The Times-Picayune 09-16-2025 by The Advocate

“We’ve seenrates fall since early August and sincethen, prices areupslightlyand our showings are up. Even atinychange in theinterest rate canmakea difference.”

DEBBIE

LEWIS,associate broker with BurkBrokerageRealEstate

N.O. housingmarket remainssluggish

Since mid-2022, when asharp rise in interest rates coincided with surging costs for insuranceafter

the residentialreal estate market in theNew Orleans metro area has been in aslump

Potentialinterestratecut couldspurimprovement

BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL Staff writer

When Scott Brannon listed aclient’sGentilly homeinlate April, he thought he was pricing it to sell, asking $245,000 for the three-bedroom home.

But after more than four months and a$10,000 price cut, the house is still on the market. On Monday, the veteran real estate broker was scheduled to meet with his client to suggest another price “adjustment.”

“When you havea lot of inventory on the market, and we do, it’s

tough,” said Brannon, an associate broker with Compass. “So, you have to adjust the prices and realize some properties are going to takelonger to sell.” Since mid-2022, when asharprise in interest rates coincided withsurgingcosts for insuranceafter HurricaneIda,the residential real estate market in the New Orleans metro area has been in aslump. Fewer homes arechanging hands andthose that arelistedare taking longer tosell. Home pricesacross the nine-parish metro region haven’t budged in threeyears (and have fall-

en when accounting forinﬂation), even as prices in manyother cities in the South have surged. Still, brokersare hopeful that at least one weight on the market is set to lift. TheFederal Reserve is expected to lower interest rates Tuesday for the first time in nine months, and whileitmay nothave an overnight impact on thecost of borrowing for ahome, many real estate watchers say it should eventually spur activity in alocal market that needs ajolt.

ä See HOUSING, page 7A

BY BEN MYERS Staff writer

Ransomware groupclaims Sheriff’s Office attack

OrleansParishagency wasbreachedSept. 4

BYJOSEPH CRANNEY Staff writer

Aransomwaregroup known forhundreds of breaches, includingattempts to extort governments for money,has claimed responsibility for the early September cyberattack at the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce. The Qilin group in adark web post Saturday said it was behind the Sept. 4attack, according to ascreenshot viewed by areporter.The post didn’t say how much or what kindofinformation the group managedto hack from the 800-person agency, and neither has

ä See ATTACK, page 5A

BY EMILYWOODRUFF Staff writer

ä U.S. Rep.Carter endorses Moreno. PAGE 1B

New Orleans’ top mayoral candidates have raised morethan $1 million, according to reports released amonth before the October primary thatshowRoyce Duplessis raisingmoney at thefastest clip and Helena Moreno still with more cashtospend thanher opponents. Duplessis, astate Democratic senator, raised closeto$585,000 between July 4and Sept. 1, more than any other citywide candidate accordingtoreports released Friday. He hadmorethan $590,000 in his account at the beginning of this month. Moreno, theCityCouncil’s vice president, raisedmorethan $470,000 during the same time period, andher campaign hadmore than $1.4 million available. District Ecouncil memberOliverThomas, meanwhile, raised morethan $115,000 andended theperiod with morethan $316,000.

Duplessis’ campaign said in a statement the recent surge in contributions “is another sign that the people of our city are ready forchange.” “It demonstrates not only Sen. Duplessis’ commanding fundraising strength, but also the growing momentum of apeople-powered campaign that is uniting New Orleanians,” the statement said.

Moreno’scampaign manager called attention to the individual, small donations the at-large council memberamassed,saying they were proof that she has gained support for residents of all incomes. Of her 441 contributors, 269, or 60%,

ä See MAYORAL, page 7A

The White House announced Mondaythat applications are open forthe new Rural Health Transformation Fund, a$50 billion initiative over ﬁve years that federal ofﬁcials said will “make rural America healthy again.”

Themoneycomes as Medicaid, alifeline forrural hospitals, faces deep cuts under the samelaw that created thefund. Louisiana has around 50 rural hospitals whose ﬁnancial health hingesonsecuring ashare of it. States now face atight deadline: applicationsare due in earlyNo-

vember,leaving only afew weeks to design detailed proposals. Federal officials will have less than two months to review anddistributethe money beforethe endof the year

Louisiana has alarge number of small-town hospitals walking a ﬁnancial tightrope to stay aﬂoat. Democratic senators flagged 33 hospitalsinthe stateasatriskof closure in aletter earlier this year, the highest numberinany state after Kentucky

The fund was created in response to abacklash over Medicaidcutsinthe One Big Beautiful Bill signedintolaw in July.About 1 in 3people in Louisiana uses Medicaid, one of the highest rates in the nation. Louisiana is the only state in the Deep South that expanded Medicaid, meaning alargershare of its population depends on it, andruralproviders tend to see

Moreno

Thomas

Duplessis

STAFF PHOTO By CHRISGRANGER

Hurricane Ida,

National Guard to deploy to Memphis

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump signed an order Monday sending the National Guard into Memphis to combat crime, offering another major test of the limits of presidential power by using military force in American cities.

With Republican Tennessee Gov Bill Lee visiting the Oval Office, Trump said troops would deployed and join a special task force in the city comprised of officials from various federal agencies, including the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Marshall’s service.

He said the goal would be to stamp out crime in a way that he says sending in the National Guard and federalizing the local police force has in Washington.

The presidential memorandum Trump signed did not include details on when troops would be deployed or exactly what his promised surge in law enforcement efforts would look like.

Comey daughter sues over her firing

NEW YORK Former federal prosecutor Maurene Comey sued the U.S. government Monday to get her job back, saying her ﬁring was for political reasons and was unconstitutional.

Her lawsuit in Manhattan federal court blamed the firing on the fact that her father is James Comey a former FBI director, “or because of her perceived political affiliation and beliefs, or both.” Comey is seeking to be reinstated and a declaration that her firing was unlawful and a violation of the Constitution’s “Separation of Powers” clause.

James Comey was ﬁred as FBI director by President Donald Trump in 2017 The lawsuit noted he has since written a memoir critical of Trump and has publicly criticized Trump and his administration, including a May social media post that Trump and others perceived as threatening.

The lawsuit said Maurene Comey’s July ﬁring came the day after her supervisors asked her to lead a major public corruption case and three months after she’d received her latest “Outstanding” review British politicians condemn Musk

LONDON Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday condemned “dangerous” comments by Elon Musk after the X and Tesla owner told an anti-immigration rally that violence is coming to Britain and they must ﬁght or die. But the U.K. government resisted opposition calls to sanction Musk for the remarks. Starmer denounced violence on the fringes of Saturday’s 100,000 or more-strong “Unite the Kingdom” demonstration in London organized by far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson.

Police said 26 ofﬁcers were injured, four seriously, as a minority among the protesters tried to breach lines separating them from a smaller anti-racist counter-demonstration. There were 25 people arrested at the event and the Metropolitan Police said more arrests would follow Addressing the demonstration by video link Musk called for the dissolution of Parliament and an early election to remove Starmer’s center-left government. He told protesters “violence is coming to you” and “you either ﬁght back or you die.”

Shutdown talk heats up over U.S. budget

Democrats insist on stopping health care cuts

BY KEVIN FREKING and LISA MASCARO Associated Press

WASHINGTON A deadline looming, Congress charged Monday toward a federal government shutdown as Republicans brush back Democratic demands to save health care funding from cutbacks, while Democrats are ﬂexing a newfound willingness to play hardball, even if it means closing ofﬁces and services.

Republican leaders are ready to call the Democrats’ bluff, possibly as soon as this week, with a test vote before the end-of-the-month deadline to keep government running.

GOP leaders said they could tee up a vote on a short-term spending bill that would keep the federal government fully operational when the new budget year begins Oct. 1. It would likely be a temporary patch, into mid-November House Speaker Mike Johnson said the measure would include funds to boost security for lawmakers in the wake of the assassination of conservative activist

Charlie Kirk. Additionally, the Trump administration said it’s asking Congress for $58 million in increased funding for the U.S. Marshals Service and security for the Supreme Court. And the Senate is considering its own proposals.

“I want everyone within the sound of my voice to understand: Members of Congress are safe,” Johnson, R-Benton, said Monday at the Capitol. “They will be kept safe. They have security measures now at their residence and personally. We can always enhance and do more and do better.”

In the past budget battles, it has been Republicans who’ve been willing to engage in shutdown threats as a way to focus attention on their priority demands. That was the situation during the nation’s longest shutdown, during the winter of 201819, when President Donald Trump was insisting on federal funds to build the U.S.Mexico border wall.

This time, however, Democrats, facing intense pressure from their base of supporters to stand up to Trump and refuse to fund

the administration’s policies, are taking a tougher position — even if it means halting funds needed to run federal ofﬁces.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said he and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries are united in opposing any legislation that doesn’t include key health care provisions. They have particularly focused on the potential for skyrocketing health care premiums for millions of Americans if Congress fails to extend enhanced subsidies, which many people use to buy insurance on the Affordable Care Act exchange. Those subsidies were put in place during the COVID-19 crisis, but are set to expire.

Schumer contends that Republicans and Trump will be held responsible if they don’t negotiate a bipartisan deal.

“If one side refuses to negotiate, they are the ones causing the shutdown,” Schumer said.

Trump, though, called on Republicans to stay united, and sought to pin the blame for any shutdown on Democrats.

Rubio, Netanyahu meet in show of uniﬁed U.S., Israel

BY MATTHEW LEE and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press

JERUSALEM Israel and the United States showed a uniﬁed front on Monday in the face of growing international anger over Israel’s airstrikes on Hamas leaders in Qatar and its intensifying bombardment of Gaza City

As Arab and Muslim leaders met in Doha to condemn Israel’s attack last week in Qatar and new rounds of criticism were aired over Israeli plans to occupy Gaza City, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stood shoulder-toshoulder in Jerusalem and downplayed the furor that had, at least for a short time, taken the Trump administration aback.

Rubio plans to pay a quick visit to Qatar on Tuesday, as the administration appears keen to ease tensions between its two close allies, before ﬂying on to London to join President Donald Trump on his state visit to Britain.

“We understand they’re not happy about what happened,” Rubio told Fox News. But “we still have Hamas, we still have hostages, and we still have a war And all those things still have to be dealt with, and we are hopeful that Qatar and all of our Gulf partners will continue to add something

Secretary of State Marco

Monday at the Prime Minister’s

constructive.”

There were no signs of U.S. frustration with Israel’s latest actions, although Trump had made clear his displeasure with Israel’s unilateral strike on Hamas in Qatar

Both Netanyahu and Rubio said the only way to end the conflict in Gaza is through the elimination of Hamas and the release of the remaining 48 hostages around 20 of them believed to be alive — setting aside calls for an interim ceaseﬁre in favor of an immediate end to the conﬂict.

Hamas has said it will only free the remaining hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceaseﬁre and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Rubio had come to Israel seeking answers from Netanyahu about how Israel

FBI: DNA evidence matches Charlie Kirk’s accused killer

BY JESSE BEDAYN and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press

OREM,Utah DNA on a towel wrapped around a rifle found near where conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated matched that of the 22-year-old accused in the killing, FBI Director Kash Patel said on Monday

Investigators also have used DNA evidence to link the suspect, Tyler Robinson, with a screwdriver recovered from the rooftop where the fatal shot was ﬁred, Patel said Monday on the Fox News show “Fox & Friends.”

Authorities in Utah are preparing to file capital murder charges against Robinson as early as Tuesday in the killing of Kirk, a dominant ﬁgure in conservative politics who became a conﬁdant of President Donald Trump after founding Arizona-based Turning Point USA, one of the nation’s largest political organizations. Kirk, who brought young, conservative evangelical Christians into politics, was shot Wednesday while speaking at Utah Valley University during one of his many campus stops. The shooting raised fears about increasing political violence in a deeply polarized United States.

Officials have said Robinson carried a hatred for Kirk and ascribed to a “leftist ideology” that had grown in recent years. Robinson’s family and friends said he spent large amounts of time scrolling the “dark corners of the internet,” Utah Gov Spencer Cox said Sunday Patel told Fox that Robinson had written in a note before the shooting that he had an opportunity to take out Kirk and was going to do it. Investigators were able to recover the note’s contents after it had been destroyed, the FBI director said, paraphrasing from the note without revealing more details. Over the weekend, Cox said Robinson’s romantic partner was transgender but authorities did not know yet whether that the suspect targeted Kirk for his anti-

transgender views. Utah’s department of public safety chief said Monday that Robinson’s partner has been cooperative.

“There was a romantic, personal relationship there. We are still investigating whether that individual had any involvement,” commissioner Beau Mason told The Associated Press.

“We believe that Tyler Robinson acted by himself during this shooting,” said Mason, who added that investigators are looking at whether anyone else knew of his plans beforehand.

Authorities said Robinson has not been cooperating with law enforcement since being jailed for suspicion of aggravated murder They say that he may have been “radicalized” online and that ammunition found in the gun used to kill Kirk included anti-fascist and meme-culture engravings. Court records show that one bullet casing had the message, “Hey, fascist! Catch!” Robinson was arrested late Thursday near where he grew up around St. George, in the southwestern corner of Utah between Las Vegas and Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks. It’s unclear whether he has an attorney who could speak on his behalf, and his family has declined to comment to the AP Tributes to Kirk continue across the country A line of mourners wrapped around theKennedyCenterinWashington for a vigil Sunday, and there were moments of silence at several professional sporting events.

Vice President JD Vance, who counted Kirk as a close friend, served as a substitute host Monday on “The Charlie Kirk Show” on Rumble, a streaming platform. Vance spoke about how Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, told him her husband never raised his voice to her and was never “cross or meanspirited to her.” “I took from that moment that I needed to be a better husband and I needed to be a better father,” the vice president said. “That is the way I’m going to honor my friend.”

intended to proceed in Gaza and assess its interest in Qatar retaining a mediating role.

“Your presence here in Israel today is a clear message that America stands with Israel. You stand with us in the face of terror,” said Netanyahu.

The Doha attack, which killed at least five lowerranking Hamas members and a member of the Qatari security forces, appears to have paused mediation efforts.

Rubio later met with families of the hostages, who aired concerns that Israel’s latest offensive could doom their loved ones and called on the Trump administration to swiftly resume negotiations, according to a statement from the main group representing relatives of the captives.

REUTERS PHOTO By NATHAN HOWARD

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and U.S

Rubio hold a joint news conference

Office in Jerusalem

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By J SCOTT APPLEWHITE

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-Benton, walks to the chamber to begin the legislative week Monday at the Capitol in Washington.

Summit leadstolittleactionafter Israelistrike

BY JON GAMBRELL Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Qatar

hosted asummit of Arab and Islamic nations Monday in the hopes of presenting aunited response to Israel’sattack on Hamas leaders last week in Doha. But leaders offered different views about what to do, and the group agreed to take only minimal action.

Israel, which launchedits invasion of Gaza in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, has retaliated against the militant group and other members of Iran’sso-called Axis of Resistance elsewhere, including in Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Yemenand now Qatar.That’sfueled wider anger among Mideast nationsalready enraged by the deaths of more than 64,000 Palestinians during the war in Gaza and contributed to growing concern that the U.S. commitment to protect Gulf Arab states may not be strong enough.

However,signiﬁcantdifferences amongthe nations likely blunted any attempt at cooperation.

Condemnations came from countries that Israel considers enemies, like Iran. Meanwhile, the nations that have diplomatic recognition deals with Israel were reluctant to severthose ties.Monday wasthe ﬁfth anniversaryofthe signingby Bahrain and the United ArabEmiratesofthe AbrahamAccordsthat marked their formal recognitionof Israel.

“Condemnations will not stop the missiles. Declarations will not free Palestine,” MalaysianPrime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “Severe,punitive actionsmustbeput in place.”

Fieryspeech

Qatar’sruling emir opened the

summit by accusing Israel of not caring about its hostages in Gaza and instead working to ”ensure Gaza is no longer livable.” Israel hassaid thegoalsofits war include bringing all thehostagesbackand defeating Hamas.

“If Israel wishes to assassinate the Hamas leaders, why then engage in negotiations?” Sheikh Tamim binHamad Al Thani asked. “If youwish to insist on the liberation of hostages, why then do they assassinateall negotiators?”

The speech was unusually ﬁery for the45-year-oldrulerofQatar, which has served as key mediator in ceaseﬁre talks.

“There is no roomtodealwith sucha party that’scowardly and treacherous,” he added. “Those whowork consistentlytoassassinate the party in these negotiationswill certainly do everything to ensure the failure of thesenegotiations. When theyclaim that they seek theliberation of hostages,

Immigrants deported from U.S. to Ghana aresenthome

Lawyerssay some mayfacetorture

BY EDWARD ACQUAH, WILSON MCMAKIN and REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press

ACCRA, Ghana— Agroup of 14 West Africansdeported to Ghana from the U.S. have been sent to their home countries, places where lawyers representing some of the men say they faceariskofpersecution or torture.

News of the West Africans’ deportation to Ghana emerged last week,sparking alawsuit by U.S. lawyers. They argue the move was an attempt by U.S. authorities to evade their own immigration laws that prevent some of the men from being returnedto countries wheretheir wellbeing could be at risk.

On Monday,FelixKwakye Ofosu, Ghana’sminister for government communications, told the Associated Press that all 14 —13Nigerians and one Gambian —“have since left for their home countries,” withoutsaying when they were returned. Lawyers say it’sanother case of the Trump adminis-

tration deportingpeopleand then tryingtodistanceitself from the repercussions. The case has drawn parallels to that of KilmarAbrego Garcia, whothe administration mistakenly deported toElSalvadordespite acourt order prohibiting it, then arguedit couldn’tget him back.

The Trump administration, facedwithpeople in immigration proceedings who for legal and proceduralreasons cannot be sent backtotheir home countries,has increasingly been trying to send them to third countries with which the administration has created agreements to take deportees.

Lawyers representing ﬁve of the West African men ﬁled alawsuitlastFriday arguing that the men, who’d beensent to Ghana along with another nine people, had legal protections preventing themfrom being sent home over concerns they’d be tortured or persecuted. The complaint, filed by lawyers for Asian Americans Advancing Justice, said themen had been grantedfear-based relief from being sent to their countries and asked the judge to immediately halt their deportations.

that’sa merelie.”

Sheikh Tamim alsodenounced Israel over what he called the “genocide” it is committing in Gaza—an assessment offered by multiple others at thesummit. Israel vehemently denies it is committing genocide.ItsaysHamas is prolonging the warbynot surrendering and releasing the hostages

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Israel “should alsobe squeezed economically,asprevious experience showsthatsuchsteps yield results.”

Iran attendingsummit

Afterthe U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sitesinJune,Iranstruck Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar,amajor hub for American forces —amove thatangered Qatar.Nevertheless, Iran sentPresident Masoud Pezeshkian to attend Monday’s meeting, where he urged other nations to “isolatethe aggressor.”

Pezeshkian did nottouch on Iran’s

attack on Qatar but did mention Israel’swar on IraninJune.Healso warned that any country in the region could be next.

“The attack on Doha changed lots of miscalculations and wrong ideas,” he said. “It showed that no Arab or Muslimcountry is safe from the aggression of the regime in TelAviv.Tomorrow it can be any AraborMuslim capital’sturn.”

Before the summit,analysts floated possibly closing airspace to Israeli flightsordowngrading ties with Israel. Afinalstatement from the meeting, however,only called on states to “take allpossible legal and effective measures to prevent Israel from continuing its actions againstthe Palestinian people.”

Thesix-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, held its own meeting on the sidelines of the summit. Its members decidedto takesteps“to activate the mechanisms of joint defense and the Gulf deterrence capabilities,” they said in astatement, without elaborating.

Qatarkey in ceasefire talks

Qatar,anenergy-rich nation on theArabian Peninsulathat hosted the 2022 World Cup, long has served as an intermediary in conﬂicts. For years, it hashosted Hamas’ political leadership at the request of the U.S., providing achannel for Israel to negotiate withthe militantgroup thathas controlled Gaza for years.

Butasthe Israel-Hamas warhas raged on, Qatar increasingly has been criticizedbyhard-liners within Netanyahu’sgovernment. Netanyahu himself has vowed to strike all those who organizedthe Hamas-led attack on Israel in 2023. Andsince last week’sstrike, the Israeli leader hasdoubled down on saying Qatar remains apossible target if Hamas

leaders are there.

U.S. SecretaryofState Marco Rubio was in Israel on Monday for meetings with Netanyahu andother Israeli ofﬁcials to express America’sconcern over the attack on Qatar and talk about Israel’splanned newoffensive on GazaCity. Rubio planned to pay aquick visit to Qatar on Tuesday as theadministration seeks to ease tensionsbetween its two close allies.

Rubio declined to address Israel’s strike while speaking to journalists in Jerusalem, but he said America wanted to work with all its partners in theregiontostop Hamas and reach aceaseﬁre in the war

“We’re going to continue to encourage Qatar to playa constructive role in thatregard,”Rubio said.

Netanyahu again addedthat Israel’sdecision to attack Qatar “was awholly independent decision by us.”

Netanyahu faces increasing pressure fromthe Israelipublic to end the warand bring home the 48 hostages still held in Gaza, of whom 20 are believedbyIsrael to still be alive.

The Hamas-led Oct. 7attack killedaround1,200 people,mostly civilians, and led to the abduction of 251.

Israel’s ensuing offensives in Gazahavekilledmore than 64,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry,which does not say howmanywere civilians or combatants.Itsaysaround half of those killed were womenand children.

The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The U.N. andindependent experts view its ﬁgures as the most reliable estimateofwar casualties.Israel disputes them but has not provided its own.

KimSeong-Min,North Koreadefector, dies at 63

BY HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press

SEOUL, SouthKorea Kim Seong-Min, aprominent NorthKorean defector whousedradiobroadcasts, USBsticks anda network of sources in the secretive country to informthe North Korean public about the truth of theirauthoritarian government,has died. He was 63.

The founder of theSeoulbased Free NorthKorea Radio was pronounced deadat aSeoul ho sp it al on Friday, years after ﬁghting alung cancer that recently spread to his liver,his formercolleagues said. They saidKim was cremated andhis remains were placed at acolumbarium nearthe border with North Korea, “We, North Korean defectors, lostone of ourleaders. We aren’tsure if we’ll have such aleader again He was truly our hope,” saidChoiJung-hoon,adefector whoworked with Kimfor seven years.

Kim, aformer North Korean army captainwho arrived in SouthKorea in 1999,began shortwave radio broadcastsinto the

North —where most people have no ofﬁcial access to foreign news —in2005. Thestation includedeverything from success stories of NorthKorean defectors in South Korea andthe purported luxurious lifestylesofthe North’sruling Kim family to political news in SouthKo-

rea, theU.S.and elsewhere. Kim’sstation also threw plastic bottles containing USB sticks with world news and SouthKorean TV dramas andK-popsongs intothe seatolet themﬂoat toward North Korean shoreson thetides.Hehad sourcesin North Korea who used illegal mobile phonestosneak news from the country before his station relayed them back to people in other parts of North Korea.

Kim frequently appeared at rallies, forumsand TV programs to criticize North Korea’swidely condemned humanrightsrecords.

Kim

PROVIDED PHOTO

Smokerises from an explosion, allegedly caused by an Israeli strike, Tuesday in Doha, Qatar

NYC mayor candidate exposes rift in Democratic Party

BY STEVE PEOPLES and JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press

NEWYORK Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen stood before Iowa Democrats over the weekend and blasted his party’s leadership as “spineless” for refusing to endorse Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor

“Many Democratic members of the Senate and the House representing New York have stayed on the sidelines,” Van Hollen said. “That kind of spineless politics is what people are sick of. They need to get behind him and get behind him now.”

It was another jab in an ongoing rift within the party over Mamdani’s campaign Democratic leaders in Washington and moderate Democrats on the ballot this fall are actively distancing themselves from Mamdani, a 33-year-old selfdescribed democratic socialist, while progressives rally behind him, noting Mamdani’s economic populism and youthful charisma have generated tremendous support from grassroots activists well beyond New York.

Meanwhile, Republicans, including President Donald Trump, are watching with delight and sometimes piling on, linking Mamdani and his far-left policies to the Democratic brand. That’s been the case in New Jersey and Virginia, the only states holding elections for governor this year, and GOP ofﬁcials have signaled that the strategy will continue well into next year’s highstakes midterm elections Democratic New York Gov Kathy Hochul endorsed Mamdani on Sunday, declaring in a New York Times opinion piece that

“New York needs leaders who will put aside differences, stand up and fight back against Mr Trump.”

Trump responded Monday in a social media post where he inaccurately described Mamdani as a communist and implied federal funding could be withheld from the city if Mamdani is elected

“This is a rather shocking development, and a very bad one for New York City,” Trump wrote. “Washington will be watching this situation very closely No reason to be sending good money after bad!

No backing from Capitol Hill

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has repeatedly declined to endorse Mamdani when asked by reporters, saying, “I choose to make endorsements when I choose to make endorsements.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he met with Mamdani last week — but did not endorse him Both are New Yorkers. Schumer and Mamdani worked together on issues in the past, including debt relief for taxi drivers, and have spoken highly of each other After Mamdani won the Democratic primary, Schumer praised him on social media for running a campaign that connected with New Yorkers.

The lack of endorsement underscores the political pressure the leaders face, needing to win races not just in Democratic strongholds like New York but also in swing states or places that lean toward Republicans, such as Senate contests next year in North Carolina and Ohio.

Mamdani has been an outspo-

Trump blames Walz after not lowering flags for slain lawmaker

President had refused to call governor after death of Minn. Democrat

BY WILL WEISSERT and STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump claimed Monday that he would have ordered flags lowered to half-staff following the assassination of a Minnesota Democratic state lawmaker this summer had he been asked by the state’s governor But Trump at the time refused to even call Democratic Gov. Tim Walz to express his condolences, saying it would only “waste time.” Trump made the remark during an unrelated Oval Office event as he defended his decision to lower U.S flags after last week’s slaying of conservative activist Charlie Kirk

for unity on Monday evening that featured references to Hortman’s assassination and the recent shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic church that killed two students and injured 21 people. The video included feel-good scenes from the recent Minnesota State Fair but didn’t mention Kirk.

“The world feels crazy right now, but we won’t lose hope. We will get through this, together,”

Walz said

Trump’s assertions omitted the fact that — days after Hortman and her husband were shot dead in their home in the northern Minneapolis suburbs — the president was asked if he’d be calling Walz. Trump suggested that doing so would “waste time.”

Presidents often reach out to governors, mayors and other elected ofﬁcials at times of tragedy, such as after mass killings or natural disasters, to offer condolences and, if needed, federal assistance.

After announcing that he was deploying the National Guard to Memphis, Trump was asked Monday why he signed an order lowering ﬂags nationwide after Kirk’s killing during an event in Utah, but didn’t do so after former Democratic state House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot and killed in June.

Trump replied, “Well, if the governor had asked me to do that, I would have done that.”

“But the governor of Minnesota didn’t ask me,” the president said. He continued, “I wouldn’t have thought of that. But I would have if somebody had asked me,” and added: “Had the governor asked me to do that, I would have done that gladly.” Walz’s spokesperson did not immediately comment on the president’s remarks. But Walz tweeted a video call

But Trump said then that Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee against Trump in last year’s election, was “slick.”

“I think the governor of Minnesota is so whacked out. I’m not calling him. Why would I call him?” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One in June. He then added, “The guy doesn’t have a clue” and “he’s a mess. So, you know, I could be nice and call him but why waste time?”

Teddy Tschann, a spokesperson for Walz, responded at the time with a statement saying, “Governor Walz wishes that President Trump would be a President for all Americans, but this tragedy isn’t about Trump or Walz.”

Trump also said Monday that he planned to attend Kirk’s funeral this weekend in Arizona and added that he’d likely be speaking.

“I guess I’ll say a few words, I don’t know,” he said “But I guess I will.”

ken critic of Israel. He called its military campaign in Gaza a “genocide” and said Palestine should exist as “a state with equal rights.” He also has called for tax increases on the wealthy to make life more affordable for everyday New Yorkers through initiatives like free buses.

The split also has deepened within the New York delegation itself. After Hochul’s endorsement, Rep. Tom Suozzi on Monday said he would not be endorsing Mamdani because he does not agree “with his proposed solutions.” In contrast, swing-district Rep. Pat Ryan endorsed Mamdani on Tuesday: “I know whose side I’m on. I’m with the people. I’m with Zohran.”

For many progressives, the Democratic establishment’s Mamdani snub has echoes of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ political rise. The independent Vermont senator struggled for decades to earn the support and respect of Democratic leaders, even as his popularity exploded and he emerged as a leading presidential candidate.

Perhaps that’s why Sanders himself has served as one of Mamdani’s ﬁercest defenders.

“I ﬁnd it hard to understand how the major Democratic leaders in New York State are not supporting

the Democratic candidate,” Sanders said last week “So, we got another ﬁght on our hands, and that is the future of the Democratic Party.”

National progressive groups have united behind Mamdani, sensing much larger stakes than New York City’s mayoral contest.

“I can’t overstate how angry grassroots voters are. It’s off the charts on this one,” said Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution, an activist group born of the Sanders movement.

The debate has spilled into contested primaries ahead of next year’s midterm elections. That includes a Senate contest in Michigan between establishment candidates like Rep. Haley Stevens and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, and Abdul El-Sayed, who is more of a political outsider

“It’s odd to me that if a candidate were to win a Democratic primary that the Democratic party wouldn’t take notes and understand why that person won. And then shift accordingly,” said El-Sayed.

“Parties exist to funnel the will of the people and I think when you have a growing chasm between leadership in the party and what the people want, that only ever

ends up in one way: Either the parties lose elections, or the party moves.”

Looming elections

Republicans are actively ﬁghting to link Democratic candidates to Mamdani.

In New Jersey, Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli described Mamdani as a sign the “modern Democratic Party has lost its mind.”

The Republican’s campaign also made a digital ad showing video from Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill’s interview in which she was asked if she’d back Mamdani’s general election campaign. She said, assuming he’s the nominee, “I assume I will.”

Ciattarelli has posted the video on social media throughout the campaign, most recently last week.

Sherrill has disengaged when asked about Mamdani. She had earlier said she would back the eventual Democratic nominee in New York City’s mayoral race but later said she wasn’t wading into the contest and was letting voters there decide the race.

“As she’s said throughout the campaign, Mikie’s leaving the NYC mayoral race to the voters of New York,” Sherrill campaign spokesperson Carly Jones told The Associated Press.

Virginia Democratic governor candidate Abigail Spanberger’s team offered almost identical language when asked if she would endorse Mamdani, saying, “Abigail is laser-focused on Virginia.” In New York, Mamdani faces former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams — both running as independents.

After Hochul’s endorsement, Mamdani said he was grateful “for her support in unifying our party.”

Earlier, he had a more pointed message for veteran Democratic ofﬁcials like Cuomo, a powerhouse in New York politics for decades.

“What Andrew Cuomo doesn’t seem to understand is that him and Donald Trump are two sides of the same coin that New Yorkers want to throw away into the dustbin of history,” Mamdani said in a recent podcast. “We want a new kind of politics.”

AP writers Mike Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey, and Olivia Diaz in Richmond, Virginia, contributed.

HBCU funding boosted after grants cut for Hispanic-serving colleges

BY COLLIN BINKLEY AP education writer

WASHINGTON The Trump administration is redirecting nearly $500 million in federal funding toward historically Black colleges and tribal colleges, a one-time investment covered primarily by cuts to other colleges serving large numbers of minority students

The Education Department announced the funding boost days after cutting $350 million from other grants, mostly from programs reserved for colleges that have large numbers of Hispanic students. Agency leaders said those grants were unconstitutional because they’re available only to colleges with certain minority enrollment thresholds.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the changes will redirect money away “from ineffective and discriminatory programs toward those which support student success.”

“The Department has carefully scrutinized our federal grants, ensuring that taxpayers are not funding racially discriminatory programs but those programs which promote merit and excellence in education,” McMahon said in a statement.

The department is also redirecting about $60 million toward funding for charter schools and $137 million toward American history and civics grants. President Donald Trump in January issued an executive action ordering the agency to repurpose federal money toward charter schools and other school choice initiatives.

It amounts to a one-time federal funding boost of 48% increase for HBCUs and it more than doubles funding for tribal colleges and universities, the department said.

The department is flexing its power to repurpose discretionary funding to match the president’s priorities made possible through a stopgap funding bill

passed by Congress this year that gives the executive branch more authority over spending decisions.

Trump has long called himself a champion of HBCUs. During his first term, Congress added $250 million a year for HBCUs. This year Trump signed an executive action that pledges an annual White House summit, an advisory board and other support for HBCUs.

The Education Department said the money comes from programs found to be “not in the best interest of students and families.” It previously said the other minorityserving grants would be redirected to programs that do not rely on racial quotas.

A person familiar with the decision said money is also being directed away from programs that support gifted and talented programs, magnet schools, international education and teacher training. Most of those programs would be zeroed out in Trump’s 2026 budget request, said the person, who was not authorized to discuss the decision and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Last week’s cuts to the the Hispanic Serving Institution program reversed decades of precedent. Congress created the program

in 1998 after ﬁnding that Latino students were going to college and graduating at far lower rates than white students. The department also cut several smaller programs for colleges serving certain percentages of Asian American, Black or Native American students. The cuts drew swift blowback from Democrats, who said those programs have long had bipartisan support and fueled social mobility for working-class Americans.

A July memo from the Justice Department argues that the Hispanic Serving Institution grants are unconstitutional because they’re open only to colleges where a quarter of undergraduates or more are Hispanic. The department declined to defend the program in a suit brought by the state of Tennessee and Students for Fair Admissions, an anti-afﬁrmative action group.

The lawsuit asks a federal judge to halt the grants Tennessee argued all of its public universities serve Hispanic students but none meet the “arbitrary ethnic threshold” to be eligible for the funding. Those schools miss out on tens of millions of dollars because of discriminatory requirements, the suit said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By RICHARD DREW

New york mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks at a rally with Hotel & Gaming Trades Council workers Aug. 20 in New york.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO JACQUELyN MARTIN With the Founders Library in the background, a young man reads on the Howard University campus in Washington.

Walz

McMahon

Schumer

Hochul

U.S. againtargets boat from Venezuela

Trumpsaysvessel wascarrying drugs

BY AAMER MADHANI and REGINA GARCIA CANO Associated Press

WASHINGTON— President Donald Trump said the U.S. military on Monday again targetedaboat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela, killing three aboardthe vessel.

“The Strike occurred while these confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela were in International Waters transporting illegal narcotics (A DEADLYWEAPON POISONINGAMERICANS!)

headedtothe U.S.,”Trump said in aTruth Social postannouncingthe strike. “These extremelyviolent drug trafﬁcking cartels POSE A THREATtoU.S. National Security,Foreign Policy,and vital U.S. Interests.”

The strike was carried out nearly two weeks after another military strike on what the Trump administration said was adrug-carrying speedboat from Venezuelathat killed 11.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval

Ofﬁce lateronMonday,Trump said he had been shown footageofthe latest strike by Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Asked whatproof the U.S. has that the vessel was carrying drugs, Trump replied, “Wehave proof. All youhave to do is look at the cargo that was spattered all overthe ocean —big bags of cocaine and andfentanyl all over the place.”

The Trump administration has justified the first strikeas anecessary escalation to stem the ﬂow of drugs intothe United States.

Butseveral senators, Democrats and some Republicans,

ATTACK

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Sheriff Susan Hutson.

But the groupleaked four documents suggesting at least some of OPSO’sadministrative and financial records were compromised. One was aMarch2025 bank statement; another aJanuary 2025 internal report on contraband incidents. Neither appeared to include sensitive data often targeted in cyberattacks, like social securitynumbers or account passwords. The post also misidentified the agency’ssheriff as “Marlin N. Guzman (sic).” Former SheriffMarlinGusman left ofﬁce in 2022.

Either way,Qilin’sdecision to publish hacked documents nine days after the attack suggests the group has demanded money andis escalating matters because the agency hasn’tpaid, said Luke Connolly,athreat analyst with the New Zealandbased Emisoft ﬁrm.

“Ransomware groups in general, including Qilin, can be very disruptive to their victims, applying various forms of pressure to convince the victim to pay their demanded ransom demands,” Connolly said.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro points at amap of the Americas during anewsconferenceinCaracas Venezuela, on Monday. Maduro accused the Trump administration of using drug trafficking

have indicatedtheir dissatisfaction with the administration’srationale and questioned the legality of the action. They view it as apotential overreach of executive authority in part becausethe military wasusedfor law enforcement purposes. The Trump administration has claimed self-defense as alegal justificationfor the first strike, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio arguingthe drug cartels “pose an immediate threat” to the nation.

“Atthis time, we are treating every computer as potentially compromised while our IT team, alongside cybersecurity partners, workstoassess and restore systems.”

ORLEANS PARISH SHERIFF’S OFFICE STATEMENT

Qilin has been linked to nearly 900cyber breaches across theglobe since the group appeared in 2022, Connolly said, including more than20 against local governments in the U.S. so far this year

Thegroup likelyoriginates in Russia, according to a2024 report prepared for the cybersecurity division of theU.S.Departmentof Health and Human Services Qilin is known for attempting to extort its victims,and hasdemanded ransoms between $50,000 and $800,000.

The Sheriff’sOfﬁce hasn’t said if Qilin hasdemanded aransom, norhas theagency been willing to address other key questions about theextent of the attack.The agency “continues to work aroundthe clock” to restore operations, the Sheriff’s Ofﬁce saidMonday

U.S.officials saidthe strike early this month targetedTren de Aragua,a Venezuelangang designated by the U.S. as aterrorist organization. Andthey indicated more militarystrikes on drug targets would be coming as the U.S. looks to “wage war” on cartels.

Trump did not specify whether Tren de Aragua was also the target of Monday’sstrike.

TheVenezuelan government did not immediately respond to arequest for comment on the re-

ported strike. The Trumpadministration has railed speciﬁcally against Venezuelan President NicolásMaduro for thescourge of illegal drugs in U.S. communities.

Maduro during anewsconference earlier on Monday lashed out at the U.S. government, accusing the Trumpadministration of using drug trafﬁcking accusations as an excusefor amilitaryoperation whose intentionsare “tointimidateand seek regimechange” in theSouth American country

Maduro also repudiated what he described as aweekend operationinwhich 18 Marines raided aVenezuelanﬁshing boat in the Caribbean

“What werethey looking for? Tuna? What were they looking for? Akilo of snapper? Who gave the order in Washington for amissile destroyertosend 18 armed Marinestoraida tuna ﬁshing vessel?” he said. “Theywere looking for amilitary incident. If the tuna ﬁshing boys had any kind of weaponsand usedweaponswhile in Venezuelan jurisdiction, it would have been the military incident that the warmongers, extremists who want awar in the Caribbean, areseeking.” Speaking to FoxNews earlier Monday,Rubio reiterated that the U.S. doesn’tsee Maduro as the rightful leader of Venezuelabut as head of adrug cartel Rubiohas consistentlydepicted Venezuela as avestige of communist ideology in the Western Hemisphere.

“We’re not going to have acartel, operating or masquerading as agovernment, operating in our ownhemisphere,” Rubio said. Following the first military strike on aboat allegedly carrying drugs fromVenezuela, America’s chief diplomat said Trumpwas “going to use the U.S. military andall theelements of American powertotarget cartels who are targeting America.” AP and others have reported that the boat hadturned around andwas heading back to shore when it wasstruck. ButRubio on Mondaysaidhedidn’tknowif that’saccurate.

“Whatneedstostart happening is some of these boats need to get blown up,” Rubio said. “Wecan’t live in aworld where all of asuddentheydoaU-turnand so we can’t touchthemanymore.”

“At this time, we are treating every computer as potentially compromised while ourITteam, alongside cybersecurity partners, works to assess andrestore systems,” the agency said in astatementMonday Aspokesperson for the Louisiana StatePolice CyberCrimesUnit, which is partnering withthe Sheriff’s Office on its response,declined to comment Monday Hutson initially said her department had “isolated” the attack and that it wouldn’timpact jail operations.

But within 24 hours of the 4:30 a.m. breach two weeks ago, server disruptions forced theSheriff’s Office processing staff tohalt releasing detainees who had paid bail. Those releases resumed by the weekend.

Since theattack,the agency has booked 288 people and released 265, theagency said Monday The Sheriff’s Office reiterated Monday that “jail security operationshave

not been affectedbythis outage.”

Meanwhile, attorneys and thepublic have lacked accesstoDocket Master, the Sheriff’s Ofﬁce online lookup tool for criminal cases,

formore than 10 days. The agency said Monday that anyone who needs information on theircase can contact the jail’scommunications staff at (504) 2029386.

BRIEFS

STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Boys & Girls Clubs a big winner at Emmys

The Boys & Girls Clubs of America may end up being the biggest winner of Sunday night’s Emmy Awards.

The afterschool youth programming nonproﬁt is seeing a donation surge after a controversial fundraising bit at the center of television’s biggest night.

Emmys host Nate Bargatze pledged $100,000 to the group at the top of the telecast — with a twist.

The comedian then deducted $1,000 for every second that an acceptance speech exceeded the allotted time and added the same amount for every second under the limit. Boys & Girls Clubs children stood with the trophy holder for each announcement before retreating into the wings.

The charitable gag failed to restrain many winners.

“Hacks” star Hannah Einbinder vowed, “I’ll pay the difference” while accepting the award for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series.

“We (expletive) over the Boys & Girls,” comedian Seth Rogen said as the ticker plunged deeper into the negatives.

With the show nearly over, the sum had fallen below zero to negative $60,000.

The Boys & Girls Clubs “were waiting to see the outcome in real time, like everyone else,” Lisa Anastasi, the organization’s chief development and external relations ofﬁcer, said Monday in an email.

They ultimately received what Anastasi called a “generous surprise”: $250,000 from Bargatze and $100,000 from broadcaster CBS.

Wall Street on the rise as Tesla vrooms

NEW YORK Wall Street rose to more records on Monday at the start of a week that could show whether the U.S. stock market’s big recent rally has been overdone or prescient

The S&P 500 climbed 0.5% and topped its prior all-time high, which was set last week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 49 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.9% to its own record.

Tesla helped lead the way and rose 3.6% after Elon Musk bought stock worth roughly $1 billion through a trust.

The electric vehicle company’s stock price came into the day with a slight loss for the year so far, and the purchase could be a signal of Musk’s faith in it.

Alphabet was the single strongest force lifting the S&P 500 after gaining 4.5%, which brought the total value for Google’s parent company above $3 trillion.

Trump again seeks end to earnings reports

President Donald Trump again called for an end to quarterly earnings reports, tapping into a long-running fault line in American capitalism over how much information should be disclosed by public companies.

In a social media post on Monday, Trump echoed comments he made during his ﬁrst term to end the quarterly reports that companies issue to share financial results with investors.

“Subject to SEC Approval, Companies and Corporations should no longer be forced to ‘Report’ on a quarterly basis (Quarterly Reporting!), but rather to Report on a ‘Six (6) Month Basis,’” Trump said on social media.

“This will save money, and allow managers to focus on properly running their companies.” The Securities and Exchange Commission didn’t immediately return a request for comment. The SEC mandated for companies to report quarterly in 1970, part of its decadeslong push to increase transparency following the stock market crash in 1929.

China says Nvidia violated laws

Conditions imposed on purchase to prevent monopoly

BY KELVIN CHAN AP business writer

LONDON China accused Nvidia on Monday of violating the country’s antimonopoly laws and said it would step up scrutiny of the world’s leading chipmaker escalating tensions with Washington as the two countries held trade talks

this week.

Chinese regulators said a preliminary investigation found that Nvidia didn’t comply with conditions imposed when it purchased Mellanox Technologies, a network and data transmission company

The one-sentence statement from the State Administration for Market Regulation statement did not mention any punishment but said it would carry out “further investigation.”

“We comply with the law in all respects,” an Nvidia spokesperson said “We will continue to cooper-

ate with all relevant government agencies as they evaluate the impact of export controls on competition in the commercial markets.” Regulators said in December they were investigating the company for suspected violations stemming from the $6.9 billion acquisition of Mellanox The deal was completed in 2020 after the Chinese regulator gave conditional approval for Nvidia to buy the Israeli company The announcement, which came as the two sides held trade talks in Spain, is the latest tit-for-tat move

between Washington and Beijing in their trade battle over technology focusing on semiconductors and the equipment to make them.

On Saturday, China’s Ministry of Commerce said it was carrying out an antidumping investigation into certain analog IC chips imported from the U.S., including commodity chips commonly made by companies such as Texas Instruments and ON Semiconductor

The ministry also announced a separate antidiscrimination probe into U.S. measures against China’s chip sector

Shipping companies support new global fee on greenhouse gases

BY JENNIFER MCDERMOTT Associated Press

Nearly 200 shipping companies said Monday they want the world’s largest maritime nations to adopt regulations that include the ﬁrst-ever global fee on greenhouse gases to reduce their sector’s emissions.

The Getting to Zero Coalition, an alliance of companies, governments and intergovernmental organizations, is asking member states of the International Maritime Organization to support adopting regulations to transition to green shipping, including the fee, when they meet in London next month.

The statement was shared exclusively with The Associated Press in advance.

“Given the signiﬁcance of the political decision being made, we think it is important that industry voices in favor of this adoption be heard,” Jesse Fahnestock, who leads decarbonization work at the Global Maritime Forum, said Monday The forum manages the Getting to Zero Coalition.

The Trump administration unequivocally rejected the proposal before the IMO and has threatened to retaliate if nations support

it, setting the stage for a ﬁght over the major climate deal The U.S. considers the proposed regulatory framework “effectively a global carbon tax on Americans levied by an unaccountable U.N. organization,” the U.S. Secretaries of State, Commerce, Energy and Transportation said in a joint statement last month.

U.S.-based shipping companies, however, have endorsed it. The Chamber of Shipping of America wants one global system, not multiple regional systems that could double charge vessels for their emissions depending on the route, said Kathy Metcalf, the chamber’s president emeritus.

Shipping emissions have grown over the last decade to about 3% of the global total as vessels have gotten bigger, delivering more cargo per trip and using immense amounts of fossil fuels. The IMO, which regulates international shipping, set a target for the sector to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by about 2050, and has committed to ensuring that fuels with zero or near-zero emissions are used more widely

In April, IMO member states agreed on the contents of a regulatory framework to impose a minimum fee for every ton of green-

house gases emitted by ships above certain thresholds and set a marine fuel standard to phase in cleaner fuels. The IMO aims for consensus in decision-making but, in this case, had to vote. The United States was notably absent. Now nations have to decide if the regulations will enter into force in 2027 If agreed upon, the regulations will become mandatory for large oceangoing ships over 5,000 gross tonnage, which emit 85% of the total carbon emissions from international shipping, according to the IMO.

If nations don’t agree, shipping’s decarbonization will be further delayed and “the chance of the sector playing a proper and fair part in the ﬁght to keep global heating below dangerous levels will almost certainly be lost,” said Delaine McCullough, president of the Clean Shipping Coalition and Ocean Conservancy shipping program director

The U.S. secretaries said in their statement that “fellow IMO members should be on notice” the U.S. will “not hesitate to retaliate or explore remedies for our citizens” if they do not support the United States, against this action.

U.S. and China reach a framework deal on TikTok

JOSH

BOAK,

SUMAN NAISHADHAM and DIDI TANG

Press

Associated

MADRID A framework deal has been reached between China and the U.S. for the ownership of popular social video platform TikTok, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said after weekend trade talks in Spain.

Bessent said in a news conference after the latest round of trade talks between the world’s two largest economies concluded in Madrid that U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping would speak Friday to possibly ﬁnalize the deal. He said the objective was to switch to U.S. owner-

ship from China’s ByteDance.

“We are not going to talk about the commercial terms of the deal,” Bessent said. “It’s between two private parties. But the commercial terms have been agreed upon.” Li Chenggang, China’s international trade representative, told reporters the sides have reached “basic framework consensus” to resolve TikTok-related issues in a cooperative way, reduce investment barriers and promote related economic and trade cooperation.

The meeting in Madrid is the fourth round of trade talks between U.S. and Chinese officials since Trump launched a tariff war on Chinese goods in April. A ﬁfth round of negotiations is likely to

happen “in the coming weeks,”

Bessent said, with both governments planning for a possible summit between Trump and Xi later this year or early next year to solidify a trade agreement. However, nothing has been conﬁrmed, and analysts say possible trade bumps could delay the visit.

In Madrid, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the team was “very focused on TikTok and making sure that it was a deal that is fair for the Chinese” but also “completely respects U.S. national security concerns.”

Wang Jingtao, deputy director of China’s Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, told reporters in Madrid there was consensus on autho-

rization of “the use of intellectual property rights such as (TikTok’s) algorithm” — a main sticking point in the deal.

The sides also agreed on entrusting a partner with handling U.S user data and content security, he said.

During Joe Biden’s Democratic presidency, Congress and the White House used national security grounds to approve a U.S. ban on TikTok unless its Chinese parent company sold its controlling stake. U.S. officials were concerned about ByteDance’s roots and ownership, pointing to laws in China that require Chinese companies to hand over data requested by the government.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By NG HAN GUAN

Shipping containers are ready for transport in April at the Guangzhou Port in the Nansha district in southern China’s Guangdong province.

RURAL

Continued

more patients with Medicaid

Ofﬁcials say the new fund could help stabilize access to emergency rooms, recruit nurses and doctors to rural communities and modernize technology like electronic medical records and telehealth systems.

Dr Mehmet Oz, who leads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the program is designed to transform how care is delivered rather than cover dayto-day operating costs. During a call with reporters Monday, he described possible uses for the money, such as upgrading electronic records, expanding telehealth deploying mobile clinics and testing new payment models to make lowvolume hospitals more proﬁtable.

“If we do this the right way, states will customize solutions,” Oz said. “Understandably, the needs of the North Slope of Alaska are very different from upstate New York. They’re both rural but they have to be able to get access to care in different ways, and we need different types of providers to be able to work there.”

Half of the $50 billion will be divided equally among states that apply — giving the same allocation to Louisiana as large states such as Texas or California. The other half will be awarded at the discretion of Medicare and Medicaid Services, taking into consideration the size of each state’s rural population, the share of health facilities located in

DAVID GRUNFELD

lars. The Department of Health convened a Rural Health Transformation Task Force on Aug. 20, bringing together hospitals, clinics, universities, insurers, local ofﬁcials and business leaders to map out priorities.

“These funds are not earmarked for speciﬁc hospitals; rather, they can be used across the service delivery spectrum to help transform healthcare for residents in rural areas,” Health Secretary Bruce Greenstein said in an emailed statement.

The task force identiﬁed chronic illness, technology gaps and severe workforce shortages as urgent challenges.

gave $300 or less, according to reports.

“It’s clear that New Orleanians across our city and from all walks of life are seeing that hope is around the corner and chipping in their hard-earned resources,” Renee Lapeyrolerie said in a statement.

Asked for comment on his fundraising tally Thomas’ campaign manager Ethan Ashley, said: “This campaign is powered by people, not big checks.”

“Oliver Thomas is showing up at every debate, answering every question and knocking on every door to advance a vision of a city that works for everyone,” Ashley said in a statement.

Thomas has seen a dropoff in his ﬁnancial support in recent months, as the campaign reported roughly $115,000 in the recent period but close to $319,000 in the three months before that.

Yet a recent FOX8 poll for showed Thomas surpassing Duplessis for second place, while Moreno continues

HOUSING

Continued from page 1A

We’ve seen rates fall since early August and since then, prices are up slightly and our showings are up,” said Debbie Lewis, an associate broker with Burk Brokerage Real Estate, referring to the recent drop in mortgage rates in anticipation of Tuesday’s rate cut “Even a tiny change in the interest rate can make a difference.” For the first eight months of 2025, sales activity in the nine-parish New Orleans area remained essentially flat, falling less than 1%, according to the New Orleans Metropolitan Association of Realtors. But it has taken longer for sellers to find a buyer During that time, the amount of time homes spent on the market grew from 61 to 68 days.

In Orleans Parish, homes sat far longer than the metrowide average — 81 days, or 14% longer than the same period in 2024.

In Jefferson Parish, sales fell more than 3% while days on market increased more than 9% to 59 days. Meanwhile, in St. Tammany Parish, sales activity has increased more than 8% this year over last, though homes are spending more time on the market. On average it has taken 65 days for a home to sell, compared with 58 in 2024.

“It’s not dead, it’s not hor-

rural areas and the number of hospitals serving a high proportion of low-income patients.

Jeff Reynolds, director of the Rural Hospital Coalition of Louisiana, said the state is guaranteed at least $100 million a year for ﬁve years under the new program, with the possibility of receiving as much as $250 million annually depending on federal allocations.

While the money could be signiﬁcant, Louisiana will need to ﬁnd ways to invest in long-term improvements like the ones outlined by Oz, or others, such as workforce recruitment and upgrades for aging facilities, many of which date back to the 1950s and ’60s.

to lead the ﬁeld in all polls. Thomas scored 16% in the poll, while Duplessis slid into third place with 11% support, followed by another candidate, Frank Janusa — the only Republican in the race — getting 7% Moreno notched 51%, surpassing the majority threshold she would need to win outright on Oct. 11 without a runoff between the top two ﬁnishers.

Moreno spent almost $737,000 over the reporting period, more than either Duplessis or Thomas. She spent nearly $300,000 on television advertising — her campaign has run at least eight ads in total and $100,000 in fees for a team of consultants.

Thomas spent more than $224,000, including more than $88,000 on “GOTV” or “get out the vote” — activities or consulting He spent nearly $85,000 on consultants in all, and spent another more than $49,000 on campaign signs, billboards, media buys and other activities.

Duplessis spent more than $146,000 overall, and spent about half of that amount on marketing, consulting and professional services.

rible,” said broker Craig Mirambell, CEO of Mirambell Realty “It’s slow.”

While activity remains sluggish, home prices overall remained flat or rose slightly through the first eight months of the year Across the metro area, the median sale price was up nearly 2% to $279,000. In Orleans Parish, it inched up nearly 3% to $350,000.

In Jefferson Parish, the median sale price rose nearly 5% to $267,000. In St. Tammany Parish, it was unchanged at $295,000.

Brokers say everything depends on price and location.

Mirambell’s ﬁrm had two listings last week, one on Bonnabel Boulevard in Metairie, the other in Bucktown, that both received multiple offers.

“Stuff like that is still happening,” he said.

Some sellers, however, still expect to get the kind of returns they enjoyed during the pandemic-era buying frenzy Lewis points to two houses that recently hit the market in Lakeview’s 70124 ZIP code that were priced like new construction

“One of them is 10 years old now,” she said. “That means a 10-year roof and a 10-year-old HVAC. I understand the sellers wanting to get the kind of return they were hoping for, but they better hope they ﬁnd a cash buyer who doesn’t require an appraisal.”

New Orleans is not alone. Residential real estate

“This investment is very unique. I haven’t seen this in my 35-year career — a 100% federal grant invested just in rural communities and giving it such a short turnaround time to do this,” said Reynolds, who previously oversaw the state’s Medicaid budget as chief ﬁnancial ofﬁcer at the state Health Department.

Rural hospitals expect to take a bigger ﬁnancial hit from Medicaid cuts, but those reductions are not scheduled to begin for several years.

“It is a case where we’re having to look for ways to invest this limited money so when the rural hospitals start taking a reduction

He spent $3,800 on a field team, and another more than $3,800 on ads, campaign supplies and other expenses.

A dozen of Moreno’s donors have contributed $12,000, the maximum allowed by state law They include a mix of local donors and out-of-state donors, among them Zelia LLC, which is afﬁliated with Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson, and Houstonbased FMJR Management LLC.

Four of Moreno’s maximum donations came from wealth manager Pierre Villere, his children or corporate entities affiliated with the family Villere described Moreno as a longtime friend and said she “is, without a doubt, the most qualified candidate we’ve had for mayor since Moon Landrieu.”

“I moved to Mandeville 32 years ago because I got completely fed up with the crime and the potholes. And 32 years later, nothing has happened,” Villere said. “It’s hugely, hugely frustrating to see the lack of progress.” Moreno is also supported by a political action committee, Leadership Matters,

across the country has been hard hit by inflation and higher interest rates.

Unlike some markets, however home values in the New Orleans area, overall, have remained ﬂat while in some cities — particularly those in the Northeast and Midwest values have risen.

Experts say rising insurance rates are the biggest reason for the price differences. After a series of hurricanes slammed into the Louisiana coast in 2020, 2021 and 2022, insurance rates skyrocketed. More recently, they have leveled out.

If the 2025 seasons remains calm, real estate market watchers are hoping insurers will begin to feel more comfortable writing affordable policies for local homeowners. But the current hurricane season still has about two months to go.

In the meantime, Tuesday’s expected interest rate cuts could bring home mortgage rates down to 6% by the end of this year, National Association of Realtors economist Lawrence Yun recently advised the group.

“That will help,” Mirambell said. “But when you will really see the flood gates open is when they drop below 6%. Even just a drop to 5.99% will make people feel more comfortable. That’s when you’ll see things start to pick up again.”

Email Stephanie Riegel at stephanie.riegel@ theadvocate.com.

in state ﬁscal year 2029 they’re in a better position to deal with those reductions than they are today,” Reynolds said.

Louisiana has 49 rural hospitals operating under the state’s Rural Hospital Preservation Act, plus seven “look-alike” hospitals that receive partial rural reimbursement rates. Reynolds said the funding could support these hospitals and other rural providers, such as federally qualiﬁed health centers, clinics and ambulance services, depending on how the Department of Health designs its plan.

Louisiana has already begun drafting its required transformation plan to secure federal dol-

which raised more than $158,000 over the reporting period. Most of that, $100,000, came from the Latino Victory Project, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group that “develops leaders for public ofﬁce and works to harness the Latino community’s power,” according to its website.

Leadership Matters spent more than $52,000, mostly toward polling and consulting services, and has more than $250,000 on-hand. Campaign finance laws treat individuals and corporate entities they are afﬁliated with as separate donors,

Louisiana’s workforce gaps are severe: 73% of residents live in a primary care shortage area, 93% lack adequate access to mental health providers, and 86% face shortages in dental care. With nearly a third of the state’s population living in rural areas, those shortages fall especially hard on small towns.

The federal rules outlining which providers can receive the money are wide-ranging, Reynolds said, making the program a popular target.

“Because the federal law is so broad, they’ve been getting a request from everybody and their dog, to be honest with you,” he said To manage the inﬂux, the Health Department has launched a website for public input and plans to hold hearings across the state before ﬁnalizing its proposal.

Email Emily Woodruff at ewoodruff@theadvocate.com.

meaning a single person can exceed maximum limits by giving in the name of their businesses.

Duplessis reported nine maximum donors, including four from business owner Laney Chouest and his business entities. Chouest said he’s not endorsing anyone in the mayor’s race, but he contributed $48,000 to Duplessis to even the playing ﬁeld with Moreno. He said he hopes the contributions to Duplessis will foster “an open debate about separating policy from politics, about measured outcomes, about professional

management of every aspect of the city.”

“I don’t really care who wins,” Chouest said. “I know Helena. I’ve given her money in the past. I just didn’t think she needed any money.”

A political action committee tied to Duplessis’ mother, Ready PAC, has not ﬁled a report showing contributions and expenses. The only Ready PAC ﬁling on record is a statement of organization. Thomas didn’t report any max contributors. Thomas is not supported by any political action committees.

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JanRisher

LOUISIANA AT LARGE

Secret life of Mike theTiger

Even on hot dayswith minimal ventilation, LSU’scostumed mascot Mike the Tiger is still one cool cat. On aMonday afternoon at the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse at LSU, Team Mike captain Landon Terro and Kandace Hale, LSU’shead Tiger Girls/traditionscoach, reminded me early on: No one “is” Mike. Instead, Mike has helpers six to be exact. When it comes to taking the heat that invariably comes with the territory,Team Mike is ready

“Mike’sjust tough,” saidTerro, who is asenior at LSU from Lafayette. “Even if Mike is in an airconditioned environment, if Mike isn’tsweating,Mike’snot doing it right.” That toughness requires planning, an incredible work ethic, lots of conditioning and plenty of hydration.

Terro says most of the team members are about the same size —they range from 5’10” to 6’2”. Since 2005, when the new Team Mike era started, there have been 52 members. Terro is Mike No. 46, and this is his second year on the squad. Hale has been acoach at LSU for 11 years. She said she enjoys her work —particularly getting to know so many student-athletes. Her favorite part of the job is watching the student-athletes

ä See RISHER, page 2B

Five La. projects to viefor $50M prize

Effortsaim to make Gulf Coast more resilient

BYJOSIE ABUGOV Staff writer

Five Louisiana organizations were named among the finalists last week for a$50 million contest aimedatfunding projects that address environmental concerns along the Gulf Coast.

The ﬁnalists, which include projects led by Together Louisiana The Louisiana Public Health Institute and faculty at some of the state’slargest universities, aim to tackle energy security in the aftermath of storms, the high costs of ﬁnancing climate mitigation efforts andprotecting vulnerable coastal areas.

The Gulf FuturesChallenge, a philanthropic contest run by the National Academies’ Gulf Research Program and the national nonproﬁtLever forChange, will choose twofinal winnersbefore the end of the year to give$20 million each to implement their proposals. The funding is from the legal settlements related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

“The broadrange of projects reﬂected in these bold proposals

N.O. weighs expandingrecycling

BY JONI HESS Staff writer

As local governments across the U.S. andthe metro area scale back curbside recycling efforts, New Orleans officials areconsidering expanding services thanks to a $3.9million federal grant that could soon expire if thefunds aren’t used ACityCouncil committeeon Monday approved aplanfor the

grant money that was awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2023 and must be spent by March 2026. Nowthe plangoes to the full council for avote.

Under the expansion, which would start rolling out in November,curbside collection would change from an opt-in approach, where residentsregister through the city’s311 service, to an opt-out program

But some recyclingadvocates andatleast onetrash hauler have pushed back on the plan,claiming the city lacks the capacity to accommodate the expanded program. Most of the$4million wouldcover 83,000 newrollingplastic carts, including the replacement of 10,000 black recyclingcartsthat are more likely to be misused for trash It would alsopay fora 10-year master plan on solid waste, along

with educational initiatives that advocatessay areessential to the program’ssuccess. Washingtonbasednonprofit TheRecycling Partnership has awarded the city an additional $1.4 million to support therollout.

Department of SanitationDirector Matt Torri told council members thatthe programwould save the city money becauseeveryton diverted from thelandﬁll is roughly $35 saved by the city.“That adds up

STAFFPHOTOSByJOHN McCUSKER

BRICK

ABOVE: The Karnofsky Tailor Shop, ajazz landmarkconnected to themusic’s most legendary ﬁgurethat collapsed during HurricaneIda in 2021, has been painstakinglyrebuilt at 427 S. RampartSt. The Karnofskys,afamily of immigrant, Lithuanian Jews, employed ateenaged Louis Armstrong at theshop around 1914. The job of rebuilding theKarnofsky building was on the shoulders of architect Jennie Cannon West,ofStudio West. Thework wentbrick by brick,literally.The owners, GBX, hadstacked thebuilding’smasonry remains on the lot.

Police allege pattern of abuse, neglect

BY JOHN SIMERMAN and KASEY BUBNASH Staff writers

Themother of a12-year-old boy whowas found dead in aNew Orleans East lagoon late last month will remain jailed without bail after aMonday hearing, according to court records. HildaVasquez,34, appeared in OrleansParish Magistrate Court on acount of second-degreecruelty to juveniles and negligent homicide followingthe death of

her son,Bryan Vasquez,whose body was found among alligators on Aug. 26 after a12-day,multiagency search. Vasquez, who was being held at thePlaquemines Parishjail as of Monday evening, was denied bail after aprosecutor shared new details from three sustained Louisiana Department of Child and Family Servicesinvestigations, according to criminal justice sources. Oneinvestigation found thatVasquez and her youngest of threesurviving children had tested positive for cocaine earlier this year,sources said.

LEFT: A photograph of theoriginal structure reveals West’s recreation to be astriking resemblance, save for thesigns of decades of neglect that led to theoriginal structure’s collapse.‘This onewill last,’ West says of therebuilt landmark.

BYJAMES FINN Staff writer

event at Dooky Chase restaurant on Orleans Avenue.

Parish District Attorney Jason Williams. “Every day here at the nation’sCapitol,

Trump administration backs Chevron

Company asks high court to move coastal lawsuits

BY ALEX LUBBEN Staff writer

The Trump administration is siding with Chevron at the U.S. Supreme Court in a closely watched case related to Louisiana’s coastal lawsuits and whether they should be heard in state or federal court.

In a brief filed with the court last week, U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer agreed with Chevron, which was recently ordered by a Plaquemines Parish jury to pay $745 million to restore state wetlands, that it should be allowed to ﬁght that case and others in federal court, which is seen as a potentially friendlier venue for the oil giant.

The company has argued that federal court is the correct venue for cases of this type because they involve oil and gas production that was part of a federally sanctioned effort during World War II to make aviation fuel. Chevron and the companies it bought “worked for the federal government to

RECYCLING

Continued from page 1B

pretty quickly,” he said.

Administration ofﬁcials said the program could divert 19,000 to 30,000 tons of waste from the landﬁll, efforts that align with the city’s climate action goal of reducing environmental pollution and waste by 2030.

Torri added that the grant presents a “rare and unprecedented opportunity for the city to expand curbside recycling to all eligible households.” Currently, less than half of residents participate in the city’s recycling program.

City ofﬁcials also urged the expediency of the rollout after a wave

RISHER

Continued from page 1B

become leaders and seeing their success in and after college.

Team Mike Camp

The work involved for LSU’s beloved mascot starts with a weeklong Team Mike Camp every August before the school year and football season begin.

“We help plan things for Mike throughout the season, different kinds of wardrobe ideas,” Terro said And what a wardrobe it is.

Terro gave me a behind-thescenes tour of Mike’s super-secret closet, which is full of sequins, helmets, robes and Mardi Gras beads. Despite the private tour, I was not able to open the door to see Mike’s Lair That was off-limits, reserved only for Team Mike.

However, I did see the costumes for Santa Claus Mike, Darth Vader Mike, Elvis Mike, Mardi Gras Mike, Ghostbuster Mike, Egg Mike and Kim Mulkey Mike. Superman Mike is always a favorite, Terro said. For all of the outlandish costumes, there’s a seamstress, Miss Sherry, who makes sure everything ﬁts.

Because, as Hale explained, “Mike’s a special size.”

‘We’re here for Mike’ Terro said he sees being a part of Team Mike as an act of service.

CARTER

Continued from page 1B

40-second video spot shared on Moreno’s Instagram account “I need a strong mayor that’s able to receive those dollars and makes sure they’re going where they need to go. And for that reason, I’m endorsing Helena Moreno.”

Carter, who represents the 2nd Congressional District, and Richmond, who held the seat before him, are viewed, in part, as two of the New Orleans’ political kingmakers, largely because of their experience winning elections and mobilizing voters. The endorsements are expected to bolster Moreno’s already strong performance in the polls and with political donors in the weeks leading up to the Oct. 11 primary

Of 625 registered voters surveyed for one poll conducted earlier this month, 51% said they would vote

reﬁne aviation gasoline — a vital wartime product that powered Allied air forces to victory,” Sauer argued in the brief.

Plaquemines Parish, which sued the companies, has argued successfully in lower courts that the oil in question was not directly linked to wartime production and therefore the case should remain in state court.

A long legal saga

The case before the Supreme Court relates to one of more than 40 similar lawsuits across south Louisiana, all spearheaded by Baton Rouge attorney John Carmouche of law firm Talbot, Carmouche and Marcello, that seek damages from oil companies for coastal restoration

The first of the cases was filed in 2013. Though the legal saga stretches back more than a decade, the new filing means that Gov Jeff Landry and Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill are now on the opposite side of the case from the Trump administration.

Landry’s administration argued the case in Plaquemines alongside the parish and Carmouche, and Murrill has been outspoken in support of the litigation.

of EPA grants were canceled by President Donald Trump’s administration

Under the Trump administration, the EPA canceled a $156 million federal grant awarded to the state for solar energy, and about $70 million has been sliced from projects centered on air quality monitoring, disaster response and environmental education

Some have taken issue with the city’s ability to process more tons of recycled material with only two facilities in the region.

IV Waste owner Sidney Torres, whose company services the largest number of New Orleans households, sent a letter to the administration last month asking ofﬁcials to delay the rollout. Torres said the shift to opt-outs and a lack of resident re-

STAFF PHOTO By JAN RISHER

Team Mike captain Landon Terro gives Jan Risher a behind-thescenes tour of Mike the Tiger’s wardrobe.

“Mike’s the focal point,” Terro said. “He’s the moneymaker He has such a rich history of just making people happy.”

Some members of the team don’t even tell their family members of their role in the magic that is game day at Tiger Stadium and beyond.

Team Mike members know most of the work they do isn’t glamorous.

“It is very faceless,” Terro said.

“We’re not here for any of the recognition. We’re here for Mike.”

for Moreno City Council member Oliver Thomas polled second at 16% while state Sen. Royce Duplessis scored third at 11%. A Floridabased ﬁrm, Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy, performed the poll, which had a 4% margin of error In Carter’s endorsement video, Moreno says she’ll “continue ﬁghting for you, and for a brighter New Orleans.”

Duplessis has secured endorsements from former New Orleans Mayor Sidney Barthelemy, Chief Justice Bernette Johnson, 1st City Court Constable Lambert Boissiere Jr and his son, former Public Service Commissioner Lambert Boissiere III, and former state Reps. Louis Charbonnet and Irma Muse Dixon, among others.

He also received the endorsement of the Orleans Parish Democratic Executive Committee. Thomas has been endorsed by the Independent Democratic Electors’ Association.

Murrill said Monday she is standing behind the lawsuits.

“When the Supreme Court gets past the smoke and mirrors, it will see there’s no federal contractor connection,” Murrill said. “But as I’ve said before, it won’t matter whether we are in state or federal court for this small group of lawsuits. The jurors are the same people.”

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a friend of the court filing, meaning that while it is not a party to the lawsuit, it claims a signiﬁcant interest in its outcome.

Since the cases were filed, oil companies have tried three times to remove the cases to federal court. That effort has so far been unsuccessful. In 2022, a split threejudge panel at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back to state court and it moved forward to trial.

Carmouche, working for Plaquemines Parish, won the case in April after a monthlong trial, successfully convincing a jury that the company did not properly clean up after it ceased oil production.

But before the trial started, Chevron had appealed the 5th Cir-

cycling education will “only result in an increased volume of contaminated waste placed in cans intended for recycling.”

Also at issue, Torres said, is a lack of processing capacity for recycled materials at the two facilities used by local collection companies. The CW Recycling facility in Harahan is small and was closed multiple times this year without notice, he said, forcing trucks to haul materials to the next nearest facility in Baton Rouge.

City ofﬁcials noted those challenges in their presentation to the council Monday, saying a phased rollout schedule would ease the immediate impact on contractors, along with public outreach efforts on what can be recycled.

Recycling advocate and founder

There’s some Clark Kent-ness to the whole thing. Or Peter Parker, as the case may be, according to Terro.

One minute he’s walking down Victory Hill, and the crowd is going wild. Two days later he’s taking the same path completely anonymously No one recognizes him.

Even so, there are beneﬁts.

“We’re on scholarship. We get merchandise. We get a bunch of beneﬁts through the school and the athletic department,” Terro said. “Just being able to travel — if you’re a sports fan, you get to be front row, literally, seeing all the things happen.”

Still, Terro said he believes it goes back to service.

He recognized how a quick interaction with Mike can be a game changer for a kid in the stands, a fellow student or a longtime fan.

“A mediocre interaction with Mike is a bad interaction,” Hale said. “We want every interaction to be memorable, and we never know when it’s someone’s ﬁrst time to meet Mike.”

Terro said that sense of responsibility has shaped his perspective, and he believes it will continue to shape him for years to come.

“This, more than anything, has taught me service and sacrifice and putting someone else first,” Terro said. “Putting the team, putting Mike before myself — it’s just finding the beauty in service and giving back to people.”

MOTHER

Continued from page 1B

A spokesperson for the Orleans Public Defender’s Ofﬁce, which represented Vasquez at the hearing, declined to comment.

New Orleans police arrested Vasquez on Sept. 7, citing a pattern of abuse and failed parenting over the course of Bryan’s short life.

In a police afﬁdavit supporting Vasquez’s arrest, New Orleans Police Department Ofﬁcer Mario Bravo wrote that Vasquez had left the boy and his 11-year-old sister home alone the morning of his Aug. 14 disappearance, despite Bryan’s past attempts to sneak away from home.

She’d “elected not to bring Bryan or his sister to school,” having yet to provide a new address for a school bus to reach them, Bravo wrote.

Continued from page 1B

cuit’s ruling that the case belonged in state court, and the Supreme Court agreed to hear that appeal.

The Supreme Court is expected to hear the case in the fall If it were to rule in favor of Chevron, some or all of the 40 cases in Louisiana could move from state to federal court. Vic Marcello, a lawyer on Carmouche’s legal team, said a federal judge could vacate the Plaquemines verdict if the Supreme Court sends that case to federal court.

Republican attorneys general from seven states, led by West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey, ﬁled briefs arguing that the cases belong in federal rather than state court.

So did the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Louisiana-based freemarket think tank The Pelican Institute, and six Republican senators, led by U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.

The lawmakers argued in their brief that “a party acting on behalf of the federal government should not have to litigate claims in potentially hostile venues” referring to the local Louisiana parishes where the cases were ﬁled.

of local nonprofit Realcycle Ben Bagwill said the city’s program will fail if not implemented correctly Items will still go to the landﬁll under the current system of recycling materials in a single bin, rather than separating them by category, such as plastics from organic waste, he said.

“If we want to reach our 2030 climate action goals, we should really be focused on organics and compost, which is food. None of that is being considered in this new rollout,” he said.

Across the country, local governments have been cutting back on recycling services as costs have gone up. Last year both the city of Gretna and Jefferson Parish ended curbside service and started dropoff sites.

The joy outweighs the work

The Team Mike schedule is demanding.

Game days are especially intense, with early mornings and being among the ﬁrst to arrive at Tiger Stadium.

“And we’re the last ones to leave. We meet three times a week — whether it’s for social media, for scheduling, grooming, costume — whatever it is, just getting everything in order,” Terro said. “Obviously we’re collegiate, but I’d say it’s a professional gig.”

Occasionally they meet celebrities and get front-row views to history For Terro, though, it goes back to the individual interactions with fans.

“To really be able to make a difference in someone’s life, at least for me, is why I continue to do it and what sticks out to me the most,” Terro said.

Dancing is also a part of the job.

“It’s always nice to hit the Griddy, which is like an LSU staple,” Terro said. “Everybody knows the Griddy Everybody knows how to jig.”

Everyone except me.

I had to get a lesson on the jig. (This Baton Rouge staple is not a dance move I’ll be bringing to the dance ﬂoor.)

But Terro would have been more than happy to try and teach me.

He’s that kind of guy

Maybe that’s the secret of Mike the Tiger — the magic is in the mask, but the heart is in the helpers.

The NOPD investigation also found troubling details in past child welfare agency reports.

Though family members and authorities had described Bryan as nonverbal and autistic during their search, an agency report from 2021 said his disability was classified in an individualized education plan as a “traumatic brain injury (non-accidental).”

An earlier police report states Vasquez injured the boy when he was 3 months old. He’d been taken to the emergency room with a damaged lung, retinal hemorrhages, fractures in both legs and a skull fracture.

Vasquez was charged in 2014 with cruelty to juveniles and second-degree cruelty to juveniles, and later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of negligent treatment or neglect.

Other child welfare reports also state Bryan had twice contracted tapeworms and attended school with bruises and scratches.

demonstrate the power that science, engineering, and medicine can bring to drive transformative change in the Gulf,” Marcia McNutt, president of the National Academy of Sciences, said in a statement that announced the ﬁnalists.

Solar and clean energy plans

Three of the Louisiana project finalists focus on clean energy including efforts to create more sites in the region that can provide power during hurricanes and tropical storms.

Together Louisiana, a coalition of organizations from New Orleans to Shreveport, would be able to build around 80 new “community lighthouses” if it is selected, according to Brod Bagert, an organizer with the New Orleans chapter of the group. This would roughly quadruple the number of solar and battery-powered churches and community centers the group began building in the wake of Hurricane Ida.

“The $20 million would put us in a place we have never been before,” Bagert said.

Together Louisiana could bring the resilience hubs in every neighborhood in New Orleans and North Baton Rouge, Bagert said, and begin expanding into the Texas, Mississippi and Florida coasts.

Another ﬁnalist for the contest, the statewide nonprofit The Louisiana Public Health Institute, aims to make community health centers along four Gulf Coast states into solar and battery-powered resilience hubs. Taslim van Hattum, the chief program ofﬁcer of the institute, said the institute wants to be able to maintain operations before, during and after a disaster If it receives funding, the project will ensure that eight community health centers in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida are able to provide uninterrupted clinical care for more than 2.5 million patients, van Hattum said.

A third proposal from LSU and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette offers a “blueprint for energy transition” in the Gulf by bringing clean energy, workforce development and coastal restoration efforts to Iberia Parish.

Local residents, especially those from underrepresented populations, will install and operate the new systems, according to a summary proposal of the plan.

Flooding, wind turbines

LSU, in partnership with a cohort of institutions stretching from southwest Louisiana to Texas, will bring ﬂood protection and energy infrastructure to communities along the Gulf Coast in need of climate mitigation projects if it is selected.

The Community Co-Financed Flood and Energy Resilience effort — which includes scientists, local residents and corporate investors aims to provide projects that are typically difficult to ﬁnance.

The fifth finalist was a proposal from faculty in Tulane University’s architecture and public health programs. They are part of a group of academic institutions and private companies that want to repurpose decommissioned wind turbines for coastal structures, such as columns for fishing piers, seawalls and raising homes.

“The blade’s high energy absorption makes them perfect for fenders and barriers, while their durability can be harnessed for building sustainable community amenities,” a video overview for the project states.

All 10 finalists will receive a $300,000 grant to strengthen their proposals. The eight groups who don’t win the $20 million prize will be eligible for up to $875,000 in project development support, according to the National Academies.

Email Josie Abugov at josie. abugov@theadvocate.com.

LOTTERY

Allemand, Johnny

Boudreaux, Carroll

Caulfield, Debra

Godelfer,Barbara Joubert,Anna

ReadeIII, Vincent

Taylor,Constance Viso,Vincent

NewOrleans

Lake Lawn Metairie

Boudreaux, Carroll

Joubert,Anna

Majestic Mortuary

Taylor,Constance

West Bank West Leitz-Eagan

Obituaries

Johnny X. Allemand, 94, anative of Lockport anda resident of Thibodaux, passed away on Saturday, August 30, 2025. Avisitation will be held in his honor on Friday, September19, 2025, at St. Joseph CoCathedral, Thibodaux, LA, from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m.; the Rev.Michael Bergeron willofficiate at a Mass of Christian burial beginning at 12:00 p.m., to befollowed by internment at St. Joseph Cemetery.He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Priscilla Hebert Allemand; children, John Allemand (Seattle, WA), Celeste Allemand Knoll (Richard) of Atlanta, GA, Mark Allemand (Tucson AZ), and Claire Allemand Carmouche; son-in-law Patrick Rupp, grandchildren, Ana and John Knoll (Atlanta, GA); Abbey (New Orleans,LA), Grace (Baton Rouge, LA) and Olivia Carmouche; Madison Rupp Sukkar (Cameron) and Morgan Rupp; and one sister, Lilly Rose Trosclair of Larose. He was preceded in death by his parents, Xavier and Celestine Breaux Allemand; daughter, Michelle Elizabeth Allemand Rupp; two brothers, Roy and Roland Allemand; five sisters, Vivian A. Parr, Lillian A. Rome, Betty Joyce A. Chiasson, and Marian A. Cretini. AgraduateofLSU Law School, Mr. Allemand was awell-known and beloved pillar of the legal community in Thibodaux, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and throughout Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes for over sixty years. Aman of greatfaith,his integrity, collegiality, love and tireless devotion to his family, dear friends and clients will be greatly missed. The family would like to convey their gratitude to his faithful caregivers, Bernice, Demetrice, Nicole, Christal, Sherry, and Jenny.A very special note of thanks for the unwavering support of dear family friends, Marga and Jimmy Toloudis. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, Covenant House or the charity of your choice. Onlinecondolences can be made at http://ww w.ordoynefunerals.com/. Funeral arrangements were trusted to Ordoyne Funeral Home, 1489 Saint Patrick Street Thibodaux, LA 70301.

Boudreaux,Carroll Anthony

He was preceded in death by his parents,Allen AnthonyBoudreaux and Bernice Martinez Boudreaux He willlovingly be rememberedbyhis wifeof 53 years, Barbara Murphy Boudreauxand histhree daughters, Kristi Savage (Matt), KerriBoudreaux Glynn, and Kimee Nass (Ted), his granddaughters, Katie Glynn and Victoria Savage,and his three grandsons, LoganGlynn, Jake Savage, and Teddy Nass. He is also survived by his sister-in-law, Judy Acheealong with many other caring familymembers. He graduated from West Jefferson High School.He servedinthe United States Army and after his honorabledischarge, worked at the National Finance Center withinthe Department of Agriculture for over 35 yearsasacomputer systemsanalyst. Carroll willberemembered for his enjoyment of life, his loveoffamily, and his many passions. An avid golfer, he found joyand peace on the course, often sharing the game with his many friends. He wasalso adevoted sports fan, especially when it cametofootballand cheering hisfavoriteteams, Tulane and the Saints. Carroll cherishedtime spent with his family, creating countless memories filled with laughter, love, and togetherness. He especiallyloved gathering around atable, toastingtofondmemories withhis three daughters. Musicwas anotherofhis great joys, singing along with his favoritesongsand reminiscing on his days of trumpet playing. His warmth, get-up-and-go, and devotion will live onin the heartsofall who knew and loved him.

Amemorial servicewill be held on Friday, September 19, 2025, at LakeLawn Metairie Funeral Home,5100 Pontchartrain Blvd. New Orleans, LA. Visitation will be held from 9:00 am11:00amwith aCatholic prayerservice to begin at 11:00am.

DebraAnn Caulfield, age 69, passedawaypeacefully on September9,2025, at herhomeinLafitte Louisiana. Born on March 17, 1956, in NewOrleans Louisiana, Debrawas the daughter of IdaMae Silcio andAndrewGuillot.Her life wasrooted in thevi‐brantculture andcloseknit communities of south‐ernLouisiana,where she spenther yearssur‐rounded by familyand friends. Debraislovingly remembered by herhus‐band of 30 years, Joe "Bado" Caulfield; hersons, LennyBernard (Jenny), BryanBernard (Nicole) andRyanBernard (Jackie); andher step-children, Gay‐lynn Baudoin(Rocky) and GradyCaulfield(Melissa); herGodchild Hope Caulfield; hersiblings Elaine Guillotand Larry Guillot. Herpresencewill be deeply missed by those who knew andloved her. Shewas preceded in death by herparents,Ida MaeSil‐cioand Andrew Guillotas well as siblings Roland & Eugene Guillot. Debrawas cher ity, spir able both ship care shen with pour into He of me hind wa love hear pice low, care this will Satu 2025 side Ho pres Loui plea in Brea www dati herm

thosewho mournher pass‐ing.

Godelfer,Barbara Ann Barbara Ann Godelfer, 80, passed away on August 25, 2025after abrief illness. She wasthe daughter of the late Miriam and ThomasGodelfer. Barbara is survived by sisters Lynn Blankenship Beverly Montalbano, and Miriam Hodges, brother ThomasGodelfer, Jr.,as well as many niecesand nephews. She wasa graduateof St.JosephAcademyand USL,and wasa retired AT&T accountexecutive. Visitation will be September18at10:30, at Celebration Church, 3550 WilliamsBlvd. Funeral serviceswill follow at 11:30.

Joubert, Anna Zanco

Anna Zanco Joubert, age 99, passedaway peacefully at her home in Metairie, Louisiana, on Friday, September 12, 2025, after a long and joyful life.She was born on June 28, 1926, to thelate Philip Zanco Sr and Anna Tenisci Zanco She was precededindeath by her beloved husband, Russell J. Joubert;her sons, Russell G. Joubert,infant Russell S. Joubert; and her brother, Philip Zanco Jr.She is survivedbyher devoted daughter, Denise Joubert; her grandson, ChristopherJoubert,who was her pride and joy, and Louis Molay,whom she lovedlikeason. Anativeof NewOrleans and aresident of Metairie,she graduated fromJohn McDonoghGirls' High School and proudlyattended her class reunions until theCOVID pandemic. She workedfor many years as acreditmanager at MaisonBlanche and D.H. Holmes. She was aparishionerofSt. Benilde CatholicChurch and a member of theCheri Ami. The family extends its heartfelt gratitude to Dale Lupoand her niece, Donna Labat,and nephew, Ronnie Zanco, for their support and loving care. Special thanksare also givento her devoted caregivers: Maxine Franklin, Shikita Harper,CarrieHackett, Quita Fleming,Anonia Capella, and Serenity Hospice. Relativesand friends are invitedtoattend theFuneral Mass in thechapel of Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvdin NewOrleans, on Thursday, September 18, 2025, at noon.Interment willfollow at LakeLawn Mausoleum. Visitationwillbeginat 10:30 AM. In lieu of flowers, thefamily requests that massesbeoffered at St BenildeCatholicChurch or donations to St. Jude Children's Hospital

ReadeIII,Vincent Joseph Patrick

15 in NewOrleans. Born in Boston, MA to Vincent II andKathryn Marie, he considered himself arebel and held'affablereprobate' as thegreatest compliment received, thoughhis work ethicand kind heart told anotherstory. He was amember of the first graduating class at Sacred Heart University, where he studiedPolitical Science and was one of the threefounding editorsof theschoolnewspaper, the Obelisk. He went on to the NewSchool in NewYork forhis Masters in Political Science and later received hisMBA in Finance from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

After several false starts of almost matrimony, he met theloveofhis life, Alice Elizabeth Reade in Brooklyn in 1968. They married less than ayear laterand embarked on a53 year marriage. He worked in economicdevelopment in both in theDepartment of Commerce, and then in NewYork State Government.

After leaving Government in 1979 he and Betsy moved to Hartford, Connecticut where he workedfor the region's economicdevelopment agency. In Hartford he and Betsy welcomed theirsecond child, Thomas. Following his wife's increasingly successful insurance career, he moved intoMortgageBanking in NorthernVirginia.

Vincent and Betsy lived in Virginia, NewYork, Connecticut,Arizona and finally landedinLouisiana, to be closer to their childrenand granddaughter. In additiontohis family Vincent's other great love was dogs, in particular collies.Dana and Ginger, then GingerII, then Princess Fancy Ginger were his constant companions until his last years.

Vincent enjoyed long walks, philosophy, The WolfeTones, Bond movies and being scolded by the women in his family.He served on theParish CouncilofSt. Francis of Assissi in NewOrleans and was aregular attendee at theChapel of St.Ignatius. He was also amember of theIgnatianVolunteers. He is survivedbyhis twosons Christopher(Kendra) Reade and Thomas Reade and his granddaughter Fiona Alice Reade. He is predeceased by his younger siblings Robert and Kathryn, and hiswife of almost 53 years, Betsy Reade,whom he desperately missed in the time they were separated Amass of Christian Burial willbeheldon October18that11am at SaintAnn'sChurch at 5300 North10thStreet Arlington, VA. Interment willbeinSaratogaSprings, NY in thefamily plotshortly thereafter

Those who wish to celebrateVincent are asked to peta dog,sneaka treatto adog, eat butterscotch pudding and jaywalk. Contributions to your local SPCA or PetShelter are encouraged

ConstanceLucille Taylor enteredintoeternal rest on Monday September8 2025. Shewas born to the union of thelateElvin Bar‐rowCanty Jr.and Cather‐ineChrissCanty.Her Chris‐tian life beganatFirst Mount CalvaryBaptist Church.She wasbaptized at an earlyage by thelate

tees throughout theyears Constancewas aproud graduate of St.Mary’s AcademyHighSchool.She continuedher academic journeyatXavierUniver‐sity,where sheearneda Bachelor’s Degree in Physi‐calEducation andbecame acherished member of Zeta PhiBetaSorority, Inc. For43remarkableyears Constancedevoted herself to the fieldofEducation—a callingthattruly chose her. As oneofNew Or‐leans’ most belovedSpe‐cial Educationteachers, shetouched countless liveswithher unwavering compassion,tirelessdedi‐cation,and deep belief in thepotential of everystu‐dent.Her impact spanned generations, andher legacylives on in the hearts of thoseshe taught, mentored,and inspired Beyond theclassroom, Constance’snurturing spirit extended deeply into herfamilylife. Shehad a specialgiftfor connecting with herniecesand nephews, especially as they navigatedyoung adulthood.Whether offer‐ingguidance, encourage‐ment,orsimplya listening ear, shewas asteadypres‐ence—one who made each of them feel seen,valued, andloved.Her abilityto uplift andempower the next generation wasone of hermostcherished quali‐ties.Constance wasunited in MatrimonyonNovember 22, 1974, to CharlesEdward Taylor.Fromthisunion was born oneson thelate CharlesDia Taylor,also twin daughtersCandace Taylor andCatherine Tay‐lorLee (John).Constance wasprecededindeath by her sonCharles DiaTaylor; herparents ElvinBarrow CantyJr. andCatherine Chriss Canty. Hergrand‐parentsElvin Barrow Canty Sr.and MaggieWilson Canty, AnthonyChrissSr. andLucille HaleyChriss; Uncles AnthonyChrissJr. John Edward Chriss and William(Bill)Canty.Great nephews: Marc T. CantyIII, andDerickCanty Jr.Con‐stance is survived by her husband CharlesEdward Taylor;Her daughters Can‐dace Taylor andCatherine Taylor Lee(John).Her grandchildrenCharley AmourLee andJohnLee III. HersisterElvin Denise CantyHaynes. Her nephew’s Derick CantySr. (Natashia) Marc CantyJr. (Alexis).Her nieceAshley Brumfield. Cherished friendsMaryCarter (Nathan),Wanda Canty Lewis(Regonald). Cher‐ishedcousins:Janel Chriss, JaronChriss, ShirleyBrum‐field, andRobertJoseph. Greatnephews andnieces: MarquelCanty,Da’Marco Canty, Brittany Wolf (Ian), Skyy Canty, KalieghCanty anda massivehostof cousinsand friends. Rela‐tivesand Friendsofthe Family also Pastors, Offi‐cers andMembers of Fel‐lowshipMissionaryBaptist Church areall invitedtoat‐tend theFuneral Serviceon Wednesday, September17, 2025 at 10:00am at Greater Pleasant Green Baptist Church (hostchurch)3431 S. ClaiborneAve.New Or‐leans, LA.70125. Host Pas‐torRev.Patrick Walker,Sr. Rev. MosesS.Gordon, II, Senior Pastor of Fellowship MissionaryBaptist Church andRev.Moses S. Gordon, III, ExecutivePastorwillbe Officiating. Visitation will beginat9:00am. Interment in Providence Memorial Park.ProfessionalArrange‐mentsEntrusted to Majes‐

VincentCarlo Viso passedawaypeacefullyon August 30, 2025, at age90. Vincentwas born in New Orleansand wasa long‐time resident of Harahan. He attended Louisiana StateUniversity, served in theAir Forceand later graduatedfromTulaneUni‐versity. Hislovingwifeof 53 years, SueBergenViso, passedawayin2018. He is preceded in deathbyhis parents, Vincentand Lena Viso andhis brotherLeon Viso.His only child,Car‐olyn Viso,surviveshim Vincenthas hada variety of jobs throughout hisca‐reer.Hewas apersonnel manager, arealestatebro‐kerand ahomebuilder who builtmanycustom homesinDestrehan and RiverRidge.Hewas ade‐votedCatholicwho at‐tended Mass at St.Rita. He also enjoyedlunchatPic‐cadilly, cakesfromMcKen‐zies andfamilyvacations in Destin andGulfShores. In recent years, he enjoyed sharingstories of hischild‐hood memories at his grandparents’homein GrandIsleand hisAir Force servicedays. Hiscarewas supportedbyhis sister-inlaw, CarolBoeneke,who visitedhim frequently, bringing chickensand‐wiches andice cream, and hisniece,Sue Eilertsen, who took care of hishome, the ﬁnalhouse he builtin Harahan. Thefamilywould like to thankthe staff of SunriseinMetairieand In‐spired Living in Kenner Arrangements entrustedto TharpFuneral Home.Ex‐pressionsofloveand sym‐pathymay be placed and viewed at www.tharpcares. com.

When youneed thenews. Wherever youreadthe

Caulfield, Debra Viso,Vincent

Allemand, Johnny X.

Viso,Vincent Carlo

Taylor,Constance Lucille

Caulﬁeld, DebraAnn

Tackling heat-related deaths needstobe apriority

Scorching summers are nothing new inLouisiana. But as temperatures soar,there isa rising humantollinour statethat has often gone unnoticed. In an investigative report in thisnewspaper, reporter Sam Karlin explored how heat-related deaths have skyrocketed in recent years,often affecting elderly and vulnerable populations Data from the Centers forDiseaseControland Prevention tracked this alarming rise in fatalities due to heat that have totaled an annualaverage of 45 per year across Louisiana over thepastﬁve years. That’s close to afourfold increase inthe death rate compared to the previous two decades Anditputs Louisiana near the top in heat-related deaths in the nation. Only Arizona andNevada have recorded more in the past two years.But experts say that even those numbers may be an undercount, giventhat the effects of deadly heat exposure arenot often tracked by coronersor health professionals.

While heat-relateddeaths seem to have dipped thisyear, the problemisexpectedtoonly get worse due to climate change.

Louisiana’sunique geography adds to thethreat, with our plethora of bayous, lakes andswamps making ourclimate more humid than most. High humidity makes it harderfor the bodytocool down

We are also seeing an increase in the duration of heat waves, which on average last 4.5 days longer in New Orleans today compared to theaverage in the 1960s.

In the record-setting summer of 2023,New Orleanssaw the second-longest streak ofdayswith extreme heat in the world. That summer also saw 86 heat-relateddeaths,the most the state hasever recorded.

Finding ways to address the issue isn’t as easy as it might seem. Certainly,taking steps to lower the impact of climate change is part ofthe longterm solution.

Planting trees can also help keep citiescooler,as often trees tend to be located in wealthier neighborhoods,leaving some low-income residents trapped in urban heat islands.

But moreimmediate relief is needed forthe many low-income and elderly Louisianans who lack resources to protect themselvesfromthe heat.According to theEnergy InformationAdministration, about 76% of Louisiana residents have central air conditioning. That’saround the same percentage as South Dakota, astate withsigniﬁcantlycooler average summer temperatures.

We are used to weather-related risks inLouisiana, butheat has become an insidious killer that we are only beginning to understand.There is no federalprogramorfunding to mitigate theeffects of extreme heat, as our reporting notes, butraising awarenessofthe danger is an important ﬁrst step.

We hope that more peoplewill keep an eye on theirneighborswhen temperaturesrise.As always, acaring community can be alifeline to those in need.

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE AREOUR

GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’scity of residence.The Advocate |The TimesPicayune require astreet address and phone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor, The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@theadvocate.com.

TO SENDUS ALETTER SCAN HERE YOUR VIEWS

HarahanParkofHeroeswas aworthyproject

As alongtimeHarahan resident,I’ve seen our city grow while holding onto its small-town character.Neighbors look out for one another,families take pride in their homes, and our police force works tirelessly to ensure Harahan is consistently ranked among the safest cities in Louisiana. Just three miles downriver sits one of themost vibrant cities in the world: New Orleans, Louisiana. Its culture, music and food are unmatched anywhere. Yetwhile New Orleans often makes national news as one of the most dangerous cities in the United States, Harahan stands in sharp contrast —consistently ranked among

What Cantrell’s indictment says aboutus

Poet Maya Angelou’swords come to mind when reading about Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s indictments. “Whensomeone shows you who they are, believe them; the ﬁrst time.”

Iforgave Mayor Cantrell when she was accused of using her city council credit card for personal use. She said she’d pay it back, and she was acommunityactivist. Ihad hopes she could and would bring gains for New Orleans.What the cityhas is regrets and shame.

Iamoutraged by theshameless grift and blatant misuse of public funds for personal enrichment by our public ofﬁcials at our local levels and at the very top of our national government.We, the people, have to do better when electing our public servants.

REGINA VILLAVASO

NewOrleans

Recycling service is top-notch

Kudos to theGlass Half Full staff at the recycling center on David Drive. Iwent therewith aload of recycling, and they werefastand efﬁcient.Iwas in and out in no time. Ihope more folks will use this service.

KATHY CLARK NewOrleans

thesafest communities in Louisiana. That ability to enjoy New Orleans’ energy while living in asafe, family-oriented town is what makes Harahan so special. Recently,our city has been in thenews for less ﬂattering reasons. Questions have been raised about howcertain projects were managed.I cannotspeak to every detail, but Ican share my own experience. When the city approached me to donate to the newmemorial,every interaction Ihad withcityleaders made their focus crystal clear: to create alasting tribute to the fallen heroes of our community The mayor,council and citizensin-

volvedshowedgenuine enthusiasm for honoring families whoseloved ones gave theirlivesinservicetothiscountry This memorialdeserves to be recognized forwhat it is —a powerful reminder of sacriﬁce, built in oneofthe safest andmost family-oriented communities in Louisiana. Ihope thecitizens of Harahan, despiteany external noise, remain proudofthis tribute. AndI encourage anyone,whether from Harahan or New Orleans, to come visit,reﬂect on the stories of ourheroes andexperience the quietstrengthofthis community.

DANNY MCKEARAN Harahan

Bikers in city face unnecessary risksdue to driver carelessness

I’mwriting to support MonicaClark’s letterpublished Aug, 19 about thelack of bike safety in New Orleans.InDecember 2024, Iwas hit by acar thatran ared light at Allen Toussaint and Wisner resultingintwo broken ribs, acracked skull, concussion, bruises across my body and three months of vertigo in bed.

When it comes to bikers, New Orleans drivers are either careless,stupidordownright antagonistic. On countless occasions, drivers making aright hand turn on red have completely ignored bikers whohavea

green lightand theright of way. Anddrivers turning at an intersection are so consumed withgetting across theintersection that they completelyignore thebikercrossing withthe right of way. More signage at major intersectionswouldn’thurt, but until drivers learn therulesofthe road anddrive withpatience andcommon sense, it looks like bikers will have to be ultra defensive in theirridingbecause drivers won’tbeatall defensive in theirdriving.

STEVENLANE NewOrleans

City doesn’tunderstanddangers of commercial short-term rentals

The people and culture of New Orleans arethe magic. And the magic is being destroyed from within.

Commercial short-term rentals are acity-sanctioned destructive force thathave spread like acancer throughout our neighborhoods. This unmanaged over-proliferation has disproportionately impacted historic and mixed-use neighborhoods, thathave character and charm withlocal businesses supporting the residents. Unchecked CSTR development has all but destroyed these neighborhoods. Ilive in one of these neighborhoods. CSTR developers have bought most of the vacant land and buildings here. Onmy

street, half of the buildings are CSTRs. Oneblock over,the entire side of one street is occupied by 10 newCSTRs. Long-term rentalshavebeen converted intoCSTRs. Instead of neighbors, Iamgreeted by empty houses that are occasionally occupiedby people Idon’tknow. There hasbeen too much harm done,withthe erosion of neighborhoodsand much-needed residential housing. The city needsto eliminate CSTRs, revoking the2016 legislation that initially allowedthemand the2019 legislation that attempted to further regulate them Don’tlet thecitydestroy themagic LYLE MONTGOMERY NewOrleans

Photoofteacher didn’t reflect seriousnessof abuseaccusation

Ifound your choice of pictures forthe story aboutJosh Kalgerodd. Why notuse his mugshotinstead of acharismatic photo of him singing at amayoral inauguration? It is very difﬁcult forall victims of child abuseto come forward,but especially male victims of male abusers in allcommunities, but especially Black communities. Thatbecomes even harder whenthe allegedabuser is portrayed by media as a well-likedmember of the community.Insummation, less photos of alleged child abusers singing forthe mayor andmore mugshots. GALENROGERS NewOrleans

Blamingtrade aU.S.tradition

George

Will

Having seen New England, Kentucky’sHenry Clay (17771852) was aghast. The senator’s rhetorical ﬂair,however failed him.He should have described what nowadays would be called the “carnage” caused by the “Britain shock”:

“In passing along the highway,one frequently sees large and spacious buildings, with the glass broken out of thewindows, the shutters hanging in ruinous disorder,without any appearance of activity,and enveloped in solitary gloom.Upon inquiring what they are, you are almost always informed that they were some cotton or other factory,which their proprietors could no longer keep in motion against the overwhelmingpressure of foreign competition.”

Somehow New England thrived despite the end of whaling, the southward migration of the textile industry,the departure of many shoemakers, and other supposed setbacks. Protectionists, however,persist in imagining recent calamities that they think validate government curtailmentsof economic freedom. Hence their lingering preoccupation with the “China shock,” the alleged damage done to American industriesand communities by imports

COMMENTARY Recovering from the2020 insanity

from China. Today,the president’s long listof nations being beastly to America includes mightySwitzerland, which he has threatened with stratospherictariffs. (Because it has pushed upon Americansunconscionable amountsofchocolates and wristwatches?) The “China shock” was larger than the “Swiss shock,” but not really shocking.

Afrequently cited study says China destroyed 2.4 million U.S. jobs between 1999 and 2011. If so, in those 13 years, as many jobs were eliminated by Chinese importsasare eliminated, on average, by the normal churning of the U.S. economy every 41 days. Between 2000 and 2015, U.S. dynamism involvedAmericans leaving manufacturing and other jobs about 900 million times.

Manufacturing as apercentage of post-1945 U.S. GDP peaked in 1954 and has declined ever since, as it has in most developed nations TheU.S. decline has been remarkably steady,around 2 percenta year,sincebefore the surge of Chinese importsbegan. Veronique de Rugy,ofthe Cato Institute and George Mason University’sMercatus Center, notes that today’smanufacturing job problem is a shortage of workers to ﬁll the more than600,000 openings in the sector U.S. inﬂation-adjusted manufacturing output is up

177 percent over 1975, the lastyear America ran what thepresident deems indispensable —anannual trade surplus.George Mason University’s Don Boudreaux, curator of the Cafe Hayek blog, writes that industrial production hit arecord high in September 2018, “almost 43 years after America began running itsstillunbroken string of annual tradedeﬁcits in 1975.” They began 27 yearsbefore China joined theWorld Trade Organization. Boudreaux says that since China joined the WTO in December 2001, the average monthly decline of manufacturing jobs as a percentage of nonfarmjobs has slowed from 0.166 percent to 0.144 percent. Manufacturing employment has declined primarily becausemanufacturing moved to more hospitable jurisdictions (often in the American South). Andas labor became dramatically more productive because of robotics and automation. Similarly,Boudreaux notes, improved agronomy drove the20th century’sdecline of agriculture employment as apercentage of the labor force from 40 percent in 1900 to 2percent in 2000. During this dislocation, food surpluses soared,food prices fell and former farmers did not starve.

Butreturn to New England. Andtoargumentsthat persist.

Massachusetts Sen. Daniel Webster (1782-1852) refuted

Clay’sprotectionism. University of Texas historian H.W.Brands,in“Heirs of the Founders,” quotes Webster: “Commerce is not agambling amongnations for astake, to be won by some and lost by others. Allparties gain, all parties make proﬁts, all parties grow rich, by theoperations of just and liberal commerce.”

“If theworld had but one clime and but one soil,” Webster said, “ifall men had thesame wants and the same means… then,indeed, what one obtained from the other by exchangewould injureone party in thesame degree that it beneﬁted the other.” Actually,however, “Weinhabit avarious earth. We have reciprocal wants, and reciprocal means for gratifying one another’s wants.”

Clay,however,thought national “honor” was acasualty of U.S. “dependence” on international commerce, so he praised the self-sufﬁciency of the farm of Kentucky’sﬁrst governor:“You will behold every member of his family clad with the produce of their own hands and usefully employed, the spinning wheel and theloom in motion by day-break.” Andatnightfall, thefamily gathersatthe hearth to make, with their own hands, smartphones and pharmaceuticals.

EmailGeorge Will at georgewill@washpost.com.

Violence,inhumanity, intimidation andmurder

What adifference half adecade makes. This summer’sprevailing ethos, zeitgeist, vibe call it any fancy name you want —was sharply different from the summer,just ﬁve years ago, of COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter

Such sudden changes in the moral atmosphere seem to occur every so often. The year 1776, the 250th anniversary of which we are scheduled to commemorate next year,was perhaps one such occasion, when the English-speaking world saw the publication of the Declaration of Independence,Adam Smith’s“The Wealth of Nations” and the ﬁrst volume of Edward Gibbon’s“The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.”

Another break in general consciousness, from Victorian stricture to Bloomsbury Group ﬂuidity,was announced 101 years ago by the novelist Virginia Woolf. “On or about December 1910,” she wrote, “human nature changed. All human relations shifted, and when humanrelations change there is at the same time achange in religion, conduct, politics and literature.” And it has happened again in the great contrast between the notoriety most conventional media outlets gave to the eight-minute tape showing the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis in May 2020 and the almost total blackout by the same media outlets of the surveillance footage of the stabbing of Ukrainianrefugee Iryna Zarutska by areleased felon in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Aug. 22 Floyd’sdeath was taken as proof thatpolice in the United States routinely killed unarmed Black men, and that racism was as central to American life as ever.Itinspired aseriesof “mostly peaceful” urban riots that causedbillions of dollars in damage.

It sparked arevival of the Black Lives Matter group, whose Democratic congressional leaders in Kente cloth bowed in the Capitol and whose name was emblazoned on the pavement of 16th Street outside the White House. Floyd’sdeath also sparked asudden upward spike in violent crime, attributed incorrectly to the COVID-19 pandemic, which started months earlier,resulting in far more deaths of Black Americans than any police malfeasance. Contrast that with the nonresponse by most media outlets and Democratic politicians to Zarutska’smurder in Charlotte. Plainly,they did not want voters coming to the obvious conclusion that liberal policies, such as cashless bail, release violent menonto the streets and public transit.

Other evidence of the change in vibe came from bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell’s confession that he lied during a2022 MIT panel when he said he supported transgender women (that is, biological menwho present themselves as women) competing in female sports.

That was the year when the press gave wide publicity to Lia (formerly Will) Thomas’ swimming records against female competitors and teammates, who were ordered by athletic and university authorities not to protest or complain about Thomas’ presence in the locker room.

But most Americans believed physical differences between the sexes matter,just as weight divisions are appropriate in wrestling and boxing. As journalist Josh Barro reminded his fellow Democrats, Americans oppose biological meninwomen’ssports by a66% to 15% margin.

Gladwell’sconfession of error and columnist Megan McArdle’spreviously unreported recollection that in 2022 “people were terriﬁed to talk” freely about the issue suggest that, in Woolf’s words, “human relations shifted” sometime in 2023 or 2024.

Kathryn Jean Lopez

Less than 24 hours before the 24th anniversaryof the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, Kristan Hawkins was speaking on the campusof Montana State University She noticed her phone blowing up with activity.She looked. She paused. She announced the breaking news that Charlie Kirk had been shot on another college campus. Youdidn’thave to know anything to realize this wasn’tarandom news story to Hawkins —she was in shock. Her friend had beenshot. Her friend had beenshot doing exactly what she was doing. And students laughed. It’salmost as if that’swhat social media trains us to do, when reﬂexively responding to news involving people in politics. Such ﬁrebrands are names that embody ideology

We don’tsee them as people Hawkins is the president of theStudents for Life of America, and as part of a tour,Kristan had arrived in Montana andinvitedstudentstotell her whyshe is wrong on abortion. Some studentsthought it was funny that Kirk was shot. Iimagine because they don’tthink ofKirkasa human being, but asarepresentative of so much that they disagree with In our hyper-politicized culture, where ideologyisa religion, anddehumanization is almost necessary to make engagement satisfying, we use callousness as self-medication for all things we are unhappy about Kirk was on campusinvitingstudents to debate, helpingthem mature —intellectually and emotionally,even spiritually Kirk wentbeyondthe empty symbols and hollow rhetoric of modern political discourse.Hemadeacase. He was unafraid to challenge

and be challenged. Andhe had thehumilitytoadmit that he didn’thave all the answers.

Hawkins was standing by asign that said “Abortion: Change My Mind.” Her sign indicated: Irespect you enough tolisten to what you have to say.About 150 studentsgathered, but the respect wasn’tquitereciprocated.

“If you think shooting Charlie Kirk is justiﬁed because you disagree with him on politics, you need to examine your heart,” Hawkins said in responsetothe students’ laughter.“This is what abortion culture has done in our country.Our abortion culture has said that the mostvulnerable humans in our world don’tdeserve the right to liveand we get to choose whether or not they live or die.

“Abortion culture has led to adesensitizing of our nation,where we think we can shoot our political enemies —and we think is it justi-

ﬁed.” She asked thecrowd if they thought it was funny that President Donald Trump was shot. On thevideo if the incident, you can hear studentsinthe crowd yell, “Oh yeah!”

When Hawkins shared that Charlie had been shot in the neck, there was cheering. When she promised to share their callous reaction with theworld on YouTube, “F*** yeah!”isthe mostaudible reaction.

That sounds awfully alot like pride. Prideisa deadly sin. Andnow we see why it reduces other people to mereobjectsand deadens empathy and sympathy

Be free to be wrong and defend someone else’sright to do thesame. Andmay we change one another’sminds on things. Or at least try. With human encounter,not intimidation and murder

Email Kathryn Jean Lopez at klopez@nationalreview com.

Someofthis may just reﬂect the success of President Donald Trump’scomeback. In 2022, he was beleaguered by lawsuits, discredited by Jan. 6, and scorned by manyRepublicans. In 2024, he wastriumphantly elected to asecond term

But the shiftinTrump’sapproval ratings, from 45.9% in 2016 to 46.8% in 2020 to 49.8% in 2024, wasn’toverwhelming. Something morefundamental happened. Notjust Democratic politicians but also leaders of liberaldominated institutions discredited themselves: Teachers unions that kept schools closed; university administrators whotolerated violent speech suppression; Biden administration ofﬁcials whoclaimed to have no alternative to the open borders policy they enforced for three and ahalf years; public health mandarins wholied about maskand vaccine effectiveness and secretly conspired to discredit the lab leak theory of COVID-19 origin; top media outlets, led by The NewYork Times,that routinely suppressed inconvenient truths about former President Joe Biden’sdebility; Hunter Biden’s laptop and the Russia collusion hoax. All these eminences squandered their credibility and forfeited their trust, just as Woolf thought the Victorians squandered and forfeited theirs.

“The summer of 2020 waslegitimately insane,” wrote the critical liberal Thomas Chatterton Williams, author of the recently published “Summer of Our Discontent.” America is recovering its footing, though there’salways adanger of wobbling off to another side. MichaelBaroneisonX,@MichaelBarone.

Michael Barone

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MAHESH KUMAR A.

Acrane loads ashipping container intoatruck at an automated container port Aug. 29 in Tianjin, China.

SPORTS

FeelingDome-sick

Newangle emergesfor tush-push detractors

BY ROBMAADDI AP profootball writer

The SuperBowl rematchturnedinto

highlighted by the

est play Jalen Hurts, SaquonBarkley and the Philadelphia Eagles pushed —literally —their waypast Patrick Mahomes and theKansasCityChiefs by thescore of 20-17 on Sunday Hurts scored atouchdown on atush push, and the Eagles used the play seven timestohelphand the Chiefs their ﬁrst three-gamelosing streak with Mahomes and send them to their ﬁrst 0-2 start since 2014.

The NFLtried to ban to the tush push after aproposal from the Green Bay Packers in the offseason but fell two votes short of eliminating it.Those whooppose the play must have cringed watching the Eaglesuse it repeatedly in front of anational TV audience. There’snodoubt many of the decision-makers noticed.

Ilaugh whenever Ilook on social media and see fans from an opposing NFL team boast abouthow they took over Bourbon Street. That’seasy to do.Locals aren’t hanging out there anyway

But when fans of an opposingteam take overthe Caesars Superdome, that’s atotallydifferent story.That was the case Sunday in the New OrleansSaints’ 26-21 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

If you sat in theDome withyour eyes closed, you would havesworn theSaints had wonbased on the crowd noise. There was aloud roar from thesea of red when the 49ers scoredtheir ﬁrst touchdown. Those roars gotevenlouder with chants of “DE-FENSE, DE-FENSE” later in the game as the Saints triedto rally for avictory “Didn’tlike it,” Saints defensive end Cam Jordan said. “I didn’tlike the noise

comingfromthem, especially when Saints Nation has been so strong for so long. One of the rare instances when you could hear the opposing crowd. We’ve got to give our team moreways to win.

BYWILSON ALEXANDER

Staff writer

LSUcoach Brian Kellysaid

quarterback Garrett Nussmeier

has been playing through atorso injury that he suffered in preseason camp and won’tbeable to fully recover until the Tigers open date later this month

Although the injury hasnot prevented Nussmeier fromstarting the ﬁrst three games, Kelly saidNo. 3LSU has limited him

at practice to manage the issue. Kelly said Nussmeierdeveloped the injury from throwing alot before theseason “He’sbeen slowed alittlebit with atorsoinjury,and he’s ﬁghtingthrough it, and he’s gettingbetter,” Kelly said Monday ä SoutheasternatLSU, 6:45 P.M. SATURDAy,SEC NETWORK

We’ve got to ﬁgure out how to give the citymorehope. Hopefully that. never happens again.”

The great radio commentator PaulHarvey had acatchphrase that punctuated his broadcasts for decades: “And now you know therest of thestory.”

TomBrady pointed out that twoofthe Philadelphia offensive linemen moved early when Hurts was pushed into theend zone fora20-10 lead midway through the fourth quarter. Replays showed theEaglesgot away with afalse start.

AfterHurts appeared to lose theball but was ruled downtogain aﬁrst down on the play in the final two minutes, Fox rules analyst Dean Blandino said: “I am donewiththe tush push, guys. It’s ahard play to ofﬁciate.”

While there was plenty of scoring and exciting action around the league in Week 2—the Cowboys beat the Giants 40-37 in overtimeinathrilling, back-and-forth matchup— thetush push becameamain topic of conversation during the NFL’sgame of theweek. Sure,there was plenty of talk about Kansas City’searly season struggles, Andy Reid’sout-of-sync offense and Travis Kelce not being on the same page with Mahomes. But the game wasn’tpretty,and the tush push magniﬁed the ugliness. Critics argued in the offseason that it’sa dangerous play,but there wasn’t enough injury data to ban it for safety concerns. Most of the disdain was

ä See ANGLE, page 5C

If Harvey was commenting on LSUfootball, he deﬁnitely would have used that line. Now we know why Brian Kelly blew up at postgamequestions about LSU’slackluster offense after Saturday’s20-10 victory over Florida. Now we know better whyLSU leaned so heavily on itsdefense to carry the night against the Gators. Now we know,atleast in part, what has been holding quarterback Garrett Nussmeier back. First,let’stalk about what is by far themost important thing —Nussmeier’shealth. At his Monday news conference, Kelly addressed growing rumors and questions about Nussmeier by revealing that his star quarterback has been dealing witha“torso injury” since preseason camp. Talk about an aha moment. There were at least two occasions when the media viewed preseason practices —including a scrimmageinTiger Stadium one week before theClemson game —where Nussmeier was participating but didn’tattemptapass. Kelly said at the time Nussmeier was on a“pitch count,” but obviously it was more than that.

It is now reasonable to think that Nussmeier’sphysical condition played apart in that badly underthrown deep pass in the LouisianaTech gameintended for Barion Brownthat wasintercepted. Nussmeier said last Tuesday that he just threw abad ball. Butthe reasonsfor whyhehas attempted fewdeep balls (13 attempts of 20-plus yards with four completions) and whymany

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD San Francisco 49ers wide receiverJauan Jennings celebrates his touchdown againstthe Saintswithfans

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

LSU head coachBrian Kellycoaches late in the second half of the Tigers’ 20-10 win over the Florida Gators on Saturday at TigerStadium.

Commanders QB Daniels

day-to-day with knee injury

Burrow to have surgery on left toe

Bengals quarterback could miss 3 months

BY JOE REEDY Associated Press

CINCINNATI Bengals coach Zac Taylor confirmed Monday that quarterback Joe Burrow will have surgery on his injured left toe.

“We are working through the details and timelines. We will go through the week and get all the information we can,” Taylor said during an afternoon news conference. Taylor did not have a timeline for when the former LSU star will have surgery or how long the franchise quarterback might be out. The turf toe injury is expected to sideline Burrow a minimum of three months.

“I don’t know what a toe rehab looks like,” Taylor said. “I know Joe’s gonna give it everything he’s got. He’s gonna do everything he can to get onto the ﬁeld.”

It is Burrow’s third major injury in his six seasons since being the top overall pick in the 2020 draft and a major blow to Cincinnati, which is off to its ﬁrst 2-0 start since 2018 and has postseason aspirations after missing the playoffs the past two seasons.

Burrow left the Bengals locker room on crutches and wearing a boot on his left foot on Sunday after injuring his toe during the second quarter of Cincinnati’s 31-27 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Burrow was sacked by Jaguars defensive tackle Arik Armstead for a 5-yard loss at the Bengals 35-yard line with 9:02 remaining in the ﬁrst half. It was the second time Burrow had been sacked in the game.

Burrow went into the sideline medical tent. He came out and walked brieﬂy with a limp before heading to the locker room.

“It’s tough right now We’re going to be OK. He’s a strong guy,” wide receiver Tee Higgins said after the game. “We look forward to seeing what the results are.”

Burrow has been sacked 201 times in six seasons, the second most in the league since 2020. The latest injury again puts the Bengals front ofﬁce in the spotlight for electing to give high-value

contracts to Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase without properly addressing the offensive line.

“I don’t know how a turf toe injury fully happens, if you get hit or stepped on. I know that potentially he could have been clean for 99% of the game, and the one play is where this happens,” Taylor said.

“I get it. I understand where people are going to come from.

They’re going to be very attacking of us. Our style of play got us to a Super Bowl, two AFC championship games and two division titles, and won a lot of games for us. We’re always evaluating how we can protect our players and put

them in the best position possible.” Burrow’s injury comes at an inopportune time for the Bengals, who play at Minnesota next week to begin a stretch of ﬁve straight opponents that made the playoffs last year “We’re 2-0, and we’ve got a lot of good energy right now,” Taylor said. “There are plenty of things to clean up. We haven’t put our best foot forward or put together our best football collectively.” Jake Browning will be the starter in Burrow’s absence. He completed 21 of 32 passes for 241 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.

What is turf toe?

Burrow is the latest NFL star to be sidelined by turf toe, an oddsounding but extremely painful injury

Its seemingly non-threatening name might cause some to downplay it. But turf toe certainly is no joking matter for anyone who has had to work their way back onto the ﬁeld from it. According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the injury — medically known as a metatarsophalangeal joint sprain — occurs when the ligaments around the joint of the big toe at the ball of the foot are sprained or ruptured, often as a result of the toe being hyperextended. It happens sometimes when someone lifts their heel, but the ball of their big toe remains on the ground, jamming it and causing a hyperextension.

How does it affect athletes?

Turf toe makes it extremely difficult to push off your foot and cut while running. It’s painful and causes swelling. It can sideline players for several weeks or months, depending on the severity of the injury

What are the grades of turf toe?

Grade I: This is the best-case scenario, where there is only stretching of the ligament with swelling and tenderness but no tear This could sideline a player for as little as a week.

Grade II: The ligament is partially torn and there’s bruising with restricted and painful movement with the toe. This could take several weeks to heal.

Grade III: The ligament is fully torn and there could be a dislocation of the joint — the metatarsophalangeal — in the big toe. This likely requires surgery and could take several months to heal.

How is turf toe treated?

Rest, icing and elevation are required, but further treatments depend on severity Stiff-soled shoes or orthotics can help an athlete return faster from a Grade I injury

Someone with a Grade II injury might need a walking boot after a week or two of rest. A Grade III injury could require surgery, all of the above and physical therapy

Jaguars WR Thomas trying to snap slump

BY MARK LONG Associated Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Brian Thomas is in the early stages of a sophomore slump.

The Jacksonville Jaguars receiver, who made the Pro Bowl as a rookie, has ﬁve catches for 60 yards through two weeks despite being targeted a team-high 19 times. He has a drop in each game, including a critical one in a 31-27 debacle at Cincinnati on Sunday

On fourth-and-5 from the Cincinnati 7, and with the Jaguars leading 27-24, Trevor Lawrence delivered a perfect pass to Thomas short of the ﬁrst-down marker But the former LSU standout turned his head before securing the catch and watched the ball fall to the ground.

“It’s super frustrating,” Thomas said. “Just got to put it behind you and go on to the next week.” Coach Liam Coen said Monday that Thomas has been dealing with a sore wrist, although he was not on the injury report last week.

Thomas and the Jaguars (1-1) host Houston on Sunday a chance for the team to show it can handle adversity better than it has in recent years. Even though there was no guarantee that Thomas would have gotten the first down, it proved to be a signiﬁcant turning point. The Bengals drove 92 yards and essentially won the game on backup quarterback Jake Browning’s 1-yard plunge. Thomas ﬁnished with four receptions for 49 yards on 12 targets. Equally as egregious as his

RAOUX

meaningful games.

“We’re all frustrated at different times, and we want to make that play,” Lawrence said “But just not much to say there. I think he understands the situation, and it is what it is.

“There’s not much to say Guys know We all got to just own our part, move on and improve.”

What’s working

Jacksonville’s rushing attack was stout for the second consecutive week. The Jags ﬁnished with 139 yards on the ground against the Bengals and now lead the league in rushing heading into Monday night games. Travis Etienne had 71 yards rushing, and rookie Bhayshul Tuten added 42 more. Jacksonville is averaging 169.5 yards rushing a game.

What needs help

The Jaguars were flagged five times over nine plays in the second quarter for illegal shifts. All of them were declined, but the penalties were a glaring misstep for a team playing its first road game under a new regime.

Coen said the staff put “too much on” players with pre-snap movements and silent cadences.

WASHINGTON Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels is dealing with a knee injury and coach Dan Quinn said Monday the AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year’s status for the team’s next game is up in the air The Commanders (1-1) host the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday “He did have an MRI and he has already begun his return-to-play process with us. He is truly dayto-day,” Quinn said during a video conference with reporters.

Daniels was hurt in Washington’s 27-18 loss at the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night. The former LSU quarterback was sacked four times and faced pressure throughout the game from a blitz-heavy Packers defense. Marcus Mariota is Washington’s backup at the position.

Vikings QB McCarthy out with sprained right ankle

EAGAN, Minn. — Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy will probably miss at least the next game with a sprained right ankle, coach Kevin O’Connell said on Monday, and running back Aaron Jones is likely to join him on the sideline with a hamstring injury McCarthy didn’t miss any time during Minnesota’s 22-6 loss to Atlanta, passing an initial medical evaluation and getting his foot taped up for extra support. The ankle pain predictably worsened overnight, O’Connell said.

The Vikings weren’t planning to put McCarthy on short-term injured reserve, so his injury status is considered week-to-week.

Carson Wentz, the 10th-year veteran who just joined the Vikings two weeks ago, is in line to start against the Bengals.

Jets QB in concussion protocol; status uncertain

New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields remained in the concussion protocol Monday, and his availability for the team’s next game is uncertain.

Coach Aaron Glenn said Fields will continue to be evaluated after the quarterback was hurt late in the Jets’ 30-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday If Fields is unable to play next Sunday at Tampa Bay, veteran backup Tyrod Taylor would start for New York. Fields fell backward when he was sacked by Joey Bosa in the fourth quarter and the back of his helmet hit off the turf. He was down for a few moments before he was able to get up and walk off under his own power

Duplantis

snags another world record in pole vault

TOKYO Mondo Duplantis captured his third world championship on Sunday It was another world record — the 14th time he’s set it — by clearing the bar at 6.30 meters.

Duplantis cleared it on his third and ﬁnal attempt.

After clearing 6.10, the former LSU athlete imitated Japanese baseball Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki’s pre-bat sleeve-tugging routine.

“My brother was in the crowd and he plays baseball, so I was trying to ﬁre him up,” Duplantis said. “And the Japanese people, if they understood it, it was just something fun.”

The Louisiana-born phenom who competes for his mother’s native Sweden collected $70,000 for the win along with the $100,000 bonus that goes to record breakers at world championships.

Hall of Fame goaltender

Giacomin dies at age 86

Ed Giacomin, a Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender and one of the faces of the New York Rangers franchise in the 1960s and ’70s, has died. He was 86.

drop was a ﬁrst-half play in which he stopped running across the middle, prompting CBS analyst Logan Ryan to call it a “business decision.” Thomas also appeared to duck on a pass in the end zone early in the fourth quarter

“Just got to be better,” Thomas said. “Go catch the ball. It’s plain and simple. Just go catch the ball.” Thomas caught 87 passes for

1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. He was so impressive that Jacksonville’s new regime decided to move on from fellow receivers Christian Kirk and Gabe Davis and build coach Liam Coen’s offense around Thomas. But Thomas had drop issues throughout training camp and the preseason red flags that now appear to be trickling into

“That’s something that we have to be better at as coaches and go ﬁgure out,” he said.

Key number

5: Number of games Lawrence missed last season after Houston LB Azeez Al-Shaair’s violent forearm blow to the face. On Sunday, they will meet on the same ﬁeld for the ﬁrst time since the incident.

Giacomin died of natural causes, a Rangers spokesperson said after the organization learned of the news from his family A spokesperson for the NHL Alumni Association said Giacomin died at his home Sunday night.

Known for puck-handling and leaving the crease before it was common practice for netminders, Giacomin won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goalie in 197071 and backstopped New York to the Stanley Cup Final in ’72. Giacomin was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1987.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By CAROLyN KASTER

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow goes down after being tackled during a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday in Cincinnati. Burrow injured a toe and is expected to be out for three months.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOHN

Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas runs to score a touchdown against the Panthers on Sept. 7 in Jacksonville, Fla. Thomas has been struggling to catch passes this season with drops in the first two games.

Payton takesblame forBroncos’gaffes

BY ARNIE STAPLETON AP pro football writer

ENGLEWOOD,Colo. Darren Rizzi

is off to arough start as the new special teams coordinator of the Denver Broncos.

The Broncos got awaywith a pair of bigblunders in the opener when All-Pro Marvin Mims muffed apunt and the Broncos allowed a71-yard kickoff return, but they paid dearly Sunday for apair of special teams blemishes that cost them awin at Indianapolis.

WilLutz clankeda 42-yard ﬁeld goal attempt offthe right upright with 3:15 remainingand Denver (1-1) clinging to a28-26 lead. That meant Indy neededonly aﬁeld goal to win it, which the Colts achieved on ado-over afterapenalty on linebacker Dondrea Tillman negated a 60-yard miss as time expired and moved the ball well within Spencer Shrader’srange.

Coach Sean Payton absolved Rizzi and Tillman on Monday, saying he should havebacked off the aggressive call to try to block the 60-yard attempt.

Payton explained that Tillman wasn’tsupposed to both push down his opponent and trytoleapover him, but there was amisalignment as the Colts switched up theirﬁeld goalprotection unit andTillman was correctly called for pushing off another player to trytoblock the kick.

“Before any and all that,though, we should be working anormal rush, anormal interior rush with a60-yardattempt,” Paytonsaid. “That’sonme. It’snot on Darren. It’snot on Tillman. With a60-yard field goal attempt,it’sdifferent. Thealignment got wrong and the call was correct. But my bigregret ﬂying home was that’smorefor a

closer ﬁeld goal. That’smore for a gimme thana 60-yard attempt, and that’sonme.”

Shradernailed the45-yard doover to send Denver to another loss likethe one last year at KansasCitywhenLutz’schip-shot attempt was blocked with no time remaining, allowing the Chiefs to escape with an improbable win after several Chiefs bowled over Broncos lineman Alex Forsyth.

Just like last year withForsyth, Paytonismaking sure Tillman doesn’ttake all of the blame. His teammates had his back after the game

“He doesn’t have to be worried about it,”Nik Bonittosaid. “I mean, at theend of the day,we’re allhuman. Everybody makesmistakes. He thoughtwhat hewas trying to do wastomakeaplay for the team, help us win the game. And if they call the flag, Imean, he had the right intent. It’snot like he went out there tryingto losethe game.

“At theend of the day,itiswhat it is.They call what they call. We’ve gottomove on.”

Andclean thingsup, notonlyon special teams, either

Theoffense sputtered with a chance to takecontrol, committing acostlypenaltyand aturnover late in thegame. The defense didn’tget its usualpressure and star cornerback PatrickSurtain got way more work than usual as theColtsdidn’tshy away from him like most teams do.

“There’snoway we shouldhave lost that game,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “Wehad probably sixorseven opportunitiesin the second half to end it,and we didn’t. Coachsaid it best right after the game —you’vegot to learn to win.But,inorder to do that, you’ve got to stop losing, andwe gave that game away.”

DenverBroncoskicker WilLutz, right,walksoff the field withJeremy CrawshawafterLutz misseda field goal during thesecond half against theIndianapolis Colts on SundayinIndianapolis.

Seahawks ride balanced offense to theirﬁrstwin

BY ANDREW DESTIN AP sports writer

SEATTLE As much as theSeattle Seahawks struggled to run the ball or spread it around through the air in aseason-opening loss to San Francisco, they had no suchchallenges in Week 2. The Seahawks ﬁnished with 395 yards of offense in Sunday’s 31-17 win at Pittsburgh. Kenneth Walker eclipsed 100 yards rushingfor the first time since the 2024season opener,and ﬁve players caughtat least two passes.

“This offense is designedtoget everybody the ball,”coach Mike Macdonald said. “And Ifelt like it did that (Sunday). And we’re on our way on that front.”

SamDarnold threwtwo interceptions but bounced backwith asolid performance, finishing with 295 yards passing and two touchdowns. Darnold gotveteran receiver Cooper Kupp involved after he was limited to two catches against the 49ers. Kupp hadseven catches for 90 yardsto complement topreceiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who exceeded 100 yardsfor the second straight game.

“Weput ourselves in good positions on ﬁrst and second down to get us into good third downs, third and manageable,” Darnold said. “And we converted alot of those third downs.”

To Darnold’spoint, the Seahawks

Injury likely to endDT Broughton’sseason

BY LUKE JOHNSON and MATTHEWPARAS Staff writers

Vernon Broughton made his New Orleans Saints debut Sunday against theSan Francisco49ers,but his follow-upperformancewillhave to wait.

Broughton suffered ahip injury against the 49ers that is expected end hisrookie season,according to an NFLNetwork report. Saints coach Kellen Moore said Monday thatBroughtonisawaiting aﬁnal determination before he opts for surgery,but Mooreacknowledged that Broughton will be out for“an extended period of time.”

“They’re finalizing all the MRIs andeverything, all the tests, today,” Moore said. “We’ll ﬁgure outanaction planmoving forward.”

MooresaidBroughtonwill “most likely” go on injuredreserve thisweek

The Saints used thefirst of their two third-round picks to select Broughton out of Texas.

He wasa healthy scratchfor a Week 1loss to theArizona Cardinals, but he was active against the 49ers, playing 24 defensive snaps He recorded three tackles.

“He played some really good football yesterday,” Moore said.

Adefensive tackle in college, theSaints primarily used Broughton as a3-4 defensive end throughout training camp.New Orleans has several veteran optionstohelp makeupfor the loss, including Jonathan Bullard and Jonah Williams

Polk’s freshstart

Ja’Lynn Polk had such arough rookie season thatthe New England Patriots were willing to trade the 2024 second-round wide receiver after just one year

But that oneseason wasn’t enough to scare off the Saints, whoacquiredPolkonSaturday for alate-round pick swap.

“It’s (his) ﬁrst year in the NFL,” Mooresaid. “I’m notgoing to overreact to whatever happened in New England. There are some circumstancesthere.Weliked himcomingout andare excited for where he’sgoing.”

Mooresaid the Saints did their research into Polk’stime in New England, as well as his path from high school to Texas Tech and Washington. Moore liked the wide receiver coming out of last year’s draft andthat the team would “fall back” on the“evidence”it acquired over anumber of years.

Even though the 23-year-old is out for the entire season with a shoulderinjury,Moore indicated theSaints can get alot out of Polk in the long term.

“I feel like we’re bringing in an awesome piece,” Moore said. “I’m excited for him, for him to just get healthyfirst andforemost. And then (we’ll) bring him in here and anew environment for himwillbe phenomenal.”

As arookie, Polk hadanunderwhelming 12 catches for 87 yards, and his advanced stats wereeven more discouraging. According to TruMedia, Polk’syards per route run—anindicator that’spredic-

tive of future success —was just 0.35, thelowest of anywide receiver with at least 30 targets since 2012, when the data ﬁrst became available.

Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated said on NBCSports Boston that thePatriotsfelttheymissedon Polk’s“football character,” adding the wide receiver “didn’tdig himself out of that hole” after he became abackup. Polk started ﬁve of the Patriots’ ﬁrst six games before he came offthe benchinsix of his next eight. He also missed twogames in that span because of an injury

But Polkwas aproductive player in college, recording more than1,000 yards receiving in his ﬁnalseason at Washington. And the Saints, whosent the Patriots a 2027 sixth-round pickinexchange forPolk and a2028 seventh-round pick, believe they can still tap into thatpotentialafter achangeof scenery Newlidstodebut

The Saints introduced new white helmets earlier this year,and they will wear themfor the ﬁrst time against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 3, pairing thehelmetswith their color rush uniforms. It will mark thefirst time in franchisehistory theSaintshave wornawhite helmet forameaningful game.

The new helmet features awhite shell that incorporates small black flecksthroughout anda gold fleur de lis on the sides. The centerstripe is also gold, with subtle fleur de lis details.

converted 6of14thirddowns after going 3for 10 against the 49ers. Seattle’scommitmenttoestablishing the runpaid off in the second half, when the Seahawks scored 24 of their 31 points. Rather than slip to their ﬁrst 0-2 start since 2018, the Seahawks foundaway on theroad.

“It wasjust agreat team win,”

Darnold said

What’s working

Thesecondary.Safety Coby Bryant and cornerback Derion Kendrick intercepted AaronRodgers on Sunday, and theSeahawks are tied for the third-most takeaways in the league.

What needshelp

The Seahawks recorded three sacksonSunday, including11/2 fromdefensivelineman Byron Murphy,but theyare still just 22nd in the leagueinteam sacks.

Stockup

Rookie wide receiver Tory Horton, aﬁfth-rounddraftpick, caught his first two passes, including a touchdown in the ﬁrst quarter

Stockdown

CornerbackRiq Woolen, who had what Macdonald calleda“rough week” leading up to Sunday’s game,committed an early holding penalty.However,hehelped keep former SeahawksreceiverDK Metcalf in check.

WALKER

Continuedfrom page1C

To the 49ers’ credit,they have apassionate fan base.They always travel well for road games,just like Saints fans do. Andwhen it comes to traveling for NFL games, the city of New Orleans is always adestination spot. So seeing folks dressed in red and gold throughout the French Quarter all weekend wasn’tasurprise.

Buttosee what felt like a60-40 split (perhaps even 50-50) and 49ersfaithful ﬁlling up mostof the Dome’slower level in Week 2ofthe season was alarming, a clear sign of the growing frustrationofSaints fans who would rathersell their tickets than watch

“It’sdeﬁnitely frustrating when youcome to ahome game and youcan’t even hear your own cadence,” right guard Cesar Ruiz said. “Even before the game when we came outthe tunnel and Isaw allthatred,Isaid,‘Dang.

But even in these situations, we still have to go out there and handle business.”

Simply put, the Saints haven’t been doing that. Abuilding that hadbeen one of the most intimidating venues in the NFL during the Sean Payton-Drew Brees era allofasudden isn’t. Sunday’sloss was theSaints’ ﬁfth consecutive defeat in the Dome. Youhave to go allthe way back to 2005 to ﬁnd thelasttime the Saints lost that many home games in arow,but that season deserves an asterisk.

The Saints had to pack their bags andplaytheir home games out of town because of Hurricane Katrina The last time the Saints lost ﬁve straight games in the Dome was at theend of the 1994 season and beginning of 1995. These are the growing pains that comewith arebuild fora franchise that hasn’tmade the playoffs since the 2020 season.

Since then, the Dome hasn’treally rocked like it used to. The loudest it’sbeen was the Halloween 2021 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when

San Francisco 49ers fans celebrate after beating the Saints 26-21 at the Caesars Superdome on Sunday

the place erupted as P.J. Williams picked off aTom Brady pass and returned it for atouchdown. The decibel levels also got high at the beginning of last season when the Saints lit up the scoreboard for 47 points in aseasonopening win over the Carolina Panthers. And again two weeks after that when what looked like a high-powered Saints offense was 2-0 entering the game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Now,the Saints are 3-14 over their last 17 games.

The Dome, especially on this particular Sunday,lost abit of its swagger Saints center Erik McCoy would much rather hear his own quarterback than anoisy crowd.

“It sucks,” McCoy said.

But McCoy and his teammates know the cure, and there’sonly one.

“We’ve got to win,” McCoy said. “It’spretty simple. If we win some games, that changes.”

EmailRod Walker at rwalker@ theadvocate.com.

PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MICHAEL CONROy

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Saints defensivetackle Vernon Broughton, right, and linebackerDemarioDavis defendthe line against the SanFrancisco 49ersatthe Caesars Superdome on Sunday

Kelly apologizes for outburst with reporter

BY KOKI RILEY AND WILSON ALEXANDER Staff writer

LSU coach Brian Kelly addressed why he went off after the first question of his postgame news conference after the Tigers’ 20-10 win over Florida and apologized to the reporter Kelly opened his news conference Monday by addressing his reaction when asked Saturday about LSU’s offensive issues. Kelly said he texted with WBRZ-TV sports director Michael Cauble and apologized for how he handled the exchange.

“I think it’s important to understand that my standards relative to how we work with the media on a day-to-day basis need to be higher,” Kelly said, “and I take responsibility for that, and I’ll be better in the future.”

Kelly added that emotions run high after a game and that it’s hard for him to make speciﬁc assessments before he has watched ﬁlm. He said he wanted to “defend” his players after the win, not wanting to focus at the time on what the team needed to improve

“But having said that, I publicly apologize to Mike,” Kelly said. “He’s an outstanding reporter, he works hard and we’ll do better moving forward.”

LSU scored one offensive touchdown and gained 316 yards against Florida. Though Kelly did recognize LSU has to play better on offense, he thought the Tigers did what it took to win by controlling ﬁeld position and playing to their defense, which intercepted Florida quarterback DJ Lagway ﬁve times.

After Kelly made an opening statement Saturday, Cauble asked what he had seen from the offense, and Kelly cut off him off. Kelly raised his voice as Cauble asked follow-up questions about LSU’s

LSU

Continued from page 1C

“He’s not going to be able to really shut it down until we get to the bye week.”

Nussmeier has struggled at times this season, completing 65.1% of his passes for 689 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Nussmeier feels “tightness” in his torso, Kelly said, so LSU has decreased his workload at practice.

“You want to be careful with how many reps he’s getting throwing the football,” Kelly said. “He’s overcoming that, but we cut him down substantially I think he’s on the other side of that, but we had to be really careful with him the ﬁrst few weeks.”

LSU plays Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday night before traveling to No. 13 Ole Miss next week. It then has its first open date of the season before playing three straight SEC games.

Kelly does not expect the issue to affect Nussmeier throughout the season, saying it will improve the most when he can rest during the open date.

“I think with the bye week after Ole Miss, we should be in a great place,” Kelly said.

Late in preseason camp, there were a couple of practices open to the media in which Nussmeier did not throw Kelly said at the time

third-down offense and struggling run game.

In part, Kelly said “you’re spoiled” and called the questions

“out of line.” He took responsibility for the rant Monday

“I have to do a better job of handling myself in those situations,”

Kelly said on the SEC Network.

“I’ll do better Because I think everybody knows there’s emotion, those questions can be such that you want to defend your team and you want to defend your players.

“That’s your ﬁrst reaction after a great win But like I said, I’ve been doing it a long time, but I can do better I can learn and handle myself in a better fashion as well.”

Update on West Weeks

LSU ﬁfth-year senior linebacker

West Weeks‘ calf strain, an injury he suffered Saturday against Florida, is not believed to be a “long-term situation,” Kelly said on the SEC Network on Monday

During his appearance on SEC

This Morning Kelly stated Weeks will wear a walking boot Monday and Tuesday before the Tigers attempt to get him on the practice ﬁeld.

“(It’s) much better news than what we thought at first,” Kelly said.

He suffered the strain in the third quarter and did not return to the game after landing awkwardly out of bounds while pursuing Lagway Weeks ﬁnished with 12 total tackles and a tackle for loss.

LSU adds QB pledge

Four-star quarterback and Class of 2027 prospect Peyton Houston has committed to LSU, he announced in a ceremony at Evangel Christian Academy on Monday Houston is the No. 11 quarterback in the nation and the No. 6

LSU wanted to manage his workload because he had thrown a lot over the summer, but he did not mention the injury

Nussmeier also reaggravated a preexisting case of patellar tendinitis in his left knee Aug. 6, Kelly said He practiced fully again a few days later with a brace, which Nussmeier has not worn during games this season.

Nussmeier ranked fifth nationally with 4,052 yards passing in his first season as a starter in 2024. Through three games this season, he is ninth in the SEC in yards passing. LSU has averaged 20 points per game, which ranks last in the conference It has scored only five offensive touchdowns.

Last week, Nussmeier was asked whether an injury or mechanical issue contributed to an interception he threw against Louisiana Tech when he underthrew open wide receiver Barion Brown on a deep ball down the left sideline. Nussmeier said no, adding he “just didn’t make the throw.”

LSU’s vertical passing game has struggled, a potential side effect of Nussmeier’s limitations in practice. Nussmeier is 4 of 13 for 132 yards, one touchdown and one interception on throws of more than 20 yards downﬁeld, according to Pro Football Focus.

Kelly said LSU hasn’t been able to practice deep passing plays much until last week, but now that Nussmeier has “turned a corner,”

Manning promises to improve as Texas prepares for SEC play

BY JIM VERTUNO AP sportswriter

Texas quarterback Arch Manning had a simple message and a promise: There will be better days ahead from him.

“I know the type of player that I am,” Manning said Monday as he answered another round of questions about a poor outing in last week’s win over UTEP “I know I’m going to play better and we’re going to be better as an offense.”

This week’s matchup with Sam Houston State, a program in only its third season of FCS-level competition, would typically be an afterthought for the No 8 team in the country But Manning’s poor play has turned the Longhorns’ final game before the Southeastern Conference schedule into a must-watch to see if he can deliver anything close to those preseason Heisman Trophy predictions. If he struggles again, a suddenly doubtful fanbase turns its worries into a five-alarm fire. And even if he plays well, the result and Manning’s stat line will likely be dismissed as coming against inferior competition.

downright rough. Manning was 11 of 25 passing for 114 yards with one touchdown and interception. He had a streak of 10 consecutive incompletions. He side-armed some throws and missed open receivers. There were boos late in the ﬁrst half. Through three games, Manning is completing just 55% of his passes.

“It’s frustrating because I know I’m better than that,” Manning said. “But you know, we’re going to be better this week and get clicking on offense. I’m excited to get going.”

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian promised patience with a player hitting the ﬁrst adversity of his career

“Here’s a guy who’s had an awesome life, they way he’s grown up, the people he’s been surrounded by,” Sarkisian said. “I think you learn a lot about yourself through adversity and overcoming adversity When he gets on the other side of it, I think all of this is going to serve well not only for him, but for us as a team.”

prospect in Louisiana for 2027, according to the 247Sports Composite. He attends Evangel Christian in Shreveport. Houston chose LSU over Southern Cal, Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma.

Houston is LSU’s ﬁrst committed player for the Class of 2027. He’s one of three quarterbacks ranked among the top-10 players in the state. Dunham ﬁve-star recruit Elijah Haven and Benton High four-star prospect Malachi Zeigler are the other two top quarterback recruits in the state.

LSU does not have a quarterback committed to its 2026 class. The Tigers have the No. 11 class in the nation and hold commitments from six top-100 prospects.

LSU-Ole Miss game time

LSU’s trip to Ole Miss on Sept. 27 will kick off at 2:30 p.m. and be televised on ABC, the Southeastern Conference announced Monday LSU took down Florida 20-10 at home on Saturday to improve to 3-0. The Tigers offense failed to score in the second half, but their defense intercepted Florida ﬁve times. LSU’s only points in the second half came on a pick-six by sophomore safety Dashawn Spears

Ole Miss also improved to 3-0 on Saturday after defeating Arkansas 41-35. After taking a 31-28 lead at halftime, the Rebels scored 10 unanswered points to pull away from the Razorbacks in the second half.

This Saturday, LSU hosts Southeastern Louisiana. The game is set to kick off at 6:45 p.m. and will be televised on the SEC Network.

Ole Miss faces Tulane at home on Saturday Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m., and the game will be available on ESPN.

it will build its offense around him.

“You’re not working on it as much in practice,” Kelly said “When you get your shots, you want to be able to take them But we’re not doing a lot in practice. We’re starting to pick up that pace. We started a little bit last week. We’ll continue to pick it up more this week.”

In LSU’s 20-10 win over Florida, Nussmeier completed 55.6% of his passes for 220 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He completed 10 of 11 passes at one point, including a 23-yard touchdown to Zavion Thomas, but he went 4 of 10 the rest of the game. After Nussmeier threw an interception back across his body early in the fourth quarter LSU did not attempt a pass on its final two possessions. Kelly said LSU managed the game to prioritize field position and lean on a defense that had five interceptions.

“We’re taking some plays away from him as well,” Kelly said. “And he’s done a really good job. I think he managed the run game as well as he has all year We got to let him get the ball out to the playmakers. That will be more of what has to happen. And then we’ve got to keep him healthy That’s the most important thing.”

For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/lsunewsletter

Stats are one thing. Just passing the eye test this week would be a start. Manning’s play so far has stoked the embers of doubt. He struggled badly in a seasonopening win against Ohio State. He started slow the next week but rallied with four touchdown passes against San Jose State. His day against UTEP was

Texas wide receiver Parker Livingstone caught three touchdown passes in the first two games. Manning badly overthrew him on a wide open route in the end zone against UTEP Livingstone said the wide receivers can help Manning by delivering more big plays when given the chance.

“When he throws us the ball, it’s our job to make a guy miss and create an explosive,” Livingstone said.

RABALAIS

Continued from page 1C

issue does not sound that dire, but Kelly added that Nuss will not get to fully rest and heal until LSU’s ﬁrst open date. That means Nussmeier will have to play through it this Saturday at home against Southeastern Louisiana (6:45 p.m., SEC Network) and next week at No. 13 Ole Miss (2:30 p.m., ABC).

Now to the earlier issue of Kelly’s postgame blowup at questions from WBRZ sports director Michael Cauble about the offense, particularly the lack of a running game, Kelly personally apologized to Cauble and again did so publicly at Monday’s news conference. Cauble’s questions about the offense — which has generated just 53 points this season, not counting Dashawn Spears’ picksix Saturday — were valid and justiﬁed. The timing of the questions, which came at the start of the postgame Q and A, perhaps could have been better But they were questions that deserved to be asked. Conversely, Kelly has the right to take issue with a question and to take up for his team, which had just scored a 10-point victory in its SEC opener Florida’s loss the previous week to South Florida didn’t change the fact that Kelly clearly saw this as a huge and dangerous game. It was, in most respects, bigger than LSU’s season-opening win at Clemson, into which the Tigers poured so much effort and attention.

The Saturday night tirade made national news, and I’m sure it made memes on social media (I’m glad to say I’m not

that bored to go and look for them). A teaser about it was on the bottom of the screen during ESPN’s “SportsCenter” after the game, not a reference to LSU’s important victory You would have to scour national media again to ﬁnd any reference to Kelly’s Monday apology, which in my opinion with all the circumstances taken into account was more than adequate.

What Kelly didn’t take into account Saturday night was that the questions were about season-long issues with the offense. The concern for this LSU team is the opposite of 2023, but similar nonetheless. That season, a championship-caliber offense led by Heisman-winning quarterback Jayden Daniels was likely kept out of the four-team College Football Playoff by a historically inept LSU defense.

Through three games, the concern this season is that a championship-caliber defense could be kept out of the now 12-team CFP by an offense that is ranked 94th or worse in total offense, scoring offense, rushing and red-zone production.

Kelly said LSU crafted a more conservative offensive approach against Florida because the Tigers defense has been so good.

For example, Kelly punted three times when analytics said to go for it on fourth down. Going forward, he admitted that will have to change.

“We’re going to have to do both,” Kelly said, “rely on the defense and be more aggressive on offense.”

“The rest of the story” is set to unfold.

For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/lsunewsletter

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ERIC GAy

Texas quarterback Arch Manning is pressured by UTEP defensive lineman Ashaad Hall as he looks to pass during the second half of a game on Saturday in Austin, Texas.

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

LSU coach Brian Kelly motions during the first half between the Tigers and Florida Gators on Saturday at Tiger Stadium.

THE VARSITY ZONE

CLASS 5A AND 4A

1. Edna Karr (2-0): The Cougars won in overtime after junior Brayan Castellon made a 37-yard field goal at the end of regulation — extending the state-best winning streak to 16 games

2. St.Augustine (2-0): Two high-scoring offenses will meet when five-star QB Keisean Henderson of Legacy School of Sport Sciences (Texas) — a Houston commitment — visits Tad Gormley Stadium on Saturday.

3. Brother Martin (2-0): Easton Royal’s nine catches for 243 yards and three touchdowns, plus another passing score, keyed the latest win at St Paul’s before facing New Hope High (Mississippi) on the road.

4. John Curtis (2-0): The Patriots scored 50-plus points twice and rushed for more than 1,000 yards combined in two games — with Rummel in Week 4 next on the schedule after this week’s open date.

5. Destrehan (1-1): A bounce-back win against Bonnabel after the Week 1 loss to Catholic-Baton Rouge comes as reigning Division I select state runner-up Alexandria comes to town.Alexandria won last season.

6. Jesuit (2-0): The Blue Jays overcame five turnovers with a strong defensive effort against E.D White and improved to 2-0 for the first time in over 10 years — with Bonnabel next on the schedule.

7. Rummel (1-1): It’s a familiar Rummel recipe: two strong backs behind a powerful offensive line. It’s what won the game last week against University High. It’s what worked last season against Shaw, this week’s opponent.

8. Shaw (1-1): Will the Eagles reclaim the Megaphone from Rummel like it did two years ago? A strong defensive effort could do just the trick.

9. Lakeshore (2-0): A strong run game on offense and sound defensive play can win a lot of games like it did last week at Chalmette in a matchup between two state quarterfinalists from a year ago.

10. Covington (2-0): A two-point win against reigning Division II nonselect state runner-up Franklinton is enough to move the Lions into the rankings, replacing Chalmette.

CLASS 3A AND BELOW

1. Kennedy (1-1): The Cougars keep the top spot while facing five consecutive Class 5A schools to open the season, with 2-0 Denham Springs (109 points in two games) next on the schedule.

2. Riverside (1-1): The Rebels, still with key players from the team that reached the Dome two years ago, beat Newman for the first time since 2016 snapping a six-game series losing streak against the Greenies.

3. Northlake Christian (1-1): Kameron Casnave ran for 213 yards and four touchdowns on 23 carries in a convincing win against an Episcopal

team that beat the Wolverines handily last year

4. De La Salle (0-2): The Cavaliers have shown signs of having a strong rushing attack in losses against Central-Baton Rouge, a state champion last season, and a formidable Holy Cross team.

5 South Plaquemines (2-0): Eighth grader Eyan Taylor scored three touchdowns, and Josh Barthelemy had a pick-six as the defense posted a second-half shutout against Bogalusa.

6. Pope John Paul II (1-1): The Jaguars scored 50 points as Dominik Smith ran for three touchdowns in a dominant win against Varnado — with 2-0 Riverdale next on the schedule.

7. Newman (0-2): The Greenies have an open date before facing 2-0 Willow in Week 4.The first two losses to St. Charles and Riverside came against state-ranked opponents.

8. Livingston Collegiate (1-1): Pierre Eskinde ran for three touchdowns and kept the score close against Class 5A Slidell. Up next are three teams the Wolves beat last season.

9.Young Audiences (2-0): The upstart yaks are thriving with Caleb Jackson as the leading rusher — and now with a chance to avenge a shutout loss from last year against Livingston Collegiate.

10. Patrick Taylor (1-1): The Tigers ended their 12game losing streak that included a 0-10 record last season — all after winning nine games and reaching the second round of the playoffs in 2023.

Christopher Dabe

directed at the aesthetics of the play

“Is it part of what football has been traditionally, or is it more of a rugby play?” NFL competition committee chairman Rich McKay said about the discussion Those who hate the appearance of the tush push saw it on full display at Arrowhead Stadium.

They’ll have to see it for at least the remainder of the season because it’s not going anywhere. The Eagles (2-0) have mastered it in short-yardage situations, and they’ll keep using it until team owners vote to get rid of it, if they ever do.

Blandino’s frustration with the play was echoed by viewers and NFL fans except for anyone who roots for Philly The new argument against it could center on the difﬁculty ofﬁciating it properly

“We work our (tails) off on it,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “First of

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Rummel players celebrate a win against U-High on Friday at the Caesars Superdome.

Anime ﬁlm ‘Demon Slayer’hits No.1spot

BY JONATHAN LANDRUM JR. Associated Press

LOS ANGELES “Demon Slayer: KimetsunoYaiba— Infinity Castle” carved out aplace in box-office history this weekend as the Japanese anime ﬁlm slicedstraight to No. 1—outpacing the horror sequel “The Conjuring: Last Rites.”

The Sony-owned Crunchyroll release shattered expectations with amighty $70 million debut in North America, according to Sunday estimates from Comscore.That haul marks the biggestdomestic opening ever for an anime ﬁlm,surpassing “Pokémon: The First Movie,” which opened with $31 million in 1999

Theﬁlm extendedits meteoric run, scoring the biggest anime opening of all time with a$132.1 million weekend, according to Comscore. Crunchyroll and Sony rolled it out across North America and 49 international markets, pushing the global total to $177.8 million.

PROVIDED IMAGE FROM SONy PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT

‘Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no yaiba —Infinity Castle’ made box-office historythis weekend as the Japanese anime film sliced straight to No. 1.

“This performance bythis particular film showsthe unpredictability of the box office,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior mediaanalyst forComscore. “If we were sitting here, let’ssay amonth or even acouple of weeks ago, would we be thinking, ‘Wow,aJapanese anime film would be number one at the box office, overperform and bringin$70 million?’ If you predicted that, kudos to you.”

The movie is the first in a three-film trilogy that brings thehit Shonen saga to its climactic showdown. The story follows Tanjiro Kamado, a kind-hearted boy who takesup swordsmanship after his family is slaughtered and his sister, Nezuko, is turnedinto ademon Together,they ﬁght asupernatural underworld of monstrous foes while clinging to what’sleft of their humanity.

The “Infinity Castle” opener hails from renowned studio Ufotable, whose lavish visuals and breakneck ﬁght sequences havehelped make the franchise a global sensation and juggernaut. The film’sdomination also points to aSeptember rebound after asluggish August. WarnerBros.’ “The Conjuring: Last Rites,” whichopened to $83 million last weekend, slipped to second with $26 million.

The horror sequel has now scared up $131 million domestically “This shows that two months of down trendingbox office canbetotally reversedover the course of acouple of weekends,” Dergarabedian said Focus Features Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale” opened in third with $18.1 million.Set in the 1930s, the film finds Lady Mary embroiled in apublic scandalasthe Crawleys confront financial strain andthe looming threat of social disgrace. While the aristocratic familyadapts to change, the household staff prepares for anew chapter with the next generation leading ä See ANIME, page 2D

LIVING

DIGITAL DISCIPLE

BY JESSIE WARDARSKI and NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press

CHICAGO At aCatholic school in PopeLeo XIV’shometown,fifth graders read comic books about Carlo Acutis’ life titled “Digital Disciple.”They draw pictures of what theteenage Italian computer whiz might have hadashis cellphonewallpaper.They discuss the miracles that allegedly occurred thanks to Acutis’intercession.

In thelead-up to Acutis’canonization on Sunday, it’sall Acutis, all the time at the Blessed Carlo Acutis Parish andschool in Chicago. The parishwas the ﬁrst in the UnitedStates to take its name from Acutis, who died in 2006 at age 15 and is abouttobecome history’s ﬁrst millennial saint In recent years, Acutis hasshot to near rockstar-like fame among many youngCatholics,generatinga global following thelikes of which the Catholic Churchhasn’t seen in ages. Much of that popularity is thanks to aconcerted campaign by the Vatican to give the next generation arelatable, modern-day rolemodel,anordinarykid whoused histechnological talents

Collection

during weekday Mass for the students of St.John Berchmans’ school in Chicago.

to spread the faith.

He’s notatoweringworld ﬁgure like Mother Teresa or St. John Paul II, butrather a“saintnext door,” said the Rev. Ed Howe, thepastor at BlessedCarlo Acutis Parishin Chicago’sNorthwest Side.

“He’ssomeone who Ithink alot of young people today say,‘Icould be the saint next door,’”Howe said. Pope LeoXIV’s firstcanonization Leo, aChicago native, will declare Acutis asaint on Sunday in his first canonization ceremony,

alongside another popularItalian, Pier GiorgioFrassati, whoalso died young. Both ceremonies had been scheduledfor earlier this year,but were postponed following Pope Francis’ death in April. It wasFrancis whohad fervently willedthe Acutis sainthood case forward, convinced that the church needed someonelike him to attract young Catholics to the faith while addressing the promises and perils of the digital age.

Acutis wasprecociously savvy with computers long before the social mediaera,readingcollege-level textbooks on programming and coding as ayoungster and making websites that at the time were the domain of professionals. But he limited himself to an hour of video games aweek, apparently deciding long before TikTok that human relationships werefar more important than virtual ones.

“Carlo was wellawarethat the whole apparatus of communications, advertising andsocial networking can be used to lull us, to makeusaddicted to consumerism andbuyingthe latest thingonthe market,”Franciswrote in a2019

BookTrib.com (TNS)

It happens once in awhile: you think of aclever twistofphrase, one that’snot only funny but insightful.Maybe youwereinthe shower,inthe car,doing the dishes. “I should write that down,”you think. But, of course, most of us never do. Not so withPiotr Bardzik. He’s madeapoint of getting it all down on paper, and you’ll be glad he did. “Fact Denounced as aFourLetter Word: and Other Accidental Thoughtsinthe World Dominated by Common Nonsense” captures

someofthe fleeting moments of brilliance that strike him throughout the day.And maybe even in the middle of thenight. Bardzikbringswry witand an eye for the absurd to his collection of aphoristic musings. Here,we find “common nonsense”inpolitics,corporate culture, media, and all manner of flawed logic and irrationalthought fullyand thoroughly lampooned for our entertainment —and, at times, edification as well. Divided into 14 categories by subject matter,weare regaledwith such quips as: n “The durationofthe conflictis

related to the comfort of decisionmakers in the trenches.”

n “Inour company,weprioritize absolutely everything.”

n “Somewatches don’tjust tell time, they measure vanity.” n “Optimism can be avaluable resource unless youcombineit with delusion.” n “Complexity is notunlike an extremely invasive weed. It grows without any support.”

Familiar words are provided with ironic definitions, such as “privilege— aone-sided coin,”“passion

ä See APHORISMS, page 2D

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTOS By JESSIE WARDARSKI

Students of St. John Berchmans’ school walk past aphoto of Blessed CarloAcutis, whowill be canonized asaint by Pope Leo XIV, after Mass at Blessed Carlo Acutis Parish in Chicago.

Blessed CarloAcutis keychains sit outsidethe sanctuaryofBlessed CarloAcutis Parish

Husband’sgameisn’t really that cute

Dear Miss Manners: My husband andIdine out often. Iuse my napkin and have good manners, but even so, there are times that Iapparently get small particles of food on my face. When this happens, my husband thinks it’sfun to play “food-on-your-face charades.” He will point to his own face to let me know that there is aproblem, then when Iuse my napkin to clean it up, he will say “wrong side” and pointto another place on his face. This can go on three or four times until Ifeel totallyembarrassed and humiliated. Gentle reader: And that amuses him?

By The Associated Press

Todayinhistory:

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

Miss Mannershas no trouble solving your surface problem: Carry asmall mirror in your purse,and check your face yourself.But you might want to consider that the underlying problem also requires attention. Dear Miss Manners: Is it rude, or at least unprofessional, for my urologist to never address me by name and insteaduse theword “pal”? For example: “Hey, pal,”or“Take it easy, pal.” He is about 30 years my junior, but Ihave other doctors younger than him who do not do this. At ﬁrst, Ithought this was agenerational thing of“being cool” or whatever.But now it just disgusts me, and I’m on the cusp of cutting ties.

TODAYINHISTORY

Today is Tuesday,Sept. 16,the 259th day of 2025. There are 106 days left in the year

On Sept. 16, 1893, the largest land run in U.S. historyoccurred as more than 100,000 Whitesettlers rushed to claimover more than 6million acres of land in what is now northern Oklahoma.

Also on this date:

In 1810, Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo yCostilla called on his parishioners to join him in a rebellion against Spanish rule, marking the beginning of the Mexican WarofIndependence.

In 1940, SamuelT.Rayburn of Texas was ﬁrst elected speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; he would hold the post for arecord 17 years, spanning three separate terms.

In 1966, the Metropolitan Opera ofﬁcially opened itsnew opera house at New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts with the world premiere of Samuel Barber’s“Antony and Cleopatra.”

In 1974, President Gerald R. Ford signed aproclamation announcing aconditional amnesty program for Vietnam war deserters and draft evaders.

In 1982, the massacre of more than 1,300 Palestinianmen, women and children at the hands of Israeli-allied Christian Phalange militiamen began in west Beirut’sSabra and Shatila refugee camps.

APHORISMS

Continued from page1D

—obsession ennobled,” and “Tautology? It is what it is.” On the other side of the spectrum,Bardzik’s neologisms perfectly capture concepts we didn’tevenknowwe neededaname for. You’ll be eager to incorporate phrases like“hopium,” “excuse parade” and nothing and ahalf” into your vocabulary Aself-described “bean counter nearing retirement,” Bardzik also devotes afew chapterstocorporate finance and mathematics, giving eachtheir fair share of ribbing. If this is your line of workas well, the following words deserve to be hung on your cube-farm wall: “It takes greatwisdom to distinguish between what Excel can do and what it cannot.” Truer words have never been written. Inspired by aphoristsStanisław Jerzy Lec and Nassim Nicholas Taleb and the product of eight years of journaling, “FactDenounced as aFour-Letter Word is “a distillateof3,000 accidental thoughts,” writes Bardzik, further culled down to “personal bonnes pensées”thatcan be referred to as “instances of common nonsense.”

ANIME

Continued from page1D

Downton into the future. In fourth place, Lionsgate’s “The Long Walk” debuted with $11.5 million.DirectedbyFrancis Lawrence,the adaptationof Stephen King’s ﬁrst-written novel is athriller that asks achilling question: “How far would you go to survive?” Pixar’s“ToyStory (30thAnniversary)” brought Buzz,Woody andthe gang back to thebig screen, opening in ﬁfth with$3.5 million across 2,375 theaters. Warner Bros.’ “Weapons” followed in sixth with $2.75 million, while Disney’sfilmed musical

Gentlereader: It is supposed to be cute. Like you, Miss Manners doesn’tmuch care for cute. However,she has noticed that there is hardly away of addressing people formally without the risk of causing offense. Sometimes it is just the use of formality,aswhen aperson addressed as “mister” says, “That makes me feel old.” More often, it is the choice of title, as when a professional title is omitted,ora lady is infuriated because someone guesses wrong about whether she prefers Miss, Ms. or Mrs. Miss Manners is sorry to see honoriﬁcs disappearing, because they indicate respect, distinguish between professional and social relationships, and establish stages of intimacy.But unless everyone

Take

In 2007, O.J. Simpson was arrested in thealleged armed robbery of sports memorabilia collectors in Las Vegas.(Simpson was later convicted of kidnapping and armedrobbery and sentenced to nine to 33 years in prison; he was released in 2017.)

In 2013, Aaron Alexis,aformerU.S. Navy reservist,went on ashootingrampage inside the Washington Navy Yard, killing 12 peoplebefore being fatally shot police.

In 2018, at least 17 people were conﬁrmed dead from Hurricane Florence as catastrophic ﬂooding spread across the Carolinas.

Today’sbirthdays: Actor George Chakiris is 93. Actor Ed Begley Jr.is76. Author-historianﬁlmmaker Henry Louis Gates Jr.is75. Country singer David Bellamy (TheBellamy Brothers) is 75. Actor Mickey Rourke is 73. Jazz musician Earl Klugh is 72. TV personality Mark McEwen is 71. Baseball Hall of Famer Robin Yount is 70. Magician David Copperﬁeld is 69. Actor Jennifer Tilly is 67. Retired MLB All-Star pitcher Orel Hershiser is 67. Baseball Hall of Famer TimRaines is 66. Singer Richard Marx is 62. Comedian Molly Shannon is 61. Singer Marc Anthonyis57. News anchor/talk show host Tamron Hall is 55. Comedian-actor Amy Poehler is 54. Singer-songwriter Musiq Soulchild is 48. Rapper Flo Rida is 46. Actor Alexis Bledel is 44. Actor MadelineZima is 40. Actor MaxMinghella is 40.

Some of the best examples stem from the follies of ﬂawed thinking, such as thiswinner: “The intensity of ourconvictions is oftentimes directlyproportional to the level of self-doubt withwhich we are burdened.” Or “Weare all obsessed with lookingfor answers. To thepoint of losing the ability to pose sensible questions. Whether we recognizethese thought patterns in others or ourselves,Bardzik’s words ﬁrst make you think, and then make youlaugh. It’sa great book to pick up as your mooddictatesand open to any page at random. Fittingly,itcomes withaself-deprecatingcaution emblazoned on the cover: “Warning:toberead only in smalldoses.”With aphorisms, is there any other way? The best aphorisms aren’tjust clever; they reveal insights about their subject.Theyare morethan just pithy;theystickthe landing like adart in abullseye. They also assume the reader is intelligent enoughtoget thepoint without further explanation. As Bardzik puts it, It’sthe context, stupid!”

Andhe’sright. So, if you appreciatehumor that tickles your brainaswell as your funny bone, “Fact Denounced as aFour-Letter Word”isvery likely justthe right bookfor you.

“Hamilton” landed seventhwith $2.2 million. “FreakierFriday” claimed eighth with$2.1 million. Roundingout the top 10:“Spinal TapII: The End Continues” debutedwith $1.6million, narrowly edging“TheSoundofMusic (60th Anniversary),” whichsang up $1.4 million. Dergarabedian said he expects more September goodfortunes with the release of Jordan Peele’s horror ﬁlm“HIM” next week and Paul Thomas Anderson’s“One Battle After Another” coming out this month.

“September,after avery modestmonth of August, is proving to be anabsolutely fantastic postsummer month for movies and for audiences and for movie theaters,” hesaid

calms down,she understands why it is easiertouse kindergarten forms.

Dear Miss Manners: Afriend called me asking if she could crash at my place that sameday.I thought that was super rude. Ifelt very uncomfortable with her just unexpectedly telling me she wanted to stay at my place instead of getting ahotel room She can afford it; money is not an issue.

She was visiting someone else, but didn’twant to stay at that friend’shouse because she has a husband andtwo children, whereas Ihave moreroom. Friends need to understand my house is not acrash pad. This is my sanctuary.It’snot an emergency

Gentle reader: Then whyare you treating this as an etiquette emergency?

Of course it is your house, which is whyitshould be easy to tell afriend, “I’m so sorry,but that won’twork. Ihope you ﬁnd something.”

Miss Manners hates to think of the trouble people might get into if manners required them to yield to every proposition made to them

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

them from drying out.

Dear Heloise: In theAdvocatein Louisiana, Isaw two recommendations in your column that I’d like to add to: First,wooden cutting boards have been proven to be thesafest option of cutting boards. Detailed tests conducted by at least two universities show that wooden boards remain safe and bacteria-free with minimal upkeep. Just wash them in soapy water as you would any dish or pot.Anoccasional rubdown withcommon mineral oil is acheap and easy way to keep

Second, boric acid powder is, indeed, agreat waytoget rid of manycrawling critters including roaches, ants and silverﬁsh. It isn’t necessary to mixany sugar with the powder; just sprinkle the powder where the bugs will walk in it. Ilive in New Orleans and have used boric acid powder for decades with great results. —Andy Gallien, viaemail Fixing astained counter

Dear Heloise: Iwanted to write in

They had arepairman cut the burned area out. This was replaced with asquare of heat-tolerant material so that you could set ahot pot on it. The square had ametal border, and the appearance was actually quite nice. —Nancy,inFlorida Sendahinttoheloise@heloise

SAINT

Continuedfrom page1D

document. “Yet he knew howto use thenew communications technology to transmit the Gospel, to communicate values and beauty.”

Leoinheritedthe Acutis cause, but he too has pointed to technology —especially artiﬁcial intelligence —asone of the mainchallenges facing humanity

Afast-tracktosainthood

Acutiswas born on May3,1991, in London to awealthy but not particularly observant Catholic family.They moved back to Milan soon after he was born and he enjoyed atypical, happy childhood, albeit markedbyhis increasingly intense religious devotion.

In October 2006, at age15, he fell ill with what was quickly diagnosed as acute leukemia. Within days, he was dead. He was entombed in Assisi, which known for its association with another popular saint, St. Francis.

In aremarkablyquick process, Acutis was beatiﬁed in 2020, and last year Francis approved the second miracle needed for him to be madeasaint. In theyears since his death, youngCatholics have ﬂocked by the millions to Assisi, wherethrough a glass-sided tomb they can see the youngAcutis,dressed in jeans, Nike sneakers and asweatshirt, his handsclasped around arosary Those who can’tmake it in person can watch thecomings andgoings on awebcam pointedathis tomb, alevel of internet accessibilitynot afforded eventopopes buriedinSt. Peter’s Basilica.

Theordinary, extraordinary Forhis admirers, Acutis was an ordinarykid who did extraordi-

nary things, atypical Milan teen who went to school, played soccer and loved animals. But he also brought food to the poor,attended Mass daily and got his less-thandevout parents back to church.

“When Iread his story for the ﬁrst time, it was just like shocking to me, because from avery early age, he was just really drawn to Jesus Christ andhewould go to Mass all the time,” said Sona Harrison, an eighth grader at the St. JohnBerchmans’ school, which is part of the Acutis parish. “I feel like he’s alot more relatable, andIdeﬁnitely feel likeI’m closer to God whenIread abouthim.”

Acutis earned the nickname “God’sInﬂuencer,” because he used technology to spread the faith. His mostwell-known tech legacy is the website he created aboutso-called Eucharistic miracles, available in nearly 20 different languages. The site compiles information aboutthe 196 seemingly inexplicable events over thehistory of thechurchrelated to theEucharist,whichthe faithful believe is the body of Christ.

Acutis wasknown to spendhours in prayer before the Eucharist each day, apractice known as Eucharistic adoration.

“This was theﬁxed appointment of his day,”his mother,Antonia Salzano, saidina documentary that was airing Friday night at the U.S. seminary in Rome.

Appeal that serves church

Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a history professor at the University of Notre Dame, said Acutis’ enormouspopularity wasclearly theresult of aconcerted church campaign, pushedstrongly by his grief-stricken mother.But shesaid that is nothingnew,and that in the 2,000-year history of the church, saintshave very often been pushed ahead to respond to aparticular need at aparticular time.

“It doesn’t detract fromthe holiness of the person being honored to saythat thereare choicesthatare made” aboutwhichcases move forward, she said in aphone interview SprowsCummingssaidthat the Acutis phenomenon caught on because he’sattractive to both young people and the institutional church, forusingtechnology in apositive waytospread his profound belief in Eucharistic miracles at atime when manyCatholics don’tbelieve thatChrist is truly present in the Eucharist.

“Canonization is about marketing,” said Sprows Cummings, author of “A Saint of Our Own: How the Quest for aHolyHero Helped Catholics become American.”

“Which stories are going to get told? Who is going to getremembered through this amazingly efﬁcient way of remembering holy people?”

Acutis andhis storyare everpresent here at the parish named for him. During Mass this week before the canonization, students processed into thechapelunder an Acutis bannercarrying things he might have carried: asoccer ball, laptop and knapsack.

Howe, the parish pastorand priest of the Congregation of the Resurrection, pulled itemsout of the knapsack to explainAcutis’ story to the youngest students seated up front: Acan of food he might have given to ahomeless person, aset of rosary beadshemighthave prayed with.

The message landed.

“He fed thepoor,hecared for the poor,” said 9-year-old David Cameron, whocalledAcutis“a great man.” Cameron, afan of Sonic, Minecraft and Halo, also found inspiration in Acutis’ love of video games —and awe at Acutis’ restraint.

“He played video games forlike onlyone hour aweek,which Idon’t think Ican do,” he said.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS

PHOTOByJESSIE WARDARSKI

Alex Miller,a fifth-gradestudent at St.John Berchmans’ school in Chicago,draws apicture of Blessed Carlo Acutis, whowill be canonized asaint by Pope Leo XIV

Hints from Heloise

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Get ready to roll up your sleeves and do the work yourself. Take pride in what you do, and the rewards will be forthcoming. An opportunity to spend time with someone seasoned will be informative.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct 23) Keep your feet firmly planted on the ground and your mind focused on what's necessary and how quickly you can achieve what you set out to do. Your attention to detail will pay off.

scoRPIo (oct. 24-Nov. 22) You need a break. Shake things up and redirect your energy toward something you feel enthusiastic about, and the tables will turn. Put yourself first and do something that brings out the best in you.

sAGIttARIus (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Change your surroundings to make your life easier and more comfortable. Stop worrying about what others want, say or do when your focus should be on doing what's best for you.

cAPRIcoRN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Get out and communicate with people who share your interests. Traveling, reuniting with people from your past and paying more attention to those you care about will help you get your life in order.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Today is all about how you make and spend your cash. Look for higher-paying jobs, send out resumes and network with people who share your skills, and you'll gain insight into who's hiring.

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Mix business with pleasure and expand your connec-

tions and ability to get ahead. Discipline and hard work alone won't be enough; you'll also need allies and a desire to stay on top.

ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Focus, and finish what you start. Don't take on too much, or overreact to situations that might cause relationship problems. Join groups that encourage you to choose an active lifestyle.

tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Spend more time working from home. Too much activity happening around you will be distracting. Avoid discussions with disgruntled associates. Take better care of your health.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Keep your thoughts to yourself until you are ready to proceed. A change will point you in a new direction and encourage you to acquire additional knowledge, certifications or other assets.

cANcER (June 21-July 22) An open and honest approach to personal and professional affairs will help avoid discord. Use your charm and intellect to persuade others to support your plans.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Hard work will pay off. What you do will be noticed. Stand tall and be proud of what you can offer, and you will receive more than anticipated in return.

FAMILY CIrCUS

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

toDAy's cLuE: K EQuALs y

CeLebrItY CIpher

For better or For WorSe peAnUtS

And erneSt

SALLY Forth

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 numbers1 to 9inthe empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of the sudoku increases from monday to sunday.

Yesterday’s PuzzleAnswer

THe wiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

CurTiS

Bridge

By PHILLIP ALDER

To what was this commentreferring?

“TheChipalsoreducesthedamagedone by bandits. They stillsteal drinks and cheers along the course,but no longer scramblethepayingrunners’results.No entry fee, no Chip, no time or place. For abridge declarer, it can be acase of no entry card, no contract success as in this deal.

HowshouldSouthplantheplayinthree no-trump after West leads the heartfour and East putsuphis 10?

With all of thoseaces and kings,that South hand is worth atwo-club opening bidevenifyourrangeforatwo-no-trump opening is agood 20 to 22.

South starts with six top tricks: two spades, two hearts (given thelead) and twodiamonds. He canestablish at least three club tricks, but if the defender with the ace can hold up that card until the third round of the suit, declarer will need adummy entry. This can be only the heart queen.

First, this requiresWest’s having the heart king. That is highlylikelybecause withoutthe king, West wouldhave probablyled the nine from aholding like 9-8-7-4-2. Second, South must win the first trickwith his ace, not withhis jack. Then, after driving out the club ace and winning East’s shift, declarer can lead a hearttowarddummy’squeentogenerate

thatvitalentry.Theopeningobservation wasmadebyJoe Henderson about the Bostonmarathon. To stop nonentries suddenly seeming tobedoingwell,eachrunnerhasamicrochipinhis laces. This also gives everyone an accurate start-line-to-finish-line time.

mcmeel

syndication

Each Wuzzle is awordriddlewhich creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: nOOn gOOD =gOOD aFTErnOOn

Previous answers:

word game

INstRuctIoNs: 1. Words must be of fourormore letters. 2. Words that acquire fourletters by the addition of “s,”such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3 additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit wordsare not allowed toDAy’s WoRD toRsIoN: TOR-shun: The twisting of abody.

Average mark16words

Time limit 25 minutes

yEstERDAy’s WoRD —uPsILoN

Can you find 23 or morewords in TORSION? upon pious plus

soul soup spin spoil spun lion lisp loin lupin onus opus

tell you, No:but, except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.” Luke13:5

wuzzles

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles hidato

mallard fillmore

dIrectIons: make a 2- to 7-letter word from the letters in each row. add points of each word, using scoring directions at right. Finally, 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. “Blanks” used as any letter have no point value. all the words are in the Official sCraBBlE® players Dictionary, 5th Edition.

Puzzle Answer ken ken

InstructIons: 1 Each row and each column must contain the numbers 1 thorugh 4 (easy) or 1 through 6 (challenging) without repeating. 2 The numbers within the heavily outlined boxes, called cages, must combine using the given operation (in any order) to produce the target numbers in the top-left corners. 3 Freebies: Fill in the single-box cages with the number in the top-left corner. HErE is a

Scrabble GramS

roSe

veyanceOfﬁce of Or‐leansParish, bearingNA #2019-41589 andCIN 664709; WHEREAS,JMP23, LLChas appliedtothis HonorableCourt for a Monition or advertise‐ment,inconformitywith LA.REV.STAT. §47:2271, et.seq.; THEREFORE,in thenameofthe

lowing: •Assistanceindrafting internal

cies andmanagethe im‐pact of external factors; •Evaluateand weigh multiple inputs andim‐pactsofany decision or course of action sought by theBoard of Trustees; •Anticipateissuesand estimate risks; identify proactivesolutions for potentialrisks; •Assist in dealings with external parties(audi‐tors,externalcounsel, politicians,clients); •Meet alllegal objec‐tiveswitha complete un‐derstandingofthe JPFA TrustIndenture,its ByLaws,its purpose, and RobertsRules of Order; •Draft agreements and legislationonbehalfof theJPFA; •Keep abreastand in‐form executivedirector andBoard of Trustees of alllegislative changes relative to theJPFAat a federal andlocal level; •Attend allmeetings of theBoard of Trustees andifnecessary,com‐mittee meetings Thefollowing criteria shallbeusedtoevaluate thestatementsofthe ﬁrst/individualssubmit‐ting to thegeneral coun‐selposition: