Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-Benton, talks to reporters Thursday just after House Republicans approved their budget framework that is central to President Donald Trump’s agenda.
BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer
WASHINGTON — Once again with his back pressed to the wall by hard-right Republicans, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, was able to pull off Thursday another narrow victory to forward the legislative agenda of President Donald Trump
The House voted 216 to 214 to accept Senate changes to a House blueprint bill that instructs congressional committees to reduce spending in the federal budget.
Two Republican members Thomas Massie, of Kentucky, and Victoria Spartz, of Indiana — joined all the Democrats in voting against the measure. If another Republican had joined the Democratic opponents, the measure
would have failed.
As expected, Louisiana’s four Republican members voted in favor and two Democratic representatives voted against.
Johnson had to pull the legislation from a floor vote Wednesday night after a group of about a dozen hard-right holdouts concerned about growing deficits demanded more spending cuts than the Senate’s version included.
Johnson, with the help of Trump, had spent three days lobbying holdouts and was able to persuade enough to get the legislation passed Thursday morning.
The budget debate has high stakes for Louisiana. For example, the steeper cuts some Republicans want could lead to reductions in Medicaid, which could devastate the state budget and leave many low-income residents without
health insurance. Louisiana has one of the highest percentages of people on Medicaid.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, the Jefferson Republican who is the second-highest-ranking House leader said the measure accelerates Trump’s agenda to extend his 2017 tax cuts while expanding energy exploration, restricting immigration, and other issues.
The bill doesn’t include specific budget cuts. It tells committees to make spending cuts and include wording that enacts Trump’s legislative wants to achieve those cuts.
Under the rules, if the House and Senate Republicans agree precisely on the terms, they can proceed to pass that budget with Trump initiatives into law
ä See JOHNSON, page 7A
Landry, insurance chief at odds over legislation
Tort reform battle boils as session approaches
BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer
Two powerful state leaders have promised they are committed to bringing down high auto insurance rates shouldered by families and businesses alike, a challenge both have called “a crisis.” But Gov Jeff Landry and Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple, both elected in 2023, this week during competing news conferences presented starkly contrasting visions of policy solutions that will translate to lower rates. Temple said the primary reason auto insurance rates are high in Louisiana is that when drivers get into accidents, “we’re more than twice the national average to file a bodily injury claim and more than twice to litigate.”
“That’s what the majority of the legislation is going to focus on,” he said at a news conference Thursday
Most of the bills Temple is backing during the legislative session that begins Monday would put stricter limits on people’s ability to sue over damages and how much money they can win in court — an effort pushed as “tort reform” by business interests and insurance companies.
“Will trial lawyers who sue for massive, excessive payouts attack our solutions and call them harmful to consumers? Probably so,” Temple said. “From energy to insurance, I’m sick of how our state has historically sided with a few trial attorneys over the many citizens and job creators in Louisiana.”
The package of bills will create “transparency, certainty and predictability in our market,” Temple said. That in turn will attract insurance companies to Louisiana and create competition and lowers premiums.
Just a day earlier, Landry announced an alternative slate of policies to lower auto insurance rates but urged a “balanced approach” he says would hold both insurance companies and trial lawyers accountable.
“Both sides have plenty of blame to
ä See LEGISLATION, page 9A
$53M FEMA grants would have added protection
BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER
Staff writer
Two projects designed to protect parts of Baton Rouge that flooded in 2016 lost their funding this week after President Donald Trump’s administration ended a federal grant program. East Baton Rouge Parish had gotten initial federal approval for a $26 million project on the Lively Bayou near Florida Boulevard and a $27 million project along Roberts Canal near Glen Oaks Drive. But on Tuesday, the Federal
BY STAN CHOE Associated Press
NEW YORK U.S. stocks dove Thursday and surrendered a chunk of their historic gains from the day before as President Donald Trump’s trade war continues to threaten the economy
The S&P 500 tumbled 3.5%, slicing into Wednesday’s surge of 9.5% following Trump’s decision to pause many of his tariffs worldwide. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,014 points, or 2.5%, and the Nasdaq composite tumbled 4.3%.
“Trump blinks,” UBS strategist Bhanu Baweja wrote in a report about the president’s decision on tariffs, “but the damage isn’t all undone.”
Trump has focused more on China, raising tariffs on its products to well above 100%. Even if that were to get negotiated down
to something like 50%, and even if only 10% tariffs remained on other countries, Baweja said the hit to the U.S. economy could still be large enough to hurt expected growth for upcoming U.S. corporate profits.
The losses for U.S. stocks accelerated Thursday after the White House clarified that the United States will tax Chinese imports at 145%, not the 125% rate that Trump had written about in his posting on Truth Social Wednesday, once other previously announced tariffs were included. The drop for the S&P 500 exceeded 6% at one point.
“Everything is still very volatile, because with Donald Trump, you don’t know what to expect,” said Francis Lun, chief executive of Geo Securities. “This is really big uncertainty in the market. The Stocks
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By RICHARD DREW
Trader Peter Herits, center works on the options floor of the New york Stock Exchange on Thursday.
BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS
U.S. ambassador to Ukraine to step down
WASHINGTON
The U.S. ambassador to Ukraine is stepping down from her post after nearly three years in Kyiv amid uncertainty over the Trump administration’s attempts to broker a peace deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war
The State Department said Thursday that Bridget Brink will be leaving her post in the near future, although it was not immediately clear exactly when she would depart. Brink assumed the job under former President Joe Biden’s administration and has been a staunch advocate for U.S military assistance to Ukraine.
Her resignation had been expected for some time, especially considering the Trump administration’s premium on rapprochement with Russia and ending the war “Ambassador Brink has been at the embassy in Ukraine for three years during a time of war,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters. “For those three years it’s been an extraordinary performance there And we wish her well.”
“At the same time, of course, it’s a reminder when it comes to the issues that we think about that surround this conversation is that we know that we’re working for (peace) and that is our focus.”
Brink, a career foreign service officer, has been outspoken in her support for arming Ukraine to help it defend itself from Russia’s invasion and had continued her advocacy even after President Donald Trump took office in January and began to pressure Ukraine to accept a ceasefire proposal.
Hackers hit Morocco’s social security database
RABAT, Morocco Morocco’s social security agency said troves of data were stolen from its systems in a cyberattack this week that resulted in personal information being leaked on the messaging app Telegram.
The North African kingdom’s social security fund administers pensions and insurance benefits to millions of private sector workers, from assembly line laborers to corporate executives. It said in a statement Wednesday that preliminary investigations suggest the leak resulted from hackers bypassing its security systems.
The agency did not say who was thought to be responsible for the leak while also claiming that many of the documents posted were “misleading, inaccurate, or incomplete.”
The hackers who posted the documents on Telegram said the attack was in response to alleged Moroccan “harassment” of Algeria on social media platforms, pledging additional cyberattacks if Algerian sites were targeted Moroccan media have attributed the attack to Algerian hackers, describing it as an episode in a larger cyberwar between the two countries.
Ancient jawbone belongs to early human ancestor
An ancient jawbone discovered in Taiwan belonged to an enigmatic group of early human ancestors called Denisovans, scientists reported Thursday
Relatively little is known about Denisovans, an extinct group of human cousins that interacted with Neanderthals and our own species, Homo sapiens.
“Denisovan fossils are very scarce,” with only a few confirmed finds in East Asia, said study co-author Takumi Tsutaya at the Graduate University for Advanced Studies in Japan.
So far, the only known Denisovan fossils include partial jawbones, a few teeth and part of a finger bone found in caves in Siberia and Tibet. Some scientists believe fossils found in a cave in Laos may also belong to Denisovans The probable identification of the jawbone from Taiwan as Denisovan expands the region where scientists know these ancient people once lived, said Tsutaya
The partial jawbone was first recovered when a fishing operation dredged the seafloor in the Penghu Channel near the Taiwan Strait. After it was sold to an antique shop, a collector spotted it and purchased it in 2008, then later donated it to Taiwan’s National Museum of Natural Science.
Helicopter crashes into Hudson River
Officials say 6 people killed
BY MICHAEL R. SISAK, JENNIFER PELTZ and TED SHAFFREY Associated Press
NEW YORK A New York City sightseeing helicopter broke apart in midair
Thursday and crashed upside-down into the Hudson River, killing the pilot and a family of five Spanish tourists in the latest U.S. aviation disaster, officials said.
Mayor Eric Adams said the flight began at a downtown heliport around 3 p.m. and the dead including three children — had been recovered and removed from the water The flight north along the Manhattan skyline and then back south toward the Statue of Liberty lasted less than 18 minutes.
Video of the crash showed parts of the aircraft tumbling through the air into the water near the shoreline of Jersey City, New Jersey A witness there, Bruce Wall, said he saw it “falling apart” in midair, with the tail and propeller coming off. The propeller was still spinning without the helicopter as it fell.
Dani Horbiak was at her Jersey City home when she heard what sounded
A crane vessel arrives Thursday in Jersey City, N.J., near the
helicopter crashed into the Hudson
like “several gunshots in a row, almost, in the air.” She looked out her window and saw the chopper “splash in several pieces into the river.”
The helicopter was spinning uncontrollably with “a bunch of smoke coming out” before it slammed into the water, said Lesly Camacho, a hostess at a restaurant along the river in Hoboken, New Jersey
Rescue boats circled the submerged aircraft within minutes of impact near the end of a long maintenance pier for a ventilation tower serving the Holland Tunnel.
Recovery crews hoisted the mangled helicopter out of the water just after 8 p.m. using a floating crane.
The flight was operated by New York Helicopters, officials said. No one answered the phones at the company’s offices in New York and New Jersey A person who answered the phone at the home of the company’s owner, Michael Roth, declined to comment.
Roth told the New York Post he was devastated and had “no clue” why the crash happened.
“The only thing I know by watching a video of the heli-
Burials begin after Dominican nightclub collapse kills 221
BY MARTÍN ADAMES ALCÁNTARA and DÁNICA COTO Associated Press
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic A merengue icon, a baseball star and others killed when a cement roof collapsed at a popular nightclub in the Dominican Republic were buried Thursday, as authorities called off the search for bodies with the death toll at 221.
Mourners clad in black and white streamed into Santo Domingo’s National Theater where the body of singer Rubby Pérez lay inside a closed coffin. Pérez had been performing on stage at the packed Jet Set club early Tuesday when dust began falling from the ceiling and, seconds later the roof caved.
President Luis Abinader and first lady Raquel Arbaje arrived at the theater and stood beside Pérez’s coffin for several minutes. Some mourners doubled
over in tears as a recording of Pérez singing the national anthem played. Renowned Dominican musician Juan Luis Guerra was among those gathered to pay their respects.
Pérez, 69, had turned to music after a car accident left him unable to pursue his dream of becoming a professional baseball player He was known for hits including “Volveré,” which he sang with Wilfrido Vargas’s orchestra, and “Buscando tus besos” as a solo artist.
After a five-hour memorial, mourners released dozens of white balloons outside the theater and spontaneously sang “Volveré” in unison. One woman put her hand over her heart and patted it as she cried.
At the cemetery, Zulinka Pérez, one of his daughters, said: “I knew he was loved but I never imagined this.”
Just blocks from the memorial for Pérez, heavy equipment began
withdrawing from the site where Jet Set once stood and rescue crews packed up their equipment.
Meanwhile, a group of prosecutors arrived.
It is still unclear what caused the roof to collapse or when the building was last inspected The government has said it will launch a thorough investigation, and the club’s owners have said they are cooperating with authorities.
Juan Manuel Méndez, director of the Center of Emergency Operations, broke down as he addressed reporters.
“Thank you, God, because today we accomplished the most difficult task I’ve had in 20 years,” he said, moving the microphone away from his face as he cried. Other officials patted him on the back as he continued, “Please forgive me,” before passing the microphone to an army official.
Officials said 189 people were rescued alive from
Supreme Court says feds must facilitate return of deported man
Maryland man wrongly sent to El Salvador prison
BY MARK SHERMAN Associated Press
WASHINGTON The Supreme Court on Thursday said the Trump administration must work to bring back a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to prison in El Salvador, rejecting the administration’s emergency appeal.
The court acted in the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen who had an immigration court order preventing his deportation to his native country over fears he would face persecution from local gangs.
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis had ordered Abrego Garcia, now being held in a notorious Salvadoran prison, returned to the United States by mid-
night Monday
“The order properly requires the Government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador,” the court said in an unsigned order with no noted dissents.
It comes after a string of rulings on the court’s emergency docket where the conservative majority has at least partially sided with Trump amid a wave of lower court orders slowing the president’s sweeping agenda.
In Thursday’s case, Chief Justice John Roberts had already pushed back Xinis’ deadline. The justices also said that her order must now be clarified to make sure it doesn’t intrude into executive branch power over foreign affairs, since Abrego Garcia is being held abroad. The court said the Trump administration should also be prepared to share what steps it has
taken to try to get him back — and what more it could potentially do.
The administration claims Abrego Garcia is a member of the MS-13 gang, though he has never been charged with or convicted of a crime. His attorneys said there is no evidence he was in MS-13.
The administration has conceded that it made a mistake in sending him to El Salvador, but argued that it no longer could do anything about it.
The court’s liberal justices said the administration should have hastened to correct “its egregious error” and was “plainly wrong” to suggest it could not bring him home.
“The Government’s argument, moreover, implies that it could deport and incarcerate any person, including U. S. citizens, without legal consequence, so long as it does so before a court can intervene,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote, joined by her two colleagues.
sightseeing companies, TV news stations and police. It was initially developed for the U.S. Army before being adapted for other uses. Thousands have been manufactured over the years. The National Transportation Safety Board said it would investigate.
Video of the crash suggested that a “catastrophic mechanical failure” left the pilot with no chance to save the helicopter, said Justin Green, an aviation lawyer who was a helicopter pilot in the Marine Corps. It is possible the helicopter’s main rotors struck the tail boom, breaking it apart and causing the cabin to free fall, Green said
copter falling down, that the main rotor blades weren’t on the helicopter,” the Post quoted him as saying. He added that he had not seen such a thing happen during his 30 years in the helicopter business, but noted: “These are machines, and they break.”
Emails seeking comment were sent to attorneys who have represented Roth in the past.
The Federal Aviation Administration identified the helicopter as a Bell 206, a model widely used in commercial and government aviation, including by
“They were dead as soon as whatever happened happened,” Green said “There’s no indication they had any control over the craft No pilot could have prevented that accident once they lost the lifts. It’s like a rock falling to the ground. It’s heartbreaking.” The skies over Manhattan are routinely filled with planes and helicopters, both private recreational aircraft and commercial and tourist flights. Manhattan has several helipads from which business executives and others are whisked to destinations throughout the metropolitan area.
the rubble. More than 200 were injured, with 23 of them still hospitalized, including eight in critical condition.
the trauma is too great, there’s not a lot of time” left
to save patients in that condition, said Health Minister Víctor Atallah. He and other doctors said some of the injured suffered fractures to the skull, femur and pelvis.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MATIAS DELACROIX
A person is comforted Thursday outside the National Institute of Forensic Pathology in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, before identifying the body of a family member who died at the Jet Set nightclub days after its roof collapsed during a concert and killed more than 200 people.
Some profited on Trump’s ‘buy’ tip before tariffs pause
BY BERNARD CONDON Associated Press
NEW YORK When Donald Trump offered some financial advice Wednesday morning, stocks were wavering between gains and losses. But that was about to change.
“THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT,” he wrote on his social media platform
Truth Social at 9:37 a.m.
Less than four hours later, Trump announced a 90-day pause on nearly all his tariffs. Stocks soared on the news, closing up 9.5% by the end of trading. The market, measured by the S&P 500, gained back about $4 trillion, or 70%, of the value it had lost over the previous four trading days. It was a prescient call by the president. Maybe too prescient.
“He’s loving this, this control over markets, but he better be careful,” said Trump critic and former White House ethics lawyer, Richard Painter, noting that securities law prohibits trading on insider informa-
“Fairly early this morning.”
Asked for clarification on the timing in an email to the White House later, a spokesperson didn’t answer directly but defended Trump’s post as part of his job.
“It is the responsibility of the President of the United States to reassure the markets and Americans about their economic security in the face of nonstop media fearmongering,” wrote White House spokesman Kush Desai.
Trump Media shares
Another curiosity of the posting was Trump’s signoff with his initials.
in particular. The White House was asked, but didn’t address that either Trump includes “DJT” on his posts intermittently, typically to emphasize that he has personally written the message.
The ambiguity about what Trump meant didn’t stop people from pouring money into that stock.
Trump Media closed up 22.67%, soaring twice as much as the broader market, a stunning performance by a company that lost $400 million last year and is seemingly unaffected by whether tariffs would be imposed or paused.
stock pick Elon Musk’s Tesla. Last month, Trump held an extraordinary news conference outside the White House praising the company and its cars. That was followed by a Fox TV appearance by his commerce secretary urging viewers to buy the stock.
tion or helping others do so. “The people who bought when they saw that post made a lot of money.”
Senators speak out
Democratic senators are calling for investigation
“Did anyone buy or sell stocks, and profit at the public’s expense?,” said Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff in a post on the platform BlueSky Added Democratic
Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut on X, “An insider trading scandal is brewing.”
A key question is: Was Trump already contemplating the tariff pause when he made that post?
“Over the last few days, I’ve been thinking about it,” said Trump himself when asked yesterday directly about when he arrived at his decision, but then added to the confusion, stating,
Washington, Moscow prisoner swap frees U.S.-Russia dual national
BY JON GAMBRELL and DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates
Moscow freed a Russian American convicted of treason in exchange for a Russian German man jailed on smuggling charges in the U.S., a prisoner swap that was completed Thursday as the two countries met to repair ties.
“They released the young ballerina and she is now out, and that was good. So we appreciate that,” President Donald Trump said of Ksenia Karelina, who was expected to arrive back in the U.S on
Thursday evening She was arrested in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg in February 2024 and convicted of treason on charges stemming from a donation of about $52 to a charity aiding Ukraine. U.S. authorities have called the case “absolutely ludicrous.” Arthur Petrov was released as part of a swap in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, according to the Federal Security Service, or FSB, Russia’s main security and counterintelligence agency Petrov was arrested in Cyprus in August 2023 at the request of the U.S. on
charges of smuggling sensitive microelectronics to Russia and extradited to the U.S. a year later
Karelina was among a growing number of Americans arrested in Russia in recent years as tensions between Moscow and Washington spiked over the war in Ukraine. Her release is the latest in a series of high-profile prisoner exchanges Russia and the U.S. carried out in the last three years — and the second since Trump took office and reversed Washington’s policy of isolating Russia in an effort to end the war in Ukraine.
DJT is also the stock symbol for Trump Media and Technology Group, the parent company of the president’s social media platform Truth Social.
It’s not clear if Trump was saying buy stocks in general, or Trump Media
Trump’s 53% ownership stake in the company, now in a trust controlled by his oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., rose by $415 million on the day
Trump Media was bested, albeit by only two-hundreds of a percentage point, by another Trump administration
Tesla’s surge Wednesday added $20 billion to Musk’s fortunes. Kathleen Clark, a government ethics law expert at Washington University School of Law, says Trump’s post in other administrations would have been investigated, but is not likely to trigger any reaction, save for maybe more Truth Social viewers.
“He’s sending the message that he can effectively and with impunity manipulate the market,” she said, “As in: Watch this space for future stock tips.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By SETH WENIG
A television displays President Donald Trump speaking Wednesday on the floor at the New york Stock Exchange in New york.
NEWYORK Facing adeadline from an immigration judge to turn over evidence forits attempteddeportation of Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil, the federal government has instead submitted abrief memo, signed by Secretary of State MarcoRubio,citing the Trump administration’sauthority to expel noncitizens whose presence in thecountrydamagesU.S foreign policy interests.
The two-page memo, which was obtained by The Associated Press, does not allege any criminal conduct by Khalil, alegal permanent U.S. resident and graduate student who served as spokesperson for campus activists last year during
Prince Harry meetswar victimsin Ukraine
BY BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press
LONDON Prince Harry metwith warvictims on Thursday during an unannounced visit to Ukraine as part of his ongoing work with wounded veterans,a spokesperson said. Harry visitedthe Superhumans Center,anorthopedic clinic in Lviv that treats and rehabilitates wounded military personnel and civilians, to see top-notch services provided in acountry in the midst of war.The centerprovidesprosthetics, reconstructive surgery and psychological help free of charge. The trip into western Ukraine, aregionfrequently targeted by Russian missiles,was only announced after he had left the country Harry,who served 10 years in the British Army, has made helping injured soldiers one of his most prominent causes. He founded the Invictus Games
large demonstrations against Israel’streatmentofPalestinians and the war in Gaza.
Rather,Rubio wroteKhalil could be expelledfor his beliefs.
He said that whileKhalil’sactivities were “otherwise lawful, letting him remain in the country would undermine “U.S. policy to combat anti-Semitism around the world and in the United States,in addition to efforts to protect Jewishstudents from harassment and violenceinthe UnitedStates.”
“Condoning anti-Semitic conductand disruptive protests in the United States would severely undermine that significantforeign policyobjective,” Rubio wrotein the undated memo.
The submission was filed WednesdayafterJudge Jamee Comans ordered the governmenttoproduce its evidence against Khalil ahead of ahearing Friday on whether it cancontinuedetaininghim during immigrationproceedings
Attorneys for Khalil said the memo proved the Trump administration was “targetingMahmoud’s
Mahmoud
alegal permanent U.S. resident and graduate student whoservedas spokesperson for campusactivists last year,was arrested last month.
free speech rights aboutPalestine.”
“After amonth of hiding theball since Mahmoud’slate-night unjust arrest in New York and taking him away to aremote detention center in Louisiana, immigration authoritieshave finally admitted that they have no casewhatsoever against him,” the attorneys,Marc VanDer
in 2014 to offer wounded veterans the challengeof competinginsports events similartothe Paralympics. Invictus is more than justabout competition,the spokesperson said. It’sa year-round movement about life after an injury,which is why Harryvisits rehabilitation centers likethe one in Lviv Ukraineintegratessports recovery intoits support for wounded troops and has been activeinthe Invictus Games since 2017. During the visit, Harry met with Natalia Kalmykova, Ukraine’sveteran affairs minister TheDuke of Sussex was accompanied by acontingent from the Invictus Games Foundation, includingfour veterans who have beenthrough similarrehabilitationexperiences.
He traveled to Ukraine after spending two days in aLondoncourt where he is appealing the British government’sdecisiontostrip him of his governmentfunded protection after he quit working as amember of theroyal family in 2020 andmoved his family to California.
Theprince is no stranger to war zones, having served two tours in Afghanistan, whereheflew missions as an Apachehelicoptercopilot gunner Harry,40, the younger son of King Charles III, is the second member of theroyal family to visit Ukraine. His aunt, Sophie, theDuchessof Edinburgh, became thefirst British royaltotravel to the country since Russia’s2022 invasion when she madean unannounced visit to Kyiv last year
Ohio measlescases rise to 20
BY DEVI SHASTRI AP health writer
Ameasles outbreak in KnoxCounty,Ohio,grew to 14 cases thisweek, with the state’soverall count in double digits across four counties.
The U.S. has more than double the number of measles cases it saw in all of 2024, and Texas is reporting the majority of them with 505.
Texas’ cases include two youngelementaryschoolaged childrenwho were not vaccinated and died from measles-related illnesses near the epicenterofthe outbreak in rural West Texas, which led Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr to visit the community on Sunday.
Other states with active outbreaks— defined as three or morecases —includeNew Mexico, Indiana,
Kansas andOklahoma. The virus has been spreading in undervaccinated communities.The third person who diedwas an adult in New Mexico who was not vaccinated.
Themultistate outbreak confirms health experts’ fearsthatthe virus will take hold in other U.S. communitieswithlow vaccination rates and that the spread could stretch on for ayear
Hout andJohnny Sinodis, said in a joint statement.
“There is not asingleshred of proof that Mahmoud’spresence in Americaposes anythreat,” they added.
ADepartment of Homeland Security spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin,did not respond to questions about whether it hadadditionalevidence against Khalil, writing in an emailed statement, “DHS did file evidence, but immigration court docketsare not available to thepublic.”
Khalil, a30-year-old Palestinian by ethnicity who wasborn in Syria, was arrested March 8inNew York andtaken to adetentioncenterin Louisiana. He recently finished his coursework foramaster’sdegree at Columbia’s school of international affairs. His wife, an American citizen, is due to give birth this month.
Khalil has adamantly rejected allegations of antisemitism, accusing the Trumpadministration in a letter sent from jail last month of “targeting me as part of abroader strategy to suppress dissent.”
“Knowing fully that this moment transcends my individual circumstances,” he added, “I hope nonetheless to be free to witness the birth of my firstborn child.”
Though Rubio’smemoreferences additional documents, including a“subject profile of Mahmoud Khalil” and letter from the Department Homeland Security,the governmentdid notsubmit those documents to the immigration court, according to Khalil’slawyers.
The memo also calls forthe deportation of asecond lawful permanent resident,whose name is redacted in the filing.
TheTrump administration has pulled billions of dollars in government funding from universities and their affiliated hospital systemsinrecent weeks as part of what it says is acampaign against antisemitism on college campuses, butwhich critics sayisa crackdown on free speech.Toget the money back, the administration hasbeentelling universities to punish protestersand make other changes.
Israel releases 10 Palestinians detained from Gaza whosay they suffered abuse
BY WAFAASHURAFA Associated Press
DEIR
AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip Ten Palestinians detainedfrom Gaza by Israeli troops were freed and returnedtothe territory on Thursday,saying they had suffered constant abusewhile imprisoned. Israel has detained thousands of Palestinians since it launched itsmilitarycampaigninGaza in retaliation for Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. It has done periodic releases of detainees throughout the war, though this was the first since it restarted the war in midMarch, breaking aceasefire with theHamas group.
The 10 men,all dressed in grey sweatpantsand shirts, were brought by bus to a hospital in the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah, where theywerewelcomed by family members. They had all been detained from the northern Gaza Strip during Israel’slastoffensive there before theJanuary ceasefire. They said they had been held at leastpartofthe time in Sde Teiman, amilitary prisoncamp that has become notorious for abuses of Gazadetainees
One of the freed men, FayezAyoub,lookedgaunt andwalkedwith difficulty supported by another man.
“I swear,Dad,every moment we waitedfor youto be released,” hisdaughter Marah Ayoub told him, crying. “Every time aprisoner wasreleased, we went to him” to askabout her father
“Torment,torment,” he told her Detained by Israeli troops on Nov.6,hesaid“156 days have passed with us in agony We aretorturedand in pain.” He said detaineeswere abused every day and had littlesleep.His daughter said he was seized by Israeli troops just after being released from Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza aftersuffer-
ing fractures in hispelvisand spine from an airstrike.
“Was this howmyfather was? And is this what he has become?” she said, referring to his appearance. “He wasn’tlike this.”
Another man, Hani Abu Sharif, said they were fre-
quently beaten, stripped to their underwear,and forced to standbarefoot on stones, causing their feet to bleed. Theywere only allowedto shower everymonthortwo, he said. There was no immediate comment by the military
ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTOByJEHAD ALSHRAFI Palestinians receive humanitarian aidWednesday in Jabaliya, GazaStrip, that was distributed by UNRWA,the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees.
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO
Khalil,
PHOTO PROVIDEDBySUPERHUMANS CENTER
Britain’sPrinceHarry poses with people whowere wounded in war with Russia on Thursday at the Superhumans Center,anorthopedic clinic in Ukraine.
Housepassesbillrequiring proofofcitizenship to vote
BY CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY, CHRISTINEFERNANDO and LISA MASCARO Associated Press
WASHINGTON The House passed one of Republicans’ signature issues for the year on Thursday,approving legislation to require proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote for federal elections, one of President Donald Trump’stop electionrelated priorities.
Nearly all Democrats lined up against the bill and warned that it risksdisenfranchising millions of Americans who do not have ready access to the proper documents.
Trump has long signaled a desire to change how elections are run in the U.S. and last month issued asweeping executive order that included acitizenship requirement among other election-related changes.
Republicans argued the legislation, known as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, is necessary to ensure only citizens vote in U.S. elections and would cement Trump’sorderinto law U.S. Rep.Bryan Steil, a Wisconsin Republican who chairs the House committee that handles election legislation, said during Thursday’s debate that the bill is meant to “restore Americans’ confidence in our elections” and prevent noncitizens from voting.
This marksRepublicans’ second attemptatpassing the SAVE Act. It passed the House last year but failed in the Senate amid Democratic opposition.
It’sunlikely to fare any better this year.WhileRepublicans won control of the Senatelastfall, they have anarrow majority that falls short of the60votes they would need to overcomea filibuster.
Republicans hammered on theissue during last year’s presidential election, even though voting by noncitizens is rare, alreadyisillegal and can leadtofelony charges anddeportation.
The SAVE Act would require all applicants using the federal voter registration form to provide documentary proof of citizenship in personattheir local election office. Among the acceptable documents are avalid U.S. passportand agovernmentissued photo ID card presented alongside acertified birth certificate.
Democratsand voting rights groups warn the legislation couldlead to widespread voter disenfranchisement if it were to become law. The BrennanCenter for Justice and other groups estimatedina 2023 reportthat
9% of U.S.citizens of voting age, or 21.3 million people, do nothaveproof of their citizenship readily available. Almosthalf of Americans don’thave aU.S. passport
In Kansas, aproof-of-citizenship requirement that passed in 2011 ended up blockingthe voter registrationsofmore than 31,000 U.S. citizens in the state who were otherwise eligible to vote. The law was later declared unconstitutional by a federalcourt andhasn’tbeen enforced since2018.
“Just to exercise their inalienable right as citizens of this country,Republicans would force Americans into a paperwork nightmare,”said Rep.Joe Morelle, aDemocrat from New York.“This bill is really about disenfranchising Americans —not noncitizens, Americans.”
Afurther concern came up severaltimes Thursday: Married women would need multiple documents to prove their citizenship if they have changed their name. It was acomplication that
Judgeallowsrequirement that allinU.S.illegally must register
BY REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press
WASHINGTON Afederal judge is allowing the Trump administration to move forward with arequirement that everyone in the U.S. illegally must register with the federal government, in amove that could have far-reaching repercussions for immigrants across the country
In aruling Thursday,Judge Trevor Neil McFadden sided with the administration, whichhad arguedthatthey were simply enforcing an already existingrequirement foreveryone in thecountry who wasn’tanAmerican citizen to register withthe government. Therequirementgoesinto effect Friday
The Department of Homeland Security announced Feb. 25 that it was mandating that allpeopleinthe United States illegally registerwith the federal government, and said those who didn’tself-report could face fines or prosecution. Failure to register is considered a crime, and people will be required to carry registration documents with them or risk
prisontime and fines. Registration will be mandatory for everyone 14 and older without legalstatus. People registeringhave to provide their fingerprints and address, and parents and guardians of anyone under age 14 must ensure they registered
The registration process also appliestoCanadians who are in the U.S. for more than 30 days,suchassocalled snowbirds whospend wintermonths in placeslike Florida.
Federal immigration law haslong requiredthat people whoaren’tAmericancitizens andliveinthe U.S.,including thosehere illegally,register with thegovernment. Those laws can betracedback to the Alien Registration Act of 1940, which came amid growing fears of immigrants and political subversives in theearly days of World War II. The current requirements stemfrom theImmigration andNationality Act of 1952. But the requirement that people illegally in the U.S. register has been enforced only in rare circumstances. In fact, advocates opposing thegovernment say it hasn’t
been universally used since it was first introduced in the mid-1940s
It was used in alimited way after Sept.11, 2001, when theNational Security EntryExit Registration System requiredthat all noncitizen males 16 and olderfrom 25 countries —all but one of them majority Arab or Muslim —register withthe U.S. government. Theprogram led to no terrorism convictions but pulledmorethan 13,000 people into deportation proceedings. It wassuspended in 2011 and dissolved in 2016.
TheTrump administration has argued that theregistrationrequirement hasalways existed and that officials are simply enforcing it for everyone.
The groups that sued say this registration process is expresslytofacilitate President Donald Trump’saim of carrying out mass deportations of people in the country illegally
The plaintiffs also say the government should have gone through the more lengthy public notification process before bringing about the change.
arose in town hall elections held last monthinNew Hampshire, which was enforcing anew state law requiring proof of citizenship to register.One woman, since divorced, told alocal elections clerkthat her first marriage was decades ago in Florida andthatshe no
longer had the marriage certificate showing her name change. She was unable to register and vote forher town election. “This legislation would immediately disenfranchise the 69 million women who have changed their names after marriage or divorce,” said Rep. Deborah Ross, aDemocrat from North Carolina.
Rep. LaurelLee,a Republican from Florida,saidthe bill “contemplates this exact situation” of married women whose names have changed, saying it “explicitly directs states to establish aprocess for them to register to vote.”
Morelle countered by saying, “Why not write it in the bill? Why are we making the potential for50different standards to be set? How much paperwork do Republicans expect Americans to drown in?”
On acallwithreporters Thursday,Vermont Secre-
tary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas, aDemocrat, said she started trying to gather her ownpersonal documentsthat would be requiredunder the billabout 10 days ago.She doesn’tyet have them together despite having moretime and know-how than many other people. “It pushes women out of the democraticprocess,” she said of the documentationrequirement. “And it’s notacoincidence. It’s part of astrategytomakevoting harder,tosow distrust in our elections.”
Democrats also said the bill would disproportionately affect older people in assisted care facilities, military service members who wouldn’tbeable to solely use their military IDs, people of color and working-class Americans who may not have thetime or moneyto jump through bureaucratic hoops.
Source:Fedsmovetolist6K
living immigrants as dead
Move wouldcancel theirSocialSecurity numbers
BY WILL WEISSERT and FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press
WASHINGTON The Trumpadministration has moved to classify more than 6,000 living immigrants as dead,canceling their Social Security numbers and effectively wiping out their ability to work or receive benefits in an effort to get them to leave the country,according to two people familiar with the situation.
The move will make it much harder for those affected to use banks or other basic services where Social Security numbers are required. It’spartofa broader
effort byPresidentDonald Trump to crackdown on immigrants who wereallowed to enter and remain temporarily in the United States underprograms institutedbyhis predecessor,Joe Biden.
The Trump administration is moving theimmigrants’ names andlegally obtainedSocial Security numbers to adatabasethat federal officials normally use to track the deceased, according to thetwo people familiarwith themoves and their ramifications. They spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday night becausethe plans hadnot yet beenpublicly detailed.
The officials said stripping the immigrants of their Social Security numbers will cut themoff from many financial services and encourage themto“self-deport” andabandon the U.S. for their birth countries It wasn’t immediately clear how
the6,000-plus immigrants were chosen.But the Trump White House has targeted people in the country temporarily under Bidenera programs, including more than 900,000 immigrants whoentered theU.S. using that administration’s CBP One app. On Monday,the Department of HomelandSecurity revoked the legalstatusofthe immigrants who used thatapp. They had generally been allowed toremain in theU.S. for twoyears with work authorizationunder presidential parole authority during the Biden era, but arenow expected to self-deport Meanwhile, afederal judge said Thursdaythatshe was stopping theTrump administration from ordering hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Haitians,Nicaraguans andVenezuelanswith temporary legal statustoleavethe country later this month.
BY AMANDA SEITZ Associated Press
WASHINGTON The nation’s top healthagency will undertake a “massive testing and research effort” to determinethe causeofautism,Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr announced Thursday Kennedy,alongtime vaccine criticwho has pushed adiscredited theorythat routine childhood shots cause the developmental disability, said the effort will be completed by September and involve hundreds of scientists. He sharedthe plans with President Donald Trumpduring a televised Cabinet meeting. Trumpsuggested that vaccines could be to blame for autism rates, although decades of research have concluded there is no link between the two.
“There’s got to be something artificial outthere that’sdoing this,” Trump toldKennedy. “Ifyou can come up withthatanswer, where
you stop taking something, eating something, or maybe it’s ashot. But something’scausing it.” Autism is adevelopmental disability caused by differences in the brain. It presentswitha wide range of symptoms that can include delays in language, learning, andsocial or emotional skills.
There’sscientific consensus that childhood vaccines don’tcause autism.Leading autism advocacy groups, including Autism Speaks, agree. Research, including studies of twins, shows genes playa large role.Nosingle environmental factor has been deemed aculprit. The National Institutes of Health, whichalready spends morethan $300 million yearly researching autism,lists some possible risk factors such as prenatal exposure to pesticides or air pollution, extreme prematurity or lowbirth weight certain maternal health problems or parents conceiving at an older age.
without Democratic input under what is called reconciliation.
The Senate version, narrowly passed over the weekend, aimed at cutting$4billion in spending. The version the House previously passed called for much steeper cuts of at least $1.5 trillion over 10 years. Johnson says passing the Senate version doesn’tlock Congress into alower number but only gives the House and Senate instructionsto proceed.
“The budget resolution is notthe lawitself, but only the necessary kickoff for reconciliation to begin,” Johnson said. “Although the Senate chose to take adifferent approach on its instructions, the amended resolutioninnoway prevents us from achieving our goals in the final reconciliation bill.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, indicated senatorscould try to match the $1.5 trillion in cuts the House wants
“The speaker has talked about $1.5 trillion,” Thune said. “Wehave alot of United States senators who believe that is aminimum. And we’re certainly goingto do everything we cantobe as aggressive as possibleto see that we are serious about the matter.”
Extending the Trump tax cuts will cost about $5 trillion.
Worries about cutting Medicaid, the state-federal program that provides health insurance to low-income Americans, illustrate the tension over how much to cut.
While Republicans in deep-red districts want to see massive budget cuts, some senators and some House Republicansoperate under different political realities. For instance, many of their constituents don’t want deep cuts in Medicaid Johnson has said repeatedly that Medicaid was never mentioned in the bill
FLOOD
Continued from page1A
Emergency Management Agency announced that it was ending its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program. Thateffectively killed the two projects, at least for the time being, said city-parish Transportation and Drainage Director Fred Raiford
“I was disappointed,” he said.“It impactspeoplein our community.
Homes near the waterways were devastated by the floods that washed out Baton Rouge in 2016. The flood was caused by uncharacteristic heavy rainfall that resultedinrecord water levels in both the Amite and Comite Rivers in East Baton Rouge Parish.
Statewide, the floods killed 13 people —five in East Baton Rouge Parish.
This isn’tthe firsttime
and that thepresidentpromised theprogram won’tbe touched
But othershave argued the scale of cuts the House version of the bill required would make avoiding cutsto Medicaid impossible.
“Givemeabreak,”said Rep.Brendan Boyle, DPennsylvania, the highestranking Democrat on the House Budget committee.
TheHouse committee thatoversees Medicaid has been toldtofind $880 billion in cuts over a10-year period. But93% of thefundingwithinthe committee’s jurisdiction is Medicaid and Medicare, Boyle said,citing aCongressional BudgetOffice report. CBO estimates that Medicaid will cost $8.2 trillion between2025 and 2034.
But some Republicans argue there are ways to reduce spending on Medicaid without tearing insurance away from low-incomeand elderly Americans.
Scaliseargued that waste, fraudand inefficiencies in Medicaidamounttoabout $60 billion ayear
“That’sthe theft of hardworking taxpayers’money That’staking health care
Raiford has seen federal funding fall through, and he says he usually steers clear of the politicsbehind it. But given the damage past floods havedoneinthe area,Tuesday’snews was atough blow “Whetherit’sgoodorbad, Idon’t get intothose debates,” Raiford said. “But to me,that’s thehardpart. And they’ve already fought that battle in 2016 and we’re just trying to find ways to reduce those numbers of houses that you have to look at from aflood risk standpoint.”
In astatement Thursday, Falon Brown,spokesperson for East Baton Rouge Mayor-President SidEdwards, calledthe two projects “critical to reducing flood risk in areas impacted duringthe historic2016 flood.”
“In response,our team has taken swift action to reapply for the funding through FEMA andweare actively exploring every available path to keep these projects moving forward,” shesaid
away from the disabled who need it,” Scalisesaid. “Peoplethat work two andthree jobs,working their tails off to help provide for their family areincensedwhen they hear aboutthis waste andtheysay,‘When’ssomebody going to do something about it?’”
“Medicaid is debilitatingthe vulnerable andnot helping them,” saidRep Chip Roy, aTexas Republican who opposed the Senate version for having shallow spending reductiontargets, butinthe endvoted forthe measure. “What theSenate sent over is ajoke.”
House MinorityLeader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, said that, now that the committee process has been setinmotionwiththe passage of the bill, “they will have to spell out the very cutstoMedicaid and other programs” Democrats have warned about.
Citing the nonpartisan Congressional BudgetOffice analysis, Jeffries added, “theonlyway to achieve that levelofspending cuts is to gut Medicaid along with Supplemental Nutritional Assistance (foodstamps) anda wholehost of other
Louisiana has lostmore than $721 million in BRIC grant applications to elevate homes, build levees and otherwise fightflooding, according to federal records.
Raiford is optimistic that theLively Bayou and Roberts Canalprojects will still find funding, whichhesaid “is always the hardest part” forinfrastructureprojects. Applications were submitted Thursday for another FEMA grant,the Flood Mitigation Assistance Program, Raifordsaid, as the city-parish continues to keep an eye out for other public funds.
“Anytimeyou can get federal dollars, youbetter take advantage of it. Because it’s our taxdollarsthat we paid to the federal government,” Raifordsaid.“Butwesubmitted enough paperwork thatI believe should meet therequirement.”
Email PatrickSloanTurner at patrick.sloanturner@theadvocate.com.
things.”
Johnsoncontinued to emphasizethe importance of thebill to Trump’sagenda.
“By clearing this critical hurdle, House committees can now work in tandem with Senate committees to
swiftly prepare their respective parts of the reconciliation bill, keeping us on track formarkups during the next work period,” Johnson said after the vote. “This process will require closeconsultation with the White House to ensure that the final bill reflects our shared priorities resulting in aproduct that can pass both chambers and be signed into law by President Trump.”
Johnsonbecame speaker in late October2023 after House Republicans battled for almost amonth among themselves over who to placeinthe topjob.Hewas nearly ousted in March 2024 by far-right partisans who in January almost kept Johnson from being reelected to the speakership.
Trumpbailed him out both times by leaning on Johnson’sconservative opponents.
Trumpagain hit the phones andbrought in recalcitrant RepublicanstohelpJohnsonpassthe House version of the blueprint bill.
BRIEFS
30-year mortgage rate falls for third week
The average rate on a30year mortgage in theU.S. declined for the third weekina row, another positive movefor prospective homebuyers during what’straditionally the housing market’sbusy season.
The rate fell to 6.62% from 6.64% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac saidThursday Ayearago, the rate averaged 6.88%.
The average rate has mostly trended lower since reaching just over 7% in mid-January When mortgage rates decline, they boost homebuyers’ purchasingpower
Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, were unchangedfrom lastweek. The averagerate remained at 5.82%, butisdown 6.16% ayear ago, Freddie Macsaid.
Prada agrees to buy Versace in $1.4B deal
The Prada Group announced adeal Thursday to buycrosstownMilanfashion rival Versace from the U.S. luxury group Capri Holdings underterms that value one of the mostrecognizable namesinItalian fashion at $1.4 billion.
The deal will put Versace, knownfor sexy silhouettesand boldGreco and Medusa motifs, under the sameroof as Prada’s “ugly chic” aesthetic and the youth-drivenMiu Miuwhose stunning growth in recent years has far outpaced the market
Prada said the 47-year-old Versace brand offered “significant untapped growth potential.”
The final value of the deal will be adjusted at closing, which is expected in the second half of the year,the Prada Group said. Donatella Versace, who took over as creative director at the fashion house founded by her brother,GianniVersace, after his 1997 murder,continues with the fashion house in the new role of chief brand ambassador The Italian government welcomeda dealthat appears to secureVersace’slonger-term future as otherfamily-owned fashion brands have faltered or even disappeared after opening up to outside investors.
PublishersClearing files for bankruptcy
Publishers Clearing House, adecades-old marketingand sweepstakescompanyknown for dolingout large “Prize Patrol”checks,has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcyprotection.
In an announcement this week, PCHsaid it was using thebankruptcy process to “finalize ashift away” from its legacy business of direct-mail, retail merchandise and magazine subscriptions. The companyishoping to instead transition to a“pure digital advertising” model, whereit willcontinuetooffer free-to-play entertainment and prizes.
The Chapter 11 proceedings, filed in NewYork on Wednesday,arriveamid growing financial strain forPCH —which has struggled with rising operational costsand changing consumer habitsinrecent years.
PCH’sroots date to 1953 when Harold and LuEsther Mertz and their daughter,Joyce Mertz-Gilmore, formed abusiness outoftheir Long Island, New York, home to send directto-consumer mailings that solicitedsubscribersfor anumber of magazines through one single offering
The company later grew with chances for consumers to win money —first launching adirect mail sweepstakes in 1967.
PCH became known for surprisingprize winners with oversized checks. In Wednesday court documents, the company said it has awarded over half a billion dollars in prizes and continues to attractmillions of contestants today But in recent years the businesshas been squeezed by rising shipping and postal rates, as well as inventory and supply chainchallenges that have continued since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. inflationfalls in March
Increase in core prices smallest in four years
BYCHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP economics writer
WASHINGTON— U.S. inflation declined last month as thecostofgas, airlinefares, and hotelrooms fell, a sign that price growth was cooling even as President Donald Trump ramped up his tariff threats
Consumer prices rose 2.4% in March from ayear earlier,the Labor Departmentsaid Thursday, downfrom 2.8% in February.That is thelowest inflation figuresince September
Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose
2.8% compared withayear ago, down from 3.1% in February.That is thesmallest increase in core prices in nearly four years. Economists closely watchcorepricesbecause they are considered abetter guide to where inflation is headed. Yetsome economists warned thatthe data is mostly backwardlooking and could be overtaken by the impact of the tariffs that Trump hasleftinplace, including huge duties on China, even after the90-day pause of some tariffs announced Wednesday. Inflation maystart to pick up in twotothree months’time andpossibly remain
elevated through at least the end of this year “Wegot ahuge tariff increase,” saidPaul Donovan, chief economistfor UBS Wealth Management. “There was an extreme tariff increase for less than 24 hours, and we’re back to ahuge tariff increase, relativetowhere we were a monthago. This is increasing taxes on U.S. consumers. And they’re going to have to find the money to pay these taxes.” On amonthly basis, prices actually fell0.1% in March, the first monthly drop in nearlyfive years. Core prices rose 0.1% in March
from February “Thatwas nice, but don’tget used to it,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate. “All this is looking in therearview mirror. With both inflation and the overall economy, uncertainty abounds about what might be lurking around the bend.”
One reason prices fell were sharp drops in travel-related costs, including airfares, which slipped 5.3% just from February to March. Hotel room prices dropped 3.5%.
Economists said thosedrops in part reflected much slower international demand as thenumberof tourists visiting the UnitedStates hasfallensharply amidTrump’s aggressive trade policy
Trump’stariffs threaten to endera of cheapgoods forU.S.consumers
BYCHRISTOPHER RUGABER and ANNE D’INNOCENZIO
AP business writers
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump’s new tariffs threaten to push up priceson clothes, mobilephones,furnitureand many other products in the coming months, possibly ending the era of cheap goods thatAmericans enjoyed for about aquarter-century before the pandemic.
In return, White Houseofficials hope the import taxes create morehigh-payingmanufacturingjobsbybringingproductionback to the UnitedStates. It is apolitically risky trade-off that could take years tomaterialize, anditwould have to overcome tall barriers, such as theautomation of mostmodern factories.
Evenafter Trump’sU-turn on Wednesday that paused steep new tariffs on about 60 nations for 90 days, average U.S. duties remain much higher than acouple of months ago.
Trump hasimposed a10% tariff on all im-
ports, while goods from China —the United States’ third-largest source of imports face huge 145% duties.And there are25% taxes on imports of steel, aluminum, cars androughlyhalf of goodsfrom Canada and Mexico. As aresult,the average U.S. tariff has soared from below 3% beforeTrump’s inauguration to roughly 20% now,economists calculate, the highest level since at least the 1940s.
Should they remain in place, such high duties would reverse decades of globalization that helped lower costs for American shoppers.
Other trends,including factory automation and technological innovation, particularly in electronics such as TVs, have also brought down prices.But imports help keep prices in check, economists say,partly because of lower labor costsoverseas and because increased competition in the U.S. market forces American companies to be more efficient.
“Freer trade has helped moderate inflation
Applehas fewincentivestostart
BY MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP technologywriter
SAN FRANCISCO President Donald Trump’sadministration has been predicting its barrage of tariffs targeting Chinawill pushApple into manufacturing the iPhone in the United States for thefirst time But that’sanunlikely scenario even with U.S.tariffs now standing at 145% on products made in China —the country where Apple has manufacturedmost of itsiPhones since thefirst model hit themarket 18 yearsago The disincentives forApple shiftingits production domesticallyinclude acomplex supplychainthat
it beganbuilding in China during the1990s.Itwould take several yearsand costbillions of dollars to buildnew plants in theU.S., and thenconfront Apple witheconomic forces thatcould triple thepriceof an iPhone, threatening to torpedo salesofits marquee product “The conceptofmakingiPhones in the U.S. is anonstarter,” asserted Wedbush Securities analystDan Ives, reflecting awidely held view in theinvestment community that tracks Apple’severy move.Heestimated thatthe current $1,000 price tag for an iPhone made in China, or India, wouldsoartomorethan $3,000 if production shifted to the U.S.And he believesthatmoving
over thelongterm,” said ScottLincicome, atrade analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute.“If we areentering amorerestricted supply side then you’re likely to see more expensive stuff.”
Bank of America estimates that the new duties could raise car prices an average of $4,500, even assuming that automakers absorb some of thetariffs’ impact. Suchan increasewould follow sharp price hikes of the past fewyears that have leftthe average price of anew car at apainful $48,000.
AaronRubin, CEO of ShipHero LLC, which provides software for merchants to help book shipments and track order deliveries, said his data indicates that retailers arealready starting to raise prices to get ahead of the tariffs.
ShipHero’sdata capturesprices on several million products equivalent to about 1% of overall U.S. e-commerce sales. Prices rose 3.9% on Sunday and Monday on avariety of goods compared with the week before Trumpannounced moretariffs, Rubin said.
production domestically likely couldn’tbedoneuntil, at theearliest, 2028. “Price pointswouldmove so dramatically,it’shard to comprehend.” Apple didn’trespond to arequest for comment Wednesday.The Cupertino, California, company has yet to publicly discuss its response to Trump’stariffs on China, but the topic may comeuponMay 1when Apple CEOTim Cook is scheduled to field questions fromanalysts during aquarterly conferencecall to discuss the company’sfinancial results and strategy And there is no doubt the China tariffs will be ahot-button issue given Apple’sstock price has
dropped by 15% andlowered the company’smarket value by $500 billion since Trump began increasing them on April 2. If thetariffs hold, Apple is widely expected to eventually raise prices on iPhones and other popular products because Silicon Valley’ssupply chain is so heavily concentrated in China,India andotheroverseas markets caught in thecrossfire of the escalating trade war
The big question is how long Apple mightbewilling to hold the line on itscurrentprices before the tariffs’ toll on the company’sprofit margins become too muchtobear and consumers are asked to shoulder some of the burden.
ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTOByNGHAN GUAN
province.
go around,” Landry said at his own news conference Wednesday.“Today I’m not here to help anylawyers, and I’m not here to help insurancecompanies. I’m here to help the citizens of the state.”
Landry acknowledged a need to tamp down frivolous lawsuits and said the prevalence of minor injury claims “points to acultural problem” of civil litigation connected to lawyer advertising.
But unlike Temple,who laid blame for high insurance ratessquarelyon Louisiana’scivil law system and the trial lawyers, Landry also emphasized the role of insurance companies.
“Insurance coverage in thisstate is notanoption,” Landry said. “It is mandated by law,and our citizens are forced to pay for it. With thatmandate comes great responsibility fromthose who cover them.”
Landry said insurershave promised that policy changes would lead to lower rates, “but they have broken their word again and again.” He also said insurance companies have lost public trust as they continue to bringin “record profits.”
Landry angered many in thebusinesscommunity last year when he killed a major bill opposed by trial lawyers and weakened other measures before agreeing to support them.
STOCKS
Continued from page1A
threat of recession has not faded.”
China, meanwhile, has reachedout to other countries aroundthe world in apparent hopes of forminga united front against Trump.
The world’ssecond-largest economy is also ramping up its own countermeasures to Trump’stariffs.
The stock price of Warner Bros.Discovery,the company behind “A Minecraft Movie,” dropped 12.5% for one of Wall Street’ssharpest losses afterChina said Thursday it will “appropriately reduce the number of imported U.S. films.” The Walt Disney Co.’sstock sank 6.8%.
Aspokesperson forthe China Film Administration said it is “inevitable” that Chineseaudiences would find American films less palatable given the “wrong move by theU.S.towantonly implement tariffs on China.”
That was after Trump and his Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, sent aclear message to othercountries Wednesday after announcing their pause on tariffs for most countries: “Do not retaliate, and you will be rewarded.”
The European Union said Thursday it will put its trade retaliation measures on hold for 90 days and leave room
Business backingTemple
At his Thursday news conference, Temple recruited two members of thetruckingindustrytospeak in support ofhis plan.
“Wefeel as though the trucking industryis being attacked,” said Jake Minner,a transportation manager at Bengal Transportation Services, which hosted Temple’s news conference.
Minner cited “staged accidents” and “plaintiffs attorneys’ frivolouslawsuits.”
“Weneed our legislators to implementmeasuresthat willprotect ourfamilybusinesses from frivolous lawsuits,”said Jared Varnado, president of Towing and Recovery ProfessionalsofLouisiana,a trade association.
Temple’spolicy is also backed by two other powerfulgroups: theInsurance Council of Louisiana, an insurance trade association,
for anegotiated solution Thursday’sswings also hit thebond market, which had been showing encouraging signalsearlier in the day that stress may be easing.
Thebond market has historically played the role of enforcer against politiciansand economicpolicies it deemed imprudent. It helpedtopple theUnited Kingdom’sLiz Trussin2022, for example, whose 49 days made her Britain’s shortestserving prime minister James Carville,adviserto former U.S. PresidentBill Clinton, also famouslysaid he’d like to be reincarnated as the bond market because of how much power it wields.
Earlier this week, big jumps for U.S.Treasury yields had rattledthe market, so much thatTrump said Wednesday he had beenwatching howinvestors were “gettinga little queasy.”
Several reasons could have been behind the sharp, sudden rise in yields. Hedge fundsmay have soldTreasurys in ordertoraisecash, andinvestors outside the United States may be dumpingtheirU.S. government bonds because of thetrade war.Regardless of the reasons behind it, higher Treasury yields crank up pressure on the stock market andpush rates higher for mortgages and other loans for U.S. households and businesses. The 10-year Treasury
and the Louisiana Association of Businessand Industry,the state’smost powerful business lobby Astatement from LABI said the organizationhas worked with Temple “ona comprehensive package of bills” that “will signal Louisiana is open for business.”
“For far too long, we have failed to enact the reforms necessary to curb lawsuit abuse, prevent jackpotjustice and attract more insurerstothe state,”the statement said. “The result has been alegalclimate where lawyerscashinand Louisianans lose out, forcing them to shutter theirbusinesses or relocate to friendlier states.”
Templeworked over 20 years in various partsofthe insuranceindustry andhas consistently said free market principles will help ameliorateLouisiana’sinsurance woes.
yield hadcalmed following Trump’sU-turn on tariffs, dropping all the way back to 4.30% shortly after the release of abetter-thanexpected report on inflation Thursdaymorning. That’s after it had shot up to nearly 4.50% Wednesdaymorning from just 4.01% at theend of last week.
As Thursday progressed, though, the 10-year Treasury yield climbed once again and reached 4.40%.
It all demonstrates why manyonWall Street are preparing for more swings in markets, after the S&P 500 at one point nearly dropped into a“bear market” by almost closing 20% below its record.
Often, the market’swhipsaw moves have come not justday to day but also hour to hour.The S&P500 still remains below where it was when Trumpannounced his sweeping set of tariffs last week on “Liberation Day.”
All told, the S&P 500 fell 188.85 points Thursdayto 5,268.05. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,014.79 to 39,593.66, and theNasdaq composite sank 737.66 to 16,387.31.
In stock markets abroad, indexes rallied acrossEurope andAsia in theirfirst chances to trade following Trump’spause on manyof histariffs. Japan’sNikkei 225 surged 9.1%, South Korea’sKospileapt6.6% and Germany’sDAX returned 4.5%.
Temple’s priorities
The insurancecommissioner highlighted three policies he is supporting this year
One is a“collateral source” bill by Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter that would put limitsonrecoveringhealthcareexpensesduring litigation.The amount would be the lesser of a“usualand customary rate” forthe services or the amount actually paid to a health care providerregardless of the source of funding for those payments.
Another is alegal concept known as “modified comparative fault.”
Right now,ifsomeone is injuredbut is partly responsible for it,the amount of money,or“damages,” received is reduced in proportiontothe “percentage of negligence attributable to the person.” But thechange backed by Temple wouldn’t allow someone to collect damages if they are at least 50% responsible for the accident.
Also, “general damages” legislation Temple supports would cap money paidout fornon-monetary damages suchaspain, suffering and emotional distress at $5 million.
Policy debate
Temple tooktimetodispute details about Louisiana insurance regulation that he said Landry presented in a waythat was“incorrect.”
One is the power of the state’sinsurancecommissioner to regulate insurance companies. Landry on Wednesday said Louisiana has the “weakest regulatory structure for holding insurance companies accountable.”
On Thursday, Temple disagreed: “I have all the authority Ineed to deny a rate forbeing too high, and I exercise it,” he said. “I don’t approve rates that are too high —period.”
Another issued related to insurancecompanydisclosures.
“I’m supporting legislation
to prevent these insurance companies from arbitrarily labeling information as confidentialand proprietary,”
Landry said Wednesday without providing additional details aboutthe measure. “They are preventing the public fromseeing information thatcan assist the insurance commissioner in decision-making.”
Temple disagreed with that.
Insurance companies are requiredtoprovide his office information upon request, confidential or not, he said. “They have to provide theinformation,and they do.”
Addressing Landry’sassertion that insurers are making record profits, Temple said the companies are leavingLouisiana because they are losing money here. Temple said it is important to “correct therecord on the issues because “if we aren’t on the same page about the problems, we can’t begin to makereal progress on the solutions.”
Foster parent guilty of child molestation
Zachary resident faces up to 99 years in prison
BY MATT BRUCE Staff writer
A Louisiana foster parent who forced multiple children in his house to have sex with him for years was convicted of a slate of child molestation crimes Wednes-
day following a 10-day trial at the 19th Judicial District Courthouse. A jury deliberated about three hours before finding Michael Lane Hadden guilty of three counts of sexual battery with minors, three counts of molestation of a juvenile and four counts of aggravated
crimes against nature.
The 54-year-old Zachary man faces at least 25 years and up to 99 years in prison when he goes before District Judge Louise Hines Myers for sentencing on April 28, officials indicated.
“We are pleased with the ef-
fort by the jury’s attention to the evidence in this case and the time they took in their deliberations,” East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore said in a statement following the verdict. “This case was complicated in many ways. Our courageous victims were some of the most vulnerable in society and we are pleased with the verdict, which was the just ver-
dict not only for our survivors of these heinous acts but also for our community.”
Hadden was a Department of Child and Family Services foster parent who cared for children through the state’s foster program. According to court records, he raped and sexually abused several
LET THE GOOD TIMES BOWL
ABOVE: Belle Chase players react to finding out they beat University
Lab to advance to the final during the 2025 State Bowling Tournament at Premier Lanes in Gonzales on Thursday.
LEFT: Archbishop Shaw player Jonathan Arena bowls during the 2025 State Bowling Tournament on Thursday STAFF PHOTOS By JAVIER GALLEGOS
Denham Springs pauses action on kratom ban
Impact Charter landlord calls off eviction
BY DAVID J MITCHELL Staff writer
BY CHARLES LUSSIER Staff writer
ä See GUILTY, page 2B
Former Louisianasenator faceslawsuit
Ownerofhome care companyowes taxes, sued for negligentcare
BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT Staff writer
Aformer state senator’shome health care company faces alawsuit alleging negligent careofan Ascension Parish woman who later died, according to court records.
Troy Brown, who served as a Democrat from Napoleonville and hasaresidence in Geismar, owns and operates Home-Care PCA LLC, according to Louisiana Secretary of State records
Last week, the children of adeceased woman brought alawsuit
in the21stJudicialDistrictCourt against thecompany and one of its employees, Tyreetta Sam. The lawsuit alleges thecompany and Sam failedtotreat resident CatherineSimmons properlyand seek necessary medical intervention before herdeathlast year Brown,who resigned from office in 2017, did not respond toarequest for comment left with aperson who answered the company’s phone No attorneys were listed for the defendants, anda Facebookuser appearing tobeSam did not respondtoarequest for comment.
Allegationsofhospitalizations
FiledonApril4byattorney Matthew Percy on behalf of Simmons’ children —MarilynBradley, Keyok-
ita Sam and RoySam —the lawsuit states Simmons suffered from amyotrophic lateralsclerosis (ALS), a nervous system disease. Brown’scompanyand employee Tyreetta Sam provided 24/7 home health care to Simmons, Percy writes. In the document, he states Simmonswas hospitalized from June28toearlyJuly 2024 due to a“deteriorated state of health.” She was rehospitalized later that summer andreturned to home care for about aweek until she washospitalized againinearly August, the lawsuit alleges. During that hospitalization, she wasdiagnosed with sepsis, malnutrition, complications from a urinary tract infection,bed sores, anemia and agastrointestinal hemorrhage, thelawsuit alleges. And
it states Simmons was transferred to Baton Rouge, where she passed away from astated cause of death of protein-caloriemalnutrition
Seekingcompensation
Thelawsuitclaimsthe company failed to identify andreport signs of deteriorationand malnutrition, properly provide care and sterile conditionsand seek medical intervention.
“Ms. Simmonssufferedgreatly from excruciatingpain,bothmental and physical, together with the inability to engage in normal social, economic, business andrecreational activities,” Percy writes.
Simmons’ childrenseek to recover damages, medical expenses and funeral costs, according to thedocument.
Before filing, the children sought the formation of amedi-
GUILTY
cal reviewpanel in early 2025, according to Percy.The Louisiana MedicalMalpractice Actrequires allclaims against health care providers qualified under the law to be reviewedbysucha panel. The law states that providers must provide proof of financial responsibility and payanassessed surcharge to qualify
AJan.9letter sent by theLouisiana Division of Administration andincludedinthe lawsuit states that neither the company nor Tyreetta Sam arequalifiedprovidersunderthe law. The lawsuit comesshortly after otherlegal trouble forthe company.InMarch,the Internal Revenue Servicefileda notice of federal tax lien with the Ascension Parish Clerk of Court’sOffice, saying the company owes around $3,711,692 in unpaid taxes.
Continued from page1B
Staff report
A16-year-old male from St. Mary Parish was arrested Wednesday,accused of making afalse bomb threat to Lutcher High SchoolinSt. James Parish, the St. James Sheriff’s Office said. Theschool was evacu-
ated Wednesday morning andsheriff’s deputiesand localpoliceofficerswere on the scene after amale called the school at about 10:15 a.m. andthreatened that abomb would go off at theschool in15minutes, the Sheriff’s Officesaid in a news release.
“Parentswere notifiedand students werepicked up,” the agency said. “K-9 officerssearched all campus buildings and determined they wereclear at 1:30 p.m.,” therelease stated
Detectives identified a suspectand took him into custody Wednesday night
with assistance from theSt. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office and Louisiana State Police.
Thejuvenile was booked into ayouth detention center on counts of communication of falseinformation of planned bombing on school property and terrorizing, theSheriff’s Office said.
KRATOM
Continued from page1B
according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Areas in East Baton Rouge and Ascension parishes have already banned kratom.
Denham SpringsPo-
LAWSUIT
Continued from page1B
residents, the three-judge panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned alower-court ruling finding the local community and environmental groups that brought litigation didn’thave standing to sue or brought it well past legal deadlines to do so. With the ruling, the plaintiffs can now continue to try to provetheirallegationsin court. Filed in March 2023, the lawsuit accused the parish of acontinuing violation of the plaintiffs’ equal protection and other rights that has diminished their property values and harmed their health. Over 150 pages, the suitdetails an extensive historyof the parish and state, starting with the lossoffreedslaves’ rights during Reconstruction and continuing with aseries of land-use decisions since the 1960s that largelysteered newindustriestomajority Black areas and, in more recent history,blocked new projects in White areas.
Home to two dozen industrial operations, St. James officials through the yearshave allowed 20 of them in the majority-Black 4th and5th Districts and not allowed any in majority-White districts for thepast 46 years, according to the lawsuit. In court papers, parish officials argued the lawsuit was brought too late or couldn’t sufficiently support any of its claims, calling it apolitically motivated attempt to paint them with racial animus by evoking the state’sdark history of slavery and Jim Crow laws.
‘Well-pleadedallegations’
In the ruling issued Wednesday,CircuitJudge Carl Stewart notedsome of the comments the plaintiffs had made more recentlyasking the Parish Council notto approveanother projectin majorityBlack areas.
“Similarly,ina council meeting regarding an industrial project to be built within the Fourth and Fifth District, Pastor(Harry) Joseph lamented, ‘(w)hy does it always have to be us?’”the judge wrote. “These statements, juxtaposed with the organizations’ statements
lice Chief Rodney Walker wants to regulatekratom before it becomesanissue for the town, especially becausesurrounding areas havealready done so, he said “I’d hatetosee allthe surrounding townstaking actionand making Denham Springs the go-to place to getthe drug,” he said
about howconsistentlythe parish heeds theconcernsof itsmajority-White districts, demonstratethe organizations’ well-pleaded allegations that they were racially classified and denied equal treatment.”
Theplaintiffshailed the appellate ruling and pledged to continue fighting for the case in court.
“Weare glad the court has found in our favor,and we thank God,too, forthis victory,”Joseph, pastor of Mount Triumph Baptist Church in St.James, said in astatement. “This moratorium is importantfor the people in this area. We’ve beenbattlingtoachieve it for alongtime.”
Parish officials had not immediatelyresponded to arequest for comment.Parish and industryrepresentatives haveinthe past cited theeconomic development, jobs and tax revenue such plants bring while denying any discrimination in the process.
Stewartisan appointeeof Democratic President Bill Clinton. The twoother circuitjudgesonthe panelare Republican appointees: SeniorCircuit Judge Patrick Higginbotham by President RonaldReagan and Circuit Judge Catharina Haynes by President George W. Bush.
Patternofdiscrimination?
Thechurchwas oneof three plaintiffs in the suit broughtwith lawyersfrom the Center for Constitutional Rights and Tulane Law Clinic.Other plaintiffs are InclusiveLouisianaand Rise St.James.
In November 2023, U.S. District Judge CarlJ.Barbierdismissed most of the suit’sclaims based on aparish landuse plan thatwas unanimously adopted in 2014 and zoned large parts of the4th and 5th Districts for industrial use and later becamea point of contention for advocates.
Barbier found theplaintiffs hada year tochallenge thatordinance and failed to do so. Theappellate court found, however,thatthe plaintiffs had filed acase sufficient enough to tryto prove at trial that the ordinance was part of alarger, historicpattern of racial discrimination In making that argument, the plaintiffs hadpointed to
Kratom, in its various forms, is often sold in gas stations, convenience stores andvapeshops.
LivingstonParishtried and failed to ban kratom across theparish in 2023. The proposalwas backed by the Livingston Parish sheriffand coroner,who cited itspresenceindrug busts andoverdoses.
more recent history by the council within ayear of their lawsuit’sfiling. In August 2022, the council instituteda moratorium on solar farms amid opposition from residentsinamajority White part of the parish, butblockeda requested moratorium on polluting industries in majority Black areas.
During oral arguments for the appeal last year Judge Haynes pushed back on theideathatmissing theone-year deadline to challenge theland use plan barred any ability to contestthe parish’sdevelopment practices writ large,hintingatthe appeals court’sultimate ruling.
“Having arule that
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 2025 PICK 3: 5-5-6
4: 3-2-9-5
PICK 5: 9-9-0-8-7 EASY 5: 2-8-11-23-31
4-7-23-34-38-39
4-29-37-55-67 (10) Unofficial noti
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration haswarned consumers not to use kratom becauseofthe risk of serious adverse events, including livertoxicity,seizuresand substance use disorder.
Email Claire Grunewald at claire.grunewald@ theadvocate.com.
agrees to discriminate doesn’tmean that if you don’tsue within ayear,well, you can be discriminated against the rest of your life,” Haynes remarked last fall.
of hisfosterand adoptive children over the years.
The trial stemmed from allegations madebythree of his foster kids that surfacedin2022. Thefirstvictim came forward in January of that year,abouttwo years after being removed from Hadden’shouse. According to acivil lawsuitthe child’sadoptive parents filed against Hadden and DCFS, the victim finally broke their silence in the days leading up to an adoption hearing.
The civil suit, which remains ongoing, alleges DCFS’ negligence led to the agency’s failures in protecting the child
Three months later,an autisticchild who suffered from asevere mental health disorder reportedsexual abusetoahighschool social worker,according to arrest affidavits. Theteen tolda forensic investigator in June 2022 that Hadden inappropriately touched them, the warrantstated In May2022, thethird victim reported abuse about
five weeksafter being removed from Hadden’s housetolive withdifferent family members. The teen reported being forced to have sex with Hadden on numerous occasions, beginning in 2021.
Deputies said Hadden also forced thechildren to perform sexual acts on each other while he watched. Investigators with law enforcement and DCFS were able to document and collect thedelayed disclosures. The three victims testified about the abuse during this month’strial, according to prosecutors.
“Weappreciatethe outstanding efforts of theEast Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office in theirinvestigation in this case,” Moore said. “Weare so proud of each of these vulnerable survivors for having to have the couragetoshare their abuse and work with us to present their accounts to the jury.Wealso want to commendthe prosecution team and all of those that providedsupport to these individuals throughout the process. Their support assisted in these survivors beingable to have their dayin court.”
members of the school’s leadership, saying they “deliberately provoked the situation”byfailing to pay rent and consequently “jeopardized the mortgage loanon the school.” Nevertheless, she said after polling the organization’sboard she has decided that now is the wrong time to forcethe issue.
“I have always put the students first and the disruption of an eviction at this time is not in keeping with my vision of afirst-class education of the students,” Scott said.
The Advocate has reached outtoImpact’snew management for comment.
The eviction notice, posted Wednesday morning on the school’sfront window,is blunt and offers no hintof relief. It states if the Friends group does not receive rent for March andApril within five days —Tuesday —it “will proceed with immediate eviction and legal action to recover possession and damages in accordance with the lease and applicable Louisiana law.”
Collins spentseveral years as president of Baton Rouge’schapter of the NAACP and briefly served on theImpactCharter board before the entire board was ousted. Collins downplayed the stark language on the eviction notice, saying it was an attempt to spur action by the school’snew leadership, not cause apanic.
“That was neverthe intention,” he said. “If atenant does not pay rent, you have to do something.”
Collins said adealhad been worked out and the new Impact management cut acheck to payrent, but on April2itstoppedpayment on that check. Collins said the new leaderswanted to lower the rent payments to match how much the Friends group is paying on itsmortgage, but Collins said they have incorrectinformation about the cost of the mortgage on the property To have somewhere to hold classes, the new management of Impact Charter hasasked theCityofBaker School Board to lease avacant property at 3750 HardingBlvd., theformerhome of Baker Heights Elementary,for the rest of the school year,whichends May 22.
In the audit that sparked the current drama, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office accused Chakesha Scott of using the school to personally enrichherself and herfamily
The audit also raised questions about the Friends group and the terms of the 50-year lease it struck in fall 2022 with the school, which calls for payments of $130,000 amonth. The auditor says that during the first 16 months of that lease, the school paid the Friends group more than $2 million in leasepayments, butthe mortgage cost the Friends group only $1.2 million. That resulted in about $846,000in “excessive loanpayments,” according to the auditors.
In alawsuit,Impact’s new management says it has beenunable to access “substantial” funds it knows are in accountsmanaged by theFriends group as well as aseparate organization, Charter Schools Athletic Association Inc., for which Scott is the sole officer.Both organizations are defendants, along with Scott and her husband, Eric.
Email Charles Lussier at clussier@theadvocate. com.
Tulane suspends 2groupsinhazingprobe
DeltaTau Delta, PhiKappa Sigmaunder investigation
BY MARIE FAZIO Staff writer
TwoTulane University fraternities have been suspended while they are under investigation for hazing, auniversity official confirmed Thursday
The fraternities, Delta TauDelta and Phi Kappa Sigma,wereplacedunder interim suspension pending the outcome of investigations into alleged hazing, MikeStrecker,aspokesper-
son for theuniversity,said in astatement.
“The health,safety,and well-beingofstudentsis our highest priority and we have robust training and resources dedicated to preventing hazinginall forms,” Strecker said in an email. “Wetake these matters seriously andwill continue to uphold ourcommunity standards as theinvestigative process moves forward.”
The suspensions were firstreported by Tulane’s student newspaper,The Hullabaloo. Neither fraternity immediately responded to inquiries.
Though Strecker declined to link the investigation to anyspecificincident, the
Tulane University Police Department has investigated several reports of alleged hazing this semester Ahazing incident was reported toTulane University police on April 3inthe 800 block of Broadway Street, according to theTulaneUniversity Police Department crime log.
The case was closed and no further action was taken Three incidents of hazing andthreeincidents of aggravated assault were reported April4inthe 900 block of Broadway Street. Aseparate investigation into hazing and aggravated assault reportedinthe 700 block of Broadway Street on April 4isstill open.
Tulane policy defines haz-
ing as anyact that “humiliates, degrades, embarrasses, harasses, or ridiculesan individual”and is considered acondition forjoining agroup.
Tulane police have investigated several other alleged hazing-related incidents this semester,including areport of hazing Feb. 19 anda report of hazing andaggravatedassault March19thatwereboth referred to the university’s OfficeofStudent Conduct.
The police are investigating allegations of hazing made Feb. 21 at thePhi Delta Theta House and anotherinthe 1200 block of Broadway Street reported on March13. Several Greek organiza-
tions are no longer “recognized” by the university for violating the student codeofconduct, including 828, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Pi KappaAlpha, Sigma Phi Epsilonand Sigma Alpha Mu.
Earlier this year Caleb Wilson, aSouthern University student, was killed during an allegedhazing incident, reigniting conversations about hazing prevention among university officials and lawmakers. Aproposedbill would require college students who aremembersofGreek life or other organizations to complete an hour of anti-hazing training within their first two semesters of membership.
6-year-old hit, killed by school businNew Orleans
Family, community reeling following tragedy
BY KASEYBUBNASH Staff writer
Afamily and localschool community is reelingfollowing the deathofa 6-yearoldboy struck by aschool bus in theSt. Claude area Thursdaymorning.
TheNew Orleans Police Department saidthe boy had gotten out of acar to board thebus in the1400 block of Desire Street at 8a.m. and was hit.The child was takentoa hospital, wherehewas pronounced dead. His aunt identified him as Mason Richards, WWL Louisianareported.
The bus driver stayedat the scene during theinvestigation, police said.
Officers conductedafield sobriety test on thebus
driverand investigators do not believe thatimpairment contributed to the collision, according to the NOPD.
Ashley Daniels-Hall, a spokesperson for Kipp New Orleans Schools,confirmed theboy was aKipp student.
“Our thoughts arewith the family,and we are offering our full support to them andtoour school community during this incredibly difficult time,” Daniels-Hall said in astatement. “Weare working closely with local authorities to understand
thecircumstances surrounding this tragedy.”
School staff areprovidinggriefcounselingand support services to those affected, Daniels-Hall said.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s office could not be reached Thursdayevening forcomment. The city has taken agreater roleinpromoting school bus safety since 2019,when it began conducting inspections on busesand issuing permits to thefor-hire companies that transport students fol-
lowing thedeathofachild hit by abus several years earlier
The 2014 death of first grader Shaud Wilson highlighted gaps in the system since the city wenttoanallcharter system after Hurricane Katrina.The city now also requires background checks and drug tests for school bus drivers. As aCity Council member,Cantrell also worked to secure grant moneytohelp make school bus routes safer
BY WILLIE SWETT Staff writer
Thefamilyofa childwho was attacked by adog they were fosteringissuing St Tammany Parish government, claiming the parish did not properly inform the family of the dog’saggressive history before they brought the dog into their home
Michael Roark and Rebekka Bolline saythat in March 2023, afoster dog that was known to be afraidofyoung children mauled their 3-yearold daughter,causing injuriestoher faceand mouth and distress to the parents.
“They wanttomakesure thatsomething like this
doesn’thappen to another child,” saidAndrew Reynolds, alawyer representing the Slidell family in the lawsuit, which was filed in January 2024 in statecourt in Covington.
In courtfilings, the parish government and its insurance company have denied many of the allegations and said Bolline signedafoster agreement taking responsibilityfor risks associated with fostering pets.
The St. Tammany Parish Council at itsApril 3meeting adopted the recommendations of the northshore District Attorney’sOffice to refer thecase to theparish’s insurer,Safety National Casualty Corporation. Theinsurance company’slawyers will now representthe parish in the suit,according to district attorney spokesperson Shawn Smith, who said heroffice could notcomment becauseofpending
litigation.
Thelawsuit says thatin February 2023, the previousowner of a“pitbull mix” named “Tate,” short for“Tater Tot,” gave the dog to the parish and requested thatitbeeuthanized. The owner toldthe parish the doghad attacked,injured andkilledseveral animals and thatthe dog was afraid of young children.
The parish, which operates ano-kill shelter,then put up thedog for adoption, the lawsuit alleges, advertising Tate as aLabrador Retrievermix that wasvery sweet.
Less than amonth after Tate was put up for adoption, Bolline,a mother of two young children, responded to the advertisement and took the doghome after tellingthe parish about her youngkids.She alleges the parish failedtoinform her about the dog’saggressive behaviorand history
As Bolline’sdaughter was sitting in the living room of her Slidell homeonMarch 16,2023, withoutwarning Tate attacked her,the suit says. Reynolds said the child suffered deep lacerations and had to undergoplastic surgery.Hesaid she will likely need more surgeries. The parish denies that its actions led to the damages done to Bolline’sdaughter Reynolds said atrial date has not been set.
Braud, Donald ResthavenFuneralHome, 11817
Jefferson HighwayinBaton Rouge at 9am.
Florida Blvd., BatonRouge,LAat 11am
DavisJr.,Charles
Southern Memorial Gardensat
10:30am.
Guercio, Daisy
JeffersonBaptistChurch at 11 a.m.
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Hope Community United Methodist Church,4260 EvangelineStreet, Baton Rouge,LAat11am.
St.Theresa of AvilaCatholic Church Cemetery at 10:30 a.m.
Obituaries
Anna Nicole "Nikki" Amar departed this life on Tuesday April 1, 2025,at the age of 49 in Baton Rouge, LA. Services will be Saturday April 12, 2025,at Hall Davis &Sons Funeral Servicewith visitation beginning at 12pm followed by services at 1pm. Entombment will be at Southern Memorial Gardens.
Azuara, Elodia 'Elo'
Elo, aloving and devoted mother, grandmother, grandmother and motherin-law; passed away peacefullyonSaturday, April 5, 2025,atOur Ladyof the Lake Regional Hospital at the age of 84. She wasa resident of Baton Rouge and anative of Sinaloa, Mexico. Visitation willbe at Greenoaks Funeral Home, 9595 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge, on Saturday, April 12, 2025, from 9:30 a.m. until religiousservicesbeginning at 11:30 a.m. celebrated by Deacon Joe Scimeca. Burial will follow in Greenoaks Cemetery. She is survived by her daughter, Lorraine Jones and husband Kip; sons, Rafael Azuara Jr., Hector Azuara and wife Stacy andAurelio Azuara and wife Andrea; grandchildren, Devin Azuara (Shelby), Lunden Azuara (Ryan),Kip Jones Jr Alyssa Chenevert (Andrew),Katherine Howenstine (Austin), Daniel Zachary, Tyler and Hayli Perrault (Trevor); and great grandchildren, Westen,Brooks, Lainey, Leo, Luke and Juniper. Preceded in death by herparents, Martina Plaza Lopez and Aurelio Santiago Delgado; brother, Jesus Santiago Plaza; husband, Rafael Azuara Sr.; and son, Rodolfo "Rudy"Azuara. Pallbearers will be Deven Azuara,Daniel Azuara, Zachary Azuara, Arid Jose Galindo Santiago, Felipe Estrada Plaza, Filomeno Beltran Quintero, Ismael Plaza Hernandez and Marco Medano Santiago. Elo loved playing bingo and watching Wheel of Fortune and the Houston Astros. Most of all she enjoyed spending time with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Special thanks to Maria De Jesus Lezama Velazquez and Renee Tuller her care-
family requestscontributions to the St.Stephen's Episcopal Church.
Becnel, Charles 'Jim'
Charles "Jim" Becnel, 85, anative of Franklin,LAand alifelong resident of Baton Rouge, LA, diedon Wednesday,Feb. 19, 2025 in NewOrleans. Heissurvived by his brother,Glenn A. Becnel (wife Kathryn), of Harahan and three nephews, Charles (wife Kate), Jeffreyand David (wifePriscilla). He is also survived by six great nephews/nieces (Elise, David, Mary, Sophie, Amelie and James).Jim was preceded in death by his father, Charles J. Becnel, Sr.; and mother, Elise Robichaux Becnel both of Franklin, LA. Mr. Becnel graduated from Franklin High School and LSU,with adegreeinLandscape Architecture. He worked as a City Plannerfor Baton Rouge and Ascension Parishes. He also did landscape architecture projects fornumerous clients through the years. Jim's interests included gardening,interior design, art, travel, dining and visiting with family and friends He was always very supportive of hisfamily, friends and many charitable causes throughouthis life. The family is deeply grateful to the late, Lisa Orcino and Buddy Pricefor theirfriendship and support of Jim in his later yearsthat allowed himto live inhis home in Baton Rouge.Relativesand friends areinvited to attend amemorialservice at GreenoaksFuneral Home located at 9595 Florida Boulevard,Baton Rouge, LA 70815. Visitation will be at 1pmfollowedbythe memorialservice at 2pm on Saturday, April 12, 2025. In lieu of flowers, donationsmay be made in his memorytothe GreaterBatonRouge Food Bankor the charity of your choice. To view and signthe online guestbook, please visit www.greenoaksfunerals.c om
David Paul
David Paul Berteau, age 63, aresident of Gonzales, LA, passed awayonTuesday, April 8, 2025,inGonzales, surroundedbyhis family. Davidgraduatedfrom East Ascension High School in 1980and went on to attend Louisiana State University, wherehewas a proudmember of the Golden Band from Tigerland. He began working at M&B Shoe Store while stillin highschool and remained thereuntil the store's closing.His dedicationtoservice extendedbeyond work—David was an active memberofthe Civil Air Patrol (CAP) forover 40 years. He is survivedbyhis mother, FayeMarchand Berteau; siblings Jeff Berteau (Sherian), Sue Berteau, Charla Berteau Hall (Doug), and Annette Berteau Dupre(Chris); cousin/sister, Trudy BerteauBates; four nieces and fournephews,including his goddaughterLisa Berteau Katai and godson Patrick Berteau. Davidis also survivedby22first cousins. He was preceded in death by hisfather, Clarence Joseph Berteau. Avisitation willbeheld on Saturday, April 12, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. until the funeral service at 11:00a.m. at Ourso Funeral Homein Gonzales,LA. David's life reflected commitmentto family,community, and tradition.May his memory bring comfort to those who knew him. In Lieu of flowersdonations can be made to United Cerebral Palsy at
Bolden,Ruth
MarieFrederick
Ruth MarieFrederick Boldendepartedthislife onFriday, March21, 2025, atChateau Napoleon in Napoleonville,LA. Shewas 80, anativeand resident of Paincourtville, LA.Visita‐tiononFriday, April11, 2025, at Williams & SouthallFuneralHome from2:00pmto4:00pm. VisitationonSaturday, April 12, 2025, at Emmanuel Baptist Church from 9:00amtoreligious ser‐vices at 10:00am.Inter‐mentinthe church ceme‐tery. Arrangements by Williams &SouthallFuneral Home, 5414 Hwy1 Napoleonville,LA(985)3697231. To sign theguest book or offercondolences, visit ourwebsite at www williamsandsouthallfune ralhome.com.
John "Johnny" Lane Ewing December12, 1953April9,2025
John "Johnny" Lane Ewing,71, passedaway peacefully at his home in NewRoads, Louisiana on April9,2025. BornonDecember 12, 1953, in New Roads, Louisiana, Johnny was ahardworking businessman, community member, and devoted familyman. Johnny was a member of thefirst graduating class of False River Academy and latergraduated fromLouisiana State University. He worked alongside his siblings and father to establish LA Expressconvenience stores. He laterdeveloped Satterfield'sonFalse Riverand purchased and redeveloped TigerTruck Stop.His dedication to serving the community and creating local employment opportunitieswas recognized whenhereceived theSBA Small Business Personof theYearaward.Overthe years, Johnny contributed to his community through serviceonthe Pointe Coupee Chamber of Commerce, PointeCoupeeand City of NewRoads Planning and Zoning Commissions, and theFalse River AirportCommission. He also served on the boards of GuarantyBank, False River Academy, and City of New RoadsMainStreet. Johnny was preceded in deathby his parents, Elizabeth"Betty" Hebert and JamesEwing,and mother-in-law Genevieve Glaser and father-in-law Charles"Puddin" Glaser. He is survived by his loving wife, Danna Glaser; his children, John "Lane,"Jr. (Anna Magee), Caryl (Ken), Arthur (Lauren), and Becky (Michael); his stepchildren, Stephen (Chandler) and Brandon (Kristyn) David;his siblings, James"Jimmy" (Donna), Al (Zel), Mickey, and Jerry(Paula); and his eleven grandchildren, Elie, Rhea, Merritt,Jeanne, Stella,Walker, Luke, John Lane III, Charles, James, and Amalie. Avisitationwillbe held at St. Stephen'sEpiscopalChurch in Lettsworth, Louisiana on Saturday, April 12 from 8:30 to 10:30 immediately followedbya religious service and interment in the church cemetery. PallbearerswillbeLane Ewing Arthur Ewing,Stephen David,Brandon David Lance Glaser, and Zack Glaser. Honorary pallbearers will be Karl Glaser and Charles "Brother" Glaser, Jr. In lieu of flowers, the
Isabelle IkeGeorgedeparted this life on Sunday, March 30, 2025 at St. JosephHospice,Baton Rouge, LA She was a96year old native and resident of Zachary, LA and thewife of 51 years to thelate York George. Isabelle retired fromZachary Elementary School in 1987 as head cookwith28years of service.
Visitation on Friday, April11, 2025 at UnionBaptist Church, 5350 Old SlaughterRd.,Zachary, LA 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. Visiting resumes on Saturday, April 12, 8:00 a.m. until Celebration of Life Servicesat 10:00 a.m. Dr. Dinat G. Haney, officiating.Interment Azalea Rest Cemetery,Zachary, LA
Survivorsincludeher sonMichael George, daughter Vanessa G. Matthews, Grandchildren Errol (Toshiko) Matthews, LatriceMatthews, Megan George, and Alliciyia George, Great GrandchildrenKolby Matthews Maccabee Rheams, and Kalev Rheams, Other relativesand friends.
Arrangementsentrusted to Richardson Funeral Home of Clinton.
Anative& resident of NewRoads, La have gained her wings on April2,2025 at theage of 91. Visitation services FridayApril 11, 2025 at St.Peter Baptist Church 408 Texas St.New
Roads, La, from 4pm to 6pm. Religiousservices Saturday April 12, 2025 at 11am. ConductedbyRev Elliott Horton Jr.Momma leaves to cherish loving memories with herdaughters: Wanda (Rev. Elliott) Horton,Jr., Hilda Harris, Tammy (Ricky) Shaw, sons: Warren(Shelitha) Harris, Jr., KirklandHarris, Sr., Klaiton Harris. 30 preciousgrandchildren,53 blessed great-grandchildren,5 adorable greatgreat grandchildren and special connections: Frank Foggan,Cheriefer Collins, sister in law:Mikki Harris, godchild:GregoryGlover anda special Friend: Mary LeeAugustine.She was preceded in death by her husband Roland Harris, Sr., threechildren: Myronand Roland Harris, Jr Diedra Harris-Guidry, three grandchildren: Kameronand KyleHarris, and Danielle Henderson, herparents: Majorand Rose Banks, father-in-law: Edward Harris, Sr.and mothers-in-law: Ida andOlivia Harris, siblings: IreneDukes, MaryAlice James, Henry, Joseph, Robert and DelorisBanks, aspecial friend: Martha Glover, sistersinlaw: Saluta Banks, Ida Nell Banks, Dorothy andBetty Banks, son-in-law: MarvinSneed brothers-in-law:David James, Edward HarrisJr., Isadoreand Abraham Harris, and many otherrelatives andfriends that we know was glad about her arrival
Hayes, Sharon Gravesideservicesfor SharonHayes will be held Saturday, April12, 2025 at SouthernMemorialGar‐dens, 3012 Blount Rd Graveside services will begin at 10:00 a.m. Profes‐sionalservicesentrusted toCharles Mackey Funeral Home.
"Itisthe cross of Christ that turnssorrowintojoy." John 16:20 On March15, 2025, Robert Craig Israel, known by most, includinghis grandchildren, as "Bob, passedaway. He would have seen the humor in departingthisworld on such ahistorical day, theIdesof March.
Anative of Bogalusa, LA, he wasbornApril 11, 1943, to RebeccaPemble and MoiseJosephIsrael. After recovering from achildhood summerofPolio, Bobby began hiseducation in Bogalusa,where hisdad wasthe Washington Parish Superintendent of public schools, graduating from BogalusaHigh School in 1961. He earnedhis degree in Political Scienceand History from Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond,LA.
Wanting to serve his countryduring theViet Nam War,Bob enlisted in theUnited States Navy, receiving traininginthe Navy Special Communications School with Top Secret Cryptographic Clearance. He then completed theU.S. Navy's Survival, Evasion Resistance, and Escape School. He served his tour of duty in the Republic of thePhilippinesand Da Nang, Viet Nam, flying over 60 missions. Hismedals included the ArmedForces ExpeditionaryMedal, the NationalDefense Service Medal, theVietnam Service Medal, theVietnam Campaign Medal,The Air Medal, andthe United States Navy Aircrew Wings. Returningto Louisiana, he wasa Naval Reservist untilhis honorabledischarge in 1972. Robert attendedthe Zale Corporation's Upper Management School and FineJewelersGuildSchool of Gemology, which led himtobeing General Manager of theNew Orleans, Canal St.location of Hausmann's Fine Jewelers. It wasthere he met andlater marriedhis wife, Deanne Derbes
Israel, Robert Craig 'Bob'
Alexander, Evelyn Kingdon Hall of
George,Isabelle Ike
Amar, Anna Nicole 'Nikki'
Harris,Odester Banks
Ewing, JohnLane Johnny
Berteau,
Achance viewing in 1975 of aWWL-TVeditorial announcing Ed Steimel's formation of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) changed the path of Bob's life. From its inception,he successfully headed staff assignments in the areas of taxation, government, management, public retirement, and small business development as Director of Government Relations. He served in avariety of roles at LABI,including Director of Membership &Finance, Director of Taxation& Fiscal Policy, and Director of Small Business Development. From 1976 to 1983,he served as Chief Lobbyist andDirector of Membership Development, during which time he played a pivotal role in expanding LABl's membership and influence statewide. From 1980-1983 he was the chief lobbyist, planning strategy and setting priorities for the lobbying team. During his first year at LABI, he played acritical role in one of the organization's most significant victories: the passage of Louisiana's Right to Work law in 1976. Bobconsidered this achievement one of the proudest milestones of his professional life, setting the tone for his decades of public policy work to come. His professional legacy is deeply rooted in Louisiana's business and automotive industries. Starting in 1983, and until his retirement in 2016,he served as President of the Louisiana Automobile Dealers Association (LADA), representing nearly allnew car and truck franchised dealers in the state. His work shaped legislative strategies, workers' compensation policies and the overall advancement of the automotive sector. He was aleading advocate in the drafting and passage of workers' compensation legislation. He also considered, of his greatest legislative accomplishments, the passage of Louisiana's first seatbelt lawin1985. An activeparticipant at our state capitol's legislative sessions, Bob would also meet with the Louisiana delegation in Washington D.C. when needed. Always apassionate advocatefor education, workforce development, and industry partnerships, his efforts in building collaborations between business, education, and government strengthened automotive technician training programs and helped promote the industry as afulfilling career path. Bob held leadership roles in numerous organizations, including serving as the past president of the Louisiana Society of Trade Association Executives, the Louisiana Association of Self Insured Employees, Automotive Trade Association Executives, Southern Automotive Trade AssociationExecutives, and the National Automobile Dealers Association. He also played akey role on theBoard of Directors forthe National Automotive Trade Association Executives, where he became Chairman in 2013 Aman of deep faith, Bob was active in St. James EpiscopalChurch, where he served on the Vestry, Associate Vestry, as an usher and adult Sunday school teacher, and he was honored to participate on theSearch Committee.He was also aformer board member of St. James Episcopal DaySchool, reflectinghis commitment to faith-based education Bob carried adeep
sense of adventure throughout his life and rarely turned down the chance to trysomething new. Whether herding cattleatAngola as anaspiring cowboyorbriefly defying gravityasa skydiver,he embraced life's boldmomentswith characteristic enthusiasm. Notall of Bob's adventures were planned. He wasinWashington D.C. on September 11, 2001,a day thatreminded him, perhapsmorethan most, of the fragility of peace and the weight of service. His passion extended beyond personal thrills; he also volunteered with Hearts and Hooves, a therapeutic riding program at BREC's Farr Park,sharing his love forhorses and helping others find joyin the saddle.Hetook special pride in his service with the U.S. Navy Honor Flight Network,honoring his fellow veterans with dignity and care. Bob was adevoted LSU Tigers fan, proudlysupporting alltheirteams. Some of his favorite memories includedgoing with his son,Robert, to Alex Box Stadium, cheering together at the2003and 2007 football national championship games. As aloyal New Orleans Saints fan, could therehavebeenbetter fan experiencesthanbeingin Tulane Stadium in 1970 when Tom Dempsey kicked his 63-yardfieldgoalorin 2010 attending SuperBowl XLIV with his daughter, Molly. Ever the competitor, he was always working to improve his golfgame, regularly taking 26-mile bike rides, and reuniting with his childhood friends from Bogalusa each fall for their annual duck hunt.
Missing him willbehis belovedwifeof53years, Deanne; his devotedson, Robert Craig II (Lottie) of Covington, LA; hisson-inlaw, Travis Lowell Lejeune; cousin, Barry Royce Barlow of Oregon; and treasured grandchildren, Ellison Belle Israel, Stafford Lowell Lejeune, and Barlow Travis Lejeune.Along with his parents, he was preceded in death by his cherished daughter, Molly Israel Lejeune;brother,TerryLogan Israel; and sister,Marcelle Hobgood
For the last several years of his life, Bob was lovingly cared forbySonseeahray and James Brown,Kim Youngblood Adrienne Jackson, and Fran Floyd.Their compassion, dedication, and presencebroughtcomfortto Bob and his family during a time when it was most needed.
Aprivate servicetohonor and celebrate Bob's life willbeheld on alaterdate, withinterment at St. James Episcopal Columbarium. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating, in Bob's memory,toAlzheimer's Services of theCapital Area,3772 North Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA 70806, or St. James Episcopal Day School, GrowingOur Legacy, 445 Convention St., Baton Rouge,LA70802
Johnson,ClarenceCordell
vice will be held at Bethle‐hem BaptistChurch on Fri‐day,April 11, 2025 at 10:00 amconducted by Pastor DonaldTurner; interment atHillcrest Memorial Park Survivors includehis wife, Hilda Johnson; mother PanithiaM.Johnson; five children; four siblings; other relativesand friends. Arrangementsentrusted to Miller& Daughter Mortu‐ary
Johnson,Debbie Denise Dorsey
Sister Debbie Denise DorseyJohnson transi‐tionedfromher earthly hometoher heavenly homeonThursday,April 3, 2025. Shewas 63, anative ofNapoleonville,LAand a residentofThibodaux LA A memorial servicewillbe heldonSaturday, April12, 2025, at GreaterIsraelBap‐tistChurch at 10:00am ArrangementsbyWilliams & Southall FuneralHome, 5414 Hwy1,Napoleonville LA(985)369-7231. To sign the guestbook or offer condolences,visit ourweb‐siteatwww.williamsand southallfuneralhome.com
Joseph,JalisaMarie Jalisa MarieJoseph, a residentofBaton Rouge passedawayThursday, March 27, 2025 at OurLady Ofthe Lake MedicalCen‐ter.VisitationonSaturday, April 12, 2025 at GreaterPil‐grimRestBaptist Church 23030 Talbot Drive, Plaque‐mine, LA from 9a.m.until religious serviceat11a.m Rev.Clyde E. McNell,Pas‐tor.Interment in Little Zion Baptist Church Cemetery Arrangementsentrusted to Pugh'sMortuary.
Tracy Lazard, abeloved daughter, sister, mother, and educator, passed away peacefullyonMonday, April 7, 2025, in Baton Rouge, LA.BornonOct 27, 1964 to thelate Theresa& DallasLazard.Tracy was a 1982 graduateofCapital High School. She inspired many through her work in education and was known for her style and radiant
smile.
Funeral serviceswillbe held Saturday, April 12that Jubilee Christian Center Church, 14595 FloridaBlvd, BR, LA 70819, viewing begins at 10am and serviceat 11am.
Lethermon, Loriene Youngblood
Loriene Youngblood Lethermon, alovingmother, sister, and grandmother peacefully departed her earthly home on April 3, 2025. She wasa 62-year-old nativeofBaton Rouge, Louisiana. Loriene graduated from Capital Senior HighSchool in 1980 and laterreceivedher bachelor'sdegree fromSouthern University. She retired fromthe U.S. Postal Service and was known for her warm spirit,compassion,strongfaith in God, and cheerfulness. Loriene is survivedbyher children: Miesha (Rekeem) Wilson and Michael (Jo) LethermonJr.;three grandchildren:Lilyana, Zariyah,and Kyreaux; four brothersand nine sisters. She was preceded in death by her mother Idean Stallings and father LesterYoungblood Jr.; four brothers; onesister; and maternal and paternal grandparents. Celebrationoflifewillbeheld on Saturday, April 12, 2025 at 1:00pm. Saintsville
C.O.G.I.C 8930 Plank Road, Baton Rouge,LA70811.
Petty,Bernetta Funeralservicesfor Ber‐netta Petty will be held Saturday, April12, 2025 at New Zion ChristianFWC 5040 Taravella Rd., Marrero, LA70072. Apublicvisita‐tionwillbeheldfrom9:00 a.m.until 10:00 a.m. with religious services begin‐ningat10:00 a.m. Inter‐ment: GreaterSt. John Bap‐tistChurch,2823A Priva‐teer Blvd Barataria, LA 70036. Professional ser‐vices entrustedtoCharles MackeyFuneralHome.
Anativeand resident of Maringouin, Louisiana passed away on Monday, April7,2025 at theage of 86. Visitation willbeheld at A. Wesley Funeral Home, 10810 Ventress Drive, Maringouin, La., on Friday, April11, 2025, from 3-7 pm, and on Saturday, April 12, 2025, at Sweet HomeBaptist Church, 10300 Church St,Maringouin, La.,from 8 am until religious service at 10 am, officiated by PastorWarren S. Lands. Mr. Cornelius is survived by sons Cornell (Connie) Thymes, and Carl Thymes. Adaughter, TerryThymes (Alexis) Handy. Asister, Lessie Brown. Brothers James (Lubertha) Thymes, Jesse Thymes, Ray(Karena)Thymes, Roy (Joyce)
Thymes, and Bartimus (Sheila) Thymes. Nine grandchildren, nineteen great-grandchildren,two great great-grandchildren Ahostofnieces, nephews, relatives, and friends.
Williams, Emanuel 'DJ BluesBoy'
Emanuel "DJBluesBoy" Williams, 84, native of Prairieville,LApassed away on 4/5/25 peacefully at home. Visitation willbe at First Pilgrim Calvary Missionary Baptist Church 11453 Hwy73, Geismar, LA 70734 on Friday 5-7pm and Saturday 12-2pm. Service will begin at 12 pm at First Pilgrim Calvary Missionary Baptist Church Burial will follow at Mt.GillionBaptist Church Cemetery,38280 HenryRd., Prairieville,LA 70769. Arrangements entrustedtoLawson-Rollins PurpleShield Funeral Home.
Printess “PJ” Williams, Jr. departed this life on Saturday, March29, 2025, atUCSDMedical Center in San Diego, CA.Hewas 45, a nativeofDonaldsonville, LAand aresidentofEl Cajon,CA. Visitation on Fri‐day,April 11, 2025, at Williams &SouthallFuneral Home, Donaldsonville,LA from2:00pmto4:00pm. VisitationonSaturday, April 12, 2025, at St.Paul Baptist Church,10438 Boudreaux Rd., Gonzales, LAfrom10:00am to reli‐gious services at 12:00pm Intermentinthe church cemetery. Arrangements byWilliams& Southall Fu‐neral Home,101 Loop 945 Donaldsonville, LA 70346 (225) 473-1900. To sign the
Wilton,Marguerite F. Marguerite F. Wilton died early in themorning of April 9, 2025. "MeMe" is nowreunited with "Poppa",who,while happy to seeher,has undoubtedly relished thelast two decades of relative silence Theonlychild of E. Vance andWinona Garrison Felder, Marguerite was born on August 24, 1925, and raised in Denham Springs before marrying Norman J. "Poppa" Wilton, Jr.and moving with him to Baton Rouge andstartinga family. During their62-year marriage, MeMe andPoppa traveled the world, whetherduring Poppa's time in theNavy, histime with Ethyl Corporation,or togetherwith generations of friends in an Airstream or on acruiseship, before hisdeathonNovember 30, 2006. MeMe's travels may have slowed in theyears since, buther stories never did. MeMe is survived by herson anddaughter-inlaw,Norman J. "Joe" Wilton, III and Mary Agosta Wilton; hergrandchildren SaraW.Klein (Ben)and Seth Taylor Wilton; andher great-grandchildren, John Barrow Kleinand Andrew Joseph Klein. Sheisalso survived by friends and lovedones, whetherfrom church,the neighborhood, thegym, or thecard table, andthe familyextends heartfelt thanks for all they have doneoverthe years. Visitation will be at St.Thomas More Catholic Church on Saturday, April 12, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. followed by Mass of Christian Burial at 12:00 p.m.,celebrated by Father Praveen.Interment in Denham Springs Memorial Cemetery.Inlieuof flowers, take some time and tell astrangertoo muchaboutyourself, or give to theBaton Rouge Food Bank, St.Thomas More,ora charityofyour choice
Williams Jr., Printess 'PJ'
Thymes, Cornelius
Lazard, Tracy
Bigreforms needed to solveLa.’s auto insurancecrisis
When Itook office last January Louisiana was stuck in aproperty insurance crisis sparkedbythe devastating hurricanesof2020 and2021 and intensified by our state’s overly burdensome regulatory environment. Last year, Iworked with legislators to developa comprehensive package of property insurance reform to get insurerswriting new business in Louisiana again. That package was quickly passed with broad, bipartisansupport from the Legislature and Gov.Jeff Landry We have more to do to make sure home and business owners across the state benefit from these changes, but the data shows we are already trending in the right direction with 10 newly licensed homeowners insurers, a reduction in the severity of rate increases and significantly more insurers taking arate decrease in 2025. While our property insurance
Tim Temple GUEST COLUMNIST
market is on the upswing, Iam sorry to say our long-standing auto insurancecost crisis is not on the same path —atleast not yet. Thereisnodoubt our private passenger and commercial automarkets are in disastrous shape. We consistently rank as the most unaffordable state for auto insurance in thecountry.Louisiana drivers pay close to twice as much as drivers in our neighboring states just for livinginside our borders. In meetings with loggers, big truck drivers and business owners, I am consistently told there are few or no options for affordable insurance —and manyare considering amove out of state because of it.
Youmight think our high rates are driven by insurer profit, but the datashows that is not the case. Over the past 10 years in Louisiana, private passenger auto insurers have an average annual underwriting loss of 7.6%, which
Carbon captureisn’t worththe risk,effort
An interesting debate among traditional allies in Louisiana is underway
These allies are various factions in the oil and gas industry,land owners and economic conservatives regarding carbon capture, utilization and sequestration, often abbreviated CCUS. The topic may be obscure, butitisvery serious. Without caveat, Ifully concur with the notion of American energy dominance. In Louisiana, we literally stand on top of enough energy resources to keep America moving and to sell on the world market for hundreds of years to come. We are at the threshold of prosperity that we’ve never known to access our great resources, use them ourselves and sell them on the world market. To me, “energy dominance” should be focusedonfinding, extracting, processing and marketing these resources. Capturing something that is used by plant life (carbon dioxide) and turning it into apossible poison and then sequestering it below ground is not an energy activity whatsoever
means theyare losing money at threetimes the national average. They do even worse on the commercial side, taking aloss of 30.9%, which is six times the national average. The reason Louisiana families and business pay so much for autoinsurance is not amystery Study after study shows thatour high rate of medical and legal utilization is the primary problem in our state.
Proponents of the status quo say we have triedlegal reform for years and it has not done anything to curb our insurance costs. Well, theyare half right. We have triedtopass meaningful legal reform —but we have failed by passing watered-down “compromise” legislation thatis politically beneficial in the short term but totally ineffective at addressing the root causes of our high auto insurance rates. But it doesn’thave to be the same this year Since the last session ended, I have worked with lawmakers to develop legislation thatfixes the
real problems in our legal system by addressing medical billing transparency,comparative fault, general damages and other areas where we do things differently thanstates with more affordable autorates.
These solutions will be attacked as harmful by those who oppose them, but the bills we are proposing address the foundational issues thatcause our drivers to pay the highest auto insurance rates in the nation. We will continue paying them until we make these necessary legal and insurance reforms.
The time for talk is over.Ifwe can’tget true legal reform passed and signed by the end of this session, it will be time to change the game once and for all. If our legal reform efforts fail, Iwill propose the creation of anew entity called the Louisiana Commercial Automobile Corporation (LCAC).
Basedonthe extremely successful Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corporation that was created to solve the workers’ comp crisis in the 1980s and ‘90s,
the LCAC would be alegislatively created private entity designed to bring fairness and stability to the commercial market by statutorily limiting excessive claims, setting medical reimbursement rates and capping attorney fees.
The LCAC would solve two problems.
First, it would provide affordable insurance for businesses that have no realistic commercial auto options under the current system. Second, it would demonstrate the degree to which our legal system is corrupting our auto insurance market and finally pave the way for comprehensive legal reform.
Iran for office to make all types of insurance more affordable for the people of Louisiana. Iwill not accept the status quo in which we all suffer from high auto insurance rates for the benefit of a very few
One way or another,now is the time to fix this problem.
TimTemple is the Louisiana Insurance Commissioner
Amendmentrejection waswill
of thepeople, notout-of-stateagitators
Charles A. Owen GUEST COLUMNIST
is tiedto“demands” of the world market. I’m frankly puzzled as to why the U.S. should continue to subjugate itself to thecyclical whims of aloosely defined world market and torture our oil and gas industry by trying to make production“cleaner” for such an obscure purpose. Ouroil and gas industries are already near thetop in the world in terms of clean production.
Further,it’smyappreciation that no other large country on earth is doing carbon sequestration, so Idon’t understand the point of us doing it. We’re out of the Paris Climate Accords, and the currentoccupant of the WhiteHouse sayshe wantsnopart of such things.
There is confusion about two processes that are both tied to the utilization of captured carbon dioxide. One helps maximize available oil and gas reserves, andthe other creates awaste deposit. The first process is EnhancedOil Recovery,orEOR. People in the business know EOR is agood thingfor our oil and gas ventures. EOR is critical to helping oil and gas industries get as muchvalue as possible out of oil fields. The other process is creating permanent waste sites in remote parts of our state that will trap oil and gas below the earthwhen captured carbon is injected. When you put carboninthe ground,itmay makeitimpossibletoget the oil and gas below it That can’tbeagood thing for our economy or our state in general. Some say carbon sequestration
At its root,carbon sequestrationis afederal government initiative —nonmarket-driven taxcredit —aimedatforcing the U.S. to complywithworldexpectations for carbon emissions. Thegoal of this is changing the earth’sclimate. But thescience on climate change is not settled, and Ithink it is very riskytoembrace something that may well be harmful for apurposethat is not achievable or necessary.Iencourage anyone interested in the topic of climate issues to check out Professor Steven Koonin’s book “Unsettled.” This book is agreat review of the utilityof many things we are doing in our current day and age —including capturing carbon.
In addition, there are ahost of other concerns related to sequestering carbon such as personal propertyrightsand the scientific community’sinability to accurately track where thecarbon travels when it goes below the earth’ssurface. Buried carbon is not asafe thing.
Iamvery hopeful that our statewon’tmake decisions now thatwesincerelyregret in the future.
Rep. Charles A. Owen representsDistrict 30 in the Louisiana House of Representatives.
Oneofthe essential principles of American democracy —laid out in the Declaration of Independence —is that our government exists to secure our people’sright to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and its power must be based on theconsent of thegoverned.
Gov.Jeff Landry would do well to reread our nation’s founding document When all four of his proposed constitutional amendments failed overwhelmingly at the ballot box, he blamed George Soros and opposition spending, calling our state“conditioned for failure.”
It was apoor attempt to obscure thetruth that thepeople of Louisiana did not consent to his proposed policies to imprison our children, strip away local control, rig our tax system to destabilize our education system and burden the poor to benefit therich.
The election resultswerenofluke or accident. At 21%, this was the highestturnout special electioninrecent history,especially among Black Louisianans,and theamendmentswererejected acrossparty lines.For context, Landrywas elected with547,827 votes,while 419,366 voters turned out to reject Amendment 3, which lostbythe largestmargin of the four questions on the ballot.
While some may claim that thefailure of these amendments is due to money,the “far left” or nonprofitslike the Vera Institute of Justice, where Iserve as director of our Louisiana office, these resultsare, in fact, the mandate of the people Landry was elected toserve. Make no mistake: Plenty of money was spent on this race. The Vera Institute, amemberofthe Liberty and DignityCoalition comprising more than50organizations working acrossLouisiana to create safer,healthier,thriving communities, spent morethan $500,000 against Amendment 3 to reach out and listen to our neighborsacross the state,educatepeople on the harmthese amendmentswould have caused and encourage them to make their voices heard at the ballot box.
The proponents of these harmful ballot measures spent heavily too —$580,000 on Amendment2alone, with money from PACs and outside donors like Charles Koch’sAmericans forProsperity.
Votersshould follow themoney —but that trail can’tstop at the ballot box. Amendment2
would have resulted in Louisiana’srich getting richer,atthe expense of working-class people struggling to get by,while Amendment 3was a“tough-on-crime” scare tactic attempting to trade on fears instead of offering real solutions forsafety
Why did we spend all this money to defeat Amendment 3? Because we love this state. We have spent our lives watching legislators try to arrest and incarcerate their way to public safety It has only madeLouisiana’sproblemsworse, while we are no safer.These failed “tough-oncrime” policies are what condition our state for failure. And while manysheriffs and private corporations makeaprofit off jails and prisons, the people of Louisiana lose millions of dollars that could be used forwhatactually helps neighborhoods and communitiesthrive: jobs, housing, health care and good schools. We helped form the Liberty and Dignity Coalition last summer for these reasons, but it wasborn on the ground, the result of years of organizing by dozens of groups and thousands of Louisianans foranagenda the people of this state actually want: safety,accountability,justice and dignity
The No on 3Campaign knocked on at least 49,000 doors and madeatleast 180,000 phone calls to talk to our neighbors, hear their opinions and explain these misleading amendments. Louisiana voters heard our message, and their will is clear in their ballots.
We are here to listen to the people and to fight fortheir rights to life, to liberty and to happiness. We hope the governor and Legislature will take apage from our book.
Sarah Omojolaisthe director of theVera Institute of Justice’sLouisianaoffice.
Sarah Omojola GUEST COLUMNIST
STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
four of the proposed constitutional amendments failed
up at aportinQingdao in east China’sShandong province.
President Donald Trump’ssweeping tariffs sent global stock marketsinto afrenzy before they were pausedascountriesaround the globe struggled to respond.TheTrump administration insists that the president is using trade policy to reset the global economy andbringback manufacturing jobstothe United States. Butcritics argue that the tariffs have unleashed chaos that will ultimately harmU.S.businessesand consumers. Hereare twoperspectives:
Democratsdon’t like tariffs just because Trumpdoes
”Those are my principles, and ifyou don’tlike them well, Ihave others.”Groucho Marx
Guess who said this: “China takestotal advantage of the United States.They steal our intellectual property using cyber theft. Not onlydotheysteal our intellectual property,theykeep ourgood companies out, and say theonly way you’re going to beable to sell yourAmerican productsinChina is if you come to China, make them there,and give us thetechniques and intellectualproperty.”
Elon Musk? Nope.President Trump? Wrong again. That was then-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer,D-NewYork, in a2018 radio interview.Onanother occasion that same year,Schumersaid: “I’m closer to him (Donald Trump)ontrade than Iwas to either Obama, aDemocrat, or Bush, aRepublican,because we vegot to get tougher on China. But thepresident and his team have to stick withit, be strong, and not sell outfor atemporary purchase of goods without addressingthe real issue: the theft of American intellectual property which will cost us millions of American jobs in thelongrun.”
Even
withouttariffs,Trump’s economic agenda is adisaster
In thefive minutes required to read this column at aleisurely pace, pausing to sip coffee, the nation will pay $11 million (about$38,000 asecond) toward servicing thenational debt. Today,Congress is debating how many trillions to increase the debt.
Cal Thomas
crats whopreviously favored tariffs to now excoriate Trumpover thetariff policies they once supported? Why,politics, of course. Politicians can change positionsfaster than they can change lanes. Meanwhile, there is something else Trumpshould do. Thepresident should address the nation from theOval Office in prime time. He might remindAmericans of Franklin Roosevelt’sfamous line in his first inaugural address near thebeginning of the Great Depression: “The only thing we havetofear is fear itself.” This is nowhere close to adepression, he should say,but an attempt to fundamentally re-set theworld economy which is not working in America’sinterests.
Howabout this one: “Interms of tariffs, it’sinteresting to note thatthe average MFN (most favored nation)tariff for Chinese goods coming intothe United States is two percent, whereas theaverage MFN tariff on U.S.goodsgoingto China is 35 percent. Is that reciprocal?”
Same list of choices? Wrong again That was Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California) in 1996.
One more: “It’salsoproper for advanced economieslikethe United States to insist on reciprocityfrom nations like China.”
That was President Barack Obama speaking in Johannesburg, SouthAfrica, in 2018. What changed and caused manyDemo-
Don’t ad-lib or repeat yourself as you do when you go off-script in your speeches. Be serious. Be confident. Don’t make it about yourself, but about all Americans. Note that the U.S. no longer produces drugs in this country,but has outsourcedthem all, mostly to China, and that puts American lives and American interests at risk should those nations decidetonolonger ship drugs to us. Quote Democrats who were for tariffs before they were against them. Convince the public it will be better for everyone if we endure this relatively brief rough patch. Transitions can’tbeeasy,but the outcome can produce good results if we stick together and do not falter
If Trump’stariffs are ashort-term tactic to achieve reciprocitywith other nations, and they work (long termthey have been shown tohave negative consequences) —his critics will again be proved wrong. If he fails, Democrats will likely win the next two elections and nothing will have been solved. Speechwriters, get to work.
Email Cal Thomasattcaeditorstribpub.
com
The debate concerns extending or revising portions of, or perhaps extending all of, the first Trump administration’s2017 TaxCuts and Jobs Act. Since then, the 75 percent increase in federal spending has far exceeded the 58% increase in revenue.
On March 27, thespoilsports at the Congressional Budget Office released their Long-Term Budget Outlook. Their projections refute rosy scenarios, even without factoring in the slower economic growth that President Donald Trump’stariffs would cause. The CBO expects: By 2055, the national debt will grow from today’s122% of GDP to 156%, 37 percentage points above what it was in 1946, after borrowing to fight a global war Donald Trump’seconomic agenda, from taxes to tariffs (which are themselves taxes), is variable because he believes in theimmediate translation of whims into policy proposals, without an intervening pause for study.Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says Trump suddenly favors eliminating “taxes” on people making less than $150,000 ayear —in2022, about 93% of Americans 15 and over If Trumpisreferring only to income taxes, that would mean —according to Jared Dillian, writing for Reason —that only 7% of Americanswould pay any income taxes. Already,the top 1% of earners provide about 40% of income tax revenue, and the bottom 50% provide about 3%. Progressives want income taxation to be moreprogressive so the wealthy will pay “their fair share.”Trumpismore
progressive still, wanting the wealthy to pay everyone else’sshare, too. There would be an even larger moral hazard problem —anincentive forperverse behavior —than there already is if 93% of incometax filers were not paying forthe government from which they always want increased benefits. Lutnick says, however,that Trumpwants to eliminate “taxes” —not specifically incometaxes —from those earning less than $150,000. So presumably,Trumpmeans under-$150,000 earners would escape payroll taxes, too, given that mostofthose people pay moretoward Social Security and Medicare than in incometaxes. This is “aspirational,” says Lutnick. It also is delusion, says arithmetic. Social Security’stotal incomein2023 was$1.35 trillion, with 91% of that derived from payroll taxes.
As, second by second, the governmentborrows substantial sumstopay interest on the money it has borrowed, remember: The national debt was$20 trillion when Donald Trumpbegan his first administration, having vowed to eliminate the debt in eight years. It was $28 trillion when Joe Biden’spresidency began. As Maya MacGuineas at the Committee foraResponsible Federal Budget notes, it reached $32 trillion on June 15, 2023; $33 trillion 92 days later; $34 trillion 105 days after that; $35 trillion in another 210 days; and $36 trillion in another 118. It will reach $37 trillion after Congress raises the debt ceiling sometime this summer All of these numbers reflect the optimistic, perhaps fanciful assumptions that the post-“Liberation Day” economy does not sag into arecession. In any case: This. Will. Not.End. Well.
Email George Will at georgewill@washpost.com
ROOM FOR DEBATE TARIFFS
George Will
ASSOCIATEDPRESS FILEPHOTO
Containers arepiled
ROAD TO RECOVERY
LIVgolf’s soundand furyappear to signify very little
BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer
AUBURN,Ala. Chris Martin typically has his starting pitchers lift weightsthe dayafter astart.
Not every baseball strength and conditioning coach deploys the same strategy,but Martin prefers doing it that way.Hewants as much time as possiblebetween their most high-stressliftofthe week and their nextouting.
Thegoalofthe workoutistomaintainthe strength they’ve built up throughout theseason.
“It’sa full-body lift,and we’retracingstrength as kind of our quality that we’re going after,” LSU’sstrength and conditioning coach said.“So the lifts aregoing to be heavier.They’re going tobelow reps, highload, relatively intense.”
Martin had to pivot from his plan last Friday.Sophomore left-hander and LSU ace KadeAnderson tossed
acomplete game shutout against Oklahoma the night before, adazzling start that handed LSUa2-0 victory Butthe outingcame at aphysical price. Anderson threw135 pitches, eclipsing his previous career-high pitch count by 34 pitches. It was an abnormally long start,especially forsomeone with his medical history Andersonhad Tommy John surgery as ajunior in high school, an injury that forcedhim to misshis entire senior year “The factthat he has had aTommyJohn surgery makes it always present in our minds,”Martin said,“in terms of, how do we prepare him to go out and play?” Especially givenhis past, aheavylift in the weight room the next day just didn’tmake sense for Anderson. He needed extra time for his body to recover before his
Loaded DT classlines up well forSaints
BYMATTHEW PARAS Staff writer
By trading for defensive tackle Davon Godchaux this offseason,the New Orleans Saints made clear that they were undergoing aschematic shiftunder new defensive coordinator Brandon Staley. Godchaux, abig-bodied runstuffer,historically has been anosetackleina3-4 defense. And that’sthe type of player that the Saints haven’thad in many years, as former coach Dennis Allendeployeda4-3 scheme
TheSaints’ makeover at the position maynot becompletely over,either New Orleans allowed thesecond-most rushing yards in 2024, so it wouldn’t be a shock if the team devoted more resources aimed at plugging one of the team’s biggest holes last season. This year’sNFL draft is stacked with
defensive tackles.Could the Saints add another to agroup thatincludes Godchaux, Khalen Saunders, Nathan Shepherd, Bryan Bresee, John Ridgeway and Khristian Boyd?
Let’stake alook at the options:
MASONGRAHAM •MICHIGAN: An absolute force on theline, Graham’saddition would seem to instantly upgrade New
TRANSFORMING TRAUMARECOVERY
Scott Rabalais
ä The Masters 2P.M. FRIDAy, ESPN
AUGUSTA, Ga. At the news conference following the ceremonial tee shots to start the Masters tournament Thursday morning, Jack Nicklaus wasasked to gauge threetime green jacket-winner Phil Mickelson’s form entering the weekatage 54. “I don’tknow what level Phil is competing at,” Nicklaus said. “I guess he’sstill playing. He’splaying the LIVtour,ishe? Idon’tknow if he’splaying or not. You never see him anymore.” That’sthe fact, Jack. Because there is mounting evidence that the sound and fury of LIV Golfisincreasingly signifying nothing. This is not to say LIVGolf, the breakaway men’s professional tour created to challenge the hegemony of the PGATour and sportswash Saudi Arabia’s reputation (the Saudi’sPublic Investment Fund is LIV’sprimary benefactor) is irrelevant. Twelve LIV players are in the 95man field here this week, including six former Masters champions. TwoLIV players, Bryson DeChambeau, whowon his second U.S. Open this past June, and Tyrrell Hatton, werewell in the thick of things after the first round. Both shot 3-under 69s to tie forfifthbehind astellar first-round 65 by Justin Rose. They could win. But aside from DeChambeau, there was very little chatter about the LIV legion entering the 89th Masters. Not as much as ayear ago, when 2023 Masters winner Jon Rahm had just defected to LIV.Nor as much as after the spate of stars like DeChambeau, Mickelson, 2020 Masters champion Dustin Johnson and five-time major winner Brooks Koepka took the Saudi blood money and ran forLIV’s land of three-round shotgun starts and short pants. LIVhas since nixed the short pants, but it has failed to coerce the PGA Tour to make adeal.
Younever see Mickelson anymore except in the majors, or the other LIV stars, either Iwon’tsay no one cares, but apparently few
AP PHOTO By GEORGE WALKER IV
PhilMickelson hits from the bunker on the second holeduring the first round at the Masters on ThursdayinAugusta, Ga.
STAFF FILEPHOTO By HILARySCHEINUK
LSU starting pitcher Kade Anderson throws apitch against Purdue FortWayne duringtheir season-opening game on Feb. 14 at Alex Box Stadium.
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Pels,playing with 8players,falltoBucks
BY RODWALKER Staff writer
The New Orleans Pelicans had to deal with Giannis Antetokounmpo this time.
So this time,itwasn’t nearly as close.
The Pelicans lost their final road game of theseason Thursday night, falling to Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks136-111 at FiservForum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“There are alot of positives to takefrom this game,” saidPelicans’ coach Wille Green. “We threw areally good shot at them. We still have more in the tank. Not our best, but areallygood shot.”
This latest loss came just four days after the Pelicans lost to the Bucks 111 -107 at Smoothie King Center in agame Antetokounmpo missed due to rest.
Antetokounmpo made his presence felt in this one, finishing with 28 points, 11 rebounds andfive assists as the Bucks pulled away in the third quarter Lester Quinone scored acareerhigh 21 points to lead the Pelicans (21-59). Keion Brooks and Jamal Cain scored 20 each, also career highs for both.
The Pelicans (21-59) played the game with just eight players after JoseAlvarado (right calf soreness), Bruce Brown(right knee soreness) androokie Yves Missi (left ankle soreness) were
allruled out Wednesday morning. That left the Pelswithjust Brooks, Quinones, Cain, Karlo Matkovic, Elfrid Payton, Antonio Reeves, JeremiahRobinson-Earl and newcomer Kylor Kelley.It made atough task againsta playoff boundteam even tougher
“It limitsthe rotations just having eight guys,”Green said before thegame. “Theseguyswillget a great opportunity to get on the floor andplayagainst aquality opponent. It’sextremely valuable forguys that otherwise probably wouldn’thave these opportunities
or be in this position. We wantto go outand takeadvantageoftrying to play up to ourstandards, playing hard and playing together and having funwith it.”
ThePelicans, despitebeing short handed, ledthe Bucksled by as many as nine points in the first quarter and took a26-21 lead into thesecondquarter.Robinson-Earl scored nine points to go with five rebounds in the first quarter to get thingsstarted.
Payton,the only Pelicans’player with more than three years of NBAexperience,dishedout 15 assists. It was his fourth straight gamewith 10 or moreassists.
“He’sa veteran andhe’sbeen in in these circumstances anumber of times,”Green said of Payton. “He makes people better on both sides of theball. He can getguys in the rightspots and calm us down alittle bit.”
Matkovic (15points, 10 rebounds) recorded hisfourth double double. Robinson-Earl also had 15 pointsand 10 rebounds for his thirddouble double of the season.
ThePelicans, oneseason removed from having the best road record in the NBA, finishedthis season 7-34 on theroad. It ties the 2004-’05 squad for fewest road wins in franchise history
The Pelicanswrap up theseason with apair of homegames.They host the Miami Heat Friday and thenthe OklahomaCityThunder on Sunday
WNBA salaries continue to be atopic of conversation
BY DOUG FEINBERG AP basketball writer
NEW YORK Paige Bueckers will receive roughly the samesalary that Caitlin Clark got last year as the top pick in the WNBA draft as player salaries continue to be a topic of conversation. As the presumptive No. 1pick in Monday’sWNBA draft,Bueckers’ deal will be worth just over $78,000 in base salary.Talks betweenthe league and players union are ongoing about adeal when the current collective bargaining agreement expires next season.
Players have indicated there could be alockout if their salary demands aren’tmeet. Thespotlight on WNBA player salaries got brighter following Clark’s and Angel Reese’smuch talked about rookie earnings last season. WNBA Players Union vice president Napheesa Collierhas said that “no one wants” alockout but the players are “prepared for any possibility right now.”
“Weget such asmall percentage of revenueshare rightnow that affects our salary,” she said last month on the “WeNeed to Talk TV show.“We’re asking for abigger cut of that, like more equitable
SAINTS
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Orleans’ run defense. He can quickly beat blocks, and his speed allows him to create havoconthe inside. There are concerns about his pass-rushingability —31/2 sacks last year —and his lack of size (296 poundsatthe combine), but those could be areas that develop over time. He already weighed 10 poundsheavier at his pro day Graham could very well be gone by the time the Saints pick at No. 9, butifhe’sthere,his talent might be toomuch to pass up. Of the teams in front of the Saints, the Jacksonville Jaguars (atNo. 5) and Las Vegas Raiders (at No. 6) could be the most likely candidates for Graham.
KENNETH GRANT •MICHIGAN: If he was
to what the men’srevenue share is.”
Salariesare expectedtogrow exponentially in the new CBA with the11-yearmedia rightsdeal the WNBA signedlast July that will bringinatleast $200 million ayear.Thatdeal goes into effect next year
How much of asalary increase theplayers get isthe question, thoughthatwon’t change this year’srookie contracts.
Bueckers has one of thetop name, image and likeness (NIL) valuations for women’sbasketball players over the last few years and those deals are expected to carry over intoher procareer Bueckersalready has dealswith Nike, Gatorade, Bose, Verizon, Dunkin’ and herportfolio is expected to grow.
What is WNBA rookie salary scale?
If Bueckers is the top pick in the WNBA as expected, shewill earn around$78,000 in base salary.The 10th overallselection earns about $72,000.
Bueckers andotherscould earn hundreds of thousandsdollars in league andteam marketing deals as well as bonuses forperformances on the court—boosting their WNBA earnings to potentially $500,000.
overlooked because of Graham’s presence on Michigan’sdefensive line,heshouldn’thave been. Grant, at 6-foot-4 and 331 pounds, eats up space and was also disruptive againstthe run. ESPN ranks Grant as the fourth-best defensive tackle in this year’sclass,which could make him an option on Day 2for theSaints
“He’sapeople mover,” The NFL Network’sDaniel Jeremiah said. “Talking to the folks where he has been doing alot of his training, at 340 pounds he should not be abletomove around like that. You’re hoping anddreamingonthisDexter Lawrencetype ascension for himoncehe getstothe NFL.”
T.J. SANDERS •SOUTH CAROLINA:
TheSaints love athleticism, and Sanders has it in spades. The 6-foot-4, 297-pound lineman recorded a9.28 Relative Athletic Score thanks in part to
Unrivaledleagueturns up heat
The inaugural season of the new 3-on-3 league started by Collier and Breanna Stewart drew rave reviews from thenearly three dozen players whoplayed in it. Alot of thepraise was for their earnings Unrivaled had thehighest average salary for players of any professional women’s sports league with many earning six-figure salaries for the eight-week season. Players in Unrivaled have an averagesalaryofmorethan $220,000, which is close to the maximum base salary in the WNBA. Things that worked well for the newleaguewillcertainly be discussed at the CBA bargaining table
an impressive 311/2-inchvertical jump and asub-5 (4.99 seconds) 40-yard dash. He also specializes as arun defender. He started nine gameslast year with 50 tackles and four sacks. The NFL Network’sLance Zierlein called Sanders a“powerful road block with heavy hands anda strong core.”
OMARR NORMAN-LOTT •TENNESSEE:
The Saints reportedly met with Norman-Lott in Knoxville,and he would present adifferent type of interiorlineman on this list.Undersizedat6-foot-2,291 pounds, the 23-year-oldmakes up foritwitha knack as apass rusher—hehad 91/2 sacks over the last two seasons. He also was part of Tennessee’srotation,appearing in 13 games as areserve. He playedtwo seasons for the Vols after threeyearsatArizona State. With theSaintsholding nine picks in the draft, Norman-
Braves’ aceStrider could be ready for MLBreturn
ATLANTA Spencer Strider struck out 13 batters in 51/3 innings for Triple-A Gwinnett on Thursday in his second injury rehabilitation start andappears readytoreturnfrom elbow surgery to makehis Atlanta Braves season debut next week. Striderallowedthree hits, two walks and one earned run against Norfolk, then was removed after 90 pitches, as planned. He struck out his first sixbatters, hadninestrikeouts through threeinningsand reached 97 mph with his fastball. Strider last pitched for the Braves on April 5last year and had internal brace surgery aweek laterwithTexas Rangersphysician Dr.Keith Meister.Heled the major leagues in 2023 with 20 wins and 285 strikeouts, finishing fourth in NL Cy Young Award voting.
Colts cutkickerGay just 2yearsafter big contract
INDIANAPOLIS— The Indianapolis Colts released Matt GayonThursday, asurprising move that came just two years after he became the NFL’shighest-paid kicker
He had two years remaining on his $22.5 million contract and while the move will save the Colts $2.75 million on this year’s salarycap,Indy already was below the cap figure.
The bigger problem was Gay not meeting the lofty expectations after making more than 98% of his field goals in 2021-22 whenhe played forLos Angeles Rams.
He battled injuriesthroughout hisIndy tenurebut in theColts’ retractable roofdome, Gay managed to make only 80.5% of his field goal attempts in 2023. Hispercentage slightly improved to 83.8% last season.
MLStoconsider adopting fall-to-spring calendar
MajorLeague Soccer’s board of governors will give further considerationtoadopting afallto-spring calendar,amajor move that would align the league with its international counterparts.
The next phase, announced Thursday following the board’s meeting, includes “additional consultation with key stakeholders.” The MLSsaidina statement that any potential changes wouldn’t take effect until the 2027 season “at the earliest.”
Advocates for ashift have said it will give MLS amore competitive position for player transfers, while also freeing up players forinternational duty during the summer, when manymajor global tournaments take place.
Billie Jean Cup finals moveduptoSeptember
The final of the Billie Jean King Cup were brought forward two months on ThursdaytoSeptember. Thenew Sept. 16-21 schedule in Shenzhen, China,better aligns with thecalendarfor top women’s tennis players, organizers said. Shenzen hosts thefinals each year through 2027
After the U.S. Open ends on Sept. 7, the WTAtour moves to Asia for the China Open from Sept. 24 in Beijing.The tourthen stays in China forthe Wuhan Open.
Billie Jean King Cup reigning champion Italy and host China will be in theeight-team lineup. Italy won a12-nationtournament last November in Malaga, Spain. The other finalists will be winners of sixqualifying groupsplayedthis weekendinAustralia,the Czech Republic, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland and Slovakia.
Lott could be aDay 3option. J.J. PEGUES •OLE MISS: The 6-2, 309-pounder hasthe kind of versatility that might make the Saints’ Saunders— who always clamors to getrepsonoffense— jealous. At OleMiss, Pegueswas usedasa wildcat quarterback, running back andtight end. His selectioncould give coach KellenMoore afun weapon to go along withwhatPeguescan do on thedefensive line Make no mistake, Pegueswill make his money because of what he can do in thetrenches. ESPN praised Pegues as a“adisruptive interiorrun defender, withthe quickfirst step andactive hands to getinto thebackfield.”Hecan playmultiple spots on theline as well. He was named third-team All-SEC last year Email MatthewParas at matt. paras@theadvocate.com
F1 driver Sainz protests tardiness, swearing fines
CarlosSainz broke Formula 1’s rulesonswearing on Thursday when he protested afine forbeing late. The Williams driverwas fined 20,000 euros($22,200),with half of that suspended, after arriving lateduringthe Japanese national anthem before last week’srace. Sainz explainedhewas late because of astomach problem and that adoctor confirmed he needed medication.
“I was thefirst one to put my hand up and say,‘I’mlate, I’m sorryfor that.’ At thesametime, Iwas five seconds late,” Sainz said.
“For me it’s outofthe question that we’re having to pay these fines. Idon’tknow if I’mgoing to getanother fine for saying this, but s*** happens,you know,it’s the wayitis.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByJOHNRAOUX
UConn guard PaigeBueckers holds up apieceofnet after the Huskies defeated South Carolina in thenational championship game on Sunday in Tampa,Fla.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By AARON GASH Milwaukee Bucks’ Kevin Porter drives to the basket against Pelicans’ guardAntonio Reevesduring the first half of agameonThursdayin Milwaukee.
LSUprepares forSEC series at TexasA&M
BY JIM KLEINPETER
Contributing writer
LSU softballcoach BethTorina
is convinced that as well asher teamhas played this season, it’s still chasing its potential
The No. 5Tigers will needtoget closer to it beginning this weekend with avisit to No.4Texas A&M for athree-game series beginning Friday at 6p.m. The teams play at 2p.m.Saturday and 1p.m. Sunday Torina will get agood ideaofhow far her team has come, not only this weekend but in the following two weekends when the Tigers play atNo. 1Texas and host No 6Florida. To say this is acrucial time in the season is an understatement.
“It’satoughroad in front of us but an excitingopportunity in front of us,” Torina said, moments after getting her 700th career win against Louisiana Tech Wednesday.“It’snever adull moment in the SEC. The next few weeks are going to be exciting.
“Our best softball is still in front of us. Hopefully we will continue to build and grow,continue to push.” Torina is still pushing buttons and pulling strings to try and snap her team out of its propensity to play well on Friday and Saturday and then falter on Sundays. The Tigers are winless in their last four Sunday games thatwere marked by uncharacteristically sloppy play Wednesday’svictory,one Torina
ANDERSON
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next startagainst Auburn on Friday(6p.m., SEC Network+).
“Wekind of just pushed everything back aday and gave him an extra 24 hours to really put apremium on recovery,”Martinsaid LSU’sschedulehelped Anderson receive the additionalrestheneeded. The team had an extraday off before its next series since theOklahoma series began on aThursday
The added time allowed Anderson to undergo alight recovery workout with Martin at the team hotel in Norman, Oklahoma, on Friday without disrupting his weekly schedule. The extra day factored in LSU coach Jay Johnson’sdecision to letAndersonthrow so many pitches in the first place.
“I felt like Iwould give them momentum by takinghim out of the game,” Johnson said. “Andthe fact that he was getting stronger the fact that he’swell conditioned for it. It was, honestly,one of the easier decisions in atight game we’ve had this year.”
Step by step
Anderson’s post-startrecovery the next day involved seven light exercises aimed towardimproving his range of motion and mobility.
The workout began with him performing cat camels, astretch where he got down on his hands and knees and arched his back up and down like acat —tohelp gain “extension and flexion” within his spine. His hands and knees thenstuck to themat forhis next exercise, the foam rollerthreadthe needle. With one hand anchoring him to the floor,Anderson tucked his otherarm toward the opposite side of his waist and laid it on the roller,pullinghis extended arm back and forth androtating his spine as the roller helped maximize his extension.
ä LSU at Texas A&M.
called “complete,” was agood sign.
The offensekept up thepressure, the defense made keyplaysand pitcherTatumClopton tossed a three-hitter.LSU battersstruck out onlyonce in 33plateappearances.
“Our staffhas done agoodjob of preparingthem,” Torinasaid. “Weput ahuge emphasis on makinggood decisions at the plate on whatpitches we’re swinging at or when. They’re executing that plan really well.”
CatcherMaci Bergeron hit her ninthhomer and nearly had her 10th with thebases loaded, resultinginasacrifice fly on aball to the leftfield warning track. She had three RBI, raisingher season total to 41, secondonlytoTori Edwards with 56.
Bergeron said even with several new faces in theeverydaylineup, the team hasadapted well to the offensive philosophy under new hittingcoach Bryce Neal.
“The way we prepare helps us to be comfortable withtwo strikes,”
Bergeron said. “A lot of us don’t gettotwo strikesbut if we do we’recomfortableinthat spot Maybe we have afew communication thingsondefense butother than that we’re pretty solid.
“Wetry to be the most prepared team in the country.I’m super excited to get outtoTexas.”
TheAggies have won theirlast
He performed twosetsof10reps on each side of his body
“Pitchers whoare rotating predominantly to one side can start to get some weird rotational abnormalities,” Martin said. “And so we’re trying to go both ways with it. Free up somemovement.
“People will say motion is lotion, and it’s kind of like thisidea that we’re just constantly keeping the spinemovinginalldirections,sothat ourbodydoesn’t getusedtojustdoingone thingoverand over again.”
His thirdexercise was thecobra to down dog with foot pedal. The stretchstarted with Anderson’s legs and waist lying on the mat while heextended hisarms to propuphis upperbody and head, stretchinghis backinthe process.
He transitionedfromthe back stretch into acalf andhamstring stretch by lifting hiswaist in the airbeforemoving hisknees up and down —asifrunning in slow motion —all thewhile he kept his toes planted to the floor
Anderson executes two sets of six reps before moving on.
“Again,a littlebit of spineextensionand flexion there. That one also works some range of motionthrough the shoulder andthe (scapula),” Martinsaid. “...Thatone is just like agood full body (exercise), kind of hits multiple spots.”
Thecobra to downdog with foot pedal exercisewas followed by the runner’slunge with rotation stretch.
While kneeling on one knee, Anderson takes the arm from the same side of his knee and rotates it into the air,stretching it out while the arm and footonthe opposite side of hisbody were anchored to the floor.Hedid two sets of six reps with each arm.
“Kade likes to do some work with his hips post start,” Martinsaid.
“So this one will really help stretch out the groin, the hamstring(and) innerhamstring to adegree. And again, we’re doing some rotation there and continuing just to put
this season at TigerPark.
nine games and 13 of the last 14, although LSU swept them at home last season.
Leading the offense is out-
fielderAmari Harper witha .463 batting average. The most dangerous hitterisfirst baseman
some emphasisongetting the spine rotatingwell.”
Withhisbacktothematandfacing theceiling, Anderson’sfifth stretch involved the foam roller again.
Andersonplaced the roller underneathhisbehindwithoneleghanging straight andthe other bent andheld to his body by the arm on that same side. He performedtwo sets with six reps apiece on both sides. One breath equaledone reponthe exercise.
“Kadereally likes to hit thehip flexors, sometimes(he’s)a little bitsorethere,” Martinsaid.“And so it’s just one that, again, frees up some range of motion. It’slike a feel good stretch.”
The breathing incorporated for the fifth stretch —hip flexor stretch on foam roller —and hissixth stretch —lat stretch on rack —both would help withthe mobility of his rib cage. If his rib cage is stiff, Martin explains that it canaffect other partsofthe body andhow they can move in anegative way
“Your pelvis is kind of directly correlated with how the rib cage works,”Martin said. “If your rib cage stops working as well, maybe your pelvis or your spine are going to have to move differently,and that can cause issues.”
The breathing element was particularly importantfor the lat stretch. For that exercise, Anderson —this time standing and facing aweight rack —leans over without bending hisknees to grab apole on the rack. He then wraps his other arm around his rib cage on the oppositeside of his body while breathing in, holding his breathfor one second and fully exhaling six times
He performs two sets on each side of his body
“Whenyou breathe in, your diaphragm is going to sitand kind of descend as you breathein,” Martin said. “But there’salso going to be some interplay with like your pelvic diaphragm as well. So we’re trying to keep that moving.”
Mya Perez with a.450 average, 12 homers and 55 RBIs. Leadoff hitter andthird baseman Kennedy Powell is batting.387 has stolen 15 bases without being caught In the circle, All-American left-
RANKINGS: LSU is No. 3byD1Baseball; AuburnisNo. 11
PROBABLESTARTERS: LSU —LHP Kade
Anderson (6-0,2.85 ERA); Auburn— RHP Sam Dutton (4-2,2.66 ERA)
PREGAME UPDATES: theadvocate.com/lsu ON X(FORMERLYTWITTER): @KokiRiley
WHATTOWATCH FOR: Anderson heads intothis week with an extra dayofrest following his 135-pitch complete game shutout last ThursdayatOklahoma. Dutton faces his former team after allowing no runs in seveninnings against Alabama aweek ago. Koki Riley
Anderson’sfinal stationary exercise —kettlebell halos—involves akettlebell and areturn to the mat. While sitting on the back of his calves and with his knees nailed to the floor,herotates the kettlebell around his head in acircular motion.
“(The weight) activates the muscles alittle bit but also just gets the shoulder,the ball in the socket, kind of moving 360 degrees, or as close to it as we can (tothat),”Martin said. “And (we) can use that motion as lotion and just kind of try to get the whole joint moving freely, and kind of get it unstuck, for lack of a better term, from the day before.”
He does twosets of 10 reps rotating in each directionbeforeconcluding his workout on the treadmill, walking at abrisk pace for 30-40 minutes to help get his blood flowing.
Low effort cardio exercises are astaple in LSU players’ physical
hander Emiley Kennedy is aformidable foewith a12-3 record and 2.52 earned run average. She has 11 complete games and opponents are batting .188 against her. Last season, she went 24-11 with 200 strikeouts in 202 innings.
routines. It’s something Martin has his players do multiple times a week in the offseason andthroughout the year
They won’tnotice the benefits of it immediately, but Martinsays that astrong aerobic base helps get moreblood andnutrientstotheir muscles and assists their hearts in pumping blood more efficiently
“Allofthat just helps thewhole system operate alittle bit moreeffectively,” Martin said. “And then at high intensities, if your body is not working as hard relative to howitwas before, things canfeel alittle bit easier
“You have to trainyourbodyto be able to work at those high intensities. but theunderpinning kind of mechanism of allthat is having aquality,low levelaerobic system before you build those. So it’skind of like if you build ahouse, you need to build the foundation first before you put everything else up.” Anderson had his bigger lift pushed back to Sunday when LSU returnedfromNorman, so the rest of his schedule was business as usual heading into the Tigers’ series opener against Auburn.
“I saw him yesterday,” Johnson said Monday.“It wasgood. Lifted, played catch. Feels like normal.”
The extra day of rest wasan obvious benefit,but Martin had no qualmswith Johnsonallowing Anderson to smash past his careerhigh pitch count.
Despite his medical history, Martinknew the workhe’d putin during the offseason —gaining at least 10 pounds since August, continuing to strengthen the muscles around his UCLand further growing his aerobic base —prepared him to take on theextra workload and be stronger forit.
His recovery the next day wasto makesure that he’d be wellrested forthe long journey ahead.
“He’sgot alot left in thetankin termsofwhat the finished product is going to look like,” Martin said.
THE VARSITYZONE
DutchtownnipsLiveOak,setsup5-5Atitle game
BY WILLIAM WEATHERS Contributing writer
Dutchtown designated hitter
Oakley Rutzen liked the positioning of the left side of Live Oak’s infield.
With the Griffins locked in a 2-2 battle and with two outs and a runner at second, Rutzensingled through the hole into left field,lifting his team to a3-2 victory in the bottom of the 10th inning Thursday at Dutchtown.
“I saw the shortstop standing by second base and tried to hit it that wayand it happened,” said Rutzen, who was 2for 3along with team-
mate Cooper Pickett.
Dutchtown’sdramatics set up a winner-take-all matchup of 10-1 teams at 1p.m.Saturday at Live Oakfor theDistrict 5-5A championship
“We’ve got 18 seniors and Ihave been telling them for fouryears to get to this point,”Dutchtown coach Chris Schexnaydre said. “They’ve put themselvesinaposition the last regular-season game for adistrictchampionship andthat’sall
youcan askfor “As acoach, that’sone thing you want to do. It’s onestep, but the biggoalisa state championship If youhang adistrict champion-
ship along the way,itcould be special.”
Dutchtown (23-10), theNo. 10 team in theDivision Inonselect power ratings, forced extra innings, rallying from a2-1 deficit in thebottom of theseventh against Live Oak ace Sawyer Pruitt, aUL signee. CalebWallled offthe bottom of theinning withasingle to left and advanced to second on Pickett’s sacrifice bunt. Pinch-hitterCole Henderson sent achopper to deep shortstop, beating the throw of shortstopCasey McCoyinaclose play at first Lead-off batter Eli Freeman tied
thegame with asafety squeeze bunt.Pruitt cameoff the mound andgloved the one-hopper,but sliding pinch-runner Lathon Riley was ruled safe ahead of Pruitt’sflip to catcher Cooper Smith. Pruitt allowed six hits, two runs (one earned),two walks andstruck outseven. Dutchtown starter Kason Johnson was equally stingy, yieldingfive hits and twowalks while striking out five. McCoy, who moved to the mound in relief of Johnson in the eighth, singled to startthe 10th inning andpinch-runnerDrewCedatol took second on an errantpickoff throw.RelieverJace Griffin
Late runs to thetitle
St.Joseph’s, Catholic scorebig in final distance events to secure Jostenswins
BY CHARLES SALZER Contributing writer
Therewas afamiliarity among the teams at the EpiscopalJosten Relays on Thursday,but it only served to ratchetupthe excitement as both the boys and girls team competitions came down to the wire.
St. Joseph’sAcademy trailed Zachary by four points beforea 1-3 finish in the 3,200-meter run catapultedittoa team win. In similar fashion,Catholic led the Zachary boys by two points and used a1-2 showing in the 3,200 to propel it to afirst-place finish.
The matchup between Baton Rouge’stwo Catholic high schools and Zachary is one that will berepeated in the coming weeks as the teams compete in district, regional and state meets.
St. Joseph’swon the state indoor tournament in February while Zachary was second. On Thursday, SJA outpointed Zachary 114-100.
Catholic High’sJackTorrance wonthe discus(162feet, 11 inches), above,and shot put (54-4)atThursday’s Josten Relays at Episcopal
“In our district (4-5A), you’ve got to hold that peak forthree weeks,” SJA coach Vernon Langley said. “With all the top teams andtop kids in the area, it mimics what you’ll see at state. The pressure stayson youinthisdistrict.” St Joseph’sgot ameet record showing by Michelle Daigle in the 3,200 with atimeof11minutes,
0.12 seconds.Teammate Hope Lemoine was third allowing the Redstickers to takea12-point lead into the 4x400 relay,whichthey
PREP REPORT
Boys bowling atPremierLanes,Gonzales Division II semifinals
Belle Chasse 16, University High 11
BELLE CHASSE: Evan Shepherd203, Matthew St. Germain 246, Christian Collinsworth 205-224; Bryce Shepherd213; UHIGH:John Hebert 227, Jackson Dukes 225-254-638. Shaw17, South Terrebonne 10
800: 1. Kylie Pousson, St. Louis, 2:24.02. 2. Elizabeth Rodrigue, E.D.White, 2:24.27. 3. Anna Rodrigue, E.D.White, 2:24.96 200: 1. Alexandria Stewart, St. Joseph’s, 25.23. 2. Brylee Williams, St. Louis, 25.76. 3. Lauren Vessel,Zachary, 26.14. 3,200: 1. Michelle Daigle, St. Joseph’s 11:00.12. 2. NevaLambert, Episcopal, 11:25.81. 3. Hope Lemoine, St. Joseph’s, 12:05.53. 4x400relay: 1. St. Joseph’s, 4:01.32. 2. Zachary,4:02.18. 3. Dutchtown, 4:03.72. Baseball Tuesday’s scores Northeast 10, EastFeliciana 7 St. James 17, Donaldsonville 1 St. James 15, Donaldsonville 0 Episcopal 17, Family Christian3 Port Allen 16, MadisonPrep0 Central Private 17,SouthernLab 1 Ascension Christian 15, St. John 2 Cecilia 9, Livonia 3 Central 2, Zachary 1 Prairieville 5, St. Amant 3 Walker 3, Denham Springs 2 Dutchtown 2, East Ascension 1 Wedneday’s score FalseRiver 11, White Castle 9 Thursday’s scores Central Private 10,SouthernLab 0 Catholic 3, Zachary 0 Port Allen 20, MadisonPrep10 Dutchtown 3, LiveOak 2 Parkview Baptist 2, University1 Walker 9, East Ascension 0 St. Amant 13, Denham Springs 8 Catholic 3, Zachary 0 Catholic100 100 1—391 Zachary000 000 0—010 W—Lucas Lawrence(5-2). L—Cullen Howard Leaders— CATHOLIC: Andrew Clapinski (33); HayesSegar (2-3,RBI); Lawrence(7IP, 0 runs, one hit, 6Ks);ZACHARY: Zach Williams (1-3). Records —Catholic 28-4,7-0 District 4-5A; Zachary 20-14-1, 5-2 Note: Catholic clinched district title. Dutchtown3,LiveOak 2(10) LiveOak0010010000—261 Dutchtown0100001001—380 W— Casey McCoy(4-1). L—Jace Griffin (51). Leaders —LOHS: Cooper Smith 1-3,2B, 2 BBs,Cam Washington 1-4,RBI;DHS: Cooper Pickett 2-3, RBI, Oakley Rutzen 2-3, RBI. Records —Dutchtown 23-10,10-1 in District 5-5A, Live Oak 25-5, 10-1 Friday’s games Springfield at White Castle, 4p.m. Westminster at Livonia, 4:30 p.m. Mandeville at Dunham, 6p.m. Central at Walker, 6p.m. Catholic at Zachary,6:30 p.m. Saturday’s games St. Amant at Denham Springs, 11 a.m. Family Christian at EastFeliciana, 11 a.m.
won in 4:01.32. OtherSJA wins came from Daigle in the 1,600 (5:03.07), Alex Stewart with aPRinthe 200 (25.23 seconds),and Mary Bellelo in the javelin (93 feet, 6inches). Catholic held a103-101 lead over the Broncos before the 3,200. Augustin Juneau won the event (9:37.24) and wasfollowed by Peter Watson, whowas second at 9:42.77. The Bears then won the 4x400 (3:20.10) as they totaled 141 pointstoZachary’s124.
Catholic’s Jack Torrancewon the shot put (54-4) and the discus (162-11). Otherboysdouble winners were Zachary’s CalebHilton in the100 (10.73) and 200 (22.04), and Episcopal’s Wynn Turner in the 110 hurdles (15.55) and300 hurdles (40.23).
West Feliciana’s Tristen Harris won the long jump with aleap of 19-63/4,the longest in the state this season. She also won the 100 (11.82).
St. Louis Catholic’sHannah Boullion anchoredthe Saints’winning 4x200 relay (1:40.43) and came back to win the 400 with ameet and stadium recordtime of 55.15. Boullion was the2024 class 3A outdoor 200and 400champion, and ranlegs on the Saints state champion 4x200 and 4x400 relays.
“I’ve been doing good these past weeks,” saidBoullion, aULcommitment.
“I’ve gotten down to 54 and I’m fighting for 53, whichisinmy range.”
North Iberville 12 Maurepas 20, Phoenix 2 Episcopal 25, Baker 0 John Curtis7,Walker5 Slaughter at Dunham, 5p.m. St. Joseph 14, West Feliciana 2 Livonia 26, Liberty 0 Loranger at Albany, ccd New Iberia at Catholic-PC,
Amant 11, Denham Springs 1 Ascension Catholic 10, Holden 6 Walker 13, East Ascension2 Friday’s games Maurepas at False River,4p.m. Woodlawn at Dunham, 4:30 p.m. University at St. John, 5p.m. Baker vs.Slaughter Charter at DCI Park,5 p.m. Ascension Catholic at Lutcher, 5p.m. Karr at Zachary,5p.m. Central at Denham Springs,5p.m. Saturday’s games St. Thomas Aquinas at Holden, 10 a.m Lutcher at LiveOak,11a.m. French Settlement at Northshore, noon Fisher at Ascension Catholic, noon Parkview Baptist vs.West FelicianaatWest Feliciana Sportsplex, 5p.m. Girls golf at BeaverCreek Par72 Teamresults 1. St. Joseph’s, 155. 2. Walker, 175. 3. Brusly,194. Medalists 1. Maci Williams, Brusly,72. 2. Evelynn Artieta, Walker,73. 3. AvaHeine, St Joseph’s, 77. at CityPark Teamresults 1. St. John, 92. 2. LiveOak 101. 3. University, 110. Medalists 1. Saige Berthelot, St. John, 43. 2. Brennley Robertson, LiveOak,48. 3. AmelieDardenne, St. John, 49. Girls tennis Baton RougeHigh5, Denham Springs0 Singles Meredith McNulty def. SarahTorri 6-0, 6-1; Asha Reddy def. Adalyn Farrell 6-0, 6-0
Doubles Ryann Beamon/Lillian Tessier def.Kendyll Davis/Sophia McCarty 6-0, 6-1 Emma Brown/Ally Spencer def. Halle Huddleston/Valeria Ortiz 6-1, 7-5 AmelieKutter/Sheridan Jones def. Carley Mattear/Ivana Smith 6-1. 6-0
Boys tennis Baton RougeHigh3,Denham Springs 1
Singles Benjamin Daniel, BRHS def.JasonHu7-5,6-2
Doubles VedKandula/Henry Chen, BRHS def.Preston Edwards/RonenMonceret 7-5, 6-2; Ryan Nguyen/Viraaj Kar, BRHS def. Gabriel Daigle/Hays Tibbetts 6-1, 6-2; Cole Acosta/ Ryan Gelpi,DSHS def.
picked up two of his seven strikeouts in threeinnings but allowed Rutzen’sgame-winning hit. McCoy (4-1) allowed one hit in histhree-inningeffort against Live Oak (25-5, 10-1) which included three strikeouts and two walks. “They executed,” Live Oak coach Jesse Cassard saidofDutchtown, which stopped his team’s 13-game winning streak. “They got men in afirst-and-third situation, apush bunt anda bang-bang playatthe plate. Tipyour cap.Their pitcher (McCoy) threw strikes and kept guys off balance.Hehad good control of three pitches and did a good job.”
BY ROBIN FAMBROUGH Staff writer
DutchtownHigh School coach
Erin Bennett enters the LHSAA gymnasticsmeet with mixed emotions and alittle apprehension.
“This year is different because we have nine seniors, but we also brought in agroup of babies this year,”Bennett said.“Notall of themwillcompetethis weekend, but it is aprocess becausethey’re allcheerleaders andhad to be taught the individualevents.
“We’ve done well in the invitationals Baton Rouge High has hosted, but we haven’tseen the teamsoutside Baton Rouge.So, there’sthe unknown. We’ll see.”
The two-day meet begins FridayatBaton Rouge High with theboys competition at 2p.m.
The single-division boys meet features11gymnasts, including reigning champion Dwayne JohnsonofSt. Augustine. Baton Rouge Highhas the lone boys squad.
Dutchtown enters Saturday’s girls competition as atwo-time reigning team champion. There are morethan 170 competitors in three divisions with an 8:15 a.m. start. The Level 8competition forthe mostskilled competitors closes out the meet
Ayear ago, the Griffins used their depth to edge local rival St. Joseph’sAcademybyless than apoint forthe overall girls title. Parkview Baptist was third and Mt. Carmel fourth.
TheLevel 8competition for the girls figures to be wide open. The 2024 champion graduated. Dutchtown’s Mallory Mitchell was the runner-up in 2023 and tied forfifthlast year Singlesbowling
The three-day state bowling tournament concludes Friday with girls/boys singles competition at 11 a.m. at All Star Lanes..
The stepladdercompetition for thetop qualifiers is scheduledfor 1:30 p.m. There are 80 boys qualifiers and 48 girlsqualifiers based on reguar-season averages. Three Baton Rouge area girls enter the competitionwith the top per-gameaverages.
Gracie Dawson of Parkview Baptist posted an average of 213, followedcloselybySydney Lee of girls teamrunnerup Dutchtown at 210. Albany’s Caroline Engeron is next at 203. Olivia Baresofteamchampion Chapelle (201) wasthe only other girl to finish above 200. Nine bowlers enter the boys competition with regular-season averages of 220 or better led by Hammond’sAnthony Loupe at 228. Joshua Shaw of Division II team champion Shaw and Jonathan Cho of Jesuit are at 223. East AscensionLuke Chapman is the top area entrant at 221. St. Amant’sChase Cagnolatti is at 220.
Cubs lose semifinal
University saw itsLHSAA bowling season end in Thursday’sDivisionIIboys bowling semifinals held at Premier Lanes in Gonzales on Thursday
The Cubs won the first game by a1,223 pins to 1,079 margin but lost to Belle Chasse 16-11. Shaw then beatBelle Chasse 18-9 in the final. Jackson Dukes ledU-High with a204 average that
STAFF PHOTO By HILARySCHEINUK
THE 89TH MASTERS
Rose steals theshow
44-year-old builds three-shot lead over Scheffler
BY DOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer
AUGUSTA, Ga. Justin Rosedid more than justmatch hisbest score at the Masters. With around thatwas nearly nine shots better than the field Thursday,the 44-year-old Rose managed to steal thespotlight from the Masters dominance of Scottie Scheffler and theendless quest of Rory McIlroy to complete the career Grand Slam. Rose felt his 7-under65had the potential to be something special And even withabogey on the final hole, it was every bit of that. He opened with three straight birdies. He ran off three in arow around the turn. And he woundup with athree-shot lead over Scheffler,Ludvig Aberg and Corey Conners.
“When Ihave been playing well, IfeellikeI have beencompeting at ahigh level,” Rose said. “My consistency maybe has not been as high this year.But my good is good again. So I’m excited about that.” Scheffler did his part in his bid to win athird Masters green jacket in four years, playingabogey-free round of 68. McIlroy,sodesperate to win this major and complete the career Grand Slam, was rightthere with him until the end. He took apairof double bogeys late in the afternoon with careless mistakes andhad to settle for a72. It was the seventh straight time he failed to break 70
Justin Rose wavesafter making aputt on the 18thhole during the first round at the Masters golf tournament on ThursdayinAugusta, Ga.
in the opening round of the Masters.
He declined to speak to the media after his round.
Rose set oneMasters record:
The fifth time he hashad at leasta shareofthe 18-hole lead, breaking the mark held by Jack Nicklaus.
Theglaringdifference,ofcourse, is Nicklaus hassix of those green jackets.
It also was theeighth time Rose hashad at leasta share of the lead after anyroundatAugusta National, something only five othershave done.All are Masters champions “I feel likeI’ve playedwell enough to win this tournament,” said Rose, whose best chance was aplayoff loss to Sergio Garcia in 2017. “I just feel like Idon’thave
the jacket to prove it But you’ve got to be playing thegolf to keep creating those opportunities, and the only way to do that is to get your name on the leaderboard. I definitely don’tshy away from it.”
Rose opened witha 25-foot birdie putt andmadehis eighth birdie with a20-foot putt on the par-3 16th. In between was aseries of good shots —smart shots —that gave him plentyofchances and he convertedmostofthem.
Augusta National, soaked by rain thatwashed out mostofthe Monday practice round, already was getting scary fast The average score was 73.6. Only six players broke 70, and 20 others broke par
“Ridiculous.That’snuts,” Viktor Hovlandsaidabout Rose’s score. “Those greensare so firm. Iremember afew years ago —Ican’t remember whatyear it was —but he kind of did something similar Ithink this one is probably alittle bit more impressive because out of all the Masters I’ve played, this is probably the firmest it’sbeen on aThursday.It’sdefinitely no joke out there.”
Scheffler was 3under at the turn, including one birdie on the par-5 eighth in which his ball was deep in adivot hole short of the green. He managed to get that out some 20 feet left of the pin and used the slope to bringitback to 15 feet and made the putt.
Dunlap hasstrugglefor theagesinfirstround
BY SCOTT RABALAIS Sports writer
AUGUSTA, Ga. —Nick Dunlap is only 21 years old, but Thursday’sfirst roundinthe Mastersmay have aged him.
Making is second Masters start, Dunlap struggledmightily all the way around Augusta National Golf Club, carding an 18-over par 90 that was the day’sworst round by awhopping 11 strokes.
It’sthe worst round Masters round since two-time winner Ben Crenshaw opened with a91in2015. Crenshaw,however,was 63 and playing his last Masters.
Dunlap struggled from the start, making bogeys on thefirst, third and fourth holes before atriplebogey 7onthe fifth. He made seven bogeys in all along with five doubles and that triple. He finished his round double bogeybogey-double.
Dunlap, who won on the PGA Tour in January 2024 as an amateur,did not speak to reporters after his round. His playing partner, former McNeese State standout RobertMacIntyre,did.
“He was struggling out there today,(but) his attitude was solid,” said the Scottish golfer,who shot 75. “He didn’tget in the way
RABALAIS
Continued from page1C
do. This past week, LIV’stournament in Miami, televised by Fox as part of its new deal,DeChambeau, Mickelson and 2017Masters winner Sergio Garcia in contention, drew abysmal ratings Actually,they aspired toabysmal. Sunday’sfinal round drew 484,000 viewers. Are you kidding me? It’s one thing if your tournament is in Singapore on the CW.It’sanother thing to be on the East Coast on amajor network.There were probably 484,000 people watching the Amen Corner channel Thursday on Masters.com.
Meanwhile, the final round of the PGA Tour’sValeroTexas Open, atournament lacking star power because so many players were resting/preppingfor the Masters, had 1.75 million viewers.
I’m not saying the PGA Tour is perfect or can do no wrong. I do not like these elevated events with smaller fields createdtokeep stars like Rose and Rory McIlroy
roundofthe MastersonThursday
“I feel for him today,but he’ll bounce back.”
Burnsbattles
Former LSU All-American Sam Burns,trying to breakaslumping streak of three straightmissed cuts, battledback from apairof doublebogeys to shoot a1over73.
Burns doubled thepar-4 fifth to fall to 3over,but birdied the sixth, seventh andninth to make the turn at even par.A bogey-doublebogey
and Scottie Scheffler from going to LIV, too. But the PGA Tour is where the history is, the real competition is. It remains the Premier League of men’sgolf.
It looked for years like LIV had thePGA Tour by the throat No longer.LIV’steamconcept andthree-round events have notcaught hold. Walking around Augusta National on Thursday,I saw tons of fans wearing Masters gear (of course) and stuff representing other golf courses and tournaments. Ididn’tsee anyone wearing gearfor LIVgolf teams like CleeksorMickelson’sHyFlyers, exceptfor theLIVers themselves. They looked like abunch of guyswho still wear the clothes of their collegefraternities no one wanted to join
This is not to say LIV is about to fold, though even themega rich like the Saudi royals probably get tired of wasting money Negotiations between thetwo sides look stalled, perhaps because thePGA Tour has gained theupper hand with private, non-Saudiinvestment. Last week, reportedlyPIF went to thePGA
stumbleat10and 11 againput him at 3over, but Burnsplayed the finalseven holesin2underwith birdies at the famous par-3 12th and the tough par-4 17th.
TheShreveportnative has missed thecut in two of his three Mastersstartsand has only broken par in twoofhis nine rounds at AugustaNational.
Zurich Masters
The
first round was amixed bag for the Zurich ambassadors who represent the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
In 1975, Jack Nicklaus, TomWeiskopf and JohnnyMiller were thethree best players in the game. All three converged to duel on Masters Sundayinone of thetournament’s best finishes ever Nicklaus edged Weiskopfand Miller by one stroke,12-under par to 11 under,thanks in part to bombingina 40-foot birdie puttonthe par-3 16th for his fifth green jacket. He would win asixth in 1986, still the most in Masters history. The1975 Masters was also notable for Lee Elder breaking the color barrier as the firstBlack golfer to competeatAugustaNational, exactly 50 yearsago Thursday. Scott Rabalais
Tour withanoffer of $1.5 billion in return for aguarantee LIV would live on and PIF major domoYasir Al-Rumayyan would get aseat on the PGA Tour’s policy board.
Collin Morikawa bogeyed 18 to shoot an even-par 72, as did SahithTheegala.Two-time Zurich champion Billy Horschel didn’thave abirdie and slogged to a5 over 77.
Morikawa andmedia
Morikawa’scontroversial decision not to speak to reporters after losing to Russell Henley at the Arnold Palmer Invitationaland his continued stance that he is not obligated to talk to reporters drew commentfromtwo-time Masters champion TomWatson Speaking at anewsconference after the ceremonial tee shots to start thetournament, Watson saidplayers have an obligation to speak to the media.
“I do rememberone time at the New Orleans Open Iwas asked to go to the pressroom,” said Watson, who won in 1980-81 at Lakewood Country Club. “It was gettingdark after my round, and Ihad abad round, andI said,‘I have to go to the practice tee, but I’ll be there after Ihit balls.’ Ihad to do it, and maybe that wasn’tthe right waytodoit, but Idid go to the pressroom afterwards.
“It’sour responsibility to help you withyour job. That’sthe way Ifeel about it.”
The PGA Tour apparently took theoffer,set it on fireand wrote “Get lost”with the ashes. The Masters invited the new LIV CEO Scott O’Neil to attend this year’stournament, but pointedly Masters chairman Fred Ridleysaid Wednesday he had no formal plans to meet with O’Neil, adding “I know we’ll have some discussions.” That could mean a lot of things, but it doesn’tmean an endorsement of the LIV way Augusta National hastried to stay above the PGA Tour/LIV fray,but Ridleyismaking increasingly urgent calls for unification.
At thispoint, live andlet LIV, PGA Tour.Stars like Mickelson andDeChambeau andRahmand Johnson andGarciaand U-High golfer and2018 Masters champ Patrick Reed were alreadysuccessfuland insanely rich. They brokegolfinhalffor the proverbial 30 pieces of silver,and all of us who love golf have been paying for it eversince.
They’ve hurt golf. Now they’re just hurting themselves. Of course, all the Saudi’sbillions will buy alot of bandages.
PROVIDED PHOTO AUGUSTANATIONAL GOLF CLUB
Sam Burns plays from under atree on the 11th hole during the first
at the AugustaNational Golf Club
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByDAVID J. PHILLIP
THINGS TO DO THIS WEEKEND
Newsite connects music talents, community
BY JOHN WIRT
Contributing writer
Red Stick Rhythms brings local musical talent to the communityand theworld.
Hosted by the East Baton Rouge Parish Library, thewebsite is modeledonsimilar sites in cities across the country,including Nashville, Tennessee; Austin, Texas; San Francisco and New Orleans.
Alison Nikitopoulos, the library’sprimary administrator for Red Stick Rhythms, found the inspiration to create alocal music website at Crescent City Sounds, asite launched in 2022 by the New Orleans Public Library “I thought we have alot of talentright here in Baton Rouge,” Nikitopoulossaid.
Nikitopoulos’ idea madeits way to Andrew Tadman, the library’sdivision coordinator forreferenceservices,and MaryStein, assistantdirector for programs, outreach and collections. Gainingapproval, she began website developmentin spring 2024 and started recruiting curator-jurors from theBatonRouge music community to help select the artists who’d ultimately appear on the Red StickRhythms site. The library also accepted music submissions from Oct. 15 through Dec. 15. Nikitopoulos,workingwith the jurors’ ratings, subsequently submitted her recommendations to a three-person committee at the library for final approval.
In mid-February, musicby the 25 groups or individualartistsselectedbegan streaming on redstickrhythms.org. The library added a26th selection, acompilation albumdonated by the recently closed grassroots galleryand performance space YesWeCannibal.
Red Stick Rhythm’scuratorjurors included Henry Turner Jr amusician, music venue operator and festival organizer, and CindyWonderful, founder of thegrassrootscreative center Wonderground and host of WHYR-FM’s“Baton Rouge Locals Only” radio program.
Nikitopoulos sent the jurors 65 music tracks to auditionand rate for the 25 budgeted spots.
“It turned out to be alot of listening for them, so Iappreciated that,” she said.
Listening to the 65 submissionswasn’toverwhelming for Wonderful, despite receiving as many as 10 hopefulsaday from the project’sadministrator
“I loved being acurator and juror,” Wonderful said.“It was a delight to reach outtobands that I’ve been afan of from Wonderground and the radio show. It’s awesome that they submitted music andwere selected. Iwas able to help them make alittle bit of money and gain attention for their creativity.”
Like Nikitopoulos, Wonderfulbelieveslocal musicians are worthy of the exposure a
3-2-1, GO!
The OldState Capitol, 100 North Blvd., will host its third annual Easter Egg Roll, reminiscent of thefamous White House Easter Egg Roll, from 1p.m.to4 p.m. Sunday. Themuseumwill be open from noon to 4p.m. for exploring the rich historyand exhibits within the OSC. louisianaoldstatecapitol.org
BEAUTIFUL BLOOMS
The Bromeliad Society of Baton Rouge’s 50th annual Showand Salewill take place on Fridayand Saturday at the Baton RougeGarden Center,7950 Independence Blvd. Hundreds of tropical plants will be forsale from 9a.m.to 5p.m.Fridayand 8a.m.to5 p.m Saturday.The public is invited. Free.
STEP ON IT
The first Sneaker Fest comes to Baton Rougefrom noon to 5p.m.Saturday at 200 North Blvd. Look for various creators and vendors forshoes, clothing and jewelryyou can buy,trade or sell. The event is freeand the public is invited. Also, there will be foodand live music. Followfacebook.com.
Film acting students switch to thestage for showcase
BY JUDYBERGERON Staff writer
The flurry of activity at the Love Acting Studio in BatonRouge on arecent Wednesday night pointed to one thing there must be ashow in the works. Young film acting students coming and going, dog-eared scriptsinhand. Avideographerready to capturethe action. A voice coach on the way. And in the middle of allofit, acool,calmJency Griffin Hoganpulls up achair fora fewminutes to talk aboutthe culmination of ayear’s work —the studio’sfifth Actors’ Showcase In two performances at 5p.m. and 7p.m. Fridayatthe ManshipTheatre’s Hartley/Vey Studio Theatre in Baton Rouge,27studentswill present14film scenes.The show will run between60and 90 minutes.
“I built the school so thatwecould build up the Louisiana film talent. So the idea is to bridge the gap between the casting directors, the agents, anybody producing and the actors that have been building up here,” began Griffin Hogan. “Baton Rouge doesn’thave as manyopportunitiesfor actorsasNew Orleansdoes, so my whole goal was to start building up
BY JUDYBERGERON| Staff writer
eghan Linsey had to laugh alittle when she said it
“I wrotethe wholething one night when Iwas taking abath,” the former Louisiana singer explained of the creative process involved in her brand-new single, “HumbleAgain,” which dropped last week. “And Ifeel like Ijust write my bestwhen I’m just relaxed and not really thinking too hard about it.And just being honest. So that’s kind of what I’ve been doinglatelyisI’ll justgotake abath and write asong.”
“Humble Again” takes listenersalong on the journey of being an artist, with allthe ups and downs,startingand restarting.
BY ROBIN MILLER Staff writer
PROVIDED PHOTO
FRIDAY
&THE
MEDICINE: LiveAfter Five, Rhorer Plaza, 5p.m.
KILEY MCDONNEL: The Colonel’s Club, 5p.m
KIRK HOLDER & CHARLES PIERCE: Agile Brewing, 5:30 p.m.
ORIGINAL MUSIC
GATHERING: La Divina Italian Cafe, 6p.m.
BRITTON MAJOR: Crowne Plaza, 6p.m.
COZY LEN: Downtown Zachary Gazebo, 6p.m.
DIZZY: BLDG 5, 6p.m.
ERIC BASKIN DUO: Sullivan’s Steakhouse, 6p.m.
STEVE GUSTAFSON: Stab’s Restaurant, 6p.m.
TOBY TOMPLAY: Galvez Seafood, Prairieville,6p.m
CAMPYLE: PizzaArt Wine,6:30 p.m.
ROCKIN’ ROUGE: T’Quilas, Denham Springs, 6:30 p.m.
UNITED WE JAM: El Paso, Denham Springs, 6:30 p.m.
JOEY HOLAWAY: 18 Steak at L’Auberge, 7p.m.
CHRIS LEBLANC: Bin 77, 7p.m.
DON POURCIAU&
KONSPIRACY: VFW Hall-Choctaw, 7p.m.
WILLIE STONEMORE: On TheHalf Shell, Prairieville, 7p.m.
BRANDON BENNETT AS GARTH BROOKS: Events at Serenity,DenhamSprings, 7:30 p.m.
BUBBAPLAUCHÉ: Riverbend Terrace II at L’Auberge, 8p.m.
TOMANDES: Henry Turner Jr.’s Listening Room, 8p.m.
AFTER 8: The Edge Bar at L’Auberge, 9p.m
DRAKE WHITE/JUS-
TIN JEANSONNE: The TexasClub, 9p.m.
DUPONT BROTHERS: Jack’s Place, Port Allen, 9p.m.
ELVIN KILLERBEE: Phil Brady’s, 9p.m.
MIKE HOGAN: The Vineyard, 9p.m.
SPANK THE MONKEY: Fred’s on the River Prairieville, 9p.m.
TREY MORGAN: Big Mike’s Sports Bar & Grill,Denham Springs, 9p.m.
VOYAGE: Churchill’s, 9p.m.
DOWNBEATLOUISIANA: Swamp Chicken Daiquiris, St. Amant, 10 p.m.
SATURDAY
BO BURKES: Leola’s Café, 11 a.m.
OPEN JAMSESSION: The Smokey Pit, 4p.m.
RUSTY YATES: The Colonel’s Club, 5p.m
IAN WEBSTER DUO: Sullivan’s Steakhouse, 5:30 p.m.
ARNETT HAYES: Stab’s Restaurant, 6p.m.
LOVE NOTES: Oxbow Rum Distillery,6p.m.
PAPO YSON MANDAO: Pedros-Juban, Denham Springs, 6p.m.
CHRIS OCMAND: Pizza Art Wine, 6:30 p.m.
STONE SOBER: El Paso, Denham Springs,
6:30 p.m THELEE SERIO BAND: T’Quilas, Denham Springs, 6:30p.m.
CHRIS ALLEN &DAKOTA CIVELLO: 18 Steak at L’Auberge, 7p.m.
BACKLIT STEREO: On The Half Shell, Prairieville, 7p.m
GRITZ N’ GRAVY: Bin 77, 7p.m
ACOUSTIC NIGHTW/ HENRYTURNER JR.: Henry Turner Jr.’s Listening Room, 8p.m.
DENTON HATCHER: Riverbend Terrace II at L’Auberge,8 p.m
3:05 EXPRESS: Phil Brady’s, 8p.m.
BRYCEBROUSSARD: Spanky’s, Dutchtown, 8p.m.
BUDDYMONDLOCK/ BILL ROMANO: Red Dragon Listening Room, 8p.m.
BRENT ARMSTRONG: The Vineyard,9 p.m
CHRISLEBLANC BAND: Big Mike’s SportsBar &Grill, 9p.m.
LA GROOVE: Churchill’s, 9p.m.
PETTY BETTY: Fred’s on the River,Prairieville, 9p.m.
SOUTH OF CENTRAL: Beer Belly’sBar &Grill, Plaquemine,9 p.m
STICK HOUSE: Murphy’s, 9p.m.
TRUESPIN: Icehouse TapRoom, 9p.m.
TITANIUM RAIN: Good Times Bar, Denham Springs, 9:30p.m.
SUNDAY
JUSTIN BURDETTE
TRIO: Superior Grill MidCity,11a.m
ROBERTCALMES: Cocha, 11 a.m.
FLORIDASTREET BLOWHARDS: Jubans, 11 a.m.
KIRK HOLDER: On The HalfShell,Prairieville 11 a.m.
TAYLOR NAUTA: Leola’s Café, 11 a.m.
CHRISALLEN &DA-
KOTA CIVELLO: Red Stick Social, noon
OLDTIME MUSIC JAM: West BatonRouge Museum, Port Allen, 3p.m.
JUNIOR AND SUMTIN’
SNEAKY: Fred’s on the River, Prairieville, 3p.m.
MIKE HOGAN: Icehouse TapRoom, 3p.m.
RAYELLENDER: Chow Yum, 4p.m.
FLORIDASTREET BLOWHARDS: Front Yard Concert,2956 Woodland Ridge Blvd., 5p.m.
OPENMIC JAM: FatCat Saloon, Prairieville, 7p.m.
MONDAY
VICTOR, SKIP &CARRIE: Phil Brady’s, 6p.m.
JEFFBAJON PROJECT: Pedros-Juban, Denham Springs, 6p.m
OPEN MIC W/AMANDA JO HESS: Istrouma Brewing, St.Gabriel, 6p.m.
THE STARDUST BOYS: The Brakes Bar, 6p.m
ALLISON COLLINS TRIO: Superior Grill MidCity,6p.m BEAUCOUP BOOGIE: Perkins Rowe,6 p.m.
DRAMA KINGS: Pedros-Juban, Deham Springs, 6p.m
HANNA PK: Thai Kitchen, 6p.m
JIM BOOKTER EXPERI-
MENT: La Divina Italian Cafe,6 p.m.
TONI TERRY: T’Quilas, Denham Springs, 6p.m.
ERICGAUTREAUX: Bin 77, 6:30 p.m
JOSIE OLIVA: On The HalfShell, Prairieville, 6:30 p.m
THE BISHOP ELLIS
TRIO: Hayride Scandal, 7p.m.
ENUF: Swamp Chicken Daiquiris, St.Amant, 7p.m.
BRITTON MAJOR: O’Haras Irish Pub, 8p.m.
BRYANBIELANSKI: Henry Turner Jr.’s Listening Room, 8p.m
BLUES JAM: Phil Brady’s, 9p.m
THE DRUNK UNCLES: The Vineyard, 9p.m
VOYAGE: Churchill’s, 9p.m.
Compiled by Marchaund Jones
Want your venue’s music listed? Email info/photos to showstowatch@ theadvocate.com. The deadlineis noon FRIDAY for the following Friday’s paper
PROVIDED PHOTO
Love Acting students performinginthe 2025 Actors’ Showcase are, fromleft, Carter Maxwell, Lily Carter,Alaina Canaday,Kendall Cannon, Elaine Powell, Jeff Myers, Darian Reynolds, Brayden Simmons,Cameron Durocher, Marisa Miranda, D’Andre Lindsey, Misti Lavergne, Rachel Elizabeth, Sophia Barber,John Piccione, Nadia Demah, AshleyThrockmorton, Craig Gaspard, Jané Gabriel,MyLan Aguirre-Nguyen, Sophia Temple, EricCarney, Esther Trahan, Anne WesleyKitchin and Josh Rosenstern. Not shown are AntonioSaez and Danielle Pollet.
SHOWCASE
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the film talent, because they (students) could find atheater class to take, whether it’satschool or whatever,but film’s harder to find.”
Griffin Hogan, an accomplished actor herself,isseeking to bridge that gap.
“I had done so many showcases like this in LosAngeles in my 20s (she livedseveral years there). Theshowcasewouldbeput on by the acting school,and the casting directors would be invitedto come,” she said. “That’show you would getyouragent back in the day.SoI’m justfollowing the model Ilearned there.”
Back in Baton Rouge, she teaches thestudio’sintermediate class; workingactor Bill Martin Williams (“Daisy Jones and the Six”)
LINSEY
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“There’saline in the song that says, ‘I was everybody’scup of tea when Iwas everybody but me,’ Linseysaid, “It’slike everybody wants to be your friend wheneverything’s going good, you know? And youkindofloseyourself in that, I think. So you really find out who your people are, whoyourfriends are, andwhat you’re allabout when things aren’thappening.”
That’snot thecase now, as theSeason 8“TheVoice” runner-up, who’s lived in Nashville, Tennessee, for several years, is promoting her new single,working on new music, and planning an album release and summer tour.That’sinadditiontoher other business offering studio experiences in the city,where she often performs for corporate groups.
Arecentpreview party for “Humble Again” with Music City executives generated positive feedback.
“It’sactually been really cool. This song, it’svery vulnerable. It’s very honest and real,”she said. “People are like, ‘Oh,wow,like I felt like this, you know?’ It’slike people that youdon’teven think have felt like that, have felt like that. AndsoIthink it’s really resonating withpeople, especially in themusic business.”
“Film acting is really moment to moment. And it’s acamerathat’s capturing those moments, and they’re usuallyvery truthful moments,” she said. “My jobasa director is to capture those special momentsaswe’re moving through ascene. So that’skind of my style of coaching —tokeep it as real as possible. And it’s basedoff of atechniquecalledthe Meisnertechnique; his definition of acting was living truthfully under imaginary circum-
stances. So these scenes we picked arebasically just aframework for youtosee theirhonesttruthwhile connecting with each other.”
The scenes forthe showcase have been taken from familiar drama films such as “Revolutionary Road” and comedies like “When Harry Met Sally.”
“I’vehad people (casting types) cometothe showcase and then cast them rightout of the showcase. That’sbeen huge,” the instructor said. “So they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh,I got aleadbecause of the showcase.’ …I’vehad people that start making their own movies, following my ownmodel, because I really feel like you, at this day and age, need to be able to create your own content to stay relevant.” For moreabout Love Acting Studio, visit www.loveactingbr.com. Email Judy Bergeron at jbergeron@theadvocate.com.
Linsey andher husband, Tyler Cain, both worked on “Humble Again,”withCainwriting themusicand handlingproduction.Together for 13 years and married for three, thecouple have collaboratedonmany projects, andfor a brief timeworked as aduo called Megan Tyler Linsey, whogrewupinGretna and Ponchatoula, moved to Nashville just after high school to pursue music. Her initial success there sparked from herand thenboyfriend Josh Jones winning the CMT competition series, “Can You Duet?” in 2009. As the duo Steel Magnolia and with arecord deal withBig Machine Records, their first single, “Keep on Lovin’ You,” becamepartoftheir self-titled debut album in 2011. The record also featured three morecharting singles, “Just by Being You(Halo
and Wings),” “Last Night Again” and “Bulletproof.”
Whenthe couple partedways, Linsey set out to find her way as asolo artist.She callsher runonNBC’s “The Voice” “a really big high.” “And, just coming off the show, there was alot of really good momentum, but Idofeel like there’s this thing that happens with artists,” shesaid. “It’slikeifyou’re notTim McGraw and just putting out hit after hit, it’slike you have these lulls where it’slike, OK, something really greathappens and then now what, you know?” Linsey’s other career boosts have included twoofher songs being featured on TV series: n “The Mourning” can be heard during apoignant moment in Season4,Episode 9ofthe ABC workplace drama“Station 19.”
n Anew version of “All Things,” the theme song for Netflix’s“Queer Eye,” was recorded by Linsey in New Orleans for Seasons 7and 8, also set in the Big Easy Linsey, 39, categorizesher upcoming album as leaning into Americana, but with her signature soulful vibe.
“I feel like you can take the girl outta New Orleans, but I’malways gonna have that soul part of me in everything that Ido. It definitely fits in the country vein as well.” Email Judy Bergeron at jbergeron@theadvocate.com.
PROVIDED SINGLE COVER IMAGE
By The Associated Press
Today is Friday,April11, the 101st day of 2025. There are 264 days left in the year
Todayinhistory: On April 11, 1945, duringWorld WarII, U.S. Army troopsliberated the Buchenwald Nazi concentration camp near Weimar, Germany
On this date: In 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated as emperor of the French and was banishedtothe island of Elba. (Napoleon later escaped from Elba and returned to power in March 1815, untilhis downfall in the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815.)
In 1865, President Abraham Lincoln spoke to acrowd outside the White House, saying,“We
‘WONDERLAND’
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Megan Guo suffered an injury after months of rehearsals as Alice.
“Megan is one of our pre-professional student dancers, and we were so happy that we were going to be able to keepour production in-house,” saidJonna Cox, who serves as company co-artistic director with RebeccaAcosta.
“She’sbeen working so hard and diligently in developing this role, arole that was created for her.”
An original production Guo would have been the first dancer to perform thelead in this newly choreographed version of “Alice.” She started rehearsingthe role in January
“She put alot of energy in rehearsals, and we were almost at the finish line,” Cox said. “It’sbeen very devastating for her andus.”
So Baton Rouge Ballet turnedto the New Orleans Ballet Theatre to find apossible last-minutereplacement.
“I contacted them to seeifthey had any dancers they could loan to us, and one of the directors there said they didn’t, but she said, ‘This youngdancercamethrough our doors just last week to audition for the company,and she’sgot the skills,’ ”Cox said.“They highly recommendedher,soI reached out to her,and she happened to be available. So, to find aprofessional dancer at thelast minute, it’s a miracle.”
Guestdancersteps in Hurty is aguest dancer for the
WEBSITE
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vehiclesuch as RedStick Rhythms can provide. She’d previously showcased more than 1,000 local acts, working in all genres, duringher radio show’ssix yearson WHYR.
“It’seasytothink that New Orleans is better or Lafayette is better(in music than Baton Rouge),” shesaid. “But Iwanted to do somethingthat’sabout the music from here, that maybe helps people think more curiously about the city around them.”
Musicians were enthusiastic about the chance to present their work via Red Stick Rhythms,Nikitopoulos said.
“They were surprisedthat the library would support something
meet this evening,not in sorrow, but in gladness of heart.” (It was the last public address Lincoln woulddeliver; hewould die four days later after being shot by JohnWilkes Booth.)
In 1951, President Harry S. Trumanrelieved General Douglas MacArthur of hiscommand following multiple public statements by MacArthur that contradicted official U.S.policies.
In 1961,former SS officer Adolf Eichmann went on trialinIsrael, charged with crimesagainst humanity for his role in theNazi Holocaust. (Eichmann was later convicted andexecuted.)
In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed intolaw theCivil Rights Act of 1968, which included theIndianCivil Rights Act and the Fair HousingAct, one week
‘ALICE IN WONDERLAND’
2p.m. Saturday and Sunday l Raising Cane’s River Center Performing ArtsTheater,240 St. Louis St l $35-$55 l Each performancefollowedbyameet-andgreet withthe cast;admission $15. l batonrougeballet.org/springconcert
LosAngeles Ballet andacompany dancer in theBalletProject in Tustin,California. Sheflew into Baton Rouge theSunday before“Alice’s” openingand spentthe week working with Coxand Acosta to learn thepart.
“Usually by this time in aproduction, you’re not spending your time in the studio,” Cox said. “You’re coastingacross thefinish line. But Rebecca andIwill spendour daytime in the studio with her every daytobepreparedfor the role.”
Coxand Acosta choreographed the ballet to amix of selections by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky,the Russian composer known for “The Nutcracker.”
“This is all brand new,” Cox said.
“Rebecca and Idid it as ashort, 25-minuteyouth ballet summer tourshow afew years ago, but we’vetripled it in size, in cast and scope and with brand new sets, all newcostumes, and expandedthe story.”
Thecast of some 100members will include amix of company dancers, company student dancersand children, alongwith freelance professional dancer and Plaquemine native Patrick Jefferson to perform male roles.
‘Wewillbe ready’
“Wewill be ready,” Cox said.
like this,” she said. “In addition to the launch party,we’re planning a concertseries. Especially,some of the younger artists,theysaidthere is nowhere forthem to perform or they must paytoperform.”
The library staged theRed Stick Rhythmslaunch party —with performances by rhythm-and-blues singer Kay Lashea, rock band MidCity Prowlers,Latin hip-hopartistSt. Missy and punk-rock band Screaming Underwater —March 9inthe main library’splaza.
Andrew Hill, leader of Mid-City Prowlers, saysRed Stick Rhythms is awelcome addition to the local music scene. Hisbandisamong themanytogrowout of the Adult MusicClub, aschool of rock for grown-ups created by bassist and music educatorDavid Hinson.
“Baton Rouge has an underrated music scene,” Hill said. “This is another avenue for localmusic, andit
after the assassination of Martin Luther KingJr. In 1980, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission published guidelines saying sexual harassment in the workplace amounted to unlawful sex discrimination in violation of Title VIIofthe Civil Rights Actof1964.
In 2012, George Zimmerman,the Floridaneighborhood watch volunteer who fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder.(He was acquitted at trial.)
Today’sbirthdays: ActorJoel Grey is 93. ActorLouise Lasser is 86. Actor Peter Riegert is 78. ActorBill Irwin is 75. Singer Lisa Stansfield is 58. Former MLBcatcher Jason Varitek is 53. Actor Jennifer Esposito is 52. Rapper DavidBanner is 51.
“We’re committed to putting on a qualityshow. Ourstage manager AdrianBennett, helped us set the design for this show. We rented three differentbackdrops, and for the Corridor of Doors scene, we have eight full-size doors on rollers that are painteddifferent colorsthatare gonna be wheeled around the stage. We have alarge door backdropthat’sgoing to fly in, andthe Queen’s gardensceneisa full set. So, we didn’tcut corners here. We really wanted toinvest in this production.”
Cox and Acostaplan to include “Alice in Wonderland” in the company’sspring concert rotation, whichalso includes“Cinderella” and “Rapunzel.”
“We’d like to add one more, but it’sa huge undertaking,” Cox said. “Thankfully,wehave amazing volunteers who are working to make this happen. They’re sewing costumes, painting sets and working on props.”
And in caseanyone is wondering, all of the Wonderland gang will be on stage for “Alice,”including theWhiteRabbit, Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat and Red Queen. Dancing the roleofthe Rabbit will be Elliana Chaney,aBerean Homeschool Co-opjunior.Dancing thepart of the Red Queen will be Baton Rouge dancer Alyssa Bourque, who has abachelor’sdegree in dance from Belhaven UniversityinJackson, Mississippi.
“Alyssa and Iused to work together in productions at Christian Youth Theatre,” Cox said. “Her command of the RedQueen has been fun.”
Email RobinMiller at romiller@ theadvocate.com.
has madeanimpression. What Ireally like aboutitisthatitshows the diversityofmusic in Baton Rouge It’sall kinds.”
Next year,Nikitopoulos wants to expand Red Stick Rhythmstomusical styles not yet included.
“Weare missingsomegenres,” she said. “Whenweopen for submissions again,we’relooking for gospel, blues and country.” Wonderland praised the diversity of musicRed Stick Rhythms already contains “Alisondid awonderful job,” shesaid. “Andcollaborating with the library was an honor for me, becausethe libraryisanasset to thecommunity.”
RedStick Rhythmswillbegin acceptingsubmissionsfor 2026 in September
FRIDAYNIGHT LECTURE: 7:30 p.m to 8:30 p.m., BREC’s Highland Road Park Observatory,13800 Highland Road. Skygazing tips, physics phenomena, space programs and famous events arecovered. Forages 14 and older Free. https://hrpo.lsu. edu/. Also, evening sky viewing 7:30 p.m to 10 p.m. Saturday
FRIDAY-SATURDAY
BATONROUGE ZYDECO VS.MISSISSIPPI SEAWOLVES: 7p.m.Friday and Saturday, and 3p.m. Sunday,Raising Cane’s RiverCenter Arena, 275 S. River Road. $10-$25+. ticketmaster.com.
FRIDAY-SUNDAY
SUPER RETRIEVER SERIES CLASSIC: various times and locations and West Feliciana Parish SportsPark, 10226 W. Feliciana Parkway,St. Francisville. Showcasing the best all-around retrieversand sporting dogs as well as the top high-flying super dock dogs in thecountry.Free. Bring lawn chairs. Forupdates, go to the Facebook page @Super Retriever Series.
SATURDAY RED STICK FARMERS MARKET: 8a.m. to noon,Fifth andMain streets, downtown. Farm-fresh produce goods, cooking demonstrations. breada. org. PLANT SALE AND FARMERS MARKET: 8a.m.tonoon, Walker High School,9677 Florida Blvd.Hosted by Walker High’s FFA chapter and including preserves, goat soap, beeswaxlip balm, welding projects, flowers, vegetables, succulents and herb plants. Also,kidsface painting and apetting zoo.
LOVE OUR LAKES: 10 a.m.-noon, Knock Knock Children’sMuseum, 1900 Dalrymple Drive. Program aimed at teaching children about Louisiana wetlands, conservation, wildlife, gardening and healthyliving. Hands-on activities includingbuilding a birdhouse, working in agarden, and “Yoga in the Wetlands.” knockknockmuseum.org.
FAMILYHOUR STARGAZING: 10 a.m., Irene W. Pennington Planetarium at the Louisiana Art &Science Museum, 100 S. River Road. Learn about the starsand constellations in the local nighttime sky, followedbyanallages show. lasm.org.
GREATER BATON ROUGE MODEL RAILROADERS: 10 a.m. to 2p.m Republic of West Florida Historical Museum, 3406 College St Jackson. Electric trains of all sizeswill be running on five
differentlayouts. Free admission and parking. greaterbrrailroaders.com.
SIPS AND SOUNDS
SPRINGFEST: Noon to 8:30 p.m., Agile Brewing, 14141 Airline Highway. Agile Brewing, Laissez Versez What If Distillery and Grain Creations’first spring fest, withlive music, vendors,food trucks and spirits.
“ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT”: 2p.m., Manship Theatre, 100 Lafayette St. The light,the lives and the texturesofcontemporary,working-class Mumbai areexplored and celebrated by writer/directorPayal Kapadiainthis fiction featurefilm. $12.50. manshiptheatre.org
BENEFIT CONCERT FEATURINGJAMES LINDENHOGG: 5p.m., 30225 Corbin Ave., Walker.Presented by theCityofWalker with Walker High School, theevening will include an Italian dinner and silent auction. Proceeds go to the Walker High Student MentorProgram. $50; $250 for atable of six. Tickets maybe purchased at thepark office,13620 Aydell Lane. (225) 665-3755.
SATURDAYSUNDAY BASF’SKIDS’ LAB: 11 a.m., 1p.m. and 3p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m.and 3p.m. Sunday,Louisiana Art &Science Museum, 100 S. River Road. Explorethe science of chemistry during 45-minutehands-on workshopsfor scientists ages 6-12 and theiraccompanying adults. This month’s theme: “pHunFactor!” lasm.org.
SUNDAY
EASTER IN THE PARK EGGHUNTAND MARKET: noon-4 p.m., SidneyHutchinson Park, 13750 BallPark Road, Walker.Presented by theCityofWalker Parks and RecDept. withthe Walker High School and Denham Springs High School Beta clubs, theevent will includeachildren’s village,photos withthe Easter Bunny, Easter egghunt (divided by age groups), vendors market, food trucks and music.
SENSORYSECOND SUNDAY: 3p.m. to 5p.m., Louisiana Art & Science Museum, 100 S. River Road. Dimmed
lights, low-volume music, designated quiet areas, headphones and sensory tools are available. lasm.org.
FLEXAND FLOW YOGA: 6:30 p.m JoliePearl Oyster Bar, 315 North Blvd.Rotating instructors and avariety of techniques. Free.
TRIVIA NIGHT: 6:30 p.m Burgersmith, 18303 Perkins Road. Collect your team and jockey for firstplace loom.ly/y-CKtQ4.
“TITANIC”: 7p.m., Manship Theatre, 100 Lafayette St. Screening of the1997 film in honor of National Titanic Remembrance Day. $11.50. manshiptheatre.org
WEDNESDAY
FUTURE EX YOUTH FILM FESTIVAL: 5p.m., Manship Theatre, 100 Lafayette St. Anight of independentshort films,music videos, and visualizers. Free, butRSVP requested. manshiptheatre.org
TRIVIA NIGHT: 6:30 p.m., Burgersmith, 27350 Crossing Circle, Suite150, Denham Springs.Collect your team and jockey for firstplace.loom.ly/yCKtQ4.
THURSDAY
RED STICKFARMERS MARKET: 8a.m. to noon, Pennington Biomedical Research Center,6400 Perkins Road. Farm-fresh produce, goodsand more. facebook.com/redstickfarmersmarket. GIRL SCOUT COOKIE WINE PAIRINGCLASS NO.3: 6p.m., Blend, 304 LaurelSt. $45. eventbrite.com. TRIVIA NIGHT: 7p.m., Jolie Pearl Oyster Bar, 315 NorthBlvd. Test your trivia skills with your friends and family.Free.
CompiledbyJudy Bergeron. Have an open-to-thepublic eventyou’d liketopromote? Email details to red@theadvocate. com. Deadline is 5p.m.Friday forthe following Friday’s paper
PROVIDED PHOTO
James Linden Hogg will performatabenefit forthe Walker High School Student Mentor Program at 5p.m. Saturday at 30225 Corbin Ave., Walker.The evening will include an Italian dinner and silentauction. Tickets are $50.
ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Let your imagination take the reins and your ideas accumulate. Once you absorbthe possibilities, you can broaden your scope and start anew adventure.Enjoythe ride.
tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Alifestyle change will enhanceyour mood and encourage youtotake the initiative to headinaninviting direction. The results will make you healthy, happy andwise.
GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Socialize, but don't overspend or give in to indulgent behavior. Taking short trips, reuniting with someoneyou losttouch with or learning something new will kickstart your imagination.
cAncER (June 21-July 22) Think, prepare and execute your plans strategically. Let intelligence, not your emotions clear the path forward. Saynotoanger and no-win situations, and sayyes to positive action.
LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) You have options that may require alittlework.Beopen to learning, upgrading and finding a popular niche in yourcommunity. It's time to be innovative andhelpful.
VIRGo(Aug. 23-sept. 22) Present your thoughts, feelings and attributes. Put your energy into shaping your next move. Make apromise to aloved one and follow through on it
LIBRA (sept. 23-oct.23) Find something youfeel passionateabout anddoyour best to make adifference. Changing your surroundings will motivate you
to adopta healthier lifestylewithbetterdietary andfitness habits.
scoRPIo (oct.24-nov. 22) Adiversion will help youget outofarut or redirect your attention to something engaging and beneficial. Acreative outlet will help yousee people andsituationsfrom aunique perspective
sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Avoid offending someone or ruining ameaningful relationship. Honest communication is in your best interest.Money matters requireattention. Be frugal andprudent so as to avoid aloss.
cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Refuseto let emotional situations spin out of control. Takeastepback andevaluate your next move. Someone from your past will surface unexpectedly,bringingback poignant memories.
AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Observe what'shappening,but don'tfeel obligated to participate in the changes someone elseispursuing. Focus on your surroundings andwhatmakes you happy. Set abudget to accommodate your goals.
PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Participation is your ticket to new beginnings. Be receptive to information andfine-tune your plans to maximizeoptions and opportunities. You can achieve your desired results.
CelebrityCipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present. Eachletter in the cipher stands for another.
toDAy's cLuE:X EQuALs s
zodIAC
CeLebrItY CIpher
For better or For WorSe
beetLe bAILeY
Mother GooSe And GrIMM
LAGoon
bIG nAte
Sudoku
InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1to9inthe 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
THewiZard oF id
BLondie
BaBY BLueS
Hi and LoiS CurTiS
Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer
By PHILLIP ALDER
RobertFrost, awinner of four PulitzerPrizesfor poetry, said, “Tworoads diverged in awood and Itook the one lesstraveled by, andthat has made all the difference.” In today’sdeal,there aretwo roads that the declarermight take —and many players would not even seeone of them, ending up down one in theircontract. South is in three no-trump. West leads the spade three. What arethe two roads,whichshoulddeclarerchoose,and why?
South starts with seven top tricks: two spades,three diamonds and twoclubs. Assuming he can collect five diamond tricks, he will be home. If that suit is breaking 2-2 or 3-1, it does not matter whathedoes. So he should consider a 4-0 split.
Getting that far, somedeclarers, after winning the first trick, say, on theboard, would immediately cashthe diamond king.Here, they would then fail and complain about their badluck. However, thereisasecond waytoplay diamonds successfully, when West has jack-fourth. South can cashhis ace first, thentwice lead through Westtopick up hisnineand jack. But why should declarer play Westfor the diamonds rather than East?
Bridge Each Wuzzle is aword riddle which creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying,
Thesignpost is West’s opening lead. Assuming it was an honest fourth-highest,Westbeganwithexactlyfourspades. (He led the three and Southholds the two.) If West is alsovoid in diamonds, he would have at least five cards in clubs orheartsandpresumablywouldhaveled thatsuit, not spades. Useone piece of evidence to help with another.
Previous answers:
InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by
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today’s thought
“you are of God, littlechildren, and haveovercome them: becausegreater is he that is in you,than he that is in the world.”1John4:4
loCKhorNs
Amen! TheGod of theuniverse lives within his people. He gives thevictory G.E. Dean
