begin soon on $400M plant, with demolition of old site set to begin this summer
BY MEGAN WYATT
Staff writer
A $400 million power plant project will soon break ground at the existing Louis “Doc” Bonin Electric Generating Station on Walker Road
The Lafayette Utilities System project will provide a local source of electricity for the city in anticipation of the closure of the Rodemacher Power Station Unit 2 near Boyce.
“It’s the biggest project we’ve ever initiated,” said LUS Director Jeff Stewart. “This is a celebration. I’m excited about it It is daunting. It is a huge task.”
The coal-powered Rodemacher plant, which LUS has an ownership interest in, is slated to close by 2028 amid stricter environmental regulations. The Doc Bonin project will involve demolishing the existing natural gas facility at 1120 Walker Road, which stopped producing electricity in 2013, and building a more efficient natural gas plant at the same location
Demolition is set to begin this summer and will take about a year Construction is set to begin on the new plant in 2027 and be fully operational in 2029.
“Lafayette is one of the most special
the Bonin Redevelopment Project.
places in the country, and I do believe a big part of that is because of the assets we have, such as LUS,” said Lafayette Parish Mayor-President Monique Boulet. “We made decisions many, many decades ago that set us on a different path, and it is indicative of who we are
and how we do things.” Lafayette voters in 1896 supported the creation of LUS to provide electricity and water to the growing community
ä See PLANT, page 4A
Government efficiency group adds state auditor
Task force mirrors Elon Musk’s DOGE
BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer
A task force facing criticism for meeting outside of public view is partnering with state auditors to help find waste in government spending, Gov Jeff Landry announced Wednesday The Fiscal Responsibility Program, created by the governor in December, will work with the
Louisiana Legislative Auditor in its mission to eliminate unnecessary spending.
Landry appears to be modeling the Fiscal Responsibility Program on the federal Department of Government Efficiency created by President Donald Trump and headed by business owner Elon Musk. He is inviting citizens to offer suggestions on how the state can save money to email ladoge@lla.la.gov
The task force met twice this year in secret before pausing its work earlier this month. That move came after good government groups said
it failed to adhere to the state public meetings law which requires the group to give public notice beforehand of its meetings that then have to be open to the public. The task force includes eight state legislators and is led by Steve Orlando, a close friend of Landry’s who owned a successful oil field services company
“The partnership allows us to expand our work to create state fiscal responsibility,” Orlando said in a text. “The commitment is real. Results are coming!” Mike Waguespack, the legislative
auditor, seconded that point in an interview saying his office already conducts regular financial and performance audits of state agencies.
“We do a lot of audits on state agencies that get put on a shelf,” Waguespack said. Now he added, “we have a group that will potentially look at our audits and take action. We’ll be the boots on the ground.
I’m super excited about this.”
The governor’s news release did not say whether the group will begin holding public meetings.
“We will always comply with public meeting law,” Orlando texted
Docked benefits to start flowing
retirees to receive lump sum
BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer
$1,440, that retiree will soon receive a $5,040 lump sum check — or, more likely the amount will be direct deposited. Then, the monthly check will be $1,800.
State to open applications Saturday
BY PATRICK WALL Staff writer
It’s officially GATOR season. On Saturday, Louisiana families can begin applying to LA GATOR, a new tax-funded scholarship program meant to help parents pay for private education. Replacing the state’s long-running voucher program, LA GATOR — officially the Louisiana Giving All True Opportunity to Rise program — will be open to more families and allow for more uses than its predecessor In addition to private school tuition, parents can spend the scholarship money on tutoring, textbooks, special-education services and other approved expenses. “For families who are looking for a different approach to educating their child, this is a great opportunity,” said Germain Gilson, assistant superintendent of school choice for the Louisiana Department of Education.
ä See APPLICATIONS, page 4A
STAFF PHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK
The Louis ‘Doc’ Bonin Electric Generating Station will be demolished over the next year so that a new power plant, Bonin 4, can be built.
David Bergeron, from left, Kerney Simoneaux and Stacee Dunbar discuss a rendering of the planned Bonin 4 power plant during a Tuesday ceremony to kick off
Graves
Trachtenberg, ‘Buffy’ and ‘Harriet’ star, dies NEW YORK Michelle Trachtenberg, a former child star who appeared in the 1996 “Harriet the Spy” hit movie and went on to co-star in two buzzy millennial-era TV shows — “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Gossip Girl” — has died. She was 39. Police responded to a 911 call shortly after 8 a.m. at a 51-story luxury apartment tower in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood where officers found Trachtenberg “unconscious and unresponsive,” according to an NYPD statement.
Paramedic s pron ounced her dead at the scene. No foul play was suspected, police said Trachtenberg was 8 when she began playing Nona Mecklenberg on Nickelodeon’s “The Adventures of Pete & Pete” from 1994 to 1996.
In 2000 Trachtenberg joined the cast of “Buffy,” playing Dawn Summers, the younger sister of the title character played by Sarah Michelle Gellar between 2000 and 2003.
Trachtenberg thanked Gellar for speaking out against Joss Whedon in 2021, following abuse allegations made against the “Buffy” showrunner Trachtenberg alluded to “his not appropriate behavior” she experienced as a teenage actor
In 2001, she received a Daytime Emmy nomination for hosting Discovery’s “Truth or Scare.” Man charged with threat to burn down xAI facility
ASHLAND CITY,Tenn.— A Tennessee man has been charged with an act of terrorism after he threatened to burn down an xAI facility because he was upset with its founder, Elon Musk, and President Donald Trump, authorities said.
Ethan Paul Early, 25, of Ashland City, was arrested and charged on Feb 20 after he spoke with a police officer about the threats, according to an affidavit He was booked into jail on $500,000 bond, court records show A lawyer listed in court records for Early did not immediately return a call seeking comment Wednesday
A police officer in Ashland City said he received a call from a friend of Early’s who was concerned after Early said he wanted to burn down one of Musk’s data centers because he was upset with the tech billionaire and Trump, the affidavit says.
The officer went to Early’s home and asked him what he was thinking of burning down, the affidavit says. Early said Musk had an “AI factory” in Memphis. Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI, operates a supercomputer in Memphis.
Early told the officer that he was no longer thinking about going through with the idea “and that he had good friends that had talked him out of it,” the affidavit says.
Texas child dies from measles
BY DEVI SHASTRI and AMANDA SEITZ
Associated Press
LUBBOCK, Texas A child who wasn’t vaccinated died in a measles outbreak in rural West Texas, state officials said Wednesday, the first U S death from the highly contagious respiratory disease since 2015.
The school-aged child had been hospitalized and died Tuesday night amid the widespread outbreak, Texas’ largest in nearly 30 years. Since it began last month, a rash of 124 cases has erupted across nine counties.
The Texas Department of State Health Services and Lubbock health officials confirmed the death to The Associated Press. The Lubbock hospital where the child had been treated — and where most measles patients have been hospitalized during the outbreak — didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation’s top health official and a vac-
cine critic, said Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is “watching” cases, though he did not provide specifics on how the federal agency is assisting. He dismissed Texas’ outbreak as “not unusual” during a Wednesday meeting of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet members.
“We’re following the measles epidemic every day,” Kennedy said in response to a reporter’s question about the child’s death.
The federal government is providing vaccines as well as technical and laboratory support in West Texas, but the state health department is leading the response, said Andrew Nixon, spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services.
Texas Gov Greg Abbott said through a spokesman that his office is in regular communication with the state health department and epidemiologists, and that vaccination teams are in the “affected area.”
“The state will deploy all nec-
essary resources to ensure the safety and health of Texans,” said spokesman Andrew Mahaleris, calling the child’s death a tragedy
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said it will provide only weekly updates on the measles outbreak, and has not yet updated its public webpage to reflect the child’s death. Texas health department data shows that a majority of the reported measles cases are in children.
The virus has largely spread among rural, oil rig-dotted towns in West Texas, with cases concentrated in a “close-knit, undervaccinated” Mennonite community, health department spokesperson Lara Anton said. Gaines County, which has reported 80 cases so far, has a strong homeschooling and private school community It is also home to one of the highest rates of school-aged children in Texas who have opted out of at least one required vaccine, with nearly 14% skipping a required dose last school year
Mourners gather around the convoy carrying the
and her two children, Ariel and Kfir, during their funeral procession
Israel, on Wednesday. The mother and her two children were abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and their remains were returned from Gaza to Israel last week as part of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
Hamas hands over 4 more dead hostages from Gaza
BY WAFAA SHURAFA, SAMY MAGDY and JOSEF FEDERMAN Associated Press
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip Hamas handed over four dead hostages to the Red Cross early Thursday in exchange for Israel’s release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, days before the first phase of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will end.
An Israeli security official confirmed that Hamas handed the bodies to the Red Cross. The official spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement.
At around the same time a Red Cross convoy carrying dozens of released Palestinian prisoners left Israel’s Ofer prison Crowds of cheering families, friends and supporters of Palestinian prisoners were gathered in Beitunia jostling for a glimpse of the bus that was on its way Israel had delayed the release of over 600 Palestinian prisoners since Saturday to protest what it called the cruel treatment of hostages during their handover by Hamas. The militant group has called the delay a “serious violation” of the ceasefire and said talks on a second phase aren’t possible until the Palestinians are freed.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office had said Wednesday that the release of the bodies would be carried out without a ceremony, as opposed to past Hamas releases with stage-managed events in front of crowds. Israel, along with the Red Cross and U.N. officials, have called the ceremonies humiliating for the hostages.
33 hostages, including eight bodies, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
The family of a hostage in Gaza said it was notified he is dead and his body was among those to be returned to Israel. The family did not say who informed them.
Tsachi Idan was taken from Kibbutz Nahal Oz. His eldest daughter, Maayan, was killed as militants shot through the door of the safe room. Hamas militants broadcast themselves on Facebook holding the family hostage in their home as two younger children pleaded to let them go.
A fragile ceasefire in peril
The ceasefire’s six-week first phase expires this weekend. U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, has said he wants the sides to move into negotiations on the second phase, during which all remaining hostages held by Hamas would be released and an end to the war would be negotiated.
Talks on the second phase were supposed to begin the first week of February
The ceasefire, brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, ended 15 months of war that erupted after Hamas’ 2023 attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people. About 250 people were taken hostage.
Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials, who don’t differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths.
Israel buries mother, sons
Baby white rhino makes public debut in Belgium
BRUGELETTE,Belgium Baby white rhino Nova captivated visitors at Belgium’s Pairi Daiza Zoo on Wednesday, making her public debut with a playful display of jumps and frolics alongside her mother, Ellie.
Born on Jan. 2, the rare calf first had to be nurtured in the warmth of a secure area where she could gather strength and weight. Earlier this week, her mother brought her out to get acquainted with other rhinos. She was also given a hesitant outing where the public got a first peek.
Among those leaving Israel early Thursday were hundreds of detainees arrested from Gaza, held on suspicion of militancy after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, without charge for months. They include 445 men, 21 teenagers and one woman who were all arrested after the Hamas attack, according to lists shared by Palestinian officials that did not specify their ages.
Only around 50 Palestinians were being released into the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem in this round. Dozens sentenced to life over deadly attacks against Israelis will be exiled out of the Palestinian territories, taken to Egypt at least temporarily until other countries accept them.
The handover will complete both sides’ obligations under the ceasefire’s first phase, during which Hamas returned
On Wednesday, tens of thousands of Israelis lined highways as the bodies of a mother and her two young sons, killed in captivity in Gaza, were taken for burial on Wednesday
The bodies of Shiri Bibas and her sons, 9-month-old Kfir and 4-year-old Ariel, were handed over earlier this month.
Israel says forensic evidence shows the children were killed by their captors in November 2023, while Hamas says the family was killed along with their guards in an Israeli airstrike.
The husband and father, Yarden Bibas, was abducted separately and released alive in a different handover His wife and their children were buried in a private ceremony near Kibbutz Nir Oz near Gaza, where they were living when they were abducted. They were buried in a joint grave next to Shiri’s parents, who were killed in the attack.
The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine — which is safe and highly effective at preventing infection and severe cases — is recommended for children between 12 and 15 months old for the first shot, with the second coming between 4 and 6 years old.
Vaccination rates have declined nationwide since the COVID-19 pandemic, and most states are below the 95% vaccination threshold for kindergartners — the level needed to protect communities against measles outbreaks. The vaccine series is required for kids before entering kindergarten in public schools nationwide. Last week, Kennedy vowed to investigate the childhood vaccine schedule that prevents measles, polio and other dangerous diseases, despite promises not to change it during his confirmation hearings. Most kids will recover from the measles if they get it, but infection can lead to dangerous complications like pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and death.
Trump sees ‘thirst’ for his ‘gold card’
BY ELLIOT SPAGAT and WILL WEISSERT Associated Press
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he plans to start selling a “gold card” visa with a potential pathway to U.S. citizenship for $5 million, seeking to have that new initiative replace a 35-year-old visa program for investors.
“I happen to think it’ll sell like crazy It’s a market,” Trump said. “But we’ll know very soon.”
During the first meeting of his second-term Cabinet, Trump suggested that the new revenue generated from the program could be used to pay off the country’s debt.
“If we sell a million, that’s 5 trillion dollars,” he said. Of the demand from the business community to participate, he said “I think we will sell a lot because I think there’s really a thirst.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters during the same meeting that Trump’s initiative would replace the EB-5
program, which offers U.S. visas to investors who spent about $1 million on a company that employs at least 10 people. Lutnick said that program “has been around for many years for investment in projects” but “it was poorly overseen, poorly executed.” The new program could mark a dramatic shift in U.S. immigration policy but isn’t unprecedented elsewhere. Countries in Europe and elsewhere offer what have become known as “golden visas” that allow participants to pay in order to secure immigration status in desirable places. Congress, meanwhile, determines qualifications U.S. for citizenship, but the president said “gold cards” would not require congressional approval. Trump said of future possible recipients of the gold visa program: “They’ll be wealthy and they’ll be successful and they’ll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people, and we think it’s going to be extremely successful.”
Nova, left, an endangered southern white rhinoceros born in January, stands next to her mother Elie at Paira Daiza Zoo in Brugelette, Belgium, Wednesday.
Trachtenberg
Musk gets star turn at Trump’s Cabinet meeting
BY ZEKE MILLER
AP White House correspondent
WASHINGTON Elon Musk took a star turn at the first Cabinet meeting of President Donald Trump’s new term, holding forth in a black “Make America Great Again” campaign hat on Wednesday about his role as “humble tech support” for the federal government — and laying out dire stakes if his cost-cutting efforts fail.
“If we don’t do this, America will go bankrupt,” Musk told department heads assembled around a large wooden table in the Cabinet Room.
Trump, not one to easily share the spotlight, seemed happy to turn the top of the hour-plus meeting over to Musk for a “little summary” of what the Department of Government Efficiency has been up to, saying that Musk’s team had found evidence of “horrible things” afoot in the government.
“He’s sacrificing a lot,” Trump said of Musk, referencing the time the world’s richest man is taking away from his many business ventures. “He’s also getting hit.”
Musk, for his part, said his lightningfast efforts to right-size the government had drawn death threats and he jokingly knocked his fist on his “wooden head” as he said he hoped to find $1 trillion to trim from the federal budget, an effort that has caused extensive disruption among federal workers and those who rely on their services.
Musk defended his weekend attempt to require government workers to justify their prior week’s work under penalty of termination — a move that drew pushback from many in the room on national security and privacy grounds as merely a “pulse check” to ensure that those working for the government have “a pulse and two neurons,” adding that “this is not a high bar” for workers to meet.
Speculating that some workers are either dead or fictional, Musk added that the goal was to see that workers are real, alive and can “write an email.”
Musk did volunteer that his efforts to slash government spending would “make
mistakes.” He cited as an example that, while hustling to dramatically shrink the U.S. Agency for International Development, “One of the things we accidentally canceled very briefly was Ebola prevention.” Musk insisted that “there was no interruption” in services before the funding was restored.
But a USAID official said Wednesday that no funds for the agency’s Ebola response had been released under President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 funding freeze for foreign aid, including for efforts to combat the spread of the deadly virus.
After about 15 minutes of focus on Musk and DOGE, Trump shifted the spotlight of the Cabinet meeting back to his own accomplishments in his first weeks in office.
The Cabinet sat mostly silently for more than an hour as Trump opened the floor to questions from an invited group of reporters. Asked if he expected his Cabinet to follow his directives without exception, Trump initially scoffed at the question before answering, “of course, no exceptions.”
Memo sets stage for large-scale layoffs of federal workers
BY CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government is facing a generational realignment as President Donald Trump directs federal agencies to develop plans for eliminating employee positions and consolidating programs. Senior officials set the downsizing in motion on Wednesday with a memo that dramatically expands Trump’s efforts to scale back a workforce described as an impediment to his agenda. Thousands of probationary employees have already been fired, and now the Republican administration is turning its attention to career officials with civil service protection.
“We’re cutting down the size of government. We have to,” Trump said during the first Cabinet meeting of his second term. “We’re bloated. We’re sloppy We have a lot of people that aren’t doing their job.”
The ripple effects will be felt around the country.
Roughly 80% of federal workers live outside the Washington area, and government services — patent approvals, food inspections, park maintenance and more could be hindered depending on how cuts are handled.
Resistance is expected. Labor unions, Democratic state leaders and other organizations have tried, with some success, to slow Trump down with litigation, while Republicans are growing more concerned about how a slash-and-burn strategy could affect their constituents.
“Once you do this damage, it’s going to be incredibly hard to rebuild the capacity of these organizations,” said Don Moynihan, a public policy professor at the Uni-
versity of Michigan. “It’s not like you can turn the switch back on and everything is going to be the way it was before.”
Agencies are directed to submit by March 13 their plans for what is known as a reduction in force, which would not only lay off employees but eliminate the position altogether The result could be extensive changes in how government functions.
No specific targets for cutbacks were included in the memo. However, as an example, Trump said the Environmental Protection Agency could reduce its staff by 65%.
More plans are due on April 14, when agencies are expected to outline how they will consolidate management, become more efficient and potentially relocate offices to parts of the country that are less expensive than Washington. The memo said agencies have a Sept. 30 deadline for implementation. Administration officials framed their effort as a costsaving measure with a clear ideological goal.
“The federal government is costly, inefficient, and deeply in debt. At the same time, it is not producing results for the American public,” said the memo from Russell Vought, director of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, and Charles Ezell, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management, which functions as a human resources agency “Instead, tax dollars are being siphoned off to fund unproductive and unnecessary programs that benefit radical interest groups while hurting hardworking American citizens.”
Vought was an author of Project 2025, a conserva-
tive blueprint for Trump’s second term, and he has advocated for centralizing power under the presidency and dismantling federal bureaucracy
“We’re not going to save our country without a little confrontation,” Vought said last summer during a podcast hosted by Trump ally Stephen Bannon.
Moynihan described the memo as a “backdoor way” of reducing the size of government since Congress hasn’t passed any legislation to cut programs.
“There’s a fundamental realignment of power here,” he said. “This administration is saying we have much more power than any previous administration when it comes to deciding how government works.”
Kevin Owen, an employment lawyer who represents federal workers, compared the administration’s initiative to the kind of disruptions that are caused by government shutdowns during congressional budget standoffs.
“This looks like a plan for a significant and shocking reduction of the federal workforce that I don’t think the American people are prepared for,” Owen said. “It’s going to cripple a lot of government functions.”
He said that Trump and his allies were focusing on speed rather than precision as they overhaul the government.
“Their plan is to do the damage and get sued,” he said. If a court ultimately rules against them, “by that point, they would have gotten what they wanted in interim.”
Trump foreshadowed the effort in a recent executive order that he signed with Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur who oversees the so-called Department of Government Efficiency,
Trump says Zelenskyy coming to sign critical minerals deal
But Ukraine can ‘forget about’ joining NATO
BY AAMER MADHANI, HANNA ARHIROVA and JUSTIN SPIKE Associated Press
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit the White House on Friday to sign a long-sought minerals deal that will closely tie the two countries together for years to come. Trump made the announcement at the start of the first Cabinet meeting of his second term, hailing the deal as “a very big agreement.”
The Republican president has long complained that the United States has spent too much taxpayer money to support Ukraine in the war with Russia that began when the Kremlin invaded three years ago Trump has framed the emerging deal that would give the U.S. access to Ukraine’s deposits of so-called rare earth minerals — used in the aerospace, defense and nuclear industries — as a chance for Kyiv
to pay back the U.S. for aid already sent for the war effort under Democratic President Joe Biden.
“The previous administration put us in a very bad position, but we’ve been able to make a deal where we’re going to get the money back and a lot of money in the future,” Trump said.
Zelenskyy said a news conference early Wednesday in Kyiv that a framework of an economic deal had been reached, but that it did not yet include U.S. security guarantees, which his country sees as vital. The full agreement could hinge on the upcoming talks in Washington.
The framework is a preliminary step toward a comprehensive package that will be subject to ratification by the Ukrainian parliament, Zelenskyy said Ukraine needs to know first where the U.S stands on its continued military support, Zelenskyy said. He said he expected a wide-ranging conversation with Trump.
The economic agreement “may be part of future security guarantees, but I want to understand the broader vision. What awaits Ukraine?”
Zelensky said.
But Trump was noncommittal about any coming American security guarantees. “I’m not going to make security guarantees very much,” Trump said. “We’re going to have Europe do that.”
He said a U.S presence working on mineral extraction would amount to “automatic security because nobody’s going to be messing around with our people when we’re there.”
“It’s a great deal for Ukraine too, because they get us over there and we’re going to be working over there,” Trump said. “We will be on the land.”
Trump hopes to soon speak face to face with Russian President Vladimir Putin about reaching an agreement to end the war in Ukraine that began when Moscow invaded in February 2022.
The Republican president underscored his administration’s position that Ukraine’s aspiration to join NATO, the Western military alliance, is not tenable.
“NATO, you can forget about it,” Trump said. “I think that’s probably the reason the whole thing started.”
known as DOGE. The order said agency leaders “shall promptly undertake preparations to initiate large-scale reductions in force,” or RIF
Some departments have already begun this process.
The General Services Administration, which handles federal real estate, told employees on Monday that a reduction in force was underway and they would do “everything in our power to make your departure fair and dignified.”
Law enforcement, national security, public safety, military positions and U.S Postal Service positions are
exempt.
The memo was released shortly before Trump convened Cabinet officials as well as Musk.
Musk has caused turmoil within the federal workforce, most recently by demanding that employees justify their jobs or risk getting fired. OPM later said that the edict was voluntary, although workers could face similar requests in the future.
Before the meeting, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that “all of the Cabinet secretaries take the advice and
direction of DOGE.” Musk’s operation became more powerful on Wednesday with a new executive order signed by Trump. He directed agencies to develop new systems for distributing and justifying payments so they could be monitored by DOGE representatives. Employee travel is being limited and agency credit cards are being frozen unless they’re used for disaster relief or supervisors create an exception. The order said government workers must be “accountable to the American public.”
Dual enrollment at LSUE empowers high school students to earn college degreesand jumpstart theirfutures
earn collegecredits anddegrees whileinhighschool andpreparing them for long-termsuccess. Throughdualenrollment, high schoolerswho meet academic requirements take LSUE courses that countasbothhighschooland collegecredits Most of thecourses areavailable viadistance learning, meaningstudents from acrossthe state cancompletethemvirtually.AlishaFontenot, director of thedualenrollmentprogram andLSUE Academy,saidmanystudentsuse dual enrollment to take introductory-level courses, therebygetting a head startontheir collegecareers
Akey componentofdualenrollmentisthe LSUE Academy, in whichhighschoolstudents canearn an associate’sdegreealong with theirhighschool diplomabytakingenoughLSUEcourses
“Itgives thesestudents theability to envision successafter high school,” said Dr.JohnHamlin, LSUE vice-chancellorfor academic affairs
TheLSUEAcademyand dual enrollment are availabletostudents in traditionalhighschools home schoolsand charterschools Dr.Hamlinnoted that many dual enrollment and LSUE Academystudentsare eligible fortuition discounts, andthatseveral Louisianaschooldistricts coveratleast aportion of thecost. That meansthat students whomay nototherwise have thechancetobe exposedtocollege coursesnow have that opportunity. Fontenot said LSUE Academy students are eligible to take anycourses at thecollege.Theyare held to thesamestandards as other LSUE students andprofessorsoften don’t know that astudent is in dual enrollment
“Whenstudents schedule courseswithme, especially if they areinthe Academy, we matchthose to theirpreferred degree plan andthe collegethey expect to attend afterhighschool,”Fontenotsaid. “I’m very adamantabout students nottakingclasses that they won’tuse later. Iwanttosee them taking classesthatwillbestserve them.” RylieFontenot, nowasophomore electrical engineeringmajor at LSUinBaton Rouge, graduated from theLSUEAcademy with an associate’sdegree in general studiesatthe same time sheearnedher diplomafromEuniceHighSchool. That hasallowed hertotake12credithours persemester, something
e same time,” shesaid. “I candefinitely devote more time to each assignment.I’m also able to hold two jobsbecause Ihavetimetoworkinbetween my class schedule.Iwouldn’thavebeenabletodoany of that withoutthe Academydegree.” Fontenot said herLSUEexperiencealsotaught herresponsibility, time management andhow to navigate thecollege world, whichmadefor an easier transition to alarge university
“I findthatitalsoboostsyourresume,” shesaid “I’m lookingfor internshipsnow,and IlovethatIcan putthatI alreadyhaveanassociate’s degree.Ithink it showspeoplethatIworkhard, challengemyselfand am willing to go aboveand beyond what’s required.” Landen Soileauisa senior at Iota High School andinhis second year at theLSUEAcademy,where he willearnanassociate’s degree in business this spring.Soileau said theexperienceisgivinghim thebestofbothworlds– thechancetoparticipate in school activities andspend hissenioryearwith hisclassmateswhile also starting hiscollege career andgivinghim astrongeducational foundation
“Ifeellikethisistheperfectsteppingstonebetween high school andcollege,” Soileausaid. “The campus is smalland Ifeellikeour professors treatuslike people,not just anumber. I’malsoastudentworker at LSUE, so that’s beenagreat experience as well.It’s definitelymatured me as apersonand taught me how to handle differentresponsibilities. It’s prepared me alot for goingtocollege full-timeafter Igraduate. Becauseofthevirtuallearningoption,morestudents have accesstocollege work at LSUE, includingthose wholiveinrural areasorother partsofLouisiana. In fact,Fontenotsaidabout 80 percentofcurrent LSUE dual enrollment or Academystudents are taking theircourses online “WehavedualenrollmentstudentsfromNew Orleans, BatonRouge andShreveport, as well as smallertowns that maybetwo or threehours away from anycollege campus,” Dr.Hamlinadded.“The onething thesestudentsall have in common is that they’vedonetheir research andknowthe valueand integrityofanLSUEeducation.” Visitwww.lsue.edu/de to learnmoreabout dual enrollment opportunitiesatLSUE.
POOL PHOTO VIA AP
Elon Musk speaks during a Cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
The Doc Bonin station opened in 1965 with one natural gas-fired steam turbine and cooling tower The site later expanded to three gas-fired steam turbines and three cooling towers to meet the needs of a growing city The station stopped generating electricity in 2013, but it continued to operate as an LUS operations center until a few months ago.
The plant’s namesake comes from a former LUS employee who championed the construction of a new electric generating station. Doc Bonin was known for his warm demeanor and kindness in the workplace as well as his wardrobe of starched khakis and a leather bow tie. He began working as a lineman at LUS in 1924 and later served as the electric distribution superintendent. He died in 1959 before the station opened in 1965. LUS also owns and operates the T.J. Labbe and Hargis-Hebert electric generating stations in Lafayette, which opened about 20
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Louisiana is one of nearly 20 Republican-led states that have created scholarships, also called education savings accounts, that give families public money to pay for private education. Champions of this approach, including President Donald Trump, say parents should decide whether the tax dollars allocated for their children go to public, private or home schools.
Gov Jeff Landry made the scholarships his top education priority last year, pushing the LA GATOR bill through the Legislature despite opposition from public-education advocates, Democrats and some Republican lawmakers who said the program would divert money from underfunded public schools to loosely regulated private ones.
Last week, Landry proposed spending $93.5 million on LA GATOR scholarships next fiscal year — about double what the state spends annually on private-school vouchers In the coming months the Legislature will debate whether to grant Landry’s budget request or propose a different amount. The outcome will determine how many students will receive scholarships this fall.
For parents planning to apply — or taxpayers tracking state spending — here’s a complete guide to LA GATOR.
What is the process?
Families can apply to participate in LA GATOR from March 1 to April 15.
They’ll apply through an online portal operated by Odyssey, the company Louisiana is paying to manage the program. Parents will need documents proving their residency and income, such as driver’s licenses, utility bills and tax forms. Eligible families who receive scholarships must apply separately to their chosen private schools, which control their own admissions. Many private schools consider applicants’ test scores, grades, attendance and behavior records.
“This does not mean acceptance into the school,” Gilson said about applying for LA GATOR. “All schools have their own application, registration and admissions process.”
Who is eligible?
Students who received school vouchers this year and children from families with a total income at or below 250% of federal poverty guidelines ($80,375 for a family of four) are eligible for scholarships next school year
So are incoming kindergartners and public-school students from families with any level of income If applications exceed available scholarships, then the state will give priority to voucher students, followed by lowincome students and students with disabilities.
The LA GATOR law says scholarships eventually will be available to families at or below 400% of the poverty guidelines and then to all families, but it doesn’t set a timeline for expansion.
Erin Bendily senior vice president of the Pelican Institute, a Louisiana think tank that promotes the scholarships, said the program’s growth will depend on how much money the Legislature allots it. Parents can help build support for it by signing up, she added.
“This is your way to communicate to lawmakers your demand and desire for this program for your child,” she said.
Homeschoolers exempted
Registered homeschoolers cannot participate but there’s a loophole of sorts.
Homeschool families were excluded from the LA GATOR bill partly at the insistence of advocates who didn’t want homeschoolers to face additional oversight or regulations.
However, if a family is eligible for the program (for example, if they meet the income threshold), they can choose to no longer apply for state homeschool approval The family could still educate their children from home but would register them as LA GATOR participants rather than stateapproved “home study” students.
“Your legal status will
The $93.5 million that Gov. Jeff
change,” Bendily said. But “practically speaking for the child, it might not look very different.”
Families could spend the scholarships on textbooks, instructional supplies like pens and notebooks and fees for individual courses in subjects like chemistry or career training, which students could take online or at a local school, Bendily said. But homeschoolers should be aware that the money comes with strings attached, she added. Families must give their children annual standardized tests and submit to possible financial audits — regulations that don’t apply to traditional homeschoolers.
Amounts vary
Each family’s scholarship amount will depend on their circumstances.
Students with disabilities will receive up to $15,253, but the exact amount depends on the student’s needs. For example, children with multiple disabilities will receive more than students with speech impairments, and students with disabilities from lowincome families will get extra funding.
Families at or below 250% of the poverty line will get $7,626. Other eligible families, including those with entering kindergartners or children in public school this year, will get $5,243. Students in the voucher program will continue receiving the same amount they got this year, but now the money will come through LA GATOR.
What can they spend it on?
Families can spend the scholarships on a whole host of education expenses but they must be state approved.
More than 240 private schools have signed up for LA GATOR to date, accord-
ing to the state Education Department. Scholarships can go toward tuition and fees at the participating schools, though families must pay for any portion not covered by their award. Other eligible expenses include textbooks and technology such as laptops; career-training programs and summer school; fees for the Advanced Placement exams and other tests; special-education services, including behavioral, physical and speech-language therapy; college courses available to high school students; individual classes or extracurricular activities offered by participating public schools; private tutoring; and school uniforms. Families will make purchases through an online marketplace run by Odyssey, the state vendor “I liken it to Amazon,” said Ken Bradford, the state Education Department’s chief of staff, during a webinar hosted by the Pelican Institute. “If you’re looking for a particular laptop to do your work you would be able to type that in the search feature of the marketplace, and then the eligible laptops could be purchased.”
By pre-approving items for the marketplace, the state aims to streamline the process for families (no searching for service providers or submitting reimbursements) and prevent misuse. In other states, some families have used ESAs for questionable purchases, such as ski resort passes and video game consoles.
But this approach also limits spending to the goods and services available in the marketplace. If families want an item to be considered for inclusion, they’ll be able to submit a request, state officials said.
Expanded eligibility
The most urgent question for many families is when they’ll be eligible for scholarships.
For now, most middle and upper-income families with children in private schools can’t participate. But Landry has promised to expand the program until all families are eligible, regardless of financial need.
“I believe that within the next four to five years we can get to full implementation,” he told supporters at a Catholic high school in Me-
tairie last year, adding that the state will move “as fast as the Legislature will appropriate the money.”
Eligibility is one thing, but funding is another
The $93.5 million that Landry proposed for LA GATOR next school year is expected to cover just over 11,000 scholarships — nearly 6,000 for current voucher students and 5,300 for other eligible students. In 2023, more than 110,000 Louisiana students attended state-approved private schools. If those students become eligible for scholarships, costs would skyrocket.
Funding might never match demand. But proponents of the scholarships, Landry being the most prominent, still plan to push hard on lawmakers to finance the program.
“This has been his signature education legislation,” said state Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley, “so it’s hard for me to believe that he’s not going to fight for funding for GATOR.”
Email Patrick Wall at patrick.wall@theadvocate. com.
STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK
Jeffrey Stewart, director of the Lafayette Utilities System, speaks during a Tuesday ceremony to kick off the Bonin Redevelopment Project at the Louis ‘Doc’ Bonin Electric Generating Station in Lafayette.
How administration has advanced fossil fuels
BY MICHAEL PHILLIS and JENNIFER McDERMOTT Associated Press
President Donald Trump began dismantling his predecessor’s climate change and renewable energy policies on his first day in office, declaring a national energy emergency to speed up fossil fuel development — a policy he has summed up as “drill, baby, drill.”
The declaration calls on the federal government to make it easier for companies to build oil and gas projects, in part by weakening environmental reviews, with the goal of lowering prices and selling to international markets.
Democrats say that’s a sham.
They point out that the U.S is producing more oil and natural gas than any other country and the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act boosted renewable energy at a critical time, creating jobs and addressing the climate change threat 2024 was Earth’s hottest year on record amid the hottest 10-year stretch on record
“It would also set a horrible precedent, that a president of either party can invent a sham emergency and then grab away from Congress powers that Congress has” in the Constitution, said Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia.
Kaine spoke Wednesday in support of a Senate resolution from Democrats to terminate Trump’s declaration, a move likely to be only symbolic given the party’s minority status. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has already made the U.S. an even friendlier environment for fossil fuels. Congress is helping, too, with the House set to vote on a measure to repeal a Biden administration-era methane fee on oil and gas producers.
Here are some ways the Trump administration has moved to advance fossil fuels:
Lifting a pause on LNG exports
The Biden administration last year paused evaluations of new
liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals. That pleased environmentalists concerned that a big surge in exports would contribute to planet-warming emissions. The pause didn’t stop projects already under construction, but it delayed consideration of new projects.
Trump reversed that pause.
On Tuesday, oil and gas giant Shell said global LNG demand is forecast to rise by around 60% by 2040.
The United States is expected to play a major role in meeting that demand, with its export capacity expected to double before 2030, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
“I think investors have become much more comfortable that they can move toward final investment decisions without the concerns that they had over the last four years about potential roadblocks,” said Christopher Treanor an energy and environmental attorney at the law firm Akin.
Drilling expansion
Trump has opened more land for oil and gas lease sales, shifting away from Biden’s efforts to protect environmentally sensitive ar-
eas like Alaska’s National Wildlife Refuge and to prevent large swaths of ocean from being available for offshore drilling, including major areas off coasts in the Pacific, Atlantic and parts of Alaska.
Environmental groups are suing to stop Trump’s moves.
Expanding the area available for companies to lease and drill doesn’t necessarily mean that more oil and gas will be produced. When leases were made available in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, for example, only smaller companies bid and there were no buyers for a second lease sale.
Sidestep Clean Water Act
The Army Corps of Engineers marked hundreds of Clean Water Act permits for fast-tracking, citing Trump’s order on energy, then removed that notation in its database. The agency said it needed to review active permit applications before publishing which ones will be fast-tracked.
“They don’t seem to be backing
off,” said Tom Pelton, spokesman with the Environmental Integrity Project. “They are just going to refine the list.”
Many of the permit applications that had been listed for expediting are for fossil fuel projects, but some others have nothing to do with energy, including a housing subdivision proposed by Chevron in southern California, according to the Environmental Integrity Project.
David Bookbinder, the organization’s director of law and policy, said the Trump administration is using the “pretext of a national energy emergency” to ask a federal agency to circumvent environmental protections to justify building more fossil fuel power plants. Bookbinder said there’s no shortage of energy
Slashing the federal workforce
Pat Parenteau, professor emeritus at Vermont Law & Graduate School, said Trump’s policy changes aren’t nearly as important as the deep cuts to the federal government that eliminate vital expertise. At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, for example, Trump said the head of the EPA should
axe roughly two-thirds of its employees.
“I think they are going to accomplish what no other administration has been able to do in terms of crippling the institutional capacity of the federal government to protect public health, to conserve national resources to save endangered species,” he said. “That is where we are going to see longterm, permanent damage.”
Trump’s energy emergency calls, for example, for undermining Endangered Species Act protections to ensure fast energy development, even assembling a rarely used committee the socalled “God Squad” — that could have authority to dismiss significant threats to species. That move was coupled with recent deep cuts to the Fish & Wildlife Service, which administers the law
Parenteau said some species are likely to go extinct.
Orders take aim at renewables
Trump also targeted wind energy with an order to temporarily halt offshore wind lease sales in federal waters and pause federal approvals, permits and loans for projects both onshore and offshore.
In another order he listed domestic energy resources that could help ensure a reliable, diversified and affordable supply of energy Solar, wind and battery storage were omitted, though solar is the fastest-growing source of electricity generation in the United States. Trump has vowed to end tax credits for renewables as well, which would push up prices.
Substantially slowing renewables could leave the U.S. wedded to coal and gas for far longer as coal plants are extended and new gas plants are built, said David Shepheard, partner and energy expert at the global consultant Baringa. Shepheard said the U.S. is facing unprecedented growth in electricity demand largely to meet needs from data centers and artificial intelligence, and increasingly the deck is stacked against renewables to meet it.
A Baringa analysis found Trump’s policies will drive up emissions and put the agreed-upon international climate threshold further out of reach.
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By ALEX BRANDON
President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign town hall Oct. 14
That’s an average amount. Each case is different. What changed for retirees
Some state and municipal governments, including Louisiana’s, did not pay Social Security taxes on the pensions for their public service workers. Many of those employees held jobs before or after their public service, or worked second jobs like those that teachers often take at night and during the summer — and contributed to Social Security
The Windfall Elimination Provision, passed in 1983 and called WEP, reduces Social Security benefits by up to half the pension amount for people receiving pension income from jobs that didn’t contribute Social Security payroll taxes.
The Government Pension Offset, passed in 1977 and called GPO, reduces benefits for survivors if the spouse had a pension that wasn’t taxed for Social Security The Social Security benefits can be cut by up to two-thirds of the public employee’s pension. Both provisions were added to the law to help shore up ailing Social Security finances. The Social Security Fairness Act repealed those rules, allowing some government retirees to receive the full amount of Social Security benefits The bill was finally passed after midnight on Dec. 21. The bill was signed into law on Jan. 5 by President Joe Biden shortly after Graves and co-sponsor Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., had left Congress Biden said the 3.2 million affected public workers would receive an average of $360 more per month in Social Security payments.
“These folks have waited years for this day,” U.S Sen. Bill Cassidy R-Baton Rouge, said in a statement.
“The fight took too long, but let’s focus on the victory.” Cassidy, who had pushed for the repeal since 2009, was in charge of getting
the Senate to pass the legislation over vociferous opposition from senators who argued that the repeal amounted to a windfall for public employees at the expense of private industry workers who paid into Social Security throughout their careers.
The change will cost about $196 billion through 2034 and will continue to rise, which could hasten insolvency of the fund that pays Social Security. If the fund goes insolvent in nine years, which is predicted if nothing is done to prevent it, then everyone will see a 20% to 25% reduction in benefits even if their employers paid the taxes throughout their career
A faster timeline
The Social Security Administration began depositing retroactive payments into bank accounts Tuesday, and plans to complete nearly all retroactive payments by the end of March. Adjustments to ongoing monthly benefits will begin in April. Graves said the Social Security Administration initially told him that its workers would have to manually review the cases of each of the 3.2 million people
impacted to determine eligibility and calculate how much each would receive.
The agency under President Donald Trump’s administration used automation to speed the process, Graves said.
Lee Dudek, acting commissioner of Social Security, said in a statement: “The agency’s original estimate of taking a year or more now will only apply to complex cases that cannot be processed by automation. The American people deserve to get their due benefits as quickly as possible.”
The complex cases will be handled manually
Some need to apply
In general, public retirees already receiving Social Security will need to do nothing more.
But thousands of workers and their spouses never applied for Social Security when they learned that their benefits would be docked because of their public pensions. Those people will need to apply to Social Security for retirement or spousal or surviving spouse’s benefits. For additional eligibility information, visit www.ssa. gov/apply However, the survivor benefit application is not available online.
Call 1 (800) 772-1213 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday When the system asks, “How can I help you today?”, say “Fairness Act.” Then, you’ll be asked a few questions. Your answers will lead you to a WEP-GPO trained representative to take your application.
Email Mark Ballard at mballard@theadvocate. com.
LCG cancels drainage project
Homewood, Ile Des Cannes work terminated for breach of contract
BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer
A contract between Lafayette
Consolidated Government and a Youngsville engineering firm hired by former Lafayette MayorPresident Josh Guillory to work on
the Homewood Drive and Coulee Ile Des Cannes detention pond projects has been terminated by Mayor-President Monique Boulet for breach of contract.
Lafayette City-Parish Attorney
Pat Ottinger on Jan. 30 sent a notice of default to McBade Engi-
neers & Consultants of Youngsville alleging the company failed to live up to the terms of the Homewood contract dated May 12, 2021, and amended on Dec. 30, 2021, to add the Ile Des Cannes project near Scott. On Wednesday, he sent McBade
a notice that LCG is terminating the contract for cause. The projects fall under the umbrella of LCG’s approximately $80 million Bayou Vermilion Flood Control project, which includes a controversial Guillory administration project that removed a spoil bank in St. Martin Parish, without first obtaining permits or the neighboring parish’s permission. The state is withholding $20 million in reimbursements to LCG for money it spent on the still incomplete Homewood and Ile Des Cannes projects for starting construction without federal permits.
FUR ON PARADE
Joe Bernard awarded title of Lagcoe Looey Honor bestowed for energy industry contributions
Staff report
Joe Bernard of Lafayette has been named the new Lagcoe Looey, according to news release from gcoe, a nonprofit organization established to support the advancement of the energy industry Lagcoe Looey is honorary title bestowed biennially to recognize individuals who significant contribuindustry Since
ä See BERNARD, page 4B
ABOVE and LEFT: Dogs and their owners in the Pack Walk Paw Parade walk and play at Moncus Park in Lafayette on Tuesday
STAFF PHOTOS By BRAD BOWIE
Family members plead for inmate’s life
Execution date nears for Jessie Hoffman
BY JOHN SIMERMAN Staff writer
Jessie Hoffman’s demeanor hasn’t much changed since the state numbered his days, say relatives. Hoffman, who has spent well over half his life on death row in Louisiana, was moved last week to an isolated area within the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola where he can be watched full-time until he’s scheduled to be put to death March 18, said his son, Jessie Smith. A judge in St. Tammany Parish set the date for Hoffman, 46, who is slated to become the first death row prisoner to be executed in Louisiana since 2010, and the first using nitrogen gas under legislation Gov Jeff Landry signed last year Hoffman was convicted and sentenced to die for the murder of a woman he kidnapped and raped on the night before Thanksgiving in 1996 before he killed her on a dock in remote St. Tammany Parish. He was 18 then. Now 46, Hoffman is “still the same, calm person” he’s become in prison, despite the specter that hangs over him, said Smith, who wasn’t yet born when the murder happened. “Knowing the day he’s going to die is no easy task for anybody For the most part he’s really the same guy, putting all his ducks in a row,” Smith said. “It’s basically
BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer
Cuts to federal workforce disturbingly careless
We were not amused when the cost-cutting agency created by President Donald Trump took the acronym DOGE inspired by a silly internet meme. We weren’t laughing when billionaire Elon Musk described what he and his Department of Government Efficiency are doing as feeding agencies “into the wood chipper.” And we are certainly not yukking it up now that we are beginning to see the effects of those federal cuts on Louisiana jobs and workers. There is broad agreement that government spending needs to be reined in. Taxpayers expect and have voted for greater scrutiny over the federal budget. But that’s not what’s happening here. Let’s be clear: What Musk and DOGE are doing is nothing less than a wholesale dismantling of all that our tax dollars have built over decades. And they are doing so indiscriminately — and arguably without constitutional authority
In Louisiana, which has around 19,000 civilian federal workers, that has translated into firings of workers in our forests, in our fields and in our cities. So far, we have heard of layoffs from employees at the National Finance Center in New Orleans; the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Southern Regional Research Center in New Orleans; the Southwest Louisiana Wildlife Refuge; the Kisatchie National Forest; and the New Orleans federal immigration court.
The sheer mindlessness of some of these cuts is evident when you hear from the employees themselves. One interviewed by this newspaper said that she was an auditor whose job it is to root out waste, fraud and abuse. Another said her job was funded by fees and fines paid by the oil and gas industry, not the federal purse Yet another let go was a military veteran who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, whose boss wrote a letter begging for him to be rehired. In a state that boasts a House speaker and majority leader, you might think our representatives in Congress could shield us from the worst of this insanity You would be wrong. They have been strangely silent amid a deepening crisis. We call on them to do what we sent them to Washington to do. Congress holds the power of the purse and any time now could stop this madness.
We believe that cost-cutting can happen without this outrageous assault on our institutions. In fact, we have seen it happen before Under President Ronald Reagan in the ‘80s and then again in the ‘90s, with Louisiana Rep Bob Livingston leading the charge, the size and scope of the federal government was reduced dramatically but in legal and constitutional ways. But perhaps the cruelty of these chaotic cuts is the point. Government workers have become everyone’s favorite punching bag However, we know that many perform vital functions that keep our society running smoothly Their jobs and their lives are not a joke. Except to DOGE.
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.
OPINION
Trump’s plan is to keep citizens on edge, exhausted
President Donald Trump is pushing forth with an agenda to create fear and chaos, to divide the people of this country regardless of whether his agenda is constitutional or legal. He hopes that as we scurry to sort out those constitutional and legal problems, we will be grateful for any scrap we recover It is time to remember the words of Martin Niemoller, a German pastor speaking of the Nazi takeover, and how silence is complicity:
“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because
I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out — because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.”
It is time for all of us to speak up and to urge our representatives, both state and national, to slow down all the president’s changes unless we can be assured beforehand that they are both constitutional and legal. Each of us deserves more than the mere scraps the president is willing to leave us.
DWIGHT DOSKEY Covington
Rampant anti-Christian bias is a myth
A task force to root out “anti-Christian bias?” That’s a reasonable way to spend taxpayer dollars and cut excess government staff under the new regime? I am repeatedly stunned by the conservative right, which espouses less government interference, yet continually tries to force its beliefs onto everyone else’s life.
I don’t care if or how my neighbors pray or worship as long as it doesn’t impinge on my life, my beliefs or lack thereof.
Federal agencies don’t discriminate against Christians; they protect the access/rights of all, including nonChristians you know that freedom of religion thing. Anti-Christian violence?? Might that really be antiBlack, anti-Muslim, anti-Semite, antigay, anti-Wiccan, etc.? For believers, God is always with them; they shouldn’t need god to be brought back; others should not be forced to have someone else’s god
TO SEND US A LETTER, SCAN HERE
I am thrilled to see the policies of President Donald Trump starting to take hold.
Trump has a mandate to rid the United States of those who entered the country illegally As many as possible should be deported, and if they choose to follow the rule of law and gain entry into the
brought into their lives. I think that’s what happens in the Middle East. Nonbelievers and non-Christians should be free also to “exercise their faith without government intrusion in school, in the military, in the workplace and in the public square,” to quote a recent guest column by Kelly Shackelford. I wonder how it feels to ultra-conservatives to see his words used for the benefit of everyone? Methinks ’twas not his intention. Religious liberty should mean homes, churches and churchbased schools can do all the indoctrinating they want; but public schools, public events and the public domain should be off limits to their control, influence or prejudice.
If the president meant what he said, that religious liberty is part of the bedrock of American life, and calls for protecting it, let’s see if he meant everybody’s liberty
ROSANNA MARINO Baton Rouge
country legally, congratulations to them. Welcome to our country They should have never been allowed to come here in the first place. Shame on the Democrat Party and progressive liberals for giving them false hope.
BRYAN HALE Metairie
I am dismayed by Mike Johnson and the Republican Party allowing Elon Musk to single-handedly shut down USAID without doing a formal audit of this $40 billion agency USAID feeds many of the most distraught infants and children around the world, and in particular, Africa. These same evangelical Christians, who put the Republicans in office, claim in the abortion issue that every life is a “gift from God,” even those conceived violently through rape or incest. Yet they allow a man who could fund this program by himself to kill it. This is a clear betrayal of the Christian principles. Personally, I can’t think of a worse way to die than from starvation.
GREG TENHUNDFELD Baton Rouge
The cartoon depicting Elon Musk making a Nazi salute to a veteran is entirely accurate. To call it anything else is being willfully ignorant or is a limp-wristed attempt to hide personal Nazi sympathies. Even if I wanted to be generous and say that it was not an intentional salute, his attitude and actions afterward showed no remorse Did he say, “I denounce Nazi ideology, and I apologize to anyone that may have been confused?” No, he went on X and made jokes about it. Serious accusations such as being a Nazi should be responded to seriously not with flippancy and joke tweets.
This shows that he doesn’t care if it is or isn’t a Nazi salute He’s happy to have the support from anyone, even the Nazis that are in our country right now who were in hiding but are now emboldened by his display
They retweeted their support of his salute. And others have started marching and flying their flags openly We’ve seen it in Texas. And they got chased off of a bridge in Ohio
If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and sieg heils, it’s a Nazi. CHARLES AXELRAD
La. should stand with Ukraine
Eleven years to the day after Russian forces moved to steal Crimea from Ukraine, three years to the week after Russia began its murderous attempt to conquer Ukraine entirely, it behooves Louisiana’s House and Senate delegations to stand with Ukraine despite executive branch lies about who started the war Solidarity with Ukraine is not only the right thing to do, but also the one most likely to keep service members from Louisiana’s Barksdale Air Force Base from being forced into combat The key Louisiana players are all Republicans For three years, Sens. John Kennedy and Bill Cassidy consistently have supported Ukraine During those same three years, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and especially Speaker Mike Johnson have ping-ponged back and forth on providing Ukraine with material support The latter three, along with their other Louisiana colleagues, should join Kennedy now in publicly pushing back against the false message from the Trump administration that Ukraine is responsible for starting the war and that Ukraine needs to make major concessions in negotiations with thuggish Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Let’s set the record straight: Russia has been the aggressor all along at times verging on genocidally so. And in 1994, the United States signed an agreement providing “security assurances” for Ukraine’s territorial borders in exchange for Ukraine relinquishing large stores of nuclear weapons with which it otherwise could defend itself. That obligation, especially against Russia’s perfidy, is important. Ukraine not only lived up to the 1994 bargain, but diligently worked to operate as a pro-Western, representative republic. Russia repeatedly used
pressure to try making Ukraine a puppet, but repeatedly was rebuffed by Ukraine’s voters. On Feb. 27, 2014, after Ukraine’s Russian-puppet president, Viktor Yanukovych, defied the overwhelming majority of his nation’s elected parliament and used deadly force against peaceful protests before absconding in fear and shame, Russia took advantage of the unrest to send tanks into Ukrainian Crimea. The Russian seizure of Ukrainian territory was utterly unprovoked
For the next eight years, Ukraine did nothing to Russia but merely asked to be left alone while building peaceful trade agreements with Western Europe. The Kremlindirected attack on Feb. 24, 2022, however was an attempt to obliterate Ukraine as a separate nation. Russia deliberately bombed hospitals, tortured civilians, used rape as a method of subjugation and abducted many thousands of Ukrainian children.
In fighting off Russia for three years against all odds, Ukraine has tremendously degraded Russia’s economy and its military strength, hobbled its offensive Black Sea fleet and made clear to Russia that territorial adventurism carries a terrible cost to Russia’s own lives and fortune. It also has forced Europe to rely less on Russian oil supplies, thus diminishing Russia’s ability to use economic blackmail against the free West.
Pulling the rug from under Ukraine, though, would be devastating not just for Ukrainian nationalism and its magnificent cultural legacy — Odesa particularly is known for its historical, artistic and architectural bounty but for U.S. interests as well. People may tire of hearing this, but it’s true: Any sort of de facto defeat of Ukraine
MARDI GRAS LOGISTICS
would embolden Putin in his stated aims of retaking Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia and perhaps attacking our magnificent Polish allies. Those who think Europe’s security doesn’t matter to us do not appreciate the importance of European stability for American commerce — or for the U.S.’ ability to protect its citizens and interests throughout the world while countering Chinese, Iranian or jihadist aggressions. And, either way, a Russian attack on a NATO nation (such as those four mentioned above) solemnly obliges the U.S. to use our own arms and personnel to repel it.
That is where the Barksdale air base comes in.
Its airmen in the 2nd Bomb Wing and its status as home to the Air Force Global Strike Command make it so important to potential war-fighting efforts that North Korea identified it as one of its four key U.S. targets for nuclear attack. Its pilots would surely be among the first to fight, and potentially die, if war broke out between Russia and NATO.
For all those reasons, Kennedy last week spoke out (mildly, but clearly) against Russia. All of his Louisiana colleagues should do likewise. Scalise should reprise his helpful refrain in years past that more than two-thirds of aid for Ukraine actually is spent here in the U.S. North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis, up for reelection in 2026, made a fiery speech last week against the damnable lie that Ukraine is at fault for this war If he can do it, so should Louisiana’s House leadership, all while working to ensure the aid continues — not just for Ukraine’s benefit, but for our own.
Email Quin Hillyer at quin.hillyer@ theadvocate.com.
Getting to and from parades is an art form around here. It’s anticipated and planned out year after year like a beloved family tradition.The real pros take great pride in knowing how to manage the chaos without a dreaded parking ticket or worse getting TOWED! So, what’s going on in this cartoon? you tell me. Be witty, funny, crazy, absurd or snarky — just try to keep it clean.There’s no limit on the number of entries. The winning punchline will be lettered into the word balloon and run on Monday in our print editions and online. In addition, the winner will receive a signed print of the cartoon along with a cool winner’s T-shirt! Some honorable mentions will also be listed. To enter, email entries to cartooncontest@theadvocate com. DON’T FORGET! All entries must include your name, home address and phone number Cell numbers are best. The deadline for all entries is midnight Thursday. Good luck, folks! —Walt
President Donald Trump is moving quickly with his plan to end the war in Ukraine. What, exactly, that plan involves is still not publicly known But given the current status of the conflict, along with what Trump and others have said about it, the short version is that it appears likely Russia will keep some of the territory — roughly 20% of the country — that it seized after invading Ukraine three years ago, Ukraine will reclaim some of the territory it lost, there will be some provisions designed to prevent future conflicts, and the fighting will end.
want to abdicate to be the leader of the free world,” McFaul said. “They didn’t say we want to get in bed with Putin. They didn’t say we wanted to pull out of NATO.”
Many Democrats, along with their activist and media allies, and some Republicans, too, would like to stop Trump. But the president has a broad constitutional authority to conduct foreign affairs. That, of course, hasn’t kept the opposition from trying. A recent podcast gave the public a peek into the opposition’s thinking. The podcast is “Talking Feds,” hosted by Harry Litman, a law professor and senior Justice Department official during the Clinton years. In an episode about Ukraine, Michael McFaul, the Stanford University professor who was U.S. ambassador to Russia for a couple of years during the Obama administration and is a staunch supporter of the Ukrainian war effort, argued that Trump’s plan to end the war, whatever it is, does not represent the will of U.S. voters. “I just want to emphasize that the American people, they voted for the price of eggs, folks, they didn’t say we
Just for the record, you might remember that during the campaign, candidate Trump often discussed international affairs, including ending the war in Ukraine. He also talked about the U.S. relationship with NATO — remarks that sometimes caused controversy — and he talked about Russian President Vladimir Putin. Now McFaul said Trump is “overreaching” on a wide range of issues and will pay a political price at home. McFaul is helping the opposition prepare for that. “I’ve been spending a lot of time with Democrats in the Congress over the last couple of weeks, and I think they have not got their act together yet,” he said. “But just last night, with a group out here in California and I won’t name names, but we have some prominent people who have been in leadership positions from time to time out here their feeling is we just got to get the guy [Trump] down to below 45. And once he’s below 45, then all of our feckless Republican friends who are just scared to death of doing anything might start pushing back.”
By getting Trump below 45, McFaul was referring to the president’s job approval rating, which currently stands at 49.3% in the RealClearPolitics average of polls. Some have argued that 49.3% is not particularly high for a president at this point in his term,
which would be true if Trump were in his first term. Since Trump is in his second but nonconsecutive term, it’s hard to compare, but according to Gallup, former President Barack Obama’s approval rating was 49% at this point in his second term. So Trump’s 49% is certainly not unprecedented.
“I kept saying to my European friends and my Ukrainian friends last week, you know, hang in there,” McFaul said. “We just got to get to the midterms and then things will change. I’m not confident predicting that, but I’m trying to achieve that.”
Now, an influential American traveling abroad, speaking with high-ranking foreign officials in an effort to undercut an American president’s positions, is not particularly admirable. But McFaul appears to have concluded that he and his colleagues speak for more American voters than does Trump, who after all was elected on the price of eggs. Trump’s job now is clear, if not simple to come up with the best possible agreement to end the war Make it stick. Then move on. None of that will be enough to satisfy his domestic political adversaries, who, if Democrats win in 2026, will try to undo Trump’s work, and, if they win the House, might well try (yet again) to remove him from office. Trump has seen all that before. His task in the area of international affairs is to stay focused on trying to restore some of the order in the world that collapsed in the years he was out of office.
Byron York is on X, @Bryon York.
Musk
How unhinged and irresponsible is Elon Musk?
So much that even President Donald Trump’s newly confirmed and MAGA-certified Cabinet members are pushing back.
Musk’s email blast to 2.3 million federal workers — ordering each to submit by Monday “approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished last week,” with failure to respond constituting the employee’s resignation was nothing but an exercise in contempt. And in many agencies, it was promptly countermanded.
Employees at the Defense Department, under Secretary Pete Hegseth, were told to ignore the government-wide email from the Office of Personnel Management, now being run by Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service minions. Workers at the State Department under Secretary Marco Rubio were also told to pay it no mind. So were staffers at the nation’s spy agencies under Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard; those at the Department of Homeland Security under Secretary Kristi L. Noem; and those at the FBI, which is part of the Justice Department under Attorney General Pam Bondi. At some other agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services under Robert F. Kennedy Jr., many workers were told by their supervisors to wait for further guidance. Thus begins the inevitable power struggle at the court of Mad King Donald, between his various ministers of state and his billionaire Lord High Executioner For the past month, with Trump’s nominees making their way through the confirmation process and then learning their way around the agencies they now lead, Musk has run rampant. His approach toward the federal bureaucracy is the same he used when he bought Twitter: smash the place to bits, then rebuild as necessary
As technically a “special government employee” who serves as an adviser to the president, it is unclear in my view doubtful that Musk has the legal authority to do any of what he is doing. But by the time the courts decide that question, much irreparable vandalism will already have been committed.
Musk was clever to begin by seizing key nodes of the bureaucracy — OPM, which is the closest thing to a government-wide human resources department; and the Treasury Department’s payments systems, through which all federal money flows and to use them as chokepoints. He was Machiavellian in choosing a relatively defenseless first victim, the U.S. Agency for International Development, to slay and hang on the wall as a demonstration of his power But now that Cabinet members and agency heads are in place, things are different. Hegseth, Rubio, Gabbard, Bondi and the rest of Trump’s appointees now have large bureaucracies to run — bureaucracies with important work to do. However fervently they agree with the goal of shrinking the federal government’s headcount, they will be less able to fulfill Trump’s agenda, let alone any goals of their own, if their employees are constantly being bashed and menaced by the erratic Musk. As anyone who has successfully run any organization knows, morale matters. Authority matters, too. Cabinet members have the right to insist that they, not Musk, run their departments. They wouldn’t be where they are if they were eager to challenge Trump’s judgment including his ongoing support of Musk and DOGE — but I doubt any department head could possibly be happy taking orders from a mercurial plutocrat via snarky posts on his social media site X. And anyway, who is supposed to read 2.3 million emails reporting what every federal worker did last week? According to The Post, one U.S. Geological Survey employee defiantly told his supervisors that “anyone who replies is likely to have their responses fed into some AI woodchipper and used for goodness knows what purpose, legal or illegal.”
On Monday Trump said the bullet points email was “great because we have people that don’t show up to work” or that “don’t even exist.” At the same time, however, Trump did not overrule the orders of Cabinet members who told employees to ignore the email. As he now fancies himself a king, Trump may enjoy the sport of combat among his courtiers.
Pressure is mounting, however for Trump to bring Musk’s escapades under control — or to an end. This weekend, Republican members of Congress who held town halls with their constituents got an earful about the impact of Musk’s arbitrary cost-cutting. Capriciously halting USAID foreign aid programs, for example, may be consistent with Trump’s “America First” agenda — but it harms the farmers who provide the food that USAID distributes overseas.
Musk and his DOGE bros act as if they are playing a video game in which federal workers and programs are mere pixels on a screen. Pressure should and will mount for Trump to tell them: “GAME OVER.”
Eugene Robinson is on X, @Eugene_Robinson.
Byron York
Eugene Robinson
Quin Hillyer
SPORTS
Carr likely to return with Saints in ’25
New Orleans’ GM, coach suggest quarterback’s return
BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer
INDIANAPOLIS One of the biggest questions the New Orleans Saints are facing this offseason appears to have an answer: Derek Carr is likely to return in 2025 as the team’s starting quarterback.
While new coach Kellen Moore did not strongly commit to Carr in his introductory press conference, both he and general manager Mickey Loomis suggested Wednesday at the NFL Scouting Combine that Carr will be
back with the team next season.
“We feel like we’ve got a guy we can win with, and we’re excited about it,”
Loomis said Carr is about to enter the third year of his four-year deal he signed with the Saints prior to the 2023 season. New Orleans has gone 14-13 in games Carr has started, and 0-7 in games he’s missed.
New Orleans hired Moore earlier this month after enduring a rough 5-12 campaign that resulted in the ouster of former head coach Dennis Allen It was not clear at the time of his hiring whether Carr — and his large salary cap charge — was part of the team’s immediate or long term plans.
While Moore gave a non-committal
answer in his opening news conference about whether Carr would be his opening day starter, he more clearly got behind the idea when asked about it Wednesday. Moore also said he has recently spoken to the veteran quarterback.
“We feel fortunate to have Derek here, the experience he has, and he’s a big-time quarterback in this league,” Moore said.
The apparent decision to stick with Carr as the team’s starting quarterback should serve as a signal of what direction the franchise is taking in its first year under Moore.
Carr currently counts $51.5 million
We feel fortunate to have Derek here, the experience he has, and he’s a big-time quarterback in this league.”
KELLEN MOORE, Saints coach, on
BY WILSON ALEXANDER Staff writer
Brian Kelly is considering changes to LSU football’s annual spring game as a growing list of teams alter the format or cancel the public scrimmage altogether
Kelly told The Advocate there will be “live action” that gives fans a chance to see the players April 12 inside Tiger Stadium, but he has not decided what that will look like “I don’t know if it’s going to be in a spring game format, but there’s going to be action,” Kelly said Wednesday. “I just don’t know how we’re going to put it together at this point.”
LSU begins spring practice March 8. Though some programs attract tens of thousands of people to their spring games, LSU typically hosts a smaller crowd because of interest in other sports and springtime festivals Nebraska, Texas, Southern Cal and more have called off their public scrimmages for various reasons. Texas coach Steve Sarkisian pointed to workload concerns and said he would hold NFL-style organized team activities. Nebraska coach Matt Rhule feared other teams would poach players after seeing them on television.
“The word ‘tampering’ no longer exists,” Rhule told reporters “It’s just absolute free, open, common market. So I don’t necessarily want to open up to the outside world I don’t want these guys all being able to watch our guys and say ‘Wow, he looks like a pretty good player Let’s go get him.’” Elsewhere in the SEC, Ole Miss stopped holding a spring game last year, replacing it with a day of activities like a dunk contest and tug-of-war Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer told On3 this week that the Crimson Tide will have a “modified” event instead of their typical scrimmage Not everyone is following the trend. Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks told reporters the Bulldogs would keep their
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Morrow
to
BY REED DARCEY Staff writer
Kim Mulkey is running out of words to describe Aneesah Morrow and her accomplished career, which is close to winding down now that only two games separate the LSU women’s basketball team from its first postseason action. At the end of her weekly radio show on Tuesday, Mulkey took a moment to discuss the Tigers’ four seniors and the ways they’ve contributed to her program. But she breezed right by Morrow, the star forward who transferred from DePaul to LSU in 2023 and cemented her status as one of the nation’s best players.
“Do I have to say any more about her that hasn’t been said?” Mulkey asked.
Morrow’s next double-double will be the 100th of her career Only one woman has ever posted that many in NCAA Division I history: Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris. Morrow could become the second as soon as Thursday, when the No. 7 Tigers face No. 20 Alabama on the road at 8 p.m. on the SEC Network. For Morrow, that feat will be simply the latest in a season and a career full of them
The LSU star stands only 6-foot-1, yet she’s on pace to finish her career ranked third on the NCAA’s all-time rebounding leaderboard. Morrow began her senior season already on that track, but then she started grabbing 14.3 boards per game, the best average of her career and the highest in the country this year LSU star
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Cajuns’ bats fall silent in loss at McNeese
BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer
It wasn’t UL coach Matt Deggs’ first rodeo watching his team deliver a futile effort at the plate in Lake Charles. During his days at Sam Houston, his teams lost their fair share of games against the McNeese Cowboys.
On Tuesday, the Ragin’ Cajuns added another effort with no runs and 16 strikeouts in a 3-0 loss to the Cowboys at Joe Miller Ballpark.
“We left our bats at home,” Deggs said. We’ll bounce back. It’s not the first time
I’ve been down this road here in this ballpark. “If you like pitching and defense, it was a nice game, but we’ve got to be more competitive at the dish.” The Cajuns fell to 4-4 on the season, while the Cowboys improved to 6-1. UL will now host Southeastern at 6 p.m. Wednesday before traveling to UC-Irvine for the weekend. UL
QB Derek Carr
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STAFF FILE PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK
LSU coach Brian Kelly walks on the field before kickoff against Baylor on Dec 31 at NRG Stadium in Houston. Kelly is considering making changes to the Tigers’ spring football game.
LSU forward Aneesah Morrow looks to pass the ball against Northwestern State on Nov. 8. Morrow is on pace to finish her career ranked third on the NCAA’s all-time rebounding leaderboard. STAFF FILE PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK
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New lineup boosts Pels rebounding
Olynyk’s addition making a difference
BY ROD WALKER Staff writer
The glaring need was as noticeable as the 7-foot-tall, long-haired guy who has helped fill it Rebounding has been a problem for the New Orleans Pelicans all season. So much so that executive vicepresident of basketball operations David Griffin had this to say about it two weeks ago.
“A lot of these are based on analytics, but we’re one of the worst rebounding teams in the last 15 years in the NBA,” Griffin said. “It doesn’t take a great deal for me to tell you we need to get bigger and more physical. I think that’s fairly obvious.”
Six days before that, Griffin had made the Brandon Ingram trade, a deal with the Toronto Raptors that brought 7-foot center Kelly Olynyk to New Orleans.
It’s a small sample size, but the trade so far has yielded some positive results. Olynyk has started three games since joining the Pelicans, inserted into a lineup with 6-foot-11 rookie Yves Missi, 6-foot6 Zion Williamson, along with Trey Murphy and CJ McCollum.
The Pelicans have outrebounded their opponents in all three of those games. Prior to that, the Pelicans had outrebounded their opponents just 16 times in the first 55 games of the season.
“We like the big lineups so far,” said coach Willie Green. “After many games of not being able to win the rebounding margin, we’re winning that and that’s giving us extra possessions. It’s allowing us to get out and play in transition.”
The Pelicans grabbed nine more rebounds than the San Antonio Spurs in Tuesday night’s win. When the two teams played on Sunday, the Pelicans outrebounded the Spurs 69-46, a whopping 23 rebound differential. The 69 rebounds were the third most in franchise history It helped that the Spurs missed 36 3-pointers in that game And it also helped that the Pels didn’t have to face Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio’s 7-foot-3 center who the Spurs have shut down for the remainder of the season because of a blood clot
STAFF PHOTO By SCOTT
San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell is defended by New Orleans Pelicans center Karlo Matkovic, left, and forward Kelly Olynyk on Tuesday at the Smoothie King Center
in his right shoulder The game before that, they grabbed more rebounds than a Dallas Mavericks team that was missing centers Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively as well as forward Anthony Davis.
“We were playing with a lot of energy, a lot of effort and some bigger lineups,” Olynyk said. “They were playing with some smaller lineups, which helps. Just playing the right way, taking the right shots and knowing that guys are going to take shots and so you’re in position to rebound. On the defensive end, it’s just limiting them to one shot.”
The new look Pelicans have taken advantage, getting season-best rebounding performances from the tallest and smallest guys on their roster.
Olynyk’s 15 boards against the Spurs on Sunday was a season-high stat for him. The 12-year veteran followed that up with 12 boards Tuesday, marking the first time he’s had back-to-back games with 12 or more rebounds in his career
Missi also grabbed a season-best 15 rebounds on Sunday Even 6-foot point guard Jose Alvarado got in on the action, snatching a career-high nine rebounds in the win. It’s been refreshing for Green, who has had to answer questions about the rebounding woes all season. “I don’t have to come in here (after games) and y’all say ‘you all lost the rebound battle and how are you going to get better?” Green said jokingly “We’re doing that right now.”
ä Pelicans at Suns.
9 P.M.THURSDAy, GSN
PELICANS SIGN
BOSTON
TO STANDARD CONTRACT
The Pelicans signed Brandon Boston to a standard NBA contract, the team announced Wednesday. Boston, who has played in 42 games for the Pelicans this season, was on a two-way contract
The former University of Kentucky player started 10 games for the Pelicans and is averaging 10.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists The 6-foot-6 wing played his first three seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers before signing a with the Pelicans in October
His best game as a Pelicans came in November when he scored a season-high 26 points against the Orlando Magic. He grabbed a season-best 10 rebounds against the Oklahoma City Thunder five days later
The Pelicans had an open roster spot after waiving Javonte Green last week. Green has signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Pelicans also announced that they signed Jalen Crutcher to a twoway contract. Crutcher a 6-2 guard who played collegiately at Dayton, has appeared in 34 games this season with the Birmingham Squadron, the Pelicans’ G League affiliate. He is averaging 18.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists for the Squadron. Rod Walker
But, as Trey Murphy pointed out, there’s still work to be done “Basically, I would still say there were a few rebounds that we should have gotten that they got as far as offensive rebounds,” Murphy said. “It’s getting better, but we still need to tighten the rope. That (rebounding) has lost us games in the past So if we want to keep building forward in the future, we have to keep rebounding the ball at a high level. I only had four rebounds (Tuesday), so I have got to be better on that end.”
Rebounding doesn’t guarantee wins, especially when battling injuries like the Pelicans have this season. But it sure gives them a better chance. The Pels are 8-11 this season when they’ve outrebounded their opponent They are 7-32 when they haven’t. “(Coach) emphasized it all season,” Williamson said. “(Credit) the new guys, especially K.O.” IN BRIEF
Cajuns hope to make run at Sun Belt indoor meet
UL has seen encouraging performances so far
BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer
There have been some encouraging results for the UL men’s and women’s track and field teams so far Starting Monday at the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championship in Birmingham, Alabama, coach Tommy Badon hopes to parlay those performances into some hardware.
The competition on the men’s side is expected to be stiff.
“I think it’s going to be a dogfight,” Badon said. On the women’s side, things aren’t as clear
“It’s pretty wide open,” Badon said. “There’s probably five teams on that side that have a chance Southern Miss, Arkansas State and then you throw in Coastal (Carolina) and the two Georgia schools (Georgia Southern, Georgia State) and us plus Texas State is always tough.
“So the women’s side is always tough. There’s no prohibitive favorites on the women’s side. The points are going to be pretty spread out.” Making things tougher to gauge is the indoor season isn’t the same competition as the outdoor
UL has only competed in three meets this season because of a lack of indoor facilities in the region.
“Some tracks are significantly faster than others,” Badon said.
“Some of the programs in those areas are running on tracks that are designed to be faster
“We get into conference and generally they come back to us because it’s all on equal footing. It’s more of a competition between people.”
The other factor has been the cold weather
“We, for sure, aren’t football guys who play in minus-10 degree weather,” Badon said. “We’ve been indoors this week for sure.
Rest is best before conference. We would have liked to be able to get outside and enjoy some outdoor training, but we’re OK. We can get done what we need to get done, especially this time of the year.”
Also, indoor meets don’t have all of the same events.
“We generally on the women’s side have been way better outdoors, because it’s two different sports,” Badon said. “Everybody thinks track is track, but it really isn’t. Outdoors, we throw the javelin, we throw the discus, we throw the hammer, we run the 400 hurdles and we run the 4x100. Those five events, we’re really good at and you don’t have those indoors.”
For example, UL’s scored 54 points in three of those five events
in last year’s outdoor championship. UL’s top performers have been Alexandra Johnson, who set a school record with a time of 2 minutes, 10.06 seconds in the 800, Ella Segura with the secondbest 3,000-meter time of 9:53 and Isabella Russell close behind at 9:56.61. On the men’s side, freshman Lawson Jacobs broke Henry Brooks’ 1992 record in the 400 with a time of 46.46. Other men shining lately are Joe Patterson in the 800 (1:48.44) and Kobe Mandez in the 60-meter dash (7.97).
“On the men’s side, we’ve been third three years in a row, and we definitely feel like we need to make that jump into the championship level — first or second,”
LSU gymnast Chio wins yet another SEC award
Four straight all-around titles, four straight Southeastern Conference freshman of the week honors for LSU phenom Kailin Chio. Chio won the all-around Friday in the Tigers’ 197.200-197.075 victory at Kentucky and Tuesday took top SEC freshman honors once again. It was her sixth freshman of the week award this season. The Henderson, Nevada, native beat out LSU senior Haleigh Bryant for the all-around title 39.57539.500. She also earned a share of first place on vault (9.925) and uneven bars (9.875). She now has 13 individual titles this season. Oklahoma’s Faith Torrez was named SEC gymnast of the week.
LSU takes on George Washington at 6:30 p.m. Friday in the Podium Challenge at the Raising Cane’s River Center
Matildas condemn radio host’s offensive comments
SYDNEY — The Matildas joined in the heavy criticism Wednesday of a commercial radio host’s misogynistic and crass comments about Australia’s national women’s soccer team. The host has since been taken off-air
The Matildas, coming off losses to Japan and the United States in the SheBelieves Cup, were the subject of a bizarre and offensive rant by comedian and host Marty Sheargold on his Triple M radio program Among other things, he described the players as high schoolers with “all the infighting and all the friendship issues” and asked his co-hosts if they had “any men’s sports” to talk about. Field hockey player, Rosie Malone, described Sheargold’s comments on social media as “disgusting” and “horrendous.”
Sooners hire Senior Bowl executive Nagy as GM NORMAN, Okla. — Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy has been hired as Oklahoma’s general manager for football, the school announced Wednesday Nagy will lead the Sooners’ roster management and talent acquisition, including player recruitment, evaluation, retention and compensation. He also will oversee name, image, and likeness, the transfer portal process, revenueshare allocation, scholarships and player eligibility Since 2018 he has been executive director of the Senior Bowl the college all-star game that showcases draft-eligible players. Nagy previously worked 18 years in NFL scouting with Seattle, Kansas City New England and Washington.
Ohtani to make training debut against Angels
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says three-time MVP Shohei Ohtani will make his first spring training appearance of the year on Friday night against his old team, the Los Angeles Angels. Ohtani, 30, will be the designated hitter Roberts has not given a timetable for Ohtani’s return to the pitching mound Roberts has ruled Ohtani out for the opening series in Tokyo against the Chicago Cubs on March 18-19.
Ohtani injured his left shoulder sliding into second base during the World Series, when the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in five games. He did not pitch last season, his first with the Dodgers as he recovered from surgery repairing a ligament in his pitching elbow
FIA confirms two pit stops requirment for Monaco
Badon said. “On the women’s side, we feel like we’ll have a very successful meet if we’re in the top three and banging on the door to win. That’s where we’re at. We want to be on the upper echelon of the conference men and women, and I think our athletes have the same attitude.”
To do so, it will require the standouts achieving their potential, but also a few overachievers. “Then we have some kids who are right on the border,” Badon said. “RJ Wilson in the weight throws who’s been hurt and threw for the first time last week and he’s seeded ninth. Then we have a shot putter who is a sophomore and is seeded ninth. Both of them have a chance to score.
PARIS Formula 1 drivers will have to make at least two pit stops at the Monaco Grand Prix in an attempt to inject some jeopardy into a glamorous race where overtaking is almost impossible.
F1’s governing body, the FIA, confirmed Wednesday that it would mandate using at least three sets of tires “with the primary intent of improving the sporting spectacle of this race.”
The overtaking challenges for wide modern F1 cars has seen recent races in Monaco often decided largely by grid positions from Saturday qualifying.
Last year’s race was red-flagged after first-lap crashes and resumed with a standing restart. There was little action after that as Charles Leclerc took the victory without stopping again.
THRELKELD
FILE PHOTO
UL’s Joe Patterson, left, running with Louden Boudreaux, has shined in the 800 heading into the Sun Belt indoors.
LSU looks to keep win streak going in first road series
BY JIM KLEINPETER
Contributing writer
LSU’s youthful softball team has accomplished plenty in starting the season 14-0. One thing it hasn’t done is make a road trip and that starts this week with a doozy
The No. 5 Tigers play No 4 UCLA in its opening game of the Judi Garman Classic at 2 p.m. Thursday at Anderson Family Field in Fullerton, California
LSU will play Fullerton (11-5) at 7 p.m. the same day followed by Friday games against Utah (4-12) at 11:30 a.m. and Notre Dame (87) before wrapping it up on Saturday against Weber State (4-11) at 1 p.m.
Playing with an offensive lineup more dependent on speed and aggressive base running, the Tigers have proven capable of scoring runs, getting 43 in four games last weekend.
Senior third baseman Danieca Coffey, who shared SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors with Texas A&M’s Mya Perez, has triggered the offense with productive
CAJUNS
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and the ball hits off of Conor’s (Higgs) glove and that’s one run,” Deggs said. “We messed around and walked a couple guys there They won both battles with two strikes.”
That proved to be more than enough offense to beat the Cajuns in this one UL’s bats were silent throughout the night.
“They’ve always pitched us tough and they pitch extremely tough in this ballpark, “ Deggs said. “It’s hard for us to see under the lights That’s not an excuse, but they play well to this ballpark in a night game.”
McNeese’s pitching staff entered the game with a team ERA of 2.67 and it only got better Opponents were only hitting .214 against the Cowboys and that average only went down.
McNeese had 63 strikeouts on the season and upped that total to 79 in seven games
“It’s just tough for us to see.
We’re not a team that punches out a bunch. Our early season numbers kind of prove that. They got a little early momentum on us. They can really pitch. They executed pitches all night and then they were able to come up big (offensively).”
The Cajuns stranded two in scoring position in the second, but didn’t get another runner
hitting and being ever present on the bases. Coffey went 7 for 10 last week to raise her batting average to .579 and on-base percentage to .685, both team bests. She also leads in hits (22) and runs (18) and is tied for the lead in walks (15).
Her importance as a four-year senior starter will extend to helping shepherd the team through its first road trip.
“The biggest thing is that it’s a business trip, that’s what coach always says,” Coffey said. “Yeah, we can also have a good time but understand you’re there to do a job and be grateful LSU is giving us a private fly a place to stay and food. We have to make sure we have a balanced deal.”
Several Tigers will play away from Tiger Park for the first time, including first baseman Tori Edwards, the team leader in homers (4) and RBIs (23).
“It’s exciting,” Edwards said.
“It’s my first game not in Tiger Park. I’m excited to travel, see a different environment and test our strengths and energies on the
in scoring position until Brooks Wright singled and stole second with two outs in the fifth.
Moreover, UL did hit a ball out of the infield until Connor Cuff’s line single to left with two outs in the seventh.
“They’re a tough customer,”
Deggs said “I’ve been in this exact game a bunch of times. Generally, we’ll mount a comeback, but tonight there was nothing. They executed pitches all day.”
In true midweek form, Diego Corrales threw two shutout innings to start the game and seven pitchers followed. The first reliever, Marcus Mott, was credited with the win
The most intriguing outing among UL’s pitchers was turned into junior transfer Alex Rosario.
Not a high-profile figure in the preseason discussions of the staff, the right-hander pitched 1.2 scoreless innings with two strikeouts.
“We’ve changed his arm stroke,” Deggs said of Rosario.
“He’s a new guy man. I thought he was devastating tonight. I think he can be an everyday Eddie. I like our pitching and defense. We just need to get going at the dish a little bit.”
Riley Marcotte and Matthew Holzhammer finished it out with two scoreless innings, but a Cajun rally never came.
“We pitched it and played defense at a high level,” Deggs said.
Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@theadvocate.com.
SAINTS
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against the Saints 2025 salary cap, though that number is likely to change, as he represents the biggest chip the Saints can play when it comes to clearing cap space. A contract restructure, in which the Saints convert the majority of Carr’s $30 million base salary and $10 million roster bonus into prorated signing bonus, would provide nearly $31 million in immediate cap relief for New Orleans For a team that is expected to need to clear roughly $40 million just to be compliant with the salary cap by the first day of the new league year, that is a significant chunk.
“It’s tight,” Loomis said, describing the team’s position relative to the salary cap. “There’s no secret to that, and his is a big number so we’re going to hopefully be able to maneuver.”
Carr has already stated he does not intend to take a pay cut. And while restructuring Carr would ease this year’s salary cap burden, it would also push some of it
at Tiger Park
sociation poll and received one first place vote while coming in behind Texas, Oklahoma, Florida and UCLA.
The Bruins (14-2) have lost only to Virginia and No. 8 Duke while taking victories over Kentucky, No. 7 Tennessee, No. 22 Alabama, Missouri and No. 11 Arkansas.
UCLA is led at the plate by first baseman Jordan Woolery with a .435 batting average, six homers and 22 RBIs. Second baseman Savannah Pola is batting .412. The top pitcher is left-hander Kaitlyn Terry with an 8-1 record, 0.99 ERA and two shutouts.
into 2026 — when Carr is already set to count $61 million against the cap. A full conversion would push that number near $70 million.
The veteran quarterback is coming off an injury plagued season, during which he played in a career-low 10 games. He suffered an oblique injury that forced him to miss three games in the middle of the season, then a concussion and broken left hand sidelined him for the final four weeks of the year His replacements in the lineup, rookie Spencer Rattler and second-year quarterback Jake Haener, both struggled. When Carr was on the field, he performed well statistically His 101 passer rating was a near career high and ranked 10th in the NFL, and Carr also finished 11th in the league in Expected Points Added per dropback, slotting just behind MVP finalist Joe Burrow.
But Carr also struggled to deliver against some of the Saints’ premier opponents. New Orleans went 0-3 against playoff teams in games Carr started, scoring 12, 13 and 14 points in those games.
Email Luke Johnson at ljohnson@theadvocate.com.
road. I have no doubt we’ll bring the same energy from Tiger Park to California At the end of the day, we’re not focused on wheth-
er there’s a number in front of the other team or our team.” LSU moved up one spot in the National Fastpitch Coaches As-
“It’s exciting to have an opportunity against a team like that, a program like that,” Tigers coach Beth Torina said. “They are a lot like us with a lot of new faces and names. It’s a different style of play but similarly match-up our experience level on Thursday morning. More of a slugger team, a power offense.”
UNO men’s basketball team under investigation for sports gambling
BY SPENCER URQUHART
and JEFF DUNCAN Staff writers
UNO and the NCAA are investigating unspecified improprieties in the school’s men’s basketball program, athletic director Vince Granito said Wednesday
Four of UNO’s top five scorers in James White, Jah Short, Dae Dae Hunter and Jamond Vincent last played Jan. 27 in a 74-58 loss vs. Incarnate Word and have been out since.
TheFieldof68.com, a website that covers college basketball, reported Wednesday that the suspensions were “due to an investigation into sports gambling.”
Granito confirmed that the four players had been suspended since January for a team rules violation but declined to comment when asked if the suspensions were gambling related.
“It’s part of our policy that a student-athlete, no matter what the sport is, signs off on at the beginning of the year,” Granito said “When you break a rule, specifically something that you signed off on, then you have consequences. That’s
LSU
Continued from page 1C
Morrow has also pulled down more rebounds in her career than any other active Division I player As of Thursday, she has 1,628 boards to her name, over 250 more than the active player with the second-most career rebounds, Illinois fifth-year senior Kendall Bostic.
Think that’s impressive?
Also consider the fact that Bostic has actually appeared in 12 more games than Morrow who’s grabbed at least 10 boards in 101 of the 131 contests she’s played in her career. Bostic has 75 doubledigit rebounding games, also the second-most among active Division I players. What’s more striking is that Morrow has grabbed at least 15 rebounds in 46 career games —
SPRING
Continued from page 1C
spring game this year
Kelly questioned canceling spring games as a way to prevent other teams from evaluating rosters on television, saying “I’m not buying that one.” But he did think there was merit to the idea of changing spring games in an attempt to slow down transfer portal activity The transfer portal opens again April 16-25.
“I think that there’s more of, ‘Why don’t we just keep our business a little bit more closely guarded than being so public about it, especially with the ability to transfer so easily?’” Kelly said “I think that there’s much more of a sense of that.”
Kelly also said coaches are “getting ready” for spring practice to be replaced by NFL-style OTAs in late spring or early summer an idea he supports.
FBS coaches discussed a proposal to transform the 15 spring practices into OTAs at the American Football Coaches Association meeting in January, according to
why we’re in this limbo state.”
The news comes one day after a Sports Illustrated report about a widespread gambling ring in pro and college basketball that is being investigated by the U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York. The report described the investigations findings as “one of the most pervasive pointshaving scandals in North American sports history.”
When asked Feb. 15 about the missing pieces of his starting lineup, first-year UNO coach Stacy Hollowell declined to comment.
UNO debuted a new-look starting lineup without the four players against Southeastern on Feb. 1 and have played short-handed ever since, with only seven players seeing the floor most nights. White was averaging a teamhigh 19.2 points per game along with 7 rebounds. Short was third on the team in scoring at 9.2 points per game followed by Hunter with 8.2 and Vincent at 7.8.
UNO was 4-17 before the four players’ absence and has lost all eight games without them.
Freshmen MJ Thomas, Leland Coleman and New Orleans native
twice as many as any other active Division I player, according to Stathead.
And she’s also on track to become the first qualified woman since 1995 to finish a Division I career with a scoring average of at least 20 points, a rebounding average of at least 12 boards and a field-goal percentage of at least 45%.
“When you’re undersized,” Mulkey said. “I would think you have to understand the game. You have to have a tremendous IQ to understand, ‘How am I gonna guard somebody bigger than me. How am I gonna outrebound them?’
Losing Angel Reese could’ve hurt LSU’s chances of rebounding at one of the top rates in the country But in large part because they still have Morrow, the Tigers are — just like they were last season — leading the Southeastern Conference in both total rebounds (43.6)
CBS Sports. Kelly thinks the concept is beneficial for training, recruiting and development.
“I think we’re getting closer to maybe an NFL model in terms of what makes sense,” Kelly said “I think it’s always been on the academic model, and I think we might be getting closer to what works best for the student-athlete outside of academics and much more on portals and revenue sharing and preparation for the season.”
At the AFCA meeting, Kelly and the other coaches in attendance reportedly approved a proposal to shorten the transfer portal to 10 days in early January, an idea that will have to be passed by the NCAA. This offseason, the transfer portal was open for 20 days in December and will open again for 10 days in April.
“I think the game was under attack with the portal being open in December,” Kelly said.
This past season, LSU’s staff managed the signing of its 2025 recruiting class, the transfer portal, NFL draft decisions and the Texas Bowl within one month Though the early signing period was moved to the beginning of Decem-
Kohen Rowbatham have averaged over 30 minutes a night for UNO during the eight-game stretch, along with sophomore JR Jacobs.
“Have you seen our guys lately, how hard they’ve been playing?” Hollowell said. “Come out and watch these guys play, because they’re busting their tail.”
Senior Luke Davis and juniors Theo Grant and Grant Kemp have also seen significant minutes for UNO. Thomas is averaging 11 points per game and a team-high 7.9 rebounds.
UNO held a news conference Wednesday at Lakefront Arena to announce New Orleans music icon Percy “Master P” Miller as president of basketball operations. Granito addressed the suspended players report at the beginning of the press conference.
“I understand that there’s an interest in the status of our four suspended basketball players that happened earlier this year,” Granito said. “It’s an internal investigation for a team rules violation Today’s press conference was planned in advance (of the report) and is about the future of UNO basketball.”
and offensive rebounds (17.9) per game since league play began. Last year, Morrow grabbed 23% of the boards LSU grabbed against SEC opponents.
This season, her share is up to 30%, and she needs to pull down only 13 more rebounds to equal the number she snared across the 19 league games that the Tigers played a year ago.
The road matchup with the Crimson Tide will be Morrow’s 14th SEC game of the season.
And it’ll give the star senior another chance to make more history before her eligibility runs out at the end of the year
“She never gets tired,” Mulkey said. “That kid is tough as nails.” Email Reed Darcey at reed. darcey@theadvocate.com. For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/lsunewsletter
ber for the first time in an attempt to alleviate some problems, Kelly still thought there were issues.
“When I went back out on the road, the group that felt the most as if they were disregarded was the ‘26 class,” Kelly said. “They were like, ‘Hey, did you forget about us?’ We’re like, ‘No, we’ve got five balls up in the air.’ This would really help and keep kids on your team.” Eventually, Kelly thinks one transfer portal window will get pushed further into the spring, similar to the timing of NFL free agency He is generally supportive of adopting elements of the professional model as college football evolves.
“When we met as head coaches, I think our path was much more about progress over perfection,” Kelly said. “We wanted to make progress, but to be perfect with this would have required so many changes. Let’s make some progress right now and begin to look at what the next step is.”
For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/lsunewsletter
PROVIDED PHOTO By BENJAMIN MASSEy/UL COMMUNICATIONS
UL pitcher Alex Rosario was one of the few bright spots in the Cajuns’ 3-0 road loss to McNeese.
STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK
LSU coach Beth Torina speaks with first baseman Tori Edwards on third base during a game against UT-Arlington on Feb 14
OVEN FRIED CHICKEN
Looking for the perfect chicken and dumplings? Try my mom’s
I was way past the threshold of adulthood before I had any idea that there was more than one kind of dumpling, but it’s true. Now I’ve tried a variety of dumplings in a handful of countries and have enjoyed most of them, but in my heart of hearts, a real dumpling is what my mother makes a thin strip of dough boiled in rich chicken broth. The thinner the dumpling, the better Saturday night, when it was cold and rainy, my mom made her chicken and dumplings. The gloomy weather was perfect for enjoying the hot soup. My mom has made chicken and dumplings all of my life, but 44 years ago, she learned a few chicken-and-dumpling tricks from a fellow teacher named Naomi Magee. Magee shared a cherished chicken and dumplings recipe from The Revolving Tables Restaurant in Mendenhall, Mississippi, which was open from 1915 until it closed on Dec. 31, 2001. It was the predecessor of The Dinner Bell in McComb, Mississippi.
ardi Gras is right around the corner, and we are in peak parade season. If you love to wander up and down the parade route on Mardi Gras, especially if you have children with you, consider bringing a simple, portable picnic. This picnic can be carried in a backpack with hand wipes and paper napkins. It’s easy to make, easy to carry and you’ll have happy paradegoers.
Oven-fried chicken is perfect finger food. There are no bones to deal with or discard on the parade route. The prep doesn’t totally take over your stove top like conventionally fried chicken does. You might want to prepare a dipping sauce or two, but this crispy chicken is delicious without it. For children, prepare individual servings ahead of time in Ziploc bags.
ä See MARDI GRAS, page 6C
Oven Fried Chicken
Makes 6-8 servings.
2 pounds of skinless, boneless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into strips 2 cups buttermilk 1 cup flour ½ cup cornmeal 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
One of the last steps
chicken and dumplings recipe is to add milk to the rich chicken broth, giving the
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Place the chicken strips into the buttermilk that has been placed in a bowl. Using your hands mix the chicken and the buttermilk to make sure that the chicken is fully coated. Set aside in the refrigerator, covered. 2. Place the remainder of the ingredients into a large bowl. Using a whisk, stir the ingredients into a uniform mixture. Before beginning to dredge the chicken pieces, spread the canola oil on 1 or 2 baking sheets, depending on the size of your sheets. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator Shake off excess buttermilk and dredge each piece in the coating mixture Be sure to completely coat each piece and place it on the oiled baking sheet. Leave a bit of space between each piece of chicken on the baking sheet.
BY GRETCHEN McKAY
3. Dredge each piece of chicken and place it on the baking sheet. When completely covered, place the baking sheet into the preheated oven on the middle rack. Cook each sheet for 15 minutes; then using tongs, turn each piece of chicken and return the sheet to the oven. Cook for 10 more minutes. Do this with each sheet until all of the chicken is cooked. Cool the chicken on a wire rack. When cool, place in individual servings in separate bags.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (TNS)
My mother’s friend explained that the legendary restaurant used cold flour and ice water to make their dumplings. The cold combination is a game changer when it comes to making dumplings, as well as any pastry dough, for that matter
My mother didn’t go into the science behind the cold making better dumplings, but, in a nutshell, here’s the reasoning: lower temperatures slow down the gluten development process and allow flour particles to absorb water more gradually which creates a weaker gluten network, resulting in a dough that is easier to handle because it’s not so sticky
My mom used a solid wood, heavy rolling pin that I had received when I judged a
See THE DISH, page 6C
Jan Risher
Liz Williams TIP OF THE TONGUE
STAFF PHOTO By JAN RISHER
in Nelda Risher’s
potato salad
Potato Salad
Serves 6-8
2 pounds small red new potatoes, quartered and boiled until tender
hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
1. Place all of the ingredients, except the chopped parsley, into a large bowl. Carefully and gently stir the mixture to cover
all parts of the salad with the dressing and to make the mixture uniform. Place in the refrigerator
2. Place in deli containers with lids to take to the parade.
DRESSING
Place the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together thoroughly
Apple Peanut Butter Snacks
Each apple makes 4 snacks.
½ cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
1 apple
4 tablespoons peanut butter (use your favorite — crunchy or smooth)
¼ cup chopped peanuts
1. Place the lemon juice and the sugar in a small bowl. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
MARDI GRAS
Continued from page 5C
I save plastic deli containers and pack them with potato salad for parades. Snap the lid back on and use a rubber band or tape to attach a plastic fork to each container The very simple but delicious apple/peanut butter snacks can be eaten for dessert or as a mid-parade snack. Make them even
2 Cut the unpeeled apple in half through the stem, then into quarters, and again into eighths. Cut off the core edge. Dip the eighths into the lemon juice coating all sides. Spread the 1 tablespoon of peanut butter on each of 4 slices. Cover the 4 spread slices with an unspread slice, like
more fun by using red and green apples, making the peanut butter sandwich with a red slice and a green slice. Add variety by using almond butter or cashew butter instead of peanut butter And I even love these snacks with pear slices a crisp variety of pear, like a Bosc or Asian. Vary the crunchy bit around the outside of the snack by using any chopped nut, sesame seeds or sunflower seeds. if you want to make it a bit more like
a sandwich. Push down on the sandwich until a slight amount of peanut butter squeezes around the peel edge.
3. Place the chopped peanuts in a small bowl. Dip the oozed peanut butter side of the sandwich into the chopped peanuts Pack 2 or 3 snacks in each Ziploc bag.
dessert, mix the chopped seeds or nuts with chopped bittersweet chocolate before crusting the edges. These snacks can be placed in snack bag-sized self-closing bags — two or three to a bag.
Liz Williams is founder of the Southern Food & Beverage Museum in New Orleans. Listen to “Tip of the Tongue,” Liz’s podcast about food, drink and culture, wherever you hear podcasts. Email Liz at lizwillia@gmail.com.
Mama’s Chicken and Dumplings
Recipe by Nelda Risher, adapted from a recipe by The Revolving Table Restaurant Makes 8-10 servings. 1
chicken and dumplings connoisseurs appreciate a healthy dose of freshground black pepper added immediately before eating
knife, cut thin dumpling dough into strips about an inch and a half wide.
ter (Save chicken broth for another use.)
5. Bring chicken broth to a rolling boil.
6. Picking up one long strip of dough at a time, break off pieces about 2 to 3 inches long and drop into places where the broth is full-on boiling. Gradually continue this process until all dough has been broken into dumplings and dropped into the boiling broth (careful to drop each dumpling into a boiling spot).
7. Once all dumplings are in the pot, turn burner to the lowest setting possible (or off if you have an electric stove).
8. Add butter into the broth with dumplings and stir to melt. Add milk to mixture and gently stir
9. Add pulled chicken into the broth.
By The Associated Press
Today is Thursday, Feb. 27, the 58th day of 2025. There are 307 days left in the year Today in history
On Feb. 27, 1933, Germany’s parliament building, the Reichstag, was gutted by fire; Chancellor Adolf Hitler, blaming communists, used the fire to justify suspending civil liberties.
On this date:
In 1951, the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, limiting a president to two terms in office, was ratified.
In 1972, President Rich-
ard M. Nixon and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai issued the Shanghai Communique, which called for normalizing relations between their countries, at the conclusion of Nixon’s historic visit to China.
In 1998, with the approval of Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s House of Lords agreed to end 1,000 years of male preference by giving a monarch’s firstborn child the right to take the throne, regardless of the child’s sex.
In 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin dramatically escalated East-
West tensions by ordering nuclear forces put on high alert while Ukrainian Pres-
Spicy Beef, Potato and Cheese Hand Pies
Makes 8 large hand pies. Recipe is from Gretchen McKay, Post-Gazette.
meal, with a few pea-size pieces of
2.
3.
4. Cook until meat is starting to brown, about 7 minutes. Stir in spices and a dash of Worcestershire sauce. Continue cooking for another minute or two, then stir in chopped cilantro.
5. Remove pan from heat and allow meat to cool, then stir in 11/2 cups of shredded cheese.
6. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lowermiddle positions, place 1 rimmed baking sheet on each, and heat oven to 425 F
HAND PIES
Continued from page 5C
on those nights you’re
5.
THE DISH
Continued from page 5C
jambalaya cookoff last year at Exxon. She said it was a perfect rolling pin to use for dumplings.
“You can have a mess with a rolling pin, but the cold helps to have the dough right,” my mom, Nelda Risher, said as she was placing dumplings in the pot to boil. “And if I think they need to be thinner, as I pick them up to place in the pot, I just squeeze them down a little further with my hands.”
4. Remove enough of the chicken broth from the pot to leave about 8 cups of wa-
I stood watching her carefully find the spot in the pot where the broth was boiling the most. She has told me before that the best dumplings are made when I gently drop them into the spot where the broth is boiling best. By this point in the process, we were both getting excited about the meal to come.
“You know, some people make them out of selfrising flour,” my mom said, “But I don’t like dumplings to be that puffy — puffy, puffy, puffy means bad dumplings.” Chicken and dumplings is the perfect dish for a cold,
10. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately
wintry day, though growing up, we ate them year-round. Last weekend, my mom and I enjoyed making chicken and dumplings together, but we enjoyed sitting down at the table to eat them with my family even more.
The Dish is a Thursday column by Jan Risher Each week, she tries her hand at making someone else’s signature dish — and compares notes. If you or someone you know has a signature dish that you would like Jan to try, email her at jan.risher@ theadvocate.com.
8. Working with 1 dough ball at a time, roll each one on lightly floured surface into 7-inch circle. (Don’t worry if it’s not perfect.) 9. Place a scant ¼ cup meat filling in the center Brush edges of dough with water and fold it over filling. Press
7. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces. With your cupped hand, form each piece into a smooth, tight ball.
binge-watching your favorite TV show For a salty finish, I added a generous sprinkle of everything bagel seasoning after brushing the tops of the pies with beaten egg (it adds a shiny, golden-brown color), but that’s completely optional. Serve with side salad or your favorite dipping sauce.
STAFF PHOTO By JAN RISHER Most
STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER
Liz Williams seves up homemade
ident Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed to talks with Moscow as Putin’s troops and tanks drove deeper into the country Today’s birthdays: Actor Joanne Woodward is 95. Football Hall of Famer Raymond Barry is 92. Consumer advocate Ralph Nader is 91. Broadcast journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault is 83. Rock musician Neal Schon (Journey) is 71. Actor Timothy Spall is 68. U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., is 67.
PIscEs (Feb 20-March 20) Emotions will surface, but how you handle them will be key. You'll require discipline, resources and an ironclad plan to flourish Refuse to let a canny operator get in your way or lead you astray.
ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Put anger aside and get things done. You have what it takes to reach your goal as long as you refrain from allowing anyone to push emotional buttons or throw you off guard
tAuRus (April 20-May 20) A change will open your mind to a host of new ideas and people who can offer specific skills you can utilize Participate in events that interest or concern you, and you'll gain insight into the possibilities.
GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Fact-checking will be necessary. Do the legwork, or you'll have no one to blame but yourself if things go wrong. Learning, communicating and separating truth from fiction will be mandatory to come out on top.
cAncER (June 21-July 22) You're on a roll. Follow the rules and regulations, and take care of every tiny detail to ensure you reach your destination of choice. A positive change is heading your way.
LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Pressure tactics won't work. Engage in educational pursuits, network and put the right people in place to reach your desired results. A little bravado will leave a lasting impression.
VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept 22) Embrace whatever is new and exciting. Live, laugh
WonderWord
and learn, and you'll find your way to the winner's circle. Take control, drive a hard bargain and enjoy the ride.
LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Take precautions when facing situations that can affect your reputation, position or prospects. Be a good listener, consider the possibilities and take sure-footed steps
scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Give high regard to those deserving of it, and you'll gain allies to help you get ahead. A change within reach will help you close the gap between standing still and moving forward.
sAGIttARIus (nov 23-Dec 21) Tread carefully and note what everyone is doing. Be shrewd and perceptive, and the success you desire will unfold. A poker face and confident attitude will pay off.
cAPRIcoRn (Dec 22-Jan. 19) You've got more going for you than you realize. Refuse to let anyone deplete your confidence. Use your imagination and outmaneuver anyone who tries to get in your way.
AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Stick close to home and formulate a plan to help you engage in something interesting. Moderation and simplicity will help you build a solid base and improve your self-esteem.
Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present. Each letter in the cipher stands for another.
FAMILY CIrCUS
zodIAC
toDAy's cLuE: A EQuALs u
CeLebrItY CIpher
SALLY Forth
beetLe bAILeY
Mother GooSe And GrIMM SherMAn’S LAGoon
bIG nAte
Sudoku
InstructIons: Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.
Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer
THe wiZard oF id
BLondie
BaBY BLueS
Hi and LoiS CurTiS
By PHILLIP ALDER Bridge
B. Cybrill wrote, “When the bold branches/Bidfarewelltorainbowleaves / Welcome wool sweaters.”
Now, in the depth of winter, we can relate to that At the bridge table, when we bid farewell to the auction, whether colorful or monochrome, we welcome hot leads. Look at West’s hand. What should he lead against four spades after the given auction?
Note North’s one-diamond response. With a good hand, bid the longest suit first. Do not skip diamonds to show a major except with a weak hand (and only then if the major is particularly strong). Then, on the second round, North makes a splinter bid, indicating four-card spade support, at least game-going values, and asingletonorvoidinclubs.South,withso muchinclubsandthreelowhearts,signs off in game. (If you do not use splinters, North should rebid four spades.)
Each Wuzzle is a word riddle which creates a disguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example:
Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer today’s thought
sent his word, and healed them and delivered them from their destructions.” Psalms 107:20
Bizarro
hagar the horriBle
Pearls Before swiNe
garfield
B.C.
PiCKles
BRIEFS
Nvidia sales surge in the fourth quarter
Nvidia on Wednesday reported a surge in fourth-quarter profit and sales as demand for its specialized Blackwell chips, which power artificial intelligence systems, continued to grow For the three months that ended Jan. 26, the tech giant based in Santa Clara, California, posted revenue of $39.3 billion, up 12% from the previous quarter and 78% from one year ago. Adjusted for one-time items, it earned 89 cents a share.
“Demand for Blackwell is amazing as reasoning AI adds another scaling law — increasing compute for training makes models smarter, and increasing compute for long thinking makes the answer smarter,” Nvidia founder Jensen Huang said in a statement.
Wednesday’s earnings report topped Wall Street expectations. Analysts had been expecting adjusted earnings of 85 cents a share on revenue of $38.1 billion, according to FactSet. The fourthquarter earnings are the company’s first report since Chinese company DeepSeek boasted it had developed a large language model that could compete with ChatGPT and other U.S. rivals, but was more cost-effective in its use of Nvidia chips to train the system on troves of data.
Amazon unveils
AI-powered Alexa
Amazon on Wednesday unveiled a generative-AI infused Alexa that it says will allow the popular voice assistant to have more personality, check a user’s tone and even plan romantic dates.
But unlike before, when Alexa was offered for free on any Alexa-enabled devices, customers will have to pay Amazon a monthly fee of $19.99 for the revamped voice assistant, which it calls “Alexa+.” However, the generative-AI powered Alexa will be free for Prime members, who pay the company a monthly or annual fee for free delivery and other perks.
The company says Alexa+ is able to have conversations with a more natural, humanlike flow and can learn more about a user — such as dietary preferences or allergies — the more it’s used.
Amazon says it will kick off “early access” of Alexa+, currently only available in English, in the U.S. next month.
BP to slash spending on net zero ventures
British energy company BP confirmed Wednesday that it would slash spending on green ventures and increase its oil and gas production, a change in direction that it hopes will bolster its flagging share price but has been met with incredulity from climate action campaigners. In a statement titled “Reset BP,” the company said it will reduce its spending on net zero transition businesses by $5 billion a year to up to $2 billion. By contrast, it said it would increase its investments in oil and gas production by about 20% to $10 billion.
CEO Murray Auchincloss said that the company is focusing its spending on BP’s “highestreturning businesses to drive growth” and that it will be “very selective” in its investments in renewables.
Egg prices could jump another 41%
Trump’s bird flu plan unveiled
BY JOSH FUNK and JOSH BOAK Associated Press
WASHINGTON The Agriculture Department predicts the current record prices for eggs could soar more than 40% in 2025, as the Trump administration offered the first new details Wednesday about its plan to battle bird flu and ease the cost of eggs.
With an emphasis on tightening up biosecurity on farms, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the USDA will invest another $1 billion on top of the roughly $2
billion it has already spent battling bird flu since the outbreak began in 2022. Officials had hinted at the plan earlier this month. It’s not clear how much more farmers can do to keep the virus out. Egg and poultry farmers have already been working to protect their birds ever since the 2015 bird flu outbreak by taking measures like requiring workers to change clothes and shower before entering barns, using separate sets of tools and sanitizing any vehicles that enter farms.
The challenge is that the virus is spread easily by wild birds as they migrate past farms.
And the main reason egg prices have soared to hit a record average of $4.95 per dozen this month
is that more than 166 million birds have been slaughtered to limit the spread of the virus after cases are found — with most of those being egg-laying chickens. Last month was the worst yet for egg farmers with nearly 19 million egg-laying chickens slaughtered.
The USDA now predicts that egg prices will increase at least 41% this year on top of the already record prices. Just last month, the increase was predicted to be 20%.
And the average prices conceal just how bad the situation is, with consumers paying more than a dollar an egg in some places. The situation is hurting consumers and has prompted restaurants like Denny’s and Waffle House to add surcharges on egg dishes.
The high egg prices, which have
more than doubled since before the outbreak began, cost consumers at least $1.4 billion last year, according to an estimate done by agricultural economists at the University of Arkansas.
Egg prices also normally increase every spring heading into Easter when demand is high.
Rollins acknowledged that it will take some time before consumers see an effect at the checkout counter. After all, it takes infected farms months to dispose of the carcasses, sanitize their farms and raise new birds. But she expressed optimism that this will help prices.
“It’s going to take a while to get through, I think in the next month or two, but hopefully by summer,” Rollins said.
EPA urges reconsideration of climate action
BY MATTHEW DALY Associated Press
WASHINGTON In a potential landmark action, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency has privately urged the Trump administration to reconsider a scientific finding that has long been the central basis for U.S. action against climate change.
In a report to the White House, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called for a rewrite of the agency’s finding that determined planet-warming greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare, according to four people who were briefed on the matter but spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the recommendation is not public.
The 2009 finding under the Clean Air Act is the legal underpinning of a host of climate regulations for motor vehicles, power plants and other pollution sources.
A spokesperson for the EPA on Wednesday declined to reveal Zeldin’s recommendation, which was made last week under an executive order from Republican President Donald Trump. The order, issued on Trump’s first day in office, directed the EPA to submit a report “on the legality and continuing applicability” of the endangerment finding.
The Washington Post first reported that Zeldin had urged the White House to strike down the endangerment finding.
The Obama-era finding “is the linchpin of the federal government’s policies for what the president and I call the climate hoax,” said Steve Milloy, a former Trump transition adviser who disputes mainstream science on climate change.
“If you pull this (finding) out, everything EPA does on climate goes away,” Milloy said.
to
Trump, at a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, said Zeldin told him he is moving to eliminate about 65% of the EPA’s workforce “A lot of people that weren’t doing their job, they were just obstructionist,” Trump said.
Environmental groups and legal experts said any attempt to repeal or roll back the endangerment finding would be an uphill task with a slim chance of success.
“This would be a fool’s errand,” said David Doniger, a climate expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group. “In the face of overwhelming science, it’s impossible to think that the
EPA could develop a contradictory finding that would stand up in court.”
Trump, who has repeatedly denounced what he calls a “green new scam” pushed by Democrats and environmentalists, may view a repeal of the endangerment finding as a “kill shot” that would allow him to make all climate regulations invalid, Doniger said.
“But it’s a real long shot for them,” he added, noting that courts repeatedly have upheld the EPA’s authority to regulate pollution from greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.
Wall Street rises just enough to break its 4-day losing streak
BY STAN CHOE AP business writer
NEW YORK U.S. stock indexes drifted to a mixed finish on Wednesday after climbing in the morning but then running out of steam.
The S&P 500 finished an iota higher, after surrendering virtually all of its early gain of 0.9%. But that was just enough to break a four-day losing streak that had knocked the index off its all-time high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell and the Nasdaq composite rose
The stock market has generally been struggling following some weaker-than-expected reports on the economy, including a couple that showed U.S. households are
getting more pessimistic about inflation and tariffs pushed by President Donald Trump. Some of the harshest drops hit Big Tech and other high-growth stocks, whose incredible momentum had earlier seemed unstoppable.
Super Micro Computer, one of the stocks that’s soared in the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology, lost nearly a quarter of its value over four days, for example. But it jumped 12.2% Wednesday after filing its annual report for its fiscal year that ended in June.
The company, which sells servers used in AI, had delayed filing its annual report and other required forms after its former accounting firm raised concerns
about some of its financial reporting and governance. Super Micro then had to get extensions from Nasdaq to file the financial reports as it conducted a review and hired another public accounting firm.
NRG Energy jumped 10.6% Wednesday after announcing it’s joining with GE Vernova and a subsidiary of Kiewit on a venture to generate more electricity for generative AI data centers. GE Vernova rose 5.5%.
NRG also reported results for the latest quarter that topped analysts’ expectations. Most of the other companies in the S&P 500 have likewise been delivering better profits for the end of 2024 than analysts expected.
Off-price retailer TJX rose 1.8%
after joining the parade. The company behind TJ Maxx and Marshalls additionally said it plans to increase its dividend 13% and announced a program to buy up to $2.5 billion of its stock.
Worries have been rising about whether U.S. shoppers may cut back on their spending given stubbornly high inflation and jitters about the economy’s prospects. But TJX CEO Ernie Herrman said his company has benefited from its offprice model and sees opportunities to grow over the long term.
General Motors revved up by 3.7% after the automaker announced a program to buy back up to $6 billion of its stock. It will also send more cash to its shareholders by increasing its dividend.
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By CHARLIE RIEDEL
In a report
the White House, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called for a rewrite of the agency’s finding that determined planet-warming greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare.
