in reading, state officials have credited schools’ embrace of the ‘science
Schools in St. Charles Parish were early adopters of the new way to teach reading
St. Charles Parish revamping how kids learn to read
BY ELYSE CARMOSINO Staff writer
Inside a classroom in St. Charles Par-
ish, a group of first graders sit around their teacher as she points to an easel with a large piece of paper titled “READING.” Under it, six steps lay out how to identify a word using its vowels and syllable type.
Today, the group is working on consonant blends, when two or three consonants appear next to one another in a word. The students start by reviewing “S” blends, reciting the words wasp, crisp and clasp
“We’ve got to say that blend to help us read the word correctly,” Toni Dugas, a reading intervention teacher at Norco Elementary School, tells her students.
To an untrained observer, it might have looked like a typical reading lesson. But in fact, it’s a big departure from how reading has been taught in many U.S. schools, where phonics instruction is kept to a minimum and students are encouraged to use context clues to read unfamiliar words.
In sharp contrast, the approach used in Dugas’ classroom is based on a body of research known as “the science of reading,” which teaches students to decipher words letter by letter and sound by sound.
This year, national data showed Louisiana led the country in fourth-grade reading gains on a closely watched test and outpaced other states in post-pandemic reading improvement. State education leaders credit the success to a series of
A teacher shows a flashcard to a child on Feb 17 as part of the reading program at Norco Elementary School in Norco.
laws and policy changes over the past four years that have pushed Louisiana schools to adopt practices rooted in the science of reading. It’s an approach that’s gained traction throughout the U.S., with 40 states passing similar policies over the last few years.
St. Charles’ school system has been on the front lines of the shift, having spent years transitioning to methods informed by the science of reading that are meant to systematically teach students how to read words one sound or letter pattern
at a time.
While the process was difficult, Norco staff and teachers say that their students have seen undeniable success, as demonstrated by rising test scores.
The old methods “served us really well at certain times in the past, but now we have more advanced research,” said Assistant Superintendent Erin Granier, who called the new approach “a game changer.” Now, “we know how kids learn to read.”
Trump backs Musk as he roils federal workforce
his claims.
Mayoral hopeful back in race
BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER Staff writer
BY CHRIS MEGERIAN and LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump backed Elon Musk’s demand that federal employees explain their recent accomplishments by the end of Monday or risk getting fired, even as government agency officials were told that compliance with Musk’s edict was voluntary.
“What he’s doing is saying, ‘Are you actually working?’ ” Trump said in the Oval Office during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.
“And then, if you don’t answer, like you’re sort of semi-fired or you’re fired, because a lot of
Confusion and anger over the situation spawned new litigation and added to turmoil within the federal workforce.
people aren’t answering because they don’t even exist.”
The Republican president said Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has found “hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud” as he suggested that federal paychecks are going to nonexistent employees. He did not present evidence for
But even as Trump and Musk pressed their case, the Office of Personnel Management informed agency leaders that their workforces were not required to respond by the deadline of 11:59 p.m. Monday, according to a person with knowledge of the conversation who requested anonymity to discuss internal matters Just after 7 p.m. — hours after
Almost a week after announcing he was dropping out of the March 29 mayoral race in St. George after he was confronted with a decadesold guilty plea for soliciting prostitution, Republican Jim Morgan now says he’s back in.
“It’s on,” he said Monday evening in an interview
Morgan briefly ended run after prostitution bust resurfaced Morgan
“My opponent, Dustin Yates, and his campaign play very dirty,” Morgan said earlier Monday in a statement announcing he’s rejoining the race. “This almost broke my family.”
Morgan’s decision means Yates, who has been serving as interim mayor, ran unopposed for less than a week in the first-ever race to lead the new city
“Jim Morgan’s problems stretch far beyond his prostitution conviction, his erratic Facebook posts at 4 a.m., or his lack of participation in or understanding of why we created this city,” said Lionel Rainey III, campaign strategist for Yates’ campaign.
Morgan said last week that he
Federal appeals court halts case
Legal challenge to La. execution protocols could be reopened
BY JOHN SIMERMAN Staff writer
A federal appeals court in New Orleans has halted a judge’s decision to reopen a legal challenge to Louisiana’s execution protocols while it considers an opposition from Attorney General Liz Murrill.
A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a one-sentence order on Monday, issued an administrative stay of U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick’s ruling from last week. Dick ruled Friday in favor of attorneys for death row inmates who are seeking to fend off the first Louisiana execution since 2010. They had asked Dick, a nominee of former President Barack Obama, to revive a long-dormant
ä See CASE, page 4A
STAFF PHOTOS By DAVID GRUNFELD
strides
of reading.’
BRIEFS
FROM WIRE REPORTS
Delta flight reports possible smoke
ATLANTA A Delta Air Lines flight returned to the Atlanta airport soon after taking off Monday when crew members reported a smoky haze inside the cockpit, according to federal officials.
Delta Flight 876 to Columbia, South Carolina, returned safely to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Monday morning “after the crew reported possible smoke in the flightdeck,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
The FAA said it’s investigating the incident, which came after a Delta plane flipped over last week while crash landing in Toronto, injuring 21 people. And on Saturday, another Delta flight returned to Los Angeles after departing for Sydney Australia, when smoke was detected in the galley, according to the airline.
Trial to begin in Chicago shooting
WAUKEGAN, Ill The man accused of opening fire on a suburban Chicago Independence Day parade, killing seven people, is about to stand trial, nearly three years after the attack.
Jury selection started Monday after several delays. Part of the reason is the erratic behavior of the defendant.
Opening statements are expected next week.
Authorities said Robert Crimo III perched on a roof and shot at crowds assembled for a Fourth of July paradeindowntownHighland Park, a wealthy suburb 30 miles from Chicago.
Seven people were killed in the 2022 shooting, including both parents of a toddler Dozens more were wounded They ranged in age from their 80s down to an 8-year-old boy who was left partially paralyzed.
Illness kills over 50 in Congo
KINSHASA, Congo An unknown illness has killed over 50 people in northwestern Congo, according to doctors on the ground and the World Health Organization on Monday
The interval between the onset of symptoms and death has been 48 hours in the majority of cases, and “that’s what’s really worrying,” Serge Ngalebato, medical director of Bikoro Hospital, a regional monitoring center, said.
The outbreak began Jan. 21, and 419 cases have been recorded, including 53 deaths
According to WHO’s Africa office, the outbreak began in the town of Boloko after three children ate a bat and died within 48 hours following hemorrhagic fever symptoms.
63 hostages still in Gaza after release
JERUSALEM Hamas freed six Israelis on Saturday in the last scheduled release of living hostages by the militant group under the current stage of a ceasefire agreement with Israel.
In all, a total of 33 Israelis are being freed during this stage — including eight who are dead Five Thai hostages have also been freed separately Sixtythree hostages, including the body of a soldier held since 2014, remain in Gaza.
The remains of four Israeli hostages have been returned in a transfer that was marred when Hamas handed over the wrong body for Shiri Bibas, an Israeli mother of two young boys abducted by militants After a tense standoff, her remains were returned and identified early Saturday
The final four sets of remains are expected to be returned in the coming days.
U.S. AT ODDS WITH EUROPEAN ALLIES
Trump refuses to blame Russia for Ukraine war in U.N. votes
BY EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS In a dramatic shift in transatlantic relations under President Donald Trump, the United States split with its European allies by refusing to blame Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in votes on three U.N. resolutions Monday seeking an end to the three-year war
The growing divide follows Trump’s decision to open direct negotiations with Russia on ending the war, dismaying Ukraine and its European supporters by excluding them from the preliminary talks last week.
In the U.N. General Assembly, the U.S. joined Russia in voting against a Europe-backed Ukrainian resolution that calls out Moscow’s aggression and demands an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops.
The U.S. then abstained from voting on its own competing resolution after Europeans led by France, succeeded in amending it to make clear Russia was the aggressor The voting was taking place on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion and as Trump was hosting French President Emmanuel Macron in Washington. It was a major setback for the Trump administration in the 193-member world body, whose resolutions are not legally binding but are seen as a barometer of world opinion.
The U.S. then pushed for a vote on its original draft in the more powerful U.N. Security Council, where resolutions are legally binding and it has veto power along with Russia, China, Britain and France. The vote in the 15-member council was 10-0 with five European countries abstaining – Britain, France, Denmark, Greece and Slovenia
The dueling resolutions also reflect the tensions that have emerged between the U.S. and Ukraine. In escalating rhetoric, Trump has called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator” for not holding elections during wartime, when much of Ukraine is under Russian occupation and many of its soldiers are on the frontlines
Trump also has falsely accused Kyiv of starting the war and warned
that he “better move fast” to negotiate an end to the conflict or risk not having a nation to lead. Zelenskyy responded by saying Trump was living in a Russian-made “disinformation space.”
In a whirlwind of diplomacy Trump’s meeting with Macron will be followed by a visit on Thursday from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, key U.S. allies who were in lockstep with Washington on Ukraine just over a month ago. They now find themselves on opposite sides on the best pathway for the UN to call for an end to the war
The General Assembly first voted 93-18 with 65 abstentions to approve the Ukrainian resolution. The result showed some diminished support for Ukraine, because previous assembly votes saw more than 140 nations condemn Russia’s aggression, demand an immediate withdrawal, and reversal of its annexation of four Ukrainian regions. The assembly then turned to the U.S.-drafted resolution, which acknowledges “the tragic loss of life throughout the Russia-Ukraine conflict” and “implores a swift end to the conflict and further urges a lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia,” but never mentions Moscow’s aggression.
In a surprise move, France proposed three amendments, backed by more than European countries, which add that the conflict was the result of a “full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation.” The amendments reaffirm the assembly’s commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty independence, unity and territorial integrity, and call for peace that respects the U.N. Charter
Russia also proposed an amendment calling for “root causes” of the conflict to be addressed.
All the amendments were approved and the resolution passed 93-8 with 73 abstentions, with Ukraine voting “yes,” the U.S. abstaining, and Russia voting “no.”
Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Mariana Betsa said her country is exercising its “inherent right to selfdefense” following Russia’s invasion, which violates the U.N. Charter’s requirement that countries respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other nations.
“As we mark three years of this devastation — Russia’s full invasion against Ukraine — we call on all nations to stand firm and to take the side of the Charter, the side of humanity and the side of just and lasting peace, peace through strength,” she said. Trump has often stated his commitment to bringing “peace through strength.”
U.S. deputy ambassador Dorothy Shea, meanwhile, said multiple previous U.N. resolutions condemning Russia and demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops “have failed to stop the war,” which “has now dragged on for far too long and at far too terrible a cost to the people in Ukraine and Russia and beyond.”
“What we need is a resolution marking the commitment from all U.N. member states to bring a durable end to the war,” Shea said before the vote.
In the Security Council, Russia used its veto to prevent any changes to the U.S. resolution. Legally blinding but toothless, its only operative paragraph “Implores a swift end to the conflict and further urges a lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia.”
Illegal prison guard strike stretches into week two in N.Y.
BY MICHAEL HILL, CEDAR ATTANASIO and JAKE OFFENHARTZ Associated Press
COXSACKIE, N.Y A wildcat strike by guards at New York’s prisons, now in its second week, is fueling fears over deteriorating conditions behind bars. A 61-year-old inmate died over the weekend at one of the prisons where National Guard troops were deployed to replace corrections officers who walked off the job. Jonathon Grant, who was serving a 34- to 40-year sentence for rape and burglary was pronounced dead Saturday after being found unresponsive in his cell at the Auburn Correctional Facility, state officials said It wasn’t clear if the prison’s staffing situation was a factor in Grant’s death. State officials didn’t immediately release information about his health history A medical examiner will determine the cause of death, state prison system spokesperson Thomas Mailey said. The public defender’s office that provided legal counsel to Grant expressed concern that the walkout by guards had disrupted inmate medical care.
“Since the strike began, Legal Aid has received dozens of reports from incarcerated clients across New York
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MICHAEL HILL
Correctional officers and their supporters demonstrate Monday in sight of Coxsackie Correctional Facility in the Hudson Valley in Coxsackie, N.y.
State about their inability to access critical medical care and essential prescriptions, including blood pressure medication and necessary insulin shots,” said The Legal Aid Society “This tragic incident highlights the dangers posed by the ongoing strike, as staff in over 40 prisons refuse to fulfill their duties.”
Guards at state prisons began walking out a week ago in a job action that was not approved by union officials, who acknowledge that it violates a state law barring strikes by most public employees.
New York Gov Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, deployed National Guard troops to prisons to maintain order A judge ordered the striking
officers back to work last week, but the workers didn’t budge.
Isaiah Waters, an inmate at Woodbourne Correctional Facility said in a phone interview that his cell block has been on lockdown for a week, with four National Guard officers assigned to his 57-person dorm, along with members of a correctional emergency response unit.
“The tension is building up. I’ve never seen it like this,” said Waters, who is 37 and has been incarcerated since he was 19. “There’s no programming, no religious services, you can’t send mail or get visitors. We’re not used to being around each other for this many hours day in and day out.”
Pope still critical but resumes some work
BY NICOLE WINFIELD and TRISHA THOMAS Associated Press
ROME Pope Francis remained in critical condition Monday but showed slight improvement in laboratory tests and resumed some work, the Vatican said, including calling a parish in Gaza City that he has kept in touch with since the war there began.
The Vatican’s evening bulletin was more upbeat than in recent days, as the 88-year-old Francis battles pneumonia in both lungs at Rome’s Gemelli hospital. It was issued shortly before the Vatican’s No. 2 led the faithful in a somber night-time recitation of the Rosary prayer in St. Peter’s Square that evoked the vigils when St. John Paul II was dying.
“For 2,000 years the Christian people have prayed for the pope when he was in danger or sick,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin told the rain-dappled piazza. Standing on the same stage where Francis usually presides, Parolin said ever since Francis had been hospitalized, a chorus of prayers for his recovery had swelled up from around the world.
“Starting this evening, we want to unite ourselves publicly to this prayer here, in his house,” Parolin said, praying that Francis “in this moment of illness and trial” would recover quickly
The Argentine pope, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, has been hospitalized since Feb. 14 and doctors have said his condition is touchand-go, given his age, fragility and pre-existing lung disease. But in Monday’s update, they said he hadn’t had any more respiratory crises since Saturday, and the supplemental oxygen he is using continued but with a slightly reduced oxygen flow and concentrations. The slight kidney insufficiency detected on Sunday was not causing alarm at the moment, doctors said, while saying his prognosis remained guarded.
Francis received the Eucharist Monday morning and resumed working in the afternoon.
“In the evening he called the parish priest of the Gaza parish to express his fatherly closeness,” the statement said.
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New way to teach reading
Until recently, St. Charles schools — like many across Louisiana and the country taught students to read using a method called “balanced literacy,” where teachers give short lessons on reading skills, then students spend a lot of time reading on their own. If students come across a word they don’t recognize they’re encouraged to guess the meaning using context clues or pictures — a strategy called “cueing.”
“You might have a book that would say, ‘The ball is red,’ but the picture would have a red ball, so the student wouldn’t even need to read ‘red’ or ‘ball,’” said Ada Webre, who oversees literacy coaches in St. Charles schools.
Balanced literacy has come under attack in recent years, with experts and educators saying it’s left many students without basic reading skills. In 2022, Louisiana lawmakers banned schools from teaching the cueing strategy
As balanced literacy fell out of favor, alternative approaches based on the science of reading have been on the rise.
Based on research into how the brain develops the ability to read, students learn how to connect sounds to letters and about the different sounds produced by letter combinations, while also studying vocabulary and practicing reading aloud.
The sounds and skills are taught in order, beginning with the component parts of words.
“It’s like building a house, building that foundation,” said Cheney Murray a longtime first grade teacher in St. Charles “If a child doesn’t understand the ‘ch’ sound, when they get to a word that uses it, they can’t do anything.”
Louisiana began requiring schools to adopt practices based on the science of reading in 2021.
Teachers now must take intensive training courses and school districts need to provide teachers in grades
CASE
Continued from page 1A
federal lawsuit over the ways that Louisiana kills its condemned.
When the suit was first filed in 2012, Louisiana only allowed executions by lethal injection. Dick dismissed the case in 2022 after thenAttorney General Jeff Landry argued it was moot, as 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.
Landry became governor last year and helped engineer an expansion of execution methods to include electrocution and nitrogen gas.
Landry recently announced that the state was ready to resume executions with a new protocol for lethal gas, which corrections officials have declined to release to the public.
Judges have signed execution warrants for three death row prisoners so far
A judge revoked the first one, and a second death row
K-3 with literacy coaches who can offer on-site training, demonstrate lessons and provide feedback. Schools now give a reading assessment to students in grades K-2 three times each year and, beginning this spring, third graders who don’t hit state targets on the assessments can be held back
Unlike balanced literacy, the new approach is based on decades of research
“It’s a collection of insights and principles based on replicable, peer-reviewed evidence from studies that go back 40 years,” said Maryanne Wolf, a child-literacy researcher and advocate. As the new methods take hold in more schools, “there’s a good feeling that we’re really moving the dial, and the studies show that.”
Changes bring tears
Years before Louisiana began to push for literacy reforms, teachers in St. Charles Parish sought ways to help their youngest students, whose reading scores had lagged District leaders knew something needed to change, but they also knew it wouldn’t be easy Some of their educators had been using the old methods to teach reading for decades.
“It was hard,” said Granier, the district’s assistant superintendent. “Lots of tears, lots of anger.”
Granier said she understood teachers’ reluctance to abandon a style of reading instruction that many had built their careers around.
“It becomes your belief system,” she said. “We took that away from teachers, and they didn’t have an identity anymore.”
But it didn’t take long for everyone to get on board when they began to see results, she added.
One person who embraced the new methods was Tiffany Webre, Ada Webre’s daughter, who is a second grade teacher at Norco Elementary
On a recent morning, her students gathered on a rug in the center of the room, looking up at a smartboard that displayed a lowercase, upside down “e.”
“Remind me what sound this makes,” Tiffany Webre said to the class as she motioned to the board
prisoner with an execution date, 81-year-old Christopher Sepulvado, died over the weekend.
That leaves a March 18 date for an execution by nitrogen gas for Jessie Hoffman of New Orleans Hoffman was 18 when he raped and then killed a woman named Mary “Molly” Elliott on a remote dock in St. Tammany Parish. Hoffman is now 46, having spent most of his life on death row Collin Sims, the district attorney in St Tammany and Washington parishes, requested the warrant.
Murrill argues that Dick got it wrong when she reopened the challenge to the state’s execution methods, because there were no “extraordinary circumstances” to justify it.
Murrill also argued that Dick’s ruling sets a bad precedent for other challenges to the constitutionality of Louisiana laws in the district.
She called it extraordinarily important to Louisiana” to overturn Dick’s ruling “before it becomes a playbook for resurrecting long-dead cases simply because there was a legislative change in law.”
“I’m grateful that the 5th
“Schwa,” the students responded.
After a short lesson where students called out words that use the “schwa” sound, the children split into pairs to do worksheet activities where they identified letter combinations needed to make different sounds. Depending on each pair’s skill level, some worksheets only included individual words while others featured phrases or full paragraphs.
An important part of the activity is getting students to read the words out loud, explained Principal Shannon Diodene.
“They’re reading to each other, and over the course of the year, they learn how to give feedback,” she said. “It’s really just building their fluency.”
The reading assessments that Louisiana schools must give younger students throughout the year help identify the ones who are falling behind.
In St. Charles Parish, those students are pulled into a daily, half-hour-long reading “intervention” where a special instructor guides a small group through the day’s lesson giving each student one-on-
Circuit has swiftly intervened and blocked this order,” Murrill said Monday Cecelia Kappel of the Loyola Center for Social Justice, representing Hoffman and other death row prisoners, wrote in a response that Murrill’s argument was “disingenuous and callous.”
“The state is trying to make Jessie Hoffman a test case of a brand-new method of execution without any judicial review,” Kappel said in a phone interview
“The attorney general’s filing is just part of what I see as a plan to execute under cover of darkness without any court looking at it.”
The panel of appeals court judges included Catharina Haynes, a nominee of former President George W. Bush; and two nominees of President Donald Trump, James Ho and Andrew Oldham.
Dick’s ruling came in response to a request that advocates first made last summer, after the law went into effect allowing a menu of execution options to help jump-start Louisiana’s execution chamber
“This case has always been about Louisiana’s execution protocol,” Dick wrote. “It is
one attention. When they return to the classroom, they’re able to jump back into the next lesson without interruption.
One teacher described it as a “well-oiled machine.”
Before, “we were asking our most at-risk kids to learn two whole different processes of reading,” Ada Webre said “What they taught in the classroom didn’t always match what they taught in intervention.”
still about Louisiana’s execution protocol. And now that the protocol appears viable, there is an actionable case and controversy.”
The district’s yearslong shift to the new reading approach appears to be paying off.
In 2023, 61% of the school’s third graders tested at benchmark or above on state literacy assessments. The following year that number rose to 76%, and the latest midyear scores suggest the progress has continued. “They’re able to read things that they’ve never been able to read before,” Granier said. “It’s just amazing.”
There are 56 people on death row Not all are eligible for death warrants because they have not yet exhausted their legal appeals, a process that typically takes years. As of Monday, Hoffman was the only death row prisoner with an execution date.
Remote federal workers return to offices
BY SEAN MURPHY Associated Press
Federal employees across the country many of whom have worked from home since the COVID-19 pandemic, were back at agency offices Monday under President Donald Trump’s return-to-office mandate.
Billionaire Elon Musk, who is leading Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency scouring government agencies for suspected waste, delivered a warning Monday to workers on his platform X.
“Starting this week, those who still fail to return to office will be placed on administrative leave,” Musk wrote. Lee Zeldin, Trump’s new administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said Monday on X, formerly Twitter, “Full-time, COVID-era remote work is DONE under @POTUS leadership.”
In a video he posted, Zeldin said average attendance at EPA headquarters on Mondays and Fridays last year was less than 9% of employees.
“Our spacious, beautiful EPA headquarters spans two city blocks in D.C. across five buildings,” Zeldin said. “But our hallways have been too vacant, desks empty and cubicles filled with unoccupied chairs.”
It appears at least some federal agencies are not prepared for all remote workers to return to the office.
In an email to U.S. Department of Education Federal Student Aid employees on Friday obtained by The Associated Press, agency officials noted that some regional offices in Boston, Chicago, New York and San Francisco were not ready for workers to return The message also noted that employees who live more than 50 miles from regional
offices in some major cities would not be required to return to the office Monday “We should treat it like the first day of school plan a little time in your calendar to get oriented, find your way around, and figure out how to connect in the conference rooms, etc.,” the email said.
“There will, no doubt, be some who get lost or are late to class or have to scramble to find a seat because of a snafu.”
The email also noted that while some workers would begin reporting to offices Monday, others would begin relocating back to offices in phases through April and beyond.
Mike Galletly, president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 4016, said the information technology workers he represents at the U.S. Department of Agriculture across the country have been struggling to comply with the back-to-office mandate.
Judge blocks immigration policy allowing arrests in churches
BY MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press
GREENBELT, Md. A federal judge on Monday blocked immigration agents from conducting enforcement operations in houses of worship for Quakers and a handful of other religious groups.
U.S. District Judge Theodore Chang found that the Trump administration policy could violate their religious freedom and should be blocked while a lawsuit challenging it plays out. The preliminary injunction from the Maryland-
based judge only applies to the plaintiffs, which also include a Georgia-based network of Baptist churches and a Sikh temple in California. They sued after the Trump administration threw out Department of Homeland Security policies limiting where migrant arrests could happen as President Donald Trump seeks to make good on campaign promises to carry out mass deportations. The policy change said field agents using “common sense” and “discretion” can conduct immigration
enforcement operations at houses of worship without a supervisor’s approval.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys argue that the new DHS directive departs from the government’s 30-year-old policy against staging immigration enforcement operations in “protected areas” or “sensitive locations.”
A coalition of Quaker meetings from states including Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia sued DHS and its secretary, Kristi Noem, on Jan. 27, less than a week after the new policy was announced.
Grammy winner Roberta Flack, who sang ‘Killing Me Softly,’
BY HILLEL ITALIE
AP national writer
NEW YORK Roberta Flack, the Grammy-winning singer and pianist whose intimate vocal and musical style made her one of the top recordings artists of the 1970s and an influential performer long after, died Monday She was 88 She died at home surrounded by her family, publicist Elaine Schock said in a statement. Flack announced in 2022 she had ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and could no longer sing. Little known before her early 30s, Flack became an overnight star after Clint Eastwood used “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” as the soundtrack for one of cinema’s more memorable and explicit love scenes, between the actor and Donna Mills in his 1971 film “Play Misty for Me.” The hushed, hymn-like ballad, with Flack’s graceful soprano afloat on a bed of soft strings and piano, topped the Billboard pop chart in 1972 and received a Grammy for record of the year
“The record label wanted to have it re-recorded with a
dies at 88
faster tempo, but he said he wanted it exactly as it was,” Flack told The Associated Press in 2018. “With the song as a theme song for his movie, it gained a lot of popularity and then took off.”
In 1973, she matched both achievements with “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” becoming the first artist to win consecutive Grammys for best record. A classically trained pianist so gifted she received a full scholarship at age 15 to Howard, the historically Black university, Flack was discovered in the late 1960s by jazz musician Les McCann, who later wrote that “her voice touched, tapped, trapped, and kicked every emotion I’ve ever known.” Flack was versatile enough to summon the up-tempo gospel passion of Aretha Franklin, but she favored a more measured and reflective approach, as if curating a song word by word. Overall, she won five Grammys (three for “Killing Me Softly”), was nominated eight other times and was given a lifetime achievement Grammy in 2020, with John Legend and Ariana Grande among those praising her “I love that connection to other artists because we understand music, we live music, it’s our language,” Flack told songwriteruniverse.
com in 2020. “Through music we understand what we are thinking and feeling. No matter what challenge life presents I am at home with my piano, on a stage, with my band, in the studio, listening to music. I can find my way when I hear music.”
In 2022, Beyoncé placed Flack, Franklin and Diana Ross among others in a special pantheon of heroines name-checked in the Grammy-nominated “Queens Remix” of “Break My Soul.
Flack was briefly married to Stephen Novosel, an interracial relationship that led to tension with each of their families, and earlier had a son, the singer and keyboardist Bernard Wright. For years, she lived in Manhattan’s Dakota apartment building, on the same floor as John Lennon and Yoko Ono, who became a close friend and provided liner notes for a Flack album of Beatles covers, “Let It Be Roberta.” She also devoted extensive time to the Roberta Flack School of Music, based in New York and attended mostly by students between ages 6 to 14.
“I wanted to be successful, a serious all-round musician,” Flack told The Telegraph in 2015. “I listened to a lot of Aretha, the Drifters, trying to do some of that myself, playing, teaching.”
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“For my bargaining unit members, it’s been a whole lot of work scrambling to find hardware for people, monitors, docking stations,” Galletly said. “You have an office that up until this month normally seated four people. Now they have to seat eight people.”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is directing its remote employees to return to offices, even if they were hired into a remote role.
Federal workers with the department received the formal notice Monday in an email that was sent to employees who work more than 50 miles from a regional office. It says they will need to report to an office by April 28. The federal government employed more than 3 million people as of November That accounted for nearly 1.9% of the nation’s entire civilian workforce, according to the Pew Research Center
Judge rejects restoring AP’s immediate access to White House
BY MATT SEDENSKY AP national writer
WASHINGTON A fed-
eral judge on Monday refused to immediately order the White House to restore The Associated Press’ access to presidential events, saying the news organization had not demonstrated it had suffered any irreparable harm. But he urged the Trump administration to reconsider its two-week-old ban, saying that case law “is uniformly unhelpful to the White House.”
U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden’s decision was only for the moment, however He told attorneys for the Trump administration and the AP that the issue required more explora-
tion before ruling. McFadden said the AP had not proven harm requiring an immediate restraining order But he cautioned the White House that the law wasn’t on its side in barring AP over continuing to refer to the Gulf of Mexico, not simply the “Gulf of America” as Trump decreed in an executive order “It seems pretty clearly viewpoint discrimination,” McFadden told Brian Hudak, a government attorney With no ruling made, the White House is free to continue barring the AP from the Oval Office and beyond The case promised to stretch at least until March 20, when an additional hearing was set.
Source: Patel sworn in to lead ATF also
BY ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press
Patel
WASHINGTON New FBI Director Kash Patel was sworn in Monday as acting chief of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, taking the helm of two separate and sprawling Justice Department agencies, according to a person familiar with the matter Patel was sworn in at ATF headquarters just days after he became director of the FBI, said the person who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter
It’s not immediately clear if President Donald Trump intends to nominate Patel for the ATF post or what the administration’s plans are for the agency that has long been the target of Republicans. Officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Patel will now oversee the bureau of roughly 5,500 employees that’s responsible for enforcing the nation’s laws around firearms, explosives and arson. Among other things, it’s in charge of licensing federal firearms dealers, tracing guns used in crimes and analyzing intelligence in shooting investigations. Democrats raised alarm at Patel’s nomination for FBI director over his lack of management experience compared to past directors and because of a vast catalog of incendiary past statements, which include calling investigators who scrutinized Trump “government gangsters.”
Flack
BRIEFS
Craft retailer Joann to close all stores
NEW YORK Fabric and crafts retailer Joann Inc., which has been a destination for generations of quilters, knitters and lovers of crafts projects for more than 80 years, is going out of business and shuttering all its stores.
The announcement comes after the Hudson, Ohio-based retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January, the second time in a year It cited sluggish consumer demand and inventory shortages. At the time it vowed it would keep all of its stores open But earlier this month, Joann said it planned to close 500 stores — or more than half of its nationwide footprint. The company said Sunday that after a recent auction, financial services company GA Group, together with Joann’s term lenders, were selected as the winning bidder to “acquire substantially all of Joann’s assets” and would begin winding down the company’s operations and conduct going-out-of-business sales at all store locations.
More sanctions on Iranian oil trade
WASHINGTON The U.S. on Monday imposed sanctions on dozens of people and oil tankers across China, the United Arab Emirates, India and other jurisdictions for allegedly helping to finance Iran and its support for militant groups that launch attacks against the U.S and its allies. This is the second round of sanctions imposed on Iranian oil sales since President Donald Trump issued the National Security Presidential Memorandum 2, which calls for the U.S to “drive Iran’s export of oil to zero.” It also states that Iran “can never be allowed to acquire or develop nuclear weapons.
Apple to invest $500B in U.S. in jobs, factory
NEW YORK Apple announced Monday that it plans to invest more than $500 billion in the United States over the next four years, including plans to hire 20,000 people and build a new server factory in Texas. The move comes just days after President Donald Trump said Apple CEO Tim Cook promised him that the tech giant’s manufacturing would shift from Mexico to the U.S. Trump noted the company was doing so to avoid paying tariffs. That pledge, coupled with Monday’s investment commitment, came as Trump continues to threaten to impose tariffs that could drive up the cost of iPhones made in China.
“We are bullish on the future of American innovation, and we’re proud to build on our long-standing U.S. investments with this $500 billion commitment to our country’s future,” Cook said in a company blog post.
Apple outlined several concrete moves in its announcement, the most significant of which is the construction of a new factory in Houston slated to open in 2026 — that will produce servers to power Apple Intelligence, its suite of AI features. The company claims this factory will create “thousands of jobs.”
New CEO aims to streamline operations
BY DEE-ANN DURBIN AP business writer
Starbucks plans to lay off 1,100 corporate employees globally as new Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol streamlines operations.
In a letter to employees released Monday, Niccol said the company will inform employees
who are being laid off by midday Tuesday Niccol said Starbucks is also eliminating several hundred open and unfilled positions.
“Our intent is to operate more efficiently, increase accountability reduce complexity and drive better integration,” Niccol wrote in the letter Starbucks has 16,000 corporate support employees worldwide, but that includes some employees who aren’t impacted, like roasting and warehouse staff.
Baristas in the company’s stores who make up most of the company’s 361,000 employees worldwide — are not included in the layoffs.
Niccol said in January that corporate layoffs would be announced by early March. He said the company needed to reduce complexity and ensure that all work is overseen by someone who can make decisions.
“Our size and structure can slow us down, with too many lay-
ers, managers of small teams and roles focused primarily on coordinating work,” Niccol wrote Starbucks’ layoffs come as other big companies make similar moves. Southwest Airlines said last week it was eliminating 1,750 jobs, or 15% of its corporate workforce, in the first major layoffs in the company’s 53-year history And last month, tire maker Bridgestone Americas closed a plant in LaVergne, Tennessee, and laid off 700 workers there
FDA works to reverse layoffs and rehire lost staff after mass firings
BY MATTHEW PERRONE AP health writer
WASHINGTON Barely a week after mass
firings at the Food and Drug Administration, some probationary staffers received unexpected news over the weekend: The government wants them back.
Beginning Friday night, FDA employees overseeing medical devices, food ingredients and other key areas received calls and emails notifying them that their recent terminations had been “rescinded effective immediately,” according to messages viewed by The Associated Press.
Four FDA staffers impacted by the decisions spoke with the AP on condition of anonymity because they planned to continue working for the agency and weren’t authorized to discuss its internal procedures.
The reversal is the latest example of President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk’s chaotic approach to cost-cutting, which has resulted in several agencies firing, and then scrambling to rehire, employees responsible for nuclear weapons, national parks and other government services.
The FDA reinstatements followed pushback by lobbyists for the medical device industry, which pays the agency hundreds of millions of dollars annually to hire extra scientists to review products. The industry’s leading trade group said Monday “a sizable number” of device reviewers appear to be returning to FDA.
“This would be welcome news, and I appreciate the administration for acting quickly,” AdvaMed CEO Scott Whitaker said in an emailed statement. “We all share the same goal — an efficient, effective FDA review process that helps advance the medical technologies American patients depend on.”
FDA staffers said entire teams of five or more medical device reviewers had been reinstated.
In the agency’s food program, at least 10 staffers responsible for reviewing the safety of new ingredients were offered their jobs back according to a food staffer who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss internal agency matters
The FDA’s deputy commissioner for
foods, Jim Jones, resigned last week, citing “the indiscriminate firing” of nearly 90 staffers in his division, according to a copy of his resignation letter obtained by the AP The food program recently underwent a major restructuring to better oversee essential products like infant formula and baby food.
The FDA hasn’t released official numbers on the terminations, but former FDA officials have pegged the number at roughly 700, with more than 220 coming from the medical device center. That would represent roughly 10% of the program’s total staffing.
The FDA did not respond to requests Monday about how many employees were being reinstated.
Like other agencies, the FDA terminations went to employees in their probationary period, typically the first two years of federal employment. But that approach resulted in firings across key areas where the agency has been working to beef up staffing, including rapidly
evolving fields like artificial intelligence and digital health. The cuts also included agency leaders who were recently hired for senior roles.
“The disarray caused by the wholesale termination of a wide swath of device center staff was counterproductive and appears to have caused a variety of unintended and negative results,” said Steve Silverman, a former FDA device official who now runs a consulting firm. “It’s encouraging to see a shift in the opposite direction that recognizes the critical expertise of these staffers.”
Many reviewers have advanced degrees in specialized medical and technological fields. They can typically earn more in the private sector than in government.
Last week, the lobbying group AdvaMed pushed back on the firings, calling on Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. to reverse course. The group warned that the cuts would result in slower approvals for companies and fewer new treatment options for patients.
Elizabeth Holmes fails to overturn her Theranos fraud conviction
BY OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced founder of Theranos, will remain in prison after losing a bid Monday to overturn her fraud conviction, with a federal appeals court saying she hadn’t proved there were legal missteps during her trial for defrauding investors with false claims of what her bloodtesting startup could achieve. The three-judge panel in San Francisco also upheld the fraud
conviction of Holmes’ former business partner and lover Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani — as well as a lower’s court order for the two to pay $452 million in restitution. Holmes was CEO throughout Theranos’ turbulent 15-year history claimed her startup had developed a revolutionary medical device that could detect a multitude of diseases and conditions from a few drops of blood. But the technology never
worked, and the claims were false.
A 41-year-old mother of two small children, Holmes began serving her 11-year sentence in May 2023 at a federal prison in Texas. Her listed release date at the Federal Bureau of Prisons is currently March 19, 2032.
Balwani, 59, was sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison in California for his role in the scam and is set to be released in 2033.
The pair alleged in their appeal that legal errors were committed during their separate trials in 2022 when the court allowed some testimony, including that of a former Theranos employee, and improperly prohibited other testimony Judge Jacqueline Nguyen rejected the claims, writing in the 54-page ruling that they failed to prove any violations or major errors by the lower court.
Attorneys for Holmes and Balwani did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
OPM had directed agencies that responses were optional
— Musk again threatened federal workers in a post on X, his social media platform. He wrote: “Subject to the discretion of the President, they will be given another chance. Failure to respond a second time will result in termination.” The conflicting directives led to a proliferation of varying advice for federal employees, depending on where they work. Some were told to answer the request for five things that they did last week, others were informed it was optional, and others were directed not to answer at all.
Attorneys representing unions, businesses, veterans and conservation organizations filed an updated lawsuit in federal court in California on Monday, arguing Musk had violated the law by threatening mass firings.
The lawsuit spearheaded by the State Democracy Defenders Fund, called it “one of the most massive employment frauds in the history of this country.”
Anna Kelly, a White House deputy press secretary, criticized the litigation by saying “in the time it took these employees on taxpayer-funded salaries to file a frivolous lawsuit, they could have briefly recapped their accomplishments to their managers, as is common in the private sector, 100 times
ST. GEORGE
Continued from page 1A
was dropping out of the race after The Advocate asked him about a 1997 guilty plea for soliciting a prostitute in Baton Rouge in November 1996.
Morgan did not acknowledge the prostitution arrest in last week’s statement about quitting the race, in-
over.” Musk is leading Trump’s efforts to overhaul and downsize the federal government They’ve urged employees to resign, directed agencies to lay off probationary workers and halted work at some agencies altogether
There has been pushback in protests around Washington and from within the government The Office of Special Counsel, a watchdog for the federal workforce, said Monday that the firing of several probationary workers may be illegal Trump is trying to fire the office’s leader, Hampton Dellinger, in a case that has reached the U.S Supreme Court Dellinger asked the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board to stop layoffs of six employees, but suggested that many more workers should also be protected from losing their jobs
There are also signs Musk is testing the limits of his influence. Some administration officials including some of Trump’s most strident allies, such as FBI Director Kash Patel have told employees not to respond to the email requesting five things they did, citing privacy or security concerns and noting that agencies have their own processes for evaluating employees.
“When and if further information is required, we will coordinate the responses. For now, please pause any responses,” Patel wrote in an email.
It has been the most significant public divergence between the billionaire en-
stead saying he “saw the writing on the wall” given how much money his opponent raised. As of last week, Yates, also a Republican, had received more than $200,000 in campaign donations, according to Rainey.
But on Monday, Morgan seemingly acknowledged in his statement that the revelations about his guilty plea played a major role “In the week since, we have discovered that we are much
trepreneur and Senate-approved Cabinet leaders who have otherwise been enthusiastic about fulfilling Musk’s objectives.
Trump dismissed the idea there was any kind of split involving his most powerful adviser
“They don’t mean that in any way combatively with Elon,” he said, adding that “everyone thought it was a pretty ingenious idea.”
The Office of Personnel Management, which functions as a human resources agency for the federal government, declined to comment Monday while Musk continued to threaten layoffs.
“Those who do not take this email seriously will soon be furthering their career elsewhere,” he posted on X.
more resilient and closer as a family than we ever realized,” he said.
Morgan reaffirmed his positions that contrast with his Yates’ own, like the proposed version of St George’s home rule charter — St. George’s draft of government — which has drawn some criticism for the way in which it will divvy power if voters approve it this spring.
Morgan said he’ll continue to campaign against the pro-
The latest turbulence began over the weekend, when Trump posted on his social media website, “ELON IS DOING A GREAT JOB, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM GET MORE AGGRESSIVE.”
Musk followed by saying “all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” and he claimed “failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.” The directive echoed how he has managed his own companies.
The OPM sent out its own request afterward.
“Please reply to this email with approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week and cc your manager,” the message said. However, it said nothing about the poten-
posed home rule charter for St. George that Yates and others are asking voters to approve. He argues the way that proposal divvies up power is flawed, giving the mayor and city manager paychecks that are too large for the limited roles they would play in running the city day to day
In general, the salaries for St. George leaders have been a subject of criticism from some residents.
tial for employees being fired for noncompliance.
There was swift resistance from several key U.S. agencies led by the president’s loyalists — including the State Department, Homeland Security and the Pentagon — which instructed their employees over the weekend not to respond. Lawmakers in both major political parties said Musk’s mandate may be illegal.
Justice Department employees were told in an email Monday morning that they don’t need to respond to the request “due to the confidential and sensitive nature of the Department’s work.”
But employees in the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington were instructed to respond “in general terms,” leaving out case-specific or
“I paid $450 for an opportunity to represent the taxpayers of St. George, La., when I realized the city had been sold,” he said, referencing the fee a candidate must pay to qualify for election.
Even if Morgan had kept to his decision to drop out, his name would have remained on the ballot because the deadline to remove it had passed, the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office said. After hearing last week
otherwise sensitive information. In an email viewed by The Associated Press, attorneys were provided with guidance about how to respond about the number of court hearings they attended, defendants they charged, cases they resolved or other tasks.
Education Department workers were directed to comply on Monday morning.
“The email is legitimate and employees should respond,” wrote Rachel Oglesby, chief of staff at the department She added that “frontline supervisors will evaluate responses and non-responses.” Thousands of government employees have been forced out of the federal workforce — either by being fired or through a “deferred resignation offer — during the first month of Trump’s second term. There’s no official figure available for the total firings or layoffs, but the AP has tallied hundreds of thousands of workers who are being affected. Many work outside Washington. It’s not clear how many Louisiana-based federal employee have been fired. But employees at several federal agencies who live or work in the state have said they lost their job in recent days.
that his opponent was dropping out, Yates released his own statement, saying he was shifting focus to supporting candidates in the upcoming council races who share “our vision and working diligently to pass our new city charter.”
But on Monday, Yates’ team shifted focus again.
“This position is critical for St. George to be successful and we will run a race reflective of that,” Rainey said.
Associated Press writers Steve Peoples in New York, Eric Tucker, Amanda Seitz, Byron Tau, Ellen Knickmeyer, Matthew Perrone, Alanna Durkin Richer and Tara Copp in Washington and Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas, contributed to this report.
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Believing in something bigger
When Carolin Purser invited me to attend the 30th Plain Talk About Literacy and Learning, an annual New Orleans gathering of literacy experts and educators, my reaction was, “This should be interesting.”
The three-day event, presented by the Louisiana-based Center for Literacy and Learning, took place at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside on Feb. 12-14 More than 3,000 people attended I was there for the first day and listened to several standing-room-only presentations alongside educators hanging on every word of the latest thinking on how to teach students to read more proficiently
The point of the gathering is near and dear to my heart My mom was an elementary reading teacher for 40 years, and I grew up listening to her talk about literacy research.
She created a home and countless classrooms that fostered a love of reading. Should you meet one of thousands of her former students, long grown, most will recall which book Mrs. Risher read to their class. Titles such as “Johnny Tremain,” “Old Yeller” and “Where the Red Fern Grows” were favorites.
My mom was famous for crying in the sad parts, a technique not mentioned in the Plain Talk sessions I attended.
On the day I was there, attendees had the chance to hear a keynote address and 42 breakout sessions. Presentations covered a broad range of topics. I attended several, including:
n “Design of Explicit Instruction: High Leverage Practices that Promote Learning” with Anita Archer, whom Purser described to me as “worldrenowned.” I shared some of her techniques with my daughter, a 23-year-old first-year teacher
n “Pressing the Reset Button on Spelling” with Lyn Stone, from whom I learned tidbits on new ways to think about spelling
n “Robust Vocabulary Instruction: Learning Words Inside and Out” with Nancy Frey I appreciated her different techniques for vocabulary acquisition that I had never considered.
Attendees rushed into hotel ballrooms to grab a seat for these presentations like they were going to a Taylor Swift concert Stone’s spelling presentation included points like:
n “Fluent reading and writing is one of the chief goals of primary education. Phonics can only cover so much.”
n “Good spellers use mnemonics of all kinds to build schemas about the writing system. Teaching practice needs to include these.”
As a relatively good speller, I couldn’t agree more.
However, I was not a great speller growing up mnemonics have helped save me time and again through the years A college professor named Dr MaryAnn Dazey at Mississippi State helped me realize mnemonics’ value. Dazey would say things like:
n “There is a ‘rat’ in ‘separate.’”
n “A ‘cess’ pool is ‘necessary.’”
I’ve picked up others on my own:
n “Cemetery” is spelled with three e’s. A lady may scream “e-ee” as she walks past the cemetery
n “Complement” adds something to make it enough. “Compliment” puts you in the limelight.
n I associate the word parallel with the number 121. There is one R, two Ls and then one more L Person after person I met at the convention sang the praises of Louisiana educators using
ä See RISHER, page 2B
Southern names law school chief
Washington promises to improve bar passage rate
BY MATTHEW ALBRIGHT Staff writer
Alvin R. Washington, the interim leader of the Southern University Law Center, has been selected as the center’s next chancellor — and he said his “primary focus” will be improving the rate at which students pass the bar exam.
“This goal is crucial for our institution’s success, as it directly impacts the future careers of our students and further advances
our mission of providing legal educational opportunities to the underserved and producing lawyer leaders,” he said.
Students who graduated in 2023 had a first-time passage rate of 53%, according to reports the law school filed with the American Bar Association. That number was a decline from the 58% passage rate for 2022 graduates and the 63% passage rate for 2021 graduates.
For students who graduated in 2021, the two-year passage rate was 72%, also a decline from years prior, the report shows.
Washington’s term will begin once a contract is approved by the Board of Supervisors, the release said.
“I believe the law center will be in a great place with Mr Washington,” said Tony Clayton, the board’s chair and the district attorney for the 18th Judicial District, which covers parishes to the west of Baton Rouge “I think he knows how to intertwine the administrative part of running a law school with the best interest of the students.”
Washington manages the law school’s mediation clinic and teaches courses on legal research, statutory analysis, alternate dispute resolution and legal negotiations. The news release says his career as an attorney has been focused on insurance and civil rights. He has a bachelor’s degree from
Grambling State University and a law degree from Southern. He was an attorney in the U.S Navy a special assistant to the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California and an assistant attorney general in Louisiana, where he handled general liability, road hazard and civil rights cases. He was section chief of the Louisiana Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division for four years. Southern University System President Dennis J. Shields recommended Washington’s appointment on the advice of a committee that hired a national search firm. John K. Pierre, the previous law school leader, was named last year as chancellor of the main Baton Rouge campus.
NEW NATURE CENTER
Long-delayed park system project located in wild corner of recreation spot
BY DAVID J MITCHELL Staff writer
Four years after construction started, a new BREC nature center is poised to open this spring in the heart of a popular hiking and outdoor recreation spot in East Baton Rouge Parish. The roughly 500-acre Frenchtown Road Conservation Area in Central lies at the confluence of the Amite and Comite rivers. The park — which boasts a stretch of giant bamboo forest — is a mix of mostly untouched swamp, bot-
BY MATT BRUCE Staff writer
tomland forests and upland woods, supporting varied wildlife on the fringes of suburbia
Once the $2 million nature center fully opens in late April, the elevated 4,200-square-foot building will be a hub for people using the park’s trails and learning about its ecology, which regularly draws university and community research projects BREC officials said Monday
But the building’s long path from construction to opening has also led critics to argue the delay is emblematic of long-standing management issues inside the parishwide parks agency, which despite those questions recently won strong voter support for a tax renewal.
BREC Superintendent Corey Wilson
said the building, which has a meeting space and educational room, will offer summer camps, school trips and other programing in a still-wild corner of the parish. The building, which also has on-site bathrooms for the park, will be available for rental.
“It will be just like any other recreation center where you can rent it out for meetings or birthdays,” he said in an interview Monday, adding that BREC’s planned summer camp there will be a major draw
The center will have a “soft opening” late next week before a formal ribboncutting April 25. Registration for summer camp, as well as a spring break camp in April, opens March 8.
STAFF
PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON
A train trestle bridge serves as the entrance to the Frenchtown
Reilly Center names new director
BY ELLYN COUVILLION Staff writer
LSU’s Reilly Center for Media and Public Affairs, which conducts research on mass communication and its relationship with economic, political and social issues, hired a new director Michael DiResto started Monday running the Reilly Center taking the role formerly held by Jenee Slocum, LSU said in a statement. For DiResto, this marks a return to LSU, where he taught English to freshmen through a graduate assistantship, after moving to
Baton Rouge in 1996. It’s a thrill to be back at LSU and an honor to be leading the Reilly Center going forward,” he said DiResto had been executive vice president of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber Earlier, he worked as assistant commissioner for policy and communication in the state Division of Administration
The Reilly Center works closely with the LSU Manship School of Mass Communication, offering opportunities for the school’s students in research, database management, public affairs and public policy
Each year, the Reilly Center publishes the findings of its Louisiana Survey, which documents Louisianans’ perceptions about
problems facing the state and residents’ viewpoints on public revenue sources and spending priorities. The survey is a resource for state and local public officials.
Kim Bissell, dean of the Manship School, said in the statement that DiResto’s “experience and vision will create new opportunities for research, collaboration and meaningful public dialogue that will elevate the Manship School and LSU.”
He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from the University of Dallas. He has pursued doctoral studies in English at LSU.
Email Ellyn Couvillion at ecouvillion@theadvocate. com.
NATURE
Continued from page 1B
During a news conference Monday, Wilson described how BREC gradually developed the Frenchtown park after buying former hunting property in 2009. The nature center is the latest step, with more trails and other improvements planned, BREC officials said. Wilson pointed out that the building was an outgrowth of the second iteration of BREC’s Imagine Your Parks capital and operational program. In 2016, BREC bought a flood-damaged home on the property and purchased private land that the park surrounds on three sides. The home was used by BREC until being inundated by the historic August flood later that year Construction on a replacement building began in 2020, Wilson said, but work was soon delayed by pandemic price increases and worker shortages. The metal building also had to be elevated 12 feet, which necessitated an elevator to give people with disabilities access to it. After construction ended in late 2022, BREC officials then had to drill a new, deeper well to provide water to the isolated site because the existing one was insufficient for a public building. The new well also feeds a pond for firefighters to tap, since their trucks can’t pass through a low, narrow railroad underpass on Frenchtown Road, the sole route into the park BREC’s management became an election issue last fall as the agency sought a tax renewal. Opponents questioned the public agency’s track record, including the delay in opening the new building after it was constructed.
Wade Evans, mayor of Central, was among those raising questions at the time.
In an interview Monday, Evans said he is happy about what the nature center can mean for his community But he added that the length of time it’s taken is a “great example” of BREC’s management problems. Evans, who was at the Monday news conference but did not publicly speak,
afterward questioned the various reasons given by BREC officials. “The reality is all that’s hyperbole, with the excuses and how much time stuff takes, that’s all hogwash,” Evans said when asked about the delays.
Evans also detailed what he saw as slow repairs at other BREC parks in Central. He said he has asked BREC to allow Central to take half of the agency’s tax revenue paid by the city’s residents and businesses.
Central would use it to manage BREC parks in the city, Evans said The parks would remain under the agency, however, he noted. He pointed out that the city is spending $500,000 on road and drainage improvements in conjunctio with a new, bigger under pass that the railroad will build to allow school buses and other large vehicles to access the park
RISHER
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data-backed research to raise literacy rates significantly In January, on an assessment known as the “nation’s report card,” data was released that show Louisiana’s fourth graders leading the nation in reading growth. Louisiana’s fourth graders jumped 26 spots in the national rankings, landing at 16th place. Being up close and personal with educators refreshed my memory of their commitment to students — and the many teachers who poured into me. I also considered that so many people come to New Orleans to take deep
CONTEMPT
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had put him on notice that she’d send him to jail if he had any more issues. She made good on that promise Monday
“I feel like you’re full of excuses,” the judge told him. “I know that you’re set for trial in May and I don’t know what the allegations are as far as you’re concerned. But I know what the allegations are on the indictment, and you’ve got big boy problems.”
Curry was one of five men indicted on a charge of murder and feticide in the fatal shooting Marques Kevon Porch and Gregory Parker Jr., both 21, pleaded guilty to reduced charges Oct. 31 and prosecutors dismissed the feticide indictment. Court records show Hines Myers deferred sentencing Porch and gave him two years of probation. She sentenced Parker to six months in jail.
Curry, Torey Latrell Campbell, 20, and Desmond Robinson, 21, are all set to stand trial together May 12. The East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney’s
dives into so many other topics Plain Talk is just one of thousands of meetings each year in Louisiana. According to Brandee Barrett, marketing manager with neworleans.com, last year, the New Orleans convention team booked more than 1,000 meetings for 2025 — not including meetings booked directly with hotels. In 2024, they booked more than 1.4 million room nights for 2025 and into future years as far out as 2040. The economic impact of the meetings industry exceeds $2 billion of direct spending within metropolitan New Orleans annually I looked at the list of upcoming conferences/ trade shows. There’s one
Office has not made plea offers to the three remaining defendants, prosecutors said Monday
Video footage from the scene showed a dark-colored Honda parked across the street from the party shortly before the April 2023 shooting. Occupants were standing around the Honda socializing with another group of people parked next to them. The men crouched down as Johnson’s vehicle drove up the street toward them. They could be seen raising firearms, pointing and firing at her car The woman tried to drive away, but she and her full-term fetus were both struck and killed, police said.
According to Curry’s bail order, he was only allowed to leave home for work, church, school, doctor visits and to meet with his attorney In court Monday, Curry insisted he was home Feb. 17 with his ankle monitor charged. He told the judge he only ventures out to cut lawns in his neighborhood, as part of a fledgling lawn service company for which he’s working.
“Because I can’t get a job with this on my back-
called World of Wood. Others include Premium Cigar Association, Satchmo Summerfest, World Languages Expo and so many more. Plain Talk reminded me of the quiet, persistent work those who believe in something bigger than themselves do daily Driving home, I thought about how small each of us is in the grand scheme, but also how mighty Every convention, every conversation, every shared idea, plays a role in something larger And isn’t that, at its heart, what literacy is all about? The power to share, to connect, to understand and to keep learning.
Email Jan Risher at jan. risher@theadvocate.com.
ground. And I’m innocent,” he said. “I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I shouldn’t be going through nothing I’m going through right now, Judge Hines.” Curry blamed the failed battery on glitches with the monitoring company and told the judge his GPS equipment has failed in the past.
“I love my freedom. Even being on strict house arrest, I love my freedom,” Curry stressed. “I wouldn’t do anything to try to put myself back in jail at all.” When Hines Myers inquired about Curry’s progress earning his GED, as he told her months ago he’d pursue, he couldn’t convince her he was doing enough to earn his diploma
“You may be wrong place, wrong time,” the judge said. “But I’ve given you multiple opportunities being able to stay out and set yourself up for success if you were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Because you needed these things. But you haven’t done crap to get them.”
Email Matt Bruce at matt.bruce@theadvocate. com.
open a new first-class facility that will let BREC keep serving everyone in East Baton Rouge Parish at a high level.
David J. Mitchell can be reached at dmitchell@ theadvocate.com.
LOTTERY
SUNDAY, FEB 23, 2025
PICK 3: 1-8-2
PICK 4: 4-4-9-3
PICK 5: 2-8-2-4-9
Unofficial notification, keep your tickets.
Asked for comment about the mayor’s claim, Wilson replied that he is excited to
STAFF PHOTOS By MICHAEL JOHNSON Frenchtown Road Conservation Area’s new nature center is opening soon in Central.
Knuckles the rat snake, an educational ambassador, rests in his habitat at the nature station on Monday.
DiResto
Williams, Roy Williams & Southall Funeral Home Thibodaux LAat 11am
Young, Stanley Mt Zion Inner City 24400 Eleanor Drive, Plaquemine, LAat 11am.
Obituaries
Henry Joseph AlbersII, age 51, of Baton Rouge,LA passed awayonFebruary 18, 2025. He was born on May 21, 1973, in Decatur, GA to Merle and Robert Albers.
Henry is survived by his beloved parents, Merle and Robert Albers, and his sister Margie Neal (John). He is also survived by two nephews, PhillipNeal and Joe Neal. He was preceded in death by asister, Teresa Albers.
He graduated from John Carroll High School and the University of New Orleans. He worked for some years for an EMS company, and then as acustomer representative for Cox Communications. He is remembered by friends and family for his wry sense of humor and his love of cigars.
The family would like to thank all his family, friends and colleagues who supported him and loved him so well in sickness and health, especiallythe Prayer Warriors of Our Ladyofthe Lake and the Poor Clare sisters of Alexandria, VA.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend funeral services at Our Ladyof the Lake CatholicChurch, 312 Lafitte St., Mandeville LA, 70448, on Thursday, February 27,2025. Visitation will be held at the church from11:00 am12:00 pm, with Mass beginning at 12:00 pm.
Interment will follow the services in Pinecrest Memorial Gardens Cemetery, 2280 W. 21st Avenue, Covington LA 70433 under the direction and care of Grace Funeral Home.
Memorial contributions in memory of Henry may bemade to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, 312 Lafitte St., Mandeville, LA 70448
Dr. Mary Jane Collins died peacefullyather home in Nashville, TN,on February 22, 2025, with family by her side. She was born October 17, 1940, in Miami, FL, as the second of two daughters to William Spence Collins and Gracie Lee (Starling) Collins. Due to her father's military service, Jane grew up all over the United States and lived with her family in Vienna and Salzburg, Austria, following WWII. The family eventually settled in Atlanta, GA, where Jane graduated from Brown High School. She earned degrees from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, where she received aBAin Mathematics and an MS in Audiology and Speech Pathology. She received her PhD in Hearing Science from the University of Iowa in Iowa City. Jane worked as aresearch audiologist for Veterans Administration hospitals in Coral Gables, FL, and Bristol, TN, but she spent most of her career in academia. She was aresearcher and professor at
Jane workedasa research audiologist for Veterans Administration hospitals in Coral Gables, FL and Bristol, TN, but she spent most of hercareerin academia. She was aresearcher and professor at the University of Iowa, Vanderbilt University,the University of Wisconsin in Madison, the City University of New York, Tennessee State University, Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge,and the LSU Medical Center in New Orleans. She endedher careerasa professor and Dean of what was then the College of Arts and Sciencesat LSU. Jane was named aFellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and won the Beltone Distinguished Teaching AwardinAudiology in 1987 whileshe was the Director of Audiology at LSU. She remained a passionate advocate for the importance of education and adevoted LSU Tigersfan.
Jane was abreeder and rescuerofBoston Terriers and Cardigan WelshCorgis for many years. She was an accomplished seamstress, pianist, and organist. Jane was known for her love of dogs, travel, reading, music, cooking, her interest in politics, her many friends around the country, and as athoughtful gift -giver. Wewillmiss her sage advice,her family stories, her just because" gifts, her listening ear anytime we neededtotalk, her texts about LSU football, and the fun she always brought to our lives.She was one in amillion and leaves abig holeinour hearts.
Jane was predeceased by her parents and her sister, Ann Collins Clyatt. She is survived by her nieces, Susan Clyatt Lybeck (Kevin) of Avon, CT; Sheila Clyatt Schaub (Rich) of Missoula, MT; her nephew, Gene Clyatt, Jr.(Janet) of Superior, MT; as wellasby sevengrandnephews, Kyle Kuburich (Alyssa), Erik Lybeck (Laura), JasonLybeck, Aaron Kuburich(Lauren), Trent Kuntz (Lizz), Matt Lybeck, and Brian Lybeck; one grandniece, Amanda Clyatt Callen (Chase); and sixgreatgrandnephews andnieces, David Lybeck, Julia Lybeck, Amy Lybeck,Iris Callen, KasenKuburich, and Brooks Kuburich.
The family extends gratitude to the staffofHarmony at Bellevue and Gentiva Hospice for making Jane's final days comfortable. Jane will be laidtorest alongside her parents and sister in Missoula, MT. The details of agraveside service will be announcedata later date.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the M. Jane CollinsUndergraduate Award at LSU. Checks may be made payable to LSU Foundation and mailedto3796 Nicholson Dr, Baton Rouge,LA 70802. Please write "M. Jane Collins Undergraduate Award" in the memo line or on anote accompanying the check. Donations can also be made onlineat https://bbis32491p.sky.bla ckbaud.com/give-now. From the landing page, click into the box for Fund Name, then check the box to Specify afund, and write-in "M. Jane Collins Undergraduate Award."
Deshautel, Carl Lester
Carl Lester Deshautel passed away on Saturday, February 22, 2025, at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center at the age of 70. He was a native of Alexandria and resident of Port Allen. He was a retired outside salesman in the home improvement indus‐try. A visitation will be on Thursday, February 27th, at Wilbert Funeral Home in Port Allen from 4 to 8 p.m. Carl is survived by his wife of 49.5 years, Darleen Harkins Deshautel; their three daughters Kate Pitre and husband TJ, Sarah De‐shautel (Robert Taylor), and Rylea Deshautel; grandchildren, Tucker and Parker Pitre Blaze Deshau‐tel (Emma James), Kaylyn Taylor; great-grandchild, Thomas Deshautel; sister, Dianne Deshautel; numer‐ous nieces and nephews Carl was preceded in death by his parents Walter and Elizabeth Peart Deshautel and a brother, Gerald James Deshautel Carl was an avid duck hunter and fisherman. He was a for‐mer Louisiana State 4H Club President in high school He was past presi‐dent of Most Blessed Sacrament Men’s Club serving 1993 through 1994. Memorial donations may be made to St Jude Chil‐
fisherman. He was a for‐mer Louisiana State 4H Club President in high school He was past presi‐dent of Most Blessed Sacrament Men’s Club serving 1993 through 1994. Memorial donations may be made to St Jude Chil‐dren’s Research Hospital in the name of Nolan New‐man and in memory of Jill Peno. Please share mem‐oires at www wilbertserv ices com.
Joseph, Babbette
Babbette Joseph, a life‐long native and resident of Donaldsonville La, de‐parted this life on Tuesday February 18, 2025 at the age of 91. Babbette Joseph was a high school music teacher and had a love for music. Visiting 4-6pm on Monday, February 24, 2025 at Demby & Son Funeral Home, 900 Magnolia Street, Donaldsonville Visitation continues 9am, Tuesday, February 25, 2025 until the Recitation of Rosary at 11am. Entombment in As‐cension of Our Lord Mau‐soleum Please visit www dembyandson.com to sign the guestbook
Justine Lemoine Lay, passed away peacefully on Sunday, February 23, 2025, at the age of 81. She enjoyed watching LSU girls' basketball, sewing, cooking, and spending time with her family and friends. She is survived by her daughters, Erika Quinlan (Ryan) and Angela Mayeaux (Marvin); grandchildren, Bailey LeVasseur (David), Colin Quinlan, Molly Quinlan, MadisonQuinlan, Eleanor Quinlan, Paige Mayeaux, Dylan Mayeaux, and Dustin Mayeaux; and great-grandchildren, Cayden Lee and Camille LeVasseur. She is preceded in death by her loving husband of 52 years, Larkin Dolph Lay; and parents, Lee and Eleanore Lemoine. Avisitation will be held at Greenoaks Funeral Home on Thursday, February 27, 2025, from 9amuntil funeral services at 11 am. Burial will follow in Greenoaks Memorial Park. Please visit www.greenoaksfunerals.c om to leave condolences to the family. In lieuof flowers, donations can be made in her name to Breakthrough T1D (www2. breakthrough1d.org).
Virginia Gayle
Virginia Gayle Cutrer LeBlanc, age 80, passed away at home on 02/02/25. She was born Feb.28, 1944, in Shreveport LA, but was alivelong resident of Baton Rouge, LA. She is survived by her husband, Charles Maxwell, sister Vicki Cutrer Robertson, brother James P.(Sonny) Cutrer &wife Vicky Cutrer, niece ChristyCutrer, nephews, Jim Bob(wife Julie) Cutrer &Scott Neal(wife Theresa KennedyNeal), Andy Davis, Paul Davis(wife Terri), great nieces Darcey Cutrer Courville, Tori Cutrer, great nephews Joshua Neal(wife Devin K. Neal, great great nephews Hunter Courville, Kameron Orgeron, Dax Neal, great great niece Hailey Courville, Aunt Theresa Cutrer, and special cousins, Tootie Hazel Hart &Norma Bond Harrington. She is preceded in death by first husband,Lynn E. Leblanc, parentsJames P. Cutrer Sr. &Letty McDougald Cutrer, maternal grandparentsD.A. McDougald &Hattie Bossier McDougald,fraternal grandparentsSam D. Cutrer &Beatrice WilsonCutrer, cousin Sammie Cutrer, great great nephew Jonathan Neal, aunt Hazel and uncle Ben Hamilton, aunt Inez Von Aspern, aunt Idell Forbes, uncle Roger and aunt Grace McDougald,sisters in law Nell Boswell, Peggy Davis & Shirley Franklin. Gayle graduated from Baton Rouge High, attended both USL and LSU.She worked for the LA DOTD and retired with 30 years ofservice. Visitationwill be held at the Rabenhorst East funeral home on 02/ 26/25 for 4pmto8 pm and 02/27/25 from 9amto11 am witha 130 pm burial to follow at theWilsonfamily cemetery if Gillsburg, MS. Gayle requested in lieu of flowers, that donations be made to the JeffersonBaptist Church Young at heart program.
was preceded in death by his Wife of almost 40 years, Mona Manuel; his Mother, Marie Irene Manuel; and Mother in Law, Iola Pourciau Jarreau. Avisitation will be held at Niland's Funeral Home in New Roads, LA on Friday February 28, 2025 from 10:00am to 11:45am. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Mary's Catholic Church in New Roads at 12:00pm, followed by entombment in False River Memorial Park Mausoleum. Repass to follow at St. Mary's Catholic Church hall.
Patterson Jr., Alvin
Alvin Patterson, Jr. de‐parted this life on Sunday, February 16, 2025, at his residence in Paincourtville, LA He was 74, a native of Paincourtville, LA. Visita‐tion on Friday, February 28, 2025, at Williams & Southall Funeral Home from 2:00pm to 4:00pm. Visitation on Saturday, March 1, 2025, at Greater Israel Baptist Church from 9:00am to religious ser‐vices 11:00am Interment in the church cemetery Sur‐vived by his wife, Norma Jean Myles Patterson; 1 son, Neville Patterson (Gina); 2 brothers, Stanley Eugene Patterson and Kevin Gregory Patterson; 2 sisters, Patricia Ann Jacobs and LaNore Patterson; 1 aunt, Neomie Plank; 2 un‐cles, Harold Patterson (Shirley) and Robert Pat‐terson (Joyce); 6 grandchil‐dren; 1 great-granddaugh‐ter; a host of other rela‐tives and friends. Preceded in death by his parents, Mary Evelyn and Alvin Pat‐terson, Sr.; his mother and father in law, Dorothy and Edwin Myles. Arrange‐ments by Williams & Southall Funeral Home 5414 Hwy 1; Napoleonville, LA 70390. (985)369-7231. To sign the guest book or offer condolences, visit our website at www william sandsouthallfuneralhome. com
He also served as the 1990 Louisiana Strawberry Festi‐val Grand Marshal Reggie has been a devoted parish‐ioner at St. Joseph Catholic Church since 1952. He loved to share his faith with everyone he met. Many were blessed to re‐ceive one of his hand made rosary prayer bracelets from the Job's tears plants he grew himself Reggie never failed to witness and pray with people and his faith is his enduring legacy Reggie is survived by his seven children, Paul Pevey (Angela), Janet Col‐lier, John Pevey (Terri), Diane Pepitone (Terry), Susan McHugh (Tim), David Pevey, and Dennis Pevey (Jerri); 25 grandchil‐dren, 53 great grandchil‐dren 1 great great grand‐child, and numerous nieces and nephews. In addition to his parents, Reggie was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 59 years, Oresta Frances Drude Pevey; great granddaugh‐ter, Lillian Foret; brother, Robert Pevey; sister Jean‐nette Farnie; son-in-law, Terrill Collier; and daugh‐ter-in-law, Jeanette Pevey Family and friends will be received at St. Joseph Catholic Church 255 North 8th Street, Ponchatoula, Louisiana 70454 on Wednesday February 26, 2025 from 5:00 pm until 9:00 pm Visitation will continue at St. Joseph Catholic Church on Thursday, Feb‐ruary 27, 2025 from 9:00 am until 11:00 am. A Funeral Mass will be held at St Joseph Catholic Church at 11:00 am, with Fr Paul Mc‐Duffie officiating Entomb‐ment will follow at Rosaryville Cemetery in Ponchatoula, Louisiana In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Reggie Pevey's name to the Richard Murphy Hospice House at www richard murphyhospice com. Arrangements have been entrusted to Harry McK‐neely & Son Funeral Home and Crematory of Ham‐mond and Ponchatoula An on-line guest book is avail‐able at www harrymcknee ly com.
Young, Stanley Stanley Young a native of Bayou Goula, LA passed away Sunday, February16, 2025 at the age of 63. Visi‐tation on Tuesday, Febru‐ary 25, 2025 from 8:30
James Clayton Manuel, of Erwinville, LA passed away on Friday February 21, 2025 surrounded by his loving family. Born on February 1, 1961, James was adevoted husband, father, grandfather, and friend who worked tirelessly to provide forhis family. For 35 years, he tookpride in his lifelong work as aWelder and Work Coordinator at Dow Chemical, embodying the strength, dedication, and resilience of atrue bluecollar worker. Outsideof work, James found his greatest joy in the outdoors. He was an avid hunter and fisherman. He also had apassion for cooking, bringing people together over ahomecooked meal. James developeda passion forpool at an earlyage. Whether it was afriendly match with loved ones or acompetitive game at his favorite pool hall, he played with skill and patience. His love for thegame was more than just about winning; it was about the camaraderie, thelaughter, and the memories made around the table. James is survived by his father, James B. Manuel; his siblings, Sylvia Theriot (Kevin), Phillip Manuel (Dawn). He is also survived by his Children; Megan Maggiore and Husband Vincent, Jared Manuel, and girlfriend Kelsey Johnson; Grandchildren; Samantha Manuel and Amelia Maggiore; Step Grandchildren Karlee Magee, Joshua Peffers, Jr., Sawyer and Tucker Dupuy. James is also survived and was surrounded by many loving nephews, aniece and several godchildren. James was preceded in deathby his Wife of almost 40 years, Mona Manuel; his Mother, Marie Irene Manuel; and Mother in Law, Iola Pourciau Jarreau. Avisitation will be held at Niland's Funeral Home in New Roads, LA on Friday February 28, 2025 from 10:00am to 11:45am. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St.Mary's Catholic Church in New Roadsat12:00pm, followed by entombment in False River Memorial Park Mausoleum. Repass to follow at St. Mary's Catholic Church hall.
you
Virginia Gayle Cutrer LeBlanc, age 80, passed away at home on 02/02/25. She was born Feb.28, 1944, in Shreveport LA, but was alivelong resident of Baton Rouge, LA. She is survived by her husband Charles Maxwell, sister Vicki Cutrer Robertson, brother James P.(Sonny) Cutrer &wife Vicky Cutrer, niece ChristyCutrer, nephews, Jim Bob(wife Julie) Cutrer &Scott Neal(wife Theresa KennedyNeal), Andy Davis, Paul Davis(wife Terri), great nieces Darcey Cutrer Courville, Tori Cutrer, great nephews Joshua Neal(wife Devin K. Neal, great great nephews Hunter Courville, Kameron Orgeron, Dax Neal, great great niece Hailey Courville, Aunt Theresa Cutrer, and special cousins, Tootie Hazel Hart &Norma Bond Harrington. She is preceded in death by first husband,Lynn E. Leblanc, parentsJames P. Cutrer Sr. &Letty Mc-
Reggie Lee Pevey, of Ponchatoula, Louisiana, passed away peacefully surrounded by his family at Richard Murphy Hospice House on Sunday, February 23, 2025, at the age of 97. He was born on December 26, 1927, in Brookhaven, Mississippi the son of the late Reginald Lee Pevey and Jena Marie Panzica Pevey. Reggie graduated from St. Anthony Catholic School in Beaumont, Texas where he was captain of the football team during his senior year He joined the military in 1945 and proudly served the U.S Navy during WWII aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Kearsage Reggie attended Louisiana State University studying education and worked in the athletic training room until he graduated in 1951. God's plan would place him in Ponchatoula where he got his first job in education at Ponchatoula High School in 1952 as the football coach. Reggie attended daily Mass at St. Joseph Catholic Church and would meet the love of his life there Reggie taught at Poncha‐toula High School Mau‐repas High School, and was teacher and assistant principal at Martha Vine‐yard Elementary School Reggie and his wife estab‐lished Pevey Realtors and Appraisers in Ponchatoula in 1972, which his son, David still operates He was a pillar of the commu‐nity in so many ways in‐cluding being the former president of the Kiwanis Club in Ponchatoula, a charter member of the Knights of Columbus No. 4874, member of the Pon‐chatoula Chamber of Com‐merce, and he lead the youth sports sponsored by the Kiwanis Club He also served as the 1990 Louisiana Strawberry Festi‐val Grand Marshal Reggie has been a devoted parish‐ioner at St. Joseph Catholic Church since 1952. He loved to share his faith with everyone he met. Many were blessed to re‐ceive one of his hand made
Albers II, Henry Joseph
Pevey, Reggie Lee
Manuel, James Clayton
Lay, JustineLemoine
Collins, Mary Jane
Leblanc,
Parade routes are not only public property, they’re communal spaces where the magic of the Carnival season happens — not just the joy of catching coveted throws, but also the delightful lagniappe of sharing the fun with friends and strangers alike.
Increasingly in recent years, however, selfish revelers have tried to make these spaces their own, furnishing decked-out encampments with tarps, elaborate tents and even living room furniture, a trend that too often changes the vibe from “we” to “me.”
We applauded new rules passed by the New Orleans City Council last year to crack down on the so-called “Krewe of Chad,” a nickname inspired by a particularly obnoxious spraypainted claim of neutral ground territory some years ago.
And we also understand that this year, things are different.
Following the Jan. 1 terror attack on Bourbon Street and the elevation of Carnival to SEAR 1 status, a heightened special event security designation that requires extensive federal support and coordination, the council acknowledged this season’s altered reality by giving the New Orleans Police Department discretion over whether and how to enforce the new law
We know that law enforcement agencies across the state are working hard to make sure that everyone has a safe and happy Carnival. They prepare for months, trying to anticipate potential problems.
But we also know that in many areas, they’re strapped as well as they try to keep an eye out for unforeseen threats.
So here’s a thought for those heading out to parade routes in New Orleans and all over the state during the peak week of celebrations: What if everyone decided to follow the rules anyway, not because they could get cited but because it’s the neighborly thing to do?
There’s even a cheat sheet for what that would entail, which New Orleans officials are posting in prominent spots all along the parade route. They explain that portable toilets not provided by the city are banned. So are “enclosures of any kind” such as tents, canopies, shelters, screens, awnings, ropes, spray paint open flames, generators, upholstered furniture, scaffolding and platforms. The signs also spell out rules for ladders, which must be no taller than 6 feet, free-standing rather than fastened together and positioned at least 6 feet back from the curb.
These signs are meant to clear up any confusion over what’s allowed if a dispute arises among parade-goers, or if law enforcement officials see fit to use their discretion to enforce the rules.
They also offer a list of common-sense guidelines for peaceful coexistence rules for parade route etiquette, if you will — which we wholly endorse.
If Emily Post had ever experienced the wonders of Carnival in Louisiana, we think she would endorse them too.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE ARE OUR GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’s city of residence The Advocate | The Times-Picayune require a street address and phone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor,The Advocate, P.O Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@ theadvocate.com. TO SEND US A LETTER, SCAN HERE
Fight to charge N.Y. doctor for abortion misses point
This letter is in response to the article on the indictment of a New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills and the arrest of the mother for administering them to her pregnant teenage daughter I agree that the law must be followed. However, I take issue with the absence of charges and an indictment against the male sperm donor Who impregnated a teenage girl? We all know that women and girls cannot biologically self-impregnate.
This is the glaring hole in today’s abortion laws: The sperm donors are never prosecuted for the abortion of the children they conceive.
Rapists and pedophiles are getting away with soul murder They are getting away with conceiving children and then abandoning them. They are not held responsible for their conceived children being aborted. Our politicians’ pat response is, “We castrate them.”
I have no problem with castration. Ask any rancher, and they will tell you what to do with a stallion, bull or ram that is wreaking havoc and causing harm — you castrate them.
Our politicians’ declaration, “We castrate them,” is a bluff. They are hucksters selling tickets to a carnival show — it’s all smoke and mirrors.
The castration law in Louisiana and other red states requires rapists and sexual deviants to volunteer for castration it is not and never has been a mandatory sentence.
I would suggest handing the scalpel to a woman who has been raped or to a father whose child has been sodomized that would get results.
It is women, children and medical professionals who are targeted with criminal charges and prison sentences. Abortion laws, as they are today, excuse, deny and ignore the part sperm donors (men) play in this tragedy FOLWELL DUNBAR New Orleans
Libraries have wealth of funding while police underpaid
Mayor Sid Edwards is correct in looking at the funding that is going to the library as a way of securing necessary raises for our police.
I have lived in Baton Rouge for over 14 years, have been an avid user or the library but have always thought that it was overfunded. It is great to have so many libraries, but is it really necessary?
I live within two blocks of Trader Joe’s and have five libraries that I can get to in under 15 minutes, and they
Amen to Arthur Lecompte for his letter regarding Saints general manager Mickey Loomis being responsible for the team’s failures. I totally agree and have been thinking and saying the very same thoughts that he so perfectly expressed.
are in the process of building another one at Rouzan which is six minutes away At 4 p.m. on a recent Monday, according to Google Maps, I can get to the Carver Library in six minutes, the Main Library in 13 minutes, the Bluebonnet Library in 17 minutes, the Downtown Library in seven minutes, the State Library in eight minutes and the Eden Park Library in 13 minutes.
JEFF SMITH Baton Rouge
What is lost among the overarching vaccination debate is a subtle question about what lives we value relative to others.
I hope it isn’t controversial to view vaccines as a form of preventative medicine. Much like exercise and a healthy diet act as barriers to disease, vaccines are proactive measures to fortify our body While the typical conversation surrounds the right of autonomy, the importance of community and trust (or skepticism) toward medicine, an underlying question often goes ignored: Even if vaccines had some relationship to autism, so what? Is the perceived risk of autism comparatively worse than permanent paralysis? Should I not go to the gym because of the possibility I drop a weight on my foot? That an event occurs and gives me PTSD?
Using immutable human traits to instill fear has been an unfortunately common tool in American human history, and it should always be met with scrutiny This includes the antivaccination’s conclusion that autism is more of a risk to society than the flu, hepatitis B, mumps, measles, Rubella, cervical cancer tetanus, cholera, typhoid, yellow fever, COVID-19 and the list goes on.
JACOB BLAIS Metairie
Interstate design makes no sense
I’ve also noticed that former Saints who go on to other teams are now getting to prove their value as essential, productive team members. They’re doing so much better since they left the Saints. It takes more than just good coaching. We need the good players, too. I really hope that, eventually, wisdom will prevail and the Saints will at least be competitive.
KATHY VERRET Hammond
I do not understand why the original design of Interstate 110 South allowed unfettered access to Interstate 10 East with two lanes, while I-10 East had to merge into one lane at the I-110 intersection. Perhaps the location of the State Capitol may have had some influence. One way to help alleviate the congestion after crossing the Mississippi River Bridge on I-10 East would be to have I-110 South go to one lane while entering I-10 East. I-110 South would deal with the congestion and not a major west-to-east interstate. ROBERT AZZARELLO Baton Rouge
Central Louisiana faces wins and losses but still optimistic
Chances are, you haven’t been to Campti.
Located about 11 miles north of Natchitoches, Campti is barely a dot on the map. There’s little reason to go, unless you happen to be one of the scores of employees at the Red River containerboard mill there, which for decades has been a major economic driver in central and northwestern Louisiana. The mill produces about 800,000 tons of containerboard per year That will end this spring. International Paper announced earlier this month that it would close the Campti mill by the end of April The closure is part of a larger corporate move — three other IP facilities around the country are also closing.
The news sent state and local officials scrambling, both to help serve the laidoff workers and to mitigate the millions of dollars in tax revenue the mill generates for local law enforcement, municipalities and schools. Gov Jeff Landry will hold a roundtable Tuesday to gameplan ways to boost the local economy in light of the closure.
The Campti mill closure shouldn’t come as a surprise. Paper mills around the state and indeed around the country — have been aging out of existence for years. Nevertheless, the loss of the mill will be a hard hit, especially for central Louisiana. It’s a story residents there have heard before: Large, wood-driven industry closes down due to corporate realignment or market changes, dealing an economic blow to a largely rural area. Outside of the region, few will likely take notice. For those of us on the Interstate 10/12 corridor, central Louisiana is mostly an afterthought. It’s a place you drive through to get somewhere else The best thing about it, it is said, is that the 75-mile-per-hour speed limit on Interstate 49 helps you spend less time there.
In the past several months, if people in south Louisiana talked about Central Louisiana at all it was likely about Pineville’s libidinous former mayor North Louisiana, which will also feel the Campti closure, suffers many of the
same endemic problems. At least the northern parishes have an east-west interstate, Interstate 20, that is so welltraveled that Ruston, of all places, is getting the state’s first Buc-ee’s. In recent years, though, central Louisiana has been on the cusp of a comeback. Alternative energy has led the way The biggest sign of hope is the planned $2 billion redevelopment of a shuttered International Paper mill site in Pineville. After the mill shut down in 2009, the site sat vacant for more than a decade. When I visited in 2023, there were derelict warehouses on the site and old rail cars sitting on overgrown track around the 1,300-acre campus. The company behind the redevelopment of the site — SunGas Renewables wants to build a green methanol plant there to supply ship fuel. Construction could start later this year
Not far way, in LaSalle Parish, Drax Biomass has been making wood energy pellets that it sells in Europe to help plants there generate electricity since 2017. Outside of timber products, other alternative energy industries have set up shop the state’s middle. Syrah Technologies, an Australian company, makes components for electric vehicles in Vidalia, and Canada-based Ucore Rare Earth Metals is putting a processing facility at England Air Park in Alexandria. Recently, local officials have begun actively attempting to lure data centers,
like the one planned for Richland Parish in north Louisiana. Their pitch is simple: land is cheap, there’s access to I-49, and storms are less of a threat than they are in the southern part of the state. It’s easy to look at these possibilities and see the potential of central Louisiana’s economic engine to rev again. But it’s not all smooth road ahead. Local economic development officials desperately want an east-west interstate. They’ve spent years pitching Interstate 14, the so-called “Forts and Ports” interstate, that would stretch from Texas to Georgia and run right through the state’s central belt. Those plans, if they ever come to fruition, are still decades away Another bump in the road may come from Washington. Recent actions by the Trump administration, specifically with regard to clean energy industries and international trade, could impact deeply red central Louisiana’s new companies even further Lafe Jones, the chief operating officer of Louisiana Central, told me that he’s optimistic that there will be no hiccups, but “everybody’s in a waitand-see mode” to see how it all shakes out. Nevertheless, real optimism has been rare in central Louisiana. It’s nice to see it. Heck, one day we might even stop in Campti.
Faimon A. Roberts III can be reached at froberts@theadvocate.com.
Policies of European elites end in tears
If you follow these things closely, you may have seen a clip of the chairman of the Munich Security Conference breaking down in tears, unable to speak any further while reflecting on Vice President JD Vance’s speech there. This breakdown is remarkable because the chairman, Christoph Heusgen, is not a minor apparatchik but a sophisticated and knowledgeable official who was former German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s national security adviser from 2005 to 2017 He had a front-row seat to Merkel’s epochal decisions to shut down nuclear plants in 2011, admit 1 million Muslim male “refugees” in 2015, and hold defense spending far below the 2% level sought by the second Obama and first Trump administrations His previous appearance on social media came when, as head of Germany’s United Nations delegation in 2018, he led his colleagues in laughing derisively at President Donald Trump’s criticism of Germany’s reliance on Russian natural gas. Heusgen’s tears were apt. Merkel’s policies, hailed by European elites at the time, now “lie in ruins,” writes the Economist.
in the Pentagon, argues in his 2021 book “The Strategy of Denial,” the United States produces more than a fifth of the world economic product, Europe almost the same proportion, and Asia, including China and India, upward toward half.
And, as Vance noted recently, while America and China produce innovative technology, Europe, the fount of creativity from the 17th century to the early 20th century, now smothers it in overregulation. Europe’s criminal prosecutions of speech, including accurate reports of migrants’ criminal attacks and even of politically incorrect abortion statements made by citizens in their own houses, are repugnant to traditional American mores. And while Eastern Europe has increased defense spending in response to Russia’s threats, the large nations of Western Europe have been lagging.
such as drones and hypersonic flights, may leave our relatively small number of very sophisticated and expensive aircraft carriers and fighter planes vulnerable to attack.
The central task of American foreign policy this argument goes, should be to build our defense capabilities and increase our forward posture to make it clear to China’s leaders that they have no chance to seize Taiwan. This should build on previous steps to cooperate with regional allies, particularly Japan, India and Australia. The amount of death and destruction that would be caused by any war in that region is unthinkable or it would be if we did not have the history of the warfare between Japan and China from 1937 to 1945 to consult.
Will the MAGA base ever figure out they’ve been played?
Farm country provided Trump with some of his most fervent support. Farmers are now being tossed aside by Trump policies, none of which he seems interested in dialing back. A trade war would be disastrous. Farm products are a major U.S. export. Last year, the U.S. exported more than $30 billion in farm products to Mexico, $29 billion to Canada and $25 billion to China. When a country slaps big tariffs on products from another country that country can be expected to hit back with its own punishing tariffs. Trump’s insults also add focus to the revenge: Offended nations are targeting products coming from Trump country American farmers rightly worry that a trade war would incentivize other countries to find more reliable suppliers of corn, wheat and whatever else they grow. As a soybean grower in Iowa told the Financial Times, “Farmers understand that trading relationships go up on a stairway, where you work hard to build them up, but go down on an elevator — very, very fast.”
Trump’s mania for tariffs was no secret during the campaign, nor were his deportation plans that are going to ravage rural workforces. What were U.S. farmers thinking when they voted for Trump? That he really loved them?
Trump is working on a plan to take away added funding from the Internal Revenue Service and use it for securing the southern border — as if the U.S. can’t afford two important government functions at the same time If anything, weakening the IRS’s ability to collect taxes owed would deprive government of the money that could be used to defend the border
Eroding the IRS’s ability to enforce the tax laws is a gift to rich tax cheats. They have all sorts of tricks to hide income. The working stiffs do not. Their taxes get taken right out of their paychecks.
Medicaid buys health care for Americans who typically make less than $50,000. These low earners gave most of their votes to Trump. Republicans are now circling Medicaid as a fat target for spending cuts.
Their Project 2025 blueprint clearly states, “The dramatic increase in Medicaid expenditures is due in large part to the ACA (Obamacare), which mandates that states must expand their Medicaid eligibility standards.”
During the campaign, Trump insisted he was “not running to terminate” the Affordable Care Act. But that wouldn’t preclude stripping it of so many benefits and slashing so many beneficiaries that a walking corpse would be all that’s left. And Trump will call it Obamacare. Trump has named the mastermind behind Project 2025, Russell Vought, his budget director In addition to Medicaid, Vought has it in for Head Start, veterans benefits and medical research.
Vance’s speeches in Munich and earlier in Paris criticized Europe generally and Germany in particular for stifling technological innovation, for suppressing speech, especially opposition to mass migration, and for spending well below NATO targets on defense. The European elites have had things their way and have led their societies on a path to decline.
Today we live in a world quite different economically from the one the builders of the trans-Atlantic alliance brought into being in the three postwar decades. As Elbridge Colby, Trump administration nominee for the No. 3 post
LETTERS TO
Trump administration foreign policy seems to be following Colby’s blueprint His strategy seems to be to leave Europe to cabin in its hostile regional hegemonic power, Russia, and to leave Israel (with Abraham Accord bolstering) to deal with its hostile regional hegemon, Iran That’s caused some Republicans, especially Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., to voice doubts about his nomination.
But the strong negative reaction to the loss of 7,000 Americans in Iraq and 2,500 in Afghanistan made the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations averse to sending any U.S. military forces into Ukraine, where casualties could be much higher, or against Iran after perceived failure in Iraq. Moreover, Colby argues, the U.S. no longer has the defense capability of waging two or even one and a half wars simultaneously, and the development of relatively cheap defensive weapons,
In the meantime, as in even the best years of the American-led trans-Atlantic partnership, there are some ugly things that need to be done. The failure of Ukraine’s offensive in 2023 and America’s unwillingness and Europe’s inability to send their own military forces or larger and more effective weapons to Ukraine in 2023 and 2024 have reduced the alternatives to continued violent war and morally unsatisfying peace.
You can lament, as I do, Vance’s cold indifference when, in February 2022, he said he doesn’t “really care what happens to Ukraine,” as well as Trump’s suggestion that Ukraine “started it.”
You can look back at former President Barack Obama and former U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron’s failure, when Russia seized Crimea in 2014, to act on America and Britain’s guarantee to Ukraine in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum.
But given where things are now, do you have a better course in mind?
Michael Barone is on X, @MichaelBarone.
Republicans vow not to touch a hair on Medicare, which covers the elderly, but that too is not entirely off the table. “In essence, our deficit problem is a Medicare and Medicaid problem,” Project 2025 laments. It calls these programs “runaway entitlements.”
The Department of Health and Human Services is home to both Medicare and Medicaid. How do you all feel about the crackpot Bobby Kennedy Jr being put in charge?
Don’t expect Republicans in Washington to publicly oppose Trump, even at the expense of their voters’ health care. But some are quietly worried.
“If you cut Medicaid, you’re, like, pissing off the people who put you in office — who Trump resonates with, right?” one House Republican (who did not share his name) told The Wall Street Journal. But It’s pretty naive to think that Trump cares about the people who put him in office. All he wanted was their votes. He got them. Now scoot.
Froma Harrop is on X, @FromaHarrop. Email her at fharrop@gmail.com.
Faimon Roberts
Michael Barone
Froma Harrop
STAFF FILE PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK
The former International Paper facility is located in Pineville, in Rapides Parish.
BY DAVID J MITCHELL
Staff writer
Citgo Petroleum Corp. has agreed to a $160,000 fine in a proposed settlement with state regulators to end more than 200 alleged violations from air emissions and other issues at its Lake Charles-area oil refinery between 2017 to 2021. The alleged violations at the 2,000-acre complex along the Calcasieu River include an accidental but preventable leak of 662 pounds of the human carcinogenic benzene in August 2018 and a September 2018 crude oil leak triggered by corrosion in a storage tank’s floating roof, state settlement and compliance documents say Though contained in a diked-off area around the tank, the oil spill emitted hundreds of thousands of pounds of toxic volatile organic compounds evaporating from the exposed oil, compliance documents say The proposed fine from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality is only the latest from state and federal regulators over air and water quality failures in recent years that have already cost millions of dollars in fines for the economically important complex south of Interstate 10 in Sulphur and Westlake. Under a U.S. Department of Justice settlement in 2021, the company agreed to pay $19.7 million for a 2006 spill of millions of gallons of waste oil and industrial wastewater into the Calcasieu River and its broader estuary during a heavy, four-day rain event.
The latest settlement was made public in late January, remains in a required 45-day public comment period and still needs approval from the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office.
If the deal is approved, under the standard terms of such agreements, Citgo would admit to none of the exceedances and other potential violations that it self-reported to DEQ, but they could be considered in future permitting and enforcement actions.
Citgo flagship refinery
With more than 1,000 direct workers, the 463,000-barrel-perday oil refinery is a top 10 employer and property taxpayer in Calcasieu
alleged violations
Parish Making gasoline, jet fuel, butane and many other products, the refinery is the nation’s seventhlargest. It is tied into a vast pipeline network and has access to the Gulf of Mexico, which President Donald Trump recently unilaterally renamed the Gulf of America through an executive order
The refinery is the flagship for Citgo, an arm of the Venezuelan state oil company worth billions of dollars that is poised this year to be sold in a debt auction overseen by a federal judge in Delaware, according to RBN Energy LLC.
DEQ officials did not return a request for comment on Friday
In the settlement document, they say the deal was reached to avoid the cost of litigation and was determined based on the agency’s standard rubric for fines.
Confirming the settlement, Citgo representatives said the company operates “in a way that is protective of people and the environment.”
“Citgo is committed to continuous improvement in our environmental and safety performance. We regularly review and improve
our processes and procedures and maintain equipment to ensure compliance with environmental standards,” the representative said.
Some environmentalists who track southwest Louisiana industries argued the fine amounts to a “slap on the wrist” for blatant and numerous violations by a big company that receives state property tax and other breaks.
“The evidence is clear that they knowingly violated the law failed to follow up, and is indicative of a culture that does not place the community, the environment, or even their own workers as a priority, and instead places profits above all,” said James Hiatt, a former Citgo employee turned climate activist.
“And the regulators allow it.”
In the DEQ settlement, dozens of the alleged breakdowns involved operational failures that allegedly violated the terms of the Citgo refinery’s air permits or other internal guidelines, or missed deadlines to make repairs to avoid leaks, the 2021 compliance document says.
Sometimes heavy rain or power losses not tied to Citgo caused the breakdowns In other cases, em-
ployees didn’t do standard emissions monitoring, it says.
The alleged operational breakdowns sometimes undermined the effectiveness of scrubbers and protective flares or otherwise allowed elevated levels of toxic and other air pollutants to escape, DEQ papers allege.
Other emissions contribute to harmful ground-level ozone or create tiny particulates that can cause respiratory problems and asthma with long-term exposure, compliance papers allege.
Among the emissions are nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, hydrochloric acid, benzene and a class of chemicals known as volatile organic compounds that can be tied to hydrocarbons and, in some instances, are carcinogenic.
Public concern
Often, the failures at Citgo went unnoticed by the broader public but occasionally drew attention.
On July 23, 2017, residents reported a foul stench from the refinery due to a release that included hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide,
carbon disulfide and carbonyl sulfide.
Of those four chemicals, all but sulfur dioxide has a strong rotten egg smell. Sulfur dioxide has a more pungent smell, like a burnt match, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Citgo officials blamed the incident on the loss of its high-pressure boilers, which immediately triggered protective flaring that released many of the air pollutants. Company officials told DEQ the emissions were lighter than air and dissipated in the atmosphere. No evacuations, injuries or off-site impacts were reported at the time, Citgo officials reported.
In other cases, Citgo failed to report alleged failures in a timely fashion. For two weeks, the refinery did not disclose the Aug. 22, 2018, benzene leak, which happened during the transfer of the chemical to a barge, regulators allege.
State and federal law requires initial reporting of that large of a benzene leak within 24 hours and for follow-up reports in the days and weeks afterward. Federal regulators closely watch benzene emissions from refineries.
In the big crude oil leak, Citgo crews began emptying Tank 41 on Sept. 27, 2018, after they spotted its floating roof listing to one side.
On the morning of Sept. 28, 2018, however, the floating roof sank inside the tank. About four hours later, a leak from the bottom of the tank was found, DEQ officials said in compliance documents.
The entire episode went on for 23 hours and an estimated 1,337 barrels of crude oil leaked out, which would roughly fill a little more than three 15-by-30-foot backyard swimming pools about 5 feet deep. About 407,520 pounds of volatile organic compounds also evaporated from the failed tank roof and from leaked oil sitting in the dikedoff area around the tank. Included in those emissions were an estimated 2,600 pounds of benzene and nearly 2,120 pounds of ethylbenzene, which causes eye and throat irritation in short-term exposures and is a suspected carcinogen with long-term exposure.
PROVIDED PHOTO By GOOGLE EARTH
Two-out magic
Tigers hit in clutch to rout Nicholls State
BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer
The first two outs came in short order. Junior-college transfer Tanner Reaves flew out and freshman Derek Curiel struck out to start the first inning. It seemed like LSU would be getting off to a slow start, trailing 1-0 to Nicholls State on Monday at Alex Box Stadium
But junior Jared Jones walked and senior Josh Pearson was hit by a pitch, setting the stage for a run-scoring single from Utah Valley State transfer Daniel Dickinson. Walks by sophomore Ashton Larson and freshman Cade Arrambide then preceded a two-run single from sophomore Steven Milam. Suddenly, LSU had a 4-1 lead.
“We were locked in tonight,” LSU coach Jay Johnson said. “Felt like we were locked in (during) the second game on Saturday And it’s not like they
ä See BASEBALL, page 3C
LSU pitcher William Schmidt delivers a pitch against Nicholls in the second inning on Monday at Alex Box Stadium.
BY TOYLOY BROWN III Staff writer
The LSU men’s basketball team is firmly 15th in the Southeastern Conference with a handful of regular-season games left.
Coach Matt McMahon didn’t sugarcoat the toll losing has had on his players, especially after an 11-2 nonconference start.
“It really tests your character and tests your resilience and your mindset to come in every day and stay focused on getting better,” McMahon said.
Despite the extended losing spells and its most recent 14-point loss to now No. 3 Florida, LSU (14-13, 3-11 SEC) remains dedicated to winning and hopes to accomplish that against No. 5 Tennessee (22-5, 9-5) at 8 p.m Tuesday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center At Monday’s media availability McMahon was asked what his team’s goals are as things stand and whether the National Invitation Tournament has been discussed since participating in the NCAA Tournament is a long shot. McMahon said player development is taking center stage, especially with five underclassmen in the rotation.
“We really just approach every game as a one-game season and stay focused on getting our team better,” he said.
“It’s easy to be discouraged. You’re not winning the number of games you would like. So putting a lot of time (and) investment into our players, keep them focused on getting better and improving and finding ways to compete in these games.”
The third-year coach referenced his team’s 22-2 run in the final seven minutes of the first half against Florida as a stretch of play that shows what the Tigers are capable of.
“How do we make it more
BY JIM KLEINPETER Contributing writer
The LSU softball team got a small taste of adversity over the weekend while taking all four games in the LSU Invitational. That’s a good thing because there is likely going to be a lot more later this week.
The No. 6 Tigers (14-0) rallied from behind to beat Southern Mississippi 12-5 and Nicholls State 12-2. Next up is No. 4 UCLA in the Judi Garman Classic, which also has other teams that offer a step up in competitive class.
BY REED DARCEY Staff writer
When the LSU women’s basketball team needed a bucket late in its win over Kentucky, coach Kim Mulkey pointed to Mikaylah Williams, telling Shayeann Day-Wilson to put a crucial possession in the hands of her star sophomore.
ä LSU at Alabama,
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The No. 7 Tigers le d th e No 15 Wildcats 57-56. Here, Williams could begin to seal a win on the road. All she needed to do was find an open shot in the offensive set that Mulkey called. That’s a task easier said than done. But not for Williams, who lifted LSU to another close win Sunday This time, she spearheaded a second-half surge that the Tigers used to erase a 16-point first-half deficit and pick up a 65-58 victory “I wouldn’t say I’m just turning it over to her,” Mulkey said, “but I do give her a lot of stuff where she looks like she’s our point guard at times.” Williams’ fingerprints were all over LSU’s come-from-behind win. In the first half, the Tigers shot only 9 of 28 from the field and coughed up 10 turnovers. Aneesah Morrow missed 8 of 11 looks, and Flau’jae Johnson attempted only one field goal Kentucky thanks in large part to an impressive start from star point guard Georgia Amoore, drained five 3-pointers and pulled 11 offensive rebounds. Then something flipped in the third quarter On the defensive end, LSU asked Day-Wilson to pick up Amoore full court and deny her the ball once she gave it up. On offense, it ran more of its offense through Williams, the Bossier City native who either scored or
assisted on nine of the Tigers’ 15 second-half field goals.
Those adjustments forced Kentucky to lose its rhythm, which, in turn, allowed LSU to find more shots within its preferred up-tempo style of offense.
Williams took the keys of that attack and drove the Tigers through a much more productive second half. In transition, her knack for converting difficult shots helped LSU take advantage of the misses it forced at the other end. In the half court, her mid-range shooting allowed the Tigers to unlock their offense, and her passing allowed them to thwart the zone defense the Wildcats tried unsuccessfully to deploy once they started to lose control in the third quarter
“She’s a load,” Kentucky coach Kenny Brooks said “She’s a great player She missed 11 shots, but she made the ones she needed to make.”
Among those buckets were the two that Williams found inside the final two minutes of the fourth quarter
“It’s not friendly Tiger Park where we control the schedule and the warmups,” LSU coach Beth Torina said. “A little adversity and a little bit of being uncomfortable is good for us.
“There is no easy road when you are trying to win the SEC or get to the World Series. All those things come with difficult challenges. It’s OK to be a little uncomfortable and have to figure out what’s in front of them.”
The LSU lineup was productive with 35 runs and 44 hits over the weekend while the pitching was a little off. The defense overall was better. Torina was particularly pleased with the hitters’ approach and preparation, and they seem to be taking to the team’s more aggressive style. The Tigers slugged three homers, including the first of the season by McKenzie Redoutey and Danieca Coffey, and stole 11 bases in four games.
“(Playing from behind) was really good for us,” said first baseman Tori Edwards, who hit her second grand slam and drove in five runs against Nicholls. “We haven’t been in that
STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK
guard Mikaylah Williams brings the ball up the court against Oklahoma on Jan. 30 at the Pete Maravich
STAFF PHOTOS By MICHAEL JOHNSON
LSU first baseman Jared Jones, right, slaps hands with teammates Josh Pearson, left, and Daniel Dickinson after hitting a home run in the second inning on Monday at Alex Box Stadium.
Texas forward Madison Booker right, drives to the basket against South Carolina forward Sania Feagin, left, and guard Bree Hall on Feb 9 in Austin, Texas.
Texas third No. 1 in three weeks
Longhorns grab top spot for first
BY DOUG FEINBERG
AP basketball writer
1976. It has never happened with five schools.
Ins and outs
Mets starting pitcher to miss start of season
PORT ST LUCIE,Fla.— New York Mets starting pitcher Sean Manaea is expected to begin the season on the injured list because of a right oblique strain.
Manaea said Monday that he had been dealing with the issue since getting to spring training. He says it never got worse but never improved.
The left-hander was the Mets’ top starter last season and then got a $75 million, three-year contract. He had an MRI over the weekend and won’t throw for two to three weeks.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Manaea wouldn’t throw again until he was free of symptoms.
Mendoza also said infielder Nick Madrigal fractured his non-throwing shoulder in a spring training game Sunday
Panthers say they will not re-sign LB Thompson CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Carolina Panthers are moving on from longtime linebacker Shaq Thompson. The Panthers informed Thompson, who is an unrestricted free agent, that they will not be resigning him. Thompson is expected to pursue other options in free agency The 30-year-old has been with the Panthers for a decade, but has been limited to just six games over the past two seasons because of injuries.
He was the team’s first-round pick in 2014 and ranks fourth in team history with 752 tackles, behind only Thomas Davis, Luke Kuechly and Mike Minter Thompson appeared in 123 games in his 10 seasons with Carolina.
Unidentified team wants to do away with tush push
Texas is No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll for the first time in 21 years and the third team to hold the top spot in the past three weeks. The Longhorns moved atop the poll Monday after previous No 1 Notre Dame lost in double overtime to North Carolina State. UCLA had been No. 1 the 12 prior weeks to the Irish.
“I’m so happy for my kids, they’ve earned where they are today,” Texas coach Vic Schaefer said in a phone interview hours before his team faced Georgia late Monday
It is only the fifth time since 2001 that three schools have been No. 1 in a three-week span Add in South Carolina being No. 1 to start the season and there have been four teams atop the rankings this season, just the sixth time that has happened since the poll began in
“There’s so much parity in the game right now,” Schaefer said.
Texas, which last held the top spot in the poll on Feb. 16, 2004, received 19 first-place votes from a 31-member national media panel. The Longhorns have spent 48 weeks atop the poll dating to their first appearance at No. 1 in 1980.
“So much respect and admiration for coach (Jody) Conradt and the tradition of our program and I certainly understand the standard we hope we can live up to,” Schaefer said.
Notre Dame fell to third after its 19-game winning streak was snapped while UCLA moved up a spot to second The Bruins, who edged Iowa 67-65 on two late free throws Sunday, garnered 11 top votes. USC was fourth receiving one first-place ballot. UConn was fifth.
South Carolina, LSU and North Carolina were next.
North Carolina State jumped up four places to ninth after its big win over Notre Dame. TCU was 10th.
Florida State and Louisville reentered the rankings this week at No. 24 and 25. The Seminoles beat Pittsburgh and then-No. 20 Georgia Tech The Cardinals knocked off then-No. 11 Duke before losing to North Carolina. The Yellow Jackets and Illinois both fell out of the Top 25.
Conference breakdown
The Southeastern Conference has seven ranked teams. The ACC has six while the Big Ten and Big 12 each have five. The Big East has two.
Games of the week
No. 4 USC at No. 2 UCLA, Saturday The Big Ten regular-season title will be on the line when the two Los Angeles teams play. USC won the first meeting, handing the Bruins their lone loss of the season.
No. 22 Creighton at No. 5 UConn, Thursday First place in the Big East will be on the line when the Bluejays visit the Huskies.
No. 8 North Carolina at No. 16 Duke, Thursday The two ACC rivals will play for the second time
this season with a potential doublebye into the quarterfinals of the conference tournament at stake. No. 10 TCU at No. 17 Baylor, Sunday First place in the Big 12 Conference could be at stake as the Horned Frogs visit the Bears.
Auburn atop men’s poll for 7th straight week
BY DAVE SKRETTA AP basketball writer
Auburn remained atop the AP Top 25 for the seventh straight week on Monday, while preseason No. 1 Kansas dropped out of the men’s basketball poll for the first time in nearly four years, ending the Jayhawks’ ranked run at 80 consecutive weeks. The Tigers earned all 60 votes from the national media panel after beating Arkansas and Georgia last week. They were followed by Duke and Florida which traded places in the poll, with Houston and Tennessee rounding out the top five. Houston has the nation’s longest active streak in the Top 25 at 102 weeks.
The Jayhawks were dropped this week after a 74-67 loss at Utah and a 91-57 blowout loss at BYU, the biggest margin of defeat in school history for a ranked Kansas team against an unranked opponent. BYU entered the poll at No. 25 this week.
The Jayhawks’ were dropped this week after a 74-67 loss at Utah and a 91-57 blowout loss at BYU, the biggest margin of defeat in school history for a ranked Kansas team against an unranked opponent. BYU entered the poll at No. 25 this week. Kansas took out its frustration on Oklahoma State on Saturday, rolling to a 96-64 victory in
Allen Fieldhouse.
“We’re 1-0,” Jayhawks coach Bill Self said afterward. “That’s what we’re talking about. And everybody’s stat sheet in what they’re averaging this year is exactly what happened today And we’re not even gonna talk about the other stuff right now.”
Alabama fell two spots to No. 6 this week and was followed by St. John’s and Michigan State, which jumped six spots after back-toback ranked wins over Purdue and Michigan. Iowa State and Texas Tech rounded out the top 10.
Kansas dropped out along with Ole Miss, which had been ranked the last 13 weeks and 15 of the past 16. That made room for Saint Mary’s, which beat Portland and Gonzaga to enter at No. 23, and BYU, which followed its win over the Jayhawks by beating thenNo. 19 Arizona 96-95 on Saturday thanks to two free throws by Richie Saunders with 3.2 seconds left.
It was the first time the Cougars had beaten ranked teams in consecutive games since 1988.
“My message to our group is, you know, whatever the next challenge in front of us, we’re trying to attack it, whether that’s practice, whether that’s shoot-around, whether that’s a game,” first-year BYU coach Kevin Young said. “I know that sounds cliche but that’s really been the recipe for us, to
not look any further than what we have to do at that moment.”
Rising and falling
Louisville joined Michigan State in making the biggest jump in this week’s poll, climbing six spots to No. 19. The Cardinals beat Florida State in their only game last week for their fifth consecutive win, and they head into this week tied with No. 13 Clemson for second in the ACC behind the secondranked Blue Devils.
Purdue fell seven spots to No. 20 after losses to Michigan State and Indiana, but the Boilermakers held onto a spot in the Top 25 for the 55th consecutive week. That is now the third-longest active streak behind Houston and Tennessee (76 weeks).
Preseason Top 25 checkup
Kansas isn’t the only team ranked highly in the preseason poll to drop out all together this season.
Two-time reigning national champion UConn was No. 3 with 11 first-place votes in October but did not appear on any ballots this week. Gonzaga was sixth, Baylor eighth and North Carolina ninth in the preseason poll — and all are unranked. In all, more than half of the teams in the preseason poll 13 of them — failed to crack this week’s Top 25. Conference watch The SEC continued its dominance with three of the top five and eight total in the Top 25 this week. The Big 12 had three in the top 10 and five ranked teams, while the Big Ten also had five teams in the poll. The ACC had three, the
INDIANAPOLIS — One NFL team is proposing an end to the tush push play the Philadelphia Eagles have used so successfully at the goal line and in short-yardage situations, including during their victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 59.
According to NFL Network and the Washington Post, league executive Troy Vincent said Monday that a team submitted a proposal to ban the play, a modified quarterback sneak where two teammates behind Jalen Hurts push him forward to help him try to gain the yardage necessary for a first down or touchdown. Vincent didn’t identify the team. NFL owners could vote on the proposal when they meet next month in Florida.
Guardians owner Dolan dies Sunday at age of 94
CLEVELAND — Lawrence J. Dolan, owner of Cleveland’s major league baseball team since 2000, has died at age 94.
The Cleveland Guardians put out a statement Monday saying Dolan died Sunday night of natural causes.
Dolan, a Cleveland native, purchased the team from Richard Jacobs in 2000 for $320 million. The Dolan family is the longest-tenured owners in franchise history The franchise was known as the Cleveland Indians before changing its name to the Guardians after the 2021 season. Over the past 24 seasons, Cleveland has won seven American League Central Division titles, made nine postseason appearances and advanced to the 2016 World Series before losing to the Chicago Cubs.
Florida’s Condon expected to return to action Tuesday GAINESVILLE, Fla. Florida forward Alex Condon, who missed the last three games because of a sprained right ankle, is expected to return at Georgia on Tuesday Condon turned his ankle in the first 30 seconds of a win at Mississippi State on Feb. 11 and has been sidelined since. He leads the thirdranked Gators with 7.8 rebounds a game and ranks fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 10.6 points. He’s one of four Florida players joining forward Sam Alexis and guards Walter Clayton Jr and Alijah Martin — who have missed time during the team’s six-game winning streak.
Coach Todd Golden said Monday he didn’t want to bring any of the injured players back to soon and have them struggle in the NCAA Tournament.
PHOTO By ERIC GAy
GAy
Hunter gives NFL’s scouting combine a different look
BY MICHAEL MAROT AP sportswriter
INDIANAPOLIS Travis Hunter will arrive at the NFL’s annual scouting combine listed as a cornerback By the end of this week, he could be so much more.
Hunter’s emergence as potentially the top defensive back and the top receiver in this year’s draft class has created an unprecedented situation with workouts about to begin.
Many will be watching to see if he opts to work with the defensive backs, the receivers, neither or perhaps both at the invitation of NFL Football Scouting president
Jeff Foster
“To my knowledge he’s the first guy who has ever done that,” Foster told The Associated Press. “But we have to assign him to a group and the defensive backs come first. We made him the offer to stay overnight and work with the receivers, so we are projecting him as a defensive back and a wide receiver. But we had to assign him to a group, logistically.”
The Heisman Trophy winner’s answer could come before the scheduled workouts for Friday and Saturday He’s expected to speak with reporters Thursday Doing double duty in Indianapolis usually comes with a different kind of significance on Memorial Day weekend when a race car driver tries to complete both the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR’s
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“We still have things to work on and get better at. I’m happy with how things are going. We’re happy and confident and really gritty.” All five pitchers got to throw
Coca-Cola 600 in North Carolina on the same day
This time, though, it could happen on the football field.
Hunter could choose to follow the trend of top-rated draft picks opting out of some or all of the work on the field, waiting instead until Colorado’s pro day to give NFL scouts some tangible measure of the talent he possesses in the only town that’s hosted the combine.
If he does try both, though, it seems unlikely Hunter would be asked to repeat some of the drills, such as the 40-yard dash or bench press, twice. But the buzz of the first true two-way star coming to town certainly has people such as Foster contemplating options.
“We’d give him that option, we could make one for him right here,” Foster said when asked whether Hunter would receive a T-shirt representing both positions. “If he wants to work out as a receiver and wants a receiver’s jersey, I’ll do it myself if I have to.”
The truth is Foster has a whole team ready to take care of such requests. His job is to create the best environment for each of the 329 combine invitees to perform. So each year Foster sprinkles in some new wrinkles.
Previous changes have included revised schedules, new workout routines and the addition of lounges for rest and recovery.
This year, organizers are bringing part of the Lucas Oil Stadium
this weekend even though Sunday’s game against Nicholls was canceled.
Freshman sensation Jayden
Heavener got a reality check against Southern Miss. On Friday night, she retired all seven hitters she faced, five on strikeouts, to earn her first career save. The next day against the same team
Saints add two more assistant coaches
BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer
The new coaching staff for the New Orleans Saints is starting to fill out. A week after hiring former Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley as their defensive coordinator former Eagles assistant coach Doug Nussmeier as offensive coordinator, the Saints added two more assistants on Monday
The Saints are hiring former University of Texas defensive passing game coordinator Terry Joseph as their defensive backs coach, according to a league source. They are also hiring Kyle Wilber to work as their assistant special teams coach, according to a league source, bringing aboard a young coach with a decade of playing experience.
The 51-year-old Joseph is a New Orleans native whose name should be recognizable around these parts — his cousins, Vance and Mickey Joseph, are also high-level coaches in their own right.
This will mark Terry Joseph’s first NFL coaching job. He’s been coaching in the college ranks since 2006, when he took a graduate assistant job at LSU. His most recent stop was at Texas, which is where he’d been since the start of the 2021 season as the defensive passing game
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weren’t locked in or weren’t trying (in the first game). If anything, they were maybe trying a little too hard.”
The Tigers went on to win 13-3 in seven innings while scoring seven runs with two outs.
“We’re a far superior team today than we were 56 hours ago when we lost that game,” Johnson said. LSU (7-1) had 10 hits and seven walks, as Milam, Auburn transfer Chris Stanfield and Jones led the way with two hits apiece. Jones blasted his second homer a solo bomb in the second inning and drove in three runs.
Stanfield hit a double and showcased his speed around the bases, scoring from second base on an infield single in the fifth.
“I was really just trusting (third-base coach Josh Jordan),” Stanfield said. “I didn’t even know where the ball was. He was just telling me to go.”
coordinator His unit is coming off an impressive 2024 season, ranking No. 7 nationally in passing yards allowed per game (173.8) and tied for first in interceptions (22). Joseph has played a part in developing some premier defensive backs. Texas corner Jahdae Barron won the Jim Thorpe Award, given annually to the nation’s top defensive back, last year while playing under Joseph While he was at Notre Dame, Joseph also recruited and developed Kyle Hamilton, who would go on to become a first-round draft pick and an All-Pro with the Baltimore Ravens.
The 35-year-old Wilber spent most of his playing career with the Dallas Cowboys, where he was a teammate of new Saints head coach Kellen Moore. He was a core special-teamer for much of his career, logging at least 70% of his team’s specialteams snaps seven times with the Cowboys and Raiders.
Wilber’s playing career ended after the 2021 season, and he quickly found work in coaching, catching on as a special teams quality control assistant with the Green Bay Packers in 2023.
He will work under Phil Galiano, whom the Saints promoted to special teams coordinator last week after longtime coordinator Darren Rizzi accepted a job with the Denver Broncos.
“He’s got some of the best stuff on our team. I mean, he’s going to be a premier reliever on this team and a premier pitcher in the program.”
JAy JOHNSON, LSU coach, on Rizy
started getting the Colonels (53) off-balance.
“It’s an awesome pitch mix,” Johnson said. “It’s going to be really hard to deal with, because it’s four really good pitches coming at you.” Schmidt was replaced by left-hander DJ Primeaux, who walked two batters but threw a scoreless inning. Right-hander Jaden Noot followed Primeaux by recording an out in the sixth and walking the first two batters he faced in the seventh.
turf draft prospects will use to the players’ performance center It’s intended to help players get acclimated to the stadium’s newest turf
“Only one other stadium has it, so a lot of these players have never been on it,” Foster said. “So we’re taking one of the end zones and putting that in the performance center so they can work on their starts (for the 40-yard dash). We tried to create an exact replica for the surface and the start lines.”
Some players and agents choose not to work out because they claim Lucas Oil Stadium is a “slow track” though former Texas receiver Xavier Worthy had no trouble setting a combine record last year with his 4.21-second 40. That showing helped convince the Kansas City Chiefs to use a first-round pick on Worthy Hunter’s college coach, Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders, is already advising teams not to select Hunter unless they intend to use him as a two-way player Sanders famously split his time between Major League Baseball and the NFL. So what will Hunter do? Stay tuned. “He hasn’t said yes or no, but it’s not something we ask the players because we want them to train right up till they get here,” Foster said, acknowledging he’s also seen plans change after players come to town. “But he’s has earned opportunity to do both here and I’m sure fans would like to see it, too.”
she walked four batters and hit four while giving up five earned runs in 32/3 innings.
Tatum Clopton stepped in and pitched LSU out of further damage while the offense overcame its second deficit in the game.
“She’s going to have to deal with that, people adjusting to her and having scouting reports,” Torina
Milam had five RBIs and drilled his first home run of the season in the fifth, a threerun shot. After getting off to a slow start, Milam is 5-for-6 over LSU’s last two contests. His homer was part of a fiverun fifth inning that stretched LSU’s lead to 10-2.
“Not the start (to the year) I wanted, but you can’t keep a good hitter down forever,” Milam said.
Earning his first career start on Monday was freshman righthander William Schmidt. The Catholic High product surrendered five hits, but only one of the two runs he allowed were earned. He also didn’t walk anybody in 42/3 innings while throwing 46 of his 60 pitches for strikes.
Nicholls found success early by jumping on Schmidt’s fastball, but once he started mixing in his off-speed pitches more, he
Noot forced a fielder’s choice before handing the ball to freshman right-hander Mavrick Rizy He allowed an inherited runner to score but got a strikeout to stop the bleeding. Monday was Rizy’s second appearance in four days. He threw a scoreless inning on Friday against Omaha.
“He’s got some of the best stuff on our team,” Johnson said of Rizy. “I mean, he’s going to be a premier reliever on this team and a premier pitcher in the program.”
LSU’s four freshman pitchers — left-hander Cooper Williams, right-hander Casan Evans, Rizy and Schmidt have allowed just one earned run in 17 innings.
“These four guys,” Johnson said, “they’re ready to help us now.”
LSU is back in action Wednesday against Dallas Baptist at Globe Life Field, the home of the Texas Rangers First pitch from Arlington, Texas, is set for 7 p.m. The game can be streamed on FloSports.
Email Koki Riley at Koki. Riley@theadvocate.com.
GUIDRY LIKELY OUT FOR TEXAS TRIP
LSU baseball junior right-hander Gavin Guidry likely will be unavailable to pitch in Texas this week, coach Jay Johnson said Monday.
Guidry is dealing with a mid-body injury. Johnson expects him to be back next week when the Tigers return from their four-game road trip in the Dallas area. He has yet to appear in a game this season.
“Nonthrowing, nonarm related deal that just kind of crept up,” Johnson said.“He was prepared to pitch last Wednesday and woke up on Thursday not feeling great
“We think we really pinpointed what it was and anticipate him being ready next week.”
said. “Some of that was a little self-inflicted She probably had some pitches she’d like to have back. She has to understand how to pitch to the scouting report. People are going to know her name.”
In addition to UCLA on Thursday the Tigers will play Cal State Fullerton, Utah, Notre
Dame and Weber State. The short week will cut into practice time, but the team seems to have jelled nicely
“First road test,” Torina said.
“It’s nice to practice going on the road, we have to do that in the SEC. We’re going to see some great competition and our west coast Tiger fans.
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By ERIC
Colorado wide receiver Travis Hunter warms up for the Alamo Bowl NCAA college football game against ByU on Dec 28 in San Antonio.
Woodlawn sets tone with its 3-pointers
BY CHRIS CHAPPLE
Contributing writer
There was no rain outdoors. But Woodlawn made it rain with its 3-point shooting in the first half of its Division I select girls basketball regional playoff game.
The Panthers hit five 3-pointers in the first quarter to surge to a 21-10 lead on the way to a 60-41 victory over No. 14 Mount Carmel Academy on Monday night
Woodlawn hit two more 3-pointers in the second quarter and finished with nine 3-pointers. The third-seeded Panthers host No. 11 Captain Shreve in Thursday’s quarterfinals seeking a second straight trip to the LHSAA state tournament.
Leading Woodlawn’s charge were seniors Zyriah Williams (four 3-pointers) and Amijah Price (three). Williams and Price hit two 3-pointers and Aaliyah Gaddis one in the first quarter
Mount Carmel senior Lauren Fowler hit a free-throw line jumper to cut the Woodlawn lead to 11-8 with 2:50 remaining in the second quarter Williams hit her two shots from distance and Gaddis scored on a follow shot to complete an 8-0 run.
Woodlawn (24-6) fields a team with six seniors who were key players on Woodlawn’s surge to a state runner-up finish last season. The Panthers also have multiple ballhandlers and presses most of the game. Both factors helped the Panthers forced 28 turnovers.
“Woodlawn got into a good rhythm with their catch and shoot 3s early in the game,” Mount Carmel coach Jamie Thomatis said “You have to pick your poison with them because they can score inside too.
“My girls fought really hard. Our younger ones will grow from this.” Senior guard Jordyn Hanley scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half for Mount Carmel (17-12). Hanley added five rebounds and three assists. Fowler had a game-high 20 points on 8-of 17-shooting. Fowler scored 14 in the first half and added a gamehigh 14 rebounds.
Price, a UL basketball commitment, scored 17. Williams added 16 points and Gaddis had seven.
“My girls were hot in the first half,” Woodlawn coach Alicia Dedeaux said. “It was a good win. We could have done better in our transition game.
“Our pressure defense was good. One of our strengths is our defense. Amijah Price is skilled and a strong player and very athletic.
“Zyriah Williams played well. We really shared the ball.”
Price hit 3 of 6 3-pointers and added six rebounds. Woodlawn led 54-33 at the midpoint of the fourth quarter
“Our experience from last year in the playoffs will help us this year,” Dedeaux said.
“We’ve got to play hungry and play to win.”
THE VARSITY ZONE
Madison Prep girls turn up heat on GOHS
BY CHARLES SALZER Contributing writer
The Madison Prep girls stunned Glen Oaks with an intense defensive effort to start Monday night’s Division II select playoff game, and the Chargers never let the Panthers get back in the game.
On the offensive end, Brooklyn Smith made four 3-pointers and scored 22 points as No. 5-seeded Madison Prep defeated No. 12 Glen Oaks 65-31 at home.
The win moves Madison Prep (18-12), a state finalist last season, into the quarterfinals. The Chargers next will play No. 4
E.D. White, which won 70-45 over Istrouma on Monday Against Glen Oaks (18-16), Madison Prep turned up the defensive heat early The Chargers forced 13 turnovers in the first quarter and scored the game’s first 17 points
Gabrielle Dotson and Auri Ray of Madison Prep each had two steals.
Glen Oaks finally scored on freshman Trane’ciya Sanford’s layup with 1:23 left in the quarter Ray answered with a 3-pointer, and Madison Prep went on to lead 21-2 heading to the second quarter.
Sanford led Glen Oaks with 15 points.
“The first quarter was a strong quarter, but in the second quar-
ter we got too comfortable,” Madison Prep coach Dwayne Hayes said. “As a result the game tightened up, but we’ll take it. We’ve still got a lot of things to work on.”
After Madison Prep built a 30-7 halftime lead both teams heated up offensively Glen Oaks made 7 of 8 shots as the teams traded baskets throughout the third quarter Still, the closest the Panthers could get was 35-16 after Milan Beauchamp made 1 of 2 free throws.
Madison Prep made its first four shots of the fourth quarter to stretch its lead to 58-26. Included in the run were three 3-pointers, one by Onya Curtis and two from Smith.
“We knew it was going to be a tough fight, but we had to come out with energy and get them first,” Smith said.
Madison Prep made 23 of 52 shots (44.2%) and went 7 of 12 from 3-point range. Glen Oaks made 10 of 17 shots in the second half and finished with 27 turnovers.
“One thing with Madison Prep, they’ll capitalize on your mistakes,” Glen Oaks coach Sean Beauchamp said. “Like I told my girls, we didn’t do a bad job handling their press, but the mistake we made was trying to dribble through it. Then they started rallying and they got their crowd involved.”
Scotlandville gets momentum for playoffs with upset
BY ROBIN FAMBROUGH Staff writer
Scotlandville basketball coach
Jeremy Noah knew his team was locked in as the 15th seed on the LHSAA’s Division I select playoff bracket regardless of what happened Friday night.
That fact did not nullify the significance of Scotlandville’s 51-45 victory over Central in a District 4-5A finale that also ended the regular season.
“This is one of the toughest districts in the state to play in,” Noah said. “It’s a knockdown drag-out competition every single night. Getting that win was important for us.
“It gives us momentum going into the playoffs. It shows how far we have come with what is basically a new team.”
The Hornets (18-11) host No. 18 McDonogh 35 (23-10) at 7 p.m. Friday to open the LHSAA’s Division I select playoffs. One residual effect of the Scotlandville win is that it affected the LHSAA’s Division I nonselect playoff seeding. Central had the top spot, but the loss to the Hornets, coupled with Zachary’s win over Catholic made the Broncos the No 1 seed when the LHSAA released its playoff brackets on Monday
The game was just as impactful for Scotlandville, whose top player from 2023-24, point guard Jamal Drewery, opted to attend an outof-state prep school. The Hornets had lost their four previous games to 4-5A opponents.
“It has been a season of adjustments,” Noah said “We have a sophomore point guard and a couple of transfers who were not with us last year
“We’ve got Aaron Marshall and Jakarin Whitfield, who have
stepped into leadership roles. We’ve had to see where everyone fit.” Marshall and Whitfield are 6-foot-1 guards on a guard-driven team Marshall leads the team with a 16.0 scoring average. Sophomore Joe Tate, a 5-7 point guard, averages three assists per game. Whitfield leads the team in assists, averaging four per game.
The tallest player is 6-3 junior Tyler Sanford, one of two transfers who factor into the Scotlandville rotation. The other transfer, Braelin Parker, and junior Jayden Simmons are among the other key contributors. Simmons was a varsity reserve a year ago. With Scotlandville and McDonogh seeded just three slots apart, signs point to a competitive game Friday night. Sean Dumas, who coached Crescent City to five straight Division V titles, is the McDonogh 35 coach.
“We’ve had ups and downs, but I believe our district has helped prepare us,” Noah said. “We look forward to the challenge.”
They’re No. 1, etc
Zachary (24-6) is one of two 4-5A teams to grab No. 1 seeds. Reigning champion Liberty (23-1) is the top seed on the Division I select bracket. Catholic (27-4, Division I select) and Central (22-4, Division I nonselect) are seeded second. The Dunham School (19-5) is seeded second among Division III select teams. Denham Springs (Division I nonselect), Southern Lab (Division IV select).
Email Robin Fambrough at rfambrough@theadvocate.com
Scotlandville guard Aaron Marshall drives into the lane against Woodlawn guard Triston Brown in the East Baton Rouge boys basketball tournament Dec 27 game at Woodlawn High School
Dunham’s high-scoring third quarter leads to win
BY ROBIN FAMBROUGH Staff writer
GEO Next Generation traded the lead a couple of times in the first quarter with The Dunham School. Foul trouble, turnovers and pressure defense were difference-makers as fourth-seeded Dunham ran away with a 63-29 regional-round girls basketball playoff victory in Division III select action Monday night at Dunham. GEO, the No. 13 seed, finished with 30 turnovers and scored just 11 points in the second half.
With the win, Dunham is set to host fifth-seeded De La Salle, a 5949 winner over St. Thomas Aquinas, in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
“I am so proud of the way we played, especially in the second half,” Dunham coach Mollee Day said. “We started slow, but once we adjusted to their size we settled in.
“Stella (Turner) was out at the top of the defense making plays, getting in the passing lanes. Once we settled down, our shots started falling.”
Day led Dunham (17-9) with a game-high 21 points, scoring seven
Alvarado’s rebounding, passion have oversized effect on the Pelicans
the court.”
Guys who are Jose Alvarado’s size aren’t supposed to grab nine rebounds in an NBA game, which is what the Pelicans guard did Sunday night. They aren’t supposed to snag seven rebounds in a game, either which is what the 6-foot Alvarado did the game before that. But if there is one thing we should have learned by now about Alvarado is that you probably shouldn’t tell him what he shouldn’t be able to do. Chances are, he’s going to prove you wrong, just like he’s done since arriving in the NBA back in 2021 as an undrafted rookie.
Alvarado put his stamp all over Sunday’s 114-96 come-frombehind victory over the San Antonio Spurs in the Smoothie King Center
He finished with 12 points, nine boards and nine assists while committing just one turnover And that’s not counting the plays that don’t show up on the stat sheet, like the time he slid across the floor diving for a loose ball.
“Jose ignited the whole team with his energy, his spirit,” Pelicans coach Willie Greens said.
The only person who touched the court with more energy than Alvarado on Sunday was the toddler who won the baby crawl race at halftime. He won the race in about 21 seconds, which is about how fast Alvarado helped flip the switch to help the Pelicans rally from a 17-point first-half deficit.
The nine rebounds eclipsed his career-high of eight. The only players who grabbed more rebounds than him Sunday were guys who stand at least 8 inches taller than him. Teammates Yves Missi (6foot-11) and Kelly Olynyk (7 feet) recorded 15 rebounds each, a season-high for both. San Antonio’s Bismack Biyombo (6-8) had 10 rebounds. Alvarado had the same amount of rebounds as Zion Williamson.
“Jose was the vocal leader, and his energy really shifted the course of the game,” Williamson said. “His energy is very infectious because it seems like he’s all over
LSU WOMEN
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in the second quarter and eight in the third quarter Joanie Bernhardt added 13 and Turner had 12 for Dunham. Ivoryana Powell led GEO (21-12) with 10 points. A layup by Rylee Jones gave GEO its last lead at 8-7 with less than two minutes left in the first quarter Dunham finished with a flurry, 10 points in just more than a minute. Day’s jumper in the lane made it 9-8. Turner buried a 3-pointer from the right wing at the 1:07 mark.
Day, Turner and Bernhardt each added a basket in the final 51 sec-
onds to make it an 18-10 going into the second quarter
The home team continued its fast pace, aided by nine GEO turnovers and led 31-18 at halftime.
“We hadn’t played in a week and a half, so I wasn’t sure what I was going to see,” Dunham coach Hilary Morris said. “Once we got comfortable and adjusted to their size, we did very good things.”
Dunham outscored GEO 24-5 in the third quarter to put the game away, holding GEO scoreless for more than four minutes.
GEO coach Michael Ingram
praised Dunham and lauded his team that notched its first LHSAA playoff win last week.
“We played well in the first quarter,” Ingram said. “But our post player and our guard got in foul trouble early and that hurt us.
“We turned the ball over Dunham is a very good team, and they took advantage of that. We’re young. I’ve got five girls who have never played basketball before. We’ll learn from this.”
Email Robin Fambrough at rfambrough@theadvocate.com
Usually he is
“If that (rebounding) is something I need to do to elevate us to win, that’s what I’m going to do,”
Alvarado said “I’m confident in my game. I know this game better I feel like I’m getting better, just to improve every year, every game. If that’s a jump in rebounds, points, assists, whatever, that’s what I’m trying to focus on.”
Rebounding, of course, is easier when teams are missing as many shots as the Spurs did Sunday
They shot just 32 of 97 from the floor and made 15 of 51 3-point attempts.
“We just had to box out and get stops,” Alvarado said. “If we play fast and get stops, that’s’ when we win the best. That’s what we are locked in on.”
Alvarado didn’t have as blunt of an answer on the keys to his rebounding as the one former Pelicans guard Josh Hart gave me a few years back. Hart, considered one of the best rebounding guards in the NBA, recorded a double-double in his Pelicans’ debut against the Toronto Raptors back in the 2019-20 season opener
His answer that night on his rebounding success: “Just go get the f****** ball,” Hart said Alvarado says the key for him is just “tracking the ball.”
“Getting a feel for it,” he said.
He knows missed 3-pointers typically mean long rebounds. He’s able to get his hands on those and initiate the break. The Pelicans ended up with 19 fast-break points in the second half after not having any in the first half That’s a credit to Alvarado, who plays every minute as if the Pelicans record is 4314 instead of 14-43.
“Our season is our season,” Alvarado said. “We don’t love how it’s going. We don’t like how it is. But you’ve got to build good habits and keep getting better every day.”
Spoken like the true leader he’s become.
“He’s not afraid,” Green said. “He’s going to step on the floor and give you everything he has.”
He may have been the smallest player on the court Sunday But he was also arguably the best.
Email Rod Walker at rwalker@ theadvocate.com.
LSU guard Cam
Saturday in the Pete
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sustainable?” McMahon said. “There was (good) basketball being played on both ends of the floor How do we sustain that level of play for longer periods of time? Really that’s where the focus has to continue to be.”
Tennessee is the next foe LSU will use to chart its progress. Finding reliable ways to score will be especially crucial against a team with the best defense in the country
The Vols are first in both adjusted defensive efficiency and defensive effective field goal percentage, and third in both block rate and defensive 3-point efficiency according to KenPom as of Monday McMahon called Tennessee guards Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack a couple of the best defenders in the country, and center Felix Okpara a “phenomenal” rim protector
Efficient offense isn’t going to be an easy task against Tennessee. LSU can’t afford for leading scorer Cam Carter to struggle like he did in the last game against Florida when he had seven points and shot 23.1% from the field.
McMahon said LSU will have to be mindful of Tennessee’s screening, which he described as one of the best in the country
Those picks free up top shooter Chaz Lanier who is averaging 18 points per game.
“When you watch (Lanier’s) film, he doesn’t need much time or space to get a shot off, so a really quick release,” McMahon said.
Lanier’s 94 total 3-pointers are the most by an SEC player He is also ninth in conference play in 3-point percentage (37.1%), a spot ahead of Carter (36.7%).
No matter the challenge, the prevailing mindset McMahon has is for LSU players to get better and have that eventually translate into wins.
Email Toyloy Brown III at toyloy.brown@theadvocate.com
Beating Tennessee will require one of Tigers’ best offensive efforts They’ll need strong jump shooting from their fourguard lineup they likely will use for the fourth consecutive game.
PHOTO By PATRICK DENNIS
Carter tries to control the ball as Denzel Aberdeen defends for Florida in the first half
Maravich Assembly Center The Gators won the game 79-65.
STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK
LSU head coach Matt McMahon coaches against South Carolina on Feb 18 at the PMAC.
Rod Walker
STAFF PHOTO By SCOTT THRELKELD
Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado is fouled by San Antonio Spurs center Bismack Biyombo during a game at the Smoothie King Center on Sunday.
FIT AND TRIM
It’s time for pre-spring pruning and fertilizing of your trees and shrubs
Before plants leaf out for the spring, it’s a good idea to take some time for maintenance tasks in the garden. Here are two important items to put on your to-do list: pruning and fertilizing your trees and shrubs.
Mid-to-late February makes an ideal time for trimming away branches to shape trees and shrubs. The sap is rising and buds are swelling this time of year, so pruning now will allow plants to heal quickly and grow new branches where necessary Pruning also causes a hormone signal that triggers regrowth in most plants This is why we wait until the weather begins warming up to ensure new branches and leaves won’t get cold damage. Deciduous trees and shrubs and most evergreens respond well to pre-spring pruning. Now is your opportunity to reduce the size of plants that have outgrown their space, correct symmetry issues and lift the canopy of trees.
Exceptions include springflowering shrubs and trees like Japanese magnolias, azaleas and bigleaf hydrangeas — that set flower buds the previous year If you cut these plants back now, you won’t have any blooms later this year They should be pruned immediately after flowering in late spring.
So, take a look around your landscape. What needs some tidying and shaping? Perhaps you have a row of evergreen shrubs like boxwoods that look a bit unkempt. Do you have deciduous trees like bald cypress and crape myrtles that have sprouted low-hanging branches? Maybe you would like to remove these and raise the tree canopy to make it easier to maintain the ground underneath.
To prune your trees and shrubs, you’ll need a pair of sharp hand pruners. For larger branches, you may need to use loppers or a handsaw Make sure the blades are sharp so you can easily make neat cuts, which will heal better Don’t make your cuts flush with the trunk — but don’t cut too far away either. You should leave a small stub, which will leave enough tissue for the shrub or tree to be able to heal the wound. Remember not to get carried away A good rule of thumb in gardening is to never cut
ä See PRUNING, page 2D
For former Louisiana Treasurer John Schroder, riding in every parade is a longtime goal
to eventually
every
KEEP ROLLING
BY DOUG MacCASH Staff writer
By John Schroder’s count, since 1984 he’s ridden or marched in 131 parades presented by 56 organizations across Louisiana.
Most have been Carnival parades: the Mardi Paws dog parade in Covington; the Tchefuncte boat parade; the all-women Krewe of Muses, in which he appeared among the coed Dead Rock Stars dance troupe.
Schroder was all set to be a substitute rider for one of the members of the Rex organization last year, but the opportunity didn’t pan out. So he put the Mardi Gras morning procession back on his bucket list. He’s determined he’ll roll with the King of Carnival someday
That’s part of the overall goal Schroder set for himself. As he explained, “At one point, I decided, ‘You know what, I’m going to ride in every parade.’”
Five days, five parades?
Schroder
Such a quest can get pretty crazy Schroder was born on Feb. 8, and in 2005, Mardi Gras fell on his 44th birthday To celebrate, he rode in five Carnival parades on five con-
MOLLY KIMBALL
secutive days. Starting the Friday night before Fat Tuesday, he was tossing beads from a float in the Original Orpheus parade in Mandeville. Afterward, his wife Ellie sped him across the Causeway, so he could be ready to climb onto a glittering Endymion float on Saturday afternoon. Then he made his way Uptown to take his spot on a Bacchus float on Sunday
Roughly 24 hours later, Schroder was back on the route atop a New Orleans Orpheus parade float on Lundi Gras. And finally, at 3:30 a.m. on Mardi Gras morning, with just a few hours of sleep under his belt he was getting ready to ride in Zulu. By Ash Wednesday, Shroder said he was exhausted from standing on lurching floats, but the experience was fantastic.
See SCHRODER, page 2D
PROVIDED PHOTO FROM JOHN SCHRODER
John Schroder, seen here while preparing to ride in the Endymion parade, hopes
ride in
major Mardi Gras parade in the region.
STAFF FILE PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER
The Krewe of Orpheus parades in New Orleans for Lundi Gras in 2024.
LSU AGCENTER
Husband says he’ll no longer open doors for me
Dear Miss Manners: I have been married to the same man for 40 years. He has recently decided that opening doors for me, serving me first at dinner, and other forms of respect and thoughtfulness are “sexist.” I fix dinner for him daily, do his laundry, etc. all of the things that a “traditional wife” does. I recently retired from a great career and am no slouch when it comes to work. Is he right? I’m hurt and disappointed.
Judith Martin
MISS MANNERS
Gentle reader: Fun times ahead at your place! Miss Manners is sorry to miss watching your husband’s face as he keeps discovering what it is costing him to stop opening doors for you. He is right that many gender-specific practices are fading away But he is unwise to mandate such changes without your consent. Surely you had some working arrangement all these years: You have cooked and laundered, and presumably he
did tasks that were considered “manly” — servicing the car, mowing the lawn and shoveling snow, perhaps. Maybe even doing the taxes. It is quaint now even to think that way Between you, you could each stop performing these “traditional” tasks and bring your household to a standstill. But the little gestures you mention are in a different category. They are symbolic, not practical. Of course you are capable of opening doors. And distinguishing behavior by gender would be damaging in a
Clearing up Medicare confusion
Dear Heloise: I totally agree that no one should give their Medicare card number to anyone over the phone who calls them and asks for it. The scam is due to the fact that a lot of people, like me, have recently received new Medicare cards with new numbers. This is because Medicare was concerned that somewhere, someway, the old cards were compromised in a data breach. I asked Medicare how and where this happened, but they would not share this information with me. So, yes, people are getting new Medicare cards with new numbers, but do not share the new numbers with someone who phones you and requests the num-
PRUNING
ber Regards. — Mike Gleason, via email
Lowering grocery bills
Dear Heloise: I don’t grab a basket, not even a handheld one, if I am going to buy just milk, coffee and asparagus (to accompany chicken for dinner). This way I can carry the few items I need and can’t add in any impulse purchases, like biscotti or an enticing new creamer It also helps me maintain a healthy weight. — MamaVanhorn,via email A sneaky surprise
Dear Heloise: After seeing the letter about eggs in imported goods, I just had to write. Years ago when I owned a drapery manufacturing company, we had a real surprise one day As we
Continued from page 1D
by our recent freezes and appears to be dead. It’s still too early to determine the full extent of freeze damage. Wait a few more weeks and reevaluate your plants after spring growth has begun. You’ll be able to tell what is actually dead — and needs to be pruned and what survived and was able to bounce back. While you’re pruning, you also can fertilize your trees and shrubs to nourish them before spring. Use a two-to-three-month controlled release, balanced fertilizer You don’t want to use fertilizer that will feed too far into the summer and cause unnecessary growth beyond early summer Follow the instructions
SCHRODER
Continued from page 1D
He said he called his father, who was suffering with terminal cancer, as his Zulu float was surrounded by “people as far as you could see,” he said.
A familiar name
If the name John Schroder rings a bell, it’s because when he wasn’t riding in parades — he was serving as a Louisiana state representative from St. Tammany Parish from 2008 to 2017, and Louisiana state treasurer from 2017 to 2024. Schroder ran for governor unsuccessfully in the last election. Schroder, 63, arrived at his love of Mardi Gras naturally As a kid, his dad worked at the Star Chrysler dealership on the Canal Street parade route. It was a throwme-something bonanza for his five siblings and all their friends.
“It was very normal,” Schroder said, for his mother to take the family to the lot “to catch two, three, four parades on a weekend.”
His mom, he said, was especially devoted to the celebration. Her “whole side of the family were Mardi Gras fiends,” he said. Just as soon as the Christmas tree came down, the purple, green and gold decorations went up, he said.
Police, politics, business Schroder put himself through college painting houses, he said, then joined the Army’s 101st Airborne Division, and eventually became a Criminal Investiga-
began to work on an order of imported fabric, much to my dismay and the screams of my employees, a snake crawled out of the roll of fabric. All I know about the snake is that he wasn’t from the United States. This story is true and good for a laugh now and then. — Evelyn Brown, Little Rock,Arkansas
Nontoxic weed killer
Dear Heloise: Some years ago, I found out a way to make a nontoxic weed killer In a bucket, combine 2 cups of Epsom salt, ¼ cup of dishwashing liquid, and a gallon of white vinegar After mixing it, I always leave it to sit overnight so that the Epsom salt dissolves (as it can take a while). Works like a charm!
Schrowie,A Devoted Reader
Send a hint to heloise@ heloise.com.
tion Division special agent
Owing to that experience, when he entered civilian life
Schroder became an undercover narcotics detective in Ascension Parish, where he disguised himself as, what else, a house painter
Between his careers as a detective and a politician, he became a successful businessman, investing in northshore real estate.
At age 30, Schroder rode in his first Carnival parade — the bygone Corps de Napoleon parade in Metairie with his mom. “I just remember how excited she was,” he said, “sorting the beads, laying it all out on the float.”
Pretty soon, he was just as excited as she was. Schroder signed up to ride in the Centurions parade in Metairie, then the Original Orpheus parade in Covington, then Thoth — where he was a float lieutenant for 12 years then Endymion, where he’s still a float leader In addition, he dabbled in as many other krewes as would have him.
“I started getting big into it,” Schroder understated.
He’d drive a tractor
Schroder said he isn’t picky He doesn’t need to be a float rider to participate. A time or two, he’s been a chauffeur for a grand marshal Heck, Schroder said he’d be happy to drive a tractor, as long as he can be in a parade.
His favorite parts of the season, he said, are Endymion’s roll through Mid-City and Thoth’s visit to hospitals and homes.
Schroder said his toughest parade was on one of those
shiveringly cold, wet Mardi Gras mornings, marching all the way down St. Charles Avenue with Pete Fountain’s Half-Fast Walking Club.
“It was miserable. I don’t really drink, but I remember having a bloody mary that morning to try to warm myself up.”
At what cost?
Schroder said you might not expect to find a businessman and former state treasurer so involved with Carnival.
“Being conservative on financial things doesn’t really match up with Mardi Gras,” he said. “It’s a waste of money.”
Unless, of course you count the camaraderie, family traditions and other intangibles.
“It’s just unbelievable, seeing the people, and everything that goes with it,” Schroder said. “I love it.”
Part of his Carnival celebration these days “is taking my grandkids to the parades.”
What Schroder says he’s learned over the years is that Carnival may seem like a huge event, but it’s actually made up of hundreds and hundreds of small clubs all doing their things simultaneously He wants to sample as many as possible.
Schroder says he has no exact criteria for which parades to add to his running total. He plans to prioritize processions that take place in New Orleans. But, he said, “I will ride in any parade that I’m invited to ride in.”
Email Doug MacCash at dmaccash@theadvocate. com.
professional setting. In private and social life, however, such customs often linger because they have acquired a certain charm. That is why for example, a high-powered executive still might want her father to “give her away” at her wedding. You might want to tell your husband that as the female in the marriage, you will decide what is sexist and what is harmlessly charming. You might pick his next laundry day to do so.
Dear Miss Manners: When planning a party, I am sure many of us could agree it is stressful trying
By The Associated Press
Today is Tuesday Feb.
25, the 56th day of 2025. There are 309 days left in the year
Today in history
On Feb. 25, 1964, Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay) became world heavyweight boxing champion for the first time as he defeated Sonny Liston in Miami Beach.
On this date:
In 1870, Republican Hiram R. Revels of Mississippi was sworn in as U.S. senator, becoming the first African American member of either house of Congress.
In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, giving Congress the power to levy and collect income taxes, was declared in effect by Secretary of State Philander Chase Knox.
In 1986, President Ferdinand Marcos fled the Phil-
CHALLENGE
Continued from page 1D
online #AlcoholFreeFor40 community for virtual
to get an accurate head count. How do you get the people you invited to respond in a timely fashion?
Gentle reader: An excellent question. Please let Miss Manners know when you come up with an answer
Send questions to Miss Manners at her website, www missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.
TODAY IN HISTORY
ippines after 20 years of rule in the wake of a tainted election; opposition leader Corazon Aquino — the first woman to lead the country — assumed the presidency
In 1991, during the Persian Gulf War, 28 American soldiers were killed when an Iraqi Scud missile hit a U.S. barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
In 1994, American-born Jewish settler Baruch Goldstein opened fire with an automatic rifle inside the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the West Bank during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, killing 29 Muslims before he was beaten to death by worshippers.
In 1997, a jury in Media, Pennsylvania, convicted chemical fortune heir John E. du Pont of third-degree murder, deciding he was mentally ill when he shot and killed world-class wrestler David Schultz. (Du Pont died in prison in December 2010 while
serving a 13- to 30-year sentence; he was 72.) In 2020, U.S. health officials warned that the coronavirus was certain to spread more widely in the U.S.; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged Americans to be prepared. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, speaking in India,
camaraderie, inspiration and accountability Registration closes at midnight March 2 Visit www. AlcoholFreeFor40.com to learn more, sign up, and start your journey toward a healthier, more energized you. It’s the perfect springtime reset to help you feel your best inside and out. Email Molly Kimball at nutrition@ochsner.org.
Hints from Heloise
PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Love makes the world go 'round. Pick up the pieces you left behind and fill your day with positivity and a desire to see the good in others. Life is about choices; do what's best for you.
ARIES (March 21-April 19) Channel your energy wisely. Don't waste time on situations you cannot change or negative individuals trying to rattle your nerves. Focus on using your energy to promote positive gain.
tAuRuS (April 20-May 20) Say no to toxic situations. Move toward peace of mind, even if your journey necessitates difficult choices. Put your time and effort into things that bring you joy.
GEMInI (May 21-June 20) It's easier to navigate life's land mines if you know what to look out for. Make changes and don't mask problems instead of eliminating them Deal with things in an assertive fashion.
CAnCER (June 21-July 22) Be the light everyone looks to for guidance. Your wisdom, experience and gratitude will offer strength to loved ones and help you recognize what's possible. Push forward and achieve great things.
LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Be a leader, not a follower — make things happen instead of sitting on the sidelines observing and criticizing others. Join forces with sincere people and find purpose in making positive changes.
VIRGo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) An unfamiliar environment will set your mind adrift.
Use your experience to get a read on what's new and exciting, and you'll discover the power of positive change. Today is about growth.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-oct. 23) Spread the love. Compliment and help those around you, and see what happens. Choose a jubilant approach to life; doors will open, and opportunities will manifest.
SCoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Share ideas, lend a helping hand, expand your circle of friends and choose peace of mind and personal happiness over enticement. Make choices based on facts, figures and flexibility.
SAGIttARIuS (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Observe, listen and assess situations carefully Stick to the rules and take the path that bypasses indulgent behavior and temptation. Choose wisely, and you'll be proud of your achievements.
CAPRICoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Take your time. Refuse to bend or let someone take advantage of you. Speak up and stand up for what's best for you. Protect your physical and emotional wellbeing and your reputation.
Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present. Each letter in the cipher stands for another.
toDAy'S CLuE: L EQuALS A
CeLebrItY CIpher
For better or For WorSe
FrAnK And erneSt
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
nea CroSSwordS La TimeS CroSSword
THe wiZard oF id
BLondie
BaBY BLueS
Hi and LoiS
By PHILLIP ALDER
Lao-tzu, a Chinese philosopher who died in 531 B.C., said, “When the highest type of men hear Tao, they diligently practiceit.Whentheaveragetypeofmen hearTao,theyhalfbelieveinit.Whenthe lowest type of men hear Tao, they laugh heartily at it. Without the laugh, there is no Tao.”
This week we are looking at the defensive principle that if you lead a low card from length, you guarantee at least one honor in that suit. With a weak suit, you lead an unnecessarily high card. This is no laughing matter, but there is one situation when the rule should be ignored when you are leading partner’s suit and you have not supported that suit. Then, giving length information is (usually) more important than strength information. This deal is a textbook example. North passes as dealer, East opens one heart, and South leaps majestically to four spades. If West leads the heart seven (top of nothing), East will think it is a singleton or high from a doubleton. He will win the first trick with the heart nine (low from touching cards when playing third hand high), take the heart ace, and try to cash the heart king. But South will ruff and run all of his trumps. There is no minorsuit squeeze, but declarer takes eight spades and two clubs.
