The Advocate 11-05-2025 by The Advocate

McNeese president picked to lead LSU

Board also

selects

chancellor for BR campus Rousse promises corporate-oriented leadership

BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT Staff writer

After a monthslong process and two hours of deliberation by the LSU Board of Supervisors, McNeese State University President Wade Rousse is LSU’s 29th president.

A Louisiana native, Rousse pitched himself as a nontraditional candidate who would shake up the university with corporateoriented leadership after past presidents had lengthy academic backgrounds. He said the exact date he will start hasn’t been set

In an unexpected turn of events Tuesday afternoon, the board simultaneously appointed another finalist for the president position

— James Dalton, executive vice president and provost at the University of Alabama — as the executive vice president of LSU The position will include the traditional chancellor role of the flagship campus in Baton Rouge and signals a signiﬁcant change to the current system.

Accepting his position, Rousse said he intended to put a detailed organizational chart out in the next 30 days and called the appointment “the honor of my life.”

“Thank you for thinking creatively,” he told board

ä See LSU, page 10A

Sources: LSU to name Ausberry AD

BY WILSON ALEXANDER Staff writer

LSU is naming Verge Ausberry as its full-time athletic director, multiple sources told The Advocate on Tuesday, a decision that was made less than a week after the ouster of Scott Woodward and gives the athletic department clear leadership in the midst of a football coaching search.

LSU leadership discussed the topic when the LSU Board of Supervisors entered a private executive session Tuesday morning to choose new system president Wade Rousse, sources said, and Rousse made the decision later on his ﬁrst day in ofﬁce.

A formal announcement is expected in the coming days. Ausberry declined to

ä See AUSBERRY, page 10A

Former Vice President Cheney dies at 84

He was a powerful and polarizing figure

BY CALVIN WOODWARD Associated Press

WASHINGTON Dick Cheney, the hardcharging conservative who became one of the most powerful and polarizing vice presidents in U.S history and a leading advocate for the invasion of Iraq, has died at 84.

George W. Bush’s vice president

died Monday from complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, his family said Tuesday in a statement. In Cheney’s hands, the vice presidency became a nexus of inﬂuence and manipulation no longer the timid ofﬁce whose occupants had tended their boss’s ambitions, gone to endless banquets and often waited in the wings for their own shot at the prize. “The Darth Vader of the administration,” as Bush described the public’s view When he bunkered in secure un-

disclosed locations after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, that was less an inconvenience for Cheney than a metaphor for a life of power that he exercised to maximum effect from the shadows. No one seemed more amused at that perception than Cheney himself. “Am I the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole?” he asked. “It’s a nice way to operate, actually.” Cheney served father and son

ä See CHENEY, page 6A

Helix one of 22 U.S charters to get funds

BY CHARLES LUSSIER

Just

The

Helix reopened the city of Baker’s two remaining traditional public schools — Baker High and Park Ridge elementary school — as charters.

“We’ve got this great partnership and collaboration in Baker, and it’s going well. And then we get the support of the United States government,” said Preston Castille, who serves as Helix’s president and CEO.

The grant is also helping to fund the expansion of Helix’s original school, a high school in downtown Baton Rouge. It will add elementary grades to the school, but at another location. Charter schools are public schools run privately via contracts, or charters.

Castille said the grant money will come in especially handy in allowing Helix to pay for several job positions at each of its schools for the next ﬁve years. However while the grant was awarded in late September, the money is not yet in hand, a victim of the ongoing shutdown of the federal government. Castille said he expects to start receiving grant money 30 to 60 days after the

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By CHUCK BURTON Dick Cheney served two terms as George W. Bush’s vice president.

ä See BAKER, page 11A

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS Wade Rousse, front, and James Dalton receive a round of applause and shake hands on their way to the podium after being named LSU president and executive vice president, respectively, during the LSU Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday.

Ausberry

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

2 charged with setting off fireworks at Harvard

BOSTON Two men who were in the Boston area for college Halloween parties last weekend set off ﬁreworks inside of an empty Harvard Medical School building, authorities said Tuesday in announcing their arrests Logan David Patterson, 18, and Dominick Frank Cardoza 20, were taken into custody Tuesday on federal charges of conspiracy to damage by means of ﬁre or an explosive.

Hours later, they were escorted into U.S. District Court in Boston in handcuffs as relatives of at least one of them looked on. Judge Jessica Hedges asked if they understand the process, and both said they did. She then ordered them released pending trial and forbid them from possessing explosives or visiting Harvard while free.

According to the charging document, witnesses said the defendants were visiting the Wentworth Institute of Technology for Halloween activities, including parties at area schools. On the morning of the blast, surveillance footage captured the two walking toward Harvard’s medical school wearing face coverings. Witnesses said the pair chose the building because it looked abandoned and got into it via the roof by climbing up scaffolding, the charging document states.

4th person in 3 weeks dies at Disney World

A woman died at Walt Disney World on Sunday, marking the fourth death at the Orlando park over just three weeks.

“On Nov 2, a woman in her 40s was transported to Hospital, where she passed away,” the Orange County Sheriff’s Ofﬁce conﬁrmed to the Daily News. “There were no signs of foul play. It’s unclear where the woman was on the property when authorities were called as well as whether she was guest or employee.

The spate of Disney deaths began on the West Coast in early October when a female guest in her 60s became unresponsive while riding the Haunted Mansion at Anaheim’s Disneyland. She was later pronounced dead at a hospital near the Southern California park.

In mid-October, 31-year-old Summer Equitz died by apparent suicide in Orlando at Disney’s Magic Kingdom-area hotel, the Contemporary Resort Days later, OCSO conﬁrmed to the News that a male in his 60s then “experienced a medical episode” on Oct. 22 reportedly while a guest at the Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground’s Cottontail Curl loop, also near the Magic Kingdom.

Two days later, 28-year-old Matthew Cohn also died at the Contemporary Resort, where OCSO believed he was staying Passenger, cargo trains collide in central India

NEW DELHI A passenger train crashed into a cargo train in central India Tuesday killing at least eight people and injuring about 20 others, a senior government ofﬁcial said.

The incident happened near the city of Bilaspur about 70 miles northeast of Chhattisgarh’s state capital of Raipur Local television channels showed images of one train colliding with another Rescuers were searching through the debris for survivors.

The local passenger train hit the cargo train from behind, and one of the coaches ended up on top of a wagon of the cargo train, senior government ofﬁcial Sanjay Agarwal told The Associated Press.

More casualties were feared because “two or three” additional passengers were trapped inside the mangled coach and feared dead, said Agarwal, who is the government administrator for Bilaspur After hours of struggle, the rescue team pulled down the passenger train’s damaged coach and were using a crane and iron cutters to try to cut it open, he said.

Among those declared dead was the locomotive driver of the passenger train while its copilot, a woman, was critically injured and admitted to a private hospital, Agarwal said.

MIDDLE EAST

Remains of hostage turned over

BY JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press

JERUSALEM The remains of a hostage in Gaza have been turned over and are now in Israel, the military said Tuesday, in the latest sign of progress under the U.S.-brokered ceaseﬁre.

Ahead of the announcement, Hamas had returned the remains of 20 hostages to Israel under the ceaseﬁre that began Oct. 10. If the latest remains are conﬁrmed during forensic testing, that would leave the remains of seven others in Gaza.

The ceaseﬁre is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and the Palestinian militant group

The military wing of Hamas said earlier Tuesday it had recovered the body of an Israeli soldier in Gaza and intended to hand over the remains. Israel’s statement did not indicate whether the remains were of a soldier Militants in Gaza have released one to three bodies every few days. Israel has pushed to speed up the returns and in certain cases has said the remains were not those of hostages. Hamas has said the work is complicated by widespread devastation. For each Israeli hostage returned, Israel has been releasing the remains of 15 Palestinians. So far the bodies of 270 Palestinians have been handed over under the current ceaseﬁre. Fewer than half have been identiﬁed. Forensic

work is complicated by a lack of DNA testing kits in Gaza.

The war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.

Israel responded with a sweeping military offensive that has killed more than 68,800 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by independent experts.

The United States has produced a draft text for the U.N. Security Council that would provide a man-

UPS cargo plane explodes on takeoff; 7 dead, 11 hurt

BY BRUCE SCHREINER, HALLIE GOLDEN and DYLAN LOVAN Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A UPS cargo plane crashed and exploded in a massive ﬁreball Tuesday while taking off from the company’s global aviation hub in Louisville, Kentucky, killing at least seven people and injuring 11, authorities said.

The plane crashed about 5:15 p.m. as it was departing for Honolulu from UPS Worldport at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport.

Video showed flames on the plane’s left wing and a trail of smoke. The plane then lifted slightly off the ground before crashing and exploding in a huge ﬁreball.

Video also revealed portions of a building’s shredded roof next to the end of the runway Among the 11 who were hurt, some had “very significant” injuries, Kentucky Gov Andy Beshear said.

Beshear said he didn’t know the status of the three crew members aboard the plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 made in 1991.

UPS’ largest package handling facility is in Louisville. The hub employs thousands of workers, has 300 daily ﬂights and sorts more than 400,000 packages an hour.

“We all know somebody who works at UPS,” Louisville Metro Council member Betsy Ruhe said “And they’re all texting their friends, their family trying to make sure everyone is safe. Sadly, some of those texts are probably going to go unanswered. My heart goes out to those families and those friends.”

UPS acknowledged the crash in a brief statement and said the National Trans-

portation Safety Board would handle the investigation.

The airport, meanwhile, was shut down and wasn’t expected to resume operations until Wednesday morning.

“We don’t know how long it’s going to take to render that scene safe,” said Louisville Police Chief Paul Humphrey

The governor said a business, Kentucky Petroleum Recycling, appeared to be “hit pretty directly,” and a nearby auto parts operation was also affected.

A video taken by Leirim Rodríguez shows several massive balls of ﬂames exploding into the sky in a row, followed by large billowing clouds of black smoke Rodriguez told the AP she and her husband just happened to be in the area at the time of the explosion.

Tom Brooks Jr., who runs a metal recycling business down the street, said the unbelievable magnitude of the crash “just rocked the whole place.”

“This was massive. I mean, it literally looked like a war zone,” he said.

Pablo Rojas, an aviation attorney, said that based on the videos it looked like the aircraft was struggling to gain altitude as a fire blazed on its left side around one of its engines. Given the large amount of fuel it was carrying, once the fire started in that area, it would’ve been only a matter of time before there was an explosion or the fire grew rapidly

“Really the plane itself is almost acting like a bomb because of the amount of fuel,” he said.

The Louisville airport is only a 10-minute drive from the city’s downtown, which sits on the Ohio River bordering the Indiana state line. There are residential areas, a water park and museums in the area.

Administration announces 16th deadly strike on alleged drug boat

BY KONSTANTIN TOROPIN Associated Press

WASHINGTON Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced yet another deadly strike on a boat accused of ferrying drugs in the eastern Paciﬁc Ocean, coming the same day an aircraft carrier began heading to the region in a new expansion of military ﬁrepower

The attack Tuesday killed two people aboard the vessel, Hegseth said, bringing the death toll from the Trump administration’s campaign in South American waters up to at least 66 people in at least 16 strikes. President Donald Trump has justiﬁed the strikes by saying the United States

is in “armed conﬂict” with drug cartels and claiming the boats are operated by foreign terror organizations.

“We will find and terminate EVERY vessel with the intention of trafﬁcking drugs to America to poison our citizens,” Hegseth posted while on a trip to Asia

During a interview that aired Sunday on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Trump was asked if the U.S. was going to war with Venezuela. He responded: “I doubt it. I don’t think so. But they’ve been treating us very badly, not only on drugs.”

In the latest strike, a video Hegseth posted to social media has a gray box obscuring a boat that appears in the water before it’s blown up. The footage then cuts to the vessel engulfed by ﬂames.

date for an international stabilization force in Gaza for at least two years. The draft, confirmed to The Associated Press by two U.S. officials, is an early template for what would likely be extensive negotiations among council members and international partners The officials spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.

Arab and other countries that have expressed interest in participating in the stabilization force have indicated that U.N. backing of the plan is necessary to persuade them to contribute troops. One ofﬁcial said the document had not been formally circulated to other U.N. Security Council members and had been prepared as a starting point to ﬁnd consensus.

2nd

escaped monkey fatally shot; 1 still loose

By The Associated Press

HEIDELBERG, Miss. — A second monkey has been shot and killed and authorities said Tuesday that they were still searching for a third missing monkey a week after their escape from a truck that overturned on a Mississippi highway Someone shot the monkey after seeing it cross the highway on Monday evening about a mile from the scene of the Oct. 28 crash, Jasper County Sheriff Sheriff Randy Johnson said. Johnson said he was contacted by a person with the transport company who recovered the monkey after a civilian shot it. The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks confirmed Tuesday in a news release that one monkey was still unaccounted for after two of the escaped monkeys were “recovered deceased.” Ofﬁcials have warned that people should not approach the Rhesus monkeys, saying they are known to be aggressive.

Over the weekend, a woman who said she feared for the safety of her children shot and killed another escaped monkey after her 16-year-old son saw a monkey outside their

home near Heidelberg. A truck carrying 21 monkeys overturned on Interstate 59 north of Heidelberg last week and several monkeys escaped Video from the scene showed monkeys and wooden crates in tall grass beside the interstate. Searchers in protective equipment were seen scouring nearby ﬁelds and woods for missing primates. Five monkeys were killed during the search and three were missing initially ofﬁcials said. The monkeys had been housed at the Tulane University National Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana, which routinely provides primates to scientific research organizations, according to the university Tulane has said it wasn’t transporting the monkeys and they do not belong to the university The remaining 13 monkeys arrived at their original destination last week, according to Tulane. Prefabs said in a statement Monday that a vehicle transporting non-human primateswasinvolvedinthe crash and the animals were being lawfully transported to a licensed research facility It stressed that the monkeys weren’t carrying any known diseases.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JON CHERRy

A fireball erupts near airport property after reports of a plane crash Tuesday at Louisville International Airport in Louisville, Ky.

Democratscruiseas economic woes take toll on GOP

BY STEVE PEOPLES and WILL WEISSERT Associated Press

WASHINGTON Democrats are cruising in the first major Election Day since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. And while adebate about the future of the Democratic Party mayhave only just begun, there are signs that the economy —speciﬁcally Trump’sinability to deliver the economic turnaround he promised last fall —may be areal problem for Trump’s GOP heading into next year’shigher-stakes midterm elections.

Democrats on Tuesday won governor’sraces in Virginia and New Jersey, the only states electing new chief executives this year Trumpwas largelyabsent from the campaign trail, but the GOP candidates closely aligned themselves with the president,betting that his big win last year could provide apath to victory this time, even if the party occupying the White House typically suffers in off-year elections. They were wrong.

Democrats are hopeful that strong showings could provide the party apathway back to national relevance —even if its top candidates have taken very different approaches, from adhering to amoderate line to wholeheartedly embracing government spending to improve voters’ lives In New York City, aselfdescribed democratic socialist who already has been atarget of Trump’scriticism could emerge as anational star with hismayoralelection.

NewstarinNew York City

Moderates woninVirginia andNew Jersey.But it was aself-described democratic socialist who cruised to victory in New York City.

Zohran Mamdani,a 34-year-old state legislator who backs radical changes

to address economicinequality,will serve as the next mayorofthe nation’s largest city

His bold agenda and inspirational approach helped generatethe largest turnout in aNew York City mayoral race in atleastthree decades. It also spooked some business leaders and voices in the Jewish community, whootherwise support Democrats but oppose some of Mamdani’s past statementsabout personal wealth accumulation andIsrael.

Mamdani defeated former Gov.AndrewCuomo, who was running as an independent and actually earned Trump’sendorsement on the eveofthe election.

Even before hisvictory was ﬁnal, Republicancampaign committeeslaunched attack ads against morethan adozen vulnerableHouse Democrats in New York and New Jersey linking them to Mamdani and hisfar-left politics.

The ad campaign is expected to extend to Democratsacrossthe country ahead of next year’smidterms.

NewDemocraticplaybook

Former Rep. Abigail Spanberger willbecome Virginia’snext governor —and its ﬁrst female chief executive —while Rep. Mikie Sherrill won theNew Jersey governor’sofﬁce by running campaignsfocused largely on the economy,publicsafety andhealth care.

Bothactively distanced themselves from some of theDemocratic Party’sfarleft policies and emphasized what Spanberger described in hervictoryspeechas “pragmatism over partisanship.”

Agrowingcollection of Democratic leaders believe the moderate approach

holds thekey to theparty’s revival after the GOP won the White House andboth congressionalchambers last year Above all, theDemocrats in both states focusedon rising costssuch as groceries, energy and health care, which Trump has struggled to control.

In addition to tacking to themiddle on economic issues, Spanberger and Sherrill downplayed theirsupport forprogressive priorities, including LGBTQ rights and resistance against Trump’sattack on Americaninstitutions. Spanberger rarely even mentioned Trump’sname on the campaign trail.

Both alsohave résumés that might appeal to the middle.

Spanbergerisa former CIA case ofﬁcer whospent years abroad working undercover,while Sherrill spent adecade as an activeduty helicopter pilot for the Navy before entering Congress. Both played up their public safety backgrounds as adirectresponsetothe GOP’sattack that Democrats are soft on crime. It’s (still)the economy Trumpand his Republican allies have been especially focused on immigration, crime and conservative cultural issues.

Butvoters who decided Tuesday’stop elections were moreconcerned about pock-

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etbook issues: the economy jobs and costs of living that have remained stubbornly high. That’s according to the AP Voter Poll, an expansive survey of more than 17,000 voters in New Jersey,Virginia,California andNew York City suggesting that many voters felt they can’t get ahead financially in today’seconomy,even if their own personalfinances were stable. Ironically, thesameeconomic anxieties helped propel Trump to theWhite House just oneyear ago. Now,the economic concernsappeartobeundermining his party’spolitical goals in 2025 —and could be moreproblematic for the GOP in next year’smidterm elections, whichwilldecide the balanceofpower for Trump’sfinaltwo years in office.

About half of Virginia voters said the economy

was the most important issue facing their state while mostNew Jersey voters said either taxes or the economy were the top issue in their state. Just over half of New York City voters said cost of living was their top concern. It was unclear whether kitchentable concerns weighingsoheavily on voters might help break the impasse that has prompted the government shutdown, whichhas spanned more than amonth.

AreferendumonTrump?

Thepresident didnot setfoot in Virginia or New Jersey to campaign with Republican gubernatorial candidates WinsomeEarleSears or Jack Ciattarelli, but it’shard not to view both contests as areferendum on Trump’sjob performance— and the direction of the country under his leadership.

About 6in10voters in Vir-

ginia and New Jersey said they are“angry” or “dissatisﬁed” with the way things are going in the country today,according to the AP VoterPoll. Just one-third saidtheyare “enthusiastic or “satisﬁed.”

About half of California voters described themselves as “angry” about the direction of thecountry, with another2 in 10 saying they were “dissatisﬁed.” Fearing abad night, Trump tried to distance himself from the election results.

Despite Trump’sdistance, hispolicies —including his “big, beautiful”budget bill andhis massive cuts to the federal workforce —played acentral role in Virginia, New Jersey and even New York City’smayoral contests. And the Republicans in each refused to distance themselves from the president or his agenda.

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Talkstoend shutdown intensify

BY LISA MASCARO and MARYCLARE JALONICK Associated Press

WASHINGTON Signs of a potential end to the government shutdown intensified Tuesday with behind-thescenes talks, as the federal closure wasontrack to become the longest ever disrupting the lives of millions of Americans. Senators fromboth parties, Republicans and Democrats, are quietlynegotiating the contours of an emerging deal. With anod from their leadership, the senators seek away to reopen the government, put thenormalfederal funding processbackontrack and devise some sort of resolution to the crisis of expiring health insurance subsidies thatare spikingpremium costs from coast to coast.

“Enough is enough,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., as he opened the deadlocked chamber On Day35ofthe federal government shutdown, the record for the longestwas broken overnight. With SNAP benefits interrupted for millions of Americans depending on federal food aid, hundreds of thousands of federal employees furloughed or working without pay and contracts being delayed, many on and off Capitol Hill say it’stime for it to end.

“We’re not asking for anything radical,” SenateMinority Leader Chuck Schumer,D-N.Y., said. “Lowering people’shealth care costs is thedeﬁnitionofcommon sense.” Unlike the earlier shutdown during President Donald Trump’sﬁrst term, when he fought Congress in 201819 for funds to build the U.S.-Mexico border wall, the president has been largely absent from this shutdown debate.

With House Speaker Mike Johnson having sent law-

makers home in September, most attention is on theSenate.There,the leadership has outsourced negotiations to a loose groupofcentrist dealmakers from both parties who have beenquietly charting away to end thestandoff.

“Wepray that today is thatday,” said Johnson, RBenton,holding hisdaily process on the empty side of theCapitol.

Central to any endgame will be aseries of agreements that wouldneed to be upheld notonly by the Senate, but also the House, andthe White House, which is not atall certain in Washington where Republicans have fullcontrol of thegovernment.

Firstofall, senators from bothparties, particularlythe powerful membersofthe Appropriations Committee, are pushingtoensure the normalgovernment funding process can be put back on track

Among the goalsisguaranteeing upcoming votes on asmaller package of bills where there is already widespreadbipartisan agreement to fund various aspectsofgovernments, like agricultural programs and military construction projectsatbases.

“I certainly think thatthat

three-bill package is primed to do alot of good thingsfor the American people,” said Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., who has also been in talks.

More difﬁcult, asubstantial number of senatorsalso want someresolution to the standoff over thefunding for the Affordable CareAct subsidies that are set to expire at year’send.

TheWhite House says its position remains unchanged and that Democrats must votetofund thegovernment until talks over health care can begin. White House officials are in close contact with GOPsenators who have been quietly speaking with key Senate Democrats, according to asenior White House ofﬁcial.The ofﬁcial was granted anonymityto discussadministration strategy With insurance premium noticesbeing sent,millions of Americansare experiencing stickershock on skyrocketing prices. The loss of federal subsidies, which come in the form of tax credits, are expected to leave manypeople unable to buy healthinsurance.

Thune has promised Democrats avote on theirpreferred proposal, on adate certain, as part of any deal to reopen government

Transportation secretarywarns of ‘masschaos’ifshutdowncontinues

BY JOSH FUNK AP transportationwriter

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted Tuesday that there could be chaos in the skies next week if the government shutdown drags on and airtrafﬁc controllers missa second paycheck

There have already been numerous delays at airportsacross the country sometimes hours long —because the Federal Aviation Administration slowsdown or stops trafﬁc temporarilyany time it is short on controllers. Last weekend saw someofthe worst staff shortages.

Duffy and the head of the air trafﬁc controllers union have both warned thatthe situation will only getworsethe longer theshutdown continues andthe ﬁnancial pressure continues togrow on people who are forced to work without pay.FAA employees already missed one paycheck on Oct. 28. Their next paydayisscheduledfor next Tuesday

“Many of the controllers said‘Alot of us can navigatemissing one paycheck Not everybody,but alot of us can. None of us can manage missing two paychecks,’”

Duffy said. “So if you bring us to aweek from today,Democrats, you will see mass chaos. Youwill see massflight delays. You’ll see mass cancellations, andyou may see us close certain partsofthe airspace, because we just cannot manage it because we don’thave air trafﬁc controllers.” Most of the ﬂight disruptions so farduring the shutdown have been isolated and temporary.But if delaysbecome more widespread andstart to ripple throughout the system, the pressure will mount on Congress to reach an agreement to end the shutdown.

It’sdifficult to predict how muchworse the situation will get once controllers miss asecond paycheck. Theimpact of the staff shortages could also be magnified if controllers coordinated alarge effort to call out sick across acertain region of thecountry.Both theNational AirTraffic Controllers Associationand Duffy have urgedcontrollers nottoconsiderthatand continue reporting to work.

The U.S. Travel Association said in aletter to congressional leaders this weekthat the economy has already lost more than $4 billion because of the shutdown.

BY OLIVIA M. BRIDGES CQ-Roll Call (TNS)

WASHINGTON President

DonaldTrump on Tuesday said the administrationwon’t pay food stamp beneﬁts until after the partial government shutdown ends, in potential deﬁance of afederal court order and in conflictwith whathis administration told ajudge Monday,but he was contradicted several hours later by his spokesperson.

Trump’spost on the social media site Truth Social came even as the AgricultureDepartment was giving state agencies directions on how to distribute partial Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for November.A USDA memo said the agencies must notify households about areduction in the monthly beneﬁt.

WhiteHouse press secretary Karoline Leavitt said later the administration has released funds in compliance with afederal court order.She warned recipients that it would “take some

time to receivethismoney.”

Trump’spost also came the same dayafederal courtin Rhode Island was asked to order theUSDA to fully pay November food stamp benefits.The USDA said Monday it would deplete a contingency fundthatcould cover roughly half —about $4.65 billion —ofthe monthly beneﬁt using aSNAP contingency fund.

“SNAPBENEFITS, which increased by Billions and Billions of Dollars (MANY FOLD!) during Crooked Joe Biden’sdisastroustermin ofﬁce (Due to thefactthat they were haphazardly “handed”toanyone for the asking, as opposed to just thoseinneed, whichisthe purpose of SNAP!),will be given only when the Radical Left Democratsopen up government,which they can easily do, and not before!” Trumpsaid in his post Leavitt, asked about the post, said he was referring to usingthe contingency fund in thefuture.

Chief Judge John J. Mc-

Connell Jr.ofthe U.S. District Courtfor the District of Rhode Island ordered the USDA on Saturday to use acontingency fund to pay benefits. He said reduced benefitshad to go out by the end of the day Wednesday But the Rhode Island StateCouncil of Churches and other groups bringing thecase asked thecourt in a new filing Tuesday to order full SNAP payments in November Trump’scomment initially appeared to return the administration to its position last week, when it said it wouldn’tpay benefitsduring theshutdown.

The USDA had also said it couldn’tuse acontingency fund for SNAPduring a shutdown butsaid Monday it wouldcomplywiththe court order from Saturday.But theUSDA alsosaidMonday thebureaucratic work of reducing benefits could takeweeks in some states, making it unable to make thepayments by thejudge’s deadline.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE

Speaker of the House MikeJohnson, R-Benton, joined by SecretaryofLabor LoriChavez-DeRemer,left, pauses while meeting withreportersTuesdayatthe CapitolinWashington.

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presidents, leading the armed forces as defense chief during the Persian Gulf Warunder President George H.W.Bush before returning to public life under his son.

Cheney had ahand, often acommandingone, in implementing decisions most important to the president and some of surpassing interest to himself —all while living with decades of heart disease and, post-administration, aheart transplant Cheney consistently defended the extraordinary tools of surveillance,detention andinquisition employedin response to the Sept. 11 attacks.

“History will remember him as among the ﬁnest public servants of hisgeneration —apatriot who brought integrity,highintelligence, and seriousness of purpose to everyposition he held,” Bush said Tuesday Spokeout againTrump

Years after leaving ofﬁce, Cheney became atargetof President Donald Trump, especially after his daughter Liz Cheney became the leading Republicancritic andexaminerofTrump’s desperate attempts to stay in power after his 2020 election defeat and his actions in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.

“In our nation’s246-year history,there has never beenanindividual who was agreater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” Cheney said in atelevision ad for his daughter.“He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He is acoward.”

In atwist the Democrats of his era could never have imagined, Cheneysaid last year he was voting for their candidate, Kamala Harris, for president against Trump. Trump said nothing about Cheney publiclyinthe hours afterhis death was disclosed. The White House lowered flags to half-staff in remembrance of him but without the usual announcement or proclamation praising the deceased.

Forall hisconservatism, Cheney was supportive of his daughter MaryCheney after shecame outas gay years before gay marriage was broadly supported, then legalized. “Freedommeans freedom for everyone,”he

said.

Asurvivorofﬁve heart attacks, Cheney longthought he was living on borrowed timeand declared in 2013 that he awoke eachmorning “witha smile onmyface, thankful for the gift of another day,” an odd imagefor aﬁgure who always seemed to be manning theramparts.

Cheneymade his vice presidency anetwork of back channels from which to inﬂuencepolicy on Iraq,terrorism, presidential powers, energyand otherconservativecornerstones.

TheIraqWar

Ahard-liner on Iraq who was increasingly isolated as other hawksleft government, Cheney wasproved wrongonpoint afterpoint in the Iraq War, without losing theconviction he was essentially right. He alleged linksbetween the9/11attacks and prewar Iraq thatdidn’texist. He said U.S. troops wouldbe welcomed as liberators; they weren’t

He declaredthe Iraqi insurgency in its last throes in May 2005, back when 1,661 U.S. service members had beenkilled,not even half the toll by war’s end.

TheU.S. intervention unseated the longtime autocratic leader, Saddam Hussein,but opened up a security vacuum thatled to years of brutal civil war, the rise of extremist groups including theIslamicState and the expansionofIranian inﬂuence. Well into Bush’s second term,Cheney’sclout waned, checked by courts or shifting political realities.

Relationship with Bush

From thebeginning, Cheneyand Bush struck an oddbargain, unspoken but well understood.Shelving any ambitions he might have hadtosucceed Bush, Cheneywas accorded power comparable in some waysto thepresidency itself.

Thatbargainlargelyheld up. As Cheney put it: “I made the decision when Isigned on with the president that the only agenda Iwould have would be hisagenda, that Iwas not going to be likemostvicepresidents— and that was angling, trying to ﬁgure out how Iwas going to be elected president when his termwas over with.”

His penchant for secrecy and backstage maneuvering had aprice. He came to be seen as athin-skinnedfigure orchestrating abungled response to criticismofthe Iraq War. And when he shot ahunting companion in the torso, neck and face withan errant shotgun blast in 2006, he and his coterie were slow to disclose that episode. It was “one of the worst days of my life,” Cheney said. Thevictim, hisfriend Harry Whittington, recoveredand quicklyforgave him. Comedians were relentless about it for months. When Bush beganhis presidential quest, he sought help from Cheney,aWashingtoninsiderwho hadretreated to the oil business. Cheneyled theteam to ﬁnd a vice presidential candidate. Bush decided the best choicewas theman picked to help withthe choosing. Together,the pair faced

aprotracted 2000 postelection battle before they could claim victory.Recounts and court challenges left thenation in limbofor weeks. Cheney took charge of the presidentialtransition beforevictorywas clear and helped give theRepublican administrationa smooth launch despite thelost time. Jokes abounded about how Cheney was the real No. 1intown; Bush didn’t seem tomind and cracked a few himself. But suchcomments becameless apt later in Bush’s presidency as he

clearly came into his own.

On Sept. 11, 2001, with Bush out of town, the president gave Cheney approval to authorize the military to shoot downany hijacked planesstill in thesky.By then, two airliners had hit the World TradeCenterand athird was bearing down on the capital from nearby Dulles airport in Virginia.

ASecret Service agent burst into the West Wing room, grabbedCheneyby the belt and shoulder and led himtoa bunkerunderneath the White House. “He didn’t say, ‘Shall we go?’”Cheney told NBC News years later “He wasn’tpolite about it.”

AfterBush’sreturn to the White House that night Cheney was taken to asecret location to keep the president andvicepresident separatedand trytoensure that at leastone of them would survive anyfurther attack.

Cheneysaidhis ﬁrst reactiontohearing of the crash of the fourth hijacked plane, in Pennsylvania, wasthat the U.S.might have shot it down per his order.Itcame down after passengers fought the hijackers.

Theyoungestchief of staff

Politicsﬁrst luredCheney to Washington in 1968, when he wasa congressional fellow.Hebecameaprotégé of Rep. Donald Rumsfeld, R-Ill.,serving under himin two agencies andinGerald Ford’sWhite House before

he was elevated to chief of staff, the youngest ever,at age 34. Cheney held the post for 14 months, then returnedto Casper, Wyoming, where he had been raised, and ran for thestate’slonecongressional seat. In that first race forthe House, Cheney suffered a mild heart attack, prompting him to crack he was forming agroup called “Cardiacs for Cheney.” He still managed a decisive victoryand went on to winﬁve moreterms.

In 1989, Cheney became defense secretary under the ﬁrst President Bush and ledthe Pentagon during the 1990-91Persian Gulf War, which drove Iraq’stroops from Kuwait.Between the twoBush administrations, Cheney led Dallas-based HalliburtonCorp.,alarge engineering and constructioncompanyfor the oilindustry Cheney was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, son of a longtime Agriculture Department worker.Senior class president and football co-captain in Casper,he went to Yale on afull scholarship for ayear but failed out. He moved back to Wyoming, eventually enrolled at the University of Wyoming and renewed arelationship with high school sweetheart Lynne Anne Vincent, marrying her in 1964. He is survivedbyhis wife and daughters.

TyphoonKalmaegileaves52dead

Widespread flooding traps people on roofs

BY JIM GOMEZ Associated Press

MANILA, Philippines Typhoon

Kalmaegi has left at least 52 people dead with 13 others missing in the central Philippines, mostly in widespread ﬂooding that trapped people on their roofs and swept away scores of cars in ahardhit province still recovering from adeadly earthquake, ofﬁcials said Wednesday

Six people were killedin aseparate incident whena Philippine air force helicopter crashed in the southern province of Agusan del Sur on Tuesday while en route to help provide humanitarian help to provinces battered by Kalmaegi, the military saidwithout providing other details, including what could havecaused thecrash.

PHOTO By JACQUELINEHERNANDEZ

People walk carrying dogs after flooding caused by Typhoon Kalmaegi in Cebu,Philippines, on Tuesday

The Philippine RedCross received many calls from people needing rescue from their roofs, itssecretary-general Gwendolyn Pang said Tuesday,adding theefforts hadtowaituntil ﬂooding subsided to lessen therisks for emergency personnel.

“Wedid everythingwe can for the typhoon but, you know,there are really some unexpected things like ﬂash floods,” CebuGov.Pamela Baricuatro told The Associated Press by telephone.

Torrential rains sparked by thetyphoon may have been worsened by years of quarrying that caused heavy siltation of nearbyrivers, which overﬂowed, and substandard flood control projects in Cebuprovince, Baricuatro said.

ects across the Philippines has sparked public outrage and street protests in recent months.

“There hastobeaninvestigation of the ﬂood control projects here in Cebu and people should be held accountable,” Baricuatro said.

Cebu, abustling province of morethan 2.4 million people, declared astate of calamitytoallowauthoritiesto disburse emergencyfunds morerapidly to deal with the latest natural disaster

Cebu wasstill recovering from a6.9 magnitude earthquake on Sept.30thatleft at least 79 people dead and displaced thousands when housescollapsedorwere severely damaged.

flimsy tents before the typhoon struck,Baricuatro said, adding that northern towns devastated by the earthquake weremostly not hit by floods generated by Kalmaegi.

Kalmaegi was last spotted over the coastal waters of Linapacan in thewestern island provinceofPalawan with sustained winds of 75 mph and gusts of up to 93 mph. It was forecast to blow away into the SouthChina Sealater Wednesday.

Tuesday,setting off flash floods and causing ariver and other waterways to swell.

Acorruption scandal involving substandard or nonexistent ﬂood control proj-

Thousands of northern Cebu residents who were displaced by the earthquake were moved to sturdier evacuation shelters from

Other typhoon deaths were recorded in Southern Leyte province, where an elderly villagerdrowned in floodwatersafter the typhoon made landfall in one of its eastern towns facing the Pacific. Anotherresident died after being hit by afallen tree in central Bohol province, officials said. Before Kalmaegi’slandfall, officials said more than 387,000 people had evacuated to safer ground in eastern and central Philippine provinces.Authoritieshad warned of torrential rains, potentially destructive winds and storm surges of up to nearly 10 feet.

BernardoRafaelitoAlejandro IV,deputyadministrator of theOfﬁce of Civil Defense, and provincial ofﬁcials said most of thedeaths were reported in thecentral provinceofCebu, which was pummeled by Kalmaegi on

The resulting flooding engulfed residential communities,forcing startled residents to climbuptotheir roofs, where theydesperately pleaded to be rescued as the ﬂoodwaters rose, ofﬁcials said.

BY SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press

PARIS French President

Emmanuel Macronsaid

Tuesday that two French nationals were released from an Iranian prison after more than three years in detention on spying charges, which Paris said were unfounded.

Macron expressed“huge relief” at the release of Cécile Kohler,41, and her partner Jacques Paris, 72.

“I welcomethat ﬁrststep,” Macron wrote on X, adding that the dialogue with Iranian authorities is continuing

to allow them to return to France “as soon as possible.”

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot saidon France 2national television that Kohler and Paris were both “safe” at theFrench EmbassyinTehran while awaiting their “definitive release.”

In Tehran, Foreign Ministryspokesman Esmail Baghaeiconfirmed the releaseofthe twoFrenchcitizens. Kohlerand PariswerearrestedinMay 2022 while visitingIran. France haddenounced their detention as

“unjustiﬁed and unfounded.” Iranian media reported last month that acourt had sentenced the pair to decadesinprisononspying charges. Iran’s judiciarynews agency Mizansaida RevolutionaryCourt in Tehran issuedapreliminary verdict againsttwo French citizens for “working for French intelligence” and“cooperating with Israel,” withoutnaming them. The semiofﬁcial Fars agency later said the court imposed cumulative terms totaling 63 yearsacross multiple counts.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

FBIagentswho looked into Trump’s2020actions fired

BY ERIC TUCKER and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press

WASHINGTON— The FBI has continuedits personnel purge, forcing out additional agents and supervisors tied to thefederal investigation into President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The latest firings came despite efforts by Washington’stop federal prosecutor to try to stop at least someofthe terminations, people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The employees were told this week that they were being ﬁred but those plans were paused after D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro raised concerns, according to two

peoplewho spokeonthe condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss personnel matters.

Theagentswere then ﬁred again Tuesday,though it’s not clear what prompted the about-face. The total numberofﬁred agentswas not immediately clear

The terminations are part of a broader personnel upheaval underthe leadership of FBI Director KashPatel,who has pushedout numerous senior ofﬁcials and agents involved in investigations or actions that have angered theTrump administration. Three oustedhighranking FBI ofﬁcials sued Patel in September,accusing him of caving to political pressuretocarry out a “campaignofretribution.”

Spokespeople for Patel and Pirro didn’timmediately respond to messages seeking comment on Tuesday

The FBIAgentsAssociation, which has criticized Patel for the ﬁrings, said the director has “disregarded the law and launched a campaign of erratic and arbitrary retribution.”

“The actions yesterday —in which FBI Special Agents were terminated and then reinstated shortly after,and then only to be ﬁredagain today —highlight the chaosthatoccurswhenlong-standing policies and processes are ignored,” the association said. “An Agent simply being assigned to an investigation and conducting it appropriately within the law should

never be grounds fortermination.”

The2020election investigation that ultimately ledtospecial counsel Jack Smith’sindictment of Trump has comeunder intense scrutiny from GOP lawmakers, whohaveaccused the Biden administration Justice Department of being weaponized against conservatives. Sen. Chuck Grassley, theRepublican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has in recent weeks released documents from the investigation provided by the FBI, including ones showing that investigatorsanalyzed phone records from more than ahalf dozenRepublican lawmakersaspart of their inquiry

The Justice Department has ﬁred prosecutors and other depart-

ment employees who workedon Smith’steam, and the FBI has similarly forced out agents and senior ofﬁcials foravariety of reasons as part of an ongoing purge that has addedtothe tumult and sense of unease inside the bureau.

The FBI in August ousted the head of the bureau’s Washington field office as well as theformer acting director who resisted Trumpadministration demands to turn over the names of agents who participatedinJan.6Capitol riot investigations.And in September, it fired agents who were photographed kneeling during aracial justiceprotestinWashingtonthat followed the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers.

Texastrooperswillhaveimmigration enforcementpowersunder ICEagreement

BY AARÓN TORRES

The Dallas Morning News (TNS)

AUSTIN Texas Department of Public Safety troopers have beendeputizedas federal immigration ofﬁcers under two agreements the agency entered into with Immigration and Customs Enforcement last month.

The agreementsbetween DPS and ICE, known as a 287(g) contract, empowers some troopers with the state’slargest law enforcement agency to arrest individuals they believe arein the country without proper legal status.

The two divisions of DPS that joined the program are the highway patrol and the criminal investigations division.

“It is just one piece in a collaboration with our federal partners that has been ongoing for years to combat illegal immigration and remove criminal illegal immigrants from ourcommunities —that partnership remains in full force,” a DPS spokesperson said in a statement.

President Donald Trump’s administration has pushed for state and local law enforcement agencies across

the country to enter into these agreementstohelp federal immigration agents ﬁnd undocumentedmigrants whocould bedeported.

The contracts with DPS are for thetask force model, meaning eligible troopers could arrest individualsif they encounterthemwhile outonpatrol or on thejob.

In astatement, the Texas Civil Rights Project warned that the task force model is “far more dangerous” for communitiesasitempowers ofﬁcers to act as ICE agents.

“This expanded authority for one of Texas’ primary statewide law enforcement agencies, which includes highway patrol, will inevitably result in more non-safety, racial proﬁling trafﬁc stops by law enforcement, creatingdanger on roadways,divertingattention from real public safety concerns, and exposing more people to unnecessary lawenforcement interaction and potential arrest,” said Danny Woodward, astaff attorney at theTexas Civil Rights Project.

The contract between DPS andICE comes as Gov.Greg Abbott signed into law SenateBill 8, which requireseverysheriff’s ofﬁce inTexas that operates ajail to sign

287(g) agreements.

The 287(g) programhas threemodels —two are enforced onlyatjails. The Trumpadministration revived athird model, known as thetask force model, which authorizes assigned patrol officerstoquestion and arrestindividuals suspected of violatingimmigration laws.ICE is responsible fortraining the ofﬁcers under all of the models. DPS is the third stateagency to sign a287(g)agreement with ICEunder theTrump administration. The Attorney General’sOffice and Texas National Guard signed agreements earlier this year In aJan.20executive order,Trump directedSecretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to find agencies across thecountry to “perform the functions of immigration ofﬁcers in relation to the investigation, apprehension, or detention of

members. “As we started this process, we started thinking about structure. At every event I went to, I talked about structure. In my mind I have a 90-day a 180-day and a 360-day plan.”

Rousse will take control of LSU under intense public scrutiny:

In the past two weeks, football coach Brian Kelly was ﬁred and Athletic Director Scott Woodward left under pressure from Gov Jeff Landry

Additionally, the Trump administration has been attempting to cut federal grant funding to universities nationwide, including LSU. Yet total enrollment in the LSU system is at a record high, adding some ﬁnancial stability

The board voted 12-1 to accept both men, with Laurie Aronson voting no.

The pair replaces former LSU President William F. Tate IV, who left earlier this year for Rutgers University The roles of president and chancellor had been combined but have now been separated by the Board of Supervisors, which unanimously authorized legal counsel Trey Jones to draft amendments to the bylaws to reﬂect the changes

The proposed structure laid out by Rousse and Dalton in their acceptance remarks has Dalton overseeing most of the academic and research components of the university

WADE ROUSSE

PRESIDENT LSU SySTEM

CURRENTLY:

President, McNeese State University

EDUCATION:

B.S in business, Nicholls State; Ph.D in economics, University of Illinois at Chicago

OTHER EXPERIENCE: marine logistics; Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago; founder, investment firm; associate dean, Northern Arizona University; business dean, McNeese

HOMETOWN: Golden Meadow

External affairs, governmental affairs and athletics will report to Rousse, while operations on the ﬂagship campus, the AgCenter, the two health science centers and the Pennington Biomedical Research Center will report to Dalton. Dalton will serve under Rousse. Rousse strongly advocated for bringing back a chancellor position in his interview with the LSU Presidential Search Committee last week. At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, he said he approached Dalton and discussed the idea with him over the past few days. Ballard said it was discussed during the board’s executive session Tuesday — leading to the long session but it was “not the ﬁrst time we knew that they were discussing it.”

Political insiders said Rousse

was Landry’s favored candidate for the job and had an inside track with the board, though the Governor’s Ofﬁce has declined to comment on the search.

Dalton was an unexpected entrant to the search, ofﬁcially being announced the day the committee interviewed candidates to pick three ﬁnalists.

Rousse grew up in Golden Meadow, a small fishing town along Bayou Lafourche. He attended McNeese State for three years before transferring to Nicholls State University, where he earned a business degree. While still in college, he began working at a Louisiana-based marine logistics company, and he climbed the ranks over 11 years to eventually become a partner

He earned several more degrees before joining McNeese State in 2019 as the business college dean and later becoming vice president of university advancement. In that position, he said, he boosted fundraising and corporate sponsorships and helped bring to fruition a new Liqueﬁed Natural Gas Center of Excellence, which trains students in the LNG industry and will host a new federal research center

At one point, the center was in jeopardy so Rousse and his team ﬂew to Washington, D.C., to convince federal ofﬁcials and lawmakers to keep supporting it.

“We refused to come home until we did get it back,” he said during an interview Monday with LSU faculty members. “We were able to secure it and bring it back.”

JAMES DALTON

VP LSU SySTEM/CHANCELLOR LSU

CURRENTLY: Executive VP/ provost, University of Alabama

EDUCATION: B.S in pharmacy, University of Cincinnati; Ph.D in pharmaceutics and pharmaceutical chemistry, postdoc fellowship, Ohio State

OTHER EXPERIENCE: Dean, College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan; chief scientific officer, pharmaceutical firm; fellow,American Association for the Advancement of Science and American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists

At Tuesday’s news conference,

Rousse said Jason French would lead the transition team at LSU effective immediately French formerly served as executive director of the McNeese LNG Center and is a consultant in that industry Rousse said he’s ready for a job as all-encompassing as LSU president.

At McNeese State, he wakes up at 4 a.m. and goes to sleep by midnight, he said in one of his LSU interviews. He and his wife spend most nights in their dorm suite, only sleeping at their home off campus a handful of times over the past two years, he added.

“I love to work,” he said. “I feel like I’m the luckiest man alive.”

Rousse wants more corporate partnerships at LSU to fund research. He also said he would closely review the university system’s budget and create performance metrics for jobs across the system, like what he did at McNeese.

“Everyone on that campus has some sort of metric that says I’m going to have a positive effect on either recruitment, retention or job placement,” he said in an interview Monday

Dalton had pitched a more “student-centric” approach, and he reiterated that as his priority Tuesday in his ﬁnal pitch to the board.

Originally from Ohio, he earned a bachelor’s in pharmacy at the University of Cincinnati and a Ph.D. in pharmaceutics and pharmaceutical chemistry from Ohio State University He went on to serve as dean of the College of Pharmacy at the University of Michigan before moving to the University of Alabama.

Since 2020, he has managed the academic and research goals of 13 colleges and academic divisions at the university In total, the area he oversees has included more than 2,000 faculty and 40,000 students, with an annual academic budget of more than $1.2 billion.

After accepting the vice president role, Dalton said he was “tremendously honored” for the opportunity

“I’m just so excited about it,” he said. “I cannot imagine a more perfect partnership with Dr Rousse.”

Patrick Wall and Tyler Bridges contributed to this report.

comment when approached at an LSU women’s basketball game as he spent part of his ﬁrst night as the fulltime athletic director sitting courtside near the end of the bench.

The promotion could create stability after one of the most tumultuous periods in LSU sports history Within 10 days, LSU ﬁred football coach Brian Kelly and offensive coordinator Joe Sloan, parted with Woodward after he was publicly criticized by Gov Jeff Landry and ﬁlled two of the most important positions at the school.

Ausberry, a New Iberia native, played middle linebacker at LSU. He has worked in multiple capacities within the Athletic Department for 24 years, including the past six as the executive deputy athletic director He was named the interim athletic director Thursday after Woodward and LSU agreed to part ways. Among his various responsibilities, Ausberry handled football scheduling. He also has deep connections within Louisiana politics and the coaching industry In 2021, Ausberry was suspended from LSU for 30 days and ordered to take training on sexual misconduct, domestic violence and more amid the fallout from law ﬁrm Husch Blackwell’s investigation into the LSU Athletic Department’s failure to properly report and respond to allegations of sexual assault involving athletes.

Police reports showed that former LSU wide receiver Drake Davis texted Ausberry in 2018 and ad-

se said in a news conference.

“As I said in our opening remarks, our involvement starts today. I plan on meeting with our acting AD as quickly as I can, possibly as early as tonight, and getting involved as aggressively as I can.”

Ausberry said on WNXX,

104.5-FM that the selection of a new president would help in the search process after the turmoil of the past week created doubt within the college sports industry

“We’ll be working close together,” Ausberry said.

“He’ll be helping us, joining us, consulting with us on this football search. That’s what

we needed. Talking to people out there agents and candidates and other people in the business — they were all asking, ‘Who’s going to be the president? Who do we report to? Who is the AD?’ You had to make them feel comfortable in what we were doing.”

mitted to getting in a ﬁght with his girlfriend, former LSU tennis star Jade Lewis, and hitting her Ausberry never reported the claim to police, to LSU’s Title IX ofﬁce or to other authorities, and Husch Blackwell found his responses to how he handled the incident “not credible.” Ausberry said in an interview with The Advocate in 2020 that he called Davis immediately after receiving the text, and Davis recanted his confession.

In his ﬁrst act as the fulltime athletic director, Ausberry will lead the search for the next LSU football coach He said Tuesday in an interview on WNXX, 104.5FM that he would prefer to hire someone with experience as a head coach

Ausberry added in that interview that LSU is willing to consider a coach who reaches the College Football Playoff, even if that means not making a formal hire until January The early signing period lasts from Dec. 3-5, and the transfer portal

opens from Jan. 2-15.

Ausberry already had been given “full authority” to conduct the search and hire the next coach as the interim athletic director, LSU Board of Supervisors member John Carmouche said Friday He’s leading a committee that includes Carmouche, LSU board Chair Scott Ballard, former LSU offensive lineman and major booster Ben Bordelon, and FMOL Health System CEO and President EJ Kuiper Ballard said Tuesday “there may be another” member added to the search group.

Rousse also plans to have a role after being voted into office Tuesday. Although LSU simultaneously hired James Dalton as the new vice president and chancellor of the Baton Rouge campus, the athletic director will report to Rousse under the reworked leadership structure. Rousse said he would meet with Ausberry as soon as Tuesday night.

“I expect to get very involved very quickly,” Rous-

“I want our fan base to know one thing: LSU is not broken,” Ausberry said Friday “LSU’s Athletic Department is not broken. I think we have the best athletic department in the country.” Staff writers Andrea Gallo and Scott Rabalais contributed to this report.

LSU also now can answer the question of who will be the coach’s direct boss. Once an intern in LSU’s compliance office, Ausberry became an academic adviser for players before working with the Tiger Athletic Foundation. He then moved into the administration. The past six years, he formally helped the president’s ofﬁce with external and governmental affairs. At a news conference Friday, Ausberry set an expectation for the next coach, saying “LSU has to be in the playoffs every year in football.” Now the full-time athletic director, there is little doubt he will be the one responsible for making the hire.

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

Multiple sources say LSU plans to name Verge Ausberry its full-time athletics director Ausberry declined to comment when approached at the LSU women’s basketball season opener Tuesday.

government reopens. Baker shifted to an allcharterschool district only New Orleans had done so previously —after years of academic andenrollment decline, exacerbated by the 2016 ﬂoodsand theCOVID-19 pandemic.

The chain of events that led to that shift startedin the spring when theLouisiana Department of Education announced it would take over the two lowest performing of Baker’sfour schools —Baker Middle, which had an “F” grade for nine consecutive years, and Baker HeightsElementary, which had failing grades for fouryears in arow.Baker schoolleaders responded by closing both schools and moving all the district’sstudents into its two remaining, higher-performing schools, Baker High and Park Ridge.

The Louisiana Board of Elementaryand Secondary Education voted to take over the two schoolsanyway, prompting Baker to sue.

During this time, Castille, who sits on BESE and voted against the takeovers, persuaded Baker school leaders to hire Helixtorun the schools instead. By becoming what is known as Type 3charters, the new Baker High and Park Ridge schools aregetting afresh start when it comes to school accountability in Louisiana.

Aonetime resident of Baker,Castille hasusedthe change in schoolsaspart of alarger ad campaign for the small city north of Baton Rouge, punctuated by the slogan, “Come to Baker.”

‘This was obviously a remarkable place, and as much as we aredoing what we can to restore it back to his former glory,” Castille said.

Helix has brought in new leadership teams forboth Baker High and Park Ridge. Baker High’steam is led up by Alisa Welch, who made her name for the past 15

years as principal of Madison Prep Academy, apopularhighschool inBaton Rouge thatwon aNational Blue Ribbon award in 2016 for its academic growth

Welch said sheisunfazed by the changeinschools.

“Children are children, andIlove children,”Welch said. “So it’sprettymuch the same to me.”

The renamed Park Ridge Achievement Academy, which now covers grades pre-K to 8,isled by Killey Murphy.She previously was principal of Helix Aviation AcademyinBaton Rouge

Akey initial focus of the newadministration at Baker High hasbeen to reduce student ﬁghts and misbehavior, frequentoccurrencesinyears past.Helix leaders say such incidents have declined by 90% compared toayearago —forevery10incidentsinthe past,there is just onenow To help cement anew culture at Baker High, Welch has brought over things she didatMadison Prep, including amandatory morning assembly before the ﬁrst class is held.

“We’re making sure the studentsare comfortable andthey know this is their school,” she said.

Enrollment is up at Baker

High by about 40 students, but down at Park Ridge by about80students, compared to what it was at two elementary anda middleschoola year ago that served those samegrades.

“If we continue to grow we’regoing to havetoadd more classroom space,” Welch said.

The high school is also trying to standupnew programs in line with its new theme.

Adigital media classis part of aperforming arts focus of the high school. Students in the classwere working with Adobe Premiere Pro video editing software; they will take acertiﬁcation exam in thesoftware later this semester

The students on Thursday wereediting video they had taken theprevious weekend during theschool’shomecoming parade as it rolled alongGroom Road. The teacher,ElizabethJones, also was playing bingo with students, aspecial video editing version she had developed.

“If Isay Iwantyou to silence audio?” the teacher asked.

Astudent answered: “Mute.”

“Mute, very good,”Jones responded.

The other theme for the high school is ﬁnancial technology,orﬁntech, amix of traditional high school financecourses, with coding and entrepreneurialclass-

es. In January,itwill start in earnest when the high school starts a“Baker Wall Street” program “You’re taking financial literacy to thenextlevel,” Castille said.

The facility is also getting upgrades.

The historic Baker High campus sat largely empty for years after the 2016 ﬂoods. More than$20 million in renovations werecompleted ayear ago, allowing the school to reopen.

Not everything, though, was upgraded. Since taking over,Helix hasmadeits own improvements, including a new football scoreboard.

The school theater has anew stage floor,curtains and lights. New tile is being installed throughout thebuilding. Theupgraded theater is set to reopen later this month.

The federal grant, known as the Charter Schools Program, has shined on Helix twice before, with $1.5 million in 2023 and$2million morea year later,both

to support Helix Aviation Academy. The money hashelpedfuel significant expansion and change forthe 15-year-old charter school network. As recently as ﬁve years ago, Helix operated onlyone school,Helix Mentorship STEAM Academy,which opened in downtown Baton Rouge in 2010. Now,itoperates six. This fall, it opened three schools, namely the two Baker schoolsand anew school in Opelousas,Helix AI &Medical Academy. The organization’soverall enrollmenthas morethan doubled from about1,000 to almost 2,700 students.

Helix Aviation Academy located on two campuses near the Metro Airport in BatonRouge,iscentered around ﬂight and the aviation industry.Since opening in 2021 with about 60 sixth graders,the aviation school has grown fast, offering classes from kindergarten to 10th gradetoabout 650 students.

Sheriff seeks security upgrade for jail 4 WBR inmates have

BY HALEY MILLER Staff writer

Four inmates have died of drug overdoses this year in the West Baton Rouge Parish Detention Center and parish leaders are searching for solutions.

One idea the sheriff plans to implement is a full-body scanner system, which would cost more than $200,000.

Franciscan health system set to rebrand

Our Lady of the Lake to add FMOL Health to name

BY IANNE SALVOSA Staff writer

Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health system is rebranding to FMOL Health to represent the unity between the system’s facilities across the Gulf South The Baton Rouge-based health system, which serves areas across Louisiana and Mississippi, has invested about $425 million this ﬁscal year in facility remodels, overnight care units and employee pay raises. With the growth Stephanie Roussell, FMOL Health’s senior director of brand and strategy, said the company felt like it was time to refurbish the brand to match its “collective strength.”

Over the next few years, the system’s hospitals and clinics will adopt the FMOL Health name across building signage, patient materials and digital platforms Roussell said the company is still “building the budget” for the rebrand, but it will be conducted inhouse.

“It’s not changing who we are,” she said. “It’s just embracing how we are different in a brighter, a bolder way leaning into who we’ve always been, grounded in that Catholic mission but offering some pretty world-class health care. We want our communities to tangibly see the difference.”

The rebrand has been in the works for the past 18 months. FMOL Health conducted focus groups and interviews of patients, physicians and staff where it found that people across its ﬁve markets were not aware that its local health care providers, like Baton Rouge’s Our Lady of the Lake, were connected to a larger health system. Our Lady of the Lake, in addition to Our Lady of Lourdes in Acadiana, St. Francis Health in northeast Louisiana, Our Lady of Angels on the northshore and St. Dominic in Jackson, Mississippi, will add FMOL Health to the beginning of their title to represent their belonging to the health system.

The original names of FMOL Health’s facilities stemmed from the system’s origins, when the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady sisters traveled to Monroe over a century ago to provide health care, eventually branching out across the state and Mississippi. Roussell said the refreshed brand honors the legacy of the market brands, while also showing the connectivity between the institutions.

The system is also rolling out a new tagline, “This is how we healthcare,” along with bolder brand colors, a revised logo and a more casual voice in communication materials.

“That is to really showcase the energy that’s within the health system, within our team members, within our leadership, out into the communities,” Roussell said Email Ianne Salvosa at ianne. salvosa@theadvocate.com.

died of drug ODs this year

“While I’m always exploring new technology and its benefits to enhance safety and efficiency, the recent inmate deaths have prompted a deeper evaluation of this technology and its ability to strengthen security within our facility,” Sheriff Jeff Bergeron wrote in an email.

Body scanners in jails and prisons often use low-level radiation to detect concealed items such as drugs or weapons. The Sheriff’s Ofﬁce said the new scanner will be used on all inmates. A spokesperson said the department has not yet created a policy on whether visitors, attorneys and guards will also be subjected to the scanner

facilities about which system to purchase, Bergeron said. Contraband drug overdoses caused four deaths at the detention center this year, according to the Sheriff’s Ofﬁce.

uting factor in the coroner’s report.

The department is looking into different manufacturers and speaking with other correctional

The most recent inmate who died, Nicholas Henderson, 26, allegedly supplied a synthetic cannabinoid to 30-year-old Jeremy Paul, who overdosed in August. Paul was pronounced dead due to drug toxicity, with a synthetic cannabinoid identified as a significant contrib-

When Henderson was found unresponsive several weeks later, the Sheriff’s Ofﬁce said it had conducted multiple shakedowns leading to arrests and the conﬁscation of contraband. The coroner’s investigation for Henderson found he had overdosed on fentanyl and a related drug, acetyl fentanyl. A news release in March

Cap City Beer Fest attendees fill Fourth Street on Sunday in Baton Rouge.

ABOVE: Jana Kling gives her dog Frankie a kiss while at the Cap City Beer Fest RIGHT: An attendee of the festival wears a shirt supporting Louisiana beer while holding a beer fest glass.

Police: Woman dies in accidental shooting

BY MATT BRUCE Staff writer

For three years, Samrat Mukherjee was living the dream of being a young doctor He had access to Baton Rouge hospitals, he wore a flight surgeon’s uniform to work, he

ﬁve-year maximum. But in their presentencing report, federal probation and parole investigators recommended a prison stint between six months

CRIME BLOTTER staff reports

A woman has died after she was accidentally shot Monday by her roommate, the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce said. The shooting happened about 1 p.m. in the Greenwell Village Mobile Home Park on Greenwell Street. Blanca Azucely Caalxo, 26, was struck when her roommate, Henry Gonzales Castro, accidentally discharged

a gun, firing through a wall, the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. Castro was booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on a count of negligent homicide, the Sheriff’s Office said. Man who allegedly fired at sheriff booked

A Pierre Part man has been arrested and jailed connection with an Oct. 16 shooting

See

STAFF PHOTOS By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Former district court judge dies

William Kline Jr. was 96

BY ELLYN COUVILLION Staff writer

William Kline Jr., of Clinton, who served as a judge on Louisiana’s 20th Judicial District Court for 20 years, died Sunday at the age of 96.

Kline earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s in education from LSU and taught for two years at Clinton Junior High before serving in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean conﬂict.

He attained the rank of captain during the war, returning home to attend LSU law school, where he served as presi-

SHERIFF

Continued from page 1B

alluded to another inmate overdose as a result of access to contraband drugs.

Ryan Moreau, 38, was observed receiving an unknown item from a fellow inmate. He suffered a medical emergency shortly afterward and died in the hospital days later

The coroner’s report said his cause of death was acute synthetic cannabinoid toxicity

After a facilitywide shakedown corrections staff found contraband including homemade weapons, prescription medications from the medical department and papers soaked in unknown substances. Some of these

BLOTTER

Continued from page 1B

involving members of the Assumption Parish Sheriff’s Office, the Sheriff’s Ofﬁce reported.

Paul Blanchard Jr., 60, who was wounded in the shooting, has been medically cleared and was booked in Assumption Parish. He then was transferred to a state prison facility for continued medical treatment in the prison inﬁrmary, according to a Sheriff’s Ofﬁce news release.

Blanchard was arrested Tuesday on two counts of attempted first-degree murder, three counts of aggravated assault with a ﬁrearm, and single counts of aggravated assault on a police ofﬁcer, hate crimes and aggravated burglary the news release states.

The incident began when Blanchard confronted an individual performing lawn care work at a residence in the 600 block of Bayou Drive in Pierre Part, during which Blanchard allegedly made racially charged remarks toward the individual before leaving, according to detectives.

A short time later

dent of the student bar association

jurisdictions in the state temporarily

He went on to practice law in Clinton for 16 years before being elected to the 20th Judicial District Court in 1976. “As a judge, he was known for h is humility, ki nd nes s and fairness,” his family said in his obituary Tuesday

“Everyone left the courthouse believing that justice had been served.”

After Kline retired from the district court bench, he was appointed as a judge pro tempore, appointed by the Louisiana Supreme Court to step into various

papers tested positive for synthetic cannabinoids, according to the Sheriff’s Ofﬁce release.

Unterio Lewis, 46, also died at the jail earlier this year from drug toxicity The coroner identiﬁed ketamine, fentanyl, amphetamine, methamphetamine and Delta-9 THC in his system at the time of death

The sheriff requested the funds for a full-body scanner to combat the recent overdoses caused by contraband, Parish Council Chair Carey Denstel said. A budget amendment of $226,500 for the detention center appeared on a Parish Council meeting agenda in October, but was postponed until the hearings for the 2026 departmental budgets, which started

Blanchard returned armed with a shotgun and ﬁred at the victim, striking him, the release states. The victim ran into the residence, where three other occupants were inside. Blanchard followed him inside, still armed, but then left the residence.

Shortly after Assumption Parish sheriff’s personnel responded to the scene. Upon arrival, Sheriff Leland Falcon and a deputy located the gunshot victim. While searching the area for the suspect, they encountered Blanchard, who fired in the direction of Falcon, grazing him, State Police said. The deputy then returned ﬁre, striking Blanchard

Blanchard and the original shooting victim were transported to a hospital with serious injuries. Falcon sustained minor injuries, and the deputy was uninjured

The Sheriff’s Office requested State Police to conduct an independent investigation. That investigation is ongoing.

2 racers booked after firing gun, police say Baton Rouge police arrested two drag racers on

Kline retired from the bench at the age of 84.

He was a lifelong member of Clinton United Methodist Church. In 2017, Kline, then 88, was recognized by the Boy Scouts Istrouma Area Council as its oldest living Eagle Scout, according to an Advocate story, having earned the rank in 1947.

Visitation is from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Clinton United Methodist Church, followed by a memorial service. He will be laid to rest in Rosehill Cemetery in a private family service.

Email Ellyn Couvillion at ecouvillion@theadvocate. com.

this week.

“They’ve had some issues at the detention center, the Sheriff’s Department has,” Denstel said. “This is to add some upgrades to the detention center at the request of the sheriff.”

Denstel said the expense, which will provide for the purchase, installation and training for a fullbody scanner system, will not be a problem for the detention center because it already has a “hefty” balance.

“It is our jail, and it is our responsibility to keep the jail upgraded and safe and to keep the security measures upgraded,” Denstel said.

Email Haley Miller at haley.miller@ theadvocate.com.

Sunday after one of them allegedly fired a gun at a police ofﬁcer who was not injured, according to the Police Department.

Ofﬁcers initially responded to reports of drag racing and shots ﬁred about 2 a.m. Sunday in the 9200 block of Mammoth Avenue.

Officers stopped a vehicle believed to have been drag racing involved in the shooting and arrested two men after two stolen firearms were found in the vehicle. Further investigation showed that one of the men, Hazael Munoz, had fired a shot at one of the responding officers.

Munoz was booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on a count of attempted first-degree murder, illegal use of weapons and possession of a stolen ﬁrearm.

The other man in the vehicle, Tyler Jackson-Scott, was booked into jail on a count of possession of a stolen ﬁrearm.

Fire damages social services provider

No one was injured in a fire Tuesday afternoon at a social services provider near Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic School, according

SENTENCED

Continued from page 1B

and a year

U.S. District Judge John deGravelles opted for the low end, citing the fact that the defendant had no previous criminal history and has continued his education since being indicted Mukherjee is currently pursuing a master’s degree in public health, with dreams of one day becoming a policymaker in the ﬁeld.

Despite those strides, the judge told Mukherjee he had to pay consequences for his fraudulent actions.

“We are indeed lucky no injuries were suffered from this, but there very well could’ve been,” deGravelles said. “So the notion that this was just a young man trying to impress dates and it was a fantasy No, this was real and it was real for three years. And in the court’s view it was extremely serious.”

Mukherjee was a Baton Rouge paramedic who worked for Acadian Ambulance Service, a medical transport company based in Lafayette. But in 2018, he began telling his friends and co-workers he was a licensed medical doctor

Although he never graduated medical school and hadn’t even completed his undergraduate studies at that point, Mukherjee began presenting a fake degree from the Tulane University School of Medicine. He wore clothes embroidered with “M.D.” and “Flight Surgeon” insignia and even created a fraudulent residency “match letter.” The fake creden-

to ﬁre ofﬁcials.

Fireﬁghters with the Baton Rouge Fire Department responded to the scene shortly after 3 p.m. at Maxima Industries Day Program in the 2000 block of Main Street The lot, which has both in-use and vacant buildings, is across the street from Sacred Heart.

Collis Temple Jr., who owns Maxima, said few people were inside the building when the ﬁre broke out, as classes had concluded for the day The trustees who attend Maxima learn life skills to prepare for a transition into life after prison The building has been hosting classes for over 40 years, Temple said.

The ﬁre began in the back of the lot’s main building before spreading. Smoke could still be seen coming out of the building by 4 p.m.

“When we got the call, it said the back of the building was on ﬁre. So a lot of smoke and ﬂames come from the back, that’s what it looked like,” said Fire Department spokesperson Billy Zachary “It got into the building and kind of worked its way through.”

He added that crews were still working on hot spots in the building.

One witness told The

tials got him a resident physician’s badge at Baton Rouge General Medical Center under false pretenses. He wore a white lab coat embroidered with “Samrat Mukerjee M.D.” and he was granted full access to several other area hospitals.

Mukherjee treated an undetermined number of patients and visited many of them in their hospital rooms. Prosecutors said at least one of those was a cancer patient. They pointed out that Mukherjee visited the ICU at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center at least twice in his doctor’s uniform to visit patients, who believed he was an actual physician.

He called in 37 prescriptions to local pharmacies for himself and other patients between May 2019 and November 2022, claiming to be a credentialed doctor. He assumed the identities of two actual doctors and used their National Provider Identiﬁer, numbers to prescribe the meds under false pretenses.

Mukherjee’s attorney noted the defendant never made any money off the ploy and suggested Mukherjee did it to impress the women he was dating.

“This was social gamesmanship, poorly thought out, no doubt,” defense attorney Joseph Scott said.

“Perhaps if you put on a white coat, you assume a certain level of authority But nobody hung a shingle.”

DeGravelles disagreed with that assessment, pointing to the gravity of Mukherjee’s deceptions.

“This was not purely a fantasy or game,” deGravelles said. “You were representing yourself to be a doc-

Advocate that nearby residents ﬁrst noticed the ﬁre and alerted the workers and trustees, although most were already in the building’s front lot.

Temple said classes for the trustees would continue uninterrupted, being transferred to other group homes in the area.

It is the second ﬁre to affect a property owned by Temple in the past year Fire investigators suspected arson in a March ﬁre at a one-story, four-unit apartment building on Longfellow Drive.

In Tuesday’s ﬁre, the Fire Department said investigators will need to examine the building to determine the cause.

Email Ellyn Couvillion at ecouvillion@theadvocate. com.

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tor, you were prescribing medicines to people including to a cancer patient. And you were walking into patients’ rooms You didn’t have to hang up a shingle You were walking around a hospital wearing a uniform with a doctor’s emblem on it.”

Dr Loi le, a physician at Ochsner Medical Center, was one of the doctors whose identity Mukherjee used to prescribe medicines. He reported Mukherjee in December 2022 The men were longtime friends who met while attending undergraduate classes together at LSU.

But Le said his former roommate’s actions limited his practice. He had to call the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy to tell it to no longer accept call-in prescriptions in his name. Le told the judge about a 3-year-old patient with a skull fracture who Mukherjee examined and told the child to walk despite the severity of the injuries. He said his former friend showed a “profound lack of medical understanding,” and people could have been seriously hurt by his ill-advised treatments.

“Once you put this coat on to see patients and introduce yourself as a doctor, it has meaning,” Le said as he slipped on his white doctor’s lab coat in the courtroom. “The patients put their faith in you. You don’t simply embroider your name on it and tell everyone in town that you’re a physician.”

Kline

Big Tech losses

pull Wall Street lower

NEW YORK Stocks fell on Wall Street on Tuesday, pulled down by losses in the same big tech companies that have been the main drivers of the market’s rally so far this year

The downturn pulled every major index further away from the alltime highs set just last week. Losses were spread broadly throughout every sector, but technology stocks were the heaviest weights.

Palantir Technologies, which had more than doubled so far this year, fell 7.9% despite reporting results that beat analysts’ forecasts. Nvidia also reversed course from a day earlier, falling 4%, while Microsoft fell 0.5%.

The technology sector is typically the driving force behind the market’s broader movement including its record-setting year. Huge values for companies including Nvidia and Microsoft give them outsize inﬂuence over the broader market’s direction.

Wall Street remains focused on corporate earnings. Roughly three out of every four companies within the S&P 500 have reported their latest results, which have been mostly better than analysts expected. Norwegian Cruise Line slid 15.3% after giving Wall Street a mixed earnings report and forecast. Uber slumped 5.1% despite reporting financial results that beat analysts’ expectations.

Median age hits 40 for first-time homebuyers

The median age of first-time homebuyers in the U.S has climbed to a record of 40 as soaring prices and mortgage rates over the past few years delay homeownership for millions of Americans.

The age at which people purchase their ﬁrst home has climbed rapidly since 2021, when the median was 33, according to a National Association of Realtors survey of transactions from July 2024 through June In 1981, when the survey was ﬁrst conducted, the median age was 29. NAR’s annual profile of buyers and sellers, released Tuesday, portrays a housing market in which younger cash-strapped Americans are struggling to become homeowners while a wealthier, often older cohort is able to make bigger down payments and pay cash for houses

The NAR warned that the loss of a decade of homeownership could cost Americans roughly $150,000 in equity on a typical starter home

The median price of an existing home stands at $415,200 up more than 50% since 2019 At the same time, mortgage rates are roughly twice as high as they were in late 2021.

“The implications for the housing market are staggering,” Jessica Lautz, NAR’s deputy chief economist, said in a statement. “Today’s ﬁrst-time buyers are building less housing wealth and will likely have fewer moves over a lifetime as a result.”

Chrysler recalls 320K Jeep plug-in hybrids

WASHINGTON Chrysler is recalling more than 320,000 Jeep plug-in hybrid vehicles due to a faulty battery that can fail and lead to a ﬁre, U.S. trafﬁc safety regulators said. Chrysler, which is owned by Netherlands-based Stellantis, is aware of 19 reports and 1 injury potentially related to the issue.

Owners of the vehicles, which include 228,221 Jeep Wranglers model years 2020-25 and 91,844 Jeep Grand Cherokees model years 2022-26, are being advised to park the vehicles outside and away from structures until a remedy for the problem is determined. Vehicle owners are also being told not to charge their vehicles, the National Highway and Trafﬁc Safety Administration said.

Interim notiﬁcation letters are expected to be mailed to vehicle owners by Dec. 2, with additional letters to be sent once the ﬁnal remedy is available.

The number for the recall is 68C, and owners may contact Chrysler customer service at (800) 853-1403. Vehicle Identification Numbers for this recall will be searchable on NHTSA.gov beginning Thursday Vehicles that were previously recalled for the same issue under previous recalls will need to have the new remedy performed, the NHTSA said.

MIAMI HERALD FILE PHOTO

Passengers disembark from Pan Am’s Clipper after its historic flight from Port Washington near New york City to Lisbon on June 28-29, 1939. The luxurious Boeing 314 flying boat completed the trip in 24 hours, 15 minutes with a refueling stop in the Azores. It continued from Lisbon to Marseilles.

FLIGHT TIME

New cruise to retrace Pan Am Clipper’s route in the Caribbean and Latin America

BY VINOD SREEHARSHA Miami Herald (TNS)

Nostalgia for a South Florida-born aviation pioneer has reached the high seas.

Cruise line Holland America and Pan American World Airways are teaming up to offer a 28-day cruise to the Caribbean and Latin America that retraces the original ﬂying Clipper routes.

The voyage, which takes place during Pan Am’s 100th anniversary, will depart PortMiami on Oct. 30, 2027, and return there the following month, both companies told the Miami Herald on Monday With 18 ports of call, the Holland Zuiderdam will ﬁrst head south to Jamaica, then east to Puerto Rico, southwest to Colombia, and ﬁnally return to Miami via stops in Panama and Mexico. During one stretch, the ship will make six ports of call in six days.

Holland, owned by Doralbased Carnival, is calling the cruise the 28-Day Pan Am 100th Anniversary Legendary Voyage.

Pan Am was founded in 1927 as the ﬁrst international airline in the U.S., initially in Key West. In 1928, the airline opened a terminal and airﬁeld on Northwest 36th Street on

the site of the original Miami International Airport Several of its buildings there remain intact. The airline ﬁled for bankruptcy protection in January 1991 and by the end of that year shut down operations.

The idea for the cruise came when a Holland executive read the book “Stranded in the Sky: The Untold Story of Pan Am Luxury Airliners Trapped on the Day of Infamy,” by Phillip Jett The work chronicles Pan Am’s predicament during the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the ﬂying boat service the carrier had in the Paciﬁc.

“The genesis really came from reading the book,” Paul Grigsby, vice president of itinerary planning and deployment for Holland America Line, said in an interview with the Miami Herald. “It got me thinking about the service network that they created” in that era and at that delicate time.

Then, about a year ago, Grigsby contacted Pan American World Airways, the company that owns the branding and logos of the long-bankrupt airline.

“I got a pretty quick response,” the Holland executive said. The voyage was ﬁnalized in September Pan Am’s Clipper service was originally created as “ships of the air” but with high levels of comfort and elegance, said Craig Carter, chief executive officer for Pan American World Airways. That included multicourse meals served on ﬁne china, and cocktail lounges.

In 2024, Carter acquired the trademark, logo and intellectual property, including the name Pan American World Airways.

“Pan Am’s Clipper ships played a pivotal role in shaping modern air travel — and expanding tourism across the Caribbean,” Holland said in a statement. With boat-like hulls Clippers could land on water, transforming virtually any harbor into an airport and enabling access to destinations without established runways, the cruise line said.

Of the 18 ports in the 2027 cruise, nine were original Pan Am destinations. They include Nassau, San Juan, Charlotte Amalie, St. John’s, Castries, Port of Spain, Colon and Progreso. Nassau, Bahamas, was an early Pan Am destination in the Caribbean and what Holland considers “a cornerstone of regional aviation history.” San Juan, Puerto Rico, was Pan Am’s link between South America and North America. Meanwhile, UNESCO World Heritage City Willemstad, Curacao, was a key refueling stop for the Allies during World War II.

Through themed meals, decor from the era, talks and multimedia presentations, Holland hopes to have “guests experience the magic of travel’s golden era.”

The voyage won’t include stops in Cuba or Venezuela, key destinations for Pan Am in the early years. The cost of the trip starts at $3,274 based on double occupancy, including taxes and fees.

Pizza Hut’s parent company says it’s considering selling the chain

BY DEE-ANN DURBIN AP business writer

Pizza Hut could soon be up for sale.

Yum Brands, Pizza Hut’s parent company, said Tuesday it’s conducting a formal review of options for the brand, which has struggled to compete in a crowded pizza market.

Yum CEO Chris Turner said Pizza Hut has many strengths, including a global footprint and strong growth in many markets. Pizza Hut has nearly 20,000 stores in more than 100 countries, and its international sales were up 2% in the ﬁrst nine months of this year China is its secondlargest market outside the U.S.

But Pizza Hut gets nearly half its sales from the U.S., where it has around 6,500 stores, and U.S. sales fell 7% in the same period. Pizza Hut was long saddled with large, outdated dine-in restaurants at a time when consumers

wanted fast pickup and delivery In 2020, one of Pizza Hut’s largest franchisees ﬁled for bankruptcy protection and closed 300 stores. Pizza Hut now controls 15.5% of U.S. pizza chain sales, down from 19.4% in 2019, according to Technomic, a food service consulting company “ Pizza Hut’s performance indicates the need to take additional action to help the brand realize its full value, which may be better executed outside of Yum Brands,” Turner said in a statement.

“To truly take advantage of the brand we’ve built and the opportunities ahead, we’ve made the decision to initiate a thorough review of strategic options.”

The company said it will not make any further comments on the review Yum Brands also owns KFC, Taco Bell and Habit Burger & Grill. Yum said Tuesday that its third-quarter revenue rose 8% thanks to strong sales at

Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine sales tumble

BY TOM MURPHY Associated Press

The fall COVID-19 vaccine season is starting slowly for Pfizer, with U.S. sales of its Comirnaty shots sinking 25% after federal regulators narrowed recommendations on who should get them.

Approval of updated shots also came several weeks later than usual, and Pﬁzer said Tuesday that hurt sales as well.

Many Americans get vaccinations in the fall, to protect against any disease surges in the coming winter Experts say interest in COVID-19 shots has been declining, and that trend could pick up this fall due to anti-vaccine sentiment and confusion about whether the shots are necessary The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month stopped recommending COVID-19 shots for anyone, instead leaving the choice up to patients. The government agency said it was adopting recommendations made by advisers picked by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr Before this year, U.S. health officials — following the advice of infectious disease experts — recommended annual COVID-19 boosters for all Americans ages 6 months and older The idea was to update protection as the coronavirus evolves.

But that sentiment started to shift earlier this year when Kennedy, who has questioned the safety of COVID-19 vaccines, said they were no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women.

Dr Amesh Adalja said vaccine rates have been “suboptimal” in recent years even for people considered a high risk for catching a bad case of COVID-19.

“That’s only going to fall off more this season,” the senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security said recently The change in government guidance created questions about whether insurance coverage would continue. A major industry group, America’s Health Insurance Plans, has since clariﬁed that its members will cover the shots. CVS Health announced earlier this month that it will not require prescriptions at its stores and clinics.

Novo Nordisk hikes Metsera bid to

up to $10B

BY TOM MURPHY AP health writer

both KFC and Taco Bell. Pizza Hut was founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas, by two brothers who borrowed $600 from their mother to open the store They chose the name because their sign only had room for eight letters.

Pizza Hut’s familiar red roof debuted in 1969, and by 1971, it was the top pizza chain in the world by sales. PepsiCo acquired Pizza Hut in 1977 but spun off its restaurant division — which became Yum Brands — in 1997. Domino’s, with its focus on delivery and carryout pizza, has since become the world’s largest pizza chain, with 21,750 stores.

The news of Pizza Hut’s uncertain future comes the day after another 1950s-era dinein icon, Denny’s, announced it was being sold to an investor group and taken private. Like Pizza Hut, Denny’s has also struggled with customers’ shift to delivery and growing competition in casual dining options.

Novo Nordisk is raising the stakes in its push to outbid rival Pfizer and acquire the development-stage drugmaker Metsera. Novo is now offering to pay as much as $10 billion for the company, Metsera said Tuesday That’s higher than its previous bid of up to $9 billion which sparked a lawsuit from Pfizer. Pfizer also has altered the offer it made in September of nearly $4.9 billion to provide more cash up front, Metsera said.

Novo is now proposing to pay $62.20 in cash for each Metsera share, up from its previous bid of $56.50. The Danish drugmaker also will tack on a contingent value right payment of $24, another improvement from its previous bid, if certain development and regulatory milestones are met.

But Novo is essentially structuring the deal to require some payback from Metsera. Novo is proposing a two-step process where it would pay Metsera $62.20 per share in cash. Metsera would issue Novo nonvoting preferred stock representing half of Metsera’s share capital. Metsera would then declare a dividend of $62.20 per common share with a record date 10 days after the companies sign the deal, with payment following.

Metsera said Tuesday that the new Novo bid is superior to its existing agreement with Pﬁzer and Pﬁzer now has a window to negotiate on its deal.

Pﬁzer Chair and CEO Albert Bourla told analysts Tuesday morning that the Novo offer was “illusory” and cannot constitute a superior offer He said that there is a high regulatory risk it won’t be completed.

“It is an illegal attempt by a foreign company to do an end run around antitrust laws, taking advantage of the (federal) government shutdown,” Bourla said during a conference call to discuss Pﬁzer’s third-quarter results.

Warren, Lawrence MooreFuneral Home in Hattiesburg at 3pm Obituaries

Cannon,Harold John

Harold was born and raised in NewOrleans.He is survived by his loving wife, Beth Terito Cannon, daughters, Sarah Saucier and Shawn Raynor, grandchildren, Penny and Reid Saucier, Stephanie Johnson, Timothy and Christopher Justiss, great-granddaughter, Isabella Justiss and faithful service dog, WhoooDeeee. Danny and He waspreceded in death by his father Harold Andrew Cannon and mother and stepfather Dannyand Margaret Lukas Daniluk. He was aproud veteranof the Vietnam War, serving in the United States Navy in the Gulf of Tonkin. In lieu of flowers, we ask that donations be made in Harold's name, to the St. Vincent de Paul Society or the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank. Services will be held at St. Thomas More Catholic Church. Visitation will begin on Thursday, November 6th at 10am with aMass of Christian Burial to follow at 11am

Rose Ann L. Dileo passed away on Saturday November 1, 2025, at the age of 85. Rose Ann is survived by her husband of 67 years, Joseph "Joe" Dileo, Sr.; children, Philomena Greenblatt (Glenn), Tonya Entremont (Chuck), and Dr. Joseph Dileo, Jr. (Lana); grandchildren, Taylor Greenblatt (Nicole), ChristianGreenblatt, Blakeli Entremont (J.T. Blair), Blair Entremont, Madison, Liam, and Luca Dileo; siblings, Mary Spruell and Vincent Larussa (Carol); and ahost of other loving family members and friends. She is preceded in death by her parents, Vincent and Josephine Larussa. Visitation will be at St. Alphonsus Liguori Catholic Church, 14040 Greenwell Springs Rd Greenwell Springs, LA,onThursday, November 6, 2025, from 11:30am until the Mass of Christian Burial at 12:30pm. Burial will immediately fol-

Dillard, JanellDevall

Janell Devall Dillard, belovedmother,grandmother,sister, and friend passed awayonThursday, October23, 2025, at the age of 78. Janell was born in Baton Rouge,Louisiana,on February 27, 1947, daughter of the late John and Eula Percle Devall.Janell's life was characterizedby her unwaveringlove for herfamily. Sheadored her grandchildren and their activities, never missing a game. Afaithfulmember of OurLady of Mercy Catholic Church, Janell's warmth and compassion extended far beyond herimmediate family. She was known for her generosity,always ready to lend ahelping hand,and herkindness resonatedwith allwho werefortunateenough to know her.Anavidloverof nature, Janellfoundsolace among animals, trees, and beautiful landscapes, often expressing her artisticside through oil painting. Her passion for antiques and home design brought her immense joyasshe collaboratedlovingly with her husband on their family home. Janellispreceded in death by herbeloved husband,Jim Dillard; parents John Howard Devalland Eula Lee Percle Devall; daughter,DebieDillard Smith;and sister, CarolDevall Hurst. Sheissurvived by her daughter,Sandy Legendre(Mark); grandchildren, BlakeBurley (Jeff), HayesLegendre (Sarah), Zach Legendre (Hailey), DanielLegendre (Elizabeth), and William Smith;great-grandchildren, Brooksand Beckham Burley andAshton and Jolie Legendre;sisters, DeAnna Brown and Peggy Jordan; niece, DeEtte Burns; and nephews,Ricky, Todd and Rhett Shaffett and Brian Brown. The familywouldliketoextend theirheartfelt gratitude to StephanieChastainwith Compassus, as well as the staffatClarity Hospice,especially Michelle, fortheir unwavering love andsupport. The family wouldlike to invite allwho knew and loved Janelltojointhemas we commemorate her life Avisitation willbeheldat ResthavenFuneralHome, 11817Jefferson Hwy.,in Baton Rouge, on Thursday, November 6, 2025, from 12:30PMuntil funeralservices at2:30 PM. Graveside serviceswillfollow at Resthaven Gardens of Memory. Family and friends may signthe online guestbookorleave apersonalnote to the family at www.resthavenbatonroug e.com

tal, Dyersburg, TN,the son of Thomas Theodore Flynn, Jr.and HelenBradford Brown, who predeceased him. He wasrelated by birthtothe Bradford Brownand Spence fami‐lies,all of West Tennessee. Hisfather, an author of some note,divided his time between NewMexico andTennessee,resulting in Dr.Flynn’searly years beingdivided between Northern NewMexicoand West Tennessee, until he beganhighschool,and permanentresidency in NewMexico. Schoolingand professional development was, from theoutset, di‐rected toward thesolegoal of becoming aphysician, beingthe descendant of threegenerations of physi‐cians. He and hisloving wife of thirty-six years, LindaBryantFlynn, have made theirhomefor the past thirty-five yearsinSt. Francisville,LA. They have twochildren, thru previous marriages, Mary Daniel Godke(John) andJason Robert Lanoha (Kalli). Six grandchildren, Emery Godke(Lydia),Ashleigh Godke, Andrew Godke, Riggs Lanoha,Blakely Lanoha andPresley Lanoha.Dr. Flynn’sthree survivingchildren, by his firstmarriage, Sean MichaelFlynn, HeidiFlynn Barnett(Arden),and Rhys Bradford Flynn(Stephanie) areresidents of theBaton Rougeand Jackson, MS areas. He is survived by theirchildren, Alayna Cherie Flynn, Lauren Allen, Hayden B. Allen, andCar‐alie AbigailFlynn. Follow‐inggraduationfromHigh‐land High School in New Mexico,Dr. Flynnattended theUniversityofthe South at Sewanee, TN,graduat‐ingwitha BS degree. Ma‐triculationatTulaneMed‐ical School,where he re‐ceived hisMDdegreein 1962. Furthereducation wasfocused on training in neurosciences, as aNeuro‐logicalSurgeon.Thus,a fellowship in theOchsnerTulane neurosurgicalpro‐gram,duringwhich he was appointedtochief of Neu‐rosurgeryatCharity Hospi‐talinNew Orleans,and achieved boardcertifica‐tion in Neurological Surgerywithadmittance as afellowofthe American CollegeofSurgeons. Dr Flynnholds an honorary degree of Doctor of Medi‐cine in Neurosurgery at the Kohn Kaen University of Thailand andisanhon‐orarymemberofthe Royal CollegeofSurgeonsof Thailand andThe Neuro‐surgical Associationof Thailand.Dr. Flynn founded TheNeuroMedicalCenter in BatonRouge,LA, amul‐tidisciplinary Neuroscience grouppracticeencompass‐ingall majoraspects of neurosciencesand related specialties. Professional affiliationshaveincluded membership in theCon‐gressofNeurologicalSur‐geons, American Collegeof Surgeons Southern Neuro‐surgical Society, TheHous‐tonNeurological Society, membership in the LouisianaNeurosurgical Society, where he served as presidentin1977. He hasbeen AssociateProfes‐sorofNeurologicalSurgery at theLouisiana StateUni‐versityMedical School and Clinical AssistantProfes‐sorinthe Department of

neurosurgery,TulaneUni‐versitymedical school.Dr. Flynnwas aConsultantin Neurological Surgeryatthe former Earl K. Long Memo‐rial Hospital in Baton Rouge. He served as Chief of Surgical Services at BatonRouge GeneralHos‐pitaland ChiefofNeuro‐surgical Services at the BatonRouge GeneralHos‐pital. He wasChief of the MedicalStaff, BatonRouge GeneralHospital. He was electeda member of the American Societyfor Stereotactic andFunc‐tional Neurosurgery.Mem‐bership in American Acad‐emyofMedical Directors wasinstrumentalinaiding himinthe developmentof TheNeuroMedicalCenter. Beginningin1983, Dr.Flynn regularlyled ateamofvol‐unteerstoThailand, Viet‐nam, andCambodiainfur‐therance of theChristian idealofgiving. This effort wasundertaken, with the supportofhis surgical team andresultedinmany lastingrelationships with professionalsinthese countries. Dr.Flynn served formanyyears on the Boardofthe Louisiana MedicalMutualCompany (LAMMICO). As adecadeslong member of TheRotary International, he wasthe recipientoftheir "Service AboveSelfAward". He was therecipient of the"Hu‐manitarian Award" of the American Associationof Neurological Surgeons AndservedontheirTask forceonNeurosurgical Practice Assessment and QualityAssurance. Dr Flynnservedonthe boards BoyScoutsofAmerica, West FelicianaHospital, Franciscan Missionariesof OurLadyUniversity (FranU)and Councilof Aging. Hishobbies in‐cluded hunting, black‐smithing,playing the piano, traveling, ﬁshing andwriting.The family wouldliketothank Dr.Tim Lindsey, Dr John Godke, Dawn Hanna PA Dr.Jef‐frey Hyde,Dr. Mitch Hebert,Dr. Venkat Banda andHospice of Baton Rouge(JulieSuggs)for theircaringand supportof Dr.Flynn andhis family. Visitation will be at Grace EpiscopalChurch in St Francisville on Friday,Nov 7, 2025from830am until serviceofChristian Burial with Eucharistofferedat 11am conductedbyThe Rev. CanonDr. Stephen Holmgren Burial will be in GraceEpiscopal Church Cemetery,St. Francisville In lieu of ﬂowers, memorial donationsmay be made to FranU, HospiceofBaton RougeorBoy Scouts of

America. Sharesympa‐thies, condolences, and memories at www.CharetF uneralHome.com

Dwight Owen Hartz, a resident of LouisianaWar Veterans Home in Jackson, passedawayonSunday, Nov. 2, 2025. He was77 yearsold andwas retired from Entergywith20years of service. He wasa US Navy veteranofthe Viet‐namWar.Visitationwillbe at CharletFuneralHome, Inc. in ZacharyonThurs‐day, Nov. 6, 2025 from 1130amuntil 1230pm. Bur‐ialwillbeinLouisiana Na‐tional Cemetery, Zachary. He is survived by his daughter,Deanna Lynn Foster anda son, Christo‐pher Owen Hartz. 2sisters, JanGustafson andArla Johnson. Abrother,Gene Littig.3 grandchildren, GraceAnne Foster,Madi‐sonKristie Hartzand Bryer Harlan Diggins. 2great grandchildren, Harper Dig‐gins andBaylorDiggins.He is preceded in deathbyhis father,Floyd A. Hartz, mother,NevaM.Hartz and brother-in-law, Jerry John‐son. Pallbearerswillbe ChristopherHartz,Robert Foster,Brian Binkley, Courtney Brown, BryerDig‐gins andRandy Pebworth Honorary pallbearerswill be SteveHatch,Jim McCoy, GraceFosterand Madison Hartz. Dwight wasa 1966 graduate of KnoxvilleHigh School.Heenjoyed Drag Racing,Mud Racing and ClassicCars. He wasbap‐tizedatTrinity Lutheran Church in Knoxville,IAand wasa member of Zion Lutheran Church in Clinton. He wasawarded FirstGood ConductMedal,National DefenseService Medal, MeritoriousUnitCommen‐dation andGallantry Cross. Sharesympathies, condo‐lences,and memories at

Isaac,Bradford Lee Bradford Lee Isaac transitioned on Thursday, October23, 2025, at hishome in New Roads, LA,atthe age of 61. He is survivedby hissister, Glynette Jones; niece, Melody Derosin; nephew, Joshua M. Jones; aunt,Irene Keyes; uncle, Joe Isaac;and aspecial cousin,Milton Issac. Family andfriends areinvited to attend thevisitation on Thursday, November 6, 2025, at Hall's Celebration Center, 9348 Scenic Hwy., Baton Rouge, LA, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.,with the funeralservice immediately following. Interment: Second Baptist Church Cemetery, PortAllen,LA. Services entrusted to Hall Davis andSon Funeral Services. www.halldavisandson.com

Richard Mathews went to be withthe LordonOctober24, 2025, at the age of 52. He was aresident of Denham Springs, Louisiana. Richard is survivedbyhis daughter, Madie Mathews andhis mother, Susie Anders; his former wife, Ginny Gautraux andher parents, Sheriff Sidand Suzi Gautreaux, all of Baton Rouge,Louisiana; his aunts, Kathryn Wick and Patti Revell,both of Florida; andnumerous friends andco-workersheconsidered family. Richard wasa graduate of Belaire High School. He then attended special training at Turner Industriesand ultimately becamea plant operator at Honeywell Internationalin Baton Rouge wherehewas

Hartz, Dwight Owen

Mathews, Richard

Dileo,Rose AnnL

adedicated employee for 30 years. He was passionate about his family, friends, and his job. There will be no formal funeral service.

Riffel, Arthur Buckley Arthur Buckley Riffel died at The Carpenter House in Baton Rougeon November 3, 2025, at the ageof74. He was born in Baton Rouge, the sonof GlynnL."Buddy"Riffel and AnnDeVillier Riffel. He wasa 1969 graduate of Istrouma HighSchool and held Bachelor of Science andMaster of Science degrees in Electrical Engineering from LSU. He worked as an engineerat Gulf States Utilities and later ExxoninBaton Rouge. He was atalented musician, playing keyboards and guitars, and wasa sought-after studio musician. In hisyounger days he performed with local rock-n-roll bands includingJohn Fred and His PlayboyBand, Bill Pertand the Country Outlaws,and the Katcracker Band. He is survived by his sister, Judy Riffel

RichardSamuel“Dickie Zabbia, formerly of Baton Rouge, died peacefully in Ponchatoula, after abrief battlewithlung cancer on October30, 2025, at theage of 77. Born on March21, 1948, in Ponchatoula, LA, Dickie wasa spry rascal throughout childhood and into adolescence. After coursework in engineering at LouisianaState Univer‐sity,Dickieworkedfor an engineering ﬁrm in Baton Rouge,but then later worked forCoastal Corro‐sion Control, Inc, where he loyally completedhis pro‐fessionalcareer.Asa rust specialist,his role took him

to interestinglocations from LasVegas to Peru TwoofDickie’s majorpro‐fessionalachievements were overseeing arusty pipelineunder O’Hare In‐ternationalAirport in Chicago andinspecting vesselsthatparticipatedin the America’sCup regatta yachtrace. Dickie lovedto cook;his signaturedishes included catfish bread, smoked fish,and corn chowder. He enjoyedbeing on thewater, fishing, and time with his family. His friendswereveryimpor‐tant to him, andhedid not hesitate to travel forspe‐cial occasionsand holi‐days,specificallytoBoston andSt. Louis. He wasa member of androdewith theKrewe of Bacchus for severalyears,imploring all to partywithhim.Dickie wasprecededindeath by hisparents,A.J.and Heloise(Gassen) Zabbia, andseveral beloveddogs (ofnote: Poochy). He is survived by hisbrothers, A.J. Zabbia, Jr.and Robert F. Zabbia(Kim),and niece Kate FrancesZabbiaStuart (JD).Dickieloved his grand-nieces (Maggie and Alice-Anne)and grandnephew (Sam) so much that he quiteliterally fi‐nanced each child’s first

twoyears of diapers. He also shared hisloveof dogs by giftingthe Stuart familywitheachoftheir twodogs (Gingerand the late Lucy). Privateservices forfamilywillbeheldata laterdate. In lieu of ﬂow‐ers, please honorDickie with aniceglass of Dewar’sinthe evening

Zabbia, Richard Samuel 'Dickie'

Michelin Guidemet thetest in Louisiana

Michelin, publisher of thefamed French restaurant guide, has ﬁnally turned its eyes to Southern cuisine, and we welcome the attention it is sure to bring to ourstate’svibrant food scene.The Michelin Guide American South, which debuted Monday,covers thesix-state region of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina andTennesseeinaddition to metro Atlanta.

Naturally,webelieve our unique culinary heritage in Louisiana —inﬂuenced by French, Spanish, African and NativeAmerican sources —puts us in aclass all by ourselves. But a Michelin star is indisputably oneofthe most coveted prizes in theglobal restaurantindustry, and chefs here aren’tafraid to be judged by any yardstick. The inaugural awards forthe American South recognized several Louisiana standouts.It’snosurprise that NewOrleans is home to the only two-starrestaurantinthe region: Emeril’s, founded by celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse. Now headed by his son,chef E.J. Lagasse, therestaurantwas describedbyMichelin as “bringingcontemporary reﬁnement and vibrant originality to thefore.” E.J. Lagasse wasalso honoredwith the Young Chef award. The city is also home to two restaurants that received one star: Saint-Germain and Zasu

In addition to stars, Michelin also gives awards to awide range of restaurants worthy of public notice. Its “Bib Gourmand” designation recognizes eateries that serve tasty food at good value, something we in Louisiana excel at. Eleven New Orleans restaurants were awardedthis honor.Another 18 restaurantsinNew Orleans and two in Baton Rouge were listed as recommended by Michelin.

AMichelin star no doubt represents the hard work and dedication it takes to be thebest, but itsvalue to arestaurant isalso tangible.There’s anoticeable spike in reservationsand interest once the awards are madepublic. Our restaurant industry has faced aturbulent time in recent months, especiallyinNew Orleans, where spring saw several restaurantsclose rather than face the typically slowsummerseason.If the Michelin Guide can ignite excitementabout all that we have to offer,weare all forit. But while Michelin may have itsstars, we here each have our own finely chosenculinary constellation, made up of the placesthathonor the tastes and time-honored traditionswefirst encountered in our grandmothers’ kitchens. So whenyou ask 10 differentlocals what’s thebest place to eat, you’ll probably get 10 different answers. And in Louisiana, they’ll all be right. So,Michelin, we wish you well. Youobviously did your job with the utmost professionalism. But the most important guidetoLouisiana food probablycan’t be found in anyone book. Our guides are more likelytobe seen at boucheries and crawfish boils, festivals andfish fries, or presiding over tables in the French Quarter and rural plate lunch spots—any place there’s adeep appreciation for what makesour cuisine special.

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE AREOUR

GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’scity of residence

TheAdvocate |The Times-Picayune require astreet address andphone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor,The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@ theadvocate.com.

TO SEND US A LETTER, SCANHERE

Trumpiscorrect in not treating Chinaasa friend

The Oct. 21 edition of the newspaper Advocatecontainsamisguided leftwing rantbyFroma Harrop entitled “Trump loves farmersintobankruptcy.” The column blasts President Donald Trump for losing the Chinese markets for U.S. farmers while praising President Joe Biden for allowing America’sfarmers to become dependent on these markets. China systematically violates international agreements. They steal patentsand copyrights. They appropriatetechnologies, manipulate their currency and dump productsonthe market temporarily below costtowin market share and drive out competitors in thehopes of bankrupting them. They have killed massive numbers of Tibetans,invading and taking over Tibet;and morerecently visited

atrocities on China’sMuslim population.China has steppedupits military spending and hopes to controltrade with Asia by controlling those seas Thereisalot more that can be said about China’snefarious activities. Unfortunately,the limitsoneditorial letter space do not permit that. Trump is right.Harrop and President Biden arewrong. China is not acountry we should be dependent on for any exports or imports. To do so is for theU.S. to invite disaster and destruction by the totalitarian communist government of China. Is that what Harrop and Biden want to achieve? Making U.S. farmers dependent on China’smarkets will certainly help to do that.

HERBERT CANNON Baton Rouge

Twostories exemplified what asad statewe’re in

Who knew thenewspaper’s publisher, editors and reporters had developed such aﬁne sense of irony? The front page on Oct. 20 is agreat example: Photos of President Donald Trump in the gilded WhiteHouseapplauding LSU’s 2025 national championship baseball teams side by side with the report that food stamps mayrun outinNovember for about 800,000 Louisianans.

Page 4showed Speaker Mike Johnson in afront-rowseat and listedmembers of CongressSteve Scalise, Julia Letlow John Kennedy and Bill Cassidy in attendance, as well as Gov.Jeff Landry and state representatives MarkWright and Mike Bayham.

Thanks to thenewspaper for directing readers’ attention to how obscene it is to celebrate privilege and athletic skill in the same space as desperate people in Louisiana about to have resources kept from thembyTrump and these “representatives of the people.” Better reportagewould have covered how many of theseathletes’ siblings and families will run out of grocery money just as school mealprograms areclosing down and Thanksgiving arrives.

Oh, well, it’sonly hunger Keep on with the irony!

KATHLEEN RANDALL Baton Rouge

It isn’tthat coach Brian Kelly failed to deliver on expectations at LSU.There are ahundred reasons forthe inevitable demise of acoach’s tenure, including bad luck. To be kind, let’sjust say Kelly had arun of bad luck and now somebody has to pay

Millions of words will be written and spoken about what went wrong and whoistoblame. But I’d like to challenge the working press to provide acomplete list of every individual responsible forKelly’s contract that has exposed the school to such liability,aswell as those who executed the dismissal. Inquiries should include their justiﬁcation for approving such acontract. Further, were there any pledges to contribute to the cost of abuyout should one be required?

There will be another coach and another contract, but it shouldn’tbe negotiated by the samepeople.

Ican’thelp but fume when Ithink of how those funds could have been better spent forreal educators in Louisiana.

JERRYDUPAS

Metairie

Let’sstop calling this aRepublican or Democrat shutdown. It is neither This is an American shutdown. Every member of Congress was elected by the people, and together they represent all Americans. They are also the only body that can reopen our government. It is their shared responsibility to do so, and quickly

The same year as BloodySunday in Selma, Alabama, there was acivil rightsmarch from Bogalusa to Baton Rouge. In contrast to Alabama Gov.George Wallace’sorder to block and provoke theprotestors, La. Gov.John McKeithan told police to step aside so that thecivil rights marchers could reach thecapital safely While Louisianahas along history of horriﬁc treatment of Black people, there are also numerous bright spots that lift Louisiana above our neighboring states. We have one of those oppor-

tunities now The Supreme Court seemspoised to completely undo the Voting Rights Act. Most punditsare predicting our Legislature will obliterate Louisiana’s two African American majority districts,ensuring an all-White congressional representation. While it might feel like an inevitability nationwide, it does not have to be true here in Louisiana. All it takes is ahandful of Republican legislators to embrace the best of this state’stradition. THE REV.NATHAN RYAN Baton Rouge

Blaming one party or the other only continues the division. The people suffering from this shutdownare both Republicans and Democrats. They are teachers, families, veterans, small business owners —all Americans. Congress must come together,put party politics aside and get the job done that they were elected to do. Enough blameand hate.

The American people deserve leadership, not stalemate.

KATHY

ADERMAN Baton Rouge

Anchor’s ouster speaks volumes

Belovedformer New Orleans journalist Michelle Miller is out at CBS andwe’re watching anews drain that seems targeted to destroydiverse new content in favor of the homogenous perspectives of the past. Miller,aCBS national correspondent and co-anchorofthe “CBS Saturday Morning” show,was one of hundreds of journalists and other staff laid off as part of what Paramount Skydance sees as anew day.The new company was created in August when the FCC approved themerger of ParamountGlobal, which owned CBS, and SkydanceMediainJuly.There were antitrust concerns expressed and alarm bells went off, but the FCC considered thoseconcerns something less thanimportant. Perhaps the new ownersdidn’tlook at the data that shows that CBSSaturday Morning scoredbetter than theweekday “CBS Morning Show” some days. Perhaps they didn’tappreciate the diverse storylines and thelong-form journalism. What Isee is adeepeningofWhite, conservative, Republicanvalues having agrave impact on news media we have counted on to go beyond reporting one side of astory to includetwo, three and more sides of an issue. Let metake youbeyond Miller’sunceremonious dismissal.

Our nation is about to celebrate its 250th birthday in 2026. For nearly all of that time, White men owned,operated and decided what was news. Sure, there were some smaller publications that provided somedifferentperspectives, but none that rivaled thosethat became major,“mainstream”media: ABC, CBS, NBC then CNN, ESPN and MSNBC. The New York Times, The Washington Post, theChicagoTribune, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution,The Advocate and The Times-Picayune. More recently,we’ve seena varietyof news startups, including Politico, Axios and HuffPost.

I’ve had the opportunitytomeet and gettoknow some of the leaders of those news organizations. To aperson,I believe that each thought they were doing the right thing as they determined and shaped the news.The best among them knew that their White, largely male experiences alone were not enough to accurately reﬂect thenews of theday.So, they deliberately made

their staffs morediverse —even welcomingBlack, Latino, Asian and other journalists and media professionals into high-proﬁle roles such as anchors, executiveproducers, editors and managing editors in recent decades. Lots of people know thename of conservative businessman Rupert Murdoch. He created News Corp., and that led to Fox News, Fox Sportsand ownership of The Wall Street Journal, one of theworld’smost respected newspapers. Youmight remember Oracle founder Larry Ellison. He becamerich from his company’s techsuccess.Hepassed on business to his sons, including David Ellison,who negotiated the Paramount Global and Skydance Media merger, approved by President Donald Trump’s administration. What we’re seeing happenatCBS is just thebeginning of a conservativenews media reset. And itdoesn’tstop there. David Ellison’syounger brother is goingafter Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns HBO and CNN. Meanwhile, the elderEllison, the 81-year-old father,ispart of aU.S. buyer group that wants to buy TikTok from the Chinese to win the heartsofTrumpand others whowant to save America from data leakages. What is happening is anews media collapse as some news outlets fold and others merge, consolidating operations to cut costs while also saving or redirectingmoney by cutting people. Mill-

er’sshow was cut so much that only a handful of people are left.Oftentimes, we’ve seen more diverse news coverage led by diverse weekend staffs as those journalists advance to the weekdays. These cutscome as some major outlets cut their staffs. CNN said it had to lay off about 200. By theway,this is thesame CNN that created arace and equality team in 2020 only to disband it in 2024 as political winds blew in adifferent direction.

I’m all for adiversity of opinions in news and commentary.But taking a conservative approach to news coverage isn’tthe way togo.

I’ve known Miller for decades. I’ve watched her grow as ajournalist, as a writer,asananchor and as anational correspondent. CBS and its new ownership madeits decision. Likemany of us in this news media world, she’shad someprofessional ups and downs. ButI’ve never seen her stop working touse her unique set of personal and professional experiences to educate and inform viewers, readers and students.AsI’ve often heard her say,“Asetback is nothing but asetup for acomeback.”

Miller always has something going on. She’sﬁnishing asecond book. With theCBS decision, she’sexploring news, writing and other opportunities. I’ll tell you this:The sister ain’tdone yet.

Email Will Sutton at wsutton@ theadvocate.com

The phrase about turning off the lights when one leaves someplace appears to have originated with two real estate agents in Seattle. It was 1971 and Boeing was laying off employees during an economic downturn. It was meant to be humorous, though the unemployed probably didn’tsee it that way

Nostalgia used to be something produced and consumed on an artisanal scale. Youcould rifle through theattic and stare at glassy-eyed daguerreotypes, or huddle around the fireon a winter evening and let grandpatell you ‘bout the fine, hardworking folks he fought with at theSecondBattleof Bull Run.

Once or twice ayear abig historical novel or biopic might make you wistful for the days when men were real men, women were real women and children died of scurvy Today nostalgia is mass-produced, and Ifear it is getting out of hand. Ifollow ﬁve Facebook pages devoted to mid-centurykitsch, afew more dedicated to vintage appliances and inﬂuencers who specialize in old recipesorcostumes. Iheartily urge this pleasant pastime upon all my readers. But Ialso urge you to remember thatthese delightful snapshotsofhistory are not thewhole thing. The inability to puthistory into perspective is not just deformingour perception of the past; it is deforming ourpolitics.

your seat for an entire day,which is why long international ﬂights still offer better food and amenities than short domestic hops.

During the Arab oil boycott in 1973, Houston newspapers invoked the phrase as they sought to lure people from the North, which was suffering from high unemployment, fuel shortages and economic stagnation. Newspaper ads told of job openings with good salaries and beneﬁts.

Now comethe folks at Unleash Prosperity anonpartisan group focused on “educating policymakers and the public about government policies proven to maximize economic growth,” who have resurrected aform of the phrase (linked to aBilly Joel song) and applied it to Tuesday’selections in New York City and New Jersey.Prosperity’sbillboards, which have been placed along major thoroughfares, say respectively: “New Jersey isn’tmoving up. Families are moving out.” And “New Yorkers aren’tmoving up. They’re moving out.” That would be to places like Texas and Florida, where there are no state income taxes and life is perceived to be safer and less expensive.

Stephen Moore, co-founder of Unleash Prosperity,and aformer senior Trumpeconomic adviser writes, “New York has lost nearly two millionresidents to other states over the last decade and New Jersey almost ahalf million. New York has lost roughly $111 billion in income and New Jersey has lost $31 billion. These states must change or the last person in the state will have to turn off the lights.” Democrats, who have mostly run New Jersey and New York City (and state) for decades are prisoners of their bad economic philosophy and seem unwilling or unable to change. One can already hear the excuse for another tax increase should Democrats continue to prevail: “Wehave lost much of our tax base, so taxes must be raised.”

More people will then leave and Democrats will repeat themselves, including punishing “the rich,” who are the ones paying the most taxes and hiring people who pay taxes.

Astudy published last year and billed as “the ﬁrst-ever systematic analysis of 110 years of state income tax implementation throughout the United States,” highlighted the consequences when taxpayers leave high tax states for states with lower or no state income taxes. It was published in the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy and titled “The Introduction of the Income Tax, Fiscal Capacity,and Migration: Evidence from U.S. States” and co-authored by Ugo Antonio Troiano, an economist and associate professor at the University of California, Riverside. The analysis looks at pre-World WarIIand post-World WarIIpersonal incometax impacts.

Yes, you might (if you are like me) yearn for agorgeous 1950s Chambers range with its retro-space-agedesign. Its sturdy cast-iron construction and superior insulation meant that the food continued cooking longafter you turned the gas off. Youshouldalso note thatfew people todayare so strapped for cash that they will go to great lengths to economize on afew minutes of gas. That fortresslike construction unfortunately left little room for triﬂessuch as ovens. A1952 Consumer Reports rating lists the oven dimensions of a Chambers range as 12 by 19 by 19 inch-

es, which was typical for the period, while modern ranges frequently offer twice thecubic footage. It lacked contemporary features such as self-cleaning or automatic ignition. Oh, anditcost $439, roughly 20% of themedian annual income in 1952. One of thecheapest models Consumer Reportstested was $129.95, about $1,500 in today’sdollars —orabout two times what you’d pay if you ran down to HomeDepot and selected abasic Whirlpool or GE model. As ashare of income, thedifference is even more dramatic: Abasic gas stove cost almost 6% of median income in 1952, vs. about 1% today Or take travel nostalgia, a perennial favoriteamonglower-tier white-collar workers. As we cram into cattle class and contemplate our grim bags of stale pretzels,wesalivate over those old ads featuring steak dinners or cut-to-order charcuterie being served to grinning passengers dressed to the nines. We forget why those passengers were dressed in their Sunday best rather than their sweatpants. Air travel was extremely expensive, so it was an elite experience that people dressed up for. (Inthe 1950s,mymother was required to wear ahat and gloves just to pickpeopleupatthe airport.) In 1951, Trans World Airlines would ﬂy you from New York to Los Angeles for only $110 —almost $1,400 in today’s dollars, for an 11-hour trip on anoisy propeller plane. That’s one way.Today American Airlines, which bought TWAin2001, will sell you a round trip for $427 that goes nonstop in halfthe time. The food was in part compensation for the cost and experience —the quality of the food matters more if youare going to be stuck in

That goes double if you are tempted to romanticizethe bygone glamour of ship or rail travel, with wood-paneled dining cars and bunks to sleep in. Those amenities existed because people took along time to make journeys we now cover in afew hours.

You’re apt tobemoreinterested in thequalityofthe dining experience and more willing to pay apremiumfor nice surroundings —when that’sall you have for days on end. Especially if they distract you from thesoot that tends to blow everywhere when your trip is powered by asteam engine. Old things were better in certain ways, but they were not better,period, unless you ignore critical dimensions such as convenience, safetyand cost. Dreaming of the past while imagining all the drawbacks away is …well, a dream

While dreams are ﬁne, in their place, I’m afraid we’re not doing agreat job of keeping them there. Those fantasies belong to therealm of pure imagination,along with fairies, elves and Powerball tickets. Butmysocial media feed is ﬁlled with people who seem to takethem seriously,including the vice president,who has athing for old refrigerators, and the president of the United States, who wants to tariff our way back to theMcKinley administration We can’tgoback to those days, but moreimportantly,noone would want to, if they actually understood what it would cost.

MeganMcArdle in on X, @asymmetricinfo

The state-level tax policies from 1900 to 2010 examined in the paper reveal that income tax adopting states increased revenue per capita by 12% to 17%, but those increases did not correspond to increases in total revenues for the government in monetary terms.

This is because the introduction of state income taxes in the post-World WarIIera led to out-migration by wealthy Americans.

“Personal income tax means atax upon labor income, ﬁrst introduced for the purpose of redistribution of wealth,” said Troiano, whose expertise includes politics and economics. “The idea was to provide services to poorer parts of the population and reduce inequality between low-income and highincome residents.”

Unfortunately,the tax-raising Democrats failed to take human nature into account. People who have the resources also have the option of moving to more economically friendly locations. Many have, but like aVietnam anti-war song said: “We’re waist deep in the big muddy and the big fool says to push on.” In this case, it’snot an unpopular war, but debt and taxes, because Democrat-run cities and states can’tlive within the means they are given.

Democrats are being held prisoners to their failed ideology by the far left. As aresult, more people in New York City,New Jersey and other states with high taxes have their ﬁngers on the light switch and their car engine is running.

Email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub. com. He is on X, @CalThomas.

ega McArdle M n

Cal Thomas

Will Sutton

STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

Former U.S. AttorneyGeneral Eric Holder,right, is interviewedbyCBS News correspondent Michelle Miller at the 2023 NewOrleans Book Festival at Tulane University

Baton RougeWeather

New-look LSUwomen wininfamiliarway

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

Oneofthe LSUwomen’sbasketball team’seight newcomers missed a shot from thefree-throw line, but another positioned herself to clean it up.

OnceZaKiyah Johnson’sput-back attemptbankedoff theglassand through therim, the No. 5Tigers (1-0) officially began the2025-26 season,their fifth under coach Kim Mulkey.What turned into a108-55 rout of Houston Christian on Tuesday in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center started with Johnson’s layup —the type of field goal that LSU scored throughout its lopsided seasonopening win.

“(Johnson) has an amazing presence on theboards,”LSU guard Mikaylah Williams said.

The Tigers debuted aroster with ﬁve freshmen and three transfers Tuesday But the overhauled group still won in the same ways aMulkey-coached team usually wins. The defensive rebounds sparked transition chances, and offensive boards led to second-chance looks.

“I thought they woke up in the second half and started sharing the ball better,” Mulkey said.“Youwentfrom four assists in theﬁrst half to 18 in the second half, so you’vegot alot of players that can do good things.”

Johnson— afreshman who ﬁnished hercollegiatedebut with11points

and11rebounds —attacked theglass early.Mulkey started her next to star guard Flau’jae Johnson, Williams, sophomore point guard Jada Richard andKate Koval, atransfercenter from Notre Dame

Notably,the LSUstarting lineup did notinclude transferguard MiLaysia Fulwiley.She came off the bench, just like she did in the two seasons sheplayedfor herhometown South Carolina Gamecocks. She checked in to aloud ovation halfwaythrough the ﬁrst quarter, thendrilleda step-back 3-pointer from the right wing. Fulwiley ﬁnished with agame-high

ä See LSU, page 3C

MAKING APOINT

BY TOYLOYBROWN III Staff writer

Assists and scoringaverages aren’twhat’smost important to the newLSU point guard

The priority of atrue ﬂoor general is simple forDedan Thomas Jr.and his father,Dedan Thomas Sr

“Point guards arejudged on wins andlosses, and he understands that,” said the olderThomas, apoint guard at UNLVfrom1991-94.

At 4years old, the younger Thomas was in the gym watching before eventuallyplaying for his dad’sWest Coast Basketball AAU program.His dad used some of the sameprinciples he learned from his former college coach, Jerry Tarkanian— a Naismith Memorial BasketballHall of Famer

“Deﬁnitely taught me dangnear everything Iknow,” Thomas said about his dad. “I wouldn’tbeinthis position without him.”

Playing thegamethe rightway is the onlyway for the LSUjunior. Being aquintessential point guard is how the 6-foot-1 lefty became theNo. 32 recruit in the 2023 high school class, according to 247Sports. It’s also what made him sought after when he enteredthe transfer portal after two seasons at UNLV.

LSU coachMatt McMahon and associate coach David Patrick—a pair of former college point guards themselves— contacted Thomas andspoke to him every day until he committed to the Tigers on March

ä See THOMAS, page 3C

In exchange, N.O. gets twodraft picks in 2026,one in ’27

BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

ä Saints at Panthers.

NOON SUNDAy FOX

When the dust settled on the NFL trade deadline, the New Orleans Saints emerged with threemore draft picks for their war chest. The cost wastwo starting players from their 1-8 football team —both of whom, in different ways, represented the areas the franchise has come up short in recent years. The Saints started things by sending receiver Rashid Shaheed to the Seattle Seahawks for fourthand ﬁfth-round picks in next year’s draft. Minutes before the 3p.m. buzzer,they completed atrade with the offensive line-needy Los

LSU guard Dedan

24 practice. The UNLV transfer will help lead the Tigers in their season opener against Tarleton State on Wednesday.

AngelesChargers, acquiring a 2027 sixth-rounder inexchange for offensive lineman Trevor Penning. “Wefeel like this can continue to build ayoung foundation that’s going to carry this thing fora long time,” coach Kellen Moore said Tuesday to WWL-AM. Both Shaheed andPenning had started each game in which they wereavailable this season. Both also were playinginthe ﬁnal year of their contracts.Ofthe two, Shaheed was the more difﬁcult decision for an organization that is clearly in the midstofarebuild. He was, at one time, an example of the

the Saints did right

Saints wide receiver Rashid Shaheed

SanFrancisco 49ersonSept. 14 at the Caesars

traded the

in 2026.

It’sAlabama week,but the contest everyone is focused on is this:

Who will be the next LSU football coach?

Scott Rabalais

ä LSU at Alabama.

6:30 P.M. SATURDAy,ABC

Thesearch for Brian Kelly’ssuccessor is being led by VergeAusberry, who was the interim athletic director until new LSU president Wade Mousse namedhim the permanent replacement forScott Woodward on Tuesday evening. But the way Gov.Jeff Landryhas inserted himself into the search complicates matters.

Onething is certain: Someone will want to take the LSU job. We’vecompileda listof 10 names who we consider among the mostnotable names forthe LSU vacancy,listedinalphabetical order

JoeBrady

CURRENTPOSITION:Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator,fourth season AGE:36

SALARY:N/A

RESUME:Bills full-time OC since 2024 (was interim OC in 2023). WonBroyles Awardastop college assistant in 2019 at LSU.

PREVIOUSCOACHING:William & Mary (LB,2013-14); Penn State (GA,2015-16); New Orleans Saints (offensive assistant, 2017-18); LSU (WR, 2019);Carolina Panthers (OC, 2020-21);BuffaloBills (QB, 2022)

WHATARE THE CHANCES?:Brady’s one highly successful season at LSUmakes him atrendy choice forthe job, but he never liked recruiting. At all. Seems more likely to become an NFL head coach one day

Jeff Brohm

CURRENT POSITION:Louisville head coach, third season

AGE:54

SALARY:$5,981,057 per year

RESUME:92-53 record (26-9at Louisville)

PREVIOUS COACHING:Louisville Fire,ArenaLeague 2(HC, 2002); Louisville (QB, 2005-07; OC, 2008); FAU(QB, 2009);Illinois (QB, 201011); UAB (OC, 2012); Western Kentucky (OC, 2013; HC, 2014-16); Purdue (HC, 2017-22) WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?:Brohm is aLouisville guy through and through, so tough sell. But four wins against AP top-five teams andoffensive acumen make him worth considering.

EliDrinkwitz

CURRENTPOSITION:Missouri head coach, sixth season

Penning Shaheed

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

Thomas Jr.takes the ball up the courtduring aSept.

PHOTO By BRETT DUKE

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

LSU guard ZaKiyah Johnson looks to shoot againstHouston Christian’sJordan Jackson on Tuesdaynight in the PMAC. Johnson had 11 points and11rebounds in LSU’s108-55 win.

6p.m. Lehigh ValleyatBridgeportNHLN MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

5p.m. Rider at Rutgers BTN

7p.m. S. Dakota at Creighton Peacock

7p.m.Alabama A&M at Indiana BTN

8p.m. N.Alabama at Mississippi St. SECN COLLEGE FIELD HOCKEY

Noon ACCTournament: TBD,SemifinalACCN

2:30 p.m. ACCTournament: TBD,SemifinalACCN COLLEGE FOOTBALL

6p.m. N. Illinois at ToledoESPN2

6p.m. Kent St. at BallSt. ESPNU WOMEN’S COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL

6p.m. Florida St. at Miami ACCN

6p.m. Alabama at Arkansas SECN

7p.m. Minnesota at WisconsinFS1 GOLF

8p.m. LPGA: TOTOJapan Classic Golf

1a.m.(Th.)DP: Abu DhabiHSBCChamp. Golf

HORSE RACING

10:30p.m. Melbourne Cup: CarnivalStakes FS1 NBA

6:40 p.m. Minnesota at Newyork ESPN

7:30 p.m. NewOrleansatDallasWAFB 9:05 p.m. San AntonioatL.A.Lakers ESPN

2:30 a.m. Melbourne Utd.vs.Illawarra Hawks FS2

6:30 p.m.St. Louis at Washington TNT MEN’S SOCCER

6:15 a.m. Panama vs. Ireland FS2

9a.m.U.S.vs. Burkina Faso FS2

2p.m.Bayer Leverkusen at Benfica CBSSN WOMEN’S SOCCER

12:45 p.m.Brazilvs. North KoreaFS2 TENNIS

5a.m.WTA &ATP Tennis

6a.m.WTA &ATP Tennis

5a.m.(Th.)WTA &ATP Tennis

Jets deal All-Pros Gardner, Williams

Teamsmakemoves aheadofNFL tradedeadline

BY ROBMAADDI Associated Press

Sauce Gardner went from last place to ﬁrst, and teammateQuinnen Williams also is on the move in separate blockbuster trades.

The stunning deals by the New York Jets highlighted aflurry of activity ahead of the NFL’s trade deadline on Tuesday Gardner,a two-time All-Pro cornerback, was sent to the Indianapolis Colts for two first-rounddraft picks and wide receiver Adonai Mitchell. The Jetswill receive the Colts’ first-round selectionin2026 and in 2027.

Williams heads to the Dallas Cowboysfor asecond-roundpick in 2026, aﬁrst-round pick in 2027 and defensive tackle Mazi Smith

The Jets will get the better of the Dallas’ two ﬁrsts in 2027.They acquired apair of ﬁrst-rounders whenthey sent two-time All-Pro pass rusher Micah Parsons to Green Bay before the season

“Having the opportunity to acquire atalented playerlikeSauce Gardner was one we did not want to pass on,” Colts general manager Chris Ballard said. “He was aplayer that we scouted heavily coming outofcollege, and there’sareason he was the fourth overall pick. Sauce is aproven cornerback. His skill and competitive nature will elevate everyone’s play on the defensive unit. We’re thrilled he’sa Colt. On the same note, AD Mitchell is agreat person andagreat player.Webelieve he will have success in New York, and wewish him the best as he enters the next chapter of his career.”

The Cowboys (3-5-1) have the second-worst defense in the NFL and made two moves to bolster that unit. Before getting Williams, the Cowboys acquired linebacker Logan Wilson from the Cincinnati Bengals for aseventh-roundpick.

The Jets are loaded withdraft picks after dealing their two best defensive playersand need to choose wisely to rebuilda franchise that has thelongest active playoff drought in theNFL.They weren’tfinished making moves,

SAINTS

Continued from page1C

who was coming off aseasonendinginjury in his final collegiate campaign. With the Saints, Shaheed blossomed into one of the more electrifying playmakers in the NFL. He turned his first career touch —an end around midway through the 2022season —into a44-yard touchdown. That was thefirst of his16 scrimmage plays of 40-plus yards with the Saints, more than any NFL player except Miami receiver Tyreek Hill during that span.

Shaheed added value in the return game as well, earning Pro Bowl and ﬁrst-team All-Pro honors as areturn specialist in 2023. Four of Shaheed’s64career punt returns gained 40 or more yards, and two went for touchdowns But New Orleans nevercould ﬁgure out how to fully tap into his play-making potential. He topped out at 719 yards receiving in 2023. He looked well on his way to shattering that last season, accumulating at least 70 yards in four of his first five games under offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak —whom Shaheedreunites with in Seattle —but aknee injury cuthis season short after six games. This season as the No. 2wide receiver,Shaheed has put up respectable numbers —44catches for 499 yardsand twotouchdowns —but his 11.3 yards per catch is more than 5yards below his career average coming into the season. New Orleans may have been

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByKIN CHEUNG

CornerbackSauceGardner looks on during aJets practice at The Grove in Watford,England, on Oct.8.The Jets tradedGardner to the Colts on Tuesdayfor two first-round draft picks and receiver Adonai Mitchell

however. Cornerback Ja’Sir Taylor was acquired from theLos Angeles Chargersfor aconditional seventh-round pick in 2028 just before the deadline. Taylorwas a sixth-round pick of the Chargers in 2022 out of Wake Forest.

In other moves, wide receiver Jakobi Meyers was traded to Jacksonville from Las Vegasfor draft picks in thefourth and sixth rounds.

Edge rusher Joe Tryon-Shoyinka was traded from Cleveland to Chicagofor aseventh-round pick.

Gardner,the AP Defensive Rookieofthe Year in 2022, signed afour-year,$120.4 millioncontract extension with theJets in July.He joinsthe AFCSouth-leading Colts (7-2) after spending his first 31/2 seasons withthe losing Jets Williams, athree-time ProBowl pick and 2022 All-Pro, is signed through 2027 on acontract averaging$24 million per season. Meyers,who requested atrade, givesthe Jaguars (5-3)depth. Tra-

vis Hunter will miss at least three moregames and BrianThomas, DyamiBrown andTim Patrick aredealing with injuries. Wilson had requested atrade afterhis playingtime decreased for the Bengals, who have the league’sworst defense.

“Someguys have the ability to see acertainkey and, at thesame time,take astepupinthe hole,” Cowboysowner Jerry Jones said on his radioshowon105.3 TheFan “Heknows how to getinthe gaps rightnow For what we need right now,hecan come in immediately and help us at linebacker.”

The reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles were aggressive leading up to thedeadline.General manager Howie Roseman addedthreeplayersto atalented roster to improve the team’schances for arepeat.

Sincethe Eagles (6-2) last played agame, theyacquired edge rusher Jaelan Phillips and cornerbacks Michael Carter and Jaire Alexander

STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRETTDUKE

Saints offensivelineman Trevor Penning takes adrink during training camp on Aug. 5, 2022, in Metairie. Penning wastraded to the Los AngelesChargers for a2027 sixth-round draft choice.

bracing for hisdepartureearlier this offseason. The Saintstraded afourth-round pick shortlybefore the start of the season for Devaughn Vele, and they also acquired Trey Palmer via waiversand former Patriots receiver Ja’Lynn Polk in atrade

Of thosethree,onlyVelehas played this season —but sparingly Despite the relative premium price the Saints paid to acquire him, Vele has played only 40% or more of the Saints’ offensive snaps once this season, never topping twocatches or 13 yards in agiven game. Palmerhas yettoappear in a game and is on injured reserve. Polk was always aplay for 2026, as he had shouldersurgeryduring the preseason. In Shaheed, the Saints never couldcapitalizeonthe potential they unearthed.Penning is the ﬂip side of the Saints’ organizational

failings —apremiumdraft pick spent on aplayer who did not pan out. In hisfourth season, Penning wasonhis thirdposition with the Saints, having operated as the starting left guard for most of the season. It wasnot remotely what theSaintsenvisionedwhenthey drafted him

The Saintsselected Penning in the first round of the 2022 draft withhopes he wouldbecomea franchise left tackle, but that did not happen. Penning suffered aturf-toe injury that derailednearly his entire rookieseason. He madeone start in 2022, the season ﬁnale, and suffered aLisfranc injury thatforced himtospend much of theoffseason in rehabilitation. New Orleans trottedPenning back out as their starting left tackle in 2023, but he struggled

WR Valdes-Scantling joins practice squad of Steelers

ThePittsburgh Steelers signed wide receiver MarquezValdesScantling to the practice squad on Tuesday,reuniting himwithformer teammateAaron Rodgers. The well-traveled Valdes-Scantling played alongside Rodgers from 2018-21 whenthey were both in Green Bay

The 31-year-old Valdes-Scantling, who won apair of Super Bowls with Kansas City in 2022 and 2023, was most recently with the SanFrancisco49ers, catching four passes for40yards before being released last month.

Valdes-Scantling ﬁnds himselfon his ﬁfth team since 2023. His most productive stop in that stretch came in New Orleans, where he averaged 22.6 yardsper catchand scored four touchdowns in eight games with the Saints last season.

LIVGolf events expand to 72 holes for 2026

LIVGolf, theSaudi-funded league knownfor its54-hole events with shotgun starts, is expanding to 72 holesfor the2026 season and adding afew extra qualifying spotsina move that couldboost its bid to be recognizedbythe Ofﬁcial World Golf Ranking.

The name of theleague —the roman numeral for54—was built around its fasterpace over three rounds instead of the traditional four

Theshotgun start will remain foraleague that is likely to see 57 players. LIVpreviously saidit would take the leading two available players from the International Series ranking on the Asian Tour,and twoplayers from aJanuary qualifying tournament.

Gauff wins to stay alive in WTAFinalsinRiyadh

Phillips, who came fromMiami on Monday forathird-round pick, immediately bolsters the pass rush.The 2021 first-round pick had three sacks in hislast ﬁvegames for the Dolphins. All of Philadelphia’sedge rushers combined have three sacks this season.

“For us,where we are as ateam what we believeisimportant to wina world championship and to being agreat team, it wasn’t ahard trade to make,”Roseman said.

Carter givesthe defense aveteran slotcornerback to allowdefensive coordinatorVic Fangio more flexibility to use Cooper DeJean outside. Alexander,atwotime Pro Bowl selection, is alowrisk, high-reward acquisition.

The Baltimore Ravensalso addedanedgerusher, getting Dre’MontJones fromTennessee for aconditional ﬁfth-round pick.

Jones has 41/2 sacks this season, so he’sanupgrade forthe Ravens (35) at aposition of need.

mightily and was benched before midseason.

He appeared to ﬁnd stabilitylast season by switching to right tackle after NewOrleans drafted Taliese Fuaga, thenembraced amove to guardthis offseason after the Saints spent another first-round pick on tackleKelvin Banks.

While the Saints maintained throughout they’ve been pleased with his developmentatguard, his play left plentytobedesired Penning once again dealt with aturf-toeinjury during training camp, this onesidelininghim for the ﬁrst three games. Upon hisreturn, Penning’smost notable contribution cameinthe form of penalties, with three holdingpenalties and one false start in sixgames. As with receiver, New Orleans made several moves prior to the season to address offensive line depth, acquiring Luke Fortner and Asim Richards in August trades. It also has veteran offensivelineman Dillon Radunz, whostarted the ﬁrst twogames in Penning’splace, ready to go.

NewOrleansdrafted ﬁveplayers in the ﬁrst round from 201822. Three of them —Penning, and defensive ends MarcusDavenport andPayton Turner —did not earn secondcontracts with the Saints. Afourth, receiver Chris Olave, is still to be determined. “There’sabittersweet component to this; we understandthe business side of this,”Moore said to WWL-AM. “There’sanopportunity from our team’sstandpoint. We feel like there’ssome valuein this moving forwardasfar as the assets you collect.”

RIYADH,Saudi Arabia Reigning champion Coco Gauff revived her chancesofadvancing at theWTA Finals with a6-3, 6-2 winover Jasmine Paolini on Tuesday Gauff also improved herserving, hitting only three double-faults far fewer than the 17 that she produced in her opening match, a three-set loss to Jessica Pegula.

“Definitely aturnaround from my ﬁrst match,” Gauff said. “It’s the beauty of this tournament and to have another chance to prove yourself.”

Gauffnextfaces top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka to determine whether she advances in the season-ending event forthe top eight players, whilePaolini was eliminated after two losses.

Sabalenka leads the group after beating Pegula 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. Paolini is also playingdoubles with partner Sara Errani.

Padres RHP Darvish to miss entire 2026 season

Right-handerYuDarvish will missthe 2026 season forthe San Diego Padres after surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow

The 39-year-old Darvish also got an internalbrace in the surgery performed last week, thePadres announced Tuesday Darvish had Tommy John surgeryinMarch 2015 andreturned to amajor-league mound on May 28, 2016.

Thefive-timeAll-Star went5-5 with a5.38 ERA and a1.18 WHIP in 15 starts forthe Padres last seasonafter missing thefirst three monthsbecause of elbowinflammation.

Oldest living Olympian

Coste dies at age 101

CharlesCoste,the world’soldest living Olympianand acycling champion, has died. He was 101.

The French presidency said in a statement Tuesday that Coste died last Thursday

Coste won the team pursuit gold medal at the 1948 Olympic Games in London at the famedHerne Hill velodrome.Hereturned to the spotlight last year as the secondto-last bearer of the Olympic flame forthe 2024 Paris Games Emmanuel Macron’soffice said Coste was “until his final breath, the tireless messengerofacertain idea of sport.”

Coste moved the Paris crowd as he carried the Olympic torch, dressed all in white in awheelchair in the rain. He lit the torches of FrenchOlympic gold medalists Teddy Riner and Marie-José Pérec.

Pelicans nipHornets forﬁrstwin of season

BY LES EAST

Contributing writer

Jose Alvarado scored 18 points, including ago-ahead 3-pointerwith15.4 seconds left, and the New Orleans Pelicans got their ﬁrst victory of the seasonbydefeating the Charlotte Hornets 116-112 on Tuesday nightin the Smoothie King Center After Alvarado’sshot, rookie Derik Queen knocked the ball loose from the Hornets, andTreyMurphy made asteal and hit two free throws. Miles Bridges missed a3-pointer for the Hornets, and Saddiq Bey added afree throw forthe Pelicans.

Eightdifferent Pelicans scored in double ﬁgures, led by Murphy with 21 points, Alvarado with 18, Bey at 17, Karlo Matkovic with 13, Queen at 12, and Herb Jones, Jordan Poole and Jeremiah Fears all chipping in 11.

The Pelicans announced before the game that Zion Williamson was sidelined

THOMAS

Continued from page1C

31.

“I could just feel how much theyreallybelieved in me just over the phone,” he said. Thomas is poised to be the next standout point guard for LSU, which startsthe season against Tarleton State at 7p.m. Wednesday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center

Thomas’unofficialdebut was an exhibition win against Central Florida Against the experienced Big 12 team, his crafty scoring andsnappypassing stood out, resulting in 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting, nine assists, two steals and two turnovers in a75-68 road win.

“I really haven’tplayed witha point guard like DJ,” junior Jalen Reed said. “I got extreme confidence in my guy right here.” Thomas hadthe ideal teacher to learn the position from in his dad, who was second in the country in assistsper game (8.6)duringthe 1992-93 season. But his dad won’ttake all of the credit.

“Naturally,he’sagiver,” the elder Thomas said. “I believe that point guards are born, they’re not something you can make.”

At the SoutheasternConferencemediaday,McMahon said his point guard has been a“breath of fresh air” with his mind for the game and trustworthiness asa decision-maker

“(He has) the ability to make the people around him better,which Ithinkis alwaysthe most important

by aGrade 1left hamstring strain and will be evaluated in 7-10days. Hamstring issues have been especially problematic for him during the last two seasons of his injury-plagued career.

ThePelicans (1-6) played the front end of aback-tobackathomeonTuesday and start athree-game road trip when they visitthe Dallas Mavericks at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

MilesBridges scored 22 points; Kon Knueppel had 20 points and 12 rebounds; TreMann scored 18; Collin Sexton scored 17; and Ryan Kalkbrenner had 10 points and 11 rebounds for Charlotte. Former Tulane guard Sion James started for the Hornets (3-5) and had six points and ﬁvereboundsin 31 minutes.

The Hornets scored the first 11 points of the third quartertoturn atwo-point halftime deﬁcit intoa70-61 lead.

The Pelicans crept within two pointsonﬁve occasions

trait of an elite point guard,” McMahon said.

LSUpursued Thomaswith fervor because of how well he improved aweakness from lastyear

But why did the No. 15-ranked player in the transferportal,according to 247Sports, chooseaprogram that hasn’tmade the NCAA Tournament since 2021-22?

Thomas said he believes in McMahon’svision for him and theteam.

He also likes that his new coach has experience coaching special point guards suchasJaMorant at Murray State.

“He feels like I’m the type of point guard that he needs to get this thing back going,” Thomas said.

Any pressure to break the March Madnessdry spell at LSU doesn’tbother Thomas. He’ssolelyfocusedongetting wins andmakinghis teammates’ lives easier on the ﬂoor Joining an established powerhouse never has been his style, anyway.While many of the players his dad comesacross on the AAU circuitoften bounce around to differentteams,his son wanted to remain in his hometownofLas Vegas.

When he picked ahigh school, the younger Thomas didn’t choose the place that traditionally wins state titles He told hisdad, “Idon’t wantto go to Bishop Gorman, Iwanttoplayagainst thoseguys,”his dadrecalled.

Thomas playedatLiberty in Henderson, Nevada. As asophomore, he lost three straight times to aBishop Gormanteam ledbyse-

LSU

Continuedfrom page1C

21 pointson8-of-14 shooting andseven stealsin21 minutes. She startedthe second half in place of Richard, then quickly showed why she was one of the top transfers of the2025 cycle.

LSU’sﬁrst two bucketsof the third quarterwereFulwiley’shard, driving layups through contact.The junior guard convertedboth free throws she earned with those drivestothe rim, then raced back in transition to spike ashot out of bounds.

“You see that alot from (Fulwiley) on the defensiveend,”Mulkeysaid. “That’s God-given. Nobody taught her how to steal the ball, strip people. She was blessed with that talent. Quick hands.

“What we’re gonna try to do is have her play all three perimeter positions. Have

herunderstandwhenthe game’s on theline,good teamsare not gonna let you stripthemlike that. You’re gonna have to execute.”

Fulwiley was one of ﬁve LSU players who scored in double ﬁgures.

Williams, ajunior,added 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting and seven assists. Flau’jae Johnson, asenior,notched 12 points, sixrebounds and four steals. Freshman Grace Knoxscored10 points and grabbed four rebounds.

All 12 active Tigers saw the ﬂoor,and none of them playedmorethan23minutes.LSU also shot7 of 13 from beyond the arc and 17 of 23 at the free-throw line.

“What the nonconference does foryou when you have eight newcomers,” Mulkey said, “it allows youtosee things when the lights come on that maybe you hadn’t seen in practice —good or bad. And Ithink that’swhat I’m trying to do is give them

alla chance with the lights on andplaywithdifferent combinations.”

Houston Christian, ateam that plays in the Southland Conference, converted only 38% of its field-goal attempts and turned the ball over 33 times.LSU scored 46 points offthose giveaways while also outrebounding the Huskies 45-26. HCU leading scorer GraceBooth ﬁnishedwith 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting and seven rebounds. LSU next will host SoutheasternLouisiana at 7p.m Thursday.After that game, the Tigers willhit theroad to face Georgia Southern in amatchup they’re billing as ahomecoming forFlau’jae Johnson.{/div}

Email Reed Darcey at reed.darcey@ theadvocate.com. For more LSUsports updates, signupfor ournewsletter at theadvocate.com/

but couldn’tpull even, and Charlotte took a93-87 lead into thefourthquarter Knueppelmadea 3-pointer to start the fourth-quarter scoring, but New Orleans kept chipping away until Alvarado’sheroics.

Charlotte madethree consecutive 3-pointers and opened a17-8lead before the Pelicans came to life. Jones, Murphy,Alvarado andPooleeach madea 3-pointer, andMatkovic added seven points during a 25-10 run that gave New Orleans asix-point lead. Bri dges ’3 -point er trimmed the lead to33-30 after aﬁrst quarter in which the Pelicans made 6-of-10 3-pointers.

New Orleans never relinquishedthe lead in thesecondquarter,and Murphy scored 13 of his points in theperiod as the lead grew to 57-45. Bridges scored sevenpointsand Charlotte ﬁnished on a14-4 runthat trimmed the lead to 61-59 at halftime

niorDarrion Williams,who nowstars at North Carolina State In the fourthmatchup, with astate championship on the line, Liberty won 6362 in overtime, squashing its opponents’ hopesofa 10th straight state title.

After being named Las VegasGatoradeBoysBasketball Player of the Year in 2023, he graduated high school ayear early. He wantedtoget to college sooner to enroll at UNLV instead of committing to high majorsthat offered him, such as Florida, Arizona, UCLA andHouston.

“When you’reafreshman like that, it’s alot of pressure,” theelder Thomas said. “You got adad that playedatUNLV, youknow. I have one of the biggest AAU programshere, so there’salwaysbeen kind of that pressure on him to perform.”

His son was also 160 pounds while trying to adjust to thephysicalityof college hoops. Even with those obstacles, the 18-yearold’sraw skills prevailed. He was the Mountain West Conference co-freshman of the yearafter averaging 13.6 points and5.1 assists.

His dadhad no qualms with his son leaving his alma mater,ashefeltitwas time to leave homeand seek the bigger challenge of the SEC.

“Anybody worth theirsalt wants to play on that stage, play againstthe best kids,” the elder Thomas said.

Hisson agrees andis ready to put on ashow.

“Pack the PMAC because it’sgoing to be exciting,”he said.

Email Toyloy Brown III at toyloy.brown@theadvocate.com

You knowhim well.Scotthas been covering LSU since 1992. He is theauthor of three highly acclaimed booksonLSU and was chosen as an LSU Expertfor ESPN’s SEC 150 Documentary

Each Monday,Scottwill puthis thoughts on the last week’sgameand thenextweek’sgame into avideo essayplacing the game in its context anddrawing historical parallels.

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

LSU guard Mikaylah Williams works to maintain possession of the ball as Houston Christian guard Dasia Hyams defends on Tuesdaynightatthe PMAC

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Pelicans forwardTreyMurphydunks against theCharlotte Hornets during the ﬁrst half on Tuesdaynight at the Smoothie King Center.The Pelicans won116-112.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

McNair ready to face alma mater

BY TOYLOY BROWN III Staff writer

At Tuesday’s media availabil-

ity, Southern interim coach Fred McNair answered questions before his team’s upcoming contest against Alcorn State Before joining the Jaguars, McNair was the head coach (2016-23) for the Braves after a standout college career as a quarterback with the school. From the sidelines, he led Alcorn to a 47-33 record, four SWAC East Division titles and two SWAC championships (2018 and 2019). He also earned SWAC coach of the year honors twice.

McNair fondly remembers those days at Alcorn State (3-6, 2-3 SWAC), but he isn’t allowing any reminiscing to get in the way of preparing Southern (1-8 0-5) for a win at 3 p.m. Saturday in Lorman, Mississippi

“When you’re going back and playing a school you graduated from I actually got two degrees from there — it’s always tough,” McNair said. “It’s gonna be a thing where I’m trying this week to not even bring that part up to the team. It’s not about me, it’s about preparing this Southern University football program to go out there and play a really good football game.”

To play that good game, Southern has to avoid penalties In the Jaguars’ 40-21 loss against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on the road last week, they had season-highs in penalties (14) and penalty yards (121).

Those numbers are “very disappointing” to McNair, who said the miscues are linked to frustration.

“The kids are frustrated with the way the team is going, and frustrated (with) the way they’re playing,” McNair said. “So it’s a combination of things that we got to ﬁx in the course of a week as coaches, and I’m the head of it. So I’ll get that ﬁxed this week.”

Other issues that led to the lopsided result last week were poor tackling and two occasions of busted coverages in the defensive backﬁeld, resulting in touchdowns.

One player who could boost the pass defense is safety Horacio Johnson, a preseason All-SWAC defender who has been out because of an ankle injury since Oct. 18.

“He came out and did some stuff for us yesterday individual stuff,” McNair said. “We’ll see

how it works the rest of the week, and hopefully he’ll be the (plugin) in the secondary that we need to help those guys in the back end.”

When asked whether he has changed any part of how the team practices to assist with those issues, McNair said he hasn’t.

“We’re going in and do the things we’ve been doing,” McNair said. “We just have to reiterate the things that we’re doing so bad.”

McNair said again that the poor execution of his players in games isn’t because of a lack of effort. He said it is a case of them “pressing,” which causes them to think too much and make mistakes as they play fast.

At Monday’s practice, McNair said the spirit of his group didn’t resemble a team saddled with a seven-game losing streak.

“It could easily be the other way,” McNair said of the team’s good energy The strong response behind the scenes excites the former Alcorn State coach.

He hopes this can be carried forward for the remainder of the week before the Jaguars face his alma mater

Email Toyloy Brown III at toyloy brown@theadvocate.com

“The kids are frustrated with the way the team is going, and frustrated (with) the way they’re playing. So it’s a combination of things that we got to fix in the course of a week as coaches, and I’m the head of it. So I’ll get that fixed this week.”

RABALAIS

Continued from page 1C

State (OC, 2016-18); Appalachian State (HC, 2019)

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?: Drinkwitz has squeezed a lot of wins out of Mizzou, but he is 7-16 against AP Top 25 teams. That said, he’s a bright offensive mind and likely would take the job if offered.

Brent Key

CURRENT POSITION: Georgia Tech head coach, fourth season

AGE: 47

SALARY: $4,500,000 RESUME: 26-17 record (all at Georgia Tech)

PREVIOUS COACHING: Western Carolina (TE/RB, 2004); UCF (GA, 2005; TE, 2006-07; TE/Special teams, 2008; OL, 2009-13; OC/OL 2014; OC/RB, 2015); Alabama (OL, 2016-18); Georgia Tech (OL/Run game coordinator, 2019-22; interim coach, 2022)

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?: Like Brohm, Key is coaching at his alma mater and that could make him play hard to get But the way he’s made Georgia Tech an ACC/ CFP contender makes him worth the pursuit.

Lane Kiffin

CURRENT POSITION: Ole Miss head

FRED MCNAIR, Southern interim coach

coach, sixth season

AGE: 50

SALARY: $9 million a year

RESUME: 113-53 record (52-19 at Ole Miss). Won two Conference USA titles at Florida Atlantic.

PREVIOUS COACHING: Jacksonville Jaguars (offensive quality control, 2000); USC (TE, 2001; WR, 2002-04; OC, 2005-06); Oakland Raiders (HC, 2007-08); Tennessee (HC, 2009); USC (HC, 2010-13); Alabama (OC, 2014-16); FAU (HC, 2017-19)

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?: Talk about complicated. The Rebels are almost certain to be in the CFP, making a wait for him long and difﬁcult. He also would be expensive to pull away from Ole Miss. Still, checks a lot of boxes and has to be high on the list at LSU and Florida.

Dan Lanning

CURRENT POSITION: Oregon head

coach, fourth season

AGE: 39

SALARY: $10.4 million a year

RESUME: 42-7 record (all at Oregon). Won 2024 Big Ten title.

PREVIOUS COACHING: Arizona State (RC, 2013); Sam Houston State (DB, 2014); Alabama (GA, 2015); Memphis (ILB, 2016-17); Georgia (OLB, 2018; DC, 2019-21)

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?: He recently said he’s never leaving Oregon, but all coaches say that. He would be as expensive as anyone to pry

Ohio State gets top billing in initial rankings

Indiana, Texas A&M, Alabama next

BY EDDIE PELLS AP national writer

Ohio State received top billing in the ﬁrst College Football Playoff rankings of the season Tuesday, followed by Indiana, Texas A&M and Alabama.

The top three head into the ﬁnal four weeks of the regular season undefeated. Another team with no losses, BYU of the Big 12, was ranked seventh. At No. 5 was Georgia, followed by Ole Miss. All of the top six came from either the Big Ten or Southeastern Conference — a dose of business as usual despite a season that has been anything but predictable. This marked the first of six weekly rankings the 12-person playoff committee will release this season, ending Dec. 6 when the ﬁnal list will set the bracket for college football’s 12-team playoff.

That tournament begins Dec. 19-20 with four games on the campus of seeds No. 5-8. The top four seeds play winners of those games over the New Year holiday and the title game is set for Jan 19 at Hard Rock Stadium outside Miami.

Texas Tech was ranked eighth and Oregon came in at No 9. Rounding out the top 12 were Notre Dame the only team in the Top 25 not from a power conference — then Texas and Oklahoma But if the bracket were set based on these rankings, the Longhorns and Sooners would miss out — bumped by No. 14 Virginia of the ACC and Memphis of the American. That’s thanks to a rule that places the ﬁve bestranked conference champions into the bracket even if they’re not in the top 12. Memphis wasn’t among the committee’s top 25 but was still the highest ranked leader in a Group of 5 conference.

Still holding out hope are teams such as 16th-ranked Vanderbilt and 17th-ranked Georgia Tech, each of whom spent time in the AP Top 10 this season thanks to upsets that turned college football upside down through September and October Tweaks in bracket

out of his current school with a $20 million buyout. Still, he probably should be at the top of LSU’s list.

Clark Lea

CURRENT POSITION: Vanderbilt head coach, ﬁfth season

AGE: 43

SALARY: $3,711,137

RESUME: 23-35 record (all at Vanderbilt). Won 2024 SEC coach of the year

PREVIOUS COACHING: South Dakota State (LB, 2007-08); UCLA (GA, 2009; LB, 2010-11); Bowling Green (LB, 2012); Syracuse (LB, 201315); Wake Forest (LB, 2016); Notre Dame (LB, 2017; DC, 2018-20)

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?: Lea has done an incredible job at Vanderbilt the past two seasons, getting the Commodores into CFP contention. One huge question, though: How much is Vandy’s success about Lea and how much is it quarterback Diego Pavia?

Nick Saban

CURRENT POSITION: College football analyst, ESPN

AGE: 74

SALARY: N/A

RESUME: 297-71-1 record (48-16 at LSU). Won seven national titles (one at LSU), 12 conference titles (two at LSU), 14 national and ﬁve SEC coach of the year awards.

PREVIOUS COACHING: Kent State

(LB, 1975-76); Syracuse (OLB, 1977); West Virginia (DB, 197879); Ohio State (DB, 1980-81); Navy (DB, 1982); Michigan State (DC, 1983-87); Houston Oilers (DB, 1988-89); Toledo (HC, 1990); Cleveland Browns (DC, 1991-94); Michigan State (HC, 1995-99); LSU (HC, 2000-04); Miami Dolphins (HC, 2005-06); Alabama (HC, 200723)

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?: Saban has maintained he’s retired and appears to enjoy TV, even if that means sitting next to Pat McAfee on the “College GameDay” set. Still, if there’s one school he would listen to, it likely would be LSU (although Ausberry said Tuesday there’s no way Saban is coming back to coaching).

Would not be a long-term coach but could re-establish a championship culture.

Kelvin Sheppard

CURRENT POSITION: Detroit Lions defensive coordinator ﬁrst season

AGE: 37

SALARY: N/A

RESUME: A member of the Lions’ coach staff since 2021.

PREVIOUS COACHING: LSU (director of player development, 2020); Detroit Lions (OLB, 2021; LB, 202224)

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?: If LSU called, he’d likely come, but probably too little experience for a job

“We felt like a separator there was defensively, and Ohio State and Indiana were better defensively,” said committee chair Mack Rhoades, the athletic director at Baylor Rhoades also spent time discussing Oregon, which was ranked sixth in the AP poll but ninth in the playoff rankings. The Ducks’ best win this year was a 20-point victory over Northwestern.

“When we looked at and evaluated Oregon, we really looked at the quality of the team and how they looked on ﬁlm,” Rhoades said.

The biggest change in the setup of this year’s bracket was eliminating the ﬁrst-round bye for the four best conference champions. It would mean that Virginia, instead of jumping from a No. 14 ranking to a No 3 seed, would be seeded 11th with a road game against Ole Miss. It would also place the SEC’s best team, Texas A&M, one spot behind Indiana. The ranking of the top three undefeateds was among the most anticipated decisions coming from the committee. They ended up placing them in the same order as voters in this week’s AP Top 25. It left questions as to how much weight the committee will give to strength of schedule: A&M’s was 18 notches higher than Ohio State’s and 24 higher than Indiana’s.

this big. Still, his meteoric coaching rise makes the former LSU player one to watch.

Jon Sumrall

CURRENT POSITION: Tulane head coach, second season

AGE: 43

SALARY: N/A

RESUME: 38-11 record (15-7 at Tulane). Won two Sun Belt Conference titles at Troy and was SBC coach of the year in 2022.

PREVIOUS COACHING: University of San Diego (DL, 2007-09; DC, 201011); Tulane (Co-DC, 2012-14); Troy (DB/Special teams, 2015-17); Ole Miss (LB, 2018); Kentucky (LB, 2019-20, Co-DC, 2021); Troy (HC, 2022-23)

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?: Tulane’s loss at UTSA last week dimmed the Green Wave’s playoff hopes but also makes it more likely he will be available at season’s end. He has been mentioned as a strong candidate at Auburn, but if LSU came calling, it would be hard to turn down.

Note: Private schools such as Tulane and NFL franchises are not required to make coaches’ salaries public. Salary ﬁgures are from a USA Today database published Oct. 8.

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ä Southern at Alcorn State. 3 P.M.SATURDAy

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

Southern interim coach Fred McNair speaks to quarterback Ashton Strother before the Florida A&M game on Oct 25 at A.W Mumford Stadium.

Southern interim coach returns to Alcorn State for SWAC matchup

BUKATy

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By ROBERT F

Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman throws to first base against the Athletics on Sept. 16 in Boston. Bregman and the Red Sox agreed to a $120 million, three-year contract in February but he gave up $80 million for 2026 and 2027 to decline his option.

Bregman, other MLB stars decline options

and 62 RBIs in 114 games.

Sides takes on role of closer for Central Private

BY JACKSON REYES Staff writer

When Central Private needed a set point, outside hitter Addyson Sides was there to deliver the ﬁnishing blow

The senior member of the Redhawks was responsible for the winning points in all three sets as No. 13 Central Private (16-16) defeated No. 20 Academy of Sacred Heart-Grand Coteau 3-0 in the bidistrict round of the high school volleyball playoffs at Central Private on Tuesday night.

Central Private will take on No. 4 McGehee in the regional round next.

The Redhawks won 25-21, 25-12 and 25-11. Sides tallied 19 kills, seven digs, two blocks and two aces.

Her focus in practice Monday was to just put away the easy shots.

“Just whatever they weren’t covering is where we were going,” Sides said.

By The Associated Press

NEW YORK Boston third baseman Alex Bregman and right-hander Lucas Giolito, New York Mets

ﬁrst baseman Pete Alonso and closer Edwin Díaz, and New York Yankees out-

fielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger were among the players who turned down player options or exercised opt-outs to become free agents Tuesday San Diego pitcher Robert Suarez also turned down his option and went free on the third day of the five-day free agent window

A total of 153 players have become free agents after the end of the World Series, and several dozen more potentially can go free through Thursday depending on whether team, player and mutual options are exercised.

Bregman, a former LSU star, and the Red Sox agreed to a $120 million, three-year contract in February, but he gave up $80 million for 2026 and 2027 to decline his option. He gets $40 million for his one year with Boston, of which he received $20 million this year He also gets a $5 million signing bonus payable on Jan. 15, 2028, and $20 million payable in annual $2 million installments each June 15 starting in 2035. He hit .273 with 18 homers

A 31-year-old three-time All-Star third baseman, Bregman was sidelined between May 23-July 11 by a strained right quadriceps. Giolito, a right-hander, declined a $19 million mutual option with a $1.5 million buyout, ending a contract that paid him $38.5 million for two seasons.

The 31-year-old returned on April 30 from elbow surgery in March 2024 and was 10-4 with a 3.41 ERA in 26 starts and 145 innings. Alonso received $30 million for one season under his $54 million, two-year deal and declined a $24 million salary for 2026. The five-time All-Star first baseman, who turns 31 next month, batted .272 with 38 homers, 41 doubles and 126 RBIs last season. Díaz earned $64 million for three seasons in the $102 million, five-year contract he agreed to in November 2022, including $7.35 million in deferred payments through 2039 The threetime All-Star gave up salaries of $18.5 million in both 2026 and 2027 that were in his player option. Díaz, 31, had 28 saves in 31 chances and was 6-3 with a 1.63 ERA. He missed the 2023 season after tearing his right patellar tendon while celebrating a Puerto Rico win at the World Baseball Classic

Bellinger, acquired by the Yankees from the Chicago Cubs last December, earned $57.5 million from the $80 million, three-year contract he reached in February 2024. He declined a $25 million option for 2026 and instead will receive a $5 million buyout payable in equal installments on Jan. 15 in 2026 and 2027. A 30-year-old outfielder and first baseman, he batted .272 with 29 homers and 98 RBIs — including .302 with 18 homers and 55 RBIs at Yankee Stadium. Suarez gave up $16 million from his $46 million, ﬁve-year contract, declining $8 million player options for 2026 and 2027. The 34-year-old right-hander, a two-time All-Star, was 4-6 with a 2.97 ERA and an NLhigh 40 saves in 45 chances. Milwaukee declined an $18 million mutual option on ﬁrst baseman Rhys Hoskins, who gets a $4 million buyout, and a $15 million mutual option on left-hander Jose Quintana, who receives a $2 million buyout Seattle exercised a $6 million option on closer Andrés Muñoz, part of a contract that guaranteed the 26-yearold right-hander $7.5 million from 2022-25. The Mariners hold options at $8 million for 2027 and $10 million for 2028. Muñoz had a 1.73 ERA and 38 saves in 45 chances this season.

Ohtani, Dodgers already talking about three-peat

BY BETH HARRIS Associated Press

LOS ANGELES The party’s over, and now the Los Angeles Dodgers are turning to 2026 with designs on winning a third consecutive World Series.

“What’s better than two?” manager Dave Roberts asked at the team’s rally at Dodger Stadium on Monday. “Three — three-peat! Three-peat!” Roberts said he’d gotten permission from his friend Pat Riley to use the phrase that the Miami Heat president trademarked in 1988. Soft-spoken and rarely seen team owner Mark Walter vowed to be “back next year” for another championship celebration.

First baseman Freddie Freeman told a sold-out crowd, “Job in 2024, done. Job in 2025, done. Job in 2026 starts now.”

With three titles in the past six years, the Dodgers next will attempt to equal the New York Yankees, who were the last team to win three consecutive championships from 1998-2000.

“I’m already thinking about the third time we’re going to do this,” superstar Shohei Ohtani said.

It certainly seems possible. The team brings back all of its biggest names, alternately striking fear and

grudging admiration in the hearts of baseball’s other 29 teams. Los Angeles opened as +350 World Series favorites for 2026, according to Bet MGM Sportsbook Andrew Friedman, president of baseball operations, has already referred to this time as “the golden era of Dodgers baseball.”

Throw in five National League pennants in the past nine years and 12 NL West titles in 13 years and, well, the word “dynasty” is becoming synonymous with the Dodgers.

“I think deﬁnitionally it’s a dynasty,” Friedman said. “For me it’s still evolving and growing and we want to add to it and we want to continue it and do everything we can to put it at a level where people after us have a hard time reaching.”

The Dodgers won the title last year mixing and matching their relievers. This season, the starting rotation survived a string of injuries to return in time to pitch the team to its ninth World Series title in franchise history

“It’s really an exceptional, exceptional staff,” Phillies president Dave Dombrowski said after his team lost to the Dodgers in the NL Division Series. “If you’re going to beat them, you’re really going to have to do everything right.”

Ohtani was brought along slowly in his return to the mound this season after rehabbing from elbow surgery in December 2023. He produced another NL MVPworthy season at the plate and with no restrictions on the mound next year could do things few think possible.

The Dodgers have seven free agents, although threetime Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw officially retired when the World Series ended.

The most prominent are Kiké Hernández and Game 7 hero Miguel Rojas, whose home run tied the game in the ninth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Dodgers figure to make a push to bring Hernández back. He was a regular starter in the postseason where some of his biggest exploits have occurred. Rojas has been valuable off the bench the past three years, and his ability to play all three infield positions helped the team withstand injuries to Max Muncy and Tommy Edman. But he’s 36, and the Dodgers may want to acquire youth off the bench. The other four free agents are Michael Conforto and pitchers Andrew Heaney, Michael Kopech and Kirby Yates. None of them made any of the team’s postseason rosters.

The Redhawks entered the match on a four-game losing streak, but Sides felt her team came in with a fresh mindset.

“This game, ﬁnally, everything clicked,” she said. “We just had that energy where we were playing for each other.”

Sophomore outside hitter Stella Simmons finished with nine kills and five digs, senior right side hitter Kynlee Norris racked up five kills, and junior setter Bailee McCoy finished with 16 assists and two digs.

The win marked ﬁrst-year coach Amari Bellard’s ﬁrst playoff win.

“It’s been amazing just working with these girls,” Bellard said. “They come in every day They work hard It means so much to them to see this pay off.”

The ﬁrst set was back and forth to start. The largest lead either side would hold

early was a two-point advantage until the Saints took a 14-11 lead. Later in the set, Sacred Heart led 18-15 after an ace to force a Central Private timeout.

“I knew coming in we were pretty hyped,” Bellard said.

“The nerves were there. I told them just to calm down, stay disciplined and play our game.”

Her team came out with new life, going on a 6-1 run to take a 21-19 lead. The Redhawks closed out the set thanks to two kills by Sides and a Simmons’ ace.

“We definitely came in kind of nervous,” Sides said.

“But after that ﬁrst set, we realized this is our game, we’re going to play how we want to play We’re going to play to our level.”

“We come in, practice every day, and we serve and pass,” she said. “I said, ‘Just get back there and do what we do best,’ and they delivered, so I’m really proud of them.”

The Saints opened set three with a 4-0 lead. Sides put the Redhawks on the board with a kill. The point started an 8-1 run that included two more kills from her Later in the set, she accounted for four kills in a row that helped Central Private close out the match on an 8-0 run.

“It’s been awesome playing with them,” Sides said about her team. “We’re not the biggest school, but we get the job done.”

The Saints (9-15) led 7-6 to open the second set. McCoy tied it with a kill that sparked a 14-1 run to take a 20-8 lead. Sides had three kills and two blocks during the run. Senior libero Rory Forbes had five straight aces amid the streak of points. Sides tipped the ball over the net to an empty spot of the court to seal the set. Bellard pointed to her team getting comfortable as the reason the momentum began to shift.

PHOTO By APRIL BUFFINGTON Central Private’s Laney Sharpe hits the ball over the net as Academy of Sacred Heart-Grand Coteau defends during a playoff match at Central Private on Tuesday.

N.O. native Butera gets twopromotions

Became MLBmanager,dad on same day

thenext level.

Blake Butera never will forget Oct. 30, 2025.

At 1:17 p.m., his wife, Caroline, gave birth to the couple’sﬁrst child at Wake Med Hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina, an 8-pound, 10-ounce girl named Blaire Margaux Butera Afew hours later,Butera signed amultiyearcontract to become the manager of the Washington Nationals. At 33, the New Orleans native and former Mandeville High School standout became the youngest Major LeagueBaseball manager in 53 years, since Frank Quilici in 1972. Not bad for akid who learned to hit abaseball on the ﬁeld behind the one-story brick schoolhouse at Lake Castle School in Madisonville

“Thursday was one for the books,” said Barry Butera, Blake’sfather,while commuting to the Raleigh-Durham airport Friday with his wife, Rhonda, after the couple experienced the whirlwind week with their youngest son. “It was an unbelievable day.”

The Nationals announced the newsofButera’shiring on Halloween. His introductory news conference is scheduled forNov 17 in Washington D.C.

“Myguy!!!” said newlyhired OriolesmanagerCraig Albernaz in apost on Xwhen news of Butera’shiring broke. “Elitehuman, friend, husband and teacher Ihope the rest of the leagueis ready for this impact. I’m proud of youbrother.”

Blake Butera landed the Nationals’ gig after developing astrong reputation as ateacher anddeveloper of talent in the Tampa Bay Rays organization, where he

served for seven years as acoach and farm director.Inhis most recent position, he was asenior director ofplayer development for the Rays, who drafted him in the 35th roundout of Boston College in 2015.

While Butera enjoyed ameteoric rise to the big leagues, he paid hisduesalongthe way,showing precocity at everystop.Hemanaged fourminor-league teams —the ﬁrst at 25yearsold —and spent ayear as thequality-control coach for Leones del Escogido in theDominican Winter League. He was the bench coach for Team Italy in the2023 World Baseball Classic.

“Everything he’sdone, he’sbeen way ahead of the curve,”said his father,who has beenthe principal andbaseball coach at Lake Castle Privateschool since founding it in 1994. “There’snobody that studiesthe gameand loves thegame more than Blake does. He just eats, sleepsand drinks it.”

Theelder Butera said the Nationals didtheirhomework on his son. PaulToboni, the new director of baseballoperations for the Nationals, called him during the search process and spent 50 minutes learning about Blake’s backgroundand upbringing on thenorthshore. Butera and Toboni,35, now form the youngest manager-GM combo in the major leagues

“I’ve always believed that you win with people, and from our very ﬁrst conversation, it was clear that Blakeisthe right person andthe right leader for this role,” Toboni said inastatement.

“Blake comes into this position with experienceinavariety of roles in player development, includingasasuccessful manager, making him uniquely qualiﬁed to get themost outofthe players in theclubhouse and help us reach

“He possesses astrongbaseball acumen and has areputation for building strong relationships with players and staff, making him agreat ﬁt for us in Washington, D.C. We’re so excited to welcome him to theNationals family.”

Baseball is in the Buteras’ blood. Barry was astar inﬁelder at Jesuit High School and Tulane, and spent four years in the Boston Red Sox system in thelate 1970s and early 1980s. Blake’s older brother,Barry Jr., played at Jesuit and Boston College, and made it to the ClassAAlevel of theHouston Astros organization.

Blake’sappointmentvalidates years of coaching and parenting by theelder Butera. Barry started teaching at the original Lake Castle school his father founded in New Orleans East, shortly after retiring from baseball in 1980. He opened Lake Castle Private School in Madisonville in 1994 and said Blakewould attend Jets’ baseball practices and games at an early age.

“Weshouldn’tkeep him out of the dugout,” said Barry,who coached his sons for their entire youthplaying careers. “The kid has been around baseball his whole life. If Ihad anickel for every groundball Ihit to him and his brother,I’d be richer than Bill Gates.”

Since news broke last week, theButeras have been inundated with well wishes, congratulatorytexts and phone calls from friends and family members. One of the ﬁrst came from Denver Broncos assistant coach Pete Carmichael, afellow former Boston College baseball standout who befriended theButeras during his tenure coaching withthe New OrleansSaints. In landing themanagerial

Hudson ValleyRenegades manager BlakeButera watches from the dugout during aminor league baseballgame in Wappingers Falls, N.y., in 2019. Butera is aNew Orleans nativeand

School standout.

job,Butera becomes the third New Orleans native to manage a major-league team, joining Ron Washington (Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Angels) and Mel Ott (New York Giants).

“Blake is as even-keel as you can get, but he is very,very ex-

SCOREBOARD

Sacked-YardsLost

Punts

Fumbles-Lost

Penalties-Yards

Time of Possession33:20

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Arizona, Demercado 14-79, Knight 9-27, Dortch 1-9, Brissett 5-4. Dallas J.Williams 15-83,Prescott 4-34, Turpin 1-3, Davis 1-3. PASSING—Arizona, Brissett21-31-0-261. Dallas,Prescott 24-39-1-250. RECEIVING—Arizona, Harrison 7-96,McBride 5-55, Mi.Wilson 3-61,Higgins 3-30, Knight 2-20, Demercado1-(minus 1).Dallas, Lamb 7-85, Pickens 6-79,Ferguson 5-50, Flournoy 2-12, Turpin 2-10, Schoonmaker 1-14, J.Williams 1-0. MISSED FIELD GOALS—Dallas, Aubrey 68 College basketball Women’s state schedule Monday’s games Southeastern 105,Centenary 49 McNeese100, Pensacola Christian College 38 Nebraska103, Northwestern State 46 Tulane 74, Campbell72 Nicholls 72, Alcorn 66 Bowling Green 55,UL46 Iowa 86, Southern 51 Oklahoma State 109, UNO 48 UL-Monroe 80, Eastern Michigan 73 Tuesday’s games Southern Methodist 96,Grambling 70 Arkansas 93, Louisiana Tech 81 LSU 108, Houston Christian 55 Men’s state schedule Monday’s games Arkansas 109, Southern 77 Ball State 75, UL-Lafayette 64 Grambling 91, Huston Tillotson 47 McNeese110, Champion Christian College 46 UNO 78, TCU74 Northern Illinois 100, UL-Monroe 80 TexasA&M 98, Northwestern State 68 Tulane 85, Samford72 Ole Miss 88, Southeastern 58 Tuesday’s games Kentucky 77, Nicholls 51 Louisiana Tech at Nevada, n Wednesday’s games Southern at Marquette, 7p.m. Tarleton State at LSU,7p.m. Men’s national scores Tuesday EAST Manhattan 125, St. Joseph’s (BKN)59 Monmouth 96,Caldwell68 NJIT 72, Fordham 61

cited about it,” his father said.

“How manypeople become major-league managers at 33 on the sameday as their ﬁrst child is born? It’s unbelievable.”

Email JeffDuncanatjduncan@ theadvocate.com.

(Ryland kick), 12:17. Dal—Kneeland 8blocked punt return(Aubrey kick), 3:58. Ari—Brissett 1run (Ryland kick),:49 ThirdQuarter Ari—McBride 12 pass from Brissett(Ryland kick), 12:48. Dal—FG Aubrey 26, 7:15. Ari—FG Ryland34, 2:31. Fourth Quarter Dal—Flournoy 5pass from Prescott (Aubrey kick), 10:51. A—92,211. AriDal First downs2322 Total Net Yards340 333 Rushes-yards29-119 21-123 Passing 221210

ASSOCIATEDPRESS FILEPHOTO

former Mandeville High

PHOTO COURTESy OF BUTERA FAMILy

BlakeButera, center,is flanked by his parents Barry Butera and Rhonda Butera before abaseball game at LakeCastle School.

Jeff Duncan

Bon vi·vant /noun/ asociable person who has cultivatedand reﬁned tastes, especially with respect to food and drink. In theknow White Light Night:6p.m. to 10 p.m Nov.21along Government Street in Mid City

Get ready for Mid City’s largestart festival featuring artists, makers and more. The night includes live music, local vendors and restaurant specials. Some of the participating restaurants include Barracuda Taco Stand, Brasserie Byronz, Mid City Beer Garden, MJ’sCafe and Superior Grill.

Brasserie Byronz willbeone of the participating restaurants for this year’sWhite Light Night in Mid City

Thanksgiving buffet:11a.m. to 2p.m

Nov.27atHoumas House, 40136

La. 942, Darrow Houmas House and Gardens is hosting its annual Thanksgiving buffet under the Alleeof Oaks, weather permitting. The menu features roasted pork loin with herb demi-glace, primerib, roasted duck breast with praline sauce,tasso cornbreaddressing, garlic mashed potatoes, adessert display and more.

Tickets are $95 for adults and $55for children, available for purchase by calling the giftshop at (225) 473-9380.

ä See BONVIVANT, page 3D

AT HOME

BY MADDIE SCOTT Staff writer

When Needhi and RickPatel sold their MidCityrestaurant Tap65 in August,Need-

hi Patel wanted to curate an intimatecooking atmosphere where she could explain each course’sbackstory and origin to her guests.

“I wanted to do somethingwhere Ican do it from the house, but it’s intimate, small, while Icook and hang out with people who are here,” she said.

Spice Affair Supper Club was born in October, abusiness hosting about seated dinners for up to 36 people in the Patels’ Shenandoah backyard. Every dinner, the couple opens their home to guests, and Needhi Patel takes care of the cooking while Rick Patel handles thedrink pairings.

ä See POP-UP, page 2D

Louisiana Inspired is all about shining alight on people andorganizations who are workingtoward solutions in Louisiana neighborhoods, communities, towns,cities and throughout the state —it’s work that takes extra effort by special people,demonstrating the good stuff of the human spirit. Nominate someone you know who is making apositivedifference in the lives of others at www nola.com/site/forms/the_inspirit_

communities and state. Be sure to include stories of impact and detailsofpersonalstories that inspire change. Award recipients will be announced in December in Louisiana Inspired. Nominate someone extraordinary forthe

Items servedona recent evening at the SpiceAffair Supper Club include guloti kebab, fromleft, sabudana tiki chaat and panna cottamodak.

Needhi Patel, former co-owner of Tap65, prepares dishes fora

Spice Affair Supper Club pop-up from her backyard kitchen.

STAFF PHOTOSByMADDIE SCOTT

Spice Affair Supper Clubguests enjoya dinner in the backyard of Needhi and Rick Patel.

Lauren Cheramie BONVIVANT

Turning ahome into abusiness doesn’t happen overnight.

ThePatels acquired a home-based business permit and underwentbackyard renovations for four weeks, adding aconcrete foundation, outdoor kitchen, pergola and landscaping, projects executed by Baton Rougebased contractor Apex 360 LLC. The backyard’sminimalist, elegant style is designed to make guests feel at home, and the Indian music in the background provides an immersive experience.

“That’sthe feel we’re going for,” Rick Patel said. “Where it’sclean-cut, simple and provides avibe where it’sintimate and you’re able to enjoy the atmosphere without feeling like you’re in arestaurant.”

The menu, featuringIndian fusion dishes, changes every month. Allofthe ingredients on October’smenu were locally sourced, except the mutton, and all of the meats were marinated for 24 hours, Needhi Patel said Dinner time

On Oct. 24, the table of 11 guests started with Champagne and small bites. The courses, each paired with abeverage, rolled out at 6p.m.,startingwithamini papadum with chicken, a dish topped with coconut yogurt and sweet mango chutney

As each course was brought to guests, the Patels explained the dish’s backstory and origin. The second course, sabudana tikki chaat, is atapioca patty known for being astreet

masala curry with oyster mushroomsand wild rice, served with aside of garlic naan and aglass of chardonnay

Not only was it Needhi Patel’sfavorite dish to cook on the menu, but it was herﬁrst time cooking withscallops, something thatshocked guestsasthey noted the scallops’ tenderness. The scallops left plates quickly,opening theperfect opportunity to dip thegarlic naan in theleftover sauce.

“Working with scallops wasa differentexperience bringing allthe combinations together,”Needhi Patel said.

The fifthcourse, rogan josh curry,featured aslowcooked goat curry with fried

crisp roti and gingershavings. And after that wasdessert,a creamy pannacotta modak paired with acardamom chocolate espresso martini.

Twoupcoming dinners are plannedonNov.9 andNov 14 with aﬁve-course menu inspired after Goa,a state on the southwestern coast of India. Themenualsohas vegetarian versions of each dish.

Privateparties

In addition to monthly dinners, the Patels also offer privatedinners with 10-36

seats. Clients can customize the menu, and anything from previous menus is fair game, Rick Patel said. Those interested can book through the business’swebsite or its Instagram account,@spiceaffairsupperclub. Tickets run about $125 per person, butthatprice can ﬂuctuate,and meal time is ﬂexible as well.

“Whenthey walk away, they have adifferent relationship thanwhenthey ﬁrst got there —expanding someone’shorizons to enjoy dinnerwithstrangers,”Rick Patel said.

By The Associated Press

Today is Wednesday,Nov 5, the 309th day of 2025. There are 56 days left in the year

Todayinhistory:

On Nov.5,1872, suffragist Susan B. Anthony deﬁed the law by casting avotein the presidentialelection; she was later arrested and charged with “knowingly voting without having a lawful right to vote.” Found guilty at trial, she was ﬁned $100, which she refusedto pay Also on this date:

In 1605, the “Gunpowder Plot” failed as Guy Fawkes was seized before he could blow up the English Parliament; Fawkes and his co-conspiratorswere later convicted of treasonand hanged.

In 1912, Democrat Woodrow Wilson was elected president, defeating Progressive Party candidate Theodore Roosevelt, incumbent Republican William Howard Taft and Socialist Eugene V. Debs

In 1930,novelist Sinclair Lewis became the first American to winthe Nobel Prize in Literature. In 1940, Democratic incumbent Franklin D. Roos-

food in India, NeedhiPatel said. After that, there was agaloutikebab made with mutton, ground spices and papaya.

Thefourth course, scallopbutter masala, featured seared scallops in abutter

Along withthe scallops, which were marinated for 24 hours, the dish featured mushrooms andwild rice in abutter sauce. The crunchy and salty ricebalanced well with the creamy sauce.

TODAYINHISTORY

evelt won an unprecedented thirdterm as president, defeating Republican challengerWendell L. Willkie. In 1968, Republican Richard M. Nixon won the presidency, defeating Democratic Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and American Independent Party candidate George C. Wallace. In 1994,GeorgeForeman became the oldest heavyweight boxing champion at age 45, knocking out Michael Moorer in the 10th round of their title bout

In 1996, President Bill Clinton won asecond term in the White House, defeating Republican Bob Dole In 2006, Saddam Hussein was convicted of crimes against humanityand sentenced by the Iraqi High Tribunal to deathbyhanging.

In 2009, ashooting rampage atthe FortHood Army post in Texas left 13 people dead and wounded more than 30; Maj. Nidal Hasan, an Armypsychiatrist, was later convicted of murder andsentencedtodeath. He remains in prison on death row In 2017, agunmanarmed with an assault riﬂe opened fire in the First Baptist Church in Sutherland

Springs, Texas, killing more than two dozenpeople;the shooter, Devin Patrick Kelley,was later founddead from aself-inflicted gunshot wound.

In 2021, fans at aHouston musicfestival surged toward the stage during a performance by rapperTravis Scott, triggering panic that left 10 people dead and many more injured.

In 2024, Republican formerPresident Donald Trump was elected toa secondterm, defeating Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris; he was the secondpresident, after Grover Cleveland in 1892, to be elected to anonconsecutive term.

Today’sbirthdays: Singer Art Garfunkel is 84. Singer PeterNoone (Herman’s Hermits) is 78. TV personality Kris Jenner is 70. Singer BryanAdams is 66.Actor Tilda Swinton is 65. Actor Tatum O’Neal is 62. Actor Judy Reyesis58. Actor Seth Gilliamis57. Actor Sam Rockwell is 57. Musician Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead) is 54. Golfer Bubba Watson is 47. Olympic gold medal marathoner Eliud Kipchoge is 41. Musician Kevin Jonas (The Jonas Brothers) is 38.

meanttocover everything. That means if you wantprotection, youneed to purchase individualinsurance.

Early detection canprevent smallproblems from becoming expensive ones.

dentalinsurance, there maybe an importantgap in your healthcare coverage.

The best way to preventlarge dental bills is preventivecare. TheAmerican Dental Association recommends checkups twice ayear.

The menu at Spice Affair Supper Club changes monthly. October’smenu featured dishes likeScallop Butter Masala, GulotiKebab and Panna Cotta Modak

Scallop butter masalais servedat

Spice Affair Supper

Stockpilingfood forthe winter

Grownkidsneedtopitch in

Dear Heloise: It comes as no surprise that groceries are getting alot more expensive. Where Ilive, we are often snowed in for afew days during the winter, or the roads get so bad that it’snearly impossible to get to agrocery store. So, starting in September, I begin to stockpile food that will not perish for along timesuch as canned chili, canned soups, pasta and various sauces, or materials to makeasauce.

Items such as laundry soap, hand soap, toilet paper,paper towels, and shampoo can be stored in large plastic bins or cardboard boxes in the garage, and food items are stored under beds, in closets,or in any place with alittle extra room. Ibuy alittle at atime, and this way,it’snot such astrain on our budget. Even if it doesn’tsnow and we have arather “lean month,” Ican stillfeed my family —Casy J.,inMontana Airventcaps

Inevitably,because the capsare kept in aloosened state, they often fall off and roll under thewashing machine out of reach! So, just as Itendtoalso save the “main” caps (i.e. the larger screw-top or pop-on capsthat seal the jug’smain openingand often double as ameasuringcup),Ihave started to save afew of the smaller air vent capsas well so that Ihave aready replacementwheneverI lose one. —Angela M., in St. Louis

Disposingofmeds

Dear Heloise: Anational drug retail chain (CVS) has adisplay near thepharmacy where you can dispose of medications.Place the pills into azip-close bag ﬁrst. Remove any personal informationfrom the container before puttingintothe trash can —Marcy,inMenifee California Marcy,good hint!And readers, if you cannot peel off alabel, besure to take a wide, black, felt-tipped pen andcross outall the informationonthe bottle. Protect your privacy. —Heloise Send ahint to heloise@ heloise.com.

Dear Heloise: My hint is to save the air vent caps from very large jugs of liquid laundry detergent when it comes time to toss out the empties. These are the small screw-top capsthat are usually on thetop of the jug,and youcan loosen them to let air in so that the liquid ﬂows smoothly from the spigot

The garlic shrimp is a shareable dish at Pamplona Tapas Bar in Lafayette. STAFF

PHOTO By

JOANNA BROWN

By JOyHOLDEN Tostones fromSazon Latin Grill in BatonRouge

BEST

Continued from page1D

cool fall morning.

Iordered aside of tostones because Icouldn’tget enough of plantains, and they were the best I’ve had in years —massive in size, crispy on the edges and fluffy in the center,wellsalted. Iamcurious about so many other items on the menu, and Icannot wait to go back.

—Joy Holden, features reporter

Garlic shrimp n Pamplona TapasBar, 631 Jefferson St., Lafayette

If youcan’t gettoPamplona Tapas Barduring its popular Christmas or Halloween pop-ups —during theholidays,Pamplona is one of the hottest tickets in town —don’tworry at all. Pamplona’smenuoftapas and shareables is worth a trip to downtown Lafayette all year long. I’m abig fan of thegarlic shrimp,luxuriouslycooked in aspicy garlic broth that is deliciouswith afresh loaf of ciabatta.

One order is enough for two peopleto share, but you won’t be satisﬁed unless you also try at least half adozen otheritems from Pamplona’s excellent tapas menu, such as the bacon-wrapped dates,morcilla quailegg or albondigas —rich meatballs in atasty,cheesy redsauce.

—JoannaBrown, staff writer

Dear Miss Manners: Forthe past 15 years or so, my wife and I have been hosting a potluck feast for Thanksgiving, with about 30 friends and family joining us at our house.

In our invitation, we announce thatwe’re supplying the turkey, soft drinks, booze and afew other staples, and ask others to bring an appetizer, side dish, dessert, etc. We even circulateasignup spreadsheet to keep things organized. Years ago, when we began this tradition, everyone’skids were teenagers and weren’texpected to contribute. But now they’re in their late 20s withgood jobs, apartments, ﬁancés and signiﬁcant others, and theystill don’tcontribute. They literally step out of their cars empty-handed.

Iguess we could put everyone’snameonthe spreadsheet and ask them to indicate what they’re bringing, but we haven’t done thatinthe past. We prefer to keep it casual. Idon’twant to call

BONVIVANT

Continuedfrom page1D

Newfood on theblock

The kale Caesar wrap is now on the menu fulltime at Overpass Merchant, 2904 Perkins Road,Baton Rouge. Tryitwith grilled chicken for extra protein. Wine andspirits

Duckhornwine pairing dinner: 7p.m. to 9p.m. Thursday at Sullivan’sSteakhouse, 5252 Corporate Blvd., Baton Rouge

Enjoy afive-course, prix fixe menu, paired with wines from Duckhorn Vineyards. The menufeatures dishes like roasted duck breast, poached Chilean sea bass and truffle-crusted ribeye. Tickets are $115 per person, available for purchase at sullivanssteakhouse.com/promotions/ duckhorn-wine-pairingdinner-baton-rouge.

Wine tasting:5:30 p.m Tuesday at Bin 77 Bistro &Sidebar,10111 Perkins Rowe, Baton Rouge

Join the team at Bin 77 for an educational tasting of traditional new wines to pair withyour favorite holiday dishes. Each wine will be paired with chefcurated bites. Tickets are $25 at resy.com/cities/ baton-rouge-la/venues/ bin-77-bistro-and-winebar/events/holiday-winetasting-2025-11-11.

If you have an upcoming food event or akitchen question, emaillauren. cheramie@theadvocate. com. Cheers!

anyone out or make them feel uncomfortable, and it’s ﬁne if not everyone brings something, but Iwould like the younger generation to start pitching in. How can Iencourage themtocontribute without creating an awkward situation?

Gentle reader: Say to each of the parents what you just said to Miss Manners: the bit about how you think it is time for the younger generation to contribute, but you understand if there are exceptions and do not want anyone to feel singled out Then leave themtospeak withtheir children.

If thissounds simple, be warned: There are traps. Parents faced with memories of trying to getrooms cleaned or homework done are likely to embrace any suggestion that would relieve themofresponsibility —such as your idea to modify the sign-up sheet

Note that you are not spared from calling your own children. If they do not show up bearing food, any progress will be resented.

DearMiss Manners: Iwas in an upscale restaurant and the 20-something server totally messed up. The appetizers never arrived, our order was incorrect, etc.

The young woman gave ahalf-hearted apology that mostly blamed the kitchen. Then she just stood there, waiting for my response.

Other than, “Yes, you did aterrible job,” what could Isay? It seems that young people want to hear “That’s OK,” but bad service is not OK. How should one respond?

Gentle reader: The proper response lies between those two extremes. By saying, “Thank you for your apology,” you accept it without suggesting that the infraction was unimportant. But

you also avoid the equally ineffective —not to mention rude —trap of criticizing the apology or repeating the complaint. Miss Manners acknowledges that the apology was shabby,but pointing this out will neither improve the young lady’swork ethic nor increase her propensity to take responsibility in the future. Treating it as aproper apology leaves her with no doubt that you are aware things went badly wrong, and you generously see her as having accepted responsibility for it.

Send questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail. com; or through postal mail to MissManners, Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City MO 64106.

STAFF PHOTO

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Pickyourbattles wisely and use your time and energy appropriately. Let your actions speak for you and let your intentions lead to victory. Talk with authority and pursue what's purposeful.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Do the dirty work first. Deal with agencies, institutions and authority figures. High energy and discipline will bring about positive change at home and work.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Pay attention and nourish what you want to achieve. Setguidelines,boundariesandschedules to achieve your objective. Think ahead, consider others and move forward with a positive attitude.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Keep your thoughts to yourself. Give yourself a chance to digest every aspect of a situation before acting. Pay more attention to self-improvement and personal growth.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Consider your financial position and where your money will have the most significant impact. Attendtradeshowsornetworkingevents that keep you up to date on the latest technology and trends.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Takemattersinto your own hands and adjust whatever is causing you grief. Finding solutions and takingstepswillhelpyoudiscoverwhat's purposeful.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Ignoring what's bothering you isn't a solution; it's denial. Pay attention and distance yourself from

excessive individuals and pastimes that negatively impact your life.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Be adventuresome and try something new. Replace indulgent behavior with worthwhile goals that result in satisfaction and confidence.Focusyourenergywhereitmatters and reap the benefits.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Hit the reset button. It's essential to think before you act if you want to get the highest return. Welcome change and realign your goals with what's new and exciting.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Avoid people applying unnecessary force or pressure. Don't risk your physical well-being or do something that puts you in harm's way. A change that helps you perform better will have a positive impact on your life.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Taking a new or differentapproachtolife,loveandhappiness will help you let go of what's holding you back from making progress. Focus on what flows forward smoothly.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Home improvements that make your routines easier or less stressful will help you build momentum and clarity. Follow your heart, prepare for change and release negative influences.

Andrews McMeel Syndication

FAMILY CIrCUS

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

TODAy'S CLUE: S EQUALS G

CeLebrItY CIpher

For better or For WorSe

And erneSt

SALLY Forth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon

bIG nAte

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place thenumbers 1to9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box containsthe samenumber onlyonce. The difficulty level of theSudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s PuzzleAnswer

THewiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

BY PHILLIP ALDER Bridge

WinstonChurchillsaid,“Menoccasionallystumbleoverthetruth,butmostpick themselvesupandhurryoffasifnothing had happened.” When adeclarer stumbles,itisthe job of thedefenders to make sure that he falls, unabletopick himself up and still make his contract In today’s deal, South ended in four spades. And when it was originally played, two errors were made, which balanced each other out. West led the diamondking (under which East accurately dropped thejack to show the 10 as well). South ducked,took the next diamond with his ace,drewtwo rounds of trumps ending on the board, played a heart to hisace, and led asecond heart. When West played the queen, declarer ducked in the dummy. NowWest cashed the club ace to stop an overtrick. What were thetwo mistakes? In the modern style, North responded three spades, showing aweak hand with four-card spade support.Withagame-invitational hand,North would have cue-bidthree clubs. This styleallowsresponder to bid either constructively or obstructively. Now to the errors. First,aswesaw yesterday, when Southled alow heart from the board at trick five, he should have put in his 10. East would have been kept offthe lead.

Second, when Southwon with hisheart ace, West shouldhave realizedthathe needed to get hispartner on play for a club lead through South. West should have sacrificed his heartqueen under South’sace. Then South would have fallen on his face.

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

Previous answers:

word game

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

ToDAY’s WoRD oRnATE: or-NATE: Elaborately or excessively decorated.

Average mark20words

Time limit 30 minutes

Can you find 27 or morewords in ORNATE?

YEsTERDAY’s WoRD —sIAMAnGs

saga sang sans siamang sigma sign sing snag again agism amass amassing amiss assign magi main mana mania mass miss gain gamin

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

hidato

mallard fillmore

MINUTES CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY OF BAKER PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE STATEOFLOUISIANA

COUNCIL CHAMBERS

3325 GROOM ROAD, BAKER, LOUISIANA 70714

www.youtube.com/@bakerforward October 28, 2025 -6:00 p.m.

The City Council of the City of Baker,Louisiana, met in regular session on October 28, 2025, with the following members in attendance at the meeting: MAYOR Darnell Waites

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

CALL TO ORDER –Mayor Waites presided.

The invocation was given by Council Member Murphy

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

DISPOSITION OF THE MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

The motion was made by Council Member Vincent, seconded by Council Member Murphy to approve the minutes of the meetings held on October 14, 2025 and October 21, 2025.

The mayor called for public comments or questions.

Vote was called for YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy,Vincent, Young NAYS: None

ABSENT:None ABSTAIN: None

The motion passed with avote of 5-0.

Mr.Christopher Toombs, arepresentative from the Office of Mayor-

President Sid Edwards, provided an overview of the Thrive! Program. Mr Toombs asked everyone to consider supporting the program during the upcoming election on November 15th by voting to renew millages for the East Baton Rouge Parish Library,Mosquito Abatement and the Council on Aging. He said renewing the millages will help avoid cutbacks as well as loss of services, thereby allowing the parish to continue to move forward.

RECOGNITIONS

1. Proclamation declaring October 2025 Domestic Violence Awareness Monthinthe City of Baker (Vincent)

The proclamation was read by Aneatra Boykin.

The motion was made by Council Member Vincent, seconded by Council Member Murphy to accept the proclamation.

The mayor called for public comments or questions.

Vote was called for YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy,Vincent, Young NAYS: None

ABSENT:None

ABSTAIN: None

The motion passed with avote of 5-0.

2. Recognize Metro-Councilwoman Twahna Harris and the Butterfly Society (Mayor) Metro-Councilwoman Twanna Harris, The ButterflySociety,spoke about domestic violence in Baton Rouge, the surrounding areas, and across the country.Ms. Harris stated domestic violence is acrisis and it is imperative that the community take astand. She reminded everyone that while Octoberisrecognized as Domestic Violence Month, domestic violence is aproblem all the time. Ms. Harris explained anumber of the resources and services provided by The ButterflySociety and reiterated the importance of being involved and offering support to domestic violence survivors and their families. She said outreach is aspecialty of the ButterflySociety and asked that anyone needing assistance contact them. She reminded everyone that domestic violence is acommunity concernand that it takes each and every one of us to do something in order to make adifference.

3. Proclamation declaring November 2025 Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month in the City of Baker (Vincent)

The proclamation was read by Aneatra Boykin.

Council Member Vincent recognized the Howardfamily and the Elvin HowardPancreatic Cancer Foundation, and asked family representative Veronica HowardSizer to speak. Ms. Sizer provided an overview of the foundation and its work. Shestated the foundation’smission is to put information out regarding pancreatic cancer and its signs and symptoms in an effort to reduce pancreatic cancer deaths. She invited everyone to join the Elvin Howard, Sr., Pancreatic Cancer Advocacy Foundation for its ninth annual fundraiser onFriday,November 14, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. at Boudreaux’s. She announced the foundation is partnering with the City of Baker and together they will host a5Krun/1 mile walk on Saturday November 8, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. at City Hall.

The motion was made by Council Member Vincent, seconded by Council Member Murphy to accept the proclamation. The mayor called for public comments or questions. Vote was called for YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy,Vincent, Young NAYS: None ABSENT:None ABSTAIN: None The motion passed with avote of 5-0.

4. Recognize the Howardfamily and the Elvin HowardPancreatic Cancer Foundation (Vincent) This agenda item was addressed earlier in the meeting. 5. The Chill Zone Snoballs Location –3269 Groom Road, Baker,Louisiana The Chill Zone Snoballswas recognized as anew business in the City of Baker 6.

YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy,Vincent, Young

NAYS:None ABSENT: None

ABSTAIN: None

The motion passed with avote of 5-0.

NEW BUSINESS

1. Introduce Ordinance 2025-22, an ordinance authorizing the City of Baker to amend the Baker Municipal Code of Ordinances, Part II, Chapter 5, buildings and building regulations related to charges and fees for roofing construction inspections and permits and other matters in furtherance (Mayor)

The motion was made by Council Member Murphy,seconded by Council Member Vincent to introduce Ordinance 2025-22.

The mayor called for public comments or questions.

Vote was called for YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy,Vincent, Young NAYS:None ABSENT:None

ABSTAIN: None

The motion passed with avote of 5-0.

2. ChangeNovember 11, 2025 councilmeeting date (Mayor)

The motion was made by Council Member Vincent, seconded by Council

Members Collins/Murphy to change the date of the November 11, 2025

council meeting to Monday,November 10, 2025 at 6:00 p.m.

The mayor called for public comments or questions.

Vote was called for YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy,Vincent, Young

NAYS:None ABSENT:None

ABSTAIN: None

The motion passed with avote of 5-0.

PUBLIC MEETING

1. Adopt Ordinance 2025-6, regulations regarding automobile repair work and oil changes in residential and subdivision areas and to provide for other matters regarding to the same (Mayor) (Introduced 10/14/2025) Publicmeeting was held.

Dr.Toni Jackson provided an overview of changes to the proposed ordinance that she submitted to the mayor and council prior to the meeting. Dr.Jackson asked that the council consider implementing said recommendations prior to adopting the proposed ordinance.

Discussion followed.

The motion was made by Council Member Collins, seconded by Council

Members Dunn/Murphy to adopt Ordinance 2025-6 subject to legal review

The mayor called for public comments or questions.

Vote was called for YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy,Vincent, Young

NAYS: None

ABSENT: None

ABSTAIN: None

The motion passed with avote of 5-0.

ANNOUNCEMENTS/COMMENTS

1. District 3announcements (Collins)

Council Member Collins reminded everyone that the Magnolia Rose Foundation will host its 4th annual Magnolia Masquerade “Gatsby Gala” on Saturday,November 1, 2025 from 8:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. in the Municipal Auditorium. Tickets for the event are$40.00. She invited everyone to join her for the District 3walk Thursday,October 30, 2025 at 5:00. Council

Member Collins provided an overview of the new programs being offered at the facility on Alabama Street. Some of the programs offered include Pickleball, Zumba, ballroom and line dancing. She encouraged everyone to take advantage of these new opportunities.

2. District 2announcements (Dunn)

Council Member Dunn thanked the mayor for his continued support and for coming to her church on Sunday and presenting her pastor a proclamation on his 23rdanniversary at Shady Grove First Missionary Baptist Church. She thanked the Public Works Department for always responding when called. She also thanked Jermaine for the condition of the walking track. Council Member Dunn said the work at the park on N. Magnolia is going well. She thanked David and his team for providing transportation for the speed bump walk. She stated volunteers will be in the neighborhood again on Thursday working to procuresignatures, so that the speed bump project can move forward.

Council Member Collins announced therewas agroundbreaking ceremony held earlier today on Groom Road for the MoveBR project.

Council Member Vincent thanked the Public Works Department forpicking up trash on Highway 19. He thanked FutureSeed for taking careofthe yardonDriftwood that was in need of cleanup. Council Member Vincent announced that the Lions Club is considering establishing afood pantry in the City of Baker in partnership with Rock Zion Baptist Church. He announced the Louisiana Book Festival is being held Saturday,November 1, 2025 at the State Capitol. He also reminded everyone that daylight savings time begins this week. Council Member Vincent thanked the mayor and his employees for helping him with the numerous requests he receives from constituents.

Council Member Young invited everyone to the next Cheer and Chat meeting on Thursday,November 6, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. at Baker High School.The meetings provide an opportunity for students, parents, all interested parties, to discuss issues regarding Baker schools. He announced that the mayor and council areawareofthe roots pushing up sections of the walking track and that the situation is being addressed.

Council Member Murphy encouraged everyone to tell their clergy and pastors that they areappreciated, as October is Pastor and Clergy Appreciation Month, he also thanked Pastor Shannon for attending tonight’smeeting.

APPOINTMENTS TO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS

ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS The mayor commended council members for their willingness to work with him and one another

The mayor reminded everyone to vote on November 15th.

CONDEMNATIONS

REPORTS ON BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS

1. Planning and Zoning Commission

ADJOURN

The motion was made by Council Member Vincent, seconded by Council

Member Dunn to adjourn.

The mayor called for public comments or questions.

Vote was called for YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy,Vincent, Young

NAYS:None

ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None

CITY OF BAKER

with avote of 5-0.

PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE STATEOFLOUISIANA

I,AngelaCanady

(Vincent) The proclamation was read by Aneatra Boykin.

The motion was made by Council Member Vincent, seconded by Council Member Murphy to accept the proclamation.

The mayor called for public comments or questions. Vote was called for

AngelaCanady Wall, LCMC Clerk of Council MINUTES BOARD OF

BAKER, LA 70714 October 28, 2025

The City Council of the City of Baker, Louisiana, sitting as the Board of Commissioners for Norman E. “Pete” Heine Memorial Gardens, met in regular session on October 28, 2025, with the following members in attendance at the meeting:

COMMISSIONERS Desiree Collins Rochelle Dunn Cedric Murphy Dr.Charles Vincent Darnell Waites Robert Young

CALL TO ORDER –Commissioner Waites presided.

DISPOSITION OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

The meeting wascalled to order and the motion wasmade by Commissioner Waites, seconded by Commissioner Murphy to approve the minutes of the meeting held on October 14 2025.

Commissioner Waites called for public comments or questions.

Vote wascalled for YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy,Vincent, Waites, Young NAYS: None

ABSENT:None

ABSTAIN: None

The motion passed by avote of 6-0.

PUBLIC NOTICE

NEW BUSINESS

OTHER NECESSARYBUSINESS

1. Monthly Business Report

2. Other Reports

3. Items Requiring Action

ADJOURN There wasnoother business to come beforethe commission. The motion wasmade by Commissioner Waites, seconded by Commissioners Dunn/ Murphy to adjourn.

Commissioner Waites called for public comments or questions.

Vote wascalled for YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy,Vincent, Waites, Young NAYS: None ABSENT:None

ABSTAIN: None

The motion passed by avote of 6-0.

CITY OF BAKER PARISHOFEAST BATON ROUGE STATEOFLOUISIANA

I, Angela Canady Wall, certify that IamClerk of the Council for the City of Baker,Louisiana, and that the above and foregoing is acopy of the minutes of aregular meeting of the Board of Commissioners for the Hillcrest Memorial Gardens held on October 28, 2025.

Angela Canady Wall, LCMC Clerk of Council MINUTES BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BAKER CONSOLIDATED UTILITIES SYSTEM CITY OF BAKER PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE STATEOFLOUISIANA 3325 GROOM ROAD BAKER, LA 70714 October 28, 2025

The City Council of the City of Baker, Louisiana, sitting as the Boardof Commissioners for the Baker Consolidated Utilities System, met in regular session on October 28, 2025, with the following members attending: COMMISSIONERS Desiree Collins Rochelle Dunn Cedric Murphy Dr.Charles Vincent Darnell Waites Robert Young

CALL TO ORDER –Commissioner Waites presided.

DISPOSITION OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

The meeting wascalled to order and the motion wasmade by Commissioner Waites, seconded by Commissioners Murphy/Vincentto approve the minutes of the meeting held on October 14, 2025.

Commissioner Vincent thanked the mayor and his stafffor the recent notice that wassent to residents regarding utilities.

Vote wascalled for YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy,Vincent, Waites, Young NAYS: None ABSENT:None ABSTAIN: None The motion passed by avote of 6-0.

PUBLIC NOTICE

NEW BUSINESS

OTHER NECESSARYBUSINESS

1. Monthly Business Report

2. Other Reports

3. Items Requiring Action

ADJOURN Therewas no other business to come beforethe commission. The motion wasmade by Commissioner Waites, seconded by Commissioner Dunn to adjourn.

Commissioner Waites called for public comments or questions.

Vote wascalled for YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy,Vincent, Waites, Young NAYS: None

ABSENT:None ABSTAIN: None The motion passed by avote of 6-0.

CITY OF BAKER PARISHOFEAST BATON ROUGE STATEOFLOUISIANA

I, Angela Canady Wall, certify that IamClerk of the Council for the City of Baker,Louisiana, and that the above and foregoing is acopy of the minutes of aregular meeting of the BoardofCommissioners of the Baker Consolidated Utility System held on October 28, 2025.

Angela Canady Wall, LCMC Clerk of Council