The Acadiana Advocate 02-22-2025

LAFAYETTE PARISH

School Board OKs possible layoffs

Officials grant green light ‘if necessary’ to superintendent

BY ASHLEY WHITE Staff writer

The Lafayette Parish School Board voted to give the superintendent a green light to lay off teachers and administrators “if necessary” and without additional parameters.

The board unanimously voted Thursday to give Superintendent Francis Touchet Jr the ability to implement a reduction-in-force of existing personnel if necessary The approved policy lays out

that teachers and administrators will be first terminated based on effectiveness. However, an LPSS spokesperson said, “The superintendent has reassured certified teachers that they will have a place However, the board — unlike in past instances and despite requests from the teachers union did not place any additional parameters on the policy that outlines how a reduction-in-force is implemented.

The board gave the superin-

tendent the ability to implement a reduction-in-force of existing personnel “if necessary.” That language is “too vague,” teachers union president and school librarian Julia Reed told board members.

“Necessary can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people,” she said. Reed asked that the board place restrictions, such as specific positions, or directly attach decisions to the budget. Without the

ä See LAYOFFS, page 4A

OBSTACLE COURSE

Blind college student struggles to find help to be independent

Technical Community College culinary student

for the upcoming lunch service at the Culinary, Gaming and Hospitality

BY ALENA MASCHKE Staff writer

As a child, Cody Fontenot asked for all the things other children would ask for: He wanted to learn how to ride a bike, play the drums, skateboard and sleep in the top bunk. For a while, he went to a public school and eventually lived by himself with a roommate for a while as a young adult.

“We always taught him that he could do anything anyone else could do, except legally drive,” his mother, Melanie Winters said. “He wants to be very independent Always has been. That’s his biggest thing, is his independence.” Fontenot is blind. Born prematurely at 27 weeks with detached retinas, he lost his eyesight at two months old.

Now a college student at SOWELA Technical Community College in Lake Charles, there was something he couldn’t fully manage on his own:

“They pay for the service, but they don’t find you a reader If you don’t have that person, it affects your grades. The challenge is trying to find the right one.”

CODy FONTENOT

reading his school materials. Finding someone to help him was a challenge.

Louisiana Rehabilitation Services, a division of the Louisiana Workforce Commission, provides funding for vocational rehabilitation, with the help of federal government grants. As part of the program, blind and visually impaired people can hire someone to help them read, paid for by LRS. But the responsibility to find a reader lies with the blind person.

Not every blind person requires a human reader in every environ-

ment Especially in a digitized world, programs that turn written words into audio format can serve as an alternative, but not all digital files are machine-readable Sometimes, having a human reader can be more effective than any technology, for example when finding the right brand of a product at the grocery store. Fontenot found himself pondering his options. He reached out to student services, to LRS, but no luck Both told him they couldn’t help him find someone to hire.

“They pay for the service, but they don’t find you a reader,” Fontenot said. “If you don’t have that person, it affects your grades,” he added. “The challenge is trying to find the right one.”

SOWELA staff said they aim to provide reasonable accommodations, including providing materials in an accessible format or having

ä See OBSTACLE, page 4A

Lawsuit challenging La. execution methods reopened

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN and JOHN SIMERMAN Staff writers

A federal judge has reopened a long-running court case that could put Louisiana’s plans on hold to execute death row inmates Jessie Hoffman and Christopher Sepulvado next month.

U.S. District Judge Shelly D. Dick, the chief judge in Louisiana’s Middle District, agreed Friday to reopen a lawsuit initially filed in 2012 that challenged the state’s execution methods The decision came in response a request from attorneys for death row inmates who sought to urgently reopen the case and who are ultimately seeking stays of execution for Sepulvado and Hoffman.

ä See LAWSUIT, page 4A

July 25 incident led to shooting death of Lafayette police officer

CLAIRE TAYLOR and STEPHEN MARCANTEL Staff writers

The man who was holed-up in a Jeanerette mobile home in July when Lafayette Senior Cpl. Segus Jolivette was fatally shot has been charged with second-degree murder and 10 counts of attempted first-degree murder

Nyjal Hurst, 31, of Jeanerette, who has been in the Iberia Parish Jail since the July 25 shooting, was charged Friday with additional crimes by the Louisiana State Police Bureau of Investigations, according to a news release. Hurst was charged Friday with second-degree murder 10 counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree kidnapping, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and illegal possession of a stolen firearm.

He has been held on a $500,000 bond. The incident began July 25 in Jeanerette. The Jeanerette City Marshal attempted to serve a

STAFF PHOTO By ALENA MASCHKE

Cody Fontenot, right, and fellow SOWELA

Tianna Guillory fill glasses

Building at the Lake Charles campus on Wednesday.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRAD BOWIE

The Lafayette Parish School Board voted to give the superintendent the power to lay off teachers and administrators without parameters.

1 injured in Holocaust memorial attack in Berlin

BERLIN An assailant seriously injured a man in an attack at Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial on Friday police said, and German media reported that it was a stabbing. A man later was seen surrendering to officers, though police did not immediately confirm they had arrested a suspect.

There was no immediate indication of a motive for the attack, which comes two days before Germans vote in a national election on Sunday

About three hours after the attack, as police cars surrounded the vast grounds of the memorial, an Associated Press photographer witnessed a man claiming to be the culprit surrender to officers, but there was no immediate police confirmation of an arrest.

Police held the man face-down to the ground as they took him into custody

The attack took place about 6 p.m. at the memorial, a field of 2,700 gray concrete slabs near the Brandenburg Gate in the heart of Berlin. The victim was seriously injured and taken to a hospital, Berlin police said. German newspapers including Tagesspiegel said he was stabbed, citing police sources.

ICE official reassigned amid frustrations

WASHINGTON The top official in charge of carrying out President Donald Trump’s mass deportations agenda has been reassigned amid concerns that the deportation effort isn’t moving fast enough.

Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement Friday that Caleb Vitello, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was “no longer in an administrative role, but is instead overseeing all field and enforcement operations: finding, arresting, and deporting illegal aliens, which is a major priority of the President and Secretary (Kristi) Noem.”

The statement made no mention of why Vitello, a career ICE official with more than two decades on the job, was reassigned or who his replacement will be. But White House officials have expressed frustration with the pace of deportations of people in the country illegally

The decision comes a little over one month into the new administration, showing how important immigration and carrying out mass deportations are to the Trump administration.

ICE — specifically, its Enforcement and Removal Operations arm — is the key agency tasked with carrying out the Republican president’s pledge of mass deportations of people in the country illegally during his second term.

Chess grandmaster selling jeans for charity

NEW YORK Top-ranked chess player Magnus Carlsen is turning his controversial denim into some greens — for charity.

The Norwegian chess grandmaster announced this week that he is auctioning off the Italian luxury brand jeans that started a dress code dispute at December’s World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships Carlsen ultimately quit the New York competition after accepting a $200 fine while refusing to change his pants. While the tournament’s governing body agreed to loosen the dress code, Carlsen is parting with his infamous britches. Chess fanatics and #JeansGate followers now have the chance to own Carlsen’s pair of size 32 regular fit Corneliani jeans. The auction is scheduled to end March 1 Listed as preowned but in “good” condition on eBay, the pants’ highest offer was $8,200 as of the morning of Feb. 21.

Proceeds will go to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, a national youth-mentoring charity that carries out its mission through local chapters across 5,000 communities nationwide. According to BBBSA President and CEO Artis Stevens, they will be used to “bring mentorship to even more youth through chess clinics, community events, and more, equipping them with the skills and confidence to navigate life’s challenges.”

Hamas pledges to probe release of wrong body

BY AREEJ HAZBOUN Associated Press

JERUSALEM Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed revenge Friday for what he described as a “cruel and malicious violation” of the ceasefire agreement after authorities determined that a body released by Hamas was not an Israeli mother of two small boys, as the militant group had promised.

The incident raised new doubts about the future of the fragile ceasefire deal, which has paused over 15 months of war but is nearing the end of its first phase.

In the short term, though, there were indications that the deal’s next step — the release of six living Israeli hostages on Saturday in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners — would proceed as planned.

Hamas suggested in a statement Friday that a mix-up of remains might have occurred after Israel bombed the area where both the Israeli hostages and Palestinians were present The group said it would “conduct a thorough review.”

In other developments, U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that he will not try to muscle through his plan for the United States to take over and rebuild the Gaza Strip into a tourist destination, displacing Palestinians. The plan was welcomed by Netanyahu but universally rejected by Palestinians and Arab countries.

Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said it would go ahead with the release of the six Israeli hostages Saturday.

Hamas turned over four bodies Thursday as part of the ceasefire deal. They were supposed to have been those of

Shiri Bibas, her sons, Kfir and Ariel, and Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas that ignited the war Israeli authorities said they had positively identified the remains of the two boys and of Lifshitz. However, the fourth body was determined to be that of an unidentified woman from Gaza.

“We will work with determination to bring Shiri home together with all our hostages — both living and dead — and ensure that Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and malicious violation of the agreement,” Netanyahu said. “The sacred memory of Oded Lifshitz and Ariel and Kfir Bibas will be forever enshrined in the heart of the nation. May God avenge their blood. And so we will avenge.”

Hamas said it had “no interest in retaining any bodies,” adding that it had “demonstrated full compliance with the agreement” in recent days and remained “committed to all its terms.”

“We reject Netanyahu’s threats, which serve only to manipulate Israeli public opinion,” Hamas said, calling on mediators to ensure the continued implementation of the ceasefire. The group also called for the return of the unidentified remains.

Netanyahu’s vow for revenge was rejected by the aunt of the Bibas children, who said Israeli officials had failed to protect them on the day of the attack and then abandoned them in captivity

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, we did not receive an apology from you in this painful moment,” Ofri Bibas Levy said in a video statement released Friday by a group representing the families of hostages. “We are not seeking revenge right now We are asking for Shiri.”

Condemned S.C. killer chooses to be executed by firing squad

BY JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Condemned South Carolina inmate Brad Sigmon has chosen to die next month by a firing squad, a method of execution that has not been used in the U.S. in 15 years.

Sigmon is scheduled to die on March 7 On Friday, he became the first South Carolina inmate to choose the state’s new firing squad over lethal injection or the electric chair

Only three inmates in the U.S. have been executed by firing squad since 1976. All were in Utah, with the last one taking place in 2010

Sigmon, 67, will be strapped to a chair and have a hood placed over his head and a target placed over his heart in the death chamber Three volunteers will fire at him through a small opening about 15 feet away. Lawyers for Sigmon asked to delay his execution date earlier this month because they wanted to learn if the prisoner in South Carolina’s previous execution, Marion Bowman, was given two doses of pentobarbital at his execution on Jan. 31 and look over his autopsy report

The justices rejected his delay and court records Friday have not indicated

if Sigmon’s lawyers have received Bowman’s autopsy report yet Sigmon didn’t pick the electric chair because it would “burn and cook him alive,” his attorney Gerald “Bo” King wrote in a statement.

“But the alternative is just as monstrous,” King said. “If he chose lethal injection, he risked the prolonged death suffered by all three of the men South Carolina has executed since September three men Brad knew and cared for — who remained alive, strapped to a gurney for more than twenty minutes.”

Sigmon said South Carolina keeping so much secret about how it conducts lethal injections led him to

U.S.

envoy praises Zelenskyy after Trump censures him

BY ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine President

Donald Trump’s envoy to Ukraine and Russia said on Friday that he had held “extensive and positive discussions” with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the three-year war with Russia and praised the Ukrainian leader as an “embattled and courageous leader of a nation at war.”

Retired U.S. Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg — who traveled to Kyiv on Wednesday and whose planned news conference with Zelenskyy on Thursday was changed at the last minute to a simple photo opportunity — struck a positive tone after what he said on the social platform X was “a long and intense day” of talks with Ukraine’s senior leadership.

His comments marked a departure from recent rebukes of Zelenskyy by Trump and other senior U.S. officials that appeared to indicate an abrupt deterioration of relations.

Trump called Zelenskyy “a dictator without elections” and warned him that he’d “ better move fast ” to negotiate an end to the war or risk not having a nation to lead.

The possibility that vital U.S military aid for Ukraine was in doubt darkened the mood in Kyiv as Ukrainian forces struggle to hold back Russia’s bigger army on the battlefield. European governments, uneasy about being sidelined so far in talks between senior U.S. and Russian officials, have jumped to shore up Zelenskyy and at the same time avoid a breakdown in transatlantic relations.

Polish President Andrzej Duda, whose country has been a vocal supporter of neighboring Ukraine, said Zelenskyy phoned him on Friday Duda said he told Zelenskyy “to remain committed to the course of calm and constructive cooperation” with Trump.

“We consistently believe there is no other way to stop

the bloodshed and achieve lasting peace in Ukraine except with the support of the United States,” Duda said he also told Zelenskyy “I trust that goodwill and honesty form the foundation of the U.S. negotiation strategy,” Duda said on X. “I have no doubt that President Trump is guided by a deep sense of responsibility for global stability and peace.”

The European Union’s top defense official said Friday that the bloc plans to send a strong message of support to Ukraine next week with a new aid package to mark Monday’s third anniversary of the war EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said senior members of the bloc’s executive branch are weighing how, “in a very urgent way, to send a very strong message to Ukrainians and to the world that we are standing together with Ukraine.” European policy commissioners, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other top EU officials are traveling to Kyiv on Monday Russia has pressed on with its invasion even as talks with the U.S. take place, striking civilian targets almost daily On Friday, Russian forces dropped three powerful glide bombs on Kostiantynivka, in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, killing one man and injuring two others, regional Gov Vadym Filashkin said. Another Russian glide bomb damaged homes and injured five people in the northeastern Kharkiv region, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said. The public quarrel between Trump and Zelenskyy began after Russia and the U.S. agreed Tuesday to start working toward ending the war in Ukraine and improving their diplomatic and economic ties. With that, and a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump abruptly reversed the three-year U.S. policy of isolating Russia.

decide on what he knows will be a violent death, his lawyer said.

“He does not wish to inflict that pain on his family, the witnesses, or the execution team. But given South Carolina’s unnecessary and unconscionable secrecy, Brad is choosing as best he can,” King said. Sigmon was convicted in the 2001 baseball bat killings of his ex-girlfriend’s parents at their home in Greenville County. They were in separate rooms, and Sigmon went back and forth as he beat them to death, investigators said. He then kidnapped his exgirlfriend at gunpoint, but she escaped from his car He shot at her as she ran but missed, according to prosecutors.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By OHAD ZWIGENBERG

People gather at a vigil in Tel Aviv, Israel, hours after Hamas militants turned over four bodies to Israel, three of which have been identified by Israel as hostages Ariel and Kfir Bibas, and Oded Lifshitz, while the fourth, they said, is that of an unknown person.

Judge allows USAID staffers to be pulled off job

BY ELLEN KNICKMEYER and LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press

WASHINGTON A federal judge on Friday cleared the way for the Trump administration to pull thousands of U.S. Agency for International Development staffers off the job in the United States and around the world.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols declined to keep in place his temporary block on the effort to remove all but a small fraction of USAID staffers from their posts, as part of an administration plan that would also give those abroad a 30-day deadline to move back to the U.S. at government expense.

His ruling comes in a broad lawsuit filed by unions on behalf of workers, especially those at risk of being stranded abroad. The suit describes the Trump administration stalling needed medical evacuations for USAID staffers and spouses overseas, cutting some contractors off from emergency communications, and leaving staffers to flee political violence in Congo without support or funding.

The lawsuit more broadly challenges the constitutionality of the administration attacks on USAID, saying eliminating an agency would require congressional approval.

“At present, the agency is still standing,” Nichols wrote in his ruling. “And so the alleged injuries on which plaintiffs rely in seeking injunc-

tive relief flow essentially from their members’ existing employment relationships with USAID.”

Nichols found that the unions’ challenge must be dealt with under federal employment laws rather than in district court.

President Donald Trump and the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency tied to billionaire Elon Musk have moved swiftly to shutter USAID, asserting without evidence that its work is wasteful and out of line with the president’s agenda.

Multiple lawsuits from groups representing USAID workers and nonprofits and businesses are challenging the job cuts and the sudden shutdown of the agency overall, as well as a freeze on foreign assistance. Another court order has temporarily blocked the halt to funding Nichols said he had been “very concerned” about workers in high-risk areas left overseas without access to emergency communications. But has since been reassured by the Trump administration that they would still have access to two-way radios that allow 24/7 communications in emergencies, as well as a phone app with a “panic button.”

He said the government’s statements persuaded him “that the risk posed to USAID employees who are placed on administrative leave while stationed abroad — if there is any is far more minimal

Senate GOP approves budget framework

BY LISA MASCARO, KEVIN FREKING and MATT BROWN Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Republican senators pushed a $340 billion budget framework to passage early Friday, chugging through an all-night session and Democratic opposition in a step toward unleashing money the Trump administration says it needs for mass deportations and border security that top their agenda.

The hours-long “vote-arama” rambled along in a dreaded but crucial part of the budget process, as senators considered one amendment after another, largely from Democrats trying to halt it. But Republicans used their majority power to muscle the package to approval on a largely party-line vote, 52-48, with all Democrats and one GOP senator opposing it.

“What we’re doing today is jumpstarting a process that will allow the Republican Party to meet President Trump’s immigration agenda,” Senate Budget Committee chair Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said while opening the debate. Graham said President Donald Trump’s top immigration czar Tom Homan, told senators that the administration’s deportation operations are “out of money” and need more funding from Congress to detain and deport immigrants. With little power in the minority to stop the onslaught, Democrats instead used the all-night debate to force GOP senators into potentially embarrassing votes including the first one, on blocking tax breaks to billionaires. It was turned back on procedural grounds. So were many others.

“This is going to be a long, drawn-out fight,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York warned. Hours later, Schumer said it “was only the beginning” of what could become a monthslong debate.

The package is what Republicans view as a down payment on Trump’s agenda, part of a broader effort that will eventually include

than it initially appeared.”

Pregnant women worry

The Trump administration has stalled medical evacuations for as many as 25 USAID staffers and spouses in the later stages of high-risk pregnancies overseas, according to testimony in lawsuits and a person familiar with the cases. The person was not authorized to speak publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity

USAID “will undertake all measures as appropriate to ensure the safety and security of current employees,” deputy administrator Pete Marocco said in a court filing Thursday

The administration says it is taking all required care of staffers as it terminates USAID programs and aims to recall thousands of workers and their families abroad.

The American women and

their spouses, however, say they have been left in substandard medical care in posts in unstable countries, fearing for their lives.

“Everyone says I need to wait and see what happens” with Trump administration decisions, a USAID staffer, whose pregnancy is complicated by high blood pressure, said in a court filing from her posting in an undisclosed country in Africa.

The woman’s affidavit and others from staffers were filed with courts anonymously because of repeated warnings from the Trump administration that USAID staffers risk dismissal if they speak publicly “I have a due date that does not allow me to just wait and see what happens,” the USAID staffer wrote. “If I cannot medevac as planned, I will be in a life-threatening situation.”

In another case, a pregnant spouse of a USAID worker was left hemorrhaging in a foreign hospital bed to await delivery her husband said in another affidavit. The intervention of a U.S senator, who was not identified in the the affidavit, secured the government’s agreement to pay for a medical evacuation. But doctors say the approval came too late in her pregnancy for her to safely take a long series of flights back to the U.S., even with medical escort.

The State Department did not respond to requests for comment on workers’ allegations that the government was stalling or refusing medical evacuations.

Other uncertainty abroad

In lifting his order temporarily blocking the Trump administration order that would put thousands of USAID staffers on leave, Nichols allowed the administration to start the clock on a 30-day deadline for USAID workers abroad to travel home at government expense.

Lawyers for employee groups presented Nichols with accounts saying that the Trump administration had left workers without direction or funding when political violence in Congo forced their evacuation.

USAID officials paid for two meals and offered the evacuated Congo-based employees an opportunity to look at boxes of donated clothing once they arrived in

Washington, said the staffers, who were not identified in court documents.

Administration officials otherwise have left the evacuated staffers to rack up tens of thousands of dollars in uncompensated hotel bills, with no guidance on whether they should stay in Washington, go elsewhere or whether they still will have a job, the lawsuit charges.

USAID workers still overseas describe their lives as in chaos and lacking guidance from the government, including USAID failing to pay electricity bills.

Staffers told the courts in written testimony that they fear being left without time or the means to sell their homes or pay off angry landlords owed money

Lifesaving programs offline

Current and former USAID officials say the funding freeze and staff reductions have kept even lifesaving programs worldwide offline despite Secretary of State Marco Rubio granting waivers. That includes programs such as a two-decade-old AIDS and HIV program — called the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR credited with saving more than 20 million lives in Africa as well as a disease-outbreak response that normally would be trying to prevent further spread of recent Ebola cases in Uganda, according to two officials for those programs.

Judge cancels trial for NYC mayor Eric Adams

BY LARRY NEUMEISTER and MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press

legislation to extend some $4.5 trillion in tax breaks and other priorities. That’s being assembled by House Speaker Mike Johnson in a separate budget package that also seeks up to $2 trillion in reductions to health care and other programs.

Trump has preferred what he calls one “big, beautiful bill,” but the White House is open to the Senate’s strategy of working on the border package first, then turning to tax cuts later this year. As voting began, the president signaled his go-ahead, posting a thank you to Senate Majority Leader John Thune “and the Republican Senate, for working so hard on funding the Trump Border Agenda.”

Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky cast the lone GOP vote against the framework.

What’s in the package

The Republican Senate package would allow up to $175 billion to be spent on border security, including money for mass deportation operations and building the U.S.-Mexico border wall, in addition to a $150 billion boost to the Pentagon and about $20 billion for the Coast Guard. But there won’t be any money flowing just yet, as the process has several steps ahead. The budget resolution is simply a framework that sends instructions to the various Senate committees Homeland Security, Armed Services, Judiciary to hammer out the details. Everything will eventually be assembled in another package, with another vote-a-rama down the road.

Sen John Barrasso, RWyo., the No 2-ranking Senate Republican, said GOP lawmakers are acting quickly to get the administration the resources they have requested and need to curb illegal border crossings. “The budget will allow us to finish the wall. It also takes the steps we need toward more border agents,” Barrasso said. “It means more detention beds It means more deportation flights.”

NEW YORK A federal judge on Friday cancelled the corruption trial for New York City Mayor Eric Adams and appointed counsel to advise him on how to handle the Justice Department’s controversial request to drop charges against the Democrat.

Judge Dale E. Ho’s written order means he won’t decide before mid-March whether to grant the dismissal of the case against the embattled mayor of the nation’s largest city

At a hearing Wednesday, Acting Deputy U.S. Attorney General Emil Bove cited an executive order by President Donald Trump outlining his criminal justice priorities as he defended the request to drop charges

Adams confirmed at the hearing that he accepted that charges could later be reinstated, a feature of the request to dismiss charges that has led critics to suggest that the mayor would be required to carry out Trump’s plans to round up New Yorkers who are in the country illegally if he wanted to remain free from prosecution.

The request is “virtually unreviewable in this courtroom,” Bove argued.

Adams was indicted in September and accused of accepting more than $100,000 in illegal campaign contributions and travel perks from a Turkish official and business leaders seeking to buy influence while he was Brooklyn borough president. He faces multiple challengers in June’s Democratic primary He has pleaded not guilty and has insisted on his innocence.

At Wednesday’s hearing, Ho raised the possibility that he could appoint a lawyer to advise him on future steps.

He did so on Friday when he said he’d appointed Paul Clement, a former U.S. solicitor general and acting U.S. attorney general, as amicus curiae to present arguments on the government’s request to throw out the charges

Ho said he wanted all parties and Clement to address the legal standard for dismissing charges, whether a court may consider materials beyond the motion itself and under what circumstances additional procedural steps and further inquiry would be necessary

He also said he wants to

know under what circumstances, dismissal can occur without the ability to reinstate charges or with the ability to reinstate charges.

He scheduled briefs to be filed by March 7 and, if necessary, oral arguments to occur on March 14.

Late Thursday three former U.S. attorneys — from New York, Connecticut and New Jersey — submitted a letter urging Ho to “hear from parties other than the government and the defendant in deciding about the appropriate next steps.”In

court on Wednesday Adams’ lawyer, Alex Spiro, said no appeals court has ever sided with a judge who rejected an unopposed motion to dismiss a criminal case. Until about 80 years ago, such requests were granted automatically, without a judge weighing in.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOSE LUIS MAGANA Flowers and a sign are placed outside the headquarters of the U.S Agency for International Development, or USAID, Feb 7 in Washington.

LAYOFFS

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additional language, which the board did not add, educators and staff were scared about whether they would have a job next year, Reed said.

“It is very hard to provide the support students need coming from a place of fear,” she said.

“It’s a little premature to freak out your staff when you don’t actually know whether you’re going to have to cut anybody or not.

“We understand that we may have to face this at one point,” Reed added, “but we are asking that you do not cause undue concern and disruption to schools until it is absolutely necessary.”

While there haven’t been strict

limitations placed on previous reductions-in-force, most came with parameters about only implementing the policy after other actions.

The 2020 board approved the elimination and creation of some jobs, changes in job descriptions, and for then-Superintendent Irma Trosclair to implement a reduction-in-force “if necessary after attrition and transfers have taken place.”

The 2016 and 2017 board voted in two separate occasions to allow then-Superintendent Donald Aguillard to execute a reduction if it was not possible to “place all employees adversely impacted by the budget adoption”

The board is bracing for a challenging budget season. Last year’s $38 million budget shortfall was offset with one-time funds. But declining enrollment, rising in-

immediately issue a decision.

Continued from page 1A

When the suit was first filed, Hoffman and other death row inmates challenged the state’s execution methods as Louisiana sought to execute Sepulvado by lethal injection The plaintiffs succeeded in delaying his and all other executions, in part because Louisiana could not obtain proper drugs for lethal injection — then the state’s only approved execution method.

Dick, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, dismissed the case in 2022 after thenAttorney General Jeff Landry argued it was moot, since the state was unable to get the lethal injection drugs and was not executing anyone. Dick’s decision, however, allowed the plaintiffs to refile the case if circumstances changed “This case has always been about Louisiana’s execution protocol,” Dick wrote in her ruling Friday. “It is still about Louisiana’s execution protocol. And now that the protocol appears viable, there is an actionable case and controversy.”

After Landry became governor, he successfully pushed the Legislature last year to add nitrogen hypoxia and electrocution to the state’s list of approved execution methods. Last summer plaintiffs in the federal case asked that the case be reopened, but Dick did not

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staff members serve as human readers. “We would certainly work with the student on that part of the accommodation process,” Student Services Director Maegan Lewis said.

SOWELA’s executive director of enrollment management and student affairs, Allison Dering, said the school has worked with LRS in the past to help accommodate students’ needs.

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warrant on Hurst. Hurst reportedly took two people hostage around 10 a.m. in a mobile home in the 2500 block of Martin Luther King Boulevard. Later that day, various law enforcement officers, including the Lafayette Police Department’s SWAT team, arrived to

The case took on new urgency last week after Landry announced the state was ready to execute death row inmates using nitrogen gas. State judges quickly signed death warrants for Sepulvado and Hoffman, scheduling their executions back-to-back for March 17 and March 18, respectively

A Rapides Parish judge signed a third execution warrant that he soon revoked, after the condemned man’s attorneys claimed he hadn’t exhausted his appeals.

Dick had signaled in a 2022 ruling that new execution methods would likely revive the case. She cited her past ruling in Friday’s decision

“If Attorney General Landry is somehow successful in the future at accomplishing that which has yet to be accomplished by the legislature — an alternative means of execution in Louisiana, Plaintiffs and Defendants will have an entirely different execution protocol over which to litigate,” she wrote in 2022.

Cecelia Kappel, director of Loyola University’s Center for Social Justice, who is representing the plaintiffs, noted that Alabama remains the only state to have used nitrogen gas to put people to death, so far deploying it four times. She said the results have been “grotesque and horrifying.”

“We’ve been challenging the state’s methods of execution for almost 13 years,” she said Friday

“They may ask a student to identify someone, because their goal is independence for the student,”

Dering said “Our main role is just always ensuring that materials are accessible to the student, whether it’s with a reader or some other form of technology.”

Dering said she couldn’t comment on the case of any individual student, such as Fontenot.

For the 26-year-old culinary student, the lack of access felt like an additional obstacle he had to overcome, and a frustrating one at that. Fontenot is proud of handling all the administra-

help in what was described as a “hostage situation.”

Around 4:30 p.m., the standoff escalated into a shooting that resulted in the death of Jolivette and wounded three other officers. The officer’s death was the first lineof-duty death the department has suffered since the fatal shooting in October 2017 of Cpl. Michael Middlebrook.

Though not substantiated by any official sources, a media report and

surance costs and more students choosing charter schools have contributed to that shortfall.

And without knowing how much the state legislature is willing to fund per student, the LPSS finance director said it’s impossible to calculate exactly what sort of challenge the district will face for its 2025-26 budget.

Touchet touted the board’s Thursday approval of the elimination and consolidation of some district-level jobs that are supposed to create an annual net savings of $1.5 million. Eliminated jobs include the community partnership coordinator, three printers at the district’s warehouse and print shop, an accountant and a data and enrollment coordinator in the early childhood department.

The School Board had an opportunity to save $4 million in the

“The state is rushing forward with executions at warp speed. We still don’t know what the protocol will be to execute them.”

Hours after Dick reopened the case, Landry and state Attorney General Liz Murrill slammed the decision. Murrill pledged to challenge it at the New Orleans-based U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“While I am not surprised by this ruling, I believe it is egregiously wrong as a matter of law,” Murrill said in a statement “Federal jurisdiction is not a Phoenix that can rise up through the ashes of a case.”

Landry posted on X that Dick’s ruling was “not shocking” and criticized her as a “liberal activist judge.” He accused her of waiting “until the eve of execution to rule on this defective motion.”

And Landry argued that Dick sided with the inmates over victims.

“I took an oath to uphold the laws of Louisiana, and I will continue to fight for Justice for the victims,” the governor said. “These criminals on death row committed some of the most cruel and heinous crimes imaginable.”

Landry and Murrill have vowed to ensure death row inmates are executed, which they say will bring justice to victims’ families.

But the news about a new protocol and the upcoming execution dates also prompted the death row plaintiffs to file new court motions pushing for a speedy case reopen-

tive work associated with his LRS benefits on his own, and he serves as local representative for the National Association of the Blind. But here, he found himself at a loss.

Begrudgingly, he wrote up a post for Winters to share on Facebook. “He did get frustrated. Of course. He wants to do everything on his own,” Winters said. “I’m his last resort.”

For Pam Allen, director of the Louisiana Center for the Blind, asking blind people, including students, to find their own readers is part of learning how to live inde-

people involved in the shooting suggested that Jolivette died from a fellow SWAT officer’s bullet.

A woman who was trapped inside the trailer while police attempted to serve the warrant said in September she felt lucky to be alive after the barrage of bullets that were fired.

McKenzie Liebaert said she believes bullets from other police officers fatally struck Jolivette.

“It sure didn’t feel like they were

upcoming year and $8 million annually after four years if it had accepted recommendations from a strategic planner that included closing and consolidating schools.

Instead the board voted against most of the recommendations and its annual cost savings will be about $500,000 The next day, Touchet announced a hiring freeze.

Touchet told The Current in December that “we are going to guarantee everyone that is certified has a job.” But the reduction-in-force policy approved by the board states that a reduction of teachers and administrators “shall be based solely upon demand, performance and effectiveness,” as determined by the district’s performance evaluation program. Further reductions are based on effectiveness as determined by “data-driven evaluation

ing.

Though Landry’s office released a general summary of the execution protocols, state corrections officials this week denied a request from The Advocate | The TimesPicayune for the official execution protocols, claiming the records are not public.

In doing so, Department of Corrections officials cited two state statutes. The first exempts from public release a wide swath of law enforcement, DOC and attorney general’s office records.

The second statute makes certain information about executions confidential, including identifying information about “any person, business, organization, or other entity directly or indirectly involved in the execution of a death sentence.” That includes the identity of anyone who provides supplies used in the execution.

While such information always had some protection from release, the Legislature last year strengthened the confidentiality provisions when it passed a law prohibiting such records from being released through any court proceeding That law has not yet been tested.

The protocol summary the state did release says that when the state carries out a death sentence, an inmate will have access to a spiritual adviser, and that designated relatives and members of the media will witness the execution.

It also says medical monitors will track the vital signs of the inmate

pendently as a blind person.

“Learning how to do it and what to look for is an important skill for a blind person,” Allen said.

Because there is no government registry or official referral system for readers or drivers who assist blind people, part of that experience is learning how to keep yourself safe, Allen said.

“There are some people who do background checks on readers before they hire them,” Allen said. “You’re sharing potentially private information. You as an individual have to decide what you’re comfortable with.”

trying to protect me,” Liebaert said “I wasn’t scared until they started blowing windows out of the house and going shooting at me. If it’s a hostage situation, then why are they shooting in the direction of the hostages?” In a jailhouse interview, Hurst said he believed at most 50 rounds were fired toward him and the two people police described as hostages.

of student growth and professional practices.”

Employees who are not teachers or administrators will be terminated based on personnel evaluation plans that determine performance and effectiveness, followed by certification or academic preparation, if applicable.

Touchet said at Thursday’s board meeting that “we’re going to take care of our teachers,” but the request needed to be made “in case something does happen.”

Board member Jeremy Hidalgo agreed that the policy was necessary as the board moves into its budget season. “I do not want educators teaching from a position of fear,” he said. “However, we do have to teach and we do have to govern from a position of reality and this is the reality that we’re in.”

being put to death. A mask will be fitted on the inmate, and “pure nitrogen gas will be administered to the inmate through the mask for a sufficient time period necessary to cause the death of the inmate.”

Louisiana has not executed anyone since 2010, when the state killed Gerald Bordelon at his request.

But Hoffman and Sepulvado may be next.

Sepulvado was sentenced to death in 1993 after being convicted of murdering his 6-year-old stepson, Wesley Mercer District Attorney Charles Adams of the 42nd Judicial District requested Sepulvado’s death warrant, and Judge Amy Burford McCartney signed it on Feb. 11. She set Sepulvado’s execution date for March 17.

Sepulvado’s legal team argues Sepulvado has been recommended for palliative care and is already dying. The 81-year-old is the oldest person on death row

Meanwhile, Judge Alan Zaunbrecher signed Hoffman’s death warrant, scheduling his execution date for March 18, the day after Sepulvado’s. Collin Sims, the district attorney for St. Tammany and Washington parishes, sought the death warrant.

Hoffman sits on death row for the 1996 execution-style killing of Mary “Molly” Elliott, a 28-year-old advertising executive. Prosecutors accused Hoffman of raping Elliott before killing her

Through his mother’s Facebook post, Fontenot did find a reader to help him with his school work. She also gives him a ride to campus on school days.

“We’re both going to the same place,” Fontenot said in his dry, matter-of-fact tone. “We just started, but it’s going pretty well.” This week, his reader was out with the flu, but his fellow students didn’t mind helping him out. Fontenot isn’t sure what he wants to do with his culinary skills once he graduates Working in a cruise ship kitchen sounds good, he said, or maybe a food truck.

One of the bullets struck and killed Jolivette, who Liebaert said was behind the trailer at the time.

A bullet grazed Liebaert’s hand, and Hurst said he took a bullet to the leg. But all three, to her surprise, lived that day Liebaert said police then grabbed her and threw her into the bathtub. She believes officers were unaware of who anyone was at that moment. They then grabbed Hurst and pinned him to the ground. All three were then taken out of the home, and Hurst was arrested.

Medical team: Pope Francis’ condition isn’t life-threatening

BY NICOLE WINFIELD and COLLEEN BARRY Associated Press

ROME Pope Francis’ complex respiratory infection isn’t life-threatening but he’s not out of danger, his medical team said Friday, as the 88-year-old pontiff marked his bat lungs vira top Francis’ their on ing Gemelli thr pope sup he needs to th strengthened tiple nosed, Gemelli Alfieri physician, Dr. Luigi Carbone, said Francis remains in good spi said Fr on Father

referring to Alfieri as “Holy Son.”

“To the question ‘is the pope out of danger?’ No, the pope is not out of danger,” Alfieri said. “If you then ask if in this moment the pope is in a life-threatening situation, the answer is also no.”

“Just now he went from his watch TV in a rocking chair Do you know any other

enormously generous, so he got tired, Alfieri said. Francis is a known workaholic and has admitted to being a not-terribly-compliant patient in the past. Alfieri said he had been a “great patient” since he was admitted, but turned the floor over to Carbone to respond to

sh Patel sworn in as new I director at White House

iated Press

dence the germs had entered his bloodstream, a condition known as sepsis that they said remains the biggest conpsis is a complication infection that can lead to organ failure and death.

BY CLAIRE SA Associated Press

La ace abortion ac roceed

WASHINGTON Kash Patel was sworn in Friday as the FBI director, calling the opportunity to lead the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency the “greatest honor” of his life.

Patel was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday by a 51-49 margin, with two Republican lawmakers, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, breaking party ranks and voting against him.

Patel will operate as a loyalist for Trump and abuse the FBI’s law enforcement powers to go after the president’s adversaries. They’ve cited past comments such as his suggestion before he was nominated that he would “come after” antiTrump “conspirators” in the government and media.

fight violent crime and drug overdoses.

oth Republican EEOC commissioners voted against the rules at the time

challenging entitling and for federal

de ve

Arkansas

U.S. District Judge

Virginia — is one of several legal challenges to the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act rules. One case in Texas seeks to overturn the law in its entirety

The Eighth Circuit Court’s decision to revive the case comes after a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling opened the door to state abortion bans, and as bills to track and charge women who get abortions with murder have gotten attention in Missouri North Dakota and Oklahoma state legislatures this month. The EEOC, which enforces

D.P Marshall Jr.’s dismissal of the case in June after he found that the states lacked standing to sue. Eighth Circuit Chief Judge Steven M. Colloton, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush in 2003, wrote in Thursday’s opinion that the states do have standing since they are subject to the federal rules. Led by Republican state attorneys general in Tennessee and Arkansas, the 17 states sued the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission its ment Fairness san to modations” postpar pregnancy co fo more permission the can tain from attempt into to tion legal,” Ge said “The lations by

A spokesperson for the EEOC said the agency will “refrain from discussing litigation” but referred The Associated Press to Acting Chair Andrea Lucas’ position on the Commission’s PWFA regulations, which she voted against.

“I support elements of the final rule. However I am unable to approve it because it purports to broaden the scope of the statute in ways that, in my view, cannot reasonably be reconciled with the text,” she wrote in a statement at the time explaining her decision to vote against the rules.

The EEOC has undergone significant change since President Donald Trump took office last month. After naming Lucas, a Republican, as acting chair, Trump fired two Democratic commisfive-member theirto the a well

“I think he’ll go down as the best ever at that position,” President Donald Trump told reporters Friday ahead of the White House swearing-in, which was conducted by Attorney General Pam Bondi and attended by Republican supporters in Congress, including Sen Ted Cruz of Texas and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio.

Trump added that the “agents love this guy.”

Patel will inherit an FBI gripped by turmoil as the Justice Department over the past month has forced out a group of senior bureau officials and made a highly unusual demand for the names of thousands of agents who participated in investigations related to the Jan 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Democrats had sounded the alarm about the appointment, saying they fear

Patel sought to assuage those concerns at his confirmation hearing last month, saying he intended to follow the Constitution and had no interest in pursuing retribution, though he also said at his swearing-in Friday that reporters had written “fake, malicious, slanderous and defamatory” stories about him.

Republicans angry over what they see as law enforcement bias against conservatives during the Democratic Biden administration, as well as criminal investigations into Trump, have rallied behind Patel as the right person for the job.

Patel has spoken of his desire to implement major changes at the FBI, including a reduced footprint in Washington and a renewed emphasis on the bureau’s traditional crime-fighting duties rather than the intelligence-gathering work that has come to define its mandate over the past two decades as national security threats have proliferated. He said Friday that the FBI’s “national security mission” was equally as important as its efforts to

“Anyone that wishes to do harm to our way of life and our citizens, here and abroad, will face the full wrath of the DOJ and FBI,” Patel said. “If you seek to hide in any corner of this country or planet, we will put on the world’s largest manhunt and we will find you and we will decide your end-state.” A former Justice Department counterterrorism prosecutor, Patel was selected in November to replace Christopher Wray, who was picked by Trump in 2017 and who resigned at the conclusion of the Biden administration to make way for his chosen successor Wray infuriated Trump throughout his tenure, including after FBI agents searched his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in August 2022 for classified documents in one of two federal investigations that resulted in indictments against Trump that were dismissed after his election win. FBI directors are given 10-year terms as a way to insulate them from political influence and keep them from becoming beholden to a particular president or administration. But Trump fired the FBI director he inherited, James Comey, after Comey had spent over three years on the job and replaced Wray after more than seven years in the position.

ssed s g as e own the intends consider she supported srepresents under seen to

Company settles Flint water lawsuits for $53M but denies blame

Kris andHeather Louvierre have chosen anew site forDaiquiriDepot, at 241 Donlon Ave. along the Evangeline ThruwayinLafayette. The business suffered significantdamagenearlya year agowhenthe former locationburned down.

BY ED WHITE Associated Press

DETROIT An engineering company said Friday it has agreed to pay $53 million to settle all remaining lawsuits that alleged some blame for lead-contaminated water in Flint, Michigan, a decade ago. The deal by Veolia North America and Flint residents comes on top of $26.3 million in previous settlements with the company, and $626 million from the state of Michigan and other parties.

original location for its returning customers, she noted, “but it was bigenough for us to do adrivethru plus it had

spaces for us to

our daiquiris and crawfish,” Louvierre said. The building, which became available when the franchisee for that location closed it along with another in Lafayette in December,isdoublethe size of their old building. Louvierre said they may expand the menu to include aseafood market located at the entrance of the business

Veolia has denied responsibility for the contamination and repeatedly noted that it was briefly hired by Flint as a consultant months

“Weare trying ourhardest to get open as soon as we can,” Louvierre said. “Wemiss interacting with our customers in the public, and we are just

after the city began pulling water from the Flint River in 2014. The water was not treated to reduce corrosion, causing lead to leach from old pipes.

which owner Vincent Starwood opened bought last summer and has since worked to put back into commerce.

Abody contour shop and a laundromat will openinthe development,which wasthe former Hanger Prosthetics& Orthotics. It already houses asmall grocerystore,called Starwood Marketplace, and a beauty salon/barbershop.

Critics claimed Veolia could have done much more before then-Gov Rick Snyder and Flint switched the city’s water source back to a regional supplier in fall 2015. By that time, tests showed elevated lead levels in children. “This final settlement is in no way an admission of responsibility, but the best resolution to avoid decades of costly, unproductive, and time-consuming litigation, and to bring closure for all parties involved,” Veolia

“Everywhere yougo, you gotta get on the road and go to the otherside of town to get anything you need,” Starwood said. “And Isaid I’ll put asmallgrocerystore there to help the community out. It was just heartbreaking when Isee these older folksget on the bus to go all the way on the other side of town just to get groceries because everything on our side of town seems to notbe important.” Starwood said he used his own

said. The company said the Flint water crisis was “caused by government officials.”

“I called everyresourcein Lafayette to help me, even with thiscoronavirus,” he said. “The government claimed to have all these resourcesfor smallbusinesses, but we couldn’tseem to find adollar of it.”

Veolia said it had no role in the water switch or running the Flint water plant and was told that the water was meeting standards.

Other developments along the Thruway include: n Baton Rouge attorneys Harry DanielsIII andChristopher Washington bought property at 718 NW Evangeline Thruway and later at 800 NW Evangeline Thruway.Attempts to reach them were unsuccessful.Work beganearlier last month on the

The $53 million settlement will be distributed to approximately 26,000 people represented by law firms, the Michigan attorney general’s office said. As part of the deal, the state will dismiss its own separate lawsuit against Veolia.

property n Theformer car dealership at 1406 NE Evangeline

“After years of drawn-out legal battles, this settlement finally closes a chapter for Flint residents,” Attorney General Dana Nessel said.

TUCKER WEISSERT

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MARK SCHIEFELBEIN

y General Pam Bondi speaks during a ceremonial swearing-in of Kash Patel, onald Trump’s new director of the FBI, Friday in the Indian Treaty Room at the r Executive Office Building on the White House campus in

L.A. wildfires make tough rental market even worse

BY JANIE HAR and DAMIAN DOVARGANES Associated Press

LOS ANGELES The one-bedroom cottage with a woodsy vibe reminded Heather McAlpine of the home she lost to the brutal Los Angeles-area wildfires. But only two hours after seeing the listing, the rental was snapped up. She is one of tens of thousands of people displaced by the fires who is now competing for housing in a region that is among the most expensive and competitive in the country, partly due to lack of supply McAlpine, had lived in her Altadena house for four years and is now staying with her boyfriend. She isn’t surprised by spiking rents. “I know they’re expensive and it sucks,” she said.

Tenants who were just getting by before the fires now face a daunting housing search after the January fires leveled entire neighborhoods. The LA fires destroyed more than 16,000 homes, businesses and other structures in upscale Pacific Palisades and working-class Altadena, where the U.S. Census reports 22% of homes were occupied by renters.

It’s hard to quantify exactly how the wildfires are affecting the rental market, but LA rents rose faster than prices nationwide in January compared to the previous month,

according to housing platform Zillow

The added competition from residents displaced by the fires is likely to worsen housing affordability increase overcrowding and contribute to homelessness, says Sarah Karlinsky, research director at the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley Already more than half of all renter households — or a little over 1 million households in LA County spend 30% or more of their income on rent.

Shane Phillips, housing initiative project manager at the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies, expects prices to increase significantly for months, if not a few years.

“There’s only so many people moving at any given time and suddenly adding another 20,000 households to that amount is just an extraordinary pressure,” he said.

Rental pageviews in LA County on the real estate platform Redfin are up 50% from a year ago, said Daryl Fairweather, the company’s chief economist.

She said people will feel the impact of “shorter supply, more fierce competition for rentals.”

Egregious rents cropped up soon after the fires broke out, prompting an ad-hoc group of tenant organizers, web programmers and others to crowdsource examples.

The Rent Brigade found more

A firefighter tries to extinguish flames at a burning apartment building during the Eaton Fire on Jan. 8 in Altadena, Calif.

than 1,300 examples of illegal rent increases advertised between Jan. 7 and Jan 18. Many have since been removed or relisted at lower prices.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has warned repeatedly of the state’s anti-gouging laws, which limits price increases to no more than 10% from whatever the price was before the emergency His office has so far filed three misdemeanor criminal price-gouging charges. A 10% cap is still too high for Wendy Dlakic. She was paying about $3,000 a month for a now uninhabitable two-bedroom condo in

Altadena, a community she loved. She’s searched rental websites, but for now is staying with friends, family and at Airbnbs.

“It was already expensive,” said Dlakic, an educator who moved to Southern California two years ago. “It’s tough to be in LA on one income. You’re right on the edge you know?”

The “typical rent” in the U.S. was $1,968 as of Jan. 31 — up 0.2% from the previous month, according to Zillow But in the LA metro area, the typical rent was up 0.8% to $2,954. Zillow calculates the typical rent figure by averaging the middle 30% of rents.

Daniel Yukelson, executive director of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, says fears of rent-gouging have been overblown by tenant advocates and he’s angry that Bonta has filed criminal charges.

“Some mistakes were unknowingly made,” he said “If these infractions were pointed out to these few owners, corrections would have surely been made immediately,” McAlpine, the displaced tenant, realized the Eaton Fire was coming for her in-law unit while she was helping to evacuate neighbors as a Altadena Mountain Rescue Team volunteer She scooped up her cat, ski gear and camera equipment and fled the 300-square-foot cottage.

She’s grateful for donations through GoFundMe, which will help with essentials, but is worried about finding a standalone unit close to nature and within her monthly budget of $1,800 for rent and utilities.

The cottage that McAlpine, a photographer, and her boyfriend wanted was listed for $2,750 a month. Even though they have a bigger budget together, the hunt has been dispiriting.

“I’m quickly looking for the photos. ‘Oh, does this look sketchy or not?’ Or, ‘you know, is this the right price?’” she said. “It’s just very different from how I would normally look for a place to live.”

BY CAROLYN THOMPSON Associated Press

MAYVILLE,N.Y A New Jersey man was convicted Friday of attempted murder for stabbing author Salman Rushdie multiple times on a New York lecture stage in 2022. Jurors, who deliberated for less than two hours, also found Hadi Matar, 27, guilty of assault for wounding a man who was on stage with Rushdie at the time. Matar ran onto the stage at the Chautauqua Institution where Rushdie was about to speak on Aug. 12, 2022, and stabbed him more than a dozen times before a live audience. The attack left the 77-year-old prizewinning novelist blind in one eye.

Rushdie was the key witness during seven days of testimony describing in graphic detail his life-threatening injuries and long and painful recovery

Matar, sitting at the defense table looked down but had no obvious reaction when the jury delivered the verdict. As he was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs, he quietly uttered, “Free Palestine,” echoing comments he has frequently made while entering and leaving the trial. The judge set sentencing for April 23 Matar could receive up to 25 years in prison, which District Attorney Jason Schmidt noted is the maximum for a conviction on attempted murder in the second degree.

Matar was disappointed, according to his public defender Nathaniel Barone. “But I thought, quite frankly, that he was well prepared for the verdict, regardless of what it was,” Barone said.

In his comments following the verdict, Schmidt said video evidence helped make the case “rock solid.”

“We had a number of different angles to show the jurors,” he said. “It really is as compelling as it can possibly get.”

Schmidt added: “Mr Matar came into this community as a visitor And really, it’s my job to make sure that he stays a resident of New York state for the next 25 years.”

During his closing argument,

Schmidt played a slow-motion video of the attack for the jury pointing out the assailant as he emerged from the audience, walked up a staircase to the stage and broke into a run toward Rushdie.

Assistant public defender Andrew Brautigan told the jury that prosecutors had not proved that Matar intended to kill Rushdie

The distinction is important for an attempted-murder conviction.

Matar had with him knives, not a gun or bomb, his attorneys have said previously And in response to testimony that the injuries were life-threatening, they have noted that Rushdie’s heart and lungs were uninjured. Schmidt said while it’s not pos-

sible to read Matar’s mind, “it’s foreseeable that if you’re going to stab someone 10 or 15 times about the face and neck, it’s going to result in a fatality.”

Rushdie, 77, was the key witness during testimony that began last week. The Booker Prize-winning author told jurors he thought he was dying when a masked stranger ran onto the stage and stabbed and slashed at him until being tackled by bystanders. Rushdie showed jurors his now-blinded right eye, usually hidden behind a darkened eyeglass lens. Schmidt reminded jurors about the testimony of a trauma surgeon, who said Rushdie’s injuries would have been fatal without quick treatment.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By CHRIS PIZZELLO

LSU passes free speech policy

Students concerned it’s vague, limits expression

BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT Staff writer

LSU’s Board of Supervisors on Friday approved a new, five-page policy establishing rules for free speech on campus a change that comes amid two high-profile controversies over what professors should be allowed to say in class.

The university said the policy is necessary to comply with a law the Louisiana Legislature passed last year requiring higher education institutions to establish policies protecting free expression. But some students raised concerns that the policy was vague and limited student and faculty freedom of speech

Student Zane Sutor-Benfield, 20, said the policy weakened First Amendment protections, pointing to specific language changes in the policy “LSU prides itself on upholding of free expression and believes that a culture of intense inquiry and informed argument generates lasting ideas,” the university’s pol-

icy passed in 2018 stated.

The same sentence from the new policy says “LSU strives to ensure the fullest degree of protection for the political views and freedom of association of its students, faculty, staff, and invited guests.”

Sutor-Benfield argued those types of changes “build together to weaken free speech.”

“The message is very clear

The message was bold, but they changed it subtly they changed it

The water fountain in front of the State Farm offices of Terry Wofford on Congress Street froze Thursday in the freezing temperatures overnight in Lafayette.

Police: Suspicious Lafayette death ruled a homicide

very subtly, to weaken the commitment to free speech,” he added.

Two other students spoke against the policy, while several more could be heard protesting outside the administration building.

Before the board passed the change without opposition, member James Williams said the new language was due to state law

“Regardless of whatever

Bayou Vermilion District developing master plan

Economic development strategy would be first in decades

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

By the end of the year, the Bayou Vermilion District may have a new master plan, the first since 1984, aimed at improving economic development while preserving the culture and improving the ecology of the Vermilion River A Bayou Vermilion District’s Master Plan Selection Committee and some board members and staff on Friday heard presentations from two groups — Freese and Nichols and SCAPE vying for the opportunity to develop the master plan.

Karen Hail, BVD commission president, said the committee is expected to recommend a firm to develop the plan and she expects the board to vote at one of its next two meetings. By the end of 2025, she hopes to have a new master plan.

The cost to develop the plan is about $300,000, Hail said. A percentage of the planning cost may be covered by grants. A strategic plan was developed two years ago, she said, but this will be the first master plan since the original in 1984. There were some good ideas in the original plan, Hail added, but leadership wasn’t consistent in following the plan over time.

BY ASHLEY WHITE Staff writer

A Lafayette nonprofit is donating $1.9 million to the

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP

Attack memorial in New Orleans moved

Tribute to Bourbon Street victims now at Presbytère

BY MARCO CARTOLANO Staff writer

An emotional memorial that sprung up on Bourbon Street after a tragic New Year’s Day ramming attack killed 14 and injured dozens more was moved by State Police early Friday to the Presbytère on Jackson Square.

The tribute was spontaneously erected by mourners and artists to remember those plowed down by radicalized U.S Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who federal law enforcement officers say used his F-150 to carry out a premeditated terror attack.

Marking the intersection of Bourbon and Canal streets, the memorial featured crosses and messages from people all over the world. It quickly became a symbol of the community’s response to the killing spree.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell said city officials had been in touch with victims’ families before moving the installation before the first big parading

weekend of Carnival, when large crowds were expected to descend on Bourbon Street and the French Quarter

Several family members confirmed the city reached out to them before the memorial was disassembled.

Heather Genusa, who survived the attack but lost her fiancé, Brandon Taylor said the news was also shared in a private text group.

“I don’t feel like the memorial should be where the person died,” she said. “It would be more honorable to see it in a museum.”

Genusa doubts she’ll ever be able to visit Bourbon Street again, and busy streets trigger the trauma of that night. She also doesn’t want the memorial’s presence to take away from anyone going out to have fun on the popular tourist drag.

Margaret Dauphin, the mother of victim Drew Dauphin, said Gov Jeff Landry’s office called to inform her Though she hasn’t seen the tribute, she wants it to be preserved.

“One day, I might want to see it,” she said.

Email Marco Cartolano at Marco.Cartolano@ theadvocate.com

Continued from page 1B

opinions we might have, am I correct, the law has changed and we are changing Permanent Memorandum 79 so that we are in compliance with the law?” he asked.

LSU Deputy General Counsel Carlton “Trey” Jones stated that was true and referenced the comment made by Sutor-Benfield.

“We have a free exercise of free speech on campus,” he said. “There was a tweak in one of the sentences referenced by one of the public comments. I don’t see it as a significant one, it was a wordsmithing, but I didn’t see it as a policy change by any measure.”

Focus on tenure protections

Later in the meeting, LSU

Council of Faculty Advisors

Chair Daniel Tirone gave a report in which he said tenure is vital to academic freedom

“Universities and academic freedom are so important to democratic governance that it is a hallmark of authoritarian movements to target universities and professors,” he said “Given its importance, higher education has developed a number of policies and principles to protect the academic freedom of the faculty, with tenure foremost among them.”

He added that tenure is “viewpoint neutral” and said that the right of tenure comes with responsibilities, including not forcing students to adopt one’s particular standpoint. Tirone also said strong university support for academic freedom and tenure can act as a “competitive advantage” for LSU.

GROUP

Continued from page 1B

principals and teachers; instructional excellence; extended school day; mental health and social resilience; and parent and community partnerships.

The model, developed in Texas, also uses financial incentives for staff and costs more to run because of the extended school day

The Pugh Family Foundation made a $4.1 million donation to the Lafayette Parish school system last year to bring the program to J.W Faulk and Dr Raphael Baranco elementary schools at the beginning of the 2024-25 school year

Baranco, Faulk and Boucher have performed far below average on state standardized testing when compared to other elementary schools in the district. In the past two

PLAN

Continued from page 1B

“Feel free to throw everything out and start from scratch,” BVD Commissioner Ruth Foote said, noting that the commission “wants to usher in a new era” and is willing to take chances.

Foote also stressed the need for buy-in from communities outside Lafayette.

“The river doesn’t stop at the Lafayette Parish border,” she said, suggest-

BLOTTER

Continued from page 1B

faces one count of attempted simple burglary of a pharmacy and resisting an officer, according to an OPD announcement Police responded around 1 a.m. Tuesday to sightings of an attempted break-in attempt at Lagniappe Pharmacy in the 1700 block of South Union Street Anderson allegedly ran away, abandoning his vehicle, when approached by police.

Upon investigation, police said that Anderson injured himself during his break-in attempt. Police located and arrested Anderson several blocks away

President William F. Tate referenced the academic freedom comments when he spoke, saying he has supported tenure for years.

“You have to have people who can fight long-term and create the kind of evidentiary base, and we have to compete to get them,” he said.

Debate over free speech

During his comments, Tirone referenced a lawschool professor who was suspended after he used vulgar language to criticize Gov Jeff Landry and President Donald Trump. Professor Ken Levy was recorded saying “f*** the governor” and saying “I couldn’t believe that f***** won,” referring to Trump’s election.

Levy’s comments about Landry involved a previous controversy, in which Landry publicly called for an investigation into law school professor Nicho-

2024.

years, the schools have shown little or no growth in the percentage of students who are performing at mastery or above in math or English-language arts.

But early data released earlier this month from Baranco and Faulk shows that students are growing academically in both math

ing eventually establishing satellite BVD operations throughout an eight-parish region.

Foote also emphasized the need for an action plan that includes large and small projects and possible funding sources, not a document that sits on a shelf gathering dust.

Mandi Mitchell, president and CEO of the Lafayette Economic Development Authority and committee member, queried the companies about how they have helped communities activate their

from the pharmacy

After his arrest police searched his vehicle and found items linking him to pharmacy burglaries in Evangeline Parish.

Booking information is unavailable.

The Opelousas Police Department is urging anyone with additional information regarding this case to contact them at (337) 9482500.

Fire officials: Vacant house burns Lafayette firefighters responded to a house fire in the300blockofSWEvangeline Thruway at 12:04 a.m. Wednesday Multiple 911 calls were received reporting fire emitting from a house at the intersection of

las Bryner for comments Bryner made about Trump. Tirone said the incident “has led some commentators to question whether we need to reform or remove tenure altogether.”

“These arguments are misguided,” he said. “We do not have a faculty run amok in the LSU system. The recent case, which has drawn so much attention and for which the investigation is still ongoing, is notable because it is so very rare.”

LSU suspended Levy and removed him from the classroom, saying it had received complaints from students that his comments were inappropriate and intimidating. Levy sued, arguing LSU violated his rights to free speech and due process. The university has argued Levy’s comments created a hostile classroom environment and were not protected by his academic tenure or the First Amendment

and reading, according to beginning- and middle-ofthe-year testing.

And teachers said the social-emotional learning has helped students build relationships with teachers, staff and each other

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

waterways for economic potential without harming the cultural aspect and community uses. Mitchell also noted there are several local organizations with their own plans that are heading in the same direction and whose plans may overlap. LEDA, for instance, is about to update its three-year strategic plan. The last one, she said, was prepared three years ago.

Email Claire Taylor at ctaylor@theadvocate. com.

SW Evangeline Thruway and Sixth Street. Multiple fire trucks responded as additional 911 callers reported fire spreading to an adjacent house.

Firefighters arrived on scene to a vacant house fully involved and flames impinging on the house next door The occupied home next door was quickly protected to minimized fire damage. The vacant house sustained heavy fire damage.

The owners of the house next door exited without any injuries. The side of their home sustained minor fire damage.

Fire officials determined the fire originated inside the vacant home. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

LSU President William F. Tate said in court that he ordered Levy’s suspension and that he did not talk to Landry about it.

After a seesaw legal battle, an appeals court blocked Levy’s attempt to force LSU to return him to the classroom while his lawsuit plays out. The case is ongoing.

Email Christopher Cartwright at christopher cartwright@theadvocate. com.

LOTTERY THURSDAY, FEB 20, 2025

PICK 3: 8-6-9 PICK 4: 7-8-0-3 PICK 5: 1-1-9-5-5 Unofficial notification, keep your tickets.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK

Lafayette Parish school system Superintendent Francis Touchet, left, chats with Nick Pugh III, co-founder and chair of the Pugh Family Foundation, on Jan. 30,

STAFF PHOTOS By SOPHIA GERMER

ABOVE and BELOW: Louisiana State Police officers moved the memorial for victims of the Bourbon Street terrorist attack to the Presbytère on Jackson Square in New Orleans on Friday morning

FDA: Ozempic, Wegovy shortages resolved

Shortages of Ozempic and Wegovy that have been in place for more than two years have been resolved, as supplies of the popular diabetes and obesity treatments continue to improve, federal regulators said Friday

The drugmaker Novo Nordisk can meet current and future demand in the U.S., according to the Food and Drug Administration

But patients may still see some supply disruptions as the medications move from the manufacturer to distributors and then to pharmacies.

The injectable drugs have been in shortage since 2022.

Compounding pharmacies and other entities that have been allowed to make and distribute offbrand copies of the drugs during the shortage will have to wind down production in the next few months, according to the FDA.

In December, the agency said the same thing when it declared that shortages had ended for Eli Lilly and Co.’s Zepbound and Mounjaro. Zepbound is approved to treat obesity and Mounjaro is approved for diabetes. They use the same active ingredient, tirzepatide.

Sales have soared for the drugs in recent years. But the shortages and challenges with insurance coverage have made it difficult for many patients to get the drugs.

Ford recalls Explorers, Aviators over seat belts

Ford is recalling about 240,000 Explorer and Lincoln Aviator SUVs due to a problem with seat belt anchors that were improperly secured. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a loose seat belt or seat belt buckle may not properly restrain an occupant during a crash, increasing the risk of injury.

Ford said it is not aware of any reports of accident or injury related to the defective seat belt assemblies.

The Explorers and Aviators in question are model years 2020 and 2021. The recall includes about 216,000 Explorers and 24,000 Aviators.

Owners of the vehicles in question are expected to be notified by Ford in late March and will be instructed to take their vehicles into a Ford or Lincoln dealer for inspection. If the anchor bolts are found to be improperly secured, the components will be replaced for free.

Tesla recalling more than 375,000 vehicles

Tesla is recalling more than 375,000 vehicles due to a power steering issue.

The recall is for certain 2023 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles operating software before 2023.38.4, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The printed circuit board for the electronic power steering assist may become overstressed, causing a loss of power steering assist when the vehicle reaches a stop and then accelerates again, according to the agency

The loss of power could required more effort to control the car by drivers, particularly at low speeds, increasing the risk of a crash. Tesla isn’t aware of any crashes, injuries, or deaths related to the condition.

Stocks tumble amid concerns

Companies, consumers worry about Trump’s policies hitting economy

BY STAN CHOE Associated Press

NEW YORK U.S stocks fell sharply Friday after reports showed that worries among consumers and businesses about President Donald Trump’s policies may be hitting the U.S. economy

The S&P 500 posted its worst day in two months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq composite also tumbled.

The losses accelerated through the day following several weaker-

than-expected reports on the economy One suggested U.S. business activity is close to stalling, with growth slowing to a 17-month low The preliminary report from S&P Global said activity unexpectedly shrank for U.S. services businesses, and many in the survey reported slumping optimism because of worries about Washington.

“Companies report widespread concerns about the impact of federal government policies, ranging from spending cuts to tariffs and geopolitical developments,” said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence. “Sales are reportedly being hit by the uncertainty caused by the changing political landscape, and prices are rising amid tariff-related price hikes from suppliers.”

A separate report said U.S. consumers are also preparing for higher inflation, in part because of potential tariffs that could raise prices for all kinds of imports.

They’re broadly expecting prices to be 4.3% higher 12 months from now, which is a big jump from their forecast of 3.3% inflation last month, according to a survey by the University of Michigan. That fits with preliminary data in the survey earlier this month.

Among U.S. households, though, a divide is evident underneath the surface. Expectations for inflation are rising for political independents and Democrats, while falling slightly for Republicans.

To be sure, the U.S. stock market is still up for the young year so far and is not far from its all-time high set earlier this week. Virtually no

one on Wall Street is forecasting a recession any time soon. But Friday’s reports raise concerns about what’s been a remarkably resilient economy, and the losses on Wall Street were widespread.

Stocks of the smallest companies, whose profits can be more

fell Everything from Big Tech stocks that have been bid up amid the artificial-intelligence frenzy to airlines to metals companies dropped. Nvidia sank 4.1%. United Airlines lost 6.4%, and Newmont Mining fell 5.7%.

January home sales fall

High mortgage rates, prices freeze out would-be buyers

BY ALEX VEIGA Associated Press

LOS ANGELES

— Sales of previously occupied

U.S. homes fell in January as rising mortgage rates and prices put off many wouldbe homebuyers despite a wider selection of properties on the market.

Sales fell 4.9% last month from December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.08 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Friday Sales rose 2% compared with January last year marking the fourth straight annual increase. The latest home sales, however, fell short of the 4.11 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet Home prices increased on an annual basis for the 19th consecutive month. The national median sales price rose 4.8% in January from a year earlier to $396,900.

“Mortgage rates have refused to budge for several months despite multiple rounds of short-term interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist “When combined with elevated home prices, housing affordability remains

a major challenge.”

The U.S housing market has been in a sales slump dating back to 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemicera lows Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell last year to their lowest level in nearly 30 years. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage briefly fell to a 2-year low last September but has been mostly hovering around 7% this year, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. That’s more than double the 2.65% record low the average rate hit a little over four years ago. While mortgage rates have been easing in recent weeks, the decline hasn’t been enough to change the affordability equation for

many prospective home shoppers. Home loan applications fell 5.5% last week from the previous week to the lowest level since the start of the year according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Rising home prices and elevated mortgage rates, which can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, have kept many prospective home shoppers on the sidelines, especially first-time buyers who don’t have equity from an existing home to put toward a new home purchase. They accounted for 28% of all homes sold last month, matching the share in January 2024, but down from 31% in December The annual share of first-time buyers fell last year to a record-low 24%. It’s been 40% historically

Soft drink companies differ on diversity programs

and groups that promote business growth, he said.

en and LGBTQ+ people.

BY DEE-ANN DURBIN Associated Press

PepsiCo confirmed Friday that it’s ending some of its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, even as rival Coca-Cola voiced support for its own inclusion efforts.

In a memo sent to employees, PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta said the company will no longer set goals for minority representation in its managerial roles or supplier base The company will also align its sponsorships to events

Laguarta wrote that inclusion remains important to PepsiCo, whose brands include Gatorade, Lay’s potato chips, Doritos, Mountain Dew as well as Pepsi The Purchase, New York-based company’s chief diversity officer will transition to a broader role focused on employee engagement, leadership development and ensuring an inclusive culture, he said.

Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House last month, U.S government agencies, companies and schools have rushed to reevaluate policies and programs they adopted with the goal of reducing discrimination against members of minority groups, wom-

Trump ended DEI programs within the federal government and has warned schools to end DEI programs or risk losing federal money PepsiCo’s rollback came as CocaCola reaffirmed support for its DEI efforts.

In its annual report, Atlantabased Coke warned that its business could be negatively affected if it is unable to attract employees that reflect its broad range of customers.

“Failure to maintain a corporate culture that fosters innovation, collaboration and inclusion could disrupt our operations and adversely affect our business and our future success,” the company said.

Coca-Cola has set a goal of having

women in 50% of its senior leadership roles by 2030. Coke has also said that it wants race and ethnicity representation that reflects national census data at all levels of the company in the U.S. Robby Starbuck, a conservative activist who targets corporate DEI programs, applauded PepsiCo’s actions on Friday In a post on X, Starbuck said Coca-Cola “should be very nervous about continuing with their woke policies.”

PepsiCo joins a long list of companies that have reigned in diversity equity and inclusion programs in the wake of Trump’s election victory and before that, a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that outlawed affirmative action in college admissions.

ASSOCIATE PRESS FILE

PHOTO By NAM y. HUH

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell 4.9% in January as rising mortgage rates and prices put off many would-be homebuyers despite a wider selection of properties on the market.

ANOTHER VIEW

Fighting over cost, size of government

For the first time since Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society, the size, scope and operations of government have become hot topics. Those who support Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency,” or DOGE, and those who detest it, have moved these issues long seen as tedious and boring — onto the front burners of a scorching public debate.

The fight over the size and cost of government is something America has needed for decades, but to best serve the public interest, both sides need to put country above politics

So far, that’s not happening Like everything else, it’s become part of a partisan death match. Government reform, when done, must be done right — within the law and in logical sequence. The goal must be competent, honest management of taxpayer dollars

President Donald Trump and Musk have made the first moves. They now need to level with the American people that after the cuts are made, efficiency and accountability will require painstaking reorganization and management oversight. If they keep moving too fast and loose — disrupting operations, firing people indiscriminately and then rehiring some of them the benefits for taxpayers won’t stick. It could kill the opportunity to really make government smaller and better

Recently, a friend mused to me that Musk, by putting too many spinning tops on the table at one time, risks losing what Trump wants most: control. When one top spins off the table, others will follow, and then what? More court battles and chaos?

Don’t forget that most of DOGE’s proposed cuts still have to get through Congress Will the congressional appropriations process reflect the administration’s costcutting agenda? What happens when senators and representatives start begging to save funding for their states and districts?

What’s the path forward?

President Jimmy Carter and Vice President Al Gore tried tackling sluggish bureaucracy in their day but with limited success. There wasn’t enough public pressure to counter vested interests that were standing guard over the status quo. Their fellow Democrats were afraid of offending public employee unions, and Republicans were afraid of cutting programs that constituents and contributors wanted.

One of the few members of Congress who actually did something about balancing the budget and cutting wasteful spending was Republican former U.S. Rep. Bob Livingston of Louisiana, who chaired the House Appropriations Committee in the 1990s.

As the party of activist government, why haven’t Democrats done more to make government work better? Why can’t they identify bureaucracies that need eliminating, reorganizing or modernizing? When actual boondoggles are uncovered, and the numbers check out, why can’t Democrats join DOGE in doing away with them?

And as the party of less government, why didn’t other Republicans make government operations a bigger part of their agenda? Why didn’t they go into each department and look under the hood? They’re now rubber-stamping DOGE’s efforts without questioning what will work and what won’t. Their job should be to discipline the process, not let it get out of hand.

A pox on both their houses.

The Trump administration erred in abruptly firing 18 inspectors general. Presidents can lawfully fire inspectors if they provide Congress a 30-day notice and explain the reasons for doing so, but the administration didn’t follow that procedure. Trump could have saved a lot of trouble, and prevented legal wrangles, by simply doing so. It would also have given the DOGE process more legitimacy.

Inspectors general, by the way investigate and audit federal agencies, and hunt for waste, fraud and abuse. The administration should not have fired any of them — much less all of them — without examining the job each was doing These watchdogs can provide much-needed independent, nonpartisan monitoring of federal spending. The good ones should have been empowered to do more, not thrown out.

When cutting jobs, remember that bath water isn’t worth saving, but babies are.

The big question: What will each federal department look like after DOGE is finished? Will they be streamlined and efficient, smaller and more innovative? Or, will they be crippled and dysfunctional?

Let’s face it: Plenty of agencies should be abolished and plenty of programs, designed to pursue ideological agendas, are bound to be eliminated when party control switches But a poorly managed agency that has an essential function needs to be fixed, not ravaged. Rubble without results isn’t the answer.

Ron Faucheux is a nonpartisan political analyst, pollster and writer based in Louisiana. He publishes LunchtimePolitics.com, a nationwide newsletter on polls and public opinion

Senators

failed us in vote to confirm RFK Jr.

As a concerned constituent, I contacted our two U.S. senators, John Kennedy and Bill Cassidy more than once to express my deep concerns about Robert F. Kenndy Jr and his dangerous ideas.

My letter said that as a child in the early 1950s, I was very aware and concerned about polio. Who had not seen pictures of humans encased in iron lungs or wearing leg braces? I recently read that the last person living his entire life in this contraption had died. After the polio vaccine, I never gave polio a thought. Twice I had measles. I have never been so sick since. It is highly contagious and dangerous, especially to the unborn, also very preventable. As a science teacher I learned that my students had never heard of measles, mumps or chickenpox. Why? Because they had vaccines against these diseases. My sister had chickenpox as a child. Unfortunately, later in life

she developed shingles. She now has PHN and is in constant pain for which almost nothing can be done. If she’d had a vaccine I was vaccinated against COVID and never got it, but it killed many in my community I believe in science and vaccines. They are lifesaving and safe Kennedy has no medical background and has a history of being anti-vaccine. I begged my senators not to confirm RFK Jr for the good of all, Republicans and Democrats. My pleas were ignored. Cassidy, a doctor knows better but voted against our best interests because of politics. As for John Kennedy, he says “call someone who cares,” because obviously he does not. These people do not respond to my calls or emails. Surely, we can find two elected officials who will represent the people and not just advance their political careers.

NADINE CART Church Point

We need cuts to pork barrel projects more than agencies

I feel compelled to urgently report a missing entity Congress, as an integral part of the United States government, is apparently MIA. There are senators and representatives occupying positions and drawing salaries in Washington, but I can find no independent actions being performed. They have

evidently been replaced by puppets controlled by some force outside the constraints of the Constitution. What has happened? Why aren’t they insisting on their position as the third co-equal branch of government? Do we have any hope? PAUL MAJOR Livonia

Trump handling immigration like we should have

I’m tired of people misrepresenting what President Donald Trump is doing in regard to immigrants. He is getting rid of the murderers, rapists and criminals in general who have broken the law We should want them gone anyway

We don’t put up with American citizens breaking the law, so why should we put up with them doing it?

A lot of our citizens would be alive today if they weren’t in the country in the first place. We still have plenty of decent im-

migrants who can contribute to our workforce, so why so upset about getting rid of the bad ones?

The Democrats are always twisting the facts to make them look like they haven’t created this mess in the first place. We wouldn’t be in this mess if they would have kept the border closed. A lot of people would still have their loved ones, and we wouldn’t have spent a fortune of our tax dollars on their upkeep.

GUYANN MAXWELL Baton Rouge

Peddling blame as political currency

Our president’s behaviors are immoral and wicked. In his “Make America Great Again” plan: Faith takes a back seat to fear Truth takes a back seat to propaganda. Plans take a back seat to slogans. He peddles blame as his political currency We Americans have fallen victim to fear, ignorance and greed. I am disappointed. Where is courage? Where is character? Where are the adults? What have we become?

The Statue of Liberty hangs her head in shame. Our children are watching.

SUSAN TATJE New Orleans

Ron Faucheux

at LSU

SPORTS

BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

Before his Super Bowl run with the Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore spent a forgettable 2023 season with the Los Angeles Chargers under then-head coach Brandon Staley.

The Chargers fired Staley after a brutal loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in 2023, then passed over Moore as his replacement to hire Jim Harbaugh instead

Though their first partnership didn’t pan out, it didn’t prevent them from joining forces again, this time with Moore sitting in the head coach’s seat. According to a league source, Moore is hiring Staley to be his defensive coordinator with the 2025 New Orleans Saints.

The hiring is the first Moore has made on the defensive side of the ball, and it comes at a crucial time with

the NFL scouting combine set to begin next week. After running some variation of Dennis Allen’s scheme for the previous 10 seasons, Staley may very well want to stock his defense with a different kind of player than the ones the Saints coveted under Allen.

With Staley now in the fold, New Orleans likely will fill out its defensive coaching staff quickly Of the coaches from last season’s staff, only defensive line coach Brian Young has not been hired elsewhere yet Staley, who spent last season in an assistant head coach role with the San Francisco 49ers, was once considered one of the NFL’s premier young defensive coaches.

The 42-year-old got his NFL start under then-Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio in 2017. He spent three seasons with Fangio, two in Chicago and one in

Former Los Angeles Chargers coach Brandon Staley stands on the sideline during a game against the Las Vegas Raiders on Dec. 14, 2023, in Las Vegas. Staley will be the Saints new defensive coordinator. AP

Matchups likely will dictate main ballhandler each game

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

Not even three weeks ago, Last-Tear Poa was stuck outside coach Kim Mulkey’s rotation. Now she’s starting at point guard at least for the time being.

With a 79-63 win over Georgia in the rearview mirror and only three regular-season games left to play, the LSU women’s basketball team has picked up 26 victories and cemented itself as a national title contender, yet it still hasn’t quite settled one important question: Can either Poa or Shayeann DayWilson become the No. 7 Tigers’ clear-cut lead ballhandler?

“It’s what I have,” Mulkey said. “Neither has really established herself or separated herself, so it will, I’m sure, vary the rest of the year.” Though Poa started the game against the Bulldogs on Thursday Day-Wilson wound up playing 13 more minutes. The inverse

was true in LSU’s previous contes loss to No. 2 Texas. Day-Wilson started that game but ultimately took a seat to Poa, who ended up logg minutes — the most action she’ against a Southeastern Conference ponent this season. That spike in playing time was able. Poa had played only 10 minutes

LSU’s previous six games combi was “unavailable” to play on Jan. Texas A&M, according to an SE broadcast, and suspended for Jan. 30 win over Oklahoma Mu because she violated a team rule. That night, Mikaylah Williams LSU win with a late 3-pointer, and said Day-Wilson was “our point

The senior transfer had tied seaso in points (nine) and assists (nine) the No. 16 Sooners while grabbi bounds and draining an important beyond the arc late in the fourth

Comeback leads UL to revenge vs. Troy

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

Down by 17 points with 14:31 left to play on the road, the UL Ragin’ Cajuns launched a comeback that resulted in their most impressive win of the season with a 72-69 upset of the Troy Trojans on Thursday in Troy, Alabama.

Senior guard Kentrell Garnett sank a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left to give UL the lead for good at 70-69, and Tayton Conerway’s potential game-winning jumper in the lane fell short with one second left.

“The play was not for Kentrell to get the ball way over there,” UL interim coach Derrick Zimmerman said. “The play was for him to set a back screen for Mo (Mostapha El Moutaouakkil) and hopefully we’d get a switch and he’d pop out and get the 3 But he ended up getting it, and he made a tough shot.” Garnett finished with 14 points on 2-of-5 shooting from 3-point land.

“I just joked with him in the locker room, ‘You missed an easy one that you had and then you made the toughest shot that you took all night,’ ” Zimmerman said. “Kentrell is just a senior who is all about the right stuff.”

LOY BROWN III Staff writer

Why is LSU men’s basketball still worth watching?

That’s a fair question for fans to ask. The of this regular season leading to an NCAA Tournament appearance is practically a fantasy as the Tigers prepare to face No. 2 Florida at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center at 5 p.m. Saturday

Improbable is the nicest to describe LSU’s chance of reaching Big Dance, which it last reached during 2021-22 season. LSU (14-12, 3-10 SEC) is 15th in the Southeastern Conference standings, and ESPN’s Bracketology projects 12 teams from the conference to make the NCAA Tournament as of Friday The record for the most teams to make the tournament from one conference is 11, which was by the Big East in 2011. simplest way for the Tigers to make

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP Cajuns forward Zeke Cook had 15 points and 11 rebounds in UL’s victory over Troy on Thursday.

9

9

9

11

3

5

Penn St. at Michigan St. BTN

7:30 p.m. Notre Dame at Wisconsin BTN

WOMEN’S COLLEGE LACROSSE

11 a.m Stanford at Virginia ACCN

STM’s streak comes to end

Cougars fall to St. Scholastica in Division II girls final

BY ERIC NARCISSE Staff writer

All great things must end.

That includes the St. Thomas More girls soccer program’s state championship streak.

The Cougars, who had won seven straight Division II titles, fell 4-1 to St. Scholastica on Thursday night at Strawberry Stadium in Hammond.

“When you are trying to follow seven in a row and you don’t do it, it is going to be disappointing,” said coach Katie Breaux whose team also had its nine-game win streak snapped.

“We had a great season, and these seniors had four great seasons. I’m glad (and) proud of them. It’s going to sting for a bit, but they are going to go on and do great things.”

The Doves (17-4-6) won the Division I crown a year ago.

“I thought we played pretty well,” Breaux said. “They are a very good team. We knew they were a good team and that it wasn’t going to be easy.”

STM (19-2-5), which was playing in its ninth consecutive Division II final, led 1-0 in the first half when Kate Guillory beat two defenders, pushed the ball from her right to the left past the goalkeeper before finding the back of the net during stoppage time. The lead didn’t last long as moments later Ariana Taylor got to a

Thursday night

long ball behind the STM defense. Before the STM goalkeeper could get there, Taylor blasted a shot into the net to tie the game 1-1 going into halftime. It was the first goal the Cougars allowed in the playoffs.

“That goal St. Scholastica scored right before halftime I thought changed the entire course of the game,” said Breaux, whose team had seven consecutive shutouts going in. “I think it did stun us, but it was a neutral-

izer We didn’t take the long ball away and I told our girls they would start doing that a little more.”

The second half was all Doves as the New Orleans team scored three goals on well-placed kicks by Caroline Todd (two goals, one assist) and Carli Perrin.

“I think those three goals were the real stunners,” said Breaux, whos team had outscored opponents 27-0 in the playoffs.

It’s the first time the Cougars

have allowed four or more goals in a match since 2022 when they lost 6-0 to Dominican in the regular season STM last allowed four or more goals in the playoffs in 2015 when they lost 5-3 to Ben Franklin in the state semifinals.

Todd, an eighth grader, was named Outstanding Player. “I didn’t know she was an eighth grader until the crowd started chanting it,” Breaux said “But she is good.”

Teurlings’ comeback falls short to Holy Cross

BY ERIC NARCISSE Staff writer

Teurlings Catholic was considered one of the state’s best soccer teams in any division this season and was on a mission Thursday to prove it was the best in Division II. First, the top-seeded Rebels would have to beat reigning state titlelist and No. 2 seed Holy Cross. But an early 2-0 deficit was too much to overcome in a 3-2 loss at Strawberry Stadium in Hammond.

“We had a rough start,” coach Stephen Devine said. “It took us a little bit to get any comfortability in the game. It just took a lot longer than we’re used to.” Teurlings (23-1) was trying to win its first boys soccer title since 2009.

“If you have a slow or rough start against a team like this, you are probably going to get punished,” Devine said. The Rebels didn’t give up and made things interesting late while trailing 3-2 during stoppage time. Teurlings’ Carson Dwyer had two shots on goal for the equalizer The first was thwarted by goalkeeper Cole Osborne, but the ball caromed off Osborne’s hands and toward Dwyer, whose header hit the crossbar to end the Rebels’ hopes of a rally

“If it goes 3-3, who knows what is going to happen?” Devine said.

“It’s a game of inches.” Holy Cross (18-1-3) took a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute when junior forward Erik Santamaria beat the Rebels’ goalkeeper to the ball and scored. Santamaria’s goal was the first allowed by Teurlings in the postseason. Before that goal, the Rebels, who had allowed just seven goals all season, outscored their opponents 25-0 in the playoffs. The early goal wasn’t too shock-

ing for the Rebels, Devine said. “We have been down before,” he said. “The shock was that we started so rough.” During stoppage time in the first half, Santamaria struck again, beating two players before perfectly placing a low ball just past the Rebels’ goalkeeper for a 2-0 halftime lead Santamaria, who was named the game’s Outstanding Player, assisted on the Tigers’ final goal that was knocked in by Cooper Wolterman to give Holy Cross a 3-1 edge in stoppage time.

Canada prevails over U.S. in 4 Nations Face-Off final

Connor McDavid scored at 8:18 of overtime to give Canada a 3-2 victory over the United States on Thursday night in the 4 Nations Face-Off final. Nathan MacKinnon and Sam Bennett scored for Canada, which made it 2-2 by the second period then playing a scoreless third. After a flurry of 31 stopped shots by Jordan Binnington early in the overtime, Canada gained a faceoff in U.S. territory, and Mitch Marner managed to get the puck along the boards before popping it to center McDavid for the winner

The U.S. has lost all but one game against Canada in best-on-best play dating to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics preliminaries. The lone victory was in the 4 Nations round-robin, and Thursday’s sequel was one of the most anticipated international hockey events in decades.

Nebraska cancels 2026-27 football series vs. Tennessee LINCOLN,Neb Nebraska canceled two nonconference games against Tennessee as part of a plan to recoup lost revenue from reduced seating capacity during major renovations of Memorial Stadium in 2027, athletic director Troy Dannen announced Friday The Cornhuskers and Volunteers had been scheduled to meet in Lincoln on Sept. 12, 2026, and in Knoxville on Sept. 11, 2027.

Nebraska replaced Tennessee on its schedule with home games against Bowling Green in 2026 and Miami in 2027. The Huskers also scheduled an additional matchup with Northern Iowa in 2027. All previous meetings between Nebraska and Tennessee came in bowls, most recently in the 2016 Music City Bowl.

Jaguars hire their new GM Gladstone from Rams JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Jaguars hired Los Angeles Rams executive James Gladstone as their general manager Friday, reuniting him with new coach Liam Coen. Gladstone held the position of director of scouting strategy in L.A. since 2019, working alongside Rams general manager Les Snead during the draft process. He’s been with the Rams since 2016 and was viewed as a key member of the scouting department. Coen and Gladstone spent four years together with the Rams (2018-20, 2022), watching and learning from Snead and coach Sean McVay In Jacksonville, Gladstone will join a group of firsttimers trying to revive a franchise that has lost 18 of its last 23 games.

New York Yankees drop ban on beards after 49 years

TAMPA. Fla. — The New York Yankees dropped their ban on beards Friday, 49 years after it was imposed by owner George Steinbrenner, in a move aimed to improve player recruitment as the team tries to win its first World Series title since 2009.

Current owner Hal Steinbrenner, son of The Boss, announced the change Friday before the team’s spring training opener He called the ban “outdated” and “somewhat unreasonable.”

George Steinbrenner announced the facial policy during spring training in 1976, mandating no long hair or beards — mustaches were allowed Players complied but some pushed boundaries by going unshaven or letting hair fall over their collars.

“Our communication wasn’t anywhere it needed to be,” Devine said. Dwyer got the Rebels on the board in the 49th minute on a penalty kick that was just beneath Osborne’s outstretched arms to pull Teurlings within 2-1 Santamaria, who was named the game’s Outstanding Player, assisted on the Tigers’ final goal that was knocked in by Cooper Wolterman to give Holy Cross a 3-1 in stoppage time.

However, the Rebels never let up and responded with a Charlie Mader goal on a Luke Breaux pass to cut the deficit to 3-2 Despite the loss, Devine said the game will help the younger players next season.

“This was big for the program,” Devine said. “Now we have some

Andreeva upsets Rybakina to reach the Dubai final

DUBAI United Arab Emirates Teenager Mirra Andreeva became the youngest player to reach the Dubai Championships final after beating Elena Rybakina 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 on Friday The 17-year-old Andreeva trailed 3-1 in the third set before winning the last five games to reach her second tour final. She won in Iasi, Romania, last July Andreeva is the youngest player in the top 100, and her run this week has put to meet Clara Tauson in the Dubai final. Clara Tauson, the Dane who knocked out world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, beat Karolina Muchova 6-4, 6-7 (4),

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

St. Thomas More midfielder Kate Guillory, right, races upfield with the ball against St. Scholastica in the first half

in Hammond.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Teurlings Catholic forward Charlie Mader leaps over the slide tackle attempt by Holy Cross midfielder Jonathan Molina-Reyes during the first half Thursday night in Hammond.

the tournament is to miraculously win the SEC Tournament. The more likely but also unrealistic way for coach Matt McMahon’s team to go dancing is by getting an at-large bid. To have a decent argument to be chosen by the selection committee, LSU must win at least three of its remaining five regular-season games — its lowest-ranked opponent left is No. 21 Mississippi State and reach at least the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.

Stacking that many wins may be a tough ask, especially because the Tigers have the strongest remaining strength of schedule, according to ESPN. That leads to the most realistic path toward postseason play with the National Invitation Tournament.

LSU made the NIT last year as an automatic qualifier as it was one of the top two SEC teams in the NET to miss the NCAA Tournament. LSU fell 84-77 to North Texas in the first round.

The Tigers have a chance to earn an automatic bid again this season, even with a new selection process New NIT selection rules

This season, there will be exempt bids for 16 teams in the 32team NIT The SEC and the Atlantic Coast Conference each will have two teams given automatic bids. The other 12 exempt bids will be given to one team in each of the best 12 conferences that is decided by KenPom rating.

All exempt bids will be rewarded to the teams with the highest KNIT score from each conference. The KNIT is the average score from seven ranking sys-

tems: ESPN Basketball Power Index (BPI), Kevin Pauga Index (KPI), NET, KenPom, Strength of Record (SOR), Torvik ranking and Wins Above Bubble (WAB) ranking

Regular-season conference champions who aren’t chosen for the NCAA Tournament can get an exempt bid to the NIT if they have an average score of at least 125 across the ranking systems.

The rest of the field are at-large teams decided by the NIT’s selection committee comprised of former coaches, athletic directors and a commissioner

LSU’s NIT path

If 12 SEC teams make the NCAA Tournament, LSU must have no worse than the secondbest KNIT score among the bottom four conference teams to automatically make the NIT

The Tigers are in better spirits after winning their last two games, beating South Carolina (10-16, 0-13) and Oklahoma (1610, 3-10).

Overtaking the Sooners will take a measure of hoping they continue trending down as they are in the midst of a five-game losing streak.

If the Tigers don’t end the year better than Oklahoma, they can still make the NIT if they have a solid resume for an at-large bid or the SEC ends up getting 13 NCAA bids.

An NIT appearance wasn’t LSU’s original goal If it comes to fruition, it won’t be an accomplishment the program will want to brag about, either

But LSU has a chance to play more basketball, which is always good for the growth of players on the current roster It also can supply momentum entering the 2025-26 season

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

Mulkey expects Morrow back against Kentucky

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

Aneesah Morrow missed a game for the first time in her collegiate career on Thursday when the LSU women’s basketball team beat Georgia 79-63.

Coach Kim Mulkey said that Morrow has no structural damage in her left foot. She’s battling a little soreness left from a contusion she suffered Sunday in the No 7 Tigers’ road loss to No. 2 Texas LSU does not expect her to miss more time.

“She got stepped on in the Texas game,” Mulkey said, “if you guys remember, and she took herself out and put herself back in. It was just a contusion, and it’s just sore. What better time to rest than tonight because the last three (games) are tough as nails.”

Without Morrow, LSU’s scoring was more evenly distributed than it usually is Thursday Five contributors scored in double figures, including Jersey Wolfenbarger the 6-foot-5 forward who Mulkey moved into the starting lineup in place of Morrow She finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds after hitting 8 of 12 free throws.

Starter Sa’Myah Smith also scored 11 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to post her fourth double-double of the season.

LSU converted only 38% of its shots through three quarters, but its production at the free-throw line (15 of 22) and on the offensive glass (19 rebounds) helped it begin the fourth quarter with a double-digit lead, then glide to a 16-point win.

“God works in mysterious ways,” Mulkey said. “We’re fixing to play a team that’s just as tall as (Smith and Wolfenbarger), and so maybe them playing tonight will give them that confidence when we play against Kentucky because Kentucky has really tall players.”

Morrow, a senior on pace to finish her career with the third-most rebounds in NCAA Division I history, suited up for all 66 contests DePaul played across her first two years, then appeared in each of the first 64 games LSU played

LSU

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But Day-Wilson has since missed 15 of the last 16 shots she’s taken, scored only four total points and turned the ball over as many times (nine) as she’s assisted an LSU bucket.

“... It was just a contusion, and it’s just sore. What better time to rest than tonight because the last three (games) are tough as nails.”

KIM MULKEy, LSU coach, on forward Aneesah Morrow

over the last two seasons. This year, Morrow is averaging 18.1 points on 49% shooting and 14.4 rebounds per game — a career high and the top mark in the

country She has posted 24 doubledoubles, seven more than any other Division I player

“Could she have played?” Mulkey said about Thursday night. “Sure, but for Aneesah Morrow to do what she’s got to do, not just these next three games, but then you go to the SEC Tournament, potentially could play three in a row if you make it to the championship there.

“She’s got a tough body, but just rest it. Just let the bruise get better.”

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

Continued from page 1C

The Cajuns improved to 10-18 overall and 7-8 in the Sun Belt which is good for a four-way tie for eighth place with three games left Troy dropped out of first place and into a three-way tie for the third spot with the loss at 1710 and 10-5.

UL can get back to .500 in league play at 7 p.m. Saturday against Southern Miss in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The Eagles won in Lafayette 67-59 on Jan. 25 in a game that saw 10 lead changes.

“We just have to value the ball, take good shots and execute on offense and defense,” Zimmerman said. “Southern Miss is a very talented team, like I’ve said all year

“To me, they’re one of the more talented teams in the league. They’ve got a lot of guys who can really score the ball and impact the game in different ways. We just have to value each possession when we play them.”

One game after their most complete 40 minutes in Saturday’s win over Marshall, the Cajuns maintained their momentum against Troy on Thursday after losing to the Trojans 74-56 in the Cajundome on Feb. 12.

“We wanted this game bad,” Zimmerman said of the rematch with Troy “There was a lot of talk, a lot of stuff was said on social media, and our guys took it personally.”

El Moutaouakkil led the Cajuns with a career-high 25 points on 8-of-12 shooting with seven rebounds. Zeke Cook contributed a careerhigh 15 points on 7-of-7 shooting at the line to go along with 11 re-

bounds.

“Zeke is one of those guys, he’s just all about toughness,” Zimmerman said.

“He’s a tough son of a gun I’m willing to go in a forest with Zeke. It’s the old saying, he can go bear hunting without a weapon and he’s probably going to win

“You can see tonight how he just outworked everybody out on the court tonight.”

Only five UL players scored in the game London Fields had a career-high 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting.

Free-throw shooting was a big factor in the game with UL making 21 of 23 for 91% while Troy was only 10 of 16 at the line.

Down 53-36 with 14:31 left, the Cajuns went on a 31-9 run to take a 67-62 lead with 2:50 left on two Cook free throws.

“We kept them on the perimeter and made them shoot a bunch of 3s, and we rebounded the ball well out of the little matchup zone we went to,” Zimmerman said. “I think that was the difference in the game.”

UL committed 13 turnovers compared to 16 for Troy The Cajuns won despite getting outrebounded 43-31.

Defensively, UL was hurt by Thomas Dowd and Myles Rigsby in the first game when they scored 19 points apiece. They were limited to nine points each in the rematch.

“We kept fighting,” Zimmerman said. “This team is a resilient team. We never back down from anybody We come out and work every single day We don’t ask for any handouts. We just come out and work The proof is in the pudding.”

Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@theadvocate.com.

Over the Tigers’ last five games, she’s ceded playing time to both Mjracle Sheppard — the sophomore defensive ace who earned nearly 30 minutes in back-to-back games against Missouri and No. 15 Tennessee — and Poa — the veteran who reappeared inside Mulkey’s guard rotation in a topfive showdown with the Longhorns.

“I felt like Poa had a better understanding of that atmosphere, that big stage,” Mulkey said. “She played in the national championship game for us, and all I needed her to do in that game was get us in an offense with the kind of pressure that Texas was putting on us.”

The job description changed for LSU’s game against Georgia. The Tigers, Mulkey said, needed to wall off the paint, preventing the Bulldogs from dribble penetrating and creating open looks around the rim. Georgia scored 36 of its 63 points in the lane but earned only eight trips to the free-throw line.

“Defensively, (Day-Wilson) could possibly keep them out of the paint a little better than Poa,” Mulkey said, “even though Poa will take charges.”

Poa has been making those defensive plays since Alexis Morris defended the point of attack and orchestrated the LSU offense all the way through the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Once she exhausted her eligibility, the Tigers tossed

SAINTS

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Denver, before taking over as the Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator in 2020. The Rams finished that 2020 season ranked No. 1 in both scoring and total defense, fueling Staley’s rapid ascent as a head coaching candidate. The Chargers hired him in 2021.

the keys to Hailey Van Lith, who transferred to LSU in part because she wanted to play point guard.

But Van Lith reentered the transfer portal after an uneven 2023-24 season and enrolled at TCU, where she’s now scoring more points, shooting at a higher percentage and assisting on more shots than she did in her lone year with the Tigers.

LSU hoped it could find a better fit for its system this season with either Poa or one of the transfers it signed to replace Van Lith.

But with only three games separating the Tigers from the postseason, Mulkey said she still hasn’t found a clear answer at point

Staley couldn’t replicate that success with the Chargers, who never finished better than 20th in scoring or total defense during his time there. He comes to New Orleans after working under some of the brightest minds in football, including Kyle Shanahan last year in San Francisco, Sean McVay in Los Angeles, and Fangio in Chicago and Denver But it took Staley a while to ascend the coaching ladder

guard. Instead, she’ll likely let the matchup dictate which ballhandler gets more run moving forward, like she has in each of LSU’s previous two contests.

“It’s just the gut feeling you go with,” Mulkey said. “I’m confident in both of them. I don’t like a twoquarterback system, but guess what? We’re 26-2. You just keep plugging away You’re a possession or two away from being undefeated.”

Email Reed Darcey at reed. darcey@theadvocate.com. For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/lsunewsletter

Staley, a

2017 Bears team. Email Luke Johnson at ljohnson@theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU guard Shayeann Day-Wilson drives the ball up court against Tennessee on Feb 9 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center

STAFF FILE PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

LSU coach Matt McMahon and the bench cheer during a game against Florida State on Dec. 3 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center McMahon and the Tigers might have an opportunity to play in the NIT

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

LSU forward Aneesah Morrow moves the ball past Oklahoma forward

Liz Scott in the first half of their game on Jan. 30 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center

Former LSU basketball player

finds calling

Poor grades helped save Don Green. Long before he found tremendous success as a basketball coach or answered his call to ministry, Green was an LSU basketball player and student struggling with his grades and spiritual growth.

The transformative moment in his life came one day in his apartment in 1980 when he received a letter from LSU.

“I opened up my grades, and I said, ‘This is ridiculous,’” Green recalled.

“I knew I needed some guidance. I needed some help — not only in my academic life but in my spiritual life. All that was emanating from the fact that I was spiritually dead.” Green, 65, said he realized an immediate change was in order.

“I’m not talking about just circumstance, but my entire life,” said Green, the basketball coach at Istrouma High School and the pastor of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Baton Rouge. “I needed someone to come and help me because I didn’t realize I was struggling but I was.”

The Monroe native saw himself as a “good devil” who was baptized in a Christian home but still lost. He and his siblings were engaged in church activities, but Green says he just went because he had to.

At LSU, Green had met some Christian friends and was experiencing growth in his faith. However, the day he received those disappointing grades challenged Green to see himself for who he was. His life changed without leaving his apartment.

“That night I walked in my closet, fell to my knees and just asked the Lord to come into my heart and be my personal savior,” he said. “That’s what he did and I’ve been trying to live that way every since.”

The heart change eventually manifested in Green’s academic, professional and spiritual life.

In the classroom, he graduated from LSU with a degree in criminal justice/law enforcement administration. He furthered his education by earning a master’s degree in administrative supervision from Southern University followed by a doctorate in educational leadership from Southeastern Louisiana.

As a basketball coach, Green has amassed six state championships and 25 playoff appearances, most at Parkview Baptist School. Green has been a district Coach of the Year five times and state Coach of the Year four times. Green joined Istrouma in 2023 after coaching at Baton Rouge Community College.

Green has long had hoops dreams, but it was never his dream to be a pastor

“Although I’ve never been a pastor, I’ve always considered my players my church. I’ve been able to guide them and help them and them helping me,” he said.

For seven years, Green has found it rewarding to focus on teaching Sunday school at Mount Zion First Baptist Church. That is until his pastor, the Rev René Brown, asked Green to assist Mount

“Every generation is different. But in a way, they’re all the same too.”

NANCy LOVEJOy, Baton Rouge real estate agent

and living spaces with unique characteristics are coming back to the

WHAT MAKES A HOME?

Explore the generational differences in interior design

BY MARGARET DELANEY Staff writer

Interior design is ripe for nostalgia. Most people can recall how a familiar setting once looked — such as the exact layout of grandma’s living room or the arrangement of posters in a childhood bedroom and doing so makes people feel connected to what once was

In fact, this collective penchant for the past can also hold on to aesthetics that weren’t experienced firsthand, like the pattern play of the Victorian era or the bright and vibrant colors of the 1970s.

Everything old can indeed be new again, particularly within the confines of a home.

As tastes evolve, it’s no wonder that certain design choices eventually label a time and place.

Nancy Lovejoy, a Realtor in Baton Rouge, and her daughter, Emily an artist and professional photographer in New Orleans, have similar styles, but different interpretations of those styles have changed over time.

Nancy Lovejoy just got a new couch herself, and is starting to realize that now, all of the other furniture in her space needs to be replaced to match.

Antiques and pops of character make for a unique space and add a personal touch to the home, a trend being adopted by many in the younger generations.

The beginnings

The baby boomers encapsulate those born between 1946 to 1964, an era that shifted the concepts of mass production away from World War II toward civilian life.

Department stores with flashy

“Eventually it will come together,” she said. “The needs just start to grow.”

showrooms made these furniture sets desirable, but that’s not the only thing this generation may be known for

“My parents still even have their original bedroom set that they purchased the year they got married, in 1980,” she said.

ä See INTERIOR, page 6C

Exhibit celebrates Lafayette’s tour stop in Louisiana

Carole Sexton’s ‘Washington and the Marquis on Horseback’ is featured in Louisiana’s Old State Capitol’s exhibit ‘The Biggest Celebrity of His Time,’ commemorating the Marquis de Lafayette.

STAFF PHOTO By ROBIN MILLER

BY ROBIN MILLER Staff writer

Groupies are groupies, no matter the era. And the Marquis de Lafayette had his share of giddy fans when he embarked on his own Taylor Swift-style “Eras” tour of the United States between 1824 and 1825.

More accurately, he called it his Farewell Tour marking his final visit to the U.S. When com-

paring followings in the 19th and 21st centuries, Swift has nothing on Lafayette when it comes to popularity Fans flocked from everywhere People flocked from everywhere to see the

Terry Robinson

PROVIDED PHOTO

Despite the generational love of open concepts and millennial neutral pallets, traditional home styles of separate kitchens

interior design space.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

By The Associated Press

Today is Saturday, Feb. 22, the 53rd day of 2025. There are 312 days left in the year

Today in history

On Feb. 22, 1980, the “Miracle on Ice” took place at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, as the United States Olympic hockey team upset the Soviet Union, 4-3. (The U.S. team went on to win the gold medal two days later with a 4-2 victory over Finland.)

On this date: In 1732, the first president of the United States, George Washington, was born in Westmoreland County in the Virginia Colony In 1959, the inaugural Daytona 500 race was held; although Johnny Beauchamp was initially declared the winner, the victory was later awarded to Lee Petty.

In 1967, more than 25,000 U.S and South Vietnamese troops launched Operation Junction City, aimed at smashing a Vietcong stronghold near the Cambodian border In 1997, scientists in Scotland announced they had successfully cloned an adult mammal for the

first time, a sheep they named “Dolly.”

In 2010, Najibullah Zazi, accused of buying products from beauty supply stores to make bombs for an attack on New York City subways, pleaded guilty to charges including conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction. (Zazi faced up to life in prison but spent nearly a decade after his arrest helping the U.S. identify and prosecute terrorists; he was given a 10-year sentence followed by supervised release.)

In 2021, the number of U.S. deaths from COVID-19 topped 500,000, according to Johns Hopkins University Today’s birthdays: Actor Paul Dooley is 97. Actor James Hong is 96. Actor Julie Walters is 75. Basketball Hall of Famer Julius Erving is 75. Golf Hall of Famer Amy Alcott is 69. Actor Kyle MacLachlan is 66. Golf Hall of Famer Vijay Singh is 62. Hockey Hall of Famer Pat LaFontaine is 60. Actor-comedian Rachel Dratch is 59. Actor Paul Lieberstein (TV: “The Office) is 58. Actor Jeri Ryan is 57. Actor Thomas Jane is 56. Actor-singer Lea Salonga is 54. Tennis Hall of Famer Michael Chang is 53.

RELIGION BRIEFS FROM STAFF REPORTS

Anointing of the Sick at St. Joseph

St. Joseph Cathedral, 401 Main St., will offer the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick on Sunday following the 10:30 a.m. Mass. This sacrament provides strength and grace to those who are ill, facing surgery or in need of divine assistance.

The service will also include a blessing with the holy relics of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, a priest known for his ministry to the sick.

For more information contact (225) 387-5928 or office@cathedralbr.org.

60th anniversary of the Selma March

Wesley United Methodist Church, 544 Government St., Baton Rouge, will observe the 60th anniversary commemoration of the Selma to Montgomery March at 10 a.m. Sunday, March 9

All are welcome to be part of this historic observance.

‘Tend Your Soul’ Lenten Morning of Reflection

St. Joseph Catholic Church, 2250 Cecilia Senior High School Highway, Breaux Bridge, will hold a Lenten Morning of Reflection from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday March 8. The public is invited to reflect on what should grow and what should

MATTERS

Continued from page 5C

Pleasant, which was without a pastor

“He asked me, ‘What do your next three weeks look like?’” recalled Green, who continues to serve as an associate minister and Sunday school teacher at Mount Zion. Green led Mount Pleasant for three weeks. That extended into a nine-month stint as interim pastor as the church continued its search. Green was encouraged to consider the position full time, but he expressed fulfillment in coaching and various other activities.

“I was very content with helping them, very content with giving them that guidance or insight that they may need during the search. It was never my intent to become a pastor not just there but a pastor anywhere,” he said.

“I kind of struggled back and forth on becoming the pastor, but the Lord opened my eyes.” He found revelation in one of his guiding scriptures from Matthew 6:33: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

“The Lord showed me there was something out there he wanted me to do. So I really had no choice in the matter once he made it clear to me,” said Green, who years ago did biblical training and teaching at Bethany Bible College. He also got the blessing of his wife.

The church at 1743 Convention St. elected Green, and he was installed in August.

“It’s been one of the best experiences I’ve ever had,” Green

be pruned from our lives to draw closer to Jesus this Lenten season. The morning will include music, prayer and community sharing. Breakfast, refreshments and materials will be provided. The cost is $30 per person. All are welcome.

GriefShare Spring Session at First Baptist First Baptist Church, 529 Convention St., will host a 13-week GriefShare program beginning Wednesday, March 12, offering hope and healing for those grieving the loss of a loved one. Meetings will be held from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Wednesdays.

Free parking is available at the church lot on Sixth and Convention streets. The only cost is $20 for the workbook; and an optional lunch will be available after meetings.

For more information, call (225) 343-0397 or John Westbrook at (225) 768-8863, or visit griefshare.org.

Freeman Baptist hosts

Old Fashion Day & Potluck

Freeman Baptist Church, 4628 La 955 West Ethel, invites the community to Old Fashion Day & Potluck at 8:30 a.m. Sunday Guest pastor will be the Rev Jermanique Mitchell of Nazareth Baptist Church. Visitors are encouraged to wear old school clothes and share in old school food.

said “The ability to lead people in a manner that’s eternal is an opportunity you don’t get very often To have that with this particular congregation is a highlight to everything I’ve ever done my life so far.”

Green expressed that Mount Pleasant has shown strong support, as has his pastor, Brown, who also serves as the president of the Fourth District Missionary Baptist Association.

Of Brown, Green said, “He was very, very supportive then and even so much more supportive now God led him to send me over me over there and one thing that led to another.”

Green recognizes valuable similarities between guiding a basketball team and nurturing a congregation

“There’s so many ways to affect people’s lives and how I can be affected by them,” Green said. “These kids have made me a better coach, a better father, a better man. It’s a beautiful relationship. The ones you can affect positively, they will remember you until the day they die. My hope and my prayer is that they would take what they’ve learned in basketball and apply it to their everyday lives.”

Green takes a comparable approach to his pastoral experience.

“It’s in the same vein almost as far as coaching,” he said. “It’s in a different manner that you apply it, but the principles are still the same. You love your players. You love your congregation. Be very transparent before them and or be real. But at the same time, provide a level of expertise they may not have been aware of used to.”

Contact Terry Robinson at terryrobinson622@gmail.com.

‘THE BIGGEST

CELEBRITY OF HIS TIME’

Through March 15 at Louisiana’s Old State Capitol, 100 North Blvd. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.Tuesday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m Saturday.Admission is free. Visit louisianaoldstatecapitol.org

LAFAYETTE

Continued from page 5C

painting, “Waiting for a Glimpse.”

The piece is one of 34 works by members of the Associated Women in the Arts celebrating the bicentennial of Lafayette’s Louisiana tour stop in Louisiana’s Old State Capitol’s exhibit, “The Biggest Celebrity of His Time: General Lafayette and the 200th Anniversary of His Voyage to Louisiana.”

The show runs through March 15, which would have been exactly a month before the marquis’ Baton Rouge visit on April 15.

This historic date alone gave the Old Capitol’s curator, Lauren Davis, an idea. She knew New Orleans’ Cabildo would be opening its own exhibit, “Bienvenne a General Lafayette,” in April.

A different kind of exhibit

“I knew their exhibit would have a lot of artifacts, so I started thinking about something different for our exhibit,” Davis said. “I thought about the Associated Women in the Arts. They’ve exhibited here through the years, so I started talking to them about a themed exhibit.”

Two years ago, the idea for the exhibit started as Louisianans interpreting Lafayette’s life, Farewell Tour and legacy through their artwork.

“They were free to choose what they wanted to paint about Lafayette,” Davis said.

So, McCollister painted groupies. That’s not what she calls the two women standing on the Mississippi River bank in her painting, but they are Lafayette fans.

“There was great excitement and anticipation as the news spread that General Lafayette would be traveling up the Mississippi River from New Orleans,” McCollister writes in her exhibition label “Somewhere along the way these women sneaked out of the house, unescorted, to see if they could catch a glimpse of the General.”

McCollister isn’t saying that this random moment in history actually happened, but considering Lafayette’s huge celebrity status, she can’t help speculating. The marquis not only was a war hero, he also was good-looking.

This unique storytelling makes Louisiana’s Old State Capitol’s Lafayette tribute different from others.

About the marquis

Lafayette’s full name was MarieJoseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette. He was a war hero in two countries, first as a volunteer for Gen. George Washington’s Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War, where he

INTERIOR

Continued from page 5C

These sets were usually made of a dark-stained wood that had heavy hardware and flourished millwork, which were sturdy enough to last through their kids’ childhoods.

“It was a time of knickknacks and Thomas Kinkade paintings,” she added.

Department stores with flashy showrooms made these furniture sets desirable, but that’s not the only thing this generation may be known for Welcoming spaces

As baby boomers were listening to the Beatles, Generation X those born between 1965 and 1980 — were jamming to new rock and grunge. Although their music was born from rebellion, most in this generation chose their at-home style to center around family

Nancy Lovejoy noted that Generation X pulled from a range of styles in their homes, but those in Baton Rouge generally looked for the same things: open concepts and Master bedrooms on the first floor

The introduction of large windows, open concepts and spaces that felt more inviting for friends and families.

Millennials hop off ‘gray’ train

Color is (still) officially “out” for millennials, according to recent data from Google Trends, which revealed that searches for the phrases “millennial gray” and “millennial grey” spiked +5,000% in May and that “millennial grey house” is a top trending related

commanded troops as a general in the 1781 siege of Yorktown the war’s final major battle that secured American independence.

After that, he returned to his homeland, where he became a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789, then the July Revolution of 1830.

In between the two French wars, the general was given rock star status in America, not only as a war hero but as the last living commander from the American Revolution Auguste Lessaveur Lafayette’s personal secretary, a writer and French diplomat, documented when Lafayette made an impromptu visit in Baton Rouge in her book “Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825: Journal of a Voyage to the United States.”

The author pinpoints one location that specifically hosted Lafayette the garrison at the Britishturned-Spanish fort on what is now the Louisiana State Capitol grounds where the marquis was greeted by “a numerous assemblage of elegantly dressed and beautiful ladies, who surrounded the general and offered him refreshments and flowers.”

Along with the general’s fans, the artists in the current exhibit depict the sidewinder paddle wheel boat, the Natchez, which transported the general along the Mississippi River. Artist Frances Durham’s painting expounds on Lafayette’s trip in her painting, “Lafayette’s View at Dawn.”

“Lafayette’s party had a rough night in the Gulf of Mexico due to storms as they approached Louisiana,” Durham writes of her scene depicting the Mississippi River, banks filled with trees. “But at the break of dawn, they saw the mouth of the Mississippi River.”

Fans at Magnolia Mound

The depiction is followed by Donna Kilbourne’s painting, “Approaching Magnolia Mound,” re-creating the general’s arrival in the Baton Rouge. Though the

search in the United States.

Despite the promotion of colorful, eye-catching aesthetics like dopamine decor and maximalism on social media, the reality is that people are still clinging to their beloved neutral.

In fact, Sherwin-Williams confirmed that, in 2023, Agreeable Gray SW 7029 was their second best-selling interior shade, and three other gray hues took up spots in the top 20, making for a fairly significant chunk of the most popular colors.

However, the Lovejoys disagree with the overarching trends for millennials.

According to the Realtor, “millennial gray” was mostly a contractor’s decision that made building, designing and selling houses easier She said it wasn’t intended to be an aesthetic.

Emily Lovejoy who is an artist by trade, rejects the “less is more” or monochromatic lifestyle adopted by many millennial homeowners. Rather, she likes unique and singular pieces in the home with contrasting colors and statement pieces like cowboy-boot-shaped pillows.

Think vintage and curated pieces.

Although Emily Lovejoy still has a coffee table in her home that Nancy Lovejoy bought 25 years ago, she has added her own flair for design with the addition of intricate Ikea chairs from the 1990s. Emily Lovejoy also made a bold, rather new-generational, decision to not have any TVs in her home.

“She just consumes media and the news differently than my generation,” Nany Lovejoy “Sitting at the TV and catching up on the day is part of my routine.” Emily Lovejoy notes that this

Natchez did not dock at Magnolia Mound, Kilbourne imagines the plantation’s family cheering him on along the way

“At the time of Lafayette’s visit to Louisiana, Magnolia Mound in Baton Rouge was the residents of Armand Duplantier and his family,” Kilbourne writes. “Monsieur Duplantier accompanied Marquis de Lafayette to America and served as his aide-de-camp during the revolution.

“Duplantier acted as one of Lafayette’s agents in Louisiana to secure land that was gifted to him. He was also a member of Lafayette’s welcoming party and a passenger on tour riverboat, the Natchez. As the party moved up the Mississippi and passed Magnolia Mound, the family may have gathered to greet them.”

Tessier house legend

Artists haven’t slighted Baton Rouge’s Tessier house, which, according to some accounts, Lafayette not only visited but delivered a speech from its balcony The Baton Rouge Bicentennial Commission detailed such a story in a 1976 booklet written by Evelyn Thom.

The house is located at 342 Lafayette St., catercorner to the Hilton Baton Rouge Baton Rouge Capitol Center

Artists also tackled such other subjects as Lafayette’s association with Marie Antoinette, his close friendship with George Washington and the American Foxhound breed that resulted from his gift of French hounds to Washington. An unsung hero

Finally, there’s Becky Olivera’s painting, “Adrienne Noailles de LaFayette.”

“Becky’s painting is really one of the most fascinating, because she looks at Lafayette’s wife, who is really an unsung hero,” said Monica Wood, president of the Associated Women in the Arts. “With this, I think we tell a well-rounded story in this show.”

generation ushered in experimentation.

“Millennials are harder to categorize,” she said. “But if I had to, I would say ‘casual elegance’ as represented by a ‘coastal California’ look, which was very popular for a long time.”

Because of the rise of the internet, the millennial style is harder to pin down. Many ideas for aesthetics and styles (midcentury modern, maximalist, minimalist, shabby chic and much more) are accessible on Pinterest, Instagram and other platforms. People often share design tips, techniques and inspiration.

Generation Z rejects norms Closed kitchen spaces? Expressive color? No top sheets?

Known for their laidback attitude toward social norms and effortlessness on the internet, those born between 1997 and the early 2010s define the Gen Z population. And while their tastes are still coming into focus, Emily Lovejoy says that if they do have a style, it’s making sure that it doesn’t look quite like what came before. It’s only natural that millions of people who make up a generation would create more than one recurring theme in their sense of style, which can be remembered or forgotten over time.

“Every generation is different,” Nancy Lovejoy said. “But in a way, they’re all the same too.”

That’s the thing about design: It’s always changing and likely rooted in something else.

“Everyone is different,” Nancy Lovejoy said. “Emily thinks our styles are totally different, but there are plenty of younger people with my style and lots of older people with eclectic style.”

STAFF PHOTO By ROBIN MILLER

Tonni McCollister’s ‘Waiting for a Glimpse’ is featured in Louisiana’s Old State Capitol’s exhibit ‘The Biggest Celebrity of His Time,’ commemorating the Marquis de Lafayette.

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Channel emotional energy into your daily routine. Engage in physical activity that lets you blow off steam and directs positive vibes into your life. Decline any offer that doesn't suit your budget.

ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Use your energy wisely. An active and well-planned agenda will help you avoid frustration. Lookforopportunitiestospendtimewith someone you want to know better.

TAuRus (April 20-May 20) Timing is everything. Refrain from letting anyone dictate how or where you utilize your energy. Trying to cram too much into one day will lead to uncertainty.

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) You are best to document what transpires. Someone will try to rewrite history if you offer an assessment that needs to be more precise. Offering something efficient and within budget will help you gain acceptance.

cAncER (June 21-July 22) Focus on what's essential and learn to say no to those taking advantage of your kindness and generosity. It's OK to help others, but help yourself first. Say no to drama and yes to using your energy to thrive.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Generosity is honorable, but before offering your time, money or expertise, consider if someone's exploiting you. How you communicate your expectations will make a difference

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Emotions will be scattered, causing problems with relationships and domestic matters. Push

dramaasideanddealwiththerealissues Set boundaries and say no to tempting nuances.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Apply pressure when necessary, but do so in a manner that appeals to the people you want to be involvedinyourplans.Takingshorttrips and getting together with old friends will help turn any negatives you face into positives.

scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Don't drag your feet when you can accomplish so much. Get out, network, socialize and charm your way into the hearts of those you want to be around. You will discover plenty through conversation.

sAGITTARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Stop, look, listen and evaluate situations before you agree to something ambiguous. Refuse to let your emotions step in and lead you astray.

cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Live up to your promises and have no regrets. Following a path that encourages prudence and worthwhile achievements will make you feel good about life, what you contribute and your prospects.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Be the one to lead the way. Set a good example and be clear about your expectations. Use your skills, knowledge and insight to your benefit and to convince others to stand by you.

The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2025 by NEA Inc. dist By Andrews

McMeel Syndication

FAMILY CIrCUS

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

ToDAy's cLuE: G EQuALs P

CeLebrItY CIpher

For better or For WorSe peAnUtS zItS

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SALLY Forth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon

dooneSbUrY

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

Puzzle Answer

By PHILLIP ALDER Bridge

Carl Jung said, “Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”

At the bridge table, though, the opposite applies. If you worry only about your 13 cards, your partner will be dreaming of getting a new “third opponent.”

This deal requires vision. How should South play in six hearts after West leads the diamond jack?

North’sJacobytwo-no-trumpresponse showed four-plus hearts and game-forcing values.

South starts with 11 top tricks: two spades, six hearts, two diamonds and one club. Probably his immediate reaction is to hope that the club finesse is working. Then he might think about eliminating diamonds and spades before trying to duck a club to West for an endplay.

However, declarer can do better. He should win the first trick with his diamond king, draw two rounds of trumps, play three rounds of spades (ruffing the last in his hand), return to dummy with a diamond, and call for the last spade.

Here, when East discards, South throws a club. West takes the trick but is endplayed. If he leads a club, it is into declarer’sace-queen.Orifhedoessome-

thing else, South ruffs in the dummy and sluffs his club queen If though, East follows to the fourth spade, declarer ruffs, crosses to dummy with a trump, and ducks a club, hoping West will win the trick. But if East takes it and leads another club, South

thought “But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” Hebrews 3:13

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield