The Advocate 09-18-2025 by The Advocate

Fed cuts interest rate

Quarter-point reduction first this year; two more projected

BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP economics writer

WASHINGTON The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate by a quarter-point Wednesday and projected it would do so twice more this year as concern grows at the central bank about the health of the nation’s labor market

The move is the Fed’s ﬁrst cut since December and it lowered its short-term rate to about 4.1%, down from 4.3%.

Fed ofﬁcials, led by Chair Jerome Powell, had kept their rate unchanged this year as they evaluated the impact of tariffs, tighter immigration enforcement, and other Trump administration

policies on inﬂation and the economy

Yet the central bank’s focus has shifted quickly from inﬂation, which remains modestly above its 2% target, to jobs, as hiring has ground nearly to a halt in recent months and the unemployment rate has ticked higher Lower interest rates could reduce borrowing costs for mortgages, car loans and business loans, and boost growth and hiring.

“In this less dynamic and somewhat softer labor market, the downside risks to employment appear to have risen,”

Powell said at a news conference following the Fed’s two-day meeting.

Fed ofﬁcials also signaled that they expect to reduce their key rate twice

more this year, but just once in 2026.

Before the meeting, investors on Wall Street had projected ﬁve cuts for the rest of this year and next.

Stocks initially rose following the release of the projections, which seemed to support Wall Street’s widespread expectation for more cuts to interest rates. Such moves can give the economy a kickstart, and stock prices had already run to records on the bet that several cuts are on the way

But stocks gave back gains after Powell stressed that they’re only projections. Conditions could change quickly,

ä See FED, page 8A

‘Azores high’ steering storms away from U.S.

BY KASEY BUBNASH Staff writer

Tropical Storm Gabrielle formed over the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday morning, becoming this year’s seventh named storm. Forecasters expect the system to curve away from the U.S. as it strengthens, a path that a majority of this year’s six other named storms have followed, mercifully avoiding direct hits to land.

“In general, think of that high pressure as a blocking mechanism that systems have to go around rather than through.”

That’s thanks in large part to what meteorologists call the “Azores high,” a semi-permanent ridge of high pressure over a portion of the Atlantic Ocean that steers tropical systems according to Louisiana State Climatologist Jay Grymes.

JAy GRyMES, Louisiana state climatologist

“That’s a feature we know tropical systems have to go around,” he said. Grymes likened the Atlantic to a football field, an analogy he credited to a professor he had at LSU. The ridge is a linebacker, and a tropical cyclone is a running back on the opposing team. The cyclone almost always has to go around the ridge to get where it’s going.

Like in football, only an unusually strong cyclone, like a fully formed hurricane, could collide with the ridge and manage to push through it.

“But in general, think of that high pressure as a blocking mechanism that systems have to go around rather than through,” Grymes said.

Grymes said the high-pressure ridge expands and contracts in a cycle throughout the year These phases are known by

BY ELLYN COUVILLION

Staff writer

Douglas “Doug” Manship Jr., a former publisher of The Advocate and grandson of the founder of the newspaper’s publishing company, died Wednesday at 82.

Manship died at home, where he was in hospice care under the care of his wife, Dianne, said his brother Richard Manship Richard Manship said he and his wife had visited with his brother and were driving home when they learned he had died.

“I would classify Doug

ä See MANSHIP,

the

Cleanup costs soar after giant plant ﬁre

Smitty’s Supply faces suits in wake of explosion

BY DAVID J MITCHELL Staff writer

Three weeks since Smitty’s Supply in Roseland caught ﬁre and exploded, the bill for the lead response agency is already in the tens of millions of dollars and may rise, ofﬁcials said. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has set aside at least $39 million and is seeking more through federal emergency petroleum spill money an agency spokesperson said.

The rising EPA numbers, which don’t include additional local and state costs, provide a measure of the environmental impact of the huge ﬁre that started Aug. 22 and took more than two weeks to fully extinguish.

The new figure represents a sharp rise in the cost of the response, which earlier this month was involving as many as 261 EPA staffers and con-

tractors and 20 local ofﬁcials.

The fire at the lubricants plant off U.S. 51 sent up a large black plume that rained down soot as far as 15 miles way, forced a 1-mile evacuation for a few days and spilled millions of gallons of chemicals into local ditches, ponds and nearly 50 miles of the Tangipahoa River

Potentially a responsible party for the ﬁre, Smitty’s is not paying for response efforts undertaken by the EPA. In a late August report, the EPA said it had taken over the response on Aug. 24 and shifted away from counting on the company due to “ﬁnancial solvency issues.”

The EPA says it prefers having responsible parties handle the response under agency direction. But the EPA can step in when that party refuses or is unable to respond — and has the authority to pursue recouping the cost later After the ﬁre, Smitty’s, a major employer in Tangipahoa Parish, has laid off employees

See CLEANUP, page 7A

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JACQUELyN MARTIN

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell walks off after a news conference Wednesday following the Federal Open Market Committee meeting at the Federal Reserve Board Building in Washington.

PHOTO PROVIDED By DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITy

The effects of the fire at Smitty’s Supply are seen in a private pond south of La. 10 and upstream of the Tangipahoa River

Doug Manship Jr., former Advocate publisher, dies at 82

D. Manship

page 7A

FBI says man rammed car into Pittsburgh gate

PITTSBURGH A man who rammed a car into an FBI security gate in Pittsburgh and covered it in an American ﬂag Wednesday later said he did it to “make a statement,” the FBI said.

Donald Phillip Henson was captured seven hours after fleeing the crash and invoked a Latin phrase about tyrants, “sic semper tyrannis,” meaning “thus always to tyrants,” while talking to the FBI, according to an afﬁdavit. John Wilkes Booth is said to have shouted the phrase after shooting President Abraham Lincoln.

Henson, 46, of nearby Penn Hills, was being charged with assault with a deadly weapon and damaging government property

“This was a targeted attack on this building,” Christopher Giordano, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI in Pittsburgh, told reporters. No personnel were injured. No details on motive or how he was able to ﬂee were immediately available.

The FBI was familiar with Henson, whom Giordano described as a former member of the military Public records list him as a Republican who voted in the 2024 general election.

“He did come here to the FBI

ﬁeld ofﬁce a few weeks ago to make a complaint that didn’t make a whole lot of sense,” Giordano said

Suspect in McCann disappearance released

SEHNDE,Germany A German national who is under investigation in the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann 18 years ago was released from prison Wednesday after serving his sentence in an unrelated case, police said.

The man, who has been identified by media as Christian Brückner, had been serving a seven-year sentence that stemmed from his 2019 conviction for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal. In June 2020, German prosecutors said the man was being investigated on suspicion of murder in connection with McCann’s disappearance on May 3, 2007, from an apartment complex in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz. They said they assumed the girl was dead Police have since carried out more searches in Portugal. But the suspect, who has denied any involvement in her disappearance, has not been charged in the case. The investigation is not affected by his release. He also remains a suspect in an investigation into McCann’s disappearance being conducted by Britain’s Metropolitan Police, who say he refused their request for an interview Investigators in the U.K., Portugal and Germany are still piecing together what happened on the night 3-year-old Madeleine disappeared. She was in the same room as her brother and sister 2-year-old twins — while their parents, Kate and Gerry, had dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant.

The suspect was tried last year over several unrelated sexual offenses he was alleged to have committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017 and was acquitted in October Hogan’s ex-wife blames politics for Emmys snub

Hulk Hogan’s ex-wife Linda blasted the 2025 Emmys for leaving the late wrestler out of its “In Memoriam” segment, blaming politics for his snub. Hogan, who starred on his own reality show “Hogan Knows Best” in addition to being one of the WWE’s most well-known performers for decades, died of a heart attack in July

The wrestling great wasn’t the only one omitted from the Emmys segment. Two-time Academy Award winner Gene Hackman was also notably absent, as were “Sopranos” alum Jerry Adler, “King of the Hill” star Jonathan Joss, and “General Hospital” alumnus Leslie Charleson. Linda, who was married to Hulk from 1983 to 2009, went on to speculate that his recent embrace of conservative politics, speciﬁcally his support for President Donald Trump, was the cause of the omission

Trump basks in U.K. pomp

U.S. president relishes day filled with pageantry

BY DANICA KIRKA, JILL LAWLESS, MICHELLE L. PRICE and WILL WEISSERT Associated Press

WINDSOR, England President Donald Trump relished the glow of a British royal spectacle on Wednesday, reveling in hours of pageantry with King Charles III while making time for a quiet tribute at Queen Elizabeth II’s tomb.

Opening a two-day state visit, the grandeur-loving president soaked it all up, from the largest guard of honor in living memory, with 120 horses and 1,300 troops, to carriage rides, an air show and a Windsor Castle dinner

After the pomp comes the real work Thursday, when Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer meet, with the stakes high for the host country.

No U.S president, or any other world leader, has had the honor of a second U.K state visit; Trump’s ﬁrst was in 2019, during his previous term. The display of regal splendor was meant to bolster ties with Trump at a time when his America First policies are putting pressure on trade and security arrangements around the globe.

Prince William and his wife, Kate, meet the presidential helicopter in the private Walled Garden on the vast Windsor estate, then walked Trump and ﬁrst lady Melania Trump over to be greeted

by Charles and Queen Camilla A gigantic royal standard — the

ag used for ofﬁcial celebration days —

ew from the Royal Tower

The guests traveled to the castle in a procession of horse-drawn carriages, past ranks of soldiers, sailors and aviators. The king and the Republican president chatted in the Irish State Coach during the short journey to the castle quadrangle, where Trump, accompanied by Charles, inspected an honor guard of soldiers in red tunics and bearskin hats.

The president and Charles toured the Royal Collection Display in an ornate room where ofﬁcials laid out ﬁve tables of artifacts on U.S.-British relations.

Among the items were 18th-century watercolors and documents on the United States seeking independence from King George III. There were materials from the ﬁrst trans-Atlantic cable, including messages between Queen Victoria and President James Buchanan, as well as a 1930s hot dog picnic that a young Elizabeth wrote about, and a large glass vessel that President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave the queen during a 1957 state visit.

“Wow,” Trump said as he looked at documents on U.S. independence.

“That’s fascinating,” Charles said. The Red Arrows, the Royal Air Force’s aerobatics display

team, thundered overhead, leaving streaks of red, white and blue smoke in their wake and drawing a visible reaction from both Trumps.

The dinner menu featured Hampshire watercress panna cotta with Parmesan shortbread and quail egg salad, along with Norfolk chicken ballotine Desert was vanilla ice cream bombe with a raspberry sherbet interior and lightly poached Victorian plums.

Trump avoids alcohol, but the bar offerings included a cocktail known as the trans-Atlantic whiskey sour infused with marmalade, Warre’s 1945 Vintage Port — Trump is the 45th and 47th American president and Hennessy 1912 Cognac Grande Champagne. That was the year Trump’s mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, was born in Scotland.

The musical playlist included the theme from the James Bond movies and rock staples from Trump’s campaign rallies.

Charles and Camilla also presented the president and ﬁrst lady with a handbound leather volume celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, as well as the Union flag that ﬂew above Buckingham Palace on the day of Trump’s inauguration in January

Trump gave Charles a replica of an Eisenhower sword, and Camilla received a vintage Tiffany & Co. gold, diamond and ruby brooch.

Trump’s U.K. visit met with protests, arrests

BY BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press

LONDON U.S. President Donald Trump received a royal reception at Windsor Castle on Wednesday, but beyond the castle walls many protesters did not welcome his visit.

Several thousand people marched through central London to protest his trip, which includes a lavish banquet in his honor hosted by King Charles III and a meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer Carrying banners reading “No to the racism, no to Trump,” the crowd, organized by the Stop Trump U.K. coalition, headed down Regent Street on their way to Parliament. Some carried small versions of the giant Trump baby blimp, an orange-tinted caricature of the blond-coiffed leader in a diaper, that made a big impression during his ﬁrst visit in June 2019. Others carried signs reading “No to Trump, no to fascism” and “Dump Trump.” The crowd booed a counterprotester who held a sign that read “We Love Trump.” London’s police force deployed 1,600 officers as they expected members of about 50 different groups that included climate, anti-racism and proPalestinian activists.

Trump and ﬁrst lady Melania took a helicopter to Windsor Castle, where they were greeted warmly by the king.

Outside the castle, dozens of people protested throughout the day, though they were outnumbered by a large police presence and international news crews covering the event. “I really don’t think the royal family should be hosting him,” said Tara Heinemann, who held a sign saying, “No banquets for fascists.”

On Tuesday, police arrested four people over a stunt that saw an image of Trump and Jeffrey Epstein projected on a tower at Windsor Castle, a reminder of the president’s relationship with the disgraced ﬁnancier

BY MARK SCOLFORO and PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press

NORTH CODORUS Pa Three police ofﬁcers were killed and two were injured in a shooting Wednesday in southern Pennsylvania, state police said.

“We grieve for the loss of life of three precious souls who served this county, served this commonwealth, served this country,” Gov Josh Shapiro said. “This kind of violence is not OK, we need to do better as a society,” he continued

The shooting erupted in the area of North Codorus Township, about 115 miles west of Philadelphia, not far from the Maryland line, authorities said.

“The grief will be unbearable but we will bear it,” Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Christopher Paris at a news conference. “We will not rest until we conduct a full fair and competent investigation into this matter.”

York Hospital said it was treating two people in serious condition and had enhanced security protocols are in place.

Attorney General Pamela Bondi called the violence against police “a scourge on our society.” She said federal agents

were on the scene to support local ofﬁcers.

“Please send prayers to the ofﬁcers and those involved in the shooting in York County,” Pennsylvania Lt. Gov Austin Davis said in a social media post.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said he was also on the scene. Sunday said on social media he urges “all residents to follow the instructions of local law enforcement” and he is “praying for all involved.”

A local school district issued a shelter-in-place order, though it said schools and students were not involved in the shooting.

The order was lifted later in the afternoon. The district said in a statement that authorities “advised us to hold students and staff in our buildings as a

precaution while several area roads are closed.”

The medical response unfolded on a rural road in south-central Pennsylvania that winds through an agricultural area with a barn and farm ﬁelds. Police have not provided any details about who was involved in the shooting. Officers were keeping people well back from the scene in the area’s rolling farmland, with some 30 police vehicles blocking off roads bordered by a barn, a goat farm and soybean and corn ﬁelds.

An ofﬁcer in the area was killed in February, when a man armed with a pistol and zip ties entered a hospital’s intensive care unit and took staff members hostage before a shootout that left

and

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By EVAN VUCCI

President Donald Trump and Britain’s King Charles III inspect the guard of honor during an arrival ceremony at Windsor Castle, in Windsor, England, on Wednesday.

Kirk suspect feared being shot by police

He agreed to surrender if it was done peacefully, sheriff says

BY JESSE BEDAYN, HANNAH SCHOENBAUM and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press

OREM, Utah Tyler Robinson, the Utah man accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk, was afraid of being shot by police and eventually agreed to surrender only if it was done peacefully, a sheriff involved with taking him into custody said Wednesday Robinson appeared quiet and somber when he arrived with his parents to turn himself in last Thursday at the Washington County Sheriff’s ofﬁce, a day after Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University said Sheriff Nate Brooksby “He didn’t want a big SWAT team at his parent’s house or his apartment,” said the sheriff, who was only involved with the surrender and not the broader investigation. “He was truly fearful about being shot by law enforcement.”

Republican president has threatened to crack down on what he calls the “radical left” and classifying some groups as domestic terrorists. Former Democratic President Barack Obama said this week that Trump has further divided the country rather than work to bring people together

On Wednesday, the House Oversight Committee called on the chief executives of Discord, Steam, Twitch and Reddit to testify on how they are regulating their platforms to prevent violence.

The sheriff said he was told that Robinson was possibly suicidal and in a remote area of the southwestern Utah county An hour later, Robinson arrived at the sheriff’s ofﬁce where he was greeted by plainclothes detectives.

“He knew it was inevitable that he would be caught,” said the sheriff. “If at the end of the day we accomplish him surrendering peacefully on his own, I’m going to make some concessions to make that happen.”

The partner apparently never went to law enforcement after receiving the texts. Robinson remained on the run for more than a day until his parents recognized him in a photo released by authorities.

Authorities have not revealed a clear motive in the shooting, but Gray said that Robinson wrote in a text about Kirk to his partner: “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”

week.

ﬁ

rst day of classes since then gathered silently and stared at the barricaded courtyard where Kirk was hit while speaking to students.

Care stations offering stuffed animals, candy and connections to counseling dotted the campus.

Matthew Caldwell, 24, said his classmates were quieter and seemed more genuine about being in class even with sadness still in air

“Congress has a duty to oversee the online platforms that radicals have used to advance political violence,” said GOP Rep. James Comer, the committee chair, signaling a shift for congressional Republicans, who had previously scrutinized online platforms for policing free speech.

Investigators say that after Robinson ﬁred the single fatal shot, he texted his romantic partner and said to look under a keyboard for a note.

“I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it,” it said according to court documents.

The shooting at Utah Valley happened three hours from where Robinson grew up near St. George.

After expressing shock, his partner who lived with Robinson, asked if he was the shooter Robinson responded, “I am, I’m sorry.”

Robinson’s family has declined to comment to The Associated Press.

The Sept 10 shooting that stunned the nation and exposed deep political divides also left the Utah Valley campus reeling. On Wednesday students returning for the

On Tuesday, prosecutors charged the 22-year-old Robinson with capital murder and announced they will seek the death penalty while revealing a series of incriminating messages and DNA evidence that they say connect Robinson to the killing of Kirk, a prominent conservative activist and conﬁdant of President Donald Trump. Robinson also faced his first hearing in the case Tuesday where a judge said he would appoint an attorney to represent him.

Kimmel show dropped over Kirk monologue

BY STEPHEN BATTAGLIO Los Angeles Times (TNS)

Walt Disney Co.-owned broadcaster ABC said it is pulling “Jimmy Kimmel Live” indefinitely following sharp backlash over the host’s remarks about slain right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.

The move comes after station owner Nexstar Media Group said it would yank the show from its ABC afﬁliate stations as a result of the comments.

The Irving, Texasbased Nexstar announced Wednesday that Kimmel will be off its stations for the foreseeable future.

“Nexstar strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk and will replace the show with other programming in its ABCafﬁliated markets,” a company representative said in a statement.

Kimmel said during a monologue on his Monday program that Tyler Robinson, the Utah man accused in the shooting death of Kirk, might have been a pro-Trump Republican. He said MAGA supporters “are desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”

Kimmel then mocked

President Donald Trump for talking about the construction of a new White House ballroom after being asked how he was reacting to the murder of his close ally Law enforcement ofﬁcials said Tuesday that Robinson had liberal political leanings and expressed disdain for Kirk in communications with his roommate.

“Mr Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located,” said Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division.

Alford said continuing to give Kimmel a broadcast platform is simply not in the public interest at this current time.”

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr blasted Kimmel and threatened to take action against ABC. Appearing on the podcast of right-wing commentator Benny Johnson, Carr said one form of punishment could be pulling the licenses of ABC afﬁliates, which likely got Nexstar’s attention Nexstar has ABC affiliates in 32 markets across the U.S., including in New Orleans, New Haven, Nashville and Salt Lake City

“The way that we treat each other in our words can ultimately lead to things like this,” he said “And I think everybody sort of understands that a little bit better now.”

Since the shooting, the

BY MEG KINNARD Associated Press

Former President Barack Obama says that the United States is at “an inflection point” following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and that President Donald Trump has further divided the country rather than work to bring people together

“There are no ifs, ands or buts about it: The central premise of our democratic system is that we have to be able to disagree and have sometimes really contentious debates without resorting to violence,” Obama said Tuesday night during an event in Erie, Pennsylvania, hosted by the Jefferson Education Society, according to a transcript obtained by The Associated Press.

“And when it happens to some, but even if you think they’re, quote, unquote, on the other side of the argument, that’s a threat to all of us,” he said. “And we have to be clear and forthright in condemning them.”

Obama has kept somewhat of a low proﬁle in his postpresidency Responding to a moderator’s questions Tuesday, he addressed Trump’s rhetoric after Kirk’s assassination, as well as other administrative actions.

The sentiment among Trump and his aides following Kirk’s killing of calling political opponents “vermin, enemies speaks to a broader problem,” Obama said.

That’s why the sheriff in Washington County said he was stunned when a retired detective and a friend of the Robinson family called to say he knew the shooter’s identity and they were trying to convince him to come in voluntarily

“I couldn’t fathom what actually came out of his mouth,” Brooksby said.

Kirk, a dominant figure in conservative politics, became a conﬁdant of Trump after founding Arizonabased Turning Point USA, one of the nation’s largest political organizations. Trump has escalated threats to crack down on what he describes as the “radical left” following Kirk’s assassination, stirring fears his Republican administration is trying to harness outrage

Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray said DNA on the trigger of the riﬂe used to kill Kirk matched Robinson.

Law enforcement officials say they are looking at whether others knew about Robinson’s plans or helped, but they have not said if his partner is among those being investigated, only expressing appreciation for the partner sharing information.

over the killing to suppress political opposition.

Trump’s White House on Wednesday responded to Obama’s remarks by blaming him for animosity in the country, calling him “the architect of modern political division in America.”

“Obama used every opportunity to sow division and pit Americans against each other, and following his presidency more Ameri-

Kirk, a 31-year-old father of two, was credited with energizing the Republican youth movement and helping Trump win back the White House in 2024. His political organization, Arizona-based Turning Point USA, brought young, evangelical Christians into politics through social media, his podcast and campus events. While court documents said Robinson wrote in one text that planned the attack for more than a week, authorities have not said what they believe that entailed. Gray declined to answer whether Robinson targeted Kirk for his anti-transgender views. Kirk was shot while taking a question that touched on mass shootings and transgender people. Robinson was involved in a romantic relationship with his roommate, who investigators say is transgender

cans felt Obama divided the country than felt he united it,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement. Obama on Tuesday also referenced Trump’s recent deployment of National Guard troops in Washington and ID checks by federal agents in Los Angeles. He urged citizens and elected ofﬁcials to closely monitor the norm-busting decisions.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JESSE BEDAyN

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, center, prays with students Wednesday at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, during the first day back on campus after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed on campus last

Israeli troops press deeper into Gaza City as Palestinians flee

BY JULIA FRANKEL and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press

JERUSALEM Israeli troops and tanks pushed deeper into Gaza City on Wednesday as more people ﬂed the devastated area, and strikes cut off phone and internet services, making it harder for Palestinians to summon ambulances during the military’s new offensive.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war surpassed 65,000, local health ofﬁcials said.

The Israeli military said air force and artillery units have struck the city more than 150 times in the last few days, ahead of ground troops moving in. The strikes toppled high-rise towers in areas with densely populated tent camps. Israel claims the towers were being used by Hamas to watch troops.

Regulators said the severed phone and internet services hindered the ability of Palestinians to call for help,

coordinate evacuations or share details of the offensive that began Monday and aims to take full control of the city

Overnight strikes killed at least 16 people, including women and children, hospital officials reported The death count in Gaza

climbed to 65,062, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamasrun government. Another 165,697 Palestinians have

been wounded since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas that triggered the war

The ministry does not say how many of the dead were civilians or militants. Its ﬁgures are seen as a reliable estimate by the U.N. and many independent experts.

Israeli bombardment has destroyed vast areas of Gaza, displaced around 90% of the population and caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with experts saying Gaza City is experiencing famine.

Palestinians streamed out of the city some by car others on foot. Israel opened another corridor south of Gaza City for two days beginning Wednesday to allow more people to evacuate.

Israeli forces have carried out multiple large-scale raids into Gaza City over the course of the war, only to see militants regroup later This time, Israel has pledged to take control of the entire city

More than half of the Palestinians killed in overnight Israeli strikes were in Gaza

Republicans reject Democrats’ health care demands

BY MARY CLARE JALONICK and JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press

WASHINGTON Republican leaders in the House and Senate said Wednesday that they will reject Democratic demands for an immediate extension of health care subsidies, challenging Democrats to vote against a stopgap spending bill that doesn’t include them but will keep the government open at the end of the month.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Democrats “have a choice to make” as the Sept. 30 deadline approaches They can work with Republicans, Thune said or “they can shut down the government with all that will mean for the American people.”

The House could vote as soon as Thursday on a Republican stopgap measure to keep federal agencies funded through Nov 21, buying lawmakers more time to work out

their differences on spending levels. Republicans argue they are providing exactly what Democrats have insisted upon in past government shutdown battles a clean funding bill free of partisan policy riders.

But Democrats said it wasn’t enough, releasing a counterproposal late Wednesday even as Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, said they wouldn’t consider it. The Democratic proposal would extend subsidies for low- and middle-income individuals who purchase health insurance through the Affordable Care Act and reverse Medicaid cuts that were included in Republicans’ “big beautiful bill” enacted earlier this year

“We will sit down and negotiate if they will sit down and negotiate,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer D-N.Y “We don’t have a red line, but we know we have to help the American people.” Republicans will need at least

seven Democrats to vote with them to pass the short-term measure.

Without Democrats, Schumer said, “they’re going to end up shutting down the government.”

It’s a high-stakes game of brinkmanship for the Democrats, in particular, as the party’s base urges them to ﬁght harder and many wager that a shutdown would force Republicans to negotiate with them on health care and other issues. If the government does shut down on Oct. 1, most federal agencies will close and millions of federal employees deemed nonessential, including many in the military, won’t receive paychecks. And there’s no guarantee that the two parties could ﬁnd agreement on how to end the standoff.

Democrats’ top demand has been an extension of the health care tax credits that expire at the end of the year Thune and Johnson have indicated that they are open to extending the subsidies, which made health

insurance more affordable for millions of people since the COVID-19 pandemic. But many Republicans would like to see changes that Democrats are likely to oppose, and both Thune and Johnson have made clear that they need more time to work on the issue.

“They’re trying to insert unrelated matters into the middle of a clean government extension. And I don’t think that’s going to work,” Johnson said on CNBC Wednesday morning. The GOP bill would generally fund agencies at current levels, with a few limited exceptions, including an extra $88 million to increase security for lawmakers, the Supreme Court and members of the executive branch.

The Democratic alternative introduced by Schumer on Wednesday would include more than $180 million for congressional security and another $140 million for the Supreme Court and other federal courts.

City including a child and his mother who died in the Shati refugee camp, according to officials from Shifa Hospital, which received the casualties.

In central Gaza, Al-Awda Hospital said an Israeli strike hit a house in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp, killing three, including a pregnant woman. Two parents and their child were also killed when a strike hit their tent in the Muwasi area west of the city of Khan Younis, said officials from Nasser Hospital, where the bodies were brought.

In a statement, the Israeli military said it took steps to mitigate harm to civilians and that it would continue to operate against “terrorist organizations” in Gaza.

The Gaza Health Ministry said multiple Israeli strikes hit the Rantisi Hospital for children in Gaza City on Tuesday night. It posted pictures on Facebook showing the damaged roof, water tanks and rubble in a hospital hallway

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO As lawmakers debate a government funding extension, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-Benton, awaits the arrival of the leader of the Orthodox Christian Church, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, for a meeting Wednesday at the Capitol in Washington.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ABDEL KAREEM HANA

Displaced Palestinians flee Gaza City by foot and vehicles Wednesday, carrying their belongings along the coastal road toward southern Gaza.

Ex-CDC head says shewas firedovervaccine policy

BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer

—U.S. Sen. Bill

WASHINGTON

Cassidy stayed mostly neutral during aSenate hearing Wednesday aimed at ﬁnding out why the director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was fired after only 29 days on the job.

Susan Monarez said she was ﬁred Aug. 29 for refusing Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’sdemands that she approve whatever recommendations an advisory panel will make on changing the schedules for vaccinations for children and that she fire CDC employees without cause.

Her reasons directly contradicted Kennedy,who last week denied requiring blanket approval but said he only asked that she keep an open mind on the panel’srecommendations.

Cassidy,R-Baton Rouge, thanked Monarez for testifying before the Senate Health Education Labor &Pensions committee, but added he won’tmake up his mind until Kennedy testiﬁes before the committee.

“I don’tprejudge.Idon’t know if you’retellingthe truth or not,”Cassidy said.

“I’m keeping an open mind.”

Cassidy,who already has three conservative opponents in his 2026 reelection, is juggling between Kennedy’svaccination skepticism and Trump’ssupport of his health chief. Trump has not announcedwho he would support for Senatein Louisiana.

Cassidy ended the hearing by lauding the practice of vaccinating newborns against hepatitis B— oneof thepoliciesthat the civilian advisory panel may recommend CDC end.

As aBaton Rouge physician for decades before his political career,Cassidy

from contracting hepatitis in the birth canal of the mother

Ninetypercent of newborns infected develop chroniclifelong infections,hesaid

Before 1991, as manyas 20,000 babies were infected annuallywith hepatitis B, he said. Today,fewerthan20 babiesget thediseasefrom their mothers.

“Wecan argue now that we’vecontrolled it,do we let the genie outofthe bottle?”

Cassidysaid

The Centers for Disease Control andPrevention made that recommendation 30 years ago, which allowed mothers theoption of inoculating their babies with the vaccine that insurance would cover. The CDC did so at the suggestion of theAdvisory CommitteeonImmunization Practices, or ACIP,apanel of vaccineexperts who study the science and make recommendations to the CDC.

Thatcivilian panel, newly stockedwithseveral vaccinationskeptics,isscheduled Thursday to consider removing hepatitis Band othervaccinations from the schedule, whichwould require parents to pay for inoculations if they wantthem.

“Whatisthe medical, scientiﬁcreason and proof for giving anewborn ahepatitis Bvaccine if the mom is hep Bnegative?” Paul asked Monarez. “The burden is upon you and the people you wouldn’tfire to prove to us thatweneed to give our 6-month-old the COVID vaccineand that we need to give our 1-day-old ahepatitis Bvaccine.”

MonarezsaidwhenKennedy swore her in on July 31, after the Senate conﬁrmed herappointment on the recommendation of Cassidy’s committee, he was excited abouther priorities of restoring trust, transforming public health infrastructure, modernizing the agency,and preparingfor thenextpandemic.

“On the morning of Aug. 25, Secretary Kennedy demandedtwo things of me

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“(Kennedy) directed me to commitinadvance to approving everyACIP recommendation, regardless of the scientificevidence.Healsodirected me to dismiss career

SUSAN

that were inconsistentwith my oath of office andthe ethics required of apublic ofﬁcial,”Monareztestiﬁed.

“He directed me to commit in advancetoapproving every ACIP recommendation, regardless of the scientiﬁc evidence. He alsodirected me to dismisscareer officialsresponsible for vaccine policy without cause.”

“He said if Iwas unwilling to do both, Ishould resign, she added.

Monarez refused and was fired by PresidentDonald Trump. That sparked the

resignations of three top CDCofﬁcials. One was Dr.Debra Houry who hadbeen the CDC’s chief medical officer.She testifiedWednesdaythat she left because “Secretary Kennedy’sactionsrepeatedly censored CDCscience, politicized our processes, andstrippedagencyleadersofthe abilitytoprotect thehealth of theAmerican people.” She called on Kennedy to resign. Republicansleaned into Monarez and Houry,raising questions about their hon-

esty Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., contended that at theAugustmeeting,Kennedy had asked if he could trust her.Monarez said Kennedy told her “he could not trust me.”

Mullinresponded,“It was arecorded meeting. …I’m giving you the opportunity to be honest here because you’ve been really walking around the edges and not being truthful.”

Cassidy said he didn’t knowofany recording and if one had been made, the committee shouldhave a copy. He wonderedwhy only asingle member of the committee was given access. Mullin latertolda National Public Radio reporter that there wasnorecording.

Email Mark Ballardat mballard@theadvocate. com.

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BUSINESS

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Amazon spends $1 billion to increase pay

NEW YORK Amazon says it’s making a $1 billion investment to raise wages and lower the cost of health care plans for its U.S. fulﬁllment and transportation workers

The Seattle-based company said Wednesday the average pay is increasing to more than $23 per hour and said that some of its most tenured employees will see an increase between $1.10 and $1.90 per hour Full-time employees, on average, will see their pay increase by $1,600 per year

Amazon also said it was lowering the cost of its entry health care plan to $5 per week and $5 for co-pays, starting next year Amazon said that will reduce weekly contributions by 34% and co-pays by 87% for primary care, mental health and most non-specialist visits for employees using the basic plan. Amazon has a global workforce of 1.5 million workers.

Last December, seven Amazon facilities went on strike, an effort by the Teamsters union to pressure the e-commerce company for a labor agreement during a key shopping period.

Ticketing StubHub slips on the stage

NEWYORK StubHub received a lackluster reception on Wall Street Wednesday

The ticket marketplace’s stock fell 6.4% from its initial public offering price of $23.50 per share on its first day of trading. The company’s shares are trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “STUB.” StubHub offered just over 34 million shares and raised approximately $800 million. At the closing price, the company has a market valuation of about $8.1 billion.

StubHub plans to use proceeds from the sale to pay down debt and for general corporate purposes.

The company, which is based in New York, was cofounded in 2000 by current CEO Eric Baker He will remain CEO and maintain control of the company

StubHub has come under criticism along with the broader ticketing industry over hidden fees and inflated ticket prices.

Broadway opposition brings curtain down

NEW YORK A proposed Caesars Palace casino in Times Square that’s backed by JayZ lost its bid for a gambling license Wednesday after running into fierce opposition from Broadway theater owners and producers who were worried about its potential impact on the theater district

A state-commissioned community advisory committee brought the curtain down on the $5.4 billion plan to redevelop an ofﬁce tower into a Caesars-branded hotel, gambling and entertainment complex, rejecting it in a vote that occurred after public hearings in which actors, stagehands, restaurant owners and neighborhood residents lined up to oppose the project.

Local board approval was required for the proposal to be considered by the state Gaming Commission, which plans to award up to three licenses for New York Cityarea casinos in December

The Times Square casino developers, which included Jay-Z’s ’s Roc Nation company proposed renovating an office tower at 1515 Broadway that currently houses the Minskoff Theatre, which is home of the long-running “The Lion King” musical.

Two other casinos had been proposed for Manhattan: one on its West Side and another on its East Side near the headquarters of the United Nations.

La. faces decline in public companies

Expert warns of housing market vulnerabilities

BY IANNE SALVOSA Staff writer

Louisiana is losing public companies, and locals may pay the price.

Tulane ﬁnance professor Peter Ricchiuti said there is a shrinking number of public companies in the state, and those that are taken over by outside businesses tend not to support the local community That doesn’t reﬂect well on the state as a result, he said in a speech to the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge on Wednesday Health care company Amedisys, formerly one of the largest public companies in the Capital Region

behind Lamar Advertising, was acquired by UnitedHealth Group last month Baton Rouge-based H&E Equipment Services was acquired in June by Herc Rentals. Both companies will maintain a local presence under the new ownership.

“If you have a good idea, Microsoft or Google just buys you before you go anywhere, or just private equity comes in and buys it out,” he said in an interview

To turn the tide against company departures from Louisiana, he said the state can invest in early childhood education to bolster the workforce and attract businesses.

Ricchiuti provided a snapshot of the stock market and economic issues facing the nation and state in his address. He tracks regional

stocks in Tulane’s Burkenroad reports. The “Big Eight” tech stocks, which include Alphabet, Apple, Amazon, Broadcom, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla, comprise about 40% of the stock index, he said, but opportunity lies in companies with a smaller market cap due to their fast growth and long-term returns.

“Management often owns a lot of stock,” he said. “I want them in the same boat as me.”

But with companies buying out other businesses, an upside is that competitors now have more money and are after fewer stocks. It’s brought the stock market up, and share buybacks, when companies invest their proﬁts back into their stock, have also moved the needle, he said.

“That’s sort of the whole sport right there,” he said.

Ricchiuti heeded caution against uninsured homes, which he said is the next ﬁnancial disaster. About 7.5% of houses are uninsured, he said, the number driven by high insurance costs and climate change brewing severe storms that make homes more vulnerable.

He also cautioned against stagflation, when economic growth slows down while inflation and unemployment rise. He said the United States may be perpetuating the problem with tariffs and compounding it with the loss of undocumented and foreign workers. Labor shortages, regardless of immigration status, are persistent in nursing homes and retirement centers, he said.

“We’ll be pushing each other’s wheelchairs,” Ricchiuti said.

Jerry quits Ben & Jerry’s ice cream

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield is leaving the ice cream brand after 47 years

BY MICHELLE CHAPMAN Associated Press

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenﬁeld is leaving the ice cream brand after 47 years, saying that the independence it once had to speak up on social issues has been stiﬂed by parent company Unilever

In a letter that co-founder Ben Cohen posted on social media platform X on Greenﬁeld’s behalf Greenﬁeld said that he felt the independence the brand had to speak on social issues and events was lost to Unilever

“For more than 20 years under their ownership, Ben & Jerry’s stood up and spoke out in support of peace, justice and human rights, not as abstract concepts, but in relation to real events happening in our world,” he wrote “That independence existed in no small part because of the unique merger agreement Ben and I negotiated with Unilever, one that enshrined our social mission and values in the company’s governance structure in perpetuity. It’s profoundly disappointing to come to the conclusion that that independence, the very basis of our sale to Unilever, is gone.”

Greenﬁeld said that the loss of independence was coming “at a time when our country’s current administration is attacking

civil rights, voting rights, the rights of immigrants, women and the LGBTQ community.”

“Standing up for the values of justice, equity and our shared humanity has never been more important, and yet Ben & Jerry’s has been silenced, sidelined for fear of upsetting those in power,” he said “It’s easy to stand up and speak out when there’s nothing at risk. The real test of values is when times are challenging and you have something to lose.”

Unilever, based in London, is spinning off its ice cream business including Ben & Jerry’s into a stand-alone company called The Magnum Ice Cream Company Greenﬁeld and Cohen have been pushing for Ben & Jerry’s to be allowed to become an independently owned company again, saying in a letter to Magnum’s board that they don’t believe the brand should be part of a corporation that doesn’t support its founding mission.

A spokesperson for Magnum said in a statement on Wednesday that it would be forever grateful to Greenﬁeld for his contributions to Ben & Jerry’s and thanked him for his service, but was not aligned with his viewpoint.

Magnum said that it is still committed to Ben & Jerry’s mission and remains “focused on carrying forward the legacy of peace, love, and ice cream of this iconic, muchloved brand.”

Ben & Jerry’s has been at odds with Unilever for a while. In March Ben & Jerry’s said that its CEO was unlawfully removed by Unilever in retaliation for the ice cream maker’s social and political activism

In a federal court ﬁling, Ben & Jerry’s said

that Unilever informed its board on March 3 that it was removing and replacing Ben & Jerry’s CEO David Stever Ben & Jerry’s said that violated its merger agreement with Unilever, which states that any decisions regarding a CEO’s removal must come after a consultation with an advisory committee from Ben & Jerry’s board.

Unilever said in a statement at the time that it hoped Ben & Jerry’s board would engage in the agreed-upon process.

Unilever acquired Ben & Jerry’s in 2000 for $326 million. At the time, Ben & Jerry’s said the partnership would help the progressive Vermont-based ice cream company expand its social mission.

But lately the marriage hasn’t been a happy one. In 2021, Ben & Jerry’s announced it would stop serving Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and contested east Jerusalem. The following year, Unilever sold its Israeli business to a local company that said it would sell Ben & Jerry’s under its Hebrew and Arabic name throughout Israel and the West Bank. In November Ben & Jerry’s sued Unilever in federal court in New York, accusing it of silencing Ben & Jerry’s statements in support of Palestinians in the Gaza war In its complaint, Ben & Jerry’s said Unilever also refused to let the company release a social media post that identiﬁed issues it believed would be challenged during President Donald Trump’s second term, including minimum wages, universal health care, abortion and climate change.

Target debuts thousands of holiday gifts

BY ROXANA POPESCU The San Diego Union-Tribune (TNS) Halloween merchandise hit some stores before the Fourth of July, and Thanksgiving items were in stores already in August. Given that it’s mid-September, retailers are rolling out products for the next winter big holiday: Christmas On Tuesday, Target launched a four-pronged approach to its holiday shopping experience.

Prong one: new items. Target is debuting more than 20,000 new items for holiday shoppers, many priced at $5 and most priced under $20. In a news release, the chain announced that is selling twice as

many holiday items as last year and more than half of those are Target exclusives. Among the items for sale this year, the store highlighted popculture collaborations (“Stranger Things,” “Wicked: For Good”), as well as fashion, beauty gifts, Wondershop brand holiday decor and hundreds of exclusive toys. Prong two: discounts. From Oct. 5 to 11, the store will have its “Target Circle Week” sale, and then it will kick off a series of weekly sales with prices discounted by up to half, starting Nov 1. Its “Circle Week” sales are for the store’s membership program, which is free to join. Look for discounts on “everyday essentials, fall style

picks and holiday gifts,” a news release said. To see what’s on sale, head to its deals page: target.com/c/

Ricchiuti

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By STEVEN SENNE

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen, left, and fellow co-founder Jerry Greenfield, center scoop ice cream before a campaign event for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., not shown, in 2019 in Raymond, N.H.

MANSHIP

true journalist in the family.He loved writing,” saidRichard Manship, who retired last yearas president and CEO officerofthe Manship Media Co., which owns WBRZ-TV,the Baton Rouge ABC station, and KRG-TV in Weslaco, Texas. “His was always alabor of love.” Manship was agrandson of Charles Manship Sr., whofounded Capital City Press in 1909 with a business partner,James Edmonds. Charles Manship Sr.later bought out Edmondstobecome the sole owner Doug Manship was one of the four Manship grandchildrentorun thecompany until selling it to the Georges Media Group in 2012. In a2007 interview,Manship said that as achild, people would askhim if he was going tobecome the publisher of the newspaper Working in the family business was somethinghenever really questioned Although he briefly flirted with the idea of becoming adoctor,a chemistry course put an end to that idea, he said.

CLEANUP

Continued from page1A

and been hit with at least18lawsuits. One accuses the company of not paying a$6.1million billfor emergency private firefighting services provided by aLivingston Parish company during theblaze.

An attorney forSmitty’ssaid last week thatthe company did have the money to pay that bill but was disputing theamount andnegotiating over it when the suit was ﬁled by surprise.

Asked about the attorney’s statement about the company’s ﬁnanc-

Continued from page1A

two names: the Bermuda high and Azores high.

When it expands, it’scalled the Bermuda high, and the ridge is shaped like an elongated oval that stretches so far west acrossthe Atlantic that it sometimes reaches the U.S. East Coast and Gulf of Mexico. That forces tropical systems to move low along itsrim, often

es, EPAofﬁcials declined to comment onpending litigation. But they notedthatresponsible parties are liable for thecosts incurred by EPA.

Asked aboutEPA continuing to bear thecost of the response, Smitty’sofficialssaid they“are grateful”for EPA’sresponse work on the ﬁre.

“Weare workingwith theEPA on adaily basis to support these effortsand to ensure everything is handled according to proper procedure,including financial matters,”the company said in a statement.

Smitty’sofﬁcials added that they “are conﬁdent withthe EPA’ssup-

causing long-trackstorms that start near Africatocomplete the more than 3,000-miletrek across the ocean and into the Gulf.

When the ridge contracts, it’scalled the Azores high, and Grymes said it takes theshape of acircle that’sisolated in asmaller portion of the Atlantic. That allows systems moving through the ocean to turn north earlier,asmany of them have this season.

Thehigh’scycle of growth and shrinkagehas to do with circulation patterns across the globe,a

port theresponseand cleanup will be resolved soon.”

Theongoingresponse has been extensive.

Government staff andcontractors have testedfor air pollutants with handheld monitors, specially outfitted vehicles and an EPA plane.Booms, bermsand skimmershave been used to control hazardous runoff from Smitty’s into ditches and the Tangipahoa River

About 4.54 million gallons of oil and other material has been collected from local waterways, and EPAcontractors had to build a road tohelp with runoff collection on private land.

topic that gets complicated fast. The point,Grymes said, is thata contracted Azores high “almost guarantees” that African waves won’tmake it to Louisiana.

While the2025 hurricane season has had aquiet start compared to recent years, thereare signs that tropical activitycould starttopick up soon.

Grymes noted that sea-surface temperatures in the Gulf are nearingrecordhighs, and if adisturbance pops up in theGulf, those warm waters could make for ex-

Manship earned adegree in radio/television speech from the University of Southwestern Louisiana, nowknown as the University of LouisianaatLafayette. He served as editor of the school newspaper, TheVermilion,duringhis senior year

Manship held several roles at The Advocate over the years, starting offcleaning up aroom that was ﬁlled withold newspapers. “I think it took me all of one summer to do that,” he said in a 1999 interview

During his career at The Advocate, Manship worked in advertising, the pressroom and as director of promotions. He wasthe paper’s first full-time Washington, D.C., correspondent,served as news features editor,spent adozen years as an editorial writer and was the ﬁrst director of online operations, arolehestartedinthe late 1990s.

Manship became publisher of The Advocate in 1999. He retired in 2007. Linda Lightfoot, who worked

Crewssheared open storage tanks in theburnedsection of Smitty’s to prevent accidental pressure buildups aftera tank blewopen its top on Sept. 1, according to EPAdaily reports. No one was injured in that incident.

TheEPA reports, obtained by The Advocate from thestate through public records request, detail the agency’ssharply rising costs.

In late August, the EPAreported it hadset aside about$6million federal Superfund dollars, which are used forenvironmental cleanup. By Sept. 4, obligated funds had risen to morethan $23 million, withEPA having alreadyspent a

plosive fuel

The good news, Grymessaid, is that Louisianans likely won’thave to worry aboutthose pesky tropical waves that moveoff of Africa’swest coastfor muchlonger

Prime time for African tropical waves generally peaks midAugust to mid-October,while the Gulf andthe Caribbean growmore active later in the season.

“Asweget into the second half of the hurricaneseason,the onsetofthe Bermuda high phase of theAzores high becomes less and

with The Advocate for 42 years andretired as executiveeditorin 2007, said Manship “was so devoted to journalism.”

Lightfoot said while Manship was involved with the operations of the newspaper as amember of the family,“his real heart, Ifelt, wasinjournalism.”

“He was also very forward looking,” she said. “He was aleading force in making sure thenewspaper kept up with technology.”

While publisher, Manshipoversawthe replacementofthe paper’sold printing presses with a computerized production center at 6700 Bluebonnet Blvd. The centerwas latermoved to itscurrent location on Rieger Road.

Fred Kalmbach, managing editorofThe Advocate, recalledas ayoung reporter chatting with Manship about what wasgoing on about town.

“He was workinginthe newsroom at the time, and liked to get the latest fromthe reporters,” Kalmbach said. “He wasalways open and friendly.”

third of it.

TheEPA confirmed this week that the current budget ﬁgure is closer to $39 million and is expected to rise.

“EPAhas increasedthe budget for the response to ensure response operations continue,” said Kellen Ashford,anEPA spokesperson.

The EPAistapping about $30 million from the Superfund, apot of money ﬁnanced throughtaxes on chemicalsused by industry. The EPAisalso relying on $9 millionfromanemergency response fund, and has requested an increase in that money,Ashford said.

less frequent,” he said. “So we’re moving into aphase nowwhere the threat of those African tropical waves, for us, starts to slowly decline.”

That’slucky,sincethe National Hurricane Center on Tuesday morning highlighted another wave moving offAfrica’scoast. Miami-based hurricane expert Michael Lowry said in his Tuesday morning newsletter,Eye on the Tropics, that he expects thesystem to followinthe footsteps of those before it,turning outtosea away from the U.S.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By PATRICK DENNIS

Doug Manship Jr., left, publisher of The Advocate, and his brother David Manship are all smiles as the first copies of Monday’s edition roll off the newpresses in 2006

nalize Superdome lease

BY ANTHONY McAULEY,

TYLER BRIDGES and JEFF DUNCAN Staff writers

New Orleans has missed akey NFL deadline in its bid to hostSuper Bowl LXV at the CaesarsSuperdomein2031, jeopardizing the city’schancetosecure thegame as the Saints and state ofﬁcials work to ﬁnalize the team’slong-term stadium lease.

Owners of the NFL’s 32 teams gathered in New York this week for the league’sfall meetings, and on Tuesday, the FanEngagement &Major Events Advisory Committee met to review city proposalsfor hosting the league’smajorevents, including the Super Bowland the NFL Draft, before recommendations go to the full ownership.

The Saints had plannedto submit New Orleans’ bid for the2031 game. But Saints spokesperson

Continued from page1A

andPowell warned against taking the projections as gospel.

The S&P 500slipped 0.1% and hung near its all-time high set at thestart of the week. TheDow Jones Industrial Averagerose 260 points, or 0.6%, while the Nasdaq composite fell 0.3%.

Shortly after the Fed released its projections, the Russell 2000 index of smaller stockssurged more than 2% and was on track to surpass its all-timehigh, which was set in 2021. But it later pared its gain to arise of 0.2%.

Just one Fed policymaker dissented from the decision: Stephen Miran, who President Donald Trump appointed and was conﬁrmed by the Senate in arushed vote late Monday justhoursbefore the meeting began. Miran preferred alarger half-pointcut butPowelltoldreporters there wasn’t“very much support” for the bigger-size cutamong Fed of-

GregBensel saidthe team was unable to do so because alease extensionwith the state of Louisiana, which owns the stadium, has not yet been ﬁnalized beyond 2030.

As such,New Orleans isn’tonthe short list of potential host cities that will go to afullvote of owners sometimelater this year

“Unfortunately, the Super Bowl committee didmeet yesterday and our citycannot advanceas an option to bidonfutureSuper Bowlgames due to the fact that our leaseextension has not been signed,” Bensel said via text.

Brian McCarthy, theNFL’s vice presidentofcommunications, conﬁrmed that theSaintswere not able tosubmit abid for consideration for 2031.

“The NFL is not going to award a Super Bowl to ateam that doesn’t have aleasefor theyear in which they’rerequesting aSuper Bowl,” he said by text.

NewOrleansearned broad praise as the site of SuperBowl LIXearlier this year,which quickly set thegears turning among economicdevelopment officials

on howtoget thegame to return as soon as possible. Butthe bidsetback underscores howNew Orleans, long oneofthe NFL’s favoriteSuper Bowl destinations, could be slipping in the league’srotation as competition heats up from newer, ﬂashier stadiums—and how the misseddeadline, duetothe ongoing leasetalks —may have cost the city its best chance to bring the lucrative event back soon.

The next threeSuperBowls, in 2026, 2027 and2028, have been awarded to SanFrancisco, Los Angeles and Atlanta, respectively Las Vegas and Nashville are considered the favorites to host the 2029 and 2030 games.

Conflicts with MardiGrasand convention schedules would likely prevent New Orleans from hosting Super Bowls between 2032 and 2037, leaving 2038 as the next possible target year if 2031 staysoff thetable.

Still, aclose adviser to Gov Jeff Landry, businessman Shane Guidry, who has been coordinating with thestate ofﬁcials who are negotiating thelease, said he’sex-

ﬁcials. Many economists hadforecast there wouldbeadditional dissents, andthe meeting’soutcomesuggests that Powell was able to patch together ashowofunity from a committee that includes Miran and twoother Trump appointees from his ﬁrst term, as well as aFed gov-

ernor, Lisa Cook,whomTrump is seeking to ﬁre.

Still, therewere still signiﬁcant differences among the 19 ofﬁcials on theFed’srate-setting committee aboutwhere theFed should go next.Seven policymakers indicated they don’tsupport anyfurthercuts, while twosupported just

pecting the deal to be hammered outwithina coupleofdays andthat the city’sbid to host Super Bowl LXV can be revived.

“Everybody is working tirelessly to get this amicable agreement in place, and Ithink it will be done in time,” Guidry said Wednesday

The Saints are in the ﬁnal throes of negotiations with the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District, often known as the Superdome Commission, over aleaseextension thatwould keep the Saints playing at the state-owned Superdomefor at least the next decade.

Sources close to thenegotiations saybothparties have agreed to a 10-year lease extension through 2035, with four ﬁve-year options forthe Saints thereafter that could keep them at the Dome until 2055.

While Saintsowner Gayle Benson has said ﬁrmly that she would never move the team away from thecity, both sideshaveagreed to anew lease provision thatdetermines howany attempt by a future owner to movethe Saints away would be handled. First,there would be arbitration

one more and 10 favor at least two more. One ofﬁcial —likelyMiran —indicatedthattheywould support several large cuts to bring the Fed’srateto2.9% by year’send.

Fed officials submit their forecasts of future rate moves anonymously Powell saidthe wide divergence reflects the uncertain outlook for the economy,given that inflation remains stubborn even as hiring has stumbled

“There are no risk-free paths now,” Powell said. “It’snot incredibly obvious what to do.”

The Fedisfacing both achallenging economic environment and threats to its traditional independencefrom day-to-daypolitics. At the same time that hiring has weakened, inﬂation remains stubbornly elevated. It rose 2.9% in August from ayear ago, according to theconsumerprice index, up from 2.7% in July and noticeably above theFed’s2%target.

It’sunusual to have weaker hiring and elevated inﬂation, because typically aslowing economy causesconsumers to pull back on spending, cooling pricehikes.

and then potential “equitable damages,” also referred to as arelocation penalty.The exact amount of that penalty hasn’tbeen finalized, butthe sources said it is around $250 million,which wouldcompensate the state forasignificant portion of the public money put into theSuperdome’slatestrenovation Butasticking pointinthe final agreement has been the termsof related deal between the state and the Benson organization over Benson Tower,the skyscraper located near the Dome.

The previous lease in 2009 linked theSuperdome leasetorental agreements forBensonTower and the state has been trying to roll back someofthose provisions. The timing on a ﬁnalizedlease still isn’tclear.But Benselsaid that Benson would try to persuade NFLCommissioner Roger Goodell to put the Saints 2031 bid for the Super Bowlback on the shortlist if the lease is signed before the owners hold their vote.

“It will be up to Mrs. Benson to convince the NFL and Roger to please allow us to bid,” he said.

Powell suggested last month that sluggish growth could keep inflation in check even if tariffs lift prices further Separately, Trump’sattempted firing of Cook is the first timeapresident hastried to removeaFed governor in the central bank’s112-year history,and has been seen by many legal scholars as an unprecedented attack on the Fed’sindependence. His administration has accused Cook of mortgage fraud, butthe accusation has comeinthe context of Trump’sextensive criticism of Powelland theFed fornot cutting rates much faster andsteeper

An appealscourt late Monday upheld an earlier ruling that the firing violated Cook’s dueprocess rights. Alower court had also previously ruled that Trump did not provide sufficient justification to remove Cook.

On Tuesday,Trump said Fed officials “have to make their own choice” on rates but added that “they shouldlisten to smart people like me.” Trump hassaid the Fed should reducerates by threefull percentage points.

‘Flesh-eating’ Vibrio kills fifth La. resident

26 hospitalized in state so far

BY EMILY WOODRUFF Staff writer

fifth person in Louisiana has died of a Vibrio vulnificus infection, a dangerous flesh-eating bacterium that has caused 26 hospitalizations in the state so far, a sharp increase compared with the annual

average of about 10 cases and one death over the past decade. Vibrio vulnificus is found in warm, brackish coastal waters and raw or undercooked seafood, especially oysters. Most infections in Louisiana this year — 22 of 26 — have been tied to water exposure. But at least two deaths, including a sixth death of a Florida resident who ate oysters harvested from Louisiana waters, have been linked to raw or undercooked seafood.

Of the Louisiana patients, more

than 90% had an underlying health condition such as diabetes, liver disease or another immune-compromising illness. The Louisiana Department of Health declined to say whether the most recent death was tied to oyster consumption or water exposure. The Gulf Coast is seeing rising cases outside of Louisiana as well. Texas has reported 10 cases and one death, Mississippi ﬁve cases and one death, and Alabama has seen three cases, one tied to Loui-

siana oysters, according to those state health departments. Florida has recorded numbers similar to Louisiana, with 25 cases and ﬁve deaths. Health officials say infections peak between May and October, when Gulf waters are warmest and residents are most likely to swim, ﬁsh or handle seafood Rising summer temperatures, stronger heat waves and runoff from increasingly intense storms extend the season when Vibrio can

flourish, said Tiong Aw, public health microbiologist with Tulane University “Alongside this increasing water temperature, we have more frequent and intense storms, and this can also wash extra nutrients into the water,” Aw said. “All these create an ideal condition for Vibrio to grow and survive.”

At least a dozen species of Vibrio bacteria can cause illness, but

VIBRIO, page 2B

PULL YOUR WEIGHT

Ty Simon does pullups in the afternoon sun of Expressway Park on Tuesday

LSU interim president touts school’s progress

Lee lays out ambitious vision

A Westdale Middle School math teacher was arrested Tuesday morning after a drug-snifﬁng dog alerted police to cocaine in a bag on her desk.

Virginia Somers, 47, was booked into the parish prison on a count each of possession of Schedule II substance, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and violations of controlled dangerous substances.

Somers, who has taught at Westdale for two years, was found with 0.8 grams of cocaine in her wallet as well as 0.5 grams of marijuana and two pipes in her car, which was parked on campus, according to the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce. The drugs were discovered when a constable with the parish’s School Drug Task Force conducted a random search of the school. During a search in Somers’ classroom, a dog alerted the constable to the presence of drugs in a book bag on Somers’ desk.

The bag was searched by the principal, who found a substance

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer

LSU interim President Matt Lee on Wednesday touted a litany of milestones he says the school has reached this year: It enrolled its largest-ever freshman class, grew its research enterprise to over $500 million, invested millions in capital projects — and secured a No. 3 national ranking for its beloved football team. But for Lee, who laid out an ambitious vision for LSU during a State of the University address that was streamed on YouTube, those successes aren’t enough.

Lee, who took LSU’s top position in June following the surprise departure of former President William Tate IV wants to keep pushing up enrollment rates, bring the university’s research portfolio to as much as $900 million and double the number of LSU doctoral students.

“This is a moment of drive.

This is a moment of vision,” Lee said “LSU is growing its impact and we call it ‘winning’ for Louisiana.”

force; work around coastal restoration will idwtify hurricane mitigation strategies and address the state’s insurance crisis; and cybersecurity research will help Louisiana businesses protect their data, Lee said.

“LSU is well-positioned to achieve more velocity and enhance our impact,” he said, thanking the Louisiana Legislature and Gov Jeff Landry for capital investments.

The university is expanding student housing, with the goal of adding 1,200 new beds by 2027. And next year, LSU is expected to break ground on a new 193,000-square-foot library

To move LSU’s group of eight institutions forward, Lee said, the university will focus on ﬁve key subject areas: coastal restoration, defense and cybersecurity, agriculture, biomedical and health sciences, and coastal resilience.

Those areas align with LSU’s strengths and with the needs of the state of Louisiana, Lee said. Expanded health programs will help address shortages in the health care work-

It remains unclear whether Lee will continue to lead the university as the projects unfold. Over the summer, LSU launched a nationwide search for a new president, who it hopes to name by December.

The school hired the Baton Rouge ﬁrm SSA Consultants to help with the search, the Louisiana Illuminator reported. Lee previously served as the vice president for agriculture.

Email Meghan Friedmann at meghan.friedmann@ theadvocate.com.

Cascio to seek top spot in 21st Judicial District

BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD Staff writer

The race for district attorney in the 21st Judicial District has already kicked off, one day after longtime District Attorney Scott Perrilloux announced his retirement. On Tuesday, Perrilloux announced his decision to retire after 30 years as district attorney and not seek reelection when his term ends early in 2027. The election for the next district attorney will be in the fall of 2026. Assistant District Attorney Brad Cascio, a lifelong Hammond resident and Republican, announced his campaign Wednesday in a news release. Cascio has worked for over a decade under Perrilloux in the 21st Judicial District, which includes

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

BatonRouge students to competefor honor

Elitegroup in running forNationalMerit Scholarshipawards

BY PATRICK WALL Staff writer

An elite group of Baton Rougearea high school seniorsare in the running for National Merit Scholarships, aprestigious award for the country’stop-achieving students.

The students, who hail froma mix of public and privateschools in Baton Rouge and surrounding parishes, are among roughly 16,000 National Merit semiﬁnalists from across thecountry.They now will compete for just over 6,900 college scholarships worth about $26 million, which willbe

awarded next spring. The semiﬁnalists wereselected duetotheir highscoresonlast year’s PSAT, the preliminary test to the SATcollege-readiness exam, which students typically take their junior year.The topscoring students in theirrespective states, the semiﬁnalistsrepresent less than1%ofthe nation’s high school seniors.

To become ﬁnalists, the students must completeanapplication that asks about their academic achievement,extracurricular activities and leadershiprecord; write an essay;and earnSAT or ACT scores that are in line with their earlier PSATscores. Only about halfoffinalists will win scholarships and earn thecoveted title of National MeritScholar

Here are the Baton Rougearea semifinalists, organizedby

parish and school:

East BatonRouge Parish

Baton RougeMagnet High

n Andrew Beasley

n Olivia Bryant

n Charlotte Carpenter

n David Diez

n Tristan Jarnagin

n Julia Jung

n Shehzad Khan

n SoﬁaLarenas Bustos

n Cecily Lu

n Ivy Luo

n Kenny Nguyen

n Isha Pasala

n Nicolas Peer

n Lukas Schwehm

n Grace Smith

n Lucy Thomas

n Emma Wang

n Brianna Warren

n Alexander Yang

n Ryan Yang

n SoﬁaZhu

Catholic High

n BenjaminJewett

n Keegan Johnson

n Henry Mensman

n Liam Price

n John Stafford

n Shawn Tate

n Jonathan Thompson

The Dunham School

n Aiden Fee

n Camille Istre

Episcopal High

n Autumn Baldridge

n Lauren Bradford

n Bailey Burns

n David Dickerson

n Maeve Dolan

n Timothy Namikas

n Darren Weng

Judgeallowsarchitect’s lawsuittoproceed

Prevosthospital disputespayment claims

BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT Staff writer

In an ongoing case concerning an alleged breach of contract with alocal architect, Donaldsonville-based Prevost Memorial Hospital asked ajudgetorule that it did not breach the contract after all.

This week, Judge Steven Tureau, of the 23rd Judicial District Court, denied that request

Brought in early 2024 by local architect Henry Chauvin, the ongoinglawsuit alleges the current hospital board has withheld paying him the total amount for work performedfrom 2018 through 2023.Chauvin washired to oversee asigniﬁcant hospitalrenovation project, which was scrapped when anew board replaced the previousone in November 2023.

On July 10, the hospital ﬁled a

VIBRIO

Continued from page1B

Vibrio vulnificus is the mostsevere. Once inside the body,the bacteria can trigger necrotizingskin infections, bloodstream infections or gastrointestinal illness. About 1 in 5people with severe infection die, sometimes within 48 hours. “It’svery dramatic,” said Julio Figueroa, an infectious disease expert at LSU Health New Orleans who has treated cases. “Vulniﬁcus is, aptly,agood name for it.”

BLOTTER

Continued from page1B

suspected to be cocaine in awallet inside the bag.

Somers was read her rights, at which point she told asheriff’s deputy the drugs were given to her by afriend at atailgate partySaturday for the LSU-Florida game.

Somerstoldthe deputy she had snorted cocaine with her friends during the tailgate. She then agreed to have her car searched, where the deputy discovered the marijuanaand pipes in the glove box.

Somers had been teaching atotal of 13 years.

Man accused of trading vapes for sex withteen ASlidell man was arrested Wednesday for allegedlycarrying on amonthslong relationship with a14-year-old, exchanging vapes andother gifts for sex.

MarcusMeunier,49, was booked into the Ascension Parish jail on three counts of carnal knowledge of ajuvenile, acountofindecent behavior with ajuvenile and a count of obstruction of justice Detectives with the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce beganinvestigating Meunier on July 17 after receiving reports thathehad been involved in asexualrelationship with ateen. The relationship had been allegedly going on for several months, and Meunierallegedly bought nicotine vapes and other giftsfor thevictim, according to arelease from APSO.

As aresult of their investigation, detectives collected enough evi-

motion for summary judgment, a request to acourt to decide acase without atrial. It asked Tureau to rule that thehospital did not breach its contractand had paid allmoney owed to HenryChauvin Architects.

Tureau rejected that motion Monday,allowing Chauvin’slawsuit to proceed toward trial

D. Stephen Brouillette Jr., one of theattorneys forthe hospital, declined to comment. Hospital

Board Chair Bill Dawson said he hadno comment. Kenneth Dupaty,anotherattorney forthe hospital and an assistant district attorney,did not respond to arequest for comment

Hospital paid part of amount

The dispute concerns how much the hospital owes Chauvin.

According to Chauvin’s2018 contract ﬁledwith the court, he was to be paid in installments calculatedbymultiplying the percentage completed with the most recent overall budget.

Chauvin emailed the then hospitaldirector on Nov.2,2023,

One hallmark symptomisthe sudden appearanceof ﬂuid-ﬁlled blisters near awound site.The infection can also worsen quickly Forsome people, itmight take a week and ahalf for the infection to start to cause symptoms concerning enough toseek medical help. For others, death can occur within48hours of exposure, said Figueroa. The infection can be treated with antibiotics, whichare most effective if used earlyon. Whoismostatrisk?

While healthy people may re-

dence for an arrest warrant, which was executed with assistance from the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce.

Mom accusedofinciting fightonschool bus

ABatonRougemother was arrested Friday for allegedly inciting a ﬁght involving herdaughter and anothergirl ona parish school bus.

Alicia Clark, 27,was booked into the parishjailoncounts of simple battery and contributing to thedelinquency of achildfor her role in a ﬁght between juveniles on Thursday.

Clark told ofﬁcers she was driving behind the bus that her daughterwas on just before 8a.m. Sept 11 while she was on the way to the store

She told police that she saw the bus door swingopen, saw her daughterinside and heard thedriver yelling. She said she stoppedher car,got on the bus and saw the ﬁght between herdaughter and another student and triedtobreak it up.

Butwhen officers later reviewed camera footageprovided by East Baton Rouge Parish School Transportation, it contradicted Clark’s story,according to an affidavit for herarrest Clark’sdaughter allegedlyapproachedthe othergirlatthe back of thebus before the fight began, accordingtopolicerecords When Clark boarded the bus she allegedly encouraged herdaughter to punch theother girl, which triggered the fight.Clark also allegedly eggedonher daughter,telling herto“whoop”the girl, among other statements,according to the affidavit.

Clark can allegedlybeseen in thevideopushing the other girl

with an updated expected total project costbeforeanAscension Parish Council meeting about the hospital budgetlater that day. In that email, he calculated that the projected cost hadgrown from the original $13.95 million to a newestimate of around $26.6million. From that updated estimate, he calculated he was owed abase amount of roughly $790,484.

Thehospitaldisagrees on that amount, but did payhim $323,248 in May 2025, according to astatement of facts document ﬁled by thehospital along with its motion for summary judgment

Thehospital addedthatitcalculated that amount using theproject’s original $13.95 millionbudget, arguing that the updated estimatedcost wasnever approved

To supportthat position, hospital attorneyspointed to the Parish Council’sfailure to approve the hospital’scapitaloutlaybudget on Nov.2

According to theJuly 10 statementoffacts, hospital attorneys argued the Parish Council’srejection of thecapital outlay budget

cover from Vibrio infections withantibiotics and supportive care, thosewith chronic conditions are vulnerable. People with liver disease, diabetes, cancer,HIV or weakened immune systems are at greatest risk for hospitalization, limb amputation or death. Heavy alcohol usersoften do poorly, said Figueroa. TheCentersfor DiseaseControl andPrevention advises atrisk individuals to avoideating raw oysters or undercooked shellﬁsh,keep wounds covered when in brackishwater andwear protectivegloves when handling

againstthe bus window

An arrest using evidence from school bus cameras wouldn’thave been possiblelast school year,as cameras wereonlyinstalled in parish school buses over thesummer Utilities cuttofour massage parlors

FourmassageparlorsinSt. Georgehad theirutilitiesdisconnected Mondayfollowing inspectionsbythe St.George Fire ProtectionDistrict. The department saidthe businesses were operating in violation of the city’smassage ordinance, andsomeare suspected of sex trafﬁcking.

The disconnections follow a Monday inspection of six massage parlors, which revealed violations including lack of massage establishmentregistrations, overnight sleeping at the businesses and ﬁre hazards.

Astatement from the ﬁre protection district said the inspections were carried out with assistance from the EastBaton Rouge ParishSheriff’s Ofﬁce, and that summonseswereissued for the violating businesses.

The following businesses had their utilities disconnected:

n All Natural Spa on Jefferson Highway

n AA Plus Massage on Jefferson

Highway

n JJ Spa on Jefferson Highway n Yang Yang Massage Spa on Coursey Boulevard. One business, Asian Spa on Jones Creek,shut down voluntarily after seeing the joint efforts of the ﬁre protection district and Sheriff’s Ofﬁce, aspokesperson for the district said Tuesday Asixth business, located on CourseyBoulevard, was issueda

n Tiana Khuri

n Claire McGuinness

n Sophia Montalbano

n Allison Riley

St. Michael The Archangel Diocesan Re-

gional High

n Julien Diecedue

n Jordan Fox

ZacharyHigh

n Amara Nwabueze

AscensionParish

DutchtownHigh

n Nathan D. Henderson

n Noah R. Owers

Homeschool n Abigail Gravois

Livingston Parish

Walker High

n Collin P. Sprouse.

WASHINGTONPARISH

meantthe updatedproject cost was never amended or approved.

TimPujol, Chavin’sattorney, countered in an Aug. 12 response to the motion that the hospital’s request was inaccurate and its argumentsinthe motion were “not only contradictorybut arealso completely illogical.”

“Anyacceptance of the District’sarguments would lead to absurd consequences, stopping aprivate contractorfrom doing business with anypublicentity andallowingpublicentitiesto avoid contractual obligations on meretechnicalities entirely within their own control,” Pujol wrote.

Reached for comment in early September,when the unsigned judgment was ﬁledincourt,Pujol wrotevia email that the hospital board “tried to come up with numerous excusesnot to payHenry andthenmonths later its lawyer came up with (the)idea that(the) ParishCouncildidn’tapprove the Capital Outlaybudget.”

“The judge dismissedthis assertion outright,” he added.

seafood. The Louisiana Department of Health urgesresidents to takesimple steps to prevent infection, such as staying out of brackish or salt water if you have awound and covering it with awaterproof bandage. Wash any cuts exposed to seawater or raw seafood with soap and clean water,and seek medical care immediately if awound shows signs of redness, swelling or blistering.

EmailEmily Woodruff at ewoodruff@theadvocate.com

violation notice and was given30 days to make correctionsbefore their utilities would be shut offas well.

It is unclear from the release which businesses are suspected of sex trafﬁcking.

AJune raid on Baton Rouge massage parlors resulted in 11 womenbeingdetained and nine of them being handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for lack of citizenship.

Andrew Murrell, St. George District5 council member,said the inspections wouldn’tbepossible without an ordinance approved in March.

“(It’s) an ordinance that allowed us more jurisdiction over illegal massageparlors,where more enforcement agencies canbeinvolved,” Murrell said, “from building inspectors to the St. George Fire Department investigators.” Murrell saidthose agencies check for legal registrations, as some businesses registered as massage parlors in other states, then try to operate in Louisiana. The agencies also check for ﬁre hazardviolations, whichthe city can use to censure these businesses.

Inmate who threwfeces gets life sentence

BY BOBWARREN Staff writer

An inmate who threw feces at twoguards at aWashington Parish correctional facility has been sentenced to lifeinprison, authorities said. The northshore District Attorney’sOffice said in anews release Wednesday that Judge William H. Burris, of the 22ndJudicialDistrict, handed down the sentence Sept. 12. AWashington Parish jury had convicted Porter of battery of acorrectional officer following a two-day trial in June. Porter,who hasa long criminal history,was prosecuted as ahabitual offender,which led to the life sentence. Porter, of NewOrleans, was in the Rayburn CorrectionalCenter in Angie serving 20 years on convictionsfor crimesincluding manslaughter andaggravated second-degree battery out of Orleans Parish, according to the District Attorney’sOffice. The District Attorney’sOffice news releasesaid Porter reached into the toilet in his cell and threw feces at aguard making security rounds. The guard was hit in the face, as well as otherparts of his body.Asecond guard was also hitwiththe feces on his head and shoulder

CASCIO

Continued from page1B

“For the past 12 years, I’ve stood in thecourtroom every day ﬁghting for victims, holding criminals accountable and making sure our families are safe,” Cascio said in the release. “As DA, Iwill continue to do the job I’ve been doing. I’ll be arelentless advocate for justice, a voice for the voiceless and aprotector of the vulnerable.”

He has prosecuted more than 4,000 cases since 2013, according to the announcement. Cascio has secured multiple life sentences andalso Louisiana’s ﬁrst court-ordered physical castration of asex offender

“When someone takes responsibility andworks toward abetter path, we should give them the tools to succeed.Building safercommunitiesmeansholding offenders accountable and helping people rebuild lives,” he said.

Cascio also serves as thecity prosecutor for Denham Springs and French Settlement. He sits on the boards of the Capital Area Law Enforcement Planning Commission and the Tangipahoa Council on Aging.

DeLouche,Kathleen

JacobSchoenand SonFuneral Home at 12pm

Godwin,Holly Church of theRedeemer in Nashville, TN,at2 p.m

Heinze, Bruce

St.GeorgeCatholic Church at 11am

Mizell, Dewey FirstBaptist Church of Zacharyat 12pm

Obituaries

Caffarel, Wanda Faye

Hebert 'Tootie' Wanda Faye Hebert

"Tootie" Caffarel, 95, anative of Smoke Bend and resident of Grosse Tete, LA,passed away on September 15, 2025.She is survived by herchildren, Suzanne"Sue" Persick (Bryant) andJohnnyCaffarel (Kelly); grandchildren, KaylaCaffarel and Ryan Persick;and sister, Rena Lee Dupuy (Wayne). Precededindeath by her husband, Pete Caffarel, and other beloved family members. Visitationwill be held at RabenhorstFuneral HomeEast, 11000Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge, on Friday, September 19, 2025, from 9:00 AM until the Rosary at 10:30 AM.

ChristopherGlenDavis

“Chris”, 57, aresidentof Slaughter, LA,diedonFri‐day, September12, 2025. He wasemployedbyExxon Mobilfor over 28 years. Therewillbea visitation at CharletFuneral Home,inc in Zachary, LA on Thurs‐day, September18, 2025 from 5:00 pm until 8:00 pm andthenonFriday, Sep‐tember 19, 2025 from 9:00 am until memorial services at 10:00 am.Heissurvived by hiswife of 28 years, Kelly Horn Davis; four sons: JacobDavis andwifeVicto‐ria; Justin Davisand wife Kennedy;Joshua Davis; JeffreyDavis andwifeSe‐rina;parents Claude and Rosa Davis; sister Angela Davis; brotherJamie Davis; andthree grandchildren: Emersyn“Emmy”, Hallie, andRyleigh.Chris loved playingdrums with his band,Gunsmoke. He was an avid ﬁsherman, and lovedspendingtimewith hisboys.

ThomasP.

Father ThomasPatrick Duhe', apriest with the heart of aShepherd died on Monday, September 15, 2025, whileinmemory care at St. James Place, Baton Rouge. Father Tom was a graduate of Baton Rouge High, Louisiana State University, and Notre Dame Seminary and School of Theology in New Orleans. Ordained to the priesthood in 1978, Fr Tom served the Diocese of Baton Rouge for 47 years as Administrator, Associate Pastor, and Pastor in numerous Church parishes including: Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, St. Aloysius Church, St. Mary ofFalse River Church, St. George Church, St. Alphonsus Liguori Church, St. John the Baptist Church, St. Louis King of France Church, and St. Thomas More Catholic Church. Additionally, he served the Diocese as Director of Continuing Formation of Priests, Assistant Vicar for Religious Education, a member ofthe College of Consultors and Presbyteral Council. Fr. Tom was dedicated throughout his lifeto serving hisparishioners with unfailing kindness andgenerosity, enabling ministry talents in others for the

of Christ

Camille and Gertrude Duhé; and brothers, Camille and RobertDuhe' Pallbearers willbeTim Armstrong, Thomas Armstrong, Jacob Molbert, Bill Dow,MikeFavaro, and Rick Huber.

Visitation willbeFriday, September 19, 2025, at St Thomas More Catholic Church, 11441 Goodwood Boulevard at 8:00 a.m. with Rosary at 9:00 a.m. and Mass at 10:00a.m.celebrated by MostReverend Bishop Michael Duca and the Priests of the Diocese of Baton Rouge.

Special thanks to Drs. Timand Judy Armstrong for their faithful, caring support and encouragement of Father Tom during his last years.

Memorial donations may be made in Father TomDuhe's name to the Mercedarian Sistersofthe Blessed Sacrament, 17560 GeorgeO'NealRoadinBaton Rouge, or the charityof your choice.

May Fr. TomDuhe' rest in God's peace Familyand friends may signthe online guestbook or leave apersonal note to the family at www.resthav enbatonrouge.com.

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our 101 year old family patriarch, Richard A. Fahey,a native of Galveston, TX, and aresident of St.George, LA.The epitome of The Greatest Generation, he proudlyserved his country in the ArmyAir Force during WorldWar II. His storyisforever a part of our nation'soral history at the National World WarIIMuseum in New Orleans. After graduating from the University ofTexas, Austin, he began his career with Alcoa AluminumCompanywhere he met and marriedthe love of his life,HazelMae Warren, in1957and were blessed with two children. His career as aPurchasing Agent transferred the family several times, living on both east and west coasts with his final transferto the NewOrleansarea whereheretired in 1990, and eventuallymoving to Baton Rouge in 1999. The sacrificeshemade, for his family were too numerous to count, as ahusband,caregiver,father, teacher, and lovingPawPaw. We were allincredibly blessed by him. To know him was to love him! He was so genuinely kind to every person he met. A man of incredibly deep faith, he grew up in aloving,Catholic family, serving as an altar boy for many years, and at one pointcontemplating priesthood. His exemplary faith was taught and sharedwith hisfamily throughout his life. His genuine love of people,exceptional patience,quiet humility, and quickdry wit drewpeopletohim. He lovedthe outdoors (especially the golf course!) and passing on the love of the game to his son and grandson at a young age.Some other life pleasures includedtennis, which he playedgrowing up with his older brother andlater taughttoboth of his children; music, another great enjoyment, especially the big band era; whistling, humming, or singing (usually afunny song whiledancingwith his grandson in hisarms) wasnot uncommon to hear and ahuge part of his happy-go-lucky personality; and of course,football, CatholicHigh, LSU, Texas, Saints, and the Detroit Lions were favorites. And last, but not least, Oreo the cat, his best littlefurry buddy who was always curled up lovingand napping on him. We weretold by him many timeshow blessed he was when actually, HE was the biggest blessing to allofour lives! Richard is predeceased by his belovedwifeof65 years,Hazel; parents and in-laws, two brothers, a brother-in-law,sister-inlaw, &son-in-law. He is survived by daughter, Maureen Morgan(Jim); son, Richard Jr.(Amy); grandson, DarrenLucy (Kate) of Austin, TX; step grandson,Jake Morgan (Kelly); stepgreat grandchildren, Malin, Maddie,

and TateMorgan; sister, Dorothea Jones of Greenville,SC; and nephews, Carl,James, and Paul Jones, and Patrick Fahey. Relatives and friends are invitedtoattend the Mass of ChristianBurial at St.GeorgeCatholicChurch, 7808 St.GeorgeDr.,inBatonRouge on Saturday, September 20, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. Avisitation will be held at thechurch beginning at 9:30 a.m. The rosary willberecited beginning at 10:30 a.m. Burial willfollow theFuneral Mass at Resthaven Gardens of Memory, 11817 Jefferson Hwy in Baton Rouge. In lieu of flowers please make donations to Companion Animal Alliance of Baton Rouge or St.Vincent de Paul Familyand friends may signthe online guestbook or leavea personalnote to thefamily at www.resthav enbatonrouge.com

Harp, BennelMarie

BennelMarieHarp,born

January 31, 1952, joinedher mother, father, brothers, and theangels in eternal rest on September11, 2025. She was thekindofwoman who livedlife exactly on herown terms, with no needfor pretense or polish. Unbotheredbymaterial things and indifferentto vanity, she spokeher mind with refreshing honesty and compassion.Those who knew her quickly realized that her directness was matched onlybyher kindness. She was generouswith her time, her friendship, and her heart—always shining light on others, never seeking thespotlight herself. An athlete in her younger years, she spent timeasa florist before stepping into her true calling: alongand respectedcareer in Corrections. There,she earned admirationnot fromdemanding respect, butfrom giving it freely and consistentlythrough heractions. Quietly powerful and unassuming, she embodiedauthenticity in every chapter of herlife

Thoughshe never had children of her own, she adored her nieces, nephews, and thechildren of her closest friends many of whom she claimedasher own in the way onlyshe could. She valued family,friendship, comfort, and good conversation—often accompanied by acoldbeer. Her life was arare and striking blend of strength, humor, loyalty, and independence. She willbedeeplymissed by her family,her circle of friends,and all whose lives she touched. She is survivedbyher devoted sister and brother-in-law, Donna and EJ Hahn; brother, Sidney L. Harp II,and his wife Brenda;niecesand nephews, LydiaHahn, EddieHahn(Candi), Courtney Cassard (Gerald),Amy LaGraize (Paul), and Brooke Hebert; great-nieces and nephews, Breanna Hahn, Darren Hahn, Dlayna Jackson, Camille HahnRamos, Elbie Hahn, Cruz Cassard, ThomasLaGraize,Harper LaGraize, Noah Hebert,and Adam Hebert;and greatgreat-nieces, Bry'Onna Hahn, BraylaSteward, and Brinique Steward; along with ahost of special friends, including herchosenfamily- Dana Aucoin, Kurt Westerman, Cameran Aucoinand Deanie Daigle. She waspreceded in death by herparents, Bennett Robert and Elsie Ourso Harp;brothers, Wayne Richardson-Harp and Bennett Robert Harp Jr.;grandparents, Sidneyand Aimee Falcon Ourso and Sidney and Flossie Babin Harp; and agreat-niece, Lytecianna Hahn. Friendsand familyare invitedtoa visitation and memorialMassonSaturday,September20thatAscension of Our Lord Catholic Church, 716 Mississippi Street, Donaldsonvillefrom 8:30amuntil Mass time at 11:00am. Interment to follow in Ascension CatholicCemetery. FatherMattDupre will be officiating.Feelfreeto come comfortably, as Bennelwas not afan of dress shoesorfancy attire! If you know, you know!

Louisiana, Rita graduated fromScotlandville High School with theClass of 1969. She proudly served with theU.S.Postal Service for17years before retiring. Known forher dedication, kindness,and generosity Rita willbedeeplymissed by allwho knew her. Religious services will be held at Mt.PilgrimBaptist Church on Friday, September 19, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. Interment will follow at Port Hudson National Cemetery at 1:00 p.m. entrusted to Hall Davis &SonsFuneral Services.

Michael Jerome Hills was called to rest at the ageof66onSeptember 4, 2025, at OchsnerMedical Center in NewOrleans, Louisianawith beloved family members by his side.Hewas anativeof Baton Rouge,Louisiana. Visitation,Saturday, September 20, 2025, at Greater NewGalilee Baptist Church, 9185 Wilbur Street,Baton Rouge, LA 70807, 8:00 a.m. until religious services at 10:00 a.m.,Dr. Mark A. Litt,Sr. Officiating.Entrusted to Richardson Funeral Home of Clinton,Clinton, Louisiana.

Wilma Jean Mitchell Pierson, of St. Amant, Louisiana, passed away on September 16, 2025. She was born in Francisco, Indiana, on March 11, 1930, and graduated from Francisco HighSchool. On August 15, 1952, she married theloveofher life, Rex. E. Pierson, Jr. Together they builta family rooted in faith, love,and devotion. Adedicated homemaker,Wilma was also activeinher community. Shewas amember of the First UnitedMethodist Church in Gonzales and theOrder of theEastern Star. Known forher warm and giving spirit, she had a passion forchocolate,line dancing, travel, and never meeting astranger. Wilma had aheart forhospitality—she openedher home to her children's friends and to anyone in need, making sure that everyone felt welcomed and cared for. Wilma is survived by her children: Rex(Chip) PiersonIII (Lois) and Susan Arthur (David). She leaves behind cherished grandchildren: Christopher Billot, Mindy Bailey (Michael), Jenny Billot, Heather Pierson, and Aubra Billot, Ryker Doskey, Elora Wall, Evan Heather Tullier (Ben) and Nick Arthur. She was also blessed with twogreatgrandchildren: Mollie Baileyand Mason Bailey.She is also survivedbyher sister, Georgia Rogers(Bill), and ahost of niecesand

nephews, all of whom lovedher dearly. Wilma will be remembered for her kindness, herunwavering faith, andher ability to make everyonefeellike family. In Lieu of flowers, the familyrequest donationsbemade to First United Methodist Churchof Gonzalesorany charityof yourchoice. They would also like to extendtheir sincere appreciationto HeartofHospice andGonzales CouncilonAging A visitation for Wilma will be held Friday, September 19, 2025, from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM at OursoFuneral Home, 13533 Airline Hwy, Gonzales, Louisiana 70737. Asecondvisitation will take place on Saturday, September 20, 2025, from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM.Service will begin at 11:00 AM. Wilma will be laidtorest at NewRiverBaptist Church

St. Romain Jr., Joseph Louis

Joseph "Joe" Louis St Romain, Jr.enteredinto eternalrest on September 9, 2025, at his residence duetoa sudden heartattack. He wasjust two weeks shy of his60th birthday. Joewas born September 23, 1965, in Baton Rouge to Joseph Louis Sr.and Brenda Acosta St.Romain. He is survived by hismother, Brenda Acosta St.Romain, sister,MelindaMarshall (Rick), stepmother,Cathy St.Romain, stepsister, Amy Nebel(Charles) and numerousaunts, uncles andcousins. Joewas apassionate fan of all sportsand alover of all music.Heloved cooking, gardening andworkinginthe yard.One characteristicwell known by those that knew himwas that once he wasyour friend, he wasyourfriend for life. Atruepeople-person, hisfullbody laugh andsmilewould engage you instantly. He willbe missed by hisspecial lifelongfriends and loved ones. Hisfaithcarriedhim throughlifeand hiscaring spirit will be felt forever. Joeisprecededindeath by hisfather,Joseph Louis St.Romain, Sr paternal grandparents Clovisand NoelieSt. Romain andmaternal grandparentsHonoreand Clara Acosta. Burial will be aprivate gravesideservice

Washington,GloriaButler

Gloria Butler Washing‐ton, anativeand resident of Plaquemine,bornon June 25, 1930 to thelate Henryand Evelyn Taylor Butler.She marriedthe late Earl Washington,and to this union 3daughters were born.RhondaW Franklin (Jason Eldred), Jo‐celynW.Stewart (Donald) Evelyn W. Garner.OnTues‐daymorning,September 9, 2025 ourmotherGloria “Madear” Butler Washing‐tontransitionedtoher

heavenly home at theage of 95. Sheleavestocherish hermemories, herchil‐dren,5 grandchildren, 8 greatgrandchildren,other relativesand friends. Visit‐ing, 5-7pmonFriday, Sep‐tember 19, 2025 at The GreaterEbenezerBaptist Church,58166 Barrow St Plaquemine,LA70764. Visi‐tation continues9am on Saturday,September 20, 2025 until HomegoingSer‐vices at 11am, conducted by Rev. Lionel Johnson, Jr Pastor.Interment in Grace Memorial Park,Plaquem‐ine. Please visitwww dembyandson.comtosign theguestbook

Alfred O. Wims, Sr peacefully transitionedon Friday, September 12, 2025, at theage of 79 in Baton Rouge,Louisiana. Anative of Zachary, LA, Alfred proudlyservedhis community througha long career with theUnited States Postal Service,fromwhich he retired. Cherishing hismemory are hisbeloved wife, Verlie LedayWims; son, Alfred "Bo"(Kimberly) Wims; and granddaughter, Amber Randall (Alonzo Jr.) Jones. He is also survived by his sisters, Willie Mae"Sue" Evans, Alice "Donna Faye" (Donald) George,Janice Wims, Tanya (Wilbur) Wims-Pettis; and brothers, Aaron (Sheila) Wims, Larry Wims, and Michael (Bernadette)Wims. Ahost of otherloving relatives anddear friends also mournhis passing He is preceded in death by hisparents,AlmaAllen Wims and Willie Wims, Sr.; daughter, Toni Wims; brothers, Louis "Pap" Davis, Jr., Willie "Tom" Dunomes, Lloyd Wims, Willie Wims, Jr.; andsisters, Wilma Joyce Davis, Lois Harris, and Patricia Sivels. Visitation will be held on Friday, September 19, 2025 at Hall'sCelebrationCenter, 9348 Scenic Hwy Baton Rouge,LAfrom3:00pm to 5:00pm. Visitation will resume on Saturday, September 20, 2025, from 9:00am to 11:00am at ImmaculateConception Catholic Church,1565 CurtisStreet, Baton Rouge,LA. AMass of Christian Burial will immediatelyfollow with Father Thomas Clark officiating.Alfredwill be laidtorest at theLouisiana NationalCemetery Servicesentrusted to: Hall Davis andSon FuneralServices www.halldavisandson.c om

Hills, MichaelJerome

Wims Sr., Alfred O.

Fahey, Richard Aloysius

Davis, Christopher Glen 'Chris'

Pierson,Wilma Jean Mitchell

Duhe',

Cuts threaten to dimfutureof LIGO,which hashelpedLa. reachfor stars

Louisiana is known for many things —music, arts, culture, food. Butchances arethat, outside ahighly specialized community,itisnot recognizedasahub of physics experimentation. Yet that’s exactly what’sbeen happening deepinthe piney woods of Livingston Parish atthe Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO.

With its counterpart in Washingtonstate, known as LIGO Hanford, it hasbeen conducting research on gravitationalwaves for decades. Thesewaves arecentral to some ofthe most foundational theories in astrophysics.

On Sept. 14, 2015, asignal from twoblack holes colliding reached LIGO. These werethe ﬁrstgravitational waves ever detectedonthe planet, and they conﬁrmedakey tenet of Albert Einstein’stheory of general relativity,opening anew way for physicists to lookatthe universe

The Livingston site recently celebratedthe tenth anniversary of that discovery, which earnedthe scientists behind the projecta Nobel Prize Since that day,LIGO has been racking up many other discoveries, including one that veriﬁed ideas about black holes promulgated by Stephen Hawking in the 1970s.

Even for those of us who are not scientists,this is heady stuff. Trying to ﬁgure out the nature of the universe and our place in it hasbeen aquest of humankind since the beginning of time. That these powerful tools exist todaysonear to us should be asource of pride

LIGO has been continually upgrading its gravitational wave detectors to make themmore sensitive, and it has planstotemporarily closein November for improvements.

But the future of LIGO is nowatrisk.

Fundingfor constructionand maintenanceat the twin LIGO facilities comes almost entirely from the National Science Foundation. And now,the Trump administrationseeks to cut $5.2 billion, or 57%, of the NSF’s$9 billion annual budget. While House and Senate committees have tried to scale back the cuts, the proposed 2026 budget, which will be decidedinthe coming weeks, still would onlyallowfor oneLIGO site to operate, potentially shutting down or signiﬁcantly reducing research in Livingston.

Each LIGO facility employs approximately 50 people. The Livingston site beneﬁts thelocal community in myriad ways,including with outreach programs that welcome grade-school students to its Science EducationCenter.

The Livingston site alsohas aclose relationship with LSU, hosting graduate students andresearchers. Professors saythat hasmade it easier to attract top physics talent to our state, as LSU is theonlyuniversity in the U.S.thatislessthan 25 miles from such afacility

We understand that our country hastoset prioritiestoget its ﬁscal housein order.And we realize thattosome, facilities like LIGOmight seem expendable.

But we would arguethattoadvancecivilization and ensure abrighter future for humanity, we can’talways look only at the bottom line. We must continue to reach for the stars.

OPINION

MAGA sows chaos, notlaw andorder

Isaw combat on 13 differentoccasions in Vietnam. I’m aproud award recipient andstate leader of Purple Heartveterans. Like manyU.S. military veterans,I’m confused by theoveruseand modernization of theterm“law and order.”

We all knowwhatlaws are, but Ithink the“order” part is misunderstood.For example, U.S. law allows apresident to appointasecretary of defense. It’s recognition of howour society andgovernment areorderedand organized.The expectation is the most qualiﬁed person on military affairs in theentire United States —one who hasthe knowledgeand military experience —can become secretary of defense If aperson workshard andhas a distinguished militarycareer,anythingcan happen. So why wereall thecareer,heroic militaryveteranspassed over when appointing thecurrentsecretaryofdefense? And to furtherinsultthe veterans, thepolitical appointee’sprevious job was as aweekendhost of aFox

news ﬂuff andfakenews program. He wasn’teveninthe primetime lineup.

Appointing obviously unqualiﬁed individuals to the highest positions of responsibility in the US government is disorder —the exact opposite of “order.” It’sthe same when apresident pardons thousands of rightfully convicted defendants because of politicalconsiderations and notjustice. It does not make Americanssafe. Butinour American system of government, such illegal power is to be checked by the legislative branch,myLouisiana members of Congress —who are embarrassingly subservient Trump Republicans.

Idon’tknowwhat’smore embarrassing: the actionsofarogue president or the U.S. citizens’ representatives in Congress deliberately hiding their eyes, ears and refusing to be the people’s voice by speakingthe truth.

MAGA slogansare meaningless concerning law andorder RICHARD O’BRIEN Denham Springs

PBMreformwould benefitcancerpatients

As presidentand CEO of Survivors Cancer Action Networkand as aformer Louisianarepresentative, Ihavewitnessed thetremendous challengescancer patients face when tryingtoaccess the treatments they need to survive.

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

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

TO SEND US A LETTER, SCANHERE

Fortoo manyLouisianafamilies, thecrushingcost of cancer care adds unbearable stress to an alreadylife-changing diagnosis. One of thebiggest driversof these costs is thelack of transparency andaccountability in the pharmacy beneﬁtmanager system. PBMs,powerful middlemen in thedrug supplychain,negotiate rebates from manufacturersbut often fail to pass thosesavings on to patients. Instead,theyuse practices likespread pricingand formulary manipulation that drive up out-of-pocket costs andlimit treatmentoptions. For cancer patients, thesepractices can mean thedifference between accessinglifesaving medication or delayingcare. With

some cancer therapies costing well over $100,000 peryear,even small manipulationsinpricing or access can leavepatients facing impossible choices.

Reformingthe PBMsystem would bringmuch-needed transparency,ensuringthatsavings ﬂow directly to patients at the pharmacy counter.Itwouldalso restore fairness in howmedicationsare priced andaccessed, giving cancer patients and their families hope rather than ﬁnancial despair

Louisiana’scancer patients deserveasystem that works for them, notagainst them. Iappreciate Sen. Bill Cassidy,a leadingvoice on healthcare, for championingPBM reform that putspatients ﬁrst, andIurge the rest of Louisiana’sCongressional delegation to join him.

JULIE STOKES president and CEO of SurvivorsCancer Action Network and aformerLouisiana representative

Higgins’ threatstoN.O health department stem from ignorance

I’mtrying to decide if U.S. Rep. ClayHiggins,R-Lafayette, is evil or just tragically misinformed. I’ll givehim thebeneﬁtofthe doubt and go withthe latter.I’m sure his intention is nottoactually harm children, but this is whathewill accomplishwithhis recentthreats regarding vaccines andthe NewOrleans Health Department.

Dr.JenniferAvegno andthe NOHD do a fine job at helping to keep thepublic safe Physicians who care forchildren —including membersofthe American Academy of Pediatrics (allboard-certified pediatricians, weirdly accused of “sorcery”byHiggins) andthe American Academy of Family Physicians —act in thebest interest of theiryoung patients, nottheir own personal politics. Theoverwhelmingmajority of doctors andpublic health officialsinour state morebroadly do,too —withthe unfortunate exception of ourillustriousSurgeon General Dr.Ralph Abraham, whosedangerousnotionsabout public health have evidentlypolluted Higgins’ thinking. Dr.Avegno andher colleaguesatNOHD shouldbecommended —not impeded by these dimwits. People who believe in thesort of conspiracy theories Higginspromotes do so only because they don’tunderstand howthings (like vaccines) actually work JAMES THEIS NewOrleans

Putmoney toward morepolice insteadofGuard troops

Iwould like to propose an alternative to sending National Guard troops into ourcitiestoenforce local and state laws.Militarization of civilianpolicingiswrongfor many obvious reasonsand diverts Guard members from theirprimarymissions. During themid-1970s, Ihelpedadminister thethen-fledgling Public ServiceEmployment program of theU.S.Departmentof Labor forthe state of Louisiana. It provided funding fortemporary jobsinpublic agencies, including local policedepartments. Fundingfor additional policeofficerswas providedfor departments withinsufficient local taxes to meet theirneeds. It washoped communitieswould see thevalue of these services andpass taxes to support them once federal funding ended. If we are going to enhancelocal lawenforcement, providing direct funding for policeofficers rather than putting military troopsonthe ground is farsuperior,inmy opinion. Needless to say,suchaprogram would require close monitoring but could be avery worthwhile andcost-effective alternative

STEPHENWINHAM St. Francisville

At 25,CafeReconcile shows howcommunities canthrive

Look, up in Central City!It’sajob training center. It’slife-skills development. It’s aneighborhood redevelopment catalyst. It’sareally, really good restaurant. And now this Super-organization is turning 25 years old, with no Kryptonite in sight. When Café Reconcile, on the cornerofOretha Castle Haley Boulevard and Euterpe Street, hosts a“SUNday Social” mega-celebrationonthe afternoon of Sept. 28, it will highlight asupersuccess story in whichpublic sector grants, major and minorprivate philanthropy and free-market lessons and practices combine in oneremarkable enterprise. More simply: Yeah, thisisgood stuff ReconcileNew Orleans grew from the efforts of the Rev.Harry Thompson, S.J., and parishioners Craig Cuccia and Tim Falcon of downtown’sImmaculate Conception Catholic parish. The goal was to be what itswebsite calls“thecornerstone for the broader rehabilitation” of the nearby Central City neighborhood. Describing itself as a“non-proﬁtworkforce training program,” Reconcile takes interested 16- to 24-year-olds for internships in afabulous lunch restaurant featuring New Orleans standards such as red beans, gumbo, catﬁsh and po-boys. The restaurant’sreputation deservedly is national: First Lady Laura Bush ate there shortly after HurricaneKatrina, and in 2023 the New York Timeslisted it among the 50 restaurants in the whole country “that we’re the most excited about rightnow.”

Yetthe restaurant is just the first floor of a five-story building. Sandwiched between it and the fifth-floor administrative staff is asecond-floorevent space

HERE COMES AUTUMN

andcateringoperation; athird-floor classroomand “case management” area teaching interpersonal skills that can apply to almost any job;and afourth-floor employment and career-readinesscenter that helps participants figure out and pursue their next career steps,including where to accessrelated resources,after they complete theReconcile program.

The program itself involves a14-week internship (withstipend) at the restaurant followed by afull year of engagement to help graduates take their next career steps. In 25 years the program hasproduced morethan 2,000 graduates andsent them not just into the restaurantand hospitalityindustry —not to belittle that, because therecordthere is terrific— but alsointojobs in fields as variedashealthcare, apipefitter’s union and aveterinarypractice.

“Thisplace is never quiet,” said Reconcile CEO Kheri Billy “Thereisdata…that young people are leaving the cityand thestate, [but]we aretalking about developing thenext generationoftalent,” Chief Program Ofﬁcer Monique Robinson toldWDSU-TV recently.“We want home-grown talentto stayhere, whetherit’sinthe hospitality and tourism industry or not.”

On the same WDSU program, graduate Kennan Jordan spoke about how he previously had been “moving around alot,just nothaving astable place to be,” including stintsinLafayette and in Texas. “It washardfor me to have my feet grounded somewhere.”

Now, though, repeatedly calling his Reconcile experience “life changing,”he said it gave him “the ﬁrst step of dedicationand just being somewhere thatI mattered.” Now he has asteadyjob at a top-notch New Orleans restaurant.

Meanwhile,Café Reconcile servedas oneoftwo anchors —the other being

It certainly doesn’t feel likefallisaround the corner,but it actually startsnext Monday.These squirrels are getting ajumponnut-gathering season and one hascome up with anew approach.

So,what’sgoing on in thiscartoon?youtell me.Be witty,funny,crazy,absurd or snarky —just trytokeep it clean.There’snolimit on the number of entries

Thewinning punchline willbe lettered into the word balloon and runon Monday,Sept.22 in our printeditionsand online.In addition,the winner will receiveasigned print of thecartoon along with acool winner’sT-shirt!

Some honorable mentions will also be listed.

the AsheCultural ArtsCenter across the street,founded in 1998 —that led to a revitalization of the previously blighted neighborhood. For aradius of several blocks in any direction, once-dilapidated properties now feature handsome buildings with solid businesses and plenteous foot trafﬁc.

Billy,the CEO, is aNew Orleans native She said she remembers being alittle girl shopping in theareawithher mother at a“jazz market”and “littleeatery,” but “in the 1990s,ithad gone dark” while “there was ahuge crime wave all over the city.”But then came theteam from Immaculate Conception, buying the building that now houses Reconcile with the expresspurpose of using it for area youth, along withMayor MarcMorial using community-action block grants.

“I was in school at the time,” Billy said. “And Iremember Reconcile veryclearly coming into the community.”

Now Reconcile alone pays taxes to the cityonabout $380,000 in gross annual sales, not to mention all the similar beneﬁts provided by thebusinesses that grew around it.

This is how,neighborhood by neighborhood, communities can be rebuilt.Government has arole, but that role neednot be controlling. Government can provide alittle leverage and grant help, and then watch as private philanthropy and private enterprise work wonders.

Thirty years ago, this was thesort of thing on which Republicans suchas former vice-presidential nominee Jack Kemp and Democrats suchasNew York’sSen. Daniel PatrickMoynihan found meetings of themind. Café Reconcile should serve as amodel for others, one well worth celebrating.

Email QuinHillyer at quin.hillyer@ theadvocate.com.

To enter,email your entries to cartooncontest@theadvocate.com.DON’T FORGET!All entries must includeyour name,home address and phone number.Cell numbers arebest. The deadline for all entries is midnight onThursday,Sept.18. Gather your punchlines and send themintowin! Good luck —Walt

NewYorkon brinkofterriblechoice

Next year willbring the 25th anniversary of 9/11, and with it an irresistible angle for journalists and commentators: New York’s ﬁrst Muslimmayor marks anniversary of devastating radical Islamic attack on city

Mamdani’slead is anywhere from 15 to 22 points.

DidCharlie Kirk’s killer do it to show he could?

This is not about Charlie Kirk. He wasadmirable as adebater and as aconservative whowelcomed debate. Someofhis utterances werereprehensible, but no one should die because of opinions.

This is about the 22-year-old whoapparently shot and killed Kirk from arooftop and also the 20-year-old whoshot at Donald Trumpduring aPennsylvania rally,grazing his face. Both snipers worked from arooftop. Neither was especially political. Kirk’sapparent killer, Tyler Robinson, wasnot allied with any party and didn’t vote. And the young man whotried to execute Trump, Thomas Crooks, wasaregistered Republican. Both came from conservative families nested in MAGAland.

The moresophisticated takes of Robinson’smotives veer away from political passions. Many Gen Zmen like him have sunk into the shadowyvortex of social media. Their online life had become separate from what we would callreal life. They parade their cleverness before an internet audience of who-knows-who. Both lived on and offwith their parents; they hadn’treally launched.

One thing deepened the public’smotive mystery before either perpetrator was named. Both were obviously sharpshooters, products of agun culture. As noted, both placed themselvesonroofs agood distancefromapolitical rally.Asniper ﬁring fromarooftopisanarchetypal scene in ourculture.The shooter represents the powerfromabove, unseen and controlling. If politics aren’t the poison motivating this gun violenceatpolitical rallies, what is? Considerthis possibility: These postadolescents were making few waves outside their parents’ homes. They mayhave wanted to prove to their online societythat theycan pull offworld-changing capers. Ascouring of Robinson’ssocial media shows thathewas an avid memberofa group on Discord, aplatform that lets usershide their identity.Robinson mayhave yearnedtoshowhis audience that he could pull offadaring military-style action. But ﬁrst it was playtime with his online squad, ameanstomaintain control.

ListentoRobinson’scoy talk with a friend who said that the suspect shown in the FBI pictureslooked like him. No, Robinsonquipped. The guy who looked like him wasa doppelganger (his double). He continued messing with the group. When anotheruserproposed that the group turn Robinsoninand get the $100,000 the FBI was offering, Robinsonresponded, “Only if Iget acut.”

That mayor will be, of course, Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialist candidate with ahuge lead over afractured ﬁeld in the Nov.4 mayoral election. Aseries of recent polls suggest that, barring somehuge, incredible, world-shaking unforeseen development, Mamdani will beelected mayor less than two months from now Anew CBS News poll shows Mamdani with a15-pointlead, 43% to 28%, overformerDemocratic New York Gov.Andrew Cuomo, now runningasanindependent.Republican Curtis Sliwa is at 15%, 28 points behind Mamdani, and current New York Mayor Eric Adams is at 6%, 37 points behind Mamdani. Even if Adams weretodrop out, and there are reports he will,the basic structure of the race wouldnot change

Another recent poll, by Emerson, was nearly identical, with Mamdani at 43%, Cuomo at 28%, Sliwaat10% and Adams at 8%. AQuinnipiac survey has Mamdani at 45%, with Cuomo at 23%, Sliwa at 15%and Adams at 12%. And a New York Times/Siena poll has Mamdani at 46%, Cuomo at 24%,Sliwaat 15% and Adams at 9%. Look at all thepolls, and

Onemeasure of how weird this campaign is that even though Mamdani, the socialist, is running as the Democratic nominee, some topleaders in the Democratic Party cannot bring themselves to endorse their own team’scandidate.

The election is less than two months away,and Senate Minority Leader CharlesSchumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) —bothofwhom live in New York City— have not endorsed Mamdani. Indeed, onlyrecently did the Democratic governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, endorse the Democratic candidate for mayor of NewYork City.Inanop-ed in The New York Times, Hochul said she had had many talks with Mamdani. She said they talked about public safety,religioustolerance, economic development, taxes andother issues.

Remember thatMamdani has either recently embraced or currently proposed abolishing the police, establishing citypaid child care, imposing apotentially business-crippling $30 minimum wage and sky-high taxes and other so-called progressive policies. (On the other hand, he has recently stopped advocating “globalizing the intifada.”)

“I did not leave my conversations with Mr.Mamdani aligned withhim on every issue,”Hochul diplomatically wrote. “But Iamconﬁdentthat he has the courage, urgency and optimism New York City needs to lead it through the challenges of this moment.”

Perhaps Hochul is confident because she and Mamdani were completely,totally,absolutely on the same page on one issue. “I needed to know the next mayor will not be someone who would surrender one inch to President Trump,” she wrote. “Mr.Mamdani and Iwill both be fearless in confronting the president’sextreme agenda —with urgency,conviction and the defiance that defines New York.”

What could be more important? Yes, New York has someofthe mostburdensome housing prices in the country; people are leaving the citybecause they can’t ﬁnd an affordable place to live. Yes, everything else is insanely expensive, too. And yes, mentally ill and sometimes violent people make using public transit a risky proposition. And yes, public safety is aworry beyond the subways. And yes, there are lotsofotherproblems. But at least the new mayor and the governor will be fearless in confronting the president of the United States. That’swhat’s really matters, isn’tit?

New York has had terrible mayors before. To an outsider,itsometimes appears the cityhas atendency to makeabad choice, suffer the consequences, pick a problem solver,such as Rudy Giuliani, to ﬁxthings, and thenenjoy new life, only to later go off its meds again and restartthe cycle. Zohran Mamdani would be anew dimension in bad choices, and New York is about to ﬁnd out what thatmeans. ByronYork is on X, @Bryon York. Email himatbyronyork@yorkcomm. com.

Thenhejokes:“I’m actually Charlie Kirk, wanted to getoutta politicssoIfaked my death.”

AfterRobinsonwas caught, oneofhis “pals” on Discord made light of his possible execution: “Our governor wants to give him the deathpenalty dude.” People aren’t real,not even their friends.

This is showing off, not political scheming.

Crooks, who took ashot at Trump in Pennsylvania,had notwrittena manifesto The FBI found links to extremist groups. No onehas ever ﬁgured out his motive. Could his goal have been fulﬁlling a fantasy to seewhether he could pull it off? The FBI found thatCrooks did online research abouthow far sniper Lee Harvey Oswald waswhenheassassinated John F. Kennedy in 1963.And he searched for informationoncampaign events for Joe BidenaswellasTrump. Perhaps it didn’t matter to him which presidential candidate he targeted. It wasasthough either one would do.

The frightening part of all this is that there arealot of similarboy-men out there who areout of sight andwhose minds are similarly scrambled. That manyhave gotten good grades and lack acriminal history puts them out of law enforcement’ssurveillance. Scary times.

Email Froma Harrop on X, @FromaHarrop.Emailher at fharrop@ gmail.com.

Froma Harrop

Byron York Quin Hillyer

Baton RougeWeather

SPORTS

Parking Nussmeier vs.SLU notthe

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

When asked about hisoffensive line, Brian Kelly didn’t hesitate.

The LSU coach isn’tpretending the unit is perfect,orthat it’s the reason why theTigers are offtotheir ﬁrst 3-0 start since2019.Healso won’t placemost of theblame for LSU’s passinggame struggles on this new-lookgroup. “Wedidn’tgive up asack, and that is areally good defense,” Kelly said, referencing aFlorida defense that surrendered only 13 points to LSU’soffensive attack in theTigers’ 20-10 win Saturday.“I’m pleased there. Imean,ifwe need to go out there and throw the ball 50 times,we’re capableofdoingthat.” Butquestioningthe effectivenessofthe Tigers’line throughthree games is afair questiontoask.Besides the line’sstruggles in therun game,LSU ﬁfth-yearsenior quarterback Garrett Nussmeier is just 4-of-13 passing on throws

BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

It had been more than amonthsince Trevor Penning played football in any capacity, and that was evident —ina goodway —to his New Orleans Saints teammates when they saw him back on thepractice field

Wednesday

“A lot of guys came up to me like,‘You’re way more giddy than usual,’ ”Penning said. Penning practiced for the ﬁrst time since he suffered aturf toe injury in theSaints’ Aug. 10 preseason opener against the Los Angeles Chargers. He opened training camp as the team’sstarting leftguard but ceded the position to veteran Dillon Radunz while he recovered. While coach Kellen Moore declined to say whether Penning would make his 2025 debut this week against the Seattle Seahawks —“We’ll see how he responds and then see how it goes,” Moore said —heindicatedthat Penning will slot back in as the starting left guard when he is ready toplayinagame.

of morethan20yards downﬁeld,according to Pro Football Focus Nussmeier’saverage depth of target stands at 6.7 yards per attempt. Lastseason, it was at 9.5 yards per attempt despitebeing in an offense that had trouble generating explosive plays. Thesediminishedresults can’t allbelinkeddirectly to Nussmeier’sprotection taking astep back. Kelly revealed Monday that his quarterback is dealing withatorso injury, an ailmenthe’sbeen working through since the preseason Kelly believes Nussmeier has battled through the worst of it, but he also said that he won’tbeable to heal from theinjuryfully untilLSU’s ﬁrstopenweek at thestart of October

“We’ve limited him alittle bit during the week because of some tightness that he’shad in historso,” Kelly said. “It’san

ä See LSU, page 3C

aftertoe injury

“I really appreciate him for th Penning said. “It’sgood to have someone have your back.” This is notthe ﬁrst time Pen ning has hadtonavigate aturf toeinjury as aprofessional, but he wasrelievedthis one was not as serious. As far as names go, turf toe is armingly innocuous termfor as jury.The most severe turf toe in theone Penning suffered in the ﬁnale of his rookie season, involve tions and severe tendon damage quirecorrective surgery.Penning up missing all but six games of his season “I was nervous that …itwas that

Notes on agolf scorecard while dreading LSU’s ﬁrst alternate uniforms of the season Saturday against Southeastern Louisiana

…Assoon as LSU coach Brian Kelly revealed Monday that Tigers quarterback Garrett Nussmeier has been hampered by a“torso injury” since preseason camp, the debate ignited as to whether the Nuss bus should be idled forSaturday’sgame in Tiger Stadium against Southeastern Louisiana (6:45 p.m., SEC Network). Asked about it on Wednesday’sSEC coaches’ teleconference, Kelly didn’tequivocate.

“I think he needs to play,” Kelly said. “Garrett wants to play.He’scapable of playing.” Football is adangerous game. Any time aplayer steps onto the ﬁeld there is arisk. Always has been, as evidenced by this gruesomebut humorous poem from the Louisville Courier-Journal in 1893: After the football is over After the ﬁeld is clear Straighten my nose and shoulder

ä See RABALAIS, page 3C

TOYLOYBROWN III writer

Southern wants to be abetter team than has shownsofar during the 2025 season. The Jaguars are unsatisﬁed with their 1-3 start, especially the 30-7 loss to Alabama ate on Sept.6inA.W.Mumford Stadium lopsided results have led to changes, st notablymakingquarterbacks coach McNair the new co-offensive coordinator and play-caller Despite a56-7loss to Fresno State, an FBS nent,onSaturday, there were brief stints on offense anddefense that were glimmers of success for Southern before ring Southwestern Athletic Conference ,starting with its gameagainst Jackson State at 6p.m. Sept. 27 at A.W.Mumford Stadium Through the ﬁrst quarter of the regular season, Southern has seen some individual players prosper despite the lackluster team results. Here are the four players who have the most impressive so far this season. Holly

The LSU transfer hasbeen as good as uthern could have hoped. The 5-foot-7, 192-pound running back has rushed for269

Scott Rabalais

Saints guard Trevor Penning AP FILEPHOTO

From left, LSUoffensivelinemen Weston Davis,JoshThompson, DJ Chester and Coen Echols line up beforeasnap in the first half of agame against Florida onSaturdayatTiger Stadium. STAFF PHOTO By HILARySCHEINUK

PHOTO By JEVONE MOORE

1:55 p.m.

5a.m.World

NotreDameseeks solution

Irishwantdefensive woes resolved ahead of

Purdue matchup

BY CURT RALLO Associated Press

SOUTH BEND,Ind. No. 24 Notre Dame faces afamiliar predicament —two early-season losses hasleft no margin for error

The circumstanceshave changed, though. This time, it’s the usually stout Fighting Irish defense searching for answers as it faces rival Purdue(2-1, 0-1 Big Ten) on Saturday.Itwouldn’t be the ﬁrst time Notre Dame has used this matchupasa springboardtochange directions.

Ayear ago, aftera stinging 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois at home, the Irish hit their stride by handing the Boilermakers whatwas then theworst loss in program history,66-7. It was the first step on a14-game winning streak that sent them to thenationalchampionship game. Back then, though, Al Golden’s defense was the team’sheartand soul. Notre Dame led the nation with 33 takeaways, was third nationally with 38 sacks and finished in the top five in points allowed (15.5).

With Golden and six key players from that team off to the NFL, Chris Ash has taken over as defensive coordinator,and things have not started well. The Irish surrendered 68 points in losses to Miami and Texas A&M, compared with 70 in their ﬁrst six games last year,and have one interception and one sack.

Worse, Texas A&M quarterback MarcelReedthrew foracareerhigh 360 yards in a41-40 comefrom-behindwin.Itwas themost points allowed by Notre Dame sincea 45-14 loss to Michiganin 2019. Coach MarcusFreeman, aformer linebackerand defensive coordinator,isspending this week trying to ﬁnd solutions,and he indicated Monday he may getmore involved than usual in the defensive meetings.

“It’sthe execution of whatwe’re

Two-way

BYJOHN COON Associated Press

SALTLAKE CITY Three defensive stars for No. 16 Utah can be credited with helping theUtes improve on the other side of the ball.

Cornerback Smith Snowden, linebacker Lander Bartonand safety Jackson Bennee have played key roles in an offense that ranks near the top of the league in several categories heading into Saturday’s Big 12 opener against No. 17 TexasTech (3-0).

Ayear after being near thebottom in nearly every offensive category,the Utes are second in scoring (45.7 points per game) and rushing offense (290 yards), and third in total offense (517 yards).

The trio have wasted no time making their presence felt.

Snowden led Utah(3-0)inreceiving in the Utes’ 43-10 seasonopening win over UCLA, totaling 51 yards on six catches. Barton hauledina 14-yardtouchdown against the Bruins —his ﬁrst careerreception

“If my team trustsmeon offense to have theballinmy hands, why not go out there and make aplay?” Snowden said. And it’snot just on gadget plays. Snowden, Barton and Bennee split their time equally between offense and defense eachgame. It requires striking abalance in how they prepare for games so they can contribute at ahigh level on both sides of the ball.

This means dividing snaps between offense and defense in practice each week. It also

asking them to do,” he said.“If we’reaskingthemtodothings they can’texecute, then we have to evaluate what we’re asking them to do. Like Isaid, it’s not a call, it’snot ascheme, there’sno perfect call, no perfect scheme. It’sthe ability to execute.”

Whatever the explanation, the defensive stats have plummeted

The Irish rank 118th in points allowed (34.0), 113th in pass rush and 129th in passcoverage. Freeman doesn’tblame the early-season woes on anew defensive system or so many new faces. Instead, hewants to see the Irish eliminate the big plays that allowed TexasA&M to rally

“Whatwecan’t do is leta bad play turn into an explosive play

(Texas A&M) had over 200 yards on six plays,” Freeman said. “Whatdoes alack of execution come down to? It could be alack of focus, alack of proper technique, alack of understanding what’sexpected—apersonnel issue where you’re asking somebody to do something thatthey can’tdoconsistently.”

SafetyAdon Shuler believes it’s not apersonnel issue, either Rather,hethinks theanswer is better practices,which would lead to faster,moreviolent action on Saturdays.

The ﬁrst test comes this weekend against avastly improved Purdue team underfirst-year coach Barry Odom. The Boilermakers are coming off a33-17 loss

to Southern California in their Big TenConference opener but are averaging 391.3 total yards and 27.3 pointsper game, asubstantial upgrade over their15.8 ppg average last season.

And if Notre Dame doesn’t plug some holes fast, it could be staring at its ﬁrst 0-3start since 2008 —likely leaving it out of the playoff chase. But Shulersaw how the Irish responded to last year’s challenge and thinks they can do it again.

“(CoachFreeman said),‘We could be here, like, oh,we’re ﬁve pointsaway from being 2-0, but thatdoesn’thelpus,’ ”hesaid. “The reality is, we’re 0-2, andwe have to have that mindset andthat grit to go get it.”

means dividing meeting time and ﬁlm studybetween twodifferent positiongroups.

“Wetry to get the balance in practice as close as we can to what we predict the balance in the game is goingtobe,” Utah coachKyle Whittingham said “Wehaveagood idea going into every game what the ratioisgoing to be (for) offensive snaps and defensive snaps, and we try to mimic that in practice. We also have to divide the meeting timeupaswell,soit’sabalancing act.”

Playing onbothsides isn’ta foreign concept for Snowden, Bennee,orBarton. All threedid the same in high school.

Doing the same thing for a Power 4team is more complicated. Preparing themselves for multiple positions has made all three players ﬂuent in asecond football language

“This whole thing has deﬁnitely made my football IQ much better than it wasinpreviousyears,” Snowdensaid. “WhenI am on offense, Ican look at adefenseand knowwhatthey’re doing. When I’mondefense,I can look at the offense and have apretty good idea what they’re going to do.”

Playing on offense hasnot diminished defensive production for Utah’sdesignated two-way players through the team’s ﬁrst threegames. They are still ﬁnding waystostopoffenses as of-

LSU men’sgolfteam wins its firstevent of year

TheNo. 7LSU men’sgolfteam claimed its ﬁrst tournament win of the season, winning4-1 over No. 18 NorthCarolina at the Jackson T. Stephens CupinLakeBluff, Illinois. The tournament was held at the par-70, 6,530-yard Shoreacres course.

TheTigers’ firstwin in match play came from freshman Dan Hayes. He wasdownone heading into thesixth hole butturned it around, goingupone andthenquickly stacking alead. Hayes claimed the win4and 3.

Matty Dodd-Berry held the lead for the majority of the day and ended with a3and 2win.

Sophomore Arni Sveinsson iced the win andput LSUup3-0 as a team, ﬁnishing hole 18 up two.

ChargersLBMackonIR

due to left elbow injury

LinebackerKhalil Mack will go on injuredreservewithanelbow injury,leaving theundefeated Los Angeles Chargers without one of their topdefenders foratleastthe next four games.

Mack dislocated his left elbowinthe ﬁrst quarter of awin against LasVegas on Monday “It’sone of the toughest things I’ve ever seen.Iwas staring right at it,” coach Jim Harbaugh said Wednesday.

The Chargers have depth at Mack’sposition, with Bud Dupree andTui Tuipulotu ﬁguring to contribute. Theedgerushers combinedfor 141/2 sacks last season although neither has one so far this season. The Chargers (2-0) host AFC West rival Denver(1-1) on Sunday.

Vikings put RB Jones on IR with hamstring injury

The ailing Minnesota Vikings placed running back Aaron Jones on injured reserve on Wednesday requiring him to missaminimum of four games with ahamstring injury suffered during whathas becomeacostly defeat in the home opener With quarterbackJ.J.McCarthy likely out for multiple weeks with asprainedankle that occurred in that 22-6 loss to Atlanta, the Vikings also signed Desmond Ridder,the starter in 2023 for the Falcons, to theactive roster for more depth behind CarsonWentz and undrafted rookie MaxBrosmer. Jones hada career-high 1,138 rushing yards last season while starting all17games in his ﬁrst season with the Vikings.

Jets QB Fields out with concussion; Taylortostart

ten as they test defenses.

Bennee leads the Big 12 with two interceptions and 103 interception return yards. His first career interception wasa 46yard pick-six in a63-9 win over Cal Poly

“I really love having theball in my hands as well as making some tackles,” Bennee said. “I love allofit. Anyopportunity that Ican get,I’m going to take it.”

Barton hada team-high seven tackles againstUCLA. Across three games, he andBenneeare tied forsecond among Utahplayers with 12 tackles apiece. Their all-around contributions drawparallels to what Eric Weddle did forthe Utes earlierin Whittingham’scoaching career

During his senior season with Utah in 2006, Weddle played snaps at safety, running back punt returner andevenquarterbackonhis waytoearning consensus All-American honors.

Colorado’sTravis Hunter took it to anotherlevel last season by winning the HeismanTrophy as atwo-way player

Utilizing positionless playmakersmay be astaplefor Utah going forward under ﬁrst-year offensive coordinator Jason Beck. Whittinghamnoted Beck’soffensive schemes aredesigned to keep defenses guessing about whichplayers will be involved and howthey will be involved.

“Jason hasa really good feel for getting the most out of his guys andputting them in positions where they can do the things they do best instead of asking aguy to do something that maybe is not his cup of tea,” Whittingham said.

Justin Fields is outfor at least one gameand Tyrod Tayloris readytostepinfor theNew York Jets, just as he has done so many timesduring his multiple NFL stops.

Coach Aaron Glenn announced WednesdaythatFields was ruled out for the game at Tampa Bay with aconcussion, and Taylor would start at quarterback against the Buccaneers on Sunday Fields remains in the concussion protocol after being hurtlate in the Jets’ 30-10 loss to Buffalo last Sunday. Fields fell backward when he wassacked by Joey Bosa in the fourth quarter and the back of his helmet hit off the turf Taylorwill startfor the ﬁrsttime since doing so in ﬁve games for the Giants in 2023.

Cardinalsplace Contreras on 10-day injuredlist

ST.LOUIS The St. Louis Cardinals placed ﬁrst baseman Willson Contreras on the 10-day injured list on Wednesday with aright shoulder strain, ending his season. Contreras left Monday night’s 11-6 loss to Cincinnati in the seventh inning due to tightness in hisright biceps,putting astopto his season just before continuing theirserieswiththe Milwaukee Brewers.

He hit .257 with 20 homers and 80 RBIs in 135 games this season.

St.Louis also recalledinﬁelder José Fermín from Triple-A Memphis before its series ﬁnale against Cincinnati.

The26-year-old Fermin is batting .298 witha homer andfive RBIs in 23 games with the Cardinals this year

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MATTHEWIDLER

Utah widereceiver Jackson Bennee runs the ball during agameagainst WyomingonSaturdayinLaramie, Wyo. Utah defeated Wyoming 31-6 and is 3-0.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOPAULBEATy

Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love celebrates withcoach Marcus Freeman after rushing for a touchdown against TexasA&M on SaturdayinSouth Bend,Ind

Help me ﬁnd my ear

If Nussmeier is on the mend, as Kelly also asserted Monday, then it mightbeprudent to park him against outmanned SLU. But where does it end? CoverNuss in bubble wrap and have someone taste his food for him?

If the LSU offense weren’t stuck in the mud (53 points in three games), Imight seesome validity to not playing him Saturday.But Kelly is right. Nussmeier needs to play.Heneeds to work on the timing with his receivers. The chemistrywith his blockers. No. 3LSU needs agood night of production against the Lions going into next week’sbig game at No. 13 Ole Miss. Kelly said Nussmeier has been able to do some things in practice lately that he hasn’tbeen able to do for amonth.Early in August camp, Nussmeier looked magniﬁcent in terms of touch and arm strength. Then during two media viewings of apractice and scrimmage in TigerStadium a week before the Clemsongame, Nussmeier wasn’tseen throwing the ball at all. Clearly,his injury has affected the plays and tenor of the LSU offense.

The objective for LSU on Saturday should be to start Nussmeier get several productive scoring drives out of him and theoffense, then pull him in the thirdquarter andlet Michael VanBuren and possibly Colin Hurley get some snaps. Sitting Nussmeier is the safe play,but therisk is worth the ultimatereward of apotentially more productiveoffense on Sept. 27 in Oxford.

…The ejectionofLSU linebacker WhitWeeks on Saturday during the ﬁrst possession of theFlorida game addedanother layer to themounting evidence that college football’stargeting

LSU

Continued from page1C

upper-body injury that you want to be careful with how many reps he’sgetting throwing the football. Ithink he’sonthe otherside of that, but we had to be really carefulwith him the ﬁrst few weeks.”

Nussmeier’s injury may explain his accuracy woes and, to somedegree, his decision-making. But one can argue that the structure of LSU’spassing offense, which hasbeen heavily reliant on screensand quick throws —nearly aquarter of Nussmeier’spass attempts, per Pro Football Focus, have been plotted behindthe line of scrimmage —ismeant tohelp out the inexperienced offensive line.

SOUTHERN

Continued from page1C

yards on 30 carries —5.2 yards percarry —and hasthree touchdowns. Theredshirt sophomoreisfourth in theSWACinrushing yards per game (66.8), evenafterFresno State suppressedhis numbers (seven carries for 11 yards) with its biggerand stronger athletes. Holly’slow center of gravity and advanced jump-cuts make himhardto bring down with just onedefender. He has also been asolidrelease valveasa receiver with ﬁve catchesfor 39 yards.

Ckelby Givens

The reigning co-SWAC Defensive Playerof the Year and the preseason SWAC Defensive Player of the Year hasn’t fallenshort of expectations through the ﬁrst four games of his senior season. He leads the FCS in both tackles for loss (9.5)and sacks (6.5). He is also one of 14 players in the FCS with at least two forced fumbles. His overall statsare impressiveconsidering that Givens had aquietshowing in the season opener against North Carolina Central, with only half atackle forloss. Givens’ motorhas ceased to relentand likely will be revving up more in conference games.

Elijah West

Thesometimes forgottensafety, who didn’treceive anypreseason SWAC recognition, has been aconsistent force in the secondary.The 6-foot-1, 188-pound senior is one of ﬁve players at the FCSlevel with ﬁve pass breakups,which is the mostinthe country.Southern coach Terrence Graves has often said that West is aplayer who “does everything” the Jaguarsneed. As the nickelback, West is notjust breaking up passes but also bringing offensive players to the ground. His 27 tackles are secondon the team. He is also hitting hard, earning

rule needs to change

Did Weeks’ helmet strike the helmet(or rather face mask) of Florida wide receiver Vernell Brown? Yes. Should such contact warrant a penalty? Probably,for the protectionofboththe tackler and ball carrier.But there was no malicious intent to Weeks’ hit on Brown, just an aggressive player making an ag-

LSU has ﬁve new starters on the lineafter its only returningstarter,redshirt sophomore DJ Chester,was supplanted at center by Virginia Tech transfer Braelin Moore andlostthe starting left guard battle to redshirt sophomore Paul Mubengaand redshirt freshman Coen Echols.

The offensive line has allowed just four sacks through threegames.But hasthe lack of sacksbeen aresult of LSU’sfront taking astep forward? Or is it aproduct of Nussmeier getting theball out of his hands quickly,and offensive coordinator Joe Sloan devising an attack that helps shield avulnerable offensive line?

More than63% of Nussmeier’spass attempts havebeen less than 10 yardsbeyond the line of scrimmage, per PFF

“I’m really pleased with our protection Ibelieve it’sastrength,” Kelly said. “The

PHOTO By JEVONE MOORE

Southerndefensiveback

Horacio Johnson waits for playtoresume during agame against Fresno State on SaturdayatValley Children’sStadium in Fresno, Calif.

his ﬁrst forced fumble of the season during the Fresno State game.Westdidn’tforce a single fumble last season.

HoracioJohnson

Thegraduate student from Miami has liveduptohis preseason hype afterbeing selected on theSWAC ﬁrst-team defense as asafety.Johnson leads the Jaguars in tackles with 30. He has been the quickest defender to theball in open space and is what teammates call a“ﬁrecracker” on defense.

The 6-foot, 195-pound safetyalso has been strong in coverage with four pass breakups, whichisthird in theSWAC. The only complaint coaches have is thata few of those breakups should have been interceptions if not dropped. However,it’sbeen promising to see himfrequently in aposition to blow up plays.

gressive footballplay.

For years, basketballhas had Flagrant 1and Flagrant2 foul calls, differentiating between hard contact andanintentional hammering.College football needs the samething. Kelly has been aproponentofthat long before Weeks’ejection “I have been very vocal on this

two tackles arereally good. Their kick slide, their ability to stay square.Those were really good (Florida defensive ends). They’reSEC top-tier players on that defensive side of the ball. That’s arugged group, as good as we’re going to see.”

Kelly also acknowledged thathis O-line needstoimprove itstechnique andthatthis week is an important one in terms of growing those aspects.

LSU’sschedule gets tougher after Saturday.

Four of LSU’s six opponents after SLU are ranked in theAPTop 25 poll. South Carolina, the Tigers’ foe Oct. 11, is no longer rankedbut was before losing to Vanderbilt last week.

“There’sgoing to be some times in the SEC (when) we’re going to have to score more than 20 points,”Kelly said. “Let’sget that straight.Ithink we all know that.”

For LSUtoaccomplishits greater goals,

issue,” Kelly said Monday.“They (NCAA football rules committee) know where Istand. It’ssomething that has to be addressed.”

While we’re at it, the same goes for the rule that deﬁnes what a catch is or is not. The rule that took away atouchdown from LSU receiver Barion Brown in the Clemson game mayhave altered how we view the offense at this point.

…Itwas great to see LSU legend Charles Alexander get his just reward at the Florida game with his name and No. 4enshrined on the south façade in Tiger Stadium and the adulation for him during the halftime ceremony It also gotmethinking that there is alongline of LSUgreats who also need to have their names andnumbers in Tiger Stadium beyond Alexander, Billy Cannon(No.20), Jerry Stovall (21) andTommy Casanova (37). BeyondHeisman Trophy winners Joe Burrow (9) andJayden Daniels (5), who undoubtedly will be up there oneday,here are three other LSUCollege Football Hall of Famers who should be similarly immortalizedsoon: n No.73Glenn Dorsey:The mostdecorated defensive player in LSU history n No.3Kevin Faulk: Still the Tigers’ leading rusher with 4,557 yards. n No.24Gaynell “Gus” Tinsley: LSU’s ﬁrst great player of its ﬁrst golden era in the 1930s and later the LSU head coach.

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

amore dynamic passing attack will have to emerge. At leastonpaper,the strength of the offense lies with an explosive receiving corps and aquarterback that’snot afraid to makebig throws.

For anyofthattobefully realized, LSU must ﬁnd away to run the ball more effectivelyand give Nussmeierenough timein the pocket to get the ball to his receivers downﬁeld.

But Kellydoesn’t believe thelatter concern has been aproblem through three games.

“It’snot really about an issue of, ‘Wedon’t feel like we can protect him,’ “Kelly said. “I think we’re trying to be perfect, andwe don’thaveto. Catchit, getitout andlet’sgo.” Email Koki Rileyat Koki.Riley@theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU quarterbackGarrett Nussmeier looks to makea throwagainst Louisiana Tech in the ﬁrst quarter of their game on Sept.6 at TigerStadium.

Saints see lots of ‘positives’ in Rattler’s play

BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer

Since he named a starting quarterback, New Orleans Saints coach Kellen Moore hasn’t received one question about whether he’s considering a switch to rookie Tyler Shough

Notebook

That’s a testament to Spencer Rattler’s play Through two games, Rattler has staved off any talk of a quarterback controversy in part because of his solid start to the season. He’s been quick, decisive and shown noticeable improvement — none more so than how he’s cut down on turning the ball over As a rookie, Rattler committed 10 turnovers — ﬁve interceptions and ﬁve lost fumbles in seven games. This year, Rattler has played mostly clean.

“Just (have) a little bit more experience,” Rattler said. “I love how we coach. We’re very detailed on, ‘Hey, if it’s not there, get it down because we’ve got guys like (Alvin Kamara) and other guys (who) if you dump it down at a yard, he’ll get 8.’ Just keeping things like that in the back of your mind and trying to reset my focus each and every play.”

There have been close calls. In New Orleans’ season opener against the Arizona Cardinals, Rattler was picked off by cornerback Will Johnson before the play was negated because of a defensive penalty In Sunday’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Rattler notably fumbled on fourth and 2 on New Orleans’ final possession. But on that play, 49ers edge rusher Bryce Huff got around tackle Taliese Fuaga so quickly that Moore remarked the Saints “couldn’t even get the play started.” Cesar Ruiz also recovered the ball, which is why Rattler

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels runs with the ball as Green Bay Packers linebacker Edgerrin Cooper defends on Sept. 11 in Green Bay, Wis.

AP PHOTO By MIKE ROEMER

wasn’t credited with a turnover Still, Rattler’s decision-making has been sound. Even though he’s fourth in passing attempts, Pro Football Focus charted only three of his 80 passes as turnover-worthy throws. That percentage of 3.1% has him near league average among qualified passers, ranked 14th.

This coming Sunday will be a greater test. The Seattle Seahawks are second in the NFL with four interceptions. Seahawks coach

Mike Macdonald oversees one of the league’s best units, propped up by a ferocious defensive line and a ball-hawking secondary

But Moore said Rattler’s ability to avoid turnovers was evident throughout the offseason, adding he won’t overreact even when the quarterback throws an interception at some point.

“Eventually, it happens,” Moore said. “But what he’s done is he’s just done a great job of putting us in a really good position to be successful. He’s making really good decisions, using his feet when he does have those opportune times.

“There are a lot of positives there.”

Add an ailment

Just like the previous Wednesday, Fuaga did not practice. But this week, he was listed with a new injury

Moore said the offensive tackle is also dealing with a back injury on top of the knee injury that has bothered him to start the season.

Fuaga a 2024 ﬁrst-round pick, also dealt with back problems as a rookie, but it was an issue he managed throughout the season and did not miss a game.

Fuaga’s absence highlighted an injury report that included guard Dillon Radunz (toe) and defensive end

Chase Young (calf) as DNPs. Young has yet to play this season after getting hurt days before the team’s opener while Radunz got hurt in Sunday’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

Last week, Fuaga missed only a day before practicing the next two days and playing against the 49ers.

Elsewhere on the injury report, guard Trevor Penning (toe) and wide receiver Trey Palmer (hamstring) were listed as limited.

O-line help

The Saints tried out four offensive linemen on Tuesday and signed two of them.

The Saints added tackle Sataoa Lau-

QB Daniels out of practice for two days with balky knee

BY HOWARD FENDRICH AP national writer

ASHBURN, Va. — Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels will not practice earlier than Friday while recovering from an injured knee, coach Dan Quinn said Wednesday Daniels went through a rehabilitation session and threw on the ﬁeld Wednesday but was not going to take part in that day’s work with teammates, Quinn added.

The Commanders (1-1) host the Las Vegas Raiders (1-1) on Sunday “As we get into Friday, I’ll give you an assessment where we’re at,” Quinn said.

Last season’s AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year was hurt in the fourth quarter of Washington’s 2718 loss at the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night and later had an MRI exam that revealed the injury Daniels was sacked four times and faced pressure throughout the game from a blitz-heavy Packers defense.

“We recognize the importance of the person, the player, what he means to the franchise, so we’re also going to be smart, not just fast, with this assessment,” Quinn said about his starting quarterback.

“This is a player that’s absolutely

SAINTS

Continued from page 1C

planting his foot in the turf at SoFi Stadium. He stepped awkwardly and his foot stuck in the turf, and he realized quickly what type of injury he was dealing with. Penning was grateful that his injury this year was not nearly as extreme.

“That’s the part I was relieved in no surgery,” Penning said. “It’s not going to be too much time.”

He was on the shelf for a little more than ﬁve weeks. About half of that was spent in a protective walking boot, and Penning was

wanting to do everything, all the time.”

Quinn said Daniels’ throwing and movement “looked good” while working on his own Wednesday, while noting that it’s important to see him on the ﬁeld with the rest of the team before playing in a game.

“But it was a good first step,” Quinn said.

If Daniels is held out of Sunday’s game, backup Marcus Mariota would be in line to make his ﬁrst NFL start since 2022 with the Atlanta Falcons. Mariota appeared in relief of the starting quarterback in three games each in 2023 with the Philadelphia Eagles and 2024 with Washington.

“We have the utmost conﬁdence in him,” Quinn said of Mariota.

Mariota the No 2 overall pick in the 2015 draft after winning the Heisman Trophy at Oregon, worked with starters during practice Wednesday

He was rested during this year’s training camp and preseason because of Achilles tendinitis and said that he’s felt back to normal for a couple of weeks now

“We do a great job of getting a bunch of walk-through reps, so for me, from a mental standpoint, I felt like I was always engaged,” Mariota said, “and once I felt good physi-

fairly limited in what he could do physically

He worked his upper body in the weight room and practiced hand work in football drills. After the boot came off, he progressed to an exercise bike for conditioning before testing his foot in drills and the weight room.

All the while, he was a constant presence.

cally I could just kind of come back and roll with everybody.”

He had success in his three appearances last season coming on midgame to ﬁll in for Daniels, completing 34 of 44 passes 77.3% for 364 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.

“We communicate throughout the day, see how he’s feeling. I’m sure he is tired of everybody asking him how he’s feeling,” Mariota said about Daniels. “I always try to approach it like I’m going to play That way, if the scenario happens or I’m given the opportunity to play — nothing changes for me on a week-to-week basis.”

Daniels was one of several Commanders players hurt against the Packers, and cornerback Jonathan Jones went on injured reserve Wednesday with a bad hamstring.

Quinn said the team expects Jones to return to the roster at some point this season. Running back Austin Ekeler and defensive end Deatrich Wise both were put on IR on Monday with season-ending injuries. Washington signed free agent defensive end Preston Smith — who previously was with the club from 2015-18 — to replace Wise.

Quinn praised Smith’s “proven pass-rush ability, and we liked his size, too. Felt like a good ﬁt.”

mea and guard William Sherman to the practice squad. The moves were made as New Orleans deals with injuries along the offensive line.

In addition to those moves, the Saints signed safety Terrell Burgess to the active roster and placed defensive tackle Vernon Broughton on injured reserve.

Burgess was elevated from the practice squad and played in Sunday’s loss to the 49ers. The veteran helps ﬁll a void after Julian Blackmon suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 1. Broughton, a third-round rookie from Texas, was placed on injured reserve after suffering a season-ending hip injury against the 49ers. Moore called the

ailment “signiﬁcant.”

To make room for Laumea and Sherman, the Saints ﬁlled the absence created by Burgess joining the active roster and cut quarterback Hunter Dekkers from the practice squad. Laumea, a 2024 sixthround pick out of Utah, was most recently with the Seattle Seahawks — the Saints’ opponent this week. The 6-foot-4, 319-pound lineman started six games at right guard as a rookie, but he did not make Seattle’s initial 53-man roster this year Sherman, a sixth-round pick in 2021, had spent the last three seasons around the Denver Broncos, bouncing on and off the practice squad.

Bengals won’t change much despite no Burrow

BY CHARLIE GOLDSMITH Associated Press

CINCINNATI Cincinnati coach

Zac Taylor said that since quarterback Jake Browning has shown what he can do in the Bengals offense and has been a part of the organization for ﬁve years, he won’t have to change up the scheme much as Browning takes over under center for the injured Joe Burrow

“Preparation equals confidence,” Taylor said Wednesday as the Bengals (2-0) get ready to face the Minnesota Vikings (1-1) on Sunday “When you’ve prepared for your opportunity then there’s a true confidence that comes with that.

“There’s nothing they’re going to show me that I haven’t watched and seen and prepared for and thought through in my head and walked through in my own. Jake is an example of someone who’s truly prepared for a moment. And so that’s where his conﬁdence stems from. And now you just go play football.”

Browning started his NFL career as an undrafted free agent with the Minnesota Vikings in 2019, and he joined the Bengals’ practice squad in 2021. In 2023, when Burrow missed the second half of the season with a wrist injury, Browning had a winning record (4-3) in seven starts.

Now with Burrow on injured reserve because of a turf toe injury, Browning gets his next opportunity to show what he can do.

“Execution breeds a lot of conﬁdence,” Browning said. “My main goal is just to execute well, play fast, make fast decisions, be decisive and try to help us win and whatever comes as a result of that, or however everybody feels now, I’m pretty focused on doing my job.”

While the Bengals added two

“If you rush it, you’re going to end up hurting it again or you’re not going to be 100%. Take the time it needs to recover, get back into it and get back to playing football.”

TREVOR PENNING Saints guard

“He’s locked in,” center Erik McCoy said. “He hasn’t missed a meeting He hasn’t missed a workout, a weigh in. He hasn’t missed anything. It shows his dedication, his commitment to being the left guard on this team and getting better and healthy and being ready to go whenever his number is called again.” Penning said he was “not the happiest” after first suffering the injury. He’s entering a crucial season as a professional Not only is Penning switching from offensive tackle to guard but he is also entering the ﬁnal year of his rookie contract He still understood he needed to be patient

when it came to getting back on the ﬁeld. “If you rush it, you’re going to end up hurting it again or you’re not going to be 100%,” Penning said. “Take the time it needs to recover, get back into it and get back to playing football.”

He had a hard time describing what would inform him that he’s

potential backups to their practice squad on Tuesday in Mike White and Sean Clifford, they are moving forward with Browning as their starter “I love the guy,” Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said. ”(Browning) and I have a really good relationship. It’s just awesome when you see him get an opportunity and he does what we all believe that he’s going to do and this team believes in him, his coaches believe in him, and man, that goes a long way That’s why I sit here 2-0, excited, energized, because everything we want to do this year is right in front of us.”

Brett Rypien, who signed onto the Bengals’ practice squad in August and joined the active roster on Tuesday, is set to back up Browning in the short term Rypien, an undrafted free agent out of Boise State, has played in 10 NFL games between 2020-23. Since he didn’t participate in training camp with the Bengals, he has had to learn the offense on the ﬂy.

“Here, you go through the game plan and make sure you know what the protection rules are,” Rypien said. “If I was going from a jet protection system to a ‘Mike’ protection system, it’d probably be a lot harder.” White has played in 15 NFL games over the past four years and completed 61.4% of his passes in the regular season. He’s friends with former Bengals players Eli Apple, CJ Uzomah and Mitchell Wilcox, who all provided good reviews of Taylor and the Bengals. Similar to Rypien and Clifford, White is learning a Bengals system that’s new to him.

Clifford was selected by the Packers in the ﬁfth round of the 2023 draft. He hasn’t thrown a pass yet in the NFL.

ready to get back on the ﬁeld, but he is able to draw on his previous experience Penning said he knows what it should feel like, but he also understands how it should feel when he’s ready to return from this speciﬁc injury

Not only is he testing to see how his toe reacts when he plants and moves like an offensive lineman but he also needs to see that he’s capable of generating power

That’s still to be determined.

“There’s obviously going to be some getting back into it, but I feel like I’ve done everything I can to come back,” Penning said. Email Luke Johnson at ljohnson@theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler is pressured by San Francisco 49ers defensive end yetur

Gross-Matos during the second half at the Caesars Superdome on Sunday.

Cubs soak it up afterclinching postseason berth

BY WES CROSBY Associated Press

PITTSBURGH The wait was ﬁve

years. It seemed longer In the middleofa darkened visitors clubhouse at PNCPark, theChicagoCubs embraced each other.Champagne flowed and flew.They clinched apostseason berth forthe first time since2020, but celebrated for the first time since 2017.

Everything wasmutedduring thecoronavirus pandemic when theCubs last qualiﬁed. They held off after making it in 2018, hoping to win the NL Central, just to ﬁnish secondtothe Milwaukee Brewers.

Afterdefeating thePittsburgh Pirates8-4 on Wednesday,Chicago ﬁnally decided to let loose.

thing to do.

“You don’tget to do this in regular jobs —get to celebrate and throw champagne on each other Youjust don’tget to do it, right?”

IanHapp popped the cork —in theclubhouse andonthe ﬁeld. He drove in three runs against the Pirates, belting atwo-run home run in the ﬁrst inning.

The Pittsburgh native has played nine years with the Cubs. He wasa rookie in 2017 when Chicago took the Centralone year after ending a107-year drought without winning the World Series.

Happ wasthere with Anthony Rizzo, Kyle Schwarber,Kris Bryant, JavierBáez andothers. This time, it was Pete Crow-Armstrong by hisside, pulled intoa tight hug forasimple message.

BY JACKSON REYES

Staff writer

St. Michael football has existed for 39 years, but has never had its own football stadium.

That changed this season. For the ﬁrst time in school history, players walked down thehill toward their new venue, Warrior Stadium, full of fans on Friday night against Tara to begin anew era.

“It’snothing like it,” senior tight endJackson Samson saidabout playingtheir ﬁrsthomegame.

“It’sexciting, and Ithink itgets everybody else excited too.”

St. Michael came away with a 42-8 victory to begin1-0 in their new stadium nestledbehind the high school.

Playing at home for the ﬁrst time and coming away witha win was special for coach Zachary Leger,who playedfootball for St. Michael.

“Towalk them down thehill, and have that honor and betied to that piece of history,”Leger said, “it’sapriceless moment for me.”

Leger emphasized the importance of beingthe ﬁrstgroup to play in the new stadium. They weren’tjust playing for themselves; they played for the 39 teams that played away from St. Michael.

Talks about building Warrior Stadium began in 2023.Leger remembers getting called in by the principal and athletic director to be told they planned on building anew stadium. Leger remembers his ﬁrst reaction: “Where am I supposed to practice?”

The team only had one practice ﬁeld and that was where thenew stadium would be built. During construction in 2024, theteam spent practiced on the school’s baseball ﬁeld.

Excitement built as the players watched piles of dirtslowly transform into anew football stadium.

The facility felt real early in the 2024 football seasonfor Leger

One of his assistant coaches had aclassroom that overlooked the stadium and he remembers one morning receiving atextfrom the coach: “I see green!”

“I ran acrossthe hall,” Leger

said. “They were starting to lay down turf. That’sreally when it started to take foot.”

He remembers seeing the lines andend zones get painted, and ﬁeld goal postsbeing put up throughout the2024 season. He recalled driving by St.Michael andseeingthe ﬂoodlights peeking over theschool.

“It started taking alife of its own,” hesaid.“That did nothing more than just continue to build theexcitementbehind it.”

Legeremphasized the importance of makingthe mostof home-ﬁeldadvantage. St. Michael lost in its spring game and jamboree they hosted in Warrior Stadium. ButLeger said that only helpedthe team understand the feeling of losingathome and not wanting to experience that when the results counted.

Samson saidthe wait only built the excitement, andbeing part of the ﬁrst senior class to play at Warrior Stadium is an honor he doesn’ttakelightly

“Weget to build aprogram that plays here and plays for the community,” Samson said. “That’s what we’re tryingtodoasa seniorclass. That way,this ﬁeld is just notjust anice ﬁeld; it comes with anice program, too.”

Seniorkicker Ben Jones was grateful to be apart of the ﬁrst senior class to play on the new ﬁeld.

“We’re going to be playing gamesherefor years, decades, hopefully,” Jones said. “Just to start that winning culture in the

PREP REPORT

new stadium is areally good thing.”

Both of Jones’ parents attended St.Michael. For him,being apart of the school’slegacy,being the ﬁrst senior class toplay at Warrior Stadium, is still hard to take all in. He feels like there’smore energy within the team to play harder when they’re at home rather than hopping on abus to head to Olympia Stadium for their home games.

While theWarriors have left traveling for home games behind, onetradition remained. St.Michael began atradition after wins of playing thecountry classic, “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” and singing it together on the bus ride back tothe school.

The song choice stemmed from theteam not having its own home stadium tocall home, Leger said.

“After awin playing “Country Roads” on the way home, the whole team singing it,” Jones said. “I remember the ﬁrst time we did it, Iwas blown away.”

Butafter St. Michael’swin against Tara, thesong blared over thespeakersfor the ﬁrst time. Playersgathered around the 50-yard line, belting thewords in front of thefans for the ﬁrst time.

The tradition nearly slipped Jones’ mind because they didn’t have abus they had to board to drive back to theschool. It was one more realization they had a place to call home.

“I was like, ‘Whoa, this is our homenow,’”Jones said. “Country roads take mehome. We’rehere.”

“Whenyou’re in it,you think it’sgoing to happen every year,” pitcher Matthew Boyd said. “The fact and the reality is this is really hard to do. This means so much to allofus. We’re notdone yet.That’sthe mostimportant thing. We still know where we want to go.”

The Cubs (88-64) seemed destined forthe playoffs sincegoing 18-9 in May. Still, this hasn’t been straightforward. They lead theNLwild-card race and are 41/2 games back of the ﬁrst-place Brewers in the Central, having surrendered the division lead on July 28 after sitting alone at the top through July 19.

After Milwaukee took over,Chicagocould have folded.Instead, it’ssurging with four straight wins andseven victories in eight games.

“It’sa grind of aseason. You celebrate the first goal you accomplished,” manager Craig Counsell said. “We’ve made it to our ﬁrst goal and that’sexciting. For everybody that’sbeen apart of the grind the whole year,for everybody that’sworked so hard to put us in this position, it’safun

“There was deﬁnitely amention of, ‘This is notthe last,’” CrowArmstrong said. “I mean, Ian learned from some of the best. Ianisone of thebestatpassing that on. Ianhas meantalot to me, just as aperson. I’ll follow his lead. I’ve got full trust in Ian Happ as aleader.”

Crow-Armstrong was dynamic with 25 home runs and 71 RBIs in 95 games through the All-Star Break. The 23-year-old has cooled considerably,having four homers and driving in 19 runs since, and is looking forward to starting fresh in the playoffs

“I don’tknow. I’ve neverdone this,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I’m just excited to keep doing what we’re doing, doing what we’ve done allyear.I’ve never experienced October baseball. I’m just ready to go all in.”

For every mention of how great this momentwas, there was one of how it’snot enough.

“It’sobviously not our ultimate goal,but it’s stilla huge milestone along the way.It’sawesome to celebratewith this group,” second baseman Nico Hoerner said.

BY JANIE McCAULEY AP sportswriter

SAN JOSE, Calif. NatalieNakase won over Golden State Valkyries owner Joe Lacob with her ﬁre in amatter of twohours when they sat down last yearfor aformal interview Now,the entire WNBA understands why. Nakase was named WNBA Coach of the Year on Wednesday after leading her team to the playoffs, making league history as the only ﬁrst-year franchise to reach thepostseason.

The announcement cameahead of Golden State’shomegame against the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx. Nakase wasset to be honored at SAP Center,where theteamisplaying Game 2of the best-of-three series because 18,064-capacity Chase Center in San Franciscowas previously booked by the Laver Cup tennis event. The 45-year-old Nakase received 53 of 72 votes from sportswriters and broadcasters around thecountry.She also received AP Coach of the Year this week.

Golden State’s23wins were a record foranexpansion franchise, and the Valkyries sold out all 22 of their gamesatChase Center Nakase recentlyshared how late father Gary’sinﬂuence has stayed with her sincehis death in 2021,and howshe haslearned “thatIdoneed to care aboutmy mental health as well.”

“Therehave always been moments where I’ve always wanted to call my dad,” shesaidbefore her team’s Sept. 4playoff-clinching winover the DallasWings.

“SoI am alittle bitproud that I’vebeenable to survive, because normallyI tear up, Idocry,I still missmydad.But there’s moments where I’ve been able to kind of hang in there and talk to my dad outloud, where usually I break down. So I’mstarting to really builda thickerskin as I’mgoing through this healing process.

“I wish my dadwas here, especially my ﬁrst job and being a

head coach,and his was part of my dream with him and agoal.” Nobody else was close to Nakase forthishonor.Atlanta Dream coach Karl Smesko was runner-up to Nakase with15 votes, while Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon and Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve tied forthird.

Lacob, also owner of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, saidhe realized Nakase was the right choice from the ﬁrst time he sat down with her over brunch in Las Vegaslastyearduring summer league.

Lacob had three ﬁnalists at that point, but with Nakase, an assistant with the Aces, he just knew “I knewright thenand there, 100%,” Lacob said. “I was sold, done, deal done. Iloved her personality.First of all Iknew about hera lotbecause we had known of herfor alongtime. Shewas with the Clippers for10years, so we knewwelikedher.Wewere trying to bring her here many years agoinanother capacity on the Warriors side. She’s a ﬁreball. Ilove her story,I love her style, Ilove her intensity.She’s fantastic.”

St.Michael experiencesits

St. Michael playedits first football game in its new Warrior Stadium against Tara on Friday

The St.Michael football teamruns out of the tunnel for Friday’s game

1. Preheat broiler. Place onion, olive oil, garlic and rosemary in amicrowave-safe bowl. Microwave on high 3to4minutes or until the onion is soft.

2. Add 1cup of the beans to the bowland mashthe beans with a potato masher or large spatula until smooth. Add the remaining ½cup beansand broth to the bowland mixtocombine all the ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Transfer the mixture to an 8-inch-by-8-inch baking dish that can go under the broiler Mix the Parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs together.Spread evenly overthe topofthe mixture.

4. Place the panunderthe broiler about 6to7inches from the heat. Broil until the mixture is bubbly around the edges and the crust turns golden, about 3to4minutes. Watch to make sure the top doesn’tburn. Remove from the broilerand serve.

NUTRITION INFO PER SERVING: 682 calories (32 percent from fat), 24.0 gfat (10.7g saturated, 6.9 gmonounsaturated), 52 mg cholesterol, 37.1 gprotein,82.6 gcarbohydrates, 13.8 gfiber, 1322 mg sodium Recipe, Watermelon Flight 2D

See FLIGHTS, page 2D

Roasted Sweet Potato Filling

Cutting sweet potatoes in lengthwise halves,then roasting themcut-side-down makes them cook twice as fast andthe cutsurfacesbecome mahogany caramel. This quantity makes enough for 16 pepper halves and6 small quesadillas, recipe below

3medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed and cut in half lengthwise

¾cup grated sharp cheddar cheese (see note)

½teaspoon smoked salt (or coarse sea salt)

1green onion, finely chopped

1. Preheat the ovento400 F. Place the sweet potato halves

cut-side-down on aparchment-linedrimmedbaking sheet.Roastuntil fork-tender and the cut sides are deep mahogany,about 30minutes.

2. When cool enough to handle, scoop the roasted sweet potato out of the skins into a medium bowl. Mash the pulp with alarge fork. Add the

cheese, salt andgreen onion and mixtocombine. If not usingimmediately,storein an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3days

NOTE: It is best to grate your own cheese for this since pre-grated cheese contains acoating that will prevent a good melty ﬁlling.

By HILARySCHEINUK

Sweet Potato Quesadillas

Dear Heloise: When ababy girl is due, Igive the grandmother to-be atraveling teaset

It is for a ﬁrst-time grandmother to congratulate her on her new title and setthe stage for special tea times together in the coming years!

Makes 6

6(6-inch) corntortillas

About 1cup roasted sweet potato

filling (recipe above)

Sliced fresh jalapeños

Olive oil for brushing

1. Heat agriddle or grill to medium. Divide the sweet potato ﬁlling evenly on half of each tortilla. Sprinkle each with as many jalapeno slices as you likeand fold over to makehalf circles.

PEPPERS

Continued from page1D

Fold in some sharpcheddar and stuff the little halved jalapeño boats with the mixture before baking or grilling. Pro tip: the sweet potato filling can be made afew days ahead, the stuffing of the peppers one day ahead, and then you’re ready to entertain like a pro. Scooping out most of the seeds before stuffing also makes them friendly for almost any crowd.

2. Brush each with alittle olive oiland griddle or grill until crisp on each side and

Iamall about stretching my food prep to encore in other dishes, so when it’ssweet potato roasting time, Idouble upand make quesadillas with the extras. Incorporating nutrient-rich sweet potatoes also checks my preferred box ofdelicious-nutritious, making partysnacks Iamproud to pass around. Coupling this sweetness with the tangycheddar, smoky salt and thegentle fire of fresh peppers is a winning combination Forthe quesadillas, whole grain corn tortillas add flavor and fiber and area

Watermelon Flight

ﬁlling is melty 3. Remove to acutting board and cut each half circle into three triangles. Serve hot

NOTE: These can also be made ahead and reheated when ready to serve.

sturdier handheld than the flour tortilla counterpart. I spread the filling on half of theround, shower it with fresh sliced jalapeños and fold it over to makeasemicircle —atrick that keeps the filling inside. Brush theoutside witha little olive oil and grill or griddle them until crisped on both sidesand the cheese is melty.When the poppers are bubbling hot,I top them with acascade of thecrispest bacon, finely chopped so each pepper has agenerous coating. Spicy smiles are on the menuintailgate town.

Serves 6asanappetizer.RecipeisbySonoMotoyama, with suggestions from @itsaﬂavorfullife and other TikTokinﬂuencers.Feel free to mix and match these ingredients,oradd someof your own.Three combo suggestions: cucumber, feta, mint andlime; berries, feta or goat cheese and lime; and Tajin, jalapeño and lime.

Asmall watermelon,cut into slabs or regular slices Feta, burrata, goat cheese and/or Greek yogurt Half an English cucumber,sliced thinly Berries of your choice, likeblueberries, strawberries or raspberries

FLIGHTS

Continued from page1D

summer fruit.

They’re perfect as an appetizer at acivilized barbecue or asnack at an afternoon cocktail party

Pinenuts Jalapeño slices

Honey Mint

Basil Tajin

Cinnamon Limes for squeezing Balsamic glaze Flaky salt,like fleur de sel

1. Arrange the watermelon piecesona tray or cutting board.

2. Garnish with your choice of ingredients. Considerstartingwith alayer of cheese,thenmoving on to fruit,nuts or jalapeño.

3. Sprinklewithherbsorspicesofyour choice.

4. Finish with asqueezeoflimeorapinch of ﬂakysea salt.

Watermelon offers agood backdropfor avariety of surprising ingredients because of its light sweetness and somewhat coarse texture.

In addition, watermelon, made of 92% water,iscooling and hydrating. And it’s healthy —it’ssodium and fat-free, and a1-cup serving has only 46 calories.

While some of the suggestions for pairings on TikTok were dubious —watermelon and mustard is ahard no —other savory ingredients wereagood match.

Many TikTok users tout eating watermelon with asimple sprinkle of salt, which, they claim, brings out the watermelon’s ﬂavor This combo left me cold, as did adash of Tajin, the lime-chili spice mixture. Watermelon plus cinnamon or cinnamon and honey however,isagood easy-tomake nosh for cinnamon lovers.

After trying about 10 combos, though, my favorites were more complex

combination of flavors and textures. No. 1for me was watermelon with afellow memberofthe Cucurbitaceae family:cucumber. Slices of cucumber topped with crumbles of feta, chopped mint and asqueezeoflime offered anice counterplay of textures and flavors the crunchiness of thecucumber,the light saltiness of thefeta and thespark from mint and lime. Another convincingpartnershipmarried berries —Iused blueberries and chopped strawberries with feta and lime. The finalsuggestion I’ll include is notsomething I’d want as an everyday treat,

but it did provide ajolt of theunexpected: Tajin,jalapeño slices and limejuice.

You’re hit ﬁrst witha blast of heat from thejalapeño, but then are instantly cooled by arush of liquid from thewatermelon.

“There’ssomething interesting here,”myhusband commented, “though I’m not sure Ilike it.”

He called it The Pyromaniac-Fireman, and compared it to “poison and the antidote.”

As for watermelon coated with peanut butter and jelly, Icouldn’tbring myself to tryit. There are some outrages that one should not be forced to countenance, no matter what TikTok says.

Dave and Corrinne Berkland, in Universal City,Texas End-of-lifepreparations

Dear Heloise: Howard Zeff, in Mission Viejo, California, gave very good information aboutcreating a detailed list of things that need to be done once we pass away.But he left out one very important thing that Ilearned when my sister passed: Idid not keep her cellphone active when Iwas responsible for her estate after she passed. When

By The Associated Press

Today is Thursday, Sept.18, the 261st day of 2025. There are 104 days left in the year

Todayinhistory: On Sept.18, 2020, SupremeCourt Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, atowering champion of women’s rightswho becamethe court’ssecond female justice, died at her homein Washington at age 87, of complications from pancreatic cancer

Also on this date: In 1793, President George Washington laid thecornerstone of the U.S. Capitol.

In 1850, Congress passed theFugitive Slave Act, which created aforce of federal commissioners charged with returning escaped slaves to their owners. The act was repealed in 1864 during the Ameri-

Icame homeacross the country from where she lived, Iused my cellphone to start contacting the utilities, banks, and other important numbers from the list. The ﬁrst thing they do when you log in from an unknown device is send atext to the cellphone of the now deceased. Icreated so muchtrouble for myself by not using my sister’scellphone to make all those important calls. Please let your readers know.Thank you. —Beverly Coryell, in Longview,Washington Spare tire

Dear Heloise: On arecent cross-country road trip, we had a ﬂat tire. After moving to asafe area to change the ﬂat, Iproceeded to jack up the car and remove

TODAYINHISTORY

can Civil War.

In 1851, the ﬁrst edition of The New York Times waspublished.

In 1947, the National Security Act, which created aNational Military Establishment and the position of Secretary of Defense, went into effect.

In 1961, United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjoldwas killed in aplane crash in Northern Rhodesia(now Zambia).

In 1970, rock star Jimi Hendrix died in London at age 27. In 1975, newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was captured by the FBI in San Francisco, 19 months after being kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.

In 2014, voters in Scotland rejected independence, opting to remain part of the UnitedKingdom in ahistoric referendum.

the ﬂat. Iinstalled the “doughnut” spare tire and found that it was ﬂat as well! So, tell your readers to periodically check the air pressure in your spare so that this won’t happen to them.Thanks. —Larry P.,in Largo, Florida Valuable road trip hint

Dear Heloise: My husband and Ijust returned from a road trip. My helpful hint is to keep an extra set of car keys in my pant pocket during the trip. Should something happen to my husband’skeys, or if we are both at arest stop, whoever returns to the locked car ﬁrst can get in. When we are traveling in our RV,mykey ring also has the RV keys. —JeanH., in Pleasant Prairie,Wisconsin Sendahinttoheloise@ heloise.com.

Today’sbirthdays:

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE PHOTO By SONO MOTOyAMA

Watermelon flight

STAFF PHOTO

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Don't trust others to seeyour vision. Fine-tune what you're working on beforesharing. Research will change your perspective regarding travel or educational pursuits.

LIBRA (sept.23-oct.23) Welcomenew experiences,and you'lldiscover something about yourself that will change how you proceed. Explore possibilities, develop your ideas and utilize your intelligence to achieve your goals.

scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Use your energy wisely andrefrain from revealing your plans prematurely. Do thelegwork and see how you feel before making promises or claims that you may not want to fulfill.

sAGITTARIus(nov. 23-Dec.21) Venture out, be observant, sharethoughts and engage in something entertaining, novel or educational. Put your energy where it counts.How you express yourself will determine how things unfold.

cAPRIcoRn (Dec.22-Jan. 19) Adoseofrealism will help you recognize what's best for you. Expanding your knowledge, learning something newand meeting people are encouraged, but be sure to validate whatever you discover.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb.19) Consider options, get your papers in order and discuss your plans with those who share common ground. Adomesticchange that lowers your overhead will help you adjust your routine to fit your budget.

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Get out, mingle, converse and activate your social skills. Dedicate time and patiencetothose

close to you, andincorporate them into your plans. Invest more time into how you look, feel andmanageyourmoney.

ARIEs(March 21-April 19) It'stime to get rid of whatyou no longer need andclear apath for abright future. Reflect on what brings you joy andthe path that leadstoapeaceful mind.

TAuRus (April 20-May20) Choose your course of action wisely. Your energy needs guidance to help youevolve.Look around you, evaluate your lifestyle and living space, andadjust only what's necessary

GEMInI (May21-June 20) Sticktothe basics and go with what flows naturally, and you will make the mostofyour day. Refuse to letothers talk you into doing something questionable. Say no to temptation, indulgent behavior and overspending.

cAncER (June 21-July 22) Avoid costly encounters that can jeopardize your chance to advance. Handle work relationships carefully. An honest andopen approach will help youmaintain the status quo.

LEo (July23-Aug. 22) What you learn will help you choosethe mostsatisfying path. Educational pursuits, upgrading your qualifications and networking with insightful individuals will prompt new beginnings.

FAMILY CIrCUS

Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present. Eachletter in the cipher stands for another. ToDAy'scLuE:n EQuALs V

CeLebrItY CIpher

For better or For WorSe

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

bIG nAte

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. Theobject is to place the numbers 1to9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of theSudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

THewiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS CurTiS

By PHILLIP ALDER Bridge

GeorgeS.Kaufman, adramatist and journalist who died in 1961, said of “Between the Sheets” by Howard Dietz, “I understand your new play is full of single entendres.” Ouch! Yesterday Irecommendednot using many bidding conventions. Inexperienced pairs expend so much energy trying to remember them that they are exhaustedbythe time thecardplay begins.

However, there is one convention thatisvery useful: thesplinter bid. An unnecessary jump shows good support forpartner’s suit,atleast game-forcing values, and asingle card (orvoid) in the suit just named. (A singleton is seven times morelikely than avoid.) It helps partner evaluate the fit In this deal,North’sfour-club rebid promisedfour-card heartsupport,a strong hand and asingleton (or void) in clubs. South, whosehonors were all working, used Roman Key CardBlackwood to learn that his partner hadone aceandtheheartking-queen(ortwoaces andthe heart queen). After Westfinds the best lead, the diamond eight,against six hearts, howshould South play?

Declarer has11top tricks: four spades, four heartsand three diamonds. Aruff in one hand or the other will be the 12th trick. South wins withhis diamond ace

(the honor from the shorter side first) and draws two rounds of trumps— but must be careful to use dummy’s honors. When the4-1 split is revealed, declarer cashes dummy’s diamond king, ruffs adiamond with his heart ace, plays a trump to dummy’s nine, draws the last trump, and claims.

By Andrews McMeel Syndication

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

Previous answers:

word game

InsTRucTIons: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,”suchas“bats” or “dies,”are notallowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may notbeused. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are notallowed.

ToDAy’s WoRD sLIPsHoD: SLIP-shod: Shabby.

Averagemark 15 words

Time limit 30 minutes

Can youfind24ormorewords in SLIPSHOD?

yEsTERDAy’s WoRD —GunsTocK

gout gunk gust gusto unto nock scout snout snuck snug sock song stock stuck stun stung stunk suck sung sunk togs tong tonus tuck tusk onus oust conk cost count cusk knot