The Acadiana Advocate 04-12-2025 by The Advocate

SHOULDER INJURY COULD SIDELINE SAINTS QB CARR FOR SEASON

Museums, libraries bracing for cuts

Trump administration targets cultural funding

“It is a blow In the last five years, we have reached every parish in the state. This grant was terminated by the NEH, but it is the state of Louisiana that loses.”

MIRANDA RESTOVIC, president and chief executive of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities

BY EMILY WOODRUFF Staff writer

BY JAN RISHER and JENNA ROSS Staff writers

The email from the National Endowment for the Humanities came at 11:38 p.m. on April 2. It landed in Miranda Restovic’s spam folder

The message: A partnership that had lasted more than 50 years between the federal agency and the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities had ended overnight

“NEH has reasonable cause to terminate your grant in light of the fact that the NEH is repurposing its funding allocations in a new direction in furtherance of the President’s agenda,” said the email, signed by Michael McDonald, the endowment’s acting chairman.

For Restovic, president and chief executive of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, which leads and funds arts and cultural initiatives across the state, it meant that $600,000, or 20% of its annual budget, was gone.

“It is a blow,” said Restovic. “In the last

Bruce Greenstein, a longtime public health ofﬁcial who led the Louisiana Department of Health more than a decade ago before resigning amid a contracting scandal, has been appointed by Gov Jeff

Judge rules student is deportable

Columbia University activist held at ICE facility in Jena

BY JOHN SIMERMAN Staff writer

ﬁve years, we have reached every parish in the state This grant was terminated by the NEH, but it is the state of Louisiana that loses.”

The Trump administration, aided by billionaire Elon Musk, is slashing federal spending in the name of removing bloat and waste. In recent days, Louisiana ofﬁcials learned they are set to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in FEMA funding to protect against storms and tens of millions of dollars in funding for public health. The state’s farmers are dealing with the loss of some $350 million in agricultural programs and subsidies.

Now, Louisiana’s museums, libraries and cultural organizations are grappling with or bracing for dramatic cuts as well.

In addition to the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, an array of other institutions have been notiﬁed of cuts — including Tulane University, LSU, Southern University and the University of Louisiana at

ä See CUTS, page 5A

BY PATRICK WALL Staff writer

JENA — An immigration judge on Friday agreed with the Trump administration that Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student activist and legal permanent resident who is accused of speaking out at the expense of U.S. foreign policy is deportable. At a hearing inside the heavily secured Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center, Judge Jamee Comans found that the government had shown that Khalil can legally be expelled. However, the decision won’t immediately end Khalil’s stay in the Louisiana lockup, which has now run for a month. Comans set an April 23 deadline for his attorneys to prove their case for asylum or other relief that would enable him to remain in the U.S. If they fail, Khalil would be deported to Syria or Algeria, the judge said. Wearing prayer beads and a navy jumpsuit, Khalil spoke brieﬂy in court, according to news accounts. He said there was “nothing more important than due process rights and fundamental fairness,” adding in reference to another statement in court, “Clearly what we witnessed today, neither of these principles were present.”

The arrest of Khalil, 30, who was not charged with a crime, was followed by several others of noncitizen activists who are legally in the U.S. on visas. It’s viewed as a test case for the Trump administration’s power to deport protesters for their political views.

Administration ofﬁcials have said they are targeting supporters of Hamas for

Funding sought to maintain stipends

ago, Louisiana’s teachers were basking in praise for helping students lead the country in reading gains. Now those same educators are staring down a pay cut. Annual $2,000 stipends that teachers received for the past two

years are set to expire after this school year ends, as are $1,000 stipends for school support staff. Gov. Jeff Landry’s spending plan for next fiscal year does not include the stipends. This week, several state lawmakers said they won’t allow the state’s public school teachers — whose salaries lag the regional average by thousands of dollars — to endure a $2,000 pay cut when Louisiana’s education system is on the rise.

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Students walk past masquerades by Sheku ‘Goldenfinger’ Fofanah, of Sierra Leone, while visiting an exhibit at the New Orleans Museum of Art on Tuesday. The grant that helped bring the exhibit to New Orleans is among those terminated last week by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

Gov. Jeff Landry and state officials celebrated Louisiana’s educational progress in January. Now, teachers who helped achieve those gains could face a pay cut. ä

Khalil

STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

Sabrine Mohamad, right, a human rights attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center is consoled by Fatima Kahn as they and others gather outside the ICE detention center in Jena on Friday.

ä See JUDGE, page 4A

U.S. pastor abducted at gunpoint in South Africa

JOHANNESBURG A pastor was abducted by armed and masked men as he was preaching a sermon before a congregation in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province, police said Friday. Four men broke into the Fellowship Baptist church in Motherwell Township on Thursday evening, stole two cellphones from members of the congregation and took away the pastor in his own truck, said police, who have now initiated an investigation into abduction and armed robbery Local media named the victim as Josh Sullivan, 45, of Tennessee, but police would not conﬁrm the identiﬁcation.

According to the Fellowship Baptist church blog Sullivan who described himself as a “church-planting missionary,” his wife Meagan and two children arrived in South Africa in November 2018 to run the Motherwell branch.

An image showing Sullivan preaching behind a pulpit was uploaded on X by a user going by the name of Tom Hatley Sullivan identiﬁes a man with the same name as his childhood and training pastor on his own blog. Hatley claimed that he was posting on Sullivan’s wife’s behalf and prayed for a safe return.

U.S. measles cases surpass 700 in 6 states

U.S measles cases topped 700 as of Friday, capping a week in which Indiana joined five others states with active outbreaks, Texas grew by another 60 cases and a third measles-related death was made public.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr claimed in a televised Cabinet meeting Thursday that measles cases were plateauing nationally, but the virus continues to spread mostly in people who are unvaccinated and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention redeployed a team to West Texas.

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 541.

Texas’ cases include two unvaccinated elementary schoolaged children who died from measles-related illnesses near the epicenter of the outbreak in rural West Texas, which led Kennedy to visit the community Sunday The third person who died was an adult in New Mexico who was not vaccinated.

Nigeria bans song criticizing its president ABUJA, Nigeria Authorities in Nigeria have barred radio stations from playing a song critical of President Bola Tinubu and his administration’s policies, according to a memo seen Friday by The Associated Press

The country’s media regulator described the content of “Tell Your Papa” in the memo to radio stations as “inappropriate for broadcast.”

The song is a response by musician and outspoken government critic Eedris Abdulkareem to recent remarks by Seyi Tinubu, the president’s son, who called his father the greatest leader in the country’s history

In the afrobeats track, Abdulkareem asks the younger Tinubu to tell his father that his policies have brought widespread hardship to Africa’s most populous country, while highlighting what he calls a string of unfulfilled “empty promises.”

In an article published Wednesday and in subsequent stories about the Federal Emergency Management Agency eliminating its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, the amount of money at stake in Louisiana was misstated. The articles incorrectly said there were 148 applications worth $721 million using BRIC that will be ended in Louisiana. There are 34 projects directly funded by BRIC worth a total of $185 million, according to FEMA’s ﬁnancial obligations database. The Advocate regrets the error

China hits back in trade war

Beijing to up tariffs on U.S goods to 125%

By The Associated Press

BEIJING China announced Friday that it will raise tar-

iffs on U.S. goods from 84% to 125% — the latest salvo in an escalating trade war between the world’s two largest economies that has rattled markets and raised fears of a global slowdown.

While U.S. President Donald Trump paused import taxes this week for other countries, he raised tariffs on China and they now total 145%. China has denounced the policy as “economic bullying” and promised countermeasures The new tar-

iffs begin Saturday Washington’s repeated raising of tariffs “will become a joke in the history of the world economy,” a Chinese Finance Ministry spokesperson said in a statement announcing the new tariffs. “However, if the U.S. insists on continuing to substantially infringe on China’s interests, China will resolutely counter and ﬁght to the end.”

China’s Commerce Ministry said it would ﬁle another lawsuit with the World Trade Organization against the U.S. tariffs.

“There are no winners in a tariff war,” Chinese leader Xi Jinping said during a meeting with the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, according to a readout from state broadcaster

CCTV “For more than 70 years, China has always relied on itself and hard work for development, never relying on favors from anyone, and not fearing any unreasonable suppression.”

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday said China stands firm against Trump’s tariffs not only to defend its own rights and interests but also to “safeguard the common interests of the international community to ensure that humanity is not dragged back into a jungle world where might makes right.”

Wang made the remarks when he met Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Beijing. Wang said China will “work together with other coun-

A New york Police Department scuba team prepares to dive Friday where a sightseeing helicopter crashed a day earlier into the Hudson River

Divers search for parts of crashed N.Y. helicopter

6 killed when sightseeing flight crashed into Hudson River

BY MICHAEL R. SISAK, DAVE COLLINS and TED SHAFFREY Associated Press

NEW YORK Police and ﬁre department divers were searching Friday for the main and rear rotors of a sightseeing helicopter that broke apart in midair and crashed into the Hudson River between New York City and New Jersey, killing all six people aboard including a family of ﬁve from Spain.

Those parts, along with the helicopter’s transmission, the roof and tail structures have not been found since the crash Thursday afternoon, Jennifer Homendy chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, told reporters at a brieﬁng in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Officials also identified the pilot as 36-year-old Seankese Johnson.

Hemendy said the NTSB would not speculate on the cause of the crash so early in the investigation.

“We are very factual and we will provide that in due course,” she said.

Visibility was low in the murky river and divers were using sonar to hunt for the missing pieces. The pilot and passenger cabin of the aircraft was pulled from the river Thursday night.

The victims from Spain included Siemens executive Agustin Escobar, 49, his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, 39, who had been a global manager at an energy technology company, and their three children, Victor, 4, Mercedes, 8, and Agustin, 10. Mercedes would have turned 9 on Friday, ofﬁcials said.

Escobar was in the New York area on business and his family flew over to meet him for a few days, said Steven Fulop, mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey,

in a post on X. He said ofﬁcials were working with the medical examiner to release the bodies for their return to Spain.

Johnson regularly celebrated his career milestones as a helicopter pilot on social media. In March, he changed his Facebook proﬁle to a screengrab of him piloting a helicopter with a view of Freedom Tower and the Manhattan skyline in the background.

In the summer of 2023, he announced that he was flying a Blackhawk helicopter to fight fires for a Montana-based ﬁrm “Long hours and painstaking work to get to this moment. Thank you for all the love and support from those who’ve helped me get here,” Johnson wrote.

Community activists and officials have repeatedly proposed banning or restricting trafﬁc at Manhattan heliports, citing New York City’s history of fatal helicopter accidents that have killed 38 people since 1977 as well as the relentless noise.

Federal judge allows immigration enforcement in houses of worship

BY LINDSAY WHITEHURST and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press

WASHINGTON A federal judge on Friday sided with the Trump administration in allowing immigration agents to conduct enforcement operations at houses of worship for now, despite a lawsuit ﬁled by religious groups over the new policy

U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich in Washington refused to grant a preliminary injunction to the plaintiffs, more than two dozen Christian and Jewish groups representing millions of Americans. She found that the plaintiffs lack standing, or the

legal right to sue, since only a handful of immigration enforcement actions have been conducted in or around churches or other houses of worship and that the evidence at this point doesn’t show “that places of worship are being singled out as special targets.”

The plaintiffs are reviewing the decision and assessing their options, said their lead counsel, Kelsi Corkran. “We remain gravely concerned about the impacts of this policy and are committed to protecting foundational rights enshrined in the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act,”

tries to jointly resist all retrogressive actions in the world.”

Trump’s on-again, offagain measures have caused alarm in stock and bond markets and led some to warn that the U.S. could be headed for a recession.

There was some relief when Trump paused the tariffs for most countries — but concerns remain since the U.S. and China are the world’s No. 1 and No. 2 economies, respectively

“The risk that this escalating trade war tips the world into a recession is rising as the two largest and most powerful countries in the world continue to punch back with higher and higher tariffs,” Jennifer Lee, a senior economist at BMO Capital markets, wrote Fri-

day. “No one truly knows when this will end.” Chinese tariffs will affect goods like soybeans, aircrafts and their parts and drugs all among the country’s major imports from the U.S. Beijing, meanwhile, suspended sorghum, poultry and bonemeal imports from some American companies last week, and put more export controls on rare earth minerals, critical for various technologies. The United States’ top imports from China, meanwhile, include electronics, like computers and cellphones, industrial equipment and toys — and consumers and businesses are likely to see prices rise on those products, with tariffs now at 145%.

Small plane crashes near Florida highway Authorities say 3

killed, 1 hurt

BY STEPHANY MATAT and CURT ANDERSON Associated Press

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Three people were killed and one was injured when a small plane crashed Friday morning in South Florida near a major interstate highway and pushed a car onto railroad tracks, ofﬁcials said.

Boca Raton Fire Rescue assistant chief Michael LaSalle said the plane crash that killed all three people on board emitted a ﬁreball when it hit the ground, injuring a person in a nearby car LaSalle said several roads near the Boca Raton Airport will remain closed near Interstate 95.

The Federal Aviation Administration identiﬁed the plane as a Cessna 310 with three people on board. It went down about 10:20 a.m. after departing from Boca Raton Airport bound for Tallahassee, the FAA said in an email.

Fire officials told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that the aircraft appeared to have pushed a car onto

the railroad tracks, leading to the tracks’ closure. Josh Orsino, 31, said he was stopped at a red light at a nearby overpass when he heard a loud explosion and saw a huge fireball come toward him.

“We’re just sitting there, and I see the palm trees start catching on ﬁre,” Orsino said. “I thought it was an oil rig or a car crash type thing.”

Orsino said everyone was honking and trying to get off the overpass, not sure if it was going to collapse.

“So I didn’t know if the ﬁre was going to come towards the vehicles, I mean, my ﬁrst instinct was like, I got to get off this bridge. I’m getting out of here,” Orsino said.

Miguel Coka, 51, who works near the Boca Raton airport, said he is used to seeing planes ﬂying low as they prepare to land. But this time, he and his colleagues noticed something was off.

“There was a rumble and everyone in the building felt it,” he said when the plane crashed. “We are all shocked.”

Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer said the investigation was just beginning.

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said Corkran, the Supreme Court Director at the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy & Protection.

The religious groups argued the policy violated the right to practice their religion. Since President Donald Trump took ofﬁce in January, attendance has declined signiﬁcantly, with some areas showing double-digit percentage drops, they said.

The judge, though, found that the groups had not shown their drops were deﬁnitively linked to the church policy specifically, as opposed to broader increased actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement or other agencies.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By yUKI IWAMURA

in Jersey City N.J

Feds offer no details on wrongly deported Md. man

Judge lambasts lawyer who couldn’t answer questions

BY MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, REBECCA SANTANA and BEN FINLEY Associated Press

GREENBELT, Md.

— A federal judge on Friday lambasted a government lawyer who couldn’t explain what, if anything, the Trump administration has done to arrange for the return of a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported last month to a notorious prison in El Salvador

The U.S. government attorney also struggled to provide any information about the whereabouts of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, despite Thursday’s ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that the Trump administration must bring him back.

“Where is he and under whose authority?” U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis asked in a Maryland courtroom.

“I’m not asking for state secrets,” she said. “All I know is that he’s not here. The government was prohibited from sending him to El Salvador, and now I’m asking a very simple question: Where is he?”

Drew Ensign, a deputy assistant attorney general, said the government doesn’t have

evidence to contradict the belief that Abrego Garcia is still in El Salvador.

Xinis sounded exasperated that Ensign couldn’t tell her where Abrego Garcia is, what the government has done to arrange for his return or what more it plans to do to get him back to the U.S.

“That is extremely troubling,” she said.

The judge repeatedly asked Ensign about what has been done, asking pointedly:

“Have they done anything?” to which Ensign said he didn’t have personal knowledge of what had been done.

“So that means they’ve done nothing,” the judge said, adding later: “Despite

Israel to fire reservists who condemned war

BY SAM MEDNICK

Associated Press

TELAVIV Israel Israel’s mili-

tary said Friday it will ﬁre air force reservists who signed an open letter that condemns the war in Gaza for only serving political interests instead of bringing the hostages home.

In a statement to The Associated Press, an army ofﬁcial said there was no room for any individual including reservists on active duty, “to exploit their military status while simultaneously participating in the fighting,” calling the letter a breach of trust between commanders and subordinates

The army said it had decided that any active reservist who signed the letter will not be able to continue serving. It did not specify how many people that included or if the firings had begun. Nearly 1,000 Israeli Air Force reservists and retirees signed the letter published in Israeli media Thursday, demanding the immediate return of the hostages, even at the cost of ending the ﬁghting

The letter comes as Israel ramps up its offensive in Gaza, trying to pressure Hamas to agree to free hostages, 59 of whom are still being held, more than half of which are dead Israel’s imposed a blockade on food,

fuel and humanitarian aid that has left civilians facing acute shortages as supplies dwindle. It has pledged to seize large parts of the Palestinian territory and establish a new security corridor through it.

While the soldiers who signed the letter didn’t refuse to keep serving, it’s part of a growing number of Israeli soldiers speaking out against the 18-month conﬂict, some saying they saw or did things that crossed ethical lines

“It’s completely illogical and irresponsible on behalf of the Israeli policy makers risking the lives of the hostages, risking the lives of more soldiers and risking lives of many, many more innocent Palestinians, while it had a very clear alternative,” said Guy Poran, a retired Israeli Air Force pilot who spearhead the letter.

He said he’s not aware of anyone who signed the letter being ﬁred, and since it was published, it has gained dozens more signatures.

Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu downplayed the letter on Friday, saying it was written by a “small handful of weeds, operated by foreign-funded NGOs whose sole goal is to overthrow the right-wing government.” He said anyone who encourages refusal will be immediately dismissed.

this court’s clear directive, your clients have done nothing to facilitate the return of Mr Abrego Garcia.”

For his part, Ensign stressed that the government was “actively considering what could be done” and said that Abrego Garcia’s case involved three Cabinet agencies and signiﬁcant coordination.

Before the hearing ended, Xinis ordered the U.S to provide daily status updates on plans to return Abrego Garcia. “I guess my message, for what it’s worth, is: if you can do it, do it tomorrow,” she said. In a brief ﬁled before the

hearing, Trump administration attorneys told Xinis that her deadline for information was “impractical” and that they lacked enough time to review Thursday’s Supreme Court’s ruling.

The U.S. attorneys also wrote that it was “unreasonable” for the U.S. government “to reveal potential steps before those steps are reviewed, agreed upon, and vetted.”

“Foreign affairs cannot operate on judicial timelines, in part because it involves sensitive country-speciﬁc considerations wholly inappropriate for judicial review,” the attorneys wrote.

After the hearing, Abrego

Garcia’s lawyer told reporters that “he should be here in the United States.”

Flanked by Abrego Garcia’s wife and backed by supporters, attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg said he’s hoping for a “meaningful” government update on Saturday “If they don’t take today’s order seriously, we’ll respond,” he said.

Meanwhile, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele is expected to visit Washington on Monday White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked Friday if President Donald Trump wanted Bukele to bring Abrego Garcia.

But Leavitt said Bukele is visiting to speak about the cooperation between the two countries “that is at an alltime high.”

Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, said Thursday that the ordeal has been an “emotional roller coaster.”

“I am anxiously waiting for Kilmar to be here in my arms, and in our home putting our children to bed, knowing this nightmare is almost at its end. I will continue ﬁghting until my husband is home,” she said.

Abrego Garcia ﬂed El Salvador because of persecution by local gangs, according to his immigration court records. He lived in Maryland for roughly 14 years, during which he worked in construc-

tion, married a U.S. citizen and was raising three children with disabilities. In 2019, he was accused by local police of being in the MS-13 gang, court records state. He denied the allegation and was never charged with a crime.

A U.S. immigration judge subsequently shielded him from deportation to El Salvador because of likely gang persecution in his native country, records say He had a federal permit to work in the U.S. and was a sheet metal apprentice, his attorney said.

The Trump administration deported Abrego Garcia to an El Salvador prison anyway, later describing the mistake as “an administrative error” but insisting that he was in MS-13. The administration also argued that the U.S. lacked the power to retrieve the Salvadoran national because he’s no longer in the U.S. But Xinis, the federal judge in Maryland, ordered the U.S. to return him, writing that his deportation appeared to be “wholly lawless.”

“There is little to no evidence to support a ‘vague, uncorroborated’ allegation that Abrego Garcia was once in the MS-13 street gang,” Xinis wrote April 4. In its ruling on Thursday, the Supreme Court rejected the administration’s emergency appeal of Xinis’ order

BY LORNE COOK Associated Press

BRUSSELS European countries vowed Friday to sends billions of dollars in further funding to help Ukraine keep ﬁghting Russia’s invasion, as a U.S envoy pursued peace efforts in a trip to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid growing questions about the Kremlin’s willingness to stop the more than three-year war Russian forces hold the advantage in Ukraine, with the war now in its fourth year Ukraine has endorsed a U.S. ceaseﬁre proposal, but Russia has effectively blocked it by imposing far-reaching conditions. European governments have accused Putin of dragging his feet

“Russia has to get moving” on the road to ending the war, U.S. President Donald Trump posted on social media. He said the war is “terrible and senseless.”

In Russia, the Kremlin said Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin in St. Petersburg. Witkoff, who has been pressing the Kremlin to accept a truce, initially met with Putin envoy Kirill Dmitriev, footage released by Russian media showed.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Witkoff during his visit to Russia was discussing efforts to end the war with Putin and other officials.

“This is another step in the negotiating process towards a ceaseﬁre and an ultimate

peace deal,” she said.

Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said Witkoff’s meeting with Putin lasted 4½ hours, and cited the Kremlin as saying that the two discussed “aspects” of ending the war, without providing any details.

After chairing a meeting of Ukraine’s Western backers in Brussels, British Defense Secretary John Healey said

that new pledges of military aid totaled over 21 billion euros ($24 billion), “a record boost in military funding for Ukraine, and we are also surging that support to the frontline ﬁght.” Healey gave no breakdown of that ﬁ

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOSE LUIS MAGANA

Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, of Maryland, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, speaks April 4 during a news conference at CASA’s Multicultural Center in Hyattsville, Md.

Doctorsremovepig kidney from womanafter 130days

BYLAURAN NEERGAARD Associated Press

WASHINGTON An Alabama woman who lived with apig kidneyfor a record 130 days had theorgan removed after her body began rejectingitand is back on dialysis, doctorsannounced Friday —adisappointmentinthe ongoingquest for animal-to-human transplants Towana Looney is recovering well from the April 4removal surgery at NYU Langone Health and has returned home to Gadsden, Alabama. In astatement, she thanked her doctors for “the opportunity to be partofthis incred-

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removal, as well as antisemitic attacks in the U.S. Khalil’s attorneys and other supporters say he isbeing illegally detained for speech thatisprotected by theFirst Amendment.

APalestinian by ethnicitywho was born in Syria, Khalil was active in campus protestsagainst Israel and thewar in Gaza. He recently finished master’scoursework at Columbia’sschool of international affairs and is married to an Americancitizen whoisdue to give birth soon, his lawyers say Khalil was arrested outside his university-owned apartment and booked in New York on March 8. The next day,hewas shuttled on an American Airlines flighttoDallas and another flight to Alexandria, landing him in Louisiana on the morning of March10, hislawyers say He was sent to the ICE processing facility in Jena, where the immigration court also resides,and where ascrum of media and activists gathered Friday in front of the gates.

“Hesleepsina bunkerwithout apillow or blanket,” Khalil’sattorneys said in an April3legal ﬁling.

An ICEofﬁcial did notrespond Friday to questions about Khalil’s living situation at the facility.

ible research.”

“Though the outcomeisnot what anyone wanted,I know alot was learned from my 130 days with a pig kidney —and that thiscan help and inspire many others in their journey to overcoming kidney disease,” Looney added. Scientists are genetically altering pigs so their organs aremorehumanlike to address asevereshortageoftransplantablehumanorgans.

More than 100,000 people are on the U.S. transplant list,most whoneed akidney, and thousands die waiting.

Before Looney’stransplant only four other Americans had received experimentalxenotransplants

of gene-edited pig organs —two heartsand two kidneys that lasted no longerthantwo months. Those recipients, who were severely ill before thesurgery,died.

Now researchers are attempting thesetransplantsinslightly less sick patients, like Looney.ANew Hampshire manwho receiveda pig kidneyinJanuary is faring well and arigorous study of pig kidney transplantsisset to begin this summer.Chinese researchers also recently announced asuccessful kidney xenotransplant.

Looney hadbeen on dialysis since2016 and didn’tqualify for a regular transplant —her body was

abnormally primed to reject ahuman kidney.Soshe sought out apig kidneyand it functioned well shecalled herself “superwoman” and lived longer than anyone with agene-edited pig organbefore, from herNov.25transplant until earlyAprilwhen her body began rejectingit. NYU xenotransplant pioneer Dr.Robert Montgomery,Looney’s surgeon, said what triggered that rejection is beinginvestigated. But he saidLooney and her doctors agreed it would be less risky to remove the pig kidneythantotry saving it with higher,riskier doses of anti-rejection drugs.

In an undated letter obtained by The Associated Press, Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the push to remove Khalil. Rubio cited arelatively obscure section of the Immigrationaland NationalityAct that empowers him to ﬁnd that an “alien’spast, current, or expected beliefs, statements or associations that are otherwise lawful” would spell danger to U.S. foreign policy if the person stays.

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“There’sjustnoway that we can discontinue what they have received for the past twoyears,” said Rep. Jason Hughes,D-New Orleans, during aHouse budget hearing this week. “From my perspective, we have amoral obligation to ensure that, at a minimum,” educatorpay remains constant.

But to pay for stipends again next school year,the Legislature must ﬁnd nearly $200 million at amoment when federal funding that Louisiana relies on could be slashed and when Landry has proposed a“standstill” budget and astate hiring freeze to rein in spending. With tax increases unlikely, lawmakers might have to scrap other expenditures to keep educator pay from falling.

“Based on the numbers Igot, I’m going to have to make signiﬁcant reductions in other areas of the budget to do that,” said Rep. Jack McFarland,R-Jonesboro, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee. “I think it can be done, but it’s going tobevery challenging.”

Some lawmakers want to prune $50million from Landry’smarquee education program, LA GATOR, which will give families taxdollars to pay for private education Landryundoubtedly would opposethat cut.

“That program means alot to him,” said State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley.“Clearly we would hatetosee areduction to the governor’skey priority for education.”

Landry’sspokespersondid not respond to arequest for comment.

Another option is to reintroduce aconstitutional amendment that Landry championedbut voters rejected last month,which would have unlockedenough funding for most school districts to boost teacher pay. However,many observers doubt that the amendment

“Wedid the safe thing,” Montgomery told The Associated Press. “She’snoworse off than she was before (the xenotransplant) and she would tell you she’sbetter off because she hadthis 41/2 month break from dialysis.” Shortly before therejection began, Looney had suffered an infection related to her prior time on dialysis andher immunesuppressing anti-rejection drugs were slightly lowered, Montgomerysaid. At the same time,her immune systemwas reactivating after the transplant. Those factors mayhave combined to damage the new kidney,hesaid.

judge since 2021, on Tuesday gave federal ofﬁcials24hours to submit evidence forremoving Khalil from the country Khalil’sarrest was thefirst of several attempted deportations of foreign-born students whojoined pro-Palestinianprotests or expressed criticism of Israel, or who authorities claim pose anational security concern, to land in Louisiana,where ICE maintains several detention facilities in remote locales such as Jena,fourhours by car from New Orleans.

Among them:

Rumeysa Ozturk, aTufts University doctoral student from Turkey, was detainedina Boston suburb on March 25 and landed at the South Louisiana ICEProcessing Center in Basile,where she remained Thursday,according to ICErecords.

Thename of another person Rubio found deportable forthe same reasons was redacted in the memo released by The Associated Press. Their presenceinthe U.S would “undermine U.S. policy to combat anti-Semitismaround the world and in the United States,in additiontoefforts to protect Jewish students from harassment and violence in theUnited States,” Rubio wrote.

processcould be completed before the new fiscalyear begins July 1.

With the legislative session startingMonday and abudgetdue just overtwo months later,Landryand lawmakers will have toget creative to protect teachers’ pay

“Everything is on the table,” McFarland said Compared to their peers, Louisiana teachers are underpaid.

With average salaries of about $54,200 in 2023, they earned roughly $5,000 less than theregional average and$15,000 less than thenationalaverage, according to data compiled by the Southern Regional Education Board, anonproﬁtresearch group.

Instead of raising teacher salaries, Louisiana has for several years giventhem annual stipends.Lastfall, Landry andlawmakers devised away to fund lasting raises by revising the constitution.

Amendment 2wouldhave usededucationtrust funds to paydownteacher retirement debt, creating savings thatschool districts couldspend on teacher pay. But the pay plan was one of dozens of constitutional changes embedded in the amendment, which voters rejected along with three other amendments by wide margins last month.

“The voters spokeloud and clear,and now wehave to move forward,” Hughes said in an interviewFriday “But our teachers should not be collateral damage.”

He said he would prefer to give teacherspermanent raises, butwould support another year of stipends. He argued thatthe state could pullmoney from its reserves to free upfunding for teachers.

“Contrary to popular opinion, we’re actually in avery good ﬁscal position,”hesaid.

But Landry,who campaigned for Amendment 2and blamedits defeat on “far left liberals,” has insisted that aconstitutional change is the only way to fundlastingraises.

“Regrettably,” he said

Khalil’sattorney, Marc VanDer Hout,vowed to continue ﬁghting. “Today,wesaw our worst fears

in alettertoteachers this week, no other “recurring resources exist to fund the permanent salary increase you deserve.”

Bills by Rep. Julie Emerson, R-Carencro, and Rep. Josh Carlson, R-Lafayette, would revive the parts of Amendment 2that funded teacher raises. However, another statewide vote on constitutional changes is unlikely before this fall or next spring, well after the budget mustbecomplete, lawmakers and observers said.

“I don’tknow if we can get all thatdone, get it on the ballot,get it passed and get it all through in time,” McFarlandsaid.

If they can’t ﬁnd enough money to boostpay indeﬁnitely,lawmakers could fund another round of stipends —though several saidthey’d prefer to avoid that route.

“The goal of the amendment wastomakeitapermanent raise so we don’t have to do this every year,” saidSenatePresident Cameron Henry,R-Metairie.

“You don’twant to have teachers coming back every single year saying, ‘Can I please have my stipend?

Even if they cut other budget items—including part of Landry’spet program,LA GATOR —McFarlandsaidit isn’tclear they could ﬁnd the $198 millionneeded to maintain thecurrent stipends

“Maybe we get athird, maybe we can comeupwith ahalf,” he said.“Maybe all of it.”

As Landry and lawmakers enter budgettalks divided over how to keep teacher pay steady,much lessprovide raises, they appear to agree on one thing: Teachers have earned a ﬁnancial reward.

“I knowit’sgoing to be an uphill battle,” said Rep Barbara Freiberg, R-Baton Rouge,who is on the House appropriation andeducation committees. “ButI’m hoping people will look at the job that’sbeen done and say,‘This is worthy of ﬁnding money to fund.’”

Staff writer Elyse Carmosino provided reporting.

play out:Mahmoud wassubject to acharade of due process, a ﬂagrant violation of his right to afair hearing, and aweaponization of immigration law to suppress dissent,” he said.

Several of Khalil’ssupporters stood alongthe road outside the detention facilityafterward,decrying thedecision.

Comans, aformer ICEattorney who has served as an immigration

BadarKhanSuri, an Indian national and Georgetown scholar, wasarrestedinhis Virginia home last month after hisJ-1 visa was revoked. He was ﬂowntoanICE staging facility in Alexandria, then relocated to Texas. Suri awaits a hearing Friday Alireza Doroudi, an Iranianborn University of Alabamadoctoral student, was picked up outside his home last month. Authorities said his visa was revoked. His attorneysaysDoroudi awaits a bond hearing next week in Jena, where he remained in detention on Friday.

WWL-Louisiana reporterCharisse Gibson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

coverage fortheirentire working life,through employer-provided benefits.When those benefits endwithretirement, paying dental bills out-of-pocket can come as a shock,leading people to put off or even go without care

Simply put— without dentalinsurance, there may be an importantgap in your healthcare coverage.

When you’recomparingplans

Medicare doesn’tpay for dental care.1

That’sright. As good as Medicare is, it wasnever meanttocovereverything. Thatmeans if you wantprotection,you need to purchase individual insurance.

Early detection canprevent small problems from becoming expensive ones. The best waytopreventlarge dental bills is preventivecare. TheAmerican Dental Association recommends checkups twice ayear.

STAFFPHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

Faith leadersand supporters of Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil walkfrom the ICE detentioncenter in Jena followingajudge’s decisiononFriday

Lafayette. The New Orleans Museum of Art recently received notice that its two current grants from the NEH had been terminated “Any elimination of funding from these agencies impacts our ability to serve our public in essential ways,” said NOMA spokesperson Charlie Tatum. “Programming at all museums will be in jeopardy without the critical support for operations and initiatives provided by these cultural agencies.”

Some other libraries and museums are bracing for cuts through another federal agency, the Institute for Museum and Library Services, which is the main source of federal funding for the country’s libraries and museums. After naming the agency in mid-March as one of seven that should be “eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law,” the Trump administration placed its staff on leave.

In fiscal year 2024, the IMLS awarded $3.5 million in grants to libraries and museums in the state, including $2.7 million to the State Library of Louisiana, which has a $9 7 million budget.

In a statement last week, Meg Placke, state librarian, said the system’s funds are secure through 2026.

“The last communication IMLS sent us informed us that our funding would be the same for 2026 and ofﬁcial award letters would be sent in April,” Placke said. “While we are aware that some states have had IMLS grants canceled, we have not received any communication from the agency about any changes to our grant funding for this ﬁscal year or next.”

That last communication came March 18, said Barry Landry a

GREENSTEIN

Continued from page 1A

A musician plays the frottoir during the Cajun French Music Association’s Le Jam at West Baton Rouge Museum in Port Allen in 2023. The museum is one of many recipients of Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities and Institute for Museum and Library Services grants across the state

spokesperson for Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, who oversees the state library IMLS staff were put on leave March 31. Cuts to arts and culture institutions would be felt in myriad ways, according to museum and library ofﬁcials.

On Tuesday a mannequin stood in the center of the NOMA galleries, wearing a masquerade of gold and feathers, bells and mirrors, its knees bent as if about to dance. A group of ﬁrst-graders ran over to him. One girl pointed. Another leaned in. A third child took his invitation bobbing back and forth.

The children, students at the Willow School, were experiencing “New African Masquerades,” a rare look into the artists animating West African masquerade.

It’s a major exhibition that grew from long relationships with artists, new ideas about curation and, over the course of its creation, two NEH grants. In fact, it “would have never been possible without funding from federal agencies,” Tatum said.

The most recent of those grants, for $500,000, was among those terminated by NEH last week. While most of that grant has been paid, only half of another grant of $500,000 for a state-of-the-art conservation laboratory, has made its way to the museum, according to the NEH website.

Mary Cosper-LeBoeuf, longtime executive director of Terrebonne Parish Library, said libraries are more reliant on federal and state programs than most people realize.

Though they are funded through local taxes, many parish library systems use the State Library of Louisiana for access to databases, interlibrary loans, braille books, online tutoring and other services.

Should that funding end, “it’s going to affect every single city library and parish library in this state,” said Cosper-LeBoeuf In New Iberia, the Bayou Teche Museum had hoped to sort through, digitize and transcribe boxes of audio ﬁles of local residents talking about the history of the area, making the information available to visitors. So it applied for and received a $25,000 grant from IMLS.

So far, it’s gotten $7,000, and Ana Bellomy, the museum’s director, said she’s not sure if it will receive the rest.

Lauren Davis, curator at West Baton Rouge Parish Museum and past president of the Louisiana Association of Museums, says the cuts will affect communities across the state, but they also feel personal.

“People worked their behinds off to get these grants. I can’t fathom how devastating it is for all of these colleagues who have put their hearts and souls into it,” Davis said. “This is not the kind of career you go into to make money They go into it because they are passionate about what they do.”

Davis said a particular concern is the loss of shared information especially in light of grants that were focused on digitally archiving information and history ahead of the nation’s sesquicentennial celebration.

President Lyndon Johnson and Congress created the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities in 1965 as a way for federal dollars to support local research and education and to promote the country’s history and traditions.

State level agencies, including the LEH, were created in 1972 to

give individual states and territories greater autonomy Between ﬁscal year 2019 and 2023, the NEH issued $12.9 million to support 66 projects in Louisiana, according to the NEH website.

The IMLS was created in 1996 under President Bill Clinton as an independent federal agency to foster “leadership, innovation and lifetime learning by supporting the nation’s museums and libraries.” First lady Laura Bush, a librarian herself, was a cheerleader for the agency that provided more than a quarter of Louisiana’s State Library’s budget. The Trump administration’s shuttering of the IMLS in March is part of a broader effort to cut “bureaucracy and bloat to deliver better services for the American people,” his spokesperson told USA Today

The agency’s funding to states including California, Connecticut and Washington have halted early, while other states are ending programs in anticipation of cuts. Last week, 21 Democratic state attorneys general ﬁled suit, arguing that by placing the IMLS staff on leave and curtailing grants, the Trump administration is overstepping its powers.

Directors of a dozen Louisiana libraries, worried about potential cuts, have informally discussed whether they could, on their own, form a consortium, to help make up for any lost services. But recreating what already exists is inefﬁcient, said Cosper-LeBoeuf “I completely understand that there’s mismanagement, and we have to live within our budget,” she said. “But I think the majority of librarians are very serious and very frugal with the money that we’re given That’s just how we’re trained.”

Email Jan Risher at jan.risher@ theadvocate.com.

health agencies, a leader with a “deep understanding of health care systems, from Medicaid to post-acute care.” Greenstein’s appointment follows the retirement of Michael Harrington after eight months on the job and comes as Landry, working with Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham, is seeking to reshape major state health programs, including Medicaid, and prioritize indi vid ua l medical autonomy The agency is also shifting its focus toward chronic disease prevention, maternal health, mental health and lifestyle-based interventions. As health secretary, Greenstein will manage the Health Department’s operations and $21 billion budget

The secretary works in tandem with the surgeon general, a position created by the Louisiana Legislature in 2024, who is tasked with setting health policy and advising on strategic initiatives. The secretary carries out the surgeon general’s recommendations, according

“Bruce Greenstein’s appointment as Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health marks a new era for Louisiana’s healthcare There is no one more qualified than Bruce.”

GOV. JEFF LANDRy

to the department.

“Bruce Greenstein’s appointment as Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health marks a new era for Louisiana’s healthcare,” said Landry in a prepared statement. “There is no one more qualiﬁed than Bruce.

Greenstein has served in leadership roles at state and federal health agencies. Before his ﬁrst stint at the state Health Department, he held senior roles at the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and at Microsoft.

He was appointed by former Gov Bobby Jindal in 2010 to lead the state Health Department but resigned in April 2013 amid state and federal probes into how a 2011 state Medicaid contract for nearly $200 million was awarded to his former employer, Client Network Services Inc., where he was vice president from 2005 to 2006.

Greenstein initially downplayed his contact with

CNSI but later admitted to exchanging messages with company executives. He said that the conversations were personal. In testimony, Greenstein acknowledged he might have handled some aspects of the contract differently but maintained he had done nothing wrong and did not receive any payment or beneﬁt in connection with the contract awarded to CNSI.

Although the federal investigation didn’t result in charges, a state grand jury was later convened and in 2014, he was indicted on nine counts of perjury for allegedly lying during a 2011 state Senate confirmation hearing and a 2014 grand jury proceeding related to the contract.

The charges were dropped in 2016 by Landry while he was attorney general. At the time, Landry’s office cited insufﬁcient evidence.

A civil lawsuit filed by CNSI against the state over the contract termination was settled the same year

The company is now known as Acentra Health after a 2023 merger

After leaving state government, Greenstein later served as chief technology officer at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during President Trump’s ﬁrst term.

More recently, he worked as an executive at Lafayettebased LHC Group, a major

home health company, and advised Gov Jeff Landry on health care policy, according to a report from The Louisiana Illuminator

The Louisiana Department of Health and the Governor’s Office did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment on the hiring.

Greenstein said in a pre-

pared statement that he is committed to “driving meaningful change” as secretary and referenced both the challenges and opportunities ahead for Louisiana.

“As I step into this role again, I’m more committed than ever to building on the progress we’ve made and driving meaningful change,” Greenstein said. Greenstein also received praise from state political leaders. Landry’s announcement said Abraham, U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins and Senate President Cameron Henry all supported the appointment.

Email Emily Woodruff at ewoodruff@theadvocate. com.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Greenstein

Shown is

BY KATHYMcCORMACK

Associated Press

ATufts University doctoral student from Turkey is demanding her release after she was detainedby immigration officials near herMassachusetts home, detailing how she was scared when the men grabbed her phone and feared she would be killed.

Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, who hassince been movedto an Immigration andCustoms Enforcement detention center in Basile, Louisiana, provided an updated account of what happened to heras she walked along astreeton March 25, in adocument ﬁled by herlawyers in federal court Thursday

Ozturk is among several people with ties to American universities whose visas were revoked or have been stopped from entering the U.S. after they were accused of attendingdemonstrations or publicly expressed support

for Palestinians. On Friday, a Louisianaimmigration judge ruled that the U.S. can deport Columbia University graduatestudent Mahmoud Khalil basedonthe federal government’sargumentthat he poses anational security risk. “I felt veryscaredand concerned as themen surroundedmeand grabbed my phone from me,” Ozturk said in thestatement. Theytold her they were police, andone quickly showed what might have been agoldbadge. “But Ididn’t thinktheywere the police becauseI had never seen police approach and take someoneawaylike this,” she said.

Ozturk saidshe was afraid because her name, photograph and work history were published earlier this year on thewebsite Canary Mission, which describes itself as documenting peoplewho “promote hatred of the U.S.A., Israel and Jews on North American collegecampuses. She said themen didn’ttell

Tuftsstudent detailsarrest, crowdeddetention conditions

her why they werearresting her and shackledher.She saidatone point,after they had changed cars, she felt “sure they weregoing to kill me.” During astop in Massachusetts, oneofthe men said to her, “Weare notmonsters,” and “Wedowhat the government tells us.”

She said they repeatedly refused her requests to speak to alawyer

Trumpundergoes annualphysical

BY WILLWEISSERT Associated Press

WASHINGTON Donald Trump had his annual physicalonFriday,acheckup that may give thepublic its first details in years about the health of aman who, in January, became theoldest in U.S. history to be sworn in as president. “I have never felt better,but nevertheless, these things must be done!” Trump, 78,posted on his social media siteahead of the examination, which was conducted at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center,inBethesda, Maryland. How long the exam took wasn’timmediately clear as Trump did not speakto reporters before or after it. All told, however,hespent more than five hours at the center before heading to Air Force One and flying to Florida for the weekend. Despite long questioning

predecessorJoe Biden’s physicaland mental capacity,Trump has routinelykept basicfactsabout hisown health shrouded in secrecy —shying away from traditionalpresidential transparency on medical issues. If history is any indication, his latest physicalislikely to producea ﬂattering report that’sscarce on details White Housepress secretary KarolineLeavitttoldreporters at theWhiteHouse while Trump wasstill being examinedthatthe president wasundergoing his“routine andlong-scheduled physical.”She promised a“readoutfromthe White House physician” thatwouldbe released “as soonaswepossiblycan” and suggested it’d be comprehensive. “I can conﬁrm the president is in very good shape,” Leavitt said. She notedthat the physical didn’trequire Trump being placedunder anesthesia. The finished medical re-

portwould be the first public information on Trump’s health since an assassination attempt against him in Butler,Pennsylvania, in July Ratherthan release medical records at thattime, TexasRep.Ronny Jackson —astaunch supporter who servedashis White House physician and once joked in theWhite House briefing room that Trump could live to be 200 if he had ahealthier diet —wrote amemo describing agunshot wound to Trump’sright ear In asubsequent interview with CBS last August, Trump said he’d“very gladly”releasehis medical records but never did. Trump is threeyears youngerthanBiden. But on Inauguration Day of his second terminJanuary, Trump was five months olderthan Bidenwas during his 2021 inauguration —making Trump the nation’soldest president to be sworn into office.

Apetition to releaseher was ﬁrst ﬁled in federalcourt in Bostonand then movedto Burlington, Vermont, where ahearing on hercasetoresolve jurisdictional issues is scheduledonMonday Ozturk’slawyers say her detention violates her constitutional rights, including free speech and due process. They have asked that shebe released from custody

U.S. Justice Department lawyers say her case in New England should be dismissed and that it should be handled in immigration court. Ozturk “is notwithout recourse to challengethe revocationof hervisaand herarrest and detention, but suchchallenge cannot be made before this court,”governmentlawyers said in abrief ﬁled Thursday She recalled that the night shespent in thecellinVermont, she was askedabout wanting to apply for asylum andifshe wasa memberof aterrorist organization. “I tried to be helpful and answertheir questions but I was so tired and didn’tunderstand whatwas happening to me,” she stated.

Ozturk, who suffers from asthma, hadanattack the next day at the airport in Atlanta, as she wasbeing taken to Louisiana, she said. She wasable to useher inhaler, but unable to gether prescribed medication because there was no place to buy it,

she said she wastold. Once shewas putinthe Louisiana facility,she was notallowedtogooutside during the first week and had limited access to food and supplies fortwo weeks. She said she suffered three more asthma attacks there and had limited care at amedical center Ozturk said she is one of 24 people in acellthathas asign stating capacity for 14. “When they do theinmate count we are threatened to not leave our beds or we will lose privileges,which means that we areoften stuckwaiting in ourbedsfor hours,”she said. “At mealtimes, there is so muchanxiety because there is no schedule when it comes.…Theythreaten to close thedoor if we don’t leavethe room in time, meaning we won’tget ameal.” Ozturk saidshe wants to go back to Tuftssoshe can finish her degree, which she hasbeenworking on for five years.

Judgerules Menendez brothers’ bidfor resentencing cancontinue

BY JAIMIE DING Associated Press

LOS ANGELES Erik and Lyle Menendez’s resentencing hearings can continue despite opposition from the Los Angeles County districtattorney, ajudge ruled Friday They weresentenced to life in prison withoutthe possibilityofparoleatages 18 and 21 after being convicted of murdering theirparents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hillshome in 1989.

Former Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón asked ajudgelast year to change the brothers’ sentencefromlife without the possibilityofparole to 50 years to life. Thatwould made themimmediately eligible for parole because they committed the crime when theywereyounger than 26. But Gascón’ssuccessor re-

versedcourse.Nathan Hochman submitted amotion last month to withdraw the resentencing request. In light of Hochman’s opposition to resentencing, Los Angeles County Superior CourtJudge Michael Jesic ruled that the court can move forward with the hearing. “Everything you argued today is absolutely fair game for the resentencing hearing next Thursday,” he said.

Hochman’sofﬁce said they couldnot support thebrothers’ resentencing because they had not admitted to lies told during their trial about why they killed their parents and did not “fully recognize, acknowledge, and accept complete responsibility” for their crime.

Thebrothers appeared in court over Zoom but hadn’t made anypublicstatements through the ﬁrst fewhours of Friday’sproceeding.

Whilethe defenseargued they acted outofself-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father,prosecutors said the brothers killed their parents for amultimilliondollar inheritance.

Deputy DistrictAttorney Habib Balian said Friday that the key issue with Gascón’sresentencing petition was that it did not fully address rehabilitation and missed keyelementsofthe original crimecommitted. Balian presented evidence and video clips of the brothers’ testimony fromthe ﬁrst trial to demonstrate instances where they “hunkered down in their bunker of deceit, lies, and deception.” He said the brothers killed theirparents outofgreed whenthey learned they would be taken out of the will,citing psychiatrist’s notes that he saidshowed “this was notself-defense.”

PROVIDED PHOTO

Rumeysa Ozturk, a30-year-old doctoral student at Tufts University,isdetained March 25 by Departmentof Homeland Security agents on astreet in Sommerville, Mass.

Cassidyurges FEMA to reversecuts

Trumpadministrationwillend BRIC stormprotectionprogram

BY MARK BALLARD |Staff writer

WASHINGTON —U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, called from the Senate ﬂoor Thursday eveningfor theFederal Emergency Management Agency to re-

verse itsdecision to end aprogram that helpedLouisianaraiselevees,elevate homes and otherwise brace for hurricanes and ﬂoods. TheTrump administration’sFEMA announced lastweekitwas ending its

Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communitiesgrant program, calling it “wastefuland ineffective.” FEMA stated that theagency would cancel all BRICapplications received in 2024, and stop paying for projects approved from

2020 to 2023. Ending theBuilding Resilient Infrastructure and Communitiesprogram, called BRIC, spikes 34 submitted andaccepted projects worth atotal $185.5 milliondirectly funded by the grants, according to FEMA’s ﬁnancial

ä See CUTS, page 2B

Downtownrenovations

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR |Staff writer

Parc International in downtown Lafayette is getting aface-lift in preparation for FestivalInternational de Louisiane, with additionalupgradesplanned forafter the festival.

Festival International is April 23-27 this year

The park on Garﬁeld Street serves as the main stage for Festival International, whichdrawsthousands of visitors each year

Thefestivalisfree but organizers relyonsponsorships, donations and the saleoffestival pins andparaphernalia like T-shirts to keep it that way

Workershave been busy at Parc International, pressure washing, repainting the Festival logo, painting the stage area and replacing ﬂags on the main stage header in recentweeks to prepare forone of Lafayette’slargest festivals, said JamieBoudreaux, chief

communications ofﬁcer with Lafayette Consolidated Government.

When themusic ends anddowntown returns to normal, additional upgrades will be madetoParc International.

They include new restrooms with anew HVAC system, upgrades to the greenroom areas to includecomplete interior renovations and upgrades to concession pavilions, Boudreaux said.

Sitelight poles will be replaced at the park, she said, withadditional painting,

fencing and stone workplanned. Electrical upgrades also are planned, particularly panels for the main stage, connectionsfor food trucksand new receptacles around the site, Boudreaux said.

The renovations and upgrades are expected to cost $1.63 million and are expected to take 350 days from March 10. Email Claire Taylor at ctaylor@ theadvocate.com.

Lafayette manarrested on drug possession

ALafayette man suspected of beingpartofa criminal organization known as Only Dem Doonies was arrestedThursday after he allegedlywas found with 70 pounds of marijuana and 4,601 milliliters of Promethazine.

Advocate staff reports

Trevis Hudson, 23, allegedly part of the ODD crime group, was arrested after an extensive investigation by the Lafayette Police Department’sNarcotics Divisionthat began on Dec.29, Sgt. Robin Green, publicinformation ofﬁcer, said in anews release

NewLafayette principals announced

Elementary schools to getnew leaders

BY ASHLEYWHITE Staff writer

TheLafayette Parishschool system announced new principals for three elementary schools and other district-level appointments.

SarahClavelle will lead Cpl. Michael Middlebrook Elementary,

Brandon Bonner will lead Charles Burke Elementary and Colleen Comeaux will lead the newly positionedLafayette Elementary, whichwill mostlyconsist of students who are currently zoned for S.J. Montgomery Elementary LPSSannounced Friday morning. The district alsonamed Kim Thibodeaux, currently an assistant principal at Southside High, as its arts, musicand media center specialistfor the parish and Gin-

BY MIKE SMITH Staff writer

TheMississippiRiver’srapid rise in the coming days is expected to lead to precautions undertaken by theArmy Corps of Engineers and local officials, including preparations for apossible Bonnet Carre Spillway opening, though projectionssofar indicate it won’t be necessary Storms in parts of the South and Midwesthavecaused the river to swell, and those waters are making their way to Louisiana. Projections areshowing the rivercresting in New Orleans around April 25, lasting around five days. Ariver flow rate of 1.25 million cubic feet per second triggers a Bonnet Carre opening, and that

ger Richard, who currently serves at thechiefofelementaryschools, as assistant superintendent of curriculum andinstruction. Clavelle will take over as the leader of Middlebrook Elementary immediately,according to the LPSS release. She has 18 years of experience in LPSS. She is “eager to bring her deep passion for the arts and education together” and is “committed to integratingcreative expression throughout the curriculum and ensuring that every student hasthe opportunity to explore, discover andgrowtheir abilities in adynamic and inclusive environment,” according to the LPSS release.

She began her career as the choirdirector at Northside High andlater servedasa music educator at Ossun Elementary.She

ä See PRINCIPALS, page 2B ä See RIVER, page 2B

tends to correlate to 17 feet on the Carrolton gauge in New Orleans, or roughly 17 feet abovesea level. Current projections areshowing it top outjust belowthat, at around 16.5 feet, though the margin of error includes levelsabove. CorpsspokespersonRickyBoyett saidNationalWeatherServiceforecasts do “not indicate operation of the Bonnet Carre Spillway at this time, though Iwill note that forecasts change daily as better information becomes available. Arecommendation to operate the Bonnet Carre is based on actual river ﬂow measurements.” Louisiana stateclimatologist Jay Grymes had earlier Friday indicated theCorps was evaluating the

STAFFPHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK

Workers replace weathered flag panels withnew ones on the Parc International stageinLafayette on Wednesday.

Lake Charlesman foundguiltyin’88 rape

Staff report

For more than 30 years, aLake Charles rape case went unsolved. In 1988, aman broke into awoman’s Lake Charles home through her bedroom window and“brutally beat thevictim and raped her,” according to aFriday news release from the Calcasieu Parish District Attorney’s

RIVER

Continued from page1B

“Thankstoadvancements in DNA technology justice hasfinally been servedinacasethat has haunted asurvivor for morethanthree decades,” District Attorney Stephen Dwight said in therelease.

Ofﬁce. No one was charged inthe caseatthattime. However, followinga 2023 retestingof the 1988 rape kit,analysts found DNA from Dartanyan Breaux of Lake Charles, according to the release.He was subsequently arrested. On Thursday, ajuryfound Breaux, now 59, guilty as charged of aggravated rape. His sentencing is scheduledfor May2 beforeJudge David Ritchie The release states he faces amandatory life sentence without parole.

“The successful prosecutionofthiscoldcase reinforcesour unwavering commitment to seeking justice, no matter how much time has passed,” Dwight said. “Weare gratefulthatthe victimnow has theclosure she so rightfully deserves, andthatthis predatorisfinally being held accountable for his heinous crimes.”

Police:Men riding horses in La.Walmart arrested

Staff report

Four people who rode horses through aWalmart in Baker —ascene captured on avideo posted online —have beenarrested, authorities said Friday Brendon Bridgewater,24, Patrick Derozan, 22, and Mason Webb, 18, turned themselves in on misdemeanor counts of

entering and remaining afterforbidden, unlawful postofcriminal activity and disturbing thepeace, BakerPoliceChief Carl Dunn said. The fourth, a16-year-old juvenile, turned himself in on the same counts Friday morning. Unlawful posting of criminal activity, first made astate crimein

2008, forbidsthe posting of anyvideo or stream of acrimetogain notoriety or publicity

The video posted to the social media platform TikTokshows four individualsriding horsesthrough the Walmart. Partofthe footage appears to show the perspective from atop ahorse as thegroup rides down thestore’saisles.

“Save aHorse (Ride a Cowboy),” a2006songby Big &Rich, plays over the video.

Dunn said the group’s actions “might be fun to them at thetime, butyou know,this could’ve been realbad for other citizens.”

“We’ve got to always think of others beforewe act.”

CUTS

Continued from page1B

obligations database.

“Weknow that the best way to recover from a flood is to prevent damage from happening in the firstplace,” Cassidy said. BRIC “protects families and saves taxpayer dollars in the long run. That’s efficient in my book.” Congress established BRIC underPresident Don-

PRINCIPALS

Continued from page1B

also taught at Woodvale Elementary,where she was an instructional leader for three years.

Clavelle served as an assistant principal at Alice Boucher Elementary and at Live Oak Elementary Bonner,who currently serves as the assistant principal at Dr.Raphael A. Baranco Elementary,has more than adecade of experience with LPSS.Hebegan his educationalcareer as aPE itinerantparaprofessional at Youngsville Middleand Broussard Middle, where he also coached multiple athletic teams. While there, he earnedhis teaching certification and was named the PE teacher at Broussard Middle, where he coached football, basketball, track and helped create the robotics elective at the school. He served as assistant principalofJudiceMiddle before moving to Baranco Elementary.Both schools showed academicgrowth while he wasatthose schools.

“Burke Elementary will benefit from Mr.Bonner’s passion for student growth and dedication to nurturing aculture of success,”

BLOTTER

Continued from page1B

After surveillance and investigation, agents conducted atrafﬁcstopThursday,Green said, on avehicle occupiedby Hudson and twoallegedassociates.

During the trafﬁcstop, she said, the narcotics agents found about 29 grams of marijuana, 250 milliliters of Promethazine and $1,720in assorted U.S. currency,which Hudson allegedly admitted to possessing.

The Narcotics Division agents then executed a search warrant at two locations that Hudson had access to,Green said,a residence in the 400 blockofMarigold Loopand another in the 100 block of South Meyers. Thetraffic stop andthe warrants resulted in the seizure of about 70 pounds of marijuana with an estimated streetvalueof$631,916;about 4,601 milliliters of Promethazine with an estimated street

ald Trump’sfirst administration in2018 and directed funds to reduce flood risks by investing in pre-disaster mitigationefforts. Congress under Democratic President Joe Biden, who took ofﬁce in 2021, added billions ofdollars more usingsomeofthe funds set aside to address human-caused globalwarming, which Trump has called ahoax.

Democratic members of Louisiana’s congressional delegationhave howled about

Touchet said in astatement. Comeaux, who has more than 15 years of experience in education,instructional leadership andschool administration, will leadLafayette Elementary “I am honored to serve as theprincipal of Lafayette Elementary andlook forward to working alongside our talented staff, supportive families, and incredible students,” Comeaux said in astatement.“Together,we will continue to cultivate a culture of growth, opportunity and success for every student.”

The school will openinthe currentLafayette Middle School building near downtown Lafayette. Lafayette Elementary will largely consist of studentswho arecurrently zoned forS.J. Montgomery Elementary,which is being demolished. Comeauxbegan teaching in 2009 in Opelousas. She joined LPSS in 2012 as athird-grade teacher at Ossun Elementary and later taughtatJ Wallace James Elementary.She served as an instructional leader at Middlebrook Elementary for three years before becoming the school’s assistant principal in 2020. While at MiddlebrookElementary,the school consistentlymaintained a“B” performance score and earned top gains recognition each year

value of$46,601; and assorted currency totaling $3,933. Hudson was charged with possession with intent to distribute ScheduleI drugs, marijuana; possession with intent to distribute Legend drug,Promethazine; monies derived from drug proceeds; and possession of a ﬁrearm in thepresenceofa controlled dangerous substance. He was bookedinto the LafayetteParishCorrectional Center. Hudson had several previousarrests for possession of drugs and possession with intent to distribute drugs,all of which appear to have been dismissed, according to court records.

Man killed after crashing intobus

A38-year-old Breaux Bridge man was killed Thursday aftercolliding with aschool bus.

Deputiesresponded to a 911 callat7 a.m. regarding atwo-vehicle crash involving aschool bus in the 1000

the elimination of BRIC.

Butthe farlarger Republican congressional delegation and Republican Gov. Jeff Landry have duckedcommenting on theamounts involved andthe impact of the action as theTrump administration seeks to shrink the size of the federal government. Trumphas wonabout 58% of Louisianavotersin three elections over the past decade.

Cassidy in his speech Thursdaydetailedseveral

Thibodeaux will work with arts andmusic educators across the district to advocate for creative learning and equitable accessto thearts. She replacesPaget Guidry, who is retiring.

Thibodeaux has more than 32 years of experience in education and began her career at private education. She joined LPSS in 2017 as thefounding art teacher at Southside High when it ﬁrst opened.She alsoserved as an instructional leader and assistant principal.

She “championed creativity as thedriver of confidence, academic growthand resilience,” LPSSsaid in its announcement.

“Mrs. Thibodeaux’spassion for the artsand unwaveringbeliefintheir power to unlock student potential makes heranideal fitfor this role,”Touchet saidina statement.“Her leadership and experience will continue to strengthen our district’s commitment to creativity, innovation, and student expression.”

Richard, who hasmore than 21 years of experience with LPSS, will play akey role in shaping the district’s instructional vision andsupportingschools throughthe developmentand coordination of academicprograms, according to the LPSS announcement

“I am committed to foster-

block of Poche BridgeRoad in Breaux Bridge,according to theSt. MartinParish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce.

Upon arrival, deputies learned that a2011 Hyundai Elantra traveling north crossed thecenterline for unknown reasons and collided head-on with asouthbound St.Martin Parish school bus.

The driver of the Elantra, who was later identiﬁed as Arthur St. Amant Joubert, was taken to alocal hospital wherehedied from his injuries.

No other injuries were reported regarding the occupants of the bus.

possibilityofa possiblepartial spillway opening “for upward of ninedays” later this month. ButBoyettsaidthe Corps prepares foritincaseneeded when the river rises as it is nowtoensure it is ready to act if necessary

Any spillway opening, if it would occur,may be relatively short-lived since the riverisexpected to gradually fall soon after its crest. BonnetCarre hasnot been opened since2020.

“Fortunately, the forecast crests along the lower Mississippi are expected to giveway to slow-but-steady falls during the finalweek of April,” Grymes said in an email update on riverlevels. “That will limit theduration of openings at Bonnet Carre.”

The Corps hasalreadyprojected that it will enter what is knownasaphase I ﬂood ﬂight on Monday, whichmeans inspections of the levee system twiceper week forpotential seepage or other concerns.Un-

successful projects in Louisianaparishes that kept ﬂoodwaters andhigh winds from causing death and damage.

“The purpose of the BRIC grants is to build that resiliencysothatwedon’t have stories to tell which are tragic or sad but rather stories where people continue on with their life as if the ﬂoodnever occurred,” Cassidy said. “Local leaders advocating using these dollars areadvocating for thepeople theyrepresent, so am I

ing continued growth and working collaboratively with stakeholderstoensurethat everystudent receives highquality educational opportunities while addressing their diverse needs and empowering themtoachieve success at everylevel,” Richard said

right now.”

Cassidy pointed out that Congress passed alaw to fund theprogram,and said “It should be honored.” He requested that “the money out there stays there and the applicationsthat have been placed be accepted, processed and fulﬁlled.”

Cassidy chairs the Senate Health EducationLabor & Pensions committee, one of the mostimportant in Congress, and polled in 2020 more Louisiana voters in his-

in astatement. Richardbegan hercareer at RidgeElementaryteaching general education and English-language learners. While at LPSS, shealso has served as aanelementary math leadteacher,instructional strategist at Milton El-

authorized subsurface work within 1,500 feet of levees is banned during phase I, which is triggered when theCarrolton gauge reaches 11 feet. Bonnet Carre, located in St. CharlesParish, connects the river to Lake Pontchartrain through a ﬂoodway and bays that areopened when needed It wasbuilt as part of the levee system along the river following the great flood of 1927, which severelyinundated Louisiana communities. It hasbeen opened 15 times, including twicein2019 due to heavy rains that year in the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys.The riverrises in the late winterand spring due to seasonal rainsand snowmelt flowing down fromthe Midwest. Opening the spillwayrelievespressure on thelevees, akey flood-protection measure in southLouisiana. But theinﬂux of freshwater into Lake Pontchartrain, through the Rigolets and out to the Gulf can damage commercial shrimp andoyster fisheries, whichhas in thepastled to declarations of emergency as aresult

tory than anycandidate but Trump. Yethis reelection in 2026 is seen as difﬁcult both in Washingtonand in Louisiana. Cassidy is one of the few remaining Republicans who voted to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6riot at the U.S. Capitol —aposition that caused Louisiana Republicans to censure him in 2021. Email Mark Ballardat mballard@theadvocate. com.

ementary-Middle, assistant principal, principal of Green T. Lindon Elementary and supervisoroflanguage acquisition for the district.

EmailAshley White at ashley.white@theadvocate. com.

BRIEFS

FROM STAFFAND WIRE REPORTS

BR Crowne Plaza hotel sold for $18 million

TheBaton RougeCrowne

Plazahotel has been sold to a Florida group for $18 million APM Property Holdings LLC, of Jacksonville, purchasedthe 294-room hotel near the intersection of Interstate 10 and College Drive in adeal filed lastweekwith the East Baton RougeParish Clerk of Court

The seller was BR Capital Holdings Inc., of Illinois.

The previous owners of the hotel recently completed a comprehensive renovationto bring the property up to the latest Crowne Plaza standards saidTim Osborne, of Hunter Hotel Advisors,which brokered the sale. Becauseofthis, there are no plans to change the hotel brand, and APM can take over ownership with minimum upfront costs.

Al Mori of APM said in a statement the hotel has a “great team” in place. Schulte Hospitality has been selected as the property’smanagement company.Schulte’sportfolio includes the Pontchartrain Hotel andMemoir WarehouseDistrict in New Orleans

The hotel was built in the 1970s and has flowna number of different ﬂagsoverthe years. It has been aRadisson, Sheraton and aHoliday InnSelectbefore being rebranded as Crowne Plaza in 2008. Crowne Plaza is abrand under the IHG umbrella.

Shipping nations agree on newglobal fee

Many of the world’s largest shipping nations decided on Friday to impose aminimum fee of $100 for every tonofgreenhouse gases emitted by ships above certain thresholds, in what is effectively the ﬁrst global tax on greenhouse gas emissions

TheInternationalMaritime Organization estimates $11 billion to $13 billion in revenue annually fromthe fees, with the money to be put into its net zero fundtoinvest in fuels and technologies needed to transition to greenshipping, rewardlowemission ships and supportdeveloping countries so they aren’t left behind with dirty fuelsand old ships. The thresholds set through the agreement will get stricterovertime to try to reach the IMO’sgoal of net zero across the industry by about 2050.

The agreement, reachedwith the United States notably absent, is expected to be formally adopted at an October meeting to take effect in 2027. The IMO, which regulates international shipping, also set amarine fuel standard to phase in cleaner fuels.

Shipping emissions have grownover the past decade to about3%ofthe global total as vessels have gottenbigger,delivering more cargo per trip and using immense amounts of fuel.

Wholesale inflation fell but trade war may swap U.S. wholesale prices felllast month in another sign that inﬂationary pressures are easing. But President Donald Trump’strade wars cloud the outlookasnew, punishing tariffs are launched by Beijing and Washington.

The producer price index which tracks inflation before it hits consumers —fell 0.4% from February ﬁrst drop since October 2023, the Labor Department said Friday.Compared with ayear earlier,producer prices rose 2.7%, down from a 3.2%year-over-year gain in February and much lower than the 3.3% economists had forecast. Gasoline prices fell 11.1% from February

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core wholesale inflation fell 0.1% from February,the first drop since July.Compared with ayear earlier, coreproducerprices rose 3.3% and lower than economists had forecast.

The report comes aday after the LaborDepartment delivered good news on inﬂation at the consumer level. Its consumer price index rose 2.4% last month from March2024, the smallest yearover-year gain since September

tling higher,while the Nasdaq composite also jumped.

BY STAN CHOE Associated Press

NEWYORK U.S. stocks jumped Friday in another manic day on Wall Street, while the falling value of theU.S. dollar and otherswings in ﬁnancial markets suggested fear is still highabout escalations in President Donald Trump’strade war with China.

The S&P 500 rallied, after veering repeatedly between gains and losses, tocap achaotic and historic week full of monstrous swings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average went from an early loss of nearly 340 points to again of 810 before set-

Stocks kicked higher as pressure eased abit from within the U.S. bond market. It’stypically the more boring corner of Wall Street, but it’s been ﬂashing serious enough signals of worry this week that it’sdemanded investors’ and Trump’sattention.

Susan Collins, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, told the Financial Times that the Fed “wouldabsolutely be prepared” if marketsbecomedisorderly and “does have tools to address concernsabout market functioningor liquidity should they arise.”

Several reasons could be behind this week’sjump in U.S. Treasury yields,which is unusualbecause yields typically fall when fear is high. Investors outside the United

States couldbeselling theirU.S bonds because of the tradewar,and hedge funds could be selling whatever’savailable in order to raise cash to cover other losses. More worryingly,doubts may be rising about theUnited States’ reputation as theworld’s safest placetokeep cash because of Trump’sfrenetic, on-and-off tariff actions.

Thevalue of the U.S. dollar also fell again Friday againsteverything fromthe euro to the Japanese yen to the Canadian dollar

That’seventhough gold,another place where investors have instinctually flocked whenfear is high, rose to bolster its reputation as a safer haven.

ManyonWall Street are prepared for more swings to hit markets. This pastweek beganwithhugeswings for U.S. stocks within each dayas rumors swirled and then got batteddown aboutapossible 90-day pauseonTrump’stariffs. Then the U.S. stock market surged to one of its best days in history after Trump diddeliver apause,beforeswinging to endthe week.

The shaky trading came after China announced Friday that it was boosting itstariffs on U.S. products to 125% in thelatest tit-for-tat increase following Trump’sescalationsonimportsfrom China. Risingtensionsbetween the world’s twolargest economiescould cause widespread damage and a possible globalrecession,even after Trump recently announced a90-daypause on some of his tariffs for othercountries, exceptfor China.

BY BERNARD CONDON and STAN CHOE AP Business Writers

NEW YORK

The upheaval in stocks has been grabbing all theheadlines, but there is abigger problem looming in another corner of the ﬁnancial markets that rarely gets headlines: Investors are dumpingU.S.governmentbonds. Normally,investors rush into Treasurys at a whiff of economic chaos, but now they are sellingthem as not even the lure of higher interest paymentsonthe bonds is getting them to buy

Thefreak development has experts worried thatbig banks, funds and tradersare losing faith in America as agood place to store their money

“The fear is the U.S. is losing its standing as thesafehaven,” said George Cipolloni, afund manageratPennMutualAsset Management

“Our bond market is the biggest and most stablein theworld,but when you add instability,

BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and JOSH BOAK Associated Press

WASHINGTON— U.S.consumer sentiment plunged in April, thefourth consecutive monthofdeclines, in a seemingly sharp rebuke of President DonaldTrump’stradewars that have fueledanxiety over possible joblosses andrising inﬂation.

The preliminary reading of the University of Michigan’sclosely watched consumer sentiment index, released Friday,fell 11% on amonthly basis to 50.8, the lowest sincethe depths ofthe COVID-19 pandemic.Over the past year,sentimenthas tumbled 34%.

Thedecline was “pervasive and unanimous across age, income, education, geographic regionand

bad things can happen.” That could be bad news for consumers in needofa loan —and forPresident Donald Trump, who had hoped histariff pauseearlier this week would restore conﬁdenceinthe markets.

Aweek ago, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was4.01%. On Friday,the yieldshotas high as 4.58%beforeslidingbacktoaround 4.50%.That’samajor swing for the bond market,which measures moves by thehundredths of apercentage point.

Among the possible knock-on effects is a bighit to ordinary Americans in the form of higher interest rates on mortgages, car ﬁnancing and other loans.

“Asyieldsmove higher, you’ll seeyour borrowing rates move higher,too,” said Brian Rehling, head of ﬁxed income strategyatWells Fargo Investment Institute. “And everycorporation uses these funding markets. If they get more expensive, they’re going to have to pass along those costs to customers or cut costsby cutting jobs.” Treasury bonds are essentially IOUs from

political afﬁliation,” saidJoanne Hsu, director of the survey

The share of respondentsexpecting unemploymenttorisein thecoming months increased for the ﬁfth straight month andisnow thehighestsince 2009 during the Great Recession.

While consumer sentiment is not alwaysa reliable indicator of the overalleconomy,ithas at times reflected shifting vibesinhow the public feels about presidential leadership.Sentimentamong Republicans has dropped 6% over the past month as Trump teased, then rolled out aseries of aggressive tariffs,only to institute a90daypause of some importtaxes Wednesday

“Interestingly,President Trump appears to be getting much of the

the U.S. government, and they’re how Washington paysits billsdespite collectingless in revenue than it spends.

To be sure, no onecan say exactly what mix of factors is behind the developing bond bust or how long it will last, but it’srattling Wall Street nonetheless.

Bonds are supposed to moveinthe opposite direction as stocks, rising when stocks are falling. In this way,they act likeshock absorbers to 401(k)accounts andother portfolios in stock market meltdowns,compensatingsomewhat for thelosses.

“This is Econ 101,” said Jack McIntyre, portfolio manager for Brandywine Global, adding about the bond sell-off now, “It’sleft people scratching their heads.”

Some expertsspeculate thatChina,avast holder of U.S. governmentbonds, is dumping theminretaliation. Butthatseemsunlikely since that wouldhurt thecountry,too. Selling Treasurys, or essentially exchanging U.S. dollars for Chinese yuan, wouldmakeChina’s currency strengthen andits exportsmore expensive.

blamefor much of thedeterioration in sentiment, with 67% of respondents saying the governmentisdoing a‘poor job’ on ﬁghting inﬂation and unemployment,” said James Knightley, chiefinternational economist at ING.“Only 18% say it is doing a‘good job.’”

AskedatFriday’snewsbrieﬁng about the falling consumer sentiment, White House press secretaryKaroline Leavitt said that the public should trust in Trumpashe executes his tariffs plan.

“As he said, this is going to be a period of transition,” shesaid.“He wants consumerstotrustinhim, and they should trust in him.”

TheMichigansentiment survey found that people now expect longterm inflation to reach 4.4%, up from 4.1% last month, amove that

may be of particular concern for the U.S. Federal Reserve. The Fed pays close attention to inflation expectations, because they can become self-fulfilling. If people expect prices to rise, they often take steps that can push up prices, such as accelerating purchases or seeking higher wages.

It’sasign that mostofthe public views as ablip data this week showing that consumer inﬂation declined in March to an annual rate of 2.4%. Most economists believe that, given the intensifying trade wars, inﬂation is likely to be reignited.

Americans’ inflation expectations over the next ﬁve years are nowatthe highestsince 1991, according to Capital Economics, a forecasting ﬁrm

OPINION

Administration should know better than to mess with Harriet Tubman’s memory

Iremember araucous discussion amongseveral guys in my eighth grade historyclass about awoman we werereadingabout namedHarrietTubman. All of us spoke “point blank” that we could never have done whatshe did. “And, itwas awoman, too?”wecommented. Some of us saidwe might have been too afraid to follow her,let alonebethe leader

These teenage boys werefromthe toughSouth BatonRougecommunity and were unanimousthatshe was oneof the bravest, toughestpeoplewehad ever heard of. “Facts,” as theyoungfolk say now.Tubman,anescaped slave, would return in thedead ofnight to plantations and, over time, rescued dozensofslaves. Her path and operation were called the Underground Railroad. She was the tough conductor Imagine ifshe had been caught, we discussed. What kind of public body shredding, hanging or burning a plantation owner wouldforce theslavesand potential escapees to witness?

Recently thousands, maybemillions, were incensed by news that President Donald Trump, with hisdesire to mute and,insome cases, eliminateparts of Black history in America, was at it again.

There were media reports that theNationalPark Service removed Tubman’simage andthe mention of slavery and eliminated areference to the Fugitive Slave Actof1850 entirely. Slave is theoptimum word for deletion because it makes some people feel bad. Again, “Facts.” Born aslave in Maryland, Tubman escaped in 1849 and later became theso-called conductor of the Underground Railroad.No, it wasnot arail service. It was adangerous, life-threateningjourney into theSouth in thedead of night to eventually rescue and guideanestimated 70 enslaved people to freedom She didn’tshirk from what shedeemedGod’s will by saying herfeet hurt so bad she couldn’t makethe periloustrips.She also became aUnionArmy spy,scoutand nurse.Amazing, right?

The story continues in 1863, when she waspartofa team that liberated hundredsofpeople.You may have been luckyenough to hear aboutthat?

She was astrong supporter of women’s voting rights, giving speeches on women’ssuffrage in NewYork, Boston and Washington, D.C.

My classmates and Icommended allofthat, andso should any American, which is why Iwas enragedby the park service’sactions.

The NPS webpage about theUnderground Railroad removed Tubman from the top of thepage.

Also, the original opening sentence referenced the railroad’scenterpiece, “theresistance toenslavement throughescapeand ﬂight.” According tomedia outlets, the edited versioncalled therailroad “one of the most signiﬁcant expressions of theAmerican civil rights movement” and described how it “bridgedthe divides of race, religion, sectional differences, andnationality.” Does all that mean “slavery?”

This appeared to be part of Trump’srelentless effort against so-called diversity,equity andinclusionpolicies in the federal government,whichreally means wipingout race and historic actions by people of color.In some cases, ofﬁcials havescrambledtoremove online content,but hadtorestore it as thechanges became public.Backlashwas quick andvisceral.

So, who’sthe victim of theDEI in thiscase? Iguess it would be the plantation owners andtheir teams of slave hunters who werecontinuallyoutsmartedbyTubman and her crew There apparently werethousands of people like me who were enraged by NPS’s action.So, early this week, it wasreported that Tubman’sphotoand other information had been returned.

Also returned were historical accounts of enslaved peoples ﬁghting to reach freedom anda muralofthe 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, the ﬁrst Black regiment made up of those raised inthe North. Iwishthat group of my middle school friends were still around with me to talk about this foolishness. The NPS would feel our anger anddisgust.Wewould wonderifthose, and you know who, who felt the need to remove some wordsabout slavery andTubman’sphoto would have been brave enough to do half of what Tubman did.

Ican almost hear the easy answer fromthe mouths of my 13-year-old friends:“Not just no,but hell no!” EmailEdwardPratt, aformer newspaperman, at epratt1972@yahoo.com

If we’rerenamingwaterways, here area fewsuggestions

Gov.Jeff Landry,anardent follower of President Donald Trump, has decreed (also by executive order) that all statepublications must refer to what theworld knows as the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. Landry follows the president’slogic for thename change since theGulf touches so many miles of America’scoastline with great impact.

Iheartily agree! Andinkeeping with that logic, since theMississippi River only touches 71 miles of Mississippi, but touches 177 miles of Louisiana, the river should be renamed the Louisiana River Should our great leaders’ logic be applied worldwide? No, let’sjust stay

close to home. Let’stake the oceans that border the United States, the Atlantic and the Paciﬁc. Since miles of coastline is the metric, both oceans should be renamed after South America. The Paciﬁc, having 49,348 miles of SouthAmerican coast, can be known as the Big South American Ocean, and the Atlantic, having only 46,150 miles of South American coast, can be known as the Little South American Ocean.Maybe West South American and East South American. Ican’twait to see wherethe next logical revelationsofour two great leaders change theworld.

CHARLES MOSLEY Morgan City

Immigrationenforcement actions aredesignedtostoke fear

When did abducting people off the streetsbecomethe American way of dealing withlegal issues, even those of immigration? Arresting ayoung woman studying child development on astudent visa? On adeserted street at night following aday of fasting? Surrounded by six people in masks and dark clothing? She needs to be freed; she will still be traumatized. As believers in law and justice, we have generally believed in allotting law and justice to those in our country,

Look

Many wring their hands at the actionsofPresident Donald Trumpand Elon Musk, but Isuggest you look closer to home at U.S.Rep. Steve Scalise. He’ll never need Medicare or Medicaid because of his $193,400 salary.Alsohe has aseparate health care fund to draw from, and his pension will be upward of $147,000 per year He can retire at 60. No working a second job as aWalmart greeter necessary for him. At his salary level, he stops paying into Social Securityfor the year when he makes $176,100, while mostpeople never reach that cap. Though his party says Social Securityneeds to be cut,

expecting fair treatment forour own citizens in other countries. Instead, what is the message our current administration is sending? Be afraid. Go along or sufferconsequences. Toomany people, law ﬁrms, governmentrepresentatives and universities, have been willing to go along. It’s not working, and it’stimetostart saying this is not who we wanttobecome, this is not what we are going to do.

CHRISTINA ALBERS NewOrleans

Trump’spolicies causinggreat harm,and Congress not stopping it

Ibecame aGoldwater Republican when I ﬁrst registered to vote some62years ago, but after voting for Donald Trumpin2016, Ihave voted Democratic to avoid having to vote forhim Iwill not list all of the chaos and harm that Trumphas brought since his inauguration. He has instituted tariffs against longtimeallies, which will cause harm to our consumers since they will ultimately pay the cost of tariffs themselves, furthering inﬂation. Norwill Imention the retaliatory tariffs against us. This is upsetting our entire industrial and wholesale base, causing economic harm and major inconveniences to consumers.

He is destroying relations with our allies, which have taken generations to develop. Our stock market is in free fall, and our GDP is lower than predicted before his election. By executive order or the activities of DOGE,heisattempting to supplant the constitutional duty and right of both houses of Congress.

Idonot think history will look kindly on those members of Congress whodonot attempt to halt or restrain his seeming desire to be an autocrat. Our only hope seemstobe the federal judiciary,which seemstobeholding to constitutional and statutory law

creating anxiety in the working population,itcan easily be ﬁxed. Make him pay all year.Make Musk pay all year Make Trumppay all year Andmost importantly,start now to ﬁnd amoderate Democrat or independent to run against him next time. If he won’tmeet with his constituents in atruly open town hall, defeat him Government is not abusiness. It is a service, and you deserve better.Elect someonewho cares andhas aheart, not aparty that actually stops food from farmers going to food banks. Raise your voice andthrow the bumsout.

PATRICIA

BECKER NewOrleans

RALPH GOSSARD Baton Rouge

Do pope’s actions matchhis words on immigration?

Isuggest the pope lead by example and open Vatican City to all immigrants.

TOBY RUSSO Chalmette

Edward Pratt

UL notrushingprocess of ﬁlling holesatWR

Cajuns must replace bulk of theirreceiving production from ’24

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

UL football coach Michael Desormeaux knows abig chunk from last year’sreceivinggame is no longer around.

Only

28.2% of last season’sreceptions, 19.4% of yards receiving and 18.2% of touchdowns receiv-

ing remain on the roster

It’s abig job for UL’s coaching stafftofill in those gaps before theseasonopener,but Desormeaux said now is not the timefor that.

“Wehave aphilosophy that in the spring, it’sabout theplayer, the play and the scheme —not necessarily putting the particular players in place to doit,”hesaid.

“In the spring, our mindset is let’s ﬁgure out who can do what It’sabout the concepts that we like that we think can be good for us.

The spring is about getting those conceptsinwithdifferent guys

“Inthe spring, our mindset is let’s figure out who cando what. It’sabout the concepts that we likethat we think canbegood forus.”

MICHAEL DESORMEAUX, UL coach

who can do different jobs.”

When spring practice is over,the focus begins to shift,hesaid.

“Once you getthrough thespring

andyou self-scout, yousay,‘OK well,Aand B, theydothisreally well. They need to be in thisposition to do this. These two guys do this really well, so they need to be in this position,’ ”Desormeaux said.

The Cajuns coach said the staff will focus on putting players in positionduring thesummerand fall camps.

“Lastyear,wefound aniche for (wide receiver) Lance (LeGendre),” Desormeaux said. “Wefound somethings that he did really well and we put him in those positions to do it. We did the same thing with

CARR PROBLEMS

Saints quarterback Derek Carrwarms up before agameagainst the

suffered ashoulder injurythat could threaten his status for 2025,

BY MATTHEW PARAS and JEFF DUNCAN Staff writers

Despite restructuring his contract, the New Orleans Saints could be without Derek Carr next seasonafter all.

The quarterback suffereda shoulder injury that couldthreaten his status for 2025, asource with knowledge ofthe situation confirmed. The NFL Network

ﬁrst reported Friday that Carr is dealing with the ailmentand is weighing his options, which

reportedly include surgery The injuryisa stunning development for the Saints and Carr.New Orleans was set to begin the ﬁrstphase of its offseason workouts on Monday The team also opted to simply restructure Carr’scontract last month, whicheffectively guaranteed he’d beonthe roster after weeksofspeculation about whether the two sides were headed fora divorce. Carr, too, reportedly was open to a change of scenery before the Saintssettled on keeping him.

Still, if Carr can’tplay next season, that would put New Orleans in amajor bind when it comes to the quarterback position. Theteam hasSpencer Rattler and Jake Haener under contract, but thetwo young quarterbackscombined to go 0-7 as starters last year

TheSaints, too, have done alot of homeworkonthe incoming class of rookie quarterbacks.Coach Kellen Moore was spotted at various pro days around the country to evaluate Miami’sCam Ward, Ohio State’s

Will Howard and Ole Miss’ JaxsonDart. TheSaints also sent quarterbacks coach Scott TolzientoColorado forShedeur Sanders’ proday,reportedly haddinner withTexas’Quinn Ewers and hosted Louisville’s Tyler Shough foravisit Friday It is unknown if the Saints were doing heavy research on theprospectsbecauseofCarr’s injury,orifthey were trying to evaluate forthe future.Carr’s contractalready was set to

Competitionthe word forLSU’s offensive line

critical rebuild. He has to replace four starters, and as LSU heads into its last three spring practices, competition continues to take place throughout the offensive line.

(tight end) Terrance (Carter).”

The offensive staffcame up with ways to best utilizeLeGendre, who had 814 yards receiving and six touchdowns. Carter had 689 yards receiving and four TDs.

Whilethe process really isn’tto that point yet, Desormeaux noticed some promising candidates during spring drills.

“I’m happy with the pieces we have —very happy,”hesaid. “I have no doubt we’ll be able to that. Right now, it’s notreally about that.”

BY WILSON ALEXANDER Staff writer

Brad Davis barked out instructions and blew his whistle, moving back and forth between groups of offensive linemen.Hewatched closely while they worked on combo blocks, yelling “run him” andother comments abouttechnique. It was 8:05 a.m. Thursday,and Davis soundedlike someone who had been awake for hours.

LSU’soffensive line coach hasn’t changed, sophomore DJ Chester said, but the circumstances around his position group have.The past two years, LSUbrought back established players at tackle and guard, making it Davis’ jobtowork on what was already in place. This year,Davis is in charge of a

“There’s no Will Campbell outthere where youknow there’s no question about who your starting lefttackle is,” coach Brian Kelly said. “They’ve gotto makeprogress every day.”

Before LSU’sopen practice Saturday morning in Tiger Stadium, the starting offensive line during media viewings has consistently been lefttackle Tyree Adams, left guard Paul Mubenga, Chesteratcenter,right guard Coen Echols and right tackle Weston Davis. Butthat could change by the timeLSU opens the season against Clemson.

“Everyday,you’ve got to go out there andbringitbecause if not, there’s somebodyelse who’sbreathing down your neck,” offensive coordinatorJoe

AUGUSTA, Ga. Jason Day lately has been knownmore forwhat he wears playing golf than actually playing golf

This year,Day said he was on a short list of Masters competitors who were asked to submit what clothes they had“scripted” forthe week. Sort of similar to “Who are youwearing?” on the Academy Awards red carpet, but more like “What are youwearing? No, seriously.”

During the 2024 Masters, he was asked by tournament ofﬁcials to slip out of asweater vest by his new clothes supplier —some outﬁt called Malbon Golf —that had some very large wording on it. No curse words or anything, just on the high end of the obnoxious meter

Dayand his clothier did tone downthe glitz, as it were, forthis year’swalk downAugusta National’semerald fairways.

“Wekind of cut everything in half,” he said. “It’sgood. Iunderstand. We’re here forthe tournament.”

It’s doubly good, because the wayDay has played through the ﬁrst tworounds of this year’s Masters, it would be ashameif anything took the attention away from Day’sgolf. Away from the resurgent second act of Day’s starry and star-crossed career that could be sartorially validated by aMasters green jacket.

He shot abogey-free 2-underpar 70 in Thursday’s ﬁrst round. He kept his scorecard clean until Friday’slast hole, when tree trouble off the tee on the 18th allowed the bogey-man to catch up with him.Still, it’sthe fewest bogeys of anyone in the 95-man ﬁeld, leaving the 37-year-old Australian very much in contention at 4under going into the weekend in arespectable tie forninth.

“Game is nice,” Day said after signing forasecond-straight 70. “I just haven’tholed alot of putts out there, or the putts that Ihad opportunities on.

“I’ve been very patient with myself out there. Yeah, Ijust

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON LSU offensivelineman Braelin Moore, left, blocks teammate Carius Curne during spring practiceonMarch22atthe LSU practice fields.

STAFF FILEPHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Atlanta Falcons on Nov. 10 at theCaesarsSuperdome. Carr

asource withknowledge

thesituation confirmed.

Scott Rabalais

Browns have QB Flacco returning on one-year deal

CLEVELAND Veteran NFL quarterback Joe Flacco agreed to terms with the Cleveland Browns on a one-year deal on Friday Flacco will have a base salary of $4 million but can earn more with incentives. He won the league’s Comeback Player of the Year award in 2023 after leading an inspiring late-season surge that carried the Browns to the playoffs for only the second time since their return in 1999. Flacco, 40, spent last season in Indianapolis, throwing for 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions in eight games, including a 2-4 mark as a starter The Browns are in ﬂux at quarterback with Deshaun Watson potentially missing the entire season as he recovers from a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered in January, just three months after initially injuring the tendon.

Clark, Fever vs. Reese, Sky tip off WNBA Rivals Week

Stanfield delivers for LSU after transfer

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

AUBURN,Ala.— Jay Johnson always liked Chris Stanﬁeld. Johnson didn’t care about what the stats suggested. The LSU baseball coach had watched Stanﬁeld get two hits off of Paul Skenes as a freshman, and his rare athleticism stood out to Johnson

“And when he went to the portal, it’s like, let’s try to get him,” Johnson said. “Because we like him.” Johnson’s instincts and Stanfield have paid off. Through 35 games, Stanfield is posting career highs in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage in his first season at LSU. He’s played excellent defense in center field, and his on-base plus slugging percentage heading into this weekend’s series against Auburn — his former club — stood at .886.

He bats ninth, but Stanfield’s value to the lineup is not reﬂected by his spot in the order

“There’s not a better guy hitting ninth in the country for anybody as far as how they impact winning,” Johnson said.

Speed is the foundation of Stanﬁeld’s game, not just defensively and on the base paths but also at the plate. His quick hands have helped him become an affective pull hitter

The vast majority of his hits this season have gone into left ﬁeld. Lately, he’s seen more off-speed pitches, likely a sign of teams respecting his ability to catch up to

LSU forward Jersey

Wolfenbarger catches a pass during practice on March 21 at the PMAC.

By MICHAEL JOHNSON

the fastball.

“He can hit a fastball, he can run the bases electrically (and) he can bunt,” Johnson said on his radio show in March “He manages the zone pretty good.” Stanﬁeld came to Baton Rouge

Wolfenbarger is 4th LSU women’s player in portal

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

LSU women’s basketball forward Jersey Wolfenbarger has decided to enter the transfer portal, multiple sources conﬁrmed Friday Wolfenbarger, a 6-foot-5 rising senior, is the fourth Tiger to leave via the portal this cycle.

LSU now must replace its entire frontcourt. Aneesah Morrow and Amani Bartlett exhausted their eligibility Then Sa’Myah Smith, Aalyah Del Rosario and Wolfenbarger entered their names into the transfer portal Coach Kim Mulkey and her staff already signed one transfer, former Notre Dame forward Kate Koval, to replace some of the talent they’re losing in the paint. They also will add 6-2 forward Grace Knox, a top-10 national recruit who’s signed to

their No. 1 freshman class. But more additions are likely on the way, especially since Wolfenbarger was in line to step into a key role next season.

Wolfenbarger spent two seasons at Arkansas and one at LSU. She started nine of the 37 games she played in last year

The Tigers helped Wolfenbarger reconﬁgure her game. In her two seasons as a Razorback, she attempted 120 total 3-pointers but converted only 23% of them. Wolfenbarger didn’t attempt a single shot from beyond the arc in an LSU uniform. Instead, she took all of her ﬁeld goals in and around the paint, and as a result, she saw her overall shooting percentage increase from 39% to 63%.

As a Tiger, Wolfenbarger played roughly 13 minutes per game and averaged 4.6 points and 3.4 rebounds.

because he wanted to improve as a hitter His slugging percentage and batting average dropped last year after a solid freshman campaign. Becoming ingrained in Johnson’s offensive system has re-

sulted in more walks and doubles.

Stanfield entered this weekend with as many walks (18) as he had during his entire freshman campaign and more doubles (nine) than in either of his two years at Auburn (eight).

The home runs haven’t come yet. Stanﬁeld doesn’t have any after hitting seven in two years at Auburn.

But he’s hit the ball hard consistently, even if he hasn’t been elevating pitches.

His hard-hit rate is reﬂected in his .442 batting average with balls in play entering this weekend.

“Coming here, my number one goal was prioritizing hitting and developing at the plate,” Stanﬁeld said. “And coach Johnson and the whole staff have done a great job with me and really just believing in my training.”

The LSU roster is littered with transfers. Junior Daniel Dickinson at second base, senior Luis Hernandez at catcher and junior right-hander Anthony Eyanson have been particularly valuable, just to name a few

But as Stanfield returns to Plainsman Park this weekend to face the program that raised him, he’s also proven to be a critical addition for LSU.

“I’ve honestly kind of settled in nicely,” Stanfield said. “I guess knowing where I’m going to be in center ﬁeld and in the nine hole like that provides comfortability.”

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

Johnson breaks silence about potential return to LSU women’s hoops

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

The LSU women’s basketball team lost to UCLA, and Flau’jae

Johnson went quiet No social-media posts. No podcast episodes. No ofﬁcial announcement of her decision to pass on the WNBA draft

It was clear that Johnson was returning to college basketball, but was she returning to the Tigers?

Johnson let that uncertainty linger until Thursday, when she indicated in a new episode of her “Best of Both Worlds” podcast that she does, in fact, want to return to LSU for her senior season.

“I want to graduate at LSU,” she said.

Johnson then offered advice for the reported 1,300-plus players who have entered the NCAA transfer portal so far They must ﬁnd the situation that’s right for them, she said, and prioritize their development. Transferring is a big decision, one that no player should take lightly

“I’ve never really thought about the portal,” Johnson said, “but I don’t know It just depends on your situation.”

This offseason, Johnson could’ve declared for the WNBA draft She could’ve also entered the transfer portal — and she still can any time before it closes on April 23. According to a report by ESPN, she was weighing “offseason NIL offers” (presumably from programs outside of LSU) at the same time she was deciding between her senior season and a potential move to the pros.

It appears that Johnson has since made up her mind. She’s now set to play her senior season with the Tigers, ready to build on the best year of her career

“I learned so much that I’m gonna carry into the new team,” Johnson said, “especially with the freshmen that’s coming in, and they’re so eager to learn. I love that. If they need that, I’ll be there too. So, I’m ecstatic to get back and get to work. I’m excited to get better.”

Last season, Johnson averaged a career-high 18.6 points point game to pair with a 5.6 rebound average and a 2.5 assist average. She shot 47% from the ﬁeld and 38% from 3-point range. In LSU’s Elite Eight loss, she scored 24 of her 28 points in the second half, nearly willing her team to an improbable comefrom-behind win. Johnson could’ve parlayed that impressive season into an early move to the WNBA.

But the LSU star said on her podcast that her twin desires to develop her game and end her career on a positive note nudged her back to college.

She even mentioned the possibility of a new WNBA collective bargaining agreement, which could be in place as soon as 2026.

Such a deal would usher in larger pay scales for rookies, which gives Johnson an extra ﬁnancial incentive to stay in college one more year

Other age-eligible stars such as Lauren Betts, Azzi Fudd, Olivia Miles and Ta’Niya Latson all made similar decisions.

Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever will face Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky in prime time to tip off the inaugural WNBA Rivals Week in August.

Other games will include two between New York and Minnesota in a WNBA Finals rematch; a matchup of projected No. 1 draft pick Paige Bueckers and Dallas against Clark’s Fever; and Atlanta’s Brittney Griner facing her old Phoenix squad.

“You can have a great partnership, but you also have to have great activation,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a Zoom interview Rivalry week games will be broadcast on a variety of networks, starting with the prime-time game between the Fever and Sky on CBS on Aug. 9.

Gamecocks’ Fulwiley plans to enter transfer portal

MiLaysia Fulwiley plans to leave South Carolina and transfer, her mother conﬁrmed to The State on Friday afternoon. The Greenville News was the ﬁrst to report the news.

Fulwiley just ended her sophomore college season Sunday when the Gamecocks lost to UConn in the national championship game. She scored nine points in 18 minutes. She has two years of eligibility remaining. The Columbia native has often been called a “generational talent” by coach Dawn Staley during her two years with the program. While she was known for her ﬂashy highlight capabilities and improved on defense this year, she showed signs of streaky shooting and had turnover trouble down the stretch of the season.

Embiid has arthroscopic surgery on left knee

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Wednesday, and the team said he will be re-evaluated in about six weeks.

Embiid originally had meniscus surgery on Feb. 6, 2024, days after Golden State forward Jonathan Kuminga fell on the leg. The 2023 league MVP returned for the playoffs, though he never fully recovered. He averaged 23.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 19 games this season before he was shut down.The 76ers have been ravaged by injuries this season.

Tyrese Maxey broke a ﬁnger and hasn’t been in action since March 3. Paul George played in just 41 games this season, then was shut down for the year after receiving injections in his left groin and left knee.

Memphis’ Wells to miss season after wrist injury

Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaylen Wells is expected to miss the rest of the season after breaking his right wrist and suffering a concussion and facial laceration in a hard fall Tuesday against the Charlotte Hornets.

Wells is the team’s top perimeter defender and one of the league’s top rookies.

He averages 10.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. The team expects him to make a full recovery

Wells caught an outlet pass from Ja Morant in the second quarter against the Hornets and was going up for the jam when Charlotte’s KJ Simpson caught up and inadvertently undercut him. Wells lost his balance and landed awkwardly on his side as his head hit

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU center fielder Chris Stanfield drives the ball against Mississippi State on March 29 at Alex Box Stadium.

STAFF

PHOTO

Justin Rose waves after making a putt on the 12th hole during the second round of the Masters on Friday in Augusta, Ga. Rose shot a 1-under 71 to take a one-stroke lead heading into the third round.

ASSOCIATED

By MATT SLOCUM

Plenty of company

Rose keeps Masters lead with pack of big names not far behind

BY DOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Justin Rose did just enough keep the lead Friday in the Masters, but he has a lot of company going into the weekend at Augusta National.

Bryson DeChambeau became the only player with consecutive sub-70 rounds and got within one shot, putting him in the ﬁnal group

Right behind was Rory McIlroy, who put his sloppy finish to the first round behind him and roared into contention to put the career grand slam back into view Scottie Scheffler started his title defense with 24 straight holes without a bogey He then made five bogeys over the last 12 holes to slow his progress. He still was only three shots behind.

“The leaderboard is stacking up very favorably for what looks like world-class players right up there,” Rose said after his 1-under 71, which featured birdies on the par 5s on the front nine and on the par 3s on the back nine. “So you’re going to have to play great golf, and you’re going to have to go out there and want it and go for it and get after it. It’s as simple as that really.” Rose took a three-shot lead into the second round and had the advantage of playing early, before the wind became strong enough to make ﬂags snap and create just enough indecision.

LSU

Continued from page 1C

Sloan said. “We’ve been rolling a lot of different guys, giving a lot of guys opportunities, and see who continues to rise as the spring goes on.”

That was not the case this time last year Campbell and Emery Jones were entrenched at tackle. Miles Frazier and Garrett Dellinger were set at guard. The only change before the 2024 season came at center, and Chester was the obvious replacement for Charles Turner Now, Chester is the only returning starter Even with so much continuity, LSU’s offensive line struggled in the run game While it allowed an SEC-low 15 sacks, the Tigers averaged only 116.4 yards rushing, which ranked 107th nationally Coaches have said there were multiple issues that need to improve Among them, the offensive line had to be more physical, an emphasis this offseason.

“The way we’ve been blocking on the perimeter, I think that’s changing,” Sloan said. “That’s a massive piece to what we need to do for our offense and it opens up so many different things. But I deﬁnitely think it’s going to start up front and the emphasis on coming off the ball and moving people.”

Without much returning experience, LSU signed two transfers, Northwestern’s Josh Thompson and Virginia Tech’s Braelin Moore. Neither of them have secured starting roles yet. Thompson has been the second-team right tackle since joining the team midway through spring practice. He has

Continued from page 1C

expire after the 2026 season, and he’s set to enter that year with a $69 million cap hit. Moore did not mention any injury that Carr was dealing with when he met with reporters at the NFL owners’ meetings last week

“Every team in the NFL is always trying to bring in quarterbacks and develop them under any circumstance,” Moore said. “And

He hit a 9-iron over Rae’s Creek to 4 feet for birdie on the par-3 12th, and he stuffed his tee shot on the par-3 16th for another birdie.

That allowed him to atone for a few mistakes.

He was at 8-under 136, the third time he has had the 36-hole lead at the Masters.

The buzz came from behind him.

DeChambeau picked up an unlikely birdie by holing a bunker shot on the par-3 fourth hole on his way to a 32 on the front nine that kept him on Rose’s heels. He wound up with a 68 for his best start ever in the Masters.

“This is what golf is about,” DeChambeau said. “Got a lot of great names up there, and looking forward to an unbelievable test of golf.” And then there was McIlroy, who had two double bogeys over the last four holes Thursday, the latest frustrating chapter for him at the Masters. This time, he managed to forget about it and move on. He went birdie-birdie-par-eagle to start the back nine and was on his way to a bogeyfree 66.

“I had to remind myself I was playing well,” McIlroy said. “I couldn’t let two bad holes dictate the narrative of the 16 good ones.

“I also had to remind myself this morning not to push too hard too early.”

Corey Conners of Canada quietly put to-

gether a 70 and joined McIlroy at 6-under 138. The group three shots back included Schefﬂer (71), former British Open champion Shane Lowry (68) and Tyrrell Hatton, who got within one shot of Rose until a pair of three-putts One of them did a U-turn down the hill at the 16th. The other was a sleepy tap-in that lipped out.

It shapes up for a wide-open weekend, led by a 44-year-old from England who has gone a dozen years since winning his only major at the 2013 U.S. Open. Rose spoke last year about finding another stretch of magic in his career, and opportunity awaits.

That’s also the case for DeChambeau, the U.S. Open champion; for McIlroy, the sentimental favorite of so many at the Augusta National as he tries to get the last leg of the career Grand Slam; and for Schefﬂer, who coped with plenty of stress the course gave him Friday

“That’s the company that I expect to keep, and that’s where I have tried to be my whole career,” Rose said. “I’ve been a top-10 player in the world for a decade or more. So yeah, this is nice to be back in that mix.”

The cut was at 2-over 146, marking the end of 67-year-old Bernhard Langer’s Masters career He needed to make a 10-foot par putt on the last hole, only for it to tickle the right side of the cup.

also gotten reps at guard.

“We brought in Josh Thompson,” Kelly said, “and everyone else is saying not so fast, either.”

Kelly said before spring practice that Moore would play center, his position last season. As a result, Chester would compete at guard.

But so far, Chester has held onto the starting center role while Moore shares reps. Chester said he has also practiced at guard.

When Moore entered in one practice, Chester moved to left guard.

“That next level, when I make it, they’re going to bring people in,” Chester said. “Got to trust in my work, got to trust in everything I do every day I would never run away from competition. I love it.”

Chester acknowledged he “wasn’t performing the best early on” as a ﬁrst-time starter last season. He thought defenses targeted him because he was the newcomer on an experienced line and that he improved later in the season He also knew he had to get better He has been working on lowering his pad level, snaps and ﬁnishing blocks.

so everyone does homework every year on quarterbacks. It’s a very valuable position. “So obviously, we feel like we have Derek, who’s played a ton of football and we feel great about. Then certainly, our organization has invested in quarterbacks the last few years. “ Moore said Carr’s restructure gave the Saints ﬂexibility” — it cleared $30 million in cap space — and added that he was “excited to have him back with us really shortly” when the offseason program begins April 14.

“You look at yourself in the mirror, and you’re like, ‘Hey, you’ve got to pick it up,’ ” Chester said “I’m not only playing for myself, I’m playing for my family and the guys next to me. If I mess up, it looks bad on them. They are going to the next level right now, so I had to look at myself in the mirror and I had to go to work. I would never want to be the weak link again.”

The result of the center competition could have a ripple effect on the rest of the offensive line. Chester and Moore are options at guard if they don’t win the job, which could bump someone else out of the lineup. Thompson also has versatility, so LSU can try different combinations through the end of the spring and into preseason camp.

“There’s going to be intense competition for those five positions all year,” Kelly said “It’s not going to get to a certain date and go, ‘Well, there’s no competition anymore.’ We have more than ﬁve guys that can play in the SEC up there. The pressure will be on each and every week.”

At his introductory news conference in February, the first-year Saints coach initially gave a non-

need some putts to go in. I think overall I’m hitting really good putts. I’m just going to work on that this afternoon.”

Working on putting is one thing that has carried Day from a golﬁng abyss back to No. 36 in the world entering the Masters, one spot ahead of former LSU All-American Sam Burns. Somewhere between Tiger Woods’ dominance of the golf world and Scottie Schefﬂer’s current No. 1 reign, Day had his day at No. 1 In the fall of 2015, shortly after winning his lone major in the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, Day was on top of the world.

But there were already signs of trouble amid all the great play During the 2015 U.S. Open, Day suffered a completely debilitating bout of vertigo, though he still managed to ﬁnish in a tie for ninth. The vertigo has returned at times over the years, including at the 2023 Masters and that year’s world match play championship. There also has been back trouble. It all contributed to a 175th world ranking late in the 2022 season.

Day still has something of a glass constitution he withdrew on the eve of The Players last month with a stomach bug.

But there is reason for optimism. Day only has one victory over the past six years, the 2023 Byron Nelson, but his game is generally trending upward.

He probably will never get back to No. 1 in the world. But Day can still play, and he can play at this place. He tied for second in 2011, his very first Masters, and also was third in 2013 and tied for fifth in 2019. Day and the rest of the field are looking up at another veteran player looking to add some late-career major championship magic to his resume: 44-year-old Justin Rose. He led by three after a first-round 65 and was still one up on last year’s runnerup, two-time U.S. Open winner Bryson DeChambeau, after a second-round 71 got Rose to 8 under Rory McIlroy shook the pines at Augusta after a late Thursday collapse with double bogeys at 15 and 17 to rebound with a 66 Friday, putting him two back in his quest to win the Masters and complete the career grand slam. And never count out Scheffler, who had a wild 71 to finish in a tie for fifth at 5 under Then there’s Day There’s plenty of reason to remember the great golfer he has been, and what he could be once again if he finds just a little bit of greatness this weekend. “I feel like I’m playing very nicely,” Day said. “We’ve got 36 holes left, so there’s a lot of golf to be played.

“If I can get myself rolling the way that I feel like I can, then I feel like I can get myself into contention.” If he can, what Day ends up wearing Sunday night will be the most famous sports coat in the world.

CAJUNS

Continued from page 1C

In addition to LSU transfer receiver Shelton Sampson, there’s returnees Rob Williams (24 catches for 280 yards, TD) and Jaydon Johnson (5-73).

“Jaydon Johnson, his thing is consistency,” Desormeaux said. “Well, he’s showed up every day and played really well — made some big catches and big plays.

“Rob has shown the ability to sway between (the) X and Z (positions), which is huge for us.”

KeDarius Wade has also impressed the staff, and the return of Charles Robertson after missing last season with a suspension is comforting.

“Truthfully, (Robertson’s) dropped more balls than normal in the spring, but I know the guy,” Desormeaux said. “We’re going to work through that and he’s going to be ﬁne. He’s been doing good stuff and getting open and getting himself in position.”

Running back depth

Bill Davis and Zylan Perry are likely the top two running backs heading into the fall. Determining which backs will be third and fourth on the depth chart isn’t as clear cut.

Desormeaux said he likes what he’s seen from both redshirt freshman Steven Blanco and true freshman Darrell Smith.

“Blanco and Darrell have been the two, that’s like, ‘Heck yeah, that’s what we were hoping for,’ ” Desormeaux said. “You have to understand the pass (protection). You have to understand the IDs

and when the protection changes and who do you have all of those things.”

Desormeaux sees some of (former UL star) Trey Ragas in Blanco and some of (former UL star) Emani Bailey in Smith.

“I think Steven’s got his weight down,” he said. “He looks really good right now Last year, he got up to 225 to 230, which is too heavy for him. Now he’s down to about 210. He’s a load.

“Darrell has been a really impressive kid for getting here. He’s supposed to be getting ready for (high school) prom right now and he’s playing really good.” Promise on DL

The defensive line lost mainstays Mason Narcisse, Antoine Baylis and Kyron Mims, but Desormeaux has seen some bright spots beyond the seasoned returnees.

“Your usual suspects are Jordan Lawson, (Kadarius) Miller, Cam Whitfield, but Trey Fite is coming around. Ashley Williams, who flashed last year a bunch, is playing really well,” he said. “Lance Williams, who we ended up being able to redshirt last year, is having a great spring.”

LSU transfer Fitzgerald West, a junior, has also impressed.

“He is playing really good right now,” Desormeaux said. “He’s up to 300 pounds now and he’s moving really well.”

Also, Youngstown State transfer Jaelen Crider looks like a ﬁnd.

“He’s better than I thought he was going to be, which is good because obviously we took him so we thought he was going to be good,” Desormeaux said.

in back-to-back drafts with Rattler (2024 ﬁfth round) and Haener (2023 fourth round).

CARR

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU tackle Weston Davis leads the linemen across the field during a spring practice on March 22 at the LSU practice fields.

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE

LSU club prepares annual ‘Singeaux’ revue

BY ROBIN MILLER Staff writer

From “Frozen” to “Chicago,” the Musical Theatre Club at LSU will have something for everyone when it stages its annual “Singeaux” on April 17. The musical revue of popular Broadway numbers will start at 7 p.m. in the LSU Union Theater, Veterans Drive, on campus. Admission is free.

“We’ll be performing 18 songs,” said Jasmine Garrison, who is co-directing the show with Jada Petrie. “The lineup will include ‘You Can’t Stop the Beat’ from ‘Hairspray,’ ‘What Did I Miss?’ from ‘Hamilton’ and ‘What Do You Know About Love’ from ‘Frozen the Musical.’ The ‘Frozen’ song is one I don’t think a lot of people know about, but it’s really good, and we’re kind of putting our own spin on it.” Also in the lineup will be “I Know It’s Today” from “Shrek the Musical,” “Magic to Do” from “Pippin,” “All That Jazz” from “Chicago,” and “Mein Herr” from “Cabaret.”

PHOTO By ROBIN MILLER

The Musical Theatre Club at LSU rehearses ‘Magic to Do’ from ‘Pippin’ in the Old LSU Tiger Band Hall. The number is in a lineup of 18 Broadway tunes in the club’s annual ‘Singeaux’ musical revue to be performed on April 17.

“There are more, but those are our big ones,” Petrie said. “And it’s a good mix.” Each number will be accompanied by a live band led by Kason Hebert, who is a member of the Tiger Band. The show will include multiple horns, including a saxophone, tuba and trumpet, as well as a pianist, guitar and drummer

Some numbers will feature the show’s 40 cast members performing as a group. Others will be performed in smaller ensembles, trios, duos and solos.

“And we’ll be fully costumed,” Petrie said “We’ll be changing costumes for every song.”

All-volunteer show

The Musical Theatre Club at LSU’s has an all-volunteer membership of students representing a variety of majors across campus Those performing in “Singeaux” were required to schedule both voice and dance auditions.

“The dance auditions weren’t really about whether they could dance or not,” Garrison said “We have two choreographers working on this show and we needed to know which choreographer to assign the cast members to.” The choreographers include Dominic Joseph and Maddy Atrainer Garrison not only is co-directing the show but is comusic director alongside Callie Ancelet, who also is the show’s vocal coach.

ä See REVUE, page 6C

Tee time

BY LAUREN CHERAMIE

Staff writer

Spring is in the air in Augusta, Georgia, which means the 89th Masters Tournament is upon us.

Aside from the iconic gnomes and commemorative pins the Masters is also known for its $1.50 pimento cheese sandwiches, wrapped in fairway-green plastic bags, egg salad sandwiches and signature azalea cocktail.

The Masters released Taste of the Masters kits, now sold out, to celebrate at home. The large hosting kit featured pimento cheese, egg salad, pork barbecue and classic concession items, while the azalea kit included nonalcoholic azalea cocktail mix, cups, coasters, a cocktail jigger and custom stirrers.

Lucky for us, the Masters released its cocktail recipe, so fans can make a homemade azalea: Mix 1¼ ounces of vodka, 5 ounces of lemonade and a half ounce of grenadine over ice with a cherry and orange slice garnish. This year, the Masters ﬁnals tee off April 10. To celebrate in Baton Rouge, check out these local res-

The Baton Rouge Chorus of Sweet Adelines are performing in the 10th anniversary of Total Vocal on the Distinguished Concerts International New york. The concert starts at 6 p.m. Central Time April 12 in David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center

PROVIDED PHOTO By BATON ROUGE CHORUS OF SWEET ADELINES

(pack of 20 for $5) and cups (set of 10 for $17) from The Royal Standard, 16016 Perkins Road and 2877 Perkins Road in Baton Rouge. Add some whimsy to the kitchen with a golf cocktail cotton kitchen towel ($22.95) and set of 10 shatterproof cups ($28.95) from The Keeping Room, 3535 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge. Keep a drink cold with this silicone ice mold ($14.99) in the shape of a golf ball at Messengers 15226 George O’Neal Road, Baton Rouge. The mold is dishwasher safe and makes a 2-inch ice sphere.

For pimento cheese

taurants, grocery stores and boutiques with decor pimento cheese, egg salad and barbecue options. For hosting decor

Every good host knows that themed decor makes a party For a fun Masters-at-home party, pick up the “Partee Time” cocktail napkins

Elsie’s Plate and Pie, 3145 Government St., Baton Rouge, has three pimento cheese options on its catering menu. The smoky threecheese pimento platter ($60 per tray) includes smoked Gouda, cheddar and pepper jack on crostini with Arlington House pineapple pepper jelly The pimento salad ($50

and

MILLER

FILE PHOTO By SCOTT RABALAIS

BY ROBIN

Staff writer

STAFF

PROVIDED PHOTO

“Partee Time” cocktail napkins (pack of 20 for $5) from The Royal Standard, 16016 Perkins Road and 2877 Perkins Road in Baton Rouge.

Holy Week at St. Joseph Cathedral

St. Joseph Cathedral, 401 Main St., Baton Rouge, will mark Holy Week with a series of liturgies led by Bishop Michael G. Duca and Cathedral Rector the Rev J. Cary Bani.

n Palm Sunday: Palms will be blessed and distributed at Masses at 4 p.m. Saturday and 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Sunday

n Chrism Mass: At 10:30 a.m Tuesday, Duca and diocesan priests will renew priestly vows Sacred oils for sacraments will be consecrated.

n Holy Thursday: The Mass of the Lord’s Supper begins at 6 p.m. Thursday, followed by prayer before the Blessed Sacrament until 8 p.m.

n Good Friday: The outdoor Way of the Cross begins at 9 a.m. Friday, April 18, with a walk from the cathedral plaza to the State Capitol. The Solemn Liturgy of Good Friday follows at 3 p.m., including Veneration of the Cross with a relic of the True Cross.

n Holy Saturday: The Great Easter Vigil begins at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 19, with the Service of Light, readings, Gloria, First Mass of Easter and sacraments for new members.

n Easter Sunday: Masses at 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Sunday, April 20, include the renewal of baptismal promises. All are invited to attend. Services will be broadcast live on CatholicLife TV (Cox Channel

15, Facebook, Roku, FireTV and YouTube).

For more information, call (225) 387-5928 or email ofﬁce@cathedralbr.org.

St. Mary Baptist offers leadership schooling

St. Mary Baptist Church, 1252 N. Acadian Thruway, Baton Rouge, will offer two evening classes through its Christian Leadership School, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m April 22–24

Courses include “Effective Bible Reading,” taught by the Rev Rodney Freeman, and “Christian Stewardship,” taught by the Rev Deborah McNealy Registration is open through Wednesday For more information or to sign up, contact the church ofﬁce at (225) 387-2926.

Gloryland Baptist holds summer program

Gloryland Baptist Church, 6745 Greenwell Springs Road, Baton Rouge, will hold its Summer Enrichment Program from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, June 3-July 25, with aftercare available until 6 p.m.

The program is open to pre-K through eighth grade students and includes reading, math, music, cultural and social activities, library visits, exercise, robotics and swim lessons. For more information, call (225) 928-0436 or request a ﬂyer and application at green731@cox.net.

TODAY IN HISTORY

dubbed “polio pioneers.”

MASTERS

Continued from page 5C

strawberry pepper jelly vinai-

grette. The pimento BLT tray ($65 a tray) features crispy bacon and three-cheese pimento on sourdough with lettuce and tomato.

By The Associated Press

Today is Saturday, April 12, the 102nd day of 2025. There are 263 days left in the year Today in history: On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the ﬁrst human in space, orbiting the earth once before landing safely via parachute after a planned ejection from his space capsule.

On this date: In 1861, the U.S. Civil War began as Confederate forces opened ﬁre on Fort Sumter in South Carolina.

In 1954, Bill Haley and His Comets recorded “Rock Around the Clock,” a song often cited as bringing rock ‘n’ roll music into the mainstream when it was popularized in the ﬁlm “The Blackboard Jungle” the following year In 1955, the polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk was declared safe and effective following nearly a year of ﬁeld trials undertaken by about 1.8 million American child volunteers

In 1963, civil rights leader the Rev Martin Luther King Jr was arrested and jailed in Birmingham, Alabama, charged with contempt of court and parading without a permit. (During his time behind bars, King wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”)

In 1981, the NASA Space Shuttle program began as Space Shuttle Columbia, the world’s ﬁrst reusable spacecraft, lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center Today’s birthdays: Musician Herbie Hancock is 85. Musician John Kay (Steppenwolf) is 81. Actor Ed O’Neill is 79. TV host David Letterman is 78. Author Scott Turow is 76. Actor Andy Garcia is 69. Movie director Walter Salles is 69. Country musician Vince Gill is 68. Actor-comedian Retta is 55. Actor Claire Danes is 46. Actor Jennifer Morrison is 46. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is 44. Model-actor Brooklyn Decker is 38. Actor-comedian Ilana Glazer is 38. Actor Saoirse Ronan is 31.

Continued from page 5C

“We’re also grateful to our stage manager Nico Wachtel, who has been amazing,” Garrison said. “And though our assistant stage manager, Emma Hulse, had to drop out, she was instrumental in putting this show together.”

Rounding out the all-volunteer crew are costume director Sarah Walton, light designer Luke Suggs and set designers Logan Berezuik and Alicia Stanga.

A different perspective

Garrison and Petrie, both from New Orleans, are seniors majoring in social work, and they’ve applied some of which they’ve learned in class to their approach to staging “Singeaux.”

“We really wanted to direct the show from a social work and trauma-informed perspective,”

Garrison said. “That’s the spin that we took on directing this. We wanted to make sure that we understood that everyone in this production are students ﬁrst, and people ﬁrst. And we also acknowledge that when they step into the rehearsal space, they’re not always in the mindset for our show, because they have so much going on with school and jobs.”

“So, we’ve led with that philosophy, and we think we’ve been successful so far,” Petrie added.

The club has been rehearsing in the Old LSU Tiger Band Hall and another rehearsal space within the LSU Music and Dramatic Arts Building. The students will move into the Union Theater for dress rehearsals two days before the performance.

“We’ll be ready,” Petrie said.

“We can’t wait.”

For more information, visit tigerlink.lsu.edu/mtclsu/home.

Email Robin Miller at romiller@theadvocate.com.

At Gourmet Girls, 1660 Lobdell Ave., Baton Rouge, customers can choose from five options on the sandwich platter, which requires a minimum of 48 sandwiches per flavor ($68): jalapeño pimento, turkey and bacon ﬁg spread, ham and hot pepper jelly spread, apricot chicken salad and Italian olive salad. A 48-hour notice is recommended for catering orders.

Counterspace 5621 Government St., Baton Rouge, debuted a Masters Tournament menu, which includes pimento cheese dip, white bread pimento cheese sandwiches, lemonade and treats.

For egg salad

Pick up a deviled egg tray from the deli at Calvin’s, 7675 Jefferson Highway, Baton Rouge, or place an order for a tray with the catering department at Oak Point Fresh Market, 12732 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge.

At Maxwell’s Market, 6241 Perkins Road and 7629 Corporate Blvd., in Baton Rouge, customers can order a tray of homemade egg salad sandwiches. A 24-hour notice is recommended for catering orders.

The market also offers tubs of egg salad, pimento cheese and other party-approved, take-home items.

Chef Jennifer Scott says, “We will make anything that they have at

CHORUS

Continued from page 5C

be the only hometown singers at the concert. They’ll be joining Baton Rougean Shelley Regner, best known as Bardin Bella’s Ashley in the “Pitch Perfect” movie franchise.

Regner has since moved to Los Angeles, where she embarked on a successful acting career, but on April 12, she’ll share the Total Voice spotlight with professional a cappella ensemble Backtrack Vocals.

Still, the true stars of this show will be the 20 a cappella groups traveling from throughout the world to perform together on this night.

“We are the only group that has been selected from Louisiana,” said Sherry Barron, director of the Baton Rouge Chorus. “We are also the only Sweet Adeline group that will be performing. The Distinguished Concerts International of New York tries to have a feature concert from the state where their featured performer is from. So, since Shelley is from Baton Rouge and in the ‘Pitch Perfect’ films, they looked at YouTube videos and found us, and it just matched up nicely So, we were excited.” Barbershop harmony

The Baton Rouge Chorus is a chapter of the nonprofit Sweet Adelines, an international women’s singing organization founded in 1945 by Edna Mae Anderson in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Its goal is the promotion of barbershop harmony through education performance and competition.

Baton Rouge’s chapter was formed in 1966 and continues to perform barbershop harmony

“But this is a concert of all a cappella groups, they’re not speciﬁcal-

Just like at the Masters, Counterspace is offering $1.50 pimento cheese sandwiches, as well as chicken salad dip, chicken salad sandwiches, salted chocolate chip cookies, sandwich trays and pimento cheese dip.

the Masters!!”

For barbecue

Choose from brisket quesadillas, smoked brisket chili, barbecue smoked meat boxes, sandwich boxes, barbecue by the pound and more from the catering menu at Hannah Q Smokehouse, 4808 Government St., and 9880 Bluebonnet Blvd., in Baton Rouge.

The barbecue catering menu at City Pork, 2921 Government St., Baton Rouge, includes options like pulled pork sliders, baby back ribs, brisket, wild boar ﬂautas, pimento and cracklins and more.

BRQ, 10423 Jefferson Highway, Baton Rouge, has four catering packages that range from $325 to $495 and serve eight to 15 people.

ly barbershop style groups,” Barron said. “I think we’re probably the only barbershop singers that’ll be participating in this.”

This fact alone has created a challenge for the Baton Rouge group, whose arrangements usually are in four-part harmony, especially when singing such songs as Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers,” Harry Styles’ “Music for a Sushi Restaurant,” and Queen’s iconic ballad “Somebody to Love.”

Those numbers are in the concert lineup, along with “I Could Write a Book,” “Just the Way You Are,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” and “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”

“’The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ will be the grand ﬁnale,” Barron said. “All of these have difﬁcult music, and they have more than four parts. Some have anywhere between four and eight parts going at one time. They were all arranged by Deke Sharon, and if you’re familiar with his music, you know it’s pretty intense.”

An a cappella star

Sharon is known in the a cappella world as “The Father of Contemporary A Cappella” for his contributions to the genre, including founding the Contemporary A Cappella Society, his musical arrangements and popularizing a cappella through his work on “The Sing Off” and the “Pitch Perfect” ﬁlms. He will be directing this concert, and though the Sweet Adelines began rehearsing with the larger group after arriving in New York on Wednesday, the chorus began its preparation in the fall. The chorus learned it was chosen in October, just as it was about to enter its season of local holiday performances.

“That’s our busy season going into Christmas,” Barron said. “Then we had to learn all of these

Depending on size, the packages generally include select meats, sides, boudin balls, smoked wings, potato chips, sauces and more.

If you want to try your hand at making pimento cheese, the recipe and process are quite simple.

Homemade pimento cheese

12-ounce block of sharp yellow cheddar

cheese

1 (4-ounce) jar pimento peppers

¾ cup mayonnaise ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, plus more as needed ¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

*Optional: an 8-ounce block of cream cheese (at room temperature)

1. Grate cheddar cheese and place grated cheese in large mixing bowl.

2. If you choose to use the cream cheese, add it to the bowl.

3. Drain and rinse the pimento peppers. Chop the peppers into smaller pieces.

4. Add the pimientos, mayonnaise, cayenne pepper and Worcestershire sauce to the bowl of cheese.

5. Stir until evenly combined and spreadable.

6. Taste and season with salt, black pepper and more cayenne to your taste.

7. Serve on bread as sandwiches or with crackers, toast points, or crudité. Refrigerate unused portion until ready to serve.

Email Lauren Cheramie at lauren.cheramie@theadvocate. com.

songs, so we’ve been working for a little while.”

Funding the trip

The Baton Rouge Chorus is made up of 27 singers between the ages of 26 through 84 Twenty-three will be making the trip, each paying her way

“We had fundraisers,” Barron said “Everybody’s paying their own way, but we had a friends and family concert, where we took donations, and we took donations at some of our other performances. We also did a performance at the Main Library on Goodwood, and we were able to put out a donation bag there, too. So, we received monies from that, and we had some individual contributors who wanted to help.”

The chorus was also invited to give an individual performance on the World Trade Center site, but the group declined due to time constraints.

Other performances

Chorus members will return to Baton Rouge on April 13, then begin preparing for a national anthem performance for LSU’s May 10 baseball game against Arkansas in Alex Box Stadium. After that, they’ll begin rehearsing Christmas music.

“We have a big collaboration with the Louisiana Art & Science Museum this December,” Barron said. “They’ll be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the train depot building they’re in, and though it’s not yet set in stone, we think it’ll be on Dec. 20.” But for now, the New York concert is top priority, where they’ll command the stage in eight-part harmony

For more information, visit BatonRougeChorus.org.

Email Robin Miller at romiller@ theadvocate.com.

PROVIDED PHOTOS

Add some whimsy to the kitchen with a golf cocktails cotton kitchen towel ($22.95) and set of 10 shatterproof cups ($28.95) from The Keeping Room, 3535 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge.

STAFF PHOTO By ROBIN MILLER

ARIEs (March21-April 19) Patience, intelligence and direct, bold communication will help youmake your waytoward your goal. If youwant something, it's up to youtogoafter it with logic, practical application and determination.

tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Pay attention to detail. Monitor changes to ensure that youget what you want.Apply governmentorcorporate incentives to improveyourhome's functionality.

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CAnCER (June 21-July 22) You'll impress someone withyoursavvy wayofdealingwith peopleand working efficiently. Sethigh standards, and everyone will want youontheirteam.

LEo (July23-Aug. 22) Sit tight, tidy up loose endsand learn about something you want to pursue thatwill help improve your life. Put more thought andenergy into using your talents to subsidize your income.

VIRGo(Aug. 23-sept. 22) Join forces withanorganization, club or someone whocan help youbringabout positive change. Social events will boostyour morale andcould lead to promising partnerships.

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your overhead, leaving morecash for personal use. Aunique offer is worth checking out

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CAPRICoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Do your research, verifyfacts and refuse to give in to emotional manipulation. Attending an event that offers something you've never encountered will change your perspective.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Check your bank balance, investments and transactions. Review your current jobsituation and think about how you get along with your cohorts. Invest in yourself and your living space.

PIsCEs(Feb. 20-March 20) Promising too much or taking on unnecessary debt or responsibilitieswillmeet opposition Treat partnerships with respect,and offerincentives and compromises

By Andrews McMeel Syndication

For better or For WorSe

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1to9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

By PHILLIP ALDER Bridge

Soren Kierkegaard said, “I see it all perfectly; there aretwo possible situations —one can eitherdothis or that.My honestopinion and my friendlyadvice is this: do it or do not do it —you will regret both.” How depressing if true. At the bridge table,whenyouarefacedwithtwochoices,you have to pick oneofthemorthe game will grind to an unexpected stop! And often one choice will be successful. In thisdeal, South is in three no-trump. West leads afourth-highest spade seven andEastputs up the queen. Declarer has two choices —win trick oneorduckit. Whichshould he select? West’s one-spade overcallwouldnot meet with universal approval, but it is almost de rigueuramong tournament players these days. Get into theopponents’auction, especially if you can bid spades.Then, they must go up onelevel to outbidyou in asuit South starts with six top tricks: one spade(given theopening lead), two hearts,one diamond andtwo clubs. The extratrickscanbeobtainedfromthediamond suit. And if that finesse is winning, declarer will win at least one overtrick. But what if the finesse is losing?

Then Eastmight return aspade through South’s holding, and West might cashfour tricks in thesuit.Totry to stop that from happening, declarer should duckthe first trick;let East takeit. East will return hissecond spade, but whenheregains the lead withthe diamond king, he will nothaveaspade left. Or, if he did, spades must be 4-3 and South would lose only three spades and onediamond.

wuzzles

Each Wuzzle is aword riddle which creates adisguisedword, phrase,name, place, saying, etc. For example:NOON GOOD =GOOD AFTERNOON

Previous answers:

word game

InstRuCtIons: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four lettersbythe addition of “s,”such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

toDAy’sWoRD EAsEMEnt: EEZ-ment:Aninterestinlandownedbyanother thatentitles itsholder to alimited use

Averagemark33words

Time limit 50 minutes Can youfind45ormore words in EASEMENT?

yEstERDAy’sWoRD —BuFFEtInG

befit

etui tiff tine

gift guff gunite