“I absolutely love the job I have. It’s a more impactful one.” LOUISIANA ATTORNEy GENERAL LIZ MURRILL
As Louisiana’s attorney general, Liz Murrill has thrust the state into the center
abortion, transgender athletes and redistricting
‘She has not backed down’
Supreme Court case shows Louisiana attorney general’s aggressive, high-profile approach
BY TYLER BRIDGES | Staff writer
During her 20 months as attorney general, Liz Murrill has driven Louisiana into the center of some of the country’s fiercest political debates.
After the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, she joined 16 other Republican attorneys general in warning universities not to impose a “tax on free speech” by charging student organizations higher security fees. She is trying to extradite a New York doctor criminally charged with violating Louisiana laws by mailing abortion pills to the state. She sued the Biden administration to block a rule that allows transgender girls to use girls’ bathrooms and participate in sports as girls.
And now Murrill, 61, is stepping into perhaps the biggest legal fight in years involving race by asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a key part of the decades-old Voting Rights Act. If
successful, the move could force either U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields or U.S. Rep. Troy Carter — both Black Democrats — out of Congress, to be replaced by a Republican.
By aggressively pursuing high-profile conservative causes as attorney general, Murrill has been following a playbook established over the previous eight years by her Republican predecessor, Jeff Landry During that time, Murrill was one of Landry’s top lawyers.
Landry’s activist style as attorney general was so popular that he parlayed it into the election as governor in 2023, in the same campaign cycle when Murrill won her race to succeed him.
Landry admires her work as attorney general
“She understands the playbook better than me,” he said in an interview
See MURRILL, page 6A
Kickback schemes fallout may widen
Investigation could touch state agencies in parishes beyond Lafayette
BY CLAIRE TAYLOR | Staff writer
The kickback schemes orchestrated by Youngsville contractor Dusty Guidry reach beyond the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the Lafayette District Attorney’s Office to other parishes.
Guidry has been implicated in but not charged for his involvement in a credit card processing scheme in the 34th Judicial District Court in St. Bernard Parish and the 32nd Judicial District Court in Terrebonne Parish as well as a drug court scheme, all of which were detailed in a plea agreement addendum he signed in March 2023.
Guidry also admitted on the witness stand Sept. 11 in the trial of co-conspirator Gary Haynes to taking kickbacks from vendors while working in the pretrial intervention program in East Baton Rouge Parish but was not charged for that.
Guidry was sentenced Oct. 1 to four years in federal prison on three charges, two counts of conspiracy and one count of bribery for schemes he set up in the Wildlife and Fisheries, which implicated former agency Secretary Jack Montoucet, and the 15th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Lafayette, which implicated former Assistant District Attorney Gary Haynes. Montoucet is set for trial in federal court in Lafayette in May Doug Herman, lead FBI agent on the Wildlife and Fisheries Montoucet case, said Sept. 17 on the witness stand for Haynes’ trial that people are “still being charged” in that case.
Haynes was convicted on six federal charges in September and is scheduled for sentencing Dec. 17.
As early as October 2021, Guidry’s plea agreement states, Guidry and others, including someone described as “public official No 3,” a supervisor or manager in the 34th Judicial District Court in St. Bernard Parish, as well as other employees and managers of the District Attorney’s Office for the 32nd Judicial District Court in Terrebonne Parish, planned and
ä See SCHEMES, page 5A
Tech experiment hopes to improve Louisiana’s byways
Parishes using AI to scan, report road conditions
BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD
Staff writer
As artificial intelligence becomes more ingrained in aspects of everyday life, some parishes are exploring whether it can be used to help address one of Louisiana’s biggest issues: roads.
Louisiana’s road conditions have consistently been ranked among the poorest in the country due to factors such as deterioration and poor maintenance.
Improving roads is commonly at the top of state and local leaders’
agendas. Now a handful of Louisiana parishes have been experimenting with technology that uses AI in hopes of improving conditions in a more efficient way The program GoodRoads has now worked on six projects in the state in Livingston, Iberville, St. James and Allen parishes in the past year
GoodRoads is described as a software and hardware solution to help governments responsible for road maintenance make better faster decisions.
Founder and civil engineer Chris Sunde, of North Carolina, said his company sends cities and parishes the device with a camera, a roughness sensor and GPS.
See BYWAYS, page 5A
Improving roads is commonly at the top of state and local leaders’ agendas. Now, a handful of Louisiana parishes have been experimenting with technology that uses artificial intelligence in hopes of improving conditions in a more efficient way.
STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
of national debates about
ELLIS LUCIA
Guidry
Haynes
BRIEFS
Alleged leader of gang arrested in Mexico City
MEXICO CITY Mexico’s Security Ministry said Saturday that it arrested an alleged local leader of the Tren de Aragua gang in Mexico City
Officials identified the suspect as Nelson Arturo “N,” 29, described as the leader and main operator of the transnational criminal group in the country Authorities said he was wanted on multiple charges, but in keeping with Mexican law don’t release suspects’ last names.
Tren de Aragua originated in Venezuela more than a decade ago at an infamously lawless prison with hardened criminals in the central state of Aragua.
The Trump administration has declared the group a terrorist organization.
Security agents carried out intelligence work and identified the suspect, who they accused of crimes including human trafficking, drug dealing homicide, kidnapping and extortion
Along with the gang leader, two other men, ages 36 and 37, were arrested. Authorities said that they were found with more than 100 doses of drugs, two cellphones and cash.
Gibson booked, charged with cruelty to animals
Tyrese Gibson was booked into a Georgia jail Friday a week after he failed to turn himself in following an arrest warrant for cruelty to animals, police said Gibson was released the same day on a $20,000 bond, Fulton County Police Captain Nicole Dwyer said. He has still not turned his four Cane Corso dogs to police, who authorities say killed a neighbor’s small dog in mid-September and had roamed the neighborhood unsupervised.
A search warrant for the actor’s property was issued alongside the arrest warrant days after the Sept. 18 incident, when the dogs attacked a small spaniel owned by a neighbor about a half a mile away from Gibson’s house. The dog was rushed to a veterinary hospital, but did not survive, Dwyer said.
FBI cuts ties with SPLC, ADL after complaints
WASHINGTON FBI Director Kash Patel said Friday that the bureau would sever its relationship with the Southern Poverty Law Center asserting that the organization had been turned into a “partisan smear machine” and criticizing it for its use of a “hate map” that documents alleged anti-government and hate groups inside the United States.
A statement earlier in the week from Patel said the FBI would end ties with the AntiDefamation League, a prominent Jewish advocacy organization that fights anti-Semitism.
The assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk renewed attention to the SPLC’s characterization of the group, Turning Point USA, that Kirk founded. For instance, the SPLC included a section on Turning Point in a report titled “The Year in Hate and Extremism 2024” that described the group as a “case study in the hard right.”
The Anti-Defamation League has also faced criticism on the right for maintaining a “Glossary of Extremism.” The organization announced last week that it was discontinuing that glossary Hawaii’s strict gun ban going to Supreme Court
WASHINGTON The Supreme Court said on Friday that it will take up its latest gun rights case and consider striking down a strict regulation on where people can carry firearms in Hawaii.
The Trump administration had urged the justices to take the case, arguing the law violates the court’s landmark 2022 ruling that found the Second Amendment generally gives people the right to carry firearms
The court will consider Hawaii’s law that bans guns on private property, including businesses like stores and hotels, unless the owner has specifically allowed them verbally or with a sign.
Hawaii argues that it has already loosened its concealedcarry permit regulations to align with the high court’s 2022 ruling.
Pritzker: Trump to federalize Ill. Guard
BY THOMAS PEIPERT Associated Press
The Trump administration plans to federalize 300 members of the Illinois National Guard, Democratic Gov JB Pritzker said Saturday Pritzker said the guard received word from the Pentagon in the morning that the troops would be called up. He did not specify when or where they would be deployed but President Donald Trump has long threatened to send troops to Chicago.
“This morning, the Trump Administration’s Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will,” Pritzker said in a statement. “It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and
against our will.”
A spokesperson for the governor’s office said she could not provide additional details. The White House and the Pentagon did not respond to questions about Pritzker’s statement.
The escalation of federal law enforcement in Illinois follows similar deployments in other parts of the country Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles over the summer and as part of his law enforcement takeover in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile Tennessee National Guard troops are expected to help Memphis police.
California Gov Gavin Newsom sued to stop the deployment in Los Angeles and won a temporary block in federal court. The Trump administration has appealed that ruling that the use of the guard
was illegal, and a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has indicated that it believes the government is likely to prevail.
Pritzker called Trump’s move in Illinois a “manufactured performance” that would pull the state’s National Guard troops away from their families and regular jobs.
“For Donald Trump, this has never been about safety This is about control,” said the governor, who also noted that state, county and local law enforcement have been coordinating to ensure the safety of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Broadview facility on the outskirts of Chicago.
Federal officials reported the arrests of 13 people protesting Friday near the facility, which has been frequently targeted during
Japan’s new party leader is a conservative star
BY MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press
TOKYO In a country that ranks poorly internationally for gender equality, the new president of Japan’s long-governing Liberal Democrats, and likely next prime minister, is an ultra-conservative star of a male-dominated party that critics call an obstacle to women’s advancement Sanae Takaichi, 64, admires former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and is a proponent of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s conservative vision for Japan.
Takaichi is the first female president of Japan’s predominantly male ruling party that has dominated Japan’s postwar politics almost without interruption.
She hardly touched on gender issues during the campaign, but on Saturday, as she tried out the party president’s chair and posed for a photo as is customary for the newly elected leader, Takaichi said: “Now that the LDP has its first female president, its scenery will change a little.”
First elected to parliament from her hometown of Nara in 1993, she has served in key party and government posts, including minister of economic security, internal affairs and gender equality.
Female lawmakers in the conservative Liberal Democratic Party who were given limited ministerial posts have often been shunned as soon as they spoke up about diversity and gender equality Takaichi has stuck with old-fashioned views favored by male party heavyweights.
Takaichi also admits she is a workaholic who would rather study at home instead of socializing. After unsuccessfully run-
ning for party presidency twice in the past, she made efforts to be more sociable to build connections as advised, she said.
On Saturday, as she called for an all-out effort to rebuild the party and regain public support, she asked all party lawmakers to “work like a horse.” Then she added, “I will abandon the word ‘work-life balance.’ I will work, work, work and work.”
Women comprise only about 15% of Japan’s lower house, the more powerful of the two parliamentary chambers. Only two of Japan’s 47 prefectural governors are women.
A drummer in a heavy-metal band and a motorbike rider as a student, Takaichi has called for a stronger military, more fiscal spending for growth, promotion of nuclear fusion, cybersecurity and tougher policies on immigration.
She vowed to drastically increase female ministers in her government. But experts say she might actually set back women’s advancement because as leader she would have to show loyalty to influential male heavyweights. If not, she risks a short-lived leadership.
Takaichi has backed financial support for women’s health and fertility treatment as part of the LDP policy of having women serve in their traditional roles of being good mothers and wives.
Takaichi supports the imperial family’s male-only succession and opposes samesex marriage.
She is a wartime history revisionist and China hawk. She regularly visits Yasukuni Shrine, which Japan’s neighbors consider a symbol of militarism, though she has declined to say what she would do as prime minister
Judge blocks Trump policy to detain migrant children after they turn 18
BY JEFF AMY Associated Press
A federal judge has temporarily blocked a new Trump administration policy to keep migrant children in detention after they turn 18, moving quickly to stop transfers to adult facilities that advocates said were scheduled for this weekend.
U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras on Saturday issued a temporary restraining order to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to not detain any child who came to the country alone and without permission in ICE adult detention facilities after they become an adult.
Last month a separate federal judge blocked attempts to immediately deport Guatemalan migrant children who came to the U.S alone back to their home country
Unaccompanied children are held in shelters run by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, under not ICE but the U.S. Health and Human Services Department Contreras’ 2021 order instructed federal officials to release minors who turn 18 from those shelters to “the least restrictive setting available.”
But lawyers who represent unaccompanied minors said they began getting word in the last few days that ICE was telling shelters that children who were about to turn 18 — even those who had already-approved release plans — could no longer be released and would instead be taken to detention facilities, possibly as early as Saturday One email from ICE asserted that the new adults could only be released by ICE under its case-by-case parole authority for “urgent humanitarian reasons” or “significant public benefit.”
the administration’s surge of immigration enforcement this fall.
Trump also said last month that he was sending federal troops to Portland, Oregon, calling the city war-ravaged. But local officials have suggested that many of his claims and social media posts appear to rely on images from 2020, when demonstrations and unrest gripped the city following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.
City and state officials sued to stop the deployment the next day U.S. District Judge Karin J. Immergut heard arguments Friday, and a ruling is expected over the weekend.
Trump has federalized 200 National Guard troops in Oregon, but so far it does not appear that they have moved into Portland.
DOJ’s prosecution of Abrego Garcia could be retaliation, judge says
BY MARC LEVY Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa A federal judge has concluded that the Department of Justice’s prosecution of Kilmar Abrego Garcia on human smuggling charges may be an illegal retaliation after he successfully sued the Trump administration over his deportation to El Salvador
The case of Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who was a construction worker in Maryland, has become a proxy for the partisan struggle over President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration policy and mass deportation agenda.
U.S. District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw late Friday granted a request by lawyers for Abrego Garcia and ordered discovery and an evidentiary hearing in Abrego Garcia’s effort to show that the federal human smuggling case against him in Tennessee is illegally retaliatory Crenshaw said Abrego Garcia had shown that there is “some evidence
Customer
that the prosecution against him may be vindictive.” That evidence included statements by various Trump administration officials and the timeline of the charges being filed.
The Department of Homeland Security referred questions to the Department of Justice, which did not immediately respond to an inquiry about the case Saturday In his 16-page ruling, Crenshaw said many statements by Trump administration officials “raise cause for concern,” but one stood out.
That statement by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, on a Fox News program after Abrego Garcia was charged in June, seemed to suggest that the Department of Justice charged Abrego Garcia because he won his wrongful deportation case, Crenshaw wrote. Blanche’s “remarkable statements could directly establish that the motivations for (Abrego Garcia’s) criminal charges stem from his exercise of his constitutional and statutory rights” to sue over his deportation “rather than a genuine desire to prosecute him for alleged criminal misconduct,” Crenshaw wrote.
Former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi, center, stands as she is chosen to be the new leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party during the party’s leadership election Saturday in Tokyo.
Abrego Garcia
‘Trump 2028’hats, fake videos settonefor shutdown
BY LISA MASCARO
AP congressional correspondent
WASHINGTON Halfway through Donald Trump’sinaugural White House meeting with congressional leadership days before agovernment shutdown, the red hats appeared on the president’s desk.
“Trump 2028,” they said, situated across from the seated lawmakers, Vice President JD Vance and several untouched Diet Cokes. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries leaned over to Vance, himselfapotential 2028 contender,and quipped, “Hey,bro, you got aproblem with this?”
The room chuckled in response
“It was the random-most thing in the world, because we’re sitting there, we’re havingaserious conversation, and all of asudden these twored hats appear,” Jeffries, D-N.Y., recalled later at the Capitol.
“It was all so unserious,” Jeffries said, describing a rovingcameramancapturing the moment. “Wewere there for serious reasons that it wasn’treally abig part of, you know,the discussion. It was theatrics.”
The moment was vintage Trump —grabbing the attention and seeking to throw negotiators off their game but it also underscored the president’sregard for Congress, acoequal branch of the government, and in particular his opponents across the political aisle.
Yetanother viraltroll
What was once was considered ahistoric occasion —the president of the United Statesconvening his first “big four” meeting of congressional leaders from the House and Senate —was reduced to another viral souvenir of Trump trolling his opponent.
And after the more than hourlong session, Trump failed to strike adeal with the leaders to prevent afed-
with acompliant Congress passing his signature tax breaks and spending cuts bill, commonly calledthe One Big Beautiful Bill Act, that is also fueling his mass deportation agenda.
ButWashington doesn’t run on theWhite House alone, andCongress is not amajority-takes-all institution. Turning mostbills into laws requires thegiveand-take of bipartisan compromise, particularly in the Senate, and particularly whenitcomes to the annual appropriations needed to keep government running.
eral government closure.
“Wedon’twant it to shut down,” Trump said at the White House thenext day, hours before the midnight deadline.
This wasn’tjusta routine meeting of the president and congressionalleadership. It was the first timeTrump hadgathered the leaders of Congress, more than eight months into hispresidency —and the first timeheand Jeffries had officially met. But more surprising was howlittle camefrom it Health care fundsupinair
During theWhiteHouse meeting, Jeffries andSenate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer,D-N.Y., laid out their arguments for saving health carefunding as part of theshutdown talks.
Trump said very little, doingmore listeningthantalking, the leaders said. “He didn’tseem to know aboutthe healthcare premiums going up so much,” Schumersaid. With theRepublicanleadership,House Speaker Mike Johnson,R-Benton,and SenateMajority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., the conversationranged across their views of the health care situation
“Lively,” as Thune said
later
The discussion included theDemocrats’demands to ensure subsidies to help people buyprivateinsurance on theexchangesrun by theAffordable CareAct are madepermanent. The subsidies were putinplace during the COVID-19 pandemic and are set toexpire at year’send, spiking premiums as much as double,in someestimates
The conversation also touchedonthe newrural hospital fundthat is importanttoRepublicans, setup underTrump’sbig bill as a way to compensate for its cuts to Medicaid health care providers.
JohnsonsaidTrump showed “strong, solid leadership. He listened to the arguments.”
Trying to catchattention
Thisisthe best theDemocratscould have hoped for —tohave an airing before the president that beganto turn the dialtoward their demands. And it is what the
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GOPleaders hadtried to avoid as each party tries to blame the shutdown on the other Johnson had suggested Trumpback out of an initial meeting withthe Democrats —after thepresident had agreed to one —arguing it would be a“waste of time.”
But Trump relented, and granted them Monday’s closed-door Oval Office session.
The Democrats have been herebefore. During Trump’s first term,the president repeatedly negotiated deals with the Democrats “Chuck and Nancy,” as he calledSchumerand Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi —to fund thegovernment, raise the debt limit and achieve other goals.
Those bargains by Trump frustrated his own Republican Party Republicans, awareof that history,are trying to
steer the conversation in adifferent direction, leaving the door open to discuss the health care issue with Democrats later —once the governmenthas reopened They also took issue with the characterization of Trump as unawareofthe depth or magnitude of the health care situation.
“I’m highly skeptical the president was hearing about it forthe first time,” Vance said afterward.
One Republican unauthorizedtopublicly discuss the private meeting and granted anonymity to do so said Schumer’ssuggestion that Trump didn’tknow about the subsidy problem was overblown.
So farinhis secondterm the president has been able to accomplish his priorities either on his own,with executive actionsand the Elon Musk-led cuts that tore through federal offices, or
Then,the sombrero video Hours after the lawmakers leftthe meeting, Trump’steam posted afake video that showed Jeffries adornedina sombrerowith afauxmustachestanding beside Schumer outside the White House. It was widely seen as racist.
“WhenIwas practicing law,there was aLatin phrase thatwas always oneofmyfavorites,” Jeffries said back at his office at the Capitol. “Res ipsa loquitur.Itmeans: The thing speaks for itself.”
“Wehad afull airing of our positions on Monday, which should have set the baseline fora follow-up conversation from the administration to try to reignite ameaningfulbipartisanpathtoward funding the government,” he said.
“Unfortunately,the president’sbehavior subsequent to the White House meeting deteriorated into unhinged and unserious action.”
Inside SETH,everythinglooks andfeels like atrueworking hospital.Withnearly20,000 square feet of space, thefacilityincludesnurses’ stations,electronichealthrecords, medication dispensing units, hospital beds,a tubing station andmedicalequipmentidenticaltothoseusedin acutecaresettings.FranUstudentsfromnursing, anesthesiology,radiology,physicaltherapy and otherdisciplines work andlearn in SETH on a regularbasis,ensuringthathands-ontraining is integrated into nearly everyprogram
“Our goal is to recreate spaces that students will actually seewithequipment they will actually useina clinical practice.Westrive to ensure that we have thelatestand greatest technology,because that benefits students themostand builds theirconfidence,” said Dr TabithaJones-Thomas, FranUassociate dean of simulatedclinicaleducation.“Simulation is threaded throughout so much of ourcurriculum nowacrossmultipledisciplines.Asstudents progress in theirprograms, thesimulation experiences become more complex.”
Dr.Jones-Thomassaidthesimulationtraining in SETH unfoldsinthree deliberate phases:a pre-briefing, wherestudents areorientedand prepared on what to expect;the scenario itself whichmirrors real-lifeurgency;and apost-simulationdiscussion, wherestudentsand faculty unpackwhathappened,bothpositiveandnegative
“It’sa very rich conversation to discussthe scopeofthe practice,” shesaid. “Sometimes, ethicalorlegal topics surfacethatwarrant discussion.Theyalsotalkabout howthe differentdisciplines supportone another. It’s very constructive feedback.”
WhileSETHpreparesstudentsfor clinical excellence,FranU’s service-learning program develops theircapacitytoleadwithempathy andsocialresponsibility. Establishedin2009, service-learningisa FranUundergraduate requirement, ensuring that everystudent
Dr.RhodaReddix,FranUdirectorofservice-learning,saidprojectsincludeworkingwiththeelderly to reduce feelings of isolationand ensure their medicationneedsarebeingmet,mentoringat-risk youth, helpingprovide assistance to individuals facing food or housinginsecurity, listeningto domestic violence victimsand connecting them with safety resources, andmuchmore. Some newerprojectshave allowedFranU students to work with people with physical or intellectual disabilities,makingsuretheyhaveaccessto appropriatetherapies andservices.
“Service-learningpromotestheFranUmission andhelps students become awareoftheir civic responsibility to servethose in ourcommunity whoare most in need,” Dr.Reddixsaid. “These experienceshelpthemunderstandthattheir serviceismeaningful. We want ourstudentsto be servantleaders andadvocatefor thosewho do nothaveavoice.Wewantthemtoserveallpeople in away that promotes relationship-building andknowing theauthentic person.”
Dr.Reddixsaidthatlastyear, FranUstudents recorded more than 20,000 service-learning hoursthatamountedtonearly$600,000in savingstoBaton Rougecommunity partners Leadersofmanyofthose organizationshavetold Dr.Reddixthatthe scopeoftheir work wouldnot be possible withoutFranU,animpactthatoften brings them to tears. Beyond that measurable impact,Dr. Reddix said theservice-learningexperiences add a layertoa FranUeducation that wouldnot be possible in aclassroom.Several students have said they were unawareofthe challenges –and howtheycanmakeadifference–beforeengaging in service-learning “Wetalkalotwithourstudentsaboutempathy andthe importance of understandingwhatitis like to walk in someoneelse’sshoes,” shesaid. “Their behavior andattitudetowardservice changesoncetheysee theneed. They develop a newframeofreferenceandaretrulytransformed. Learnmoreabout FranUduringanOpen Houseevent on Saturday,Oct.25from9a.m to 12 p.m. TheOpenHouse will featurecampus tours, discussionswithcurrent FranUstudents, facultyand staff;and visits to SETH andother state-of-the-art labs.Signuptoday at franu.edu/ openhouse25.
ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO By EVAN VUCCI
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, speaks alongside Russell Vought, Office of Management and Budgetdirector, left,and Vice President JD Vance as theyaddress members of the media Monday outside the West Wing at the White House in Washington.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByALEX BRANDON
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.y.,left, and Senate Minority Leader ChuckSchumer,D-N.y.,talk to reporters Monday outsidethe West Wing of the White House.
By Amanda McElfresh| amcelfresh@theadvocate.com
This articleisbrought to youbyFranU
Judgegives 8-year sentence in Kavanaughassassination plot
BY MICHAEL MACAGNONE CQ-Roll Call (TNS)
WASHINGTON Afederal judge sentenced theattempted assassin of Justice Brett Kavanaugh tomore than eight years in prison Friday Judge Deborah L. Boardman, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, sentenced Sophie Roske, who is transgenderand referredtoasNicholas Roske in some court documents, to 97 months in prison, along with lifelong supervisedrelease.
Roske pleaded guilty to attempted assassination of aSupremeCourt justice without a
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participated in akickback scheme involving the credit card processing feespaid by offenders enrolled in their pretrial diversion programs.
Because Guidry was the first person indictedbya federal grand jury in relation to the bribery schemes, his plea agreement does not name the people or companies involved in the schemes. In the documents, prosecutors refer to alleged participants as “public official No. 3,” “vendor #2” and “company #1,” for instance. According to the plea agreement, vendor No. 6 was the credit card processor used to process payments from offendersinthe pretrial diversion programs for several district attorney offices in the state, including the 15th and 34th judicial districts and Wildlife and Fisheries. Vendor No. 6 charged offenders 3.99% of the cost of the course to process their payments. Guidry,vendor No. 6, vendor No. 2and public official No. 3and possibly others
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Thedeviceisattached to avehicleand then driven around to scan the roads in aspecificarea.
After the scanning process, the company usesa largelanguage modeltoinspect the roads and assign them to apavementcondition index rating the roads on ascale of 1-100. This information is then given to the clients to build amultiyear paving plan.
“Wetry to help with the pavement management process as much as possible The only thing we don’tdois pave theroads,” he said. Sunde’scompany got involved with the state two years ago after attending a Louisiana Parish Engineers and Supervisors Association conference.
Many parishesare using nothing to inspect their roadsand develop aroad maintenance process, he said.
Ayear ago, GoodRoads initiated its first projectin Louisiana, located in Allen Parish.
Sunde said GoodRoads aims to treat roads more efficiently and have cities and parishes not necessarily address the worst roads first, but to adopt better maintenance tools to increasethe longevity of the roads.
“Trying to get out of the worst first trend and into picking the right treatment for the right road at the right
plea agreementearlierthisyear. Justice Department attorneys initially sought at least30years in prison forRoske,withthe possibility of alifesentence. According to court documents, Roske flew from Californiain June 2022 and tookataxi to the Maryland neighborhood where Kavanaughlived. Roske then walked away from thehouse and called 911toself-report, telling the operator of suicidal and homicidal thoughtsand intended to act on them, according to court documents.
Boardman,indelivering the sentence,saidthatsomeofRo-
ske’sactions, including turning herself in,justified the departure below the 30 yearstolife in prison that federal sentencing guidelines suggested “Though shegot far too close to executing her plans, thefact remains that she abandoned them,” Boardman said.
Boardman applied the sentence after acknowledging the “real harm caused toJustice Kavanaugh and his family” by Roske’s actions.
At the all-daysentencinghearing, Justice Departmentattorney Coreen Maoargued that Roske’s conduct “posed avery real threat
to oursystemofgovernmentand to ourConstitution,” and pushed Boardman to impose alonger sentence.
Maosaid Roske, in the leadup to taking aflight fromCalifornia made multiple internetsearches about items to purchase andmade posts on Discord andReddit about potentially killing ajustice.
During the hearing Boardman also questioned Maoabout Roske’streatment in prison, as there is acurrent executive order mandating that Roske be placed in a male-only facility.Mao responded to say that she did not know how Roske would be assigned, and that
thetreatmentoftransgenderinmates in federalprisonisthe subject of litigation. In astatementbeforeBoardmanannouncedthe sentence, Roske herself spoke. Crying and stopping severaltimes, she apologizedfor heractions, the fearshe caused forKavanaugh and his family,aswell as involving her family andfriends in the case. Roske has been in jail since the initial arrest, and much of the intervening time in thecasewas spentwithdefense attorneys investigating possible mitigating factors, according to court records.
agreed that vendor No. 6 would paypart of the proceeds from the 3.99% fee to company No. 1. That company would thendisperse the moneyaskickbacks to agroup of people, including Guidry andpublic official No.3 whohad helped vendor No. 6secure agreements to process creditcards at various government entities. The 34th Judicial District Court also operated adrug court that public official No. 3, as asupervisor or managerofthe District Attorney’s Office, couldinfluence which offenders could participate in drug court. Similartothe pre-trial intervention offenders,those in drug courthad to payto participate in rehabilitation programs, often using credit cards,which they were charged aprocessing fee to use.
According to the plea deal, startingaround November 2021, Guidry bribed publicofficial No. 3touse vendor No. 1and referred offenders to that company, Guidry would have vendor No. 1use vendor No. 6to process creditcard payments. Guidryoffered the same arrangement if public
time,” hesaid Robert Dugas, director of public works for Livingston Parish, used the program for aparishwide pavement assessment to classify roads and determine their priority forrepairs.
Dugas said theparish hadnever had all its roads scored andclassified at the same time. Now,insteadof waitingfor parish residents to submitcomplaints about
official No.3 couldget the 32nd Judicial District Court usevendor No. 1. In theWildlife and Fisheries case, Guidry, whowas on the agency’svolunteer commission, was more involved in department operations thanothercommissioners and was close with director Jack Montoucet.
Montoucet, as department head, provided Franquesassistance in submitting abid to provide online hunter and boater education courses and courses to resolve Wildlife andFisheries citations. The three men agreed to split proceeds from the endeavor.Guidry testified that he agreed tosplit his portion withHaynes, who allegedly paid to join the schemeand provided afake company to hide their kickbacks.
Between Nov.10, 2021, and June 10, 2022, the department received$454,174 from the contract, of which $122,508 was set aside by Franques to be given to Montoucet upon his retirementfromthe agency,according to the May indictment. Montoucet also was to receive a$14,000 all-terrain vehicle.
Montoucet resigned from
theroads, the department can tackle fixingroadsfaster
The parish spent under $150,000 forthe work,which included contracting acompany to spend three months driving around Livingston.
“It’s agood investment for theparish,”Dugas said.
Email Claire Grunewald at claire.grunewald@ theadvocate.com.
Wildlifeand Fisheries in April2023 when The Advocate identifiedhim as the unnamed personmentioned in Guidry’sindictment who signed an Oct. 8, 2021, contract between the agency
andLafayette-based company DGL1, which is owned by Franques. Montoucet pleaded not guiltyinJune to onecount of conspiracy to commit briberyand wire fraud, three
countsofwirefraud, and onecount of conspiracy to commit money laundering. His trial is set forMay 11.
Email Claire Taylor at ctaylor@theadvocate.com.
daythatanorganizationcelebrates having asmaller office footprint. Butthe atmosphere waspositiveand upbeat in September as AmeriHealthCaritas Louisianabegan anew chapterinits historywitharefreshed spacethat aligns with itscommitmenttomeeting people wheretheyare Aftermorethanadecadeinits previous full floorofficespaceinPerkinsRoweinBatonRouge AmeriHealth CaritasLouisiana hasright-sized itslocationinaway that reflectshow itswork hasevolved.While thecompany continuesto serveMedicaidmembers acrossthe state, more ofitsstaffareincommunitiesinsteadofatdesks. “Ourcaremanagersaremakinghomevisitsand goingtodoctor’sappointmentswithourmembers. Theyaretalkingtothemface-to-faceabouttheir needsand finding ways to addressthem,”said Kyle Viator,marketpresidentofAmeriHealth CaritasLouisiana.“It doesn’tmakesense for nursestositinanofficeonthephonewithpeople whentheycouldbemuchmoreeffectivebuilding thoserelationships on adaily basis. That is what we arecelebrating here.”
“Webelieve ourcompilation of benefits is secondtonone,”saidGroverHarrison,directorof communityeducationandoutreach.“It’simportant thatwhenyouaskpeopleaquestionandtheygive youananswer,you respond. Thesevalue-added benefitscameabout because themembers told us what they wanted.”
HarrisonsaidAmeriHealthCaritasLouisiana alsohasresourcestohelppeoplecompletethestate’s high school equivalencyexamandimprovetheir jobskillstomakethemselvesmoremarketable to potentialemployers
AmeriHealthCaritas Louisianaisone of six health plansthatcontractwiththe statetoserve Medicaid members. Thecompany launched in Louisianain2012, but itsroots stretchback much further. Formed in aPhiladelphiahospital in theearly 1980s, theorganizationnow known as AmeriHealthCaritas wasfounded to expand healthcarebeyondthewallsofhospitalsandclinics, with an emphasis on underserved populations. Thoseoriginsdefinethecompany’sworktoday. Inadditiontocoveringthecostofmedicalservices forMedicaidmembers,AmeriHealth Caritas Louisianahelps them overcome barriers such as lack of transportation,insufficienthousing and othersocialdeterminantsofhealththataffect well-being
“Weare notatypical insurer. We’vegot acall to be much more than that,” Viator said.“The populationthatutilizesMedicaidoftenhavevery challenginglives.Ourcallistobeasupportsystem tohelpthemnavigatethehealthcaresystemand getthe care that they need.”
AmeriHealthCaritasLouisianaisalsocommittedtohelping membersaccesspreventivecare. BeginningonJan.1,2026, theorganizationwill launch anew suiteofvalue-added benefitsfor members. Thesewillinclude $750 in annual adultdentalbenefits,rentand utilityassistance, andyearlygymmembershipsforindividualswho complete awellnessvisit with aphysician
“We’re very uniquebecauseweare trying to grow people offofour rosters. We arethere to serveasasupport untiltheyget to that point, Harrison said.“We want to seepeoplenot just survive, butthrive. We work with entities and partnersthroughoutthestatetomakesurepeople have apathtowardasustainable future.” Viator said thosecollaborationshavehelped AmeriHealthCaritasLouisianaadapttonumerous changesovertheyears.Forexample,thestatehas addedpharmacyand behavioral health benefits since2012, andthe Medicaid programitselfhas expandedtoincludenewpopulations.Today,the organization is helping itsmembers navigate eligibilityand renewalrequirements, making sure no oneloses coverage unnecessarily
“Weare constantly workingtohelpeducate membersofthe risk of losing coverage.The state lets us know when membersare duetorenew coverage,oriftheyappeartonolongerbeeligiblefor Medicaid,”Viatorsaid.“Weeducatepeopleabout theimportanceofensuringthe informationthe statehas aboutthemisaccurate andup-to-date. We absolutely arelooking to be as collaborative as possible andbuild on ourworktohelppeople in Louisianastayinsured andhealthy.”
TheAmeriHealth CaritasLouisiana team makesa donation to theGreater BatonRouge Food Bank in February 2025
Because of herapproach, Murrill is stirring speculation that she willattempt to succeed Landry once again and run for governor when he leaves office.
She downplays such talk but won’trule it out.
“I’ve had people askme if I’m going to run,” Murrill said during an interview “I have neveruttered the words ‘I want to run for governor.’ Ever.But Inever uttered the words that I wanted to run for attorney general either until Idecided to run.”
Even as they align on policy and politics, Murrill and Landry present astark difference in personality and style.
While she and Landry favor cowboy boots, hers were gold on arecent day “I also have boots in hot pink and silver,” she said with alaugh. “They are really comfortable.”
When Landry was attorney general, observers described him as apolitician first anda lawyer second. Those same people now describe Murrill as alawyer first and apolitician second.
While Landry is wellknown for his blend of belligerence and backslapping, Murrill exhibits amore straightforward, no-nonsense approach.
Murrillsaidthat sheand the governor sometimes have legaland political disagreements that they settle privately,but said they walk in lockstep on public issues.
“There’s never been a time when Idid not believe she was on the same page in representing the state of Louisiana,” Landry said
While Murrill has drawn attention for embracing national conservative causes,she has shownamore pragmaticside, like Landry,infighting crime on the local level. That has prompted praise from an unlikely source, Jason Williams, the Democratic district attorneyin Orleans Parish.
has stood her ground even after the Trump administration recently filedabrief to overturn thejudgment. “I have gone to some lengths to try and explain what those cases are really aboutand how theyare different from climate change andnuisancesuits, which Idooppose,”
Murrill said John Carmouche, the well-known Baton Rouge attorney whospearheaded the case, appreciates that Murrill remains supportive despite heatfrom conservatives
“She has not backed down in applying the law to the facts,” Carmouche said.
“Rather than beinga politician,she is actually performing herduties for the state of Louisiana.”
Murrill didn’t back down recentlywhen she thought Secretary of State Nancy Landry,who she has known since childhood, tried to encroach on theattorneygeneral’srole as thestate’s chief legal officer.Murrill fired allofLandry’s outsideattorneys.
An unhappyLandry saidMurrill overreacted to what the secretary of state sawasaminor legal disagreement.
Lafayetteroots
The two werewary of each other when they firstmet but quickly built apartnership where Williams allows the Attorney General’sOffice to prosecute people arrested by Troop Nola, the Louisiana State Police troop that Landry brought to New Orleans.
As Williams notes, crime has continuedtodrop in New Orleans during their arrangement.
“She has beenleaning in when there is aneed,” Williams said. “There are alot of things we don’tagreeon. We don’tlet those things get in the way of the things we do agreeon.”
Like Landry,Murrill has supported the coastal lawsuitfiled by theCarmouche law firm that produced a$745 million judgment againstChevronin Plaquemines Parish. Murrill
Murrill grew up in Lafayette as the daughter of royalty—Mardi Gras royalty, that is Her mother and one aunt were queens of one Mardi Gras krewe, and another auntreigned as Evangeline, queen of MardiGras inLafayette, and her father and grandfatherreignedasGabriel,king of Mardi Gras.
Murrill served as Evangelinein1982.
Afew years earlier,however,her path to successappeared cloudy
In ninth grade at Cathedral Carmel High School, she received all “D”s and wassuspended for three days after getting caught smoking in thegirls’bathroom.
Her father,Larry Baker, then an ophthalmologist who also served as chief of staff at Lafayette General Hospital,offered this view when his daughter said shewanted to transfer to Lafayette High
School for 10thgrade.
“You can flunk out of public school just as well as Catholic school,” he toldher.“So if youwanttoswitch,that’s fine.”
Murrill now says she was acting out becauseher parents had separated recently.
“I was apathetic. Iwas decidedly apathetic,” Murrill said during an hourlong interview.“They knew that.”
Her mother,Vaughn Burdin Baker,aEuropean history professoratwhat is now the Universityof Louisiana at Lafayette, took hertoFrance andEngland during the summerbefore 10th grade. Murrill saidthat helped give her focus.
An 11th grade English teacher,Charlene Banna, encouraged her writing.
Murrillmajoredinjournalism at LSU and thenspent two yearswriting obituaries and chasing local news stories for Florida Today, adaily newspaper in Melbourne, Florida.
Murrill saidshe enjoyed the work butleftbecause “I realized there was acap on income.”
Murrill enrolled at LSU’s law school and did so well thatshe held thehighhonor in herfinalyearaseditorof thelaw review.
She and her husband, John Murrill, settled down in Baton Rouge and would eventually raise four boys
Murrill clerkedfor prominent U.S. Judge Frank Polozola, worked as aprivate attorney and taught at LSU’s law school.
The immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 gother thinking aboutacareer change.
Volunteering at University Baptist Church,she helped distributedonated supplies to people seeking shelterin Baton Rouge from metro New Orleans. That got her interested in looking at larger societal issues,she said.
Ayear later,Murrill won aprized fellowshipawarded by the Supreme Court that ledher to spend ayear at the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, D.C., athink tank that supports educationand training for federal judges
In 2008, Murrill applied to be deputyexecutive counsel to then-Gov.Bobby Jindal, a Republican.
Jimmy Faircloth, the executive counsel, hired her
“She’ssuper smart, very energetic,” Faircloth said. “Confrontational in agood way.She’sreally alawyer’s lawyer.”
Murrill was aDemocrat. Faircloth said he didn’teven think to askfor her party affiliation since he liked her so much
Murrill became apolitical independent in 2010 anda Republican ayear later,just beforebeing promoted to replace Faircloth
Murrill saidshe had registered as aDemocrat at age 18 because everyoneshe knew then was aDemocrat.
Untilshe worked for Jindal,“Ihad no real need to reexamine that choice becausewehad open primariesand thatpermittedmeto vote for whoever Iwanted,” Murrill saidinanemail. “I believed in principle in separation of powers and minimizing government intrusion in our lives,but working in government really brings homehow important both of those principles are in practice, not just in principle.”
Murrill spent two more yearsworking for Jindal as executive counsel of the Division of Administration, which manages the day-today operations of state government.
After Landry was elected attorneygeneral in 2015, Murrill asked him for ajob.
“I thought Icould never afford her,” Landry said. “She said, ‘Just make me an offer.’”
Over thenexteight years, Murrill served as his solicitor general, supervising major cases that involvedfederal and constitutional questions. Shearguedfive cases before the Supreme Court, winning once.
Murrillhad thebacking of Landry andthe Republican political establishment whenshe was elected attorney general in 2023.
In onecampaign ad,she promisedshe would “block the radical left attack on our Constitution, our economy and our values and keep the Biden administration’sreckless agenda fromdamaging Louisiana’sfuture.”
In thenationalspotlight
Murrill’soffice issues some 200 advisory opinions per year and has its hand in awide range of legalissues. But the upcoming redistricting case will put herin the headlinesbecause of the stakes.
In January 2024, Landry asked state legislators to redraw the state’s congressionalmap, which at the time elected fiveRepublicansand one Democrat,Troy Carter.Landry backed aplanthat would create asecond majority-Black district. Murrill supported the change,telling lawmakers that recent legal rulings had left U.S. District Court Judge Shelly Dickpoised to redesign the congressional districts in amanner they might not like.
are calling on the Supreme Courttoinvalidate Section 2ofthe Voting Rights Act —which determines to what extent lawmakers and courts can include race in their calculations. If successful, that would overturn thecurrent congressionalmap.
State Rep. Edmond Jordan, D-Baton Rouge, who chairs theLouisiana Legislative Black Caucus, said Murrill had consistently said the latest mappassedlegal muster until an August brief to the SupremeCourt in which shesaiditwas “unconstitutional.”
“It’sthe polar opposite,” Jordan said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Murrill said she’snot being inconsistent. She said the Supreme Court asked for new legal arguments that opened thedoor to argue what sheand other Louisiana officials have long believed, that judges should not draw maps.
Terry Ryder, who worked as aseniorlawyerfor four governors, Democrats and Republicans alike, echoed theviewofothers whohave known heralongtime by saying she hastaken ahard turn to the right in recent years.
“Candidates eventually become more consistentwiththe views of the people in the state, whichis to be more conservative. That’show you getelected,” Ryder said. “I expect her to be the next governor. She’s working in that direction.There’sonlyone higherposition(thanattorney general).” She won’tacknowledge having that ambition.
Legislators followed Landry’slead andsacrificed then-U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, aRepublican from Baton Rouge, to carve out adistrict that would elect Fields, aDemocrat but frequentLandry ally,and ensure thatthe other four Republicans had safe districts. Now Murrill andLandry
“I think everybody is always trying to guess who’s going to run forgovernor next,” shesaid. “It’spartof the game of politicsinLouisiana. That’salong wayaway.” In the meantime, she plans to run for reelection in 2027, having discarded dreams of becoming afederal judge
“I absolutely love the job I have,” she said. “It’samore impactful one.”
STAFF PHOTO By DAVIDGRUNFELD
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill talks withthe media in front of the Hale Boggs FederalBuilding on Poydras Street in NewOrleans on May19after meetingwith federal officials about the recent Orleans Parish Prisonjailbreak.
Landry
Williams
-Freda
Shutdown will affect student loans, FAFSA and more
BY ANNIE MA AP education writer
WASHINGTON Already diminished by cuts by the Trump administration, the U.S. Education Department will see more of its work come to a halt due to the government shutdown
The department says many of its core operations will continue during the shutdown, which began at midnight Wednesday Federal financial aid will keep flowing and student loan payments will still be due. But investigations into civil rights complaints will stop, and the department will not issue new federal grants About 87% of its workforce will be furloughed, according to a department contingency plan
Since he took office, President Donald Trump has called for the dismantling of the Education Department, saying it has been overrun by liberal thinking Agency leaders have been making plans to parcel out its operations to other departments, and in July the Supreme Court upheld mass layoffs that halved the department’s staff In a shutdown, the Republican administration has suggested federal agencies could see more positions eliminated entirely In past shutdowns, furloughed employees were brought back once Congress restored federal funding. This time, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget has threatened the mass firing of federal workers.
Appearing before the House Appropriations Committee in May Education Secretary Linda McMahon suggested this year’s layoffs had made her department lean — even too lean in some cases. Some staffers were brought back, she said, after officials found that the cuts went too deep.
“You hope that you’re just cutting fat. Sometimes you cut a
little muscle, and you realize it as you’re continuing your programs, and you can bring people back to do that,” McMahon said. The department had about 4,100 employees when Trump took office in January It now has about 2,500.
Federal student loans
One of the department’s major roles is management of the $1.6 trillion federal student loan portfolio. Student aid will be largely unaffected in the short term, according to the department’s shutdown contingency plan. Pell Grants and federal loans will continue to be disbursed, and student loan borrowers must continue making payments on their debts.
About 9.9 million students receive some form of federal aid, spread across some 5,400 colleges, according to the department. Within the Office of Federal Student Aid the department plans to furlough 632 of the 747 employees during the shutdown, although it didn’t say which ones.
For most student loan issues, borrowers work with loan servicers hired by the department rather than directly with FSA staff.
The department will also continue to process the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, which is a key piece of how colleges and universities provide aid packages to incoming students. Certain employees involved with rulemaking around changes to student loans, part of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed by Republicans, also will be kept on to meet deadlines set by legislation.
Money for schools
While American schools are funded primarily by state and local money, the Education Department serves as a conduit for billions of dollars of federal aid going to state and local education agencies. During the shutdown, the department will cease new grantmaking activity and pause its advisory and regulatory role to
schools and grant recipients.
But because most federal grants to schools were made over the summer, the department says it would expect minimal disruption to school districts and other grant recipients. Title I money, which goes to schools with high concentrations of students in poverty, plus funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act would continue.
Not all federal education money arrives ahead of the school year, however One example is Impact Aid, a program that bolsters school budgets in areas where federal land management or other activities, such as military installations, reduce the amount of taxable land to generate revenue for the district. These schools likely will see disruptions in payments. More than 1,200 districts receive that aid across all 50 states, according to a national association that represents those schools. If the shutdown lasts longer than a week, the department says
it would revise its contingency plan to prevent significant disruptions to school districts.
Civil rights investigations
Under the shutdown, the department will stop its investigations into schools and universities over alleged civil rights violations.
Since the mass layoffs in March, the office has operated under a significantly reduced footprint. The department’s civil rights branch lost about half of its staff. The cuts raised questions about whether the office would be able to shrink a backlog of complaints from students who allege they have experienced discrimination on the basis of race, sex or disability status.
The department’s own data has shown a decline in resolving civil rights cases, while new complaints from families have increased. During the shutdown, work on the pending cases will stop.
Head Start preschools
One major federal education program is not part of McMahon’s department: the preschool program Head Start, which is overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Head Start will be mostly unscathed by a federal shutdown, at least in the short term, said Tommy Sheridan of the National Head Start Association. Nearly all Head Start preschools already were approved for funding for the fall and beyond.
But eight centers nationwide, serving around 7,500 children, will lose their federal money this month while the government is shut down. At least four, located in Florida, have enough funding from other sources to carry them to November said Wanda Minick of the Florida Head Start Association.
If the shutdown extends longer than a month, more centers would find themselves in the same situation. Head Start serves hundreds of thousands of young children from low-income households.
LOUISIANAPOLITICS
Future of Voting Rights ActonagendainLa. case
WASHINGTON —Inmost Voting Rights Acts cases, minorityvoters aresuing their state leaders, not on their side. But for awhile, acadre of Black voters and Louisiana officials were both defending the state’s current congressional map in the Callais case before the U.S. Supreme Court. But they are unusual bedfellowsnomore.
Mark Ballard
State Attorney General Liz Murrill switched sides Aug. 27 and argues the Voting Rights Act no longer justifies two Black congressional districts. The caseisset for ahearing on Oct. 15.
Originally,justiceswanted to hear arguments in Louisiana v. Callais on how to balance the competing requirements of Section 2ofthe Voting Rights Act, which allows minority-majority election districts, andthe Equal Protection clauseofthe Constitution, whichforbids decisions based on race. But then the high courtasked on Aug. 1 for the parties to focus on “whether the state’sintentionalcreation of asecond majority-minority congressional district violates the 14th or 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.” Murrill says that allowed the state to reverttoits position before all the litigation that has led to this moment.
Louisiana has “attempted to expand the question beyond what thecourthas asked, and they argue that Section 2isnot constitutional at all, anywhere,” said theNAACP Legal Defense Fund’sStuartNaifeh, who will argue before the high court. “Weare having to defend not onlythe map that the state drew but also defending the Voting Rights Act against arguments that it is no longer constitutional.”
Naifeh and his clients argue the Voting Rights Act is stillnecessarytoprotect the rights of Blackvoters.
Epstein files could resurface
Arizona elected Adelita Grijalva, aDemocrat, as arepresentative on Sept. 23 while theHouse was out of Washington. She filled the seat of her father,U.S.Rep. RaúlGrijalva, D-Arizona, who died earlierthis year
As is often the casefor newly electedmembers of Congress, Grijalva rushed to Capitol Hill to get sworn in quickly.But the usually accommodating House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, said he’d wait until the House returns Tuesday “It’svery frustrating,” Grijalva told The Associated Press. On Friday,Johnson designated this week as a“district work period,” meaning theHouse will not return and no votes will be scheduled, multiplenews outlets reported, further delaying Grijalva’sswearing-in.
When finally sworn in, Grijalva will become the 214th Democratic member in achamberwhere 218 is the majority required to pass most legislation. There are 219 Republicans.
More to the point, Grijalva could be the last signature necessary on the bipartisan petition requiring Johnson to hold avoteon the Justice Department releasing the Epstein files.
President Donald Trump and Republican leadership have
“Has Louisiana really changed? Idon’t seeit,” said PressRobinson, whoisthe lead litigant among agroupofBlack voters. About athirdofthe state’sresidents are AfricanAmerican.The GOP majority Louisiana Legislature first drafted election maps that ensured the reelections of five White Republicans and asingleBlack Democrat.
“It was aclear dilution of Black voting power to crack Black voters from around the stateand pack them into one district,” saidSarah Brannon, deputy director of the ACLU’s VotingRights Project.
The Robinson litigants argued under conditions in Louisiana, the VotingRights Actallows state legislatorstocreate asecond district with enough minority voters to give Black voters an opportunity to elect one of their own to Congress.
avoided calls to make public the evidence gathered during theinvestigation into Jeffrey Epstein, whowas convicted of trafficking andhavingsex withunderage girls. He died in custody while broader indictments were being pursued
Therecordshavebeen given under subpoena to theHouse Oversight committee, which has publicly released some of the documentswith lots of redactions. GOP leadership says that avenue is good enough.
Ahigh-flying financier,Epstein was friends with alot of highpowered businessmen andpoliticians, includingTrump and formerPresident Bill Clinton.
Stokedbyconspiracy theories from Trumpand hisallies, MAGA Republicans have long claimed the files, which at thetime were beingusedtoprosecute Epstein andhis accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, were being hidden purposely by Democrats to protect theelite.
Once back in office, theTrump administration, in ashortmemo, dismissed some of the more repeated allegations —such as that Epstein was murdered to keep him quiet and had kept a“client list”for whom he provided underaged girls. The far right erupted in anger —this time supported by Democrats —and demanded the immediate release of the records.
Trumphas answered with ridicule, callingthe issue a“hoax,” while Johnson andSenate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., have argued caution
Sevenfederaljudges agreed.
Rather than accept maps drawnbythe courts, the GOP-majority Louisiana LegislatureinJanuary 2024 configured anew map with two Black majority districts. Twoweekslater,a dozenvoters who describedthemselves as “non-African American” filed alawsuit in Monroe.
TheCallais litigants argue that the Legislature“first madethe decision to impose the racial quota.” Even if VRA compliance was the Legislature’strue goal, then race was still the primaryfactor for drawing asecond Black majority district, which is forbidden under the Equal Protection clause.
Twoofthe three judges on afederal panelagreed,leavingLouisiana caught between two rulings.
Should the justices decidethat the enforcementmechanisms of Section 2need
The speaker decides thelegislativeagenda. Butthe rules allow a majority of representatives, 218, to circumvent the speaker and force avote on abill.
Cassidy shares birthday letter from Trump
U.S.Sen.Bill Cassidy,R-Baton Rouge, whoturned68last Sunday, shared on social media Tuesdaya birthdayletter he received from PresidentDonald Trump.
“I am pleased to join your beautiful family andmanyfriends in wishingyou awonderful birthday,”Trump’sletter said. “May your year ahead be filled with good health,happiness, andthe many blessings of ourgreat Nation.”
“I am grateful for your continuedfriendshipand enduring commitment to our cherished American values.Together,wewill protect these sacred idealsand restore America to aGolden Age of prosperity,” the letter said.
Trump addedthatfirst ladyMelania Trump joins him in extending the Louisiana senator best wishes.
Cassidy responded Tuesday in asocial media post in whichhe shared aphoto of theletter and thanked the president. “I’m gratefulfor your friendship andleadershipaswecontinue delivering winsfor Louisiana families,” he said.
Cassidy is in atough battle to hold onto his Senate seat during next year’smidterm electionsand Trump could playa pivotol role Ahead of aclosedparty pri-
to change, they have plenty of alternatives that would allow the VRA to continue protecting the rights of minority voters. But manylegal commentators say Callais will allow the Supreme Court to gut the last significant civil rights protection.
That’slargely because of history Congress passed additional laws to enforce the protections enshrined in the Constitution. President Andrew Johnson, in the late 1860s, opposed manyofthose laws, saying they “operated in favor of the colored and against the White race,” wrote Leah Litman, aprofessor of law at the University of Michigan and co-host of the Strict Scrutiny podcast. That is basically the same argument still used against civil rights legislation, she argued.
After nearly acentury of state and local measures that limited employment, living conditions and voting rights of Black residents, Congress enacted the 1965 Voting Rights Act that included prohibitions such as poll taxes and tests that kept minorities off the voting rolls.
Once those standards were eliminated, Congress expanded definitions of minority voter dilution as ameans of enforcement.
“Race-based redistricting,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh said in 2023, “cannot extend indefinitely into the future.”
But the point of the VRA is to ensure morevoices, said Alanah Odoms, executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana.
For instance, because so manyofthe immigrants being deported by the Trump administration are in Louisiana facilities, the two Democratic congressmen elected under the current mapscompelled discussion about conditions, she said.
“Majority-minority districts are not abstractions; they are lifelines for communities whose voices have been silenced for generations,” Odomssaid.
Email Mark Ballardatmballard@ theadvocate.com.
Aletter from President DonaldTrump to U.S.
Sept.28congratulates himonhis
mary race setfor April, Cassidy is working to defeat afieldoffellowRepublicans who have been trying to positionthemselves to his right, criticizing Cassidy for supporting Trump’simpeachment after theJan.6,2021, riots at the U.S Capitol Cassidy’schallengers include
Louisiana TreasurerJohnFleming, state Sen. Blake Miguezof NewIberia,and Public Service Commissioner Eric Skrmetta. U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, R-Baton Rouge,and state Rep. Julie Emerson, R-Carencro,could also join the race, though neitherhas announced yet.
PROVIDED PHOTO
Sen. Bill Cassidy dated
birthday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO
The U.S. Supreme Courtwants to knowif, by creating asecond Black-majority congressional district, Louisiana violated the U.S. Constitution.
BY MARYPEREZ
The Sun Herald
It’sthe most colorful time of the year in South Mississippi as Cruisin’ The Coast returns Oct. 5-12.
This year,Cruise Central returnstoJones Parkin Gulfport, and from there, the antique, classic and muscle cars and trucks roll along the beach to cities from Waveland to Pascagoula. Favorite events like View the Cruise and the Long Beach parade are back and some new events are on the schedule. Here’swhere to go, what celebrities to see and musictohear each day: Sunday,Oct.5
n View the Cruise, Downtown Gulfport, 8a.m. to 5p.m.
n Cruise-In with KOTO,Hardy Court Shopping Center,Gulfport, 9a.m. to 2p.m.
n Cruisin’ Through The Decades, Gautier, noonto6p.m.
n Drive-in movie “Stroker Ace,” 5:30p.m.
n Chris Jacobs appearances: Hardy Court,9 a.m. to 11 a.m.; Gulfport, 1p.m.to4p.m
n FeatureCar appearances: Hardy Court, 9a.m. to noon; Downtown Gulfport, 2p.m. to 5p.m.
Monday,Oct.6
n KOTO spins the oldies at Cruise Central, 9a.m. to 5p.m.
n 2025 Registration package pick-up, 11 a.m. to 5p.m. for last namesA-K only at Cruise Central, Jones Park, Gulfport
n 2025 On-site Registration 11 a.m. to 5p.m CruiseCentral, Jones Park, Gulfport n Pass Christian Bottle Shoppe/Crittenden collector bottle sale 10 a.m.
n Mississippi Gulf Fresh Seafood Sampling,Cruise Central at Jones Park, 9a.m. to 11 a.m. and1p.m. to 4p.m.
n Autocross by Autocross Guysat Scarlet Pearl Casino, D’Iberville (north surface parking lot), 1p.m. to 5p.m. Registered vehiclesonly
GULF COAST
mentbyJoniCompretta & BaytownGroove
n VicariAuto Auction vehicle check-in at Coast Coliseum, 9a.m.to5 p.m.
n Diamondhead Blessing of the Classics,4p.m.to7 p.m. Line up at 1:30 p.m. EntertainmentbyRazzoo, 1p.m.to 4p.m.and Beau King, 4p.m to 7p.m
n Joe &Amanda Martin appearances: Biloxi Block Party 10 a.m. to noon;Beau Rivage Casino,6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
n Cristy Leeappearance: Biloxi Block Party,10a.m.to noon
n Courtney Hansen appearance: Biloxi Block Party 10 a.m. to noon
n Long BeachShow&Shine, Jeff Davis Ave., Long Beach. 9a.m. to 4p.m. n Long BeachParade— Registered vehiclesonly. First600 to arrivewill be in theparade. Line up at 1p.m. at Long Beach High School. Parade starts at 5:30 p.m.Rochelle Hicks, director of Visit Mississippi,isgrand marshal
n Chris Jacobs appearances: CruiseCentral,Jones Park Gulfport, 10a.m.-1 p.m.; CTC Kick-off Parade serving as celebrity guest, Long Beach, 4p.m. to 6p.m. n The Tip Tops play at Long Beach Harbor, 6p.m. to 9p.m. Tuesday,Oct.7
n KOTO spins theoldies at CruiseCentral,9 a.m. to 5p.m.
n 2025 Registration package pick-up, 9a.m. to 5p.m. for lastnames L-Zonly. Cruise Central, JonesPark,Gulfport
n 2025 On-siteRegistration, 9a.m. to 5p.m.. Cruise Central,Jones Park, Gulfport Mississippi Gulf Fresh Seafood Sampling, Cruise Central at Jones Park,9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 1p.m. to 4p.m.
n Autocross by Autocross GuysatScarlet Pearl Casino, D’Iberville. 9a.m. to 5p.m. Free andopentoregistered vehiclesonly.
n “SaluteToOur Veterans,” 10 a.m.to2 p.m., CruiseCentral withGarry Elvis” Wesley
n Cruisin’ The River City,Moss Point,10a.m. to 4p.m.
n Margaritaville Cruise-in, 11 a.m. to 4p.m., Margaritaville Resort Biloxi
n Chris Jacobs appearance: Margaritaville, 10 a.m. to 4p.m
n Courtney Hansen appearance: Cruise Central, 10 a.m. to noon;Margaritaville, 2p.m to 4p.m
n VicariAuto Auction vehicle check-in at Coast Coliseum 2p.m.to5 p.m.
n Flame-throwing competition at Island ViewCasino in Gulfport, LiveEntertainment by Ty Taylor& The Kinfolk, 4p.m Registration at 5p.m Event begins at dusk. $1,000 cash prizes and trophies
Wednesday,Oct.8
n KOTO spins the oldies at Cruise Central, 9a.m.to 5p.m
n 2025 Registration package pick-up, 9a.m.to5 p.m. for all registrations
n Biloxi Block Party,Downtown Biloxi, 8a.m.to3 p.m.
n Mississippi Gulf Fresh Seafood Sampling, 10 a.m. to 1p.m
n Autocross at ScarletPearl Casino,D’Iberville (north surface parking lot),9 a.m. to 5p.m.Registered vehicles only
n Car Corral open and vehicle check-in, east of TreasureBay Casino,9 a.m. to 5p.m
n Hot Rods &Hospitality Waveland, Coleman Ave. 10 a.m. to 2p.m.Entertain-
n Beau Rivage Cruisin’ Events: “Britishmania BeatlesTribute” Party,Beau Rivage Theatre, $20. Doors open at 6p.m
Also meet and greets with Dennis Gage of My Classic Car,Cristy Lee, Courtney Hansen and Joe &Amanda Martin from 6p.m.to7:30p.m.See JohnnyDawgofNaNaSha and The Triggerproof AllStars, at EIGHT75, 8p.m.to1a.m
Thursday,Oct.9
n KOTO spins the oldies at Cruise Central, 9a.m.to 5p.m
n Registration at all Cruisin’ Venues is open 9a.m.to 5p.m
n 2025 Registration continues, 9a.m.-5 p.m. 2026 Registration opens, noon to 5p.m., Cruise Central, Jones Park Gulfport
n CountryCruisin’ Breakfast, Long Beach Yacht Club, 7a.m to 10 a.m.
n VicariAuto Auction at Coast Coliseum,doors open at 8:30 a.m. Auctionbegins 10 a.m.VicariAuction’s CTC Swap Meet open at Coast Coliseum,9 a.m. to 5p.m
n Car Corral open and vehicle check-in, east of TreasureBay Casino,9 a.m. to 5p.m
n Burn‘Em Up In The Pass, Fleitas Ave.,Pass Christian, 5p.m.until dusk. Then Pass Christian High SchoolJazz Band will perform asecond line down Second Street to the stage with liveentertainmentbyMade in Stone.
n Cristy Leeappearances: Pass Christian, 10 a.m. to noon;Bay St.Louis, 2p.m.to
4p.m.
n CourtneyHansen appearances: Pass Christian, 10 a.m. to noon; BaySt. Louis,2p.m. to 4p.m.
n Joe &AmandaMartin appearance: Ocean Springs 10 a.m. to 4p.m.
n Dennis Gage appearances: CruiseCentral, 10 a.m. to noon; D’Iberville 1p.m. to 3p.m.
n “Welcome Back to Jones Park” extended show by Bag of Donuts, Jones Park Stage, 3:30 p.m.to5:30 p.m
n Buffett &BumpersBlock Party, DowntownPascagoula, 5:30 p.m.to8:30 p.m.featuring Buffett Beach Band
Friday,Oct.10
n KOTO spins theoldiesat CruiseCentral, 9a.m. to 5p.m.
n Registration at all Cruisin’ Venuesisopen 9a.m. to 5p.m.
n 2025 and 2026 Registration continues, 9a.m. to 5p.m.
n Country Cruisin’ Breakfast, Long Beach Yacht Club,7 a.m. to 10 a.m.
n Vicari Auto Auction at CoastColiseum, doors open at 8:30 a.m.; auction begins 10 a.m. Vicari Auction’s CTC Swap Meet open at Coast Coliseum, 9a.m. to 5p.m.
n Car Corral open and vehicle check-in, east of Treasure Bay Casino, 9a.m. to 5p.m.
n Dennis Gage appearance: BaySt. Louis,9a.m. to 11 a.m.
n Cristy Leeappearance: Ocean Springs,10a.m. to noon
n CourtneyHansen appearance: Ocean Springs,10a.m. to noon
n Joe &Mandi Martin appearance: CruiseCentral, 10 a.m. to 2p.m.
n Gulf CoastNationals, Gasser Racing, Gulfport Dragway 5p.m.
n Ocean Springs Sock Hop &Street Party, Live Entertainment by Brandon Giles, 5:45 p.m.to7p.m., andBag of Donuts, 7:30 p.m.to9:30 p.m
n “Pass In The Night,” 5:30 p.m.to8:30 p.m., Pass Christian, Entertainment by SonsofUhBeach n Outdoor concert at Hollywood Casino, BaySt. Louis, The Chee-Weez,7 p.m.Get
ProtestersacrossEuropecriticize Israel
Hundreds of thousands oppose military campaigninGaza
BY JOSEPH WILSON and PAOLO SANTALUCIA Associated Press
BARCELONA,Spain Hundreds of thousands of Italians and Spaniards marched in Rome, Barcelona and Madrid on Saturday against Israel’smilitary campaign in Gaza in ashow ofgrowing international anger over the two-year-old war
The protests in almost every major Spanish city had been planned for weeks, while the demonstrationin Rome followed widespread anger after the Israeli interception of ahumanitarian aid flotilla that had set sail from Barcelonaina bidto break the blockade of the Palestinian territory
The protests across southern Europe come as Hamas said that it has accepted some elements of aplan laid out by U.S. President Donald Trump to end the war,which has left Gaza’slargest city in famine and stirred accusations of genocide against Israel.
Rome’spolice said that 250,000 people turned out, while organizers said that 1million attended, fora second straight day of Italian demonstrations. Italy already sawmorethan2 mil-
lion peoplerally on Friday in aone-day general strike. In Spain, officials said that 100,000 people marched in Madrid andanother 70,000 filled downtown Barcelona
Organizers ofthe Madrid march raised attendance to 400,000, while organizers in Barcelona said that 300,000 took part While the protests were peaceful, hoursafter theofficial Barcelonademonstration ended, there were clashes between police andseveralhundredpeople, some of whom vandalized stores and caused scenesofpanic.
Spaniards were also called by activiststomarch inValencia, Sevilla, Malaga and
other cities.
Opposition to ItalianPM
The protest in Rome that followed aroutebythe Colosseum was organized by threePalestinian organizationsalong with local unions and students
At Piazza San Giovanni, protesters chanted and applaudedthe nameofFrancesca Albanese, an Italian who is the United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territoriesand a vocal critic of Israel.
Althoughthe organizers had requested thatonly Palestinian flags be carried, there were some banners praising the militantgroups
Hezbollahand Hamas. One read, “October 7, Day of Palestinian Resistance,”a reference to theOct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel that sparked thewar,while another large flag read “Death, deathtothe IDF,” areference to the Israel Defense Forces.A group also chanted the same slogan, state broadcasterRAI reported.
Opposition lawmaker Riccardo Magi, secretary of the center-left Piu Europa (more Europe) party,who was among the marchers, took Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’sgovernment to taskfor its refusal to recognize aPalestinian state, followingthe example of Spain,
France, the U.K. and some other Western countries.
“Melonicannotcontinue with this obscenevictimhood: these are spontaneous demonstrations against the inaction and complicity of her government. She must acknowledge this and begin working diplomatically for peace,” Magi told Italian media.
Bigrally in Barcelona
Spain has seen an upsurge of support forPalestinians in recent weeks while its leftwing government intensifies diplomaticefforts against Israeli PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahu’sfarright government. Protests against the presence of an Israeli-owned cycling team repeatedly disruptedthe Spanish Vuelta last month, while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the
destruction in Gazaa“genocide” and asked for the ban of all Israeli teams from international sporting events.
The day of protests kicked offinBarcelona as people packed the wide Passeig de Gracia, the city’smain centralboulevard, before noon. Many families turned out along with people of all ages, carrying Palestinian flags. Hand-held signs bore messages like “Gaza hurts me,” “Stop the Genocide,” and “Hands off the flotilla.” María Jesús Parra, 63, wants the European Union to act against what she describedasthe horrorsshe watches on TV news. “How is it possiblethat we are witnessing agenocide happening live after what we (as Europe) experienced in the 1940s?” Parra said. “Now nobody can say they didn’t know whatwas happening.”
BY SAM MEDNICK and SAMYMAGDY Associated Press
TEL AVIV,Israel Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hopes to announce the release of all hostages from Gaza“in the coming days,”asIsrael and Hamas preparefor indirect talksinEgypt on Monday on anew U.S. plan to end the war In abrief statement late Saturday,Netanyahusaid he hassent adelegation to Egypt “to finalize technical details,” adding that “our goal is to contain these negotiations to atime frame of afew days.”
But Netanyahu signaled there would not be afull Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, something Hamas has long demanded. He said Israel’smilitarywillcontinue to hold territories it controls in Gaza, and that Hamas will be dis-
armed in the plan’ssecond phase, diplomatically “or through amilitary pathbyus.”
The prime minister spoke after Hamas said it has accepted some elements of the U.S. plan. President Donald Trumpwelcomed the militantgroup’sstatement but on Saturdaywarned that “Hamas must movequickly,orelse all bets will beoff.”
Trump alsoordered Israel to stop bombing Gaza. Some in Gaza City reported anotable easingof Israelistrikes Saturday,though hospital officials said at least 22 peoplewere killed.
Momentum before anniversary Trump appears determinedto deliveron pledgestoend the war and return all hostages ahead of thesecond anniversary on Tuesday of the Hamasattack that sparked
it on Oct. 7, 2023. Hisproposal unveiled lastweek has widespread international support. On Friday, Netanyahu’soffice said Israel was committed to ending the war Monday’sindirect talks are meanttoprepare theway for the release of hostages from Gaza and Palestinians from Israeli detention,mediator Egypt said.
AseniorEgyptian official said U.S.envoy Steve Witkoffwill travel to Egypt to head the U.S. negotiating team. The talks also will discuss maps showing theexpected withdrawal of Israeli forces from certain areas in Gaza, said theofficial who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to brief themedia.
Theofficial alsosaidArab mediators are preparing for acomprehensive dialogue amongPalestinians aimed at unifying theirposition
U.K. police question 6insynagogue attack
BY JILL LAWLESS Associated Press
LONDON U.K. policeon
Saturday were questioning sixpeople arrested on suspicion of terror offenses after an attack on asynagogue in northwest England that left two people dead and Britain’sJewish community shocked and grieving.
Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, was shot dead by police on Thursday outsidethe Heaton Park Congregation Synagogue in Manchester after he rammed acar into pedestrians, attacked them witha knife and tried to force his way into the building.
Congregation members Melvin Cravitz, 66, and Adrian Daulby,53, died in theattack on YomKippur, the holiest day of theJewish year.Police sayDaulby was accidentallyshot by an armed officer as he and other congregants barricaded the synagogue to block
Al-Shamie from entering. Three other menare hospitalized with serious injuries.
Detectives say Al-Shamie, aBritish citizen of Syrian originwho lived in Manchester,may have been influenced by “extreme Islamist ideology.”
Police said that Al-Shamie was on bail over an alleged rapeatthe time ofthe attack, but hadn’tbeen charged. Three men and three women were arrested in the greater Manchesterareaon suspicion of the “commission,preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism,” as police work to determine whether the attacker acted alone. Acourt on Saturday grantedpolice five more days to hold four of the suspects: men ages 30 and 32, andwomen ages 46 and61. An 18-year-old woman and a 43-year-old man are also beingquestioned Police haven’tidentified those arrested or disclosed
their links to Al-Shamie. Recorded antisemitic incidentsinthe U.K. have risen sharply since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and Israel’sensuing campaign against HamasinGaza, according to Community Security Trust, acharity thatprovides advice and protection for BritishJews.
Pro-Palestinian demonstratorswere held in Manchester andLondononSaturday despite objections from police and politicians.
About 100 people gathered in acentral Manchester squareinheavy rain, waving Palestinian flags and demanding an end to the war in Gaza.
In London, organizers said that about 1,000 people demonstratedagainst thebanning of Palestine Action, a direct-action group that has vandalizedBritish military planesand targeted sites with links to the Israeli military.
toward Gaza’sfuture. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad,Gaza’ssecond most powerful militantgroup, said it accepted Hamas’ response after rejectingthe plandaysearlier.
Progress,but uncertaintyahead Under the plan, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages —around 20 of thembelievedtobe alive—within three days. It also would give up power and disarm In return, Israel would halt its offensive and withdraw from much of Gaza, release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and allow an influx of humanitarian aidand eventual reconstruction Hamas said it was willing to releasethe hostages and hand over power to other Palestinians, but that other aspects of the plan require further consultations among Palestinians. Its statement didn’t
address the issue of Hamas demilitarizing, akey part of the plan. Amir Avivi, aretired Israeli general and chairman of Israel’s Defense and Security Forum, said while Israel can afford to stop firing fora fewdaysinGazasothe hostages can be released,itwill resume its offensive if Hamas doesn’tlay downits arms. Others said thatwhile Hamas suggests awillingness to negotiate, its position fundamentally remains unchanged. Its rhetoric “simply repackages olddemands in softer language,” said Oded Ailam, aresearcher at the Jerusalem Center forSecurity and Foreign Affairs. Still, twovocal members of the right-wing bloc of Netanyahu’scoalition, BezalelSmotrich andItamar Ben-Gvir,criticized the plan’s progress but didn’tthreaten to immediately leave the government.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ALESSANDRATARANTINO
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators pass in front of Rome’sColosseum on Saturday during a march calling for an end to the war in Gaza.
ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTOByEMILIO MORENATTI Police officers clash with protesters SaturdayinBarcelona, Spain, during arally in solidarity with the Global Sumud Flotilla after ships were intercepted by the Israelinavy.
Coroner power questioned by experts
Involuntary commitments could violate civil rights, some say
BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT Staff writer
Youth council drives safety efforts
Group gives students a voice in local issues
BY JA’KORI MADISON Staff writer
Thirty-one Louisiana high school students are taking school safety, mental health and youth involvement in civic matters into their own hands through the Louisiana Legislative Youth Advisory Council. The advisory council was created to give high school students a voice in addressing critical local issues and advocating for policies that improve student welfare It aims to give students with an interest in representing the voices of young people a direct voice in shaping policy
“Programs like LYAC are so important because they give students an actual seat at the table,” said Everett Etié, a senior at Erath High and the council’s elected communications officer “We’re the ones in the schools, and our voices matter when decisions are being made.”
One of the council’s top priorities for the current school year is enhancing student safety, particularly concerning construction and infrastructure. Members are determining if regulatory actions are necessary to ensure that new construction projects do not pose risks to young people. This initiative is a continuation of the council’s previous work on safety, including the School Safety Act passed two years ago.
“Since the passing of the School Safety Act two years ago and now we’re trying to build on that with another series of bills,” explained John Parker, a senior at Covington high and a member of the council.
This year’s initiative includes a three-step process that includes tracking violent incidents through the state fusion center, improving planning, and making sure schools are safe before these crises happen, Parker said.
Beija Lopes-Morgan, a Mandeville High senior serving her second term on the council, said last year’s council pushed through Senate Concurrent Resolution 40, which established a statewide K-12 school safety task force. “We’re meeting with key stakeholders like State Police, the fusion center, school boards because this issue is bigger than just students It takes collaboration,” she said. These local initiatives reflect national concerns. Over the past two decades, school shootings have become more frequent, and research shows that student exposure to such tragedies has nearly tripled in recent years. In Louisiana, nearly 1 in 4 children ages 3–17 has been diagnosed with conditions such as ADHD, depression or anxiety, according to America’s Health Rankings Suicide is also
“In some instances, the parents aren’t notified until after the child is already in an inpatient facility, which is horrifying for a number of reasons,” she said.
Last month, the Louisiana Advisory Committee for the U.S.
Experts are warning they’ve seen a growing trend of Louisiana coroners involuntarily committing people to hospitals for up to 15 days, saying it likely poses violations of constitutional rights Melanie Bray an attorney with Disability Rights Louisiana, said the organization has received complaints about “children as young as 6 being placed into involuntary inpatient mental health care units through an emergency certificate.”
Commission on Civil Rights — a bipartisan independent federal commission — held the first of two planned public hearings on the use of Coroner Emergency Certificates to commit people involuntarily The second hearing is scheduled for Oct. 27, and the committee plans to send a report and recommendations to the federal commission.
Those who spoke suggested
changing state laws to require more mental health experts and third-party oversight. Louisiana is the only state in which the involuntary commitment process involves elected coroners, who don’t necessarily have to hold a physician’s license.
Bray spoke a few weeks after she filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Disability Rights Louisiana against Dr Beau Clark, the East
Baton Rouge Parish coroner The lawsuit states that a federal law allows the organization to access records regarding emergency certificates but alleges that Clark’s office has denied this request.
The East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner’s Office did not respond to requests for comment.
Testimony at the most recent meeting began with Dr Joshua Sanderson, a part-time deputy coroner in Lafayette, Jefferson and
BY STEPHEN MARCANTEL Staff writer
ABOVE: Runners speed past the Children’s Museum of Acadiana after the start during the Downtown Lafayette 8K road race hosted by Cajun Road Runners at Parc Sans Souci on Saturday in Lafayette.
LEFT: Runner Alyssa Ford races past her family
STAFF PHOTOS By BRAD KEMP
Lacy’s attorney questions police narrative
Lawyer says former LSU player not at fault in fatal crash
BY QUINN COFFMAN Staff writer
The attorney for former LSU wide receiver Kyren Lacy, who was accused of negligent homicide and who took his own life in April, questioned the Louisiana State Police’s narrative of the original crash on a Houma TV show Friday
Attorney Matt Ory represented Lacy in January, when the 24-year-old turned himself in to State Police on counts of negligent homicide, felony hit-and-run and reckless operation of a vehicle.
However, on Friday, Ory appeared on the HTV 10 news station in Houma to state that Lacy couldn’t have caused the Dec. 17, 2024, crash.
Citing a report from the Lafourche Parish District Attorney’s Office, Ory said Lacy’s car was nearly a football field’s length behind the head-on collision that killed 78-year-old Herman Hall, of Thibodaux.
State Police statements from the day of Lacy’s arrest indicate that his Dodge Charger illegally passed multiple vehicles, causing a Kia Cadenza to swerve to avoid the Charger, which then crashed head-on with a Kia Sorrento traveling in the opposite direction.
Hall a passenger in the Sorrento, was transported to a hospital where he died from his injuries.
Ory said that despite Lacy illegally passing four other vehicles, he was nearly 100 yards behind
the cars involved in the head-on collision, which Ory said is too far for him to be considered responsible.
In a statement released Friday evening, State Police said they conducted a detailed investigation with the assistance of crash reconstruction experts and with all available information at the time.
“Investigative findings revealed that Mr Lacy’s reckless driving while approaching oncoming traffic led to the events of the crash.
The findings were presented to the 17th Judicial District Court, which approved an arrest warrant based on the evidence collected. As with all investigations leading to arrest, the subjects of the investigation are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law,” the statement reads.
“No one disputes that he was behind the crash scene. His swerving, passing cars and reckless operation caused the series of crash events.”
Ory also showed police bodycamera footage of a post-crash interview between an officer and one of the drivers involved in the crash. In it, the officer can be heard asking the witness to include in his written report how hard he had to brake to avoid Lacy’s Charger
Ory said the details the officer was asking the driver to include in the report, specifically that the driver had to use the emergency brake to avoid Lacy’s Charger, were not consistent with how the witness described the crash to the officer earlier, based on body camera footage.
The witness did not sign the post-crash statement mentioning emergency braking, Ory said.
LSU wide receiver Kyren Lacy stands in the end zone before the game against Nicholls on Sept. 7, 2024, at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. Lacy was later accused of negligent homicide and took his own life in April.
Lacy took his life in Houston in April with a self-inflicted gunshot.
According to Ory Lacy’s death came days before a grand jury hearing on his case, where Ory believes the Lafourche Parish district attorney’s findings would have vindicated Lacy
Quoting the final line of the Lafourche Parish District Attorney’s Office report, Ory said, “The evidence submitted in the crash report does not support that Kyren Lacy should have known that his actions were the cause of the crash that happened approximately 72 yards in front of him.”
To criminally indict a suspect on a homicide charge in Lafourche Parish a grand jury must be
called, Ory said.
Lacy was a three-star recruit who began his collegiate career at UL before transferring to LSU before the 2022 season. In three years with the Tigers, he caught 112 passes for 1,692 yards and 16 touchdowns. One of those scores was the 25-yard touchdown reception that decided LSU’s Oct. 12, 2024, overtime win over Ole Miss in Tiger Stadium.
In March, Lacy participated in LSU’s pro day He was not invited to the NFL’s scouting combine, despite being expected to be chosen in the 2024 draft, which began 11 days after his death. Reed Darcey contributed to this story
UNO could see name change under LSU, leader says
Some students unfazed; others say ‘it’ll always be UNO’
BY MARIE FAZIO Staff writer
The “UNO proud” stickers that adorn cars across the city, and the gray and blue apparel that fills the University of New Orleans bookstore could soon become collectors’ items.
That’s because UNO could get a new name and brand identity when it joins the LSU system in the near future.
“For this to really work, it’s going to have to be LSU New Orleans,” LSU interim President Matt Lee told the state Board of Regents last week, “because you’re marrying two well-known brands.”
On campus, UNO students expressed mixed feelings this week about the potential name change and trading UNO’s blue and gray for LSU’s purple and gold Some thought it could bring more attention to the lakefront university, which has struggled to attract students in recent years Others worried that UNO’s unique iden-
YOUTH
Continued from page 1B
one of the leading causes of death for youth ages 10–24 in the state. For many advisory council members, those statistics show why mental health is a part of school safety “It’s not just about preventing violence; it’s about making sure students feel supported every day,” said Purba Das, a senior at Lafayette High She said greater access to mental health counselors and equitable funding for school resources are essential. Etié said the council sees mental health as a foundation for everything else they’re working toward. “If students aren’t well, nothing else in the classroom really works,” he said. Beyond safety and mental health, council members are pushing to increase youth involvement in civic matters. Lopes-Morgan, who additionally serves as the student representative on the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, said the council helps to make policy changes easier to understand for students.
“A lot of students don’t know about LYAC or even how our legislative process works,” she said. “Sometimes it’s hard for teenagers to figure out who they can talk to about issues. LYAC shows us that politics is affect our every-
tity would be lost. Still others said they don’t care either way, as long as tuition doesn’t increase.
“To me it’ll always be UNO,” said Alixx Williams, a graduate student working the front desk of the University Center
Returning to its LSU roots
The proposed name change would actually take UNO back to its roots
The university was founded as LSUNO in 1956, but students successfully advocated for the university to drop “LS” from its moniker in 1974. UNO later moved to the University of Louisiana system, but this year state lawmakers passed legislation to return the campus to the LSU system.
Supporters hope the move, which UNO’s accrediting body must still approve, will help shore up the school’s finances and dwindling enrollment by giving it access to LSU’s greater resources and growing student population.
UNO president Kathy Johnson said a transition team would launch this month, comprised of officials from both universities. They are expected to create a transition plan, which is due to
the state by July that will likely include changes to UNO’s programs and branding.
In his comments to the Board of Regents, Lee said that LSU’s brand is recognized around the world: When he’s worn purple and gold in Honduras, Belize and Hawaii, strangers have told him, “Go Tigers.”
Merging the brands, he said, would “help get all eyes on New Orleans for that institution.”
Johnson said in an email that she is “100% in support” of whatever LSU’s board of supervisors decides to call UNO, adding that she expects other stakeholders to have some input.
“I very much trust the process that will be put in place to ensure that there is the opportunity for all constituent groups (business leaders and community leaders, students, alumni, faculty and staff) to weigh in on the name and brand,” she said.
Students mixed Even though the return to “LSUNO” isn’t yet official, students across campus this week already had thoughts on what the proposed rebranding could mean for their school.
Some said the new name could
be beneficial. Jack Matthews a graduate student studying chemistry, said adding LSU to UNO’s name would make it easier to find online.
“It’s very hard to Google,” Matthews said, noting that sometimes UNO the card game and University of Nebraska at Omaha appear first on search results.
Jasmine Jackson and Taliya Edmond, both seniors, said they were neutral about the new name but thought it could generate new interest in the university
Other students were hesitant and thought it could hurt UNO’s identity “The values of UNO and the values of LSU are different,” said freshman Kelvin Scott, who grew up in Baton Rouge. LSU is “more on the conservative side,” he said, while “UNO is for everyone.”
Nearly all students mentioned concerns that tuition would increase.
Camryn Mayeux, a freshman mechanical engineering major, said that rebranding the school wouldn’t necessarily change how people refer to it.
“Even if we change the name,” she said, “I think people will call it UNO.”
day lives.” The council members are determined to reverse national trends locally through safety initiatives and by connecting students statewide to civic opportunities “We’re not just the leaders of tomorrow,” Etié said. “We’re lead-
ers now.” To apply for next year’s council, visit house.louisiana.gov. Applicants must be between the ages of 14 and 19, and enrolled in a public or private high school, a homeschool program or a GED skills program. Three members
are appointed from each of the state’s six congressional districts, and the remaining members are at-large appointees.
Email Ja’kori Madison at jakori.madison@theadvocate. com.
Continued from page 1B
St. Tammany parishes, discussing the way physicians and coroners must weigh competing interests when evaluating people.
“Our society has long recognized that certain mental conditions at specific times may result in individuals being dangerous to themselves, dangerous to others or gravely disabled,” he said. “And this presents a conflict: a conflict between individual interests and government interests where a clinician has to weigh the patient’s right to freedom with either the protection of other citizens or even the protection from the patients themselves.”
A 15-day involuntary commitment begins with a certificate — issued by a physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner or psychologist that allows people to be involuntarily committed for up to 72 hours, Sanderson said.
Once someone is committed, a coroner or deputy coroner of the parish can then execute a CEC within those 72 hours after evaluating the person That document confines the patient for up to 15 days; for confinement beyond that, Sanderson said a physician must file a petition in court.
Those who testified before the committee alleged that the laws allow those without mental health training to improperly commit people who don’t necessarily need it.
Kathy Cook, the deputy general counsel of the Louisiana Mental Health Advocacy Service, said state law waives the requirement for a coroner to be a licensed physician. While around 58 coroners in Louisiana are medical doctors, Cook said the remaining few include a farmer, mortician and an esthetician.
Those who spoke also said records and complaints have shown emergency certificates used in cases not requiring such drastic measures. Bray pointed to the cases involving children, stating that schools have sometimes started the emergency certificate process.
“They are initiating the CEC process to remove the child from the school environment, which is a separate concern because the child is in need of services in the school setting that aren’t being provided,” Bray said. “The CEC just isn’t the appropriate vehicle to address the child’s needs.”
Additionally she said that while state law requires deputy coroners to have at least the same qualifications as the coroner, emergency certificate records obtained by Disability Rights Louisiana showed violations of that law
Seeking more information on the number and use of emergency certificates, Disability Rights Louisiana asked for records from various parish coroners. A federal law allows that organization to access such records when there is probable cause to believe individuals have been subject to abuse and neglect, Bray said. That has been denied in East Baton Rouge Parish, according to a lawsuit recently filed by Bray on behalf of Disability Rights Louisiana. Submitted Sept. 12 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, the lawsuit seeks access to the CEC records maintained by the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner’s Office. The East Baton Rouge Coroner’s Office has yet to file an answer to the lawsuit in court. Recent separate court records shed some light on the number of CECs issued by that office. Seeking reimbursement for CECs issued for St. Tammany Parish residents, the East Baton Rouge Coroner’s Office sued the St. Tammany coroner in the 19th Judicial District Court earlier this year
According to evidence filed in that lawsuit, the Baton Rouge coroner filed 65 certificates between late March 2023 and the end of September 2024. The coroner issued three certificates on one day in 2023 and issued two on several days in 2023 and 2024.
Email Christopher Cartwright at christopher.cartwright@ theadvocate.com.
PROVIDED PHOTO By LyAC
The Legislative youth Advisory Council appears with state Sen. Rick Edmonds.
STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON
Obituaries
Deborah Ann "Debby" Ayers, 74, born October 5, 1950 in New Orleans to Captain William Manchester Ayers and Mary Epsie Hampton Ayers has passed away on Sept 19, 2025 after ashort illness at East Jefferson Hospital. She married Walter Murray Adams, III on June 21, 1986 at Carrolton Street United Methodist Church and they enjoyed 39 yearsofa happy marriage.
Debby worked for many
yearsather father'sbusiness, Ayers Steamship Company, which was foundedin1960.She also served in the diplomatic corps as Honorary Consul of Senegal. Debby was a masteratquiltmaking jewelry designand construction and enjoyed many of the finerestaurantsinthe area. Debby likedbuilding familytrees on Ancestryand was a gentle soul who loved everyone, madefriends with everyoneshe met and had an infectious laugh. Her husband, familyand friends will deeply mourn herloss.
Debby was precededin death by her brother Jerome Ayers, herparents and her stepmother Wilmuth Rosalie Burns Ayers. She is survived by her husband Walter,sister CynthiaAyers Kelly(Steve) of Gretna, VA and brother James F. Rivera of Covington, LA, along with many nieces and nephews.
Arrangements are being handled by Tharp Funeral Home in Metairie and her servicehas yettobe
scheduled "Wherever abeautiful soul has been, thereisa trailofbeautiful
memories."
Hadley, Judith Ann
JudithAnn Hadley, 79, of Lafayette,Louisiana,Key West, Floridaand Winter Springs, Florida, passed away peacefully on September 11, 2025. A belovedwife,mother, grandmother,sister, teacher,and friend to many, Judywillberemembered most forher sharp intellect, boldspirit,and thegenerosity she poured intoher lovedones, her students, and her community over thecourse of her life
BornonSeptember 4, 1946, in NewIberia, Louisiana, Judywas the cherished daughter of Myrtleand Harold McManusand sisterto James and John McManus. From ayoung age, she exhibitedboth intelligence and determination-qualities that would come to define her life and career. She pursuedhighereducation with tenacity, earning bothher bachelor's degree and MBA from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, setting the stagefor aremarkable career. Judyfound hertrue calling in teaching and spent 32 impactful years as a Speech and Debate teacher at Lafayette High School. To her students, she was not onlyaneducator butalso amentor and advocate, pushing each one to believeintheir own potential. Known forher stubborn streak, willingness to challenge and a dangerouslyaccurate throwing arm, she instilled in her studentsthe power of speaking up,standing firm, and embracing originality.For countless young
people, Judy'sclassroom became aplace of growth, creativity, andtransformation -a legacy she leaves behind with pride After retiringtoKey West,Florida, Judy poured herenergyinto community organizations close to her heart..meeting newpeople andsharinglife'sexperienceswherevershe went In retirement, Judy extended herlove for community andthe artsbyvolunteeringwith organizations such as theKey West ToastmastersClub, the KeyWestFringeTheater, andTropicCinema, immersing herselfinthe vibrant culturalcommunity she so adored. Judy is survived by her husband, FrancisHadley; herdaughter, Amy Hadley; hergranddaughter, Ella; andher brothers, James andJohnMcManus. She wasprecededindeathby herson,Craig Hadley, and herparents, Myrtle and Harold McManus.
Aservice to celebrate Judy'sremarkable life will be held on Saturday, October11, at 11:00 a.m. at Delhomme Funeral Home, 1011 BertrandDrive,
Lafayette, Louisiana. Areception will follow at aprivateresidence, wherefamilyand friends are invited to gatherinremembrance of herextraordinary legacy Personal condolences may be sent to thefamily of Judith AnnHadleyat: www.delhommefuneralho me.com Judith Ann Hadleyand herfamilywerecared for andentrustedwithfinal arrangementsto Delhomme Funeral Home 1011 BertrandDrive, Lafayette, LA.
Printsubscriber but
Adams, Deborah Ann 'Debby'
OPINION
OUR VIEWS
Hurricane threat evaluations need to evolve
As we move into Octoberand pastthe peakof hurricane season, we can be grateful thatLouisiana hasn’thad to face amajor hurricane so far this year
But what constitutes a major hurricane? That’s something that researchers are beginning to reevaluate as climate change makesitlikelythat future hurricanes will lead to more devastating storm surge and floodinginareas that have not previously beenaffected.
The scale we grew up with, the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, hasbeen used by the National Hurricane Center since 1973.Itwas developed by engineer HerbertSaffir and meteorologist Robert Simpson in 1971 to rate hurricanes based on their severity.The scale,asmostevery Louisianan knows, is basedona tropical storm’s maximum sustained winds. Itranks storms from Category 1to5,withanything at or above aCategory3—withamaximumwind speedof 111mph or higher—being consideredamajor hurricane.
Now,some researchers are working anew scale, one that wouldconsiderthe threatposed by water as well as wind.It’scalledTropical Cyclone Severity Scale, and it would classifystorms based on three separate categories —wind, rain and storm surge —assigning arankfrom 1to5 for each. And there would be afourth category that would give acombined rank forall three of thethreats Accordingtoresearchers at the University of South Florida who are developing the scale, the wayitwould work is that if astorm rankedCategory3orabove in more thanone category, its overallrankwould rise to the next category They say it would give the public atruer picture of the dangers astorm poses asthose in its pathdecide whether or not to evacuate.They note that wind generallyaccountsfor about 10% of hurricane fatalities, while rain and storm surge account for around 30% and 50% respectively We find this line of reasoning very compelling. Louisianans have experienced more storms in recent years that haveproducedsignificant localized flooding that took many by surprise. We know that forecasting methods arealways improving. But to reallyimprove disasterpreparedness andresponse, communicationofthe variousthreatstothe public also needs to evolve Earlier this year,some meteorologists alsoproposed possibly adding aCategory6 designation to the Saffir-Simpson scale.While wewould not be so bold as to say whichchanges should ultimately be widely adopted, it gives us confidence to know that scientists and researchers continue to look for ways to better inform us andkeep us safer We pray that the remainderofhurricane seasonisquiet, but if not, it’simportant to rememberthat paying attention to the forecast and the advicefrom the experts is the surestway to make the best decisions for you and your loved ones
LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE AREOUR
GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’scity of residence
TheAdvocate |The Times-Picayune require astreet address andphone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor,The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@ theadvocate.com. TO SEND US A
Trumpputsenergyinthe executive
Whatever else you want to say about him,President Donald Trumphas what Alexander Hamilton in Federalist No. 70 called “energy in theexecutive.”
Announcing apeace plan for Israel and Hamas, ordering the dispatch of federal troops to protect immigration enforcementpersonnel in “sanctuary” states, authorizing his budget director touse reorganization powers available after Senate Democrats shut down the government,and announcing a pediatric cancer initiative.
adults were asked which party has the “better plan.”
to positions overwhelmingly unpopular with the wider electorate.
No one can seriously argue that this is apassive presidency,though some may say that Trumpisnot promoting “the steady administration of the laws” and the “protection of property” that Hamilton argued is what an energetic executive should provide.
Butthe appropriatequestion in the off-year elections to be held 13 months from now and in the2028 election in which Trumpisineligible to seek another term is, compared to what? Opposition to Trump, distastefor his personal style, dismay at his ignorance, or ignoring of norms of political politeness —such responses don’tseem to be producing asurge of support for his Democratic opponents.
Striking evidence of this comes in a Reuters/Ipsos nationwide poll conducted Sept. 19-21. On 11 different issues,
Pluralities preferred Republicans’ plans on seven of the 11 issues. Democrats’ plans werepreferred by significantmargins only on healthcare, women’s rights and theenvironment. In acountry that reelected Trumpbya50% to 48% popular vote margin, preferences forRepublicans were lopsided on someissues: crime (40% to 20%), immigration (40% to 22%), foreign conflicts (35% to 22%) and the United States economy(34%to24%).
CNN polling analyst Harry Enten, reporting on similar numbers on crime, immigration, and the economy in aCNN poll, exclaimed, “What are you doing, Democrats? Goodness gracious.”
Even morethan in the 2024 campaign, Americanshave had recent experience with both Democratic and Republican administrations, and there’snot much question that, despitehis idiosyncrasies, they prefer Trump’stoBiden’s. Democrats are in the uncomfortable position of appeasingwhat has become theparty’sdominant constituency,affluent whitecollege graduates, many of whom suffer from what their critics call Trumpderangement syndrome and who demand unstinting adherence
One of those is immigration. Trump is taking an aggressive step in stationing federal troops in states where mobsthreaten Immigration and CustomsEnforcement personnel enforcing federal law.But the “sanctuary” state and city policies instituted by Democratic officials and supported by Democrats’ upscale core constituency are an aggressive attempt to counteract the Constitution’ssupremacy clause.
There’sanecho here of Andrew Jackson’sdispatch of federal troops to the South Carolina border when John C. Calhoun’sacolytes tried to nullify federal law.Some voters may find Trump’sact excessive but reject Democrats’ covert support what amounts to “open borders” immigration policy Meanwhile, Trumpinthe past week has sharply changed his foreign policy on Ukraine by supporting long-distance responses and clampdowns on Russian oil and gas sales, and on Israel and Hamas, by presenting apeace plan, getting Israel’sendorsement, and promising to back it strongly if Hamas doesn’tstop the fighting and free the hostages. It’s hard to deny that we see alot of energy in the executive. Michael Barone is on X, @Michael Barone.
Listeningtothe youngergenerations
It’snosecret that these days, most younger people don’tget their news from traditional news sources. Many turn to social media or podcasts to keep up withthe news of the day.But every once in awhile, we do hear from younger readers. Ihave to say,far from being cynical or disengaged as they are often portrayed, these young people seem sharp. They often express theidealism of youth, but manyare well-versed in what’sgoing on not only in their communities but in theworld. It’sprobably not surprising that the young people who would writetoa newspaper are likely more engaged than average. Still, Ifind it encouraging. It’seasy to get apicture of Gen Z and Gen Alpha from what’s online. But that isn’talways atrue picture. Likewise, it isn’t perhaps fair to judge them by theinfluencers or podcasters who claim alot of young
followers. So manypundits present a very black-and-white version of the issues, but younger generations seem to understandmorenuance than we give them credit for. They have grownupinanage where theinternet has made theworld so much smaller.So they are used to hearing from people from arange of backgrounds and experiences. Perhaps we do them adisservice when we try to paint them with thesame brush.
When Isee younger generations making their voices heard, I’malways impressed. Society often seeks to discount the opinions of youth, but sometimes those opinions have alot to say about the future —afuture that older generations just can’t quite see. So Ido encourage students and other young folks to write to us and let us know what we’re missing. Turning to our letters inbox. For the
week of Sept. 4-11, we received 81 letters. The topic manyofyou wanted to discuss mostinvolved the deployment of National Guard troops to cities around the country,including potentially New Orleans.
We received 10 letters on the topic, with mostopposed to using the military in this way. But there werealso afew letters that said NewOrleans could use the help. Next, we received five letters on the changes madeby Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.at the Department of Health and Human Services. Immigration also continues to be apopular topic, prompting three letters. And rounding out the list of topics, the changes in our weather pages also prompted three letters.
Arnessa Garrett is Deputy Editor | OpinionPage Editor.Emailher at arnessa.garrett@theadvocate.com.
Arnessa Garrett
Michael Barone
COMMENTARY
TheDemocrats absolutely aretoblame forshutdown
Quin Hillyer
Amid the usual posturing from both parties in Congress, one sideinthisweek’s government shutdown theater has been much more reasonable. By every historicalstandard, it is not the Democrats but theRepublicans, with LouisianaSpeaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise as their primary spokesmen, who have been dealing straight. By very definitionand by all procedural realities,the side that votes not to keep government openisthe one that is “shutting down the government.” This is not complicated: Avote to finance government operations is, yes, avote to financegovernment operations. Every Republicanbut one in the House and Senate voted to finance government operations, while the votes against the funding all came from Democrats.
Granted, sometimes one side will try to insert nonessential policychoices ontobasic appropriations bills.Still,ifthosepolicy choices are not usually handled via such appropriations bills,and if theyare controversial, thenthe side insistingonthemis ceding some of the procedural-moralhigh ground. Keeping the governmentopen only by making the opposing side swallow whatamounts to apoison pill is usually considered (forgive the mixed metaphor) to be somewhat dirty pool.
This, though, is where Speaker Johnson’s consistent message has been so right on target, and where Republicansingeneral havebeenonthe side of angels. Johnson keeps noting that the Republicans have beentrying to keep the government open
ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO By MARIAM ZUHAIB
Speaker of the House MikeJohnson, R-Benton, center,speaks during anews conferencetoaddressthe shutdown, at theCapitol on Oct. 1inWashington. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, is overJohnson’sright shoulder
throughNov.21via what is known as a “clean” continuing resolution: Current governmentspending levels and rules,across all agencies, would stay the exact same while negotiations continue, with no extraneouspolicy issues included.
In this latest battle, Democrats have been rejectinganabsolutely clean bill, even though it continues spending levels liberal enough that it is the same amount
signed intolaw by former President Joe Biden. There are no poison pills from theRepublicans, period. Instead, it is the Democrats who have been trying to add an extraneous policy change that Republicans see as apoison pill.
Coming from aparty that is the minority in both chambers of Congress and not in power at the White House either,that takes real gall.
In this case, Democrats are making numerousdemands, thebiggest oneinvolving an extension of special COVID-era health care tax subsidies never intended even by the original 2010 law colloquially known as Obamacare. As The Wall Street Journal editorialists note, the Democrats’ demand would add $450 billion in debt(spread over 10 years) on an already dangerously debtladen budget.
And, as Scalise repeatedly stressed all week, it is undeniable that the alternative pushed by Democratswould repeal multiple sections of law that prohibit federal healthcare funds from going to illegal immigrants. Those provisions actually are a small part of the repeals pushed by Democrats, but theplain language of the Democrats’bill does exactly what Scalise claims.
And yes, overall, the simple fact is that it is theDemocrats pushing for multiple changes in unrelated laws while holding the rest of the government hostage.
Even if you agree with the Democrats’ policy aims in all this, the means they have chosen, namely agovernment shutdown instead of agreeing to aclean continuing resolution while negotiations continue, is one that for decades they and themedia have shrieked against if Republicans even considered employing it under
different (and arguably more excusable) political circumstances.
Forgive the personal references, but I’ve experiencedgovernment shutdowns from two angles. First, as aReagan White House appointeetothe Veterans Administration, Iand 500,000 other federal employees were furloughedfor aday because Congress failed to pass spending bills on time.The secondangle came when Iwas working on the House Appropriations CommitteeunderLouisiana’s ownBob Livingston, when President Bill Clintonvetoed ourbills because he said we weren’tspending enough money
This is thus asystem that, from hard experience, Iknow well.
In every single shutdownI can remember,the gold standard forfair and responsible legislative action —asDemocrats themselves have said foryears and years and years —isaclean continuing resolution of the sort Johnson and Scalise pushed through the House. There is no good excuse forSenate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer to keep urging his colleagues to shut downthe government.
It wasnot aRepublican but Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine whosaid on Wednesday that “This government shutdownisthe result of hardball politics driven by the demands far-leftgroups are making forDemocratic Party leaders to put on ashow of their opposition to President Trump.”
Or,asScalise said on Fox News on Thursday,“Don’t hold the American people hostage while Chuck Schumer has atantrum.”
Email Quin Hillyer at quin.hillyer@ theadvocate.com
In some towns, defundingthe police is unavoidable
Are police aluxury?
For some Louisiana small towns, they are. Arapidly growing list of Louisiana municipalities have decided in recent months that their police forces are abudget line that must be trimmed. In one example, the 1,200-resident town of Killian in Livingston Parish in August dissolved its three-officer departmentinfavor of aone-year temporary agreement with the LivingstonParishSheriff’sOffice.
The move, Mayor Caleb Atwell said, was solelydue to finances. Killian hadonly afew thousand dollars in the bank when he took office in July,and much of that was already earmarked for existing invoices. So moves had to be made. Residents were not pleased, but Atwellwas stuck in what he called a“no-win”situation. Afterall, lastyear thecity
dealt with awater crisis that cost hundredsofthousands of dollars. And when you are trying to decide between pumping clean water through residents’ tapsor
paying for equipment and training for cops, well, the police force hasgot to go. Getting police coverage from the sheriffwill cost thetown about
$100,000 peryear,Atwell said, compared to the approximately $216,000 the city wasspending to support twoofficers and achief. Atwell said he will consult with town residents about apossible taxtobring the police department back. Good luckwith that. It would be one thing if Killian were an outlier.But it’snot.
Just in thelast fewmonths, Elton in southwest Louisiana and Colfax in central Louisiana have madesimilar moves. Officials in bothplaces told local media that finances werethe driver.InSimmesport,incentral Louisiana, thetown’sfiscal administrator —someone brought in to right a rapidly sinking financial ship eliminated the position of police chief and transferred his duties to thetown’smayor in order to help get thetown back to “financial stability.”
These closures are yet another flashing lightwarning of the state’srural crisis. Many of these townsare like Killian, confront-
ing anumber of challenges from declining population to broken pipes. They don’thate cops; they just can’tafford them It’snot hard to see why.Police officers require equipment, vehicles and training. Towns and villages are required to pay into the state municipal police retirement system. At one time, these tiny departments may have madesense. But not anymore. The dilemmas faced in Colfax, Killian, Elton and Simmesport are likely to be repeated in moreand moreplaces in the coming months. In recent years, the phrase “defund the police” has been a rallying cry forsome and fighting words forothers, especially in red states. But in Louisiana, it’s already happening, not because of someattack on “the blue,” but because of alack of green.
Faimon A. Roberts III can be reached at froberts@ theadvocate.com.
CharlieKirk’sdeath revealsheroes—and hypocrites
In the time since Tyler Robinson was charged with fatally shooting Charlie Kirk, I’vebeen thinking about Robinson’s parents. Despite their anguish and fear,they convinced their son to surrender to the police instead of becoming accessories after the fact. It was the right thing to do, but it’saheroically unnaturaldecision.The instinct is to shelter your wayward kin, take care of your tribe and letsociety fend for itself. Civilization asks us to rise above those base instincts, to endorseand enforce universal principles rather than the primal logic of “us” and “them.”But few of us face such a big challenge. Ispent the past decade watching conservatives complain about “cancel culture” and government attacks on free speech. And then, Iwatched them enact thesevery thingsonagrander scale: Social media mobs hounding random nobodies out of their jobs; the government pushing companies to censor speech.
and their accomplices —make an about-face and start saluting the First Amendment
ega McArdle M n
Progressive online hordes might have gotten people undeservedly fired, but at least they weren’t cheered on by the vice president of the United States. The Biden administration might have threatened social media companies with regulatory retaliation fornot cracking down on “misinformation” enthusiastically enough. However,atleast those officials didn’t go on apodcast —like Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr —and threaten to revoke thelicenses of ABC affiliates unless they pulled Jimmy Kimmel off theair
This weapons-grade hypocrisy was thework of asmall number of conservatives, but it was supportedonlinebymany more. Admittedly,there’s acertain insinceritytothe left’sbelated discovery of theimportance of free speech. Ihavehad to stop drinkingbeverages while scrolling social media, lest Ichoke on my own mordant laughter as Iwatch prominent cancellation artists
However silly progressives look, at least they are now pointed in the right direction, while conservatives are headed in the wrong one.
Ourfidelitytounnatural principles, such as free speech, is the foundation of civilization today Youcannot run amodern industrial society on tribal loyalties and personal judgmentsthat work well for asmall band of foragers. When those principles are working, it’seasy to forget how fragile that negotiated truce is, and how much we need it.Our ancient instinctsreassert themselves, and we look for ways to weasel out of thesocial contract. After all, no matter how much lip service we pay to principles, it feels gloriously right to punish those odious outsiders who have offended our mostsacred values. So we invent reasons that this is different
That’show some progressives came to believe that they could use theoutsize power they had amassed on social media to re-
write the rules unilaterally.Social justice was different; free speech was atool of the oppressor,sonaturally,they granted immunity to themselves while cracking down on the other side. They are now discoveringwhere that ends. Having abandoned the clear and unforgiving principles of free speech, they have little to protect them now except achild’s plaint:That’snot what Imeant! Conservatives will be equally unprotected when the wormturns again and Democrats have the FCC at their disposal. We could spend years battering each other until there is nothing leftofour tattered democracy.Orwecould choose to restore the old truce. By “we” Idon’tmean some vague, collective “we.” Imean you and me. And I’mafraid we can’tjust shout about the horrible behavior of people we disagree with —verysatisfying, and very ineffective. Your side is the one you can influence, so that’swhere you should concentrate your fire, even if the other side’sbehavior seemsobjectively worse. Onemight ask whether it’sreal-
istic to demand people rise above their instincts in this bitterly partisan age, especially when so manyoftheir opponents are failing to do so.
Charlie Kirk’swidow did the right thing. Her husband wasassassinated over politics, leaving her children without afather Erika Kirk didn’tgive in to the natural impulse to rail against her political enemies, like certain U.S. presidents Icould name. Instead, she gave abeautiful eulogy in which she forgave her husband’s killer on principle, and reaffirmed Charlie’scommitment to many other principles —amongthem, the First Amendment. This seems both extraordinary and entirely reasonable, because she, of all people, knowswhere the other wayisleading us.
“When you stop the conversation, when you stop the dialogue —this is what happens,” she said. “When we lose the ability and the willingness to communicate, we get violence.”
MeganMcArdle in on X, @asymmetricinfo.
PHOTO By DAVID NORMAND
Livingston Parish Sheriffdeputies are shown parked in front of LiveOak Middle School located on Cecil DriveinWatson.
Faimon Roberts
CLUB NO DUB
BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer
If Spencer Rattler glanced at the stands as he walked into thevisitors’ tunnel two weeks ago, he’d have noticed aSeattle Seahawks fan holding up asign that taunted the New Orleans Saints —and included a message just for Rattler “0-8 NFL CAREERQB,” the top line of the cardboard read Rattler’swell aware of thediscourse. Last week, the 25-year-old becamethe ninth quarterbackinNFL historytolose his first 10 starts. These days, Rattler seemingly can’tbe mentioned without that record throwninhis face. Barstool Sports’ popular“Pardon My Take”podcast did asegmentabout “the illustrious 0-10 club” before Rattlerofficially joined. Socialmedia comments, as always, can be acesspool.
“It is what it is,” Rattler said. “When you’re the quarterback, it’sgoing to be part of the territory.”
Each day,Rattler arrives as early as two hours before the Saints’ 8a.m. team meeting to review that week’s game plan andstartthe necessaryprep it takesto be an NFLquarterback.Eachweek,those efforts have not been enough
See RATTLER, page 5C
agameatthe
BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer
The new UL men’sbasketball coaching staff hopes theRagin’ Cajuns will be athletic and aggressivelydefend on the perimeter
But it’sdifficult for any defense to truly shine without rim protectors.
Practice for the 2025 season isn’t even two weeks oldyet, so theRagin’ Cajuns are just scratching the surface of their preparation for theseason opener Nov.3at Ball
State But coach Quannas White sees the potential for afew shot blockers on the roster,including 6-foot-9 Portland transfer Todd Jones.
“A lot of these guys’ best basketballisgoing to be ahead of them, and Todd’sone of those guys,but he’sreally talented,” White said. “Anytime you can protect the basket and block shots with your left
hand andthat’snot your dominant hand, youhave thepotential of beingone of thebest rim protecters in the country.”
Originally from Boothville, Jones played high school ball at Newman in New Orleans and then elected to signwithPortland.
“Going far away from home is something Iwanted to do,” Jones said. “You know,just get out of the state, get outof New Orleans for a change. Ijust wanted achange of scenery.”
Other potential landing spots for Jones were IUPUI andNorth Alabama
On the court, Jones averaged 2.8 points,2.5 reboundsand 0.6blocks over 24 games (seven starts) as a true freshman.
Off the court, the social adjustmentsofbeingthat far from home weren’tthat difficult for Jones
“It was actually notasbad as I expected,” he said. “A lot of them
(teammates) came from different places. We had alot of international guys from places likeAustralia and Serbia, so being with them every day, bonding with them every day madeiteasier for me.”
But when White, the newUL coach withNew Orleans connections, contacted Jones outofthe transfer portal, he knewitwas time to come home.
“I mean,being from the city,it’s always something,” Jones said.
“You want to put on for the city.So to come andhelp him put on for the city,that’s agreat feeling.”
Naturally,Lafayette is awhole lot closer to his family thanthe Great Northwest. “It wasn’taneasy decision, but it was adecision that Ihad to make for the betterment of me,Ifeel like,” Jones said. “There were somepersonal things going on,so
Youtypically wouldn’tcall the fifth gameofanNFL season amust-win.
But when the NewOrleans Saints host the NewYork Giants on Sunday, that’ssurely what it feels like. There are no playoffimplications Sunday.(“PLAYOFFS?”, former Saints head coach Jim Mora probably would scream about this team’spostseason hopes.) And no, first-year Saints head coach Kellen Moore is nowhere near being on the hot seat if he loses.
But when you’re on an eight-game losing steak, including four losses to start off the Moore era, awin is necessary forthe sake of morale. That’sboth the morale in the locker room and the morale of afan base that hasn’ttasted victory at homein322 days.
To Moore’scredit, his players are still bought in, and the Giants are the best chance yet forthe Saints to get Moore career winNo. 1.
If not now,then when? The Saints probably won’tbefavored again until the New York Jets come to town in late December
The Saints put up agood fight in apair of single-digit losses to the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers in the Dome to start the season. The road games in Seattle and Buffalo were long shots. When the NFLannounced the Saints’ schedule in May,0-4 wasareal possibility.And here they are. Nowthe Saints get awinnable home gameagainst the Giants.
Even the oddsmakers in Vegas are giving the Saints achance. They are 11/2-point favorites.
It’s the first timesince December the Saints are favored. That wasin Derek Carr’sfinal gameasthe starting quarterback. The Saints won that day,beating these sameGiants in East Rutherford, New Jersey,inagame that wasn’tdecided until Bryan Bresee blocked apotential game-tying field goal with 11 seconds left.
The Saints haven’twon since. And forthe mostpart, they haven’t been expected to. This weekthey are. Do those expectations increase the urgency forMoore?
“No, Ihaven’treally thought about that,” he said. “Obviously,our guys know we’ve madesome progress. Ithought there was someprogress madelast week. We didn’tget the ultimatejob done, but Ithought there was progress, and our guys should have confidence coming out of that gamein Buffalo that we’re close. Obviously,the opportunity presents itself to go play against areally good team.”
Describing the Giants as “really” good is abit of astretch.
Rod Walker
STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler throws under pressure by the SanFrancisco49ers defense during the first half of
Caesars Superdome on Sept. 14.
PHOTO By BENJAMIN R. MASSEy Portland transfer Todd Jones works on his offensive game in practice in preparation
season.
STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE
Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler runs the ball as Arizona Cardinals linebacker Mack Wilson defends during thesecond halfofa game on Sept. 7at the CaesarsSuperdome
On TV AUTO RACING
6:55 a.m. F1: Singapore GP ESPN
2p.m. NASCAR: Bank of America 400 USA
MEN’S COLLEGE SOCCER
5p.m. Virginia at NC State ACC
WOMEN’SCOLLEGE SOCCER
1p.m. California at SMU ACC
1p.m. Ohio St. at Michigan St. BTN
2p.m. Alabama at Missouri SEC
3p.m.Pittsburgh at North CarolinaACC
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11 a.m. Georgia Tech at PittsburghACC NoonGeorgia at South CarolinaSEC
3p.m. Penn St. at MarylandBTN
4p.m. Louisville at Stanford ESPN
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3p.m. Breeders’ Cup ChallengeNBC
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALLPLAYOFFS
3:05 p.m. N.y.yankees at Toronto FS1
7p.m. Detroit at Seattle FS1 NBA PRESEASON
7:30 p.m. L.A. Lakers at Golden State ESPN NFL
8:30 a.m. Minnesota vs. Cleveland NFL
Noon N.y. Giants at NewOrleans CBS Noon DallasatN.y.Jets Fox
3:25 p.m. Washington at L.A. Chargers Fox
7:20 p.m. NewEngland at Buffalo NBC
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RODEO
11:30 a.m.PBR: Team seriesCW
4p.m.PBR: Team series* CBS MEN’S SOCCER
5:55 a.m. Norwich City at Ipswich CBSSN
8a.m. Nottingham at Newcastle United USA
10:30 a.m.ManchesterCity at Brentford USA
2:45 p.m.South Africa vs.U.S.FS2
4p.m.Las VegasatRhode Island ESPN2
5:45 p.m.Nigeria vs.Colombia FS2
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Noon San DiegoatWashington ESPN TENNIS
5a.m.Beijing-WTA Final Tennis
10 p.m.Shanghai-ATP Tennis WNBA FINALS
2p.m.PhoenixatLas VegasABC
*taped
Brewersblast Cubs in Game 1
Chourioleads fast start; Milwaukeeleads best-of-five series 1-0
MILWAUKEE Jackson Chourio sparkedMilwaukee’s fast start at the plate, and Freddy Peralta delivered asteadyperformance on the mound.
The Brewers looked more than ready for October Chourio capped Milwaukee’s six-run first inning with atwo-run single, and the Brewers trounced the Chicago Cubs 9-3 on Saturday in Game 1oftheir NL Division Series Hoping for abreakthrough after years of playoff frustration, Milwaukee showed off the same approach that helped the team roll to baseball’sbest record during the regular season. The Brewers ranked third in the majors in scoring this year despite finishingjust 22nd in homers.
It was more of the same in the team’s postseason opener.The NL Central champions had 13 hits and no home runs, while three solo drives accounted for Chicago’s offense.
“The home runs are so important these days, (but) this is scrappinghits together,keeping the line moving, all the clichés that you can think of,” said Blake Perkins, who had two hits for the Brewers.
“It’sfun to be apart of, and I think we all build off of each other.I’m kind of sitting there, too, (thinking), like, ‘Dang, how are we doing this? sometimes.’ It’sa cool feeling, and it’sreally fun to be apart of.”
The only issue for the Brewers on Saturday was Chourio’sright hamstring tightness. He departed in the second after becoming the first player with three hits in the first two inningsofa playoff game.
Game 2ofthe best-of-five series is on Monday night.
Chourio, who missed amonthof the regular season with astrained righthamstring,underwent an MRI after the victory.Manager
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByMORRy GASH
Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio hits an RBIsingle during thesecondinning of Game 1ofthe NLDS againstthe ChicagoCubs on SaturdayinMilwaukee. Chourio, wholeft the game with ahamstring injury, became the first playertohavethreehits in the firsttwo innings of aplayoff game in the Brewers’9-3 win.
Pat Murphy said theinjury “could be devastating,”while Chourio sounded much more optimistic.
“Physically Ifeel good, and I feel in aposition where I’m ready to keep going and keep competing,” he said through an interpreter.
Staked to an early lead, Peralta permitted two runsin5 2 3 innings. Hisnine strikeouts tied Don Sutton,YovaniGallardoand Brandon Woodruff for theBrewers’ singlegame playoff record.
MichaelBusch,Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner homered for Chicago.
Brewers-Cubs games in Milwaukee generally have divided crowds because of all the people who make the 90-mile trip from Chicago, but that wasn’tthe case Saturday. The vast majority of spectators were Brewers fans waving yellow towels and booing CubsmanagerCraig Counsell.
TORONTO— Alejandro Kirk hit two solo home runs, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.also connectedand the Toronto Blue Jays won apostseason game for the first time since 2016 by thumping the New York Yankees 10-1 in Game 1oftheir AL Division Series on Saturday
Nathan Lukes had two hits, three RBIs and adiving catch,and Andrés Giménez added two hits and drove in apair as the AL East champion Blue Jays used 14 hits to snap aseven-game playoff losing streak. Toronto’sprevious postseason win came in Game 4ofthe 2016 ALCS against Cleveland. TheBlue Jays lost that series in fivegames. Torontowas sweptout ofthe wild-card round at Tampa Bayin 2020, at home against Seattle in 2022 and at Minnesota in 2023. Former LSU star Kevin Gaus-
man(1-0) allowed onerun and four hits in 52/3 inningsfor the win. He walked two and struck outthree Guerrero went 3for 4with two RBIs. He opened thescoring with atwo-outdriveinthe first inning, thefirst postseason homer of his career,and addeda sacrifice fly in Toronto’sfour-run seventh. Guerrero enteredwiththree hits and oneRBI in six previous playoff games.
Kirk hit afirst-pitch homerin the second, his first in the postseason,then added asecond shot offPaul Blackburn to begin afourruneighth Toronto has won seven of eight home meetings with New York this season. The Blue Jays went an AL-best54-27 at home in the regular season. Making his third postseason start, New York right-hander Luis Gil (0-1) allowed two runs and four hits in 22/3 innings. The 2024 AL Rookie of the Year walked
Murphy said. “It felt like ahome game. It definitely felt like ahome game.Theyweredifference-makers.”
Counsell,who grew up in the Milwaukee area, is the winningest manager in Brewers history,but he left forChicagoafter the2023 season.
He hasbeen jeered whenever his name has been mentioned over the American Family Fieldloudspeaker since he departed.
Counsell’sdecision to start Matthew Boyd on short rest didn’t work out.The All-Star left-hander was lifted with two out in the first.
The Brewers scored four runs or fewer in their past nine regularseason games. They had gone 2-11 in their past 13 playoff games, scoring over four runs in just one of those contests and failing to exceed five runs in any of them.
This time,theyhad six runsby the end of the first, matching their highestscoring playoff inning in
franchise history
After Busch opened thegame with a389-foot drive over the wall in right-center,Chourio, Brice Turang and WilliamContreras started the bottom half of the first with consecutive doubles.
“I madeafew mistakes early,”
Boyd said. “A little too much plate to Turangand Contreras. It ends up beingthe difference in the game right there.”
Contreras scored from second when Hoerner mishandled aslow grounderfrom Sal Frelick. Perkinscappedan11-pitchatbat with atwo-out RBIsingle to center Michael Soroka walked Joey Ortiz to load the bases and allowed a two-run single to Chourio.
“Bottomline, they had really good at-bats,”Counsell said. “They hit balls hard. They spoiled pitches. The Perkins at-bat was just agreat at-bat.
“You’ve got to give him credit for that.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By NATHAN DENETTE Toronto Blue Jays pitcher KevinGausman reacts to apop flyout against the Newyork yankees during during Game 1ofthe ALDS on Saturday in Toronto. Gausman gotthe win,going 523 innings and allowing one run on four hits withthree strikeouts and twowalks.
none and struck out two. The Yankees didn’tput arunner in scoring position until Anthony Volpedoubled offthe left-field wall to begin the sixth. Austin Wells singled Volpe to third and Trent Grisham walked to load the bases. Gausman struck out Aaron Judge but walked Cody Bellinger to bring homearun.
After Ben Rice poppedout,Louis Varland cameonand struck out Giancarlo Stantononfourpitches, ending the at-batwith a101 mph
Former Jets QB Sanchez arrested after beingstabbed
INDIANAPOLIS Former NFLquarterback and current Fox Sports analyst Mark Sanchez was arrested Saturdayafter he was apparently stabbed in an overnight altercation in downtownIndianapolis. Sanchez, whowas in Indianapolis to call Sunday’sRaiders-Colts game, was charged with battery withinjury, unlawfulentry of a motor vehicle and public intoxication —all misdemeanors.
Indianapolis police said Sanchez was in ahospital and had not been booked into adetention center.He was in stable condition, according to Fox Sports.
Police said theMarion County prosecutor’soffice would make the final charging decision. That office didn’timmediately respond to an inquiry from The Associated Press.
Fuselier’s88-yardTDreturn liftsLamar by Nicholls State BEAUMONT,Texas— AidenMcCown accounted for two touchdowns, Kyndon Fuselierreturned apunt 88 yards into the end zone with 3:41 remainingand No. 20 Lamar beat Nicholls 24-17 on Saturday Fuselierscoredthe only touchdown of thesecond half. Gabriel Showalter kicked a45-yard field goal forNicholls thattiedit17-all midway through the third quarter McCown completed 12 of 22 passes for237 yards forLamar (4-1, 1-0 Southland). He tossed an 85-yard touchdown pass to Blake Thomas on thefirst playfrom scrimmage.
Deuce Hogan scored ashortyardage touchdown run and Shane Leebroke looseona 75-yardtouchdown runtogiveNicholls(1-5, 1-1) a14-7 lead late in the first quarter
Highwinds reduce Dunhill Championship to 54 holes ST.ANDREWS, Scotland The Dunhill Links Championship was reduced to a54-hole tournament with gusts topping 50 mph on Saturday that madethe three courses unplayable.
Robert MacIntyreofScotland, who flew over straight from New York after Team Europe wonthe RyderCup at Bethpage Black,was tied withRichard Sterne of South Africa. MacIntyre,aformerMcNeese State star, will be going for his second European Tour title in Scotland in as manyyears, after winning the Scottish Openlast year at The Renaissance Club. StormAmy kept thesecond round fromfinishing on Friday.It was completed Saturday morning, and then the wind arrived early in the third round.
Antetokounmpo returns to practice after COVID-19
MIAMI— Giannis Antetokounmpo was withthe MilwaukeeBucks in practice for the first time this season Saturday,after missing thefirst fewdays of training campwhile he remained in his native Greece recovering from COVID-19.
Antetokounmpo participated in noncontact work only,Bucks coach DocRivers said. Antetokounmpo arrived in Miami on Friday. The Bucksheld media dayonMonday— Antetokounmpo took part remotely and started camp in Milwaukee on Tuesday,then flew to Miami on Thursday for afew days of workouts at FloridaInternational University in advanceoftheir preseason opener against the Heat on Monday
QB completes 46 straight passestobreak record
fastball. Toronto brokeitopenagainst two Yankees relievers in the seventh. Luke Weaver didn’tretire any of the three battershefaced,leavingafterGiménez’sRBI single through adrawn-in infield. Weaver has not retired any of the six batters he hasfaced this postseason. Fernando Cruz got one outbut walked George Springertoload thebases before Lukes doubled. Guerrero cappedthe rally with his sacrifice fly
SPARTANBURG, S.C. Taron Dickens completed 46 consecutive passes to break theFCS record forconsecutive completions in agame, andthrew threetouchdown passes to lead Western Carolina to a23-21 win over Wofford on Saturdayin aSouthern Conference matchup. Dickens led acomeback win for the Catamounts after the lead changed hands in the late third quarter.Hefound JosiahThomas for 14 yardsona fourth-and-8 with 48 seconds remaining in the game. Marcus Trout, whoseprevious field goal attempt was blocked, made agame-winning 34-yard field goal with 23 seconds remaining after adelay of gamepenalty Dickens was 53 for 56 for 378 yards
STEVE MEGARGEE
Florida upsets No. 9 Texas
By The Associated Press
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — DJ Lagway
threw for a season-high 289 yards and two touchdowns, both to a true freshman making his college debut, and Florida upset No. 9 Texas 29-21 on Saturday to end a threegame skid.
Arch Manning and the Longhorns (3-2, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) had a chance in the final minute thanks partly to a defensive penalty, but he threw incomplete deep and was sacked twice.
Florida (2-3, 1-1) enjoyed its first victory since beating Long Island in the season opener Lagway looked better than he had in four previous starts this season, and Dallas Wilson had a lot to do with it. The Tampa native showed speed, hands and arguably the most physicality of any Florida receiver in years.
Wilson’s 55-yard TD catch late in the third quarter was one of the most impressive plays in the Swamp since Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin dominated opponents regularly
Wilson tossed aside cornerback Kobe Black at the line of scrimmage, spun out of the grasp of safety Jelani McDonald, tiptoed the sideline, ran through McDonald’s second attempt at a tackle and then powered through safety Michael Taaffe at the goal line.
Wilson finished with six catches for 111 yards. It was the best debut for a freshman receiver at Florida in program history Wilson was the star of Florida’s spring game in April but injured his left foot early in fall camp and spent weeks in a walking boot.
He finally returned to practice during Florida’s off week and provided the jolt the Gators needed to end a three-game slide in which they scored 16, 10 and 7 points.
Texas struggled to find consistency in front of a hostile crowd of 90,714 Manning was hurried and harassed all afternoon. He threw for 263 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Manning was sacked seven
times behind a line that got bullied without blitzes in Texas’ first visit to Gainesville since 1940.
UCLA 42, NO. 7 PENN ST 37: In Pasadena, California, Nico Iamaleava ran for three touchdowns and threw for two more, and UCLA upset No. 7 Penn State on Saturday, earning its first win of the season after head coach DeShaun Foster was fired and two coordinators departed.
The Bruins (1-4, 1-1 Big Ten) were 25 1/2-point underdogs at the Rose Bowl, where tight ends coach Jerry Neuheisel called UCLA’s offensive plays for the first time against Penn State’s vaunted defensive coordinator Jim Knowles.
Leading 42-35, UCLA’s Scooter Jackson came up with a huge stop of Drew Allar on 4th and 2 and the Nittany Lions turned the ball over on downs with 37 seconds left. Bruins punter Will Karoll took a safety that made it 42-37.
NO 10 ALABAMA 30, No. 16 VANDERBILT 14: In Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Ty Simpson threw for 340 yards and two touchdowns, leading No. 10 Alabama to a victory over No. 16 Vanderbilt on Saturday Simpson overcame an early interception to complete 23-of-30 passes, finding Germie Bernard and Ryan Williams for touchdowns. Jam Miller ran for 136 yards and a touchdown for the Crimson Tide (4-1, 2-0 SEC). Diego Pavia threw for 183 yards and ran for 58 for Vanderbilt (5-1, 1-1), but threw an interception and lost a fumble. Sedrick Alexander had a 65-yard touchdown run.
NO 12
GEORGIA 35, KENTUCKY 14: In Athens, Georgia, Gunner Stockton and Dillon Bell each had a pair of touchdown runs, leading No. 12 Georgia to a victory over Kentucky as the Bulldogs bounced back resoundingly from a tough loss to Alabama.
Georgia (4-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) finally got off to a quick start, capping its first two possessions with scoring runs from quarterback Stockton. He finished with 48 yards on six carries.
Stockton also completed 15 of 23 passes for 196 yards, including a 16-yard scoring play to Cash Jones. Bell, a receiver who also has played running back, tacked on a pair of 3-yard TD runs with an end around and a reverse. He set up the scoring pass to Jones with a 33-yard catch.
Cutter Boley had 225 yards passing with a couple of touchdowns for Kentucky (2-3, 0-3), but it wasn’t nearly enough to prevent Georgia from winning its 16th straight game in the series.
CINCINNATI 38, NO. 14 IOWA ST. 30: In Cincinnati, Brendan Sorsby passed for 214 yards and two touchdowns, Evan Pryor ran for
111 yards and two TDs and Cincinnati used a 17-point first quarter to beat No. 14 Iowa State on Saturday
The Bearcats (4-1, 2-0 Big 12) beat a ranked opponent at home for the first time since beating No. 16 Houston 35-20 on Dec. 4, 2021.
The Cyclones (5-1, 2-1) trailed 31-7 with 1:08 left in the second quarter before rallying to get within eight with 1:56 left in the game. Cincinnati recovered an onside kick to end the threat.
NO 20 MICHIGAN 24, WISCONSIN 10: In Ann Arbor, Michigan, Bryce Underwood threw for a seasonhigh 270 yards and a touchdown, Justice Haynes ran for 117 yards and two scores and Michigan beat Wisconsin.
The Wolverines (4-1, 2-0 Big Ten) pulled away in the second half when Underwood threw a 29yard touchdown pass to Donaven McCulley late in the third quarter and Haynes had his second short touchdown run early in the fourth.
The Badgers (2-3, 0-2) opened the game with a 12-play 75-yard touchdown drive that took nearly seven minutes off the clock and didn’t score again until Nathanial Vakos kicked a 39-yard field goal late in the game.
Underwood, the nation’s No. 1 recruit last year, completed 19 of 28 passes and had some drops by his teammates.
NO 22 ILLINOIS 43, PURDUE 27: In West Lafayette, Indiana, Luke Altmyer threw for a career-high 390 yards, Hank Beatty had 186 yards receiving and Kaden Feagin added two TD runs to lead Illinois past Purdue.
The Fighting Illini (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten) used their first conference road win to retain the Cannon Trophy for the first time since last beating its border rival in back-to-back
SAINTS GAMEDAY
FOUR THINGS TO WATCH
CARRY-OVER FROM BUFFALO
Considering the competition, the Saints played their best game last week against Buffalo. Now they need to bring that to the Dome on Sunday for their most winnable game thus far Reducing penalties was a point of emphasis for the Saints after being plagued by yellow flags during the first three games. They were averaging just over 10 penalties per game, but they cut that number down to four against the Bills. Special teams still could be better, but after the clunker in Seattle the Saints seemed to have gained some momentum They need to keep it going against the Giants.
CAUSE HAVOC FOR DART
Giants QB Jaxson Dart, a firstround draft pick, made his first start last week in a victory over the Los Angeles Chargers. His numbers weren’t spectacular (1320-111 and a TD, plus 54 yards rushing), but he did enough to get a win. The Saints need to make Dart as uncomfortable as possible in his first road game as a starter He was sacked five times last week, so he’s a quarterback the Saints can get to. Dart, who played at Ole Miss, said this week that playing in the SEC prepared him for loud stadiums.That doesn’t compare to what the Dome can become.
MORE KAMARA, MILLER
The Saints finally got their running game in gear last week When Alvin Kamara (15 carries 70 yards) and Kendre Miller (11 carries, 65 yards) are running like that it makes things
WALKER
This time a week ago, the Giants and Saints were the only winless teams in the NFC. The Giants, with rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart making his first start, got their first win and handed the Los Angeles Chargers their first loss.
“They just beat a team that everyone thought was one of the best teams in the league, a team playing as well as anyone,” Moore said. “They were able to come out and play the game really well. That’s the NFL. Every week is going to be a fun challenge.”
Dart will start in his first NFL road game. Playing in the Dome could be intimidating. Or it could feel like MetLife Stadium if Giants fans take over the Dome like 49ers fans did three weeks ago.
SAINTS
OUT: WR Trey Palmer (ankle), C/G Cesar Ruiz (ankle), DE Chase young (calf), CB Isaac yiadom (hamstring).
QUESTIONABLE: OL Dillon Radunz (toe),TE Juwan Johnson (ankle),T/G Trevor Penning (ankle), QB Taysom Hill (knee),TE Foster Moreau (knee).
GIANTS
OUT: ILB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (hamstring) QUESTIONABLE: DL Dexter Lawrence II (illness), S Tyler Nubin (groin).
Dart will be without his top weapon. Receiver Malik Nabers, a former LSU star, tore his ACL in last week’s game. His season-ending injury is a big reason the Saints are now the favorites. But the Saints will need to be sharp. They can’t revert to the penalties that haunted them the first three games. Or the missed tackles. Or the dropped passes and all the other missed opportunities that have kept them in the loss column.
“We are going in the right direction,” Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler said. “It’s just a few plays each game that we all have to clean up. And we will. I’m confident about that. It’s got to get done, and we’ve got to get it done this week.”
The Saints need it Rattler needs it. He’s 0-10 as a starter This will be his first time starting in a game
the Saints are favored to win. It’s been a while since Saints fans have had much to cheer about. That 2-0 start last season when the whole city was buzzing after the Saints blasted the Carolina Panthers at home and the Dallas Cowboys at Jerry World seems like forever ago. The Saints are a dismal 3-16 since then.
Is this the game they get back on track?
“Every one of these games that I’m in, I figure we are going to win somehow, some way,” defensive end Cam Jordan said. “This week is no different. Now that we are a quarter of
STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
Saints head coach Kellen Moore watches a play that is under review against the San Francisco 49ers at the Caesars Superdome on Sept. 14.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By RUSTy JONES
New york Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart looks to pass during a game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sep 28 in East Rutherford, N.J
RATTLER
This season, theSaintsdo notappear to be losing games because of Rattler’splay.In his second year,hehas shown noticeable improvement. His completion percentage is 10 points higherthan hisrookie year.His turnoverrate is much lower. And for all the strides he’smade in the pass game, he hasbecome one of the more efficientrunning quarterbacks.
But 0-10 is 0-10.
Rattler’sbest bet to get a win is Sunday.The Saints are favoredover the NewYork Giants, marking thefirst time in Rattler’s11starts he’ll go into agame as afavorite.
He is entering apivotal stretch. The Giants game begins athree-week slate against opponents who finished last in their divisions ayear ago.
Coach Kellen Moorepublicly has backed Rattlerand said he doesn’twant his quarterback lookingoverhis shoulder,but thereality is second-round rookie Tyler Shough is waiting in the wings. If Rattler cannot winsoon, how much longer will the Saints be willing to throw him out there before determining achangeis necessary?
If Rattler hasn’tplayed poorly enough to cost the Saints games, there’salso an argument tobemade he hasn’t played well enough to be the main reason to winthem, either.Through the first four games, the 2024 fifth-round pick has had some glaring misses on playsRattleradmitted he needs to make.
As he stoodatalectern this week, Rattler was adamant the losses haven’ttakentheir toll.Ifthere is pressure that increases by the week, he has refusedtoacknowledge it
“I feel like I’m not playing losing football,” he said, adding he’sonly focused on the future. At one point, he pushed his left hand to thesideand used his right to forge ahead.
“You can’ttrip over it,” Rattler said.
Notelite company
Theweight of the situation maybeheavier than Rattler lets on.Heis, afterall, in rare company.Ofthe nine quarterbacks to lose theirfirst 10 starts,three —DeShone Kizer,Zach Mettenberger and Brodie Croyle never won agame at all. They serve as areminder that nothing is guaranteed. Thismoment is Rattler’schance. Some don’tever get another shot.
Warren Moon knows how hard losing canbe. Before he wasaHall of Famer,madenine Pro Bowls and led the NFLin passing, Moon wasinRattler’s predicament Tenstarts. Tenlosses
“When it got to four or five games,you starttowonder ‘OK,what’sgoing on here? When are we going to turnone of these losses into awin?’ ” Moon told the Times-Picayune.
“And then when it got closer to double digits, then you’re start-
ing to really wonder,‘What the heckisgoing on? Are we ever going to win agame therest of the season?’ ”
Thefrustration kicked in Moon,thenwiththe Houston Oilers,said he hardly could go anywhere in town without hearing how poorly he was performing. His family also received the blowback, even after Moon finally snappedthe losing streak to finishhis rookie season 3-13.The next year, when theOilers still struggled, Moon said he had his wife and childrenwatch thegames from aluxurybox so they didn’t have to hear “some of the things people were saying about me.” It didn’thelpthatMoonarrived in Houstonwithenormous expectations, signing with theOilers afterbecomingafive-time champion in the Canadian FootballLeague.
Moon said he started putting pressure on himselftoplay better. Each week, the former quarterback felthewas improving —which, in some ways,madethe losing streak more frustrating. Like Rattler, he was progressing without the wins to show forit. What else didheand theteam need to do, he remembered wondering, to getavictory? As down asMoonsaidhegot during thosetimes, he would assure himselfbyrelying on his past experience. Moon had been througha rebuildbefore. The University of Washington went2-9 two seasons before he arrivedoncampus,but in his thirdand final year there, the Huskies won the Rose Bowl Moon said he could see asimilar“lightatthe endofthe tunnel” in Houston “When you’re in the thick of it,man, you’re just wondering when the heck something positive is goingtoturnaround? Moon said.“Or is this theright play for me? DidI makethe right decision to come here? Youstart questioning all those things.”
Previous struggles
Rattler has his own history to draw from ajourney that allows him to put his NFL start into perspective. By now, the storyhas been well documented —including in adocumentary that portrayed a17-year-old Rattler in aless-than-favorable light.Rattlerwas so highly recruited as a five-star prospectthatcurrent
Giants coach BrianDaboll, then with Alabama, once showed up to aweight-liftingclassatthe quarterback’shigh school to offer ascholarship. He ended up committing to Oklahoma and was seen as apotential No. 1 draft pick.
Then adversity struck. He losthis starting job to future No. 1pick Caleb Williams and transferred to theUniversity of SouthCarolina. He played well for two years, but not well enough to prevent him from falling to the Saints in the fifth round.
Filling in for an injured Derek Carr(whoalsolost his first 10 starts) during his rookie seasonwas achallenge for Rattler “Spence’smindsetthrough this whole process hasbeen phenomenal,” Mooresaid.
“You can see thematurity in him,” linebacker DemarioDavis said. Davis recounteda piece of wisdom from aformer coach thathethinks applies toRattler: You’re either moving forward or back —you’renever staying in thesameplace. He saidit’sa “life skill” to notalwaysjudge theresult by thescoreboard, even in agame of wins and losses.Measuring your ownprogress matters, Davis said.
Rattler said the wins will come. He expressedconfidence he andthe Saints would clean up their mistakes Moon sees that as theright approach. During hisfirst season, he said it was incumbent on him to keep apositive attitude and astrong work ethic because he understood thatteams feed off their quarterback’senergy That effort,hebelieves, is what ultimately sustains acareer. Thementality is howhe andTroy Aikman wentonto earngold jackets,despite being membersofthe 0-10 club.
Moon said he sympathizes with what Rattler has gone through. He even thought the quarterback played “pretty good football” in Seattle, New Orleans’worst loss of the year
Moon also knows what’s waiting for Rattler if he can finally get awin.
“There’snoquestion it was arelief,”Moon said. “Wecelebrated in thelocker room like we had just won aplayoff game.”
Matthew Paras at matt.paras@theadvocate. com
STAFF PREDICTIONS
JEFF DUNCAN
SAINTS 16,GIANTS14: It mightbenow or neverfor theSaints, whowillbetrying to avoidtheir first0-5 startsince 1996 In gameslikethis, it oftencomes down to whichteamisthe hungriestand most desperate. That figurestobethe Saints afterthe Giants pulled offa winlast week
LUKE JOHNSON
SAINTS 24,GIANTS23: With theSaints finallyplaying someonefromtheir own peer group, this is theweekKellenMoore notcheshis firstwin.The Giants have a formidable defensivefront,but they’ve been susceptibleagainst therun,and that is wherethe Saints will make their hay.
MATTHEWPARAS
GIANTS 20,SAINTS17: Jaxson Darthas themobilitytogivethe Saints problems andNew york’s wide receivers, even withoutMalik Nabers,could manage to create enough spacefor bigplays TheSaintsoffensive line also maybe overmatchedagainst thefearsomefront of theGiants.
RODWALKER
STAFF PHOTO By BRETTDUKE
Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler, bottom,loses the ball on fourth down at the end of the game against the SanFrancisco 49ers at the Caesars Superdome on Sept. 14
STAFF PHOTO By DAVIDGRUNFELD
Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler is pressured by SanFrancisco 49ers defensiveend yeturGrossMatos during the second half of agame at the Caesars Superdome on Sept.14.
Caiden Bellard, Lafayette Christian
The running back enjoyed a big night against a reigning state champion by rushing for 183 yards and four touchdowns on 26 carries to survive a shootout at Central. Bellard also caught a pass for 18 yards.
PREP REWIND
FIVE STARS OF THE NIGHT
Carson Gurzi, Carencro Gurzi completed 16 of 21 passes for 320 yards and five touchdowns.
The quarterback had been flashing this ability as of late even before Friday’s banner game. Gurzi also rushed for 52 yards and a touchdown on five carries.
Jarrison Reese, Church Point
The move from being more of a rushing threat to an explosive receiving target is becoming quite the wise decision for Reese. In Friday’s 35-10 win over Iota, he caught 12 passes for 247 yards with two touchdowns.
GAME OF THE WEEK
Owen Morris, Catholic-NI
The Panthers senior running back couldn’t be stopped in leading Catholic High to a comeback road win over Lake Charles College Prep. Morris rushed for 246 yards and three scores, caught two passes for 61 yards and a touchdown and also ran in a two-point conversion.
Joachim Bourgeois, Notre Dame
It figured to be a high-scoring game that needed a big performance to win. Bourgeois provided that for the Pios in the 45-35 road win over Cecilia by rushing for 230 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries.
Notre Dame wins shootout with Cecilia
BY MIKE COPPAGE
Contributing writer
At the midway point of the high school football regular season, the Notre Dame Pioneers have established themselves as a frontrunner in a tough division.
On Friday at reigning Division II nonselect champion Cecilia, the Pioneers scored on the first play from scrimmage — and every possession of the first half — and then held off the Bulldogs’ second-half rally for a 45-35 nondistrict win.
“I told them at the half not to think we’re going to win with 31 points,” said Pioneers coach Lewis Cook, whose team led 31-14 at the break. “If you think we’re going to win with that, you’re going to be disappointed.”
As Cook predicted, the Bulldogs (1-4) bounced back with two
touchdowns to get within 31-28 on scoring runs by Braylon Calais and Collin Dore, but quarterback Drew Lejeune threw a 28-yard pass to Brice Duhon for his second touchdown and some breathing room with 6:14 left.
“We had been running it and running it,” Cook said “I told (my son) Lew ‘If we get a first down, I’m going over the top with it.’”
The Pioneers (4-1), who came into the game No. 1 in the Division III select power ratings, recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff that led to a short touchdown run from senior Joachim Bourgeois, who finished with over 200 yards rushing for the first time.
“Dude, the secret is the offensive line,” said Bourgeois, who scored from 80 yards on the first play “They blow up holes for me. I just have to run straight. The first
play was so wide open, it was just like I was running the 100-meter dash.”
Duhon had praise for his teammate.
“He’s powerful,” Duhon said of Bourgeois. “He runs hard. He gives his heart to the team. I try to block for that guy as much as possible.”
The Bulldogs went three-and-out on their first possession, and Notre Dame had great field position at the CHS 35 after a punt Fullback
William Lavergne who got more carries due to an injury that limited Lejeune, capped a seven-play drive with an 11-yard score and a 14-0 lead.
“Drew has been running it 12 to 15 times a game,” Cook said of the senior, who played tailback last year “I said I wasn’t going to run him tonight. William got a few
more carries. Joachim? He doesn’t get tired.”
The Bulldogs’ first-half touchdowns were also courtesy of runs by Calais and Dore, who both played quarterback and running back. Notre Dame countered with a 23-yard run by Bourgeois and a 19-yard scoring strike on fourthand-goal from Lejeune to Duhon.
“Brice’s speed is insane,” Bourgeois said of the senior, who also picked up first downs on sweeps.
“No one else has speed like him, and he runs the best routes I’ve ever seen.”
With 6.9 seconds left in the first half, Notre Dame added three points on a 33-yard field goal by Ty Savant.
“That loomed big,” Cook said.
Cecilia got a touchdown in the fourth quarter on a 25-yard pass from Dore to Jermaine Davis,
who combined with Calais for nearly 150 yards receiving. Calais and Dore combined for 150 rushing and 200 passing yards. Junior Deondre Briscoe had a 21-yard run and a 20-yard catch at crucial moments.
“This week was really big for us, especially with keeping the momentum from last week,” said Bourgeois, referencing a onepoint overtime Week 4 win over defending Division III state champ Catholic-NI in which the Pioneers rebounded from a 28-0 halftime deficit.
“It’s getting late in the season,” Bourgeois said. “That’s when we need to be at our best.”
The Pioneers travel Lake Arthur (5-0) to begin District 6-2A play next week. Cecilia hosts Breaux Bridge (1-4) in a District 5-4A contest.
St. Thomas More defense lifts Cougars over Westgate
BY NEAL MCCLELLAND
Contributing writer
St. Thomas More coach Jim Hightower perfectly summed up Friday’s District 4-4A win over Westgate.
“That was the definition of an ugly win, but we’ll take it,” Hightower said after the Cougars survived a 22-18 win over the Tigers.
The Cougars trailed twice before pulling away in the fourth quarter Even more, STM’s defense still had to make a stop in the red zone in the game’s final minute to preserve the win.
“Hats off to Westgate,” Hightower said. “They played an outstanding ballgame. Their athletic talent showed, and our kids hung in there and made plays in a few places that we had to make.”
STM trailed 12-7 coming out of halftime before taking a 1512 lead in the third quarter, then rallied from an 18-15 hole with a touchdown in the fourth quarter to go up 22-18 with just over six
minutes left.
Even then the lead wasn’t safe as Westgate had one final chance to pull off a win as the Tigers got to the St. Thomas More 5, but the Cougar defense held them out of the end zone.
“I thought we got into the end zone on that final play, “ Westgate coach Ryan Antoine said as his Tigers dropped their fourth straight game to move to 1-4. “This was a playoff-style game in a playoffstyle atmosphere.
“Our kids played their butts off. We went toe-to-toe with them, and we almost came away with the win.”
If there was a player of the game for the Cougars, it was receiver Jared Quoyeser, who put the Cougars on the board first with a punt return for a touchdown in the first quarter and had several big catches that kept drives going.
“It’s not what he did, it was what he didn’t do tonight for us,” Hightower said “He had an outstanding game until he got injured, but it’s
not that bad, so he’ll be back and ready to go.”
It was a game in which both defenses stood tall.
Westgate’s defense denied STM any points on three opportunities inside the 10, while St. Thomas More’s defense held Westgate without points on two shots inside the 10.
“Defenses played outstanding tonight,” Antoine said. “To hold a team like STM without points on three different times inside the 10yard line shows they came ready to play.”
“We haven’t been real consistent on our field goals,” Hightower said of going for it on fourth down in the red zone. “You saw it tonight on the field goal that we missed.
“We had a bad snap and hold combination, and we got a poor kickoff All we can do is try to get better.”
The longtime STM coach said that in the end, a win is a win. “A win,” he said. “That’s the big takeaway.”
STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP
Notre Dame running back Joachim Bourgeois, center, breaks through the Cecilia defensive line for an 80-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage on Friday in Cecilia.
PHOTO By LEE BALL
Owen Bailey of St. Thomas More scores a touchdown during the Cougars’ 22-18 road win over Westgate on Friday.
PREP REWIND
Westminster defense key to win over Sacred Heart
BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer
Westminster Christian two-way
standout Damien Thomas started and ended the Crusaders’ hardfought 14-7 home win over Sacred Heart of Ville Platte with a bang on Friday On Westminster’s first play from scrimmage, Thomas hauled in a 70-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Stephen Thomas.
“Well, for the past few weeks, we’re opening the game out with bomb plays,” Thomas said. “If that’s what they’re giving us, you’re going to take it.”
Fittingly, it was Thomas who culminated the District 5-1A victory with an interception to squash any last-second miracle attempts by the visiting Trojans.
“I thought about returning it (for touchdown), but then I saw a player, so I was like, ‘Let me just get out of bounds,’ ” Thomas said. Thomas finished with three receptions for 83 yards and one touchdown.
The second big play for the offense came in the third quarter when junior running back Kyle Horde caught a short pass to the right, reversed field and scored on a 50-yard touchdown reception for a 14-7 lead with 4:22 left in the third quarter
“On the play right before that, I had noticed something,” Horde said. “Every time I go on that side, they never have nobody on that side. So I told them, ‘Let’s do that swing play that we have,’ and we ran it. They kept flowing, and I knew I had the ability to be able to cut back and be able to make moves, so that’s what I did.”
Horde finished with two catches for 62 yards and ran 13 times for 40 yards against a stingy Trojans defense
“What they did was they really loaded the box on me,” Horde said. “They kept blitzing, and we just had to adjust to that. We didn’t adjust until later in the second half.”
The other parts of the winning formula were a defense stubborn in the red zone and the big leg of
Opelousas.
senior kicker Mac Proffitt.
Sacred Heart (4-1) finished the first half with an 11-play, 79-yard drive in 5:21 to tie the game at 7-all with 2:55 left until halftime.
A 35-yard reception to Jax Fontenot set up the 2-yard TD reverse run by Seth Guillory
It appeared the Trojans had found their stride and consistently drove the ball in the second half.
The first drive covered 45 yards on 13 plays in 6:29 — only to end in a fumble at the WCA 29 and recovery by linebacker Jack Hunt.
The second one reached the Crusaders 5 after a 45-yard connection with Fontenot, who finished with seven receptions for 130 yards.
But pressure from Alex Thomas helped squash the threat and force a turnover on downs at the 7.
The third threat again reached the WCA 5, but a big tackle by
Matt Lalonde and a procedure flag on the Trojans forced yet another turnover on downs at the 12.
“They don’t want to give up anything,” WCA coach Byron Porter of his defense. “We talk about it all the time, making them earn it, and I thought they did that tonight.
“They made them earn everything that they got. And we came up with two big stops on fourth down in the second half. I think that was monumental for us, especially with their confidence.”
Westminster’s defense also forced a turnover on downs at the Crusaders 30 on the first drive of the game.
“Our kids were up for the challenge tonight,” Porter said. Westminster (5-0) will next play Opelousas Catholic on Thursday Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@ theadvocate.com.
Teurlings routs Comeaux with all-around effort, stays unbeaten
BY ERIC NARCISSE Staff writer
For the second consecutive season the Teurlings Catholic Rebels have won their first five football games.
Behind an offensive explosion in which the Rebels scored 34 points in the second quarter as well as a dominant performance by the defense, Teurlings cruised to a 55-14 victory over the Comeaux Spartans in a District 4-4A game.
“Somewhere it was written that this could be a letdown game for us,” Rebels coach Michael Courville said. “That’s not the type of program we want to be. We have a lot of respect for Comeaux, their coaches, their players and what they’ve done this season Our focus is never on the opponent, it is on ourselves. So, every time we take the field, our goal is to be the best version of ourselves.”
And against the Spartans, the Rebels looked like a team on a mission in all three phases of the game.
Offensively, the Rebels were led by quarterback Alex Munoz, who completed 8 of 11 passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 69 yards and three touchdowns on nine carries.
“The last couple of games, Alex’s numbers haven’t been good
if you are looking at it from a fantasy standpoint,” Courville said.
“But he has been doing a heck of a job helping us win games He’s a phenomenal kid and a phenomenal quarterback. Having that kid play quarterback for us has been the biggest blessing.”
In addition to Munoz, the Rebels were led by tight end A.J. Price, running backs Ian Schwander and Spencer Meche and receiver
Nick Celestine. Price scored two touchdowns (one receiving and one rushing), Celestine had a 68yard touchdown catch on his lone reception, and Schwander (7-57) and Meche (7-79) combined to rush for 136 yards on 14 carries.
“We only had one touchdown in the first quarter, but we came back and scored 34 (points) in the second,” Courville said. “It doesn’t get any better than that. We played a good football game.”
Defensively, the Rebels were stout as they had posted a shutout until there was 3:35 remaining in the game. The Spartans finally got on the board against the Rebels second-team defense when running back Jaden Celestine scored on a 12-yard touchdown to make the score 55-7.
Teurlings held the Spartans to 188 yards of total offense — 144 of which was accumulated during the third and fourth quarters while the Rebels backups were in. Celestine, who only had 18 yards rushing in the first half, finished with a team-high 73 yards on 21 carries as the Spartans fell to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in district
“We did a good job of keeping him bottled up,” Courville said. “I thought we played very hard, physical and tough. I’m really proud of our effort.”
Email Eric Narcisse at enarcisse@theadvocate.com.
FRIDAY’S SUMMARIES
Babineaux 33 pass from Braylon Walker (Fairchild kick)
— Brody Knapps 1 run (Adams kick) LCA — Draylon August 21 pass from Walker (Fairchild kick)
— Tristian Rose 9 run (Kick blocked) LCA — Bellard 5 run (Fairchild kick)
CENT — Brody Diel 10 pass from Gassiot (kick failed)
CENT — Diel 34 pass from Platt (Adams kick)
LCA — Walker 58 run (Fairchild kick)
CENT — Gassiot 3 run (Adams kick)
Loreauville 21, Kaplan 20
Team Kaplan Loreauville First Downs 10 14 Yards Rushing 116 196
RAY — Austin Judice 7 run (Jorge RangelPerez kick)
NOR — Kamron Celestine 9 run (Joseph Escoto kick)
RAY — Judice 1 run (Rangel-Perez kick)
RAY — Lon Paul Moody 63 fumble return (Brody Trahan pass from Judice)
NOR — Jai Joseph 34 pass from Kaleb Joseph (Joseph run)
NOR — Kavin Mouton 25 int. return (Escoto kick) NOR — Celestine 27 run (Kick failed) RAY — Rudolph Peters 3 run (Moody kick) NOR — Joseph 75 pass from Joseph (Joseph run) RAY — Judice 64 run (Moody kick) RAY
STAFF PHOTO By BRAD BOWIE
Westminster Christian defender Jack Hunt tackles Sacred Heart ball carrier Gavin Patin on Friday in
STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP
Teurlings Catholic quarterback Alex Munoz led the Rebels to a home win over Comeaux on Friday.
Lafayette Christian beats Central in shootout
BRANDON COMEAUX
Contributing writer
Lafayette Christian spoiled homecoming reigning state champion Central of Baton Rouge, handing the Wildcats their first loss in a 55-48 shootout Friday night.
“Adversity can’t win when you overcome it mentally, and that’s what we did tonight,” LCA coach Matt Standiford said.
LCA shut down Central on its first three possessions while the offense scored three touchdowns to take a 21-0 lead in the second quarter
After forcing a three-and-out on Central’s first drive of the game, the Knights took over just inside the 50 as sophomore running back Caiden Bellard scored his first touchdown from 1 yard out.
After the defense held Central’s offense again, Bellard scored his second touchdown from 6 yards out. Bellard finished the game with 183 yards and four touchdowns on 26 carries.
Sophomore defensive end Joseph Adams produced the 21-0 lead with a pick-six. Adams picked off the pass after fellow defensive end Jayden Arceneaux, a senior, hit the quarterback while he was throwing the football
“I’ve been dreaming about that,” Adams said. “It was pure excitement.”
As the game wore on, the Central offense began to click. Running back Triston Rose scored from 9 yards out as the Wildcats trimmed the LCA lead to 41-28 going into the fourth quarter Bellard would start off the scoring with his fourth rushing touchdown from 5 yards out to go up 48-28. GassiottthendrovetheWildcatsdownthe field and found senior wide receiver Brody Diel for a 10-yard touchdown catch to make the score 48-35. After recovering an onside kick, Diel would catch another touchdown. This time the pass came from Platt as Central cut the LCA lead to 48-42 with six minutes left.
Then, in a game filled with big plays, Walker may have made the most important as he ran 58 yards for a touchdown as the Knights faced a third and 3.
The Wildcats got on the scoreboard when junior quarterback Max Gassiott broke multiple tackles on a 22-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 21-7.
Bellard then scored his third touchdown to put the Knights up by 21 points again.
Sophomore quarterback Jacori Platt found senior wide receiver Keithon Womack for a 33-yard touchdown as the Wildcats cut the LCA lead to 28-14. The Knights were not done scoring in the first half. Senior quarterback Braylon Walker found senior wide receiver Jace Babineaux for a 33-yard touchdown.
After Central’s first drive of the secondhalfnarrowedLCA’sleadto35-21, Draylon August recorded his second interception of the night, then caught a 21-yard touchdown that put the Knights up 41-21 in the third quarter “I had to step up and do what I had to do for the team,” August said. “I’ve been playing receiver since I was 6 years old. I worked a lot on my hands growing up. All I did was work on catching the ball and my footwork every day That’s how I built my strength up in my hands and was taught every day not to drop the ball.” August finished with five tackles and two interceptions.
SCOREBOARD
That put the Knights up 55-42 before Gassiott reached the end zone once again for the Wildcats to narrow the score to 55-48 with just over two minutes left. After the LCA offense turned the ball over on downs, the defense forced Central to go four plays and out just before the game came to an end.
“Some great things went our way early and in the second half we had to respond, and we did,” Standiford said.
In addition to Bellard’s big night, Walker had 118 yards on 17 carries while passing for 151 yards and two touchdowns on 9-of-11 passing.
West Virginia 24Saturday’s games
EAST Bucknell 33, Richmond 28 Buffalo 31, E. Michigan 30, OT CCSU 42, Sacred Heart 35, OT Colgate 41, Cornell 21 Duquesne 34, Stonehill 14 Elon 17, Towson 3 Georgetown 27, Morgan St. 24 Harvard 59, Holy Cross 24 Lafayette 24, Fordham 10 Lehigh 31, Yale 13 Maine 34, Bryant 14 Marist 19, San Diego 14 Mercyhurst 22, LIU Brooklyn 13 Merrimack 24, Robert Morris 7 Monmouth (NJ) 49, Delaware St. 38 Navy 34, Air Force 31 New Haven 28, Pace 14 Penn 36, Dartmouth 24 Pittsburgh 48, Boston College 7 Stony Brook 47, Albany (NY) 12 Temple 27, UTSA 21 Uconn 51, FIU 10 Villanova 37, New Hampshire 7 W. Michigan 21, Umass 3 Washington 24, Maryland 20 SOUTH Alabama 30, Vanderbilt 14 Alabama St. 52, Bethune-Cookman 35 Appalachian St. 27, Oregon St. 23 Army 31, UAB 13 Austin Peay 44, West Georgia 30 Chattanooga 21, VMI 14 Clemson 38, North Carolina 10 Dayton 35, Morehead St. 28 Florida 29, Texas 21 Furman 31, ETSU 22 Gardner-Webb 30, Charleston Southern 27 Georgia 35, Kentucky 14 Hampton 41, Norfolk St. 34 James Madison 14, Georgia St. 7 Mercer 45, Samford 21 NC State 56, Campbell 10 Prairie View 13, Alcorn St. 12 SC
Hoerner (1). SB_Yelich (1).
Rublev (13), Russia, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4. Denis Shapovalov (23), Canada, def. Christopher O’Connell, Australia, 6-3, 6-2. Arthur Rinderknech, France, def. Alex Michelsen (28), United States, 6-3, 6-4. Alexander Zverev (3), Germany, def. Valentin Royer, France, 6-4, 6-4. Lorenzo Musetti (8), Italy, def. Francisco Comesana, Argentina, 6-4, 6-0. Jesper De Jong, Netherlands, def. Jakub Mensik (17), Czechia, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (18), Spain, def. Matteo Arnaldi, Italy, 6-4, 6-4. Luciano Darderi (26), Italy, def. Yunchaokete Bu, China, 6-4, 6-4. Learner Tien, United States, def. Corentin Moutet (33), France, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Cameron Norrie (30), Britain, def. Arthur Cazaux, France, 6-3, 0-6, 7-6 (5). Daniil Medvedev (16), Russia, def. Dalibor Svrcina, Czechia, 6-1, 6-1. Jannik Sinner (2), Italy, def. Daniel Altmaier, Germany, 6-3, 6-3. Nuno Borges, Portugal, def. Aleksandar Vukic, Australia, 7-6 (7), 6-4. Juncheng Shang, China, def. Karen Khachanov (9), Russia, 7-6 (3), 6-3. Men’s Doubles Roundof32 Nikola Mektic, Croatia, and Austin Krajicek, United States, def. Alexander Erler, Austria and Robert Galloway, United States, 7-5, 6-4. Harri Heliovaara, Finland, and Henry Patten (2), Britain, def. Luke Johnson, Britain, and Sander Arends, Netherlands, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 10-4.
STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON
Lafayette Christian quarterback Braylon Walker cuts through the Central defense during the Knights’ road win Friday
DannyHeitman AT RANDOM
Autumn
a greattimeto show up for La.’sarts community
In an earlier life as afilm critic, I’d oftenfind myself screening movies alone at the afternoon matinees each autumn. That’swhen vacation season ended and school resumed, leaving the local theaterslargely empty.What akingly indulgence to sit by myselfinahuge space while a new movie played, aspectacle unfolding just for me. But over time, being surrounded by empty seats made me feel empty,too. If Iwanted to get the best insights about afilm, it was ideal to screen it with other people. Imight not agree about what others found funny,sad or inspiring, but seeing their reactions helped me better understand myself. I gleanednew insights from fellow moviegoers that Iwouldn’t have gotten if I’d watched a new film as asolo viewer When Iwatched amovie alone, it was athing; within an audience, it was an event. I’ve been thinking about all of this as another cultural seasonunfolds across Louisiana, giving those of us who live here lots of opportunities for this kind of collective experience. My mail these days includes brochures from area museums, symphonies and theater companies, and I’ve come to treasure them as much as the gardencatalogs that land in my mailbox,too. They all point me to the promise of something larger than myself, which is one of the abiding wonders of enjoying apainting, aplay or amusical performance with our neighbors.
The world has changed a greatdeal since Iworkedas afilm critic more than three decadesago. Thanks to the digital revolution, we can savor hundreds of TV channels and an infinitude of online programming at home. All of us can be what Ioncewas in that empty theater:lone consumers of culture, single diners at the banquetofbeauty we call the creative arts. Like many of us, Iwelcome quiet evenings at home with Netflix or agood book, cloistered on the couch with my wife in aworld that seems comfortably self-sufficient. But that kind of inwardness, embraced too routinely,can be isolating, which isn’tgood for me or the community and country Ilive in. The headlines tell us of a brokenworld, and there are so many cracks that more than one thing is needed to mend them. But being within an audience or art gallery with other people is one way thatwecan
ä
AT
CULTURAL MELTINGPOT
Historic Louisianavillage makesculture come alivefor local, internationalvisitors
BY JOANNABROWN Staff writer
WhenLafayette was foundedin1821, it was known as Vermilionville. The cityformed itself along the banks of its namesake river,and has long been consideredthe seatofAcadianand Creole life in southwest Louisiana —aregion thatisa true melting pot of cultures, including Native American, French, African, Spanish, American and others.
Thosepeople all influenced the area’sprominent Cajun and Creole identity,which brings visitors from alloverthe world to Lafayette.The town renameditselfin 1884 after Revolutionary Warhero Gilbert du Motier,orthe Marquis de Lafayette.
The history of southwest Louisiana in the 19th century,asseen through the people whobuilt the area, is on displayatVermilionville, aliving history museum on the bayou in Lafayette.The museum is
structured like apark, with winding paths thattake visitorstohistoric homes and buildings that havebeen moved from sites around Acadiana and restored for educationalpurposes at Vermilionville
The museum is populated by “interpreters,” guides that dress in authentic garb and detail the history of the region in French and
page 4D ä See VERMILIONVILLE, page 4D
Didthe 1920s’
Alvin ‘Shipwreck’ Kelly was one of the country’smost popular daredevils in the 1920s and ’30s. He was known for climbing tall buildings andsitting atop rooftop flagpoles. In 1928, he brought hisdaredevil showto NewOrleans’JungHotel
most populardaredevil bringfeats to La.?
BYROBIN MILLER Staff writer
Sharon Coldiron is thekind of
Coldiron said. “From what I’ve read, Shipwreck Kelly wasprobably the mostfamous daredevil, and he climbed skyscrapers around the country.Did he ever bring hisshow to any Louisiana
He brought his antics to the Bayou State, specifically to New Orleans, Opelousas and Alexandria, which should pique Coldiron’sinterest even more. She lives in the central Louisiana community of Deville, meaning Kelly’sAlexandria show took place only afew miles from her home. So, what, exactly,was Kelly’s schtick?
STAFF PHOTOSByBRAD KEMP
Musican KevinRees, right, explains the Cajun accordion to LukeLalonde, 10, during Acadian Culture Dayat Vermilionville on Aug. 10 in Lafayette. Visitors could experience livemusic, great food, art, cooking, storytelling, spinning and weaving
People dance to the music of Cameron Fontenot and the Rhythm Aces during Acadian Culture DayatVermilionville.
See
RANDOM,
KreweofVictoriaannounces its2026royal court
The ladies’ krewe of Victoriaheld its annual royalty announcement dinner and party on Sept. 20. Krewe members gathered tohonor the newly chosen royals at the City Club in Lafayette
Kris Wartelle
The upcoming Mardi Gras season promises to be aspectacular one with Ms. BeverlyRuffin reigning as the 2026 Queen Victoria XXXII. Ruffin looked stunning in abeautiful whitegown and crown, along with sparkling diamond and sapphire jewels. She was presented tothe kreweaccompanied by Harold “Brother” Pode Jr
The Krewe of Victoriaalso announced who will reign as Prince Albert XXXII. We were thrilledto discover it is Dave Domingue,a well-known Lafayettenative, and director of Lafayette Consolidated Government’sInternational Center
As is tradition, the announcement party and dinner honors allupcoming royalty,where guests get their first introduction to theQueen’sroyal court. This eventwas no exception. The 2026 royal court duchesses were revealed. They are krewe members Jana Wilson, Brittain Billeaudand Mary Hays.
We are excited to see what comes next for this wonderful ladies’ krewe. Thetheme for this year’sballwon’t be announced until later inOctober Of course, we will keep an eye out for that. Congratulations to all of Victoria’sroyalty!
TODAYINHISTORY
By The Associated Press
Today is Sunday,Oct. 5, the278thday of 2025.There are 87 days left in the year
Todayinhistory:
On Oct. 5, 2011, Steve Jobs, theApplefounder and former chief executive whoinvented and master-marketed ever-sleeker gadgets thattransformed everyday technology, died in Palo Alto, California, at age 56.
Also on this date:
In 1892, the Dalton Gang, notoriousfor its train robberies, was practically wiped out while attempting to rob apair of banksinCoffeyville, Kansas.
In 1947, President Harry S.Truman delivered the first televised White House address as he spoke on the world food crisis.
In 1953, Earl Warren was sworn in as the 14th chief justice of the United States, succeeding Fred M. Vinson.
In 1958, racially desegregated ClintonHigh School in Clinton, Tennessee, wasnearly leveledbyanearly morningbombing
In 1983, Solidarity founder Lech Walesa was awarded theNobel Peace Prize. Starting in 1980, Walesa spearheadedPoland’s pro-democracymovement that nineyears later led to the peaceful end ofthe country’scommunist rule. In 1990-95 he served as democratic Poland’s first popularly elected president
In 1986, Nicaraguan Sandinistagovernment soldiers shot down acargoplanecarrying weapons and ammunition boundfor Contra rebels; the event exposed aweb of illegal arms shipments, leading to theIran-Contra Scandal.
In 1989, ajury in Charlotte, NorthCarolina, convicted evangelist Jim Bakker of using his television show to defraudfollowers. Initially sentenced to 45 years in prison, Bakker was freedinDecember 1994 after serving41/2 years.
In 2001, tabloid photo editor Robert Stevens died from inhaled anthrax,the first of aseries of anthrax cases in Florida, New York,New Jersey and Washington.
In 2018, ajury in Chicago convicted white police officer Jason VanDyke ofseconddegree murder in the 2014 shooting of Black teenager Laquan McDonald.
In 2020, President Donald Trump made a dramatic return to the White House after leavingthe military hospital where hewas being treated for COVID-19.
Today’sbirthdays: College Football Hall of Fame coach Barry Switzer is 88. Rock musician Steve Miller is 82. Rock singer Brian Johnson (AC/DC)is78. Actor Karen Allen is 74. Singersongwriter Bob Geldof is 74. AstrophysicistauthorNeil deGrasseTysonis67. Architectdesigner Maya Lin is 66. Golf Hall of Famer LauraDavies is 62. Hockey Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux is 60. Hockey Hall of Famer Patrick Roy is 60. Actor Guy Pearce is 58. Actor Josie Bissett is 55. Actor ParminderNagra is 50. Actor Kate Winslet is50. ActorJesse Eisenberg is 42. NFL tightend Travis Kelceis 36.Actor Jacob Tremblay is 19.
Cousin demandsattendanceatwedding
Dear Miss Manners: My cousin, withwhom my husband and Iare very close, is getting married. Unfortunately,there are a few problems.
The initial issues included our limited finances, transportation troubles, thedate of the event (a Thursday night) and the wedding’sno-childrenallowed rule. With thehelp of my parents, mostof those issues were solved. However,due to various problemsrelated to my husband’sjob, we’ve decided it’sbest he notattend.
I’m extremely concerned about the fallout from that decision. My cousin, usually an easygoing person, is already furious with several guests who have declined her invitation. Herrationale is that because she’sborrowed over $20,000 to pay for her wedding, her more financially fortunateguestsshould help those struggling in theareas of gifts, transportation, hotel costs, childcare, elder care, etc. If the event will impact work responsibilities, guestsmust ensure adequate vacation time is set aside.
Most of my family members —including my 83-year-old aunt in poor health, and my cousin with epilepsy and severe anxiety —are attending. My mother has warned me that I’ll have to prepare a strong argument for why my husband can’tattendtoensure my relationship with my cousin survives.
Arethere any etiquette rules that will help my case? Specifically,isthere any valid excuse, besides severe illness, for not attending aclose family member’s wedding?
Gentlereader: There is nothing like saying, “I put myself in debttothrow this extravagant party,soyou better show up —health and financial instability be damned!”toget you in thespirit fora family wedding.
Miss Manners will remind you that you do not need an excuse, andyou do not have to give in to coercion. Youjust have to repeat the phrase, “I am afraidCurtis won’tbeable to attend, but he sends his love” as manytimes as possible until your cousin getstired of asking.
Perhaps it will cause arift. But judging from thelist of other family members who are being subjected to tyranny,your husband will be in good company.
Dear Miss Manners: Ihave aboat, and needed to dry my beach towels after a recent excursion. The boat club has one washer and one dryer.When Igot there, the dryer was available, although another boater had clothes in the washer At the end of the cycle, my towels weren’tclose to dry.I took them out and decided to come back later to finish drying them.I thought this was the best approach, since the user of the washing machine wasthere before me (and waiting in person to use the dryer). Should Ihave gone ahead and put the dryer on another cycle, since Iwas using it first? Or wasitappropriate to take my towels and come back later?
Gentle reader: With the other boater waiting in person, Miss Manners understands whyyou decided to return later —and finds it considerate. But the purpose of the dryer is to dry things. As it failed to do so, it would not have been unreasonable foryou to start another cycle to finish the task. You could have warned your loitering friend that they might have to do the same.
Sendquestions to Miss Manners to her email dearmissmanners@gmail.com.
Dear Heloise: Thank you for all your hints. In responsetoLori B. about thedifficulty of reading theexpiration dates on product labels due to thesmall print,Ihave a solution. There is amagnifying glass feature on my smartphone, which I use all the time for this very purpose. Justgotoyour app store and download it.It’s free! Ihope this helps. Thank you. Bestwishes!
—Maria Eugenia, in Long Beach, California No cavities here
Dear Heloise: Ibrush my teeth with an electric toothbrush for 2minutes,then Ibrush with aregular brush and rinse my mouth outwith water
Then Iuse amouthwash and rinse with awater pick, using mostofthe water in it
Icannot stand the taste of toothpasteormouthwash, so I am left with avery clean taste in my mouth
Ihave not had acavity since Istarted using this routine. Ialso have my teeth cleaned twice ayear —DorothyC in Montana Dorothy,this is anice routinefor healthy teeth and gums. Many of us just brush our teeth and go about our day withthis type of cleaning. Mornings are often rushed for many of us, so it’sall the time we have. However,atbedtime, Ilike to washoff makeup and oil from my skin, then brush my teeth alittle longer and use adisinfecting mouthwash. It must be working because I haven’thad acavity since I was akid. —Heloise Acaseofcasing
Dear Heloise: In response to LouiseY in Irving, Texas: If she wantsthe sausage casing
gone, she could just take a sharp paring knife, slice the casing, and remove it before cooking. It is easy and saves alot of undue stress rather than removing it later.The sausage will cook just fine without the casing. —Rich S.,inConnecticut Canyou hear me?
Dear Heloise: Please let your readers know that if they receive aphone call where the caller immediately asks, “Can you hear me?”orasimilar question,it’slikely ascam. It’soften referred to as the “Can you hear me?”scam. Scammersare trying to record your “yes” response to use it later on to authorize fraudulent transactions or to make your phone number active forfurther scams. —Bob M., in Woodland Hills, California To travel or nottotravel?
Dear Heloise: Afriend once told me, “Ifyou don’ttravel,
you will miss so much.” There are solo travel groups that will match people to save costs. Cruises on smaller ships have dinners and meetings forsolo travelers to meet and makefriends. There are websites that list cruises with unsold rooms. Iavoid the single penalty by using these sites. —Janice G., via email Janice, St. Augustine once said, “The world is abook. If you don’ttravel, you read only one page.” He may have been right, but we must remember that there are people whoare content to stay home. They feel like traveling is ahassle they can do without. Ilove to travel, but Iknow several people whoprefer to stay homewhere they feel comfortable and protected and can enjoy their surroundings. —Heloise Send ahinttoheloise@ heloise.com.
PHOTOSByKRIS WARTELLE
Queen Victoria XXXII BeverlyRuffinand Prince AlbertXXXII Dave Domingue
Dewyane Casteel and Janna Wilson
Beverly Ruffin and Harold ‘Brother’ Pode Jr
Lane West and Brittian Billeaud
TimBennett and MaryHayes
Renee Laughlin, Barbara Savoie and Renee Fuselier
Lisa Mayer, Tish Johnson and Jennifer Steen
Matthewand Holli Rowzee
Jeanie Rush and Blair Landwehr
Judith Martin MISS MANNERS
Hints from Heloise
TRAVEL
Go forthe fall foliageand stay forthe fun
BY CHERE COEN Contributing writer
It’sabit of adrive from Louisiana to autumn foliage, butonce youclear Atlanta, there’splenty to be found in the NorthGeorgia mountains, along with ahost of fall fun.
We’re talking pumpkin patches, apple picking and cider,corn mazes, hay rides, Octoberfests and much more.
Down on thefarm
Johnny and Kathy Burt, of Dawsonville, were looking to make extra money for Christmas, so they planted pumpkins to sell at theend of the farm’sgrowing season. After thousands of people showed up to visit their pumpkin patch, the Burts made it an annual event.
Burt’sPumpkin Farm begins selling rows and rows of pumpkins in all shapes and colors in September and continues through the end of October.Inaddition, the farm offers wagon rides through the pumpkin patch and zinnia fields decorated forchildren’sdelight. At the end of the ride,there’sadramatic viewof neighboring Amicalola Falls.
Not far from Burt’sFarm,the Weavers grow organic crops throughout the year,alongwith selling fried pies, peanuts, apple cider slushies and lots of baked goods created on the farm
There’salso agift shop located inside an 1800s building thatonce housed the town’sfirst dentist.By the end of September,however the Weavers pull out the pumpkins. It all began with 5-year-old Bradley Weaver looking to raise funds.
“My son started this when he was 5,” Karen Weaver said.“Now he’s33.”
Jaemer Farms is asix-generation farm northeast of Atlanta where visitorsmay purchase not only produce and local food products, herbs, flowers and gifts but also lunch items and baked goods fresh out of the oven. In the fall, Jaemer hosts apumpkin patch, aHarvest Celebration and Corn
TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER
By ChristopherElliott
Maze daily through Nov.2 A-peelingfun
Thenorth Georgia mountains areknown for their apples, and every fall thetwin cities of Ellijay and Blue Ridge honor the great American fruit with special events.
MercierOrchards in Blue Ridge grows 52varieties of apples and invites visitors to pick their own, plus sampletheircider selections that they press themselves, about 1,500 to 1,700 gallons of juice a day. Insidetheirmassive store, the bakery section sells fried apple pies that are amust to try; they’reover-the-top delicious.
Ellijay celebrates its apple heritagewith the annual Georgia Apple Festival, this year Oct. 1112 and 18-19. Look for hundreds of vendors sellinghand-crafted
items and performing on-site demonstrations, plus live music and fair food, which, of course, includes apples.
Corn mazes
It’seasy to get lost in Uncle Shuck’sCorn Maze, but what fun you’ll have in the process.
Dawsonville’sannual corn maze —named one of USAToday’s10 BestCorn Mazes and Pumpkin Patches —offers anew design each year across its 15 acres. In addition to running through a cornfield like something out of aStephen King novel, there are pumpkins, ajumping pillow,tire mountain, kids’ maze, gem mining and on Friday and Saturday nightsinOctober,The Dark Rows haunted trail in aseparate cornfield illuminated only by the moon
The corn mazeruns now through two weekends in November
Sunflowers
Danny andSharon Fausett plant sunflowers every year so that when September rolls around, there are 30 acres of gorgeous flowers facing the sun with adramatic mountain backdrop. They open the fields to the public every fall to allow others to bask in the yellow andorange hues, accented by butterflies andhummingbirds. “Welove the outdoors,” Sharon Fausettsaid. “Welove nature and we want theyoung generations to experience it too.”
The blooms begin around the second and third week of Septem-
ber,and the flowers usually stay until the end of October when frost appears.
Oktoberfest
The northeastern Georgia mountain town of Helen saw its tourism decline when interstates arrived, but leaders cameupwith abrilliant idea to turn the small enclave into aBavarian-themed alpine village. People flock to Helen for the German food, music and attractions, but especially in the fall when Helen hosts Oktoberfest, the longest-running of its kind in the UnitedStates. From Sept. 4through Nov.2,the streets erupt with weeks of dancing, entertainment, food, aparade and, of course, beer and wine. This 55year tradition features musicians, dancers and performers from Germany and communitiesfrom other states.
Formoreinformation
n Burt’sPumpkin Farm, https:// www.burtspumpkinfarmgeorgia. com/ n Bradley’sPumpkin Patch, https://www.bradleysfarms.com/ n Jaemer Farms, https://www jaemorfarms.com n Mercier Orchards, https:// mercier-orchards.com/ n Georgia Apple Festival, https://www.georgiaapplefestival. org n Uncle Shuck’sCorn Maze, https://uncleshucks.com/ n Fausett Farms, https://www fausettfarmssunflowers.com/ n Helen Oktoberfest, https:// helenchamber.com/oktoberfest.
Family deathcancels trip,but travel insurancewon’t payup
Ibought travel insurance from TinLeg for ascheduled REI tour to Utah.When afamily tragedy struck and my husband’sfather passed away,I canceled our entiretripand all related reservations. Iacted quickly to informboth REI and Tin Leg.
tion should havetriggered afull reimbursementfor the canceled REI trip. Did my actions notmeet the intended spirit of the policy?Ialso wonder if there wasanythingmore Icould have done to secure my refund. —Amy Sparks, Minneapolis
Christopher Elliott
Despite my prompt cancellation, TinLeg denied my claim.Their explanation was that because I reused my airline ticket for adifferent trip, my cancellation was deemed invalid.
Ifeel that this interpretation is unfair.I followed the policy by canceling the trip that Icould not takedue to unforeseen circumstances. Ihavemaintained a complete paper trail of everyemail, phonecall and correspondence with both REI and TinLeg
Ineed to know if my cancella-
I’msorry to hear about your father-in-law.At a time like this,you would expect yourtravel insurance companytobecompassionate and to quickly honor your claim— after all, that’swhy you bought travel insurance. Iwas curiousaboutwhy TinLeg denied yourrefund. In an email to you,the company explained its reasons.
“Unfortunately,asyour trip was rescheduled rather than canceled in its entirety,” arepresentative told you, “the REI portion is not eligible for reimburse-
ment. The Trip Cancellation benefit under your policy requires theentire trip to be canceled toqualify for coverage, not just aportion of it.” In other words, because you accepted acredit for your flight instead of canceling it, TinLeg denied your entire claim.
Ithought acarefully worded appeal to TinLeg might have allowed the insurance company to see that this interpretation of thepolicy,while technically correct, was wrong. Butit also rejected your appeal.
Ilist the names, numbers and email addresses of thecustomer service executives at TinLeg on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org. Abrief, polite email to one of them might
have fixed this Buttravel insurance is complicated. The decision about whether to honor your claim actually needed to be madebyTin Leg’s underwriter,StarrIndemnity Insurance Co. Icontacted Starr on your behalf to see if maybesomething had been overlooked with your claim.Separately,you reached out tothe MinnesotaDepartmentofCom-
merce, which regulates travel insurance in your state, and filed acomplaint. TinLeg’sunderwriter reversed its position and honored your claim.
If there’sone takeaway from your case, it’sthis: Make sure you follow all the instructions carefully when you have to cancel a trip and file aclaim.Specifically,besure you cancel all prepaid, nonrefundable
portions of your trip covered by travel insurance. Otherwise, your travel insurance company could deny your entire claim.
Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, anonprofit organization that helps consumerssolve their problems. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help by contacting him on his site.
PHOTOSByCHERÉ COEN
Burt’s PumpkinFarmsells pumpkins in all shapes and colors in September and October
Visitors to Mercier Orchards ride through a fieldtoapick-your-ownapples spot.
Dannyand Sharon Fausett open their 30 acres of sunflowers to the public everyfall.
Arainy daygameofLSU-opoly with thegrandkids
BY DOROTHY TRICK
Contributing writer
Human Condition
On arainy Saturday afternoon, my husband and Iwere watching our two grandsons —ages 9and 6—while their parents prepared to host asupper club that night at their home.
As soon as the boys came through the door,they requested that we play LSUopoly,agame we hadn’tsat down with in more than 20 years. Sure enough, it was tucked away on the top shelf in our hall closet. After dusting it off, we were soon engaged in Monopoly designed for LSU fans, alums and future students
The youngsters have frequented the LSU campus
often enoughtoknow most of its landmarksand those of thesurroundingarea. TheLSU-opoly gamehas
VERMILIONVILLE
Continued from page1D
English. One interpreter, Brenda Lalonde, has worked therefor 25 years. She recently entertainedagroup of visitors from Lyon, France, with traditional spinning wheel demonstrations. Her French was intelligible but unusual to the Europeans, who conversedincontinental French while she spoke aLouisiana Creole and French patois from her upbringing in St. Martin Parish.
“I was raised in Henderson, and everybodyspoke French,” she said. “I lived with my grandmother and great-grandmother,and my great-grandmother didn’twant us to speakFrench, butmygreatgrandfather spoke only French.
“It was alittle rough. He’d speak
CURIOUS
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“He was known for sitting on flagpoles on top of buildings,” Alexandria historian and author Michael Wynne said. “He would sit on some of them for days. He once spent 49 days on top of a flagpole on Atlantic City’s Steel Pier,braving rainstorms and high winds.”
So, how did Kelly achieve his feat?
“He had athin sliver of a platform that he attached to the top once he got there,” Wynne said. “And he would tie his legs to the polewhen he slept, which enabled him to stay there for days. He would also attach atubeto himself, so he wouldn’thave to take bathroom breaks.”
Large crowds would gather as he ate doughnuts, drank milk, read newspapers, slept and performed handstands. This was long before AI could engineer fake videos of daring feats —this was the real thing.
“He was the fourth bestknown personality in the United States during this period,” Wynne said. “People were fascinated by him.”
From WWItoadaredevil
Kelly was born Aloysius Anthony Kelly on May 11, 1893, in New York’sHell’s Kitchen. He ran away from home at age 13, changed his name to Alvin and spent his early years working as asteelworker,high diver boxer,movie double and li-
an 1988 Late for the Sky copyright marking, but our grandkids claimed there is an updated version of this
French to us, but we’d have to answer inEnglish. Youwere considered illiterate if you spoke French. She was college-educated, so a littlehigherstandard.”
Lalonde’sdescriptions of 19thcentury Cajun life, coupled with stories from her ownrural Louisiana French upbringing, brings Cajunculture to life in away little else can. But Vermilionville also offers opportunities to experience key aspectsofthe culture for yourself, such as the richmusic, food and community theareais known for Theyhosta Sundaydance each week,with alocal band and excellent local dancers swirling around thedance floor.It’sagreat place to learn afew steps for yourselffrom awillingpartner,and the museum’son-site restaurant, La Cuisine de Maman, featuresa Sunday buffet and arotating menu of featured local dishes suchasmeatball stew crawfish étouffée andsmothered sausage on weekdays.
“Wehave something going on every day forevery kind of person,” said Ellen Fucich. “Wehave entertainment every weekend, with aCajunjam on Saturdays and the‘Bal du Dimanche.’Wefeature livinghistory of all of the cultures in thearea that blendedinto ours. Thegiftshop is awesome,with local artisansand makers and authors.
“Or youcan just come outand enjoy this beautiful weather in a lovely setting, whereyou might see an alligator.”
Fucichis the marketing and communications director for the Bayou Vermilion District, which is agoverning entity appointed by Lafayette city andparishrepresentatives to promoterecreation manage cleanup and monitor water quality along the Vermilion,and manage the Vermilionville Living HistoryMuseum and
censed pilot whoperformed aerial stunts. He was also an ensignin theU.S. Naval Auxiliary Reserve during World War I, serving from May 1918 to September 1921.
ThencameKelly’s daredevil career with some writers describinghim as amodern-daystylite, comparing him to fifth-century Christian ascetics whogave up everything to sit atoppillars to fast, pray and preach. While Kelly didn’tpreach or pray,hedid entertain fans while business owners paid himpromotional fees. He also made alittle extra by selling rooftop seatsto fanswilling to pay fora closer look 100hours atop N.O. hotel
Kelly broughthis daredevilshow throughoutthe country,beginninginthe early 1920s and continuing through the1930s. Wynne documentedKelly’sLouisianavisits in his 2023 book, “HangingbyaThread: Alvin ‘Shipwreck’ Kelly,the World’sGreatest Flagpole Sitter.”
Kelly first shows up in aJuly18, 1923, feature article in TheTimes of Shreveport.Hewas passing throughona90-day boxcar ridefromNew Orleansto SanFrancisco andsaid he was consideringclimbing some of Shreveport’sdowntown buildings for fun.
But therewas no followup article documenting it. Meanwhile, Wynne’sdig throughold Times-Picayune files turned upstories
Oncethe markers were chosen, aroll of the dice landed my 9-year-old grandsononHighland Road. We wereoff and playing. On the home stretch wereFred’s, The Chimes and Mike Anderson’s. The next dice roll sent theplayer to Louie’s Café. They’re all still there!
The board includes spots for registration, student parking and academic probation, all of which are now handled online.
The old saying “the more thingschange, themore they remain thesame” was apparent as my husband and Iimmersed ourselves in this cleverly created board game.
We soon found ourselves landing on and buying prop-
erties such as The Chimes, Thomas Boyd Hall, Memorial Tower, the Quad, the Indian Mounds and the Parade Ground. Other familiar landmarks include Lakeshore Drive, Dalrymple Drive and Chimes Street.
Although still on the 1988 version of the game, places such as the Cotton Club, the Bengal and the Bayou have long since disappeared from the LSU horizon. In the board’sCampus Mail, there’sacard for“lose one turn if you cannot recite the Tiger Fight Song.”
And another card fora “$50 library fine.” Another card from Campus Mail claims you can receive a “$200 check from home,” something surely now accomplished by the click of amouse.
Missing from the board are Mike the Tiger’sHabi-
tat and Alex Box Stadium, twoofour grandkids’ favorite hangouts.
Our older grandson won the gamebylanding on Tiger Stadium and the Assembly Center.Onatraditional gameofMonopoly, these would likely have been Park Place and Boardwalk, twochoice properties with enormous rents. Some things never change! It wasafun trip down memorylane forall of us on awet and soggy Saturday afternoon. —Tricklives in Baton Rouge. HumanCondition submissions of 600 words or fewermay be emailed to features@theadvocate. com. Stories will be kept on file and publication is not guaranteed.There is no paymentfor Human Condition.
Visitors learnabout the healing garden during AcadianCulture
could experience livemusic, great food, art, cooking, storytelling,spinning
Folklife Park. The BayouVermilion District wasformed in 1984, at atime when concerns wereespecially pronounced about the qualityand future of the VermilionRiver. The museumopened in 1990, and 35 years later, it’s stillconnecting Acadiana residents andglobal visitors to the area’sunique history and waterways.
Vermilionville interpreter Jay Steiner saidthatthe region has alwayshad an incredibly diverse culture, informed by myriad peo-
ples andnationalities who settled southwest Louisiana, and that sharing that with locals is just as much fun as educating tourists fromfartherafield. Said Steiner,“This area was never just agroup of 200 Acadians whocamedown from Canada,the waysome people think. Andmuch of whatwethink of as quintessentially Cajun didn’tnecessarily arrive here with the Acadians. That’swhat makes it fascinating to people, especially people from outside Louisiana.
“They love how this Creole and Cajun culture differs fromthe rest of thecountry,and of course, howittranslates to allofthe things that people love aboutLouisiana.” Vermilionville,at300 Fisher Road, Lafayette, is open 10 a.m to 4p.m.Tuesday through Sunday. Admissionis$10 foradults, with discounted prices forsenior citizens and students, andchildren youngerthan5 enter free.
attached to the top of an airplane, which flew over the Central BusinessDistrict advertising afestival at the Fairgrounds.
“After that, he went to Alexandria,” Wynne said. “That was in October,but he madeastop in Opelousas on the way as an extra attraction, where he spent 41 minutes standing on top of awater tower.Heappeared in aVaudeville show at the Princess Theatre there afterward.”
Asneakystunt,policechase
Orleans on March 13, 1928, to climb the Jung Hotel at 1500 Canal St., spending 80 hours and 13 minutes atop its flagpole before heavy rains and high winds forced him down.
TheTitanic?
Newspapers labeled Kelly as “The Human Fly” and “Steeplejack” along the way, but his self-given nickname, Shipwreck, was amainstay
from the files of The TimesPicayune.
of Kelly’sfirst New Orleans visit on July 26, 1926, when he spent 100 hours reigning over Canal Street from the Roosevelt Hotel’srooftop flagpole.
At thesame time, splashy newspaper advertisements touted his post-flagpole appearance at New Orleans’ Crescent Theatre after a stunt,promising that he would tell audiences “how it’sdone.”
“He appeared at the Crescent Theatre on Aug. 1, 1926,” Wynne said. “And he kept appearing there the rest of the week by popular demand.”
Kelly stuck around New Orleansa few weeks longer for aSeptember promotional appearance. This time, his stunt took place not on abuilding but aflagpole
Then came theAlexandria performance on Oct. 27, 1926 —documented by an article in the Alexandria Daily Town Talk —where Kelly climbed to the top of the Guaranty Bankand Trust Buildingonthe corner of Murray and Third streets.
The building now scrapes theAlexandria sky under theCapital Onebanner
“He spent 10 hours on the flagpole of the Guaranty Building,but he didn’tget permission to do it,” Wynne said. “He snuck to thetop and climbed the flagpole, and the police eventually had to chase him down, but this got him alot of publicity and notoriety.”
Once again, he madea theater appearance after thestunt,this time in Alexandria’sHome Theatre on Third Street, where, The Town Talk noted, he also sold postcards with proceeds going to disabled World WarIveterans. Kelly returned to New
“He wasvery much like W.C. Fields in that he never told the truth about his life,” Wynne said. “One of the things he pushed through his entire lifewas that he was on the Titanic in 1912. But he wasnever on the Titanic.”
YetKelly toldpeoplehe was asurvivor of 11 shipwrecks, the mostnotable being the Titanic. So, he adopted thenicknameand created the daredevilpersona that earned him $500 aday at theheight of his popularity Kelly died at the age of 59 in 1958.
“He always talked about how automobiles were moredangerous than flagpole sitting,” Wynne said. “He died after being struck by acar in NewYork.”
Do you have aquestion about something in Louisiana that’sgot you curious? Email your question to curiouslouisiana@ theadvocate.com. Include yourname, phone number and thecitywhere you live.
Continued from page1D
share what’sgood, which can help build sharing and goodness into ahabit. Iwas moved this week by aquote from the French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry that speaks to what I’mtrying to say: “Lifehas taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the samedirection.”
Local arts institutions give us that shared horizon. I’mgoing to do my best this autumn to show up forthem
Email Danny Heitmanatdanny@ dannyheitman.com.
FILEPHOTO
Daredevil flagpole sitting Alvin ‘Shipwreck’ Kelly is shown during one of his New Orleans visits in this photo
STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP
DayatVermilionville on Aug. 10 in Lafayette. Visitors
and weaving
STAFF PHOTO By JOANNA BROWN
Historic interpreter Brenda Lalonde demonstrates howtospin thread on atraditional wheel for visitors from Lyon,France,atthe Vermilionville Historic Villagein Lafayette.
Novels with La. roots probe space oddities, climate chaos
BY RIEN FERTEL Contributing writer
“The High Heaven” by Joshua Wheeler, Graywolf Press, 352 pages, and “Happy Bad” by Delaney Nolan, Astra House, 304 pages.
I’ve never been a fan of outer space. All those moons and stars — a bit much, don’t you think? I find astronauts uninteresting and the thought of Mars colonization just meh. (And don’t get me started on black holes).
But Joshua Wheeler’s debut novel has got me rethinking my stake in the universe.
“The High Heaven” opens in southern New Mexico, arguably the spaciest place in the United States — home to the otherworldly White Sands National Park, flying saucer-mad Roswell and Alamogordo, the first atomic bomb-testing site.
Oliver Gently, a local cattle rancher, stumbles across a spooky-natured tween named Izzy on the day following the 1967 Apollo 1 pre-launch disaster in “The High Heaven.” She speaks in Biblical riddles, carries a radio apparently tuned to God and has eyes the color of Trinitite, the name for the greenish glass created from sand melted by the Trinity bomb test. Is she a space oddity stranded on Earth? An escapee from the UFO-worshipping cult down the road? Just a weird young girl?
Oliver and Izzy’s buddy exploits are the most entrancing first 100 pages of a book I’ve read in some time. He is most interested in keeping her out of the clutches of the same authorities who are threatening to seize his farm to expand the military’s bombing range. Even when Izzy’s journey descends into dark territories, Wheeler — who lives in New Orleans and is the author of “Acid West,” a fantastically zany essay collection about growing up around Alamogordo writes like he’s having a blast.
In the book’s second section, Wheeler takes a narrative swerve, trading the weird-western vibes for a picaresque tale of Izzy’s further, solo adventures Rocketing eastward, she bounces around the Lone Star State, lonely and increasingly drawn to booze, drugs and lousy men. Adrift, she waits tables in a Lubbock diner, cleans
rooms in “Odessa’s ninth-finest roach motel” and runs lights for the dolphin show at SeaWorld San Antonio.
All the while, the cosmic continuum has a funny way of catching up with her Wheeler lets us witness a sequence of real-life tragedies — the crash of Delta flight 191 outside Dallas, the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion, the Hale-Bopp suicide cult — through Izzy’s sky-lifted gaze. When the Columbia shuttle turns to stardust over Nacogdoches, Izzy decides she’s had enough and leaves Texas for good. Wheeler picks up the story in 2024. Sober and slowed by age, Izzy now works as an intake coordinator in a New Orleans hospital. She’s recently discovered a dozen patients exhibiting signs of Moon blindness, the inability to see the Earth’s sole natural satellite.
But that’s not all that’s wrong in this Southern gothic-tinged glimpse into New Orleans’s near future. Flooding occurs on the daily Users of a popular party drug
called ALN — pronounced “alien” — melt into zombified “cuddle puddles.” An attack on NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility has indefinitely delayed its next space mission.
jointly run by a private health care company and a pharmaceutical conglomerate, who are testing a mind-melting miracle drug called BeZen on the girls.
A New Orleans transplant originally from Massachusetts, Nolan is a skillful satirist, and one whose aim is extensive, wickedly funny and true.
Outside the clinical halls of Twin Bridges, the “soft apocalypse” of the mid-stage climate crisis has rendered Texas a barely livable hellscape. There’s Earth-swallowing dust storms, rolling blackouts and jackrabbit swarms. Inside, though, BeZen appears to be working, so successfully in fact that the corporate overlords behind Twin Bridges want to relocate the patients to the calm confines of Atlanta. Beatrice shepherds seven girls into a stolen van and heads east. Before long, with the supply of BeZen running low, she must resort to pill rationing. The girls soon suffer withdrawal before turning feral. It’s here, in the book’s last 100 pages, that “Happy Bad” soars. Louisiana has been carved up by one hurricane too many, its archipelagic remnants sold off to a consortium of tourism, real estate and petrochemical multinationals. The Twin Bridgers arrive to find closed checkpoints along the Mississippi border They drive south to what remains of Houma, now a floating city adrift in an everexpanding Gulf.
Izzy takes comfort in an upcoming lunar eclipse — waiting, watching, eyes turned upward, tuned to the Moon. Wheeler appeals to readers to follow Izzy’s gaze to shake our earthly confines, seek meaning in the infinite beyond and become one with the universe.
“Her fate,” he writes in the closing pages, “had always been totality.”
May we all live so fully If one good book deserves another, may I recommend Delaney Nolan’s “Happy Bad,” which reads at times like a star-crossed sibling to “The High Heaven.”
This debut novel set in the near future is narrated by Beatrice, a social service worker at Twin Bridges, a treatment center for teen girls in the northeast Texas town of Askewn. It doesn’t take long for the reader to deduce that life at Twin Bridges is, well, more than a touch askew The center is
There, in a “world undeniably growing more sterile and violent, the land itself dissolving under our feet,” Beatrice and her young charges find some semblance of peace finally discovering a pathway to be zen — helping each other and strangers survive the world’s literal and figurative end In this cautionary parable, tomorrow’s climate emergencies, gonzo pharmaceuticals and fractured America feel an awfully lot like today’s. Despite finding a whole world of bad out there, Nolan leaves her readers, in the end, feeling maybe just a little bit happy
Joshua Wheeler will launch his novel, in conversation with Delaney Nolan, at Octavia Books on Oct. 7. Garden District Book Shop will hold an event for Delaney Nolan, in conversation with Jami Attenberg, on Oct. 14.
Rien Fertel is the author of four books, including, most recently, “Brown Pelican.”
Tulane professor dives into the origins of La. towns
BY JOY HOLDEN Staff writer
“Crossroads, Cutoffs & Confluences: Origins of Louisiana Cities,Towns and Villages” by Richard Campanella, LSU Press, 305 pages
In Richard Campanella’s newest book, “Crossroads, Cutoffs and Confluences: Origins of Louisiana Cities, Towns and Villages,” he analyzes each region of Louisiana and each town’s siting story Through a deft combination of geography, topography, history and some anthropology, Campanella inspects every part of the state and uncovers the origins of cities, towns and villages while also recording Louisiana residents’ impacts on the land and waters around them.
About Baton Rouge, he writes:
”Baton Rouge is a cultural Venn diagram. Originally straddling Houma and Bayougoula tribal hunting grounds, the city became more Anglo than the adjacent French Creole and Acadian regions, yet more French than the former British and Spanish colonies to which it once belonged — while also more African than the piney woods to the east. It is more Protestant than south Louisiana, yet more Catholic than the north, and in recent decades, it has adopted the foodways and
traditions of the Acadian and Creole regions. Economically, Baton Rouge is an administrative and industrial center, yet also academic, agricultural, the ‘the nation’s most inland seaport,’ 253 river miles from the Gulf of Mexico... Perhaps it is appropriate, then, that the eminently liminal Baton Rouge has multiple siting stories spanning over a century, with no consensus on a foundation date or a raison d’etre.”
Brooklyn-born Campanella, a two-time winner of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Book of the Year Award and a professor of practice in architecture and geography at Tulane University, has lived in New Or-
leans for 25 years. He divides “Crossroads, Cutoffs and Confluences” into 15 chapters, each a specific region of Louisiana. In the introduction, he tells readers he chose a format of a flowing narrative instead of a cyclopedic one, starting with Greater New Orleans and the lower Mississippi to covering the intricacies of south Louisiana to extending along the Red River to the Ouachita River valley
Campanella’s thorough description of each region includes the layout of the land, historic events and people and evolution
through the years. He captures these technical aspects in a clear and engaging voice packed with fascinating facts and historic tidbits.
When writing about Louisiana, authors often include the different influences on the state.
Campanella does a superb job of acknowledging the Indigenous, French, British, Spanish, Acadian, African, and in some cases, German and Asian impacts on the formations, names and cultures of the regions. Through unpacking the etymology of the names of waterways and towns, Campanella elucidates the cul-
TRADE PAPERBACK
tural mélange of Louisiana
At the end of each chapter, Campanella breaks down the numbers of the region and how they compare to the rest of the state. He considers the number of cities, towns and villages and compares the types of siting stories — whether the physical place was chosen or established by water, railroads, extraction sites or crossroads. He gives the time frame and designates if the town emerged organically or was ordained by a founder
One of the neatest features of the book is in the Appendix, which is a clean table of 418 towns and their origins, separated into categories of region, status, era, type and primary or secondary siting rationales — a handy reference source.
”Crossroads, Cutoffs and Confluences” functions as a reference text as well as a detailed survey of Louisiana geography and history Anyone writing about Louisiana should keep this book at the ready for a wellresearched resource.
Campanella makes understanding a complicated state accessible through his writing, and this book is an extensive guide for the outdoorsy types, the history buffs and the imaginative creators who want to delve into the mysteries of the state
Email Joy Holden at joy.holden@ theadvocate.com.
STAFF FILE PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER
Geographer Richard Campanella
ADAMS, RODERICK ANTHONY AGUILLARD, KAREN DEAN
AHMED,REBECCA ANN ALFRED, WILBERTJ
ALLEMAN, JOSEPH R ALLEMAN,KEITHJOSEPH ALMEIDAFREIRE, MARCOS ANDAYA,ROBBIEMANUEL ANDRUS, JESSIE JOSEPH ARAGONEZ, ANDREW JOSEPH ARMSTRONG, GAVINSCOTT ASHCRAFT,KATHLEEN M AUCOIN,JOHNR AUCOIN,TIFANI DAWN AUZENNE, ALETHEAMARIE
AVERY, ELYSIA MARIE
BADON,SUSAN DOMINGUES BAILEY, WALLACE JUNIOR
BAISDEN, GWENDOLYN M
BALDRIDGE, CLARENCE BURKE
BALDWIN, RICHARDJ
BARRAS, TAYLOR ELISE
BAUMBOUREE,DEREK BLAINE
BELANGER, RICHARDLEE
BENJAMIN, RODNEY JOSEPH
BENOIT, NICHOLASADAM
BERMUDEZ, TRACIEDEAN
BERNARD, ASHLEY MARIE
BERNARD, BONNIE F BERNARD, ROSSDAVID
BILLEAUD, MARIA NICOLE
BOB, WILFRED BODIN, GRETCHEN SMITH
BOLINGER, MADISON BLAIR
BONNECARRERE, CLAUDEJ
BONNET,GILBERT BOST,ALEXANDRA JADE
BOUDREAUX,EMILYANN
BOUDREAUX, ETHANPAUL
BOUDREAUX,CHAD CHRISTOPHER
BOURG, CARLA D
BOURQUE, LINDSEY EILEEN LEBLANC
BRAXTON,EMILECHARLES
BREAUX,TROYMELLA MARIE
BREWER, CHASITY SHANELLE
BRIGHT,GREGORYMICHAEL
BROUSSARD, BRIDGET GUILBEAU
BROUSSARD, SHELLYANN BROUSSARD, LORI
BROWN,JESSICA ANN BRUNO, LARRYJOHN BURGAL-CASTILLO, BORGELIS JUANA BUTLER, NELA BYNUM,TRENT CHRISTOPHER CAAMANO, DAVID MATTHEW CALLAIS,RYCKMAN CLEO CAMPBELL, TONA
CAMPESI, BRYCEJOSEPH
CARMOUCHE,ELIZABETHMARIE PAX CARROLL, DANIEL JAMES
CASTILLE, DAVID CHARLES
CASTILLE-BUTTS, TATIANA LOUISE
CELESTINE,ROSETTATENNILLE
CELESTINE,DENEYAH RENEE CHAMPAGNE, KAITLINGABRIELLE CHAMPAGNE,ASHLEY BUSH CHATURVEDI, NAMIT
CHAVAR-CASAS,HERMILO JOVANY CHERAMIE, TAMMIE L CHIASSON,LAYNE L CHUKWURA, AUGUSTINE CHUNG, SENG COMEAUX, ANDREW DAVID COMEAUX, ROSALINDL COMEAUX,BLAKE NICHOLAS COOPER, NISHAROSE CORMIER, MARY K COVINGTON, DAJANAE DONAE CREDEUR,DEBORAH P CULLINS,HORACE LEE DAIGLE,TYRONE DAIGLE, JILLIANIRIS DAWSON, JOHN MIKE DAY, SEBASTIEN JORDAN DEAN,BOBBY DON DEBARGE, JOHN A DEJEAN, JAMESERIC DEJEAN, BARBARA THERIOT DEMOUCHET, AKEEM PHILLIP
DICKSON,JOHN C DIXON KIZZYHOWARD DIZ,ADARELIS DOMINGUE,RAYMONDP DOMINGUE,STEPHENGERARD DORSEY,JAVILEN ELIZABETH DOTY, DIANNAM DOUCET,MICHAEL L DOUCET,KATIE RUTH DRONET, JULIE SIMON DUCHARME, SUSANB DUHON, JARYDJAMES DUPLANTIS, CELESTE A DUPUIS, ROSEMARY HARRIS
DUROUSSEAU,CLIFF EDMOND,HOWARD JAMES
EDWARDS, SUZANNE WENDLAND
EMERSON,PAULA ANN
FAUCHEUX, DONNA CATHERINE
FERGERSON,ELDORA
FITZGERALD, JODILYNN
FLEMING,DALLAS MEACHAM
FONTENOT,LISA D FONTENOT,DILLONDRAKE
FONTENOT,ABBYN
FOREMAN, BAYPHONE K FOREMAN,TYGABRIEL FRANCIS, DESTINEELARAE
FRED,ALEXIASIERRA
FREDERICK, CHRISTELLE D FREEMAN,CORENCE JOSEPH
FRY, FREDERICK ROSS
GAHN, MARY ADELAIDE
GALASSOLIBERTY, MARGARET MARIE
GALLIEN, RACHEL LYNN
GARCIADIAZ, CARMEN
GARROT,CORINNERENEE
GAUTHIER, LAVONESALTER
GAUTHIER, BROOKE LYNN
GAUTHREAUX, BLAISE JOSEPH
GEORGE,LATONNA LANAY
GERARD, DEBRAB
GERSTNER, GRETAANN
GERVAIS, ALLISON SALES
GIBSON,JIMMY H
GILBERT, CAITLINABIGAIL MC
GILBERT, ANGELLA RENEE
GILCHREST,ERICALLEN
GILLILAND,MICHAEL W
GIROUARD, ANTHONYGLEN
GOBERT, DAMIEN RUSSELL
GOODBEIR, SHARISSE BLAINE
GOODMAN, BILLYDAVID
GRAFFEO, ASHLEY ANN
GRAYSON,CHARLESVON GREEN, JOLEAHNICOLE
GRIFFIN, ERICA MICHELLE
GUIDRY,OLIVIA LORRAINE
GUIDRY,MICHAEL GUIDRY,DINELLE A GUIDRY,JATAVIA NICOLE
GUILLORY, CHADLEE
GUSS, ASHLEIGH TERE
HAILI, JOHN K
HAQUE, MDMAINUL
HARRELL, KENNETH J
HARVIN, IMANILENA
HAWAT, ZMROD A
HAYDEL, RICK DANIEL
HAYNIE, DAYNAELIZABETH
HEBERT, DONALD JOSEPH
HEBERT, RAYMONDM
HENDERSON, GLORIAK
HOFFPAUIR,LOUIS AUSTIN
HOLMES, LASTACEYAVACHE
HOTARD, RICHARD N
HOWE,LISAANN
HOYTE, JASON CHESTER
HUFFMAN, AUSTINMICHAEL
HULIN, GREGORYL
HUVAL,ISAAC
HYATT, DARREN WAYNE
HYLSKY,EDWARD JAMES
ISIDORE, LANYA
ISTRE, EDOLIA
JACKSON,DANIELLE EVETTE
JACKSON,CALLA PATRICIA
JARREAU,SHAWN E JOHNSON,PEGGY CHAMPAGNE
JOHNSON, KRISTEN ALYNE
JOHNSON, ALBERT
JONES,RAYNETTE DANETTE
JUPITER,KEITH R KANNON, JONATHAN RICHARD
KASEM, ABDULLAHHUSSIN
KEMP,MARC E KENNEDY,RICHARD J KHAN, DEBORAH BELL
KHANSA,NADIARASHA KING, DAMARCUS DONTREVIEUS
KOWALCZYK, MARGARET
KUHNS, JAMES MILTON
LABORDE, STEPHEN DARIOUS LABOUVE,DANAR LACASSIN, MATTHEW RYAN
LAGRANGE, SARA S LANDRY,MORGAN JADE
LANDRY,ALECIAA LANDRY,JUDE
LANDRY,CATHERINE MARIE
LANE, MARY J
LANGLEY, JANET L LANIER,SEANEUGENE
LARRIBAS, CHRISTOPHER LEE
LASALLE,ADAM JACOB
LASALLE,SHIRIKAMARIE
LATOUR,SHELBEY MARIE
LAXEY, PHYLLISONEIL
LAZARD, DEMETRIUS
LEBLANC, RAMON LATRON
LEBLANC, ADRIENNE RENNE
LEBLANC, DONAB
LEE, EDWARD CECIL
LEGER, DANNY SAUL
LEROUGE,JOSEPH G LEWIS,CHASSIDY CHRISTANIQUE LI, GUOYING
LIGHTCAP,DOUGLASR
LINDON,AKELA FARRON BROOKE
LINDON,JOHNQUALIN DEMON PAUL
LINK,ADDISON CADE LIRETTEPARFAIT, HALI LYNN
LOPEZ, ANDROMEDA GRACE
LUQUETTE, JANELLE L MADDEN,MICHAEL E
MAGNON, LISABRASSEAUX
MALBROUGH,RALPH LEONARD
MARCEAUX, COLLINSHAYNE
MARTIN, CAROLYN F
MARTIN, KAPARELLE MARIE
MARTIN, JAQUALON JAVONTE
MCCLAIN, JERRYL
MELANCON,CARLENANTHONY MELANCON,RACHEL ASAYRE
MELTON,MANDI JO
MENARD, JULIE A
MHIRE, CHRISTINE ERINWILLIS
MIGL, MYLES PATRICK
MILLER, LAURENCE L
MINIX, CHASITY C MOON, YOOJINS
MORGAN, MICHAELARAE
MOUTON, ALEXANDRERENE
MOUTON, NATHAN HENRY
MURRAH-HALES, MELISA ANN MYERS, BRADLEY JOHN NABERS,DEANDRE MONTRELL NEEF,THOMAS ANTHONY NELSON, KELLYCARRIERE NERO, MICHELE VIATOR NIXON, JONAYE OMOSEDE OLEGHE OBEY, ELLA ANN PARADINE, LORAL PARRA, ALLYSON BEDUZE PATEL, MIKESH PAYNE,TURQUOISE LETTY PEARSON, JORDAN ALEXANDER PELLERIN,LISA F PELTIER, CASEYB PEPPER, NICHOLAS JAMES PERRO, ALVIN WAYNE PERRY, LINDALOUISE PERRY, LISA GUIDRY PETERSON,MEGANGIBBONS PHILLIPS, ERIN LEA PICOU, DARLENEGUIDRY PILOTE,FRANKIE MARCELL PLATT,MYAHPARIS MCMANUS PORTER, ALLENEUGENE M PREGLER, PAUL MATTHEW PREJEAN, SUNTRANNE AILEEN PREJEAN, EDDIE G PREM, BENJAMIN RONALD PRICE,CONNIE F PRIMEAUX,STUARTM PUTNAM, SHELBY LISE QUEBEDEAUX, DRAKE MICHEAL RABON,CHALUS L RANDOLPH, DENESA LOVING RANSONNET, CHRISTI A REVIERE, AMANDALOUISE RIALS, JAMES MITCHELL RIDGDELL, DARREN JOSEPH ROBICHAUX,LEAHELIZABETH ROBY,MARC A RODRIGUE, GUYB ROJASPINZON,ANGELMARIA ROMERO, LEE ROMERO, MARK ALLEN ROMERODELGADO, IRISEL ROWZEE, CYNTHIA KRISTIE LANELL RUIZCORDOVA, CRISTIAN LENIN SAAB, SIMONNE BOUILLION SAM, CHESTERDEVONTA SAVOY, CHYRL L SAVOY, TERRNISHA NICOLE SCHEXNAYDER, TYLER JAMES SCHOENECK, LINDSEYGARRARD SCHOPP,JENNIFERFREYOU SCOTT,CAROLYN L SENECA, ANTHONY MITCHELL SHELL, BRITTANY O SHIELDS, JONAI SIMONE SIMMONS, MARYTROYCE SIMON, PAUL DONALD SION, KIANA TRENAE SION, ALIDAA SMITH, TONIA MARIE SPEYRER, DIXIE E STEIN,LADAISHA ANN MARIE STELLY, LAURAC STRAUB, JOHN V SVEBEK, PATRICIA GWENDOLYN TAYLOR, BENOIT R TAYLOR, JEFF PAUL TAYLOR, BRANDON KEITH THERIOT,CHRISTOPHER THIBEAUX, ROGER MINVIELLE THIBEDEAU, ALEXANDER J THIBODEAUX, DEMPSEY AUGUST THIBODEAUX, RHETT SCOTT THOMAS, ROBIN T THOMAS, GAIL ROBICHAUX THOMAS, TRICHELLEORIANA THOMAS, KAYIAH AZIIRE RENEE THOMPSON, HERBERTWAYNE THORNE, JORDAN ROSS TOUCHET,TIMOTHY TRAHAN, TERI LYNN TRAHAN, SHEILAM TRAVASOS, MATTHEW SCOTT TREST,JESSE EUGENE TUCKER, MARK EDWARD TUCKER, CAMERON ALAN TURNER, KRISTOPHER JAMES UMBRICHT,RUSSELL PAUL VANARSDALE, MYRA DUPRE VEILLON, FERALD VENABLE,LYNN VENTROY,REGINALD WILLIS VICE, MACY ALINE VIESELMEYER, DANA M VINCENT,LEAHMARIE VINCENT,RICKEY D WARREN,KIM ANDREPONT WARREN,MARK C WATKINS, ROBIN MARIE WHITMAN, JEREMY AARON WILLIAMS, JAYDAVID WILLIAMS, DANIELLE N WILLIAMS, VALERIA DANIEL WILLIAMS, AVAELISE WILLIAMS, CALEBISAIAH WILTZ, SYNCERE WILTZ, CANDICEBLAIR WYBLE, ASHTON KENT YOUNG, STEPHANIE MARIE ZENO, HOWARDESHA ARIELLE
LNG growth,Metadatacenter expected to push La.to2Mjobsmark 5E
GLOBAL FOOD COMPANIESNEEDTOKEEP THEIRFACTORIES CLEANAND SAFE.
They learnhow in Louisiana.
ABOVE: Instructor Taylor Butler leads asanitation essentialstraining at the Commercial Food Sanitation Institute in Harahan. The 13,700-square-foot,$6.3 millionfacility includes classrooms, labs and administrativespace where companies will send executives andemployees to learn fromCFS howtokeep their foodproduction as safe as possible.
STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
RIGHT: Butler dabs Glo Germonaconveyorbelt used to teach manufacturing executives aboutfood safety.
International Coffee Corp., the Metairie-based tradinghouse
owned by the Madary family,isone of the last bastions of wholesale coffee trading in New Orleans, a city that once thrived as ahub for shipping and trading the unroasted beans. It is now navigating one of the most turbulent periods in its half-
century history Wholesale Arabicacoffeerecently hit arecord high above $4.40 a pound, more than four times the price before thepandemic, after President Donald Trump placed 50% tariffs on Brazil, the world’s largest coffee producer.The uncertaintyhas scrambled International Coffee’smarket.
“We’ve never seen amarketlike this,” said Matt Madary,who has been in thebusiness for 37 years and took over running the family firm more than adecade ago. InternationalCoffeehas deep rootsinNew Orleans. Matt Madary’sfather,William Madary, alongtimetrader withcommodi-
BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer
to prevent.
IDEAS INNOVATION & IDEA
In food manufacturing, apoorly maintained facilitycan lead to tragedy Last year, there were nearly 300food recallsrelated to 19 deaths and almost 500 hospitalizations in theU.S. Alisteria outbreak traced to asingle deli meat plant in Virginia caused 10 deaths and dozens of illnesses.
The problems ranged from cucumbers contaminated withsalmonella to products containing undeclared allergens like peanuts or tree nuts.
It’sthese types of situations, including productscoming off store shelves thismonth,thatthe trainers at Commercial Food Sanitation hope
ties giant J. Aron, set up International Coffee on Magazine Street in 1977 when J. Aronrelocated most operationstoNew York City before being acquired by Goldman Sachs. Over the decades, International Coffee hasthrived, with fiveof William Madary’sdozen children still working at itsMetairie headquarters. It is one of only twomajor coffee trading firms still operating at scale in New Orleans. The other is Westfeldt Brothers, which was founded before the Civil War. Together,they are the remnantsof aonce-thriving hub of warehouses andcoffee exchangesalong the Mississippi River Today, that legacy is beingtested
The company,known as CFS, is a subsidiary of NewOrleans-based manufacturing behemoth Intralox, whichhas areason to take food safety seriously.Intralox’sprimary business is designing andbuilding conveyorbelts, anditsells them to roughly 80%ofthe world’smost wellknown food companies. Intralox CEO Killian Lapeyre said his customers need this training, and showing them how to operate their production lines safely makes business sense.
“It’scritical forustobealeader in the space,” Lapeyre said.
CFS has grown from asingle employee in 2012 to a40-person team of food manufacturingveterans with
See FOOD, page 2E
Importers suchasInternational Coffee are the ones who must pay theTrump administration’slevy at theportbeforepassing it alongto roasters, and Will Howard, atrader at International Coffee for most of his decadelong career,saidthe tariffs have created “so muchuncertainty that people have no clue what’sgoing to happen downthe road.” The result,hesaid, is that they’ve curtailed purchases. “They’re not buying,” Howard said. “They don’twant to be on the hook forcoffeeat50% tariffswhen it might drop in amonth.”
ä See COFFEE, page 2E
Lapeyre
STAFFFILE PHOTOByJOHNMcCUSKER Wholesale Arabica coffee recently hitarecord high above $4.40
STAFF PHOTO By RICH COLLINS
Issued Sept. 24-30
Commercial alterations
MEDICAL: 4600 Ambassador Caffery Parkway, description, renovations to lobby at Our Lady of Lourdes Women’s & Children’s Hospital; applicant, Stantec Architecture; contractor, The Lemoine Co.; $1.7 million.
SCHOOL: 4201 Moss St., description, restroom building addition at Acadian Middle School; applicant, Ziler Architects; contractor, Del-Con; $314,000.
MEDICAL: 1907 Eraste Landry Road, description, add parking lot and remodel the inside of building for Apex Prevention; applicant, SPEC; contractor, Slade Landry Construction; $250,000.
RETAIL: 110 Production Drive; description, reface existing shopping center with some framing to buildup store front; applicant and contractor, Chase Group Construction; $307,000.
CAFÉ: 3546 Ambassador Caffery Parkway, Suite 100; description, modify rear corner of the space and the existing drive-thru to house Dunkin’ restaurant; applicant, Dkam Ruiz Consulting; contractor, Innovative Building Solutions; $360,000.
OTHER: 124 E. Cypress St., description, bringing utilities for future development of shell building; applicant and contractor, Gleason Ledet Construction; $65,000.
Commercial demolition
OTHER: 800 E. Farrel Road, descrip-
tion, not listed for former YMCA campus; applicant and contractor
Chase Group Construction; $347,894.
OTHER: 421 Carmel Drive, description, demolition of old building at Holy Rosary; applicant and contractor, Diversified Construction of Louisiana; $55,718.
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 403: Level Construction & Development, $256,250
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 313: Level Construction & Development, $173,750
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 319: Level Construction & Development, $173,750
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 321:
Level Construction & Development, $256,250
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 325:
Level Construction & Development, $256,250
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 323:
Level Construction & Development, $173,750
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 405:
Level Construction & Development, $215,875
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 406:
Level Construction & Development, $256,250
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 404:
Level Construction & Development, $204,875
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 401:
Level Construction & Development, $256,250.
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 416:
Level Construction & Development, $204,875.
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 503:
Level Construction & Development, $173,750.
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 402:
Level Construction & Development, $165,375
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 414:
Level Construction & Development, $173,500.
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 507: Level Construction & Development, $216,875.
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 505:
Level Construction & Development, $256,250.
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 509: Level Construction & Development, $173,750.
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 513: Level Construction & Development, $173,750.
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 607: Level Construction & Development, $256,250.
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 609: Level Construction & Development, $173,750.
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 611: Level Construction & Development, $216,875.
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 613: Level Construction & Development, $173,750.
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 801: Level Construction & Development, $206,125.
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 802: Level Construction & Development, $165,375.
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 907: Level Construction & Development, $165,375.
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 906: Level Construction & Development, $217,375.
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 905: Level Construction & Development, $167,125.
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 908: Level Construction & Development, $204,875.
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 909: Level Construction & Development, $217,375.
104 MARBLEHEAD AVE., UNIT 910: Level Construction & Development, $256,250.
204 MANOR HOUSE LANE: Level Construction & Development, $213,954.
117 LEANING OAK DRIVE: Brock Justin Phillips, $568,625.
203 WAKELY COURT: DSLD, $233,250.
221 CAMERON’S COVE DRIVE, CARENCRO: Manuel Builders, $231,875.
219 CAMERON’S COVE DRIVE, CARENCRO: Manuel Builders, $215,500.
150 BRATTLE COURT: DSLD, $326,750.
139 BRATTLE COURT: DSLD, $326,750.
113 STEEP MEADOWS LANE: DSLD $299,375.
FOOD
Continued from page 1E
offices in Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. On Friday, the company celebrated the opening of a new U.S. headquarters in Harahan.
The 13,700-square-foot, $6.3 million facility includes classrooms, labs and administrative space where companies will send executives and employees to learn from CFS how to keep their food production as safe as possible.
Hunt for harmful bacteria
CFS food safety specialist Taylor Butler who grew up on the West Bank and lives in Chalmette, worked at a chicken plant in Texas, then at a catering vendor for United Airlines and a cheesecake manufacturing factory
Now she spends about two weeks each month visiting food production facilities around the country, helping them find and fix problems. A third week often is spent leading training sessions at the Intralox headquarters in Harahan.
In the field, Butler teaches food executives about environmental monitoring, sanitation, hygienic design and good manufacturing practices. Part of the process is swabbing areas in facilities to look for listeria, salmonella and other dangerous bacteria.
“It’s all around us, in the air and the soil,” she said of bacteria. “But if you give it food, moisture and a place to live, it will thrive.” Butler makes sure facilities have barriers in place to stop contamination. That could be antibacterial powders applied to footwear and hand sanitizing stations, or physical obstacles like walls and lines painted on floors that demarcate different parts of the factory
“You have to have hygienic zoning when you lay out a facility separating raw areas from ready-to-eat
areas, nonproduction from production,” Butler said
A major area of focus is identifying and removing “niche points,” places in a manufacturing plant where bacteria can collect, which sometimes requires some detective work
Butler visited a site recently where employees had been finding evidence of bacteria but couldn’t find the source.
“The equipment was poorly designed, so there were pieces that were difficult to take apart,” Butler said. “Once we took off a belt and other components and looked more deeply we found a little surprise. As these conveyors run, they shake a little, and these niche points start leaching out.”
CFS might tell customers about Intralox products that could help solve problems including the company’s FoodSafe line of conveyor belts, tools and components. But they try to avoid turning the training into “infomercials” for their parent company, officials said.
‘Cleaning camp’ Butler and other CFS trainers bring that training to Harahan about 30 times each year Their counterparts do similar work in the Netherlands, Brazil, China, Australia and Mexico. In total, the company has hosted more than 5,000 trainees, which include food brand executives, equipment manufacturers, plant engineers and sanitation supervisors. Until last month, the class activities in Harahan were
scattered across a sprawling 1 million-square-foot campus supporting the manufacturing and marketing of products for Intralox and its parent company Laitram. With the opening of the new CFS headquarters, overseen by CFS Global Training Manager Nicole Cammarata, that work has been consolidated into a space that resembles a hotel lobby and conference center
The training sessions combine learning with the perks of a New Orleans vacation. Participants are shuttled back and forth from downtown hotels and restaurants to their sessions in classrooms and labs.
In one of those labs, instructors dab equipment with a special gel that glows under UV light. Trainees are graded on their ability to locate all these strategically hidden “germs.”
In another space, trainers demonstrate how to use dry steam, a type of low-moisture vapor to remove dirt, grime, and bacteria from various surfaces. This type of cleaning is used in bakeries to prevent growth of mold and bacteria.
A separate room is equipped with hoses and drains so trainees, wearing bright yellow protective suits and goggles, can learn how to remove vegetable shortening and other hardto-clean substances from equipment. The hope is that the experience will teach company leaders how to design and set up machinery to make it easier for their employees to keep their facilities safe, said CFS General Manager Darin Zehr Conveyor belts
The new CFS facility is a small part of one of the biggest manufacturing businesses in the state.
Intralox is a $1 billionplus annual enterprise on pace to set another revenue record this year
The company makes hundreds of different types of conveyor belts, designed to move everything from food
through ovens to cars along assembly lines. It sells high-tech sorting machines for logistics customers like Amazon, and it provides systems that keep contaminants out of the water used to cool nuclear power plants.
“We move everything from people to potato chips,” Intralox communications chief Karyn Kearney said.
The company is by far the biggest subsidiary of Laitram, the 76-year-old operation that also makes industrial stairs shrimp-peeling machines and other equipment. Overall, Laitram and Intralox employ about 4,000 people worldwide. Roughly half of those are in Harahan and at a growing facility in Hammond.
All the company’s modular conveyor belt components are manufactured in Louisiana and shipped around the world for assembly
Intralox’s food manufacturing customers were the inspiration for the acquisition of Commercial Food Sanitation, which came in 2012, after passage of the federal Food Safety Modernization Act. That Obamaera legislation increased regulations designed to prevent foodborne illnesses.
The increased scrutiny came along with innovations like DNA sequencing of bacteria, which can help match sick people to the source of the food that made them ill, and traceability programs, which allow regulators to avoid overly broad recalls.
Food safety training is another way to try to prevent more deadly lapses.
“Our team is good at making people understand these problems are real,” Lapeyre said. “It’s easy to brush things off and say there’s a one in a million chance of a problem happening, but for a big food company, one in a million could still equal many times a year.”
Email Rich Collins at rich. collins@theadvocate.com.
404 JUDICE LANE, DUSON: DSLD, $284,750.
246 OAK HEIGHTS DRIVE, DUSON: DR Horton, $248,625.
250 OAK HEIGHTS DRIVE, DUSON: DR Horton, $298,625.
Howard called the period “the least fun I’ve had during my time working in coffee.”
Historically roiled
The market’s uncertainty is reflected in the price difference between buying coffee now and contracts that would provide delivery months ahead of time.
Normally, coffee bought using those futures contracts cost more because they account for storage, financing and other expenses.
But today, coffee that can be delivered immediately costs roughly 20 cents a pound more than contracts that would provide delivery in three months, a record premium. On shipments that are often measured in tens of thousands of pounds, the price differences add up quickly
Richard Etkin, a longtime Miami-based coffee trader and analyst, said prices reflect “uncertainty of historic proportions,” which has left everyone from suppliers to traders, brokers, roasters and retailers reluctant to do business.
Howard added that industry participants are “hesitant to engage” in the market because the tariffs could change at any time.
“No one knows what’s coming next,” he said.
Though coffee trading is primarily a volume business, the market volatility in recent months has forced International Coffee to rely more on its decades of expertise and specialized skills.
A core part of that is the daily ritual of “cupping,” tasting and evaluating small samples of beans sent from growers around the world
In the Madary tasting room, traders sip, then spit, assessing aroma, flavor, acidity and body much as sommeliers do in the wine business.
“My dad always said that’s where you find the value, around the cupping table,” Matt Madary said. Knowledge of coffee bean varietals has always offered an edge, but it is especially valuable now, when International Coffee can advise clients, such as specialty retailers, on alternative sources to maintain a consistent product.
The trajectory of U.S. coffee prices over the past halfdecade underscores the precariousness of the current moment While prices are well above $4 a pound now, in 2018, benchmark Arabica futures hovered around $1.20 a pound, buoyed by big Brazilian harvests and moderate global demand.
Prices gradually climbed in 2019, but it was the pandemic that first rattled the market. Lockdowns collapsed cafe and restaurant demand while boosting athome consumption. By 2021, global supply-chain bottlenecks, shipping costs and container shortages pushed prices higher, with traders scrambling to hedge against further shocks. By late 2024
Though coffee trading is primarily a volume business, the market volatility in recent months has forced International Coffee Corp. to rely more on its decades of expertise and specialized skills, including the daily ritual of ‘cupping,’ or tasting and evaluating small samples of beans sent from growers around the world.
and early 2025, prices were hitting all-time highs. Indeed, the pandemic accelerated a trend that had already seen coffee traders disperse around the country, while concentrating their warehousing and storage in the busier ports nearest to consumer centers. Then came the tariffs. Howard emphasized the practical challenges the Trump tariffs now pose. “If the goal is to keep manufacturing in the U.S., it doesn’t make any sense,” he said, noting that Hawaii and Puerto Rico, the only coffeegrowing regions in the country, produce less than 1% of domestic consumption.
The legal challenge to the tariffs adds another layer of uncertainty Federal courts have found that Trump overstepped his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The U.S. Supreme Court has scheduled arguments for next month, a case that could determine whether the tariffs remain or are rolled back.
High stakes
For International Coffee, the stakes are high. Trading firms operate on thin margins. A sudden rollback or continuation — of tariffs could dramatically affect the firm’s business. Weatherrelated supply shocks, particularly in Brazil, only make things more challenging, forcing traders to bid aggressively for available beans.
The combination of tariffs, tight supplies and uncertain policy has created a nearunprecedented environment.
“Every day is a new calculation,” Madary said. “We’re constantly weighing prices, shipping delays and now the legal landscape. It’s exhausting, but we’ve learned to adapt.”
For Madary, the moment underscores the unique role of the city’s remaining traders and the family’s half-century legacy in coffee.
“We’ve been around for decades,” he said, “but nothing in our experience compares to this moment.”
Email Anthony McAuley tmcauley@theadvocate. com.
FILE PHOTO By DAVE WALKER
STAFF PHOTOS By SOPHIA GERMER
Brandon Campo checks under a conveyor belt during a sanitation essentials training at CFS Institute in Harahan. Amid food-related recalls, the trainers at Commercial Food Sanitation aim to help food companies worldwide keep their products as safe as possible.
A drain is cleaned during a sanitation essentials training
ASK THEEXPERTS
Groupforgedlessons in disaster recovery in Katrina
BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer
The disaster recovery nonprofit
SBPbeganasaphilanthropic ef-
fort to rebuild homes in St. Bernard Parish after Hurricane Katrina. Nearly 20 years later,the 100-person organization has expanded nationwide to help underfunded or underinsured homeowners reconstruct after natural disasters.
To date, the organization has helped rebuild nearly 7,000 homes —and, more and more, it advises communities on resilience andpreparedness efforts to mitigate the effects of future events.
In this week’sTalking Business, SBP CEO Carol Markowitz —who took thereins in February after a nearly six-year stint as the chief operating officer at Loyola University New Orleans —discusses the organization’sevolution and goals.
This interviewhas been edited for brevity and clarity
How did SBP begin andhow hasitevolved?
The organization was started on the heels of Hurricane Katrina in early 2006 by husband-and-wife team Zack Rosenburg and Liz McCartney,who came to New Orleans from Washington, D.C.,after watching the news and decided they wanted to help They were sleeping in atent in the Lower 9th Ward and just started working on homes.
Over the last 19 years, SBP has helped more than 6,700 homeowners in 16 U.S. communities and the Bahamas. In 2011, we partnered to implement the Toyota production system, which dramatically reducedthe time it takes us to rebuild ahome.
help survivors access funding for rebuilding.
At what point after adisaster does SBPget involved?
Q&A WITH CAROL MARKOWITZ
Afteranevent,there’s immediate response andrelief. This is when theCajun Navy or the American RedCross show up, and people are giving away food,water and other things to help people survive.
We do outreach aftera disaster to findthe homeowners withthe greatest unmet need,and we processthem through avetting and an application process. These arepeople that are generally low-income with very littlefinancial resources to coverrebuildingcosts.They largely are underinsuredorcompletely uninsured.
ing this year are in Tampa,Florida, which was hit by hurricanes Helene and Milton ayear ago. Our goal is to rebuild at least 200 homes in the Tampa area. We’re on track to do 90 this year,sowemight blow through that number
Howdoyou payfor allthis?
We’ve developed ahuge amount of expertise in how to navigate FEMA (the FederalEmergency Management Agency) for survivors. We can often doublethe original award that asurvivor had received from FEMA. We’ve recently developed abridge loan product to
At first, themedia is paying full attention, and everyone is openingupcheckbooks. Then, whenthe camerasare gone,people are left with figuring out howthey are going to rebuild, especially if they aren’tinsured.
We start about sixmonthslater
It takes aminutefor debris to be cleared inacommunity and for it to be safe.
Foryour rebuilding efforts, how do you choose who to help?And howdoesthe processwork?
Once we verifyeligibilityand we getpeople throughour intake process, we are literally running aconstruction project that relies heavily on subcontractors. We’ve been able to serve anddolarge parts of ourconstruction work with AmeriCorps service members and other volunteers in addition to the skilledtrades.
We may run radio ads in certain markets or establish relationships withlocal or state leadership teams so theycan direct clients to us
We can’trespondtoevery major disaster,sowe’re strategic. The majority of the houses we’re rebuild-
We help survivorsnavigatethe FEMA appeals process andweoffer theminnovative financing. Outside of that,SBP’swork is funded through traditional philanthropy: corporate donors, individual donors andfoundations.
We have aroughly $30 million annual operating budget. Some of that comes from federal funding and earnedrevenue, but about twothirdscomesfrom fundraising.
The good newsabout not being heavily reliant on federal funding is thatwehaven’thad as muchrisk of cutsasother nonprofits. There’snoway to put aprice tag on thehope that we’re able to bring. It’sveryemotional when people
move back into their homes. We like to throw welcomehome parties for them.
Youspent almostsix years at Loyola.Before that,you helped launch theNew Orleans Culinary&Hospitality Institute. What did SBP bring you in to do,and whywere you interested in thenew challenge?
Part of the mandate for me is to optimize the programs we’ve developed for long-term and sustainablegrowth. There’sgoing to be increased demand for the services that we can provide on theadvisory side, and we want to meet it. That will allow us to make amore scaled impact on communitiesata systems levelinaddition to the work we’re doing serving individual homeowners.
The missionreally resonates. We have an incredible group of people. And Ihate to considerthis agrowing industry,but there’sanopportunity to build on the successes to help meet this increasing expected need.
Is thereaworld in which SBP becomes the philanthropic FEMA?
FEMA controls the operating environmentfor disaster recovery, so Idon’tknow that we would play that role, butback in those earlier days of 2025, when there wastalk abouteliminating FEMA entirely, that would have meant greater demand for our services at the survivor level and the community level.
Yougrewupinthe Los Angeles area. What inspired your move to New Orleans in 2011?
My husband and Ijust showed up. We needed afresh start for ournew family,and it seemed like aperfect place forus, given his love of music and my business ambitions.
Whatweheard about New Orleans at the time was allabout the growth of the city.And we knew therewouldbeopportunity forus. We didn’t know anybody,but here we are. And that’swhat’ssobeautifulabout living here.You really feel like you’re part of acommunity Email RichCollins at rich. collins@theadvocate.com.
PROVIDED PHOTO
Texas firm plans to build space station at N.O. East facility
BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer
Texas-based aerospace company
Vivace, which operates a manufacturing center at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans East, has landed a contract to help build a space station for Starlab Space, a global joint venture vying for funding in a hypercompetitive sector of commercial spaceflight.
Led by the U.S. space technology firm Voyager Space and the European aerospace conglomerate Airbus, Starlab plans to build a low-Earth orbit station by the end of the decade that can house four researchers or space tourists.
The company said the aluminum-based station will be one of the largest structures ever developed for launch.
Starlab announced last week that it has selected Vivace to build that “primary structure” at Michoud, the local home to NASA in New Orleans and about 20 other aerospace and high-tech companies. Vivace has had a presence at the 829-acre manufacturing facility since 2012. The company’s corporate headquarters are in San Antonio Commercial uses of the Starlab space station include “in-orbit” satellite manufacturing The station also could act as a port for future space exploration missions. The partners developing it promise to deliver research and commercial opportunities in microgravity
The flurry of activity related to commercial space stations comes as NASA plans the end of an era.
The existing International Space Station — which has been run for nearly three decades by space agencies in the United States, Europe, Japan, Canada and Russia — is scheduled to cease operations in the 2030s. Since the ISS is expensive to operate and maintain, NASA launched a program in 2021 that encourages private development of alternatives. Essentially the agency wants to get out of the space station business while it focuses instead on missions to the moon and Mars.
The Starlab project is one of several commercial alternatives in the works. A competing partnership between the Jeff
Bezos-owned Blue Origin and Sierra Space is developing a station called the Orbital Reef. Another domestic competitor, Axiom, is planning its own design.
All of the companies are competing to show NASA and commercial customers that their concepts are the most viable. Starlab CEO Marshall Smith said selecting Vivace to lead the manufacturing of the station’s primary structure is a step in the right direction.
“Starlab is meticulously engineered to deliver scalability, reliability, and mission-critical research to our partners,” Smith said in a prepared statement. The next steps in the project will be to finalize the design and begin the manufacturing process for the station’s primary structure. Vivace said its U.S. government partners at Michoud will offer subject matter expertise, structural analysis and testing in-
frastructure
“Leveraging Vivace’s facilities in Louisiana, we are proud to contribute to this significant project supporting U.S. and allied leadership in human spaceflight,” said Steve Cook, the company’s chair Gov Jeff Landry cheered the deal.
“We are excited that Vivace Corp. and Starlab have partnered to utilize the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility as a central ele-
ment in the design and build of the structures for the Starlab spacecraft,” Landry said. In addition to Voyager and Airbus, the Starlab partnership includes Mitsubishi Corp., MDA Space and Palantir Technologies. Additional strategic partners include Hilton, Northrop Grumman and The Ohio State University Email Rich Collins at rich. collins@theadvocate.com.
Beyond isn’taplace —it’samindset. Andit’sabeliefthathas poweredusfor over 80 years. We areJones Walker LLP,a firmdrivenbyanentrepreneurial spirit,adeepsense of community, and afierce determination to deliverexceptional serviceand valuefor ourclients
Since1937, our firmhas been committed to workingwithcommunityleaders to develop business opportunitiesacrossthe state. We aresteadfast in continuing ourdedicationtogobeyondinadvising clientsand supportinginitiatives andorganizations that make Louisiana abetterplace to live andwork
The Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans East is home to approximately 20 federal, state and commercial tenants, including the manufacturers of core components of NASA’s next crewed mission to space. Texas-based aerospace company Vivace, which operates a manufacturing center at the Michoud, has landed a contract to help build a space station for Starlab Space,
LNG terminals, Meta data center driving La. economy
BY TIMOTHY BOONE Staff writer
Louisiana is projected to add 74,500 jobs over the next two years, extending a five-year run of job gains in the state since the pandemic, due to expansions in the liquefied natural gas industry and construction of Meta’s $10 billion artificial intelligence data center
The job gains, if they occur, would represent a faster pace of job growth than the state is projected to add in 2025, according to economist Loren Scott, who released his annual economic forecast earlier this week at the Louisiana Business Symposium, an economic conference hosted by the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report.
Scott said Louisiana is expected to finally have more than 2 million jobs by the end of the year, and that number will grow over the next two years.
The state has come close to breaking the 2 million mark for nonfarm jobs in 2015 and 2019, but a drop in oil prices, then the COVID pandemic caused job numbers to plunge.
“Let’s hope for the best,” Scott said, noting that while data centers and LNG export terminals are adding jobs, there could be disruptions, such as AI taking away the need for some workers.
Lake Charles, which has two LNG terminals under construction and could potentially add two more before the end of the year, and Monroe, which will benefit from the Meta data center and two Entergy power plants providing electricity for it, are expected to be the fastest-growing regions of the state, according to Scott.
Both Lake Charles and Monroe are expected to post an 8% gain in jobs by the end of 2027, Scott said. That would add 8,600 jobs in Lake Charles and 7,500 in Monroe.
as Calcasieu Pass 2, while their impact on global warming could be studied.
Since April, Woodside Energy has announced plans for the $17.5 billion Louisiana LNG facility in Calcasieu Parish, while Venture Global has started work on CP2, a $15.1 billion facility. Each plant will create 7,500 temporary construction jobs and several hundred permanent jobs.
Economist Loren Scott said Louisiana is expected to finally have more than 2 million jobs by the end of the year, and that number will grow over the next two years.
Lake Charles is benefiting from the Trump administration’s decision to move ahead with permitting LNG facilities quickly That’s in contrast to the Biden administration’s move to pause export permits on manufacturing plants such
Woodside Energy hosted a groundbreaking for its Louisiana LNG site in Sulphur on Sept. 15. Lake Charles is expected to be among the fastestgrowing regions of the state.
Commonwealth LNG could go ahead and make a final investment decision on an $11 billion plant in Cameron Parish before the end of the year Scott said. And the $10 billion
Lake Charles LNG retrofit could get a final investment decision before the end of 2026, he said.
The job gains in metro Monroe are entirely driven by the Meta data center, which will create 5,000 construction jobs and up to
500 permanent jobs. Entergy plans to spend $2.2 billion to build two natural gas power plants to meet the needs of the data center, which will be around the size of 70 football fields. The power needs of the plant are significant; the Center for Energy Studies at LSU estimates Meta’s consumption alone will boost electricity consumption in Louisiana by 15%. Scott said that the other major employers in Monroe, such as the Foster Farms poultry plant, the Graphics Packaging paper plant and the JPMorgan Chase Mortgage customer service center, are expected to see employment hold steady or even fall slightly Baton Rouge is projected to see a 4.9% job gain over the next two years, adding 21,600 new positions, thanks to industrial construction in Ascension Parish. Scott said more than $20 billion in projects are in motion, most are in the 17,000-acre RiverPlex MegaPark, a mixed-use development on the west bank of the parish bordering the Mississip-
pi River The RiverPlex MegaPark development will be anchored by the $5.8 billion Hyundai steel mill project which Gov Jeff Landry and Ascension Parish officials committed $600 million to upgrade the MegaPark land with a wastewater treatment plant, road and rail updates and land purchases. The project will create 1,300 direct jobs. All of the other metro areas in Louisiana are expected to see job gains that fall below the 3.7% increase that is projected to happen over the next two years. Hammond and St. Tammany Parish are both projected to see 3.4% gains in new jobs Hammond will be boosted by expansions at North Oaks Health System and Southeastern Louisiana University, while St. Tammany will be boosted by continuing gains at Globalstar and Pool Corp. Shreveport-Bossier City is expected to see 3.3% growth because of growth prospects at the Cyber Research Park, the former
GM plant and the Port of CaddoBossier There’s a chance a data center could move into the area, because of the easy access to the abundant supply of cheap natural gas in the Haynesville Shale, Scott said.
Lafayette is forecast to see a 2.8% gain in jobs, as tariffs weigh down the offshore drilling industry SafeSource Direct’s recent suspension of operations is also expected to hurt the local economy The Broussard plant, which makes personal protective equipment, has laid off just under 700 employees.
New Orleans is expected to see a 2.4% gain in jobs, as the city is pulled down by a lagging convention business and financial difficulties at the University of New Orleans. The $18 billion expansion at the Venture Global LNG export terminal in Plaquemines Parish will provide a boost.
Email Timothy Boone at tboone@theadvocate.com.
Building the Future of Energy Logistics.
We’remodernizing ourterminals to serve energy transition logistics, andpartnering on innovative solutions— alltosupport the transition to alower-carbonfuture. from non-petroleum products
Kartchner’s to open in Youngsville Twin’sspace
Kartchner’sGrocery and Specialty Meats will open aYoungsville location.
The Krotz Springs-basedcompany was granted acertificate of occupancy for the space at 103 Center Sarcelle Blvd., Suite 501, in the Metairie Center,documents show
The space was last occupied by Twin’sBurgers and Sweets, which closed earlier this year
The building was part of adeal that an Ohio-based group purchased in May for $8 million
Themoveisalsothe latestexpansionfor Kartchner’s, which opened aCrowley location earlier this year.Italso has locations in Scott and in Lafayette next to Moncus Park Church’stomove into old Hardee’sspot
AChurch’sTexas Chickenwill
BUSINESS BRIEFS
move into the former Hardee’s space at 108 E. KalisteSaloom Road
The fried chicken chain was granted acertificate of occupancy by Lafayette Consolidated Government, and the company announced thelocation on its website.
The building has satempty for years since aSam’sSouthernEatery opened in 2020 andclosed a short time later Church’sTexas Chicken has threeotherlocations in Lafayette
Parish,according to its website. Dunkin’ to openon Ambassador Caffery
Asecond Dunkin’ location is set to open in Lafayette. The popularbreakfast andcoffeelocationwillopenat3546Ambassador CafferyParkway,Suite 100, after being approvedfor a building permit by Lafayette Consolidated Government, records show
The spacelast held aClean Juice, which closed in late 2023. Work on the building will include modification to the rear corner of thebuildingand thedrive-thru area. The project is valued at $360,000.
It is the second Dunkin’ location planned for the Lafayette area after aFlorida group closed on the purchase of the oldHardee’s in Carencro.Itwill operate as atribrand along with Baskin-Robbins and Jimmy John’s.
Over the past several months, I’ve been assisting several unemployed people,includingsome who were victims of the federal employee purge.
One of the most frustrating things is how often employers ghost these job seekers, often not even confirming receipt of their applications.Even those who makeittothe interviewstage and seem to be on ashort list have been dropped suddenly without warning, adynamic morecommonly associatedwith dating.
One personI’m working with has been waiting more than three months to hearback from one company about aposition. They liked her,the interviewersaid, and told her she would get aresponse in about aweek. Like abad breakup, applicants who get ghosted are left wondering and worrying about what happened. But it’sreally up to the company to communicate when things don’twork out.
And it happens withincreasing regularity: A2023 surveybythe job site Indeed found that 35% of job seekers claim an employer didn’tacknowledge their application. And 40%said they were ghosted after asecond- or thirdround interview—upfrom 30% in 2022.
In research releasedlast year, the careerplatform Glassdoor found that employer ghosting has become afamiliar complaint among applicants who post interview reviews.
“As the job market softens, ghosting is likely to keep growing
…as a larger pool of job seekers compete for asmallerpool of jobs,”aneconomist forthe company said.
TheU.S.labor market is weakening: Hiring slowed down substantially in August, the Labor Departmentreported. Employers added just 22,000 jobs, a significantdrop from the 79,000 created in July.Meanwhile, the unemployment rate edged up to 4.3%. And arecent data revision by the BureauofLabor Statistics showed that U.S. employers created 911,000 fewer positions from April 2024 to March 2025 than what was previously reported.
All of this meansit’sgetting increasingly difficult to find work.
Andthe numberofAmericans experiencing joblessness forsix months orlonger has climbed.
Job seekers also arelosing confidence: Research fromthe New York Federal Reserve Bank shows “job loss expectations” have worsened. Andoptimism of findingajob once unemployed hasdeclined to arecord low, according to the New York Fed’s Center for Microeconomic Data Survey of Consumer Expectations.
Concernsabout President Donald Trump’stariff disputes are
making employers hesitant to fill roles. The Federal Reserve cut its keyinterest rate by aquarterpoint last month, citing the health of thelabor market as afactor Against this gloomy economic backdrop, it’snot hard to understand whyrecruiters andhiring managers are getting swamped with applications. The use of artificialintelligencehas made it easier for job seekers to massapply,resulting in an influx of résumés.
To be fair, sometimes acompany decidestopull an open position or go with an internalcandidate. However,ghosting is both rude andunprofessional.
It’salso cruel I’m awitness to howthe silence affects people’s mental health Theyoften lose hope,and sometimes give up looking altogether If you’re an employer, you ought to have asysteminplace to update folks on theirstatus. Even agenericrejection letter is more humane than being ignored. You can do so much more with automation these days. Use it!
Here’s the advice I’ve been giving to ghostedjob candidates.
n Don’tstopcommunicating. It may be aone-sidedendeavor but make sure to follow up with an email or telephone callwithout overdoing it. Space outyouroutreach so that youaren’tviewedasa nuisance or menacing.
n Keep it professional An employer’ssilenceshouldn’tbe met with vitriol. Don’t send any angry emails or leavevoicemails abouthow you’ve been ghosted
or poorlytreated in the process.
Staypolite.
n Askfor atimeline. Do what you can to getany information on when to expectahiring decision
n Don’ttakeitpersonally This is hard. But try to remember that the lack of communication may nothaveanything to do withyour job qualificationsoryourinterviewperformance.
n Move on. If another offer comesup, takeit. It maynot be the job you want,but waiting for acallback from aghosting employermight cause youtolosea positionyou need Afew years ago, Iwas part of ahiring team at my company. We narrowed thefieldtothree people,all of whom wereinterviewed.One candidate stood out abit morethanthe others, although allofthemperformed well duringthe interviewprocess. After we made ourfinaldecision, Ireachedout to theother candidates because Ineeded them to knowitwas aclose call. Ithought they deserved some feedback, notjustasimple “you didn’tget thejob.”
As Iwas thinking aboutwriting this column,I circledback to one of thecandidates to ask whether my reaching outmadeadifference.
“Getting rejected from ajob usually feels like agut punch, but your phone callfeltmorelike a patonthe back,” she said. “It was aconversation that reminded me that this role wasn’tmeanttobe, andthat’sOK, because youand
others showered me in complimentsand encouragement.I think that’svital fora young professional,especially in this currentjob market, where landing roles is as hard as ever.”
Idon’t have theburdenofreviewing dozensofapplications, so Iunderstandthathiring personnelmay nothavethe time to do whatI did. Butapplicants should at least receive an automated progressreport. Andtheydeservetoknowyourfinaldecision
Email Michelle Singletary at michelle.singletary@washpost com.
Michelle Singletary THE COLOR OF MONEy
W. Texas struggles to meet demand for data center infrastructure
BY CARLOS NOGUERAS RAMOS
The Texas Tribune
ODESSA, Texas Big data centers that power the artificial intelligence industry demand an abundance of energy West Texas — known for producing 40% of the nation’s crude oil — also has an extraordinary amount of natural gas that could power those data centers. But the region lacks adequate infrastructure to convert the gas, a byproduct of pumping oil, into electricity and transmit it to the growing industry, experts said.
“Meeting this unprecedented demand takes more than production alone,” said Ed Longanecker, president of the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association. “It requires a strong network of pipelines and infrastructure to move natural gas efficiently and ensure reliable power for end
users. In Texas, expanding this network has never been more important to keep pace with growth.”
The lack of infrastructure puts the Permian Basin region at a major disadvantage compared to other oil and gas producing regions, said Jason Jennaro, CEO of FrontierGen, a business analytics company that helps industrial developers secure land.
Oil and gas companies in West Texas will need to compete with those in the Eagle Ford and Haynesville shales, two other major oil basins in southern and eastern Texas, for customers on the hunt for remarkable amounts of natural gas. Further complicating the matter is the number of companies with high energy needs, including cryptocurrency facilities, Jennaro said, who wrote a report in September evaluating different Texas oil basins and their potential to bring en-
ergy to AI The oil and gas industry itself is also increasingly needing more energy
“The demand for generation, particularly in high voltage transmission, is going to have to be spread across a number of different industries looking to pursue it,” Jennaro said.
Jennaro said the United States will need to add roughly 400 terawatts — enough energy to power France for a year — in five years to satisfy AI demand. His study relied on estimates from McKinsey and the Energy Information Administration, a government analysis agency Texas is also expecting more demand. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the state’s main grid operator, may have to nearly double in size by 2030, according to its own forecasts. The demand is mostly coming from data centers and the oil and gas industry
The dearth of ways to carry gas that surfaces along with crude oil in the Permian Basin is not just lost revenue; it’s a money pit. Earlier this year oil companies were paying other companies to take the gas. Supplying that gas to data center companies would mean West Texas producers could turn the financial drain into profit.
Among the first steps to realizing that goal, the region needs gas plants to generate electricity Longanecker said oil companies are spending billions of dollars in West Texas for such projects.
But it won’t be so simple as building facilities. More pipelines are also needed. The pipelines carrying 6.5 billion cubic feet a day of natural gas in the region can transport only so much of it to meet the congested field of customers.
The oil fields of Eagle Ford and Haynesville, on the other hand, are better equipped with transmission
lines, less congestion of industries and proximity to liquefied natural gas hubs. The two also have a more robust fiber optic network.
Longanecker said the federal government should reform pipeline permitting to shorten the approval process, which can take up to seven years.
Jennaro said he’s bullish about a state plan in Texas to build transmission lines capable of transmitting higher voltages of electricity. The Permian Basin Reliability Plan, passed by lawmakers in 2023, is set to be built by 2030.
“In our opinion, we are entering America’s Fourth Industrial Revolution. This revolution will be defined by the creation of large industrial nexus points where substantial amounts of electricity, transmission, natural gas, water and fiber optics converge,” Jennaro said. “Texas and its energy basins are a great place for this.”
Science, Jobs,and Balance: Rethinking Louisiana’s Menhaden Buffer Zone
Brought to youbythe Louisiana Commercial Fishing Coalition,LLC Louisiana’sworking coast has long depended on the Gulf menhaden fishery -asustainable industry thatsupportsmorethan2,000 jobs contributes $419 million annually,generates $25million in state and local tax revenue,and purchases $62 million in goods and services from 32 parishes.Yet,despitethis enormous positiveimpact,recentregulatory changes threatentounderminethis lifeline industry and the communities thatdepend on it
At issue is the decision to extend the state’s menhaden buffer zone in recentyears. Historically,the fishery operatedalongthe Inside/Outside Line and Double Rig Line -longstanding boundariesfor commercial fishing thathad already limited where menhaden vessels could operate.In2021, the buffer zone wasextended by one-quarter mile, and again in 2024toahalf-mile from the original line. While thesechanges maysound incremental, the impact has been anything butsmall. The half-mile restriction has excluded thousands of acres of historically productivefishing grounds.In just 3years, the industry experienced a25% reduction in fish caught. Foranindustry already operating on tightmargins,this lossisunsustainable, harming not only the companies thatfish for menhaden but alsothousands of Louisiana families whoselivelihoods depend on this fishery
An Industry ThatFuels Local Economies Louisiana’smenhaden industry is powered by twocompanies -Westbank Fishing out of Empire, LA (Plaquemines Parish) and Ocean Harvestersout of Abbeville,LA(Vermilion Parish). Contrary to the misinformation thathas been spread, both thesecompanies areU.S.-based, U.S.-owned and aretotally controlled by U.S. citizens.Together with thetwo processing companies (Daybrook Fisheries and OmegaProtein),theyemploy morethan 800 people directly on vessels and in processing plants,while another 1,200 jobs ripple acrossrural communities through suppliers, service companies,and transportation providers. Theseare stable, year-round jobs thatanchorsmall-town economies in parishes whereeconomic opportunities arelimited. Beyond economics,menhaden playsa critical role in globalsupply chains.These small, oily fish areprocessedintofishmeal andfish oil essentialfor petfood, animalfeed, and aquaculture. Without areliable domestic menhaden supply,the United States would be forced to rely on imports,raising costs forconsumers and weakening food security. Bycatch NumbersTell the Real Story Toooften, buffer zone expansions have been driven by perception rather than science. Proponents citeconcerns about bycatch, particularly the unintended capture of reddrum. But Louisiana’sown $1 million bycatchstudy tells adifferentstory -one that underscores howsustainable and responsible the menhadenfishery is
Thestudy found the menhadenfleet accounts forjust 3.4% of reddrum caught. In addition, the fishery operatedwell below the 5% total bycatchset by the State of Louisiana as amaximum bycatchthreshold. By contrast,the recreational sector -nearly 407,000 licensed saltwateranglersin202324 according to the Louisiana Departmentof Wildlifeand Fisheries-accounts for96.6% of all reddrum mortalities off Louisiana’s coast.Infact, LDWF data showred drum areexperiencing overfishing driven by this recreational pressure.
What’smore, the bycatchstudy found that 84% of reddrum surviveafter being rolledout of the nets after the completion of menhaden sets.Industry-led innovations aredriving this survival rate even higher.The adoption of newhose-end cage technologyindustrywide, forexample, has reduced the menhaden industry’s reddrum mortalityby24% in 2025.
The menhaden fleet has alsoinvested heavily in improving gear to preventpast issues. Since 2023,companies have spent $6.5 million upgrading to Spectra/Plateena nets,which arestronger,moredurable, and significantly reduce net tearsthatonce led to unintended spills Takentogether,the data showa fishery that is meeting bycatchstandards,innovating to improve,and ensuring reddrum populations arenot negatively impacted.
The Myth of Predator Dependence
Another argumentoften cited against menhaden harvesting is thatpredatorfish like speckled trout and reddrum depend almost exclusively on menhaden as food. Yetnew
research disproves this claim. AUniversity of Southern Mississippi study found Gulf predatorspecies do not exclusively rely on menhaden. Instead, theyconsume avariety of prey,including shrimp,crabs,and other forage fish.
This evidence underscores thatthe ecological role of menhaden, while important, is not thesole factor sustaining predator populations.The buffer zone expansions therefore, do littletoprotect prizedgamefish but imposeenormous costs on the menhaden industry and the communities it supports ACall for Balance Louisiana has long prided itself on balancing conservation with economic opportunity. The recenthalf-mile buffer zone extension has introduced quantifiable challenges forthe menhaden fishery,limiting areas wherevessels canoperate and reducing accesstohistorically productivewaters The industry remains asignificant contributor to thestate’s economyand operatesunder state science-based managementstandards,which aredesigned to ensuresustainability.
Forthe thousands of Louisiana workers, families,and communities connected to this fishery,the issue is morethan abstract policy Menhaden has long been aresource thatfeeds people, pets,and economies,and decisions around its managementwill help shapehow it continues to playthatrole in the future
An entrance to the Stargate artificial intelligence data center complex in Abilene, Texas. While West Texas has an
LOUISIANA
A GROWING PRACTICE
Lafayette pediatric emergency room extends hours, ups NICU tech
BY MARGARET DELANEY Staff writer
Dr Scott Hamilton did not think he was going to end up in Louisiana. However, when he met his wife in Portland, Maine, and spending seven years together up north, the Lafayette native had to get closer to home. So, the pair moved to Acadiana.
“I met a Cajun girl,” Hamilton said. “That’s why I’m here.” In the years since, Hamilton has found his passion as the medical director of the pediatric emergency department at Ochsner Lafayette General Regional Medical Center, where he has worked for 25 years.
His new goal aligns with the hospital’s: Expanding the resources at the pediatric emergency room and extending the hours to care for more pediatric patients each day
Starting in August, Hamilton and his team at Ochsner Lafayette General opened the pediatric ER from noon to 11 p.m. with a fully trained staff. Hamilton wants to keep extending the hours.
“We’re hoping to expand to 12 hours a day, and we hope to extend to 16 hours a day,” Hamilton said. “That’s the dream that we’re working on here at the hospital.
If a pediatric patient is ad-
services
Daigle, the registered
Ochsner
mitted before or after those hours, they are treated in the hospital’s main emergency room In order to be considered a designated trauma center by the American College of Surgeons, a hospital needs to be able to get a patient into the operating room in half an hour.
A trauma, by definition, is defined as multiple injuries.
“Generally, the worst ones we see here are ATV roll-
overs,” Hamilton said. “As a trauma center, we have all of the surgeon subspecialists that take care of all of those injuries associated with each patient.”
The trauma rooms are set at 78 degrees. Operating rooms are at 78 degrees. That’s to prevent patients from experiencing cold stress and discomfort while being treated.
“It’s a different animal than adults,” Hamilton said “We’re not dealing with heart
attacks or strokes.”
Typically, pediatric patients are from zero to 14 years old — most of the distinction between adult and pediatric emergency care is based on size.
“Pediatric surgeons are great at algebra,” Hamilton said. “Because they’re doing medication conversions for kids’ weights day in and day out.”
See PRACTICE, page 2X
Study challenges value of 10K steps per day
BY HUNTER BOYCE
Atlanta Journal-Constitution (TNS)
How do you measure the value of a step? A common goal for many people over the last 60 years has become 10,000 steps a day for better health. The problem is it’s a myth decades in the making. A team of researchers decided to figure out just how many steps a person should really take for better health, landing squarely around 7,000 for the general population. And according to a doctor, it might actually be best to drop the step count all together
Published in The Lancet recently, a new systematic study review challenged the health value of aiming for 10,000 steps per day
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution spoke with the study’s Philip Clare, a researcher at the University of Sydney, to discuss setting a more realistic goal.
“It’s not wrong to have a target that isn’t necessarily giving you the maximum benefit,” Clare explained. “We have a lot of this in public health where, ideally, we would like to set targets that are going to have a really good benefit.
“But if no one meets them, on a population level, it’s actually less beneficial. It’s going to be demoralizing.”
While 10,000 daily steps may feel like a monumental task to many, a more modest 7,000 daily steps can be almost just as beneficial. It’s the researcher’s hope that his team’s work will help encourage people to not be intimidated into taking that crucial first step toward a healthier lifestyle.
From cardiovascular disease to cancer to depression, the study review examined the health effects of walking across a wide range of diseases and symptoms. In the end, the researchers determined that only walking 7,000 steps a day was associated with a 47% lower risk of all-cause mortality and 25% lower risk of cardiovascular disease, among other findings.
“The benefit that you get from going from 5,000 to 7,000, up to that 10,000 is just much reduced,” Clare explained. “From going 1,000 to 7,000, you get about a 50% reduction in mortality Going from that 7,000 to 10,000, you get about another 5%. You can still reduce your risk if you keep going, but you get a lot less bang for your buck.”
Is a lower step count a more achievable goal for most people, including the average Atlanta walker?
Emory University assistant professor and primary care sports medicine physician Dr Michael Kraft offered his expertise on the matter
See STEPS, page 3X
STAFF PHOTOS By BRAD KEMP
Scott Hamilton, medical director of the pediatric emergency department at Ochsner Lafayette General Regional Medical Center, speaks during a tour of the pediatric emergency department and emergency room on Sept. 2 at Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center in Lafayette.
Meagan
nurse regional director of maternal, newborn and pediatric
at
Lafayette General, stands in the neonatal intensive care unit during a tour
HEALTH MAKER
Pennington’s Pasiakos leads charge in military research
BY MARGARET DELANEY Staff writer
Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge
welcomed Dr. Stefan Pasiakos in May as a professor and director of human performance optimization
In his work at Pennington, Pasiakos has led research aimed at enhancing human performance across many environments — from the battlefield to deep space.
Pasiakos, an author of over 170 published works, previously worked at the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine and as the director of the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Dietary Supplements. His research includes optimizing functional capabilities for warfighter resilience, space travel and other projects within the scope of human-performance research.
became very inspired after 9/11 to give back — to do something in some way that I can actually contribute When I was finishing graduate school, I made the decision that I wanted to join the Army I wanted to do science for the Army I commissioned as an officer right out of graduate school, and I became a postdoctoral fellow at the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine in Massachusetts
Pasiakos received his doctorate in nutritional science in 2008 from the University of Connecticut. He also holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees in exercise physiology from Adelphi University and Southern Connecticut State University He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Military Nutrition Division in 2012 as a U.S. Army Medical Service Corps officer
What brought you into military sciences and the Army?
I was always interested in doing research for the military I
The medical research lab focuses on how service members respond to environmental, physiological and operational stressors, and how they can design evidencebased tools or strategies to offset those decrements that might occur — whether that be during basic training, while they’re living here in the country and training, or if it’s during an actual combat deployment. We asked ourselves, “How can we use science to optimize their performance eliminate injury and keep people healthy and ready in the event that they’re called on to do something?” I was there for almost 16 years. Throughout that time, I had various positions, ending with serving as the chief of the military performance division. That was a large research group of about 90 individuals, where our mission was to identify risk factors for musculoskeletal injury and to develop strategies to prevent
injury or to accelerate a service member’s return to duty once they are injured.
Why Pennington?
Pennington approached me in February of this past year and asked if I would be interested in coming to Louisiana. They asked me to both expand my previous research and strengthen — or broaden — the work that Pennington has done to support the Department of Defense for the past 37 years.
We can do this in Baton Rouge by bringing in new disciplines, by integrating the sciences and by focusing on trying to eliminate physiological decline in service members or astronauts operating underneath the most extreme conditions a real emphasis on both space flight and the military
That’s where I’m at now I’m trying to stand up this program and coming back into research, from being a more of a program manager for the past five years at the National Institutes of Health.
What are some specific studies you are researching at Pennington?
We’re working on expanding our relationship with NASA, the Johnson Space Center We’re looking for ways for Pennington to bring back the ability to do bed rest studies.
Given the focus on going to the moon, the focus on going to Mars, there are a lot of stressors that astronauts face that need to be mitigated in some way
The bed rest analog gives us the capability for Pennington to do what it does best to study
Scott Hamilton, medical director of the pediatric emergency department
Medical Center, left, and Meagan Daigle, the registered nurse regional director of maternal, newborn and pediatric services at Ochsner Lafayette General, show a neonatal intensive care unit sled on Sept. 2 during a tour of the pediatric emergency department and emergency room at Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center in Lafayette.
PRACTICE
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There are other systems in place to enable the medical team to adjust to a child’s size and weight. For example, the pediatric emergency room’s crash cart is colorcoded based on child sizes. On the gurney in trauma one, there is a Broselow Tape a color-coded height chart on a long measuring board that sits next to the bed Nearby, in color-coded drawers, they are able to grab instruments tailored to the correct body size.
Asthma, croup attacks, bronchiolitis, sore throats, flu, RSV, sprained ankles and blunt traumas are just some of the things Hamilton and his team see at Ochsner’s pediatric emergency room.
Hamilton and his colleagues start their shifts at noon. But, before the hustle of the ER, Hamilton is working with administrators, filing paperwork and teaching classes.
“Pediatric emergencies are seldom. So, really to be good at them, we have to drill,” Hamilton said. “You have to practice them with mannequins and scenarios.”
Another benefit to having a designated ER for PEDs is that it helps get to patients faster
“They don’t have to wait behind adults,” Hamilton said. “We can pull the kids out of the triage line and triage them here.”
As part of the training at the NICU, nurses, physicians and staff are invited to participate in monthly trainings. These courses could be on something new, or on something old.
“Dr Hamilton doesn’t really talk too much about himself, but I think it’s incredible how he, Dr (William)
Smalling and Dr (Matthew) Cortez actually do classes — not just for physicians, but for nurses as well,” said Maegan Daigle, the registered nurse regional director of maternal, newborn and pediatric services at Ochsner Lafayette General. “Mock codes. Simulations. All at the benefit of their own time.”
These drills, which happen at varying times each month, keep the pediatric practitioners on their feet, a vital component of pediatric care.
“On adults, we normally see the same things, and we’re able to practice and adapt,” Hamilton said. “With children, traumas are all so different and more rare.”
As the birthrate in the U.S. declines, the Ochsner Lafayette General Regional Medical Center is seeing an uptick According to Daigle, those numbers are expected to continue to rise.
“In the past three or four months, we have actually seen an incline in our delivery rates,” Daigle said.
A large part of the increasing births at the hospital in Lafayette is the three expansions the hospital has done to the department.
In the last decade, the labor and delivery floor went from 15 to 19 beds, added 20 more postpartum rooms, opened an obstetric emergency department and opened a prenatal unit for mothers who need to stay in the hospital before giving birth.
“If you build it, they will come,” Daigle said. “We’re going to just keep expanding. I’m sure there’s going to be another expansion in the near future.”
Not only have there been increased births in the hospital, but the team at Ochsner Lafayette General has also seen an increase
metabolism. Study skeletal muscle bone adaptations to deconditioning. Study the neurocognitive responses and develop interventions. We are looking to reestablish the infrastructure here, to really have Pennington serve as the hub for metabolic research, and we hope that comes to fruition.
The other work that we’re doing is continuing to explore the nutritional requirements for service members. One such study is looking at ways that we can use pharmacologic to offset some of the inflammatory responses that happen during extreme operations. That includes operations associated with sleep deprivation, underfeeding or extreme environmental stressors.
Those conditions can cause an inflammatory response that limits the body’s ability to absorb key nutrients, such as iron, and that can reduce performance. We’re doing a study now to look at ways to overcome that.
Another study that we’re putting in for funding is using novel therapeutics, novel compounds, to explore how those can be used to maximize the restorative effects of sleep when you can’t sleep enough.
In special forces, for example, a lot of those missions come with various or limited opportunities to actually sleep, so the body can’t recover optimally if you can’t sleep.
How can we use new strategies, new therapeutics, to actually maximize the body’s response and restorative properties while you
can’t sleep enough so you can perform at your best?
We’re looking at brain activity
We’re looking at muscle recovery and cognition.
How is Louisiana so far? And what do you look forward to at Pennington?
I’m from New England. I’ve never really left New England, so this, obviously, was a monster shift. My family and I are happy here in Louisiana.
Personally I couldn’t be more excited to have the opportunity in front of me. If you’re a federal scientist, typically, as you work through your career, you just move higher and higher into administrative roles. You become so far removed from actual research doing what you actually were trained to do.
This opportunity here at Pennington has given me the chance to get back to that — to build a program. I will still lead this multidisciplinary program with a lot of scientists, but I’m excited to just get back to the hands-on aspects of science.
Pennington is known for obesity, diabetes, cancer and just general nutrition groundbreaking research, but my focus has always been on human performance under extreme physiological stress. That can be anybody — that can be astronauts, that can be military, that can be first responders. How can we do science to keep people functioning at their best, no matter the condition? That’s what I hope to do now here at Pennington.
HEALTH NOTES
EPIC-NOLA turns 10, plans celebration
Staff report
Early Psychosis Intervention Clinic New Orleans, also known as EPIC-NOLA, and its psychosis early detection campaign Clear Answers to Louisiana’s Mental Health host the fourth annual In My Mind benefit from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m on Nov. 7 at Junebug, at 744 Camp St., New Orleans.
EPIC-NOLA, a program affiliated with the department of psychiatry at Tulane University, works to break down the stigma surrounding psychosis. Young people aged 16 to 25, high school and college-aged, are especially at-risk to psychosis, according to EPIC-NOLA. General admission tickets are $150 per person, which includes food, an art exhibit, music performance and more, with an open bar
The NCLEX-RN and NCLEXPN examinations identify those candidates who demonstrate minimal competence to practice nursing at the entry level. Passing the NCLEX exam is one of the requirements necessary for attaining a nursing license and registration in the United States.
Monthly weight loss seminars in Slidell
Our Lady of the Lake Surgical Hospital in Slidell and wellrenowned bariatric surgeons are hosting weight loss seminars every month beginning in September and ending in December
White Cane Safety Day celebration in BR
in transports, Hamilton said.
A pediatric team, partnered with Acadian Ambulance, can travel with newborns from Jennings, Opelousas, New Iberia, Abbeville and as far as Florida to pick up an infant.
Ochsner provides the team and the sleds for this service.
“There was a family that just wanted to get back home to Louisiana. Our team drove an ambulance all the way to Florida, stabilized the baby and drove back,” Daigle said. “I can’t imagine how they sat in the back of an ambulance bay for hours.”
The pediatric sleds, the mechanism used to transport infants safely in an ambulance, are fully equipped with newborn needs, including oxygen monitors, feeding tubes, blood pressure cuffs and much, much more — and they are all mini-sized for the infants.
“We get there as soon as we can,” Daigle said. “If we know ahead of time, we can be there before the baby is born. Then, at birth, we step right into action, stabilize the baby and then transfer them safely to the hospital.”
Email Margaret DeLaney at margaret.delaney@theadvocate. com.
Medicare open
enrollment starts Oct. 15
Medicare’s annual open enrollment begins Oct. 15, and millions of Americans will soon face decisions about their 2026 coverage. Open enrollment ends Dec. 7. For more information about future coverage, go to medicare.gov
Nursing director selected for nurse exam panel
Brittney Zaffuto, the practical nursing director at Nunez Community College in Chalmette, was one of 20 health care educators from around the country invited to Chicago as a panelist for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing Licensure Examination.
Zaffuto was approved by the Louisiana State Board of Practical Nurse Examiners to participate on the exam’s development As an item writer, Zaffuto spent four days in Chicago offices writing questions for the examination.
“This opportunity allowed me to play a part in shaping the future of nursing by ensuring fair and rigorous assessment for future nurses,” Zaffuto said in a statement.
The Louisiana Health section is focused on providing in-depth, personal accounts of health in the state.This section looks at medical innovations, health discoveries, state and national health statistics and re-examining tried and true methods on ways to live well.
The Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired will host Baton Rouge’s official celebration of National White Cane Safety Day — a day dedicated to promoting awareness, independence and mobility for individuals who are blind or visually impaired.
Mayor Sid Edwards will speak to the public at 9:15 a.m. followed by student and adult advocates as well as demonstrations on cane travel and accessibility and mobility activities.
The event hosted at the North Boulevard Town Square, 222 North Blvd., Baton Rouge, will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Oct. 15.
Ochsner LSU Health announces partnership Progressive Children’s Clinic, at 1919 Fairfield Ave., Shreveport, announced it will join the Ochsner LSU Health system. The clinic, while still operating at its current location, will officially transition to Ochsner LSU Health Progressive Pediatrics in January 2026. Health Notes is an occasional listing of health happenings around Louisiana. Have something you’d like to share? Contact us at margaret.delaney @theadvocate.com.
Primarycare physicians are typically apatient’s first point of contact with the health care system and provide critical preventive care, disease management and referrals to specialists In Louisiana, there are 264.3 primarycare providers per 100,000 people, the 38th-highest in the country.
Over the last seven years, from2018 to 2024, thisratio has increased steadily,slowly closing gap in primarycare provider rates compared to national averages.
Not only is the primary care provider ratio trending upward in Louisiana, 86% of adults in the state report having apersonal doctor or health care provider —that’s higher than the national
STEPS
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“Ithink the biggest thing that people should take away is that movement is positive and so walking is positive, even if you’re getting alittle bitin,” he told The AJC. For older adults, Kraft explained,aslittle as 4,400 steps aday can provebeneficial to their health. But workout enthusiasts should try to be as active as they can tolerate. “You shouldn’tshoot for that 10,000 steps, if you can’tget there. Butdoing somethingisbetter than nothing. Andagain,it’sthat ‘doing nothing’ to then just ‘doing something’ has that
averageat 84% Massachusettshas the highestratio of primary care providers in 2024 with 395.1 practitioners per 100,000 population, while Texas has the lowest ratiowith 221 per 100,000 population
TheHealth Resources and Services Administration has estimated that, as of November 2024, an additional 13,000 primary care providers are necessary to meetcurrent U.S. health careneedsindesignated health workforce shortage areas.
That deficit is expected to grow to at least20,200 physicians by 2034, reflecting continued strong demand
Data from the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services tracked the number of activeprimary care providers —including general practice, family practice, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, geriatrics and internal medicinephysicians, as well as physicianassistantsand nurse practitioners—per 100,000 populationineach state.
Since2018, thenumber of primarycareproviders per 100,000 people in Louisiana areasfollows: n In 2018, therewere 183.9 primarycare providersper 100,000 population; n In 2019, therewere 201.8 primarycare providersper 100,000 population; n In 2020, therewere 212.5 primarycare
biggestcardiovascular ben-
efit. Ithink that’sthe power of that study.” Does that mean 7,000 is thenew 10,000? It truly depends on theperson, as well as their specific health goals. Forreducingmortality rates, it’snot abad numberfor the average person to consider Walkingishealthy—really healthy.Counting steps, however, is not actually the most idealway to measure the worthofthose workouts. Are you walkingupan incline,downhill or an a flat surface? Are you an older adult or perhaps over-
providersper 100,000 population; n In 2021, therewere 221.6 primarycare providersper 100,000 population; n In 2022, therewere 238.5 primarycare providersper 100,000 population; n In 2023, therewere 253.6 primarycare providersper 100,000 population; n In 2024, therewere 264.3 primarycare providersper 100,000 population.
Since2018, theaverage number of primarycare providersper 100,000 people in the U.S. areas follows: n In 2018, therewere 209 primarycare providers per 100,000 population;
weight? Each individual’s healthcircumstances, as well as their unique health goals, will significantly affect thevalue of eachstep taken. Kraft explained that it’sbetter to consider your heartrate zone when exercising, rather than total stepstaken,ifyou wantto gauge theworthofyour walks.
“The zonesare truly based off of your maximum heart rate,” Kraft said.“Thesimple formula out there for most people is 220minus your agegivesyou amaximum heart rate. If you’re really well-trained, your maximum heartrate is probably going to be higher than that.”
n In 2019, there were 225.2 primarycare providers per 100,000 population; n In 2020, there were 236.4 primarycare providers per 100,000 population; n In 2021, there were 245.1 primarycare providers per 100,000 population; n In 2022, there were
heart rate chart, as well as detailed instructions on how to measure your heart rate zone. There are five zones in total, with the highest representingapace you can only maintain fora fewminutes at best. Those looking to lose weight will especially want to pay attention to these zones.
“Zone one, that’sconsidered very,very light,” Kraft said. “That’s50% to 60% of your maximum heart rate. You’re notgetting awhole lotofbenefitout of it, to be honest. Zone twois60% to 70%.Mostpeople sayuse the talk test.”
If you can talk, but perhaps not sing, during an exercise, it’s likely your heart rate is in that second zone.
If youcan barely saymore
259.2 primarycare providers per 100,000 population; n In 2023, there were 271.7 primarycare providers per 100,000 population; n In 2024, there were 283.4 primarycare providers per 100,000 population.
than afew words, thenyou might already be in zone three or higher When walking, Kraft said, most people will only find themselves in zone two. Training in this zone, consequently,isa great wayto burn fatand improve cardio at ahumble workout pace. Walking is still only apiece of the larger picture, when it comes to meeting your health goals. From identifying and removing unhealthy habits to dieting, it’s best to talk with your doctor or nutritionist. “There’s alot thatgoes into it,” Kraft said. “I don’t want to hang thehat on just exercise forsure.” Visit dietaryguidelines. govfor more information on health eating.
Acadiana organization provides local access to performing arts resources
BY JOYHOLDEN Staff writer
Serving her communitythrough the arts is away of life for Jackie Lyle. Whatstarted out as amissiontofind performances for her childrenhas evolved into her role as the executive directorofPerforming Arts Serving Acadiana. Also known as PASA, the nonprofit organization is the locus of arts and music in the Acadiana region that exposes communitymembersto avariety of performingarts.
The nonprofit relaunched its first performing arts season in 2021,bringing lively arts back to the Heymann Center stage
“The biggest mistakethatarts organizations make is not giving people access to artists,” Lyle said.
When the Fine Arts Foundation, which started in 1975, brought legendary performers like Roberta Peters, Ella Fitzgerald, Gregory Hines, Dr.Billy Taylor,Alexander Godunov and Mikhail Baryshnikov to Lafayette, Lyle wasincollege andthen
startinga family.For 13 years,the Fine Arts Foundation brought acts that were performingon“The Ed SullivanShow” to abooming Lafayette.
However, when the foundation filed for bankruptcy in 1988, Lyle faced atough reality
As amom to threekids, shewondered where shewould take them to experience similarperformances. Althoughshe was working full time at The Times of Acadiana, she gotinvolved withthe Fine Arts Foundation board.
Thenext year,she got involved even more and worked withPerforming Arts Society of Acadiana for22yearsuntil 2011. Eventually,that organization ceased programming as well. Lyle worked with others to startUpstage, anew performing arts organization, whichwas renamedto Performing Arts Serving Acadiana.
PASA’s mission is to provide local access to performances by nationally andinternationally known performing artists and ensembles, outreach andresidencyactivities
like masterclasses, workshopsand other sessions. These events are available for aspiring artists, and they also create paid performance opportunities.
Gail Romero, along-time supporter of PASA,saysit’simportant to supportthe organization because its versatile programming is able to reachawide spectrum of people in the area. Romero also lauds the consistent outreachtochildren and schools, which make the fine arts accessible to young people through education.
Romero likens Lyle to amusic teacher she had in the 1950s who introduced her and her peers to opera.
“He exposed us to the opera, high school kids from Franklin,” Romero said. “I would never have had thatexperience if not for him,and Ifeel like Jackie is doing this for thestudentsinLafayette.”
Performances andprogramming
On Sept. 24, Emmy-nominated singersongwriterBen Foldsperformedatthe Heymann Center with LindseyKraft to kick off the fall programming.
Lyle is alsoexcited about the following upcoming shows:
n “Avatar: TheLast Airbender In Concert —20th Anniversary Tour” on Oct. 23
n Roger Guenveur Smith’splay “InHonor of Jean-Michel Basquiat” on Nov.14
n Scott Bradlee’sPostmodern Jukebox on Dec. 3
n “What theConstitution Means to Me” on Jan. 16
n Flamenco Vivo on March 10
n Jill Butler and Her Joyride Band on March 20
In addition to the Heymann Center,a few of these performances, like “InHonor of Jean-Michel Basquiat” and“Whatthe ConstitutionMeans to Me,” willbeheld at The Theater at Baranco, which is a400seat theater at Dr.Raphael A. Baranco Elementary School, a100-year-oldschoolin Lafayette.
PASA is alsohosting an expert presentation of Jean-Michel Basquiat’swork in conjunction with the play
“When we’reinthe process of deciding our programming, we think, ‘How much can we do? What is the great impact that we could have?’ Andthen we lookatwhat is feasible from ahuman resource standpoint,” Lyle said. “If it’sworth doing, the funding will come.”
JanRisher LONG STORy SHORT
Ispent the majority of last weekatthe beach, atrip that was good formyspirit and soul. Iwish Icould bottle up whatever it is about sitting and staring at water that helps me feel better about the world.
Late one afternoon, my husband and Iwatched the sun set and then lingered to watch people drag their weary,sunburned and beach-ridden selves back toward civilization. With their chairs and coolers dragging, they leftwaddle-like lines that reminded me of the ones sea turtles whohave just laid eggs makewhen they are headed in the opposite direction.
As we watched agroup of 11 women pack up, my husband said, “People have gone on Himalayan expeditions with less gear.” Within minutes of the sun going beyond the horizon, the beach had cleared out, leaving just us, one other couple and alone Great Blue heron against the fading pink-and-gold of the western sky
For the next 30 minutes, I watched an elegant bird pace back and forth over a40-yard stretch of shoreline. He was eyeing the water the whole time. Clearly,hewas looking for something, yet not once during that timedid he makeamove to strike. It wasalmost like he was doing the samething we were just enjoying the sunset and the evening.
Even so, Ikept expecting him to lunge at afish, but he didn’t. He just kept walking, waiting, watching.
Talk about patience.
I’ll confess here and now:Patience is not my strong suit. My husband has morethan his fair share of it, and I’ve often thought Iborrow from his reserves when mine run out, which is moreoften than I’dlike to admit. Sitting there on the beach, Irealized how much Iadmire people —and even birds —who embody the virtue of patience.
at Perdido Keybeach.
Staring at the expanse of the sea brought back amemory from my early days in Louisiana, when I was teaching English as aForeign Language at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. One of my students, Jung Jin, had recently arrived in Louisiana from South Korea.
One day in class, as we were looking at amap of the United States, Jung Jin wasstaring at it in wonder.Herepeated several times, “America, such awide country.” Through the years, I’ve often thought of that line, but lately it resonates moredeeply.Welive in awide country in every sense —geographically,culturally,politically
It is also wide in possibilities. That width requires patience. It
STAFF PHOTO By JANRISHER AGreat Blue heron sits in the water
PROVIDED PHOTO By JEFFERy MITCHELL
Members of the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Company lead amovement class foranyone on Jan. 27 at theGirardRecreation Center while in town for the Sacred Spaces performance.
PROVIDED PHOTO By TRAVISGAUTHIER
Jackie Lyle, left,greets an audiencemember after RogerGuenveur Smith’s performance of Otto Frank, one of the popupsatBarancoElementary.
COMMUNITY, page 2Y
INSPIRED DISCUSSIONS
‘We’re
Head of The Historic New Orleans Collection focuses on rich diversity
BY LAUREN CHERAMIE Staff writer
Erin Greenwald serves as deputy director at the Historic New Orleans Collection, overseeing the divisions of collections development and exhibitions, audience engagement, digital services and publications, as well as the Williams Research Center The Historic New Orleans Collection has one of the most significant archives on the history and culture of Louisiana.
Previously, Greenwald was vice president of public programs at the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, where she led statewide program development and implementation and served as editor-in-chief of 64 Parishes magazine.
Prior to her work at the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, Greenwald was senior curator and historian at the Historic New Orleans Collection.
Greenwald holds a doctorate in history from Ohio State University In September, she was honored with the rank of chevalier in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture.
We see that the Historic New Orleans Collection offers free admission. How do you balance its role as a free resource with the realities of funding?
We are incredibly fortunate to have been founded in 1996 by Kemper and Leila Williams, two individuals who were involved in the cypress/lumber industry in Louisiana in the early 20th century That money was invested further in oil and gas. We were founded as the Kemper and Leila Williams Foundation, and we are able to offer free admission thanks to that endowment, as well as from the support and contributions of our members and donors. We’re in a very fortunate position to have an endowment that allows us to be a public good for the community of New Orleans.
Given that the people of New Orleans are so diverse, how do you ensure that the collections shown are relevant to these audiences?
We maintain active collecting policies. We started with our founders’ collection, which included lots of maps, manuscript materials, paintings, drawings and other visual materials For the last almost 60 years, we have
Continued from page 1y
Bringing the arts to Acadiana
While PASA regularly hosts performances in Lafayette, its mission is to also expand their reach to rural communities in the area by providing students with access to drama, music, dance and arts opportunities. To fulfill that mission, Lyle designates daytime performances for schoolchildren. This school year about 6,000 children will attend performances at the Heymann Center to see Mark Nizer, who uses magic and juggling to teach science, and Flamenco Vivo
The organization will also bring a three-part series to Dr Raphael A. Baranco Elementary for students, parents and faculty to see Mark Nizer, Flamenco Vivo and a behind-the-curtain show that demonstrates how the lights and sound work for shows. “We have an asset that a lot of communities don’t have, and that is our programming is brave,” Lyle said.
PASA works with educators to establish programs that go beyond the stage as well. They are launching an essay contest in October for sixth grade through college about the topic, “What the Constitution Means to Me.” The winner of the contest will be incorporated into the end of the play and will be able to read their essay to the audience.
Beyond Lafayette, PASA puts on events in Washington, a small town of 950 residents about 30 miles away from Lafayette. The
ASK THE EXPERTS
a safe space for learning’
Q&A WITH ERIN
continued an emphasis on collecting and working to encourage documentation of communities that better reflect the rich diversity of our city.
The LGBTQ+ archives project is a great example. This is a group that is focused on preserving and promoting the history and culture of the LGBTQ community in New Orleans. That was an area of collecting, around 15 years ago, where we were underserved. We worked with other organizations to build those collections, and now we’re a place of stewardship for those collections.
We also have major oral history initiatives We’re just wrapping up an exhibition, “Making It Home,” which is about the New Orleans Vietnamese community since the fall of Saigon. That project started more than 10 years ago when our curator, Mark Cave, began working with individuals and families in the Vietnamese community to record their oral histories.
The photographer Harold Baquet was very active in New Orleans African American politics in the 20th century That collection has come to us. Our mission is not just to collect. Our mission is to make sure that those collections are accessible to the public.
In addition to collecting and exhibiting oral histories, how does the museum’s collections make history feel alive and engaging?
We rely on multimodal storytelling. When you think of a museum, you come in and read object labels or text channels, but
we also have a lot of interactive components that are developed in concert with our exhibitions. There are sound recordings and video assets that are played — there are all sorts of ways that we engage audiences, not only through the text on the wall and objects on display but through personalized tours, gallery talks and programming.
Earlier this year, we had an exhibition, “Captive State,” about incarceration in the state of Louisiana. There was no plan, origi-
nally, to create a book related to the exhibition, but the community impact was so great that we ultimately decided to publish one.
What is the role of museums in addressing cultural issues, like incarceration?
Museums operate from an interesting position within American society Museums generally are considered trusted institutions, and we take that responsibility and trust very seriously We look to present programming in partnership, often, with people whose stories are being
organization brought talks on the Tuskegee Airmen and Black Cowboys to Washington Recreation Center
Meeting people where they are Lyle’s passion for the performing arts extends to meeting people in their grief and emotional experiences In January, PASA held “Sacred Spaces,” a show that was inspired by the burning of three Black churches in St. Landry Parish. Legendary dance troupe Cleo Parker Robinson Dance and the prestigious New Orleans Jazz Orchestra joined forces to perform a program of music, dance
and spoken word PASA offered movement and dance classes with the dance troupe as well. The Lafayette organization’s latest initiative is EASABLE, a plan to increase accessibility to performances and activities for those with exceptionalities. Dance classes with visiting performers were extended to a local dance program, the Dance Challenge class, for people with special needs. In March, when PASA was hosting the Omnium Circus, Lyle and her team set up scaled-down models of the equipment they used so people could touch the items and see how they worked.
Initiatives like this ensure that the arts are being made available to a diverse group of community members.
“We are really a wellspring for building curiosity,” Lyle says. “Wouldn’t it be fantastic if more people were more curious of the things they don’t know about? Whether the literature, whether it be architecture, whether it be health, our performing arts — these are all things that build a stronger community, make us better citizens and build our literacy in all sorts of ways.”
Email Joy Holden at joy.holden@ theadvocate.com.
told. We also want to make sure that people are seeing their stories in the exhibitions that we are presenting.
It’s a critical part of being in the world of public history — to create connections for people but also for people to help us make connections. We learn a tremendous amount from our visitors and supporters, and we work with our communities when we are developing exhibitions.
We are dedicated to the stewardship of the history and culture of New Orleans and the Gulf South, but at the same time, you couldn’t do it without recognizing that we’re dedicated to the people of New Orleans and the Gulf South.
It’s an important part of our mission, and why we remain free and open to the public, to welcome everyone. We’re a safe space for learning and dialogue, and those spaces are at risk right now It’s so important for human beings, whether we disagree or agree, to keep talking to each other and listen to each other’s perspectives. The work of the Historic Collection is really grounded in that.
Email Lauren Cheramie at lauren.cheramie@theadvocate. com.
Jari Honora, family historian at The Historic New Orleans Collection, displays genealogy materials related to the grandparents of Pope Leo XIV recently in New Orleans.
PROVIDED PHOTO
Michael Doucet performs with his fiddle for a PASA performance in October of 2024.
Louisianaveteran mentorsyouth usingsoulfood
BY HALEY MILLER Staff writer
On his first day at D’sSoul Food Cafe, acombination restaurant, food pantry and youth mentorship program, Iberville eighth grader Steven Adams felt nervous He wantedtoimprove his social skills, customer service and, of course, soulfood cooking, but he knew next to no one at the cafe. That was daunting.
Once the work got started, from serving food to chatting with customers to packaging food boxes for community members in need, he stopped feeling scared.
“AssoonasI came in here, right to work, righttobusiness,” Adams said. “As soon as we got done withwork, it was just talking, meeting new people.”
That’sthe philosophy behind D’sSoulFoodCafe on Railroad Avenue in Plaquemine, where thenonprofitGUMBO —Global United Mission Benefitting Ourselves and Others —operates. Deborah Dickerson started the cafe and mentorship system to provide kids, in essence,athirdplace.
The cafe is somewhere they can go outside of school and home to build relationships with their peers, interact with thecommunitythrough service and developanarray of skills to carry with them to future jobs.
Perhaps most importantly, every kid leaves with afree, home-cooked meal.
“I know,ifyou give akid a good meal, he’scoming in,” Dickerson said.
Military to mentorship
Dickerson never imagined herself staying in the United States, let alone foundinga youth mentorship program in Plaquemine.After being discharged from the Army, she planned to be amissionary.Somewherealongthe way,she “fell in love” with
thepeopleofIberville Parish, she said.
“I didn’tthink I’d be coming to Plaquemine to be a missionary,” Dickerson said “But that’swhat happened.
She ran atrial version of the GUMBO initiative in 2015, butshe was mostly focusedonkeepingthe lights on in thecafe,which“sells” meals as donations to the food bank, she said.
Last year,Dickersonbeganpublicizingthe mentorship component of the program. She teachesthe kids communication and customer service skillsand workstokeep them on track in school. She encourages them to comedotheir homework and bringtheir friends to thecafe.
“Everyone deserves an outlet,”Dickerson said. “It also stops them from going home and being raised by cybermedia.”
Dickerson partners with theGreater Baton Rouge Food Bank to stockthe food pantry.The kids volunteeringwill boxthe food and deliver it to patrons’ cars. They also helpout in thekitchen and learn the essentials of preparing soul food
Thevolunteers receive a small weekly stipend and gifts foroccasions like Christmas or the beginning of anew school year.This year, they wanted freshtennisshoes, Dickerson said.
She ensures theoperation stays small, around 10 kids, so she can give each child personal attention.Most of the kids are in middle school or high school. The youngest, Emersen Pugh, is in second grade.
Pugh said his favorite meal he’slearned how to cook is pork chops.
“It’sagreat place toeat at,” hesaid,smiling
AliceJenkins, Pugh’s grandma,accompanies the second grader to his volunteer shifts. She said working at D’sCafeisanempower-
ing experience for the kids.
“It’s really pushed them to knowthattheycan do more thanthey think theycan do,” Jenkins said.
‘A greatlegacy’
Dickerson said she was inspired to become an advocate for kids during her time volunteering in children’sshelters and working in prisons in South Carolina. She watched children who experienced trauma at home end up in thejustice system, rather than receiving the support they needed.
“It’shard to get out of a situation likethat,” Dickersonsaid. “It’sa repeated pattern.”
She alsopours her love
forher mother andfor God into the work that she does at GUMBO daily.She described her mom as the type of person whose door was always open forher community.
“Ifshe was here,I think she would be theone overseeing GUMBO,” Dickersonsaid. “Tobeback in the hometown that she lived in, and for people to walkupand say, ‘I rememberyourmom,’ it’sagood feeling.”
The kids cooking inside the cafe, gettingtoknow their neighbors and helping those in need —that’s all part of her mother’s legacy “It’sa great legacy to live out,” Dickerson said.
STAFF FILE PHOTOS By HALEy MILLER
D’sSoul Food Cafe in Plaquemineopened for business on Aug. 8.
Iberville-area kidsvolunteer at GUMBO/D’sSoul Food Cafe.
FAITH & VALUES
Afro-descendants fight for visibility in Bolivia
Dance and memory are used to promote their culture for structural change
BY MARIA TERESA HERNANDEZ
Contributing writer
Cielo Torres had always lived in Bolivia. Yet before moving at age 17 to the remote town of Tocaña — where much of the country’s Afrodescendant community lives — she had rarely encountered people who looked like her
“Back in Santa Cruz, we were the only Afro,” said Torres, now 25. “But when I saw others like me, I told myself: This is where I want to be. Here I feel comfortable and understood.”
Her sense of belonging echoes the experience of many AfroBolivians. Although officially recognized in the constitution since 2009, they remain one of Bolivia’s least visible groups, struggling to feel at home in their own land.
“Many think that we are foreigners and we don’t have any rights,” said Carmen Angola, executive director of the Afro-Bolivian National Council (CONAFRO). “But we were born here.”
More than 11.3 million people live in Bolivia. Around 23,000 identified as Afro in a 2012 census, the first and only time they appeared as a distinct category Most live in Yungas, a region where roads and communications are scarce but coca leaf plantations abound
“Our Afro communities depend on coca harvesting or honey production,” said Torres, who runs a beekeeping business with her husband.
“We are people used to walking trails instead of paved roads,” she added. “People who learn from the land.”
Symbolic gestures, change
Official information on the community’s history is hard to come by “We have been made invisible by the state,” said activist Mónica Rey “There weren’t any written registers reflecting our reality We wrote that history down ourselves.”
She said some progress was made in 2007, a year after Evo Morales became Bolivia’s first Indigenous president. “By 2009 we were included in the constitution,” she added. “But we have demanded
our inclusion and rights to all the past governments.”
Morales supported CONAFRO’s founding in 2011 That same year, Sept. 23 was established as the National Day of the Afro-Bolivian People and Culture. Still, according to Rey, symbolic recognition is not enough to achieve structural change.
“The idea was that this day would serve to reaffirm our identity and that the state would create public policies for the Afro people,” Rey said. “But it turns out we celebrate among ourselves and the government doesn’t do anything.”
She and Carmen Angola contend that promoting their people’s legacy has proven difficult. Angola has tried to convince local authorities to allow a group of Afro-Bolivians to visit schools and share insights of their community None have agreed so far
“They just say they’re going to address discrimination, history and racism,” Angola said. “But the people who created the curricula aren’t Black Their history is not ours.”
From the mines
CONAFRO joined efforts with another organization to gather testimonies documenting the Afro-Bolivian community’s long-lost past. A comprehensive document was released in 2013.
“We got our history back,” Rey said. “Our experiences, our elders’ tales, our culture, have been retrieved and documented.”
The Afro-Bolivian people descend from the Africans enslaved in the Americas during the European conquest between the 16th and 17th centuries.
Mostly born in Congo and Angola, they were initially taken to Potosí, a colonial mining city located about 340 miles southeast of La Paz.
The high altitude — 13,700 feet above sea level — and the extreme weather quickly took a toll. Later on, exposure to mercury and other substances in mining led to severe illnesses — from tooth loss, respiratory disease and death.
Two centuries later, the ancestors of the current Afro-Bolivian population were forcibly relocated to Yungas. There they settled and started working in large estates known as “haciendas,” where coca leaf, coffee and sugar cane were grown.
“The Afro people were dying and that was inconvenient be-
cause they were considered investments,” said sociologist Óscar Mattaz. “So people started buying them and taking them away.”
Now Tocaña and neighboring towns are considered the cultural heart of Afro-Bolivians.
A king with no crown
In Mururata lives Julio Pinedo, a symbolic leader regarded as the king of the Afro-Bolivians.
Bolivia’s Black community has recognized kings for centuries. Pinedo’s role carries no political weight within the government, but he is considered a guardian of his people’s rights. Local authorities acknowledge his title and even attended his coronation in 1992.
“The king was a symbolic means to show there’s royalty in the community,” Mattaz said. “He was very influential, worked hard and was respected.”
His position hardly made a difference in his lifestyle. Pinedo, now 83, resides in the same humble home he has always lived He now relies on his son’s coca harvest for income.
Pinedo welcomes visitors. But engaging in conversation is hard due to his age. According to his wife, Angélica Larrea, his royal ancestry dates back 500 years.
“I remember his coronation,” she said. “People came from other
communities. They danced and there was a procession. A priest came and we celebrated Mass.”
A handful of Afro-Bolivians have tried to decipher what their ancestors’ spirituality was. Yet the community remains overwhelmingly Catholic.
Close to Pinedo’s home, the sole parish of Mururata has no resident priest. Nonetheless, a group of devoted women are welcomed to read the Bible each Sunday Isabel Rey — a distant relative of Mónica — said her ancestors were Catholics. And even without a priest to rely on, the catechist in charge of the church has kept the community’s faith strong.
“She will soon celebrate 40 years sharing the Lord’s word,” Rey said. “I help her, because she can’t keep up the work alone.”
A dance of struggle and love
There might not be an AfroBolivian spirituality, but the community’s soul remains bonded through the “saya,” a traditional dance performed with drums and chants.
“Our demands were born through this music,” Rey said.
“The saya has become our instrument to gain visibility We protest with drums and songs.”
Torres recalled dancing saya before moving to Tocaña. Yet
her feelings while performing it changed.
“Here it’s danced from the heart,” she said. “I learned how to sing and listen. It’s no ordinary music because we tell our history through it.”
She said each detail in their garments bears meaning. The white symbolizes peace and the red honors the blood shed by their ancestors. Men wear black hats to remember how their predecessors worked endlessly under the sun. And the women’s braids depict the roads they dreamed of to escape.
“It may seem like fashion, but it’s not,” Torres said. “It’s our culture.”
For more than a decade now, she has learned new moves and saya songs. She became fluent in her community’s language — a variation of Spanish that is not officially recognized — and is proud of her identity
“I used to feel embarrassed for dancing saya,” Torres said. “But when I saw people dancing here, I told myself: ‘This is what I am I am Black.’”
Committed to raising her daughter to also be proud of her ancestry, she constantly praises her skin color, hair and moves.
“She already dances saya,” Torres said. “I tell her: ‘You are Black. My Black little girl.’”
River Basin communities launch new disaster relief effort
BY HÉCTOR ALEJANDRO ARZATE
Contributing writer
Editor’s note: This story, created by Héctor Alejandro Arzate for Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, is part of the AP Storyshare. Louisiana Inspired features solutions journalism stories that provide tangible evidence that positive change is happening in other places and in our own communities — solutions that can be adopted around the world Mayors from cities and towns along the Mississippi River are taking action on natural disaster response. This week they launched a new initiative to improve immediate disaster relief. They’re also lobbying lawmakers to reform the Federal Emergency Management Agency
The Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative, a cooperative of more than 100 river communities between Minnesota and Louisiana, held its annual meeting this week in Minnesota’s Twin Cities. The mayoral gathering came on the heels of the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and after months of threats from President Donald Trump’s administration to roll back FEMA’s role in natural disaster response.
“Emergencies and crises — they are indeed happening more often,” said Jacob Frey, the mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota. “And so we all need to be prepared.”
This year, the Mississippi River corridor experienced flooding and drought Tornadoes devastated communities in Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas On May 16, the St. Louis-region experienced a category EF3 tornado, which reached wind speeds of up to 152 miles per hour and resulted in five deaths and widespread destruction.
Stacey Kinder the mayor of
year
Cape Girardeau, Missouri — which also saw two tornadoes touch down this year said her state has suffered
“Yet, in the face of over $2 billion worth of losses since March, just for Missouri, the future of FEMA and the U.S. disaster mitigation and response apparatus remains in considerable flux,” Kinder said.
Earlier this year, Trump said that FEMA could be phased out in favor of individual states carrying the burden of natural disaster response. Although his administration has reversed course on outright abolishing the agency in recent months, Trump officials are still working on an overhaul.
The FEMA Review Council,
which was created by an executive order, is supposed to make recommendations to change the agency by mid-November. Meanwhile, an Associated Press analysis found major disaster declarations are taking longer under Trump than historical averages In response to FEMA’s uncertain future, the MRCTI announced a new program to deliver assistance to its members “within 72 hours of a disaster event,” said Kinder That aid could include food, water, hygiene supplies, and other immediate needs, according to Ethan Forhetz, a spokesperson from Convoy of Hope.
MRCTI’s executive director, Colin Wellenkamp, said in sur-
veys mayors have consistently said they need help during the first 36 to 72 hours after a disaster, for which there’s rarely money in their budgets.
The initiative is being done in partnership with Convoy of Hope, a Missouri-based nonprofit
The organization provided food and supplies after the May tornado in St. Louis It helped respond to more than 50 U.S. disasters in 2024, according to its website.
“By working together before disasters strike, we can reduce response time, position resources where they’re most needed, and make sure families receive help quickly and with dignity,” said Stacy Lamb, the nonprofit’s vice
president for disaster services
“This partnership isn’t just about responding, but it’s about building resilience.”
MRCTI did not disclose how the partnership will be financed.
The program is available immediately for partnering cities and towns and surrounding communities.
“Convoy is committed to working with any city along the Mississippi River, and beyond, during times of disaster,” Forhetz said.
Melisa Logan, the mayor of Blytheville, Arkansas, said the partnership is designed to “fill the largest gap in U. S. emergency response called capacity.”
The MRCTI is plugging other responsiveness holes, too. At this year’s meeting, mayors announced a new dashboard to more easily monitor water levels in the river and drought, to better predict and communicate the state of the basin.
In addition, MRCTI announced that it is working with legislators on the Fixing Emergency Management for Americans Act of 2025, also known as the FEMA Act of 2025. The bill would make FEMA report directly to President Trump as an independent agency The bill’s stated aims are to speed up aid delivery to both states and individuals and reward state preparedness.
MRCTI mayors also want to see a mitigation piece to the bill, including a grant program for projects that address regional disaster vulnerabilities.
“So there’s a lot of moving parts with FEMA right now,” Wellenkamp said. “Where all those moving parts are going to land? Don’t know, but as the mayors pointed out, we know what we have as our priorities and that is the systemic reduction of risk over large landscapes.”
PROVIDED PHOTO Mayor Jonas Anderson motions toward a storm-damaged home in Cave City Ark., following tornadoes earlier
PROVIDED PHOTO
Afro-Bolivian girls dance ‘saya,’ a traditional dance performed with drums and chants.
SUNDAY, OctOber 5, 2025
CURTIS / by Ray Billingsley
SLYLOCK FOX / by Bob Weber Jr
GET FUZZY / by Darby Conley
HAGAR THE HORRIBLE / by Chris Browne
MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM / by Mike Peters
ZIGGY / by Tom Wilson
ZITS / by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman
SALLY FORTH / by Francesco Marciuliano & Jim Keefe
PEARLS BEFORE SWINE /byStephan Pastis
directions: Make a 2- to 7-letter word from the letters in each row Add points of each word, using scoring directions at right. Finally, 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. “Blanks” used as any letter have no point value All the words are in the Official SCRABBLE® Players Dictionary, 5th Edition.
word game
instructions: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.
todAY's Word — MiGrAte: MY-grate:
To move from one country or locality to another
Average mark 40 words
Time limit 60 minutes
Can you find 59 or more words in MIGRATE?
ken ken
instructions: 1 -Each rowand each column must contain thenumbers 1through4 (easy) or 1through6 (challenging) without repeating 2 -The numbers within the heavily outlinedboxes, called cages, must combine using thegiven operation (inany order)toproduce the target numbersinthe top-left corners. 3 -Freebies: Fillinthe single-boxcages withthe numberinthe top-left corner
instructions: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 gridwith several given numbers. The object is to placethe numbers 1to 9in theempty squares so that each row,each column and each 3x3 boxcontains the same number only once. The difficultylevel of the Conceptis Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday
directions: Complete thegridso that numbers 1–132 connect horizontally, vertically or diagonally
Sudoku
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
super Quiz
Thoughtful play
North stretched a little when he supported hearts at the three level, but that is normal under the pressure of competition. South hadplentytocarryontogame,but the game was not cold. Assuming the hearts split no worse than 3-1, South had one spade, six hearts, one club, and he could force a diamond trick. That was nine tricks and the only realistic chance for a tenth was a ruff in dummy The problem was that East probably had only two spades, so a spade ruff in dummy would have to be with the ace. That would leave South needing an unlikely 2-2 trump split. South thought of a better plan
South won the opening spade lead with his ace and led another spade as East high-lowed in the suit. West won the second spade with the jack and led the queen of spades. Instead of ruffing in dummy, South shed a low diamond. West shifted to a club to South’s ace. South led a diamond to dummy’s king and East’s ace. East led the 10 of diamonds to South’s queen as West played the jack. That worried declarer West might have one heart and only two diamonds, so South took theprecautionofcashingtheking of hearts before leading his last
diamond. If West could ruff, the contract would be secure after dummy over-ruffed. When West discarded a spade, South ruffed with dummy’s five of hearts. The ace of hearts and a club ruff saw Southbackinhishandto drawthe last trump and claim.
not in your budget, you are best to retreat until your timing is more conducive to success.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov 22) You can win if you remain cool, calm and collected. Taking time to reflect will offer positive alternatives. Turn your attention to pastimes that satisfy your soul.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23-Dec. 21) Caution is in your best interest regarding health, finances and verifying
facts. A mistake will have consequences you can avoid with a bit of thought and patience. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Look at your options; consider partnerships, and come up with a plan that ensures you maintain equality and good relations with those you encounter AQUARIUS (Jan 20-Feb 19) A lifestyle change can lower your overhead and stress. Learn a new skill or revamp your resume. Take the initiative, and something good will come your way PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Keep the momentum flowing. Participate,
make a difference and utilize your skills to make a positive impact. It’s time to put yourself first and turn your dreams into a reality ARIES (March 21-April 19) Don’t air your troubles in public Social events can help ease your stress, allowing you to reconsider what you’re up against. Nothing is as bad as it appears. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) You’ll regain your equilibrium if you take time out to pamper yourself or to rearrange your surroundings to suit your needs. Patience and compromise can do wonders to get you back on track.
1. Alexander Graham Bell. 2. Wright brothers. 3. King Gillette. 4. Guglielmo Marconi. 5. Thomas Edison.6.James Watt.7.George Eastman. 8. BenjaminFranklin. 9. RobertFulton. 10.Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit.11. James Naismith. 12. John Deere. 13.Johannes Gutenberg. 14. Eli Whitney.15. Alfred Nobel.
SCORING: 24 to 30 points —congratulations, doctor; 18 to 23 points—honorsgraduate; 13 to 17 points —you’replenty smart, but no grind; 5to12points —you really shouldhit the booksharder;1point to 4points —enroll in remedial courses immediately; 0points who reads thequestions to you?
Saturday's Cryptoquote: Riceisgreat if you're really hungry andwant toeat two thousandof something. —MitchHedberg
jeFF mACnelly’sshoe/ by Gary Brookins &Susie MacNelly
