The Acadiana Advocate 08-29-2025

Women’sprisonopens

Jeff Landryand Warden Kristen Thomas, center, are joined by

cuttingfor thenew Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women on

BY HALEY MILLER Staff writer

Louisiana’sonly women’sprison formally opened Thursday,after nine years of temporary housing arrangements for over 1,000 female inmates who were displacedbya devastating 2016 flood

The brand-new, $160 million LouisianaCorrectional Institutefor Women, bordered by sugar cane fields and the nearby Elayn Hunt Correctional Center,isdesignedto withstand a500-yearfloodlikethe historic inundationin August 2016, according to Louisiana Department of PublicSafety and Correctionsofficials. It can accommodate 958 incarcerated women

Gov.Jeff Landry and Warden Kristen Thomas cut the ribbon for the new facility Thursday,emphasizing the prison as asymbol of themodernization of the Louisiana criminal justice system.

“It marks, Ihope, the beginning of arestructuringand arebuilding of correctional facilities around the state,” Landry said. “This is thefirst state facility to be opened in over 35 years, so that alone makes thisday very historic.” Thomas said theprisonwill

provide women who areincarcerat-

Carencro Republican will runifU.S.Rep.Letlowdoesn’t

BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer

into the race if U.S.Rep.Julia Letlow chooses not to run.

chances Iget in greatly increase.”

SafeSource Direct cites soft market in closure

Chinadominates manufacture of personal protective equipment

BY ADAM DAIGLE Acadiana business editor

The market for American-made personal protective equipment remains soft because China andother countries continue to dominate the industry,according to data.

Broussard-based SafeSource Direct cited market conditionsfor PPE when it announced Aug. 22 it would suspend operations at its nitrile glove and man-made fiber PPE plants in 60 days, amove that will put 541 people out of work.

On Tuesday,acompany spokesperson declined to elaborate on thoseconditions, but national reports in recent weeks paint adim picture for an industry thatwas supposed to limit the nation’s reliance on foreign-made PPE.

The company hopes to resumeoperations when market conditions improve and sustained demand for American-made PPE increases, the spokesperson said. It has no immediate plans to resume operations but is continuing on construction of a plant for production of nitrile medical gloves as part of its contract with the government.

It’s unknownhow manyemployees will remain after operations halt Oct. 21.

SafeSource and others in the industry are trying to survive as Chinese companies are still making PPE cheaper while offering alarger variety of products, according to areport from the

reelection because he joined six Republicans and all 50 Democrats in votingtoconvictTrump forincitingariot on theJan.6,2021,attackonthe Capitol. Had that vote prevailed, Trumpcould nothaverun forpresident again. The Louisiana Republican Party immediately censuredCassidyfor hisvote, a StateRep.Emerson

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy is likely to face another challenger in his bid to winreelection next year

State Rep. Julie Emersonsaid Wednesday thatshe is likely to jump

“I’m waiting to see what she will do. I do think there’sanavenuefor another candidate, whoever that is,” said Emerson, aRepublican fromCarencro,just northofLafayette. “If she formally announcesshe’sdefinitelyout,then the

Demonstrating his vulnerability as he seeks athird term,Cassidy is already facing three major Republican challengers: Treasurer JohnFleming, state Sen. Blake Miguez of NewIberia and Public Service Commissioner Eric Skrmetta, who represents suburban New Orleans. Cassidy faces such atough road to

STAFF FILE

PHOTOByLESLIE WESTBROOK

Gloves move along the assembly line at the SafeSource Direct nitrile glovemanufacturing facility in Broussard.

U.N. official: Women, kids ‘starving’ in Gaza

TEL AVIV Israel The head of the U.N. food agency said Thursday that it was “very evident” during her visit to Gaza this week that there isn’t enough food in the Palestinian territory and that she spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the urgent need for more aid.

The world’s leading authority on food crises said last week the Gaza Strip’s largest city is gripped by famine, and that it was likely to spread across the territory without a ceasefire and an end to restrictions on humanitarian aid.

Cindy McCain, the World Food Program’s executive director, told The Associated Press that starvation was underway in Gaza.

“I personally met mothers and children who were starving in Gaza,” she said. “It is real and it is happening now,” Netanyahu, she said, was “obviously very concerned that people aren’t getting enough food.” In the past, he has denied that there is famine in Gaza and said the claims about starvation are a propaganda campaign launched by Hamas.

“We agreed that we must immediately redouble our efforts to get more humanitarian aid in. Access and security for our convoys is critical,” McCain said

Russian attack includes strikes in center of Kyiv

KYIV, Ukraine Russia launched a major air attack early Thursday on Kyiv that included a rare strike on the city center, killing at least 21 people, wounding 48 and damaging European Union diplomatic offices, authorities said.

The bombardment of drones and missiles was the first major Russian attack on Kyiv in weeks as U.S led peace efforts to end the three-year war struggled to gain traction. Britain said the attack sabotaged peace efforts, while top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas summoned Russia’s EU envoy to Brussels over the strikes that damaged EU offices Ukraine on Thursday requested an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council to discuss the overnight bombardment, while two of Ukraine’s top envoys were set to meet Friday with the Trump administration regarding mediation.

The Kremlin said Russia remained interested in continuing peace talks despite Thursday’s air attack, which was one of the war’s biggest since it began in 2022. Among the dead were four children between 2 and 17, said Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s city administration. He said more people could still be under the rubble, and search and rescue efforts continued on Thursday evening.

The attack was one of the few times Russian drones and missiles have penetrated the heart of Kyiv since the start of the fullscale invasion.

Rwanda: 7 deportees arrived from U.S. in Aug

KIGALI, Rwanda Seven migrants were transferred from the United States to Rwanda in August under a deportation agreement with the U.S., authorities in the East African country said Thursday Rwanda said earlier in August it would accept up to 250 deportees from the U.S.

Yolande Makolo, a spokeswoman for the Rwandan government, said in a statement that the “first group of seven vetted migrants arrived in Rwanda in mid-August.” Rwanda is one of four African countries that have reached deportation agreements with Washington, The others are Uganda, Eswatini and South Sudan No information was provided about the identities of the deportees sent to Rwanda this month. They have been “accommodated by an international organization” with visits by the International Organization for Migration, as well as representatives of Rwandan social services, Makolo said.

“Three of the individuals have expressed a desire to return to their home countries, while four wish to stay and build lives in Rwanda,” Makolo said.

MINNEAPOLIS

Church shooter filled with hatred, police say

Authorities say attacker admired mass killers

BY STEVE KARNOWSKI, MARK VANCLEAVE and CLAUDIA LAUER Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS The shooter who killed two Catholic school students and wounded more than a dozen youngsters sitting in the pews of a Minneapolis church once attended the same school and was “obsessed” with the idea of killing children, authorities said Thursday

The shooter, identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman, fired 116 rifle rounds through stained-glass windows while the children celebrated Mass during the first week of classes at the Annunciation Catholic School, said Minneapolis police Chief Brian O’Hara.

“It is very clear that this shooter had the intention to terrorize those innocent children,” O’Hara said.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson said videos and writings the shooter left behind show that the shooter “expressed hate towards almost every group imaginable.”

The only group Westman did not hate was “mass murderers,” Thompson said.

“In short, the shooter appeared to hate all of us.”

Investigators recovered hundreds of pieces of evidence from the church and three residences, the police chief said. They found more writings from the suspect, but no additional firearms or a clear motive for the attack on the church the shooter once attended. Westman had a “deranged fascination” with mass killings, O’Hara said.

“No evidence will ever be able to make sense of such an unthinkable tragedy,” he said.

Surveillance video captured the attack and showed the shooter never entered the church and could not see the children while firing through windows lined up with the pews, the police chief said.

Two children, ages 8 and 10, were killed. City officials on Thursday increased to 15 the number of wounded children — ages 6 to 15 — in addition to three parishioners in their 80s who were also injured. Most were expected to survive, O’Hara said.

One child was in critical condition Thursday while 11 other victims remained in hospitals.

Westman, whose mother worked for the parish before retiring in 2021, left behind several videos and page upon page of writings describing a litany of grievances. One read: “I know this is wrong, but I can’t seem to stop myself.”

O’Hara said Westman was armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol, and died by suicide.

On a YouTube channel, videos that police say may have been posted by the shooter show weapons and ammunition, and list the names of mass shooters. What appears to be a suicide note to family contains a confession of long-held plans to carry out a shooting and talk of being deeply depressed.

The Rev Dennis Zehren, who was inside the church with the nearly 200 children, said the responsorial psalm which spoke of light in the darkness — had almost ended when he heard someone yell, “Down down, everybody down,” and gunshots rang out.

Fifth-grader Weston Halsne said he ducked for the pews, covering his head, shielded by a friend who was on top of him. His friend was hit, he said.

“I was super scared for him, but I think now he’s OK,” the 10-year-old said.

FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that the attack was an act of domestic terrorism motivated by hate-filled ideology citing the shooter’s statements against multiple religions and calls for violence against President Donald Trump.

Minnesota Gov Tim Walz on Thursday sent state law enforcement officers to schools and churches in Minneapolis, saying no child should go to school worried about losing a classmate or gunshots erupting during prayer

On a YouTube channel titled Robin W, the person filming the video points to two windows in what appears to be a drawing of the church, then stabs it with a long knife.

The now-deleted videos also show weapons and ammunition, scrawled with “kill Donald Trump” and “Where is your God?” along with the names of past mass shooters.

There also were hundreds of pages written in Cyrillic, a centuries-old script still used in Slavic countries. In one, Westman wrote, “When will it end?”

There were no past arrests or anything in the shooter’s background that would have prevented Westman from being able to legally purchase a firearm, investigators said Thursday

New trial ordered for 3 ex-officers convicted in Tyre Nichols killing

By The Associated Press

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A judge ordered a new trial Thursday for three former Memphis police officers who were convicted of federal charges in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, after defense lawyers argued that another judge who presided over their trial was biased against the men

U.S. District Judge Sheryl H. Lipman issued the order for a new trial for Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith, who were found guilty in October 2024 of obstruction of justice through witness tampering in the beating death of Nichols after he fled a traffic stop.

Two other officers, Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills Jr., also were charged, but they pleaded guilty before the federal trial.

Lipman took over the case in June af-

ter U.S. District Judge Mark S. Norris, who presided over the case and the trial, recused himself days before the sentencings for the five officers.

Fed official sues over Trump’s attempt to fire her

BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP economics writer

WASHINGTON Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook has sued the Trump administration in an effort to overturn the president’s attempt to fire her, launching an unprecedented legal battle that could significantly reshape the Fed’s long-standing political independence.

The lawsuit seeks an emergency injunction to block her firing and “confirm her status” as a member of the Fed’s governing board.

“The President’s effort to terminate a Senate-confirmed Federal Reserve Board member is a broadside attack on the centuryold independence of the Federal Reserve System,” Cook’s lawyer, Abbe David Lowell, wrote in a court filing.

The case could become a turning point for the 112-year-old Federal Reserve, which was designed by Congress to be insulated from day-to-day political influence. Economists prefer independent central banks because they can more easily take unpopular measures, such as lifting interest rates to combat inflation, than elected officials can.

The case was assigned to Judge Jia Cobb, an appointee of former President Joe Biden. A hearing was scheduled for Friday Many economists worry that if the Fed falls under the control of the White House, it will keep its key interest rate lower than justified by economic fundamentals to satisfy President Donald Trump’s demands for cheaper borrowing. That could accelerate inflation and could also push up longer-term interest rates, such as those on mortgages and car loans Investors may demand a higher yield to own bonds to offset greater inflation in the future, lifting borrowing costs throughout

the economy “If Cook wins, she stays in place and we achieve some semblance of stability,” said Peter Conti-Brown, a professor of financial regulation at the University of Pennsylvania and Fed historian, in a Substack post. “If she loses that’s the end of Fed independence as it has been constructed and reconstructed over 112 years.” If Trump can replace Cook, he may be able to gain a 4-3 majority on the Fed’s governing board. Trump appointed two board members during his first term and has nominated a key White House economic adviser, Stephen Miran, to replace Adriana Kugler, another Fed governor who stepped down unexpectedly Aug. 1. Trump has said he will only appoint people to the Fed who will support lower rates. No president has sought to fire a Fed governor before until Trump posted a letter on media late Monday saying that Cook was fired. Trump said the reason for her removal were allegations that she committed mortgage fraud in 2021, before she was appointed to the board. Most observers expect the case to end up at the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has signaled that the president can’t fire Fed officials over policy differences, but can do so “for cause,” typically meaning misconduct or neglect of duty Cook has not been charged with any crime.

The lawsuit argues that the allegations don’t involve misconduct by Cook while in office and haven’t been proven. Cook should also have been given a chance to answer the charges, the suit says.

“The unsubstantiated and unproven allegation that Governor Cook ‘potentially’ erred in filling out a mortgage form prior to her Senate confirmation — does not amount to ‘cause,’” the lawsuit says.

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On Jan. 7, 2023, officers yanked Nich-

ols from his car and then pepper-sprayed and hit the 29-year-old Black man with a Taser Nichols fled, and when the five officers, who also are Black, caught up with him, they punched, kicked and hit him with a police baton. Nichols called out for his mother during the beating, which took place steps from his home.

He died three days later

Video of the beating captured by a police pole camera also showed the officers milling about, talking and laughing as Nichols struggled with his injuries.

It prompted intense scrutiny of police in Memphis, nationwide protests and renewed calls for police reform.

Norris was confirmed as a U.S. district judge in West Tennessee in October 2018 after being nominated by President Donald Trump.

The Collierville Republican had served as the Tennessee Senate majority leader since 2007. He was first elected to the body in 2000, and his district included Tipton County and part of Shelby County

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ABBIE PARR

Kristen Neville, left, and Michael Burt cry and embrace each other Thursday at the doors of the Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis after Wednesday’s deadly school shooting

Acting CDCdirectornamed amid tumult at agency

BY MIKE STOBBE, AMANDASEITZ and CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press

NEW YORK Jim O’Neill, a top deputy to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will serve as actingdirector of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to an administration official.

Theofficialrequested anonymity to discuss apersonnelchangethathas not been formally announced. The administrationwants O’Neill to replace Susan Monarez, whom the White House is trying to remove only a month after starting the job.

Monarez is fighting to keep her job. Her removal has left the nation’stop public health agency reeling and three senior officials were escorted from its headquarters Thursday The turmoil triggered rare bipartisan alarm as Kennedy tries to advance anti-vaccine policiesthat are contradicted by decades of scientific research.

The chaos comes weeks before akey advisory committee, which Kennedy has reshaped with vaccine skeptics, is expected to meet to issue new recommendations on immunizations.

TwoRepublican senators called for congressional oversightand some Democrats said Kennedy should be fired. He is scheduled to testify on CapitolHillon Thursday Kennedy has not explained the decision to oust Susan Monarez as CDC director less than amonth after she wassworn in,but warned that more turnover couldbe coming.

“There’salot of trouble at the CDC and it’sgoing to require getting rid of some people over the long term,in order for us to changethe institutional culture,” Kennedy said at anews conference in Texas. The White House has only said that Monarez was “not aligned with”PresidentDonald Trump’sagenda. Thereis no word on when areplacement could be named.

Monarez’slawyers said that she refused “to rubberstamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts.” She is fighting her dismissal, sayingthe decision must come directly from Trump, who nominated her in March.

Services to “indefinitelypostpone”the meetingthat advises the CDC on whoshould take what vaccines when TheAdvisory Committee on Immunization Practices was scheduled to meet again on Sept.18. Thepanel is agroup of outside experts whomakerecommendations to the CDCdirector on how to usevaccines. The recommendations are then adopted by doctors, school systems, health insurers and others.

Kennedy in June forced the retirement of all 17 ACIP members, made up of physiciansand scientists knowledgeable about vaccinations, and named eight new mem-

bers —including somewho have used conservative media platforms to voice skepticism about vaccines.

“Serious allegations have been made about the meeting agenda, membership, and lack of scientific process being followedfor the nowannounced September ACIP meeting,” Cassidy,R-Baton Rouge, said in astatement released by his Senate committee. “These decisions directly impact children’shealth and the meeting should not occuruntil significantoversight has been conducted. If the meeting proceeds, any recommendations made should be rejected as lacking legitimacy giventhe seriousness of theallegations and the current turmoil in CDC leadership.” Houry and Daskalakis said Monarez had tried to make sure scientific safeguards were in place. Forexample,she triedto replace the official who coordinated the panel’smeetings with someone who hadmore policy experience. Monarez alsopushed to have slides and evidence reviews posted weeks before the committee’smeetings andhave the sessions open to public comment, Houry said. HHS officials nixed that and called Monarez to a meeting in Washington on Monday,Houry said.

The saga began Wednesdaynight with theadministration’sannouncement that Monarezwouldno longer lead the CDC. In response, three officials —Dr. Debra Houry, Dr.DemetreDaskalakis andDr. Daniel Jernigan —resigned from senior roles at the agency.

The officials returned to the office Thursday to collect their belongings, and staff members atthe beleaguered agency had planned to gather in theafternoontoapplaud them as they left the Atlanta campus. Buttheir removal by security personnel earlier in the morning squelched those plans, according to current and formeremployees.

Houryand Daskalakis told TheAssociatedPress that Monarez hadtried to guard against political meddling in scientificresearch and health recommendations “Weweregoing to see if she wasable to weather the storm.And when shewas not, we weredone,” Houry said. She had been the agency’s deputy director and chief medical officer Daskalakisresigned as headof theNationalCenter forImmunizationand Respiratory Diseases and Jernigan from theNational Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases If removed, Monarez will be theshortest-servingdirector since theCDC was founded in 1946, exacerbating aleadership vacuum that haspersisted since Trump took office.Heinitially chose DavidWeldon,aformer Floridacongressman whois adoctor andvaccine skeptic, but yanked thenomination in March.

Monarez,a longtime governmentscientist,was

France,Germany, U.K. initiate ‘snapback’ sanctionsonIran

BYFARNOUSH AMIRI, JON GAMBRELL and STEPHANIE LIECHTENSTEIN

Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS France, Germany and the United Kingdom moved Thursday to reimpose United Nations sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, further isolating Tehran after its atomic sites were repeatedly bombed during a12-day war with Israel.

The process, termed a “snapback” by the diplomats who negotiated it into Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, was designed to be veto-proof at the U.N. and could take effect in amonth

It would again freeze Iranian assets abroad, halt arms deals with Tehran and penalize any development of Iran’s ballistic missile program, among other measures, further squeezing the country’s reeling economy

The move startsa30-day clock for sanctions to return, aperiodthatlikelywillsee intensified diplomacy from Iran, whose refusal to cooperate with inspectors from the InternationalAtomic Energy Agency,orIAEA, started the crisis. Iran will also probably emerge as a top focusofthe U.N. General Assembly when it meetsnext month in New York.

The British, French and German foreign ministers suggested that they viewed the snapbackasa way to spur negotiations

tapped lead the $9.2

with Tehran.

“Thismeasure does not signal the end of diplomacy: we aredetermined to make the most of the 30-dayperiod that is now opening to engage indialoguewithIran,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot wroteon the socialplatform X.

ButIranimmediately decriedthe move,with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi sayingitwas “unjustified” and“lacking any legalbasis” in acallwith hisEuropean counterparts

“The Islamic Republic of Iranwill respond appropriatelytothisunlawful and unwarrantedmeasure,” he said.Hourslater, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the move by theEuropean countries will “gravely undermine” its ongoing cooperation with theU.N. nuclear watchdog agency In thepast, Iran has threatened to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty,potentiallyfollowing NorthKorea,which abandoned the treatyin2003 and then built atomic weapons. Thethree European nations warned Aug. 8that Iran could trigger the snapback when it haltedinspections by the IAEA afterIsraelistrikes at thestartofthe two countries’ 12-day war in June. The Israeliattacks killed Tehran’stop military leaders andchased Supreme Leader AyatollahAli Khameneiinto hiding.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO By BEN GRAy

Dr.Debra Houry talks to workers and supporters Thursdayas they rally for departingscientificleaders at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outsideCDC headquarters in Atlanta.

CLOSURE

Washington-based American Medical Manufacturing Association.

Demand from American companies, too, has largely returned to pre-pandemic purchasing patterns, according to the report.

It’sunfortunate the industry has taken this hit sincetherewas asignificant effort to develop amanufacturing process in the United Statesduring theCOVID-19 pandemic, AMMA director Eric Axel said. But American manufacturersare struggling to compete with countries that alsohave looserlabor and environmental standards. With nitrile gloves, China can get them made and shippedata cost of apenny per glove. In the U.S., a quality glove costs at least anickel aglove “and that’sscrapingevery efficiency possible,” he said

Buyers, he said, are goingfor the less costly option.

“The big buyers in thiscountry,whether it’sdistributors or hospital systems, have just gone back to being 100% price conscious,” Axel said, “and lesscon-

cerned about where they’re goingto get theirproducts from. A lot of thebehavior has just gone back to, ‘Hey,where’sthe lowest price?’ ”

SafeSource Direct Vice President Paul Booth, interviewed in a report by industry website Manufacturive Dive, indicated the industry needs to findefficiencies to reduce costsand increase margins.Henoted that “we don’texpectsomeone to buy the products just because there’sanAmerican flag on something —everybody may have awant to —but it still comes down to aprice point.”

Tariffs on Chinese productsby theTrump administration were setuptobenefit domestic manu-

facturing, but thathas not been acure-all. China responded with tariffs of its own, and that has left many suppliers uneasy, TheNew York Times reported.

“This situationreinforces the importance of supporting domestic manufacturing capabilities, particularly in critical sectors like health care supplies,”saidMandi Mitchell,president and CEO of the Lafayette Economic Development Authority.“LEDA will continue working with federal, state andlocal partners to advocate for policies thatenable American manufacturers to compete fairly in globalmarkets while maintaining the jobs and economic security our communities depend on.”

It’sadownfall for acompany that leaders boasted as onestill standing after others like it had either reduced operations or just givenupduringa2022tour.Employment numbers rose quickly at its operations set up insidea 400,000-square-foot facility in the Spanish Trail industrial park in St. MartinParish and80,000-squarefoot formerWeatherford International facility off St. Nazaire Road. Economist Loren Scott last year forecastthe companytoemploy over 1,500 by the end of 2026. Now 454 of the job losses will be at the industrial park location and 87 at the St. Nazaire Road location, according to documents filed with theLouisiana Workforce Commission.Overhalfwerecategorized as either manufacturingteam members or production team members.

In astatement to KADN, Broussard Mayor Ray Bourque indicated the city will stand by the company and its employees during the time of transition.

“While Iamsaddened by this announcement, SafeSource Direct has been agood partner withthe City of Broussard,” he said.“Iam encouragedbythe company’scommitmenttofindinga solution within

the next 60 days to maintain manufacturing in Broussard. Made in America is worth fighting for.” LEDA officials sprang into action at the plant’sannouncement Friday,includingworking with the state’srapid response team and withSt. MartinParish officials to connect displaced workers with comparable job opportunities.

LEDA is also in discussions to host ajob fair especially for SafeSource Direct’saffected employees, Mitchell said. Acadiana has long been astrong andcompetitive regionfor manufacturers thanks to its skilled workforce and supportive business climate, LED Secretary Susan Bourgeois said.

“While SafeSourceDirect’s decision to suspendoperations reflects national challenges in health care manufacturing, it does notdiminish Acadiana’s advantages,” Bourgeois said. “Louisiana has comea long way in the past 19 months strengthening our overall business environment, and we will continue to make improvements that keep ourstate attractive to newemployers and allow our existing businessesto growand thrive.”

BYWILLIE SWETT Staff writer

St. Tammany Parish Council member Kathy Seiden has hired aTrump-affiliated pollster andis exploringaU.S. Senate runtojoin agrowing field of candidates challengingSen.Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge.

“This is something we’re taking very seriously and will be making an official announcementsoon,” Seiden, aRepublicanwho is in

EMERSON

Continued frompage1A

symbolicmove but one that reflected GOP anger toward Louisiana’ssenior senator Cassidy cast the vote as one of conscience after the terrible events on Jan. 6, wherefive police officers died trying the protect the Capitol, and Trump supportersransackedthe building, endangering then-Vice PresidentMike Penceand other lawmakers.

Letlow remains the biggestwild card in the Senate race Shewas firstelected to the U.S. House in aspecial election in 2021 to fill aseat openedbythe death of her husband, Luke, from COVID. Shehad been asenior administrator at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Now the biggest questioninLouisiana politics is whether Letlow will seeka third full term in the House, give up that seat and challenge Cassidy or apply to be the next president of LSU or the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Letlow recently moved from rural Richland Parish to Baton Rouge with her two young children. Asked about her plans Tuesday,Letlowsaid, “I am again humbled by the outpouring of encouragement and support,and Iamdoing what Idobest and that is praying on everything, so I’ll leave it at that.”

Emersonsaidthatshe, too, is getting widespread encouragement to getinto the Senate race.

“Wehave alot of issues wrong with Louisiana and theUnited States,” Emersonsaid. “Sometimesthose choices are hard but have to be made. Iknow how to work with any of my colleagues, and Ihave astrong conservative voting record.” Emerson notedthat she and Letlow are close politicalallies and have discussed their possible candidacies. Emerson saidshe doesn’t know what Letlow will decide.

Gov.Jeff Landry has privately encouraged Letlow to challenge Cassidy, sources say On Tuesday,asked for his thinking on the Senate race, Landry said, “Sen. Cassidy has to go out and make the casefor reelection. Those that believe they candoa better jobwill sign up. The president is ultimately goingtobethe biggest factor in this, not the governor.The

her first term on the St.Tammany Parish Council,said in astatement Thursday Seiden saidshe has hired pollster Adam Geller,who hasworked on all three of President DonaldTrump’s campaigns,tolook at therace. Seiden would joinagroup of major GOP opponents to Cassidy,includingstate

presidentseems to havethe biggest footprint in these federal races.”

Qualifying for the Senate race —and all congressional races —isinmid-January

The partyprimaries are in April, and if no candidate wins at least 50% inthe primary,arunoff of thetop twocandidates will be held amonth later,followed by the general election in November

Political insiders question whether Trumpwillendorse achallenger to Cassidy before January,since that move would immediately turn Cassidy into apolitical enemy—arisky move whereRepublicanshold only a53-47 margin in the Senate Cassidy, endorsed by Trump when he won reelectionin2020, has been doing everythinghe cantoget backinto the president’s good graces, supporting Trump’scontroversial cabinet appointments and mutinghis criticism of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s moves that have minimized theimportance of vaccines. Emerson, 37, is in her third and final term of the state House. Her closeness with Speaker Phillip DeVillier,REunice, led himand Landry to name her as chair of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, which oversees tax legislation andthe draftingofstate construction projects

Emerson sponsored the legislation in November that flattened the corporate income taxrate andthat abolished the much-derided corporate franchise tax.

Emerson also shepherded through the House ameasure that gives parents greater opportunities to use public dollars topay for their children to study at privateschools.

Emersonalso sponsored the legislation thatismoving Louisianatothe new election system whereeach partywill have aprimary, and political independents can voteineitherprimary Her billends the “jungle primary” for federalelections that pitted all candidates together,regardless of party, andmoves upthe qualifying period to JanuaryfromJuly Emerson is amedia consultant for businesses, nonprofits and political candidates StaffwriterMarkBallard contributed to this article. Email Tyler Bridges at tbridges@theadvocate. com.

Sen. Blake Miguez of New Iberia, Public Service Commissioner Eric Skrmetta of Metairie and state TreasurerJohnFlemingofMinden.

State Rep. Julie Emerson, RCarencro, alsosaid on Thursday

shewas likely to challenge Cassidy if U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow decides not to.

Cassidy has been seen as avulnerable candidate after he voted to convict Trumpfor inciting a riot ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, at-

tack on theU.S.Capitol,but it is not clear if Trumpwill endorse a Cassidy challenger,given Republicans’ 53-47 margin in theU.S Senate.

Arelative newcomertoelected office, Seiden is little over halfway throughher first term on theSt. TammanyParish Council, where she chairs the council’sEconomic Development Committeeand has worked on housing issuesinthe parish.

“I thinkpeople would like an op-

tion of someone they can relate to who understands whatanormal family goes through everyday,” Seiden said in astatement. Seiden and her husband, Daniel Seiden, anuclear energy consultant, live in Mandeville and have four children. Born in Hammond and raised in Port Allen, Seiden graduated from Episcopal High SchoolinBaton Rouge, and has aBachelor of Arts in communications fromLouisiana State University

TO CONTRACTORS Noticeisherebygiven thatsealedbidswillbe receivedeitherelectroni‐cally at www.centralbidd ing.comorinthe office ofthe Purchasing Divi‐sionatthe Lafayette ConsolidatedGovern‐mentBuilding, locatedat 705 West University Av‐enue,Lafayette Louisiana,until 3:00 PM CentralTimeonthe 23rd dayofSeptember,2025 forthe following: RESTORATIONOFBANK FAILUREONISAAC VEROT COULEE and will,shortly there‐after,beopenedand readaloud in thePur‐chasing Office locatedat 705 West University Av‐enue,Lafayette,LA. Bids receivedafter theabove specified time foropen‐ing shallnot be consid‐eredand shallbere‐turnedunopenedtothe sender. Biddersare en‐couragedtojointhe bid opening viaZoom at https://us02web.zoom us/j/84736156182? pwd=OCErs6ogecIyX4l 6oq09BRAA831Kxy.1. The MeetingIDis847 3615 6182. ThePasscodeis 613753. ScopeofServices: Work includesremoval of the failedbankofIsaac Verot CouleenearVincent Road, thereestablish‐mentofthe side slop and incidental construc‐tion. Allworktobecom‐

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STAFF FILEPHOTO By LESLIEWESTBROOK SafeSource Direct operated amanufacturing facility in Broussard.

“This is acommitment, acommitment to ensuring that every woman who enters these doors leaves better prepared for her future, acommitment to justice that is not only firm butfair, and acommitment to the belief that every individual has the capacity to change,” she said.

The prison will begin absorbing inmateshoused at theJetson Center for Youth in Baker,which held about half of the original women’s prisonpopulation, and other correctional facilities over the next fewweeks, according to aDepartment of Corrections spokesperson.

The complex is approximately 300,000 square feet andcontains 15 buildings, including dormitories, a gymnasium,medical building, kitchen, postpartum wing and education center

“This facility represents progress,” Thomas said. “It is designed to provide asafe, secure and humane environment while also creating meaningful opportunities for rehabilitation.”

In the career and technical educationprograms, women can receive traininginfurniture restoration,cosmetology,medical laboratory assisting, horticulture, welding and heavy equipment operation.

They can also earn abachelor’sdegree in Christian ministry through the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Landry said the programs give women the tools to “reenter our community and be productive citizens.”

“I think it’simportant that this facility alsoreflects the position that our administration is taking on the criminal justice system,” Landry said. “Our hope is that those who have to come into this facility do so and only are tenants one time.”

The new prison will support 58 medical and mental

health employees. Thomas, who is acertified Prison Rape EliminationAct auditorand victim’s advocate,highlightedthe link between mental healthand contact with thecriminal justicesystem.

“Weknow that incarceration is not justabout accountability but also about transformation,”Thomas said. “By offering mental healthservices, substance abusetreatment and trauma-informedcare, we are addressing the challenges that too often contribute to cycles of incarceration.”

Reopening thewomen’s facilitytook far longer than state officialsoriginallyestimated Initially,corrections officials suggested the former prison would be renovated after the 2016 flood and house inmates againafter only four to eightmonths. At the groundbreakingin 2022, then-Gov.John Bel Edwards acknowledged “thewheels can move really slowly sometimeson recovery.”

On Thursday,Landry said the former women’scorrectional facility,built in 1972, wasintended to “stand for generations.”

“Unfortunately,Mother Nature came calling,” Landry said. “In 2016, the great flood devastated the facility,leaving it beyond repair.That required the state to look within to find thefunds necessary to rebuild it becauseofthe great history that was on this site for rehabilitating women.”

He thankedcorrections leaders and officers for their contributions to the new facility.

“Our mission is simple but unwavering,”Landry said. “Wewill continue to do what’sright for ourcitizens, we will keep improving ourcorrectional facilities, and we will keep working to make our communities safe.”

Email Haley Miller at haley.miller@theadvocate. com.

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

Japan

seeks faster action on tariffs

TOKYO Japan’s top trade negotiator abruptly canceled a trip to Washington aimed at issuing a joint statement on a tariffs deal with the Trump administration, as a top government spokesperson urged the U.S. side to speed up implementation of the agreement.

Trade envoy Ryosei Akazawa was scheduled to leave Tokyo for Washington on Thursday for a 10th round of talks, following up on the agreement announced on July 22.

But Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters some details required further consultations, so the trip was postponed.

In July, the two sides agreed on a 15% tax on imports of most Japanese goods, effective Aug. 1, down from an earlier 25% rate announced by President Donald Trump as “reciprocal tariffs” on the major U.S ally Japanese officials discovered days later that the preliminary deal would add a 15% tariff to other tariffs and objected. Officials in Washington have acknowledged the mistake and agreed to abide by the agreement on a 15% tariff, and to refund any excess import duties that were paid. So far, that hasn’t happened.

“We will strongly request the United States to amend its presidential order to correct the reciprocal tariffs and to issue the presidential order to lower tariffs on autos and auto parts,” Hayashi said.

In an interview with Fox News earlier this week, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Washington was ready to finalize the deal, in which Japan also pledged to invest up to $550 billion in the United States in coming years.

Plans for Akazawa to visit Washington are undecided, Hayashi said during a daily briefing, with another nudge at the Trump administration.

U.S. applications for jobless benefits down

WASHINGTON Applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending Aug. 23 dropped 5,000 to 229,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday Measures of the job market are being closely watched on Wall Street and by the Federal Reserve as the most recent government data suggests hiring has slowed sharply since this spring. Job gains have averaged just 35,000 a month in the three months ending in July, barely one-quarter what they were a year ago. While layoffs are low, hiring has also weakened as part of what many economists describe as a “no hire, no fire” economy Still, the unemployment rate remains a low 4.2%.

Tesla sales continue plunging in Europe

NEW YORK Europeans angry at Elon Musk still aren’t buying his cars months after the billionaire predicted a major rebound” in Tesla sales, data released Thursday shows.

Tesla sales plunged 40% in July in the 27 European Union countries compared with the year earlier even as sales overall of electric vehicle soared, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association. Meanwhile, sales of Chinese rival BYD continued to climb fast, grabbing 1.1% market share of all car sales in the month versus Tesla’s 0.7%.

Musk angered many Europeans by wading into politics there, embracing far-right candidates, calling a British prime minister an “evil tyrant” who belongs in prison and telling Germans “things will get very, very much worse” in their country if they didn’t vote for the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party Protests broke out in several cities, including a hanging of the billionaire in effigy in Milan and posters in London likening him to a Nazi.

Markets add to their previous records

BY ALEX VEIGA AP business writer

Wall Street notched more milestones Thursday after gains in technology stocks helped push the market to another all-time high.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3%, lifting the benchmark index to its second record high in a row The Dow Jones Industrial Average reversed an early slide and gained 0.2%, enough to move past its record high set last Friday

The Nasdaq composite closed 0.5% higher, finishing just short of its all-time high set two weeks ago.

About 55% of the companies in the benchmark S&P 500 closed

lower, but gains in the technology and communication services sectors offset losses elsewhere in the market. Broadcom rose 2.8%, Amazon added 1.1% and Google parent Alphabet finished 2% higher

“We’re seeing a continuation of a theme that has been in place really all year long, and that is communication services, information technology, really the areas that are surrounding this incredible capital expenditure cycle, have been the primary beneficiaries,” said Bill Northey senior investment director at U.S. Bank Asset Management. Heading into the final day of trading in August, the S&P 500 and

Dow were on pace for their fourth straight monthly gain, while the Nasdaq was closing in on its fifth.

The market’s latest gains came as traders pored over a mixed batch of earnings reports from big U.S. companies and new reports on the job market and U.S. economy Best Buy dropped 3.7% after the consumer electronics chain’s second-quarter snapshot was overshadowed by an outlook clouded due to the tariffs the U.S. is imposing on trading partners. Despite also posting better-thanexpected quarterly results, Urban Outfitters slid 10.7% after the retailer warned that it expects tariffs will increase pressure on its

gross margins in the second half of the year

Dick’s Sporting Goods fell 4.8% despite reporting second-quarter results that beat analysts’ expectations.

Elsewhere in the market, Spam maker Hormel sank 13.1% for the biggest decline among S&P 500 companies after its earnings fell short of Wall Street’s forecasts and the company cut its outlook for the year Friday will bring another update on inflation: the U.S. personal consumption expenditures index. Economists expect it to show that inflation remained at about 2.6% in July, compared with a year ago.

Revised report says economy

BY PAUL WISEMAN AP economics writer

WASHINGTON The U.S. economy rebounded this spring from a first-quarter downturn due to fallout from President Donald Trump’s trade wars.

In an upgrade from its first estimate in July, the Commerce Department said Thursday that U.S. gross domestic product — the nation’s output of goods and services expanded at a 3.3% annual pace from April through June after shrinking 0.5% in the first three months of 2025. The department had initially estimated second-quarter growth at 3%.

The first-quarter GDP drop, the first retreat of the U.S. economy in three years, was mainly caused by a surge in imports — which are subtracted from GDP as businesses scrambled to bring in foreign goods ahead of Trump’s tariffs. That trend reversed as expected in the second quarter: Imports fell at a 29.8% pace, boosting April-June growth by more than 5 percentage points. The Commerce Department reported that consumer spending and private investment were a bit stronger in the second quarter than it had first estimated. Consumer spending, which accounts for

about 70% of GDP, grew at a 1.6% annual pace, lackluster but better than 0.5% in the first quarter and the 1.4% the government initially estimated for the second.

Even with an upward revision, private investment dropped at a 13.8% annual pace from April through June. That would be biggest drop since the second quarter of 2020 at the height of the coronavirus pandemic

A reduction in private inventories cut almost 3.3 percentage points off second-quarter GDP growth.

Spending and investment by the federal government fell at a 4.7% annual clip on top of a 4.6% drop in the first quarter

A category within the GDP data that measures the economy’s underlying strength came in stronger than first reported, growing 1.9% from April-June, same as in the first quarter This category includes consumer spending and private investment, but excludes volatile items like exports, inventories and government spending.

Since returning to the White House, Trump has overturned decades of U.S. policy that had favored freer trade. He’s slapped double-digit taxes on imports from almost every country on earth and targeted specific products for tariffs, too, including steel, aluminum and autos.

Trump sees tariffs as a way to protect American industry lure factories back to the United States and to help pay for the massive tax cuts he signed into law July 4.

But mainstream economists — viewed with disdain by Trump and his advisers — say that his tariffs will damage the economy raising costs and making protected U.S. companies less efficient. They note that tariffs are paid by importers in the United States, who try to pass along the cost to their customers via higher prices. Therefore, tariffs can be inflationary — though their impact so far has been modest.

The erratic way Trump has imposed the tariffs — announcing and suspending them, then coming up with new ones has left businesses bewildered and uncertain about investments and hiring.

Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, said the resilience of the job market — the government also reported Thursday that fewer people applied last week for unemployment benefits — is “giving people confidence to open their wallets for the basics and some little splurges.” But she expected the economy to stay in a ”slower speed mode with spending and growth around 1.5% as the tariffs become more visible to American consumers.”

BY FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press

WASHINGTON The Treasury Department wants U.S. financial institutions to monitor for suspected Chinese money laundering networks handling funds that are used to fuel the flood of fentanyl across American communities.

An advisory Thursday to banks, brokers and others highlights how such operations are working with Mexican drug cartels.

The Trump administration is calling on banks to flag certain customers who may fit a profile of people who could launder money for cartels. That could include Chinese nationals such as students, retirees and housewives with unex-

plained wealth, and those who refuse to provide information about the source of their money

The Treasury contends that many of these people unknowingly work with cartels to bypass Chinese currency controls that restrict the renminbi exchange rate through a system limiting the annual foreign currency conversion for individuals, which is about $50,000. It is not uncommon for Chinese individuals to evade such restrictions by turning to underground banks where their money is converted into foreign currencies, often U.S. dollars. The Chinese Embassy in Washington had no immediate comment Thursday Also Thursday, the department’s

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network known as FinCen released a report about how Chinese money laundering networks are expanding their ties beyond drug cartels. Financial institutions are increasingly filing suspicious activity reports on human trafficking and adult senior day care centers in New York that have become a vehicle for money laundering, according to the report. FinCen analyzed more than 137,000 Bank Secrecy Act reports from January 2020 to December 2024 that accounted for approximately $312 billion in total suspicious activity Last year, law enforcement officials uncovered a complex partnership between Mexico’s Sinaloa

Cartel and Chinese underground banking groups in the United States that laundered $50 million from the sale of fentanyl, cocaine and other drugs, federal prosecutors said.

The government’s instruction to banks to be more vigilant about Chinese students and other Chinese nationals comes as Republican President Donald Trump says he will allow 600,000 Chinese students into American universities.

“I hear so many stories about ‘We are not going to allow their students,’ but we are going to allow their students to come in. We are going to allow it It’s very important — 600,000 students,” Trump said during a meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in the Oval Office on Monday

STAFF FILE PHOTO By By JILL PICKETT

Feds askIllinoisbasefor aidonimmigration operations

NavalStation GreatLakes locatednear Chicago

BY JOHN O’CONNOR and SOPHIA TAREEN Associated Press

CHICAGO TheTrumpadministration asked amilitary base outside of Chicago for support on immigration operations this week, offering aclue of what an expanded law enforcement crackdown mightlooklikeinthe nation’s third-largest city

The DepartmentofHomeland Security askedNaval Station GreatLakes for “limited supportinthe form of facilities,infrastructure, and other logistical needs to support DHS operations,” Matt Mogle,spokesperson for the base 35 miles north of Chicago, said Wednesday

Vehicles enter the main entrance for NavalStation Great Lakes on ThursdayinGreat Lakes, Ill., about 35 miles north of Chicago.

“Wedon’twant to raise anyfears,”Police Superintendent Larry Snelling told reporters. “Wedon’t want to create any speculation aroundwhat’sgoingon.”

City leaders said Thursday that the White House hadn’t contacted them aboutits plans, and aspokesman for the Illinois National Guard said thebasehadn’treceived requests regarding aChicago mobilization. Mogle, the base spokesman, said no decisions had

The request came weeks after the Republican administrationdeployedNational Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to target crime, immigration and homelessness, and two months after it sent troops to Los Angeles. Although details of the administration’splans for Chicago are scarce, city leaders said Thursday that theyare preparing for multiple possible scenarios, from troops assistinginimmigration arreststopatrollinginthe streets.

been made on the request, and that thebasehadn’treceived an official requestto support aNational Guard deployment.The Chicago Sun-Timesfirst reported on the request to theNavy base. DHSdid notconfirm whether it hadasked to use thebase. Butitsaid in astatement Thursday thatitwas working to make “our streets and cities safe again.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson andIllinoisGov.JBPritzker have pushed back againsta possible mobilization, saying crime hasfalleninChicago andthatthe city doesn’t want or need themilitary’shelp. They are planning to sue City leaders said workers

Sudan’sRapid SupportForcesshell

BY SAMY MAGDY Associated Press

CAIRO— Aparamilitary group fighting against Sudan’smilitary shelled abesieged city in the western region of Darfur,killing at least 24 people, amedical group said Thursday The Rapid SupportForces shelled the densely populated areas of the central marketand Awlad al-Reef neighborhood in el-Fasher, the provincial capitalof

North Darfur province, according to the Sudan Doctors Network,which tracks thecountry’scivil war.The attack wounded 55 people, including five women, it said. The city has been at the epicenter of fightingfor over ayear between the Sudanese military and the RSF. It is the military’slast stronghold in the Darfur region. The RSF didn’trespond to a request for comment. Sudan plunged into acivil

war in April 2023 when simmering tension between the military andthe RSFexplodedinto open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhereinthe northeasternAfrican country Wednesday’sshelling was the latest in aseries of attacks on el-Fasherand its surroundings, including two famine-hit campsfor displacedpeople where RSF fightersran riot in Aprilin amajor offensive thatkilled hundreds of people.

were circulatingknow-yourrights cards in neighborhoods withheavy immigrant populations, which offer tips on what to do in caseofanencounter with an immigration agent. Other workers were checking in on Chicago’s homeless encampments and providing information about shelters sinceTrumphas pushed to movehomeless people far from Washington. Snelling asked for more communicationonplans involving law enforcement “Tomake sure that we’re notstoking fearsthrough neighborhoods and we don’t have people running scared anditdoesn’t create chaos on ourstreets, we’re willingto have thoseconversations,” Snelling said. Many Chicagoansare on edge about the rumored deployment.Former President Barack Obama,who is from Chicago, weighedinThurs-

day, postingonX:“Theerosionofbasic principleslike due process and the expanding use of our military on domestic soil puts the liberties of all Americans at risk, and should concern Democrats and Republicans alike.”

Obama’sTransportation secretary,Pete Buttigieg, a former U.S. Naval Reserve intelligence officer who trained at Great Lakes, said in apostofX that he never imagined the station could be used “for surveillance andenforcementactivity on American soil. Our military wasnot set up to cater to the whimsofa would-be American dictator.”

Pritzker,a potential 2028

Democratic presidential contender,has spent days showcasing partsofthe city wherecrime hasfallenand saidthere is no emergency in Chicago requiring military intervention.HetoldThe As-

sociated Press that the presence of troops could worsen the situation. Speaking to reporters Thursday,hesuggested that it’sapolitical ploy,not alaw enforcementstrategy,that Trump will pull outduring next year’selections.

“This is apart of his plan to do something really nefarious, which is to interfere withelections in 2026,” Pritzker said. “He wants to have troops on the ground to stop peoplefromvoting, to intimidate people fromgoing to the voting booth.” Trump has often singled outChicago, likening it to a warzone and “hellhole.” Chicago’slong-held status as a so-called sanctuary city has irked the Trump administration, which usedChicago to kick offanationwide crackdown on immigrationweeks after Trump’ssecond inauguration.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO By KIICHIRO SATO

Below the surface

New Orleans artist finds beauty in Louisiana’s chaos under the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge

BY JOEL THOMPSON

Contributing writer

To many Interstate 10 travelers, the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge represents traffic jams, car crashes and heavy fines.

But where many see chaos, Frank Relle sees two sides of Louisiana emerging as one. You just have to look below the surface.

Nearing the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Relle, a photographer based out of New Orleans, is using the occasion to reflect on what he sees as the tension between Louisiana’s sometimes harsh natural environment and the structural engineering that makes it livable.

Relle recently gave his Instagram followers a behind-the-scenes look at his latest project involving a section of the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge in St. Martin Parish. Using a pulley system connected to the bridge, a large photograph of a cypress tree printed onto a 25-by-17-foot ship sail was lifted into the empty space between two of the bridge’s pillars

Relle was assisted by a team of local artists who provided essential experience to the project

“I’d never rigged a photograph this big before,” Relle said “When you first start saying you’re going to do something this like this, you don’t realize exactly what you’re going to need.”

Relle credits New Orleans-based woodworker and close collaborator Remy Laan with helping to move the project forward logistically

“This was an idea I had floating around in my head for a decade, but when I brought it up to Remy, he quickly started sketching how we could actually do it.”

BY STEPHEN MARCANTEL

“There’s all this tension between Louisiana’s natural elements, and then all the man-made structures. You’re bringing together these discordant elements and turning it into a song.”

FRANK RELLE, photographer based

out

of

New

Orleans

BY JOANNA BROWN Staff writer

Louisiana drummer Dave Nezat, a native of Eunice, has died in Lafayette following a long career drumming for notable local and national acts, including Grammy-winning group Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band.

According to social media reports from Nezat’s brother Ron Nezat, Dave Nezat died on Wednesday, Aug. 27 of an apparent heart attack. He owned Nezat’s Pressure Washing in Lafayette, and was known among Acadiana’s music community as a generous musician and friend.

In addition to the Bayou Swamp Band, Nezat, who is also known as “Papa Puff,” worked with groups like the Jerry Garcia Band, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Doug Kershaw, CC Adcock, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Earth Wind and Fire, Motorhome and others. He spent 20 years as a working musician in Colorado, before returning home to Louisiana to play music and run his pressure washing business. Nezat was a friend and supporter to Dockside Studio, a music production space in Maurice known for producing Grammy-winning records. The studio, which is at 4755 Woodlawn Road next to the Vermilion River, took on two feet of water during the 2016 flood. According to Cezanne Nails, Dockside’s owner, Nezat took the lead in rallying people to help clear out and rebuild the studio after the floodwaters receded.

“Dave, with his deep voice, caring direction and optimism of this disaster just took control,” Nails wrote on Facebook, on hearing the news of Nezat’s death. “People just did what they could do. It was the biggest act of love from him and everyone there. One of my true heroes is gone and we will never hear his voice or that big laugh again.” Email Joanna Brown at joanna. brown@theadvocate.com.

Two deaths tied to consuming oysters

BY EMILY WOODRUFF Staff writer

Cases of the flesh-eating bacterium Vibrio vulnificus have risen to 22 in Louisiana, and an additional death linked to Louisiana oysters occurred in a Florida resident according to the Louisiana Department of Health. Four of the 22 patients have died, not including the Florida resident. One of those four deaths was from undercooked oyster consumption, the department said.

The bacteria, which thrive in warm brackish waters, can cause life-threatening illness after eating undercooked seafood or when entering the body through open wounds. Most Louisiana cases this

PROVIDED PHOTOS

The photograph titled ‘Berard’ was taken at Lake Fausse in St. Martin Parish in 2023. When asked about its significance, Relle said, ‘That tree has a very strong architecture. It’s very expressive. I needed something that would stand up to the space between the columns. The outstretched limbs of the tree were very emotive.”

Frank Relle’s team documented the process of measuring the columns and setting up the elaborate pulley system that featured weather complications and a close encounter with an alligator

D. Nezat

OPINION

Communicationfor firstrespondersiscrucial

In late August 2005, our team at Acadian Ambulance was bracing for the unimaginable. Hurricane Katrina washeading toward Louisiana, and even with decades of disaster responseexperience, we knew this storm would test us in ways we’d never seen before. What followed was devastation on amassive scale. Lives were lost. Entire communities submerged. Critical infrastructure was wiped out. And for those of us tryingto respond, the disaster was made even worse by one of the greatest challengeswefaced: thebreakdown of communications.

Zuschlag

cases, we had to revert to handwritten notes and runners just to getinformation where it needed to go. We didour jobs the best we could,but there’sno question ourresponse was hindered by thelack of a reliable, unified communicationsnetwork. Today,wehave somethingwedidn’thave then. Today,wehaveFirstNet.

Our EMTs and paramedics were in the field, workingaround the clock, but the systems we depended on to coordinatewith hospitals, emergency managers and other first responders simply failed. Radio channelswere overwhelmed. Cell networks were overloaded. Coordination between agencies became chaotic. In some

FirstNet is the nation’s only wireless broadband network built specifically for first responders. It was born out of the hard lessons of 9/11, Katrina and other major disasters, created to ensure that public safety agencies haveasecure, reliable way to stay connected, even in themost extreme circumstances.

At Acadian,wewere one of the first EMS providers in the country to adoptFirstNet. We’ve seen firsthandthe difference it makes It gives our medics on theground thetools they need to transmit patient data while en route, coordinate across agencies in real

time and access priority coverage during major events,all without competing with the general public for bandwidth. Andit’smore than just amobile connection. FirstNet includes morethan 150 deployable network assets, including SatCOLTs,

Cell on Wings, Compact Rapid Deployables and even tethered drones and blimps, all designed to restore coverageinplaces where traditional infrastructure is knocked out. It’sexactlythe kind of system we wish we had 20 years ago.

AfterHurricane Katrina, BatonRouge steppedup

Former Mayor-President Kip Holden was in his first year of his first term in office when he watched Hurricane Katrina move into the Gulf. He activated the Emergency Operations Center and called to ask if Imight pitch in to help with what he felt would be an “all-hands-on-deck” moment forBaton Rouge.

Ihad managed his mayoral campaign, and we still talked dailyabout the excitingprogress he was making.

At the EOC, we anxiously watched as Katrina madelandfall in Louisiana. As damageswere being assessed, New Orleans’ levees began to fail, its pumpingsystem failed and 15 to 20 feet of water flooded the city

airport, forweeks it remainedthe secondbusiest airport in the U.S. behind JFKInternational in NewYork. Policeworkeddouble shifts, spread thin to keep BatonRouge safe.A large cacheofweapons was collected at the River Center froma population that includeddisplaced mentally ill people who wentdays, then weeks, without their medication. An active caseof tuberculosis was found among those sheltered there.

But here’sthe thing: FirstNet isn’tguaranteed forever.Its Congressional authorization is set to expire, and unless Congress acts to reauthorize it, the future of this lifesaving network and the coordination it enables could be at risk.

As acompany built by medics, formedics, and rooted right here in Louisiana, we know what happens when first responders are cut off from one another.We’ve lived it. We’ve fought through it. And we never wanttogoback. Twenty years after Katrina, we have aresponsibility to the next generation of EMTs, firefighters, law enforcement officers and all those whostand on the front lines to makesure they never face the kind of silence we endured. Congress must act to reauthorize FirstNet and ensure that America’sfirst responders stay connected, prepared and protected when it matters most.

Blaise Zuschlagisanexecutive withAcadian Ambulance Service.

Hurricane’slegacywillbe lost if lessonsnot heeded

Twenty years ago, astorm made landfall that would devastate New Orleans, displace families and change lives forever.Hurricane Katrina would ultimately cost nearly 1,400 lives and cause $190 billion in damage.

Our first indication of how dire things would become came when Baton Rouge 911 operators began receiving calls from people stranded on New Orleans rooftops. We realized there must have beenmassive communication system failures for emergency calls to be coming from 80 miles away As New Orleans filled with water, Baton Rouge filled with evacuees. A steady stream of vehicleschokedall roads leading to the city.Rescue helicopters began droppingpeopleonthe tarmac at the Baton Rouge airport and taking off again. As approximately 250,000 people descendedonthe greater Baton Rouge area, complete gridlock set in. Hotels were full, homeswere full and the River Center,poorly equipped to serve as ashelter,was opened when buses arrived and droppedmoreand more evacuees. The day after Katrinamade landfall, Holdensent theBaton Rouge Fire Department’sUrban Search and Rescue teamtoNew Orleans, wheretheyrescued over 1,000 trapped residents. Grappling with the influx ofpeople to our city,which caused a35-40% increase in traffic on its streets, Holden was also working to get powerrestored to Baton Rouge residentsand managing the cleanup of more than 600 downed trees, which had made many streets impassable.

While New Orleans businesses were washed away,Baton Rouge businesses were paralyzed, with sales negatively impacted as aresultoftraffic,supply chain interruptions and thelossofcustomers from the devastatedareas With constant relief and recovery flights in and out of the BatonRouge

Rannah Gray GUEST COLUMNIST

The city was aticking time bomb

But Iwatched Holden grow in stature every day as he led with afirm and steady hand. He dropped in at the River Center to let people who hadlost everything, some still searching for family members, know they were notalone. There werebirths, deaths and even acouple of weddings And as you would expect, the community cookedjambalaya for their receptions. It was aglimmerofhope for life to somedayreturn to normal.

Holden stoodupfour local governments —Orleans, Jefferson, St.Bernard and Plaquemines parishes —providing staff support and useofthe Metro Council chambers for their meetings. Thanks to Baton Rouge, theywereable to begin conducting business again.

In thefirst10days,Holden flew back andforth to Washington, D.C., three timestotestify beforeCongress about thedire needs of Louisiana.

In time,Baton Rouge madegreat strides based on lessons learned. Voters overwhelmingly approved Holden’s proposed Green Light Plan to fund infrastructureimprovements. First responder communications systemsimproved, FEMA established asignificant long-term presenceinBaton Rouge and the city-parish launched its RedStick Readyinitiative, named anational best practice by FEMA, to educatethe public on disaster preparation and resilience. EastBaton Rouge Parishwas fortunate to have the leadership and vision of KipHolden,who was never afraid to make tough decisions and always stood up for the citizens he served. Behind his leadership, the entire Baton Rouge area offereda ray of hope to thoseexperiencing the worst naturaldisaster our nation had seen.

Rannah Gray is apublicrelations consultant in Baton Rouge.

Many remember the images of people huddled in theSuperdome and neighborhoods underwater.But theresponse to Katrina was more effective than the narrative would suggest, andwhere there were shortcomings,the lessons learned have spared countless lives over the past 20 years.

For any disaster,aneffective response requires three parts: preparation,response andrecovery,followed by mitigation.

many lives have been saved in the past 20 yearsthanks to the lessons learnedafter Katrina.Whatisclear,though, is howquickly those lessons have been forgotten in just the past 200 days. One third of alldisaster management professionals at FEMA are nowgone— allin the name of “efficiency.” Meteorologists at NOAA, seismologists at the USGS andscientists, analysts and otherofficials have been discharged too. And we’re only beginning to feel the consequences.

Before Katrinahit,wehad advance warning thanks to NOAA and the National Weather Service. That enabled the WhiteHouse to issue apre-landfall declaration on Saturday and state and local officials to issueanevacuation order before the storm came ashore.

The trouble was that the day prior,the Pentagon had still not received arequest from FEMA, which had not received arequestfor aid from the governor.When the storm madelandfall, it overwhelmed local and state governments. Federal intervention is essential in crises of this scale.

The response to Katrina was forceful and, in hindsight,was an amazing example of what happens when people come together Nearly 80% of the people ordered to evacuate did so. Volunteersstepped up to help neighborsand strangersalike. As far away as Houston,the local government and ordinarycitizens took in New Orleans residents forced to flee theirhomes.

Still, there was more than could have been done. Thosewhoselives werelost were overwhelmingly poor —people whodidn’t have acar to leave town or acredit card to book alast-minute hotel room. Notenough residentshad contingency plans to leave with afriend or neighbor,and on the government side, not enough shelters wereset up to accommodate those whocouldn’tevacuate. After thestorm, new mitigation plans were created. Federal levees had to be rebuilt to withstandhigher storm surges due to global warming. FEMA’s size was doubled to ensure amore robustfederal response to future disasters. Ad hoc shelters were designated and regional warehouses foremergency supplies wereestablished, as were plans to rapidly disburse emergency funds to survivors. It’simpossible to state with certainty how

Historic rains in Texas caused floodsthatstole the lives of at least 136 people,including dozens of girls at Camp Mystic, along the Guadalupe River. Insteadofbeing prepared, FEMA was hamstrung by aDepartment of Homeland Security secretary more focusedoncutting costs than saving lives. Thousands of calls from survivors of the Texasfloodswentunanswered when the DHS failed to renewcontractstostaff callcenters.

All this undera DHS secretary who doesn’tbelieve FEMA needs to exist and apresident who thinks stateshave the resources to handle natural disasters on their own. Theydon’t We can’t afford to forget Katrina’slessons. Once-in-a-thousand-yearevents arehappening everyyear.In2024, Helene destroyed entire communitiesinWestern North Carolina afterforming in the hottest ocean waters on record. Meanwhile, western stateshave firesthatengulf entire countieswhile the northeast gets downpours we usedtoonly seeinthe tropics.

In my home state of Louisiana, hurricanes can easily overwhelm local capacity to respond, as was the case for Laura andIda Congress andthe White House must prepare the nationfor natural and manmade disasters.

Tragedieslike the Texas flood cannot become the norm, andAmericans should not be neglected as they were in Puerto Rico in the first Trump administration.

ThatmeansFEMA must be adequately staffed andfundedtoperform its essential duties, including mitigation efforts. Elevating the head of FEMA to acabinet-level positionand extricating the agency from the DHS bureaucracy would be agreat place to start.

LTG. RusselL.Honoré (Ret.)isaformer commanding officer of theU.S. First Army He ledJoint Task Force Katrina in New Orleans following thestorm.

Russel L. Honoré GUEST COLUMNIST

ISSUE OF THE WEEK EDUCATION AFTER KATRINA

YEARS

In the years following Hurricane Katrina, NewOrleans embarked upon one of the boldest experiments ever in American education: It turned its public schoolsovertocharter school operators whopromised better outcomes and programstailored to students’ needs.Theresults of thisexperimentare mixed.While graduation ratesand student scores are up, high-profile closures of failingcharter schools have periodically upended the educationalprogress of students.Andsomesay the elimination of neighborhood schools —especially those that traditionally served Black students—has hurt communities.What has NewOrleans learned from the remaking of its educational system and what mightother troubled school districts takefrom its experience? Here aretwo perspectives.

Reformstookthe schools away from thecommunities

On the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we believe that as two survivors of Katrina and current higher education students who left Louisiana to pursue education, it’simportant to help people understand what happenedtoour schools after the storm.

SchoolsinN.O.have advanced,sokeepitgoing

It was awholesale and hostile dismantling of Black andBrown cultural hubs.

It also became the prototypefor abroader Southern strategy.Before thelevees broke,New Orleans’ public schools were struggling under decades of underfunding and systemic inequities, buttheyremained rooted in our communities. Many were staffed by veteran Black educatorswho served generations of families. The schools were imperfect, yes, but they were also gathering places for shared identityand traditions and symbols of civic identity Afterthe disaster,within months, private charter operators, many withnoroots in the city,were brought intorun theschools While the language of “opportunity”and “innovation” filled pressconferences, in the school hallways, something essential wasmissing. There was lessjoy.Schools were stripped of their communal warmth and recast as efficiency-driven enterprises.

We experienced the “zero tolerance” atmosphere,with kids forced to stand in lines, only able to speak when spoken to and subject to strict uniform compliance from head to toe. We had no individuality and it felt likethe military.Before, schools had beenvibrant extensions of family life —places where our teachers knew ourparents, aunts, cousins. After the storm, those spaces felt more like isolation chambers. Even though proponents pointtogains in standardized test scores, those purported and modest gains came withheavycosts: the erosion of self-determination, widening inequities and the loss of cultural continuity.The deeper truth, as Katrina made painfully clear,isthat disaster can beused as cover for political and economic agendas rooted in systemic racism.

The conversion of New Orleans’ schools was not an isolated event.The NewOrleans model has been exported andrefined acrossthe South, deployed not only in disaster recovery but as astandard tool of education policy.Officials in stateslike Tennessee, Mississippi andTexas have used therhetoric of “failing schools”and “accountability”tojustify stripping local

communities —often majority Black, Brown and lowincome— of control.

Ourexperiences in the post-Katrina school system offer urgent lessons, especially as climatechange increases the likelihood of future disastersdisrupting school systems. Privatizing schools does not help studentsafter adisaster.Instead, policymakers should prioritize addressing four key needs that will makethe mostimpact on studentwell-being and success, and help the wholecommunity recover

First, students need therapy and space to process loss. We grieved people, but we also grieved stability.Studentsmust be given space and support to workthrough trauma.

Second, we must restore normalcy by rapidly providing school supplies and wraparound services to reestablish daily routines and help young people get the care they need and regain asense of security

Third,weneed to invest in community programs. People —especially youth facingupheaval need to know they are not alone. Schools can be hubs for mutualaid andsharedresilience.

Fourth, therehas to be aplan for academic interventions. Lossoflearning time is inevitable after adisaster,but targeted programs can help studentscatch up withoutthe punitive measures we experienced. None ofthese priorities require dismantling public governance or inviting private operators to profit off the crisis. They do, however,require sustained investment, patience and respect for thecommunities affected

Thelesson from Katrina is not that public schools are beyond improvement, nor that reform is unnecessary.Itisthat the path to improvement cannot bypassthe very people mostinvested in those schools. It’stimetotreat public schools as community pillars worth rebuilding. Otherwise, we’ll continue down theKatrina path,whereacrisis becomes apretext for erasinglocal voices and selling off one of our most vital public goods. Oneapproach strengthens democracy.The other hollows it out.

Kaprice

Danielsisajournalism student at Northwestern University. Jada Ceasar is alaw student at SouthTexas College of Law

Twenty years ago, Hurricane Katrina devastated our city. Floodwaters rose, lives were lost and families werescattered. Nearly every public school building was damaged or destroyed.

Butinthe face of unimaginable loss, New Orleanians showed the resilience that defines the city.We rolled up our sleeves and got to work, driven by adeep and abiding love for our childrenand our home. We rebuilt New Orleans, and we rebuilt our schools with determination, creativity and hope.

tion to college and career.These efforts don’tjust keep kids safe; they help them achieve and thrive.

Unfortunately,many of these programsare at risk due to federal budget cuts and uncertainty demanding greater state and local support. This is essential. If we wantour children to continue to grow academically,wemust invest in the things they need to thrive.

We’ve made undeniable progress. Graduation rates are up 25 percentage points, and college enrollment has climbed nearly 30 points. Nota single New Orleanspublic school holds an “F” rating today.Since the pandemic, our students have improved in reading and math at twice the rate of their peers statewide.

These gains didn’thappen by chance but were theresult of thehard work of our students and educators —even through their own grief, loss, displacementand healing.

As we mark 20 years since the storm, this progress is acall not only to reflect, but to act. Ourwork isn’tdone. If we want to meet the current moment, we must focus our support on thepeople at thecenter of our schools: our students and their teachers.

Supporting our students today means meetingtheir needs more fully,not just academically but physically and emotionally.Wehave some incredible models of this already.Partnerships like ThriveKids, Communities In Schools and the Children’sBureau of NewOrleans help support students coping with trauma.

New Orleans’ educators have built programstoserve diverse learners, such as Opportunities Academy’slifeskills programmingfor high schoolers with intellectual and developmental needs, ReNEW Schools’ TherapeuticDay Program for studentswith complex socioemotional and behavioral needs and Constellations at Crescent City Schools. We must fuel programs like these while investing in the next waveof solutions, like new high school models that offer more flexibility,and support for key transitions like the movefrom eighth to ninth grade or from gradua-

Supporting our teachers means making New Orleans the best place in the country to teach. That begins with paying teachers like the professionals they are. No one serving our children should have to struggle to makeends meet Educators should be able to afford a home, raise afamily and build afuture in the city they serve. But compensation alone isn’tenough. Teachers also need the preparation and support to boost academic achievement. That includes training in the science of reading and other proven strategies to accelerate student learning forall students. When we invest in our teachers, we invest in better outcomes foryoung people. We also need to grow the next generation of educators. “Grow Your Own” programslike those at McDonogh 35, Warren Easton and KIPPNew Orleans give high school students an early path into the profession.

These young people bring deep love fortheir communities and asense of pride in giving back. We need to expand these efforts across the city,somore students see teaching as acalling and apowerful waytoshape the future of New Orleans.

Twenty years after the levees broke, our city’sschools are looking ahead. We’ve proven what’spossible when a city dares to believe in its children and invests in their future. Now we’re called to dream even bigger —toaccelerate progress, to imagine schools with the resources to meet students’ and teachers’ needs. Together,wewill create afuture where every child, in every neighborhood, is prepared to thrive. Let’srise to that challenge, together

Dana Peterson is the CEO of New Schoolsfor NewOrleans, an education advocacy organization.

KATRINA

Kaprice Daniels GUEST COLUMNIST

Jada Ceasar GUEST COLUMNIST

Dana Peterson GUEST COLUMNIST

STAFFFILE PHOTOBySOPHIAGERMER

School buses line up along St. Claude Avenue as KIPP Leadership Academy dismisses students for theday in NewOrleans on May15.

Twopeoplearrestedin shooting of 6-year-old

BY JA’KORI MADISON Staff writer

Twopeople were arrested this week in connectionto the shooting of a6-year-old childwho was attendinga vigil for another shooting victim Sunday night.

Andrea Kentrell Willis and Daylon Andrus, both of Lafayette, have been arrested. Willis was arrested in Beaumont, Texas, and is currently awaiting extradition to Lafayette. Andrushas been booked into the Lafayette ParishCorrectionalCenter

COUNCIL

Continued from page1B

withdrew an ordinance establishinglocaloversight of carbon-capture and sequestration projects after ExxonMobilfileda lawsuit againstthe parish, claiming it lacked theauthority In 2022, alawsuit followed quickly after Liv-

ARTIST

Continued from page1B

Relle’steam documented the process of measuring the columnsand setting up the elaborate pulley system that featured weather complications andaclose encounter with an alligator The finished product titled “Under the Bridge” gave the illusion of acypress treenestled in the water beneath the bridge.

For Relle, the photograph represents the balance of natural beauty and modern society

“There’sall this tension between Louisiana’snatural elements, and thenall the man-made structures,” he said. “You’re bringing together these discordant elementsand turning it into asong.”

The photographused on the sail, titled “Berard,” was taken at Lake Fausse in St. Martin Parish in 2023. When asked about its significance, Relle said, “That tree has avery strong architecture. It’svery expressive. Ineeded some-

BACTERIA

Continued from page1B

recorded10cases andone death, with no ties to Louisiana, according to the state health department.

Mississippihas confirmed five cases and one death,all connected to water exposure, including one involving Louisiana waters. Florida has reported the highest numbers with 23 cases and five deaths. The AlabamaDepartment of Public Health did not respond to questions about Vibrio cases, but earlier this year reported at least five in Mobile. Twoofthose were from injuries and three from eating undercooked food.

Cases typically peak in the hottest months, when Gulfwaters are the warmestand more people are swimming or fishing along the coast. Rising temperatures and more intense heat waves could extend the season when Vibrio thrives.A more active storm season also increasesthe presence of Vibrio vulnificus because runoff enters coastal waters, creating conditions that make it easierfor the bacteriatoflourish, and states typically see higher numbers of infections after storms pass through.

Symptoms andtreatment

There are at least adozen types of Vibrio bacteria, but Vibrio vulnificusisthe most dangerous, capable of causing sudden and severe illness. The bacteria can enter through acut or scrape and begin destroying tissue almost immediately.

on onecount of attempted second-degree murder. According to police, the shooting occurred at about 7:25 p.m. Sunday; officers respondedtoreports of gunfire in the 500 block of Saucier Parkway in north Lafayette. Upon arrival, officers located ajuvenile suffering from gunshot wounds. The child was transportedby ambulance toalocal hospital. The vigil was being held in memory of 36-year-old Phillip Francis, who was fatally shotFriday night at

ingston Parish placed a moratorium on $4.5 billion carbon-capture and sequestration projectbeneath Lake Maurepas.The parish lost in 2023 whenboth partiesagreed that the rule was “invalid andunenforceable.”

Residents havepacked council meetings in opposition to theprojectsinmostly rural parishes. Their primary concerns center

theWoodSpring Suites Hotel in Lafayette. According to police,Francis was killed duringanaltercationwith 39-year-old KyleJagneaux, aformer Lafayette police officer As of Tuesday morning, the 6-year-old victim was in stable condition, according to Lafayette Police Sgt. Robin Green This incident remainsunderinvestigation.

Email Ja’koriMadison at jakori.madison@ theadvocate.com.

on theuse of eminent domain to construct carboncaptureand sequestration pipelines, alongwith the possible safetyand health risks of carbon storage on water sources. So far,18parishes have proposed carbon-capture and sequestration projects.

Email StephenMarcantel at stephen.marcantel@ theadvocate.com.

thing that would stand up to the spacebetween the columns. Theoutstretched limbsofthe tree were very emotive.”

sy-sponsoredNew Orleans to Moscow Cultural Exhibition in 2014.

Relle has worked as a photographersince 2005, receiving international acclaim for his focusonLouisiana’snatural beautyand cultural heritage. Relle’s previous work hasbeen recognized by National Geographic, TheNew York Timesand NPR. He also served as thecurator for theUnited States Embas-

“Once the bacteria enters the body,itstarts secreting different toxins thattrigger the skin to die. That is aserious, necrotizing infection ”said Dr.Norman Beatty,aninfectiousdisease physician atthe University of Florida.

Onehallmarksymptom can help distinguish Vibrio from other skininfections: theappearance offluidfilledblisters at the wound site andrapidly spreading redness. In somecases, the infection can escalate to life-threateningillness within aday

“You’ll see folks who smolder,” said Julio Figueroa, infectious disease expert at LSU HealthNew Orleans. “And you have the people who justsort of crash and burn, and they’re dead 48 hourslater.”

Whilemost healthy people recoverfrom Vibrio vulnificus infections or may nothave severe symptoms, those with chronic health conditions face greater risks. Heavy alcohol users andpeople with liver disease, diabetes or weakened immune systems are more likely to needhospitalcare.

Early medical care is critical. Antibioticscan oftenstopthe infection from spreading, but it’simportant to tell adoctorifyou have recently beeninthe waterorhad exposure to shellfish. Even short exposures might lead to infection.

“Walkingonthe Mississippi Gulf Coast with awound in the water is enough to do it,” Figueroa said. If someone is exposed to Vibrio vulnificus through undercookedseafood such

Obituaries

Debra Elaine Bendily, 70, of BatonRouge, passed away peacefully on August 21, 2025, withher husband, Mickey, by her side.Born November 30, 1954, in Jennings, LA,Debra was adevotedwife,mother, and grandmother whose creativityshone throughher love of jewelry making, painting, and collecting art. She is survived by her husband, Mickey Gowland; childrenLeslie Algero (Mike), LydiaDuSaules (Mark), MichelleBryan and Brian Johnson (Sunnie); 12 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; and sisters Donna Kay Knight and Dale Holloway. She was preceded in death by her parents, Edna Elaine Watson and NolanRoy Bendily, brother, JamesAlfred Bendily. Known forher laughter, humor, and signature hats, Debra's happiest moments were with family,especiallyat "Camp Sweetie Pies and Bad Guys." Her caretakers, Mrs. Shelley Birch and Angela Longstreet,provided extraordinary care in her final days.She willbe deeply missed and forever remembered for her joyful spirit and giving heart

Relle offers thefollowing advice for budding creatives: “It’s OK for your ideas sometimes to not makecomplete sense.”

Relle’swork, including “Under the Bridge”and “Berard,” can be viewed at the Frank Relle Galleryat 910 Royal St., New Orleans. Formore information on FrankRelle and his work, visit his professionalwebsiteatfrankrelle.com.

as rawoysters, symptoms usually include diarrhea andvomiting. In people with liverproblems,itcan lead to sepsis,alife-threateningbloodstream infection,Figueroa said. People withhepatitis or autoimmune liver diseaseshould take care not to expose themselves throughshuckingoysters or fishing, even if they don’tintend toeat it raw

“When you’re handling shellfish,it’skind of hard not to poke yourself, Figueroa said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges vulnerable people to avoidraw oysters andother undercooked shellfish. The agency also recommends keepingwounds covered andout of warmcoastal waters during thesummer, when higher water temperatures create idealconditionsfor thebacteria to multiply.Wearing protectiveclothingand shoes can also help prevent scrapes or cuts while in the water Email Emily Woodruff at ewoodruff@theadvocate. com.

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Willine spoke French before learning English in elementaryschool, where students wouldbereprimanded- with aruler tapped on theirknucklesfor speakingFrench. She graduatedfromScottHigh School in 1955. Sheearned herBachelor of Education degree from Southwest TechnicalInstitute (STI), whichlater became the University of Southwest Louisiana (USL)and is now theUniversity of Louisiana at Lafayette (ULL). Willine taught school for fivedecades,fromthe late 1950s through the 1990s, beginningher teaching career at St.Genevieve in Lafayette, LA. She went on to teach at Central, South, andJackson Elementary Schools in Pascagoula, MS, as well as at SacredHeart in Pineville, LA, and at St Rita and Alexandria CountryDay in Alexandria, LA, whichshe often referred to as herfavorite teachingposition.

Shewas affectionately known as Non to herthree brothers and parents; Nonnietoher threegranddaughters; and Nanny to hertwo goddaughters.

In addition to herprofessionalaccomplishments, shewas adevout Catholic wholived her faiththrough heractions andinteractionswithothers. Shehad awarm and friendlypersonality, and she genuinely took an interest in others.She was easily lovedbythoseshe came into contactwithfrom themail ladiestothe waitstaff at herfavorite restaurants.

Sheloved the holidays andenjoyeddecorating herhomeand dressing up for theseoccasions,including festive jewelryand matching nail polish. She enjoyed playing thepiano, people watching, reading, diningout,and cooking at home. Shewas also an avidwriterofhandwritten letters,a solver of jigsaw puzzles,and an enthusiast of word searches. Sheenjoyed taking long walks andsharinglaughterwith friends andfamily. She wasa wonderful mother whoinstilledinher only child, Angela,the Catholic faithand astrongsense of

empathy, courage,and tenacity. Thefamilyrequeststhat visitation be observedat Martin& Castille Funeral Home in Scott, LA, on Friday, August 29, 2025, from 4:00 to 7:00 pm, with a Rosary ledbyCharles Stemmans at 6:30 pm. Visiting will continueon Saturday, August 30, 2025, from 9:00 am untilthe Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 am in Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church in Scott, LA. TheReverend StevenLeBlanc will serve as the Celebrant. Lectorswill be Melissa Pitt Babineaux andAdeline Moreton. Giftbearerswill be Willine's threegranddaughters, Allie,Maddie, andAdeline Moreton. Pallbearers are PaulNeil Pitt, Denise Pitt, Melissa Pitt Babineaux, Brett Landry, JarredLandry, and Charles Stemmans. Honorary Pallbearers are nephews, Blaine Pitt and Jonathon Guidry. Special thanks to Dr. Mahmoud Zayed, Nurse Practitioner Jeri Farmer, Dr.Ijlal Babar andthe staff at SingingRiverand Ocean Springs Hospital. Theirexcellentcareallowed Willine to be with us for 20 years after herdiagnosis. Should friends desire, thememorial donations be made to Volunteers of America NewOrleans / Southeast Louisiana Chapter. View theobituaryand guestbook online at www.mourning.com Martin& Castille Funeral Home -SCOTT,802 Alfred Street,Scott, Louisiana 70583, 337-2342320

Willine Pitt Mohar of Gautier, MS, and formerly of Scott,LA, passed away on August 25, 2025, in her belovedhome,which she builtwithher husband in 1969 shortly before Hurricane Camille. A strong-willedwoman, she fought along, hard battle with Congestive Heart Failure(CHF) fornearly20 years. She is preceded in death by her husband, Thomas Harold Mohar; her parents, Paul Pitt and Hazel Broussard Pitt; her fraternal twin brother, Paul Neil Pitt,Sr.,and twin brothers, Anthony Ronald Pitt and Donald JosephPitt. Survivorsincludeher daughter, AngelaMohar Moreton (Frederick) and threegranddaughters, Alexandra Camille, MadeleineElise, and Adeline Ella Moreton, all of Ocean Springs, MS; goddaughters and nieces, Denise Pitt and Doy Pitt Prejean of Lafayette, LA; nieces, Melissa Pitt Babineaux of Lafayette,LA; MichellePitt and Donna Pitt SwisherofEuless, TX; and Joan Pitt Heiss of Greensboro, NC;and nephews, Blaine Anthony Pitt and Paul Neil Pitt,Jr. of Lafayette, LA

As atrue Cajun growing up in the1930s and 40s,

PROVIDED PHOTO

Frank Relle, left,was assisted by Matt Eberts, RobDavis, Finn Hewesand Ross Baringer

Bendily, DebraElaine

Mohar, Willine Pitt

Something’scooking

BY REEDDARCEY Staff writer

Picture LSU defensive end Jack Pyburn —all 264 pounds ofhim —practicing pass-rush moves against his kitchen counter,his long, golden locks flowing behind him.

It was an odd, yetproductive, ritual. WhenPyburn transferred from Florida to LSU in December,hecouldn’tlet much time slipbywithout firstusing it to hone

his pass-rushing skills

The Tigers were planning to give him anew job.So, he got creative. By thetime spring practices rolled around, he hadbegun to see “massive improvements” in his game.

SEASON PREVIEW

Six months later,those advancements are ready for game action.

“I think I’m overall an elitedefensive

end now,” Pyburnsaid after LSU’spenultimate practice of preseason camp. “I think every single part of my game is going to be at an elite level this year.” His development is an importantpart of theTigers defense,which needs the pass rush to takeastep forward in its second season under defensive coordinator Blake Baker.Its top two edge rushers from 2024 moved on. Now the burden of

from the

during the first half against Texasinthe firstround of the College Football Playoff on Dec. 21inAustin, Texas.

BY STEVEREED AP sportswriter

CLEMSON, S.C. DaboSwinney appears destined for theCollege Football Hall of Fame.

He has won eight ACC championships in thelast 10 years and twonationalchampionships,and now his fourth-ranked Clemson Tigerslook poised for another run at glory as they kickoff the 2025 season Saturday night at homeagainst No. 9LSU.

Swinneyisfirst to admitit’s been one heck of aride, and he’s been “blessed” beyond words. But it wasn’tall trophiesand celebrations forthe Birmingham, Alabama, native when he took over theTigers17years ago

as an interim head coach. There were tense moments for Swinneyearlyon, none more so than in the moments after the Tigers’ lopsided 29-7 defeat to in-state rival South Carolina in November 2010 in front of more than81,000 mostlydejected fans at Clemson’sMemorial Stadium The loss dropped theTigers to 6-6inthe regularseason and Swinney to 19-14since taking over as head coach. As he emerged thatday from his news conference, Swinney found his wife, Kathleen, in tears in the hallway “I walk out andshe’s crying, andI just thought she wasjust

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

UL offensive line

coach Steve Farmer feels strongly about the potential of the unit he coaches for the Ragin’ Cajuns. He likes how his guys performed in helping UL win 10 games and reach the Sun Belt championship game in December

Now Farmer is focused on taking “the next step in the process to becomea great offensive line,” beginning at 7p.m. Saturday in the season opener against Rice at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium. That’sa lofty goal, but Farmer likes the ingredients he’s workingwith. It begins with redshirt junior lefttackle Bryant Williams, who Farmer isn’tshy about gushing over “Bryant Williams is oneofthe most gifted players I’ve ever gotten to coach, to be frank with you,” said Farmer, who coached six-year Dallas Cowboys starterTerenceSteele while at Texas Tech. “I’m not badmouthing Terence by no means. Ijust see Bryant able to do things physically that a6-foot-7 man with size 20 shoes …man, it’simpressive.He’sjustalean muscle, toughmindedyoung manwith great twitch.” On the other end of the line is redshirt senior right tackle George Jackson, who also has “incredible twitch to him.” Farmer said the two starting tackles are taking to his coaching that focuses on hand placement and striking. “I think that’sanarea where we’ve made some huge leaps and bounds from where we were ayear ago,” he said. Theoffensivelineisalsobrimming with leadership, especially from redshirt seniorright guard Jax Harrington “Jax has areally good knack of when we need him the most, he steps to the

Football in N.O. nevermoreimportant than afterHurricane Katrina

Saints

When people ask me whatfootball meant to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina,Idon’ttell them. Ishow them. Idig into the file cabinet of my home office and dust off abinder from 2007. The black-andgold pamphlet titled “Louisiana Thanks Louisiana’sTeam” was the brainchild of Gov.Kathleen Blanco. In the wake of Katrina and the Saints’ cathartic 2006 season, she asked fans to write personal thank-you notes to the team. Starting on the morning of the team’sfinal regular-season game Dec. 31, 2006,her staff collected messages from the governor’s

official website and via outreach in schools and senior homes across thestate.She called it the “Thanks theSaintsInitiative.”

Almostimmediately,heartfelt testimonialsbegan to pour in from allcorners of the globe from New Brunswick, Canada, and Maidstone, England, to Perth, Australia, and an aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean. More than 1,000 people wrote, including noteworthy Louisianans such as Harry Connick Jr., Cokie Roberts, ArchieManning, Lindy Boggs and BranfordMarsalis. The passionateresponses read like teenage love letters. It was impossible to read themand not feel the emotionexpressedinthe words and sentences.

Officials compiled the messages into abound scrapbook and distributed it to the public.

Isaved mine and still reflect on it as areminder of thatmagical time.The 140 pages are filled withlove, devotion and gratitude.It’sanenduring testament to the rare symbiotic relationship withthe team and the city and region.

“Thanks so muchfor an incredible season,”wrote Marsalis, expressing the sentiments of many Saints fans. “I’ve been there through thickand thin. And I’m loving thick!!!” Context is important here. You need to understand how difficult life was in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. If you were here, you know The storm’stentacles reached into every aspect of daily life. Whether your house had 10

ä See DUNCAN, page 3C

quarterback DrewBrees signs asign fromLarry Rolling made for the first Saints game after Hurricane Katrina in 2006 before agame in the Superdome on Sept. 26, 2006.

ä RiceatUL, 7P.M. SATURDAy, ESPN+

STAFF FILEPHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU defensiveend JackPyburnruns throughadrill at aspring practice on April12atTiger Stadium.

AP FILE PHOTO By ERICGAy

Clemson head coach DaboSwinneywatches

sideline

ä See LSU, page 3C

ä See CLEMSON, page 3C

ä See UL, page 3C

Jeff Duncan

STAFFFILE

PHOTO By MATTHEW HINTON

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Parsons tradedtoPackers

Contract dispute leadstodefensive enddeparting Dallas

BY ROBMAADDI AP profootball writer

Micah Parsons is headed to the GreenBay Packersafter ablockbuster trade on Thursday,leaving the Dallas Cowboys following alengthy contract dispute.

The two-time All-Pro edge rusher confirmed the deal in a text to The Associated Press. Aperson with knowledge of thedetails said Parsons and the Packers have agreed on arecord-setting $188 million, fouryear contract that includes $136 million guaranteed.

Parsons becomes thehighestpaid non-quarterbackinNFL history

“I never wanted this chapter to end, but not everything was in my control,” Parsons wrote in a statement he posted on X. “My heart has always beenhere, and still is. Through it all, Inever made any demands.

“I neveraskedfor anything more than fairness. Ionlyasked that the person Itrust to negotiate my contract be partofthe process.”

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones declined to discuss Parsons’ deal with agent David Mulugheta. Instead, Jones spoke directly to Parsons and insistedthey had agreed on the parameters of a new contract.

The Cowboys are receiving two first-roundpicks and veterandefensive tackle Kenny Clark for Parsons, aperson withknowledge of the details told the AP The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the teams haven’treleased the terms

The 26-year-old Parsons has 521/2 sacks, recording at least12 in each of his four seasons while making the Pro Bowl each year Parsons provides ahuge boost forafranchise that has reached the playoffs five of the past six years but hasn’tmadeittothe NFL championship gamesince Aaron Rodgers led them to their fourth Super Bowl title 15 years ago. Parsons bolsters adefense that was inconsistent at getting to op-

posing quarterbacks last season, when the Packers went 11-7 and lost to Philadelphia in theNFC wild-cardround.The Packers had45sackslastseason to tie foreighthplace in theNFL, but more than half of thosesacks came in just four games.

In seven oftheir 17 games, the Packers had no more than one sack.

Green Bay ranked 16th in pressure rate, which calculates the number of hurries, knockdowns andsacks foreach team divided by an opponent’sdrop-back attempts.

Now,the Packers add one of thegame’s elite pass rushers while theCowboyslose their bestplayer because of apower struggle with Jones.

Even with Parsons, whomissed four games because of injury last season,Dallas finished28th

in defense and the team went 7-10. TheCowboys have ahealthy Dak Prescott returning but this is adevastating blow for thedefense. The Packers haven’thad anyoneget 12 sacks in aseason since Za’Darius Smithhad 121/2 in 2020.

Packersgeneral manager Brian Gutekunstspoke Wednesday about the philosophy of takinga “big swing” to land asuperstar.

“I think everyopportunity that’sout there to help your football team, we’vealways taken a look at trytosee howitaffects us right now, howdoes it affect us in thefuture and make the best decision we can,” Gutekunst said. “Sometimes we’ve been right, sometimes we’rewrong. Sometimes we’ve taken risks that really worked outfor us. Sometimes it didn’t.

“Sometimes we didn’ttake risks, andwelook back and wish we would have and sometimes, you know,as(former general manager) Ted(Thompson) used to say, you know,God helps those that can’t help themselvesalittle bitsometimes. So sometimes the best dealsyou make are the ones you don’t, you know.And so you just kind of,Ithink youweigh everything, and you weigh what is in the momentand what is in the future as well.”

The Packers, who once signed Reggie White in free agency, just took their biggest swing in decades.

Whitehelped aGreen Bay team led by Brett Favre wina Super Bowl andreach anotheron hisway to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

AP Sports WriterSteve Megargee contributed to this report.

Osakabounces back with newcoach

BY HOWARD FENDRICH AP tennis writer

NEW YORK

Naomi Osaka is back in the third roundofthe U.S. Open for the first time since2021, the year after she won her second championship at Flushing Meadows

She’splaying rather well at the moment,too,under theguidance of anew coach.

Just don’texpect Osaka to weigh in on whether she feels as if sheis ready to make another deep run at the place.

“Honestly,Idon’treally know.I don’tmake it my business to know anymore. Ikind of just leave it up in the air,” the 23rd-seeded Osaka said after eliminating Hailey Baptiste 6-3, 6-1 in the second round in just 70 minutes Thursday.“For me, Irealize that I’ve doneeverything that Icould. I’ve trained really hard. Ipracticedreally hard. If it happens, it happens.”

Osaka’sfour Grand Slam trophies all arrivedonhardcourts: two at the U.S. Open, two at the Australian Open.

Since her 2020 title in New York, her trips there have gonethisway: losses in the third round in 2021, first round in 2022,second round last year.The surface tendstofavor the big serves and powerful, first-strike tennis Osaka is best known for,and somethingshe displayed against Baptiste, of course, although she also demonstrated a willingness to vary speeds and spins.

The other talent Osaka is using to great effect so far this week is her return game that gets an opponent onthe defensive.

Osakaalready haswon 11 of the 18 return games she’s played so far,including during a6-3, 6-4 win over Greet Minnen in the first round.

After her third-round exit at Wimbledonlastmonth,Osaka split from coach Patrick Mouratoglouand began working with Tomasz Wiktorowski, whoused to be part ofIga Swiatek’s team.

One key,Osaka said: Wiktorowskihas encouragedher to focus more on theplacement of her shots “andnot necessarily going for winners most of thetime.”

They appear to be making quick progress— andOsaka said her impressionofhim changed quickly

“Honestly,Ididn’tknow him, Ithought he was very scary,becausehe’sverytall andhedidn’t smile,” she said.

“Now that we’re working together,Isee that he smilesoften. He has avery friendlysmile, andit’s very nice.That’s my little funfact about Tomasz.”

Otherevents

Wimbledonchampions Swiatek and Jannik Sinner both won —his victory was muchmore straightforward than hers.

Swiatekhad some trouble before getting past Suzan Lamens,

RangersSSSeager placed on IL after appendectomy

Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager had an appendectomyon Thursdayafterexperiencingabdominal pain during agame the previous night.

Chris Young, the team’s president of baseball operations, said Seager hadsurgery in Texasafter the team had traveled to California for the start of aseries against the Athletics on Friday night. Young said it was too early to knowhow muchtime the two-time World Series MVP will miss.

Seager will be placedonthe 10day injured list and the Rangers will calluputility playerDylan Moore, who had just been signed to aminor league contract after being released by AL West rival Seattle. Center fielder Evan Carter is going to be transferredtothe 60-dayIL to make room on the 40-man roster

Guardians release Santana, ending histhird tenure

Carlos Santana’sthird stint with the Cleveland Guardians has come to an end. The Guardians announced Thursday that they have released the longtimefirst baseman, making the39-year-old veteran available on the open market forteams looking to add aveteran bat to their lineup.

Santana signedaone-year deal in December and has appeared in 116 games for Cleveland this season. He hit 11 home runs with 52 RBIs, while logging a.225 batting average, .316 on-base percentage and .333 slugging percentage. He’splayed 11 of his 16 seasons with the Guardians, including each of hisfirst eight. He’salsoplayed forKansasCity,Philadelphia,Minnesota,Pittsburgh, Seattle and Milwaukee.

Venus Williamswins doubles match at U.S. Open

Venus Williams wonawomen’s doubles match at theU.S.Open for the first time in more than a decade —and this timewithout hersister, Serena —teaming with LeylahFernandezonThursday to defeat the sixth-seeded pair of Lyudmyla Kichenok and Ellen Perez 7-6(4),6-3

She hadn’twon awomen’sdoublesmatch in New York since 2014, when she and Serena made it to the quarterfinals, or at any Grand Slam tournament since the 2018 FrenchOpen.

The last of the sisters’ 14 major championships in women’sdoublescame at Wimbledon in 2016.

The older Williams also has wonseven GrandSlamtitles in singles, andanother two in mixed doubles.

Dolphins wide receiver Hill on trackfor Week 1opener

Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill returned to practice Thursday and is on track to play in Miami’sWeek 1openeragainstthe Indianapolis Colts, coach Mike McDaniel said. Hill practiced in alimited capacity after being sidelined the past severalweekswith an oblique injury McDaniel said the team had been cautious with Hill to makesure he doesn’taggravate the injury ahead of the season. He had 81 receptions and 959 yards with six receiving touchdowns as he played through a wrist injury in 2024.

The Dolphins will be without second-year running back Jaylen Wright to start the season. McDaniel said Wright had a“small procedure”thatisnot expected to be season-ending but will require time.

PackersQBexpects thumb brace for season start

Green Bay Packersquarterback Jordan Love says he expects to wear abrace on his surgically repaired leftthumbatthe start of the season. Loveunderwentsurgery on the thumbonhis non-throwing hand more than two weeks ago. Love wasa limitedparticipant last week for the Packers’ final trainingcamp workouts, but he’s been practicing more fully this week and plans to play in Green Bay’s Sept. 7season opener against the Detroit Lions. One change is thatLovehas been handing off exclusively with his right hand.

Love said that’s“not as big of a deal as Ithink youguys think it might be.” Love says he otherwise doesn’texpect the thumb to impact him

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GARETH PATTERSON

DallasCowboys defensiveend Micah Parsons walks onto the field after apreseasongame against the BaltimoreRavens on Aug. 16 in Arlington, Texas.

sad, you know, that she feels bad for me,” Swinney said He gave her a hug and assured her everything was going to be all right.

That’s when she looked at him in the eyes and told him that Terry Don Phillips, the Clemson athletic director at the time, was waiting to see him in his office.

“Oh,” is the only thing Swinney could muster and the tension in his body mounted.

“I mean, I think I’m getting fired — and my wife thinks I’m getting fired,” Swinney said.

Knocked back by the news, Swinney took a few minutes to gather his thoughts before reminding himself that “God’s got me.”

He walked down the hallway to find the door cracked open. He peered inside and found Phillips sitting on the couch So this is how it ends, Swinney thought to himself. He entered the room, but the pink slip never came Instead, he was surprised when Phillips offered his unconditional support

“I go from thinking I’m getting fired to Terry Don Phillips telling me how much he believes in me,” Swinney said. “He said to me, ‘Hey, there’s going to be a lot of criticism and there’s going to be a lot of this and that, (but) I want you to keep doing what you’re doing. I want you to know that I’ve got your back. I believe

DUNCAN

Continued from page 1C

feet of water or escaped unscathed, living in New Orleans or the surrounding region was an emotionally, mentally and physically draining experience. You didn’t so much live as you endured. Residents who suffered the worst damage — those who lost homes, jobs and/ or loved ones — slogged through their daily nineto-fives, then went home to clear debris or to tear out drywall.

The basic civil services expected in modern America were sporadic or nonexistent. Trash pickup, electricity, sewer and water, and police protection operated with saddening inefficiency or in some cases, not at all. Piles of debris remained on the curbs. Neutral grounds were uncut and overgrown with weeds.

The city’s health care and public transit systems were crippled. Nearly a year after the storm, only half of the hospitals in Orleans Parish had opened and there was a shortage of doctors, ambulances and hospital beds, creating nightmarish situations for the sick and injured and their loved ones.

Getting around was difficult. Many of the city’s streetlights were non-operational, making for harrowing, herky-jerky commutes through a maddening maze of four-way stops. Only 17% of the Regional Transit Authority’s buses were running, and 49% of its public transportation routes were open. Everything, even mundane errands, was hard. Dry cleaners required a week’s turnaround time, and car repairs could take even longer Banks constricted their hours, making for longer lines at the counter and drive-thru lanes Lines at the few fast-food restaurants that were open often snaked around the block.

“The last 16 months have been hell, rebuilding our home,” wrote William Poche of Metairie. “This magical season has lifted our spirits and hopes.”

“We lost everything in the storm and we’re still in a FEMA trailer, but come game day we don our Saints gear and pack up the small barbecue pit we use to cook our dinners for weeks after the storm and head to the Superdome early to tailgate and get ready for

in you more now than even when I hired you.’ “ With that, Phillips got up from the couch and prepared to walk out of his office before turning back to Swinney and saying, “and if it doesn’t work you can come help me pack — and I’ll come help you pack.”

Phillips hugged Swinney on his way out.

“Terry Don Phillips is not a man of a lot of words, but he had a lot of conviction in his words and he meant what he said,” Swinney said Swinney sat in stunned silence for a few minutes before his wife walked into his office, worried about her husband’s job security.

“I told her I didn’t get fired, and she’s like, ‘What?’ ” Swinney said. Tim Bourret, who was Clemson’s sports information director witnessed the event unfolding. He said it was a tense time given the way the regular season had ended. But he felt that Swinney had earned some slack from Phillips by leading the Tigers to the ACC championship game in 2009 before losing to Georgia Tech

“Terry Don just had a sixth sense about Dabo and his ability to lead the program,” Bourret said. “I didn’t think he was going to get fired, but then again I had been around long enough to know that people make decisions based off what happens against South Carolina.”

The Tigers bounced back to go 10-4 the next season, earning a trip to the Orange Bowl. It was the first of 13 double-digit win seasons over the next 14 years for

Swinney, who has built the Tigers into one of the most successful and consistent programs in college football.

Since 2011, the Tigers have won 84.3% percent of their games (161-30) under Swinney, including nine ACC championships He is the winningest coach in ACC history with 180 victories.

The lessons Swinney learned that day have shaped his coaching career

Two years ago after Clemson failed to win 10 games, Swinney had a decision to make when it came to struggling young quarterback Cade Klubnik. Like Swinney, Klubnik had found himself under intense scrutiny and many Tigers fans were urging him to explore the transfer portal

But Swinney showed the same faith in Klubnik that Phillips once showed in him. Klubnik responded last season by leading the Tigers to a second straight ACC championship and a return to the College Football Playoff after a two-year absence. Klubnik enters this season as a first-team preseason All-American and is viewed as one of the favorites to win the Heisman Trophy. He’s a projected first-round NFL draft pick.

All because Swinney believed in him.

“I experienced that too, right?’ ” said Swinney, a three-time winner of the Paul “Bear” Bryant Award given to college football’s best head coach. “I know what it means to have someone believe in you.”

“Most New Orleanians just wanted to regain their way of life, and that was going to Jazz Fest, going to Mardi Gras, going to the Superdome every Sunday. They wanted to recapture what they’d lost.”

DOUG THORNTON, led renovation of the Superdome

what has become one of the few things we can all get excited about,” Todd from Terrytown wrote in the pamphlet. “God bless you boys! Without you, I do not know how my family and I could have made it through the year as we have.

Added Phyllis A. Stevens of New Orleans: “Thank you, boys, for giving us something positive in our lives. Thank you for giving us faith in ourselves and the rebirth of our city.”

In those grim, harrowing days, there were serious doubts New Orleans would ever recover New Orleanians longed for their cherished cultural traditions and institutions. They bought fleur de lis merchandise like it was going out of stock and seized upon any reminder of the New Orleans they knew and loved.

Mardi Gras. Jazz Fest Commander’s Palace. The Times-Picayune. Angelo Brocato’s Ice Cream and Pastry Shop Saints football, of course, was one of those cherished traditions.

“Most New Orleanians just wanted to regain their way of life, and that was going to Jazz Fest, going to Mardi Gras, going to the Superdome every Sunday,” said Doug Thornton, who spearheaded the renovation of the Superdome.

“They wanted to recapture what they’d lost.”

Amid this grim, fearful existence, football emerged as an escape, a salve for New Orleanians’ wounded psyches and spirits.

Debbie LaMarca of New Orleans nailed it when she wrote, “Coach (Sean) Payton saw a destroyed city and knew that a winning football team could bring hope for our future and smiles to our weary faces.” Payton had been in New Orleans for only a few months, but he quickly learned to appreciate the rare connection the Saints had with the community. He knew the Dome-coming game — the Saints’ home opener on Sept. 25, 2006, against the Atlanta Falcons would be special. He wanted his team to be prepared for the moment.

So after the team’s practice at the Superdome on the Friday night before the big game, Payton introduced Thornton and two of

LSU

Continued from page 1C

pressuring Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik on Saturday (6:30 p.m., ABC) falls on the shoulders of two new first-team defensive ends: Pyburn and sophomore Gabe Reliford.

“Our goal is just to wreak havoc,” linebacker Whit Weeks said Tuesday.

Under Baker, LSU shoots for a high havoc rate a team’s percentage of defensive plays that end in a sack, tackle for loss, forced fumble, interception or pass breakup. The Tigers improved in three of those five areas last season. By the end of the year they had registered five more pass breakups, seven more forced fumbles and three more sacks in 2024 than they did in 2023.

Can Pyburn help LSU bump that rate higher?

The numbers he posted as part of a breakout junior season at Florida four tackles for loss, one sack and one forced fumble — suggest he hasn’t wreaked much havoc in his career

But Pyburn insists he’s not just a run defender

men in the first three years of his career, he said. That gave him chances to fill inside gaps and stuff runs, but not too many opportunities to bend around the edge, collapse the pocket and drop opposing quarterbacks So he hit the transfer portal.

“It’s just not exactly what I wanted to do for my skillset,” Pyburn said. “I think I can do everything, but I feel like I was best utilized to be coming hard off the edge and playing aggressive, playing fast, using my physicality, my speed and letting it be my advantage.”

Preseason camp indicated LSU is letting Pyburn showcase that facet of his game. He lined up on one of the edges of its first-team defense, with two defensive tackles to his right and another edge rusher — usually Reliford on the other side. The first time the Tigers put the pads on, he sacked Garrett Nussmeier and dropped sophomore tailback Caden Durham behind the line of scrimmage.

has helped him both hone his technique and find the right pass rush “track” to take, a custom angle that factors in his speed and stride length to provide the most efficient route to the quarterback.

Before, Pyburn thought he had “pretty good” handeye coordination. The problem, he said, was his footwork. It didn’t sync with his hands, which weakened his hips and prevented him from bending past opposing offensive linemen. That stood in the way of recording more sacks and tackles for loss.

As a remedy, Peoples prescribed Pyburn a few drills to do on his own time. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s magic,’ ” he said in March. So Pyburn filmed himself running through the drills, sometimes in his kitchen, and sent the videos to Peoples.

“He was all excited over text when we were on the weekend,” Pyburn said.

his Superdome colleagues to the players and coaches to recognize their Herculean efforts in rebuilding the Superdome. He then dimmed the lights in the Dome and played a special video to set the tone. The montage showed powerful images of Hurricane Katrina and personal messages from fans, many of them storm victims.

“It was coach Payton letting us know before we played that it’s not just another prime-time Monday night game against your hated rival,” linebacker Scott Shanle said. “This was for something so much more. We have an opportunity to help people in more ways than just playing a football game.”

Added Payton: “Everyone that ended up on that team that year ended up in something much bigger than we ever expected — like, much bigger.”

The Saints, of course, crushed the Falcons that Monday night, and the rest of the season was a magic carpet ride. The national narrative focused on how the Saints lifted the city And initially that storyline was true. But as the season wore on — and crowds mobbed the airport to welcome the Saints home from road games, and neighbors displayed handmade signs and dropped off cookies outside Drew Brees’ home — the relationship evolved into something much more symbiotic.

“The New Orleans Saints needed our community, and the community needed the New Orleans Saints,” Brees said. “It was a match made in heaven that way.”

There weren’t many good things born from Hurricane Katrina. But the renewed vows it produced between the Saints and New Orleans certainly was one of them. Football always has been important here. Along with crawfish, Mardi Gras and hunting, football is one of our four seasons. Throughout the fall, it dominates our thoughts, discourse and social calendars.

But football was never more important than it was after Katrina. I have a book of love letters to prove it.

Email Jeff Duncan at jduncan@theadvocate. com.

The Gators primarily used a front of three down line-

Pyburn said he can now squat more than 600 pounds. He also said he’s running close to 21 mph 1 mph faster than he ran at Florida. Kevin Peoples, the LSU edge rushers coach,

first time, which is impressive.

“It’s just been really great, and I’m just looking forward to continuing to work those techniques, and it’s just gonna make me that much better

“The counter is not really much of an opponent anymore. We’ll say that.”

Continued from page 1C

plate and not just with the line,” said Farmer, who brought up a moment in the Wake Forest road win last season when Harrington’s encouragement pushed UL to the win. “You can’t just bark all the time or it just falls on deaf ears. I think Jax has a maturity about him that’s well beyond his age. There’s just a timing to it, when he speaks. They all listen to him in the entire program, which speaks volumes of him.”

A pair of newcomers, redshirt junior left guard Kaden Moreau and redshirt sophomore center Cooper Fordham, add plenty of experience and toughness to the unit.

“He does a good job communicating with the quarterback and the rest of the linemen,” Farmer said of Fordham. “You can kind of tell him something and I’ll be darn, he’ll catch it the

“It’s important to him. He lives and breathes it.”

There also appears to be enough talent and experience on the second unit to provide necessary depth.

Redshirt senior guard Mackey Maillho “has had a great offseason and is just becoming a better and better football player,” Farmer said.

Another talk of camp has been redshirt sophomore guard Matt Broussard.

“I’m thrilled about Matt,” Farmer said. “Matt’s put together a really good camp as well. He’s just consistent, tough and playing with confidence finally He’s always been a good football player, but was always a little hesitant.”

There’s also a redshirt sophomore trio of J’Marion Gooch, John Bragg and Zay Alexander who could provide additional depth to allow UL to keep its starters fresh.

Of that trio, only Bragg will be off the injured list

enough to play in Saturday’s opener, but Gooch should be ready for the second week against McNeese State. Alexander should be ready to go shortly after that.

“He (Gooch) finished camp on a high note, which we need him to do that for us, need him to grow in that spot,” Farmer said. “He’s a sudden, athletic, long, tall player that plays physical. “John Bragg had kind of an up-and-down camp. When he’s in the right frame of mind and is processing it right, he can be an elite player for us as well.” Farmer insists the main goal for his line is powering the UL rushing attack.

“We’re always going to start in the run game,” Farmer said. “That’s the way you win football games. We spent more time in the run game. We had a good year of protecting the passer last year, but I think we’ve made some improvements in that area.”

Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@theadvocate.com.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

LSU running back Caden Durham is tackled by Florida edge rusher Jack Pyburn, center, and Florida defensive back Trikweze Bridges, right, on the carry in the second half between the Tigers and the Gators on Nov. 16 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Fla

Moore explains why Hill is hanging with the QBs

BY MATTHEW PARAS AND LUKE JOHNSON Staff writers

Throughout the offseason for the New Orleans Saints, there have been numerous mentions of Taysom Hill participating in meetings with the quarterbacks.

That’s not necessarily out of the ordinary considering how the do-it-all Hill floated from room to room under previous coaching staffs. But coach Kellen Moore decides where he wants Hill to be, even as the 35-year-old recovers from a serious knee injury So does Moore see Hill primarily as a quarterback? Not exactly

“Taysom is obviously one of one in this league,” Moore said. “He plays a lot of positions, and he spends most of his time in the quarterback room just because the quarterback room is the room that talks about all aspects of football. That’s where he’s spent most of his career in, and so he just plays a lot of different roles and different styles.”

Moore said offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier quarterbacks coach Scott Tolzien and senior offensive assistant Scott Linehan help “connect all the dots” for Hill in this new offense.

Hill’s presence does not mean the former quarterback will compete with Spencer Rattler and the rest of the quarterbacks when healthy, Moore said.

“Taysom’s done an awesome job and he’s got his role,” Moore said. “We’ll build as we go. We’ll see if he (becomes) available on the field. We’re all excited for that, but there’s a process to this when you’re coming off an injury like his.”

After tearing his ACL in December, Hill has yet to practice and was placed on the league’s physically un-

Richards is filling a crucial role for New Orleans, which lost veteran tackle Landon Young for the season to an ankle injury in the preseason finale. Young had been serving as the primary backup at both tackle positions, as well as offering some depth on the interior In Richards, the Saints acquired a young player he turns 25 in October — who has primarily played tackle in the NFL, but he also has some experience at both guard spots.

“We feel like we got a really good developmental piece that, if called upon, he’s ready to roll and ready to go play and contribute,” Moore said.

able to perform list — meaning he’ll miss at least the first four games of the season Whirlwind week

This week served as a reminder to Asim Richards about how fast things can change in the NFL.

When the week started, he was competing for a roster spot with the Dallas Cowboys. Then on Tuesday, the Saints traded for him to shore up their offensive line depth swapping future late-round draft picks with the Cowboys.

It’s safe to say the move was unexpected: Richards just had purchased a house in the Dallas area.

“It’s fine; I can go back in the offseason,” Richards said “I’m really, really excited for this opportunity to get on the field.” Richards said he got the call early Tuesday morning. New Orleans gave him two flight options, one leaving in the late afternoon and one leaving in the early evening. He took the 6 p.m. option to New Orleans.

“I’m like, I need some more time to pack,” Richards said. “ I’m living out of a suitcase right now but I’ll try to find a place soon.”

Penning update

Trevor Penning is out of a walking boot as he looks to recover from the turf toe injury that has sidelined him since the Aug. 10 preseason opener against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Moore gave the update on Penning’s injury before Thursday’s practice, telling reporters that the offensive lineman was progressing well in his rehab He still was noncommittal about whether Penning would be available for the Sept. 7 season opener against the Arizona Cardinals.

“We’ll see about the Week 1 thing,” Moore said. “We’ve got a few days off this weekend, and we’ll see what kind of timeline presents itself for some of these (injured) guys. He’s done an awesome job.”

Penning reportedly was given a timeline of 4-6 weeks. The season opener against the Cardinals would be four weeks since the injury

Dillon Radunz has filled in for Penning at left guard during his absence.

3-4), 7:10 p.m.

(Horton 8-4) at

(Márquez 3-11), 7:40 p.m.

(Gallen 9-13) at L.A.

(Snell 3-2), 9:10 p.m. Baltimore (Kremer 9-9) at San Francisco (TBD), 9:15 p.m. College football

Thursday’s Games Boise St. at South Florida, n East Carolina at NC State, n Alabama St. at UAB, n Friday’s Games Tarleton St. at Army, 5 p.m. Charlotte vs. Appalachian St. at Charlotte N.C., 6 p.m.

Tennis

US Open Results Thursday At USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center New York Purse: $31,620,000 Surface: Hardcourt outdoor Results Thursday from US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center (seedings in parentheses): Men’s Singles Second Round Zizou Bergs, Belgium, def. Jack Draper (5), Britain, walkover. Lorenzo Musetti (10), Italy, def. David Goffin, Belgium, 6-4, 6-0, 6-2. Andrey Rublev (15), Russia, def. Tristan Boyer, United States, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (4). Coleman Wong, Hong Kong, China, def. Adam Walton, Australia, 7-6 (5), 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. Denis Shapovalov (27), Canada, def. Valentin Royer, France, 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3. Jannik Sinner (1), Italy, def. Alexei Popyrin, Australia, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Leandro Riedi, Switzerland, def. Francisco Cerundolo (19), Argentina, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. Kamil Majchrzak, Poland, def. Karen Khachanov (9), Russia, 2-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (5). Women’s Singles Second Round Ekaterina Alexandrova (13), Russia, def. Wang Xinyu, China, 6-2, 6-2. Linda Noskova (21), Czechia, def. Eva Lys Germany, 6-4, 3-0, ret. Maria Sakkari, Greece, def. Anna Bondar, Hungary, 6-3, 6-1. Anna Kalinskaya (29), Russia, def. Yulia Putintseva, Kazakhstan, 6-1, 7-5. Beatriz Haddad Maia (18), Brazil, def. Viktorija Golubic, Switzerland, 6-1, 6-4. Iga Swiatek (2), Poland, def. Suzan Lamens, Netherlands, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. Naomi Osaka (23), Japan, def. Hailey Baptiste, United States, 6-3, 6-1. Marta Kostyuk (27), Ukraine, def. Zeynep Sonmez, Turkiye, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-3. Magdalena Frech (28), Poland, def. Peyton Stearns, United States, 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-2. Laura Siegemund, Germany, def. Anastasia Zakharova, Russia, 6-4, 6-2. Women’s Doubles First Round Reese Brantmeier and Alanis Hamilton, United States, def. Kristina Penickova and Thea Frodin, United States, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (8).

Ulrikke Eikeri, Norway, and Eri Hozumi, Japan, def. Oksana Kalashnikova, Georgia, and Yuliia Starodubtseva, Ukraine, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Ingrid Martins, Brazil, and Quinn Gleason, United States, def. Makoto Ninomiya, Japan, and Maia Lumsden, Britain, 6-3, 7-5. Alexandra Panova, Russia, and Hanyu Guo (8), China, def. Anastasia Detiuc, Czechia, and Elena Pridankina, Russia, 6-1,

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore, left, and Taysom Hill interact during training camp at the team’s practice facility in Metairie on July 28.

Jam ree

OldSouth bo

BY JUDYBERGERON |Staff writer

BY KARUF.DANIELS

TheOld South Jamboree building in Walker may not be standing much longer,but thespirit of the classic country shows presented there since the1960s is getting new life.

AFriday night concert, the “Classic CountryMusic Jamboree,” will notonly celebrate the performers of the Old South’s past but extend the torch to anew generation to appreciate the traditional sounds of the country genre OldSouth’s heydey

Although Carlton Jones didn’t come onto thescene at theOld Southuntil 2007, the Baton Rouge musician can rattle off the names of thebiggest acts whograced its stage without hesitation.

“George Jones,Tammy Wynette,” he began. “Merle Haggard, DollyParton, PorterWagoner, they allcame through. …Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell.”

The list goes on.

When Walker businessman LesterHodges built the Old Southand opened the doorsfor shows in the mid-1960s,country music was just beginning to gain afoothold.

to live on form ‘CLASSIC COUNTRY MUSICJAMBOREE’

7:30 p.m. Friday(doors 6:30 p.m.)

l Serenity EventCenter l 33135 La. 16, Denham Springs l $20 l (225) 315-3776

Country music wasnot huge. They weren’tplaying stadiums like theyare now. Theyweredoing these jamborees and, you know you could put 800 or 900 people in the Old South,” he said.

The shows were family-friendly even before that was athing, Jones explained.Nodrinking, no smoking inside, no dancing. Theconcession standoffered popcorn and hot dogs, both made by Hodges. And the family-friendly ruleextended to everyone, even acertain Louisianawild man-turned-worldwide-star, Jerry Lee Lewis.

“One night, Jerry Lee Lewis came through, he was drunk as askunk andhegot up there and startedbanging on his piano with his feet. Well, that’swhat Jerry Lee Lewis did, you know?”Jones said. “And he started cussing from the ä See JAMBOREE, page 6C

Lil RayNeal plays the guitar

Baton Rouge Swamp Blues Stageatthe Blues

Rouge.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

By CARLTONJONES

The first Old South Band performs in the 1960s at the OldSouth Jamboree in Walker.The venue has been ashowstopfor countrymusic stars formore than 50 years

PHOTO PROVIDED CARLTON JONES

Krewe of Triton plans annual skeet shoot

Staff report

Registration is open for the Krewe of Triton’s annual skeet shoot on Saturday, Sept. 13, at the Wilderness Gun Club, 7 Teurlings Drive, in Lafayette

Day-of signup will start at 8 a.m.; flights begin at 9 a.m.

Individual and team trophies will be given, and there will also be door prizes, a gun raffle, lunch and beverages. Shooters must provide gun and

shells, along with eye and ear protection. Participants under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

For information, call (713) 392-5138. To register online, go to kreweoftriton. com.

SHOWS TO WATCH — ACADIANA

FRIDAY LIVE MUSIC: Cane River Pecan Company Pie Bar, New Iberia, 5 p.m.

JONIVAN JONES: Adopted Dog Brewing, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

AUDREY BROUSSARD: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

SARAH RUSSO: Prejean’s, Broussard

6 p m.

LIVE MUSIC: Naq’s-n-Duson, Duson, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Jim Deggy’s Brick Oven Pizza & Brewery, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

FRIDAY NIGHT JAM: La Maison de Begnaud, Scott, 6 p.m.

ROCK N ROSE: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 6:30 p.m.

THE TROUBADOUR: SHUCKS!, Abbeville

6:30 p.m.

JAMBALAYA TRIO: Randol’s Cajun Restaurant, Breaux Bridge, 6:30 p.m.

BARET FRITZ AND DUSTIN RAY: Silver Slipper, Arnaudville, 7 p.m

SUPER COLLIDER XXL: Cité des Arts, Lafayette, 7:30 p.m.

WOLFE JOHNS: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 8 p.m

MAJOR HANDY BAND: Whiskey & Vine Lafayette, 8 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: The Barrel of Broussard, Broussard, 8 p.m.

JOHNNY MARKS: Toby’s Lounge, Opelousas, 8:30 p.m.

THREE AM: Rock ’n’ Bowl, Lafayette, 9 p.m.

SATURDAY

JEFFERY BROUSSARD & THE CREOLE

COWBOYS: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 8 a.m.

SATURDAY MORNING JAM SESSIONS: Savoy Music Center, Eunice, 9 a.m.

CAJUN JAM: Moncus Park, Lafayette, 9 a.m.

CAJUN JAM: Tante Marie, Breaux Bridge, 11 a.m.

CAJUN FRENCH MUSIC JAM: Vermilionville, Lafayette, 1 p.m.

FOREST HUVAL: Cypress Cove Landing, Breaux Bridge, 3 p.m.

CHAD HUVAL AND LAMIZIK KRÉYÒL: Bayou Teche Brewing, Arnaudville 4 p.m.

THE GRAY WALKER BAND DUO: Adopted Dog Brewing, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

BRAD CLEMENTS: Prejean’s, Broussard, 6 p.m.

JACK WOODSON: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Jim Deggy’s Brick Oven Pizza & Brewery, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Prejean’s, Broussard, 6 p.m.

CLIFF BERNARD: SHUCKS!, Abbeville

6:30 p.m.

RAEKWON GEEN: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 6:30 p.m.

STEVE ADAMS TRIO: Agave, Youngsville, 6:30 p.m.

STRAIGHT WHISKEY: Pat’s Atchafalaya Club, Henderson, 7 p.m.

KADE DOMEC & FULL THROTTLE: Silver Slipper, Arnaudville, 7 p.m.

99 PLAYBOYS: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

CARNELIAN, KISMET, AND NATIVE TO PARISH: The Loose Caboose, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

CHARLES & WENDY TRICHE: Whiskey & Vine, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

DONNY BROUSSARD AND LA STARS:

Continued from page 5C

stage. Lester Hodges said, ‘I shut the show down, gave all the people their money back, paid him, and then sued him and won.’” The Old South’s always been run much like the Grand Ole Opry, according to Jones.

“Meaning that I played guitar and I was the leader and we had a band, and then we’d bring out, instead of Loretta Lynn, it would be June Barker, you know We did the same routine as what the Grand Ole Opry would be,” Jones said. “We had pretty much the same singers month after month for year after year So they became well-known to our fans as much as the Old South was.” Jones saw ups and downs at the Old South during his 16-year gig, including the struggle to reestablish an audience after Hurricane Katrina, and major damage to the facility’s roof from Hurricane Ida.

The 14.5-acre property is currently on the market for $915,000. The final show in the nondescript red and tan building at 9554 Florida Blvd. was in 2020.

“Yes, I remember it vividly, it was March of 2020. It was the last show because of COVID,” he recalled.

La Poussiere Cajun Dancehall, Breaux Bridge, 8 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: The Barrel of Broussard, Broussard, 8 p.m.

SHADOW ROAD: Toby’s Lounge, Opelousas, 8:30 p.m.

KROSSFYRE: Rock ’n’ Bowl, Lafayette, 9 p.m.

SUNDAY

GLENN ZERINGUE: Whiskey & Vine, Lafayette, 11 a.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Tante Marie, Breaux Bridge, 11 a.m.

BAL DU DIMANCHE — RJ & KREOLE

SMOOVE: Vermilionville, Lafayette, 1 p.m.

CAJUN JAM: Bayou Teche Brewing, Arnaudville, 2 p.m.

JAMIE BERGERON: Cypress Cove Landing, Breaux Bridge, 3 p.m.

SHADOW ROAD BAND W/ KYLE DUGAS: Pat’s Atchafalaya Club, Henderson, 4:30 p.m.

LIL NATHAN: Rock ’n’ Bowl, Lafayette, 5 p.m.

BACK-2-SCHOOL KARAOKE BASH: Prejean’s, Broussard, 6 p.m.

MICHALIS: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

MUSCLE, DEVOTOUS, ALDER, HUMAN INSTINCT: Feed N Seed, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

SWAMPLAND REVIVAL: Whiskey Tales, Henderson, 9 p.m.

MONDAY PATRICIO LATINO SOLO: Café Habana City, Lafayette, 11 a.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

BLUEGRASS JAM: Cité des Arts, Lafayette, 6:30 p.m.

PATRICK HENRY & THE LIBERATION

Friday’s fun

The Jamboree at Serenity Event Center, 33135 La. 16 in Denham Springs, this weekend will pay tribute to the “legends,” the past members of what Jones calls the Old South Bands and Old South Singers, which include, going back to the beginning: n Jimmy Millet (guitar) n Buck Grantham (pedal steel guitar) n James Weatherford (guitar and vocals) n Ed Kinchen (vocals) n John Reynolds aka Johnnie “Uncle Pete” Reynolds (vocals and comedy)

There will also be a slideshow in memory of deceased band members, who also include Grantham the first steel player in the first Old South Band; Weatherford, one of the original singers; Kinchen, who sang at the Old South “way up into his 80s” and Reynolds. Singers for the jamboree will be: Carlton Jones, Robert Reynolds, Jesse Reynolds, Susan Reynolds Burdette, June Barker, Anita LeBlanc, Tommy Raborn, Dennis and Tracey Smith, and Deb Carpenter

The house band will feature Jones with the Robert Reynolds Band and Danny Harrell on steel guitar

Tickets are $20. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show starts at 7:30 p.m.

What’s ahead

Robert Reynolds, whose

Catch Jamie Bergeron at 3 p.m. Sunday at Cypress Cove Landing in Breaux Bridge.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRAD BOWIE

By The Associated Press Today is Friday, Aug. 29, the 241st day of 2025. There are 124 days left in the year Today in history: On Aug. 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the U.S. Gulf Coast in southeast Louisiana, breaching levees and spurring floods that devastated New Orleans. Katrina caused nearly 1,400 deaths and an estimated $200 billion in damage.

Also on this date:

In 1814, during the War of 1812, Alexandria, Virginia, formally surrendered to British military forces, which occupied the city until Sept. 3.

In 1825, the Treaty of Rio de Janeiro was signed by Portugal and Brazil, officially ending the Brazilian War of Independence.

In 1862, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing began operations at the United States Treasury In 1944, 15,000 American troops of the 28th Infantry Division marched down the Champs-Élysées in Paris as the French capital continued to celebrate its liberation from the Nazis.

In 1958, the U.S. Air Force Academy opened in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Vanderlei de Lima was attacked by a spectator during the running of the Olympic marathon in Athens; de Lima, who was leading the race at the time, eventually finished third and received the Pierre de Coubertin medal for sportsmanship in addition to his bronze medal. In 2013, in a sweeping new policy statement, the Justice Department said it would not stand in the way of states that wanted to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana as long as there were effective controls to keep marijuana away from children, the black market and federal property In 2021, Hurricane Ida blasted ashore in Louisiana as one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the U.S., knocking out power to all of New Orleans, blowing roofs off buildings and briefly reversing the flow of the Mississippi River Today’s birthdays: Actor Elliott Gould is 87. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin is

BAND: The Brass Room, Lafayette, 7 p.m.

TUESDAY

KID’S CAJUN JAM NIGHT: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

TERRY HUVAL & FRIENDS: Prejean’s Restaurant, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

KILLER KARAOKE: Freetown Boom Boom Room, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

PAUL TASSIN PIANO: Whiskey & Vine, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

WEDNESDAY

DULCIMER JAM: St. Landry Visitor Center, Opelousas, 10 a.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Park Bistro, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

BRANDON MENARD: The Tap Room, Youngsville, 6:30 p.m.

CAJUN JAM: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

THURSDAY

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Naq’s-n-Duson, Duson, 6 p.m.

MEDICINE MEN SUPER JAM: Rock ’n’ Bowl, Lafayette, 7:30 p.m.

GOOD DUDES DUO: The Tap Room, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

Compiled by Marchaund Jones. Want your venue’s music listed? Email info/photos to showstowatch@ theadvocate.com. The deadline is noon Friday for the following Friday’s paper

band will be playing on Friday, has Old South memories going back to his childhood

His dad was “legend” John Reynolds, mentioned previously The elder Reynolds, who toured with Wagoner, was known for his comedy act as much as for his voice.

“My earliest memory was seeing Marty Robbins when I was 6 years old in 1976,” Robert Reynolds, 55, of Denham Springs, said. “And then I began performing at the Old South when I was 14 years old in 1984 as the drummer in my dad’s band.”

He is now the leader/drummer of the King Creole Orchestra, with the majority of his work being as a musician alongside tribute artists, particularly Elvis ones.

“I have a tremendous love for old classic country, especially east Texas country music such as Ray Price and Johnnie Bush. My preference as far as a performer is big band swing and Western swing,” he said.

Robert Reynolds and his wife Charlotte Reynolds plan to work with Serenity Event Center in hopes of continuing to bring classic country music to the area. Jones, meanwhile, sees potential in at least one of Louisiana’s newest rising country music artists.

“You know, what’s encouraging is this kid from Addis, John Foster,” he said. “That’s old country If you listen to him, there’s some of these young people in the new

generation are realizing how wonderful old country was.

There’s several of them. He almost won the No. 1 spot (on TV’s “American Idol”) doing old country.”

Email Judy Bergeron at jbergeron@theadvocate. com.

In 1966, the Beatles concluded their fourth American tour with their last public concert, held at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

In 2004, marathoner

SPRINGSTEEN

Continued from page 5C

including Jeremy Strong, who plays his manager and record producer Jon Landau, and Odessa Young, who stars as Springsteen’s love interest Faye.

Officially titled “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,” the 20th Century Studios musical drama centers on the making of Springsteen’s sixth album, “Nebraska,” in 1982. Recorded on a 4-track recorder in his New Jersey bedroom and without The E Street Band, the folksy solo outing — released before the mega-selling “Born in the U.S.A.” — is ranked among Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Adapted from Warren Zanes’ book of the same title, the film also stars Stephen Graham, Paul Walter Hauser and Gaby Hoffmann.

New York Film Festival’s artistic director Dennis Lim called the movie a “fitting tribute to a living legend” in Monday’s announcement.

“The New York Film Festival has always felt like a spiritual home for the kind of cinema I believe in,” Cooper said in a statement. “To now arrive with a film about Bruce Springsteen — an artist whose music shaped not just a country

but my own sense of storytelling — is something I could never have imagined.” He added, “Getting to know Bruce, to explore his world and his spirit, has been one of the most profound creative experiences of my life. To share that experience with New York audiences, in a city that defines artistic possibility, is both an honor and a responsibility I hold with deep gratitude.”

White, who won two Emmy Awards for his star turn in the Hulu series “The Bear,” previously portrayed professional wrestler Kerry Von Erich on the big screen in “The Iron Claw.” But for his latest role, the Brooklyn-born Calvin Klein underwear model endured more pressure for portraying the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer

“Getting that out, it was so much pressure,” the actor told Jimmy Fallon on “The Tonight Show” in June. “You’re playing a real person — nevermind Bruce Springsteen and I was really touched (when) the trailer came out I had more texts than when I blacked out and won that Golden Globe (for ‘The Bear’).”

“I didn’t realize trailers were that big of a thing,” he added.

“Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” is expected to hit theaters Oct. 24.

VIRGo (Aug.23-sept. 22) Youwill make strides if you participate in something new andexciting. Alittle flash and charisma will carry youforward and attract those who have something to offer.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Pay attention to where your money goes. Don'tsit at home procrastinatingwhengetting outand having face-to-face talks will bringthe most effective results. Apply charm and pressure.

scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov.22) It's notwhat you do or say; it's how youturn your dreams into areality. Know what's best for you, and stick to your course of action until you're satisfied with the results.

sAGITTARIus (nov.23-Dec. 21) Useyour voice, wisdom and physical ability to emphasize your position andexpectations, and you'llweed out the people who are best suited to tag along on your adventure. Be true to yourself

cAPRIcoRn(Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Consider what it takes to get to the next level. Assess, refine and implement change. Expect to face opposition from someoneclose to you. Don't overreact; consider suggestions,but do what's best for you.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Money and health matterswill require attention. Youhave plenty to gain by stayingon top of what transpires instead of letting someonerepresent you or what you want. With clarity comes success.

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Sit tight, dream andrefuse to let someone lure you down apath that's not in your best interest. Anetworking eventwill lead to opportunities. Explore the possibilities.

ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Create aspace that suits your needs. This will put your mindatease and center your confidence. Mix business with pleasure, andyou'll gain momentum andallies TAuRus (April20-May20) Protect your home,healthand reputation. Refuse to let anyone use emotional manipulation to takeadvantageofyou.You'll gain themost if youavoid conflicts

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Take the initiativetoreach out, connect andbecome apart of something that excites you. Utilize your intelligence andphysical abilities to garner support. cAncER (June 21-July22) Keep your private life to yourself. Avoid indulgent people, excessive situations and unreasonable demands. Be blunt about whatyou will andwon't tolerate. LEo (July23-Aug. 22) Rethink your every thought, moveorinteraction. Center yourself andrefuse to let your emotions dictate what happens next. Be smart and makethe gains that matter. Strengthbeginswith believingin yourself

The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. ©2025 by NEA, Inc., dist. By AndrewsMcMeel Syndication

FAMILY CIrCUS

Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, pastand present. Each letter in the cipher stands for another.

ToDAy's cLuE: nEQuALsF

CeLebrItY CIpher

GooSe And GrIMM

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. Theobject is to place the numbers 1to9inthe empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of the Sudoku increases fromMonday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

THewiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS CurTiS

By PHILLIP ALDER

Mary LouRetton, who wonone gold, two silverand two bronze medalsin the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, said abouther training regimen: “I gave up my childhood. Imissedproms and games and high-school events, and peoplesaid it was awful. Isay it was a good trade.”

Her hard work gained her entry—the fifthletterofmy“trade”acronym—into the United States Olympic team. Bridge players shouldalwayskeep their eyes on entries. It is easierfor declarer, who can seeall of his assets. But forthe defenders, it is no use having winners ready to be cashed if that player does not have an entrycardtogainthe lead.

In this deal,how should East hope to defeat three no-trump after West leads afourth-highestspade four?

When thedummy comes down, East should count up the points. Southshowed 15-17, dummy has 12, and Eastholds 10. Thatleavesonly1-3forWest.IfWesthas king-fifth of spades, thereisnodanger But if West has only the spade jack, he cannot have an entry cardinanother suit East mustreject theusual defenseof winning withthe spadeace (third hand high) and returning the queen. South wouldduck,takethethirdspade,andrun the club queen to collect an overtrick. Instead,East must smoothlyplayhis spade queen at trick one.

Yes, if South ducks, he makes his contract. But why would he? That would be suicidal if Westhas the spade ace-jack and club king. Instead, Southwill win the first trickand take the club finesse. But East winswith hisking, cashes the spade ace, andleadshis last spade for down one.

©2025 by NEA, Inc., dist.ByAndrews

Syndication

Each Wuzzleisaword riddle which creates adisguised word, phrase, name,place, saying, etc. For example: NOON GOOD =GOOD AFTERNOON

Previous answers:

word game

InsTRucTIons:

ToDAy’s WoRD GRounDWoRK: GROWND-werk: Preparation made beforehand.

Averagemark24words Time

Can youfind 36 or more words in GROUNDWORK?

today’s thought “Watch you andpray, lest you enter into temptation.The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.”Mark14:38

McMeel

wuzzles

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

For

five decades, Arthur Hardy has been our neighbor,our guide, and the keeper of our Carnival memories. From his Gentillykitchen tablein1977toreceiving the keytothe city in 2024,Hardy transformed himself from aBrother Martin band director into the manall about Mardi Gras.His annual guidehas reached over3 million readers, but foruslocals, Arthur is family, the trustedvoice whogets it right,who rodewithRex after documenting them fordecades, whostood with us throughthe police strike of ’79,Katrina’saftermath, and everymagical momentinbetween. This 112-page celebration bringstogether the stories onlyArthur could tell, filledwithphotographs thatcapturethe paradesyou remember,the krewesyou cheered for,and the moments that made youproud to be apartofMardi Gras. ArthurHardyhas preservedthe soul of what makesusNew Orleanians, making this the perfect holiday gift for anyone whobleeds the purple,green andgoldofMardiGras Booksship in time forholidaygift-giving!

Resilienceand renewal: 20 yearsofprogress since hurricanes Katrina and Rita

Likemany ofyou, Ihavestrong emotions about the20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and its impact on thecitywecall home

NewOrleans.Iremain in awe of nature’s rawpower on that fateful day and deeply sad about thetragedy brought by thestorm to so many.Considering Katrina, and its equally terrifying counterpartHurricane Rita which struckthe Louisiana/Texas border just afew weeks later,I’m also inspired by howour recoveryshowed the power and resilienceofthe human spirit and what determined people coming together canachieve

Then, as now,New Orleans was the home to Entergy’s corporate headquarters Thousands of our employees and their families lived in theplaces hardesthit by Katrina. I’mhonored that our employees met thechallenge head on, from those working at our generationplantsand headquarterstothose restoring power at Entergy New Orleans, our local operating company.Manyofthemhelped theregion recover even as they suffered theirown personallosses

Thelessonslearned after HurricaneKatrinamade us astronger,morecustomerfocused companyand to this day,weknow that progress requiresdedication and power

—for homes, businesses, communities and our lives. Thespiritofthat day endures in our vision statement “WePower Life” as we channel those lessons intothe work that we do everyday,even twentyyears later from that impactful time.

Today,we’re aleaderacross our industryand in our hometown. Our utility workersare nationally recognized for storm response. In fact,during amajor storm anywhereinthe country,there’s a good chance Entergy willbecalled on for expertise and support.

We area leaderincorporategiving. For the10thyear, Entergy was named to The Civic 50, thePoints of Light prestigious annual list that recognizes top companies for employee volunteerismand community investment. In 2024 alone,wecontributed $4.3 million to morethan 100New Orleans nonprofits.

And we area leaderineconomic development by collaborating to help Louisiana securemajor new investments in thedatacenter,LNG,steel,and

petrochemical industries. Earlier this year,weserved as founding partner for theSuper Bowl 59 Host Committee, contributing millions to host thismajor event thatbrought morethan $1.25billion in economic impact to our state, region and city

We continue our work in close collaboration withour regulators and communities as we buildenergy infrastructurethat makes thegrid stronger and moreresilient for yearstocome. An energy grid designed to withstand the harshest conditions. That work balances affordability,reliabilityand sustainability on behalf of all our customers.

In NewOrleans, theCityCouncil recently approved Phase 1ofour proposed resilience plan, which includes strengthening morethan 3,000 structures and upgrading morethan 60 miles of electric lines.

TheLouisiana PublicService Commission also approved thefirstphase of those efforts, which includes2,100 incremental Entergy projects across thestate. By

reinforcing our grid ahead of severe weather,Louisiana customerswill save an estimated $1.2 billion in storm costs

ThePublic UtilityCommission of Texas approved an investment of $137 million in projects to strengthen theSoutheast Texas power grid, reduce storm-related outages, and save customersmillions in restoration costs for decades

And while we aremaking theseneeded investments,weare mindful that 40% of our residential customerslive at or below the poverty level. That realityispartofeach businessdecision we makeinNew Orleans and everywhere we serve. As aresult, we continue to maintain someofthe lowest electric rates in thecountryand work hard everyday to keep bills as low as possible. Twentyyearson, thelessons of Katrina endure, and theresilience of this community continues to inspire. New Orleans remains our home as we work for everyone and honor our commitment to safely serveour cityand theregion. Thepeople of Entergy areoptimistic about thefuture, ready for anything, and striving to lead theway to a brighter futurefor all of us.

Read about howEntergy restored more than justpower at entergy.com/Katrina20.

Drew Marsh Chair and Chief Executive

Officer Entergy Corporation

Local Entrepreneurs Combine Creativity AndCommerce Smarts To Launch Big Ideas And Shape NewOrleans’Business Scene

By Amanda McElfresh|amcelfresh@theadvocate.com

WhenHurricane Katrinaroared ashoreinAugust 2005,the storm struck at amomentwhen New Orleans’entrepreneurial spirit was beginning to bloom. Manysmall business ownerswerejust getting their footing, while young innovatorsweresketching ideas for howtogrowa morevibrant economy

Katrina could have ended many of those dreams. Instead, it became adefining catalyst that sharpened people’sfocus, deepened theircommitment to their work and bound them more tightly to thecity they love.

Fledgling startup scene thrived with renewed focus and collaborations

“The seeds of theIdea Village and the local entrepreneurial ecosystem had been planted about five yearsbeforeKatrina. Because of that foundation, people wereable to seizethe momentinterms of coming together quickly to identify thegreatest areas of need and mobilize quicklyinterms of raising resources,” said Emily Madero, nowpresident and CEO of French Quarter Fest. In 2005,Madero was abusiness schoolstudentatTulane whowas also involvedinthe early years of Idea Village and other organizations to supportlocal startups

“WhenIcame back after evacuating, it felt likeinNew Orleans,there was no other option than to be aproactive part of rebuilding thecity,”Maderosaid. “That refocused what Iwas working on.”

Maderoand otherTulane students enrolled in aRebuilding New Orleans course in early2006. Rather than sitting in aclassroom, sheand other students connected with local startups and small businesses that needed supporttorestart, with aparticular focus on hospitality and theFrench Quarter,and acorridor development strategy along areas like Bayou Road, Oak Street and Freret Street that becametest cases for targeted revitalization.

“I think about what Freret felt like in the1990s and ea Some of thefocuse effortsinvolved ide acriticalcommunity shining example of yearslater when yo vibrant that corrido Maderosaid.

Meanwhile, theId Village continues to thrive. It has raised millions in funding for startups, leads signature accelerator programs forlocal founders, produces dozens of communi events and maintain globalnetwork of m “Rebuildingthe startup ecosystem a entrepreneurial netw was hugely importa Katrina. Seeing it co to thrive today is very meaningful, not only in terms of individual businesses, but because it shows thereiseconomic opportunityand businesses that are committed to growing in New Orleans,” Madero said.“That success is atestament to thecollective will and commitmentofthe broader entrepreneurial ecosystem.”

Alden McDonald Jr.maintained vision to chart the futureofAmerica’s largest Black-ownedbank

Inside theNew Orleans Eastoffices of Liberty Bank –the nation’s largest bank for Black Americansinterms of assetsize–an estimated $2.5million worth of Black artadorns thespace.Liberty Bank CEO Alden McDonaldJr. is especiallyfond of abronzesculptureofSisyphus pushing a massiverock uphill.Itsitsonaconference room tableand bearsthe inscription, “Never give up. “It remindsmeofme,” McDonald told Forbes earlier this year.“That’show it felt when we wererebuilding thebank (post-Katrina).”

That rebuilding process playedakey role in helping Liberty Bank become amajor entityinthe nation’s financial markets. It now has morethan $1 billion in assets, serves customersin11states and has been profitable for 47 of its52years,according to Forbes. That work has been done by Liberty’s focus on lending to underserved communities and generating revenue from fees and interest.

What continues to set Liberty Bank apart and draw accoladesfrompeersand competitorsisits ongoing commitment to growth. Alden McDonald Jr.’sson Todd is thebank’spresident and CEO-in-waiting His bold spirit and vision have helped Liberty Bank add millions in assetsinrecent years, and theMcDonalds’ new goal is to grow Liberty’sassets to $10billion while continuing to buildtrust in theBlack community.Todd McDonald regularly meets withBlack leaders in major cities to convince them thatLiberty can serve customersfromall backgrounds, whilehis father has survived and thrived through enough over thedecadestobeundeterred by potential futurechallenges, including AI and governmental policychanges.

“We’ve got to look for theopportunities,” Alden told Forbes. “O for ‘obstacles.’O for ‘opportunities.’”

y’: Alexa Pulitzer ith creativityand atience Pulitzer,2005 k to be her ghyear. TheNew based designer ationery, paper oods, gifts and office supplies had just completed herfirstmajor trade show and secured ordersfrom around the world. But, Katrina’sfloods aused Pulitzer to seher archives, oducts and ability print and deliver regnant with her firstchild, Pulitzer evacuated to Birmingham, Alabama with herhusband, who urged hertoconsider making themove permanent. But, Pulitzer felt compelled to returnback to NewOrleans.

“I felt verystrongly about returning to the communitythatnurtures my creativity.I draw so much inspiration from being in this city, whether it’s thelifestyle or thepeople

or thenatural beauty. It’s ahuge partof me,” Pulitzer said. “I didn’t want to turn away from that. As frustrated as Iwas on multiplelevels, Ifelt like Ineeded to at least try.

Sherestarted slowly,working with a Birmingham printer whilereaching out personally to customerstoexplain the delays. Most responded with patience and loyalty. In time,Pulitzer returned her production to NewOrleans and vowed never to move it elsewhere. Today,her products proudly carrythe city’sname, a constant reminderofthe creative energy sherefused to abandon.

“I loveand am proud of thefact that Imanufacturehere,” Pulitzer said. “Business today for me is steady.Alot of customers supported me after Katrina, including some large national companies, and that helped me to grow my footprint.I think my business gets better and better each year.”

‘BeaNew Orleanian wherever youare’: Dirty Coast found identitywith post-Katrinaslogan BlakeHaneywas just getting Dirty Coast offthe ground in 2005.Hehad started sketching out ideas for the company’s shirts less thana year beforeand was in the early stages of establishing a business and website selling the apparel thatcelebrated thequirk and cultureofNew Orleans.

When he was displaced, Haney together aquick design for astic with theslogan “Be ANew Orlea wherever you are.” Once back in city, he and his team began distr them at local barsand coffeesho They became so popular thatHa estimates morethan twomillion s have since been handed out, and diehard devotees have even gott tattoos of themessage

“There was aprettypowerful re to thesticker’s design and sentiment, Haney recalled. “I think it proved that it wasnecessarytoget this T-shirtconcept launched.Itall took on amuch bigger mission and meaning.”

“Katrina definitely changed Dirty Coast from being afun side project to something with agreater mission,” Haney said. “I remember one customer said our T-shirts werelikeasecret handshake. If you understood New Orleans,you got the concept and felt likeyou wereinonthe joke. From theverybeginning, we had amixtureofcelebrating New Orleans and offering communitycommentary. Theadded element of being able to use theT-shirts as asymbol of New Orleans identitybecame keytothe DNA of thebrand.”

Four years after Katrina, irl turned NewOrleans o female fashion time Lauren Haydel ed Fleurty Girl in 2009 building was well erway in New Orleans tshe still felt apalpable nergy in thecityspurred y people whowere efocusing their priorities and figuring out what eally mattered to them. That energy grew as the New Orleans Saints put ether awinning season culminated in their Super l win in February2010. adalwaysknown that Orleans is unlikeany place in thewhole world. special and quirky and ”Haydel said. “Timing rything when it came to ch. Therewas arenewed vefor New Orleans that I erfelt before.”

DirtyCoast made its official permanent launch in 2006, with its shirts doubling as movable billboards for thebrand and conversation startersabout New Orleans life.Today’s Dirty Coast line hasproducts featuring everything from poboysand Hubig’spiestothe NewOrleans Saints, potholesand religious figures.

FleurtyG pride int By the launch there und ye e b r r tog that Bow “I h New other It’sso unique, was eve our laun fiercelo had nev Haydel Girl lea beginn and ca

’s vision for Fleurty ned feminine from the ing –V-necks, funcolors playful designs that ptured thesassand spirit of theNew Orleans woman. Thebrand has evolved over time, become lessabout thecityitself and more about thekind of woman wholives there.

“She’sfun. She’ssassy.She’s edgy.She’s flirty,”Haydel said. “Wepushthe envelope alittle bit. It all started from our love of New Orleans and thinking about what it means to be agirl wholives here and loves this place. We’renot afraid to create and wear snarky stuff. People here get that becausetheyrealizethat we’re not judging you.Wewant you to be whoyou are.”

Shaped by thestorm: HowKatrina influenced today’sgeneration of NewOrleans leadership

By Amanda McElfresh |amcelfresh@theadvocate.com

ALLISONHOTARD

Executive Director, YoungLeadership Council

What wasgoing on in your life in August 2005?

Iwas 21 yearsold and on the UNO student programming board. We were excited because it felt likeitwas going to be abig year.Itwas going to be mylast semester and Iwas taking several HRT (hotel/restaurant/tourism)classes to graduate.

What do you remember themost about theimmediateaftermath of Katrina?

Ihad evacuated to Vacherie. We were listening to theradio and it seemed like we didokay.Then, we werewatching news coverage on ablack andwhite TV that my friend’sdad had connectedto antennas.Wesaw whenthe levees broke and thecitywas suddenly flooded. My heartjust sunk. Ididn’t know what Iwas going to do or what my life was going to look like

President and CEO, Downtown Development District

Whatmade you want to come back to NewOrleans?

Ican’t imagine my lifeanywhereelse NewOrleans has asoul that many other cities do not have. Thereisa vibration and acultureherethat I’ve never found anywhereelse. We have Wednesdays at theSquare, and you see peopleofall ages and nationalities having agood timetogether.That is NewOrleans to me.Ialso believe thatone individual can make arealimpact here.People can come here,connect with othersand make adifference.

Howdid Katrinainfluence your futurelifeand career decisions?

My major was hospitality. Therewas obviously adip in thatsector in New Orleans after Katrina. Istarted to notice howvolatile thatcareer could be That’swhenIrealized thatI wanted to be in acareer that feltmorestable.It’s interesting to think about thefact that my pathatUNO was training me to do what Idotoday.Myjob now is planning programming for young professionalsin NewOrleans, and Iwas doing that at UNO 20 yearsago. Iwas on thispath but didn’t know it at thetime

Whatdoyou hope thenext 20 years lookslikefor NewOrleans?

Ithink thebiggest opportunities are around investing in our schoolsand teachers.I’d also liketosee use encourage moregrowth. Thereisa place wherecitizens can live and businesses can thrive. I’dliketosee moresupport for that and lessfighting against opportunities for thecity’sfuture.

What wasgoingoninyour lifeinAugust2005?

WhenHurricane Katrina struck NewOrleansinAugust 2005,thousands of teens and young adults saw their homes, schools and neighborhoods swept away.The storm’sdevastation forced them to navigate displacement, loss and uncertaintyatatime when lifeisalready full of change. Yet, in thetwo decades since, those young people have emerged as thenew generation of NewOrleans leaders. They carrywith them the strength that was forged in thechaotic monthsafter Katrina, adevotion to thecitytheylove and adeterminationtoensurethe next generation is better prepared forfuturestorms. Today,their voices arehelping guide New Orleans through challenges both familiar andnew

EMAD JABBAR

Assistant Vice President, Gulf Coast Bank

What wasgoing on in your life in August 2005?

Ihad just started my junior year at UNO. Iwas really enjoying my time there. I was in afraternity and we were active on campus. Everyyear, we helped the freshmen moveinto thedorms. Ihit it off with one freshman whohad just moved here from New York. He’sstill agood friend of mine, 20 yearslater.Itwas atime whereI was building alot of good relationships.

What do you remember themost about theimmediateaftermath of Katrina?

My family had evacuated to Dallas with alot of friends and family.Whenwe found out thatthe levees brokeand most of UNO’s campus was underwater,it was amoment of ‘what do we do now?’. Several of us from universities all over New Orleans ended up enrolling at the

Ihad graduated from Tulane in 2004 and hadjust completedapostbaccalaureate fellowship in city hall that hadgiven me opportunities to do work in thechief administration office andcityplanning commission. Iwas trying to plan for what came next. Iwas preparing to possiblyworkincityhall, but knewIwantedtodourban planning andthat Iwas going to have to go to graduateschool to pursue that

What do you remember themostabout theimmediate aftermathofKatrina?

Therewas alot of bouncing around for several months. When they reopened parts of thecityinOctober,westayed withmynowwife’saunt and uncleinMetairie, drove througha NationalGuard checkpoint everyday to deal with my mom’sflooded house, then drove back to spend thenight in Metairie.Once moreplacesopened throughout thecityand Uptown, Idid alot of couch surfing.My apartmentwas finallyhabitableinFebruary or Marchof2006.

What made you want to come back to NewOrleans?

Ialready knew Iwanted to work in urban planning,but Ifeltstrongly that therewas no other place Iwanted to do that work in. Iverymuch

What made youwanttocome back to NewOrleans?

UniversityofTexas at Arlington. Abunch of us stayed at onehotel forfour or five months. It almost felt likebeing back in my fraternity. Ithink we werejust trying to makethe most of it.

What made you want to come back to NewOrleans?

Dallas was amazing and Idid think about staying there. But,you can’t find thelove likeyou feel in NewOrleans anywhere else. In NewOrleans, you can run into someone you’ve never seen beforeand feel likefamily.There’s acamaraderie, alove for thecityand apassion to see it thrive.

Howdid Katrina influence your futurelifeand career decisions? It made me want to do work that truly touches thecommunityand helps people. Ihelped my family manage their businesses and worked as an entrepreneur beforesomeone recommended Iget into banking. One of thereasons Ijoined Gulf Coast Bank was thechance to move up theranksand develop as both aperson and aleader.I’m consistently inspired by theway Gulf Coast supports its staffand its communities, and Ithinkalot of that comes from seeinghow they and other businesses responded after Katrina. What do you hopethe next 20 years looks likefor NewOrleans? I’dliketosee us be able to complete moreprojects. It does get frustrating to see unfinished work because we as acity takeonsomany projects,thenitbecomes astart-and-stopcycle. I’dliketosee us tackle one project at atime and see it to completion and get people to work together towardacommon goal instead of letting politics get in theway

felt astrongsenseofresponsibilitytogive back to theplace that had given so much to me.

Howdid Katrina influence your futurelife and career decisions?

Ithink it gave me averyspecificdirection. Thenatureofcityplanning and theneed for it in New Orleans changed overnight. Iknew I wanted to startmycareer working in recovery. Ipurposefully selected agraduateschool whereIcould do projects in thecity, not study therecoveryfromafar.Iknew Iwanted to contribute directly to the rebuilding work in thecity. Continuing to do hands-on work has been important to me ever since.

What do you hopethe next 20 years looks like forNew Orleans?

Ithink downtown has alot of momentum. TheredevelopmentofCharity Hospital and PlazaTower arehigh-profile projects that areimpressive in terms of theopportunities they have to transform theskylineofNew Orleans. Ithink you’ll continue to see evolutionacrossdowntown as the residential and hospitalitybases develop andasweright-sizeour office space market forthe modern economy

BROOKE LAIZER

Meteorologist,WWL-TV

What wasgoing on in your life in August 2005?

Iwas 10 yearsold and in thefifthgrade Iwas studying weatherfor thefirsttime in school. Ihaveadistinctmemoryof our class learning about cloud formation patterns and knowing my hopefulfuture career path. Ultimately,Katrina was my inspirationtotruly followthatinterest and serve New Orleans.

What do you remember themost about theimmediate aftermath of Katrina?

My grandmother lived in Lakeview and lost herentirehome.I can still smell that flood when Ithink about it. Ican still smell a Katrina fridge when Ithink about it.Itstays etched in your mind. Iremember watching my dad break herfront door with an axe because herarmoirehad floated in front of it. Therewas aneutral ground area in herneighborhoodthat was filled with debris from allofthe homes.A lot of those memories came back to me verystrongly during Hurricane Ida

I’ve been fortunate to workinplaces that have sortofadopted me,likeAugusta, Georgia and Jackson, Mississippi.But, I alwaysknew Icouldnot waittoget back to New Orleans. This citylives in your soul, andIfeel likeIunderstand thatmorenow that I’ve lived in other places. Thereisno culture, no timelessness, no European feel, no authenticitylikeyou find here

Howdid Katrinainfluence your futurelifeand career decisions? I’ve really attempted to have acalm presenceinextremesituations. Ithink alot about howpeople in NewOrleanshave beensoimpacted by weather,how much they have lost and howmuch they fear the worst case scenario. Itry to empathizewith that and share alot of informationonthe front end. I’ve worked hard to fully grasp thelogisticsthat go intoevacuations and why people sometimes stay,and really put myself in theirshoes.

What do you hope thenext 20 years looks likefor NewOrleans?

Ihope we continue to learn from Katrina andthe storms thathavecome since then. Ihope we continue to examinethe best ways to do contraflowand theimpact that hasonsomany people. Ithink alot about whata mandatoryevacuationmeans for people and howwecan help them cope with theaftermath of that.Interms of communication, I’mhonored to be at WWL. I’mlooking forward to howwe continue to embrace streamingand social mediaplatforms as much as we can. The overall approach is to have information easily accessible at amoment’snotice, especially when peopleare not or cannot watch traditionalair broadcasts.

COURTNEY THOMAS-BARNES

Vice President Of Communications

AndPublic Affairs,Greater New Orleans Foundation

What wasgoing on in your life in August 2005?

II was 17 yearsold andabout aweek into my senior yearofhighschool. Ihad been in school with my friends since seventh grade.Myclassringwas going to be deliveredonthe Monday thestorm hit, and Iwas so excited to getthat.There wereso many thingsIwas looking forwardto–senior pictures, prom,graduation. What do you remember themost about theimmediateaftermath of Katrina?

Irememberreally admiring General RussellHonore. Ifeltlikehebrought alot of leadershipand order. That felt likeapivotal moment. Irememberthe first time we got lights back in NewOrleans East. We had been without power for so long that Ihad

forgotten howimportant it was.Whenwe sawlights back on, that’swhenweknew things werereally starting to come back. What made youwant to come back to NewOrleans?

Iwent to college in Florida, butIwas drawn to being back home everychance Ihad. Ifelt called to keeping up with my family and thecity’srecovery. Iwanted to give back to my city. Ididn’t want to be a partofthe brain drain. Iwanted to be a partofseeing New Orleans thrive again. Howdid Katrinainfluence your futurelifeand career decisions?

It made me realizeI wanted to have a job that makes apositive impact on the city. Working at theFoundation, Isee all thetouchpoints we have throughout New Orleans. Idrive down thestreet and I seeeverything from green infrastructure to daycares that we’ve helped to create. Katrina made me want to do thekind of work that is far-reaching and rewarding, and I’mgratefultobeable to do that today What do youhopethe next 20 years lookslikefor NewOrleans?

Ihope to seeusdoa better job recognizing that we cannot runaway from Mother Nature.Mymom had Hurricane Betsy in herchildhood. Ihad Katrina. Ahurricane will happen here again. We need to think about preparing for that now from abig picturestandpoint. Maybethat means all houses have to be raised. Maybeitmeans naturalwater retention and moretrees throughout thecity. Water is apartofour DNA and we aresurrounded by it. We need to learn to live better with it and not let it become theend of ourcity.

SETHKNUDSEN

“There wasonlyone thing for me to do”Culinary institutions stand as symbols of survival

By Amanda McElfresh |amcelfresh@theadvocate.com

The rrestaurant industry was among thehardest hit sectors in theaftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Kitchens thathad survived the Great Depression, civil rights struggles and economic downturns suddenly satdark, filled with floodwater,silenceand doubt. Yet, withinweeks, iconic dining institutions, including DookyChase’sand Dickie Brennan &Co. werewriting their comebackstories that would define ageneration.

Steve Pettus, longtimemanagerpartner of Dickie Brennan &Co., still vividly remembers discussing potential repairs witha general contractor amidthe wreckageinthe week immediately after thestorm.There was no paperwork and no certaintyofmaterials or staff. Instead, themen relied on handshakes andverbal

“It was actually really refreshing.Hemade acommitmentrightthere and he didliveupto it,” Pettus said.

Across town in thehistoric Treme neighborhood, Dooky Chase’sRestaurant, thelegendarymeeting ground of civil rights leadersand thehome of Leah Chase’s celebrated Creolecooking, sat under more than five feet of water.Manyasked the then-82-year-old Chase if shewas going to give up or forge ahead. Heranswer was a simple one.

“People said, ‘Well, what areyou going to do at your age?.’ Therewas onlyone thing for me to do,” Chase toldCBS News in 2015 Living in aFEMA trailerand leaning on family,friends, young chefs and community supporters, Chase began raisingthe halfmillion dollarsneeded to rebuild.

“No matter whatyou do on this earth,

No what you earth you havetodoitand do it well,” Chase toldCBS. “It takeseverybody to do apart.”

w, rina lt like en we ” ort its promises.

employees hauled in five-gallon jugs of water to boil.Diners ate on paperplates with plastic utensils Employees werekeptonthe payroll. Slowly, Pettus saw things starting to come together “It wasn’t about me or Dickie. Everyone had thesame mindset that we could do it,”Pettussaid “A lotofthe time,you don’trealize you’re learningalesson while you’re learningit. When Ilook back on it no Ican see that therewas aconfidence that developedinour teams after Kat that made us feel unstoppable. We fe therewas nothing we couldn’t do wh stand together anddothe right thing At Dooky Chase’s, therebuilding eff took longer.The restaurantcelebrated reopening in 2007.Longtime customersfiled reclaim theirseats at familiar tables, e celebritiesand presidentstraveled to w Orleans to pay homage not just to the ,but to thewoman whohad become a bol of survival.

Theobstacleswere enormous, but so was the determination.Bourbon House,partofthe Dickie Brennan&Co. portfolio, managed to reopen on October 4, 2005.There was no potable water in thecity, so in to whil Ne food

sym “Y PBS how to d The serv and th st i St Aco

The Aud Si

oulearn what’s important,” Chasetold News in 2015.“Youlearn howtolive –to live withone another.You learn how o things when you havetodothem.” yearsthat havefollowedKatrina have edasa testament to thecommitment adaptabilitythat emergedfollowing estorm. Dickie Brennan&Co. has eadily grown itsportfolio, which today ncludesPalace Café, Dickie Brennan’s eakhouse, Bourbon House, Tableau, rnCafé Commissary, Pascal’sManale and ubon Clubhouse. nce therebuild, Dooky Chase’shas cemented itslegacy as both aNew

landmark. Although Chasepassedaway in 2019,her influence continues to radiate. Therestaurant received the2025James BeardAmerica’sClassics awardfor being acornerstone of Creole cuisine and Black American culture for eight decades.The prestigious awardrecognizes restaurants that aredeeply rooted in their communities and have stood thetestoftime.

“Tohave this awardmeans alot for my entirefamily becausewehave been in business 84 years, and it was aboutmy grandparents,parents,and now we’re the third, fourth generation,” Stella Chasesaid at theJames Beardawardreception in June 2025.“We had astrong foundation and we justfeel so blessed.”

In thewakeofKatrina, fest andcelebrations restored t New Orleans spirit.20yea later,theyanchorits identi

By Amanda McElfresh, amcelfresh@theadvocate.com and Stevie Cavalier Licciardi, stevie.licciardi@theadvocate.com

Whenthe floodwatersofHurricane Katrina receded,New Orleans wasleftgutted –its hom ruined, its neighborhoods scattered, itspeople shaken.What remained, as fragile as it wa fierce, was culture. Against seemingly insurmountable odds,itwas theparades,the music, food and thefestivals –the veryheartbeat of thecity–that led theway back. Barry Kern remembers thecalls coming in one after another.His father,Blaine, then 78 yearsold and thetoweringfigure behind Kern Studios andMardi Gras World, would pick up thephone. On theothe end wasakrewe captain, wondering if Mardi Gras was still going to

“He would alwaysreassure them that all theother krewes wererunning so that no one got scared. He knew we neededto keep themomentum going,” Kern said. “As akid,mydad hadseen howpeople in the GreatDepression celebrated Mardi Gras even though it was an incredibly difficult time. But, it brought people together,and people really needed that. Mydad felt that New Orleans needed Mardi Gras in a similar way after Katrina.”

Located in Algiers, Kern Studios itself had escaped theworst of Katrina’swrath. Employees returned to work quickly sculpting and paintingfloats while holding on to thebeliefthat thecity’smost essential annual ritual could survive. They were bolsteredbyhelpfromUniversal Studios, alongtime partner that paid Kern Studios in advancefor ayear’s workonparade floats in their parks.That helped operations going while NewOrleans krewes werestill reorganizing and securing finances

When the2006Carnival season finally arrived, it wasn’t thesameMardi Gras –it was acelebrationwith much deepermeaning.

“It really was oneofthe most special Mardi Gras yearsI’veever been involved with because it was mostly locals. Everybody came together and it wasvery emotional,” Kern recalled. “People hadlost their homes andsomany horrible things had happened. Forsome, it wastheir first time cominghome.Itwas cathartic for the people of thecitytocome together.Itwas veryimportant for us to celebrate together and for theworld to know thatthe citywas open again.”

That same impulse –aninsistence that culturemust carrythe city–echoed across New Orleans’ festivals. Each facedits own reckoning in themonthsafter Katrina, and each chose, in its own way, to keep going.

At French QuarterFestival, ashowcase for 100percent local musicand food,the challenge wasn’t physicaldevastation so much as theweight of symbolism.

“It is such an importantcultural anchor and it played ahuge role in us coming back together as acommunityand returning to our cultural traditions and that sense of normalcy,” said Emily Madero,the festival’s president andCEO.“We mark thechanging of theseasons with our festival calendar.

It was an important moment to experience joy.There was relief in thestability of thetradition.”

Maderonotedthatgig workershad seen their livesupended not only bythe storm, but by thetemporarycollapseofthe local economyaround them.The French Quarter Fest gave themworkagainand was also asign that their careerscould still have afuture.

“There was alot of fear at the time about howwe would rebuild NewOrleans, particularly in thecreative industries and amongst our musicians and cultural ambassadors, so to do (French Quarter Fest) in away that maintained the authenticityof those cultural traditions and to do it in away that was really for New Orleanians, by NewOrleanians, was symbolically important,” Madero said. “Rather thanpivot and reshaping our mission, it was amoment in time wherewe doubled down on our purpose. ”

No festival loomedlarger, however, than theNew Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.For itsproducerand director Quint Davis, thedecision to move forwardfelt nearly impossible.The Fairgrounds had been destroyed.The crew wasdisplaced, with some sleeping in barns while trying to rebuild stages. Daviswasn’tsurethe 2006 edition of Jazz Fest could happenat all, until then-Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu bluntly told himthat not having the festival wasn’t an option.

Shell came forwardtounderwrite the festival, and world-famous artists likeDave Matthews and Jimmy Buffett soon followed with agreements to perform. When the gates opened on thefirstday,Davis’sfears melted away

“Wegot acall from thepolice that we werehaving atraffic problem. They said people werelined up and down Esplanade,” Davis said. “A lot of people whohad not been back to New Orleans since Katrina came back for Jazz Fest. When thegates opened and allthese people poured in, Jazz Fest came back to life. It became aliving entity.Itshowed what afestivalcan do. It bonds people together and gives them agreater sense of meaning. It renews their spirit.That’swhat happened that year.”

Theleaders of other traditions faced different choices. TheEssenceFestivalof Culture, rooted in NewOrleans sincethe 1990s, was forced to relocatetoHouston in 2006. But, by thefollowing summer,festival organizersinsisted on returning home “Wedon’t take our place as afestival in NewOrleans lightly.Partofwhat makes the Essence Festival of Cultureasspecial as it is,

is thepeople and thecityofNew Orleans,” said Barkue Tubman-Zawolo, thefestival’s chiefcommunityofficer.“We areabout continuing to partner with thecityand to take partinthe joy of thecity. Our cultural affirmation is,‘We loveus.’ NewOrleans is theposter child of ‘Welove us’ because NewOrleans came togetherand rebuilt NewOrleans.”

The2007EssenceFest welcomed an estimated 200,000 attendees and generated roughly $150 million forthe local economy. Aportion of concertticket proceeds supported theChildren’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools of New Orleans, funding reading, artand music enrichment for local youth.

In addition, the2007Essence Fest hosted standout performances from superstarslike Mary J. Blige,Kelly Rowland, Ludacris, Beyoncé and more, while cultural leaders likeTyler Perry, Hill Harper,SherylLee Ralph and LionelRichie participated in free daytime programming. And, just five months after announcinghis presidential campaign, then-Senator Barack Obama addressed the Essence audience, connecting directly with acommunitythatwould play apivotal role in his election.

“Our festival’scelebration is rooted in howweare serving our community, Tubman-Zawolo said. “Our community is already empowered. We just need to work in partnership with them and create opportunities, and that’swhat we do.

One of thethings that theworld knows is thatwhenwegathertocelebrate each other’s culture, whether it’s your own or celebrating someone else’s, it creates more unityand joy.”

Evennew festivals wereborn out of the shadowsofKatrina. TheNew Orleans Book Festival,founded in 2010 by Cheryl Landrieu alongside civil rights icon Ruby Bridges, began as asmall children’s event at alocal library. In many ways, it was a

responsetothe deep disruptioninthe city’s schools after thestorm.

“You could draw aline from theevents of Katrina to thecreation of theNew Orleans Book Festival,” Landrieu said. “Wewanted to help reestablish theeducational system. Therewas akind of renaissance happening during therebuilding of theschools and the school system and thewaysinwhich we learn, and we played asmall role in that. It was based on theprinciples of wanting to support NewOrleans children and their families.”

Fifteen yearslater,the NewOrleans Book Festival has grown into athree-day event, drawing national authorsand attendees from around theworld. Landrieu attributes that long-term success to thefestival’s combination of funtimes and thepursuit of knowledge.

“New Orleans festivals aresuch adraw, and both theauthorsand theattendees want to be here,” shesaid. “Theyfeel something powerfuland special in New Orleans,and they want to be apartofit.”

Today,the city’scultural calendar is bigger than ever.Mardi Gras has exploded in scale, with longtime krewes likeEndymion and Tucksswelling in membership while moreparades have joined theannual rotation. French Quarter Fest and Jazz Fest draw international visitorswith top-tier talent. Essence Fest is asummer tradition, while this year’s Book Festival saw record participation that prompted theneed for expanded space on theTulane campus. Sprinkled throughout theyear aredozens of other festivals,large and small, that honor history, heritage and thehuman spirit.

“Wecan sometimes takefor granted what we have and what we do,” Kern said.

“New Orleans is different than any other place in theworld, and thepersonalityof thecityisrooted in these things that we do It’s theway that we say hello to each other.”

Beyonce performs at the2007Essence Festival, thefirst one in New Orleans afterHurricane Katrina.

Photo courtesyofGetty Images

LionelRichie performs at the 2007 Essence Festival, the first one in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Photo courtesyof Getty Images.

Then-Senator Barack Obama speaks to thecrowd at the2007Essence Festival. He would go on to be elected U.S. President in 2008 and 2012 PhotocourtesyofGetty Images.

When wordsfailed, music and art gave New Orleanians an escapeand avision forabetterfuture

By Stevie

CavalierLicciardi, stevie.licciardi@theadvocate.com and Amanda McElfresh, amcelfresh@theadvocate.com

Aroundthe world, New Orleans is known as acitythat reveres the arts. Music pulses through the streets, andartworkisfound on walls in nearly everyneighborhood. In thewake of Hurricane Katrina, that creative fabric became asource of comfortfor many And, in thetwo decades since, healing conversations and connections havebeen ushered in through thecommunity’sefforts to uphold, expand and empowerNew Orleans’ artistic voices.

“I just wantedtocome back home,” said Robin Barnes, aNew Orleans jazz vocalist. “The loss of home was such amagnitudeof pain that every day,just to cope, Iwould listen to ‘What aWonderful World’ because it felt likethe closestthing tohome.”

Barnes comesfroma family of musicians whohave called Louisiana home for eight generations. Nowon herway toreleasing herfirstfull-length album, hermusical journey began at six yearsold, learning the Louis Armstrong classic, “What aWonderful World.” ForBarnes, thesong encapsulates herchildhood home in theLower Ninth Ward,surrounded by the sights, sounds and smells of herMémèrecooking gumbo, herfamily makingmusic together and her communityfilled withjoy In thedaysand weeks after Katrinaleveled theLower Ninth, Barnesclung to that familiar tune as away to keep herspirits up. When shewas finally able to sing at her church after thestorm,there wasnodoubt that shewould perform

theArmstrong classic that had carried her through so much. “I held thenote at theend for so long that Ifell to my knees,” Barnes said.

“Everyone was crying and holding each other.Weall justneeded arelease from the pain and to feel hope.Itwas thefirsttime Iever realized howpowerful music is and howitcan change so much in an instant.It was asong that brought people to hug each other and hold onto one another.”

Michel Varisco, now theChair of Visual Arts at New Orleans Center for theCreative Arts (NOCCA), found herown sense of solace and artisticcomfortduring her retreats into CityPark as theKatrina cleanup was underway.She would wander with herdog and hercamera throughfallen oaks and foggy overgrown fields, reflecting on theparadox of damage and growth that wasevident throughout thecity. Her collection of images, Fragile Land, emerged from herCityPark meanderings.

“I proposed apublic arts piece to thecity using theFragile Lands imagery.I landed thecommission, and Iput in it thecircular rotunda at Popp’sFountain in City Park,” Varisco said. “Just likethe parkhelpedme heal, Iwanted to share thatprocess and to compel people to walk throughthe parkand to give themselves space

“I think theconversations that came about in thecommunitywerefascinating,” Varisco continued. “Ithelpedusto grieve and to trust in nature’sprocess regeneration, rest,restoration.

Theprocess of telling one’sown storyis often healing, and many residents found strength in sharing theirexperiences in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.Throughout ions werekindledasthe continued.

at thetime.Wewound up getting global publicityand press. Part of thehealing for those of us wholived in NewOrleans and had lived throughthis, was to be able to tell our story.”

thecity, conversat recoveryprocess TheNew Orlean (NOVAC), anonin 1972 and provi filmmakers, was f leading up to Hur building had been storm and archiva to thefourth story at theUniversity o Uponreturning f Ryan,formerNO recounts howNO down permanentl from community led to theprodu NOVAC-prod featured som devastated interviews navigating “That fun produce t anu

s VideoAccess Center profit that was established des resourcestolocal acing business difficulties ricane Katrina. NOVAC’s sold right beforethe l footage had been moved ofthe EarlK.Long Library f New Orleans.

rom thestorm,Tim VAC ExecutiveDirector, VAC nearly had to shut y.However,funding partnersand foundations ction of TheDrive, a uced documentarythat e of New Orleans’most neighborhoods and withresidents whowere thewreckage ding gaveusthe time to he film, as well as to write mber of grants,”said Ryan. “The documentaryended up getting over amillion viewsonYouTube which was verynew

Non-profit, arts-focused organizations across various disciplinesplayed apivotal role in advancing thecity’shealingand underscoring theresilience of theNew Orlean’s culture. Youth music programs throughout thecitytook up thetorch of passing down generations of musical knowledge to displacedstudents. Many schools in NewOrleans experienced extensive damage or even permanent closureafter Hurricane Katrina, creating a void in arts education.

“People stepped up to do thework do work thatthe schools wereabletodobefore thestorm,”said Derek Douget, Director of MusicEducation at theHeritage School of Music. “It’snot justus; it’s thewhole music community, at large,that is doing it. Iwould justliketocelebrate all our colleagues who aredoing this work; it is getting done.”

In theyears after Katrina,local musician and Grammy winnerDerrick Tabb saw that theneed for arts education was urgent. In his Tremeneighborhood, Tabb saw that kids whoused to walk to thebus stop were hustling on thestreets after thestorm.

“I knew these kids didn’t really have anything else to do,” Tabb told New Orleans &Co. in 2020.“But Ialso knew if you weretogive them atalent, they can use thatsame talent to makemoney.”

In 2007,hefounded TheRoots of Music, starting with amodest six-week drum camp at Tipitina’s. What began with19kids and $20,000 quickly swelled. Forty-twochildren showed up on thefirstday,and morethan 100wereeagertojoin withinweeks.

Today,The Roots of Music runs three core programs: Sprouts of Music forkids ages 3 to 8; theMarching CrusadersBand for ages 9to14, and theRoots Studio Academy for high school students. Beyondinstruction,the organization provides meals, transportation, instruments and academic support,removing barriersthat often keep low-income children from participating in thearts.

“Discipline is themostimportant thing we teach our kids,” Tabb told NewOrleans & Co. “After about amonth, thesekids are picking up things that takemostpeople yearstolearn. And, it all rounds back to having afoundationofdiscipline… Theprogram we’ve put together has really worked.”

When Hurricane Katrina leftits mark on thecity, theOgden Museum of Southern Art had only been open at its current location for alittle over ayear.William Andrews, the museum’sexecutive director,recounts how evident it was that individuals wereseeking theconsolation and inspiration that only art can provide. By theefforts of individuals and organizations alike, thecityofNew Orleans has continued onwardinits creative resilience.

“Hurricane Katrina produced acatalytic moment when people started to recognize theway NewOrleans has been able to embrace thevarietyofinfluences that have been woven into theculturehere,” Andrews said. “Asamuseum, we don’tmakegrand statements. We trytobethe place where theartist can respond to theworld in which they live.”

NewOrleans’ cultural foundation has been tested in unimaginable waysthese past 20 years, but thesongs of this captivating city continues to resoundthroughout theworld.

Adaptation, innovation, collaboration: Katrina’s lasting impact on nonprofits in NewOrleans

By Amanda McElfresh, amcelfresh@theadvocate.com

WhenHurricane Katrina made landfall in 2005, its destruction didmore than level neighborhoods and scatter families– it also reshaped thenonprofit landscape in New Orleans. Organizations thathad been operating foryears suddenly adapted and reimagined their missions to respond to immediate communityneeds, while newefforts wereborn from thestorm’saftermath.

Twodecades later,the city’s nonprofit communitystandsas oneofKatrina’smostenduring legacies, marked by growth, innovationand collaboration.

Shifting Missions: Youth Empowerment Project (YEP)

YEP opened in 2004 withafive-person staff, twogrants and adesire to help New Orleans youth realizetheir own potential. When scattered employees started returning to thecityafter Katrina, they weresurprised to discover that theYEP offices hadbeen sparedfromdamage. Melissa Sawyer,YEP founder and CEO,saidthatfelt likea sign that theorganization’s work wasneeded morethan ever

“Itfelt likewehad aresponsibilitytokeep going and be apartofthe recoverybecause therewas so muchdamage elsewhere throughout thecity,”Sawyersaid. Itgave us asense of purpose.”

YEP initially worked to reunite children and families displaced by thestorm andhelp othersaccess resources, even in cities like Houston andBaton Rouge. But,inNew Orleans, Sawyer saiditquickly became apparent that many kids werefacing an education crisis. Severalwho wanted to re-enroll in schoolfaced barrierssuchas lost records, aprolonged absencefrom classes or ahistoryof academicstruggles or involvement with thejusticesystem.

That need inspired YEPtostart its first GED program, thanks to grant funding and three part-time employees whoagreed to teachin theevenings.

“Within thefirstfew weeks,wehad about 40 young people cometous, wanting to get their GED and connect withsomething meaningful.Thatwas our first expansion into education work,” Sawyer said.

Today,YEP is Louisiana’s largest stateapproved high schoolequivalencyprovider with 142HISET graduates this year

Other YEP programs have grown over the past 20 yearsaswell, including afterschool programs, summer camps, and abikeshop and thriftstore wherekidslearn customer service and critical thinking skills.Last year YEP served morethan1,000 youth, and now has astaffof50.

“I thinkbeing apre-Katrina organization allowed us to hit theground running and adapt quickly,while alwaysstayingmissionfocused on supporting young people and

families,” Sawyer said.“Our valueshave alwaysbeen rooted in doing thebest you can, being honest, having integrityand following through on your word. We aim to be kind, resourceful, accountable and committed to progress. We’redoing the work for theright reasons.”

ANew Vision: Son of aSaint ForBivian “Sonny”Lee III, Hurricane Katrina sparked afire in himtogiveback to his hometown of NewOrleans. He was calledtomentorship, but hisearly efforts in 2006 didn’t pan out theway he had hoped. In his 20s, Lee spent yearstraveling theworld as he worked in sports andmusic. But, he knew he wanted to be back in New Orleans. In 2011,hefounded Son of aSaint anonprofit that mentorsboyswho have lost their fatherstodeath or incarceration.

“I started forming theideafor Son of aSaint in 2010,five yearsafter Katrina. Therewas an overwhelming urge to share whatIhad learnedand experienced,”Lee said. “I think thatwas atime when people weretryingtofigureout thecity’sidentity Kidsand familieshad been displaced, and manyofthemhad spent monthsseparated from one another. Theschool system was changing. Peoplewerestressed about jobs andsafety.Itfeltlikeeverybody was trying to find theirplace in thenew NewOrleans.”

Son of aSainthelpedmanyboysinthat search for identity,giving them outlets to sharetheir frustrations,guidance from mentorswho had survived theirown life challenges and opportunitiestosee what apositive futurecouldlooklike. Lee said that wouldn’t havebeen possiblewithout partnerships thatcontinue to this day

“Westarted Son of aSaint with 100bucks What is beautiful about New Orleans is that peoplewere illi ti t us, whether it pizzas for the letting us use an event,”Le sense of com born out of K wasalmost a people to wr

willing togive to was donating boysor aspace for esaid. “That munitywas atrina. There need for ap theirarms

around each other.You still see that today Yousee peoplewanttohelppeople.”

While Son of aSaint is aresounding success, reachinghundreds of boyseach year with mentoring, mental health services and enrichment opportunities, Leestill sees opportunities for growth, especially since 40 percent of itsboysare from New Orleans East, an area whose Katrina recoveryhas laggedbehind other parts of thecity.

“Partofour strategic plan is to develop something in NewOrleansEastnot only to supportour boys, but to supportthe general communitythere,” Leesaid. “My uncle lives thereand Idrive throughoften. Theareahas somehow not developed post-Katrina as we all would havehoped. Idefinitely want to be partofturning thataround.

Creative Healing: YAYA Arts Center

Founded in 1988, YAYA Arts Center was well-established in 2005 as an organization thatwas empoweringNew Orleans youth through creativity, education and entrepreneurship. Yet, in many ways, Katrina servedasa catalyst for YAYA to have an even broader reach throughout thecity.

Shortlyafter thestorm, twoYAYAalumni began teaching artclasses in different schools– something that still takes place today.That ledtothe creation of YAYA’s Urban Heroes program, whichnow sees morethan 800 kids each year

“It truly gives kids theopportunityto explorearts. That is definitely one of the morepowerful programs that came about because of Katrina andcontinues to have a huge impact,” said Jourdan Barnes, YAYA BoardPresident. “That program alsoset the course for alot of other YAYA programming. It has become apipeline to theother work thatwedo. Thecool thing aboutYAYAis thateventhough we teach entrepreneurial, artisticand technical skills, it’s still asafe space for kids to be whotheyare.”

YAYA works with New Orleans youth and young adultsfromage 13 to 25,focusing on fosteringtheir creativity with ceramics glassand mixedmedia. Participants sell theircreations andreceive 60 percent of theprofits, with theremaining 40 percent helpingtofund YAYA programs,all of which arecompletelyfree.

Barnes said YAYA staff continue to lean on lessons learned during Katrina’s aftermath to address morerecent challenges.For example,whenCovid forcedYAYAtohalt in-person programming, they immediately pulledtogether artkits, take-home supplies and videos of artlessons. And, as they have seen youth continue to grapple with modernday struggles, YAYA staffhave leaned more deeply into apartnershipwith arttherapists ht th tt help kids able to cultivate and be very eople we our boardand tionalityhas AYAPrograms ews.“Ourcore

values include artistic integrity, generational impact, equityand accessibility. We want to continuetobeinnovative and adaptable because things areconstantly changing. We want to do that while keeping our values at thecenter of our work. Being mission-aligned is so important.”

Restoringnature, restoringhope: Sankofabrings lifebacktothe LowerNinth Ward

Note: This article wasadapted from a story thatappeared in Audubon Magazine in 2024 andwas originally authoredby Paige Curtis.

Growing up in theLower Ninth Ward Rashida Ferdinand and other neighborhood children spent their daysexploring theterrain of Sankofa Wetland Park. But, theland eventually fell into disrepair duetoyearsof neglect that worsened in Katrina’saftermath. Ferdinand founded theSankofa Community Development Corporation (CDC) in 2008. Today,the organization is collaborating with local residents to restorethe area to its previousnaturalglory. Their work is paying off, with ambling paths and thriving cypress trees winding around acentral pond.

“Seeing butterflies,birds and other pollinatorsinthe park is asign of ahealthy ecosystem. Allwehad to do was create the right conditions,” Ferdinand told Audubon Magazine.

In 2017,Sankofa CDC entered into a partnershipwith theCityofNew Orleans to develop the40-acrevacant plot along theLower Ninth’s northern edge with a vision to restorethe wetland ecosystem as a buffer againstflooding while alsospurring economic development.

Theinputofthe Lower Ninth Ward communityand neighborshas been vital to this work. Their feedback informed the park’smaster plan and amenities,including a walking/biking trail that residents requested.

Local volunteersuprooted morethan 1,000 invasive tallow trees and planted new, native florasuch as bald cypressand water tupelo trees that areknown to withstand heavy winds,aswell as 1,000 herbaceous plants.Meanwhile, ponds throughoutthe park aredesigned to retain rainwater during storms and provide acool habitat in ahot landscape.

Theseinitial improvements have attracted wildlife not seen in theareasince the 1960s. Thepark is now home to reptiles, amphibians,beaversand otters, and more than 100birdspecies have been spotted on thegrounds

whocome to thecenter to h navigatetheir feelings.

“I think we have been partnerships really well intentionalabout thep haveonour staff, on as partners. That inten sustainedus,”said YAY Manager AveriMatth

Amenities have alsobeen added, including picnic areas,interpretive signage, outdoor recreation facilities, afishing dock and a wheelchair-accessible trail that connects the Lower Ninth to adjoining neighborhoods. An outdoor amphitheater and moretrails are scheduled to be completed later this year

“There is auniquebeauty in restoring what was already there,” Ferdinand said. “It’s howwehonor thestewards beforeuswho respected this land and sawits valuefrom theverybeginning.”