The Advocate 10-11-2025 by The Advocate

Firings triggered by shutdown begin

White House seeks to pressure Democrats

BY SEUNG MIN KIM and STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press

WASHINGTON The White House budget office said Friday that mass firings of federal workers have started, an attempt by Presi-

dent Donald Trump’s administration to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown dragged into a 10th day

Russ Vought, the director of the Ofﬁce of Management and Budget, said on the social media site X that the “RIFs have begun,” referring to reduction-in-force plans aimed at reducing the size of the federal government

A spokesperson for the budget ofﬁce said the reductions are “substantial” but did not offer more details.

Employees at the departments of Education, Treasury, Homeland Security and Health and Human Services, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, were set to receive the notices, according to spokespeople for the agencies and union representatives for federal workers.

The aggressive move by Trump’s budget ofﬁce goes far beyond what usually happens in a government shutdown and escalates an already politically toxic dynamic between the White House and Congress. Talks to end the shutdown are almost nonexistent.

Typically, federal workers are furloughed but restored to their jobs once the shutdown ends, traditionally with back pay Some 750,000 employees are expected to be furloughed during the shutdown, ofﬁcials have said

ä See FIRINGS, page 4A

Federal food assistance continuing for now

BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer

WASHINGTON — The Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, will continue despite a government shutdown, ofﬁcials say — as long as the standoff doesn’t last into November The U.S. Department of Agriculture receives money for SNAP a month in advance, according to its shutdown plan. But most of the department’s staff was sent home, which will cause delays in processing applications and verifying beneﬁts. The shutdown left some programs, such as Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children — commonly known as WIC — about to run out of money

But the Trump administration announced it would divert tariff dollars to continue providing vouchers for about 7 million low-income women to buy infant formula and other food. The tariff money is not part of the appropriations imbroglio that caused the government closure.

Tariffs imposed or increased by President Donald Trump to stimulate U.S. manufacturing have collected about $190 billion so far

The shutdown occurred because Republicans and Democrats in Congress couldn’t agree on a new appropriations bill, so authority to spend money

ä See FOOD, page 4A

Complaint alleges BR mayor’s aide bullied employees

Metro Council members call for investigation

BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER Staff writer

East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council members are calling for an outside investigation into one of Mayor-Presi-

dent Sid Edwards’ top administrators after another high-ranking ofﬁcial accused her of bullying and intimidating employees. On Wednesday, Chief Service Officer Yolanda Burnette-Lankford ﬁled a

four-page complaint against Assistant Chief Administrative Ofﬁcer Monique Appeaning. The document, obtained by The Advocate, says Appeaning’s actions have “created a toxic, intimidating and emotionally distressing environment.” Burnette-Lankford wrote that Appeaning used a racial slur and slur against people with intellectual disabili-

ties. She said Appeaning’s behavior has “caused severe emotional distress,” and her “unchecked authority” is wielded “more like a maﬁa boss than a professional government worker.” She claims Appeaning repeatedly interfered with her duties, humiliated

Appeaning ä See COMPLAINT, page 5A

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ALLISON ROBBERT

shutdown entered its ninth day

BRIEFS

Doctor says Trump in ‘exceptional health’

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump is in “exceptional health,” his physician said Friday after he underwent a checkup that included lab tests and preventive health assessments at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

Trump spent roughly three hours at the Bethesda, Maryland, hospital earlier Friday for what his doctor, Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, called a “scheduled followup evaluation” that was a “part of his ongoing health maintenance plan.” While there, Trump also got his yearly ﬂu shot, as well as a COVID-19 booster vaccine.

“President Donald J. Trump remains in exceptional health, exhibiting strong cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological and physical performance,” Barbabella wrote in a one-page memo released Friday night by the White House. The doctor noted in the memo that the evaluation helped prepare for Trump’s upcoming overseas trips and included advanced imaging, lab testing and preventive health assessments.

The president is traveling to the Middle East this weekend and is scheduled to ﬂy to Asia at the end of this month. Barbabella also said he evaluated Trump’s cardiac age, which was about 14 years younger than his chronological age. Trump is 79 and was the oldest U.S. president at his inauguration.

Russian strikes wound at least 20 in Kyiv

KYIV, Ukraine Russian drone and missile strikes wounded at least 20 people in Kyiv damaged residential buildings and caused blackouts across swaths of Ukraine early Friday, authorities said. A child also was killed in separate attacks in the southeast of the country In the heart of the Ukrainian capital, rescue crews pulled more than 20 people out of a 17-story apartment building as flames engulfed the sixth and seventh floors. Five people were hospitalized, while others received first aid at the scene, authorities said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Moscow of lashing out against Ukrainian cities in response to frontline failures in the east. “They can show nothing on the battlefield. All they can do is attack our power sector and attack our cities,” Zelenskyy told reporters late Friday.

Residents in a central Kyiv district that suffered one of the attacks described scene of chaos during the overnight strike Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko also described the attack as “one of the largest concentrated strikes” against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Ukraine’s national energy operator, Ukrenergo, reported power outages in Kyiv and the wider region, as well as in the Sumy Kharkiv, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Cherkasy regions.

Pope urges journalists to be bulwark against lies

VATICAN CITY Pope Leo XIV encouraged international news agencies on Thursday to stand firm as a bulwark against the “ancient art of lying” and manipulation, as he strongly backed a free, independent and objective press. History’s first American pope called for imprisoned journalists to be released and said the work of journalists must never be considered a crime Rather, journalism is a right and a pillar upholding “the edifice of our societies” that must be protected and defended, he said.

“If today we know what is happening in Gaza, Ukraine and every other land bloodied by bombs, we largely owe it to them,” Leo said of journalists. “These extraordinary eyewitness accounts are the culmination of the daily efforts of countless people who work to ensure that information is not manipulated for ends that are contrary to truth and human dignity.” Leo’s comments came in a speech to executives of international news agencies belonging to MINDS International, a consortium of leading agencies including The Associated Press. In his ﬁve months as pope, he has spoken out strongly on the need to protect freedom of expression and the rights of journalists.

Ceasefire in Gaza goes into effect

Thousands of Palestinians return to what’s left of their homes

BY ABDEL KAREEM HANA, WAFAA SHURAFA and MELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press

WADI GAZA, Gaza Strip Tens of thousands of Palestinians headed back to the heavily destroyed northern Gaza Strip on Friday as a U.S.-brokered ceaseﬁre came into effect in a deal that raised hopes for ending the Israel-Hamas war All the remaining hostages were set to be released within days.

Questions remain over who will govern Gaza as Israeli troops gradually pull back and whether Hamas will disarm, as called for in U.S. President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who unilaterally ended a ceaseﬁre in March, hinted that Israel might renew its offensive if Hamas does not give up its weapons.

The latest truce nevertheless marks a key step toward ending a ruinous twoyear war that was triggered by Hamas’ 2023 attack on Israel. The fighting has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and displaced around 90% of the Gaza population of some 2 million, often multiple times. Many of them will ﬁnd ﬁelds of rubble where their homes once stood.

The military conﬁrmed the start of the ceaseﬁre Friday and the remaining 48 hostages, around 20 of them believed to be alive, are to be released by Monday Palestinians said heavy shelling in parts of Gaza earlier on Friday had mostly stopped after the military’s announcement.

Netanyahu said in a televised statement Friday that the next stages would see Hamas disarm and Gaza demilitarized.

“If this is achieved the easy way — so be it. If not — it will be achieved the hard way,” Netanyahu said.

The Israeli military has said it will continue to operate defensively from the

roughly 50% of Gaza it still controls after pulling back to agreed-upon lines.

Meanwhile, the United Nations was given the green light by Israel to begin delivering scaled-up aid into Gaza starting Sunday, a U.N. ofﬁcial said. The ofﬁcial spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet made public.

The aid shipments are meant to address severe malnutrition and famine conditions triggered by Israeli offensives and restrictions on humanitarian help. The International Criminal Court is seeking the arrest of Netanyahu and his former defense minister for allegedly using starvation as a method of war Israeli ofﬁcials deny the accusations.

The aid will include 170,000 metric tons that have already been positioned in neighboring countries such as Jordan and Egypt as humanitarian ofﬁcials awaited permission from Israeli forces to restart their work.

U.N. officials and Israeli authorities have engaged in a series of discussions in Jerusalem over the last 24 hours about the volume of aid humanitarian organizations can bring in and through which entry points.

U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters Friday that fuel, medical supplies and other critical materials have started flowing through the Kareem Shalom crossing. U.N. officials want Israel to open more border crossings and provide safe movement for aid workers and civilians who are returning to parts of Gaza that were under heavy fire until only recently

In the past several months, the U.N and its partners have been able to deliver only 20% of the aid needed in the Gaza Strip, according to U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher

A steady stream of people, the vast majority on foot, crammed onto a coastal road in the central Gaza Strip, heading north to see what might remain of their homes. It was a repeat of emotional scenes from an earlier ceaseﬁre in January Others headed to different parts of the Palestinian territory in the south.

19 missing, feared dead after Tenn. explosives plant blast

BY TRAVIS LOLLER Associated Press

McEWEN,Tenn.— A blast that leveled an explosives plant Friday in rural Tennessee left 19 people missing and feared dead, authorities said.

Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said the blast at Accurate Energetic Systems, which supplies the military was one of the worst scenes he’s ever seen. He said multiple people were killed but declined to say how many, referring to the 19 missing as “souls” because ofﬁcials were still speaking to family

“There’s nothing to describe. It’s gone,” Davis said of the building. The blast occurred about 7:45 a.m., Davis said, with aerial footage by WTVF-TV showing the smoldering hilltop facility and the burnt-out shells of vehicles.

People reported hearing and feeling the explosion from miles away The company’s website says it processes explosives and ammunition at an eight-building facility that sprawls across wooded hills in the Bucksnort area, about 60 miles southwest of Nashville

Davis said investigators are trying to determine what happened and couldn’t say what caused the explosion. Emergency crews were initially unable to enter the plant because of continuing detonations, Hickman County Advanced EMT David

WTVF-TV PHOTO

Trump threatens 100% China tariff

BY JOSH BOAK and DIDI TANG Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to place an additional 100% tax on Chinese imports starting on Nov 1 or sooner, potentially escalating tariff rates close to levels that in April fanned fears of a global recession.

The president expressed frustration with new export controls placed on rare earth elements by China — and said on social media that “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea.

Trump later told reporters he had not canceled his meeting. “But I don’t know that we’re going to have it,” he said during an Oval Ofﬁce appearance on another subject. “I’m going to be there regardless, so I would assume we might have it.”

Trump also suggested there may be time to ratchet down his steep new tariff threat. “We’re going to have to see what happens. That’s why I made it Nov 1,” he said.

On Thursday the Chinese government restricted access to rare earth minerals, requiring foreign companies to get special approval for shipping the metallic elements abroad. It also announced permitting requirements on exports of technologies used in the mining, smelting and recycling of rare earths, adding that any export requests for products used in military goods would be rejected.

On social media, Trump described the export controls as “shocking” and “out of the blue.” He said China is “becoming very hostile” and that it’s holding the world “captive” by restricting access to the metals and magnets used in electronics, computer chips, lasers, jet engines and other technologies.

Trump said in a post that “starting November 1st, 2025 (or sooner, depending on any further actions or changes taken by China), the United States of America will impose a Tariff of 100% on China, over and

above any Tariff that they are currently paying.” The president also said the U.S government would respond to China by putting its own export controls “on any and all critical software” from American ﬁrms.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment.

The S&P 500 tumbled 2.7% on worries about the rising tensions between the world’s largest economies. It was the market’s worst day since April when the president last bandied about import taxes this high. The stock market closed before the president spelled out the terms of his threat.

Not only could the global trade war instigated by Trump be rekindled, but import taxes being heaped on top of the 30% already being levied on Chinese goods could, by the administration’s past statements, cause trade to break down between the U.S. and China in ways that could cause growth worldwide to slump.

While Trump’s wording was deﬁnitive, he is also famously known for backing down from threats. Earlier this year, some investors began engaging in what the Financial Times called the “TACO” trade, which stands for “Trump Always Chickens Out.”

The prospect of tariffs this large could compound the president’s own political worries, potentially pushing up inflation at a moment when the job market appears fragile and the drags from a government shutdown are starting to compound with layoffs of federal workers. The United States and China have been jostling for advantage in trade talks, after the import taxes announced earlier this year triggered the trade war Both countries agreed to ratchet down tariffs after negotiations in Switzerland and the United Kingdom, yet tensions remain as China has continued to restrict America’s access to the difficult-to-mine rare earths needed for a wide array of U.S. technologies.

Stewart said by phone. By Friday afternoon, there was no further danger of explosions, and the scene was under control, according to Grey Collier, a spokesperson for the Humphreys County Emergency Management Agency

Accurate Energetic Systems based in nearby McEwen, did not immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment Friday morning.

Accurate Energetic Systems has been awarded numerous military contracts, largely by the U.S Army and Navy, to supply different types of munitions and explosives, according to public records. The products ranged from bulk explosives to land mines and small breaching charges, including C4.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ABDEL KAREEM HANA

A displaced Palestinian girl carries a bag on her head Friday as she walks along the coastal road near Wadi Gaza in the central Gaza Strip, heading toward Gaza City after Israel and Hamas agreed to a pause in their war and the release of the remaining hostages.

Venezuelan opposition leader wins NobelPeace Prize

BY KOSTYAMANENKOV, REGINA GARCIA CANO and GEIR MOULSON Associated Press

OSLO,Norway Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for her struggle to achieve ademocratic transition in the South American nation, winning recognition as awoman “who keeps the ﬂame of democracy burning amid agrowing darkness.”

The former opposition presidential candidate is a “key,unifying ﬁgure” in the once deeply divided opposition to President Nicolás Maduro’sgovernment, said Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel committee.

“In the past year,Ms. Machado has been forced to live in hiding,” Watne Frydnes said. “Despite serious threats against her life, she has remained in the country,achoice that has inspired millions. When authoritarians seize power,it is crucial to recognize courageous defenders offreedom who rise and resist.”

“This is something that the Venezuelan people deserve,” Machado said in acall with the Norwegian Nobel Institute. “I am just part of ahuge movement. I’m humbled, I’m grateful and I’m honored

not only by this recognition, but I’m honoredtobepart of what’sgoing on in Venezuela today.”

“I believe that weare very close to achieving, finally freedom forour country andpeace for the region,” she said, adding that “even though we face themost brutal violence, oursociety has resisted” andinsisted on strugglingbypeaceful means.“Ibelieve that the world will now understand how urgent it is to ﬁnally,you know, succeed ”

Maduro’s governmenthas routinely targetedits real or perceived opponents

Machado,who turned 58 this week, wasset torun against Maduro in last year’s presidentialelection,but the government disqualified her Edmundo González,who had neverrun for office before, took her place. The lead-up to theelectionsaw widespread repression, including disqualifications,arrests and humanrights violations

The crackdownondissent only increased afterthe country’s National Electoral Council, whichisstackedwith Maduro loyalists, declared him the winner despitecredible evidencetothe contrary

Theelectionresults announced by theElectoral Council sparked protests across thecountry to which thegovernmentresponded

Venezuelan oppositionleader María Corina Machado addresses supporters on Jan. 9ata protest against PresidentNicolás Maduro in Caracas,Venezuela, the day before his inaugurationfor athird term. Machado wonthe NobelPeace PrizeonFriday.

with force that endedwith morethan 20 people dead. They also prompted an end to diplomatic relationsbetween Venezuela andvarious foreign countries, including Argentina

Machado went intohiding and has not been seen in public since January.AVenezuelan court issued an arrest warrant for González over the publication of election results. Spain granted him asylum.

Morethan 800 peopleare in prisoninVenezuela for political reasons, including

González’s son-in-law, Rafael Tudares, according to the human rightsadvocacy group ForoPenal.

Dozensofthose prisoners participated in Machado’s efforts last year.Some of her closestcollaborators, including hercampaign manager, avoidedprison by sheltering for morethan ayear at a diplomatic compound in Caracas. They remained there until May,when they ﬂed to the U.S.

Early Friday in Caracas, some people heading to work expressed disbelief at the

news of Machado’swin.

“I don’tknow what can be done to improve the situation, but she deserves it,” said Sandra Martínez, 32, as shewaited at abus stop “She’sagreat woman.”

There was no immediate reaction from Maduro’sgovernment.

Venezuela’sambassador to the United Nations, SamuelMoncada,said he didn’t know the government’sreaction but that he believes Machadodoesn’tdeserve theprize. “She hasthe same credentials forthe Nobelof physics than for the peace Nobel,” he said. Support forMachadoand the oppositioningeneral has decreased since the July 2024 election —particularly since January,when Maduro was sworn in fora third sixyear term anddisappointment set in.

Machado was included in Time magazine’s listof 100 mostinfluential people in April. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote her entry, in whichhedescribed her as “the Venezuelan Iron Lady” and “the personiﬁcation of resilience, tenacity and patriotism.”

In August 2024, Rubio,then aU.S. senator, was among eight U.S. lawmakers who signeda letter to theNobel Committee supporting the nomination of Machadofor the prize.

Machado becomes the 20thwoman to win the NobelPeace Prize, of the 112 individuals whohave been honored. There had been persistent speculation ahead of theannouncementabout thepossibility of the prize going to U.S. President Donald Trump, fueledinpartbythe president himself and ampliﬁed by this week’sapproval of his plan for aceaseﬁre in the Gaza Strip. Askedabout lobbying for andbyTrump, Watne Frydnessaid: “Wereceive thousands and thousands of letters every yearofpeople wanting to say what for them leads to peace.

“This committee sits in a room ﬁlled with the portraits of alllaureates,and that room is ﬁlled with both courage and integrity.Sowebase only ourdecisiononthe work andthe will of Alfred Nobel.” WhiteHouse spokesperson Steven Cheung said in apost on Xthat “President Trump will continue making peace deals around the world, ending wars, andsaving lives.” He added that “the Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace.”

Trump congratulated Machado in aphone call, her campaign manager Magalli Meda conﬁrmed to The Associated Press.

BY ADRIAN SAINZ and CHRISTINE FERNANDO Associated Press

MEMPHIS,Tenn.— National Guard troops patrolled in Tennessee’ssecond-largest city for the ﬁrst time Friday while soldiers in Illinois were engaged only in planningand training after ajudge handed aloss to the Trump administration and blocked their deployment tothe Chicago area. At least nine armed Guard membersbegan theirpatrol at the Bass Pro Shops located at the Pyramid, an iconic Memphis landmark, about amile from historic Beale Street and FedEx Forum, where the NBA’s Grizzlies play

They also were at anearby tourist welcome center along the Mississippi River.Wearing Guard fatigues and protective vests labeled “military police,” the troops were escorted by alocal police ofﬁcer and posed for photos with visitors. Meanwhile, in Illinois, DemocraticU.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth said they were barred from visiting an immigration

enforcement building near Chicago. For weeks it’sbeen home to occasional clashes between protesters and federal agents.

“What are you afraid of?” Duckworth told reporters, referringtothe government “You don’thide,you don’trun away when you’re proud of whatyou’redoing.”

In Memphis, Mayor Paul Young,a Democrat, said he never requested that the Guard come to his city. But after President Donald Trump made the Sept. 15 announcement and Republican Gov.Bill Lee agreed, Young and others said they wanted thetask force to focus on targeting violent offenders rather than use their presence to scare, harass or intimidate the general public.

Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis said she hoped Guard personnel would help direct trafﬁcand have apresence in “retail corridors,” but not be used to operate checkpoints or anything similar. It was unclear how many Guard members wereon the ground Friday or were expected to arrive later. Lee previously said troops would notmake arrests andwould

not be armed unless local law enforcementofficials request it

For years, Memphis, whose population exceeds 600,000, has dealtwith highviolent crime, includingassaults, carjackings and homicides While this year’s statistics show improvement in several categories,including murders,manyacknowledgethat violence remains aproblem.

Federal officials sayhundreds of arrests and more than2,800 trafficcitations have been made sinceafederal task force began operating in Memphis on Sept. 29. Arrest categories include active warrants, drugs, ﬁrearms andsex offenses, according to theU.S. Marshals Service. Four arrests have been made on homicide charges, the Marshals Service said.

Some residents said the Guardisnot what Memphis needs.

“Totally useless, worthless, notcalledfor because the money that they’re gonna spend on that —ifthey would give it to us to let us do improvementsinour city,” said Loretta Davis, who emphasizedthat young people need moreoptions.

Pentagon planstobuild training facility forQataripilotsinIdaho

Butthe news drew asharp

WASHINGTON The U.S. military is moving forwardwith plans to build adedicated facility in Idaho to train pilots from Qatar,animportant U.S. ally in the Middle East, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday Hegseth, who made the announcement during avisit by Qatar’sdefense minister said the facility to be built

at the Mountain Home Air Force Base would“host a contingent of QatariF-15s andpilots to enhanceour combined training,increase the lethality,interoperability.”

The arrangement is not unusual.Pentagon ofﬁcials noted that similar facilities have been setupfor other allies fordecades, andthe Idaho base already hosts a ﬁghter squadron from Singapore.

rebuke from close Trump ally and right-wing inﬂuencer LauraLoomer,who called theplan “an abomination” and accusedthe Qatarisof being associated with Islamic terror organizations. “Noforeign country should have amilitary base on US soil. Especially Islamic countries,” Loomer wrote in one of several social media postsjust hours after Hegseth’sannouncement

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By ARIANA CUBILLOS

Some leading Republicans were highly criticalofthe administration’sactions

“I strongly oppose OMB Director Russ Vought’sattempt to permanently lay off federal workers who have been furloughed due to acompletely unnecessary government shutdown,” said Maine Sen. Susan Collins, the chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, whoblamed the federal closure on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer,D-N.Y

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski called the announcement “poorlytimed” and “yet another example of this administration’spunitive actions toward the federal workforce.” Sheurged affected Alaskans to reach out to her ofﬁce.

For his part, Schumer said the blame for the layoffs rested with Trump.

“Let’sbeblunt: nobody’s forcing Trump and Vought to do this,” Schumer said “They don’thave to do it; they wantto. They’re callously choosing to hurt people —the workers who protect our country,inspect our food, respond when disasters strike. This is deliberate chaos.”

The White House had previewed its tactics shortly before the government shutdown began on Oct. 1, telling all federal agencies to submit their reduction-in-force plans to the budget ofﬁce for its review It said reduction-in-force plans could applytofederal programs whosefunding would lapse in agovernment shutdown, are otherwise not funded and are “not consistent with the President’spriorities.”

On Friday,the Education Department was among the agencies hit by new layoffs, adepartment spokesperson said.

Alabor union for the agency’sworkers said the administration is laying off almost all employees below the directorlevel at the Ofﬁce of Elementary and Secondary Education, while fewer than 10 employees were being terminated at the agency’s Office of Communications and Outreach.

Notices of firings have also taken place at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which leads federal efforts

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expired Oct. 1.

But, since it is the beginning of anew fiscal year, some policies automatically began. So the shutdown coincided with changes in how federal food assistance programs areadministered

One was the annual cost-ofliving update that increased food stamp beneﬁts. Afamily of four now will receive up to $994 per month —a $19increase from last ﬁscal year’s

to reduce risk to the nation’s cyber andphysical infrastructure,according to the DepartmentofHomeland Security,where CISA is housed.The agencyhas been afrequent Trump target over its work to counter misinformation about the 2020 presidentialelection and the COVID-19 pandemic, and DHS said thelayoffs were “part of getting CISA backonmission.”

Federal health workers were also being ﬁred, though aDepartment of Healthand

maximum beneﬁt. An averageof847,100 people received SNAP beneﬁts monthly in Louisiana, or about 18%ofthe state’s population, according to the department’s 2024 numbers Nationwide, themonthly average is about 42 million people,orabout 12% of the nation’spopulation TheDepartment of Agriculture has also reminded states to get their procedures in order by Nov.1 for newwork requirements mandatedinthe OneBig Beautiful Bill Act,whichbecamelaw on July 4.

HumanServices spokesman didnot say howmany or whichagencies werebeing hit hardest. Aspokesperson forthe EPA, whichalsohas unspeciﬁed number of layoffs, blamed the Democrats for the ﬁrings andsaidthey can vote to reopen the government anytime.

An official for the American Federation of Government Employees, whichrepresentsfederal workers and is suing the Trumpadministration over thefirings,said in alegal filing Fridaythat

Thenew rules raise the upper age limit for the requirement thatable-bodied adults without dependents work at least 20 hours per week or participate in a workprogram. It now applies to people aged 59 to 65 years.

If they don’t, then they will lose their food stamps after three months.There are exceptions, and states can apply for waivers in areas with high unemployment

Email Mark Ballard at mballard@theadvocate. com.

theTreasury Department is set to issuelayoff notices to 1,300 employees. TheAFGE asked afederal judge to halt theﬁrings,

calling the action an abuse of power designed to punish workers andpressure Congress.

“Itisdisgracefulthat theTrump administration hasusedthe government shutdown as an excuse to illegally fire thousands of workers who provide critical services to communities across the country,” AFGE President Everett Kelley said in astatement.

Democrats have tried to callthe administration’s bluff, arguing the firings could be illegal, and had seemed bolsteredbythe fact that the White House had not immediately pursued the layoffs once the shutdownbegan.

But Trump signaledearlierthis weekthatjob cuts could be coming in “four or ﬁve days.”

“Ifthiskeeps goingon, it’ll be substantial, and alot of those jobs will never come back,” he saidTuesday in the Oval Office as he met with Canada’sprime minis-

ter,Mark Carney Meanwhile, the halls of the Capitolwerequiet Friday, the 10th day of the shutdown, with both the House and the Senate out of Washington and both sides digging in for aprotracted shutdownfight. SenateRepublicans have tried repeatedly to cajole Democratic holdouts to vote for astopgap bill to reopen the government, but Democrats have refused as they hold out for afirm commitment to extendhealth care benefits.

SomeRepublicans on Capitol Hill have suggested that Vought’sthreats of masslayoffs have been unhelpful to bipartisan talks on the funding standoff. And the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Patty Murray, of Washington,saidin astatement that the “shutdown does notgive Trump or Vought new, special powers” to lay off workers.

“This is nothing new, and no one should be intimidatedbythese crooks,” she added.

Still, there was no sign that the top Democratic and Republican Senate leaders were even talking about a way to solve the impasse. Instead, Senate Majority Leader John Thune continuedtotry to peel away centrist Democrats whomay be willing to cross party lines as the shutdownpain drags on.

“It’stime for them to get abackbone,” Thune, R-S.D., said during anews conference.

The Partnership for Public Service, anonpartisan organization that tracks federal service, says morethan 200,000 civil servants have left since the start of this administrationinJanuary due to earlier ﬁrings, retirements and deferred resignation offers.

“These unnecessary and misguidedreductionsin force will further hollow out our federal government, rob it of critical expertise and hobble its capacity to effectivelyserve thepublic,” said the organization’s president and CEO, Max Stier

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS By J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, left, and Speaker of the House MikeJohnson, R-Benton, talk to reporters on Fridayasthe governmentshutdownbegins its 10thday

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.y.,speaks to reporters Friday.

Hurricaneseasonseesrapid intensificationtrend

BY KASEY BUBNASH Staff writer

The 2025 Atlantic hurricaneseason has been blissfully uneventful so far,atleast for us here in south Louisiana. With just two months left in the season, ahurricane has yetto form in the Gulf. Only one of this year’s 10 named storms, Tropical Storm Chantal, has hit the U.S.And earlier this fall, as the Atlantic entered what is historicallyits peak for tropical activity,the ocean was entirely void of named storms. But the few storms that have reached hurricane strength have experienced an explosive kind of growth,withthe ﬁrst three hurricanes of the year bursting to Category 4strength or higher after undergoing rapid intensiﬁcation

The last time an Atlantic season’s ﬁrst three hurricanes were major storms of Category 3strength or more was 90 yearsago in 1935, according to Phil Klotzbach,a hurricane researcher at Colorado State University

The unusual phenomenon is indicative of alarger trend this

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herinfront of city-parish leaders —including the mayor —and “verbally attacked” her on multiple occasions. In one instance, BurnetteLankford said she arrived at her office to find movers relocating herbelongings without notice, allegedly under Appeaning’sorders.

Since Appeaning oversees the human resources department, Burnette-Lankford requested an external investigation and said she has ﬁled agrievance withthe federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to “ensure afair investigation and full protection under current policies.”

Appeaning did not respond to multiple requestsfor comment Edwards’ ofﬁce said Thursday

season of “low quantity,high quality” storms, Klotzbach said. While many of the markers hurricane researchers use to quantify aseason’sseverity are nearing historical norms, he said, “the way we got to them was very strange.”

Rapid intensiﬁcation is deﬁned by the National Oceanic andAtmosphericAdministration as a35 mph increaseinmaximum wind speeds in less than 24 hours. Hurricanes Erin,Gabrielle andHumberto all reached thatthreshold andthen some.

Erin becamethe year’s ﬁrst hurricane on Aug. 15, and, by thenext morning, it hadreached Category 5strength.Its maximum sustained winds had more than doubledto 160 mph

Alittle more than amonth later, HurricaneGabrielle formed on Sept.21after struggling fordays outatsea. Despite that, Gabrielle reached Category 4strength by theend ofthe followingday

Humbertofollowedclosely behind, reaching hurricane strength by Sept. 26and intensifying into amajor Category 5stormwith windsofroughly 160 mph thenext day

Klotzbachsaidinhospitable environmental conditions in thetropics are surprisingly at least partially

that it “cannot discuss ongoing investigations or personnel matters.”

As deputy chief administrative officer, Appeaning oversees several city departmentsand is the administrator for much of thecity-parish’sfinancialoperations. As chief serviceofficer Burnette-Lankford works with theOffice of Community Development, whichoversees affordable housing and other grants, andoversees workforce development initiatives.

Before her roleonEdwards’ team, Burnette-Lankford served as theprincipal atIstrouma High School when Edwards coached the school’sfootball team.

Burnette-Lankford did notrespond to requests for comment.

Appeaning ran forthe Louisiana House of Representatives in District 66 as aRepublican in 2023.

to blamefor this year’sexplosions in hurricane intensity

Apatternof“sinking motion,” whichisassociated with dry air andother hurricane-killingconditions, over Africa hasmadeitdifﬁcult for systems moving off the coast to develop, Klotzbach said. Those waves are often theseeds of hurricanes to come.

Butthe systems that have been able to survive the tropics have eruptedoncethey’ve made it far enough north to getinto amore hurricane-friendly environment, Klotzbach said.

And the path north is onethat a vast majority of this year’snamed stormshave followed, starting off east of theCaribbean andthen curving up and away from the U.S. Hurricane forecasters and researchers widely predicted that theAtlantic’s2025 season would see slightly above-average tropical activity,with NOAA projecting 13 to 19 namedstorms, including six to 10 hurricanes andthree to five of Category 3strength or more. After aslow start, NOAA tweakedits forecast in August, reducing its projectionsto13to 18 namedstorms, five to nine hurricanesand twotofive major hurricanes.

She ﬁnished last in therace’sprimary for the seat that is nowheld by Republican Emily Chenevert In one case, thecomplaint accusesAppeaning of using theterm “Sambo Retard”about anotheremployee.

Appeaning and Burnette-Lankford are bothBlack women.

MetroCouncil member Carolyn Coleman, aDemocrat,said“any allegation worthreporting is deﬁnitely oneworth investigating” andcalledthe useofthe racial sluralleged in thecomplaint“extremely offensive.”

“I don’tthink the mayor would want that kind of atmosphere in hisoffice,” Coleman said. “This is just straight bullying and rudeness.You’re supposed to be aprofessional.”

Mayor Pro Tempore Brandon Noel,aRepublican,called thealleged comments and behavior “ap-

Based on 30 years of data collected between 1991 to 2020, an average Atlantic hurricane season has14named storms, seven hurricanes, and three major hurricanes, according to NOAA. The ﬁrst named storm typically forms in mid-tolate June, the ﬁrst hurricane tends to form in early to mid-August, and the first major hurricaneforms in late August or early September

Based on those stats, we’re on track to have afairly normal year This season’saccumulated cyclone energy, or ACE, was also in line with thehistorical average for this timeofyear as of Wednesday NOAA rankshurricane seasons based on their ACE score, which takes into consideration the durationand intensity of each named storm toform in aseason.

Ahurricane season’soverall ACE index is calculated by adding each storm’s individual score together Anear-normal season would end on Nov.30with an ACE score of 73 to 126, according to NOAA’s deﬁnition. Aseason withanACE of 159.6 or higher is considered extremely active.

As of Wednesday,the 2025 seasonhad accumulated ascore of 93.2, just belowthe 30-year average of 102.4, according to data

palling and disgusting.”

“I believe an investigation is not only warranted, but Ihope already underway,” Noelsaid. “I am conﬁdent Mayor-President Edwards will take this seriously and, if true, take swift action.Wemust have zero tolerance for this type of behavior or for employees that are not aligned with moving our cityparish forward.”

Council member Jen Racca, a Republican, also calledfor an investigation

“City-parish employees are entitledtoarespectful and professionalwork environment,” Racca said. “Anyoneclaiming to be completely shocked is either dishonest or entirely out of touch.”

Appeaning andMetro Council members have frequently clashed.

At an Aug. 13 meeting, several council members accused her of advancing initiativesfor avote

collected by Colorado State University

But Klotzbach said other features of this season have been unusual.

Alull in the tropics at whatis usually the height of tropical activity,arepeat of asimilarly quiet peak last season, caught the attentionofresearchers aroundthe globe.

“Two years is not anew normal,” Klotzbach said, “butit’ssomething we’re certainly going to be looking at.”

Thenthere’s thenear-total lack of tropical development in the Caribbean andGulf, despite unusually warm waters that usually help to fuel hurricane growth. That, though odd, hashelped to keep impactsonpeople, property andlandtoaminimum this season, Klotzbach said.

Butthe season isn’tover,he warned, and without stormstostir up the water,Klotzbach said the Caribbean is hot, with sea-surface temperatures nearing 90 degrees in someareas.

“So if something weretoform in the Caribbean, there’salot of fuel to work with,” Klotzbach said. Email KaseyBubnashatkasey bubnash@theadvocate.com.

without giving them afair chance to discuss the itemswith the Mayor’sOfﬁce beforehand.

“Thisisa pattern,” Democratic council memberTwahna Harris said to Appeaning at the meeting. “It’salways last-minute. Always. And it’sastrategy.”

Council member Aaron Moak, aRepublican,saidheis“utterly disgusted at someofthese accusations.”

“Nobody in city-parish government or anywhere else should have to deal with anyofthis,”he said. “I am completely appalled that acity-parish employee would be treated this way.”

He added: “These allegations must be investigated andfound out if they are true.”

Email Patrick Sloan-Turner at patrick.sloan-turner@ theadvocate.com.

Though it’ll be cool to startwithlowsinthe upper50s to low60s, sunnyskies will send temperatures rising intothe mid-80s by afternoon.Theweather doesn’t getmuch betterthan that ahead of LSU’smatchup against South Carolina at Death Valley. Sunday will bring more of the same,but acalmmorning wind could mean afew more neighborhoods waking up in the 50s.Temperatures

BY LISA MASCARO AP congressional correspondent

WASHINGTON Mike Johnson is the speaker of aHouse that is no longerinsession

The Republican leadersentlawmakers home three weeks ago afterthe House approved abill to fund the federal government They haven’tbeen back in working session since. And on Friday,his leadership team announcedtheywon’t be returningnextweek either In the intervening time, the government has shut down.President DonaldTrump began amass ﬁring of federal workers. And a Democrat, Adelita Grijalva, won aspecial election in Arizona buthas not been sworn into ofﬁce to take her seat in Congress.

“People are upset. I’m upset. I’m avery patient man, but Iamangry right now,” Johnson said during one of his almost daily news conferences on the empty side of the Capitol.

“I’m doing our job. We passed thebill,” he saidFriday,asheleft the building. “It’s on the Senate. They’re the ones playing games. All the questions need to be forthem.”

The House’sabsence is creating arisky political dilemma for Johnson. It’stesting his leadership, his grip on the gavel and the legacy he will leave as speaker of aHouse that is essentially writing itself off the page at acrucial moment in the national debate There arefew easy choices on the schedule ahead. If the speakercalls lawmakers back to Washington,heopens thedoors to apotentially chaotic atmosphere of anger, uncertainty and his own GOP defections and divisions as theshutdown drags on. But by keeping the representativesaway going on afourth week, lawmakers risk being criticized for being absent during acrisis —“on vacation,” as House DemocraticLeader Hakeem Jeffries puts it —asthe military goes without pay and government services shut down.

Johnson’sinitial strategy to avoid the government shutdown was awell-worn one— have the House pass its bill, leave townright before the deadline and force the Senate to accept it. Jamming the otherchamber,asit’s often called. And it often works But this time, it’sastrategy that is failing. GOPsenators have been unable to heave theHouse bill to passage, blocked by most of the Democrats, who are refusing to reopen the government as they demand health care funds for insurance subsidies that will expire at year’send if Congress fails to act.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D., has been trying, repeatedly,topeel off more Democratic support. But after having called avote morethan

ahalf-dozen times to pass the House’sbill out of theSenate, not enough Democrats have signed on. Senate Democratic Leader ChuckSchumer is holding out for adealon the health care issue.

Stalemated, quiettalks are underway,as small groups of lawmakers are privately trying to negotiate off-ramps.

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, has proposed keeping the health care subsidies in place for thenext two yearswhile instituting changes to the program. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., has asimilar proposal, and GOPSen. Susan Collins of Maine has shared with leadership her own six-point plan.

“We’re making progress,” said Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., whoisclose to the Republican president. “I think we’re kind of startingtoget to aplace.”

Not since then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi,a Democrat,sent lawmakershome at the start of thecoronavirus pandemic in 2020 has the House been withoutits lawmakersfor such an extended period of timeoutside of an August recess —but even then, leadersquickly stood up anew system of proxy voting as legislative business continued.

In theCapitol’sempty halls, afew lawmakerslinger. They have been ﬁlming socialmedia posts as theynarratethe inaction. They have created viral moments,including GOP Rep. Mike Lawler’s confrontation with Jeffries. Some are simply giving tours to visiting constituents.

GOP Rep.Marjorie Taylor Greene, of Georgia, has been among the most outspoken critics of her party’sstance, saying Congress needs to address thehealth caresubsidies. And Grijalva is just trying to go to work.

The representative-elect won thespecial electiontoreplace her father,veteran Rep. Raul Grijalva, who died earlier this year after his own career in Congress. Her arrival would shrink Johnson’salready slim majoritytopaper thin, and she hassaid shewouldsign onto thelegislation demanding the release of the ﬁles pertaining to the sex trafﬁcking investigation intoJeffreyEpstein,providing thelastsignature needed to force avote.

SUNAND MOON

BREC rejectsrecreationmasterplandeal

Commission to fund lakesstudy

BY CHRISTOPHERCARTWRIGHT Staff writer

Duringameeting filledwith confusion, the agency in chargeof East Baton Rouge parks rejected giving acivic group foundation

control over creating amaster planfor the University Lakes area, decidinginstead to pay morethan $600,000 to makethe plan itself. Thegoal of the plan is to make the area adestination for recreation,but many attendees feared aplan created by an outside group would try to remove the City Park Golf Course or change the historic nature of City-Brooks Community Park.

Multiple drafts of aproposed cooperativeendeavor agreement had been sent to BRECcommissioners, resulting in members referencingdifferent documents andgeneral confusionoverwhich agreement was the subject of the voteonThursday Eventually —after more than an hour of discussion —Commissioner Carl Stages motioned for BREC to solely fund amaster plan run by

the ﬁrm Sasaki. The rejected proposal would have had Sasaki conductthe study with the direction andfunding of the Civic CollaborativeFoundation, led by Chris Meyer,the Baton Rouge Area Foundation president andCEO.

According to the meeting agenda,the Sasaki proposal will cost $631,000. Under the rejected proposal, BREC would have paid a maximum fee of $300,000, with the Civic Collaborative Foundation covering the rest. Stages’ motion passed 7-4, with commissioners Michael Polito, Central Mayor Wade Evans, Lon Vicknair and St. George Mayor Dustin Yates voting no. Vicknair is the chief of staff for Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sid Edwards. Afterthe meeting,Stagessaid

CHEAP, CHEAP ANDCHEERFUL

ABOVE: Taking astudy break, LSU sophomore Xavier Orellana holds ababy chicken in frontof theLSU Dairy Store on Friday BELOWRIGHT: Baby chickens gather around bird feed duringthe store’spetting zoo event. BELOWLEFT: LSU students gather outside the LSU Dairy Storetohold baby chickens. STAFF PHOTOSByMICHAEL JOHNSON

Studentplayabout ending gunviolencecanceled

Ascensiontovoteon councilmember; millage renewalinLivingston

BY ELLYN COUVILLION Staff writer

On election day Saturday,East Baton Rouge voters will choose anew judge forboth acity court and state court and vote up or down on threefunding propositions. The polls open at 7a.m. and close at 8p.m. The judgeships cameopen this year after two job changes. In CityCourt, two Republicans Brenden Craig and Calli Boudreaux —are running to ﬁllthe vacancy left when Judge Carson Marcantel wentto the 19th Judicial District Court. In the19th JudicialDistrict Court, astate court thatserves East Baton Rouge Parish, four Democrats are seeking the seat left empty in March after Judge Wilson Fields moved to the state’s1st Circuit Court of Appeal. The candidates areDeleAdebamiji, Elzie Alford Jr., Vicky Jones and Vernon Thomas. Runoffs in the races,ifneeded,will be held Nov. 15.

In additiontothe court races, three propositions are on the ballot: n TheDowntownDevelopment District is seeking the renewal of a10-mill property tax that would generate about

BY TIMOTHY BOONE Staff writer

Plansare in theworks to build a105room Hampton Inn &Suites between Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center and Our Ladyofthe LakeChildren’sHospital. Apermit was issued Thursday for the $10.4 millionhotel, which would be built on avacant lot at 7931 Summa Ave. Vince Patel, chief strategy officer for Athena Hospitality Group, aKentuckybased hotel managementand developmentfirm that is handling the project, said the goal is to open the hotel in the first quarter of 2027. Rooms in theHamptonInn &Suites will have arate between $125 and $145 anight. About 20 to 25 people will work at the property,Patel said. The Hampton Inn will be

Judge: NOPD consentdecreecan end

Decision stems from changes in Justice Department

BY JOHN SIMERMAN Staff writer

The federal judge who has overseen reforms to the New Orleans PoliceDepartment for more than 12 years under aconsent decree said Thursday that she would agree to end the agreement at the request of the city and the Trump administration.

Thebrieforder from U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan does notimmediatelyterminate the sprawling police consent decree, which has governed nearly every aspect of the NOPD since former MayorMitch Landrieu agreed to it in 2012 aftera scathing review by the U.S. Justice Department.

Morgan denieda motion in January to end the agreement outright. An appeal from Mayor LaToya Cantrell’sadministration is pending before the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

That means the case is outofMorgan’shands. But herorder on Thursday,in responsetoa government request, projects an early end to the two-year “sustainment”period that she ap-

provedinJanuary as an exit ramp for the NOPD. Her decision stems from changeatthe Department of Justice, which under the Trumpadministrationhas undone several policereform deals nationally.DOJ lawyers saythe government no longer opposestermination of the NOPD consentdecree, agreeing with Cantrell that a transformed police force has reached full compliance.

Now that theparties agree to end it, government lawyers last month asked Morgantoindicate howshe would rule onamotion to terminate the agreement. Morgan, whowas nominated to thefederal bench by former PresidentBarack Obama, rejected the city’s argument in January, instead approving the sustainment plan, which requires the department to complete alist of remaining tasks.

She wrote Thursday that shewould grantamotion to end the consent decree from thecityand DOJifthe appeals court returns the case to her.The cityissued a statement Thursday saying it wouldfollow through on Morgan’s order “The city will be in discussion withDOJ regarding coordinating the filing of the joint motion to dismiss,” it read. “Welook forward to the official terminationof the consent decree. We are

proud of the accomplishments of the entire NOPD.”

Morganendorsedthe consentdecree in early 2013, settling apotential civil rights lawsuit by the government in what was then themost wide-ranging police reform pact in the U.S. It demanded reforms on an array of issues, from use-offorce investigations to bias in policing, an off-duty police detail system the DOJfound tobean“aortaofcorruption,” sexualassault investigations, ofﬁcer supervision andother areas where investigators found constitutional lapses.

Thedeal required thecity to pay for courtmonitors to track progress on the 492-point agreement through aslew of reports to Morgan, among other costs that were initially pegged at about$11 milliona year

The department lurched toward compliance, ﬁrst under former NOPD Superintendent RonalSerpas. Morgan credited former Superintendent Michael Harrison for embracing reform and making stridestowardcompliance.

By late 2019, nearly seven yearslater,Morgan announced atimeline that placed theNOPDinto aperiod of stepped-downmonitoringwithin months. Morgan then pointed tothree categories left to reach full compliance:bias-freepolic-

ing, constitutionalstops and searches of suspects, and close supervision of ofﬁcers.

But Morgan pumped the brakes as the pandemic struck andofficersbegan fleeing the department in droves amid anational reckoning over racism in policing.

Cantrell railed publicly at the judge,and in August 2022 the city ﬁledtoterminate the consent decree, claiming Morganhad moved thegoalposts. The mayor beganchallenging Morgan’sauthority, appealing an order calling city ofﬁcialsintocourt.

Morganannounced herdecision in January to place the departmentinsustainment in aceremonialroom inside the federal courthouse in New Orleans, after acourt hearing in which police and Justice Department ofﬁcials describeda department reformed andtransformed.

Even so, Morgansaid then that thesustainment plan was needed to address issues that remained outofcompliance with thereforms.

Critics have focused on what they viewasunﬁnished business: an ongoing racial disparity in NOPD uses of force; aweak Police CommunityAdvisory Board program, which an addendum to the sustainment planaims to address; and persistent struggles in thedepartment’s handling of sex crimes.

Manindictedin stabbing of St.Gabriel police officer

Staff report

An Iberville grand jury has indictedaman on acharge of second-degree murder in the stabbing death of St. Gabriel police Capt. Devin Boutte, according to 18th Judicial District Attorney Tony Clayton.

BREC

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the master plan would include the lakes district region, including City-Brooks Community Park and Milford Wampold Memorial Park. In astatement, Meyer said BRAF had been asked by BREC, city-parish leadership, LSU and others to organize astudy to link the planning of City-Brooks Park and the University Lakes.

“The proposed agreement shared with BREC leadership outlined the intent to explore best practices for efﬁciency,investment, and long-term stability for these park areas and recommend apath forward,” he wrote.

“The recommendation would have then beenprovided to BREC commissioners for adoption or rejection, and we were clear that at no point would this planningprocess result in the removal of BREC’s oversight, ownership, or decision-making rights and responsibilities.”

Meyer added thatBRAF was “surprised and disappointed” by the ultimate vote at theThursdaymeeting but added that he was glad commissioners still decided to move forward with the study

“It is our sincere hope that they,inpartnership with Sasaki and affiliated subcontractors, will give due credence to success-

Boutte was found stabbed to death in July at his home in St. Gabriel. Iberville Parish Sheriff Brett Stassi said Boutte was in an“on and off domesticrelationship” with theindicted man, Warren Mitchell III Boutte served with the St Gabriel Police Department for 12 years.

ful models implemented in other communitiesasthey explore thebestpath forward for our city,” hesaid.

Agreements confusion

Commissionersdiscussed multiple cooperative endeavor agreements, resultingincommunication breakdowns andconfusion amongthe governing body

Oneagreement had been sent to BREC by Meyeron Oct. 3, nearly aweek before the vote. Asecondagreement was aversionedited by BRECAssistant Superintendent Reed Richard this week, attorney Murphy Foster told the commissioners in response to questions.

“I can tell you from alegal standpoint,they’revery different,” hesaid Both versions gave the Civic Collaborative Foundation thepower to manage the creation of along-term governance model, referred to as aconservancy model,for the University Lakesarea. Foster said that thefirst document would also allow the foundation to manage thecreation of a master plan for City-Brooks Park, while theedited version would transfer management of suchaplan to BREC.

The agenda document sent by Meyer referenced a“conservancy model” in multiple locations. When Polito introduced amotion to removethe words “conservancy model,” it became clear thathehad a third version of the agreement. Hiscopy referenced

TendaysbeforeBoutte’s death,the sheriff hadcalled for him to be investigated by the LouisianaAttorney General’sOfﬁce on allegationsof corruption.

Detectives found crystal meth and other drugs inside hishome, Stassi told WAFB

the conservancy model only on theﬁrst page, while the agenda copy had seven references.

The communication breakdown led Evans to express frustration over the multiple documents.

“Wejustspent an hour, andwegot nowhere,”he said.“Andmytimeisvaluable;everybody up here’s time is valuable;people who are sitting out here’stime is valuable.”

Several Baton Rouge residents, including Patrick O’Quinn, also criticized the lack of communication.

“They’re sitting here,editing acopy of an agenda thatthey hadn’tread, although they hadseen other copies,” he said. “And then simplyvoted on it,without actually having it, the ﬁnal draft,intheir hands.”

Concerns aboutoversight

Several commissioners, including Yates, expressed supportfor workingwith outside foundations on imagining the park’sfuture.

“I am committed …to seeing if this is all going to work. Fully committed to it, because Ibelieve in it and Ibelieve in the people that work at BREC. Ibelieve that thereisa pathway forward,” he said. “But the only way that we’re going to get there is think alittle bit differently anddothings a little bit differently moving forward.”

After alengthy discussion, Polito motioned to pass theﬁrstagreementsentby

after Boutte was found. He toldthe TV station that Mitchell informed investigators thatBoutte supplied him withdrugs to sell and for hispersonal use. Mitchell is scheduledfor arraignment in Iberville Parish on Nov.19, Claytonsaid in arelease Friday

Meyerwhile removing all the language about aconservancy model andadding language allowing for communityinput directed by BREC. Evans seconded it.

After their introduction Stagesintroduced his substitute motionfor BREC to payfor the master plan itself, which received the ﬁnal vote andwas accepted Whileany master plan isn’tbinding, many residents feared that outside groups would trytoshape it to theirvision without BRECcontrolling the process.

Baton Rouge resident Larry Jonassaidmuchofthe opposition stemmed from what he saw as alack of transparencyand engagementwith thecommunity “The lack of support from the audience …isthe way this whole thingwas introduced and handled without really bringing it forthto the public,which theysay they want to do,”hesaid.

Email Christopher Cartwright at christopher cartwright@theadvocate. com.

PLAY

Continued from page1B

teenagers to confront the issue of gun violence by writing andperforming original short plays.

According to theorganization’s website, its mission is to “promote playwriting as atool for self-expression and social change” and provide “a platform forAmerica’splaywrightsoftomorrow.”

The campaign’screator and artistic producer, Michael Cotey,did not respond to multiple requests forcomment.

Superintendent Lamont Cole made attempts to communicate concerns about the play with “Enough” leadership, andreceiveda response Thursday, aschool district spokesperson said.

Both the Mayor’sOfﬁce and the school system said aperformance will still happen, though the location and details on the play’scontent have not yet been determined.

“The Mayor’sOffice and the East Baton Rouge Parish School System remain dedicated to providing students with meaningful opportunities to showcase their creativityand foster meaningful conversations in our community,” aspokesperson said.

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

HOTEL

Continued from page1B

walk over to the hospital,” he said.

Athena has the Candlewood Suites in Gonzales, between Bass Pro Shops and Tanger Outlet Mall, in its portfolio. The company is buildinga 119room Homewood Suites in Gonzales, set to open in the fourth quarter

The Gonzaleshotel is being drivenbythe economicdevelopment happening in Ascension Parish, suchasthe $5.8 billion Hyundai steel plant in Donaldsonville.

“There’salot of demandfor extended stay hotels,” Patel said.

The group is also building a122-room Woodspring Suites on Howell Boulevard in Baton Rouge. TheWoodspring Suites is set to open in theﬁrstquarter of 2026. Roomsinthe hotel, which Patel said is a “higher-end,” extendedstay property,will go for between $70 to $75 anight.

“We’ve been in the Baton Rouge market for 20 years, so we know the landscape pretty good,” Patel said.

Email Timothy Boone at tboone@ theadvocate.com

On election day, the polls areopen from 7a.m. to 8p.m. Runoffelections, if needed, arescheduledNov.15. To find your polling location, go to geauxvote.com. The ballots in Ascension, EastBaton Rouge, Iberville, Livingston and West Baton Rouge parishes areasfollows: D=Democrat N=NoParty Affiliation R= Republican ASCENSION PARISH PARISH COUNCIL,DISTRICT11 Jennifer DeFrances, R CoreyPerrillioux,R EASTBATON ROUGE PARISH DISTRICTJUDGE, 19THJUDICIAL DISTRICTCOURT Dele Adebamiji, D Elzie AlfordJr., D “Vicky” Jones, D Vernon Thomas, D CITYCOURT JUDGE Calli Boudreaux, R Brenden Craig, R DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT DISTRICTTAX RENEWAL To renew the 10-mill property tax, generating about $741,390 ayear,for five years beginning in 2027 for planning, development, management, operation and improvement of the facilities and services of the district. CONCORD ESTATES CRIME

Continued from page1B

$741,390 every year,for ﬁve years beginning in 2027.The taxfunds thedevelopment, operation andimprovement of facilities and services of thedistrict. n The Concord Estates Crime Prevention District is asking for an annual “parcel fee” of $69.50 to be collected every year for six years, beginning in 2026. If approved, the fee would generate about $20,443a year for crime prevention and security in the district.

n The Southern Heights Neighborhood Crime Preventionand Improvement District is seeking the renewal of aparcel fee for 10 years, beginning in 2026. Thefee wouldnot exceed $100 per year in the first years;after at least five years it would increase to no more than $150 per year The estimated $51,800 generated bythe fee every year would go to crime prevention,security, beautiﬁcation andimprovements In Ascension Parish, voters in District 11 will choose aParish Council member Jennifer DeFrances and Corey Perrillioux, both Re-

publicans, are thecandidates for the Prairieville-area seat. It became open earlier this year when former council memberMichael Mason resigned to take a job at Howard University in Washington, D.C. In Livingston Parish, voters in theParks and Recreation of Denham Springs district will once again vote on renewinga15-mill property tax for 10 years. Voters defeated the renewal in December.The renewal was settobegin in 2026. It was aclose call, with 52% of district voterssaying no. With council approval, the vote is being brought back.

BY KEITHSPERA Staff writer

The “biggest” concertinNew Orleans in 2026, at least in terms of participating musicians, will be Rockin’1000.

On Jan. 31, the global collective Rockin’1000 will gather 1,000synchronized amateur musicians on the ﬂoor of the Caesars Superdome.

Arranged in sections by instruments, the drummers, guitarists, bassists, keyboardists, singers and, for the ﬁrst time, horn players —a nod to New Orleans’ musical legacy —will raise amightyracket on a roster of rock songs.

Launched adecade ago in Italy

Rockin’1000 has presented mass concerts in 20 countries,including stadiums in Frankfurt, Germany, and Paris in 2019 and in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2022.

The New Orleans 2026 show will be the ﬁrst-ever Rockin’1000 stadium concertinthe United States.It is expected to draw spectators and participants from around the globe. New Orleans &Co., the ofﬁcial

marketing ﬁrm for the city’stourism industry,will function as the promoterofthe localRockin’1000 concert.

“Rockin’1000 will serve as adeﬁning moment as we venture into the arena of curatingunique contenton behalfofthe great city andstate,”

New Orleans &Company CEO Walt Leger said in anews release. “Astravelersseek out authentic and unique culturalexperiences as the primary reason for theirtravel, this new typeof‘performancebased tourism’ forges adeeper understanding and connection with a destination’sartistic heritage.”

Veterans of previous Rockin’1000 concerts will make up much of the band in New Orleans. Alimited number of slots will be ﬁlled via a registration process that is open to musicians of all skill levels.

Those selected will receive further instructions on tutorials and rehearsals to prepare for theshow For most, it will be their only opportunity to perform in astadiumsizedvenue.

Rockin’1000 bills itself as “the

enormous amount of international media, and social media, coverage. With that, abrand was born.

“Tobring Rockin’1000 to the United States, the birthplace of rock ‘n’ roll, is adream we’ve had for many years,”Zaffagnini said in anewsrelease. “Tohost our inaugural event in an iconic American city like New Orleans, and avenue like Caesars Superdome, means the world.

“There is nothing more powerful than bringing complete strangers together throughthe power of music.For one unforgettable night on stage, we createanemotional connection that unites notjustthe musicians, but the friends, family, and fans who have cometosupport them. Icannot wait to share this epic experience and expand our globalcommunity of devoted music lovers.”

biggest rock band on Earth.”The 2019 concert at Stade de France in Paris included versions of AC/ DC’s “Highway to Hell,” the Clash’s “Should IStay Or Should IGo,” theRed HotChili Peppers’“Suck My Kiss,” Oasis’ “Supersonic,” theWhiteStripes’“Seven Nation

Army” and Foo Fighters’ “Learn to Fly.”

Rockin’1000 founder Fabio Zaffagnini staged the ﬁrst such mass musician eventin2015 in Cesena, Italy,asastunt to try to persuade the Foo Fighters to perform there.

The initial show generated an

Ticketsfor theJan.31Rockin’1000 show at the Superdome are on sale now via Ticketmaster starting at $50.

Email KeithSpera at kspera@ theadvocate.com.

there maybe an importantgap in your healthcare coverage.

Go to anydentistyou want

Hebert,Lloyd

Obituaries

Aucoin, Vernon Joseph

Vernon Joseph Aucoin,a native of Morgan City and aresident of Patterson was called to his heavenly home on

tion left alastingmark on his community. He also fished commercially in Louisiana's bayous, embracing the challenges and rewards of life on the water.Apassionate outdoorsman, Vernon served as a board member of the Southern Atchafalaya Sportsman Club and was the proud founderand owner of the AucoinHunting Club in Alabama. He found joyinnature and treasuredmoments with loved ones but appreciated time alone. Vernonknew the valueofanopinion, especiallyhis.His famous words areforever etched intothe heartsofthose who willforever miss him, "Y'all gon see, Y'allALL gon see, ya'llain't seen nothing yet!"

Those left to cherish Vernon'swonderful memory are his spouse,Jacqueline "Jackie" Vaughn; his three sons,KurtisAucoin (Audrey), Travis Aucoin (Katie), and MacLandry (Tessie); his three daughters, KrissaAucoin Chauvin (Shane), Carla Aucoin and Abby Broussard (Michael);and hisseven grandchildrenand numerous great grandchildren. Vernonisalsosurvived by his stepmother, Evelyn Aucoin; three brothers, Ronald AucoinSr. (Wanda), Rickey Aucoin Sr.(Brenda), and Kevin Aucoin and his five sisters,MollieFalcon, Lois Aucoin, SheilaDavid Jackie David, and Liesa Aucoin Peltier (Chris).

He was precededin death by his parents, Clifton Aucoinand Nora Percle.

The family requests that avisitation be observed on Saturday, October 11, 2025 from 11:00 am until 2:00pm with aprayerserviceofficiatedbyFather Patrick Rivere beginning at 2:00pm, allatHargraveFuneral Home. Following services, Vernonwillbelaidto rest in theSt. Josephthe Worker CemeteryinPierrePart, LA. Pallbearers willbeKurtis Aucoin, Travis Aucoin, Michael Broussard, Michael Aucoin,Roy "Davey"LeBlanc Jr.and Roland "Poopie" Estay Jr Honorary pallbearers willbeRickeyAucoin Sr. and Shane Chauvin. The family wouldlike to expresstheir gratitude and thanks to the wonderful staffatHope Hospice for their care of Vernonduring his illness. Arrangements have been entrustedtoHargraveFuneral Home of Morgan City, Louisiana

LouellaMiles Burton en‐tered into eternalrestat Our Lady of theLakeRe‐gionalMedical Center on October 2, 2025. Shewas a 93-year oldnativeand resi‐dentofBaton Rouge, Louisiana.Survivors in‐clude heronlychild BrendaBurtonFranklin; one godchildLloyd Young Jr.,siblingsTraceyYoung and RichardBanks;three grandchildren;14greatgrandchildren;eleven great-great-grandchildren; otherrelatives andfriends; precededindeath by her parents,Florida andJames C.Miles,Sr.;siblingsBetty Walkerand JamesC.Miles, Jr.;great-grandsons,Jacob Jones andRodneyFranklin. Arrangementsentrusted to Miller& Daughter Mortu‐ary

Patricia AnnGanaway Ebert,beloved wife mother, grandmother, great-grandmother anda woman of faith,passed awayonOctober 1, 2025, at the ageof73. Shewas born onAugust21, 1952, in Plaquemine, Louisianato Arthur andIda Mae (Brooks) Ganaway. She was baptizedin1952 and conﬁrmed in 1966. On June 6,1970, Patricia married Bernd FranzEbert.She was a loving mother to Chriso‐pher(Tamara)Ebert,Tonia (Benny) Cruz,Elizabeth Ebert (Dan Giebel), and RachelEbert.Brothersand sisters-in-lawlefttocher‐ish hermemoryare CharlesGanaway,Joe Vaughn, Glenda InterdenominationalFaith Assembly, 5045 Greenwell Street,at10a.m Young, Dorothy NazareneBaptist Church,6571 La Highway 1S in Brusly,at11a.m

(Ruth) Ganawayand Paul (Katie) Ganaway. Remem‐beringher dearly aresis‐tersand brothers-in-law, Irene(Henry) Melancon, SallieBarbier,Mary(Dane) Hebert, AudryMartinez and JulieMorgan(David Skilliter).Patriciaisalso survivedbyher grandchil‐dren, Chesere(Chez)Cruz, TaylorCruz, CalebCruz, Hazel Ebert, BrianGiebel, and Kristen Giebel;greatgrandchildren,Rylan Rigsby, Axel Rigsby and Lucas Giebel.She waspre‐ceded in deathbyher par‐ents, Arthur andIda Mae BrooksGanaway;in-laws Frank andMaria Ebert; brother,JohnGanaway; brothers-in-law,A.J.Bar‐bier, Jeff Martinez;and sis‐ter-inlaw,Vicky Ganaway. Two things that Patricia truly enjoyedwereattend‐ing dailymassand spend‐ing time with family. Avisi‐tationwillbeheldatSt. Johnthe Evangelist Catholic Church in Plaque‐mine, LA on Monday,Octo‐ber 13, from 9:00 am until the Memorial Mass begins at11:00 am.Burialwillfol‐low in GraceMemorial Park. Please sharememo‐riesatwww.wilbertserv ices.com.

John Michael Orona passed away at his Baton Rouge home on October 7, 2025. To some of his business associates and friends he was John butto his family he was always Michael. He exemplified thetrue meaning of his name which is "A gift from God". Michael was good, caring,patient and possessed asweettender soul.Healways gaveofhis time and talents to those he cared about, which was many because he rarely met astranger.Froma small childina pouch around his father's neck to agrown man he was interested in working with woodand his hands. He learned some of the basic partsofconstructionfrom his dad but mastered the complexity of beautifully finished trimcarpentry by hisown determination. Af-

terstartinghis business, DeltaWoodworkers, he became oneofthe most sought-after carpenters in theBaton Rouge andsurrounding areas, working in many high-endcustom homes. Aman of many talents, Michael wasanexcellentcook. He enjoyed food ranging from your everyday hamburgerto exquisite cuisine.Hewould trydifferent techniques andspicesuntilheperfected eachdish. Some of his immediate family'sbest memories were when he andhis sistersand brother -in-law wouldall cook at thesame time, andeach prepared something different. Hismom wouldstand backand watch with love andpride as herchildren laughed,joked andcooked togetherand then sit down as afamilytoenjoy the outstandingmeal.Michael wasalso askilledfisherman. He wasalways studyingand working on his abilitytobegreat at locatingand catching redfish Every chance he hadhe wouldgotothe family camp and fish for whatever was biting, rarelyreturninghome without a fresh caught meal. He lovedreading, goingout to eat,travelingbytrain but most of all he lovedgetting togetherwith hisfairly large familyand playing thedomino game "42" or card game "Handand Foot".Those familytraditionswill notbethe same withoutMichael. Left to treasure memories with Michael are hismother Susan Lindig, Baton Rouge LA.; two sistersand a brother-in-law, Christy and Shane Pafumi, Sarah Orona; andtwo nieces, Georgiaand Bella Pafumi, all live in Sydney, Australia. Aunts andUncles are Larry Lindig(Brenda), Cocodrie,LA., JerryLindig, Baton Rouge,LA., Nicole Lindig Hallmark(Tommy), Snellville,GA., Linda Lindig Carr(Vince),Baton Rouge LA., LarkLindig, Winter Park, FL. Also cherishing great memories with Michael are his many cousins. Preceded in death by hisfather,JohnOrona; fiancée, TinaMengarelli, grandparents, Lawrence W. Lindig,Sr.,Carmen and Oliver Lindig; andcousin, Jeremy Lindig. Pallbearers are Clint Lacassin, David Lindig, Tommy Sission, Christian Donnelly,Steve Donnelly,Mike Corley, Robert Morse andTyler Hutchinson. Servicesare at ResthavenFuneral Home, 11817 JeffersonHwy in Baton Rouge,onSaturday, October11, 2025, with visitation from 9-11 a.m., funeralat11a.m. andburial to follow at ResthavenGardens of Memory. Following theburiala receptionwill b h ld i h h

be held intheResthaven Legacy Room. In lieu of flowers, thefamilyrequests that donations be made, St.Jude,anorganization that Michael was a lifelongsupporter of. Relatives and friends

Burton,Louella Miles

Orona, Michael

Patricia AnnGanaway

BUSINESS

BRIEFS

Postal traffic down after exemption ended

Postal trafﬁc to the U.S is still down about 70% ﬁve weeks after the end of the “de minimis” exemption that spared low-value packages from duties, the United Nations postal agency said Friday.

Confusion has reigned since the U.S. ended the tariff exemption for packages worth less than $800 on Aug. 29. In September the Universal Postal Union reported 88 of its 192 member countries had suspended all or some of its postal services to the U.S. to have time to adjust their shipping procedures.

On Friday, the UPU said “only a handful” of those had resumed operations to the U.S.

The organization said trafﬁc to the U.S. on Oct. 3 was down 70.7% compared with volume one week before the regulatory changes On Aug. 29, when the exemption ended, volume plummeted 81% from a week earlier. Since the exemption ended, purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs now require vetting and are subject to their origin country’s applicable tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%. While the change applies to the products of every country, U.S. residents will not have to pay duties on incoming gifts valued at up to $100, or on up to $200 worth of personal souvenirs from trips abroad, according to the White House.

U.K. watchdog targets Google’s role in ads

LONDON Britain’s antitrust watchdog on Friday labeled Google a “strategic” player in the online search advertising market, paving the way for regulators to force the company to change its business practices to ensure more competition in that market.

The Competition and Markets Authority said its investigation found that the U.S. tech giant has “strategic market status” because it has “substantial and entrenched market power in general search and search advertising.

It marks the first time the watchdog has issued the designation since new U.K digital rules took effect at the start of the year The label doesn’t imply any wrongdoing. But the regulator said it means it has the power to consider using “proportionate, targeted” measures to make sure “general search services are open to effective competition” and that consumers and businesses are treated fairly Online search ads appear alongside results from Google’s search engine, usually tagged as “Ad” or “Sponsored” — versus online display ads, which appear on a company’s website.

The CMA says Google accounts for more than 90% of the U.K.’s online searches, and more than 200,000 of the country’s businesses rely on Google search ads to reach customers.

Former election official buys Dominion Voting DENVER Voting equipment company Dominion Voting Systems, a target of conspiracy theories from President Donald Trump and his supporters since the 2020 election, has been bought by a ﬁrm run by a former Republican elections ofﬁcial, the new company announced Thursday

The newly formed company, Liberty Vote, also vowed to follow the executive order Trump signed last spring seeking sweeping changes to election policies that multiple judges have put on hold for violating the Constitution.

KNOWiNK, a St. Louis-based provider of electronic poll books that allow election ofﬁcials to conﬁrm voter information, announced the deal and the name change. In a possible nod to a groundless conspiracy theory that linked Dominion to the late Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, the release highlighted that the company would become “100% American-owned.”

Market at worst day since April

Trump’s threats of tariffs shatter its calm

BY STAN CHOE Associated Press

NEW YORK A monthslong calm on Wall Street shattered Friday, and U.S. stocks tumbled after President Donald Trump threatened to crank tariffs much higher on China.

The S&P 500 sank 2.7% in its worst day since April. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 878 points, or 1.9%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 3.6%.

Stocks had been heading for a slight gain in the morning, until Trump took to his social media platform and said he’s considering “a massive increase of tariffs” on Chinese imports. He’s upset at

restrictions China has placed on exports of its rare earths, which are materials that are critical for the manufacturing of everything from consumer electronics to jet engines.

“We have been contacted by other Countries who are extremely angry at this great Trade hostility, which came out of nowhere,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He also said “now there seems to be no reason” to meet with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, after earlier agreeing to do so as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea.

The ratchet higher in tensions between the world’s largest economies led to widespread drops across Wall Street, with roughly six out of every seven stocks within the S&P 500 falling. Nearly everything weakened, from Big Tech companies like Nvidia and

Apple to stocks of smaller companies looking to get past uncertainty about tariffs and trade

The market may have been primed for a slide. U.S. stocks were already facing criticism that their prices had shot too high following the S&P 500’s nearly relentless 35% run from a low in April. The index, which dictates the movements for many 401(k) accounts, is still near its all-time high set earlier in the week.

Critics say the market looks too expensive after prices rose much faster than corporate profits. Worries are particularly high about companies in the artificial-intelligence industry where pessimists see echoes of the 2000 dot-com bubble that imploded. For stocks to look less expensive, either their prices need to fall, or companies’ profits need to rise

Levi Strauss dropped 12.6% for one of the market’s larger losses, even though it reported a stronger proﬁt for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its forecast for proﬁt over the full year was also within range of Wall Street’s estimates, but the jeans and clothing company could simply be facing the challenge of heightened expectations after a big run. Its stock price came into the day with a surge of nearly 42% for the year so far.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 182.60 points to 6,552.51. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 878.82 to 45,479.60, and the Nasdaq composite sank 820.20 to 22,204.43.

Some of Friday’s strongest action was in the oil market, where the price of a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude sank 4.2% to $58.90.

Regions Center hits auction

Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office to handle bidding process

BY LIZ SWAINE Staff writer

The properties that make up the downtown Shreveport Regions Center — the historic 16-story Regions Building, the 25-story Regions Tower and the 1,000-space parking garage will go on the auction block Oct 29.

The Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce will be handling the auction of the buildings.

Things began to unwind publicly for the property, one of downtown Shreveport’s premiere high-rise ofﬁce tower complexes, in 2024

On Aug 21, 2024, SWEPCO employees were dispatched to post printed notices in the building that power would be turned off the following “Monday or after.”

Tenants said they were caught off guard by the notices and were unaware that the property was more than six months in arrears on their SWEPCO payment

The Wilmington Trust National Association, representing the mortgage holder for the property had to advance $420,841.59 to bring the past due SWEPCO utility balance current.

Days later, the lender said it was notiﬁed that CenterPoint Energy had also sent a disconnect notice. Money was owed for water service and to the property’s security services provider, who stated that it planned to “vacate due to nonpayment.”

Three local companies including Gene Nims Builders, Storer Services LTD and Cowtown Materials Inc., also ﬁled liens against the building’s owners for services owed.

Regions Bank, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, sent out an alert to quell any confusion, noting that it did not actually own the property and was not responsible for paying utility bills.

On Sept. 18, 2024, Wilmington Trust Na-

tional Association ﬁled a 420-page lawsuit in U.S. District Court to place the buildings’ owner, Plaza II Holdings LLC, into receivership.

The guarantors on the $38.25 million loan are Isaac and William Zev Hertz and Sarah Hertz Gordon William Zev Hertz is the chairman and CEO of Hertz Investment Group.

The Hertz Investment Group purchased the Regions property in September 1999 for nearly $25 million.

The Shreveport suit brought by Wilmington Trust and the lender, Ladder Capital Finance LLC, listed the nonpayment of bills as the tipping point that placed the building into receivership.

On July 31, a writ of seizure and sale was issued by the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce.

Marvette Griffin, the director of the

Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce Civil Division, says the bidding will have to begin at two-thirds of the appraised value. Grifﬁn said there are several things that could happen. If no one bids against the bank, they would get it and then determine what to do with it. A second party could purchase it, or the bank could offer a “no bid” which would bring the property back up for sale.

Other Hertz Investment properties, including the Hancock Whitney Center and 400 Poydras St in New Orleans, are also currently in default on their debt. The properties are now under the control of “special servicers” which effectively removes Hertz from day-to-day control. In both cases, Hertz is in maturity default — meaning the company failed to repay the principal when the loans came due.

Officials discuss economic transformation deals

Business forum highlights La. investment opportunities

BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer

What a difference $65 billion makes.

That was the takeaway from a keynote presentation by Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois and Entergy Louisiana CEO Phillip May at the Tulane Business Forum on Friday who argued that a series of major investments portend a new era of economic swagger for the state.

Before a crowd of about 500 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Bourgeois pointed to the last 21 months of outside investment in Louisiana, led by the $10 billion Meta data center in north Louisiana and the nearly $6 billion Hyundai steel plant near Baton

Rouge, and said it’s time for Louisianans to believe in the state’s prospects again.

“We’ve been working hard to change the narrative,” Bourgeois said. “There’s been this feeling that we’re not good enough. We want to change that.”

Bourgeois said 58 announced projects could lead to 70,000 new jobs and lend credibility to the state in the eyes of future investors.

Other big projects announced or expanded since Bourgeois took on the role of the state’s biggest business booster in 2024 include liquefied natural gas projects from Woodside Energy and Venture Global, plus the CF Industries “blue ammonia” project in Ascension Parish. This month, Louisianabased electrical contractor MMR announced a $55 million expansion of its manufacturing capabilities in Lafayette Parish.

“We’re leveraging the state’s existing strengths in energy with new twists,” Bourgeois said.

Bourgeois said the Meta data center is creating opportunities

for existing businesses, like Monroe-based wholesaler Robertson Produce, which just landed a large contract to help feed hundreds of construction workers.

The comments from Bourgeois and May were part of a half-day business forum organized by the Tulane Association of Business Alumni that’s been an annual tradition for most of the last half century Panels jumped from subject to subject as the lawyers, engineers and accountants in attendance earned continuing education credits in between networking opportunities and a lunch.

Earlier in the day, three coffee industry insiders talked about how the Trump administration’s tariffs are making it more difﬁcult and expensive but businesses are adapting.

Ryan McKinnon of Westfeldt Brothers, the New Orleans-based coffee importer, said that one side effect of the import taxes is his team is sourcing coffee beans from countries with lower tariffs — like

Mexico and Honduras — and moving away from places like Brazil, which has a higher tax.

”There will be some differences in taste profile, but you can get some that are very close,” McKinnon said.

Tulane University President Michael Fitts used a portion of his time to promote his school’s vision to expand its downtown campus, centered around the hoped-for redevelopment of the former Charity Hospital building, which has moldered since Hurricane Katrina. Fitts envisions a thriving downtown neighborhood, propelled by Tulane biomedical research and the companies it spawns as the catalyst for a revival of New Orleans’ struggling economy.

Later in the morning, Phelps Dunbar attorney Christopher Ralston participated in a presentation about how artiﬁcial intelligence can help law ﬁrms perform data discovery and other tasks. He said it’s essential that humans are monitoring the machines through every step of the process.

STAFF PHOTO By LIZ SWAINE

The two buildings and nearly 1,000-space parking garage that make up Regions Center in the 300 block of Texas Street in downtown Shreveport

OPINION

Pollingonthe shutdown,fat generals and troops in cities

The last few weeks have been full of news. With the government shutdown, Middle East peacemaking, deportations of illegal immigrants, troops in U.S. citiesand grooming tips from the secretaryofdefense, we’ve seen aparadeofdevelopments And with them,arange of publicreactions —from hopeful to incredulous to outraged.

It is the autumn of our discontent.

Liberals in the media say President Donald Trump’sratingshave startedto plummet. Conservativessay Democrats aresounpopular they’re nearing extinction. But, as usual, neitherside is quite right.

Trump’saverage job rating is now44%.That’sbelow hismost recent election performance (49%) —which is always auseful point of comparison for anypresident —but his ratingisthe sameasitwas amonth ago(44%) and apoint higherthanitwas twoand three months ago (43%).

That’snot exactly aplummet.

And Democrats, restless and angry,are still politicallyalive. The latest nationwide polling average has them leadingRepublicans by nearly four pointsinsocalled“genericballot” tests inanticipationofthe 2026 midtermelections

That’s not exactly extinction.

During the early days of the government shutdown, the Economist/YouGov poll found that38% of voters approved of Trump’shandling of it. That compared to 34% for Republicans in Congressand 29% for Democrats inCongress While Republicans do betterthanDemocrats, the truthisthat most voters are unhappy with the whole mess. If this latest shutdown had beena movie, Rotten Tomatoes would rate it somewhere between “War of theWorlds” and “Smurfs.” Thank goodness it’s football season Then thereisthe ongoing issue of using U.S. troops in American cities to,asTrump says,“maintainorder.”

On this, according to the Economist/YouGov poll, 41% of voters favor doing so and 52% oppose.The split is partisan: 79% of Republicans favor it, while only 25% of independents and 9% of Democratsdo. Thereisalso aracialdifference: 44%ofWhites, 27% of Hispanics and 17% of Blacks favor doing so.

On other issues, based on the latest Harvard-Harris poll, 56% of voters supportTrump’speace plantoend the Israel-Hamas conflict; that’sgoodfor him (thepoll was completedbefore apausein fighting andhostage release was announced Wednesday). However,58% oppose “making cost cuts to Medicaidprograms by adding work requirements for those up to 64 yearsold;” that’snot good for Republicans Trump’sbest issues are fighting crime, where hisapproval rating is 50%, and immigration, where he’sat 49%. His worst issues areeconomic, inflation— seen as the top issue in America —and trade and tariffs; he haslimp40% approval ratings oneach In the same survey,morevoters(52%) seeTrump as a“strong president” than asa “fascist dictator” (48%). Butstill,whatU.S. president wants to be seen asa “fascist dictator” by anybody,muchlessthanbynearly half of his country’svoters?

Finally,there is the issue of Pete Hegseth,the “secretary of war,” formerly and legally knownasthe secretary of defense. TheEconomist/YouGov survey finds that 38% of voters approve ofthe jobhe’sdoing and 45% disapprove. Nearly 7out of 10 Republicans approve, which means he’sholding mostofthe Trump base. Fewother voters are fans,however. Hegseth started abig commotion by saying fat generals and admirals have to go. While 37% of voters also seeflabby brass as aproblem, nearly 50%don’t. In fairness to Hegseth, though, a2023 study found that 68% of active-duty U.S. service members wereeither overweight or obese —soitisalegitimate issue. Hegseth’sother flap washis opposition to U.S. military personnel sportingbeards.Only 28% ofU.S. voters agreewithhim.While 42% of Republicans favor clean-shaven warriors, just 14% ofDemocrats and 21% of independents do. WonderwhatUlysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee would have to sayabout this? There youhave it,what Americans arethinking. As Britishnovelist J.B. Priestleyoncewrote, “Public opinion polls are rather like childreninagarden, digging things up all the time to seehow they’re growing.” Ron Faucheux is anonpartisan political analyst, pollster and writer based in Louisiana.

After theshooting of Charlie Kirk, Isat beside my father,apastor, as we watched the news unfold. I turned to him and asked, almost in disbelief, “How did we get here?”

Somewhere along the way,webegan to mistakeour political loyalties for our faith. Instead of following theexample of Jesus —marked by humility, compassion and truth —we’ve allowed fear and division to takecenter stage. When party allegiance outweighs obedience to Christ, we’ve missed thepoint entirely Jesus never said, “They’ll know you by your votes.”Hesaid, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35). Yetthe toneof today’spolitics rarely reﬂects love. More often, it produces hostilityand exclusion —the very oppositeof what Paul described as the fruit of theSpirit:love, joy,peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

This is not just aproblem for Christians. When religion is weaponized for politicalgain, it endangers everyone —especiallycommunities already vulnerable to being scapegoated.

Cloaking ideology in the language of faith is not only misleading, it does violence to the gospel itself

That’swhy it felt especially disheartening when my own reﬂections on this subject were censored on social media, even as farharsher rhetoric is allowed to circulate unchecked. We cannot afford to silence voices calling for love while amplifying voices thatthrive on fear and hate.

The gospel is not right-wing or leftwing. It is the radical, upside-down kingdom where power is service and love is the greatest command. Maybe thereal question isn’tjust “How did we get here?” but “Where do we go from here?”

NADRA MCKEE Picayune, Mississippi

Nation’s topleaders areout of step with military

I’m an avid reader of your Opinions page, and one of my opinions is that you have done an excellent service in selecting letters that accurately reﬂect the mood of the country

Twoletters recently written by militaryveterans in particular questioned the credentials and experience of the secretary of defense. Fastforward to therecent “school assembly” of the top military brass in America. They were invited from all points across the globe to hear an overly political rant by thepresident

and secretary of defense. It wasa sad spectacle by weakpoliticians.

Kudos to the generalsand others who sat in theaudience stoically and without aword to be said. The longest militarytradition outlined in theConstitution of the United States says that the military cannot be involved in domesticpolitical affairs. Youwould think acommander-inchief and defense secretary would know that. Genuine leaders do know that, pretenders don’t.

CHARLIE FRENCH Metairie

Asea of San Francisco fansﬁlled thebottom bowl of the Superdome, rooting for their team, when they played theSaints in September.How embarrassing for true Saints fans, theBuddy D. fans, theWho Dat Nation!

How unthinkable to thelegions of Saints fans who bought their tickets with the intention of cheering on their team, their brothers in arms. Whatblasphemytothe fans of NFL Sundays past who religiously

cheered their Saints on, winorlose (mostly lose)! Those fans would patiently,yet enthusiastically,root forrebuilding teams and encourage them on. And when the team’smanagement and coaching seemed too pitiful to endure, the fans still came to the games withpaper bags over their heads in protest. Where Dem Who Dats?Or, are they NotDats?

GEORGE CAWLEY NewOrleans

Insteadofraids, make penalties strongerfor employers of undocumented

Recently,Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh spoke on behalf of ICE using common sense indicators, such as working in jobs commonfor undocumented immigrants (e.g., landscaping, construction and day labor) as ameans of rounding up those suspected of being undocumented.

In the same time period, the U.S. House of Representatives passed House Bill 3486. This bill criminalizes being an undocumented immigrant in the United States, specifying long —even life —prison sentences. Irespect the right of the United States to provide reasonable paths to citizenship, control the issuance of work permits and to patrol our borders. However,Isee two problems with this bill: Justice Kavanaugh makes it plain that undocumented workers can be found at job sites. That suggests Americans are hiring them. What are the penalties for employers hiring undocumented workers? Also, we already have the highest rate of incarceration in the developed world. Are we now going to increase that number by rounding up people looking for work?

MARCIA B. COOKE NewOrleans

During shutdown, Congress needsto work forits pay

House Speaker Mike Johnson constantly says that they can’t negotiate with Democrats until the lights are back on. One simple, underreported fact reveals what aridiculous lie that is: Congress is still being paid. The lights are still on in the only part of the federal government that can get the rest of the government back to work. The Republicans are refusing to do their jobs, but they are still taking their paychecks. TEDHANSEN Zachary

LSouT hcAroL IN AATL Su •6:45P.m.SAT urdAy•SecN

QbsSellers,Nussmeier were hotnames on NFLdraft boards entering theseason. Nowtheyare trying to rebuildtheir value.

SU quarterback GarrettNussmeier andSouth Carolina quarterbackLaNorris Sellersdon’tpossess many similarities as players, but they entered the 2025 season with something in common.

Both were highly regardedprospects for the2026 NFL Draft. For Nussmeier,his calling card is his ability to make throws into tight windows andfearlessnessasapasser.Sellers’ dominanttraits are his size, strength and speed.

Their proﬁles were enticing enough for DaneBrugler,anational NFLwriter covering theNFL draftfor The Athletic, to place both in thetop 10 of his preseasondraftrankings.

“Ifitwere aperfect world, yeah,I’d love to be able to keep my draft rankings and draftopinions to myself until we had all the evidence,”Brugler told The Advocate recently.“My job is to kind of be very transparentwithmyprocess. Andsoover thesummer, these are my rankings. This is how Isee these guys,based on my ownevaluations and based on (how) NFL teamssee these guys.”

LEARN MORE

Jack Pyburn LSU,Defensive End

LSU GAMEDAY

South Carolina at LSU

6:45 p.m. Saturday, Tiger Stadium

TV: SEC Network | Line: LSU by 9½ Radio: WDGL-FM,

South Carolina

South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers runs the ball against Kentucky during the second half of their game on Sept 27 in Columbia, S.C

LSU

Continued from page 1C

Good or bad, preseason expectations often don’t match reality For Sellers and Nussmeier, neither quarterback has had the season they wanted heading into Saturday’s matchup between LSU and South Carolina in Tiger Stadium (6:45 p.m., SEC Network).

“I think we have all this build up to the season,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said Monday “We have all this time to read and think about who the best is, and everybody’s got to get their shout out as to who the best quarterback is, and sometimes that’s just not realistic.”

What’s gone wrong for Nussmeier is relatively straightforward: He hasn’t been healthy

The ﬁfth-year senior has dealt with a torso injury since the preseason, an injury that has lingered through LSU’s opening ﬁve games. Nussmeier has declined to comment on the ailment, but Kelly believes that LSU’s off week helped him properly rest and recover

“He’s feeling better and better,” Kelly said. “We didn’t do a lot with him last week. We wanted to use that as a recovery week for him.”

Nussmeier has refused to use the injury as an excuse for his play, but according to Pro Football Focus, his average depth of target has dropped by nearly 2 yards from last season, despite LSU upgrading its speed at wide receiver

“I mean, clearly, he’s not 100%,” Brugler said. “The ball, when it comes out of his hands, it just doesn’t have the same life.

“That’s part of playing football, right? I mean, how many players NFL (or) college are operating at 100%? It’s just you have to be able to

STAFF PREDICTIONS

ZACH EWING

LSU 27, SOUTH CAROLINA 21

Unless Garrett Nussmeier’s injury has been more bothersome than anyone let on, it’s hard to imagine more than incremental offensive improvement Still, the sky is not falling after a single loss. The Tigers are in the playoff chase, and we’ve passed three years since LSU lost to anyone in Death Valley other than Alabama. It’s hard to imagine South Carolina being the one to break that streak.

REED DARCEY

LSU 24, SOUTH CAROLINA 17

The LSU defense couldn’t defend mobile quarterbacks last season Now it feels like it can blend scheme and talent to corral LaNorris Sellers and shut down the South Carolina offense — the only unit in the SEC that’s rushing for fewer yards per game than the Tigers are The Gamecocks need more talent around Sellers. LSU just needs to figure out a way to slow down pass rusher Dylan Stewart

play through it. And so far this year, he hasn’t been able to. And that’s been a bummer to see, because coming into the year, for a lot of teams, he was a top-ranked senior in this class.”

Brugler believes that Nussmeier’s injury has had a domino effect on his play Besides the discomfort he’s shown in throwing the ball, Brugler said Nussmeier’s decisionmaking may have been altered because of the ailment.

“(If) the injury is affecting your physical ability, mentally (you) think, ‘OK, I need to speed up my process ...’ ” Brugler said. “And so it does create a little bit of uncertainty about how much is the injury affecting not just his ability to ﬁre strikes but (also) to read out his progressions, to move in the pocket, to do all the different things that we know he’s capable of.”

The perception is Sellers also has struggled to live up to similarly high expectations. South Carolina is 3-2, and Sellers is now a long shot for the Heisman Trophy (his odds of winning are +10,000 on FanDuel sportsbook heading into the weekend).

However, Brugler has no major qualms with Sellers’ start to the year He hasn’t been perfect, but Brugler said NFL scouts feel better about Sellers now than they ever did about former Florida quarterback and top-5 pick Anthony Richardson when he was drafted.

“He is one of the strongest quarterbacks, if not the strongest quarterback, I’ve ever evaluated. And it’s not just that,” Brugler said. “He’s big (but) he can also run with just about anybody else on the ﬁeld. And so that combination is really rare, but he also has a power arm.

“Sometimes he puts a little bit too much on it.

SCOTT RABALAIS

LSU 26, SOUTH CAROLINA 16

Both teams need a big SEC win. Both are coming off bye weeks. Both have looked underwhelming. LaNorris Sellers is a huge danger and is talented enough to upset the Tigers virtually on his own. But the bet here is that the LSU offense will do enough and the defense will bend but not break enough for the home team to grind out a crucial victory to begin a difficult October stretch

KOKI RILEY

LSU 20, SOUTH CAROLINA 13

Despite having Heisman-contending quarterbacks heading into the year, both of these offenses have fallen flat South Carolina has struggled to protect LaNorris Sellers and run the ball For LSU, Garrett Nussmeier’s torso injury has affected his play and the Tigers have failed to run the ball efficiently. Expect a low-scoring affair, but LSU should win thanks to its home crowd and swarming defense

STAFF

PHOTO

MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier fires the ball across the field during a game against Ole Miss on Sept 27 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss.

AP PHOTO By JOHN RAOUX

Texas quarterback Arch Manning looks to make a pass under pressure during the second half of a game against Florida on Oct. 4 in Gainesville, Fla.

AP PHOTO By SCOTT KINSER

PHOTO By HILARySCHEINUK

STAFF

LSU coach Brian Kelly exchangeswords withquarterback Garrett Nussmeier in the second half of a game against Florida on Sept.13atTiger Stadium.

(He) needs to develop achangeup, needs to develop better touch. The placement can be alittle bit better.But Imean, everysingle tape that he has from this year,there are throws that make you sit up in your seat and go, ‘OK, yeah, that’s the top-10 pick that we’ve beenwaitingto see.’“ Neither quarterbackhas been perfect, but thelack of major strideshas been inﬂuenced by the subpar circumstances surrounding Sellersand Nussmeier

The South Carolina offensivepersonnel has struggled. No quarterback in theSoutheastern Conference has faced ahigherpressure rate than Sellers, according toPFF.The Gamecocks also have been the worst rushing team in the SEC, averaging 2.9 yards per run.

“Obviously,at the start of the season, you’ve got alot of new faces,” South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said,“starting twotruefreshmanreceivers, starting atrue freshman offensive guard rightnow.So there’salot of new faces and young players around him.” LSU has faced similar problems with its run gameand offensive structure around Nussmeier.Only South Carolina isaveraging fewer yards per rush, and Nussmeierhas needed to get the ball out quicker than he did lastseason in part because the Tigers have ﬁvenew starters on the offensive line.

The Tigers’ issues in therun game,particularly,have made them much easier to defend,a reality that is clear to Brugler when he watches LSU on tape.

“You need to have complementary football if you want (Nussmeier) to be aproductive quarterback,” Brugler said. “And they justdon’thave that.”

These external factors —the offensive line, the play-callers, the coaching, etc. —are what make the quarterback position dependent on the play of others around it, Brugler said

“I think people hear that andtheir immediate reaction is, ‘Oh,we’re making excuses forthe quarterback.’ Imean,that’sjust not true,” Bruglersaid. “Like youhave to look at thewhole situation.Same thingwithArchManning in Texas right now.The offensive line is terrible. There’s no run game now “Is Archplaying below what we expected? Absolutely. But you’re putting way too much on the quarterback’sshoulderswhen you’re notgetting enoughhelpfromthe other positions.”

Plentyofwords have been spilled over Nussmeier and Sellers’ startstothe year.The same goesfor Manning, Penn State quarterback Drew Allar, Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik anda varietyofdraft-eligiblequarterbacks.

Youneed to have complementary football if you want (Nussmeier) to be aproductive quarterback. And theyjust don’thavethat. Ithink people hear that and their immediate reaction is,‘Oh, we’re making excuses for the quarterback.’ Imean, that’s just nottrue. Youhavetolook at thewhole situation.”

DANE BRUGLER, National NFL writer for The Athletic

Butthis week will markonly the halfway point of theregular seasonfor LSU andSouth Carolina. Alot can happen between now and through the end of the year,meaning that the ﬁnal word on Nussmeier and Sellers has not been written

Brugler still believes Sellers is afirst-round prospect and thatNussmeier likely would be picked in theﬁrst two rounds if thedraft were today

“When we have draft discussions about players,when there are still gamestobeplayed, we’regoing to have updated evidence that helps shape these scouting reports,” Brugler said. “Peoplejustneed to understand, youhavetokeep an open mind, because things will change.”

Patience. It’s also avirtue Kelly preaches when it comes to Nussmeier’sseason.

“Let’ssee howthis thing plays out. We’ve gotabig stretch of games in front of us.Whatever your narrative is on our quarterback,sobeit,”Kelly said. “You earnwhat you get in everything you do in life,but there’s so much in front of us.”

Report:LSU WR AaronAnderson doubtful to play vs.South Carolina

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

The struggling LSU offense is expected to face South Carolina on Saturday withoutone of its top weapons.

ESPN reported on Friday that AaronAnderson, the Tigers’ leading receiver,isconsidered doubtful to play,althoughhe stillwas listedas questionable on the availabilityreport that LSU releasedFriday evening.Coach BrianKelly has saidthe redshirt juniorwho exitedLSU’sSept. 27 loss to Ole Miss with an elbowstrain is also battling toe and knee injuries.

On Thursday,Kelly said Anderson was “dayto-day.”

“He’ssteadily gotten better each week,” Kelly said. “Today,hewas (running) 19.5 miles per hour,sohe’sabove 85%, which will put him into some practice, so we’ll go again tomorrow ” LSU ruled left guard Paul Mubenga (ankle) out of the gameagainst the Gamecocks on itslatest availability report.Right tackleWeston Davis (concussion), running back Caden Durham (ankle) and defensive tackleAhmadBreaux were not listed, which means theywill be available to play Anderson is an Algiers native who once starred at Edna Karr.This season, he’scaught 23 passes for 305 yards. He was also the Tigers’ leading receiver in 2024 when he tallied 61 receptions, 884 yardsand ﬁve touchdownsina breakoutyear

COLLEGE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

16Notre Dame (3-2)vs. NC State (4-2), 2:30 p.m. No. 18BYU (5-0) at Arizona (4-1), 7p.m. No. 21Arizona St. (4-1)atUtah (4-1), 9:15 p.m. No. 22IowaSt. (5-1)atColorado (2-4), 2:30 p.m. No. 25Florida St. (3-2)vs. Pittsburgh (3-2), 11 a.m. EAST Charlotte (1-4) at Army(2-3), 11 a.m. Mercer(4-1) at Princeton (2-1), 11 a.m. Mercyhurst (2-4) at Wagner (1-4), 11 a.m. Lehigh(6-0) at Columbia(1-2), 11 a.m. Bucknell (4-2) at Lafayette (4-2), 11:30 a.m. Howard (3-2) at Sacred Heart (4-2), noon

Va.Lynchburg(0-1)atMorgan St. (2-4), noon St. Francis (Pa.) (0-5)atDuquesne (3-3), noon

Maine (2-4) at Merrimack (3-3), noon Richmond(3-3) at Colgate (2-3), noon S. Connecticut (0-0)atDelaware St. (3-3), noon

NewHampshire(3-3)atRhode Island (4-2), noon Yale (2-1) at Dartmouth (2-1), 12:30 p.m. Monmouth (NJ) (4-1)atTowson (3-3),1 p.m.

CCSU(3-3) at RobertMorris (1-4), 1p.m. Nebraska(4-1) at Maryland (4-1), 2:30p.m. Northwestern (3-2)atPenn St. (3-2), 2:30 p.m.

Old Dominion(4-1)atMarshall (2-3), 2:30 p.m. Navy (5-0) at Temple (3-2), 3p.m. Clemson (2-3)atBoston College (1-4), 6:30 p.m. SOUTH Pittsburgh(3-2)

(4-2)atFloridaA&M (1-3), 2p.m. VMI (1-4)atETSU (2-4), 2:30 p.m.

Alabama St. (4-1) at Jackson St. (4-1), 2:30 p.m.

Virginia Tech (2-4)atGeorgia Tech (5-0), 2:30 p.m. Appalachian St. (3-2) at Georgia St. (1-4), 2:30 p.m.

Tennessee Tech (5-0) at Charleston Southern(1-5),3p.m.

Cent. Arkansas (2-4)atNorth Alabama(1-4),3p.m. Arkansas (2-3)atTennessee(4-1), 3:15 p.m. AustinPeay(4-2) at E. Kentucky (2-3), 5p.m. UAB(2-3) at FAU(2-3), 5p.m.

IllinoisSt. (3-2)atMurray St. (0-5), 6p.m.

Georgia (4-1)atAuburn(3-2), 6:30 p.m.

MIDWEST

UCLA (1-4)atMichigan St. (3-2), 11 a.m.

Alabama (4-1)atMissouri(5-0), 11 a.m. Miami (Ohio)(2-3)atAkron (2-4), 11 a.m. Ohio St. (5-0)atIllinois(5-1), 11 a.m. Toledo (3-2)atBowlingGreen (2-3), 11 a.m. UCF (3-2)atCincinnati (4-1), 11 a.m. South

Kansas (4-2)atTexas Tech (5-0), 6:30 p.m. Troy (3-2)atTexas State (3-2), 7p.m. FARWEST Idaho St. (2-4)atMontana St.(4-2),2

THENATION

THINGS TO WATCHINWEEK7

MIZZOU FACESSERIOUS TEST VS.TIDE

Missouri hasn’t beaten Alabama in football since 1975. But if the No. 14 Tigers are seriousabout potentially making the College Football Playoff, thenbeating the eighth-ranked Crimson Tide on Saturdayiscritical.

The Crimson Tide features the SEC’smost prolificpasserinTy Simpson, wholeadsthe league with 1,478 yards through theair to go with13 touchdown passes and just one interception. The Tigers counter with the SEC’stop rusher in Ahmad Hardy, whohas 730 yardsand nine touchdowns on the ground this season.

UNBEATEN DUCKS, HOOSIERS BATTLE No.3 Oregon (5-0, 2-0 BigTen) hosts No.7 Indiana(5-0, 2-0) on Saturdaywith both teams coming off byes. Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza has thrown for1,208 yards with 16 touchdowns and just one interception. On the other side is Dante Moore, whohas thrown for1,210 yards and 14 touchdowns with one interception. Indiana CB D’Angelo Ponds is expected to returnafter missingthe Iowa game with alower body injury. Pondshas 11 tackles,including10solo, and an interception.

AUBURN COULDPLAYSPOILER VS.UGA Auburn’soffense ranks last in SECplayin most categories and willtry to getright against Georgia, which has woneight in arow in the series and needs avictoryto maintaina clear path toward the CFP.Both defenseswill have their hands full withdualthreat quarterbacks. Gunner Stockton has six TD passes for Georgiatogoalong with five more rushing Jackson Arnoldhas five of each forAuburn. Arnoldwas sackedninetimes in his return to Oklahoma, and the Tigers have allowedan SEC-leading 21 sacks through five games 2 1 3 —AssociatedPress

SouthCarolinagameis‘D-Day’ forLSU

There was acountdown to “D-Day” in the Baton Rouge State-Times newspaperfor amonth before LSU’s1966 season opener against South Carolina.

As Paul Dietzel amusingly observed, the “D” wasn’tfor DeWittClinton, the 19th-century politician whobuiltthe Erie Canal. The “D” was for him and his return to Tiger Stadium in his ﬁrst game as the Gamecocks coach.

1. OLEMISS

Record: 5-0overall, 3-0 SEC

Previous rank: 1

Last week: Idle

Thisweek: vs.Washington State,11:45 a.m. Saturday(SECNetwork)

2. ALABAMA

Record: 4-1overall, 2-0 SEC

Previous rank: 2

Last week: DefeatedVanderbilt 30-14

Thisweek: at Missouri, 11 a.m. Saturday (ABC)

3. TEXASA&M

Record: 5-0overall, 2-0 SEC

Previous rank: 3

Last week: DefeatedMississippi State 31-9

Thisweek: vs.Florida, 6p.m. Saturday (ESPN)

4. GEORGIA

Record: 4-1overall, 2-1 SEC

Previous rank: 4

Last week: DefeatedKentucky 35-14

Thisweek: at Auburn, 6:30 p.m. Saturday (ABC)

5. LSU

Record: 4-1overall, 1-1 SEC

Previous rank: 5

Last week: Idle

Scott Rabalais

Dietzel marchedfrom LSU to Army after leading the Tigersto victory in the 1962 Orange Bowl and the 1961 SEC title. The feeling of beingjilted never left smoldering Tiger fans, who bitterly remembered Dietzel sayinghe would never coach anywhere else after leadingLSU to the1958 national championship. For Dietzel’ssuccessor and former assistant Charles McClendon, the game was a must-win after coaching for fouryears in the shadow of his successful, erudite and telegenicformerboss McClendon shook off Dietzel’sshadow with a28-12 victory,deeply meaningfulto himand his legacy at LSU perhaps —the Tigers’practice facility is namedfor McClendon, their winningest coach ever,but LSU has nothing named forDietzel—but not hugely impactful in terms of LSU’s 1966 season. The Tigers ﬁnished 5-4-1 with 21-pointlosses to the twotop-10 teams they faced, Florida and Alabama.

There’snoapparent personal animosity between LSU coach Brian Kelly andSouth Carolina’s ShaneBeamer.The focus for both Kelly’sTigers and Beamer’sGamecocks is squarely between the sidelines, notbetween the ears.

The second annual 12-team College Football Playoff derby means alot more teams can dream for alot longer of being in position to vie for the national championship. As we near this season’shalftime festivities, there are at least twice as many teams with legitimateaspirations of making it into the CFP than there are CFP slots. But eventually,alot of dreams collapse. The outsiders will look in on thebig party that they weren’tgood enoughtobeinvited to experience. The pressure to be part of the in crowd is enormous, much more than thepressureMcClendon felt to beatDietzelnearly 60 years ago.

LSU and South Carolinaare twoofthose teams. Neitherhas wowed thecollege football world to this point—LSU’s17-10 win over South Carolina’smuch-loathed upstate rival Clemson doesn’tlook as epic as it did at ﬁrst. Still, mathematically,4-1 LSU and 3-2 South Carolinaare very much in the CFP mix.

STAFF FILEPHOTO

Long after their emotional showdown in 1966, Paul Dietzel, left, and Charles McClendon talk at a1989 reunion for LSU’s 1961 SEC championship team

Aloss to LSU on Saturday in TigerStadium(6:45 p.m., SEC Network)would probably push the Gamecocks into the elimination zone. Aloss for theNo. 11-ranked Tigers on Saturday would leave them needing to run the table to have arealistic chance to stay in the CFP picture. Saturday’scontest begins arelatively brief but intensely important three-game October slate for LSU. The Tigers go on the road to face No. 20 Vanderbilt —literally LSU’stoughestroad game against the Commodores since the 1940s —thencome home to face No. 5Texas A&M. TheTigers can go 3-0 in October andset up an enormously meaningfulNovember with aCFP berthhanging in thebalance when LSU goes to Alabama and Oklahoma. They could possibly afford to go 2-1, but the “1” had better not be against theGamecocks. It’simpossible to see LSUlosing at home to South Carolina and then being able to take down Vandy (strange as that sounds) and Texas A&M. If LSUgoes 1-2 this month?Forget it. It may be possible for ateam from the SoutheasternConference to sneak into the

CFP with a9-3 record, but no team wants to count on that. Just ask the2024 Gamecocks.

The Tigers have held steadyasa 91/2-point favorite most of the week. Rightly so. SouthCarolina is adangerous team with its preseason All-SEC quarterback in LaNorris Sellers and atalented defender in linebacker Dylan Stewart. These two teams played an absolutely wild gamein Columbia, South Carolina, last year,with LSUrallying from a17-0 second-quarter deficit to edge the Gamecocks 36-33. Sellers got knocked out of that gamehalfway through, and it’s plausible to say that if he’dplayed theentire game, the Tigers would have lost Butthis gameisinTiger Stadium,where LSUhas only lost twice under Kelly AndSellers doesn’thave the sametalent around him as he did on last year’steam that just missed out on aCFP bid. We will find out quickly Saturday night if LSUquarterback GarrettNussmeier is finally healed up and if the Tigers can find apulse to their running game. LSUhas had an off week since its 24-19 loss at Ole Miss to get healthy,get right and get moreproductive, as Kelly has stressed his offense must If you’d said before theseason that LSU would be 4-1 at this point, it would generally have been an acceptable start, with the expectation that the loss would have been at Clemson, of course. The Tigers still have all their goals in front of them, but getting there starts with amust-winSaturday night This LSUteam’sown version of “D-Day” is here.

For more LSU sportsupdates, signup for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/ lsunewsletter

Thisweek: vs.South Carolina, 6:45 p.m. (SECNetwork)

6. OKLAHOMA

Record: 5-0overall, 1-0 SEC

Previous rank: 6

Last week: DefeatedKentState 44-0

Thisweek: vs.Texas, 2:30 p.m. Saturday (ABC)

7. TENNESSEE

Record: 4-1overall, 1-1 SEC

Previous rank: 7

Last week: Idle

Thisweek: vs.Arkansas, 3:15 p.m. Saturday (SECNetwork)

8. MISSOURI

Record: 5-0overall, 1-0 SEC

Previous rank: 10

Last week: Idle

Thisweek: vs.Alabama, 11 a.m. Saturday (ABC)

9. SOUTHCAROLINA

Record: 3-2overall, 1-2 SEC

Previous rank: 11

Last week: Idle

Thisweek: at LSU, 6:45 p.m. Saturday(SEC Network)

10.FLORIDA

Record: 2-3overall, 1-1 SEC

Previous rank: 14

Last week: DefeatedTexas29-21

Thisweek: at Texas A&M, 6p.m. Saturday (ESPN)

11.VANDERBILT

Record: 5-1overall, 1-1 SEC

Previous rank: 9

Last week: Lost to Alabama 30-14

Thisweek: Idle

12.TEXAS

Record: 3-2overall, 0-1 SEC

Previous rank: 8

Last week: Lost to Florida 29-21

6:45 p.m. SouthCarolinaatLSU SECN 7p.m.ByU at ArizonaESPN2

8:45 p.m. NewMexicoatBoise St.FS1 9:15 p.m. ArizonaSt. at Utah ESPN 9:30 p.m.

Thisweek: vs.Oklahoma, 2:30 p.m. Saturday (ABC)

13.MISSISSIPPI STATE

Record: 4-2overall, 0-2 SEC

Previous rank: 12

Last week: Lost to Texas A&M 31-9

Thisweek: Idle

14.AUBURN

Record: 3-2overall, 0-2 SEC

Previous rank: 13

Last week: Idle

Thisweek: vs.Georgia, 6:30 p.m. Saturday (ABC)

15.ARKANSAS

Record: 2-3overall, 0-1 SEC

Previous rank: 15

Last week: Idle

Thisweek: at Tennessee, 3:15 p.m. Saturday (SECNetwork)

16.KENTUCKY

Record: 2-3overall, 0-3 SEC

Previous rank: 16

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSUcoach Brian Kelly argues withanofficial after acall in the fourth quarter of the game against South Carolina on Sept.14, 2024, at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia,S.C. LSU won36-33.

DIFFERENTMINDSET

SWAC play Saturdayafternoon when theytraveltotakeonBethune-Cookman in

BY TOYLOYBROWN III

Staff writer

Oneacronymhas become popular with Southern in recentweeks.

“We’re talking about A.M.E., and we’re not talking about the church,” coach Terrence Graves said.“We’re talking about attitude,mindsetand execution.”

Those three things are what the staff and players for Southern (1-4,0-1 SWAC) believe are central toresolving the issues that have plagued them this season.Whenthe Jaguars face Bethune-Cookman (2-4, 1-1) at 2p.m. Sat-

BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

ON PAGE 7C

SWACpower rankings

Southern statistics ä ToyloyBrown’sprediction

urdayatDaytonaStadium in Daytona Beach, Florida, the Jaguarsknow that to actualize that acronym, they need to cut down on turnovers and penalties on both sides of theball.

The two open dates have helpedthe team sharpen its fundamentals.

“I think it helps us improve thedetails,”offensive lineman Juan Gonzales

said. “We’re always told tobeattentive to thedetails, be detailed about the details. So Ifeellike, youknow, twobye weeks (practically) back-to-back, Ifeel like we’ve grown alot as ateam and gelled together.”

Graves did not reveal who will start at quarterback against theWildcats. In the team’slast gameagainst Jackson State, junior Ashton Strother received his ﬁrst start of the year; Cam’Ron McCoy entered twice as athreat in the runpass option game.

Strother completed 10 of 20 passes for 120 yards andaninterception. The turnover happenedinthe red zone,

which led to aJackson State touchdown. Bethune-Cookman’s quarterback situation is also unclear.Starter Cam’Ron Ransom gothurtafter asack in the second quarter last weekagainst Alabama State and didn’treturn to the game. He was relieved by Timmy McClain, who hasmore than 600 yardspassing this year “I know Cam Ransom, the starting quarterback,hegot banged up alittle bit last week against Alabama State, but I’msure that he’ll probably be back this week,” Graves said. “But McClain

Late in the fourth quarter against the NewYorkGiants, there was New Orleans Saints cornerback KoolAid McKinstry putting the whole picture together. As the seconds on the play clock ticked down,McKinstry surveyed the ﬁeld and digested whathesaw He noted the down and distance, thetime remaining in the game, who he was lined up across from and whereheﬁtwithin the offensive formation. He quickly processed what the Giants had been trying to do, and most importantly,what they were likely to do next. McKinstry thought it would beanin-breaker route Sure enough, Giants receiver Beaux Collins tried to beat McKinstry inside, but he had no chance. McKinstry out-leveraged Collins and beat him to the ball for an athletic, leaping interception.

Thiscollection of informationand acting uponit, defensive coordinator BrandonStaley said,isan exampleofMcKinstry playing thegamewithinthe game. And this is what hasthe Saints excited about McKinstry’spotential

“Allthose things go into playingthe gamewithin the game and being able to anticipatebetter,”Staley said.“That’s what youwantfor anyplayer, but particularly ayoung player —tonot react allthe time. For them to feel like they’re theaggressor,they’renot absorbing what is coming at them.”

Lastweek against the Giants, theSaints ﬁnally saw the version of McKinstry they envisioned when they selected him withthe No. 41 pick last year

McKinstry endedconsecutive drives withinterceptions —the ﬁrst and second picks of his career —and snuffed out New York’slast, best chance at making a gameofitwhen he played withperfect technique to knockdowna pass to Theo Johnsoninthe endzone late in thefourthquarter

ä See KOOL-AID, page 6C

Alvin Kamara’slocker is right beside Blake Grupe’s, so he knows better than anyone how tough this season has been for the kicker The twoteam captains forthe NewOrleans Saints talk often. “The sucky part about being a kicker in the NFL is everybody always says, ‘You’ve got one job, just to kick,’ “Kamara said. “When you miss akick, it’sthe end of theworld and they are calling for your job. But that dude’sgot alot of s*** to him.I don’tknow if the fans pay attention, but he’s definitelylike amaster of his craft, andhe’sreally passionate about what he does and he takes pride in himself.He’skicking himself morethan the fans, a coach, anybody.” Grupehas madejust 10 of 15 field goalsthis season. His 66.7% on field goals ranks dead last in theNFL.The league average is 83%. He missed one field goal in each of the first three games,

then responded by making both of his attempts in aloss to the Buffalo Bills. But in last week’s victory over the NewYork Giants, he missed 2of6 attempts. The distance on his ﬁve misses this season is 37, 40, 46 and two 52-yarders. Those are almost considered chip shots in today’sNFL.

“He’sbattling through this,” Saints coach Kellen Moore said. “Everyone goes through challenging situations in the NFL. Our job is to rally him,rally the group. Ithink he’sgoing to respond to it really well. Ihave a lot of conﬁdence in his ability to respond to this.”

There hasn’tbeen one common factor in the misses. There was one in the opener that he admits he rushed because the play clock waswinding down. And there wasone last week that special teamscoordinator Phil Galiano said the ball was leaning too much on the hold when Grupe kicked it. So the entire operation —the snap from Zach Wood, the hold from punter KaiKroeger and the kick —all play apart.

STAFFPHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

A.W.Mumford Stadium. After an open date, the Jaguars returnto

Daytona Beach, Fla.

Rod Walker

STAFF PHOTO By DAVIDGRUNFELD

Saints cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry, center celebrates withteammates after his second interception against the Newyork Giants on Oct. 5in the Caears Superdome.

SAINTS NOTEBOOK

Saints, WR Vele searching for ﬁt

BY LUKE JOHNSON AND MATTHEW PARAS Staff writers

Five weeks into the season, the New Orleans Saints are still ﬁguring out how wide receiver Devaughn Vele ﬁts within their offense.

Sunday against the New York Giants, Vele played a season-high 37.9% of the offensive snaps for the Saints. His increased usage still resulted in modest production, with Vele catching both of his targets for 13 yards

Though the Saints nearly had identical pass-run splits (32 passes to 30 runs) against the Giants, most of the 6-foot-5 Vele’s work came on run downs He ran 11 routes against New York When the Saints have targeted Vele, he mostly has delivered positive outcomes. He’s caught four of five targets this season, and three have moved the chains — including a third-down conversion against New York — and one went for a touchdown.

New Orleans paid a relatively steep price to acquire Vele, sending a future fourth-round pick to the Denver Broncos to acquire him in late August.

Vele also has navigated a hip injury that kept him out of the Saints’ blowout loss to Seattle and left him questionable for the Week 4 contest against the Buffalo Bills.

“Obviously he missed a little bit (of time) a couple weeks ago,” coach Kellen Moore said. “He’s getting better, he was able to play this week and he did a really good job. He had a couple impact plays in the run game and in the pass game.

“... Roles evolve and change and increase as we go.”

WALKER

Continued from page 5C

“We’re working with some things, especially on the hashes and some things with the laces,” Kroeger said. “We are talking through what would be best Sometimes, those kind of things happen and like anything else, we watch the ﬁlm and we work through it. There has been a lot of communication between Blake, Zach and I. We feel we have a good plan moving forward on everything.”

Their next chance to right the ship comes Sunday in the Caesars Superdome when the Saints (1-4) host the New England Patriots (3-2). Four of Grupe’s ﬁve misses have come in the Dome. The other one came outdoors at Lumen Field in Seattle.

“Right now, Blake is going through a little bit of adversity,” Galiano said. “So we’re going to ﬁgure out a way that we are going to overcome this adversity. I do know this: If you’re going to feel sorry for yourself, you have no chance at overcoming adversity.”

The most surprising part of Grupe’s woes is that they have come on the heels of one of the most impressive training camps we’ve ever seen from a kicker

KOOL-AID

Continued from page 5C

It was, without question, the best game of his career. He was rewarded for his efforts with NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors. Now he’s looking to carry that momentum forward.

“It’s just something to build off,” McKinstry said. Sunday’s game against the Giants was only the 20th NFL game McKinstry has played in. He turned 23 years old less than a week before that performance As uneven as his performance sometimes has been both this

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Devaughn Vele catches a 3-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Spencer Rattler as San Francisco 49ers safety Jason Pinnock defends during the fourth quarter at the Caesars Superdome on Sept. 14

Injury report

The Saints are getting healthier, but they still will have to see whether their star running back can play Sunday against the New England Patriots.

The Saints listed running back

Alvin Kamara as questionable with an ankle injury. The 30-year-old was limited throughout practice this week

Although Moore said Kamara initially was banged up in practice, the veteran back said Thurs-

day that he actually suffered the injury in last week’s win over the New York Giants.

“I feel good,” Kamara said. “Just something in the game that I thought wasn’t that serious really, and really it’s not that serious really, but just a little soreness. I was like, ‘Let me go put some ice on it.’ It’ll be all right.”

Kamara said the injury had nothing to do with Kendre Miller having an expanded role during the second half against the Giants. Miller had seven carries to Ka-

Grupe missed just one kick throughout training camp and the preseason. The miss came on a day when it just happened to start raining at the team’s practice facility right as he was kicking. He was so good that I predicted Grupe would make the Pro Bowl this season.

So to see that success not transfer over into the regular season is shocking.

“It’s surprising to me, him and everyone,” Galiano said. “We all go through some tough times. He’s in the middle of some ad-

season and last, the Saints saw a bright future for him even before his breakout game.

“We think highly of him,” coach Kellen Moore said. “He’s going to be a tremendous corner for us for a long time.”

Like most young players — especially those with credentials such as McKinstry, a consensus

ﬁve-star recruit who earned AllAmerica honors at Alabama — McKinstry won by virtue of his talent for much of his life before he got to the NFL

But pure talent will get players only so far in a league ﬁlled with former ﬁve-star recruits and college All-Americans. So it makes sense that when McKinstry re-

versity I believe in him, and he’s going to battle through it.”

In the NFL, teams often move on from kickers who are struggling. Look no further than Atlanta. The Falcons parted ways with longtime kicker Younghoe Koo after just one game this season. And it would be an easy move for the Saints considering they already have another kicker Charlie Smyth, on their practice squad. But the Saints aren’t looking at making a move.

“We’re not going to make a

viewed his performance against the Giants, he credited the work he did on the margins leading up to the game.

“It made me realize how important the little things are,” he said.

In McKinstry, Staley sees a gifted player who has some important traits. He’s a gifted young player who not only understands the game but also loves it. That is a great starting point.

Elevating McKinstry from an idea to a fully realized impact player requires reﬁning all those small details that separate the good from the great.

“You’re playing against the best of the best, and it’s just like this,” Staley said, holding his ﬁn-

mara’s two after halftime.

Outside of Kamara, the Saints’ injury report was relatively clean.

The team ruled out cornerback Isaac Yiadom with a hamstring injury, and defensive tackle John Ridgeway (shoulder) was questionable to come off injured reserve.

Defensive end Chase Young wasn’t given an injury designation, meaning he’ll make his season debut Sunday after missing the ﬁrst ﬁve games with a calf injury

Moore said Young “should be in a good place just to go” when asked if the pass rusher would be on a snap count.

“Chase has just done so much,” Moore said. “You’re so happy to see him back on the ﬁeld He deserves it. He’s earned it. Nothing has been easy on this path for him. He’s had an excellent week of practice.”

Reid honored

The NFL Players Association recognized Saints safety Justin Reid as the Week 6 Community MVP after he recently hosted local kids for a coding and digital creative workshop at the New Orleans Public Library

Reid hosted the event through his “JReidIndeed” Foundation.

“I’m motivated to do this work because every kid deserves a chance in life through access to skills, mentorship, and opportunity,” Reid said in a statement. “This foundation is committed to making that a reality.”

This is the second time Reid has been honored for his community works by the NFLPA. The Louisiana native was also honored in 2021 for his charitable work helping Louisiana recover from Hurricane Ida when he was a member of the Houston Texans.

change for the sake of making a change right now,” Galiano said.

“We believe in him, and I think he’s going to come out of it and weather the storm.”

Grupe’s teammates believe he will snap out of it, too.

“He’s a talented kicker,” Kamara said. “You don’t want to make any premature decisions based off a couple small mistakes. I can think of a million players that you could have wrote off early and they wouldn’t have been who they were.”

The only way to silence the criticism is for Grupe to consistently start seeing his kicks sail through the uprights.

Galiano often shows his special teams players different highlights of them having success. One of the ones he’s shown Grupe is the preseason game in August against the Denver Broncos. Grupe made all three ﬁeld goals that day, including a 56-yarder

“I could see his swagger,” Galiano said. “I told him this is the version of you that we have to get back. This is who we all believe in, and we know who you are and this is what we need back.”

The Saints need it. More importantly, Grupe needs it.

Email Rod Walker at rwalker@ theadvocate.com.

gers an inch apart “all the time every play, every week. He understands he can play that game within the game if he really studies, really works at it.

“Your talent is taking you a long way and you can overcome some of the margins when you’re younger and you’re above the competition, but when you get here and everything’s tight, those little things are going to make the difference. He’s really investing in that.

“He’s still got a long ways to go, but he’s the right guy to be coaching.”

Email Luke Johnson at ljohnson@theadvocate.com.

Loyola Chicago chaplain

Sister Jean dies at 106

CHICAGO Sister Jean — born Dolores Bertha Schmidt on Aug. 21, 1919, then taking the name Sister Jean Dolores in 1937 — became one of the most talked-about personalities during that 2018 NCAA Tournament. She did countless interviews and even was celebrated with a bobblehead in her likeness. Health issues caused Sister Jean to step down from her role with the university in August, though the school said she remained as an adviser in the ﬁnal months of her life.

Sister Jean — born Dolores Bertha Schmidt on August 21, 1919, then taking the name Sister Jean Dolores in 1937 — became one of the most talked-about personalities during that 2018 NCAA Tournament. She did countless interviews and even was celebrated with a bobblehead in her likeness.

Aces sweep Mercury for another WNBA title

PHOENIX A’ja Wilson scored 31 points, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young both added 18, and the Las Vegas Aces won their third WNBA championship in four seasons, beating the Phoenix Mercury 9786 on Friday night for a four-game sweep of the WNBA Finals.

The Aces made quick work of the league’s ﬁrst best-of-seven Finals series. It was another offensive onslaught from Las Vegas, which scored 54 points in the ﬁrst half and averaged more than 90 points per game in the series.

The Aces led 76-62 going into the fourth quarter but the Mercury went on an 8-0 run early that cut the deﬁcit to 76-70 with 7:56 left. That was as close as they would get.

Ex-Celtics star Pierce arrested for DUI charge

LOSANGELES Former NBA player Paul Pierce was arrested Tuesday night on suspicion of driving under the inﬂuence on a Los Angeles highway after he was found asleep behind the wheel, state police said. California Highway Patrol officers responded at about 10:40 p.m. to an unrelated car crash involving multiple vehicles on the northbound lanes of U.S. Highway 101, closing four of the six lanes to investigate, the agency said in a press release. When they reopened the lanes about an hour later, they saw a Range Rover SUV stopped in the road, south of the crash. Ofﬁcers saw Pierce asleep at the wheel and “noticed signs of alcohol impairment” so they conducted a DUI investigation, the press release said.

Former Boston Red Sox outfielder Greenwell, 62, dies

BOSTON Mike Greenwell, an outﬁelder who played 12 seasons with the Boston Red Sox and ﬁnished second in the 1988 American League MVP voting, died Thursday, his wife said. He was 62.

The Boston Globe reported in mid-August that Greenwell had medullary thyroid cancer Tracy Greenwell told WINK, a radio station in Lee County, Florida, that her husband died in Boston.

Lee County Manager Dave Harner also announced Greenwell’s death on the county government’s social media account.

In 1987, Greenwell emerged as Boston’s full-time left ﬁelder, taking over the position previously occupied by three MVPs Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski and Jim Rice — who would later become Hall of Famers.

Swiatek stunned by Paolini at Wuhan Open

WUHAN, China Iga Swiatek was knocked out of the Wuhan Open on Friday in a straight-set defeat to Jasmine Paolini — a player the Wimbledon champion had never previously lost against Paolini powered her way to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over the second-ranked Swiatek in a quarterﬁnal that was over in 65 minutes.

It was the Italian’s ﬁrst victory over Swiatek in their seventh meeting with Paolini having previously won only one set — and secured her a semiﬁnal spot against the third-ranked Coco Gauff

“Finally I won a match,” the seventh-seeded Paolini said. “I’m super happy about my level. Just feels amazing.”

Paolini has a much better record against Gauff, having triumphed over the American in their past three meetings.

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Saints kicker Blake Grupe is consoled by punter Kai Kroeger after missing a field goal against the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 7 at the Caesars Superdome.

GAMEDAY

Southern tight end

Dupree Fuller is tackled by Alabama State safety

Deontre Morris on Sept. 6at

A.W.Mumford Stadium. Alabama State takes on Jackson State in abattleof teams that are 2-0 in league play on Saturday,while Southernplays at BethuneCookman.

LEADERS

PASSING

Cam’RonMcCoy

50%, 316yards,2TDs,2INTs

Ashton Strother

55.88%, 247yards,INT

RUSHING

Trey Holly

62 carries, 414yards,6.7 avg, 4TDs

Cam’RonMcCoy

31 carries, 181yards,5.8 avg, 2TDs RECEIVING

Darren Morris

11 catches, 165yards,15.00 avg, TD

CamJefferson 8catches,104 yards, 13.00avg,TD

DEFENSE

HoracioJohnson

30 tackles, 0.5for loss

Elijah West

33 tackles, 1for loss

VincentPaige

34 tackles, 0.5for loss

SCHEDULE

Showdown setinSWACEast

BY RASHAD MILLIGAN and TOYLOYBROWN III Staff writers

Although programs like Southern, FAMU and Mississippi ValleyStatereturntothe ﬁeld this week, most eyes around the Southwestern Athletic Conferencewill be in Mississippi as Jackson StatehostsAlabama Stateinashowdown of No. 1vs. No. 2inthe The Advocate’sSWAC power rankings.

Texas Southern, whichrolled over Arkansas-Pine Blufflast week, is thebiggest mover in this week’s rankings. Beloware thefull power rankings for theweek:

1. JacksonState

Records: 4-1 overall, 2-0 SWAC

Previous rank: 1

Lastweek: 57-24 win vs.Alabama A&M

Last week: 13-12win at Alcorn

State This week: Bye Extrapoints: PrairieView’sstruggles in aclose win at Alcorn State can be attributedtothe offense stalling out,which coach Tremaine Jackson said he wants to ﬁx coming outofthis week’s bye.The team has been on point defensively,however,with the No. 2defense in the conference —allowing 22.5 pointsper week.

4. Bethune-Cookman

Records: 2-4 overall, 1-1 SWAC

Previous rank: 4

Last week: 52-35 lossatAlabama

State This week: vs. Southern, 3p.m. Saturday

State, 2p.m. Saturday

Extrapoints: The Bulldogs were competitivewithJackson State for aquarter before the Tigers blewthe door open. Coach Sam Shade expressed disappointment in the team’srushing effort after AAMU ﬁnished with 59 yards on the ground. Shade saidhis team won’toverlook winless Mississippi Valley State because theDelta Devils have remained competitive in each SWAC game.

7. Grambling

Records: 3-2 overall, 0-1 SWAC

Previous rank: 7

Last week: Bye

This week: vs. TexasSouthern, 6p.m. Saturday

Cookman all-time,and Jaguars wonlast season 25-23 in overtime. Quarterback is still aquestion markasJalen Woods, who ended the 2024 season as the starter,returned to practice last week.

10.FAMU

Records: 1-3 overall, 0-1 SWAC

Previous rank: 10

Last week: Game vs. Mississippi Valley State postponed to Nov. 29

This week: vs. North Carolina Central, 2p.m. Saturday

Extra points: Coach James Colzie said he used the Rattlers’ surprising bye week to prepare for North Carolina Central. FAMU’sgame against MVSU, which was supposed to be played in Atlanta last week, was pushed to November in Itta Bena, Mississippi. Colzie said his team deservesa grade of Dfor its performance so far.

11.AlcornState

AUGUST 23 vs.N.CarolinaCent.*L,31-14

30 at Miss.ValleyState W, 34-29

SEPTEMBER 6vs. AlabamaState L, 30-7

13 at Fresno State L, 56-7 27 vs.Jackson StateL,38-13 OCTOBER

11 at

PREDICTION

SOUTHERN 34, BETHUNE-COOKMAN

30: TheSouthernoffense haslacked explosion, andthe defensehas faltered recently.But theJaguars arecomingoff theirsecondbye in threeweeks andshouldbeextremely prepared anddesperate to slow down Bethune-Cookman. The Southern offensealsoshouldlook better when it sees aweakWildcats defensethathas allowed46.5points pergameagainst twoSouthwestern Athletic Conference opponents. Toyloy BrownIII

SWAC STANDINGS

Thisweek: vs. Alabama State, 2:30 p.m. Saturday

Extrapoints: Coach T.C. Taylor expects this week’sgametobe physicaland for thewinner of the contest to be in prime position to win theSWACEastdivision. Alabama Statedual-threat quarterbackAndrewBodyisreceiving many of the headlines, and Taylor understandsthe Tigers’ defensive game plan needs to be balancedand keyed on the rushing attack.

2. AlabamaState

Records: 4-1overall, 2-0 SWAC

Previous rank: 2

Last week: 52-35 win vs. BethuneCookman

This week: at Jackson State, 2:30 p.m. Saturday

Extrapoints: CoachEddie Robinson said the Hornets have to win on ﬁrst down against Jackson State. He said preventing early gains in possessions can help themstay ahead in addition to creating turnovers. He also said while Alabama Stateunderstands the historical signiﬁcance of JSU-ASU, his current team is just focused on winning this “onegame.”

3. PrairieView

Records: 4-2 overall, 3-0 SWAC Previous rank: 3

SOUTHERN

Continued from page5C

is avery capable quarterback as well.”

McClain ﬁnished with 266 yards passing,two touchdowns and an interception, completing 25 of 34 passes in last week’s55-32 loss. He also rushed 12 timesfor 49 yards andtwo touchdowns.

Graves saidthat whoever is undercenter will be achallenge because thetalentlevels are similar for theathletic lefties who are capableofexecutingRPO plays and making short throws to receivers in space.

“They do agreat job of horizontallystretching you,”Gravessaid.

“If you don’thave the numbers, the quarterbacks are doing agreat job of just taking what the defense is giving them.”

Extrapoints: Coach Raymond Woodie said his team is going to have to focus in all phases hostingSouthernthisweek. Wildcats starting quarterback Cam’Ron Ransom only played in thefirst quarter last week afterbeing injured, but Woodie still expects him to play against the Jaguars. Backup quarterback Timmy McClain has been aviable option as well this season.

5. TexasSouthern

Records: 2-3 overall, 2-1 SWAC

Previous rank: 9

Last week: 51-7 win vs.ArkansasPineBluff

This week: at Grambling, 6p.m. Saturday

Extrapoints: The Tigers makethe biggestleapofthe powerrankings this week after adominant victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Coach Cris Dishman said that while the win was satisfying, theteam’sgoal remains to winthe SWAC West andrepresentthe SWAC in the Celebration Bowl.Hewants the team to perform well in all three phases at Grambling.

6. AlabamaA&M

Records: 3-3overall, 0-2 SWAC

Previous rank: 5

Last week: 57-24 loss vs. Jackson

State

This week: vs. Mississippi Valley

Sinceopening the season losing to Miami and FloridaInternational, coach RaymondWoodie’steam has scored morethan 35 pointsin every game. The Southern offense achieved aseason-high 34 points in aﬁve-point victory versus still winless Mississippi Valley State. TheWildcats also have been able to score long touchdowns on theﬁrst play of theirlast two games. They hada 79-yard receivingtouchdown in their 41-34 win over Alabama A&M and an 85-yard receivingtouchdown in their 52-35 losstoAlabama State last week.Southern’sconcentration will be tested from theonset

“It’snosecret thatthey like to quick strike theﬁrst play of the game,” Graves said. “Wegotta just make sure that we’re where we’resupposed to be, and we have to execute and play.”

Bethune-Cookmanwidereceiver

Maleek Huggins has 516 yards re-

Extrapoints: Coach Mickey Joseph saidhis team needstoget better at third-down conversions offensively.Healso hopes to get better linebackerplayinthe gaps and more dependable playfrom the roster’syounger players to establish more team depth. Since 2021, Grambling hassplit four games withTexas Southern,and this SWAC West matchup should be up for grabs.

8. Arkansas-PineBluff

Records: 2-3 overall, 1-0 SWAC

Previous rank: 6

Last week: 51-7 loss vs. Texas Southern

This week: vs. Westgate Christian, 2p.m. Saturday

Extrapoints: The Golden Lions get a chance to reset after getting dominated by Texas Southern last week in ahomemeeting with Westgate Christian, asecond-year football program in Houston, this Saturday.Westgate Christian enters on afour-game losing streak. Coach Alonzo Hampton guaranteed abetterperformance from histeamin this weekend’shomecomingaffair.

9. Southern

Records: 1-4 overall, 0-1 SWAC

Previous rank: 8

Last week: Bye

This week: at Bethune-Cookman, 2p.m.Saturday

Extrapoints: Coach Terrence Graves saidthe key to aJaguars wincoming out of the bye week is to contain the Wildcats’ speed. Southern is 7-0against Bethune-

ceivingand six touchdowns, which are both ﬁrst in the conference.

The Southern defensive backfield should be in better shape to contain thepassing game, as it is expected to have preseason AllSWAC first-team safety Horacio Johnsonback afterhewas injured against JacksonState.He is astrong open-field tackler and coverage defender, accumulating 32 tackles andfourpass breakups. Southern, which is allowing the ninth-most yards pergame in the SWAC,alreadyhas faced the top two offenses in theconference andshouldn’tbeunaccustomed to an explosive quarterback. Outside of penalties, one of its prevailing problemshas been tackling, whichGravessaidhas been an “emphasis” allseason Alsocrucial will be causing havoc in Bethune-Cookman’soffensive backfield

“You gottohavesomepressure

Records: 0-5 overall, 0-2 SWAC

Previous rank: 11

Lastweek: 13-12 loss vs. Prairie View

This week: vs. LincolnUniversity (Calif.), 2p.m. Saturday

Extrapoints: The Braves’ home opener endedina single-point loss to Prairie View after missing a41-yard ﬁeld goal attempt with 39 seconds left. LincolnUniversity,anindependent program in Oakland, California, canceled its past twogames after losing 90-0 to Idaho State. But Alcorn State coach Cedric Thomas reassured the media on Monday that Lincoln plans to show up in Mississippi on Saturday

12.MississippiValleyState

Records: 0-4 overall, 0-1 SWAC

Previous rank: 12

Last week: Game vs. FAMU postponed to Nov. 29

This week: at Alabama A&M, 2p.m Saturday

Extrapoints: CoachTerrell Buckley said he used his surprise of abye week to catch up. He said getting everything at the program to a respectfullevel hasbeen achallenge, buthe’sfeeling encouraged at the current direction. MVSU is 10-26 all-time againstAAMUand has lost its past two matchups against the Bulldogs.

on the quarterbacks,” Graves said. “Because those guys, if you don’tget pressure on them, and they can stand back there and ﬁndthose open guys, then that’s what makes those guys really effective.” Southern has the perfect player for that in edge rusherCkelby Givens. He is leading the conference in tackles for loss (9.5) and sacks (6.5).

Even though the Jaguars are off to theirworst start to aseason in 25 years, Graves sees the determinationofhis players. That commitment breeds conﬁdence.

“They’re coming to work every day and putting it all on the line,” Graves said. “I tell them, just continue to do what we’re doing and clean up some of the things that we’re doing, and this thing will ﬂip.” Email Toyloy BrownIII at toyloy.brown@theadvocate.com.

Johnson’s 3 TDs push Madison Prep past Southern Lab

BY CHARLES SALZER

Contributing writer

Madison Prep coach Landry

Williams acknowledged that Chargers standout Landon Johnson turned in a typical all-around performance Friday night against Southern Lab, but he wasn’t ready to say it was his best.

The numbers? They showed that Johnson was the difference as he scored three touchdowns, two in the second half, helping Madison Prep turn a tie game into a 32-14 rout at A.W Mumford Stadium.

Johnson started at quarterback and directed a 72-yard second-quarter touchdown drive. He also put in time at wide receiver, where he caught touchdown passes of 57 and 21 yards from Dylan Reed. Johnson’s third TD, a 60yard punt return, put the game out of reach midway through the fourth quarter.

eight minutes of the fourth quarter determine the game.”

Madison Prep stretched its lead to 26-14 when Reed connected with Keyon Robinson for a 57yard touchdown. Reed finished 5 of 6 for 144 yards and three touchdowns.

Southern Lab (3-3) got short touchdown runs from Jayden Hatcher and Terrance Hunter, and led 14-8 with less than two minutes to play in the third quarter A short kickoff put Madison Prep at midﬁeld, and Johnson turned a bubble screen into a 57-yard touchdown to tie the score with four seconds left in the quarter

“I put the team on my back,” said Johnson, who also broke up a pass on defense.

“I put the team on my back. I needed to make plays, so I did. That’s what I always do.”

“Landon was Landon tonight,” MP A coach Landry Williams said. “This wasn’t even his best, but he’s going to continue to work. Eventually he’s going to be somebody you see playing on Saturdays.”

LANDON JOHNSON, Madison Prep quarterback

Madison Prep (4-1) didn’t lead until Reed’s 21-yard TD pass to Johnson gave it a 20-14 advantage early in the fourth quarter The score followed the Chargers’ recovery of a squibbed kickoff that went off the side of Chargers’ kicker Daely Early’s foot.

“We were right where we wanted to be and the momentum swung on us,” Lab coach Darrell Asberry said of the kickoff.

“We’ve got to learn how to finish. It’s been like this every year when we play them. The last

“I needed to make plays, so I did That’s what I always do.”

Southern Lab moved into MPA territory on both of its ﬁrst quarter drives, but came up empty each time. The Kittens’ offense continued to move the ball, and finally found the end zone early in the second quarter

Sparked by Dexter Ricard’s 27-yard run, Lab needed only ﬁve plays to move from its 21 to the MPA goal line. Running back Jayden Hatch took a handoff 1-yard for the touchdown, and followed that with an extra-effort run around left end for the twopoint conversion.

The runs were Hatch’s only carries of the half, as he gave Lab an 8-0 lead.

Madison Prep responded with its best series of the half, a 10play drive capped by J’on Proﬁt’s 2-yard TD run on fourth-andgoal. Proﬁt also ran in the 2-point conversion, and the teams eventually went to the half tied 8-8.

Brusly defense shuts down Donaldsonville

Panthers hold Tigers scoreless until final quarter to earn nondistrict win

BY TERRY ROBINSON Contributing writer

The Brusly defense rose to the challenge Friday night.

The Panthers created four turnovers and shut down a potent Donaldsonville offense in a 21-7 nondistrict victory at Panther Stadium.

“We challenged the defensive guys all week long, and once again, the defensive staff did a great job of making adjustments to what we normally do defensively to present some problems for Donaldsonville,” Brusly coach Hoff Schooler said. “It really just comes down to the guys flying to the football.”

The Panthers (5-1) held the Tigers (5-1) scoreless until the ﬁnal quarter Donaldsonville came into the game averaging nearly 40 points while off to its best start since 2021. Brusly was giving up only nine points per outing.

to the offensive line. Can you go out there and take control of this football game,” Schooler said.

After the teams battled to a scoreless opening quarter, Brusly took advantage of one of three first-half Donaldsonville turnovers to stake itself to a 7-0 halftime lead.

Linebacker Brayden Ray intercepted Garrison on a tipped ball, setting up the Panthers at their own 46-yard line late in the ﬁrst quarter Eight plays later, Drake

Vincent capped a 54-yard drive with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Marion Irving early in the second quarter

Vincent helped sustain the drive with a 20-yard completion to Darion Bennett and an 18-yard scramble.

“We got hit in the mouth tonight, and that’s what we needed.”

DARNELL LEE, Donaldsonville coach

“We got hit in the mouth tonight, and that’s what we needed We were 5-0, but sometimes you need that wake-up call,” Donaldsonville coach Darnell Lee said.

“You got to give Brusly props. They did a good job tonight. They were prepared, and we had to make some adjustments, and we had to adjust to the adjustments.” Donaldsonville sophomore quarterback Skyler Garrison was intercepted three times

After clinging to a 7-0 advantage at the half, the Panthers turned to their offense in the second half. “The challenge at halftime was

The Panthers increased their lead on the second possession of the second half with an 85-yard march on eight plays.

Vincent connected with a streaking

Patrick Gales from 37 yards out for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead about midway through the third quarter

Another Donaldsonville miscue set up Brusly’s next score. Ray came up with another big play when he blocked a punt to set up the Panthers at the Tigers’ 15.

Two plays later, Robdrick Covington powered through the middle for a 4-yard touchdown, extending Brusly’s lead to 21-0 early in the fourth quarter

Donaldsonville got on the scoreboard on a 30-yard pass from Garrison to Donald Brown, cutting the deficit to 21-7 with about ﬁve minutes remaining in the game.

“Donaldsonville’s a team that’s going to roll around and win a lot of football games and help us in the (power points) as well,” Schooler said.

HIT THE SACK

King’s huge stop allows East Feliciana to down Slaughter

BY JACKSON REYES Staff writer

East Feliciana needed one more stop.

After a Slaughter Community Charter touchdown in the fourth quarter swung momentum, the Knights were driving on the Tigers but faced a fourth down at the East Feliciana 26 with 28 seconds left.

Knights senior quarterback Carson Baxter dropped back but quickly was pressured by Tigers sophomore Matthew King. Baxter tried to spin out of King’s grasp, but the linebacker threw him to the ground for the game-sealing sack.

“My ﬁrst thought was just to grab him, and I did it,” King said. “I thought he threw it, but he didn’t. I was just happy There was just a lot going through my head.”

East Feliciana (5-1, 3-0) held on for the 16-10 victory on the road.

“It was just amazing,” King said about the sack. “It felt good, everybody cheering my name.”

The Tigers defense held the Knights to just 149 yards, including 67 yards rushing on 28 attempts.

“Our defense has been the backbone of our team the whole season,” East Feliciana coach Darius Matthews said. “We didn’t have any doubt that we were going to stop them.”

Slaughter Charter (5-1, 2-1) scored a late touchdown in the fourth after a fumbled Tigers’ punt gave the Knights the ball at the East Feliciana 49. With 4:40 left in the game, Knights senior quarterback Ty’Kimion Ford threw a 20-yard touchdown to senior receiver Thomas Carter

Penalties were an issue for both sides. East Feliciana was penalized 17 times while the Knights were ﬂagged 10 times.

Overcoming the penalties went back to the work the team did in the offseason, Matthews said.

“We knew facing adversity was no problem,” he said. “Just dealing with it in the moment, so we did an excellent job of that.”

After a scoreless ﬁrst quarter, the Knights found the scoreboard with a 30-yard ﬁeld goal early in the second.

East Feliciana took over, but two penalties before the ensuing drive’s ﬁrst play set them

BY CHRIS CHAPPLE Contributing writer

Central scored touchdowns on three straight possessions in the fourth quarter to rally past host Woodlawn 38-21 on Friday night in the District 4-5A opener for both teams. The game had four lead changes and Woodlawn led 21-14 with 6:23 remaining in the third quarter on Cayden Randall’s direct snap twopoint conversion run that followed Randall’s 79-yard scoring pass to Alonzo Luckett. The Central defense sent multiple players on a blitz on that play, but Randall lofted a soft pass to Luckett, who got behind the defense.

Reigning state champion Central (5-1, 1-0 in District 4-5A) scored touchdowns on four of its next ﬁve possessions. Randall scored on Woodlawn’s ﬁrst play from scrimmage on a 53yard reverse and added a 5-yard scoring run in the third quarter to pace Woodlawn (3-3, 0-1). Both teams had three turnovers.

back with ﬁrst and long. Senior K’Darius Miller picked all of the yards back up himself on a 17-yard run. The play sparked an 11-play 63-yard scoring drive that ended with junior quarterback Marcus Cannon scoring a 1-yard touchdown on a tush push. The score with 4:14 left in the second was the ﬁrst points Slaughter Charter had allowed all season.

“We were never afraid of scoring on anybody,” Matthews said. “We are capable of scoring on anyone.”

The Tigers led 8-3 after a successful twopoint try East Feliciana then pulled a trick out of its bag with an onside kick to get the ball right back at the Slaughter Charter 40.

Thanks to two penalties, East Feliciana needed just four plays to score another touchdown. At the 2-yard line, Cannon scored his second rushing touchdown. The Tigers led 16-3 after another successful twopoint try Cannon finished 14-of-20 passing for 92 yards with two rushing touchdowns.

Both sides were scoreless in the third. The Knights rallied late with a touchdown but saw their comeback fall short.

“Every game counts,” Matthews said. “We got bragging rights this year for 365 days.”

Central lost three fumbles with Woodlawn’s Rushard FlemmingRica and Cameron Joyner making fumble recoveries. Central’s Ethen Smith had an interception.

“We’re not playing clean football right now,” Central coach David Simoneaux said. “It took us a long time to settle in for this game We were able to separate in the fourth quarter I thought our offensive line played well the whole game. We’ve got some stuff to clean up with our defense.”

Woodlawn coach Tramon Douglas lamented how his team ﬁnished the game.

“We were winning in the fourth quarter, and that’s what we wanted,” Douglas said. “We just didn’t ﬁnish the game well. We just had too many bad snaps, dropped balls and a few where we missed wide-open receivers. Our special teams didn’t play well and put our defense in a bind. We’ve got some things to clean up.” Randall rushed eight times for 60 yards and was 5-of-10 passing

for 138 yards to pace Woodlawn Luckett had two catches for 99 yards. Shane Brown led Central with 133 yards rushing on 15 carries and Tristan Rose added 44 yards on eight carries. Brown scored on a 40-yard run with 4:41 left in the ﬁrst quarter to tie the game at 7-7. Max Gassiott had an 8-yard run with 1:00 left in the ﬁrst half as Central led 14-7 at the break. Woodlawn had the first two scores of the third quarter and led 21-14. Central’s Jake Jarreau had a 1-yard run but the ensuing twopoint run failed as the Panthers led 21-20. Central’s three straight scores in the

STAFF PHOTOS By HILARy SCHEINUK

Slaughter Charter quarterback Carson Baxter is sacked by East Feliciana linebacker Matthew King in the fourth quarter of their game on Friday at Slaughter Community Charter in Slaughter

East Feliciana quarterback Marcus Cannon, left, flips the ball to running back Makyle Cannon during a game against Slaughter Community Charter on Friday.

THE VARSITYZONE

AscensionCatholicrolls to win

BY PATRICK WRIGHT

Contributing writer

“Hard-nosed” and “elusive” were just two of the adjectives

Ascension Catholic coach Taylor

James used to describe senior running back Trevin Simon,who ran through and around the Ascension Christian defense Friday night for 299 yards and three touchdowns.

Simon ran for 203 yards andtwo scores in the ﬁrst half to help the Bulldogs to abig halftime lead, and Ascension Catholic defeatedAscension Christian 42-0 in the District 8-1A openerfor both teams at Floyd Boutte Stadium.

The Bulldogs outgainedthe Lions379-77, with 320 of those yards coming on the ground, where they averaged 11.4 yards per carry

Before Simon took over,Ascension Catholic (4-2, 1-0) gotits ﬁrst scoreona big pass play

On the second play from scrimmage, Johnny Viallon scored on a64-yard passfromquarterback

Greg Fernandez. Viallon was alone on the sideline with no defenders near him, and the easy pitch and catch put Ascension Catholic up 7-0 just 51 seconds into thegame.

Following apunt by Ascension Christian (3-3, 0-1), the Bulldogs scored on asix-play drive that featured four carries by Simonfor 74 yards. Simon ﬁnished the drive with a37-yardrun in whichhe juked his way down the left side-

line, stopping and cutting several times along theway.The score gave AscensionCatholic a14-0 lead after onequarter

Fernandezscored on a6-yard keeper up the middle early in the second quarter,and with under twominutesremaining, Simon

went back to work. With theballatthe Bulldogs 22 Simon ran up the middle for19 yards.Onthe next play,hefound

his waytothe left sideline by shedding several tackles, raced down the sideline, stopped to let a couple of would-be tacklers go by, and eased into the end zone for a 59-yard touchdownthat put Ascension Catholic up 28-0 at halftime.

“He is an old-school one-cut back,and when he gets into the open ﬁeld, he is really hard to tackle,” James said. “And he is an animalinthe weight room, which sets the tone forthe rest of our team.”

James also used the word “leader” to describe his star running back.

“Any timeyour best players are your hardest workers, you have a shot to be good. He is an awesome person and leader and is ajoy to be around becauseheshows up every day and gives you his best. Ican’t say enough good things about the kid or the player.”

Ascension Christian coach Conrad Gayle knew the deck was stacked against his team in the road matchup.

“The playersthat they haveare fantastic. That is atop-tier program in this state,” Gayle said. “Weknewwewere going to get their best punch on homecoming. ButI am proudofmyguys.We are alittle beat up, and we have to get back home and see where we stand. Youtip your hat to Ascension Catholic.”

Ascension Catholic continued its dominance in theseries withAscensionChristian.The Bulldogs have now wonseven straight over the Lions with an average margin of victory of 40 points.

FOOTBALLREPORT

Passes(C-A-HI) 14-20 6-12-1

24, White Castle 6 Elton def. Oberlin,forfeit Erath 48, DeQuincy0 Evangel Christian 71, Capt. Shreve25 Franklin Parish 55, West Ouachita 28 Green Oaks 34, Bastrop 6 Hahnville 34, Thibodaux 20 Haynes 35, Thomas Jefferson27 Holy Savior Menard22, Oakdale 20 Iota 21, Crowley 8 Iowa 33, Leesville 7 Jeanerette 62, Centerville 12 Jena 62, Marksville 46 John Curtis 21, Holy Cross 13 Kennedy 35, Booker T. Washington 8 Kentwood 40, Frederick Douglass0 Kinder 60, South Beauregard28 LaSalle 46, Lakeview 12 Lafayette Christian 48, Lafayette Renaissance 7 LakeCharles Prep 43, Jennings 32 Lakeshore41, Franklinton 27 Landry-Walker 26, Livingston Collegiate 15 Lincoln Preparatory 42, Ringgold 0 Livonia 34, Beau Chene 15 Logansport 20, St.Mary’s 14 Loreauville 35, Delcambre0 M.L. KingCharter42, JS Clark 14 Mandeville 26, Covington 9 Mangham 56, Ferriday48 Mansﬁeld 38, RedRiver 30 Many56, Lakeside 13 Natchitoches Central 34, Opelousas 33 Neville 56, Pineville 6 New Iberia Catholic 49, Franklin 8 North DeSoto 63, Minden 13 Northshore31, Salmen 28 Oak Grove 47, Beekman 7 Peabody 54, Grant 41 Pearl River 21, Hannan 6 Pickering 48, CrescentCity 0 Pine 50, Albany22 Pointe Coupee Catholic 40, N. Central6 Pope John Paul 42, St.Thomas Aquinas6

Rayville 36, Madison 12 Riverside Academy49, St. Martin’s 0 Ruston 21, Ouachita Parish14 Saint Paul’s 41, Hammond 12 Shaw24, St. James 20 Slidell 17, Fontainebleau 7 South Plaquemines 47, Sarah T. Reed 7 Southwood 36, Woodlawn(SH) 22 St. Augustine 46,Jesuit 23 St. Charles Catholic 31, Terrebonne 28 St. Edmund Catholic 60,Academyof Sacred Heart-Grand Coteau 0 St. Frederick Catholic 50,Block 0 St. Helena 12,Independence7 St. Thomas More42, Northside 0 Sterlington 40,Richwood 0 Sulphur 44, New Iberia 41 Teurlings Catholic 64,RHS 0 Vandebilt Catholic 34,South Lafourche 20 Vermilion Catholic 63, Highland Baptist0 Vinton 50, WestminsterChristian (LAF) 20 Washington-Marion60, LaGrange 36 Welsh12, Loranger 0 West Monroe 34, Alexandria 31 West St. John 46, Varnado 6 West St. Mary 30, HoumaChristian 0 Westgate 22, St. Martinville 0 Westlake21, St. Louis13 Winnﬁeld 49,Rosepine 28 Young Audiences 68,Jefferson Rise 6 Ascension Catholic 42, Ascension Christian 0 Team A.ChristianA. Catholic First Downs 13 9

YardsRushing 28-320 36-65

YardsPassing 59 12 Passes(C-A-HI) 3-8-1 4-11-2

Punts-avg.1-27 3-25

Fumbles-lost 1-0 3-0 Penalties-yards7-75 2-20

SCORING SUMMARY

A. Christian 00 00 —0 A. Catholic 14 14 77 —42

ACHS: JohnnyViallon64pass from Greg Fernandez (Mikie Blanchard kick)

ACHS: Trevin Simon 37 run (Blanchardkick)

ACHS: Fernandez 6run (Blanchard kick) ACHS: Simon 59 run(Blanchardkick)

ACHS: Simon 8run (Blanchardkick)

ACHS: Josh Barber 4run (Blanchard kick) East Feliciana 16, Slaughter Charter 10

Team EF Slaughter First Downs 18 10

YardsRushing 32-147 28-67

YardsPassing 92 82

Punts-avg Fumbles-lost 2-0 1-0 Penalties-yards17-175 10-100

SCORING SUMMARY EastFeliciana 0160 0—16 Slaughter Charter 03 07 —10

SC: Colton Borg30ﬁeld

TerryRobinson

FAITH MATTERS

Resource Fair helpsmothers, families in theBRarea

The challenges of motherhood helped birth anew ministry for Victoria Brock.

The 28-year-old Zachary mother said the birth of her son two years ago broughta mixture of joy and fear,which ultimately led her on arenewed walk with God andset her on apath to serve others.

“There was alot of fear because this is the best thing I’ve everdone, having my son, Brock said of being aﬁrst-time mom. “The fear really made me feel overwhelmed because Ididn’twant just to do it, I wanted to do it well.” Instead of rejoicing in anew season of life, Brock found herself experiencing an overwhelming feeling of isolation and ﬁnancial strain, as her autosalesman husband was the family’ssole meansof income during her extended maternity leave.

“There are so many people who struggle in silence, andI really feel like that’swhere the devilcan getyou —whenyou feel like you’re in the dark and you feel isolatedfrom notjust Christ, but from other people who are struggling just like you, and alot of people are,” said Brock, who is amember of Baker Church of the Nazarene. Yet, through all the struggles, Brock held onto herfaith “I felt like the only thingthat could change would be some serious spiritual intervention from God,” she said. “When you’re pregnant, your connection to God is so intense, forme at least. Just the idea thatGod has blessed me to put somebody’sspirit in me.” She also felt blessed to still have asafety net in her family and friends.

“My husband is agreat man,” she said. “I cannot truly imagine what womenare going through who do not have that support system or accessto family members.”

The revelation led Brock to found 2The People, afaithbasedorganization to support mothers and families. It is based on the words of Jesusin Matthew 18:20: “For where two or three are gatheredinmy name, there am Iwith them.” Brock said she began envisioning the concept for 2The People more than ayear ago, but it wasn’tuntil earlier this year that she found the courage to bring the vision to life.

“All of this is God,” shesaid “This is deﬁnitely aseed that God planted, and Iamagardener.Everything thatwe’re doing is just ordained andled by God. This is his vision, andI think he wants us to know that we’re not alone.” For six months, 2The People hasbeen planning its ﬁrst major outreach. The free “Plugged In” Community Resource Fair willbeheld 10 a.m. to 2p.m. Saturday at Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, 185 Eddie Robinson Sr.Drive, Baton Rouge.

“I felt like Ineededtocreate something where women could come and get some resource help from some nonproﬁtsin the community.Weactually are going to have aprayer room where we will have pastors and ministers who are going to be waiting to pray with anybody who wants to have

Baton RougeBallet Theatre’syouth Ballet companyperformed the ‘Galop’ from ‘Giselle’ during its added performance, ‘Lagniappe,’which opened its 2025-26season, marking its65th anniversary.

THEFLOOR IS THEIRS

BatonRouge Ballet commemorates its 65th season by ‘bringingballettoBaton Rouge’

BY ROBIN MILLER Staff writer

Baton RougeBalletTheatre has commemorated quite afew landmarks on its timeline in recent years.

Theyear 2022 marked30years since the ﬁrst staging of “The Nutcracker —A Tale From the Bayou,” an original Louisianarenditionof Pyotr IlyichTchaikovsky’sclassic Christmas ballet In 2024, that ballet’screators, Molly Buchmann andSharon Mathews, retired after 48 years as the company’sco-artistic directors. That ledtothe 2024-25 season with the company moving forward with newco-artisticdirectors Rebecca Acosta and JonnaCox.

Entering it 65th year

Now the company has begun its 65th year by adding afourth performance to its regular season.

Baton RougeBalletTheatre has turned 65 in thenew season, and Acosta and Cox are moving forward intothe next 65 yearswith plans to give company dancers more performance opportunities. “We’ve started outthe season

Baton RougeBallet Theatre kicked off its 2025-26 65thanniversary season with ‘Lagniappe,’featuring companydancers in contemporary and classical dances, including soloist Alli Welch in ‘Let It Be’ choreographed by Shannon Johnson Grayson.

withanew opportunity forour dancers by adding the new concert, ‘Lagniappe,’ to our season,” Cox said. “Wealso did this by trying anew venue in Baton Rouge

Baton Rouge Magnet High School’s auditorium —which wasn’tas costly and kept our tickets at very affordable prices.”

The addeddance concertcombined classical and contemporary works, along with aperformance by guest artist and company alumnus Adrienne Simmons.

“Butitwas just atest this year to see how it goes,” Cox said. “It wasachallenge forour dancers because we hit the ground running in August when we’re usually easing into ‘The Nutcracker.’

This year,weshowed up in August in full throttle preparing for‘Lagniappe.’

Hundreds throughthe years

BatonRouge BalletTheatre was founded in 1960. Though they don’thave an exact number,Cox and Acosta agree that hundreds of dancers have danced as members of the company through the years. Today,approximately 25 professional dancers make up the company’smembership, while 30 school-age dancers dance with the company’sYouth Ballet.

Rêve Coffee Labopens astand in BR’s MidCity

Rêve Coffee Lab opened astand in the back of The Parker Barber at 2544 Government St., Baton Rouge.

BY MADDIE SCOTT Staff writer

In aspace that’ssmall but mighty,RêveCoffeeLab has opened acoffee stand on GovernmentStreet in Baton Rouge. At 2544 GovernmentSt., next to Barracuda Taco Stand and in the back of The Parker Barber, the specialtycoffee shop business opened in earlySeptember and it’shere to stay,according to

the Baton Rouge location’sgeneral manager Eric Schoonmaker

“We’re getting to know the spot,” Schoonmaker said about the softopening. “Wejustmade amonth.” Thestand is currently open 8a.m. to 5p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, but Schoonmaker hopes to extend the hours starting next week to Thursday through Sunday.Ifnot next week, it’ll be real

PROVIDED PHOTOByROB SCHLEGEL

Brock

TODAYINHISTORY

Eating themightycarrot

Dear Readers: Carrots areone of my favorite vegetables, and you can do so much with them. Carrots have asweet, nutty ﬂavor,and they are also agreat source of antioxidants, vitamin C, vitamin Aand potassium. Research shows that adaily consumption of carrots or carrot juice helps lower cholesterol, improves vision, and boosts the immune system. —Heloise Keepingcoffeehot

By The Associated Press

Hints from Heloise

Dear Heloise: Ihate coldcof-

St. Francis Episcopal holds garage sale

St. Francis Episcopal Church, 726Maple St., Denham Springs, will hold its annual garage sale from 7a.m. to 3p.m. Friday-Saturday, Oct. 17-18. Find clothing, toys, home décor,tools, housewares, and more. Proceeds will beneﬁt the mission and ministry of the church.

St. Francis also invites the communitytoits worship service at 10 a.m. on Sundays. For more information, call (225) 665-2707 or visit www stfrands.org.

Fill-a-Truck for St. Vincent de Paul

Residents can help ﬁll the St.VincentdePaultruck and support those in need from 8a.m. to noon Saturday,

MATTERS

Continued from page1D

prayer,”Brock said. The resource fair will feature more than 40 community organizations, state agencies, individual vendors, giveaways and a free lunch. Workshops will cover topics such as selfcare, healthy eating, housing programs and résumébuilding.

“It’snot just aresource fair,it’saccess to health, and hopefully,helpsomebody change courseif they’renot going down the best road,” she said. “We’re really trying to touch every aspect or as many as we can, so that everybody

RÊVE

Continued from page1D

soon, he said.

“Now that we’re in October,I’m going to startpushing for four days aweek, but all that comes with stafﬁng,” Schoonmaker said. “I’m pulling (in) some guys from my Willow Grove spot.”

In addition to expanding hours, Schoonmaker also wants to add some tables and chairs to the space, which is about 750 square feet.

The stand can make anything with espresso, he said and it also offers pour-overs, matcha and selectpastries

fee, so when apot is brewing, Iplace my coffee mug that is ﬁlledwith water inthe microwave and heat it for1 minute, then pour the water out. It helps to keep the coffee warm for alittle longer when it’spoured into amug that’salready heated. —Jenny,inTexas Tiptaker?

Dear Heloise: My husband and Ipaid forour meal at arestaurantwitha gift card. The waiter then told us that the card only hadapenny remainingon

RELIGION BRIEFS FROM STAFFREPORTS

Nov.1,at St. John theBaptistChurch, 4826 Main St., Zachary. They will be accepting donationsof: n Furniture n Working appliances n Lamps n Pots and pans n Household items n Gently used clothing n Baby items n Shoes n Coats n Bedspreads and sheets Mattresses and box springs willnot be accepted. Allitems mustbepackedin boxesorplastic bags.

AnnualFamily &Friends Service

Nathaniel Baptist Church, Highway 33, Centreville, Mississippi, invites the community to its annual Family &Friends Service. Theevent will takeplace

who comes here can get as much of what they need as possible.”

Apivotal moment conﬁrmedBrock’scalling: when afriend of afriend lost her baby due to complications that maybe could havebeen prevented. Brock said that tragedy was too much to ignore and strengthened her passion to serve those in need.

“It was just an example of not havingaccess to the rightknowledge or information,” she said.“If everybodyaround is sort of usedtostruggling thesame way,then nobody knows that it’sbetter on the other side. If she had known that, maybe the baby may have survived.”

In addition to leading 2

made in-house at theWillow Grove location off Perkins Road

Schoonmaker’sbarber told him about the vacant space, formerly D’sGarden Center,that closedabout a year ago. After asuccessfultrialrun ofapop-upin March, Schoonmaker decided tomake it ofﬁcial and start paying rent at the location.

Schoonmaker,born and raised in Baton Rouge,has worked with Rêve Coffee Lab for ﬁve yearsand said he’sready to domore, hence thestand

“That’skind of thecool thing with Rêve,”Schoonmaker said. “Wehave alot

it! We believed the waiter took anice tip with thebalance that was on the card. Advise your readers to know thebalance on their card before they use it.You can call the customer service number on the back. We learned too late. —A Reader,via email Cubist

Dear Heloise: Ifreezecoffee and soft drinks in my ice cube trays; this way,my drinks never get watered down. —Ann V.P.,inLubbock,Texas

Email heloise@heloise.com.

at 2p.m. Sunday,Oct. 26. The guest willbethe Rev.Derrick Williams, of the New Pilgrim BaptistChurch.

Free parenting class at Eden Park Branch

Eden ParkBranch Library, 5131 GreenwellSprings Road,Baton Rouge, will conducta free, in-person parenting classfor parents andcaregivers on Mondays Oct. 13, 20 and 27.

Classtime is 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

This three-partclass will offer practical discipline tools, help one better connect withtheir child, manage stress and build healthy routines.

“It’s perfect for ﬁrst-time parentsoranyone looking for fresh strategies and support,” according to anews release. The classes are open to all.

The People and working full-time at theLouisiana Highway SafetyCommission, Brock is working to assist families in other ways —asavolunteer doula withMary’sHands Network.

“I’m excited to be in the birthing room,” Brock said. “If you can bring joy and peace to themom, then you bring joy andpeace to thehousehold. What could be more spiritual than bringing life intothe world?”

For moreinformation on theresource fair,call 225252-6687 or email 2theppl@ gmail.com

ContactTerry Robinson at terryrobinson622@gmail. com

of equipment and access to alot of high-end gear.Wealways have something in our back pocket that we can use for stuff like this.”

RêveCoffee Lab purchases beansdirectlyfrom farmers across the world.

OneofSchoonmaker’sgoals is to raise awareness about specialty, qualitycoffee and what it actually is.

On Oct. 3,hewas manning the stand whilesipping a light to medium roast called Ethiopia Gera Estate.

“My goal while workinginspecialtycoffee is to provide thatknowledge to Baton Rouge, just so people knowquality,”Schoonmaker said.

Today is Saturday, Oct. 11, the 284th day of 2025. There are 81 days left in the year

Todayinhistory:

On Oct. 11, 1991, Anita Hill accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassmentintestimony before theSenate Judiciary Committee; Thomas denounced theproceedings as a“hightech lynching” and was conﬁrmed on Oct. 15 by a 52-48 vote.

Also on this date:

In 1906, theSan Francisco BoardofEducation ordered the city’sAsian studentssegregated into their own school. (The order was later rescinded at the behest of President Theodore Roosevelt, who in exchange promised to curb future Japanese immigration tothe United States.)

In 1968, Apollo 7, the ﬁrst crewed ﬂight of the Apollo program,was launched with astronauts Walter Schirra Jr ,Donn F. Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham aboard.

In 1984, Challenger astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan becamethe ﬁrst American woman to walk in space as she and fellow Mission Specialist David C. Leestma spent 3½ hours outside the shuttle.

In 1986, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev opened two days of talks in Reykjavik, Iceland, concerning arms control and human rights.

In 1987, the AIDS Memorial Quilt was ﬁrst displayed during the Second National March on Washington forLesbian and Gay Rights on the National Mall.

In 2002, former President Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize forhis and The Carter Center’swork to resolve international conﬂicts and advocate forhuman rights.

In 2017, the Boy Scouts of America announced that it would admit girls into the Cub Scouts starting the following year and establish anew program forolder girls based on the Boy Scout curriculum.

In 2021, Jon Grudenre-

signed as coach of the Las Vegas Raiders following reports about messages he wrote years earlier that used offensive termsto refer to Black people, gays and women; Gruden later ﬁled alawsuit, still pending, against the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell, alleging a“malicious and orchestrated campaign” to destroy his career In 2024, the Nobel Peace Prize wasawarded to Nihon Hidankyo, aJapanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshimaand Nagasaki during World War II, forits activism against nuclear weapons. Today’sbirthdays: Former U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry is 98. Actor Amitabh Bachchan is 83. Singer Daryl Hall (Hall and Oates)

Baton RougeBallet Theatre’s 2025-26 companyofprofessional dancers.

BALLET

Continued from page1D

“Dancers are chosen by audition,” Acosta said. “And alldancersmustreaudition fortheir spots every year Balletisdefinitely very unique, and it’svery specific.Weusually start outwith areally large Youth Ballet group, and thenbythe time they have reached the end of their time with BRBT,that number usually dwindles.”

“Beingpart of the ballet company is very time consuming,” Cox added. “It’s very rigorous. Idon’twant to say, ‘Only ifyou survive,’ but in away,that’strue becauseit’sjust verydemanding.It’sacommitment.”

Acosta and Cox speak from experience. They, along with Associate ArtisticDirector ChristinePerkins, were once company members. Perkins’ daughter is now amember and is dancing the coveted partof the Sugar Plum Fairyinthis year’sproduction of “The Nutcracker.”

Speaking of “The Nutcracker,” Acosta and Cox are planning to restage the production with the exact choreography and staging created by theirpredecessors. Thedancerswillbeaccompanied by the Baton Rouge

Amember of the ‘Nutcracker —A Tale from the Bayou’ performs the Chinese Dance forthe audienceatthe Baton RougeBallet Theatre’sLand of the Sweets Tea. This year’s tea takesplace Nov. 30 at the Lod Cook Alumni Center

Symphony Orchestra Dec. 20-21 in the Raising Cane’s RiverCenter Performing Arts Theater,240 St.LouisSt. The show willbepreceded by the Land of theSweets Nutcracker Tea, achildren’s event,at2 p.m. Nov.30, in the LodCook AlumniCenter at LSU. Meanwhile,adult patronswill have achance to attendaparty andsit in on a previewperformance at the Night at the Nutcracker fundraiser at 6p.m. in the River Center Theater

“They’llbeabletosee our dress rehearsal, and hors d’oeuvres will be served,” Acostasaid.“Tickets will be

$150.”

Then comes the spring, when the company hosts the Houston Ballet II for two performances at 2p.m. and 8p.m. March 28 at theManship Theatre in theShaw Center for the Arts, 100 Lafayette St.

Theseason ends with a ﬁnale performance of “Rapunzel” at 7p.m. April 17, in the River Center Theater, immediately followed by a 65th anniversary reception in aprivatehome. In between, theballet company willparticipate in competitions and host summer danceintensive classes,

while the YouthBallet embarks on its annual summer library tour

Forthe future

Going forward, Acosta and Cox hope to continue hosting guest companiesduring their dance seasons.

“But we have to look at the costand go from there,” Cox said.

Theyalso hope to boostthe ages of its dancers

“There’s an ebb and flow in dance, in studio life,” Cox said. “In the ‘90s, when Christine and Iwalked through these doors, we were part of an adultprofessional group. Right now, the bulk of our dancers are high schooldancers.Wedon’twant to limit ourselves as being ahigh school level dance group.”

If Acosta and Cox need advice in how to achieve this goal, they don’thave to look far. Buchmann andMathews areownersofthe Dancers’ Workshop, wherethe ballet company meets andrehearses, and are often there.

“They’re still very much around,” Cox said. “And I feel like we’re deﬁnitely celebrating amilestone in bringing ballet to Baton Rouge.”

For moreinformation, visit batonrougeballet.org.

Email RobinMiller at romiller@theadvocate. com.

Dear Miss Manners: On our neighborhood app, one of my neighbors cautioned that twoyoung men had recently knocked on her door.She could see them on the security camera and she did not know them.She thought them odd, but opened the door anyway Nothing bad happened, but she felt unsettled and brought the interaction to our community’sattention.

Judith

Icommented that it was ﬁne to ignore knocking and to not open your door to strangers, adding that it is not even impolite. Another neighbor disagreed and said it was impolite. Please settle the question.

Gentle reader: Safety —and legality —transcend etiquette’ssocial obligations. Youdonot need to be welcoming to someone whois robbing your house.

The fact that your neighbor wasunsettled is enough evidence to afﬁrm that she should not have opened the door.Trespassers of any kind need not be treated as guests, Miss Manners assures you. Even the police may not enter without awarrant.

Dear Miss Manners: While traveling abroad on a group tour,I invited three travel companions to share abottle of wine with me, and they agreed. None of us were teetotalers.

As the waiter poured for us, one lady refused the wine and ordered asoda. WasI obligated to pay for the soda? Idid, but if she had decided on acocktail, not wine, what would my obligation have been?

Gentle reader: Obligation is astrong word, but it was areasonable presumption that you were treating your companions to around of drinks, not just that one particular bottle of wine That your friend deviated from the plan is less of an assault on protocol than you make it out to be.

Paying the nominal cost forher soda —which she might have ordered for any number of reasons: a pending workcall, say,or apropensity to headaches from that type of wine was the gracious thing to do. Getting her acocktail, if she preferred, would have likewise been kind, although the added expense might have prompted her to offer to pay In eithercase, real or imagined, Miss Manners thinks the costofaccommodating your friend’s changedmind could hardly be greater thanthatof hurting the friendship and maintaining agrudge And she trusts that they will treat you forthe next round.

Dear Miss Manners: Ihave anumber of food allergies. Ican manage them when dining at home, and even in somerestaurants, where Ican choose what Ican handle and request “leave-outs.” But dining at other people’shomes is a challenge.

If ahost/hostess announces their menuahead of time, and Ican tell there’snothing Ican eat, what do Ido? Go, but take small portions and pretend to eat, possibly asking a neighboring diner to eat what Ican’t? Not go at all, even though I’d like to see them? Or tell them I’d love to come, but will need to bring my own fare, as delicious as theirs sounds? Please help. I’m discombobulated.

Gentle reader: Allergies (not merepreferences) are legitimate things to mention to adinner host, even if unsolicited. The inconvenience of rearranging amenu, Miss Manners assures you, is still less than that of having to resuscitate aguest.

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

PROVIDED PHOTO By BATONROUGE BALLET THEATRE

PROVIDED PHOTO

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Take an active role in deciding how you use your time and reach your goals. Achange to where or how you live will boost your morale and encourage you to put yourself first.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Keep your plans secret until you have everything in place. Focus on money and abide by the rules and regulations. Spendtime with someone you love and strengthen the bond you share.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec.21) It's time to discard what's no longeruseful, freeing up time to pursue positive change andbecomethe best version of yourself. Call on your emotions for honest answers, assessments and solutions.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Anew look, pastime or surroundings will awaken the spirit within and pointyou in apositive and exciting direction. Romance someone you love or pursue someone new if you're single.

AQUARIUS(Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Invest more time, effort andmoney into doing and being your best. Engage in events that can help you connect withpeople who are heading in asimilar direction.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Emotions will surface. Try not to overreact.Verify facts and give othersthe benefitofthe doubt. The best waytodeal with controversy is to speak thetruth andask for the same in return.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Inner conflict requires your attention before you tackle matters thatinclude others.

Change begins with you. Choose what excites youmostand walk away from situations that suffocate you.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Use your energy wisely.Whenangermounts, engage in aphysical activity to dissipate aggression.Worry lessand establish what brings you themost pleasure.

GEMINI(May 21-June 20) Embrace a chance to learn, travel or unitewith someone you love to spendtime with. Explore thepossibilities of using your talents to fit what's marketable and sparks your interest.

CANCER (June 21-July22) Think bigbut do only what's necessary. Participate in achallenge that getsyou moving and helps you discover thepossibilities available to you. Opportunityiswithin reach; seize themoment.

LEO(July 23-Aug. 22) Putting your energy to good use will make adifference and prompt you to feel good about who you are and what you contribute. Expect to enrich your life through thepeople you meet and theoffersyou receive. VIRGO (Aug.23-Sept. 22) Initiateaconversation that fosterspositive change. Keep your emotionsgrounded and your eye on what you want to achieve. Activitiesorevents that require disciplineand energy will offerpositive affirmation.

FAMILYCIrCUS

CeLebrItY

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1to9inthe empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

THe wiZardoFid

BLondie

BaBY BLueS Hi and LoiS

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

Bridge

BY PHILLIP ALDER

Thebridgeplayedinapairtournament canbesomewhatartificial.Itisnolonger just trying to makeorbreak acontract, but it is also working to scorebetter than the otherplayers with your cards. This can result in making closepenalty doubles, especially when the opponents arevulnerable, or taking risks forovertricks. This deal wasoriginally playeda few years ago. After West opened one spade and East respondedone no-trump, South thoughtaboutatwo-spadeMichaelsCueBid, showing at least 5-5 in hearts and aminor. But that would have forced his side to the three-level, and he had a sixth heart. So he reasonably overcalled two hearts. When West doubled, though, South sensed that he was in abad contract. (This would have gone down two or three, minus 500 or 800.) So South ran to three clubs. Then East, who had two wonderful aces, decided to try for the magic plus 200 on apartscore deal. However, it is all right making sharp penalty doubles; you hadalso better know what to lead. Which card should West select?

There is an excellentguidelinehere. If your side has the balance of high-card power, theopponentswill be trying to score tricks with theirtrumps. So the more rounds you can extract, the better. The onlywinning lead is atrump. Suppose South takes it in his hand and plays his spade.West wins and shifts to a lowdiamond to give his partner the lead for anotherround of trumps. In theory, nothing else works. ©2025 by NEA, Inc dist. By Andrews McMeel

Syndication

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

Previous answers:

game

InstRuctIons: 1. Words must

today’s thought “And you shallknowthe truth, and thetruth shallmake you free.”John 8:32

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles hidato

g Louisiana, at 9:00 o'clock a.m. on November 4, 2025, upon theapplica‐tion of MARAIS PIPELINE LLC. At such hearingthe Sec‐retary will consider evi‐dencerelativetothe is‐suance of an ordergrant‐ingthe issuance of aCer‐tificate of Transportation for MARAIS PIPELINE, LLC, pursuant to La.R.S 30:554and LAC43:XI.501. Acopyofthe application is on file with theDepart‐ment of Conservation andEnergyand maybe examined during normal business hoursand is posted online at https:// www.dce.louisiana.gov/ page/hearing-commentcalendar Commentsand viewsre‐gardingthe application should be directed in writtenformtothe ad‐dressbelow or electroni‐callyto info@LA.gov and aretobereceivednot laterthan5:00o'clock p.m.,November3,2025. Oral commentswillbe received at thehearing butshouldbebrief and notcover theentiremat‐ters containedinthe writtencomments. If ac‐commodationsare re‐quired underthe Ameri‐cans with Disabilities Act, pleasecontact our office at (225) 342-5505 within tenworking days of thehearing date.Di‐rect commentsto: Dustin H. Davidson Secretary Post Office Box94275 BatonRouge,Louisiana 70804-9275 RE:DocketNo. PL 25-023

Allparties having inter‐estinthe aforesaid shall take notice thereof.

PUBLIC NOTICE -2LAKE WASHINGTON FIELD 25-403 LEGALNOTICE STATEOFLOUISIANA,DE‐PARTMENT OF CONSER‐VATION ANDENERGY, BATONROUGE, LOUISIANA. In accordance with the laws of theState of Louisiana, andwithpar‐ticularreference to the provisions of Title30of LouisianaRevised Statutes of 1950, apublic hearingwillbeheldin theHearing Room,1st Floor,LaSalle Building 617 North3rd Street BatonRouge,Louisiana at 9:00 a.m. on TUESDAY, OCTOBER28, 2025, upon theapplicationof HILCORPENERGYCOM‐PANY At such hearingthe De‐partment of Conserva‐tion andEnergywillcon‐siderevidencerelativeto theissuanceofOrders pertaining to thefollow‐ingmatters relating to the CC-9Sand, Reservoir Aand CC-11 Sand,Reser‐voir D, in theLakeWash‐ington Field, Plaquem‐ines Parish,Louisiana 1. To authorizeHilcorp Energy Company, the unitoperatorofthe CC-9 RA SUA, establishedby theDepartmentofCon‐servationand Energy OrderNo. 149-EEEEE, ef‐fectiveJuly26, 2022 and theunitoperatorofthe CC-11 RD SUBestab‐lished by OrderNo. 149D-10, effectiveApril 5, 2022, to combinedown‐hole theproduction from theCC-9Sandand the

MINUTES CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY OF BAKER PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE STATEOFLOUISIANA COUNCIL CHAMBERS 3325 GROOM ROAD, BAKER, LOUISIANA 70714 www.youtube.com/@bakerforward September 23, 2025 -6:00 p.m.

The City Council of the City of Baker,Louisiana,met in regular session on September 23, 2025, with the following members in attendance at the meeting:

MAYOR Darnell Waites

COUNCIL MEMBERS Desiree Collins Rochelle Dunn Robert Young ABSENT Cedric Murphy Dr.Charles Vincent

CALL TO ORDER –Mayor Waites presided.

The invocation was given by Mayor Waites.

ThePledge of Allegiance wasled by Council Member Young. Public comments will be allowed on all agendaitems. Such comments shall not exceed 3minutes and shall be confined to the agenda item and any proposed disposition thereof.***

DISPOSITION OF THE MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

The motion was made by Council Member Young, seconded by Council Member Dunn to approve the minutes of the meeting held on September 9, 2025.

YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Young

NAYS: None

ABSENT:Murphy,Vincent

ABSTAIN: None

The motion passed with avote of 3-0

The motion was made by Council Member Young, seconded by Council Member Collins to add aspecial recognition to the agenda.

YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Young

NAYS: None

ABSENT:Murphy,Vincent

ABSTAIN: None

The motion passed with avote of 3-0.

Council members presented the mayor with aleadership awardand jacket in recognition of his being elected first Vice-President of LMA.

RECOGNITIONS

1. Introduce Jeremy Jackson –Fireand Police Civil Service Board (Murphy)

The mayor asked that this agenda item be tabled, as Council Member Murphy was not present at the meeting.

2. Introduce Denise Williams –Fireand Police Civil Service Board (Murphy) The mayor asked that this agenda item be tabled, as Council Member Murphy was not present at the meeting.

3. Anytime Events, LLC Location –2950 Ray Weiland Drive, Baker,Louisiana70714 Anytime Events, LLC was recognized as anew business in the City of Baker

4. GTATransportation Location –3724 Charry Drive, Baker,Louisiana 70714 GTATransportation was recognized as anew business in the City of Baker PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS

1. Accept Phase 2 final plat for Sunshine Gardens subdivision The motion was made by Council Member Young, seconded by Council Member Collins to accept Phase 2 final plat for Sunshine Gardens subdivision. The mayor called for public comments or questions.

AND PROCLAMATIONS

NEW BUSINESS

1. Schedule awork session to discuss setbacks for new development (Dunn) Council Member Dunn initiated discussion regardingthe park on N. Magnolia and thanked the mayor for theprogress that has been made on the project. The hope is to have the baseball field completed in January Council Member Dunn thanked Administrative Officer Angela Machen as well as the Public Works Department for all their assistance and support.

The motion was made by Council Member Dunn, seconded by Council Member Young to table the introduction of Jeremy Jackson and Denise Williams –Fireand Police Civil Service Board.

The mayor called for public comments or questions.

Vote was called for YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Young NAYS: None ABSENT:Murphy,Vincent ABSTAIN: None

The motion passed with avote of 3-0.

The motion was made by Council Member Dunn, seconded by Council Member Young to table scheduling aworksession to discuss setbacks for new development.

The mayor called for public comments or questions.

CC-11

Sand,inthe wellbore of theHilcorp En‐ergy Company-SL 22055 No.1 Well (SN253543) andany otherwells within said units and that such method of pro‐ductionwould be in the interest of conservation wouldprevent waste, andshouldmaximizethe efﬁcientand economic recovery of hydrocar‐bons from thesefour reservoirs

2. To continue in full force andeffectthe pro‐visionsofOrder Nos. 149EEEEE, effectiveJuly26, 2022 and149-D-10, effec‐tive April5,2022. 3. To consider such other matters as maybeperti‐nent TheCC-9Sand, Reservoir Awas fullydefinedin OrderNo. 149-EEEEE, ef‐fectiveJuly26, 2022. TheCC-11 Sand,Reser‐voir Dwas fullydefined in OrderNo. 149-D-5, ef‐fectiveJuly16, 2022, and wasfurther definedin OrderNo. 149-D-8, effec‐tive October23, 2012. Aplatisavailable forin‐spection in theDepart‐ment of Conservation andEnergyin Baton Rougeand Lafayette Louisiana. http://dnr.louisiana.gov/ conshearings Allparties having inter‐esttherein shalltakeno‐tice thereof. BY ORDEROF: DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION AND ENERGY BatonRouge,LA 10/8/25;10/11/25 Llck IN ACCORDANCE WITH THEAMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT, IF YOU NEED ASSISTANCE PLEASE CONTACTTHE DEPARTMENT OF CON‐SERVATIONAND ENERGY AT P.O. BOX94275, BATON

Vote was called for.

PUBLIC NOTICE -3LISBONFIELD 25-400 thru 25-402 LEGALNOTICE STATEOFLOUISIANA,DE‐PARTMENT OF CONSER‐VATION ANDENERGY, BATONROUGE LOUISIANA. In accordance with the laws of theState of Louisiana, andwithpar‐ticularreference to the provisions of Title30of LouisianaRevised Statutes of 1950, apublic hearingwillbeheldin theHearing Room,1st Floor,LaSalle Building 617 North3rd Street BatonRouge,Louisiana at 9:00 a.m. on THURS‐DAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2025, upon theapplicationof ROSESTONEOPERATING COMPANY, LLC. At such hearingthe De‐partment of Conserva‐tion andEnergywillcon‐siderevidencerelativeto theissuanceofOrders pertaining to thefollow‐ingmatters relating to the UpperHaynesville Zone,Reservoir A, Hay‐nesville ASand, Reser‐voir A,and HaynesvilleB Lime,Reservoir A, in the Lisbon Field, Claiborne Parish,Louisiana UPPERHAYNESVILLE ZONE,RESERVOIR A, SUFAND SUG 1. To create twoaddi‐tional drillingand pro‐ductionunits,hereafter referred to as theU HA RA SUFand UHARASUG governingthe explo‐ration forand production of oil, gasand conden‐sate from theUpperHay‐

YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Young NAYS: None ABSENT: Murphy,Vincent ABSTAIN: None The motion passed with avoteof3-0.

PUBLIC MEETING

ANNOUNCEMENTS/COMMENTS

1. District 2announcements (Dunn)

mineral leases andother prop‐erty interestswithinthe units so created, with each tractsharing in unit production on asurface acreagebasis of partici‐pation 3. To designatea unitop‐erator anda unitwellfor theunits so created, as maybeappropriate 4. To designateone unit well andone alternate well forthe UHARASUF andone unitwelland onealternate unitwell forthe UHARASUG in exceptiontothe spacing provisions adoptedinthe Department of Conserva‐tion andEnergyOrder No.9-MM, effectiveOcto‐ber7,2003. 5. To permit theoperator to producethe unital‐lowablefromthe existing unitwell, thealternate unitwells,the proposed additional alternateunit wells or from thecombi‐nation of thewells at its option 6. To providethatthe De‐partment of Conserva‐tion andEnergymay re‐classify thereservoirs by supplemental orders and withoutthe necessityof apublichearing should such reclassiﬁcation be warranted, basedonevi‐dencefurnished to the Department of Conserva‐tion andEnergy. 7. To continue in full forceand effect rules andregulations estab‐lished by OrderNo. 9MM, effectiveOctober 7, 2003, as amendedand supplemented by the9MM Series of Orders for the UpperHaynesville Zone,Reservoir A. 8. To consider such other mattersasmay be perti‐nent TheUpperHaynesville Zone,Reservoir Awas previously deﬁnedin OrderNo. 9-MM, effective October7,2003, andwas

furtherdeﬁnedinOrder No.9-MM-1, effectiveAu‐gust 5, 2025 andishereby furtherdeﬁnedINSOFAR ANDONLYINSOFAR AS TO UHARASUC,U HA RA SUFAND UHARASUG areconcerned asbeing that gasand condensate bearingzoneencoun‐teredbetween the depthsof9,622' and 10,058' (ELM)inthe Rose‐stoneOperating Com‐pany,LLC-Dixon No.1 Well, locatedinSection 34, Township 22 North, Range4 West HAYNESVILLEA SAND SUF, SUGAND SUH 1. To create threeaddi‐tional drillingand pro‐ductionunits,hereafter referred to as theH’VILLE ASUF,H’VILLE ASUG and H’VILLESUH,governing theexploration forand production of oil, gasand condensate from the HaynesvilleA Sand 2. To forcepool andinte‐grateall separately ownedtracts, mineral leases andother prop‐erty interestswithinthe units so created, with each tract sharinginunit production on asurface acreagebasis of partici‐pation 3. To designatea unitop‐erator anda unitwellfor theunits so created, as maybeappropriate 4. To designateone unit well andone alternate well forthe H’VILLEA SUF oneunitwelland oneal‐ternateunitwellfor the H’VILLEA SUGand one unitwelland onealter‐nate well forthe H’VILLE ASUH in exception to the spacingprovisions adoptedinOrder No.9-T effectiveMay 1, 1970. 5. To permit theoperator to producethe unital‐lowablefromthe existing unitwell, thealternate unitwells,the proposed additional alternateunit wells or from thecombi‐nation of thewells at its option 6. To reclassify theHay‐ill d f y y nesvilleA Sand from a gasand

3. Items Requiring Action

ADJOURN Therewas no otherbusiness to come beforethe commission. The motion wasmade by CommissionerWaites, seconded by CommissionerDunn to adjourn.

YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Waites, Young NAYS: None

ABSENT:Murphy,Vincent

ABSTAIN: None The motion passed by avote of 4-0.

Council Member Collins thanked CATS for their participation and providing abus which was used as acooling station at the Buffalo Festival.

Council Member Young gave aspecial recognitiontothe administration,

Public Works, and police department for allthey didtomake the Buffalo Festival asuccess.

APPOINTMENTS TO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS

ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS

The mayor thanked his stafffor their hardwork on the Buffalo Festival.He also thanked everyone who came out and supported the event.

The mayor announced therewill be carnival rides in the city this coming weekend.

Administrative Officer AngelaMachen announced approximately 50% of the LEDlights have been installed. The plan is to eventually have LED lights throughout the city.

Lynette Mack thanked Gerald Collins and recreation for allthey aredoing in the city and invited everyone to participate in the programs being held at the gym on Alabama Street.

CONDEMNATIONS

REPORTS ON BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS

1. Planning and Zoning Commission

2. AnnexationReview Committee

3. Economic Development Team

4. HeritageMuseum/Related Committees

5. ABC Board

6. Other Special Committees

a. Buffalo Festival b. Prayer Breakfast

c. Strategic Planning Committee

d. Citizens Advisory BoardtoLaw Enforcement

e. Main Street District Committee

ADJOURN

The motion was made by Council Member Dunn, seconded by Council

Member Young to adjourn.

The mayor called for public comments or questions.

Vote was called for

YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Young NAYS: None

ABSENT: Murphy,Vincent

ABSTAIN: None

The motion passed with avoteof3-0.

CITY OF BAKER

PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE

STATEOFLOUISIANA

I, Angela Canady Wall, certify that IamClerk of the Council for the City of Baker,Louisiana, and that the above and foregoing is acopy of the minutes of aregular meeting of the Council for the City of Baker,Louisiana held on September 23, 2025.

Angela Canady Wall, LCMC Clerk of Council

MINUTES

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

HILLCREST MEMORIAL GARDENS CITY OF BAKER

PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE

STATEOFLOUISIANA

3325 GROOM ROAD

BAKER,LA70714 September 23, 2025

The City Council of the City of Baker,Louisiana, sitting as the Boardof Commissioners forHillcrest Memorial Gardens, met in regular session on September 23, 2025, with the following members in attendance at the meeting:

COMMISSIONERS Desiree Collins

RochelleDunn

Darnell Waites Robert Young

ABSENT Cedric Murphy

Dr.Charles Vincent

CALL TO ORDER –Commissioner Waites presided.

DISPOSITIONOFMINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

The meeting was called to order and the motionwas made by

Commissioner Waites, seconded by Commissioner Dunn to approve the minutes of the meeting held on September 9, 2025.

YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Waites, Young

NAYS: None

ABSENT: Murphy,Vincent

ABSTAIN: None The motion passed by avote of 4-0.

PUBLIC NOTICE

NEW BUSINESS

OTHER NECESSARYBUSINESS

CITY OF BAKER PARISH OF EASTBATON ROUGE STATEOFLOUISIANA I, Angela Canady Wall, certify thatIamClerk of the Council for the City of Baker,Louisiana,and thatthe above andforegoing is acopy of the minutes of aregularmeeting of the Board of Commissioners for the Hillcrest Memorial GardensheldonSeptember 23, 2025.

Angela Canady Wall, LCMC Clerk of Council

MINUTES

BOARDOFCOMMISSIONERS

BAKER CONSOLIDATED UTILITIES SYSTEM CITY OF BAKER PARISH OF EASTBATON ROUGE STATEOFLOUISIANA 3325 GROOM ROAD BAKER, LA 70714 September 23, 2025

The City Council of the City of Baker, Louisiana,sitting as the Boardof Commissioners for the Baker ConsolidatedUtilitiesSystem, met in regular session on September 23, 2025, with the following members attending: COMMISSIONERS

DesireeCollins Rochelle Dunn Darnell Waites Robert Young

ABSENT

Cedric Murphy Dr.Charles Vincent

CALL TO ORDER –CommissionerWaitespresided.

DISPOSITION OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

The meeting was calledtoorder andthe motion wasmade by CommissionerWaites, seconded by CommissionerDunn to approve the minutes of the meeting held on September9,2025.

CommissionerWaitescalledfor public comments or questions.

Vote wascalledfor YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Waites, Young NAYS: None

ABSENT:Murphy,Vincent

ABSTAIN: None

The motion passed by avote of 4-0.

PUBLIC NOTICE

NEW BUSINESS

OTHER NECESSARYBUSINESS

1. Monthly Business Report

Finance Director Mary Sue Stagessubmittedmultiple financialreports.

The motion was made by CommissionerWaites, seconded by CommissionerDunn to accept the financialreports.

CommissionerWaitescalledfor public comments or questions.

Vote wascalledfor YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Waites, Young NAYS: None

ABSENT:Murphy,Vincent ABSTAIN: None

The motion passed by avote of 4-0.

2. OtherReports

3. Items Requiring Action

ADJOURN Therewas no otherbusiness to come beforethe commission. The motion wasmade by CommissionerWaites, seconded by CommissionerYoung to adjourn.

CommissionerWaitescalledfor public comments or questions.

Vote wascalledfor YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Waites, Young NAYS: None

ABSENT:Murphy,Vincent

ABSTAIN: None

The motion passed by avote of 4-0.

CITY OF BAKER

PARISH OF EASTBATON ROUGE

STATEOFLOUISIANA

I, Angela Canady Wall, certify thatIamClerk of the Council for the City of Baker,Louisiana,and thatthe above andforegoing is acopy of the minutes of aregularmeeting of the Board of Commissioners of the Baker ConsolidatedUtility SystemheldonSeptember 23, 2025.

Angela Canady Wall, LCMC Clerk of Council