The Acadiana Advocate 10-31-2025 by The Advocate

Hardwick PlantingCo. picks cotton in Tensas Parish at Somerset Plantation. After decades of challenges,

LOSING ITS CROWN

Louisianacottonfarmers fighting to keep harvests bountifulafter decadesofchallenges

BY AIDAN McCAHILL Staff writer

Kade McMahon glides atop aﬁeld of bleached cumulus tufts. With a joystick, he steers aset of massive yellow teeththatgobblethe white like asnowplow. Summerhas again overstayed its welcome in northeast Louisiana, but McMahonis sealed from the hot and dusty air, sitting comfortably inside an airconditionedcotton picker

It’snot abad gig for the 21-yearold, who got his start mowinggrass during summersinhigh school. Now he operates amachine worth nearly $1 million.

“I can’ttell you how many farmers are jealous we got Kade,” said Marshall Hardwick, his boss. “Locally grown, hardworking …they just don’texist anymore, it seems like.”

In October,Tensas Parish —long the state’s top cotton producer canlook more like an early winter in New Hampshire,aswhite ﬂakes dust the shoulders of La. 65. In Newellton, Hardwick and his brother Mead farm 9,200 acres of the 20,000-acre SomersetPlantation, the rest owned by 45 other family members.

The fourth-generation farmers grow soybean and corn more than anything else, but dedicate 1,600 acres to their passion: cotton.This

year’sharvest is shaping up to be agreat one; the brothers are averagingabout 3bales peracre— or roughly 1,400 pounds. That’sover 500 pounds more than atypical year

“Wemay potentially have arecord cotton crop,” Hardwicksaid.

“And wemay stillpotentially lose money.” In fact, it’srarefor any farmersin northeast Louisiana to have turned aproﬁt on cotton in the past decade.

Demand and prices remain too low, as growers face pressures liketariffs andanongoing government shutdown, plus deeper challenges like rising input costs, an outdated farm bill and growing competition from countries like Brazil. While other markets, such as corn and soybeans, face similar challenges, the state of Louisiana’s cotton industry reﬂects decades of

ä See COTTON, page 7A

Shutdown threatens Head Start programs

Earlylearning centers face uncertainfuture

BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer

WASHINGTON —Along withfood stamps, airtravel and other casualties of theprolonged federal government shutdown, many HeadStartprograms will run out of money Saturday,threatening early learning, food assistance and health screenings for preschoolers, as well as free child care and job training fortheir lower-incomeparents. About10% of theprogramsnationwidewon’t receive funds Saturday,affecting morethan 58,600 childrenat134 Head Startcenters in 41 states according to the National Head Start Association. In Louisiana, 1,344 children at morethan adozen centers, primarily in New Orleans and Acadiana, have scrambled to coverthe impactofnot receiving checks.

“Weknow that the affected grantees will likely stay open as long as they can using the revenue

BYCLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

The CEO of the Lafayette Downtown DevelopmentAuthority weighed in Thursday on the city’s plan to change the Mardi Gras parade route to Jefferson Street, expressing optimism and concern. Mayor-President Monique Boulet on Monday announced that the 2026 Mardi Gras parades, whichall follow thesameroute,willswitchto Jefferson Street at Cypress Street by the underpass andremainonJefferson Street until turning right onto Johnston Street near Borden’sIce Cream Shoppe. The new route would be shorter than the current

STAFF PHOTOSByJOHN BALLANCE

Louisiana farmers are harvesting their lowest acreageofcotton in state history.

Mead Hardwick, left, and his younger brother Marshall Hardwick, owners of Hardwick Planting Co.atSomerset Plantation, stand in acotton field in Tensas Parish.

King Charles III strips

Prince Andrew of title

After a year of embarrassing sex allegations related to Jeffrey Epstein, Prince Andrew on Thursday was stripped of his title by Buckingham Palace.

“Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor,” a statement said.

“These censures are deemed necessary, not withstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him Their majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.”

Andrew has been stripped of positions for several years.

Andrew stepped away from the spotlight after he was linked to the notorious late billionaire financier This month Andrew publicly announced he would not use his title or honors, distancing himself even further from the royal family.

Andrew continued to deny the accusations. But the royal family’s decision to strip him of his titles, after emails emerged that he remained in contact with Epstein longer than he previously admitted, is a grave consequence for King Charles III’s younger brother, who has faced questions about his relationship to Epstein.

Andrew faced accusations that he had sex with Virginia Giuffre, who said she was trafficked by Epstein, when she was 17. Giuffre sued Andrew and the two reached an out-of-court settlement in 2022, but Andrew did not admit any wrongdoing 2 Mississippi sheriffs and 12 officers charged JACKSON,Miss.— Federal authorities on Thursday announced indictments against 20 people, including 14 current or former Mississippi law enforcement officers, that allege the officers took bribes to provide safe passage to people they believed were drug traffickers

The yearslong investigation swept across multiple law enforcement agencies in the state’s Northwestern Delta region. Two Mississippi sheriffs, Washington County Sheriff Milton Gaston and Humphreys County Sheriff Bruce Williams, were among those arrested. Some bribes were as large as $20,000 and $37,000, authorities said at a news conference.

“It’s just a monumental betrayal of public trust,” U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner said. Sunflower County Sheriff James Haywood conﬁrmed the arrest of a deputy, Marvin Flowers, on Thursday morning Haywood said Flowers worked for the department for 13 years.

Ohio panel unveils proposed House map

Ohio’s Republican-led redistricting commission unveiled a proposed U.S. House map Thursday that could give Republicans a chance at winning two more seats in next year’s midterm elections, bolstering President Donald Trump’s efforts to hold on to a slim congressional majority Ohio is required by its state constitution to enact new congressional districts before the 2026 elections because the current map was adopted by Republican ofﬁcials without bipartisan support. Republicans currently hold 10 of Ohio’s 15 congressional seats, but some Republicans view the mandatory redistricting as opportunity to expand upon that.

The proposed map appears to increase Republican chances in the districts held by Democratic U.S. Reps. Greg Landsman in Cincinnati and Marcy Kaptur around Toledo, an area that gave Trump a majority in the 2024 presidential election. Bus of Va. gubernatorial candidate catches fire NORFOLK,Va. — Lt. Gov Winsome

Earle-Sears’ campaign bus caught on ﬁre Thursday afternoon. She posted on X that everyone is safe. She did not say what had caused the ﬁre.

Earle-Sears, the Republican candidate in Virginia’s gubernatorial race, takes on Democrat Abigail Spanberger in Tuesday’s general election.

5 more arrested in Louvre heist

BY THOMAS ADAMSON and ANGELA CHARLTON Associated Press

PARIS The dragnet tightened around the Louvre thieves on Thursday Five more people were seized in the crown-jewels heist — including a suspect tied by DNA — the Paris prosecutor said, widening the sweep across the capital and its suburbs.

Authorities said three of the four alleged members of the “commando” team, as French media have dubbed the robbers, are now in custody

The late-night operations in Paris and nearby Seine-Saint-Denis lift the total arrested to seven.

Prosecutor Laure Beccuau told RTL that one detainee is suspected of belonging to the brazen quartet that burst into the Apollo Gallery in broad daylight on Oct. 19; others held “may be able to inform us about how the events unfolded.”

Beccuau called the response an “exceptional mobilization” about 100 investigators, seven

days a week, with roughly 150 forensic samples analyzed and 189 items sealed as evidence.

Even so, she said the latest arrests did not uncover the loot — a trove valued around $102 million that includes a diamond-and-emerald necklace Napoleon gave to Empress Marie-Louise as a wedding gift, jewels tied to 19th-century Queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense, and Empress Eugénie’s pearl-and-diamond tiara.

Only one relic has surfaced so far — Eugénie’s crown, damaged but salvageable, dropped in the escape.

Beccuau renewed her appeal: “These jewels are now of course, unsellable There’s still time to give them back.”

Experts warn the gold could be melted and the stones re-cut to erase their past.

Key planning details have snapped into focus. Nine days before the raid, a mover who owns a truck-mounted lift — the kind movers use to hoist furniture through Parisian windows — was

mysteriously booked for a “moving job” on the French classiﬁeds site Leboncoin, a site similar to Craigslist, Beccuau said Wednesday

When he arrived in the town of Louvres, north of Paris, around 10 a.m. on Oct. 10, two men ambushed him and stole the lift truck.

On the day of the heist itself, that same vehicle idled beneath the Paris museum’s riverside façade.

Online observers have noted a remarkable coincidence: How a plot that began in Louvres ended at the Louvre.

At 9:30 a.m. the basket lift rose to the Apollo Gallery window; at 9:34 the glass gave way; by 9:38 the crew was gone — a four-minute strike. Only the “near-simultaneous” arrival of police and museum security stopped the thieves from torching the lift and preserved crucial traces, the prosecutor said. Security footage shows at least four men forcing a window, cutting into two display cases with power tools and fleeing on two scooters toward eastern Paris. In-

Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba pick up pieces after Melissa

BY ARIEL FERNÁNDEZ, ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ and JOHN MYERS JR. Associated Press

SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba The rumble of large machinery, whine of chain saws and chopping of machetes echoed through communities across the northern Caribbean on Thursday as they dug out from the destruction of Hurricane Melissa and surveyed the damage left behind.

In Jamaica, government workers and residents began clearing roads in a push to reach dozens of isolated communities in the island’s southeast that sustained a direct hit from one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record.

Stunned residents wandered about, some staring at their rooﬂess homes and waterlogged belongings strewn around them

“I don’t have a house now,” said Sylvester Guthrie, a resident of Lacovia in the southern parish of St. Elizabeth, as he held onto his bicycle, the only possession of value left after the storm.

Emergency relief ﬂights began landing at Jamaica’s main international airport, which reopened late Wednesday, as crews distributed water, medicine and other basic supplies Helicopters dropped food as they thrummed above communities where the storm ﬂattened homes, wiped out roads and destroyed bridges, cutting them off from assistance.

“The entire Jamaica is really broken because of what has happened,” Education Minister Dana Morris Dixon said.

Police said at least 14 people have died in Jamaica, and they expected the death toll to keep rising.

More than 13,000 people remained crowded into shelters, with 72% of the island without power and only 35% of mobile phone sites in operation officials said. People clutched cash as they formed long lines at the few gas stations and supermarkets open in affected areas.

In Cuba, heavy equipment began to clear blocked roads and highways and the military helped rescue people trapped in isolated communities and at risk from landslides.

The town of El Cobre in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba was one of the hardest hit. Home to some 7,000 people, it is also the site of the Basilica of Our Lady of Charity, the patron saint of Cuba who is deeply venerated by Catholics and practitioners of Santería, an Afro-Cuban religion.

“We went through this very badly So much wind, so much wind. Zinc roofs

were torn off. Some houses completely collapsed. It was a disaster,” said Odalys Ojeda, a 61-year-old retiree, as she looked up at the sky from her living room where the roof and other parts of the house were torn away Even the basilica wasn’t spared.

“Here at the sanctuary, the carpentry, stained glass and even the masonry suffered extensive damage,” Father Rogelio Dean Puerta said.

A televised Civil Defense meeting chaired by President Miguel Díaz-Canel did not provide an official estimate of the damage. However officials from the affected provinces — Santiago, Granma, Holguín, Guantánamo, and Las Tunas — reported losses of roofs, power lines and fiber optic telecommunications cables, as well as roads cut off, isolating communities, and heavy losses in banana, cassava and coffee plantations.

In an unusual statement Thursday, the U.S. State Department said the United States was “ready to assist the Cuban people.” A press release said the U.S. “is prepared to provide immediate humanitarian assistance directly and through local partners who can deliver it more effectively to those in need.”

The statement did not specify how the cooperation would be coordinated or whether contact had been made with the Cuban government, with which it maintains a bitter conﬂict that includes six decades of economic and ﬁnancial sanctions.

Melissa also unleashed catastrophic ﬂooding in Haiti, where at least 30 people were reported killed and 20 others were missing, mostly in the country’s southern region. Some 15,000 people also remained in shelters.

Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency said Hurricane Melissa killed at least 20 people, including 10 children, in Petit-Goâve where more than 160 homes were damaged and 80 others destroyed.

Steven Guadard said Melissa killed his entire family in Petit-Goâve, including four children ranging in age from 1-month to 8-years-old.

Michelet Dégange, who has lived in Petit-Goâve for three years, said Melissa left him homeless.

“There is no place to rest the body; we are hungry,” he said. “The authorities don’t think about us. I haven’t closed my eyes since the bad weather began.”

When Melissa came ashore in Jamaica as a Category 5 hurricane with top winds of 185 mph on Tuesday, it tied strength records for Atlantic hurricanes making landfall, both in wind speed and barometric pressure.

vestigators say there is no sign of insider help for now, though they are not ruling out a wider network beyond the four on camera. French police have acknowledged major gaps in the Louvre’s defenses, turning an audacious theft into a national reckoning over how France protects its treasures.

Two earlier suspects, men aged 34 and 39 from Aubervilliers, north of Paris, were charged Wednesday with theft by an organized gang and criminal conspiracy after nearly 96 hours in custody Beccuau said both gave “minimalist” statements and “partially admitted” their involvement.

One was stopped at Charles de Gaulle Airport with a one-way ticket to Algeria; his DNA matched a scooter used in the getaway French law normally keeps active investigations under a shroud of secrecy to protect police work and victims’ privacy Only the prosecutor may speak publicly, though in high-proﬁle cases police unions have occasionally shared partial details.

Radio Free Asia says it’s halting news operations

BY DAVID BAUDER AP media writer

Radio Free Asia said it is shutting down its news operations on Friday with its ﬁnancing in dire straits due to the U.S government shutdown and the Trump administration’s moves against government-funded news services.

Since 1996, Radio Free Asia has been an independent news source operating online and on broadcast throughout that region, particularly in areas where the free flow of information is repressed. It has been operating with a skeleton staff the past few months, primarily producing a few stories online as the administration has sought to choke off its funding. Trump’s team has contended that operations like RFA, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Voice of America are poorly run and a waste of government resources.

“In an effort to conserve limited resources on hand and preserve the possibility of restarting operations should consistent funding

become available, RFA is taking further steps to responsibly shrink its already reduced footprint,” said Bay Fang, RFA’s president and CEO.

Radio Free Asia will begin shutting down overseas bureaus, laying off and paying severance to staff members, most of whom have been on unpaid leave since last March, Fang said. With its own journalists and contractors, RFA has reported aggressively on stories some governments don’t want to see — the repression of Uyghurs in China, the aftermath of the 2021 military coup in Myanmar and the plight of defectors in North Korea. RFE/Radio Liberty, similar to RFA as a private corporation funded by the government, said its own news services are staying up, “and we plan to continue reaching our audiences for the foreseeable future,” the organization said this week. It operates in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East The service had launched its own lawsuit against the administration.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By RAMON ESPINOSA Residents walk in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa in El Cobre, Cuba, on Wednesday

LSU, athletic director Woodwardfinalizingseparation

Move follows Landry’s critical comments

BY KOKI RILEY and WILSON ALEXANDER Staff writers

LSU and athletic director

Scott Woodward are finalizing his separation from the school in the wake of coach Brian Kelly’sfiring and criticism from Gov.Jeff Landry, sources confirmed Thursday night to The Advocate.

Longtime LSUathletic official Verge Ausberry will serve as the interimathletic director,asource conﬁrmed.

The news was ﬁrst reported by ESPN and Yahoo Sports. Thedecisioncomes one day after Landry announced at anews conference on Wednesday that Woodward would not be allowed to select LSU’snextfootball coach, citing the nearly $54 million buyout the school owes Kellydue to his ﬁring.

“Hell,I’lllet Donald Trump select him before I let him do it,” Landry said in anewsconferenceon

Wednesday Woodwardwas hired as LSU’sathletic director in April 2019 and guided an athleticdepartmentthat won six national championships under his purview

The six national championships include its last football title in 2019. LSU has won two baseball national titles, theschool’sﬁrst-ever women’sbasketball and gymnastics national championships and amen’soutdoor track championship.

But his legacy may be remembered for one decision that didn’tpan out: his decision to hire Kelly Woodward hired Kelly in

STAFF FILEPHOTO By HILARySCHEINUK

LSU directoroffootball administration

speakswith LSU athletic director field Sept. 20 at TigerStadium on Rouge.

December of 2021,handing him a10-year,$100 million contract to replace coach Ed Orgeron.Kelly cametoLSU with an impressiveresume, having ledNotre Dame to the national championship game, theCollege Football Playoff and been the winningest coach in program history

But the Kelly era didn’t pan out, lasting fewer than four seasons and coming to aclose on Sunday when he wasﬁred less than24hours after theTigers lost 49-25 to Texas A&M in Tiger Stadium LSU never came close to reaching the playoff under Kelly.His most successful campaign was his first season in 2022, when LSU reached the SEC ChampionshipGame and took down Alabama in Tiger Stadium Besides theKelly hire, Woodward foundchampion-

Trumpsetsyearlylimit of 7,500for refugees

Most will be White

SouthAfricans

BY REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press

WASHINGTON The Trump administration is restricting the number of refugees admitted annually to the United States to 7,500 and they will mostlybeWhite South Africans, adramatic drop announced Thursday that effectively suspends America’straditionalrole as ahaven for those ﬂeeing war and persecution.

The move cements amajor shift in policy toward refugees that aligns with the Republican administration’s broadergoals of keeping out foreigners whom it deems a risk to the nation’ssecurity or athreat to U.S. jobs. That shift has meant increased immigration enforcement, in cities and at borders and entry points, in what’sbecome avastly changed landscape in acountry long seen as abeacon for migrants.

No reason was given for the new numbers, which were published in anotice on the Federal Register and are asteep decrease from last year’sceiling of 125,000 set underDemocratic President Joe Biden. The Associated Press previously reportedthat theadministration was considering admitting as few as 7,500 refugees and mostly White South Africans.

The notice said the admission of the 7,500 refugees during the 2026 budget year, which began Oct. 1, was “justiﬁed by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest.” It made no mentionofany other speciﬁc groups to be admitted besides the White South Africans, known also as Afrikaners.

“Other victims of illegal or unjust discriminationin theirrespectivehomelands” will be considered as refugees, according to the notice, which gave no speciﬁcs on who that could entail Groups that work to resettle refugees said the announcement was an abdication of the country’shistoric role in welcoming refugees from around the world.

“This decision doesn’tjust lower the refugee admissions ceiling. It lowers our moral standing,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah,President and CEO of Global Refuge, one of the nationwide resettlement agencies. “To concentratethe vastmajority of admissions on one group underminesthe program’spurpose as well as its credibility.”

Trump suspended the refugeeprogram on hisﬁrst day in ofﬁce andsince then only atrickle have entered the country,mostly WhiteSouth Africans. Somerefugees have also been admitted as partofacourt case seeking to allow entry to refugees who were overseas and in the process of coming to the U.S. when theprogramwas suspended

Theadministration announced the program for the Afrikaners in February, sayingthat White SouthAfrican farmers faced discrimination andviolence at home

The South African government stronglydenied it Presidentshavethe authoritytoset thecap on refugee admissions as they see fit, often taking input from the State Department or consultingwith the refugeeresettlement agencies. This cap would set ahistoric lowofrefugees admitted to theU.S. since theprogram’s inception in 1980.

During hisfirst term, Trump progressivelyset the cap increasingly lower each year until it reached 15,000 in the last year of his administration

The determinations usually lay out which regionsof the world the refugees will come fromover theupcomingyear

Left out from Thursday’s noticewere Afghans, many of whom havebeen tryingto ﬂee theTaliban after the U.S withdrawal there in 2021.

Aseparateprogram for Afghans who worked closely with the U.S. government is still admitting Afghans into the country.But tensof thousands of otherswho also contributed to theU.S. mission there havebeen trying to emigrate to America via the refugee program and this year have been largely shut out.

men’sbasketballcoach Matt McMahon and gymnastics coach Jay Clark. McMahonwas appointed in March of 2022 from Murray State.But heading into hisfourth seasonincharge of LSU’sprogram, McMahon has yet to reach the NCAA Tournament Clarkguided thegymnastics program to its ﬁrst national title in 2024 after he was promoted fromhis position as co-head coach in 2021.

Before arriving at LSU, Woodward was the athletics director at Texas A&M from 2016-2019. His mostnotable hire was prying national championship-winning coach

Jimbo Fisher from Florida State to becomethe next coach in College Station. Fisher’stenure with Texas A&M didn’twork out. The Aggies fired him after the 2023 season, paying him the largest buyout in college football history at $77 million. Woodward has since been accused of putting Texas A&M on the hook forFisher’smassive buyout,but Fisher had signed acontract extension in 2021 —after Woodward had left for LSU —that extended his deal through the 2031 season and paid him $9 millionper year.Itwas araise from the 10-year,$75 million contract he originally signedunder Woodward. Woodward was the athletic director at Washington from2008 to 2015 before taking the samejob at Texas A&M. The mostnotable hire he made in his tenure in Seattle was hiring coach Chris Petersenaway from Boise State. Afterwinning 92 games and the Fiesta Bowlwith the Broncos,Petersenled the Huskies to three New Year’s Six bowlappearances and the College Football Playoff in six years before retiring after the 2019 season.

Email Koki Rileyatkoki riley@theadvocate.com.

Lawmakersgrasp forwaystoend shutdown

BY LISA MASCARO

AP congressional correspondent

WASHINGTON Certain senators know it. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, knows it. And with President Donald Trump back in Washington from his overseas trip, perhaps the White House knows it, too.

For many,it’stime for thegovernment shutdown to come toan end.

From coast to coast, fallout from the dysfunctionofashuttered federal government is hittinghome: Alaskans are stockpiling moose, caribou and ﬁsh for winter, even before SNAP food aid is scheduled to shut off. Mainers are ﬁlling up their home-heating oil tanks, but waiting on the federal subsidies that are nowhere in sight.

Flights arebeing delayedwith holiday travel around the corner Workers are going without paychecks. And Americans are getting aﬁrst glimpse of the skyrocketing health care insurance costs that are at the center of the stalemate on Capitol Hill.

“People are stressing,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, as food options in her state grow scarce.

“Weare well past time to have this behind us.”

While quiet talks are underway, particularly among bipartisan senators, the shutdown is not expected to end before Saturday’sdeadline when Americans’ deep food inse-

children.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Republicans now “have the nerve”tosuggest it’s apolitical strategy to withhold food aid. “Weare trying to lift up the quality of life for the American people,” Jeffries, D-N.Y.,said about his party

“The American people understandthat there’sa Republican health care crisis,” he said. “The American people understand Republicansenacted the largest cut to nutritional assistance in American history when they cut $186 billion from their one, big, ugly bill.”

curity —1 in 8peopledependon

thegovernmenttohave enough to eat —could become starkly apparent if federal SNAP funds run dry

The White Househas moved money around to ensurethe military is paid, but refuses to tap funds for food aid. In fact,Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” signed into law this summer,delivered the most substantial cut ever to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP,projected to result in some 2.4 million people off theprogram.

At thesametime, many Americanswho purchase their own health insurance through thefederal and state marketplaces, with open enrollment also beginning Saturday,are experiencing sticker

shock as premium prices jump

“Weare holding food over the heads of poor people so thatwe can take away their health care,” said the Rev. RyanStoess, during aprayer with religious leaders at theU.S. Capitol.

“God help us,” he said, “when the cruelty is the point.”

The House remains closed down under Johnson for the past month

The shutdown, in its30thday, appearsontrack to become the longestinhistory, surpassing the 35-daylapse that endedin2019, during Trump’sﬁrst termover his demands to build the U.S.-Mexico border wall.

The Republicans, who have majority control of Congress, find themselves in an unusual position, defending the furloughed federal workers and shuttered programs they have long sought to cut —includingmostrecentlywithnearly $1 trillion in reductions in Trump’s big tax breaksand spending bill. Medicaid,the health care program, and SNAP food aid, suffered sizable blows this summer,inpart by imposing newworkrequirements. For SNAPrecipients, many of whom werealready required to work,the new requirements extendtoolder Americans up to age 64 and parents of older school-age

During the summer debate over Trump’sbig bill, Johnsonand other Republicans railed against what they characterized as lazy Americans, riding what the House speaker callsthe “gravy train” of government beneﬁts.

Thespeaker spokeabout ablebodied young menplaying video games whilereceiving Medicaid health care beneﬁts and insisted thenew work requirements for the aid programs would weed out whatthey called “waste, fraud and abuse.”

“What we’re talking about, again, is able-bodiedworkers, many of whom arerefusingtoworkbecause they’re gaming the system,” Johnsonsaidinspring on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

“And when we make them work, it’ll be better foreverybody,a winwin-win forall,” he said.

BY MICHAEL CASEY and GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press

BOSTON Afederal judge in Boston on Thursday seemed skeptical of the Trump’sadministration’sargument that SNAP benefits could be suspendedfor the first timein the food aid program’shistorybecause of the government shutdown. During ahearing over arequest by 25 Democratic-led states to keep the funding flowing, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani told lawyers that if the government can’tafford to cover the cost, there’sa process to follow rather than simply sus-

pending all benefits. “The steps involve finding an equitable way of reducing beneﬁts,” said Talwani, whowas nominated to the courtby then-PresidentBarackObama.

Talwani said she expects to issue aruling later Thursday and seemed to be leaning toward requiring thegovernment to put billions of dollars in emergency funds toward SNAP.That, she said, is herinterpretation of what Congress intended when an agency’s funding runsout “If you don’thavemoney,you tighten yourbelt,” she said in court. “You are not going to make everyonedropdead because it’s a

political gamesomeplace.”

Talwani acknowledged that even ordering emergency funds to pay for SNAP might still be painful for some SNAP recipients becauseit could mean they getless money and that the money they do get could be delayed. “Weare dealing with areality that absent a100% win for you, thebeneﬁts aren’tgoing to be there on Nov.1,” she told theplaintiffs. Thehearing came twodaysbeforethe U.S.DepartmentofAgriculture planned to freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programbecause it said it can’tcontinue funding it

due to theshutdown.

Other lawsuits have been ﬁled over theprogram’ssuspension, including one filed Thursday in RhodeIslandbyacoalition of eight cities and community,business and union organizations. SNAP, whichcosts about $8 billionper month,servesabout 1in 8Americans and is amajor piece of the nation’ssocial safety net. Word in October that it would be aNov.1casualty of theshutdown sent states,food banks andSNAP recipientsscrambling to ﬁgureout howtosecure food. Some states said they would spend their own funds to keep versionsofthe pro-

gram going.

President Donald Trump’sadministration said it wasn’tallowed to use acontingency fund with about $5 billion in it for the program,which reversed aUSDA plan from before the shutdown that said that money would be tapped to keep SNAP running. The Democratic-led states argued that not only could that contingency money be used, it must be. Talwani pushed back against the Trumpadministration’sargument that suspending the beneﬁts was the best option, saying using emergency funds for beneﬁts seemed to makethe mostsense.

AP PHOTO By J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE House SpeakerMikeJohnson, R-Benton, departsa news conferenceThursday, the 30th day of the government shutdown, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByMARIAM ZUHAIB

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.y.,speaksTuesday during a news conference at the Capitol.

ROUTE

route and eliminate some public spaces for paradegoers to watch the processions.

For decades, parades rolled down Jefferson Street. But at some point, likely during the streetscape upgrade on Jefferson Street, they moved to the current route that passesdown Congress Street for about ablock, turning left onto LafayetteStreet,leftonto Vermilion Street and right onto Johnston. That section will be eliminated fromthe route. While some welcomed the change, others are raising questions, including City

funds or other resources.

But the longer the shutdown continues, the harder it’ll be for them to be able to hold on,”said Libbie Sonnier, chief executive officer at Louisiana Policy Institute for Children, aNew Orleansbased research nonproﬁt

Head Start serves about 13,800 of the 100,000 Louisiana childrenwho live in households at or near the federal poverty line.

“Wealso know that, when centers are forced to close, parents will have to make impossible choices of either going to work to sustain their family or not making an income and staying home with their children,” Sonnier said.

Advocates see this latest hurdle as another unwelcome wrinkle in ayearlong struggle over the future of the 60-year-old program, says Teresa Falgoust, director of data and research with Agenda for Children, an advocacy group basedinNew Orleans.

Federalgrantscover about 80% of HeadStart funding, withlocal governmentsor private organizations putting up 20%. The grants are distributed directlytothe grantees at different times over the year For instance, Baton Rouge’sfunding cycle renews Jan. 1.

“Wehave not received any notiﬁcation indicating adisruption or delay in funding,” said Leander Shane Zanders, director of the East Baton Rouge Parish’sDivision of Human Development and Services.

Baton Rouge has 657enrollment slots at six centers in 2024, down from 1,207 the previous year,according to reports submitted to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The budget in 2022 was $10.2 million, of which the federal government provided $9.3 million, according to the latest annual reportavailable.Inadditiontopaying staff, the money was used to purchase supplies,pay rent, utilities and other costs.

TwoLouisiana Head Start grantees receive their funding on Nov.1 and both have rearranged ﬁnances to keep their programs open.

Council member Kenneth Boudreaux, whosaidheand the council werenot consulted. He is concerned that much of the public spaces for spectators, such as the main library and two pub-

Clover NOLA Inc. is one, said chief executive ofﬁcer Keith Liederman

“Clover has acontingency plan in placethat will allow ourHead Start operations to continue for one month without interruption,” Liederman said.“Aprolonged shutdown would disrupt access to critical resources that help families work, learn andthrive.”

In just its Early Head Start programs, Clover had390 funded enrollment slots in 2024, accordingtoreports to the U.S.HealthDepartment.

TheotherHead Start grantee immediatelyimpacted by the shutdown is Prime Time Inc., which is a subsidiary of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. PrimeTime Head Start and Early Head Start runs four centers, in Lafayette, New Iberia and Jeanerette, employing 150 staffers and serving about 635children andtheirfamilies.

TheEndowment’s board lent Prime Time $650,000 to cover the federal proceeds that won’tarriveSaturday,Randy K. Haynie,the board chair said in anews release

Miranda Restovic,president and executivedirector of theLouisianaEndowment for the Humanities and PrimeTime Inc., added: “Weknow even one day missed in the classroom is too much when you’re setting thefoundation forfuture learning and that our teammembers depend on us to take careoftheir own families. We fullyexpect our government leaders toreinstatethisfunding and are planning ahead forDec.1, thenext critical date if the shutdown continues.”

As more Americans are directly feelingthe impact of the government shutdown, Democratic and Republican senatorssaidThursday they’ll work to find an accommodation. But nothing hashappened yet.

Saturdaymarks afull month of theshutdown, which resulted in manyprograms, not justHead Start, running out of reserves and unable to appropriatefurther funding.

Saturday also is thefirst day ofenrollment for health insurance that lower-income workers and small businesses buy through the Affordable Care marketplaces and is at the heart of thedispute

“potential energy andfoot traffic” the change could bring to downtown,heis also hearingvalid concerns from business owners, residentsand neighbors.

ing installednow alongthe Jefferson Street route and howcleanup will be handled.

from downtown’sneighbors.

licparks, willbeeliminated with the route change.

NowKevin Blanchard, on behalf of theauthority, wrote in asocial media post Thursday,thatwhile there is excitement about the

between Democratsand Republicans.

Atax credit, which offsets the cost of the policies, expires at the end of the year Without the credit,enrollees will payanaverage 114% morefor their policies in 2026, according to KFF, a nonprofit that researches healthpolicy.That would leave about3.5 million fewer people withoutcoverage, accordingtothe Congressional Budget Office, aresearch arm of Congress.

Democratic senators have refused to agree to aRepublicanHouse resolution passed Sept. 19 that would have continued government operations afterthe endof theﬁscal year on Sept.30.

Democrats argue that Republican majorities have repeatedly refused to negotiate on many issues. Thus,Democrats say they can’ttrust Republicans to negotiate an extension of thehealth care tax credits absent theleverage of keeping the government closed

HouseSpeakerMike Johnson, R-Benton, says all Senate Democrats need to do is approve the House-passed resolution to reopen government and resume spending authorization forservices such as Head Start. Then, Republicans would negotiateanextension of thetax credits.

“On Saturday,things become very dire,” Johnson said.

Senate Majority Leader JohnThune,R-S.D., said Democrats’refusal to reopen government affects government programs “like Head Start, grantstolaw enforcement to fight fentanyl and hire morecops to protect communities, rural development,”among other programs.

“Why don’twejust open thegovernment?”Thune said. “I’ve never seen anythinglike this.”

Conservatives recently sought to eliminate Head Start

Project 2025, an outline of conversative ideals put together by the Heritage Foundation, recommends ending Head Start because of what it calls“rampant abuse and lack of positive outcomes.” Advocates counter that numerous studies have shown improved academic outcomes as Head Start students progress

“Weare excited about the possibilities,but we need to getthe details right,” he wrote. “Mardi Gras is amajor tradition for Lafayette. If the route comes downtown, we want to makesure it’s done in away thatsupports both our local businesses and the broader community that celebrates here.”

Some of the concerns are related to the placementof barricades during Mardi Gras season and howitwill affect parkingand businesses when parades are not rolling, how thecity plans to protect new landscaping be-

The most importantconcern, Blanchard wrote, is about safety.While floats may fit downJefferson Street, there will be less space forspectators.

The authority,Blanchard wrote, is encouraging the city to:

n Developa public plan for parking, fewer barricades (which allows for more frequent pick up and deployment), post-parade cleanup and protecting new public improvements.

n Involve downtownstakeholders directly in route and event planning.

n Ensure enoughpublic space and programming for families andparadegoers

“I think it’stime” to change the parade route, Blanchard said. But there needs to be good communication among thoseinvolvedinplanning the change and implementing it and the public.

“I want to learn more about what the city plans on doing along the route to address our concerns,” he said. Boudreaux placed on the council agenda for the Nov 4meeting adiscussion of the administration’s newparade route. Blanchard said he will speak at the meeting, if given the opportunity Thecouncil meetsat 5:30 p.m. TuesdayatCity Hall, 705 W. University Ave. Email Claire Taylor at ctaylor@theadvocate.com.

TheAssociated Press reportedthat aTrumpad-

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

China to work with U.S. to resolve TikTok issues

President Donald Trump’s meeting Thursday with China’s top leader Xi Jinping produced a raft of decisions to help dial back trade tensions, but no agreement on TikTok’s ownership.

“China will work with the U.S. to properly resolve issues related to TikTok,” China’s Commerce Ministry said after the meeting. It gave no details on any progress toward ending uncertainty about the fate of the popular video-sharing platform in the U.S. Wide bipartisan majorities in Congress passed — and President Joe Biden signed a law that would ban TikTok in the U.S. if it did not find a new owner to replace China’s ByteDance. The platform went dark briefly on a January deadline but on his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order to keep it running while his administration tries to reach an agreement for the sale of the company Trump’s order was meant to enable an American-led group of investors to buy the app from China’s ByteDance, though the deal also requires China’s approval.

However, TikTok deal is “not really a big thing for Xi Jinping,” said Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the German Marshall Fund’s Indo-Pacific program, during a media brieﬁng Tuesday “(China is) happy to let (Trump) declare that they have ﬁnally kept a deal. Whether or not that deal will protect the data of Americans is a big question going forward.”

The security debate centers on the TikTok recommendation algorithm — which has steered millions of users into an endless stream of video shorts. China has said the algorithm must remain under Chinese control by law But a U.S. regulation that Congress passed with bipartisan support said any divestment of TikTok would require the platform to cut ties with ByteDance.

Universal Music, Udio settle suit, to team up

LONDON Universal Music Group and AI song generation platform Udio have settled a copyright infringement lawsuit and agreed to team up on new music creation and streaming platform, the two companies said in a joint announcement Wednesday

As part of the deal, Udio immediately stopped allowing people to download songs they’ve created, which sparked a backlash and apparent exodus among paying users.

Financial terms of the settlement weren’t disclosed.

Universal announced another AI deal on Thursday, saying it was teaming up with Stability AI to develop “next-generation professional music creation tools.”

Udio and Suno pioneered AI song generation technology, which can spit out new songs based on prompts typed into a chatbot-style text box The companies said the new AI subscription service will debut next year

Meta shares slide on expense projections

Meta Platforms Inc. posted strong third-quarter results Wednesday but warned that its expenses will be significantly higher in 2026 than this year

Like its rivals, Meta has been on an artiﬁcial intelligence spending spree and said its costs will grow much faster next year, driven by infrastructure costs and employee compensation as it has hired AI experts at eye-popping compensation levels.

“Employee compensation costs will be the second largest contributor to growth, as we recognize a full year of compensation for employees hired throughout 2025, particularly AI talent, and add technical talent in priority areas,” Meta said.

Menlo Park, California-based Meta earned $2.71 billion, or $1.05 per share, in the July-September period. Excluding tax-related special expenses, the company would have earned $7.25. Revenue rose 26% to $51.42 billion from $40.59 billion.

Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $6.72 per share on revenue of $49.51 billion, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet Research

BUSINESS

U.S. stocks sink on mixed news

Wall Street reacts to Big Tech profits, U.S.-China relations

BY STAN CHOE

Associated Press

NEW YORK The U.S. stock mar-

ket sank from its record heights on Thursday, as Wall Street sifted through mixed developments on everything from the U.S.-China trade war to proﬁts for Big Tech behemoths.

The S&P 500 fell 1% and pulled further from its all-time high set on Tuesday The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 109 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite dropped 1.6% from its record set the day before.

President Donald Trump hailed his talk with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, as a “12” on a scale of

zero to 10, and Trump said he would cut tariffs on China. But while the talks may offer some stability for the near term, major tensions remain between the two countries.

Plus, stocks had already run to records earlier this week on expectations for potentially big improvements coming out of the Trump-Xi talks.

“The result was fine, but fine isn’t good enough given the expectations going in,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. “The results were more like small gestures instead of a grand bargain.”

Microsoft sank 2.9% even though it reported stronger proﬁt and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Analysts pointed to how it also expects to spend more on investments in 2026 than in 2025, while growth for its Azure business may have

U.S. farmers cheer China’s soybean promise

But they caution deal doesn’t solve everything

BY JOSH FUNK AP business writer

OMAHA, Neb American farmers welcomed China’s promise to buy some of their soybeans, but they cautioned this won’t solve all their problems as they continue to deal with soaring prices for fertilizer tractors, repair parts and seeds

The Chinese promise to buy at least 25 million metric tons of soybeans annually for next three years will bring their purchases back in line with where they were before President Donald Trump launched his trade war with China in the spring. But the 12 million metric tons that China plans to buy between now and January is only about half the typical annual volume

“This is a very good thing I’m very grateful,” said Iowa farmer Robb Ewoldt, who is a director with the United Soybean Board. “I don’t want to sound like a ungrateful farmer, but it doesn’t cure everything in the short term.”

Missouri farmer Bryant Kagay said it’s somewhat “crazy” that everyone is getting so excited about this deal when all it does is get farmers back to where they were before this trade war began.

“I don’t know why you would go to war on trade if you didn’t expect you could get a better outcome in the end,” said Kagay who is part owner of Kagay Farms in Amity, Missouri.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said China also agreed to remove all its retaliatory tariffs on American ag products, which should open the door for sales of other crops and beef. Plus, China promised to resume buying U.S. sorghum which is another crop

BY MEG JAMES Los Angeles Times (TNS)

NBCUniversal owner Comcast, is interested in some of Warner Bros. Discovery’s assets.

On a Thursday call with analysts to discuss third-quarter earnings, Comcast President Mike Cavanagh suggested the Philadelphia giant might bid for certain Warner assets, primarily the Warner Bros. ﬁlm and television studios and its streaming service HBO Max.

Sources had previously said Comcast was angling to join the Warner Bros. Discovery auction after that company’s board formally opened the process last week. The Warner board has unanimously rejected three unsolicited bids from David Ellison’s Paramount, which has offered $58 billion for all of Warner Bros. Discovery.

Comcast isn’t looking to acquire the entire company or Warner’s large portfolio of cable channels that include CNN, TBS and Food Network. Instead, Cavanagh sug-

fallen a bit short of some investors’ expectations. On the winning side of Big Tech was Alphabet. Shares of Google’s parent company climbed 2.5% after its proﬁt and revenue for the latest quarter easily topped analysts’ expectations. How such companies do matters incredibly for investors. The trio of Alphabet, Meta Platforms and Microsoft alone account for 14.5% of the total value of all the companies in the S&P 500 index, which dictates the movements for many 401(k) accounts. That means movements for them and a handful of other Big Tech companies can easily overshadow what hundreds of other stocks are doing. Elsewhere on Wall Street, Chipotle Mexican Grill tumbled 18.2% after the restaurant chain pointed to pressures weighing on its customers, particularly younger ones and those who aren’t making high

incomes. CEO Scott Boatwright said that households making less than $100,000 are dining out less often because of concerns about the economy and inflation. He pointed specifically to 25- to 35-year-old customers, who are feeling the weight of unemployment, increased student loan repayments and slower growth in wages with respect to inflation, and he said he thinks restaurants across the industry are seeing something similar Chipotle cut its forecast for an important underlying measure of sales growth this year Eli Lilly, meanwhile, rose 3.8% after delivering stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected It credited strong growth for its blockbuster Mounjaro and Zepbound drugs for diabetes and obesity and it raised its full-year forecasts for revenue and profit.

largely used for animal feed that depends on that market More than half the sorghum and soybean crops are exported every year with much of that going to China.

Having these promises from China should make it easier for farmers to get the loans they need heading into next year, but Ewoldt said “I hope the administration doesn’t think that this solves everything in the next 6 to 8 months or 10 months.”

Trump had promised to offer farmers a signiﬁcant aid package this fall to help them survive the trade war with China, but it’s been put on hold because of the ongoing government shutdown. Rollins said that aid package is still in the works, but she promised the administration is ready to “step in the gap” and address any sort of harm the trade war has caused farmers.

“We’ll see what the market does and we will be ready to continue to step in if in fact, we believe it’s necessary,” Rollins said.

Kurt Campbell, a former deputy secretary of state in the Biden administration and now chairman of The Asia Group, said it’s not surprising that Trump negotiated these soybean purchases because they will beneﬁt one of his core constituencies in rural America.

“Its key deliverables appear to be things that matter greatly to President Trump in the short term, notably progress on fentanyl and increased sales of soybeans from congressional districts that matter to the Republican Party,” Campbell said. China is the world’s largest buyer of soybeans. It had been consistently buying about

gested that Comcast’s interest would be more narrow

He noted that NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. have compatible businesses. Comcast wants to grow its studios business and its struggling streaming service, Peacock, which lost $217 million during the quarter

“You should expect us to look at things that are trading in our space

It’s our job to try to ﬁgure out if there are ways to add value,” Cavanagh told analysts.

But he added a note of caution, saying the company didn’t feel that a merger was “necessary.”

“The bar is very high for us to pursue any (merger) transactions,” he said.

The Warner Bros. Discovery auction comes amid deep turmoil in the industry Traditional entertainment companies, including Warner and NBCUniversal, have long relied heavily on cable programming fees to boost proﬁt but consumers have been scaling back on pay-TV subscriptions amid the move to streaming.

one quarter of the American crop in recent years. China bought more than $12.5 billion worth of the nearly $24.5 billion worth of U.S. soybeans that were exported last year

China quit buying American soybeans this year after Trump imposed his tariffs Yet it had been steadily shifting more of its purchases to Brazil and other South American nations over the past decade.

Last year Brazilian beans accounted for more than 70% of China’s imports, while the U.S share fell to 21%, World Bank data shows. Argentina and other South American countries also are selling more to China, which has diversiﬁed to boost food security Farmer Caleb Ragland, who is president of the American Soybean Association trade group, said this agreement lays the foundation for restoring China’s traditional purchases of 25 million to 30 million metric tons of American soybeans.

“This is a meaningful step forward to reestablishing a stable, long-term trading relationship that delivers results for farm families and future generations,” said Ragland, who farms near Magnolia, Kentucky Indiana farmer Brent Bible said this deal with China sounds good as long as they actually do what they promised, unlike what happened with the trade agreement China signed with the United States in 2020 after Trump’s initial trade war The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted trade between the two nations just as the agreement went into effect. In 2022, U.S. farm exports to China hit a record, but then fell.

To address that challenge, Comcast is spinning off its cable channels, including CNBC, MSNBC, USA and Golf Channel, into a separately traded company called Versant. That process is expected to be complete this year

As part of the transition, the liberal-leaning MSNBC is changing its name to MS Now and dropping the peacock from its network logo, reﬂecting its pending exit from NBC, which will remain part of Comcast.

Cavanagh suggested that Comcast would not double down in a declining cable channel business that it was already exiting.

But Warner has other compelling businesses, including HBO and its Warner Bros. film and television studio.

Warner and NBCUniversal are investing in their respective streaming services but both lag Netﬂix, YouTube and Walt Disney Co. in terms of subscribers and engagement. Peacock has 41 million subscribers; the service has lost billions of dollars since Comcast

launched it ﬁve years ago. To shore up Peacock and the NBC broadcast network, Comcast has doubled down on sports, including striking a $27-billion, 10-year deal for NBA basketball, a contract that kicked in this month with the new season. (Nielsen ratings for the inaugural NBA game on NBC last week were strong nearly 5 million viewers.)

Most analysts believe that Ellison’s Paramount is in the best position to win Warner Bros. Discovery They point to the Ellison family’s determination, wealth and political connections. Tech titan Larry Ellison, who is backing his son’s bid, is the second-richest man in the world behind Elon Musk, and President Trump views the elder Ellison as a good friend. In contrast Trump has displayed a dim view of Comcast Chair and Chief Executive Brian Roberts, in large part, because of Comcast’s ownership of MSNBC, which Trump has accused of being an arm of the Democratic National Committee.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL CONROy Soybeans are harvested on Sept 17 on the Warpup Farm in Warren, Ind.

BY JENNA ROSS Staff writer

Offices that farmers count on for low-interest loans and disaster relief programs have reopened, even as the federal government shutdown drags on.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture

Brooke Rollins announced the reopening of 2,100 ofﬁces of the Farm Service Agency across the country at a crucial time for row crop farmers who are wrapping up the harvest, deciding whether to sell or store and planning for the next growing season.

COTTON

Continued from page 1A

hardship. This year, the state will harvest about 84,000 acres of cotton, almost half of that in Tensas. It’s the smallest crop grown since the Louisiana Purchase, and more than a 90% decrease from about 1 million acres harvested 30 years ago, according to the Louisiana Cotton and Grain Association Yet farmers like the Hardwicks are still holding on to cotton, not working for proﬁt, but to preserve a tradition — however complex — woven into the fabric of the land.

When the market moves on

Like their young farmhand, the Hardwicks are a rare breed. Marshall Hardwick, 38, has long hair and a thoughtful demeanor more akin to a musician. In 2013, he returned to the family farm — originally bought by his maternal greatgrandfather in the 1940s after earning a master’s in environmental science from LSU. Mead Hardwick, 44, looks more the part of a farmer with a thick beard, but worked in commercial real estate for a decade in Dallas before home called around the same time.

Their father, a former professor at Southern Methodist University, fell in love with a woman from Tensas and began farming the property in the 1980s. Back then, the parish had twice its current population, and the U.S textile industry consumed 15 million to 16 million bales of domestically grown cotton a year, which sold for almost 70 cents a pound, according to Teddy Schneider, a third-generation cotton farmer in East Carroll Parish and former chairman of the National Cotton Council. But it was the tail-end of the crop’s heyday: polyester was surging, and free trade agreements in the 1990s sent much of the textile industry to Southeast Asia and the Middle East, where labor was far cheaper China, India and now Brazil all where farming costs are lower — have surpassed the U.S. in cotton production, flooding the market and driving down demand. American textile manufacturers now consume 2 million U.S.-grown bales a year, and today’s prices hover around what they were in the 1980s. As Marshall stoops to admire a fruiting branch, he describes a demanding process that begins with planting in May, though each seed represents years of genetic refinement Left unchecked, the plant would grow into a small tree, so the Hardwicks apply a growth regulator to push more energy into the lint. By summer, the flowers blush red before withering in the heat. Eventually, the bolls that protect the seeds split open, exposing the white fiber of nearly pure cellulose. Then Hardwick must carefully time when to spray defoliants that strip the leaves for harvest.

“It’s an art,” said Marshall. “It requires a little more attention than grains.”

But by the mid-2000s, that same meticulous care was pushing Louisiana farmers to shift to other crops like corn, rice and soybeans all seen as easier to grow

“It’s absolutely critical,” said Mike Strain, Louisiana’s commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, citing the agency’s many services including crop insurance and bridge loans.

“When you look at the Farm Services Agency, they’re an integral partner in the business of agriculture.”

Strain added that the agency is especially important at this time of year

Late last week, Rollins met with Gov Jeff Landry, Strain and others during her visit to Louisiana.

Government programs are key for farmers who are facing a difficult market that includes high prices for most of what they buy, they say Farmers have cited rising costs of fertilizer, and low prices for much of what they’re

selling.

“President Trump is committed to supporting America’s farmers and ranchers,” a USDA spokesperson said by email, “and this action will release over $3 billion in assistance for farmers that Democrats in Congress have held up for over 20 days.”

County ofﬁces will be staffed by two employees ﬁve days a week.

The USDA spokesperson, who declined to give their name, said those employees are being paid, but didn’t answer a question about how the centers’ reopening is being funded.

During a visit last week to Amite, Rollins said the USDA is tapping funds from the Commodity Credit Corporation, according to a Farm Bureau News article. Not all the USDA’s agriculture

services have restarted, Strain said. There will be no new signups for conservation programs, including cost-sharing for cover crops. The market reports that the USDA typically compiles are still on pause, too, he said.

Farms are time-sensitive operations, partly because they’re selling perishable items, said Nichole Liuzza, who runs Liuzza Family Farm in Tangipahoa Parish, which grows a range of fruit and vegetables, from strawberries to squash. “We don’t make tires you can stack up. It has to be harvested, it has to be sold.”

Liuzza, who works alongside her husband, a ﬁfth-generation farmer, was expecting another payment in October from a federal disaster relief program for a drought that hit in 2023. Even with the Farm

Service Agency ofﬁces open, she’s unsure whether that payment will go through.

The farm doesn’t count on such funding, as “we never know when it’s coming or if it’s coming,” she said. Now, at least, she knows where she can go to ﬁnd out.

Liuzza is more stressed about the bigger, longer-term effects of the shutdown on folks’ ability to buy produce. The 65-acre farm depends on people being able to afford fresh fruit and vegetables, rather than trying to stretch their dollars by buying a 75-cent can of corn. She worries about federal workers missing paychecks and SNAP beneﬁts being suspended.

“It’s more than just the USDA ofﬁces,” she said. “I need the whole system to be working in order for us to beneﬁt.”

and less susceptible to damage by hurricanes. Unlike cotton, they don’t require unique infrastructure; the same combine can be used for just about everything but cotton. For the same reason, when one decides to stop growing cotton, it’s usually for good, and Louisiana now ranks near the bottom of cotton-growing states.

“In Louisiana, we are blessed to be able to grow whatever the market asks us to grow,” said Bobby Skeen, executive vice president of the Louisiana Cotton & Grain Association, a farm lobby. “But it’s both a blessing and a curse.”

Yet since the pandemic, costs for things such as fertilizer, seeds, equipment, fuel and insurance have exploded, while interest rates rose. Last year, the average expenditure per farm was $254,043, up from $182,130 in 2020, according to the USDA. With global markets setting commodity prices, farmers can’t simply charge more when their costs rise. Cheap imports keep prices low, leaving many in Louisiana barely breaking even this year regardless of what they grow

“We’re still having to buy and produce these inputs, but we can’t say we’ll sell it at 80 cents,” said Marshall.

Between 2017 and 2022 — the last two years an agricultural census was taken — Louisiana lost more than 2,000 farms. According to the trade publication Farm Journal, 91% of 70 agricultural economists surveyed in September believe the U.S. crop sector is in recession.

“Every generation has had struggles; agriculture is not easy,” Mead said. “But the risks today are so ampliﬁed.”

‘That’s all they know’

As McMahon drives the picker, it blows cotton ﬁbers into a collection basket that automatically compresses it into a round module — about 5,000 pounds of plastic-wrapped fluff that rolls off the picker ready for transport to the nearest gin. Down the road from the Hardwicks, Andy Hazel operates Planter’s Gin, one of two left in the parish “We just have farmers

where that’s all they know,” he said “If they are losing money on their crop, they want it to be cotton.”

At 32, Hazel juggles life as a taxidermist, cattle rancher and gin operator He wears industrial earmuffs and a worn-out, boyish smile In October and November, Hazel works 12-hour days to process between 16,000 and 20,000 bales of cotton, less than half of what he handled when he took over from his father in 2017. If his gin shuts down, little would stand in the way of most farmers giving up cotton altogether, as shipping it farther would be too costly

“Dad’s watched a bunch of these guys grow up. It’s just a big, tight-knit community,” Hazel said. “I’m here as long as the industry holds.”

“There are 14 cotton gins left in the state,” said Skeen, down from 56 a couple decades ago. “Do we need that many cotton gins? Probably not. But if the markets come back, you want to maintain that level of infrastructure to support it.”

Most gins in Louisiana are farmer-owned nonprofits, so growers don’t pay to use them. Hazel keeps his operation afloat by selling the seeds, often processed into cottonseed oil used in cooking methods like frying Café du Monde’s beignets. At Planter’s Gin, a few dozen workers oversee machines that break up and dry the cotton modules before a “gin stand” separates ﬁber from seed. The lint is then cleaned of twigs and leaves, packed for transport and shipped overseas.

The process, which makes cotton much cheaper and easier to produce, was ﬁrst developed on the eve of the Louisiana Purchase and Industrial Revolution — the latter initially driven by textile manufacturing. According to John Bardes, an LSU professor and a historian on the American South, the timing brought a stampede of cotton farmers to the Mississippi and Red River deltas in Louisiana, considered until then an economic backwater

“The way we think about oil in the 20th-century economy cotton was that in the 19th-century economy,” he

said. “Suddenly, Louisiana contains some of the most valuable land on the entire continent. Louisiana as we know it is a product of that land rush.”

By 1860, 70% of the world’s cotton was grown in the South. New Orleans became an agricultural Wall Street where financiers evaluated and bought cotton, and most of the nation’s millionaires lived on plantations between New Orleans and Natchez, Mississippi, Bardes said.

Of course, the immense wealth relied on the forced, brutal labor of Black men, women and children. After the international slave trade was outlawed in 1808, Bardes said, over 1 million slaves were transported to the Deep South from places like Virginia By the outbreak of the Civil War, half of all Louisianans were Black, he said.

“I would dare to say most Black residents primarily trace their ancestry to people who were forcibly transported from the upper South to the lower South during the cotton and sugar revolution,” said Bardes.

BBB, tariffs, fresh avenues

Though many plantations collapsed after the Civil War, Bardes says the industry didn’t seriously falter until the 1920s, when the boll weevil — a beetle that feeds on cotton buds and ﬂowers — began to devastate crops.

Mechanization, chemical fertilizers and improvements to crop genetics all followed, further reducing both farmland and farm jobs. While the boll weevil has been largely eradicated, today’s cotton growers still battle pests like the tarnished plant bug, though those threats pale beside economic pressures.

Farmers are hoping that current tariffs — which have so far pushed major importers of U.S. agricultural commodities, including cotton, elsewhere — will eventually lead to fairer global trade.

But in the long run, farmers say the best way to keep cotton alive is to boost demand.

They say that starts with putting pressure on polyester, cotton’s petroleum-based rival.

A United Nations report estimates that producing

polyester consumed 70 million barrels of oil in 2022, and washing synthetic fabrics may account for up to 35% of microplastics released into the world’s oceans.

“If you can get people to really change from polyester to cotton, the price will be at a place where everybody is profitable, everybody is making money,” said Marshall Hardwick. But cotton production isn’t exactly the darling of environmentalists. It’s fuel-intensive and relies on heavy pesticide use.

Still, cotton is biodegradable, and the Hardwicks are striving to show it can be grown sustainably Driving through their rolling cropland, the brothers point out reduced-tillage fields that limit erosion and pockets of reforested bottomland where black bears now forage. Beside one ﬁeld, a heap of chicken litter — of which they use about 1,000 tons each year — sits ready as a natural, though costly, fertilizer

The practices earned them certiﬁcation as regenerative, or “regen-agri,” farmers — a designation similar to organic, though less extreme and more attainable for conventional operations, said Marshall Hardwick.

“There are plenty of people that do it better than us, but we’re always trying to find these new techniques, new practices that make us better,” he said. It’s also a more practical way for larger companies to shrink their carbon footprint, and the Hardwicks have supplied J.Crew with regenerative cotton for the last five years. Marshall Hardwick says the growing trend helps eco-minded producers ﬁnd large buyers willing to pay more for a better crop — another possible avenue for keeping U.S. farmers aﬂoat.

“Our ag is safe and the quality is safe to use, sustainable and traceable,” said Skeen. “In the U.S., that is one of the banners we can wave.”

For now, that banner ﬂies over fewer and fewer ﬁelds. But in places like Tensas, farmers keep on planting, kindling a white glow over the delta soil in hopes that it will last.

STAFF PHOTO By JOHN BALLANCE

A John Deere cotton harvester gets ready to drop a cotton module in a field near Newellton in Tensas parish at Somerset Plantation.

Interstate 10 eastbound and diverted to Ambassador

Truck fire diverts I-10 traffic

One person hospitalized as interstate closed for hours

Staff report

Interstate 10 eastbound was closed for hours Thursday after an 18-wheeler caught ﬁre on the roadway Authorities diverted trafﬁc for several hours at the University Avenue exit in Lafayette The I-10 eastbound on-ramp at Interstate 49 was also closed.

The big rig was fully engulfed on Thursday after hitting a guardrail. It was not carrying hazardous materials, according to Louisiana State Police.

At least one person was taken to a local hospital for smoke inhalation, ofﬁcials said

The inside lane of I-10 eastbound near the scene reopened about 3 p.m., as did the on-ramp at University Avenue and Ambassador Caffery. All lanes of the interstate were expected to open by Thursday evening, police said.

Officials practice school shooting scenario

BY ASHLEY WHITE Staff writer

Districts across Acadiana have taken measures to physically make their campuses safer for students

Local, state and district leaders worked through a ﬁctional scenario on Thursday about what to do if those measures weren’t enough and an active shooter was able to make it onto a school campus

“If someone wants to ﬁnd a way, sometimes they do ﬁnd a way, unfortunately, and if that is the case, we have to keep our kids safe,” said Greg Theriot, the regional superintendent for the Lafayette Charter Foundation.

“We have to have good emergency protocols to work with our personnel and we just need to be prepared.”

Leaders met at the Lafayette Emergency Operations Center to work through a scenario where an active shooter was on the campus of Acadiana Renaissance

different “issues” would pop up, making the exercise feel more real and ﬂuid.

“This allows us to take it to a level of coordination with all of our ﬁrst responder agencies,” said Lafayette Mayor-President Monique Boulet. “It’s about getting people to know each other, to make eyeto-eye contact, exchange contact information, to know who’s going to be on the ground in that situation, so that it’s as seamless as possible to shut down the danger as fast as possible.”

Academy, a charter school that serves ninth through 12th graders.

There were more than a dozen agencies represented at Thursday’s tabletop workshop, including Lafayette Consolidated Government, Ochsner and Lourdes hospitals, Acadian Ambulance and local ﬁrst responders. While working through the scenario,

It’s not the first exercise the agencies have worked through. They’ve also worked on natural disaster and mass casualty scenarios. Ultimately, the training is a moment for all agencies to see if there are any gaps in the plan, build cross-governmental relationships and ensure that all information is up to date.

“It’s not an easy exercise,” Boulet said. “It’s a lot of work, but, if we ﬁnd ourselves in that situation, it will pay off. That’s the goal, to prevent any kind of danger.”

Email Ashley White at ashley.white@ theadvocate.com.

Historic sharecropper cabins torn down in Ascension

Some

Firefighters respond to an 18-wheeler fire on I-10 eastbound on Thursday.

Research monkeys still missing

Animals escaped after truck overturned in Miss. on Tuesday

BY KASEY BUBNASH Staff writer

A car wreck on Interstate 59 in Mississippi on Tuesday afternoon gave a handful of lab monkeys their ﬁrst taste of freedom. But after a multiagency response and confusion over whether the animals were carrying several serious viral infections, only a few made it out of the ordeal alive.

The crash was reported at around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday just north of Heidelberg, where a truck hauling 21 rhesus macaques from Tulane University’s National Biomedical Research Center on the northshore hit a median and flipped, ejecting eight of the animals from their cages. Although initial alerts issued by the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department claimed the “aggressive” monkeys were infected with herpes, COVID-19 and hepatitis C, Tulane University officials soon clarified that they were not infectious.

Jasper County Sheriff Randy Johnson told WDAM-TV Tuesday evening that ﬁve of the escapees were killed in the ensuing hunt and three remained on the loose. Thirteen monkeys that did not break out of their cages were recaptured.

The crash and subsequent killing of some of the monkeys garnered plenty of public attention, making national headlines and quickly becoming the butt of jokes online. It also sparked outrage among animal lovers and advocates

PHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK

Traffic is backed up along

on the overpass at the intersection with I-49 in Lafayette on Thursday.

STAFF PHOTO By By ASHLEy WHITE

BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT

Redistrictingmustbefairand have public input

for committeedebates.

Davante Lewis GUEST COLUMNIST

The Legislature convenedinextraordinary session to push back election dates for the 2026 closed congressional primary elections under mirror legislation, House Bill 1and Senate Bill 1, that was ﬁled by legislative committees on governmental affairs, with jurisdiction over elections, voting rights and redistricting.

Legislative leaders saidthese bills are intended to buytime for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide Louisiana v. Callais, which will determine the proper application of the U.S. Constitution and Voting Rights Act to Louisiana’scongressional map.

Gov.Jeff Landry has said that the Supreme Court’sdecision could provide new guidancethat Louisiana must weighwhenenacting maps and, too, thatnew congressional district lines may be required if the court’sholding strikes down the current map. We pray that does not happen.

Any assumption about the timingand nature of the Supreme

Court’sdecision-making, or that another special session on redistricting may be required as aresult, remains pure speculation.

Ashley Shelton GUEST COLUMNIST

Few responsibilities could carry more consequences than redistricting andthe distribution of political power

This process determines which voices areheardloudestwhen choosing the electedofficials who make decisions thatimpact every community member’sdaily life. Indeed, the makeupofdistricts caninfluenceifand how elected officials respondtocommunity needs.

From the delta to thebayou, congressionallines in Louisiana will determine what federaldollars are investedinLouisiana’s communitiesand the policy decisions thatwill shape opportunities forgenerations to comeontopics fromeducationtohousing, foreign policytoour domestic economy.

The Legislature holds incredible poweroverhow any potential midcycleredistrictingprocesswould

proceed in thestate. No matter how opinions may vary on the ultimateconﬁguration of districts and the values reﬂected in the state’s maps,weall should be able to agree on aset of values to guide the process.

We askall involved to commit to

Early childhoodeducation is foundation of atalentpipeline

children.

ensurethese values are honored should aredistricting session be held:

n Make committeehearing dates and times are made public with at least ﬁve days’ notice.

n Publish mapbills at least three days before they are scheduled

n Provide all legislators and members of the public with equal access to relevant, nonprivileged information committeemembers mayconsider about how maps comply with all relevant rules and other redistricting criteria as deﬁned by state and federal law

n Provide for public in-person community meetings outside of the State Capitol and/or virtual opportunities for community education and feedback on maps under consideration by the committees.

n Refrain from invoking time limitations on public testimony and legislative debate.

Every citizen deserves an equal voice in our political process. This includes the process of drawing lines for the districts where Louisianans live, work, worship and raise families. We must ensure our communities’ voices are not minimizedorsilenced in any redistricting process.

DavanteLewis represents District 3onthe Public Service Commission and AshleyShelton is the founder, president and CEO of thePower Coalition for Equity andJustice.

Federalsupport is a lifeline formanystudents

As president of the LafayetteEconomic Development Authority anda working mother,Isee how deeply connectedearly childhood education is to family stability, workforce developmentand our region’s economic competitiveness. Lafayettehas longprided itself on being ahub of innovation, entrepreneurship, cultural vitality and family friendliness. If we hopetocontinue, we must make smart investments to support children and families.

Datafrom the federal Centers for Disease Control andPrevention, as well as theNational Center for Health Statistics, show agradual decline in Louisiana’s birth rates, following anational trend postGreat Recession. The reports citeconcerns about ﬁnancial instability and alackofsupport for young families. These concerns are valid —and they’re also solvable. One of the best family-friendly strategies we can implementisexpanding access tohigh-quality early childhood education

In economic development, we often talk about the talent pipeline.But that pipeline doesn’toriginate in high school or college —itstarts at birth. The ﬁrst ﬁveyears of life are foundational for achild’slong-term success. As importantly,access to earlycare allows parents—especially mothers —to return to work or complete their education Without access, businesses lose employees, communities lose economic activity and Louisiana loses opportunity.

Here in Acadiana, we’veseen beneﬁts ﬁrsthand. When child care is available, ourlocal economies run stronger: Parentsseeking to gain new skills through postsecondaryeducation and parents who work in Lafayette’s coreeconomies —healthcare, oil and gas, technology,logistics,retail, restaurants and family entertainment —countonreliable, affordable early learningoptions fortheir

Parents with access to child care aremore stable, upwardly mobile and likely to stayin theworkforce and their employers benefit from reduced turnover and amore productive talent pool. Conversely,when child care options are severely limited, families face difficultchoices and businesses struggle to filljobs and productivity suffers.

Louisiana has madeprogress, but over 100,000 children from birth to age 4stilllack access to high-quality early learning. While state funding for child care programs has been relatively consistent in recent years, continued investmentsinearly childhood programswill be acritical component to driving meaningful change in family prosperity,rising birthrates and stabilizing Louisiana’seconomy Expanding these opportunities is ashared responsibility among parents, employers and communities, and it is smart economic strategy that will strengthen our local, regional and state competitiveness for yearstocome.

If we’re serious about growing Louisiana’spopulation and building acompetitive, modern economy,weneed to treat early childhood education as what it is: economic infrastructure.

Likegood roads, modern and robust utilities andaccessible and affordable broadband, early childhood education supports workforce participation, builds future workforce readiness and strengthens community economic stability.Investing in children is notcharity —itisaneconomic strategy ensuring that Lafayette, the Acadiana region and all of Louisianaremain places where families want to live, work and grow

Let’ssecure Louisiana’slong-term prosperity by investing in the systems that support our future leaders. Strong starts create strong economies!

Mandi Mitchell is the president and CEO of the Lafayette Economic Development Authority.

The bus and car lines on the first dayatthe newLafayette HighSchool in August

STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE

WESTBROOK

For my entirelife, getting to school felt like arace against the clock, accompanied by constant worry My journey from being akid in Detroit to astudentatLouisiana State University is one of hard work and acrucial support system that ensured Ihad asafeand reliable way to get to class. My experience serves as living proof that policy can change lives and that dedicated federal funding for students experiencing instability is essential for creating real futures. As thenational conversation turns to education funding, my story is awarning against converting specific, lifesaving funds into broad block grants. Alack of consistent transportation wasone of the biggest challenges Ifaced as astudent experiencing homelessness. For mostofmylife, Ilived in atwostory flat in Detroitwith arelative. After thesummer following eighth grade, when Iwas forced to move back, my room had been turned into astorage space, and Inolonger had a bed. For months, Islept on the floor Despite this instability,I was determined to attendaspecific high school that offered the educational benefits I needed. Butstaying there was adaily struggle. Imoved four or five times during those years, sometimes living as far as 40 minutes from school with no available bus service. To cover the cost of getting there, Istarted working specifically to pay forride-shares.

SkipDrive, asupplemental transportation provider,toget me to school. Finally,I had adaily,reliable and free-to-me ride from asafe adult. Because those federal funds were speciﬁcally targeted forstudents experiencing homelessness, my school was able to direct that money toward my most urgent need. That solution —a simple, saferide —became my lifeline. It allowed me to stay at my high school, participate in lacrosse and an entrepreneurship program and ultimately build acompetitive college application. My experience illustrates the importance of the national conversation about education funding. People are debating whether to give states money in big “block grants” to use however they want. My story is aclear argument forkeeping funding like the McKinney-Vento grants targeted so kids like me don’tfall into the cracks.

The panic was constant. Iremember tellingmycounselor Ihad no money for an Uber and would miss school and lacrosse practice. Afriend of hers drove me forawhile, but once that fell through, Iwas completely on my own.Iended up spending nearly $1,200 of my own money to get to school and myextracurriculars. This fear is asilent barrier no child should ever have to face. This is where policy becamepersonal.

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is afederal law that ensures children and youth experiencing homelessness, like me, have access to afree education, including aright to transportation assistance. Eventually,myschool district was able to use those dedicated McKinney-Ventofunds to partner with Hop-

Icredit a“village” of support, including my guidance counselor and my entrepreneurship teacher,for helping me get to where Iamtoday As someone whodidn’thave astable guardian, Ioften felt like “no one’s kid.” This support wasablessing because it showed me that someone was responsible formywell-being. This funding can be effective in ensuring that dollars are available to support students experiencing housing instability Instead of debating whether block grants are good or bad in theory,let’s use my journey to talk about how we can best use federal money to support students.

Transportation isn’taseparate issue —it’sakey part of the conversation about how we can use education funding effectively

All my hard workand all the support Ireceived paid off. Iama student at LSU, and my success wasthe direct result of effective, targeted funding. Iurge lawmakers to protect these programsand ensure that for every student facing instability,the ride to school is abridge to their future, not abarrier

Angel Dawson is ajunior studying mass communications and public relations at LSU

Angel Dawson GUEST COLUMNIST

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

Gov. Jeff Landryaddresses the Louisiana Legislature on opening dayof the legislativesession in April at the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge.

ISSUE OF THE WEEK SPORTS BETTING SCANDAL

The revelation that an FBI investigationintoillegal sports gamblinghad led to thearrests of an NBAcoach and twoplayers sent shockwavesthrough the sports world. Sports betting has exploded in popularity in recentyears,but some warnitcouldbechanging the game for fans, athletes, teamsand leagues in undesirable ways.Will the unfolding NBAscandal prompt abroaderreckoning or is it simply too late to rein in legalized online betting platforms that rakein billions ayear? Here are twoperspectives:

Badbet by SupremeCourt opened door to scandal

In 2018, the Supreme Courtvoted 6-3to strike down afederal law banning sports gambling, thus allowing individual states to decide whether to allow it,or not. It didn’ttake agenius to predict what might happen, especially when politicians can find new sources of revenue beyond income, property and sales taxes. Last week, more than 30 people wereindictedaspart of anational sports betting scandal involving high-profile figures, including Portland Trail Blazerscoach

ﬁrst

thingtogo. It will be difﬁcult to get it restored.

Americacan no longer ignore itsgamblingproblem

One wonders how people making millionsofdollars would be enticed by offers of afew hundred thousand dollars to do somethingthey had to know was against thelaw.Perhaps it was the thrill one can get from such behavior.Perhaps it was the instant cash delivered to their doorsteps.Whatever it was is crazy stupid.

Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier.Billups was charged in ascheme involvingrigged poker games, and Rozier was chargedfor allegedly providing insider information to an illegal sports bettingring. Aformer player, Damon Jones, was also indicted for sharing insider information.The FBI said arrests were made in 11states with more arrests likely to come. What may have surprised manywere allegations that these schemes are linked to three different Mafia families. Isn’tthe Mafia the stuff of movies like “Goodfellas” and “The Godfather”? People may have thought crime families had been putout of business years ago by federal agents likeEliotNess, then leader of a Chicago team knownasthe “Untouchables” that took on Al Capone. ATVseries by that name ran from 1959 to 1963 and starredRobert StackasNess. The series captivatedAmerican audiences. Threeofthe five crime families allegedly involved in sports betting and rigged poker games are familiar topeople with long memories: the Gambinos, theBonnanosand theGenoveses families.

The NationalBasketball Association, which has Fan Duel and Draft Kings as its “ofﬁcial”sports betting partners, issued astatement followingthe indictments. It read in part: “Wetakethese allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of ourgameremains our top priority.” The “integrity of our game”was the

Not all vices can be regulated. Prohibition is usually presented as theworst example. While not everyoneconforms to every law (if they didthe prisons would be empty), the law sets astandard which tells people what history andsocieties have shown is best forthem andthe nation.

Gamblers, like thepoor,wehave alwayshad with us, but when gambling (now called “gaming” to supposedly make it more palatable) becomes the norm andespecially when it is advertised during breaksinNBA and NFL games, it sends amessage that this vice is acceptable, even recommended. Putting in small printonthe screen “Gambling problem?” andan1-800 number to dial is notaquick ﬁx for thosewho can’tafford to lose the rent or food money CincinnatiReds star player Pete Rose was banned from baseball in 1989 for betting on games when he managed theclub. After denying theallegation for years, Rose eventually admitted thecharge which ended his eligibility for Hall of Fame consideration. He will be reconsidered for admission when the special committeethatdecides who gets in meetsin December 2027. Given thescandal involving the NBA, with possibly more indictments to come, Rose should be granted admission to the Hall and Congress should consider more regulation of thegambling industry that could pass Supreme Court muster Email Cal Thomas at tcaeditorstribpub. com.

Terry Rozierofthe Miami Heat has built arespectable NBAcareer,averaging about 20 pointsper game some years. In all likelihood, though, the point guard will now be remembered less forwhat he did on the courtthan as anotherdata point in how runaway sportsbetting is corrupting major athletics. Rozier, at the timea memberof the CharlotteHornets, stands accused of tipping off gamblers that he would leave agame againstthe New Orleans Pelicans early in March 2023 based on asupposed injury This allowed his coconspirators to bet the “under” on his performanceand proﬁt handsomely,sharing the proceeds withRozier.A former NBAplayer and unofﬁcial coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, meanwhile, allegedly leaked to bettors the information that LeBronJames, the NBA’s biggest star,would be sitting out (for legitimatereasons)agame in February 2023.

This scandal is obviously ablow to the NBA’sreputation. The league can’thave fans thinking everytime aplayer sits a shady associate has placed apricey bet on DraftKings that he’ll score fewer than 10 points.

There have been sports-gambling scandals before (Shoeless Joe Jackson, I’mlooking at you).Yet we’ve created, out of nothing, an enormous industry that is inherently corrupting, encourages people to waste their money andruins lives.

The corruption cases are adding up. Former TorontoRaptorscenter Jontay Porter recently pled guilty in asimilar scheme to tank his performance, hoping to get relief from his own gambling debts. TwoCleveland Guardians pitchers are under investigation for unusual betting activity around speciﬁc pitches

Sports betting has always been with us, but it mushroomed into ajuggernaut when the Supreme Court struck down in 2018, on federalist grounds, aban on sports betting calledthe Professionaland Amateur Sports Protection Act

The sportsleagueshad opposed legalized sports betting on grounds, as they put it on

one brief, that “gambling on amateur and professional sports threatens the integrity of those sports.” They were right, but we were off to the races nonetheless. With nary apause for prudent experimentation, nearly 40 states legalized sports betting in a matter of several years. The market is apowerful thing, and one of its greatest strengths is creating ever-more alluring products. In this case, that product lavishly marketed and constantly innovative —iswhat has been traditionally considered avice, and rightly so.

Writing in The Atlantic, Charles Lehman of the Manhattan Institute notes, “The rise of sports gambling has caused awave of ﬁnancial and familial misery,one that falls disproportionately on the most economically precarious households.”

Since sports betting is addictive, Lehman continues, the industry’s“proﬁts largely comefrom the compulsions of people with aproblem. Asmall number of people place the large majority of bets —about 5% of bettors spent 70% of the money in NewJersey in late 2020 and early 2021.” What to do? It’d be best if states that haven’talready legalized sports betting stay away,and states that have taken the plunge reconsider.That’sunlikely,though.

America loves its sports betting, an obsession that transcends partisan politics. Polling sponsored by the American Gaming Association shows that two-thirds of Americans approve of legal sports betting, with an equal 71% of Democrats and of Republicans in favor At the very least, states should restrict so-called proposition bets on the individual performance of players, whichismuch more easily gamed than the outcomeofa contest depending on the efforts of an entire team. Once arelatively marginalphenomenon, sports betting is now part of the American mainstream, and we haven’tseen the last of the scandals.

Rich Lowry is on Twitter @RichLowry

Rich Lowry

Cal Thomas

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTOByJENNy KANE

Portland Trail Blazers head coach ChaunceyBillupswalks to avehicle after his federal courtappearanceonOct. 23 in Portland,Ore.

to halt further demolition, with Hyundai Steel Louisiana President Charles Jang stating that the company takes “historical and cultural preservation seriously.”

“Hyundai Steel will develop and implement a mitigation plan that appropriately addresses any identiﬁed cultural or historical resources,” he added. “We appreciate the landowner agreeing to help protect this site in the best way possible.”

‘It’s devastating’

The rural community of Modeste sits at the center of a debate over Ascension Parish’s future. Multiple companies — including CF Industries, Ascension Clean Energy and Hyundai — hope to build industrial plants in the RiverPlex MegaPark, an industrial overlay area larger than Manhattan.

The area was created by the Parish Council in 2015, and the Ascension Economic Development Corporation says it is the largest contiguous undeveloped tract of land on the deep water Mississippi River Currently the parish government is looking into the possibility of a buyout plan for residents, although some locals have posted signs along La. 405 saying they refuse to sell.

According to Modeste resident Twila Collins, crews began tearing down the cabins last week. The plantation home and two cabins remain standing, but only piles of wood remain where the oth-

MONKEYS

Continued from page 1B

near and far, thrusting Tulane’s controversial animal research center back into the spotlight.

But in the days since the monkeys escaped, authorities have left questions about the crash largely unanswered. It’s still unclear where the monkeys were headed and why some of them had to be killed, and the agencies involved have largely shut out attempts to get more information.

After Tulane ofﬁcials publicly disputed Jasper County’s account of events, the Sheriff’s Department said in a statement posted to social media Tuesday evening that it was the truck driver who warned authorities the monkeys were dangerous and required personal protective equipment for handling.

“We took the appropriate actions after being given that information from the person transporting the monkeys,” the Sheriff’s Department said.

It has since declined to comment further Tulane spokesperson Michael Strecker said the university was not involved in the transport of the monkeys, does not own them and did not have custody of them when the truck carrying them to another unidentiﬁed facility crashed.

Strecker didn’t say who the monkeys belonged to or where they were headed, but he conﬁrmed they had just left Tulane’s research center when the “tragic incident” occurred. Strecker said primates from the research center are often provided to other organizations to “advance scientiﬁc discovery.”

“This is a common practice among research organizations,” he said. Strecker referred further questions to the Jasper County Sher-

er two once stood. Collins said seeing the cabins torn down was devastating.

“Those buildings have been there longer than I’ve been here, and I’ve been here 55 years,” she said. “And it’s devastating to see history just being torn down.”

The National Park Service website states that a listing on the National Register of Historic Places doesn’t prevent property owners from modifying or demolishing structures. The owner did not respond to a request for comment left at a number listed on the National Register of Historic Places form. Another number connected with the owner and listed in an online database was disconnected.

The form states the cabins are locally significant, as they are “extremely rare survivors of a once common building type.”

“Hundreds of these cabins existed in rural Ascension Parish at one time,” the

iff’s Department.

Tulane’s animals are used for medical research, and federal law mandates that tests be conducted in animals before approval can be given for clinical trials involving people, according to Tulane

The Mississippi Highway Patrol is leading an investigation into the cause of the crash. A spokesperson declined to comment further on Wednesday, referring questions about the monkeys to Tulane and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.

Ofﬁcials with the wildlife department said Wednesday they are coordinating with local authorities to hunt down the remaining monkeys and urged residents to avoid contact and report sightings by calling (800) BE-SMART.

Animal advocacy organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has called for more answers, demanding the release of full necropsies and veterinary records.

PETA’s Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo said in a statement that Tuesday’s ordeal exemplifies the risks of animal testing, particularly on monkeys, which she said often carry diseases that can be transmitted to humans.

“Terriﬁed monkeys running for their lives into un-

form stated, adding only 34 were left in 1993. “Of this number, most are isolated cabins scattered throughout the parish. Only two clusters of cabins still stand in the row conﬁgurations in which they were built. Mulberry Grove’s cabins form one of these clusters.”

Both Collins and Gaignard said various groups, like the Donaldsonville-based River Road African American Museum, might have been interested in preserving the cabins. Darryl Hambrick, co-founder and executive director of the museum, said the organization hadn’t been contacted about preserving the cabins.

“Nobody had contacted us about those buildings, and sometimes funding is an issue,” he said “So, we can take on those buildings, but if we don’t have the funding to make all of the preservation things happen, then it makes it difﬁcult for us as a nonproﬁt to take on that responsibility.”

protected, populated areas is exactly the spark that could ignite the next pandemic,” she said.

Tony Goldberg, a professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine and a researcher specializing in cross-species disease transmission, said the macaques in question are not likely to cause the next COVID-19.

Native to Asia, rhesus macaques are the primates that have long been most commonly used in medical testing and research, Goldberg said. They’re about as big as a medium-sized dog and often live in proximity to densely populated cities, where Goldberg said they interact with people largely without issue.

“So three monkeys on the run in Mississippi, I wouldn’t be alarmist about it,” he said.

Many macaques carry a form of herpes, B-virus, that affects them in much the same way herpes impacts humans.

Though rare Goldberg said B-virus can be spread to humans through biting or scratching and can enter the nervous system, causing serious illness or death. But Goldberg said the risk is low Studies of monkey handlers and research personnel — Goldberg himself studies wild primates in Africa — show “very low” transmission rates.

Pooler II, Benjamin 'Ben' James Benjamin "Ben" James Pooler II, age 82, of Lafayette, Louisiana, passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on October 27, 2025. Born in New Orleans Louisiana, on September 15, 1943, Ben lived afull and purposeful life devoted to God,Family, and Country, and to alifelong commitment to safetyand service.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Carroll and Elizabeth Pooler; his brother, Carroll Pooler Jr.; and his sister, Betty Wright

He is survived by his beloved wife of 58 years, Kaye Anderson Pooler; his son, Benjamin "Ben" Pooler III and hiswife, Alyssa; his daughter, Kathy Pooler Harmon and her husband,Ben; his sister, Harriett Pooler; his sisterin-law, Dianne Forwood; his grandchildren, Chris and Madison Harmon, Gaige and Roman; and his great-grandson, Bankston He is also remembered fondly by many nieces, nephews, cousins, friends, and colleagues who cherished him.

Ben was aproud graduate of theUniversityof Southwestern Louisiana (now theUniversityof Louisiana at Lafayette) where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with aconcentrationin Economics.

He served four years in the U.S. Army Reserves, rising to the rank of First Sergeant.

Over five decades, Ben built arespected career in the fieldsoffire, safety, health, and environmental protection-supporting onshore and offshore, industrial, and commercial operations. His work included safety programdevelopment and training,accident investigationand analysis, ironmental

across OSHA and the U.S. Coast Guard and was qualified to practice as an IndependentSafety Consultant; Field Safety Representative for the Arkansas Workers' Compensation Commission;and Professional Safety Source for the Texas Workers' Compensation Commission

Friends andcolleagues will remember Ben's calm leadership, generous mentorship, andunwavering integrity. He will be remembered for his kind heart, quick wit, and quiet strength that touched everyone who knew him. At home, he was asteadfast husband, adevoted father and grandfather, anda trusted friendwho could fix anything and always made time for others.

The family extends its deepest appreciation to Dr. Elizabeth McLain and her dedicated staff; to Carla Dean for her exceptional compassion and support; and to Palliative Care of Acadianaand Hospice of Acadianafor the comfort and dignity they provided during Ben's final days; and to the Reverend Madge McLain for her friendship, guidance and spiritual support. Visitation will be held on Saturday, November 1, 2025, at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, 400 Camellia Boulevard in Lafayette, from 9:00 a.m. until the time of Serviceat 10:30 a.m., with inurnment immediately following at Lafayette Memorial Park Cemetery. Honorary Pallbearers will be, Ben Pooler III, Carroll "Cary" Pooler III, Stacy Ancelet, and Ben Harmon

Following theservices, friends and family are invited to join the family at the Petroleum Club of Lafayette for acelebration of Ben's life. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 101 E. Vermilion Street Abbeville, LA. 70510; or Hospice of Acadiana, 2600 Johnston Street, Suite 200 Lafayette, LA. 70503. View the obituary and guestbook online

Classie Belle Williams, 95, passed away October 18, 2025. Born October 1, 1930 in New Iberia, LA, to Martha Curtis andTrinity Williams. She was the youngest of five children and grew up in the closeknit community of "Neco Town." She was aproud Southern University graduate with adegree in business and worked for American Bankfor manyyears. AdevoutCatholic.She was active with the Ladies of Auxiliary at Immaculate Conception, an Adorer at Our Lady of Mercy, and a volunteer with the Catholic Diocese. She is survived by her sister, Ethel Mouton (103 years old), daughters Judy Tauriac London and Andrea Batiste Hopkins (spouse Reginald), six grandchildren,four great grandchildren,and ahost of nieces, nephews, cousins, and dear friends. She is preceded in death by her parents, siblings (Lucille, Jonoth, Ruby), former significantothers (Walter and Irving), and is now lovingly reunited with her infant son, Joseph. The visitation will be held from 9:00-10:55 AM and AMass of Christian Burial will begin at 11:00 AM on 11-12025, all at St. Joseph Cathedral, 401 Main Street, Baton Rouge, LA. ACommittal/Burial will immediately follow at Southern Memorial Gardens, 3012 Blount Road,Baton Rouge, LA.

Williams,Classie Belle

tackle Bryant Williams hoistsrunning back Bill Davis after atouchdown againstMcNeese

is expected to returnfrom aninjuryinSaturday’sgameatSouth Alabama.

HEALTHYRETURN

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

Finally,some good newsfor UL when it comestothe injury report on theoffensiveline. After missing lastweek’sgame at Troy,starting left tackle Bryant Williamsisexpected to return for Saturday’s 2:30p.m. game at South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. “That allowsustokind of movesome things over,” UL coach Michael Desormeaux said. “We’re excited he’s able to play.Ifhecouldn’tgothis week,wewere kind of in a little bit of trouble there, so that’sdeﬁnitelya good thing.” Mackey Maillho, who started at left tackle lastweek, will start at right tackleagainst South Alabama.That allowed veteran right guard Jax Harrington to move back to his spotatguard after playing at right tackle the last two weeks.

“That’s kind of what we’re hoping —togive us alittle bit more power in the center-guard area,”Desormeaux saidofHarrington’sreturn to guard. “Lastweek, we struggled to get apush inside right there.” In otherinjurynews, outsidelinebackerLesterJones hadknee surgery and he’ll be out for the rest of the season. On the offensive line, guard Mark Broussard remainsout this week as well.

Baudoinprogress

FormerAscension Episcopal defensive lineman Maxie Baudoin wishes UL had morewins thisseason. But the Tulane transfer also doesn’t mind admitting he feels good about the contributions he’sbeen able to make this season in hisﬁrstconsistentplayingtime in

See CAJUNS, page 4C

The ﬁring of Brian Kelly and the now active search forhis successor as LSU’s football coach are the stories that ate the local newscycle. Who will LSU hire? When will it hire someone? Who will be doing the hiring? How much will Gov.Jeff Landry inject himself into the process? Will Omar the Tiger be forced into making acomeback tour? Anything right now about whowill get the job and whowill be offering the job is pure speculation. But at this early stage, allow me to weigh in with my top 10 candidates and reasons whythey would or wouldn’ttake the job. We’ll start with No.1,the greatest college football coach of all time: 1. NICK SABAN, 73 YEARS OLD (RETIRED) Yes, he will be 74 on Friday.Yes, he got out of coaching at Alabamabecause of the sea change in college athletics with the transfer portal and NIL.But Ibelieve the competitive ﬁres still burn. Ithink LSU is the one school that could get Saban to un-retire, even if just fortwo, three or four seasons, enough time forLSU to stabilize the program and set it back on anational contender course. He’salso the one candidate whocould get everyone from the governor on downtostop squabbling and fall into line.

It would require amoonshot-type ﬁnancial commitment —who knows? —maybe $20 million ayear guaranteed. But if Iwas hiring, Iwould makethe call and make Nick tell me no. Iknow he told me when he

Saints have delicate balancebetween tradedeadline, Shough’s development

BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer

Twocompeting ideas can be true for the New Orleans Saints regarding theNFL trade deadline.

One, moving on from either wide receiver Chris Olave or Rashid Shaheed might hurt Tyler Shough‘s development.

Two, sending at least one wideout away could be the best for the franchise in the long haul.

Shough’sﬁrst start, Sunday against the LosAngelesRams, comes at afascinating time for theSaints. The black and gold must see what they have in their second-round quarterback over the ﬁnal nine games.But at 1-7, the Saints have the kind of record that puts them at the epicenter of the league’sTuesday trade deadline. And theSaints have two receiv-

ers —Olave and Shaheed —who might fetch real value, assets that would accelerate the team’srebuild. That’sa delicateposition to be in. Could Shough’sﬁrst start be his last throwing to Olaveand/or Shaheed?

“I don’t think you’reworried about it one bit,” Saintscoach KellenMoore said when asked howShough’sdevelopment could be impacted by what the Saints do at the deadline.“We have an awesome group of guys. Yeah, we haven’twon enough games, but theway this group practices still, the energythatitbrings …it’sareally awesome group.” TheSaints could just look at last year’steam to seehow direa young quarterback’splay can be without top

wideouts to target. After season-ending injuriestoOlave and Shaheed last fall, SpencerRattler spentmostofhis rookie season throwing to the likes of Marquez Valdes-Scantling, MasonTiptonand Kevin Austin. Rattler struggled from acompletion percentage standpoint, but the circumstances made it difﬁcult to properly assess the signalcaller Avoiding arepeat scenario with Shough would be ideal, especially if theSaints end up with atop pick in next year’sdraft and have to determine whether to take a quarterback. As much as teams try to stay patient with prospects, the chance to draft asignal-caller near the top of the draft doesn’ttend to come around often. To make thatdecision, theSaints need

STAFF FILEPHOTO By BRAD KEMP

State on Sept. 6. Williams

Scott Rabalais

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Saints widereceiver Chris Olave carries the ball during the second half of agame against the Tampa BayBuccaneers on Sunday at theCaesars Superdome.

Ohtani captivates the world

Japan has been glued to their TV sets to cheer on Dodgers in World Series

BY YURI KAGEYAMA AP business writer

TOKYO “Ohtani. Home run. Awesome. Ohtani. Home run.” Cocochan Hayakawa, a chatty parrot with nearly 48,000 followers on Instagram, is one of millions of admirers of Shohei Ohtani, the baseball superstar starring again for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.

“He is the greatest,” said Hideyuki Kamimura, who heads a

dental clinic in a town north of Tokyo and goes to Los Angeles every year to watch a Dodgers game. Although the Dodgers are trailing Toronto 3-2 in the World Series, Kamimura still believes Ohtani and the Dodgers will prevail. He adores Ohtani so much that he has an Ohtani memorabilia collection including three of the player’s helmets.

“Ohtani has always delivered dramatic victorious endings from totally critical situations,” Kamimura said It is hard to escape Ohtani in Japan, even while the country was glued to its own World Series equivalent, the Japan Series. The SoftBank Hawks won their 12th championship Thursday night over the Hanshin Tigers, one of

Japan’s oldest clubs dating to the 1930s. While being able to watch Ohtani’s games live — after breakfast in Tokyo time — he’s also popular in advertisements and his face is all over billboards and merchandise and TV

He’s seemingly everywhere in Tokyo, pitching everything from watches to bottled water to noodles to omusubi (rice balls). He reportedly earns around $100 million annually from endorsements, part of the reason he asked the Dodgers to defer all but $2 million of his $70 million annual salary In one ad for a home security company Ohtani even faces a legend in Japanese baseball who died this year at 89. A computer-graphics dream faceoff has Ohtani pitching to a young Shigeo

Nagashima. The ad ends before the ball reaches the plate.

His Dodgers teammates have made viral fun of Ohtani’s gesture in a sunscreen ad in which he draws the bottle across his face and replicates it while rounding the bases.

To Japanese fans, Ohtani is just about perfect: He hits home runs, pitches great, steals bases and has a reputation for being kind and humble.

Max Bedding, a chemist from Sydney, was visibly happy after he bought an Ohtani cap during a vacation in Japan. Baseball isn’t that big in Australia but Bedding is moving to the U.S and wanted proof he’s up with the times.

“Being in Japan, I’ve seen how much of a cultural phenomenon he is,” Bedding said of Ohtani.

NBA approves $10 billion Lakers sale to Walter Mark Walter is the majority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers after the NBA Board of Governors approved his purchase of a controlling stake from the Buss family, the league conﬁrmed Thursday Jeanie Buss will remain the Lakers’ governor under the deal for at least the next five years, and will oversee day-to-day operations “for the foreseeable future,” the team said. Her father, Jerry Buss, bought the Lakers in 1979.But the Lakers are now primarily owned by Walter, the billionaire who is the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks among his numerous investments.Walter bought a 27% minority stake in the Lakers in 2021 before the current sale, which was completed with a franchise valuation of $10 billion — the highest ever for a pro sports team.

Nationals set to hire

Rays’ Butera as manager

The Washington Nationals are finalizing a deal to hire 33-year-old Blake Butera as manager, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.The person spoke on Thursday on condition of anonymity because nothing had been announced. The Nationals fired Dave Martinez in July, and Miguel Cairo took over on an interim basis. Butera would be the youngest manager since Minnesota’s Frank Quilici in 1972, according to ESPN. Washington has had six straight losing seasons since Martinez managed them to the 2019 World Series title. The Nationals went 66-96 this year Washington also fired president and general manager Mike Rizzo in July Paul Toboni is the team’s new president of baseball operations.

Nebraska extends Rhule’s contract through 2032 LINCOLN, Neb Nebraska announced a two-year contract extension with coach Matt Rhule on Thursday, adding salary bonuses for College Football Playoff appearances but leaving his base salary unchanged. The deal runs through the 2032 season.Rhule is in his third season at Nebraska and there was speculation two weeks ago that he might be a candidate to fill the job at Penn State followingJames Franklin’s firing. “Coach Rhule has shown he is the right leader at the right time for Nebraska football,” athletic director Troy Dannen said.Last season, Rhule led Nebraska to its first winning season in eight years and first first bowl victory since 2015. Nebraska is off to a 6-2 start this season, its best eightgame record in nine seasons.

Thunder’s Topic diagnosed with testicular cancer

BY ROD WALKER Staff writer

The New Orleans Pelicans have been embarrassed for two straight games this week

The ﬁrst one came Monday at home in a 122-90 loss to the Boston Celtics. The second one came Wednesday night, a 122-88 point beatdown by the Denver Nuggets.

The Pelicans are 0-4 on this young season to start the Joe Dumars era and have lost nine games in a row dating back to last season.

“Pretty much we are a team right now that has to dig down and find our identity,” said Pelicans’ head coach Green “We have to believe in each other That’s first. The first order of business is you’ve got to compete harder, play harder, play more together and the belief has to be there.”

The Pels have done none of that this week. As a result, Green’s seat is hotter than it’s ever been after his team got outscored 29-2 to start the third quarter and 39-11 by the time the quarter ended Wednesday night.

night and just two points. He bounced back Wednesday

“They are an elite team,” Green said. “Once they punch you, you’ve got to punch back Tonight we didn’t. No response in the second half and that’s the difference in the game.” For four straight games to start the season, the Pelicans have had a lull at some point that has ended up costing them. The Pelicans (0-4) are one of three winless teams in the NBA, joining the Indiana Pacers and the Brooklyn Nets. Getting win No. 1 won’t be easy on the remainder of this three-game road trip. The Pelicans play the Los Angeles Clippers (2-2) Friday night and conclude the trip Sunday afternoon against the

Oklahoma City Thunder last season’s NBA champions. Rookie Jeremiah Fears got very little help in Wednesday’s debacle in Denver Fears made 10 of his 15 shots and ﬁnished with a teamhigh 21 points and 6 assists.

“He was the bright spot tonight,” Green said. “But he’s been playing like that with toughness and getting downhill and connecting with his teammates.” Fears’ big night came just two days after he struggled against Boston with a 1-for-11 shooting

“Just continuing to show them why they should trust me and doing everything I can to try to help my team win,” Fears said. Fears didn’t get much help from the rest of the starting lineup. His 21 points were almost as many as the rest of the starting lineup combined. Zion Williamson (11), Trey Murphy (7), Herb Jones (5) and DeAndre Jordan (2) combined to score just 25 points. Yves Missi (10 points) came off the bench and was the only player other than Fears and Williamson to reach double figures. Williamson didn’t record a single rebound on a night the Pels were outrebounded 56-36. It was the second game in his career that he didn’t get a rebound. The first time was as a rookie when he was on a minutes restriction in a game against the Utah Jazz played in the bubble. Murphy and Jones shot a combined 3-for-15 from the floor as the Pelicans lost in Denver for the fifth straight time. Now the Pelicans will try to get a win against the Clippers. The Pels have won seven of their last 10 games against the Clippers, including four of the past five in Los Angeles. “Once we get that first win, we’re going to get rolling,” Fears said. “We just have to keep trusting in each other and believing.”

OKLAHOMA CITY Oklahoma City Thunder guard Nikola Topic has been diagnosed with testicular cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy Sam Presti, the team’s general manager announced the diagnosis on Thursday Topic had a testicular procedureearlier in the month.The Thunder said at the time he’d be out for at least four weeks.Presti said doctors are “extremely positive” about his long-term outlook. He said Topic has been working out throughout the process and didn’t want the diagnosis revealed until after he started treatment.“He has all the tools that you could ask for somebody to take on and conquer the situation,” Presti said.Topic was expected to be an important addition to a team that otherwise changed very little after winning the NBA title last season.

Sinner reaches Paris Masters quarterfinals

PARIS Jannik Sinner beat Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-1 in the third round of the Paris Masters on

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By yURI KAGEyAMA

A window display in Tokyo features Shohei Ohtani’s photo on Thursday in Iwate, Japan, which is where Ohtani is from

PHTO By DAVID ZALUBOWSKI

guard

left,

Dore latest standout quarterback at Cecilia

Senior teaming with Calais to form 1-2 punch

BY MIKE COPPAGE Contributing writer

Several years have passed since the Cecilia Bulldogs went with only one quarterback.

Whether it’s been because of injuries or strategy, the Bulldogs have found success with that method, and they’re keeping opponents off balance with a 1-2 punch of Braylon Calais and Collin Dore, who has taken most of the snaps.

“Nick Saban said it’s about players, not plays,” coach Cody Champagne said. “When you have skillposition players all over the place, you just have to use them.”

Dore, who started at H-back for the 2024 state championship

1,400 yards and 12 touchdowns with a 62% completion rate. He’s also averaging 6 yards per carry with 10 touchdowns.

team, was a quarterback in middle school. When he was a freshman and Diesel Solari got injured, Dore alternated at quarterback with Germonie Davis

If Dore was in the game and Davis was split out at receiver, there was a good chance the duo was looking to connect on a pass.

“Collin is a football player like

Notre Dame ends regular season strong, tops Rebels

Pioneers avenge earlier loss to Teurlings Catholic

BY MIKE COPPAGE

Contributing writer

The Notre Dame volleyball team saved its best for last In its ﬁnal non-tournament game of the regular season, the Pioneers won in four sets in front of an overflow crowd for senior night on Wednesday at Teurlings Catholic.

“I would say, by far, this is the biggest win we’ve had,” ﬁrst-year Pioneers coach Emily Boggetto said. “I told the girls I wanted to be playing our best volleyball at the end of October It took a long time to get there, but we’re doing that now.”

It was the third straight win for Notre Dame, which prevailed 2519, 25-23, 24-26, 25-23 and has overcome a pair of four-game losing streaks against competition such as Division II No. 1 St. Thomas More and Division II No 1 St. Michael.

“We had a lot of tough losses against good teams,” Boggetto said “Always competed well. We played a tough schedule, but it made us better That’s the goal.” In the first set, the Pioneers (13-13, No. 11 Division IV) seized the lead for good at 8-7 on a point from senior Mary Ellen Trahan, who also delivered a momentumswinging block in the fourth set and leads the team with 72 blocks.

“There were a lot of points that shifted the momentum back and forth and made it fun and exciting to watch,” Boggetto said “Trahan can (jump) high and do some good stuff at the net.”

The Rebels (21-11, No. 8 Division II) were up 5-1 in the second set but never regained the lead af-

ter Notre Dame won ﬁve straight points with freshman Molly Hensgens serving

“Molly stepped into the outside hitter role last week when a senior went down and has been doing the job ﬂawlessly,” Boggetto said.

The Pioneers never trailed in the fourth set, taking a 4-0 lead with setter Kate Trahan (20 assists, 13 digs) at the service line Valerie Brown, an all-state softball player, ﬁnished with 15 kills and 18 digs.

“Kate plays with a lot of passion,” Boggetto said. “Valerie is our go-to kid who always gets the job done.”

Hensgens (14 digs), Mary Ellen Trahan and Anna Francis combined for 18 kills. Isabella Wimberly delivered 20 digs. Haleigh Melancon contributed 15 assists, 10 digs and two aces.

“This is great for our momentum,” Boggetto said. “I know the girls love to battle. They love to battle against Teurlings. It’s always a fun game. Teurlings came into our home game and beat us, so it feels like payback.”

Boggetto accepted the position previously held by longtime coach

Tara Young, who retired after guiding the Pioneers to nine state championship appearances with ﬁve titles.

“Stepping into a new program, I wanted to be very hands-on,” said Boggetto, who also coached the freshmen and junior varsity on Thursday “I wanted to let the girls know I’m there to support them and help them get better

“I love stepping into this program. Being a coach, you have a lot of long and stressful days. It’s always rewarding when you get a great group of girls. Keep an eye on us in the postseason. We’re going to do some good things and continue for years to come.”

(1).

HBP—Yesavage (Freeman). WP—Snell(2) Henriquez, Banda. Umpires—Home, Alan Porter; First, Jordan Baker; Second, Will Little; Third, Adrian Johnson;

Diesel,” Champagne said. “They enjoy playing football and will do whatever makes their team win to the best of their ability.”

The Bulldogs (4-4, 3-0 District 5-4A), who have won three games in a row after a 1-4 start, travel to Livonia (4-4, 1-1) this week with an open date in Week 10.

“It’s not great to lose, but those first two games helped us settle down,” Dore said of losses by a combined nine points to St. Martinville and St. Amant. “I knew we lost, but it was a great game at St. Amant. We were down 21-0 (and lost 60-56).”

Dore ranks among the top 10 area passers with nearly 1,400 yards and 12 touchdowns with a 62% completion rate. He’s also averaging 6 yards per carry with 10 touchdowns.

“Collin knows he has a big responsibility on his shoulders,” Champagne said. “He wants everything to go as expected and is doing a better job of rallying the troops.”

Dore is coming off a 17-of-20 per-

formance through the air with 217 yards and three touchdowns in a 53-7 win over rival Opelousas. He also rushed for 35 yards on six carries with two scores.

“It’s amazing to be able to ﬁll so many roles and know everybody has my back,” said Dore, an avid outdoorsman. “We just rotate and try to score touchdowns.”

Either Dore or Calais, an elite junior prospect who ran more than 1,000 yards last year is apt to take the snap with the other somewhere on the ﬁeld. At punter, Dore converted on a fake in the 2024 playoffs against North DeSoto. He’s on punt block, punt return and has held on extra points and ﬁeld goals since his freshman year

“I feel like the biggest thing that’s helped us has been getting stuff done at a fast pace,” said Champagne, who doubles as offensive coordinator and never huddles. “We can do it faster We’re focused on getting plays in fast and executing at an even faster pace.”

Teurlings seeks to break win drought against rival STM

Rebels’ last win vs. Cougars was 2015

BY ERIC NARCISSE Staff writer

It’s been a long time since Teurlings Catholic won a district championship or defeated St. Thomas More in football.

The last time either feat was accomplished, Teurlings coach Michael Courville was just starting college. Teurlings last won the district championship in 2014 and the last time it defeated the Cougars was 2015.

“In 2014 when we won district, I was a freshman in college, and I was still around the football team helping out,” Courville, a former Rebels player said. “In 2015, when we beat STM, I was a low-level assistant helping coach the freshman team and giving signals at Teurlings. It has been a while, but I remember being a part of that.”

Now, Courville in his first year at the helm for the Rebels — hopes to end both droughts when Teurlings hosts the Cougars at 7 p.m. Friday

“Our kids are aware that Teurlings hasn’t beaten them in a long time,” Courville said. “But we have to control what we can control. We can’t control what has happened the past 10 years and it has no bearing on Friday’s game. It’s our job to change the tide.”

The Rebels (8-0, 4-0) have been one of the best teams in the area.

“When you watch film, you see that they are well-coached,” STM offensive coordinator Shane Savoie said. “Coach Courville has done a fabulous job stepping into that role, solidifying the community and getting those kids ready to play They play with a tenacious spirit which is typical of their tradition.”

Teurlings has been exceptional

in every facet, especially offensively behind a passing game led by quarterback Alex Munoz and receiver Andrew Viator Munoz has completed 78 of 115 passes for 1,490 yards and 18 touchdowns, while throwing one interception. Viator, the sixth-leading receiver in the Acadiana area, has 23 receptions for 581 yards and eight TDs.

“Munoz is very talented. He has the ability to extend plays with his legs,” Savoie said. “He’s a good athlete and a good passer, but what makes him special is he’s a great decision-maker Their offense is averaging about 45 points per game and that not only puts pressure on the defense, but it puts pressure on us offensively to match them and keep pace.”

The Cougars (6-2, 4-0), riding a six-game win streak, will try to keep pace with Teurlings behind quarterback Cole Bergeron and

receiver Christian Breaux. Bergeron, a Virginia Tech commitment, has completed 126 of 278 passes for 1,950 yards, 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Breaux has 42 of those receptions for 732 yards and 12 TDs.

“Walker Howard, I feel was the best quarterback I’ve coached against, and Cole is reminiscent of him,” Courville said. “He has a great arm and can make all the throws. As a team, they are fundamentally sound, and they play hard and physical. Defensively, they are the best unit we will have seen this year It’s going to be a tall task.”

Courville is the pressure that comes with such a big game.

“I feel pressure to win this game, but that is part of it,” Courville said. “Pressure is a privilege and when you do well, pressure comes. If we were 3-5, nobody would probably care.”

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD BOWIE

Cecilia’s Collin Dore ranks among the top 10 area passers with nearly

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP

St. Thomas More’s defense pressures Teurlings Catholic quarterback Alex Munoz during last year’s meeting. The two teams meet again Friday at Teurlings.

QB Shough to face tough test vs. Rams’ ferocious pass rush

BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

As New Orleans Saints coach Kellen Moore said Wednesday there are “no soft landings” in the NFL that said, rookie quarterback Tyler Shough may face an especially hard landing for his first NFL start.

The Los Angeles Rams defense that the Saints are facing this week will bring one of the league’s most ferocious pass rushes against Shough and a Saints offensive line that is already without its best player in center Erik McCoy. The Rams have recorded 26 sacks, good for second in the NFL through eight weeks.

“We played these guys a couple times last year when we were in Philly and this is as good of a defensive line as you’re going to see in this league,” Moore said. “They’re really young and they’ve got tons of energy, tons of juice. They make impact plays. They can do it in a variety of different ways.”

Eleven different Rams defenders have recorded at least one sack in defensive coordinator Chris Shula’s attacking scheme.

Third-year edge rusher Byron Young has led the charge with nine sacks — already a new career high while 2024 Defensive Rookie of the Year Jared Verse has four sacks and is tied for second in the league with 17 quarterback hits.

“They’re very aggressive, and they turn those guys loose,” said offensive coordinator Doug

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his career “It’s been great,” Baudoin said of more playing time. “I ﬁnally get a chance. (Defensive line coach Dennis) Thomas told me before the week started that he was going to give me a bigger role. He told me he believed in me and I could produce. And I just got comfortable and took advantage of my opportunity.”

It was Baudoin credited with the tackle for no gain when Troy went for it in fourth-and-1 from the UL 26.

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went to Alabama he knew it was a mistake to leave LSU for the Miami Dolphins a couple of months into the job, but by then it was too late. I think he would consider it for his deep affection for LSU — and to not have to sit next to obnoxious Pat McAfee every week on the “College GameDay” set

2. DAN LANNING • 39 • OREGON

When Saban says his no is ﬁnal, my next question would be, “Nick, who should my next call be to?” He might say Lanning, a former grad assistant for Saban at Bama and Kirby Smart’s former defensive coordinator at Georgia. Lanning is young, driven, a little maniacal and would be a fan

Nussmeier

New Orleans got a sense of how tough the Rams are this summer during a joint practice, when Los Angeles consistently made life miserable on the Saints quarterbacks and offensive line.

“They’re probably the best in the league, just from a disruptive standpoint,” Shough said. “... I’ve got to do my role and protect the ball, be ready to step up, ﬁnd different lanes and just be comfortable back there.”

New Orleans has struggled to keep its quarterbacks upright in recent weeks After giving up 11 sacks in their ﬁrst six games, Saints quarterbacks were dropped behind the line nine times in losses to the Bears and Buccaneers.

Old friends

Two 37-year-olds will play central roles in Sunday’s game between the Saints and the Rams.

One is Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, who is enjoying one of the best 2025 seasons by an NFL quarterback. The other is the Saints’

Kellen Moore, who is still looking to turn his team into a winner eight games into his debut season as the NFL’s youngest head coach.

Stafford is actually ﬁve months older than Moore — one of 15 active NFL players who are older than the Saints head coach.

The two have a bit of a shared history: Moore began his NFL playing career with the Detroit Lions, serving as a backup to Stafford for three seasons. Stafford is still going, having thrown for

“I was just thinking, we got to stop him right here and give our offense ball back so you get a chance to go put some more points on the board,” Baudoin said.

For the season now, Baudoin has eight tackles, a quarterback sack and a stop behind the line.

“I feel like I’m striking better and using my hands and just understand the game more,” he added

Baudoin hopes to help UL’s defense in Saturday’s game at South Alabama.

“South Alabama looks like they’ve got a pretty good running back and a quarterback who can run,” he said of the Jaguars.

“We’re focusing on stopping the

darling if he won at LSU. He has a great job at Oregon and would be expensive to lure away ($10.4 million salary $20 million buyout, juicy incentives) but he can’t love the cross-country Big Ten road trips the Ducks must now make).

3. MARCUS FREEMAN • 39 • NOTRE DAME It almost seems unthinkable that LSU could hire two straight coaches away from Notre Dame, but Freeman has done the unthinkable since replacing Kelly in South Bend: taken the foundation Kelly built and enhanced it. The Fighting Irish reached the CFP ﬁnal this past season and are rumbling toward another CFP berth after an 0-2 start. He’s making at least $7.4 million per year, is a Midwest guy and could well be at his dream job But like Saban, I’d make him tell me no.

4. LANE KIFFIN • 50 • OLE MISS

61,675 yards in his playing career with 394 touchdowns, while Moore immediately went into coaching upon the conclusion of his playing career in 2018.

Now in his 17th NFL season, Stafford has thrown 17 touchdowns against 2 interceptions, and his 109.4 passer rating is on track to be the best mark of his career

“It’s really remarkable the type of quarterback he’s been for such a long time, one of the premier quarterbacks in our league,” Moore said. “You don’t want to give him the ball too many times in some opportunistic situations he’s going to deliver, he’s delivered year after year He’s still playing at as high a level as anybody in this league.”

Injury report

The Saints had nearly perfect practice attendance Thursday Defensive tackle Davon Godchaux was the only active player who was not present for practice, continuing a recent trend where he has been given veteran rest days on Thursday Defensive back Alontae Taylor (shoulder), wide receiver Rashid Shaheed (hip) and running backs Alvin Kamara (ankle) and Devin Neal (ankle) were limited participants in practice for the second consecutive day

Tight end Juwan Johnson (neck) and receiver Chris Olave (ankle) were listed on the injury report as full participants.

Email Luke Johnson at ljohnson@theadvocate.com.

run. That’s our number one every week and the affecting the quarterback.

“Practice has been good, just like every other week. Everybody’s excited to go get to work and get to do what we love.”

Martinez’s chance

The redshirt sophomore walkon from John Curtis told himself every week to prepare as if he was going to play After all, with all the injuries UL’s offensive line has endured this season, you never know On Saturday in Troy Alabama, Martinez’s persistence paid off.

Right guard Matt Broussard left the game with an injury and Mar-

I believe Kiffin would have taken the job when LSU hired Kelly four years ago. Now I’m not so sure, but he’s won big in Oxford, though he hasn’t reached the CFP or the SEC championship game — yet The Rebels could well do both this year and convince Kiffin he should stay at Ole Miss, which is paying him $9 million per year and would likely go higher to keep him Fox Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt said he believes Kiffin will take the LSU job If he won here, I think Tiger fans would take Kiffn’s offense and his tweaking opponents on social media and eat it up with a knife and fork.

5. JON SUMRALL • 43 • TULANE

There once was a stigma to LSU hiring coaches from Tulane or UL (see Napier Billy). No more. Not with a candidate like Sumrall. He has won at Troy and Tulane

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to understand as much as they can about Shough — and he has to show them what he’s capable of. Trading away his top target(s) could again complicate that evaluation, though the Saints’ depth at receiver appears to be better this year That said, the prudent move still might be to trade one of Olave or Shaheed — if not both.

That obviously depends on the compensation that the Saints would receive, but last year’s Marshon Lattimore deal was a great example of how New Orleans could spin a veteran for positive assets. In sending the cornerback to the Washington Commanders, the Saints received several draft picks they used to take safety Jonas Sanker, cornerback Quincy Riley and running back Devin Neal — two starters this season and one key reserve.

Shaheed? Schefter reported the Saints would like a third-round pick for the 27-year-old, which is more than what the team gave up for Vele (a fourth and a seventh).

A third-round pick would also be more than what Shaheed could fetch as a compensatory pick if he were to sign elsewhere in free agency “What round his contract would be valued in (for a comp pick) depends on how much he’d sign for per year with his new team,” Over The Cap analyst Nick Korte said in a direct message, noting any such compensation also depends on how active the Saints are in free agency “This is an extremely early estimate that is subject to change, but I would guess he’d need at least $16 (million) APY to make the 4th round, and at least $10 (million) APY for the 5th.”

“If I had to bet, I would say that Rashid Shaheed is the guy who interests most teams for his speed and his talent. And the guy whose contract is up after this year, who the Saints, I think, would be most willing to part with if the compensation were fair and right.”

ADAM SCHEFTER, ESPN journalist

ESPN insider Adam Schefter fanned the flames this week when he said that he thinks “at least one” Saints receiver would be traded by next week.

“If I had to bet, I would say that Rashid Shaheed is the guy who interests most teams for his speed and his talent,” Schefter said on his podcast. “And the guy whose contract is up after this year, who the Saints, I think, would be most willing to part with if the compensation were fair and right.”

So, “what’s fair and right” for

tinez was called to duty

“It was a surreal feeling for sure,” Martinez said. “I feel like maybe I was thinking a little bit too much on that ﬁrst drive, but I was trying to do the best I could.”

Earlier this season, Martinez was primarily practicing with the taxi squad and mostly as a center At times, though, he would get a few snaps with the ones and twos.

“It was kind of a work-whileyou-wait process,” he said. “Every week I tried to prepare like I’m a starter and just waiting for my chance.

“I just trusted that my coaches had faith in me and allowed me to get out there and show what I could do.”

(granted, not Power Four jobs), knows how to recruit the region and is from the South (Texarkana, Texas). I agree with our Jeff Duncan: LSU will be hiring Sumrall or coaching against him in 2026 at another Power Four school.

6. ELI DRINKWITZ • 42 • MISSOURI Has probably done more with less at Mizzou than most coaches could. Kind of a poor man’s Lane Kifﬁn if you will, but a sharp offensive mind. He could also be a poor man’s Brian Kelly: He’s 7-16 against the AP Top 25.

7.JEFF BROHM 54 LOUISVILLE Conversely Brohm has a reputation as a giant killer, having knocked off top-3 foes Miami, Ohio State, Iowa and Michigan State in recent years. He’s also from Louisville and played at Louisville, so the pull could be expensive.

8. BRENT KEY 47 GEORGIA TECH

If the Saints do trade one of their wideouts, it’s easy to wonder if they’ve been bracing for the move.

Look at the last few months. New Orleans acquired Devaughn Vele from the Denver Broncos in late August and then Ja’Lynn Polk from the New England Patriots in September — even though the latter will miss the entire season with a shoulder injury Both are still on their rookie-scale contracts, too. Perhaps that’s simply overthinking it. But part of running an NFL team is always accounting for the future, even when it conﬂicts with the present.

Email Matthew Paras at matt. paras@theadvocate.com

After watching ﬁlm, the 6-foot-2, 293-pounder saw all aspects of his performance.

“I really liked how my sets were in the passing, but I feel like I could have been a little bit quicker on some of the stunts that they were doing in the middle. I could have been a little bit quicker on the backside – just speed up for Coop (center Cooper Fordham) and be able to take that pressure off of him a little bit.”

This week, Martinez is back to being the backup center on the depth chart, but he knows he’s one play away “I just want to be on that ﬁeld just playing wherever,” he said “It’s just amazing to be out there.”

Also coaching at his alma mater, which he has led to its ﬁrst 8-0 start since 1966. A Saban disciple (Bama’s offensive line coach, 2016-18), he’s 8-1 against ranked ACC opponents.

9. CLARK LEA • 43 VANDERBILT You have to be impressed with what Lea, Kelly’s former defensive coordinator at Notre Dame, has done to take the Commodores from SEC doormat to the top 10. My only question is how much is it Lea at Vandy and how much is it quarterback Diego Pavia?

10. KENNY DILLINGHAM • 35 • ARIZONA STATE

Deep ties to home (Phoenix native, played at ASU) and took the Sun Devils to the CFP last year One wonders if he has bigger aspirations. He has been offensive coordinator at Auburn, Florida State and Memphis.

Flower power

The Baton RougeGarden Clubwill present aNational Garden Club FlowerShow, “PerfectV ision,”from 1p.m. to 4p.m. Saturday and Sundayatthe BatonRougeGarden Center.Lotsofhor ticulture will be on displayatthis small standard flower show and tea.Free and open to thepublic;children welcome.

LIVING

FRIDAY NIGHT AT THEFAIR

Oz Born to paytribute to the ‘Princeof Darkness’

BY JUDY BERGERON Staff writer

Ren Owens may need to stop and pinch himself when he takes the stage at the Greater Baton Rouge State Fair on Fridaynight.

Owens, of Walker,saw the late “Prince of Darkness” Ozzy Osbourne for the ﬁrst time at the fair in 1983.Hewas fortunate enough to seethe heavymetal icon in concert two more times. Osbourne died July 22 at age76. “NowI gettopay honorto Ozzy at the ﬁrst place I’ve ever seen him live,” Owens, who takes on theOsbourne persona to sing vocals forthe Louisiana tribute band Oz Born, says. The band’sfour members all in their 50s and with day jobs, get together each Sunday to rehearse,i.e.rockout.And they’d like you to join them at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Airline Highway Park/Fairgrounds to bang your head, too. Beforethe guys putontheir blackT-shirts, jeans and chains, and grab their guitars, they answered afew questionsabout the birth and life of Oz Born

Bignames, local artistsjoin John Foster at inauguralevent

Boots on the Festival lineup,from left:John Foster,Keith Urban, Chris

Ren Owens first sawhis idol Ozzy Osbourne at the Greater Baton RougeState Fair in 1983.

So who else is in the band?

Brad Vicory,ofWatson,is on guitar and backing vocals; Johnny Wilson, of Baton Rouge, is on bass; and drummer is Keith Knight, also of Baton Rouge. How long has the band been together? How did you getstarted?

Owens: Oz Born originated in April 2022. Our ﬁrst show was Oct. 29, 2022, with Liliac (a ﬁvepiece family hard rock band fromAtlanta). I’ve been doing Ozzyfor over 30 yearsindifferent bands. That originatedwith ashow with the AC/DC tribute Noise Pollution, out of California.Atthe end of the show,they called me to the side and told me, “We’ve played all over United States andplayedwith many top Ozzy Osbourne tribute acts. YoudoOzzy better than anybody we’ve ever seen! Youneed to do an Ozzy tribute band.” So, Isaid, “That sounds like agreatidea!” Finding the right group of guys was thehard part. Would you sayyou’re all big Osbourne fansorisone of you consideredthe biggest?

Owens: Hell yes!! We alllove Ozzy!Who doesn’t?

What are your musical backgrounds?

Knight: I’ve been playing for 39 years. I’m moreofa

ä See TRIBUTE, page 6C PROVIDEDPHOTO

BY JUDYBERGERON| Staff writer

The impressive lineup for the inaugural Boots on theBayou Festival this weekend in Gonzales reads like awho’swho of contemporary country music —Chris Stapleton, Keith Urban,Parker McCollum and Riley Green.

Louisiana is representing as well, with risingartist and “American Idol”runner-up John Foster also on theFriday night bill. Foster is fresh off ahomecoming concert last week in Plaquemine; the release of anew single, “Little Goes aLong Way,”; and a beneﬁt appearance in Minnesota on Monday whereherubbed elbows withElton John andKevin Costner

Seeing is believing

Stapleton, Riley Green, ChaseTyler

PROVIDED PHOTOS

of San Antonio, loses her head at The Museum of Illusions NewOrleans

MacCASH

TODAYINHISTORY

By The Associated Press

Today is Friday,Oct. 31, the 304th day of 2025. There are 61 days left in the year.This is Halloween.

Todayinhistory:

On Oct. 31, 1984, Indira Gandhi, India’sprime minister for more than 15 years,was assassinated by two of her own security guards.

Also on this date:

In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed aproclamation making Nevada the 36th state, eight days before the presidential election.

In 1913, the Lincoln Highway, the ﬁrst automobile highway across the UnitedStates,was dedicated.

In 1941, work was completed on the Mount RushmoreNational Memorial in South Dakota, begun in 1927.

In 1950, Earl Lloyd of the Washington Capitols became the ﬁrst African American to play in an NBA game; Lloyd would go on to play for nine seasons, winning an NBA championship in 1955 with the Syracuse Nationals.

In 1961, the body of Josef Stalin was removed from Lenin’s

ILLUSIONS

Continued from page5C

therails fordearlife. Imagine becoming apart of agigantic kaleidoscope,dangling froma second-story window ledge without fear of falling,playingpoker withfive exact clones of yourself, or seeming to shrink like Alice in Wonderland. Those are the sorts of experiences visitors to The Museum of Illusions NewOrleans will enjoy The marvelous thing about the many exhibits and activities in the museum is that they arenot high-tech, digital productions. Basically,The Museum of Illusions New Orleans is acollection of timelessamusements based on lighting, reflection and gravity.Noartificial intelligence required. Get this, theinscrutable puzzles in the kids’ play areaare made of wood. Wood!

The museumheld asoft opening Oct. 17. During apreview tour,museum spokesperson Pien Koopman said that the Museum of Illusions was conceived in Croatia in 2015 and has sincespread to 63 locationsin29countries. Koopman pointed out that the optical trickery in the exhibits is suitable for children, but suf-

TRIBUTE

Continued from page5C

progressive rock/jazz fusion player but always loved metal as well. Istudied with assorted instructors overthe years, including some at LSU School of Music and with recording artist Matt Greiner of August BurnsRed.

Wilson: 40 years (of playing) for me.

Vicory: I’ve been playingfor 51 years. Have you beeninany other bands that Baton Rougearea readers mayremember?

Knight: Black Rose, Soldier Blue, Subculture and Ballistic

Drift

Wilson: Stomping Ground, Money Shot and BallisticDrift

Owens: Iwas in several bands butmyband Scary Lane was my main inspiration because Iwas in that project for 33 years,and we played alot of big shows

Vicory: MetalAnthem, Vieux Carré, Accomplice, Modesty Blaze, Ash and Bedlam

What is your favorite Ozzy Osbourne song to perform?

Owens: “Fairies Wear Boots”

Knight: Probably either “Crazy Babies” or “Believer.” The drums

Tomb as part of theSoviet Union’s“de-Stalinization” drive.

In 1999, EgyptAir Flight 990, bound from NewYork to Cairo, crashed off theMassachusetts coast, killingall 217 people aboard

In 2005, PresidentGeorge W. Bush nominated Judge Samuel Alito to theSupremeCourt.

In 2011, the United Nations estimated that world population hadreached 7billion people (world population is greater than 7billion today).

Today’sbirthdays: Former CBSanchorman Dan Rather is 94. ActorStephenRea is 79.Olympic gold medal marathoner Frank Shorter is 78. TV hostJane Pauleyis75. Football coach Nick Saban is 74. Film director Peter Jackson is 64. Rock drummer Larry Mullen Jr.(U2) is 64. Rock musician Johnny Marr is 62. BaseballHall of Famer Fred McGriff is 62. Actor Rob Schneider is 62. Actor Dermot Mulroney is 62. Countrysinger Darryl Worley is 61. Actorcomedian Mike O’Malley is 59. Rapper and guitaristAdam Horovitz (Beastie Boys) is 59. Rapper Vanilla Ice is 58. Actor Leticia Wright is 32. Singer WillowSmithis25.

ﬁciently mysterious for adultsas well. The perspective and lighting anomalies may explain how magicians and Hollywood directors fool our eyes,she said.

Isaac Morales, oneofthe many young museum guides who helped visitors master the museum’sillusions during the preview,captured thespirit of the place when he said: “This job is amazing. We getpaidtolaughand takepictures.”

Yes, the staff will aid in producingprimeselﬁes of the experience.

Cory White, who happenedon the newmuseum while visiting New Orleans from Mississippi, saidthat his favorite part was the disorienting “vertigo tunnel,” mentioned earlier.Koopman said theattraction isactuallytitled “The Vortex Tunnel,” but White’s description is better.

The museum is at 600 Decatur St. The hours are from10a.m. to 9p.m. Sunday through Thursday; from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with finaladmission one hour before closing. Admission is$26.12 for timed tickets, $35.62 for untimedtickets, and $103.29 for family passes. For tickets, visitthe museumwebsite.

Email Doug MacCash at dmaccash@theadvocate.com.

in those are really fun

Vicory:“Over the Mountain”

Wilson: “Believer”

Can Iask what your dayjobsare?

Knight: Istarted and have owned and runaprofessional aquariumservices company called Copperﬁsh Aquatics. Started it in 1991.

Wilson:I do machine shop work.

Vicory: Project manager/estimator for acommercial electrical contractor

Do you performanything in addition to Ozzy tunes?

Owens: Collectively,weknow thousandsofsongs, butwejust do Ozzy andBlack Sabbath (the band Ozzyco-foundedin1968) in theOzBorn tribute

Wouldyou runthrough howa typical rehearsal goes?

Owens: We set up and rehearse like we’re doing ashow.Wewill stop and discuss thebeginnings and endings of songs, rehearse theintros and workongetting everything tight and sounding like the album. We want to give the fans the bestshow we can possibly givethemsotheycan walk away believingthat they just saw Ozzy Osbourne.

Email Judy Bergeron at jbergeron@theadvocate.com.

FRIDAY

LATE BLOOMIN: Prejean’s, Broussard, 6p.m

AARON HEBERT: SHUCKS!, Abbeville, 6:30 p.m

CHARLES AND WENDY

TRIO: Whiskey&Vine, Lafayette, 7p.m

DUSTIN RAY: Silver Slipper, Arnaudville, 7p.m

HALLOWEEKEND —THE

ULTIMATE HAUNTED BALL: Black Bull, Youngsville, 6:30 p.m.

JACK WOODSON: Charley G’s, Lafayette, 6p.m THE MINTLLYILLBILLIES:

Adopted DogBrewing, Lafayette, 6p.m

CRYRS: Rock ’n’ Bowl, Lafayette, 9p.m

GOREGASM: Blue Moon Saloon,Lafayette, 8p.m

MONSTERMASH FEATURING DAIRYFREE, HYPNO

NUN, JACOB’SLADDER & BONE ORCHARD: Artmosphere, Lafayette, 8p.m

KREWE DE HALLOWEEN

BALL: Heymann Center, Lafayette, 8p.m

ONE TRICK PONY: Lakeview Park,Eunice, 8p.m

SATURDAY GENO DELAFOSE &FRENCH

ROCKIN’ BOOGIE: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 8a.m

DON FONTENOTBAND: Fred’s, Mamou,8 a.m.

SATURDAY MORNING JAM

SESSIONS: Savoy Music Center,Eunice,9 a.m.

CAJUN JAM: Moncus Park, Lafayette, 9a.m

MARCO SAVVY: Adopted DogBrewing,Lafayette, 11 a.m.

CAJUN FRENCH MUSIC

JAM: Vermilionville, Lafayette, 1p.m

LAFAYETTE TOOL LIBRARY

BDAY BASH: Adopted Dog Brewing, Lafayette, 1p.m

DRUM CIRCLE: NUNU Arts &CultureCollective, Arnaudville, 2:30 p.m.

CAJUN BREAKFAST: Naq’sn-Duson, Duson, 6p.m

GRACE NOVOSAD: Adopted DogBrewing,Lafayette, 6p.m

ETHAN HUNT: SHUCKS!, Abbeville, 6:30 p.m

TONY BRUCE &CLASSIC COUNTRY: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 6:30 p.m.

GRANDHOORAH: Lakeview Park,Eunice, 8p.m

AMIS DU TECHE: Blue Moon Saloon,Lafayette, 8p.m

4-HORSES: La Poussiere

BOOTS

Continuedfrom page5C

Cajun Dancehall, Breaux Bridge, 8p.m

THE GOOD DUDES: Rock ‘n’ Bowl, Lafayette, 9p.m.

SUNDAY

GLENN ZERINGUE: Whiskey &Vine, Lafayette, 11 a.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Tante Marie, Breaux Bridge, 11 a.m.

JAMBALAYA ACOUSTIC MUSIC JAM: Tom’s Fiddle &Bow,Arnaudville, 12:30 p.m.

MIKELARSON &THE ONES THATGOT AWAY: Hideaway on Lee, Lafayette, 1p.m

CAJUN JAM: BayouTeche Brewing, Arnaudville, 2p.m

CHUBBYCARRIER: Cypress Cove Landing,Breaux Bridge, 3p.m

STEP RIDEAU: Rock ’n’ Bowl, Lafayette, 5p.m.

FOREST HUVAL: Hideaway on Lee, Lafayette, 7p.m.

MONDAY

PATRICIO LATINO SOLO: Café Habana City,Lafayette, 11 a.m.

BLUEGRASSJAM: Cité des

“I really commendthe organizers of Boots on the Bayou for making one of what Ithink is one of thecoolest concerts Louisiana’s had in areally longtime,” Foster said. “The fact that they were able to put Chris Stapleton and Keith Urban andRileyGreenand Parker McCullough and so manyothers on thesame festival in Louisiana, like 45 minutesfrom my house, is incredible.”

Although not part of theoriginal lineup, Urban is pinch-hitting for Texas singer-songwriter Cody Johnson, whose recent surgery to repair arupturedeardrum will put him out of commission for the rest of the year

“Of course, we wish‘Cojo’ could’ve made it, but as asinger, Iknowthatthose health issues come first. Because younever wanna do permanent damage to yourself,” Foster,19and an Addis native, said. “But KeithUrban, I mean, he’saglobal superstar and he’s hopefully gonna bring just as much crowd.”

Fosteraddedthathe’s“super excited” to perform at the outdoor festival Friday-Saturday at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center

“Tobeapart of thelineup, to have my name among thenames of, youknow,Chris Stapleton and whatnot is asuperbig honor,”he said. “Andofcourse it’salwaysa

Arts, Lafayette, 6:30 p.m

TUESDAY KID’SCAJUN JAMNIGHT: Buck &Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 6p.m.

LIFE DRAWING: NUNU Arts &CultureCollective, Arnaudville, 6p.m.

TERRYHUVAL &FRIENDS: Prejean’s Restaurant, Lafayette, 6p.m.

WEDNESDAY

DULCIMERJAM: St. Landry VisitorCenter,Opelousas, 10 a.m.

GLCFARMERS MARKET: GLCMeat Market, New Iberia, 2p.m.

SWEET CECILIA: Café Sydnie Mae, BreauxBridge, 5p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: CharleyG’s, Lafayette, 6p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Park Bistro, Lafayette, 6p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: TapRoom, Youngsville,6:30 p.m

DUSTIN DALE GASPARD: SHUCKS!, Abbeville, 6:30 p.m CAJUN JAM: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 8p.m.

pleasure andanhonor to share the stage with Chase Tyler,our local country stararound here It’s always apleasure to go and sit in with him foracouple tunes.”

TheBoots lineup alsoincludes Carly Pearce, Marcus King Band, Elle King, Tyler Braden, Ashley Cooke, TheKruseBrothers, Maddox Batson and others.

Fosterwill be bringing his newest vehicle —a tour bus —tothe festival.

“I hope to travelinitasmuchasI can because if you ever travel on a bus like that, it spoils you,”hesaid.

“Justdriving like from my house to anywhere in Baton Rouge, Iwas alwaysthinking, ‘Man, Iwish Iwas on abus right now just sitting on thecouch and not have to worry about driving.’ So forsure you’ll see it down there.”

Foster has seen alot of the road sincethe “Idol” finale in May, criss-crossing the country and sometimes having to ask abusmate which city they’re in.

“It’s really great though because Iget the opportunity to travel to places that Iprobably would’ve never traveled to if Ididn’tdothis line of work. Itake that as ablessing for sure,” he said.

Festivalgoers in Gonzalescan expect to hear Foster’s“LittleBit,” an up-tempo, fun tune described as “honky tonk-ready.” It’s his ﬁrst new release in ayear

THURSDAY BROUSSARD SESSIONS FEATURINGRAY BOUDREAUX: CentralPizza& Bar, Broussard, 6p.m.

DUSTIN SONNIER: SHUCKS!, Abbeville, 6:30 p.m

LIVE MUSIC: CharleyG’s, Lafayette, 6p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Naq’s-n-Duson, Duson, 6p.m.

BERT KREISCHER: Cajundome,Lafayette, 7p.m.

KATHIGGINS: Acadiana Center for theArts, Lafayette, 7:30 p.m

MEDICINEMEN SUPER JAM: Rock ‘n’ Bowl, Lafayette, 7:30 p.m LIVE MUSIC: TapRoom, Lafayette, 8p.m.

Compiledby Marchaund Jones

Want yourvenue’s music listed? Email info/photos to showstowatch@ theadvocate.com. Thedeadline is noon FRIDAY forthe following Friday’spaper.

“So this is one of those great situations where the artistry comes in theinterpretation. So I’msomebody whofirmlybelievesthat there’salot of artistry in song interpretation,” he explained. “So even if you didn’twrite something, taking that song, interpreting it andimplying it to your lifestyle is just as beautifulsometimes as writing it.”

Foster has so much going on that he almost forgot to mention the aforementioned Minnesota gig where he joinedSir Elton John and Costner in Minneapolis for the Starkey Hearing Foundation gala this week. The intimate, black-tie evening aids the foundation’smission “to give thegiftofhearing to those in need, empowering them to achieve their potential,” according to its website. Also on the guest list on Monday night?Chris Tucker,JCChavez. Jimmy Jam and the incomparable David Foster For moreonBoots on the Bayou, including ticket options, parking and camping info, tailgate parties and more, go to botbmusic.com

“So it wasjustsorefreshing to ﬁnally havenew materialthatmy audience and my followers can enjoy and that Ican enjoy playing on stage,” Foster said. “I really hope that people catch on to it andsee just howhardweall workedonit and how excited we are. Ihope that they feel that too.” Foster spent agood deal of time working on the new music with songwriters Bart Butler,Corey Crowder and Deric Ruttan.

Email Judy Bergeron at jbergeron@theadvocate.com.

scoRPIo(oct.24-nov. 22) Socializing will spark your imagination and set you on acreative journey. Put your emotions aside to make room for exploring possibilities and gaining insight into how to diversify your skills

sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Invest time, money and energy into your lifestyleand your surroundings.Speaking freely and doing as you please work only if youallow others the same privileges.Choose peace over discord.

cAPRIcoRn (Dec.22-Jan. 19) Work hard, play hard andenjoy lifetothe fullest. You're in control of your destiny; wise choices will result in long-term benefits.Take theinitiative to adopthealthy habits.

AQuARIus (Jan.20-Feb. 19) Payattention to detail,financesand taking care of your health and well-being. Achange at home that encourages you to do somethingyou enjoy couldleadtoadditional income

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Express yourself, but do so withcompassion, honesty andpurpose. Refusetolet anger infiltrate your message or detain you from going the distance.

ARIEs(March 21-April 19) Emotional choices will be costly. Work in unison with people who are close to youorare experiencing asimilar situation, and together you'll find asolution.

tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Participation will lead to gratitude andinsight into how to make adifference. Offer hands-

on help instead of donating money. Follow your passion,and don't look back.

GEMInI (May21-June 20) You'll crave change, but your emotions will make you hesitate. Focusonself-improvement, personal growthand discovering diverse waystouse your skills to advance.

cAncER(June 21-July 22) Stop letting negativity stand in your way. Listen to your heart and followthrough with plans that will secure your place in the universe. Afinancial opportunity is apparent

LEo(July 23-Aug. 22) Aforce play may be necessary. Take on achallenge if it accomplishes something meaningful.Communicate passionately,and you'll fire up your audience and create abuzz.

VIRGo(Aug. 23-sept. 22) Say less and do more. Your actionswill sendamessage thatdeclares what's essential. A partnership looks promising, but cautionisnecessary regarding shared expenses.

LIBRA(sept. 23-oct. 23) Staycalm, put your emotions aside andfocus on your words and what you are trying to achieve. Don't forget to reward yourselfwhen allissaidand done.

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 samenumber only once. The difficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

THewiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

and LoiS

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

By PHILLIP ALDER

Anne Tyler said,“People alwayscall it luckwhen you’ve acted more sensibly than they have.”

That is often true, but there can still be mattersout of your control. Take today’s deal,forexample.LookatonlytheNorthSouthhands. In which contract would you choose to play?

When thedeal was originally played, the bidding went as shown. North-South were using two-over-one game-forcing. On the third round, South brokeagolden rule of Blackwood by using theconvention withtwo fast losers in bothunbid suits, with no guarantee thatpartner had afirst-orsecond-round control in those suits. South shouldhavebid fourspades. Then,Northprobablywouldhavepassed, although withcontrols in both hearts and clubs, therewould have been agoodcase for his using Blackwood

Six diamonds andsix spades are both excellentcontracts, apparentlylosing onlyoneclubtrick.However,atthetable, against six diamonds, West ledthe club jack. Eastwon with her king andrealized that, unlessWest had aslowtrump trick like jack-fourth, there wasonly one waytodefeatthe slam —shift to aspade

WesthappilyruffedandSouthunhappily wrote minus 100 on her scoresheet. Then North pointedout that six spades was making. Against that slam, East’s best lead is alow club! If North carelessly plays low from theboard, West wins and gives his partner adiamond ruff. ©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:

word game

InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” suchas“bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

toDAy’s WoRD sAcHEts: sah-SHAYS: Small bags containing perfumed powder or potpourri.

Average mark 18 words Time limit 40 minutes

Canyou find 32 or more words in SACHETS?

today’s thought

“I have showed you all things, how that so laboring you ought to support the weak, and to remember the wordsofthe Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

y Gb/s.Proposalswill be accepted forservicesto be provided under a multi-year contract with termsnot to exceed 6 years--athree-year con‐tractwiththe possibility of up to threevoluntary one-year extensions

ARequest forProposal packagemay be ob‐tained from thePurchas‐ingDepartmentwebsite at https://www.lpssonline. com/departments/ business-services/ purchasing or viaCentral AuctionHouse (registra‐tion required)athttps:// www.centerauctionho use.com. Speciﬁcations will be availableonFri‐day, October17, 2025

TheLafayette Public School System strongly encourages thepartici‐pation of minority busi‐ness enterprisesinall contractsorprocure‐mentslet by theBoard forgoodsand services To that end, allcontrac‐tors andsuppliers are encouraged to utilizemi‐nority business enter‐prises in thepurchaseof sub-contractingofmate‐rials, supplies, andser‐vices in whichminority ownedbusinessesare available.

Theowner reserves the righttorejectany bids forjustcause LAFAYETTE PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEM Kristie Sam Purchasing &Procure‐ment Coordinator 162943-OCT17-24-31-3T $75.57

for: Wide-AreaNetwork Ser‐vice RFP# 21-26 TheLafayette Parish School System (LPSS) is acceptingproposals from qualiﬁed E-Rate telecommunication ser‐vice providerswho can providehigh-speed Inter‐netconnectivityat10 Gb/s.Proposals will be accepted forservicesto be provided under a multi-year contract with termsnot to exceed 6 years--athree-year con‐tractwiththe possibility of up to threevoluntary one-year extensions. ARequest forProposal packagemay be ob‐tained from thePurchas‐ingDepartmentwebsite at https://www.lpssonline. com/departments/ business-services/ purchasing or viaCentral AuctionHouse (registra‐tion required)athttps:// www.centerauctionho use.com. Speciﬁcations will be availableFriday, October17, 2025

Louisianaand shall thereafter be opened and publicly read aloudfor: I-10 SOUTHFRONTAGE ROAD OVERLAYAND RECONSTRUCTION

Theproject will consist of reconstructing and overlaying approxi‐mately 3500’ of I-10 South Frontage Road within the City of Scott. Bids re‐ceived after thetime specified abovewillnot be considered TheSpecificationsand Documentsmay be ex‐amined at theCityHall building of theCityof Scottand maybeob‐tained at theoffice of GroomsEngineering, LLC, 714 East Kaliste Saloom Road C4,Lafayette Louisiana70508 (337-2610693) upon thepayment of $80.00 foreachset.De‐posits on the firstset of documentsfurnished bono fide primebidders will be fullyrefunded upon return of thedocu‐mentsnolater than ten days after receiptof bids.Onother sets of documentsfurnished to biddersthe depositless actual cost of reproduc‐tion,willberefunded upon return of thedocu‐mentsnolater than ten days after receiptof bids.Ifthe Bidder in‐tendstohavethe specifi‐cationsshipped, prior prepaidarrangements must be made with a thirdparty courieror parcel shipping service. No specificationsshall be released withoutthe abovedeposit in receipt at theoffice of Grooms Engineering, LLC. The Specificationsand Docu‐mentsshall be available until twenty-four (24) hoursbeforethe time scheduledfor theopen‐ingofbids. Bids shallbesubmitted inside asealedenvelope addressedtoCityof Scottshowing thename of theproject as above andthe name of theBid‐der. AnyBiddersubmit‐ting abid in theamount of $50,000.00 or more shallbea licensed con‐tractorinaccordance with LouisianaR.S 37:2150-2164 andshall show thelicensenumber on thefront of thesealed envelope in whichthe bidisenclosed. TheBid‐dershall hold alicense with theclassification

Detention Project to create new Frem Boustany Extension Project.(Public Works) ANNOUNCEMENT OF VACANCIES ON BOARDS/COMMISSIONS

16. Five (5) vacancies exist on the Transportation Policy Committee (the governing boardfor the Metropolitan Planning Organization) effective immediately.Applicants must be either 1) local elected officials, 2) officials of public agencies that administer or operatemajor modes of transportation in the metropolitan area, including representation by providers of public transportation.

17. Avacancy will exist on the BoardofZoning Adjustment for athreeyear term effective 02-01-2026. Thisisanalternate appointment Applicantsmust own property in the Parish of Lafayette and reside within the City of Lafayette.

18. Avacancy will exist on the City Planning and Zoning Commission for a five-year term effective 01-07-2026. Applicants must reside within the City of Lafayette. Individuals wishing to submit aresume for the above volunteer vacancies must be aregistered voter and aresident of Lafayette Parish. Yearly ethics training for all appointees is required as is financial disclosureunder certaincircumstances. Resumes aretobeforwarded to Joseph Gordon-Wiltz, Clerk of the Council, P.O. Box 4017-C, Lafayette, LA 70502 or emailed to BCLafayette@LafayetteLA.gov no later than noon, Tuesday,November 18, 2025 with appointment(s) to be made at the Tuesday,December 2, 2025 Regular Meeting of the Lafayette City Council.Resume submissions arepublic record.

CONSIDER APPOINTMENT(S) BY THE COUNCIL, AS AWHOLE, TO BOARDS/COMMISSIONS

19. Appointment of to the Keep Lafayette Beautiful Committee forthe remainder of an unexpiredtwo-year term thru 11-30-2026.

20. Appointment of to the BoardofZoning Adjustment for the remainder of an unexpired five-year term thru 06-30-2029. Applicants must own propertyinthe Parish of Lafayette and reside within the City of Lafayette.

APPOINTMENT BY COUNCIL MEMBERS, MAYOR-PRESIDENT AND/ OR ANY OTHER DIRECT APPOINTING AUTHORITY

Appointing Authority Appointee Name and Address Board, Commission and/or Legal Agency Effective Term Effective Date

21. City Council, District 2(Andy Naquin) Louis “T-Boy” Gilbert Lafayette Commission on CrimePrevention four-years 09-01-2024

22. City Council, District 5 (Kenneth Boudreaux) Herbert Green Lafayette Commission on CrimePrevention four-years 06-01-2025

INTRODUCTORYORDINANCES

23. CO-123-2025 An ordinance of the Lafayette City Council amending the Lafayette Development Code so as to reclassify Case No.202510-AZON Pontiac Point to Louisiana Avenue, and Surrey Streetto East Simcoe Street Administrative Rezoning, located generallynorth of Louisiana Avenue, east of Park Avenue, and south of East Simcoe Street; 1000, 1002, 1002 1/2 ,1102 &1106 East Simcoe Street, 229, 307, 313, 319, 323, 401 &407 SurreyStreet, 1007, 1011, 1017, 1018, 1019, 1020, 1023, 1024 &1026 Eighth Street, 1012, 1014, 1018, 1024, 1025, 1026, 1030, 1035 &1050 Ninth Street, 800 Block, 803, 805, 807, 809, 903, 905 &907 Louisiana Avenue being rezoned from CH (Commercial-Heavy) to MN-2 (Mixed-Use Neighborhood) and 1000 Block (1), 1000 Block (2), 1006 &1008 East Simcoe Street, 217 Surrey Street, and 1046 Ninth Street being rezoned from CH (CommercialHeavy) to CM-2 (Commercial Mixed). (CD&P)

24. CO-124-2025 An ordinance of the Lafayette City Council amending the Lafayette Development Code so as to reclassify the propertyof Case No.2025-20-REZ 520 SouthMagnolia Street Rezoning, located generally north of Tenth Street, west of South Magnolia Street, and south of Louisiana Avenue; being rezoned from RS-1(Residential Single-Family) to MN-1 (Mixed-Use Neighborhood). (CD&P)

25. CO-125-2025 An ordinance of the Lafayette City Council amending the Lafayette Development Code and the official map of the City of Lafayette, providing for the annexation of additional land into the corporate limits of the City of Lafayette, Louisiana, Case No.2025-

Sam,

andProcurement Coordi‐nator Lafayette

202 RueIberville Lafayette,LA70508 Telephone: (337) 521-7329 Email: kpsam@ lpssonline.com TheLPSBSelection Re‐view Committeewill evaluate only the firms that arelicensedunder LA.R.S.37:2150-2192 for theclassification of Building Construction andhaveobtained the official RFQpackage for this solicitation from the RFQCoordinator -Kristie Sam, or theLPSBwebsite at https://www lpssonline.com. Theoriginaland SIX(6) copies of theSOQ,per Section4 of theSOQ datedOctober 17, 2025 shallbedelivered to the Lafayette Parish School Board(LPSB)atthe Of‐fice of Purchasing,202 RueIberville,Lafayette Louisiana70508. TheSOQ submissionsfor this projectwillbeac‐cepteduntil 10:00 A.M. on Monday,November17, 2025.

SOQsubmissions that have notbeen received by theaforementioned deadline date andtime will be rejected.Addi‐tionally,failure to submit allofthe information stipulated perSection 4 –Response Instructions of theRFQ,dated October 17, 2025, shallbeconsid‐ered non‐responsive and will result in theSOQ submission beingre‐jected AMandatory Pre‐Pro‐posalConferencewillbe conductedat10:00 am on Thursday,October 30, 2025 at 202 RueIberville Lafayette,LA70508 in the BoardRoom.All ﬁrmsin‐terested in

Chenes, andthe Wetlands. (Mayor-President)

28. CO-128-2025Anordinanceofthe Lafayette City Council to amend Section 82-111 “Generally,” of Article III, “City of Lafayette Sales andUse Tax,” Division 3, “Exemptions andExclusions”ofChapter 82, “Taxation” of the Lafayette City-Parish ConsolidatedGovernment Code of Ordinances to exempt from local sales anduse taxes levied by the City of Lafayette as to repairs andmaintenanceperformedon aircraft at Lafayette RegionalAirport. (Legal) JOINT INTRODUCTORYORDINANCES

29. JO-059-2025A joint ordinanceofthe Lafayette City Council and the Lafayette Parish Council amending the FY 25/26 operating budget andadjusting manning tables of the Lafayette City-Parish ConsolidatedGovernment by increasing Fund 6070’suse of Prior Year Fund Balance in the amount of $904 andappropriating within the Office of Finance& Management. (Finance)

30. JO-060-2025 Ajoint ordinanceofthe Lafayette City Council andthe Lafayette Parish Council authorizingthe Lafayette Mayor-President to enterinto an agreementbetween the Lafayette City-Parish ConsolidatedGovernment andthe State of Louisiana Department of Transportation concerning bridge replacements for State Project No. H.015511 (E. Martial Ave. overcoulee), State Project No. H.015514 (Sarah Dee Pkwyover coulee) andState Project No. H.015515 (Andover Road overIndianBayouLateral). (Public Works)

31. JO-061-2025 Ajoint ordinanceofthe Lafayette City Council andthe Lafayette Parish Council amending the FY 25/26 operatingbudgetof the Lafayette City-Parish ConsolidatedGovernmentbyauthorizing the transferof$111,600 in Community Development BlockGrant(CDBG) funds within the Community Development andPlanning Department to Lafayette Public TrustFinanceAuthority for deferred maintenance at UptownLofts. (CD&P)

32. JO-062-2025A joint ordinanceofthe Lafayette City Council andthe Lafayette Parish Council amending the FY 25/26 operatingbudgetof the Lafayette City-Parish ConsolidatedGovernment by authorizing the transferof$120,000 in Community Development BlockGrant(CDBG) funds within the Community Development andPlanning Department to Faith House,Inc.for domestic violenceshelterimprovements (CD&P)

33. JO-063-2025 Ajoint ordinanceofthe Lafayette City Council andthe Lafayette Parish Council amending the FY 25/26 operatingbudgetof the Lafayette City-Parish ConsolidatedGovernment by authorizingthe transferof$175,000 in Community Development BlockGrant(CDBG) funds within the Community Development andPlanning Department to Lafayette Habitat for Humanity for improvements to their Housing Construction Center. (CD&P)

34. JO-064-2025A joint ordinanceofthe Lafayette City Council andthe Lafayette Parish Council amending the FY 25/26 operatingbudgetof the Lafayette City-Parish ConsolidatedGovernmentbyauthorizing the transferof$90,000 in Community Development BlockGrant(CDBG) funds within the Community Development andPlanning Department to SterlingGrove Housing Development, Inc., for improvements to Ed Washington Place Apartments. (CD&P)

35. JO-065-2025A joint ordinanceofthe Lafayette City Council andthe Lafayette Parish Council authorizing the Lafayette Mayor-President to enterinto aCooperative Endeavor Agreementwith the State of Louisiana andthe Road

7. PO-051-2025 An ordinance of the Lafayette Parish Councilmerging Precinct 61 into Precinct 58, merging Precinct 129 into Precinct 12, merging Precinct 131 into Precinct 98, and consolidating Precinct 130 with Precinct 60, all as aresultofand following cavass and confirming the polling places for said precincts as authorized by and in accordance with La. R.S. 18:532 and La.R.S. 18:532.1ofthe Louisiana Election Code. (AB Rubin) JOINT ORDINANCES FOR FINAL ADOPTION

8. JO-056-2025 Ajoint ordinance of the Lafayette City Council and the Lafayette Parish Council amending the FY 25/26 operatingand capital budget of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government by increasing reimbursementrevenues fromState of Louisiana Facility Planningand Control for Lake Farm to VerotSchool Road Extension, Planning and Construction Project No. 50-J28-23-10inthe amountof $2,425,000 and accounting for the required matchof$833,333 and appropriating within the Public WorksDepartment. (Public Works)

9. JO-057-2025 Ajoint ordinance of the Lafayette City Council and the Lafayette Parish Council amending the FY 25/26 operatingand capital budget of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government by increasing reimbursementrevenues fromState of Louisiana Facility Planningand Control for Heymann Park Improvements, Planning and Construction Project No. 50-J28-19-02inthe amount of $800,000 andaccounting for the required match of $124,834 and appropriating within the PARC Department. (PublicWorks)

10. JO-058-2025Ajoint ordinance of the Lafayette City Council and the Lafayette Parish Council amending the FY 25/26 capital budget of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government by transferring funds from LajaunieRoad Bridge Replacement Project to existingFrem Boustany Extension Project and transferring fundsfromMillcreek Drainage Improvements Project, Becky Lane Cross DrainReplacement Project and River Oaks Detention Project to create new Frem Boustany Extension Project. (Public Works)

ANNOUNCEMENT OF VACANCIES ON BOARDS/COMMISSIONS

11.A vacancy will exist on the Lafayette Parish Library Board of Control for a five-year term effective 12-01-2025.

12. Avacancy exists on the Keep Lafayette Beautiful Committee for the remainder of an unexpired two-year term thru 02-28-2026 and the followingtwo-year term effective 03-01-2026.

13. Twovacancies will exist on the Industrial Development Boardfor sixyear terms effective 02-01-2026.

14. Avacancy will exist on the Parish Planning and Zoning Commission for a five-year term effective 02-01-2026.

Individuals wishing to submitaresume for theabove volunteer vacancy must be aregistered voter and aresident of Lafayette Parish. Yearly ethics training for all appointees is required as is financial disclosure under certain circumstances. Resumes aretobeforwarded to Joseph Gordon-Wiltz,Clerk of the Council, P.O. Box 4017-C,Lafayette, LA 70502 or emailed to BCLafayette@LafayetteLA.gov no later than noon, Tuesday,November 18, 2025 with appointment(s) to be made at the Tuesday,December 2, 2025 RegularMeeting of the Lafayette Parish Council. Resume submissions arepublic record. CONSIDER APPOINTMENT(S) BY THE COUNCIL, AS AWHOLE, TO BOARDS/COMMISSIONS

15. Appointment of to the Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission for afour-year term effective 01-01-2026. Nomination list supplied by the Louisiana Restaurant Association.

16. Appointment of to the Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission for afour-year term effective 01-01-2026. Nomination list supplied by OneAcadiana.

17. Appointment of to the Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission for afour-year term effective 01-01-2026. Applicants must reside in the unincorporated area of the Parish of Lafayette APPOINTMENT BY COUNCIL MEMBERS, MAYOR-PRESIDENT AND/ OR ANY OTHER DIRECT APPOINTING AUTHORITY Appointing Authority Appointee Name and Addres Board, Commission and/ or Legal Agency Effective Term Effective Date

18.Parish Council District 2 (Donald Richard) Johnafort Bernard City/Parish Recreation Advisory Commission

19.Local Area Mayors Gerald Breaux Lafayette Convention and Visitor’s Commission

20.Lafayette MayorPresident (Monique Boulet)

21.Lafayette MayorPresident (Monique Boulet)

22.

surplus 2003 tanker fire truck. (Fire)

23. PO-053-2025 An ordinance of the Lafayette Parish Council providing for theabandonment of acertain portion of acul-de-sac right-of-way and the adjacent five (5’) utility easementborderingsaid cul-de-sac on Tract 4ofthe Clark Sherwood Farms Subdivision, located at 121 Smith-Reed Road.(CD&P)

24. PO-054-2025 An ordinance of the Lafayette Parish Council amending the FY 25/26 operating budget of the Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government by increasingthe use of Parishwide FireProtection Fund

25. JO-059-2025 Ajoint ordinance of theLafayette CityCouncil and the Lafayette ParishCouncil amending theFY25/26 operating budget and adjusting manning tables of theLafayette City-ParishConsolidated Government by increasing Fund 6070’suse of PriorYear Fund Balance in theamount of $904

28. JO-062-2025 Ajoint ordinance of theLafayette CityCouncil and the Lafayette ParishCouncil amending theFY25/26 operating budget of theLafayette City-ParishConsolidated Government by authorizing the transfer of $120,000 in CommunityDevelopment Block Grant (CDBG) funds within theCommunityDevelopment and Planning Department to Faith House, Inc.for domestic violence shelterimprovements. (CD&P)

29. JO-063-2025 Ajoint ordinance of theLafayette CityCouncil and the Lafayette ParishCouncil amending theFY25/26 operating budget of theLafayette City-ParishConsolidated Government by authorizing the transfer of $175,000 in CommunityDevelopment Block Grant (CDBG) funds within theCommunityDevelopment and Planning Department to Lafayette Habitat forHumanityfor improvementstotheir Housing ConstructionCenter.(CD&P)

30. JO-064-2025 Ajoint ordinance of theLafayette CityCouncil and the Lafayette ParishCouncil amending theFY25/26 operating budget of theLafayette City-ParishConsolidated Government by authorizing the transfer of $90,000 in CommunityDevelopment Block Grant (CDBG) funds within theCommunityDevelopment and Planning Department to Sterling Grove Housing Development, Inc., forimprovementstoEd Washington Place Apartments. (CD&P)

31. JO-065-2025 Ajoint ordinance of theLafayette CityCouncil and the Lafayette ParishCouncil authorizing theLafayette Mayor-President to enter into aCooperativeEndeavor Agreement with theState of Louisiana and theRoad Home CorporationDBA Louisiana Land Trust forthe purpose of participatinginthe Louisiana Watershed Initiative MitigationBuyout Program as administered through theState of Louisiana Office of CommunityDevelopment –Disaster Recoveryfor thepurpose of mitigating repetitiveloss structuresnear Graham Brown MemorialPark. (CD&P)

32. JO-066-2025 Ajoint ordinance of theLafayette CityCouncil and theLafayette ParishCouncil amending theLafayette CityParishConsolidated Government Code of Ordinances Chapter 34, “Environment,” Article IV,“Noise Control,” Section34-370, “Enforcement and Penalties” to hold persons who own, manage, operateorotherwisecontrolpropertyresponsible fornoise violations. (KennethBoudreaux and AB Rubin) COMMENT(S) FROM THE PUBLIC

33. Commentsfromthe public on any other matter(s)not on an agenda. ADJOURN IN ACCORDANCE WITH LA. R.S. 42:14(E) AS ENACTED BY ACT NO. 393 OF 2023 AND THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT,PLEASE CONTACT JOSEPH GORDON-WILTZ, COUNCIL CLERK, AT (337) 291-8810 DESCRIBING THE ASSISTANCE THATISNECESSARY, IF SPECIAL ASSISTANCE AND/OR ACCOMMODATIONS ARE NEEDED. 164945-576654-oct 31-1t $315.00