Advocate staff photo by LIBBY ISENHOWER Stretching after practiceJohn Brumfield stretchesMonday after track practice at Capitol High School. The track team took advantage of the nice weather and trained outside.

Advocate staff photo by RICHARD ALAN HANNONLab workBert Wintz's 3-year-old chocolate Labrador retriever, Mattie, takes off after a mallard Wednesday after Wintz shot blanks out of his 12-gauge shotgun behind Pennington Biomedical Center. Wintz and his two dogs are training for an upcoming hunt test in Vicksburg, Miss. Wintz has been a duck hunter for the past 15 years and is a member of the Amite River Hunt Retriever Club.

Catholic's Alex Bujenovic gets in front of Dutchtown's Ryan Reid to get the ball during the regional-round playoff game at Burbank Soccer Complex on Thursday night.

Jerry Horky, left, and John LeBlanc, of Guy's Towing Service, prepare to tow the trailer involved in a wreck on Interstate 12 for towing in Livingston Parish Wednesday. The accident snarled miles of traffic in both directions for 12 hours.

State Education Superintendent John White watches North Live Oak Elementary School fourth-graders, from left, Brennan Stokes, Abigail Whitam and Sam Frazier work on a spelling activity in teacher Kim Hastings' class Wednesday in Watson .

Advocate staff photo by Travis Spradling.Charlie Powell installs Mardi Gras decorations on a gate at Sherwood Forest Blvd. at Auburn Drive, at an entrance to the Eastgate subdivision Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012. She said that every year the Eastgate Civic Association decorates the four gates that greet visitors at the two main entrances to the subdivision.

Advocate staff photo by PATRICK DENNIS Mississippi Gulf Coast's Courtney Moore slides safely into third as BRCC third baseman Stephanie Picard takes the late throw in the 7th inning of BRCC's 6-2 loss Wednesday.

Travis Jackson, left, and Ben Johnson watch as a backhoe lifts a phone line near O'Neal Lane recently to see if leads to a manhole, which would indicate whether it is a live or abandoned line. Contractors say utility relocations have delayed some road construction work in East Baton Rouge Parish.

Jean-Yves Roux, left, and Phillipe Aldon, right, with the French government visit Tuesday with Baton Rouge Foreign Language Academic Immersion Magnet School teacher Christine Merchant and her fourth-grade French class. The representatives of the French government are in the state touring French immersion programs.

Hot wheels - The Rev. Hans Myors cruises up Chandler Drive crossing over Kimbro Drive on Tuesday on a recumbent bicycle named 'Alice.' The missionary evangelist said he was visiting Baton Rouge to help another minister with a website update, www.thejesusstory.com, before hitting the road for his 32nd mission trip across America. He said he has logged about 211,000 total miles since he started, including 16 times across the country. When Myors is traveling, he said he usually has another 100 pounds of gear and averages about 60 miles per day. Myors' website is www.pedalprayers.org.

'A good break' - Jolie Picou takes her sons out for a stroll Tuesday near her home in Westminster subdivision to enjoy the warm, sunny weather. Picou said she takes the boys out as often as the weather allows because it is a 'good break for me and for them. They love it.'

LSU's Johnny O'Bryant III shoots as Arkansas' Hunter Mickelson defends Saturday afternoon at Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

LSU graduate student Will Afton measures heads of lettuce in the research plot at Burden Research Center where he is growing lettuce for his master's thesis.

Advocate staff photo by RICHARD ALAN HANNON Give me a sign Nathan Graham with Traffic Control Products Co. of Louisiana, Inc., installs the first of 14 street signs Monday along what will now be Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Denham Springs as a crowd of local dignitaries and children watch. The road, which was previously named Rodeo Drive, stretches from Florida Boulevard to Pete's Highway in Livingston Parish.

Fred Heroman does some prep work for Valentines day. He sold his business to Billy Heroman’s Flowerland, but will continue to work at the Florida Boulevard shop and be the primary face of the location’s business.

Mildred Worrell reminisces in the parlor of the Clinton home she has lived in for most of her life.

Ebony Yarbrough, Kentrice Collins and Makala Clark cheer at the sight of their Delta Sigma Theta sorority sisters dancing on stage with Madonna at the Super Bowl on Sunday evening. The three students watched the Dancing Dolls at a Super Bowl party at the university's student union.

Advocate staff photo by Travis Spradling. FRIEND POWER Sierra Barr, 13, right, gets a pull from her friend Cindel Smith, 13, as she rides Smith's skateboard Saturday on Stump Street in Walker. The two alternate between being the 'puller' and 'pullee,' they said.

Students and LSU AgCenter master gardeners tour the vegetable garden at Burke Elementary School Wednesday morning.

LSU's Jeanne Kenney drives down court as Kentucky's Bernisha Pinkett (10) stays close in the second half of LSU's 61-51 win over Kentucky on Sunday in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Kenney had nine points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists.