The Times-Picayune 11-02-2025 by The Advocate

Mistrust,conflictleadto fiscal crisis

Earlyalarmsabout overspending were ignoredinNew Orleans

BY JAMES FINN andBEN MYERS

Staff writers

In late January, top ofﬁcials in Mayor LaToya Cantrell’sadministration were divided over akey question about aproposed multimillion dollar settlement with New Orleans schools: Could the

city even afford the deal?

On one side wasRomySamuel, thecity’s finance director.She warned in adraft letter to the City Councilofa“serious deﬁcit which is projected to worsen by midyear,”and noted potential doomsday consequences, includingthe possibilitythat thecitywould fal-

ter on payroll and vendor payment obligations.

On theother was her boss, thenChief Administrative OfﬁcerGilbert Montaño, Cantrell’sbudget chief. Montañocast doubt on the problem’s severity in aJan. 27 email to Samuel debating the letter’s wording. Hefavored present-

ing thesituationingentler terms —removing mention of a“deﬁcit” and “severeﬁnancial instability,” while cautioning against overspending the city’sfund balance.

“I believe that it is too early in the year and our numbers are too imprecise to forecast such an extreme fiscal cliff to the council/

Louisianaschools leader straddlespolicy, politics

Brumleydrivesacademicgains amid culturedebates

BYPATRICK WALL Staff writer

This is Cade Brumley in his element.

Louisiana’sstate superintendent of educationparkshis Ford Expedition outside arural elementary school. He greets aschool district official and asks about his wife, then strides into aconference room crowded with

schooland district administrators

He leadsa lively and wide-ranging discussion on ahost of education shoptalk,speaking about math instruction, tutoring and teacher certiﬁcation with an expert’sacumen and acommunicator’s clarity

Then Brumley,aformer teacher and principal, tours afew classroomswhere students usethe math ﬂashcards he had shipped to every

elementaryschool. “This is where themagical work is happening,”he tells school staffers on hisway out.

“I can’tthank you enough.”

The school visit took place in early October.Several months earlier,in April, Brumley,was on adifferent, more public stage —the guest on a talk show hostedbyTonyPerkins,

ä See BRUMLEY, page 14A

‘Whentheylose, it ain’tgood’

Afterrocky start, Saints fans asking wherethe good timeshaverolled

BYBOB WARREN and DOUG MacCASH Staff writers

David “Doc” Mancinahas had alot of rotten Mondaysinhis 69 years.

AMetairie native and aSaints fanall hislife,Mancina said he’s always taken losses hard. He’s suffered through plenty of them through the decades, both from inside the Superdome and in front of

ä TylerShoughbegins quest to prove he’s Saints’ future. SPORTS 1C

hisTV. But this year,though Kellen Moore’s Saintsare adismal 1-7, it’snot hittingthe sameway “Used to be thatitwould wreck my Mondays. And sometimes my Tuesdays,” Mancina said, laughing. “But it doesn’tanymore.” What gives?

“Maybe I’mgetting old,” he said. Or maybe I’m just beat up.” As Saints fans trudge through a season that at times has felt like a jailsentence, Mancina isn’talone in feeling alittle numb to it all. Interviews with theteam’sfaithful over the pastweek offered a sense of resignation, even if most were taking it in stride.

Moore’sﬁrst year as head coach

ä See

rating agencies/or the public,” Montaño wrote in an exchange reviewed by The Times-Picayune. “Every year our projections ﬂuctuate, there are sizable variances between ourprojections andactual revenuesand expenditures, and we seem to end the year with asurplus.”

Montaño’s versionwith softer

Landry embracing fast,blunt style

Woodward’s ouster setinmotionby governor’s comments

BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer

After ﬁring LSU football coach Brian Kelly on Sunday,athletic director Scott Woodward began preparing to ﬁnd his successor —untilGov.JeffLandrymadea surprise announcement. Answering aquestion at anews conference on an unrelatedsubject,Landry brought up Woodward’s2021 hiring of Kelly,saying it was a“terrible contract” that left theuniversityonthe hook fornearly$54 millionfor the remaining years. As aresult, Landry said, the LSU Board of Supervisors, notWoodward, wouldchoose Kelly’ssuccessor

“I can tell you right now, Scott Woodward is not selecting thenext coach,” Landry said.“Hell, I’ll let DonaldTrumpselect it before Ilet him do it.” Scott Ballard, the Landryappointedchair of the board, expressed surprise at the governor’sannouncementwhena WBRZ-TV reporter asked for his reaction.

“Well then, Ibetter get to it!” he said as he was leaving the interview

Landry kept up his attacks on Woodward in interviewsontwo sports shows Thursday, despite achorus of complaints that he was

STAFFPHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD NewOrleans Saints super fan Larry Rolling reflects on the 23-3 loss to the Tampa BayBuccaneers on Oct. 26 at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumleytalks to students in Candace Graham’s second grade class during a visit to FrenchSettlement ElementarySchool in October

SAINTS, page 4A

ä See LANDRY, page 6A

Landry Woodward

ä See CRISIS, page 20A

9dead, dozens injured in surge at Hindu temple NEW DELHI Acrowd surge at apopular Hindu temple in southern India left at least nine people dead and dozens injured, local authorities said Saturday Theincident occurred at the SwamyVenkateswara Temple in the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh state where hundreds of devotees had gatheredtomark one of Hinduism’s sacreddays, Ekadashi,senior police ofﬁcer K.V.Maheswra Reddy told The Associated Press.

On this day,the devoteesfast and offer prayers to Lord Vishnu,akey Hindu deity

An initial investigation suggeststhat an iron grille meantto maintain the queue of worshippers at thetemple broke, leading to theuncontrolled crowd surge,Reddy said.

Of thedeceased, eight are women and one is achild, senior local government ofﬁcial SwapnilDinkar Pundkar said. He added that at least 16 devotees injured in the crowd surge are being treated at alocal hospital while 20 othersare in astate of shock and put under observation at adifferent hospital.

State authorities in Andhra Pradesh said the location was aprivate temple on 12 acresof land and wasn’tunder the control of the government administration. Despite its maximum capacity of 3,000, thecrowd swelled to around 25,000 on Saturday

Baldoni’slawsuitagainst Lively officiallytossed

Justin Baldoni’sdefamation claimagainst co-star Blake Lively and his libel lawsuit against The New York Times have ofﬁcially been thrown out.

According to legal documents obtained by TMZ on Friday Judge Lewis Liman entered aﬁnal judgment to the earlier dismissal of the multimillion-dollar suits. Baldoni canpotentially appeal the dismissal pendingLiman’sruling on attorney’sfees.

The New York judge in June tossedBaldoni’s$400million suit against Lively,husbandRyan Reynolds and publicistLeslie Sloane, as well as his $250 million ﬁling againstThe Times for its December exposé titled “‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside aHollywood Smear Machine.”

Lively at the time accused Baldoni of having sexually harassed her on the set of their filmand of waginga retaliatory PR campaign. Baldoni responded by ﬁling acountersuit alleging defamation, in addition to his suit against the Timesfor its coverage of Lively’sclaims. Baldoni’sfiling against The Times asserted the deep-dive was “rife with inaccuracies (and) misrepresentations,” which drew signiﬁcantly from Lively’s “self-serving narrative.” He accused the paper of relying on cherry-picked’ and altered communicationsstripped of necessary contextand deliberately spliced to mislead.” However,Liman found that Lively wasnot liablefor her claims because the allegations originated in acivil rights complaint.The NewYork Times having based its story on the “available evidence” and Lively’sinitial complaint —was also not liable, Liman ruled, saying it had “no obvious motive tofavor Lively’sversion of events.”

November’ssupermoon will be closest of year

NEW YORK The moon will look slightly bigger and brighter Wednesday nightduring the closest supermoon of the year

The moon’sorbit around the Earth isn’taperfect circle, so it gets nearer andfarther as it swings around. Aso-called supermoon happens when a full moon is closer to Earth in its orbit. That makes the moon lookupto14% bigger and 30% brighter than the faintest moon of the year,according to NASA. November’ssupermoonisthe second of three supermoonsthis year and also the closest: The moon will come within just under222,000 miles of Earth

Tides may be slightly higher during asupermoon because the moon is closer to Earth, said astronomerLawrenceWasserman with Lowell Observatory Butthe differenceisn’t very noticeable.

Pope declares newchurchdoctor

Honorbestowed on St.John Henry Newman

BY NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press

VATICAN CITY Pope LeoXIV on Saturdaybestowed oneofthe Catholic Church’shighest honors on St. John Henry Newman, the deeply influential 19th-century Britishconvertand theologian, declaringhim adoctor of the church and holdinghim upasa model for Catholic educators.

Only 37 other people have been giventhe title “doctor” in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church. Newmannow joins the ranks of such monumental Christian ﬁgures as St. Augustine,St. Therese of Lisieuxand St.John of theCross.

The title recognizes that Newman, belovedinboth the Anglican andCatholic churches,has universal appeal and made atimeless, eminentcontribution to understanding the Christian faith.

Atheologianand poet raised in theChurch of England, Newman is best known forhis writings and sermonsonthe development of doctrine,truthand thenature of auniversity.Heisadmired by conservatives and progressives alike, because he followed his conscience at great personalcost when he decided to converttoCatholicism in 1845.

Leopronounced Newman a church doctor on Saturday during aspecial Holy Year Massfor Catholic teachers andstudents, during

which he also declared Newman aco-patron of Catholic education, alongside St. Thomas Aquinas.

It was particularly ﬁtting: It was Leo’snamesake, Pope Leo XIII, who made Newman aCatholic cardinal after his conversion, and it was theearlier Leo who declared Aquinas adoctor of thechurchand patron of Catholic education.

Leo’sdecision to hold outNewman as amodel for Catholic educatorssuggeststhat Catholic teaching will be apriorityfor him going forward, especially as he emphasizes theethical use of artiﬁcial intelligence for future generations.

Last week,Leo penneda new documentthatcited Newman in his call for Catholic schools to be places for spiritual growth and community,and wherethe useof technology always keepshuman

dignityfront and center

In his homily,Leo quoted from Newman’smost famoustext, theBritish hymn “Lead, Kindly Light,” to urge thatCatholic educators“shine like stars in the world” in the collective search fortruth.

“The task of education is precisely to offer this Kindly Light to those who might otherwise remain imprisoned by the particularly insidious shadows of pessimism and fear,” he said. “Weare calledto form people, so that they mayshine like stars in their full dignity.”

The Rev.George Bowen,the postulator whooversawNewman’s canonization and designation as adoctor, said Newmantoo was confrontedwith the 19th-century equivalent of the information age, when cheap periodicals were readily available andreading ratesshot

up.Newmaninsisted on the need for aholistic liberal education thatincludedCatholic theology, but also focused on students and teachers interacting in arelational way in the quest for truth and knowledge, he said.

“Suddenly,the world was swimming withinformation,” Bowen told reporters. “So Newman’s ways of coping with this huge ocean of knowledge and making sense of it, having aconnected view,issomething very,very relevant today.”

When Newman defected from the Church of England to the Catholic Churchin1845, he lost friends, work and even family ties, believing the truth he was searching for could only be found in the Catholic faith. And yeteventoday,Newman remains beloved in the Church of England. His hymns were sung last weekinthe Sistine Chapel when King CharlesIII prayed alongside Leointhe historic ecumenical service. Several important Anglican leaderswrote to the Vatican,supporting his designation as achurch doctor,and theAnglican archbishop of York wasinvited to participate in Saturday’sservice. It featured thehymn, “Lead,Kindly Light,” whichremains aﬁxture of Anglican services.

“Newman is abig ecumenical figure in the sense that he owes hisfaith to hisupbringing in the Church of England,” Bowen said.

St. John Paul II declared Newman venerable in 1991, in the ﬁrst step to possible sainthood; Pope BenedictXVI beatiﬁedhim during a2010 visit to Birmingham, England; Pope Francis canonized him in 2019 with Charles in the audience, and now Leo declared him achurch doctor

Ukrainesaysithit keyfuelpipelinenearMoscow

BY SAMYAKULLAB

Associated Press

KYIV,Ukraine Ukrainianforces hit an important fuel pipeline in the Moscow region that supplies the Russian army,Ukraine’smilitary intelligence said Saturday,asRussia kept up asustained campaign of massive drone and missile attacks on Ukraine’senergy infrastructure.

Theoperation wascarried out lateFriday,according to astatement onthe Telegram messaging channel. The agency,which is known by its acronym HUR, describeditasa“serious blow” to Russia’smilitary logistics.

HURsaidits forces struck the Koltsevoy pipeline,which spans

250 miles and suppliesthe Russian army with gasoline,dieseland jet fuel from reﬁneries in Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow

Theoperation,which targeted infrastructure near Ramenskydistrict, destroyed all threefuel lines, HUR said.

The pipeline was capable of transporting up to 3million tons of jet fuel, 2.8 million tons of diesel and 1.6 million tons of gasoline annually,HUR said.

“Our strikeshave had more impact than sanctions,” said Kyrylo Budanov, the head of HUR, referring to international sanctions on Russiaimposed over itsFebruary 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry on Saturday claimed its

forces defeated ateam of Ukrainian special forces that were rushed to theeastern front-line hot spot of Pokrovsk in abid to stop Russian troopsfrom pushing farther into the city

It laterposted videosshowing twomen it said were Ukrainians who surrendered in the embattled city.The videos show the men,one dressedinfatigues and the other in adark green jacket, sat against apeeling wall in adark room,as they speak of fierce fighting and encirclement by Russianforces. Thevideos’ authenticity could not be independentlyverified, and therewas no immediate public comment from Kyiv on theRussian ministry’sclaims.

Russiaand Ukraine have pre-

Israel says latest remainshanded over from Gaza aren’t

BY RENATA BRITO Associated Press

JERUSALEM The remains of threepeople Hamas handed overtothe Red Crossin Gaza donot belongtoany hostages, Israel said Saturday,inthe latest setback to the U.S.brokered ceaseﬁreinthe Israel-Hamas war Thehandover followed Israel’s return on Friday of the bodies of 30 Palestinians to Gaza,which completedanexchange after militants turned over remains of two hostages earlier in the week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’sofﬁceconﬁrmedthat theremains of the three people did not belongtohostages. It was unclear whothe remainsbelonged to.

Hamas’ armed wing said it hadoffered to hand over samples on Friday of unidentiﬁed bodiesbut Israel refused and asked for the remains for examination.

“Wehanded the bodies over to stop theclaims of Israel,” the statement said.Healthofficialsin Gaza havestruggled to identify bodies without access to DNA kits.

Sincethe ceaseﬁre took effect on Oct. 10, Palestinian militants have releasedthe remains of 17 hostages. Eleven remain in Gaza. Militants have released one or twobod-

of hostages

ies everyfew days.Israel has urged faster progress. Hamas has saidthe work is complicated by widespread devastation and Israeli military presence in some areas. Israel hasbeen releasingthe unidentified remains of 15 Palestinians forthe remains of each Israelihostage.The number of Palestinian bodies returnedbyIsrael since the ceasefire begannow stands at 225. Only 75 have been identified by families,accordingtoGaza’s HealthMinistry It is unclear if thosereturned werekilled in Israel during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that sparked the war,died in Israeli custodyasdetainees or were recovered fromGaza by troops during thewar The fragile truce faced

its biggest challenge earlier this week when Israel carried out strikes across Gazathat killed morethan 100 people, following the killingofanIsraeli soldier in Rafah, Gaza’ssouthernmostcity Jordan’sforeign minister warned Saturday that Israel maintaining amilitarypresence in Gaza puts theceaseﬁre at risk. Speakingatthe Manama Dialogue security summit, Ayman Safadiaddedit was “imperative” to have aPalestinianpoliceforce maintaining security,supported by an international stabilization force with aU.N. SecurityCouncil mandate. Multiple nationshave shown interestintaking part in apeacekeeping forcebut called fora clear U.N. mandate before committingtroops.

sented conﬂicting accounts of what is happening in Pokrovsk, akey Ukrainian stronghold in the eastern Donetsk region. Russian President Vladimir Putinclaimedlastweek that his forces had encircled the city’sUkrainian defenders.

But Ukraine’s armychief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, saidSaturday that while thesituation in Pokrovsk remains “hardest” for Ukrainian forces, who are tryingtopush Russian troops out of the city,there is no encirclement or blockadeas Moscow has maintained.

Akey goal forMoscow has been to take allofUkraine’sindustrial heartlandofDonbas, made up of the eastern Luhansk and Donetsk provinces. Kyiv still controls about one-tenth of the coal-rich region.

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Pope Leo XIV presides overMass withparticipants in the Jubilee of the Educational Worldonthe Solemnity of All Saints in St.Peter’sSquare at the Vatican on Saturday.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ABDEL KAREEM HANA

Tents fill amakeshift camp for displaced Palestinians in Zawaida, central Gaza Strip, on Saturday.

Uncertainty over federal food aid deepens

BY STEPHEN GROVES, ALI SWENSON and SUSAN HAIGH Associated Press

WASHINGTON The crises at the heart of the government shutdown ﬁght in Washington were coming to a head Saturday as the federal food assistance program faced delays and millions of Americans were set to see a dramatic rise in their health insurance bills.

The impacts on basic needs food and medical care — underscored how the impasse is hitting homes across the United States. Plans by the Trump administration to freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program on Saturday were halted by federal judges, but the delay in payouts will still likely leave millions of people short on their grocery bills.

It all added to the strain on the country, with a month of missed paychecks for federal workers and growing air travel delays. The shutdown is already the second longest in history and entered its second month on Saturday

The House has not met for legislative business in more than six weeks, while Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., closed his chamber for the weekend after bipartisan talks failed to achieve signiﬁcant progress.

Thune said he is hoping “the pressure starts to intensify, and the consequences of keeping the government shut down become even more real for everybody that they will express, hopefully new interest in trying to come up with a path forward.”

The stalemate appears increasingly unsustainable as Republican President Donald Trump demands action and Democratic leaders warn that an uproar over rising

health insurance costs will force Congress to act.

The Department of Agriculture planned to withhold $8 billion needed for payments to the food program starting on Saturday until two federal judges ordered the administration to make them. Trump said he would provide the money but wanted more legal direction from the court.

On Saturday, U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell in Rhode Island ordered that the government needed to tell the court by Monday how it would fund SNAP accounts. McConnell, who was nominated by President Barack Obama, said the Trump administration needed to either make a full payment by Monday or if it decides to only tap $3 billion in a contingency

Lincoln Bathroom remade with marble and gold

BY BRIAN NIEMIETZ

New york Daily News (TNS)

President Donald Trump’s efforts to remodel the White House in his image continued Friday with the unveiling of a shiny new Lincoln Bathroom.

The president’s social media accounts shared photos of the renovated restroom in the Lincoln Bedroom — and true to form, the makeover leans heavily on marble and gold, reﬂecting the aesthetics of his hotels in the private sector.

Trump boasted of the update, declaring that the once-modest, green-andwhite bathroom was “totally inappropriate.”

“It was renovated in the 1940s in an art deco green tile style, which was totally inappropriate for the Lincoln Era,” he wrote on Truth Social. “I did it in black and white polished Statuary marble. This was very appropriate for the time of Abraham Lincoln and, in fact, could be the marble that was originally there!”

Numerous photos showing the glitzy new bathroom feature a gold shower head and matching faucets against swirling white-and-gray walls and ﬂoors.

The Lincoln Bedroom was posthumously named

after the 16th president in 1945, according to the White House Historical Association. Since it’s not designated a State or other ofﬁcial room, funding for its decoration and furnishing falls “outside the purview of the Committee for the Preservation of the White House.”

Trump also said Friday that construction crews were working on the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which will soon be more shiny as well.

“The exterior columns, which were in serious danger of corrosion if something (wasn’t) done, are completed, and look magniﬁcent in white enamel Like a different place!” Trump posted.

Claiming the nation’s most storied cultural institution “was dead as a doornail,” he said the “marble is being done, stages are being renovated” and new seats, fabrics and carpeting will soon be installed, making the building “beautiful again!”

An ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll published Thursday found that 56% of Americans oppose the president’s renovations of the White House. That includes the 45% of respondents who are “strongly” against the demolition of the East Wing to make way for the ballroom.

government fund SNAP, but Republicans responded by arguing the program is in such a dire situation because Democrats have repeatedly voted against a shortterm government funding bill.

“We are now reaching a breaking point thanks to Democrats voting no on government funding, now 14 different times,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, said at a news conference Friday

Trump injected himself into the debate Thursday by suggesting that Republican senators, who hold the majority, end the shutdown by getting rid of the ﬁlibuster rules that prevent most legislation from advancing unless it has the support of at least 60 senators. Democrats have used the ﬁlibuster to block a funding bill in the Senate for weeks Republican leaders quickly rejected Trump’s idea, prompting the president to double down on the demand Saturday night.

fund, ﬁgure out how to do that by Wednesday “There is no question that the congressionally approved contingency funds must be used now because of the shutdown,” McConnell wrote in his order

But that still leaves uncertainty about whether the department will use additional money or only provide partial beneﬁts for the month.

The SNAP program serves about 1 in 8 Americans and costs about $8 billion per month.

Benefits were already facing delays because it takes a week or more to load SNAP cards in many states Some governors and mayors have stepped in, using what money they have available to ﬁll the program that feeds about 42 million Americans.

“People are just nervous, scared,” said Jill Corbin, the director of the St. Vincent De Paul soup kitchen and food pantry in Norwich, Connecticut. “It’s not really a deﬁnite answer that we have right now.”

As people lined up early Saturday for hot meals and groceries, the organization had 10 extra volunteers to help newcomers navigate the process. On Wednesday, some 400 families visited the food pantry and 555 people received hot meals.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York criticized Trump for spending Saturday at one of his Florida golf courses, saying on social media that “Trump and Republicans are illegally withholding SNAP beneﬁts.” Democrats demanded that the

“Don’t be WEAK AND STUPID. FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT! WIN, WIN, WIN!” Trump posted on social media, arguing that Democrats would terminate the ﬁlibuster rules if they regain the Senate majority

“We will immediately END the Extortionist Shutdown, get ALL of our agenda passed, and make life so good for Americans that these DERANGED DEMOCRAT politicians will never again have the chance to DESTROY AMERICA!”

“Republicans, you will rue the day that you didn’t TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER!!!” he added.

The annual sign-up period for the Affordable Care Act health insurance began Saturday, and there are sharp increases in what people will have to pay for coverage Enhanced tax credits that help most enrollees pay for the health plans are set to expire next year

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Volunteers prepare emergency food packages Tuesday at the Tarrant Area Food Bank in Fort Worth, Texas

hascome with asteady beat of pounding losses, missed opportunities and questions about howlong the rebuilding process might take.

Starting quarterback Spencer Rattler was taken out in the third quarter on Sunday against the Buccaneersand rookie Tyler Shough has been elevated to the starting role for this Sunday’sgame against theRams in Los Angeles, but there’snot much hope that aturnaround is in the works for this season.

So, most Saints fans say they’re going to grin and bear it, and try to eke out fun duringtailgates andother parts of perennial fandom, even if the games are hard to watch.

“It’sbeen tough,” said Larry Rolling, alongtime seasonticket holder known as “The Sign Guy,”for his pithy,hand-painted signs andability to get on TV from his front row seat. “I think everyone is just tired.” Rolling’ssign for the last home game offered asense of howfar fans’ expectations have been lowered.He scrawled “Rattled” —one he knew could work no matter what happened on the ﬁeld. Maybe the Bucs would be “Rattled” by asuperior display of offensive acumen from Rattler and the sign maker would prove prescient. Instead, Rattler was benched.

“Rattled” still worked.

Oldmemories

For longtime fans, the last few seasons are bringing back dark, sometimes repressed, memories of empty Dome seats and fans with bags over their heads. There were bad teams spread across the decades, capped by —but certainly not limited to —the disastrous 1-15 season of 1980 Then came the turnaround in 2006. Sean Payton arrived. So did Drew Brees, and with him,winning seasons, aSuper Bowl victory andastring of runs deep

into the postseason. The success. Theswagger.Itwas all so intoxicating. Now,some fans liken these more recent losing seasons to ahangover,one that comes with areminder of howgreatthe party was.

“Maybe we thought it would never end,” said Mancina, noting that the Super Bowl in 2010 seemslike eons ago. “It’s like we’re back to the ‘60s.”

Diedre Hayes, alicensed clinical social worker and Tulane University professor with adegree inpsychology andadoctoratein social work, said it’snot uncommon for some fans to experience the stages of grief as they watch their favorite teamsstruggle

“Wehave anger with the team, we get sad, we’re in denial about how bad they might be,” she said.

AskedFriday afternoon what fans can take away from the season so far, Moore said he’s stressed to the team that winning is aprocess, and that if they trust the process, theresults will follow

“I feel like thething that Ilove and appreciate is our guys battle eachand every week,” hesaid.“AndIthink if you do that, andyou trust the process, just keep focusingonthe process and doing it the right way,the good thingshappen.”

‘Wecomeout either way’ Sunday,Oct. 26, began with cloudyskies andpersistent rain. So even though the sun burst through by noon like TaysomHill hitting the line in hisprime,the tailgating crowdaround the Dome featuredmostly die-hards.

Hope for victory was slim. As SlidellSaints fan Roy Provenzano put it, “The Saints are in dark times right now.

Still, Provenzanowas in agaggle of Who Dats who clustered aroundtheir convertedschoolbus in aLoyola Avenue parking lot as they hadfor twodecades.The team was then 1-6, andonly hours away from being 1-7, but Provenzano and his Slidellians remainedfaith-

NewOrleans Saints playerRashid Shaheed signs the body of Brian ‘Signature Saint’ Henry on July 29 during Saints training camp at the practice facility on AirlineDrive in Metairie.

ful. “Wecomeout either way. We come outtohave agood time; we’ve got agood group of people,but obviouslythe vibe is alittle less fun with less people.”

Asked to diagnose the Saints’ current torpor, Provenzanoskipped the mixture of youthful inexperience andathleticobsolescence that seems to plague the players andwentstraight to the top.

“I’m just aguy,” he said, “but Ithink the uppermanagement has been alittledifferent (lately)ormaybe the same for too long. Ithink we need change.”

Most tailgaters seemed to philosophically accept the cycles that affect every football team, years of glory —orthe real chance of it followed by decline andthe dreaded “rebuilding.”

Tailgater Ronnie Deslatte said he’s been going to Saints games since they started at Tulane Stadium. He believes the team’s performance can inﬂuence the tenor of the region.

“When they win,” he said, “the cityisjust all happy-golucky and everything’sgood. Even when you go to work, everything’sgood. But when

theylose, it ain’tgood.”

Deslatte remembers the so-called “Aints” era of the 1970s,when the team seemed similarly hopeless. But, he said, he did not resort to disguising himself withapaper bag maskassome disdainful fans did.

Deslatte’s tailgatingcrew occupied one of the forlorn patches of land along Poydras Street. Nearby,a cadre of insufferably cheery Tampa Bay fanshad erected their own tailgating headquarters at the intersectionofPoydras and Caliborne Avenue, aclear taunting infraction if there ever was one.

The jerseysofvisiting teams have lately covered largerareas in the Dome stands. New Orleans, after all, is afabulous road trip, and tickets to the Saints games are pretty easytoﬁnd these days.

BlessYou Boys

The BlessYou Boys, atrio of Saints superfans who dressasWho Dat pontiffs, looked especially peculiar on Sunday,havingdonned pink bath robes, presumably in honor of breast cancer awareness month. Before the game, theycavorted

with fans and posed for pictures outside of GateA Paradoxically,the three pinkpopes were asign of normalcy.Their joyous, theatrical brand of fandom had survived theSaints’ forlorn performance. They continued to cheer with gusto from their front row seats.

Asked to describe the current mood of Saints fans, Dijai Smith, one of the Bless YouBoys, used the term “sketchy.”

“A lot of people are doubt-

ing,” Smith said. But, he vowed, the forsaken state of affairs “doesn’tchange my heart forthe team.”

It’s just agame Loyalty aside, the ruinous season has even the most die-hard Who Dats thinking abouttheir checking accounts, including Brian “Signature Saint” Henry, whohas managed to get 171 Saints player autographs tattooed on his body.“My season tickets are$1,900,” he said. But here are waystocope, said Hayes, the Tulane professor Trytohave someempathy forthe players —after all, “They wanttowin as bad as we do” —and realize that as fans, we have no control over the teams’ performance. Oh, and this: “You have to acknowledge it’sagame,” she said.

For manySaints fans, the cliche rings true —hope does spring eternal.Moore is still in thehoneymoon stage, and, as Rolling the sign guy noted, other teams have had quick turnarounds. The Doc, forone,sayshe’ll never lose hope.

“I tell ya, Ibleed black and gold,” he said. Will he gettowitness another Super Bowl? Who knows.

“I didn’texpect to get one in my lifetime,” he laughed. Staff writer Luke Johnson contributed to this story.

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meddling in the affairs of the athletic department. Hours later, LSU announced that Woodward was stepping down immediately

The Governor’s Office on Friday said Landry had no comment for now

Landry’s role in forcing out Woodward is only the latest example of his philosophy to move fast and break things if necessary. His approach has invited comparisons to President Donald Trump and former Gov. Huey Long.

“When have I ever moved slow? I don’t move slow,” Landry said during a 2024 interview

As governor, Landry has relished battles with critics, a surprise to no one who has known him since he was a self-described hyperactive teenager in St. Martin Parish.

When opponents of legislation to require schools to post the Ten Commandments said they would take him to court last year, for example, the governor shot back, “I can’t wait to be sued.”

Leadership vacuum

Landry’s push into managing LSU’s storied football program comes during a leadership vacuum at the university

A search for a new president is underway after William F. Tate IV resigned in May to lead Rutgers University Political insiders have said Landry favors McNeese State President Wade Rousse for the LSU job. Landry’s ofﬁce didn’t respond Friday when asked about the presidential search.

Landry has already inserted himself into the hiring of at least one university president.

Last year, the governor said publicly that he wanted the University of Louisiana system board, whose chair he appointed, to hire thenLouisiana Supreme Court

Justice Jimmy Genovese to be the next president of Northwestern State in Natchitoches. The board truncated the selection process and selected Genovese. The LSU presidential search committee, chaired by Ballard, is zeroing in on its pick. The search committee favored James Dalton, executive vice president and provost at the University of Alabama, when it winnowed its list to three finalists on Wednesday Rousse and a former president of the University of Arizona also received strong support.

The LSU board, which includes several members on the search committee, is scheduled to choose the university’s new president Tuesday.

‘business as usual’

In the meantime, Landry is under ﬁre from some commentators who think he has gone too far in ousting Woodward — the university won six national championships in his six years — and has created other controversies at LSU.

Jeff Landry has damaged the university’s reputation,” said James Carville, the Democratic political pundit who has undergraduate and law school degrees from LSU and taught at the university for four years. “It’s not just about football. They have profoundly devalued the degree of everyone who graduates from LSU or is on the faculty of LSU He has taken an ascendant university and dragged it down.”

Shane Guidry defended Landry’s moves with Woodward.

“Sometimes in business you have to make changes,” said Guidry, a business owner in New Orleans who is one of Landry’s closest advisers.

“You can’t keep rewarding bad behavior or bad business decisions It can’t be business as usual. At the end of the day, this governor is a businessman who wants to be a good steward for taxpayers and make fans happy He wants the right person as coach and athletic director.”

During Landry’s 22 months

as governor, he has gotten a Republican-controlled state Legislature to approve a series of measures that have expanded his already considerable powers and has shoved the state to the right politically after eight years of a Democratic governor, John Bel Edwards.

Most recently, Landry called for an extraordinary state takeover of New Orleans’ finances as a condition for his administration agreeing to a $125 million shortterm loan for the Democratled city New Orleans elected officials dropped the loan request to avoid giving up control over the city’s finances.

Landry gained more control over the LSU and University of Louisiana system boards last year thanks to a measure that allowed him to name the chairs of state boards and commissions, rather than have the boards themselves select their chairs.

During his tenure, Landry and state lawmakers have moved to lock up more offenders, expand private school vouchers and prohibit transgender students from insisting that teachers call them by their preferred pronouns.

Landry has been touting changes to the state tax system and announcements for billion-dollar investments by such companies as Hyundai and Meta.

“Under Landry’s administration, we’ve made incredible strides forward,” said state Rep. John Wyble, RFranklinton “We’re bringing economic opportunities for our communities. That’s what will matter most to our families. That’s going to be the real measuring stick.”

Aggressive moves

Landry has moved aggressively on many fronts as governor

Shortly after taking ofﬁce, Landry brought a permanent 20-person State Police unit to New Orleans called Troop Nola. It has deployed drones and cameras in the French Quarter and, while working with the New Orleans Police Department and the FBI,

has targeted guns, drugs and violent attacks. Crime has dropped.

Two months ago, Landry announced plans to open a detention center for Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

“This facility is fulfilling the president’s promise to make America safe again,” Landry said, ﬂanked by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem

Despite these moves, Landry did not score well in a public survey in midOctober by John Couvillon, a Baton Rouge-based pollster for Unite America, a national group that opposes closed political primaries, which Louisiana adopted for congressional races last year at Landry’s behest

Couvillon’s poll showed that 39% of likely voters in Louisiana held a favorable view of Landry while 51% viewed him unfavorably For comparison’s sake, Trump had a 48% favorable rating and a 47% unfavorable rating.

Couvillon was struck that Landry’s favorable/unfavorable rating among Republicans was 65% to 27%, versus Trump’s 85% to 13%. Trump was 34 percentage points more popular among Republicans than Landry

“He has problems with his own base,” Couvillon said of the governor LSU headlines

But it’s Landry’s involvement in LSU that often grabs the biggest headlines because of its central role in the state.

“It is the most indispensable state university in the country,” Carville said. “We don’t have a Mississippi State, an Auburn or an Iowa State.”

Landry won both applause and brickbats on Monday night when he called for the university to erect a statue of Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist who was shot to death at Utah Valley University in September The governor called it a move “to defend freedom of speech on

college campuses.”

“C’mon, ladies and gentlemen, let’s see if we can be the first campus to do it,” Landry said in a video while standing beside the Mike the Tiger statue near Tiger Stadium.

Tim Miller, a conservative anti-Trumper who lives in New Orleans, called the idea of a Kirk statue at LSU “insane” during a podcast Thursday for The Bulwark.

“He isn’t from Louisiana, he didn’t go to LSU, he has no connection to the university, he didn’t even ﬁnish college,” Miller said. “There is no reason to honor him There are a million LSU graduates out there or people from the state of Louisiana who have done great things, who have done honorable things, who have reﬂected the values of free speech, the values of the state and the country you can build statues to.”

Landry also inserted himself into the affairs of LSU last year by forcing university ofﬁcials to bring a live tiger back to Tiger Stadium for the Alabama game. The tiger named Omar Bradley stayed on the ﬁeld for only seven minutes.

Landry’s push into LSU football came within hours of the team’s embarrassing loss to Texas A&M last Saturday and a week after LSU was defeated by Vanderbilt, traditionally a weak opponent. In his initial comments, Landry excoriated the decision, announced the day before the Texas A&M game, to raise ticket prices next year On Sunday night, he convened a meeting at the Governor’s Mansion with LSU ofﬁcials and others to study Kelly’s contract and the path forward.

Landry ﬁrst blasted Woodward while answering a question Wednesday during a news conference devoted to how to help the poor during the federal government shutdown.

“My role is about the ﬁscal effect of ﬁring a coach under a terrible contract, OK?” Landry said. “All I care about is what the taxpayers are going to be on the hook (for). I was also not happy with the

fact that we were raising ticket prices while we were having a losing season And we were paying a coach $100 million, and we were not getting the results.”

Jay Dardenne, a former state senator from Baton Rouge and LSU graduate who oversaw the operations of state government for Gov John Bel Edwards, echoed the views of many others in questioning whether paying off the $54 million remaining in Kelly’s contract would cost state taxpayers. Dardenne said that private donations to the Tiger Athletic Foundation typically pay for that kind of contract.

LSU now also will have to pay Woodward $6.7 million for the ﬁnal four years of his contract.

Kim Mulkey, who brought LSU a national title after Woodward brought her back to Louisiana to coach the women’s basketball team, was “heartbroken” at his departure, said the team’s associate coach Thursday night. Landry had criticized Mulkey and her team in April 2024 for not being on the court during the national anthem. Woodward defended his coach.

Numerous commentators have said that Landry’s attack on Woodward has sullied LSU’s reputation in the sports world.

Stewart Mandel, writing for The Athletic, said coaching at LSU is a dream job.

“But with one unhinged press conference moment on Wednesday,” he added, “Louisiana Gov Jeff Landry may have scared off all of the top candidates.”

Landry’s moves with the tiger and his push to oust Woodward have invited comparisons to Long. Long involved himself in nearly every part of LSU’s campus, but especially the football team. He recruited players, gave state government jobs to them and delivered pregame and halftime pep talks.

Landry recently said he is ﬁnishing a new biography of Long, “American Populist.” Long, Landry said, “was a masterful fellow.”

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Egyptunveils huge museum of antiquities

BY SAMY MAGDY Associated Press

CAIRO— In an extravaganza of pharaonic imagery witha drone light show depicting ancient gods and pyramids in the sky,Egypt on Saturday inaugurated its long-delayed Grand Egyptian Museum, amegaprojectaiming to give the country’smillenniaold heritage arich, modern display Twodecades in the making, the museum located near the Giza Pyramids and Sphinx is the centerpiece of the government’sbid to boost Egypt’stourism industry and bring cash into the troubled economy At the elaborate grand opening ceremony,attended by anumber of European andArabroyals andother presidents andprime ministers, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissisought to give the event an international scale.

He called on attendeesto “make this museum aplatform for dialogue, adestination for knowledge, aforum for humanity, and abeacon for all who love life and believe in the value of humankind.”

The museum, known as GEM, is one of several megaprojects championed by el-Sissi since he took ofﬁcein2014, embarkingon massive investments in infrastructure with the aim of reviving an economy weakened by decades of stagnation and battered by the unrest that followed the 2011 Arab Spring uprising.

Egypt’spharaonic history has long made it atourist magnet.But it has also long struggled to organize and display the sheer huge amount of artifacts— everything from tiny pieces of jewelryand colorful tomb murals to towering statues of pharaohs and animalheaded gods, with more discoveries constantly being made across the country Touted as the world’sbig-

gest museum dedicated to asingleancient civilization, thenew building, in a contemporary style, aims to correctthat.Its large, open halls give spaceand rich explanations for some 50,000 artifacts on display,along with virtual realityexhibits It displaysthe entire collection of treasuresfromthe tomb of the famed King Tutankhamenfor the ﬁrst time since its discovery in 1922. The museum replaces the EgyptianMuseum, housed in buildingmore than acentury old in downtown Cairo that —while elegant in its Neo-Classical style—had become antiquated and was often comparedto a warehouse, overpackedwith artifacts with little explanation. Aplanned grandopening over the summer had to be putoff after the 12-day-long war between Israel and Iran erupted in June.

GEM is expected to attract 5million visitors annually, saidEgypt’s tourismand antiquities minister,Sherif Fathy.In2024, by comparison, Paris’sLouvre brought in 8.7million,the British Museum 6.5 million andthe Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York 5.7 million.

Saturday night’s grand opening stoked the pharaohmania.

As an orchestra played fanfares, linesofactors dressed in ancient Egyptian garb arrayed around the museum, the pyramids andthe Sphinx. Hundreds of drones created alight show in the sky,depicting well-known EgyptiangodslikeIsisand Osiris and thepyramids. El-Sissi posed withdelegates from more than 70 countries,includingmembers of theroyal families from Belgium, Spain, Denmark, Jordan, Gulf nations

and Japan, and anumber of European and regional presidents andprime ministers. It was athrowback to the grand openingofanother megaproject in Egypt, the1869 inauguration of the Suez Canal, when Egypt’s rulers gathered ahost of European royal families.

The museum boastsa towering,triangularglass facade imitating thenearby pyramids, with 258,000 square feet of permanent exhibition space. It opens to agranitecolossusofRamses the Great, one of ancientEgypt’smost powerfulpharaohswho reigned for around 60 years, from 1279-13 B.C.,and is credited with expandingancient Egypt’sreach as far as modern Syriatothe east and modern Sudan to thesouth. Thestatuegreetsvisitors once they stepinside the museum’s angular atrium.

The museum’s 12 main galleries, whichopened last year,exhibitantiquities spanning from prehistoric times to the Roman era, organized by era and by themes. Twohalls that will be

opened for the ﬁrst time afterSaturday arededicated to the 5,000artifacts from the collection of King Tutankhamen —aboy pharaoh whoruled from 1361-52 B.C. The tomb was discovered by British archaeologistHowardCarterin1922 in the southern city of Luxor.But theold EgyptianMuseum didn’thaveenoughroomto display the whole collection.

The collection includes the boy pharaoh’sthree funeral beds and six chariots, his goldenthrone,his goldcovered sarcophagus and hisburial mask, made of gold, quartzite, lapis lazuli and colored glass.

Zahi Hawass, Egypt’smost renowned archaeologist and formerministerofantiquities, saidthe Tutankhamen collection is themuseum’s masterpiece.

“Why this museum is so important, andeveryone is waiting forthe opening?” he told The Associated Press. “Because of Tutankhamen.”

The government has also revamped the area around the museum and the nearby pyramids andthe Sphinx. New highways were built, and ametro station is being constructed nearby.Anairport,SphinxInternational Airport, hasalsoopened west of Cairo— 40 minutes from the museum

EDUCATION

children caught in immigration crackdowns

BY CLAIRE GALOFARO Associated Press

CHICAGO The 2-year-old boy was so frightened, he stuttered.

“Mommy, mommy, mommy,” he repeated, clinging to her His mother, Molly Kucich, had been grocery shopping when her husband called, panicking. She heard “immigration raid.” Then: “tear gas.”

She abandoned her grocery cart and drove as fast as she could to her toddler and his 14-month-old brother, who, on that warm October Friday, were among the hundreds of Chicago children caught in the turmoil of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Parents, teachers and caregivers have been grappling ever since with how to explain to children what they’d seen: how much to tell them so they know enough to stay safe, but not too much to rob them of their childhood A toddler shouldn’t know what a tear gas canister is, Kucich said “I don’t know how to explain this to my kids.” Children were playing on the monkey bars outside Funston Elementary School just before noon on Oct. 3 when a SUV rolled down their street in Logan Square, a historically Hispanic neighborhood that’s been steadily gentrifying for years. Cars followed behind it, drivers laying on their horns to alert neighbors that these were federal agents. A scooter pulled in front of the SUV, trying to block it in. Suddenly, tear gas canisters ﬂew from the window of the SUV.

The cloud of gas rose, ﬁrst white then green, and the street exploded into pandemonium. Some people ran. Others shouted at agents to leave. Sirens screamed toward them.

Kucich’s son was a half-block away, having lunch in the window

rioters. This violence against law enforcement must END. We will not be deterred by rioters and protesters in keeping America safe.”

The statement said that in Logan Square, agents deployed tear gas along with pepper balls “after repeated vocal attempts to disperse the crowd.”

Oliva-Perez was feet away on the sidewalk and didn’t hear them say anything. Videos show cars and the scooter trying to block the SUV, and a few pedestrians heckling the ofﬁcers. Oliva-Perez ran toward the school, yelling at staff to get the children inside.

“Here I am, a U.S. citizen, a teacher, and I got treated like a common criminal,” she said.

every morning and afternoon.

‘Our skin color defines us’

Two little boys walking by Evelyn Medina’s gift shop next door to the school gripped each other so tightly their ﬁngers dug into each other’s hands.

“They were so scared,” said Medina, who cries when she thinks about how they looked leaving school that day “It was really hard to see, imagining what’s going on in their little minds.”

Medina, a 43-year-old citizen, understands the fear these children face: She came to the U.S. from Mexico at age 8. As a child, she worried someone would take her parents away

of Luna y Cielo Play Cafe, where children learn Spanish as they play with pretend food and toy cars. His nanny takes him there most days.

Owner Vanessa Aguirre-Ávalos ran outside to see what was happening, as the children’s nannies hustled them to a back room. Aguirre-Ávalos is a citizen; the nannies, Hispanic grandmothers, are citizens or are legally allowed to work in the U.S.

Still, they were terrified. One begged Aguirre-Ávalos: If they take me, please make sure the children get home safe

The SUV eventually drove away, the cloud of smoke cleared, and parents arrived. “What’s happening?” a girl cried, over and over

Kucich’s son, who is White, now worries about his nanny, a U.S. citizen from Guatemala

‘Act like nothing was wrong’

Fifth grade teacher Liza OlivaPerez walked to the grocery store across the street for lunch. She noticed a helicopter circling, then the SUV and its tail of honking cars. That morning, another teacher gave her a whistle, with instructions to blow it if immigration agents were in the neighborhood. Oliva-Perez fumbled the whistle

to her lips. Just then, the SUV’s window rolled down and she saw a masked man inside throw a tear gas canister “I couldn’t fathom that was happening,” said Oliva-Perez.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that Border Patrol agents were “impeded by protesters” during a targeted enforcement operation in which one man was arrested.

The Chicago crackdown, dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz,” began in early September Masked, armed agents in unmarked trucks patrol neighborhoods, and residents have protested in ways big and small against what they see as their city under siege. Agents stormed an apartment complex by helicopter in the middle of the night. They’ve detained U.S. citizens, including elected ofﬁcials. An agent shot and wounded a woman who allegedly used her car to box them in. Protesters have been tear-gassed and shot with pepper bullets. President Donald Trump wants to deploy the National Guard.

DHS wrote that its agents are being terrorized: “Our brave ofﬁcers are facing a surge in increase in assaults against them, inducing sniper attacks, cars being used as weapons on them, and assaults by

She was shaking when she got to her classroom of 25 students, who wanted to know what just happened. All of them are Hispanic She knows they are having agonizing conversations at home who they’ll call if their parents disappear, where they’ll go. Oliva-Perez became a teacher six years ago, after her daughter died by suicide at 16 years old. She wanted to help kids feel loved and safe. She never had a harder time than on that afternoon.

“I had to act like nothing was wrong,” she said. “I don’t want them to be like, if Ms. Oliva is scared then I’m going to be scared too.”

She and the other teachers spent the afternoon telling the children that everything was ﬁne. But each dreaded the bell at the end of the day They’d have to lead the students outside, and they didn’t know what would be waiting.

First grade teacher Maria Heavener spread the word in community group chats that the school needed help. When the bell rang, she walked her students outside. In every direction, neighbors lined the sidewalk, dozens of them. There were people who’d never considered themselves activists, or even particularly political, standing there, enraged scanning the streets for unmarked SUVs and masked men. They signed up to come back

She noticed people picking up multiple children that day, for their friends and neighbors who were too afraid to leave their houses.

A 13-year-old girl wept when she saw a neighbor there to get her

Her mother usually comes for her, but not that day When that girl got home, she told her mother she thought the house might be empty that agents might have been there and taken her away

Her mother does not have permanent legal status and asked that her name not be used. Her greatest fear is being separated from her children.

This fear coursing through this community is no longer reserved for families lacking permanent legal status.

One mother, whose 12-year-old son was in the school that day now jolts awake each morning at 4 a.m., her head pounding, her heart racing. She checks social media frequently for reports of people spotting Border Patrol or ICE: another tear gassing; another raid; a 15-year-boy, an American citizen, detained. She and her son are citizens, but she asked that only her ﬁrst name, Ava, be used.

“Our skin color deﬁnes us,” she said. Her son cries constantly “I don’t want to lose my grandparents.” He’s offered to get them grocer-

LOUISIANAPOLITICS

Louisianahas thenation’shighest childpoverty rate

It couldworsen with thefederal shutdown

WASHINGTON —Few likely are surprised that Louisiana, per capita, has more children living in poverty than any otherstate.

One in 5 Louisiana children live in poverty, according to the report released last week by the inﬂuential Annie E. Casey Foundation. If food stamps were removed from the equation —asthreatened nationwide on Saturdaybecause of the partisan stalemate that prolongs afederal government shutdown—Louisiana’schild poverty ratio would increase to roughly 1 in 3, the analysis contends. That works out to 263,599 of Louisiana’s1,066,394 children under the age of 18 years living in poverty right now and383,902 who would live in poverty without the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP In Baton Rouge, 25,520 now live in poverty,which would increase to 37,769 children if food stamps were unavailable. In New Orleans, the increase would be from 26,664 now to 31,846 without SNAP; Jefferson Parish, from 21,881 to 30,444; Lafayette from 4,507 to 6,654; and for the Shreveport area, 16,648 to 23,411. But the study’ssting comes in the ﬁnding that Louisiana had the nation’s steepestjump —up8percentage points —inchild poverty ratesfrom 2021 to 2024.

are ﬁled before April 15, 2026. The credit is available, on asliding scale, for families with incomes up to $400,000. Low-incomeﬁlers now have to earn acertain amount to take advantage. But the nation’sattention has turned to the food stamps that help feed 42 millionAmericans, which were set to expire Saturday.Though not part of the pandemic package, SNAP is one of the few remaining relief programs.

Twofederal judges ordered the administration Friday to make payments to the food program. However it was unclear as to when the debit cards that beneﬁciaries use could be reloaded after the ruling. Louisiana gets abrief reprieve, however,because the Republican-run state government diverted about $150 millioninrainy day funds to replace the pause in federal funding to prop up SNAP during the month of November,atleast for the state’selderly,disabled and families with children.

“With aquarter of childrenliving in poverty and almost athird of children having parents who lack full-time, year-round employment, economic stability continues to be a widespread challenge for children and communities throughout the state,” the report concluded. Thefoundation and its supporters in Louisiana link thehike in child povertyto arollback of government beneﬁtsexpanded during the pandemic and now seen as nolonger needed. An extension of the tax credit to offset the high cost of privatehealth

Landrywants LSUtoerect

statue of Charlie Kirk

Gov.Jeff Landry posted avideo on social media last Monday night saying LSU should put up astatue of Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist whowas assassinated during a speech on acollege campus.

Mark Ballard Capitol Buzz STAFF REPORTS

“We’regoingto put achallengeout to the LSU Board of Supervisors to ﬁnd aplace to put astatue of Charlie Kirk to defend thefreedom of speech on college campuses,” Landry says in the video,in which he is standing next to the Mike the Tiger statue nearTiger Stadium.

“C’mon, ladies and gentlemen, let’s see if we can be the ﬁrst campus to do it.”

Landry posted the video after speaking at an event at LSU’s student union theater hostedby Turning PointUSA, theconservativestudentorganization Kirk founded. More than 1,500 people

insurance purchased by low-income workers and small businessesthrough the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, which is a keycause to the monthlong shutdown, is one of those programs.

“You know,unfortunately, this isn’tnews,” said Jan Moller,executive director of Invest in Louisiana, aBaton Rouge-based progressive think tank. “It just reinforced what we knew,which is public policy has theability to reduce child poverty.”

Teresa Falgoustagreed.

“Wewere able to make ahuge dent during the pandemic; that we made the right investments for

the right kids at the right time,” said Falgoust, director of data and research at Agenda for Children, aNew Orleans-based advocacy group that helps children’sfacilities. She is amember of Gov.Jeff Landry’sChildren’sCabinetAdvisory Board.

Both Invest Louisiana and Agenda for Children are independent entities that are partially supported by the AnnieE.Casey Foundation.

Perhaps the mostimportant program during the pandemic was the Child TaxCredit expanded in 2021, both Falgoust and Moller say

Trumpposthumously awarded him the Presidential MedalofFreedom Kirk frequently generated controversy forcriticizingthe Civil RightsAct and Martin Luther King Jr.and for his commentsabout immigrants andtransgenderpeople, among other issues.

LSU women’sbasketball star Flau’jae Johnsonreposted Landry’svideo calling for astatue with the comment “????.”

Depending on income, many families received the full credit of $3,600 per child under age 6and $3,000 for older children. Money was paid out monthly,which helped needy families cover bills. That temporary program expired in December 2022.

The Republican majority in Congress added a child tax credit to its One Big Beautiful Bill Act that President Donald Trump signed into law July 4.

Now,the Child Tax Credit is permanent with the maximum credit of $2,200 per child and collectible as alump sum on 2025 tax returns, which

him to take ajob with an industry tradegroup,his ofﬁceannounced Wednesday

“We’re excited to see that the Landry administration is trying to preserve SNAP beneﬁts for children and families in Louisiana, but it’svery concerning that this is even aquestion at this point,” Falgoust said. Moller added that the movebyaRepublican governor and GOPmajority Legislature showsawillingness forLouisiana to invest in poverty-stricken children that he hopes could extend to other policies.

“So, we know it’spossible to have political consensus around feeding hungry people and giving people public support,” Moller said. Email Mark Ballardat mballard@theadvocate. com.

our country.”

attended, organizers said. Kirk had been scheduled to speak at the LSU event beforehe was fatally shot on Sept. 10 while addressing students at Utah Valley University Landry,President DonaldTrump and other Republican leaders have praised Kirk as achampion for free speech and Christian values.

After another user replied to her by saying, “I’ma Kirkfan, but this would be stupid. Landryneeds to stay out of LSU business,” Johnson responded: “For the sake of clarity,ifyou alignyourself with or endorse hisracistrhetoric and discriminatory views toward people of color,Irespectfully ask that youutilize the unfollow option at thetop right of my proﬁle.”

Scalise’stop adviser is leaving for trade group

WASHINGTON —U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise’stop adviser as House majority leader is leaving after more than adecade working for

Chief of Staff Brett Horton, of West Monroe, is joining the American Hotel&Lodging Association on Dec. 1, where he will oversee direct lobbying efforts, PACstrategy, grassroots engagement, coalitionbuilding and issue advocacy campaigns.

Horton joined Scalise in 2010, serving as counsel, policy director, ﬂoor director and then as chief of stafffor the leader’sofﬁce.

Since Scalise was elected to a House Republican leadership position in 2014, ﬁrst as GOPwhip and then as majority leader,Horton wasinchargeofcommunicating with House and Senate leaders as well as the White House.

“There are fewpeople that know Capitol Hill better than Brett Horton,” Scalise,R-Jefferson, said in astatement.

“Most importantly,hehas been by my side through challenges that extend far beyond legislating —in the aftermath of theCongressional Baseball Game shooting, Brett’s friendship and steady leadership carried my staff, my family and the entire (Republican) conference through an unprecedented attack on the institution. Iamso incredibly grateful to Brett forhis yearsofdedication and service to

In aplace where top aides often change jobs, Horton has remained in his stressful post running the majority leader’soffice in the U.S. Capitol about twice as long as other leadership chiefs of staff. Scalisealsohas asecond office that works with Louisiana officials and the 1st Congressional District. The chief of stafffor the constituency office is Megan Bel Miller,of Amite.

Scalise plans to run forreelection next year.Noplans for Horton’sreplacement have been made yet.

Horton’snew employment was first reported by Punchbowl, an online news service focusing on Capitol Hill.

Horton

PROVIDED PHOTO

Gov. Jeff Landryposted avideo on social media saying LSUshould put up astatueofCharlie Kirk, theconservativeactivist whowas killed during aspeech on acollege campus Sept. 10.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByJ.SCOTT APPLEWHITE

SecretaryofAgricultureBrooke Rollins speaks alongside Speakerofthe House MikeJohnson, R-Benton, Fridayatanews conference at the Capitol in Washington to talk about SNAPfood aid benefits on Day31ofthe government shutdown.

•

Thun

head of the Family Research Council, athink tank that opposes same-sex marriage and “LGBTQ indoctrination” in schools. There,Brumley discussed the social issues roiling many states and local districts, and said schools must “reject radical ideologies.” “Schools don’t need to be for indoctrination,”hesaid, adding that students should be taught to read,domath and “love their country.”

In his ﬁve years as Louisiana’seducation chief, Brumley, 44,has navigatedthe two overlapping —but distinct —realms of education policy and education politics he encountered in that rural school and on that political talk show.Asa careereducator steeped in policy,he’s driven improved student outcomes. As apublic ofﬁcial in aconservative state, he’sdemonstrated aknack for the politics around education and the ever-roiling culture wars.

Under his leadership, formerly back-of-the-pack Louisiana has shot up in national rankings,with its fourth graders leading the countryinreading growth, while Brumley hasnotched major policy wins, including literacy reforms, astatewide tutoring programand stricter school accountability.He’s now setting out to achieve in math what he accomplished in reading.

Students’ rising scores and Brumley’sconservative political stances —opposing protections for transgender students, rejecting diversity programs and endorsing President Donald Trump’splan to shutter the U.S. Department of Education —have elevated his national profile, made him aplausible contender to be Trump’seducation secretary and attracted the attention of leading Republicans, including the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who Brumley said reached outtodiscuss “the futureof

American education.”

Still,Brumleyisviewed less as apartisan combatantthan an amicablepolicy wonk andeven-keeled executive, accordingtointerviews with 20 current and former state officials, district leaders, advocatesand others whohaveworked with or observed Brumley closelythroughout his career He hasmanaged to find common ground with business groups and teachers unions,Democratic and Republicangovernors, reformers andtraditionalists.

“He’sgood at working with people,” said Frederick Hess, acenter-righteducation pundit. “He’snot an ideologue.”

Yetattimes, advocates argue, Brumley’spolitical instincts have appeared to drive hisdecision-making, as when he dismantled an equity ofﬁce he had established or promoted videos producedbya right-wing media company for classroom use.

“In the past few years, I thinkhe’sallowed the political climate to impactthe type of leader he is,” said Tramelle Howard, Louisiana statedirector of Education Trust, aleft-leaning advocacy group

Despite the impressive academic gains, Brumley has acknowledged that student scores remain low, absenteeism is high,racial gaps are stubbornly wide anda slate of math reforms are just gettingstarted. Thequestion before him is whether he can tackle those challenges and push Louisiana schools to thenextlevel whilenavigating thejob’s political currents.

“My role is one thatlives in state andnational politics,” Brumley said.“My job is to getbetter outcomes for kids.”

Leader who‘gotitdone’

Before that October school visit, Brumley beganhis day in the usual way —onhis knees, praying for thestate’s students. Then he hoppedin hisSUV,radio tuned to astation playing Billy Graham

sermons, and headed to the LouisianaDepartment of Education’sBaton Rouge ofﬁces.

Asix-time marathonrunner, he climbedthe stairs to his fifth-floor office overlooking the state Capitol. He fielded acall from Gov.Jeff Landry about atruancy program,met with state higher education officials, then checked in with hismath, literacy,attendance and artificial intelligence leadership teams. Leaning forward in his chair,red pen in hand as he posed clarifying questions, he called to mind aschool principal.

“What areyou struggling withright now?” he asked adeputy who oversees AI work.“Is there anything you need from me?”

BrumleygrewupinConverse,avillage of about 400 residents an hour south of Shreveport,the sonofa school cafeteria worker and apoliceofﬁcer.School was thevehicle for his ambition.

“I come from avery humble family,” he said. “I was very awarethat education was my ticket to themiddle class.”

Aftercollege,hereturned

to Converse High School as asocial studies teacher and coach. Under his leadership, the girls’ basketball team madeittothe stateplayoffs for the ﬁrst time in over a decade.

“Hecameinand turned the programaround,” said Emily Anderson, 35,who was on the team. “Because he was so motivatedand driven, it helped us ﬁnd that in ourselves.”

Brumley rosequickly from the classroom to district leadership. In 2012 he became superintendent of DeSotoParish, asmall districtofnineschools and about 5,000 students with abudgetcrisis so severe it was on the verge of not making payroll. Brumleyhad to cutcosts and created aplan that includedlayoffs and schoolclosures. Whenhe presenteditatthe School Boardmeeting, local law enforcement insisted he wear abulletproof vest

He weathered the storm, partly by cultivating relationships in the parish’s Black community.Bythe time he left, graduation rates were up, suspensions were down and the district

had earned its ﬁrst-ever “A” state rating.

“He was notaloudora ﬂashy kind of aguy at all,” said Dudley Glenn, alongtime DeSoto School Board member,“but he gotit done.”

In 2018, Brumley took the top job in Jefferson Parish, whose enrollment is 10 timesthe size of DeSoto’s There he led asuccessful campaign to boostteacher pay through atax hike by rallying business and teachers union leaders behind the cause.

When state Superintendent of Education John White steppeddown in 2020 after eight years in the role, the state Board of Education decided, after two inconclusive rounds of voting, to give Brumley the job.

Critics had cast him as achampionofthe education establishment, but he soon defied those expectations. He pushedfor looser COVID-19restrictions and stricterschool accountability,putting him at odds with teachers unions, superintendents and then-Gov.John Bel Edwards, aDemocrat whohad celebrated Brum-

ley’sselection.

Then he scored amajor victory —aliteracy campaign that earned national praiseand is credited with helping raise students’ reading scores. Working with lawmakers, he developed apackage of bills rooted in research-based practices known as the “scienceof reading.” He teamed up with an advocacy group to establish astatewide tutoring program for struggling readers, whichhehelpedconvince the Legislature to fund. And his agency provided schools with on-the-ground support to effectively enact the changes.

“You’re partnering with the people closest to the work versus just giving policy directives,” said St. Charles Parish schools Superintendent KenOertling, adding that such support was “lacking under previous superintendents.” WhenLandry,aTrumpalignedRepublican,ran for governor in 2023, Brumley said he secured his blessing: “He was like, ‘Cade, if Iwin man,I’m going to support you.’ ”Itwas ashrewd political move, sincethe governor appoints three of the 11 boardofeducation members, but it also reflected their shared views.

“Philosophically,we’re very aligned on basic issues,” Brumley said.

Landry introduced LA GATOR, aprivate school voucher program like those embraced by Trump and many Republican-led states. Public school supportersﬁercely opposed the program,but Brumley championed it, saying that giving parents taxdollars to payfor private school tuition advances “educational freedom.”

While many public school educators were upset, Brumleyalsoadvocated for teacher raises and attributed academic gains to their hard work.

“There have been awhole lotofreally tough conversations,” said RapidesParish Schools Superintendent Jeff Powell. “But at the end

ä See BRUMLEY, page 15A

STAFFFILE

JOHNSON

BRUMLEY

Continued from page14A

of the day,we’re moving forward under his leadership.”

Wading into culturewars

Brumley often pursues a nonpartisan agenda, like literacy reform, that he knows works for students. But, at times, politics takecenter stage.

After he was appointed state superintendent in May 2020, just as anti-racism protests erupted across the U.S., he established an Ofﬁce of Equity,Inclusion andOpportunities within the state Education Department and

horse for critical race theory.” One of the early educationexperts whodeveloped the standards calledthat misinformation, adding that “thedepartment leadership knowsthat.”

Brumleyargued in an interviewthat he has been consistent in pursuing academic excellence andequal opportunitiesfor all students. He saidheabandoned terms like equityand social-emotional learning after others twisted theirmeaning “In so many ways, words gothijacked,” he said. “They gotradicalized.”

He’smade other forays into politics. He has spoken at events hosted by Moms for Liberty and the Heritage

ing.

U.S.Secretary of Education Linda McMahon recently kickedoff across-country school tour in Louisiana where she called Brumley “a good resource and agood friend,” and Landry tapped him to lead anew highereducation task force. All the buzz hasfueled speculation about hisnextmoves, including whether he would apply to be LSU’snext president

“I hadpeopletalkingtome about that, but Ididn’tdoit,” Brumley said. “I routinely have opportunities presented to do other things, but I haven’tfelt the desire to do any of that yet.”

For now,Brumley appears

TV spot prompted Trump to endtrade talks

BY ROBGILLIES Associated Press

TORONTO— Canadian PrimeMinister Mark Carney said he told Ontario’spremier not to run an anti-tariff advertisement that prompted President Donald Trumptoend trade talks with Canada.

Carney also conﬁrmedthat he apologized to thepresident during adinner at the Asia-PacificEconomicCooperation summit because Trump was “offended.”

Ontario’stelevisionadvertisement that aired in the U.S. criticizes Trump’stariffs by citing a speech from former President Ronald Reagan.

Aspokesperson for Ford didn’timmediately respond whenasked if Carney told Ford not to run the ad.

Ford previously said Carneyand Carney’schief of staff watched the ad before it wasreleased.

Ford pulled the ad last Monday but allowed it to be showninthe ﬁrst twogames of the baseball World Series.

Trumpsaid the ad misrepresented the position of Reagan, atwo-term president and abeloved figure in the Republican Party.But Reagan waswary of tariffs and used much of the 1987 address featured in Ontario’sadspelling out thecase against them.

The ad upset Trump, who ended trade talks with Canada and said he plans to hike tariffs on imports of Canadian goods by an extra 10%.

When asked on Saturday what Ontario Premier Doug Ford’sresponse was to being asked nottorun the ad, Carney said, “Well, yousaw what came of it. It’snot somethingIwould have done.”

FordisapopulistConservative while Carney is aLiberal. As premier,Ford is the equivalent of aU.S. governor

“I’mthe one who is responsible, in my role as prime minister,for therelationship withthe president of theU.S., and the federal governmentisresponsible for the foreign relationship with the U.S. government,” added at anews conference as he wrapped anine-day trip to Asia.

Trump has complained the ad wasaimed at inﬂuencing theU.S SupremeCourt ahead of arguments scheduledthis month that could decide whether Trumphas thepowertoimposehis sweeping tariffs, akey part of his economic strategy.Lower courts hadruled he had exceeded his authority

Carneymet with Trump at the White House last month and has been trying to secure atrade deal to lower some tariffs on sectors like steel and aluminum. Tariffs are taking atoll in the aluminum,steel, auto and lumber sectors.

More than three-quarters of Canadian exports go to theU.S., andnearly $2.7 billion worth of goods and services cross the border daily

Carney said Canada hastotransform away from reliance on asingle trade partner.Hesaid his next movewill be the federal budget on Nov. 4when he will introduce measures to protect and diversify the economy

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

French Settlement fourth graders raise their handsonOct. 6asstate Superintendent of Education Cade Brumleyasksaquestion aboutmath in Baton Rouge.

Zoo closed in 2020 and left its animals stranded

But rescue efforts are underway in Argentina

BY ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press

LUJAN, Argentina Lions, tigers and bears that managed to survive in substandard conditions at a now-shuttered zoo on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina, paced weakly in their claustrophobic cages on Thursday, waiting their turn to receive urgent veterinary care for the ﬁrst time in years.

The 62 big cats and two brown bears were being evaluated and treated before their eventual transfer to vast wildlife sanctuaries abroad — among the most complex animal rescues undertaken in Argentina after the country’s recent arrangement with an international animal welfare organization.

Argentine authorities in 2020 shut down the Lujan Zoo — famous for letting visitors handle and pose for pictures with tigers and lions over mounting safety concerns.

But the plight of the captive cats there only worsened. For the past ﬁve years, the animals were sustained by little more than a few loyal zookeepers who, despite having lost their jobs at Lujan, took it upon themselves to feed and care for the stranded lions and tigers left behind. Most didn’t make it.

When Four Paws, an animal rights charity, ﬁrst visited the zoo in 2023, caretakers counted 112 lions and tigers — already down from the 136 big cats housed in the zoo at the time of its closure.

Two years on, almost half of the animals have succumbed to illnesses from poor nutrition, wounds from fights with animals they’d never encounter in the wild, infections from lack of medical attention and organ failure from the stress of living in such cramped conditions.

“It was really shocking,” said the organization’s chief program officer, Luciana D’Abramo, pointing to a 10-square-foot cage

crammed with seven female lions. “Overcrowded is an understatement.”

Next-door, two Asian tigers shared a tiny cage with two African lions a “social composition that would never be found in nature,” D’Abramo said. “There’s a lot of hostility, ﬁghting.”

A single lion typically gets 2.5 acres to itself at Four Paws’ sanctuaries around the world. After striking an agreement with Argentina’s government earlier this year, Four Paws took over responsibility for the surviving wild animals in Lujan last month.

The memorandum of understanding involved Argentina committing to end the sale and private ownership of exotic felines in the large South American country, where enforcement efforts often run aground across 23 provinces that have their own rules and regulations.

Although the Viennabased organization has previously evacuated starving tigers from Syria’s civil war, abandoned bears and hyenas from the war-ravaged Iraqi city of Mosul and neglected lion cubs from the besieged Gaza Strip, it has never rescued such a large number of big cats before.

“Here, the number of animals and the conditions where they are kept make this a much bigger challenge,” said Dr Amir Khalil, the veterinarian leading the group’s emergency mission.

“This is one of our biggest missions not only in Argentina or Latin America, but worldwide.”

On Thursday, veterinar-

BY SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press

PARIS The Paris prosecutor said Saturday two new suspects were handed preliminary charges for their alleged involvement in the crown jewels heist at the Louvre museum, three days after they were arrested by police as part of the sweeping investigation.

Laure Beccuau, the prosecutor said a 37-year-old suspect was charged with theft by an organized gang and criminal conspiracy He was known to authorities for previous thefts, the statement said.

The other suspect, a 38-year-old woman, was accused of being an accomplice. They were both incarcerated They both denied involvement, the prosecutor said.

The lawyer for the woman, Adrien Sorrentino, told reporters his client is “dev-

astated” because she disputes the accusations. “She does not understand how she is implicated in any of the elements she is accused of,” he said.

Ofﬁcials said the jewels stolen in the Oct. 19 heist have not been recovered — 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.

Five people were arrested by police Wednesday in connection with the case, including one tied to the heist by DNA. That person is suspected of belonging to the team of four who used a freight lift truck to enter the Louvre. The prosecutor did not specify whether the person was among those charged on Saturday The

ians and experts from the organization were scrambling around the derelict zoo to assess the animals one by one. Most had not been vaccinated, sterilized or microchipped for identiﬁcation.

The team whisked sedated lions and tigers onto operating tables, dispensing nutrients, antibiotics and doses of pain medication via IV drips.

The quick checkups frequently transformed into emergency surgeries. One tiger was treated for a bleeding gash in its tail last week and a lioness for a vaginal tumor on Thursday Several tigers and lions needed root canals to repair infected molars that had been broken on the steel cage bars.

Others received treatment for claws that had grown inward from walking too much on unnatural plank ﬂooring in the enclosures.

After evaluating each animal in the coming weeks, Four Paws will arrange for their transfer to more expansive, natural homesd.

Some Argentine zookeepers who spent decades feeding and caring for the big cats say they’re happy to see Four Paws improving the conditions. But there was also a sense of nostalgia for how things were.

“It used to be a very popular place I’ve seen people cry because they could touch a lion or feed a tiger with a bottle,” said Alberto Díaz, who spent 27 years working with the wild cats at the Lujan Zoo, overseeing hands-on experiences.

“Time changes, laws change, and you have to adapt or get left behind.”

three others have been released, Beccuau said. Two earlier suspects, men aged 34 and 39 from Aubervilliers, north of Paris, were charged with theft by an organized gang and criminal conspiracy Beccuau said both gave “minimalist” statements and “partially admitted” their involvement. The two are believed to be the men who forced their way into the Apollo Gallery Beccuau praised an “exceptional mobilization” — about 100 investigators seven days a week, with roughly 150 forensic samples analyzed and 189 items sealed as evidence. It took robbers less than eight minutes to steal the jewels. The team of four used a freight lift, allowing two of them to force a window and cut into two display cases with disc cutters, before the four ﬂed on two scooters.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS By NATACHA PISARENKO

Florencia, a brown bear, lies in her cage at the former Lujan Zoo, which closed in 2020, where in recent days a global animal welfare organization has been treating animals, in Lujan, Argentina.

Members of the global animal welfare organization Four Paws treat a tiger at the former Lujan Zoo.

HONORARYCHAIRS

THE GULF COAST

Waterfront Gautier restaurant closes after 30 years

Huck’s was also home to resident alligator

BY MARY PEREZ Sun Herald

A slice of the Caribbean with its resident alligator, Willie, and dining decks overlooking a Mississippi Coast river closed up shop for good over the weekend.

Oct. 26 was the last day for owners Don and Joann Worner at Huck’s Cove Grill on the Bayou in Gautier They sold the restaurant to a local buyer who owns another restaurant on the Coast

“Sad,” is how they describe the end of the era that began on Oct. 19, 1999, when they purchased the restaurant on the West Pascagoula River They recently totaled $10 million they’ve invested in the business and community since then, the college kids and local staff members who worked there, the bands who entertained and the countless people they fed.

“We’re kind of an icon in Gautier Like a yacht club where everyone could belong,” Don said. Times change, and it’s hard for a small restaurant to survive, he said, especially when the owners spend six months on weather watch.

“It’s come time for us to retire,” Don Worner said

“It’s a younger person’s business,” Joann Worner said.

A local hot spot for decades

The restaurant was known for its burgers and seafood, and they added Coast favorites like fried green tomatoes, gumbo and fried dill pickles.

“We tried to have items none of the other restaurants served,” Joann Worner said, like being the

ﬁrst to put gator tail on the menu.

The couple bought the waterfront restaurant from Beau Speed, a Gautier pharmacist who opened Huck’s Cove in 1996, bringing a taste of his tropical Caribbean experiences to South Mississippi.

The building was just hit by

“We’re kind of an icon in Gautier. Like a yacht club where everyone could belong.”

DON WORNER, owner of Huck’s Cove Grill on the Bayou

Hurricane Georges before the sale went through, and was repaired.

“We’ve always built back,” Don Worner said, restoring the building, the docks and decks torn up by tropical storms and deluged by Hurricane Katrina.

The water line of Katrina is marked above the window in the restaurant, amid the license plates, photos of celebrities who ate there and the wallpaper of memorabilia.

The Worners said most of the license plates are theirs. “We traveled a lot,” said Don Worner. He was from Ocean Springs and when they were ready to settle back on the Coast, they were looking for a place that reminded them of the Bahamas, where they had spent a lot of time

Diners will miss Huck’s Cove

Customers could pull up in their boat or set their map to 3000 Oak

St. to reach Huck’s Cove

Or they can go with local directions to turn off U.S. 90 by the bridge and hang a right just after the cemetery

Then it’s a weave past the separate restroom building like those in the Bahamas, into the entry with its porch swings and out beyond to the decks.

People just seem to ﬁnd the restaurant.

“We wanted to go somewhere on the water,” said two customers from Cleveland, Ohio, who were having lunch on the deck with their dogs after visiting the alligator.

Manatees also have been known to swim up to Huck’s a time or two.

“I love this little place,” said Lisa Simpson, who wants the new owners to keep the menu and the restaurant the same She and Jeffrey Saylors visit whenever they come to Biloxi from Florida, and she always orders the same thing.

“I’m not getting crawfish in West Palm Beach,” she said.

As the new owner takes on the care of the building and the history of Huck’s Cove, the Worners no longer will have to watch for storms six months of the year

“We’re going to travel some more,” Don Worner said. “Just enjoy life.”

Huck’s Cove is the third Mississippi Coast waterfront restaurant to close or change hands in three months.

Tiki Bar & Grill in Gautier and Flamingo Landing in Gulfport closed in August.

Huck’s Cove Grill on the Bayou in Gautier was sold to a local buyer who owns another restaurant on the Coast, owners say. SUN HERALD PHOTOS

Huck’s Cove Grill on the Bayou in Gautier closed after 30 years in business.

language was delivered to the council.

Eight months later, the situation is as dire as Samuel warned, if not worse.

The Louisiana legislative auditor found this month that New Orleans faces a budget deficit of $160 million, fueled by a brew of factors. City ofﬁcials didn’t budget for employee overtime. Revenue forecasts didn’t pan out And early alarms about overspending were ignored.

Previously unreported emails and interviews with current and former City Hall ofﬁcials, council members, political analysts and observers shed light on how truncated communication and mistrust within City Hall fueled the crisis. The debacle escalated amid rancor between the city’s legislative and executive branches that deepened during Cantrell’s second mayoral term.

Internally and in public, Cantrell’s deputies bickered about the seriousness of the crisis. The City Council received warnings in hearings and memos from the administration, but amid conflicting statements from Cantrell’s deputies, council members relied on Montaño’s assurances that the city’s overall finances seemed healthy Now 5,000 city workers face the possibility of pay cuts and furloughs. After burning through most of the city’s reserve cash, officials are eyeing draining the last available dollars to make payroll — a $37 million rainy day fund designed to be saved for emergencies. Mayor-elect Helena Moreno, currently a member of the City Council, will face obstacles in achieving her promises to revamp city government. And the crisis has ramped up the specter of a takeover by Louisiana’s conservative state government.

A city spokesperson did not respond to emailed questions this week and declined multiple requests to interview Cantrell, Samuel, chief city economist Matthew Cooper and acting CAO Joe Threat. Montaño, who left the city in August and is now an executive vice president at Audubon Nature Institute, declined to be interviewed.

The City Council’s Budget Committee chairman, Joe Giarrusso, in an interview this week pinned blame for the crisis on the administration’s balkanized communication.

“They’d cried wolf before,” he said. “You’ve cried wolf, you’ve gone through this budget process, and then you have the CAO afﬁrmatively saying we’re going to smooth this out and services are not going to be interrupted.”

But some political observers say the crisis stems from four years of inﬁghting and deepening mistrust that cuts both ways within City Hall.

“It’s a result of the mayor not trusting the council, and the council not trusting the mayor,” said Robert Collins, a political analyst and professor of urban studies at Dillard University. “That has made things much worse

than they would’ve been.”

How the budget’s built

The city’s 2025 $1.7 billion budget approved last fall, was designed like this: There was $878 million designated for city operating revenues and expenses, known as the city’s general fund. Federal grants, philanthropic contributions, designated funds and other sources made up the rest. For the most part, the general fund covers day-to-day operations, while the other sources are for special projects and other dedicated purposes.

Officials also agreed to start the year with a fund balance an amount left in reserves after accounting for revenue and expenses — of $206 million. Locked within the fund balance is the rainy-day fund of $37 million

The ﬁnal budget approved in November 2024 followed a process where Cantrell and the council who had been locked in bitter disputes about a range of city issues found rare accord, broadly agreeing on the city’s spending priorities.

“I know sometimes the narrative is, ‘The council ﬁghts with the Mayor’s Office over everything,’ but that is not the case with this budget,” Giarrusso said at the time.

They also agreed on using reserves to realize those priorities: To balance the budget, the council and Cantrell pulled $102 million from a fund balance that held $326 million a year earlier City ofﬁcials were then following a consultant’s guidance that the fund balance not dip below $133 million, a threshold that could cause the city’s bond rating, a measure of its creditworthiness, to sink, according to a July 2024 letter from that ﬁrm, PFM Financial Advisors. Cantrell and Samuel reiterated in a letter to the council later that month that spending beyond the $133 million might put the city in a potential cash crisis.

The balanced budget quietly depended on officials reserving next to nothing — just $57,500 for employee overtime, state Legislative Auditor Mike Waguespack said in an interview this week, about a month after he was called in to examine the city’s perilous ﬁnances. That was a minuscule fraction of the $47 million the city spent on overtime in 2024. It also relied on overly optimistic forecasts, stemming from sales, hotel and other taxes New Orleans expected to eventually receive from Super Bowl LIX and other city events the following spring

“I am very optimistic absolutely hopeful moving into 2025,” Cantrell said in a Sept 5 meeting of the city’s Revenue Estimating Conference. Rocky start

In theory, all seemed well. Then, 2025 started The failure to budget overtime immediately caused major problems: The Jan. 1 Bourbon Street terror attack, and a historic snowstorm weeks later, required first responders across the city to work long hours to keep the

public safe. The city later had Mardi Gras, Super Bowl LIX and other events that required significant police presence.

The city’s budget, approved by the legislative and executive branches alike, included a $10 million payout to the Orleans Parish School Board to settle a long-running lawsuit. Though Montaño and council members publicly blessed the deal months earlier, Samuel now saw no way the city could afford it

She flagged Cantrell. On the morning of Feb. 1, a Saturday, Cantrell’s city attorney, Donesia Turner, in an email to Giarrusso said that no “legally binding” settlement had ever existed and that the city would need to ﬁnd a more “ﬁnancially feasible” option.

Giarrusso, his council colleagues and local educators were apoplectic. In a Feb. 11 meeting where the council grilled Cantrell’s deputies about the debacle, Samuel again laid out concerns about the depth of the city’s ﬁnancial problems. She and others presented a slideshow that mentioned surging, unbudgeted police overtime among a handful of unmet ﬁnancial obligations.

“Financial instability is imminent for the city of New Orleans,” the slideshow title warned.

In the same meeting, council member Oliver Thomas later asked Montaño whether trash would go uncollected, playgrounds would close, or furloughs would ensue if the city made good on the school settlement Montaño replied “no” to each question. “I’m confident that we will be fine,” he said. He added that financial “cushions” would soften the blow of overtime spending, even as he conceded the city had in 2024 run up a police overtime deficit of $42 million. He did not mention that 2025’s approved budget did not account for overtime.

Council members seemed stunned by the size of the 2024 overtime deﬁcit but did not question Montaño about how the city had budgeted for such costs going forward.

The city is now likely to end 2025 having spent $50 million in overtime, Waguespack, the state auditor, said earlier this month. The city apparently had a practice in past years of budgeting for ﬁlled and unﬁlled positions, and at the end of the year, cash for unfilled jobs was used to plug any gaps caused by overtime payouts, he said.

But this year, he said the city appeared to have budgeted only for ﬁlled positions.

“The problem was nobody

the entire budget for overtime in the city of New Orleans,” the former finance director, Cary Grant, said on WBOK Radio Thursday morning. “That is criminal, that is malfeasance in ofﬁce.”

Giarrusso said no one from the administration raised the question of how to budget overtime in the course of budget talks last year Nor does the council get an accounting of overtime budgeting during that process, he said. “There’s no amendment that’s ever submitted to the council (with) anything about overtime,” Giarrusso said.

Picture turns dire

budgeted enough overtime expenses,” he said. “There was a change in the budgeting methodology that no one saw, or no one caught, that caused this budget to not be a realistic budget,” Waguespack said.

A former city finance director this week called the failure to budget for overtime a stunning oversight that could amount to a crime.

“There was just $57,000 in

It took the spring for Montaño to acknowledge that the city had run up a 2025 overtime deficit of at least $35 million. At a May 15 Budget Committee meeting, he attributed those costs primarily to public safety overtime stemming from the Bourbon Street attack, the historic blizzard two weeks later and increased security protocols for the Super Bowl and Mar-

di Gras. He floated austerity measures including a hiring freeze and a smattering of cuts. The administration has since pegged overtime costs for the terrorist attack, snowstorm and new security protocols between $8 million and $13 million, or much less than the total overtime deficit. Finally, earlier this month, the legislative auditor provided what officials say appears to be the most accurate estimate of the city’s unbudgeted overtime: about $50 million. Meanwhile, revenue expectations for the year weren’t materializing. In August, the city’s chief economist, Matthew Cooper, reduced his 2025 revenue estimate by $31 million. New state laws sliced off a portion of sales taxes on construction materials and rental cars, and also reduced the city’s take from traffic camera fines. Super Bowl-

S. Koreawants greaterChinese effortstobring Northtotalks

BY HYUNG-JIN KIM and KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press

GYEONGJU,South Korea

South

Korean President Lee Jae Myung asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to make greaterefforts to persuade North Korea to return to talks, as the two leaders on Saturday agreed on aset of stepstoexpand theireconomic and other ties

Their one-on-one meeting came hours after they and otherAsia-Pacific leaders wrapped up an annual summit in South Korea with a joint statement pledging stronger economiccooperation. The two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in the city of Gyeongju took place aday after Xi and President DonaldTrump agreed to dial back earlier steps and de-escalate their trade war

During his meeting with Lee, Xi called for Seoul to work with Beijing to “practice genuine multilateralism,” according to Chinese

CRISIS

Continued from page20A

in at about$8million, just alittle more than half what Cooper expected.

And Cooper said he had overestimated property tax collections by $11 million, which he blamed on inﬂated business property valuations by OrleansParish Assessor Errol Williams’sOfﬁce —a claim the assessor rejected.

The personnel overspending and revenue shortfall combined for a$104 milliondeﬁcit,anamount that ﬂoored some council members who said they couldn’t believe it had grownso large. Then it got worse.

Amid confusion about how large the deficit was, the city asked Waguespack to examine the city’sbooks. His staff put the deﬁcit at

state media, as he continued to position Beijingasthe defender of the global trade order upended by Trump’s sweepingtariffs. Chinesestate media reportsonthe Xi-Lee meeting didn’timmediately carry any North Korea-related comments byXi.

However,WiSung-lac, Lee’snational security director,saidLee duringthe meeting outlined his strategy for achieving denuclearizationonthe Korean Peninsula and “requested a constructiveChinese role to help realize theresumption of talkswith North Korea.”

“Xireplied that he would continuehis effortstohelp resolve issues involving theKorean Peninsula and promote peace and stability here,” Wi said.

China is North Korea’s traditional ally andeconomic pipeline, but there are still questions about how much leverageithas on its impoverished neighbor.China has been long suspected of avoiding fullyimplementing

$160 million.

Spiralingcrisis

Since Waguespack presented his report to the City Council on Oct. 16, the crisis has spurred political fallout and ascramble toassess which city programs might suffer.

Republican Gov.Jeff Landry andAttorneyGeneral Liz Murrill have threatened to appoint afiscal administrator to takeover the city’s finances. The city’sbid to sell$125 million inshortterm revenue bonds to fix the situation was stymied after Landry and Murrill hinged thestate’s approval on astate takeover.

Moreno, the mayor-elect, has cautioned that health services,street cleaning and other services could be cut.

AndonThursday, New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said she

APEC leaders vowed greater cooperation to tackle shared challenges in aglobal economy hit hard by rising protectionism and trade tensions between the United States and China, the world’stwo largest economies.

Their joint statement declared that the APEC leaders “acknowledge the global trading system continues to face signiﬁcant challenge.”

“Wereaffirm our shared recognition that robust trade and investment are vital to thegrowth andprosperity of the Asia-Paciﬁc region,” it says.

ing sessiononFridayfocused on waystoboost trade and investment, Saturday’s meeting hadcooperation in the field of artificial intelligence, demographic challenges and cultural industries on its agenda.

U.N. sanctions on North Korea and sending clandestine aid shipments to help the Northstayafloat and continue to serve as abulwark against U.S.inﬂuence on the Korean Peninsula.

The NorthKorea item in the Lee-Xi meeting drew an irritated response from Pyongyang. North Korean

would refuse to enact overtime cuts, even if it meant losing her job

The council is now eyeing tapping thecity’sremaining rainy-day fund to help make payroll through the rest of the year,after delays in Federal Emergency Management Agencyreimbursementsfor roadworkprojects apparently threatened the city’scash ﬂows so severely that it can’t meet its obligations beyond Nov.12.

Meanwhile,budgetwatchdogs andofﬁcials alike have been trying to sort out how the problem spiraled so fast

“The fact you had three different stories from the finance director,the City Council andthe CAOiswild,” said Nellie Catzen, director of the Committee for aBetterNew Orleans, abudget watchdog. “Weshould never have hadtochoose whotobelieve in the ﬁrst place.”

Vice Foreign Minister Pak Myong Ho slammedSouth Korea for talking about “its daydream”ofrealizing North Korea’sdenuclearization.

After two days of talks,

The joint declaration said that APEC members remain committed to the Putrajaya Vision 2040, a20-year growth vision adopted in 2020 that calls foratrade environment that’s“free, open, fair,nondiscriminatory,transparent andpredictable.”

While thesummit’s open-

Xi urgedAsia-Pacific countries on Saturday to promote the “sound and orderly development” of AI in away that is mindful of all of humanity’swell-being. He proposed the formation of a new global body called the World Artiﬁcial Intelligence Cooperation Organization. Trump, knownfor his dismissal of multilateralism, hadquickly left South Korea after the agreement with Xi,leaving the Chinese president to steal the limelight at the APEC summit. The U.S. under Trump has steppedback fromeffortsto regulate AI andwould be unlikely to join the group that China has proposed.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO

Chinese President Xi Jinping, center left, and South Korean PresidentLee Jae Myung,center right, shakehands Saturdayafter agroup photo at the Asia-PacificEconomic Cooperation Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea.

Acommon

N.Y. birdersgoing ‘cuckoo’ aftersighting

BY BRUCE SHIPKOWSKI Associated Press

Abird sightingonNew York’s Long Island has avian enthusiasts flocking to the region in hopes of spotting afeathered friend that has never been seenbefore in the state.

from New York City —byagolfer whosnapped aphoto andsentitto his nephew,abirding enthusiast.

Theinformation eventually was shared with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York. Once the bird was conﬁrmedasa common cuckoo, birdersquickly shared the news in their communities.

It’s not clear how or why the bird ended up in southern New York,or if it’seven still in the region. Expertssay it’s ajuvenile—meaning it hatched this springorsummer —soit’sreasonable to conclude it was trying to migrate forthe winter but somehow gotlost or blown off course.

birdmay still be in thearea, but if it hasrelocated, it maybeunlikely anyone will happen across it again. He urged anyone who does see it to reporttheir sightingstothe birder community

PROVIDED PHOTO

The commoncuckoo is typically found from Europe to Japan, with themajorityofthe population wintering in Africa. But one was recently spotted in Riverhead —a townonthe north shore of LongIsland about75miles

Thebirdhas since beenspotted more than 200 times by enthusiasts who have noted their sightings on thebirding siteebird.organd various social media sites, including the American Birding Association.

The common cuckoo has been found only three other times in the eastern U.S. and Canada, experts said.

Jay McGowan, acurator at the Cornell Lab’sMacaulay Library,said the

“This is deﬁnitely amajor event for anyone birding in New York state, and unusual enough for the broader region,”McGowan said, adding that he’s notsurprisedtosee many people arewilling to make long trips to the area for achance to see abird they would otherwise be unlikely to see unless they went to Europe or Asia.

Trumpwarns Nigeriaitmay

Bloomberg News (TNS)

President Donald Trump threatenedpossible U.S. military action in Nigeria, saying its government “continues to allow the killing of Christians” by Islamic militants. In apost on Truth Social, Trumpsaid he’sinstructing the Pentagon “to prepare for

possible action” and threatened an immediate cutoff in aidtoNigeria, an OPEC member that is Africa’s most populous country Trumpsaid Friday he’s designatingNigeria aCountryofParticularConcern because of worries about the safety of Christians in the country Nigerian President Bola

AhmedTinubu rejected Trump’scharacterization of thecountryasreligiously intolerant in apost on Xand said the U.S.president was disregarding “the consistent andsincere efforts of the government to safeguard freedom of religion and beliefs for all Nigerians.”

Tinubu hascome under pressure this year from an

Lawyer disputes terror plot allegations

BY JOSH FUNK Associated Press

AMichigan defense lawyerisdisputing FBIallegations that his 20-year-old client and four other young suspects were planning to carry out aterror attack on Halloweenweekend.

Authorities with the FBI and in Michigan have offered few details about the case, however as he announced the arrests on Friday,FBI DirectorKash Patel said more information would be released. Spokespersonsfor thestate and national FBI and the U.S. Attorney in Detroit did not immediately respond to messages Saturday

The investigation involved discussion in an online chat room involving at least some of the suspects who were taken into custody,according to two people briefed on

theinvestigationwho could not publicly discuss details. They spoke to The Associated Presson condition of anonymity.The group allegedly discussed carrying out an attack around Halloween,referring to “pumpkin day,”according toone of the people. The other person briefed on theinvestigation confirmed that therehad been a“pumpkin” reference. Amir Makled, who represents aman from Dearborn whowas being detained Saturday,told The Detroit News that hedoesn’t believe his client or the fourother peoplewho werequestioned by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force shouldbe charged.The all-male group of U.S. citizens ranges in age from 16 to 20, Makled said.

“Thisisnot aterrorist cell,”Makled told the News.“Therewas never

any planned mass-casualty eventorterrorismplot of anykindthat I’m aware of. They might have been on some websites or online chat groups thatthey shouldn’t have been, but nothing that is illegal.”

Patel saidFriday in apost on Xthat “the FBI thwarted apotential terrorist attack and arrested multiple subjects in Michigan whowere allegedly plotting aviolent attack over Halloween weekend.”

“Having acuriosityabout global events is not illegal,” Makled said. “Being in those chat rooms is notillegal. If thereisathreat,ifthey became radicalized, or if an (FBI) agent is trying to antagonize or getthemto agree to do something that is inappropriate or illegal, then youcross athreshold. None of that happened in this situation.”

increasing Islamist insurgency in northeastern Nigeria, including attacks of dozens of fortiﬁed army bases. Nigeria’spopulation of about 230millionisroughly split between Christians and Muslims, and attacks have targetedboth groups. In April, Tinubu said at least

40 people were killed when Muslim gunmen attacked a Christianfarming community

“If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well

go into that now disgraced country,‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committingthese horrible atrocities,” Trumpsaid on Saturday AnyU.S.attack wouldbe “fast, vicious, and sweet,” he said.

cuckoo was spotted in Woods at Cherry Creek in Suffolk, N.y

Bartholomew, and survived by Sylvia Bartholomew and Lisa Bartholomew. He was employed at Kaiser Aluminum in 1956, and he left to join Pan-American Life in 1958, where he retired from in 1997, after serving thirtyeight years. He retired as Second Vice Presidentof Corporate Services. During those years he servedin many appointed, elective and voluntary positions. He was the founder of the New Orleans Chapter of the In-Plant Printing Management Association and rose to the position of International President.He also became acertified member of that group.He also became acertified member of the New Orleans Purchasing Management Association. In 1978, he was recognized as Graphic Communicator of the year and in 1970 was named Industry Leader of the year by the National Graphic Magazine. He named his Company's newly formed Social Club, PAL-AMIGOS (Pan-Am Life / Friends) and served as its third president and later was the first recipientof its Hall of Fame. For over

forty years he wasactive in localsports, starting at ageten in the New Orleans Recreation Department (NORD), mainly in baseball and softball whereheexcelled as apitcher in local and state leaguesand tournaments. He served twice as President of the Commercial Athletic Association(CAA) and becamea memberofthat group's Hall of Fame.He was amemberofthe Diamond Club, amanager of teams in the Slidell Boy's Baseball Association (SBBA), and amember of both theSt. Rochand Gentilly Knights of Columbus. He served as a Krewe member and lieutenant of the Krewe of Carrollton foreight years. He also spent eight years in theUnitedStates Coast GuardReservesand was honorably discharged as Petty OfficerFirst Class.He spent his retirement gardening, cooking and passionately watching and pullingfor his two favorite teams, the LSU Tigersand the New Orleans Saints. He was completely devoted to his best friend,Sammy, his belovedPomeranian. Huey was also areal globetrotter in the fullest sense. Via businessand vacation

travel opportunitieshevisited many countries around theworld and almost allofthe states in this country. He enjoyed collecting baseballmemorabilia and at one time amassedthousandsof baseballcards of themore famous and HallofFame ball players, including autographed balls, bats and photographs. He commented often that he wished he wouldhave been able to spend more time with oldfriends, but that most of them had passed on, however, he was grateful to stillbe around.His final comment to hisfamily members whom he lovedvery much and was most proud of comes fromhis favorite sonnet by Christiana Rossetti "better to forget and smile than to rememberand be sad." Afuneral willbeheldonNovember 7, 2025, at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home and Cemeteries, 5100 PontchartrainBlvd. New Orleans, LA.Visitation will beginatNoon followed by aMass at 1:00pm. Interment willfollow immediatelythereafter at All Saints Mausoleum. Having lost his best friend of ten years, Sammy, his i h h

Pomeranian, whom he spent 24/7 with, his last request is that in lieu of flowers, acontribution be made to theSlidell Animal ShelterinSammy's name

bull riderwho competed on theWestCoast rodeo circuitwithacclaim. He proudlyservedinthe U.S. Navy as adiver Rick traveledthe world, ownedmultiple motorcycles andrestoredexotic cars, as well as owneda scenic vineyard that provided high-quality grapes to commercial wineries. Whilehecould recount survivingexperienceswith bears, mountainlions parachutes andunderwater demolitions, raising a familywas Rick's proudest achievement. Hisfocus wasbeing a devotedhusbandtoLois for over 55 years. Shewas aretired St.Tammany Parish school teacherwho preceded himindeathlast year. Rick's career was in sales, and work relocated hisyoung familyfrom Hawaii to NewOrleans,a place they'd never been Apermanentconsequencewas himbeing reminded by Lois eachday of themove from their breezy island home to Louisiana. They settled in Covington several decades ago. Thecouple spent their retirement years volunteeringlocallyand visiting points in all 50 states Hisindependent nature

andabundance of quotes are enmeshed in thefabric of hisfamily. Rick is rememberedfor thelessons he passeddown, thecelebratory glassesheraised up toasting friends, and thestories he shared over alifewell lived He is survived by his son, Richard Zeller, Jr., daughter, ReneeKenney Williams, andeight grandchildren: Katherine Zeller, Abigail Zeller, William Richard Zeller, Jack Kenney, Kearsten Kenney, Noah Kenney, Sophie Williams andMax Williams. Friends are invited to a Memorial Mass at E.J. Fielding Funeral Home, 2260 W21st Ave., Covington,Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 11am. Visitation is at 9am.

ONE LAST TOAST

Friends bid farewell to popular Slidell cafe owner

BY BOB WARREN Staff writer

Dan DeBlanc loved his Jack Daniel’s. Gentleman Jack, to be precise, with a twist of lemon.

Sadly, DeBlanc, wellknown across Slidell as a longtime owner of the popular Southside Cafe, never got to sample the special barrel that he and his partners purchased from the Jack Daniel’s distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee, to celebrate the restaurant’s 35th anniversary

Metairie train crossing to see blockage relief soon

Rail companies agree to better time stops, officials say

BY LARA NICHOLSON Staff writer

Nightmare traffic at train crossings isn’t a new problem for Old Metairie residents, but a recent flare-up of morning blockages near Airline Drive has Jefferson Parish officials gearing up to beat the drum on railroad companies once again. After weeks of idle trains sitting at North Labarre Road near Loumor Avenue from 5 a.m. until as late as 9 a.m., at-large Jefferson Parish Council member Scott Walker said that the railroad companies agreed to move their stops in Old Metairie to a window from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. that started Tuesday, with the goal of shortening the duration of those stops over the coming weeks. The train stops, coupled with months of closures due to roadwork on Ridgewood Drive nearby and in other parts of Metairie, have exacerbated traffic problems in the area and created safety issues for emergency vehicles, according to Walker “(Railroad companies) thumb their nose at the communities they travel through and disregard safety issues they have caused,” Walker said. Walker and other local officials have fielded complaints about idle trains since 2020, when rail operators relocated where they inspect railcars and switch out crews from the City Park overpass

See TRAIN, page 2B

Leah

But on Thursday night, a couple hundred of his friends and family gathered at the south Slidell hot spot, raised their glasses and bid a hearty and touch ing farewell to DeBlanc , who died in July at age 80.

“This is for Dan, forever our friend,” Chris Legrand said, raising his arm from behind the bar

Someone shouted “Oorah!,” an ode to DeBlanc’s time in the U.S. Marines, prompting a chorus of “Oorahs” in response, as dozens took sips of their old buddy’s signature highball.

DeBlanc, born in New Or-

leans, always had a taste for adventure. He loved skiing and deep-sea fishing. And he rode rodeo bulls in college.

Dan and his wife, Sharon, arrived in Slidell in the 1970s after Dan’s stint in the Marines — he was a helicopter aviator in Vietnam, reaching the rank of captain and earning the Silver Star Medal That was followed by aviation jobs based in Vietnam and, later, Iran.

Once in Slidell, the couple became the operators of a couple of Tastee Donuts franchises. They said the days were fun, but chaotic.

“It was crazy — 24 hours a day,” Sharon DeBlanc said.

“And we had all teenage employees!”

One of those franchises became the Southside Cafe in 1991. Along the way, Legrand, who had been a bar-

tender, and his wife, Rene, came on as partners The two families built a lively and successful restaurant and bar

While Southside enjoyed a brisk business from the start, the restaurant became an icon in the months and years after Hurricane Katrina. The restaurant took on several feet of water during that 2005 hurricane, and the owners worked feverishly to reopen. Then, just before they were set to reopen only months after the storm, the place caught ﬁre, prompting yet another rebuild.

But when the doors reopened in May 2006, “we were like a beacon of hope on this side of town,” Legrand said.

Southside quickly became a “go-to” place in a part of the city that was still reeling from the ﬂooding. And

Dan DeBlanc, Legrand said, “was the heart” of the restaurant.

“We’re all regulars here,” said longtime patron Dave Whelen, part of a group of other long-timers that bills itself the “SS Winos.”

The business continued to thrive and grow, its lime sherbet-colored exterior drawing patrons from Slidell and across the region.

“We were married 54 years,” Sharon DeBlanc grinned. “We were joined at the hip. It was a lot of work. But we loved it.”

After Dan DeBlanc’s death from a pulmonary embolism on July 29, accolades from across Slidell poured in. A post announcing Dan’s death on the restaurant’s Facebook page prompted nearly 800

See TOAST, page 2B

BY MARIE FAZIO Staff writer

New Orleans’ lone noncharter public school faces an uphill financial battle Despite loud public support last year for the School Board to open the district’s first permanent traditional public school in nearly two decades, enrollment has lagged behind the district’s target, leaving the school with fewer students and a tighter budget than hoped. With the school projected to spend more than $500,000 over its budget this year, district officials warned this week that the amount is an annual deficit that could triple over the next few years to $1.5 million. The budget crunch has left Orleans Parish School Board members at a crossroads.

Unlike the city’s independently run charter schools, the Leah Chase School is overseen directly by the local School Board. The bleak ﬁnancial projections raise the question of how much

See SCHOOL, page 2B

Man

booked following Halloween crime spree in New Orleans

Suspect shot by police during Canal store robbery

BY CHAD CALDER and MISSY WILKINSON Staff writer

The standoff began shortly after 8:30 p.m. Friday, when investigators say suspect Emmanuel Harris, 54, approached an NOPD ofﬁcer and pointed a weapon at several bystanders before entering the gas station and convenience store at the intersection of North Galvez and Canal Street. The officer requested backup, and additional units — including members of the NOPD Special Operations Division who were working nearby as part of Halloween patrols — responded, the NOPD said. Harris had locked himself inside

Dan DeBlanc’s last call at the Southside Cafe

STAFF PHOTOS By DAVID GRUNFELD

Dave Whelen, from left, Sharen DeBlanc and Rene and Chris Legrand toast Dan DeBlanc with patrons at the Southside Cafe on Pontchartrain Boulevard in Slidell on Thursday.

DeBlanc

Gladwell addresses ‘dark side’ of tipping points

ates more violence.

BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer

Famed author Malcolm Gladwell said the 2020s are a much less optimistic decade than the late 1990s, when he began writing his first book, “The Tipping Point,” an examination of how ideas spread and societies can quickly change.

The turn of the century was a time of economic prosperity that coincided with the decline of many social problems, Gladwell said, and his debut captured that zeitgeist.

“I wrote a book about the ways we could leverage the extraordinary moment we were in,” he said. And then 25 years passed, and I decide to revisit the idea, and it’s just impossible to be optimistic in the same way.”

Speaking in front of a few hundred fans on Oct. 29 at the Baldwin & Co. bookstore in Faubourg Marigny, the journalist and podcaster said the opioid epidemic, the antivaccine movement and the coarsen-

TOAST

Continued from page 1B

comments. And the local fire department hung a large American flag from one of its ladder trucks outside the Slidell Municipal Auditorium, where a celebration of his life was held in September

When Leg rand got

SCHOOL

Continued from page 1B

money the School Board is willing to spend to attract more students, and how and whether the school should pivot its model.

NOLA Public Schools Superintendent Fateama Fulmore said the school’s spending would “increase exponentially” if the district implements the necessary programs and adjustments to offer students an education that is “equitable and comparable to other opportunities that we have in the city, or that may be different than something that we offer in the city.”

“Are we willing to pay for what it’s going to take to close the gap of enrollment?” Fulmore asked the School Board this week.

The recent ﬁnancial projections again raise questions of the school’s ﬁnancial sustainability, and board members expressed hesitancy to commit to the higher spending.

“I won’t let this deficit go on for four years,” said board member KaTrina Chantelle Grifﬁn on Tuesday

$1.5 million deficit

If enrollment continues to lag behind targets, it could become increasingly expensive to keep the school afloat, district officials said. Schools receive money from local and state revenues based on the number of students they serve. The school’s $557,000 operational deficit for this year could grow to $1.3 million by next year And within another school year, it could swell

HALLOWEEN

Continued from page 1B

‘It’s impossible to be optimistic,’ author says at book event the store and appeared to be pointing the weapon at a woman, the NOPD said in a news release

“Believing her life to be in immediate danger, officers discharged their weapon, striking the suspect,” the NOPD said. Officers immediately rendered aid, and Harris was transported to University Medical Center where he remained in critical condition late Friday, the NOPD said. The woman was unharmed.

“The hostage is ﬁne She came out, and we are tak-

ing of American politics all show the “dark side” of tipping points. Those trends were among the inspiration for his sequel, “Revenge of the Tipping Point,” which was released last month in a soft-cover edition.

The Gladwell conversation, led by journalist Walter Isaacson, a New Orleans native and Tulane professor, also covered several New Orleans topics, including what Gladwell describes as Dillard University’s unjustly low ranking by U.S. News & World Report and Broadmoor’s legacy as a diverse neighborhood Attendees braved the season’s ﬁrst cold temperatures as they sat on folding chairs beneath string lights in an outdoor space next to the 4-year-old bookshop to hear the journalists’ conversation.

Gladwell’s influential first book looked at a reduction of crime in New York City and the huge cultural impact of the TV show “Sesame Street,” among other case studies, to make the case that small changes or events can bring about societal change, guided by certain types of people that help spread ideas.

In his new work, Gladwell studies darker examples of tipping points in action, including criminal epidemics, systemic corruption and other

word that the bourbon was ready for delivery, a special event was in order

Legrand and DeBlanc and their wives had visited the Jack Daniel’s distillery in May with the intent of picking out a special bourbon to mark Southside’s 35th anniversary next year

“Dan loved his Jack Daniel’s; Gentleman Jack was

to $1.5 million, district CFO Nyesha Veal told the board on Tuesday.

The spending increase comes from higher personnel costs year over year, the addition of early childhood education beginning next year and unspeciﬁed “operations costs” that are projected to grow from $900,000 this year to $1.5 million by the 2026-2027 school year

When the district compared Leah Chase’s stafﬁng model to single-site charter schools in the city, one school had more than 10 additional staff members that hadn’t been factored into Leah Chase’s projections, Fulmore said.

“If we were truly stafﬁng at the level of some of the comparable schools that we have,” Fulmore said, “this (deficit) would be deeper than what it is.”

As a traditional public school, Leah Chase’s operations are funded only through the district, Veal said, unlike nonproﬁt charter schools which can access national organizations like the Charter School Growth Fund for grants and loans and can accept tax-exempt donations

The board has already made significant investments in the school from the district fund balance, including $3.8 million last year in startup funds, according to meeting documents.

“At some point, we have to say we’re not going to dig into the balance anymore,” said board member Carlos Zervigon in an interview.

Board member Nolan Marshall requested specifics on how the dollars would be spent and said in an interview that it would be “money well spent” if Leah

ing care of her right now,”

Deputy Superintendent Hans Ganthier told the media at the scene in video by WDSU. “The whole incident took about 11 minutes from start to ﬁnish, where we were able to apprehend him and take him to a hospital.”

Though details remain unclear, New Orleans police say Harris is also linked to two incidents that unfolded nearby before the gas station armed robbery and standoff — a shooting and an attempted carjacking.

About 7:20 p.m., NOPD reported a man arrived at a hospital with a gunshot wound. Police told WWLTV that shooting, which

negative societal changes. A key theme of the book is that epidemics, whether of diseases or ideas, don’t happen everywhere all at once.

The opioid crisis, for instance, affected some states much worse than others, he said. And the antivax movement is another example.

“Epidemics have very, very particular localized signatures,” Gladwell said. “It is not the case that there is a wide consistent percentage of the population that doesn’t want vaccinated kids. There are specific localities where nobody vaccinates, and then other places where everybody does.”

Gladwell argued that crime further illustrates how contagious phenomena happen in very speciﬁc places, like handfuls of hot spots in big cities.

“Nothing is more speciﬁc than violent crime,” he said. “If you make maps of where murders happen in American cities, you will ﬁnd that something like 50% or 60% of violent crimes happen in the same 5% of city blocks.”

Gladwell also said that, despite the perception the United States has less of a crime problem than many of the world’s major developed cities, but the prevalence of guns cre-

“Dan’s Last Call.”

his go-to,” Legrand said.

So the partners purchased a “barrel,” which Legrand said is delivered in 240 special bottles. Dan DeBlanc passed before he could try it.

“When the barrel came in, we had to do something special,” he said. “It just seemed right.”

So friends made it a point to get to the restaurant Thursday evening for

“To me, you got to think out the box. We’re in a mess right now.”

LEILA JACOBS EAMES NOLA

Public

Schools vice president

Chase could be a blueprint for other schools.

“If we’re just doing the same thing everyone else is doing but spending more money, that is unacceptable,” he said.

The bleak ﬁnancial projection comes at a time of uncertainty in school funding. Schools are facing paused and canceled federal grants, downward projections of sales and property tax and a per-pupil funding amount from the state that hasn’t increased in more than a decade.

The city recently stopped collecting fees from property and sales taxes it collects on behalf of the School Board, though that agreement is in place until December 2026. But that could change as the city deals with its own $160 million deﬁcit

“We’re moving into some years where we have a lot of contingencies going on,” Veal said. “We have the injunction of fees through 2026, but we’re in a land where the city is trying to get their budget together, so we don’t know what we don’t know yet.”

‘Out the box’ solutions

In order to attract more parents to the school, district officials will likely have to spend money on fresh programming to help Leah Chase stand out from other New Orleans schools. In its first year, Leah Chase was just three students shy of meeting its

happened in the 2200 block of Canal Street, is connected to the stand off later with Harris. Also prior to the gas station armed robbery, about a block away, Harris allegedly tried to carjack a man stopped at Bienville and North Galvez streets, attempting to open the car door while armed with a gun, according to police. The driver ﬂed and reported the carjacking attempt after the armed robbery was reported, said public information officer Sgt. Barry Fletcher Police did not give the time the carjacking occurred At 10:30 p.m., about a dozen police vehicles and scores of personnel from

“In England, they have just as many arguments in bars between young men, but they’re fist fights and knife fights, and people survive,” Gladwell said. “In America, they pull a gun and they don’t survive.”

The conversation turned to New Orleans several times, touching on Gladwell’s previous research about Dillard University He said he wanted to study why an educational institution that is beloved by its students, and which turns out a disproportionately high number of STEM grads, had low ranking from U.S. News & World Report, famous for its lists of colleges.

“The answer is the rankings reward schools with lots of money,” Gladwell said.

Gladwell also talked to Isaacson about his theory in “Revenge of the Tipping Point” that college scholarships for students who play “country club” sports like tennis, rowing and fencing amount to admissions preferences for the wealthy students whose parents can afford the expensive training required to excel in those pursuits.

“I don’t think the sports that schools give preference to should

TRAIN

They were able to purchase the bottles, which included special “dog tags” around the bottleneck in Dan DeBlanc’s memory. The distributor also had an engraver on-site Thursday for those who wanted to personalize their piece of Dan DeBlanc’s legacy As the crowd grew and the drinks were consumed, Legrand smiled.

ﬁrst-year enrollment count of 300 students. But about 95 students transferred, opting to attend different schools this fall, and the school fell nearly 60 students below its target enrollment of 400 students, with an additional sixth grade.

Leila Jacobs Eames, NOLA Public Schools vice president, suggested filling out the school at once, rather than adding a single grade each year

“To me, you got to think out the box,” she said. “We’re in a mess right now.” Parker repeated a suggestion for specialized language immersion or selective enrollment programming that he has raised previously

“It’s critical that we have a school in that building,” Zervigon said, noting that among constituents in Hollygrove and Fontainebleau, “There is a desire to see that we’re not all charter for charters sake, but that means this program must work.”

Eames, whose district includes New Orleans East and the 9th Ward, said while campaigning, she frequently heard a refrain from constituents asking for a district-run school. She put the onus on supporters to enroll their students in the school to help it stay aﬂoat.

“Parents, we need you to think this is important to our city that we have at least one district school, so we need your kids enrolled,” she said. “I’m not going to stop fighting for this, but I cannot fight us digging a deeper hole every single year because we do not have warm bodies sitting.”

the NOPD and other agencies worked the scene of the standoff, blocking off the lakebound lanes of Canal. Investigators focused on the parking lot in front of JNY Food+ store, which was taped off.

The NOPD said the incident remains an active investigation. The Public Integrity Bureau’s Force Investigation Team is leading the investigation in accordance with department policy The independent police monitor and federal consent decree monitors have also been notiﬁed, the NOPD said.

Anyone with information may contact Crimestoppers anonymously at (504) 822-1111.

be ones that are economically segregated,” he said. “Let in all the runners you want, because everybody can run.”

Gladwell’s New Orleans book tour stop comes a quarter-century after his debut book became a contagious phenomenon of its own, propelling his brand of page-turning popular nonfiction to the forefront of pop culture and making “the tipping point” a household phrase. Since then he’s sold millions of copies of follow-ups like “Outliers,” which examines the factors that contribute to success; and “Blink,” which looks at people’s ability to make snap judgments.

Born in England, raised in Canada and residing in New York, Gladwell also is host of the podcast “Revisionist History,” and co-founder of the podcast and audiobook company Pushkin Industries.

Baldwin & Co., a bookstore and coffee shop that opened in 2021 regularly hosts author talks and signings. The list of upcoming visitors includes former NBA star Allen Iverson, novelist Nathan Harris and historian Ashley Farmer

Email Rich Collins at rich. collins@theadvocate.com

Continued from page 1B

to Shrewsbury, causing hour-plus-long blockages at three major Old Metairie intersections: North Labarre Road, Atherton Drive and Hollywood Drive.

Those complaints sparked up again more recently when a new freight rail service began on the track, which is operated by the railroad company Norfolk Southern. Trains were stopping along North Labarre Road in the morning hours to exchange railcars between Norfolk Southern trains and another railroad company’s trains, Canadian National, causing the extended delays.

But only the federal government can regulate the railroads, not local governments — meaning little can be done at the parish level beyond requesting help from its congressional delegation. Walker and Jefferson Parish District 5 council member Hans Liljeberg, who represents Old Metairie, prepared a ﬂoor resolution at last week’s council meeting that would have called on U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Metairie, to intervene on the stoppages.

But in a last-minute agreement, Norfolk Southern notified Walker that it had brokered the new nighttime working window with Canadian National.

“We appreciate the partnership from the community as we have worked to find a schedule that avoids conflict with rush hour traffic, switching service from morning to evening,” said Heather Garcia, a senior communications manager for Norfolk Southern.

Parish ofﬁcials previously asked Scalise for help with train issues ﬁve years ago, after the stops were creating safety hazards like blocking emergency vehicles and leading children to crawl under the trains while leaving Metairie Playground.

Scalise helped broker an agreement between railroad companies Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific to move the crew exchange point away from residential areas and their working windows out of rush hours.

Jefferson Parish also installed livestream cameras starting in 2022 at popular

railroad crossings, including Central Avenue, Little Farms Avenue and Metairie Road but not Labarre Road. In 2023, at-large Jefferson Parish Council member Jennifer Van Vrancken, who at the time held the District 5 seat, sponsored a mobile app called Move Metairie Tracking Forward that notiﬁes users of estimated train crossing times and provides live camera feeds. Even dating as far back as the 1950s, only a decade after the tracks were laid, parish and state ofﬁcials have been trying to get the trains out of Old Metairie, but to no avail.

Attempts by state lawmakers in the 1980s and 1990s to fine trains for blocking roads longer than ﬁve minutes was struck down by the Louisiana attorney general because the state has no authority over the railroads. Walker and Liljeberg said they’ll stand down on their request for federal intervention so long as the railroad companies hold up their end of the bargain, which they seem to have done thus far “If it’s not in place and functional and not being a major inconvenience for people and emergency response and everything else in that area by our next meeting, this ﬂoor resolution will be back,” Walker said at last week’s meeting. Motorists can report railroad crossing issues to Norfolk Southern at (800) 946-4744 using the following crossing numbers: n Shrewsbury Road: 725705V n Labarre Road: 725708R

n Atherton Drive: 725709X n Hollywood D rive: 725710S n Farnham Place: 725711Y n West Oakridge Park: 725712F

n Metairie Road: 725713M n Carrollton Avenue: 725714U

Alpha,Roland

Atkins,Charles Bagley,John Bertucci Jr.,Anthony Bush Jr., Bennie

Calonje, Geraldine

Clark, Precious

Cognevich Sr., Kenneth Fortenberry,Patsy

Geiger,Gregory

Gros,Troy

Guillot,Audrey

Gurtner, Ellen

Holbrook Tracey, Molly

Hunt Jr., Roger

Jones, Janina

Mangano, Samuel

Messina,Gail

OlivierSr.,Clyde

Sansone,Vittorro

Schluter,Jack

Schumacher, Leila

SellersSr.,Andrew

Speirer, Patricia

Trapani, Belverdere

Uchello,Elizabeth

Weber, Huey

Zeller Sr., Richard EJefferson

Garden of Memories

Bertucci Jr.,Anthony

Gurtner, Ellen

Leitz-Eagan

Hunt Jr., Roger

Tharp Funeral Home Trapani, Belverdere

NewOrleans

Guillot,Audrey

Mangano, Samuel Sansone,Vittorro

Speirer, Patricia

Heritage Funeral Clark, Precious Lake Lawn Metairie Calonje, Geraldine Cognevich Sr., Kenneth Messina,Gail

Schumacher, Leila Weber, Huey

Majestic Mortuary

OlivierSr.,Clyde

MurrayHenderson

RolandAlain Alphawho was known as "Ronnie" to his family and friends passed peacefully into eternal rest on Oct. 6, 2025 at 3:01 AMwith hisbeloved wife, VeralynRabalais Alphabyhis side in his home Mandeville, La. after a"fall"that left himina longdebilitating illness. A nativeofNew Orleans, Ronnie who was78was the lovingson of the late Granville Alpha,Sr. and Eleanor Attaway Alpha of NewOrleans. He and Veralyn who were married for57yearshad two children. He was the cherished fatherofJeffreyScott Alpha(Carolyn) and KatherineAlpha Borgatti (Michael)and he was the proud Grandfather of 7 grandchildren: MatthewP Borgatti, Annamarie Borgatti Rogers(Cade), John M. Borgatti, WilliamJ Alpha, Andrew J. Alpha, Jacob A. Alpha and Emily Grace Alpha.They called him "Grandpa" and they lovedhim dearly.Hewas the beloved brother of Granville Alpha, Sr. (Jane) and the late Lynn Alpha Smith, wifeofthe late JeffersonSmith and he was the cherishedbrotherin-law of SamuelJ Rabalais, Jr.and the late Hallie Rabalais aswellas Scott T. Rabalais (Nga)and the late Kenneth R. Rabalais. He leaves behind ahost of nieces and nephews who called him "Uncle Ronnie" and they will miss him dearly. Agraduate of Fortier High School, Ronniereceiveda Master's Degree in Architecture from Tulane University, andafter working forarchitecturalfirmsinthe New Orleans Metropolitanarea, he became a"Licensed Contractor"for the State of Louisiana.Heformeda "Corporation" and after acquiring Architectural "licenses" in various other states, he was successful in the "Design-Build" business for over 50 years. He specialized in Commercial, Medical and Residential designs and he alsodesignedand builtswimming pools. One of the houses that he designed and built was featured in "Good Housekeeping" magazine and in the "NewOrleans" magazine. He wasalsoan artist who sketchedand painted landscapesand still-life scenesasahobby. Ronnie treasured his Catholic faith. As amember of Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church, he wasa Eucharist Ministerand a member of the Knights of Columbus and he also belonged to the "Friday Night Boyz" Prayer Group" in Slidellthat was led by the late Deacon John Weber. He loved classic cars, fishing,working in his garage and in his yard and most of all, relaxing with hisfamily and friends. He willbe missed by all. Friends and relatives are invited to attend Funeral Services on Nov. 7, 2025 at St. Joseph'sAbbey Church in Covington, La. Visitation willbegin at 1:00 PM and the Funeral Mass willbegin at 2PM. The Burial Servicewilltake placeinthe St. Joseph Abbey Cemeterybehind the church. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Joseph Abbey and Seminary,75376 River Road, Saint Benedict, Louisiana 70457.

Obituaries is survived by abrother, WilliamP Atkins;5 grandchildren and 7great-grandchildren; ahostofnieces, nephews, cousins, relatives, and friends. CelebrationofLife Monday, November3,2025, at Greater MorningStar Church of Algiers, 1242 ValletteSt.,NOLA. Visitation: 9AM; Masonic Burial Ceremony: 9:30 AM; Service: 10 AM.Bishop W.L. Littleton, Officiant Interment;Southeast LA Veterans Cemetery, 34888 Grantham College Dr Slidell, LA MurrayHenderson Funeral Home

Bagley, John Hammett

John HammettBagley

passed away peacefully at his home on Friday, October24, 2025. He was born in NewOrleans, LA on October 12, 1953.

He leavesbehindhis wife of nearly 50 years, Mary Claire Bagley,daughterJenniferBagley Hart (Robby), sonBrian NicholasBagley, and granddaughters Bradley Catherine Hart and Cecelia Claire Hart. He is also survivedbyhis sister, Lisa Bagley McKenzie(John Mark).

He was preceded in death by his parents Barbara HammettBagley and Edward Spaulding Bagley, Jr andbrothers Edward SpauldingBagley IIIand Peter Mariott Bagley

John was born in New Orleans and moved to Covingtonasa child. He attended St Paul's High School where he developed many friendships that endure to this day. He graduated from USL where he earneda degree in Business Management.

Johns first careerwas as aregional manager for Briggs-Weaver Equipment. Afteralmost 20 years there, he left to pursue his passionofcommercial and residential development One of his proudest momentswas when hisson, Brian,chose to follow him intothe business and the twospent anumber of years working side by side before John took astep back

John enjoyed many outdoor activities, butnothing gavehim as much pleasureasspending time in his boat cruising the Tchefuncte River.

John will be remembered forhis quiet but steadfast character, his willingness to help a neighbor or friendatany time,and as alovinghusband, father and grandfather.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in memory of Mr. Bagley may be madetothe Alzheimer'sAssociation www.alz.org

Relativesand friends are invited to attend the memorial services at E. J. Fielding Funeral Home, 2260 W21st Avenue Covington LA 70433 on Monday, November 3, 2025, at 11:00 AM with visitation on Monday beginning at 9:00 AM. Interment will followinPinecrest Memorial Gardens.

E.J. Fielding Funeral Home has been entrusted with funeralarrangements. The Bagley family invitesyou to share thoughts, fondest memories,and condolences online at E. J. Fielding Funeral Home Guest Book at www.ejfieldingfh.com.

Atkins,Charles Bertucci Jr., Anthony

St Tammany

EJ Fielding

Bagley,John

Jones, Janina

SellersSr.,Andrew

Honaker

Fortenberry,Patsy West Bank

DavisMortuary

Bush Jr., Bennie Mothe

Schluter,Jack

Robinson FH

Gros,Troy

TommyBertucci;his par‐ents, Anthonyand Alma Bertucci;and hissiblings John, Paul,Billy,Patricia, Beverly,Joan, andDoris Anthony is survived by his devoted children,Glenda Vassilakis, Debbie Kirby (Gary), DianeWalker(Ster‐ling),and Joseph Bertucci Hewas aproud grandfa‐thertoten grandchildren— Katie,Natalie,Angela, Hillary,Shannon,GaryJr., Kellie, Chad,Ashley, and Tyler—and acherished great-grandfather to twenty-twogreat-grand‐children. He is also sur‐vived by hisbeloved sister GailAbraham,along with numerousniecesand nephews.Anthony began his career in carpentry, working alongsidehis fa‐therand brothers in New Orleans.Withskill,dedica‐tion, anda strong work ethic,hewentontoestab‐lishhis owncontracting business, Five Star Homes, lovinglynamed after his five children.Through his work, he earned theaffec‐tionate nickname “The General,” areflection of his leadershipand commit‐menttoexcellence. Above all,Anthony’s life wasde‐finedbyhis deep faith.A devoted servantofJesus Christ, he wasa manof prayerwhose gentle spirit touched countless lives. He never meta stranger;al‐waysgreetingotherswith a kind word,anencourag‐ing heart, andhis signa‐turesmile.His humility, compassion, andunwaver‐ing belief in God’sWordin‐spiredall who knew him. Anthony faithfullyshared the Gospel andlived each day as atestimony to his Savior’slove. Thefamily extends heartfeltgratitude toGerry Culotta forher cherished friendship with Anthony,and to thePas‐sages team fortheir de‐voted comfortand care.A special word of thanks is given to CoreyGallaty for the many hoursspent reading Scriptureand praying with Anthony— yourpresencewas atrue blessing. “And Godraised usupwithChristand seateduswithHim in the heavenlyrealmsinChrist Jesus.” —Ephesians 2:6. A Celebration of Life will be heldonNovember4th at GardenofMemoriesFu‐neral Home,4900 AirlineDr. Metairie, Louisiana70001 Visitationwillbegin at 10:00 AM,willa servicefol‐lowingat12:00 PM.Burial willtakeplace immedi‐ately after services in Gar‐den of Memories Ceme‐tery. To offerthe familyon‐linecondolences,send flowers, or planta tree in memoryofAnthony Bertucci Jr., please visit www.gardenofmemorie smetairie.com.

Calonje, Geraldine Parrino'Gerry'

GeraldineParrino

Calonje "Gerry" passed away on October22, 2025. Shewas born in New Orleans, Louisiana on September 1, 1933 to Dr PaulParrinoand Florence Parrino. She wasthe devotedand wonderful wife of Dr.Mario Calonje and mother of Paul Stephen Calonje (Sydney) Grandmother of Doni Clarke andgreat-grandmotherofEsme Christie. Sheisalso survived by many nieces andnephews. Herbrother,PhilipParrino, predeceased hermany years ago. Gerry attended several grammar schools in NewOrleans and attended grammar school in Nashville, Tennessee before moving to Munich, Germanyin1947. She lived in Munich for two anda half years, spentone year in Regensburg, Germany, and thenmoved with her familytoBremerhaven, Germany, whereshe attended hersenioryear of high school, graduating as Valedictorian in 1951. She then attendedHollins CollegeinVirginia, graduating in 1955. Gerry worked for oneyear in Manhattan, NewYork, after whichshe returned to NewOrleans whereshe lived until her demise. Shewas amember of TheWomen's Opera Guild for many years and an active member of the OrleansParish Medical Social Auxiliary. Gerry was active in several otherorganizationsinNew Orleans. Gerry was adevoutCatholic and attended servicesona regular basis. Aprivatefuneral was held at MetairieCemetery.For memorial contributions in honor and in memory of Geraldine"Gerry" Calonje, thefamilyrequests that donationsbemade to: Holy CrossSchool, 5500 Paris Avenue,New Orleans, LA 70122. https:/ /www.hcnola.org/support hc/tigerfund

Clark, Precious

andclosefriends. Kenwas born in Port Sulphur, LA on December 22, 1943. After graduating from Buras High School, he enlisted in thearmy, wherehewas stationedinGermany. After beingdischarged from theArmy, Kenbegan acareerwithChevron and marriedthe love of his life, June Bertoneau.In1975, Kenfounded Engine Monitor,Inc.and Creative Graphics, Inc. Kenwas a parishionerofSt. Matthew theApostle Parish in River Ridge for 51 years. He was also aKnight of theHoly Sepulchre anda member of theRiverRidgeLions Club. Kendelightedinhis time with family, especially hisfourgrandchildren He enjoyed traveling, electronics, and digital photography. He spent many weekendsathis home in theMarignywhere he lovedtocelebrate Mardi Gras and all thingsNew Orleans. In later life, Ken was known for hisfascination with theeagles that nested in hisyard.Heis preceded in death by his wife of 55 years, June Bertoneau Cognevich; parents, Gertrudeand George Cognevich; sisters, Monica andChristineCognevich; andbrother,George WayneCognevich, Sr.Ken is survived by hisson Kenneth"John"Cognevich, Jr.(Katie Ricks); daughter, Tonya CognevichWellman (Greg); and grandchildren Kenneth"Kacey"John Cognevich, III,Connor Wellman,Mary Catherine Wellman,and Amelie Wellman.Special thanks to Hannah Dennyand Louise Booth for theircompassionate andattentive care.The serviceswill take place on Saturday, November 8, 2025 at St Matthew theApostle Catholic Church,10021 JeffersonHwy, RiverRidge, LA 70123. The visitation will begin at 11:00 a.m. untilthe startofthe funeral mass at 1:00 p.m. Aprivateintermentwill be held at alater date. In lieu of flowers, please considera donation to theTeresian Sisters, 18080 St.Joseph's Way, Covington,LA70135-5623.

AnthonyBertucci,Jr., age 95, passedpeacefully intothe presence of his Lordand Savior,Jesus ChristonOctober 25, 2025, inKenner, Louisiana. He was born on June 11, 1930, inNew Orleans, Louisiana, toAnthony andAlma Bertucci.His humility,com‐passion,and unwavering beliefinGod’s Word in‐spiredall who knew him. Anthony faithfullyshared the Gospel andlived each day as atestimony to his Savior’slove. He waspre‐ceded in deathbyhis lov‐ing wife of sixtyyears,Jo AnnBertucci;his son, Atkins,CharlesEdward Deacon CharlesEdward Atkins transitioned from his earthly homeon Tuesday, October 21, 2025. AnativeofNew Orleans, LA,and aresident ofHarvey, LA,son of the late Williamand Elvira E. Atkins HusbandofDebraAlbert Atkins,Father of Charles Edward II andQuinten DavidAtkins. Member of GreaterMorning Star Church ofAlgiers.Retired Command Sgt MajorUSAR, IRSAgent 32° Mason, A.A.S.R.F.M. He

Bennie Bush,Jr.,entered eternal rest at hisresi‐dence on Tuesday, October 14, 2025, at theage of 83 He was anativeofNew Or‐leans,LAand aresidentof Marrero,LA. Bennie wasa graduateofBooker T. WashingtonHighSchool Heservedhis countryin the United States Navy.He was aretired facility oper‐ator. Belovedson of the lateBennieBush, Sr.and Juanita Bush.Brother of Celestine B. Thomas,Bar‐baraBushDiggs,Brenda Small,Stanley,Janice, MaryLee, Nell,Gwen, Anna Bell, andGailBush, andthe lateBetty B. Williams, MaryL.Armstead, Deanna BushWilliams, Darlene Walters,Elain Bush,Ed‐wardBush, andDarnell Bush, also survived by a hostofnieces, nephews, cousins,other relatives and friends. Relativesand friends of thefamilyare in‐vited to attend theCele‐bration of Life at Davis MortuaryService 230 Mon‐roe St.Gretna, LA on Satur‐day November 1, 2025, at 10:00a.m. Pastor Norman Francis,ofﬁciating. Visita‐tionwillbegin at 9:00am until servicetimeatthe above-named parlor.Inter‐mentwillbeheldatSouth‐eastLouisiana Veterans Cemetery34888 Grantham College Drive, Slidell, LA on Monday, November 3, 2025, at10:00a.m. To view and signthe guestbook,please gotowww.davismortua ryservice.com.FaceMasks Are Recommended.

Precious Hunter Clark, thelast livingsibling(out of 14) of Pearlie and EldridgeHunterdeparted this life on October26, 2025. Herlifewill be celebrated on Monday, November 3rd at NewHope Baptist Church,1807 Rev. John Raphael, Jr Wy, NOLA 70113, Rev. Jamaal Weathersby Pastor Visitation will be from9:009:55 a.m. andthe worship service will begin at 10:00 a.m. Herlegacywill continueinthe lives of her children, Rev. Johnnie M. Clark, Sr.(Oakland), Barbara Clark Spears KathieO.Clark andBruce H. Clark (SilverSpring, MD); hergrandchildren ,great grandchildren, great -great grandchildren, a host of nieces, nephews, NewHope Family, other relativesand friends. Arrangements are entrusted to Heritage Funeral Directors, 4101 St Claude Ave., NewOrleans,LA 70117

Kenneth

PatsyCraft Fortenberry, ofSlidell, Louisianapassed awaypeacefullyonOcto‐ber 28, 2025. Shewas 89 years old. Patsyissurvived byher daughter,Karen de‐Bram(Mike); andher grandchildren,Randy Michael Fortenberry (Melissa), MichaelEdward deBramJr. (Brooke),Han‐nah GracedeBram(Was lovinglysupported by her lateboyfriend,Jeremy), and Chad Joseph GoughFortenberry (Dana).She is alsosurvivedbyher great grandchildren,Sam Turner Fortenberry,GrayMichael Fortenberry,AnnaLisa Fortenberry,Hartlee Grace Latulippe,Charlie Rose Lat‐ulippe,Blake IssacdeBram, Grahm RandyGoughFortenberry;her sister, JoanCraft Blakney; as well asmanyniecesand nephews.Patsy waspre‐ceded in deathbyher hus‐bandof64years,Lewis Jerry Fortenberry;her son, Randy MichaelForten‐berry;her parents, ClarenceCraft andVinnie Jones Craft;her sisters, Ro‐marea Craft Melvin,Grace Craft Counts, andEllouise Craft Cook;her brothers, JosephLincoln Craft,Jack Dempsey Craft,and ClarenceWiltonCraft Patsy marriedLewis in 1955. Shewas adevoted wife, mother,and grand‐mother. Shewas kind,gen‐tle,and full of love for everyoneinher presence She hada wayofmaking everyonefeel special whether it wasthrough her warmhugs, herthoughtful words,orthe delicious meals shealwaysseemed tohaveready.Her cooking brought ourfamilyto‐gether. No onecould make a tablefeel as full of love asshe did. Everyrecipe she made waswithcare and comfortand everymo‐mentspent with herwas a blessing. Though sheisno longerwithus, herwarmth and thememoriesofher kindnesswillremaininour heartsforever.Relatives and friendsofthe family are invitedtoattend the Funeral ServiceatHonaker Funeral Home,1751 Gause Blvd. West (inForestLawn Cemetery),Slidell, LA on Wednesday,November5, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. Visita‐tion on Wednesdayafter

Alpha, Roland Alain 'Ronnie'

Fortenberry,Patsy Craft

Greenwood

Bush Jr., Bennie

Cognevich

Gregory Paul

Our beloved Gregory Paul Geiger passed away on Wednesday, October 22, 2025 in Jefferson, Louisiana with loved onessurrounding him, at the age of 59. Born October 7, 1966 in Austin, TX, Greg graduated high school from Ridgedale Academy in 1984. Upon completion of apost-secondary certification, Greg worked as aCommercial Diver for 5years. He transitioned to the automotive industry where he built an illustrious career as asuccessful businessman in Finance and Management. After retiring, Greg pursued his many interests in entrepreneurship, owning and operating afamily business until the time of his passing. Greg was preceded in death by his father, Dr. Paul Frank Geiger and his loyal companion, LB Geiger. LB was Greg's devoted English Bulldog who was by his side for nine years. Greg is survived by his loving wife, Melissa Lott Geiger, daughter, Jenna Leigh Iris Geiger, mother, Brenda Smith Geiger, Father-in-lawand Motherin-law, Jerry and Linda Lott, Brother-in-law and Sister-in-law, Patrick and Michelle Lott Echols, his niece, Logan Shelby Echols, Brother and Sisterin-law, Sam Rayburn Geiger and wife Jana, Uncle Jerry Smith and wife Pam, and UncleFred Emile Geiger. Greg wasanavid golfer and enjoyed playing with friends and family at various courses over the years. Greg cherished time spent at home watching movies. Greg also loved sports and cheering for his LSU Tigers. He was adevotedhusband to Melissa aterrific father to Jenna, a caring son to his Mother Brenda, adoting uncle to Logan, and was affectionately known as "Pop-Pop" to his Granddog, Molly Monroe. Greg will be remembered for his vividstorytelling, his endless curiosity of finding the next "business adventure", his smile, and his unconditional love for his close family and dear friends. Greg will be deeply missed. In accordance with Greg's wishes, no service will be held at this time.A celebration of life to honor Greg will take place at a later date.

Troy DavidGros, was bornonJune 21,1964 to Earin Clifford AynesJr.,and Carroll Gros (Harold).He departedthislifeonMon‐day,October 20, 2025, in Marrero,La. Belovedhus‐bandtoJamie Alexie Gros and stepfather to Carmelo Alexie, TimothyErris, Christian Otten. Brotherof TinaAynes -Busch and ShawnaAgnes.Heisalso survivedby7 grandchil‐dren, nieces,nephews cousins otherrelatives and devoted friends. Funeral servicesare privatelyheld. Funeralplanningentrusted toRobinsonFamilyFuneral Home, 9611LA-23, Belle Chasse,LA70037, (504) 208-2119. Foronlinecondo‐lences, please visitwww robinsonfamilyfuneralho me.com

Audrey MaeFioke Guil‐lot passedawaypeacefully onTuesday,October 28 2025. Age84. Belovedwife ofthe late StanleyGerard Guillot.Motherof Stephen Michael Guillot(Kristi) Karen GuillotLucas (Michael),and Donna Guil‐lot McFatter(Lynn). Daugh‐ter of thelateClarence WilliamFioke andTudelle HebertFioke.Sisterofthe lateBrother Clarence J. Fioke,F.S.C.Sister-in-law of the late Larry Guillot, Carol Guillot,and MarilynEberts. Grandmother of Jared WilliamGuillot, Taylor Lucas Fields (Tyler), Hay‐den Elizabeth Lucas, SamanthaMcFatterTarver (Jason),and Madalynn Elise McFatter. Greatgrandmother of Emilia Fields, MilesFields, Aria McFatter, and Juliana Tarver. Also survived by manyniecesand nephews. A native of New Orleans, LA, anda resident of Terry‐town, LA.Audreywas an activememberofher church community,The CenterofJesus theLord. She leaves behind many beloved cousinsand faith‐ful friends, especially Judy Spano,her best friend of over75years.Visitation willbeatThe Center of Jesus theLordatOur Lady ofGood CounselChurch, 1307 LouisianaAvenue,on Monday, November 3, 2025, from10:30 a.m. until the MassofChristian Burial at 12:30 p.m. Arrangements byGreenwood Funeral Home. Thefamilywould liketothank LindaDitta for her compassionatecare and companionship, as wellasthe staff at Living In Love CompassionateAs‐sisted Living andthe nursesatCompassus Hos‐picefor theirexceptional care. We also invite youto share your thoughts,fond memories, andcondo‐lencesonlineatwww greenwoodfh.com.Your sharedmemorieswillhelp uscelebrate Audrey’s life and keep her memory alive

Ellen“Nan, Sweetheart Sweetie”ClaireGurtner, age 94,passedaway peacefullyon Thursday, October 23,2025. Daughter ofthe late FrankHaroldSr. and Evelyn Boudreaux Gurtner.Sisterofthe late Frank Harold Jr.(Joyce) Gurtner.Survivedbyher nephew, GreggGurtner (Liz),great nieces Kristen and EmilyGurtner andher cousinEvelynRemy. Will bedeeplymissedbyher dearfriends Betty,Yvonne Helen,MaryEllen,Susan, Alwyn,VeraMae,Sister Catherine,and Fr.Lou Bornand raised in theIrish Channel.Parishioner of St MaryMagdalenChurch since 1987. Agraduateof RedemptoristHighSchool inNew Orleans. Retired fromLykes SteamshipCo. asanexecutivesecretary Thankstothe Carmelite Nuns in Lafayette,LAand the Poor ClareNuns in New Orleans fortheir endless prayers.Special thanks to Dr. Vemulapalli andthe staff at UMCNO, thestaff of Peristyle Residences, Audubon Care Homes, CovenantHomeHealth Care, Family Home Care and InterimHealthCarefor their love andcare. In Lieu of ﬂowers, donationsmay bemadetothe Carmelite Nuns in Lafayette,LA, the Poor ClareNuns in NewOr‐leans,orthe National ShrineofBlessedFrancis XavierSeelosinNew Or‐leans.Familyand Friends are invitedtoattend fu‐neral services at Garden of MemoriesFuneralHome and Cemetery,4900 Airline Drive,Metairie, La.70001 onMonday, November3 2025. Visitation will begin atnoon with Mass at 2pm. Burialtoimmediatelyfol‐low

MollyMaud Holbrook Tracey, adevoted mother, gifted artist,and loverof nature, passedaway peacefully on January19, 2025, at theage of 67. Born on December6,1957, in NewOrleans, Molly's life was one of deep compassion, creativity, and resilience. Molly attendedthe Louise S. McGeheeSchool in NewOrleans, where she mademany lifelong friends. Agraduateof Louisiana StateUniversity with aBachelor's degree in Fine Arts,she pursuedher artistic passion whilealso co-owning alongshoreman insurance company. Later in life,after thebirthofher twodaughters,Brook and Anna,she fullyembraced her artistry,becoming both apainter and an ocularist—hand-paintingcontact lenses for thefilmindustryaswell as for individuals with optical disfigurements. Her meticulous craftsmanship and artistic visionleft an indeliblemark on thoseshe worked with.

Beyond her artistic endeavors, Molly found solace and joy in thenatural worldand was indelibly fond of trees, plantsand flowers. She shared aprofound love foranimals—especially dogs, birds, and turtles—and dedicated much of hertime to volunteeringatbirdsanctuaries, nature centers and museums. Adevoted advocate forrescue animals, she fosteredseveral rescue pugs, ensuring they found family,loveand safety. She also had adeepappreciationfor history,particularlyWorldWar II,inspired by her father, Anton Winter Holbrook, who served in theNavyinboththe European and Pacificcampaigns.

In her later years, Molly madeher home on Peaks Island, Maine, where she resided in her belovedcottages, "Piece of Heaven" and "LittlePiece of Heaven," on Hadlock Cove There, she found solace in thebeauty around her—tending to her tulips,collecting sea glass alongthe shore, and painting on her porch as thesunrise or full moon graced thesky. She spent many peaceful days riding theback shore of theislandwithher pug, Tulip,byher side

Though she endured both deep emotional and physicalpainthroughout herlife,Molly'sfinal momentswere filled with an outpouring of love,surrounded by thosewho cherished her, as thesun set on January19, 2025. Molly'sfamily is grateful and comfortedbythe caring support of Steve Randles and BillTracey, and thecadre of her friends who ventured to Peaks IslandfromNew Orleans, Chicago,Golden and Atlanta for her memorial serviceonAugust 23, 2025. Molly is pre-deceased by her parents, Nancy Chaseand Anton Winter Holbrook, and her sister, Nancy Louise (Missy) Holbrook Landry. She is survived by her daughters, ElizabethHolbrook (Brook) Tracey and Anna Winter Tracey, their father William Joseph(Bill) Tracey III, her sisterVirginiaChase Holbrook and husband Robert Paul Teten, Jr., her nephew Robert Anton ElphageLandryand cousins Samuel Fry Chase III, wife Katherine Deimling Chase, and Timothy Trapolin

May her spirit forever roam theshores of Peaks Island— carried by thesea breeze and thesongsof thebirdsshe so adored Think of herasthe tulips and liliesflourish on Hadlock Cove and as the monarchsgraze mint leavesbythe shore. Those who lovedher most take comfort in knowing she has returned home— free at last Molly'sfamily respectfullysuggests that those wishing to honorMolly's legacy please considera donationtoher alma mater, theLouise S. McGeheeSchool, by sending acheck to Louise S. McGeheeSchool, 2343 Prytania St., NewOrleans, LA 70130 or by making a gift online at https://www. mcgeheeschool.com/giv e/make-a-gift

RogerAllenHunt Jr "TheDodge", passedaway onOctober 5, 2025. He was borninNew Orleanson September 3, 1953. He at‐tendedSt. Anthonyof Padua in OrleansParish until 1962 whenthe family moved to Bucktown, fol‐lowed by St.Louis King of France. At RummelHigh School he became an ac‐complishedswimmer, graduatingin1971 with a swimming scholarshipto SoutheasternLouisiana University. TheDodge was one of akind! He livedlife witha passionand loved every second of it.You could feel it whenhewas present.Hemadehimself known; he spokethe truth, and he neverleftanything onhis plate. He loved music,children, allhis rela‐tives,and wasanavidpet lover to boot!Hewas the front manfor theband “RogerDodgerand the Darts”for 7years.He workedatthe Jefferson ParishWater Worksprior tothe USPS in Gretna,LA where he retiredafter 32+ years of service. He will be missedbyall who knew him andtreasured by all who lovedhim.Hewas precededindeath by his parents,RogerAllenand JoanLyeki Hunt.Heissur‐vived by hisson,Nicholas (Juliet)and twograndchil‐dren, Desmondand Ros‐alie. He is also survived by his loving,life-partnerof 35+ years, CynthiaCourage and hertwo sons,Brian and Andrew Knezeak; his sister, Rebecca (Michael) and theirdaughters, Stephanie andMichelle; his brotherRandolphand his daughter,Alexandra as wellasmanylovingrela‐tives andextendedfamily. Relatives andfriends are invited to attend aMemor‐ial GatheringatLeitzEagan FuneralHome, 4747 VeteransMemorialBlvd. Metairie, Louisiana70006 onFriday, November 7, 2025, from 1:00 pm -4:00 pm. In lieu of ﬂowers, pleaseplant atreefor The Dodge.The familyinvites you to shareyour thoughts, fond memories, and condolencesonlineat www.leitzeaganfuneralho me.com

Janina (Nina) Schulz Jones passed away on Tuesday, October 28, 2025 at theage of 93 at thefamilyhome for51years in Mandeville, La. Ninawas born in the free city of Danzig,onthe Baltic Sea. Danzig became apartof Poland after WorldWar II, and is now known as Gdansk. In WWII,the German army easilytookDanzig in 1939, then invaded Poland, and then moved into Russia. Being astrategic port cityused by the Germans, Danzig was heavilybombedbythe allies,causing heavydamage, casualtiesand death. The German army was stopped by theRussians at Stalingrad,and after several years of fighting,the Russian army moved back westward towards Danzig. To avoidcapture by the Russians,Nina, her mother and younger sister Renate and many others, evacuatedDanzig,ona maverick overcrowded trainwhich lurchedwestward sometimes under Russianfire toward Göttingen, Germany which became controlledbyAmerican forces.

made Nina ahonorary citizenofNew Orleansfor her guidanceofGerman industrialists through the city Nina and Billhave one daughter, SamanthaJones Cohen,who hasfourboys, Joshua (25), Noah (22), Jonathan (21) and Nathaniel(17) Cohen Nina's sister,Renate Sessler and Nina's parents, Kurt andJohanna Schulz predeceased Nina. Renate is survived by herhusband Gerhard Sessler. Nina is also survived by hernieces,Cornelia Sessler and Christina Miculka, andbyher nephew,Gunther Sessler, all of whom were born in NewJersey, but have lived in Darmstadtand Wiesbaden, Germany, for many years. Nina is also survived by thechildrenof hernieces andnephews, all of whom live in Germany. Nina wasa warm, compassionate, talented, independentspirit,with great artistictaste, whowas loyal to, andsupportive and protectiveof, herfriends andfamily. Shemade the worldbrighter, andshe will be forever remembered. In lieu of flowers, contributions in memory of Nina Jones may be made to St TammanyHealth Foundation,1202 S. Tyler Street,Covington,LA 70433, https://www.sthfou ndation.org/donate.

Relativesand friends are invited to attendthe funeral servicesatE.J Fielding Funeral Home, 2260 W21st Avenue, Covington LA 70433 on Saturday, November 8, 2025, at 2:00 PM with visitation on Saturdaybeginning at 12:00 noon. Intermentwillfollow

E.J. Fielding Funeral Home hasbeen entrusted with funeral arrangements. TheJones familyinvites you to share thoughts,fondest memories,and condolencesonline at E. J. Fielding Funeral Home Guest Book at www.ejfieldingfh.com

Mangano, Samuel Anthony

Samuel Anthony Mangano,a cherishedpa‐triarch andbeaconofde‐votion, passedaway peacefully on October25, 2025, in Jefferson, Louisiana,atthe ageof95. BornonFebruary14, 1930, inthe vibrantcityofNew Orleans,Louisiana, Samuel'slifewas atesta‐menttolove, hard work, and familyvalues. Samuel'sjourney beganas the belovedson of John J. Mangano andElizabeth SchlumbrechtMangano His life wasenrichedby the love andcompanion‐shipofhis dear wife,Ear‐line'Leenie'Kern Mangano,withwhomhe shared46years of mar‐riage before herpassing Together,theycreated a legacyoflovethatcontin‐ued throughtheir four adoring children,Kerri Mangano Hawkins(Julian), StaceyMangano Bennett, StevenJohnMangano (Teresa), andDeanMichael Mangano,who Samuel cared forwithunwavering commitmentfor thelast23 years of hislife. Hisroleas a proudgrandfather brought himimmense joy ashewatched hislineage ﬂourish throughhis grand‐

children,RyanDeRocha (Kristen), KevinDeRocha (Dina), Dana BennettTallo (Nathan), Kara Bennett, April Stevens, and Cameron Bennett. Samuel'sheart swelled withpride forhis greatgrandchildren,OliviaDe‐Rocha,RileyTallo,Gavin DeRocha,Corrine DeRocha, Jayce Stevens, DanteTallo, Tyler Brooks,and Waylon Leal. Hisloveand guidance extendedtomanynieces and nephews, who will carry forwardhis spirit.He was preceded in deathby his parentsand siblings MaryRodrigue, Johnnie Mangano,Theodore Mangano,Josephine Mangano,and Biaggio Mangano —and by hissonin-law, LarryBennett Samuel'sprofessionallife was marked by dedication and achievementinthe LiquorDistributionindus‐try,where he worked for47 years before retiring as a Warehouse Manager. Be‐yondhis professional en‐deavors,Samuelfound so‐laceand joyinhis barn which wasbotha sanctu‐ary forhis woodworking and carpentryand aplay‐house forhis children.His hands,eversoskilled and steady, crafted notonly woodenmasterpiecesbut alsoa safe havenofmem‐ories forhis family. Aman ofvariedinterests,Samuel enjoyed keepingabreast of current events by watching Fox andNewsMax,and he lived throughthe termsof 13U.S.Presidents, starting withPresident Herbert Hoover. Samuel's legacy is one of selflessness, his hands foreverready to build fix, andgive. Hislov‐ing nature envelopedhis family, friends, andall who had theprivilege of know‐ing him. Thewords that bestdescribeSamuel— selfless, handy, andloving barely scratchthe sur‐faceofthe impact he had onthe livesofthose around him. Relativesand friends areinvited to visit Greenwood FuneralHome, 5200 CanalBlvd.,New Or‐leans,LA70124, on Friday, November7,2025, starting at11:00 AM.A Memorial Masswillfollowthe visita‐tionat1:00PM. Theburial willbeinGreenwood Cemetery. We also invite you to shareyour thoughts, fond memories and condolencesonlineat www.greenwoodfh.com Your shared memories will helpuscelebrate Samuel’s lifeand keep hismemory alive

It is with great sadness that thefamilyofGail SonnierMessina announcesher passing on Friday, October24, 2025, at the age of 79. Gail wasthe beloved wife of thelateJoseph Charles Messina, with whom she shared 52 wonderfulyears. She wasan incredible mothertoJason CarlMessina (Hong)and Ryan Scott Messina (Jennifer), and aproud and devoted grandmother to TylerMessina (Amanda) and EmilyMessina. Sheisalso survived by herlovingbrother KennethSonnier(Ronnie Kay), andsister,Debbie Camet. Gail waspreceded

After graduating from high schoolinGöttingen, Nina attendeddental schoolinMunich, Germany, butleft to become asuccessful fashion modelinEurope Nina was married in 1957, 68 years ago, to William J. (Bill) Jones, Jr. who survivesher. Nina, throughthe then German consulate, fostered German/American relations, and in 1960, Mayor ChepMorrison, and the NewOrleans City Council,

Guillot, Audrey MaeFioke

Holbrook Tracey, Molly Maud

Hunt Jr., RogerAllen 'The Dodge'

Geiger,

Messina, Gail Sonnier

Gurtner, EllenClaire

Jones, JaninaSchulz Nina

in death by her parents, Lester and Irene Sonnier and her beloved husband, Joseph Charles Messina Gail will be greatly missed by all who knew her. Her spirit and kindness will forever live on in the hearts of those she touched.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend avisitation at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home, 5100 PontchartrainBlvd., on Friday, November 7, 2025, from 10:00 a.m.until 12:00 p.m. Amemorial service in the chapel will follow at noon.

OlivierSr.,Clyde Andreas'Meatball'

ClydeAndreas "Meat‐ball" Olivier, Sr.entered intoeternal rest on Octo‐ber 13, 2025, at theage of 80inNew Orleans, Louisiana,surrounded by his loving familyand friends.The Lord called him home,sayingitwas timetoput thetools away and Clydepeacefullyan‐sweredthatcall. Born on September 1, 1945,tothe lateCharles Warren Olivier, Sr. andGladysHaydel Olivier.Clyde wasa de‐voted husband,father, and grandfather.Heshared61 years of love anddevotion withhis wife,IsabelleSis‐sac Olivier. Together,they built alifefulloflove, re‐spect,and countlessmem‐ories.Clyde wasthe proud fatherofClyde Andreas Olivier,Jr.,Kevin Michael Olivier,Sr.,and Heidi Olivier Coney; theloving grandfather to Tamera Dia‐monique Coney, Kevin Michael Olivier, Jr., and Allen DuaneConey,Jr.;a cherished great-grandfa‐thertoChase DylanSibley, Tia Danielle Jones, and Kal'ElMichael Olivier; a proud step-grandfather to TanjalDabney, Reginald DabneyJr.,RahmanPoree; a caring step-great-grand‐fathertoIsaac Gooden TahjuaLeal, Robert Leal Jr., Ty'TianaJones,and Ty'Nia Jones;a devotedfather-inlaw to AllenDuane Coney, Sr.;and grandfather-in-law toT'Yon Jones. He is also survivedbyhis daughtersin-law, DorothyOlivier and ElveraOlivier,who he con‐sidered familywithdeep affection. He leaves behind his belovedsisters,Lynette Gardner andBetty Ann Jones;his cherishedsis‐ters-in-law BlancheDo‐nato, Patricia Fowler,Helen Haines, andPauline Williams;and hisbrothersin-lawLouis Broussard, Sr JeromeGardner,Albert Range,SamuelFowler, JosephFrank,Michael Frank,Sr.,and Nathen Williams,all of whom were deartohim andwhose loveand supportwillnever beforgotten. Clydewas alsoa proudgodparent to LeahBaptiste, Mark Jones, and Parris Nelson,eachof whomhelda specialplace inhis heart. He is preceded indeath by hisparents, Charles Warren Olivier, Sr and Gladys Haydel Olivier; his sisters, CynthiaRange and SuzetteBroussard;his brothers, CharlesOlivier, Jr. andPhilbertOlivier,Sr. brothers-in-law Richard Jones,JaydelBeard,Sr. Leo Frank, Jr., Jimmie Woods, Sr andKenneth Haines; andsisters-in-law Lucille Frankand Lorraine Frank.Affectionately known as "Meatball," Clyde wasrenownedfor his larger-than-life person‐ality, senseofhumor,and his unwavering love for those closetohim.His family, both immediate and extended,was the heart of hislife, andhis lovefor them will neverbe forgotten. Thefamily would like to extend our heartfelt gratitudetoDr. VerilynJuan, Dr.George Zacharia, Dr.Sarah Or‐doyne,Dr. LeonardGlade, Dr. Clifford Hendricks, every nurse we have en‐countered,and allstaff at Touro LCMC Hospital and PassagesHospice.Your compassionand comfort you provided will be cher‐ished.Relatives and friends of thefamilyare in‐vited to attend Clyde’sCel‐ebrationofLifeService on Monday, November 3, 2025 atSt. Raymondand St.Leo the GreatChurch, 2916 Paris Avenue,New Orleans, LA. Pastor:FatherStanley K.IhuomaSSJ will ofﬁciate. Visitationbeginsat9:00

a.m anda Mass of Christ‐ian Burial will beginat 10:00 a.m. Intermentwill followatSt. Louis#3 Cemetery, 3421 Esplanade Avenue,New Orleans, LA

70119.Clyde’s life was ﬁlled with devotion to fam‐ily,laughter, andcountless cherished memories.He willbedeeply missed by all who were fortunateto knowhim andwereableto experiencehis joy. Profes‐sionalarrangementsen‐trusted to Majestic Mortu‐ary Service, Inc. (504) 5235872.

Sansone, Vittorro Roch 'Vito'

Vittorro “Vito” Roch Sansone wasbornonSep‐tember13, 1993, at South‐ern BaptistHospitalinNew Orleans,Louisiana.A life‐longresidentofNew Or‐leans,hegrewupinthe 8th Ward’s St.Rochneigh‐borhood.Following Hurri‐caneKatrina,helived in Watsonand Denham Springs,Louisiana,for four years before spending three yearsinLos Angeles, California. Vito attended Audubon Montessori,Res‐urrection Elementary CoghillElementary, Edward Hynes Elementary,Holy Cross, OakHills Middle, and NewOrleans Interna‐tionalCharter School.Vito had apassion fortravel, skateboarding video games,music,and cook‐ing.Heloved raisingchick‐ens andhad abig heartfor animals.A sports enthusi‐ast,heplayedfootballasa widereceiverand baseball asa pitcher, ﬁrstbaseman, and center ﬁelderfor Lake‐view Baseball.Above all, Vitowas theproud andde‐voted father of hisdaugh‐ter,VioletRose, his“Pride and Joy,”along with her mother, Teraneshia.He alsoshareda specialbond withhis “fur family”— the lateFrostyand Grizley Gumbo,and Rocky. He is survivedbyhis loving par‐ents, Maricia“Tookey BloodwirthSansone and James “Big Jimmy” San‐soneIV. Vito waspreceded indeath by hisbrother James “Lil Jimmy” Sansone V;his grandparents,Mari‐etta “Yo-Yo”Ally Blood‐wirth andYvonne Gerard Sansone Michel;and greatgrandparentsSorrob Ally (Myrtle Desdunes), Watt Bloodwirth (Thelma Bardell),James Sansone (Antoinette Matranga), and Charles Gerard (Marie Douseau). He is also sur‐vived by hisgrandfather Clyde “Blood” Bloodwirth, and alarge,lovingex‐tendedfamily, including: Auntsand uncles Shelly Sansone,DebbieLaRocca MarciaBloodwirth(Eddie), Cherita Adams(Michael) MonicaRobiho(Melvin), Alyson Walton (Ty) Cosetta Bradford (Sean), Charles SansoneSr. (Mar‐garet), Robert SansoneSr. (Paulette,Mirta,Belinda Margarita); Milton Ally (Jean); anda host of cousins includingJohnDu‐partSr, theDupart/Martin Family, Lisa,Kathy,Nicole, Sheena, Alvin, Elizabeth, Charles Jr Joseph M, Patri‐cia,Robert“Tito,” Gino‐vanni,Soryia, LilRobert, Sonja,Christian,EddieJr., Steven, Joshua Dominick Giovanni, Marcus,Dallen, Jolie,Tylar,Camden, Han‐nah,Sarah,Jadah,Hailey, Kingston, Ivy, ShannonJr., Carter, Benton,Grayson StevenJr.,Mila,Wonona, MarvinJr.,JosephM Judy‐lynn, Irving Jr,Angel and manymorefromnearand far.Vitowas also closeto his childhood friend,the lateGrant Jayson Wei‐damen,and leaves behind countless friendsand loved ones across Louisiana,Georgia,Texas Chicago, NewJersey, Den‐ver,Washington, andCali‐fornia. Vito will be remem‐bered forhis bright smile adventurous spirit,and the love he poured into his familyand friends. His laughter, kindness,and en‐ergytouched everyone who knew him, andhis memorywillliveonforever inthe hearts of thosewho loved himmost. Relatives and friendsare invitedto visit BlessedFrancis Xavier Seelos, 3037 Dauphine Street,New Orleans, LA 70117, on Wednesday, No‐vember5,2025, starting at 9:00AM. AFuneralMass willfollowthe visitation at 10:00 AM.The burial will be inSt. Patrick#1Cemetery. Wealsoinviteyou to share yourthoughts, fond memo‐ries, andcondolences on‐lineatwww.greenwoodfh com.Yoursharedmemo‐ries will help us celebrate

Vito’s life andkeep his memoryalive

Schluter,Jack Lawrence 'John'

Jack “John” Lawrence Schluterentered into eter‐nal rest on October28, 2025, at theage of 93 Beloved husband of the lateGladysCarney Schluter, to whomhewas devoted for55years.Lov‐ing father of KarenBucher (Patrick),Amy Piazza (Michael),Laura Bonanno (Gary), John Schluter (Alisa),and Alan Schluter (Nicole). Cherishedgrand‐fatherofAmandaBetan‐court (Carlos),Brendan Pi‐azza, Meagan Maffei (Stephen),Christopher Bo‐nanno,Amber Cain (Christopher),Kasey Eaton (Jonathan), Johnathon Schluter, Jack Schluter,Eva Schluter, andthe late Patrick Bucher,Jr. Proud great-grandfather of Addi‐son,Andrew, Jax, Quinn, Grace,Whit, Jonathan Jr., Hudson, Gabriel, andSa‐vannah. Sonofthe late Vi‐vianSchluterand Janie CashinSchluter, and brother of Mary Palmer and thelateJeanMonteil Heisalsosurvivedbynu‐merousnieces, nephews, and friendswho will for‐everrememberhis kind‐nessand quietstrength. A nativeofMobile,ALand longtimeresidentofTerry‐town, LA,Jackwas aproud veteran of theUnited StatesArmy, servinghon‐orablyasa Second Lieu‐tenantduringthe Korean War.Jack’slifewas de‐ﬁnedbydevotion—ﬁrst and foremost to hisfaith and hisfamily. Alifelong Catholic,hewas aman of deep andsteadyfaith who lived theGospelthrough his servicetoothers. As a dedicated member of the St. VincentdePaulSociety, heassistedfamilies in need,stocked thefood pantry, andtirelessly fundraised forthe annual Walkfor thePoor.For his manyyears of humbleser‐vice, he wasawarded the St. LouisMedallion by the Archdiocese of NewOr‐leans in 2015. He wasalso a proudmemberofthe Knights of Columbus Coun‐cil 6870 at Christ theKing Church andattended daily Massfaithfully until his healthnolongerallowed him to do so.Jack’sdevo‐tionextendeddeeply to his family. Afterthe passingof his belovedGladys, he vis‐itedher graveevery day until he couldnolonger drive—anenduringtesta‐menttohis love andloy‐alty. As afather, grandfa‐ther, andgreat-grandfa‐ther, he took greatpride in all of theiraccomplish‐ments andwas asteady presenceand constant sourceofsupport.He never missedanopportu‐nitytocelebrate life’s mile‐stones—graduations, sports games, dance recitals, andspecial family moments.His children and grandchildren adored and admired himnot only for his wisdom andquiet humor butfor theexample heset:a life builtonfaith, integrity,and uncondi‐tionallove. Aman of re‐markableintellect,Jack had alifelongpassion for learning. An Englishmajor atSpringHillCollege,his studies were interrupted whenhewas called to serve during theKorean War,yet hisloveoflan‐guage andliteratureen‐dured throughout hislife. Hewas agiftedwriterwith elegant handwritingand a keen editor’s eye, always ready to help hisfamily craft everything from school essays to doctoral dissertations.Known for completingeventhe toughestcrossword puz‐zleswithease, Jack pos‐sesseda sharpmind matchedonlybyhis hum‐

blespiritand quickwit.His familyand friendswillfor‐everrememberhis kind‐ness, hisintelligence, and his unwavering faith.Jack leavesbehinda legacy of love, service, anddevotion thatwillliveoninthe heartsofall who were blessedtoknowhim.The familywould like to ex‐press theirheartfelt appre‐ciation to allthose who lovinglycared fortheir Dad overthe last fewmonths. Relatives andfriends of the family, as well as members ofthe KnightsofColumbus Council 6870 andSt. Vin‐centdePaulSociety,are invited to attend theFu‐neral Mass in theChapelof Mothe FuneralHome, 2100 WestbankExpressway, Harvey, LA,onTuesday,No‐vember4,2025, at 1:30 PM Intermentwillfollowat WestlawnMemorialPark Cemetery, Gretna,LAwith militaryhonors. Visitation willbeheldfrom11:00 AM until theRosaryService at 1:00PM, followed by Mass In lieu of ﬂowers, memorial donations maybemadeto the American HeartAsso‐ciation

LeilaFlournoy Schumacher, 95, of New Orleans, passedaway peacefully on October 24, 2025.

Leilawas born February 2, 1930, in NewOrleans to Charles Priestley"Peggy" Flournoy and Mildred HollidayFlournoy. She married Carl J. Schumacher, Jr., with whom she raised five children before they went their separatewayslater in life

She is preceded in death by her former husband, Carl Schumacher; her daughter, Katherine Holliday"Holly" Schumacher Seckel; and her son, Steven Stone Schumacher.

She is survivedbyher sons, Carl David Schumacher(Ann), Robert PriestleySchumacher, and Gerald "Jerry" Flournoy Schumacher (Linda). She is also survivedbyher grandchildren: Katie and William, Jackson, Madison, andJourdan, and Emily, Ryan, Hannah, Culloden, and Noah, as well as her son-in-law,Rich Seckel.

Leilalived alifedefined by compassion and resolve.She graduated from Louise S. McGeheeSchool in 1947 and earnedher degree in EarlyChildhood Educationfrom Newcomb College in 1951. Whileat Newcomb,she was amemberofPiBetaPhi sorority, aswimming instructor at Holly Day Camp in Audubon Park, and a teacher at theNewcomb Nursery School. Herlove and devotion to caring for others were evident from an earlyage

The epitome of amatriarch, Leila's Nashville Avenue family home was known forbeing asanctuary forboth family and friends, asort of delicate balance of chaos and love Her boys kepther on her toes, whileHolly kept her grounded.Leila pursueda new professional chapter. She enrolled at Soule Business College,where she learned to type, and went on to earnher ParalegalCertificate from Tulane University in 1983 throughevening and summer classes. Applying these new skills, she worked at Schumacher Law Corporationinmany capacities, including paralegal, secretary, and

bookkeeper.

Neverone to settle, she went on to work as a Development Associateat theAudubon Institute, whereshe discovered a newmeaninginbutterflies.From1999 to 2012, she served as Executive Director of the Women's Professional Councilof NewOrleans,and then led theNew OrleansEstate PlanningCouncil as Executive Director untilher well-earned retirement in 2015. We could all only hope for alifeand career so well lived

Leiladeeply treasured thespiritualcommunity she found at Trinity Episcopal Church,where herfaithand close friendships developedover many years. She served as agreeter,a memberofthe Newcomer Committee,and aleader in both theDOCC andStephenMinistry. She wasalso active with the Solomon Episcopal Conference Center as a member of itsBoardof Directorsand Board of Visitors.

Anyonewho had the pleasure of meeting Leila knew she wasgracious yet sincere. Shebroughta certain care andattentiveness to everyinteraction andher ability to connect with people wasunmatched. Most of all,she treasured time with her family, andneverpassed up thechancetogive or receiveone of herfamously bighugs. To hergrandchildren, she will always be "Gramby."

Funeral serviceswillbe held at Trinity Episcopal Church,1329 Jackson AvenueinNew Orleans, on Tuesday, Nov 11, 2025, at 11:00AM. Gravesideservice to follow at Lake Lawn ParkCemetery,5454 Pontchartrain Blvd in New Orleans, at 1:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers, donationsmay be made in Leila's name to Trinity Episcopal Church or to A's &Aces, aNew Orleans nonprofit, founded by her son David, whose mission she proudlychampioned.

To view andsignthe familyguestbook, please visit lakelawnmetairie.com

AndrewParrSellers,Sr. of Mandeville,La., passed away on October27, 2025. He wasbornonFebruary 4, 1947, in NewOrleans and hadbeen aresident of Mandeville for the past 26 years. He was theson of thelateRoy Nolen Sellers, Sr., andEvelyn ParrSellers He is survived by hiswife of 56 years, Jeanie Ann Mailhes Sellers, and their threechildren: Andrew ParrSellers,Jr. (Dr. Denise Powers) of Baton Rouge, Sean Thomas Sellers (Stephanie Frisch)of Algiers, and ErinSellers Patrick(Michael Patrick) of Decatur, Georgia. His brother, RoyN.Sellers,Jr., resides in Kenner along See more

with hisfamily. "Papa" had fivegrandsons and one granddaughter: Thomas Sellers, AndrewSellers,III, PatrickSellers,Graham Sellers, Ian Patrick, and AnniePatrick. Andrewgraduated from Fortier High School in 1965 and receivedhis B.S. and B.A. from theUniversityof SouthwesternLouisianain Lafayette. As an athlete at Fortier,Andrew earnedthe nickname "Handy Andy," andheletteredfor three consecutive years in Baseball,Football, and Track.AtUSL,hewas a proudmember of an intramural sportsteam named "TheWimps." He wasa tenorand bass player for theMary, Queen of Peace Catholic Church Choirin Mandeville andformerly at St.Matthew theApostle Catholic Church in River Ridge.Andrewplayedbass professionally for the "Peace of Cake" jazzgroup outofMandeville for several years. He wasanactive member of theMen's Spirituality Group, avolunteer at theSamaritan Center Food Bank, and an active memberofthe SAM ministry, all through MQP church.Hefrequentlyattended religiousretreats at Manresa Retreat House in Convent, La. Hisfavorite past timesweretraveling, playing music,and golf, andhewas an active and proudmember of theOver TheMountain AthleticClub (OTMAC)for 25 years. He hadparticipated in the Greater NewOrleans Senior Olympics. In the 1970s, he came in second place in aCity-wide"Super Dad" competition.Inthe early 1980s, he hadtried out, alongwith hundreds of area softball players, for what wassupposedtobe theNew OrleansPelicans professional underhand hard pitch softballteam. He made the27-man roster, but theleaguewas cancelled priortoany games beingplayed. His highly successfulsales andmarketing career included employmentwith Xerox, Bausch and Lomb, andMedtronic. Andrew wasinfluentialininstructingnumerous physicians toward improvingtheir surgical skills andimplementing newtechniquesin Ophthalmology and Neurosurgery.Andrewalso ownedand managed SellersSurgical. He had been theFacilitator for a GA meeting at St Timothy'sChurch in Mandeville for over 10 years. Andrewwas agood Father, Husband, Provider, Athlete,and Friend. Relativesand friends are invited to attendthe memorial mass at Mary, Queen of PeaceCatholic Church,1501 WCauseway Approach, Mandeville,LA on Monday, November 3, 2025 at 11:00 AM, withvisitationbeginningat10:00 AM untilservice time.In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests adonation to Mary, Queen of Peace Church or to yourfavorite charity in memory of AndrewSellers,Sr. E. J. Fielding Funeral Home hasbeen entrusted with thearrangements. Please sign the online guestbook at www.ejfieldingfh.com

Schumacher, Leila Flournoy

Sellers Sr., Andrew Parr

OUR VIEWS

Let’scool therhetoric on N.O. finances

Without question, New Orleans ﬁnds itself in adeep ﬁnancial crisis But it is asad day when a city’stroubles are compounded by astate government that should be helping itsincoming mayor succeed.

The city faces a$160-million deficit,aswell as an immediate —and unexpected —cash flow emergency that could make it difficult to make payroll betweennow and January, when it gets some of its tax revenue. Outgoing Mayor LaToya Cantrell said the delay in some federalgrant payouts put the city in abind. To cover some of the shortfall, cityofficials soughtpermissionfrom the Bond Commissiontoissue $125 million in short-term bonds. These bonds would require the city pay ahigher interest rate than it does in most cases. But state officials, who must sign off on such amove, balked. Gov.JeffLandry said the state should ask acourt to appoint afiscal administrator who would have broad power over the city’sfinances and operations.

That move was rejected by New Orleans’ ofﬁcials, including City Council Vice President andMayor-elect Helena Moreno, who said it would amount to “the statecoming in and taking over the city.” The city quickly withdrew its application to issue thebonds, and the relevant state committees, including the Bond Commission and the Fiscal Review Committee, canceledmeetings earlier thisweek.

New Orleans officials said theywould use reserve funds and draw from other sources to cover the deficit. City Council President JP Morrell has said the citywould consider furloughs, even for police and firefighters, as well as other cuts to services. Thebond money, which the city said it would have repaid in January,would have helped keep city workers in their jobs, and approving it wouldn’thave cost the state adime.

New Orleans does need to do abetter job of keeping track of its ﬁnances. To thatend,the council also askedLegislative Auditor Mike Waguespack and the city’sinspector general to probe spending during Cantrell’ssecond term. Clearly,the city’ssituation is dire. But we believe the approachtaken by Landry and others is the wrong one, especially now,when Moreno and three new council members will take ofﬁce in just over two months.

New Orleans voters spoke decisively when they elected Moreno, and she has earned respect and cooperation, not animosity,from those at the state level. And recent examples show the value of working together for both parties. One need only look at the infrastructure improvementsin the run-up to this year’sSuper Bowl and the positive effect that Troop Nola has had in helping the New Orleans Police Department ﬁght crime.

This productive relationship hasn’tjust been aboon to New Orleans; it’s benefited the state as awhole. Indeed, Landry touted prior initiatives as away to bolster Louisiana’svital tourism economy and other business sectors. As the governor himself said when he announced the Super Bowl investments, “the story of New Orleans is the story of Louisiana.” Moreno, for her part, has signaled awillingness to be more collegial than her predecessor We believe she deserves achance to fix the situation she’sinheriting. To kneecap her administrationbefore it even takes office disrespects the citizens who overwhelmingly elected her in October

That’swhy we urge ofﬁcials to tone down the rhetoric and work toward asolution that recognizes the problem but leaves New Orleans’ elected leaders ﬁrmly in charge. Solving abudget crisis is atough job; unnecessary bickering does not help.

Reflection on theBuckley centennial

Do you have any William F. Buckley Jr.stamps? As Itravel to different cities this fall, this has become my routine. Findapost ofﬁce and buy somestamps. Imay go broke on Bill Buckley stamps, but there are worse ways to spend money.Nov.24marks what would be Bill’s100th birthday.And while it would obviously be abig deal at National Review,the magazine he founded, therelease of a U.S. “forever” postage stamp has madeitsomething of abigger occasion.

ﬁed man beyond anypower of the emperors and gold seekers and legions of soldiers and slaves: astar that implanted in each oneofusthat essence that separates us from the beasts, and tellsusthat we were madeinthe imageofGod and were meant to be free.”

Oneofmyfavorite Buckley speeches is one he called “What Americanism Seeks to Be,” which heincluded in a 2,000 volume of talks, “Let Us Talk of Many Things.” In it,heemphasizes that the “majesty” of the United States Constitution has to do withitnot puttingprohibitions on people, but on the government.Ithonors human freedom —agift given by God —and is set up to ensure and promote it.

In Buckley’sreﬂections on America’s beginnings, he went right to Bethlehem.The Bill of Rightsitself, in particular,hesaid, “grew out of along, empirical journey,and “the eternal spark of which, of course, traces to Bethlehem, to that star that magni-

Of course. Andyet, lost in whatever the media frenzy of theday might be, this sure can seem like aforeign concept. It reminds us that politics is not themost important thing there is. That’sthe reason, in fact, that theConstitution does what it does. For this whole American experiment to work, we need virtuous people. That doesn’tmean that everyone must be a believer.This doesn’tmean that every believer must be Christian or subscribe to one of the Abrahamic faiths. It means that we need people whovalue bigger thingsthan just themselves.

In celebrating Buckley’s100th, I ﬁnd myself thinking about Playboy Which seems somewhat quaint. One of the crucial relationships of Bill’s life, it could be argued, was the one he had withHugh Hefner,the founder of Playboy.Bill would famously joke that he did an interview forPlayboy so that he could reach his son. Bill had Hefner on his “Firing Line” public-affairs

show,but on Buckley’sterms —WFB madeclear he considered Playboy and its philosophy acultural detriment, mostespecially to the human family.Inturn, Hefner invited Bill to write forPlayboy.So, what did Buckley write about forPlayboy? Virtue! Charity! Perhaps the last topics you might expect in that magazine, whose philosophy wasmore about radical individualistic pleasure and utilitarian relationships —especially the exploitation of women for men’s play It’s all important, because we are not meanttolive forourselves. Life and love involve sacrifice; they often depend on it. As Istop at another post office and dorkily ask foranother sheet of William F. Buckley Jr.stamps, that’swhy I’mdoing it. Because the moreweremember what we are truly about —beyond the possibly inane debate of the day —the better we will all be. And if you can brighten another person’s day with asurprise postcard from the road, even better.Itmay not be your mostimportant action, but it is acommitment to our nation’sfounding principles —tolook beyond selfish desires to see afuller view of life.

Email Kathryn Jean Lopez at klopez@ nationalreview.com.

Questionsand criticismare welcomed

While we don’thave the capacity to answer all the questions we receive from readers, we do trytoanswer them when necessary In theletters, readers often voice skepticism about how we determine what’s ﬁt to publish. I welcome these concerns. Part of thereason Iwritethis column is to answer questions from readers that we can’talways respond to individually It is our goal to have aforum where readers can express their opinions. Sometimes, letters suggest that we will not publish criticisms of our reporting or of our Opinions section. Butthat is far from thecase. We welcome critics and supporters alike. Having aconversation about our coverage, as long as it meets our guidelines, is what the Opinion pages are for When we get apitch from readers about whether we would be interested in aguest columnoraletter,Itell them it is generally best to send their letter or the entire piece. We cannot decide

whether an idea is worth sharing on our platforms based on asentence or two. We evaluate the column or letter based on what has been published before and whether the writer has aunique point of view

Andplease understand that it can take weeks forustomake adetermination. We receive a large amount of content that we have to consider.Some issues are more urgent than others. For guest columns, somerequire additional questioning of the writers. We want to make sure that what we publish has merit. Ourreaders expect that. Onequestion that keeps arising is why we don’tpublish letters on Sundays. That is for thesimple reason that Sunday is our largest circulation day in print, so some might expect that lettersonSundays carry extra weight. All ourlettersfrom readers have value, and we do notwant anyone to assume that someormore important than others. Even letters from pub-

lic ofﬁcials go through our process and are on equal footing with letters from the public, though if alawmaker writes about legislation that is imminent, we maychoose to present that to you while the issue is being discussed. Turning to our letters inbox, forthe week of Sept. 25-Oct. 2, we received 57 letters. The issue of the National Guard being deployed to U.S. cities, and potentially New Orleans, continued to be a top concern. We received ﬁve letters on the subject, both supporting and opposing the use of troops. We also received three letters each on the following topics: the administration’ssuggestion that use of Tylenol by pregnant women could be asource of autism, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’scalling generals and admirals to a meeting in Virginia and the content of our Opinions pages.

Arnessa Garrett is Deputy Editor | OpinionPage Editor.Emailher at arnessa.garrett@theadvocate.com.

Arnessa Garrett

Kathryn Jean Lopez

COMMENTARY

Guns and weed lawshouldgoupinsmoke

Gun laws! Legalized marijuana! In terms of spurring emotional responses pro or con, fewissues have been so consistent for so many decades as those two

Well, please forgive the self-reference, but when a constitutional principle is strong enough to override acolumnist’spreferences and predilections,that’sa signal to pay heed to the principle.

Quin Hillyer

Ihaven’tﬁred agun in decades, andIdon’treally like guns at all. And Ihate pot: I’ve never smoked it, not even once.I despise the smell, and I’ve written dozens of columnsand editorials against its use and legalization.

Still, in acase the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 20 agreed to consider,inappeal of aruling from the New Orleans-based Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the correct application of principle overwhelmingly advises in favor of the stance that is effectively pro-gun and pro-weed.

My distaste forguns and mari-

juana must bow to the Constitution and to common sense. For 13 years, I’ve written on this gun/pot nexus,and finally,the high court will decide it. At issue is afederal law,18 U.S.C.§ 922(g)(3), that makes it afelonyeven to own afirearm or ammunitionfor someone “who is an unlawful userofor addicted to anycontrolled substance.”The law’sclear purpose is to stop major, violent drug running and to keep people from carrying weapons, much lessusing them,while underthe dangerous influence of narcotics.

Alas, though, the law’slanguage is so broad that it can and hasensnared people who smokea single joint in one place —which at most is barely amisdemeanor and is legal underthe laws of numerous states —while their otherwise legalhandgun sits in aclosetmany miles away.Not only is this application of the law self-evidently senseless, as there is no nexus at all between the gun and thejoint, but it alsoshould be seen as an ob-

vious violation of theConstitution. The ﬁrsteight amendments to the Constitutionprotect rights that the American people have deemed to be fundamental.The Supreme Court twice hasheld, rightly Ibelieve,thatthe Second Amendment right to bear arms is indeed aright pertaining to individuals. The high court in hundreds of cases hasmade clear that government can limit afundamental right in particular waysonly after “strict scrutiny,” whichmeansthe limitation must be “narrowlytailored” andbe the “least restrictive means” of achieving a“compellinggovernment interest.” Obviously,alaw withholdingthe fundamental right of gun ownership (not actual use,just ownership), andthus of self-defense, merelybecause someone is allegedly committing amisdemeanor 100 milesaway from thegun, is notanarrowlytailored law using the least restrictivemeans to achieve acompellinggovernmental interest. Those phrases, of course, allowfor some interpre-

tive leeway, but the leeway isn’t even within light-years of how this gun law is written and applied.

Note that the law doesn’tsay it appliesonly to people convicted of drug use, or those medically treated for addiction, or any other formal ﬁnding that could be used to take away an otherwise fundamental right after giving proper notice to the individual affected. Instead, the law says, and occasionally has been applied in such a broad way,that any unlawful user may notpossess aﬁrearm.

Consider acomparative situation. If Person Adeliberately lets afriend do the driving so Person Acan drink, and then Person A imbibestwo too many beers and walks on the street while publicly inebriated, that public inebriation is typically amisdemeanor

Imagine if afederal law said that anyact of public inebriation, even if unprosecuted, would disallow the privilege of owning acar which, if misused, obviously can be adangerous piece of equipment —even if the car wasn’tin

use that night. The public would howl in outrage, and correctly so. Yetacar, unlike ownership of abasic weapon for self-defense in one’shome, isn’tpart of afundamental right explicitly mentioned in the Constitution. By analogy,then, how can it even make sense, muchless be constitutional, to allow the government to charge someone with afelony for mere possession of a constitutionally protected device, just because he puffed on adoobie 100 milesaway?

The case before the Supreme Court, U.S. v. Hemani, should be an easy one. The law,asapplied in many cases and in the broadness of its actual language, is patently unconstitutional. If Congress wants to salvage its original intent, it should be forced to rewrite that particular provision. Otherwise, anyone reading the current version might think its legislative drafters were smoking something.

Email Quin Hillyer at quin hillyer@theadvocate.com

Theone name that matterswon’t be on the’26 ballot

Louisiana will choose aUnited States senatorabout ayear fromnow,and here’s the current state of play: Democratscan’t ﬁnd acandidate. And Republicans can’t seem to agree on one.

Let’stake those one by one.

Stephanie Grace

Last month, Democrats got entirely expected bad news from former Gov John Bel Edwards when he said he would not run. Not so long ago, Edwards would have been acentral casting candidateregardless of his party,assomeone who has won the highest statewide ofﬁce twice and who left with plenty of goodwill. But even he admits that’s not enough to overcome what has become one of the most immovable obstacles in politics these days: the fact that so many voters treat congressional elections as national referenda on the parties—ormore speciﬁcally,onPresident Donald Trump. Edwards can easily tick off examples of minority party governors like him who’ve lost Senate races,such as Maryland Republican Larry Hogan and Montana Democrat Steve Bullock, both popular chief executives who fell far short when they offered themselvesupfor service in aCapitol where the only thing that often matters is whether acandidatewould empower Trump or stand up to him.

Alsobeggingoff is stateSen. Jay Luneau of Alexandria, avocal but farlower-

proﬁle Democrat than Edwards.Hesaid he’sgot little appetite for Washington partisanship, which is pretty much theonly thing on the menu anymore. With six declared candidates and perhaps more to come, Republicans don’t have adearth of options. What they do have is amuddle of aﬁeld.

This conversation begins with secondterm U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy,who in any normal year would be an insurmountable favorite but who now has thedistinction of being both the front-runner and ahot mess. In his favor are the trappings of incumbency: Amassive campaign account approaching $10 million, amajor committee chairmanship, arecord of passing meaningful legislation that beneﬁted the state and endorsements from his party’s majority leader,John Thune of South Dakota, and the head of the Senatecampaign committee, TimScott of South Carolina, as well as some noteworthyLouisiana Republicans.

Andyet the stench of desperation is strong, ever since Cassidy voted his conscience in 2021 to convict Donald Trump for inciting theJan. 6attack on Congress, only towatch him return to power four years later

This onceproudBaton Rouge physician came off as nothing but desperate when he handed Trump thedecisive vote to conﬁrm amanifestly unqualiﬁed and dangerous conspiracy theorist to manage —some would fairly say dismantle —our

nation’spublic healthand research infrastructure.

That and what has become constant groveling —nominating Trump foraNobel Prize, boasting of being invited to the WhiteHouse (two days in arow!), showing off his autographed Gulf of America hat —are big turnoffs to those who expected better,yet they’ve done little to mend fences with those who won’tforget his one transgression.

Cassidy alsofaces anew party primary designed largely to highlight his impeachment vote, and ahost of candidates eager to be theone to capitalizeonitand proceed to the November generalelection against whatever candidate the Democrats manage to scrounge up.

StateTreasurer John Fleming of Minden

was ﬁrst to announce,but if he hopedto scareoff the anti-Cassidy competition, the parade of subsequent announcements put thatnotiontorest. Soon camestate Sen. Blake MiguezofNew Iberia, and Public ServiceCommissionerEric Skrmetta of Metairie, andSt. Tammany Parish Councilmember Kathy Seiden. The newest entrant is state Rep. Julie Emerson of Carencro,a high-proﬁle chair of the Ways andMeanscommitteeand authorofseveral ideological bills thatshould playwell with GOP voters. The waythings aregoing, she might not be the last.

Cassidy may well enjoy watching all these wannabes ﬁght among themselves. On the otherhand, maybe it doesn’tmatterthatthe ﬁeld is splintered, because in a primary in whicheveryone is aconservative,they’ve allgot the same cardtoplay: The Trump one. If you believe Cassidy’sunforgivable sin is thathedidn’tback Trump’slies aboutthe 2020 election results or horrendous actions that fateful day —and if you’re playing to apartisan-by-design electoratewhere many voters believe that too— thenthe waytorun against him is to prove you’d never, ever do that. So honestly,nomatter how many other Republicans sign up, it’ll be all about Trump. These days, it just always is. Email Stephanie Grace at sgrace@ theadvocate.com.

TheseLouisiana Republicansmay notbered enough

If you think Louisiana is aruby red state with ruby red conservative congressional representatives, think again.

Not so, says one of the nation’s most conservative groups According to the Institutefor Legislative Analysis,yes, Louisianacongressional representatives have decent to good conservative records, but there are better even far better —conservative representatives in the nation. Using arevised Republican policy voting alignment system, ILA —identifying as anonpartisan, conservative nonprofit —used the 2024 RepublicanParty platform to go beyond other Republican scorecards. AccordingtoILA, their scorecardwas produced after “analyzing thousandsofpages of congressional journals, legislativetexts, fiscal notes, andofficial documents to identify every substantive roll call vote related to the Republican platform.”

Will Sutton

him? Start with former U.S. Sen. JD Vance. He got the group’shighestranking at 97.67%. That’sless than3%off of aperfect score. Guess that worked well for him. He’snow Vice President Vance. Apparently thereare enough people in Higgins’ district who think it’sOKwhen he says morally embarrassing, wacko thingslike American SNAP recipients should have amonth of groceries in their pantriesand not collect more beneﬁts unless they “stop smoking crack.”

lican stronglyidentiﬁed across our state as ahard-core conservative. With aratingof84.96%, he deﬁnitely makes the cut.But I would’vethought he’d be ranked higher based on our Louisiana perceptions Youmightnot believe this,but thenext highest-ranking Louisiana politician is theman who’s themaster of the ah-shucks, I’mone-of-you, sound bitepersona, U.S. Sen. JohnKennedy.He’s ranked No. 114, barely getting by thedesired mark with arating of 80.60%. That’sborderline. That’sitfor those who meet McGowan’s thresholdof80%.

76.12%. I’m OK with the calmer of our two U.S. senators falling below thedesired threshold, but Idon’tthink manyinthe Republican base like seeing that number Iguessthat’swhy he’sgot several challengers who want his job. Not far behind him,coming in at No. 169isU.S. Rep. Julia Letlow,R-Start. She has a75% rating. Maybe that’swhy she’snot jumped in to challenge Cassidy for his seat.

Of our six congressional representatives and our two U.S. senators, only one makes the Top50, and he barely makes the list. Coming in at No. 50 is U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Lafayette. He almost hit a90% rating withan 89.35% score. Who’s ahead of

Rounding outthe Top 5were U.S. Rep.Andy Biggs, R-Arizona, at 97.27%; U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, 97.10%; U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, 97.01% and U.S. Rep. Chip Roy,RTexas, 96.96%. Though it makesmewince, ILA CEO Ryan McGowan told me on WBOKthathe’spleased to see congressional leaders with that level of conservative consistency He considers 80% the floor for anyone who is areal conservative, not based on party affiliation. Below that, he said, is dangerous territory.Really? Let’slook at more of our Louisiana elected officials. Coming in at No. 76 is House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, anorthwestern Louisiana Repub-

Soooo, who’smissing themark?

U.S. Rep.SteveScalise, R-Metairie, has a77.38% rating, getting him intothe No. 144 position. Yes, themajority leader.Yes, the manwho is thechief Republican strategistinthe House, carefully managingthe ﬂow of bills and ensuring party members vote together on key legislation andﬁnding waystobuild coalitions and consensustomake sure that the party gets what it wants

Well, maybe he doesn’tcount himselfinthat number sometimes. The next highest-ranking Louisiana Republican, coming in at No. 156, is U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy,R-Baton Rouge,witha ranking of,gulp,

Iwouldn’texpect our two Democratic congressional representatives to get an ILA score anywhere close to Letlow’sand theothers. U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, did quite poorly with ILA.

He ranks at No. 383 with ascore of only 7.12%. Notsurprising for aDemocrat representing a more progressive district. U.S. Rep.Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, wasn’t included on the scorecard becausehis district is new and the data was based on the ﬁscal year that includes January-December 2024.

Without naming names, ILA points out that moretraditional scorecards produced by advocacy organizations and think tanks often use limited subsets of votes and aren’tmore inclusive. “(T)his methodology includes all pertinent votes, thus preventing cher-

ry-picking and providing aholistic picture of congressional actions,” ILA says on its website. Adifferent but related setof ILA data looks at how effective congressional leaders are with the group’slimited government interest. That ranking system uses the group’sviewoftruelimited government as the guide. Usingthat measurement, here’show our state’scongressional representatives,including one whose seat Fields now holds ranked:

54. Clay Higgins, 86.71%

88. MikeJohnson, 81.74%

149. Steve Scalise,74.18%

177. Julia Letlow,70.88%

184. GarretGraves,70.30%

192. John Kennedy,68.57%

238. Bill Cassidy,60.92%

427. Troy Carter,6.05%

As much as we think we’re one of the most conservative states in the South and in the nation, clearlywe’renot. Adeeper look at the records of our lawmakers showsthey’renot. Maybe that’sa good thing. Maybe,just maybe,wehave a chance to seemoreofthem slip belowthat80% threshold and come closer to wheremoreof us are.

Email Will Sutton at wsutton@ theadvocate.com.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILEPHOTO

U.S. Sen.Bill Cassidy, R-La

Regional Summary

DEATHS continued from

Patricia AnnAudler

Speirer,lovinglyknown as Patty,age 70, passedaway peacefullywithher hus‐bandbyher side on Octo‐ber 30, 2025, at St.Tam‐manyParishHospital. Born onAugust2,1955, in New Orleans,Louisiana,Patty was thebeloved daughter ofElliott andEvelynAu‐dler. ShegrewupinNew Orleans andattendedSa‐credHeart Academy, where hervibrant person‐alityand love forlifebegan toshine.Patty was a woman of many talents and passions.Over the years,she worked as a cosmetologist,anaerobics instructor, andanadminis‐trative assistantatPanAmericanLifeInsurance Group.Her creativity,en‐ergy, andcompassion shone throughinevery‐thing shedid.Whether she was helpingsomeone feel beautiful,motivatingoth‐ers to stay active,or brightening theoffice with her laughter,Patty touched countless lives withher warmth andposi‐tivity. Shehas been mar‐riedtoher husband,David Speirer,for 38 years, shar‐ing alifefulloflove, laugh‐ter,and adventureto‐gether. Patty faced life withincrediblestrength and grace, especially throughouther coura‐geous battle with pancre‐aticcancerfollowing her diagnosis on Christmas Eve 2024. Despitecountless setbacksand hurdles, she kept fighting,withfaith, determination,and the sameradiant spirit that definedher entire life.In her finaldays, Patty was surrounded by herhus‐band, David, who stayed faithfullybyher side every day,along with herde‐voted children,grandchil‐dren, andvisitsfromloved ones. Herfamilyisdeeply gratefulfor thetimethey had to feel herwarmth, to holdher hand,listentoher favoritemusic,and fill the room with love andlaugh‐terastheycherished every

precious moment together

Those who knew Patty will rememberher as someone who trulylived.She loved dancing always the first one on thedance floor (or creatingone if there wasn’t).Music washer constantcompanion,and concerts, fashion,and good timeswithfamilyand friends filledher life with color.Her happiest mo‐ments were spentwithher family, especially her grandchildren,who were her prideand joy. Sheen‐couragedthemtodream big andchase theirpas‐sions,justasshe always did.Patty’s spirituality was atthe center of herlife. She prayed dailywithun‐waveringfaith andbe‐lieveddeeplyinthe power ofloveand Heaven’s promise.Thatfaith gave her strength throughevery challenge andpeace in knowing shewould one day be reunitedwithher loved ones who went be‐foreher.She is survived by her loving husband,David Speirer;her daughters, AmandaLaurenSpeirer AshleyGuidryDimitri,and TaraLynnGuidry; hersis‐ters, BeaQuaintanceand ToniCancienne;and her cherished grandchildren, Isabella GraceRoberts, LukeJosephDimitri,Aiden Christian Feeand Alysse Gabrielle Fee. Pattyispre‐ceded in deathbyher fa‐ther, ElliottAudler; her mother, Evelyn Audler;her grandparents, BerniceZim‐mer Mayeaux, Curley Mayeaux,Ellen Tujague, and Edward Audler;her sister, Kim Audler Davis; and hergranddaughter Madison Alysse Fee. Avisi‐tationand memorial ser‐vicewillbeheldonTues‐day,November4,2025, at Greenwood FuneralHome, 5200 CanalBlvd, NewOr‐leans,LA70124. Visitation for family will be from 4:30 p.m.to5:30p.m., followed bypublicvisitationbegin‐ningat5:30p.m.The ser‐viceinthe chapel will begin at 7:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donationscan be madeinPatty’s name to the Pancreatic Cancer Ac‐tionNetwork (https:// pancan.org/about-us/) or toSt. Jude Children’s Re‐searchHospital(https:// www.stjude.org).Patty will forever be remembered for her laughter,her bold spirit, andher boundless lovefor herfamilyand friends.Her lightwillcon‐tinue to shineinthe hearts ofall who were blessedto knowher.Wealsoinvite you to shareyour thoughts, fond memories, andcondolences online at

www greenwoodfh.com

Yoursharedmemorieswill helpuscelebrate Patty’s lifeand keep hermemory alive

Trapani, Belverdere Damare

Damare

Belverdere

Trapani,age 85, passed away peacefullysurrounded by her family on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, in Jefferson, LA.She wasborn on August 18, 1940, in NewOrleans, LA,to thelateJohn Laplace Damare and Carmel Jobe Damare.Aftergraduating fromAlcee Fortier High School, Belver worked for William B. Reilly & Companyand later worked forthe William B. Coleman Company, where she retired. She was trained on some of thefirst IBMsystems and tookprideinher career. Belverloved to sew and had an eye for beautiful fabrics. She enjoyed shopping,spending time with her daughter and grandchildren, and traveling to theGulf Coast with her beloved latehusband, Gaspar. She leavesbehind to cherish her memories her daughter, Tracey Schiro and her husband John; grandchildren, Jude Schiro and Gianna Schiro; sister, Paulette Matta; brother, AlvinDamare; sister-in-lawJoann Dominguez and her husband Robert John. Also survivedbyher nieces and nephews, WilliamJudson, Jr., Gina (Scott)Brothers, Lisa (Max) Chotto, Louis (Heidi) Judson, Robin (Chad)Savoieand Nick Matta; and ahost of other relatives and friends. Belverwillforeverbein theheartsofthose who lovedher. She is preceded in death by her parents; her husband; her sister, Deborah Damare Orlando; sister-in-law, Antionette Trapani Judson and her late husband,William

Judson,Sr. Thank youto theMemory Care Teamat The BlakeatColonialClub for thewonderfuland loving care they provided Belver, as wellasthe OchsnerPalliative and Hospice Teamthatprovided so much care and comfort in her final days. Relatives and friends are invitedtoattend aFuneral Mass at 12:00 PM on Wednesday, November 5, 2025 at St. Francis of Assisi Church, 631 State Street, NewOrleans, LA 70118. Visitation willbeginat 10:30 AM. Interment willbe in Greenwood Cemetery. In lieu of flowers,pleasecelebrateBelver's Memory by donating to Ochsner Philanthropy, Alzheimer's Innovation Fund,1514 Jefferson Hwy. Suite 1E617, NewOrleans, LA 70121 or by http://Ochsner.org/belv ertrapani. Arrangements entrusted to TharpFuneral Home.Expressionsoflove and sympathy may be placedand viewedat www.tharpcares.com.

Uchello,Elizabeth A. ElizabethAnn Uchello passed away on Sunday, October26, 2025 in New Orleans, LA.She was 78 and preceded by her parentsOscar Paul Nagel, Jr. and Hilda Elizabeth(Rigis) Nagel

Lizwas bornonJune 9, 1947 in Philadelphia, PA Due to her father's various deploymentswhileserving in theU.S.Navy, her childhoodwas spent in Bainbridge,MD, Honolulu, HI,Algiers, LA, Washington, D.C., Waco,TX and Rockville, MD.

Lizset permanent roots in NewOrleans when she attended Loyola University. She immediately lovedthe colors, contrasts and quirky aspects of this city. That proved enduring and she remained here for therest of her life Lizreceivedher BS Degree from Loyolain1969 and aM.Ed Degree from UNOin1974. From19791980 she also pursued Graduate Studiesin Psychology at UNO. From1973-1979 Liz served as theProgram Director and an Asst. ProfessoratLSU School of Dental Hygiene in New Orleans. Fornearlya decade she worked as a Dental Hygienist at various privatedentalpractices in thecity.

In 1989 Lizleft thedentalprofession and became aClinical Research

Coordinator.After gaining proficiency in the industry, Liz launchedher ownbusiness in Januaryof2001. For the next twenty-twoyears she successfullyran her ownresearch facility, makingscoresofenduring professionaland personal relationships alongthe way Liz first marriedSammy UchelloinJuly of 1970. That unionwas dissolved in 1977. She next married Harry Tabony in 1978. Together they hada son, Alexander Michael Tabony, born July 24, 1981. Ultimatelythatmarriage wasdissolved in Mayof 1988. Liz, by then fiercely independent,would notremarry. Shewould, however,fall in love withSteven Best. Liz andStevenhave happilysharedtheir home hopesand dreams for the past thirty-nineyears. Liz enjoyed goodcompany, diningout, fine wine, stylish clothes andtravel. Shecherished the relationships she hadforged over theyearswithher dearest friends. What pleased her most wastimespent with heradoredgrandsons Connor andDylan.

Thosefortunate enough to have known Liz have lovedher.She treatedacquaintancesasgood friends, andgoodfriends as family. Shewill be greatly missed and forever remembered. Sheissurvivedbyher belovedpartner,Steven Best, herson Michael,his wife Jenee andtheir two children, Dylanand Connor (all of NewOrleans)and hersister,PeggyNagel (of Spokane, WA).

Familymembersand friends are invited to attend servicesatHoly Spirit Church,6201 Stratford Place,New Orleans (Westbank) 70131 on Saturday, November 15, 2025. Visitation 9:30-11:00 a.m. Mass at 11:00 a.m. Following the Mass a Repass will be held at The RedMaple Restaurant, 1036 Lafayette Street in Gretna, LA from 12:30-2:30 p.m.

Huey Pierce Weberwas calledbyhis Creatorinto eternalrest on October23, 2025, at theage of 89 due to metastatic cancer.He wasbornonJune19, 1936, in Garyville,Louisiana and wasthe belovedson of his parents, FrancisWeber andEdnaVicknair Weber. He wasraised and educated in NewOrleans Louisiana attending and graduating from Sts. Peter andPaulCatholic ElementarySchool and Holy CrossHigh School. He lovedHoly Crossand served as itsreunion Chairman(Class of 1954) for everyreunion, twelve times, up to the71st. He also attendedTulaneand Louisiana State Universities.For thelast 52 years he wasa resident of Slidell,Louisianaand a parishionerofSt. Luke the Evangelist Church. He is survived by hiswife,best friendand thelove of his life, SandraValerie Estrade Weberwhomhemet while in theirteens(they were married68years), as well as histhree daughters WendyValerie Weber Datri,and herhusband, John HerbertDatri,Jr., Tracy Ellen Weber Duplechain andSherry Valerie Weber, his five grandchildren, Matthew WeberDuplechain, Lesli Bryn Duplechain,Logan PaulDuplechain, Nicolas Joseph Castanedo and ChristopherGiovanni Castanedo, andhis two great grandchildren, Penelope Ann Duplechain andColt Weber Duplechain.Hewas precededindeathbyhis sisters, Joyce WeberFinley andFrancesWeber Bartholomew,along with theirhusbands, Foley Finleyand Emmet Dedier Bartholomew and their childrenRobert Bartholomew,Wayne Bartholomew,Janelle Bartholomew,Emmet Bartholomew,Sandra Bartholomew andBonnie

Weber, Huey Pierce

Speirer, Patricia AnnAudler

SPORTS

Next nine gameswill shapeSaints’ strategy

BY MATTHEWPARAS

Staff writer

ESPN analyst SethWalder believesthe public —and even NFL teams —evaluatequarterbacks in amisleading way

The objective, he said over the phone afew months ago, isn’tto make apainstaking evaluation of every aspect of ayoung quarterback. It’s just to determine whether he’sgood at his job

The opinion runs counterto those who stress thatpatience is requiredtodevelop the position, andthat quarterbacks need time on task to blossom.

“I think fans andteams are actually tooslow to move on from a quarterback,” Walder said. Walder’s point is debatable, but his stanceholds relevance forthe New Orleans Saints as they turn to rookie TylerShough forhis ﬁrst career NFL start.

At 1-7, theSaints have handed the keys over to theirsecond-round prospect, whogetseffectively nine games to showwhetherhe’s afranchise quarterback beginning

Sunday on the road against the Los Angeles Rams. Fair or not, everyperformance from Shough is about to be scrutinized. He might notbeexpected to rally the Saints from the bottom of the standings, but the 26-yearold is expected to demonstrate enough encouraging signs to show he’sworth building around forthe long haul.

But what are those signs? That’ll be thetrickypartofthe evaluation, particularly as the schedule gets softer once the black and gold gets past the 5-2 Rams.

KELLY’SDOWNFALL

People closetoLSU football lend insight into what went wrong, andcoach’s ill-fatedattempt to reshape programinto ‘mold of NotreDame’

BYWILSON ALEXANDER Staff writer

Inside an area of the homelocker room designated for the head coach, Brian Kelly met with top LSUathletic ofﬁcials on thenight of Oct. 25 to discuss thefuture of theteam after a49-25 loss to Texas

A&M. They asked what changes Kelly would make on offense after losing three of theprevious four games, the latest asecond-half collapse that emptied out Tiger Stadium Afterward, they agreed to meet again Sunday inside thefootball oper-

ations building. Entering the day,several people connected to the program expected LSU to make offensive staff changes, most likely thefiring of offensive coordinator Joe Sloan. But by theend of the meeting, LSU had made adecision on Kelly himself. There was asense among officials that Kelly could not turn around the team, and sources involved in the decision said he did not have enough internal support anymore. He was informed then of the intention to fire him.Discussions were held over the rest of the day,including abouthis

roughly $54 million buyout, that culminated in ameeting at the governor’s mansion Sunday night.

“Weweren’tgetting better,” an athletic ofﬁcial said. “This can’thappen at LSU.”

In the midst of his fourth season, Kelly wasout. He boasted LSU had the best roster of his tenure after a signiﬁcant ﬁnancial investment, and the year began with expectations of College Football Playoffcontention. Instead, LSU dropped to 5-3 with the

ä See KELLY, page 7C

have at the very least complicated LSU’shopes of hiring their replacements. Let’scomb through afew facts and half-truths here: 1. Landry is correct: LSU would be on the hook forKelly’sroughly $54 million buyout if no

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

LSU interim athletic director VergeAusberry,left, speaks alongside LSU Board of Supervisors chairman Scott Ballard during anewsconferenceto discuss the change in LSU athletic department leadership on Friday.

STAFF PHOTO By DAVIDGRUNFELD

Saints quarterback Tyler Shough throws against theTampa Bay Buccaneers last Sundayinthe CaesarsSuperdome.

STAFF FILE PHOTOByMICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU coach Brian Kelly argues acall against Arkansas on Oct. 19, 2024, in Fayetteville, Ark. Kelly was fired last Sunday after a49-25 loss to Texas A&Mdroppedthe Tigers to 5-3 on the season.

BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS

GAME OF THE WEEK

Manning throws 3 touchdowns in win

BY JIM VERTUNO

AP sportswriter

AUSTIN, Texas Texas quarterback Arch Manning returned from a concussion a week earlier to pass for 328 yards and three touchdowns, including a 75-yard connection with Ryan Wingo on the ﬁrst play of the game, to lead the No. 20 Longhorns over No 9 Vanderbilt 34-31 Saturday Texas led 34-10 in the fourth quarter before Vanderbilt staged a desperate rally behind quarterback Diego Pavia’s touchdown run, 67-yard scoring pass to Eli Stowers and a final TD toss to Richie Hoskins with 33 seconds left. The Vanderbilt rally ended when the Commodores’ onside kick bounced through several players and eventually rolled out of bounds.

“Almost a playoff type game in November,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “A great win You’ve got to play 60 minutes in this conference for sure ” Manning had been injured in Texas’ overtime win over Mississippi State and spent the week in concussion protocol. By Friday night, he’d been removed from the team’s injury report to the Southeastern Conference and started against the Commodores

“I felt good the whole time,” Manning said. “It feels good to be back.” His ﬁrst throw of the day was a

short toss to Wingo, who broke two tackles and was off on a sprint to the end zone. Manning also connected with C.J. Baxter as Texas built a 24-3 lead in the ﬁrst half. Against Vanderbilt Manning went 25 of 33. Quintrevion Wisner rushed 18 times for 75 yards and a score, and Wingo had two receptions for 89 yards for Texas (7-2, 4-1 SEC). Manning took a hard hit on his third touchdown pass, this one to Emmett Mosely V, but popped right up and celebrated with his teammates. It was one of few times Manning was under pressure all day “This was the best protection he’s gotten all year,” Sarkisian said. Pavia struggled to get the Commodores (7-2, 3-2) going until late against a Texas defense that sacked him six times and limited his ability to run over the first three quarters. Pavia ﬁnished with a career-high 365 yards passing and had 408 total yards.

TOP 25 COLLEGE FOOTBALL ROUNDUP

Stockton, No. 5 Georgia rally to beat Florida

By The Associated Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Gunner Stockton threw two touchdown passes, Chauncey Bowens scored on a late 36-yard run and No. 5 Georgia escaped the rivalry known as the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” with a 24-20 victory against Florida on Saturday It was the Bulldogs’ fifth consecutive victory in the series and their eighth in the last nine meetings. But this one was closer than any of those others Georgia stopped Florida on a fourth-and-1 at the Bulldogs 18yard line with a little less than eight minutes to play, a momentum-turning moment in a backand-forth game. Stockton and Zachariah Branch took over from there, putting Georgia (7-1, 5-1 Southeastern Conference) in position for its fourth come-from-behind victory in six league games. Bowens darted up the middle following the duo’s second connection and scampered untouched to the end zone. Florida (3-5, 2-3) had a chance late, but DJ Lagway’s deep pass short-hopped intended receiver J. Michael Sturdivant. Sturdivant got behind the defense and probably would have scored had the pass not been badly underthrown Stockton, a noted alligator hunter in the offseason, completed 20 of 29 passes for 223 yards. Branch caught 10 passes for 112 yards. Bowens and Nate Frazier combined for 115 yards on the ground. NO 13 TEXAS TECH 43, KANSAS STATE 20: In Manhattan, Kansas, Berhen Morton threw for 249 yards and two touchdowns in his return from an injury, J’Koby Williams ran for 135 yards and a score, and Texas Tech romped past sloppy, mistake-prone Kansas State. Cameron Dickey also had a touchdown run for the Red Raiders (8-1, 5-1 Big 12), who forced ﬁve turnovers while snapping an eight-game losing streak against the Wildcats (4-5, 3-3) with their ﬁrst win in Manhattan since the 2008 season.

SMU 26, No. 10 MIAMI 20: In Dallas, T.J. Harden scored on a 1-yard run in overtime, and SMU upset Mi-

Hamlin in pole position for first NASCAR title

Denny Hamlin’s quest to win his first career NASCAR championship will begin from pole position.

Hamlin will lead the field to green at Phoenix Raceway in Sunday’s winner-take-all finale. The Cup will be awarded to the highest finisher among Hamlin, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe, and William Byron and Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports.

Larson is the only driver in the championship field with a title, while two-time reigning Daytona 500 winner Byron is back in the final four for the third consecutive year Briscoe is making his title race debut, and Hamlin is back in the field for the first time since 2021. Hamlin turned a lap at 133.759 mph to earn the top starting spot.

Grizzlies suspend All-Star guard Morant for 1 game

Memphis has suspended twotime All-Star guard Ja Morant for its game Sunday at the Toronto Raptors, with the Grizzlies citing what they described as conduct detrimental to the team.

Morant scored only eight points in Memphis’ 117-112 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night. He had a brief postgame interview session, with most of his answers some form of “Go ask the coaching staff.”

Morant also seemed disengaged at times in that game, even walking a few steps away from the bench area during a time-out in the second half.

Asked about what happened in the game, Morant said, “Go ask them,” referring to the coaching staff. He did not score in the second half.

Sinner routs Zverev to reach Paris finals

Jannik Sinner routed Alexander Zverev 6-0, 6-1 in a little more than an hour Saturday to reach the Paris Masters ﬁnal and move closer to reclaiming the No. 1 ranking.

The four-time Grand Slam champion from Italy will replace sixtime major winner Carlos Alcaraz at the top if he wins Sunday’s ﬁnal against ninth-seeded Felix AugerAliassime, who needs a win to clinch the eighth and ﬁnal spot for the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, Italy

Auger-Aliassime earlier beat Alexander Bublik 7-6 (3), 6-4 in their semiﬁnal at La Défense Arena.

ami, handing the Hurricanes their second loss in three weeks and damaging their playoff hopes.

Ahmaad Moses put the Mustangs (6-3, 4-1 Atlantic Coast) in position to win even with a ﬁeld goal by intercepting Carson Beck just short of the goal line on the ﬁrst possession of the extra period.

Harden’s score came on the last of his four consecutive runs as the Mustangs won their 13th consecutive home conference game a week after losing an ACC regularseason game for the ﬁrst time in their second season since returning to a power league.

No 2 INDIANA 55, MARYLAND 10: In College Park, Maryland, Fernando Mendoza threw for a touchdown and ran for one, and Indiana remained undefeated with a rout of Maryland Mendoza recovered from an early interception, and he also had to play most of the game without his top target Star receiver Elijah Sarratt left in the ﬁrst quarter with an apparent injury, ending his nationleading streak of 46 consecutive games with a catch. Still, this was another one-sided

game for the Hoosiers (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten), who since winning at Oregon have added victories over Michigan State, UCLA and Maryland by a combined 120 points.

No. 1 OHIO ST 38, PENN ST 14: In Columbus, Ohio, Julian Sayin passed for 316 yards and four touchdowns, Jeremiah Smith scored twice and Ohio State pulled away in the second half to defeat Penn State.

The Buckeyes (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) had a 17-14 lead at halftime, but took control in the second half, scoring on three of their ﬁrst four possessions.

WEST VIRGINIA 45, No. 22 HOUSTON 35:

In Houston, Scotty Fox Jr threw for 157 yards and accounted for three touchdowns as West Virginia snapped its ﬁve-game losing streak with a win over Houston.

Fox was 13 of 22 and threw a touchdown pass of 24 yards to Cam Vaughn. He also rushed for 65 yards and had touchdown runs of 6 yards and 34 yards.

Diore Hubbard rushed for 108 yards and a touchdown, and Cyncir Bowers added 65 yards rushing and a touchdown as the Mountaineers (3-6, 1-5 Big 12) outrushed Houston 246-82.

No. 12 NOTRE DAME 25, BOSTON COLLEGE 10: In Boston, Jeremiyah Love broke free for a 94-yard touchdown run on the ﬁrst play after a Notre Dame interception squelched a potential game-tying drive and the Fighting Irish won their sixth straight, beating Boston College. Notre Dame (6-2) had a surprisingly difﬁcult day against the onewin Eagles (1-8), mired in a scoreless tie after one quarter and giving up a touchdown just before the half that left the Irish with a 12-7 lead.

The Eagles trailed 18-10 early in the fourth quarter thanks to three missed Irish kicks — and had a chance to tie it before Adon Shuler intercepted Grayson James inside the Notre Dame 5-yard line.

No 15 VIRGINIA 31, CALIFORNIA 21: In Berkeley, California, J’Mari Taylor ran for two touchdowns and Virginia extended its winning streak to seven straight games for the ﬁrst time since 2007 by beating California.

Taylor scored on two of the ﬁrst three drives of the game for the Cavaliers (8-1, 5-0 ACC) in their first meeting with the Golden Bears (5-4, 2-3). Virginia held on from there, getting a 35-yard interception return for a touchdown by Kam Robinson with 34 seconds left to seal its ﬁrst win as a top-15 team since 2004.

No. 16 LOUISVILLE 28, VIRGINIA TECH 16: In Blacksburg, Virginia, Isaac Brown rushed for 130 yards and a touchdown before leaving late with a leg injury and Keyjuan Brown scored twice in the second half to lift Louisville to a victory over Virginia Tech.

Miller Moss added a touchdown pass for the Cardinals (7-1 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who rallied from a 16-7 halftime deﬁcit to win their third straight game. Louisville also kept alive its hopes of making it to the ACC championship game. Moss threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Caullin Lacy early in the third quarter to pull the Cardinals within two points at 16-14. Lacy’s 65-yard punt return minutes later then set up Keyjuan Brown’s 2-yard touchdown run that gave the Cardinals a 21-16 lead.

Sinner extended his indoor winning streak to 25 matches, including a victory over Zverev in the Vienna ﬁnal last weekend. He beat Zverev for the fourth straight time and leads 5-4.

Swiatek handles Keys in WTA Finals opener In a clash of Grand Slam winners Iga Swiatek swept aside Madison Keys in straight sets on the opening day of the WTA Finals on Saturday in Saudi Arabia.

The Wimbledon champion needed just over an hour to beat Australian Open winner Keys 6-1, 6-2 at the season-ending tournament for the world’s top eight players.

“I was in the zone from the beginning to the end,” said Swiatek, who won 58 of 87 points.

It was Keys’ first match in 68 days, since her ﬁrst-round exit at the U.S. Open. Swiatek, the 2023 WTA Finals champion, acknowledged such a long absence “can make you a bit rusty.”

Keys may need to beat Amanda Anisimova and Elena Rybakina to advance. Rybakina beat Anisimova 6-3, 6-1 on Saturday

Forever Young captures Breeders’ Cup Classic

DEL MAR,Calif. Forever Young beat reigning champion Sierra Leone by a half-length to win the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday giving Japan a victory in North America’s richest race.

Ridden by Ryusei Sakai, Forever Young ran 1¼ miles in 2:00.19 and paid $9 to win at 7-2 odds. The colt was third in last year’s Classic behind Sierra Leone and Fierceness. The race lost Kentucky Derby and Belmont winner Sovereignty when the colt was scratched after spiking a fever earlier in the week. Trainer Yoshito Yahagi earned his third career Cup victory while Sakai claimed his ﬁrst.

Fierceness was third and Preakness winner Journalism was fourth Mindframe ﬁnished ﬁfth, followed by Baeza, Nevada Beach, Antiquarian and Contrary Thinking.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ERIC GAy Texas quarterback Arch Manning runs as he looks to throw against Vanderbilt during the first half of a game in Austin, Texas on Saturday.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOHN RAOUX

Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton looks for a receiver during a game against Florida on Saturday in Jacksonville, Fla.

Indianapolis.

AFC divisional leaders battle

The AFC South-leading Indianapolis Colts head to Pittsburgh, where the AFC North first-place Steelers are wobbling after consecutive losses The Colts will bring the NFL’s highest-scoring offense to Acrisure Stadium, where they will face the league’s worst pass defense Indianapolis star running back Jonathan Taylor is on a tear. Taylor leads the NFL in yards rushing rushing touchdowns and total touchdowns. Pittsburgh has failed to get a takeaway in three straight games and didn’t sack Green Bay QB Jordan Love once a week ago The Steelers will be without starting safety DeShon Elliott who is out indefinitely with a right knee injury.

Broncos look for six in a row

The Denver Broncos will try to extend their winning streak to six games when they visit the Houston Texans on Sunday. The Broncos will be without star cornerback Patrick Surtain who suffered a pectoral injury against Dallas last week. The Texans are coming off a win over San Francisco and have the NFL’s top-rated defense. QB C.J. Stroud is coming off his best game of the season where he had seasons-highs in completions (30) and yards (318) with two touchdown passes Stroud has five touchdown passes with just one interception combined in three home games so far this season

Pats try to maintain hold on Falcons

The New England Patriots have won the past seven meetings with the Atlanta Falcons. That includes the Patriots’ historic 34-28 overtime comeback victory in Super Bowl 51 to cap the 2016 season. Atlanta hasn’t won in Foxborough since 1998, when New England was playing in the since-demolished Foxboro Stadium But the Patriots who are the only NFL team not to allow an opposing running back to run for 50 yards this season, face a tough challenge in Atlanta RB Bijan Robinson. He has piled up 549 yards rushing this season on 5.2 yards per carry, despite gaining only 25 last week against Miami.

Darnold eyes Commanders secondary Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott picked the Commanders apart two weeks ago. Then Patrick Mahomes threw two interceptions against Washington, but he too had little trouble moving the ball Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold isn’t necessarily on their level, but the first question Sunday night is whether the Commanders can hold up defensively against the Seahawks Washington has ruled out injured receiver Terry McLaurin, putting pressure on tight end Zach Ertz to have a big night for returning quarterback Jayden Daniels Eight of the past nine regular-season matchups between these teams have been decided by one score.

Lions, Vikings clash in NFC North The Detroit Lions are 5-2, aiming to keep up with Green Bay in the NFC North and other top teams in the conference. The Minnesota Vikings are 3-4 after losing two straight and three of the past four games in a season that is slipping away. The Lions had a bye after beating Tampa Bay 24-9 The Vikings lost to the Los Angeles Chargers 37-10 in their previous game J.J. McCarthy is expected to start at quarterback for Minnesota, returning from an

GAME OF THE WEEK

Chiefs, Bills share respect

BY JOHN WAWROW AP sportswriter

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y Patrick Mahomes has made enough trips to Buffalo to know he and the Kansas City Chiefs shouldn’t expect a warm welcome from Bills fans on Sunday “They don’t like us,” Mahomes said. Can you blame them?

Since 2020, Mahomes and the Chiefs have blocked Josh Allen and the Bills’ path to the Super Bowl with four playoff wins, including Buffalo’s 32-29 loss in the AFC championship game in January

The most memorable was Kansas City’s 42-36 overtime win in a divisional-round meeting in January 2022, since dubbed “13 Seconds.” That’s how much time Mahomes had to complete two passes for 44 yards and set up Harrison Butker’s tying, 49-yard ﬁeld goal on the ﬁnal play of regulation.

The stakes of Sunday’s meeting aren’t as high, yet the Chiefs (5-3) and Bills (5-2) have playoff seeding to think about.

If there’s any solace in Buffalo, it’s that the Bills have won four straight in the regular season against their fellow AFC contender Buffalo fans may not like the Chiefs, but the team certainly has the Bills’ respect. Allen recounted the number of times he and Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo have exchanged greetings after games, no matter the outcome.

“Sometimes it just kind of happens, we’re walking by and sometimes we look for each other,” Allen said. “Yes, I would say there is mutual respect, at least I hope there is.”

Allen is 4-1 in the regular season against KC, averaging 252 yards passing with 13 overall touchdowns (10 passing) and three interceptions.

On Sunday, the quarterback will be challenged by Spagnuolo’s defense, which ranks fourth in the NFL and third against the pass. Kansas City has allowed a combined 652 yards and 24 points during a three-game winning streak. Meanwhile, Allen and the Bills’

passing attack have struggled over a four-game stretch in which he’s thrown four interceptions, lost a fumble and had difficulty finding open receivers downfield.

“It’s just some of the smaller things and again, it pertains to what I’m doing,” Allen said.

Buffalo has a dynamic ground attack featuring James Cook, who rushed for a career-best 216 yards and scored twice in a 40-9 win over Carolina last weekend.

Mahomes has been on a roll, taking advantage of an offense that has a nearly full complement of threats.

Receiver Xavier Worthy is back after hurting his shoulder in Week 1. Fellow wideout Rashee Rice has been a dynamic option since his return from a six-game NFL suspension for his role in a high-speed car crash in Dallas in March 2024.

Whatever welcome Mahomes receives, the quarterback intends to enjoy what should be a raucous atmosphere.

“I love playing in historic stadiums, and that stadium has had so many great players play in it,” Mahomes said.

STANDINGS, SCORES & SCHEDULE

Niners QB Purdy out a fifth straight start

Quarterback Brock Purdy will miss his fifth straight start for the San Francisco 49ers with a toe injury, but he has made enough progress that he could be available in a backup role Sunday against the New York Giants.

Coach Kyle Shanahan said Friday that Purdy is still not “fully healthy” but has made enough progress to get some time with the starters in practice this week. Mac Jones got the bulk of the snaps with the starters and will get the nod once again this week.

QB Brissett to start again for Cardinals

Veteran backup Jacoby Brissett will start his third straight game at quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals on Monday night while Kyler Murray continues to recover from a lingering foot injury

Coach Jonathan Gannon conﬁrmed on Saturday that Brissett would start on the road against the Dallas Cowboys Murray — who has a 9-0 career record at AT&T Stadium going back to his high school career — could still be active and have a role if his foot improves over the next 48 hours. Murray hasn’t played since Oct. 5.

Ravens trade CB Alexander to Eagles

The Baltimore Ravens have agreed to trade cornerback Jaire Alexander and a 2027 seventh-round draft pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for a 2026 sixth-round pick. The Ravens announced the move Saturday Alexander joined the Ravens before this season, but he’s played in only two games for them, even though Baltimore was ravaged by injuries for a period of time. The Ravens are healthier now, and they also traded for defensive back Alohi Gilman last month.

Dolphins, GM Grier separate after 10 years

The Miami Dolphins and Chris Grier have agreed to part ways, ending his 10-year tenure as general manager The decision comes after Miami fell to 2-7 on the season after Thursday night’s 28-6 rout against the Baltimore Ravens. During Grier’s tenure — he has been with the organization since 2000, and general manager since 2016 — the Dolphins recorded ﬁve winning seasons and three playoff appearances but failed to win a postseason game. Miami’s 25-year playoff win drought remains the longest active streak in the NFL.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ZACH BOLINGER

Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor runs with the ball during a game against the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 26 in

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By NICK WASS

Houston Texans tight end Brenden Bates is tackled by Baltimore Ravens linebacker Teddye Buchanan and cornerback Jaire Alexander during the second half of a game on Oct. 5 in Baltimore.

Tulane coach

Ron Hunter talks to guard Rowan Brumbaugh during a game against Memphis on Jan. 30 at Devlin Fieldhouse. The Green Wave will look to Brumbaugh to be a vocal leader this season.

PHOTO By SCOTT THRELKELD

Tulane men adjust identity after loss of leader Glenn

Hunter praises talent of dynamic guards

BY GUERRY SMITH Contributing writer

Coming off the lowest imaginable low — the drowning death of versatile center and spiritual leader Gregg Glenn in late July — the Tulane men’s basketball team was picked higher than ever in the preseason American Conference coaches’ poll

Whether the Green Wave comes anywhere close to or ﬁnishes even higher than its third-place prediction depends on how everyone responds to the emotional toll and physical hole left by Glenn’s tragic accident.

The 6-foot-7, 240-pound Glenn dominated in-game discussions during timeouts with his ebullient personality On the court, his unique ability to play the post (he averaged 10.6 points and 5.3 rebounds) and serve as a ball-handling distributor (106 assists) ﬁt perfectly with what seventh-year coach Ron Hunter craves in his big men.

“Coming into the summer we knew exactly how we were going to play and who was going to play,” Hunter said. “When you lose a part like Gregg, we had to change our identity We’re still in the process of ﬁguring out how that’s going to work a little bit. We’re getting closer, but we don’t quite know right now When we get it ﬁgured out, watch out. This is going to be a really good team.”

Tulane struggled mightily in the first half of its exhibition against Division III Centenary last Tuesday, trailing by a point at halftime. The Wave then rolled to a 29-point victory in the second half behind good ball movement

and the hot shooting of returning guards Rowan Brumbaugh, Asher Woods and KJ Greene.

Brumbaugh, a junior who averaged 15.5 points and 4.8 assists last season, was named the preseason American Conference player of the year Woods was a second-team selection after averaging 11.5 points Greene is a rare modern-day player — he did not enter the transfer portal after ﬂashing potential but getting limited time as a freshman when he averaged 1.5 points and 7.0 minutes

His 16 points off the bench against Centenary were seven more than he had in any game a year ago.

“We have dynamic guard play,” Hunter said. “It’s the best guard play since I’ve been here.”

It starts with Brumbaugh, who scored in double figures in the last 30 games of 2024-25 with a high of 25 against Rice.

“I want him to dominate the game not just with the ball but without the ball,” Hunter said.

“He knows that. Last year he was a great offensive player He needs to be just as good on the other end of the floor His personality has to change maybe a little bit in the sense of being more vocal as a leader.”

Another holdover, 6-foot-8 redshirt sophomore forward Tyler Ringgold, could play a key role.

He exhibited tremendous energy but little attention to detail as primarily a perimeter substitute last season, starting five games and averaging 3.6 points. His maturation will be pivotal because of his versatility

He started at center in a small lineup against Centenary before Hunter went to traditional post player Percy Daniels in the second half.

“He (Ringgold)’s gotten better

and better in practice,” Hunter said. “He understands our system. He’s lost body fat and turned that into muscle He’ll be a big key to what we want to do. He played maybe seven or eight minutes last year (actually 11). He’ll probably play 25 to 28 minutes a game this year because he’s earned it.”

Hunter has the option of the 6-foot-10 Daniels, who scored 10 points with seven rebounds in the exhibition, or 7-foot-0, 265-pound East Tennessee State transfer Davion Bradford if he wants to go bigger, but he traditionally prefers smaller lineups.

“One of the things that I pride myself on is the other team has a very difficult time guarding us,” Hunter said. “I’m trying to get into that whether we play four or five guards. What I care most about is the other coach is up at night figuring out ‘How do I guard these guys?’ ”

Highly rated transfers Scotty Middleton (Seton Hall) and Curtis Williams (Georgetown) struggled in the exhibition as newcomers often do under Hunter, although Williams reportedly scored a team-high 20 a week earlier in a closed scrimmage against McNeese. They can help make up for the loss of athletic two-way departures Kam Williams (Kentucky) and Kaleb Banks (DePaul) but may need some time to get comfortable, along with Oral Roberts transfer guard Josiah Moore.

Without Glenn, the entire operation is a work in progress entering Monday night’s opener at home against Samford.

“The best teams in college basketball and the best teams in the NBA are driven by the players, not the coaches,” Hunter said. “That’s what we’re getting to. It can’t be my voice 40 minutes of the game.”

Added depth, upgraded team facilities beneﬁt UNO women

BY SPENCER URQUHART Staff writer

The UNO women’s basketball roster has eight new players for the 2025-26 season, and the program has seen other changes besides new personnel

UNO president of basketball operations Percy “Master P” Miller is known for his efforts in helping improve the men’s basketball program, but the women’s program has also benefited. They upgraded their locker room and practice gym with Miller’s help this summer at Lakefront Arena There’s also a new electronic scoreboard hanging from the Lakefront Arena roof for the first time in 20 years that was installed with financial backing from Miller

“The vibe has been exciting,” UNO women’s basketball coach Trelanne Powell said. “The changes in the practice facility have been really good, and it was a huge blessing for us to have Master P come in and make some upgrades to our locker room. We’re just excited about any changes that are being made that we also get the beneﬁts of.”

The UNO women are coming off a 5-24 season but were able to add six transfers and have seven returning players, six of which started games for them last season

Guards Jayla Kimbrough and Aaliyah Ellis are among UNO’s top returning players. Kimbrough is in her ﬁfth year at UNO and has averaged double-digit points per game the past two seasons, and Ellis is expected to play a larger role after playing through a broken ﬁnger last year

Returning seniors Shanihya Brown and Brielle Washington are also expected to see key minutes along with Xavier-Louisiana transfer Lauren Banks. Kimbrough and Banks led UNO with 16 points in a 102-68 exhibition game win over LSU-Eunice, and Brown nearly had a double-double with 12 points and nine assists.

“I think (the guards) give us an advantage,” Kimbrough said. “Me and Lauren (Banks) will switch back and forth, so I think it creates a matchup issue.”

Banks is a graduate student who will play Division I basketball for the first time after transferring from NAIA Xavier, where she averaged 12.1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game last season.

“The transition (from Xavier) has been fun,” Banks said. “It’s been harder schedule-wise, but I’m enjoying it. I feel like we’ve been gelling very well (as a team).

Learning each other’s game is nice.”

Kimbrough averaged 10 points

Tulane women looking to ascend higher this season

BY DARRELL WILLIAMS Contributing writer

Last season was one of achievement and promise for Tulane women’s basketball.

In the ﬁrst season under coach Ashley Langford, a former Tulane point guard, the Green Wave went 17-13, including 9-8 in the American Conference, its ﬁrst winning season in conference play in three seasons.

Langford and the Green Wave have loftier goals this season, she said — competing for its ﬁrst American championship and the program’s ﬁrst appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2015.

“I thought that our program did a good job of building a standard and maintaining that, and now it’s time to continue to go that way and climb to the top of the conference,” Langford said.

Tulane opens the season at 4 p.m. Monday with a home game against Campbell at Devlin Fieldhouse.

The Green Wave has eight newcomers along with six returnees Power forward Amira Mabry, a 6-foot senior, and point guard Kendall Sneed, who was the American Freshman of the Year last season, are being counted on to lead the effort.

Mabry averaged 10.9 points per game last season while shooting 51.8% from the ﬁeld. She has embraced her new leadership role with an offseason diet and conditioning program.

“Basically, I stopped drinking sodas and juices and I eat fresher food,” she said. “I drink a lot of lemon water In practices, I feel quicker, my defense is better and I run the court better.” Langford is particularly interested in Sneed’s progress as a guard and leader

“I came into the program last year wondering who was going to be the point guard,” Langford said “She took it. So, I’m looking for an even better sophomore season.

“I think there was a lot of times last year where she just didn’t maybe have the experience, and I think she gained that with every game.”

In previous years under former

coach Lisa Stockton, rebounding was a telling stat as the Wave often fell short on the boards Last season, Tulane stood toe-to-toe with foes (39.9 rpg compared with 39.8).

Turnovers were the Green Wave’s Achilles’ heel, as it committed 19.8 a game and 67 more than its opponents.

“If we can get down to about 15 a game, we should be OK,” Langford said.

Sneed is expected to have a lot of help in the backcourt. Six of the newcomers are guards and also returning is sophomore Sadie Shores, who played in all 30 games off the bench and was an effective ballhandler and 3-point shooter

The newcomers not only bring talent but experience. Leading the way are 5-10 Kanija Daniel, the junior-college player of the year, and Tamiah Robinson, a transfer from UL.

Other guard transfers are Jayda Brown from St. John’s and CC Mays from Marshall, an all-conference player

Langford said the depth at guard is expected to strengthen the defense, which likely will aid the Wave’s fastbreak style.

“With our identity, defense is the No. 1 thing,” she said. “We want to rebound and run.”

Conference play will begin on Dec. 30 at Texas-San Antonio. Before then, Tulane will play three SEC schools Missouri (Nov 6) and No. 5-ranked LSU (Nov 17) at Devlin Fieldhouse, and at Alabama (Dec. 17).

“To me, we talk about power points to get into the NCAA Tournament, you want to win a game there,” Langford said. “But how do you get there if you never play against a potential NCAA Tournament team?”

Tulane was picked to ﬁnish ﬁfth in the conference.

“Last season, halfway through the conference, we were right there, competing for second place,” Langford said. “This year, with the (conference tournament) format, if we’re ﬁrst or second (in the regular season), we only have to win two games to get to the NCAA Tournament.”

UNO men anticipate a major turnaround

BY SPENCER URQUHART Staff writer

Percy “Master P” Miller has created newfound hope surrounding the UNO men’s basketball program as president of basketball operations.

UNO is coming off a disappointing 2024-25 season that resulted in just four wins, but Miller aims to turn things around after coming on board in February His efforts have gone beyond retooling the UNO roster, which has 13 new players this season.

points and 4.1 assists per game.

He’s expected to start at guard alongside Benson, who averaged 10.2 points and 2.2 3-pointers per game last year with Texas State.

The forward and center positions are expected to feature returning starter MJ Thomas, who led the Southland last year with 7.8 rebounds per game, along with Wake Forest transfer Churchill Abass, junior-college transfer Kedrick Osby and freshman Enzo Boudouma.

per game last season as one of two

UNO players to average doubledigit points per game alongside Nora Francois, who transferred to Arizona after averaging 15 points per game.

Chenai Mushore is a returning 6-foot-4 forward who is expected to see increased minutes down low for UNO along with transfers Hailee Brennen and Trinity Bane. Mackenzie Joseph is coming off a season-ending injury but is expected to contribute when healthy

“Everything that we do this year is going to be done by committee,” Powell said. “We’re going to have to have at least two post players that can make up what Nora (Francois) gave us last year We deﬁnitely have depth at each position.”

UNO begins the regular season on the road Monday at 6:30 p.m. against Oklahoma State, with its home opener on Nov 19 against Loyola-New Orleans UNO’s ﬁrst Southland Conference game is at home on Nov 26 against Houston Christian.

“We just want to work on ourselves and be better than we were in the previous years,” Powell said. “We just want to focus on getting us to play at the highest level possible that we can.”

Email Spencer Urquhart at surquhart@theadvocate.com.

Renovations to UNO’s locker room and practice gym were among the changes that happed this summer Miller recently led an effort to install a jumbotron scoreboard for home games at Lakefront Arena.

“We’re preparing to do some damage in this Southland Conference,” Miller said. “We’re the underdog. It’s us against the world. Coach (Stacy Hollowell) didn’t have all the pieces he needed last year, and we’ve still got a lot of work to do to get to where we need to go. We’re just going to keep on every day.”

UNO got its first chance this year to play in front of fans at Lakefront Arena in an exhibition game win over Sacramento State. The crowd was treated to in-game entertainment that was backed by an 89-point showing from UNO on the court.

UNO brought in eight transfers this offseason, ﬁve of which have Division I experience. Senior guards Jakevion Buckley and Coleton Benson are among the experienced transfers expected to see key minutes.

“It just helps to have mature guys,” Hollowell said. “(Buckley) is just steady I’m excited about our chemistry on the floor and how we work together.” Buckley transferred from Southeastern Louisiana and was a ﬁrst team All-Southland selection last season, averaging 14.5

“We have a special group that gives 110 percent every single practice,” Thomas said “Battling with them has helped me get better and sharpen my game.” Athletic junior-college transfer TJ Cope is expected to serve as a key depth piece along with Division II transfer Irish Coquia. Transfers William Patterson and Mathok Majok, who boot 7 feet, and freshman Panagiotis Pagonis are among the other options off the bench.

“Last year our biggest guy was 6-foot-7, so it’s much better to have the size (this year),” Hollowell said. “We like how we look. I think we have a group that’s bought in and willing to learn.”

UNO’s regular season begins Monday with a nonconference matchup against TCU on the road Road contests against LSU and Tulane follow, with nationally ranked Texas Tech and Houston among UNO’s other opponents.

UNO will return to Lakefront Arena on Saturday against SUNO in an exhibition game. UNO’s ﬁrst regular-season home contest is against Houston Christian on Dec. 6, which is also their ﬁrst conference game.

“No matter what happens (during nonconference play), we’ve just got to stay positive,” Hollowell said. “I’ve seen us 11th, I’ve seen seventh, I’ve seen sixth (in Southland polls). The truth is, none of it matters. You’ve got to go out there and execute.”

OUTDOORS

LWFC resurrects menhaden issue

Contentioustopic tops Thursday’s commissionagenda

BY JOE MACALUSO

Contributing writer

Ayear after strikinganagreement over the take of menhaden from Louisiana waters, the issueover the buffer zone for the menhaden industry will become another contentious item on Thursday’sWildlife and Fisheries Commission agenda.

The 9:30 a.m. meeting, at state Wildlife and Fisheries headquarters in Baton Rouge, again will pit recreational ﬁshing and conserva-

tion organizationsagainst the two foreign-owner menhaden ﬁshing companies operating in state waters.

The agenda item: “Receive and Consider aNotice of Intent to Modify Commercial Menhaden Reduction Fishery Buffers Along Certain Portions of the Louisiana Coast.”

Fishing andconservation groups battled for ahandful of yearsfor an expandedbuffer zone—the distance menhaden boats could work from aline stretching across Louisiana’s coast— andbelieved it had worked out a1-mile buffer zone.

Then,ina move ordered by Gov Jeff Landry,that distance was narrowed to one-halfmile, then was approvedbythe commissionlast yearand was in effect for the 2025 menhadenseason.

Even after at least two run-ins

with menhaden ﬁshing operations this year,a shocking announcement by commissionchair Kevin Sagrera came at theend of October’scommission meetingwhenhecharged Wildlife and Fisheries’ MarineFisheries staff to come up with anotice to change last year’sagreement. If approved, thenotice demands aperiod of public comment, and possibleamendments, until ﬁnal ratification sometime in early 2026.

Other agenda items include:

n To announce the winner of the 2026 Louisiana WaterfowlConservation Stampcompetition;

n To consider anotice of intent to theHunter Education Program;

n To hear apresentation on developing the state’sﬁrststakeholderdriven black bass management plan;

n And, to consider achange in theSpecial Bait Dealer’s Permit.

n Publiccomment period will follow each item, and others will be taken at the end of the meeting beforethe commission considers moving to aclosed executive session to learn about updates on two legal matters.

n The meeting will be available via Zoom with alive audio/video feed.

Line up ladies Wildlife and Fisheries hasset a Nov.30deadline fornovicewomen to participate in alotterydeerhunt scheduled Jan. 9-11 on the Floy McElroy Wildlife Management Area.

It’s part of theBeyond BecominganOutdoorsWoman.Tobe eligible forthe lottery, applicants must have attended aprevious Becoming an Outdoors Woman Workshop.

The lottery drawing will be held Dec. 1.

The hunt is for women new to deer hunting.Other requirements, andthe application,are listed on the agency’s website:louisianaoutdoors.com/lottery-applications Redsnapper

Who would have believed it: The recreationalred snapperseason remains open.

That comes after state ﬁsheries managers reported the LA Creel survey through Oct. 19 showed a one-week catch of 9,158 pounds to push this year’stotal to 874,777 pounds.

It means there’s20,178 pounds remaining in ourstate’s 894,955-pound annual allocation. Word from Wildlife and Fisheriesisaclosure “couldoccuras early as mid-November.”

CALENDAR

club titles in the junior and overall divisions withrespectivescores

Dwayne Vidrine began with ascoreof 97 for his 10 shots in the opening slowfire standing portion of last weekend’s South Louisiana High PowerRifleClub club championship.

By the time he finished with his next 40 shots at 200 yards on the Ascension Parish Sheriff’sRangeinGonzales, Vidrine claimed the title.

TUESDAY

LA. FINFISH TASK FORCE MEETING: 10 a.m. state Wildlife and Fisheriesheadquarters, 2000 Quail Drive,Baton Rouge.Top agenda item: notice of intenttomodify menhaden buffer zone

WEDNESDAY

JUNIOR SOUTHWEST

BASSMASTERS MEETING: 7p.m., Seminar Room, Bass Pro Shops, Denham Springs Boys &girls age-group bass tournamentsfor ages 7-10, 11-14 &15-18 anglers. Call Jim Breaux(225) 772-3026.

THURSDAY

LA. WILDLIFE& FISHERIES COMMISSION MEETING:

9:30 a.m., state Wildlife and Fisheriesheadquarters, Quail Drive,Baton Rouge

THURSDAY-SATURDAY

MLF TOYOTA SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP: Grand Lake, Grove,Oklahoma. Website: MajorLeagueFishing.com

HUNTINGSEASONS

DUCKS/YOUTH-ONLY: Nov. 8-9, West Waterfowl Zone

DEER/PRIMITIVEFIREARMS: Nov. 8-14, State Deer Areas 1, 4, 5, 6&9.Either-sex take allowed.

GEESE: Nov. 8-Dec. 7, West Waterfowl Zone.Includes Canada, blue,snow& Ross’ &specklebellies. Take of Canadageese prohibited in portions of Cameron& Vermilion parishes.

RAILS/GALLINULES: Nov. 8-Jan. 7, statewide.

DEER/MODERN FIREARMS: Nov. 15-Dec. 5, State Deer Areas 1, 4&6

DEER/MODERN FIREARMS: Nov. 15-Dec. 5, State Deer Areas 5&9,bucks only except either-sex takeallowedNov 15-16 &Nov.28-30.

DEER/MODERN FIREARMS: Through Dec. 2, State Deer Area 2, still-hunt only SNIPE: Through Dec. 7, ﬁrst split,statewide.

DEER/ARCHERY: Through Jan. 15, State Deer Areas 3, 7, 8&10. Either-sex take allowed.

DEER/ARCHERY: Through Jan. 31, State Deer Areas 1, 2 &4.Either-sex takeallowed.

DEER/ARCHERY: Through Feb. 15, State Deer Areas 5, 6 &9,either-sex takeallowed. RABBITS &SQUIRRELS: Through Feb. 28, statewide, private landsonly

AROUND THECORNER NOV. 10—RED STICKFLY FISHERS MEETING: 7p.m., Regional Branch Library, 9200 BluebonnetBoulevard, Baton Rouge.Open to the public. Email Brian Roberts: roberts.brian84@gmail.comFISHING/SHRIMPING

SHRIMP: Fall inshore&outside watersopen statewide. OPEN RECREATIONAL SEASONS: Redsnapper,gray triggerfish; lane,blackfin, queen and silk snappers&wenchmen among othersnapper species; all groupersexcept closed for goliath& Nassau groupers in state/federal waters. CLOSED SEASONS: Flounder (recreational/commercial takeclosed through Nov. 30); greater amberjack; bluefin tuna; gag, goliath& Nassau groupersinstate/federal waters. Commercial greater amberjack seasonclosed.

LDWF UPDATES CLOSED: Hope Canal Road/ boat launch (Maurepas Swamp WMA, leveeconstruction)

During the next three rounds, rapidfire sitting(10 shots/60 seconds), rapid-fire prone (10 shots/70 seconds) and the slow-fire prone (20 shots/20 minutes),Vidrinehad posted ascore of 491 of apossible500 score with 16 bull’s-eyestohis credit.

By The Associated Press

MOBILE, Ala. Lunch Winfield threw for 232 yards and apair of touchdowns and ran for anotherscore and UL beat South Alabama 31-22 on Saturdaytoend a three-game skid in the Sun Belt Conference. Winfield threw a25-yard scoring pass to Shelton Sampson for the game’sﬁrst points. After Tony Sterner made a32-yard field goal for a10-0 advantage, South Alabama got on the board when Keenan Phillips ran it in from the15with9:38before halftime.

From there, theRagin’ Cajuns scored 21 straight points. Zylan Perry had an 18-yard scoring run, Winﬁeld threw a17-yard score

Otherswereclose, likeMikeBurke taking the Master Classtitle with a480 score(15 bull’s-eyes),James Davis winningthe Expert Class with a479 (12

—alsotoSampson —and early in the third, Winﬁeld ran it in from the 1. Winﬁeld,a former Lutcher star,completed 14 of 15 passes, Zylan Perry ran15 times for 56 yards South Alabama fell to 2-7, 1-4. SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA 59, EAST TEXAS A&M 14: In Hammond, Carson Camp threw two touchdown passes, Dkhai Joseph returned a punt 63 yards for ascore and added a32-yard touchdown reception, andSoutheastern Louisiana got its fifth straight win. SLU, No.21inthe FCS poll, is unbeatensincea5610 loss tothen-No. 3LSU on Sept.20.

NICHOLLS STATE31, HOUSTON CHRISTIAN 7: In Thibodaux,

bull’s-eyes) and Paul Smith taking the Sharpshooter title with a453 score.

Among the junior division, Brody Domangue stood tallwith a461 score includingsix bull’s-eyes.

Allmarksmen fired AR-15s.

Theclub’snextmatch, the M1 Garand and Springfield state championships, comes up Nov. 23 at the Gonzales range. Joe Macaluso

Ean Rodrigue completed 17 of his22passes for 174 yards andtwo touchdowns, andherushedfor 89 yards and another score as Nicholls rolled. The Colonels (3-6, 3-2 Southland) have won twostraight after losingsix in arow Dany’e Brooks and Everett Hunter each caughttouchdowns from Rodrigue,and Paxton Lafont caught another from running back Shane Lee. After an interception gave Nicholls theball at the opposing 24-yardline, Lee found Lafont for aﬁrst-play touchdown. Rodrigue addeda 5-yard rush and Gabe Showalter kickeda 29-yarder to give the Colonels a17-0lead at thehalf.

DUCKS/WESTZONE: Nov. 15-Dec. 7.

DUCKS/EAST ZONE: Nov. 1516, youth- &veterans-only weekend.

GEESE/EASTZONE: Nov. 15-Dec. 8.

QUAIL: Nov. 15-Feb. 28, statewide, private landsonly DOVES: NorthZone,through Nov. 16; South Zone,through Nov. 30.

DEER/MODERN FIREARMS: Through Nov. 30, State Deer Areas 3, 7, 8&10.

ROAD CLOSURE: Section of La. 975 through Sherburne WMA closedthrough June 12, 2026 (replace bridge) access from U.S. 190 and I-10 open

DRAWDOWNS: Underway on HendersonLake, Lake Bistineau, Saline,Kepler, Iatt, Black &Clear lakes, Clear-Smithport Lake&Lake Martin. EMAIL: jmacaluso @theadvocate.com

PROVIDED

THE VARSITYZONE

Edna Karrreceiver AnthonyThomas, center, runs and

on Friday at theShrine on

Curtis-Karrgameends with bigger-picture focus

EdnaKarr and John Curtis ended their late-season battleof unbeatens with abigger picture in mind.

Coaches and playersfrom both schools walked off theﬁeld following the 48-26victory for Karr with the thought that there is more to play for in the coming weeks.

For Karr,the win was another step toward staying undefeated and keeping the No. 1spotinthe LHSAA Division Ipowerratings, which would give the reigning state champion Cougars thetop seedwhen the playoff brackets are announced next Sunday For Curtis, the loss madeclear the cost four turnovers can have against one of the top-ranked teams in the nation.

Karr scored four touchdowns off turnovers, two of themon fumble returns by linebacker Kevin Martin and defensivelineman Richard Anderson. Theﬁrst two touchdowns off turnovers helped Karr build a21-0 lead before the ﬁrst quarter ended

“You got to learn from agame like this, and you’ve got topick yourgameup,” Curtis coach J.T. Curtis said. “Hopefullywe’re going to be able to do that. That’s what Ijust challenged them to do. Youcan’tworryabout what we missed tonight. We gotto learn from it, move forward and get ourselves to be alittle better football team.”

Curtis (7-1, 5-1 District 9-5A)

BY CHRISTOPHERDABE Staff writer

Twoofthe New Orleansarea

high schools that could impact the makeupofthe tradition-bound Catholic League have made decisions regarding theirenrollment classifications for the upcoming two-year districting cycle.

The result of those decisions should have Holy Cross remaining with many of its traditional District 9-5A counterparts while Shaw continues in Class 4A for at leastanother two-year cycle that starts in thefall of 2026 and runs through thespring of 2028.

Both schools madetheir decisionsahead of theTuesdaydeadline set by the LHSAA forschools to declareifthey want to play up in the highest enrollmentclassification. The first LHSAA classification meeting will be held Thursday in Baton Rouge.

hasplayed several close footballgames this season, winning by two points against Rummel and four points against Warren Easton. Alate interception return touchdown let Curtis beatHolyCross by eight points. Brother Martin got within seven points before alate-game drive sealedanother win forCurtis. Curtis is amongthe few schools to challengeKarr (90, 6-0) this season.American Heritage (Plantation,Fla.) took Karr to overtime in Week 3. Two weeks later,St. Augustine had achance to make it aone-score gameinthe third quarter,but agoal-linestop on fourth down preceded a99-yardtouchdown drive thatlet Karr widen the lead.

Thegood news for Curtis is there will bemore chances to proveitself against other top competition

The next opportunity comes on Friday against St. Augustine at TheShrineonAirline. Those teams will meet with apossible No. 4playoff seed on theline, at least based on how thepower ratings looked after Friday

Curtis dropped to No. 4from No. 2after theloss against Karr, and St. Augustine (7-1, 4-1) went into its Saturday gameagainst Holy Cross at No. 6. In between them at No. 5 was Catholic-Baton Rouge (72), which has aWeek 10 game against Zachary (6-2).

Credit Curtis for how theteam responded after falling behind 21-0 with two touchdown passes from London Padgett that were sandwiched around an interception return by Jeffrey Curtis.

The success of the season can be determined by how ateam responds to failure. That is the case for Curtis. Karr has other things in mind. It doesn’twant to make too much out of any one game —not even alate-season battle of unbeatens.

“We’re just takingitgame by game, play by play,step by step,” said Karr quarterback John Johnson, athird-year starter who has plentyofbig-game experience. “Every game is just another game, another team in the way of us going back-to-back and winning state again.”

For all teams,that is theintended prize: achance at winning astate championship. Karr might have theinside track for another title. Butdon’tdiscount Curtis or any other team that can ﬁnd away to keep getting better

Contact Christopher Dabe at cdabe@theadvocate.com

“Wetalked about it as aschool leadership team,”Holy Cross athletic director Mark Faliveno said, adding that “we think it’sinthe best interest of ourschool” to remain in 5A.

Holy Cross has an LHSAA enrollmentﬁgure of 788, thesmallest among traditional Catholic League schools and nearly 200 below the cutoff between 5A and 4A.

Meanwhile, Shaw will remain in 4A for athird consecutive two-year districtingcycle after previously playing up in the Catholic League, football coach Hank Tierney said.

Tierney said Shaw is unlikely to rejoin the Catholic League until after school enrollmentgrows enough so that the LHSAA places it in the 5A classiﬁcation.

The LHSAA enrollment figure for Shaw hasrisento931 after previously sitting at 758 during the past enrollment cycle. Another rise could have Shaw back in 5A for thefall of 2028.

“We’renot going to go up until our enrollment makes us go up,” saidTierney, whose Shawteam won theLHSAA DivisionIIstate title last season.

Other traditional all-boys CatholicLeagueschools andtheir enrollmentﬁgures are Jesuitwith 1,984;

Brother Martin with 1,720; St. Augustine with1,093; andRummel with 1,010, all above the 5A cutoff. The LHSAA uses atimes-two multiplier to determineenrollment for the single-gender schools. John Curtis, which has played up since 2015, has aco-ed enrollment figure of 437 that would put it in Class 3A if the school did not opt to play in ahigher classification. Coach J.T.Curtis said the school would decide before the deadline. WarrenEaston, which hasa coed enrollment of 1,297, andEdna Karr,at1,134, also areabove the 5A cutoff.Karr joined 9-5A in 2022 and Easton in 2024. Among other schools, St. Charles (393 students) will play the next two-year cycle in 3A, and likely in the Division III playofffield, athletic director and football coach Wayne Stein said. Stein said he believes St. Charles could be placed in adistrictwithLutcher,St. James and Vandebilt Catholic, and possibly Berwick and Patterson. Schools moving to anew classification due to enrollment include Salmen downto4Afrom 5A, Kennedy and Young Audiences up to 4A from 3A, Cohen and Pope John Paul II up to 3A from 2A and Fisher downto2Afrom 3A. Afterthe first classification meeting Thursday,schools will have until Nov.14tosubmit awritten response or appeal to thefirst proposed districting plan. The second classification meeting will be Nov. 17.Athird meeting, if needed will be Dec. 3.

LaVine,DeRozan lead Sacramento past Bucks

Zach LaVine had 31 points, DeMar DeRozan scored 29, and the Sacramento Kings turned back a late rally to hold on for a135-133 victory over Milwaukee on Saturday in Milwaukee. TheBucks,who trailed108-102 entering the final period, pulled within133-132 on MilesTurner’s 3-pointer from theright corner with 51 seconds remaining. DeRozan missed apullupjumper on the Kings’ next possession, but the Bucks failed to capitalize when Giannis Antetokounmpo turned it over with apoor pass with 19 seconds left.

Dennis Schroderhit two free throws with 14.8 seconds left to put the Kings up 135-132. A.J.

Green misseda3-pointer on the Bucks’next possession. Green hit theﬁrst of two free throws with 1.1 seconds left, but the Bucks could not controlthe rebound. Russell Westbrook scored on a put back to put the Kings up 126118, but Antetokounmpo scored the Bucks’next11points, cutting the lead to 131-129 withabreakaway dunk Domantas Sabonis had 24 points and13reboundsand Schroder had 24 points for theKings. Antetokounmpo, who did not playinthe Bucks 120-110 win over Golden State on Thursday with left knee soreness, had 26 points, 11 reboundsand eight assists in 32 minutes. TIMBERWOLVES 122, HORNETS 105: In Charlotte,NorthCarolina, Julius

Randle scored 30 points to lead theMinnesotaTimberwolves to their first victory since All-Star Anthony Edwards was sidelined with an injury WithoutEdwards, who has a right hamstring strain, Minnesota had lost home games to Denver and the Los Angeles Lakers. Donte DiVincenzo andNaz Reid added 18 pointseach, Rudy Gobert had 14 pointsand 15 rebounds and Jaden McDaniels added 14 points for Minnesota. Miles Bridgeshad 30 pointsand LaMelo Ballhad 18 points, seven rebounds andeight assists to lead Charlotte.

Charlotte led 56-50 at halftime before Minnesota dominatedthe thirdquarter 36-18 to takean8674 leadintothe ﬁnal quarter. The

Timberwolves’ strong play extended intothe fourth quarter as they eventually built a20-point lead.

MAGIC 125,WIZARDS 94: In Washington, Paolo Banchero had28points and 11 rebounds as the Orlando Magic beat the Wizards.

Banchero shot 9for 15 fromthe ﬁeld and went 3of6 from 3-point range in 26 minutes for his fourth double-double.

Wendell Carder added 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Franz Wagner scored 25 points as the Magic won consecutive games afteran early season four-gameskid. Orlando outrebounded Washington 53-40 —amargin that narrowed late —and held an opponent under 100points forthe ﬁrsttime this season. The Magic is 2-2 on its ﬁve-gametrip and 3-4 overall.

Keyshawn George scored 17 points and CJ McCollum added 13 as the Wizardslost theirfourth straight overall and third straight at home. The Wizards shot39.8% (39 of 98) from the ﬂoor in their lowestscoring gameofthe new season. After aﬁrst quarter of seven ties and four lead changes,Orlando outscored Washington 43-21 in the second and held a75-56 lead at halftime.

Banchero hit 5of7shots and scored 15 points, and Wagner added11pointsasthe Magic shot 60.9% from the ﬂoor in the period. Orlando built its lead to 30 points in the third quarter,allowing Magic coach Jamahl Mosley to lean mostly on his bench downthe stretch.

STAFFFILE PHOTOByJOHNMCCUSKER Holy Cross backKe’Rynn Smith turns the corner against Edna Karr on Sept.27.

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Chris Dabe

By The Associated Press

KELLY

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loss to Texas A&M. Kelly had a 34-14 record, results thatdidn’t match the size of his 10-year,$95 million contract. When Kelly cametoLSU in December 2021, he never had been ﬁred in three-plus decades as ahead coach. He left Notre Dame as the team’swinningest coach with 113 victories, and he believed LSU could help him capture his ﬁrst FBS national championship. After all, theTigers’ previous three head coaches won national titles by their fourth seasons

“He built his success at Notre Dame offofhis traits of excellence and his total preparation, as he callsit, and that’skind of the thing that underminedhim,” aformer member of the LSUathletic department said, “because he was too married to what had worked for him at NotreDame and notopen-minded enough to what would work for him at LSU.”

The Advocate spoke to 15 people connected to the LSU program over the past four years. Theyweregranted anonymity in order to speak freely. Kelly has notspoken publicly since he was ﬁred, and former LSU athletic directorScottWoodward,who parted ways with the university on Thursday,did not respond to a requestfor comment.

What the people described was acoach who did not connect with enough of his players, madebad staff decisions and never adapted to recruiting in the SEC. Kelly tried to install his structure, they said, butitdid not translate.

“He did not embrace Louisiana, and he didn’tembrace LSU culture,”one former staff member said. “He felt like it needed to be changed, and part of it needed to be changed, but you have to come in and really embrace it.”

Unable to harnessLSU

Inside the football operations building, Kelly ﬁlled his corner ofﬁce with mementos from his career.One of them was aglasstopped boxfull of rings from championships andbowlgames. It commemorated the highlights from what had been along and successful career, and it was a reminder of what he still needed to accomplish when he came to LSU.

At Notre Dame, Kelly revived aprogram that had declined for years. Notre Dame reached the 2012 national championship game in his third season, and he ﬁnished with ﬁveconsecutive 10-win seasons that included two playoff appearances.

Kelly came to LSU with a26395-2 record. He thought hecould continue what he had done before while harnessing LSU’sadvantages.

“Wewere not at the same point in terms of what Ineededand what Ifelt like the program needed,” Kelly told The Advocatein the spring of 2022.“NotreDame, Ithink, wanted to do it. They’re like abig ship that is turning, and it takes along time to turn that ship. Ineeded to turn alittle faster than they did.”

At the time, Woodwardhad watched LSU win the 2019 national championship, only to go 11-12 over the next two years under coach Ed Orgeron.Woodward ﬁredOrgeroninthe middle of the 2021 season. He thought the football program had gotten too volatile. He wanted astable hand, and he believed Kelly could provide it.

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but there is technically no guarantee.

2. Landry is also correct in saying that these sky-high coaches’ contracts are ridiculous. It is a fact that Kelly’sbuyout, at the moment, isthe second-largest in college football history.Landry said he wants to change that,and that’sadmirable. But reversing the course of the free market is a Herculean project.

3. Landry is incorrect in saying that Woodward is responsible for the contract that led to this buyout (true) AND Fisher’sstillrecord$77 million buyout at Texas A&M two years ago. Woodward did hire Fisher in 2017 when he was the Texas A&M athletic director,but it was Woodward’s successor there, Ross Bjork,who signed Fisher to the extension that led to his staggering buyout

LSU FOOTBALL

Given permission to clean house, Kelly overhauled the staff. He got rid of several longtime assistants, startingwith strength andconditioning coach Tommy Moffitt. Thecold wayMoffitt was dismissedupsetmany people close to theteam, especially former players. Multiple staff members also said Kelly fixed some things that needed to be in the process. “The organization fell in some areas, and hereally brought that in,” alongtime staff member said. “I thinkthe message was alwaysright. Ireally do. Ithink the thought processbehind what we were doingwas right in alot of aspects. There’sjust acertain edgethat this place has, and that’s what ultimately slipped from us.

Kelly’s approach was “a shock to the system,” one former staff member said. Players had to check in daily on an app that measured their activitythroughout theweek,and some thought it never resonated enough.

Issues as theCEO

Throughout hiscareer,Kelly has taken aCEO-style approach to beingahead coach. He wanted to establish accountability,lean on quality assistantsand run the organization from above. Multiple former staff members appreciated that heempowered them todo their jobsinstead of micromanagingthem,and they respected his intelligence.

That hasworked in thepast for Kelly.His ﬁve straight doubledigitwin seasons at Notre Dame coincided with astringofsuccessfuldefensivecoordinator hiresinnow-Texas A&M head coach MikeElko, now-Vanderbilt headcoach Clark Lea and nowNotre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman. But that didn’tpan out at LSU.

“My ﬁrst four weeks here, I didn’tsee him,” acurrent staff member said. Multiple peoplesaid three of Kelly’s top assistantswhen he ﬁrst got to LSU —special teams andrecruitingcoordinator Brian Polian, chiefofstaff Beth Rex andmental performance coach Amber Selking— rubbed people the wrongway.Polian was let go after one year,and Rex left the

Woodward did some highly laudable things as the LSUathletic director

Among them, he hired Jay Johnson to coach baseball, Kim Mulkey to coach women’sbasketballand JayClark to coach gymnastics. Those three have combined to win four national championshipssince 2023. But at aschool like LSU, athletic directors ultimately are judged by their football hires. Not everyone at LSU wasenamored with Woodward and theway he ran the department,includinghow much money he spent on coaches and, subsequently,buyouts.

Landry couldhave tied Woodward to two ultimately ﬁred football coaches, Kelly and Fisher, andsaid LSUcouldn’tafford to allow himtomake another football hire and left it at that. Instead, he followed themoney to someconclusionsthat were only partially correct. He also asserted that Kelly’s agent, Trace Armstrong, is Woodward’s agent, but no evi-

program in themiddle of the 2024 season. Still, LSUreached the SEC championship game in Kelly’s ﬁrst season after he inherited a roster withless than 40 scholarship players. An offense led by Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jayden Daniels was capable of competing for anational title in 2023, but thedefense was so bad that theentire defensive coaching staff was replaced after theyear.Woodward was heavily involved in those decisions.

In themidst of the staff changes, LSU wanted to keep defensive tackle Maason Smith. As Smith debated whether or not to enter theNFL draft,adonor heavily involved in LSU’sname, image and likeness collective participated in ameeting. He suggested Kelly should call Smith, thinking that could help reassurehim during thetransition.

That’sa great idea. If you have his phone number,please share it withme,’ ”the donor recalled Kelly saying. “It seems odd that Ihave his phone number and you don’t.”

Many players on theteam thought they did not have astrong relationship withKelly,multiple people said. It rubbed some players thewrong way when he messed up their names. Onestaff member said that in the NIL era, establishing relationships with players has becomeeven more important for the head coach.

“If you love them up, they’re OK with being screamed at and yelled at because they know you really care,” aformer staff member said. “I feel like that was a blindspot,for sure.”

Oneparent of an LSU player did not meet Kelly for almostayear after he got thejob. He spoke to him for thesecond time ever this summer,even though his son has been on the team the entire time.

“It was just strange,” the parent said. “People would ask me, ‘What kind of guy is he?’ We didn’t know.”

Mistakes in recruiting

Oneformer staff member remembered lookingatLSU’s recruiting boards early in Kelly’s tenure.

“Wehad people up there from

dence of that has come to light.

Alot of folks in Baton Rouge like Woodward. I’m one of them.

He’sBaton Rouge born and bred, graduated from Catholic High and LSU, and has Mississippi River mud on the soles of his shoes.

Butlet’sbehonest: Most folks wouldn’tcare whether apotted plant is named LSU’snext athletic director.They want toknow how all this craziness is going to affect LSU’sabilitytohire its next football coach.

Friday morning, LSUBoard of Supervisors chairman ScottBallard, board athletics committee chairman John Carmouche and newly named interim athletic director Verge Ausberry met with reporters to trytoquell concerns about that. They did their best to squash thenotion that Landry would hire thenext football coach, like some modern-day Huey Long, or that all this upheaval would preclude LSUfrom hiring atop-shelf coach.

“We’re LSU,” said Ausberry,

Providence, Rhode Island, and all kinds of places,” the staffmember said. “I thought, ‘Mmmm.’ ” Louisiana’shomegrown talent is seen as abuilt-in advantage to thejob, but LSU signed only five of the top 10 players in the state in the 2023 recruiting class, the first full cycle under Kelly.That quickly began to change, as LSU signed nine of the 10 ayear later Now,most of Kelly’sfirst class is gone and onlyahandful are starters when it should have formed thebackbone of the team.

“Atﬁrst, from arecruiting perspective, it wastough to get him to do alot of things because he didn’thave to up at Notre Dame,” aformer staffmember said. “I wouldn’tsay he was necessarily stuck in hisways, but he wasn’t fully willing to adapt at times.”

Kelly was involved in recruiting, buttwo former staff membersnoted the recruiting staff was given a certain number of phone calls per week that Kelly would make with prospects. Oneformer staff memberwho has worked at other SEC schools said calls with recruits had to be arranged for Kelly,whereas the other coaches he worked with did that on their own. Kelly viewed himself as the closer

“The biggest complaint we’d get from recruits, their parents, coaches was, ‘Hey,we’ve heard from coach once since we committed’or‘we haven’theard from coach ever,’”the former staff member said.

After astring of recruiting misses early on, LSU needed to add experienced players going into Kelly’sfourth year,especially on defense. It signed the No. 1 transfer class in the country,according to 247Sports. The roster cost about $18 million, Kelly said, anumber that was morethan triple whatthe team had spent the year before.

That raised expectations.

“What blowsmymind about this is that the moremoney that we spent on the roster —and I thinkbyall accounts, the better thetalent got —the worse the resultswere,” said the donor involved in LSU’s collective. “And I do not understand that.”

Aseasonoff therails

Beforespring practice started,

who is leading asearch committee including Ballard, Carmouche and three others to ﬁndthe next football coach. “My phone is still ringing. Alot of people still want to come to LSU. It’s the best job in thecountry.”

This has been atumultuous, stunning andinsomeways embarrassing weekfor LSU, LSU athletics and LSU football. From my time as astudent at LSU in the1980s during the “Crazy Days at LSU” saga through 33 years of covering LSU athletics, Ihave seen astring of crises washover theprogram like storm surges, tearingthings apart. Eventually,things get rebuilt. LSUisscheduled to nameanew president Tuesday.Itwill, according to the men on the podium Friday,then hire afootball coach and then (an interesting point) namea new athletic director.That whole process probably will wrap up no earlier than late November or early December That’s5-6 weeks away.It

Kelly expressed conﬁdence in his team,saying LSU could winthe SEC championship now that it had improved the roster.But manyof the sameissues continued from last season, primarily on offense. Although the defense helped LSU start 4-0, the Tigers quickly fell off. They have the worst rushing offense in the SEC forthe second straight year,and quarterback Garrett Nussmeier has been unable to pick up the slack in the passing gamebehind ashaky offensive line. LSU ﬁred secondyear offensive coordinator Joe Sloan the day after Kelly

“The message with BK was always about the process and our details need to be better,” acurrent staffmember said. “Itcan kind of just go in one ear and out the other.We’d talk about details and process so much. Ihave no idea what our process was, and Ihave no idea if we know what details are.”

On Sunday morning, LSU staff members wentback to work as they normally would on the ﬁrst day before an open date. They hosted recruits, but as the day continued, they could tell something morethan the ﬁring of the offensive coordinator could be coming, especially when Kelly leftthe building.

They knew forsure when they were told to come to an 8p.m. team meeting.

Now,LSU has to conduct another coaching search while ﬁnishing the season under interim coach Frank Wilson. Interim athletic director Verge Ausberry has been given “full authority” to makethe hire, twomembers of the LSU Board of Supervisors said Friday

“BK tried to build LSU in the moldofNotre Dame, and that’s not what LSU needed,” the former member of the athletic department said. “LSU needed structure, but it didn’tneed to swing so faraway from its identity that it forgot whoitwas.

“And so Ithink he brought in structure, but there was adisconnect between the LSU identity and the identity of the head coach and the football program.”

For more LSUsports updates, signupfor ournewsletter at theadvocate.com/lsunewsletter

doesn’tseem that long, but who would have thought Kelly and Woodward both would have been ousted fiveweeks ago? Ausberry is correct. Someone will be eager to take the job no matter the political climate. Maybe it’ll be someone viewed as aproven winner,like OleMiss coach Lane KiffinorOregon coach Dan Lanning or even Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman. It maywell be an up-andcomer or afirst-timer such as a current college or NFL coordinator Perhaps the latter isn’tideal, but consider this: Seven of the teamsinthis week’sAPtop 10 —Ohio State, Indiana, Georgia, Oregon, Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt and BYU —are led by coaches whoeither never had been head coaches before or at least hadn’t coached at the Power Four level. LSU football and LSU athletics will survive this crisis and thrive again. It’s just going to take some pain to get there.

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

LSUcoach Brian Kelly gestures to his players during agameagainst South Carolina on Oct. 11 in TigerStadium

SAINTS GAMEDAY

ROSTERS

FOUR THINGS TO WATCH

SHOUGH TIME

TylerShough, draftedwiththe No.40overall pick in April, will make his firstNFL startSunday. Chancesare,Shough won’tfacea tougher team therestof hisrookieseason. TheRamshavethe second-mostsacks in theNFL (26).Byron younghas nine.On topofthat, they aretiedfor the fifth-highestpressurerateinthe league (38.4%). So theSaints offensivelinewillbetested, and Shough needsa cleanpocket. A successful dayfor Shough would be taking care of theball like SpencerRattler didthrough the firstsix weeks. Avoiding turnovers is theonlyway theSaintshavea chance

DEFENSIVE CARRYOVER

1 2

It’sasking alot, but the defense needs to bottleuplast week’s performance against the Buccaneersand takeitout west TheSaints held the Bucs,led by MVP candidate Baker Mayfield, to just 212 total yards. TheRams, led by quarterback MatthewStafford, area step up in weight class, though.They have oneofthe most potent offenses in the league, averaging 360.1 yards per game. TheRams’ passing attack (256.7 yards per game) ranks third in the NFL. Receiver Puka Nacua, whohas battled an ankle injury, is expected to returnthis week,making the offense evenmore dangerous.

GOODSTART

TheSaintsneedsomething good to happen early. TheRamsaren’t thetypeofteamthe Saints need to play catch-up against. Especially sincethe Saints are turningtoarookie quarterbackmaking his firstNFL start. TheSaintshave spentmostofthisseasontrying to climbout of ahole. They have had84offensive possessions, andtheyhavebeentrailingfor 70 of those. In five of theirfirst eightgames,the Saints never havehad alead. It wouldhelp if theSaintscould getsome help from specialteams or if the defensecould create aturnover or twotoset theoffense up in good fieldposition.

MAKE PLAYS It shouldbepretty clear by now that alot of things will have to go right forthe Saints to pull offa huge upset.TheSaints opened as 131/2-point underdogs.It’ll take either a flawless performance by the Saints or aclunker of a performance by the Rams forthe Saints to gettheir second win of theseason. Theyneed to do all of thelittle things right. Catch every ball that hitstheir hands. Hold on to theball oncetheycatch it. GetStafford down when they get to him. Line up correctly.Score in thered zone. Make field goals. youget thepicture. The margin of erroristhinner than everfor the Saints.

3 4 Rod Walker

asset. See: Chicago, 2024, with Caleb Williams-Justin Fields.

So there’salot on the line over the next twomonths, both forShough and the Saints.

QUESTIONABLE:

QUESTIONABLE: CB DariousWilliams (shoulder)

The momentoftruthhas arrived for Tyler Shough. All theyears of dreaming and scheming, playing and praying, have delivered himtothis point

It’stime to see whether he has what it takes to be astartingNFL quarterback. This is thesituation he has planned and prepared for since he was akid, wearing aBrett Favre jersey and slinging the ball around his yard in the Phoenixsuburbs.

Shough said. “What agreat opportunity to go out there and let it rip.”

“We’re really excited about this opportunity forhim,” Moore said. “I feel like Tyler is ready to go.”

“You can callita dream, Iguess,” Shough said. “I’ve always believed it (might happen).”

Shough will earn the ﬁrst start of his nascent NFL career against the Rams on SundayinLos Angeles. In so doing, he will join exclusive company.Onlysix other rookie quarterbackshavestarted for the New Orleans Saints in their 59-year history

Thelast onetobedrafted as highly as Shough, asecond-round selection from Louisville,was Archie Manning in 1971. Shough will be thrown into thedeep end. The Rams run one of the most sophisticated defensive schemes in theNFL. They are ranked in the top ﬁve of almost every majordefensive category.Their defensive line features the best edge tandem in the league: NFLsack leader ByronYoung and2024 Defensive Rookie of theYear

Jared Verse.

It’ll be asink-or-swim experience for Shough at SoFiStadiumonSunday

“Their defense is incredibly good,”

Shough and the Saintsare going into this thingwith their eyes wide open. They know there will be growing pains along the way.With that mind, the clubis giving him along leash. Barring injury Shough will be thestarter,and Spencer Rattler will be thebackup. There will be no ﬂip-ﬂopping between thetwo. This is Shough’sjob and Shough’steam.

“We’re not doing this back-and-forth thing,” Saints coach Kellen Moore said. He added that having Shough as the permanent starter “is certainly the goal.” Moore declinedtodiscuss the big picture, but it’s evident. This is essentially anine-game audition. How Shough fares over the next two months is signiﬁcant— notjust for his future but also the franchise’s

TheSaints are staring at athree- or four-win season, whichwould land them atop-ﬁve selection in the 2026 NFLDraft.

If Shough passesthe test, he likely will become thepermanent starter freeing the Saints up to look elsewhere for help in the draft. If he fails, the Saints will be forced to look at quarterback options, starting with Fernando Mendoza of Indiana and Ty SimpsonofAlabama. Athird optionsremains, albeit an unlikely onethat few have considered: Shough plays well, but theSaints fall in love with aquarterback prospect in the draft and use Shough as apotential trade

He’ll need to be to turn around this listless offense. The Saints rank near the bottom of the league in mostkey offensive categories. They’re 29th in scoring (16 points per game) and 27th in total offense (295.0 yards agame). They’re 28th in rushing and dead last in red-zone offense. The offense gradually has declined in both scoring and yards annually since former head coach Sean Payton acolyte Pete Carmichael was ﬁred as offensive coordinator in 2023.

Can Shough turn things around? Time will tell.

Since Drew Brees retired in 2020, the Saints and their loyal legion of fans have turned their lonely eyes to a parade of offensive saviors in recent years, from Derek Carr to Klint Kubiak to Spencer Rattler to Moore. So far,no one has been able to rekindle the magic of the golden Payton-Brees era. “It’sone game; it’sone week,” Moore said. “(Shough doesn’t) have to makeit any bigger than it is. The biggest thing is growth.”

Moore never would say it publicly,but this was the plan all along. The Saints selected Shough with the No.40overall pick in April to eventually be their starter.Itwas only amatter of time until they handed him the keys to the offense. That timehas arrived. Now, it’supto Shough to deliver

Email JeffDuncan at jduncan@ theadvocate.com.

STAFFPHOTO By BRETT DUKE

Veadefendsinthe

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If the season were to end today,the Saints would have the No. 1pick —and their choice of any quarterback in the draft,if desired.

First,they must determine whether they have enough in Shough to make taking another quarterback unnecessary

“I’m excited for him,” Saints coachKellenMooresaid.“I think he’sgoing to handle this thing really,reallywell.”

Moore made no bold declarationsabout Shough’sfuture, outside of saying that the rookie would startover Spencer Rattler for therest of theseason Askedabout what he needs from afranchisequarterback, the ﬁrst-yearcoach rattled off alist of traits. Great command. Protect the football. Make plays whenyou have to. Lead

The Saints hope Shough is ready to step in and pounce after sitting for most of the ﬁrst eightgames.The Louisville product got his ﬁrst extended action in last week’s losstothe Tampa Bay Buccaneers,and coachesand players saidthey couldsee the quarterback’s growth after running the scout team.

“I’m going to make mistakes,” Shough said. “SoI’m going to do everything Ican to learn from those mistakes.”

The worst outcome would be if Shough manages to win games withoutperformances that deﬁnitively answer whether he’sthe guy Victories overthe Miami Dolphins, NewYorkJetsand Tennessee Titans —who areright near the Saints at the top of the draft order —have the potential to be misleading, especially if the Saints win with Shough just doing enough while the team steps up in other areas.

Yes, those wins could push the Saints out of the rangeto take the top quarterback prospect, but that shouldn’teliminate the possibility of taking, say,the third quarterback if they end up with the sixth pick instead of the ﬁrst or second Look at the2020draft, for instance.Thatyear,the Washington Commanders— or the Washington FootballTeam, as they were calledthen— passed on achance to take Tua Tagovailoa or JustinHerbert to draft defensive end Chase Young second overallinstead. Washington, at the time, felt it would be better off selecting apass rusher labeled as agenerational talent,since the team also had drafted quarterback Dwayne Haskins in thefirst round the previous year This decision might have doomed coach Ron Rivera’s four-year tenure in D.C. Haskinswas benched—and then cut —that fall.And while Washington made the playoffs in 2020 with a7-9 record, the lack of afranchise quarterback wasthe hurdle that Rivera and his staff could not overcome. Washington may havebeen persuaded mistakenlyby Haskins’ close to the2019 season. Like Shough, Haskins’ first start didn’tcome until Week 9, but his two victories down the stretch came against bad teams: the DetroitLions, whoﬁnished 3-12-1, and a5-11

Carolina Panthers team that lost eight straight to close the year.Haskins didshow some ﬂashes in that span, but there were warning signs the team overlooked

There are other examples, too.

TheDenver Broncos famously drafted passrusherBradley Chubb over future MVP Josh Allen with the ﬁfthpick in 2018, choosingtosign veteran Case Keenum rather thanrely on a young signal-caller

The Cleveland Browns also traded outofthe picksthat becameCarson Wentz and Deshaun Watson,although that was more centered on the franchise’smultiyear teardown strategy rather thanpreserving hope that anotherquarterbackwouldpan out

Complicating matters, the 2026 draft does not appear to be the star-studded class it seemed before the season began.

Arch Manning at Texas and Garrett Nussmeier at LSU originally wereseen as the prizes for rebuildingclubssuch as theSaints, but both have underwhelmed. In theirplace, Fernando Mendoza of Indiana and Dante Moore of Oregon have played well enough totop most mock drafts, but neither hasgenerated franchise-savior hype Alabama quarterback Ty Simpsonand SouthCarolina quarterback LaNorrisSellers —ifthey declare —also ﬁgure to be in the ﬁrst-round mix

“At this pointintime, Iwould saythere’ssome good,”NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said aboutthis year’s quarterback classonthe “Rich Eisen Show” this week. “I don’t necessarily think I’ve seen some great.”

So what does Shough have to show? Asked this question before the season, The Athletic’s Robert Mays compared the situationtoNew Englandand Drake Maye, the third overall pick in last year’sdraft.

Like the Saints, the Patriots sat Maye until he was ready

Therookie then thrived, even with poor pass protection upfront and alackluster passcatching group.

“The numbers weren’tgood for DrakeMayelastyear,but the numbers were way better than they should have been,” Mays said. “If youlook at the underlying metrics forthe Patriots last year,itwas way better than it had any right to be, considering some of the personnel deﬁciencies that team had.”

Then again, asking aquarterbackwho went40thoverall to playlike ahighly regarded quarterback from what looks like an all-time great draft class may be setting thebar too high. Perhaps themore apt comparison is what Davis Mills showed for the Houston Texans as athird-rounder in 2021.

The Stanford productkept the Texans in enoughgames down thestretch to prevent Houston fromreaching fora quarterback in aweak draft class.

Eventhen, Mills wasn’t the long-term answer. He wasreplaced in 2023 when theTexansdrafted C.J. Stroud with the second overall pick.

At alectern in the Saints’ facility on Wednesday, Shough seemed to understand the gravity of thesituation.But hisultimate goal, he said, is to win He knows what’s on the line. He plays in aleague where the Arizona Cardinals discarded Josh Rosen just ayear after takinghim 10thoverallto draft Kyler Murray ﬁrst overall. Justin Fields got only three seasons in Chicago beforethe BearstookCaleb Williams with theﬁrst pick.

“If it doesn’tgowell this year, (and) they have an earlier ﬁrstround pick, oneofthose top quarterbacksisavailable to them, then yeah,Iwould absolutely not even hesitatetomake amove,” Walder said.

Email Matthew Paras at matt.paras@theadvocate.com

STAFF PREDICTIONS

RODWALKER

RAMS 37,SAINTS13: Thepotentoffense forthe Rams is averaging360.1 yards pergame, so theSaintsdefense is in for astern test.The Rams aregivingupjust 16.7 points pergame(second best in the league). This is probably thebestoverall team theSaintshavefaced so farthis season.The resultsofthisgamewillshow it

LUKE JOHNSON

RAMS 31,SAINTS17: Weirdthings happen in theNFL,but there’snothing aboutthismatchup that makesmefeel good aboutthe Saints.Matthew Stafford is playingatanelite leveland hastwo AllPros to throwto, andthe LosAngeles pass rush is oneofthe best in theleague. The good news is theschedulegetslighter after this week

JEFF DUNCAN

RAMS 30,SAINTS19: TylerShoughis beingthrownintothe deep endfor his starting debut. TheRamsare SuperBowl contenders andboast oneofthe stingiest defenses in theleague. Still, Ilikethe Saints to keep it closefor ahalforso thankstothe “new quarterback” bump Rams have toomuchtalent, though,to succumbtoanupset

MATTHEWPARAS

33,SAINTS14:

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By TyLER KAUFMAN Tyler Shough looks to pass against the Tampa BayBuccaneers last Sundayinthe Caesars Superdome.

STAFF PHOTO By DAVIDGRUNFELD

Saints quarterback Tyler Shough calls aplayfromthe huddle during the second half against the Tampa BayBuccaneers last Sundayinthe Caesars Superdome.

If Pels don’t fight, Greenwillget KO’d

Once upon atime when theNew Orleans Pelicans were trending in the right direction, Willie Green delivered afiery speech in Los Angeles that defined his first season as aheadcoach. His Pelicans were buried in a10-point hole heading into the fourth quarter of aplay-in game against the Clippers that night during the 2021-22 season.

“Get your freaking heads up,” Green told his team. “This is what we live for.This is what we work hard for.OK, we ain’tgivingitup. We are not freaking giving this up.You gotta freaking ﬁght.You gotta ﬁght.”

The Pels fought back and won that night.

More times than not since then, theﬁght the Pelicans put on display in that game 31/2 years ago has been missing.

You’ll see glimpses from time to time, like in Friday night’s126-124 loss to the Clippers decidedbya Kawhi Leonard buzzer beater. The Pels trailed by 10 going into the fourth quarter Friday.This time unlike that play-in game in 2022, they couldn’tclose the deal.

But most other times —like earlier in the week when thePelicans got blasted in back-to-back losses to the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets—you’ll see a team that has the same amount of ﬁght as it has wins —zero.

In those times when it seems the players have given upon Green, the question becomes is it time for the front ofﬁce to give up on him, too?

For every game like Friday night when you see the Pels ﬁght to the end, they’ll negate it with

STAFF PHOTO By DAVIDGRUNFELD

NewOrleans Pelicans coach Willie Green directs aplayagainst the Boston Celticsduring the first half of agameonMonday at the Smoothie King Center.The Celtics won122-90.

ä Pelicans at Thunder 2:30 P.M.

SUNDAy WVUE

an embarrassingreality check.

Thenext one could come as early as Sundaywhen thePelicans (0-5) wrap uptheir road trip against the undefeated Oklahoma City Thunder, thereigning NBA champions.

It’sstill early in the season, but JoeDumars —who replaced David Grifﬁnasexecutive vice president of basketball operations in April —already could be facing abig decision. Does heride it out with Green? Or has he seen alarge enough sample size?

Is Dumars discouraged by the two embarrassinglosses this week from ateam that hasn’twon agame since March 30? Or does the ﬁght he saw Friday in taking the Clippers to thewire offset that?

OutsideofFriday’sgame, what thePelicans have shown so far isn’twhat Dumars said fans would see when he took over.He didn’tpromiseaplayoff berth this season, but he did promise effort.

“Before you can get to the playoffs or acertain amount of wins, theﬁrst thingyou have to get to is,‘We compete hard every night,’ ”Dumars said in April. “If you don’testablishthat in your building ﬁrst,you’re just talking. You’re just giving quotes out at that point. For me, it’sa process of establishing ahard, competitiveplaying team every night. Then we will get to thewins and losses.”

The competitivenesshasn’t been there consistently and certainly not thewins.

The Pels’ losing streak is at 12 dating to last season.Fourof the last sevenlosses have been by at least 25 points, including

the pair of 30-plus point beatdownsthis week against the Celticsand Nuggets. Alossto OKC on Sunday would tiethe franchise recordfor most consecutive losses. When evaluating Green, an asterisk can go beside last season. ThePels tied for the secondfewest wins in team history, but even Phil Jackson couldn’t win with ateam decimated by that many injuries. The season beforethat, Green led the team to 49 wins, the second-most in franchise history He hasn’t recaptured what he had in the 2023-24 season. It seemsasifGreen’smessage isn’t gettingthrough to the players at times It’snot just that the Pels are losing. It’show they are losing. In all ﬁve games this season, there have been lulls. That falls on Green. It doesn’thelp when the team has games like Wednesday night’sloss to the Nuggets when two of its best players (Trey Murphy and Herb Jones) combine to shoot 3of15from the ﬂoor and the best player (Zion Williamson) goes theentire game without arebound.

After the loss to the Nuggets, Green’spostgame message was that his team needed to do some soul searching.

“Pretty much we are ateam right now that has to dig down and find ouridentity,” Green said. “Wehave to believe in each other That’sfirst. The first order of business is you’ve got to compete harder,play harder,play more together,and the belief has to be there.”

Yousaw that Friday as they climbed out of a17-point,thirdquarter hole to almost force overtime. But it still goes down as aloss.

“Even through adifﬁcult loss,

SCOREBOARD

Matkovic 3:28 0-1 0-0 0-2 01 0 Totals 240:0040-8326-2912-43 28 18 124

Percentages: FG .482, FT .897

3-Point Goals: 18-37, .486 (Poole7-13,MurphyIII 5-10, Jones 3-4, Fears 2-5,Alvarado 1-3, Bey 0-2). Team Rebounds: 3. Team Turnovers:None. Blocked Shots: 4(Matkovic,Missi,Poole, Queen). Turnovers: 15 (Poole 5, Missi 3, Williamson 3, Jones 2, MurphyIII, Queen) Steals: 8(Fears 4, Murphy III 2, Alvarado, Jones). TechnicalFouls: None. FG FT Reb

LACMin M-AM-A O-TA PF PTS

Jones28:42 7-10 0-0 2-3 11 16

Leonard36:1411-16 7-7 0-5 52 34 Zubac 33:37 5-7 4-4 1-11 15 14

Beal 21:11 3-8 2-2 0-1 22 9 Harden 39:03 8-19 4-5 1-5 14 224 Dunn 22:45 3-6 0-0 0-0 04 6 Collins 18:50 6-10 1-1 1-3 10 14

Batum 16:25 1-4 0-0 3-5 03 3

Lopez 14:17 1-5 1-2 1-3 00 3 Paul 8:57 1-4 0-0 1-1 40 3

Totals 240:0046-8919-2110-37 28 19 126

Percentages: FG .517, FT .905 3-Point Goals: 15-39, .385 (Leonard5-8, Harden 4-13, Jones Jr. 2-5, Batum 1-2,Beal 1-2 Paul 1-2, Collins1-3, Dunn 0-1,Lopez 0-3). Team Rebounds: 8. Team Turnovers: None. Blocked Shots: 6(Zubac 3, JonesJr. 2, Lopez). Turnovers: 12 (Harden 4, Batum 2, Leonard2 Beal, Collins, Dunn, Lopez).

Steals: 12 (Leonard6,Dunn 3, Harden 2, Lopez).

TechnicalFouls: None. New Orleans 28 31 25 40 —124 L.A. Clippers 26 41 27 32 —126 A_16,083 (18,000). T_2:17.

Major LeagueBaseball

MLB Postseason Glance

All Times Central x-if necessary WORLD SERIES (Best-of-7) (FOX)

Toronto 3, LosAngeles 3

Friday, Oct. 24: Toronto 11,Los Angeles 4 Saturday, Oct. 25: LosAngeles 5, Toronto 1 Monday, Oct. 27: LosAngeles 6, Toronto 5, 18 innings Tuesday, Oct. 28: Toronto 6, LosAngeles 2 Wednesday, Oct. 29: Toronto 6, LosAngeles 1 Friday, Oct. 31: LosAngeles 3, Toronto 1 Saturday, Nov. 1: LosAngeles at Toronto, n Late Friday

NotreDame 25, Boston College10 RobertMorris 20, Stonehill 17 Sacred Heart 35, New Haven20 Uconn 38, UAB19 Wagner 23, St. Francis (Pa.) 20 Yale 24, Columbia 10 SOUTH Bethune-Cookman42, MVSU 34 Duke46, Clemson45 Georgia 24, Florida 20 Grambling St. 13, Alabama A&M 10 Liberty 59, Delaware 30 Lindenwood (Mo.) 35, Tennessee St.13 Louisiana-Lafayette 31, South Alabama 22 Louisville 28, VirginiaTech 16 Mercer 52, Furman 28 Morehead St. 28, Davidson24 Nicholls 31, Houston Christian 7 Old Dominion 31, Louisiana-Monroe 6 Presbyterian 43, Valparaiso 14 Richmond 17, Fordham 14 S. Illinois 27, Murray St. 7 SC State 36, Morgan St. 30 Tennessee Tech 27, Gardner-Webb 21 TheCitadel 35, VMI 24 Towson 62, NC A&T 9 W. Carolina 35, Chattanooga 28 W. Kentucky 35, New Mexico St. 16 William &Mary 37, Albany(NY) 7 Wofford26, Samford16 MIDWEST Arizona St. 24, Iowa St. 19 Buffalo28, BowlingGreen 3 Charleston Southern 23, SE Missouri 17 Drake24, Butler 19 Illinois35, Rutgers 13 IllinoisSt. 31, N. Iowa 16 Indiana St. 24, S. Dakota St. 12 Kansas 38, Oklahoma St.21 Minnesota 23, Michigan St. 20, OT N. Dakota St. 38, Youngstown St. 30 Ohio St. 38, Penn St. 14 South Dakota 26, North Dakota 21 St. Thomas (Minn.) 45, Marist 0 TexasTech 43, Kansas St. 20 UT Martin27, E. Illinois20, OT W. Michigan 24, Cent. Michigan 21 SOUTHWEST Abilene Christian 31, Tarleton St. 28 Alabama St. 31, Prairie View 28 Alcorn St. 33, TexasSouthern 14 Ark.-Pine Bluff 40, Southern U. 21 Baylor 30, UCF 3 E. Kentucky 34, Cent. Arkansas 13 Incarnate Word 24, Lamar 17 Mississippi St.38, Arkansas 35 North Texas31, Navy 17 SMU 26, Miami 20, OT Texas34, Vanderbilt 31 West Virginia 45, Houston 35 FARWEST Army20, Air Force17 Fresno St. 30, Boise St.7 Idaho St. 38, UC Davis 36 Montana 38, WeberSt. 17 Montana St. 55, N. Colorado 7 New Mexico 40, UNLV35 Pittsburgh 35, Stanford20 Portland St. 40, Cal Poly 35 Sacramento St. 35, E. Washington 13 San Diego 31, Dayton 13 Utah Tech 34, North Alabama33, OT Virginia 31, California21 Golf Maybank Championship Saturday At KualaLumpur—West Course Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Purse: $3 million Yardage: 6,536;

the response we all saw tonight is agroup that is learning each other and coming together,” Green said Friday.“But they care. They went out and competed at ahigh level and gave everything they got. We are going to continue to get better.”

Will Green get to continue leading that charge?

Dumars gets to decide whether he believes in Green. Many of the fans no longer do.

Social media has been in shambles all week. So have someofthe fans in the Smoothie King Center Boos wereheard when Green’s namewas called during pre-game introductions at the homeopener against the San Antonio Spurs. To avoid the boos, Green’sname wasn’tannounced during introductions forthe second home gameagainst the Celtics.

Those boos will get only louder At least until fans stop showing up, typically the next step when teamsdon’tplay with effort.

“Weare here to raise the bar,” Dumars said in April. “We’re not here to be happy with mediocrity.”

Five games into the season, the Pelicans aren’teven mediocre.

One of three winless teamsinthe NBA, they are toward the bottom of the league in moststatistical categories.

Pelicans governor Gayle Benson typically doesn’tget rid of coaches in the middle of aseason. She did last year though, ﬁring Dennis Allen, the head coach of her other franchise the NewOrleans Saints.

The Pelicans last got rid of a coach midseason when Byron Scott was let go after the thenNewOrleans Hornets started 3-6.

Will Green last that long? It’s too early to say Or is it?

13 Lehigh 41, Georgetown 0 Maine 28, StonyBrook 21 Monmouth (NJ) 35,Bryant 7 NC Central 35, Howard 14

(99) Daniel Suárez, Chevrolet,

(43) Erik Jones, Toyota, 132.577.

(47) Ricky StenhouseJr, Chevrolet,132.489.

(9)ChaseElliott, Chevrolet, 132.470.

(4)Noah Gragson, Ford,132.431.

(6)BradKeselowski, Ford,132.406.

(20) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 132.372.

(60) Ryan Preece,

Rod Walker

Paddle parade on Bayou

Techeagreat starttofall

When avolunteer with The TECHE Projecthanded me asouvenir pin stamped with an image of achickadee last month, Iknew I’d nabbed a treasure. With their black and white feathers that look likea tuxedo, chickadees are among my favorite birds.

What Ilike most is their spunk —how they hold their own at my birdfeeders in spite of their small size.

Aﬁtting mascot, in other words, for The TECHE Project, which is pretty plucky itself. Since its founding in 2010, the Acadiana nonproﬁt has done much to advance the goals of its acronym, which stands for The Teche Ecology, Culture and History Education Project.Aspart of its goal to promote the preservation and enjoyment of Bayou Teche, the group helped create the Bayou Teche National Paddle Trail, which extends 135 miles through four Acadiana parishes. Through access docks along the trail, it’sbecome ahaven for kayakers and canoeists.

Isampled afew miles of the trail around Breaux Bridgelast month aspart of The TECHE Project’sannual “Shake Your Trail Feathers Paddle Parade,” atwo-hour procession of kayaks and canoes that concluded at Parc des Ponts Breaux,an oak-shaded public green space. Proceedsfrom the weekend parade and related festivities support improvements tothe paddle trail.

I’m anovice kayaker,but the leisurely pace of the parade is an easy lift for beginners. I was with my more experienced brother, who likesrecreational paddlers because of theircasual sense of fun.That spirit was muchondisplay during last month’sevent, where some of the participants donned plumage and novelty costumes in a nod to the parade’s bird theme It was aﬂawless Saturday to be on the water Early hints of autumn took an edge off the temps, and several dozen of us ﬂoated under asoft blue sky.Cypress trees threw their arms across the water, shading us from the risingsun. Spanish moss hung from oaks along the bank, like curtains quietly drawn againstthe brilliance of noon.

What Ifelt as Iglided through the dark brownwater wasn’tthe largeness of the bayou but its intimacy,asense of enclosure. At times, it was easy to feel as if we paddlers were the only people in the world. But homes along the bank reminded us that the

ä See AT RANDOM, page 9D

Workers waterproof and paint the Milneburg Lighthouse on the University of NewOrleans campus in 2021. It was in operation from 1839-1929.

LIVING

TBY DOUG MacCASH Staff writer

he thing about playing third base is, you’ve got to be as quick as acat. You’ve got to be able to catch a ball ricocheting offthe inﬁeld like abullet, then, without hesitation,slingitall the way to ﬁrst base in time to beat the runner. To do it well isn’teasy

To do it with onearm shouldbeimpossible.Yet Jimmy Ruckert does it routinely during nighttime adult softball gamesatthe City Park quad, St. Patrick’s fieldand anywhere lights are shining down on dirt diamonds across New Orleans.

It’sanamazing sight.Ruckert snags ahard grounder in his gloved right hand andinstantaneously slaps his mitt under his left armpit

He then somehow grabsthe ball out of theglove without bobbling it and zaps it to ﬁrst as fast as pretty much anybody else.

It allhappens in theblink of an eye,yet Ruckert doesn’t seem terribly hurried.

“It’s second nature,” he said. Right away you stop noticing Ruckert’smissing limb and start noticing his wicked smile and the off-the-cuff trashtalk he delivers

Ruckerttightens his batting glove with histeeth as he gets readytobat during a softball game

in one of the best, old-timeyat accents you ever heard.

Theold switcheroo Ruckertis40. He grew up in Bucktownand went to Brother Martin High School. He was born missing most of his left arm, just below theelbow

As alittle kid he wore aprosthetic replacement, but it just got in the way. Once, it ﬂew off while he was batting, so he gave it up entirely.

“I felt free without it,” he recalled. Yep, Ruckert has been aballplayeralmost from the beginning.

BY RACHELMIPRO Contributingwriter

to be the Pontchartrain Beach AmusementPark.

Twolighthouses on LakePontchartrain, once avital

Third baseman Jimmy Ruckertfocuses on catching a flyballduring asoftballgame at NewOrleans City Park.

DannyHeitman AT RANDOM

Restaurant watchers call it the “Michelin effect.” It’sthe impact on arestaurant from having the endorsement of the famous Michelin Guide, and it can also mean the impact on acity or even aregion from having Michelin in the mix, too.

DININGSCENE

The potential to winastar,or just to work in restaurants that have them,can be amagnet for culinary and hospitality talent to areas up forMichelin assessment.

What would aMichelin star restaurant look like in Baton Rouge, or downtownLafayette, or somewhere downacountry highway?

Ian McNulty WHAT’S COOKING

Michelin attention can turn local restaurants into destinations, make achef’s career and generate more gastro tourism. As with all that seems to glitter likegold, it comes with potential perils.

We’re about to see this in action in our own backyard and around adjacent regionswe know well. We’ll see it both immediately,inbolstered prestige and bulging reservations books for restaurants that pick up the highest Michelinhonors

And we’ll see it over time, through seasonal tourism cycles, in the careers of chefs already here and yet to come, in ways restaurants themselves may change and in ways that willsurely vary by locale, as Michelin plays outin dining scenesasdifferentasNew Orleans, Acadiana and coastal Mississippi and Alabama. Michelin, of course, is the French-based brand that has set aglobal standard for ﬁne dining with its Michelin Star ratings(it’s part of the same companythat makes Michelintirestoo)

It’sabout to releaseits ﬁrst Michelin Guide American South, covering not only Louisianabut also Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, NorthCarolina and Tennessee. The restaurants that win the ﬁrst stars, and awhole harvest of other Michelin distinctions at other levels, willberevealed Monday at an event in Greenville, South Carolina. I’ll bethere following the action as it unfolds.

People have been makingtheir own predictions on which local names will get awards, andyou canﬁnd my updated prognostications on New Orleans contenders at nola.com.

Below are my predictions for the bigger Michelin effect

Gettingtothe table

From its start early in the20th century,Michelin has been for travelers. The restaurantguide was originally devised to encourage people to drive more (and thus drive the need for more tires), giving recommendations on where to ﬁnd good food along the way Today,Michelin is recognized around the world, but it does not bring its reviews everywhere. From its home base in France, its guides have expanded by market, landing in areasitdeems destination-worthy for great food, and (critically these days) where state andcity tourism agencies help fund its work.

That ﬁnancial backing from groups around the South led to the format and boundaries for

thesweepingnew Michelin Guide American South across six states. Michelin saysitretains editorial control of its picks, but thepartnerships bring the brand to the table, and the regions involved arebankingonarise in tourism in return.

The Michelin era could shape the restaurants travelers ﬁnd, too.

Culinaryaccelerator

New Orleans has been afamous food destination at least since the time of Lafcadio Hearn. The millions of visitors who now come annually are not here for mountains or beaches, butfor thecity’s culture, with dining at distinctive local restaurants usually at the top of theitinerary

With Michelin,local restaurants will be recognized in asystem that inspires some people to travel speciﬁcally forbucket list dining experiences.

They’re more likely to ﬂy in now ratherthan bounce along on Michelin tires, and they tend to be awell-heeled,international set, just the type tourism boosters covet. Casual wildcards notwithstanding, Michelin Star restaurants are typically very expensive.

Butthe guide is not limited to theCrescent City, and here’s

where things could get really interesting.

Great food is abirthright all over Louisiana, but outside of New Orleans, it doesn’talways register as robust restaurant

scenes. That is starting to change, and Michelin recognition could be apowerful accelerator Restaurants with Michelin recognition immediately become known as “Michelin restaurants.”

Will people mount food tours of rural Louisiana formore than a Cajun butcher shop romp?

This Michelin effect could makeanenormous difference along the Gulf Coast, where a conﬂuence of demographic shifts and trends are already creating a much richer,more modern dining scene, busting the old image of little beyond beach burgers and baskets of royal reds.

Michelin brings international attention wherever it goes, and the possibility of gaining it sets a new goal and reward.

Pressure,identity

For all the excitement evident in the dining scene over Michelin’sarrival, there is also some trepidation.

Michelin Stars and other ratings are not permanent. Guides are updated annually,and restaurants can rise or fall out of them each year.This system can bring enormous pressure to meet and maintain Michelin’sstandards. Operating arestaurant at the level that typically draws Michelin Stars is an expensive proposition, from the stafﬁng levels to the groceries. This new regional guide arrives as restaurants across the spectrum have been grappling for years with higher costs just to maintain their own status quo.

One of the often-cited concerns of Michelin’spower is its potential to shape arestaurant scene it covers, with restaurants mimicking styles that have wonstars in other cities. The worst result would be asort of homogenized luxury as chefs play to the guide. After all, the heart of local dining resides in restaurants you can only ﬁnd here, not restaurants that could be anywhere with enough money to ﬂoat them

For New Orleans in particular,another concern is how the overlay of aMichelin hierarchy, establishing the star haves and have-nots, could be adisruptor in the local restaurant community Today,it’sone with aremarkable sense of collaboration and mutual support instead of cutthroat competition. Could star chasing change that?

My conﬁdence in the positives of the Michelin effect come from the source material, and the culture underpinning it in New Orleans, Louisiana and the Gulf Coast morebroadly

The local identity is strong, expressed in acuisine created with asense of place and in restaurants that reﬂect relationships between hosts and guests spanning generations. That will endure in the Michelin era, wherever the stars land. Email Ian McNultyat imcnulty@theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

STAFF PHOTO By IANMCNULTy

arriveongold-painted oyster shells over adriftofvapor on the chef’stasting menu at Restaurant R’evolution in New Orleans.

STAFF PHOTO By IAN MCNULTy

STAFFPHOTO By IAN MCNULTy

Lafayette servessteaks, seafood and small plates

FALL SPRINTS

n Author,Author!

In January 1925, aspiringwriter WilliamFaulkner(1897-1962) arrived in the Crescent City en route to Europe. Planschangedand he stayed,renting an apartment in Pirate’sAlley,and writing his ﬁrst novel, “Soldiers’ Pay.”

For years, The Pirate’sAlley FaulknerSociety,anonproﬁt and educational organization, has paid tributetohim at afestival that alignswith his birthday. This year,the Society celebrated with its 35th annual meeting,a “black-tie”one,onaSunday evening in the chapel and garden of theOld Ursuline Convent Museum.It was just blocksaway from the above apartment

During theprograminthe chapel, gold medals and cash prizes were presented to the 2024-2025 winners of theSociety’s international literary talent search, the William Faulkner—William Wisdom Creative WritingCompetition, as well as the presentation of the annualALIHOT (A Legend In His/Her Own Time) Award.The programprincipals were Dr E. Quinn Peeper and MichaelHarold for welcome remarks; poet Julie Kane,who didareading from Faulkner’s“The Marble Faun;” author John Shelton Reed, who toasted Faulkner; andSociety co-founder RosemaryJames. She introduced the competition’sjudges, who thenpresentedtheir winners.

After the chapel, the ﬂowwas to the garden, where the JohnnyLopez arrangements of roses, afavorite ﬂower of the author; abuffetdinnerbyPigeon Catering; andjazz “in the style Faulkner would have heard in 1925,” thrilledthe throng. Of particular note was the 2025 ALIHOT winner, Michelle Cheramie of Zeus’ Rescues, who saved Scrim, the Houdini hound.

Milling, too, were Angela Bowlin and Martin Robinson, Patrick Dunne and Nathan Drewes with Anna Giles Adams, Bill Lavender and Nancy Dixon,CassandraDelaney,MoiraCrone and Rodger Kamenetz,GeorgeBishop Jr., RonaldColeman,Ann Fitzgerald and DavidKatz,RobinSinclair,AliciaVolk, and DonaldBest. Residents from away were Elsie Michie, ElaineStevens, ShariStauch andEllie Davis, Celina and Peter Spiegel, Michael Signorelli,Andrea St.Amant, LynSandin Di Ioria, CathyLepik,Annette Pearson, MeganBaxter,EstherRosen and Yossi Rossen, Patricia Barone, David and Mary Anderson, Russell and Nona Working and many others who feted Faulkner

Within the three-day Faulkner Festival, anothersocial draw was to Commander’sPalace restaurant, where “An Evening withThe CountessofDerby” was bannered in celebration of her latest book, “A North American Tour Journal 1824-1825: The Making of aPrime Minister Edward Geoffrey Stanley ”The speaker Caroline Stanley who answers to Cazzy was introduced by Dr.Quinn Peeper of boththe Faulkner Society and the National EnglishSpeaking Union. Hosts for thecocktail receptionthatincluded such annual meeting attendees as RosemaryJames, were therestaurant’s Ti Martin and Lally Brennan. All enjoyed the taste treats of chef MegBickford.

n Beatlemania

The Fab Four inspired the Jesuit High School Celebration Gala &Auction, which was presented by Ryan Gootee, General Contractors, LLC; held in The Cannery; and chaired by SaraGootee and Colleen Peterman,who were joined by husbands Ryan and Stephen. Rachel Mollere, Jenn Serio and Kelly Uddo —with Chad, Stephen and Paul —spearheaded the 200-items auction that included jewelry,art, and dinners.Asfor the rafﬂe of Aucoin Hart Ippolita earrings, Lady Luck tapped aBlue Jay grandmother.Yet another feature, aspecialexhibit by artist Becky Fos, “Through the Eyes of aBlue Jay,” acommissioned canvas that was donated by Kevin and Kristin La Graize, one of the 16 committee chairs. Alimited number

of canvases and lithographs were sold Smiles aboundedwiththe thematic life-size foam images of John, Paul, Ringo and George; the Abbey Road scene for photoopportunities;spinning record players; and the Strawberry Fields Forever dessert room.A dozen restaurantspurveyed and rated thanks.

n The Bounty of Beautiful

The elegant new Metairie Club Gardens home of Mr.and Mrs. Lewis StirlingIII, Lewis and Tricia, provided a stunning settingfor Sippin Under the Oakstobenefit Friends of Jefferson theBeautiful. White-covered tables positioned across thegarden created arelaxed, inviting atmosphere as attendees sipped Champagne and the specialtycocktail, Hugo Spritz, and savored thecatering of Martin Wine Cellar.Caviar deviled eggs were especially delicious, as wasthe Thai grilled chicken satay For theauction, outstanding artwork wasdonated by Demond Matuso,Amanda Stone Talley,and Kevin Gillentine, and purchased, respectively,byDr. SummerBlack, Julie Ponze, and Ashley Boisfontaine. Proceeds from the auction will benefit beautification and tree canopy projects in Jefferson Parish.

Friends president Melinda Bourgeois (with Wayne)addressed the assembly,thanking all for their attendance, support and increase of the tree canopy.She also introduced the national speakers of the 25th Carey HammettTree School,which took place thefollowing day in the Jefferson Performing Arts Center.Alongtime friend of thelate CareyHammett, Sue EllenCanizaro,presented the event. The speakers, all with titles, were Skip Kincaid, Diane JonesAllen, John Dalton, Emilie Taylor Welty,Dr. Kim Coder,James Komen,Lauren Williams, and emcee Peter A.Waring

Socializing at the art-ﬁlled Stirling homewere Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng CHTS chairperson Lee Stansberryand Jennifer, Noraand Bruce Holmes, Holley Haag,Jimmy Aitken, Cynthia Pazos, Katharine St. Paul (Carey’sdaughter), Bill Goldring with Julie Breeden, Paulette Stewart, Kirk and Dr Holly Groh, Parish Council member Hans Liljeberg and Stacey, and Janel Waring with Peter.All wanted to please with trees.

Lewis and Tricia Stirling

More notables were school president the Rev John Brown,S.J., principal Jeremy Reuther, ChristianBautista,Janice Yonts, Ronaldand CeciliaHemelt, Jeanie Favret, Jessica Waguespack, RussellSchafer,AinsleyHoughtaling and countless others, whose “Yesterday” memories were decidedly partypresent

PHOTOSByREAGANLAQUE

Angie Bowlin, Michael Harold, RosemaryJames, QuinnPeeper

Nathan Drewes, AnnFitzgerald,Patrick Dunne John Reed, Beth Ann Fennelly,Tom Franklin

Rodger Kamenetz, Moira Crone

PHOTOSByJEFF STROUT

James Aitken, Katharine St. Paul, Melinda Bourgeois, CynthiaLee Sheng

Nora Vaden Holmes,Lee Stansberry,Holley Haag

Monica and Patrick Melancon

STAFF PHOTOSByDANIEL ERATH

The Rev. John Brown, Colleen Peterman, Sara and Ryan Gootee

Jennifer Serio, Rachel Mollere, KellyUddo

The Rev. AnthonyMcGinn, Leanne Durham Christian Bautista, Ainsley Houghtaling, Russell Schafer

TRAVEL

Experience Tuscaloosa beyond game day

BY CHERÉ COEN

Contributing writer

When the Crimson Tide rollsintoBaton Rougeto play LSU in Death Valley, there’selectricity in the air. The senses are heightened, and the anticipation is palpable. But this year,the Tigers travel to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama Nov.8inBryant-Denny Stadium. For those who are heading north to Alabama for the game, here are afew suggestions for game day activities, restaurants, entertainment and more.

Game day experience

Just like Baton Rouge coversitself with purple and gold, Tuscaloosa ownsa crimson hue.

Home to the University of Alabama and its legacy of championship football, game day weekends in Tuscaloosa mean asea of red and sometimes the famous houndstooth that Alabama coach Paul W. “Bear” Bryant wore on his head during his reign.

commemorating the team’s historic 1926 victory

People may also experience theongoingexhibit “Walking with Champions,” which exploresAlabama’s RoseBowl legacythrough rare photography,memorabilia andartifacts.

ForLSU fans traveling in, the exhibitoffers an inside look at the history behind oneofthe SEC’sgreatest rivalries.

The Paul W. Bryant Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday.

For information, visit bryantmuseum.com.

Downtown Tuscaloosa

Beyondfootball, Tuscaloosa’swalkable downtown is ﬁlled with local restaurants, live music and nightlifethat carries well into game day weekends.

Fora family-friendly break, the Tuscaloosa Riverwalk offers ascenic stretch along the Black Warrior River,ideal for amorning jog, coffee stroll or casual downtimebefore heading to the stadium

Historyand culture

Like most SEC teams, game day weekends on the Bama campus bringhundreds of tents on the Quad lawn serving up tailgating dishes. Don’tmissthe traditional Walk of Champions and the Coaches Walk at Bryant-Denny Stadium, where two hours and 15 minutes beforekickoff, players and coaches arrive to the roar of thousandsof fans liningt Paul W. Brya Amust-visit ball fan, regardless loyalty,ist ant Museum, story of Ala from Bear ing legacy many national ships.

TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER

By ChristopherElliott

FedExmissedi

My wife and Ishipped two suitcasesfrom IowatoNorway for acruise usingFedEx (via LuggageToShip).

Roll Call at TheAlamite LSU fans who haven’t been to town sincethe 2021 game will want to visit the Roll Call, which opened in 2022 inside The Alamite hotel. The restaurant is touted as having apolished yet approachable menu that’sperfect for alumni or families looking fora reﬁneddinner before or afterthe game

The Tuscaloosa Civil Rights Trail provides an important perspective on the city’s place in civil rights historywith aself-guided, 18-stop trail that tells the stories of those whohelped break barriers.

Stopsinclude FirstAfrican Baptist Church, where MartinLuther King Jr preached and Bloody Tuesdayoccurred on June 9, 1964, aviolent reaction to a

The luggagearrived on time but wassent back to Oslo for customs verification. Despite daily calls to FedEx, agentsprovided conflicting updates and blamed Norwegian customs. Forfourdays, FedEx offered no information on how Icould getmyluggageout of customs.

Christopher Elliott

Finally,FedEx claimed it couldn’tdeliver the luggageuntil after our cruise departed, forcing us to pay $1,237 for shipment of luggage, which we didn’t receive whenweneeded it.We contacted FedEx executives using your site’scontacts but received no response.We also sent a letter.W scripts. Whyd ly or resolve refund?

FedE your vided Its In guara tingent —whi Youu Lugga “simple, luggage its site. Luggage is notr delay

PROVIDED PHOTO By VISIT TUSCALOOSA

ARTS &CULTURE

‘Indigeaux’paystribute to role of enslaved women

Dave Walker

The traveling exhibit “Indigeaux: Yes, Spirit. I’ll go …” recently arrived at the Whitney Plantation in Wallace. Created by Leia Lewis,an educator,artist and self-described “light-bringer” and “cultural architect,” the exhibit features hand-dyed textiles and original artwork conceived as an offering to the enslaved women whose hands were stained blue with indigo,” she says.

On view through Dec. 31, the exhibit supplements apermanent installation that recalls indigo’s role in the plantation’shistory In the 18th century,indigo was a majorexport for Louisiana farmers, as European textilemakers coveted the blue hue.

“As early as 1721, indigo was being produced along the river just on the outskirtsofNew Orleans in what they call the Tchoupitoulas area,” said Ibrahima Seck, director of researchat the plantation. “Then it expanded upriver to the so-called German Coast.” Indigo and the labor of enslaved workers who cultivated the crop and processed the dye made Ambroise Heidel, the original owner of the land on which the Whitney Plantation now sits, a wealthy man. Same and more for his heirs, who eventuallytransitioned the plantation’smaincrop to sugar.But indigo was “really the cash crop of the 18th century that allowed the planters along the Mississippi River to be richer and richer,” Seck said Today,the Whitney is known for telling the plantation’shistory through the lives of the enslaved people who worked there

“Weemphasize the skills brought by Africans (to) this land,” Seck said. “Weemphasize the fact that they builtthe foundation of the economy of this land. But also, we go beyondall of that to let people understand (that) they also brought with them their culture —material culture, non-

‘Indigeaux: yes, Spirit. I’ll go ’created by Leia Lewis, features handdyed textiles and original artwork conceived as ‘an offering to the enslavedwomen whose handswere stained blue with indigo,’she says.

material culture —and theyleft very deep imprints in the culture here in terms of foodways,folk tales… the music and many other aspects.”

Theartist’sindigojourney

Lewis was agraduatestudent at theUniversity of New Orleans when sheﬁrst saw“Daughters of the Dust,” JulieDash’sstory of threegenerations of Gullah women in South Carolina. “There was apoignant scene in that ﬁlm when the matriarch of thefamily is remembering the experience of their ancestors, and there are these powerful images of people who are dyeing indigo,”saidLewis, who uses Iya OriadeQueen Leia Lewis as her professional name. “And when I saw the blue hands and Isaw the

vats, there was aremembrance. Though Ihad never seen it before, there was this awareness, like, ‘I know thatmysoul knows this.’

“Thatreally sparkedmeonthis journey.”

In addition to academic research, the journeytook her to severalhistoric sites around the state “I really was intending to visit places, landscapes of Louisiana, and to feel thevibes, you know —tochannel, to get in touch, to askquestions, to go with an open mind, heart, spirit,and to imagine and to remember and to seewhat inspiration would come from those places,” Lewis said. “So,invisiting theseplaces and in sharing my art, it fundamentally comes back also to honoring the humanityofthese people. In

The exhibit supplements a permanent installation that recalls indigo’srole in WhitneyPlantation’s history.

termsofrevisiting history,we can think of it as events and eras and movements and certain aspects of productivity that came forward.

“But theseare still people. These are women, men, children, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, aunties,you know?

“This indigocrop that was grown in Louisiana wasmade possible by the labor and the cultural genius of African people who weregrowing this plant back home. Back in Africa, already there werevast, ancient traditions of indigo dying and indigo textiles and healing with indigo as aspiritual tool as well, as amedicinal tool of midwives.

“And so,these people who were extracted, stolen, imported and brought to colonial Louisiana had vast knowledge. They were wise people, and so they brought that expertise to whatwould become our state.And thus an empire, for some, was born.”

Travel-timesoundtrack

The Whitney is an approximate 55-minute drive fromcentral New Orleans. In acreative solution to visitors’ travel-time challenge, staff members have curated aSpotify playlist titled “The Road to Remembering” with music to prepare visitors for the emotional experienceoftheir plantation visit. Learn more Instagram, @whitneyplantation.

Dave Walker focuseson behind-the-scenes coverage of the region’smany museums at www.themuseumgoer.com.

n Tuesday, the newexhibit “New Orleans Musicians in Art” opens at the Historic NewOrleans Collection. The 14 works on view will be paintings from HNOC’sholdings inspired by New Orleans music and musicians, including portraits by Noel Rockmore, Bruce Brice, HerbertSingleton and J. Haynes Smith. Admission is free. hnoc.org.

n The opening reception forthe traveling exhibit “Degenerate! Hitler’s WaronModernArt” will takeplace at 5p.m.WednesdayatThe National WWII Museum.The exhibit, which originated at the JewishMuseum Milwaukee, featuresmore than 65 works by artists deemed “degenerate”bythe Third Reich Apanel presentationwill takeplace at 6p.m. both in-person and online.The event is free and opentothe public. nationalww2museum.org

n The Historic NewOrleans Collection’s 2025 Food Forum, “Come Pass aGood Time,” will takeplace from 11 a.m. to 7p.m. Saturday. hnoc.org

n At 6p.m. Nov. 13, the Museum of the Southern JewishExperience will present “Remarkable Charitable Neighbors Along St. CharlesAvenue: 1880s through 1940s,” which will explore the historiesofthe Homefor Destitute Orphan Boys,the Jewish Orphans’ Home and NewOrleans University,which laterbecame the GilbertAcademy.The free eventwill take place in-person and online.msje.org

n The newexhibit “The District: The Music and Musicians of Storyville” will openNov.13atthe NewOrleans Jazz Museum. More: nolajazzmuseum.org

n At 11 a.m. Nov. 15, the Historic New Orleans Collection and theNorman RockwellMuseum will co-presenta free screening of the documentary ”The Problem We All Live With: Truth Telling and Storytelling,” which recalls the school-desegregation experiences of the NewOrleans Four as well as Rockwell’s artistic process in creating his 1963 painting from which the documentary takes its title.hnoc.org

PROVIDED PHOTOSByAMy MARQUIS

BETWEEN THE PAGES WITH U.S SEN. JOHN KENNEDy

Stories tell what really happens in D.C.

Senator goes behind the scenes of his bestseller

BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer

U.S. Sen. John Kennedy had been thinking about writing a book when an agent approached him and secured a deal with a HarperCollins imprint. Kennedy took a year to write “How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will.”

Thanks to his home-spun phrases during frequent appearances on Fox News and other conservative TV networks, Kennedy’s book shot to number one on Amazon.com and has been a New York Times bestseller since being published in early October

Kennedy grew up in Zachary, graduated from Vanderbilt and the University of Virginia Law School and obtained a First-Class Honors degree from Oxford University in England He was elected state treasurer ﬁve times before being elected to the Senate in 2016 and winning reelection in 2022. He is 73 years old.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity

What was your approach in writing the book? I talk about policy But I do it through stories. Some of the stories are funny, I think Some are bizarre. But they’re all true. I try to use stories to explain to readers what the Senate and Washington are really like from the inside. I try to use stories to explain to them why in Washington, normal is a setting on a clothes dryer, and I tried to explain why it doesn’t have to be like that if we just use a bit of common sense.

I have stories about President (Donald) Trump, President (Joe) Biden, Sen. (Chuck) Grassley, Sen. (Ted) Cruz, Sen. (Chuck) Schumer I have stories about my meeting with (China’s) President Xi. I have a lot of stories about my work in government in Louisiana. I have stories about growing up in Louisiana. I have stories about college and law school.

You write that your colleague Sen. Lindsey Graham is “whip-smart and can talk intelligently on almost anything.”You also wrote,“If you want to stump Lindsey, just ask him to name a country he wouldn’t bomb.”You’re a fan, right? I admire him because he’s very, very bright. He’s also unﬁltered He’s kind of like me — he plays outside of the pocket. He’ll just let it rip. I was visiting with Lindsey in the cloakroom off the Senate ﬂoor before the book came out. He

said, “Kennedy, what did you write about me”? I told him, “I love you because you’re unique.

If I invite you to dinner, I don’t know if we’ll have an intellectual conversation or you’ll vomit in the ﬁsh tank.” He thought that was funny.

Your book is full of clever one-liners.

Like: “I believe this country was founded by geniuses, but it’s being run by idiots.”

I think a lot of people wonder: Where do you get these lines?

Some of them are organic. There are expressions that were commonly used when I was growing up.

Most of them are my own.

I’ve always admired people who have a clever turn of phrase. If someone writes something in an especially attractive way, I have a ﬁle on my iPad, and I’ll make a note about the article and the way somebody expressed something. Nobody writes stuff for me. The responsibility, the blame, the credit, whatever you want to call it, is all mine.

In your book, you note that your approach as a senator has generated criticism.What goes through your mind when you hear or read someone calling you

“Senator Foghorn Leghorn”?

It’s just part of the process.

I’ve been called much worse than that on social media. I’ve been in politics for a while. It doesn’t take long to learn that to survive, you need to have a big heart, a lot of wind and very thick skin. When the Foghorn Leghorn characterization was

ﬁrst used, I didn’t know what Foghorn Leghorn was. I had to go look it up. People have accused me of faking an accent, which isn’t true. Looking back, how do you view the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by the Trump supporters and the ransacking of the Capitol?

It was a dark day for America. I was there. I’ve never thought it was an insurrection. It didn’t appear to be organized to me. But it was clearly a riot. I condemned it very loudly at the time. I still condemn it.

And President Trump’s role in it?

I don’t really know what the facts were.

I wasn’t at the White House that day I don’t know what went into this thinking. I don’t know much about the rally that was organized to march on the Capi-

tol. I don’t even know who organized it. I tried to stick to the facts in the book that I know

You noted that Biden pardoned his son and uncle and wrote: “I personally don’t believe that the Trump administration would have prosecuted any of the Bidens.”

Do you still believe that after Trump called on the Justice Department to indict former FBI director James Comey, and they did so, and after he called on the Justice Department to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James, and they did so? I still believe that. Sooner or later, the sufficiency of the indictment is tested before a federal judge. I don’t know what supporting facts the Justice Department has. I do know Mr Comey In my opinion, he did more to undermine the legitimacy of the FBI and the Department of Justice than anyone in my lifetime. I do not know Ms. James. I never thought it was appropriate for her to run for office on a claim that if she were elected, she would indict someone and prosecute them, specifically President Trump. In fact, in Louisiana, that would be illegal.

Do you have any concerns that Trump is going too far in calling for these indictments? A lot of people think he is being very vindictive in using his power to seek retribution.

I remember when the so-called lawfare began under President Biden. It’s a term often used up here to refer to the weaponization of the Justice Department. I remember when Attorney General (Merrick) Garland decided to prosecute a former president, who happened to be his boss’ chief political opponent in the next election. I thought it was a huge mistake. Then you had the prosecutions in Georgia and New York. You had Jack Smith. I remember thinking at the time that President Biden and his people have unleashed spirits that they won’t be able to control. I talked about that at the conﬁrmation of Ms. (Pam) Bondi and Mr (Kash) Patel. I strongly encouraged them to reject the adage that is popular in Washington, which I don’t agree with, that two wrongs don’t make a right. They make it even. My request to them was to go over to the FBI and the DOJ and get rid of the bad people and lift up the good people. They are doing that.

You write: “Trump can be cruel, sometimes he is wrong.” Can you give a couple of examples of either?

I disagreed with what the president did when he put pressure on a lot of private law ﬁrms. It’s true that those private law ﬁrms

are Democratic ﬁrms, and they have been very critical of the president, and they had represented a lot of his opponents, in some cases for free. But that is their right.

Is there an example where you think Trump has been cruel?

The president is clearly not a forgiving person. He believes that if you turn the other cheek, you just get it in the neck. I agree with that, particularly in Washington, but not to the extent the president does. I talk about it in the book. I don’t hate anybody I look for grace in Washington. Up here, you really have to work at it. Once I start hating, that’ll be a pretty good signal for me to come home.

You talk about your candor in the book, but are you like many Republicans in Washington who are very careful in what you say about Trump? Well, yes. He is my president. I have private conversations with President Trump. We have very frank, honest discussions. But up here, if you try to be fair and balanced, the other side will try to make you eat it. So you do have to be careful in what you have to say

An issue you don’t address in your book is the state of democracy A lot of people think Trump is acting in a heavy-handed, authoritarian manner Do you share any of those concerns?

No. The people who are pushing back against President Trump are Democrats. When Biden was president, they supported his attacks on democracy They supported his abuse of the FBI and the Department of Justice. They supported his student loan efforts that were struck down by the Supreme Court. As soon as he got the opinion, he said, “I don’t agree with it. Instead of going through the front door, I’m going to go through the side door.” The people who are complaining now never complained when the Biden administration overreached. I think it’s all politics.

You wrote,“I’ll do this job until I run out of gas or my people tell me to come home.” Does that mean you are likely to run for reelection in 2028 when you’re 76?

Yes, I plan to run for reelection. I think I’ve got $20 million in my campaign fund. Last time I ran, I raised a record $42 million. I’ve got pretty good support across the state and the country I plan on raising probably $50 million or $60 million.

Email Tyler Bridges at tbridges@theadvocate.com.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By ALEX BRANDON

U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-Madisonville, leaves the White House in March.

By The Associated Press

Today is Sunday,Nov 2, the 306th day of 2025. There are 59 days left in the year.Daylight saving timeends today.

Todayinhistory:

On Nov.2,1948, in one of the most unexpected results in U.S. presidential election history,Democratic incumbent Harry S. Truman defeated the heavily favored Republican governor of New York, Thomas E. Dewey

Also on this date:

In 1783, Gen. George Washington issued his Farewell Address to the Army In 1861, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln relieved Maj. Gen. John C. Fremont of his command of the Army’sWestern Department, following Fremont’sunauthorized efforts to emancipate slaves in Missouri.

In 1947, Howard Hughes piloted his Hughes H-4 Hercules, nicknamed the “Spruce Goose,” on its only ﬂight; amassive wooden seaplane with awingspan longer than afootball ﬁeld, it remained airborne for 26 seconds.

In 1959, Charles Van Doren testiﬁed before a congressional committee that he had conspired with television producers to cheatonthe television quizshow “Twenty-One.”

In 1976, Democrat Jimmy Carter,aformer governor of Georgia, became the ﬁrst candidate from the Deep South to be elected president since the Civil War, defeating Republican incumbent Gerald R. Ford.

In 2000, American astronaut Bill Shepherd and two Russian cosmonauts, Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev,became the ﬁrst crew to reside onboard the International Space Station; they spent atotal of 136 days in the station beforereturning to Earth on Space Shuttle Discovery

In 2003, in Iraq, insurgents shot down aChinook helicopter carrying U.S. soldiers, killing 16 and wounding20others

In 2004, Republican President George W. Bush was elected to a second term, defeating Democratic Sen. John Kerry as the GOP strengthened its control of Congress.

In 2007, British college student Meredith Kercher, 21, wasfound slain in her bedroom in Perugia, Italy; her roommate, American Amanda Knox,and Knox’sItalian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito,were convicted of killing Kercher,but both were later exonerated.

In 2016, ending achampionship drought that had lasted since 1908, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series, defeating theCleveland Indians 8-7 in extra innings in the deciding seventh game.

In 2021, the Atlanta Braves won their ﬁrst World Series championship since 1995, defeating the Houston Astros in Game 6. In 2023, FTX founder and disgraced cryptocurrency star Sam BankmanFried was convicted of fraud by aNew York jury for stealing at least $10 billion from customers and investors. He was later sentenced to 25 yearsinprison for the massive scheme that led to the collapse of the FTX platform for exchanging digital currency. Today’sbirthdays: Tennis Hall of Famer Ken Rosewall is 91. Political commentator Pat Buchanan is 87. Olympic gold medal wrestler Bruce Baumgartner is 65. Singer-songwriter k.d. lang is 64. Playwright Lynn Nottage is 61. Actor David Schwimmer is 59. Jazz singer Kurt Elling is 58. Rapper Nelly is 51. Film directorJon Chu is 46. TV personality Karamo Brown (“Queer Eye”) is 45. NFL quarterback Jordan Love is 27.

Dear Miss Manners: Ihavenow been to three (!) weddings where Ifound outthat the couple was already married, and just goingthrough the motions.

The ﬁrst was acouple who hadgotten legally married weeksprior to thewedding so he could go on herhealth insurance.

The second was an older couple whosaid they’d never had a“real wedding.”

themselves, and why Ican’tjust “be nice” and celebratewith my friends. The answer is because I’m expected to go along withthis farce and play theWedding Guest: dressing up, sitting through it all, congratulating them, and —here’s themain part —spending serious money to buy them somethingfrom their registry list.

including the heroine’swhite dress and the pastry chef’s white iced cake —are considered to be the weddings.

care about such people, you might attend.

That made me thinkthey hadn’treally been married all along,but it turnsout they hadbeen; they just hadn’thad the kind ofevent they’d wanted.

Thelast one, which sent me over thebrink, was ourcollegefriends. Sinceour larger friendgroup is nowspread out indifferent cities, this couple traveled around, repeating the wedding ceremony to “save people theexpense of traveling.”

My mother asks mewhy Icare if peoplewanttomake fools of

In fact, I’m expected to do all of the above many times over,ifIgototheir pre-wedding (but postmarriage!)parties, which Itry to avoid. Am Iright or wrong?

GentleReader: Youare certainly right thatpeople arenow using the word“wedding” to refer to the party associated with the marriage ceremony,rather than —asdeﬁned in the OxfordEnglish Dictionary, and dating from Old English —the act of getting married. Thus the festivities you mention —nodoubt

Andyou are right that in cases where theparty is, so to speak, divorced from the legal ceremony, theguestsgenerally overlook that omission. If you read about the splashy so-called weddings of celebrities, you must have noted that theguestsscrupulously refer to thealready married couple as only afﬁanced until the reenactment has taken place.

Miss Manners can understand your reluctance to play asupporting role in this rerun. The emotional component of witnessing theestablishmentofa marriage is missing.

Youneed only politely decline to attend. Nevertheless, you should recognize that manypeople have transferred their concept of cementingaunion from the ceremony to thecelebration. Should you

Perhaps it will help if you think of it as merely adelayed wedding reception or an anniversary party, without the pretense that you are witnessing amarriage ceremony

Dear Miss Manners: What is the appropriate nametouse on an envelope containing aletter to awidow? Mrs. John Doe,Mrs. Ellen Doe, Ms. John Doe, Ms. Ellen Doe?

Gentle Reader: What this lady called herself before, Miss Manners cannot guess.

Everyone has an opinion about the correct address forladies, and everyone is indignant when others’ choices are different.But Miss Manners can relieve your anxiety about widows: They are addressed exactly as they werebefore their husbands died. However that was.

Sendquestions to Miss Manners at dearmissmanners@gmail.com.

Freezing loaves of breadcan help to extend itsuse

Hints from Heloise

Dear Heloise: As aretired couple, we just don’tuse up bread like we usedto. When Ibuy aloaf, I immediately separateit into two-slice packagesin plastic sandwichbags andrebuild the rest of the loaf in the originalbag. Ithenfreeze the whole loaf. It is easy to thaw two slicesatatime! Judi Brauns, in Green Valley,Arizona

There’sanapp forthat!

Dear Heloise: Yousuggested atape measure rather than arulerfor acollegestudent to have onhand. Cellphones comewith an app called Measure. It is quitehandy andaccurate! —RobinA., in Bakersfield, California

Catching food peelings

Dear Heloise: Instead of puttingnewspaper or other thingsinyour sink drainto catch vegetable peelings,

why not just use acolander? It’s easy and washable.

—C.J.E., in Arkansas

C.J.E., there is now anew product on the market that grinds up leftover food scraps and makes the perfect compost out of them. It’s odor-free and can be found online, in appliances stores, and sometimes in

hardware stores. —Heloise Preserving guacamole

Airisthe enemy

Dear Heloise: To keep guacamole from turning brown, it needs to be kept oxygenfree. Iusedtomake guacamole in arestaurant (using 20 pounds of avocados). AfterIdivided it up into the serving containers, Iwould take plastic wrapand press it onto the surface of the guac. Then Iwould pat it down so there were no air bubbles. Make sure you get around the edges, too. —Dawn G., via email

Dear Heloise: To keep airout of afood container before

refrigerating,close the lid, then putyour elbow (straight up) on thetop.Lift acorner of thecontainer while pushing down withyour elbow Let theair out, close the lid, andput in refrigerator CarolynP., in Tustin, California Email heloise@heloise com.

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

SOFTBALL

Continued from page 1D

He started off playing cabbage ball —aform of baseball played with abig, squishy ball —when he was in kindergarten at St. Angela Merici grammar school. He also played soccer,basketball and football, but from age 9, baseball washis jam.Inother sports, Ruckert said, heading off to practice seemed like a chore, but when it was time for baseball drills, “I was always ready to rock and roll,” he said. Ironically,although Ruckert is missing his left forearm, he has reason to believes he’sa lefty.Heactuallyfavors his left side, he said.

Whatever his orientation, Ruckert said that he always had really good hand-eyecoordination. When he was akid, he and his dad worked out the glove switcheroo that allows him to play ball like anybodyelse.

Defyingexpectations

As ateenager in the Lakeshore playground league, Ruckert said his coaches naturally positioned him at ﬁrst base where the need to remove his glove in order to throw wasn’tascrucial.

But when the third baseman gotmono, Ruckert plead to be given achance at theposition Thus,apan-position player was born. Nowadays, Ruckert plays anyplace, outfield, shortstop, even pitcher

Jesse Cappell, acheetah-fast outfielder who’splayed with and against Ruckertfor years, said when he ﬁrst saw Ruckert takethe ﬁeld, he asked himself, “How’s this guygoing to play?

He’sgot one arm.”

ButCappell quickly realized that compared to alot of people, “He can do better with one.”

Ruckert is as competitive as anyone, but as ateammate, Cappellsaid, Ruckert is alaidback guy,who enjoys meeting people, having afew beers and just havingfun.

Yetheplayswithintensity

Ruckert holdsa bat like acavemanholdsa club.Any pitcher will tell you he’snot awelcome sight at theplate. He regularly hits screamers into center “Asfar as swinging abat,”

said power hitter Ryan Williams, “Jimmy swings it better with one arm thanpeople withtwo arms.”

“Playing as ateammate with him,” Williams said, “I give him all the props in theworld.”

What he brings to theplate

When he’snot on the diamond, Ruckertcan be found out on Williams Boulevard selling Lincolns as part of automobile mogul/singerRonnie Lamarque’s crew

Ruckert said there’sacertain connection between softball and selling cars, because you meet a lot of people youwouldn’tordinarily meet. Some softball players have becomehis customers.

Yes, he said, he’spretty much thesame person whether he’s pitching cars or pitching balls.

Hisbio on the Ronnie Lamarque websitenotes that he’splayed ball for 26 years.

Lamarque,who was abaseball pitcher in his youth, said that “what Ruckert brings to the plate” as asalesman is “honesty and integrity.”

“Jimmy understands that this is acareer,and he takes it seriously,” Lamarque said.

But, Lamarque said, “When you have avibrant person, they always have something else like golf, traveling, drawing, painting, the microphone …” Didyou seethat?

Ruckertsaid he’smarried with two boys, ages 9and 19, anda 6-year-oldgirl. The youngest twokids are athletic. The oldest, he said, “had the couragetotell us he didn’twant to do sports.”

It’ssafe to say mostNew Orleans beer league softball players know Ruckert; he’sastandout. But, he says, he sometimes overhears newcomers express surprise at his ability to overcome what would seem to be a defeating limitation. “They’ll say, ‘Ohwow,did yousee that!’” Darren Ulmer,anexacting but good-natured plate umpire, describedRucker as “very talented.”Asanoverhand softball pitcher,Ruckert has a“big curve ball,”Ulmer said, and despite having to swiftly slip into his glove after every pitch, he’s still able tohandle comebackers —line drives up the middle. In addition to softball, Ulmer

added, Rucker plays golfand other sports. It showsyou,Ulmersaid“that no matter what, you can get out there and play.”

‘I getlostinit’

For 25 years, Ruckert has had an eyebrow-raising nickname, J-Nub. He recalls that when he was in junior high school, he anda buddy were swapping Lil Waynelyricswhen hisfriend said “you know, if youwerea rapper,you could be J-Nub.” Ruckert embraced the brand. He said he has acustom license plate on his Bronco bearing his nickname. It’sprinted on the back of his softball jersey too. Ruckertsaidthatfor him, softball is asort of addiction. At middle age, he said, it keeps him fit and young. But more than that, it is an escape. “Nothing else is going on,” he said. “I get lost in it foranhour.”

New Orleans’ recreational softball leagues are asweaty society all their own. According to sluggerWiliams,Ruckert’s presence provesthat“anybody can play in this league, no matter what your ability is, or what kind of ahandicap you have.” Williamspointed out that in the PlayNOLA league,where Ruckert often plays, there’salso a dude with aprosthetic leg. As Ruckert puts it,“if you’re passionate aboutsomething, you ﬁnd away.”

Email Doug MacCash at dmaccash@theadvocate.com.

Jimmy Ruckerthangs out in the dugout as his team bats during asoftball game at NewOrleans City Park.

Jessica‘Juicy’ Schwehm, center,who wasplaying catcher on the teamBooze on First, greets Ruckertashegets readytohit.

The NewCanal Lighthouseisseen along LakePontchartrain in NewOrleans.

Continued from page1D

differentiatethe route from the popular previous shipping route, the Carondelet Canal, now known as the Old Basin Canal.

“The New Canal Lighthouse was constructed to navigatethe entrance to the new canal,” Trail said. “It’sjust alittle bit comical, becausethe Americans were so creative when they named this new waterway.They named it the ‘new canal.’ And the lighthouse constructed in 1839 was then named the New Canal Lighthouse to navigate the entrance to the newcanal.”

TheNew Canal Lighthouse has always been in the same place, Trail said, although it hasundergone many different iterations, due to multiple storms andthe lake land reclamation project of the 1920s. The familiar structure with its red roofs even has an address, 8001 Lakeshore Drive. Lighthousesofthe past

The ﬁrst lighthousewas acypresstower that quickly blew over in astorm. The second construction of the lighthouse bearsmore resemblance to the lighthouse thatcan still be seen today,built in acottage style on supports overthe water.Thisversion lasted until the construction of anearby yacht club building, which was so tall that it blocked the lights the lighthouse used to

guide vessels, Trail said.

Thelighthouse was torndown andanew lighthouse was built, remaining in place during the 1920s, when theOrleans Levee Board began ahuge project of land reclamation from the lake. This reclamationproject impacted boththe New CanalLighthouse and the Milneburg Lighthouse, the area’s other notablelighthouse. Situatedbythe former siteofthe Pontchartrain Beach Amusement Park, the distinctive white-bricked lighthouse was built around the time periodofthe New Canal Lighthouse, and named for the lakeside resort townbuilt in the 1830sbyAlexanderMilne.

Trail said theareaaroundthe MilneburgLighthouse was ﬁlled in as aresult of the lake land reclamationproject. The massive project included building aconcrete seawall andﬁlling in large swathes behind theseawall with newlycreated land, stranding the Milneburg Lighthouse. Accordingtothe U.S. Coast Guard, thelighthouse was deactivated in 1929, losingstatus as aworking lighthouse.

“Once that happened, it kind of fell into disrepair through the years aswell,” Trail said.

Thelighthouse remained abeloved landmark even as the land arounditbecame the Pontchartrain Beach Amusement Park. Today,it stands on the University of New Orleanscampus.

AvictimofKatrina

The New Canal Lighthouse,

while connected to land after the1920s land project, was still out in the water when Hurricane Katrina knocked it down in 2005, Trail said. At that time, the location was an active Coast Guard station. After its destruction, the Coast Guard abandoned thelocation and built anew station in the Bucktown area, Trail said.

“Wewere successful in petitioning to the government at the time, saying we would love torebuild thelighthouse, but this time we’re going to turn it intoamuseum,” Trail said.

The reconstruction, completed in 2012, was elevated 19 feet due to lakelevel increases from Hurricane Katrina, and built with steel pilings and concretepillars. Trail said much of thematerial was salvaged, such as pine ﬂooring and original wood.

“Wehave amuch sturdier construction now,with wooden siding and steel framing and ametal roof tomake it survive thestorms of today,” Trail said.

The lighthouse retains its “signature blink” —which is thelight patternunique to each individual lighthouse beacon. All through thenight, thelighthouse can be seen withthree blinks, then a pause, ﬂashing out over the water

Do you have aquestion about something in Louisiana that’s got you curious? Emailyour question to curiouslouisiana@ theadvocate.com. Include your name, phone number and the city where you live.

Birthday partyisnot what reader wanted

Dear Harriette: My 30thbirthday just passed, anditwas awful. Ihate to sound ungrateful, but what should feel like amajor milestone felt completely overlooked Honestly,I’vehad a rough year,soI was OK with having aquiet birthday this year —just some reminiscing, goal setting andmaybe some qualitytime with friends. Someone askedmeif they could planasurprisefor me. While the thought was sweet,I expressed that I didn’twantanyone spending money on me, but they insisted on doing something. Theyasked what Iwould want, andall I asked was thatitbelow-budget and that my parents be present. Ifound outthateveryone who attended had to pay, despite it being in my friend’shome, my parentswere not invited and thehost had aprogram full of her favorite activities for the gathering. It didn’tfeel like this party was for me at all. Should Isay something to my friend? Or willI appear ungrateful?

BirthdayBlues

surprise 30thbirthdayparty was nota party for you at all. Next time,say no to sucha thing, andplanyour own event. That’show you maintain control.

Dear BirthdayBlues: Youcould ask your friend to do adebriefwith you about the party.Tread carefully.While everyone hadtopay something, do you know how much? She may have needed some cash to defray costs. The party may have had alow budget,even if it wasn’tfree. Not inviting your parents whenyou made that request was notcool Youcan askhow she pulled theparty together and express disappointment that she didn’t keep your keythoughts in mind. Let her know thatyou don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but you aresad thatitfelt like your

AT RANDOM

Continued from page1D

bayou threads through many lives, as it has forcenturies. Dogs barked from the bank, unsettled by the odd pageant we madeasweﬂoated along.

“You’re almost there,” a woman cheerfully yelled from thewater’sedge, unfazed by so

Dear Harriette: My girlfriend of ﬁve years and Ibroke up acouple of months ago. It’s been difﬁcult as we try to rework our entire lives without each other.Honestly,I kept hoping we’dresolve our issues and patch things up, but she didn’tsee things that way.Inthe process of breaking up, Idecided Ishould moveout and let her keep the apartment; Ididn’thave to do that. To add insult to injury,she is now insisting that she keep our puppy.This is unfair! Idid her afavor by moving out. I could’ve fought to stay there, but Ididn’t. Nowshe wants to keep the dog we got together, too? This experience has shown me atotally different side of her.What are somereasonable options here? This breakup has been hard enough; Ican’trisk losing my dog. —PuppyCustody DearPuppyCustody: Do you have the wherewithal —including the time andresources —to properly carefor the puppy? If so,treat this just like acustody issue forchildren. Let your ex knowthatyou want to share custody of the puppy,and do your best to work out aplan. Hopefully,she will be reasonable.Ifnot,enlist friend and family support to help you resolve the custody battle.

Sendquestions to askharriette@harriettecole. com or c/oAndrewsMcMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St. Kansas City,MO64106.

manystrangers sliding by her backyard. Her greeting told us we’d nearly reached the ﬁnish line, then church bells welcomed us to the end of our trip. If we want visitors to embrace Louisiana’sbest places, Ithought as we drew in our kayaks, then we should take the timetoenjoy them,too.

Email DannyHeitman at danny@dannyheitman.com.

STAFF FILEPHOTO By BRETTDUKE

Harriette Cole SENSE AND SENSITIVITy

AROUND THEREGION

GAINING GROUND

Pricetag nearly triplesfor AI data center as Meta points to widening footprintinLouisiana

BY STEPHANIERIEGEL Staff writer

Nine monthsafter Metabroke ground on itsmassive artificialintelligence data center in Louisiana, the cost of the project is now expected to be nearlythree timesgreaterthan first announced, suggesting the tech giant is already planning for future expansions in Richland Parish. In astatementlast week announcing afinancial partner for theproject, Meta,the parentcompanyof Facebook and Instagram, said theHolly Ridge data center,since named Hyperion, will cost $27 billion, up from the $10 billionannounced in late2024. The company said in an Oct. 21 announcement the larger price tag in-

cludes “the buildings andlong-lived power,cooling, and connectivity infrastructure at thecampus.”

“Weare proud to be part of the RichlandParish community,and we look forward to continuing to strengthen our partnership foryears to come,” said Rachel Peterson, aMeta executive overseeing data centers, in the statement.

The announcement, which comesasworkiswellunderwayonthe formerfarmlandin Richland, sheds new light on recent remarks from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. TheFacebook founder saidinJulythatthe north Louisiana data center,which was originally expected to cover an area the size of 70

football ﬁelds, would be much larger, with an eventual footprint the size of Manhattan Afew weeks later,ata Cabinet meeting, President Donald Trump praised the planned size of the Hyperion data center,boosting its price tag to $50billion.

“When they said ‘$50 billion for aplant,’Isaid, ‘What the hell kind of aplant is that?’” Trump said at theAug. 26 meeting. “But when youlook at this, youunderstand why it’s$50 billion.

Louisiana Economic Development ofﬁcials, who wooed Meta to the Louisiana site throughout much of 2024, saidthe companyhas notofficially told themofany plans to expand the

scope of the project. But LED Secretary Susan Bourgeois said the new $27 billion price tag is notthe result of cost overruns or inﬂation, and could signal Meta’sfuture expansion plans in Louisiana.

“Wehope, as with any company,that theysee potentialfor growth and expansion in Louisiana,” BourgeoissaidMonday. “Wecontinue to have conversations with them and hope the relationship continues.”

Aspokesperson for Meta declined to comment on the company’splans

ä See META, page 2E

BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Canyou

pick agoodhealthplanthis open enrollment when it’s allpricey?

WALDO

Continuedfrom page1E

Puttouse

Michelle Singletary

THE COLOR OF MONEy

My 27-year-old son, who works part-time, justreceived notice of his health insurance premium for nextyear Under his Affordable Care Act plan throughthe Maryland marketplace, his monthly premium will increase by 17.1%. He’salso facing a 10.3% jump to his deductible, to just over $10,000, in 2026. Althoughhis value plan includes preventive services, primary care doctor visits, vision care and prescription drugs,hehas to pay ahigh deductible before other services, such as ahospital stay,are covered. Once he meets the ﬁve-ﬁgure threshold, the plan pays aportion of the costs.

My son is on the autism spectrum and is working hardtoﬁnd steady fulltime employment. After he turned 26, he had to ﬁnd his own insurance and opted for the high-deductible plan to keep down his monthly payments. He can manage the latest premium increase because he lives at home. Iknow my son is fortunate; he can still keep his coverage. Millions of others may not be able to do the same. The federal government is shut down right now because Democrats are demanding that Republicans extend pandemic-era health care law subsidies that could prevent an untold number of Americans from going bankrupt should they have amedical emergency. The premium tax credits, which lower your monthly health insurance bill, expire at the end of this year

This political stalemate is occurring just as we enter open-enrollment season for the ACA marketplace, which started Saturday.If the credits expire, enrollees who receive the subsidy probably will pay about double, from an average of $888 in 2025 to $1,904 in 2026, according to KFF,a nonpartisan health policy organization.

If the price hikes are too high, some folks may opt out of coverage —it’sthat or paying their rent. If they elect to get medical insurance, they make the calculated decision to signupfor aplan that isn’tgreat butat least covers some things, which will still leave them

ASK THEEXPERTS

“There is alot of newactivityinthe market that is building agood economy while existingemployers likeMichoud have fascinating things going on.”

SouthLouisiana’s challenges creating opportunity

BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL Staff writer

When Gay LeBretonjoined Chaffe and Associates in 1987, the New Orleans-based financial advisory and investment banking firm was helping its clients —local banks and savings and loans —work through what, at the time, was the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Many local institutions didn’tmake it.

“Wewere like hospice workers for banks,” LeBretonsaid. “So many were deadordying.”

The downturn became an opportunity for Chaffe, which helpedits healthy clients repositionthemselves either by acquiring smaller banks or selling themselves to larger ones. Eventually,LeBreton parlayed herexperience with banks into amergers and acquisitions advisory service for clients in other industrysectors.

Today,LeBreton is the managing partner for Chaffe and knows moreabout M&Aactivityinsouth Louisiana than almost anybody.In this week’sTalkingBusiness, she discusses the changes she’switnessed over her nearly 50-year career,how Chaffe positioned itself as one of the foremost ﬁnancial advisory ﬁrms in the areaand whyshe’s stillbullish on hernative NewOrleans,despite downturns and the departure of dozens of corporate headquarters during her time. Interview has beeneditedfor length and clarity

What aresomeofthe biggestchanges you have seen in the New Orleans business community during your career?

When you say the New Orleans business community,Inever think Orleans Parish. Iamincapable

Q&A WITH GAyLEBRETON

economywhile existing employers like Michoud have fascinating things going on. There is also alot going on in the industrial sector.Some $44 billion in industrial activity is underway in theNew Orleansarea andanother $33 billion is awaiting ﬁnal investment decision. Shell and BP are doing things offshore, and the facilitiesthatare needed to support that are based here. Iget excited by that. We have alot going on. The banking industryhas seen the departure of corporate headquarters of allthe regional and national players. Doesn’tthat concernyou?

ing. Youhave Meta building in north Louisiana. Youhave Radiance Technologiesbuilding afacilityinRuston that is fabulous.

Iﬁnd Ascension Parish fascinating, and Iamstill amazed the ﬁrst newsteel plant being done in the country is being built in theDonaldsonville area.

sector —not only M&A but people building companies. Youseem to be optimistic. Does that just go withyour job?

If youare going to be in M&As, there is acertain amount of optimism youbetter havegoing into the job, and honestly,you have to have abit of astick-at-it attitude because there are bumps in every deal. So, you have to have alittle bit of optimism because youare always looking forhow to make it work.

of thinking at that levelbecause businesses workacross parish lines, state lines, and alot of our businesses servicecustomersnationally andinternationally.But when Ilook at the New Orleans area, Iknowweare not projected to have alot of growth, population wise, in the next year Still, Ilook at Venture Global in Plaquemines; LITinSt. Bernard; investment in the RiverDistrict, and downtown by Tulane and Domain Cos. (which arepartnering to redevelop Charity Hospital); Ochsner’snew Children’sHospital. There is alot of new activityin the market that is building agood

Our biggest banks like Regions, Hancock Whitney and, obviously, JP Morgan Chase are all out of state,true. Butwehaveseveral local banks— Gulf Coast Bank, ResourceBank, First Guaranty Bank outofHammond, b1Bank outofBaton Rouge, an impressive groupofpeople building across thestate.Innorth Louisiana, we have Origin Bank, and let’s not forgetLiberty BankinNew Orleans, which is agreat bank and is expanding itself. No doubt, losing headquarters of any company is aloss to Louisiana andthat is true in banking. But we have built some sizable banks that are ﬁlling some of the gap. Maybe theyare notgoing to be the bank to Venture Global,but they can handle the needs of most of all our business community in Louisiana. Let me go back to corporate headquarters. Does it concernyou to see Louisiana continue to lose corporate headquarters? Ilook at what’s coming, not go-

All of our companieshere that operate in industrial construction and maintenance, whichare all over thestate, with the amount going on in the state, they are all going to have alot of workfor a numberofyears. We talkedrecently about all the M&A activity in the market. What do you thinkis driving it?

Third-quarter numbers arejust comingout, andweare seeinga lot more deal activity locally and nationally.Ithink there are several reasons. Youhavestabilized interest rates withthe expectation of at least one or morefurther cuts in the rate, which is giving people conﬁdence.

TheOne Big Beautiful Bill passed andisvery pro-business and supports capital investment. Justknowing the lay of the land, rather than having abig question mark, helps give people confidence. And Ithink we are seeing it across the country

Locally,there are moresales of local companies thanpurchases by local companies, but there are plenty of purchases. And we’re seeing alot of industrial services activity.Everyone is looking at the work that is goingtobein thepipeline.Idothink we will seemore activity in the maritime

That said,how do yousee things right now?

New Orleans proper has an opportunity to change its proﬁle over the next 20 years with higher-paid jobs, industry and it just remains to be seen whether we are going to do it. Tourism has been wonderful, but it generateslower-paying jobs. We have improved our educational system.Now,weneed to build on that. We cannot relent. What kind of challengesdid you face as a woman in this field?

There are some challenges. I never really thought about them. I just wasfocused on getting the job done. That seemed to work. Igrew up at atime when you maybe had to have alittle tougher skin than youdotoday.Ifsomeonecalled me “honey,”atleasttheywere calling me. So long as we were getting the job done, we were employed. That’sall that mattered. Today, thereismoreflexibility in the workforce, so women can define what they want to do alittle more easily.They can work from home if they need to. It is definitely easier today

EmailStephanie Riegel at stephanie.riegel@theadvocate. com.

PROVIDED PHOTO By KATHy ANDERSON GayLeBreton is amanaging partner withNew Orleans-based financial adviser Chaffe and Associates, whereshe has been since1987.

AROUND THE REGION

City bonds key to unlocking $1B investment in redevelopment

BY ANTHONY McAULEY Staff writer

A slate of bond propositions on New Orleans’ Nov 15 ballot could serve as the ﬁnancial linchpin for roughly $1 billion in long-awaited redevelopment projects across the city including the restoration of some of its most blighted and iconic properties.

City ofﬁcials and economic development leaders say the measures, particularly a $415 million infrastructure bond, represent a rare opportunity to combine public funding with major private investment. If approved, the bond propositions could trigger construction at sites ranging from the historic Charity Hospital on Tulane Avenue to the former Lindy Boggs Medical Center in Mid-City, the abandoned Naval Support Activity complex in the Bywater and the long-dormant Six Flags and Lake Forest Plaza properties in New Orleans East

Most of the money tied to those redevelopment efforts is contained in the infrastructure measure, Proposition 2, though related funding is also spread across a $50 million drainage and stormwater management bond and a $45 million affordable housing bond. Together, the three propositions would authorize $510 million in new borrowing to upgrade city infrastructure, spur economic growth and attract outside capital to neighborhoods that have seen little investment for decades, supporters say

“Proposition 2 is so critical because it funds linchpin projects for the future of New Orleans,” said Michael Hecht, president and CEO of Greater New Orleans Inc., the regional economic development agency Hecht and other advocates say that apart from the direct investment, the bond proceeds would also provide the public infrastructure investments — roads, drainage, utilities, and site work that developers need to unlock private ﬁnancing and move forward

Many of the cornerstone devel-

opments tied to the bond proposals include signiﬁcant affordable housing components, a key feature at a time when few marketrate housing projects are being built anywhere in the metro area. Combined, the projects could produce roughly 1,000 new affordable units, helping to address a widening housing gap as insurance costs and interest rates have stalled most private apartment construction.

The city is grappling with a multimillion-dollar deficit and could be forced to slash more than $200 million from the 2026 budget. However, all of the proposed bond funds are designed for capital improvements and could not be used to offset a deficit, city officials have said.

Cornerstone of renewal

The largest of the redevelopment efforts centers on Charity Hospital, the long-vacant art deco landmark that has loomed over Tulane Avenue since Hurricane Katrina About $30 million in city funds has already been earmarked for the project, including $20 million from a June settlement of liti-

gation involving the Wisner Trust. City officials say that additional bond money would likely support the project’s 260-unit affordable housing component.

Tulane University plans to occupy much of the 20-story structure with research laboratories and ofﬁces, anchoring the project’s biomedical and educational focus. The redevelopment is being led by Domain Cos. and LMXD, a New York-based affiliate of L+M Development Partners, which joined the original developer, 1532 Tulane Partners, after the project’s cost ballooned beyond its initial $300 million estimate.

City leaders view Charity as a cornerstone for the revitalization of the surrounding medical corridor, bringing new jobs, residents and retail activity to a part of downtown that has been slow to recover A water and demolition project

Another major project closely tied to the bond package is the redevelopment of the former Lindy Boggs Medical Center, also known as Mercy Hospital, on Bayou St. John. The storm-ravaged struc-

ture has stood vacant since Katrina, one of the city’s most visible reminders of post-disaster stagnation.

The city has earmarked about $10 million from the infrastructure bond to support the site’s transformation — a project ofﬁcials describe as both an economic catalyst and a flood mitigation investment. Engineers estimate the stormwater retention system planned for the site could hold six times more water than comparable Mid-City drainage projects, making it one of the city’s most effective water management tools.

The redevelopment plan calls for replacing the crumbling hospital with housing, retail and public green space, coordinated with Sidney Torres IV, who owns adjacent property along the bayou. Officials say the combined $160 million project will not only eliminate a notorious eyesore but also link Mid-City’s redevelopment corridor to the Lafitte Greenway and the biomedical district anchored by Charity Unlocking HUD financing Farther downriver, the city is preparing to invest bond funds in the former Naval Support Activity site on the Bywater riverfront. The first phase of the NSA East Bank Apartments project, financed in part through the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development, will convert two of the three large buildings on the property into housing and commercial space. Before that financing can close, however, HUD has required that the third building also be secured and made presentable, even though it is not part of the first construction phase. The city plans to use about $6 million of the bond proceeds for that work sealing the structure, stabilizing it and improving its exterior — to satisfy HUD’s conditions and clear the way for the main project to proceed. Once complete, the development will bring hundreds of new apartments, including affordable units,

to a riverfront site that has been shuttered for more than a decade, reconnecting the Bywater neighborhood to the Mississippi River Catalysts for New Orleans East In New Orleans East, the proposed bond funding could jumpstart the Six Flags site and nearby Lake Forest Plaza, two of the city’s most visible symbols of post-Katrina decline. The city has already allocated $5 million for infrastructure work at Six Flags — a step ofﬁcials say is essential for attracting private developers and ﬁnally putting the massive site back into commerce.

Plans call for a mixed-use redevelopment combining retail, entertainment, and housing, as well as drainage and green infrastructure improvements. Mayor-elect Helena Moreno has singled out New Orleans East as a priority for her administration, calling the Six Flags site “a cornerstone of equitable growth” during her campaign.

Funding for the Lake Forest Plaza site, however remains less certain. Property owner Gowri Kailas said he is working to settle millions of dollars in back taxes and repay a loan owed to Lowe’s, steps that would allow him to advance a new mixed-use plan for the sprawling complex. City ofﬁcials said they intend to see visible progress on the property next year, one way or another, after nearly two decades of dormancy

Other projects include investment to convert Dryades Market in Central City into an outlet providing subsidized food sources, as well as improvements in “commercial corridors and districts,” including Freret Street, Harrison Avenue and the BioDistrict. If voters approve all three bond propositions city ofﬁcials estimate that work could begin as early as 2026, triggering a wave of construction across neighborhoods that have waited years for investment.

Email Anthony McAuley tmcauley@theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE

The former Lindy Boggs Medical Center overlooking Bayou St. John has been vacant since Hurricane Katrina.

NATION & WORLD

GM’s high-tech pitch: Eyes-off self-driving cars

BY SUMMER BALLENTINE

The Detroit News (TNS)

NEW YORK General Motors unveiled plans to offer eyes-off autonomous driving in the batterypowered Cadillac Escalade IQ SUV beginning in 2028 as the Detroit automaker seeks to recast itself for the 21st century

The announcement at a recent swanky, invite-only event in midtown Manhattan is part of a broader pitch that GM is a tech company, not just a 117-year-old auto manufacturer with deep roots in industrial Detroit. At stake is GM’s place in the global auto industry amid competition from China, where carmakers are making more and more advanced vehicles at blazing speeds.

“We’re drawing from our rich heritage, our engineering our design (and) our manufacturing expertise and we’re doing something entirely new,” CEO Mary Barra said as journalists, inﬂuencers and executives sipped lattes topped with the company logo displayed in dusted cocoa. “We’re working to accelerate the future.”

Whether and how that would work remains to be seen. GM faces a tough sell in convincing investors and prospective tech employees that it has moved beyond being a legacy automaker, analysts said “I don’t think GM can totally shed the image,” Morningstar analyst David Whiston said. “But what they can do is try to show people they are working on this.”

GM at the event also announced plans for what Apple alum David Richardson, now GM’s senior vice president of software and services engineering, described as “conversational” Artiﬁcial Intelligence powered by Google Gemini. The interactive software launches next year GM did not specify on which models the feature will be available.

“GM has been a technology company for a very long time,” said Stephanie Brinley, principal auto-

Detroit automaker GM is facing headwinds in its effort to scale up electric vehicle production and sales as the Trump administration and congressional Republicans have scrapped tax credits and moved to roll back emissions regulations — the carrot-and-stick approach of the Biden administration meant to encourage EV adoption.

motive analyst for the Americas at S&P Mobility “This development for GM isn’t like they woke up yesterday and said, ‘Wouldn’t this be cool?’”

GM’s tech showcase took place after the company reported that it outperformed third-quarter expectations from Wall Street, which has long favored Tesla and other EV startups for their potential as innovators. Wall Street responded favorably to GM’s third-quarter earnings report, with the automaker’s stock surging 15%.

After teasing autonomous driving and in-house software development to investors, Barra and other executives showed off a mock lithium manganese-rich battery, an early design of the 2028 Cadillac Escalade IQ with the autonomous driving features, and equipment for turning the automaker’s EVs

into backup home generators.

To illustrate the capabilities of its forthcoming Level 3 self-driving tech, GM deployed a sevenscreen display that simulated human vision versus the autonomous vehicle system on California’s Highway 1.

The event is not GM’s first attempt at a tech makeover The company, for years, has been poaching high-paid Silicon Valley executives to engineer softwaredeﬁned vehicles, AI programs and self-driving cars — a best-andbrightest talent strategy Barra has publicly acknowledged and endorsed, despite internal grumbling.

GM continues to face internal tensions between its longtime, engineering-minded workers and the tech employees taking their jobs for higher pay The stakes are high

Beyond Boundaries.

Thehealthcareindustryhas asingle constant:change.

As thefastest growingsectorofthe American economy, theindustryisalwaysinastate of change in responsetomacroeconomic forces,the public’s demandfor high-quality andaccessible health care,and ﬁscal constraints. We help our clients successfullynavigateachallenging andconstantly evolving business andregulatory landscape as they create, andrespond to,new delivery models to meet thesenew challenges.

William

H. Hines Managing Partner

as the Detroit automaker seeks to compete with Chinese electric vehicle innovators, as well as U.S. EV leader Tesla and other traditional rivals.

The Detroit automaker also faces headwinds in its effort to scale up EV production and sales as the Trump administration and congressional Republicans have scrapped tax credits and moved to roll back emissions regulations — the carrot-and-stick approach of the Biden administration meant to encourage EV adoption.

While Barra recently told investors that electrification remains GM’s “North Star,” the automaker has canceled or scaled back numerous EV investments and ramped up investments to produce V-8 engines and high-proﬁt, gas-powered trucks and SUVs.

The company’s BrightDrop elec-

tric vans were the latest casualty

The company last year scrapped funding for its Cruise robotaxi and absorbed its engineers to work on improving autonomous features for passenger vehicles.

GM executives determined, after spending $10 billion on Cruise since 2017, that it was too expensive, especially in light of its sofar-unprofitable work on EVs. A pedestrian crash in 2023 also opened up Cruise to scrutiny from public ofﬁcials and consumers.

In October, GM closed its hydrogen fuel cell program after decades of research failed to develop it as a feasible vehicle power source.

And the company took a $1.6 billion writedown on EV investments that are no longer needed with unfriendly federal policy under Trump and tepid interest in battery-powered vehicles among U.S. drivers Plants that had been slated for EV assembly are being retooled to make more proﬁtable gas-powered pickup trucks and SUVs.

“They’ve made a lot of interesting announcements,” said Sam Abuelsamid, vice president of market research at Telemetry “But that’s all they are right now is announcements.”

Some automakers have already launched Level 3 technologies in limited conditions BMW AG offers a Personal Pilot L3 feature in Germany, for example, and Honda Motor’s Traffic Jam Pilot was the first certified Level 3 technology in Japan.

In the United States, the Mercedes-Benz Group eyes-off Drive Pilot is certified for most major freeways in California and parts of Nevada. Tesla offers a Level 2 hands-free eyes-on-the-road Full Self-Driving feature on its passenger cars, but also operates fully automated robotaxis.

“GM is every bit as advanced as everyone else in developing (autonomous vehicles), and more than others,” Brinley said.

Evolving LegalLandscape Shapes Digital Healthcare Innovation andCompliance.

Digitalhealthcareinthe United States is continuously shaped by acomplex patchwork of federaland statelawsand regulations.

Federallawsgovernprivacy,while federal agencies regulate medicaldevices and certainsoftware. Telehealth rulesvaryby state, though Medicare andmanystates have expanded coverage andlicensure ﬂexibility,and oversightcomes from multiple agencies. However, challengespersist regardingthe regulation of AI,cross-state telehealth practices, cybersecurity, anddata notcovered by federallaw,sopolicymakers continue to pursue reformstoensure innovationaligns with patientprotections

Ourﬁrm is proudtohelpleadthe wayforward forLouisiana healthcare providersand supportcompanies as they undergo digitaltransformationand navigatethisevolving andcomplex legal andregulatoryenvironment.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By DAVID ZALUBOWSKI

AllisonBell Nadiadela Houssaye

Staff report

The following appointments, promotions and new hires at south Louisiana businesses and nonprofits have been announced in recent weeks.

NewOrleans

Dale Revelle,alifelong shipping professional , was sworninthis monthtoafiveyear term as a commissioner for the Port of New Orleans.

Gov. Jeff Landry appointed him as one of four representatives from Orleans Parish on the seven-member board

The longtime chief of Revelle Shipping Agency and current president of DSR Properties will also serve on the board of theNew Orleans Public Belt.

Louis“Jeff”Williams,aNew Orleans

Fool’sTake: Growth potential, dividend yield

native,was appointed as regional director of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East.

Williams previously worked as the seniorproject manager for the localdistrictofthe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before theauthority hired him as chief engineer

McGlinchey

Stafford announced thepromotion of twonew members of its leadership team.

José Cot,who beganatthe law ﬁrm in the 1980s and returned last year, hasbecome the managing member of McGlinchey’s New Orleans ofﬁce

Marcelle Mouledoux, whojoinedthe ﬁrm in 2022, was named chair of its enterpriselitigation andinvestigationspractice group.

ﬁrst half of the year,total revenue rose 16% yearover year

Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann announced thehiring of two recent law school graduates.

HenryHamlett,who will focus on business litigation, is agraduate of the University of Alabama Law School. While in lawschool,hewas a member of theNational Environmental Moot Court Team, the Bench Bar Honors Societyand the Anti-Human Trafﬁcking Society

Landon Pettigrew,who will focuson transactional law, is aTulane UniversityLaw School graduate who was amember of the Tulane Law Review

He clerked for the New Orleans City Attorney’sOfﬁce andplayed tuba in theLSU Golden Bandfrom

Agreat example is Coca-Cola.

Tigerland while he was an undergraduate.

EyecareAssociates announced thehiring of Nicole Songy to see patients out of its Uptownand Metairie ofﬁces. Songy,who focuses on ocular disease management and specialty contactlenses, earned abachelor’sinbiological sciences from LSU and adoctor of optometry from the Southern College of Optometry She completed an externship at the practiceand training rotations at The Eye Center and the DepartmentofVeterans Affairs medical centerinJohnsonCity, Tennessee.

ShannonBruno Bishop,adistrict judge with theLouisiana Workforce Commission, hasbeen sworn in to the board of directors forthe

Don’tdiscount income stocks:

International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions. The nonproﬁt association is composed of government agencies and private sector professionals responsible forworkers’ compensation.

BatonRouge

UrsulaWhite,anassociate professor at LSU’sPenningtonBiomedical Research Center, has been elected as secretary/treasurer of The Obesity Society.White, who will formally start in thenew role in January,isthe director of the Adiposity,Lifestyle and Metabolic Health Lab.

Do you have personnel changes to shareorother ideas forour business coverage? Drop us a lineatbiztips@theadvocate. com.

Motley Fool

Danish pharma company Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) is abig player in the GLP-1 drug market, with Wegovy (for weight loss) and Ozempic (for diabetes) being two core products that generate billions of dollarsin revenuefor its business. Its share price crashed in late Julyafter the companylowered its projections for the ﬁscal year, as growth was abit slowerthan expected. And NovoNordiskhas been ﬁghting alosingbattle to keep knockoff versions ofits popular drugs off the market. These two headwinds have resultedin the stock price falling by half over the past year

There’splenty of reason to remainbullish on Novo Nordisk. Even with the challenges it has faced recently,the company boasts astrong pipeline of products in development, solidrevenue growth and promisinggrowth prospects in diabetes treatment andweight management. Inthe

The health carestock recently tradedataforward-looking priceto-earnings ratio of only 14, which makes it look like an excellent deal given its long-term growth potential. While it’snot having agreat year, NovoNordisk is likely to rebound. Patient long-term believerscan enjoy adividend recently yielding 3.2%while they wait.

(The Motley Foolrecommends NovoNordisk.)

Fool’sSchool: Warren

Buffett’s‘secret sauce’

Dividend-paying stocks are oftenunderappreciated, as many investorschase high-ﬂying growth stocks instead of incomeproducing investments. But some growth stocks also pay meaningfuldividends, offering awin-win scenario

Consider WarrenBuffett, who hasone ofthe best investing recordsaround: He grew the value of hiscompany,BerkshireHathaway,byanaverage of close to 20% each year for awhopping 60 years. He achieved that in large part by investingindividend-paying stocks.

As Buffett noted in his 2022 letter to shareholders, in asection titled “The Secret Sauce,” Berkshire Hathaway had spent $1.3 billion on sharesofCoke by 1994 and collected $75 million in dividends from it thatyear.Aswithmosthealthy and growing income stocks,that payout was increased over time, and “by 2022, the dividend had increased to $704 million.”

Buffettadded: “American Express is much the same story. Berkshire’s purchases of Amex wereessentially completed in 1995 and, coincidentally,also cost $1.3 billion. Annual dividends received from this investment have grown from $41 million to $302 million. Thosechecks,too, seem highly likely to increase.”

That’show Buffett and Berkshire areproﬁting from long-term investmentsindividend payers. Even companies held for shorter periods can be boffo dividend producers. In his 2020 letter to shareholders, Buffett noted that the company had bought about 1 billion shares of Apple (a growth stock!) between 2016 and 2018, and thatithad sincecollected around $775 million in dividend income from Apple —annually

Many Americans arefortunate to have dentalcoverage fortheir entire working life, through employer-providedbenefits. Whenthose benefits end with retirement, payingdental billsout-of-pocketcan come as ashock, leading people to put off or even go without care. Simply put—without dental insurance, there maybe an importantgap in your healthcare coverage

When you’re comparingplans.

 Look forcoverage that helps pay formajor services.Some plans may limit thenumber of procedures —orpay forpreventive care only.

 Look forcoverage with no deductibles.Some plans may require you to payhundredsout of pocket beforebenefits are paid.

 Shop forcoverage with no annual maximum on cash benefits.Some plans have annual maximums of $1,000.

you’ve had quality dental work in the past, you shouldn’t takeyour dental health forgranted. In fact, your odds of havingadental problem only go up as you age.2

Treatmentisexpensive— especially the servicespeopleover 50 often need. Consider these national average costs of treatment. $222 fora checkup $190 fora filling $1,213 fora crown.3 Unexpected bills like this can be areal burden, especially if you’re on afixed income.

They can be your secret sauce, too. Youmight seek healthy and growing dividend payers on your own. Or you could take the simpler (but also powerful) route of investing in one or more dividendfocused exchange-traded funds, suchasthe Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD), the Fidelity High Dividend ETF (FDVV) or the Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM). For bestlong-term results, considerreinvesting your dividend dollars in additional shares of stock.

Ask theFool: The long and shortofit

What does being “long” or “short” astock mean? —N.N., Manhattan, Kansas Most of us are “long” on our stocks.Thatmeans we’ve bought expecting the shares to increase in value. When someone “shorts” astock, they’re betting it will fall in value —sothey borrow shares and sell them,hoping to buy replacement shares(to repay the loan) at alower price later Shorting is astrange, but legal, thing to do.There are good reasons nottoshort stocks, though.

For one thing, the company’smanagement will be working against you to make the business succeed. Even if astock does lose muchof its value, it can take along timeto do so.

Iread that electric vehicle makerLucid executed a“reverse split.”Isthat good? —D.Y., Clinton, Mississippi Reverse splits are generally red ﬂags. Consider aregular stock split, say one that splits 2-for-1. If you owned 100 shares trading at $50 apiece, after the split you’d own 200 shares trading at around $25. The total value would be around $5,000 both before and after the split.

Lucid Group hada1-for-10 reverse split. If you’d owned 100 shares pre-split, whenthey were trading for around $2 apiece (total value: $200), you’d end up with just 10 shares post-split, with the share price adjusted proportionately to $20 (total value: $200). The fact that Lucid’sshares fell considerably below $5 each means the company wasdeep in penny-stock territory,and penny stocks tend to be risky.Lucid was and is facing challenges, as it has been delivering alot fewer of its EVs than expected and is not yet proﬁtable.

White

Revelle

Cot

Mouledoux

Hamlett Pettigrew

Songy

MADE IN LOUISIANA

Meet the ‘caftan lady,’ a designer making ‘wearable fun’

Viral video spurred demand for Mardi Gras-themed clothing, more

BY JONAH MEADOWS Staff writer

When Kelsey Campion started making handmade Mardi Gras-themed clothing from a 200-square-foot bedroom nearly a decade ago, she never expected to get stopped on the street and asked if she’s the “caftan lady.”

But a viral video and strong local demand for her signature sequined items — jackets, dresses, vests, shirts and the full-length caftans seen everywhere on local parade routes — propelled her home-based sewing enterprise into a pair of businesses with millions in revenues and a growing clientele from the Gulf Coast and beyond.

Campion and her business and life partner, Liz Ellis, now operate both businesses from a hot pink former paint factory on Howard Avenue. One is an e-commerce retailer called Fringe & Co. that sells Campion’s creations directly to consumers. The other is a growing manufacturing arm, Fringe Factory, that makes clothes for Fringe & Co. as well as for other local and regional businesses in search of domestic clothing manufacturers.

“I create pieces that I want to see in the world,” Campion said “And when I found gaps in the market for certain pieces, I was like, ‘Well, if no one’s going to make them, I’ll make them.’”

Campion a Minnesota native got into festive clothing after abandoning her pursuit of a Ph.D. in forensic psychology a decade ago. She taught herself to sew, moved to New Orleans shortly before Mardi Gras in 2016 and, not long after, started selling homemade

headwraps in purple, green and gold at pop-up markets in her new home. Fringe & Co. was born.

She expanded into online sales, ﬁrst on the Etsy platform and later via her own e-commerce website.

From the outset, she has deﬁned her brand as creative, whimsical, size- and gender-inclusive “wearable fun” with a commitment to ethical production. Her creations, besides clothing, include jewelry and accessories suitable for Carnival, festivals or routine fabulousness. By far her most popular product is the sequined caftan, which starts at $150.

In fact, it was a brief, direct-tocamera video of her in a shimmering caftan that went viral on TikTok in 2021 and propelled Fringe & Co. to the next level.

“Within 20 minutes, I knew something was up,” she said of that video. “Within a day, I knew that something was really up. And within a week, I knew that my business had fundamentally changed.”

That week, the email waiting list for Campion’s products went from about 500 to 13,000. For the next 16 months, Fringe sold out of every item it released. Unable to keep up with demand. Campion began searching for a local manufacturer, which was a priority she said. She found one in Terrytown.

“People really liked that they were made in New Orleans when I was handmaking them, and I knew that a value of mine was local manufacturing,” she said.

Three years ago, the owners of

the Terrytown facility decided to retire and shut down. Campion and Ellis purchased their sewing machinery and launched the Fringe Factory from the West Bank plant, retaining its eight-person production staff.

In July, they moved the equipment to their 4,000-square-foot headquarters, bringing both businesses under a single roof. Their dozens of clients now include a trio of New Orleans Mardi Gras krewes as well as local and regional companies that make bags, bedsheets and school uniforms and, like Campion and Ellis, want their products to be manufactured closed to home.

Currently, the two Fringe companies have combine annual revenues of between $1 million and

$5 million, Campion said. Her goal is to expand the factory side of the business until it makes up the majority of revenue. She also hopes to soon offer a white-label program to allow brands to “plug and play” with existing designs, cutting the costs of developing new designs while offering licensing fees.

Fringe Factory offers several advantages over its cheaper overseas competitors, making it appealing for clothing brands just starting out, Campion said. Its minimum order size is 10 compared with triple-digit minimums overseas. And while it takes 12 to 18 months to make a product from scratch overseas, Fringe can do it locally within six months — without any language barriers or transportation complications.

Also, clients get assistance with design and development, as well as support with production costs, pricing, margins and marketing strategy

“We really look at ourselves as like a creative boutique manufacturer that can help at all phases of the product development,” Campion said. “We’re not just making your pieces. We really want to be a creative partner.”

Fringe is also more sustainable than its “fast fashion” competitors abroad because it uses “deadstock” — surplus material from larger manufacturers — for much of its fabric supply

But because all that fabric and all those sequins are produced overseas, new tariffs have increased Fringe’s costs across the board. Campion and Ellis have responded by reducing inventory and adjusting new releases on the retail side. It’s not all bad, though: The import duties have attracted interest from potential new manufacturing clients.

“It’s a double-edged sword,” she said. “It helps one business and hurts the other.”

Email Jonah Meadows at Jonah. Meadows@theadvocate.com.

Science, Jobs,and Balance: RethinkingLouisiana’s Menhaden Buffer Zone

Brought to youbythe Louisiana Commercial Fishing Coalition,LLC

Louisiana’sworking coast has long depended on the Gulf menhaden ﬁshery -asustainable industry thatsupports morethan 2,000 jobs contributes $419 million annually,generates $25million in state and local tax revenue, and purchases $62 million in goods and services from 32 parishes.Yet,despitethisenormous positiveimpact,recent regulatory changes threatentoundermine thislifeline industry and the communities thatdepend on it

At issue is the decision to extend the state’s menhadenbuffer zone in recentyears. Historically,the ﬁshery operatedalong the Inside/Outside Line and Double RigLine -longstanding boundariesfor commercial fishing thathad already limited where menhaden vessels could operate.In2021, the buffer zone wasextended by one-quarter mile, and again in 2024toahalf-mile from the original line.

While thesechanges maysound incremental, the impact has been anything butsmall. The half-mile restriction has excluded thousands of acres of historically productivefishing grounds. In just 3years, the industry experienceda25% reduction in fish caught. Foranindustryalreadyoperating on tightmargins,this lossisunsustainable, harming not only the companies thatfish for menhaden but alsothousands of Louisiana families whoselivelihoods depend on this fishery

An Industry ThatFuels Local Economies Louisiana’smenhaden industry is powered by twocompanies -Westbank Fishing out of Empire, LA (Plaquemines Parish) and Ocean Harvestersout of Abbeville,LA(Vermilion Parish). Contrary to the misinformation thathas been spread, both thesecompanies areU.S.-based, U.S.-owned and aretotally controlled by U.S. citizens.Together with the twoprocessing companies (Daybrook Fisheries and OmegaProtein), theyemploy morethan 800 people directly on vessels and in processing plants,while another 1,200 jobs ripple acrossrural communities through suppliers, service companies,and transportation providers. Theseare stable, year-round jobs thatanchorsmall-town economies in parishes whereeconomic opportunitiesare limited. Beyond economics,menhaden plays a critical role in globalsupply chains.These small, oily fish areprocessedintofishmeal andfish oil essentialfor petfood, animalfeed, and aquaculture. Without areliable domestic menhaden supply,the United States would be forced to rely on imports, raisingcosts forconsumers and weakening food security. Bycatch NumbersTell the Real Story Toooften, buffer zone expansions have been driven by perception rather than science. Proponents citeconcerns about bycatch, particularly the unintended capture of reddrum. But Louisiana’sown $1 million bycatchstudy tells adifferentstory -one that underscores howsustainable and responsible the menhadenfishery is

Thestudy foundthe menhadenfleet accounts forjust 3.4% of reddrum caught. In addition, the ﬁshery operatedwellbelow the 5% total bycatchset by theState of Louisiana as amaximum bycatchthreshold. By contrast,the recreational sector -nearly 407,000 licensed saltwateranglersin202324 accordingtothe Louisiana Departmentof Wildlifeand Fisheries-accounts for96.6% of all reddrum mortalities off Louisiana’s coast.Infact, LDWF data showred drum areexperiencing overﬁshing drivenbythis recreational pressure.

What’smore, the bycatchstudy found that 84% of reddrum surviveafter beingrolledout of the nets after the completion of menhaden sets.Industry-led innovations aredriving this survival rate even higher.The adoption of newhose-end cage technology industrywide, forexample, has reduced the menhaden industry’s reddrum mortalityby24% in 2025.

The menhaden fleet has alsoinvested heavily in improving gear to preventpast issues. Since 2023, companieshavespent $6.5 million upgrading to Spectra/Plateena nets,which arestronger,moredurable, and significantly reduce net tearsthatonce led to unintended spills Takentogether,the data showa fishery that is meeting bycatchstandards,innovating to improve, and ensuring reddrum populations arenot negatively impacted.

The Myth of Predator Dependence

Another argumentoften cited against menhaden harvesting is thatpredatorﬁsh like speckled trout and reddrum depend almost exclusively on menhaden as food. Yetnew

research disprovesthis claim. AUniversity of Southern Mississippi study found Gulf predatorspecies do not exclusively rely on menhaden. Instead, theyconsume avariety of prey,including shrimp,crabs,and other forage fish. This evidence underscores thatthe ecological role of menhaden, while important, is not thesole factor sustaining predator populations.The buffer zone expansions therefore, do littletoprotect prizedgamefish but imposeenormous costs on the menhaden industry and the communities it supports ACall for Balance Louisiana has long prided itself on balancing conservation with economic opportunity. The recenthalf-mile buffer zone extension has introduced quantifiable challenges forthe menhaden fishery,limiting areas wherevessels canoperate and reducing accesstohistorically productivewaters. The industry remains asignificant contributor to thestate’s economy and operates under state science-based managementstandards,which aredesigned to ensuresustainability. Forthe thousands of Louisiana workers, families,and communities connected to this fishery,the issue is morethan abstract policy Menhaden has long been aresource thatfeeds people, pets,and economies,and decisions around its managementwill help shapehow it continues to playthatrole in the future.

STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE

Kelsey Campion and Liz Ellis are the co-owners of Fringe & Co. and the Fringe Factory, a pair of clothing businesses operated out of a warehouse in Gert Town.

Gallagherhelps protectbusinesses of all sizesand acrossall sectors —not only through the insurancecoverweprovidebut also by offering arange of risk managementand consultancy servicesthatwecan tailor to your business.

Connect with your local broker today.

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LOUISIANA

Assessingrisks

Pre-pregnancycarecan lowerchances of birthdefects,CDC says

BY MARGARETDELANEY

Staffwriter

The window of opportunitytoaddress risk factors for birth defects lies in prepregnancy care, accordingtoa study based on responsesfrom5,374women that published in August. Research, published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, gathered survey responses between 2007 and 2020 from non-pregnant women between the ages of 12 and 49

The 13-year study found thatjustover

two-thirds of women have at leastone of ﬁve modiﬁable risk factors that can lead to birth defects.

The ﬁve risk factors include reducing obesity,addressing food insecurity,limiting smoke exposure,controlling diabetes and increasing folate levels (also knownasvitamin B9 that decreases the risk of defectslike spina biﬁda).

Dr.Jane Martin, who lives in New

Orleans, is an OBGYN andhigh-risk pregnancyspecialist andisthe medical director for labor and delivery at Ochsner Health throughout Louisiana Every day, Martinmanages high-risk and complicated pregnancies. To Martin, the newrisk factors as described by theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention don’tcome as asurprise.

“The (CDC) ﬁndings arenot necessarily new to those of us that practice in theﬁeld of obstetrics and maternal fetal medicine,” Martin said. “But they definitely put numbers to it that we

haven’tbeen able to quote before.” Researchers specifically looked at more common birth defects in this study —babiesbornwith congenital heart problems, neural tube defects (brain and spine problems) and facial birth defects. Those are just some of thesystems that can be affected when ababy is growing. Birth defects arerelatively common, according to Martin, with 2% to 3% of babies are born with abirth

Research explores music’simpactonwell-being

Scientists explore howpainperception canchange

BY CHRISTINALARSON AP sciencewriter

Nurse Rod Salaysay workswith all kinds of instruments in the hospital: athermometer, astethoscope and sometimes his guitar and ukulele. In the recoveryunit of UC San

Diego Health, Salaysay helps patients manage pain after surgery Along with medications, he offers tunesonrequest and sometimes sings. His repertoire ranges from folksongs in English and Spanish to Minuet in GMajor andmovie favorites like“Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

Patientsoften smileornod along Salaysay even sees changesin their vital signslike lower heart rate and blood pressure, and some mayrequest fewer painkillers. “There’soften acycle of worry,

pain,anxiety in ahospital,”hesaid, “but you can help break that cycle with music.”

Salaysay is aone-man band, but he’snot alone. Overthe past two decades, live performances and recorded music have ﬂowed into hospitals and doctors’officesas research grows on how songs can help ease pain.

Thehealingpower of song may sound intuitive given music’sdeep rootsinhuman culture. But the science of whether and how music dulls acute andchronic pain

technically called music-induced analgesia —isjust catching up.

No one suggests that acatchy song can fully eliminate serious pain. But several recent studies, including in the journals Pain and Scientiﬁc Reports, have suggested that listening to music caneither reduce the perception of pain or enhance aperson’sability to tolerate it.

What seems to matter mostis thatpatients —ortheir families choose the music selections themselvesand listen intently, notjust

as background noise.

“Pain is areally complexexperience,” said Adam Hanley,a psychologist at Florida State University.“It’screated by aphysical sensation, and by our thoughts about thatsensation and emotional reaction to it.”

Twopeople with the samecondition or injury may feel vastly different levels of acute or chronic pain. Or the same person might experience pain differently from

GETTy IMAGESPHOTO

Martin

HEALTH MAKER

Doctors perform pediatric robotic spinal surgery

First such operation done in Gulf South

BY MARGARET DELANEY Staff writer

Louisiana doctors, Dr Lawrence Haber and Dr Ryan Farmer, have performed the ﬁrst ever roboticassisted pediatric spine surgery in Louisiana and the Gulf South. The duo at Ochsner Children’s work with patients with varying degrees of scoliosis, a curving of the spine.

About 2% to 3% of the U.S. population develop scoliosis that’s approximately 6 to 9 million people. The prevalence is higher in children with the primary diagnosis happening between 10 and 15 years old, according to the National Scoliosis Foundation

Up to 8% of patients with scoliosis may develop Scheuermann’s kyphosis, a structural spinal curve in the upper back that makes the top part of the spine rounded so it looks hunched over The procedure to straighten the spine of a patient with Scheuermann’s kyphosis involves surgically attaching various chords to vertebrae in the spine. Using the ExcelsiusGPS robotic system Haber and Farmer were able to improve the accuracy of the placement of these chord.

Although used in adults for two years, Farmer said the inclusion of the robot-assisted surgery for pediatric patients can lead the way to faster safer recovery Farmer lives in Lafayette, but travels across the state to see patients and perform procedures like the robotic-assisted surgeries as a pediatric orthopedic surgeon.

Originally from Colorado, Farmer fell in love with the South and Louisiana when he got his master’s degree in microbiology from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Even when he moved back to Colorado for medical school and postgraduate training, he came back to visit Louisiana a few times each year He settled down in Louisiana with his wife in 2019 and has been at Ochsner Children’s for two and

surgery in Louisiana and the Gulf

a half years

What is scoliosis?

What does it look like?

Scoliosis is a 3D curvature of the spine It’s not only visible from the front and back sides of the body

There’s a rotational piece of the puzzle that you can’t necessarily see on an X-ray or in person.

Sometimes we see it present as one side of the back looking longer than the other — that’s a very visual cue that something is happening in a spine

Diagnostically scoliosis is a curve in the spine greater than 10 degrees in a speciﬁc plane or direction. Curves in the coronal plane, facing the eyes, are all quite normal.

Of the 2% to 3% of the population with scoliosis, 10% have a recommendation of surgery

What are the current treatments for children with spinal curves?

Treatment is largely dependent on how big or how old a child is. The golden standard for care with scoliosis is monitoring.

If the spinal curve is between 20 and 40 degrees, and there is some growth-time remain for the patient, we utilize a brace to prevent

GETTy IMAGES PHOTO

The window of opportunity to address risk factors for birth defects lies in pre-pregnancy care, according to a study based on responses from 5,374 women that published in August

RISKS

Continued from page 1X

defect each year in the U.S. — whether it’s major or minor

“It’s important to note that the women included in this study were not currently pregnant,” Martin said. “And the modiﬁable risk factors are something that we can change or impact prior to a pregnancy that could then improve a pregnant woman’s outcomes.”

The study found that:

n 33.8% of the women studied had obesity, a condition that can affect early cell growth when a baby is forming days to weeks after conception.

n 19.5% of the women studied had low folate concentrations, an essential vitamin regularly supplemented for pregnant women. Folate can decrease the risk of spina biﬁda, a condition where parts of the spinal cord and membranes that line the skill are exposed

n 18.8% of the women studied were exposed to smoking. Previous CDC studies have linked smoking and smoke exposures to cleft lips or cleft palate birth defects.

n 6.7% of the women studied reported very low food security.

n 4.8% of the women studied had diabetes, including both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. How wellcontrolled the diabetes is Martin said, will determine how likely a baby is to have a birth defect.

In theory, if mothers are healthier, babies will be healthier, too. Addressing the risks will not completely eliminate birth defects — sometimes mothers who exhibit no risk factors have children with birth defects.

“I take care of many pregnant women who are very unhealthy and have totally normal, uncomplicated pregnancies,” Martin said. “On the ﬂip side, I take care of very healthy women — who are doing everything right — and have babies with really devastating birth defects. This is not direct cause and effect, but it’s just an accurate reﬂection of a larger population.”

The underlying message, according to Martin, is that improving pre-pregnancy health among women of reproductive age will have downstream positive beneﬁts for both future mothers and future babies.

Email Margaret DeLaney at margaret.delaney@theadvocate. com.

the curve from getting signiﬁcantly worse.

If the spinal curve is between 40 and 45 degrees, we recommend surgical intervention.

In most studies about scoliosis, is a patient does not receive treatment, the curvature of their spine will get worse over time at a rate of about one degree per year

A 15-year-old with a 26-degree spinal curve might just need monitoring. But, if we let it go untreated or unmonitored, that patient may have a 60-degree curve in their spine at age 50.

Once a spinal curve reaches 80 degrees, the spine starts to affect lung function making it difﬁcult to walk long distances or do much activity

If we can catch these curves at an earlier time, at a young age, we feel that we can prevent these curves from reaching high-degree thresholds. Plus, kids heal signiﬁcantly better than adults.

In my mind, with scoliosis treatment, it’s an important distinction between recommended surgeries and required surgeries. We are not treating an infection, a tumor or a

fracture. We really have to do surgery to improve a patient’s quality of life as they get older

We allow patients and their families some time to think about it as well. How have spinal treatments and technologies changed over the years?

Spine fusion procedures introduced in the 1960s infused a Harrington rod, or metal rod, to the spine surgically in order to straighten spinal curves. Patients would be in body casts for an extended period of time to heal.

In the ’80s, spinal fusions moved to placing screws into the bony column of the spine within each individual vertebrae. Then, surgeons would attach that to the rod, a ﬁxed object. Over the last 40 years, we have gained incredible knowledge of the normal balance of the spine. Implants have also improved in both their material science — like special threads to attach the screws and what the rods themselves are made out of.

Past spinal fusions made the natural curve of the spine in the side place of the chest region straight,

HEALTH NOTES

which causes huge balance problems. The spine should not be completely, ‘ramrod’ straight.

What patient was the first to receive a robot-assisted surgery? Why was it an important step in pediatric care?

The ﬁrst patient that we treated was young man who had Scheuermann’s — a speciﬁc type of disorder where a patient has a spinal curve in the frontal plane.

There’s a normal lean forward in the chest region where the spine curves naturally for balance. With Scheuermann’s, a patient will have a more than signiﬁcant curve in that area resulting in a fairly large hump on their back.

When we do spinal fusions, we place the screws on each individual vertebrae (freehand). We use landmarks to ﬁnd the bony column of the spine. We take and instrument and make a path along the spine.

We are 93% accurate in placing those screws freehand in a safe fashion. With robotics assistance, we are 97% accurate. With the robotics, we are improving the accuracy of screw placement and reducing risks associated with the surgery

The robot itself has been used in adult spine surgeries for many years, but we can safely use the robot on our smaller patients as well. We used the robot-assisted arm in a patient who was 8, a young girl who had the body size of a 4-year-old. This patient had extremely small bony columns to place those screws, and having the ability to safely put those screws in was a huge win for both me and Dr Haber

This robot, speciﬁcally, is used to hold a tube that instruments are then placed through. We are the ones examining X-rays and CT images to pick the best, and safest, pathway — the size, the length, how the implant goes into the body That information that we decide and collect gets translated to the robot.

The robot holds that tube for us so that we can place the screws and instruments in the appropriate positions. The robot simply acts as a third, unmovable hand in the operating room.

Our Lady of the Lake Children’s and LSU launch culinary medicine training

Staff report

Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health is partnering with Louisiana State University’s School of Human Ecology to provide resident physicians with hands-on culinary medicine training to better counsel patients on nutrition and healthy eating.

The “Chefs-in-Training” session gives residents the opportunity to apply evidence-based dietary guidance, practice meal preparation and knife skills, and learn how to translate complex nutrition concepts into patient-friendly recommendations. Recipes and exercises focus on balance, portion control and practical, sustainable dietary strategies that residents can use when advising patients.

Tulane scholar elected to National Academy

Anita Raj, a globally recognized scholar whose research on gender, public health, violence prevention and numerous other areas ranks among the most widely cited in the world, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine. Raj serves as the executive director of Tulane University’s Newcomb Institute and the Nancy Reeves Dreux Endowed Chair and Professor of Public Health in the Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. She has more than two decades of leadership in advanc-

ing research at the intersection of health, gender and global development.

Her work has shaped public health strategies around the world. Election to the National Academy of Medicine honors individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and a commitment to service. New members are elected by current members through a highly selective process that acknowledges those who have made major contributions to advancing medical science, health care and public health.

Ochsner

launches genetic wellness assessment

The Genetic Wellness Assessment, announced by Ochsner Baton Rouge, is a screening tool that allows individuals to determine whether they may have a higher genetic risk of developing cancer by answering a few simple questions that evaluate individual risk factors. Those identiﬁed as having a high risk, or anyone interested in further evaluation, can schedule an appointment to discuss genetic testing. The results of genetic testing are used by health care providers to offer personalized recommendations for cancer screening, prevention and further evaluation for patients and family members.

The Genetic Wellness Assessment is now available for adults interested in learning more about

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

The Louisiana Health section is focused on providing in-depth, personal accounts of health in the state This section looks at medical innovations, health discoveries, state and national health statistics and reexamining tried and true methods on ways to live well.

their cancer risk at Ochsner.org/ GeneticWellnessSurvey LSU Health professor releases new book

World-renowned neuroscientist and director of LSU Health New Orleans’ Neuroscience Center of Excellence, Dr Nicolas G. Bazan, has released his new book, “Brain Aging and Resilience: Exploring the Adaptability of the Human Brain in the Face of Aging and Adverse Conditions.”

Bazan’s book is now available as an eBook from Springer Nature Hardcover and softcover editions are also available. In this new publication, Bazan explains how the human brain adapts and stays resilient as it ages or faces challenges such as disease or injury Drawing on decades of groundbreaking research, he explores how brain cells communicate and support one another; and what happens when those systems begin to fail. His earlier studies on epilepsy, for example, revealed how tiny structures in brain cells change during stress, offering new clues into how aging and diseases like Alzheimer’s affect the brain.

Health Notes is an occasional listing of health happenings around Louisiana. Have something you’d like to share? Contact us at margaret. delaney@theadvocate.com.

Health editions will also profile people who are advancing health for the state of Louisiana.

Do you have a health story? We want to hear from you.

Email margaret.delaney@theadvocate.com to submit health questions, stories and more.

PHOTO PROVIDE By OCHSNER HEALTH

Louisiana doctors Lawrence Haber and Ryan Farmer have performed the first robotic-assisted pediatric spine

South.

Eat Fit LiveFit

Sleep: Thethird pillar of wellnesswecan’taffordtoignore

DaylightSavingTime endsthisweekend, andI’lladmit:I’mnot afanoftheearlysunsets thatcomewithit.Darkness fallingat5p.m.makes mefeelliketheevening isoverbeforeitbegins. ButasmuchasIdislike theseasonaltimechange it’saperfectreminderof howpowerfullylightand darknesssetourinternal clocks—andwhysleep deservesthesamepriority astheothertwopillarsof wellness:nutrition andexercise.

Recently,Iinterviewed oneofmyfavoritesleep experts,ErinHanlon,Ph.D.aresearch associateprofessorattheUniversityof Chicago,formyFUELEDWellness+ Nutritionpodcast.Dr.Hanlonstudies howsleepandcircadianrhythmsaffect everythingfromcravingsandglucose controltoweightandevenkidneyhealth.

“Our sleep needs vary person to person,” she said. “But everyonebeneﬁts from optimal sleepduration and quality. For too long, we’ve treatedsleep as the time left over after everythingelse. We need to ﬂip that.”

WhyItMatters

Thisisourﬁfthpodcastinterview together,andinearlierepisodeswe alsoexploredthesciencebehindsleep. Forexample,sleepaffectshungerand thefoodswecrave.Whenwe’resleepdeprived,shesaid,weeatabout300 extracaloriesaday—mostlyfrom ultra-processedfoods.

“Thoseappetitesignalsdon’tgoupfor fruitsandvegetables,”Hanlonsaid.“They goupforsweetsandsaltysnackfoods.” Lackofsleepcanalsoaffectmood,

reactiontimeandinﬂammationthroughout thebody.Itinterfereswithglucose regulationandcanincreasetheriska personwilldevelopdiabetes.There’sno questionthatprioritizingsleepisn’tjust aboutfeelingrested—it’salsoaproven nutritionandmetabolicstrategy

PracticalWaystoProtectSleep

The good news: Helping our bodies adjust to earlier darkness and keeping sleep strong year-rounddoesn’t have to be complicated. Here are thesciencebacked basics for bettersleep Dr. Hanlon and Idiscussed on the podcast •Getmorninglight.Lightisthe strongestsignalforourinternalclocks.

Aimfor10–15minutesof outdoorlightsoonafter waking,evenoncloudy mornings.Thishelps suppressmelatoninat therighttimeandsets usuptofeelsleepy whenbedtimearrives.

•Keepaconsistent waketime.Bedtime matters,butwake timeisreallythetrue guide.Goingtobedand wakingupatroughly thesametimes—even onweekends—keeps circadianrhythms steady.Thisiseasy tosay,Iknow,but understandablyharder toimplementwhenreallifehappens.

•Giveeveningsa“dimmerswitch.” Anhourbeforebedtime,turndown thelights,shutdownallscreensand shifttocalmingactivitieslikegentle stretchingorreadingarealbook.If youcan’tfallasleepafter20to30 minutes,getupanddosomething quietunderlowlightuntilyou’re feelingsleepyagain.

•Bemindfulofcaffeineandtiming.

Caffeine’s half-life means that a2 p.m.coffee can still be active in our system at bedtime, subtly delaying the body’s natural rise in melatonin andmakingitharder to fall asleep

MollyKimball,RD,CSSD,isaregistereddietitian withOchsnerHealthandfounderofOchsnersEatFit nonproﬁtinitiative.Formorewellnesscontent,tuneinto Molly’spodcast,FUELEDWellness+Nutrition,andfollow @MollykimballRDand@EatFitOchsneronsocialmedia. Emailnutrition@ochsner.orgtoconnectwithMollyor scheduleaconsultwithherteam.

Everyone’s sensitivity is different, but many peoplesleep better when they stop consuming caffeine by late morning or early afternoon

•Reconsidereveningcocktails. Alcoholdeservesitsowncaution sign.“Alcoholmighthelpustofall asleep,butitdeﬁnitelydoesn’tkeep usasleep,”Hanlonexplained.Itactsas asedativeatﬁrst,Hanlonsaid,helping usdozeoff,butalcoholfragments deepsleepandshort-circuitstheREM cyclesthatrestoreourmindandbody. •Skiplate-nightsnacks.Evenasmall servingofbreadordessertlateat nightcansendglucosehigherthanthe samefoodwouldearlierintheday. Melatonin,whichrisesintheevening naturallyinhibitsinsulinsecretion. Finishingdinnerafewhoursbefore bedhelpsourbodykeepbloodsugar levelsstable.

•Knowwhentoseekhelp. If sleep issues are interfering with your qualityoflife, consider discussing them with your healthcare provider. Cognitive behavioral therapyfor insomnia (CBT-I)can be an effective, unmedicated approach.

AClosingThought

Whenitcomestowellness,muchofour focustendstobecenteredoneatingwell andstayingactive.Truewellbeing,though, includessleepasanequalcomponent. “Sleepisessentialforwhole-bodyhealth —notonlyourenergyandmood,but alsoperipheralorganslikethepancreas, liverandkidneys,”Hanlonemphasized.As thedaysgrowshorter,thinkofthistime changeasyourcuetoprotectthisthird keyelementofwellness.

Foradeeperdiveandmorepractical tips,listentomynewestFUELEDWellness +NutritionpodcastepisodewithDr. Hanlon—availablenowwhereveryouget yourpodcasts.

THENUMBERS

MORE THAN HALF OF ADULTS REPORTED HIGH BLOODPRESSUREINONE PARISH

In the United States, nearly half of adults have high blood pressure —approximately 119.9 million Americans

Louisiana had the fourth-highest rate of high blood pressure in the U.S.,with 39.9% of adults reporting the condition diagnosis by ahealth professional in 2023, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-based data says.

High blood pressure,also called hypertension, is amajorriskfactor for heart disease and stroke, whichare theleading and fifth-leading causes of death in the United States.

These parishes had the highest percent of adults whowere told by apractitionerin 2022 that theyhavehigh blood pressure, in descending order:

n East Carroll Parish with 51.4%, n Madison Parish with 45.6%, n Tensas Parish with 45%,

MUSIC

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one day to the next.

Acutepainisfeltwhen pain receptors in aspeciﬁc partofthe body—like a hand touching ahot stove —send signals to the brain, which processes the shortterm pain. Chronic pain usuallyinvolves long-term structural or other changes to the brain, which heighten overall sensitivity to pain signals. Researchersare stillinvestigating how this occurs. “Pain is interpreted and translated by the brain,” which may ratchetthe signal up or down, said Dr Gilbert Chandler,aspecialist in chronic spinal painat the Tallahassee Orthopedic Clinic. Researchers know music

n Claiborne Parishwith 44.6%, n Morehouse Parishwith 44.5%, n Avoyelles and Concordia parishes with 43.2%, n St. Helena Parishwith 43.1%, n Webster Parishwith 42.9%, n Bienville Parishwith 42.8%

Theseparishes had thelowest percentage of adults whowere told by apractitioner in 2022 thattheyhavehigh blood pressure, in ascending order: n St.TammanyParishwith 32.9%, n LivingstonParishwith 33.2%, n Ascension Parishwith 33.9%, n Bossier and Vernon parishes with 34.2%, n Cameron Parishwith 34.5%, n Beauregard Parishwith 35.3%, n Jefferson Parishwith 35.4%, n St. Charles Parishwith 35.9%, n East Baton Rougeand Jefferson Davis parishes with 36.1%

can draw attention away from pain, lessening the sensation. But studies also suggest that listening to preferred music helpsdull painmore than listeningto podcasts.

“Music is adistractor.It draws your focus away from the pain. But it’sdoingmore than that,” said Caroline Palmer,a psychologist at McGill Universitywho studies music and pain.

Louisianans with high blood pressure

Thepercent of adultsineach

Scientists arestill tracing thevarious neural pathways at work, said Palmer “Weknowthatalmostall of the brain becomes active when we engage in music,” said Kate Richards Geller,a registered music therapist in Los Angeles. “That changes the perception and experience of pain —and theisolationand anxietyofpain.”

The idea of using recorded music to lessen pain associated with dentalsurgery beganinthe late 19th century before local anesthetics were available. Today researchers arestudying what conditions make music mosteffective. Researchers at Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlandsconducted astudy on 548 participants to seehow listening to ﬁve genres of music —classical, rock,pop,urbanand electronic —extended their ability to withstand acutepain,

as measured by exposure to very cold temperatures.

All music helped, but there was no single winning genre

“The morepeople listened to afavorite genre, the more they could endure pain,”said co-authorDr. Emyvan der Valk Bouman. “A lot of peoplethought that classical musicwould help them more Actually,weare ﬁnding more evidencethatwhat’sbestis just the music you like.”

Theexact reasonsare stillunclear,but it maybe because familiar songs activate more memories and emotions, she said.

The simple act of choosing is itself powerful, said Claire Howlin, director of the Musicand Health Psychology Lab at TrinityCollege Dublin, who co-authored astudy that suggested allowing patients to select songs improved their pain tolerance. “It’sone thing that people

can have control over if they have achronic condition —it gives them agency,” shesaid. Active, focused listening also seems to matter Hanley, theFlorida State psychologist, co-authored a preliminary study suggesting daily attentive listening might reduce chronic pain.

“Music hasa wayoflightingupdifferentparts of the brain,”hesaid, “so you’re giving people this positive emotional bump that takes their mind away from the pain.”

It’sa simple prescription with no side effects, some doctors now say Cecily Gardner, ajazzsinger in Culver City,California, said she used music to help get through aserious illness and has sung to friends battling pain.

“Music reduces stress, fosters community,”she said, “and just transports you to a better place.”

PHOTO

JAVIER

BRO UGH TT OY OU BY

Molly Kimball RD,CSSD

Leading careto keep youmoving

AttheOchsnerAndrewsOrthopedicsandSportsMedicineInstitute,every decisionwemakeisfocusedonhelpingourpatientsmoveforward.Fromthe latesttechnologytothedepthofourexpertise,ourteambringselitecare, cutting-edgeresearch,andadvancedtrainingtothecommunitiesweserve. Yourrecovery,goals,andqualityoflifedriveeverythingwedo—andwe moveforwardwithyou,everystepoftheway.

Learnmoreorscheduleanappointmentatochsner.org/ortho

BillP. | KneeSurgeryPatient

Foundation of service

Women’sorganization hasshaped BatonRouge for90years

BY JOYHOLDEN Staff writer

Agroup of Baton Rouge womenisa testamenttothe power that comeswith working together —despitethe internationalorganization foldingin2020 and the national organization closing in 2024 TheBaton Rougewomen carryon, along with other local clubsdottingthe globe. They pool their time, talents and resources to helpothers.They have been doing so since June 1935, when 17 women gathered together at Anderson’sTea RoomonFourth Street to do something good for their city

During the Great Depression, people were in need. Professional women of the city,led by respected attorneyFrances L. Landry,started QuotaBaton Rouge,a 90-year-oldclub founded on the mission of leadershipand service.

“Those were challenging times,” current Quota Baton Rouge president Laurie Allen said at the 90th anniversary celebration, “and yet these women got togetherand they said,‘We cannot save the world, but we can do something in our small part of the universe tolend ahelpinghand,tobringhope, to bring comfort, and to some sunshine, where it’sdesperately needed.’

The long history of servicecontinues to sustain the club’s work.

On Oct. 12, Quota Baton Rouge celebrated the organization’s 90thbirthday and honored 24 past presidents at the Old Governor’sMansion. The theme was the 1930s, which wasrepresentedin holding theevent at thestately landmark built in 1930.

“While we may dress differentlyand the things and activities that we dohave changed andevolved,” Allen said, “we are still built on the foundation of selflessness, service,friendshipand sharing. So that’swhat guides us,and is the foundationofabedrock that has sustainedusfor ninedecades.”

Quota Baton Rouge’s membership is comprised of accomplished professional women who areleaders in their respective ﬁelds. Though working and leading in diverse industries, Quotarians —the name for Quota members —share a commitment to service and purpose

After refreshments and ajazz serenade, Allen spoke about the club’s achievements andintroduced Bobbie Carey,amember of Quota Baton Rouge since 1979, the owner and CEO of the CommunicationInstitute, former Quota Baton Rouge president and formerQuota International president.

PHOTO By

Past presidents of Quota Baton Rougeattend the group’s90thbirthday celebration on Oct. 12 at the Old Governor’sMansion.

‘Weshare’

Nearly 16 yearsbeforeQuota Baton Rouge began, Wanda Frey Joiner founded Quota Club International in Buffalo, New York. Joinerstarted the international service organizationasa response to women’sinvolvement in WorldWar I and to popular all-men’sclubs.

WhileQuota International was still functioning, the Baton Rouge chapter was the only club in the world to have three of its presidents become international presidents. Theclub’sguiding mottois“We share,” and the name is derived from the Latin word, quota, which signiﬁed aportion or ashare.

Over theyears, Quota has held ﬁrm to the commitment to serve women, children, and people who are Deaf, hard of hearing andspeech-impaired.Quota’s early service projects sponsoredBrownie and Girl Scout troops.

In 1939, Quota Baton Rouge partnered with the East Baton Rouge School Board and the federal government to establish thestate’s ﬁrst National YouthAdministration clerical unit for girls. During World WarII, Quota Baton Rougecreated the ﬁrst nursery school fordefense workers’ children. Quota also helped establishYWCA in Baton Rouge. By the 1950s,Quotahad expanded its reach with programs such as Aid to the Hard of Hearing, youth mentoring and emergency assistance funds formothers and children.

The long-running fundraiser,Open Door Tour of Baton Rouge homes, started in 1951 and lasted until 2006. Funds raised helped start the Baton Rouge Speech and Hearing Foundation, which is now the Emerge Center.Another event that raised moneyfor Emerge Center

ä See QUOTA, page 2Y

Lessons from my grandmother

Afew weeks ago, in the rubble of our house ﬁre, Ifound the soggy quilt my grandmother made from scraps of clothes she’d sewn for me throughout my childhood.

My grandmother was aseamstress.

She made everything from wedding dresses with hundreds of handsewn pearls on long, frilly trains, to cheerleader uniforms with complicated red, white and blue pleats —and, on amore personal level, the majority of my dress clothes while I wasgrowing up.

Some of my most delightful childhood memories happened in fabric stores, where Iloved mixing prints and textures —and enjoy it still. For her,fabric stores were social outings. She would talk to the women who worked there, including a woman we called “Aunt Beatty,” though Inever understood how she was related to us. Meanwhile, I would wanderthe aisles, imagining the wonders we could make. In aworld that didn’thave many artistic outlets, fabric stores were where my imaginationcould test its boundaries.

To my grandmother’scredit, she would listenasIdescribed the dress or outﬁt Isaw and could usually see it herself —and she could take it one step further: She could make it.

She had expensive taste and thrived on apauper’sbudget. She often reused zippers and saved every button that ever cameher way. She repurposed clothing in ways that would wow“Project Runway” judges. Iloved watching hercreate beautiful things.

Working with my grandmother on an outﬁt took aspecial touch. She thrived on ﬁnding clever shortcuts and wasamaster at making do. She grew up during the Depression. Frugality wasbaked deep into her being. She loved to save fabric, even whenthere wasplenty Her thriftiness led to some legendary moments —like Christmas of 1989, when she gave me acute organizer wallet that included acalendar.Itwas from 1987.

Marie Kondo would make my grandmother’shead spin. Ican’t imagine the level of absurdity she would attach to the idea of only keeping things that “spark joy.”

My grandmother saved every scrap of fabric she ever cut, which often led to beautiful things —like the quilt she gave me whenIgraduated from high school, made from the clothes she’d sewn for me since Iwas ababy.Ifound it in the rubble after the ﬁre —soggy,smoky,ﬁlthy, but, in her words, “with agood washing, it will be as good as new.” She knew joy often comes later pieced together,one scrap at atime She saw the potential in leftovers and pieces others discarded. These days, she’d be called asustainability expert. Back then, we tried to keep her over-the-top frugality on the down-low

Working with heronasewing project required patience —and veto power.She always had multiple, sometimes ridiculous, ideas for ﬁxing problems. But she taught me there was rarely just one wayto make something work. Thatlesson has stayed with me more than any stitch or seam.

In the weeks sinceour house ﬁre, I’ve thought about her constantly Like me,she would’ve been sick over the waste of it all —the piles of things that couldn’tbesalvaged, the ruined family photos. But she also would’ve found joy in the challenge of rebuilding, of ﬁnding creative ways to make things “as good as new.”

And Iﬁnd myself doing the same —sorting through the wreckage, saving whatIcan, imagining what beauty might comenext —piecing life back together,one scrap at a time.

PROVIDED

CAROL BEHRMANN

PROVIDED PHOTO

Quota Baton Rougemembers gather together to compile baby items for their mothers’ starterkits. Theymade90inhonor of the club’s90th anniversary

INSPIREDDISCUSSIONS

ASK THEEXPERTS

St.Landrywoman workstolower maternal mortalityrates

Doula-turned-nonprofit founderreaches outto moms in need

BY LAUREN CHERAMIE

Staff writer

Devin Bailey-Nicholas, affectionately known as Divine, is acharter member of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical SocietyLouisiana Chapter.She is acultural worker with afocus on Black folk healing and Black midwives in the South. In 2012, Bailey-Nicholas founded Community Birth Companion, anonproﬁt inSt. Landry Parish.

Bailey-Nicholas serves asthe executive director and works toward lowering infant and maternal mortality rates among low-income mothers through childbirth education, breastfeeding promotionand community doulas.

She is also acertiﬁed lactation counselor,maternal-child community health worker,student-midwife and doula trainer. Currently, she’sthe local ambassador for the National Perinatal Task Force and member of Healthy St. Landry.She lives with her husband and five children in Opelousas.

This conversation was edited for length and clarity

How did you identify what gaps Community Birth Companion would focus on in maternal and infant health?

In 2012, Itrained as adoula, and at the time, the doula organization was called The International Center for Traditional Childbearing, based in Oregon. But they did a training in New Orleans, and one of our training sessions talkedabout disparities.

For America to be so technologically savvy,wehad alot of mothers and babies dying for things that could be prevented, no matter what cultural background someone had.

When we saw the statistics, we were seeing that the mortality and morbidity rates in Blackmothers andBlack babies were three to four times higher than our White

QUOTA

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counterparts. The 2024 March of Dimes ReportCardgave Louisiana an “F”for preterm birth. Therates of those babies among communities of colorisverydismal

We know that preterm babiesare oftenborntoo small, andtheyhave afailure to thrive alot of thetime.

It’s happeninginall communities, butsometimes it’s happeningmore within differentcultures. That reallytouched me and made me want to diginmore to see how Icould help in my local community

How has this work changed yourview on motherhood and your community?

Ihad mysecondchild by thetime Ibecamea doula

When Ireally dug into what was happening in the maternal health world, it made me understand how much support and education our families needed to navigatethe maternalhealth system— really understanding what their medical providers are telling them, what to expect during prenatal care and howtobest communicate their needs.

Iunderstood how doulascan step in,byteaching grandmas, boyfriends and husbands howtobe the best support systems as they’re goingthrough this journeyofparenthood.

HowdoesCommunity BirthCompanion build trustwithin the community?

When we were ﬁrst starting, and we still do this,wewent to community baby showers,had atable and communicated with the parents.

We’re asking questions like, “Who’syour doctor? Where are youdelivering?”Wewould educateright then and there, and then pass out ﬂyers for our childbirth educationclasses and breastfeeding support groups, because that’s open to both pregnant and postpartum moms.

That was the way,and still is the way,wecontinuetobuild bridges.

Ibecame acommunity liaison with OpelousasGeneral Hospital when they were ﬁrst establishing their Baby Friendly initiative. That was away Iwas able to talkwith the hospital and understand the needs ofthe mothers in the com-

and Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital was the “Eyes on the Ties 2019 gala that featured alive auction of celebrity tiesmodeled by community leaders in amen’sfashionshow

In the 1960s, Quota was involved in bringingMargaret Neely to Baton Rouge from Canada, and she became theﬁrstdirector of theBaton Rouge Speech and Hearing Foundation,which is now Emerge.

Other prominent examples of major giving and sharing that Quota Baton Rouge has done through the years include:

n Co-founding what is now The Emerge Center

n Establishing Girls Hope of Baton Rouge

n Pioneeringprogramsfor deaf and hard-of-hearing students at Louisiana State University.

n Endowing aTop ScholarProgram at Louisiana State University with a grant of $100,000.

n Funding constructionprograms at Woman’sHospital,Mary Byrd Perkins

Q&A WITH DEVIN BAILEy-NICHOLAS FOUNDED COMMUNITy BIRTH COMPANION

munity Then we hadfolks whowanted to support andvolunteer andbecome doulas. Whentheycall, we show up. Whatwedon’t know, we connect to resources that we share, and Ibelieve that’show we maintain our trust in the community

On apolicy level,what changes need to be made to makeadifference in maternal health outcomes in Louisiana?

We’ve had some positive changes Medicaidnow covers doulas, even privateinsurance is reimbursing doulas. That was an item thata lot of maternal health advocates were pushing for because we don’twant doulas to be aluxury that only certain people can get.

We need to educate ourmoms that, if they’relow risk, thereis an option in Louisiana that they can have amidwife and birth at the birth center or at home. What makes that safe is only when we all worktogether and breakdown

Cancer Center and Our Lady of the Lake Children’sHospital.

n Providing ampliﬁcation equipment to school classrooms and thePerforming Arts Center

n Providing infant hearing testing equipment to hospitals and encouraged theprogram internationally

n Funding for Louisiana Public Broadcasting Children’sPrograms.

“There’s nota hospital in Baton Rouge that hasn’tbeneﬁted from Quota,” Carey said When Carey was Quota International president,she initiated theUniversal Hearing Screening program, which encouraged Quota Clubs to fund the new technologyfor hearing screening for infants. Through the international conference andQuota International taking on thecharge, it was adopted around theworld

“Many people don’treally know our name, but we know our name, andwe know the impact that we’ve had over many,manyyears,” said Carey Current Quota projects include sponsoringMagnolia Woods Elementary and its STEMprogram, helping with ﬂooring repairs in the Louisiana School for theDeaf library,supporting CASA through the Stars for aCausebeneﬁt

those silos.

We’removing in the right direction, but we can’t putthe weight justondoulas, because at theend of the day,they’re notmedical providers. We want to continue to educate our doctors to support mothers and have the best outcomes possible And,also, just listentomoms When we sit down andreally listen to their concerns, whether they’ve had avaginal birth or cesarean section,they want to be listenedto. They want to feel like they’ve had apart in the care they received. They want to know that they were able to give educated consent.

Butwecan’t do that whenwe’re rushing to the next person. We can’t keep treating people like numbers.

From your experience working with families, how areBlack mothers treated compared to White mothers?

In our state, and even nationally,Black moms andbabiesdie at three timesthe rate of our White

putting together 90 “bucketsoflove” full of householditems forservice groups and 90 “starter kits” fullof baby essentials for new mothers.

BY JOYHOLDEN Staff writer

counterparts. What’ssoimportant is that it crosses socioeconomic boundaries.

ABlack mom that has her master’sdegree would still have a worse outcome,say,from aWhite mother thatdidn’tgraduate high school.It’sa racial gapthere,and we know that, forwhatever reason, when Black mothers go into the hospital, they’renot listenedtoas much as others.

Thehope is that allmothers,no matter where they come from, when they step intoaLouisiana hospital, they feel heard, respected and that their concerns aretaken into account so we canhavethose great outcomes —those beautiful, bouncing babies who are going to be cared for and who are our future

Email Lauren Cheramieat lauren.cheramie@theadvocate. com.

Louisiana Inspired is all about shining alight on people and organizations who are working toward solutions in Louisiana neighborhoods, communities,towns,citiesand throughout thestate it’s work that takes extra effortbyspecial people, demonstrating the goodstuff of thehuman spirit.

Nominate someone you

nola.com/site/forms/the_ inspirit_award/ by Nov. 12. We encourage nominations of people of all ages —those who systematically go about doing their besttomake the world a better place. The nomination process focuses on people who are working toward solutions in their workplaces, schools, neighborhoods, communities and state. Be sure to include stories of impact and details of personal stories that inspire change. Award recipients will be announced in December in Louisiana Inspired. Email Joy Holdenatjoy holden@theadvocate. com.

PROVIDED PHOTO

Devin Bailey-Nicholas, affectionately known as Divine, is acharter member of the Afro-AmericanHistoricaland Genealogical Society-Louisiana Chapter.In2012, she founded Community BirthCompanion, anonprofitinSt. LandryParish.

PROVIDED PHOTO

Quota Baton Rougemembers pack

‘Buckets of Love’for local nonprofits and service organizations. They made 90 in honor of the club’s 90th anniversary.

12-year-old named to Time ‘Girls of the Year’ list

New Orleanian is an organ transplant advocate

BY JOSIE ABUGOV Staff writer

Naomi DeBerry decided she wanted to be a transplant surgeon on the day her father got a kidney transplant. When her father former columnist at The Times-Picayune Jarvis DeBerry, got sick, Naomi DeBerry didn’t understand what her father’s medical diagnosis entailed. The experience was a confusing whirlwind, she said, but she knew she wanted to make a difference.

“I want to be able to give back, and I want to help people in the way that those doctors were able to not only help my dad, but my mom and myself as well,” Naomi said.

While Naomi, 12, works toward her dream of becoming a doctor, she’s already made an impact in other ways. Last year, she published a book, “My Daddy Needs a Gift,” that tells her story of a young girl spreading the word about organ transplantation and bringing her community together to support her dad

Her ongoing advocacy around organ transplantation landed her a spot this August on Time’s inaugural “Girls of the Year List,” featuring 10 girls around the world who “challenged stereotypes, tackled problems head-on and sought to build solutions from the ground up,” according to the magazine. DeBerry, a born and raised New Orleanian, is the only girl from the United States on the list.

“That selflessness of

thinking of others was really inspiring,” said Dayana Sarkisova, a senior editor at Time who selected DeBerry for the award.

“Her putting together her book so others didn’t have to go through the process alone was really what made us want to include her in the list.”

Promote organ advocacy

The other nine winners, all between the ages of 12 and 17, include a young pilot from Turkey pushing for gender equality in her country, a skateboarding Olympian from Japan and a Zimbabwean-New Zealander fantasy writer

The idea for Time’s newest list came in the months before Sarkisova welcomed her first daughter into the world and considered the qualities she wanted her child to one day carry: bravery, intelligence and kindness. The award is sponsored by Lego.

“Even though I’m being honored, what I really want to do is promote organ advocacy and organ awareness,” Naomi said.

Her ongoing advocacy keeps Naomi busy. She’s been featured on “The Tamron Hall Show” multiple times, most recently in April. Over the summer, she attended a medical and science program at the University of CaliforniaBerkeley where she was one of the few kids who didn’t get too squeamish in a lung dissection activity.

In September, Naomi spoke on a youth panel at the Association for Multicultural Affairs in Transplantation, alongside a boy who received a heart transplant. Disparities in needs

Her book may soon be reaching a wider audience.

Naomi’s mother, Kelly Har-

ris-DeBerry, said there’s been an interest in translating the story into other languages to reach more disadvantaged communities.

Helping address health disparities within Black and other minority communities is a key component of Naomi’s advocacy work.

According to the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency, or LOPA, 68% of those in the state waiting for a kidney transplant are Black.

“When it comes to transplants, especially in African American communities, there is a lot of mistrust in these ﬁelds and a lot of misrepresentation, which is one of the reasons

why I do want to become a transplant surgeon,” Naomi said.

Cheryl McGee-Hills, a community educator at LOPA, was a navigator for the DeBerrys during their journey The educator championed Naomi’s plan to write her book when the story was in its infancy

With McGee-Hills’ support, LOPA sponsored the book, offering background information and donating funds for its publication.

“It’s a miracle, it’s a blessing to have a second chance in life,” McGee-Hills said. “(Naomi), as our next generation, she’s going to be that individual to help young as well as folks like me understand the need.”

‘Raised by New Orleans’

While Naomi is making strides as a pioneering individual, her advocacy is a reflection of the city that raised her, said her mother, Harris-DeBerry Watching the New Orleans community support her father helped inspire Naomi’s book and ongoing activism. Her cousin, Aisha DeBerry, even donated her kidney “She’s been raised by New Orleans, truly,” Harris-DeBerry said. “To me, this honor really reflects New Orleans.”

Email Josie Abugov at josie.abugov@theadvocate. com.

With thousands of Shell men and women across thestate,we areworking

while increasing efﬁciency

Our tomorrowdepends on whatwedotoday. Together, we arepoweringprogressfor abrighter future. Louisiana is whereweliveand we’reproud to call it home

Naomi DeBerry displays copies of her book, ‘My Daddy Needs a Gift,’ at the 2024 New Orleans Kidney Walk.

PROVIDED PHOTOS By THE DEBERRy FAMILy Naomi DeBerry, 12, wrote a book about her experience as her father underwent kidney transplant surgery, and the ways that her family’s New Orleans community came together to support him.

FAITH & VALUES

Christian muralist found calling painting mosques

BY ULAA KUZIEZ

Contributing writer

In the Lebanese countryside where church bells and calls to prayer echo together, Harout Bastajian grew up walking to afternoon Mass with his mom, then crossing the street to spend hours with friends at a mosque.

“I used to play with my matchbox cars on the mosque’s carpet frames,” said Bastajian, who now lives in Dearborn, Michigan. “I somehow grew up in the part of Lebanon during the war where Christians (and) Muslims lived in harmony.”

Bastajian’s interfaith upbringing has continued to inspire and motivate his work as an artist. An Armenian Christian, he has helped to restore several churches, including a landmark 19th-century Roman church and an 18th-century Armenian monastery in Lebanon

But the muralist has come to be known most for the nearly 50 mosque domes he has painted, including in the U.S. Weaving together traditional arabesque patterns, natural motifs and elegant Arabic calligraphy, Bastajian’s work graces dozens of grand mosques, such as Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque, Lebanon’s largest, Nigeria’s Ilorin Mosque and the Islamic Association of Greater Detroit (IAGD)

A new exhibition at the Arab American National Museum in Michigan celebrates these domes and offers visitors an intimate look at Bastajian’s large-scale designs through original panels and photographic displays

“It’s the pride of the community that we are in America and we brought our culture, our art here, and we’re putting it in a nice display,” Bastajian said. “The best place to put your history is the museum or the house of worship where all the people come together.”

The artist has not always worked in sacred places. For years after studying interior design in college,

he painted murals for palaces and mansions owned by Middle Eastern mafias and politicians. Now, he said he is “lucky” his work is fulﬁlling.

“I am doing something for the house of God not somebody’s house,” Bastajian said.

Father Hrant Kevorkian was among dozens of attendees at the opening night for Bastajian’s exhibition on Sept. 25. Kevorkian, the pastor at St. Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church in Dearborn, ﬁrst saw Bastajian’s work nearly 15 years ago at the Islamic Center of America, one of the largest mosques in the country which sits adjacent to Kevorkian’s church.

They met many years later when Bastajian moved to Dearborn and came to Kevorkian’s church for Sunday Mass. Since then, the two Armenian men have become friends.

“It’s his passion. It’s a God-given gift that he wants to give back to God, and that’s how I see it,” Kevorkian said, adding that Bastajian is designing a cross for the church.

Bastajian conceives each project from the ground level where worshippers will view the art. He said it sometimes takes months to come up with a design that blends his own artistic touch with traditional styles appropriate for a particular sect and ethnic group Islamic art avoids physical representation of animated beings in places of worship. Instead, Muslim artists across ethnic backgrounds developed elaborate geometric designs, ornamental Arabic calligraphy and natural motifs. Bastajian said those elements together are meant to remind worshippers of the divine.

“God created this world filled with beauty and harmony And calligraphy and ﬂoral representation can connect a person with God,” said Zulﬁqar Ali Shah, the director of religious affairs at IAGD.

“So when you enter a mosque, the coloring scheme, the carpet, the woodwork, the calligraphy all of them take you away and you tran-

scend the concerns of the material world.”

The “Art of Spiritual Enlightenment” exhibition, on display until December traces Bastajian’s artistic process and showcases the sometimes risky task of painting mosque domes as high as 150 feet.

Mark Mulder a curator at the museum who worked with Bastajian over the summer to create the displays, said he hopes people engage with the exhibition “and then apply something that they take to their life.”

For Mulder, the exhibition is a lesson in compassion.

“It’s a lesson in caring, but it’s also that you don’t have to belong to a group to learn about them, to understand them and to care about them and to produce things for them,” Mulder said.

Providing diapers for parents who need them most

BY CHABELI CARRAZANA

Contributing writer

Editor’s note: This story created by Chabeli Carrazana for The 19th is part of the Solutions Story Tracker from the Solutions Journalism Network, a nonproﬁt organization dedicated to rigorous reporting about responses to social problems Louisiana Inspired features solutions journalism stories that provide tangible evidence that positive change is happening in other places and in our own communities — solutions that can be adopted around the world.

In America, diapers have long been treated as a luxury good rather than a necessity

Half of families with young kids struggle to afford all the diapers they need. A quarter of families miss work as a result, often because they don’t have enough diapers to send with their children to child care.

It’s a largely invisible issue with enormous consequences for the health of parents and children. Studies have found that diaper need is a greater contributor to postpartum depression than food insecurity and housing instability And when parents don’t have enough diapers, they make do with sanitary pads, rags or other materials. Some report having to leave their children in soiled diapers for extended periods, raising the risk for urinary tract infections and diaper rash.

So Amy Kadens, who has worked in the diaper space for nearly 15 years, wondered: What if diapers were free for the parents who need them most? For decades, the United States has not had a good answer. So she came up with her own. Diaper banks started popping up across the nation in 2011, collecting donations and dispersing diapers to families through a complex network of local partnerships. They are one of the few lifelines for parents. Kadens, who co-founded a nonproﬁt that provides diapers called Share our Spare in 2011, knew that diaper banks often operate with limited staff and resources, and operationally can only address a small percentage of a massive need. Without more government support, they can only get at a slice of the problem.

Federal assistance programs that help low-income families, such as food stamps and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), have never allowed families to use those funds to purchase diapers.

“Diaper banks are doing heroic work with very little. I didn’t want to reinvent the wheel,” Kadens said. But, “I wanted to continue to sink my teeth into this.”

So Kadens started to work on a solution that could give people the funds to get whatever diapers they needed, without the warehouses to store donations or the teams to get those donations out.

That solution was Diaper Dollars, a $40 e-card that users get in their email every month. The virtual card comes with a barcode they can scan at checkout at most major retailers, including Walmart, CVS and Walgreens, that will cover the cost of diapers. So far, users in Illinois and Ohio can access the program.

The idea, Kadens said, was to make it as simple as possible, while also giving parents the ability to choose what brands they preferred

“Families have brand loyalty,” Kadens said. “I wanted to keep dignity and choice at the forefront of everything we did.”

The Diaper Dollars team went through months of market research to reﬁne the tech to work well for participants. They didn’t want coupons because there was too much fraud in the system, and gift cards meant users could be limited on where to shop.

Instead, they landed on a system that allowed them to build out a catalog of diapers at 6,200 retail locations in the country The bar code on the digital card recognizes the diapers when it’s scanned and deducts the price from the total purchase. That catalog of diapers is monitored daily and updated in case brands come out with new box sizes or products. It also works for online purchases.

The system does have some limitations. It’s not valid in Amazon or Target, two retailers that don’t yet accept that form of payment. And it also likely only covers a portion of the need: The average family spends about $100 on diapers a month but families earning a median income can only afford to

cover about $65, according to an analysis by the Urban Institute. It’s also more expensive parents are paying retail prices plus sales tax (23 states charge sales tax on diapers). By contrast, products at diaper banks are donated or sold to the banks from the manufacturer at deeply discounted rates.

To find participants, Diaper Dollars partners with organizations such as WIC clinics and local hospitals to refer people to the program, which is funded from a mix of philanthropy and ﬁnancial support from those same partners. Partners establish the eligibility criteria, how long participants can be a part of the program, and whether the stipend will be higher for those with multiple babies.

A pilot program launched in 2023 with 100 people, then in 2024 the Illinois Department of Human Services dedicated $1 million to run its own pilot at a larger scale. Nearly 8,000 people have been served so far, with 10,000 projected by 2026. Illinois Lt Gov Juliana Stratton told The 19th that she had been looking for solutions that could support people in the postpartum period, when maternal mortality is high, particularly for Black women Diaper need, speciﬁcally, is linked to maternal mental health and considered a potential risk factor for moderate to high maternal depressive symptoms. According to the Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention, in 2023, the maternal mortality rate for Black women was 50.3 deaths per 100,000 live births. For White women it was 14.5 deaths. So when Illinois launched a birth equity initiative to address the needs of postpartum parents, from a home visiting program to better diaper access, it chose to partner with Diaper Dollars.

“Giving someone a card where they can go to the store of their choice, decide what’s best, that is what’s part of dignity,” Stratton said. “Every woman deserves to bring life into this world safely and with dignity.”

Brendan Kitt, Diaper Dollars’ program director, said the program was able to offer an operational solution to a problem the state wanted to address but didn’t have a mechanism for The system works similarly to a universal basic income, where people in need are given a cash stipend, but it’s more targeted.

“Both for funders and supporters, it’s always a question when you talk to people about where the money goes,” he said “The fact that we can limit the transactions to the speciﬁc needs that we’re trying to serve, I think, is one of the biggest things that legitimized our operation over just giving basic cash assistance.”

Parents who beneﬁted from Diaper Dollars told the organization

in testimonials that they’ve had to turn to using underwear or old T-shirts when they didn’t have the money for diapers, often making decisions between paying for rent or diapers.

After going through the program, parents reported that the funds gave them the wiggle room to buy their children other essentials or to make them better meals. About 90 percent of those who went through the program reported being able to better afford essentials like food, rent and other bills. Some 95 percent felt less stressed about not having enough diapers.

Joanne Samuel Goldblum, the CEO of the National Diaper Bank Network, which has more than 240 partners nationwide, said a model like Diaper Dollars can address unmet needs, particularly in rural areas where it’s harder for diaper banks to distribute products.

“The need is really so big, and it’s not going to be addressed through just one sort of answer or one type of program,” Samuel Goldblum said. “It’s really important to have ways to reach people in all sorts of different communities.”

The Diaper Dollars program has raised about $2 million so far — 45 percent from the state of Illinois, 35 percent from philanthropic donors and 20 percent from grants from community partners. It is now also running in Ohio and expected to expand to Washington soon.

Kadens’ dream is to take the program to every state. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned and some red states instituted abortion bans, conservative lawmakers have been looking for ways to support postpartum parents.

In Tennessee, for example, where abortion was banned in 2022, the state rolled out a new policy in 2024 that allowed families enrolled in Tennessee’s Medicaid program to receive up to 100 free diapers a month for the ﬁrst two years of life. Samuel Goldblum said the National Diaper Bank Network has seen more bipartisan support for addressing diaper needs this year “than we’ve ever seen before.” It should be that simple, Kadens said: “It doesn’t matter if you’re blue or red. Babies need diapers.”

PROVIDED PHOTO By ULAA KUZIEZ

Artist Harout Bastajian poses with a variety of his work on display at the Arab American National Museum on Sept 25 in Dearborn, Mich.

A group of women view art by Harout Bastajian during the opening of ‘The Art of Spiritual Enlightenment’ exhibition.

SUNDAY, November 2, 2025

CURTIS /byRay Billingsley

SLYLOCKFOX / by BobWeber Jr

GET FUZZY / by DarbyConley

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE/ by Chris Browne

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM /byMikePeters

ZIGGY / by TomWilson

ZITS / by JerryScott and JimBorgman

SALLYFORTH / by FrancescoMarciuliano &Jim Keefe

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE /byStephan Pastis

directions: Make a2-to7-letter word from the letters in each row. Add pointsof each word, using scoring directions at right.Finally, 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. “Blanks” usedas any letterhave no point value All thewords are in theOfficial SCRABBLE® Players Dictionary,5th Edition.

Axy DL BAA xR iS LO NgFELLOW One letterstands foranother.inthis sample, Aisusedfor the three L’s, xfor the twoO’s,etc.Single letters, apostrophes, the lengthand formation of the words are allhints. Eachday the code letters are different.

word game

instructions: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by theaddition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are notallowed. 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 notallowed.

todAY's Word —VAnisHed: VAN-ish'd: Disappeared.

Average mark 38 words

Time limit 60 minutes

Canyou find 58 or more words in VANISHED?

ken ken

instructions: 1 -Each rowand each column must contain thenumbers 1through4 (easy) or 1through6 (challenging) without repeating 2 -The numbers within the heavily outlined boxes, called cages, must combine using thegiven operation (inany order)toproduce the target numbersinthe top-left corners. 3 -Freebies: Fillinthe single-boxcages withthe numberinthe top-left corner

instructions: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 gridwith several given numbers. The object is to placethe numbers 1to 9in theempty squares so that each row,each column and each 3x3 boxcontains the same number only once. The difficultylevel of the Conceptis Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday

directions: Complete thegridso that numbers 1–132 connect horizontally, vertically or diagonally

Sudoku

goren Bridge

Overlooked

Bidding the “other” major after Stayman to show a fit and slam interest is a common tool for today’s experts. North-South looked good in the bidding but South dropped the ball in the play

He won the opening heart lead in dummy and led a spade to his king. When West showed out, he tried to cash two more hearts to discard a club from dummy, planning to give up a club and ruff a club. East ruffed the third heart and led a club to West’s ace for down one.

South had an alternate line of play that is often overlooked — a dummy reversal. After West’s discard on the first trump, the chance of a 6-2 heart split became greater than usual. South should havecashedthekingofdiamonds, led a diamond to the ace, and ruffed a diamond with the queen of spades

monds split 5-2, South would have to decide whether to continue the reversal and hope the opponent with the ace of clubs was out of diamonds, or lead a high club immediately to set up his club trick.

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

super Quiz

Bothopponentsfollowingsuitto three rounds of diamonds would make this line a sure thing. A low spade to dummy would be followed by another diamond ruff, this time with the jack. South could then draw all the trumps and concede a club, knowing that the opponents would not be able to cash a diamond. Had dia-

Tannah Hirsch welcomes readers’ responses sent in care of this newspaper or to Tribune Content Agency inc., 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, Ny 14207. E-mail responses may be sent to gorenbridge@ aol.com. © 2025 Tribune Content Agency

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Check out what’s available in your community, and participate in local events. Protect yourself from injury or illness by prioritizing safety. Be bold; ask, and you shall receive.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Be the one to make a positive shift, and you will flip a switch and turn your expectations into a reality Trust and believe in yourself, and follow your heart.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Your energy is rising, and opportunity is within reach. Make a commitment to yourself and those you encoun-

ter and follow through; the results will make a difference and bring you pride. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Keep moving. Refuse to let others tempt you or push you in a direction that makes you forego what’s meaningful to you. Use your intelligence and move forward alone if necessary. PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Let discipline and unique ideas carry you forward Use your imagination to figure out how to turn your plans into something great, and you’ll meet requirements and surpass your expectations.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) You can waste your time lazing around, overreacting and creating drama, or you can make every moment count. Take the initiative with a positive attitude and a grateful heart.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Take advantage of an opportunity to get closer to the people in your circle. The effort you put in and the emphasis you place will help you recognize who is worthy to sit at your table.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Balancing equality and structuring your life to fulfill your needs and please

others will help you make some decisions. Speak up, take a leadership position and make your voice heard.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) The extra hours you put in helping others will make a difference. Refuse to let negativity set in or indulgent behavior interfere with progress.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Turn anger into passion and pursue goals that make you feel good about yourself and your accomplishments. Change what you don’t like and clean up unfinished business.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Calm down before you address domestic issues

or other personal conflicts. How you approach situations will make a difference. Simplify, minimize and say no to excessive behavior

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Reach out to people who have something to offer you in return. Put more effort into your surroundings to ensure that you spend your downtime in an atmosphere that helps you rejuvenate.

wuzzLes

1. Softball. 2. Golf.3.Basketball. 4. Hockey 5. Soccer.6.Triple jump.7.Badminton. 8. Football. 9. Tennis. 10.100-yard dash. 11. Lacrosse. 12. Volleyball. 13. Cricket.14. Shot put. 15. Squash

SCORING: 24 to 30 points —congratulations, doctor; 18 to 23 points—honorsgraduate; 13 to 17 points —you’replenty smart, but no grind; 5to12points —you really shouldhit the booksharder;1point to 4points —enroll in remedial courses immediately; 0points who reads thequestions to you?

Saturday's Cryptoquote: Remember me, though Ihavetosay goodbye. Remember me, don't letit make youcry.— Hector,"Coco"

jeFF mACnelly’s shoe / by Gary Brookins &Susie MacNelly