The Acadiana Advocate 09-11-2025

Conservative activist fatally shot in Utah

Governor: Charlie Kirk’s death a ‘political assassination’

BY HANNAH SCHOENBAUM, ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and MARK SHERMAN Associated Press

OREM, Utah Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump, was shot and killed Wednesday at a Utah college event in an act that the state’s governor called a “political assassination.”

A “person of interest” was in custody Wednesday evening, said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, though no charges were immediately announced

“This is a dark day for our state,” Cox said, calling the killing a “political assassination.”

“We are actively looking for anyone and everyone who has any information related to the shooting,” he said.

Utah authorities said the shooter wore dark clothing and fired from a roof on campus some distance away

The death was announced on social media by Trump, who praised the 31-year-old Kirk, the co-founder and CEO of the youth organization Turning Point USA, as “Great, and even Legendary.”

“No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie,” Trump posted on his Truth Social account

ä See ACTIVIST, page 4A

Saints set to sign new Superdome lease

Long-term deal could keep team in New Orleans for at least another decade

BY JEFF DUNCAN, ANTHONY McAULEY and TYLER BRIDGES Staff writers

The New Orleans Saints and Gov Jeff Landry’s team are closing in on a new longterm lease of the Caesars Superdome that aims to keep the franchise rooted in New Orleans for at least another decade

The deal, which three sources familiar with the talks said could be announced as soon as next week, culminates more than a year of grueling, often contentious negotiations between the Saints and the Louisiana

Stadium and Exposition District, the board that oversees the state-owned Superdome. Neither the Saints nor the district, known as the Superdome Commission, have announced specifics publicly But the sources close to the negotiations said the agreement calls for a 10-year lease followed by four five-year extensions, with the Saints retaining the right to exercise each extension. If all the extensions are agreed on, it would run through 2055. The deal adds a new provision — absent from the Saints’ current lease — requiring arbitration and potential “equitable damages,” measures designed to discourage any future owner from moving the team out of New Orleans. The exact amount of that relocation penalty hasn’t been finalized, but the sources said it could reach $250 million.

The deal also involves other key provisions, which could be modified as the sides hash out final details. Among them: the Saints’ share of revenues from stadium concessions on game days; terms of the state lease for offices at Benson Tower; and other future revenue streams and costs.

The two sides have wanted to sign the lease by Sept. 17 because that’s the day an NFL owners subcommittee on special events will meet to begin considering who will host Super Bowls beyond 2028. After receiving broad acclaim for hosting the game in February, New Orleans hopes to be invited to bid on the 2031 Super Bowl. But it can do so only if the Saints have a signed lease agreement in effect for the year of the game, according to league policy

ä See SAINTS, page 4A

Figure at center of bribery scheme to take stand

Assistant district attorney accused of conspiracy

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

Guidry Haynes

Dusty Guidry the man at the center of several bribery and kickback schemes in Louisiana, including the Lafayette District Attorney’s Office, is scheduled to testify Thursday morning in the trial of Lafayette Assistant District Attorney Gary Haynes. Haynes’ trial started Monday in U.S. District Court in Lafayette. He is charged with six federal felony counts including bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery and obstruction of justice. The charges center around a scheme with Guidry when both men worked in the pretrial diversion program in 15th Judicial District Attorney Don Landry’s office in Lafayette. The men would steer defendants into the pretrial diversion program, then to certain vendors who provided classes and therapy, which the defendants paid for

ä See BRIBERY, page 4A

Landry scolds Cassidy on COVID vaccine

Senator suggested ways to circumvent new hurdles

BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer

district office and anyone can swing by and get one! I am sure big pharma would love you for that one!”

THE DESERET NEWS PHOTOS By TESS CROWLEy

Charlie Kirk hands out hats Wednesday at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Kirk, a conservative activist, was shot and killed shortly after Law enforcement members tape off an area after Charlie Kirk, the CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, was shot at Utah Valley University

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

3 critically wounded in shooting at Colo. school

DENVER Three teens were critically wounded Wednesday in a shooting at a high school in the foothills of suburban Denver, including the suspected shooter, authorities said The shooting was reported around 12:30 p.m. at Evergreen High School in Evergreen about 30 miles west of Denver, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Jacki Kelley said It is not clear what led up to the shooting or how the suspected shooter, believed to be a student at the school, was shot. None of the law enforcement officers who responded to the shooting is believed to have fired any shots, Kelley said The shooting happened on school grounds, but it wasn’t immediately known whether it was inside the school building, she said. All three teens taken to St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, Colorado, were shot, CEO Kevin Cullinan said. The high school with more than 900 students is largely surrounded by forest It is about a mile from the center of Evergreen, which has a population of 9,300 people.

Senate GOP stops effort for Epstein files’ release

WASHINGTON In a close vote, Senate Republicans defeated an effort Wednesday by Democrats to insert language into Congress’ annual defense authorization bill that would have forced the public release of case files on the sex trafficking investigation into the late Jeffrey Epstein

The Senate voted 51-49 to dismiss the changes to the bill, with Republican Sens Josh Hawley of Missouri and Rand Paul of Kentucky joining with all Democrats in opposition.

For months, Democrats have clamored for the release of what’s become known as the Epstein files, looking for practically every opportunity to force Republicans to either join their push for disclosure or publicly oppose a cause that many in the Republican base support. President Donald Trump as he was running for president signaled that he was open to releasing a full accounting of the case, but is now trying to dismiss the push as a “Democrat hoax.”

“I ask my Republican colleagues, after all those years you spent calling for accountability, for transparency, for getting to the bottom of these awful crimes, why won’t you vote yes?” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a floor speech Wednesday Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said earlier this week that the Justice Department “has already released tons of files” on Epstein.

Meanwhile, a separate effort to force a vote on a similar bill in the House inched ahead.

Dog the Bounty Hunter’s son on leave after crash

Dog the Bounty Hunter’s son was temporarily relieved of his law enforcement duties after he was involved in a high-speed chase that killed a teenage boy in Alabama over the weekend Priceville police officer Garry Chapman was put on administrative leave Sunday, one day after the deadly two-vehicle crash in Hartselle, Priceville Mayor Sam Heflin told AL.com. He will remain sidelined pending the outcome of an investigation, as is standard procedure for any officers involved in a major incident.

Tristan Hollis, 17, was killed from the injuries he sustained in the crash, which also left five others injured. Police said it occurred Saturday around 8:30 p.m. at the intersection of Highway 36 and U.S. 31, after Chapman attempted to initiate a traffic stop with a suspected drunk driver, identified as Archie Hale. Instead of pulling over though, Hale attempted to flee, sparking a chase. It came to an end only after Hale’s vehicle slammed into Hollis’ minivan Six people — including Hollis, Hale, Hale’s passenger, and three other boys also in the minivan — were all rushed to the hospital, where Hollis died a short time later, WHNT reported The rest of their conditions were not provided.

Trump Fed Board nominee advances

By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON A Senate committee on Wednesday approved the nomination of White House economic adviser Stephen Miran to the Federal Reserve’s board of governors, setting up a likely approval by the full Senate, which would make Miran the third Trump appointee to the seven-member board.

The White House has pushed for an expedited Senate approval of Miran, who was nominated by President Donald Trump to replace former Fed governor Adriana Kugler. Kugler stepped down Aug. 1. Miran would, if approved, simply finish her term, which expires in January

Miran may be approved by the full Senate in time for the Fed’s meeting next week, when it is widely expected to reduce its key short-term interest rate. The committee voted to approve Miran on partisan lines, 13-11, with all Democrats voting against confirmation.

Miran’s nomination has raised concerns about the Fed’s independence from day-to-day politics,

particularly since he said during a hearing last week that he would keep his job as head of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers while on the Fed’s board, a historically unusual arrangement. Presidents have nominated members of their staffs to the Fed’s board before, but the nominees have always given up their White House jobs.

Miran said he would step down from his White House position if he is chosen for a longer term. Yet he can remain on the board after Kugler’s term ends in January, if no replacement is named.

The jockeying around the Fed is occurring as the economy is entering an uncertain and difficult period. Inflation remains stubbornly above the central bank’s 2% target, though it hasn’t risen as much as many economists feared when Trump first imposed sweeping tariffs on nearly all imports. The Fed

typically would raise borrowing costs, or at least keep them elevated, to combat worsening inflation.

At the same time, hiring has weakened considerably and the unemployment rate rose last month to a still-low 4.3%. The central bank often takes the opposite approach when unemployment rises and cuts rates, to spur more borrowing, spending, and growth.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled late last month that the Fed may focus more on risks to the job market in the coming months, which makes rate cuts more likely.

Trump appeals ruling on Cook

The Trump administration on Wednesday appealed a ruling blocking him from firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook as he seeks more control over the traditionally independent board.

The notice of appeal came hours after U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb handed down the ruling. The White House has insisted Trump, a Republican, has the right to fire Cook over over allegations raised by one of his appointees that she commit-

Protests turn new French PM’s first day into chaos

Protesters block roads, set fires across France

BY JOHN LEICESTER, JEFFREY SCHAEFFER and THOMAS ADAMSON Associated Press

PARIS A day of anti-government action across France on Wednesday saw streets choked with smoke, barricades in flames and volleys of tear gas as protesters denounced budget cuts and political turmoil.

The nationwide “Block Everything” campaign presented a challenge to President Emmanuel Macron and turned Sébastien Lecornu’s first day as prime minister into a baptism of fire.

Although falling short of its self-declared intention of total disruption, the protests still managed to paralyze parts of daily life and ignite hundreds of hot spots across the country

The deployment of 80,000 police officers broke up barricades and dragged hundreds of protesters into custody yet flashpoints multiplied In Rennes, a bus was torched In the southwest, electrical cables were severed, halting train services and snarling traffic.

By evening Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said nearly 200,000 people had taken to the streets nationwide, while the CGT union, one of France’s largest labor confederations, claimed closer to 250,000.

His ministry reported more than 450 arrests, hundreds held in custody, over a dozen officers injured, and more than 800 protest actions from rallies to street fires across the country Retailleau called the day “a defeat for those who wanted to block the country.” Yet the government’s own tally told a different story

The “Bloquons Tout,” or “Block Everything,” protests did not match the scale of France’s 2018 yellow vest revolt, but still underscored the cycle of unrest that has dogged Macron’s presidency: mass deployments, bursts of violence, and repeated clashes between the government and the streets.

After his reelection in 2022, Macron faced firestorms of anger over unpopular pension reforms and nationwide unrest and rioting in 2023 after the deadly police shooting of a teenager on Paris’ outskirts.

Still, demonstrations and sporadic clashes with riot police in Paris and elsewhere Wednesday added to a sense of crisis that has again gripped France following its latest government collapse on Monday, when Prime Minister François

Bayrou lost a parliamentary confidence vote.

The protests immediately presented a challenge to Bayrou’s replacement, Lecornu, installed Wednesday

Groups of protesters who repeatedly tried to block Paris’ beltway during the morning rush hour were dispersed by police using tear gas. Elsewhere in the capital, protesters piled up trash cans and hurled objects at police officers. Firefighters were called out to a fire in a restaurant in the downtown Châtelet neighborhood, where thousands of protesters gathered peacefully Road blockades, traffic slowdowns and other protests were widely spread — from the southern port city of Marseille to Lille and Caen in the north, and Nantes and Rennes in the west to Grenoble and Lyon in the southeast. Authorities reported demonstrations in small towns, too.

Afternoon gatherings of thousands of people in central Paris were peaceful and good-humored, with placards taking aim at Macron and his new prime minister “Lecornu, you’re not welcome,” read a placard brandished by a group of graphic design students.

“One prime minister has just been ousted and straight away we get another from the right,” said student Baptiste Sagot, 21. “They’re trying to make working people, young students, retirees — all people in difficulty — bear all the effort instead of taxing wealth.”

France’s prolonged cycle of political instability, with Macron’s minority governments lurching from crisis to crisis, has fueled widespread discontent.

“Block Everything” gathered momentum over the summer on social media and encrypted chats, including on Telegram. Pavel Durov, Telegram’s Russianborn founder now under investigation in France for alleged criminal activity on the messaging app, said he is “proud” the platform was used to organize antiMacron rallies.

The movement’s call for a day of blockades, strikes, boycotts, demonstrations and other acts of protest came as Bayrou was preparing to cut public spending by $51 billion to rein in France’s growing deficit and trillions in debts. He also proposed the elimination of two public holidays from the country’s annual calendar which proved wildly unpopular Lecornu, who previously served as defense minister, now inherits the task of addressing France’s budget difficulties, facing the same political instability and widespread hostility to Macron that contributed to Bayrou’s undoing.

ted mortgage fraud related to two properties she bought before she joined the Fed.

The case could soon reach the Supreme Court, where the conservative majority has allowed Trump to fire several board members of other independent agencies but has suggested that power has limitations at the Federal Reserve. Cook’s lawyers have argued that firing her was unlawful because presidents can only fire Fed governors for cause, which has typically meant poor job performance or misconduct The judge found the president’s removal power is limited to actions taken during a governor’s time in office.

Cook is accused of saying that both her properties, in Michigan and Georgia, were primary residences, which could have resulted in lower down payments and mortgage rates. Her lawsuit denied the allegations without providing details. Her attorneys said she should have gotten a chance to respond to them before getting fired. Cook is set to participate in next week’s Fed meeting.

Judge blocks cutoff of some social services

BY MAKIYA SEMINERA Associated Press

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked Trump administration restrictions on services for immigrants in the country illegally, including the federal preschool program Head Start, health clinics and adult education.

The order from the judge in U.S District Court in Rhode Island applies to 20 states and the District of Columbia, whose attorneys general, all Democrats, sued the administration. It puts the administration’s reinterpretation of a Clinton-era federal policy on hold while the case is decided.

Under the proposed changes, some community-level programs would be reclassified as federal public benefits, making them inaccessible to people without legal status.

Individual public benefits, such as food stamps and college financial aid, have been largely unavailable to people in the country without legal status.

U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy, who was appointed by Trump in 2019, said in her order that the policy rollout was “rushed” in a way that would worsen the impact for people cut off from community services and those tasked with verifying eligibility

“The Government argues that it has somehow interpreted this statute incorrectly for the nearly thirty years that it has been the law,” McElroy wrote. “In its view, everyone has misunderstood it from the start — at least until last month, when the right way to read it became clear to the Government. The Court is skeptical of that.” Messages seeking comment were left with the departments of health and human services, education, labor and justice, which each were named as defendants. The states’ lawsuit argued the government failed to follow the rulemaking process and did not provide the required notice on conditions placed on federal funds.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By THIBAULT CAMUS

Riot police officers take position in front of a burning restaurant during the “Block Everything” protest movement in Paris on Wednesday

Miran

NATO jets shoot down Russian drones in Poland

BY CLAUDIA CIOBANU, ILLIA NOVIKOV and RAFAL NIEDZIELSKI Associated Press

WOHYN, Poland Multiple Russian drones crossed into Poland in what European officials described Wednesday as a deliberate provocation, causing NATO to send fighter jets to shoot them down. A NATO spokesman said it was the first time the alliance confronted a potential threat in its airspace.

The incursion, which occurred during a wave of strikes by the Kremlin on Ukraine, and the NATO response swiftly raised fears that the war could spill over — a fear that has been growing in Europe as Russia steps up its attacks and peace efforts go nowhere.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said it did not target Poland, while Belarus, a close ally of Moscow, said it tracked some drones that “lost their course” because they were jammed.

However, several European leaders said they believed the incursion amounted to an intentional expansion of Russia’s assault against Ukraine.

“Russia’s war is escalating, not ending,” European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters in Brussels. “What (Russian President Vladimir) Putin wants to do is to test us. What happened in Poland is a game changer,” and it should result in stronger sanctions.

Polish airspace has been violated many times since Russia’s fullscale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but never on this scale in Poland or anywhere else in NATO territory.

Poland said some of the drones came from Belarus, where Russian and Belarusian troops have begun gathering for war games

at a site in Wohyn, Poland, on Wednesday.

scheduled to start Friday

It was not immediately clear how many drones were involved

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told parliament 19 violations were recorded over seven hours, but he said information was still being gathered. Polish authorities said nine crash sites were found, with some of them hundreds of kilometers from the border

“There are definitely no grounds to suspect that this was a course correction mistake or the like,”

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told parliament. “These drones were very clearly put on this course deliberately.”

Dutch fighter jets came to Po-

land’s aid and intercepted some drones. Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski later thanked the Dutch government “for the magnificent performance of Dutch pilots in neutralizing” the drones.

Drones reported from Belarus

Tusk told parliament that the first violation came at approximately 11:30 p.m. Tuesday and the last around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday Earlier, Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz wrote on X that more than 10 objects crossed into Polish airspace.

“What is new, in the worst sense of the word, is the direction from which the drones came. This is the first time in this war that they did not come from Ukraine as a result of errors or minor Russian provocations. For the first time, a significant portion of the drones came directly from Belarus,” Tusk said in parliament.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its overnight strikes targeted Ukraine’s military-industrial complex in the western regions of the country — which border Poland — with no planned targets on Polish

territory

In an unusual message of outreach, the ministry said it was ready to hold consultations with Poland’s Defense Ministry Belarusian Maj. Gen. Pavel Muraveiko, the chief of the country’s general staff and first deputy defense minister, appeared to try to put some distance between his country and the incursion.

In an online statement, he said that as Russia and Ukraine traded drone strikes overnight, Belarusian air defense forces tracked “drones that lost their course” after they were jammed, adding that Belarusian forces warned their Polish and Lithuanian counterparts about “unidentified aircraft” approaching their territory

A house was hit in the village of Wyryki in the Lublin region near the Ukrainian border, Mayor Bernard Blaszczuk told the TVP Info

television news channel. The roof was severely damaged.

NATO members vow support NATO air defenses supported Poland in what spokesman Col. Martin O’Donnell called “the first time NATO planes have engaged potential threats in Allied airspace.” That included the Dutch F-35 fighter jets that intercepted drones, according to Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans.

The alliance “is committed to defending every kilometer of NATO territory, including our airspace,” O’Donnell said.

Tusk told parliament that consultations took place under Article 4 of the NATO treaty — a clause that allows countries to call for urgent discussions with their allies. The consultations happened Wednesday at a previously planned meeting. They do not automatically lead to any action under Article 5, which is NATO’s collective security guarantee.

Russian attacks hit Ukraine

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian air force said Russia fired 415 strike and decoy drones, as well as 42 cruise missiles and one ballistic missile overnight. Ukrainian air defenses intercepted or jammed 386 drones and 27 cruise missiles, according to the report.

One person was killed and at least five wounded, while several homes and businesses were damaged, according to local officials.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in its morning report Wednesday that it had destroyed 122 Ukrainian drones over various Russian regions overnight, including over the illegally annexed Crimea and areas of the Black Sea.

Trump offers ambiguous initial response to drone incursion

BY AAMER MADHANI Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Wednesday offered an ambiguous initial response to Russia’s drone incursion into Poland’s airspace, a provocative act by Moscow that has put the United States’ NATO allies in Europe on edge.

“What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones? Here we go!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform late Wednesday morning, nearly a half-day after Poland announced that several Russian drones entered its territory over the course of many hours and were shot down with help from NATO allies. White House officials did not immediately respond to queries about Trump’s cryptic comments about the incursion. It was the first time the transatlantic alliance has confronted a potential threat in its airspace, scrambling jets to shoot the Russian drones out of the sky

Volunteers prep millions of meals for New Yorkers for anniversary of 9/11

BY PHILIP MARCELO Associated Press

NEW YORK When longtime friends David Paine and Jay Winuk set out to encourage people to take part in volunteer and service projects on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, their goal was simple: to turn a day of unimaginable tragedy into a day for doing good.

Now, as the nation prepares to mark the 24th anniversary of 9/11, that lofty mission has evolved into a national day of service where people across the country participate in projects that honor the nearly 3,000 dead.

The nationwide effort kicked off Wednesday as thousands of volunteers began assembling packaged meals for needy New Yorkers in a festive atmosphere aboard the USS Intrepid Teams of volunteers filled small plastic bags with various ingredients for making a kind of jambalaya, including uncooked rice, dehydrated vegetables, lentils, salt and other seasonings as a DJ blasted upbeat tunes from

the wing of an aircraft carrier-turned-museum.

“The vision was to create a ritual,” said Winuk, co-founder and executive vice president of 9/11 Day, the nonprofit organizing the event. “We couldn’t know that it would continue to resonate with people more than two decades later.”

The two-day event, which runs through Thursday aims to package more than 2 million meals for local food banks. It is among 25 largescale volunteer service projects being organized in some two dozen cities across the country

Overall, 9/11 Day estimates some 30 million Americans will participate in some form with the day of service, which Congress enshrined into law in 2009. Beside meal packing, volunteers will be taking part in food and clothing drives, park and neighborhood cleanups blood banks and other community events, the organization says Even smaller acts of kindness count, like greeting strangers on the street or holding the door for someone.

“It’s really just meant to be a day when we remember and rekindle the way we all felt and the way that we all behaved in the immediate aftermath of the attack,” said Paine, who co-founded 9/11 Day and serves as its president. “When we weren’t red states or blue states We were just human beings wanting to help one another.”

Winuk says it’s been “gratifying” to see Americans embrace the call to service and good deeds. His brother, Glenn Winuk, died on Sept. 11 while serving as volunteer firefighter and EMT

“Glenn would have been first in line for this kind of thing. He lived his life and died in service to other people,” he said.

The call seems to be resonating in particular with the some 100 million younger Americans born after the 2001 attacks, Paine added.

“The amazing thing about 9/11 was that it brought our country together in a way that we had never experienced before, and I think there’s a longing for that sense of unity again,” he said.

But Trump’s comment stood in sharp contrast to the strong condemnation by several European leaders and was notably less robust than that of his ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker

“We stand by our @NATO Allies in the face of these airspace violations and will defend every inch of NATO territory,” Whitaker posted on X.

Trump spoke Wednesday with Polish President Karol Nawrocki, who was at the White House last week for talks in which the two leaders discussed expanding the U.S. military presence in Poland. Following the call, Nawrocki posted on X that the conversation ”confirmed the unity of our alliance.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO Police and military police secure parts of a damaged unidentified aerial vehicle shot down by Polish authorities

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By yUKI IWAMURA

Volunteers work during the ‘NyC Meal Pack For 9/11 Day’ at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New york on Wednesday.

The suspected shooter has not been arrested, Orem, Utah, Mayor David Young said. A person who was taken into custody by law enforcement at the university where Kirk was speaking was not the suspect, according to a person familiar with the investigation who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong.” A single shot rings out and Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as a large volume of blood gushes from the left side of his neck Stunned spectators are heard gasping and screaming before people start to run away. The AP was able to confirm the videos were taken at Sorensen Center courtyard on the Utah Valley University campus.

Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his nonprofit political organization. Immediately before the shooting, Kirk was taking questions for an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence.

“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters

SAINTS

Continued from page 1A

The new agreement will end a negotiation that began shortly after Landry took office in January 2024. Saints officials negotiated a similar lease extension with officials from the administration of Gov. John Bel Edwards but didn’t reach a long-term agreement before his term ended “We remain optimistic that a final agreement will be reached soon and look forward to announcing it at the appropriate time,” Greg Bensel, a spokesperson for the Saints said in a text “Until then, negotiations with the State remain ongoing, and it would be premature to comment on specific deal points.” Superdome Commission officials also declined to comment on the deal talks.

Shane Guidry, a businessman who is a close adviser to Landry, declined to comment on specifics but said agreement on lease terms is near “We’re at the finish line,” he said. “We want to get it done for the Saints, the taxpayers, the state of Louisiana, the NFL, everybody.”

A closely watched deal

The Superdome lease is always closely watched by business and civic leaders, but for Saints fans the real question is what it means for the team’s long-term future in New Orleans. This round of talks carries added weight: Because the lease could run through 2055, it will likely be in place past Gayle Benson’s lifetime — the trigger for an NFL rule that will require the team to be sold to a new owner Landry’s negotiating team has sought to bolster the state’s legal position in keeping the Saints here for the foreseeable future, the sources said.

Benson has vowed to keep the team in New Orleans while she is the owner And in a series of 2021 interviews to discuss the Saints succession plans, Dennis Lauscha, the Saints’ president and the executor of the Benson estate, committed to keeping the Saints in New Orleans.

He has also said the terms of this lease negotiation would be crucial to keeping a future owner here. But it remains unclear whether the new deal will have strong enough language to prevent the team from being moved by the team’s next owner beyond those 10 years Lauscha has been the lead

over the last 10 years?” an audience member asked. Kirk responded, “Too many.”

The questioner followed up: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”

“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk asked.

Then a single shot rang out.

Utah Valley University said the campus was immediately evacuated and remained closed Classes were canceled until further notice. Those still on campus were asked to stay in place until police officers could safely escort them off campus. Armed officers walked around the neighborhood bordering the campus, knocking on doors and asking for information on the shooter

negotiator for the Saints, facing off with Rob Vosbein, appointed by Landry to serve as the Superdome Commission’s chair Vosbein is a private attorney for Guidry Also negotiating for the state has been Shawn Bridgewater-Normand, a lawyer and the wife of radio host Newell Normand

The Superdome Commission is expected to formally approve the deal, which will replace the current agreement that consists of a 15year lease followed by a fiveyear extension that ends in 2030.

Aim to avoid relocation

The price of professional sports teams has risen dramatically in recent years, making ownership the domain of multibillionaires.

Forbes valued the Saints at $5.3 billion in its annual analysis of NFL franchises, a 20% increase from a year ago.

Lawyers and executives with experience in stadium lease negotiations in other NFL markets said that any lease deal would likely require ironclad legal terms and financial penalties after 10 years to make it difficult for a future owner to move the Saints.

The new lease would require a new owner who moves the team to pay state taxpayers as much as $250 million to cover most of the $300 million that the state owes in bonds for the recent Superdome renovation, said the people close to the negotiations. That penalty steps down sharply after the first 10 years.

Marc Poloncarz, who has negotiated two lease extensions with the Buffalo Bills as the Erie County executive, said a more important question is whether the new lease includes language that would allow the state to go to court in New Orleans to prevent a new owner from moving the team.

“Unless there’s some clause that allows the community and the state to keep the team there, they could be gone after 10 years,” Poloncarz said.

In 2021, Benson said her instructions to Lauscha are clear when it comes to new ownership.

“That’s going to be one of our stipulations when we sell the team that it stays here,” said Benson at the time. “Dennis won’t sell it to another person that wants to take it away.”

While negotiators aren’t yet publicly outlining the terms of the new lease, two recent stadium deals offer some comparative terms.

In 2023, the Buffalo Bills signed a 30-year lease with language that discourages a new owner from moving the team A year later, the Jack-

Officers have been seen looking at a photo on their phones and showing it to people to see if they recognize a person of interest.

The event, billed as the first stop on Kirk’s “The American Comeback Tour,” had generated a polarizing campus reaction. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”

Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit to Utah colleges was sparking controversy He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”

sonville Jaguars also signed a 30-year deal with similar terms.

Nellie Drew, a professor at the University at Buffalo School of Law who has studied the leases of the Bills and other teams, said cities and states often seek clauses in the leases that would make it harder for teams to relocate.

One defense is a legal term known as “equitable relief,” which allows the government to file suit to block the team from leaving The Bills agreed to allow this type of lawsuit in the lease and to have the lawsuit be heard in a local or federal court in the Buffalo area.

“There is no way any judge in western New York is going to let the Bills walk,” Drew said.

If a judge did allow the team to leave, the lease requires the Bills to pay back taxpayers the full $850 million they spent to build a new stadium if the departure takes place within the first 14 years of the lease signing. In future years, the amount the new owner would have to pay taxpayers would drop by 6.25% per year By year 30, that amount would reach zero.

In the Saints’ case, taxpayers spent about $380 million to pay for the most recent renovation of the Superdome, while the Saints ponied up an additional $180 million.

The financial penalty in the new lease of up to $250 million for relocating the Saints would probably not be a deterrent for a new owner given the vast sums required now to purchase a team, industry experts said. But it’s a significant change from the current lease, which did not have a similar financial penalty.

That lease took effect in 2010. The deal included an $85 million stadium upgrade that gave the Saints more ways to make money off games in the Superdome while capping direct subsidies to the team at $6 million a year It also transferred naming rights at the stadium to the team, which the Saints have since sold to MercedesBenz and Caesars for millions of dollars annually In lieu of constructing a new stadium, which can cost billions of dollars, the sides have continued to pour money into upgrading the Superdome, which opened in 1975 and is the fifth oldest stadium in the NFL. The state completed a $560 million renovation of the facility in 2024, in time to host Super Bowl LIX this year It was the stadium’s eighth Super Bowl, the most of any venue in NFL history

Email Jeff Duncan at jduncan@theadvocate. com.

BRIBERY

Continued from page 1A

Haynes and Guidry had agreements with a few vendors who provided kickbacks from the defendants who paid to enroll in their classes.

Guidry pleaded guilty to three federal charges in April 2023 in the scheme, as well as a kickback scheme in the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Office involving former department Secretary Jack Montoucet, who also was indicted but has not gone to trial.

It is believed Guidry’s sentencing has been delayed to secure his cooperation in the case against Haynes.

Guidry, who also worked in the pretrial intervention program in East Baton Rouge Parish, was arrested in December 2021 in

VACCINE

Continued from page 1A

As state attorney general and governor, Landry has opposed federal policies regarding the use of the COVID vaccines.

He led efforts by other Republican-run states to set aside mandates that health care workers get vaccinated.

Shortly after becoming governor, Landry signed a law banning state officials from promoting use of the COVID vaccine.

“True conservatives should empower patients,” Cassidy said Wednesday in reply to Landry’s social media post. “Big government liberals make it harder for them to take action. Get big government out of a patient’s life.”

Cassidy is a physician and strong supporter of vaccinations for 30 years before being elected to Congress. He has questioned some of the vaccination policy stances Kennedy has taken.

In speaking to Louisiana reporters over the phone Tuesday, Cassidy noted that the state surgeon general had written a blanket prescription for Narcan, the brand name for naloxone, which is used to stop an opioid overdose.

“We can have a debate back and forth about the COVID vaccine,” Cassidy said.

“We’re inconveniencing patients. We’re driving up the cost for a patient. I’m a doctor I want to make it as least expensive and as easy for the patient to get. So, if there’s a blanket prescription written out of state government to every pharmacy then why not do that?”

He pointed out that the COVID vaccine was tested and approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The vaccine also has been the target of much skepticism by the far right.

Abraham and the Louisiana Department of Health

St. Martin Parish on drug charges after the Sheriff’s Office, tipped off by the FBI, conducted a traffic stop and found him with at least 100 pills, including hydrocodone

During testimony Wednesday morning, FBI supervising agent Doug Herman said Haynes knew in January and February 2022 when he picked up two $10,000 checks from a vendor with the District Attorney’s office that the FBI was investigating.

Haynes never cashed or deposited the checks, Herman said.

Haynes’ attorney, Todd Clemons of Lake Charles, questioned why his client would accept $20,00 in kickbacks if he knew the FBI was watching.

Herman testified that there is a recorded call in which Haynes talks about looking at a truck. Guidry and PTI vendor Leonard Franques were captured

did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment.

More than any other senator, Cassidy is responsible for Kennedy, a well-known vaccine skeptic, winning confirmation as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy promised to involve the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions committee, which Cassidy chairs, in decisions he makes.

Since then, Kennedy has laid off thousands of agency employees, proposed cutting the agency’s budget, pulled funding for further vaccination research using its most promising platform, forced a civilian panel that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccine policy to resign and fired the director of the CDC less than a month after she was confirmed.

Democrats and health associations have called for Kennedy’s resignation.

Cassidy won’t go that far, saying he needs to investigate further But he and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., and also a doctor, led Republicans during a hearing last week asking Kennedy sharp questions about the government’s new vaccination policies.

Kennedy answered critics at a Senate Finance Committee by calling the senators liars and accusing them of being in the pockets of pharmaceutical companies.

A conservative Republican, Landry has made hostile comments to and about Cassidy before.

Cassidy is running for a third six-year term in 2026 and faces opposition from Louisiana Republicans who are still angry about his vote to convict President Donald Trump in 2021 of impeachment charges stemming from the Jan 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by MAGA supporters seeking to disrupt certification that Joe Biden had won the 2020 presidential election.

Landry reportedly has

discussing paying Haynes with a new, expensive truck. Haynes was never given a truck nor is there evidence that a truck was ordered for him, Herman said. In October 2021, Herman said, former City-Parish Attorney Greg Logan told Haynes via text message that then-Mayor-President Josh Guillory wanted Haynes to set up a pretrial intervention program in Lafayette City Court so the city could generate money “They wanted to boost their revenue,” Herman said.

He added that Logan told Haynes that if he did not set up the pretrial intervention program in City Court by the following Monday, Guillory would fire Haynes as city prosecutor Email Claire Taylor at ctaylor@theadvocate. com.

spoken to U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, R-Baton Rouge, about challenging Cassidy She said recently that she is more interested in representing the 5th Congressional District.

But Cassidy has drawn three conservative opponents, including state Treasurer John Fleming, R-Minden; state Sen. Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia; and Public Service Commissioner Eric Skrmetta, RMetairie Cassidy’s team has argued he is in a strong position to win, pointing to strong fundraising numbers. He has raised $9.2 million for the campaign, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. They have also rolled out endorsements, including those of Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Sen. Tim Scott, chair of the Republican Senatorial Committee, which is the primary fundraising arm to help GOP Senate campaigns. Miguez has raised $1.8 million. Skrmetta and Fleming are wealthy enough to fund their campaigns out of pocket. Fleming, for instance has raised $384,618 but has spent well over $2 million already and still has more than $2 million in reserves, according to the FEC. Skrmetta hasn’t been in the contest long enough to file with the FEC. Many political observers see Cassidy in a precarious position.

“If, eight months before primary election day, an incumbent U.S. senator has several credible opponents, no endorsements from the president and governor of his own party and no poll showing him trouncing those opponents in a runoff, he’s in deep trouble,” Bob Mann, a former LSU professor and former staffer to U.S. Sen. Russell Long and Gov Kathleen Blanco, wrote in his blog Wednesday Email Mark Ballard at mballard@theadvocate. com.

THE DESERET NEWS PHOTO By TESS CROWLEy The crowd reacts Wednesday after Charlie Kirk the CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, is shot at Utah Valley University

BY KACEN BAYLESS

The KansasCity Star (TNS)

JEFFERSON CITY,Mo. The massive crowd first gathered on the front steps of the MissouriCapitol.

One by one,they entered the domed building where state laws aremade, holding signs and hurling chants. They traveled from Kansas City,St. Louis and across rural Missouri.

Thousands of people descended on Jefferson City on Wednesday to protest Republican Gov.Mike Kehoe’sspecial session that would gerrymander Missouri’scongressional map and overhaul thestate’s initiative petition process.

“NO RIGGED MAPS,” saidone sign.

“LET EVERYVOTE COUNT,” said another Swarms of people, including union workers, activists and residents, held one of the largest rallies inside the Capitol rotunda in recent years. They roamed the halls of the building and packed into the gallery overlooking the Missouri Senate.

The protest came aday after the MissouriHouse approved the proposalsinparty-linevotes. Senate Republicansare hoping to pass both by the end of this week, but SenateDemocrats will likelyattempt to halt them through aprolonged filibuster Kehoe’sspecial session call

Studentobjected to lesson covering gender identity

BY JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press

HOUSTON Aprofessor atTexas A&M University was fired and others were removed fromtheir positions after avideo surfaced in which astudent confronted the instructor over her teaching of issuesrelated to gender identityina class on children’sliterature.

Thousandsflood Mo.Capitol to protestgerrymandering

came under pressure from President Donald Trump, who has urged Republican states to redraw their U.S.House maps to ensure Republican control of Congress. Trumphas ordered Republican

senatorstofallinlineand passit with no changes. “I will be watching closely,” theRepublican president posted on social media. Theefforthas thrust Missouri into anational redistricting fight

spearheaded by Trump’sadministration.

In Missouri, the goal is to make it easier for aRepublican to win Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s5th Congressional Dis-

trict.

Trumpmade that effort explicitly clear,saying the new mapwould give Missourians “the opportunity to elect an additional MAGA Republican in the 2026 Midterm Elections.”

“The Missouri Senate must pass thisMap now,ASIS, to deliver a gigantic Victory forRepublicans in the ‘Show Me State,’ and across the Country,” the post said.

Trump’s post undercut arguments from Missouri Republicans that the mid-decade redistricting effort wasfor reasons other than appeasing theRepublican president.

ProtestattendeeJim Edson emphasized that Kansas Citians would be sharing the congressionaldistricts andrepresentatives as people living in rural parts of central,northernand southern Missouri.

Those residents have different needs than people in Kansas City. He worries about how achange in congressional leadership would affect the city’spriorities and federal funding.

“Wehave nothing in common with alot of thefolks south of Kansas City,” Edson said.

Roughly twohours after the protest began, the Republican-controlledMissouri Senate charged forward and gaveled intosession, intent on redrawing the mapand overhauling the petition process.

Theincident prompted Glenn Hegar,the chancellor of the Texas A&M University System, to order an audit of courses at all12schools in the system.

“It is unacceptable for A&M System faculty to pusha personal politicalagenda,” Hegar said in a statement on Monday.“We have been tasked with training the next generation of teachers and child care professionals. That responsibility should prioritizeprotecting children not engaging in indoctrination.”

for thecourse.”

Welsh said theissue hadbeen raised earlierthis summer and he had“made it clear to ouracademicleadershipthatcourse content must match catalog descriptionsfor each and every one of our course sections.” Welshsaid he learned on Monday thatthis was not takingplace.

“This isn’tabout academicfreedom;it’sabout academic responsibility,”Welsh said.

of authoritarianism that suppress free thought,” Jonathan Friedman, Sy Syms Managing Director of U.S. Free Expression Programs at PEN America, said in astatement.

Thecontroversybegan on Monday after Republican state Rep. BrianHarrison posted avideo, audio recordings andother materials on athread on the social media site

X. Harrison called forthe professor and Welsh to be fired for“DEI and LGBTQ indoctrination.”

in this because it’snot legal and I don’twanttopromotesomething that is against our president’slaws as wellasagainst my religious beliefs,” the student could be heard saying in the video.

The firing of Melissa McCoul, who had been asenior lecturerin the English department, came after political pressure from Republican lawmakers, including Gov Greg Abbott, who had called for her termination.

TexasA&M University President Mark A. Welsh III said in a statement Tuesday he directed the campusprovost to fire McCoul afterlearning theinstructorhad continued teaching content in acourse on children’sliterature “that did not align with any reasonable expectationofstandard curriculum

Welsh also ordered theremoval of the dean of the College of Arts andSciences andthe head of the English department from their administrative positions.

The actions by Texas A&M were criticized by facultyand writers’ groups.

In onevideo, afemalestudent and the professor can be heard arguing over genderidentity being taught in achildren’sliterature class.The student and professor arenot shownand it’s unclear when the video was taken.

“If youare uncomfortable in this class youdohavethe right to leave. What we are doingisnot illegal,” the professor said. In her back-and-forth withthe professor, thestudent mentioned an executive orderthatPresident Donald Trumpsigned earlier this year in which he said “it is the policy of the UnitedStates to recognize twosexes, maleand female.”

Anew Texas law took effect on Sept. 1that forbids Texas K-12 schoolsfromteaching aboutsexual orientation or gender identity

The new law does not apply to universities and other institutions of higher education. TexasA&M prof firedafter recorded

“Weare witnessing the death of academic freedom in Texas, the remaking of universitiesastools

“Thisalso very much goes against not only myself but alot of people’sreligious beliefs.And so Iamnot going to participate

Governor flexes state’s accomplishments

Landry makes surprise visit to Lafayette

BY STEPHEN MARCANTEL

Staff writer

Gov. Jeff Landry lauded the state Legislature for its efforts to spur some of the largest investments Louisiana has ever seen in a surprise visit to Lafayette.

Landry joined several lawmakers Wednesday during a legislative road show at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium to talk about the increased economic activity happening in the state since he took office.

“We got more things going for us right now

than many states around the country When we have complained, why is this state doing better than Louisiana? Right now, the place to be is in Louisiana,” Landry said.

The state has seen more than $70 billion worth of private investment since January 2024, with one of the largest being Meta’s $10 billion AI data center in northeast Louisiana, Landry told the audience.

Those investments have translated into around 17,000 new jobs in the past 18 months, he said.

“The rest of the country is not going to lay down and let us take those positions handily They’re gonna watch to see the things we’re doing and their gonna move to try to do those

discuss the continued economic investment in Louisiana.

Downtown Ambassadors Operations Manager James Earehart power

ahead of the anniversary ceremony which will be at 9 a.m. on Thursday at

BY JOANNA BROWN Staff writer

BY ASHLEY WHITE Staff writer

South Louisiana Community College is hosting several career fairs for students and community members this fall.

The events, hosted by the college’s career services, are designed to provide networking opportunities, professional development and career exploration.

“These events are an incredible opportunity for our students, alumni and community members to meet face-to-face with employers and access valuable resources for their career journeys,” Toni Celestine, director of career and testing services at the college, said in a statement. “We are dedicated to supporting our students as they prepare for the workforce and to connecting local talent with

STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK

washes the area around the 9/11 memorial on Wednesday,

Parc Sans Souci.

Gov. Jeff Landry joined state lawmakers at Our Lady of the Lourdes Stadium on Wednesday to

STAFF PHOTO By STEPHEN MARCANTEL

On 9/11,we

reflecton ourunity and strength in face of terror

Editor’snote:Versions of thiseditorialhave been published on previous9/11 anniversaries.

When terrorists attacked America on Sept.11, 2001, theworld was avery different place. With the end of Cold Warand the fall of the Soviet Union,the country had seen aperiodofrelative peace and prosperity as the world’s only remaining superpower

But new threats were bubbling beneath the surface, and on that fateful TuesdayinSeptember they would burstinto full view,altering our sense of what national security means for decades to come.

Just as the work day wasbeginning,America and the worldwatched with horror as apassengerjet flew into the NorthTower of the World Trade Center in New York.

Surely,itmust be some terrible accident, many thought at that moment. But the reality of the situation wouldsoon become clear when, 16 minutes later,another airliner flew intothe South Tower of the landmark office complex.

At 9:37 a.m.EST,ahijacked airliner flew into the western façade of the Pentagon.A half-hour later, after aheroic revolt bypassengers, four hijackers flew United Airlines Flight 93 into a field in Pennsylvania.

Time seemed compressed forusthen. Events flowed together into an emotional stormthatis vividly rememberedbyeveryone who felt the attack on America on Sept.11, 2001. They say that time heals all wounds. That’s not true for the thousands of familiessuffering from the loss of loved ones, includingyoung adultswho have grown up without aparent or a sibling.

With the killing of Osama bin Laden and several of his leading co-conspirators, some measureofjusticewas metedout for 9/11. Tragically,for the good people of Afghanistan, ourefforts failed to preventthat countryfrom backslidingintothe handsofthe Talibanand becoming aharbor for terrorists.

Each year,aswemove further from the events of 9/11, it becomes even more important that we stop and reflect on that day.Nations must have long memories,not justoflossbut also of the incredible fortitudeand courage of ourpeopleinthe aftermathoftragedy.When NewYorkers were wounded andhurting, aid and sympathy poured in from all parts of the country.Welet the world know thatthese United States were standing strongand standing together

We also ought to remember how the world ralliedaroundusand against thehatefulideology of terrorists who, then as now,seek to sowdivision amongthe communityof freenations.We value the alliesthat have stood with us throughout history,not because we alwaysagree, but becausewhen it matters, they are there. And in an increasingly unstable world, it’s good to know we don’thave to goitalone.

Letters are published identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’scity of residence

TheAdvocate |The Times-Picayune require astreet address andphone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor,The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@ theadvocate.com.

TO SEND US A LETTER, SCANHERE

OPINION

Lawmakers must support NIHand itsstate impact

As ahematologist and medical oncologist, Iamdeeply concerned about the administration’sproposed cuts to the National Institutes of Healthand theimpact on thehealth of my patients and thepeople of New Orleansand Louisianaatlarge. NIH is the nation’slargest public funder of medical research, and investment in its work has led to incredible innovation in medicine. Childhood leukemia survival rates have improved immensely in thepast 30 years because of research that has come from NIH, and new treatments for sickle cell disease, lymphoma and leukemia have given hope to those whomight have otherwise run out of treatment options. Louisianacannot afford cuts to medical research that will put our community at greater risk. Ourstate has thefourth-highest rate of cancer deathinthe nation, withsignificant disparities across populations. For

example, men with Cajun ancestry have an 11% greater risk of developing colon cancer than men in other partsofthe country NIH funds research that aims to understand why these differences may affect patient care. Reducing that support meanswe’re closing the door to developing new treatments, even cures for cancer,Alzheimer’s, heart disease and other conditions. If theNIH budget is cut, it could stop or delay new treatments from reaching thepeople who need them the most. Ultimately,our community will pay theprice. Medical advances and breakthroughs depend on sustained support.AsCongress prepares to debate thebudget,weneed our lawmakers to recognize the importance of medical research to the people of our state and fully fund NIH CHANCELLOR DONALD NewOrleans

Chef’s exampleshone brightly followingKatrina

For me, likesomanyofmycompatriots, the20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina was solemnly commemorated as atime for reflection,remembrance and agreater commitment to embrace and respect our shared humanity.InAugust 2005, Iworked at the Convention Center, where Iwitnessed firsthand thehorrors, anguish and suffering of people who were in dire need of food, water and medicine.

Namely,Iwitnessed people of goodwill, my fellow securitycolleagues, who provided care and comfort for the downtrodden. Conversely,Ialso witnessed inhumanity at its worst when Convention Center

honchos refused to feed someof their employees, one being afemale employee with children. Despite theprohibition to feed employees, Convention Center executive chef Leon West’sbeautiful humanity shone brightly, and he ignored such drivel. Ishall always remember thecompassion of West. He fed people. He tried to allay their anxieties with encouraging words. He demonstrated that he genuinely cared about the hungry and needy West’s selflessact affirmed the best of what humanity is, i.e., loving and caring for our brothers and sisters. HUEYHARRISON NewOrleans

TwoeventsatSuperdomeleftout of commemoration

The Icon Turns 50 supplementthat was included in the Aug. 3paper was a good read, but Iwas disappointed and surprised that the writers left out two important events thatI was lucky to attend in the Dome. The Eagles’ “Hell Freezes Over” tour on May 4, 1995. As Irecall, the Dome was rocking and packed. At the time,I was working on an environmental project of Don Henley’s Caddo Lake Institute on the Texas/

Louisiana border.Another noteworthy event was the FinalFourChampionship of April2,2012, featuring Kentucky vs. Kansas, which Iattended. Kentucky beat Kansas 67-59. Future Pelicans star Anthony Daviswas named MVP In closing, the best eventI attended would be the NFCtitle gamethe Saints won over the Vikings on Jan.4,2010.

JIMMY JOHNSTON Slidell

I’mconfused by the coverage of the LSU vs. Louisiana Tech football game. Reading the sports page, it seemsyour reporters believed that Tech couldn’t score against LSU because of the Tigers’ great defense, while also maintaining that the Tigers couldn’tscore against the Bulldogs because of LSU’s sloppy offense. Holding those positions simultaneously is something of a logical inconsistency and might not be telling the whole story Is it not possible that the Bulldogs also have agood defense? Is it not possible that Louisiana Tech, with asmall fraction of LSU’senrollment and practically none of its NIL dollars, nevertheless can put agood football team on the field? Ateam that perhaps forgot its role, which waspresumably to come to Baton Rouge, get pummeled, collect its check, and go home?

The writers said that the result of the gamewas never in doubt. Idon’t think those in attendance at Tiger Stadium would agree, at least through the first half.The newspaper also reported earlier last weekthat LSU would not start its first-string quarterback. Not only was that not the case, but the Bulldogs also forced the Tigers to give an all-out effort forfour quarters simply to winthe game, not to mention failing to cover the spread by alarge margin.

Iexpect The Advocate’ssports section to be LSU-centric. But it is also aLouisiana paper,and Tech is also a Louisiana school. Iwould have liked to have seen at least apositive mention of the effort and relative success of the Bulldogs against overwhelming resources and in ahostile venue.

Tributetoagreat

American songwriter

For TomLehrer on the date of his passing, July 26: When you were alive

Youbrought much joy to The adolescent self of me Comedy,satire Skewering awider world

For everyone to see.

SYDNEYWOLF NewOrleans

RILEY HAGAN III St. George

PresidentTrump rampingup deportations amid debate

Britain, land of theunfree

When you think about the current political fight over immigration enforcement, start with this: There are millions of people, at least 15 million and perhaps as many as 20 million, who are in the United States illegally.Millions of them are new arrivals with no claim to stay in the U.S., having arrived in the mass border incursion of the Biden years. Many should be deported. But in our system, it is very hard to deport millions of people. It is easier to get them to deport themselves. In the 2020 election, Democratic primary candidates vied with each other over who could offer the most openborders policy

The winner,Joe Biden,went on to theWhite House and presided over the influx of millions of illegal border crossers. The Biden border catastrophe was one reason Donald Trump won in 2024. And now,President Donald Trump is making good on his campaign promise to ramp up deportations.

It is controversial, to say the least. And it has fired up adebate over whether “illegally” really means “illegally,” or whether those who crossed into the United States in defiance of its laws should be allowed to stay with few, if any,consequences. In short, should the United States enforce its immigration law,ornot?

It’snot clear precisely how much Biden increased the number of people who are in the country illegally.On the low end, there’s this, from Pew Research: “The number of unauthorized immigrants in the United States reached an all-time high of 14 million in 2023after two consecutive years of record growth. The increase of 3.5 million in two years is the biggest on record.” Of course, in 2023, there was still nearly two more years of the border rush to go, so the actual number is definitely higher.Onthe high end, there could be 20 million people in the country illegally

During the campaign, while Trump repeatedly promised “mass deportations,” he focused on deporting illegal immigrants who had committed serious crimes beyond illegally entering the United States —the so-called “worst first” strategy.Inoffice, the Trump administration has certainly donealot of that.

But the Trump team is also staging high-profile enforcement operations at

worksites likely to have alot of illegal immigrant workers. Some of them haveadditional criminal records, but others do not What is the thinking behind that? It is thathigh-profile immigration actions have effects far beyond any specificbusiness targeted on any specific day

During the transition, Art Arthur,a former immigration judge who is now with the Center for Immigration Studies, explained the workinvolved in deporting even asingle person.That person would be placed in removal proceedings before an immigration judge.“Some of them have made asylum claims,” Arthursaid. “Some didn’t make any claim at all. Some of them may have come many yearsago, and they’ve been sitting on the docket for decades.” Arthur saidthe U.S. has the resources to remove about 400,000 people peryear —maybe 600,000 if officials are given more money and staff.

Butlast month came reports that 1.6 million people who were in the U.S. illegally left the country between January and July.“This is likely due to increased out-migration in response to stepped-up enforcement,” noted CIS.Somany of them left —aprocess thatlikely continues today.Itturns out the “mass deportations” that Trump promised in the 2024 campaign are

happening —except they are in fact mass self-deportations. If theBiden yearsproved anything, it is that there have to be consequences for entering the United States illegally.Ifthereare no consequences, the flow of illegal crossers will get bigger and bigger and bigger.Asfor the disruption in thelives of those illegal immigrantswho choosetoleave, first, they did enter the U.S. illegally,and second, many of thosetargeted in the Trump enforcement haven’tbeen in thecountry for very long. Pew noted that “a record number of unauthorized immigrantshave been in theU.S. fora relatively short time due to therapid growthinthe overall unauthorized population since 2021.” Thoseleaving becauseofthe raids arelikely to include many who have thefewest ties to theUnited States Meanwhile, thepolitical battle over Trump’spolicy rages on. Many Democrats have pledged to resist Trump’s enforcement of immigration law Some have tried to blur thedistinction between legal andillegal immigration, as if all have theright to stay in the United States, in hopes of turning public opinion againstTrump’s actions. ButTrump has thelaw on his side.

Byron York is on X, @Bryon York. Email him at byronyork@yorkcomm. com.

“Most of those trampledsites on thoseplaces-you-must-golists also depend on tourismfor jobs and revenues.”

My sister and her guy just returned from Portugal after their second big travel venture of the year.I asked, naturally,“How was it?” She said, “Awful.” They were crammed in Porto alongside a zillion other tourists. Acrush of bodies and long lines under a brutal sun. The experience left them with acase of hodophobia, the fear of travel. (Hodos is Greek for “journey ”) They vow to stick closer to home.

When the Irish comedian GrahamLinehan arrived at London Heathrow Airport this past weekend, he wasgreeted by five armed British police officers who arrested him for —get this three rude tweets.

away from the hottest spots —Portugal has been playing up cities outside Lisbon, such as Porto. As one might guessfrom my sister’s recent trip, Portohas been overrun by theTikTok mobs

Overtourism is aplague for destinations as diverse as Barcelona and the Galapagos Islands. Thelocals are finding their leisurely village ways —amain attraction for the human tsunamis —ruined by tourists grabbing cafe chairs and swarming vendors selling ice cream and T-shirts.

Visitors wanting an authentic interaction with the culture find themselves chewed up in the tourism maw Is there away to restore the thrill of new places?

That would be hard withtheir sightlines taken up by Instagrammers looking to fill their feeds in front of picturesque fountains.

Can anything be done about this?

Most of those trampled sites on those places-you-must-go listsalso depend on tourism for jobs and revenues. As one partial solution, some of the targeted countries have put in place or upped their tourism taxes. Some have tried to steer the hordes

Perhaps we should start mocking those lists or at least stop giving them credence. One of my feeds turned up “Bucket List Journey” offering “My Top100 Favorite Experiences” (Really,MyTop 100 Selfies). Each features the influencer,highly styled in hiking boots, awork shirtand a tousledblondish mane. Her No. 2adventure, “Swim in theJellyfish Lake in Palau,” hasher underwater in atiny bikini, jellyfish floating all around. Andofcourse, sheurges readers, “Visit My Shop!” with ahandy link. Celebritiesalsocan’tstop themselves from mugging for thecameras in places they have no ties to. Singer Katy Perry was videoed cavorting in abikini smack on top of environmentally fragile and protected dunes on the SpanishislandofIbiza. She’salso seen on the back of amotorcycle zipping through avillage. Herproduction company apparently forgot to ask the local governmentfor permission to shoot Jeff Bezos and his bride fancied theycould take over Venice for their recent wedding party.Already overwhelmed by tourists, Venice didn’t care tobeexpropriated by an Ameri-

can multi-billionaire as background for his grotesque wedding show.(Locals demonstrated against it as an affront to La Serenissima.)

The Englishvillage of Bourton-onthe-Water is plagued by what it calls “TikTok tourists.” Called theVenice of theCotswolds, thevillage is plagued by crowds using theriver and itspicturesque bridges solely for content creation. These visitors show scant interestinthe heritage or natural environment

“They arethe ultimate hit-and-run tourist,” alocal official complained to theBBC Perhaps there’salong-shot solution in turning some of the social media hams off from these phony “experiences.”

You’d hatetostart charging people for simply walkingvillage streets. Rome has made it illegal to sitonthe SpanishStepsorwade in the Trevi Fountain. (Exhibitionists are especially keen on recreating AnitaEkberg’s wet romp in “La Dolce Vita.”)

Some enterprising soul can set up astudio withstagesets for Machu Picchu or Portofino. They can put big turtles on rocksresembling the Galapagos coastline. Then content creators have one-stop traveling for their scenery and can leave the real places alone. Just athought

Froma Harrop is on X, @FromaHarrop.

Or,asLinehan wrote on his Substack, “I was arrested at an airport like aterrorist, locked in acell like acriminal, taken to hospital because the stress nearly killed me,and banned from speaking online —all because Imade jokes that upset some psychotic crossdressers.”

Whether or not you find his words offensive, it’shard to disagree with Harry Potterauthor J.K. Rowling, who tweeted, “This is totalitarianism. Utterly deplorable.”

Surely,many Americans reading this must be thinking this wassometerrible mistake. Aoneoff, as the British might say Actually not. It’smore like standard operating procedure.

This seems to be the animating purpose of what The NewYork Times’ Ross Douthat calls the “managerial multiculturalism” of law enforcement and civil service, especially in Britain, but also in muchofEurope as well.

Case in point: the official response to displays all over England of the red-on-white perpendicular St. George’sCross flag —one of the three crosses that joined together form the United Kingdom’sfamiliar Union Jack. People have also been painting the St. George’sCross on roundabouts and sewer covers —and local officials have been painting them over and removing flags from lamp posts. These are obviously protests against the heavy immigration that has increased the UK’sforeignborn population from 6% in 1990 to 17% in 2024. This process was encouraged surreptitiously by Tony Blair’sNew Labour government (19972007) and when both local authorities andnational media downplayed the revelations, by a local Labour MP in 2003 and an investigating academic in 2014, of Pakistani-immigrant grooming gangs making sex slaves of teenage girls in working-class Yorkshire towns. The obvious motive of this widespread cover-up was fearof anti-Asian prejudice.

Gaining control over immigration wasone reason for the unexpected success of the Brexit referendum to leave the European Union in 2016. But the Conservative party’spost-Brexit immigration law waspoorly drafted and resultedin raising net immigration, mostly from South Asia and Africa, from under 400,000 to over 800,000. The Labour government, elected in December 2024, makes the point that the current immigration level was “a political choice that was never put before the British people.” Yetithasn’tsubmittednew legislation and has made statements suggesting it regards immigration criticsas bigots.

In response to the raising of St. George’sCross flags over muchofBritain, Prime Minister Keir Starmer tweeted, “I’m proud of our flag as a patriotic symbol of our nation, like lots of people I’ve proudly got one up at home.” But he felt obliged to add another sentence: “Using our flag to divide devalues it.”

The result has been arejection of Britain’stwo major parties, which date back more than acentury: the Conservatives to 1846, Labour to 1900. Similarly,inEurope, so-called populist parties lead in polls —orare already,asinItaly,Netherlands and Finland, in government. Despite a court decree ordering its leader,Marine Le Pen, off the ballot, the Rally National leads in France In Germany,the Alternative for Germany (AfD) has edged ahead of the governing Christian Democrats.

Established parties have not allowed Reform, RN or AfD in their coalitions. In cooperation with the established press, they have suppressed news of crimes and terrorist attacks by Muslim immigrants. In Germany’sregional election, non-AfD parties have agreed to say nothing disparaging about immigrants and “negative social developments such as unemployment or threats to domestic security.”

They act as if there’sreason to believe that populist parties are equivalent to Hitler’sNazis. But limiting immigration of people with far different cultural traditions, whichinsome cases reject cultural tolerance and the rule of law,does not weigh the same in moral scales as rounding up and murdering 6million Jews. Banning biological menfrom competing in women’ssports is not akin to rounding up and murdering hundreds of thousands of homosexuals and Roma.

“I believe deeply that there is no security if you are afraid of the voices, the opinions andthe conscience that guide your very own people,” Vice President JD Vance told ashocked audience at the Munich Security Conference last February

“You cannot win ademocratic mandate by censoring your opponents or putting them in jail —whether that’sthe leader of the opposition, a humble Christian praying in her own home, or a journalist trying to report the news,” Vance continued. Or,ashemight have added if gifted with foresight, an Irish comedian given to firing off rude tweets.

Michael Barone is on X, @MichaelBarone.

Michael Barone

Froma Harrop

Byron York

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

Awoman is detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents outsideaHomeDepot in Los Angeles last month.

Firefighting firmfiles suit in Smitty’s explosion

BY DAVID J. MITCHELL Staff writer

Aprivate firefighting company says it stepped into the breach last month when flames engulfed aTangipahoa Parish oil and lubricants plant, but now can’tget the company to pay its $6.16 million bill.

US Fire Pumpleveled the accusation in alawsuit against Smitty’sSupply Inc., accusing it of refusing to pay for at least seven days of 24-hour firefighting services when the blazeat the Roseland plant was at its worst, Tangipahoa Parish court papers show It is among araft of lawsuits filed againstthe plant in the wake of the explosion and fire, including one this week from anearby cattle rancher alleging damage.

US Fire Pump, which has an operationinHolden in nearby Livingston Parish has also placed alien on Smitty’sproperties in Tangipahoa in an attemptto secure payment for the purportedly unpaid bill.

ASmitty’sattorney says, however,that the bill was too high and under negotiation when the suit was filed by surprise.

In the lawsuit, US Fire alleges Tangipahoa Parish fire officials and later,one or more representativesof Smitty’sasked US Fire for help fighting the blaze. US Fire officials reacheda deal with Smitty’spresident less than an hour afterthe fire started at 12:50 p.m. Aug. 22. The suit claims US Fire’s work “significantlyreduced the duration and extentof the fire at Smitty’s,” preventing injury and further damage to Smitty’s, its inventories and surrounding affiliated businesses, such as Cam2 Internationaland Big 4Trucking. The massive fire burnedat least one parish fire truck, caused the spill of millions of gallons of unknown chemicals into theTangipahoa River and surrounding properties and sent alarge,

LANDRY

Continued from page1B

But Ican tell youthis,their gonna have to get up real early,and their gonna have to work reallong to catch up with what we’ve done in the last 18 months,” Landry said.

Landry used his time to renewhis calls for the state to

NETWORK

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which won aPulitzer Prize for localreporting in 2023.

“This partnership will unlock new resources, enableustostaffuptocover new beats and become even more ambitious in how we connect you with what matters in Lafayette,” wrote Maderinthe Sept. 9announcement.

Mader said that as aresult of joining Deep South

black plume over arural corner of the parish, dropping soot on residents and requiring a1-mile evacuation zone.The EPAhas said soot was reported 15 miles away from Smitty’s Filed Aug. 29, thelawsuit is oneofat least17 brought in the Tangipahoa courthouse in Amite against Smitty’s.Most are seeking class actionstatus for fire-related damage

‘Knewthe risks’ Others are unique. On Tuesday,rancher Ronnie Polezcek sued Smitty’sover the allegedimpact emissions andoil from the fire have had on hiscattle and property.

That suit,which isn’t seeking class action status, alleges one of the cows hadastillborn calf shortly after theexplosion and that Polezcek was forced to move his cowsafterhis home, pond, hay,pasture andcattlehad been coated with soot and oily residue.

In additiontotransportation costs, therancher’ssuit

be income-tax free by2033 if economic activity is maintained.

Aflatrateof3%onpersonal income tax took effect Jan. 1, alongwith asalestax increase to 5%. Theadministration’splanalsoeliminated corporate franchise tax and capped corporate tax rates at 5.5%.

“When it’sall said and done, we nolonger will beknown

Today,The Current will hire two more reporters to cover Lafayette overthe next year

Last week The Current hosted TheUndercurrent Awards with CBS News contributor, Lafayettenative and The Current board member David Begnaud. Thateventcelebrateslocal residents making a profound community impact, and this year honored Lafayette residents LuisMora, founder of the Asociación CulturalLatinoAcadiana;Anna Kojevnikov

is seeking damages to his cattleand property,which is 3miles northeast of Roseland, and accusesSmitty’s of negligence, nuisanceand trespass.

“Smitty’sknew the risks of its operations yet repeatedly failedtocomply with the most basicsafety and environmentalstandards,” said LaCrishaMcAllister of Singleton Schreiber,the firm representing Polezcek. “This explosion was not an accident; it was the foreseeable result of years of negligence, and the surrounding community is nowleft to deal withthe fallout.”

The suit detailedenvironmental violationsand finesthe companystacked up from the EPAand state It points outthatSmitty’s stored millions of gallons of petroleum-basedproducts and chemical additives that, when burned, produced toxic hazardous organic compounds,heavy metals, dioxins and fine particulates

TheEPA hassaidits air and soot testing shows neither theemissions northe

for just our great hospitality andour great food and our friendliness. We will be known as an economic leader,not only in the South, but in the country,” Landry said. Thelegislative roadshow is expected to last another 4 weeks, with lawmakers traveling around the state to discuss changesthe Legislature has made since Landrytook office.

and Allison Nederveld, of theLafayette Tool Library; Bree Sargent, of theAcadiana Center for the Arts; and Erica Melancon Fox, of Maison Freetown

TheCurrent is basedin Lafayette at the Acadiana Center for theArts, located at 101W.Vermilion St. They publish news stories from theregion on their website and in The Current’snewsletter,The Wire.

EmailJoanna Brown at joanna.brown@ theadvocate.com.

material posed an immediaterisk to the public; environmental groups have questionedthistesting, however

Smitty’sdid not immediately respond toarequest for comment Wednesday on therancher’ssuit

‘Grossly overcharged’ US Fire’sbreach of contract andprivateworks suit, whichisalsonot aclass-action suit, is the first related to the unpaid costs associatedwith the fire response

Latelastmonth, EPAofficials reported that the company was having “solvency” issues. EPAisleading theresponse and using Superfund dollarstopay for the work, though Smitty’sis the potentially responsible party

An attorney forSmitty’s

said on Wednesday that the company’s ability to pay isn’tthe problem.

“This surprise legal filing by US Fire Pump Company only comes after Smitty’s Supply expressed theirconcern to this company about being grossly overcharged for the services US Fire provided,”DavidR.Sherman, attorney forSmitty’s and alawyer at Chehardy, Shermanand Williams, said in astatement.

“This is about acompany potentially choosing to take advantage of the situation that Smitty’sand Tangipahoa Parish were in during the immediate response to this incident.”

An attorney for US Fire didn’timmediately return requests for comment Wednesday. According to the suit,

thecompanybrought in 30 employees, multiple water pumps, ahosetruck, excavators, 10 two-ton response vehicles, dronesfor thermalimaging and product measurement, monitoring trailers, two foam monitoring trailers, 8miles of variouskinds of hoses andother equipment. The company also supplied fire suppression foam, thesuit alleges. US Fire directed those sources after ChadTate, the president of Smitty’s, cut adeal for help at 1:44 p.m. Aug. 22.

Tate signeda work order and verbally instructed US Fire, thelawsuit alleges, to respond and “use its specialized equipment, expertise and manpower to contain andput outthe fire at Smitty’s Roselandfacility.” With the lien filedagainst Smitty’s properties,USFire also supplieda copyofa workorder dated Aug. 22 andsigned by Tate.Portions of the order are redacted andthe space in the work order to describe what US Fire wassupposed to do was left blank. In additiontopaymentof the bill, US Fire is seeking contractual interest on the unpaid bill, attorney’sfees andcourt costs.

David J. Mitchell can be reached at dmitchell@ theadvocate.com.

SPORTS

Southside product scores big moment forCajuns

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

When former Southside High quarterback

Landon Baptiste walked on at UL as awide receiver,hehad no wayofknowing what happened in Saturday’s34-10 win over McNeese State would come to fruition.

But there was the redshirt sophomore receiver catching a10-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to put away the visiting Cowboys in Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium.

“That wasn’tmy expectation on the drive,” said Baptiste, whose Cajuns play at Missouri at 3p.m. Saturday.“Ithought we were just goingtorun the ball in. Iwas just going to do my job blocking and do my job for therunning backs to get open. But when my name was called, Iwas ready for it.”

Theresult was his firstcareer touchdown.

“WhenIwas running off, Iwas like, ‘Ijust hope my mom and dad saw that.’ “hesaid. “Thatwas the biggest thing forme.”

Baptiste received overwhelming confirmation after the game that his wish was granted. Hisfamilywas laughing it up and telling everybody who wouldlistenwhat their son did.

“When Iran up to them after the game,

BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer

Taliese Fuaga wanted to giveit one more series. Just before halftime of Sunday’sloss to the Arizona Cardinals, thepaininthe New Orleans Saints tackle’skneehad become “really sharp.” Butrather thansit,the 23-year-old reiterated to teamofficialsthat he planned to at least testitout after the break. And then they’d decide from there Fuaga played another 18 snaps —the entire third quarter—beforethe pain became unbearable.

“I had to pull it,” Fuagasaid. “For sure. I got to be out there, but man, it’salong season ahead.” Fuaga watched the rest of the gamefrom the end of the bench. Days later,he’sstill managing the knee injurythat also caused him to miss Wednesday’spractice.

In aconversation with the Times-Picayune, Fuaga said he’sdealing withaninflamed patellar tendon —the sameissue that sidelined him for afew days near the end of August. He aggravated the injury further,hesaid, when he fell on the ground sometime in the second quarter

It’salways hot in Gainesville, Florida, but I’ve been told the weather was unusually stifling during Saturday’sFlorida-South Florida game. Maybe it’s just Florida in September Or maybe it’s theheat radiating off of Billy Napier

The fourth-year Floridacoach pulled his jobout of the fire last year when his Gators ended the season with afour-game winning streak, starting witha27-16 victory over LSUinThe Swampand ending with a33-8 Gasparilla Bowl rompover Tulane. Despite aseason-opening 55-0 romp over rent-a-win Long Island University(who knew LIU even had afootball team?), Napier finds himself back in the frying pan after Saturday’s18-16 home loss to South Florida. Maybe thatlosswon’tturn out to look as badasitdoes now.USF has beaten two rankedteams to start the sea-

againstthe Cardinals. Despite theinjury,Fuaga said he’s optimistic he’ll play Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers. He said he expects to practice Thursday “I’m goingtobegoodthisweek,” Fuaga said.“Just making sureI’m good, making sure …nothing’sinflamed or anything.Justmaking sure it’scalmed down.” Before exiting, Sunday’sperformance hardlywas Fuaga’s finest. Afterplayingleft tackle as a rookie, the Saintsthis offseason moved Fuagaback to right tackle —his natural position. But the 23-year-old struggled. According to Pro Football Focus, thelinemanallowed four pressures, one of which resulted in asack on quarterback Spencer Rattler Fuaga admitted he was“in my own head.” Fuaga said at first,he didn’tnoticehehad aggravated his knee because of the adrenaline pumping during live action.But once Fuaga got back to the sideline after adrive,the pain started to kick in. That not only affected Fuagaphysically but alsomentally

son (No. 25 Boise State as well) and now shapes up as aprime contender for the Group of Five’sCFP berth. But Florida was an 181/2-point favorite in that game, ranked 13th, and according to Napier,has the best roster of his four-year tenure with an uber-talented quarterback and an established culture. It sounds alot like what Brian Kelly has been saying about his LSU program.Strikingly so. The major difference is Kelly is now 31-11 at LSU while Napier is 20-20 at Florida. And BK isn’ttrying to pull his team out of the ditch after aloss to big underdog Louisiana Tech but instead making acourse correction after asluggish 23-7 victory Kelly and Napier have been linked because their hirings came during the samecycle. Kelly piled up more wins than any coach in Notre Dame history (officially

LSHOF

Scott Rabalais

Florida coach Billy Napier calls atimeout duringthe second half against Long Island on Aug. 30 in Gainesville, Fla Napier findshimself back in the hot seat after Saturday’sloss to South Florida AP PHOTO

2:05 p.m. CRAFTSMAN Truck: Practice FS2

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6p.m. FortValleySt. at Clark Atlanta ESPN2

6:30 p.m. NC State at Wake ForestESPN WOMEN’S COLLEGE SOCCER

5p.m.Stanford at ClemsonACCN

5p.m. Maryland at Penn St. BTN

5p.m. Arkansas at Florida SECN

7p.m. Minnesota at Nebraska BTN

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9p.m. Washington at Southern Cal BTN GOLF

Noon LPGA: QueenCity Golf

3p.m. KornFerry:Open Golf

5p.m. PGA: Procore ChampionshipGolf MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

6p.m. Kansas City at Cleveland Fox

8:30 p.m.L.A.Angels at Seattle MLBN NFL

7:15 p.m.Washington at Green BayPRIME MEN’S SOCCER

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1p.m.Guadalajara &Sao Paulo Tennis WNBA

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9p.m.Las VegasatLos AngelesNBATV

Parsonsreveres Commanders coachQuinn

Packerspassrusher to face former boss

BY STEVE MEGARGEE

AP sportswriter

GREEN BAY,Wis. Green Bay Packers defensiveend Micah Parsons remains grateful to Washington Commanders coach Dan Quinn, even though they’re no longer together in Dallas.

Quinn was the Dallas defensive coordinator duringParsons’ first threeseasonswiththe Cowboys. They became NFC East rivals last year when Washington hired Quinn.

They’re no longer in the same division, but they’re still facing off in the second week of the season on Thursday,when Quinn’s Commanders head to Lambeau FieldtotakeonParsons’Packers

“It’sjust like afather figure, uncle, however you wantto put it,” Parsons said. “That’smyguy andwe’re going to go forever We’re in this for the long run and maybe our journeys might cross again one day.”

Their paths crossThursday, though perhapsnot in theway Quinn would have preferred. Quinn knows all toowell how Parsons’ presence can be adream foradefensivecoordinator and anightmare for an opposing offense.

“I was surprised that he was traded, and Ihad an absolute blast coaching him,” Quinn said.

“Hebrings out the mad scientist in you to see: ‘All right,what if he was here and how would youfeature him?And what about over here?’”

Parsons is listed as questionable for Thursday’sgame as he dealswith aback issue. He also was listed as questionable before Sunday’sgame and went on to play slightly less than half the Packers’ defensive snaps.

This game could come down to howwell Parsons and therest of the Packers defenders handle Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, who led Washington to an NFC championship game appearance as arookie last season.

Daniels threw for 233 yards and atouchdown while also rushing for 68 yards in Washington’s21-6 season-opening victory over the New York Giants.

Parsons played less than half of Green Bay’ssnaps as he recovers

from aback issue, yet he still had oneofthe Packers’ foursacksin their 27-13 win over the Detroit Lions.

Parsons wasmaking his Packers debut Sunday,just over a week afterGreen Bay acquired him from Dallas and made him thehighest-paid non-quarterback in league history.While withDallas last season,Parsons totaled 41/2 sacks in theCowboys’two matchups with Washington.

“You don’tlet game-wreckers wreckthe game,” Danielssaid.

“You have to keep an eye on him.

…Hegot paid alot of money fora reason. He is averygood player.”

Quinn-LaFleurconnection

Parsons isn’tthe only member of the Packers withties to Quinn.

Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur was aquarterbacks coach on Quinn’sAtlanta staff from 201516 and helped the Falcons reach the SuperBowl.

“I’m prettycertain Iwouldn’t be standing hereright now if it weren’t for beingwithDQfor those twoyears in Atlanta,” LaFleur said.

“Itjust changed my whole mindset in regardstohow much funyou can have within thebuild-

ä Commanders at Packers. 7:15 P.M.THURSDAy,PRIME

ing yet still get down to business.”

QBsfeelingOK

Packers quarterback Jordan Lovehas said he’sfeeling no limitations after undergoing surgery on his left (non-throwing) thumb last month,and he backed that up by going 16 of 22 for188 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions against the Lions.

Although Daniels appeared on Washington’sinjuryreportwith awrist issue, he practiced this week, saying he had “zero concerns” about it.

Parsons’ fantasyplayer

Packers linebacker Edgerrin Cooper seems readytotake the next step after delivering aproductive rookie season. The 2024 second-round draft pick collected acareer-high12tackles against the Lions.That didn’tsurprise Parsons, who noted that he drafted Cooperinhis fantasyfootball league, whichincludesindividual defensive players.

“They saw me pick up Coop, and they were like, ‘What do you

know? Parsons said. “Because I’m watching practice and I’m seeing everything we’ve got dialed in and whatwe’re putting in, and so Istarted him, andhegoes off and gets me 36 points.”

Commanders’productiverookie

JacoryCroskey-Merritt wasn’t drafteduntilthe seventh round after acollege career that includedstops at Alabama State, New Mexico and Arizona. But the rookie runningbackhas wasted no time making an impact. Croskey-Merritt rushed for 82 yardsand atouchdown on 10 carries Sunday “You couldfeel he wasreally prepared, really readyand it wasn’ttoo big,” Quinn said. “That was really cool to see.”

Protecting Love

While Parsons’ pursuit of Daniels will get much of the pregame attention, thePackers’ abilityto give Loveenough time to throw also is critical.Sunday marked thefourthtime in Green Bay’s last sevenregular-season games that the Packers didn’tallowa sack. Green Bay’soffensive line could be at less than full strength Thursday

Jets coachGlenn says no messageafter WR cut

BY DENNISWASZAK JR.

AP pro football writer

FLORHAM PARK, N.J.— Xavier Gipson is out of ajob after acostly fumble in the New York Jets’ season-opening loss to Pittsburgh. Coach Aaron Glenn confirmed that the team released the wide receiver,but he insisted Wednesday he wasn’ttryingtosend amessage about accountability —something he has preachedsince being hired in January —bycuttingGipson after one game.

“I want it to be known that decisions that are made are not rash decisions,” Glenn said. “And they’re never based off one incident. So, Iwill keep it at that. Xavier’sareally good player and he’sgoing to play in this league.

“But Ifelt it was time for us to move on in another direction.”

Gipson, in histhirdseasonwith the Jets, was returning akickoff in place of the injured Kene Nwangwu on Sunday when hehad the momentum-changing mistake in New York’s34-32 loss. After the Steelers scored to make it atwopoint game early in thefourth quarter,Gipson fumbled on the ensuing kickoff. Pittsburgh recovered and the Steelers took the lead two plays later on Aaron Rodgers’ second TD throw in a50-second span. Gipson continued to return kicks after the gaffe,whichwas the first turnover of the game.But afterward, Glenn bemoaned the

team’sturnovers anddeclared:

“You will not be on the field with this team if you’regoing to cause us to lose games,ifyou’re going to cause issues likethat.”

He backedthatupWednesday by cuttingGipson, although he reiterated that the decision wasn’t based on that play alone. Gipson has 10 fumbles in 35 career games.

“We’re trying to get the best players on this team that can play arole,”Glenn said. “At this point, Ijustfeltweneededto have achangeatthat spot.It’snot just that as far as accountability. There’saccountability in everything that we do. So, Idon’twant to piniton, ‘OK, he fumbledthe ball, OK, he’s getting (cut).’

“Nah, that’snot it. There’sa number ofthings that ledupto this.”

Nwangwu injured ahamstring early in the game, so Gipson who was New York’s primary punt returner —stepped in on the kickoff return unit. Glenn said Wednesday the injury was still being evaluatedand Nwangwu didn’tpractice. If Nwangwu is forced to miss time, the Jets have afew options, includingIsaiah Williams,who wassignedWednesdayoff Cincinnati’spractice squad. Isaiah Davis, rookie Arian Smithand practice squad members Jamaal Pritchettand Keilan Robinson, who was signed Tuesday,could also be in the mix to return kick-

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByADAMHUNGER

Xavier Gipson, right, of the Newyork jets fumbles akickoff returnafter PittsburghSteelers running back Kenneth Gainwellslappedthe ball out of his handsonSunday in East Rutherford,N.J

offs. Williamsand Pritchett also could be optionstoreplace Gipson as the primary punt returner Glenn hasfamiliaritywith Williams, who wassignedbyDetroit —where Glenn was the defensive coordinator —last year as an undrafted free agent out of Illinois. He played in two games for the Lions beforebeing waivedand claimed by theBengals. Gipsonwas signed as an undrafted free agent in 2023 out of Stephen F. Austin. He won a rosterspotintraining camp that

summer and returned apunt 65 yards for the winning touchdown in overtime to beat Buffalo in the seasonopenerthat year —the gameduringwhich Rodgers went down with atorn Achilles tendon four snaps into his debut forNew York. The 24-year-old Gipsonhad 27 catches for 268 yards and atouchdown with theJets, alongwith73 yards rushing and aTDonnine carries. He averaged 8.9 yards on punt returns and 26 yards on kickoffs.

Astros place PGarcia on 15-dayIL, recall Hernandez

The Houston Astros placed Luis Garcia on the 15-day injured list Wednesday aday after the righthanderexited astartatToronto in thesecond inning because of a sore elbow

AL West-leading Houston also recalledright-hander Nick Hernandez from Triple-A Sugar Land. Garcia gestured to his elbow and motioned to the dugout after throwing an 88 mphpitchtoErnieClement in Tuesday’s 4-3loss. It wasGarcia’s27thpitch of the game.

The Venezuelanpitcherand 2022 World Series champion was making his secondstart of 2025 after sitting out over two years after Tommy John surgery Garcia is 29-19 with a3.53 ERA in 71 games across five big league seasons, all with Houston.

Rizzo to retire with Cubs, become team ambassador

Anthony Rizzo will officially retire as amemberofthe Chicago Cubs on Saturday and will join the organization as team ambassador

The 36-year-old Rizzo spent 10 of his 14 major league seasons with Chicago. The infielderhit .272 with 242 homeruns and 784 RBIsfor the Cubs and helped them winthe World Series in 2016.

Rizzo was athree-time All-Star, four-timeGold Glove winner,onetime Platinum Glove winner and one-timeSilver Slugger award winner forthe Cubs.

He played his rookie season with the SanDiego Padresand spent his finalseasonswith the New York Yankees. He completes his major league career with 1,644 hits, 303 home runs and965 RBIs in 1,727 games played.

Ravens QB Jackson says sorryafter shovingafan

Lamar Jackson apologizedtothe fan he exchanged shoves with during Baltimore’sloss at Buffalo last weekend.

Several Ravens were celebrating behind the corner of the end zone after atouchdown.

Afan reached out and gave receiverDeAndre Hopkins alittle shove to the helmet, thendid the sametoJackson, whopushed him back with twohands to the chest.

“My apologies to him,” Jackson said. “Just chill next time. Youcan talk trash and stuff,but keep your hands to yourself.”

The fanwas ejected by stadium security and has been banned from all NFLgames and events. Coach JohnHarbaugh defended Jacksonearlier this week,saying he had spoken to Jackson about it.

Packers receiverWatson signs contractextension

Green Bay Packers wide receiver ChristianWatsonhas signeda contract extension as he continues his recovery from atorn anterior cruciate ligament that is delaying the start of his season.

The Packers announced the signing Wednesday.Termsweren’t disclosed, but ESPN reported that Watson agreed to aone-year, $13.25 million extension on adeal that would run through 2026. Watson is beginning this season on the physically unable to perform list, which meanshemust missatleast the Packers’ first four games. He tore the ACL in his right knee during the Packers’ 2024 regular-season finale. Watson had 29 catches for 620 yards andtwo touchdowns last year while playing in 15 games.

Four arrested in shooting of FSU linebacker Pritchard

Four people have been arrested in connectiontothe shooting of Florida State linebacker Ethan Pritchard, Florida Department of Law Enforcement commissioner Mark Glass said Wednesday Glass said Pritchard was dropping off family members, an aunt and achild, when he was ambushed outside an apartmentlastmonth and shot in the back of the head on Aug. 31.Pritchard,a 6-foot-2, 224-pound freshmanfromSanford, remains in critical but stable condition at TallahasseeMemorialHospital. GadsdenCounty sheriff Morris Young said authorities believe Pritchard’sshooting was acase of mistaken identity Jayden Bodison, Caron Miller, GermanyAtkins and an unnamed minorhave been arrested in connection with the shooting.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MIKE ROEMER

Green BayPackers defensiveend Micah Parsons celebrates after agame against the DetroitLions on Sunday in Green Bay, Wis.

theywere really excited,” Baptiste told. “Everybody around them was congratulatingmebecause my dad was out there bragging on me. My dad andmom were bragging on me.”

When he finally laiddown after the excitingevening, Baptiste finally was able to appreciate the long path he had taken to get to that moment.

“I was thinking, ‘Wow,I really came along way,’ “hesaid. “Therewas never adoubtthat I didn’tbelong.Everyone around me always instilled confidence in me and thecoaches alwaysmade it seem like Ibelonged here.

“It was just amoment ofgratitude, Iwould say.”

On the play,Baptistewas runningaroute near the endzone when he saw quarterback Daniel Beale’spromising movements

“Coach called abootleg, so we rolled out and Ihad the over out and Rob (Williams) did areally good job of opening it up on the traffic, andI just gotacross,” he said. “I saw Daniel kind of lock his shoulders with me, and Iknew the ball was going to come my way.Iwasn’texpecting to score, so as youcan tell,I waskindof excited.”

Baptiste did not calmly hand the ball to the official after the score.Noone in Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium could miss how excitedhewas.

UL coach Michael Desormeaux was thrilled for his young receiver as well.

“It was areally good spot for the football, but Imean,itwas aheck of acatch,” Desormeaux said. “Those are the things you hope just buildconfidence in guys, because he’sgot alot of ability

“You’re excitedfor kids like that. He trusted us to come here,

switches positions …works really hard at it andtosee him make ahuge catchinacritical moment is big.”

Baptiste’sroommate, running back Bill Davis, also had ahuge daywitha career-high132 yards andtwo touchdowns.

“I always tell him he’sgot to keep it going and he did areally good job,” Baptiste said. “It wasn’tonly Bill —Zylan (Perry) too, andwhen Steven (Blanco) got his chance, he was amazing as well.”

Now comes the chore of putting thatmoment of success behind himsoBaptiste canconcentrate on more improvement.

“The toughest part was understanding defenses and understandingcoverages and leverages,” Baptiste said. “There was also alearning curve on how to utilize techniques and the fundamentals

“Coach (Tim)Leger doesa great job ofteaching us when to use certain releases against different corners.”

Baptiste’stouchdown catch is theonlyreception forascore through two gamesfor theCajuns.With achange at quarterbackbecause of an injury to starter Walker Howard and a load of newtargets on the depth chart, UL hasonly174 yards passing so far.

Baptiste said the receivers, coaches and teammates have notlost confidence inthe passing game despitethe slow start.

“Weall have kind of encouraged each other,” he said. “We had to band together really in a moment of, ‘We’re going to have to step up. We’regoing to have to do better.’

“Asa unit, Shelton (Sampson) hasstepped up. We’veall been workingextra. Guys have been coming up to me, ‘Justkeep trustingyourself, trust theprocess.’”

Email Kevin Footeatkfoote@ theadvocate.com

STAFF FILE PHOTO By BILL FEIG

HOF

Continued from page1C

LSU’sSylvia Fowles blocks North Carolina’sRashanda McCants during thefirst half of their NCAA Tournament game March 31, 2008. Fowles is oneofeight inductees forthe Louisiana HallofFameClass of 2026 announced Wednesday. Horn

WNBA All-Star in a15-season pro career that included WNBA Finals MVP honorsasshe ledthe Minnesota Lynx to league crowns in 2015and 2017. Fowleswas chosenasone of the WNBA’s Top25 Players of All-Time in 2021, and she enteredthe NaismithMemorial Basketball Hall of Fame last weekend and the Women’sBasketball Hall of Fame in June Horn was afour-time Pro Bowl receiver (2000-02, 2004) and fan favorite in seven seasons (200006) with the New Orleans Saints during a12-year NFL career McClure,aBaton Rouge native and two-sport all-staterat Central High School, was an AllSoutheastern Conference and All-American center for LSU before 14 NFL seasons withthe Atlanta Falcons. He earned aplace in the Falcons Ring of Honor Williams, adefensive tackle from Wossman High School in his hometown of Monroe, reached three straight Pro Bowls(200608) while with the Minnesota Vikings in a14-season career that started with the Buffalo Bills. Lucroy starred for three years at catcher forthe UL Ragin’ Cajuns and was a2007 third-round MLB Draft pick by Milwaukee, where he earned apair of National League All-Star Game appearances (2014, 2016) and was fourth in voting for the

RABALAIS

Continuedfrom page1C

113) while Napier left UL after four seasons with the best winning percentage (.769) of anyone to coach there more than one season.

By every indication LSU did not seriously consider Napier,who was hired by Florida two days before LSU announced Kelly’sarrivalonDec. 1, 2021. Napier didn’t fitthe splash hire that has become LSU athleticdirector ScottWoodward’strademark. There also was the impression LSU never would hire aULcoach no matter how much he won.

The Gators have had their moments under Napier —Florida’s wins last season over LSU and Tulane are exhibits Aand B—but they’ve also had plenty of blunders. Not just aplayer running the wrong route resulting in an interception or ablown coverage. We’retalking about the Gators offense and field goal unit being on the field at the same time in a2023 game against Arkansas, leading to apenalty,missed field goal and eventual overtime loss to the Razorbacks. Or the time earlier that season against Utah when two Gators wore the samenumber on the field at the sametime, apenalty that led to aUtes’ first down and eventual

SAINTS

Continuedfrom page1C

“I got to play way better,” Fuaga said. “I know Ican play way better.”

2014 NL MVP Brady won 402 games in 25 seasons of college basketball coaching at Samford, LSU andArkansas State. He had 190 victories in 10 seasons withthe Tigers, including three SECregular-season championships (2000, 2005, 2006) and a runtothe 2006 NCAA Final Four

That year’sMarch Madness also was acareer highlight for Bossier City native McConathy, whose 14th-seeded Demons stunned No. 3seed and Big Ten Conference champion Iowa in oneofthree NCAA tourney trips (twowins) for Northwestern State. The former LouisianaTech starguardwon astate-record 682 games asacollege coach in 16 seasonsatBossier Parish Community Collegeand 23 at Northwestern State.

Strother is thenation’s second-winningesthigh school girls basketball coach, retiring in 2023 with a1,235-395 (.758) record that includes 21 trips to the statesemifinals and 11 championship game appearances, collectingfiveLHSAA titles for FlorienHigh in southern Sabine Parish.

The new class will be enshrined June 25-27 at the Hall of Fame’s home in Natchitoches to culminate the 67thinduction celebration. Ticket information for the seven events over three days is available at LaSportsHall.com.

The Saintsneed it.Beyond investing a first-round pick on him lastyear,New Orleans already was shorthandedonthe offensive line with left guard Trevor Penning having been sidelined over the last month with turf toe. Penning, too, missed Wednesday’spractice. The Saintssaw last year how devastatingseveral injuries upfront canbe, and they obviously want to avoid a repeat scenario.

But Fuaga said he’scommitted to addressingthe issue.Hesaid he has to figure out a“new routine”for managing the injury, similartohow he spent most of hisrookieseasonrehabbing aback injury that occurred in training camp.

“This year,(I’ve) just got to have aroutinefor my knees,” Fuaga said. “Obviously,aroutine I’m probably going to keep for therest of my career,just to make sure I never have these problems again

“Wehavetokick, we have to run, all based off the knee for(the) Oline. O-line(men)always have knee injuries, so I’ve got to stay on top of it.”

As afranchise, the Saints know that reality better than most. Just lastweek, former left tackle TerronArmstead said he needsa knee replacement at age 34.Armstead revealed he was told that news in Week 1oflast season, but he still managed to play15games for the Miami Dolphins. Armstead, whoretired this offseason,dealt with knee problems for the majority of his12-year career,including hisninewiththe Saints.

Longtime Saintsright tackle RyanRamczyk, who missed the entire 2024 season, also retiredin theoffseason because of achronic knee injury

“Those guys, they’re ballers,” Fuaga said. “ButI know they had knee problemsalso. Idon’twant to be kind of that guy to go through that kind of stuff.”

touchdown. Florida perennially has been mistake-prone under Napier,and lately his utilization of quarterback DJ Lagway in his offensive system has come under heightened scrutiny forits predictable play calling.

The Gators’ remaining schedule is something that would makethe Buffalo Bills say,“Wait, this is too much.” Eight of Florida’s10opponentsare ranked. Fiveofthem —LSU, Miami, Georgia, Texas and Florida State—are in the AP top 10. One of the two unranked foes is Mississippi State, which just upset No. 12 Arizona State. Florida boosters reportedly hadput together themoney required to payNapier’sthen-$26 million buyout early last season. Napier heldon and turnedthe 2024 campaign around. Butit’shard to see apaththrough this remaining gauntlet forNapiertosurvive this time

Eight of Florida’s 10 opponents are ranked. Five of them —LSU,Miami, Georgia, Texas and Florida State —are in theAPtop 10. One of thetwo unranked foes is Mississippi State, which just upset No. 12 Arizona State.

That said, Florida athletic director ScottStricklin stuck with Napier much longer than it seemed realistically possible last season, and Florida is still without apermanentpresident to sign off on Napier’sfate.

Beforeweconclude, let us say

one thing in Napier’sdefense: Maybe the problem is Florida itself.Since Urban Meyer stepped downin2010, ending an ubersuccessful six-year tenure that included twonational championships, Florida has churned through coach after coach. Will Muschamp, Jim McElwain, Dan Mullen and now probably Napier, none of them lasted morethan four seasons in The Swamp. Combined, from 2011-24, they have led the Gators to zero SEC championships, just four 10-plus winseasons and five losing campaigns. There is no reason whyFlorida shouldn’tperennially be among the top tier of SEC programs. It has money,isan excellent school academically and mostimportantly sits in the middle of one of the mosttalent-rich football states in America. Ultimately,Florida’sstruggles may be an indictment of both Napier and the school. There’sone big difference: The school isn’tgoing anywhere.

For more LSUsports updates, signupfor ournewsletter at theadvocate.com/lsunewsletter

STAFF FILE PHOTOByHILARy SCHEINUK

Florida coach Billy Napier,left, speaks withLSU coach Brian Kellybefore kickoff on Nov. 16 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Fla.

STAFF FILE PHOTOByDAVID GRUNFELD

Saints offensivetackle TalieseFuaga, left,and defensive end Cam Jordan runa drill on July23attraining camp in Metairie.

THE VARSITY ZONE

Carencro DBs await another big challenge

After passing test against STM, Bears to host No. 1 LCA

BY ERIC NARCISSE Staff writer

Carencro High School’s secondary shined in its season-opening win over high-powered St. Thomas More.

The Bears had numerous pass breakups along with two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown in a 30-27 victory

That performance may have surprised some, considering the opponent, but Carencro coach Gavin Peters and the Bears’ secondary — Chantz Babineaux, Derrick Lotts, Rontrell Woods, Amarre Dennis and Wilson Landry — weren’t among them.

“We’ve built ourselves up a lot during the offseason,” said Dennis, whose team hosts Lafayette Christian at 7 p.m. Friday “We understand our assignments better The game against STM was fun I love the game that we played in the secondary.”

Peters and his players credited new defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach Kyle Seibold for the unit’s improvement.

“The moment we were able to hire coach Seibold, I knew our defensive backs were going to be a strength,” Peters said of the former Acadiana defensive coordinator “I’ve known coach Seibold for 15 years — eight years while we were at Acadiana and I’ve coached against him for the past seven years.

“He is one of the best coaches in the state regardless of the level He’s had a lot of success in his career.” Woods said he noticed the difference almost immediately once Seibold arrived, saying “he taught us the little things.”

“He’s been amazing,” Woods said. “He has been a big factor in the improvement of our defense. He does a great job of teaching what he wants us to do.

“He’s taught us techniques and has broken down what we should expect and not expect in every situation.”

The secondary isn’t the biggest, but what it lacks in size it makes up for with heart and effort.

“We don’t worry about size,” Woods said. “It’s the man in the mirror We preach heart over size. You can’t do anything if you are scared, so our goal is to go out there and show (opponents) that we want it more than they do.” Dennis, who nearly came away with two interceptions against STM, agreed with Woods.

“It’s all about mindset,” he said “Our mindset is that we don’t care about size. We don’t care how big you are, we are going to get you down.

“We’re not scared.” Peters said freshmen joining the program are told the three most important pillars are “be physical, competitive and sound.”

“That’s our pregame speech as well,” Peters said. “You have to be physical, competitive and sound. For our secondary, being physical doesn’t mean just in the passing game against receivers. It means

AREA FOOTBALL LEADERS

being physical in run support as well and those guys do that.”

The secondary is in for another test against the Knights, ranked No. 1 in Class 2A by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association. The Knights, led by UL quarterback commitment Braylon Walker and Tulane wide receiver commitment Brayden Allen, lead the way

“(Walker) is the reason their entire offense comes together,”

Woods said of the 5-foot-11, 160-pounder “Brayden is a great receiver, so when the quarterback starts scrambling you can’t

lose sight of (Allen) Because that’s when (Walker) will throw it over the top to him. It’s going to be a challenge, but we take on all challenges. It’s an opportunity to continue to show our city and the state what we can do.”

Dennis said the outcome will come down to how well the secondary plays.

“LCA has some good receivers,” Dennis said. “So we have to lock down in the secondary.”

Email Eric Narcisse at enarcisse@theadvocate.com.

PHOTO By BRAD BOWIE

Carencro defensive back Amarre Dennis, left, defends against St. Thomas More’s Landyn Craft last season.

Cutthe cook time, keep the

flavorwith friedrice

BY LINDAGASSENHEIMER Tribune

Enjoy this quick fried rice dinner

—ready in just 15 minutes, including prep time.Tomake stir-frying a breeze, arrange all your prepped ingredients on acutting board or plate in the order they’ll be used. That way, you won’tneed to refer back to the recipe once cooking begins.

Iuse toasted sesame oil to add a subtle, nuttydepth of flavor.You can find it in the Asian foods section of most grocerystores. For thegreens, Ichose Chinese cabbage, also known as Napa cabbage, prized for its pale green, crisp, and tender leaves.

Beef Fried Rice

Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer Makes 2servings.

1packagemicrowaveable brown rice to make1½-cups cooked rice 4teaspoonstoasted sesame oil, divided use

8ounces grass fed tenderloin steak cut into ¼to½-inch cubes

7or8largeChinese cabbageleaves, sliced (about 2cups)

2teaspoons sugar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

6scallions, sliced

1. Make rice according to package instructions and measure 1½-cups. Reserve any remaining ricefor another meal. Set aside.

2. Mix soy sauce and 3teaspoons oil together in asmall bowl. Setaside.

3. Add the remaining 1teaspoon oil to awok or large skillet and heat on high. When oil is smoking, add egg and scramble well for 10 seconds. Immediately add therice and onion. Toss for 3minutes. Add garlic, peas andsteak. Toss 1minute. Add cabbage, sugar,salt and pepper to taste Toss all ingredients together

4. Move the ingredients to the sides of the wok or skillet leaving ahole in themiddle. Pour the soy sauce mixture into the hole.Move the ingredients to the hole and toss to cover them with the sauce. Add the scallions. Toss well, about 1minute. Divide in half and place on two dinner plates.

PER SERVING: 632calories (29% from fat), 20.7 gfat (5.8 gsaturated, 7.9 gmonounsaturated), 149 mg cholesterol, 39.3 gprotein, 76.3 gcarbohydrates, 13.0 g fiber,665 mg sodium

Beef Fried Rice is ready in just 15 minutes, including prep time.

FOOTBALL &FOOD

AsSeptember takes shape in the Crescent City,New Orleans transforms into avibrant celebration of sporting passion and culinary excellence. The sweltering summer heat begins its gradualretreat, andwithit comes the unmistakableelectricity of footballseason across all levels —professional andcollegiate —alongside the continued excellenceofone of America’s most distinctive food scenes.

While theSuperdomehosts our beloved Saints on Sundays, Saturdays in September belong to thecollegiate gridiron of Louisiana. Tulane University’sYulman Stadium comes alive with a sea of green and sky blue as the Green Wave takes the field. Meanwhile, just 80 miles north-

west in Baton Rouge, the purple and gold faithful of LSU create one of college football’smost intimidating environments in Death Valley.And in my family you can add the University of Louisiana at Lafayette to the mix.

The intersection of football and New Orleans cuisine creates aunique cultural phenomenon. Portable crawfish boils, jambalaya pots large enough to feed small armies, and gumbo simmering since dawnbecome the centerpieces of gatherings under the oak trees. Here, recipes passed downthrough generations are shared alongside passionate debates about defensive strategies and quarterback performance.

BY LINDAGASSENHEIMER

(TNS)

Tribune News Service

Savor the flavors of France with this classic Chicken Chasseur, also known as poulet chasseur. This French dish is celebratedfor its rich and aromatic sauce,made from ablend of mushrooms, shallots, tomatoes and asplash of wine

While there are many variations, Conjure France with chickendish

ä See CHICKEN, page 6C

1pound pork belly,sliced

½tablespoon

1teaspoon

1teaspoon

2tablespoons

1tablespoon

1tablespoon

1tablespoon

1seedless

1. In amedium bowl, combine garlic,ginger,brown sugar, corianderseeds,fennelseeds, soy sauce, white vinegar,oil and hot sauce. Divide the sauce in half: one half for marinating pork belly,the otherhalffor glazingthe fried pork belly before serving. 2. Marinate the pork belly in half the sauce for 30 minutes. Massage well to ensure all the pork belly slices are coated with the sauce. 3. Fry the pork belly in askillet or grill over medium-high heat for 2or3minutesoneach side until

pork belly so itdoesn’tburn.

4. Brush the pork belly slices with the reserved sauce from step 1.

5. Cut the fried pork belly slices intosticksusing acutting board and asharp knife.

6. Make the spicymayo: Combine mayonnaise and hot sauce in asmallbowl.

7. Warm up the rice and divide into bowls.

8. Arrange thepork belly,veggies, and herbs on top of rice, and serve the pork belly rice bowls immediately,with adrizzle of the spicy mayo.

Glazed Pork Belly Bowl

Kevin Belton

PHOTO By MONICA BELTON

Glazed Pork Belly Bowl

TNS PHOTO By LINDAGASSENHEIMER

Peanut Butter Cookie Bars, 6C

Don’toverthink replacingthe fence

Dear Miss Manners: My husband andIbought our currenthome about four years ago, although the house itself is about 20 years old. The backyard is surrounded by astandard woodenfence.

The condition of the wood suggests the fence has been there nearly as long as the house, and we think it desperately needs to be replaced. Twoofour neighbors have fences that adjoin ours and which, based on condition, were builtaround the same time. Even though it’sour right to replaceour fence, do we owe any consideration to the neighbors? After all, our shiny new fence

By The Associated Press

will now be mixed with their well-worn ones surrounding their yards

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

Idon’twant to imply that I’m asking their permission, because we intend to replace it regardless. But is it worth giving them a heads-up that we’re having thework done? Is there a way to suggest thepossibility of them also having their fences replaced without it sounding insulting?

Iassume that having theirs replaced at the same time, by the same company, might save a little money —asthe workers and materials will already be on site —but I’m notsure if this is worth bringing up. We havegood rela-

TODAYINHISTORY

MLB careerhits record with his 4,192ndhit.

Today is Thursday,Sept. 11, the 254th day of 2025.There are 111 days left in the year

Todayinhistory:

On Sept. 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 people were killed as 19 al-Qaida hijackers seized control of four jetliners, sending two of the planes into New York’sWorld Trade Center,one into thePentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and the fourth into a field in western Pennsylvania. It remains the deadliest terrorattack in history

Also on this date:

In 1789, Alexander Hamilton was appointed the firstU.S. Secretaryofthe Treasury

In 1814, an American fleet scored adecisive victory over the British in the Battle of Lake Champlain in theWar of 1812.

In 1936, Boulder Dam —later renamed the Hoover Dam began operation as President Franklin D. Rooseveltpressed abutton in Washington to signal the startup of the dam’s first hydroelectric generator In 1941, groundbreaking took place for the Pentagon.

In 1954, the Miss America pageant made its network TV debut on ABC.

In 1973, Chilean President Salvador Allende died during a violent military coup led byGeneral Augusto Pinochet.

In 1985, Pete Roseofthe Cincinnati Reds broke Ty Cobb’s

In 2008, presidential candidates John McCain andBarack Obamaput aside politics as they visited groundzerotogether on the anniversary of 9/11 to honor its victims.

In 2012, amob armed with guns andgrenades launched a fiery nightlongattack on aU.S. diplomatic outpostand aCIA annex in Benghazi, Libya, killing U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens andthreeother Americans.

In 2023, over 4,000 people died andthousands more were missing after heavy rain from Mediterranean Storm Daniel caused two damstocollapse, flooding thecity of Derna, Libya.

Today’sbirthdays: Composer Arvo Pärt is 90.Film director BrianDe Palma is 85. Singer-actor-dancer Lola Falana is 83. Musician MickeyHartis82. GuitaristLeo Kottkeis80. Actor Amy Madigan is 75. RockmusicianTommy Shaw(Styx) is 72.Sportscaster Lesley Visseris72. Actor Scott Patterson is 67. Actor/director Roxann Dawsonis67. Actor John Hawkes is 66. Actor Virginia Madsen is 64.Musician-composer Moby is 60. Singer Harry ConnickJr. is 58. Actor Taraji P. Henson is 55.Rapper Ludacris is 48. Football Hall of Famer Ed Reedis47. Country singer CharlesKelley(Lady A) is 44. Actor ElizabethHenstridge is 38. Actor TylerHoechlinis38.

Chicken Chasseur (Chicken with Mushroomsand Wine) Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer.Makes2 servings

1½ tablespoons olive oil, divideduse

¾pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs about ¼-½ inch thick

1cup sliced shallots

1cup sliced button mushrooms

½tablespoon flour

¼cup drywhite wine

¼cup fat-free, no-salt-added chicken broth

1tablespoon tomato paste

2tablespoons freshly chopped parsley (optional) Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1packagemicrowaveable brown rice to make1½-cups cooked rice

Heat ½tablespoon olive oilin alarge skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chickenthighsand brown 3minutes.Add theshallots and continue to cook 2minutes stirring as they cook. Turn chicken over and add the mushrooms.Continue to cook, stirring for 3minutes.

Divide the chicken in half and remove thechicken to twodin-

CHICKEN

nerplates. Ameat thermometer should read 160 F. Cook aminute longer if needed. Addthe flour to the skillet and mix with the vegetables until dissolved, forafew seconds.Add the wine. Cook 1minute. Addbroth and tomatopaste. Stir all of the ingredients togetherand cook 1to 2minutesuntil sauce is thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste. While sauce cooks, add the rice to the microwave and cook following packagetiming. Measure 1½ cups and save any remaining rice for another meal.

Dividein half andadd to the plates withthe chicken. When the sauce is ready,spoon it over the chicken andsprinkle parsley on top

PER SERVING: 561 calories (30% fromfat), 18.6 gfat (2.7 gsaturated, 8.8 gmonounsaturated), 156 mg cholesterol, 40.4 gprotein, 50.7 gcarbohydrates, 3.3g fiber, 181 mg sodium.

tionships with all of the neighbors and don’twant to create animosity or awkwardness where there isn’tany

Gentlereader: When anyone wishes to express indignation about an unwelcome encroachment, the accepted metaphor is not, “Can you believe So-and-so was in my living room, uninvited, playing my piano?!”

The expression is, “Can you believe this was going on in my own backyard?!”

Miss Manners mentionsthis as areminder that if you want to maintain good relations withthe neighbors, you will absolutely have to be considerate, which means: giving notice of your plans; reassuring them that you

are available to handle any unintended inconveniences that result;taking “no” forananswer to any suggestion that they consider redoing their own —and spending less time thinking about what you have aright to do. Fortunately, it is possible to do all of this without putting the central question up fordebate. Tell them that you are planning to replace yourfence and say that, while you have no idea if they were planning to redo theirs, if they are, you would be happy to see if usingasingle contractor would be away foreveryone to save money Dear Miss Manners: Iwas working withanolder woman and we hit it off verywell. Her eyes were no-

ticeably red, and my ophthalmologist had suggested an over-thecounter product for me that works beautifully and is safe to use. Iwas tempted to tell her about it, but thought that it might be embarrassing forher if Imentioned her eyes. DidI do the right thing by being silent, or did Imiss an opportunity to do someone afavor?

Gentle reader: Yes. Possibly

Sendquestions to Miss Manners at herwebsite, www missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mailtoMiss Manners, Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City,MO 64106.

Quellthe complaints abouttoo much zucchini with this recipe

BY BETH DOOLEY

TheMinnesota Star Tribune (TNS)

Zucchiniisthe blessing and bane of agarden. In high season, my friend “gifts” boxes of her prodigious crop on her neighbors’ front steps and in the back seat of unlocked cars. What to do withall this bounty?

On its own, zucchini is arelatively humble ingredient that pales next to its summerpeers —those snappy cherry tomatoes, golden sweet corn, velvetyeggplant. But what zucchini lacks in pizazz, it can make up for in its flexibilityand adaptability. It adds moisture and flavor to muffins and teabreads,and is wonderful stirfried and sautéed. Becauseofits high water content, zucchini can get soggy if it’s undercooked; it is truly best when roasted just long enough to extract all the juices, thenturning golden, caramelized and crispinthe oven’sdry heat Zucchiniisasummer squash, a category that includes pattypan, scallop, crookneck and straightneck squash. All have amild flavor and can be used interchangeably.They’re also low calorie and rich in vitamins Cand B6, fiber and antioxidants. Youwant summer squashes when they’reyoung and small, not thesize of abaseball bat.Oversized zucchini and summer squash are woody and tasteless.

Roastingsummer squash is the best way toshowcase itslight, mild herbal flavors, as it develops a firm crust on the outside and turns creamywithin. The only trick is to slice them intouniform thickness (about 1/2 inch) so they roastevenly

Oven-roasted zucchini and squash are great withpasta, in a casserole topped withcheese or scattered on pizza. Served witha marinara sauce or ranch dressing

1cup salted butter,melted and cooled slightly

2largeeggs 2cup brown sugar,packed

1tablespoon vanilla extract

1cup creamypeanut butter

2½ cups all-purpose flour ½teaspoon baking powder

1¼ cup minipeanut butter M&Ms

CHOCOLATE TOPPING

1½ cup chocolate chips

1tablespoon butter DECORATION ½cup minipeanut butter M&Ms

1. Preheat ovento350 Fand spray a9x13 baking dish withnonstick spray 2. Add the flour,baking powder, and mini peanut butter M&Ms together in amixing bowl and whisk together

for dipping, it makes awonderful appetizer

Youmay feel overwhelmed with this bounty,but don’twish it (or summer) away Oven-Roasted Zucchini, Summer Squash and Cherry Tomato Pasta

Recipefrom Beth Dooley.Serves 4to6

1½ lb.zucchini and summersquash, trimmed and cut into ½-in. discs

1½ lb.cherry tomatoes

Extra-virgin olive oil

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

12 oz. fusilli pasta, or anypreferred shape

¼cup shreddedParmesan cheese

Juice of ½fresh lemon

2tbsp. choppedbasil, plus leavesfor garnish

1. Line arimmed sheet pan with parchment and preheat it in the

oven to 400 F.

2. Toss the zucchini, summer squash andtomatoes withenough oiltogenerouslycoat. Spread out on the preheated roasting pan and season with salt and pepper.Roast until the tomatoes are blistered andsplit andthe zucchini and squash are golden andcrisped, about20minutes, occasionally turning and shaking the pan.

3. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in rapidly boiling saltedwater until just tender,about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove about ½cup of the cooking water and set aside, then drain the pasta in acolander.Transfer the pasta to alarge bowl.

4. Toss the roasted vegetables in withthe pasta, addinga ¼cup of thereserved pasta water along withthe cheese. Taste,and if the pasta seemstoo dry add alittle morepasta water.Toss in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper, adding moreolive oilas needed. Toss in the basil and serve garnished with fresh basil leaves and lemon wedges on the side.

3. In alarge mixing bowl whisk theslightly cooled butter and eggs together till smooth Addbrown sugar,and vanilla and whisk again till smooth Addthe peanut butter and whisk till smooth. 4. Addthe flour mixture and M&Msand mixwitha spoontill just combined. 5. Turn the batter out into the

FOOTBALL

cool before making the top-

ping. 7. In the microwave in 20 second increments at 50% power,melt thechocolate chipsand butter together

8. Once melted, spread the chocolate on top of thebars andsprinkle with peanut butter M&Ms.

is resident chef of

Peanut ButterCookieBars

TNS PHOTO By LINDAGASSENHEIMER

PHOTO By MONICA BELTON

Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

DREAMSTIME/TNS PHOTO Zucchini is asummer squash, acategorythat includes pattypan, scallop crookneck and straightneck squash.

VIRGo(Aug.23-sept. 22) Your budget must be airtight if you want to avoid stress and setbacks.Trust yourself to help prevent misinformation andmake informed decisions.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Observation alone won't offer atrue adaptation of what's unfolding. Be cautious about sharing your plans or feelings prematurely. Apositive change is apparent, but it's up to youtoinitiatethe process.

scoRPIo(oct. 24-nov. 22) Bend the rules alittle when dealing withemotional situationstoavoid confrontations or interference. Have abackup plan ready and be prepared to offer acompromise.

sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Put your physical ability to the test. Activities that challenge youtopush your limits will also encourage you to align yourself with peoplewho share asimilar mindset

cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Investments look promising. Buying andselling, upgrades, and wheelingand dealing are all featured. Letgoofthe past and invest your energy in activities that make you feel good aboutyourself.

AQuARIus(Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Keep the momentum flowing, and you'll find asource of revenue that bridges the gap. Reach out to people who can offer insight into your plans.

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Hold off on initiating achange untilyou have the facts, the energy to follow through and

the means to ensure you reach your goal. Preparation is everything, so don't rush into something prematurely.

ARIEs(March 21-April 19) Explorethe possibilities that existinyourhomeand community. Getting outand socializing, mixing business with pleasure and sharing your enthusiasm will help you reach your objective.

tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Acquire additional skills and network with those whocan help youconnect with theright people andorganizations.Emotional interference is apparent if you aren't persistent and meticulous.

GEMInI (May21-June 20) Do something that you find mentally stimulating. Take responsibility foryour life and prospects. Change begins with you, so stop waiting for someone else to make thefirst move.

cAncER(June 21-July 22) Promiseonly what you can deliver. Sound and simple ideas are theanswer and will help you navigateyour way forward. Participatinginphysical fitnessactivities is in your best interest.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Letgoofwhat you cannotchange. Expressing love and kindness to thepeople you cherish will encourage betterrelationships andpromotepositive lifestyle habits.

The horoscope, an entertainment feature,isnot based on scientific fact ©2025 by NEA,Inc.,dist. By

Andrews McMeel Syndication

CelebrityCipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present.Each letter in the cipher stands for another.

toDAy's cLuE: LEQuALs B

CeLebrItY CIpher

For better or For WorSe

peAnUtS zItS

SALLYForth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

bIG

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placingpuzzle basedona9x9 grid with severalgiven numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1to9inthe empty squaressothat each row,eachcolumn and each 3x3 boxcontains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday

Yesterday’s PuzzleAnswer

THewiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS CurTiS

Bridge

By PHILLIP ALDER

Steve Coogan, an English actor,writer and producer, said, “The trick is always to write in pairs because if at least two people find it funny, you’ve immediately halved theodds of its not being funny.”

Thetrick is always to play bridge whether in pairs, teams or Chicago keepingthe odds in mind.Intoday’sdeal, what is the right way to play the heart suit for no losers?

In theauction, tournament players sitting Westwould haveresponded three diamonds, pre-emptive, showing alot of diamonds and aweak hand. (Withgameinvitational values and diamond support, West would have respondedtwo hearts, acue-bid raise.) Then, North would not havebeenstrongenoughtoadvancewith three hearts, and it would have been dangerous forSouth to balance with atakeout doublewhen he had only two spades. As it went, South made agame-try with threeclubs, whichNorth rejected. She had good clubs, but did not like the rest of her hand.

South has four top losers: two spades andtwo diamonds. In isolation, the best playfornoheartloseristoleaddummy’s jack, planning to run the eight on the second round,which would have worked. However, West ledthe diamond 10. East wonwith his ace and returnedthe suit. West won, shifted to thespade king, and played anotherspade. East won and led a

thirdspade. If West had theheart sevendoubleton,declarerhad to ruff with his nine. But with this layout, he hadtoruff with his five. Since West could hold two seven-doubletons and onlyone four-twodoubleton,Southruffedwithhisnineand went down one.

©2025 by NEA, Inc., dist.ByAndrews McMeel Syndication

EachWuzzle is aword riddle which creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: NOON GOOD =GOOD AFTERNOON

Previous answers: wuzzles

word game

InstRuctIons: 1. Words

Average

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls BeforeswiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

Musk loses crown as world’s richest to Ellison

NEW YORK Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison wrested the title of the world’s richest man from longtime holder Elon Musk early Wednesday, according to wealth tracker Bloomberg, as stock in his software giant rocketed more than a third in a stunning few minutes of trading.

A college dropout, the 81-year-old Ellison is now worth $393 billion, Bloomberg says, several billion more than Musk, who became the world’s richest for the first time four years ago. Stock in one of Musk’s biggest holdings, Tesla, has been moving in the opposite direction of Oracle’s, dropping 14% so far this year as of Tuesday

The switch in the ranking came after a blockbuster earnings report from Oracle powered by multibillion-dollar orders from customers as the artificial-intelligence race heats up.

Labor Department watchdog to audit data

WASHINGTON A government watchdog says it will review how a Labor Department agency compiles and reports some of the nation’s highest profile economic data, just two days after the agency made a sharp downward revision in its estimate of the number of jobs.

A spokesperson for the department’s Office of the Inspector General said Wednesday that it is launching a review of “the challenges that Bureau of Labor Statistics encounters collecting and reporting closely watched economic data.”

The audit will focus on the agency’s reports on inflation and employment, a Wednesday letter to BLS acting commissioner William Wiatrowski said. Both reports are considered definitive measures of those two key aspects of the U.S. economy On Tuesday, the BLS released annual revisions to its employment figures that showed there were 911,000 fewer jobs created in the year ending in March 2025, a deep reduction that suggested the job market was much weaker in 2024 and earlier this year than previously thought. The initial data is compiled based on surveys of about 120,000 companies, and the revisions are then made based on actual job rolls employers then submit quarterly to state unemployment tax offices.

RaceTrac to acquire

Potbelly for $566M Sandwich maker Potbelly is being acquired by the gas station and convenience store chain RaceTrac for $566 million.

Potbelly, which was founded in Chicago in 1977, has 445 restaurants across the U.S. The company said the deal with RaceTrac will help it reach its goal of quadrupling in size to 2,000 locations. Potbelly stores are both company- and franchise-owned.

In 2021, Restaurant Brands International — which also owns Burger King, Popeyes and Tim Hortons bought Firehouse Subs for $1 billion. Two years later, the private equity firm Roark Capital snapped up Subway for nearly $10 billion. Potbelly focused on a multiyear transformation plan coming out of the pandemic. The chain introduced new menu items, including a steak sandwich. It also increased its digital and delivery sales, redesigned stores and grew by attracting new franchisees RaceTrac was founded in 1934 and is family owned. The Atlanta company operates more than 800 locations in 14 states.

RaceTrac said it will acquire all of Potbelly’s shares for $17.12 each in cash. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter

U.S. stocks rise on inflation report

BY STAN CHOE Associated Press

NEW YORK Wall Street inched to more records on Wednesday following a surprisingly encouraging report on inflation and a stunning forecast for growth from Oracle because of the artificial-intelligence boom.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3% and set an all-time high for a second straight day The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 220 points, or 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite edged up by less than 0.1% after both likewise set records the day before.

Stocks have hit records in large part because Wall Street is expecting the economy to pull off a delicate balancing act: slowing enough to convince the Federal Reserve to

cut interest rates, but not so much that it causes a recession, all while inflation remains under control

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that its producer price index which captures inflation in the supply chain before it hits consumers — showed that wholesale inflation decelerated in August after advancing 0.7% in July. Wholesale services prices fell 0.2% from July on smaller profit margins at retailers and wholesalers, which might be a sign that those companies are absorbing the cost of President Donald Trump’s sweeping taxes — tariffs — on imports.

Compared with a year earlier, producer prices rose 2.6%

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core producer prices also fell 0.1% from July and were up 2.8% from a year earlier.

Pushback expected over Trump’s directive

BY MATTHEW PERRONE Associated Press

WASHINGTON Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr and other administration of-

ficials are vowing a crackdown on deceptive drug ads, but the effort is likely to face multiple headwinds, including pushback from industry and layoffs among regulators tasked with leading the effort.

President Donald Trump signed a memo Tuesday that directs the Food and Drug Administration and other agencies to step up enforcement against ubiquitous prescription drug ads on TV, websites and social media.

The industry’s multibillion-dollar marketing efforts have long been a target for Kennedy, who previously suggested banning all pharmaceutical ads from TV That step would have almost certainly been struck down by federal judges, who have long accepted advertising as a First Amendmentprotected form of speech.

Instead, Trump’s directive tells the FDA to use current laws to ensure “transparency and accuracy” in all ads.

But the FDA has long struggled to defend its actions against drug promotions in court And reworking some of its key regulations — including those governing TV advertising — could take years.

More warnings after years of setbacks

The FDA kicked off its effort Tuesday evening saying it was issuing “thousands” of warnings to drugmakers over inaccurate or misleading ads.

But rather than individual notices citing specific violations, the FDA shared a generic letter that it sent to drugmakers, instructing them to bring “all promotional communications into compliance.”

The form letter is different from typical FDA warning letters, which usually cite specific issues with company advertisements that run afoul of FDA rules and lay the groundwork for future legal action.

The FDA’s press release noted that such warnings have fallen dramatically in recent years, with only one issued in 2023 and none in 2024.

Former FDA officials say that reflects two trends. First, the drug industry has abandoned many of the most egregious tactics deployed in the early 2000s, including the use of distracting sounds and visuals that often drew attention away from drug warn-

BY MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP technology writer

Amazon’s Zoox on Wednesday launched its robotaxi service in Las Vegas, offering free rides through parts of the entertainment mecca for anyone willing to gamble on the safety of a driverless vehicle that operates without a steering wheel.

The Las Vegas debut of Zoox’s long-planned ride-hailing service reflects Amazon-owned robotaxi maker’s confidence in the safety of its boxy vehicles after two years of testing them in the city

The robotaxis initially were only available to employees in Las Vegas before gradually expanding to friends and family members. Now, anyone with the Zoox app will be able to request a ride to five designated locations, including Resorts World, the Luxor hotel and the New York-New York hotel. The longest

A potentially more important report is coming Thursday, which will show how bad inflation has been for U.S. households, but Wednesday’s update “essentially rolled out the red carpet for a Fed rate cut next week,” according to Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing, at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley Traders were already convinced the Fed will deliver its first cut to interest rates of the year at its next meeting, but they need inflation data until then to be mild enough not to derail those expectations. That’s because cuts to interest rates can push inflation higher, along with giving the economy a kickstart, and hot inflation readings could tie the Fed’s hands. On Wall Street, tech stocks led the way after Oracle said AI-related demand is set to send its revenue surging. CEO Safra Catz said Oracle signed four multi-billion dollar contracts during its latest quarter, and it expects cloud infrastructure revenue to jump 77% to $18 billion this fiscal year After that, it expects such revenue to soar to $144

ings and side effect information.

Additionally the FDA has repeatedly settled legal cases challenging its authority to police drug promotions. The agency often declines to pursue such cases due to the risks of losing in court, which could create legal precedent eroding its power

Looking ahead, recent Trump administration job cuts have slashed staffing in the FDA’s drug advertising division, which handles warning letters.

Plan to curb TV ads could take time

One major proposal by the administration involves reversing a nearly 30-year-old FDA rule. Until the late 1990s, TV drug advertisements were impractical and prohibitively expensive because FDA regulations required drugmakers to list each medication’s risks and side effects.

A 1997 shift allowed companies to briefly summarize that information and point viewers to more complete information on websites, in print ads or elsewhere. The FDA said this week it will begin the process to eliminate that practice, calling it a “loophole” used to “conceal critical safety risks.”

But the FDA rulemaking process usually takes years — sometimes more than a decade — with multiple opportunities for public comment and revision.

For example, new guidelines finalized last

distance the Zoox robotaxis will travel is about three miles while carrying up to four passengers. All rides will be provided for free for at least the first few months to help promote the existence of the service in the perennially popular travel destination. Once it begins charging for rides in Las Vegas, Zoox says its prices will be comparable to traditional taxis and ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft Amazon, currently worth $2.5 trillion, bought Zoox for $1.2 billion five years ago as part of its efforts to establish a foothold in other fields of technology

The Las Vegas market marks Zoox’s first step in its attempt to catch up with robotaxi leader Waymo, a Google spinoff that offers that already provides driverless rides in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Atlanta and Austin, Texas (where

year that require clearer and simpler language in drug ads took more than 15 years to develop and implement.

For its part, the industry maintains that TV ads are a way to educate and empower consumers.

“Truthful and nonmisleading DTC advertising is protected under the First Amendment and has documented evidence of advancing patient awareness and engagement,” PhRMA, the industry’s leading trade group, said in a statement Wednesday Promoters may be beyond FDA’s reach FDA Commissioner Marty Makary also suggested his agency will be more aggressive about policing ads on social media platforms like Instagram, where drugmakers often partner with patient influencers or doctors.

The agency has long struggled to oversee those promotions, because FDA advertising rules only apply to drug companies.

Social media influencers who are paid to endorse or promote products are supposed to clearly disclose that relationship. But that requirement is overseen by the Federal Trade Commission.

And in some cases, influencers aren’t being paid by anyone: They promote products in hopes of landing future endorsement deals.

Tesla is still in the testing phase of a robotaxi service that its CEO, Elon Musk, has been hyping for the past decade). While Waymo implants its driverless technology in vehicles built

by traditional automakers, Zoox is manufacturing its distinctively designed robotaxis in a former bus factory located in

PROVIDED PHOTO Amazon Zoox robotaxis are beginning to give free rides through parts of Las Vegas as part of its driverless service’s launch.