The Advocate 10-06-2025 by The Advocate

WILD HOG WARFARE

La.farmers,scientistsbattleinvasivespecies

STAFF PHOTO By AIDANMcCAHILL

Darren Spano, an Air Force veteran, scansthe night for an invasivewild hog using athermal scope attached to his rifle. TOP: Awild boar walks in a swamp in Slidell. Feral hogs cause over $90million annually in agricultural damagestatewide, according to the latest estimates from the LSU AgCenter

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By REBECCA

SANTANA

BY AIDANMcCAHILL |Staff writer

Shortly afterthe sun’slastrayssink beneath central Louisiana’spines, the Rougarou slips intothe darkness thatfollows.HeprowlsfarmlandfromPineville to Natchitoches, every step sharpened by agnawing hunger

Some stillclaim thenocturnalbeast is afiction of Cajun folklore, but at 6-feet-6, retiredPineville firefighter Shane Kessler is proof of the contrary.It’snearly 2a.m., and he’s steadying an AR-15through the window of his pickup truck.Onits tailgate, yellow block lettersspell out “Rougarou Hog Control.”

Three to four nightsaweek,from dusk until 2a.m., Kessler peers withamilitary grade thermal scanner through ﬁelds of corn, soybeans andmilo, searching forthe white glow of body heat —his next target.

“Eleveno’clock,” he mumbles,one cheek full of sunﬂower seeds, awhitebeard falling from his face. “It’slookin’ real piggy.”

Twootherhunters, Darren Spano, an AirForce veteran who recently moved to Louisianafrom Alaska,and Malcolm Rachal, another retired ﬁreﬁghter, direct their scanners out of the left windows.

“Get your rifles out,” Kessler says.

“I see him.”

ä See WILD HOG, page 4A

St.Georgelauds firm providingservices

Newcitybringing privatizationvision into reality

BY PATRICKSLOAN-TURNER |Staff writer

When Dustin Yates andother founders pushed to incorporate their own city,they imagined alean, privatized government built on business principles like customer service and cost control.

Now,more than ayear after St.George marked its ﬁrst birthday,Mayor Yatessaid he is watching that vision take shape —not through atraditional city workforce, but through aprivate companywhose employees are tasked with creating agovernment from scratch.

ä See SERVICES, page 5A

Scot Byrd, program director, explains how the cubicles will be cleared out to make room forthe CityCouncil meeting room during atour at the newSt. GeorgeCity Hall building on Thursday.

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

State detention lawsuits focangorward

Inmatesclaim they were held past releasedates

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN |Staff writer

Afederal judge hasgranted class-action status to lawsuits claiming Louisiana regularly kept inmatesinprison past their releasedates,opening thedoor 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 leasta decade. While the judge has not yet ruled in their favor,granting class-action statusrecognizes thescopeofthe problem, they say

“This is amajor victory for accountability —and we hope it is the beginning of the end of thestate’spattern of illegally imprisoning thousands of Louisianans at taxpayerexpense,” WilliamMost, oneofthe 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 theproblems.They also saysentencing calculations rely on clerks of court and sheriffs’ offices,which the agency cannot control.

“Wedisagreewiththe judge’s ruling and we intend to appeal. Everything in the lawsuits is either long outdated, out-of-context or just ﬂatlyfalse,” AttorneyGeneral Liz Murrill said in astatement.

“The release date for an incarcerated person is not asimple calculation.Itinvolves multiple ofﬁcials andcomplicated calculations of time served and good timeeligibility,” the statement continued. “The Department of Corrections is frequently at the mercyoflocal ofﬁcials andother branches of government.”

ä See LAWSUITS, page 4A

Lawmakersremainatan impasseoverreopening

BY JOSH BOAK |Associated Press

WASHINGTON Republican and Democratic lawmakers at an impasse on reopening the federal government provided few public signs Sunday of meaningful negotiations talking place to end what has so farbeen a ﬁve-day shutdown.

Leaders in both parties are betting that public sentiment has swung their way,putting pressure on theother sidetocave. Democrats are insisting on renewing subsidiestocover health insurancecosts formillionsofhouseholds, whilePresident Donald Trump wants to preserve existing spending levels andthreatening to permanently ﬁre federal workers if the government remains closed.

Thesquabblecomes at amomentoftroublingeconomicuncertainty.While the U.S. economyhas continued to grow this year,

ä See SHUTDOWN, page 5A

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 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 Oktoberfest reopened following a bomb threat.

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 2 p.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 50% 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.

Gunmen kill 2, injure 12 in Ala. shootout

By The Associated Press

MONTGOMERY,

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.

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, 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

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.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS By AMR NABIL

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.

Trump sending California Guard to Oregon

By The Associated Press

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 the Democratic governors of both states pledged to ﬁght the move in court.

A Pentagon spokesperson said in a statement that about 200 federalized members of the California National Guard who had been on duty around Los Angeles were being reassigned to Portland. Oregon Gov Tina Kotek said about 100 arrived Saturday and around 100 more were en route Sunday

Kotek said there had been no formal communication with the federal government about the deployment. California Gov Gavin Newsom’s office said about 300 previously federalized California Guard members could eventually be deployed.

Kotek said the latest move by

federal ofﬁcials is an attempt to circumvent Saturday’s court ruling that blocked deployment of

Oregon’s guard members.

“The facts on the ground in Oregon haven’t changed,” Kotek said

during a news conference Sunday

“There’s no need for military intervention in Oregon. There’s no insurrection in Portland, there’s no threat to national security.”

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayﬁeld the state would go back to court on Monday, along with California, seeking to block the latest deployment.

“What was unlawful yesterday is unlawful today,” Rayﬁeld said.

“The judge’s order was not some minor procedural point for the president to work around, like my 14-year-old does when he doesn’t like my answers.”

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 us-

ing 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.”

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland has recently been the site of nightly protests. A Trumpappointed 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. The protest was relatively small and localized to just one block of the city of 650,000 residents, Kotek said. Trump authorized the deployment of 300 Illinois National Guard troops to protect federal ofﬁcers and assets in Chicago on Saturday

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 indepth examination of some Trump policies, including the president’s imposition of tariffs and his desired restrictions on birthright citizenship.

If the same conservativeliberal 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.

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 deci-

sion. 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.

Election issues

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.

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 miss-

ing.

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. One more person was killed in a landslide in a neighboring district Rainfall was hampering efforts to reach the villages and many roads were swept away or blocked by the land-

slides. The government said helicopters were also evacuating people needing medical evacuations and ground troops were helping move people to safer areas.

Three people in another district were killed as they were struck by lightning, while three more people died in ﬂooding in southern Nepal

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.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JENNy KANE

Customs and Border Protection agents stand outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility during a protest Saturday in Portland, Ore

Bullets crack from the truck, mufﬂed by silencers, aimed at movement invisible to the naked eye.

“He’shauling ass,” Rachal says. “Somebody stopthat pig!”

Adozen more hot brass casingshit theﬂoor,but the hog vanishes into the brush. For Kessler,who estimates he kills about 1,000 feral hogs each year through partnerships with fed-up farmers, it’sarare miss.

Pigs cause over $90millionannually in agricultural damage statewide, according to the latest estimates from the LSU AgCenter That’sdespite hunting being legal year-round on privately owned land.

In thegrand scheme,Kessler knows he’slosing the war.Hunters would haveto kill70% of Louisiana’snearly 1million hogs each year just to keep the numbers ﬂat, assuming more from neighboring states don’ttake their place.

But two researchers at LSU might have an answer They’ve spent the last decade trying to expand the hog-killingarsenal, andwereissued apatent last year for alethal bait theyclaim is humane,effective and environmentally friendly.Farmers across the southeast are calling about it, but acomplicated webof bureaucracy has prevented them from getting it.

“I’m at the point of complete and total frustration,” saidGlen Gentry,interim research director at the AgCenter.“It’snot moving.”

Warpigs

Earlier in the night, Kessler, Spanoand Rachal trackeda litter of about 15 pigs rooting

LAWSUITS

Continued from page1A

TheDepartmentofCorrections declined to comment on pending litigation. Judge John W. DeGravelles issuedhis decision on Sept. 22 in theMiddle District of Louisiana, two years after the court held aclass 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 thestateto ﬁx the problem, while Humphrey v. LeBlanc seeksmonetary damages.

In Humphrey,the class deGravelles defined includes those who, sinceApril 16, 2019, were eligible for release from custody when they were sentencedbut 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.”

TheGiroirclass is similar but applies to those who are still in the agency’scustody —and to those whomight be overdetained in the future.

Overdetentioncauses

Thoughthere may be other

in acornﬁeld. Though the animalwilleat almost anything (includingthemselves),hogs prefer calorie-denseseeds adestructiveappetite satisﬁed by plowing their snouts like shovels beneath the soil

“Those pigs will go down the row and eat every piece of corn, jump over three or four rows andstart again, said Kessler.“They’ll be massive areas of nothing …ata certainpoint,itcannot be replanted.”

The hunters creepfrom downwind, no closer than 50 yards, then rest their riﬂeson tripods. Cunning is required: Hogscan smell from 5miles out,and one steponsome dry foliage can send them scattering. Once settled, they line their shotsbetweenthe hog’s shoulder and neck, to avoid an armored hide that Kessler refers to as a“self-sealing gas tank.”

An eruption of squeals and gunfire. Seven hogs drop. Back at histruck,Kessler operates athermal drone, searching for stragglers in the dense thicket. The strategy begana few years ago, after eight local farmers pooled nearly $9,000 to enhance defenses

“The drone saves us so much time. We can cover so much ground somuch faster more thoroughly,” he said.

Kessler, whoseFacebook page has over 75,000 followers, says fewer hate comments come from the PETAtypes than from puristswho claim what he does isn’treal hunting. He doesn’targue.

“I know it’snot hunting; it’s eradication,”hesaid.Tohim, thehogs are oversized cockroaches that, beyond tearing up crops, cause erosion, wreck levee systems, pollute water and spread diseases.

At the LSU AgCenter, Gentry gives aquick origin story Feral hogs began as ordinary domestic pigs —think Wil-

reasonsbehind overdetention, the lawsuitsidentify one particular problem as the driving force.

In Louisiana, where defendantscan spendyears 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 —bythe time ajudge hands down that sentence. But because of subsequent delays in calculating their release dates, the statedetains them for weeks or months longer, even though they are eligible to be released immediately, accordingtothe lawsuits

Thelawsuitsdescribe 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 lawsuitssay In aMay public meeting, Department of Public Safety &Corrections counsel JonathanViningagreed that cases of overdetentionhad generally involved inmates eligible for immediate release,but he said that recent improvements to the calculation system andchanges to thelaw

bur from “Charlotte’sWeb” —brought over from Europe with Columbus andDeSoto, after which manywandered free-range or slippedloose from pens. By theearly 1900s, Eurasian wild boars (same species, differentsubspecies) wereimportedfor sport hunting. The two bloodlinesmixed, creating tougher,wilderhybrids, turning Wilbur intoNapoleon from “AnimalFarm.” In Louisiana, feral hogs that were originally conﬁned to the central and southeast regionsspread in the1980s after being transported to other areas for hunting. Similarpractices nationwide have exploded theirpopulationto around 6million, mostly in the southeast and West Coast, but also in Canada, as hogs thrive in both swampsand snow,Gentry said. Like most invasive species, rapid reproduction fuels the ﬁre

“They breed like rabbits, but they’re smart,” Gentry said. On average, sows produce 11/2 littersa year,with about six to each litter, he said. Female hogs can reach sexual maturity shortly after their ﬁrst birthday. Within 48 months, one sow can addhundreds of hogs to the landscape. “Within 72 months, she’sadded thousands,”saidGentry. “I’m not saying hunting or trapping doesn’t have an impact; what I’msayingisyou’renot going to controlthe population with just those two things. Abloodless alternative?

For thepast century,sodium nitrite has been amainstay in thefood industry, mostly used to cure pork.

The compound kills harmful bacteria, but at doses far past what’sused on an averagecharcuterie board, it can bind to and alter hemoglobin, preventing the protein from carrying oxygenthroughout

meant it was no longeran issue.

Citing pending litigation, the agency declined to provide data to back up that claim

DeGravelles noted the agency improved itssystem over the years,but he still citedevidence that it did not do enough to ﬁx the problem in atimely manner

For example, the agency launched aportal in 2023 that allowed clerks of court and sheriffs to submit records electronically,accordingto the court decision. It took the state only three and ahalf months to create the portal, deGravelles wrote, but “DOC could have created this systemin2012 or 2008.

Evidence of overdetention

The ruling describes evidence thatofﬁcials, including former Department of Public Safety &CorrectionsSecretary JimmyLeBlanc, knew overdetention was rampant as early as 2012. That was the year an agency study known as Lean Six Sigmafound that in one year,2,252 prisoners were held past their release dates, andthat theywere detained, on average, for 72 days toolong, according to the ruling.

LeBlanc, who is anamed defendant in the lawsuit, did not return requests forcom-

the body.Insomecases, that resultsinfatal asphyxiation.

The United States Department of Agriculture limits sodium nitrite in humanfood to 200 parts per million.

Overadecade ago, Gentry begantesting sodium nitrite’seffects on pigs at the AgCenter’sIdlewild Experiment Station. He found that adose of 189 ppmkilled90% of the pigs he tested, since animals lack the enzymes humans have to process the compound. At the same time, Gentry alsodiscovered the scent of dehydrated ﬁsh attracted pigs over most other organic baits

Gentry combinedthe two into abait that looked to be arelatively painless treatment.Pigs who atesublethal dosessimply fellasleep, he observed, andafter waking unharmed, often came back for seconds

“They don’tsuffer if they die,” he said. “They literally just fall asleep.”

The bait also appeared environmentally friendly.Unlike many conventionalpesticides,sodium nitrite easily breaks down and won’taccumulate up thefood chain, said JohnPojman,chair of the LSU Chemistry Department

“Ifyou have adead hogand somebody comes and eats it, it doesn’tget contaminated andkill offnative species,” he said.

However,that samevirtue meant the bait quickly broke down outside laboratory conditions, turning into foul-smelling oxides that deterred thepigs. Gentry tried developing acapsule delivery system, but couldn’t ﬁnd acasing durable enough to hold in wet environments but also dissolve in thestomach. Aftermonths of frustration, he reached out toLSU’s chemistry department, and Pojman eagerlyvolunteered.

ment. He ran thecorrections department for 16 years, leaving in August 2024. Gary Westcott now holds his position.

More recently,in2019, agencydatashowedthatat

Pojmansaidthe solution lay in keeping it “basic.” He created amore stable version of sodium nitrite by adding calcium carbonate —widely used in antacids such as Tums —toraise its pH. To prevent the possibility of leftover crumbs that could harm smaller animals, Pojman’slab also harnessed food chemistry to turn the bait into agelatinous, green, fish-scented, bouncy-ballsized hog killer

“I’m reallyproud of that because it was just using somegeneral chemistry,” said Pojman. “Food-grade materials that you can easily buy,not expensive,safe to work with.”

They envision farmers ringing their fields with bait, buried 6inches deep—a hog-specific force field only pigs could snuff out. They’ve also successfully tested cellphone-operated wildlife feedersthatallowusers to remotely dispense the bait if apig shows up on camera.

But their patent, issued in May 2024, has yet to be put to use.

“Wegot alot of interest, people callingusaskingto use it on their land,” said Pojman. “I say I’msorry,we can’tdoanything with it.”

Obtaining pesticideapproval from the U.S.EnvironmentalProtection Agency can take adecade, and navigating the bureaucracy has been particularly challenging for academics who lack industry backing.Even obtainingapermitnecessary to begin testing has proved Kafkaesque. Gentry has spent six years trying to ﬁgure outhow to obtain one, only to face hundreds of pages of documents ﬁlled with unrelated chemical information and acronyms. Both scientists say alltheywant are clear instructions.

Meanwhile, warfarin, a

least140 inmateseligiblefor immediate releasewereoverdetainedduring themonth of February,deGravelles wrote. A2023 Department of Justice report also found that betweenJanuaryand April

knownenvironmental toxin, hasbeen approved as hog bait, largelybecause the chemical has been used as rat poison.

“Weare in aunique positionbecause it’s nota traditional pesticide,” said Pojman. “I’m not opposed to the EPAdoing itsjob. Ijustthink we’re in areally weird situation.”

For now, thetwo areforced to hope for an EPAofﬁcial or amember of Congress to recognize what they seeas anovel,common-sense approach and help them cut through the red tape

“If it’s safe forhuman consumption, whyare these extra hoops here?” said Gentry.“Nobody can tell me what Ineed to do to give it to pigs.”

Athreatbeyondthe fields

Evenifa bait were on the market that was100%effective,Gentry says it wouldn’t comeclose to apanacea.

“We’vebeen poisoning rats since the ’40s and ’50s,” he said. “Westill have alot of rats.”

Like rats, Gentry says it’s likelythat as feral hogs push deeper into urban areas, they’ll pose problems beyond economic ones. In 2016, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries researchers collected 40 water samples fromKessler’shunting area andfound harmful pathogens linked to hog fecal contamination in allof them,including E. coliand salmonella. In one incident in California, groundwater contamination from feral hogs is suspected of killing three people and sickening hundreds more.

“Right nowit’saneconomic problem,” said Gentry “As more of themshowup in towns and cities, Ithink you’re going to see more of a humanhealth crisis.”

2022, 1,108 inmates were held past their release dates. Not allofthose inmates were necessarily eligible for immediate release upon sentencing. The state hasdisputed the DOJ’sﬁndings.

“The easiestway to explain it is it’slike building a house,” Yates said. “If you’re going to builda house,you hire ageneral contractor.”

While Yates and some of his elected colleagues might serve as the architects for the new city,a company namedInstitute for BuildingTechnology and Safety is serving as the developer contractor and laborers —not just in building St. George, but in running it, too. Since the ’90s, the company has served asprivatecontractor for government services throughout the country.Its leadershipsays they can provide aleaner government than what many are used to seeing.

tractors and isn’tbogged down by abloated system. “If you do agreat jobhere, youhave absolutelynothing to worry about. If you don’t do agreat job here, we’re going to ﬁndsomebody else that can,” Yates said. “That’s just thereality.Itwas the ﬁrst conversation with Scot whenhewas broughtonasa program director.And that’s exactlywhat Itell everybody else.”

Thecompanynow hasoffices where it operates governmentsinNew York, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Missouri,near Washington, D.C., and elsewhere.

Itsoffice in St. George is the company’s secondoperationinEast Baton Rouge Parish —italso runs the privatized government in Central.

Cubicles fill the space of the future City Council meeting room at the newSt. GeorgeCityHall buildingonThursday.

and emergency services

St.George expects $58.7 million in revenues forthe ﬁscal year.About $2.5 million is budgeted for thecity’s administrative and executivecosts.

“How much innovation do you ever regularly see in government?” said Scot Byrd, the organization’s program directorfor St George. “But how much innovation do you see in the private sector? It’severy day.”

Thecompany of St.George St. George’snew City Hall buildingonProverbs Avenue does not look like a government building, and it wasn’tbuilt to be one. The Institute for Building Technology and Safetyhas started to convert space insideto aCityCouncilmeeting room and make other changes, but the two-story ofﬁcebuilding still lookslike the home of a startup companymore than amayor and CityCouncil. But the look might ﬁt what Yatesand others wanted:a privatized local government that embraces efficiency, employs the use of subcon-

SHUTDOWN

Continued from page1A

hiring has slowedand inflation remains elevated as Trump’simport taxes have created aseries of disruptions for businesses and employershavehurtconfidence in his leadership. At the same time, there is a recognitionthat 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 WhiteHousemeeting Monday “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 said in atext message, according to CNN. His administration sees the shutdown as an opening to wield greater power over the budget, with multiple ofﬁcials saying they will save money as workers are fur-

Afew months after the state SupremeCourt ruled in favor of St.George last yearand the city was up and running, IBTS was contracted to runearly cityservices like permitting, inspections, planning and zoning

Theteam is now focused on setting up the Department of Public Works in St George. Thecity has put out multiple bids to contract for services like planning and zoning and permitting and IBTS was the only bidder, documentsshow

The two parties are still in negotiations, but thecity has budgeted$20 million annually for public worksfor the 2025-26 ﬁscal year

That contract will be in addition to the current $12.8million annual cost St. George is paying the company tooperatethe administration, development, ﬁnance, permit and inspection, planningand zoning, engineering, code enforcement, business development

loughedbyimposing permanent job cuts on thousands of government workers, atactic thathas never been used before Even though it would Trump’schoice, he believes he can put theblame on the Democratsfor the layoffs because of the shutdown.

“It’suptothem,” Trump told reporters on Sunday morning before boarding the presidential helicopter “Anybody laid offthat’sbecause of the Democrats.”

While Trump rose to fame on the TV show“The Apprentice” with is catchphraseof “You’re ﬁred,” Republicans on Sunday claimed that the administrationwould takeno pleasureinletting go of federal workers, even though they have put 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 the White House National Economic Council, said that theadministrationwants to avoidthe layoffs it hadindicatedcould start on Friday,a deadline thatcameand went without any decisionsbeing announced “Wewantthe Democratsto comeforward and to make a deal that’saclean, continuing resolutionthat gives us seven more weeks to talk about thesethings,” Hassettsaidon CNN. “But the bottomline is that with Republicans in control, the Republicans have a lot more poweroverthe outcomethanthe Democrats.”

Democratic Sen. Adam

Fully formed, IBTS’ team will be about100 people working forSt. George, Byrd said. On Thursday,applicants forthe team’s public works group were being interviewed, though much of the work will be done by other companies.

“A lot of it will be subcontractors,” Byrd said. “They’lldothings liketrimmingtrees back from roads. And all of the things that primarily comewith streets anddrainage,wewill be using alot of subcontractors to do that work.”

‘It’sjustmorenimble’

Around 15 yearsago,IBTS won thecontract for services in Central.Since then, Mayor Wade Evans says the “100% privatized” city hasn’tlooked back.

“Obviously, we alwaysgo out to rebid, but it’svery hard to compete with acompany who has theunderstanding of what it takes, because they have theinternal benchmark,”hesaid.

Schiff of Californiadefended 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 thatmeant the spending was withheld without time for Congress to weigh in before the previousﬁscal year 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.

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 thatDemocrats dispute.

In Evans’ view,local governments often gettoa point wherethe cost of services given to constituents surpasses the value of what those services are. As example, Evans pointstothe high costs East Baton Rouge Parish puts into retirement legacy costs for its employees.

“The machine itself consumes the resources and gets in the way of delivering the services,” he said. “You end up withawith a system that has tobasically continue to consumeitself.

And thepeople that suffer are thecitizens who need services delivered to them like roads,ditches,potholes —all the things that government shouldbeworried about taking care of.”

Evans, aformer contractorand homebuilder,said one of the biggest advantag-

es of privatized government is ﬂexibility.Inthe private sector,underperforming employees can be replaced quickly, withoutthe hoops and red tape that slow traditional government —a freedom he sees as amajor beneﬁt.

“It’sjust morenimble,” Evans said. “Andfor that lack of job security,Central’semployees are rewarded in pay, because our laborers makeconsiderably more than atypicalentrylevelgovernment position. And they have beneﬁts, vacation and everything else, but the one thing they also have is an understanding that if you don’tperform, you don’thave ajob.”

Privatizingchange

As IBTS beefsupits operation in St. George, constituent services have moved offthe shoulders of the city-parish government and onto Louisiana’sﬁfth-largest city.OnOct. 16, permits and inspections, planning and zoning and occupational licensing will now be handled by the St. George through IBTS.

Yates andother leaders were recently presented options fromtech companies for the city’sown 311 portalthatconstituents will be able to use to report potholes, blightedproperties, missed trash pickups and more.

Though he calls the work of putting togethera city

brick by brick challenging, Byrd said creating something newinstills an “entrepreneurialvibe” for himself andthe rest of IBTS. Overseeing it all, Yates echoed that creating acity from scratch is noteasyand added that there is an added pressure that comes with making decisions that will impact people foranunknowable amount of years to come. But it also comes with an excitement more akin to the private sector,hesays, wheredothingsa little differently andrejectwhat he calls the “government of probability” that many are used to where choices are made based on what’smost likely to work or least likely to upsetvoters. Instead, Yates said privatizationoffers St. George achance to be a“government of possibility” where leaders can take some calculated risks andoffer services to people more efﬁciently “Wedon’tknowuntil we explore it. We don’tknow unless we take some risks,” Yates said. “Eventually you’ve got to put yourself out there, right? You’ve gottotakesome calculated risks if youreally want to movethings forward, or you’re just going to be in the samespot as you always have been.”

Email Patrick SloanTurner at patrick.sloanturner@theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

For our heroes

STAFF PHOTO By JOHN

Caydence Hoover, a volunteer with Covey Creek, strikes a pose for the camera during the inaugural fundraiser for Heroes Outdoors, an organization run by volunteers that provides outdoor experiences to military, ﬁrst responders and their families. The event raised over $60,000 for the organization.

Mango to open in Mall of Louisiana

It’s the second La. location for Spanish fashion brand

BY IANNE SALVOSA Staff writer

Spanish fashion retailer Mango will open at the Mall of Louisiana by November Mango will operate a 4,500-square-foot store, offering women’s, men’s, teens’ and kids’ clothing, as well as home goods. The store will be located in front of the recently opened Dick’s House of Sport and near Lee Michaels. It’s the brand’s second Louisiana outpost, following the

opening of its ﬁrst location in Metairie’s Lakeside Shopping Center in June.

Randy Holcombe, the vice president of leasing for Brookﬁeld Properties, which manages the Mall of Louisiana’s offerings, said the addition of Mango will leverage the success of other European retailers in the mall’s tenant mix, such as Zara. Zara opened in the Mall of Louisiana in 2024 after also setting up its ﬁrst Louisiana location in Lakeside. He said Baton Rouge is a great trade area and retailers like to expand on their “synergy” with New Orleans.

“We’re continually looking to upgrade the mix and keep the shopping center relevant,” Hol-

combe said.

Mango launched in 1984 and opened its ﬁrst U.S. store in 2021. It is quickly growing its American footprint and plans to invest $70 million in its U.S. expansion over 2024 and 2025. It signed an agreement with Brookﬁeld Properties in 2023 to open seven locations in the United States that year For 2025, Mango set a goal to open 20 U.S stores to end up with a total of 65 locations by the end of the year Mango has 2,844 stores around the world, in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa.

Mango joins several other stores and restaurants that have recently opened in the Baton

Rouge shopping center Other newcomers to the mall include House of Deaux, Smart Fix, Street Food Munchies, Toy Depot and We Fix All. Haute Soles and Njoy Curry Masala will join the mall’s offerings soon.

Holcombe said some of the new local shops are part of Brookﬁeld Properties’ short-term lease program for tenants who are not yet ready for a long-term lease. The program offers a smaller upfront expense for the stores.

“It’s given us the ability to foster the growth of some of these small, unique mom-and-pops,” he said. “That’s the whole key here is to try to curate this offering so that we look unique to the marketplace.”

New streetlights shining in Baton Rouge area

BY ELLYN COUVILLION

Baton

Plank Road shooting

Baton Rouge homicide detectives are investigating a fatal shooting that occurred early Saturday morning on Plank Road, Baton Rouge police said. Dwayne Williams, 41, was shot about 1:50 a.m. near the intersection of Plank Road and Riley Street. He was transported to a hospital, where he died from his injuries, according to a release from the Baton Rouge Police Department.

The motive and any information about a potential suspect were not available.

Anyone with information relative to this shooting incident is urged to contact the Violent Crimes Unit at (225) 389-4869 or Capital Area Crime Stoppers at (225) 344-7867.

Two dead in separate overnight crashes

Louisiana State Police is investigating two overnight fatal crashes that occurred in East Feliciana and Ascension parishes.

The first was a single-vehicle crash that occurred about 11 p.m. Saturday on U.S. 61 south of La. 964 in Jackson, a town in East Feliciana Parish. Responding state troopers found 35-year-old Sentoria Roundtree, of St Francisville, dead at the scene. Authorities said Roundtree was the front passenger in a 2020 Toyota RAV4 that was traveling south on U.S. 61, when the vehicle drove off the roadway into a ditch, striking a culvert. Roundtree and the driver were not wearing seat belts, State Police said The driver was also seriously injured and taken to a hospital Authorities do not yet know if the driver was impaired.

A few hours later in Ascension Parish, shortly after 2:30 a.m. Sunday, troopers began investigating a two-vehicle crash on Interstate 10 eastbound in Prairieville. Jesse Diaz, a 23-year-old Denham Springs resident, was pronounced dead at the scene. According to State Police, Diaz was driving a 2013 Hyundai Elantra eastbound when, for unknown reasons, he stopped in the left lane, exited the car and stood next to it. Shortly after, authorities said, a 2018 Chevrolet Equinox traveling behind Diaz in the left lane struck both the Hyundai and Diaz. Neither the driver nor the passenger of the Chevrolet were wearing seat belts and were taken to a hospital after receiving moderate injuries, according to police.

State Police took routine toxicology samples as part of both investigations.

BALLANCE

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

installed around East Baton Rouge Parish.

BLOTTER staff reports

Israel,Hamas preparefor talks

BY SAMYMAGDY andMELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press

CAIRO— Israel and Hamas prepared for indirect negotiations in Egypt on Monday,ashopes forapossible ceaseﬁre in Gazagrewafter Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu said a hostage release could be announced this week.

Tuesday marks two yearssincethe Hamas attack that sparked thewar President Donald Trump haswelcomed the Hamas statement accepting some elements of the U.S. peace plan. Israel has said it supported the new U.S. effort. Under the plan, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages —about 20 believed tobe alive —within three days. It would give up powerand disarm.

The delegation led by top Israeli negotiator Ron Dermer will leave Monday for thetalksinSharm el-Sheikh, Netanyahu’sofﬁce said. An Egyptian official said the Hamas delegation had arrived. The ofﬁcial,speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’tauthorized to briefreporters, said U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff is joining the talks.

Discussions will focus on the proposed exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners held byIsrael, Egypt’sforeign ministry said.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the situation “the closest we’ve cometogetting all of the hostages released.”

Speaking on ABC’s“This Week,” he described two phases after Hamas acceptsTrump’s framework: The hostagesare released and Israel pulls back in Gaza to the “yellow line,” where it was in August.

Palestinians hold out their

kitchen SundayinKhan younis, southernGaza

Rubio told CBS that Hamasshould release hostages as they are ready andthat bombardment needs to end so they can be released. TheU.S. plan alsoaddresses Gaza’s future. In atextexchange with CNN’s JakeTapper,Trump said there would be “complete obliteration” if Hamas stayed in power there. Trumpalso texted that Netanyahu was on board for ending thebombing and peace in Gaza butadded,“soon on the rest.”

Israeli government spokeswoman ShoshBadrosiantold journaliststhat Netanyahu is in “regular contact” with Trump and that the prime minister has stressed that the talksinEgypt “will be conﬁnedtoafew days maximum.

“I hope that we are closesttoahostagedealsincethe (ceaseﬁre) dealin

January,”Israeli ForeignMinister

Gideon Sa’ar said in aspeech.

Trumphas orderedIsraeltostop bombing Gaza, but residents andlocalhospitals said strikescontinued across the territory

At leasteight people werekilled Sunday in multiple strikes in Gaza City,according to ShifaHospital, whichreceivedthe casualties. Asecurity ofﬁcial who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media said the strikes wereagainst Hamas militants who were athreat to troops.

Four otherpeoplewereshotdead near an aid distribution siteinthe southern city of Rafah,according to Nasser Hospital. Israel’smilitary said it was not involved.

Large-scaleRussian attack on Ukrainekills 5

By The Associated Press

Russia launched drones,missiles and guided aerial bombs across Ukraine early Sunday,killing five people in amajor nighttime attack that Ukrainian ofﬁcials saidtargeted civilian infrastructure.

Moscow ﬁred 53 ballistic and cruise missiles and 496 drones, Ukraine’s air force said. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that nineregions were targeted.

Four people, including a15-year-old, died in acombined drone and missile strikeonLviv,according to regional officials and Ukraine’semergency service.

It was the largest aerial assault on thehistoric western city and surrounding regionsince Russia’sfullscale invasion on Feb.24, 2022,according to Maksym Kozytskyi, head of the local military administration In aTelegram post, Kozytskyi said Russia launched about140 Shahed dronesand 23 ballistic missiles across the region. At least six more people were injured, accordingtoastatement by Ukraine’spolice force.

The strike left two districts of Lviv without powerand disrupted public transportation for afew hours early Sunday,MayorAndriySadovyi reported.

In the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, an aerial assault killed acivilian wom-

an and wounded nine other people including a16-year-old girl, regional headIvanFedorov reported.Hesaid Russia attacked withdrones andguided aerial bombs.

Fedorov saidthe strike destroyed residential buildings andleft about 73,000 households in Zaporizhzhiaand surrounding areas without power Russia’sDefense Ministry said the overnight strikes targeted Ukraine’s “military-industrial complex” and energy facilities that supply it.

Separately,six people includinga child were injuredinSloviansk, akey cityinthe easternDonetsk region that remains underUkrainian control, after aRussianguided aerial bomb slammedinto an apartment block, regional prosecutors said Sunday.They said Russian airstrikes on Saturday evening damagedover two dozen residential buildings in Sloviansk.

Zelenskyy on Sunday reiterated his call for Kyiv’sWestern partners to send additional airdefensestocombatRussia’s“aerial terror.”

“Today,the Russians again targeted our infrastructure, everything that ensures people can live anormal life. We needmore protection, arapid implementation of alldefense agreements, especially on air defense, to make this aerial terrorpointless,” he said in aTelegram post.

Ukraine has for months conducted itsown long-range strikesonRussia,

She is beingheldon$14 million bond.

many of whichhavetargetedMoscow’soil infrastructure andcontributed topersistent fuel shortages.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces shotdown 32 Ukrainian drones during the night, with at least 50 more downed during theday over southwestern Russia.

Drones damaged several homes, cars and apower line in the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, according to local Gov.Vyacheslav Gladkov

For itspart,the Kremlin has ramped up attacks on Ukraine’spower grid ahead of winter,asinprevious years since the full-scaleinvasiononFeb. 24, 2022. Kyiv calls it an attempt to weaponizethe weather by denying civilians heat, light and running water

In his nightlyaddress to Ukrainians on Sunday,Zelenskyy charged that Moscow is “openly trying to destroy ourcivilian infrastructure now,before winter —our gas infrastructure, electricity generation and transmission.”

“Unfortunately,there’sbeen no dignified, powerful global response to everything that’shappening, to the ever-increasing scale and brazenness of thestrikes, he said, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “simply laughing at the West’s silence and lack of astrong response.”

Russian drones on Saturday struck arailway station in thenorthern city of Shostka, killing one and wounding dozens.

Bourg, Mildred St.GeorgeCatholic Church at 11am

Dicharry,Gerald

SealeFuneralHome, 1720 S. Range Avenue,DenhamSprings at noon.

Riner, Jane Rabenhorst FuneralHome, 825 Government Street,Baton Rouge at 11:00am.

Obituaries

Guttner, George Bowman

George Bowman Guttner died peacefullyonSeptember27, 2025 at his home surroundedbyhis family. Born in Baton Rouge to LucieGreaud Guttner and George Guttner, George waspreceded in death by hisparents. He wasa graduate of Catholic High School and LSUwhere he wasa memberofPhi Kappa Theta Fraternity. An avidhunter, gardener, andLSU supporter,George wasemployed for manyyearsat Turner Industries. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Vivian Normand Guttner; three children, Bowman Guttner and hiswife Ginger; CandaceGuttner;Emilie Guttnerand herspouse Heather;granddaughter Lena Guttner; sister Grace GuttnerAnderson and her husband Gary. Thefamilyextends heartfelt gratitude to his caregivers Jasmine,Mary, andMae with APlusCaringHeart Services, for the exceptional care theyprovided Visitation on October15, 2025 at 10:00 AM at St Aloysius Catholic Church, 2025 StuartAvenue, Baton Rouge,LA70808 followed by aMemorialService at 11:00 AM.Inlieuofflowers, donations may be made in George Guttner's memory to acharity of yourchoice

Friends are invited to a Celebration of Fuzzy'slife at Southdowns MardiGras 2026 for traditional gumbo and fellowship

Hodges, Doris Dixon

blossomed into abeautiful marriagethatwould span decades. Together, Doris andClydebuilt awonderfullife, makingtheir home on Lakeshore Drive andbecoming devotedmembers of First Baptist Church of Baton Rouge.Their love of theGulfCoast ledthemto purchase acherished beach houseinDestin Florida, whichbecame a gathering place where they created countless memories with familyand friends. Dorishad apassion for travel and adventure,but hergreatest joy was sharing theseexperienceswith those she loved. Knownfor her warm spirit andgenerous heart, Doriswas abeloved wife, sister,aunt, and friend. Herdoor wasalways open,her smileeverpresent, andher love unconditional. Doriswas precededindeathbyher parents, Malcolm andCora Dixon;her brother, Malcolm (Mac) Dixon Jr.; and hersister,Kathryn Dixon Smith. Sheissurvived by herdevoted husband, ClydeHodges; hersisters, ElinorHeughan (Ronnie) andBetty Dixon White; her brother, John V. Dixon (Diane);and numerous nieces andnephewswho willforever treasure hermemory Visitation will take place at ResthavenFuneral Home on Wednesday, October8, 2025, beginning at 10:00 AM untilservicesat11:00 AM.Burial willfollow servicesatResthaven Gardens of Memory. Though ourheartsare heavy with loss, we celebratea life beautifullylived anda love that will endure forever. Familyand friends may sign theonline guestbook or leave apersonal note to thefamilyatwww.resthav enbatonrouge.com.

Associated Press

ANGLETON,Texas ATexasmother who shot her four children over theweekend, killing two of them, faces murder charges, authorities saidSunday.

The 31-year-old mother is being charged with twocounts of murder and two counts of aggravated assault with adeadly weapon, Brazoria County Sheriff Bo Stallman told reporters.

Twoofthe children,ages 13 and 4, were fatally shot inside avehicle Saturday. Theother children, ages 8and 9, arein“stable condition”after beingﬂown bya medical helicopter to a Houston-area hospital, Stallman said.

Thechildren’smother called 911 to alert authorities after the shooting, Stallman said. Authoritiesrecovered aweapon at thescene, he added.

“It is impossible to makesense of a senselesstragedylike this,but we will do everything we can toseek justice for these children,” Stallman said.

Themotherisa residentofMontgomery County to the north of Houston,hesaid.

The shooting took place in Angleton, acity of about 19,500 and thecounty seat of Brazoria County.Itislocated about 45 miles south of Houston. Texasmom

DorisDixonHodges, a woman whosekindness andgenerosity touched all whoknewher,passed away peacefullysurrounded by love.BornonApril 14, 1941, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Doriswas the third of six children born to Malcolm and Cora Dixon Alifelong residentofBaton Rouge,Doris wasa charter member of Parkview Baptist Churchand aproud graduate of Woodlawn High School. Shecontinued hereducation at Baton Rouge VoTech, whereshe studied business, launchinga successful career that began at Paul Boudreaux &Company. It wasthere that fate intervened, andshe met the love of herlife, Clyde

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JEHAD ALSHRAFI

hands forfood that was donated at acommunity

Strip.

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!”

SHERILINDSEY,BATON ROUGE: “For Pete’ssake, speak louderand stop grunting!”

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’sdemands.

“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

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GIANT RELIEF

WITH WIN, SAINTS SNAP 300-DAy, EIGHT-GAME LOSING STREAK

Saints wide receiver Rashid Shaheed runs for atouchdown as Newyork

Superdome.The Saints beat the Giants26-14 to earntheir fi

Saints practice what they preach to pick up firstwin of season

BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

Twowords, repeated three times, amantra that obviously has been so burned into the brains of the New Orleans Saints defendersthat they can’thelp butrepeat it; onethat ﬁnally manifested in resultsSunday afternoon in theCaesars Superdome

The ball, the ball, theball.

“It’sall we talk about,” said defensiveback Kool-Aid McKinstry.“‘The ball, the ball, the ball.’”

“Wealways preach, ‘The ball, the ball, the ball,’”safety Jordan Howden said. “The ball is the most important thing in football.”

The ball foundMcKinstrytwice, and it found Howdenonce,and it found twoother Saints defenders. After struggling torip the ball away

from opponents during afour-game losing streak to startthe season,New Orleans found it in abundance, forcingﬁve turnoverswhile beatingthe visiting Giants 26-14.

Thewin was aﬁrst for head coach and offensive play-caller Kellen Mooreand quarterback Spencer Rattler, both of whom playedtheir part in the team snapping an organizational losing skid that dated back to Dec. 8oflast year.New Orleanshad been close at timesinits ﬁrst four games, but it was important to get past close.

“You’ve got to get in the win column ﬁrst, and then obviouslyyou can carry themomentumhopefully moving forward,” Mooresaid. “Wecan feel it. We know what it lookslike. And so nowwe’ve got to keep getting better

ä See SAINTS, page 4B

NewOrleans celebrates overdue victoryoverNew york in style

the Superdome.

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

“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’sfirst fivetakeaway gameinmore than ayear and ahalf, it’scertainly worthy of a little redemptive revelry

ä See DUNCAN, page 5B

Jeff Duncan

STAFFPHOTO By BRETT DUKE

Giants safety Tyler Nubin tries to defend in the firsthalfoftheir game Sundayatthe Caesars

rst victoryofthe season.

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 dif-

ﬁcult 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.

It’s a win-win scenario, at least

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. “It allows for relationship building in a less competitive environment,” McCutchen said.

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.

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.

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

Yesavage, Blue Jays defeat Yankees in Game 2

By The 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 more home runs (eight) than 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 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.

“I just couldn’t be happier for him,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “The journey he’s been on this year is uneblievable.”

Yesavage needed fewer than four

innings to beat Toronto’s previous record for postseason strikeouts, eight by Dave Stieb 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

on Saturday in Milwaukee.

Brewers’ Chourio status uncertain against Cubs

BY STEVE MEGARGEE AP sportswriter

MILWAUKEE Milwaukee Brewers

outﬁelder Jackson Chourio’s status for Game 2 of the NL Division Series against the Chicago Cubs remained uncertain Sunday, a day after he underwent an MRI on his right hamstring.

“I know that we’re going to test some things today,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “He’s going to be out there today I don’t know that he’ll do much, but the MRI came back and it’s inconclusive. And it’s not a serious hamstring strain, but it’s not necessarily something that won’t limit him.”

Game 2 of the best-of-five series is Monday night. The Cubs plan to start left-hander Shota Imanaga (9-8, 3.73 ERA in regular season), while the Brewers will use lefty Aaron Ashby (5-2, 2.16) as an opener Chourio went 3 for 3 with three RBIs in the first two innings of the Brewers’ 9-3 Game 1 victory Saturday before leaving in the second inning with tightness in his right hamstring. He became the first player ever to have three hits in the first two innings of a playoff game. The 21-year-old hurt his hamstring while running to first on an infield single. Chourio had missed a month of the regular season because of a strain to the same hamstring. “We’re going to kind of see how he feels,” Murphy said. “He’s going to go through some testing, and if he feels anything, we’re going to shut it down.”

Chourio had expressed confidence after Saturday’s game that the issue wasn’t serious But he made similar comments after straining his hamstring on July 29 and then didn’t play again until

ä Cubs at Brewers, 8:08 P.M. MONDAy,TBS

Aug 30.

“I feel good right now,” Chourio said through an interpreter after Saturday’s game. “Compared to the last time that this happened, I feel like I’m in a very good position.”

The Brewers certainly are in a good position after winning the opener Ashby threw 16 pitches in that game while working 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.

He will be back on the mound Monday at the start of the game.

Ashby said the different role doesn’t really change his approach.

“Like all of the outings leading up throughout the years, I guess.

It’s kind of just been get outs,” said Ashby, who started in only one of his 43 regular-season appearances.

“Whether that’s in the ﬁrst inning or the fourth, ﬁfth, seventh, whenever it is. I think they’ve made it clear that your job is just to get outs, and then when they ask you to stop getting outs, that’s when you stop. Going into tomorrow, it’ll be kind of the same situation. Just prep the same.”

Murphy said Sunday he didn’t know who would follow Ashby Right-hander Quinn Priester (13-3, 3.32) ranked second on the Brewers in innings pitched and would seem like a probable candidate.

Imanaga will be making his second appearance of this postseason after allowing two runs over four innings Wednesday in the Cubs’ 3-0 Game 2 loss to the San Diego Padres in the NL Wild Card Series.

The 32-year-old Imanaga is very familiar with the Brewers. He started against them three times during the regular season and went 1-2 with a 3.57 ERA in those games.

of his 11 strikeouts Sunday came on the splitter The other three came on fastballs that reached 96 mph.

“I was just doing what I feel comfortable doing, throwing splits late in the count,” Yesavage said. “It just so happens they were swing-

ing and missing at a bunch of them and chasing them down.”

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.

“We just didn’t have an answer for the split,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “He was on his game.”

Left-hander Justin Bruihl came on to face Grisham after Yesavage threw 78 pitches, 48 for strikes. Schneider was jeered as he came out to remove Yesavage with Toronto leading 12-0.

“I’ll take getting booed like that every time,” Schneider said.

The crowd of 44,764 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 Yankees left-hander Max Fried (0-1) allowed seven runs and eight hits in 3-plus innings. He gave up seven runs in 33 1/3 innings in five September starts.

“Just not his sharpest, obviously,” Boone said. Fried went 11-1 with a 1.82 ERA in 16 starts after a Yankees loss in the regular season, but suffered another difﬁcult start in Toronto He was 0-1 with a 6.35 ERA in two regular season road starts against the Blue Jays, giving up 10 runs, eight earned, ﬁve walks and nine hits, including two home runs.

Dodgers take control against Phillies headed into Game 2 of the NLDS

BY DAN GELSTON AP sportswriter

PHILADELPHIA The Phillies had Shohei Ohtani on the ropes on the mound and tied up at the plate, the Dodgers’ two-way star seemingly losing the air of invincibility that surrounds him.

Ohtani the ace recovered, and he did it one swing-and-a-miss at a time against a string of All-Stars in the Phillies’ lineup.

Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper all disappeared in the playoffs again in Game 1 of the NL Division Series, a combined 1-for-11 effort with six strikeouts and no RBIs in the 5-3 loss.

Game 2 is Monday at Citizens Bank Park, you know, that boisterous ballpark known for its socalled four hours of hell that is supposed to rattle the nerves of even the most steeled players.

Heck, even a three-time MVP such as Ohtani — who struck out four times Saturday night acknowledged ahead of the game that he was a bit anxious to face the fans.

Here’s the headache for the Phillies: They have wasted home-ﬁeld advantage with four losses in their last ﬁve postseason home games. So they enter Game 2 with cold bats, have lost that extra oomph that 45,000 fans usually provide and have to try to regain their playoff mojo against the reigning World Series champions and two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell.

“I don’t sense any extra pressure,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said Sunday He might not sense it, but the fan base does, especially with little room for error or Matt Strahm meatballs — in the bestof-ﬁve series.

Ohtani retired 15 of the final 17 batters he faced, and Turner, Schwarber and Harper went 0 for 9 with ﬁve strikeouts against the right-hander From two-way sensation to twotime Cy Young postseason standout, the series won’t necessarily get easier for the Phillies.

Snell, who missed four months of his ﬁrst season in Los Angeles with shoulder inﬂammation, struck out a season-high 12 over seven innings in a September start against the Phillies.

Snell got the ball last week in the Wild Card Series opener and struck out nine over seven strong innings. He retired his initial eight batters in his ﬁrst playoff start since 2022, when he was with the San Diego Padres. Snell

matched his postseason high for strikeouts in the longest postseason start of his career He is 5-3 with a 3.23 ERA in 13 career playoff appearances (11 starts).

“I feel good with Snell going tomorrow,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. Here’s some more good news for the Dodgers, already the betting favorite to win the game and series, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. Harper is 1 for 11 with a home run and two RBIs lifetime against Snell. Schwarber, the NL home run and RBI champion, is

2 for 12 with a homer and three RBIs, and Turner is a moderately better 4 for 17 with three RBIs in 20 plate appearances vs. Snell. “Just like everything else, we’re going to be attacking it head on and we’re going to be excited to walk into the clubhouse and get back on the ﬁeld

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MORRy GASH Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio hits an RBI single during Game 1 of the NLDS against the Chicago Cubs

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MATT SLOCUM Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sánchez wipes his face after being pulled during the sixth inning in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday in Philadelphia.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By FRANK GUNN

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Trey yesavage celebrates after striking out the New york yankees’ side during the fourth inning of Game 2 of the ALDS in Toronto on Sunday.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MATT SLOCUM Teoscar Hernández, left, and Roki Sasaki celebrate after the Dodgers won Game 1 of the NLDS against the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday in Philadelphia.

SAINTS 26, GIANTS 14

THE NUMBERS

7-55, Singletary 6-20,

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.

This is what an NFL 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, with McKinstry and defensive end Cam Jordan leading the convoy on the way to the end zone. It was a potential 14-point swing on one play

That Howden recovery was one of ﬁve consecutive Giants possessions that ended with the ball in a Saints defender’s hands — three

SAINTS NOTEBOOK

Burgess makes critical play

Saints backup safety shines; 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 handoff, 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.

“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 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.

Controversial 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.

a touchdown

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. 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 ignited the comeback. After answering a touchdown with another ﬁeld goal, the Saints finally mustered their first defensive stop of the game midway

Lead referee Alan Eck tossed the flag and quickly announced a roughing the passer penalty on 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.”

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 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

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD Saints safety Jordan Howden is congratulated by teammates from left, Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, and Spencer Rattle after he scooped up a fumble from Giants running back Cam Skattebo and ran it 86-yards for

in the second half of their game on Sunday.

STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE

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

THREEAND OUT: RODWALKER’STOP THREETAKEAWAyS FROM SAINTS’FIRST WINOFTHE SEASON

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 three 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.Heplayed 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’sawesome because you know we’ve got muchbetter than acoin ﬂip’schanceofmaking thisplay

dance,” tight end 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 4yards 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

“It feels great,” saidrookie safety Jonas Sanker,who kept the game ball 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 partyby leading an emotional pregame Who Dat chant with good buddyTaysom 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 picking up Blake Grupe in abear hug afterhegaveup his 156-pound body to tackle Deonte Banks and save apotential touchdown on the ensuing kickoff return

It’sRattler sprinting thelength of the ﬁeld to celebrate with Rashid Shaheed after he outraced the entire New York secondary on his 87-yard catchand-run touchdown.

“That’s probably the fastest Iran

Saints coachKellen Moore reacts after aplayagainst

first half of theirgameSunday at the

winasSaintscoach.

the wholegame,” quipped Rattler TheSaints 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,” saidRattler,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 week or 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 wasanawesomeeffort.”

The key forthe Saints now will be how they handle success. Can they put the winbehind them and regain their focus forthe week ahead? They wouldn’tbethe ﬁrst NewOrleanians to succumbtoahangover after abig celebration. The revitalized NewEngland 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.

“It feels amazing,” Shaheed said. “The locker room was electric. This is afeeling we chase every single week. This is whywework so hard. This gameis about momentum,and this is deﬁnitely something we can build off of.”

Time will tell if Club Dubisabout to becomeaweekly operation forthe Saints. Or if it will be out of commission again forawhile.

Email JeffDuncan at jduncan@theadvocate.com.

STAFF

PHOTO By BRETTDUKE

the Newyork Giants in 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.

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Broncos rally, hand Eagles first loss

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 career-high 326 yards and a pair of touchdowns against the Bengals — and Denver’s formula of runﬁrst 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.

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

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 primetime 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 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

of a game on Sept. 21 in Jacksonville, Fla.

Chiefs at Jaguars. 7:15 P.M.

ABC

get to .500. They’re coming off a 37-20 victory against Baltimore in which Mahomes threw four touchdown 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.”

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 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

“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 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.

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.

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.

Commanders score 27 straight points to beat Chargers 27-10

BY BETH HARRIS AP sportswriter

In Inglewood, California, Playing for the ﬁrst time as a pro not far from his hometown, Jayden Daniels started slowly in his return after missing two games with an injured left knee.

After the defense forced a big fumble in the second quarter, Daniels and the Washington Commanders didn’t look back reeling off 27 straight points to beat the Los Angeles Chargers 27-10 on Sunday

“I’ve dreamt of moments like this, being able to play in front of my family back in my hometown,” said Daniels, who grew up 75 miles from SoFi Stadium in San Bernardino. Jacory Croskey-Merritt scored two touchdowns and former LSU standout Daniels was 15 of 26 for 231 yards and a touchdown in the game’s ﬁnal minute in helping the Commanders (3-2) win for the ﬁrst time on the road.

“It was just great to have his presence on the ﬁeld,” CroskeyMerritt said of Daniels.

The Chargers (3-2) were one of the least penalized teams in the ﬁrst three weeks of the season, when they were 3-0. But they were done in by sloppy play last week, with 15 penalties for 107 yards in a 21-18 loss at the New York Giants. Back home at SoFi Stadium, it happened again. They had 10 penalties for 85 yards and three turnovers in Washington territory

“Make no excuses on why it ain’t clean, but it’s our job to get it ﬁxed,” safety Derwin James said.

The Chargers dominated in building a 10-0 lead with ﬁve minutes left in the ﬁrst half, limiting

the Commanders to a single ﬁrst down. That was after the Chargers’ illegal formation on the opening kickoff.

Quentin Johnston fumbled after catching a 19-yard pass from Justin Herbert and Marshon Lattimore snagged it for Washington’s first fumble recovery of the season in the second quarter That led to Crosley-Merritt’s first TD of the game, a 15-yard run into the left end. The Chargers were forced to punt on their next possession. After Daniels was sacked and threw an incompletion, Tress Way punted 55 yards to the Chargers 43. Ladd McConkey took the return 57 yards for a touchdown that was nullified by Marlowe Wax’s penalty for roughing Way, leading to an automatic first down for the Commanders.

“We’ve got to tighten up the operation in every way,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said. Matt Gay kicked a 29-yard ﬁeld goal for a 10-10 tie with ﬁve seconds left before halftime.

The Commanders took the lead for good on their ﬁrst possession of the third, when Crosley-Merritt ran 5 yards into the left end for a 17-10 lead.

The Chargers’ Trey Pipkins committed two consecutive penalties on the Chargers’ next possession that ended in a punt. They turned the ball over on downs in their only other possession of the third.

Gay’s 36-yard field goal extended the Commanders’ lead to 20-10. Deebo Samuel caught an 8-yard pass from Daniels late in the game.

Daniels was the league’s offensive rookie of the year last season when he led the Commanders to the

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MATT SLOCUM

Denver Broncos tight end Evan Engram, right, celebrates his touchdown with offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey during the second half of a game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday in Philadelphia.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By PHELAN M. EBENHACK

Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jourdan Lewis reacts after intercepting a pass by Houston Texans quarterback CJ Stroud, not visible, during the second half

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOHN RAOUX

WhyPennState, Texasfellfrompoll

PennState’sloss to UCLA is probably the biggest upset I’ve seen since Istarted covering college football in 2017. Combined with Texas’ loss at Florida, theNittany Lions and Longhorns’ losses were the most notable outcomes in what was otherwise acalm Saturday in the world of college football.

Here’swhere my AP Top25 poll standsfollowing this week’s results.

Koki’s Top25pollafter Week 6

Florida widereceiver Dallas Wilson,

Longhorns, NittanyLions unranked afterupset losses

Both teamsare out of top25for first time since2022

BY ERIC OLSON AP collegefootball writer

Miami moved back to No. 2in

The Associated Presscollege football poll on Sunday,Texas Tech has its highest ranking since 2008 and Penn State and Texas fell all the way outofthe top25 for the first time since 2022 after the two top-10 teams lost to unranked opponents. No. 1Ohio State was dominant in its win over Minnesota, butits 40 first-place voteswereits fewest since ascending to thetop five weeks ago. TheHurricanes, who moved ahead of idle Oregon, went from receiving four firstplace votes last week to 21this week after winning at Florida State.

Miami also had been No.2two weeks ago following an open date and gave up that spot last week after Oregon’sovertimewin at Penn State.

Oregon,which received the other five first-placevotes, was followed by idle No. 4Mississippi and No. 5TexasA&M. The Aggies hammered Mississippi State and earned their highest ranking since JimboFisher’s 2021 team was No. 5inearly September Oklahoma slipped from No. 5 to No. 6despite its 44-0 shutout of Kent State. Indiana, which had an open date, is No.7,and No.8 Alabama got atwo-spot promotion for its 16-point win over Vanderbilt. No. 9Texas Tech, which won 35-11 at previouslyunbeaten Houston, cracked the top 10 for the first time since it was No. 8 in the final regular-season poll in 2008. Georgia moved uptwo spots to No. 10 after its win over Kentucky Texas wasthe AP’spresesason No. 1team and Penn State was No. 2. Both are now out of the rankings. Penn State took one of the biggest falls in the 99-yearhistory of

the poll for its lossatpreviously winless UCLA aweek after the Bruins ﬁred their coach. The Nittany Lions had slipped from No. 2toNo. 7following their loss to Oregon. They went to UCLAas 24.5-pointfavorites, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, and lost4237.PennState is unranked for the ﬁrst time since September 2022. Theplunge out of the Top25 matched 1959 Oklahoma for second-biggestdropout of the rankings, not counting preseason polls or the 2020 pandemic season.The ’59 Sooners went from No. 2to outofthe Top20after losing their opener to Northwestern.

Texas lost at Ohio Stateasthe preseasonNo. 1and was No. 9 enteringits gameatFlorida. TheLonghorns’ 29-21 loss at the Swamp sent them tumbling out of thetop 25. They hadn’tbeen unrankedsince November 2022.

Before Sunday, the lasttime twotop-10 teams fell out of the poll the same week was Sept.16, 1986, when it happened to No. 8 Tennessee and No. 10 Ohio State.

In andout

n No. 23 Memphis, four spots out of the top 25 aweek ago, is in forthe first timesince it was No. 24 in thefinal poll last season. The Tigers are out to their beststart since2015and thefirstteamto

be 6-0, making them bowl-eligible for the12th straight year

n No. 24 South Florida (4-1) has won two straight since its lopsided loss at Miami and is back after aone-monthabsence.

n Penn State(7) and Texas(9) dropped out

Poll points

n Ohio State’s40first-place votesare thefewestfor aNo. 1 team since Alabama also got 40 in thepoll Sept. 29, 2024.

n Miami’s No. 2ranking is its highest in an October poll since 2003.

n The teams ranked Nos. 1419 —Missouri, Michigan, Notre Dame, Illinois, BYU and Virginia —each received ﬁve-spot promotions, thebiggest of the week.

n Iowa State took the biggest fallofany team that remained in the top25, falling eight spots to No. 22 after losing at Cincinnati.

Conference call

SEC (9): Nos. 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 20. Big Ten(5): Nos.1,3,7,15, 17. Big 12 (4): Nos.9,18, 21, 22.

ACC(4): Nos.2,13, 19, 25. American (2): Nos.23, 24. Independent (1): No. 16. Ranked vs.ranked

n No. 1Ohio State(5-0) at No. 17 Illinois (5-1): This is the ﬁrst meeting since2017 and ﬁrst top 25 matchup since2001. The Buckeyes have won nine straight in the series andhaven’t lost in Champaign since 1991. The lone blemish for the Illini was ablowout loss at Indiana.

n No. 7Indiana (5-0) at No. 3 Oregon (5-0): The Hoosiers didn’t have to play Oregon last year,the Ducks’ ﬁrst in the BigTen. Indiana is 0-2 against top-ﬁve opponentsunder second-year coach Curt Cignetti.

n No. 8Alabama(4-1) at No. 14 Missouri (5-0): The Crimson Tide beat theTigers 34-0 in Tuscaloosa lastyear,isona four-gamewin streakand looking to knock offa third straight rankedopponent. Huge opportunityhere for Missouri for amarquee win in the chasefor the SEC titleand College Football Playoff seeding.

BY TIM REYNOLDS Associated Press

CORAL GABLES,Fla. When theMiami-Florida State game was over, defensive lineman Rueben Bain Jr sat on the Hurricanes’ bench with ablank stare on his face. Quarterback Carson Beck talked about how the team needs to get better

And coach Mario Cristobal was even more succinct.

“We’ve got along way to go,” Cristobal said.

All of that, it should be noted, came after aMiami win —inarivalry game, no less For the second time this season, thesecond-ranked Hurricanes (50, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) are heading into abye week after beating arival —ﬁrstFlorida, now FloridaState —and insistingthat they have much to improve upon. It’safar cry from what happened whenMiami tasted some success in recent seasons, with the inevitable “Is ‘The U’ back?” question being asked and more oftenthan not theHurricanes stumbling in the weeks that followed “I’m sure we’re going to go back

and watch this game and there’s just so many little things,little mistakes, little plays thatare just left out there forgrabs when we give them something or we give up something ourselves,” Beck

said. “And Ijustthink if we can eliminate those mistakes andstop shootingourselvesinthe foot sometimes that we could be really dangerous andreally,really good.” Back at No. 2this week in the

San Jose State and UTEP,teams Texas should be rolling over Texas’ easy schedule since the Ohio State gamehad shielded it from dropping much in anyone’s poll. This week fully exposed the ﬂawsofa team that has the resumeofa borderline top-25 team

Notes

1. Miami, 2. Oregon, 3. Texas A&M,4.Ohio State, 5. Oklahoma, 6. Texas Tech, 7. Alabama, 8. Georgia, 9. Notre Dame, 10. Ole Miss, 11. Indiana, 12. Tennessee, 13. Michigan, 14. LSU,15. Missouri, 16. Illinois, 17. Mississippi State, 18. Arizona State, 19. FloridaState, 20. Cincinnati, 21. Nebraska, 22. Southern Cal, 23. Virginia, 24. TCU,25. BYU

Just missed: Iowa State, Texas, Washington,Penn State FatesofPennState,Texas

There was astrong case to be madethat UCLA wasthe worst Power Four team in the nation heading into this week. The Bruins were 0-4 with ablowout loss at hometoNew Mexico. They hadn’t led in agame all season, and after the embarrassment against the Lobos,they ﬁred coach DeShaun Foster

Somehow,that sameBruins team took downmighty Penn Statethis week. And although the game was in Pasadena, there is no excuse forthe Nittany Lions to ever lose to this version of UCLA.

Penn State, on paper,isanobvious top-25 team, but the Nittany Lions don’t hold asingle win over a Power Four school and didn’teven look impressive against Villanova or Florida International. The close loss to No. 2Oregon counts for something, but it shouldn’tguaranteeita top-25 spot.

Texas’ loss to Florida on the road wasn’tenough on its own to warrant the Longhorns dropping out of the top25. This is also the same team thatonly lost by one score to my No. 4team on the road. But the Longhorns’ obvious problems on offense —and especially at quarterback—have led me to take them out of my poll. Not only did they struggle to score againstquality defenses in Florida and Ohio State, they also had some issues putting up points against

Offweeks forLSU,Tennessee, Ole Miss, Indiana and Missouri resulted in those teamsmoving up twospots in my poll. Someone has to slide forward when a couple of teams movedown, and that’swhat happened following the Texas and Penn State losses. Figuring out the bottom 10 spots was anightmare, given that they all have similar resumes. FSU and Virginia were the toughest teamstocrack. The Seminoles losing again this weekshouldn’thave resulted in them moving up in my poll, but their winover Alabamahas only looked stronger as the year has progressed. Their loss to Virginia also doesn’tseem too bad, given that it wasonthe road and that Virginia beat asolid Louisville team this week.

So ultimately,I liked Florida State’sbody of work over Cincinnati, ateam that suffered asimilar loss to Nebraska and doesn’t have awin that’snearly the quality of beating Alabama.

Virginia has ahuge winover Florida State and earned its way into the top 25 with another overtimevictory at Louisville this week. But Istill ﬁnd myself abit conﬂicted about the Cavaliers for tworeasons.

First, they were outplayed by the Cardinals despite winning the game. Louisville had nearly 150 more yards, won the time-ofpossession battle and had nine extra ﬁrst downs. Second, they also lost to NC State, ateam that fell to lowly Virginia Tech at home and got beaten swiftly by Duke For those reasons, Ihad Virginia behind USC, Cincinnati and Nebraska. Cincinnati and Nebraska hold strong wins without aloss as troubling as the NC State defeat. Nebraska beat Cincinnati in Week 0, while Cincinnati’svictories over Iowa State and Kansas earned the Bearcats aspot in the top 25. USC, meanwhile,ismissing one big win, but it only lost to Illinois by two on the road in amatchup thatbegan at 9a.m. Paciﬁc,and the Trojanshavelooked pretty dominant against their weaker foes Email Koki RileyatKoki.Riley@ theadvocate.com.

AP Top25, Miami has matched its highest ranking since being No. 1for most of the 2002 season. The Hurricanes went 4-0against in-state teams (beating South Florida, Bethune-Cookman, Florida andFlorida State)and arethe only team to beat three AP-ranked teams so farthis season. And Beck still sees room to grow. That might be the difference between this Miamiteam and others that hadpotentialoverthe past two decades.

“Walking intothe locker room andthe team not being happy after we win like that, that’swhat’s different,” defensive back Jakobe Thomas said. “These guys are dedicated. Ican’tpreach enough how much we work each andevery day

We’re in the building early in the morning,late at night, watching tape together as ateam.When I walked in andnobody wasreally excited after the win, Iknewthat we’ve got bigger goals.”

To be fair,yes, there were moments of Miamijubilation.

Cristobal looked intothe lenses of the national television cameras andpointed out that Miamihad won

the “state title.” Offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa grabbed apole with ahuge “U” flag on it and tried jammingitintothe turf near midfield at Doak Campbell Stadium. Michael Irvin, after spending the game in his customaryspotonthe Miami sideline, was cheering with fans long after the final whistle. Cristobal playedfor two of Miami’sfive national championship teams. He knowswhat the fans want:a sixthtitle.It’swhy he camebackhome when the Hurricanes askedhim to leaveOregon four years ago. But even after winning in Tallahassee, he wasquick to point out that if Miamiwants to be mentionedwiththe 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991 and 2001 teams, there’s still alot —awhole lot —ofwork lefttotackle. “Weare moving forward.We’re not going back. We’re not,” Cristobal said. “We’re taking the principlesand valuesofall those awesome teams, thephysicality of those teams, the playmaking ability,the togetherness, the brotherhood of those teams, and going forwardand pushingMiamifootball to modern day football.”

Koki Riley

ASSOCIATEDPRESS

PHOTOByMARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ

UCLA coach JerryNeuheisel is lifted by players after awin over Penn State on Saturday in Pasadena, Calif.

LIVING

in Amsterdam,Netherlands.

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.

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

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

“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 2C

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

What do Ineed to know about cataracts if my loved onehas dementia?

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 2C

RIGHT: Adioramashows Vincent vanGogh’sroom at the VanGogh Museum

AP PHOTOSByPETER DEJONG

Gordenker

Uncomplicatedappendicitismay notrequire surgery

Dear Doctors: Ihad apain on the right side of my abdomen. ACT scan found aperforated appendix with an abscess. Iwas treated with IV antibiotics, and now Iam feeling ﬁne. Do Ineed to havemy appendix taken out? My doctor says, in caseslike mine, people have problems again 30% of the time.

Dr.Elizabeth Ko Dr.Eve Glazier ASK THE DOCTORS

Surgery is theprimary treatment fora ruptured 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 sideofthe abdomen. It was previously thought to be avestigial organ with no purpose. Newer research suggests 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 restrictsblood ﬂow.Ablockage sets the stage for inﬂammation, infection and internal pressure that can cause theorgan to getasmall hole or rupture.

Arupturedappendix is amedical emergency.The large break in the appendix wall allows the buildup of infectious materials to spill into andcontaminate theabdominal cavity.This can quickly escalate to alife-threatening infection known as peritonitis.

When trying to ﬁnda

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

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 recovery sometimes choose this approach.

It sounds like you don’thave the

lost dog

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 was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. It analyzed health data from 1,552 adults in 25 United States medicalcenters 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

Continued from page1C

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

Continued from page1C

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

‘RAYMOND’

Continued from page1C

suicide in 2015 at age 19. “Raymond” earned 69 Emmy nominations and 15 wins —including twice taking home the award for out-

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

“because we’re missingkey ingredients”inthe absences of Boyle and Roberts, who diedin2006 and 2016,re-

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.

spectively: “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.”

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?”

to unfriend me. So is this etiquette now? Youhave to give feedback to everyone?

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?

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

It’snot aproblem to delete email surveys from companies. Butwhen it comes to personal feedback, somepeople are nastyabout it,threatening

Gentle reader: Not everyone. Your doctor’s practice has probably survived without your encouragement. And Miss Manners supposes that the people who enabled you to kill your cockroaches have courageously soldiered on, even though you have not declared that you enjoyed the experience and would recommenditto others. As you said, those pleas forpraise can be safely ignored. But you might say a kind wordtoyour 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 a loss. 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

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.

Sendquestions to Miss Manners at herwebsite, www.missmanners.com.

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, I notice thegirls 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 thingslike bedtime or chores. It worries me because they’re at such an important age, where structure and guidance really matter,and I’m afraid they’re not getting what they need.

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 a structure feels like.

Send questions to askharriette@ harriettecole.com or c/oAndrewsMcMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St.,Kansas City,MO 64106.

Ilove my nieces dearly, and Idon’twant to come across as judgmental, but it’shard to bite my tongue when I see behaviors that seem unhealthy or concerning. At the sametime, Iknow parenting is asensitive subject, and I don’twant to cause ariftinmyrelationship with my 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 with respect for my sister’srole as their parent? Should Ibring up what Isee or just stay quiet and let her parent the wayshe chooses, even if I don’tagree with it? —Poor Parenting

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.

FAMILY CIrCUS

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

TODAy'S CLUE: M EQUALS C

CeLebrItY CIpher

For better or For WorSe

And erneSt

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 fightfor 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. How should 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 draws two 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

wuzzles

adiamond in hishand. Then he takes his three club winnersending on the board. Now, withninetricks in,when declarer leadsdummy’slastdiamond,Easthasno defense. If he discards, South ruffs.IfEast trumpsin, Southpitches his last heart and must get one more spade trick. ©2025 by NEA,Inc dist.

By Andrews McMeel Syndication

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

Previous answers:

word game

InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of fourormore letters. 2. Words that acquire fourletters by the addition of “s,”such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3 Additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit wordsare not allowed toDAY’s WoRD WAYWARDLY: WAY-werd-lee: Unpredictably.

Average mark 10 words Time limit 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

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

hidato

mallard fillmore

"At McKinley Middle, Ican focus on my goals without giving up the creativity and fun that come with theater and thearts. Ilike that Ican work hard in class and still do what Ilove. The arts let me express myself andmake school feel less stressful—morelike aplace Iwant to be. That’s what makes McKinley special: you don’t have to fit into one box."

CHRISTEN

Mayfair Lab FifthGrade Academic Mayfair Fifth Grade Academic

“I love being astudent at Mayfair Lab because the teachers alwayshaveafun way to teach, which makes us want to learn more. Ilikewhen we do projects to show what we learned.Itmakes me feel special that I’m at this school.”

“I currently attend SpelmanCollege whereI will majorin Criminal Law.Mytime in Scotlandville High’s Governmental Affairs and Law program inspired me to upholdjustice to create sanctuarieswhere every citizen feels protected and heard.Mygoals are the blueprint for my aspirations, and upon those goals, Iwill build my future.”