list: Ascension, Avoyelles, Bienville Calcasieu, Lafayette, Lafourche, Natchitoches, Plaquemines, Rapides, St. Tammany, Terrebonne, West Baton Rouge and West Feliciana.

Terrebonne made the biggest reading gains among large school districts and low-income school districts nationwide.

Still, recovery has been uneven across Louisiana.

The report shows that 46% of Louisiana students are in districts where average math scores last year remained below 2019 levels, and a quarter are in districts still behind in reading Racial achievement gaps also have grown, especially in math.

While White students now score above pre-pandemic levels in math, Black and Hispanic students’ math scores remain lower than they were in 2019.

The report also states that rising student absenteeism hindered improvements. In Louisiana, 25% of students were chronically absent last year, up seven percentage points from 2019.

“Louisiana’s academic progress reflects a focus on fundamental

executive order calling for more taxpayer dollars for children to attend private schools.

Back in New Orleans at the beginning of Super Bowl week, Landry accompanied Noem one day and Attorney General Pam Bondi three days later as they viewed security arrangements.

In between, he returned to Washington on Feb. 5 on the private jet of business owner Shane Guidry to attend a bill signing with Trump that bans transgender athletes from participating in girls’ sports. The same-day trip meant that Landry missed that evening’s gala event in New Orleans, where Children’s Hospital was renamed Manning Family Children’s.

Two days later in New Orleans, he was interviewed on Fox News and on several national radio programs, telling Fox viewers, “We knew this was our opportunity to showcase not only for America but for the world what a great city New Orleans is.” Landry would spend the three nights before the Super Bowl sleeping on a yacht docked on Lake Pontchartrain owned by Guidry, a megadonor and ﬁshing buddy

On Friday night, Landry hosted hundreds of political insiders and business owners at the Louisiana Now Pavilion, although several

skills and strong educator support,” state Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley said in a statement. At the same time, “there are still too many Louisiana students who can’t read on grade level, can’t do basic math and who don’t attend school on a regular basis.”

Now in its third year, the Education Recovery Scorecard provides the most detailed window available into students’ progress since COVID derailed student learning beginning in 2020.

The analysis looks at student scores on national and state tests from 2019 to spring 2024. To compare results across states the researchers translated the scores using a scale that equates one grade level to one year of learning.

The report found that many Louisiana districts led the country in reading growth.

For example, students in Lafayette Parish grew 75% of a grade level in reading since 2019 — some of the biggest gains of any large school district in the country

Superintendent Francis Touchet Jr praised the district’s educators and students and credited the district’s strategy of using data to identify students who need extra support, such as small-group lessons. He also cited the district’s

guests expressed surprise that he mostly stayed in a side room rather than mingle with the crowd. In the side room were Donald Trump Jr and House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from northwest Louisiana In Washington and New Orleans, Landry relentlessly promoted what he says are his wins as governor: lower taxes, fewer government regulations, Meta’s plans for a $10 billion data center in northeast Louisiana, more school choice, improved education test scores and lower crime in New Orleans But he did not always tell the full story and sometimes took credit for the accomplishments of others

Landry didn’t mention that an increase in state sales taxes offset much of the income tax reduction.

A week earlier, Landry held a news conference with schools chief Cade Brumley where he took a bow for gains in fourth grade reading that resulted from policies adopted by Brumley, former Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, and the preceding Republicancontrolled Legislature.

Landry touted a sharp reduction in the crime rate in New Orleans after he installed the Troop NOLA team from State Police.

Jeff Asher, who lives in New Or-

speedy return to in-person learning after the pandemic temporarily shut down schools.

“Face-to-face learning is essential to student growth,” he said.

Rapides Parish where 71% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch was one of a handful of high-poverty districts across the country that managed to return to pre-pandemic learning levels. Nationally, low-poverty districts were much more likely to recover academically

Superintendent Jeff Powell said his district put much of the $90 million it received in federal pandemic aid toward learning recovery efforts such as intensive tutoring.

The resources helped “to not just mitigate any potential losses from the pandemic,” he said, “but also address some very dire academic needs for students” that existed previously

In Terrebonne Parish, where nearly 75% of kids qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, students improved by almost an entire grade level in reading — outpacing all other large school districts in the country

Superintendent Aubrey “Bubba” Orgeron said his district used literacy screeners to identify struggling students and created a “tar-

leans but tracks crime statistics nationally noted that ﬁgures show violent crime in New Orleans began to drop in late 2022, more than a year before Landry became governor On Saturday night, the governor sat next to Gayle Benson at a glamorous party she threw at City Park that featured a rousing performance by Harry Connick Jr and his band. Others who sat at the head table included NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, Sen. John Kennedy and Archbishop Gregory Aymond.

On Sunday, he and his wife Sharon sat two rows behind Trump at the Superdome.

Michael Hecht, the president and CEO of GNO Inc. who oversaw efforts to clean up New Orleans in advance of the Super Bowl at the governor’s behest, said Landry and Susan Bourgeois, secretary of Louisiana Economic Development, deserve credit for their efforts to promote the state to investors during Super Bowl week.

“This level of engagement is different from any previous Super Bowl in New Orleans, and I don’t know of any other state that has leveraged the big game for economic development to this extent,” Hecht said.

geted literacy class” to catch them up. He also praised the district’s teachers. “They do a tremendous job,” he said.

The researchers found that districts that spent more federal aid on academic recovery tended to see bigger gains.

Louisiana received $4 billion in federal relief funds for K-12 schools, or about $5,700 per student. The national per-student average was $3,700.

Amid the state’s overall progress, disparities grew among some student groups.

For example, while White students in Louisiana improved by 27% of a grade level in math between 2019 and 2024, Black students declined by 12% of a grade level and Hispanic students lost 57% of a grade level, according to the report. In reading, White and Black students both made gains, while Hispanic students fell further behind.

The achievement gap between poor and nonpoor districts also grew in math and reading The report stated rising student absenteeism contributed to the disparities.

“A widespread rise in absenteeism is slowing the recovery, especially in high-poverty districts,” it states.

Analysis: Lafayette students excelling

Study ranks parish pupils as performing above pre-pandemic levels

BY ASHLEY WHITE Staff writer

Lafayette Parish students are performing above pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels in math and reading, according to a national analysis of education data.

Students in grades 3-8 scored an average of 39% above grade

level in math and an average of 74% above grade level in reading when compared with 2019 data, according to the Education Recovery Scorecard, presented recently by researchers at Harvard and Stanford universities. Their academic gains reflect what others in the state accomplished. Louisiana ranked second

among states in math recovery, behind Alabama, and ﬁrst in reading between 2019 and 2024. Statewide, students are an average of 2% above grade level in math and 28% above grade level in reading. It’s the only state where the average student has “completed their recovery,” according to the report.

The researchers pointed to Lafayette Parish as a “bright spot” where students surpassed 2019 levels in math by at least half a grade level and 75% or more above a grade equivalent in reading. The district was also one of the few that didn’t see academic loss in math and reading scores and trends in scores, according to the report. Superintendent Francis Touchet Jr in part credited that achievement to how quickly the district helped students return to the classroom as pandemic restrictions began to ease.

“Face-to-face learning is essential to student growth,” he said in a statement. He also said the achievement

ABOVE: Student worker Troy Young assists customers at the new Viking Vault at Northside High School in Lafayette on Wednesday. The in-school store features branded Northside High attire. LEFT: Principal James Rollins, right, and Anastasia Riddell prepare to cut the ribbon on the new Viking Vault on Wednesday

STAFF PHOTOS By BRAD BOWIE

Lynn August dies at 76

Blind zydeco performer a celebrated musician

The Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce is asking for the public’s help with locating a man alleged to have committed several sex crimes involving juveniles. Rondell Williams is wanted for ﬁve counts of pornography involving juveniles and three counts of carnal knowledge of a juvenile, according to an LPSO announcement. Williams also faces charges in St. Landry

BY JOANNA BROWN | Staff writer

According to his early recollections, Lynn August remembers having some sight until he was about 4 years old. His vision failed rapidly after that though, and August would spend the rest of his life blind — but that didn’t stop him from becoming one of Louisiana’s celebrated zydeco and blues musicians. August, a native of Lafayette, died Wednesday, according to social media reports. He was 76 years old. KRVS radio host Herman Fuselier shared a few notable aspects of August’s career on Facebook. In 1961, when he was around 13 years old, the musician had the opportunity to play with legendary soul singer-songwriter Sam Cooke at a show in Opelousas.

The star was so impressed, he invited August to travel to Los Angeles to work with him.

“Cooke was going to record August, but died a short time later,” according to Fuselier

Lafayette voters to decide two vacant

BY ALYSE PFEIL | Staff writer

STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRAD KEMP Musician Lynn August, left, performs during a celebration of Life for Camille ‘Lil’ Bob Sr in 2015. August died Wednesday, according to social media reports. He was 76 years old.

OPINION

Reduce methane emissions to compete with China

Here in the Gulf South, we’ve had a front-row seat to Louisiana’s transformation into America’s energy powerhouse.

In a little over a decade, fossil fuel import infrastructure, initially built to ensure our energy security, was rapidly reimagined into the world’s largest liqueﬁed natural gas export market. In 2023, Louisiana provided nearly 60% of the nation’s LNG export capacity

Adam Bashaw GUEST COLUMNIST

As a veteran and Louisianan, I supported the Biden administration’s 2024 pause on new LNG export projects because I thought it would help us ensure our nation’s LNG exports are in the public’s interest, including our national security

The Department of Energy used the pause to evaluate and update the information it considers when weighing the risks of LNG exports.

With the results of this most recent election, that assessment

of LNG exports’ trade-offs is sure to be minimized That deeply concerns me. One big reason is China. Our strategic competitor is exploiting LNG to advance its interests at our expense. A report from the American Security Project last month conﬁrmed my concerns that we’re at risk of losing our nation’s competitive edge.

According to the report, China buys our LNG at rock-bottom prices and then resells it globally at premium rates. While Louisiana workers and companies produce and deliver reliable energy to world markets, China pockets the proﬁts, reinvests and promotes its global inﬂuence. We have been enabling our most serious competitor to outpace us while shortchanging our future.

But for fossil fuels to be part of a climate-conscious system, American oil and gas operators must make signiﬁcant reductions

Funding uncertainty undermines fight for equal opportunities

As we celebrate Black History Month, a time to honor the resilience and contributions of Black communities, we must also confront the ongoing systemic challenges that threaten progress. Recent shifts in the funding landscape, including a federal freeze on grant funding and efforts to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, are undermining the very programs designed to uplift underserved communities. These changes have created a crisis for organizations like Thrive New Orleans, which depend on federal and corporate funding to support workforce development and economic empowerment.

The consequences of these policy decisions are devastating. At Thrive New Orleans, we’ve been forced to make heartbreaking choices, including laying off dedicated staff who are integral to our mission. These layoffs not only weaken our organization but also jeopardize the progress we’ve made in addressing systemic inequities. Many individuals in our neighborhoods rely on holistic programs to overcome barriers to employment and these programs are essential to creating brighter futures for families and communities.

The urgency of these changes has made it increasingly difﬁcult for organizations like ours to secure the resources necessary to continue our work. The fallout is severe: program cuts, reduced stafﬁng and diminished services for those who need them the most The impact is particularly harsh for the most vulnerable members of our community including returning citizens seeking to rebuild their lives. Without our support, their paths to reintegration become steeper and more uncertain.

This funding crisis doesn’t just affect Thrive New Orleans It ripples through the communities we serve, exacerbating existing inequalities. Black communities, which have historically been marginalized and underserved, bear the brunt of these

in emissions. The LNG exported from our shores is produced in our gas ﬁelds and then transported through communities across Louisiana.

The production of fossil gas that is liquefied into LNG has an emissions profile itself. It is mostly from leaked, vented and flared methane gas, the primary component of natural gas and a climate super-pollutant.

If politicians are serious in their rhetoric to hold China accountable, they must ensure our own methane emissions are not the next prey for China’s predatory LNG import strategy

In Louisiana, we’re emitting natural gas and money into thin air Recent aerial surveys show that the emissions of methane are ﬁve times higher in Louisiana than industry standards. In 2023 alone, the Environmental Defense Fund estimates oil and gas operators across Louisiana lost an estimated $170 million worth of gas to venting, leaks and ﬂaring, which is enough energy to

disruptions. The ﬁght for equity and opportunity — core principles of Black History Month — is undermined when funding for programs that address these disparities is stalled or eliminated. Despite these challenges, there is hope. I commend the companies and foundations that remain steadfast in their commitment to social justice and community empowerment. Their support is a testament to the values of equity and inclusion that are essential to building stronger, more resilient communities.

As we reﬂect on the legacy of Black leaders who fought for justice and equality, we are reminded of the power of collective action. Now more than ever we must come together to advocate for the restoration of funding and the reinforcement of DEI initiatives.

These efforts are not just about preserving programs they are about ensuring that everyone, regardless of their background or circumstances, has an opportunity to succeed.

The challenges we face are signiﬁcant, but they are not insurmountable. By uniting as stakeholders in this community we can explore strategies to address funding uncertainties and advocate for policies that promote equity and inclusivity Together, we can ensure that the most vulnerable among us are not left behind.

Black History Month is a time to honor the past, but it is also a call to action. It is a reminder of the work that remains to be done to achieve true equity and justice. Let us use this moment to recommit ourselves to the ﬁght for opportunity and empowerment for all.

The time to act is now We cannot allow funding uncertainty to dictate the fate of our most vulnerable populations. Together, we can navigate these challenges and build a future where everyone has the chance to thrive.

Chuck Morse is the executive director of Thrive Nola.

ﬁll approximately 22 LNG tankers. Meanwhile, consumers in the US and across the globe want to cut emissions and support cleaner sources of energy Reducing emissions keeps Louisiana’s energy industry competitive in markets increasingly seeking lower-emissions intensity LNG.

But there is good news. We already have the tools to ﬁx this problem.

The EPA’s new methane rules, which have support from major industry players, provide a pathway for Louisiana to clean up its LNG in the world. By implementing these common-sense and costeffective rules quickly, we can:

n Protect Louisiana’s competitive edge: To stay competitive, our industry must cut methane emissions along the supply chain.

n Create high-paying local jobs: The demand for methane monitoring and control will create new positions in our state, from advanced monitoring to infrastruc-

ture repair, offering good-paying jobs

n Preserve community health and environment: Reducing methane emissions directly impacts air quality, which beneﬁts public health, especially in communities near oil and gas infrastructure.

n Fortify America’s energy security: By controlling our emissions, we strengthen America’s energy leadership and resist foreign competitors beneﬁting from our vulnerabilities.

Real energy leadership should consider national security and act on cutting wasteful and harmful methane emissions. We must remember Louisiana has built an energy legacy on strength and resilience, but we must also adapt to remain competitive. Now is the time for Louisiana to step up, reduce methane waste and secure its place at the forefront of the global energy landscape.

Adam Bashaw is retired Navy veteran and a member of VetVoice Foundation.

‘The day just kept going’ What it was like to treat victims of the terror attack

In the early hours of Jan. 1, 2025, we began our shifts at a local medical facility in New Orleans when the calls began to come in: multiple trauma cases would be coming into our hospital, and we needed to be ready the number of patients was unknown.

Minutes earlier, a devastating terrorist attack occurred when a man drove a pickup truck through barriers on Bourbon Street, killing 14 people and injuring 57 others.

This horriﬁc event left emergency services searching for locations to bring the victims for care on an already busy night

Local hospitals rose to the challenge with the expertise and experience of certiﬁed registered nurse anesthetists, including American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology members like us. CRNAs are professionals trained to care for the sickest patients, which enabled our team to adapt and remain nimble as the situation evolved. Through the overwhelming emotions in the hospital, with family members and friends attempting to identify the victims, the safety of patients remained the top priority for all of us who provided their care.

The most difﬁcult part of the day was the notoriety of the patients we cared for

It’s like the day just kept going — seeing pictures, videos and stories about the patients that we treated in our hospital makes it so much more personal, because it’s that much closer to home.

In the days following the attacks, we found community and understanding among our colleagues who were by our sides that day

Our group of CRNAs were brought so much

closer because only we know and understand what each other went through and saw that day, and we’re here for each other in ways nobody else could be.

Those who showed up that day to help are human, and it’s difﬁcult for us to deal with seeing things like that.

This past weekend, before football’s biggest game, we joined dozens of other ﬁrst responders in a moving tribute to the resilience of the city and those who serve it, featuring Lady Gaga, Tom Brady and Michael Strahan.

Wearing our scrubs and lab coats, we stood side by side with firefighters, police officers and others who lent their bravery and a hand in assisting with the city’s recovery

The ﬁlming took place on a closed-off Bourbon Street during the 2 a.m. hour, around the same time and site as the attack just two months prior. Both before and after performing her hit song “Hold My Hand,” Gaga addressed the crowd and recognized the signiﬁcance of that fateful New Year’s Day So many meaningful connections were made with the other responders — we understood each other and what we had gone through.

Through natural disasters and terrorist attacks, the “Big Easy” remains a glowing beacon of culture, entertainment and triumph — thanks to strong community support and the continued efforts of everyone who stepped up to aid their city

Ashley Battaglia and Robin Bundick are both practicing CRNAs

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

A state trooper keeps pedestrians from walking down Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Jan. 2

COMMENTARY

ROOM FOR DEBATE DOGE

President Donald Trump campaigned promising to fundamentally change the federal government. Some believed him. Some did not yet, in his first weeks in office, he’s shown that he was serious. He appointed billionaire Elon Musk to lead the Department of Government Efficiency, which is tasked with rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in the federal budget. Musk and his team in recent days have marched into offices, frozen federal funds, canceled contracts and announced that entire agencies would be shut down. Is it a long overdue structural shift or a major power grab? Here are two perspectives.

GOP lawmakers sit on their hands in Trump’s power grab

Are there no red lines? Are there no limits?

Angus King, the independent senator from Maine who caucuses with Democrats posed this gut-punching query to his Republican colleagues as they prepared to vote to conﬁrm Russell Vought, the presidential power extremist Donald Trump tapped for a second tour of duty as the head of the Ofﬁce of Management and Budget.

King’s question contained unmistakable echoes of Army lawyer Joseph Welch’s challenge to demagogue Joseph McCarthy: “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?” At one point, King directly channeled Welch, referencing Elon Musk’s boast that he had spent the weekend “feeding USAID into the wood chipper,” an action that, as King noted, “will literally take food from the mouths of starving children.”

the steady and not-so-slow usurpation of congressional authority and fundamental alteration of the framers’ scheme,” King urged.

Again and again, he asked his colleagues: Shouldn’t this be a red line?

He warned of “the literal destruction of a statutorily established and funded federal agency by people ostensibly working for the President under vague authority, no transparency, and certainly no guidance from the Congress.” Of “the power seemingly assumed by DOGE to burrow into the Treasury’s payment system, or the Ofﬁce of Personnel Management for undeﬁned purposes and zero oversight raising questions up to and including threats to national security.”

“Forget red lines,” King said “Do we have no decency?”

These days, there are no red lines for any but a few Republicans, and then only the faintest. Not a single one — not King’s fellow Mainer, Sen. Susan Collins, not Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, not the seemingly liberated former majority leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky — defected from the party-line vote to conﬁrm Vought

The Constitution, King warned “is under the most direct and consequential assault in our nation’s history An assault not on a particular provision, but on the essential structure of the Constitution itself.”

To grasp the signiﬁcance of this speech, it’s important to understand King, a former two-term governor just reelected to his third term in the Senate. The 80-year-old King shares the independentcaucusing-with-Democrats label with his Vermont neighbor Bernie Sanders, but the two politicians could not be more different, in temperament or ideology. If Sanders is a bomb-thrower, King is a soother

So his uncharacteristically biting words had the prospect, at least of getting Republican senators’ attention, if not altering their behavior “Don’t stand aside in the midst of these conﬁrmations, ill-considered foreign policy pronouncements, ﬂood of executive orders and ignore

King told me in a telephone interview a few days after the speech that his goal was twofold: to “cut through all the smoke and hoo-rah about Musk and DOGE and the Gulf of Mexico to the bigger picture of what’s actually going on” and “to try to catch the conscience of the Republicans and get through to them that this is a serious matter.”

Was anyone listening?

Self-preservation is the ﬁrst rule of politics, and conscience has been in short supply for the nine years during which Trump has seized control of the Republican Party

To hope that will change now when his behavior is ever more heedless of legal boundaries, is understandable; to expect it, when his power is at its apex, would be naive.

King told me he sent the speech to several Republican colleagues. Their response was telling: “Well, Joe Biden tried to cancel student loans.” This reﬂexive whataboutism, King said, is “like comparing a fender bender to a head-on collision. Presidents are always nibbling around the edges of trying to obtain additional authority.” Meantime, Trump is barreling through all guardrails.

“They’re rationalizing,” King said of GOP lawmakers. “They’re rationalizing allowing this to happen.” But, he added, “If this continues and we have a fundamental rewriting of the separation of powers, history is not going to treat those well who were complicit.”

Ruth Marcus is on X, @RuthMarcus

Trump, Musk are spring cleaning the government

It’s a bit early for spring cleaning but that’s what President Donald Trump and his faithful companion Elon Musk appear to be doing.

When I was a child, every spring my mother would open closets and check the attic and basement for clothes and other items that could be discarded or given to charity Sometimes it was difﬁcult to part with them, especially if they had sentimental value, but generally we went along with most of it because clutter was regarded as unnecessary and taking up space that could be used for other things.

Today’s cable shows have programs about what they call “hoarding” that gives you a ﬂavor of what I mean in case you are not old enough to share my memories.

“Who voted for Musk?” is the cry by some Democrats who are resisting his and Trump’s effort to downsize government, something Trump promised to do during his campaign. Does any politician want to say the government is too small, costs too little and that we need more regulations? Maybe some on the fringes of the Democratic Party (and we know who you are), but probably no one else.

The pathetic image of a few radical politicians showing up at the Department of Education (DOE) and getting blocked from entering the building by what appeared to be a security guard, was only the latest example of how Democrats have run out of even bad ideas. What were they protesting? The guard asked them, “What is your business here?” No one answered because the protest was the endgame. They couldn’t even tell the guard who they wanted to see.

One of the showboating protesters at the DOE was Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., whose district includes Los Angeles public schools. According to U.S. News and World Report: “Los Angeles Uniﬁed School District spends $19,576 per student each year.” And what are taxpayers getting in return? The publication reports that in math elementary students are at just 33% proﬁciency By middle school the number drops to 25%. It declines further to 18% by

high school. It’s not much better with reading where the numbers are 40%, 38% and 46, respectively Perhaps Rep. Waters ought to focus on the schools in her district rather than engage in bad political theater in Washington that helps no child. Once again, we see how money and education achievement are unrelated. If they were, these proﬁciency levels would be much higher It’s a major reason school choice is winning approval in increasing numbers of states, thanks to an executive order by President Trump, perhaps soon at the national level.

Back to the main reason Democrats, the party of big government, are apoplectic when it comes to Musk. Their main criticism is that no one elected him.

Who “elected” the people responsible for these wasteful, fraudulent and in many cases, unnecessary and duplicative programs? The answer is no one. They are mostly appointed or hired bureaucrats and regulators who have made life (and the cost) worse for America. Sometimes it takes a chainsaw, instead of a scalpel, to get a job done. So far, voters who put Trump in ofﬁce for a second term appear to be pleased with his (and Musk’s) performance. According to the latest YouGov poll: “Slightly more Americans strongly or somewhat approve of Donald Trump’s job performance (46%) than disapprove (44%).” The breakdown by party shows approval by “90% of Republicans, 38% of Independents, and 10% of Democrats.” Democrats claim that cutting or ending some U.S. foreign aid will cause poor children to starve. Some news organizations, who have lost credibility among many Americans, follow suit. Much of the public seems not to be buying what they are selling. Three weeks into Trump’s second term, Democrats have nothing new to offer the country and that’s where Trump and Musk would like them to stay while they continue making cuts.

Email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@ tribpub.com.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ALEX BRANDON

President Donald Trump listens as Elon Musk speaks in the Oval Office at the White House on Tuesday in Washington.

Ruth Marcus Cal Thomas

Cooke was shot and killed by a motel manager in Los Angeles on Dec. 11, 1964, at the age of 33. Born in Lafayette on Aug. 7, 1948, August loved zydeco since childhood. His uncle was accordionist Claude Duffy, and after attending

STUDENTS

Continued from page 1B

reinforces the district’s “commitment to academic excellence and the effectiveness of targeted interventions.” Those interventions are teaching strategies or programs that use data to specifically support students who struggle with a certain skill or subject. The district also used federal pandemic relief funding to pay for teachers

BLOTTER

Continued from page 1B

If you see Williams or have any information on his whereabouts, contact LPSO at (337) 232-9211.

Police: Man faces child porn charges

A St. Martin Parish truck driver had 44 additional sex crime charges brought

ELECTION

Continued from page 1B

State Rep. Larry Selders, a social worker who runs a substance abuse clinic and an affordable housing development firm, has represented Baton Rouge in the Louisiana House since 2019. Competing against him for the open Senate seat are Quentin Anthony Anderson, a social justice advocate and owner of a graphic and web design business, and Carolyn Hill, a social worker, political consultant and former member of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Lafayette state Rep. Brach Myers, a senior executive at national home health care business LHC Group, won election to the Louisiana House in 2023, his first foray into elected office. He is now running against Broussard City Council member Jesse Regan, who was first elected to that post in 2019. Regan is a mortgage lender, real estate developer

Louisiana School for the Blind in Baton Rouge, August sang and played drums with Duffy’s band. When he was only 11, his skills on the drums attracted the attention of R&B performer Esquerita, who is credited as an early inﬂuence on Little Richard. August played percussion and keyboards with Esquerita when the singer was in New Orleans, and at an early

to work with students in after-school extended learning programs.

The report showed that most demographics showed academic growth in both math and reading since 2019. The only demographic not to show growth between 2019 and 2024 were Hispanic students who on average were about 12% farther below grade level in math and 3% farther below grade level in reading.

Black students, Hispanic students and students below poverty level were all below

point in his career he also regularly played with another burgeoning young star — Grammy winner Stanley Dural, of Buckwheat Zydeco fame.

An accomplished organist, as well as pianist, accordionist, drummer and singer, August was especially active in the 1980s and ’90s. He recorded albums “Creole Cruiser” and “Sauce Piquante,” toured Europe, and

grade level in math in 2024. Black students, Hispanic students, students below poverty level and boys were all below grade level in reading in 2024.

But the report noted that recovery is hindered by chronic absenteeism, which is when student miss more than 10% of a school year, rose sharply in the state from 18% of students in 2019 before the pandemic to 25% in 2024.

About 21% of Lafayette Parish students were chroni-

The report offered four

against him after he was initially arrested for child pornography Devon Poirier, 33, of St. Martinville, faces 41 additional counts of pornography involving juveniles under 13 on top of his original three counts He also now faces three counts of unlawful deepfakes depicting child sexual abuse, according to a Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce announcement.

Last month, the TPSO’s Internet Crimes Against

and business owner A Feb. 15 special primary election was called to ﬁll the two vacancies in the Legislature after Cleo Fields, a Baton Rouge Democrat, won election to the U.S. House and after Jean-Paul Coussan, a Lafayette Republican, won his race for the Louisiana Public Service Commission in November. They left behind seats representing Baton Rouge’s Senate District 14 and Lafayette’s Senate District 23. Whoever wins in Baton Rouge will represent an area that covers some of the parish’s poorest neighborhoods to the north and wealthier neighborhoods to south, in-

Children Unit began investigating the transmission of video files involving the sexual abuse of an infant being shared through an online chat platform.

During the investigation, Poirier, a truck driver who travels the country was identiﬁed as the source of the transmissions.

Following his arrest, a search of his truck uncovered more than 30 electronic devices. Analysis of the devices led to his

cluding part of the newly incorporated St. George, as well as downtown and parts of the LSU campus. If none of the candidates wins more than 50% of the vote Saturday a runoff is set for March 29. The winner in Lafayette will represent an area that encompasses much of the city’s central and south sides, stretching up north through Scott and Ossun and down south through Youngsville, the city’s largest suburb.

Voters can conﬁrm if they live in either Senate district and ﬁnd their polling location

LOTTERY WEDNESDAY, FEB 12, 2025

PICK 3: 0-3-8

PICK 4: 0-4-8-7

PICK 5: 9-1-4-7-8

EASY 5: 3-7-16-26-27

started a company called Touch Tech in the mid-1990s, designing and selling computers for the visually impaired.

A 1992 column for the Los Angeles Times, written by Bill Locey, reveals what a compelling figure August was. Locey interviewed August before the city’s Ojai Bowlful of Blues festival, and called August’s band, the Hot August Knights, “about

recommendations: States and districts should double down on academic catch-up efforts funded by now-gone federal relief; mayors, employers and community leaders should work with schools to reduce student absenteeism; teachers should inform parents when a student is not on grade level; and learn from other districts and states about what’s working and what’s not.

Email Ashley White at ashley.white@theadvocate. com.

additional charges.

Several agencies helped TPSO in this investigation, including Attorney General Liz Murrill’s Ofﬁce and their ICAC Task Force, SMPSO, St John Parish Sheriff’s Office and Louisiana DOTD Police.

The ICAC teams continue their work, which includes attempting to identify how Poirier accessed the videos and information about any of the individuals that Poirier sent the videos.

by checking their voter registration card, calling their parish registrar of voters, or checking online at www GeauxVote.com or on Louisiana’s GeauxVote mobile app.

Email Alyse Pfeil at alyse. pfeil@theadvocate.com.

the coolest zydeco band to ever squeeze an accordion.”

Despite his visual impairment, August said he “loved old music and old cars,” saying, “the only thing I don’t like is, no one will let me drive my own car.”

In the interview August stated, “I guess my music is more of a traditional, bluesy style.”

“It’s a lot like Clifton Chenier, which isn’t really what

I want to do —

LOTTO: 6-9-18-19-27-34 POWERBALL: 21-32-36-45-49 (18) Unofficial notification, keep your tickets.

Loaded ragin’ cajuns look to chase another Sun belt title and a trip to omaha

cajuns LhP chase morgan

1 Derek Curiel • LF, Fr. • (L)

Curiel was the No. 10 player in the nation out of high school, per Perfect Game, and is mature beyond his years at the plate. His elite speed also means he can play center field.

2. Steven Milam • SS, So. • (S) “Monster” Milam came up big in the postseason last year and shined all season defensively at second base This year, he’s moving to shortstop and will be a prominent piece of the lineup

3. Jared Jones • 1B, Jr. • (R) Jones has decided to put off his major league dreams for another season, returning to LSU after blasting 28 home runs. He’ll provide a necessary thump to the Tigers’ lineup in 2025

4. Josh Pearson • DH, Sr. • (L)

Pearson is the Tigers’ lone threeyear returning starter and the only player who was on Johnson’s first LSU team in 2022 He brings a veteran presence that Johnson covets

5 Daniel Dickinson 2B, Jr. (R) A transfer from Utah Valley State, Dickinson has gone from freshman walk-on to preseason third-team All-American after posting a 1.085 on-base plus slugging percentage with the Wolverines last year

6. Jake Brown • RF, So. • (L) Brown took a big step forward offensively this fall, making him a strong candidate to start in the Tigers’ crowded outfield. More power may be in store after he added weight in the offseason

7. Luis Hernandez C, Sr • (R) Hernandez, a transfer from Indiana State, only played three games at catcher last season But LSU’s been impressed with his defense this preseason/fall, and he blasted 23 homers last year

8. Michael Braswell •3B, Sr • (R) Braswell will change positions after serving as LSU’s shortstop last season. At the plate, more power could be coming. Tendonitis in both knees hampered his ability to drive the ball.

9. Chris Stanfield • CF, Jr • (R) The Auburn transfer starts in center thanks to his elite speed and experience at the position Offensively, LSU has adjusted his mechanics, similarly to what the Tigers did with Braswell last year.

Tanner Reaves, INF, R-Jr (L)

Reaves is a junior college transfer who led Blinn College to its first-ever junior college national championship last summer His defensive versatility will be key — he can play seven positions.

Ashton Larson • OF, So. • (L)

During much of SEC play last season, Larson was one of LSU’s best hitters His ability to make consistent contact and get on base will be valuable for this deep Tigers’ lineup.

Ethan Frey • OF, Jr • (R) Frey often started at DH against left-handed pitching a season ago. Now fully recovered from his shoulder injury, he can play a corner outfield spot while providing versatility for the lineup.

Cade Arrambide • C, Fr. • (R)

Arrambide had a chance to be selected in the first few rounds of the MLB draft as the No. 2 catcher in the nation out of high school. He’s strong has a big arm and a powerful bat.

LSU slugger Jones always has been physically mature, but now he’s ready to lead the Tigers during his third season.

ALL GROWN UP

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

Jared Jones still remembers the conversation It was his freshman year, and the LSU ﬁrst baseman was hitting off of a tee the morning after a rough day at the plate. He was in the starting lineup but struggling. He needed to clear his head.

Then Paul Skenes walked into the room.

“Why are you hitting off a tee?” Skenes asked.

“I don’t know, just trying to get my mind off things,” Jones replied.

“You remind me a lot of myself,” Skenes said Skenes, LSU’s ace that season, went on to start the MLB All-Star Game and win the National League Rookie of the Year award less than two years later But in this moment, he proceeded to ask a question: “Do you know who I played my ﬁrst college game against?”

Jones knew the answer It was LSU. Skenes began his collegiate career as a two-way player at Air Force and primarily was a hitter His debut was nearly four years before LSU’s season opener on Friday against Purdue Fort Wayne (2 p.m., SEC Network+).

“You know what my stat line was that weekend?” Skenes asked Jones.

“No,” Jones replied.

“0 for 11, nine Ks,” Skenes said. (He actually went 0 for 8 with ﬁve strikeouts.)

“Yeah, not a good weekend,” Jones said.

“No, not a good weekend,” Skenes agreed.

The rest of the year didn’t go swimmingly for Jones. He lost his starting job by the time the postseason came around, mostly watching from the bench as LSU went on to win its seventh national championship on the backs of Skenes, Dylan Crews, Tommy White, Tre Morgan, Cade Beloso and Gavin Dugas, among others.

Jones learned from all of them.

“The senior leadership kind of helped mold (Jared) to understand the standard at LSU along with the coaches,” Jones’ father, George, said. “Even through the struggles of his freshman year, he leaned heavily on the seniors for emotional and performance support. And they embraced him.”

After hitting 28 home runs the next season and turning down Major League Baseball for a second time, Jones — aka

“Bear” — returns to LSU for his junior year as the face of the program.

He enters this season as the No. 1 ﬁrst baseman in the nation, according to D1Baseball. As Skenes once was for him, he’ll be the man his new teammates look up to as the Tigers bring back only 12 players who played in a game for them a year ago.

But what led Jones to this moment — becoming the star power hitter and centerpiece of a consensus top-5 team in the country was more than just one conversation with Skenes.

“He has matured mentally and emotionally beyond what I could have imagined he would,” Michelle Jones, Jared’s mother, said.

An extra year

Michelle wishes they’d done it with their older son.

Her and her husband had gone through it four times before, having three daughters and a son enter high school at a young age and graduate before turning 18. But the chaos of raising so many children didn’t give them the time to think about whether they should let their kids attend school with legal adults.

“Do we really want our 14-year-old being around 17 and 18-year-old people?” George said.

Despite his size Jared grew 10 inches in the summer between seventh and eighth grade — and strong grades, he was young for his grade because he

was born on Aug. 1. With most of Jones’ four older siblings out of the house, Michelle and George had the time and perspective to choose a different route for Jared before he reached high school.

After his eighth grade year — and after the local school system didn’t agree to hold him back Michelle and George pulled Jared out of school to home-school him for a year before he attended Walton High.

Jones’ routine that year was wellorganized. He’d wake up early each morning as Michelle was getting ready for work The night before, she would lay out the next day’s curriculum with Jared. George, who worked from home, was tasked with making sure Jared did his schoolwork. Michelle would return home in the afternoon and go over any questions he had and made sure he accomplished what needed to get done that day The online curriculum he worked with was a Georgia accredited system. “He wasn’t laying around in bed until 10 o’clock,” Michelle said, “and rolling up in his pajamas to do schoolwork.”

Once he ﬁnished his school assignments, Jared would work on his game with his father in the afternoons. For three days a week, George would bring him to the batting cages or help him practice his blocking and throwing as a catcher. He’d also work out in the makeshift weight room in their basement garage.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU first baseman Jared Jones is seen on Feb 4 at Alex Box Stadium. The slugger will begin his third season at LSU on Friday

George relished having the opportunity to spend extra time with his son. It was something that wasn’t afforded to him with his four other children

“He probably thinks I’m a little bit intense,” George said. “But I completely enjoyed that time because there were zero distractions.”

Jared doesn’t remember many specifics from that year, except that he worked out a lot and may have been a little bored. But there was no denying how important that time was for his development on and off the ﬁeld

By the beginning of his freshman year, he received a scholarship offer from LSU.

“It seems to have worked out,”

George said. “We feel like it’s one of our best decisions as a family.”

Surviving the draft, twice

Shane Amos hasn’t forgotten the ﬁrst time he saw Jones

It was the fall of Jared’s freshman year, and Amos was in the weight room as the future LSU slugger walked in.

“I said, ‘Oh my goodness. That’s a big boy,’ “ Amos said.

He then remembers seeing Jared hit in the cages for the ﬁrst time, and how the sound of the bat against the ball was different.

“I knew right then,” said Amos, the Walton baseball coach

This was a sound Jones made often throughout his four seasons playing for Amos. At Walton, he posted an .814 slugging percentage, .450 batting average and blasted 35 home runs.

He started at designated hitter as a freshman before becoming Walton’s catcher and part-time ﬁrst baseman for the remainder of his high school career. Perfect Game ranked him as the No. 4 catcher in the nation in the 2022 class.

“You don’t see guys like that just walk in the door that can move like he can,” Amos said, “that can do the things he could do.”

As he continued to ascend as a high school prospect, Jared’s college recruitment was relatively free of drama

He didn’t go on many recruiting trips because of COVID-19, but it hardly mattered He committed to LSU roughly a year after receiving his scholarship offer, the same day Skip Bertman’s statue was unveiled in front of Alex Box Stadium

George said Jared never seriously considered going anywhere else, not even Georgia.

“No. 1, it’s LSU. It’s the Yankees of college baseball,” George said. “But then I just think he wanted to go somewhere and make a name for himself, that he wasn’t already that guy.”

Jared still had to navigate the MLB Draft before arriving at school. But, despite being one of the 50 best high school players in the nation, he entered the process with low expectations.

He was right. No team came close to snatching him up in the draft.

“Looking back on it,” Jared said, “absolutely I was not ready for (pro ball).”

His mother agreed, even if she never told him what to do.

“I felt he was going to have more of a safety net, if you will, at LSU,” Michelle said. “Look at the life you live at a place like LSU versus grinding it out in the minor leagues.”

Two seasons at LSU quickly came and went. Despite his freshman year struggles, he made the 2023 All-SEC freshman team before breaking out as a sophomore, leading the Tigers in slugging percentage, on-base percentage and homers.

For most sophomores, a big season like the one Jared had would set him up for a critical junior year where he’d be draft eligible that summer But his birthday was on the cutoff date for draft-eligible sophomores, meaning that he could get picked in the 2024 draft.

“When we held him back in the eighth grade I didn’t realize that he would be draft eligible as a sophomore (in college),” George said.

Michelle believed her son was ready to go to the next level this time around, if the opportunity arose. The only problem was she didn’t want the family’s experience with LSU to come to an end.

“I had very very mixed emotions about which way I wanted it to go for him,” Michelle said. “I mean, obviously the end game for him and his lifelong dream is to play professional baseball. But there has been nothing like what we have experienced at LSU.

As for Jared, he didn’t know what would happen next. Finishing the year on a high note — he homered in six of LSU’s last nine games led him to believe that perhaps he was ready for pro ball.

That didn’t mean he didn’t want to come back to school With the help of his parents and his agent, longtime family friend Trevor Kieboom, Jones

set a high dollar figure for teams to reach in large part because of “the opportunity that I still had (at LSU).”

Throughout the summer leading up to the draft, he also realized what he wanted wasn’t the most relevant aspect of his situation. Whether a team drafted him or not was mostly out of his control.

“Everybody was like, ‘It’s your decision. Do what makes you happy.’ And I would just sit there and I’d try (to) reﬂect on it, think deeply about what I wanted,” he said. “But at the end of the day, I just decided, ‘You know what, it’s not really my decision.’ “

The number Jared had set for himself was high enough to where he probably would’ve had to be picked in the ﬁrst three rounds for him to leave for professional baseball.

That ended up not being the case. He called Johnson after the ﬁrst night of the draft, saying that “he was pretty much coming back to school.”

“On the off chance something crazy happens tomorrow, I will call you,” Jared remembers telling Johnson.

Jared heard “some stuff” through Kieboom about potentially getting selected in the third round, but that never came to pass No team came close to matching his asking price in the end.

But the outcome wasn’t a disappointment for Jared and his family Either way was a win.

“Look at the choices you get. You get the Cadillac Escalade with full leather interior and all of the bells and whistles, or you get the Lincoln Navigator with the leather interior and all the bells and whistles. Are you losing?”

George said. “God willing, and he stays healthy pro ball is going to be there.”

Living with a ‘Monster’

The house Steven Milam bought in Baton Rouge has three extra bedrooms, but he wanted to ﬁll only one.

His roommate, LSU teammate and freshman inﬁelder Ryan Kucherak had entered the transfer portal after the 2024 season. Milam likes to be alone sometimes, but he still wanted to have someone around to accompany him and his two Belgian Malinois, Drizzy and Nicki.

It just so happened that Jared and his black lab Remington were room-andboard free agents.

“I would say he’s more like a little kid than anything,” Milam, a sophomore inﬁelder, said. “Everybody sees a big 6-foot6 kid and living with him is awesome.”

Thanks to the dogs, life can be chaotic in the Jones-Milam house. They’ve come home to chewed up shoes and a deconstructed bed with its fuzz littered “everywhere.” Milam aka “Monster” estimates the dogs have destroyed six beds.

“(Remy) might be the biggest lab I’ve ever seen in my life,” Milam said. “She’s like 100 pounds, she has so much fat. She bullies my two dogs.”

The rest of their house is low-key Jared likes to play video games, mostly “Fortnite.” He’ll often play it with his brother online. Sometimes Milam and Jones play “Call of Duty” together Milam often cooks with his girlfriend. Jones, on the other hand, isn’t much of a cook. He’ll often order food to be delivered to the house instead.

“Usually, I don’t have a lot of time to do all that (cooking),” Jones said. Jones has even less time on his hands these days with the season quickly approaching. He spent the offseason looking to improve his plate discipline and defense at ﬁrst base. He’s also taken on a greater leadership role with the team.

He’s made time for some things outside of baseball as well, including a pledge to donate $100 to the Make-AWish foundation for every homer the Tigers hit this season. He hopes LSU fans and boosters join him this year in contributing to the charity

“I’ve seen him grow into somebody who’s really interested in paying it forward and giving back for the blessings he has received,” Michelle said, “and try to take a role in being part of the community that he has been embraced by.”

Jones’ success hasn’t blown up his ego or rushed to his head. In part because of the sarcastic nature of his family, he remains humble.

“I can go home for Thanksgiving, and they’re not going to tell me how great I am, and that I had such a great year,” he said. “They’re going to tell me how bad I am and that I need to do better and that if they were in my shoes, they would have this stat line and be better than me.”

He maintains that level headedness even when asked about how he plans on taking advantage of his third season at LSU. His response revolves around the team. He never mentions himself, only the common goal he shares with his teammates about winning another championship.

But LSU’s 2023 national championship team still had stars, players who could elevate those around them with their play on the ﬁeld and their inﬂuence off of it.

That’s who Skenes, Crews and White were for Jones, and that’s whom Jones has become for this year’s team.

“I would say kind of getting him back here was big. I mean, it was the biggest thing for this program,” Milam said. “... Showing that he wants to be here and turning down that contract of whatever he got, it’s a big (deal).

“Kind of opened my eyes a lot, like, hey he wants another shot at this.”

Skenes, Crews and White propelled LSU to its ﬁrst national title in 14 years. It’s now Jones’ turn to try to do the same two years later

“When you put those three names and then me,” Jones said, “it doesn’t feel like I should even be considered in the same conversation as that.”

Email Koki Riley at Koki.Riley@theadvocate.com.

WEEKEND STARTERS

Friday: Kade Anderson • LHP, So. Anderson was dominant during the preseason and fall, adding a tight slider while improving his command. If he keeps it up, he could be a first-round pick this summer

Saturday: Anthony Eyanson • RHP, Jr. Eyanson transferred to LSU from UC San Diego this offseason. Last season, he posted a 3.07 ERA in 82 innings before playing with the U.S. Collegiate National Team over the summer

Sunday: Chase Shores • RHP, R-So. Shores also has a chance to be a first-round pick this summer, starting games as a freshman before Tommy John surgery sidelined him for a year and a half.When healthy, his fastball is up to 100 mph.

TOP RELIEVERS

Conner Ware • LHP,

college transfer the past two years but he has the talent to be drafted in the first few rounds.

William Schmidt • RHP, Fr Schmidt easily could have been a first-round pick, but he decided to come to school instead. His fastball sits around 95 mph, and he might have the best curveball on the team.

Casan Evans • RHP, Fr Evans was a two-way player out of high school but his focus is now set on the mound.The decision has paid off already, as his fastball was up to 99 mph this fall.

Mavrick Rizy • RHP, Fr At 6-foot-9 and 253 pounds, Rizy towers over hitters.The freshman from Massachusetts has a fastball that sits in the mid-90s and a sharp slider to attack hitters with.

Gavin Guidry • RHP, Jr. Guidry returns after two seasons of being one of the Tigers’ top relief pitchers.This year, he’s looking to expand his role and become a multi-inning reliever or a starter

Zac Cowan • RHP, Jr Cowan, a Wofford transfer is a strike-throwing machine and was a workhorse last season. He posted a 3.35 ERA and threw three complete games in 110 innings as the Terriers’ ace.

Connor Benge • RHP, Jr Benge transferred to LSU from Dallas Baptist this summer He was also a third-team junior college All-American at LSUEunice in 2023 and has a two-seam fastball that’s in the mid-90s.

Cooper Williams, LHP, Fr Williams was committed to Texas A&M before a coaching change this summer changed his pledge. He was the No. 12 left-handed pitcher in the nation out of high school.

Jacob Mayers • RHP, Jr Mayers was a strikeout master at Nicholls State before transferring to LSU He struck out 106 batters and held opponents to a .165 batting average last year despite walking 76 hitters in 702/3 innings.

Dalton Beck • LHP/OF, Sr After transferring to LSU from Incarnate Word, Beck provides versatility as a two-way player. He hit 18 home runs with a .733 slugging percentage last season and gives Johnson a left-handed option in relief.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU first baseman Jared Jones poses for a photo on Feb 4 at Alex Box Stadium.

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

LSU outfielder Josh Pearson, left, returns to first base behind first baseman Jared Jones during a scrimmage on Jan. 24 at Alex Box Stadium.

2025 COLLEGE BASEBALL PREVIEW

PROJECTED LINEUP

Jose Torres • C • Sr.

Torres wasn’t the offensive force Julian Brock was, but he wasted no time creating his own path as the Cajuns’ new leader Torres hit 310, so any upgrade there would be a huge bonus.

Lee Amedee • 1B • Jr.

A preseason all-Sun Belt pick as a third baseman,Amedee is expected to see time at first base, while looking to build on his all-regional performance in College Station, Texas, last spring

Sam Ardoin • 2B • Soph.

Texas transfer is hoping to help fill a hole at second with John Taylor graduating Entering a busy competition up the middle, Ardoin has impressed with his knowledge and passion for the game.

Drew Markle • SS • Soph.

No one is asking this Ole Miss transfer to replace Twins first-round pick Kyle DeBarge. Still, the coaches say Markle has the skill set to be a weapon with his bat and his glove

Connor Cuff • 3B • Soph.

Cuff certainly looks the part of a big physical third baseman at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds. He missed the fall recovering from surgery, but signs point toward a breakout season at a need position.

Conor Higgs • LF • R-Sr

Last season, Higgs endured more ups and downs than he planned for at .264 with 11 homers and 32 RBIs, so the idea is to fulfill all of that potential he showed in the stretch drive of the 2023 season.

Caleb Stelly • CF • Jr.

From the beginning of the fall season through January practice sessions, Stelly has been the team’s most productive hitter He established himself down the stretch with a hot finish and seems primed for a breakout spring.

Luke Yuhasz • RF • Jr.

One of the “pups” as coach Matt Deggs still calls them three years into it,yuhasz has the chance to be an everyday player early on after some flashes last season to finish at .318 with seven homers and 21 RBIs.

Maddox Mandino • DH • Soph.

A special two-way performer for the Cajuns, Mandino may hit and pitch in the same game on occasion. He could serve mostly as a speedy offensive option to get on base and create havoc.

TOP PITCHERS

Chase Morgan • LHP • Soph.

The SBC’s preseason Pitcher of the year showed what all the hype was about last year with a 5-3 record and 3.18 ERA.The UL coaching staff doesn’t see a sophomore slump from this lefty

Blake McGehee • RHP • R-Jr

Finally healthy and more refined, McGehee should be great for the UL rotation. He’s expected to start more than just five games like he did last season. Don’t be fooled by the 5.12 ERA a year ago.

Parker Dillhoff • LHP • Jr.

This 6-4, 240-pounder may be a weekend starter in time. Either way, the transfer is expected to play a big role with the ability to be a workhorse with high velocity

Andrew Herrmann • LHP • Sr.

Coming off a stellar season at 6-3 with a 3.09 ERA, the unconventional lefty is hoping to continue frustrating opposing hitters.After starting the offseason a little banged up, he should be a major contender for a weekend spot.

Dylan Theut • LHP • R-Sr

He’s part of the heart and soul of the Cajuns despite sitting out all of last season injured.Whatever the staff needs — from middle relief to closing at times and an occasional start Theut can provide it.

James Trimble • RHP • Jr.

HisAlvin Junior College days were slowed a bit with a back injury,but his velocity is getting better and the Cajuns like his mental makeup to be a shutdown option out of the bullpen.

Matthew Holzhammer RHP Sr.

The encouraging start to last season was slowed some with arm issues, but he’s healthy again. Holzhammer won three games and had four saves last season, so he’s a legitimate option to be the closer

Tate Hess • RHP • Soph.

One of a long list of pitchers the coaching staff is expecting to emerge this season. If he continues to progress, Hess figures to play a key role in UL’s bullpen, but could also be a potential midweek starter Kevin Foote

‘WE’RE

THAT ATHLETIC’

UL hoping to return to regional for fourth straight season

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

The UL baseball program has qualiﬁed for NCAA regional play in four straight seasons on three different times over the years.

Coach Matt Deggs and the 2025 Ragin’ Cajuns are hoping to make it a fourth such stretch this spring.

“It’s time to move on from spring training into the season,” Deggs said Monday in preparation for Friday’s 6 p.m. season opener against San Jose State at Russo Park. “I like our ballclub. We’re athletic and got some top-ﬂight guys on the bump.”

That starts with Sun Belt Preseason Pitcher of the Year Chase Morgan, a sophomore starter who was 5-3 with a 3.18 ERA last season

“Chase Morgan, I would expect, good Lord willing and he stays healthy, to get just a phenomenal season out of him,” Deggs said. “He’s really turned a corner and matured and his stuff is playing way up right now.

“It’s 92-95 (mph) and (an) 86-88 slider with a banger curveball and a pretty good changeup — and a lot of compete to go with it. Just stuff-wise, it’s what it looks like.”

If everything goes as planned, Morgan will be followed on Saturdays with junior right-hander Blake McGehee (3-2, 5.12).

“He’s pitching like a professional right now,” Deggs said of McGehee.

“It’s dotting up four pitches whenever he wants. I’m expecting big things out of him.”

Andrew Herrmann, who served as the ace for much of last season, is battling an illness and a nagging shoulder and isn’t expected to pitch this weekend.

In his place, transfer Parker Dillhoff will start Game 3 on Sunday

As for the everyday lineup and the bullpen, the next month will determine most of that.

“It’s like we’ve got two teams,” said Deggs, whose Cajuns were 42-20 and won the Sun Belt crown last season

“We’ve got some older preseason guys and then there’s this whole other group of young pups that are super, super gifted and athletic that can play

“There’s big competition out there. They’re making my job tough.”

The early mainstays appear to be Jose Torres (.310, three HRs, 35 RBIs) at catcher, Lee Amedee (.278, four HRs, 33 RBIs) at first base, Conor Higgs (.264, 11 HRs, 32 RBIs) in left field, Caleb Stelly (.296, 33 RBIs) in center field and Luke Yuhasz (.318, seven HRs, 21 RBIs) in right field.

“He’s just a natural center ﬁelder left or right, he’s OK,” Deggs said of Stelly “He just sees the ball well in center He gets to it easy and he catches it easy and takes great routes and angles and he’s got a really good arm.

“Move him to a corner and it’s all right — move him to center and it’s lights out. It’s just one of the oddities

Transfer Drew Markle will get the first try to replace first-round draft pick Kyle DeBarge at shortstop for the UL Ragin’ Cajuns this season.

of the game. I’ve seen it before.”

The big question is replacing ﬁrstround pick Kyle DeBarge at shortstop and John Taylor at second base.

The early favorites are Ole Miss transfer Drew Markle at shortstop and Texas transfer Sam Ardoin at second base.

“Those are prove-it-to-me positions, you’ve got to prove it every day,” Deggs said. “So the middle guys have to prove they can dominate routine plays and they’ve done that. I don’t have any reason to believe otherwise, but that’s a prove-it-to-me position everything is subject to change.” Sophomore Connor Cuff (.214, seven RBIs in 47 at-bats) will get the ﬁrst shot at third. Beyond those veterans and transfers is a long list of freshman the staff can’t stop talking about.

“We’ve got two or three newcomers

that will push to be in the big leagues one day,” Deggs said. “We’re that athletic.”

Among that group is Brooks Wright and Mark Collins in the outfield and also such talented prospects as Kasen Bellard, Griffin Hebert, Owen Galt and Trip Dobson in the infield.

Sophomore Maddox Mandino is another option in the outﬁeld or on the mound.

Much like at shortstop, no one is expecting anyone to replace starting pitcher LP Langevin from a year ago, but there are many candidates to help that cause. One is junior transfer James Trimble from Galveston, Texas.

“He’s been great since he’s been here, no problems at all (with back),” pitching coach Gunner Leger said of Trimble. “At one time, James was 9495 (mph) consistently You saw ﬂashes of that, and you’re kind of seeing the (veolocity) continue to tick up.

“I think James can be that guy He’s got that level of stuff. I think he’s wired for it.”

There’s also senior team leader Dylan Theut back after missing a season with an injury

“He’s one of those guys who could push for a starter’s role, but he’s also so dynamic that he’s wired for that late-inning moment or shutting the water off and stop the bleeding if we’re in a dogﬁght,” Deggs said of Theut. “He can do a lot of things for you.”

Matthew Holzhammer (3-1, 4.78) is back after getting four saves last year

“We’re more than talented enough to do it and handle it, but you’ve got to get thrown in the ﬁre,” Leger said. “You can’t really replicate when Nebraska rolls in and it’s 2-2 in the eighth and thousands of people in the stands.”

Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTOS By BRAD KEMP

UL will count heavily on Sun Belt Preseason Pitcher of the year Chase Morgan this season, starting at 6 p.m. Friday against San Jose State.

‘Heart and soul of our ball club’

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

His first response was simply to smile. Then UL senior catcher Jose Torres attempted to answer the question.

Exactly how did a little-known junior college transfer become such a huge fan favorite with the Ragin’ Cajuns faithful at Russo Park so quickly last season?

“I’ve got to be honest, I don’t know,” Torres laughed. “I have no clue.”

The rest of his answer explained it perfectly, perhaps without the former San Jacinto Junior College star even realizing it.

“The only thing I can tell you is every day I go to the ﬁeld, I’m just like a little kid,” Torres said. “I try to do the best that I can. I really, really enjoy having people behind me and showing me that they appreciate what I’m doing.”

The native of Panama speaks with a thick Spanish, but there never was a language barrier between him and Cajuns fans with their unique version of English.

“Showing them that effort and that desire you don’t really have to speak it, you can just do it,” Torres said.

In this me-ﬁrst era of college athletics, his responses are almost too good to believe.

“The least I can do is give them my best, and that’s something I try to do on a daily basis,” Torres said.

It’s almost like his approach to the game came right out of an old Tony Robichaux lecture on how to be the team leader.

“Being able to have eyes on me is something that’s a privilege and something I try to keep in mind on a daily basis as a way to be grateful for where I’m at and the people that I’m supporting,” he said.

Making his transition more impressive is Torres was following one of the kindest and most talented catchers in the program’s history in Julian Brock.

In his ﬁnal two seasons at UL, Brock hit better than .300 both seasons and smashed a combined 18 homers with 99 RBIs to get drafted in the eighth round by the Texas Rangers.

“I knew about the catcher that was

here, but in my mind I understood at the end of the day I am Jose,” said Torres who began the interview by giving all the credit to God.

“I am a different person and I have to bring what I have to help the team,” he said. “So more than just looking up to the guy that was before me, I was 100% sure that I could be my own person and be the best I can be for the program.”

Needless to say, coach Matt Deggs has to pinch himself sometimes to make sure his catcher is real.

“He’s the heart and soul of our ball club and a clubhouse favorite,” Deggs said.

Torres also happens to be really good at what he does on the ﬁeld.

“He’s a leader of that defense and for

sure that pitching staff,” Deggs said.

“That’s his game out there and he’s going to let you know about it. He’s tough. He’s there every day He’s strong and competitive. He’s as good a receiver as I’ve ever had.”

Even the offensive side of the game isn’t about himself.

“If somebody in front of me just hit a double, he’s already given half of the job,” Torres said of hitting approach

“Now I just have to do my part together and ﬁnd a way to bring it in or advance him.

“It’s not so much, ‘How can I approach the at-bat?’ It’s more about, ‘How can I make the guy behind me jobs easier and how can I help my team win?’ more than

the success or my batting average.”

That mindset apparently works for the 5-foot-8, 195-pound catcher, who batted .310 with 10 doubles, three homers and 35 RBIs last season.

“He’s got a knack. If you just watch his (batting practice), you’re like, ‘OK,’ but he’s got a knack for the big hit and a ﬂare for the dramatic,” Deggs said. “When the lights ﬂip on, it’s go time and what’s what we saw out of (Torres) a year ago.”

In hindsight, asking him about his offensive goals this season was futile.

“I usually don’t like to talk about that too much,” he said. “Whether I’m doing good or I’m doing bad, you can expect me to be the guy who is bringing the energy and keep my guys on the game and ﬁnd a way to run.

“I’m not going to let my results get in the way It’s all about toughness and showing that grit that makes the difference between us and the other guys.”

No, he wasn’t reading out of a “how to be the best teammate of all time” manual. By all accounts, it’s who he is and apparently UL’s fans sensed that from the start, evidenced by the extra-loud cheers when his name is announced.

For Torres, his duties as a leader began even before last year’s season opener as the veterans welcomed one of the most talented freshman classes in recent memory

“Setting boundaries and telling them the expectations and not only telling them, but acting the way we’re expecting them to act even when we’re tired and don’t really want to,” he said. “If we can’t show them what to do — if we can’t guide them what to do, then we aren’t doing our jobs as leaders.”

After the fall season, news came from the NCAA that Torres could get another year of eligibility after this season if he’s not drafted.

“If he wants to sign a professional contract, I hope it happens,” Deggs said. “If not, we’d love to have him back.”

As would thousands of adoring UL baseball fans.

Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@theadvocate.com.

2025 COLLEGE BASEBALL PREVIEW

CONFERENCE GAUNTLET

Previewing the SEC’s top baseball players, teams entering 2025 s

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

It has become nearly impossible to dispute the Southeastern Conference’s dominance in baseball over the past de An SEC program has made a national championship game in all but one of the last 10 completed seasons. A team league has played in the championship series in each of the last seven full seasons, and the conference has captured ﬁve consecutive national titles

The streak continued last summer when Tennessee took down Texas A&M in the third all-SEC ﬁnal in four year

The SEC’s dominance on the diamond should continue in 2025. Six of the top 10 teams in D1Baseball’s preseason rankings from the conference, including No. 1 Texas A&M, No. 3 LSU, No. 4 Tennessee, No. 5 Arkansas, No. 8 Georgia and No. 10 Florida. Here’s a preview of where the league stands heading into the new year

TEXAS A&M

The Aggies have a new coach in Michael Earley following Jim Schlossnagle’s unceremonious departure to Texas. But they still bring back a lot from a team that was a win away from a national championship. Leading the charge is Golden Spikes Award favorite Jace LaViolette and firstteam All-American Gavin Grahovac.

TENNESSEE

As the reigning national champions, the Volunteers lost a plethora of key pieces from last season’s team. However, they reloaded through the portal, adding Ole Miss third baseman Andrew Fischer and left-handed pitcher Liam Doyle, as well as Louisville shortstop Gavin Kilen (.330 batting average). Shortstop Dean Curley headlines a smaller group of returning contributors.

LSU

Six starters in LSU’s lineup return but 12 of its top 14 pitchers from last season in terms of innings are gone.To replace the lost production, LSU was aggressive in the portal and maintained its elite-level high school recruits. Freshman William Schmidt and UC San Diego transfer Anthony Eyanson highlight the incoming group.

ARKANSAS

Offense was the Razorbacks’Achilles’ heel a season ago, and it won’t help that infielder Peyton Stovall is gone. But shortstop Wehiwa Aloy and designated hitter Kendall Diggs return Arkansas was also active in the portal, adding TCU outfielder Logan Maxwell and East Carolina left-handed pitcher Zach Root, among others

FLORIDA

The loss of two-way star Jac Caglianone is massive, but the Gators figure to have a deeper lineup this season with the middle infield duo of Colby Shelton and Cade Kurland returning and adding Miami outfield transfer Blake Cyr Right-hander Liam Peterson (77 strikeouts in 63 innings) leads a rotation lacking proven performers.

GEORGIA

Georgia lost two stars in Golden Spikes Award winner Charlie Condon and second-team AllAmerican Corey Collins. But a strong transfer portal class and the return of infielders Slate Alford and Kolby Branch (17 home runs apiece), and right-handed starter Leighton Finley make the Bulldogs a contender to get to Omaha.

TEXAS

It was a program-changing offseason for the Longhorns, most notably after they plucked Jim Schlossnagle out of College Station to become

their new coach. Outfielder Max Belyeu and shortstop Jalin Flores headline a talented lineup but the effectiveness of the pitching staff may be a mystery outside of Indiana State left-handed transfer Jared Spencer

VANDERBILT

Shortstop Jonathan Vastine, outfielder RJ Austin, and left-handers Ethan McElvain and JD Thompson provide Vanderbilt a strong core of returning players. However, an improved offense will be the key to the Commodores’ success. James Madison transfer and second baseman Mike Mancini (15 homers) was their most notable addition to the lineup.

MISSISSIPPI STATE

The Bulldogs lost a lot of production from the mound, with pitchers Jurrangelo Cjintje and Khal Stephen getting drafted. How they replace that production and outfielder Dakota Jordan’s power will be crucial to Mississippi State’s success. First baseman Hunter Hines’ return is a big boost for the lineup.

KENTUCKY

The Wildcats reached Omaha for the first time in program history last season, but a lot has changed with their roster since then. Kentucky

SEC’S TOP THREE HITTERS

JACE LAVIOLETTE • OF,TEXAS A&M

LaViolette has a chance to go No. 1 overall in this summer’s MLB draft after hitting 29 home runs and posting a .447 on-base percentage last year as a sophomore. He’s also a quality defender in center field.

JARED JONES•1B, LSU Jones passed up professional baseball in July to return to LSU for a third season. He took a big leap in his development last year, blasting 28 homers and producing a 1.201 on-base plus slugging percentage.

ETHAN PETRY•OF/1B, SOUTH CAROLINA

He’s cranked no fewer than 21 homers over the past two seasons. Petry’s power and consistency have made him a preseason All-SEC firstteam selection the past two years. He’ll be the engine of

added 29 new players this offseason, most notably bringing in right-hander Nic McCay from South Dakota State (3.64 ERA in 712/3 innings) and Columbia outfielder Cole Hage.

SOUTH CAROLINA

LSU national championship-winning coach Paul Mainieri takes over a program that struggled defensively and on the mound a year ago. Lefthander Matthew Becker and right-hander Dylan Eskew have returned to lead the rotation, while outfielder Ethan Petry (21 homers) is back for a third season to anchor the lineup.

AUBURN

The Tigers retooled their struggling pitching staff through the portal this offseason, most notably adding Florida left-hander Cade Fisher and Cal Baptist right-hander Ryan Hetzler (2.59 ERA in 412/3 innings). First baseman Cooper McMurray and catcher Ike Irish (14 homers each) return to a lineup that brings back some experience.

OKLAHOMA

Twins Kyson and Malachi Witherspoon lead the way for a talented Sooners pitching staff. Kyson was a preseason All-SEC second-team selection, and Malachi pitched for the U.S. Collegiate National Team this summer At the plate, Oklahoma has more question marks but brings back All-Big 12 first-team catcher Easton Carmichael.

ALABAMA

Shortstop Justin Lebron (.338 average) and first baseman Will Hodo return as preseason All-SEC selections.They’ll anchor a lineup that also added LSU transfer catcher Brady Neal. Left-hander Zane Adams is back and leads a rotation still searching for answers after the departures of left-hander Greg Farone and right-hander

OLE MISS

Left-hander and staff ace Hunt healthy after Tommy John surg his last two seasons. He’ll potential right away after the key contributors — Andrew Doyle — to Tennessee in th from shortstop Luke Hill (.291 important for the lineup’s success.

MISSOURI

The Tigers were the only club selected to either preseason finishing second-to-last in ago, Missouri was aggressiv adding junior-college transfer first baseman Jackson Lovich, to hit at least 10 homers last

TOP THREE PITCHERS

RYAN PRAGER• LHP,TEXAS A&M

Prager was one of the top pitchers in the conference a year ago, posting a 2.95 ERA and striking out 124 batters in nearly 100 innings. He returns to school despite being selected in the third round of the MLB draft in July

KYSON WITHERSPOON• RHP, OKLAHOMA

Witherspoon struck out 90 batters in 80 innings last year, earning a 3.71 ERA in his first season at Oklahoma. Life won’t be any easier in the SEC, but Witherspoon has the track record to succeed in the conference.

GABE GAECKLE • RHP,ARKANSAS

Gaeckle was dominant in relief last season with a 2.32 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 422/3 innings. He’ll likely be the Razorbacks’ Friday night starter this year after becoming a preseason firstteam All-SEC selection.

Koki Riley

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Texas A&M center fielder Jace LaViolette leads off from first as LSU pitcher Aiden Moffett delivers a pitch in the eighth inning of their game on May 5 at Alex Box Stadium. LaViolette is a Golden Spikes Award favorite for 2025.

AP FILE PHOTO By SEAN RAyFORD Vanderbilt pitcher JD Thompson delivers a ball against Coastal Carolina during an NCAA regional game on May 31 in Clemson, S.C Thompson is one of a handful of core players returning for Vanderbilt’s 2025 season.

AP FILE PHOTO

Ethan Petry

Kyson Witherspoon

PHOTO

VISION RELAYED

New Saints coach Moore raves about ‘special’ place and its virtues

BY MATTHEW PARAS

Staff writer

As he walked in to his introduction as the New Orleans Saints next head coach, accompanied by his wife and two of his four children, Kellen Moore felt like he had come full circle.

In 2012, Moore arrived at the Saints’ facility for his ﬁrst pre-draft visit. Then a quarterback at Boise State, Moore was shown around by then-Saints quarterbacks coach Joe Lombardi. Backup quarterback Chase Daniel technically served as his host on the visit. The Saints chose not to draft him, but the opportunity was still a taste of the NFL life, something Moore never would forget. So here was Moore on Thursday — days after winning the Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles — back in the same building, making his next big career leap.

“This is such an incredible place,” he said. At his formal introduction to New Orleans Moore laid out his vision for how he plans to turn the Saints into a winner once again. While the former Eagles offensive coordinator was coy on certain answers — particularly about quarterback Derek Carr Moore detailed how he wants to

ä See MOORE, page 9C

LSU gym takes aim at No. 1

BY SCOTT RABALAIS Staff writer

LSU coach Jay Clark wants his Tigers to be more consistent no matter where they are.

Like Chick-ﬁl-A. And like Oklahoma.

“The analogy is everywhere you go, Chick-ﬁl-A is the same,” Clark said after his Tigers’ 197.300-197.075 win last Friday at Alabama. “We’ve got to grow We’ve got to be a little more nasty in our mindset to be consistent.

“We’re so comfortable at home We have to get where we are comfortable wherever we are. Great teams do that.

Great teams like the topranked Sooners, who invade the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Friday night for the ﬁrst No. 1 vs. No. 2 gymnastics dual

meet since 2021. First vault is set for 8 p.m

The meet, which was nearing a sellout as of Thursday afternoon, will be televised nationally on ESPN2.

LSU’s best score this season, a 198.000 two weeks ago at home against Missouri, is better than Oklahoma’s best score, a 197.950 that beat LSU, California and Utah on Jan. 11 in the Sprouts Collegiate Quad in Oklahoma City

But while the Tigers struggled a week before the Missouri meet to a 196.600 at Arkansas, the Sooners have posted a much tighter, more consistent batch

UL women prevail in streaky contest

BY KEVIN FOOTE

Cajundome.

“I thought we started off the game really well offensively and defensively,” Brodhead said. “We were making stops and offensively, we were really moving the ball. There was a lot of movement and then all of a sudden, here they come. “Overall, I thought we were able to control most of the game.”

The Cajuns improved to 11-12 overall and 7-6 in Sun Belt play while Texas State sank to 10-14 and 4-9. The Cajuns won the game because they forced 20 turnovers to only eight for the Bobcats. The

Cajuns turned those turnovers into 24 points, compared to Texas State managing just four points off UL turnovers.

“Only having eight turnovers was big for us,” Brodhead said. “If we can eliminate those turnovers and create 20 of them, good things are going to happen.

“Early on, I thought we contained them pretty good. We were doing a lot of jump switching and trapping. We worked on it this week, and I think that’s what we needed. We needed to see it in practice and kind of doing it in the game.

Providing the two biggest scoring punches for UL were Tamiah Robinson and Nubia Benedith Robinson had a game-high 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting with three assists and two steals.

“I was just taking what they were giving me,” Robinson said.

“If I had the open block, I was getting to the block. If I had the pull-up, I had the pull-up. I did a good job of taking advantage of what they were giving me. If I had the dump down to our post players, I had the dump down.”

New Saints head coach Kellen Moore answered 65 questions and spoke for 37 minutes at his introductory news conference Thursday He didn’t reveal much during his time at the podium, which is understandable given he’d been on the job for less than 48 hours, but he presented the kind of front you’d expect from someone who just had landed the ﬁrst head coaching gig of his life. He was optimistic, energetic and enthusiastic.

“I can’t wait to get going,” Moore said with a beaming smile. “Let’s go.” Moore seemed to know what he’s getting into, even without getting into it. While maintaining a positive, can-do attitude, he admitted the road ahead is going “to take a lot of work” and “be a really hard challenge.”

Moore’s admission is important. After all, the ﬁrst step to solving a problem is admitting you have one. And the Saints certainly have their share of problems. You know it.

I know it. And deep down inside, Moore knows it, even if he was unwilling to dwell on them in any detail.

In becoming the 12th head coach in franchise history, he steps into a lessthan-ideal situation. The Saints have the worst salary-cap situation in the league. Their roster is in decline and aging. And the quarterback position has no long-term answer

It’s a bit of a mess, which is why Moore is here in the ﬁrst place. But Moore and his new staff can’t ﬁx this alone. They’ll need help.

As general manager Mickey Loomis said last offseason, everyone has had a hand in the downturn of the Saints.

Dennis Allen wasn’t solely at fault for digging the hole the Saints ﬁnd themselves in, and Moore won’t be capable of singlehandedly excavating them from it.

It will take a collaborative effort from everyone in the building.

Hiring a new head coach and establishing a new culture are great starts, and Loomis and the team’s brain trust deserve credit for luring Moore away from a great situation in Philadelphia. Moore easily could have followed the lead of Kliff Kingsbury in Washington or Ben Johnson in Detroit a year ago and waited another year for a less challenging opportunity Instead, he chose to come to New Orleans, citing the team’s collaborative synergy and leadership as the main reasons.

“This is a special place,” he said. Moore arrives with a strong reputation and stellar résumé. If nothing else, he should inject much-needed energy and enthusiasm into the program.

But it won’t matter how skilled or spirited Moore is as a head coach and offensive strategist if he doesn’t receive the support, effort and focus of the entire organization.

It was important to hear owner Gayle Benson make such a pledge before Moore took the podium.

“My job is to provide any resource our players, coaches and front ofﬁce need to compete for a championship,” Benson said. “Kellen, you have my full commitment to doing whatever it takes to deliver another Lombardi Trophy back to our city.” Benson’s commitment is nice, but it can’t stop there.

Moore will need that “full commitment” from everyone in the organization, starting with Loomis, the rest of the front ofﬁce and the team leaders in the locker room. If not, Moore will get swallowed up by the job, the same way some of his peers have across the league.

Exhibit A: Kingsbury in Arizona. He arrived in Phoenix six years ago with

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

New Saints coach Kellen Moore, left, poses with Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson and Saints general manager Mickey Loomis during a news conference at the Saints’ practice facility on Thursday.

Jeff Duncan

BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS

LSU baseball moves its Saturday game to 11 a.m.

LSU baseball’s matchup against Purdue Fort Wayne on Saturday has been moved up from 1 p.m to 11 a.m., LSU announced Thursday The altered ﬁrst-pitch time is a result of storms in the forecast for Saturday afternoon.

LSU opens its season Friday at Alex Box Stadium against Purdue Fort Wayne. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. Sunday’s game is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. All three games will be available to stream on SEC Network+.

LSU softball expects stiff competition

Two ranked foes part of event

BY JIM KLEINPETER

Contributing writer

LSU softball’s sneak peek weekend ended with a 5-0 record and a No. 7 national ranking this week, but the road gets tougher with the Purple and Gold Challenge at Tiger Park beginning at 4 p.m. Friday against TexasArlington.

The Tigers will play two games each against No 17 Virginia Tech and No. 22 Northwestern through Sunday after Friday’s opener Coach Beth Torina is still mulling over her lineup, which may not get settled before the end of the month. She’s a lot more certain about her pitching staff, which started the season with four shutouts before a 3-2 win over Southeastern Louisiana on Sunday Torina expects more juggling this weekend. Some spots are set, but she rotated multiple players among second base, left ﬁeld and designated player

“There are a lot of things up in the air, especially the DP spot,” Torina said. “We didn’t get as many at-bats for some people as we’d liked.

“We didn’t get (infielder) Madyson Manning in. We’ll try to get her some time this weekend. She’s had a really great preseason. There are some other names I could throw out, people who need time and opportunities, that we’d still like to see.” Tori Edwards had a big weekend with three home runs and eight RBIs in two games Saturday, then drove in the game-winning run against Southeastern on

By JOHN OUBRE

LSU’s Tori Edwards is safe at home after beating the tag of Charlotte’s Brooke Bowling last Saturday at Tiger Park.

ä UT-Arlington at LSU 4 P.M.

FRIDAy, SECN+

Sunday. She said the attitude this week has been to build on the ﬁrst weekend.

“We’re ready, well-prepared,” said Edwards, a redshirt freshman. “At the end of the day whether they are ranked or not, we’re

going to play LSU softball and have fun.”

The LSU pitchers stood out, and fans got a treat from highly-touted freshman left-hander Jayden Heavener, who earned national honors for a six-inning perfect game with 13 strikeouts in the season opener Torina had no problem putting her in the circle to start

the 2025 campaign.

Heavener responded with the program’s sixth perfect game and is looking for some personal improvement.

“I picked pieces from the game that I could do better on,” she said. “You can always get better; new pitches, new form.”

Heavener credited Torina, who specializes in pitching, with polishing her ability

“She’s helped me mechanically, working with my best pitches to perfect them, hit the right spots the best spots,” Heavener said. “When I got here my mechanics were a little crazy Just through the fall it has gotten so much better, I’m feeling so much better with my body and everything.

“I’m grateful to have her and talk to her I can tell her exactly how I’m feeling and she knows. One on one and I’m not uncomfortable.”

Torina keeps her pitching strategy close to the vest, but Heavener likely will get chances against one or both of the ranked foes, along with ace Sydney Berzon.

Virginia Tech (5-0) outscored five opponents 50-0 last weekend. Emma Lemley threw 11 scoreless innings to go 2-0. Inﬁelder Jordan Lynch (.571) and outfielder Cori McMilan (.462) lead the offense.

Northwestern (3-2) lost to Missouri and Tennessee but defeated Duke in its opening weekend. Shortstop Kaylie Avvisato is batting .563 for the Wildcats.

Texas-Arlington (4-1) is coached by Kara Dill, who worked on Torina’s LSU staff in 2015-16. Outﬁelder Natalia Hill (.429) and shortstop Talia Maldonado (.385) lead the Mavericks at the plate.

Bregman, Red Sox agree to $120M, 3-year contract

BY RONALD BLUM AP baseball writer

Alex Bregman and the Boston Red Sox have agreed to a $120 million, three-year contract, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Wednesday night.

Bregman gets a $5 million signing bonus, a $35 million salary this season and $40 million in each of the following two years, with some of the money deferred, and he can opt out after the 2025 and 2026 seasons to become a free agent again.

He is likely to shift from third base to second with the Red Sox, who already have All-Star slugger Rafael Devers at the hot corner

“I texted him right when it went through last night. I just couldn’t be more fired up to have him here,” new Red Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet said Thursday “I think you look at the intangibles, and he has them all I’ve heard a lot of good stuff about him being an absolute baseball rat, a guy that loves the game and works hard. Obviously, his pedigree speaks for itself, won a couple of World Series, the Gold Glove last year shows that he’s still at the top of his game.” Red Sox manager Alex Cora, Houston’s bench coach in 2017, compared the former LSU star with former Boston star Dustin Pedroia. Cora was suspended for the 2020 season for his role in the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal that year.

“That is a person I really like,” Cora said. “With all those guys we went through a lot. We’re still going through a lot. We made a mistake in ‘17 and some of us paid the price. We’re back in

baseball. We got a second chance.

A.J. (Hinch) got a second chance I did, too. Carlos (Beltrán) is still getting penalized because he did that. He should be a Hall of Famer already. He should be managing, too.”

A two-time All-Star and twotime World Series champion during nine years with Houston, the 30-year-old Bregman is coming off one of his poorest offensive seasons. He hit .260 with 26 homers and 75 RBIs in the final season of a $100 million, five-year contract, also winning his first Gold Glove.

Bregman has 19 postseason home runs, tied for sixth in major league history He was selected by Houston with the second overall pick in the 2015 amateur draft, made his big league debut a year later and hit .284 with 19 homers, 71 RBIs and 17 stolen bases in 2017.

He had four homers and 10 RBIs in the postseason as the Astros won their ﬁrst World Series title, a championship marred when a Major League Baseball investigation revealed the team used banned electronics to steal opponents’ signs.

Bregman had RBIs in his ﬁrst ﬁve World Series games, homering off Clayton Kershaw in the opener and Kenley Jansen in Game 4, and hitting a walk-off 10th-inning single against Jansen in Game 5.

Bregman was ﬁfth in AL MVP voting in 2018 and second to Mike Trout in 2019, Bregman’s two most productive years at the plate. He batted .286 with 31 homers, 103 RBIs and a major league-leading 51 doubles in 2018, then set career highs the following season with a .296 average, 41 homers, 112 RBIs and a major league-leading 119

walks. He walked just 44 times this year with a 23.6% chase rate, his highest since 2017. Bregman has a .272 average with 191 homers and 663 RBIs in nine big league seasons Because he turned down a $21.05 million qualifying offer from the Astros, they will receive an extra pick after the fourth round of the amateur draft in July. Houston forfeited its second- and ﬁfth-highest selections for signing Christian Walker Boston will lose its second-highest pick for signing Bregman and forfeit $500,000 of international signing bonus pool allocation.

After going 81-81 and missing the playoffs for the third straight season, the Red Sox also have added Crochet along with fellow pitchers Walker Buehler, Patrick Sandoval, Aroldis Chapman and Justin Wilson.

“I’ve been relatively active in terms of talking to Bres,” Buehler said, referring to chief baseball ofﬁcer Craig Breslow “I love to play GM in my head, not that I have any real sway in it, but any time you join a new franchise, or where you have been, you want to feel like you’re a part of it and have some voice in it.”

The Tigers enter this weekend as the No. 3 team in the country, according to D1Baseball. Purdue Fort Wayne, meanwhile, had a 19-37 record a year ago but also earned victories over Indiana and Missouri (twice) during the campaign.

East Ascension O-lineman for 2026 commits to LSU

Four-star offensive lineman and Class of 2026 recruit Brysten Martinez has announced his commitment to LSU football, he announced on social media Thursday Martinez is the No. 6 offensive tackle and No. 53 prospect in the nation, according to the 247Sports Composite. He attends East Ascension High and is the No. 5 recruit in Louisiana. Martinez is the sixth recruit from the 2026 class to commit to LSU. He is also the second offensive lineman to make his pledge to the Tigers, joining three-star interior offensive lineman Jalan Chapman. LSU already had earned commitments from four-star safeties Aiden Hall and Jakai Anderson, fourstar wide receiver Kenny Darby and four-star defensive lineman Richard Anderson.

Kings add former No. 1 pick Fultz to backourt

The Sacramento Kings signed former No. 1 overall draft pick Markelle Fultz for the remainder of the season.

The team announced the deal with Fultz on Wednesday night as the Kings seek more depth at point guard after recently trading away star De’Aaron Fox to the San Antonio Spurs in a deal that also sent Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine to to the Kings.

Fultz was drafted ﬁrst overall by Philadelphia in 2017. He has played 234 career games with the 76ers and Orlando, averaging 11.1 points, 4.6 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game. Fultz last played in the 2023-24 season for the Magic. He averaged 7.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 43 games, including 18 starts, last season.

Rematch between Curry, Ionescu not in cards

There will be no Stephen Curry vs Sabrina Ionescu rematch at AllStar weekend. The NBA announced Thursday that the 3-point shooting event bringing together two of the biggest stars in the NBA and WNBA — which was one of the highlights of last year’s All-Star weekend in Indianapolis — is not going to be part of the lineup in San Francisco. Talks went on for weeks to try to make it happen, even stretching into All-Star week itself. It seemed more than logical that a rematch would occur; All-Star weekend is on Curry’s home ﬂoor this weekend and Ionescu — who plays for the WNBA champion New York Liberty is a Bay Area native.

Dodgers, Kershaw agree to a one-year contract

The return of three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw gives the Los Angeles Dodgers a 36-year-old leader valued for maturity after nearly two decades with the organization. Los Angeles hopes the 10-time All-Star also has a few more onthe-ﬁeld contributions remaining, including another World Series title. The left-hander and the Dodgers ﬁnalized a $7.5 million, one-year contract on Thursday, adding another option to a pitching staff that eventually could include Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki and Tony Gonsolin. Kershaw expects to go on the 60-day injured list after offseason foot and knee surgery, but he hopes to be close to ready when eligible to be activated. He’s been playing long toss and running recently

PHOTO

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By KEVIN M. COX

Alex Bregman of the Houston Astros celebrates after hitting a two-run home run during the fifth inning of a game against the Los Angeles Angels on Sept. 24 in Houston. Bregman will play in Boston in 2025.

Troy overpowers UL men’s basketball team

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

The biggest concern for the UL men’s basketball team heading into Wednesday’s Sun Belt showdown with Troy was the way the Trojans rebounded.

The trepidation was valid.

The Trojans’ athletic advantage on defense was a huge problem as well for the Cajuns in a 74-56 loss to Troy at the Cajundome.

“We knew coming into the game, they were a great offensive rebounding team,” UL interim coach Derrick Zimmerman said. “We stressed it all week in practice, but you can’t really simulate it practice, but we’ve got to be better.”

The Cajuns dropped to 8-18 overall and 5-8 in league play, while Troy improved to 16-9 and 9-4. UL next plays Marshall at home at 7 p.m. Saturday

Troy outrebounded UL 42-20 in the game while also limiting the Cajuns to low shooting percentages.

“They’re a physical team,” Zimmerman said. “They get away with some pushing and shoving,

MOORE

Continued from page 7C

build a “smart, fast and physical” team that plays with tempo and excels in situational football.

And the Saints, coming off a 5-12 season, appealed to him, he said.

Throughout the interview process, Moore watched as other candidates for the job dropped out of consideration. And he likely heard the chatter that the opening was viewed as one of the most challenging in the NFL given the Saints’ salary-cap constraints, aging roster and unsettled future at quarterback.

But Moore said he was drawn by the team’s leadership in general manager Mickey Loomis and owner Gayle Benson, adding “it was clear” that’s what made the organization “special.” The 36-year-old, now the youngest head coach in the NFL, did not sound like someone who thought a lengthy rebuild was about to happen.

Instead, he talked about the wideopen NFC South — and how the Saints’ roster can compete.

“Obviously, that was one of the attractive pieces of this (opportunity),” Moore said. “I think this is a talented roster Throughout this season you’ve seen it. Obviously injuries were a challenge this year, and those things sometimes are challenging, uncontrollable circumstances.

“We recognize there’s so much good going on here. We want to embrace the good, don’t lose any of the good while building this thing the right way.”

Whether that “right way” includes Carr remains to be seen

The new coach was asked several times Thursday whether the quarterback would be back with the

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP

UL forward Jeremiah Evans, top, and Troy guard Cooper Campbell battle for a loose ball during the Cajuns’ 74-56 loss to the Trojans on Wednesday in the Cajundome.

all that. I told our guys, ‘I don’t want to hear that.’ Go in there and battle and compete. I felt like we competed some on the glass. They got a lot of long, loose rebounds and we weren’t ﬁnishing

team next season Moore gave a complimentary, but noncommittal, answer about Carr, whose release would carry a $50 million dead cap hit if he is cut before June 1.

“Derek Carr is a tremendous starting quarterback in this league,” Moore said. “I’ve had so much respect for him, the journey that he’s been on. Really excited to team up with him and go through this process. And so just like any player on this roster, I just got here a few days ago and I’m excited to go through this journey with all of them.”

Moore said that process will include individual conversations with each player, some of which have started. The coach, too, has to ﬁll out his staff, and Moore said he’s in the process of interviewing candidates. Eagles quarterbacks coach Doug Nussmeier has been ﬂoated as an option for offensive coordinator while former Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley and Minnesota Vikings defensive backs coach Daronte Jones have been linked as candidates for defensive coordinator

It’ll continue what has been a whirlwind experience for Moore as of late. Last week, Moore had an extended stay in the city while trying to focus solely on helping the Eagles win the Super Bowl And then, when they pulled it off with a dominant upset over the Kansas City Chiefs, Moore ﬂew back with the team to Philadelphia before finalizing his contract with the Saints.

By Wednesday, Moore was back in New Orleans, where he attended a New Orleans Pelicans game and was introduced to the crowd. On Friday, he’ll temporarily return to Philadelphia to participate in the Eagles’ parade. The Saints have been perfectly content waiting for Moore. New

in the paint.

“We’ve got to be better.”

The Trojans led 29-20 at the half. At that juncture, UL was shooting 31% from the ﬁeld, 20% from 3-point land and only 50% at

Orleans’ search to land him lasted more than a month, and the team had to wait until after the Super Bowl to hire him.

“It took longer than we anticipated, simply because the Eagles kept winning,” Loomis said with a smile, later adding, “Ultimately we determined that Kellen is the best ﬁt for our team, and his experience and success as a player, as a position coach and as an offensive coordinator have prepared him well for this opportunity It’s very easy to get excited about the direction that he and his staff are going to take our team.”

Benson praised Moore as an “exceptionally bright” coach and “tremendous leader” who has won at every stage of his career Moore’s career has spanned from Boise State, where he ﬁnished as the NCAA’s all-time winningest quarterback, to the NFL, where he lasted six years as a backup quarterback before his rocketlike ascent through the coaching ranks. Moore has been the offensive coordinator at three stops in Dallas, Los Angeles (Chargers) and Philadelphia, and he’s worked with four head coaches in Jason Garrett, Mike McCarthy, Staley and Nick Sirianni.

But no coach was a bigger inﬂuence than his dad, Tom, who spent more than 20 years as a high school football coach in Prosser Washington.

On Thursday, Moore talked about the impact of those coaches and how grateful he was for their guidance. Moore said he kept notes over the years that helped inform him in case he became a head coach.

That moment is here.

“I felt really prepared for this,” Moore said.

Email Matthew Paras at matt paras@theadvocate.com

SAINTS RE-SIGN RB EDWARDS-HELAIRE

Clyde Edwards-Helaire will return to the New Orleans Saints in 2025, the team announced Thursday afternoon. Edwards-Helaire, a Baton Rouge native who starred at LSU, played in the Saints’ ﬁnal two regular-season games last season, amassing 70 yards from scrimmage on 16 touches. He joined the team late in the season after being released by the Kansas City Chiefs.

The 25-year-old running back was the Chiefs’ ﬁrst-round pick in 2020, and he enjoyed a strong start to his career tallying 1,100 yards from scrimmage in 13 games as a rookie.

But he fell out of the rotation in Kansas City ceding snaps to running back Isiah Pacheco, and the Chiefs let him go in December of last year He caught on with the Saints and after spending a week on the practice squad he made his season debut in Week 16.

New Orleans currently has six running backs under contract for 2025: Edwards-Helaire,Alvin Kamara, Kendre Miller, Jamaal Williams, Jordan Mims and Xazavian Valladay.

DUNCAN

Continued from page 7C

a reputation similar to Moore. Young. Bright. Ambitious. Offensive genius. And he was ﬁred four years later after going 28-37-1, largely because the decision-making around him was not strong enough.

Continued from page 7C

Benedith continued to provide steady play with 17 points, four rebounds and two steals. Kamryn Jones was UL’s third double-ﬁgure scorer with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting with two boards, and Erica Lafayette made it four with 14

Likewise, the Eagles’ victory in Super Bowl LIX was a collective team effort. Head coach Nick Sirianni obviously played a big role, but it was an organizational achievement, led by owner Jeffrey Lurie, general manager Howie Roseman, and stars such as Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley Moore, who at 36 is now the youngest coach in the NFL, will need similar organizational sup-

points, six rebounds and two assists.

The Cajuns did a nice job at the free-throw line at 20-of-24 shooting for 83.3%. Benedith was perfect on her seven free throws. The Cajuns attempted only two 3-pointers in the game, making one, while Texas State was 6 of 17 from deep.

the line.

Also, only two Cajuns had more than two points in the ﬁrst half — Mostapha El Moutaouakkil with nine and Kentrell Garnett with ﬁve.

“Teams are going to key in on Kentrell,” Zimmerman said “They switch a lot. They don’t let him get open looks, but we’ve got to do a better job of creating opportunities for him. That’s on me. I’ve got to do a better job of putting him in positions to get free and get open looks.”

The ﬁnal statistics weren’t much prettier for the Cajuns.

Turnovers were also a problem at times — particularly on inbound plays — with 13 while forcing the Trojans into 14.

UL last led 12-11, but after the Trojans surged with a 16-4 run, the Cajuns never threatened again.

The only thing resembling bright spots for the Cajuns were El Moutaouakkil with 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting at the line and three rebounds True freshman Jeremiah Evans also had a nice effort. Evans came off the bench to contribute 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting in 14 minutes.

LSU

Continued from page 7C

of scores. Their lowest marks: a pair of 197.550s, the first in their season opener in a fourteam meet in Nashville, Tennessee, and the second Jan. 24 at Alabama. The past two weeks, Oklahoma has posted identical 197.825 scores in back-to-back home meets against Arkansas and Kentucky It’s brought the Sooners to Baton Rouge for the ﬁrst time as a Southeastern Conference team 10-0 overall and 4-0 in league competition.

LSU is 6-2 and 3-1 in the SEC, making this meet pretty much a do-or-die one for the Tigers in terms of their hopes of winning at least a share of the SEC regular-season crown.

But whether or not LSU outscores OU on Friday, little will change nationally for the two programs. Given that national rankings in gymnastics are not based on opinion polls but season averages, it’s unlikely either team will ﬁnd itself outside the top four nationally come Monday Whatever Friday’s result, both the Tigers and Sooners still will be on track for one of the top seeds in the four NCAA regionals feeding into the eight-team NCAA semiﬁnals in April.

“We’re competing against the whole country,” Clark said. “In many ways, we compete against Oklahoma every week. That’s the way our sport is.”

Though LSU is the reigning NCAA champion Oklahoma failed to make last year’s NCAA ﬁnal after a disastrous turn on vault in the national semiﬁnals — Clark knows the six-time national champs are still the one everyone else, including the Tigers, are hunting.

“We’re not the six-time national championship team,” he said. “We were the Cinderella story last year We’re not the gold standard. They are. Our mindset has to be the same.

We’re chasing and pushing.”

Though the meet won’t be a watershed moment that could knock either team out of the national title picture, it will

“With Jeremiah, he’s going to play more minutes moving forward,” Zimmerman said. “He’s been working hard in practice. He did some extra work in practice (Tuesday) with me just on post moves and post work. I was proud to see him get his rhythm back. He’s got great touch. He was making his jump hooks and his drop steps.

“We’ve got to get him to make free throws, but he’ll get better at them. He’s going to work at them. Jeremiah’s a great kid. He plays hard and plays the right way He’s only 18 — a lot of them guys out there are 24, 25.”

The only other Cajun with more than six points was Garnett with nine points on 3-of-6 shooting.

The Trojans owned a 19-8 edge in fast-break points and 14-4 on second-chance points. UL ﬁnished the game shooting 40.8% from the ﬁeld and only made 25% of its 12 3-point attempts.

Troy was led by 19 points from both Thomas Dowd and Myles Rigsby Dowd also had 12 rebounds.

Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@ theadvocate.com.

“We’re competing against the whole country In many ways, we compete against Oklahoma every week. That’s the way our sport is.”

JAy CLARK, LSU coach

be a showcase for some of the sport’s most dazzling collegiate gymnasts.

“It’ll be great for the fans,” Clark said. “I love that our fans get to come and see what are currently the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country.” Oklahoma relies on its core trio of Faith Torrez, Jordan Bowers and Audrey Davis. They’re ranked Nos. 2-3-4 nationally in the all-around behind U.S. Olympian Jade Carey of Oregon State. Davis is also No. 1 in the country on balance beam.

LSU, meanwhile, counters with more depth, consistently using 12 or 13 gymnasts per meet. The Tigers are led by senior and 27-time All-American Haleigh Bryant, the 2024 NCAA all-around champion. Bryant won’t do uneven bars Friday because of her elbow injury from December, but she will compete on the other three events. She leads the nation and LSU’s top-ranked vault squad in that event (9.925 average).

Freshman Kailin Chio is No. 2 nationally on vault (9.917) and has won the all-around with 39.650s the past two meets. That’s the kind of consistency Clark craves.

Bryant said the Tigers have the right mental approach for this meet, understanding all the little things that will make a difference in the ﬁnal score.

“We know what we have to ﬁx from meets before,” Bryant said Monday “The big skills are there. Landing, handstands, toe point. That’s what adds up to a big score. That’s what adds up to success.”

The details are the secret sauce in what the Tigers hope will be a winning hand.

For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/ lsunewsletter

port and guidance to succeed here.

The Saints are saying all the right things about making a full commitment to Moore right now But like anything, their actions in the days and months ahead will speak louder than their words Thursday

Email Jeff Duncan at jduncan@ theadvocate.com.

UL outscored the Bobcats 42-18 in the paint.

Texas State was led by Saniya Burks with 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting behind the arc.

“We’re good at getting downhill, so we took what the defense was giving up and that was the lane, that was the blocks and elbows,” Benedith said. “We took what they gave us and that’s just what worked tonight.”

Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@ theadvocate.com.

Afternoon of animation

For the 20th consecutive year, ShortsTV and Magnolia Pictures are presenting “Oscar-nominated Short Films,” opening Sunday with the animated category. Showtime is 2 p.m. at the Manship Theatre, 100 Lafayette St. Here’s your chance to predict the winners. $12.50. manshiptheatre.org

UPCOMING PARADES

BATON ROUGE: Oshun, noon, Saturday; Krewe of Mutts, 2 p.m., Sunday

l DENHAM SPRINGS: Krewe of Denham Springs, 3 p.m., Saturday

l DONALDSONVILLE: Krewe of Donaldsonville, 2 p.m., Sunday

READY TO ROLL

Mardi Gras parade takeover begins with BR-area

BY JUDY BERGERON Staff writer

celebrations

Carnival parades in Baton Rouge and the surrounding areas kick off this weekend, with mobile celebrations in north Baton Rouge, Denham Springs and Donaldsonville. On Sunday, it’s the ever-popular parade for our fourlegged friends, the Mystic Krewe of Mutts, in downtown Baton Rouge.

Here are the details on those and the rest of the area parades leading up to Fat Tuesday Be safe and laissez les bon temps rouler

SATURDAY

KREWE OF OSHUN PARADE: noon, from Howell Boulevard to 72nd Avenue and Scenic Highway, ending on Harding Boulevard. Make a day of it as once the parade is done, the all-ages festival cranks up at 2 p.m. at 3200 Harding Blvd. The parade will include 12 bands, dance

ä See PARADES, page 12C

Love

We asked and you answered. Here’s what we learned this Valentine’s Day

Staff report

“If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll ﬁnd that love, actually, is all around.”

— The Prime Minister (played by Hugh Grant) in the 2003 romantic comedy “Love Actually”

This Valentine’s Day, we used the question “What is love, actually?” as a jumping-off point as we headed out into the community to find out how others define l-o-v-e. We didn’t limit it to the romantic love amplified annually on this day, but to love in all forms.

Here’s what they had to say:

“It’s treating people like you’d like to be treated,” said Winnie Hughes, an art and music teacher in Springﬁeld, while on a trip to buy cloth at Joann Fabric and Crafts.

BY JOHN WIRT Contributing writer

“I’d say love to me is a mix of a lot of different things. There’s like dependency There’s trust. I don’t mean like you have to be next to the person, but I mean, because I’ve been in a longdistance relationship for a bit — even without physical closeness, there was still emotional closeness,” said Edward Wagner, who works at 2nd & Charles Bookstore. “There’s just a sort of ‘otherness’ to it that is hard to really pin down. You know for it to be love love, there’s this sort of just extra je ne sais quoi It’s more than just support. It’s just wanting them to be there for the sake of it.”

“I think that question is pretty broad. Are you thinking about love as pertaining to your community or to a relationship?” asked Brenda G. Jackson, former council member for the City of Baker and now a leader in community service. “Because love is pretty broad. To me, love is loving myself, knowing who I am, knowing my value and my self-worth and not settling or negotiating for anything less. I know what I deserve because, because I am created in my Father’s image That is love.”

Sakia Bass while shopping for ﬂowers at Trader Joe’s, said that love both “comes natural” and “is very hard.” She said that real love means “not having to worry about what this person’s doing or how they’re doing it. You know they’re doing the right thing. I’m dealing with something that’s very hard right now, but it’s worth it. Because in the end, having somebody who you know is there for you, who actually loves you, that’s love.”

“Love is accepting someone for who they are,” said Daryl Loupe while walking into a PetSmart with his partner and their dog, Sookie.

“I would say it’s caring for somebody, but not so much that you lose yourself in the process,” Loupe’s partner, Marley Wade said. “There’s a lot of people, they put love but then they end up, like, sacriﬁcing themselves and it’s not what’s beneﬁcial to them.”

“And if somebody loves you,” said Loupe looking at Wade, “That’s the last thing they want you to do.”

ä See LOVE, page 12C

“I like to share music,” Cohen said last week from the Botti at Sea II cruise. “I consider music a gift that I try to honor in whatever way possible.” Pianist Emmet Cohen will play joyful jazz in BR next week

Following two weeks of playing jazz cruises in the Caribbean, acclaimed pianist Emmet Cohen’s ﬁrst gig on land is a River City Jazz Masters concert in Baton Rouge. Appearing with his Emmet Cohen Trio, the 34-year-old jazz star makes his local debut Thursday at the Manship Theatre. He goes to Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro in New Orleans the following day and then to Dallas and Austin, Texas.

ä See COHEN, page 12C

STAFF FILE PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS Families wave and jump about to catch beads thrown from a float during the Krewe of Oshun Parade and Festival on Jan. 19, 2024.

STAFF PHOTO By SERENA PUANG Marley Wade and Daryl Loupe with their dog Sookie

FRIDAY

FRIDAY NIGHT JAM: La Maison de Begnaud, Scott, 6 p.m.

AMY & KYLE ACOUS-

TIC SHOWS: Adopted Dog Brewing, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

AUDREY BROUSSARD: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Jim Deggy’s Brick Oven Pizza & Brewery, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 6:30 p.m.

NICKI NEEDHAM: Agave Downtown, Lafayette, 6:30 p.m.

SECOND CHANCE: Agave, Youngsville, 6:30 p.m.

GENO DELAFOSE & FRENCH ROCKIN’

BOOGIE: La Poussiere Cajun Dancehall, Breaux Bridge, 7 p.m.

BUDDY ANDREWS & BLAKE BURCH LIVE!

VALENTINE’S NIGHT!: Gloria’s Bar & Grill, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

NORTHSIDE ERIC AND THE SOUTHSIDE PLAYBOYS: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

THE HAS BEANS: Hideaway on Lee, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

BAYOU COUNTRY: Toby’s Lounge, Opelousas, 8:30 p.m.

THE BROKEN MEAUXJO BAND: The Grouse Room, Lafayette, 9 p.m.

THE ROUGE KREWE: Rock ’N’ Bowl, Lafayette, 9 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Cowboys Nightclub, Scott, 10 p.m.

SATURDAY

CAJUN JAM: Moncus Park, Lafayette, 9 a.m.

CAJUN JAM: Tante Marie, Breaux Bridge, 11 a.m.

JAMMIN’ ON THE BAYOU: St. Landry Visitor’s Center, Opelousas, 1 p.m.

PARADES

PROVIDED PHOTO

Musician Jake Blount a scholar of Black American music, will perform at the Acadiana Center for the Arts in Lafayette at

LIVE MUSIC: Jim Deggy’s Brick Oven Pizza & Brewery Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 6:30 p.m.

MAGGIE AND GRACE: The Tap Room, Youngsville, 6:30 p.m.

STEVE ADAMS TRIO: Agave, Youngsville, 6:30 p.m.

CHARLES & WENDY TRICHE: Whiskey & Vine, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

THE GTO PARTY BAND: Rock ’N’ Bowl, Lafayette, 9 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Cowboys Nightclub, Scott, 10 p.m.

SUNDAY

LE BAL DU DIMANCHE — JOSHUA HUVAL & THE OST RAMBLERS: Vermilionville, Lafayette, 1 p.m.

MIKE BROUSSARD: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 1 p.m.

CAJUN JAM: Bayou Teche Brewing, Arnaudville, 2 p.m.

FORET TRADITION:

Continued from page 11C

troupes and more. The festival will offer performances by K. Levy and Letrainiump Also, a retail alley, resource way, food cul-de-sac and children’s ville. facebook. com/KreweofOshunBR.

KREWE OF DENHAM SPRINGS: 3 p.m., from Denham Springs High School along Florida Boulevard, ending at Veterans Boulevard. This year’s theme is “The Greatest Show.” www.thekreweofdenhamsprings.com/. SUNDAY

MYSTIC KREWE OF MUTTS PARADE: 2 p.m., along North Boulevard, downtown Baton Rouge. Walk your Fido in the parade, enter the dog costume contest or just watch all the doggone fun as a spectator Theme this year is “Game of Bones: House of Waggin’.” Festivities begin that morning with Bark in the Park in North Boulevard Town Square from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. featuring local vendors. At 11 a.m., the Baton Rouge Police Department will give a K-9 demonstration on the Galvez Plaza stage. The dog costume contest is at 1 p.m. After the parade, the after-pawty with live music runs from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., also on the Plaza stage. https://caaws.org/special_events/krewe-of-mutts/.

KREWE OF DONALDSONVILLE PA-

RADE: 2 p.m., from Marchand Drive at Church Street to Railroad Avenue and ending at Mississippi Street. https:// www.donaldsonville-la.gov/ events.

FRIDAY, FEB. 21

KREWE OF ARTEMIS PARADE:

7 p.m., from the Raising Cane’s River Center along River Road, to Third, Spanish Town Road, Fourth, Main, Ninth, Laurel and Sixth streets to Convention, and River Road back to the River Center The ﬁrst and only women’s parading krewe in Baton Rouge, Artemis was founded in 2001. https://kreweofartemis.net/.

SATURDAY, FEB. 22

KREWE MYSTIQUE DE LA CAPI-

TALE PARADE: 2 p.m., from the Raising Cane’s River Center along River Road, to Third, Spanish Town Road, Fourth,

JAZZ TRIO: Charley

G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

GROOVE ROOM: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

WEDNESDAY

ANDREW WAIN DUO: Whiskey & Vine, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

SAM SPHAR: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

VIEILLE MANIERE: Park Bistro, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

JOSH TAYLOR: The Tap Room, Youngsville, 6:30 p.m.

OPEN JAM: Gloria’s Bar & Grill, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

CAJUN JAM: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

THURSDAY

JAZZ TRIO: Charley

G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

Pat’s Atchafalaya Club, Henderson, 4:30 p.m.

MICHALIS: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Randol’s Cajun Restaurant, Breaux Bridge, 6:30 p.m.

SING ALONG SUN-

DAYS: Bolt, Lafayette, 5 p.m.

SWAMPLAND STRING BAND AND NIKIA YUNG: Hideaway on Lee, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

RUSTY METOYER & ZYDECO KRUSH: Rock ’N’ Bowl, Lafayette, 9 p.m.

MONDAY PATRICIO LATINO SOLO: Café Habana City, Lafayette, 11 a.m. DAVE TRAINER: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

TUESDAY

TERRY HUVAL & FRIENDS: Prejean’s Restaurant, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

Main, Ninth, Laurel and Sixth streets to Convention and River Road back to the River Center. The oldest parading krewe in Baton Rouge, Mystique has been rolling since 1977. https:// krewemystique.com/.

KREWE OF ASCENSION MAMBO: 2 p.m., starting on Irma Boulevard, to Cornerview Road, Burnside Avenue and ending at La. 30. This year’s theme: “Parading Through the Decades.” The krewe’s Masquerade Ball is from 6 p.m to 1 a.m. Saturday at the Price LeBlanc PACE Center in Gonzales. $100, general admission; formal attire mandatory facebook. com

KREWE OF ORION: 6:30 p.m., from the Raising Cane’s River Center along River Road, to Third, Spanish Town Road, Fourth, Main, Ninth, Laurel and Sixth streets to Convention and River Road back to the River Center The krewe’s 26th parade will feature colorfully lighted and tractor-pulled ﬂoats, costumed riders, marching bands, dance groups and marching units. https:// kreweoforion.com/.

SUNDAY, FEB. 23

KREWE OF MID CITY GRAS PARADE: 1 p.m., along North Boulevard from 19th Street to Foster Drive This year’s theme is “Squirrels on Film!”. Mid City Gras is a 501©3 nonproﬁt committed to showcasing the vibrant and diverse community https://www.midcitygras. org/.

FRIDAY, FEB. 28

KREWE OF SOUTHDOWNS PARADE: 7 p.m., beginning at Glasgow Middle School along Glasgow Avenue to Whitehaven Street Lee Drive, Hyacinth, Arrowhead, Stuart, Whitehaven to Stephens. For its 38th parade, Southdowns is taking on a safari theme.

SATURDAY, MARCH 1

KREWE OF SPANISH TOWN PARADE: noon, starting at 4th Street and Spanish Town Road, to Ninth, North, Fourth, Main, Ninth, Laurel, Fourth, Florida, Seventh to Convention streets and River Road, ending at North Street. The largest parade in town, the ﬂamingo-ﬁlled procession takes the theme, “In Smiley Town, Smiley Says

By The Associated Press

Today is Friday,

Feb. 14, the 45th day of 2025. There are 320 days left in the year This is Valentine’s Day Today in history

On Feb. 14, 2018, a gunman identified as a former student opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing 17 people in the nation’s deadliest school shooting since the Sandy Hook Elementary School attack in Newtown, Connecticut, more than five years earlier (Nikolas Cruz pleaded

LOVE

Continued from page 11C

LAYLA LAVERGNE: Whiskey & Vine, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

MICHALIS: Charley

G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

DUSTIN SONNIER: SHUCKS!, Abbeville, 6:30 p.m.

JAKE BLOUNT: Acadiana Center for the Arts, Lafayette, 7:30 p.m.

MASON TRAIL AND ZYDECO RHYTHM: Rock ’N’ Bowl, Lafayette, 7:30 p.m.

REDDIX YOUNG,

DOUBLE KNOCKOUT: Freetown Boom Boom Room, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

Compiled by Marchaund Jones. Want your venue’s music listed? Email info/photos to showstowatch@ theadvocate.com. The deadline is noon FRIDAY for the following Friday’s paper

…,” honoring the late Advocate columnist and local personality Smiley Anders. https://mardigrasspanishtown.com/.

KREWE OF CHEMIN NEUF PA-

RADE: 6 p.m., New Roads, starting at Jackson and Parent streets, to New Roads, Main, Olinde, Napoleon and Poydras streets, ending at Poydras and New Roads. Making its inaugural run, the family-friendly parade will feature lighted floats, local performances and a festive atmosphere. Preceding the parade will be the Chemin Neuf Mardi Gras Festival from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in downtown New Roads. https://www.kreweofcheminneuf.com/.

SUNDAY, MARCH 2

KREWE OF GOOD FRIENDS OF THE OAKS PARADE: 1 p.m., Port Allen, starting at the La. 1 Service Road at Oaks Avenue to South Jefferson Avenue, Court to Sixth, Louisiana Avenue, North Jefferson to South Jefferson and Oaks returning to the starting point. For its 40th year, it features kings and queens, marching bands, ﬂoats and throws, all in a family-friendly atmosphere. https://www.facebook.com/kogfoto1985.

KREWE OF COMOGO PARADE: 7 p.m., Plaquemine, starting at St. John the Evangelist Church, to La. 1 and Eden Street to Belleview Drive, ending at the Carl F. Grant Civic Center https:// kreweofcomogo.com/.

MONDAY, MARCH 3

KREWE OF SHENANDOAH PARADE: 6:30 p.m., from Tigerbend Road along Jones Creek Road to Shenandoah Avenue, Vicksburg Drive, Malvern Hill Avenue, Antioch Boulevard, Shenandoah Avenue and Jones Creek back to Tigerbend. Reigning over its second parade will be King and Queen Anthony Moody and Ashley Bartel. https:// www.kreweofshenandoah. com/.

TUESDAY, MARCH 4

NEW ROADS COMMUNITY CENTER

PARADE: 11 a.m., downtown New Roads. NEW ROADS LIONS CLUB PARADE: 2 p.m., downtown New Roads.

Email Judy Bergeron at jbergeron@theadvocate. com.

TODAY IN HISTORY

guilty to murder in October 2021 and was sentenced in November 2022 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.)

On this date: In 1876, inventors Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray applied separately for patents related to the telephone (The U.S. Supreme Court eventually ruled Bell the rightful inventor.)

In 2013, double-amputee Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, at his home in Pretoria, South Africa; he was later convicted of murder and served nearly

nine years of a sentence of 13 years and ﬁve months before being released from prison in January 2024. Today’s birthdays: Businessman-politician Michael Bloomberg is 83. Saxophonist Maceo Parker is 82. Journalist Carl Bernstein is 81.

“I think love is connection — not just with your romantic partner but with your friends and community,” said KristynVan Cleave, program manager and private lessons coordinator at Kids’ Orchestra. “I think love requires selﬂessness and the desire to put others before yourself.

“I’m 34, and I’m in my ﬁrst serious, long-term relationship right now, so my views on love have gr own a lot. Now I recognize that love is selfless acts of service,” Van Cleave continued “And seeing through someone’s flaws but still wanting to spend your life with them I think love is knowing someone so deeply that when you annoy each other or step out of line, you can

apologize with conﬁdence, knowing they will support you, forgive and continue to love you in return. It’s like those beloved ‘carol singer cue cards’ (from the movie “Love Actually”) that read, ‘To me, you are perfect.’ ”

“Love is not 50/50. It’s 100%. Love is always being ready to compromise and always ready to forgive. God is love,” said Renz Victorino while having a morning Starbucks frappuccino at the Perkins Rowe Barnes & Noble.

“Love is actually having somebody adore you but even more, adoring that somebody It’s also putting that person who loves you before yourself so your feet don’t touch the ground,” said Emily Freeman, married for 45 years.

“The word ‘love’ is frequently used to describe

COHEN

Continued from page 11C

Cohen previously performed in Louisiana with the Herlin Riley Quintet at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. He counts Riley, a renowned drummer, and pianist Sullivan Fortner both New Orleans-born musicians, among his dear friends.

“Knowing Herlin and being part of his world gave me insight into what it means to be from New Orleans,” Cohen said. “You can’t play jazz and not deal with the New Orleans stuff. And I love going down there and connecting with the community It’s one of my favorite places to make music.”

The Jazz Cruise and Botti at Sea II aren’t bad gigs either About 100 musicians supply the music for the voyages.

“Stuff happens that would never happen on land,” Cohen said of the seafaring jams. “That’s the cool part about it.”

Cohen has met his jazz heroes during the cruises and played alongside colleagues

he sees often and not so often. He also served as cohost for the 2025 Jazz Cruise.

“Which means I was an ambassador, connecting with the fans and the musicians,” he said.

During his latest Jazz Cruise, Cohen performed with his former teacher at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, Dean Shelton G Berg. Mentor and student also reunited for a pre-cruise concert at the University of Miami, an allstar event featuring other Jazz Cruise musicians that was one of Cohen’s “Live from Emmet’s Place” online concerts.

“Shelton is one of my musical and life mentors,” Cohen said of Berg “Every time I see him play, it’s meaningful. A lot of teachers teach you what they know, but he helps you become the best version of yourself.”

In 2020, Cohen launched “Live from Emmet’s Place” from his apartment in Harlem, New York City, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We were way into it before I realized we were doing a Harlem rent party, something that happened

Rock singer Rob Thomas (Matchbox Twenty) is 53

our favorite food, a good song and beautiful weather, and then the same ‘love’ is told to the people who mean the most to us,” according to Denham Springs’ Kristen Bell

“Love is an action, and in order for love to truly have meaning are the actions that go along with it. When we love someone, we want to spend time with them, make them smile or laugh, and encourage them to be their best,” Bell said.

“Loving someone also involves forgiveness and discussing hard things because your love for them is worth working through difficult times. Love is unselfish, kind, and generous, and we can only truly love someone well through Jesus’ love for us as these are attributes of Him,” she added. “Love is not how you feel about someone, but love is an action you do for someone to show how much you care.”

during the 1920s in the same neighborhood,” he said. “And it was a powerful thing to invite people throughout the world into the living room and give them a snapshot of contemporary New York.” Cohen estimates his “Live from Emmet’s Place” concerts and clips number 40 million views.

“That has been an unbelievable opportunity,” he said of the streamed performances. “If I was only playing in person in clubs, I could spend my whole life trying to get 40 million views.” Cohen grew up in Coral Gables, Florida, and New Jersey He began playing piano at 3 years old via the classical music-based Suzuki method.

“Somewhere along the line,” he said. “I found jazz It spoke to me. Over the years, I heard Frank Sinatra records. I saw Jimmy Smith and Monty Alexander play when I was young. I heard the music and felt it. The joyous feeling of swing made me so happy It connects to your emotions, expresses how you feel, in the moment, celebrating the moment.”

Victorino

Van Cleave Bell

Fleming is

Actor Meg Tilly is

Football Hall of Famer Jim Kelly is 65. Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, is 58. Actor Simon Pegg is 55

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Put your feelings aside and look at the real issues. Communication will help you sort through your concerns and encourage those you are dealing with to meet you halfway.

PIsCEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Listen carefully Keep your feelings and intentions private until you can better predict how others will react. Focus more on putting things in place and mapping out a comfortable path.

ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Move confidently; walk with a swagger and command attention Be objective, dissect every bit of information you receive and propose a plan regardless of who is with you.

tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Set a course and refuse to veer off track in order to please others. Follow your heart, share your feelings and execute your plans. Put your time, energy and expertise into something that can help you advance.

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) You want to simplify your life, not make it spin out of control. Getting together with an old friend will bring back memories and feelings. Engage in heartfelt conversations.

CAnCER (June 21-July 22) A warm and welcoming approach to dealing with others will encourage people to let down their guard. Your high energy and enthusiasm will be matched by someone who challenges you.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Make learning a priority. Scour the internet for informa-

tion to help you gain ground. Put your energy, skills and experience to use. Let someone know how much you care about them; it will brighten your day

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Look around you, be critical and change whatever is holding you back. Life is about choices, and although you may not reach your expectations right away, you can make incremental improvements over time.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Look at the big picture. Don't limit yourself or what you can do Whether it's a personal or professional goal you are trying to achieve, set yourself up for success.

sCoRPIo (oct 24-nov 22) Get in the game and have some fun. Socializing, participating and stretching your mind will encourage you to explore an exciting adventure. An aggressive attitude will help you reach your goal.

sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Pick up the pace and delve into physical fitness, smart living and opportunities leading to a better lifestyle and greater prosperity. It's up to you to make things happen.

CAPRICoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Update essential documents, investments and agreements. Discuss plans with the people affected by your choices. Base your decisions on what's necessary, not on what's desired, and follow through. The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2025 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews

FAMILY CIrCUS

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

toDAy's CLuE: J EQuALs K

CeLebrItY CIpher

For better or For WorSe

SALLY Forth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

LAGoon

bIG nAte

Sudoku

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

THe wiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

CurTiS

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

By PHILLIP ALDER Bridge

Alfred,LordTennysonsaid,“Hemakes no friends who never made a foe.”

At the bridge table, a suit can be like a friend or foe, often depending on how the suit divides between your other foe, your opponents. How is that relevant to this deal? South is in four hearts. West leads the diamond queen. Since this marks East with the ace, declarer plays low from the dummy at this trick and the next, when West continues the suit. However, East takes the third trick with his ace, then shifts to the club queen. How should South continue?

South rebid two spades in case he and his partner had a better fit there than in hearts. (North could have held five spades and three hearts. To respond one spade with that hand would have been wrong, in particular if South had rebid two clubs or two diamonds. Then North’s preference to two hearts would have shown only a doubleton, and South would have misevaluated the fit.)

Having lost three tricks, South needed the trumps to break 3-2. But he also had a potential spade loser. If the missing cards were friends, breaking 3-3, there would not be a problem. But if they were foe, dividing 4-2, declarer would need some luck.

Southdrewtworoundsoftrumpsusing dummy’s queen and his ace. Then he shifted to spades, cashing his ace, crossing to the king, and leading back to his queen. If the suit had been 3-3, declarer would have drawn the last trump and claimed. Here, though, he ruffed his fourth spade on the board, led a club to his ace, removed West’s last heart, and claimed.

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 DEBAtER: dih-BAY-ter: One who contends in words.

Average mark 43 words Time limit 50 minutes

Can you find 48 or more words in DEBATER?

yEstERDAy’s WoRD — WELtERs

welt were west wrest wrestle else ewer leer lest terse tree reel reset rest seer sere sewer sleet slew steel steer stew strew sweet swelter

today’s thought “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” Colossians 3:17

wuzzles

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles