The Advocate 09-12-2025 by The Advocate

Thursday at a

aUtahcollegeonWednesday

Authoritiesseekhelp in search forshooter

FBIreleasesphotosofpersonofinterest, offers $100KrewardinCharlie Kirk’s death

BY ERICTUCKER,ALANNA

DURKIN RICHER, JESSE BEDAYN

andHANNAH SCHOENBAUM Associated Press

Kirk

OREM, Utah The shooter who assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk and then vanished off aroof and into the woods remained at large more than 24 hours later Thursday as federal investigators appealed for thepublic’shelp by releasinga pair of photosofthe person believed responsible. Investigators obtained cluesincluding apalm print, ashoe impression and ahigh-powered hunting rifle found in awooded area along the paththe shooter ﬂed. But theyhad yet to name asuspect or citeamotive in the killing they were treating as the latest act of political violence to convulse the United States across the ideological spectrum

The photos of aperson in ahat, sunglasses and along-sleeveblackshirt,

as well as a$100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, suggested that lawenforcement thought tipsfrom the public might be needed to crack thecase. Twopeople who were taken into custodyshortly after Wednesday’s shooting at Utah Valley University were later released, forcing ofﬁcials to chasenew leads on a separate person of interest they pursued Thursday

One clue was aMauser .30-caliber, bolt-action riﬂe found in atowel in the woods.

Aspent cartridge was recovered fromthe chamber,and threeother rounds were loaded in the magazine, according to information circulated among law enforcement and described to The Associated Press. Theweaponand ammunition were being analyzed by law enforcement at afederal lab.

Theattack,carried out in abroad daylight as Kirk spoke aboutsocial issues from auniversity courtyard, was captured on grisly videos that spread on social media.

ä See KIRK, page 5A

PROVIDED PHOTO

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is searching for this personofinterest in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah ValleyUniversity.A $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest is being offered

Court upholdsnew BR voting subdistrict

4running for19thJudicial Districtjudge’s seat

BY MATT BRUCE Staff writer

ABaton Rouge judge struck down achallenge to new voting lines for theupcoming election in the 19th Judicial District Court. Four candidatesare vyingtoﬁll thevacancy left by former ChiefJudge Wilson Fields, who left earlier this year to take a seatonthe 1st Circuit Court of Appeal. On Feb. 28, the day of Fields’ departure, Gov.Jeff Landry declared aspecialelection to be held Oct. 11 with arunoff, if necessary, on Nov.15. The winner will ﬁnish out Fields’ term,set to end Dec. 31, 2026. Registered votersinSection 1, asubdistrict on the voting map, will select the new judge.The Legislature shook up those votinglines during the spring session, passing aHouse bill that revamped the judicial map Judges serving in the districtcourt had been divvied up intothree subdistricts since a1994 consent decree issued in afederal lawsuit over alack of Black judgesin the parish.The Clarkv.Edwards civil rights case led to amandate that created twoma-

Southern cancelsall classes, events due to threats

BYAIDAN MCCAHILL Staff writer

Southern University officials have canceled all school activities and events through the weekend after the Baton Rougecampus was shut down for just over an hour Thursdayinreactionto threatsmadeagainst students.

The announcementcame on aday when threats were received at several historically Black collegesand universities across thecountry,prompting multiple campusestogointo lockdown. ClarkAtlantaUniversity,Virginia State University,Alabama State University,Hampton University in Virginia,and BethuneCookmanUniversity in Florida all reportedthreatsand went into lockdown. Authoritiesdid notelaborate on the type of threats that were made, and no injurieshavebeen reported. The FBI told The Associated Press it is taking the “hoax threat calls” seriously andthat thereis“no informationtoindicate a credible threat.”

Onescreenshot circulating on social media andamong Southern University students shows an email that speciﬁcally threatenstoshoot Black students on Southern’scampus.

ä See SOUTHERN, page 4A

jority-Whitesubdistricts and amajorityBlack subdistrict to bring the map in line with the VotingRightsAct of 1965. That landmark piece of legislation is being challenged on anational scale. The U.S. Supreme Court is slated to weigh in on akey constitutional question involving the Voting Rights Act soon in its Louisiana v. Callais decision. At the state level, Louisiana lawmakers restructuredthe 30-year-old voting linesfor the 19th Judicial District Court on June 11 when Landry signed intolaw ameasure that changed the map from three subdistricts to two.

ä See SEAT, page 5A

Drop comesafter two yearsofincreases

BY ELYSE CARMOSINO Staff writer

Theshare of Louisiana students who regularly miss school dropped 2percentage points last year —anotable improvement after absenteeism rates climbed two years in arow

The state’schronic absenteeism rate hit 22.5% during the2024-25 school year, downfrom 24.6% the year prior,according to data recently released by the state Department of Education. It still hovers slightly above the pre-pandemic rate of about 18% in 2018-19. The decline is positive news for Louisiana, which, despite being one of only three states whereaverage reading scores have rebounded to pre-COVID-19 levels, has struggled to address rising absenteeism.

ä See ABSENTEEISM, page 4A

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS Baton Rougepolice blockthe entrance of SouthernUniversity’scampus Thursday after threats sparked alockdown.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ROSS D. FRANKLIN

Sisters Clara Hetland, 4, from left,Haddie Hetland,9,and Audra Hetland 6, of Surprise, Ariz.,spendtime

makeshiftmemorial at Turning Point USA headquarters in Phoenixafter the shooting death at

of Charlie Kirk, theco-founder and CEO of the organization.

U.K. fires ambassador to U.S. over Epstein links

LONDON U.K Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday ﬁred the country’s ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, over his links to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Just days before the arrival of President Donald Trump to the U.K. on his second state visit, Starmer dismissed the veteran British politician in the wake of the publication of emails that Mandelson sent to Epstein, in which he gave his support to the disgraced ﬁnancier, even when he was facing jail for sex offenses.

Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty told Parliament the emails pointed to the “depth and extent” of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein being “materially different” from what was known when he was appointed ambassador to Washington last year after the Labour Party’s election victory.

In particular, Doughty pointed to Mandelson’s suggestion in one email that Epstein’s ﬁrst conviction in 2008 was “wrongful and should be challenged.”

Mandelson took up his Washington post in February after what Starmer’s government described as an “extensive” vetting process. The diplomat has voiced his deep regret over his previous links with Epstein and said he knew nothing about his criminal activities.

Child dies from measles complication in Calif

A school-age child has died from a rare complication of measles contracted in infancy, Los Angeles County health ofﬁcials said Thursday

The child, who had been too young to be vaccinated when they were infected by the virus, died of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, according to the county health department. The incurable disorder causes progressive brain damage and is nearly universally fatal.

About 1 in 10,000 people who get measles develops the disorder, but the risk is 1 in 600 for infants.

“This case is a painful reminder of how dangerous measles can be, especially for our most vulnerable community members,” said Dr Muntu Davis, Los Angeles County health officer “Infants too young to be vaccinated rely on all of us to help protect them through community immunity.”

This has been the worst year for measles in the U.S. in more than three decades, as childhood vaccination rates decline and domestic and international outbreaks have spread. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conﬁrmed 1,454 cases as of Tuesday Three people have died.

The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is safe and is 97% effective at preventing measles after two doses. Doctors recommend kids get a shot at 12-15 months old and a second one at age 4-6 years.

Humpty Dumpty caper sparks N.J. probe

CAPE MAY, N.J Humpty Dumpty took a big fall, and now police are hoping to crack the case.

A playful, colorful statue of the nursery rhyme icon was forcibly removed from a structure at a miniature golf course in Cape May, New Jersey, on Sunday and dumped down the street.

Local police say they’re looking for two men who are seen on video stopping at Ocean Putt Golf at around 4 a.m. Video shows one of them entering the course by climbing over a fence, grabbing and rocking the statue back and forth and pulling it off its foundation before walking off with it.

The statue, showing a smiling Humpty Dumpty with big, white head, red cheeks, a yellow bow tie, a blue jacket and gray pants, was found several properties away In a nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty falls off a wall and all the king’s horses and all the king’s men can’t put him back together again.

Brazil. The majority of a panel of Brazilian Supreme Court justices on Thursday voted to convict Bolsonaro of attempting a coup to remain in office despite his 2022 electoral defeat.

Bolsonaro convicted in attempted coup

Former Brazilian president sentenced to more than 27 years by high court

BY MAURICIO SAVARESE and GABRIELA SÁ PESSOA Associated Press

BRASILIA, Brazil A panel of Brazilian Supreme Court justices sentenced former President Jair Bolsonaro to 27 years and three months in prison Thursday after convicting him of attempting a coup to remain in ofﬁce despite his 2022 electoral defeat.

Bolsonaro, who has always denied any wrongdoing, can try to appeal the ruling. He is currently under house arrest in Brasilia.

Four of the five justices reviewing the case in the panel found the far-right politician guilty on five counts, in a ruling that will deepen political divisions and was expected to prompt a backlash from the U.S. government. It makes Bolsonaro is the first former Brazilian president to be convicted of attempting a coup.

The ﬁve counts are: attempting a coup after losing the 2022 race to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in a plot that prosecutors alleged included plans to kill Lula; participating in an armed criminal organization; attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law; damage qualiﬁed by violence; and deterioration of listed heritage.

Bolsonaro’s co-conspirators, all of them former Brazilian ofﬁcials, were also sentenced for their roles in the attempted coup. Gen. Braga Netto, Bolsonaro’s former defense minister and running mate in 2022, received 26 years. Admiral Almir Garnier got 24 years. Gen. Augusto Heleno received 21 years and Gen. Paulo Sérgio Nogueira got 19 years. Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, who cooperated with investigations, was given two years under an open regime.

Chief Justice Luís Roberto Barroso joined the panel at the end of the session and called the trial a “watershed moment in Brazil’s history.”

The U.S. government immediately

White

criticized the ruling and warned it would respond.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he was “very unhappy” with the conviction. Speaking to reporters as he departed the White House, he said he’d always found Bolsonaro to be “outstanding.”

And later, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on his X account that Trump’s government “will respond accordingly to this witch hunt.”

Trump’s administration had already applied a 50% tariff on imported Brazilian goods, which it said was in reaction to the process against Bolsonaro.

The sentence doesn’t mean Bolsonaro will immediately go to prison. The court panel has now up to 60 days to publish the ruling. Once it does, Bolsonaro’s lawyers have five days to file motions for clarification.

His lawyers have said that they will try to appeal both the conviction and sentence before the full Supreme Court of 11 justices, although some experts think it’s unlikely to be accepted.

“It’s unlikely, but not impossible, that there will be appeals to the full Supreme Court,” said Rafael Mafei, lawyer and law professor at University of São Paulo and ESPM university. “But of course, the defenses will try because they should.”

One of the justices, Cármen Lúcia, said she was convinced by the evidence the Attorney General’s Ofﬁce presented against the former president. “He is the instigator the leader of an organization that orchestrated every possible move to maintain or seize power,” she said.

Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, the former president’s eldest son, said on X the conviction was a “supreme persecution” and that history would show they were on the right side.

The trial has been followed by a divided society, with people backing the process against the former president, while others still support him. Some have taken to the streets to back the far-right leader who contends he is being politically persecuted.

Observers say the U.S. might announce new sanctions against Brazil after the trial, further straining their fragile diplomatic relations.

House seeks emergency ruling to remove Fed governor

BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP economics writer

WASHINGTON The Trump administration has asked an appeals court to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s board of governors by Monday, before the central bank’s next vote on interest rates. The request represents an extraordinary effort by the White House to shape the board before the Fed’s interest rate-setting committee meets next Tuesday and Wednesday At the same time, Senate Republicans are pushing to conﬁrm Stephen Miran, President Donald Trump’s nominee to an open spot on the Fed’s board, which could happen as soon as Monday

that Fed governors can only be ﬁred “for cause,” which she said was limited to misconduct while in ofﬁce Cook did not join the Fed’s board until 2022.

In their emergency appeal, Trump’s lawyers argued that even if the conduct occurred before her time as governor, her alleged action “indisputably calls into question Cook’s trustworthiness and whether she can be a responsible steward of the interest rates and economy.”

Trump sought to ﬁre Cook Aug. 25, but a federal judge ruled late Tuesday that the removal was illegal and reinstated her to the Fed’s board. Trump has accused Cook of mortgage fraud because she appeared to claim two properties as “primary residences” in July 2021, before she joined the board. Such claims can lead to a lower mortgage rate and smaller down payment than if one of them was declared as a rental property or second home. Cook has denied the charges.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Jia Cobb ruled that the administration had not satisfied a legal requirement

Judge blocks effort to remove dozens of immigrant children

Kids are from Guatemala and Honduras

BY JACQUES BILLEAUD and MORGAN LEE Associated Press

TUCSON, Ariz. A federal judge in Arizona temporarily blocked the Trump administration from removing dozens of Guatemalan and Honduran children living in shelters or foster care after coming to the U.S. alone, according to a decision Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Rosemary Márquez in Tucson extended until at least Sept. 26 a temporary restraining issued over the Labor Day weekend. Márquez raised concern over whether the government had arranged for any of the children’s parents or legal guardians in Guatemala to take custody of them.

Laura Belous, attorney for the Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project, which represents the children, said in court that the minors had expressed no desire to be repatriated to their native countries of Guatemala and Honduras amid concerns they could face neglect, possible child trafficking or hardships associated with individual medical conditions.

Lawyers for the children said their clients have said they fear going home, and that the government is not following laws designed to protect migrant children.

Belous’ organization ﬁled a lawsuit in Arizona on behalf of 57 Guatemalan children and another 12 from Honduras between the ages 3 and 17.

The suit, along with a related lawsuit before a federal judge in Washington, D.C., responds to the Trump administration’s Labor Day weekend attempt to remove Guatemalan migrant children who were living in government shelters and foster care after coming to the

U.S. alone. In a late night operation Aug. 30, the administration notiﬁed shelters that they would be returning the children to Guatemala and needed to have the kids ready to leave in a matter of hours. Scores of children got as far as boarding planes in Texas on the morning of Aug. 31 and were set to depart to Guatemala At Thursday’s hearing in Tucson, Denise Ann Faulk, an assistant U.S attorney under the Trump administration, emphasized that the child repatriations were negotiated with Guatemala at high diplomatic levels and would avoid lengthy prohibitions on returning to the U.S.

Nearly all the children were in the custody of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department’s Office of Refugee Resettlement and living at shelters in the Phoenix and Tucson areas. Similar lawsuits ﬁled in Illinois and Washington, D.C., seek to stop the government from removing the children.

The Arizona lawsuit demands that the government allow the children their right to present their cases to an immigration judge, to have access to legal counsel and to be placed in the least restrictive setting that is in their best interest.

The Trump administration has argued it is acting in the best interest of the children by trying to reunite them with their families at the behest of the Guatemalan government. After Guatemalan officials toured U.S. detention facilities, the government said that it was “very concerned” and that it would take children who wanted to return voluntarily Children began crossing the border alone in large numbers in 2014, peaking at 152,060 in the 2022 ﬁscal year July’s arrest tally translates to an annual clip of 5,712 arrests, reﬂecting how illegal crossings have dropped to their lowest levels in six decades.

The administration asked an appeals court to issue an emergency decision reversing the lower court by Monday. If their appeal is successful, Cook would be removed from the Fed’s board until her case is ultimately resolved in the courts, and she would miss next week’s meeting.

If the appeals court rules in Cook’s favor, the administration could seek an emergency ruling from the Supreme Court. Either way the Fed is expected to cut its benchmark interest rate next week by a quarter-point to about 4.1%. When the Fed reduces its key rate, it often, over time, lowers borrowing costs for mortgages, auto loans, and business loans. Some of those rates have already fallen in anticipation of cuts from the Fed. Should Miran, a top economic adviser to Trump, win approval in time to join the Fed next week, he could push for a steeper half-point reduction to the Fed’s rate.

Cook

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By LUIS NOVA Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro stands Thursday at the entrance of his home where he is under house arrest in Brasilia,

Belarus frees 52 political prisoners

U.S. lifts some sanctions on its national airline

BY YURAS KARMANAU and LIUDAS DAPKUS Associated Press

VILNIUS Lithuania Belarus

freed 52 political prisoners on Thursday as part of a deal brokered by the United States, which lifted some sanctions on the country’s national airline.

It was another sign of a possible rapprochement between Washington and Minsk, a close ally of Russia that has faced Western isolation for years. U.S. President Donald Trump and Belarus’ Alexander Lukashenko spoke on the phone last month, and the American leader even suggested a face-to-face meeting could be in the works.

That would be a big win for Lukashenko, who has ruled his nation of 9.5 million with an iron fist for more than three decades. Belarus has been repeatedly sanctioned by Western countries both for its crackdown on human rights and allowing Moscow to use its territory in the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. But more recently, Lukashenko has sought to mend ties with the West in the hopes of easing the sanctions. He has regularly released prisoners as a way to win favor, including freeing Siarhei Tsikhanouski, a key dissident and the husband of exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, in June.

The concession from the U.S. came a day after Poland denounced an incursion of Russian drones into its territory — saying some came from Belarus in what Western ofﬁcials called an

act of aggression. NATO jets were scrambled and shot some of the drones down.

Trump, whose country is the major military power in NATO, offered an ambiguous initial response to the incursion, posting on his Truth Social platform: “What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones? Here we go!”

Trump envoy John Coale announced the lifting of sanctions at a meeting with Lukashenko in Minsk on Thursday

Some sanctions on Belarus national carrier Belavia, were relaxed in light of prisoner releases so far, according to a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic conversations. That will allow the airline to repair and buy parts for its planes, including Boeing aircraft.

The airline was sanctioned

Qatar leader: Israeli strike killed hope for Gaza hostage release

BY JON GAMBRELL,

ABDEL KAREEM HANA and WAFAA SHURAFA Associated Press

DOHA, Qatar Benjamin Netanyahu “killed any hope” for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip after Israel’s attack this week on Hamas leaders in Doha Qatar’s prime minister said Thursday in remarks that underscored wider anger among Gulf Arab countries over the strike.

Tuesday’s attack on the territory of a U.S ally killed at least six people and alarmed countries in the Middle East and beyond, risking upending ceasefire talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt that sought to free the Hamasheld hostages in Gaza.

“I was meeting one of the hostages’ families the morning of the attack,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told CNN in an interview aired late Wednesday “They are counting on this mediation. They have no other hope for that.”

“What Netanyahu has done, he just killed any hope for those hostages,” added Sheikh Mohammed, who is also Qatar’s top diplomat.

Hamas spokesperson Fawzy Barhoum said Israel’s attack constituted a “derailment of negotiations efforts” and showed that Netanyahu and his backers “refuse to reach a deal.”

Hamas says its senior leaders survived the Doha strike but that five lower-level members were killed. The militant group, which has sometimes only confirmed the assassination of its leaders months later, offered no immediate proof that senior ﬁgures had survived.

Funerals for the five Hamas members and a Qatari security officer who were killed in the attack were held Thursday Qatar’s ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, attended the service Sheikh Mohammed arrived Thursday at the United Nations headquarters in New York to attend an emergency

Security Council meeting, part of Qatari diplomatic efforts following the strike.

The Security Council earlier issued a joint statement expressing “deep concern” without mentioning Israel and emphasizing “de-escalation.” Approved by the 15-member council, including the U.S. the statement also conveyed its solidarity with Qatar and the “vital role” it’s played in mediating peace efforts in recent years.

At the start of the session, Rosemary DiCarlo, the U.N.’s political chief, said Israel’s attack “shocked the world” and “potentially opens a new and perilous chapter” in the war in Gaza.

“It was an alarming escalation especially since it targeted individuals who were reportedly gathered to discuss the latest U.S. proposal for a ceaseﬁre and hostage release deal in Gaza,” she said.

In addition to the U.N. visit, Qatar also said it was organizing an Arab-Islamic summit next week in Doha to discuss the attack

by the European Union, the U.S., and others after Belarusian flight controllers ordered a commercial jet traveling from Greece to Lithuania to land in Minsk. Once the plane landed, authorities arrested Raman Pratasevich, a dissident journalist who was on board. Lukashenko, who has relied on Russia’s loans and cheap energy to keep Belarus’ economy aﬂoat, called the move “very important.”

Tsikhanouskaya, Belarus’ opposition leader in exile, warned that the easing of sanctions could allow Moscow, whose aviation industry has been sanctioned, to get airplane parts through Belavia.

“We understand that this is part of the deal,” she told The Associated Press. “But lifting sanctions without systemic changes in the country could open loopholes that both the Lukashenko regime

and Russia will use to circumvent the sanctions.”

That could also create new opportunities for Belarus in its relationship with Russia. Minsk will be able to resell the parts to Moscow “at a very favorable price,” said independent analyst Valery Karbalevich and it makes “the Kremlin’s leash” on Belarus “a little longer.”

One of the prisoners re-

leased Thursday, veteran opposition activist Mikalai Statkevich, refused to cross into Lithuania and tried to return to Belarus, but was blocked by the border guards, Anatol Lyabedzka, a key activist on Tsikhanouskaya’s team, told AP in a phone interview from a Lithuanian border crossing where the prisoners were handed over

BY KIM TONG-HYUNG and HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press

SEOUL,South Korea South Korea’s president said Thursday that Korean companies will likely hesitate to make further investments in the United States unless Washington improves its visa system for their employees, as U.S. authorities released hundreds of workers who were detained at a Georgia factory site last week. In a news conference marking 100 days in ofﬁce, Lee Jae Myung called for improvements in the U.S. visa system as he spoke about

the Sept. 4 immigration raid that resulted in the arrest of more than 300 South Korean workers at a battery factory under construction at Hyundai’s sprawling auto plant west of Savannah. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry later confirmed that U.S. authorities have released the 330 detainees — 316 of them Koreans — and that they were being transported by buses to Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport where they will board a charter ﬂight scheduled to arrive in South Korea on Friday afternoon. The group also includes 10 Chinese nationals, three Japanese nationals and

one Indonesian. The massive roundup and U.S. authorities’ release of video showing some workers being chained and taken away, sparked widespread anger and a sense of betrayal in South Korea. The raid came less than two weeks after a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Lee, and just weeks after the countries reached a July agreement that spared South Korea from the Trump administration’s highest tariffs — but only after Seoul pledged $350 billion in new U.S. investments, against the backdrop of a decaying job market at home.

PHOTO PROVIDED By BELARUSIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, right, and U.S presidential envoy John Coale shake hands Thursday during a meeting in Minsk, Belarus.

Adocument with the title “SUBRshootingmanifesto” is attached to the email in the screenshot. The originalsourceofthe emailis currently unknown, and no timestamps were visible.

Southern has not responded to arequest forcomment on the circulating screenshot.

In apost on X, U.S.Rep. Troy Carter,D-New Orleans,urged the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI to use “all available resources” in investigating thethreatsmade against HBCUs.

“These reprehensibleacts are not only an attack on institutions of higher learning —they are an attack on our history,our culture, and the promise of opportunity that HBCUs represent for generations of students,” Carter wrote.

Southern lifted the lockdown approximately an hour after advising students to shelter in place.

Afterthe lockdown was lifted, Southern officials urged students living in offcampus housingand nonessential employees to leave the Baton Rougecampus, which includes the main college, the Law Center, the AgriculturalResearchand ExtensionCenter, andthe Laboratory School. They said accommodations would be made for students whoreside on campus and instructionswould be communicated directly to them.

At Alabama State Univer-

sity,whichsits near downtown Montgomery andhas an enrollmentofabout 3,500, students were ordered to shelter in place as police searchedeach building on campus

“immediatethreat has been resolved,” studentswere

ABSENTEEISM

Continued from page1A

After absences spiked nationwide during the pandemic,most states saw their numbers fall in recent years —but until last school year,Louisiana’srate continued to rise.

Worried that the state’s recent academic progress would be lost unless something was done, state and local education leaders have made improving attendance apriority,and now thoseefforts appear to be paying off.

“I believe in what we’re doing, and Ibelieve in our academ ic strategy,” state Superintendent of SchoolsCade Brumleysaid in an interview Wednesday.“If more kids are in school every day, they’ll have greater access to that strategy that’sproducing results.”

Systemsmakestrides

Several of the state’slargest school systems experiencedminor reductions in chronicabsenteeism,deﬁned as students who miss 10% or more of aschool year Jefferson Parish and East Baton RougeParish saw their rates drop by 3percentagepoints last school year,while Lafayette’sfell by 2percentage points, and the rate in Orleans Parish dipped by half apercentage point.

Tensas Parish, atiny rural district with about 300 students, saw the biggest overall reduction in chron-

ic absenteeism: Itsratefell from roughly44% in 202324 to33% last school year

TensasParish Schools

Superintendent Joyce Russ said that her staff has made aconcerted effort over the past two years to stayontop of attendance data, identify studentswho are at risk of becoming chronically absent andreach outtofamiliesbefore the problem snowballs.

Themost important strategy has been creating awelcoming school community wherestudents feel seen and heard, Russ said, adding thatshe makes apoint of forminga relationship with every child.

“Kids need people in their liveswho they know will be there for them, who they cancount on,” shesaid.

“That’swhat Itry to do.”

Though most districts’ absenteeism rates declined last school year,13saw their numbersrise,including Cameron Parish, which increased by more than four percentagepoints, according todata.

Twodistricts, Richland and St.Tammany,saw no change.

Focusonattendance

Stateleaders have put effort into reducing absenteeism.

In June, thestate Education Departmentreleased guidance encouraging districts to focus on preventionmethods and improving school culture, rather than punitive measures, to draw chronically absent studentsback to school. The department also encouraged districts to submit attendancedatatothe state more frequently to earlier spot studentsatriskoffalling behind Brumley said that getting

Abouttwo hourslater, the university said it had received the“all-clear from police. However, the school said that while the

timely, reliable attendance datafrom districts is acritical ﬁrst stepinimproving attendance statewide.

“Wehavemuchmoreconﬁdence in thequalityofthe data,” he said, “which will be able tohelp us drive future decisions.”

Leaders in sectors beyond education have also been eager to help.

Louisiana Chief Justice JohnWeimer,who said he was alarmed by rising absenteeism, earlier this year proposed a“Solutions Summit” that wouldbring together stakeholdersfrom acrossthe state to discuss solutions to theabsenteeismcrisis.

The ﬁrst-of-its-kind event took place Monday in Alexandria, drawing nearly 400 participants who work in school districts, court systems andcommunity-based groups

“What we need is buy-in from local areas and support from the state to help them implement guidance,”Weimer said in an interview.“We can’tdictate what thesolutions are, but we can gather everyone together to collaborate.”

Louisiana wasone of just fourstates where chronic absenteeismroseduring the 2023-24 school year, accordingtodatafrom 46 states compiled by FutureEd, athink tank at Georgetown University.As of Sept. 2, only seven states had released absenteeism numbersfor the last school year.All but one, Colorado, saw improvements over the previous year,though none has yet returned to prepandemiclevels,according to FutureEd.

Email ElyseCarmosino at ecarmosino@theadvocate. com.

asked to remain in their dormsand classes were canceled for the remainder of the day.

Precautionary measures came at atime of heightened worry on school campusesoverviolencefollowingthe assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at aUtah Valley University and ashooting at a Colorado high school.

Swatting incidents typically increase after violent events, putting schools on edge,saidDon Beeler, chief executive officer of TDR Technology Solutions, which tracksswatting calls and offerstechnology to prevent them. The safety measures that schools may implement following potentialthreatscould be heightened, such as canceling class forafew days, instead of just oneday

“Anything that happens in the next week is going to get an overreaction than what you normally see,” Beeler said.

OtherHBCUs that did not

receive threats announced thatthey, too, were tightening security South Carolina State University required anyone coming on campus, in Orangeburg, to show aphoto ID afterthe threats started surfacing. Spelman College in Atlanta,Georgia —which neighbors auniversity that did receive athreat —issued alockdown Thursday andsaiditwas increasing security measures. At thestartofthe school year,atleast adozen college campuses received hoax calls about active shooters. The realistic-sounding calls, someofwhich had gunshotsthatcould be heard in thebackground prompted universities to issue lockdowns with directions to “run, hide, ﬁght.” The Associated Press contributed to this story. Email Aidan McCahill at aidan.mccahill@ theadvocate.com or followhim on X, @AidanMcCahill47.

Brumley

The videos show Kirk, aclose allyof PresidentDonaldTrumpwho played an inﬂuential role in rallying youngRepublicanvoters, speaking into ahandheld microphone when suddenlyashot ringsout.Kirkcan be seen reachingupwith his right hand as blood gushes fromthe left side of his neck. Stunned spectators gasp and scream before peoplestart running away

Theshooter,who investigators believe blended into the campus crowd because of a“college-age” appearance, fired asingle shot from the rooftop where they were perched before jumping off

“I can tell you this was atargeted event,” said Robert Bohls, the top FBI agent in Salt Lake City Trump, who was joined by Democrats in condemning the violence, said he would award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honorinthe U.S., while Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, arrivedThursday afternoon in Salt Lake City to visit with Kirk’sfamily.Vance posted are-

SEAT

Continued frompage1A

Chief Judge DonaldJohnson filed alawsuit in August saying the new map shouldn’tbeapplied to next month’sjudicial race. During ahearing Tuesday inside the 19th Judicial District Courthouse, Johnson arguedthat Landry’scallfor an election came nearly a month before legislation for the revamped voting boundaries wasevenfiledinthe House.

“I’m testifyingthatthe constitutional right of our governor to proclamate a special election is separate and apart from any legislative act,” Johnson testified during Tuesday’shearing, “because the constitutional authority for special elections is solely separate from the legislative authority for regularelections.”

Larger voting district

The new voting map vastly enlarged theremainingsubdistricts while doing away with athird. Election Section 1was the lone majorityBlack subdistrict carved out of the 1990s voting rights litigation.

Most of the subdistrict’s previous territories straddled theMississippi River from LSU to just beyond Southern University in the Scotlandville sectionof North Baton Rouge. Portions of the district extended inlandpast Airline Highway between Greenwell Springs Road and Evangeline Street. But that was as far east as the district’sprior map stretched. Under the new legislation, the subdistrict veers near Denham Springs in some areas, stretching as fareast as O’Neal Lane just off Interstate 12. It also goes much farther north, now encompassing Bakerand Zachary and extending all the wayto theparish’snorthern boundaries

The proclamation from Landry,Johnson argued, called for the ongoing judge’s

membrance on Xchronicling their friendship, dating back to initial messagesin2017, through Vance’s Senate runand ultimatelypraying after hearing of the shooting.

“Somuchofthe successwe’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’sability to organize and convene,”Vance wrote. “He didn’t just helpuswin in 2024, he helped

race toberun under the old map because that is the subdistrict that was in place when Landry called forthe election

Johnson asked adistrict judge to force the Louisiana secretary of state andEast Baton Rouge Parish registrar of voters to reverttothe map that has been used for the past 30 years.

“Thisisthe ﬁrst timethat we want to change somethingbecause —well Idon’t know why.But it’satypical andit’sunconstitutionalin my opinion,” he testified “That affects theintegrity of the election, and the whole election can be challenged on that basis.”

Three of thefour candidatesin the judicial race Vernon Thomas,Veronica “Vivky”Jones andDele Adebamiji —werelisted as plaintiffs in the lawsuit alongside Johnson.All three were present in the courtroom during portionsof Tuesday’shearing, and Jones and Adebamiji testiﬁed about theimpact thechanged map has had on them as candidates.

Twovotingprecinctsencompassing about 1,700 registered voters were removed from thesubdistrictunder thenew map. ButSherri Wharton Hadskey,the secretary of state’scommissioner of elections, testified that the realigned subdistrict absorbed 61 new precincts

That means more ground for the candidates tocover geographically,and many more voters to reach on the campaign trail.

Jones told Jewel Welch, the ad hocjudgewho presided over Tuesday’shearing,that thesubdistrict increased from about54,000 voters to more than 150,000. She said it has cost her more money to reachand spread her message to prospective voters.

“The financial impact is deﬁnitely there, in addition to themanpowerand the hours that it’stakingwith regard to how we’re running our campaign,” Jones said. Welch wasswayedbyargumentsfrom thesecretary of state and attorney gen-

us staff the entire government.” Kirk’s casket was to be flown aboard Air Force Twofrom Utah to Arizona, where his nonproﬁt political youth organization,Turning Point USA, is based. Trump told reportersheplans to attendKirk’s funeral. Details have notbeen announced.

Kirk was aconservative ﬁrebrand

eral’slawyers that changing thevoting map little more than month before the primary would cause toomuch confusion for voters. He also cited testimony by Wharton Hadskey, commissioner of elections, that it would be virtually impossible forstate ofﬁcials to switch the maps at this stage forthe special election —one of dozens of upcoming races in thefall cycle. Early voting in municipalprimaries statewide begins Sept.27.

“Ourrighttovote is fundamental,and many people have died defending that right,”the judgesaid before denying theplaintiffs’ requestfor awritofmandamus. “I thinkthatitwould cause confusion to reissue voter registration cards to the voting public in that speciﬁc districtand have them comply with new orders.”

Plaintiff attorney Karl Koch said Thursdayheplans to appeal the decision on behalf of Johnson and the judicial candidates

Acourt in transformation

Before the passage of the newmap,ﬁve judgeswere elected from each of the threesubdistrictsinthe 19th Judicial District Court’svoting chart. Now that it has been whittled down to two subdistricts, sevenjudges are selected from both election sections, andone judge runs in an at-large,parishwide district —the judge currently serving in that seat is Johnson.

East BatonRouge’sdistrict courtcurrentlyboasts eight Black judges andsix White jurists on its bench. Next month’selection is poisedto add aninthBlack judge.

The terms for all 15 judicial seats expire at the end of 2026, so every judge will either have to seek reelectionorretire.

Fourofthe 19th Judicial District Court’ssitting judges will be older than 70 when theirterms end next year, meaning theyare age-restrictedfromrunning again undercurrent law. ButLouisiana voters will decidea constitutional amendment in

andprovocateurwhobecameapowerful political force amongyoung Republicans and wasaﬁxture on college campuses, where he invited sometimes-vehement debate on social issues.

He was shot while attending one such event Wednesday, adebate hostedbyTurning Point at the SorensenCenter on campus in what was billed as theﬁrst stop on Kirk’s “American Comeback Tour.”

Theevent generateda polarizing campus reaction. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk fromappearing received nearly1,000 signatures.

The university issued astatement lastweek citing First Amendment rights and afﬁrming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry and constructive dialogue.”

Last week, Kirk postedonXimages of news clipsshowinghis visit was sparking controversy.He wrote, “What’sgoing on in Utah?”

One such provocative exchange played out immediately before the shooting, as he wastaking questions fromanaudience member about gun violencewhenthe shot was heard.

Someattendees who bolted after thegunshot rushed into two class-

April that proposes to change the mandatory retirement age for judgesseeking electionto75.

During aHouse committee meeting in May,Republican lawmakers thatcrafted the bill to restructure the subdistrictssaid they intended to makethe change in advance of next year’s possible overhaul to thecourt’s leadership.

StateRep.BarbaraFrieberg, R-Baton Rouge, said the parish’svoting population is pretty evenly split racially and acknowledged, under questioning from Rep. Denise Marcelle, D-Baton Rouge, that the bill aimed to addmoreWhite judges to the district court’s bench.

“The purpose would be if you have apopulation that’s around 50-50, that your judges should represent that,” Frieberg said during the House and Governmental Affairs committee meeting May 14.

Email MattBruce at matt bruce@theadvocate.com.

rooms full of students.Theyused tables to barricade the door and to shield themselves in the corners. Someone grabbedanelectric pencilsharpener andwrapped thecord tightly around thedoor handle,then tied thesharpener to achair leg. MadisonLattin was watching afew dozenfeet fromKirk’sleft whenshe heard thebullethit him.

“Blood is falling anddripping down, andyou’re just likesoscared, not just for him but your ownsafety,” she said.

On campus Thursday,the canopy stamped with the slogan Kirk commonly usedathis events “PROVE

ME WRONG” stood disheveled. Kathleen Murphy,alongtimeresident wholivesnearthe campus,said shehas been stayinginside withher door locked “Withthe shooternot beingcaught yet, it wasaworry,” Murphysaid.

Meanwhile, the shooting continued to draw swift bipartisan condemnation as Democratic ofﬁcials joinedTrump andother Republican alliesofKirk in decrying the attack,whichunfolded during a spike of political violence that has touched arange of ideologies and representatives of both major political parties.

Families of slainprotestersinNepal seek justice

Hundreds seek to leavecountry

BY BINAJ GURUBACHARYA Associated Press

KATHMANDU,Nepal— Grieving families of protesterskilled by police duringviolent protests in Nepal this week gathered in the capital on Thursday,expressing anger at authorities and seeking information about their missing loved ones.

Families held acandlelight vigil outside ahospital morgue in Kathmandu and announced plans to meet with Nepal army ofﬁcials to seek justice.

Earlier on Thursday,hundreds of people crowded Nepal’smain airport in Kathmandu to get aflight out of the country,asconfusion set in over who governs the Himalayannation after violent protests toppled the country’sgovernment.

The Health Ministry said that 34 people were killed

and 1,368 wounded inprotestsonMonday and Tuesday. Theyweresparkedbya short-lived social media ban and fueled by broader discontent over corruption and unemployment. Nepal’sarmy took control of thecapital Tuesday night after two days of huge protests that left the presidential residence and government buildings in ﬂames and forced the prime ministerto resignand ﬂee

Thetollofthe deadand wounded has been risingas reportsoncasualtiestrickledinfromother parts of the country

“Weneed to ﬁght for justice for our family who were killed and we cannot stay silent any longer,” said Kamal Subedi,one of those at the vigil. He said his nephew was killed.

“Wehavelost our loved ones butpolitics seem totake priority right and no one has even approachedus, so now we going to ﬁght for justice forthe honorthey deserve.”

meat earlyThursday,when the army brieﬂy lifted acurfew. Armed soldiers were guarding the streets, checking vehicles and offering assistance to those in need.

Protesterssaid they are demanding state honors for their loved ones and are not interested in monetary compensation.

Bhol Bahadur Bishwokarma was seekinginformation abouthis brother,Santosh Bishwokarma, who was killed by police ﬁre.

“Wehaveheard that thebody is in the hospital morgue here but no one has

Officials: Colo.schoolshooting suspecthad been radicalized

Twostudents wounded

BY COLLEEN SLEVIN and MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press

DENVER A16-year-old boy who had been radicalized by an unspecified “extremist network” fired arevolver multiple timesduringanattackatasuburban Denver high school that wounded two students, authorities saidThursday Some students ran and others locked down during Wednesday’sshootingatEvergreen High School in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. One of the victims was shot inside the school and anther outside.

Thesuspect in Evergreen, student Desmond Holly shot himselfatthe school and later died, saidJefferson County sheriff’s office spokesperson Jacki Kelley The county was also the scene of the1999Columbine High School shooting that killed 14 people. Theschool resource officer was on medical leave and two part-time officers whonow share the jobwere notpresent at thetime, she said at anews conference. The officer working at the school that day hadbeen sentearlier to anearbyaccident. Kelley said Holly had been“radicalized by some extremist network,” and suggested authoritiescame to that conclusion after ex-

amining the suspect’s home and phone. Butdetails on howheallegedly hadbeen radicalized and by what group were not immediately released,with Kelleypromising more information at alater date. It also remained unclear if Holly knew the victims and had adisputewiththem,or if theywereshot randomly Bothwere reported in critical condition Thursday Ofﬁcialsreleased astatement from the family of one of the victims, Matthew Silverstone, 18, expressing appreciation for the support they’ve received and requesting privacy as the familyfocuses on his recovery The other victim had not been publicly identiﬁed.

confirmed that or in what condition and shape the body is in. We have not even been able tosee the body.We demand the government address our concern at theearliest,” he said.

In the capital, residents rushedtobuy food staples like rice, vegetablesand

Many triedtoleavethe country after theairport reopened lateWednesday and international flights resumed Thursday “Itwas very difficult time for us. We hadtrouble just to get to airport and back to hotel hoping for flights but finally Ihave found aseat and am going to be flying out of Nepal,” said Raj Kumar Bika, achicken farmer who wastrying to get to New Delhi for business. The last day of the key Indra Jatra festival was also shortened by the organizers canceling the chariot process of the living goddess in the heart of Kathmandu. Afew hundred devotees wereallowed in the old palace courtyards but the living goddess

wasnot taken out of herpalace temple. It remained unclear who would takecontrol of the government as the search for an interimleader continued. When the protests prompted Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli to resign Tuesday,the country’sceremonial President Ram Chandra Poudelaskedhim to lead a transitional government until anew one could be put in place. But Oli ﬂed from his official residence, and his whereabouts were not clear Residentsofthe capital were left wondering who wasincharge. “I feel there should be an election soonest and new leaders who are able to workfor thecountry should be elected,” said Sanu Bohara,a shopowner.“After allthis what we need is peace. Ifeel there should not have been so much destruction,but that hasalready happened.”

BY MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRYNEUMEISTER Associated Press

NEW YORK Former U.S.

Sen. Bob Menendez’ssobbing wife told ajudge that her husband was “not the man Ithought he was” before she was sentenced Thursday to 41/2 years in prison for selling the powerful New Jersey politician’s influence in exchange for bribesofcash, gold bars and aluxury car

U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein sentenced Nadine Menendez, 58,for her April conviction forcolluding from 2018 to 2023 with her husband, the former Democratic chairman of the SenateForeignRelations

Committee, in avariety of corrupt schemes, some involving assistingthe Egyptian government Nadine Menendez, tearfully addressing the judge forseveral minutesbefore he sentenced her,described herhusband asamanipulative liar

“I put my life in his hands andhestrungmelike apuppet,” she said. “The blindfold is off. Inow know he’snot my savior.He’snot theman Ithought he was.” Standing outside the courthouseafterward,she said shedoesn’t plan to divorce her 71-year-old husband, who is servingan11-year sentence for taking bribes, extortion,and acting as an agent of the Egyptiangov-

ernment.

Stein told the defendant that shewasn’t the person she was portrayed as during last year’strial of her husband andtwo NewJerseybusinessmen, when the judge said she was painted as “the true force behind the conspiracies.”

Buthesaid she also wasn’t the “innocent observer of what was happening around you,” as her lawyer claimed.

“You knew what youwere doing. Your role waspurposeful,”hesaid.

Assistant U.S. Attorney LaraPomerantz said Nadine Mendendez was “the second-mostculpablemember”ofthe scheme, after her husband, and that she“did so without hesitation.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By NIRANJAN SHRESTHA

Passengers check flight schedules on ascreen Thursdayas Nepal’sinternational airportreopens in Kathmandu, Nepal. The airporthad been closed duetonationwide protests.

Wall Street’s record run continues Thursday

NEW YORK Wall Street’s record-setting run kept rolling on Thursday, and stocks climbed after a mixed set of U.S. data kept the path clear for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in order to boost the economy The S&P 500 rose 0.8% and set an all-time high for the third straight day The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 617 points, or 1.4%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.7%. Both also hit records.

Treasury yields eased in the bond market following the economic reports, which were some of the ﬁnal data releases left that could sway the Federal Reserve’s thinking before its meeting next week The unanimous expectation on Wall Street is that it will cut its main interest rate for the ﬁrst time this year

On Wall Street, stocks of companies that could beneﬁt from lower interest rates rallied, including owners of real estate and homebuilders. Builders

FirstSource, which sells cabinets, lumber and other building supplies, climbed 4.5% Centene helped lead the market with a jump of 9%. The health care company said its business results through August are tracking with the proﬁt forecast for the year that it had earlier given. That’s more than analysts are forecasting Jobless application filings hit 4-year high

WASHINGTON — In another grim sign for the U.S. labor market, jobless claim applications jumped to their highest level in almost four years last week, virtually assuring the Federal Reserve will cut its benchmark interest rate next week.

The number of Americans ﬁling for unemployment beneﬁts for the week ending Sept. 6 rose by 27,000 to 263,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday That’s the most applications since the week of Oct. 23, 2021, and well above the 231,000 new applications economists forecast. It’s also the biggest week-to-week increase in almost a year

Typically the Fed would cut its key rate when unemployment rises in an attempt to spur more spending and growth. But it would do the opposite and raise rates — or keep them unchanged — in the face of rising inﬂation.

“The hot inflation print will not likely change the Fed’s plan to cut rates in September, but it’s possible the Fed will hold in October if inflation expectations no longer look well-contained,” said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist for LPL Financial. Fed officials recently have expressed greater concern about the deteriorating labor market than inflation, and while a rate cut could spur economic growth and boost the job market, economists fear it could push inflation even farther above the Fed’s target of 2% European Central Bank leaves rates unchanged

FRANKFURT Germany The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged Thursday with inflation back under control and the economy weathering Trump’s tariff onslaught better than expected.

The bank’s rate-setting council left its benchmark deposit rate unchanged at 2% at a meeting at its skyscraper headquarters in Frankfurt.

The focus in Europe has shifted to the ﬁscal crisis in France and any possible role for the ECB in containing potential market turmoil that could erupt from the country’s out-of-control deﬁcit and political logjam Bank President Christine Lagarde said after the rate decision that monetary policy was “in a good place” and that decisions are being made “meeting by meeting.” She gave no hint of future moves, saying the bank is “not on a predetermined path.”

Entergy CEO: Meta power plants a win

But climate goals will be impacted, he says

BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer

Entergy Corp. CEO Drew Marsh

called the three natural gas-fueled power plants the utility is building for Meta’s new north Louisiana data center big wins for the state, but they will likely keep the utility from meeting its goal to cut emissions in half by 2030.

In a speech Wednesday to more than 300 energy professionals, policymakers and students at Tulane University’s Future of Energy Forum, Marsh said the huge new power plants, expected to cost more than $3 billion, will improve grid reliability for customers statewide at a cost of pushing back some of its carbon goals.

Orleans. “2030 is going to be tough, but I think we still have a good shot at 2050, because Meta can bring its $2 trillion company to bear on this problem and help us clean up.”

Entergy was instrumental in landing the $10 million Meta data center, which is heralded by some as one of the biggest economic development wins in state history Others have criticized it for its massive energy demands and over concerns about how it will affect people living nearby in Richland Parish.

The project, announced a year ago, will take up the space equivalent to about 70 football ﬁelds. Estimates are that the facility will draw twice the power that the city of New Orleans uses on a hot summer day

Meta promises more than 5,000 construction jobs and 500 permanent jobs. The power plants will likely employ another 50 people. Louisiana’s Public Service Commission voted to approve the project in August.

Marsh, a 27-year Entergy veteran, said the data center and its power plants are part of an industrial boom along the Gulf Coast and particularly on the Interstate 20 corridor connecting Shreveport to Jackson, Mississippi — that has boosted the utility’s annual growth from 5% a year to about 13%.

“As we look out to 2050, we think we could triple or quadruple our sales,” he said. “There’s just a lot going on out there.”

To meet the increased demand, Marsh said, Entergy will have to invest in a variety of power generation methods, including nuclear Marsh, who is chair of the Nuclear Energy Institute trade association, said the country needs to maintain its existing power plants and ease regulations so more can come online.

“Nuclear safety is something that is very important, but it has been overdone,” he said. “One-ina-million years type standards on things could be very, very expensive and not really generate much

incremental safety.”

The Energy Forum comes at a time of signiﬁcant changes in the nation’s energy policy, when the Trump Administration has moved away from clean energy initiatives and promoted increasing domestic fossil fuel production.

Marsh’s remarks echoed others at the event, where the focus has shifted away from clean energy in favor of a more pragmatic approach. Marsh said Entergy is prioritizing affordability reliability and resilience.

“Some of the areas that we serve are some of the most economically disadvantaged areas of the country,” he said. “And a lot of our large industrial customers are competing in a global commodity market, so if our prices were to go shooting upward, that could end their ability to compete in our service territory.”

“By and large, the world is not focused on sustainability. Less so today than it was two years ago, to be sure,” he added. “But it is something that is going to come back around. That’s what we believe.”

Inflation rises as job market cools

Data puts Federal Reserve in a tough spot

BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP economics writer

WASHINGTON Inflation rose last month as the price of gas, groceries and airfares jumped while new data showed applications for unemployment aid soared, putting the Federal Reserve in an increasingly tough spot as it prepares to cut rates at its meeting next week despite persistent price pressures.

Consumer prices increased 2.9% in August from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Thursday up from 2.7% the previous month and the biggest jump since January

Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 3.1%, the same as in July Both ﬁgures are above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

A separate government report Thursday showed that weekly applications for unemployment aid jumped 27,000 to 263,000, the highest in nearly four years Requests for jobless beneﬁts are a proxy for layoffs. Recent reports have also showed that hiring has weakened dramatically this year and was lower than previously estimated last year

The data raises the specter of “stagflation,” a trend that last bedeviled the U.S. economy in the 1970s. The term refers to a period of slower growth and higher unemployment along with rising inflation. It is unusual because a weak economy typically keeps inflation in check.

Such a scenario could create major headaches for the Fed as it prepares for a meeting next week, when policymakers are widely expected to cut their short-term rate to about 4.1% from 4.3%. The Fed is under relentless pressure from President Donald Trump to cut rates. At the same time, stubborn inﬂation while the job market is weakening is difﬁcult for the central bank because they are diverging trends that require polar reactions from Fed policymakers to address.

Typically the Fed would cut its key rate when unemployment rises to spur more spending and growth. Yet it would do the opposite and raise rates — or at least keep them unchanged in the face of rising inﬂation.

Last month, Chair Jerome Powell signaled that Fed ofﬁcials are increasingly concerned about weaker hiring, setting the stage for a rate cut next week. Wall Street investors

think there is an 85% chance the Fed will cut twice more after that according to futures pricing tracked by CME Fedwatch.

“Consumer inﬂation came in mildly hotter than forecast, but not nearly high enough to prevent the Fed from starting to cut rates next week,” Kathy Bostjancic, chief economist for Nationwide, said. “The labor market is losing steam and reinforces that the Fed needs to start cutting rates next week and that it will be the start of a series of rate reductions.”

Where inflation heads next is a key question for the Fed While Thursday’s report showed inflation picked up, data released Wednesday suggested prices at the wholesale level are cooling. Economists also noted that a separate measure of inflation that the Fed prefers, which will be released in about two weeks, should come in lower than Thursday’s figures and paint a more benign picture of prices.

On a monthly basis, overall inﬂation accelerated, rising 0.4% from July to August, faster than the 0.2% pace the previous month. Core prices rose 0.3% for the second straight month.

Many economists and some key members of the Fed think that the current pickup in inflation reflects one-time increases from Trump’s sweeping tariffs and won’t lead to a lasting inflationary trend. They argue that a weaker job market will hold down wages

and force companies to keep prices in check.

Subadra Rajappa, head of U.S. rates strategy at Societe Generale, said that while inﬂation was elevated last month, there were also signs that the cost of services moderated, suggesting that outside of tariffs, prices are cooling.

Yet Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM, a tax and consulting firm, says that higher-income households are still spending sufficiently to push some prices higher, such as hotel and airfare costs, which leapt last month. Such spending could keep inflation stubbornly high even in a weak job market, he said.

“The Fed’s getting ready to cut into a sustained increase in prices,” he said. “Very unusual spot. We can see tariff-induced inﬂation in a slow, steady and methodical manner.”

Goods prices picked up last month, a sign Trump’s sweeping tariffs are pushing up costs. Gas prices jumped 1.9% just from July to August, the biggest monthly increase since a 4% rise in December Grocery prices climbed 0.6%, pushed higher by more expensive tomatoes, apples, and beef. Rental costs also increased, rising 0.4%, faster than the previous month.

Clothing costs rose 0.5% just last month, though they are still just slightly more expensive than a year ago. Furniture costs rose 0.3% and are 4.7% higher than a year earlier

FTC questions social media, AI companies on effects of chatbots

Big Tech asked what steps are taken on kids’ safety

BY BARBARA ORTUTAY AP technology writer

The Federal Trade Commission has launched an inquiry into several social media and artificial intelligence companies about the potential harm to children and teenagers who use their AI chatbots as companions.

The FTC said Thursday it has sent letters to Google parent Alphabet, Facebook and Instagram parent Meta Platforms, Snap,

Character Technologies, ChatGPT maker OpenAI and xAI.

The FTC said it wants to understand what steps, if any, companies have taken to evaluate the safety of their chatbots when acting as companions, to limit the products’ use by and potential negative effects on children and teens, and to apprise users and parents of the risks associated with the chatbots.

The move comes as a growing number of kids use AI chatbots for everything — from homework help to personal advice, emotional support and everyday decisionmaking. That’s despite research on the harms of chatbots, which have been shown to give kids dan-

gerous advice about topics such as drugs, alcohol and eating disorders. The mother of a teenage boy in Florida who killed himself after developing what she described as an emotionally and sexually abusive relationship with a chatbot has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Character.AI. And the parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine recently sued OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, alleging that ChatGPT coached the California boy in planning and taking his own life earlier this year.

Character.AI said it is looking forward to “collaborating with the FTC on this inquiry and providing insight on the consumer AI industry and the space’s rapidly evolv-

ing technology.”

“We have invested a tremendous amount of resources in Trust and Safety, especially for a startup. In the past year we’ve rolled out many substantive safety features, including an entirely new under-18 experience and a Parental Insights feature,” the company said. “We have prominent disclaimers in every chat to remind users that a Character is not a real person and that everything a Character says should be treated as ﬁction.”

Meta declined to comment on the inquiry and Alphabet, Snap, OpenAI and X.AI did not immediately respond to messages for comment.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By LM OTERO

A personal shopper gathers items to fill an online grocery order in Dallas on Aug. 28.

Senate GOPseeks to change rulestospeed Trump’snominees

BY MARYCLARE JALONICK and STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press

WASHINGTON Senate Republicans took the ﬁrststeps to change the chamber’s rules on Thursday,moving to make it easier to conﬁrm groups of President Donald Trump’snominees after lastminute negotiations with Democrats fell apart.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune’smove is the latest salvo afteradozen years of gradualchanges by both parties to weaken the ﬁlibuster and make the nominations process more partisan He has said the Democrats’ obstruction is “unsustainable” as they have drawn out the confirmation process and infuriated Trump as many positions in his administrationhave remained unﬁlled.

“We’re going to fix this today,and restore the longtime Senate precedent of expeditious conﬁrmation, and the Senate’srole as ﬁrst and foremost alegislative body,” Thune said.

The Senate on Thursday evening moved forward on the proposed rule change with a45-53 party line vote. Thenew rulesproposal

in bipartisan negotiations over the confirmation processand Trump toldSenate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer to “GOTOHELL!” on social media.

Democrats have blocked morenominees than ever beforeastheyhavestruggledtofind waystooppose Trump and the GOP-dominated Congress, and as their voters have pushedthemto fight Republicansatevery turn. It’s thefirst time in recent history that the minority party hasn’tallowed at leastsomequick confirmations.

unscrupulous, and in some cases, deeply dishonest individualsfor powerful andimportant positions,” Schumer said in aﬂoor speech following the votes.

Still, Democrats continued talks with Republicans into Thursday afternoon as Republicansdelayed their votes for almost ﬁve hours.

The two sides discussed acompromise that would have limitedthe groups of nominees to 15 andshortened the length of debate.

broken downtrust.” Having abandoned the bipartisan talks, Republicans advanced their original plan to hold several procedural votes that allow them to change the Senate rules for conﬁrming presidential nominees.Aspart of the vote series, they askedto “appealthe chair,” or change the rules, which takes asimple majority vote.

“How much time is enough?”

wouldallow the Senate to move some of Trump’s nominees in groups of48 at atime.The Republican rules change stops short of speeding up votes on highlevelCabinet ofﬁcials and lifetime judicial appointments.

Republicans will have to go through additionalprocedural steps next week for theprocess to be complete. And if allgoesaccording to their plan, the ﬁrsttranche of Trump’snominees —undersecretaries and staff positions for various agen-

cies acrossthe government as well as severalambassadors —could be conﬁrmed as soon as next Thursday

The effort to change the rules comes as bothparties have obstructed each other’snominees for years, and as both Republicans and Democrats have advocated for speeding up the process when theyare in the majority

Republicans have been pushing therules change since early August,when the Senate left for amonthlong recess after abreakdown

Schumerhas said Democrats are delaying the nominations because Trump’s nominees are “historically bad.”

“We’re supposed to debate and take votes on nominees,especiallywhenthe executive branch is grossly breaking norms by sending us woefully unqualiﬁed,

and heating water

By The Associated Press

MEXICO CITY Families

clustered outside hospitals awaiting word of their loved ones Thursday after the crashand explosionof atanker truck aday earlier on aMexico City highway that killed at leasteight people and injured 90. The fire engulfed more than two dozenvehicles and left agruesome scene of badly burned survivors staggering in the street in tattered clothing as first

responders rushed to the scene. The injured suffered second- and third-degree burns.

Mexico City MayorClara Brugada saidThursdaythe death toll had risen to eight, with 67 othersstill hospitalized,22ofthose in critical condition.

The accident Wednesday drew renewed attention to the thousands of trucks that rumblethrough Mexico daily carrying liquidpropane, which most homes and businesses rely on forcooking

Regulators said apreliminary reviewrevealed that the truck, which was carrying morethan 13,000 gallons of gas, did not have up-to-date insurance allowing it to transport itscargo, something thecompany denied.

President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday she instructed her energy secretarytodesign new measures to make transporting fuel safer,but did not provide details

But in the end, theywere notabletoagree. Democratic Sen. BrianSchatz, of Hawaii, said they had been “achingly close to adeal.”

“But Iamafraid my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have run out of patience,” he added.

“The Senate is stuck,” said OklahomaSen. James Lankford,aRepublican who led the negotiations. “The challenge is this body has just

Thune,R-S.D., angrily asked Democrats as he moved to resume votes. He said thatthe deal under discussion was based on a Democratic proposal when President Joe Bidenwas in ofﬁce andthat the twoparties had already been negotiating forweeks.

“We’ve got to fix this,” Thunesaid. “It’s time to vote.”

Schumer has told Republicans that they will “cometo regret” their action.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO By MARIAM ZUHAIB Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.,center,speaks during anewsconferenceonTuesday at theCapitol in Washington.

A walk to remember

ABOVE: Well over a thousand participants walk the steps of Tiger Stadium on Thursday as part of the 9/11 Stair Climb hosted by the LSU Corps of Cadets in Baton Rouge on the 24th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. LEFT: Dressed in full bunker gear, Baton Rouge ﬁreﬁghter Caleb Kleinpeter joins over a thousand participants as they walk the steps of Tiger Stadium on Thursday

SCHEINUK

STAFF PHOTOS By HILARy

EBR lawyer suspended for one year

State Supreme Court hands down punishment

BY MATT BRUCE Staff writer

Citing misconduct in four different cases, the Louisiana Supreme Court handed down a oneyear suspension Wednesday for prominent East Baton Rouge lawyer Ron Haley

The embattled 44-yearold civil rights and crimi nal defense attorney was one of the parish’s most active litigators when the state’s high court ruled him a “threat to harm” and placed him on an interim suspension, pending the outcome of an investigation.

In Wednesday’s published order, the Supreme Court released the ﬁndings of that investigation In two cases, the Supreme Court

agreed with recommendations from the Office of Disciplinary Counsel that Haley failed to take prompt action for criminal defendants he was representing after being paid legal fees to represent them.

The high court also found credence to at least one accusation that Haley continued to practice law while he was on suspension from a prior offense.

Four of the seven justices fa-

vored the decision to suspend Haley for a year and one day. Two of the dissenting justices Justices Jay McCallum and Cade Cole — felt the punishment was too lenient. Justice Jefferson Hughes was the lone member who indicated a yearlong suspension for Haley was too harsh.

It marked the third time the Supreme Court has disciplined Haley for misconduct. In 2016, he received a one-year suspension following reports he was arrested for driving while intoxicated in

2008 and 2011, according to the justices’ order Haley agreed to enter into a five-year recovery plan through the Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program, and the suspension was deferred. He got in hot water in 2021 after the Supreme Court determined he neglected a legal matter and failed to communicate with a client. Haley attempted to settle a malpractice claim with a client inappropriately and failed to

BY QUINN COFFMAN Staff writer

Three people have been arrested for allegedly stealing a solid silver statue of President Abraham Lincoln, historically valued at $166,000, from Houmas House and Gardens. Steve Coronado 28, of Raceland; Alma Fontenot, 20, of New Iberia; and Bruce Shelvin, 49, of Avondale, were each arrested on counts of simple burglary and felony theft over $25,000.

The Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce said the three culprits broke a window overnight Saturday to forcibly enter the plantation home in Darrow The statue was located within arm’s reach of the window The trio allegedly cut the statue into several pieces before selling them at a pawnshop and at a

timated historic value of $166,000 and originally was

AI,fossilfuels dominate energy forum

Tulane summit

divesintofuture of industry

BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer

Artificial intelligence is going to mean big changes for the energy industry.But no one knows exactly what those changes will be.

That’sthe takeaway from theﬁrst two days of the second annual Future of Energy ForumatTulane University,which has drawn nearly 2,000 attendees —twice as many as last year —to hear presentations from energy executives, policymakers and other experts looking at how innovation, competition and collaboration will shape the industry in the decades to come.

“We’re all on this AI journey,” said New Orleans native Colette Hirstius, head of oil giant Shell’sU.S. operations, during an onstage conversation Thursday

“Some aspects of our industry will ﬁnd it easier to use than others, and the answer to how it can be useful will be differentinsix months than today.” Throughout two dozen panels overthe forum’s ﬁrst two days, othersdiscussedhow AI has already transformed the industry

At “Forging the Future Grid,” threeutilities experts discussed ways AI is helping companies ef-

ficientlydeploy recovery teams after storms and better predict when wildﬁres are likelytobreak out so preventivemeasures can be taken.

Deanna Rodriguez,CEO of Entergy New Orleans, said the utilityhas an AI pilotprogram that uses data from drone inspections to detectproblems in the transmissioninfrastructure.

ArushiSharma Frank, an energy consultant, said that thetechnologyisalso helping thenation’s3,000 utilities, which use many differentsoftware systems,collaborate.

“It’screating ways for very complexfiefdoms to usethe same analysis process so they can bring things to the grid faster and upgrade better,” she said.

In theenergyand petrochemical industry,Hirstius sees the technology as acompetitive edge rather thanathreat.

“Whateverrole we do plusAIismorepowerful thanour mindsindependently,” she said.

Some of the presentationsatthe energyforum reflected ashift in the industry away from prioritizingthe clean energy transitioninfavor of an approach that emphasizes energy availability, affordabilityand reliability along withsustainability.

PolicychangesinWashington,where theTrump

administration hasdoubled down on fossil fuels, and the growing energy demandfrom AI datacenters aretwo reasonsbehind the change.

Bobby Tudor, aHoustonbased investment banker andglobalenergy consultantwho spoke Wednesday, said thewar in Ukraine is another big reason for the shift in thinking.

“Itchanged everything because it reminded the world the degree to which our society is highly dependent on our energy systems and, at this moment, highly dependent on fossilfuels, he said.

He said theindustry,government and academia need to tackle the problem,but it’s going to be expensive andit’sgoing to takea long time —although technology will help.

“A few years ago, if you toldpeople the majority of power in Texas would one day be provided by renewable energy sources,they would have laughed,”he said. “On arecent hot sunny day this year,renewables provided 71% of our grid’s power.It’stechnologythat changes the game.”

In an onstageinterview Wednesday, EntergyCorp CEO Drew Marsh said the three natural gas-fueled power plants the utilityis building for Meta’snew northLouisiana datacenter will likely keep the utility from meeting its goal to cut emissions in half by 2030.

“Itmakes it harderto reach our goals in thenear term, but Ithink it hasthe potential to make it easier in thelong term,” said Marsh,who heads theonly Fortune 500 company headquarteredinNew Orleans. “2030 is going to be tough, but Ithink we still have a good shotat2050,because Meta canbring its$2trillioncompanytobear on this problemand help us clean up.”

Forum speakers also talkedabout howpolicy changes and tariffs have created uncertaintythat makes it harder for investorstomake bets.

“Right nowwe’reata point whereweswing from one extreme to another between different administrations” in Washington, D.C., which makes it challenging for companies like Shell to managethe transition from fossil fuels to sustainable energy sources, Hirstius said.

Tudor said the“regulatorywhipsaw” translates to less capital that’smore expensive to account forthe increased risk.

“Energy investors, leadersand boards arehungry for alessvolatile regulatoryenvironment than they are seeing in thiscountry today,” he said. “But they deal with it other places, so they’ll deal with it here.”

Email Rich Collinsat rich.collins@theadvocate. com.

BREC’s financialchief resigns, agency says

BY ELLYN COUVILLION Staff writer

Don Johnson, chief ﬁnan-

cial ofﬁcer of the East Baton Rouge Parish parks and recreation agency,resigned this week, alittle over ayear after joining BREC, an ofﬁcial said.

Janet Simmons, interim superintendent forBREC, said Johnson notified her through aletter that he was

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mas House in 2003, estimated the modern valueofthe statue at between $80,000 and$100,000.But that was before it was cut to pieces.

Kelly had suspected the piece might end up in a pawnshop.

“There aren’tmany of these,” Kelly told The Advocate over the weekend.

“Honorable pawn and salvage shops are going to know this is astolen item.”

Detectives identified the three alleged thieves and arrested them with the help of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. Fontenot and Shlevinweretransported and booked back in the Ascension Parish Jail Coronado remains booked in the Jefferson Parish Jail on related charges and will be transported to Ascension Parishata later date, the ofﬁce said in astatement.

Police:BRwoman arrested in shooting

ABaton Rouge woman has been arrestedafter shooting aman whoshe said asked to havesex with her, then refused to leave her house.

After he hit the ground from the ﬁrst gunshot, the woman fired again, and police are not considering the shooting justiﬁed.

Shalyn Barker,25, wasarrested Wednesday evening and booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish prison on counts of attempted seconddegree murder and illegal use of weapons.

Officers were originally called to Barker’sresidence on North 47th Street just before 4p.m. Wednesday in reference to ashooting When police arrived, Barker admitted to shooting the man, who was taken to ahospital, according to an afﬁdavit for Barker’sarrest. Barker said the two had

resigning, with hislast ofﬁcial day being Sept. 19.

“Wewishhim allthe best,” Simmons said. She said that Johnson is no longercoming intothe office, which shenoted is acommon policy for employees departing from financial roles. Simmons said that,going forward, “I’m confident thatthe finance team has all theability to handleeverything withthe audit, the

been drinking and smoking at her house that afternoon, andafterward thevictim asked her to have sex. When Barker declined, theman became angry, at which point Barker asked himto leaveher house.

Whenherefused, Barker armed herself witha gun. She told policethe man had struck her during previous interactions.

She said the man then ran at her aggressively,atwhich

budget and the ongoing, day-to-day operations.”

Johnson joined BREC in April 2024.

Simmons began her role as BREC interim superintendent on June 1this year after former superintendent CoreyWilsonannouncedin Marchthathewould not renewhis employment contract, whichwould have ended on Jan. 1, 2026. Simmonswill work in

point she ﬁred two shots into his chest. He fell onto the ground just outside of her bedroom door

Barker had the opportunitytoleavethe residence withoutfurtherincident, butinstead shefired one more shot at theman when he continued to move on the ground, according to the afﬁdavit

Apolice spokesperson said theshootingisnot considered justiﬁed at this time.

an advisory capacity,under contract withBREC, through January. In July, BRECnamed an advisory task force of local leaders to workwith Simmons.

Email Ellyn Couvillion at ecouvillion@theadvocate. com.

LAWYER

Continued frompage1B

return anotherclient’scase

ﬁle whenaskedto, the court wrote

Justices again placed Haley on aone-yearsuspension for that slate of offenses, but deferredonly six months of the order thattime.Haley was forced to complete ethicsschool through the Louisiana State Bar Association as part of the consent order.

Haley’slatest suspension order indicates he was hired to represent aman in adrug case and promised to ﬁle an appeal writ after atrial court judge denied his motiontosuppressevidenceagainst his client.

When the client learned that Haley had not filed the appeal, he confronted his attorney.Haley told theman he hadmoved for an extension of timeand planned to file the writ later.The client ﬁredhim and hired anew attorney to handle his case. He already had paid Haley $10,000 and stillowed$5,000for hisrepresentation, justices wrote.

The disciplinary board determined Haley did not act with reasonable diligenceand promptness and failed to communicate effectively with his client.

Another man Haley was hiredtorepresenttooka plea deal on Haley’sadvice that his criminal charges would be removed from his record. It wasn’tuntil after the manwas released from jail on probation that he realized some of his charges remained on his record.

Justices said Haleyassured the manhis charges should have been cleared, but got suspended before resolvingthe matter.Hearranged fortwo of hiscolleagues to pick up the case, and they got theclient anew sentence. But while sentencingthe man, thejudge told him he would have to file expungement papers to get his charges cleared from his record.

Afterﬁnishing his proba-

tion early,the manreached out to Haley and his two associates but couldn’tget in contact with them to help withhis expungement efforts.Hehad to payanother attorney $4,500 to take care of the matter In August 2022, thedisciplinary board got wind that Haleyrepresented aman in aBaton Rouge court hearing during aperiod he was supposed to be suspended anddidn’ttellhis client he wassidelined. The man’s new attorney showed the presiding judge text messages between the defendant and Haley in an effort to get the man’s guilty plea withdrawn and his sentence vacated.

The texts revealed that the manoffered to buy Haley new tires and rims for his car to pay off part of his legal debt. The tires and rims cost more than $3,100. Haley was serving out his suspension at the time.

Acomplaint involving another of Haley’sclients said he got suspended in December 2021 while representing aman in acriminal case. The disciplinary board said he continued to meet with theman’s father to discuss legal strategy while serving his six-month suspension and even agreed to take on anotherofthe client’scases on separate chargesin St. Tammany Parish for an extra$10,000. Boardmembers said Haley nevertold the defendant or his father thathewas prohibited from practicing law in Louisiana at the time.

Witness: Haynes paid $172Ktobuy into schemes

Trialcontinues in kickback plot involving officials

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

ALafayette assistant district attorney on trial in federal court for bribery involving the District Attorney’sOfﬁce overheard aco-conspirator talking about aLouisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries kickbackscheme and bought into that deal, too, according to witness testimony Dusty Guidry,who pleaded guilty in March 2023 to three felony counts in aplea dealwith federal prosecutors, testified Thursday morning in the trial of co-conspirator Gary Haynes, an assistant district attorney in the 15th Judicial District.

Haynes and Guidry were hired by District Attorney DonLandry shortly after he took ofﬁce in January 2021.

TODDLER

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The child was getting ready for school the morning of his death, and his mother hadsat him on abed while going to the bathroom.

During that unsupervised time, Woodard went into a different room, where his grandfather was sleeping. The loaded handgunwas sitting on aTVstand in the room, Morse said.

“He got the gun and went back out of thatroom where he ultimately accidentally shot himself,” Morse said Based on those facts, police are not planning to make any arrests.

The death didn’trise to the same level as past cases of gross negligent homicide, Morse said. One example the chief mentioned involved achild who had been laid down in abed with aﬁrearm, and another involved aparentposting to social media showingtheir young child holding agun.

Emouri had been living between different houses, with the Sumrall Drive residence being closer to the Head Start program he was attending, whichMorse said complicates the case. In the wake of the death, Morse urged parents to make sure firearms are safely and properly stowed.

“When you have it in your house, havearoutine,” Morse said. “Do the same thing every time you come in the house. WhenI come in the house, rightafter I kiss everybody ‘Hi,’ Igoin my closet, the place where I keep my gun, and have everything locked up.”

Morse said this is especially necessary with small children,who can reach areas higher up than many parents expect Officerwelfare

The officer who first responded to Woodard’sshooting attempted lifesaving measures on the young boy Morse said he ordered the officer,who has children of his own, put on leave for the rest of the day after the shooting, Morse said.

“He’sinthat mode where he’strying to still serve the community and trying to do his thing, but somebody’s got to look out for him. So I made that decision to send him home,” Morse said.

The chief said thata “thank you” goes along way when it comes to officers’ mental health,especially since the public isn’taware of what call they might have just worked.

“You need to remember that there’sahuman behind that badge that has real emotions,” Morse said. “We’re expected to compartmentalize that.”

Email Quinn Coffman at quinn.coffman@ theadvocate.com

At the time,Guidry said, he alsoworkedinthe pretrial diversion program for Hillar Moore, district attorney in the19thJudicial District in East Baton Rouge Parish,where he was involved in asimilar kickback scheme. Guidry wasn’tcharged in connection with that scheme, accordingtohis pleadeal. Landry nor others in the District Attorney’sOffice knew about the kickbacks, Guidry said Guidry,who was acontract consultantinthe Lafayette District Attorney’s Ofﬁce, saidhewas talking on the phone with aco-conspirator in the wildlife and ﬁsheries scheme when Haynes overheard the conversation and said he wanted in.

Thetwo men already were involvedina kickback schemeinthe pretrial interventionprogram in the District Attorney’s Ofﬁce, he said Guidryand Lafayettebusiness-

BY DOUG MacCASH Staff writer

The Thursdaynight before Mardi Gras is one of the mostpopular slots in the Carnival calendar,with three lighted parades following one after another alongthe Uptown route amidenormous crowds. In 2025, theBabylonparade kicked off theevening at 5:30 p.m., followed by Chaos, then themammoth Musesprocession

But in amemo to theCity Council this week, representatives of the three processionsproposed thatnext year the Thursday night parade lineup get rolling an hour earlier,at 4:30 p.m.

Furthermore, the krewes propose that theKnights of Chaos paradeswap places with the KnightsofBabylon parade, to makeChaos the ﬁrst parade of the Thursday lineup.Babylonwould followChaos at 5:30p.m and

man LeonardFranques werealmostﬁnishedsetting up ascheme with then-Wildlife and Fisheries SecretaryJack Montoucet in which boaters and hunters with minor violations would pay to take online coursesfromFranques’ business,splitting proceeds among the three.

The scheme was similar to what Guidry,Franques andHaynesweredoing in the LafayetteDistrict Attorney’sOfﬁce, he said. The state agency,Guidry said, was 20 timesbigger thanthe Lafayettepretrial program and could producemore revenue

Because they werefriends, he said he agreed to give Haynes half of hisshare from theWildlifeand Fisheries scheme. Haynes had to buy intoboth hustles, Guidry said,payingatleast $90,000 to Franquesfor theWildlife and Fisheries scheme and at least $82,000tobuy into thepretrial di-

version kickback scheme. Franques had spent more than $200,000 to buyonlinecourses for the pretrial diversion program, Guidry said. He did not say how much Franques paid for the hunting and boating online courses. As part of the deals, Franques wantedthe co-conspirators to pay to join the scheme. He wanted to pay offhis investment forthe online courses ﬁrst, Guidry said, before they started dividing proceeds from the kickbacks.

JosephPrejean,aLafayette Parish gym owner and formerlyincarcerated person who provided motivationalclasses forthose in the PTI program,was involved in the kickback scheme at theDistrict Attorney’s Ofﬁce, Guidry said.He charged more to people in thePTI program whohad moreserious charges

Guidry said after expenses, he and Prejean split theproceedsin half.Haynes also received acut thatPrejean would give to Guidry in an envelope to deliver to Haynes. Sometimes, he said, he picked

up the envelope from the desk in Prejean’s gym ofﬁce. Onetime,he said, he put the envelope of money in Haynes’ vehicle. If Haynes’ cutofthe money was large,theybroke it down into smaller payments, whichoftencoincided with Haynes’ trips to Panama for him to use as “spending money,” Guidry said.

Prejean pleaded guiltyinDecember2023tofederal charges forhis part in the scheme.

In January 2024, Franques also pleaded guilty to federal charges as part of aplea deal.

During Thursday’stestimony, several audio and video clips were playedofconversations mostly betweenGuidry, Haynes and Franques. Someofthe phone conversationsweretaped by the FBI after obtaining permission for wiretaps. Others were recorded after Franques agreed to wearawire for the FBI after he cut adeal with federal prosecutors.

EmailClaire Taylor at ctaylor@ theadvocate.com.

Muses would cap off the night, starting ahalf-hour earlier than usual at 6p.m.

According to the memo, the captains of all three Thursday night parading organizations, plus theNew Orleans Police Department andthe Mayor’sMardiGras Advisory Council have agreed to the schedule. In an email, Chaos confirmed itsagreement to the proposal, echoing the memo’sassertion that other entities were on board with the change. “Weare excited that

Babylon, Chaos, Muses, the NOPD, and theMayors’ Mardi Gras Advisory Committee collaborated on arevised andmore efficient parade line up forthe Thursday night parades,” wrotearepresentative of the Knights of Chaos, who asked to remain anonymous, as is Chaos’ custom. “It’sour understanding that theproposed new lineup will be presented to theCity Council and ultimately the mayor’sofficefor approvals.”

Staci Rosenberg,captain of Muses, delivered the

memo to thecouncil. Babylon nor the Mayor’sMardi Gras Advisory Committee replied immediately to arequest forcomment.

The memo does not explain what prompted the changes. But, as allCarnival veterans know,parades can be like dominoes. In 2025, a brokenﬂoataxlestalledthe Chaosparade. That caused the start of Muses parade, whichfollowed on theUptownroute, to suffera long delay,resulting in it rolling deep in the night.

Council member Joseph Giarrusso confirmedthat the council had received the memo fromRosenberg, though he said it’spremature to discuss the matter in any detail. “Speaking only for myself, it’d be nicetoknow if everyone is on board. It’d be putting the cartbefore the horse withoutconﬁrming that.”

According to thememo, the proposalistimedsothat it can be votedonduring the council’sregular Sept. 25 meeting.

In addition to the change in the order of the parades and the earlier start times,

the memo outlinesother stipulations. Each parade would agree to start on time and“useits best efforts not to stop” or delay subsequent parades. But Chaos was singled out in certain details. Under the proposal, Chaos would “will obtaina towtruck, which will travel along astreet parallel to its parade,throughoutthe parade,together with two support vehicles.” The memo also suggests thatChaos “minimizethe presence of flambeaux, in its reasonable discretion, and mayconsolidate or minimize horseback riders.”

Anychangeswouldonly apply to the2026 Mardi Grasseason and can be assessed and revised thereafter,the memo said. The satirical Knights of Chaos and Krewe of Muses were both founded in 2000, while Babylon is considerably older,having ﬁrst rolled in 1939. The Chaos parade had amere 200 riders in 2025, Babylon had 370 and the all-female Muses parade had 1,130. The Thursday before Mardi Gras 2026 is Feb. 12.

Guidry

Haynes

Domino, Claiborne

Hall'sCelebrationCenter,

Hardy, Rixby

St.MargaretCatholic

Today loved her deeply. Sheispreceded in death by herparents,Preston Sr. and Mary CottonAlexander;and her brothers, Preston Jr.,Clifton, Felton, and HaroldAlexander Graveside Serviceswill be held on Saturday, September 13, 2025,at9:00 a.m. at Heavenly Gates Cemetery of Baton Rouge, located at 10633 Veterans Memorial Blvd.Father Thomas Clarkwillofficiate.

Lege,Peter

Obituaries

Alexander,Gloria V.

Gloria V. Alexander passed awaypeacefully on May 30, 2025, in Los Angeles, California, at the ageof 90. Anative of Baton Rouge, Louisiana,and a long-time resident of Los Angeles, CA. She was educated in the East Baton Rouge Parish School System and graduated from CapitalHigh School in 1953. Gloria went on to earn her Bachelor of Education from Southern University and her Master's DegreeinEducation from Pepperdine University. She served as adevoted educator in the Compton Unified School District. Gloria leaves to cherish her memory her beloved nieces, Sharee Alexander of Los Angeles,CA, and Dr. NancyAlexander of Oklahoma City, OK; nephews, Lester Alexander and Sean AlexanderofSacramento, CA; and dear cousins Joyce Metevia, Leonard Davis, Clandia Ann Hawkins, Peggy Ann Reed, and Erma Stewart, allofBaton Rouge, LA. She is alsosurvived by ahost of greatgreat-nieces and nephews, and close friends who

Burks, Joseph Craig'Pecan'

JosephCraig "Pecan" Burks,passedawayatthe age of 68. AnativeofBrusly,LA, anda longtimeresident of Baker, LA.He proudlyworkedfor over 30 years at DSMCopolymer Josephissurvived by hislovingwifeof42years, Sarah Burks;two daughters,Krishun (Ben) Radford andNancy Burks;three sons,Johnathan Burks,JordanBurks,and Brandon Caine; one brother, Charles (Gail) Burks; andthree cherished grandchildren, Ben Radford, III, Ethan Burks, andBralynCaine Visitationwill be held on Friday, September 12, 2025, from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM at Hall's CelebrationCenter, 9348 Scenic Hwy.,Baton Rouge, LA.Visitationwill resume on Saturday, September 13, 2025, at ShadyGrove FirstMissionaryBaptist Church,16443 PlankRd.,Baker, LA,from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM,with FuneralServicesimmediatelyfollowing. Pastor KennethChandler will officiate. Josephwill be laid to rest at Southern Memorial Gardens.Services entrusted to Hall Davisand Son

Dismukes, Kimberly Herbig

After seven years of courageously fighting early onsetdementia, my wife, KimberlyHerbigDismukeswas taken away by angelstoa place far away fromher loss, pain, and suffering.

My wife was abeautiful woman who had an enduring passionfor her children,her home, her gardens and plants, her catholic faith,her beloved dogs, especially her beagles,and her husband

My wife was amidwestern girl, raised in South Florida. In thelate 1980s, I was agraduatestudent that had recently been employedatthe same company where she worked as a financial consultant.I was alowly analyst she was already on the way to having asuccessfuland envious career. We found ourselves,for thefirst time, face to face at thecompany Christmas party. It was aslowdance, and she kissed me and told me she never wanted to be separatedfrom me and from that point forward,she never was.

We married thefollowing year and begana 37year adventure that was challenging, exciting,rewarding,and full of love While we were entirelydifferent people,fromdiffering places,wehad acore set of values,and an unyielding levelofdeterminationthatdefined who we were and what we stoodfor, as individuals, and as afamily.We eloped at thetime since no one else understood nor appreciated our commitment and love to each other Kimwas abrilliant woman yet despite this

brilliance she chose to be my wife, my rock, my partner, and thecreatorofa wonderfulfamily.Her children were her world, and they alltouchedher in differing and specialways.

To her oldest son, Jamie, she saw compassion, empathy and asweetness that was often unmatched in little boys and laterin grown men. To her younger son, Jeremy, she saw drive,mischievous humor,and aspecial spirit that she lovedevenduring times that would prove to be achallenge.And lastly, to her onlydaughter, Jessica, she saw her own heart .her love .and alittlegirland ultimately beautiful woman to whom she wanted to pass along everything good she saw in her own life

Kimberly leaves behind ahusband who willbeforever woundedwithout her. Ahusband who willnever understand thesenselessness of this loss, itsreason, norits purpose.She leavesbehinda husband who desperately cannot wait for theday when they arereunited, and for thingstogobacktothe way they were.

Formany years, Iwould tell my wife how much I lovedher. She wouldask me "how much?" and I wouldtellher "fromhere to themoonand back." In her dying days, her horriblediseasewould only let her say, in alimited whisper"to themoon." While others may not have known what that meant, I didand do .and always willfeelthe same way. Goodbye my love,rest peacefully until we can be in each other'sarms again. The family wishes that in lieu of flowers, donations be madeinher name to theBeagle Freedom Project at (818) 382-6500or bfp.org

Dukes, EleanorNelson

Eleanor Nelson Dukes passedawaypeacefullyon August 31, 2025, at the age 59. Survivedbyfather, Joseph (Thelma)London Sr., siblings -Trissa Nelson, JoiLondon, Joseph (Katriena) London Jr Janeen (Yolanda) Mikell,Jada (John)London, andJesse (Donnisha) London.Precededindeathbyhusband, DerekDukes and mother,Janet London Hollis. Visitation 9AMto10 AM Saturday, September 13, 2025 withfuneral service followingatBible WorldChristian Center, 1771 Lobdell Blvd., BR, LA.

ingmember of the Oak Ridge HuntingClub. Most of all he lovedhis family andwill be missed dearly. He wasprecededin death by hiswife,Lare' Everett; adaughter, Tracey Everett Parham; agrandson, Thomas James Parham; hisparents; asister, HelenEverett LaVergne; andtwo brothers, Ray Everett andRaymond Everett.

Survivors includehis son Dean Everett (Vicki)of Watson, LA; adaughter, JulieEverett Roberts (Butch) of Monticello,MS; six grandchildren,Brad Everett(Miriam), Cody Everett(Domenica), Adam Everett (Nikki), Merrell Parham Borne (Trampus), Jason Roberts(Shylo), and AlainaLanclose (Daniel); numerousgreat-grandchildren,extended familyand friends.

Mr.James Edward "Jimmy" Everett, 84, of Sontag Mississippi andformerly of Denham Springs, Louisiana, passed away on Sunday, September7,2025 at hishome.Hewas born on April 23, 1941 in Baton Rouge,Louisiana, to Alvin andOphie Rhodus Everett. Visitation will be held at Shiloh Baptist Church (Sontag, MS)onSaturday, September 13, 2025, from 1:00 PM until funeral servicesat3:00 PM;graveside serviceswillfollow in the Shiloh Baptist Church loved the outdoors and huntingand wasa found-

Fleniken,Cheyenne

Cheyenne Fleniken, a lifelongresident of Central, passedawayonSeptember3,2025, at the age of 73. Cheyenne was truly larger

Everett, James Edward 'Jimmy'

than life. With his outgoing personality and natural ability to connect with others, he built lasting friendships and found great success as abusinessman.He was preceded in death by his parents and his young son. He is survived by his children, Ashley Russo and Chad Fleniken, and his cherished grandchildren, Zephyr Yorkand Cohen Fleniken. Cheyenne will be deeply missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing him. Hisfamily is especiallygrateful to the caregivers whoblessed his final days with love and compassion: Tami Tucker, Linda, and Megan. We will have acelebration of life details to follow.

Guidry,RolandClement

Roland ClementGuidry passedawayonMonday, September 8, 2025, at the Louisiana WarVeterans HomeinJackson,atthe age of 90. He wasa native ofDuson,formerresident ofFranklinand currentres‐ident of Jackson. Roland was aUSNavyVeteran.He retired from DowChemical. VisitationwillbeatSt. Johnthe BaptistCatholic Church in Brusly on Mon‐day,September 15th, from 9:30a.m.until Mass of Christian Burial at 11:30 a.m celebrated by Rev. ArunJohn. Entombment willfollowinthe church mausoleum.Rolandissur‐vived by histhree daugh‐ters, SonyaGuidry Boudreaux and ﬁancé Brent Watts,CherieGuidry Kinlerand husband Quin, Sabrina Guidry Bayhiand husband James; siblings, WilbertGuidryand wife Betty,MurphyGuidryand wifeEva Dell,Patrick Guidryand wife Valerie, Tammy Guidry;sister-inlaw,IrmaGuidry; seven grandchildren,DustinOr‐tego, KaitlinBoudreaux Riley andhusband Porter, NicholasHebertand wife Erin, Jessie Hebert and wifeMegan,Bryce Kinler LaytonEilersand wife Kelli, Abigail Eilers;ninegreatgrandchildren,Regan Or‐tego, AvaBlanchard,Ada‐lynnRiley, Isabelle,Presley Nora, Lana,Laureland BrantleyHebert. Roland was preceded in death by his parents, Ovey andWin‐nie CredeurGuidry; sib‐lings,JessieGuidry, Louelle GuidrySavoy andWilliam Guidry. Pallbearerswillbe Roland’s ﬁve grandsons and hisgranddaughter, Abigail. Roland enjoyedlis‐teningand dancingto Frenchmusic.His lifelong favoritehobbies were shrimping andhunting. Memorialdonations may bemadetothe Parkinson’s Foundation. Please share memoriesatwww.wilbert services.com.

Craig

Craig Dewon Harris (Big Hup, Big 5) wasborn on July 8, 1972 to the late Rosa Lee Harris &George Washington Harris Sr. Craig left his earthly home on August 30, 2025. Craig leaves to cherish his three beautiful daughters Joanie Givens, Ashira Givens & Hailey Givens, all of Baton Rouge, La. His five handsome grandsons Jaiceon, Jakai, Aiden, Adaren, &Tru. Threebrothers: Elbert Harris (Beverly) of Baton Rouge, La, RonaldHarris of Rosedale, La, &Leonard Harris of Rosedale,La. Five sisters: Phyllis Robertson (Jerome Sr.) of Grosse Tete, La, Mary Chaney of Gross Tete, La, Debra Harris of Baker, La, Sandra Sam of Maringouin, La & Barbara Harris of Baton Rouge, La. Visitation will be held at A.Wesley Funeral Home located at 10810 Ventress Dr.

Sept. 13 at Promised Land

BaptistChurch located at 7234 Plank Rd Baton Rouge, La 70811 at 11am.

Harris, Roynail Lorenzo Roynail Lorenzo Harris, age60ofJackson, LA passed awayonSeptember 1, 2025. Roynail was born on June 8, 1965 to the late Wiley Harris and Lillie Harris Smith. Roynail is survived by his mother, Lillie Harris Smith; one daughter, Courtney Harris; four sisters, JohnnieHarris,Roxanne Harris,Melinda Ganes, and Tangela Matthews; andthree grandchildren.

Avisitation willbeheld on Saturday, September 13, 2025from 9:00 -11:00, followed by services at 11:00atthe WayofHoliness Church, 2855 LA-952, Jackson, LA. Burial will take place at Jackson Cemetery in Jackson,LA.

Leonard TerryHaynes was bornonJuly 28, 1960 to the late Iona Green Haynes and the late HerbertHaynes, Jr.Hedeparted this life on Tuesday, September2,2025atOur Lady of the LakeRegional Medical Center. He leaves to cherish his memories: three sons, Leonard Burks, Sr., KoryDunn, and Devin Martin; three daughters; LaQuandaBurks, LaQuita Burks, and Lauren Jackson; thirteen grandchildren; seven sisters: JoAnn Glasper, StephanieGreene, JuanitaPerkins, Margaret James, Shirley Griffin, Barbara Carter, and Latika Haynes;three brothers: Ronald Haynes,Linwood Haynes,and Byron Deggs; and amultitude of other near and dear familyand friends. Professionalservicesentrustedto Roscoe Mortuary, 58635MeriamSt, Plaquemine,LA70764. Publicviewing Friday, September,12, 2025from5-7 at RoscoeMortuary. Religious servicesto be held on Saturday,September 13, 2025 at 1pm at Saint John the BaptistChurch, 31925 LaCroix Rd, White Castle, LA 70788.

James, Ronquinci Services forRonquinci James will be held Satur‐day September13, 2025 at Grace and Compassion Church,6045 AirlineHwy.A publicvisitationwillbe heldfrom9:00a.m.until 10:00 a.m. with religious servicesbeginning at 10:00 a.m.Interment:Private Professionalservicesen‐trusted to CharlesMackey FuneralHome.

Johnson,MaryElizabeth Funeralservicesfor MaryElizabeth Johnson willbeheldSaturdaySep‐tember13, 2025 at New HopeBaptist Church,3254 KaneyvilleRd. Gloster, MS 39638. Apublic visitation willbeheldfrom9:00a.m until 11:00a.m.withreli‐gious services beginningat 11:00 a.m. Interment: New HopeBaptist Church Cemetery. Professional servicesentrusted to Charles Mackey Funeral Home.

AlexisRivera of Baton Rouge, and their mother Susan Kinberger with whomheshared alonglasting friendship and deep respect.His greatest joy was being "Paw Paw" to his grandchildren: Lily, Gatlin, Christian, Charlee, and Vera, each of whom he adored beyond measure. He was preceded in death by hisparents, William Jay Kinberger and Elnora Wall Kinberger. BorninNew Orleans on May 3, 1950, he carried alifelong love for thecityhecalledhome whilegrowing up.Hecherishedthe city's culture, foodand spirit.His New Orleans rootsran deep and he lovedsharing itsunique charm with everyone he met.MardiGras was his favoritetime of year, a season that reflects his vibrant spirit and love for bringing people together. He passed downthat love of MardiGras to his family creating memories and traditions that willbecarried on by his children and grandchildrenfor generations to come. Billwas a graduateofHolyCross HighSchool in NewOrleans and received his degree fromthe Universityof NewOrleans. He was also aproud member of theUS AirForce Reserves. Service remainedcentral to his life,inhis later years. He worked as avolunteer at theVAinNew Orleans, wherehegave histime, compassion, and friendshiptofellowveterans. Bill's love forLSU athletics was well known among family and friends. He cheeredpassionatelyfor allTiger sports:football, gymnastics, women's basketball, and softball. Yet nothing brought him more joy than LSUbaseball, which he followedwithunwavering devotion. Alifelong baseball fan, theonly thing that couldrival Bill's love forLSU wassupporting his children and grandchildreninall their pursuits. Whether it was completing anursing degree, career advancements, school achievements, on thebaseballorsoftball field, swim meets, diving competitions, soccer games, or choirand stage performances, he never missed an opportunity to be there forthem. Sitting in his favorite seatalong thefence or in thestands, he cheeredthem on with thesame pride and enthusiasm he had forthe Tigers.His seatwillnow remain emptyaswillhis family's hearts, as there is no one that could ever fill that space quite like Paw Paw. Bill willbelaid to rest in his belovedhometown of NewOrleans, Louisiana. Family and friends are invitedtoa celebration of life that will be held in BatonRouge and will be announced once arrangementshavebeenfinalized.

Funeral servicesfor Patrice Renee Lamotte,55, willbeheldat10:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 13, 2025 at St.Francis XavierCatholicChurch, in BatonRouge withvisitation starting at 9:00 a.m. and theRosary at 9:30 a.m. Burial will be at Southern Memorial Gardens. Patrice was born February 6, 1970 to thelate MelvinJohn Lamotte, Sr. and thelate CeliaGoudeauLamotte Patrice aresident of Port Allenentered intoeternal rest on Sunday, September 7, 2025. She earneda Bachelor of Science Degree in PoliticalScience from Southern University in 1995. She is a1988 graduateofPortAllen High School where she was a star athlete in basketball and volleyball.Patrice worked in thegaming industryfor 23 years and was employed at the Queen of BatonRouge. She lovedher job and patrons. She wasalso avolunteerfireman with the LobdellVolunteer Fire Department for many years. Patrice is preceded in death by her parents, one sister, Charmaine Lamotte, and one nephew. She is survivedbyfour sisters Michell (Kenneth, Sr.) Pierce, Deborah (Anthony) Smith,Angela Lamotte, Danielle (Robert,Jr.) Primus and one brother Melvin Lamotte, Jr.; four nephews Preston(Shannel) Smith,Revay Sr.(Jen-

nifer) Smith,Kenneth Pierce, Jr. and Robert Primus III; four nieces, Jasmine Clark, Reagan,Arin and Demi Primus; three greatnephews; Zion, Preston II andRevay Jr. Smith, four greatnieces; Ariane Smith,Lillian andLorraine Clark and Reese Pierce; four aunts, JuliettePonton, JerryDeanHicks, Barbara Franklin and Patricia Lamotte; twogodchildren Jarvis Oubre and Cataleya Crockett and numerous cousins.Inlieuofflowers please make donations to theCancerSociety in her name. Professional Funeral Servicesisincharge of arrangements

Lloyd "Peanut" Laurent, 94, anativeofWhiteCastle, Louisiana and resident of St.Jamesdiedpeacefully at theSoutheast Louisiana Veterans Home in Reserve,Louisiana on September 10, 2025. Thank youfor your service, a phrasereservedfor individuals who served their country. In Peanut's case this is true,but his service went far beyond.Not only didheservehis country in theNavyduring theKorean War, buthealso served his community as Fire Chief for29years, as an usherand eucharistic minister at St. James Catholic Church. He also served his community by cooking jambalaya for many communityevents especially for theWildcat Football and BaseballTeams. He was acommitted Manresa retreatant formany years and prayedceaselesslyfor family and friends. He is preceded in death by his wife of 59 years, Amy Hymel Laurent.His parents Noe' and Emilie Haydel Laurent;his granddaughter, BabyRou; his siblings, Milton Laurent, Noe' Laurent,Jr, Herbin Laurent, RalphLaurent, Stephen Laurent,Clifton Laurent,ElmaLaurent Folse, DorisLaurent Sanchez, and Enola Laurent Rivet. He is survived by his children Andrea Folse (Nathan), Anthony Laurent (Lisa), Bonnie Zeringue, and Jenifer Rougee (Shane). Hisgrandchildren- Nathan Folse Jr., Emily Hutchinson, Boyd Laurent, Ryan Laurent, Nick Danos, Victoria Nassar, Troy Zeringue Jr., Colin Rougee, and CaseyCrutchfield. He was blessed with 14 greatgrandchildren Peanut loveddeerhunting, dove hunting,saltwater fishing with hiscamp buddies, sac-a-laitfishing,and cooking for everyone especially forthe Thursday nightsuppersatIvy Bye's camp Visitation willbeheldat St.JamesCatholic Church on Saturday, September 13, 2025 from 9:00 a.m. until mass of Christian burial at 11:00 a.m. Entombment willfollow in St. James CatholicChurch mausoleum. Nathan Folse,Jr, BoydLaurent, Ryan Laurent, Nick Danos, Troy Zeringue, Jr ColinRougee, and CaseyCrutchfield will serve as pallbearers and Patrick Zeringue as an honorary pallbearer. In lieu of flowers,the family asks that donations be madetoSt. JamesARC 29150 Health Unit St., Vacherie, LA 70090. Special

heartfelt thanks to the staff of Southeast Louisiana Veterans Home andhis caregiverswhilehe wasinhis home -Lena Costley,Marlene Reulet, KateLouque, Kathleen Mulville, RachelHotard, Brenda Oubre, and Penny Schexnayder.Tooffer condolences to thefamily, please visit www.oursodon aldsonville.com

Oudkirk, Robert Wayne Robert passedaway August 29, 2025 in Zachary, LA. He was born September22, 1953 in Fort Hood, TX andmoved to Louisiana aroundthe age of 12. He graduatedfromCentral Private in 1972 and began working at CrownZellerbachthe same year, retiringafter 41 years and manyname changes to the mill. He wasa man of integrity, responsibility, and resilience. He was steadfast in all aspectsofhis life. He loved classic cars...lookingatthem, restoring them,collecting them,but mostly working on them.Hewas adedicated andlovingson,brother, andfather.Hewas most proudofhis grandchildren andwas thebest Pawpaw Robert.Heissurvived by hisfather JamesOudkirk, sister Kathy Withycombe, daughterLaTrelleCart, grandchildrenJoseph, Georgia, andJack Cart, great-grandson LeeCart andhis nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his mother RosemaryOudkirk, sister Janet Newburn, brother Dale Oudkirk andson-inlaw Joey Cart. Amemorial will be held Saturday, September 13, 2025 at 11am at theSlaughterUnited Methodist Church in Slaughter,LAtorememberand celebratehis life.

Oliver Sims RobinsonIII died peacefully at his residence in Baton Rouge on August 31, 2025. Though born in Vicksburg, Miss., Oliver was a native of Issaquena County. Sevengenerationsof hisfamilywereraised in Issaquena County. He was residentfirstbornfor a great-great grandmother, twogreat-grandmothers, two grandmothers. His familymoved to New Roads, LA, whereheattended St.Joseph's Academy then graduated from Poydras High School and LSU. Oliver's onenod to organization washis life as a tenth-generation member of theEpiscopal Church He preferredgroupswith no bylaws, no dues, andno mandatory meetings, such as the East Maniacs,The French Quarter'sObituary Cocktail, and hiscousins' Societyfor the Preservation andEncouragementof Jose Cuervo Drinking.Other than hisMilitary service duringthe Korean War his entire career waswith The Louisiana Department of EmploymentSecurity, whereheservedfor hisfinalfifteenyearsasthe Director of Researchand Statistics.

Oliver wasprecededin death by his wife of 60 years, Marilyn Gray Robinson; hisparents,Mary Jane AlfordRobinsonand Oliver Robinson,Jr., andone brother, Charles Edward "Ted" Robinson.Heissurvived by twosons, Mark AlfordRobinson(Kyra) and John Gray Robinson (Deborah); twograndchildren, Trev Gray Robinson and Marcus EmileRobinson; a brotherFloyd Alford"Al" Robinson of Houstonas well as numerousnieces, nephews, and cousins. Memorial Serviceswill be September 13th 10:30am St.Margaret's Episcopal Church,Baton Rouge La.

JamesD.Thomas, Sr., a residentofBaker,LAand retired employee of Exxon‐Mobil, transitioned on Sat‐urday,September 6, 2025 at age 78. Visitation will be heldSaturday, September 13, 2025 at Saintsville Church of GodinChrist, 8930 PlankRd.,Baton Rouge,LAfrom12PMuntil religious serviceat1 PM, conducted by Elder Leonard Powell. He leaves tocherish hismemories: his devotedwifeof52 years,Kay Thomas;one son,James "Don"Thomas, Jr.,two daughters, Keshia ThomasSanchez (Jose) and KatrinaMillican; three grandchildren,Amelia, Fredrickand Donovan; one sister, OdealThomas; his mother-in-love, Sedonia Anthony; ﬁve godchildren; ninesisters-in-law; nine brothers-in-law;and ahost ofother relativesand friends.Hewas preceded indeath by hisparents, Leroy andLulia Mae Thomas; threebrothers and four sisters. He leaves behinda legacy of love and willbedeeply missed. In‐terment will be in Southern MemorialGardens,Baton Rouge,LA. Services en‐trusted to Richardson Fu‐neral Home of Jefferson, River Ridge, LA.www richardsonfuneralhomeofj‐efferson.com

Shelia Wicks, aresident of Baton Rouge,LApassed away September6,2025, at the age of 82. Visitation Saturday, September13, 2025, 9:00AM untilreligious servicesat11am, Good Shepherd Baptist Church 2863 Mission DriveBaton Rouge,LA. Pastor James Dawson. Intermentwill take place at Southern Memorial Gardens, Baton Rouge,La. ServicesentrustedtoDesselleFuneral Home 263 EddieRobinson Sr.Drive,Baton

Laurent, Lloyd 'Peanut'

Thomas Sr., JamesD.

Haynes, Leonard Terry

Wicks,Shelia

Lamotte, PatriceRenee

Harris,

'Big Hup Big

OPINION

Fact book indicators positive signsfor La.

More moving up than moving down, with much room to improve. That’sagood summary of our 2025 update to the Louisiana Fact Book: Facts for the Future. Leaders for a Better Louisiana has been tracking alist of 35 important indicators of progress across ﬁve categories to measure the overall wellbeing and trajectory of our state. First created in 2023 by the Council for aBetter Louisiana, which has now merged with the Committee of 100 for Economic Development,our combined group remains committed to making Louisianaabetter and moreprosperous state for all. That includes continuing to track how we are doing on issues that in many ways deﬁne how others perceive Louisiana.

Our latest update is the third

since we launched the Fact Book, and this year’sresults are encouraging.They weren’t ayear ago. At that time, Louisiana was seeingprogress on 16 indicators, but moving in the wrong direction on 16 more. Three were unchanged.Byany measure, that was unacceptable. This year,the ﬁndings are abit more positive. We’redoing better on 20 indicators, falling behind on 13 and holding steady on two. As before, the education andworkforce issues tend to be amongthe brighterspotswith notable improvementsinoverall student performance in grades three through eight, eighth grade math andcontinued increases in theeducation attainment of our working-age population. Some ofthe economic indicators also improved.Louisiana

outpaced the nation in job growth and recorded an employed workforce of 2million people for the first time in adecade, and only thesecond time in history.We reversed amultiyear decline in population withasmall uptick in thenumber of people living in the state. While net domestic out-migration continued, it was significantly smaller than what we have seen in prior years. Still, there are some areas of ongoing concern. Both theoverall povertyrate and child poverty increased significantly.Health indicators remain troubling, particularly in terms of declining life expectancy,low birthweight babies, infant mortality andfood insecurity. AndLouisianacontinues to see growing issues with many of its small, rural water systems where more of them are running into safety and compliance issues.

So, what is the picture these indicators paint? Amixed bag, but moreencouragingthan we have seen since we started this project. In recent years, we have placed a concerted focus on several education and workforce issues, and it appears that we are seeing positiveresults from that. Louisiana has also madesome policy changes that are clearly intended to spur job growth and enhance the state’seconomic competitiveness. But those changes are recent and would not account forthe improvements we have seen in the economic data so far.That gives us reason to be hopeful that the modest, but critical, economic growth we see now might continue to improve in later years. Recently,Louisiana has made signiﬁcantgains in education outcomes that have given us amajor boost in the national rankings.

That has been great to see, and it has garnered alot of positive attention. But we know that type of growth is rare, especially given the manycomplex issues we face, and the goals we set must be realistic. Still, it is entirely reasonable to expect that we should be making progress on every indicator, every year As we work as astate to improve Louisiana’scompetitiveness and economic vitality,we must not ignore the other things that are holding us back. The message that we are improving on mostindicators is agood one. Our goal now must be to sustain our progress and broaden our focus so that we can begin to impact moreofour mostchronic challenges.

Barry Erwin is the chief policy ofﬁcer forLeaders foraBetter Louisiana.

Crimestats tell part of

Overthe past few months, there have been conﬂicting narrativesabout whethercrime is decreasing in America overall or speciﬁcally in large urban areas.These debates oftenrely on the resultsofthe Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reports

However,these reports frequentlydo not match public opinion. In fact,they often point in opposite directions. Whyis that? How can we tell if crime is risingor falling?

The United States has traditionally used two methods to measurecrime. One is the UCRmanaged by the FBI. This system hasbeen in place since theearly 1930s TheFBI collects crime datathatlaw enforcement agencies voluntarilysubmit for crimes reported to, or detected by, police.

thestory

Congress should enact needed debankinglaws

Mostofustakeitfor granted that we can open abank account, processapayment or apply for aloan without politics getting in theway

Butacross the country,a troubling practiceknown as “debanking,”drivenby regulators in Washington, threatensthat.

siana’s ownU.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said after the orderwas signed, “This political discrimination—such as we sawwith the Obama administration’s‘OperationChokepoint’ —isunlawful, dishonest, anddecreases trust in ourbanking institutions.”

niﬁcant statistical difference between urban and rural areas. The UCR and theNVCS aredifferent reports with different methodologies. But bothare valuable. Ignoring one over the other is aserious mistake. Experiences always outweigh the statistics. Many communities use athird method to measure crimebyrelying on independent survey datatounderstand residents’ perceptions of safety.Having used all three methods, Ifound the third to be themost helpful for guiding our decisions to improve thepolice department.

The second method for measuringcrimeis through the National Crime VictimizationSurvey, which has been conducted annuallybythe Bureau of Justice Statisticssince theearly 1970s.The NCVS randomly surveysover 100,000 people each year to askabout theirpersonal experiences with crime. This is primarily how we determine that approximately half of all crimes have gone unreported to the UCR. Thelimitation of the NCVS is that it is anationwide survey,not conductedatthe stateorcity level.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics’ NCVS released itsﬁrst report in July to analyzecrime data from urban, suburban andruralareas across thecountry. Here are the keyﬁndings from 2020 to 2023. About38% of violent victimizationsinurban areas were reported to police, whichwas lower than thepercentages in suburban(43%) and rural (51%)areas.

Thepercentage of rape andsexual assault victimizations in rural areas that werereported topolice (52%)was almost fourtimes higherthanthe share reported to police in urban areas (13%), and almost two times higher than the sharereported in suburban areas(29%) Reporting to police for simple assault victimizations was higher in suburban (39%) and rural areas (46%) than urban areas (32%) Forrobbery,the percentage of victimizations reported to police was lower in suburbanareas (49%) than urban areas (63%).There wasnosig-

During my time as chief of the Nashville Police Departmentfrom 2004 to 2010, we started asurvey conducted twice ayear among Nashville residents in June and December.Ofall the data we collected, this was themostimportant.

How people feel about their neighborhood, their ability to move freely around the cityand their sense of personal and family safety arethe most critical issues we must address.

While Iserved as superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department from 2010 to 2014, and continuing today,the New OrleansCrime Coalition (NOCC) has been doing similar surveys

Initially,from 2010 to 2014, NOCC conducted this survey every six months; morerecently,they have shifted todoing it once ayear.Nomatterhow often it’sdone, it remains themostvital measure of safety perceptions in New Orleansand, based on my experience, in any city across the country

It is crucial to remember that the real measure of crime is how people feel about it.This is more reliable than the UCR, which has signiﬁcant gaps in reporting compared to actual crimes, and more comprehensive than the NCVS alone, because it’s notyet as detailed at the state and local level.

Irespectfully caution political and police leaders that the conversation about what the UCR reportsoncrimeislimited to what it states and what it doesn’t. We must understand how people experience crime, not just how we report or ﬁnd it.A longtimecolleague of mine said it well: “Crime can be measured, but public safetyissomething that people feel.”

Ronal Serpas is theformer superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department

Debanking happens when financial institutions deny services for certain individuals or businesses based on perceived political, religious or social reasons. Arecent paper from the America First PolicyInstitute explains how political pressure from Washington regulators beginning underthe Obama and Biden administrations —weaponized regulatorstoblacklist entire industries, like firearms and crypto. When accesstobanking is politicized, it doesn’tjust hurt targeted industries. It dissolves public trust in the entire financial system. If lawful businesses and law-abiding citizens can be frozen out for their beliefs or affiliations,thennoone’saccessis secure. Here in Louisiana,we’ve taken theissueseriously.Earlierthis year,the Legislature passeda resolution urging Washington to end government-drivendebanking. That resolutionsent aclear message: Our state will notstand by while federal regulators pick winners andlosers in the marketplace. Louisiana knows the importance of protecting economic freedom, andweare willing to lead in asmart, effective way Thankfully,there are encouraging signs of progress.

President Donald Trump recently issued an executive order directing regulators to eliminate theuse of “reputation risk” —the vague and subjective standard that has been weaponizedbyregulatorstojustify politically motivated banking discrimination. He also tasked the Treasury Department to work with Congress on acomprehensive strategy to addresspoliciesatthe federallevel thatdrovegovernment debanking and come up with solutions to end the practice altogether This is ameaningful step, but it cannot be the ﬁnalword. As Loui-

He’s right. Unless reforms arelocked in through legislation, they remain vulnerable to being undone by afuture administration. That’swhy Congress must act.Bipartisan proposals suchasthe Financial Integrity andRegulation Management Act would ensure thatregulators cannotweaponize their powers to chokeoff lawful businesses. Lawmakers should take steps to update outdatedpractices such as anti-money-laundering and know-your-customer rulesto bettertargetreal threats while reducing unnecessary burdens on banks andconsumers alike. These reforms would restore fairness, strengthen oversight where it matters most and give Americansconfidence that politicshas no place in their wallets. The timing of this debate is significantfor ourstate. Last month, New Orleanshosted the State PolicyNetwork’s33rd annual meeting, bringing state leaders from acrossthe country to discuss howtodefendfree markets andindividualliberty.Louisiana hasa proud story to share —one of pushing back on federal overreach andinsisting thatgovernment stayout of Americans’ bank accounts. The principle is simple: Financialservices should never be usedasa tool for political punishment. Whether you run a small business or simply want peace of mind thatyoursavings account won’tbetargeted, every Louisiananhas astake in this fight. By standing firm, ourstate can help lead the wayinkeeping government outofthe banking systemand ensuring thatevery American hasfairaccessinthe marketplace.

MichaelLunsford is the executive director of Citizens For aNew Louisiana.

STAFF FILE PHOTO

COMMENTARY

ISSUE OF THE WEEK NATIONAL GUARD IN NEW ORLEANS

After deploying National Guard troopsfor operations in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.,PresidentDonald Trump has called for the broaderuse of the Guard to combat crimeincities,mostrun by Democrats.Thelatest list of places that Guard troopscouldbesentincludesChicago, Baltimore and NewOrleans.While it is unclear when or if those cities will seesoldiersonthe streets,opponents sayitraises keylegal questions,asthe useof themilitaryindomestic lawenforcement has long been prohibited. Butsupporters saycities should welcome anyhelp in makingthem safer.InNew Orleans, where the governor has sent in state troopers to aid local police, many sayithas largely beena success. But would the National Guard be different? Hereare twoperspectives:

DeployingGuard in N.O. is nota conservative idea

Donald Trump, aman of many redhats, now wishes to wear ablue one as thede facto New Orleans chief of police.

“We’ll straighten that outintwo weeks,” Trump says of crime in NewOrleans, “easier than D.C.” Ronald Reagandescribed “I’m fromthe government and I’m here tohelp” as the most terrifying wordsinthe English language. His Republican successor hears them differently

The absence of even adebateonthe right about making afederal case of Louisiana problems indicatestoward which end of the principles-partycontinuum conservatives now lean.

It was not always so.

[Richard] Nixon kite,” persuaded National Review to withhold itsendorsement for the Republican nominee. Fedupwith Gov.Nelson Rockefeller,Sen. Jacob Javits and other Empire State Republicans, theWoodstock resident helped found theConservative Party of New York in 1962.

City haswelcomedthe National Guardbefore

Frank Meyer, presentatthe creation of National Reviewand Young Americans for Freedom, afounding father of the American Conservative Unionand author of the canonical-for-conservatives In Defense of Freedom,characterized President Dwight Eisenhower’sdeployment of the National GuardtoLittle Rock as an “invasion.” He regularly criticized Republicansand castanenthusiastic ballotfor exactlyone GOPpresidentialnominee. He gained rather than lost standing Faithlessness to the party,from thetitular character of “The Man WhoInvented Conservatism”no less, provokesa confusedface emoji from younger right-wingers.

Daniel Flynn GUEST COLUMNIST

He advised that party’snominee, James Buckley,ashedefeated aRepublican senator —NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’sfather,Charles —in1970. The following year,he becameone of the Manhattan 12, thedozen conservatives who suspended their support for President Nixon.

Meyer’sefforts to transform the GOP into avehicle for conservatives, ironically,Republicanized the tight to adegree that so few feel comfortable putting principle over party.

As early as 1954, he envisioned a“anew alignment of parties” that pushed “traditional Republicans and Southern Democrats” together into the GOP and “liberal Republicans” and “New Deal Democrats” into the Democratic Party.This dream of parties as ideological avatars rather than collections of diverse interest groups, realized long after Meyer’s1972 death, became, if notanightmare for principled conservatives, then at least at times an inconvenience.

“The aimofconservatives between now and 1956 must be to build aconsciousness of the issues sufﬁciently strong to nominate acandidate on the Republican ticketand elect him,” he wrote JohnChamberlain, an editor of The Freeman,after Robert Taft’s 1952 Republican convention loss to Eisenhower.“Milk and water attitudes toward Eisenhower at this pointcan only cloudthat aim. After all,hethinks thatthe revolution of the last twenty years is established, is outside of politics, andmust be accepted by every moral American.”

Chamberlain heeded his advice —and lost his job. Apro-Ike board ﬁred the magazine’s anti-Ike editors, and Meyerlost thesmall remuneration it provided.

Apoorer Meyer persevered Meyer later noted in The AmericanMercury “littletodistinguish the Eisenhower administration from itspredecessors in the ﬁght against creeping collectivism.”

In 1960, Meyer, arguing that“under no circumstancesshould the conservative movement be compromisedbytailing the

To challenge the wisdom of federalizing New Orleans’ crime problems suddenly calls aconservative’scredentials into question.

The tailwags the dog.

Conservatives properly rejoice at Trump securing the border,appointing strict constructionists to the bench and shuttering the United States Agency for International Development.This does not merit aperpetual hall passgranted tocheat on ostensibly shared principles.

When thepresident veers, such as with theidea to enforce local laws with federal troops, conservatives should feel free to criticize.

Frank Meyer did.

“The Republican Party deserves conservative loyalty,” he reasoned, “only to the degree that it is conservative.

Daniel Flynn is afellow at the Hoover Institutionand author of “The Man Who Invented Conservatism: The Unlikely Life of Frank S. Meyer.”

Over the past few days, Orleans Parish politicians have lined up to reject thesuggestion from President Donald Trumpthat New Orleans could beneﬁt from having theNational Guard deployed to our city.New Orleans has always welcomed the National Guard, but this time it may be much more than just boots on the ground. If facts matter,then the success of the National Guard’s presence in preventingviolent crime in New Orleans speaks for itself. According to data from theMetropolitan Crime Commission, when the National Guard was in New Orleans for two weeksduring the 2025 Super Bowl, there was an average of 8.5 incidents of violent crime per week. The week they left, that number jumped to 14.3 incidents, a68% increase. The presence of the National Guard alone is avaluable resource, but the attention it could bring to the Orleans Parishcriminal justice system may be thereal reason our local politicians don’twant them here. All eyes are on the crime problem in Washington, D.C., since theNational Guard was deployed there. Trump has accomplished much morethan boots on the ground; he put theentire criminal justice system in D.C. under aspotlight.

money went, and the juvenile judges had refused to produce data from juvenile offenders. Council member Joe Giarrusso said, “I’m tired, candidly,of not getting data from juvenile court, and not knowing what’sgoing on.” U.S. Rep. Troy Carter,R-New Orleans, issued apredictable statement this week, suggesting that instead of sending the National Guard, Trumpshould tackle crime in NewOrleans by providing morefederal funding forpreventative programs. If facts matter,Carter would remember that President Joe Biden already tried that in NewOrleans.

Recently,D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro held anews conference to discuss thejuvenile crime plaguing D.C., thelack of accountability in juvenile court and thejudges. In referencing juvenile offenders, she stated, “They need to be held accountable, and we need to be protected.”

Pirro went on tocrucify the judges for their failed rehabilitation attempts,their refusal to incarcerate violent offenders and thelack of transparency for juvenile crime.

Pirro could have heldthat exact samenews conference in high-crime cities all over America. In 2022, violent juvenile crime reached an alltime high in New Orleans. The City Council allocated $3.5 million fornine separateprogramstoaddress juvenile crimeand rehabilitation. By May 13, 2024, the City Council admitted they had no idea where the

In 2022, Biden gave New Orleans $4.5 million to address juvenile crime. By August 2024, after the city had reigned as the murder capital, the City Council learned that no one had bothered to use the federal money either The Cantrell administration admitted before the council that they had an “inﬂux of funds” and were never able to formulate aplan on how to spend all the money they were receiving. City ofﬁcials have historically welcomed the National Guard to our city foryears, mostrecently during the Super Bowland Mardi Gras. Suddenly,now they are not welcome. Despite anational reduction in crime, NewOrleans still ranks the eighth mostviolent city in America. The last thing our local politicians wantisour criminal justice system launched onto the national stage, where it belongs. The National Guard put aspotlight on D.C. and it is sounding the alarm forother crime-ridden cities that refuse to protect victims. In what could prove one of his moststrategic moves yet, Trump’sseemingly simple idea might be the catalyst forexposing the underbelly of failing criminal justice systemsinAmerican cities that have been deprived of sunlight forfar too long.

Laura CanizzaroRodrigueisa former Orleans Parish prosecutor andfounder of theBayou Mama Bears, an advocacy group.

Laura Canizzaro Rodrigue GUEST COLUMNIST

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Louisiana National Guardwalk Bourbon Streetahead of Super Bowl LIX in NewOrleans.

I’venever experienc anything lik this before. very humbled. I’m happyfor teammates, th thatIplayedw Iwant them to likethey’rep of what I’ve and accompli so far.”

CHARLES ALEXANDER, former LSU running

Southern taking a different approach to QB situation

Jaguarslooktoadd Strother to equation vs.Fresno State

ä See SOUTHERN, page 5C

‘I’venever experienced anything like this before’

LSUgreat Alexanderreflects nupcomingjerseyretirement, TigerStadium honor

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

The morning Charles Alexanderdecided where he’d play college football, two cars parked outside his grandmother’shouse. Houston coachesdrove one of them.The other belonged to Jerry Stovall,anLSU coach hoping to squeeze in one last recruiting pitch.

It was signing day. Alexander —atailback from Galveston, Texas—still hadn’t committed.Hewanted to go to school that day and sit through all his classes,

then decide which college program he’d play for.

The coaches recruiting him, however, chose not to let him wait.

“I didn’tknow whereIwas going,”Alexander said.

Now,over 50 years later,both Stovall and Alexander will have their names and jersey numbers displayed on the south façadeofTigerStadium. LSUwill formally retire Alexander’sNo. 4athalftime of its gameagainst Florida on Saturday (6:30 p.m., ABC), giving that under-the-radar recruit who became its third all-time leading rusher an honor it’sreserved foronly three other

ä See LSU, page

Arizona

cornerback Isaac yiadom

Sundayatthe Caesars Superdome.

Inside cornerback yiadom’s windingroadbacktothe Saints

BYMATTHEWPARAS Staff writer

Isaac Yiadom hasn’t ever gone back to watch ﬁlm of hisyounger self, theway that defensive coordinator Brandon Staley did this offseason. But theNew Orleans Saints cornerback says he can only imaginethe differences.

Staley doesn’thave to imagine. He likes to use Yiadom’stape as an example for young corners. He shows them Yiadom from 2019. Andthen Yiadom in 2025.

“Tobeplayinglike he is now,” Staley said, “just shows you that there’salot possibleifyou just hang in there.”

To Staley,Yiadom’s tape shows astark contrast in conﬁdence. The ﬁlmisthe journey of aplayer who’s spanned six teams in eight years, one whowas on track to be abust but has blossomed into areliable veteran.There wasDenver,New York,Green Bay,Houston, New Orleans, San Francisco and New Orleansagain.Staley and Yiadom have overlapped in three of those spots, startinginDenver,reuniting in San Francisco and now teaming up withthe Saints

See SAINTS, page 3C

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Saints

stops

Cardinals tight end Trey McBrideduring the first half of their game

PHOTO By CHRIS TODD Southernquarterback Cam’Ron McCoyruns the ball againstMississippi ValleyState on Aug. 30 at Rice-Totten Stadium in IttaBena, Miss.

Hughes leads in Napa

Ryder Cup players gets mixed results

BY DOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer

NAPA, Calif. — Mackenzie Hughes of Canada quietly went about his work with a 9-under 63 on Thursday to lead the Procore Championship. The big crowds followed Scottie Scheffler and the U.S Ryder Cup team and saw mixed results. For the longest time, Ryder Cup rookie Ben Griffin wasn’t even the low Griffin at Silverado until five birdies on the back nine gave him a 64, one shot behind with Matt McCarty Russell Henley was at 65 with Lanto Griffin. Scheffler who hasn’t finished lower than eighth place since March, lost one streak on a breezy afternoon in wine country when he was wild off the tee at the par5 18th and had to settle for par and a 70. That ended 21 consecutive rounds in the 60s.

Ten Ryder Cup players are here for the competition and to try to stay sharp ahead of Beth-

page Black in two weeks, and that wasn’t lost on them regardless of the scores. Russell Henley shot 65 and U.S.

Open champion J.J. Spaun had a 67. No one else broke 70, though all of them were at par or better. It’s not unusual to see prominent players in the same group for television

The difference here is that they’re all spending time together — same wave of tee times, same mansion to hang out in their spare time

“I think it was a little different today just knowing that all of us were kind of paired in the same little area of tee times, and we obviously did spend a lot of time with each other this week so it deﬁnitely feels slightly different than it would have if this tournament was in March,” he said.

“You know, the Ryder Cup is right around the corner.”

Just don’t get the idea this is a social week Schefﬂer showed as much when he was visibly frustrated at a shot that deﬁed gravity and

NBA’s ‘heave rule’

BY TIM REYNOLDS AP basketball writer

NEW YORK NBA players can now fire up those end-of-quarter heaves from deep without their shooting percentages being adversely affected. The league has approved a change in the way statistics on those shots are recorded, which could spur players to take more heaves from very, very deep with hopes of a miracle make. It was finalized at the league’s board of governors meeting on Wednesday The rule change was tried out at Summer League in Las Vegas back in July, as well as the smaller leagues that month in Utah and California. For stat-keeping purposes, the NBA will tell teams that any shot taken within the final three seconds of the first three quarters and is launched from at least 36 feet away on any play that starts in the backcourt will count as a team shot attempt but not an individual one. Many players have avoided taking the miracle 50-footer or deeper shot at the end of quarters to protect their personal shooting percentages. The “heave rule,” the league hopes, will fix that.

According to SportRadar, players last season made about 4% of shots taken in the ﬁnal three sec-

Yankees SS Volpe gets injection for labrum tear

NEW YORK New York Yankees

shortstop Anthony Volpe had a cortisone shot in his left shoulder on Wednesday after playing through a small tear in his labrum for more than four months. Before the Yankees concluded a three-game series with the Tigers on Thursday, manager Aaron Boone conﬁrmed a report in the New York Post that Volpe underwent the injection after reaggravating a previous shoulder injury while making a diving stop in Sunday’s 4-3 win over Toronto.

It was Volpe’s second cortisone shot this season. The Yankees also said the 24-year-old had a cortisone shot during the All-Star break. Boone said Volpe was not available off the bench and may miss the opener of a three-game series at Boston on Friday

Ex-NBA player Collins in treatment for brain tumor

NEW YORK Jason Collins, the NBA’s ﬁrst openly gay player who now serves as an ambassador for the league, is undergoing treatment for a brain tumor his family said Thursday

Collins announced he was gay in 2013, becoming the ﬁrst publicly gay athlete to play in any of the four main North American sports leagues. He retired in 2014 after a 13-year career that included stops with the New Jersey Nets, Memphis, Minnesota, Atlanta, Boston, Washington and back to the Nets after they moved to Brooklyn.

Collins averaged 3.6 points and 3.7 rebounds in his career In his best season, he averaged 6.4 points and 6.1 rebounds for the then-New Jersey Nets in 2004-05.

Titans RT Latham out with hip injury vs. Rams

stayed in thick rough over a bunker on the par-5 12th. He turned and slammed his club into the ground. The stance was so awkward that when he ﬁnally ﬁgured out how to play it, he had to jump down into the bunker after he hit it.

Scheffler made par He made par on all the the par 5s, contributing to his ﬁrst score that began with a “7” since his 72 in the third round of the Travelers Championship in June.

“This is his first go ‘round here. It’s very goofy,” Spaun said. “I don’t think I liked this place the first couple times I came here, but you kind of learn how to play it, you learn where to miss. The greens, especially in the afternoon, are not great. It’s just poa annua and they’re sloped and they’re pretty fast. He just barely missed a few putts. That would have kept his streak going. He’ll be fine.”

Hughes is playing for other reasons. He missed out on the top 50 in the FedEx Cup, which would have put him in all the $20 million signature events next year But anyone ﬁnishing in the top 60 are

the Fall Series gets into Pebble Beach and Riviera.

The Canadian was had nine birdies in 13 holes and allowed his mind to think brieﬂy about a 59, but only because he thought par was a 71. Either way, a pair of bogeys ended that, though he was happy enough with a 63.

“The goal is to get into that top 60 and set up my beginning to the year,” said Hughes, who is at No. 65. “I also won’t play ﬁve, six events to try to chase that. I’ve love to just play a few and get some good rest and be home a bunch this fall. That’s the plan right now But we’ll see what happens.” Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley was at Silverado, but only as a spectator

“This is awesome to see,” Bradley said as he stood behind the 13th green watching Scheffler, Henley and Spaun walk side-byside up the fairway Sam Burns had a 71, while the other Ryder Cup players — Justin Thomas, Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay, Harris English and Collin Morikawa — were all at 72.

to help players’ shooting perecentages

onds of the ﬁrst three quarters of a game with the 36-foot minimum distance. Based on its tracking data, Golden State’s Stephen Curry made four shots under those criteria last season and Denver’s Nikola Jokic made three.

All-Star decision looming

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday, at the end of the league’s board of governors meeting, that he hopes to have the details on this season’s AllStar Game — one that will have a U.S. vs. the world format — ﬁnalized by the start of the regular season.

The AP and other outlets reported on Sept 3 that the league is closing in on ﬁnalizing another new format for this season’s AllStar Game, one where three eightman teams — two from the U.S. and one composed of international players — would square off in a round-robin tournament.

Having 16 All-Stars from the U.S and eight from other countries would be in line with the current breakdown of where NBA players are from; the league is about two-thirds American players, one-third international players.

“People have great memories of All-Star games. It’s part of the fabric of this league, the excitement that comes from it and the engagement from our players,” Silver said. “So, we want to ﬁx it.”

The league has been heading in this direction for several months, especially after last season’s AllStar mini-tournament untimed games to 40 points, with four teams of eight players each — was a ﬂop.

Silver has wanted a more competitive All-Star format for years. Nobody has been willing to play much in the way of defense at the game in recent seasons — a 211-186 game in 2024 was the last straw there so the league tried the tournament plan this past season.

European, domestic expansion

Talks on how to proceed with a new NBA-backed league in Europe, in partnership with FIBA, are continuing, Silver said.

“I think our basketball people now are very engaged in how the competition will work,” Silver said. “Our lawyers are thinking hard on how we can take a sort of cap-based system and revenuesharing system with players and how we could apply that in a European framework.”

Silver also said the league’s governors got an update on domestic expansion plans at its meeting that concluded Wednesday The NBA said in July that it was beginning the process of formally exploring adding to its current 30-team league, though there is no timetable for when that will happen.

Seattle and Las Vegas have long been believed to be major candidates for NBA expansion if the league formally decides to move forward.

NBA Cup semifinal change

The NBA Cup, which has had a Final Four setup for its semiﬁnals and ﬁnal in Las Vegas — and will again this season — will be changing in 2026-27.

The league has decided that semifinals will be played at the home arena of the higher-seeded team in each conference starting next season. The final which doesn’t count on either team’s record will be the only game played at a neutral site.

Coach’s challenge adjusted

The board approved a change to coach’s challenges, starting this season.

During review following a challenge of an out-of-bounds violation, the replay center ofﬁcial — not the crew chief — “will determine whether a proximate foul should have been called,” the league said.

The NBA says it will expedite review times.

Last season was the ﬁrst where referees could determine whether a proximate foul should have been called on certain plays. The change was unanimously recommended by the competition committee and league ofﬁce.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee starting right tackle JC Latham said Thursday that he will be out Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams in the Titans’ home opener Latham left the season-opening loss in Denver early in the fourth quarter with an injured hip that limited him during the preseason. Titans coach Brian Callahan said Monday that Latham aggravated an issue that the lineman has been playing through. The seventh pick overall in 2024 out of Alabama started every offensive snap as a rookie, playing 1,032 snaps. Latham wasn’t available to reporters Wednesday when he didn’t practice. He said Thursday he is dealing with a strain that limits his ability to move as needed at lineman.

Mavericks sign forward Washington to extension

DALLAS The Dallas Mavericks have signed forward P.J. Washington Jr to a contract extension and are also bringing back guard Dante Exum in moves that should finalize the roster for 2025-26. The Mavericks announced the deal for Washington on Thursday A person with knowledge of the extension said the deal was worth $89 million over four years. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because terms weren’t released. Exum will be among the options at point guard until Irving returns, and part of the depth if the 11-year veteran stays healthy The 30-yearold, who was the fifth overall pick in the 2014 draft out of Australia, has missed significant time with injuries each of his two seasons in Dallas.

Gulfstream Park set to host Pegasus World Cup HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. Gulfstream Park will play host to the 10th edition of the Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 24, one of the highlights of the track’s

From

ASSOCIATED FILE PRESS PHOTO By MIKE STEWART

Ben Griffin waves to spectaots on the second green during the third round of the Tour Championship tournament on Aug. 23 in Atlanta.

SAINTS NOTEBOOK

Tackle Richards arrived in nick of time

Newly acquired RT played well in relief of injured starter Fuaga

BY LUKE JOHNSON and ROD WALKER Staff writers

A few weeks before the start of the regular season, the Saints found themselves in dire need of a capable swing tackle after Landon Young suffered an ankle injury that put him on season-ending injured reserve. So the Saints dipped into their pool of draft resources and put together a trade for Asim Richards, sending a future sixth-round pick to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for Richards and a seventh-rounder New Orleans couldn’t have known how quickly it would need Richards.

Taliese Fuaga played just 46 offensive snaps before heading to the bench with a knee injury against the Arizona Cardinals — and it was evident from his performance that he’d been trying to play through the pain before leaving the game. New Orleans called on Richards and dropped him into the ﬁre at right tackle, and came away pleased with his performance after only a few weeks with the team. Richards was on the ﬁeld for 23 passing plays (including two spikes to stop the clock). He allowed two pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, but did not give up a sack.

He held up especially well on the ﬁnal drive. On the sequence at the end of the game where the Saints were taking shots at the end zone,

SAINTS

Continued from page 1C

Staley uses the phrase “the road less traveled” with Yiadom. And that’s technically true: Not many in the NFL have a career arc quite like the 29-year-old. But in the literal sense, as he prepares to face his former team Sunday when the Saints host the 49ers, Yiadom has traveled a lot of roads to get to this point. And he’s arrived at his destination.

“If I had to go back, of course I wish I didn’t (have to play for so many teams),” Yiadom said. “But everything happens for a reason. The only beneﬁt of it is I got the chance to play in so many different defenses for so many different (coordinators), see different offenses, play in the AFC, in the NFC.

“I’ve had a chance to play against damn near every receiver in the NFL already You know what I mean? So there’s no moment too big, no opponent too big. So that’s why things are good.” Things weren’t always good. A third-round pick in 2018 out of Boston College, Yiadom lasted just two seasons with the Denver Broncos before being traded to the New York Giants in 2020. Another season led to another trade — this time to Green Bay Looking back, Yiadom sees his opportunity with the Packers as a turning point in his career That year, he felt he did everything he could to latch onto a place. He studied hard. He practiced hard. But he primarily saw action on special teams, taking just 9% of Green Bay’s defensive snaps that season. Headed to Houston, Yiadom was determined to move on. Not from football. But Yiadom realized his mentality was holding him back. If a mistake happened, Yiadom would let it linger too much in his play He played too carefully, too cognizant of not wanting to make another mistake.

Richards stonewalled Arizona’s pricey offseason acquisition Josh Sweat on three consecutive plays.

He also handled a pair of defensive line stunts, passing off the outside rusher to right guard Cesar Ruiz and neutralizing the loop defender

“I thought he came in and did really well, especially in those twominute situations,” center Erik McCoy said. “Him and (Ruiz) had great communication, passing off twists and games. I thought for only being here two weeks, a week and a half, that he came in and executed at a high level.”

The Saints may need to count on Richards again this week against San Francisco. While coach Kellen

The following summer Yiadom didn’t make the Houston Texans’ 53-man roster but he finally had the kind of training camp he wanted.

“I just started playing free,”

Yiadom said That freedom led to stability In his second stint with the Saints, he’s now the elder statesman in the cornerback room even though he’s yet to turn 30. His teammates affectionately call him “Ike.” And Yiadom has loved to be a mentor: Rookie Quincy Riley said the veteran always reminds him to pay attention at all times because you never know who is watching. Yiadom gives advice on what — and what not — to do.

“We’ve got a saying in our room: ‘Do it like Ike,’” said third-year cornerback Rezjohn Wright, who gleefully notes he was graduating high school when Yiadom entered the league.

“(He’s) just been a great example for our program,” Staley said.

Moore suggested he doesn’t believe Fuaga’s injury will keep him out long term, the second-year tackle did not participate in Wednesday’s practice.

The 49ers managed only eight quarterback pressures and one sack against the Seattle Seahawks last week, but they have a talented defensive front with All-Pro Nick Bosa and ﬁrst-round pick Mykel Williams on the edges.

Kroeger’s debut

Punter Kai Kroeger got his ﬁrst taste of NFL action Sunday

The undrafted rookie punted four times, averaging 50.5 per punt. That average ranks ninth in

had no idea that English, which the cornerback said he learned partly by watching “SpongeBob SquarePants” as a child, was Yiadom’s second language Most teammates don’t. “No, I did not know that,” Wright said. “That’s crazy.”

The Saints, though, are counting on Yiadom to be more than a mentor

“I’ve had a chance to play against damn near every receiver in the NFL already. You know what I mean? So there’s no moment too big, no opponent too big So that’s why things are good.”

Every stop presents the chance to gain experience, form new bonds. When he went to the 49ers last year, Yiadom went to All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner and showed him the handshake that he used to do with Demario Davis on the Saints. That handshake would become their handshake.

ISAAC yIADOM, Saints cornerback

Sometimes, Yiadom’s actions will take teammates by surprise.

A few weeks ago, Yiadom was on the phone in the team’s cafeteria when then-Saints safety J.T Gray, now with the Ravens, became surprised once he overheard parts of the conversation. Yiadom was speaking in Twi the native language spoken in Ghana, which the cornerback grew up speaking at home.

Gray, according to Yiadom,

For the last two years, including his ﬁrst stint in New Orleans, Yiadom served as a high-quality backup — a player who could ﬁll in adequately when needed, leading to 13 starts in 34 games. But this year Yiadom has been a starter from Day 1. He was one of five Saints to play every defensive snap in Sunday’s season-opening loss to the Arizona Cardinals. It wasn’t the role most envisioned when the Saints signed Yiadom to a three-year, $9 million deal in March. New Orleans would draft Riley in the fourth round a month later, and the outside consensus was that the two would battle in training camp for the third cornerback spot. Yiadom, however, never ceded ground he took all the starting snaps throughout OTAs and training camp, keeping the rookie at bay

Eight years into his career, Yiadom is still ﬁnding new roads to travel.

Just don’t tell him that.

“To tell the truth, I feel like I’m in a competition every single day,” Yiadom said. “I never felt like I won a job or arrived. I’m going to keep doing what I got to do to stay out there, and that’s how it’s going to be.”

Email Matthew Paras at matt paras@theadvocate.com

the league after Week 1.

Kroeger who played at the University of South Carolina, says it felt good to get his ﬁrst real game under his belt.

“The preseason is a big deal, especially for rookies,” Kroeger said. “But that ﬁrst regular season game, there’s no feeling like it. I had that ‘pinch me’ moment afterwards when everything hit me. I’m getting to live out my childhood dream. Being a Saints fan my whole life because of Drew Brees and Thomas Morstead, it was a surreal moment for me.”

Kroeger’s longest punt was 54 yards. Two of his four punts landed inside the Cardinals’ 20-yard line.

“I thought he did a good job,” said Saints’ special teams coordinator Phil Galiano. “He went out there end executed the game plan that we wanted. He punted the ball directionally, which we talked about, and kept it outside the numbers. I knew all along that he had that in him and that’s why he’s here.” Fuaga returns Taliese Fuaga seemed conﬁdent he’d be back on the practice ﬁeld this week, and he backed up his words Thursday Fuaga, who sat out the fourth quarter of last week’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals with a knee injury, was back at Saints practice Thursday afternoon as a limited participant.

The Saints won’t release an ofﬁcial injury designation for Fuaga until Friday afternoon, but his return to practice suggests he may be able to play Week 2 against the San Francisco 49ers.

He was the only one of the Saints’ injured starters to return to the practice field: Edge rusher Chase Young (calf) and left guard Trevor Penning (toe) did not participate in the session.

Long snapper ZachWood (shoulder) was downgraded on Thursday’s injury report after he was limited Wednesday Saints special teams coordinator Galiano said the team has a ready list of available longsnappers if needed, and the team also has several players who have some experience snapping in their history — including practice squad players Cedrick Wilson and Nephi Sewell. Running back Velus Jones (knee) was limited for the second straight day

Email Luke Johnson at ljohnson@theadvocate.com.

Burrow to be more aggressive in matchup against Jaguars

BY JOE REEDY AP sportswriter

Joe Burrow doesn’t want the Cincinnati Bengals to be timid when they host the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday After leading an offense that had only 7 net yards and went threeand-out on ﬁve of six second-half possessions last week at Cleveland, The former LSU star has a game plan in mind as the Bengals look to go 2-0 for the ﬁrst time since 2018.

“I think I’m going to be a little more aggressive to maybe get out of pocket and make some plays. Just like every game, you want to get out and see how things are going. I’m going to be ready to adapt for whatever we see,” Burrow said.

Rolling out to ﬁnd either Ja’Marr Chase or Tee Higgins would add another element to Burrow’s game. Burrow was 10 of 17 on designed rollouts last season and was 25 of 48 when forced to scramble.

Chase is also looking to bounce back after having only two receptions for 26 yards last week. It was only the ﬁfth time in his career he’s had two or fewer catches.

Cincinnati will be facing a Jacksonville defense that forced three turnovers in its 26-10 victory over Carolina.

“I think their front is very disruptive. It feels like I say that every week, but they have a lot of guys that I respect on that front and they came up with some big-time defensive plays,” Burrow said.

The Jaguars, under first-year coach Liam Coen, are also looking for their ﬁrst 2-0 start since 2018.

Jacksonville’s defense had a low blitz rate last week but pressured the quarterback on 40% of dropbacks, the 10th-highest rate in the league.

The other number one It will be the third matchup be-

tween Burrow and Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence. Burrow was the top overall pick in 2021, followed by Lawrence one year later It’s only the second time since the College Football Playoff title game in 2020 — when Burrow’s LSU squad beat Lawrence and Clemson — that the two have faced off in the NFL. Burrow and the Bengals won the 2021 meeting 24-21. Burrow missed the 2023 game due to a wrist injury Balancing act

The Bengals held Cleveland to 2.0 yards per carry last week in their 17-16 win. They now face a Jacksonville offense that put up 200 rushing yards and did not allow a sack against Carolina.

Coach Zac Taylor said the biggest emphasis this week is again trying to win the turnover battle.

“Jacksonville leads the league right now in that margin. They’re ﬁrst; we’re tied for second. So I think that goes a long way in deciding these early-season games, the discipline aspect of all of this stuff,” he said.

Hunter to play more on defense

Two-way star Travis Hunter, the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner from Colorado and the second pick in the NFL draft, will see more defensive snaps in his second game. Coen said the team plans to continue expanding Hunter’s usage.

Hunter played six defensive snaps against Carolina, a run-ﬁrst team with Chuba Hubbard. He caught a team-high six passes for 33 yards on offense while playing 42 of 66 snaps on that side of the ball.

“The goal is to increase and continue to increase,” Coen said. “It just so happens that we’re playing Cincinnati with two good wideouts this week.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By BUTCH DILL

Saints right tackle Taliese Fuaga played 46 offensive snaps before leaving Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals with a knee injury.

THE VARSITYZONE

Dunham quarterback Elijah Haventakes off for abig runagainstLiveOak on Thursdaynight at Olympia Stadium. Havenhad 535total yards,including 402 passing in a63-42 win.

No safe Haven

Dunham

QB accounts for8TDs in rout of Live Oak

BY JACKSON REYES Staff writer

Dunham junior quarterback Elijah Haven needed just six seconds to make his mark. He dropped back and found senior wide receiver Jarvis Washington down the ﬁeld. Washington caughtthe ball, shook adefender and took it to the end zone for a72-yard touchdown on the Tigers’ ﬁrst play of the game. {p dir=”ltr”}The duo connected on four scores in what turned out to be amassive night for the pair

Dunham (2-0) defeated Live Oak 63-42 on Thursday night at Olympia Stadium. Haven finished 21 for 30 with 402 yards passing. He also ran 133 yards on 10 rushes. He scored eight total touchdowns, six through the air and two on the ground Histotalyards andtouchdowns marked career highs for the junior

Washington caught11 passes for 258 yards and fourtouchdowns. On their second drive,the Tigers took just six plays to work 83 yards down the ﬁeldfor another score. Senior wide receiver Trevor Hamantookapitchfrom Haven for 17 yardstomake it 14-0 with 7:41 left Live Oak(0-2)looked to answer and faced apivotal fourth and 4atthe Dunham 37-yard line. Senior quarterback Cayden Jones found junior wideout CashDavis for 27 yards. Theconversion helped set up a5-yard rushing touchdownfor junior running back Brayden Felton to make it 14-7with 4:05 left in theﬁrst period. Haven responded by picking the Eagles’ defense apart again.Heendedtheir next drive by finding Hamaninthe end zonefor a 17-yard score in adrive that took less than two minutes to make it 21-7. At the end of the first,

Jonesand Haventraded long touchdowns. Jones found Davis wide open down thefield for a58-yard score. Haven answered by finding Washington again for a55yard strike with just 10 seconds left in the first. Dunham begantoput space between them and the EaglesafterHaven found Washington for athird time to makeit35-14 with5:39 left until halftime. Haven tossed his fifthpassing touchdown of the first half with just 34 seconds left Haven added a52-yard rushing touchdown early in thesecondhalftocontinue the blowoutand makeit49-14.

LiveOak scored 14 straight to cut the deficit to 21 points. Haven scored again to push the lead back to 28 in thefourth, but the Eagles found the endzone two more times in makeita 63-42 game late.

TheEagleskeptscoring, but their comeback effort fell just short

‘Heputshis all into everything’

Catholic’s Bradford already committedtoOhioState, buthe’sstrivingtobebetter

BY JACKSON REYES Staff writer

Catholic safety Blaine Bradfordisalways willing to ask questions. “Howcan Iget better? What did Idowrong on the ﬁeld? How can Iﬁxit? Am Ieating the right kind of food?”

These questions are just afew that his father,Stacy Bradford,has been asked by Blaine in his drivetobethe best he can be. Blaine’sworkethic was imprinted on him from an early age, and it’shelped shape him into atop-50 recruit in the country. He’salreadycommitted to play college football at Ohio State.

And while suiting up for the Buckeyes is justayear away,Blaine is focused on the present, ready to give his all to his Catholic teammates just like he’sdone in everyaspect of his life.

He takes everypart of hislife seriously,fromhow he treats his parents and girlfriend, to being aspokespersonfor his school, to doing his homework during lunch so he’salready done when he gets home.

“He just puts his all into everything,” Stacy said. “It justmakes him special. That’shis character.Not perfect, but he tries to be.”

Beginnings in football

Blaine always played sports growing up, but mostlystuck to baseball and soccer.Until one morninginﬁfth grade, he walked up to his father andtold him he wanted to play tackle football.

Stacy said he would look for aﬂag football team he could join, but Blaine was adamant —hewanted to play tackle football. His dad couldn’thelp but be excited.

“I’m feeling butterﬂies in my stomach,” Stacy said. “I’m like, ‘OK, let’sﬁnd you one.’”

Stacy still remembers Blaine’searliest football memories, playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneersatthe old Pennington Jr.YMCA. He won MVP and scored 20 touchdowns as the team’s quarterback.

Blaine continued to be the bestplayer on the field everystep of the way.He cametoCatholic in eighth grade and was given achance to play on the varsity team his first year.Inhis freshman year, Blaine’sfirst chance to play camewhen the senior ahead of him got hurtinthe first half.

Stacy recalls his immediate impact. Blaine tallied more than 10 tackles, knocking helmets off and even nabbing an interception.

One week later,Blaine received offers from LSU and Texas A&M within two minutes of each other

Jacob, whoisa freshman at LSU. Jacob and he always competed in races outside, basketball and football.

Andwhile Jacob often bested his younger brother,that only made Blaine hungrier to be better

“I’ve always chased my brother,” Blaine said. “Always strived to be better than him.That’swhat really catapulted me in adifferent way than Ithink anything elsehas in my life.”

The two supporteach other,but the sibling competition has always been there. Stacy remembersmornings when he’d still be in bed and hear his two sons go outside to ﬁght, and the two would come back inside and get back in bed like nothing happened.

Blaine replicated all of Jacob’shabits in pursuit of reaching the same level of athlete his older brother was. Stacy said Jacob didn’tknow it at the time, but he was arole model helping Blaine become the elite athlete he is now

Allbusinessfor Blaine

Football is abig partofBlaine’slife, but when he gets homethe sportisbarely discussed.

Erin said balancing it all can be hard, but setting standards early on was important to make sure the aspects of football and recruiting didn’tﬁlter into their houseinanegative way

BY JACKSON REYES Staff writer

Heading into Week 2, the Baton Rouge area high school football slate is ﬁlled with more exciting matchups on Friday night. Here’sa look ahead andwhat to know about ﬁve big games.

CENTRAL AT DENHAM SPRINGS: TheWildcats hit the road for apivotal matchup against the Yellow Jackets. Both sides won their Week 1 matchups. Centralreliedonastrong defensive showing to defeat De La Salle 20-13 at home. Denham Springs won at Hammond 34-15. Yellow Jackets quarterback Da’Jean Golmond was strong in his ﬁrst start He scored arushing touchdown and also tossedanotherscore to twin brother, Da’Sean Golmond.

Da’Jean Golmond will face aWildcats defens, led by defensive lineman Scott Smith (Houston commitment)and safety Marvin Joseph.

MANDEVILLE AT MADISONPREP: Madison Prep came away with a48-41 victory against Dutchtown in Week 1asthe offense hit high gearagainst the Grifﬁns.

Junior quarterback Landon Johnson completed 8of 13 passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns. He added another touchdown on the ground and tallied108 yards rushing.Johnson also played defense and picked off one pass, brokeuptwo and had atackle for loss.

WEEK 2SCORES, SCHEDULE

Thursday’s games Dunham 63, LiveOak 42 East Iberville 20, Capitol 16 Istrouma 24, McKinley 0 Loreauville 41, Ascension Catholic 21 Slaughter Charter 62, Morgan City 0 NorthlakeChristian38, Episcopal 21 Westminster Christian 54, Thrive0 Friday’s games Allgamesat7p.m.unlessnoted. St. Thomas Morevs. Catholic at Memorial Stadium Central at Denham Springs Salmen at East Ascension Ascension Christian at C. Private Port Allen vs.Donaldsonville at Floyd Boutte Memorial Stadium Carroll vs.Southern Lab at Mumford White Castle vs.Liberty at Olympia Mentorship AcademyatNortheast

ä Volleyballreport. PAGE 6C

Wide receiver Keyon Robinson had five receptionsfor 161 yardsand three TDs.Junior running backs J’on Proﬁt and HarlemTurner combinedfor 209yards on 21 carries and three TDs for the Chargers. Mandeville opened with a 38-25 win over Salmen.

ST.THOMASMOREATCATHOLIC:

The Bears opened its season with a32-23 win against Destrehan. The defensecontained theWildcats, holding them to 16 points on offense with two turnovers and only 76 yardsthrough the air On offense, Catholic totaled 423 yards (187rushing, 236 passing). Catholic will looktoshore up its run defense after allowing 251 yards on 40 carries against Destrehan St.ThomasMore(0-1) was upset by Carencro 30-27.

Plaquemine at Scotlandville Tara at St. Michael AcadaniaatZachary St. Helena Central at East Feliciana Parkview Baptist at Prairieville BelaireatWest Feliciana Abramson at Collegiate BR Rummel vs.UniversityHighatCaesars Superdome, 6p.m. PonchatoulaatDutchtown Mandeville at Madison Prep Walker at Woodlawn Broadmoor at Brusly Livonia at North Iberville Lutcher at St. Charles Catholic-PC at Crowley Glen Oaks at Baker Helix MentorshipatNortheast Kentwood at Jewel Sumner

St. John at Springﬁeld

St. James at West St. John Sarah T. Reed at Albany

BROADMOOR AT BRUSLY: The Panthers (1-0) dominated Port Allen in a42-6victoryasfour Brusly players scored touchdowns. Brusly blocked two punts. The Buccaneersdefeated Springfield14-8intheir opener It will be theDistrict 6-4A opener for both teams LIVONIA AT NORTH IBERVILLE: The Bears downed Central Private 47-20 in Week 1. The star of the game was junior running back Jeremy Favorite who rushedfor 135yards on eight carries and scored twoTDs as NorthIberville totaled 260 yards rushing. After leading25-20 after threequarters, theBears closed the game outwitha 22-0 fourth quarter to put thegame away On theother side, theWildcats defeated East Jefferson 26-7.The Livonia defense held EastJefferson to 62 yardspassing andgrabbed one interception.

Once more offers began rolling in, the Bradfords began taking college visits with their ﬁrst stopatthe University of Arkansas.When Blaine took atour of the facilities and got to experience it ﬁrsthand, he was sold on one thing —he wanted to play college football.

Blaine,the creative

Beforehigh school, Blaine’sgoal wasn’t football. His grandfather was acarpenter and his mother was an artteacher, which inspired him to havealove for using his hands, dealing with toolsand drawing.

He considered using his creative side in aﬁeld like architecture, but now he uses his inventive sideonthe football ﬁeld.

“When I’m looking at football ﬁelds and looking at the plays drawnuponthe ﬁeld,” Blaine said, “I’mdrawingmyown plays, mixing and matching and seeing what they could do if Idothis and do that.”

His mother,ErinBradford, said he’s always fostered self-expression, and she encouraged her kids to expressthemselves through art. He’sdone 2D and 3D pieces for school, works in ceramics and sculptures, and uses it as an outlet to escape the pressuresofbeingatop recruit.

“I feel like his artistic side allows him to destress and to have an outlet away from the football ﬁeld,” Erinsaid, “which then translates to how he can be clearminded, go on the ﬁeld and perform.” Blaine,the football player

Blaine alsosees football as an outlet.

“When you do something that you love like that, you forget aboutthe outside world in away,” he said. “Everything gets quiet.”

He’sable to transform into adifferent person, focused on hitting people hard and showing offhis God-given talent. Blaine looks forwardtoevery game, going up againsttop talent in the state and being able to test his abilities Football alsobecameanother way for Blaine to compete with his older brother,

“Setting those expectations of healthy boundaries creates spaces for kids to be able to just have their own healthy boundaries,” shesaid. “If Blaine is going to play beyond high school football, he’s got to sethis own healthy boundaries.” Blaine deals with constant phone calls and questions about whether he’ll ﬂip from Ohio State, so his parents work to make the 17-year-old maintain aregular high school life. Even Stacy,who works on LSU’scampus at University High, said he gets asked 30 times aday about Blaine.

Hisparents have helped him every stepofthe way.Stacy sent hundreds of coaches ﬁlm of Blaine, has made calls for his sonand helps take them on visits Erin rememberssitting in her SUV for hours, snacking and taking naps,totake her kids to and from practice. Allthe sacriﬁces shemade were to help sether sons up for success.

“I’dbeinmy(SUV) more than I’d be in my housesometimes,” Erin said. “You don’tdoitbecauseyou’relike ‘they’rea top 100 recruit in the country.’You do it becauseyou love your kids.” Now that Jacob is at LSU, and Blaine will be heading to Ohio State, his parents couldn’tbehappier

“It’sa dream cometrue,” Stacy said. “It’sa thing you can’teven explain. It’s almostthe same feeling as when they’re born.” Erin said she’sgrateful for the opportunity for Blaine to build alegacy and make adifference in the world.

“I try not to think about it too hardbecauseitreally makes me cry,”Erinsaid. “You put so much work into these kids Being able to watch it and to be able to seethat my sacrifice and my pouring into them has gotten them this far.It’sa great feeling.” Blaine knows it would be easytocoast through his senior season and get ready for life with theBuckeyes.But that’snot the personhe’sever been. He said the easyanswer to asuccessfulfinal year would be astate title. Butwhat he hopes to seeisthe younger playersonthe team grow and become leadersinthe weight room,onthe field and even on the scout team.

“If Isee that,” Blaine said. “I feel like I’ve left my mark in the right way.”

STAFFPHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON Catholic defensivebackBlaineBradford lines up against Destrehan last Fridayat Memorial Stadium. Bradford and the Bears host St. Thomas More on Friday night.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

SOUTHERN

Continued from page1C

thing that we do on this staff is we’re going to correct, we’re going to discipline and then we’re going to build up and encourage.”

While McCoy willstart against FresnoState with his teammates still behind him, Graves and McNair said quarterback Ashton Strother will get playing time. The junior transfer from CoahomaCommunity College, who joined the team less than aweek before the season opener on Aug. 23, didn’tthrow in his few snaps during the ﬁnal drive of Southern’s34-29 win over Mississippi Valley State on Aug. 30.

“It’sessential that he does play because we have to get him some game reps,” Graves said. “He does a great job in practice, so we want to get him in the game and find out what he does well and things he needs to work on.”

“It’sessential that he does play because we haveto gethim some game reps. He does agreat jobin practice,sowe want to gethim in the game and ﬁnd out what he does well and thingsheneeds to work on.”

TERRENCE GRAVES

Southerncoach, on quarterback AshtonStrother

teams, Southern is last in passing yards pergame (130.3) and seventh in points per game(18.3).

Graves saidMcNair’s experience and “wisdom”as achampionship head coach at Alcorn State will be useful in amore vocal role. McNair has four SWAC East Divisiontitles, twoSWAC championships (2018 and 2019) and was named SWAC Coach of theYear twice.

BY JIM VERTUNO AP sportswriter

McNair,a former quarterbacks coach at Alcorn Stateand in the Arena Football League, called McCoy aheady player whohad a “rough” last game. He also said improving the offense will be agroup effort,citing playersdropping passes that would’ve resulted in first downs.

“Wecan call playsall day long, but if youdon’t execute them, it’sgoing to look bad, McNairsaid.“So just gotta gettothatpoint where we get the guys to understand (how)toexecute, concentrate and focus.”

GivingMcNair playcalling duties is the biggest waySouthern is trying to improve, specifically its offense. Out of 12 SWAC

Quarterback Jalen Woods is unavailable after being put inconcussion protocol after takingahit to the headduring the team’sseason opener against MVSU. Graves said Woods doesn’t have atimetable for his return,but he hopes to have him back after Southern’s bye week, whichstarts Sept 15.

Email Toyloy Brown III at toyloy.brown@ theadvocate.com.

STAFF FILEPHOTO

Legendary LSU running back Charles Alexander holds up asign that reads “Alexander 4 Heisman” whileposing forphotos at TigerStadium

LSU

Continued from page1C

program greats: Stovall, Billy Cannon and Tommy Casanova.

“Tobeperfectly honest with you,” Alexander told The Advocate in aphone interview, “I’ve never experienced anythinglikethisbefore.I’mvery humbled. Happy for myself I’m happy for my teammates, the guys that Iplayed with. I want them to feel like they’re part of what I’ve done and accomplishedsofar.Just overjoyed.”

Alexander,68, is one of the most proliﬁcrushers in college football history.By the time his collegiate career ended in 1978, he had become the first SEC tailback to eclipse 4,000 career rushing yards and 40 career rushing touchdowns. Today, he and Cannon are the only LSUplayers who have twice ﬁnished top 10 in the Heisman Trophy voting. LSU almost missed its chance to sign Alexander, who initially told Stovall thathedidn’t want to move to Baton Rouge. Houston was much closer to home.

But the Tigers wonout in the end, Alexander said, because he thoughthis skillset was tailored more to their I-formation offense than it was to the veer that the Cougars wererunning at the time. Alexander was a track star in highschool. He had elite straight-line speed, but he lacked the short-area quickness he needed to play running backatanelite level in the SEC.

As afreshman, Alexander picked up only 301 yards on 108 rushes (2.8 yards per carry). So, he decided to skip the spring track season to focus on improving as arunning back.Alexander jumped rope and played racquetball. The training unlocked Alexander’sagility,which allowed him to reach the second level of defense and use his breakaway speed to leave tacklers behind. He

LSU SENIOR CENTER MOORE SET TO RETURN VS.FLORIDA

LSUsenior center Braelin Moore will be available to play for this weekend’smatchup against Florida, coach Brian Kelly said Thursday.

“Braelin took allofthe reps with the ﬁrst team,”Kelly said.“He’s ready to go.”

Moore suffered aleft ankle injuryonthe ﬁrst snap of LSU’swin over Louisiana Tech lastweekend. He was listed as questionable to play on Wednesday’sSoutheasternConference availability reportand spent the end of lastSaturday’sgame wearing street clothes and awalking boot.

Multiplereports on Sundaysuggested that Moore had suffered ahigh anklesprain.Kelly said that wasn’t the case on Monday

“Wedidn’t getthe truesensethat we have ahigh ankle sprain with Braelin,” Kelly said Monday.“There was nothing that gave us that sense when we looked at the MRIthat this is atightrope procedure and he’s going to be out for four weeks.”

Sophomore tight endTrey’Dez Green and redshirtsophomore wide receiverDestyn Hill were also listed as questionable to playonthe SEC injuryreport.Green,Kelly saidThursday,will likely be agame-time decision as to whether he’ll be available against the Gators.

Green suffered aright knee injuryagainst Louisiana Tech. Hill fracturedhis left hand in Week 1against Clemson, an ailment that required surgery. The only other TigerlistedonWednesday’sinjuryreport wasdefensive linemanZionWilliams.Kelly said Williams is in concussion protocol.

ran for 876 yards as asophomore, 1,686asa junior and 1,172 as asenior Today, Kevin Faulk and Dalton Hilliard are the only LSUtailbacks with more career rushing yards than Alexander (4,035),who also has the Tigers’ ﬁfth-best career rushyards per gameaverage (92) and their second-highest single-seasonrush yards per game average (153). Alexander is the only LSU playerwho’s ever taken morethan 40 carriesina game,and he diditthree times—oncein1978and twice in 1977. The 311 rush attempts he tallied as ajunior in 1977 is still aTigers’ single-season record.

“I felt like that Igot myselfingreat physical condition,”Alexander said.“To be abletocarry afootball sometimes 40 times agame, it took some endurance.I got hurt some, but Ididn’t have any major injuries.”

After Alexander wrapped up his LSU career, he rushed for over 2,600 yards across the seven seasons he played in the NFL with the CincinnatiBengals. He then

AUSTTIN, Texas ArchManning and Malachi Nelson were twoofthe mostcoveted quarterback recruits in the country coming out of high school in 2023. Both were can’tmiss ﬁvestar prospects who were going to be leading two of the biggest programs and brands in college football to national title contention.

Yettheir respective journeys to Saturday’smatchup of Manning’sNo. 7Texas Longhorns (1-1) against Nelson andUTEP (1-1) could not have been more different.

“Wewere both at the top of the recruiting boards in ’23. It’sgoing to be afun littleshowdown,” Nelson said. “The environment is going to be rocking Ican’twait to get out there.”

Manning signed with Texas out of high school and stayedthe course with the Longhorns, waiting as the understudy to QuinnEwers thepast two seasons.

Nelson,who some analystsrated higher than Manning comingout of high school, has taken a journeyman’sroute. He signed with Southern California and spent his freshmanseasonthere, before transferring to Boise State. He lasted one season on the bench there before landing in El Paso in search of astarting role.

Manninghas been under an intense spotlight since he landed on campus, and it has only grown hotter as Texas started the season No. 1and he struggled in an opening loss at Ohio State.

Nelson started his career in the glitz of Los Angeles, but the buzz is far quieter now. TheMinershavehad just threewinning seasons

in 20 years and haven’twon abowl gamesince 1967.

Manning andNelsonboth threw four touchdowns in bounce-back wins last week

Texas and Manning will be heavily favored Saturday, but Nelson at least has a chance to show off the talent he showed in high school.

“I’m excited to see what he can do,” Manning said.

“I wish him luck the rest of the way.”

Manningmakes faces

TexascoachSteve Sarkisian deniedany suggestions this week that Manning has been playing with in injury to his throwing shoulder.He faced questions aboutitafter social media posts noted Manning’sstrained facial expressionsonsomethrows.

“I’ve never ﬁlmed any of you guys when you’re using the bathroom, so Idon’tknow what faces youmakewhen you’re doing that,” Sarkisian told reporters in response.

Texaspenalty problems

The Longhornshave hada rash of self-inﬂicted

problems in their 1-1 start. Texas had12penaltiesfor 112 yards last week against San JoseState. Twodefensive penalties againstOhio State cost Texasasafety and aided aBuckeyes’ touchdown drive.Preseason all-American edge rusher Colin Simmons hasjust a half sack andﬁve penalties through two games, and was benchedbrieﬂy at thestart of thesecond half against SanJose State.

Favorite targets

Manning and Nelsonhave developed quick bonds with favorite receiving targets.

Koki Riley

returnedtoBaton Rouge to work as an academicadvisor forLSU athletes anda development ofﬁcer at the TigerAthletic foundation before he moved back to Houston to work in the oil andgas industry

Alexander also owns the company that manufactures an all-purpose Cajunseasoning brand calledC’mon Man.

LSU’sathleticshall of famecommittee voted to retire Alexander’snumber in May,amove that will give his name apermanent place in Tiger Stadium alongside the legendary playerand coach whodrove to Houston over ﬁvedecades ago to make sure he’d sign with the Tigers.

“It’sbeenajoy,man”Alexander said. “It’sreally something that I’m proud of,and I’mjust happy that I livedtosee this day.”

Email Reed Darcey at reed.darcey@theadvocate. com. For more LSU sports updates, sign up forour newsletter at theadvocate. com/lsunewsletter

3RINGS, 5SHOWS

The Carden Circus brings contortionists, aerialists, magicand moretothe Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales for performances at 11 a.m., 3p.m. and 7p.m. Saturday, and noon and 4p.m. Sunday. General admission ticketsare $20 (discounts available). lamardixonexpocenter.com.

THINGS TO DO THIS WEEKEND

Getting theband back together

In ‘SpinalTap II,’ thegroup is back with alittlehelp from some friends

BY MIKE SCOTT Contributing writer

Let’sbeunﬂinchingly honest: Thetrack record for comedy sequels shot in New Orleansis, frankly,less than impressive. There was 2020’s“Bill &Ted Face the Music,” which was anything but an excellent adventure. There was 2015’s“HotTub Time Machine 2,” which was all wet. And as for 2019’s“Jay and Silent Bob Reboot” —well, some things are best left unsaid Consequently,the bar is lower than an 18-inch model of Stonehenge for writer-director Rob Reiner’s41-years-later, New Orleans-shot mockumentary encore “Spinal TapII: The End Continues.” The question, then, isn’tif Reiner and company can clear said bar.Ofcoursethey can and of course they do. It’swhether asequel to one of the most revered comedies of ageneration —and one that reunites the key playersfrom 1984’s“This is Spinal Tap” —can exceed its own lofty expectations by living up to the belovedoriginal. For the most part, it does.

PHOTO PROVIDED By

KyLE KAPLAN/BLEECKER STREET

Michael McKean reprises his role as rocker David St. Hubbins in the 41-years-later mockumentary sequel ‘Spinal TapII: The End Continues.’

Silliness, firstand foremost

To be clear,audiences shouldn’texpect anything profound here. Nothing groundbreaking. That’show sequels work, and “Spinal TapII” is no different.

Just like its predecessor,it is built on silliness, ﬁrstand foremost, taking viewers backstage for the fake preparations of afake concert reuniting the members of afake —but hilariously accurate —heavy metal band. It is ﬁnely tuned silliness, however,delivered by atrio of comedy pros —Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer —who after all these years, inhabit theircharacters with an easy effortlessness that helps further sell the illusion. Even more importantly, these guys still rock. Yes, Spinal Tap’ssongs are parodies, but

HAVE ATASTE

The ninth annual ATaste of the Deep South Festival gets underwayatnoon Saturday at the Main LibraryatGoodwood. The free event features music, avendor villageand afood courtwith Southernfestival food and international cuisine.Festival continues to 8p.m.and again from noon to 8p.m Sunday.htjday.com

COUNTING CHERUBS

Baton RougeBallet Theatre will hold children’sauditions for itsannual holiday production of “The Nutcracker —ATale from the Bayou” forchildren 8years old through eighth grade. Sessions will takeplace from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday at The Dancers’ Workshop. batonrougeballet.org

LAINEY WILSON’S

BLOWSTHROUGH

LAINEY WILSON’S ‘WHIRLWIND’ TOUR

7p.m.Friday, Raising Cane’s River Center Arena, Baton Rouge l 7p.m.Saturday, Brookshire Grocery Arena, Bossier City l Tickets at ticketmaster.com.

BY JUDYBERGERON | Staff writer

Lainey Wilson sits on thefrontporch of her Nashville home on aFriday afternoon, petting her dogs

It’sararity at present —afew consecutive days off theroad —and one of country music’sreigning “it girls” is taking fulladvantage of it

Back on the tour bus this week, she headed to her favorite place: Louisiana.A14-year Nashvillian though she is,the Bayou State will alwaysbehome. The singer-songwriter native of Baskin, 33, will play the secondoftwo show dates on Friday at theRaising Cane’sRiver Center ArenainBaton Rouge beforeher next stop, Bossier City, for aSaturday night performance at Brookshire Grocery Arena.

It’sall in supportofher latest album, “Whirlwind,” released in August 2024, its 14 tracks areﬂection of her rise to fame.

See WILSON, page 2D

Four neweventsannounced forBRRiver Center

PHOTO By ERIC RyAN ANDERSON

By The Associated Press

Today is Friday,Sept. 12, the 255th day of 2025. There are 110 days left in the year

Todayinhistory:

On Sept. 12, 2013, Voyager 1, launched 36 years earlier,became the ﬁrst man-made spacecraft ever to leave the solar system. Also on this date: In 1940, the Lascaux cave paintings, estimated to be 17,000 years old, were discovered in southwestern France.

In 1958, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Cooper v. Aaron, unanimouslyruled that Arkansas ofﬁcials who were resisting public schooldesegregation orders could not disregard the high court’srulings.

In 1962, in aspeech at Rice University in Houston, President John F. Kennedy reafﬁrmed his sup-

REVIEW

Continued from page1D

they are so well written and performed, so infused with genuine musicianship, that it’shard not to rock along with the ridiculousness of it all.

“Bangers,” the kids would call them today,and —asabsurd as their lyrics often are —Guest, McKean and Shearer perform them without atrace of irony or cynicism, making them that much more amusing

Elderstatesmen reunite

As we catch up with them all these decades later, their ﬁctional rockershave becomegray-haired and pot-bellied elder statesmen of the rock scene. They are also, we learn, reuniting for aone-night-only show some 15 years after last performing together Naturally,documentary director Marty De Bergi (Reiner) andhis camera crew are there to document it all, including the band’srehearsals —and the subsequent backstage drama —asthey prepare for the big night.

As with the original, this isn’taroll-in-the-aisles comedy.The humor here is built as much on nuance and wordplay as anything else, zeroing in on the sublime ridiculousness of the music industry

It also squeezesasmuch mileage as it can out of its numerous cameos,most memorably from rock luminaries Paul McCartney and Elton John. Also figuring prominently is New Orleans itself, which serves as the backdrop for Reiner’sfilm. N.O. sceneryand more Reiner,who previously made 2016’s“LBJ” and 2017’s“Shock and Awe” in the city,makes effective use of New Orleans’ presence, infusing the film with its charms but without overplaying it. Youcan expect obligatory beauty shots of

port forthe mannedspace program, declaring: “We choose to gotothe moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy,but because they are hard.” In 2003, in the Iraqicity of Fallujah, U.S.forces mistakenlyopened ﬁre on vehicles carrying police, killing eight of them.

Today’sbirthdays: Actor Linda Grayis85. Singer Maria Muldaur is 82. Author Michael Ondaatje is 82. Actor JoePantolianois74. PhotographerNan Goldin is 72. Composer HansZimmer is 68. Actor Rachel Ward is 68. TVhost-commentator Greg Gutfeld is 61.Actorcomedian Louis C.K. is 58.GolferAngelCabrera is 56. Country singer JenniferNettles(Sugarland) is 51.Rapper 2Chainz is 48. Singer Ruben Studdard is 47. Basketball Hall of Famer YaoMing is 45.

‘SPINALTAP II: THE END CONTINUES’

HHH

CAST: Christopher Guest MichaelMcKean, Harry Shearer,Rob Reiner,Kerry Godliman,Valerie Franco, Paul McCartney, EltonJohn.

DIRECTOR: Reiner

RATED: R, for language includingsome sexual references.

RUNNING TIME: 1hour 25 minutes WHEN AND WHERE: Now playinginwide release.

Jackson Square, Lafayette Cemetery No. 1and other postcard-worthyimages But Reiner goes deeper The band’s temporary rehearsal space, for example,isat Bywater Studios on DauphineStreet (the one adorned with Brandan “BMike” Odums’ striking crayon kid mural).Their reunion concert is at Lakefront Arena, which audiences of acertain agewill remember as the real-life local epicenter of arena rock back in the day At one point, legendary local bluesmanLittleFreddieKing gets afew momentstoshine as aFrench Quarter busker Sure,one couldquibble that notevery punchline lands as intended. Ajoke about Stormy Daniels, for example, alreadyfeels dated. Onecouldalso question whether Sirs Paul andElton are really the most appropriate on-stage match forheavy metal gods like Spinal Tap. But, then,when performers of their stature agree to appear in your ﬁlm, youlet them, Isuppose In theend,it all amounts to somethingofa cinematic victory lap,but one played with ﬁnesse and just enough fresh material to makethe encoreworth it. In aworld of bloated rebootsand soulless sequels, “Spinal TapII: The End Continues”earns its place on thesetlist

WILSON

Continuedfrom page1D

“Oh my goodness. Imean, to tell you the truth, there’s nothing like going home,” she said by phone last week. “I remember alittle girl at ameet-and-greet asked me not too long ago, she said, ‘MissLainey,ifyou could be anywhere in the world right now,where would you wanna be?’ And Isaid,‘home.’ And what Imean by that is Louisiana.”

The current ACM Entertainer of theYearmakes tripsback to her homestate afew times ayear,albeit sometimes with an ulterior motive.

“So Itry to time it up perfectly for crawfish to be in season, but that don’t always work out,” the“Bell Bottoms Up” singer admitted. “WheneverIwas living in my camper hereinNashville, thefirst three years Iwas living in Nashville, Iwould just kind of show up back home and my familywouldbelike, ‘I didn’t even know you were cominghome.’ Isaid, ‘I wasn’t coming hometosee y’all. I was coming home to getme somecrawﬁsh.”

With aspaciouscountry home sitting on 12.2acres in Music Cityand featuring 14 ﬁreplaces, agourmet kitchen, an inﬁnity pool and sportscourt, many might view acamper stint as something they’d prefer to forget. Not Wilson.

“While Iwas doing it those threeyears, Ijust kind of felt like,man,this is what Igotta do.Itnever really even crossedmymind to pack it up and go home,”

SHOWS

Continuedfrom page1D

Friday at baileyzimmermanmusic.com

The tourtitle reﬂects that of Zimmerman’s recently released sophomorealbum.

“The album includes coun-

laboration, herown Nashville nightspot, occasional acting gig and corporate relationships. One of the latter ties in to her “Bar in Baton Rouge” song.

“I spent alot of weekends downinBaton Rouge at theLSU ball games I think that might be the ﬁrst place Ieverhad adaiquiri. Youknow, southLouisiana people, they just like to have agood time,” Wilson explained. “So,whenever Iwas putting this record ‘Whirlwind’ together acouple yearsago,Ireally was just trying to make sure that Iwas writing about things that kind of helped me keep both feet on the ground.

like Ididn’thave the words, you know? We’re all just trying to ﬁgure out how to say I love you, Imiss you, or kiss my butt in amillion different ways,” Wilson said. Serendipitously,her songwriting caught the attention of “Yellowstone” showrunner Taylor Sheridan, who not only dropped afew of Wilson’ssongs into the critically acclaimed cowboy drama but also eventually created the character of cowgirl/ singerAbby forthe Paramount series’ ﬁfth season.

in the press room at the 58th annual Academy of Country Music Awards.

she recalled. “Looking back on it now, I’mlike, howin theworld did Idothat?And why in the world? Youknow, where did that piece come from that just told me to, like, keep on holding on?”

That challenging period also yielded life lessons.

“I think it taught me alot about perseverance and taught me that themusic businesswasn’tgonna be easy.I’m glad that Idid it, but Idon’t know if Icould go back and do it again,”she said.

Chances of that seem slim,what withher multiple CMAand AMC statuettes and aGrammy,her successfulﬁve-albumdiscography, concert tours, clothing col-

tryradio’s #1 hitsuperstar collaboration ‘Backup Plan’ featuring Luke Combsas wellasother hits suchas ‘Lost’ featuringThe Kid LAROI,‘Holy Smokes,’ ‘Holding On’ andmore,” therelease states.

“The R&B Lovers Tour” will make astop at the arena on June 5.

“It’sjust cool to see like how asong idea can just becomeother things, you know? Imean, like at the end of theday Iwrote ‘Bar in BatonRouge,’ because Ilove where I’m from,and now it endedupinspiring aCoors Light campaign called Beer in Baton Rouge,” she said.

For Wilson, songwriting is centered on storytelling.

“That’s why Ifellinlove with country music to begin with. So Ifelt like Iknew the folks on the radio and Ifelt like they were talking directly to me. And Ijust kind of got bit by that storytelling bug,”she said. “So I’dsay 90% of the timewhenIsit down, it always starts with an idea. So Ihave what Icall on my phone,I callupmy hook book, and Ijust kind of scroll through my ideas and trytoput myself intothe shoes of whatever it is that I’mwriting about.

“Songwriting has taught me alot about life, about myself, aboutother people. And, it’s givenmeaway to communicate when Ifeel

The tour features Keith Sweat,Joe (JosephLewisThomas), DruHill and Ginuwine.Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday at Ticketmaster.com.

“I had never done anything like that in my life, but Isaid, sign me up,”she recalled. “You know,ifit’saway for me to share my artand my music with the world, then even if it sounds alittle scary, let’sdoit…but ﬂying by the seat of my pants.”

This can-do attitude, combined with herhonestsongwriting and down-to-earth spirit,haveled to charttopping, eye-popping album sales figures. “Whirlwind” debuted at No.3 on the Billboard TopAlbums sales chart ayear ago. Her previous album,“Bell Bottom Country,” was certified platinum in 2025. In addition, her “Whirlwind” tour goes global in 2026, with stops in New Zealand, Australia and more. She hopesher audiences there, andeverywhere, somehow find their story in hers. She puts it like this: “That’s asongwriter’sdream,tobe honest. Ithink peoplejust wanttofeelseen and heard and connected, and hopefully they’re finding thatin my music.”

Email Judy Bergeron at jbergeron@theadvocate. com.

“With powerhouse vocals andchart-topping hits, ‘The R&B Lovers Tour’ promises to be the ultimate celebration of the genre, uniting four legendary acts on one stage,” according to the release.

Headliner will be Sweat, the award-winning pioneer of New Jack Swing whose careerspansmore than three decades and includes 25 million-plus records sold. His hits include “Twisted” and “Nobody.”

ASSOCIATEDPRESS FILEPHOTO By CHRIS PIZZELLO

LaineyWilson, from left, Reba McEntire and Miranda Lambert perform‘Trailblazer’ during the60thannual Academy of Country Music Awards.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By JEFFREy McWHORTER LaineyWilson poses with the awardsfor album of the year for ‘Bell Bottom Country,’female artist of the year,and music event of the year and visual media of the year for ‘wait in the truck’

FRIDAY

LIVE AFTER FIVE: CHUBBY

CARRIER AND THE BAYOU SWAMP BAND: Rhorer Plaza, 5 p.m.

JON LANGFORD: Hartley/ Vey Theatre, Manship Theatre, 6 p.m.

TREY MORGAN: Galvez Seafood, Prairieville, 6 p.m.

CHRIS OCMAND: Smokehouse 74, 6 p.m.

EDDIE SMITH: T’Quilas, Zachary, 6 p.m.

MIKE ESNEAULT: Stab’s Restaurant, 6 p.m.

SPOONFED JR.: The Edge Bar at L’Auberge, 6 p.m.

JODY VICKNAIR: Court To Table, 6 p.m.

ERIC BASKIN DUO: Sullivan’s Steakhouse, 6 p.m.

ROCKIN’ ROUGE: El Paso, Denham Springs, 6 p.m.

THE LEE SERIO BAND: T’Quilas, Denham Springs, 6:30 p.m.

LAINEY WILSON: Raising Cane’s River Center Arena, 7 p.m.

CHRIS ALLEN DUO: Crowne Plaza, 7 p.m.

TAYLOR RAE: River Rouge, 7 p.m.

DON POURCIAU & KONSPIRACY: VFW HallChoctaw, 7 p.m.

GRITZ N’ GRAVY: Bin 77, 7 p.m.

CAM PYLE: 18 Steak at L’Auberge, 7 p.m.

THE REMNANTS: On The Half Shell, Prairieville, 7 p.m.

ERIC SCHMITT AND FRIENDS/MAW MAW: Mid City Ballroom, 8 p.m.

KYLE WILSON: Coop’s on 621, Gonzales, 8 p.m.

THE BAND LOUISIANA: Icehouse Tap Room, 8 p.m.

HEATH RANSONNET: Spanky’s, Dutchtown,

8 p.m.

FEDERALES ALL STARS: Pelican to Mars, 8 p.m.

BRIAN & THE BANDITS: Court To Table, 8:30 p.m.

IAN WEBSTER DUO: The Vineyard, 9 p.m.

DAMON KING & BO

JAMISON: Fat Cat Saloon, Prairieville, 9 p.m. PARTY AT JOE’S: Swamp Chicken Daiquiris, St Amant, 9 p.m. RUN FOR COVER: Fred’s on the River, Prairieville, 9 p.m.

TNT: Churchill’s, 9 p.m.

CHASE TYLER BAND: The Edge Bar at L’Auberge, 9 p.m.

SATURDAY ASHLEY ORLANDO: Red Stick Farmers Market, 8 a.m.

A TASTE OF THE DEEP SOUTH FESTIVAL: Main Library at Goodwood noon

LIL’ NATHAN: LSU Tiger

FRIDAY NATURE NIGHT HIKE + CAMP-

FIRE: 7 p.m., Zachary Community Park, 20055 Old Scenic Highway. Space limited; registration required. $5. Ages 6 and up. brec.org.

“IT’S NEVER OVER, JEFF BUCKLEY” (2025): 7:30 p.m., Manship Theatre, 100 Lafayette St. Music documentary presented by Films at Manship. $8.50. manshiptheatre.org.

FRIDAY NIGHT LECTURE:

7:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m., BREC’s Highland Road Park Observatory, 13800 Highland Road. Skygazing tips, physics phenomena, space programs and famous events are covered. For ages 14 and older. Free. hrpo.lsu.edu. Also, evening sky viewing from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday.

SATURDAY

RED STICK FARMERS MAR-

KET: 8 a.m. to noon, Fifth and Main streets, downtown. Farm-fresh produce, goods, cooking demonstrations breada.org.

“VIBRANT SEASONAL COLOR IN YOUR GARDEN”: 10 a.m., Main Library at Goodwood 7711 Goodwood Blvd. A Garden Discoveries event hosted by the Baton Rouge Botanic Garden Foundation. Free. Registration available at ebrpl. co/events.

FAMILY-HOUR STARGAZING:

10 a.m., Irene W. Pennington Planetarium at the Louisiana Art & Science Museum, 100 S. River Road. Learn about the stars and constellations in the local nighttime sky followed by an all-ages show. lasm.org.

GREATER BATON ROUGE

MODEL RAILROADERS: 10 a.m.

Fan Zone, 1:30 p.m.

IAN WEBSTER DUO: Sullivan’s Steakhouse, 5:30 p.m.

KEEPIN’ TIME BAND:

T’Quilas, Zachary, 6 p.m.

PAPO Y SON MANDAO: Pedros, Denham Springs, 6 p.m.

STANDLEY & TUPPER: Court To Table, 6 p.m.

FLOYD BROWN BAND

FEATURING JODY MAYEUX: El Paso, Denham Springs, 6 p.m.

ELECTRIC RENDEZVOUS: Court To Table, 8:30 p.m.

THOMAS CAIN: Sandy’s Daiquiris, Port Allen, 9 p.m.

WHISKEY BENT: Fred’s on the River, Prairieville, 9 p.m. THE LEE SERIO BAND: Moonlight Inn, French Settlement, 9 p.m.

CORNER POCKET: Churchill’s, 9 p.m.

HEATH RANSONNET: The Vineyard, 9 p.m.

to 2 p.m., Republic of West Florida Historical Museum, 3406 College St., Jackson Electric trains of all sizes will be running on ﬁve different layouts. Free admission and parking.

BOOKS AND MUSIC WITH THE KIDS’ ORCHESTRA: 11 a.m., Main Library at Goodwood, 7711 Goodwood Blvd. Experiential learning session for children ages 3-11. kidsorchestra.org.

BOOKS AND MUSIC WITH THE KIDS’ ORCHESTRA: 1 p.m., South Branch Library, 2210 Glasgow Ave. Experiential learning session for children ages 3-11. kidsorchestra.org.

SATURDAY-SUNDAY

BASF’S KIDS’ LAB: 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. Sunday, Louisiana Art & Science Museum, 100 S. River Road. Explore the science of chemistry during 45-minute hands-on workshops for scientists ages 6-12 and their accompanying adults. This month: the science behind bubbles. Included with paid admission. lasm.org.

SUNDAY

SENSORY SECOND SUNDAY:

3 p.m.-5 p.m., Louisiana Art & Science Museum, 100 S. River Road. Dimmed lights, lowvolume music, designated quiet areas, headphones and sensory tools are available. lasm.org.

MONDAY

LIGO DOCUMENTARY

SCREENING AND Q&A: 5 p.m., LSU Union Theater. Marking the 10th anniversary of the ﬁrst direct detection of

THE DRUNK UNCLES: Fat Cat Saloon, Prairieville, 9 p.m.

DOMINICK MICHAEL/ JOHN RUIZ JR.: Southern Rhythm, Denham Springs, 9:30 p.m.

SUNDAY ASHLEY ORLANDO AND JOHN AUTIN: Jubans, 11 a.m.

TAYLOR NAUTA: Leola’s Café, 11 a.m.

ROBERT CALMES: Cocha, 11 a.m.

CHRIS ALLEN & TIM

MARCHAND: On The Half Shell, Prairieville, 11 a.m.

ERIC WHITFIELD: Crowne Plaza, 11 a.m.

JUSTIN BURDETTE TRIO: Superior Grill-MidCity 11 a.m.

A TASTE OF THE DEEP

SOUTH FESTIVAL: Main Library at Goodwood, noon THE SHARPE FAMILY

SINGERS: Manship Theatre, 2 p.m.

THE MOJOES: Fred’s on the River, Prairieville, 3 p.m.

OLD TIME MUSIC JAM: West Baton Rouge Museum, Port Allen, 3 p.m.

SONGWRITER SUNDAYS: La Divina Italian Cafe, 5 p.m.

CHRIS OCMAND: Pizza Byronz, 5 p.m.

JONATHON “BOOGIE” LONG: The Edge Bar at L’Auberge, 6:30 p.m.

OPEN MIC JAM: Fat Cat Saloon, Prairieville, 7 p.m.

MONDAY ACOUSTICRATS: Phil Brady’s, 6 p.m.

JEFF BAJON PROJECT: Pedros, Denham Springs, 6 p.m.

MIKE ESNEAULT: Stab’s Restaurant, 6 p.m.

TUESDAY CARTER HAMPTON: Bin 77, 5:30 p.m.

CAM PYLE: Superior GrillMidCity, 6 p.m.

EDDIE SMITH: On The Half Shell, Prairieville, 6:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY

TAYLOR RAE: BLDG 5, 5:30 p.m.

MIKE HOGAN: Galvez Seafood, Prairieville, 5:30 p.m.

SONGWRITERS OPEN MIC: Le Chien Brewing Co., Denham Springs, 6 p.m.

GARRETT REMSON DUO: Superior Grill-MidCity, 6 p.m.

ALVIN BATISTE JAZZ

SOCIETY FEATURING BOB

SHEPPARD: Cary Saurage Community Arts Center, 6:30 p.m.

JOSIE JAMES: On The

gravitational waves, ripples in space-time ﬁrst predicted by Einstein. The Q&A will include LSU experts behind the breakthrough. Free.

TUESDAY

RED STICK FARMERS MARKET:

3 p.m.-6 p.m., Main Library at Goodwood, 7711 Goodwood Blvd. Farm-fresh produce, goods, cooking demonstrations. breada.org.

TRIVIA NIGHT: 6:30 p.m., Burgersmith, 18303 Perkins Road. Collect your team and jockey for ﬁrst place. loom. ly/y-CKtQ4.

WEDNESDAY

RED STICK FARMERS MARKET:

9 a.m. to noon, ExxonMobil YMCA, 7711 Howell Blvd. Farm-fresh produce, goods and more. www.facebook. com/redstickfarmersmarket.

AUTHOR CLAIRE BATEMAN:

6 p.m., Main Library at Goodwood, 7711 Goodwood Blvd. Bateman will discuss her new book, “The Heresy of Virtue,” on the assassination of Huey P. Long from the viewpoint of Yvonne Pavy Weiss, the wife of alleged assassin Dr. Carl Weiss and relative of the author. ebrpl.com

TRIVIA NIGHT: 6:30 p.m., Burgersmith, 27350 Crossing Circle, Suite 150, Denham Springs. Collect your team and jockey for ﬁrst place. loom.ly/y-CKtQ4.

THURSDAY

RED STICK FARMERS MARKET: 8 a.m.-noon, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, 6400 Perkins Road. Farm-fresh produce, goods and more. facebook.com/redstickfarm-

ersmarket.

MEET THE AUTHORS EVENT:

7 p.m.-8 p.m., Main Library at Goodwood, 711 Goodwood Blvd. In conjunction with the 48th annual Author-Illustrator Program with Brian Pinkney and Andrea Davis Pinkney Autograph session and reception will follow this free, family-oriented presentation; no registration required.

WEEKLY SOCIAL BIKE RIDE:

7 p.m., Geaux Ride, 521 N. Third St., Suite A. Free. fareharbor.com.

TRIVIA NIGHT: 7 p.m., Bayes Oyster Bar, 315 North Blvd. Test your trivia skills with your friends and family. Free.

ONGOING

BATON ROUGE GALLERY CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY

ART: 1515 Dalrymple Drive. Group exhibit by Rob Lamb Carpenter, David Dubose, Ross Jahnke and Jill Stoll, through Sept. 21. batonrougegallery.org.

CAPITOL PARK MUSEUM: 660 N. Fourth St. “Billy Cannon: They Called Him Legend,” through Jan. 10. “Grounds for Greatness: Louisiana and the Nation” and “The Louisiana Experience: Discovering the Soul of America,” permanent exhibits. (225) 342-5428 or louisianastatemuseum.org.

CARY SAURAGE COMMUNITY ARTS CENTER SHELL GALLERY: 233 St. Ferdinand St. “In Good Form,” Southern University Visual Art Faculty, through Sept. 27. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. artsbr.org.

GLASSELL GALLERY: Shaw Center for the Arts, 100 Lafayette St. “Disk Full: Christine

Half Shell, Prairieville, 6:30 p.m.

KIRK HOLDER: Bin 77, 6:30 p.m.

SONGWRITERS OPEN MIC

W/HEATH RANSONNET: Coop’s on 621, Gonzales, 7 p.m

ANDY PIZZO TRIO: Hayride Scandal, 7:30 p.m.

OPEN MIC JAM: O’Hara’s Irish Pub, 8 p.m.

THURSDAY

MIKE BROUSSARD & NIGHT TRAIN: Rock N Rowe, 6 p.m.

SHANNON DYER: T’Quilas, Denham Springs, 6 p.m.

JIMMY DELATTE: T’Quilas, Zachary, 6 p.m.

KYBALION: El Paso-Sherwood, 6 p.m.

ALLISON COLLINS TRIO: Superior Grill-MidCity, 6 p.m

LUCY YOES: Mike Anderson’s, Gonzales, 6 p.m.

DON POURCIAU & KONSPIRACY: Pedros, Denham Springs, 6 p.m.

COOKSEY FAMILY LEGACY: Zilantro’s, 6 p.m.

NEIL WERRIES: La Divina Italian Cafe, 6 p.m.

HANNA PK: Thai Kitchen, 6 p.m

CORDON BLUEZ BAND: La Carreta, Denham Springs, 6 p.m.

DRAMA KINGS: El Paso, Denham Springs, 6 p.m.

PEYTON FALGOUST: Bin 77, 6:30 p.m.

JOSIE OLIVA: On The Half Shell, Prairieville, 6:30 p.m.

BEN BELL & THE STARDUST BOYS: The Brakes Bar, 7 p.m.

THE BISHOP ELLIS TRIO: Hayride Scandal, 7 p.m. BATON ROUGE SYMPHO-

Breuning and Janna Ahrndt,” through Oct. 9.

LOUISIANA ART & SCIENCE MUSEUM: 100 S. River Road. “Landscapes Along the Railway: The Art of John Cleaveland,” Soupçon Gallery; “Going Places: Transportation Toys of the Past,” Discovery Gallery; “Shelf Queens: Model Train Masterpieces,” Colonnade Gallery; “Threads of Evolution: Engineering a Community That Sparkles,” engineering meets imagination through the work of Jaime Glas Odom, founder and creative director of fashion brand Queen of Sparkles, through Nov. 9; “Discoveries on the Nile: Exploring King Tut’s Tomb and the Amin Egyptian Collection,” through Sunday. (225) 344-5272 or lasm.org.

LOUISIANA STATE ARCHIVES

GALLERY: 3851 Essen Lane. “55th Annual River Road Show,” a national, juried show, through Sept. 23. Free. Gallery hours are from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

LSU MUSEUM OF ART: Shaw Center for the Arts, 100 Lafayette St. “A Bayou State of Mind,” highlighted by the exhibition “The Bayou Collection,” a series of 40 paintings by George Rodrigue, through Jan. 4. “Carved and Crafted: The Art of Letterpress,” through Sept. 21. (225) 3897200 or lsumoa.org.

MANSHIP THEATRE GALLERY: 100 Lafayette St. “Michalopoulos: Happy Times, Summer in the City,” through Oct. 10. Hours are 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday, 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 9 a.m.11 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

NY ORCHESTRA: Raising Cane’s River Center Performing Arts Theatre, 7:30 p.m.

DUMPSTAPHUNK: Manship Theatre, 7:30 p.m.

HENRY TURNER JR. & ALLSTARS: Henry Turner Jr.’s Listening Room, 8 p.m.

JOVIN WEBB: Spanky’s, Dutchtown, 8 p.m. THE DRUNK UNCLES: The Vineyard, 8 p.m. 49 WINCHESTER/JASON

SCOTT & THE HIGH HEAT:

Sunday. MAGNOLIA MOUND MUSEUM + HISTORIC SITE: 2161 Nicholson Drive. Guided and selfguided tours. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. MondaySaturday and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. brec.org/facility/MagnoliaMound.

OLD GOVERNOR’S MANSION: 502 North Blvd. Open for tours. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday. Free admission. oldgovernorsmansion.com.

OLD STATE CAPITOL: 100 North Blvd. “Contemporary Views of the Castellated Capitol,” exhibit celebrating the 175th anniversary of the OSC and featuring the works of 19 well-known Louisiana artists. Free. louisianaoldstatecapitol.org. USS KIDD VETERANS MUSEUM: 305 S. River Road. Displays of a variety of artifacts that celebrate veteran and naval military history. Note: Vessel is in Houma for dry dock repairs. usskidd.com. WEST BATON ROUGE MUSEUM: 845 N. Jefferson Ave., Port Allen. “Radbwa ê tire tik-layé: The Art of Jonathan Mayers,” through Oct. 12. (225) 3362422 or westbatonrougemuseum.org. Compiled by Judy Bergeron. Have an open-to-the-public event you’d like to promote? Email details to red@theadvocate.com. Deadline is 5 p.m. Friday for the following Friday’s paper

PROVIDED PHOTO By JORDAN HEFLER

Catch

concert of fall on Friday with Chubby Carrier and

Bayou Swamp Band. The show takes place at Rhorer Plaza in downtown Baton Rouge.

VIRGo(Aug. 23-sept.22) Take control. Knowwhatyou want,put aplan in place and do what you do best. If you follow your heart, you'll find your people and the pastimes that make yousparkle.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Put ato-do list in place and resolveall issuesand updates. Be open to suggestions,but be carefulwhom youtrust.Ifyou act in haste, youwill likelyfindyourself having to backtrack.

scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Get moving. Participatinginevents or joining organizations thatfoster socializing and connection can help yougainconfidence and attract engaging andsupportive friendships.

sAGIttARIus(nov. 23-Dec. 21) Yourintentions aregood andyour ideasunique but your timing is off. Take abreak and give yourself achance to digest information and rethink howyou proceed

cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Useyour experience, time andenergy to bring about positivechange. Opportunities arewithin reach, and partnerships look promising. Share and prosper.

AQuARIus (Jan.20-Feb. 19) Achange won'tbeasitappears. Take amoment to analyze what's unfolding before you andthendon't hesitate to let others know what you arethinking andfeeling.

PIscEs(Feb. 20-March 20) Sittight, watch what's happening around youand look for apractical approach thatwillsat-

WonderWord

isfyyourneeds. Put your best foot forward andchoose peace over discord.

ARIEs (March21-April 19) Use your imagination,and youcan turn your creativityinto alucrative endeavor. Attending functions will help connect youtopeoplewho can offer positivefeedback.

tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Signupfor something entertaining, engaging and physically rewarding, andyou'llenjoy the outcome. Achance to join forces with someonetryingtoreach thesame goal will speed up the process.

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Be careful what you sign up for. Someone will try to persuade you to participate in somethingcostly. Workingathometo improve your environment or lifestyle will bring the best return.

cAncER(June 21-July 22) Don't let anger take hold; staying calm and offeringalternatives will lead to progress. Home improvements will encourage you to have people over.Take time to pamper yourself.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Invest in your future. Take better care of yourself andyour interests. Refuse to let emotions interfere with decisions,especially when partnerships, reputation andfinances are involved

FAMILYCIrCUS

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

toDAy's cLuE:B EQuALs D

CeLebrItY CIpher For better or For WorSe

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM SherMAn’S LAGoon

Sudoku

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

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

THe wiZardoFid

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

Bridge

By PHILLIP ALDER

PattiStanger,whotriestofindromance for millionaires, said, “If you’re going to get engaged, make sure you’ve talked to your partner about lifetogether in the years to come.”

Ifyou’reforminganewbridgepartnership, make sure you discuss as much as possible, especially leads and signals. When an expert defends with aless experiencedplayer,hecanusuallysignal to tell his partner what to do. Of course, this assumes that the less experienced player is watching and interpreting correctly.

However, there will be deals in which the expert will not be sure which way to turn. Today’sisanexample. South is in threehearts.Westleadsthespadeseven. Southwinsonthe board and calls for a low trump. What should happen after that?

South bravely found athree-heart weak jump overcall. Westwanted to make anegative double, but was not strong enough. AndEastfelttoo weak to balancewith three spades. Note that double-dummy (everyone knows allof the cards),todefeat four spades, South must obtain aclub ruff.

To beat three hearts here, the defenders must take one heart, two diamonds, one club and adiamond ruff. So, East musttakethe second trickwithhis heart ace. Then West should dropthe nine,a suit-preference signal showing strong diamonds. Next, East will shift to the diamond nine. West will take two tricks in the suit and give his partner aruff. Finally, East will cash the club ace for down one. If youand your partner watch the cardsclosely, use lowtrumps to send suit-preference signals.

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

Previous answers:

word game

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

toDAy’s WoRD VAnQuIsHInG: VAN-kwish-ing: Subduing completely.

Average mark 22 words Time limit 50 minutes

Can you find 39 or more words in VANQUISHING?

yEstERDAy’s WoRD —InFERRInG

infer infringe inner nine feign fern fine finer finger fining fire firer firing frier fringe fringier erring refining reign rein rerig rife ring ringer genii grief grin