Orange County scores and player stats for Monday, Feb. 24

• February 25, 2025

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Scores and stats from Orange County games on Monday, Feb. 24

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MONDAY’S SCORES

BASEBALL

NEWPORT ELKS TOURNAMENT

Capistrano Valley 10, Costa Mesa 1

CV: Fuller 2-2, 2B, SB, 3RBI. Spencer 2-4, 2RBI. Rucker 2-2, 2 2B, 2R, SB.

CM: Navarro 1-2, 3B, R. Clark 1-3, 2B.

Portola 6, Diamond Bar 4

Por: Liang (W, 3IP 1H 0R 2K). Marinelli 2-4, 2 2B, 3RBI. Park 2-3, 2B, SB, 2R. Tsuge 1-3, RBI.

Whittier Christian 6, Orange 4

WC: Echavarria (5IP 3H 0R 11K) 1-4, 2RBI. Park 2-3, 3B, RBI. Little 1-3, RBI.

Or: Vergara (6IP 5H 1ER 2K) 1-3, 2B, R. Norwalk 2-4, RBI. Nock 1-4, RBI.

Katella 20, Santa Ana 3

Kat: Garcia (W, 5IP 2H 0ER 7K). Munoz 2-2, HR, 3RBI. Perez 2-3, 2B, 2RBI. Barba 2-4, 2SB, 2RBI.

Trabuco Hills 8, Crean Lutheran 0

TH: DeFrancesca (W, 6IP 8H 0R 9K). Van De Kreeke 3-4, 2 2B, 2RBI. Hall 1-4, 2RBI.

Laguna Beach 10, Esperanza 1

LB: Wade (W, 5IP 2H 0R 8K). Reed 2-3, 2B, 4RBI. Sybirski 2-3, 2B, 2RBI. Boultinghouse 3-4, 2B, RBI.

Esp: DeArte 2-3, RBI. Garcia 0-3, RBI.

Northwood 4, Cerritos 0

NW: Stevenson (W, 6IP 3H 0R 5K). Tsou 1-3, SB, 2RBI. Chubb 2-3, SB. Grossman 0-2, SB, RBI.

Calvary Chapel 4, Valley Christian 2

CC: Steele (W, 2IP 1H 0R 5K). Cox 1-2, SB, RBI. Jones 1-3, 2B, RBI.

KEN’S SPORTING GOODS CLASSIC

Centennial 16, Beckman 3

Beck: Gomez 2-3. Patel 1-2, RBI.

NONLEAGUE

Oxford Academy 8, Los Altos 3

OA: Villagomez 2-3, 2B, SB, 2RBI. Lee 1-3, 2B, 2RBI. Suzuki 2-4, 2B, SB, RBI.

Other nonleague scores

Western 16, Whitney 4

SOFTBALL

NONLEAGUE

Sunny Hills 13, Valencia 5

SH: (W, Perez  7IP), 2-3, 2RBI. Holguin 3-4, 3RBI

Val: Kim 2-3

Other nonleague scores

Cypress 7, Kennedy 1

Santa Fe 3, Whittier Christian 1

Portola 22, Magnolia 2

Anaheim 13, Calvary Chapel 6

Aliso Niguel 7, Woodbridge 3

Newport Harbor 13, Laguna Hills 0

BOYS TENNIS

NONLEAGUE

Beckman 12, Portola 6

JSerra 15, Tesoro 3

BOYS GOLF

NONLEAGUE

Beckman 196, Woodbridge 207

Tustin Ranch (par 36)

Beck: Chen 36, Kwong 39

Wb: Allgood 39, Li 40

Other nonleague scores

Canyon 344, Brea Olinda 345

Sage Hill 206, St. Margaret’s 225

GIRLS LACROSSE

NONLEAGUE

Irvine 9, Portola 5

GIRLS BEACH VOLLEYBALL

CRESTVIEW LEAGUE

Yorba Linda 4, Esperanza 1

NONLEAGUE

Costa Mesa 4, Westminster 1

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

NONLEAGUE

El Modena def. Katella, 25-21, 25-20, 22-25, 25-18

Oxford Academy def. CAMS, 25-11, 25-21, 25-15

Garden Grove def. Cerritos, 3-2

​ Orange County Register 

Black Image Center looks to help residents preserve photos damaged in Eaton, Palisades fires

• February 25, 2025

Every time Nairobi Hilaire Seabrooks visited her grandmother’s home in Pacific Palisades, she would point to photos framed on the walls and around the home and ask her family for the stories behind each memory.

Last month, Hilaire Seabrooks’ grandmother and her husband learned of the devastating Palisades fire as they were shopping at a Costco. Their neighborhood had been evacuated, and they couldn’t return to grab anything.

While her grandmother’s home stayed standing in the treacherous days to come, it was heavily damaged by smoke and ash. Hilaire Seabrooks doesn’t yet know the state of her grandmother’s photo collection, but to help her family preserve their memories, she attended a free event Sunday at the Black Image Center, at 3209 La Cienega Ave. in Culver City, focused on helping people clean photos and other memories damaged by the Eaton and Palisades fires.

“I wanted to learn as much information as I could so that I could come with the tools that I needed,” Hilaire Seabrooks said.

The quarterly Black Family Archive event is often focused on digitizing and learning to safely store generations of photos and memories, so that Black community members can play an active role in preserving their history and making sure future generations can learn about the relatives who came before them.

The Black Image Center archiving event Sunday focused for the first time on helping community members learn how they can clean and preserve photos and other sentimental items damaged in the Eaton and Palisades fires that devastated Altadena, Pasadena, the Pacific Palisades and surrounding communities.

Ronel Namde laid out handfuls of gloves, N-95 masks and cosmetic and smoke cleaning sponges for anyone looking to clean their photographs, books and other heirlooms or mementos that may have been damaged in the fires.

Usually Namde, a conservationist who’s been volunteering for the Black Image Center for around a year and a half, connects with visitors and helps them find quality but cost-effective ways to care for and preserve collections of family photos and other memories as part of the center’s quarterly Black Family Archive event.

As residents affected by the fires return and start to dig through their homes, Namde said they should wear personal protective equipment, including face masks, gloves, eye protection and long-sleeved clothing, to shield themselves from toxic ash and soot.

Carefully wiping a cosmetic sponge across photos or books can help remove some soot or ash, and a soot sponge, which can be found at hardware stores, could be used for items that have been heavily damaged.

After cleaning, photos and other items still may smell like smoke. In that case, Namde recommends putting photos in a container along with a charcoal bag to remove the scent.

Madelyn Inez, a resident archivist at the Black Image Center, helps to scan and digitize family photos, so that loved ones can preserve their family histories, share them with more family members and print more copies. She hopes the center can provide a space for residents to clean photos damaged in the wildfires and digitize any photos, damaged or not, so that locals can preserve their legacy.

Inez said she also takes one-on-one appointments with anyone interested, where she can spend an hour or more digitizing and preserving as many photos as possible to help people have another copy of their family’s history.

Hilaire Seabrooks stopped by the event to pick up supplies and learn more about cleaning damaged memories after a major fire. Her grandmother is still living at a hotel in Hawthorne, but Hilaire Seabrooks hopes that, once she’s ready and able to return to her home, they’ll be able to clean the family photos that she cherishes.

One of her friends, she said, has no photos of himself growing up after they were lost in a previous house fire. Hilaire Seabrooks hopes that she can preserve her family’s photos and memories, so that their history can live on for future generations.

“It’s so important, especially when it comes to the Black community,” Hilaire Seabrooks said. “Stuff has been burnt down countless times over the course of history.”

For more information about Black Image Center events visit blackimagecenter.org

​ Orange County Register 

Ducks acquire goalie Ville Husso from Red Wings

• February 25, 2025

The Ducks acquired goaltender Ville Husso from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for future considerations, both clubs announced on Monday.

Husso, 30, will report to San Diego (American Hockey League), where a position of relative strength has been weakened considerably by severe lower-body injuries to netminders Tomas Suchanek and Calle Clang. Husso, even more so than depth veteran Oskar Dansk, could be considered something of an AHL-NHL tweener. He’s made 141 appearances at the top level. That included nine this season with Detroit, when he also played 13 games in the AHL with Grand Rapids.

That means Husso will address an immediate need in San Diego, and that he could also fill a future one as an NHL backup if a potential trade of the longest-tenured Duck, goalie John Gibson, comes to fruition. Gibson sustained an injury in Boston on Saturday that is not expected to linger.

In the 2021-22 season, Husso ousted Stanley Cup winner and recent 4 Nations Face-Off star Jordan Binnington from the St. Louis net, leading the Blues with 38 starts and 40 games played. He was traded to Detroit that offseason and signed to a three-year deal with an annual average value of $4.75 million, which is set to expire on July 1.

His time in red and white, however, underwhelmed, as his save percentage plummeted below .900 and his goals-against average ballooned to well above 3.00 in each of his three campaigns in the Motor City. This season, he fell behind Alex Lyon and Cam Talbot, making him a pricey yet superfluous asset for the Red Wings.

Now, Detroit, which has gone from one of the league’s most disappointing teams to its one of its hottest after hiring a name-brand coach in Todd McLellan, cleared some salary cap space ahead of the trade deadline, while the Ducks plugged a transitory hole in their goalie pipeline.

This was a deal consummated between friends as Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek and Detroit’s Steve Yzerman worked together in both Detroit and Tampa Bay. This is the second trade between the former colleagues this season, after the Ducks acquired Robby Fabbri and a fourth-round draft pick in exchange for prospect goalie Gage Alexander during the summer.

​ Orange County Register 

LAFC looking to fend off Rapids in CONCACAF Champions Cup play

• February 25, 2025

Chris Armas and the Colorado Rapids waited a tad longer than they hoped, but a chance at quick redemption comes Tuesday.

After losing to the Los Angeles Football Club, 4-0, last summer in the 2024 Leagues Cup semifinals at BMO Stadium, Armas wanted to run it back as soon as possible.

“I want to play them,” the Rapids head coach said that night. “Give us another crack at them in the playoffs. Let’s learn from it and get better.”

The Rapids earned a spot in the MLS postseason but were swept by the eventual champion Galaxy in the first round, so a rematch with LAFC didn’t materialize. But because Colorado (ranked 46th out of the 47 teams in the Leagues Cup field) followed its Leagues Cup semifinal loss with a win in Philadelphia, it finished in third place and earned a coveted spot in the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup.

As it happened, a few months later the tournament draw delivered what the Rapids wished for.

Last Tuesday, LAFC visited Denver for Leg 1 of the competition’s first-round series. Frigid conditions and an icy field was a polar bear plunge into the season for LAFC, which lost 2-1 to a determined, maturing Rapids group that played feeling like they “got this,” Armas said. “We went out there to win the game, to attack LAFC.”

The circumstances might have been a shock to LAFC’s system, but sensations on the other side of emerging from frozen waters can have their benefits. The Black & Gold appeared invigorated for their MLS opener against Minnesota on Saturday, limiting chances, dominating possession and ultimately engineering a decisive team goal that Jeremy Ebobisse drilled into the upper corner to complete a 1-0 win.

Thanks to Aaron Long’s header late in the game in Denver last Tuesday, which halved the deficit on a crucial tie-breaking away goal, a shutout victory would carry Cherundolo’s team through to face Columbus in the Round of 16. It would also leave open the possibility of clashing with Lionel Messi’s Miami in the quarterfinals and keeping alive the club’s chances of a third trip to the continental tournament final in three tries.

Five years ago in the first round, LAFC under head coach Bob Bradley turned around a 2-0 deficit against Liga MX’s Club León to advance.

“This team always has the ability to learn from past experiences against certain opponents, especially in quick turnaround,” Cherundolo said. “And we’ve been able to correct those very quickly and capitalize. So I expect more of the same.”

LAFC is 7-0-0 all-time at home against Colorado, outscoring the Rapids 21-2. As rare as visiting goals have been, one would complicate matters in Leg 2. The Rapids did not get on the board in their MLS opener at St. Louis on the weekend. Should they do so at BMO Stadium, it would take a 2-1 victory for LAFC to reach extra time or penalties.

Since a 3-2 (4-4 aggregate) scoreline tips the away-goal edge to Colorado, LAFC must win by two in regulation if, say, Djordje Mihailovic, scores two goals, as he did in the first contest.

“We won’t be thinking [about] what happened last year,” Armas said. “We’re a bold team. We’re young. We’re fearless. We love it. So we’re not going there to play it safe either. We’re gonna go there and attack and try to get that next goal.

“As far as LAFC in that building, 2025, we love to get a crack at it.”

COLORADO RAPIDS AT LAFC

What: CONCACAF Champions Cup, first round (2nd leg)

When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.

Where: BMO Stadium

TV: FS2

​ Orange County Register 

Luka Doncic’s Lakers teammates, coach say he’s ready to face Mavericks

• February 25, 2025

EL SEGUNDO — In Saturday night’s road win against the Denver Nuggets, the Lakers got their first glimpse of Luka Doncic having a “blackout episode,” as Coach JJ Redick put it, when the 25-year-old Slovenian’s “killer mentality” and “joyful” sides were simultaneously on display.

The Lakers’ next opponent on Tuesday night – the Dallas Mavericks – are very familiar with those sides of Doncic.

Doncic, who turns 26 on Friday, spent the first 6½ seasons of his NBA career with the Mavericks after being the No. 3 pick in the 2018 draft, being named an All-Star and an All-NBA first-team honoree for five consecutive seasons (2020-24) before he was shockingly traded to the Lakers on Feb. 1.

“I think he’ll be fine,” Redick said of Doncic, who didn’t speak to reporters after the team’s practice on Monday.

“Every day that he’s been with us it’s becoming a little more normal. I’ve been there. The first time you play your old team, particularly this close in time duration, it’s going to be weird. But he’ll be OK.”

Tuesday will be the first time that Doncic will play against his former team since the Mavericks sent him to Los Angeles as part of a three-team deal that sent All-Star big man Anthony Davis and guard Max Christie from the Lakers to Dallas, and Jalen Hood-Schifino and a second-round draft pick from the Lakers to the Utah Jazz.

Along with Doncic, the Lakers acquired veteran forwards Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris, providing Doncic with a few familiar faces during his transition with the Lakers.

Redick played with Doncic in Dallas at the end of the 2020-21 season before retiring. Lakers forward Dorian Finney-Smith and Doncic were teammates in Dallas from 2018-23 before Finney-Smith was traded to the Brooklyn Nets ahead of the 2023 trade deadline.

“Just having familiar faces around is great for him,” Redick said. “You never know though, because you’re talking about a guy who left home as a teenager to go to Madrid in a different country and learn how to speak Spanish on his own. He’s a different dude. But I think for him, given the magnitude of the change of scenery, I think having us around to help support him, I think has been great.”

Finney-Smith, who’s often seen shooting with Doncic after practices, said he was “excited” to see how Doncic will respond to playing against his former team, acknowledging the human element that came with the shock of being traded to the Lakers.

“I think he’s going to be excited, but everybody in the locker room is excited,” Finney-Smith said. “We got his back. It’s gonna be a hard-fought game. I know [Mavericks coach Jason Kidd] is gonna have them ready to come here and compete. So we just gotta match that intensity.”

Finney-Smith added of Doncic: “I know he’s gonna be ready. But I try not to put too much pressure on him because at the end of the day, we just want to get the win. We get the win, I know he’s gonna be happy.”

There’s been plenty to be happy about for the Lakers lately.

With a 14-4 record over their last 18 games, the Lakers have the league’s best winning percentage since Jan. 15.

They have the league’s best defensive rating (107.8), third-best net rating (plus-9.8) and eighth-best offensive rating (117.6) during that stretch.

And they’ve upped their play against the league’s best teams.

The Lakers have won seven consecutive games against teams with records above .500. Their 15-12 record against above-.500 teams is the third-best mark in the Western Conference.

“More times than not, we’ve done really well,” Redick responded when asked about that showing. “There’s certainly a feel to it, of when to press and when not to press. I can’t wait for [Tuesday]. And I’ll be excited for Wednesday. Like that’s just, for me personally, that’s just how I know I’m doing the right thing right now.

“My own sustainability, I’m not worried about that. I think as a coach, you just have to gauge the energy of the group and the vibe of the group and know when to press and when not to press. But, we’re preparing. Our guys recognize we’re in a dogfight for playoff seeding right now.  We’re preparing for the playoffs and everything we do over the next 27 games.”

MAVERICKS AT LAKERS

When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.

Where: Crypto.com Arena

TV/radio: TNT, Spectrum SportsNet/710 AM

​ Orange County Register 

An unknown illness kills over 50 people in part of Congo with hours between symptoms and death

• February 25, 2025

By JEAN-YVES KAMALE

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — An unknown illness has killed over 50 people in northwestern Congo, according to doctors on the ground and the World Health Organization on Monday.

The interval between the onset of symptoms and death has been 48 hours in the majority of cases, and “that’s what’s really worrying,” Serge Ngalebato, medical director of Bikoro Hospital, a regional monitoring center, told The Associated Press.

The outbreak began on Jan. 21, and 419 cases have been recorded including 53 deaths.

According to the WHO’s Africa office, the first outbreak in the town of Boloko began after three children ate a bat and died within 48 hours following hemorrhagic fever symptoms.

There have long been concerns about diseases jumping from animals to humans in places where wild animals are popularly eaten. The number of such outbreaks in Africa has surged by more than 60% in the last decade, the WHO said in 2022.

After the second outbreak of the current mystery disease began in the town of Bomate on Feb. 9, samples from 13 cases have been sent to the National Institute for Biomedical Research in Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, for testing, the WHO said.

All samples have been negative for Ebola or other common hemorrhagic fever diseases like Marburg. Some tested positive for malaria.

Last year, another mystery flu-like illness that killed dozens of people in another part of Congo was determined to be likely malaria.

​ Orange County Register 

Now in red, Gavin Lux finds it ‘surreal’ facing Dodgers

• February 25, 2025

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — That first time walking past a mirror in his new uniform had to be a shock for Gavin Lux.

“Hey, I think I look kinda good in red,” Lux said with a laugh, resplendent in his new Cincinnati Reds uniform. “But when you wear one jersey for so long and one color, for sure, you kind of do a little double take. But I think I look good in red.”

Lux was confronted with his recent past Monday afternoon, facing the Dodgers in a Cactus League game. Their first-round draft pick in 2016, top prospect in their system on the way up to the majors and starting second baseman on their World Series championship team last fall, Lux was in the opposing dugout looking at his former teammates.

“It’s pretty surreal, going and seeing all the guys you won a World Series with on the other side. But it’s pretty cool at the same time,” he said after the game.

“I saw Munc (Max Muncy), Teo (Hernandez). (Alex) Vesia gave me a wink after he got me to fly out,” Lux said. “Good relationships. A lot of love for everyone that is still over there. That stuff doesn’t change. You build bonds over years. You never lose those connections with people.”

Lux was no stranger to trade rumors. That made it less of a shock when it finally happened. After the Dodgers signed South Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim this offseason, Lux found himself thinking “Oh, okay, maybe there’s a chance” it would really happen this time. Kim was primarily a second baseman in Korea (and a perennial All-Star at the position) – though the Dodgers are using him around the field this spring.

“Obviously you still don’t really expect it after being in one place for so long. But at the same time, it is a business,” Lux said. “They have to do what’s best for them. And I think they did me a solid by getting me to a place that has the expectation of winning and Tito (Terry Francona) is running the show, which is fantastic. He’s one of the most well-respected managers in the game. So I think they did me a favor by sending me to a place where I think they think I can help.”

The Reds are loaded with young infielders. Matt McLain (second base) and Elly De La Cruz (shortstop) seem to have Lux’s primary positions locked down so he has been getting time at third base (including Monday’s game).

The Dodgers also moved Lux around when he first came up to the majors, even playing him in the outfield in 2021.

“I think I’ll kind of bounce around a little bit. That’s what I’ve been told,” he said. “We’re going to kind of figure it out as we go. I have no problem bouncing around, doing whatever I have to do to help win or just to get at-bats. Wherever it is, it doesn’t matter to me.

“I actually played against a lot of these guys in the minor leagues. A lot of them are right around my age, so I played against them in the showcase circuit and stuff in high school. Honestly, it wasn’t too much of an adjustment. It’s a lot of guys right around my age and it’s a really fun clubhouse to be a part of.”

MILLER IMPROVING

For a couple of days this weekend, there was a silver Gulfstream parked outside the Dodgers’ clubhouse at Camelback Ranch. Inside was an Ammortal Chamber – a wellness technology that uses red light, sound and other therapies to promote relaxation and, for athletes, recovery.

The company is driving to all of the MLB spring camps in Arizona demonstrating the technology and a number of Dodgers players tested it out – including pitcher Bobby Miller, who said his headache was gone after reclining in the chamber for a 15-minute session.

Miller was struck in the head by a line drive during Thursday’s game and said Monday morning that his concussion symptoms had worsened on Saturday but were now gone. He was cleared to begin playing catch during Monday’s workout.

“You sort of have to get back on the horse and I think he is of that mind,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “When you start layering on having to get back on the mound, facing a hitter – that is another hurdle, I’m assuming. We’re going to support him. But I’m confident he’s going to be just fine.”

FREDDIE FORM

First baseman Freddie Freeman has progressed enough in his recovery from offseason ankle surgery that he took live batting practice against a minor-league pitcher during Monday’s workout and could be in the lineup for his first game action of the spring on Thursday against the Colorado Rockies.

“The running, he’s passed all those check marks,” Roberts said. “Jumping and coming down on the ankle is something we just don’t feel 100 percent yet so he’s going to test that out.

“But the hitting, the running, fielding the grounders we feel real good about.”

Will Smith has also been dealing with an ankle injury this spring. Roberts said Smith is on track to make his Cactus League debut Thursday or Friday this week.

ALSO

Roki Sasaki is scheduled to pitch two innings in a ‘B’ game against minor-leaguers from the Chicago White Sox camp on Tuesday. It will be his first game action of the spring. … Reliever Evan Phillips threw his second bullpen session of the spring on Monday. He is progressing in his recovery from a shoulder injury last October.

​ Orange County Register 

National Park Service withdraws Black community in Louisiana from historic landmark consideration

• February 25, 2025

By JACK BROOK

WALLACE, La. (AP) — A Louisiana landscape of centuries-old sugar cane plantations and enduring Afro-Creole culture along the Mississippi River had been eligible for receiving rare federal protection following a multi-year review by the National Park Service.

But this month, the agency withdrew the 11-mile stretch of land known as Great River Road from consideration for National Historic Landmark designation at the request of state officials, who celebrated the move as a win for economic development.

Community organizations bemoaned the decision as undermining efforts to preserve the rich yet endangered cultural legacies of free African American communities that grew out of slavery.

The region, in the heart of Louisiana’s heavily industrialized Chemical Corridor in St. John the Baptist Parish, has been at the center of conflicts between grassroots community groups challenging the expansion of polluting industrial facilities and officials and business leaders doubling down on their importance for sustaining local economies. The area is among the most threatened by climate injustice in the nation, according to the Environmental Defense Fund’s climate vulnerability index.

Ashley Rogers, executive director of the nearby Whitney Plantation, said the decision to remove the Great River Road region from consideration for federally granted recognition was due to the “changing priorities” of the Trump administration, the latest blow to “a culture under attack.”

“It’s 100% because of the politics of the current administration, it’s not because we’ve suddenly decided that this place doesn’t matter,” Rogers said.

A multi-year National Park Service study on the area completed in October concluded that the “exceptional integrity” of the Great River Road landscape conveys “the feeling of living and working in the plantation system in the American South.”

Plantation buildings are so well-preserved that director Quentin Tarantino used them while filming “Django Unchained,” to capture the antebellum era. But there’s also a rich and overlooked history of the enslaved people who worked the plantations, their burial sites likely hidden in the surrounding cane fields and many of their descendants still living in tight-knit communities nearby.

The study deemed the region eligible to gain the same federal recognition as around 2,600 of the nation’s most important historical sites, including Mount Vernon, George Washington’s estate and Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s residence.

However, the determination was “premature and untimely” given that a grain terminal that threatened to impact historic properties was no longer planned, said the National Park Service’s Joy Beasley, who oversees the designation of historic landmarks, in a Feb. 13 letter to the Army Corps of Engineers.

Beasley’s letter stated the reversal was prompted by a request from the state’s Department of Environmental Quality, which is tasked with regulating environmental protection and has made no secret of its support for industrial expansion.

The head of the department, Aurelia S. Giacometto, framed the decision as freeing the region from federal meddling and oversight and opening up pathways for development.

“I’m grateful that the Trump Administration understands that states and localities are better at determining their interests relating to clean air, water and developing industry than leaving crucial decisions like those to Washington,” Giacometto said in a statement.

Port of South Louisiana CEO Paul Matthew said in a press release that companies are clamoring to develop and expand along the Mississippi River, which would improve quality of life and spur economic growth without sacrificing cultural legacies.

“If you really want to lift people out of poverty, you get them work and increase job opportunity,” Republican Gov. Jeff Landry said.

Local historical and community organizations believe the region can instead improve its economy by focusing on preserving and promoting its history.

Ramshackled homes and shuttered buildings in the area are endemic of longstanding underinvestment in these communities, but it’s not too late to reverse this trend through means besides industrialization, said Joy Banner, co-founder of the local nonprofit The Descendants Project, which is restoring historical properties in Great River Road.

Banner helped lead efforts to successfully halt the construction of a towering $600 million industrial grain terminal that would have been built in her hometown, the predominantly Black community of Wallace — spurring the National Park Service’s study. A spokesperson for the Army Corps of Engineers said any future industrial development in the Great River Road would still need to consider the potential impacts on historical and cultural heritage.

In the region’s Willow Grove neighborhood, 76-year-old Isabella Poche still trims the grass and repaints the tombs at the cemetery where her mother, sisters and other relatives were buried with help from the Black community’s generations-old mutual aid society she now leads. Beyond the furrows of the sugar cane fields where her family once worked, a large plantation home stands in the distance by the river’s bank. It’s a peaceful place she hopes to see protected.

“I don’t want to move anywhere else,” Poche said. “I’ve been here all my life.”

Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Brook on the social platform X: @jack_brook96.

​ Orange County Register