During her20monthsasattorneygeneral,Liz Murrill has driven Louisiana intothe center of some of the country’sfiercest political debates.
After themurder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, she joined 16 other Republican attorneys generalinwarninguniversities nottoimpose a“tax on free speech” by charging student organizations higher security fees. She is trying to extradite a New York doctor criminally charged withviolating 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 sportsasgirls
Andnow Murrill, 61,issteppingintoperhaps 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 RightsAct. 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 aRepublican
By aggressively pursuing high-profile conservative causes as attorney general, Murrill has been following aplaybook established over the previouseight years by herRepublican predecessor, Jeff Landry.During that time, Murrill was one of Landry’stop lawyers.
Landry’sactiviststyle as attorneygeneral 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 herwork as attorney general.
“She understands the playbookbetter thanme,” he said in an interview
ä See MURRILL, page 4A
WILD HOGWARFARE
La.farmers,scientists battle invasive species
BY AIDAN McCAHILL |Staff writer
Shortly after thesun’slast rays sink beneathCentral Louisiana’spines, the Rougarou slips into the darkness that follows. He prowls farmland from Pineville to Natchitoches, every step sharpened by agnawing hunger
Some still claim the nocturnal beast is afiction of Cajunfolklore,but at 6-feet-6, retired Pineville firefighter Shane Kesslerisproofofthe contrary It’snearly 2a.m., and he’ssteadying an AR-15 through thewindow of his pickup truck. On itstailgate, yellow block letters spell out “Rougarou Hog Control.”
Three to four nights aweek, from dusk until 2a.m., Kessler peerswith amilitary grade thermal scanner throughfields of corn, soybeans and milo, searching for the white glow of
body heat —his next target.
“Eleveno’clock,”hemumbles, one cheek full of sunflower seeds, awhite beard falling from hisface. “It’s lookin’ real piggy.”
ä See WILD HOG, page 8A
ELECTION 2025 NEW ORLEANS MAyOR
Mayor’s race a fightto the finish
Will Helena Morena gain enough votesto avoidarunoff?
BY JAMES FINN |Staff writer
In its final days, the tumultuous campaign to be thenext mayor of NewOrleanshinges on one crucial question: Whether Helena Moreno, who has built acommanding lead against her biggest rivals, will avoid arunoff.
New Orleans voters will head to the polls Saturday to choose between Moreno, Royce Duplessis, Oliver Thomas and several lesserknowncandidates in the primary to replace the deeply unpopular Mayor LaToyaCantrell. The toptwo candidateswill advancetoa general election Nov.15—unless any candidate can secure morethan half the vote.
Moreno,the City Council’svice president, is the only candidate who appearstohaveachance of doingso. Pollshaveconsistentlyshownher support amonglikely voters hovering around 50% —good fora30-point advantageoverher twomajor opponents.
Fromthe campaign’soutset,Moreno hasmaintained herfront-runner position as she aimsto winmore than half of the vote tally in the primary.Ifshe’s successful, she’ll avoida runoff with whoever finishes second thatcould bring sharply different political dynamics.
WhileMorenofightstowin it allSaturday, Thomas, aCityCouncilmember, andDuplessis, astatesenator,are doingall they canto force anotherround.The battle is beingwaged through an onslaught of radio andtelevision advertisements, ramped-upget-out-the-vote operations, and an assortment of mailedflyers,
NewOrleans venuereborn with ambitiousrosterofartists
BYKEITH SPERA |Staff writer
Bill Frisell, one of the world’smost acclaimed jazz guitarists, was puzzled.
At the conclusion of the first of his twoOct. 1 shows at the rebranded, reengineeredand reborn New Orleans Jazz &Blues Market, Frisell strummed one last chord —and produced only silence. His electric guitar had gone dead.
“NowI have to fumble around up here,” he announced as the audience awaited his encore, “and figure out what’sgoing on.”
Soon enough, Frisell’sguitarcame back to life, and the music resumed.
Just as it has at the Jazz &Blues Market.
The multimillion-dollar Central City music venue,originally designed and built as ahome for the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, has been mostly dark and dormant since 2024.
ä See JAZZ, page 6A
Moreno Thomas Duplessis
PHOTO PROVIDED By GLEN GENTRy
Glen Gentry, interim research director at the LSU Agcenter,developed an invasivewild hog bait by testing pigs kept at the LSU AgCenter’sIdlewild ExperimentStation.
STAFF PHOTO By AIDAN McCAHILL Darren Spano, an air force veteran, scans the night for an invasivewild hog using athermal scope attached to hisrifle.
STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
Louisiana’sattorneygeneral, Liz Murrill has thrust the state into the center of national debates about abortion, transgender athletes and redistricting
ä See RACE, page 16A
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 antisemitism.
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
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.
Abrego Garcia
KyODO NEWS PHOTO By yOHEI FUKAI
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.
Because of her approach, Murrill is stirring speculation that she will attempt 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 ask me if I’m going to run,” Murrill said during an interview.“Ihave never uttered the words ‘I want to run for governor.’ Ever.But Inever uttered thewords that I wanted to run for attorney general either until Idecided to run.”
Even as they alignonpolicy and politics, Murrill and Landrypresent 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 pinkand silver,” she said with alaugh. “They are really comfortable.”
When Landry was attorney general, observers described him as apolitician first and alawyersecond. Those same people now describe Murrill as alawyer firstand apoliticiansecond.
While Landry is wellknown for his blend of belligerence and backslapping, Murrill exhibits amore straightforward, no-nonsense approach.
Murrill said that she and thegovernorsometimes havelegal and political disagreements that they settle privately,but said they walk in lockstep on publicissues.
“There’snever been a time when Idid not believe she was on the same page in representing the stateof Louisiana,” Landry said.
While Murrill has drawn attention for embracing national conservative causes, she has shown amore pragmaticside, like Landry,in
fighting crime on the local level.Thathas prompted praise fromanunlikely source, Jason Williams, the Democratic districtattorney in Orleans Parish. The two were wary of each otherwhen they first met but quickly built apartnership where Williamsallows the Attorney General’sOffice to prosecute people arrested by Troop Nola, theLouisiana State Police troop that Landry brought to NewOrleans.
ment against Chevron in Plaquemines Parish.Murrill has stood her ground even after the Trumpadministrationrecently filed abriefto overturn thejudgment
“I have gone to some lengths to try andexplain what those cases are really about and how they are different from climatechange andnuisancesuits, which I do oppose,”Murrill said.
John Carmouche, the well-known BatonRouge attorneywho spearheaded the case, appreciatesthat Murrill remains supportive despiteheat from conservatives.
what thesecretary of state sawasaminor legaldisagreement.
Lafayetteroots
Murrill grew up in Lafayette as the daughter of royalty—Mardi Gras royalty, that is.
Her motherand one aunt were queens of one Mardi Gras krewe, and another aunt reignedasEvangeline, queen of Mardi Gras in Lafayette, andher father and grandfather reigned as Gabriel, king of Mardi Gras.
Murrill served as Evangeline in 1982.
Catholic school,” he told her “So if you want to switch, that’sfine.”
Murrill nowsaysshe was acting out because her parents had separated recently
“I wasapathetic.I was decidedlyapathetic,”Murrill saidduring an hourlong interview.“They knew that.”
Her mother,Vaughn Burdin Baker,aEuropean history professor at what is now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette,took hertoFranceand England
during the summer before 10th grade. Murrill said that helped give her focus.
An 11thgrade English teacher,Charlene Banna, encouraged her writing. Murrill majoredinjournalism at LSU and then spent two years writing obituaries andchasing local newsstories forFlorida Today, adaily newspaperin Melbourne, Florida.
Murrill enrolled at LSU’s law school and did so well that she held the high honor in her final year as editor of the law review
She and her husband, John Murrill, settleddowninBaton Rouge and would eventually raise four boys.
Murrill clerked forprominent U.S. Judge Frank Polozola, worked as aprivate attorney and taught at LSU’s law school.
Theimmediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 got her thinking aboutacareer change.
Volunteering at University Baptist Church, she helped distribute donated supplies to peopleseeking shelter in Baton Rouge from metro New Orleans. That got her interested in looking at larger societal issues, she said. Ayear later,Murrill won aprized fellowship awarded by theSupreme Courtthat
ä See MURRILL, page 5A
As Williamsnotes, crime has continued to drop in New Orleansduringtheir arrangement.
“She has been leaning in when there is aneed,” Williams said. “There are alot of things we don’tagree on. We don’tlet those things get in the way of thethings we do agree on.”
Like Landry,Murrill has supportedthe coastal lawsuit filed by theCarmouche lawfirm that produceda$745 millionjudg-
“Shehas notbacked down in applying thelaw to the facts,” Carmouche said. “Ratherthan being apolitician, sheisactually performing herdutiesfor the stateofLouisiana.”
Murrill didn’tback down recentlywhen shethought SecretaryofState Nancy Landry, who she has known sincechildhood,tried to encroach on the attorneygeneral’s role as thestate’schief legalofficer.Murrill fired all of Landry’soutside attorneys. An unhappy Landry saidMurrill overreacted to
Afew years earlier, however,her path to success appeared cloudy
In ninth grade at Cathedral Carmel High School, she received all “D”s and was suspended for threedays after getting caught smoking in thegirls’ bathroom.
Her father,Larry Baker, then an ophthalmologistwho also served as chiefofstaff at Lafayette General Hospital, offered this view when his daughter said she wanted to transfer to Lafayette High School for 10th grade.
“You can flunk outofpublic schooljust as well as
Landry Williams
led her to spend a year at the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, D.C., a think tank that supports education and training for federal judges.
In 2008, Murrill applied to be deputy executive counsel to then-Gov Bobby Jindal, a Republican.
Jimmy Faircloth, the executive counsel, hired her “She’s super smart, very energetic,” Faircloth said. “Confrontational in a good way She’s really a lawyer’s lawyer.”
Murrill was a Democrat. Faircloth said he didn’t even think to ask for her party affiliation since he liked her so much.
Murrill became a political independent in 2010 and a Republican a year later, just before being promoted to replace Faircloth.
Murrill said she had registered as a Democrat at age 18 because everyone she knew then was a Democrat. Until she worked for Jindal, “I had no real need to reexamine that choice because we had open primaries and that permitted me to vote for whoever I wanted,” Murrill said in an email “I believed in principle in separation of powers and minimizing government intrusion in our lives, but working in government really brings home how important both of those principles are in practice, not just in principle.”
Murrill spent two more years working for Jindal as executive counsel of the Division of Administration, which manages the day-today operations of state government.
After Landry was elected attorney general in 2015, Murrill asked him for a job
“I thought I could never afford her,” Landry said. “She said, ‘Just make me an offer.’”
Over the next eight years, Murrill served as his solicitor general, supervising major cases that involved
federal and constitutional questions She argued five cases before the Supreme Court, winning once. Murrill had the backing of Landry and the Republican political establishment when she was elected attorney general in 2023. In one campaign ad, she promised she would “block the radical left attack on our Constitution, our economy and our values and keep the Biden administration’s reckless agenda from damaging Louisiana’s future.”
In the national spotlight Murrill’s office issues some 200 advisory opinions per year and has its hand in a wide range of legal issues But the upcoming redistricting case will put her in the headlines because of the stakes.
telling lawmakers that recent legal rulings had left U.S. District Court Judge Shelly Dick poised to redesign the congressional districts in a manner they might not like.
Legislators followed Landry’s lead and sacrificed then-U.S Rep. Garret Graves, a Republican from Baton Rouge, to carve out a district that would elect Fields, a Democrat but frequent Landry ally, and ensure that the other four Republicans had safe districts.
the Supreme Court asked for new legal arguments that opened the door to argue what she and other Louisiana officials have long believed, that judges should not draw maps.
New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick talks to Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill during the Metropolitan Crime Commission luncheon at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel on Sept. 24.
STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
Terry Ryder, who worked as a senior lawyer for four governors, Democrats and Republicans alike, echoed the view of others who have known her a long time by saying she has taken a hard
turn to the right in recent years.
“Candidates eventually become more consistent with the views of the people in the state, which is to be more conservative. That’s how you get elected,” Ryder said. “I expect her to be the next governor She’s working in that direction. There’s only one higher position (than attorney general).”
She won’t acknowledge having that ambition.
“I think everybody is always trying to guess who’s going to run for governor next,” she said. “It’s part of the game of politics in Louisiana. That’s a long way away.” In the meantime, she plans to run for reelection in 2027, having discarded dreams of becoming a federal judge.
“I absolutely love the job I have,” she said. “It’s a more impactful one.”
Email Tyler Bridges at tbridges@theadvocate.com.
In January 2024, Landry asked state legislators to redraw the state’s con gressional map, which at the time elected five Republicans and one Democrat, Troy Carter Landry backed a plan that would create a second majority-Black district. Murrill supported the change,
Now Murrill and Landry are calling on the Supreme Court to invalidate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act which determines to what extent lawmakers and courts can include race in their calculations. If successful, that would overturn the current congressional map.
State Rep. Edmond Jordan, D-Baton Rouge, who chairs the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus, said Murrill had consistently said the latest map passed legal muster until an August brief to the Supreme Court in which she said it was “unconstitutional.”
“It’s the polar opposite,” Jordan said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Murrill said she’s not being inconsistent. She said
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It never regained its footing after the orchestra’sformer leaders, Irvin Mayfield and Ronald Markham, pleaded guilty in 2020 to afederal charge of improperly transferring more than $1 million in public library donations to theorchestra, then fabricating records to hide it. In theensuingyears, the building and the business fell into disarray.Taxes weren’tfiled. The liquor license lapsed, as did the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra’s nonprofit status. For months, anew leadership team has toiled to get the Jazz Market’saffairsin order and upgrade the facility
The results of that effort arefinally ready for the public to see, and hear
The Jazz &Blues Market boasts new sound and lightingsystems,a rebuilt bar and new four-top tables intended to make the 320-capacity space feel more likea jazz club. And tickets are on sale for an ambitiousslate of shows stretching into next spring. Following Frisell and two nearly sold-out nights with pianist Bob James, the Market’sOctober calendar includes jazz fusion band Yellowjackets, guitarists Larry Carlton and Stanley Jordan and vocalists MorganJames and Lisa Fischer
The likes of Acoustic Alchemy,Marcus Miller, Curtis Stigers, Jane Monheit, Kirk Whalum, KennyGarrett and Lee Ritenour are booked later this year.Local musicians are also in the mix.
For New Orleans,it’san unprecedented rosterof top-tier modern jazz heavyweights. Suzanne Bresette is the well-connected music industry professional charged with orchestrating theMarket’smakeover.She’sbetting that New Orleanians will embrace an extensive program of touring jazz —and blues —artists in asonically pris-
tine environment. Thepopulation is there, Bresettebelieves. “I just think the populationhasn’t had the opportunity to come outand support thislevel of music.”
It does now
Troubleshooting
Bresette spent many years in New York as aconsultant andstrategistfor music clubs and festivals. Among other endeavors, Bresette & Company launched Jimmy’s Jazz &Blues Club in Portsmouth, New Hampshire,in 2021.
OnenightatJimmy’s, she got into aconversation with Wynton Marsalis, the New Orleans-born trumpeter who has led New York’sJazz at Lincoln Center for decades. Shementioned herdesire to work with amusicvenue that could also be used for live recordings, much like NewYork’sVillageVanguard.
Marsalis suggestedshe check outwhat was then called the New Orleans Jazz Market.
So Bresette traveled to NewOrleans, atownshe mostly knew from frequent trips to the New Orleans Jazz &Heritage Festival.
She thought the space at 1436 Oretha CastleHaley Blvd., which first opened in 2015, was “a beautiful room with so muchpotential. It justneeded some loving attention. It was in pretty bad shape.”
She approached the board of New Orleans Jazz OrchestraInc., thenonprofitthat owns the venue, about pursuinga makeover and bringing the music back. The board, led by new chairman TerrahGreen, was “very supportive of the visionand whatitcould be,” Bresette said.
They raised approximately $500,000 fromdonorsand investors for the makeover
But, as Bresette and Green eventuallydiscovered,the Jazz Market’sproblemsran deeper than thefacility itself. In thelatest upheaval, the board ousted NOJO artistic director AdonisRose during an emergency meet-
ing on Sept. 27.
“Itisimperativethat we putour best foot forward throughout our entire organization so that our leadership closelyaligns with ourcore institutionalvalues, goals and aspirations,” Green said in anews release.
“Accountability. Oversight. Professionalism. Excellence. These are the pillars upon which we are rebuilding NOJO brick-bybrick.”
NOJO’sreorganization, Green said in thestatement, is “informed by both thehumble recognition of our pastmalfeasances and astrict adherence to best practices moving forward.”
Construction delays
The paperworkissues have been, or are nearly,resolved, Bresette said. “That took alot of time andenergy It hasfloored me,the situation here.Inall my years, I’ve neverrun into anything like that before.
“But thatwon’thappen again. We have the right systems in place so we can be fiscally responsible.”
The venue’sexterior still bears itsoriginal name.But thesignage will change after apending deal for naming rights is finalized.
Rebuilding the New OrleansJazz Orchestra as a performing entity is part of the plan. So is fosteringeducational programs —includingpartnershipswithlocal universities —and community involvement.
“Weneed to build abaseof newstudents to carry on the music,” Bresette said.
Meanwhile, she tapped into herextensive contacts
and friendships throughout the international jazz community to fill in the Market’s calendar.
“They allloveNew Orleans, theyreally do,”she said of the musicians. “That just needed aroom to play in thatwas large enough to support them.”
The320-seat Jazz &Blues Marketcan accommodate acts that need more capacity thanthe 90-seat Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro on FrenchmenStreet or thesimilarly sizedSweet Lorraine’son St.Claude Avenue, but for
whom theOrpheumand Saenger theaters would be too large.
The JazzMarketplanned to reopen in September.But constructionand permitting delays forced the postponement of all September shows, including saxophonist Joshua Redman, who is rescheduled for Feb. 6.
NewOrleans, Bresette came to realize, does not move at New York speed.
“No, it doesn’t,” she said, laughing.“Ihavelearned that. But we’re glad we waited until we could do it right.”
‘Theywanttosee this’
Sound quality can make or break ashow.AsMonty Python co-founder John Cleese introduced a50th anniversary screening of “Monty Python and the HolyGrail” at theMahalia Jackson Theatre on Sept. 24, some attendees shouted that they couldn’t hear him. There were no such sound issues for Bill Frisell on the Jazz &Blues Market’sopening night.
Frisell’sdistinctive guitar tone rang clear.Rudy Royston’scymbals sizzled. Gregory Tardy’stenor sax came across as warm and robust. Thomas Morgan’s upright bass soundedrich and full. It was, literally,music to Bresette’sears.
In addition to booking the venue, she is also the interim manager overseeing day-today operations. That was not initially part of her job description. “I’m willing to do it because Ibelieve in what we’re building here,” she said. “Most of these artists, I’mveryclose to.I wanted to make sure thatthey have an incredible experience, becausethen theaudience has an incredible experience.” The musicians “have shown atremendous amount of belief andsupport, because they want to see this happen.
“Theyall love NewOrleansand have always been mystifiedwhy there hasn’t been aroom like this.”
If youare over35and suffer from thefollowing •Sciatica•NeckPain•DiscHerniations
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Nothing’sworse than feelinggreat mentally,but physically feelingheldback from life becauseyou hurt andthe pain just won’tgoaway. We understandwhatitfeels like tolive in pain, becausewesee it everyday.Weare Dr.Scott LeBlancand Dr.DanaLeBlanc of LeBlancSpine Center We’vehelpedhundreds of patients with disc herniations andsciaticaleave ouroffice pain free
When cushions in your back joints,calleddiscs,get injured or wear out, they begintodegenerate andcause pain
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As youcan see, spinal decompressionhas ahighsuccess rate.Whatthismeans foryou is that in just amatterof weeks, youcould be back on thegolfcourse, enjoying your
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Ihavesuffered with numbness in my legs for5monthsbefore goingtoLeBlanc SpineCenter. Afterthe first initial consultation, Istarted Spinal Decompression treatmentsand within 3months, Ihad ahuge differencein mobility,reduced pain,and the numbness wassubsiding. Ihave improvedabout 80%fromthe treatments. Isleep better,walk withoutpain, anddue to cervical decompression,mymigraines arealmostnon-existent. Dr.Scott listened to my symptoms and begantotreat therootofmy problems.
Thedoctors andstaff are compassionateand very caring It feelslikeafamily andtheir patient’swellbeing really matters to them.I100%recommend LeBlancSpine Center!
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IcametoLeBlancSpine Center becauseIhad been sufferingwith extreme back pain andleg pain forseveral weeks. Ihad triedother treatments, massage, NSAIDs and Tylenol, butIwas stillinpain. Ibegan Spinal Decompression treatments andnow Ifeel100% improved!WhatIlikemostabout my treatmentisthatitisnoninvasive anditeliminatedmypain My treatmentappointmentsare not long,and thetreatment is painfree.Since beginningtreatment at LeBlancSpine Center, Iamnow able to do allofmypreviousactivities andworkwithoutpain.I also have more range of motion.I would highlyrecommend LeBlancSpine Center!
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WILD HOG
Continued
Twoother hunters, Darren Spano, an Air Force veteran who recently moved to Louisiana from Alaska, and Malcolm Rachal, another retired firefighter, direct their scanners out of the left windows.
“Get your rifles out,” Kessler says. “I see him.” Bullets crack from the truck, muffled by silencers, aimed at movement invisible to the naked eye.
“He’shauling ass,” Rachal says. “Somebodystop that pig!” Adozen more hot brass casings hit the floor,but the hog vanishes into the brush.
For Kessler,who estimates he kills about 1,000 feral hogs each year through partnerships with fed-upfarmers, it’s arare miss.
Pigs cause over $90 million annually in agricultural damage statewide, according to the latest estimates from theLSU AgCenter.That’s despite hunting being legal year-round on privately owned land.
In the grandscheme, Kesslerknows he’slosing the war.Hunters would haveto kill 70% of Louisiana’snearly 1million hogs each yearjust to keep the numbers flat, assuming more from neighboring states don’ttake their place. But two researchersat LSU might have an answer They’ve spent the last decade trying to expand the hog-killing arsenal, and were issued apatent last year for alethal bait they claim is humane,effective and environmentally friendly.Farmers across the southeast are calling about it, but acomplicated web of bureaucracy has prevented them from getting it.
“I’m at the point of complete and totalfrustration,” said Glen Gentry,interim research director at the AgCenter.“It’snot moving.”
Warpigs
Earlier in the night, Kessler,Spano and Rachal tracked alitter of about 15 pigs rootinginacornfield. Though the animal willeat almostanything (including themselves), hogs prefer calorie-dense seeds —adestructive appetite satisfied by plowing their snouts like shovels beneath the soil.
“Those pigs will go down the row and eat every piece of corn,jump over three or four rows and start again,” said Kessler.“They’ll be massive areas of nothing… at acertain point, it cannot be replanted.”
The hunters creepfrom downwind, no closer than 50 yards, then rest their rifles on tripods.Cunning is required: Hogs can smellfrom 5miles out, and one step on some dry foliage cansend them scattering. Once settled, they line their shots between the hog’s shoulder and neck,toavoid an armored hide that Kessler refersto as a“self-sealing gas tank.” An eruption of squeals and gunfire. Seven hogs drop. Backathis truck, Kessler operatesa thermal drone, searching for stragglersin the dense thicket. The strategybegan afew yearsago,
Shane Kessler began night hunting for wild hogsin2016 when it becamelegal. ‘Oh my godyou can go night hunting legally? This is the greatest,’herecalled thinking. In 2018, he startedRougarouHog Control. ‘If Idon’t shoot 10 a night,I’m likethis is trash,’hesaid
after eight local farmers poolednearly $9,000 to enhance defenses.
“The drone saves us so much time. We can cover so much ground so much faster,more thoroughly,” he said.
Kessler,whose Facebook page has over 75,000 followers, says fewer hate commentscome from thePETAtypes than from purists who claim what hedoes isn’t real hunting. He doesn’targue
“I know it’snot hunting; it’seradication,” he said. To him, the hogs are oversized cockroaches that,beyond tearingupcrops, causeerosion, wreck levee systems, pollute water and spread diseases.
At theLSU AgCenter, Gentry gives aquick origin story.Feral hogs began as ordinary domestic pigs think Wilbur from “Charlotte’sWeb” —brought over fromEuropewith Columbus andDe Soto, after which many wandered free-range or slipped loose from pens. By the early 1900s, Eurasian wild boars (same species, different subspecies) were imported for sport hunting. The two bloodlines mixed, creatingtougher,wilder hybrids, turning Wilbur into Napoleon from “Animal Farm.”
In Louisiana, feral hogs that were originally confined to thecentral and southeast regions spread in the1980s after being transported to other areas for hunting. Similar practicesnationwidehaveexploded their populationtoaround 6million, mostly in the southeast andWest Coast,but also in Canada, as hogs thrive in both swamps and snow,Gen-
try said. Like most invasive species, rapid reproduction fuels thefire.
“Theybreed like rabbits, but they’re smart,”Gentry said. On average, sows produce 11/2 littersa year,with aboutsix to each litter, he said. Female hogs can reach sexual maturity shortly after their first birthday
Within 48 months, one sow can add hundreds of hogs to the landscape. “Within 72 months, she’saddedthousands,” said Gentry.“I’mnot saying hunting or trapping doesn’thave an impact; what I’m saying is you’renot going to control the population with just those two things.”
Abloodless alternative?
Forthe past century,sodium nitrite hasbeen amainstay in the food industry mostly used to curepork.
Thecompoundkills harmful bacteria, but at doses far past what’sused on an average charcuterie board, it can bind to andalterhemoglobin, preventingthe protein from carrying oxygen throughout the body.Insomecases,that resultsinfatal asphyxiation. TheUSDAlimits sodium nitriteinhuman food to200 partsper million.
Over adecade ago, Gentry begantesting sodium nitrite’seffectsonpigs at the AgCenter’sIdlewildExperimentStation.Hefound that adoseof189 ppm killed 90% of the pigs he tested,since animals lack the enzymes humans have to processthe compound. At thesame time, Gentryalso discovered the scent of dehydrated fish attracted pigs over mostother organic baits
Gentry combined the two into abaitthatlookedtobe
arelatively painless treatment.Pigs who ate sublethal dosessimply fellasleep, he observed, andafter waking unharmed, often cameback for seconds
“They don’tsuffer if they die,” he said. “They literally just fall asleep.”
The bait also appeared environmentally friendly.Unlike many conventional pesticides,sodium nitrite easily breaksdown andwon’t accumulate up thefood chain, said JohnPojman,chair of the LSU Chemistry Department
“If youhaveadead hog and somebody comes and eats it,itdoesn’t getcontaminated and kill off native species,” he said. However,thatsame virtue meant the bait quickly broke down outside laboratory conditions, turning into foul-smelling oxides that deterred the pigs. Gentry tried developing acapsule delivery system,but couldn’tfind acasing durable enoughto hold in wet environments but also dissolveinthe stomach. After months of frustration,hereached out
to LSU’schemistry department, and Pojman eagerly volunteered. Pojman said the solution lay in keeping it “basic.” He created amore stable versionofsodium nitriteby adding calcium carbonate —widely used in antacids such as Tums —toraise its pH. To prevent the possibility of leftover crumbs that could harm smaller animals, Pojman’slab also harnessed food chemistry to turn the bait into agelatinous, green,
ä See WILD HOG, page 10A
By Amanda McElfresh| amcelfresh@theadvocate.com
It’s notevery 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.”
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.”
“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
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.” Visitwww.amerihealthcaritasla.comformore information.
STAFF PHOTO By AIDANMcCAHILL
TheAmeriHealth CaritasLouisiana team makesa donation to theGreater BatonRouge Food Bank in February 2025
Judge gives 8-year sentence in Kavanaugh assassination plot
BY MICHAEL MACAGNONE CQ-Roll Call (TNS)
WASHINGTON A federal judge sentenced the attempted assassin of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to more 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 transgender and referred to as Nicholas Roske in some court documents, to 97 months in prison, along with lifelong supervised release. Roske pleaded guilty to attempted assassination of a Supreme Court justice without a
plea agreement earlier this year.
Justice Department attorneys initially sought at least 30 years in prison for Roske, with the possibility of a life sentence.
According to court documents, Roske flew from California in June 2022 and took a taxi to the Maryland neighborhood where Kavanaugh lived. Roske then walked away from the house and called 911 to self-report, telling the operator of suicidal and homicidal thoughts and intended to act on them, according to court documents.
Boardman, in delivering the sentence, said that some of Ro-
ske’s actions, including turning herself in, justified the departure below the 30 years to life in prison that federal sentencing guidelines suggested.
“Though she got far too close to executing her plans, the fact remains that she abandoned them,” Boardman said.
Boardman applied the sentence after acknowledging the “real harm caused to Justice Kavanaugh and his family” by Roske’s actions.
At the all-day sentencing hearing, Justice Department attorney Coreen Mao argued that Roske’s conduct “posed a very real threat
to our system of government and to our Constitution,” and pushed Boardman to impose a longer sentence.
Mao said Roske, in the leadup to taking a flight from California, made multiple internet searches about items to purchase and made posts on Discord and Reddit about potentially killing a justice.
During the hearing Boardman also questioned Mao about Roske’s treatment in prison, as there is a current 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
the treatment of transgender inmates in federal prison is the subject of litigation. In a statement before Boardman announced the sentence, Roske herself spoke. Crying and stopping several times, she apologized for her actions, the fear she caused for Kavanaugh and his family, as well as involving her family and friends in the case. Roske has been in jail since the initial arrest, and much of the intervening time in the case was spent with defense attorneys investigating possible mitigating factors, according to court records.
WILD HOG
Continued from page 8A
fish-scented, bouncy-ballsized hog killer
“I’m really proud of that because it was just using some general chemistry,” said Pojman. “Food-grade materials that you can easily buy, not expensive, safe to work with.”
They envision farmers ringing their fields with bait, buried 6 inches deep — a hog-specific force field only pigs could snuff out. They’ve also successfully tested cellphone-operated wildlife feeders that allow users to remotely dispense the bait if a pig shows up on camera. But their patent, issued in May 2024, has yet to be put to use.
“We got a lot of interest, people calling us asking to
use it on their land,” said Pojman. “I say I’m sorry we can’t do anything with it.”
Obtaining pesticide approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can take a decade, and navigating the bureaucracy has been particularly challenging for academics who lack industry backing. Even obtaining a permit necessary to begin testing has proved Kafkaesque. Gentry has spent six years trying to figure out how to obtain one, only to face hundreds of pages of documents filled with unrelated chemical information and acronyms Both scientists say all they want are clear instructions. Meanwhile, warfarin, a known environmental toxin, has been approved as hog bait, largely because the chemical has been used as rat poison.
“We are in a unique
position because it’s not a traditional pesticide,” said Pojman. “I’m not opposed to the EPA doing its job. I just think we’re in a really weird situation.”
For now, the two are forced to hope for an EPA official or a member of Congress to recognize what they see as a novel, common-sense approach and help them cut through the red tape.
“If it’s safe for human consumption, why are these extra hoops here?” said Gentry “Nobody can tell me what I need to do to give it to pigs.”
A threat beyond the fields
Even if a bait were on the market that was 100% effective, Gentry says it wouldn’t come close to a panacea.
“We’ve been poisoning rats since the ’40s and ’50s,” he said. “We still have a lot of rats.”
Like rats, Gentry says
From simulationsto service, FranUprepares students forthe next step with real-world experiences
By Amanda McElfresh | amcelfresh@theadvocate.com
This articleisbrought to youbyFranU
AtFranciscanMissionariesofOurLadyUniversity (FranU), classroomlearningisonlyapartofthe curriculum. What trulysetsthe studentexperience apart arerealistic simulations, community partnerships andservice beyond thecampus. Throughits SimulatedEnvironment Teaching Hospital (SETH) andarobust service-learning program, FranUequipsstudentswiththe confidence,compassionand skills needed to succeed in theircareers andinlife.
Inside SETH,everythinglooks andfeels like atrueworking hospital.Withnearly20,000 square feet of space, thefacilityincludesnurses’ stations,electronichealthrecords, medication dispensing units, hospital beds,atubingstation 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 recreatespacesthatstudents willactuallysee with equipmenttheywill actually useina clinical practice.Westrive to ensure that we have thelatestand greatest technology,becausethatbenefitsstudents 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; thescenarioitself, whichmirrors real-life urgency; andapost-simulationdiscussion, wherestudentsand faculty unpackwhathappened,bothpositiveandnegative
“It’saveryrichconversationtodiscuss the 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, helping provideassistancetoindividuals facing food or housinginsecurity, listeningto domestic violence victimsand connecting them with safety resources, andmuchmore. Some newerprojectshaveallowed FranUstudentsto 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 experiences help them understandthattheir 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. Reddix that thescope of theirworkwould not be possible withoutFranU,animpactthatoften brings them to tears.
Beyond that measurable impact,Dr. Reddix said theservice-learningexperiencesadd 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.
it’s likely that as feral hogs push deeper into urban areas, they’ll pose problems beyond economic ones. In 2016, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries researchers collected 40 water samples from Kessler’s
hunting area and found harmful pathogens linked to hog fecal contamination in all of them, including E. coli and salmonella. In one incident in California, groundwater contamination from feral hogs is suspected of
killing three people and sickening hundreds more.
“Right now it’s an economic problem,” said Gentry “As more of them show up in towns and cities, I think you’re going to see more of a human health crisis.”
By Amanda McElfresh | amcelfresh@theadvocate.com
Afterthe sweltering heat andoccasionalstorms of thesummer, fall in Lafayettebringsmilder temperatures andsunny skiesthatare perfect forthe many festivalsthatcelebrate Acadiana’s culture. OctoberandNovemberaresomeofthebiggest months of theyear, with celebrations that unite food,music,art andcommunity.Fromcooking competitionsandcraftbeertastingstotraditional Cajunmusic andthe latest work from emerging artists,fallinLafayettehassomethingforeveryone FestivalsAcadiensetCréolesisalongstanding hallmarkoftheseasonandoneofthemostimportantheritagecelebrationsofthe year.Thisyear’s eventwillbeheldOctober 10-12inGirardPark and willfeature more than 60 artists under the theme50YearsofRéveille.Scheduledperformers includeZacharyRichard,LukeHuvalBand,four generationsoftheDopsiefamily,PineLeafBoys, ChrisArdoin, Magnolia Sisters, Cedric Watson and many more Aspecialhighlightwillbeat3:30p.m.Sunday, Oct. 12,whenCJChenier &The RedHot LouisianaBandwillbejoinedbyspecial guests Curley Taylor,NathanWilliamsSr.andRoddieRomero tocelebratethe100thbirthdayofthelateClifton Chenier,known as thekingofzydeco
In addition to atop-notch musicallineup, FestivalsAcadiensetCréolesattendeescanlearn moreabouttheculturebehindtheperformances with musicalworkshops,Frenchlessons and paneldiscussions.The food is also sure to be second-to-none,witha menu that willfeature deer sausage, blackenedalligator tacos, boudin balls, Cajunfried rice andmuchmore. Visitwww.festivalsacadiens.comfor afull schedule andmoredetails aboutthe 2025 event. Aweeklater,GulfBrewwillturndowntown Lafayetteintoalivelygathering on Saturday, October18. Hosted by theAcadianaCenterfor theArts, thefestivaloffersmorethan200 craft beersfor tasting, live music, arts andcrafts vendors,yardgamesandaFamilyFunZone.Not analcoholfanorservingasthedesignateddriver this year?Noproblem! For$25,you canenjoy a bevyofnon-alcoholicbeveragesfromdowntown restaurants. Proceeds from Gulf Brew directly supportthe AcA’sArtsinEducationprograms,ensuringthat localstudentsbenefitfromcreativelearningopportunities.Visithttps://acadianacenterforthearts. org/events/gulf-brew-2025/ to learnmoreand vote forthe 2025 King andQueen of Gulf Brew OnSaturday,October24andSunday,October 25,the spotlightturns to Vermilionville forthe BlackpotFestivalandCookoff,nowinits19thyear. Anyonefromamateurstoprofessionalscanenter thecookingcontest,withthisyear’scategoriesof gravy, gumbo, cracklins, jambalayaand dessert. Blackpotcookingisspecialforthelayeredflavors thatcometolifeoveranopenfireandtheversatile ways thepotscan be used to createdishesthat aretruly one-of-a-kind.
Beyondthefood,theBlackpotFestivalandCookoff hasalsoestablisheditselfasaplacetorelaxwith nonstopmusic that reflectsAcadiana’sdiverse culture, from Cajunand zydeco to Americana andswing.Visit www.blackpotfestival.comfor
moredetailsortosignupasacookingcontestant
Thefallseasoncontinues with AcadianaEats Festival IV on Saturday,Nov.1 at West Villagein Scott. PresentedbyEatLafayetteand Lafayette Travel,thisfree, family-friendlyevent brings Acadiana’sbestrestaurantstotheforefront,with many of them having been featured on KLFY TV-10’spopular “AcadianaEats” segments with Gerald Gruenig. Festival-goers willbeableto sampleauthenticCajun andCreoledisheswhile voting for theBestofthe Fest.A pumpkinpatch children’s activities,artisan vendorsand live musicround outthe day’sfun “EventslikeAcadianaEatsFestivalcelebrate thefood, music, andculture that make Scottand Acadianasospecial.It’sabout bringing people together,supportingour localrestaurants,and showcasing theheart of ourcommunity,” said ScottMayor Jan-ScottRichard Also nottobemissedisthe Southern Screen Festival,fromNovember13-16.Thiscelebration of storytelling spansfilm,television, podcasts musicandemergingmedia,drawinglocal,regional andinternational creators.Attendees canenjoy dozens of screenings, live performances and industry panels,aswellashands-onworkshops ThefestivalemphasizesLouisiana’screativetalent whileinvitingnewvoices,amplifyingLafayette’s role as ahub forculturalexchange. Visitwww.southernscreen.orgfor schedule information, as well as more aboutthe organization’sother events throughout theyearand Lafayette’sculturaleconomy Learnmoreabout theseand otherfallevents andplanyourvisit to Lafayettetoday at www lafayettetravel.com
LOUISIANAPOLITICS
Future of Voting Rights ActonagendainLa. case
WASHINGTON —Inmost Voting Rights Acts cases, minority voters 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 congressionalmap in the Callais case before the U.S. Supreme Court. But they are unusual bedfellows no more.
Mark Ballard
State Attorney General Liz Murrill switched sides Aug. 27 and argues the Voting Rights Actnolonger justifies two Black congressional districts. The caseisset for ahearing on Oct. 15.
Originally,justices wanted to hear arguments in Louisiana v. Callais on how to balance the competingrequirements of Section 2ofthe Voting Rights Act, which allows minority-majorityelection districts, and the Equal Protectionclause of the Constitution, which forbids 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
Capitol Buzz STAFF REPORTS
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 Louisianareally changed? Idon’t seeit,” said Press Robinson, whoisthe lead litigant among agroupofBlack voters. About athirdofthe state’sresidents are AfricanAmerican. TheGOP 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 legislators to create 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
Sevenfederal judges agreed.
Rather than accept maps drawn by the 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. Sen. Bill Cassidy dated Sept.28congratulates himonhis birthday.
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
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO
The U.S. Supreme Courtwants to knowif, by creating asecond Black-majority congressional district, Louisiana violated the U.S. Constitution.
Legalsetbacksmount forTrump’s birthright order
BY MICHAEL CASEY and SUDHIN THANAWALA Associated Press
BOSTON Overaspan of a month this summer,four separate federal courts rejected President Donald Trump’sexecutive order ending automatic citizenship for the children of people in the country illegally or temporarily
On Friday,one more court weighed in, and the result was no different.
Athree-judge panel of the1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Bostonsaid in a unanimous decision that the Republican presidentcannot enforce the order.The court joined the four others that earlier had issued or upheld decisions blocking it nationwide.
The U.S. Supreme Court is almost certain to have the final word on birthright citizenship. The Trump admin
mean an uphill fight for his administration even in front of the justices, whohaveso farsided with thepresident on many legal challenges to his effort toremakethe government.
The rightto citizenship at birth has long been abedrock principleinthe United States, widely accepted to have been granted by the 14th Amendmenttothe Constitutionin1868.Itwas intended to ensurethat Black people, including former slaves, hadcitizenship.
Theamendment includesa citizenship clause that says all people bornornaturalized in the U.S. and “subject to thejurisdictionthereof” are citizens.
Administrationlawyers have argued that inclusion of thephrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” means that citizenship is not automatically conferred to children basedontheir birth in
Circuit was misinterpreting the14th Amendment
Legal scholars say the administration’sinterpretation is countered by the amendment’shistory and subsequent Supreme Court rulings.
Experts say members of Congress who debated theamendment clearly understood it would establish an expansive definitionof birthright citizenship that included thechildrenofimmigrants, and they meant the phrase “subject to thejurisdiction thereof” as subject to U.S. law.The children of Native Americans on triballand and the children of foreign diplomats —bothofwhom had immunityfromU.S. sovereign authority —were the primary groups of people the clausewas meant to exclude from birthright citizenship, according to scholars.
In 1898, theSupreme Court found thatthe son of
born parentswho are in the U.S. legally
The court’sconservative majoritytookupa challenge to the birthright order earlier this year,but didnot decide its constitutionality Instead, thecourt used the case to issue aruling in June limiting the power of lower courts to issue nationwide injunctions, avictory for the administration.
Starting with afederal judge in New Hampshire, courtafter court has blocked theorder
Thejustices in June did notrule outcourt orders withnationwide effectsin class-action lawsuits and lawsuits brought by states.
Twoofthe judges who recentlyruled againstthe birthright order certified aclass of all children born in theU.S. after the order’s Februaryeffective date who
would be denied citizenship on its basis.
In twoother rulings, courts agreed with states that apatchwork approach to implementing theorder would not relieve them of its financial burden, noting theregularmovementof people betweenstates and thepossibilityofa state resident giving birthinanother state. Citizenship status is aprerequisite forcertain government benefits, so the plaintiff states would have to overhaul theireligibility systemstoaccount forsuch distinctions, the rulings by the9th U.S. Circuit anda federal judge in Boston said.
The 1st Circuit said its decision waseasy
“The lengthofour analysis should notbemistaken forasign that thefundamental question that these cases raise about thescope
of birthright citizenship is adifficult one,” Chief Judge David Barron wrote.“It is not, which may explain why it has been more than acentury since abranch of our government has made as concerted an effort as the Executive Branch now makes to deny Americans their birthright.” In her statement on Friday, Jacksonsaid theadministration looked forward to “being vindicated by the SupremeCourt.” To enforce the order,government officials would need to confirm parental citizenship or immigration status before issuing Social Security numbers. Passport applications would also require proof of parental citizenship or immigration status, according to recent guidancedocuments from the administration.
If youask Mary YettawhatSTART CORP does,her answer is asimpleone “Weserve people,” shesays. Yettaisa member of STARTCORP’sNew Orleans-basedsocialservices team.Her emphasis on “people” reinforces thefact that theSTART CORP care team is known forcustomizingservices foreachindividual they serve.
FoundedinHouma,START CORP has grownfromagrassrootsefforttohelp people with mental illnesslivefulllives in thecommunity into astatewide networkfor underservedresidents of Louisianacommunities.START CORP worksineighteen parishes across thestate andoperatesfive Federally-Qualified Healthcare Clinics staffedbyphysicians, nursepractitioners, licensed cliniciansand social workers. The Houmaclinicalsooffersdentalservices.Additionally,START CORP has11offices where they delivercommunity-based services
STARTCORPprogramsinclude community-based mental health care, case management forveterans, youthmentoring, substanceuse treatmentand permanent supportive housingfor chronicallyhomeless individuals. Theorganizationpartnerswith localgovernmentagencies, lawenforcement othernonprofitsand health systemstoensure that people receivehelpatthe righttimeand in theright setting.
Itsteams also step up in timesofthe greatestneed. In theaftermath of HurricaneIda STARTCORPplayeda vitalroleinrecovery effortsbyproviding emergencyhousing and behavioral health services to displacedresidents. During theCovid-19pandemic, the organizationdeployedmobilecrisisteams andmentalhealthoutreachprofessionals to fill critical gaps in care
“START CORP’s missionisfocused on creating access andopportunity for people whoare oftenleftbehind,”saidCEO Casey Guidry.“We trytopreventpeoplefromfallingthrough thecracks. That mightmean
helpinga military veteranaccesssupportive services,finding an individual asafeplace to live or gettingsomeone into recovery.It’s allconnected.”
Guidry is aquiet but powerful forcewho hasled theworktoincrease theorganization’s capacity andimpact. That hashappenedby meetingpeoplewhere they are, both physically andemotionally,and guidingthem toward stabilityand independence.Today, STARTCORPhas more than 600employees acrossLouisiana andisone of thestate’s largestnonprofit providersofintegratedhealth andhousing services Guidry said STARTCORPdoesnot sayno very often.
“Everyonedeservesthe chance to live a healthy, self-directedlife,”hesaid.
STARTCORP’ssuccessisrootedinits community-first approach andits commitment to reducing stigma around mental illness, addictionand homelessness.That work is becoming more importantthan ever as Louisianacontinues to grapplewith systemic issues such as poverty, incarceration andlackofaccesstomentalhealthcare. Accordingtorecent data,Louisiana hassome of thenation’shighest ratesofincarceration andmentalillness,yet ranksnearthe bottom in accesstobehavioralhealthresources With ongoingfunding from federal grants,state contractsand philanthropic support, STARTCORPisworking hard to addressthose needs. Theorganization planstoexpandits services in thecoming years, particularly in NewOrleans with a newSTART Community Health Center at thesiteofthe former St.JudeCommunity Center in theFrenchQuarter.The center is beingdeveloped over thenextyeartoprovide medical, dental, behavioral health,recovery services,pharmacyand housingsupport,all in onelocation.
Visitwww.startcorp.org to learnmore aboutthe organization’sworkand ways you cancontribute.
including some attacks against Moreno.
In nearly two dozen recent interviews with campaign officials, political advisers, pollsters and other close watchers of the campaigns, aportraitofthe racein its last days has emerged.
Nearly everyoneinterviewed acknowledged that Moreno has acommanding lead. But no one seems sure if it is enough.
“It’suptoDuplessis and Thomas to change the trajectory of the electoratein this final stretch,” Robert Collins, aprofessor of urban studies and public policy at Dillard University, saidthis week. “It could change in the final two weeks, but it would be atall order.”
Stateofplay
As the campaigns have reached acrescendo, all three major candidates are unleashing their final appeals to voters.
Accordingtocampaign finance filingsand information from the Moreno, Duplessis and Thomas campaigns, voters can expect asurge of television, radio and digital advertising from all three candidates, plus an onslaught of “get outthe vote” efforts, sign-waving and canvassing.
Moreno made the rounds at a“Musicians for Helena” event Wednesday at Tipitina’swhere local musicians played andtoutedtheir support. She waved signs around town. And she spent nearly amillion dollars in the past three weeks, blanketing television airwaves with more than $380,000 worth of new ad buys.
One segment features Moreno speaking over gospel-style piano,telling voters “every step I’ve taken has prepared me for this moment.”
Duplessis waved signs with volunteers across the city,attended the groundbreaking of astormwater management project and
visited several businesses, callingonvoters to join him as he builds acity “where every communitythrives.”
He, too, spentmore than $380,000 on TV ad production, according to filings Thomas kickedoff the earlyvoting period with breakfastatBrittany’sin NewOrleansEast, then mingled with voters Friday at City Hall as the early voting period drew toa close.
His campaign has spent heavily onget-out-the-vote related expenses including coordinator fees,canvassing and advertising totaling about$70,000. He spent another $25,000 on radioand TV buys.
Financially,Moreno remains thestrongest candidate.Her war chest going into the campaign’s final weeks held$770,000. Duplessis banked $590,000, while Thomas had $120,000. Moreno has alsoracked up support from political heavyweights includingformerMayor Mitch Landrieu, U.S. Rep. Troy Carter and former Congressman Cedric Richmond, which may factor into Moreno’sfinal push.
“The only numberthat
matters is the final tally afterpolls close on election day,”saidMorenocampaign spokesperson Todd Ragusa. “As a24/7 leader,Helena isn’tlettingup. She’skeepingher foot on thegas to deliver thechangeNew Orleanians want and deserve.”
Both Thomas and Duplessisprojected confidence that theycan carve apath to victory.A runoff is “extremely likely,” Duplessis said in astatement. He addedthat he is proud of the“outpouringofsupport from donors” in recent weeks.And hiscampaign signaled that it would continue to attack Moreno’srecord in the days ahead.
“Our campaign hasfocused on facts andthe response hasshown that voters want accountability,” said Tyronne Walker, Duplessis’ senior campaign strategist. “The reality is Helena Moreno can’tescape her record,and we will continue to highlight that truth in these final days.”
Thomas’ campaign strategy —built around amix of advertising, get-out-thevoteefforts and events that showcase his retailpolitical skills —will “intensify” in
the days ahead,said Ethan Ashley,Thomas’ campaign manager “We’veinvestedingetout-the-vote efforts because this election is about turnoutand aboutmakingsure thepeople whohave felt left out of theprocess know theirvotematters,” Ashley said.
Ron Faucheux, apollster and analyst who has performed surveysonthe race, said Duplessis and Thomas are certainly battling one another for aportion of the vote, and they also need to keep Moreno from securing amajorityofvotes in theprimary.But so farthe other candidates’ campaign strategies haven’tappeared to put adentinher numbers.
In poll after poll, Moreno has remained at around 50%. ASeptemberpoll fundedbyWVUE-TV gauged her supportat51%, though the mostrecently available survey,which UNO’sSurvey Research Center published Tuesday, pegged that figureat49%.
Other recent surveys have shown her in thehigh 40s. “Nobody has seemed to
be able to land on astrategy that takes votes away from her,”Faucheuxsaid.
Attacksincrease
Only in recentweeks, though, have attacksagainst Moreno intensified. Duplessis’ broadsidesagainst the consensus front-runner launched in earnest on Sept. 7with his inaugural TV spot of the race.
The 30-second segment said Moreno was“behind the chaos in City Hall that’s held us back,” alluding to the discord between City Council leadership and Cantrell over the past four years. Duplessis criticized Moreno for wanting “a promotion” despite that record.
Thesegment,which was deleted and later reposted on the campaign’sYouTube account, describedDuplessis as “one of us” and said he has“thevisiontoget New Orleansback on track.”
Walker,Duplessis’ campaign strategist,saidthe spotwas adjusted“simply to remove ababyfromthe footage,” adding that the message did not change.
Duplessis continued his attacks on Moreno’sCity Council record as he met her face-to-face in aseries of televiseddebates in September
Thomas has mostly eschewed attacking Moreno in the run-up to primary night,sticking instead to his steadydietofsocial media, get-out-the-vote efforts and campaign events.
Meanwhile, mailers went out this week targeting Moreno’srecord with Black businesses. That campaign is funded by People for aBetter NewOrleans, a group created by businessman Jeff Thomas and Dillard University professor Blair Condoll, according to secretaryofstate filings.
The attackshaveyet to bear fruit, said Ed Chervenak, aUNO professor who performed the poll released last week
“If the attackswereworking, we’d see her numbers come down,”hesaid. “The whole idea behind attack ads is to depress support for
your opponent. We’renot seeing that.”
Morenobrushed off Duplessis’ “chaos”criticismsina recentinterview, saying she has confidence that voters view Cantrell as responsible for the acrimonious tenor at City Hall. While theCityCouncil’s approvalrating hashovered around 50%, Cantrell’s plummeted beneath 30% in apair of polls performed in recent months.
“The city knowswhy we’re in chaos and the reason behind that,”Morenosaid. Of theattacks,she said, “it’s just the way thatitiswhen desperation kicks in.”
High turnout
The candidates are fighting to the finish in what’s poised to be ahigh-interest election. As of Friday, 25,000 people had voted early in New Orleans —more than double the number of votes cast by the same point of early voting in the city’s 2021 local election, according to an analysis by Baton Rouge-based pollster John Couvillon.
Some of thatinterest likely stems from the city opening two extra early voting sites this cycle, Couvillon said.
Asmaller portionofBlack New Orleanians voted early than in thepast two cycles, Couvillonnoted.Morenois White andHispanic;Thomas andDuplessis areBlack. Moreno, Thomas and Duplessis are all Democrats. There is oneRepublican on the ballot, CPAFrank Janusa,who haspolled fourth among the major candidates in recent surveys. Hiscandidacycould also shape the primary outcome.
“Eventhough New Orleans is aheavily Democratic city,you still have a small percentage of people who vote Republican,” Couvillon said. “When you’re talking about (Moreno) polling near the50% mark, that’ssomething youcan’t ignore.”
Email James Finn at jfinn@theadvocate.com.
EDUCATION
Shutdown will affect student loans, FAFSA and more
BY ANNIE MA AP education writer
WASHINGTON Already dimin-
ished 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.
GULF COAST
Cruisin’ The Coast car show returns to Miss. beaches
BY MARY PEREZ
The Sun Herald
It’s the most colorful time of the year in South Mississippi as Cruisin’ The Coast returns Oct. 5-12.
This year, Cruise Central returns to Jones Park in 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’s where to go, what celebrities to see and music to hear each day: Sunday, Oct. 5
n View the Cruise, Downtown Gulfport, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
n Cruise-In with KOTO, Hardy Court Shopping Center, Gulfport, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
n Cruisin’ Through The Decades, Gautier, noon to 6 p.m.
n Drive-in movie “Stroker Ace,” 5:30 p.m.
n Chris Jacobs appearances: Hardy Court, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.; Gulfport, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
n Feature
n
n
ment by Joni Compretta & Baytown Groove
n Vicari Auto Auction vehicle check-in at Coast Coliseum, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
n Diamondhead Blessing of the Classics, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Line up at 1:30 p.m. Entertainment by Razzoo, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and Beau King, 4 p.m. to 7 p.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 Lee appearance: Biloxi Block Party, 10 a.m. to noon
n Courtney Hansen appearance: Biloxi Block Party 10 a.m. to noon
n Margaritaville Cruise-in, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Margaritaville Resort Biloxi
a.m. to 4 p.m. n Long Beach Parade — Registered vehicles only. First 600 to arrive will be in the parade. Line up at 1 p.m. at Long Beach High School. Parade starts at 5:30 p.m. Rochelle Hicks, director of Visit Mississippi, is grand marshal
n Chris Jacobs appearances: Cruise Central, Jones Park Gulfport, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.; CTC Kick-off Parade serving as celebrity guest, Long Beach, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. n The Tip Tops play at Long Beach Harbor, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7
n KOTO spins the oldies at Cruise Central, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. n 2025 Registration package pick-up, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for last names L-Z only. Cruise Central, Jones Park, Gulfport
n 2025 On-site Registration, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.. Cruise Central, Jones Park, Gulfport Mississippi Gulf Fresh Seafood Sampling, Cruise Central at Jones Park, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
n Autocross by Autocross Guys at Scarlet Pearl Casino, D’Iberville. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free and open to registered vehicles only
n “Salute To Our Veterans,” 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Cruise Central with Garry “Elvis” Wesley n Cruisin’ The River City, Moss Point, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
n Chris Jacobs appearance: Margaritaville, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
n Courtney Hansen appearance: Cruise Central, 10 a.m to noon; Margaritaville, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
n Vicari Auto Auction vehicle check-in at Coast Coliseum, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
n Flame-throwing competition at Island View Casino in Gulfport, Live Entertainment by Ty Taylor & The Kinfolk, 4 p.m., Registration at 5 p.m. Event begins at dusk. $1,000 cash prizes and trophies
Wednesday, Oct 8
n KOTO spins the oldies at Cruise Central, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
n 2025 Registration package pick-up, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for all registrations
n Biloxi Block Party, Downtown Biloxi, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
n Mississippi Gulf Fresh Seafood Sampling, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
n Autocross at Scarlet Pearl Casino, D’Iberville (north surface parking lot), 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Registered vehicles only
n Car Corral open and vehicle check-in, east of Treasure Bay Casino, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
n Hot Rods & Hospitality Waveland, Coleman Ave., 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Entertain-
n Beau Rivage Cruisin’ Events: “Britishmania Beatles Tribute” Party, Beau Rivage Theatre, $20. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Also meet and greets with Dennis Gage of My Classic Car, Cristy Lee, Courtney Hansen and Joe & Amanda Martin from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. See Johnny Dawg of NaNaSha and The Triggerproof All Stars, at EIGHT75, 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 9
n KOTO spins the oldies at Cruise Central, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
n Registration at all Cruisin’ Venues is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
n 2025 Registration continues, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. 2026 Registration opens, noon to 5 p.m., Cruise Central, Jones Park, Gulfport
n Country Cruisin’ Breakfast, Long Beach Yacht Club, 7 a.m. to 10 a.m.
n Vicari Auto Auction at Coast Coliseum, doors open at 8:30 a.m. Auction begins 10 a.m.Vicari Auction’s CTC Swap Meet open at Coast Coliseum, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
n Car Corral open and vehicle check-in, east of Treasure Bay Casino, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
n Burn ‘Em Up In The Pass, Fleitas Ave., Pass Christian, 5 p.m. until dusk. Then Pass Christian High School Jazz Band will perform a second line down Second Street to the stage with live entertainment by Made in Stone.
n Cristy Lee appearances: Pass Christian, 10 a.m. to noon; Bay St. Louis, 2 p.m. to
4 p.m.
n Courtney Hansen appearances: Pass Christian, 10 a.m. to noon; Bay St. Louis, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
n Joe & Amanda Martin appearance: Ocean Springs, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
n Dennis Gage appearances: Cruise Central, 10 a.m. to noon; D’Iberville 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
n “Welcome Back to Jones Park” extended show by Bag of Donuts, Jones Park Stage, 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
n Buffett & Bumpers Block Party, Downtown Pascagoula, 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. featuring Buffett Beach Band Friday, Oct 10
n KOTO spins the oldies at Cruise Central, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
n Registration at all Cruisin’ Venues is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
n 2025 and 2026 Registration continues, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
n Country Cruisin’ Breakfast, Long Beach Yacht Club, 7 a.m. to 10 a.m.
n Vicari Auto Auction at Coast Coliseum, doors open at 8:30 a.m.; auction begins 10 a.m. Vicari Auction’s CTC Swap Meet open at Coast Coliseum, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
n Car Corral open and vehicle check-in, east of Treasure Bay Casino, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
n Dennis Gage appearance: Bay St. Louis, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
n Cristy Lee appearance: Ocean Springs, 10 a.m. to
‘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 afederal government closure
“Wedon’twant it to shut down,” Trump said at the White House the next day, hours before the midnight deadline.
This wasn’tjust aroutine meeting of the president and congressional leadership. It was the first time Trump had gathered the leadersof Congress, more than eight months into his presidency —and the first time he and Jeffries had officially met But more surprising was how little came from it.
Health care fundsupinair
During the White House meeting, Jeffriesand Senate Minority Leader Chuck
Journalist arrested while covering protest is deported
ATLANTA— ASpanish-language journalist who had been in immigration detention since June was deported Friday to El Salvador Mario Guevara, 48, was coveringa protest just outside Atlanta on June 14 when police arrested him and then turned himovertoU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement several days later Department of Homeland Security officials have consistently rejected the idea that Guevara was being punished for his work, maintainingthat he was in the country illegally Guevara fled El Salvador twodecades agoout of fear and amassed abig audience as ajournalist in the Atlanta area. He worked for Mundo Hispanico, aSpanish-language newspaper,before starting adigital news outlet called MG News last year He was livestreaming video on social media from a“No Kings” rally when police in DeKalb County arrested him. He often arrived at sceneswhereICE or other law enforcement agencies were active and regularly livestreamed what he saw
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.
Schumer,D-N.Y., laid out their arguments for saving health care funding 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 the Democrats’demands to ensure subsidies to help people buy private insurance 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
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.”
By Amanda McElfresh This article is brought to youbyTop Workplaces
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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.
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 2-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 million people rally on Friday in aone-day generalstrike.
In Spain, officials said that 100,000 people marched in Madrid and another 70,000 filled downtown Barcelona.
for an end to the war in Gaza.
Organizers of the Madrid marchraised attendanceto 400,000, while organizers in Barcelona said that 300,000 took part
While the protests were peaceful, hours afterthe official 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 aroute by the Colosseum was organized by three Palestinian organizations along with local unions andstudents. At Piazza SanGiovanni, protesters chantedand applauded the name of Franc-
esca 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 militant groups 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 Gior-
Trumplooks to slashrefugee count
BY HADRIANA LOWENKRON Bloomberg News (TNS)
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump is considering imposing amassive drop in the cap for refugee admissions from 125,000 to 7,500 and is expected to favor White South Africans over immigrants fleeing war or famine, according to people familiar with the matter
The new number,described by people who asked for anonymity to discuss privatedeliberations, would mark arecord low in refugee admissions to the
UnitedStates. It comes in a presidential determination datedSept.30, which Trump signed, according to The New York Times, which first reported the change The numbercould change in consultation with Congress. But an administration official said Saturday speaking on condition of anonymity,that the shutdown prevented thosetalks from happening,and that no refugees would be admitted until the government was open. Trump in May welcomed dozens of White Afrikaners, insisting without evidence
that they faced racial discrimination, land grabs and violence, calling it “genocide.” In fact, young Black men bear thebrunt of crime in South Africa, and there have been no official land grabs since apartheid ended there in 1994.
The South African government hasdeniedany racial discrimination, and in a heated Oval Office meeting with Trump,South African President CyrilRamaphosa attempted to debunk claims made by U.S.officialsof genocide against White SouthAfricans.
gia Meloni’sgovernment to taskfor its refusal to recognize aPalestinian state, followingthe example of Spain, France, theU.K. and some other Western countries
“Meloni cannotcontinue with this obscene victimhood: Theseare spontaneous demonstrations against the inaction and complicity of hergovernment. She must acknowledge this and begin working diplomatically for peace,”MagitoldItalian 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.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ALESSANDRATARANTINO
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators pass in front of Rome’sColosseum on Saturday during a march calling
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.
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 lateSaturday,Netanyahusaid he has sent adelegation to Egypt “to finalize technical details,” adding that “our goal is to contain thesenegotiations to atime frame ofafew 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 controlsin Gaza, and that Hamas will be disarmed in the plan’ssecond phase, diplomatically “orthrough amilitary path by us.”
The prime minister spoke after Hamas said it has accepted some
Saturday warned that “Hamas must movequickly,orelse all bets will be off.”
Trump also ordered Israel to stop bombing Gaza. Some in Gaza City reported anotable easingof Israeli strikes Saturday,though hospitalofficialssaid at least 22 people were killed.
Momentum before anniversary
Trump appears determined to deliver on pledges to end the war and return all hostages ahead of thesecond anniversary on Tuesday of the Hamas attack 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.
will discuss mapsshowing the expected withdrawal of Israeliforces from certain areas in Gaza, said theofficialwho spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to brief the media.
The official also said Arab mediators are preparing fora comprehensive dialogue among Palestinians aimed at unifying their position towardGaza’sfuture. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Gaza’s second most powerful militant group, said it accepted Hamas’ response after rejecting the plan days earlier
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
elements of the U.S. plan. President Donald Trumpwelcomed the militantgroup’sstatement but on
AseniorEgyptian official said U.S.envoy Steve Witkoffwill travel to Egypt to head the U.S. negotiating team. The talks also
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 re-
lease the 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 positionfundamentally remains unchanged. Itsrhetoric“simply repackages olddemands in softer language,” said OdedAilam, 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.
U.K. police question 4insynagogue attack
BY JILL LAWLESS Associated Press
LONDON U.K. police were given extra time Saturday to question four people arrested on suspicion of terror offenses after an attack on asynagogue in northwest England that left two people dead and Britain’sJewishcommunity shocked and grieving.
Twoother people who had been arrested were released without charge.
Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, was shot dead bypolice on Thursday outsidethe Heaton Park Congregation SynagogueinManchester after he rammed acar into pedestrians, attacked them with aknife 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 the Jewish year.Police say Daulby was accidentally shot by an armed officer as he and other congregants barricaded the synagogue to block Al-Shamiefromentering. Threeother men arehospitalized with seriousinjuries
Detectivessay Al-Shamie, aBritishcitizenofSyrianoriginwho livedinManchester,may havebeen influenced by “extreme Islamist ideology.”
Three men and three women were arrest-
ed in the greater Manchester area on suspicionofthe “commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism,” as police worktodetermine whether theattacker acted alone. Acourt on Saturday grantedpolice five more days tohold four of the suspects: menages 30 and 32, and women ages 46 and 61.An18-year-old woman and a43-year-old man were released withnofurther action, police said.
Policehaven’tidentified those arrested or disclosedtheir links to Al-Shamie.
Some politiciansand religiousleaders claimedpro-Palestiniandemonstrations, which havebeen held regularly since the war in Gazabegan, had played arole in spreadinghatred of Jews.
ChiefRabbi Ephraim Mirvis, the head of Orthodox Judaism in Britain, said thatthe attack was the resultof“an unrelenting wave of Jewhatred” on the streets and online.
About 100 people gathered in acentral Manchestersquare in heavy rain, waving Palestinianflags and demanding an end to thewar in Gaza.
In London,organizerssaidthatabout 1,000 people demonstrated against the banning of Palestine Action, agroup that has vandalizedBritish militaryplanes and targetedsites with links to theIsraeli military
-Freda
NOLA.COM | Sunday, OctOber 5, 2025 1bn
A CUT OF THE ACTION
At the R Bar, $20 gets you a haircut, a shot and an only-in-New Orleans moment
BY JENNA ROSS Staff writer
By the time Laura Mat-
tingly arrived, just after 7 p.m. Monday night, all the lights in the R Bar had dimmed but one a spotlight shining on a red leather barbershop chair, not far from the entrance.
It sat empty, ready for her She grabbed a broom, tossed her clippers onto the bar and plugged an extension cord into an outlet above the ATM. Then, as music played and patrons drank, Mattingly began giving haircuts.
But before the haircuts, hugs. Long, lingering hugs, even though a growing list of people were waiting for their turn.
Here, every Monday night, $20 gets you a cut, a shot and a moment with Mattingly who, with her steady hands, easy laugh and “badass” reputation, as the bartender put it, has become as much a fixture as the chair
Since she started cutting hair here in 2011 — with one long, notable, difficult absence the Marigny neigh-
borhood has gone from working- to upper-class, she said. The haircuts from $10 to $20. Now 43 years old, she starts at 7 p.m., rather than 9 p.m., and tends to wrap up around midnight.
“I like to get to bed before 4 in the morning,” she laughed
But people still have the bartender put their name on a list and sip a beer (or several) while they wait.
Mattingly buzzed lawyer Keith Hurtt’s hair as soft and white as duck fluff, with long strokes. As they chatted and laughed, she cleaned his neck, trimmed his beard. She brushed off his dome, and he stuck out his chin, flashing a grin to the few folks watching.
“Beautiful!” a Michigan couple, in town for the week, declared
Much has been written about the essential role of New Orleans’ neighborhood bars, the places you can count on for a stiff drink or pile of crawfish or a conversation with a stranger A place to watch “Jeopardy” or play pool or pet a dog Garrett Pittman, operations director for WWNO, who was second on the list for
and
a cut, said when he arrived in New Orleans in 2007, not long after Hurricane Katrina, folks were still having their mail delivered to their neighborhood dives.
“They’re an important third space,” said Pittman. After sipping a Bulleit Rye, Pittman handed his plaid shirt and ballcap to his fiancee and settled into Mattingly’s chair
Haircuts have been a tradition at the R Bar a warmly lit, personalityfilled bar below the Royal Street Inn, since before Mattingly Three decades, she’s heard. “It’s a legacy.”
been the face of it for so long that many can’t remember who it was before her Her regulars have seen her for years, before COVID-19, before breast cancer, back when her daughter was young.
Mattingly floated to New Orleans in 2007 on a raft. Living in California and working as a journalist, she used the last of her money to buy a plane ticket to Kansas City, where an artist was launching a raft trip — a
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 identity 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
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.
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.
Viral video draws attention to controversial grain facility
What started as a quick laugh has turned into millions of views
BY DESIREE STENNETT Staff writer
A few blocks from his family’s home in the Lower 9th Ward last week, Will Giles saw police cars blocking North Derbigny Street near the community center So naturally, the 20-year-old content creator grabbed his phone and took his TikTok au-
dience with him to check it out.
“What the heck? Is this a protest?” Giles says in the viral video that has since collected more than 5.8 million views and counting.
For a year neighbors in the Lower 9th Ward and Holy Cross areas have been protesting a new grain terminal set to open this fall on nearby Port of New Orleans property They gathered again Sept 22 for the public meeting at the Sanchez MultiService Center and protested outside.
But what started as content and a quick laugh for Giles has since
turned into thousands of petition signatures for a neighborhood cause.
Jeffrey Whittenbrink, one of the effort’s leaders, said a petition circulating since last fall had only gotten about 1,700 signatures in nearly a year But it jumped to nearly 8,000 in less than two weeks after Giles posted his video on his TikTok account, @Iamwillkeepgoing.
“It really goes to show the impact you can have as an individual,” Whittenbrink said. “Your participation is important. Your voice does matter.”
But Mattingly, a poet
Reiki practitioner has
STAFF PHOTOS By SOPHIA GERMER
Laura Mattingly cuts the hair of Joy Kinney at R Bar in New Orleans on Monday
Laura Mattingly cuts the hair of Garrett Pittman.
STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
Continued from page 1B
Jack Matthews, a graduate student studying chemistry, said adding LSU to UNO’s name would make it easier to find online.
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
“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
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 men-
tioned 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.”
CUT
Continued from page 1B
punk art project called “Release Yourself Onto the Water Until it Tastes of Salt.” A photo from the trip shows a 26-year-old Mattingly bracing herself against the rain Mattingly loved the city, the way the “rich” writing community lived independent of the universities. She had a daughter, Indigo, and made a home.
But soon, she had a “big pickle,” as she described it in a poem, published in 2019.
“New baby Little money. A voyage gone awry.”
The R Bar’s then-barber was a friend who knew Mattingly could cut hair
So when she left for Berlin, she offered Mattingly the gig. Soon, Mattingly’s chair was filled with “the drinkers and the cabbies... and the servers, and the tattoo artists, and the longshoremen and the public health students all lined up to receive Mohawks and fauxhawks, and pompadours, and mullets, bobs, and layers.“ There was a pool table, then, and Mattingly became good at breaking up fights. She needed the money, so she packed as many cuts into a night as she could Then, years in, Mattingly was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“Cancer, when you’re in the service industry, is a scary thing,” she said. No sick pay No job security
“I worked the whole way through. I would work bald, I would work without eyebrows, I would work when I could barely lift my arm.”
The bar threw her a benefit. Each night, the manager walked her to the car But then, while getting radiation, she could not lift herself off the couch. A friend filled in. That’s when the pandemic hit. Mattingly worried that contracting COVID-19 could be fatal
So she waited for the vaccine and, in the end, took nearly two years off. The R Bar didn’t replace her
“In a world of utter chaos,” she said “it’s good to know your job is there for you.” She’s been there for her clients, too During the pandemic, she began cutting hair in their homes. She asks them about their daughters, their mothers, their dogs. She’s seen them get married, get divorced and find love again.
GRAIN
Continued from page 1B
During the protest, Harbor Police had closed the streets surrounding the Sanchez Center as more than 100 people marched against the grain terminal.
“It’s a very rich way of knowing people,” Mattingly said. By 8:15 p.m., the hair was piling up on the bar’s wood floors. White fuzz, dark locks, gray curls. Mattingly cuts all types, all textures. The barber before her taught her to spray folks’ hair with water, but Mattingly prefers a dry cut. She often starts by running her hands through a person’s hair, getting a feel for it, before gently tugging a piece forward to see how it falls. For years, Kesha Star Young had encountered stylists unwilling or unable to handle her curls. Half Black, half White, Young’s hair is coiled and textured. So she’d started doing her own hair
“I just didn’t trust anyone,” Young said. Then she met Mattingly who reassured her: “I cut all hair.” In a traditional salon, surrounded by mirrors, a stylist might look past you, Young said. But in the bar, under the spotlight, Mattingly makes long, sustained eye contact.
“She’s just totally focused on you,” Young said. “It just created this beautiful sense of trust that was so important.”
On Monday night, the list had swelled from four to nine. Mattingly, whose own hair is short and spiked, was a few cuts in when she came across a woman’s name on her list: Joy She called it once inside, then peeked out at the patio: “Joy?”
A woman with bright white hair popped up.
“Oh, that Joy!” Mattingly said with a broad grin. “I like that Joy.”
Joy Kinney shrugged off her bag on a nearby table. She sat stiffly in the chair gripping the armrests with her index fingers. Her hair was messy, pushed forward, hiding her coalrimmed eyes. Mattingly got close, talking through the cut and coaxing out a laugh.
Then she began feeling, brushing, buzzing.
A breeze blew through the bar, swirling bits of white hair in the air above Kinney’s head, as if in a snow globe.
Kinney, an artist at Jackson Square, met Mattingly after her mastectomy when she was figure modeling for an artists’ group. Kinney had never paid for a haircut as an adult. But Mattingly made her feel safe.
With edging clippers, Mattingly carved one line through the side of her hair, then two more. With shears, she began cutting the longest part of Kinney’s hair, bringing it this way and that. Then “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” came on. “Listen baby .” Marvin Gaye began.
“Ain’t no mountain high enough,” Mattingly began singing along, as she clipped. “Ain’t no valley low enough.”
“Ain’t no river wide enough,” Kinney joined in, “to keep me from getting to you, baby.”
Kinney looked up at Mattingly her hair no longer hiding her eyes, and smiled. They sang the chorus together, just once.
At first, Giles said he joined in to be funny He had never participated in a protest before. But then he realized the subject matter was the same one he and his grandmother had been talking about for weeks.
It was the kind of thing that his grandfather would have joined if he were still alive, Giles’ grandmother told him. Bishop George Henry Albert Jr was a longtime community activist and former leader of the nearby Philippi Evangelistic Church of God in Christ.
So Giles went back home to grab his megaphone and joined in. By the time the protest wrapped, he had become one of the chant leaders, infusing energy into a fight residents have been waging for a year
“Something just led me to that protest,” Giles said. “I’ve made a pretty big impact just from that video alone, and I’m grateful for that I’m pretty sure my grandfather would be proud.”
Whittenbrink said his goal was to get at least 150 signatures that night, but it was gratifying to see thousands roll in, and read comments from New Orleanians saying they had no idea about the project until seeing the video.
The protesters’ petition asks the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to hold a public hearing before it approves a permit from Sunrise Foods International, the Canadian company that will operate the grain terminal.
Sunrise Foods needs the permit to make renovations to the Alabo Street Wharf and build a railcar shelter and a rail conveyor to move thousands of tons of imported organic grain — soybeans, wheat, sunflower meal and peas — from the Mississippi River to a 10-car train that will transport the goods five days a week.
Residents say the facility is out of place in a residential neighborhood. They are concerned about grain dust, rodents, noise and lower
property values.
‘I want to see us thrive’
After two years in Houston, Giles moved back home just over a month ago to focus on content creation. He said he wants young New Orleanians to see that they can positively influence their hometown just by being themselves and posting online. Giles grew up in the Lower 9 and started making content for YouTube at 14. At 15, he switched to TikTok and quickly amassed about 50,000 followers. Now, between several TikTok pages and an Instagram account, he’s up to nearly 200,000. His content focused on humor and positivity Giles recently held a pizza party for the unhoused to bring joy and sustenance to people in need. Over the past several weeks, he’s posted several videos of himself giving out “Dad of the Year” awards to fathers he’s caught caring for their families in public. He said content creation gives a voice to his generation, and he hopes more people will be inspired to start creating after seeing his success.
“I want New Orleans to be a city where young people are excelling with content,” he said The reach of his viral video “allows other people to see that this is just a kid who made a funny video of him being himself, and it made a huge impact.”
Off camera, Giles said he plans to stay involved in the fight over the grain facility He has already met with organizers at Xavier University who have joined the effort, and he plans to start attending weekly community meetings.
And once the fight over the grain facility is over he hopes to be able to see a new economic future unfold for the 9th Ward.
Right now, his family has to cross the parish line into Chalmette for most of their needs, he said. He wants to see more essential businesses like a full-service grocery store and a pharmacy come and hopes other businesses follow “I really want to see more economic flow in the 9th Ward,” he said. “I want to see us thrive.”
Email Desiree Stennett at desiree.stennett@ theadvocate.com.
STAFF PHOTOS By SOPHIA GERMER
Laura Mattingly puts the barber cape on Joy Kinney at R Bar in New Orleans on Monday
Mattingly and Greg Challman reflect into a mirror during a haircut.
STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
Content creator Will Giles stands in the Lower 9th Ward neighborhood of New Orleans on Tuesday. Giles made a series of videos for social media that went viral protesting the controversial grain facility in the Lower 9th Ward.
Lacy’s attorney questions police narrativeofcrash
Lawyer says former LSUplayer notatfault in fatalincident
BY QUINN COFFMAN Staff writer
The attorney for former LSUwidereceiverKyren
Lacy,who wasaccused of negligent homicide and who took his own life in April, questioned the Louisiana State Police’snarrative of the original crash on aHouma TV show
Friday AttorneyMattOry represented Lacy in January,when the 24-year-old turned himself in to State Police on counts of negligent homicide, felony hitand-run and reckless operation of avehicle.
However,onFriday,Ory appeared on the HTV 10 news station in Houma to state that Lacy couldn’t have caused the Dec.17, 2024, crash.
Citing areport from the Lafourche Parish District Attorney’sOffice, Ory saidLacy’scar wasnearly afootball field’slength behind the head-on collision that killed 78-yearoldHermanHall, of Thibodaux.
State Police statements from theday of Lacy’s arrest indicate that his Dodge Charger illegally passedmultiple vehicles, causing aKia Cadenza to swerve to avoidthe Charger, which then crashed head-on with aKia Sorrento traveling in the opposite direction.
Hall, apassenger in the Sorrento, was transported to ahospital where he died from his injuries.
Ory said that despite Lacy illegally passing four
othervehicles, he was nearly 100yards behind thecarsinvolvedinthe head-on collision, which Orysaidistoo farfor him to be considered responsible
In astatement released Friday evening, State Police said they conducted adetailedinvestigation withthe assistance of crashreconstructionexpertsand withall available informationatthe time.
“Investigative findings revealed that Mr.Lacy’s reckless driving whileapproaching oncoming traffic led to theeventsofthe crash. The findings were presented to the 17th Judicial DistrictCourt, which approved an arrest warrant based on the evidence collected.Aswith all investigations leading toarrest, the subjects of the investigation are presumed innocent until proven guilty in acourt of law,” the statement reads. “No one disputes that he wasbehind the crash scene. His swerving, passing cars, and reckless operation causedthe seriesofcrash events.”
Oryalsoshowedpolice body-camera footage of a post-crash interview between an officer and oneof the drivers involved in the crash. In it, the officer can be heard asking thewitness to include in his written report howhardhehad to brake to avoidLacy’s Charger
Ory said the details the officer was askingthe driver to include in the report, specifically that thedriver had to use the emergency braketoavoid Lacy’s Charger, werenot consistent with howthe witnessdescribedthe crash to the officerearlier,based on body camerafootage.
Lacy took his life in Houston in April with a self-inflictedgunshot.
AccordingtoOry,Lacy’s deathcame days before a grand jury hearing on his case,where Orybelieves the Lafourche Parish district attorney’sfindings would have vindicated Lacy
Quoting the final line of the Lafourche Parish District Attorney’sOfficereport, Ory said, “The evidence submitted in the crash report does not support that Kyren Lacy should have known that hisactionswerethe cause of the crashthathappened approximately 72 yards in front of him.
To criminally indict asuspect on ahomicidecharge in LafourcheParish, a grand jury must be called Ory said.
Lacy was athree-star recruit who beganhis collegiate career at UL before transferring to LSU before the 2022 season. In three years with the Tigers, he caught 112passes for 1,692 yards and 16 touchdowns. One of thosescores was the 25-yard touchdown receptionthatdecided LSU’s Oct. 12, 2024, overtime win over Ole Miss in Tiger Stadium.
In March,Lacy participated in LSU’spro day He was not invited to the NFL’s scoutingcombine, despitebeing expected to be chosen in the 2024 draft which began11daysafter his death.
ReedDarcey contributed to this story
Email Quinn Coffman at quinn.coffman@ theadvocate.com.
BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD Staff writer
As artificial intelligence becomes more ingrained in aspects of everyday life, some parishesare exploring whether it can be used to help address oneofLouisiana’sbiggestissues: roads. Louisiana’sroad conditions have consistently been ranked among the poorest in thecountry due to factors such as deterioration and poor maintenance.
Improving roads is commonly at thetop of state andlocal leaders’ agendas. Now,ahandful of Louisiana parishes have been experimenting with technology thatusesAIinhopes of
improving conditions in a more efficient way.
Theprogram 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 asoftware and hardware solution to help governments responsible for road maintenance make better, faster decisions.
Founder and civil engineer Chris Sunde, of North Carolina,saidhis company sends cities and parishes the device with acamera, a roughness sensor and GPS.
The device is attached to avehicle and then driven around to scan theroadsin aspecific area. After thescanningprocess, thecompanyusesa large language modeltoinspect the roads and assign them to apavement condi-
tion index rating the roads on ascaleof1-100.Thisinformation is then given to the clients to build amultiyear paving plan. “Wetry to help with the pavement management process as muchaspossible. The only thing we don’tdo is pave the roads,” he said. Sunde’scompany gotinvolvedwith thestate two years ago after attending a Louisiana Parish Engineers and Supervisors Association conference.
Many parishes are usingnothing to inspect their roadsand developa road maintenance process, he said. Sunde said GoodRoads aimstotreat roads more efficiently and have cities and parishes not necessarily address the worst roads first, but to adoptbettermaintenance
NewOrleans Area Deaths
Adams, Deborah Brandt,Robert Chimento, James Conwell, Thelma Dorsey,Audrey
of Gretna, VA and brother James F. Rivera of Covington, LA, along with many niecesand nephews.
Arrangements are being handledbyTharp Funeral Home in Metairie andher servicehas yettobe scheduled.
"Wherever abeautiful soul has been, thereisa trail of beautiful memories."
Haydel, James Brandt, Robert Carlyle'Bob'
Roth Sr., Eugene
Royerre,Francis
Tanner, Pamela
Tullis,Eli
Whitson, Jeanne
EJefferson
Garden of Memories
LA Muhleisen
Chimento, James
Leitz-Eagan
Miller, John
NewOrleans
DW Rhodes
Dorsey,Audrey
Greenwood
Roth Sr., Eugene
JacobSchoen
Conwell, Thelma
Lake Lawn Metairie
Haydel, James
Martinez, Sally
Robichaux, Tammy
Royerre,Francis
St Tammany
EJ Fielding
Massoth,Patricia
Honaker
Obituaries
Adams, Deborah Ann
Deborah Ann "Debby" Ayers, 74, born October 5, 1950 in New Orleans to CaptainWilliam Manchester Ayers and Mary Epsie Hampton Ayers has passed away on Sept 19,2025aftera short illnessatEast 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 years at her father's business, Ayers Steamship Company, which was founded in 1960. She also served in the diplomatic corps as Honorary Consul of Senegal. Debby wasa master at quilt making, jewelrydesign and construction and enjoyed many of the fine restaurants in the area. Debby liked building familytrees on Ancestry and was a gentle soul who loved everyone, made friends with everyone she met and had an infectious laugh. Her husband, family and friends will deeply mourn her loss.
Debby was preceded in death by her brother Jerome Ayers, her parents and her stepmother Wilmuth Rosalie Burns Ayers. She is survived by her husband Walter, sister Cynthia Ayers Kelly (Steve)
Robert Carlyle“Bob” Brandt, of Slidell, Louisiana, wascalled home to be with hisLord, JesusChrist, on Monday September22, 2025, with hisbeloved wife by his side.Bob wasbornonJune 9, 1954, in AddisAbaba Ethiopia,tothe late Henry andDoris Brandt of New York,New York.Heissur‐vivedbyhis loving wife Patricia Lynn Tauzin Brandt; hischildrenby marriage,StevenReed of Covington, and Bess Reed Currence (John) andtheir daughter Mary Molloy “Mamie”CurrenceofOx‐ford,Mississippi.Heisalso survived by hissister, Deb‐orah Brandt Durio (Lawrence) of Prairieville. Bobwas preceded in death by his sister,PatriciaLynn Brandt. Born in Ethiopia Bobspent hischildhood in variouscountries in Cen‐tral andSouth America. He graduatedfromChevy ChaseHighSchool in Bethesda,Marylandand Tulane University in New Orleanswhere he earned hisundergraduate and JurisDoctorate in Law. Bob spokefourlanguages Spanishhis second and Englishhis third. He clerkedinBogota, Colom‐biabeforesettlinginSlidell where he beganhis 40 year lawpracticewiththe Williams andBrandtLaw Firm.His passionfor the lawnever left him. Even in the finalweeksofhis life whenhewas tooill to go into theoffice,hecontin‐uedtoworkoncases at home.Bob wasa member of theSlidell BarAssocia‐tion Leadership Northshore,and FirstBap‐tist Church.Outside of his professional life,Bob en‐joyedmanyyears of golf‐ingRoyal Golf Club and bowlingwithSunnySigns teammatesfor 30 years. He will be remembered forhis kindness, humility and Christianlovefor others Thefamilywould like to thankthe amazingdoctors andmedical teamsfrom SlidellMemorialHospital, MD Anderson,TulaneCan‐cerCenterand NotreDame Hospice. Bobwas honored at aprivate serviceand celebrationoflife. Please visitwww.honakerforestla wn.comtosignguestbook Arrangements by Honaker FuneralHome, Inc.,Slidell, LA
James (Jim/Jimmy/Jazzbo/MSJ) MichaelChimentotook his finalcurtain call on Sep‐tember 24, 2025, following a4-yearbattlewithcancer, at theage of 78. Born in Fairfield, Ohio on Decem‐ber18, 1946, he wasa longtime resident of Destrehan, LA.Healsoresided in Metairie,LA, SouthBend, IN,Orlando,FLand Mobile AL during hislifetime. Jim wasthe Fire SprinklerIn‐spectorfor Merit Sprinkler Companyfor 34 yearsand wasproud to be aLifeTime member of theEast‐side St.Charles Parish Vol‐unteer Fire Department.He also worked fordecades performing in community theatre, TV commercials, TV programsand movies He hadfeaturedroles in movies (French Quarter Undercover,The BigEasy andUnder Siege) andThe BigEasyTVSeries. Jim graduatedwitha Theatre degree from theUniversity of SouthAlabama in Mo‐bile,AL. Belovedson of the late Joseph &Henrietta Chimento,heissurvived by hiswifeof30years, Sheila Shea Chimento sons JJ (Sandra) Chimento
andTim (Lisa) Chimento andsiblingsHenry (Kate) Chimento,Judie (Bill) Critchley, Debbie (Gary) Tucci,Mike(Susan) Chi‐mentoand sister-in-law LeoneChimento. He was preceded in deathbyhis brother JoeChimento. He also leaves behind 9 belovedgrandchildren and theirspouses and10greatgrandchildren, alongwith numerous nieces,nephews andfriends.Jim wasso proudofhis familyand lovedthemall immensely. ACelebration of Life event forJim’s familyand friends will be held at alater date In lieu of flowers, dona‐tionscan be made to your localVolunteer Fire Dept, Community Theatreor localCancerSociety in Jim’smemory. Jimwould want everyone to know he HadA Good Show (H*A*G*S)…aVERYgood show.Toshare memories or condolences, please visitwww.muhleisen.com.
Thelma JonesConwell passedawaypeacefully at Heritage Manorsur‐rounded by herchildrenon Sunday,September 28 2025, at theage of 98. She wasborninBlount County, Alabama. Thelma is sur‐vivedbyher children,Di‐anne ConwellBeaulieu (S.J.),Patrick E. Conwell (Marion),Ricky E. Conwell (Toni),and LouisE.Conwell (Debbie).SisterofRuby JonesWadeofTuscaloosa, Alabama, Grandmother of Sterling BeaulieuIII, CristenConwell Watters (Zac), WilliamJosephCon‐well, JessicaVogt,and WhitneyVogt Sedgass (Adam).Great grand‐mother of DylanBlake Averyand Emalynn Beaulieu, Benjamin and WyattWatters,Leviand Cody Sedgass, Savannah Zepeda,and Larissaand Arielle Daigle.Great Great GrandmotherofHarleyJae Favrot andJaxsonAnthony Welch. Sheisprecededin deathbyher lovinghus‐band WilliamEvans Con‐well andher grandson Mark DeweyBeaulieu (Kayla), herparents Dewey andWillieJones of Kim‐berly, Alabama, brothers Raford JonesofGarden‐dale,Alabama,and Alton JonesofKimberly, Al‐abama, as well as hersis‐terZelma JonesHillof Mount Olive, Alabama. Vis‐itationwillbeheldonMon‐dayOctober 6, 2025, at 1030amatJacob Schoen FuneralHomelocated at 3827 CanalSt. NewOr‐leans, La 70119 with afu‐neralservice beginningat 12pm. Intermentwillim‐mediatelyfollowinCy‐pressGrove Cemetery.In Lieu of Flowers, donations canbemadetoSt. Judes Children’s Hospital,which washer favorite charity.
Audrey Spears Dorsey wasborninLettsworth, Louisiana, thecherished daughter of Charlesina Thorton. Raised in aChrist‐ianhousehold,she em‐braced herfaith earlyin life andcarried it with gracethroughouther jour‐ney. Audrey wasa devoted mother andhomemaker knownfor herunwavering love andstrength. Shere‐ceived hereducation throughthe Lettsworth Public Schoolssystemand waslastemployedbySu‐perior Merchandise, where sheservedwithdedication andcare. On Tuesday, Sep‐tember 30,2025, Audrey peacefully transitioned from this life,leaving be‐hind alegacyofloveand faith.She is lovingly re‐membered by hersons: Aubrey Spears,Stacey Dorsey,and Edward Dorsey III (Alzena);Her daughters: Tara Dorsey,Ashann Dorsey,MaryKnight, Cindy Dorsey,and Suzette Dorsey;Her grandchildren: Nicholls Spears Sr (Christy), Nicole Spears Keenan Boyd,Kourtney
sportingevents. He was a fiercecompetitor -taking videos of everyvolleyball, basketballand softball game, providing endless entertainmentonthe sidelines; pacing, smiling, and cheering
Jameswas an avidLSU andSaints fan,and hisfavorite pastime waswatchingthese footballgames from thecomfort of his home. He also lovedto cook andwas famous for manydishes, especially his fried chicken,crawfish etouffee, gumbo, beef vegetablesoupand chicken stew,toname just afew
Kirby, Douglas Martinez, Sally Massoth,Patricia Miller, John Robichaux, Tammy Martinez, Sally Rose DallmannKlein
Boyd,RodneySpears, Can‐dace Johnson, Ashley John‐son, DajanaeHenry,Jaeson Dorsey,JaelonDorsey, JakeiraFauclon,Aubrey Spears,Jasmine Maldon‐ado, Jaylan Wilkes,Keisha Dorsey,and Melvin Knight Shealsoleavesloving memories to cherishto: 20 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandson;and ahostofnieces, nephews, cousins, otherrelatives, andfriends who will con‐tinue to honorher life and legacy.Audreywas pre‐cededindeath by her belovedhusband Edward Dorsey,ClabonBethely, andher daughtersJulia Johnsonand Tiphery Grimes.Relatives and friendsofthe familyare in‐vitedtoattend aFuneral ServiceonMonday, Octo‐ber6,2025atD.W.Rhodes FuneralHome, 3933 Wash‐ington Ave. NewOrleans, LA 70125 at 1:00pm.Visita‐tion will beginat12:00pm Interment: Private. Arrangements by D.W. Rhodes FuneralHome, 3933 Washington Ave. NewOr‐leans, LA 70125. Funeral Servicecan be live streamed @www facebook.com/D.W.Rho desFuneralHome/live Please visitwww.rhodesf uneral.comtosignthe guestbook
It is withprofound sadness that thefamily of James André Haydel announces his passing at the ageof84, on Tuesday September 30. Born on October 10, 1940 on aplantation in Vacherie, La., James was theson of the lateGeorgeHaydel, Sr.and Bessie Waguespack Haydel. He was raised in Gretna, attended Holy Name of Mary High School, where he excelled at football and was voted"Mr GoodLooks" by thestudent body.Heattended LSUNO, then joinedthe Air Force for 4years, where he was stationedinLyon, France. While there, he was adental assistant and traveled throughout Europe playing on theAir Force footballteam. When he returned home, he completed his studies at LSUNO, earning adegree in Business. James and Linda were married in 1969 at St. Francis XavierChurchwhere they baptized all their children and remained devout parishioners.After college, he became apharmaceutical salesman and was soon promoted- first to district manager, and then regional manager. He was respected by allfor many reasons, butespeciallyfor his wonderful personality and uniqueabilitytoconnect with people.Afterretiring,hedevoted histime to what he lovedmost- being withand helping his daughters and grandchildren,whom he adored James also lovedbuilding thingsfrom scratch and fixing anythingthat was broken or needed tweaking.Being one of 10 children, he learned earlyon to be completely self-sufficient, resourceful, and to find away to solve any problemheencountered. He never dreamed of hiring anyone to do anythingbecause he wanted to and was capable of doing everything himself. In the Metairie neighborhood where James livedand raised his children, it was not uncommonfor the neighbors to pass by and see him completely covered in mud,paint or sawdust, highupona ladderreplacing gutters, repairing or painting thehouse, or building an addition-or on his hands and knees in thedirt fixing aleak,planting flowers,cutting the grass, or trimming hedges. There was nothing he couldn't do,and he took greatprideinall the many wonderful additions and improvementshemadeto his home and to thehomes of his children.
To say that James completely adored his daughters and grandchildren with every fiberofhis being is an understatement. He would literallydropeverything,unselfishly, to meetany needthathis daughters, sons-in-law,or grandchildrenhad,including running their errands, making or fixing furniture, lovingly chauffeuring them, or preparing theirfavorite meals. He did not miss one of his daughters' i
andCareAssociates for theirlovingcare. Relatives andfriends areinvited to attend services on Satur‐day, October4,2025, at Garden of Memories Fu‐neralHome, 4900 Airline Drive, Metairie,Louisiana 70001. Visitation will begin at 10:00 a.m.,followedbya serviceat12:00 p.m. Apri‐vate burial will take place lateratSt. TimothyMemo‐rial Garden in Mandeville, Louisiana. In lieu of flow‐ers, donationsmay be made in Doug’s honorto theNationalAllianceon Mental Illness(NAMI)at nami.org/donate.
James& Linda traveled extensively with theirfamily- enjoyingnumerous trips to Europe, all the Caribbean islands, Bermuda, Mexico, Hawaii, as well as yearly visits to Disney World, themountains, andmanyother states in theU.S.
Jamesissurvived by his loving wife of 55 years, Linda Jackson Haydel;his daughters -Eugenie Graffagnini,MadelinePrice (Chris) and Marianne Walsh (Kieran), 10 wonderfulgrandchildren- Marian, Madden, andEla Graffagnini, Fulton,Marley, Hazel and DanielPrice,and Lucia, Ameliaand Declan Walsh. He is also survived by hissiblings -Robley Haydel (Geneva), Sylvia Holmberg(Ron), George Haydel,Jr. (Diane), Michael Haydel (Cindy), Juanita Haas, andCharlesHaydel (Mary). He is preceded in death by hisbeloved granddaughter, Maelan Graffagnini,his brothers Rudolph, Kennethand Edward Haydel,and his brother-in-law, Ronnie Jackson (Summer)
Familyand friends are invited to attenda Mass of CelebrationatSt. Francis Xavier Church on Metairie Road.Visitationstarts at 9:30, followed by Mass of Christian Burial at 10:30. Following theservices, all are welcome to attenda celebrationofthe life of ourbeloved husband, father, grandfather,brother uncleand friendathis home on Oakridge Parkin Metairie.
Kirby, DouglasNeal
DouglasNealKirby,74, of Covington, Louisiana, passedawaypeacefullyon Saturday morning, Septem‐ber20, 2025. He wasborn on September27, 1950, in NewOrleans,Louisiana.A 1968 graduate of East Jef‐ferson High School,Doug went on to studyelectrical engineeringatthe Univer‐sity of NewOrleans,where he wasa member of the Lambda ChiAlpha frater‐nity.After workinginengi‐neeringfor severalyears, he then builta successful career in life insuranceand long-termcareinsurance salesatOzark National Life InsuranceCompany,A.L Williams,and laterJohn HancockLifeInsurance Company. Outsideofwork, Doug found joyintime spentwithhis family, espe‐cially fishing, boating, and watching NewOrleans Saints football gamesto‐gether.Hewas amember of St.Timothy on the Northshore Methodist Church.Dougissurvived by hislovingwifeof53 years, KarlaGilmoreKirby; hischildren, Neal Kirby (Scott Baldes)ofNew Or‐leans, Louisiana, andAlli‐sonKirby Gaines (Daniel) of Metairie,Louisiana;and hischerished granddaugh‐ters,Madison Gaines and Caroline Gaines.Heisalso survived by twobrothers, CliftonKirby Jr.(Sharon)of Huntsville,Alabama,and Larry Kirby(Marci) of Gon‐zales, Louisiana; along with many nieces and nephewswho lovedhim dearly.Hewas preceded in deathbyhis parents, CliftonAlKirby Sr.and OliveCason Kirby, andsis‐ter, CarolynKirby Weldon (Bob). Doug will be remem‐beredfor hisdedicationto hisfamily, hisfriendships, andthe warmth he shared with everyone who knew him. He wasa belovedhus‐band, father,brother, uncle,Papa, andfriend. Doug's presence will be deeply missed, buthis memory will live on in the hearts of allwho loved him. Thefamilywishesto thankthe staff of Inspired Living at Kenner,EastJef‐ferson GeneralHospital
Sally Rose Dallmann KleinMartinezdiedon Wednesday, September 17, 2025. She was born on May 17, 1936, and waspreceded in death by herparents, Gerardand Geraldine Dallmann, andher brother, WayneDallmann. Sally attended Saint Anthonyof Padua GrammarSchool andgraduatedfrom SacredHeart of Jesus High School. Sally broughtdivaenergy into everyroom she entered. Sheworkedat OchsnerHospital andits associated BrentHouse Hotelfor over 30 years, but Sally foundtruehappiness in travelingthe world, her pets, andher family. Grams will be forever lovedand remembered. Sheissurvived by her brother, GerardDallmann, herpartner, George Egan hersons, Craig, Chris, and Casey Klein, hergrandchildren,Kaylen Klein, Kelsey Riley, KevinKlein,Claire Klein, Kaleb Klein, Chloe Capielano, Kansas Bucher, Kalle Pierce,Kylah Rogers, and Kadia Klein, andher 13 great -grandchildren. Grams will always be in OURHEARTS. WE LOVE YOU! Aprivate service willbe held forthe family. To view andsignthe online guest book, please visit LakeLawnMetairie.com
Massoth, Patricia AnnChampagne
Patricia Ann Champagne Massoth of Covington,Louisiana, died on October2,2025, at the age of 91. Shewas born on April 12, 1934 in Covington Louisiana, to the late Robert Joseph Champagne Sr.and Mary Mildred McLain Champagne. Patricia wasprecededin death by herhusband, George Victor Massoth Sheissurvivedbyher children,AnnetteMassoth Couch (Nicholas Blake), Denise Massoth Favrot (Ben), and GiselleMassoth Allen(Thomas). Sheisalso survived by hersix grandchildren, Sarah McLain Couch, CarolineEllaFavrot Waller(Henry), Paul Massoth Favrot,Phoebe Cornay Allen, Daniel BenjaminFavrot,and Thomas CarterAllen.She is also survived by hersiblings, EthelynAnnette Champagne Tafe,and Robert Joseph Champagne Jr
Patricia retiredasthe Principal of Covington High School whereshe also served as ateacher,librarian,and AssistantPrincipal of Curriculumand Instruction.She lovedher family, beinganeducator, traveling, playing bridge, history, and reading.
Relativesand friends are invited to attendthe eveningwake on Sunday, October5,2025, from 5:00 PM until7:00 PM at E. J. Fielding Funeral Home, 2260 West 21st Avenue, Covington,Louisiana.
Relativesand friends are also invited to attend
Conwell, Thelma Jones
Kirby, Douglas Tanner, Pamela
Haydel,JamesAndré
Tullis,Eli
Brandt,Robert
'Debby'
Chimento,James Michael
Dorsey,AudreySpears
the funeral services on Monday, October 6, 2025, at 2:00 PM at E. J. Fielding Funeral Home with visitation beginning at 12:00 PM Interment will follow in Blackwell Cemetery, 320 Blackwell Cemetery Road, Folsom, Louisiana.
E. J. Fielding Funeral Home of Covington, Louisiana, is honored to be entrusted with Mrs. Massoth's funeral arrangements. Her family invites you to share thoughts memories,and condolences by signing an online guestbook at www.ejfieldingfh.com.
Miller,JohnKelly
John Kelly Miller passed away on Friday,September 26, 2025, at theage of 74. Born in NewOrleans Louisiana. he wasthe son of thelateWesleyand AliceMiller.Heattended RabouinHighSchool and retiredfromthe Norfolk Southern Railwayasa lo‐comotive engineer where he worked forover30 years. John loved fishing, playingcards with friends, seeing localbands,going to carshows andcreating artworkand donating pro‐ceedstovarious charities. John is survived by his adoringwifeof53years DebraM.Miller;his sons, Christoper Miller (Amy), Wesley Miller (Juan);his grandchildren, Dylan, Faith andBella Miller;his sister, Mary Johnson; hisbrother, Steven Miller (Becky) and numerous in-laws, nieces andnephews.Hewas pre‐cededindeath by hispar‐ents,Wesleyand Alice Miller;six brothers:Her‐man, Leon,Perry,Sidney, McDaniel,James anda sis‐ter, Jean Miller.Johnleaves behind alegacyoflove, loyaltyand kindness. Visi‐tation forJohnwillbeheld on Thursday,October 9, 2025,from4:00PMto6:00 PM at Leitz-EaganFuneral Home,4747 Veterans Memorial Boulevard, Metairie,Louisiana 70006 followed by aMemorial Serviceat6:00PM. The familyinvites youtoshare your thoughts,fondmemo‐ries,and condolenceson‐line at www.leitzeaganf uneralhome.com.
Robichaux, Tammy LeeDurr
Tammy Lee Durr
Robichaux passed away on September 23, 2025, at the age of 62. Tammy was born on November 2, 1962, to Joseph H. Durr, Jr. and Elizabeth Anderson Durr in New Orleans, LA and lived in Metairie, LA before moving to Covington, LA and then finally settling in Mandeville, LA. Tammy was aloving wife to Andre Robichaux, her husband of 10 years, and mother to Brandon Radecker, Devon Radecker Legnon (Adam), and PeytonRadecker (Kristen). She is also the best Pippa to her grandchildren Riggs Smith, Michelle Legnon, and Aiden Legnon; Brylee, Brantley and Branson Radecker. Tammy is also survived by her sisters and brothers, Leslie Durr Larberg (Gregory), Julie Durr Roberts (Jack), Mark Joseph Durr (Cindy), Eric Michael Durr, Jody and Jeffrey Durr,and her many nieces and nephews. Tammywas agraduate of GraceKing High School, worked for Coca Cola and then for Kyle and Associates, where she has worked for the last 25 years. Tammy loved spending time with her family, grandchildren and friends;and loved vacationing, gardening and spending time outdoors. Tammy will be laid to rest with aprivate service at Lake Lawn Park. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Tammy's name to
theSusan G. Komen organization, www.komen.org.
Roth Sr., Eugene Louis
Eugene LouisRothSr. age84, formerly of Jeffer‐sonParish, passedaway peacefully on Monday, September29, 2025, sur‐rounded by hislovingfam‐ily. Eugene wasbornJune 2, 1941, in NewOrleans,LA. He wasa graduate of FortierHighSchool in New Orleans, LA.Eugene (Horse)was thebeloved husband of NancyMarie RyallRoth(Worm)for 55 years. Eugene is survived by histhree children,Eu‐gene L. Roth,Jr. (Angela), Leslie R. Guidry (Craig), andPaulH.Roth(Debbie).
Eugene is theson of the late Henryand Freida Roth He is thebrother of the late HenryRoth, Jr Ella Fabeile, BeverlyWalker, John Roth,JosephRoth, DotPizzuto,Ada Neidhart, andFrederick Roth.Eugene is also survived by hissix cherishedgrandchildren, Alexis,Haley,Joshua (Olivia),Matthew,Brandon, Gene III, as well as many nieces andnephews,and hisloyal,loving, devoted friend BobPritt. Besides spending time with his familyand friends, Eugene enjoyedcoaching, taking carrides,eatingout,volun‐teeringfor thelessfortu‐nate,and attendingsport‐ingeventsatRummelHigh School andSt. Martin's High School.Hewas are‐cipientofthe St.Louis Medallionfromthe Arch‐diocese of NewOrleans for many yearsofservice to St.Agnes Parish.Eugene wasa lifetime parishioner of St.Agnes.Hewas a member of theSt. Vincent de Paul Society, Boomers+ Beyond,and theSt. Agnes Men'sClub. He hada pas‐sion forcalling bingofor St.Agnes organizations“BOINT OUT.”Eugenewas a faithful volunteer of BlessedFrancis Xavier Saales.Hewas aretiree of Entergy. Thefamily would like to thankFr. Dennis Hayes forhelping him complete hispilgrimage into theCatholicChurch We wouldalso like to thank Passages Hospicefor all thecareand supportyou provided.Relatives and friendsare invitedtovisit St.Agnes Catholic Church locatedat3310 Jefferson Hwy, Jefferson, LA 70121, on Monday,October 6, 2025, at 10:00 AM.A Funeral Mass will follow thevisita‐tion at 12:00 PM.The burial will be in Greenwood Cemetery.Wealsoinvite youtoshare your thoughts,fondmemories, andcondolences online at www.greenwoodfh.com Your shared memories will help us celebrateEugene’s life and keep hismemory alive. In lieu of flowers, please donate to St.Agnes Church andSt. Agnes Men'sClub.
Royerre, Francis Paul Frank
Frank "Pops" Royerre passedawaypeacefully on MondaySeptember 29, 2025,atthe age of 89, surrounded by familyand friends. Frank is survived by his loving wife,Rita Magnuson Royerre;his children,Patti RoyerreSentilles,FrankS Royerre(Debby),Albert Royerre(Margaret) and Mark Royerre (Melissa); his grandchildren, Brett Sentilles,BradleySentilles, Lauren Royerre LeBlanc (Hunter), Camille Royerre, Ashley RoyerreTalley (Brett), MichaelRoyerre andRachel Royerre.Heis also survived by 8great grandchildren; his niece, Darlene Duracher Stewart; along withhis lifelong friends, Donald Lambert and HenryShane. He is precededindeathbyhis father, AugustRoyerre; mother, Lillian Prados, sister,Elaine Duracher: and grandson, Bryan Sentilles.
Veteran of theArmy National Guard and Member of theMasons.
Frank's early life started in theSt. Thomas housing projectsand theIrish channel neighborhood before his family eventually settled in Metairie. Frank used to say he was so poor growing up that forlunch every dayhewouldhave "baloney on hand"because they couldnot afford bread.
He began his career in 1953 at age 18 working at Gus ElferFlooring Companyand then in 1958 at Floor-N-Wall Distributors. Frank opened hisown flooring contracting business, Frank P. Royerre and Companyin 1963. Startingout in business he used to say all he had "was aface and an ass".Hewouldgoonto builda successful business and venture intoreal estate investment properties. He was very proud when his 3sons joined him in theflooring business in the1980'sand thecompany name was soon changed to RCCFlooring performing work in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Floridaand Texas. Frank workedfor RCCFlooring for 50 years beforeretiring in December 2003. He had strong beliefs in God, our country, and family with his valuesrootedinfaith, service, and helping others. He willbeforever grateful to ourloyal friends, employees, customers, suppliers, and installers. Afterretirement
Frank enjoyed spending time with his wife Rita and their dogs on "the boat"in LakePontchartrain, Destin, Florida, and Biloxi Mississippi The family wouldliketo give aspecial thanksto Margaret Royerre and Debby Royerre for their help in planning his care. To Rita's niece, Dr. Bridget Kerpsack for her guidance. To his greatniece Sierra Stewart Jamesfor her loving care.Tohis doctors, Dr. Jayne Gertler,Dr. Diane Rose, Dr.Kendra Harris, Dr. Donovan, thenurses and staff at East Jefferson Generalhospital, thevisiting angels and hishospice care team. Relatives and friends are invitedtoattend the funeral services at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home, 5100 Pontchartrain BlvdinNew Orleans, on Saturday, October 11, 2025. Visitation willbegin at 12 PM witha chapel service following at 2PM. Frank willbelaid to rest in All Saints Mausoleum immediately after thechapel service has concluded. Guests are invited to stay for areception afterwardstotake place in thefuneralhome's receptionroom.
To view and sign the family guestbook,please visitlakelawnmetairie.com
Pamela PutfarkTanner passedawayonSeptem‐ber28, 2025, age76. Wife of Monroe F. Tanner,Jr.,her husband of 58 years. BelovedmotherofElaine Tanner Sevin(Barry Jr.) Kimberly Tanner Sevin (BrianSr.), andBrad Joseph Tanner (Angelle). Sister of thelateKaren PutfarkParent(late Ar‐mand), CharlesHenry Put‐farkIII (Laura), andthe late Charlotte PutfarkMonk (lateRay). Grandmotherof CaitlynSevin Arbo (Lloyd III),Barry Eugene SevinIII (Kay), Nicholas Monroe Sevin, BrianEugeneSevin Jr.(Caroline), Matthew Joseph Sevin(Kori), Sophie Beth Sevin(Brandon), Michelle GraceSevin (Jayce), andCameron CaseySevin.Great grand‐mother to AbigailRose Arbo,Lloyd J. Arbo IV, Emma Josephne Sevin, and Monroe JosephineArbo. Pamela wasbornonOcto‐ber23, 1948, andwas alifelong resident of River Ridgeand aretired Jeffer‐sonParishschool teacher of many years. Shebattled Alzheimer’sand Parkin‐son’sfor thelastnine years. Sheenjoyed Sum‐merinGrand Isle andAu‐tumn in Brookhaven, Mis‐sissippi,surrounded by her loving family. Friendsand familyare invitedtoattend afuneral mass at Garden of Memories Cemetery, 4900 AirlineDrive,Metairie, Louisiana, 70001,at12:00 noon on Monday,October
6, 2025, with visitation be‐ginningat10:00 a.m. Inter‐ment at Garden of Memo‐ries Cemetery.Toofferthe familyonlinecondolences, send flowers, or planta tree in memory in Pamela, please visitwww.gardeno fmemoriesmetairie.com.
EliW.Tullis, alifelong NewOrleanian,cotton trader,philanthropist, and champion athlete, died peacefully at home on Tuesday, September 30, theday before his 97th birthday, surrounded by hiswife and threesons. He was born in NewOrleans on October1,1928, to Garner H. Tullis and Mary LeeBrown Tullis. Eligraduated fromWoodberry Forest School, an institution that moldedhis character and shaped his future.Hewas alwaysgrateful forthe mentorship of Woodberry's Headmaster, J. Carter Walker,and for therolecompetitivesports played in nurturing his discipline and drive. He then attended and graduated fromthe University of Virginia, where he loved everyaspect of student life,includingmembership in SaintAnthony's Hall,his tennisteammates, poker games and intramural sports.Eli's years in Virginiacreated afirm belief that investing in education was themost effective way to impact theworld.In keepingwiththatconviction, he became afounder of theJefferson Scholars Program at UVA,which he generouslysupported,and he endowed scholarships at both his alma maters. Eli was acotton man, by birth and training- and by decadesofsuccess as a trader.Startingasa clerk in NewOrleans back in the 1950s for his father, Elibecame alegendary player on theNew York Cotton Exchange, trading forhis clients as wellashimself. Whether working on behalf of his clients or trading for himself, Eli was known for hisintegrity,his tenacity, and his unwavering loyalty -qualities that defined both his professional life and hisenduring friendships. In NewOrleans he was an activemember of theRex organizationfor his entire adultlife.Eli reigned as King of Carnival in 1997, one of his most treasured honors. Hislove of tennis- nurturedincollege -carriedintoadulthood, where he won four consecutiveLouisiana state championshipsin doublesbeforediscovering golf, which became alifelong passion. Over hislife, he became afine amateur golferand touched many with his love of thegame. He was deeply committed to his membershipsinthe NewOrleans Country Club, Seminole GolfClub, GulfstreamGolfClub,and theUnited States Seniors GolfAssociation, where he competed successfully for decades. As one of his close friends said,"Eli was one of thegreat competitors in allaspects of life." He was precededindeath by hiswife of 48 years, Deborah Beaird Tullis. He is survivedbyhis wife, JudithT.Tullis, and by six children, nineteengrandchildren, fifteen greatgrandchildrenand two great-great-grandchildren. He had four children in his first marriage(to Mary Ferrell):Molly TullisYoder (Joseph) and their children Ruffin Chevaleau (Rob), Cassady (JuanUrista), and Mahon; EliWatson Tullis, Jr. (Taylor) and theirchildren,LizaAvery (Sean) and EliWatson,III (Tina); Garner Hugh Tullis II (Mary) and their children, Gretchen Cannon (Kyle) Molly, Marilee (Stephen), Jane, and Rachael;Wesley L.F. Tullis (Sandi) and their children, Sarah Larsen (Stephen), Anna, Wesley (Sophie), Mary Andrews (Tyler),Isaac (Elizabeth), and Daniel Eli. He had two childrenwith Deborah Beaird Tullis: D. Ashbrooke Tullisand Rachael Tullis Gambel (Christian) and their children Grace, Tullis, and Jane. Eliand Judymarried in 2016 and over the last decade he was loved and cared forbyJudyand her family,including his stepchildrenMichael W. Helms (deceased), Stephen W. Helms (Kathy) and their childrenHayden and Emma. EliWatson Tullislived arichand genlif
erouslife. He wasa great storytellertochildren, a fantasticdancer, anda formidable competitorwhetherasa tennis champion,a worldclass golfer, or acotton trader. As one friendsaid,"He wasa lion of aman." Eli's legacyis measuredbyhis many loves, hisgenerous spirit andsomanyrichexperienceshehelpedtocreate with hiswonderful friends. We love himdearly.His memory will be treasured by all whoknewhim. Serviceswill be private.In lieu of flowers, the family asks that gifts be made in Eli's memory to the JeffersonScholars Programatthe University of Virginia.
Jeanne Elizabeth Whitson, 74, knownaffectionately as "Jeannie," died peacefully, surrounded by family, on Friday, July 25, 2025. Born in 1950, in NewOrleans,she was thethird of seven children born to thelateRobert C.M."Mack" Whitson and Yvonne "Gammy" Fanz Whitson. Sheleaves four sistersand twobrothers: DonnaBrett (Edward), John C. "Kurt" Whitson, PeggySpear (Sidney), Lisa Blaum (the lateJeffrey), Robert C. "Chris" Whitson (Susan), and Sally Stechmann(David), as well as numerousniecesand nephews: Tracy Dunlap (Dave), ErinErlandson (Cory), Drew Spear, Kelly Spear, KevinSpear (Katie), KristenFisch(Paul), Megan Redpath (Kelton), Tory Lee (Matt), Terry Scott (Dave), DaynaMoore (Alex), ChristopherWhitson (Sarah), Jessica Szwaya (Jeff), Kaitlyn David (Salem), David Michael Stechmann(Madi). Jeannie'saffections knew no bounds, including lifelong friendshipsand many pets. JeannieattendedSt Gabrielthe Archangel, St Frances Cabrini, and St Joseph before graduating from John F. Kennedy High School in 1968. After ayear at LSU, she began along anddistinguishedcareer at Bell Southand later with AT&T in Atlanta. She rapidly rose through managementover52yearsuntil retiring. Notably, Jeannie recognized early on that computers wouldtransform theworkplace and quicklyadaptedtothisinnovation. Herdiligence, work ethic, andinnate leadership were exemplary, pavingthe wayfor otherwomen at atime when professional advancementwas notguaranteed. Yet, career success alonecould never satisfy Jeannie'scompassionate heart. She showered love upon hernieces and nephews, theninher late twenties, she began volunteeringatlocal group homes for children, inspiringher to become afoster parent. At that time for a single woman to become a foster parentwas highly unusual butJeanniewas
undeterred. At theage of 31, she opened herhome to fostera thirteen-yearold girl, AnnieWhitson (Tom Worrell), adopting herfouryearslater.Two otheryoung girls in need were also temporarily fostered by Jeannieduring this period.Atage 41, she again opened herhome fostering andthenadoptinganinfant, Aubrey Whitson, and afew years later,her 4-year-old brother,Austin Whitson. Her childrenwillforever be her pride and joy. Whileworkingfull-time andraisingchildren, Jeanniepursuedher dream of earning acollegedegree.She enrolled in night classes at theUniversity of NewOrleans,earning a B.A. in Anthropology. A highlightofher educational journey was studying abroad in Italy. Jeannie's academic bent eventually ledher to become the Whitson Familygenealogist, researching thefamily tree andenlightening thefamilythat some ancestorshad lived in Colonial Virginia, andotherswereprominent pioneersand Revolutionary soldiers. History, world cultures, and travelwere among herfavorite interests. Shehad adeep connectiontonature,finding joyinobserving deer and birds in herbackyard. Jeannie'srazor sharp witand sly sense of humor will neverbereplicated. Withouther vivacious presence, laughter, and uncensored spontaneous comments,familygatherings will definitelynot be thesame. We will always remember those threehour phonecallsthatoften includeda"Jeannie-ology" lesson, famous stories aboutgrowing up Whitson, and much hysterical laughter.
Jeanniewill be greatly missed by oneand all.Her large extendedfamilywill forever be inspired by her example. In herhonor,we will continue to reachout andhelp others and spreadthe love,joy and laughtershe broughtinto this world. If you'd like to make adonation in honor of Jeannie, please consider making onetothe American CancerSociety. Thefamilyalso invites you to share your thoughts,fondmemories, andcondolencesonline at legacy.com and Roswellfuneralhome.com.
Tullis, Eli Watson
Whitson,Jeanne Elizabeth
Tanner, Pamela Putfark
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 LETTER, SCANHERE
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.”
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
to positions overwhelmingly unpopular with the wider electorate. 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.
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
PHOTO By MARIAM ZUHAIB
ASSOCIATEDPRESS
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
N.O. runoff is more likely than some think
When you read newspaper andother headlines, catchquick radio summaries or see the short reports on televisionduring election season, news aboutthe top-lineleadersand their leads, percentages and positions is always catchy Let’sface it, people mightsay they don’tcare what the polls say, but many really do —even candidates and politicians who have enough money to run their own internalpolls. That’sbecause the polls releasedtothe public have an impact on what some who haven’tmade up their minds think, andthe choices they make at the voting booth or when they complete amail ballot.
And that’s abig rub.
support of 49% of those who were polled. The University of New OrleansSurvey Research Center poll shows stateSen. Royce Duplessis trailing with 15% and City Council District Emember OliverThomas right behind with13%.
Andremember that the poll has a4.8% margin of error
That’sjust one race.
mainundecided. The poll write-up called that an “unusually high level of uncertainty.”
Will Sutton
But among Black voters interviewed,Morenohad the support of 28%, Duplessis had 24% and Thomas had 21%. Some quick math says that’s73%. That means more than aquarter of Black voters hadn’t yetmade up their minds during the Sept. 20-24 period when the poll was conducted.
That’snosmall number
While many think they know the winners of New Orleans’ mayoral, sheriff andCity Council at-large races, the realityisthata lot of voters haven’tmade up their minds. So many are undecided that they could be the difference between candidates winning outright or being pushed intoarunoff. In the latest poll released publicly,City CouncilVice President Helena Moreno is leading her nearest competitors with the
If aquarter or athird of those undecided Black voters hear what they want to hear anddecideonMoreno, on top of the more than 70% of Whitevoters who favor her that likely would put her over the50% plus one vote number she needs to win Saturday.Ifall or most of those undecided Black voters go for Duplessis or Thomas,one of them would definitely land in arunoff with Moreno —and that would be agamechanger.Consider that Moreno’ssupport amongWhite voters in that poll was at 76%, and that 14% of them hadn’tdecided.
In theelection for sheriff, incumbent Susan Hutson wantstokeep her job. Michelle Woodfork, Constable Edwin Shorty and others want that job. Hutson’snumbers look better than many might have thought. She got double digitsinthe UNO poll with 13%, saying they’d select her.Yet Woodfork led by big double digits in multiple categories, with 43% of those polled saying the former police chief wouldbetheir choice.
Butthere’sanother number to consider Awhopping 33% said they didn’tknow who they’d choose for sheriff, enough to potentially bring Hutson closer to keeping her gig, or facing Woodfork in arunoff.
UNO’spolling of the City Council at-large races tells us anything could happen.
In theCity Council at-large District 1 race, stateRep.Matthew Willard is riding high with 32% of those polled saying they’re with him. State Rep.Delisha Boyd came in adistant second with 18%. But with 30% of Black voters and morethan 60% of White voters who said they don’t know,that’s ahuge 44% of voters who re-
In the other at-large campaign forDistrict 2, incumbent City Council President JP Morrell seemstobewalking into a second term,with 45% of those polled saying he’stheir guy.One of Morrell’s challengers, the Rev.Gregory Manning, is farbehind with 10% in that poll. But with 32% of Black voters and 47% of White voters still undecided, atotal of 39% are still in play.That means“asizable share of respondents remain unsure,” according to the pollsters.
Early voting ends Oct. 4. Election Day is Oct. 11. Runoffs,should they happen, are scheduled forNov.15.
If you’re one of the people whohasn’t madeuptheir mind, now’s agood time to catch up and evaluate the candidates. Your vote could strengthen the likelihood of awin if you like the front-runners —or you might flip the script and improve the chances forthose whoare running behind, but not out of the running.
Email Will Sutton at wsutton@ 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.
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
However silly progressives look, at least they are now pointed in the right direction, while conservatives are headed in the wrong one.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
Payton settopassmentorParcellsincoachingwins
Broncos head coach stillloyal to ex-boss
EVANS The DenverPost (TNS) DENVER Light rain turned heavy the afternoon of Feb. 1, 2010, the start to that week’sSuper Bowl festivities in Miami clouded by a gloomy gray fog. The New Orleans Saints were set to practice at the Miami Hurricanes’ outdoor facility.They needed to move indoors that Monday Sean Payton had his pick of locations, as former linebacker Scott Shanle remembered. The Saints settled on the Dolphins’ facility, then located at Nova Southeastern University. It wassome25miles north of Miami’scampus. But Bill Parcells was there. The Big Tuna, then the Dolphins
executive vice presidentoffootball operations, watched that Monday as his student’screation rolledin. Fresh offthree yearsas offensive coordinatorinDallas for Parcells, Payton wenttoNew Orleansfor his first head-coaching gig in 2006. He built alocker room of self-dubbed “castoffs and butts,” as linebacker Scott Fujita said. Three yearslater they were playing for aLombardi Trophy. Parcells,one of the most legendary coachesinNFL history, wasrarelyone forheaping affection.But he pulled Shanle andFujita aside —two linebackers who woundupplaying for Payton in NewOrleansafter playing forParcells in Dallas —and told them he was proud. And Shanle remembers
he and Payton talking, almost as a passing of the torch. “It almost felt like it wasa
chance forSean to showoff his team alittle bit,” Shanle said. “And it was a‘Iwanna make you
proud’ moment.” Foryears to come, afterthe Saints brought thatSuperBowl hometoNew Orleans and Payton developedhis own titanic status in the NFL, he still leaned on his mentor.Attimes, Shanleand Fujita would turn to each otherin meeting rooms and raise an eyebrow. Thatsounds familiar.Payton would sometimes tell his team in somevariation —that he “spoke to Parcells,” or that “Bill said this is how we need to attack.” In Denver,where the 61-year-old Payton is knee-deep in his next rebuild, aParcells quote hangs prominentlyinthe hallway of theteam’s facility in Dove Valley.Don’tever let good enough be good enough, it reads.
Now,asthe Broncos head to Philadelphia on Sundayfor one of the defining matchups of the
PAYTON,
Rod Walker
STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
Saints quarterback
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
Parcells
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByBART yOUNG
DenverBroncos head coach Sean Payton walks off the fieldafter agame against the Cincinnati Bengals on MondayinDenver.
1
1
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Brewers blast Cubs in Game 1
Chourio boosts fast start; Milwaukee leads best-of-five series 1-0
By The Associated Press
MILWAUKEE Jackson Chourio
sparked Milwaukee’s fast start at the plate, and Freddy Peralta delivered a steady performance on the mound.
The Brewers looked more than ready for October
Chourio capped Milwaukee’s six-run first inning with a two-run single, and the Brewers trounced the Chicago Cubs 9-3 on Saturday in Game 1 of their NL Division Series.
Hoping for a breakthrough after years of playoff frustration, Milwaukee showed off the same approach that helped the team roll to baseball’s best record during the regular season. The Brewers ranked third in the majors in scoring this year despite finishing just 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 scrapping hits together keeping the line moving, all the clichés that you can think of,” said Blake Perkins, who had two hits for the Brewers.
“It’s fun to be a part 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’s a cool feeling, and it’s really fun to be a part of.”
The only issue for the Brewers on Saturday was Chourio’s right hamstring tightness. He departed in the second after becoming the first player with three hits in the first two innings of a playoff game.
Game 2 of the best-of-five series
is on Monday night.
Chourio, who missed a month of the regular season with a strained right hamstring, underwent an MRI after the victory Manager Pat Murphy said the injury “could be devastating,” while Chourio sounded much more optimistic.
“Physically I feel good, and I feel in a position where I’m ready to keep going and keep competing,” he said through an interpreter
Staked to an early lead, Peralta permitted two runs in 5 2 3 innings.
His nine strikeouts tied Don Sutton, Yovani Gallardo and Brandon Woodruff for the Brewers’ singlegame playoff record. Michael Busch, Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner homered for Chicago.
Brewers-Cubs games in Milwaukee generally have divided
Kirk homers twice, Gausman shines as Jays thump Yankees
BY IAN HARRISON Associated Press
Alejandro Kirk and Vladmir
Guerrero Jr powered the Toronto Blue Jays to yet another home win over the New York Yankees, snapping a postseason losing streak that stretched back almost a decade.
Kirk hit two solo home runs, Guerrero also connected and the Blue Jays won a playoff game for the first time since 2016 by thumping the New York Yankees 10-1 in Game 1 of their AL Division Series on Saturday
Nathan Lukes had two hits, three RBIs and a diving catch, and Andrés Giménez added two hits and drove in a pair as the AL East champion Blue Jays used 14 hits to snap a seven-game postseason skid.
Toronto’s previous playoff win came in Game 4 of the 2016 American League Championship Series against Cleveland The Blue Jays lost that series in five games.
Toronto was swept out of the wild-card round at Tampa Bay in 2020, at home against Seattle in 2022 and at Minnesota in 2023.
“To win one was nice,” Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman, a former LSU star, said. “To win one at home in front of our fans that have been awesome all season was really special.”
Gausman allowed one run and four hits in 52⁄3 innings for the win.
Guerrero went 3 for 4 with two RBIs. He opened the scoring with a two-out drive in the first inning, the first postseason homer of his career, and added a sacrifice fly in Toronto’s four-run seventh.
“He always kind of raises his game when he plays the Yankees,” Gausman said.
“What a night for him.”
Guerrero entered with three hits and one RBI in six previous playoff games.
“There was a little bit of a different feel about Vlad today,” Toronto manager John Schneider said.
Kirk hit a first-pitch homer in the second, his first in the postseason, then added a second shot off Paul Blackburn to begin a fourrun eighth. He’s the first Mexicanborn player to homer twice in a postseason game.
“It feels amazing to me, but it’s work paying off,” Kirk said
crowds because of all the people who make the 90-mile trip from Chicago, but that wasn’t the case Saturday The vast majority of spectators were Brewers fans waving yellow towels and booing Cubs manager Craig Counsell.
“It didn’t seem 50/50, for sure,” Murphy said. “It felt like a home game. It definitely felt like a home game. They were difference-makers.”
Counsell, who grew up in the Milwaukee area, is the winningest manager in Brewers history, but he left for Chicago after the 2023 season. He has been jeered whenever his name has been mentioned over the American Family Field loudspeaker since he departed.
Counsell’s decision 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.
DODGERS 5, PHILLIES 3: In Philadelphia, Teoscar Hernández rallied Los Angeles with a three-run homer in the seventh inning of a win over Philadelphia in Game 1.
Shohei Ohtani, who struck out four times at the plate, recovered from a shaky start on the mound to strike out nine over six innings. Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia preserved the lead in the eighth, and Roki Sasaki earned his first career save in the ninth. Game 2 is on Monday in Philadelphia.
through a translator Kirk has homered five times in his past three games dating to the final weekend of the regular season. Toronto won for the seventh time in eight home games against New York this year The Blue Jays went an AL-best 54-27 at home in the regular season. The Blue Jays won eight of 13 regular-season meetings with the Yankees overall, giving them the tiebreaker for the AL East title after both teams finished 94-68. That gave Toronto a first-round playoff bye while it awaited the winner of the Wild Card Series between New York and Boston. Making his third career postseason start, Yankees right-hander
Luis Gil allowed two runs on four hits in 22⁄3 innings. The 2024 AL Rookie of the Year took the loss. “They were hunting the top of the zone a little bit and, I thought, put a lot of good swings on them,” New York manager Aaron Boone said. The Yankees didn’t put a runner in scoring position until Anthony Volpe doubled 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 home a run. After Ben Rice popped out, Louis Varland came on and struck out Giancarlo Stanton ending the atbat with a 101 mph fastball.
Former Jets QB Sanchez arrested after being stabbed INDIANAPOLIS Former NFL quarterback and current Fox Sports analyst Mark Sanchez was arrested Saturday after he was apparently stabbed in an overnight altercation in downtown Indianapolis. Sanchez, who was in Indianapolis to call Sunday’s Raiders-Colts game, was charged with battery with injury, unlawful entry of a motor vehicle and public intoxication — all misdemeanors.
Indianapolis police said Sanchez was in a hospital and had not been booked into a detention center He was in stable condition, according to Fox Sports.
Police said the Marion County prosecutor’s office would make the final charging decision. That office didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry from The Associated Press.
Fuselier’s 88-yard TD return lifts Lamar by Nicholls State BEAUMONT, Texas Aiden McCown accounted for two touchdowns, Kyndon Fuselier returned a punt 88 yards into the end zone with 3:41 remaining and No. 20 Lamar beat Nicholls 24-17 on Saturday Fuselier scored the only touchdown of the second half. Gabriel Showalter kicked a 45-yard field goal for Nicholls that tied it 17-all midway through the third quarter McCown completed 12 of 22 passes for 237 yards for Lamar (4-1, 1-0 Southland). He tossed an 85-yard touchdown pass to Blake Thomas on the first play from scrimmage.
Deuce Hogan scored a shortyardage touchdown run and Shane Lee broke loose on a 75-yard touchdown run to give Nicholls (1-5, 1-1) a 14-7 lead late in the first quarter
Southeastern dominates McNeese in SLC opener
LAKE CHARLES Deantre Jackson scored twice and Carson Camp threw a 69-yard touchdown pass as Southeastern Louisiana powered past McNeese 38-0 on Saturday Jackson led the Lions (3-2, 1-0 Southland) with 64 yards rushing and touchdown runs of 1 and 45 yards. Camp and Kyle Lowe combined to throw for 267 yards and two scores as Southeastern raced to a 38-point halftime lead. The Lions’ defense set the tone early when Ian Conerly-Goodly intercepted a pass and returned it 33 yards for a touchdown less than five minutes into the game Jackson’s short run made it 14-0 after one quarter Southeastern finished with 418 total yards while holding McNeese (1-4, 0-1) to 189.
Antetokounmpo returns to practice after COVID-19
MIAMI Giannis Antetokounmpo was with the Milwaukee Bucks in practice for the first time this season Saturday, after missing the first few days of training camp while he remained in his native Greece recovering from COVID-19.
Antetokounmpo participated in noncontact work only, Bucks coach Doc Rivers said.
Antetokounmpo arrived in Miami on Friday The Bucks held media day on Monday Antetokounmpo took part remotely — and started camp in Milwaukee on Tuesday, then flew to Miami on Thursday for a few days of workouts at Florida International University in advance of their preseason opener against the Heat on Monday
QB completes 46 straight passes to break record
SPARTANBURG, S.C. Taron Dickens completed 46 consecutive passes to break the FCS record for consecutive completions in a game, and threw three touchdown passes to lead Western Carolina to a 23-21 win over Wofford on Saturday in a Southern Conference matchup. Dickens led a comeback win for the Catamounts after the lead changed hands in the late third quarter He found Josiah Thomas for 14 yards on a fourth-and-8 with 48 seconds remaining in the game. Marcus Trout, whose previous field goal attempt was
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MORRy GASH
Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio hits an RBI single during the second inning of Game 1 of the NLDS against the Chicago Cubs on Saturday in Milwaukee. Chourio, who left the game with a hamstring injury, became the first player to have three hits in the first two innings of a playoff game in the Brewers’ 9-3 win.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By NATHAN DENETTE
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman reacts to a pop fly out against the New york yankees during during Game 1 of the ALDS on Saturday in Toronto. Gausman got the win, going 523 innings and allowing one run on four hits with three strikeouts and two walks.
OUTDOORS
What ajump
pictures from the cameras,’ Crnko said,adding thedeer appeared happier when he has placed food in the feeders near the game cameras.
Make venison fitfor your table
BY JOE MACALUSO
Contributing writer
Notebook
Now that seasons have opened in all 10 of our state’sdeer huntingareas, it’s timetotalkabout turning this effort into wholesome food for the table. Realizing there would be an outcry if aphoto displaying the proper way to field-dress adeer —it’scalled “eviscerating” —the best way is to help novice hunters to best-handling practices once they’ve beenona successful trip afield. Some older hunters can heed these tips, too.
It’salways been amusing to see Louisiana hunters parade their prizes around town like what’s sometimes portrayed in movies sometimes on the hoods of hunting vehicles.
That’sbad, not only because it’s hot around here andusually stays warm through the bulk of the deer season, but also because the first two moves in turning adeer into wholesome food are, first, fielddressing (removing all the innards), and, secondly,cooling the meat down as rapidly as possible.
LindsayThomas,writing forthe National Deer Association, touched on this and other important aspects of meat for our tables inlast week’sNDA posting.
Thomas wasright on allaccounts.
“Heat Spoils” was one of his talking points noting that “temperatures above 40 degrees are the enemy of quality venison.”
He mentioned hanging afielddressed deerina walk-in cooler, buthow many of us have oneof those, and if you need to transport afield-dressed whitetail to askinning shed, then go afield withan icechest filled with at least two bags of ice.
WEDNESDAY
GULF COUNCIL SCIENTIFIC &SHRIMP
COMMITTEES VIRTUAL MEETING: Topitems: updatedessential fish habitat text/map for shrimp, reef fish, coastal migratorypelagics, spinylobster &redfish; operational assessment for gag grouper. Public comment taken after committee meeting. Webinaravailable.Website: gulfcouncil.org
BUGS &BEERS: 6:30p.m., Skeeta Hawk Brewing, 455 N. Dorgenois St., New Orleans. Fly tying. Open to the public. Email A.J. Rosenbohm: ajrosenbohm@gmail.com. Website: neworleansflyfishers.com
BubbaWallace is paid to race in NASCAR for Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan, so Hamlin raised eyebrows lastweekend for pushing Wallace intothe wall in alast-lap pushfor the victoryatKansas Speedway Hamlin drives for Joe Gibbs Racing and wasseeking the 60th win of his CupSeriescareer and an automatic berthintothe third round of the playoffs. Awin for Wallace would have puthim into thethird round of theplayoffs forthe first time in his career and guarantee at least one 23XIRacing driver is still partofthe championship hunt.
Although the two had abrief interaction on pit road following the race —ChaseElliott came back from 10th on atwo-lap overtime shootout to nab the winafter the Hamlin and Wallace incident —itwasn’tuntil Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway that driver and team owner finally talked.
CORRECTION
Last week’saccount of ayoung mancatchinga potential junior worldrecordtarpon erred in identifying the 15-year-oldangler to be Cruz Strohmeyer. HisnameisCruzGomez, the grandsonoflongtime tarpon fishermanMikeStrohmeyer. AdvocateOutdoors deeply regrets theerror
Beyond that,Gomez’s 228 8-pound tarpon, if approved by theInternational GameFish Association, will better the existing junior worldrecordbynearly 6pounds and give Louisiana another featherinits fishing cap. It would mean male and female
Put the bags of ice in the eviscerated cavity. Then, after skinning,ice thequartersinachest until you’re abletoprocessthe meat.
Thomas dwelled on “tainted meat,”things some hunters often overlook.
During field-dressing,take care nottocut intothe bladder or intestines or the stomach, the latter to avoid rumen contents contamination.
Anyleaks in these three spots can ruin themeat. This is important because the wonderful tenderloins and the hind quarters are close tothe bladder and the intestines.
Thomas mentioned removing tarsalglandsfrombucksand does because these animals urinate on these hind legs areas (around the knee)and urine and bacteria from these areas will get into the meat.
SATURDAY-SUNDAY
JUNIOR SOUTHWEST BASSMASTERS/ TOLEDO BEND: Boys &girls agegroup bass tournament forages 7-10, 11-14&15-18 anglers. Call Jim Breaux (225) 772-3026.
HUNTING SEASONS
DEER/PRIMITIVE FIREARMS: Oct. 1117, State Deer Areas 3, 7, 8&10.
DOVES: North Zone,Oct. 11-Nov. 16; South Zone,Oct. 18-Nov. 30.
DEER/ARCHERY: Through Oct. 15, State Deer Areas 5, 6&9,bucks only; Oct. 16-Feb. 15, either-sex take allowed..
DEER/PRIMITIVE FIREARMS: Oct. 1824, State Deer Areas 2.
DEER/MODERN FIREARMS: Oct. 18Nov. 30, State Deer Areas 3, 7, 8&10.
DEER/ARCHERY: Through Jan.15, State Deer Areas 3, 7, 8&10. Eithersex takeallowed.
DEER/ARCHERY: Through Jan. 31, State Deer Areas 1, 2&4.Either-sex takeallowed. RABBITS &SQUIRRELS: Through Feb. 28, statewide, private lands only
junior (16-and-younger) worldrecord tarpons and the male smallfry(10-and-younger) tarpon record were caught fromLouisiana waters. Ivy ElizabethRobichaux holds the femalejunior record with a 199-pound, 3-ounce silver king (2016) taken near Grand Isle, and Bennett Eichornholds the male smallfryrecord at 170-9 taken in 2020 from West Delta Block 54. The femalesmallfryrecord, at 107-8, belongs to Adelynn Sue Covington. Her tarpon came in 2023 near Cat Island, Mississippi Joe Macaluso
That’swhy most hunters keep a hacksaw at the skinning shed and use it to remove the legs above the knee joint to avoid contamination from the tarsals. It’sbest to wash hands after removing the lower legs
After that, Thomas talked about keeping the hair on the hide away from themeat only because the hair holds lots of bacteria.
“When skinning adeer,asmuch as possible, cut through skin by running your knife blade under theskin and cutting outward,” Thomaswrote.
“This keeps most hair attached to the hide andminimizes loose hair drifting around. It also helps avoid cutting into meat with the blade of your skinning knife, which is contaminatedwithbacteria from the hide.”
Finally,hewarned about knives and the need to have cleaned sur-
AROUND THECORNER
OCT.13—REDSTICK FLYFISHERS
MEETING: 7 p.m.,Regional Branch Library,9200 Bluebonnet Blvd.,Baton Rouge. Open to the public. Email Brian Roberts: roberts.brian84@ gmail.comWebsite: rsff.org
OCT.15—FLIES &FLIGHTS: 7p.m., Rally Cap Brewing, 11212 Pennywood Ave.,Baton Rouge. Fly tying. Open to public. Sparetools, materials for novices. Email Chris Williams: thefatfingeredflytyer@gmail.com
OCT.16—S.T.A.R./CCABATON ROUGE
BANQUET: 5:30 p.m., LiveOak at Cedar Lodge,6300 Jefferson Hwy.,Baton Rouge. Prizes from summer-longfishing event, raffles, silent/liveauctions. Call Nolan Reynerson (225) 952-9200. Email: SAM@ccalouisiana.com
OCT.16—ACADIANA FLYRODDERS PROGRAM: 6p.m., Pack & Paddle, 601 E. Pinhook,Lafayette. Open to public. Email Darin Lee: cbrsandcdc@gmail.com. Website: acadianaflyrodders.org
FISHING/SHRIMPING
SHRIMP: Fall inshore &outside waters open statewide.
faces to finishthe butchering process. Knives should be sharp and cleaned oftenduring the process and workareas should be as clean as possible and then thoroughly cleaned after all this work.
“Just becauseyou will cook the venisonlater does notmean alittle bacteria is OK. It still can affect the flavor even if it doesn’t give you food poisoning,” Thomas wrote.
OperationGameThief
With hunting seasons in full swing —squirreland rabbit hunters joined the deer folks this weekend —know Wildlifeand Fisheries’ Enforcement Division agents already have hit another gear
Louisiana OperationGame
Thief’s Oct. 1meeting at which the directors awarded $6,100 in rewards to informantsinvolved in 15 cases with 34 subjects and 134 violations for deer,migratory game bird, alligator,turkeyand small-game hunting and commercial fishing violations
To report possible game and fish violations, call the 24-hour,tollfree Operation GameThief line at (800)442-2511, andtomake a donation to LOGT,gotowebsite: lawff.ejoinme.org/logt.
Snapper
LA Creel’sSept.21estimate of the recreational red snapper catch totaled839,291 pounds. That’s 93.8% of our states 894,955-pounds allocation.
Statefisheriesmanagers said with lessthan 7% of the allocation remaining, offshore reef fishermencould see an abrupt close to the recreational season,possibly as early as next week
Theone-week increase (from Sept. 14) was 21,756 pounds
OPEN RECREATIONAL SEASONS: Red
snapper, greater amberjack (State waters only through Oct. 31), gray triggerfish, flounder (recreational/ commercial takeclosed Oct. 15-Nov 30);lane, blackfin, queen and silk snappers &wenchmen among other snapper species; all groupers except closed for goliath &Nassau groupers in state/federal waters.
ROAD CLOSURE: Section of La. 975 through Sherburne WMA closed through June 12, 2026 (replace bridge) accessfromU.S.190 and I-10 open. Drawdowns:Underway on Henderson Lake, LakeBistineau, Saline,Kepler, Iatt, Black &Clear lakes, Clear-Smithport Lake&Lake Martin. EMAIL: jmacaluso@theadvocate.com
“I don’tfault Denny Hamlin forracingfor the win, racing for his team and his sponsors,” Wallace said.“Iget thequestion alot —what’sitlike racing Denny on the race track? No offensetothem, but Icould give two (profanity)becausehe’sa competitor, and he haslabeled it that way “So that wastwo competitors going for awin, and so as much as it didn’twork out,I have to respect that.”
Even so,Wallace estimated that 95% of the driversfelt that was an “oof”move by Hamlin, whowas struggling with power steering issues.Italso put Wallace and teammate Tyler Reddick in serious danger of elimination from the playoffs on Sunday when the field is trimmed from 12 driversto eight on thehybrid road course/ oval at Charlotte.
Wallace, Reddick, AustinCindric and Ross Chastain are all below the cut line and likely need to win to stave off elimination.
Only problem? Shanevan Gisbergen is in the field and has won fourroad or street course races this season. Reddick edged van Gisbergen in Saturday qualifying and will start at the Roval from the pole. Wallace described the days since Kansas as “a somber week”and heardHamlin say on his podcast that he would not apologizefor trying to win arace.
“I hate it got to this point, the lingering effect, but Denny and Ijusttalked 30 minutes ago, and it wasagood heart-to-heart,” Wallace said. “The conversation came froma place of peace. It went betterthan Ithought it would.”
Odds andends
The Roval is the sixth and final road course race of the seasonand the only road course in the playoffs Four of the five previous Roval winners arecurrent playoffdrivers Ryan Blaney (2018),Chase Elliott (2019 &2020), Kyle Larson (2021 &2024) and Christopher Bell(2022). The winner of the Roval wentontowin the championship twice when Elliott did it in 2020 andLarsonin2021. Ford has not won at theRoval since Blaney’s2018 victory in the inaugural race. Hendrick Motorsports has yet to wina road course race this season after winning at leastonce on road courses every year between 2018 and 2024.
ä Bank of America 400. 2P.M. SUNDAy,USA
PROVIDED PHOTO
Alan Crnkosets out game cameras mostly tosee what strangethings can happen in his neckofthe woodsnear Holden. He shared acomical image of adoe leaping in an open field just days away fromthe opening of the hunting season. ‘I getamusingorunusual
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
GAME OF THE WEEK
Florida upsets No. 9 Texas
BY MARK LONG Associated Press
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — DJ Lagway and Dallas Wilson might be the combination Florida coach Billy Napier needs to save his job.
Lagway threw for a season-high 289 yards and two touchdowns — both to Wilson, a true freshman making his college debut and Florida upset No. 9 Texas 29-21 on Saturday to end a three-game skid
“It’s us against the world,” Lagway said. “That’s our mentality.”
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. That set off a raucous celebration for Florida (2-3, 1-1), which won for the first time since beating Long Island in the opener and eased some pressure on Napier Lagway looked better than he had in four previous starts this season, and 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 “He’s a specimen,” Lagway said. 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.
“That was a crazy play,” said Wilson, who also had a leaping, toedragging catch for 18 yards near the sideline that set up his 13-yard score two plays later
TOP 25 ROUNDUP
UCLA stuns No. 7 Penn State with Iamaleava’s 5 touchdowns
BY BETH HARRIS Associated Press
PASADENA, Calif. — Winless in four games in which they never led, their head coach fired, two coordinators gone and No. 7 Penn State in town. UCLA couldn’t get much lower “Nobody in the world expected us to win,” Bruins safety Key Lawrence said. Indeed, the Bruins were 25 1/2-point underdogs. They went out and stunned the Nittany Lions 42-37 on Saturday, becoming the first 0-4 or worse team to beat a top-10 team in 40 years
“You’d think it was Mardi Gras,” interim coach Tim Skipper said, describing the locker room atmosphere. “There was water flying everywhere, there’s music, there’s guys that can’t dance that are dancing, there’s coaches trying to be dancers. It was exciting.” Nico Iamaleava ran for three touchdowns and threw for two more, helping UCLA earn its first win of the season after DeShaun Foster was fired. The Bruins’ offense exploded early and they led all the way after not scoring in the first quarter of their earlier losses.
“We were going to be super aggressive, but not do dumb things,” Skipper said. “The plan was if we scored a touchdown first, we were going to go to it.”
The Bruins (1-4, 1-1 Big Ten) had tight ends coach Jerry Neuheisel calling UCLA’s offensive plays for the first time against Penn State’s vaunted defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. Offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri left the program earlier in the week.
“We had two days to practice the new game plan and all they did was believe,” said Neuheisel, a former UCLA quarterback and son of former Bruins coach Rick Neuheisel, who called the nationally televised game for CBS. “It was just a special, special day.”
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.
Penn State was coming off a double-overtime 30-24 loss to Oregon last week.
“Obviously, we didn’t handle last week’s loss well,” Lions coach James Franklin said. “We lost some players during that game, and then everything else. Travel, everything else. Did not come out with the right energy to start the game. Before you know it they
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ
UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava throws a pass during the first half of a game against Penn State on Saturday in Pasadena, Calif.
got a touchdown drive and onside kick.”
UCLA racked up 446 total yards to 357 for Penn State, while outrushing the Lions, 280 to 127, and going 10 of 16 on 3rd downs.
Iamaleava had his best game since his high-profile transfer from Tennessee over the summer
He capped his day by scrambling right and running 7 yards into the end zone and then throwing a 2-point conversion pass to Kwazi Gilmer for a 42-28 lead with 6:41 left in the fourth. He was 17 of 24 for 166 yards passing and was the Bruins’ top rusher with 16 carries for 128 yards.
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.
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. 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-toback seasons in 2001 and 2002.
NO 21 NOTRE DAME 28, BOISE ST 7: In South Bend, Indiana, Leonard Moore had two of Notre Dame’s four interceptions in his return from injury and the 21st-ranked Fighting Irish beat Boise State on Saturday CJ Carr was 15-of-23 passing for 189 yards and threw touchdowns to Will Pauling and Malachi Fields. Moore, a preseason All-America selectionatcornerback,missedNotre Dame’s previous two games with a high ankle sprain. Tae Johnson and Luke Talich had the other two interceptions for the Fighting Irish (3-2).
NO 24 VIRGINIA 30, LOUISVILLE 27: In Louisville, Kentucky, Mari Taylor’s 2-yard run in overtime gave No. 24 Virginia a victory over Louisville on Saturday The Cavaliers (5-1, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), off to their best conference start since 2007, won despite the nation’s fifth-best offense, averaging 539.6 yards per game, being limited to 237 yards. A pair of defensive scores offset the sputtering offensive performance.
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.
“I thought he competed his heart out,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “Our entire team did. Most people thought we were probably dead and gone. We fought all the way back and had a chance there at the end.”
Manning was sacked seven times behind a line that got bullied without blitzes in Texas’ first visit to Gainesville since 1940.
“This is where you find out about the culture that you have,” Sarkisian said. “We’ve got to get tighter than we’ve ever been. We’re going to have to quiet the noise because there will be plenty of noise coming out of this game.”
Simpson, Miller lead Bama to victory over Vanderbilt
The Associated Press TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Ty Simpson threw for 340 yards and two touchdowns, leading No. 10 Alabama to a 30-14 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).
“I thought we played hardnosed,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said. “The momentum we’re continuing to gain, there’s a confidence between offense and defense that the other side will come through when it matters most.”
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.
Alabama converted all four of its trips into the red zone in points, while Pavia’s two turnovers left Vanderbilt without points in two critical situations. Vanderbilt’s running game that totaled 126 yards on 12.7 yards per carry in the first half was limited to just nine rushing yards in the second half.
“We knew coming in this would be a game won on third down and the red zone,” Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said. “Those are two areas we weren’t very good at, particularly on offense. Offensively we never seemed to get rhythm, particularly in the second half. And that allowed them to take time of possession.”
NO 12 GEORGIA 35, KENTUCKY 14: In Athens, Georgia, Gunner Stockton and Dillon Bell each had a pair of touchdown runs, lead-
ing 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.
NO 5 OKLAHOMA 44, KENT STATE 0: In Norman, Oklahoma, Oklahoma backup Michael Hawkins Jr passed for three touchdowns and ran for another, and the fifthranked Sooners rolled past Kent State on Saturday Hawkins led the Sooners (5-0) to points on their first five possessions. He passed for 162 yards and ran for 33 as a fill-in for John Mateer, who sat out with an injured right hand.
Isaiah Sategna caught two touchdown passes, and Tory Blaylock had 78 yards on 15 carries. Oklahoma held the Golden Flashes (1-4) to 135 total yards and registered its first shutout since a 73-0 win over Arkansas State on Sept. 2, 2023. The Sooners had five sacks and 13 tackles
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOHN RAOUX Florida quarterback DJ Lagway passes the ball during the first half of a game against Texas on Saturday in
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By VASHA HUNT Alabama wide receiver Germie Bernard grabs a pass and runs it into the end zone for a touchdown against Vanderbilt during the first
PROBASKETBALL
Adjustment time
BY W.G. RAMIREZ Associated Press
LAS VEGAS ThePhoenix Mercury led Game 1ofthe WNBA Finals for more than two-thirds of the game, but couldn’tfinish what they started in their 89-86 lossto the Las Vegas Aces The Mercury were ahead for more than 27 minutes Friday and their biggest lead was nine pointsafter Monique Akoa Makani hit three consecutive free throws to give them a66-57 advantage with 3:36 left in the third quarter Phoenix’slast lead was 82-80 with alittle less than five minutes left in the game. So what went wrong?
“Theymade acouple plays down the stretch we didn’t,” Phoenix coach Nate Tibbets said. “That’s whythis is going to be agreat series, right?” It could be, if the Mercury don’tmake the same mistakes Sunday in Game 2 under the pressure of araucous arena that had asellout crowd of 10,266 reach peak decibels on Friday Phoenix committed 12 turnovers, to Las Vegas’ five, and the Aces capital-
ized with 20 pointsoff the Mercury’smiscues.
Kahleah Copperfinished with 21 points,but 19 of those came in thefirst half. TheAces’ defensive switches limitedCopper’s looks to just four attempts in the second half, when shescored only two points and had one assist.
The Mercury wentfrom shooting52.9% (18of34) in the first halfto40.6% in the second half, with nearly the same amount of looks, hitting 13 of 32.
“They went zone, kind of made us stand alittle bit,”
Tibbetts said. “I thought we had some good looks. Give themcredit for mixing up theirdefense; that wasa good adjustment
“Wedidn’thandleitwell, and that was part of the reason (Copper) didn’tget as many shots in thesecond half.”
Tibbetts said it’saseries that could see games come down to the last possession, situations he said histeam has handled well, despite star Alyssa Thomas missing
apairoffree throws that could have given Phoenix the lead with 24.6seconds left in the game.
Thomas had an injury scare late in the game with herleft hand but said Saturday it was fine andnot an issue.
“Wedon’tneed to talk about that,”said Thomas whohad 15 points,10rebounds and nine assists in Game 1.
Finally,there’s Phoenix’s defense, whichheldteams to 75.9 points pergame on 41.1% shooting through its first seven playoff games, but allowed theAces to score 89 pointsand shoot 45.8% in the series opener bothopponent highs against theMercury in theplayoffs Las Vegas’ benchalsooutscored Phoenix’s, 41-16.
Satou Sabally,who had 19 points on Friday,remained confident in Phoenix’sresiliency
“Wehavetoplaybetter defense, just go back to what we do best,and thenIthink theresults will show that we are thebetter team,” Sabally said. “We’llwalkthrough our mistakes and find better solutions for some things, and then we’ll just come back on Sunday and win this game.”
Bronny Jameshas rough
BYGREG BEACHAM
PALM DESERT,Calif. Three days shy of ayear after BronnyJames made his preseason debut with the Los Angeles Lakers in this desert arena, the NBA’s mostfamous son resumed his quest to show he belongs in the big leagues. While his 1-for-12 shooting performance in the Lakers’ opener wasn’tideal, James said he felt his effort Friday night was another step forwardinaprocess that’s already showing results to coach JJ Redick.
Bronny James scored eight points while LeBron James and Luka Doncic sat out of the Lakers’ 103-81loss to the Phoenix Suns.
Bronny’s40-year-oldfather is progressing deliberately in his return froma minor nerve injury to begin his record 23rd NBA season, while Doncic is also ramping up with caution after his busy summer playing for Slovenia at EuroBasket. That left plenty of playing time in the Coachella Valley for depth players like Bronny James, who hit a3-pointer late in thethird quarter for his only field goal. He missed his other seven 3-point attempts while struggling for buckets alongside fellow 2024 draft pick Dalton Knecht, who was 2for 10 with 1-for-7 shooting from distance.
“I felt like they were pretty goodshots,” said
Bronny James, who turns 21 on Monday.“Not rushed, notforcing anything. Didn’t have my legs undermeas much as Iwanted to,soa lot of themwereshort, butmost of them were on line. Ifelt like Icould have made those. Ifelt likeItook some good shots.”
Bronny’sconfidence was undiminished by those misses after the Lakersopened their preseason in the same arenawhere Bronny James first played alongside his famous father in October 2024. The Palm Springs-area fans who rumbled with anticipation whenever Bronny touched the ball ayear ago didn’treact much this time around. The novelty of Bronny’spresence has faded while he continues togrow into something much more than asideshow Bronny was in theLakers’
BY DOUG FEINBERG AP basketball writer
LAS VEGAS— WNBAcommissioner Cathy Engelbert said Friday there’s work to be done to repair relationships with players in the league, while adding that there were “inaccuracies” in some of the comments attributed to herbyNapheesa Collier in ablistering assessment earlier this week.
“I was disheartened to hear that some players feel the league and thatI personally do not careabout themorlisten to them,” Engelbertsaid before Game 1ofthe WNBAFinals on Friday night.
“Ifthe players in the‘W’ don’tfeel appreciated and value from the league, we have to do better and Ihave to do better.”
In wide-ranging comments,Engelbertsaidofficiating will be reviewed this offseason by anew “state of thegame” committee. The commissioner also said the league and the players’ union have meetings scheduled for next week to discuss anew collective bargaining agreement.
Engelbert also said she plans to remain as commissionerafter aCBA is finalized.
As for comments that Collier said Engelbert madein private conversationsabout Caitlin Clarkneedingthe WNBA to succeed financially,the commissioner denied saying them.
“Caitlin hasbeen a transformationalplayer in this league. She’sbeen agreat representative of thegame,” Engelbert said. “She’s brought in tens of millions of new fans to the game.
Engelbertsaid she’s talked to Collier, the Minnesota Lynx star who said Tuesday that the league has “the worst leadership in the world” and acommissioner who lacks accountability
The two will meet next week, either in person or virtually,Engelbert said.
CBAnegotiations
Engelbertsaid she believes anew CBA deal will getdone, albeit notnecessarily by the Oct.31deadline.
“That is arealdeadline from that perspective. We have extendeddeadlines in the past,” she said. “I know last timewhen Iwas only a coupledaysonthe job, we gottoanextensionand gota deal done. Ifeel confident that we can get adeal done, but if not, Ithink we could do an extension.”
Engelbert said higher salariesfor players is agoal both sides share.
“Wecontinue to meet and have importantconversations with the players’ association. Iwant to reiterate that we want much of the samethings that the players want,” Engelbert said. “Wewant to significantly increase the increase their salary andbenefits, while also supporting thelongterm growth andviability of the WNBA.”
Officiatingreview
Engelbert said it’sclear there are differences between the wayplayers andcoaches feel about the physical nature of the game andthe way the referees officiate.The committee taskedwithreforming officiating will include players, coaches,generalmanagers and others.
“I think it’s pretty clear that we’re misalignedcurrently on what our stake-
holders wantfrom officiating,” Engelbert said. “We have heard loud and clear that we have not lived up to that needed alignment.” Engelbert said the league needs to look at “good, aggressive play that we recognize has evolved into rough playand howtocalibrate the line for legal and illegalcontenttoensure playersafety andexciting competition.”
Engelbert’sjob status Engelbert deniedreports that she’ll be leaving the WNBA after the new CBA is finished.
“I’ve never been aquitter I’mentering my 40th year, actually,this month in business.Never been aquitter I’ve never shied away from tough situations,” she said. Engelbert has delivered on many of her promises sincecoming into the league in 2019. She will have added six expansion teams by 2030 and secured amajor newmedia rights deal for thenextdecade that will bring in morethan $2.2billion. Engelbert also had the league pay for a full charter flight program this season that the players hope will be added to the new CBA to address concerns about issues ranging from safety to travel time. The league has enjoyed monumentalgrowthover thepast few years, and Engelbert saidshe knows there’smore work to be done
first substitution group, and he playednearly23minutes. He gave aconsistent defensive effort withintermittent effectiveness as he works to become theimpact defender that Redick said he believes he can becomewith more growth.
“Definitely feltlike Iwas morecomfortable, especially with theball in my hands, andwith the defensive and offensive schemes,” Bronny said. “But I’m just trying to feel it out.Feeling my way still and just continuing to grow.”
Bronny appearedin27 games forthe Lakersduring his rookie season, even making basketball history by playing alongside his father in the opener.But he accomplished much of his growth in theGLeague,where he averaged 21.9 points and 5.5 assists for the Lakers’ affiliate.
ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO By JOHN LOCHER
Phoenix Mercuryforward DeWanna Bonner,left,and forward Alyssa Thomas talkduring the second half in Game 1ofthe WNBAFinals against the Las VegasAcesonFridayinLas Vegas.
shooting nightwithLakers
ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO By MARK J.TERRILL Los Angeles Lakers guard BronnyJames, right, tries to pass while under pressurefromPhoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks on FridayinPalm Desert, Calif.
be sharp.Theycan’t revert to the penaltiesthathaunted them the first three games. Or the missed tackles. Or the dropped passesand allthe other missed opportunities that have kept them in the losscolumn
“Weare going in the right direction,” Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler said. “It’sjust afew plays each game that we all have to clean up. And we will. I’m confident about that. It’sgot to get done, andwe’ve got to get it done this week.”
The Saints need it Rattler needsit. He’s 0-10 as astarter.This will be his first time starting in agame
the Saints arefavored to win. It’s been awhile since Saintsfans have had much to cheer about. That 2-0 start last season when the whole citywas buzzing afterthe Saints blastedthe Carolina Panthers at home and the Dallas Cowboys at Jerry World seems like forever ago. The Saintsare a dismal 3-16since then.
Is this the game they get back on track?
“Every one of these games that I’m in, Ifigure we are going to win somehow,someway,” defensive end Cam Jordan said. “This week is no different. Now that we are aquarter of the way through the season, it feels like it’sa‘have to’ win. Whereas before it felt like a‘need to’ win. Now it’s
a‘have to’ win’, and we have to start thinking about what if we don’t.” “So what if you don’t?” I asked Jordan. “I don’tknow,” he said. “That’swhy
RATTLER
Continued from page1C
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.”
Email Matthew Paras at matt.paras@theadvocate. com
Saints Giants
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.
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.
STANDINGS, SCORES &
Bucs, Seahawks aim for 4-1
After becoming the first team in the Super Bowl era to have a game-winning score in the final minute of the first three games of a season the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fell short of a comeback against Philadelphia last week. The Buccaneers have won five of their past seven games in the series against Seattle. The Seahawks are seeking to win four of their first five games for the first time since 2020, when they opened the season with five consecutive victories. Seahawks WR Jaxon SmithNjigba (26 catches, 402 yards) will try to take advantage of a banged-up Bucs secondary.
Texans face banged-up Ravens Baltimore has won six in a row in its series with Houston, but star quarterback Lamar Jackson won’t be available for the Ravens when they host the Texans this weekend. Houston has lost three times to Baltimore since the start of the 2023 season, and the Texans didn’t score an offensive touchdown in any of those games. That trend may not continue as the depleted Ravens have allowed 133 points in four games.
Texans RB Joe Mixon was eligible to come off the physically unable to perform list but remains out In his absence, Nick Chubb and Woody Marks have split carries.
Bills look to extend home streak
The AFC-leading Buffalo Bills are off to a 4-0 start and have won 14 straight regular-season home games before hosting division rival New England on Sunday night. Buffalo’s home streak is one win short of matching the team record set over the 1990-91 seasons The Patriots are 2-2 and coming off a 42-13 win over Carolina. New England is seeking to win consecutive games for the first time since a three-game run in 2022 Patriots receiver Stefon Diggs makes his first competitive return to Buffalo, where he set numerous team records during a four-year stint before
QB Daniels to return The Los Angeles Chargers will host the Washington Commanders on Sunday as both teams look to bounce back from disappointing Week 4 losses The Chargers’ undefeated start ended with a 21-18 loss at the New york Giants after struggling to stop the run. The Commanders didn’t have starting QB Jayden Daniels because of a knee injury as they fell 34-27 at the Atlanta Falcons Daniels is expected to play for the first time in two games The game features two of the top rookie running backs in the NFL in the Omarion Hampton of the Chargers and Jacory Croskey-Merritt for the Commanders.
to Houston in April 2024 Colts, Raiders RBs take center stage Indianapolis Colts veteran running back Jonathan Taylor and Las Vegas rookie Ashton Jeanty have a similar playing style. They’re both strong, fast and capable of making game-changing plays. On Sunday, two of the NFL’s most dynamic runners will take center stage together in Indianapolis. Taylor leads the NFL in yards rushing while Jeanty has had a strong start to his pro career. But after Indy lost its first game and Las Vegas lost its third
GAME OF THE WEEK
Eagles look to stay undefeated
BY DAN GELSTON AP sportswriter
PHILADELPHIA A.J. Brown’s stat line for the week included one catch, one cryptic social media post and one long explanation as to why he let frustration with his role in the offense get him down even with the Eagles off to a 4-0 start.
It’s easy to wonder, what would his mood be like if they weren’t winning?
The only numbers that really matter in sports are the win-loss record, and Philadelphia couldn’t have boasted much more of a better run headed into Sunday’s game against Denver (2-2). Counting the playoffs, the Eagles have won 10 straight games, are 20-1 overall in their last 21 games and have won 18 straight times in games started and finished by reigning Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts. But the 4-0 start has been missing the blockbuster plays and breathtaking runs that defined the Eagles
a year ago. Led by first-year coordinator Kevin Patullo, every key Eagles offensive player has seen a significant dip in production from last season.
Saquon Barkley rushed for 2,005 yards in the regular season and set the NFL record with 2,504 total yards rushing in a season. He has rushed for only 237 yards this season — he topped 200 yards in a game twice last season — at a 3.1 yard-per-carry clip.
Hurts has topped 200 yards passing just once and hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass in either of the last two games. DeVonta Smith has two 1,000yard receiving seasons, yet has just 17 catches for 158 yards in four games.
Smith declined to talk to the media after the Eagles beat Tampa Bay and so did Brown after the fivetime 1,000-yard receiver was held to one catch for 8 yards. Brown had six catches for 109 yards in a Week 2 win against the Rams, but has just eight receptions for 42 yards with
no touchdowns in the other three games. Brown appeared to share his unhappiness on social media.
“If you’re not welcomed, not listened to, quietly withdraw Don’t make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and be on your way,” he wrote.
Speculation over what the post meant lit up sports-talk radio lines and led to plenty of guessing on social media over what the wide receiver meant with the Biblical quote.
Turned out, not much.
Brown said this week he took “full accountability” for letting his “frustrations boil over” and choosing to post instead of speak his mind on Sunday He added the post didn’t have anything to do with the Eagles.
“My message on Twitter was not directed at anyone in the building. Not my coaches, not my quarterback, my GM, nobody,” he said. “I take full accountability I have open communication with all my coaches and with my quarterback as well.”
Raiders TE Bowers questionable vs. Colts
Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers did not practice Thursday and Friday because of a knee injury and is questionable at Indianapolis on Sunday
Bowers has played at less than full strength since being injured in the season-opening 20-13 victory at New England in which he caught five passes for 103 yards. He had 14 receptions for 122 yards in the three games since.
The Raiders could get back tight end Michael Mayer, who is questionable after missing one game because of a concussion.
Dallas loses Hooker for at least four weeks
The Dallas Cowboys placed Malik Hooker on injured reserve Saturday, sidelining one of their starting safeties at least four games after he injured a left toe last weekend against Green Bay
The Cowboys replaced Hooker by signing safety Alijah Clark to the active roster from the practice squad for Sunday’s game at the New York Jets.
The 29-year-old Hooker played at least 15 games in each of his first four seasons with the Cowboys after four injury-plagued years in Indianapolis.
Vikings put OL Kelly on injured reserve
The Minnesota Vikings placed center Ryan Kelly on injured reserve Saturday after he suffered his second concussion of the season last week in a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The 10-year veteran, who has had five reported concussions in his career, will miss four games, including Sunday against the Cleveland Browns at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in England. Minnesota will be missing three starters from its offensive line: Kelly, right tackle Brian O’Neill (knee) and left guard Donovan Jackson (wrist).
Mistakes cost Jets WR Williams his job
The New York Jets waived wide receiver Isaiah Williams on Saturday after he made two critical mistakes on special teams in a loss Monday at Miami.
Williams fumbled the kickoff to open the second half against the Dolphins, leading to a touchdown drive in Miami’s 27-21 victory He later called a fair catch of a punt at the Jets 3 early in the fourth quarter rather than let the football bounce into the end zone for a touchback, putting the offense in terrible field position.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JEFF HAyNES
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield looks to throw a pass against the Philadelphia Eagles during a game on Sunday in Tampa, Fla.
Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers runs with the ball against the Chicago Bears on Sunday in Las Vegas.
AP PHOTO By DAVID BECKER
Karr’s 99-yardTDdrive pivotalinwin
It doesn’ttake much imagination to figure how the EdnaKarrSt. Augustine matchup could have played out abit differently Let’sstart with the goal-line stop on fourth down to start the secondhalf. Atouchdown there would have made it aone-score game As things turned out, Karr quarterback John Johnson expertly executed a99-yard drive that put his Cougars in the end zone for athreetouchdownlead —the same margin by which Karr won in the 42-21 victory Friday in Algiers.
Reigning state champion Karr (5-0, 2-0 District 9-5A) came through when it most needed to on the way to running its statebest winning streak to 18 games Johnsonthrew for342 yards and accounted for five touchdowns —three passing andtwo rushing —inwhat has become routine forthe third-yearvarsity starter After the goal-line stand, Karr drove 99 yards in 11 plays, starting with an unexpected bubble screen caught by Anthony Thomas with adefender nearby “He shocked me when he switched to abubble on the 1-yard line,” Karr coach Brice Brown said about the play that resulted in again of 4yards.
Johnson ran a9-yardkeeperon the next play and then hit Floyd Jones for 23 yards after that Jermond Macklin ran 17 yards to
Week 5football scores
getnear midfield.The drive continued with athird-and-8 pass to Greg Wilfred for afirst down and another quick-outtoThomas for a23-yard gain that put Karr on the1.Tre Garrison ranitinonthe next play.
Johnson has enough experience so that there is not much that can
Friday Area District 8-5A Thibodaux 25, East St. John 6 Hahnville 48, H.L. Bourgeois 7 Destrehan 41, Terrebonne 28 District 9-5A Rummel 31,Brother Martin7 Edna Karr 42, St. Augustine 21 Jesuit 20, Holy Cross 12 Nondistrict Carver 30, Booker T. Washington 0 Young Audiences 57, Morris Jeff 0 Country Day62, Patrick Taylor 27 Shaw28, De La Salle 20 McDonogh 35 53, East Jefferson 14 Hannan 34, St.Thomas Aquinas 7 Haynes 44, Ben Franklin 29 L.B. Landry 18, Istrouma 8 Lakeshore37, BreauxBridge 7 Pope John Paul II 28,St. Martin’s 12 Newman 33, Riverdale 13 Riverside 42, Vermilion Catholic 19 St. James 34, St. Charles 28 U-High 35, St. Paul’s 25 Belle Chasse 49, West Jefferson7 West St. John 38, East Iberville 6 Statewide Abbeville 20, LaGrange 14 Acadiana 63, Sulphur 0 Acadiana Renaissance27, Oberlin 6 Alexandria 57, Many0 Ascension Catholic 49, Episcopal 40 Ascension Christian 40, Houma Chr. 0 Asc. Episcopal 28, North Vermilion 3 Avoyelles 61, Lakeview 0 Berwick41, Thrive0 Bossier 27, Southwood 12 Bunkie 46, Winnfield 28 CHEF 28, Christian Coll., Miss. 14 Calvary Baptist 62, Magnolia 8 Captain Shreve66, Airline 56
PAYTON
Continued from page1C
early Payton Era, he stands asingle game away from passing Parcells in all-time career coachingvictories. They are tied at 172wins after the Broncos beat the Bengals on Monday night. It was enough to choke Payton up at the dais, recognizing the significance.
“He’sapretty big influence on what I’ve been able to achieve,” Payton said.
Now Payton will attempt to win agame to climb past the man who taught him the art of winning.
“Tosurpass him in wins?” said former Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn, who coached under Parcells and Payton in Dallas in 2005.
“That’ssome prodigal-son (expletive), right there.” Parcells and Payton still talk frequently.And Parcells’ fingertips still are everywhere, lingering on the fabric of Payton’s2025 Broncos.
Lessonslearned
Parcells taught Payton, in his own way,that there are multiple ways to win afootball game.
In 2003, Dan Campbell hit free agency after beginning hisNFL career under Payton’soffensive regime with the New York Giants.
After Payton was hired in Dallas, he banged on the table for Parcells to bring in Campbell. Amonth later, once Campbell signed, Payton told the tight end that he couldn’tpass up the opportunity in hiscoaching career to learn from Parcells
“Sean’salways been, man, acreative play-caller,a creative game-plan designer,” said Campbell, later an assistant for Payton in New Orleansand now the head coach of the Detroit Lions.
“But Ithink what he really learned under Billwere those things —the psycheof the game, how you truly go in to win agame.” In 2005,Payton’s final year in Dallas, the Cowboys ran a ball-control offense. Payton,
AP PHOTO By BART yOUNG DenverBroncos headcoach Sean Payton calls plays against the CincinnatiBengals on MondayinDenver.
however,was ahigh-volume coach.Inthe shadows, he andrunningbackscoach Lynn wouldstealthily slip a fewextraconceptsinto the weeklygame plan.Eventually,the call sheet grew to roughly65plays Then Parcells came by one day.
“I know what youlittle (expletives) aredoing,” Parcells told them,asLynn remembered. “Take those extra plays out.”
“He alwayssaid,‘Coordinators with alot of volume are insecure —don’tbean insecure coordinator,’ ”Lynn said. “AndI thinkthat was kind of the case. We didn’t feel like we had enough bullets.”
Afew weeks later,the KansasCity Chiefs’ high-powered attack came to town,led by quarterback Trent Green and All-Pro running back Larry Johnson. Parcells recognized his Cowboys needed to go blow-for-blow.Sohe summoned Payton and Lynn.
“He goes, ‘Hey, you know that stuff Isaidabout not having enough plays, and having too many plays, and being insecure?’”Lynn recalled. “He goes, ‘Tohell with all that. Throw the whole kitchensinkat‘em. Iwant every frickin’ trick playwe have.’ ” The Cowboys won ashootout, 31-28. Twodecades later,Paytonlives onbothextremes
faze him. Not even theearly interception that was returned for atouchdown and tied the game at 7-7 in the second quarter
“I been there, Idone that,” Johnson said. “I know how to stay poised. As aquarterback, it’s all about the next play.”
Not just thenext play,but the
Carencro56, New Iberia 7 Carver 30, Booker T. Washington 0 Centerville 42,Gueydan 6 Copiah Academy, Miss. 18, Silliman 8 D’Arbonne Woods 44, Green Oaks 42, OT Delta Charter 36,Cedar Creek 31 Dunham 49, Baker 0 Dutchtown 35, St. Amant 28 E.D.White 49, South Lafourche27 East Ascension 38,LiveOak 21 Ellender 10, South Terrebonne 9 Elton 41, Hanson Memorial14 Erath 43, Westlake15 Eunice 32, Welsh29 Ferriday26, Beekman 14 Franklin 36, Patterson 34 Gen. Trass (LakeProvidence) 32 Bastrop 30 Glenbrook 50, PlainDealing 0 Grant 56, Bolton 0 Hahnville 48, H.L.Bourgeois 7
of thatsamespectrum. He is one of the league’smost notorious personnelshifters and one of the league’s quickest to pull tricks from the sleeves of his hoodie.
He can also be ruthless with sheer simplicity
“Bill usedtosay that all the time: ‘Areyou paying attention to howthe game’sbeing played?’ ”Payton said. “That mayimpact how you call a game on either side of the ball.”
Watchout forcheese
Parcells taught Payton, in his own way,how to push buttons.
There were three ways to stay out of the Parcells’ doghouse. Know what todo. Execute. Anddon’tget hurt often. Failing anyofthe three meant opening oneself to a specifickind of wrathfrom aman who, as Fujita put it, could “look right through you and make you feel about 2inches tall.”
There’sanall-time Parcells metaphor, which Payton took andran with in New Orleans. Players and coaches would walkinona game week and occasionally see mousetraps cocked and ready in the corners of the facility
Themessagewas simple andnot entirely subtle. If the locker room was riding high, or if the team was favoredheavily against aparticular opponent, Parcells would whip out the mousetraps. Payton would do the same with his Saints. Daringsomeone, as Lynn put it, to “bitethe cheese.”
“He was huge,”Shanle saidofPayton,“on Don’t Take theCheese Week.”
Eventually,Payton became amaster motivator
“He demanded respect, and everybody respected him,” said Campbell, who coached underPayton from 2016-20 in New Orleans before taking thehead job in Detroit. “Doesn’tmean everybodyliked him, butthat didn’tmatter. The respect was there, just like Parcells “And man, nothing went unnoticed. Nothing went unnoticed. And sometimes I thinkthat getslost.”
next drive. Karrscored touchdowns thenext three times after theinterception —including the 99-yard drive —for a28-7 lead.
Karr clearly has complete trust in the quarterback whomade his commitment to Liberty Universityback in February
“He’sincomplete control,”
Hannan 34, St. Thomas Aquinas 7 Haynesville 56, LincolnPrep19 Kinder 42, Logansport30 LaSalle36, Pickering0 Lafayette 35, Sam Houston 28 Lafayette Christian 55,Central 48 LakeArthur 47, Rosepine8 Liberty 64, Bogalusa0 Loreauville 21, Kaplan 20 Loyola Prep71, Minden 48 Madison Prep55, Parkview Baptist3 Madison-Ridgeland Academy, Miss. 27, Baton Rouge Catholic 26 Mamou 20, Crowley 18 Mangham 42,Madison 8 Mansfield 39,North Caddo 0 Marksville 46, Oakdale 8 Merryville 22,Lena Northwood 20 NotreDame 45, Cecilia 35 Natchitoches Central 42, Haughton 32 Neville 28, Sterlington 21
Many
Brownsaid. Karr coaches told Johnson to be aggressive during that 99-yard drive.
“Aggressive is our style of ball,” Brownsaid. “And he does agreat job of executing.”
St. Augustine (4-1, 1-1) quickly moved into scoring range to start the second half.Apersonal foul penalty let St. Aug start the drive near midfield. Ray’Quan Williams went 41 yards on aquick pass and was run out of bounds at the 6-yard line.
A4-yard run put the ball at the 2. Linebacker Kevin Martin stuffed the next run attempt, and Torrence Sanders had aquick pass breakup on aslant to the goal line.
That brought up fourth-and-2 and an attempted sneak by quarterback Vashon Coulon that was stuffed by LSU commitment Richard Anderson and the Karr defensive line.
“Good job by (Karr) on the goal line,” St. Augustine coach Robert Valdez said. “Wedidn’tget the push.”
To say the gamewas decided by this sequence of events would be astretch. Karr controlled the gamefor as long as it didn’tmake mistakes.
The Cougars will remain the team to beat in District 9-5A and in the state playoffs foraslong as they keep winning. And foras long as the quarterback keeps making the right decisions with the football.
Contact ChristopherDabe at cdabe@theadvocate.com
Catholic-N.I. 49, LakeCharles College Prep 42 Newman 33, Riverdale13 N. DeSoto 44, B.T. Washington 16 North Iberville 46, Vinton 40 No. Christian 37, Breaux Bridge 7 Northside 49, RHS 43 Northwest 44, Pine Prairie 0 OakGrove42, Delhi Charter12 Opelousas Catholic 52, St.Edmund 30 Ouachita
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STAFF PHOTO By JOHN MCCUSKER
Edna Karrquarterback John Johnson throws apass against St. Augustine on Friday. Johnson accounted for five touchdowns in the win.
Chris Dabe
SCOREBOARD
James Madison14, GeorgiaSt. 7 Mercer 45, Samford21 NC State 56, Campbell 10 Old Dominion 47, CoastalCarolina7 Prairie View 13, Alcorn St. 12 SC State 49, Savannah St. 6 Stetson 35, Davidson32 Tennessee Tech 66, W. Illinois20 Virginia 30, Louisville 27, OT W. Carolina 23, Wofford21 Wake Forest 30, VirginiaTech 23 William &Mary 38, NC A&T 34 MIDWEST
38, Iowa St. 30
Valparaiso 0 E. Illinois 31,Tennessee St.7
Purdue 27
NikolaMektic, Croatia, and Austin Krajicek, UnitedStates, def. AlexanderErler, Austria and Robert Galloway, UnitedStates, 7-5, 6-4. Harri Heliovaara, Finland, andHenry Patten (2), Britain, def. Luke Johnson, Britain,and SanderArends,Netherlands,6-7 (2), 6-4, 10-4. Jakob Schnaitter and Mark Wallner, Germany, def. Romain Arneodo, Monaco,and ZizouBergs,Belgium, 7-6(1),6-3 John Peers, Australia,and Jan Zielinski, Poland, def. Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori (4), Italy, 6-3, 7-5.
Sorokapitched to 7batters in the 2nd. WP_Brown. Umpires_Home, Edwin Moscoso; First, Mike
Estabrook; Second, Will Little; Third, Lance Barksdale; Right, Ryan Blakney; Left, Chris Conroy
T_3:05. A_42,678 (41,700). Toronto 10, N.Y. Yankees 1
New York Toronto ab rhbi abrh bi
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(Caballero)
Umpires_Home, Chris Segal; First,Adam Hamari; Second, Jordan Baker; Third,Tony Randazzo; Right, Roberto Ortiz; Left, Dan Bellino. T_3:06. A_44,655 (39,150). L.A. Dodgers 5, Philadelphia 3 LosAngeles Philadelphia ab rhbi abrh
Strahm BS,0-1
H,1
Kerkering
Duran
HBP_Sánchez (Rortvedt),Ohtani (Bader), Robertson (Smith) Umpires_Home, Nestor Ceja; First, Adrian Johnson; Second, NicLentz; Third, Mark Wegner;Right, Dan Merzel; Left, Jim Wolf. T_3:00. A_45,777 (42,901)
College football
Major scores Friday’s games W. Kentucky 27, Delaware 24 Brown28, Rhode Island21 Princeton 17, Columbia10 South Florida 54, Charlotte 26 San JoseSt35, New Mexico 28 San Diego St. 45,Colorado St. 28 BYU38, West Virginia 24Saturday’s games EAST Bucknell 33, Richmond 28 Buffalo 31, E. Michigan 30,OT CCSU 42, Sacred Heart 35, OT Colgate 41,Cornell21 Duquesne 34,Stonehill 14 Elon 17, Towson 3 Georgetown 27, Morgan St. 24 Harvard59, Holy Cross24 Lafayette 24, Fordham 10 Lehigh 31, Yale 13 Maine 34, Bryant 14 Marist 19, San Diego 14 Mercyhurst 22, LIU Brooklyn 13 Merrimack 24,RobertMorris 7 Monmouth (NJ) 49,Delaware St. 38 Navy 34, Air Force31 New Haven28, Pace 14 Penn 36, Dartmouth 24 Pittsburgh 48, Boston College 7 StonyBrook 47, Albany(NY) 12 Temple 27, UTSA21 Uconn 51, FIU 10 Villanova 37, New Hampshire7 W. Michigan 21,Umass 3 Washington 24, Maryland20 SOUTH Alabama 30, Vanderbilt 14 Alabama St. 52, Bethune-Cookman 35 Appalachian St. 27, Oregon St. 23 Army31, UAB13 AustinPeay44, West Georgia30 Chattanooga 21, VMI 14 Clemson 38, North Carolina10 Dayton 35, Morehead St. 28 Florida 29, Texas21 Furman 31, ETSU 22 Gardner-Webb 30,Charleston Southern27 Georgia 35, Kentucky 14 Hampton 41,NorfolkSt. 34 Jackson St. 57, Alabama A&M 24
(Mo.) 30, UT Martin 14 Miami (Ohio)25, N. Illinois14 Michigan 24,Wisconsin 10 Nebraska38, Michigan St. 27 North Dakota 35, N. Iowa 7 Northwestern 42, Louisiana-Monroe 7 NotreDame 28, Boise St.7 S. Dakota St. 35, Youngstown St. 30 South Dakota 49, Murray St. 24
SOUTHWEST Abilene Christian 52, North Alabama 23
Arkansas St. 31, TexasState 30 Baylor 35, Kansas St. 34 Cent. Arkansas 23, Utah Tech 17 Lamar 24, Nicholls 17 Oklahoma 44, Kent St. 0 SMU 31, Syracuse18
FARWEST
Arizona 41, Oklahoma St.13
Montana St. 34, N. Arizona 10 UCLA 42, Penn St.37
Tennis
Shanghai Masters
Saturday At Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena
Shanghai Purse: $9,193,538
Surface: Hardcourt outdoor Results SaturdayfromShanghai Masters at Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena(seedings in parentheses): Men’s Singles Round of 64
Kamil Majchrzak,Poland, def. Brandon Nakashima (29), United States, 6-4, 6-0. Felix Auger-Aliassime (12),Canada,def. AlejandroTabilo, Chile, 6-3, 6-3. Jiri Lehecka (15),Czechia,def.Quentin Halys, France, 6-4, 7-5. Alex de Minaur(7),Australia,def.Camilo Ugo Carabelli, Argentina, 6-4, 6-2. Yoshihito Nishioka,Japan, def. Andrey 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), UnitedStates, 6-3, 6-4. Alexander Zverev (3), Germany, def. Valentin Royer, France, 6-4, 6-4. LorenzoMusetti (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. AlejandroDavidovich 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. JannikSinner (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. KarenKhachanov(9),Russia,7-6 (3), 6-3. Men’s Doubles Round of 32
Make sure your game dayeats are atouchdown with our tips 2D
LIVING
Volunteers plead forhelp finding memento
BY ANNETTE SISCO Staff writer
Mary Ann and John Jacobs were the best kind of visitors to New Orleans. Beginning in the 1980s, the Tucson residents made the Crescent City aregular getaway,the city they “loved to visitand hated to leave,” as MaryAnn says. They got to know the neighborhoods, the restaurants, the music clubs. In 2014, they boughtashotgun double in the Lower 9th Ward and leaned into doing volunteer work with lowernine.org,a nonprofit that has rebuilt scores of flood-wreckedhomes since Hurricane Katrina.
Every time they went back to Arizona, they felt like they’d left alittle piece of themselves behind. That became true in aliteral sense when Mary Ann, now 90 years old, and John, 78, encountered health issues andhad to sell their New Orleanshome after the COVID pandemic Forthe long-distance move, friends packedthe home and sent thecouple’sbelongings outWest. Many items were donated to Goodwill.And in all the sorting and sifting, aprecious mementoofthe Jacobs’ life in New Orleans was accidentally donated to the thrift store. It was asimple T-shirt quilt, stitched together from shirts collected at New Orleans concerts and clubs. Each square wasa treasured memory,gathered over the years. And it wasgone.
“Weonlydiscovered it recently,” said Mary Ann, speakingby phone from her home in Tucson.
“It will be two years ago in August that we discovered that we lost it. We specified (the destinationof) most things but not all things, but realized we didn’t specify that the quilt was to be sent back to us.”
Lookingtoget involved Hurricane Katrina andthe ensuing flood discouraged many visitors. NotMary Ann and John Jacobs In 2011, looking for ways to get involved in the rebuilding, the pair attended ameet and greet at Morton’s Steakhouse.There, they met Laura Paul, executive
ä See QUILT, page 9D
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
BY RICHARD CAMPANELLA | Contributingwriter
“One of the greatest of its kind in theworld,” declared an orator at the project’sinauguration, “celebrating one of thegreatest eras in the history of theState.”
“Bold in conception,”exhorted the Niles’ Registerofthe project “thewonder of the world,” and the visionary behind it “first among theforemost” of the nation’sleaders.
“Thegreatestwork of its age,” the Evening Post called it
The state was New York;the visionary was Gov.DeWittClinton; thedate was October 1825; and the project was theErie Canal, that $7 million, 365-mile-long navigation channel that took thousands of workers seven years to dig, linking Lake Erie with the Hudson River
Whydoes the 200th anniversary of the opening of theErie Canal warrant coverage in afeature titled “Geographies of New Orleans”? Because thewaterway reconfigured our economic geography,and we’re still feeling theeffects today
Didthe 1920s’ most populardaredevil bringfeats
BYROBIN MILLER Staff writer
Sharon Coldiron is thekind of reader who is interested in a variety of subjects,sowhen she came acrossthe name of 1920s entertainer Alvin “Shipwreck” Kelly in an old newspaper article, her curiositygot thebestofher
“I know the1920s are known for early jazzand Vaudeville, but people were really intodaredevil stuntsatthat time, too,”
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 cities?” Louisiana definitely had its share of tall buildings, and though they may not always be as tall as someinNew York or Chicago, they still met Kelly’s criteria.
Hebrought 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?
PROVIDED PHOTOFROMTHE LIBRARy OF CONGRESS
The Erie Canal at Buffalo, Newyork, in 1905
PROVIDED PHOTOFROM MARy ANN JACOBS
The Jacobs’ handmade kingsized quilt was stitched together from T-shirts commemorating special concerts and favorite musical artists.
DINING SCENE
Whatever Saints’ record,foodand friendswin
Fora whole loaf po-boy, Ilike a late-morning visit to Mandina’s, before the after-churchrush, where they’ll hand over asandwich wrappedtogothat’saslong as your dashboard andfilledwith afishing networth of shrimp.
Ian McNulty WHAT’S COOKING
Idid not put muchstock in a Saints victory for their season opener afew weeks back, not after all the predictions for ateam with anew head coach and green quarterback room. Instead, my hopes were pinned on nachos, special nachos, for apersonal tradition that abets Sunday game days as nonnegotiable social time, no matter the score. Irolled intoa friend’shouse for that first watch party ready to serve my Mrs.Mary-McNulty-Is-Having-Company-Over-in-the-1980s Nachos.
These are the exact type my mother would make whenentertaining on aweekend night at home, when Iwas akid looking on, learningwhat adult friendships and hospitality looked like.
Fielding these nostalgic nachos again entailed stops at three groceries before finding the requisite round tortilla chips, and time-consuming assembly as fully loaded individual chips (not just amound of chips under amuck of toppings) evenasthe first quarter got underway After the Saints’ loss, the extra fuss put into the food remained ahighlight. Through subsequent weeks (and losses) similar game day spreads have helpedpreserve the pleasure andsocial amity of an afternoon spent with friends, astanding weekly gathering Ivalue more highlythan a division rivalry showdown.
Center stage is the marble kitchen island at afriend’shouse in Uptown New Orleansthat has become aclubhouse for agroup of us on football Sundays. Fellowship is the goal, sports is the intermediary,and the food the people in this group contribute is very much part of the experience.
It’sabout making abig deal of food because it’snot just a Sunday snack. It’sgame day,it’s time spent together,and it means sharing things we love and know will delight our friends.
I’m not letting something as arbitraryasthe performance of aprofessional sports team get in theway of that. That’swhy,de-
spite a0-4 start,Ilook to upcoming Sundays with anticipation, especially those late afternoon kick offs, withsomuch more time built in to procure and prepare. Procuringand presentation Fussy nacho assembly aside, I don’tactually spend much time over the stove. Rather,Itend to bring things with abackstory, specialties from places Ilike and want to share with my friends, and Itry to put alittle more into the presentation (just like my mom did when hosting back in the day).
So thecheesefrom St.James CheeseCo. will be sliced and arrayed, not just dropped there as ablock.
The off-bottom oysters sourced through Porgy’sSeafood Market, my new-but-old-fashioned local fishmonger,will be shucked over thesink and arranged together on aplatter
The sausagefrom Terranova Meats(thecentury-old, newlyreborn Italian butcher in MidCity) or boudin from thelatest foray to thebutcher shops of Acadiana will ride on my best cutting board, onefrom local
maker Working Hands NOLA, therusticcharcuterie equivalent of fine china. At some point there will be a game day sandwich of the whole loaf variety,cut like piano keys for grazing. In theory,this should be the same as cutting up acouple regularsandwiches next to each other.But in theorythe NFL should have parity andcertain teams should not be punching bags. On thegridiron, as on the kitchen island, theory will only take youso far.Awhole sandwich just turns out better
But Ialso like to go abit regionally exotic with subs, not po-boys, fromFrancolini’sItalianDeli, basedonthe sandwich shops of New Jersey, for long loaves filledwith chicken cutlets andbroccoliraab and red peppers (see“the Nicolo”sub). This might have aspecial synchronicity this week as the Saints host the New York Giants, who do playinNew Jersey,after all. Lore,legend, ladles
While Itry to contribute to these football feasts, the true cooking delights of Saints season aremainly in the hands of others in ourgroup.
The host for ourfootball Sundays will regularly prepare his “Dammit Aaron” jambalaya, a dish with its ownrituals and lore. He always starts with sausage from Poche’sMarket in Breaux Bridge andthere is always abay leaf laid over the chicken before it’saddedtothe pot. Why? Tradition. It is named in sardonic honor of AaronBrooks, whose reign of interceptions (and his grinning response to throwing them) will be rememberedbylong-suffering fans andperhaps gives better perspective to whatitmeans to be aSaints fanthrough the ages, the joyous Peyton/Brees aberrationofteam history notwithstanding.
As cooler weather arrives, there will be étouffée,agumbo toppedwith dumplings (of the chickenand dumplings variety), andatsome point apot roast cooked down under our noses for build-your-own-po-boyday
These arethings Ilook forward to in aseason more than aprimetime kickoff, of which the Saints have none this year.But we do have food We do notlook beyond results when it comes to game day. Football Sundays arefeast days, and the results areinour own hands.
Email Ian McNultyat imcnulty@theadvocate.com.
STAFF PHOTOSByIAN MCNULTy
The Nicolo partysub from Francolini’sItalian Deli is awhole loaf sandwichwith chicken cutlets, rabeand red peppers.
At left, sliced sausagefrom Terranova Meats with cheese and nuts are arrayedfor snacking, while, above, aplatter of oysters shucked at home gets dressed up withlemon for aSaints
Nell Nolan SOCIETY
Contact: nnolan@theadvocate.com
Talesof tastebuds
n NOCHI Niceties
What ajoy it was to enter abuilding thatwas abuzz withlively chatter anddecorated withdozensofcolorful balloons!Add Merry Antoinettes (all with têtes intact!) and apair of chef-garbed stilt walkers, and the fun increased in asetting with atropical twist. Event planner Tessa Martinez and her team from Contessa &Co. returnedfor the fourth year forNOCHI’s Cooking for aCause, presented by Hancock Whitney. It unfolded in theNOCHI (New Orleans Culinaryand HospitalityInstitute) building with apatron party as the social overture, followed by themain event.The lobby featured acustom stepand repeat, flanked by the above stilt walkersand featuring the CfaC, NOCHI and Hancock Whitney logos. The balloon installation, in abright kaleidoscope of tropical colors, was adorned withflowers, butterflies, fish and, befitting thecause, further food and cocktail items inspired by Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol. The installation draped thesignature staircase that arched down towardthe six-foot marquee letters spelling out NOCHI. For the greenery effect,yucca posts, palmetto palms, giant monstera, hydrangeas, andeucalyptus were placed strategically
The Merry Antoinettes,who caught every eye in their fetching, and elaboratecostumes,guided gueststothe elevators, whichtookthem to the fifth-floor event lobby.There, an abundant cornucopia display of tropical fruitsand vegetables providedbyA.J.’sProducewas surroundedbyalush tropical plant display from Crazy Plant Bae. Within the social space, roses, ranunculus, hydrangeas, Queen Anne’slace, delphinium and stock wereplaced in bud vases and set on the tables. Lilly Bird linens by Nuage Designs furtheredthe tropical theme
Paces away,and in theRNDC (Republic National Distributing Company) Beverage Lab, floor-to-ceiling bookcases showcased the auctionand packages, thehighest number to date,thatelicited bids throughout the evening. Moreballoons crested the bookcases under whichwas “AUCTION” in lighted letters. In acornerweretwo icewater dispensaries, aprudent gesture for folks who were just plain thirsty. Nearby,and outside on aterrace-deck, anumber of guests savoreda libationand the view.
For the spirited entertainment, music making came via Dr Michael Torregano of the Ellis Marsalis Center,aswell as the N’Fungola Sibo African Dance andDrum Company,Inc
Chase, Liz Hefler Gerald Duhon
CindyEllington, Cynthia Schreiber
n Pi Phi
At 7p.m., as NOCHIpartygoersgathered in the Grand Hall for ashort program, eventco-chairwomen Wendy McCarthyBeron and Lizabeth Boulware (with spouses Thomas and Bruce)thanked guests and sponsors for their support in training learners in culinary skills, andrecognizedthe evening’s2025 honoree, NOCHI board member, Susan Spicer for her decades of showcasing our city’scuisine culture. She wasjoinedby Jonas Owens,managing partner of her restaurant Rosedale. Further honorees were Denise and Bill Hoffman,who have championed NOCHI’smission and the future of hospitality in thecity Generating alot of excitement was the announcement by NOCHI founders andboardmembers Ti Martin and Dickie Brennan thatinApril The Goldring Family Foundationcommitted $5 million in matching funds to ensure NOCHI’slong-termsuccess. It was the largest gift in the NOCHI history.This matching gift hasmotivatedthe hospitalityindustry and communitytocontribute. Recentdonors have been Paulette and Frank Stewart, Joyand Boysie Bollinger,Lauren and GeorgeBrower,and many others. Live bidding ledbyauctionco-chairs andNOCHI boardmembers Kyle France and John Stubbs generated excitement for62unique hospitality experiences. Needlesstosay,food features wereonparade. A“Swine SecondLine”introduced agiant whole roastedpig. Elsewhere, aLouisiana Seafood raw barattracted lovers of the bivalves. Among the alumni chefswho prepared dishes were Patrick Teagle, Martha Gilreath, Lizzie Algero,Alvin Johnson, Necie Johnson,TiaMonet,Krystle Pitcher,Jaleel Mosley,Kizzy Danner, and Dominique Melancon. Notables werenumerous and includedthe Bollingers, Katie and Pepper Baumer 2024 Cooking for aCause honorees Julie and TedGeorge with Ellie, Billy Crosby, Erin Saer,Marthaand John Landrum,NOCHI alum chef Zoe Chase,Tracie and Michael Griffin, Karen and HenryCoaxum,Louisiana Restaurant Association President and CEO Stan Harris, and from Hancock Whitney,CEO John Hairston, LindsayWands, Hartley Crunk, Liz Hefler, and Marguerite Moisio.Tomention afew.Those ranks wereswelled by BryanBatt and TomCianfichi, Elizabeth Boh, Kathleen VanHorn, Frog White, and scores more who were cooking up their own recipe for fun. And culinaryphilanthropy
Nourishment for the mind and body figured prominently at the recent gathering of the New Orleans Pi Beta Phi Alumnae Club. Headlining the invitation was “Wine, Silver Blue and Philanthropy Too.” Wine and silver blue are the colors of the sorority,alsodescribed as “an international women’sfraternity,” thatwas founded in 1867. Pi Phi promotes not only friendships,but also philanthropic servicethrough its literacy programs. For the above Sunday afternoon togetherness, alumna Donna DibollFlower was the hostess at her handsome uptown home. Included were Arielle Steers Gingrow and Chloe Beals,respective Alumnae Club president andvice presidentofmembership; a Liz trio in Mmes. Hailey,Williams and Landry;and amother-daughterduo in Cindy Ellington andCynthia Schreiber Also, Patsy Green,Tina McLellan, Edie Wilson, Nancy Rathborne, Molly Douglas, Juliette Cassagne, Margaret Maxwell, Elizabeth Frost, Holly Snodgrass, and Jeanie Perrilliat.Everyone brought booksfor the Little Free Library units around the city,and also donated money forSTAIR (Start theAdventure in Reading). Halfway through, Arielle addressed thecrowd with all that theclubhas been doing and promoted the upcoming December Angel OrnamentExchange Lively conversation followed as members gatheredaround the diningroom table for such treats as deviled eggs,fruit andveggie bites,dips, oversize chocolate chip cookies, and from Arielle, light anddark honeyfromher eponymous Bee Hive.
n Bon Appétit
Project Lazarus has along history of serving those living with HIV/AIDS in the Greater New Orleans area by focusing on wellness, housing and support services. Fundraising for this mission is paramount. The mostrecent one, titled Bon Appétitand chaired by Tony Leggio and PL leadership, took place at theAudubon Aquarium, where auction action,bubbly, dessert and dancing filled the bill. So did BryanShurigar as acostumed merman seated in ahuge clam shell (Mardi Gras Production,Inc), the Merry Antoinettes’ cavorting, Vanessa CarrKennedy and Vantasika Divine’sdrag performances, and DJ Paul Lakeway‘s music. Prior to that gallivanting, there were aslew of pre-parties, thanks to Fletcher Jernigan, Nick Daigle, Lance Hebert,DannyPost, JerryFredieu,and Falon Brown; Daniel Robbins and JeffreyWickwier; Chad Graci, CollinMagee and Louis David; Chris Sellers and Tommy Servantez; Romy Thompson and Rachel Hoag; CaryOswald and Black Tie Club New Orleans; and LibbyBowles and Meredith Smith
The latter hosts, whoraised $3,000-plus, entertained at Meredith’s impressive home. Milling as guests were Lisa Johnsonand Linda Pierce, Kevin and Kristen Schorp, BrandeeLasuzzo,Shani Silver, BenjaminGulick,DeepaBhatnagar, Daphne and KurtStratton, Jessa Carlson and Matt Findley, and Hayley and Kevin White
To mention afew,who relished all the delicious food —eggplant caponataand tortellini, meatballs, flatbreads, Caprese skewers, and sandwiches —and drinks, both “non” and alcoholic. Especially popular along with the Italian Paloma and Aperol spritz, was the Negroni.
PHOTOSByJEFF STROUT
Lizabeth Boulware, WendyMcCarthy Beron
Dickie Brennan, Bill Goldring,TiMartin, George Brower
Susan Spicer,Bill and Denise Hoffman
Dook
PHOTOSByJEFF STROUT
Holly Snodgrass, Margaret Maxwell
STAFFPHOTOSByNELL NOLAN LibbyBowles, Meredith Smith
Kristen and KevinSchorp, Lisa Johnson
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,ofDawsonville, were looking to make extra money for Christmas, so they planted pumpkins to sell at the end of the farm’sgrowing season. After thousands of people showed up to visit their pumpkinpatch, 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 pumpkinpatch andzinnia fields decorated for children’sdelight. At theend of the ride, there’sa dramatic view of neighboring Amicalola Falls.
Not far from Burt’sFarm, the Weavers grow organic crops throughout the year,along with selling fried pies, peanuts, apple cider slushies and lots of baked goods created on the farm. There’s also agift shop located inside an 1800s building that once housed thetown’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 whenhe was 5,” Karen Weaver said. “Now he’s33.” Jaemer Farms is asix-gener-
TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER
By ChristopherElliott
TRAVEL
ationfarm northeast of Atlanta wherevisitorsmay purchase not only produce andlocal food products, herbs, flowersand giftsbut also lunch items and baked goods fresh out of theoven. In the fall, Jaemer hosts apumpkin patch, aHarvestCelebration and Corn Maze daily through Nov.2
A-peelingfun
The north Georgia mountains are known for their apples,and everyfallthe twin cities of Ellijay and Blue Ridge honor the great Americanfruitwithspecial events.
Mercier Orchards in Blue Ridge grows 52 varieties of apples and invitesvisitorstopick theirown, plus sample their cider selections that they pressthemselves,about 1,500 to 1,700gallons of juice a
day.Inside theirmassive store, the bakery section sells fried apple pies thatare amust to try; they’re over-the-top delicious Ellijay celebrates its apple heritage withthe annual Georgia Apple Festival, this year Oct. 1112 and 18-19. Look for hundreds of vendorsselling hand-crafted items and performing on-site demonstrations, plus live music and fair food, which, of course, includes apples.
Corn mazes
It’s easytoget lostinUncle Shuck’sCornMaze, but what fun you’ll have in the process. Dawsonville’sannual corn maze named one of USA Today’s10Best Corn Mazes and Pumpkin Patches —offers anew design each year acrossits 15 acres.Inaddition to
running through acornfield like something out of aStephen King novel, there are pumpkins, ajumping pillow,tire mountain, kids’ maze, gem mining and on Friday and Saturdaynights in October, The Dark Rows haunted trail in aseparate cornfield illuminated only by themoon.
The corn maze runs now through twoweekends 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 September,and the flowers usually stay until theend 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. 4 through 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
correspondence with both REI and TinLeg
Christopher Elliott
Ibought travel insurance from TinLeg for ascheduled REI tour to Utah.Whenafamily tragedy struck and my husband’sfather passed away,I canceled our entire tripand all related reservations. Iacted quickly to informboth REI and TinLeg Despite my prompt cancellation,Tin Leg denied my claim.Their explanation wasthat because Ireused my airline ticket for adifferent trip, my cancellation was deemed invalid. Ifeel that this interpretation is unfair Ifollowed the policy by canceling the trip that Icould not takedue to unforeseen circumstances. Ihavemaintained acomplete papertrail of everyemail, phone call and
Ineed to know if my cancellation should have triggered afullreimbursement for the canceled REI trip. Did my actions not meet the intended spirit of the policy? Ialso wonder if therewas anything more Icould have done to secure my refund. —Amy Sparks, Minneapolis
I’msorry to hearabout your father-in-law. At atime like this, youwould expect your travel insurance company to be compassionate and to quickly honor your claim —afterall, that’s why you bought travelinsurance.
Iwas curious aboutwhy TinLeg deniedyour refund. In an email to you, the company explained its reasons.
“Unfortunately, as your trip was rescheduledrather than canceled in its entirety,”a representative told you, “the REI portion is not eligible for reimbursement.The Trip Cancellation benefit under your policy requires the entiretrip to be canceled to qualify for coverage, not just aportion of it.” In other words, because you accepted acredit for your flight instead of canceling it,Tin Leg denied your entire claim.
Ithought acarefully worded appeal to TinLeg might have allowed the insurance company to seethat this interpretation of the policy,while technically correct, was wrong. But it also rejected your appeal.
Ilist the names, numbers and email addressesofthe customer serviceexecutives at TinLeg on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org.
Abrief, polite email to one of themmight have fixed this.
But travelinsurance is complicated. The decision about whether to honor your claim actually needed to be made by TinLeg’sunderwriter,Starr Indemnity Insurance Co. Icontacted Starr on your behalf to seeifmaybe something had been overlooked with your claim. Separately,you reached out to the Minnesota Department of Commerce, which regulates travel insurance in your state, and filed a complaint. 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 be sure 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 consumers solve their problems. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help by contacting him on his site.
PHOTOSByCHERÉ COEN
Burt’s PumpkinFarmsells
ARTS &CULTURE
Museum’s ‘BeyondAll Boundaries’getsa majorupgrade
TomHanksreturns to narrate introduction
The National WWII Museum cinematic attraction “Beyond All Boundaries,” narrated and coproduced by TomHanks, was an immediate hit when it openedin November 2009.Offering visitors a“4D journey through the war that changed the world,” it provided an immersive 47-minute overview of America’s experience in thewar
Dave Walker
As the narrative unfolded across the far-flung theaters of battle:
n Solomon Victory Theater seatsrumbledasaction sequences played on-screen.
n Life-size objects likeaconcentration-camp guard towerand the nosesection of abomber plane rose or dropped into view
n When troops experienced frigid conditions, snow appeared to fall on the audience.
n An all-star cast of actors, including Gary Sinise, Brad Pitt, Patricia Clarkson and Wendell Pierce, gave voice to the millions of men and women who went to waroverseas and on the homefront.
Mike Scott, writing in The Times-Picayune, called it a“magnificent and moving spectacle” and a“world-class, theme park-style attraction combining education and entertainment in a stirring and inspiring package.” The film’sdebut was ahuge moment for the museum, whichhad activated and begun fundraising for the master plan that foretold the world-class museum we know today.But Hurricane Katrina paused alot, for all of us.“Beyond All Boundaries” was the museum’s first big move upriver and across Andrew Higgins Boulevard from its original National D-Day Museum base.
“It’sbeen 16 years, and 4.3 million visitors have had the opportunity to see it,” saidJames
Williams, the museum’svice president and chief operating officer “It’sreally become an integral part of the guest experience now.”
After 16 years of hourly screenings, however,the fourth “D” neededsome TLC
Dark for several weeks,“Beyond All Boundaries” recently reopened with alike-new (or better) technical upgrade.The storyremains the same, but film portions have beenremastered, movingpieces props have been restored or replaced, and the theater chairs have been swappedout for new rumble seats.Perhaps mostsignificantly,the preshow video narrationbyits famous coproducer hasbeenrerecorded to reflect the starasheappears today versus the “Angels &Demons”-era Tom Hanks
“Heissuchanintegral part, as the narrator,of ‘Beyond All Boundaries,’”Williams said. “So, we were honored that he was having it redone.”
The renovationprocessproceeded on two,um, fronts. The video presentationwas reworked by THG Creative, the California- and Florida-headquartered firm that oversawthe original production.
Meanwhile,back in New Orleans, the show’s many mechanicalelements werebrought up to contemporary presentation standards.
“Anything onthe mechanical side— the watchtower,the nose of theplane,and then therewere
some other elements—all of those had to be removed and changed,” Williams said. Phil Hettema, THG’sfounder and chief executive officer,was the project’s creative spark when it was first produced and returned to captain the renovation As “Beyond All Boundaries” was in development, Hettema understood that “there was afine line for ahistory show to use new technologies while preserving the authenticity of historical content,” wrotecofounder Gordon H “Nick” Muellerinhis recent memoir “Preserving theLegacy: Creating the National WWII Museum.”
“Phil was brilliant on that score.”
Writing further,Mueller summarized his original goals for the
n Thereare twoevents Sunday at the NewOrleans Pharmacy Museum, 514 ChartresSt. Promising amarket and exhibition of “the strangeand unusual,”the Fall Oddities Emporium will takeplace from 10 a.m. to 4p.m. in the museum’s courtyard.Admission is free.At 10 a.m., the first of several seasonal “Mostly Ghostly:Spirited Guided Tours” of the museum will take place. pharmacymuseum.org
n At 6p.m.Tuesday, Friends of the Cabildo will present avirtual member lecture titled“The Devil’s Own Purgatory: The United States Mississippi RiverSquadron in the CivilWar” by RobertGudmestad. friendsofthecabildo.org
n The Hermann-Grima &Gallier Historic Houses present avirtual event by Emily Clark at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdaytitled“Spirits of New Orleans: What the DeadHavetoSay and WhyItMatters.”hgghh.org
n The exhibit “Indigeaux: yes, Spirit. I’ll go …” by IyaOriade Queen Leia Lewis opens at the WhitneyPlantation,5099 La. 18 in Edgard, on Oct.17.The work explores the spiritual and cultural memory of indigodyeing traditions. whitneyplantation.org
attraction, which have been reinforced in the upgraded presentation: “(T)he film would reflect the museum’smission, presenting a positive narrative, acelebration of the strength of the American spirit,and astory of hope and liberation from tyranny.Iwanted future generations to know that contrary to misguided public opinion about the efficiency of totalitarian regimes,our messy democratic institutions and systems emerged superiorinbattle, weapons, troops,technology,leadership and homefront support.” Mueller then quoted Dwight D. Eisenhower,the wartime Supreme AlliedCommanderinthe European Theater of Operations: “Our audiences should understand what Gen. Eisenhower meant when he said that ‘Hitler should beware of the fury of an aroused democracy.’”
n The Historic NewOrleans Collection will host aworkshop titled “Caring foryour Family Tree: Branching Out” from 10:30 a.m. to 3p.m. Oct.18.The event will takeplace at the Williams Research Center,410 ChartresSt. hnoc.org
DaveWalker focusesonbehindthe-scenes coverage of the region’s many museums here andatwww.themuseumgoer com. Email dwalkertp@gmail. com.
PROVIDED PHOTOS
Bombers seem to rush straight at the viewer in ‘Beyond All Boundaries.
Workers adjust the nose of abomber at The National WWII Museum,part of the dramatic immersiveexperience ‘Beyond All Boundaries.’
Hanks
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.
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 jointly run by a private health care company and a pharmaceuti-
cal conglomerate, who are testing a mindmelting 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.
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-
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
Arainy daygameofLSU-opoly with thegrandkids
BY DOROTHY TRICK Contributing writer
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
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 thatheattached to the top oncehegot there,” Wynne said. “And he would tie his legs to the pole when he slept, which enabled him to stay there for days. He would also attach atube to himself, so he wouldn’t have 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
often enoughtoknow most of its landmarksand those of thesurroundingarea. TheLSU-opoly gamehas
were fascinated by him.”
From WWItoadaredevil
Kelly was born Aloysius Anthony Kelly on May11, 1893, in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen. He ran away from home atage 13, changed hisname to Alvin andspent hisearly years workingas asteelworker,high diver, boxer,movie double and licensed 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
an 1988 Late for the Sky copyright marking, but our grandkids claimed there is an updated version of this
early 1920s and continuing through the1930s. Wynne documented Kelly’sLouisiana visits in his 2023 book, “Hanging by aThread: Alvin ‘Shipwreck’ Kelly,the World’sGreatest Flagpole Sitter.”
Kelly first shows up in aJuly 18, 1923, feature article in The Times of Shreveport.Hewas passing through on a90-day boxcar ride from New Orleansto San Francisco andsaid he was considering climbing someofShreveport’s downtown buildings for fun.
Butthere was no followup article documenting it. Meanwhile, Wynne’sdig through old Times-Picayune files turned up stories 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
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-
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 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
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
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-
“He spent 10 hours on the flagpole of the Guaranty Building, but he didn’tget permission to do it,” Wynne said. “He snuck to the top 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 the stunt, this timeinAlexandria’sHome Theatre on Third Street, where, The Town Talk noted, he also sold postcards with proceeds going to disabled World WarI veterans.
Kelly returned to New 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
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.
through his entire lifewas that he wasonthe Titanic in 1912. But he was never on the Titanic.”
YetKelly told people he wasasurvivor of 11 shipwrecks, the mostnotable being the Titanic. So, he adopted the nicknameand created the daredevil persona that earned him $500 aday at the height 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.
Autumn agreat time to show up forLa.’s arts community
In an earlier life as afilm critic, I’d often find myself screening movies aloneatthe afternoon matinees each autumn. That’swhen vacation season ended and school resumed, leaving the local theaters largely empty.What akingly indulgence to sit by myself in ahuge space while anew 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 aboutafilm, it was ideal to screen it with other people. Imightnot agree about what others found funny,sad or inspiring, but seeing their reactions
DannyHeitman AT RANDOM
helped me better understand myself. Igleaned new insightsfrom fellow moviegoers that Iwouldn’t have gotten if I’dwatched a new film as asolo viewer When Iwatched amovie alone, itwas athing; within an audience, it was an event. I’ve been thinking about all of thisasanother cultural season unfolds across Louisiana, giving those of
us wholive here lots of opportunitiesfor this kind of collective experience. My mailthese days includes brochuresfromareamuseums, symphonies and theatercompanies, and I’ve come to treasure them as much as thegarden catalogsthatlandinmy mailbox, too. Theyall point me to the promise of something largerthanmyself, whichisone of theabiding wonders of enjoying a painting, aplayoramusicalperformance with our neighbors. The world haschangeda great deal since Iworked as afilm critic more than three decadesago.Thanks to the digitalrevolution, we can savorhundreds of TV
channels andaninfinitude of online programming at home. Allofuscan be what Ionce wasinthatempty theater: lone consumers of culture,single diners at the banquetofbeauty we call the creative arts. Like many of us, Iwelcome quietevenings at home withNetflix or agood book,cloisteredonthe couch with my wife in a world thatseems comfortably self-sufficient. But that kind of inwardness, embracedtoo routinely, can be isolating, which isn’t good formeorthe community andcountry Ilive in.
The headlinestellusofa brokenworld, andthere are so many cracksthatmore than one thing is needed
RedMassset forSt. LouisCathedral Monday
Staff report
ArchbishopGregory Aymond will be the celebrant Monday morning when the Catholic bishops of Louisiana and the St. Thomas More Catholic Lawyers Association gather at St. Louis Cathedral
in NewOrleansfor the71st annual Red Mass. Louisiana lawyersand judges and their families attend the yearly Catholic religious service, which gets its name from thered robes andvestments worn by celebrants and judicial attendees.
After areception at the Bourbon Orleans Hotel,a memorialservice will be held in the Supreme Court for membersofthe bench and bar who died in 2024. The tradition of the Red Mass dates back manycenturies, anews release from the
organizers said. In theUnited States, the traditionbegan in 1929 in New Yorkandisnowcelebratedon thefirst Monday in October in Louisiana, California, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Georgia, and the DistrictofColumbia, according to the release.
Series explores Britain’sbiggest heist
PBS’ ‘The Gold’ begins Sunday
BY MARK KENNEDY AP entertainment writer
NEW YORK In 1983,six thieves muscled their way into awarehouse near Heathrow Airport, expecting to find alarge sum of foreign currency
They got much more than they bargained for —26 million pounds worth of gold bars.
What happenedinthe days and years next is the subject of PBS’ “Masterpiece” enthralling series
“The Gold,” which traces the ripple effects of Britain’sbiggest robbery,going from alocal search to infiltrating an international money laundering cartel. It starts airing Sunday
“From the minute the show starts, the pressure’s
on,” says showrunnerNeil Forsyth. “There’sa clock ticking, there’s anet tighteningand allthese things. So it’slovely to write characters under that continual pressure.”
The so-calledBrinks-Mat heist rocked Britain, leading to changes in banking laws, policingand shining alight onofficial corruption.Much ofthe goldwas never located.Itwas melted down and sold back intothe financial system,with the proceeds launderedinto real estate.
“It’sliterally in the bricks andmortarand thearchitecture that surrounds peopleeverywhere,” says Emun Elliott, who plays one of the detectives. “There might be apiece of that stolen goldinyour wedding ring. It is everywhere.”
To tellthe sprawling story of “The Gold,” Forsyth streamlined timelines,
combinedreal-life figures and adjusted events to fit thedrama. Viewers are told theserieswas “inspired by real events.”
gold and money
“He absolutely was adamant that notonhis watch would police corruption thrive,” Bonnevillesays.
to mend them. Butbeing within an audienceorart gallery withother people is oneway that we can share what’s good,whichcan help build sharing andgoodness intoahabit
Iwas moved this week by aquote from theFrench writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry that speakstowhat I’mtrying to say:“Life has taught us that love does not
consist in gazing at each other but in looking outwardtogether in thesame direction.”
Local arts institutions give us that shared horizon. I’mgoing to do my best this autumn to show up for them
Email Danny Heitmanat danny@dannyheitman com.
“It’snot astrict factual drama,” he says. “I don’t find that avery attractive route to go down creatively because Ilike having the space tocreate and that’s extremelyimportant if you’regoing to create somethingthat’struly entertaining, truly gripping.”
Onereal personwho is portrayed in the series is Brian Boyce, the principled and determined lead investigator,playedby“Downton Abbey” starHugh Bonneville.
Boyce “was known to be asafe pair of hands,”says Bonneville, who met the retired officer to prepare for therole.
Boyceknew some officers in thedepartment were corrupt and picked alean, insularteam to track down the
“He’sareal man of integrity and Ithink that comes through. You’ve gothim against allodds trying to steer alevel course and get this job done.”
Forsyth says theseries first episode attracted some 10 million viewersinthe U.K. —or1in5ofthe adult population.
He sayshewas in arestaurant with his wife once when thenearbytable spent thewhole meal discussing it, whichwas “somewhat unnerving.”
Forsyth was only 5and living in Scotland at the time of what he calls the “iconic heist.” Despite its impact on British society no one had pieced it all together in adramatization or an all-encompassing documentary until now
Debating on thescent of honesty
Feeling Left Out
Dear Annie: Iused to really enjoy my job. Then came my new cubicle mate. She is perfectly nice, friendly, polite, even funny,but she also has body odor so powerful it could knock overa houseplant. Our desks are only 5 feet apart which means Ispend eight hours aday marinating in her scent cloud. By midmorning, my stomach is churning, and by quitting time, Ifeel like Ishould toss my clothes straight into a bonfire.
Itried putting an air freshener under my desk,but that was like putting aBandAid on aflood. The smell sails right past lavender, citrus and mountain breeze without breaking asweat. Icannottell if it is sweat, unwashed laundry,poor hygiene or possibly amedical issue. All Iknow is that it is relentless.
Iamnot the only one who notices. My co-workers whisper about it behind her back, and afew have even gone to management. Nothing has changed.Meanwhile, Iamstuck in ground zero. Idonot want to hurt her feelings or makeher feel singled out. She really is akind person, and Iwould like to keep things cordial. But my nose has been waving awhite flag for weeks. How do Ibring this up without making her feel humiliated or turning our cubicle into awar zone?
Fresh Air
Youare nota villain for wantingtobreathefreely at work.Alittle honesty,delivered with care, can make life betterfor bothof you.
Dear Annie: I’ma52-yearoldwoman whothought I hadmyfriendships figured out. I’vehad the same core group offriends formore than 30years—we’vebeen through weddings, births,
Dear Fresh Air: There is no easy way to tell someone they smell bad, but there are kinder ways than you might think. Since management already knowsand hasnot acted,the next step is to address it gently yourself. Keepitprivate,keep it short and keep it kind. A simple,“Idon’tknowifyou are aware, but there’s sometimesanodorand Ithought youwould wanttoknow”is direct without being cruel. Most peoplewould rather hearitquietly from acolleague than through office gossip. If theideaofsaying it yourself feels impossible, ask your manager or HR to step in again, and insist itbe handled. This is aworkplace issue,not justapersonal nuisance,and it is fair to expect managementtodeal with it.
divorces, even the lossof parents. But lately,Ifeel like I’ve been quietly voted out of the club.
When we were younger, we leaned on each other for everything. Now theyplan weekends away,dinner partiesand even simple movie nights —and Ioften find out only after the fact,when I seethe photos on social media. I’ve asked once or twice if Idid something wrong, and theybrush it off with excuses about schedulesor “it just came together last minute.”
Here’sthe thing: I’m not looking for constant invites or hand-holding, but being excluded from people who once felt like family stings. Ican’ttell if this is justthe natural ebb and flow of long friendships, or if I’ve truly been edged out. Part of me wants to call it out directly AnotherpartwondersifI should gracefully bow out and build new connections withpeople who value me
How do you know when to fight for old friendships and when to let them go?
Dear Feeling Left Out: Friendships, like seasons,shift over time. Youcan’tcontrol whether you’reinvited, but you can control how you respond. Tell your friends plainly thattheir exclusions hurt, and then watch what theydo—not what they say. If the behavior continues, take it as information: you deserve to spend your energy on people who showup for you. Old friendships are worth cherishing, but they aren’tworth begging for
Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@ creators.com.
Annie Lane
DEAR ANNIE
director of lowernine.org, and learned of the recovery work her organization was doing.
“Laura offered to give us a personal tour of the area the next morning,” Mary Ann recalled “She drove us through the streets of the Lower 9th Ward, and what I saw was heartbreaking.” Involvement came quickly Mary Ann’s skills as a QuickBooks consultant were put to use doing lowernine. org’s bookkeeping from her home in Tucson. John, a programmer for hospital software companies, contributed technical support and helped with fundraising.
CANAL
Continued from page 1D
Previously, physical geography had imparted a key advantage to New Orleans in attracting Western produce — that it, all those agricultural surpluses raised west of the Appalachian Mountains that needed to get to market.
Going up the Ohio River was slow and difficult prior to the age of steamboats, and even if you made it to Pittsburgh, you’d still have to haul your bulky cargo over the mountains to reach the big cities of the Eastern Seaboard. Paddling through the Great Lakes to reach the St. Lawrence River was even harder, being extremely circuitous and nearly impossible in winter By far the cheapest and easiest route to market was to float with the current of the Mississippi down to New Orleans, a trip into balmy climates that required only a simple raft or flatboat. Upon arriving at the South’s largest city, farmers could broker a deal with merchants and return home on a keelboat or later a steamboat. So cost-effective was the trip down the Mississippi that New Orleans commanded 99% of trans-Appalachian exports from 1810 to 1821, and fully 100% from 1822-1825, according to data compiled by historian Erik Fiso Haites. Commercial leaders in New Orleans basked in their geographical destiny, as did national leaders once the city became American. Shortly after the Louisiana Purchase, President Thomas Jefferson declared that “New Orleans will be forever, as it is now, the mighty mart of the merchandise brought from more than a thousand rivers(;) no such position for the accumulation and perpetuity of wealth and power (has) ever existed.”
Profits flow to new canal
As early as 1826, however, the newly opened Erie Canal began eating New Orleans’ lunch — 9.4% of it, to be exact, equating to 20,000 tons of cargo such as corn, beans, wheat and smoked pork. By 1830, it had taken 11.5%, and two years later, 14.3%.
Western farmers and Manhattan brokers now understood it was far faster and cheaper to ship cargo straight east to the Hudson River and New York City, than to go all the way down the Mississippi to New Orleans and back up around the East Coast. Human ingenuity had tricked out the natural advantages on which New Orleans had been founded. Soon, workers cut another canal to connect the Ohio River with Lake Erie, and a third to link a tributary of the Mississippi to Lake Michigan at Chicago. More canals followed in Pennsylvania, dug faster and cheaper by steam shovels.
Just during 1835, farmers in Ohio sent nearly 100,000 bushels of wheat, 86,000 barrels of flour, and 2.5 million staves through Buffalo instead of New Orleans to reach eastern markets. Shipping costs dropped nearly tenfold, while shipping time was halved. Then came the railroads: the New York & Erie, the
PROVIDED PHOTO FROM MARy ANN JACOBS Mary Ann and John Jacobs volunteered in New Orleans and owned a home here for a time.
“They are some of the most dedicated supporters we have ever had, and I count them as dear personal
Baltimore & Ohio, the New York Central, the Pennsylvania. Each line connected Western farms to Eastern cities with ever-increasing speed, capacity, reliability and catchment areas. Whereas Western commodities had previously moved on a north-to-south axis with a vertex at New Orleans, now they increasingly flowed west-to-east with a vertex at Chicago and a terminus at New York where they became value exports to foreign markets.
The price of staples drops In 1840, exports at New York caught up with those of New Orleans, as each port handled $34 million By 1855, railroads had raised New York’s exports to $114 million, whereas New Orleans’ had risen to only $55 million Meanwhile the price of staples dropped in Northeastern cities, increasing households’ disposable income and enabling them to purchase manufactured goods, thus furthering Northern industrialization Commercial interests in New Orleans began to grow apprehensive. “We have been accustomed to look to the Mississippi as the
friends,” Laura Paul said on Thursday
They found a Dauphine Street double where they could live when they visited,
protector of our greatness,” wrote a Picayune editorialist in 1850. “We have thought that as long as the mighty Father of Waters continues to roll past our city, our superiority in a commercial point of view never can be successfully attacked.”
But now, “New York has her great Erie Canal, Boston her Western Railroad, Philadelphia her canals and railroads, Baltimore her communications with the Ohio Valley — by all of which a large portion of our legitimate trade is diverted from us. Charleston, Savannah, and even Mobile are now preparing to grasp at a share of the spoil.”
By 1855, New Orleans’s share of trans-Appalachian produce had dropped to 44% of tonnage, down from 100%, while the Erie Canal handled 39% and railroads another 16%.
The flow of trade reversed Effectively, “the flow of western trade reversed itself,” wrote historians Ronald M. Labbé and Jonathan Lurie of the reversal of fortune; “the economic unit known as the Mississippi Valley had been turned on its head, so that the Mississippi River was flow-
renting out one side and part of their side as well. They threw themselves into work for lowernine.org, while enjoying second-lines and potlucks with fellow volunteers. They sponsored stages at the French Quarter Festival and Satchmo SummerFest All in all, it was a thoroughly New Orleans life.
But in January 2020, a routine visit to New Orleans turned disastrous. Both Mary Ann and John became extremely sick, after what they now believe was exposure to COVID-19 during the flight. The illness landed Mary Ann, then 85, in the ICU.
Two years later they made their last visit to New Orleans. Due to their age and
ing north,” commercially speaking.
Why didn’t New Orleans respond in kind, by reducing its reliance on the river and diversifying in manufacturing or building its own railroads?
Because, as historian Merl E. Reed put it, “the tremendously rapid rate of growth taking place in the agricultural West concealed New Orleans’ declining position.” In other words, because the size of the pie had grown so dramatically a 36-fold increase in Mississippi Valley shipments to New Orleans between 1810 and 1860, when over 2,187,000 tons landed — local merchants failed to act on the fact that their slice of the pie had diminishing, from 100% to 44%.
It was a missed opportunity of epic proportions, in that it allowed the cities of today’s Midwest, such as Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis, to sprint ahead in industry, while the Crescent City remained largely a mercantilist entrepôt (transshipment port) dependent on plantation agriculture and its legions of enslaved workers Some might describe the failure as the result of myopia, inertia, folly
declining health, they realized they could no longer maintain their beloved New Orleans double and put it up for sale.
“We have a real it’s more than a soft spot in our hearts for New Orleans. It kind of broke our hearts to let the house go It was tough,” John said.
Memories of good times
There were two lowernine.org T-shirts sewn into the quilt, John said. Other shirts recalled Cab Calloway at the 1992 Jazz Fest, Allen Toussaint, WWOZ Piano Night and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The colors are striking: mostly red, white and black.
The couple called friends back in New Orleans, even
or greed. Writing in 1884, George Washington Cable described it as “intellectual indolence” fostered by “slave-holding and the easy fortunate-getting it afforded,” as New Orleanians, both French-speaking and English-speaking, “rejoiced in a blaze of prosperity that blinded both.”
Ship builders, factories open
To be fair, some local interests did take action. Investors particularly on the West Bank brought iron-working, ship-building and other industries to the area, while railroad companies in the mid-1850s linked both banks with regional markets otherwise inaccessible to the port. Still others opened factories that added value to cotton lint, sugar products, timber, and other commodities passing through the port. But it proved too little, too late compared to Midwestern and Northern cities. Having ranked as the third largest city in the nation in 1840, New Orleans dropped to fifth-largest in 1850 and sixth in 1860. Today, New Orleans is around the 60th largest.
Northern advantages proved insurmountable. They included freedom, an
called Goodwill, looking for the cozy king-sized quilt that would remind them of good times and good friends. It had seemingly vanished.
“We’re thinking there might be somebody in New Orleans that bought it, and recognized that this was somebody else’s collection,” Mary Ann said.
“It really hurts. It was sent to Goodwill by mistake, along with stuff we did donate from our home in the Lower 9. Perhaps some good soul has it now, and it could be they are wondering how to find me,” she said.
“It is a long shot, absolutely,” she said. “But who knows?”
Email Annette Sisco at asisco@theadvocate.com.
abundance of aspirational towns and villages, more capital, more coal, more hydropower, much larger cities, and a growing network of efficient transportation arteries.
In the face of fierce debates over the westward expansion of slavery, South and North grew further apart, and soon the enmity would explode in sectional violence.
Two hundred years later, the story of the Erie Canal teaches three stinging lessons.
Prepare for a rainy day while the sun is still out.
Diversify to guard against overreliance. And don’t assume any fixed destinies, including geography — or else rivals will eat your lunch.
Richard Campanella, a geographer with the Tulane School of Architecture and Built Environment, is the author of “Crossroads, Cutoffs, and Confluences,” “Draining New Orleans,” “Bourbon Street: A History,” and other books from LSU Press. He may be reached at http:// richcampanella.com, rcampane@tulane.edu, or @nolacampanella on X.
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 that transformedeverydaytechnology, died in Palo Alto, California, at age 56.
Also on this date:
In 1892, the Dalton Gang,notoriousfor its train robberies, was practically wipedout while attempting to rob apair of banksinCoffeyville, Kansas.
In 1947, President Harry S. Trumandelivered the first televised WhiteHouse 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 morning bombing.
In 1983, Solidarity founder Lech Walesa was awarded the NobelPeace Prize. Startingin 1980, Walesa spearheaded Poland’spro-democracy movement that nineyears later led to the peacefulend of the country’s communistrule. In 1990-95heserved as democratic Poland’s first popularly elected president.
In 1986, Nicaraguan Sandinistagovernment soldiers shot down acargoplanecarrying weapons and ammunition bound forContra rebels; the event exposed aweb of illegal arms shipments, leading to the Iran-Contra Scandal.
In 1989, ajury in Charlotte, NorthCarolina, convicted evangelist JimBakker 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 of seconddegree murder in the 2014 shootingofBlack teenager Laquan McDonald
In 2020, President Donald Trump made a dramatic return to the White House after leavingthe military hospital where he wasbeing 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 is74. Singersongwriter Bob Geldof is 74. AstrophysicistauthorNeil deGrasseTyson is 67. 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 GuyPearce is 58. ActorJosie Bissett is 55. Actor ParminderNagra is 50. Actor Kate Winslet is50. ActorJesse Eisenberg is 42. NFL tightend Travis Kelceis 36.Actor Jacob Tremblayis19.
Cousin demandsattendanceatwedding
Dear Miss Manners: My cousin, withwhom my husband and Iare very close, is gettingmarried. 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 fortunate guestsshould 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.Mymother has warned me that I’ll have to prepare a strong argument for whymyhusband 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 debt to throw this extravagant party,soyou better show up —health and financial instability be damned!”toget you in the spirit 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
yourhints. In response to Lori B. about thedifficulty of readingthe expiration 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 makeyour phone number active forfurther scams. —Bob M.,inWoodland Hills, California To travel or nottotravel?
Dear Heloise: Afriend once told me, “Ifyou don’ttravel,
Judith Martin MISS MANNERS
Hints from Heloise
expected to push La.to2Mjobsmark 5E
GLOBAL FOOD COMPANIESNEEDTOKEEP THEIRFACTORIES CLEANAND SAFE.
They learnhow in Harahan.
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
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
to prevent. 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
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 a pound,
COFFEE
Fool’sTake: Latin American e-commerce
The Latin American e-commercemarket is booming. It’s a large population surpassing600 million people, which is fueling strong growth for MercadoLibre (Nasdaq: MELI).
Motley Fool
The company offers an online marketplace and generates revenuefrom mobile payments, advertising and other financial technology services.
Over the last 10 years, MercadoLibre’srevenue has grown at acompound annual rateof more than 40%, sendingthe stock up 2,000% (asofmidSeptember). The company continues to report high rates of growth as it invests in improving the customer experience by lowering prices, increasing shipping speeds and rolling out new products like credit cards. Revenue reached nearly $6 8 billion in the second quarter of 2025, representing ayear-overyear increase of 34%.
MercadoLibre recentlyreduced shipping and seller fees, incentivizing sellers to also reduce their selling prices. This is expected to increase theselection of goods offered on the marketplace.
Meanwhile, its Mercado Pago credit business has been afastgrowing source of revenue, withits credit portfolio roughly doubling in the second quarter over the year-ago quarter,indicating strong adoption of its credit card.
The compounding growthof this business makes it apromising long-term stock. (The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends MercadoLibre.) Fool’sSchool: Medicare Advantage plans
When you sign up for Medicare, youcan opt for “original Medicare” —which consists of Part A(hospital services) and Part B(medical services) —or you can choose aMedicare Advantage plan, sometimesreferred to as Part C. As of May, 51% of Medicare members were enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans. Medicare Advantageplans are offered by insurance companies such as the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan,Aetna, Humana and UnitedHealthcare. The United Statesgovernmentrequires them to provide at least as much coverageas original Medicare does, and they generally offer more. For example, whileoriginal Medicare doesn’tcover vision, hearing and dental care or pre-
scription drugs, Medicare Advantage plans often do. Original Medicare will often require you to pay 20%ofmany bills you get, with no upper limit (unless you’ve bought asupplemental plan).Incontrast, Medicare Advantageplans might charge you arelatively low co-payment for each doctor visit or service —and theyalso cap your outof-pocket spending. Indeed, many Medicare Advantage plans charge no monthly premiumatall other than the Plan Bpremiumthat most Medicare enrollees pay,and some plans rebatesomeorall of that amount to their members. So what are the downsides?
Well, while original Medicare lets yousee any health care provider who accepts Medicare, Medicare Advantage plans typically restrict you to a networkofproviders —though some networks are large —and generally requirepriorauthorizationsfor some services. (Original Medicare is starting to do so, too, to some degree.)
Here’sakey consideration: You’re technically allowed to switch between original Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans annually.But if you don’t initially sign up fororiginal Medicare with asupplemental (“Medigap”) plan, andthen you want to switch from an Medicare Advantage plan back to original Medicare, you may notbeabletoget that Medigap plan— or it may cost much more. Read uponthe original Medicare vs. Medicare Advantage decisionbefore choosinga plan. Themedicare.gov website can help you compare plans available to you.Note the star ratings of your candidate plans andfavor four- or five-star plans.
Ask the Fool:Atough business
Iread that Spirit Airlines has filedfor bankruptcy protection. How can airlines runinto financial trouble when tickets cost so much?— J.L.,Atlanta
It’sanotoriously difficult business, formany reasons, andlike many airlines before it, Spirithas had atough time. At some point, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Pan American World Airways, TransWorld Airlines and Eastern Air Lines also declared bankruptcy and/or wentout of business.
Consider that airlines must contendwith volatile fuel costs, occasional fare wars with competitors, labor costsand complex logistics, not to mention weather-related interruptions. Each plane anairline buys costs alot, as does inspecting, maintainingand repairing its fleet.And each emptyseat on a
Continued from page1E
offices in Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. On Friday,the company celebrated the opening of anew U.S. headquartersinHarahan.
The 13,700-square-foot,$6.3 million facility includesclassrooms, labs and administrativespace where companies will send executives and employees to learn from CFShow to keep theirfoodproduction as safe as possible. On thehuntfor harmfulbacteria
CFS food safety specialist Taylor Butler,who grew up on the West Bank and lives in Chalmette, worked at achicken plant in Texas, then at acatering vendor for United Airlines andacheesecake manufacturing factory
Now she spends abouttwo weeks each month visiting food production facilitiesaround the country, helping them find and fix problems.Athird week oftenisspent leading training sessions atthe Intralox headquarters in Harahan.
In the field, Butler teaches food executives about environmental monitoring, sanitation, hygienic design andgoodmanufacturing practices. Part of the process is swabbing areas in facilities tolook for listeria, salmonella andother dangerous bacteria.
“It’sall around us, in the air and the soil,” she said of bacteria. “But if you give it food, moisture anda 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 wallsand lines painted on floors that demarcate different parts of the factory
“You have to have hygieniczoning when you lay out afacility,
plane costsitmoney Warren Buffetthas noted that in this industry,“adurable competitive advantage has proven elusive ever since the days of the Wright Brothers. Indeed, if afarsighted capitalist had been present at Kitty Hawk, he would have done his successorsa huge favor by shooting Orville down.”
What’sa “pick and shovel” investment? —B.B.,Worcester,Massachusetts The termrefers to the California gold rush of the mid1800s, when many people were trying to get rich by discovering gold. Some did get rich by selling picks, shovels and supplies.
Let’ssay that today,you’re bullish on the marijuana industry; instead of guessing which growers and sellers will prevail, you might invest in thecompanies selling growing equipment. Or you have high hopes for AI: Youmight invest in providers of systems for the datacenters needed, or in the companies that make semiconductor chips for AI.
My Dumbest Investment: Starbucks everyday
My most regrettable financial move is going to Starbucks everyday for 10 years straight. —D.J., online There are many articles pointing out thatifwe’d skip certain daily expenses, we could save a lot for retirement or other financial goals.For example, if you spent $5 at Starbucks everyday, thatwould amount to $1,825 per year,and over 10 years, $18,250. Those dollars certainly could help when invested in aretirement account. Socking away $1,825 each year for 10 years will grow to around $28,500 at an average annual growthrate of 8%. Add another decade, and you’d end up withmorethan $90,000. Butweneedn’tdeny ourselves life’slittle pleasures, so long as we have asolid retirementplan in place and we’re following it. For example, you might determine that you need to save and invest acertain sum each year to meet your goals. If you have expendable income left over after paying for nonnegotiable expenses (which would include retirementsavings), go ahead and treat yourself. The situation is only problematic if you’re not saving and investing for your future or if you’re spending money you can’tafford to spend. It’s possible for agood retirementplan to include regular trips to Starbucks or a bookstore or amovie theater
Do you have asmart or regrettableinvestment move to share with us? Emailitto tmfshare@fool.com.
under
asanitation essentials training at CFSInstitute in
Amid food-related recalls, thetrainersatCommercial Food Sanitation aim to help food companies worldwide keep their products as safe as possible.
Adrainiscleaned duringa sanitation essentials training
separating rawareasfrom readyto-eat areas, nonproduction from production,” Butler said. Amajor area of focus is identifying and removing “niche points,” places in amanufacturing plant wherebacteria cancollect,which sometimes requires some detective work.
Butlervisiteda site recently whereemployees had been finding evidence of bacteriabut 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 abelt
Continuedfrom page1E
Howard calledthe period“the leastfun I’ve had during my time working in coffee.”
Historically roiled
The market’suncertainty is reflected in the price difference between buying coffee now and contracts that would provide delivery months ahead of time.
Normally,coffeebought using those futures contracts cost more becausethey account for storage, financing and other expenses. But today,coffee that can be delivered immediately costs roughly 20 cents apound more than contractsthat 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, alongtime Miamibased coffee trader andanalyst, said prices reflect “uncertainty of historic proportions,” which has left everyonefrom suppliers to traders, brokers, roasters and retailers reluctant to do business.
Howardaddedthatindustry participants are“hesitant to engage” in the market because thetariffs could change at any time.
“No one knows what’scoming next,” he said.
Though coffee trading is primarily avolume business, the market volatilityinrecent months has forced International Coffee to rely more on its decades of expertise and specialized skills.
Acorepart of that is the daily ritual of “cupping,” tasting and evaluating small samplesofbeans sent from growers around the world. In theMadary tasting room,traders sip, then spit, assessing aroma, flavor,acidity and body,much as sommeliersdointhe wine business.
“My dadalways said that’swhere you find the value,around the cupping table,” Matt Madary said. Knowledge of coffee bean varietals has alwaysoffered an edge, but it is especially valuable now, when InternationalCoffee can advise clients, such as specialty retailers, on alternative sources to maintain aconsistent product.
The trajectory of U.S. coffee prices over thepasthalf-decade underscoresthe precariousness of thecurrent moment. While prices arewell above $4 apound now,in 2018, benchmark Arabicafutures hovered around $1.20 apound, buoyed by big Brazilianharvests and moderate global demand.
Prices gradually climbed in 2019, butitwas thepandemic that first rattledthe market. Lockdowns collapsed cafe and restaurant demand while boosting at-homeconsumption. By 2021, global supply-chain bottlenecks, shipping costs and container shortagespushedprices higher, with traders scrambling to hedge against further shocks. By late 2024 and early 2025, prices werehitting all-timehighs.
themanufacturing and marketing of products for Intralox and its parent company Laitram. With the opening of thenew CFSheadquarters, overseen by CFS Global Training Manager Nicole Cammarata,that work has been consolidatedintoa spacethat resembles a hotel lobby andconference center
Thetraining sessions combine learning with the perks of aNew Orleans vacation.Participants areshuttled back andforth from downtown hotels andrestaurants to their sessions in classrooms and labs.
In one of those labs, instructors dabequipment with aspecial gel that glowsunderUVlight. Trainees aregradedontheir ability to locate all these strategically hidden “germs.”
Though coffee trading is primarily avolume business, the market volatilityinrecent months has forced International Coffee Corp to relymore on itsdecades of expertise and specialized skills, including the daily ritual of ‘cupping,’ or tasting and evaluating smallsamples of beans sent from growers around the world.
Indeed, the pandemic accelerated atrend that had already seen coffee traders disperse around the country,while concentrating their warehousing andstorageinthe busier ports nearest to consumer centers. Then camethe tariffs.
Howard emphasized the practical challenges the Trump tariffs now pose. “Ifthe goal is to keep manufacturing in the U.S., it doesn’t make anysense,” he said, noting that Hawaii andPuertoRico,the only coffee-growing regions in the country,produce less than 1% of domestic consumption.
The legal challenge to the tariffs adds anotherlayer of uncertainty. Federalcourts have found that Trumpoversteppedhis authority under the InternationalEmergency Economic Powers Act. The U.S. SupremeCourt has scheduled arguments for next month, acase that coulddetermine whetherthe tariffs remain or are rolled back. High stakes
For InternationalCoffee, the stakes arehigh. Trading firms operate on thin margins. Asudden rollback —orcontinuation —oftariffs could dramaticallyaffectthe firm’s business. Weather-related supply shocks, particularly in Brazil, only make thingsmore challenging, forcing traders to bid aggressively for available beans.
Thecombination of tariffs,tight supplies and uncertain policy has created anear-unprecedentedenvironment.
“Every day is anew calculation,” Madary said.“We’reconstantly weighing prices, shipping delays andnow thelegal landscape. It’s exhausting, but we’ve learnedto adapt.”
ForMadary, the moment underscores the unique role of the city’s remaining traders and the family’s half-century legacy in coffee.
“We’ve beenaround for decades,” he said, “but nothing in our experience compares to this moment.”
Email AnthonyMcAuley tmcauley@theadvocate.com.
assembly lines. It sells high-tech sorting machines forlogistics customers like Amazon, and it provides systems that keep contaminants out of the water used to cool nuclear power plants.
“Wemoveeverythingfrompeople 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 makesindustrialstairs, shrimppeeling machines and other equipment. Overall, Laitram andIntralox employabout 4,000 people worldwide.Roughly half of those are in Harahan and at agrowing facility in Hammond.
and other componentsand looked moredeeply,wefound alittle surprise. As theseconveyors run, they shake alittle, and these niche pointsstartleaching out.”
CFS might tell customersabout Intralox products that could help solve problems, including the company’sFoodSafeline of conveyor belts, tools andcomponents. But they try to avoid turning the traininginto“infomercials”for their parent company,officials said.
‘Cleaningcamp’ in NewOrleans Butlerand other CFS trainers bringthat training to Harahan about30times each year.Their counterpartsdosimilar work in theNetherlands,Brazil, China, Australia and Mexico. In total, thecompanyhas hosted more than 5,000 trainees,which include food brand executives, equipment manufacturers, plant engineers andsanitation supervisors.
Until lastmonth,the class activities in Harahan were scattered across asprawling 1millionsquare-footcampussupporting
In another space, trainers demonstrate how to use dry steam, atype of low-moisture vapor to remove dirt, grime,and bacteria from various surfaces. This type of cleaning is usedinbakeries to preventgrowth of mold and bacteria.
Aseparateroom is equipped with hoses and drains so trainees, wearing bright yellowprotective suits and goggles, can learn how to remove vegetable shortening andother hard-to-clean substances from equipment. The hope is that the experience will teach company leaders howtodesign andset up machinery to makeiteasier fortheir employees to keep their facilitiessafe, said CFS General Manager Darin Zehr Conveyor beltsare booming Thenew CFSfacility is asmall part of one of the biggest manufacturing businesses in the state.
Intralox is a$1billion-plus annual enterprise on pace to setanother 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
All the company’smodular conveyor belt components are manufactured in Louisiana and shipped around the world forassembly Intralox’sfood manufacturing customers were the inspiration forthe acquisitionofCommercial Food Sanitation, which came in 2012, after passage of the federal Food Safety Modernization Act. That Obama-era 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 madethem ill, and traceability programs, which allow regulators to avoid overly broad recalls.
Food safety training is another waytotry to prevent moredeadly lapses.
“Our team is good at making people understand these problems are real,” Lapeyre said. “It’seasy to brush things off and say there’s aone in amillion chance of aproblem happening, but for abig food company,one in amillion could still equal manytimes ayear.” Email RichCollinsatrich. collins@theadvocate.com.
FILE PHOTOByDAVEWALKER
STAFF PHOTOSBySOPHIA GERMER
Brandon Campo checks
aconveyorbelt during
Harahan.
TALKING BUSINESS
ASK THE EXPERTS
Group forged lessons in disaster recovery in Katrina
BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer
The disaster recovery nonprofit
SBP began as a philanthropic effort 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 and preparedness efforts to mitigate the effects of future events.
In this week’s Talking Business, SBP CEO Carol Markowitz who took the reins in February after a nearly six-year stint as the chief operating officer at Loyola University New Orleans — discusses the organization’s evolution and goals.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity
How did SBP begin and how has it evolved?
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 a tent 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 reduced the time it takes us to rebuild a home.
help survivors access funding for rebuilding.
At what point after a disaster does SBP get involved?
After an event, there’s immediate response and relief.
Q&A WITH CAROL MARKOWITZ
This is when the Cajun Navy or the American Red Cross show up, and people are giving away food water and other things to help people survive.
We do outreach after a disaster to find the homeowners with the greatest unmet need, and we process them through a vetting and an application process. These are people that are generally low-income with very little financial resources to cover rebuilding costs. They largely are underinsured or completely uninsured.
ing this year are in Tampa, Florida, which was hit by hurricanes Helene and Milton a year ago.
Our goal is to rebuild at least 200 homes in the Tampa area. We’re on track to do 90 this year so we might blow through that number
How do you pay for all this?
We’ve developed a huge amount of expertise in how to navigate FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) for survivors. We can often double the original award that a survivor had received from FEMA. We’ve recently developed a bridge loan product to
At first, the media is paying full attention, and everyone is opening up checkbooks. Then, when the cameras are gone, people are left with figuring out how they are going to rebuild, especially if they aren’t insured.
We start about six months later
It takes a minute for debris to be cleared in a community and for it to be safe.
For your rebuilding efforts, how do you choose who to help? And how does the process work?
Once we verify eligibility and we get people through our intake process, we are literally running a construction project that relies heavily on subcontractors. We’ve been able to serve and do large parts of our construction work with AmeriCorps service members and other volunteers in addition to the skilled trades.
We may run radio ads in certain markets or establish relationships with local or state leadership teams so they can direct clients to us.
We can’t respond to every major disaster, so we’re strategic. The majority of the houses we’re rebuild-
We help survivors navigate the FEMA appeals process and we offer them innovative financing. Outside of that, SBP’s work is funded through traditional philanthropy: corporate donors, individual donors and foundations.
We have a roughly $30 million annual operating budget. Some of that comes from federal funding and earned revenue, but about twothirds comes from fundraising.
The good news about not being heavily reliant on federal funding is that we haven’t had as much risk of cuts as other nonprofits.
There’s no way to put a price tag on the hope that we’re able to bring. It’s very emotional when people
move back into their homes. We like to throw welcome home parties for them.
You spent almost six years at Loyola.Before that, you helped launch the New Orleans Culinary & Hospitality Institute. What did SBP bring you in to do,and why were you interested in the new challenge?
Part of the mandate for me is to optimize the programs we’ve developed for long-term and sustainable growth. There’s going to be increased demand for the services that we can provide on the advisory side, and we want to meet it. That will allow us to make a more scaled impact on communities at a systems level in addition to the work we’re doing serving individual homeowners.
The mission really resonates. We have an incredible group of people. And I hate to consider this a growing industry, but there’s an opportunity to build on the successes to help meet this increasing expected need.
Is there a world in which SBP becomes the philanthropic FEMA?
FEMA controls the operating environment
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
core components of NASA’s next crewed mission to space.
Michoud, has landed a contract to
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
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.
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.
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
There’s a chance a
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.
NewOrleans
Giovanna “Gio”Savorgnan hasbeen hired as vice president of sales for advertising firm 3131 Media, where she will lead sales strategyand growth as the New Orleans-based agency looks to expand. Savorgnan, who previously worked as sales director for WWL-TV in NewOrleans and, later,WFAA-TV in Dallas, has been recognized by the Alliance for Women in Media on multiple occasions. Her new position will be based in Dallas.
AlejandraGuzman has beenpromoted from chief business development officer to become the new chief op-
eratingofficer of LSUHealth FoundationNew Orleans. Before joiningthe foundation Guzman held various leadership roles at the New OrleansBusiness Alliance. She currently servesas board chair of the Louisiana Urban Land Institute and sits on the HispanicChamber of Commerce of Louisiana and theXavierUniversity Presidential Advisory boards, having previously served on the Sewerage and Water BoardofNew Orleans.
BatonRouge
Andy Gutacker hasbeennamed senior vicepresidentand generalmanager of BASF’s Geismar site, the firm’s largest North American manufacturing facility with morethan 2,000 employees and contractors. Gutacker began working for the German chemical company’spetro-
chemical division in Freeport, Texas, in 2019 before being promoted to various vice president positions. Most recently, he was vicepresident of operations for European and North American operations
JD Bank has hired Martin Holifield as amortgageloan originator serving the BatonRouge andnorthshore marketsand operatingfrom an office in thecommunity bank’snew full-service branch due to open in BatonRouge in December
Holifield previously workedfor First Guaranty Bank in Hammond, where he managed ateam of 15 employees. He has servedastreasurer and acommitteechair for the CentralCity ChamberofCommerce anda member of the Greater Baton Rouge Board of Realtors.
LSU Law professors Bill Corbett and DelWright Jr have been awarded the Cheney C. Joseph Endowed Professorship. They are the first faculty members picked for the Joseph Professorship.
Corbett, alongtime colleague of Joseph’s, has been on the LSU Law faculty since 1991, focusing on labor and employment law, tortsand civil procedure. He
previously served as interim dean and is the executive director of the Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel. Wright, who joined the LSU Law faculty last fall, teaches classes in business, finance, taxes, securities, entrepreneurship andcryptocurrency regulation. Previously a federal prosecutor in the Justice Department’stax division, Wright prosecuted white-collartax and fraud cases and served on an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force in Maryland. Do you have personnel changes to share or other ideas for our business coverage? Dropusaline at biztips@thedvocate.com.
Employersghostingjob applicants is cruel, unprofessional
Michelle Singletary
THE COLOR OF MONEy
Over the past several months, I’ve been assisting several unemployed people, including some who were victims of the federalemployee purge. One of themost frustrating thingsis how oftenemployers ghost these job seekers, often not even confirming receipt of their applications. Even those who makeitto the interview stage and seem to be on ashort list have beendropped suddenly without warning, adynamic more commonly associated with dating.
One person I’m working with has been waiting more than three months to hearback from one company about aposition. They liked her,the interviewer said, 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 with increasing regularity: A2023 survey by the job siteIndeedfound that 35% of job seekers claim an employer
didn’tacknowledge their application. And 40% said they were ghosted after asecond- or third-round interview —upfrom 30% in 2022.
In research released last year,the career platform Glassdoor found that employer ghosting hasbecome afamiliar complaint amongapplicants who post interview reviews.
“As the job market softens, ghosting is likely to keep growing …asa larger pool of job seekers compete for asmallerpool of jobs,” an economist for the companysaid.
The U.S. labor market is weakening: Hiring slowed down substantially in August, the Labor Department reported. Employers added just 22,000 jobs, asignificant drop from the 79,000 created in July.Meanwhile, the unemployment rate edged up to 4.3%. And a recent data revision by the Bureau of Labor 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 means it’sgetting increasingly difficult to find work. And the numberofAmericans experiencing joblessness for six months or longer has climbed.
Job seekersalso are losing confidence:Research from theNew York Federal Reserve Bank shows “joblossexpectations” have wors-
ened. And optimismoffinding a jobonce unemployed has declined to arecordlow,according to the New York Fed’sCenter for Microeconomic Data Survey of Consumer Expectations
Concerns about President Donald Trump’stariff disputes are making employers hesitant to fill roles. The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate by aquarterpoint last month, citing the health of the labor market as afactor Against this gloomy economic backdrop, it’s not hard to understand why recruiters and hiring managersare getting swamped withapplications. The use of artificial intelligence has made it easier for jobseekerstomass-apply,resulting in an influx of résumés.
To be fair,sometimes acompany decides to pull an open position or go with an internal candidate. However,ghosting is bothrude and unprofessional.
It’salso cruel.
I’m awitness to how thesilence affects people’smental health. They often lose hope, and sometimes give up looking altogether
If you’re an employer,you ought to have asystem in place to updatefolks on their status. Even ageneric rejection letter is more humane than being ignored. You can do so much morewith auto-
mation these days. Useit! Here’sthe advice I’ve been giving to ghosted job candidates.
n Don’tstop communicating It may be aone-sided endeavor but make sure to follow up with an email or telephone call without overdoing it. Space out your outreach so that you aren’tviewed as anuisance or menacing.
n Keep it professional An employer’s silenceshouldn’tbemet with vitriol. Don’tsend any angry emails or leave voicemails about how you’ve been ghosted or poorly treated in the process. Stay polite.
n Ask for atimeline. Do whatyou can to get any information on whento expect ahiring decision.
n Don’ttakeitpersonally This is hard. Buttry to remember that the lack of communication maynot have anything to do with your job qualifications or your interview performance.
n Move on. If another offer comes up, take it. It maynot be the job you want,but waiting fora callback from aghosting employer might cause you to lose aposition you need.
Afew years ago, Iwas part of a hiring team at my company.We narrowed the field to three people, all of whom were interviewed. One candidate stood out abit more thanthe others, although all of
them performed well during the interview process.
After we made our final decision, Ireached out to the other candidates because Ineeded them to know it was aclose call. Ithought they deserved some feedback, not just asimple “you didn’tget the job.”
As Iwas thinking aboutwriting this column, Icircled back to oneof thecandidates to ask whether my reaching outmadeadifference.
“Getting rejected from ajob usually feelslike agut punch, but your phone callfeltmore likeapat on theback,” she said. “Itwas aconversation that reminded me that this rolewasn’t meant to be, and that’sOK, because you andothers showered me in compliments and encouragement. Ithink that’svital forayoungprofessional,especially in this current job market, where landingroles is as hard as ever.” Idon’t have theburden of reviewing dozensofapplications, so Iunderstand that hiring personnel may nothavethe time to do what I did. Butapplicants shouldatleast receive an automated progress report. Andtheydeservetoknow your finaldecision.
Email Michelle Singletary at michelle.singletary@washpost. com.
Gutacker
Holifield
Corbett Wright
Savorgnan
centers
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.
3924 PharrStreet •Metairie$505,000 Stunning French Quarter-style4beds,
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.”
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.
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
His research includes optimizing functional capabilities for warfighter resilience, space travel and other projects within the scope of human-performance research.
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
maternal, newborn
pediatric services at Ochsner Lafayette General, show a neonatal intensive care unit sled on Sept. 2
a tour of the pediatric emergency department and emergency room at Ochsner Lafayette
in Lafayette.
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 PRACTICE
Continued from page 1X
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
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.
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
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.
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU
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 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
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.
Health editions will also profile people who are advancing health for the state of Louisiana. Do you have a health story? We want to hear from you.
Email margaret.delaney@theadvocate.com to submit health questions, stories and more.
Pasiakos
STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP
Scott Hamilton, medical director of the pediatric emergency department at Ochsner Lafayette General Regional Medical Center, left, and Meagan Daigle, the registered nurse regional director of
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
Continued from page1X
“I
to be as active as they can tolerate. “You shouldn’tshoot for that10,000 steps, if you can’tget there. But doing something is better than nothing. Andagain,it’sthat ‘doing nothing’ to then just ‘doing something’ has that
averageat 84%
Massachusetts has the highestratio of primary care providers in 2024 with 395.1 practitioners per100,000 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 benefit. Ithink that’sthe power of that study.” Does that mean 7,000 is the new 10,000? It truly depends on theperson, as well as their specific health goals. Forreducingmortality rates, it’snot abad number for theaverage 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.”
ä See COMMUNITY, page 2Y
JanRisher LONG STORy SHORT
Lessons from aGreat Blue heron
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.
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 at Perdido Keybeach.
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.
INSPIRED DISCUSSIONS
ASK THE EXPERTS
‘We’re a safe space for learning’
BY LAUREN CHERAMIE
Staff writer
Erin Greenwald
serves as dep-
uty 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
Q&A WITH ERIN GREENWALD DEPUTy DIRECTOR AT THE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION
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
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.
takes patience to live together, to bridge divides, to find common ground.
That’s where my husband’s gift for patience comes in. To me, sometimes his ways of waiting seem passive, but I’ve realized
STAFF FILE PHOTOS By BRETT DUKE People view the ‘Making It Home: From Vietnam to New Orleans’ exhibit at The Historic New Orleans Collection in New Orleans on May 1.
PROVIDED PHOTO Executive Director Erin Greenwald says The Historic New Orleans Collection is dedicated to the stewardship of the history and culture of New Orleans and the Gulf South.
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
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
