Both young and old showed up to Parc Sans Souci in downtown Lafayette on Sunday morning foranopportunity to learn traditional Cajun andzydecodancing.Participants ranged from high school friend groups, newlyweds and soon-to-be weds to families bothwithand without children and lifelong partners. There, they learned the Cajunjitterbug and the zydeco two-step withdirections from folklorist andcultural scholar Moriah Hargrave. The event, titled Allons Danser, washostedbyLFT Fiberinconjunction with Lafayette Consolidated Government andFleurishForever,a local lifestyle brand offering dance classes. Allons Danser,named after aFrench phrase that translates to “let’sdance,”was branded as an unofficial kickoff to the51st annual Festivals Acadiens et Créoles, which is next weekend at Girard Park. Traditional Cajun and zydeco dances are often performed at the festival by attendees, but for people unfamiliar with them, Allons Danser offered an opportunity to learn One of those people was Peter Sanders, who camewithhis fiancee. Sanders has lived in Lafayettehis whole life, but said theevent helped him connect more deeply withthe culture.
CAJUNDANCE LESSONS
“We have thesegreat festivals, with so manydances,but we also have people on thesidelines,people who have moved here from away Iwant to give everybody achance to learn that there’sa Cajun jitterbug and azydeco two-step.”
Afederal judge has granted class-action status to lawsuits claiming Louisiana regularly kept inmatesinprison past their release dates, opening the door forthousands of former inmates to join the case. The plaintiffs argue the Department of Public Safety &Corrections knew about the problem yet failed to take proper action for at least adecade. While the judge has not yet ruled in their favor, granting classactionstatus recognizesthe scopeofthe problem,they say “This is amajor victory for accountability —and we hope it is the beginning of the end of the state’spattern of illegally imprisoningthousands of Louisianans at taxpayer expense,” William Most, one of the attorneys on the case, said in astatement. State officialsplantoappeal,saying theinformation in the lawsuit is outdated and that anew system they implemented has mostly fixed the problems. They also say sentencing calculations rely on clerks of court and sheriffs’ offices,whichthe agency cannot control.
ä See LAWSUITS, page 4A
BY JOSH BOAK |Associated
WASHINGTON Republican andDemocratic lawmakers at an impasse on reopening the federal government provided few public signs Sunday of meaningful negotiations talking place to end what hassofar been a five-day shutdown.
Leaders in both parties are betting that public sentiment has swung their way, putting pressure on the other side to cave. Democrats are insisting on renewing subsidies to cover health insurance costs formillions of households, while President Donald Trumpwants to preserve existing spending levelsand threatening to permanentlyfire federal workers if the government remains closed.
Couplespracticethe Cajun jitterbug during Allons Danser,which offered Cajun and zydeco dancelessons, at Parc Sans Souci in Lafayette on Sunday
Instructor Moriah Hargrave demonstrates the stepsfor the Cajun jitterbug at Parc Sans Souci on Sunday
Oktoberfest ends with Bavarian gun salute
MUNICH The 190th Oktoberfest came to a close Sunday, wrapping up the world’s largest folk festival with the traditional Bavarian marksmen’s gun salute in Munich.
Roughly 6.5 million visitors attended between Sept. 20 and Sunday German news agency dpa reported, including Arnold Schwarzenegger The Austrianborn former governor of California spontaneously conducted a live music band and the singing crowd in a beer tent Sept. 26. Schwarzenegger, dressed in a traditional Bavarian-style leather jacket, a buttoned-down shirt and jeans, was accompanied by his partner, Heather Milligan, and his son, Christopher The fairgrounds were closed for hours Wednesday as police searched the area due to a bomb threat linked to an explosion across town.
Waitresses celebrate in a beer tent Wednesday in Munich, Germany, after reopening of Oktoberfest after a bomb threat
Swift’s ‘Release Party’ film earns $33 million
LOS ANGELES This weekend’s box office belonged to two undeniable draws: Taylor Swift and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson It might have looked like a heavyweight matchup, but Swift’s devoted fanbase once again proved unstoppable with her film “The Official Release Party of a Showgirl,” which debuted at No. 1 with $33 million in North America, according to Sunday estimates from Comscore. The AMC Theatres release — announced only two weeks ago with minimal promotion — served as a companion piece to Swift’s 12th studio album, packaging music videos, behind-the-scenes footage and profanity-free lyric visuals into an 89-minute experience.
The film played at all 540 AMC theaters in the U.S. for three days, ending after Sunday AMC aired the show in Mexico, Canada and across Europe.
It comes nearly two years after her “The Eras Tour” concert film opened to $96 million, with Swift extending her streak of box office dominance.
Meanwhile, Johnson saw a more modest showing. His A24 drama “The Smashing Machine,” co-starring Emily Blunt, opened in third place with a mere $6 million, trailing Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another,” which earned $11.1 million and has now accumulated $107 million globally Odds of Atlantic tropical depression increased
The National Hurricane Center on Sunday increased the odds that a system in the Atlantic will develop into the season’s next tropical depression or storm.
As of the NHC’s 8 a.m. tropical outlook, the broad area of low pressure associated with a tropical wave dubbed Invest 95L had a large area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms several hundred miles southsouthwest of the Cape Verde Islands in the Atlantic.
The NHC gave it a 40% chance to develop in the next two days and 70% in the next seven
The NHC on Saturday stopped tracking a low-pressure area that continues to drop rain and kick up poor conditions on Florida’s East Coast on Sunday
The NHC also has dropped to 0% the chances a system in the Gulf with disorganized showers and thunderstorms could develop as it moves slowly off the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
Egypt reopens tomb of Amenhotep III
Restoration project took 20 years
BY AHMED HATEM and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press
LUXOR, Egypt Egypt on Saturday opened a tomb of a pharaoh for visitors after more than two decades of renovation in the southern city of Luxor, as it prepares for the official opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
The huge tomb of Amenhotep III, who ruled ancient Egypt between 1390 B.C. and 1350 B.C., is located on the western side of the famed Valley of the Kings. It was found in 1799 by two people and its contents were looted, including the sarcophagus, Egyptian antiquities authorities said It has been under a Japanese-led, three-phased restoration project for the past two decades, including renovating paintings of the pharaoh and his wife on the tomb walls, said Mohamed Ismail, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
“It’s a very fascinating tomb,” he told The Associated Press at the scene, adding that it includes
a frame of the stolen sarcophagus box, with the lid in place where it would have been.
The tomb starts with a 118-footlong, 45-foot-deep, downward-sloping passageway beneath the Valley of the Kings It includes a main burial chamber for the king, and two other chambers for his wives, Queens Tiye and Sitamun.
Unlike other ancient tombs in the valley, the tomb is not fully decorated, Ismail said. Its paintings show Amenhotep III with a group of ancient Egyptian gods, and the burial chamber contains inscriptions of scenes from the Book of Dead, which is a collection of spells aimed at directing the dead through the underworld in ancient Egypt.
The mummy of Amenhotep III was moved by ancient priests to the tomb of his grandfather, Amenhotep II, also in the Valley of the Kings, according to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization.
The severely damaged mummy is showcased at the museum along with 16 other mummies of 17 kings and queens of ancient Egypt.
Amenhotep III was one of the most prominent pharaohs of the 18th Dynasty of ancient Egypt, which ruled between 1550 B.C. and 1292 B.C. Known as Amenhotep the Great, he ascended the throne as a teenager and ruled for up to 38 years, according to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization.
The tomb’s reopening came less than a month before the official inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum near the Giza Pyramids. The museum is scheduled to open Nov 1.
Trump celebrates 250th anniversary of U.S. Navy
BY JOSH BOAK and BEN FINLEY Associated Press
NORFOLK, Va. — President Donald Trump did not let the government shutdown interfere with a stop in Norfolk, Virginia, on Sunday to salute the Navy as it celebrates its 250th anniversary
“I believe, ‘THE SHOW MUST GO ON!’” Trump posted Friday night on his social media site, Truth Social. And he wrote before leaving the White House for Naval Station Norfolk, “This will be a show of Naval aptitude and strength.”
The government shutdown that began Wednesday has sparked a series of partisan blame games as military personnel are working without pay, several thousand federal employees are furloughed and key infrastructure and energy projects in Democratic-run areas have been put on hold.
There is the possibility that an event designed to honor the Navy could be dragged into the bitter politics.
Trump accused Democrats in his post of enabling the shutdown and trying “to destroy this wonderful celebration of the U.S. Navy’s Birthday.”
Democrats oppose Trump’s move to have his administration decline to spend congressionally approved funds, saying it undermines the budgeting process.
Meanwhile, Trump has explored laying off federal workers at what he called “Democrat Agencies.”
Among those joining Trump for the festivities were first lady Melania Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Navy Secretary John Phelan, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins and U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, a former Navy rear admiral who was a White House doctor during Trump’s first term.
After his arrival in Norfolk, Trump went
ASSOCIATED
President Donald Trump greets Capt. Matt Schliemann, commanding officer of Naval Station Norfolk, as he and first lady Melania Trump arrive at Naval Station Norfolk Chambers Field in Norfolk, Va., on Sunday.
to the USS George H.W Bush and spoke to the sailors and handed out challenge coins.
The Trumps watched a military demonstration while standing on the deck the aircraft carrier Navy destroyers launched missiles and fired shells into the Atlantic Ocean, Navy SEALs descended from helicopters and fighter jets catapulted off.
Awaiting Trump’s speech was a large crowd on a pier, mostly sailors in their dress white uniforms and some families. Trump on Tuesday addressed a gathering of military leaders abruptly summoned from across the globe to Virginia by Hegseth. The Republican president proposed using U.S. cities as training grounds for the armed forces and he spoke of needing military might to combat what he called the “invasion from within.” Hegseth declared an end to “woke” culture and announced new directives for troops that include “genderneutral” or “male-level” standards for physical fitness.
Gunmen kill 2, injure 12 in Ala. shootout
By The Associated Press
MONTGOMERY, Ala. Rival gunmen shot at each other in a crowded downtown nightlife district in Alabama’s capital city Saturday night, killing two people and injuring 12 others in a chaotic street scene, police said. The dead included a 43-year-old woman and a 17-year-old boy, while five of the 14 people wounded were hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, including a juvenile, police said.
No one had been arrested as of Sunday afternoon as police appealed to the public for information about the shooting and sorted through a complicated crime scene that involved multiple people firing at each other Police were still trying to piece together a motive for why the shooting started.
Police were called around 11:30 p.m to what Montgomery Police Chief James Graboys described as a “mass shooting” that happened within earshot of officers on routine patrol in downtown Montgomery
“This was two parties involved that were basically shooting at each other in the middle of a crowd,” Graboys said.
The shooters, he said, “did not care about the people around them when they did it.”
Seven of the 14 victims were under 20, and the youngest was 16, Graboys said. At least two of the victims were armed and the shooting began when someone targeted one of the 14 victims, Graboys said.
The gunfire prompted multiple people to pull their own weapons and start firing, Graboys said. Multiple weapons and shell cases were recovered from the scene, Graboys said. Few other details were available.
Visitors view artifacts inside the tomb of Amenhotep III, who ruled ancient Egypt between 1390 B.C. and 1350
B.C., in the Valley of Kings in Luxor, Egypt, on Saturday. The tomb was opened to the public for the first time in more than two decades.
AP PHOTO By MATTHIAS SCHRADER
Restored artifacts are on display at the tomb of Amenhotep III.
PRESS PHOTO By ALEX BRANDON
La. redistricting, presidential power among cases in new court term
BY MARK SHERMAN and LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press
WASHINGTON A monumental Supreme Court term begins Monday with major tests of presidential power on the agenda along with pivotal cases on voting and the rights of LGBTQ people.
The court’s conservative majority has so far been receptive, at least in preliminary rulings to many of President Donald Trump’s aggressive assertions of authority Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson invoked the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip after one such decision allowing the cut of $783 million in research funding.
“This is Calvinball jurisprudence with a twist,” Jackson wrote. “Calvinball has only one rule: There are no fixed rules. We seem to have two: that one, and this administration always wins.”
The conservative justices could be more skeptical when they conduct an in-depth examination of some Trump policies, including the president’s imposition of tariffs and his desired restrictions on birthright citizenship If the same conservative-liberal split that has marked so many of Trump’s emergency appeals endures, “we are in for one of the most polarizing terms yet,” said Irv Gornstein, executive director of the Supreme Court Institute at Georgetown University’s law school.
The justices will pass judgment in the next 10 months on some of Trump’s most controversial efforts.
3 cases on presidential power
The justices are hearing a pivotal case for Trump’s economic agenda in early November as they consider the legality of many of his sweeping tariffs Two lower courts have found the Republican president does not have the power to unilaterally impose wide-ranging tariffs under an emergency powers law States and small businesses argue Trump cannot usurp Congress’s taxation powers by declaring national emergencies and using tariffs to address them.
The administration, though, says the law does give the president the power to regulate importation, and that includes tariffs. Four dissenting judges on a federal appeals court in Washington bought that argument, mapping out a possible legal path at the high court. In December, the justices will take up Trump’s power to fire independent agency members at will, a case that probably will lead the court to overturn, or drastically narrow, a 90-year-old decision. It required a cause, like neglect of duty, before a president could remove the Senate-confirmed officials from their jobs.
The outcome appears to be in little doubt because the conservatives have allowed the firings to take effect while the case plays out, even after lower-court judges found the firings illegal. The three liberal justices have dissented each time.
Another case that has arrived at the court but has yet to be considered involves Trump’s executive order denying birthright citizenship to children born in the United States to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily.
The administration has appealed lower-
court rulings blocking the order as unconstitutional, or likely so, flouting more than 125 years of general understanding and an 1898 Supreme Court ruling. The case could be argued in the late winter or early spring. Voting rights, campaign finance
The future of electoral districts with majorities of Black, Hispanic or Native American voters hangs in the balance in a case about congressional redistricting in Louisiana that will be argued in mid-October
The Republican-led state has abandoned its defense of a political map that elected two Black members of Congress. Instead, Louisiana wants the court to reject any consideration of race in redistricting in a case that could bring major changes to the Voting Rights Act.
Chief Justice John Roberts and the other five conservative justices have been skeptical of the consideration of race in public life, including a decision in 2023 that ended affirmative action in college admissions.
Louisiana’s position would allow it and other Republican-controlled states in the South to draw new political maps that eliminate virtually all majority-Black House districts, which have been Democratic strongholds, voting rights experts say
The justices failed to decide the case in June after hearing arguments during its last term. The court does not need to go as far as Louisiana wants to reject the congressional map
But a second round of arguments is a rare occurrence at the Supreme Court, and sometimes presages a major change by the justices. The Citizens United decision in 2010 that led to dramatic increases in independent spending in U.S. elections came after it was argued a second time.
Republicans, including the Trump administration, also are behind a drive to wipe away limits on how much political parties can spend in coordination with candidates for Congress and president.
The justices are reviewing an appellate ruling that upheld a provision of federal election law that is more than 50 years old. Democrats had asked the court to leave the law in place, and the Supreme Court upheld it in 2001.
But Roberts, who just marked his 20th anniversary as chief justice, has led a court that has struck down one campaign finance regulation after another
No date for arguments has been set Transgender athlete cases
More than two dozen states have enacted laws barring transgender women and girls from participating in certain sports competitions.
The justices are hearing cases from Idaho and West Virginia, where transgender athletes won lower court rulings.
The Supreme Court in June upheld a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, but pointedly did not decide any broader issues about transgender rights.
They quickly agreed to take up the state appeals, which raised questions under the Constitution’s guarantee of equal treatment and the federal law known as Title IX that dramatically expanded the participation of girls and women in sports in public schools and colleges.
The court has yet to set an argument date.
Nepalese villages swept away by heavy rainfall and landslides, leaving 44 dead
BY BINAJ GURUBACHARYA Associated Press
KATHMANDU, Nepal Landslides, a lighting strike and floodings triggered by severe rainfall killed at least 44 people in Nepal on Sunday, with five others reported missing, authorities said Those killed included at least 37 people in the eastern mountain district of Illam, where whole villages were swept away by landslides, Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said. Several other people are still missing. Heavy rainfall was reported since Friday in the district, which borders India and is known for growing tea.
Six people in the same family were killed when a landslide crushed their home while they slept, Illam’s assistant administrative officer Bholanath Guragai said. Rainfall was hampering efforts to reach the villages and many roads were swept away or blocked by the landslides. The government said helicopters were also evacuating people needing medical evacuations and ground troops were helping move people to safer areas
One more person was killed in a landslide in a neighboring district.
Three people in another district were killed as they were struck by lightning while three more people died
in flooding in southern Nepal Nepal’s government issued a severe rainfall warning in the eastern and central parts of the country from Saturday to Monday, while shutting down major highways. All domestic flights were grounded on Saturday by aviation authorities because of heavy rainfall and poor visibility but were reopened on Sunday The major highways connecting the capital, Kathmandu, with other areas were closed by the authorities as some parts were blocked by landslides and others were shut as a precautionary measure. The blockage of roads and transport came as hundreds of thousands of people were returning to Kathmandu after celebrating Dashain the biggest festival in the Himalayan nation. Thursday was the main day of the twoweek festival when people travel to their home villages to be with their families.
Trump sending Calif. Guard to Ore.; Newsom pledges fight
By The Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — President Donald Trump is sending California National Guard members to Oregon after a judge temporarily blocked his administration from deploying that state’s guard to Portland, and Gov Gavin Newsom pledged Sunday to fight the move in court.
“At the direction of the President, approximately 200 federalized members of the California National Guard are being reassigned from duty in the greater Los Angeles area to Portland, Oregon to support U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal personnel performing official duties, including the enforcement of federal law, and to protect federal property,” chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Sunday in an emailed statement.
The move comes a day after Illinois’ governor made a similar announcement about troops in his state being activated.
Oregon Gov Tina Kotek said that 101 California National Guard members arrived in her state Saturday night by plane and more were on the way Kotek said there had been no formal communication with the federal government about the deployment.
“This action appears to (be) intentional to circumvent yesterday’s ruling by a federal judge,” Kotek said in a statement Sunday “There is no need for military intervention in Oregon. There is no insurrection in Portland No threat to national security Oregon
is our home, not a military target.” Newsom, a Democrat, said in a statement that California personnel were on their way Sunday and called the deployment “a breathtaking abuse of the law and power.” He said these troops were “federalized” and put under the president’s control months ago over his objections, in response to unrest in Los Angeles.
“The commander-in-chief is using the U.S. military as a political weapon against American citizens,” Newsom said. “We will take this fight to court, but the public cannot stay silent in the face of such reckless and authoritarian conduct by the president of the United States.” Newsom said earlier Sunday that about 300 guard members were being sent from California. Messages were sent to his office seeking to clarify the discrepancy A Trump-appointed federal judge in Oregon on Saturday temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s plan to deploy the Oregon National Guard in Portland to protect federal property amid protests after Trump called the city “war-ravaged.” Oregon officials and Portland residents alike said that description was ludicrous.
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said Sunday that the city continues to seek legal means to halt any National Guard deployment. Trump has characterized both Portland and Chicago as cities rife with crime and unrest, calling the former a “war zone” and suggesting apocalyptic force was needed to quell problems in the latter
Highways were clogged with vehicles on Sunday, as the government assessed the situation.
In Kathmandu, some areas near the river were flooded but no major damage or casualties were reported.
The government had declared a national holiday until Monday because of the heavy rainfall. Flooding and landslides last year around the same time killed 224 people and left 158 injured.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on social platform X that the loss of lives and damage caused by heavy rains in Nepal are distressing.
“We stand with the people and Government of Nepal in this difficult time,” he said.
“As a friendly neighbor and first responder, India remains committed to providing any assistance that may be required.”
There was no comment from Nepal on the offer
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JENNy KANE Customs and Border Protection agents stand outside a U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility during a protest on Saturday in Portland, Ore.
PHOTO PROVIDED By NEPAL ARMy
Nepalese army personnel get ready to rescue survivors Sunday after a flood in the Jhapa district of Nepal.
Dream Address Awaits
Continued from page 1A
“I don’t know how to dance at all, so I figured this would be a really good opportunity,” he said. “I’ve been to the festival before, but the dancing is all new to me It was a great experience.” Michael Soileau, who serves as the director of LFT Fiber, credited Lafayette Parish Mayor-President Monique Blanco Boulet for helping facilitate the event.
“This came out of a discussion I had with the mayor-president, and she said,
‘You know I remember having Cajun dance lessons when I was a kid and wouldn’t it be great if we brought this back for the community?’ So we put this together for all of our community to get everybody involved,” Soileau said. Boulet was in attendance at Sunday’s event and danced alongside other participants. She said events like Allons Danser are an important part of keeping Lafayette’s culture vibrant. “We have these great festivals, with so many dances, but we also have people on the sidelines, people who have moved here from away I want to give everybody a chance to learn
that there’s a Cajun jitterbug and a zydeco two-step,” Boulet said. In addition to the jitterbug and the two-step, Hargrave led participants in a line dance informally known as the “Moriah,” a name she said was given to it by former students of hers. Hargrave, who received her Ph.D. in heritage studies from Arkansas State University operates Fleurish Forever, an organization she started in 2014 that offers classes on variations of Cajun and zydeco dancing methods. Hargrave views the event as not only a way of teaching dances, but also strengthening social ties in the community
“I think it’s easy to feel alone because of your job, or maybe you feel isolated because of where you live,” Hargrave said. “When we have a community event that’s downtown and welcoming to everyone and we don’t have a price tag on it, it helps break down barriers. People of all different backgrounds can come together.”
Beginning Oct. 19, Fleurish Forever will offer beginner zydeco dance lessons every Sunday over a four-week period. For information visit fleurishforever.com
To learn about Festival Acadiens et Créoles, visit festivalsacadiens.com.
LAWSUITS
Continued from page 1A
“We disagree with the judge’s ruling and we intend to appeal. Everything in the lawsuits is either long outdated, out-of-context or just flatly false,” Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement.
“The release date for an incarcerated person is not a simple calculation It involves multiple officials and complicated calculations of time served and good time eligibility,” the statement continued “The Department of Corrections is frequently at the mercy of local officials and other branches of government.”
The Department of Corrections declined to comment on pending litigation
Judge John W. DeGravelles issued his decision on
Sept. 22 in the Middle District of Louisiana, two years after the court held a class certification hearing in October 2023.
The ruling affects two court cases, which are both premised on similar allegations but seek different outcomes: Giroir v. LeBlanc asks the court to ensure the state to fix the problem, while Humphrey v. LeBlanc seeks monetary damages.
In Humphrey, the class deGravelles defined includes those who, since April 16, 2019, were eligible for release from custody when they were sentenced but were kept more than 48 hours too long due to the Department of Public Safety & Corrections’ “failure to implement and maintain an adequate process for timely releasing inmates.”
The Giroir class is similar but applies to those who are still in the agency’s custody
— and to those who might be overdetained in the future.
Overdetention causes
Though there may be other reasons behind overdetention, the lawsuits identify one particular problem as the driving force.
In Louisiana where defendants can spend years in pretrial detention because of court delays, it is not uncommon for an inmate to have served out their sentence — or even served extra time — by the time a judge hands down that sentence.
But because of subsequent delays in calculating their release dates, the state detains them for weeks or months longer even though they are eligible to be released immediately, according to the lawsuits
The lawsuits describe a system where it can take days or weeks for sheriffs and clerks of court to submit
necessary release date calculation documents, known as a “prerelease packet,” to the Department of Public Safety & Corrections. The agency may then take days or weeks to process those documents, the lawsuits say In a May public meeting, Department of Public Safety & Corrections counsel Jonathan Vining agreed that cases of overdetention had generally involved inmates eligible for immediate release, but he said that recent improvements to the calculation system and changes to the law meant it was no longer an issue.
Citing pending litigation, the agency declined to provide data to back up that claim.
DeGravelles noted the agency improved its system over the years, but he still cited evidence that it did not do enough to fix the problem in a timely manner
For example, the agency launched a portal in 2023 that allowed clerks of court and sheriffs to submit records electronically according to the court decision. It took the state only three and a half months to create the portal, deGravelles wrote, but “DOC could have created this system in 2012 or 2008.”
Evidence of overdetention
The ruling describes evidence that officials, including former Department of Public Safety & Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc, knew overdetention was rampant as early as 2012. That was the year an agency study known as Lean Six Sigma found that in one year, 2,252 prisoners were held past their release dates, and that they were detained, on average, for 72 days too long, according to the ruling.
LeBlanc, who is a named defendant in the lawsuit, did not return requests for comment. He ran the corrections department for 16 years, leaving in August 2024. Gary Westcott now holds his position. More recently, in 2019, agency data showed that at least 140 inmates eligible for immediate release were overdetained during the month of February, deGravelles wrote. A 2023 Department of Justice report also found that between January and April 2022, 1,108 inmates were held past their release dates. Not all of those inmates were necessarily eligible for immediate release upon sentencing.
The state has disputed the DOJ’s findings.
Email Meghan Friedmann at meghan.friedmann@ theadvocate.com.
Instructor Moriah Hargrave, right, helps couples with their Cajun jitterbug on Sunday.
STAFF PHOTOS By BRAD KEMP
Instructor Moriah Hargrave, left, leads couples through Cajun and zydeco dance lessons during Allons Danser, presented by LFT Fiber, at Parc Sans Souci in Lafayette on Sunday.
Russia launched drones, missiles and guided aerial bombs across Ukraineearly Sunday,killing five people in amajor nighttime attack that Ukrainian officials said targeted civilian infrastructure.
Moscow fired 53 ballistic and cruise missiles and 496 drones, Ukraine’sair force said. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that nine regions were targeted. Four people, including a15-yearold, died in acombined drone and missile strike on Lviv,according to regional officials and Ukraine’s emergency service.
It was the largest aerialassault on the historic western city and surroundingregion since Russia’s full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, according to Maksym Kozytskyi, head of the local military administration. Earlier in the war,Lviv was seen as ahaven from the fighting and destruction farther east.
SHUTDOWN
Continued from page1A
Thesquabble comes at a moment of troublingeconomic uncertainty.While the U.S.economy hascontinued to grow thisyear,hiring has slowed and inflation remains elevated as Trump’simport taxes have created aseries of disruptions for businesses and employers have hurt confidenceinhis leadership.
At the same time, there is a recognition that thenearly$2 trillion annual budget deficit is financially unsustainable yet there has to be acoalition around the potential tax increases and spending cuts to reduce borrowing levels.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, among those appearing on the Sunday news shows, said there have been no talks with Republican leaders since their WhiteHousemeetingMonday
“And unfortunately,since that point in time, Republicans, includingDonald Trump, have gone radio silent,” Jeffries said.“And what we’ve seen is negotiation through deepfake videos,the House canceling votes, and of course President Trump spending yesterday on the golf course. That’s not responsible behavior.”
Trump was asked via text message by CNN’sJake Tapper about shutdown talks. The Republican president responded with confidence but no details.
“Weare winning and cutting costs big time,” Trump saidinatext message, according to CNN.
His administration sees the shutdown as an opening to wield greater power over the budget, withmultiple officials sayingthey will save moneyasworkers are furloughed by imposingpermanent job cuts on thousandsof government workers, atactic that has never been used before. Even though it would Trump’schoice,hebelieves he can put the blame on the Democratsfor the layoffs because of the shutdown
“It’suptothem,” Trump told reportersonSunday morning before boarding the presidential helicopter “Anybodylaidoff that’sbecauseofthe Democrats.”
While Trump rose to fame
In aTelegram post, Kozytskyi said Russia launched about 140 Shahed drones and 23 ballistic missiles across theregion. At least six more peoplewere injured, according to astatement by Ukraine’spolice force.
Thestrikeleft two districts of Lviv without power anddisrupted public transportation for afew hours early Sunday,Mayor Andriy Sadovyi reported. He added that abusiness complex on Lviv’s outskirts caught fire following the strike, describingitasacivilian facility unlinkedtoUkraine’swar effort
One person was also injured in the Ivano-Frankivsk region south of Lviv, according to regional head Svitlana Onyshchuk.
In thesoutherncityofZaporizhzhia, an aerial assault killed a civilian woman and wounded nine other people including a16-yearold girl, regional head Ivan Fedorov reported. He said Russia attacked withdrones and guided aerial bombs.
Fedorov said thestrike destroyed residentialbuildings and left about 73,000householdsinZaporizhzhia and surrounding areas without power
Russia’sDefense Ministry said
hiscall for Kyiv’sWestern partners to send additional air defenses to combat Russia’s “aerialterror.”
“Today,the Russians again targeted our infrastructure, everything that ensurespeople can live a normallife. We need more protection, arapid implementation of all defense agreements, especially on airdefense,tomakethis aerialterror pointless,” he said in aTelegram post.
Ukraine hasfor months conducted its own long-range strikes on Russia, many of whichhavetargeted Moscow’soil infrastructure and contributed to persistent fuel shortages
invasion on Feb.24, 2022. Kyiv calls it an attempt to weaponize the weather by denying civilians heat, light andrunning water.
Serhii Koretskyi, CEO of Ukraine’s state-owned Naftogaz Group, said Sunday’s attackinflicted further large-scale damage on gas infrastructure that supplies civilians, just two days after what the companysaidwas the largest Russianstrike on its facilitiessince the all-out invasion.
the overnight strikes targeted Ukraine’s“military-industrial complex”and energy facilitiesthatsupplyit.
Separately,six people including achild were injured in Sloviansk, akey city in the eastern Donetsk region that remains under Ukrainian control, after aRussianguided aerial bomb slammed into an apartment block, regional prosecutors saidSunday. They said Russian airstrikesonSaturday evening damaged over two dozen residential buildings in Sloviansk, as well as cars, shops anda cafe. Zelenskyy on Sunday reiterated
Russia’sDefense Ministry said itsforces shot down 32 Ukrainian drones during the night, with at least 50 more downed during the day over southwestern Russia Drones damaged several homes, carsand apower line in the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, accordingtolocal Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov. Separately,hereported thatUkrainian shelling gravely wounded the deputy head of aborder village Forits part,the Kremlin has ramped up attacks on Ukraine’s power grid ahead of winter,asin previousyearssincethe full-scale
Russia’s goal wastodeprive Ukrainians of gas, heat, and electricity, Koretskyiwas quoted as saying in aNaftogazstatement. The company did not elaborate on the damage from the latest strike In his nightly address to Ukrainians on Sunday,Zelenskyy charged that Moscow is “openly trying to destroy our civilianinfrastructure now,before winter —our gas infrastructure,electricity generation andtransmission.”
“Unfortunately,there’sbeen no dignified, powerful globalresponse to everything that’shappening, to the ever-increasing scale and brazenness of the strikes, he said, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “simply laughing at the West’ssilence and lack of astrong response.”
ASSOCIATED
thatmeant the spending was withheld without time for Congress to weigh in before the previousfiscalyear ended lastmonth.
“Weneed bothtoaddress thehealth care crisis and we need some written assurance in the law,Iwon’ttake a promise, that they’re not going to renege on any deal we make,” Schiff said.
BALCE CENETA
President DonaldTrump speaks to reporters before departingthe White House en route to Norfolk,Va., to observe anaval sea powerdemonstration on Sunday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE
Speaker of the House MikeJohnson, R-La., left, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., returntotheir offices after speaking with reporters on the third dayof thegovernment shutdown at the CapitolinWashington on Friday
on theTVshow “The Apprentice” with is catchphraseof “You’re fired,” Republicans on Sundayclaimed that the administration would take no pleasure in lettinggooffederal workers, even though they haveput funding on hold for infrastructureand energy projects inDemocratic areas.
“Wehaven’tseen thedetails yet about what’s happening”with layoffs, House Speaker Mike Johnson said on NBC. “But it is aregrettable situationthatthe president doesnot want.”
KevinHassett, director of theWhite House National Economic Council, said that theadministrationwants to avoidthe layoffs it hadindicatedcould start on Friday,a deadline thatcameand went without any decisionsbeing announced
en more weekstotalkabout thesethings,”Hassett said on CNN. “But thebottom line is thatwith Republicans in control, the Republicans have a lot morepower over the outcome thanthe Democrats.”
DemocraticSen.Adam Schiff of California defended his party’sstanceonthe shutdown, saying on NBC thatthe possible increase in healthcare costs for “millions of Americans”would makeinsurance unaffordable in what he called a“crisis.”
But Schiff also noted that the Trump administration haswithheld congressionally approved spending from being used, essentially undermining the value of Democrats’seeking compromises on thebudgetsasthe White House could decline to not honor Congress’ wishes. The Trumpadministrationsent Congress roughly$4.9 billion in “pocket rescissions ”onforeign aid, aprocess
The television appearances indicated that Democrats andRepublicans arebusy talking, deploying internet memes against each other thathave raisedconcerns aboutwhether it’spossible to negotiateingood faith.
Vice President JD Vance said that avideo putting Jeffriesinasombrero and thickmustache was simply ajoke, even though it came across as mocking people of Mexican descentasRepublicansinsist that the Democraticdemands would lead to health care spending on immigrants in thecountry illegally,a claim thatDemocratsdispute.
Immigrants in the U.S. illegally are not eligible for any federal healthcare programs, including insurance provided through the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid. Still, hospitals do receive
Medicaid reimbursements for emergency care that they are obligated to provideto people who meet other Medicaid eligibility requirements but do not have an eligible immigration status.
The challenge, however, is that the twoparties do not appear to be having productive conversations with each otherinprivate,evenas Republicans insist they are in conversation withtheir Democratic colleagues.
On Friday,aSenate vote to advanceaRepublican bill that would reopen the government failed to notch the necessary 60 votes to end a filibuster.Johnsonsaidthe
House would closefor legislative business next week, a strategy that could obligate the Senate to work with the government funding bill that was passed by House Republicans.
“Johnson’snot serious aboutthis,” Senate Democratic leader ChuckSchumer said on CBS. “He sent his all his congressman homelast week and home this week. How are you going to negotiate?”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Sunday that the shutdown on discretionary spending, thefurloughing of federal workers and requirements that other federal employees workwithout pay will go on so long as Democrats vote no.
“They’ll get another chance on Monday to vote again,” said Thune on FoxNews Channel’s“Sunday Morning Futures.”
“And I’m hoping that some of them have achange of heart,” he said.
JeffriesJohnson and Schiff appeared on NBC’s“Meet thePress,”Hassett was on CNN’s “State of theUnion,” Schumer was on CBS’s“Face the Nation”and Thune was on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”
ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO By MANUEL BALCE CENETA House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries,D-N.y., speakstoreporters on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday.
Lafayette murder rate above nation’s
But average much lower than La. cities targeted for Guard deployment
BY STEPHEN MARCANTEL Staff writer
Last week, Gov Jeff Landry requested that the Trump administration and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth consider sending 1,000 Louisiana National Guard Troops to three Louisiana’s metro areas.
New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Shreveport, the governor purport-
ed in a letter, have seen “elevated crime rates and significantly exceed the national average for homicides along with other crimes.
Despite drops in murders across the three cities, Louisiana remains a particularly violent state, well above the nation-
Artist explores coastal land loss
N.O. museum exhibits photographers 20 years after Katrina
BY JOSIE ABUGOV Staff writer
In the middle of a black and white photograph, a cow and a bull stand side-by-side flanked by dying trees and a warning sign: “Do not anchor or dredge.” Facing the camera the cows look ahead at the water around Venice, near the bottom of Plaquemines Parish where the Mississippi River meets the Gulf Photographer Virginia Hanusik took the photo in 2022 while on coastal advocate Richie Blink’s boat, where Hanusik said she’s “been a million times.” Like much of her work, the photo draws together images of the natural environment and man-made structures to tell a story about Louisiana’s disappearing coast. The warning not to anchor is because of a crude oil pipeline underwater “I’m continuously curious about this relationship that Louisiana has with the natural world,” Hanusik said. “How important the natural world is and prioritizing being outdoors and having such pride in the food and the landscape, yet there’s also an insidious side to the infrastructure.”
Three years after taking the photograph, “Marsh Cows Near Venice,” the piece is one of nine images by Hanusik included in “The Unending Stream: Chapter II,” the final installment of a two-part exhibition at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art.
The exhibition opened Sept. 25 and will run through March 15. The title of the showcase pays homage to Clarence John Laughlin, a Lake Charles-born surrealist and “one of the most important photographers to come out of New Orleans in the 20th century,” said Richard McCabe, photography curator at the museum. Laughlin’s piece of the same name, “The Unending Stream,” is housed at the Ogden. The first chapter of “The Unending Stream” opened in March and closed last month. The exhibition showcases contemporary photographers living and working in New Orleans 20 years after Hurricane Katrina
“I did not want it to be about the storm or disaster photographs,” McCabe said. Instead, he wanted to feature the “positive aspects” of the past two decades, particularly the role that the arts have played in revitalizing the region. Hanusik “is a perfect example of that,” McCabe said.
Originally from New York, Hanusik, 33, moved to New Orleans in 2014 and began working on water-related issues at Propeller, a nonprofit business incubator in the city She studied architecture but started photography near the end of her time in college. She expanded her artistic practice through site visits to the coast with Propeller and individual trips she took to learn more about the region.
“It was really an organic way of blending these multiple interests of mine and worlds that I was working with,” Hanusik said “It all kind of ended up working together to build this larger body of work.”
To McCabe, Hanusik epitomizes the “brain gain” that the city has received since Katrina: people who’ve come here, made it their home and made amazing artwork.”
“She’s blending science and art together,” McCabe said.
One image, “Tarping After Hurricane Ida,” gazes up along the side of a damaged house in Cocodrie in Terrebonne Parish. Another photograph “Lake Pontchartrain Levee on Hayne Boulevard,” foregrounds the protection wall between the branches of a tree and its shadow Last year, Hanusik published her first book, “Into the Quiet and the Light: Water,
al average of homicides, according to news reports, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, police departments’ data and a study that tracked murder rates across 30 U.S. cities. But where does that place Lafayette?
Lafayette is generally on par with the state murder rate at least from 2021 to 2023, hovering slightly above or below, with about 20.8 homicides per 100,000 people based on 2025 city populations.
In 2023, Lafayette had its deadliest year on record with 29 homicides being investigated by the Lafayette Police Department, nearly 2.5 times the national murder rate, according to a Council on Criminal
Justice study The study does not include any cities in Louisiana. The following year, the city experienced a 38% decrease in murders, according to the FBI’s 2024 National Incident-Based Reporting System data. From 2021 to 2024, the city’s murder rate decreased by 28% to 14.8 murders per 100,000. However, the city remains slightly above the national average of murders per capita, according
ABOVE: Spanish immersion students from local schools perform. RIGHT: Flautas and tamales are served.
Some charges dropped in
Attorney says new video proves self-defense
Staff and KATC-TV reports
A former Opelousas police officer no longer faces attempted manslaughter, assault and battery charges in the December 2023 shooting of her chief and his wife, KATC reported.
Savannah Butler was accused of attempted manslaughter, aggravated assault with a firearm, aggravated battery, three counts of obstruction of justice and three counts malfeasance in office in the events that happened at her home. On Friday, upon the motion of the Attorney
shooting of chief, wife
shows Ms. Butler
her home
Leblanc
STAFF PHOTOS By BRAD BOWIE
Costumed Spanish immersion students wait to perform during Latin Fest on Saturday at Parc International in downtown Lafayette.
ä See GUARD, page 4B
Hegseth Landry
Louisiana needsthe Give Kids a Chance Act
When children’shospitalslike New Orleans’ Manning Family Children’sHospital plead for the chance to treat and cure more young patients, lawmakers should pay attention, especially when the solution doesn’tcost taxpayers adime.
The harsh reality of medical innovation is that research dollars flow to where there are more patients. Sadly,this situation often leaves children withrare diseases behind.
Today,drug companies have little financial incentive to administer clinical trials for ultra-rare diseasessince each condition affects so few patients. However, abipartisan bill, the Give Kids a Chance Act, offers real hope. It would remove barriers that currently discourage investment in pediatric research and open the door to life-savingtherapies for thousands of children.
The bill would reinstatethe FDA’s priority review voucher program, which rewards companies that successfully develop treatments forrare pediatric conditions. The voucher program should have never expired last year,but this bill will bring it back.
The Give Kids aChance Act would supercharge effortsat institutions like LSU HealthSciences Center to expand research andaccess. Ican vouch for the excellent staff and groundbreaking research being done on this outstanding medical campus as Ihad the pleasure of serving as development director of the LSU Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center Thanks to Louisiana’spowerful congressional delegation, led by House Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise and U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, the legislation has agood chance of becoming law by year’send. The Give Kids aChance Act won’tsolve every problem in pediatric medicine; however,it is abold, no-cost step forward. It empowers researchers, rewards innovation and gives families a reason to believe in abetter tomorrow Congress must act now,and with Louisiana’sleadership, it can.
JEFF CROUERE Metairie
LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR
AREWELCOME.HEREARE
YOUR VIEWS
Descendant of slaveowners doesn’twanthistory erased
As apart owner of Magnolia Plantation in Derry and as thenephew of Hale Boggs, I was deeply distressed at thelead story in a recent edition that President Donald Trump’s order mightforce the National Park Service to change the description of the way slaves lived and were treated at Magnolia Plantation
The property upon which Magnolia Plantation was built was land granted in the 1700s by France and Spain to my relative, Jean Baptiste LeComte II. Hisdescendantsbuilt Magnolia, acotton plantation, owning over 250 slaves. In 1997, with theconsent of my family,the National Park Service was given ownership of andundertook refurbishment of anumber of theslave cabins, the overseer’shouse/ slave hospital, the blacksmithshop, the huge cotton press operated by farm animals and theplantation general store. Thereafter,the ParkService opened this view backinto thelives of these enslaved people to thepublic. There are guided tours
and clearly written signage describing slave life. Magnolia Plantation is also part of the larger Cane River Creole National Historical Park.
Just like Trumpistrying to change the historyofthe insurrection on Jan.6,2021, when theU.S. Capitol was attacked in an effort to prevent his leaving theWhite House, he is now trying to makeslavery,where humans were brought, sold and treated as property, into somethingother than that reality
For thesins of my forefathers, Ilive with thesolace that my uncle, Hale Boggs, as the majority whip in theU.S. House of Representatives, shepherded throughthe House of Representatives the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the VotingRightsAct of 1965 at great risk to his career
Both histories, although conflicting, are factually accurate. We grow stronger as a country when we acknowledge history honestly.Then, we move forward
CHARLESA.BOGGS Long Beach, Mississippi
La.leading MAHA movement nationwide
In an age where chronic diseases like obesity,diabetes and heart conditions plague millions, the Make America Healthy Again movement emerges as abeacon of hope and common sense. Launched under thevisionary guidance of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now serving as Secretary of Health and Human Services, MAHA representsa refreshingshift towardpreventive care, cleaner food systems and empowering Americans to reclaim their well-being. MAHAisnot just simplerhetoric; it’sa call to action that prioritizes real solutions over bureaucratic inertia, aiming to dismantle the root causes of ournational health crisis.
rising chronic illnesses, underscores acommitmenttoscience and accountability that resonates deeply in atime of widespread distrust
Don’t misrepresent qualifications of Pete Hegseth
Let’ssee if this newspaper will be completely unbiased as anewspapershould be andgive my letter a big headline as it did forRichard O’Brien’sonSept. 18
O’Brienstatedthat Pete Hegseth, the current Secretary of Defense, was a“weekendhost of aFox News fluff andfakenewsprogram thatisn’teveninprime time.”
O’Brienfails to mentionthat Hegseth was in the U.S. Army NationalGuard with stints from 20032006, 2010-2014 and2019-2021. He servedinGuantanamo Bay, the Iraq wars andAfghanistan. He was awardeda Bronze Star twice, the Joint Commendation Medal, the Army Commendation Medal twice, the CombatInfantryman Badge andthe Expert Infantryman Badge
O’Brienstatesthat Pete Hegseth is notqualifiedfor the jobbecause he was on anews program. Perhaps O’Brienshould do his research before spouting his own fake news. Pete Hegseth is doing an outstanding job. MAGA means lawand order.
RHONDAWAGONER Lutcher
Whileworld’s problems may seem daunting,we allcan play arole in solvingthem
Around the world, millions of people aresuffering fromextreme poverty.FromGaza to the Congo to Haiti andeverywhere in between, people aresuffering.
It’sextreme poverty like this thatcan lead to further destabilizationofforeign governments and an increaseinterrorism, famine and overpopulation.
Storieslike this can seem overwhelming to people and can make themfeel like they can’tmake a difference
But it’sthis defeatist rhetoric thatkeepsanything frombeing done.This is where nonprofit organizations like The Borgen Project come in handy
OUR GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name and the writer’scity of residence.The Advocate |The Times-Picayune require astreet address and phone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor,The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@theadvocate.com. TO SEND US ALETTER SCAN HERE
Kennedy’sleadership in MAHA has been nothing shortoftransformative. With his decades of advocacy for environmental health andconsumer protections, he brings afearless, evidence-based approach to the forefront. As head of theMAHA Commission established in February, he spearheaded initiatives to scrutinize harmful additives in our food supply,promote nutritious alternatives, and foster transparency in public healthpolicies. His recent report on children’shealth, packedwith innovative ideas to combat
Nowhere is this momentum moreevident than in Louisiana, astate longgrappling with high rates of obesity and related ailments.Under Gov.Jeff Landry’sproactive leadership, Louisianahas positioned itself as anational pioneer in embracing MAHA principles. Just this summer,Landry joined Kennedy in Baton Rouge to sign groundbreaking legislation banning artificial dyes in school meals andrequiring restaurants to disclose inflammatoryseed oils like canola and soybean starting in 2028. Under Landry, thestate has also restricted sodaand candy from SNAP benefits, pending federal approval, aligning seamlessly with MAHA’s push for healthier public programs. This synergy between federal vision and stateaction exemplifies politics at its best: pragmatic, forward-thinking and rooted in the needs of the people. By leading the charge, we aren’tjust followingatrend.
PARKER WARD Shreveport
With the passage of the Big Beautiful Bill, it has acouple of things that affect the majority of thepeople in this area, and it would be niceifthisgreat paper did an article aboutnotaxes on tips and Social Security benefits. Since we have alot of people who work for tips, and there are lots of people drawing the
government’s pension plan, manypeople are unaware of this, and it’sa hugetax break for theworking people and the senior citizens. I’m expecting atax refund for the first time in manyyears. Spread theword: President Donald Trumpkept his promises.
DAVID BASSHAM Houma
Interning at The Borgen Project hasled me to become more educated on globalissuesand legislationthat’sbeing done to help those issues. Ilearnedthatforeign aid isn’tjust anecessity morally,but pragmatically as well. Countries thatAmerica givesforeign aid to can become great allies in the future; India andJapan are great examplesofthis.
Not only is there away to help solve the world’sissues, but it’s much easiernow than ever.Nowadays, youcan donate money to a local charity or call your local congressmanwithout even needing to leaveyourbed.Sometimes, believing thatyou can make adifference is the first stepneeded to make said difference
MATTHEW
SANTIAGO student, Nicholls State University
STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
Abrief stormrolls over the Magnolia Plantation in Derry
COMMENTARY
CREEPY CALLERS
Nice! We received 641 entriesinthisweek’sCartoon Caption Contest.There were so manycreative punchlines in this batch.Our winner tied it alltogether witha greattwist on aclassicannoyingcall we’ve allreceived.As always, when we have duplicate entries, andwealwaysdo, we pick the earliestsentin. Greatjob!— Walt
DAVID DELGADO, NEW ORLEANS: “Frank, you’re the nuts andbolts of our operation!”
SHERRI DENICOLA, BATONROUGE: “Frank! Look alive! Be more likeCount; he’s areal bloodsucker!”
STEPHEN RADCLIFFE, BATONROUGE: “It’safull moon, so we’rea bit short-staffed tonight.”
JOHN SHREVES,NEW ORLEANS: “Add a ‘Broo Haaa Haaa……’ at the end.
DAVID M. PRADOS, METAIRIE: “Tonight must be afull moon;the Wolfman did not showupfor his shift.
DUKE RIVET,BATON ROUGE: “Remember don’t use the Transylvania area code!”
EDWARD LASCELLE, PINEVILLE: “If you don’t meet your sales quota again, villagers with torches and pitchforksare gonna be the least of your problems!”
JEFF HARTZHEIM, FUQUAY-VARINA, N.C.: “Tell them youare an expertonrecalled parts.”
LAUREN GAUTHIER, KENNER: “Talk about working in the lab late at night!”
JOHN J. HUTCHINGS, NEWORLEANS: “Good eeeevening!Vehavebeentrying to reach youabout your coffin’seternal extended varranty!”
MICHAELRIEMER,JEFFERSON: “Here’s a list youcan sink your teethinto!”
DAVID WEBER, KENNER: “If akid answers, ask to speak with their Mummy.”
STEPHEND.VILLAVASO,NEW ORLEANS: “Number one rule: no zoom calls!”
NORM STAFFORD,MADISONVILLE: “Frank!Drac! Work on those accents! Nobodywill believe you’re from Louisiana!”
BOBUSSERY,NEW ORLEANS: “Don’t forget to call theAddamsFamily.”
JAYDARDENNE, BATONROUGE: “you idiots.We’resellingCRyPTO, not crypts!”
MICHELE STARNES,KENNER: “Forget garlic and pitchforks, the realthreat is the ‘Do Not Call’ list!”
PHILLIP T. GRIFFIN, NEWORLEANS: “Drak,
couldyou be alittle less seductiveand Frankie,a little less heavybreathing.”
PAMRIDER, BATONROUGE: “Franky,your numbers are down.you needtobemore likeDracula here —he’ssuckingthem dry.
TOMMY OLSEN, GULF SHORES,ALA.: “The onlyscammers better than us are politicians.”
BILL MAGILL, BATONROUGE: “Remember nevertakeBOO for an answer!”
SHEREE MURRAY, BATONROUGE: “Should have stayedatthe broom factoryjob!”
WENDY KING, NEW ORLEANS: “Tell them ‘don’tbedeadlast for this deal!’ ”
BRUCETAMPLAIN, LAPLACE: “Drack.you need to stop calling the Blood Centerfor withdrawals.
ELAINECHAPOTONSHUBERT, SLIDELL: “For only$19.99, your home will be protectedagainst the Rougarou, especially at Halloween!”
MARYHA STEEN,CORPUSCHRISTI, TEXAS: “Thisisway more entertaining than hiding under their beds.
MONTREAL Hardly noticed in the United States amid its worries about domestic tranquility was an important, telling and symbolic development that prompted boldfaced headlines here.
While the U.S. was struggling over the meaning of free expression and debating who should be vaccinated, Canada and Mexico pledged closer trade and security ties and spoke of a“strategic comprehensive partnership.”
Youknow,some days life sneaks up on you like asecond-lineparade: loud, messy and full of surprises but somehow magical all the same. This was one of those days. Ihad asimple mission: pico de gallo. Now,let me tell you, if you don’tknow, pico de gallo is basically afruit salad. Iknow,Iknow …most people think salsa, spicy,all chips and no fruit. Butpico de gallo? Tomatoes, onions,peppers, cilantro, lime. Fruitsalad with attitude. Simple, right? Go, get the salad, enjoy,live another day Of course, the universehad other plans. It was Taco Tuesday.Everyone suddenly transforms into atacoworshipper on Tuesdays. My go-to spotwas packed like aMardi Grasfloat, people spilling out, laughter ricocheting off the walls, thesmell of sizzling meat taunting your senses. So Imade aplan: I’d wait outside, take abreath,observe the chaos and mentally prepare for thatfirst bite of tangy,spicy fruitsalad perfection. While perched on abench, soaking up the humid Louisiana air,Inoticed aman withtwo dogs. Sweet enough, innocent enough until one of the dogs decided the walkway needed some “naturalartwork.” Yep. Apuddle of liquid chaosglistening in the sun. And thenmygrandmother’svoice hitme, sharpasagumbo ladle: “Boy,take your shoesoff when you enter my house.” Boom. Just like that, Igot it. Not literal shoes, not really.Itwas aspiritual metaphor,wrapped in humor and alittle stink. Life’smess —baggage, fears, grudges, anxiety —creeps into our homes, our hearts, our sacred spaces, and wejust walk over it, or worse, invite it in. Shoes carry dirt, yes, but metaphoricalshoes carry anger,pride, unhealed wounds. Step by step, we track it across what should be holy ground. Think about it: shoes protect, they sig-
nalstatus, culture, style. But they also carry traces of everywhereyou’ve been. That’swhatour heartsdoifwearen’t mindful. We stepinto relationshipsand sacred spaces, dragging emotional grime from thestreets behind us. And we act surprised when ourhearts feelheavy or our prayers sound hollow
Taking off shoes isn’tjust about cleaning the floor.It’shumility Reverence. Awareness. Mosesdid it whenhemet the Divine. And if the guy who parted the RedSea hadtoremove his sandals, maybe we shouldthink twice before stomping aroundwith our egos And here’sa littlewisdom from an old manIonceoverheard: “No cigarette smoking in your room.” Ilaughed at first,thinking he meant literal cigarettes. But then Igot it;hemeant respect.Respect for thespace, for thepeople, for the energy. Smoke lingers. It offends. It harms. Your worries, frustrations and anxieties, think of them as smoke. Bring them inside unchecked, and theycling to every surface of your heart and mind, disrupting the sacred energy.Just like cigarette smoke,they linger until you noticethem choking the room. So,steppingontoholy ground isn’t metaphorical fluff. It’spractice. Take off your shoes. Leave the smoke outside Walk barefoot.Feel the floor beneath your feet, the rhythm of your heart, the pulse of theair around you. It’s grounding, cleansing, humbling and sometimes funny as hell.
Speaking of funny,Iwatched people navigate that dog pee like it was an Olympic sport.One man did abizarre sidestep, like he was auditioning for a dance-offnobody asked for.A woman froze, eyes wide,probably reconsidering allher life choices.And me? Ilaughed. Hard.Because isn’tthat life? Absurd, messy,chaotic and often instructive if you’re paying attention.
Sacredness isn’tjust in churches or temples.It’sinyour kitchen, whereyour grandmother’srecipes hum throughthe steam. It’s in your living room,where laughter ricochets off the walls.It’son the streets,inthe music, in the gumboscented air of Louisiana. Everystep you take with humility, everygesture made withcare, everylaugh in the face of chaos that’ssacred. Drag in anger,ego or unresolved pain, though? You’re stepping in dog pee. And honey,itstinks. Sacredness isn’tsolemn. It’s messy Chaotic. Absurd. Hilarious. Like watching strangers sidestep dog pee while the universe hands you lessons wrappedin humor.You can stomp, complain, curse the universe, but if you pause and laugh, you learn morethan any sermon could teach.
Humor,humilityand awareness are a holy trifecta. Step lightly.Leave pride and smoke outside. Walk barefoot if you need to.Feel the earth beneathyour feet, the pulse in your chest,the groove of life under your toes.Subtle at first, then a rhythm emerges: Ibelong here. Idon’t own it.Irespect it.I laugh in it.
Life is like thatMexican restaurant on Taco Tuesday.Crowded, chaotic, unpredictable, sometimes stinky.But there’s rhythm,spice, music in thechaos. You just have to step lightly,leave the mess at the door,and remember that even your pico de gallo, afruit saladmasquerading as salsa,ispartofthe sacred, messy,joyful ritual.
So, next timelife getsmessy,remember the bench, thedog, the old man, the pico de gallo, thewisdom,the laughter Take off your shoes, baby.Stepcarefully.Leave the smoke and ego outside. And remember:You’rewalking on holy ground.
Kateb Shunnar,anative of New Orleans,isthe author of the upcoming book “Provisions for Your Thoughts: Chronicles and Inspirations.”
And while Donald Trump was enjoying classic British pageantry in London, the meeting between Canadian PrimeMinister Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum caused barely aripple in the behemoth between the two North American lands. The account of the leaders’ session and the agreement forged between two-thirds of the countries in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) —the successor to NAFTA—rated an account that appeared toward the bottom of Page 6ofthe print edition of The New York Times.
“This agreement is Canada getting things in order before we face new tariffs and yet more insults,” John English, aformer memberofParliament who was the general editor of the Dictionary of Canadian Biography,said in an interview.“We have to work with the Mexicans by ourselves. In some ways, the United States has gone to the sidelines.”
And though the Carney-Sheinbaum meeting was aripple in the United States, it was atsunami in its neighboring countries. That is aresult of twofactors, one a result of history,the other aproduct of hysteria.
The historical is the indifference Americans have felt about the countries on its borders. The maxim of the prominent 20thcentury columnist James Reston —that Americans will do anything about Central America but read about it —has long applied to Mexico as well. As for Canada, John F. Kennedy is remembered for his celebration of ties to our northern neighbors (“Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends,” he said in his 1961 visit to Ottawa), but former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau had it right eight years later (“Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if Ican call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt”).
The hysteria grows out of Trump’swielding of the tariff weapon and his demeaning reference to former PrimeMinister Justin Trudeau, the son of the elephant whisperer, as “Governor Trudeau” and to Canada as “the 51st state.”
These ripostes prompted an unprecedented surge in Canadian patriotism and pride. Canada is turning to Mexico, traditionally atrade afterthought here, because it has grown frustrated with dealing with unanticipated increases in Trump’s demands.
“Wenever really had muchofarelationship with Mexico because it was overshadowed by the trade and cultural relationship with the United States,” said Taras. “It’s odd to hop over the United States. It seems weird. But this is aweird time. We’d like a relationship with the U.S. —Trump maybe atemporary phenomenon —but we’re like adancer with feet sticking like glue.”
The show of unity in Mexico City was also ashow of solidarity.The two countries have from time to time sparred, sometimes one seeking advantage, sometimes one slighting the other in trade negotiations with the United States. There were hurt feelings when Trump exempted tariffs on Canadian goods covered under the USMCA but didn’textend the same exemption to Mexican goods.
“Of course, we are going to cooperate directly,aswealways have,” Carney said at anewsconference after the meeting between the two leaders. “Canada is absolutely committedtowork with both our partners,” implying both Mexico and the United States. “Is that unequivocal enough for you?”
About as unequivocal as the “Proud Canadian Brand” label on the jug of OJ. Email David Shribman at dshribman@ post-gazette.com.
Dennie Williams,Alexandria
David Shribman
Kateb Shunnar GUEST COLUMNIST
COASTAL
Continued from page1B
Life and LandLoss in South Louisiana,”which pairs her photography along the coast with acollection of essays by scholars, artists and activists. One of the essays by advocate Imani Jacqueline Brown, amember of the environmental group RISE St James,pointstothe damage that the oil and gas industry has inflicted on Louisiana’s coast.
“That’sreally interesting to me,the juxtaposition between losing land yet supporting an industry that is actively destroying it,”Hanusik said.
CHARGES
Continued from page1B
told she could not return to Butler’sproperty,Daniels said.
The video, which Daniels provided to KATC, shows the chief approaching the door and his wife coming up behind himas
Across the state, over 2,000 square miles of land has eroded in the pastcentury Studies have shown that the main causes of thedramatic landloss have been the construction of levees alongthe Mississippi River,oil and gas activity and the digging of shippingchannelsthat have sped erosion. Sealevel rise is projected to become a growing factor inthe decades ahead.
Hanusik’sphotography rarelyincludes people,even though the effects of manmade actions are evident in the structuresand architecture alongthe coast. At the new Ogden exhibition, Hanusik’s work is featured in the sameroom as Casey Joiner’simages, which in-
Butler opens the door of her home Danielssaidhedoesnot believe prosecutors ever saw the full video, nor were they aware somevideo was missing
TheAttorneyGeneral’s Office confirmedthat three charges were dismissed “after additional evidence was received by our office.”
clude people immersedin Southernlandscapes.
“I think the work in that room really feeds off each other,” McCabesaid.
Hanusik, Joinerand the other four artistsexplore themes including memory, timeand place “while capturing the mysterious beauty of America’smost unique city,”adescription at the entrance of the exhibition states.
Eric Waters capturesthe culture anddynamism of the city’sBlack Mardi Gras Indians,whileGiancarlo D’Agostaro chroniclesthe “subtle and quieter moments” of Mardi Gras parades through haunting black and whiteimages. In contrast, Clint Maedgen, a
“We’re happy that the attorney general did the right thing when we presented theactualevidence to them,”Daniels said. “Wefound that video as a result of our ownindependent investigation. We don’t think the St. Landry ParishSheriff’s Officeshould have investigated anything having to do with their own deputy.”
photographerand professional musician, uses color to provoke asense of joy and playfulness. And Steve Pyke engageswithLouisiana landscapes through striking shots of the Couturie Forest in City Park.
For Hanusik, her experiences along the coastare continuing to inform her ongoing body of work. The artist recently startedher second and final year of agraduatephotography program in Rhode Island, which has sparked curiosity on the ways industry in Louisiana impacts other regions.Still, sheenvisions herself returning to herchosen home.
“I don’tthink I’ll ever be able to leave Louisiana for that long,”she said.
Continued frompage1B
to the Council on Criminal Justice study,which also notes adeclineinhomicides nationally From 2021 to 2024, Lafayette was, on average, 1.81 times more deadly than the 30 cities in the study In comparison, New Orleans, Shreveport and Baton Rouge were on average 4.4 times deadlier than the national average. In 2024, New Orleans had amurder rate of 34.2 per 100,00ora 43.1% decrease from 2021, based on 2024 populations. NewOrleans saw a21.6% increase in the number of murdersbeing investigated by the New Orleans Police Department in 2022 from the previous year,but corrected course with a27.2% decrease in killings in 2023.
PreliminaryNOPDdata for the first half of 2025 continues to show asharp decrease in homicides, with53murders, including the 14 people killed in aJan. 1terrorist attack on
Bourbon Street. Hans Ganthier,assistant superintendent of NOPD, disputed Landry’s description of thecity’shigh crime rates.
“Wehave not requested theNational Guard,but it’s foolish to thinkthatthey’re not coming based on all the publicitybeinggiven about it,” he said. “But with that said,wecollaboratewell with anyone, whether it’s theState Police, thefederal governmentorfederal agents andthe National Guard shouldn’tbeany different.”
Murders across Shreveport, New Orleans and Baton Rouge have continued to drop. From 2021 to 2024, theshareofmurders across the citiesdecreased by 40%. Beingthe three largest cities,itmakes sense that they wouldaccount fora bulk ofthe murdersinthe state. In 2021, they accounted for 46%ofreported homicides, ashare that has decreased slightly to 41%in 2024.
Thattrend downward couldcontinue into 2025, according to aStateline
report. National homicides have slumped 17% for the first half of this year,followingprevioushighs during the COVID-19era
Along with homicides, vehicle thefts, robberies, burglaries, aggravatedassaults andrapes continued to see decreases.
Email StephenMarcantel at stephen.marcantel@ theadvocate.com.
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Theshooting happened in December 2023. In the weeks following, Butler was booked with two counts of negligent injury,one count of obstruction of justice and one count of illegaluse of aweapon.Graig Leblanc was booked with obstruction of justice, malfeasance in office andfailure to assist or aid another officer.And athird officer of the department, Tyrone Abrams, was booked with one count of malfeasance in office andone count principal to obstruction of justice.
Allthree wereindicted in October 2024: Butler on charges of attempted man-
slaughter,aggravated assault with afirearm, aggravated battery,obstruction of justice and malfeasance in office; GraigLeblanc on chargesofobstructionof justice and malfeasance in office; and Abrams on charges of malfeasance in office and obstruction of justice.
PROVIDED PHOTOByRICHARD MCCABE
Nine photographs by Virginia Hanusik arefeatured at the Ogden MuseumofSouthernArt’s exhibition ‘The Unending Stream: Chapter II.’
STAFF PHOTO By JOSIE ABUGOV
Photographer VirginiaHanusik speakstoattendees Sept. 27 at the Ogden Museum of SouthernArt
GIANT RELIEF
WITH WIN, SAINTS SNAP 300-DAy, EIGHT-GAME LOSING STREAK
Saints practice what they preach to pick up firstwin of season
BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer
Twowords, repeated threetimes, amantrathatobviouslyhas been so burned into the brains of the New Orleans Saints defenders that they can’thelp butrepeat it; one that finally manifested in results Sunday afternoon in theCaesars Superdome
The ball, the ball, theball.
“It’sall we talk about,” said defensive back Kool-Aid McKinstry.“‘The ball, the ball, the ball.’”
“Wealways preach, ‘The ball, the ball, the ball,’”safetyJordan Howden said. “The ball is the most important thing in football.”
The ball found McKinstry twice, anditfound Howdenonce,and it found two otherSaints defenders. After strugglingtorip the ball away from opponents during afour-game
losing streak to startthe season,New Orleans found it in abundance, forcingfive turnovers whilebeating the visiting Giants 26-14.
Thewin was afirst for head coach and offensive play-caller Kellen Moore and quarterback Spencer Rattler,bothofwhomplayedtheir part in the team snapping an organizational losing skid that datedback to Dec. 8oflast year.New Orleans hadbeencloseattimes in itsfirst four games, but it was important to getpastclose.
“You’ve got to get in the win column first, and thenobviously you can carry the momentum hopefully moving forward,”Moore said. “We can feel it. We knowwhatitlooks like. And so now we’ve got to keep getting better,this is what an NFL
NewOrleans celebrates overdue victoryoverNew york in style
Dec. 8, 2024. It’d been almost ayear since the New OrleansSaints last won afootball game. Three hundred days, to be exact, which probably felt like a lifetime for the players and coaches who’d suffered through thedrought So when the Saintsfinally snapped theskid Sunday with acathartic 26-14 victoryover theNew York Giants, they celebrated with understandable relief and unbridled joy Club Dub, as theSaints call their amplified, high-tech postgame locker room celebration, has christened more important wins over the years. Butfew victories have been relished as much as this one was in theSuperdome.
“It’d been awhile since we’ve had the fog(machine) and the music playing,” third-year safety Jordan Howden said. “I almost forgot how that was.” The Saints need not apologize fortheir ebullience. When you haven’twon a gameinalmost 10 months and are one of just three teamsremaining in the winless ranks, any victory is cause forcelebration. And when it comes after falling into an early 14-3 deficit and as the result of the team’s first five-takeaway gameinmore than ayear and ahalf, it’scertainly worthy of alittle redemptive revelry “Itfeels great,” said rookie safety
STAFFPHOTO By BRETT DUKE
Saintswide receiver Rashid Shaheed runs for atouchdown as Newyork Giants safety Tyler Nubin tries to defend in the firsthalfoftheir game Sundayatthe Caesars Superdome. TheSaints beat the Giants26-14 to earntheir first victoryofthe season.
Jeff Duncan
WNBA FINALS
Aces take Game 2 over Mercury
young sets WNBA Finals record with 21 points in third quarter
BY MARK ANDERSON Associated Press
LAS VEGAS Jackie Young, ex-
hausted from the grueling fivegame semifinal series against Indiana, wasn’t quite herself when the Aces began the WNBA Finals against Phoenix and even did something rare in the opener She asked out of the game.
But after a day of rest, there was no stopping Young on Sunday She set a finals record with 21 points in the third quarter, finishing with 32 to carry Las Vegas to a 91-78 victory over the Mercury and 2-0 series lead.
Game 3 is Wednesday in Phoenix, where the Aces hope to put a stranglehold on the series as they chase their third title in four years. The Mercury have the tall task of needing to win four of five games to capture their fourth championship, which would tie the WNBA record.
Young, who tied a career playoff high in total points, fell just short of the league record of 22 points for any postseason quarter
Three players have accomplished that, most recently in 2021 when Young’s teammate, Jewell Loyd, hit that number for Seattle against the Mercury
“We had a couple of play calls for her, but it was really her being really aggressive and in attack mode,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said. “I’m always spurring her on to be in attack mode When she hits the 3-ball and gets a
couple to go down, it becomes difficult for her to be defended because she’s fast, she’s big, strong.”
Young’s performance was quite an answer to the Aces’ Game 1 victory on Friday, when she scored 10 points and made just 3 of 13 shots.
“My shots were very short,”
Young said. “I was getting everything I wanted Game 1, but they were darts. I was trying to change it, but just didn’t have it. Luckily we have a lot of great players on this team.”
Four-time league MVP A’ja Wil-
son scored 20 of her 28 points in the first half and had 14 rebounds.
Had Wilson scored two more points, the Aces would’ve been the first team to have two 30-point scorers in a WNBA Finals game.
“Take the numbers away, I’m so proud of Jackie,” Wilson said “When you see someone that works so hard every single day and then you get to see the hard work paying off, it’s a beautiful thing to witness. I’m just so grateful to be her teammate and come to work with her every single day.”
NBA PRESEASON
Chelsea Gray finished with 10 points and 10 assists, her fifth playoff double-double in those categories, moving her into fourth in playoffs history She also had eight rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals.
Kahleah Copper led the Mercury with 23 points, Satou Sabally scored 22 and Alyssa Thomas had 10 while coping with foul trouble much of the game.
Sabally injured her right ankle in the fourth quarter, but Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts said he didn’t have an update on her status.
Pelicans go 2-0 in games in Australia
BY ROD WALKER Staff writer
New Orleans Pelicans newcomer Saddiq Bey hasn’t played in a regular-season NBA game since March 2024.
You wouldn’t have known that by watching the Pelicans newcomer in their second preseason game in Australia.
Bey knocked down three 3-pointers in the first quarter to jumpstart the Pelicans in their 127-92 preseason victory over South East Melbourne Phoenix on Sunday afternoon (late Saturday night Central time).
The Pelicans went 2-0 in their two games in Australia. It was a historic trip as the Pels became the first NBA team to play in Australia.
“Using this experience to come together and spend a lot of time in a different country on the road and traveling is going to be big for us this year,” said guard Jordan Poole “Especially if we want to make a deep run, make some noise when it comes to the playoffs This is a really good way to start our season.”
The Pelicans didn’t waste any time taking care of business in their second game. They knocked down seven
NBA
3-pointers in the first quarter and led 35-21.
Bey finished with a game-high 21 points to go with his six rebounds and three assists.
“I think (Saddiq) is going to be huge for our group,” said Pelicans coach Willie Green. “Just having a chance to interact with him and getting to know him more. He has such a mature approach to the game. He’s a hard worker You can see the difference between
game one and game two. He’s a guy who wants it. He wants to be good and wants to make winning plays for himself and his teammates.”
Bey is in his first season in New Orleans after being acquired as part of the CJ McCollum-Jordan Poole trade. He missed all of last season with the Washington Wizards after suffering a torn ACL the season before while playing for the Atlanta Hawks.
“I am just grateful to be out here,” Bey said in a postgame TV interview “The opportunity to play in Australia is a blessing.”
Green started a different lineup from the one he used in the Pelicans’ first game. In the first game, the starters were Bey, Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy, Poole and Kevon Looney Rookie Jeremiah Fears replaced Murphy in the starting lineup Sunday Poole finished with 15 points, and Fears scored 12.
“He has a no-quit mentality,” Green said about Fears. “He doesn’t back down from anybody.” Williamson played just 15 minutes but made the most of his time. He finished with eight points, nine rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocked shots. Jordan Hawkins scored 14 points.
Jose Alvarado left the game with a leg injury in the third quarter Green said Alvarado will be evaluated when the team returns to New Orleans. The Pelicans return home Sunday and won’t play another preseason game until Oct. 14 when they play the Houston Rockets in Birmingham, Alabama.
Email Rod Walker at rwalker@ theadvocate.com.
coaches welcome referees’ presence at camp
BY TIM REYNOLDS Associated Press
MIAMI Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers is, by his own admission, not the best referee. When he is calling fouls in practice, he doesn’t call much. The NBA sent him and his colleagues some help this fall. Scrimmages in training camps around the NBA might have seemed a little more crowded this season. The league has sent referees to camp to call fouls and violations, giving the officials a bit of extra work and helping teams understand how games will be called.
“We’ve been pushing for this for at least 20 years — and I am not exaggerating,” Rivers said after the Bucks scrimmaged in camp at Florida International University this weekend, with three NBA refs on the floor for the matchup. “Every competition committee meeting I’ve been on, I’m like, ‘Why can’t we do this?’ They should be at every practice.”
It’s a new program the NBA installed this season, and it seems to be a hit. Teams were allowed to invite referees in for two days in the opening week of camp and let them blow the whistle in scrimmages and drills — plus offer can-
did answers to questions. Denver’s Nikola Jokic spent several minutes on the floor with referees after a Nuggets workout, pleading his case on various matters while getting explanations from the crew “I think it was terrific,” Washington coach Brian Keefe said. “We had some discussions about some rules, but it was also the professionalism that they brought. It wasn’t me reffing out there, which can be atrocious.”
Portland coach Chauncey Billups echoed the remarks of Keefe and several other coaches. “I think it was genius,” he said.
from the NBA’s perspective. Monty McCutchen, the NBA’s senior vice president and head of referee development and training, said one of the benefits is that the officials and players get to reconnect without the stress of true game situations. The NBA has been preaching a “respect for the game” mantra for several years, and part of what the league wants is a positive, respectful relationship among players, coaches and officials Sending refs into camp, the league thinks, will help.
Time set for LSU’s home game vs. South Carolina LSU football’s Week 7 matchup with South Carolina will kick off at 6:45 p.m. in Tiger Stadium on Oct. 11, the SEC said Saturday In Week 5, the No. 13 Tigers (41) suffered their first loss at No. 4 Ole Miss. They had an open date between that matchup and their next one against the Gamecocks, who dropped two of their first three contests against SEC opponents. LSU has six SEC foes left on its schedule, and four of those opponents are ranked. Three of the four — No. 5 Oklahoma, No. 6 Texas A&M and No. 10 Alabama — slotted in ahead of the Tigers in the latest AP Top 25 Poll. After the Tigers host South Carolina, they’ll hit the road to face No.16 Vanderbilt. The SEC Network will broadcast LSU vs. South Carolina.
Fisk birdies last 3 holes to win first PGA Tour title
JACKSON, Miss. — Steven Fisk said he wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of his first PGA Tour victory, and it took birdies on his last three holes Sunday to close with an 8-under 64 to win the Sanderson Farms Championship. Fisk and Garrick Higgo of South Africa finally separated themselves over the closing holes at the Country Club of Jackson.
“I came out today with an attitude that nothing was going to stop me,” Fisk said during his Golf Channel interview on the 18th green. “I just felt like I’d be standing right here, right now, before the round started. I know I’m good enough. I thought I could do it.”
The win carries big benefits for the 28-year-old who played at Georgia Southern and on the 2019 Walker Cup team at Royal Liverpool.
MacIntyre wins Dunhill Links in native Scotland ST ANDREWS, Scotland Robert MacIntyre won the Dunhill Links Championship on Sunday for a second European tour title in as many years in his native Scotland, completing a successful homecoming after being part of Team Europe’s victory in the Ryder Cup last week.
“Just a beautiful ending to a good week,” MacIntyre said after shooting a third straight 6-under 66, this time in strong winds on the Old Course at St. Andrews, to complete a four-stroke victory at the home of golf. The third round was postponed on Saturday because of stormy weather, making the event — a pro-am played over three of Scotland’s top links courses — a 54hole tournament.
Gainey goes from qualifier to first Champions title
JACKSONVILLE,Fla.— Tommy Gainey holed a long eagle putt from off the green at the par-5 13th to take the lead, and he closed with a 6-under 66 for a two-shot victory in the Constellation Furyk & Friends for his first PGA Tour Champions title. Gainey had to go through qualifying just to get into the field at Timuquana Country Club. He started the final round four shots behind Matt Gogel, then pulled away in the middle of the back nine to hold off Cameron Percy of Australia. Percy was one shot behind when he was fooled on a 15-foot birdie chance on the par-17th. He missed another birdie chance from 15 feet on the final hole, and Gainey rolled in a 6-foot birdie putt to finish at 14-under 202.
Pained Sanders believes he has more blood clots
FORT WORTH, Texas Deion Sanders said he was “hurting like crazy” after Colorado’s loss Saturday night at TCU and believes he has more blood clots in his leg.
“Cat’s out of the bag, all right. I think I’ve got more blood clots,” Sanders said. “It don’t make sense. I’m hurting like crazy I’m not getting blood to my leg. That’s why my leg is throbbing.”
The 58-year-old Colorado coach sat at times late during the 35-21 loss and said he had a doctor’s appointment Monday Sanders spent time away from the Buffaloes this summer as he was treated for bladder cancer His doctor said before the season that Sanders was cured from that. Sanders has struggled with his left foot since having two toes amputated in 2021. On
It’s a win-win scenario, at least
“It allows for relationship building in a less competitive environment,” McCutchen said.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOHN LOCHER
Aces guard Jackie young celebrates after making a 3-point shot during Game 2 of the WNBA Finals against the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday in Las Vegas.
STAFF FILE PHOTO By SCOTT THRELKELD
New Orleans Pelicans coach Willie Green, shown calling a play against the Utah Jazz on Jan. 17, praised the efforts of newcomer Saddiq Bey after two preseason games in Australia.
Broncos rally to beat Eagles their first
The Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA Bo Nix threw an 11-yard touchdown pass and J.K. Dobbins rushed for a 2-yard score in the fourth quarter as the Denver Broncos wiped out a 14-point deficit to hand the Philadelphia Eagles their first loss of the season, 21-17 on Sunday
The Broncos batted down Jalen Hurts’ last-gasp pass on the final play of the game to send the Super Bowl champions to just their second loss in their last 22 games.
The Broncos (3-2) caught a huge break in their rally when the Eagles had a late fourth-down conversion called back on an illegal shift penalty whistled against running back Saquon Barkley The Eagles (4-1) were forced to punt and Hurts could not lead one more comeback.
His final heave on second-and-10 from the 29 was knocked down as time expired to send the jubilant Broncos into the locker room with an improbable win. Nix waved his arms in celebration toward dozens of Broncos fans in orange that stood near the visitors tunnel.
Nix threw for 242 yards a week after he threw for a careerhigh 326 yards and a pair of touchdowns against the Bengals and Denver’s formula of run-first offense and a dominant defense came to life in the fourth quarter
The Broncos totaled just 199 yards and trailed 17-3 at the end of the third before Nix got the offense rolling. Dobbins, who followed his 101 yards rushing against Cincinnati with 79 yards on Sunday punched in a 2-yard TD run in the fourth to make it 17-10.
The Broncos got the ball back and Nix hit Courtland Sutton for 34 yards on the decisive drive. Nix connected over the middle with Evan Engram for the 11-yard TD.
Coach Sean Payton gambled for the 2-point conversion and the Broncos got it when Nix hit Tony Franklin for an 18-17 lead with 7:36 left in the game.
The play stunned and silenced the Philly crowd a familiar gut punch to the fan base after the Phillies wasted a three-run lead a night earlier in a playoff loss to the Dodgers.
Yet, these are the Eagles and
game, and the Ravens already were weakened on that side of the ball because of a neck problem that ended Nnamdi Madubuike’s season. Baltimore was also without All-Pro fullback Patrick Ricard and tackle Ronnie Stanley COLTS 40, RAIDERS 6: In Indianapolis, Jonathan Taylor keeps proving he’s one of the league’s top running backs.
A few more games like this, and perhaps Daniel Jones will considered one of the best quarterbacks.
Taylor ran for three touchdowns and a 2-point conversion, Jones threw two TD passes while playing another turnover-free game, and the Indianapolis Colts remained perfect at home with a 40-6 rout of the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday
The Titans (1-4) trailed 21-6 in the fourth quarter, but took advantage of two massive Cardinals blunders to win the game.
Emari Demercado looked as if he ran for a game-sealing 72-yard touchdown with 12:51 left, but the running back dropped the ball in celebration just before he ran into the end zone. Instead of giving the Cardinals a 28-6 lead, it was ruled a fumble out the back of the end zone, giving the Titans possession at their 20.
they weren’t going to just easily surrender their 10-game winning streak.
At fourth-and-4 from the Eagles 49, Hurts hit DeVonta Smith on a long reception for what should have been a first down, only for the flag on Barkley to wipe it off the board Smith had eight catches and 114 yards receiving. That was it for the Eagles Wil Lutz tacked on a 36-yard field goal with 1:11 left for a 21-17 lead. Hurts threw for 280 yards. He had a 2-yard touchdown pass to Dallas Goedert and a 47-yard TD pass to Barkley in the third quarter for the 17-10 lead.
COWBOYS 37, JETS 22: In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Dak Prescott threw two of his four touchdown passes to Jake Ferguson, Dallas scored on two 90-yard drives in the second quarter with a makeshift offensive line missing four starters and the Cowboys rolled past the winless New York Jets on Sunday Javonte Williams ran for 135 yards and a touchdown and also caught a TD pass, George Pickens also had a TD reception and the Cowboys (2-2-1) bounced back from a disappointing 40-40 tie against Green Bay last week. Prescott finished 18 of 29 for 237 yards behind a line that had left guard Tyler Smith (knee), left tackle Tyler Guyton (concussion),
right guard Tyler Booker (ankle)
and center Cooper Beebe (foot) all out. Right tackle Terence Steele was the only regular starter playing.
PANTHERS 27, DOLPHINS 24: In Charlotte, North Caroilna, Bryce Young threw a go-ahead, 4-yard touchdown pass to Mitchell Evans with 1:59 remaining, Rico Dowdle ran for 206 yards and a score, and the Carolina Panthers overcame a 17-point first-half deficit to beat the Miami Dolphins on Sunday Young completed 19 of 30 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns after turning the ball over on Carolina’s first two possessions, leading to two touchdown passes by Tua Tagovailoa and a 17-0 Miami lead. Making his first start for the Panthers, Dowdle matched the secondhighest rushing total in franchise history TEXANS 44, RAVENS 10: In Baltimore, C.J. Stroud threw for 244 yards and four touchdowns, and Houston strolled to a win over a depleted Baltimore team Sunday, matching both the most lopsided road win in Texans’ history and the most lopsided home loss in Ravens’ history Baltimore (1-4) was without twotime MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson, and that was far from its only problem Defensive standouts Kyle Hamilton, Roquan Smith and Marlon Humphrey all missed the
By
ASSOCIATED PRESS
intercepting a pass by Houston Texans quarterback
on Sept. 21 in Jacksonville, Fla.
Jaguars insist MNF matchup with the Chiefs is ‘about us’
BY MARK LONG AP pro football writer
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — For Kansas City, it’s just another prime-time game. For Jacksonville, it’s a chance for a statement game. Although the Jaguars (3-1) have lost eight in a row in the series their most recent victory came in 2009 — they are approaching their “Monday Night Football” matchup against the three-time defending AFC champion Chiefs (2-2) with a who cares about the past” mentality New team. New year New outlook.
“It’s not about the Kansas City Chiefs. It’s not about Patrick Mahomes. It’s about us,” Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen said “If we come out there and we execute what we do, we can play with anybody in the National Football League.
“Obviously, when they’re really good, they’re really good. But when you can affect them, you can
Chiefs at Jaguars. 7:15 P.M. MONDAy ABC
affect them, and it shows.” Jacksonville has a growing belief that the franchise’s latest rebuild is sustainable. The Jaguars already have proof of concept under general manager James Gladstone, head coach Liam Coen and executive vice president Tony Boselli.
The Jags have been more physical than their opponents though four weeks, evidenced by having the league’s fourth-best rushing attack and a league-leading 13 takeaways.
“How are we going to come into this game? We’re going to come in fast, violent and efficient,” HinesAllen said
The Chiefs come in with some momentum, having won their past two games in lopsided fashion to get to .500. They’re coming off a 37-20 victory against Baltimore in which Mahomes threw four touch-
down passes.
“The guys made plays, and we were able to score a lot of points,” Mahomes said. “But I’m always big on execution, executing the plays that were called and everybody on the same page. That’s something we did at a high level this past game.”
Kansas City’s eight-game winning streak against Jacksonville is tied for the franchise’s longest current run — one the Jaguars would love to end and potentially change the narrative about a franchise that’s endured 11 losing seasons in its past 14 years.
“Just looking at what it is, (Kansas City has) been the team to beat in the AFC,” Jags quarterback Trevor Lawrence said. “They’ve been the top dog and they’ve kind of ran the conference. This is an opportunity for us to show what kind of team we are.
“You don’t have to be Superman or anything like that, but you have to play well.”
“I think the guys are playing at a high level right now, they’re playing together,” coach Shane Steichen said after Indy’s most lopsided victory in 12 years. “(Taylor) is the best back in the league right now Credit to him, credit to the Oline. It starts up front, but he’s just seeing it while he’s running hard.”
VIKINGS 21, BROWNS 17: In London, Jordan Addison came up big when his teammates needed him the most.
The Minnesota Vikings wide receiver was benched for the first quarter of Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns for missing a team walk-through this past week.
But he scored the game-winning touchdown in Minnesota’s 21-17 victory over Cleveland at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday
“He spoke with the team to let them know that whenever I gave him the opportunity to go in the game, they could count on him,” coach Kevin O’Connell said.
Addison caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Carson Wentz with 25 seconds left to give the Vikings (3-2) a much-needed win on their historic international road trip, which started with a 24-21 loss to the Steelers in Dublin.
CARDINALS 22, TITANS 21: In Glendale, Arizona, Cam Ward threw for a career-high 265 yards, Joey Slye made a 29-yard field goal as time expired and the Tennessee Titans snapped a 10-game skid with an improbable fourth-quarter comeback, beating the mistake-prone Arizona Cardinals on Sunday
BUCCANEERS 38, SEAHAWKS 35: In Seattle, Lavonte David intercepted Sam Darnold with 58 seconds left and Chase McLaughlin kicked a 39-yard field goal as time expired to give Tampa Bay a thrilling win over Seattle. Baker Mayfield tied it for the Bucs (4-1) by throwing an 11-yard touchdown pass to Sterling Shepard with 1:08 left, and the Seahawks (3-2) took over with the chance to drive for the winning score.
COMMANDERS 27, CHARGERS 10: In Inglewood, California, Jacory Croskey-Merritt scored two touchdowns, and Washington rallied from a 10-point deficit after forcing a big fumble in the second quarter to score 27 straight points and beat Los Angeles.
Washington’s Jayden Daniels was 15 of 26 for 231 yards and a touchdown in the game’s final minute in helping the Commanders (32) win for the first time on the road after missing two games with an injured left knee.
LIONS 37, BENGALS 24: In Cincinnati, David Montgomery ran for a touchdown and threw for one on a trick play in his hometown, Jared Goff passed for three scores and the Detroit Lions rolled to their fourth straight win, over the reeling Cincinnati. Montgomery, a seven-year veteran, had passing and rushing scores in a game for the second time. The bruising rusher played quarterback at Cincinnati Mt. Healthy High School.
Montgomery — who rushed for 64 yards on 18 carries — had more than 20 friends and relatives in attendance, including his older sister Kiki, who was paralyzed in a Feb. 2024 car crash. Montgomery greeted his sister near the Lions’ locker room before he took the field.
Toronto thumps Yankees in Game 2
BY IAN HARRISON Associated Press
TORONTO Rookie Trey Yesavage set a Blue Jays postseason record by striking out 11 in 5 1/3 no-hit innings, Vladimir Guerrero Jr hit the first postseason grand slam in team history and Toronto beat the New York Yankees 13-7 on Sunday to take a 2-0 lead in the ALDS.
Daulton Varsho had two home runs among his four extra base hits, and Ernie Clement and George Springer also both homered as Toronto reached double figures in hits (15) and runs for the second straight game. The Blue Jays had three home runs among their 14 hits Saturday in a 10-1 victory They have as many home runs (eight) as strikeouts (seven) through two games.
Varsho went 4 for 5 with two doubles, scored four runs and drove in four Guerrero went 3 for 5 and scored twice.
Cody Bellinger homered and drove in three runs and Ben Rice had two hits and two RBIs in a five-run seventh but Toronto won for the eighth time in nine home meetings with New York. The Blue Jays went 2-4 in six games at Yankee Stadium, where the series shifts for Game 3 on Tuesday night.
Yesavage (1-0) was selected by Toronto with the No. 20 pick last year in the amateur draft. The 22-year-old right-hander rose through four minor league levels this season before joining the Blue Jays and going 1-0 in three September starts.
Yesavage needed fewer than four innings to beat Toronto’s previous record for postseason strikeouts, eight, held by Dave Steib, David Price (twice) and Juan Guzmán.
Known for his elite split-finger fastball, Yesavage set a Blue Jays record by striking out nine Rays batters in his Sept. 15 debut. Eight of his 11 strikeouts Sunday came on the splitter The other three came on fastballs that reached 96 mph.
By
Toronto
yesavage,celebrates with teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr., after being pulled from the mound during the sixth inning of Game 2 of baseball’s American League Division Series against the on Sunday New york yankees in Toronto.
Yesavage opened the game by striking out Trent Grisham on a splitter He walked Aaron Judge on four pitches, then fanned Bellinger and Rice to start a streak of 12 straight outs that ended when Jazz Chisholm Jr reached on Guerrero’s fielding error in the fifth.
Yesavage responded by getting Ryan McMahon to pop up and fanning Anthony Volpe for his 11th strikeout. Yesavage struck out six straight over the third and fourth innings as Volpe, Austin Wells, Grisham, Judge, Bellinger and Rice were retired.
Left-hander Justin Bruihl came on to face Grisham after Yesavage threw 78 pitches, 48 for strikes. Manager John Schneider was booed as he came out to remove Yesavage with Toronto leading 12-0 The crowd of 44,7564 then roared until Yesavage came out for a curtain call, lifting his arms over his head at the top of the dugout steps.
Bruihl retired Grisham on a grounder before Judge reached on an infield single for New York’s first hit. Bellinger followed with a homer
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MATT SLOCUM
Broncos rally to give Eagles first loss
Cutline: Denver Broncos tight end Evan Engram, right, celebrates his touchdown with offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey during the second half
PHOTO
PHELAN M. EBENHACK
Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jourdan Lewis reacts after
CJ. Stroud, not visible, during the second half of a game
AP PHOTO
FRANK GUNN
Blue Jays pitcher Trey
SAINTS 26, GIANTS 14
THE NUMBERS
Burgess makes critical play
Saints backup safety breaks up flea flicker; Kamara passes Hall of Famers in record books
BY LUKE JOHNSON AND
RASHAD MILLIGAN Staff
writers
Jordan Howden will make the highlight reels after his scoop and score touchdown, but he thinks his New Orleans Saints teammate Terrell Burgess made the most important play in the 26-14 win.
The Saints had just cut a 14-3 Giants lead down to 14-13 after Spencer Rattler‘s 87-yard touchdown pass to Rashid Shaheed, but they had yet to fully wrest control of the game away from the Giants. And that is when, on third and 2 from the Giants’ 48-yard line, New York head coach Brian Daboll called the perfect trick play
“As soon as you see it, you know, Oh man, here we go,” coach Kellen
Moore said A flea
flicker Cam Skattebo took the hand off, then immediately turned around and pitched it back to Jaxson Dart, who saw a wide-open Darius Slayton streaking down the field behind the Saints defense.
Had Dart made a better throw, Slayton likely would have walked into the end zone for a big touchdown Instead, Dart underthrew the ball and allowed Burgess to recover and make a critical pass breakup.
“That was actually the play of the game,” Howden said. “... That saved a touchdown.”
Burgess initially bit on the run action from Skattebo, but he recognized what was happening quickly enough to turn, run and find Slayton.
STATISTICS RUSHING—N.Y. Giants, Skattebo 15-59, Dart 7-55, Singletary 6-20, Robinson 1-2. New Orleans, Miller 10-41, Kamara 8-27, Rattler 6-21, Hill 6-(minus 1).
PASSING—N.Y. Giants, Dart 26-40-2-202. New Orleans, Rattler 20-30-0-225, Hill 1-1-0-19.
RECEIVING—N.Y. Giants, Skattebo 6-45, T.Johnson 6-33, Robinson 5-30, Bellinger 4-52, Slayton 3-31, Collins 1-7, Singletary 1-4. New Orleans, Olave 7-59, Shaheed 4-114, Kamara 4-28, Johnson 2-17, Vele 2-13, Miller 1-8, Cooks 1-5.
PUNT RETURNS—N.Y. Giants, None. New Orleans, None.
KICKOFF RETURNS—N.Y. Giants, Olszewski 3-85, Banks 2-75. New Orleans, Miller 1-18, Jones 1-9.
TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS—N.Y. Giants, Muasau 6-3-0, Adebo 6-0-0, Okereke 5-5-0, Nubin 4-1-0, Flott 3-1-0, Phillips 3-0-0, Burns 2-1-0, Davidson 2-0-0, Holland 2-0-0, NunezRoches 1-4-0, Carter 1-3-0, Lawrence 1-1-0, Alexander 1-0-0, Banks 1-0-0, RobertsonHarris 1-0-0, Thibodeaux 1-0-0. New Orleans, Davis 7-3-0, Sanker 6-1-0, Werner 5-6-0, Taylor 4-4-0, Granderson 3-3-0, Howden 3-1-0, McKinstry 3-1-0, Jordan 3-0-0, Shepherd 2-20, Rumph 2-1-0, Bullard 1-1-0 Bresee 1-0-0, Riley 1-0-0, Reid 0-2-0. INTERCEPTIONS—N.Y. Giants, None. New Orleans, McKinstry 2-0. MISSED FIELD GOALS—New Orleans, Grupe 52, Grupe 46.
OFFICIALS—Referee Alan Eck, Ump Tab Slaughter, HL David Oliver, LJ Greg Bradley, FJ John Jenkins, SJ Dale Shaw, BJ Grantis Bell, Replay Joe Wollan.
“I was reading my key, I saw him hand the ball off and I saw him turn around, so at that point I looked to the closest receiver,”
Burgess said
The underthrown ball from Dart allowed Burgess just enough time to get his hand in the way Moore also noted that Burgess recovered in time to make the play without drawing a penalty for illegally contacting Slayton before the ball arrived.
“Awesome, awesome play by Burgess,” Moore said. “The ability to recognize it, the ability not to panic in that situation — because so many times guys just go and run into the guy.”
Reid injured
Justin Reid‘s day was done before the first quarter came to a close between the Saints and the Giants.
Reid went to the locker room after New York scored a touchdown on its opening drive, where it was determined he suffered a concussion. He was ruled out for
on the way to the end zone. It was a potential 14-point swing on one play
season is all about.” Moore and Rattler get the win next to their name, but it was the defense that led the way by taking away the ball, the ball, the ball. Coming into Week 5, the Saints (1-4) were the only team in the NFL to have not run a single offensive play with the lead. They finally broke that streak in the third quarter Sunday taking a lead into the halftime break and then getting a stop on the opening drive of the second half. But that advantage was threatening to disappear until Bryan Bresee clubbed the football tucked in Giants running back Cam Skattebo’s left arm. With the Saints leading 19-14 and defending deep in their own territory, Bresee jarred the ball loose at the New Orleans 12-yard line. Howden, only in the lineup because starter Justin Reid suffered a concussion in the first quarter, scooped the ball and saw the thing everyone wants to see in that situation: Nothing.
“I just saw open grass,” Howden said. “So I just picked it up and, you know, ran for my life.” Howden raced 86 yards for the score,withMcKinstryanddefensive end Cam Jordan leading the convoy
That Howden recovery was one of five consecutive Giants possessions that ended with the ball in a Saints defender’s hands — three fumbles and two interceptions, both by Mckinstry the first and second picks of his career In that span, the Saints outscored the Giants 13-0, part of a string of 23 unanswered points. Making his 11th career start, Rattler finished the day completing 20 of 30 passes with 225 yards and a touchdown. New Orleans had a good game plan for a fearsome Giants pass rush, and Rattler neither turned the ball over nor took a sack. His counterpart, Giants rookie Jaxson Dart, enjoyed an excellent start against the Saints’ defense but came crashing back to earth.
After throwing for 110 yards and two touchdowns while adding another 38 on the ground in the first half, Dart finished the game 26-of40 with 202 yards through the air, and was directly responsible for three of those five turnovers. For a while, the Saints looked like they were going to follow a similar script to their first four losses.
New Orleans went three-and-out on its opening possession, a sequence that included a pre-snap penalty to set up a third and long, then watched the Giants (1-4) march downfield with ease for an opening drive touchdown of their own.
the remainder of the game as the Giants were driving for their second touchdown in as many possessions.
Howden replaced Reid in the Saints’ starting lineup and ultimately made one of the biggest plays in the game, scooping a Cam Skattebo fumble and returning it 86 yards for a touchdown.
New Orleans already lost one of its starting safeties for the season earlier this year, when Julian Blackmon was lost for the year with a shoulder injury Rookie Jonas Sanker — who also recovered a fumble Sunday replaced Blackmon in the lineup.
AK moves up
Alvin Kamara passed a Hall of Famer and a Giants legend in the record books against New York on Sunday Before the first half came to a close, Kamara advanced beyond Tiki Barber and Marcus Allen on the alltime career receptions record for NFL running backs.
Kamara entered the game with 586 receptions, in a tie with Barber for fifth place on the NFL
record books among running backs. He finished with four receptions for 28 yards, moving past Barber and Hall-of-Famer Allen (who caught 587 passes in his career).
He could theoretically pass another Hall of Famer this season: Former Chargers great La’Danian Tomlinson is No 3 all-time with 624 career receptions, meaning Kamara would need 35 more receptions this season to move into third place.
Bogus call
Carl Granderson was at the center of the most controversial call in Sunday’s 26-14 win over the New York Giants.
Late in the fourth quarter, Granderson quickly rushed in off the edge to put a hit on Dart, coming up with what appeared to be a clean sack at the moment.
Dart turned away from Granderson, who wrapped his arms around the quarterback’s chest before quickly letting go as the quarterback fell to the ground.
Lead referee Alen Eck tossed the flag and quickly announced a roughing the passer penalty on
Dart went a perfect 5-for-5 on that drive, finishing it off with a wide-open play-action touchdown pass to tight end Theo Johnson.
The Saints mustered a field goal drive in response, but when the Giants took over Dart put another impressive drive together, ripping off a 20-yard scramble and completing 4 of 5 passes for 48 yards, with the last one being a missile to Johnson for their second scoring connection.
It was Rashid Shaheed who ig-
nited the comeback. After answering a touchdown with another field goal, the Saints finally mustered their first defensive stop of the game midway through the second quarter They took over at their own 13-yard line and came out in a heavy offensive formation, with two tight ends on the line of scrimmage and another in the backfield as a fullback. New York anticipated a run. The Saints hit them with a play action
Granderson.
Both Granderson and Moore expressed disbelief to the officiating crew after the call. Several plays later, it appeared that Moore was still trying to get an explanation on why his defensive end was flagged on the hit.
When asked about the penalty after the game, Moore turned his head and smiled before letting out a laugh.
“I saw a sack,” Moore said. “It’s disappointing because you’re trying to educate your players. As a coach, when you don’t feel like you don’t have an answer to help educate your players on how to play the game, that’s frustrating.”
Moore, often reserved in his media availability periods, continued to express his own disappointment in the call.
“It’s going to be a great opportunity to learn whatever the opinion of that play is because it’s a frustrating play when you do so much good and, you know, that’s a frustrating one as a coach,” he said. “You feel like you are helpless in that situation.”
and sent Shaheed streaking down the field. The two safeties had no chance of keeping up with the fleet-footed Shaheed, and Rattler hit him in stride for an 87-yard scoring strike.
“We noticed that when we get to those 13 personnel (looks), the safeties’ eyes might not be as good,” Shaheed said, referencing the safeties peeking into the backfield for a potential run play “I was able to get up to the second level, run my route, and it all worked out.”
It was Shaheed’s 16th scrimmage play of 40 or more yards since his 2022 NFL debut — and his first of the 2025 season. Only Miami Dolphins speedster Tyreek Hill (18) has accumulated more of them. The long touchdown seemed to spark the Saints, who forced two more stops to close the half one of which came when Demario Davis jarred the ball free from receiver Darius Slayton’s hands as New York was driving into Saints territory late in the first half.
Rookie safety Jonas Sanker scooped the loose ball and returned it 27 yards to set up Blake Grupe’s third field goal of the first half — a 29-yarder as time expired that gave New Orleans its first halftime lead of the season. Now that they have their first one out of the way, the Saints will look for their first
ASSOCISATED PRESS PHOTO By GERALD HERBERT
Saints safety Terrell Burgess breaks up a pass intended for New york Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton in the first half of a game on Sunday at the Caesars Superdome.
SAINTS 26,GIANTS14
GIANTKILLERDEFENSE
1
Things didn’t look good early as Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart, making his second NFL start, looked likehewas going to have his waywith the Saints.The Giants led 14-3 early in the second quarter but didn’t score again the rest of the way.you’re going to win alot of gamesifyou force five turnovers.That’swhat the Saints did on five straight possessions. One of those turnovers was an 86-yard fumble return for ascore by Jordan Howden.We figured coming into theseason that the Saints’ defense was this team’sbread and butter,and theylooked thepart once theysettled in.
BACK TO LIFE
2
WhenSunday’sgame started, there didn’t seem to be muchlife in the Caesars Superdome. Even the pre-game introductions seemed quiet. Well, untilTaysom Hill and Foster Moreau tag-teamed the Who Dat chant. But thenitwent silentagain as the Saints fell into a14-3 hole. It was Spencer Rattler’s87yard touchdown pass to Rashid Shaheed (tied for the fifth-longest playfrom scrimmage in franchise history) that brought the Dome back to life. It was just one game. But if the Saints didn’t winthisone,a rough season was goingtobeevenrougher.The Dome wasn’tfull, but it was rocking again… finally
RED-ZONE WOES
3
This is nitpicking abit fora team that snappedaneight-game losing streak. But the Saints could have wonthis game evenmore convincingly.Iftheycan ever figureout howtoscore touchdowns in the red zone,things will be awhole lot easier.The Saints gottothe red zone three times and hadtosettle forBlakeGrupe fieldgoals each time. Enteringthe game,the Saints were scoring in the red zone 50% of the time(22nd in the league). Fortunately for theSaints, theywere able to bypass the red zone andhit on abig playand thenget plenty of help from their defense
‘HE’SA TONE-SETTER’
Tightend Hill makes impact forSaintsin return from injury
BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer
Demario Davis ceded themoment. Before eachgame, the New Orleans Saints linebackerbreaks down thehuddle in an attempt to motivatehis team. He has takenonthe mantle for five straight years, stepping into the role afterDrew Brees’ retirement. Buton Sunday,shortly after he began speaking, the 36-year-old stepped aside:He informed the group that TaysomHill had something to say instead “All right men, Idon’tgot alot,but this is what Iknow about the game, man,” Hill shouted in avideo posted by the Saints. “You can’tcheat this game! It takes everything you got!”
Hill’sspeech proved prescient: To capture their first win of the season a26-14 win over the New York Giants —the Saints had to give everything they had. They had to excel in areas they had yet to shinethisseason. Five turnovers for adefense with only two through the first four games. One 87yard touchdown for an offense that lacked the deep ball. Theycouldn’t cut corners.
Hill would know.The 35-year-old wasonlyina position to hype up his team beforehandbecauseofthe grueling work he put in to make his season debut just 10 months afterundergoing surgery for aserious knee injury Last December,Hill tore his ACLand tore four additional ligaments that required apartial knee reconstruction. He wasinitiallytold that it was unclearwhether he’d be able to play in 2025.
Against the Giants, Hillrecorded just 18 yards on seven touches. He played only eight offensive snaps. His impact, however,meant far more than the box scoremeasured “Just his playstyle, his attitude, he’satone-setter,” center Erik McCoy said. “When he comes in the game, we’re going to have that mentality of, ‘It’stime to get firstdowns.’ Thirdand-short. Fourth-and-short.He’sa beastatit. …Itonly uplifts everybody across the offense.”
“He comes in the huddle, and if he’s got the play call, it’sawesomebecause you know we’ve got much better than acoin flip’schanceofmakingthisplay
dance,” tightend Foster Moreau said. Moreau, of course, could relate to Hill, as he also made hisseason debut Sundayafter tearing his ACL in January.Together,the two led theWho Dat chant to fire up the Dome crowd just before kick. Their excitement was also plentyevident. Days earlier,Hill said he felt healthy and that his knee felt stable following months of rehab. But he admittedhe needed to see how he would respond to contact.
So naturally,onhis first carry of the game, Hill was immediately brought down for aloss of four yards on ajet sweep.But the nine-year veteran popped right back up, good to keep going.
As Sunday’scontest progressed, it became clearer what role coach KellenMoore initially envisioned for the
former quarterback turned tight end turned…quarterback once again. Of his eight offensive snaps, six came when lined up as asignal-caller.Mostof the time, the Saints relied on Hill to run quarterback power concepts. He was not used as arunning back or afullback as was common last year underthenoffensive coordinator Klint Kubiak.
But theSaintsalsousedHilltosubvert expectations. On whatwas easily his bestplay of theafternoon, Hill lined up on third-and-1 with the Giantsclearly expecting him to run —only for the former startertohit JuwanJohnson for a19-yard pass.
“I left theline of scrimmage and I passed the second level really quick,” Moreau said aboutrunning his route.“I said, ‘Someone’sgot to be open.’” Moore demurred when asked if Hill
was on astrict snap count but told reporters afterthe win that the athlete’s role will continue to evolve over the rest of the season.Perhaps thatinvolvesusing Hill in moreblocking situations or as aslotreceiver. The Saints also used Hill as apersonal protector fortwo snaps on special teams, an area where Hill has always excelled.
“He’sjust coming back,” Moore said.
But the Saints were glad to have him back —pregamespeech and all.
“Taysom’sone of our leaders,” Johnsonsaid. “He’s been here fora while. He’sseen the ups and downs of this organization, and so forhim to say something to theteam, it wasreally good for us to hear.”
Email Matthew Parasatmatt. paras@theadvocate.com
Jonas Sanker,who kept thegameball from his fumble recovery to give to defensivebacks coach GradyBrown.
“That’smyfirst time seeing(thepostgame locker room) like that.”
Added veteran tight end Foster Moreau, who started the party by leading an emotional pregame Who Dat chant with good buddy Taysom Hill: “It feels great. The whole team came together in this one.”
This is what ending a300-day,eightgame losing skid looks like.
It’ssafety Jordan Howden streaking 86 yards with agame-changing fumble return for his first touchdown since hishigh school days in LasVegas and thenbeing so winded from the effort he had to beg off his duties on the ensuing kickoff coverage.
It’sTyler Shough pickingupBlake Grupe in abear hug after hegaveup his 156-pound body to tackle Deonte Banks and save apotential touchdown on the ensuing kickoff return
It’sRattler sprinting the length of the field to celebrate with Rashid Shaheed after he outraced the entire New York secondaryonhis 87-yard catchand-run touchdown.
“That’sprobably the fastest Iran the whole game,” quipped Rattler
winasSaintscoach.
The Saints kept six game balls from the victory —one for each of the five turnovers they produced and one for Shaheed’sgame-changing touchdown. The haul was so extensive, equipment manager Richard Killian barely had room left in the oversized dufflebag he uses to stashthe keepsakes.
“It’sbig,” said Rattler,who received agame ball from head coach Kellen
Moore after recording his first win as astarter and completing 20 of 30 passes for 225 yards and atouchdown.
“It’s hard to come across wins in this league. It’sgood to get one. The Saints said all the right things afterward. They talked about the 24hour rule and about not forgetting that they’re still just 1-4 on the season They know they’re not going to play
arookie quarterback every weekor be the beneficiaries of afive-turnover windfall again anytime soon.
“Itwas an awesome win,” Moore said. “Ithasn’tbeen an amazing month forour guys. Missing on four opportunities (to win), and forthem to hang in there and compete forthis entire gameand findaway to win, I thought it was an awesome effort.”
The key forthe Saints now will be how they handle success. Can they put the winbehind them and regain their focus forthe weekahead? They wouldn’tbethe first New Orleanians to succumbtoahangover after abig celebration.
The revitalized New England Patriots visit the SuperdomeonSunday On paper,it’sanother winnable game.
But the Saints can’ttake anything for granted, especially after experiencing so much losing and heartache.
“Itfeels amazing,” Shaheed said.
“The locker room waselectric. This is afeeling we chase every single week.
This is whywework so hard. This gameisabout momentum,and this is definitely something we can build off of.”
Time will tell if Club Dubisabout to becomeaweekly operation forthe Saints. Or it will be out of commission again forawhile.
Email JeffDuncan at jduncan@theadvocate.com.
STAFF PHOTO By BRETTDUKE
Saints coachKellen Moore reacts after aplayagainst the Newyork Giants in the first half of theirgameSunday at the Caesars Superdome. Moore earned his first
STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD Saints tight end TaysomHill attempts apass to teammate Juwan Johnson during the second halfofagame against the Newyork Giants on Sunday at theCaesarsSuperdome.
LIVING
RIGHT: Adioramashows Vincent vanGogh’sroom at the VanGogh Museum in Amsterdam,Netherlands.
AP PHOTOSByPETER DEJONG
BY MIKECORDER Associated Press
AMSTERDAM TheVan Goghmuseum is bringing ascattered family back together this fall to honor apostal worker, his wife and their children who sat as models for the Dutch masterata time whenhewas strugglingtomake friendsina French town
Portraits from the late 1880s of the expansively bearded postmanJoseph Roulin, his wife, two sons and baby daughter have been brought together for anexhibition titled “Van Gogh and the Roulins. Together Again at Last.”
The show collects paintings of the family from museums around the world andeven features an armchairfrom the artist’sstudio in Arles in the southern region of Provence.
Newyork
TheVan Gogh Museum hasorganized an exhibition this fall shining thespotlight on apostman andhis family whomodeled forartist
The show is in Amsterdamafter arun at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, which provided one of the centerpiecesofthe exhibition,a portrait of the postman (he was actually apostal clerk) resplendent in his blue uniform with gold buttons and trim sittingin an armchairmade of local willow from Provence While preparing the show, the VanGogh Museum found the very chair featured in the portrait in its storerooms and is exhibitingitfor the first time. It wasdeemed toofragile to be sent to Boston for the show there
ABOVE: The chair in which bearded postmanJosephRoulin sat when he wasportrayedbyVincent VanGoghis displayednext to Roulin’sportrait at the VanGoghMuseum
BELOW: People look at portraits of the Roulin family,Jospeh,two paintingson theleft, and his wifeAugustine, three paintings on the right, brought together by theVan Gogh Museum.
BY JAMI GANZ
Daily News (TNS)
NEWYORK Everybody loves a reunion —and the “Everybody LovesRaymond” teamisgiving the people what they want. Ray Romano,who starred as sports journalist Ray Barone, and creator Phil Rosenthal will host “Everybody Loves Raymond: 30th Anniversa-
ry Reunion” from 7p.m. to 8:30p.m.onNov.24, to commemorate both the29years since theLongIsland-set sitcom premiered on Sept. 13, 1996, andthe two decades since the show took its final bowinMay 2005. “Audiences areinvited back to the recreated Barone living room for an unforgettable evening with America’s
favorite family,” reads CBS’ news release. Therewill be a“moving tribute” to thelateDoris Roberts and PeterBoyle, who starred as Ray and Robert’soverbearing mother andsardonic fatherMarie and Frank —“fan favorites and theemotional anchors of the series.” Brad Garrett andPatricia Heaton, who starred as Ray’s
Removal of cataracts sooner than latercould be
What do Ineed to know about cataracts if my loved onehas dementia?
“As it turns out, we have this chair in our collection, but we have nevershown it before,” said VanGoghMuseum Director Emilie Gordenker.“Andit just shows you when youstarttoworkon atopic —inthiscase, the Roulin family portraits —all kinds of things youmight neverhavethought about before comeupand it’s really exciting to rediscover,as it were, your own collection.” Vincent van Gogh created atotal of 26 portraits of the family in aburst of creative activity from July 1888 to April 1889. There are 14 on showatthe museum alongside works by his friend and fellow painter Paul Gauguin and by Dutch GoldenAge masters Rembrandt vanRijn and Frans Hals, whose works were major sources of inspiration.
“Manypeople considerhis Arles period really his peak,” Gordenker said. “I’m not sure we totally agree with that, but it is definitely amoment when he turns acorner his power as an artist really comes out.”
ä See VANGOGH, page 8C
brotherRobert and Ray’s wife Debra, will take part in the special’s“candid conversations,” as will Madylin and Sullivan Sweeten. The Sweetens played Rayand Debra’skids Ally and Michael, along withtheir late brother Sawyer,who playedMichael’s twin Geoffrey.Sawyer died by
Not everyone with dementia has cataracts nor do all patients with cataracts have dementia, but asignificant number will have both conditions. Because of this, many individuals may face having a cataract operation while also dealing with dementia. Cataracts are avery common eye condition. As we get older the lens inside our eye gradually changes and becomes less transparent (clear). Alens that has turned misty or cloudy is said to have acataract. As acataract gets worse it can interfere with the individual’s daily living activities. Having cataracts could makethings harder to see, makereading difficult, makecolors seem washed out, and cause problemswith mobility.Cataracts can also cause problemswith bright light, and manyindividuals have problemswith glare. Most people have their cataract removed by astraightforwardoperation. This operation removes the cloudy lens and replaces it with an artificial lens implant. This makes sight clear again and removes the vision problemscaused by the cataract. Cataracts can be removed at any time. An individual with dementia may benefit from having them removed sooner rather than later,because it may be easier to deal with the cataract operation before their dementia symptomsget worse. The caregiver should look for signs or difficulties their loved one may be experiencing with their eyesight. Avisit to the optometrist is necessary to check forcataracts should the individual have trouble with the following: recognizing familiar faces, being in bright light, low light or both, reading facial expressions, finding things, reading, enjoying familiar hobbies, managing in unfamiliar surroundings, locating food on the plate and/or managing current spectacles (perhaps saying “I need new glasses”). Acataract can only be treated by surgery.This surgery normally takesplace as an outpatient procedure using a local anesthetic.The lens implant usedduring the surgery will mean thatthe individual’s sight is slightly different than
ä See CATARACTS, page 8C
RayRomano and Patricia Heaton star in the 200th episode of ‘Everybody Loves Raymond.’The cast of the show will reunite for an anniversaryspecial.
Gordenker
Uncomplicatedappendicitismay notrequire surgery
Dear Doctors: Ihad apain on the rightside of my abdomen. ACT scan found aperforated appendix with an abscess. Iwas treated with IV antibiotics,and now Iam feeling fine. Do Ineed to have my appendix taken out? My doctor says, in cases like mine, people have problems again 30% of the time.
Dr.Elizabeth Ko
Dr.Eve Glazier ASK THE DOCTORS
Surgery is theprimary treatment for aruptured appendix. The appendix must be removed,and the abdominal cavity must be cleaned out. However,incases that are less severe, new approaches are emerging.
Dear Reader: The appendix is a thin tubelike pouch that extends from the colon on the lower right side of the abdomen. It was previously thought to be avestigial organ with no purpose. Newer researchsuggests alink to immune system function and the gut microbiome. If something blocks the opening to the appendix, it closes. This prevents the organ from draining and restricts blood flow.Ablockage sets the stage for inflammation, infection and internal pressure that can cause the organ to getasmall hole or rupture.
Arupturedappendix is amedical emergency.The large break in the appendix wall allows the buildup ofinfectious materials to spill into andcontaminate the abdominal cavity.This can quickly escalate to alife-threatening infection known as peritonitis.
Sometimes, as in your own case, aCTscan will show that, while the organ is inflamed, has an abscess or is perforated, it is not in danger of bursting. This is acondition known as uncomplicated appendicitis. In these cases, rather than immediate surgery to removethe organ, initial treatmentwith antibiotics can become an option. Patients who wish to avoid the risks associated with surgery,the cost of an appendectomy or the recoverysometimes choose this approach.
It sounds like you don’thave the
When trying to finda lost dog
Dear Heloise: Arecent column included aletter from Mark in South Carolina. He said that the posts for lost dogs versus found dogs can be confusing. Iagree that they can be. He gave suggestions about posting pictures. Iagree with this only if you lost adog. Youwant everyone to know what the dog looks like. Wide coverage and detailswill usually help the lost dog get back to its owner However,posting too much information about afound dog may cause the dog tobe claimed by someone other than the owner.It’sbetter to letthe real owner give the finder details about the dog. Don’tgive out any informationexcept where the dog was found and itsgeneral colors. Don’tidentify the gender, what color the collar is,
By The Associated Press
fever,pain or nausea that signal infection. It appears your doctors consider you acandidate forongoing nonsurgical management. Unlike an appendectomy,which removes the organ, this is not a cure. This is the first step of an approach knownaswatchful waiting. First,the condition is treated with antibiotics. Then your symptoms are actively monitored. The option of surgery is still available if necessary In 2021, astudy on uncomplicated appendicitis waspublished in the New England Journal of Medicine. It analyzed health data from 1,552 adults in 25 United States medical centers with this condition. The researchers found that half of patients madeitfour years before needing surgery One-third developed recurrent
appendicitis and required surgery within three months. This study has influenced ashifttooffering nonsurgical management to eligible patients.
The decision regarding surgery should be madewith guidance from your own doctors. If you continue with nonsurgical treatment, it’simportant to look out for symptomsofappendicitis. If you get any symptoms, let your doctor know immediately.Another round of antibiotics or surgery may be needed.
Sendyour questions to askthedoctors@mednet.ucla edu, or write: Ask theDoctors, c/oUCLA HealthSciences Media Relations, 10880 Wilshire Blvd.,Suite1450, Los Angeles, CA, 90024.
Constant requestsfor feedback areexhausting
Hints from Heloise
TODAYINHISTORY
Today is Monday,Oct. 6, the 279th day of 2025.There are 86 days left in the year
Todayinhistory:
On Oct. 6, 1981, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was shot to death by members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad while reviewing a military parade.
Also on this date: In 1927, the era of talking pictures arrived with the opening of “The Jazz Singer” starring Al Jolson, afeature film containing both silent and sound-synchronized sequences. In 1973, war erupted in the Middle East as Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attackonIsraeli forces in the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights during the YomKippur holiday,starting anearly three-week conflict that
CATARACTS
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it was before the operation. Usually this means that if the individual needed glasses for distancethen they may not need them after the operation. This is because the lens implant used in the surgery can correct the vision for distance.Itispossible to correct the individual’svision in various ways using the lens implant. The caregiver and ophthalmologist can
VANGOGH
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In an upstairs room, the museum has created alifesizefaçade of the yellow house that VanGogh used as his studioinArles, where Roulin became more than just amodel to VanGogh. “While Roulin isn’texactly old enough to be like afather to me, all the same he has silent solemnities and tenderness for me like an old soldier would have for ayoung
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would become known asthe YomKippur War. In 1976, Republican President Gerald R. Ford,inhis second presidential debate with Democrat Jimmy Carter,asserted that there was “no Soviet domination of eastern Europe.” Carter wentontonarrowly defeat Ford In 1979, Pope JohnPaul II, on aweeklongU.S. tour, becamethe first pontiff to visitthe White House, where he was received by President Jimmy Carter In 2010, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay tossed just the secondpostseason no-hitter in MLB history,blanking theCincinnati Reds4-0. In 2014, theSupreme Court unexpectedlycleared theway for adramatic expansion of gay marriage in the United States as it rejected appeals from five
discuss which lens implant to usesothat their loved one’svisionis best following the operation.
Cataract surgery for individualswith dementia is very successful and usually results in good vision.However,there are some important things to be considered.Cataracts that aren’t removed will eventually affect someone’sday-to-day life. Getting cataractsdiagnosedearly through regular eyeexaminations by an optometrist is important so that the individual gets the treatmentthey need at
one,” theartist wroteina letter to his brother,Theo, in April 1889.
Nienke Bakker,who curated theshow along with Katie Hanson from theBoston Museum of Fine Arts, said the Arles period was crucial to VanGogh’s artistry “He literally says painting peoplebrings out thebest in me, but also makes me feel partofhumanity.Soit’sa very important thing,” Bakkersaid.
Shesaidthatthe chair went into storage after Van Gogh left Arles and was then
standing comedy series during its nine-season run.
Speaking to theDaily News in October 2020, Emmy winnerRosenthal ruled out areboot or remake
nothing. The real owner should be able to fill in all of the blanks. People should get their petsmicrochipped and be sure to keep theinformation up-to-date. Also, please don’tpost alost pet notice, then ghost people who reach out!This has happened to me acouple of times.IfIlost apet, I’d never let my phone go to voicemail! —Linda Dee, via email Send ahinttoheloise@ heloise.com.
states seeking topreserve their bans, effectively making such marriages legal in 30 states. In 2018, in thenarrowest Senateconfirmation of a SupremeCourt justice in nearly acentury and ahalf, Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed by a50-48 vote; he was sworn in hours later Today’sbirthdays: Actor Britt Ekland is 83. Irish politician Gerry Adamsis77. Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy is 70. Bowler Walter Ray Williams Jr.is 66. Actor Elisabeth Shue is 62. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, is 60. Actor Emily Mortimer is 54. Basketball Hall of Famer Rebecca Lobo is 52. Actor Ioan Gruffudd is 52. Actor Jeremy Sisto is 51. Football Hall of Famer Richard Seymour is 46. NFL quarterback Trevor Lawrence is 26.
thebest time. Deciding if and when to have acataract removed will depend on how badly they are affecting sight, how advanced the dementia is and the difficulties it may cause in theindividual’sday-to-day life.
Dana Territo is an Alzheimer’s advocate and author of “What My Grandchildren Taught Me About Alzheimer’s Disease.” She hosts“The Memory Whisperer.” Emailher at thememorywhisperer@ gmail.com.
passed to theartist’srelatives and ultimately to the museum The museum is now displaying the chairalongside the paintingfrom the Boston museum that features Roulin and the chair
“It’squite moving to have of course this fantastic portrait here, but also to to be able to show theactual chair he was sittinginand to realize that it was quiteasimple small chair,” Bakker said.
The exhibition opens Friday and runsthrough Jan. 11.
Dear Miss Manners: Is it wrong not to give feedback? Iamexpected to“like,” whether virtually or in person, every little thing seen, done or eaten by my friends. Every item Ibuy and every service Iuse, I am asked, “How’re we doing?” Idon’tmind this if Ihave areal opinion, good or bad. Butfor most of it, Ijust don’tgive a(bleep) So you’re standing in front of afamous mountain.Soyou notified me that Ishould get aflushot. So you sent me thepest spray Iordered (speaking of pests). SO WHAT? It’snot aproblem to delete email surveys from companies. Butwhen it comes to personal feedback, somepeople are nastyabout it,threatening to unfriend me. So is this etiquette now? Youhave to give feedback to everyone?
recommendittoothers.
As you said, those pleas forpraise can be safely ignored.
decided to stop drinking alcohol forhealth reasons. I do still enjoy nonalcoholic wine.
But you might say akind word to your friends, explaining that you wish them well, even though you are not attentive about commenting on posts. If they are interested only in collecting “likes,” and if their posts bore you anyway,being unfriended would not be much of aloss. To see if there is anything else there, try communicating directly about areas of mutual interest. But there are people to whom you mostdefinitely owe feedback: anyone who has been generous to you. That meansshowing that you like it when someone gives you apresent, does you afavor or offers you hospitality
Gentlereader: Not everyone. Your doctor’spractice has probably survived without your encouragement. AndMiss Manners supposes that thepeople who enabled you to kill your cockroaches have courageously soldiered on, even though you have not declared that you enjoyed theexperience and would
Just because this act goes by the fusty old name of “thank-you letters,” even the most avid like-pursuers fail to realize that it is a form of the same feedback that they crave —only something more has been done to deserve it.
Dear Miss Manners: Inotice that alcohol has arole in manysocial invitations: “Would you care to join me foraglass of wine?”
Idoenjoy wine, and have formany years, but I’ve
How do Ipolitely accept an invitation, while also supplying my own nonalcoholic beverage? My question applies particularly to situations that are spontaneous, such as encountering aneighbor on apatio pouring aglass in that very moment.
Gentle reader: Surely the key phrase here is “join me,” rather than “glass of wine.”
Don’tyou suppose that you could have thanked the neighbor,sat on the patio and socialized while also politely declining the wine?
YetMiss Manners reminds you that you, too, must treat the drinking part as unimportant. In an indoor setting, anonalcoholic drink might easily be available. But in the situation you mention, it would probably require you to run homefirst foryour own drink, or your neighbor to go inside to fetch one foryou. So wave away the drink with thanks, enjoy chatting, and —asyou are in your own neighborhood —when your thirst overcomes you, go home.
Sendquestions to Miss Manners at herwebsite, www.missmanners.com.
Siblingdislikesthe way sister is parentingher kids
up what Isee or just stay quiet and let her parent the wayshe chooses, even if I don’tagree with it? —Poor
Parenting
“because we’re missingkey ingredients”inthe absences of Boyle and Roberts, who diedin2006 and 2016,respectively: “There is no show without them.”
“There’s an old showbiz axiom, by the way: getoff the stage before somebody says, ‘Get off the stage.’ And we did. CBS wanted us to continue,” said Rosenthal. “And we wanted to stopbefore we became lousy.” ‘RAYMOND’
Dear Harriette: Idon’tthink my sister and brother-inlaw are doing agood job of raising their two daughters, who are 10 and 12. Whenever Ivisit, Inotice the girls are often left to their own devices with little guidance or discipline. They talk back toadults, spend hours glued to their phones or tablets, and don’tseem to have boundaries around things like bedtime or chores. It worries me because they’re at suchanimportantage, where structure and guidance really matter,and I’m afraid they’re not gettingwhat they need. Ilove my nieces dearly, and Idon’twant to come across as judgmental, but it’shard to bitemytongue when Isee behaviors that seem unhealthy or concerning. At thesame time, Iknow parenting is asensitive subject, and I don’twant to cause arift in my relationship withmy sister by criticizing how she raises her children. Still, Iworry that if no one says anything, the girls might struggle even more as they get older.How do Ibalance my concern for my nieces withrespect for my sister’srole as their parent?Should Ibring
Dear Poor Parenting:
Chances are slim that your sister will hear anything you say to her about her children. Do you spend timewith them at your house?
Perhaps when they are with you, you can create boundaries and guidelines that they must follow.Atleast that waythey will be able to see what living within astructure feels like.
Dear Harriette: Irecently joined agym because I want to get healthier and finally commit to taking care of myself.Instead of feeling encouraged, I often feel judged and out of place around people who are clearly moreexperienced than me. Everyone else seemstoknow what they’re doing, while I’m still learning the basics and trying to build up my confidence.
One situation really stuck with me: Iwas on the treadmill, going at aslow jog that already felt challenging forme. Agroup of womennearby wererunning at amuch faster pace, chatting and laughing effortlessly.Atone point,
one of them glanced over at my screen, whispered something to her friend and they both laughed. It may not have been about me, but in that moment, I felt self-conscious and embarrassed. Ikept thinking they were making funof how slow Iwas. Instead of finishing my workout, Igot off early and wenthome feeling defeated. Iknow I shouldn’tlet one interaction get in the wayofmy progress, but it’shard not to feel like Idon’tbelong in that environment. How can Ipush past this insecurity and stay focused on my own goals without worrying so much about what others might be thinking?
—Beginner Dear Beginner: Consider hiring atrainer fora while, someone whocan show you how to use the machines, how to create the workout that is best foryour body and how to pace yourself.Ignore the other people and compete against yourself only.Be your own cheerleader,and protect yourself with professional help.
Sendquestions to askharriette@ harriettecole.com or c/oAndrewsMcMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St.,Kansas City,MO 64106.
Judith Martin MISS MANNERS
Harriette Cole SENSE AND SENSITIVITy
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Keep an open mind, but refrain from hesitation when action is necessary. Step up, make suggestions and follow through with your plans. Actions speak louder than words.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Wear your badge openly and toot your horn so others can recognize who's in charge and what you bring to the table. Choose intelligence over bragging.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) There is a fine line between being vulnerable and being soft. Trust and believe in your instincts. Doing the right thing won't be easy, but it will be rewarding.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) It's time to listen, observe and configure a workable plan to alleviate explosive situations. Know your strengths and weaknesses, and create opportunities that offer hope. Love conquers all.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Divvy up your schedule to ensure you get things done and have time to spend with people you love. Consider making a domestic change that enhances your space or lowers your overhead.
PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Pay attention to how you look, feel and live. Tweaking your routine to incorporate more fitness and health-oriented habits will pay off. Making your dreams come true is a matter of taking control.
ARIES (March 21-April 19) Hit the reset button and take redesign how you use
your talents. Implement good work and health ethics into your everyday routine.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Plan your actions with finesse and the intent to do what's right and best for everyone, including yourself. Resolve financial or health issues that stand between you and your ambitions.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20) When in doubt, do what makes you feel good about who you are and how you help others. Participating in activities support a cause you believe in will make a difference.
CANCER (June 21-July 22) Go beyond your expectations by using your talents to create something that brings people together. Socializing face-to-face will lead to growth, creativity and getting back to what truly matters.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Reach out to those who have something to offer and to the people or organizations that can help fund your plans. A problem will help you see the possibilities.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Discussions will spin out of control if anger or frustration set in, so stay calm, offer realistic solutions and be upfront and willing to do your part. A partnership looks promising.
Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present. Each letter in the cipher stands for another.
TODAy'S CLUE: M EQUALS C
CeLebrItY CIpher
For better or For WorSe
beetLe bAILeY
Mother GooSe And GrIMM
SherMAn’S LAGoon
nea CroSSwordS
Sudoku
InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. Theobject is to place the numbers 1to9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of theSudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.
Saturday’s PuzzleAnswer
La TimeS CroSSword
THewiZard oF id
BLondie
BaBY BLueS
Hi and LoiS
CurTiS
Bridge
BY PHILLIP ALDER
John Monks, an English trade unionist whoisnow in theHouseofLords,said, “I concede nothing untilthey throw dirt on my face.”
Abridge player should concede nothinguntilhehaslostthesettingtrick.Until then, he should fight for every winner In this example, South gets into four spades. West leads the heart queen. East takes the trick with his ace and returns the heart three. Howshould South proceed?
Northhadamaximumsingleraise,and South wasafractionlight for his jump to game. But with so many aces and kings oneshouldalwayspush,especiallywhen the lureisagamebonus Initially,thislookslikeaneasycontract. Whentrumpsbreak3-2,astheynormally will,declarerwillloseonespadeandtwo hearts. So he takes thesecond trick with his heart kingand drawstwo rounds of trumps. Curses! Suddenly South has four losers. But before anyone has time to throw dirt on hisface, he shouldask if he might be able to take 10 tricks.
If so, he needs three clubs, twodiamonds, one heart and four spades, the twohehas already and either two diamondruffs,oroneruffandalatertrump winner
Declarer should cash his diamond ace, playadiamondtodummy’sking,andruff
Each Wuzzle is awordriddlewhich creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: NOON GOOD =GOOD AFTERNOON
Previous answers:
word game
InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of fourormore letters. 2. Words that acquire fourletters by the addition of “s,”such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3 Additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit wordsare not allowed toDAY’s WoRD WAYWARDLY: WAY-werd-lee: Unpredictably.
Average mark 10 words Timelimit 20 minutes
Can you find 17 or morewords in WAYWARDLY?
sAtuRDAY’s WoRD —sIDEBAR
saber said sari seabird sear side sire idea ides dais dare dear debar debris dire disbar drab drib dries bade bard bare base baser bead bear beard bias biased bide bier bird brad braid braise bread bred bride bris abed abide aide aired arid arise aside rabid rabies raid raise read rebid ride rise
