Archbishop Gregory Aymondtook the witness stand Thursday in the federal bankruptcy court, defending his decision five years agotoplace the localchurch under bankruptcy protection and arguing that a$230 million settlement is the fairest way to compensate hundreds of clergy sex abuse survivors.
During more than an hour of testimony,Aymond also vowed to uphold new childprotection measures designed to guard against future clergy abuse
and apologizedtoabuse survivors on behalf of the nation’ssecond-oldest RomanCatholic diocese.
“I know you have beenthrougha lotofpain,” Aymond said. “It is unfortunateand embarrassing for me as apriesttothink that someone in a trusted position, like apriest or minister,wouldtake advantage of someone sexually.So, my heartfelt apology to those who have been abused.”
Aymond’s testimony came on the fourth day of atrial, technically aconfirmation hearing, that could resolve the long-running bankruptcy case by theend ofthe year.IfU.S. Bankruptcy
Judge Meredith Grabill confirmsa joint settlement plan that would pay more than 600 abuse survivors over the next several years, it would bring to aclose one of the mostpainful and tragic chapters in the history of the local church.
The plan, which thechurch and abuse survivors have said they support, would also implement new procedures outlining how thearchdiocese would handle allegations of clergy sex abuseand establish apublic database thatwill be housedatLSU detailing
ä See AYMOND, page 13A
N.O. schoolsearn highestscore ever
Severalopen-enrollment highschools getA’s this year
BY MARIE FAZIO Staff writer
NOLA Public Schools earneda Brating this year,the district’shighest score ever underthe current rating system, according to state grades released Thursday, marking ahigh pointsince theschool system’smassive overhaul after Hurricane Katrina. The Leah Chase School, the only district-runschool in the city,earned aD —its first stategrade since it opened last year.Its low rating comesasthe OrleansParish School Board has begun to consider the school’sfuture as it struggleswithlow enrollment and a growing budget deficit
millions of dollarsintostate
BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump proposed Thursday afive-year plan that would open about 1.27 billion acres to oil and gas exploration and hold seven lease sales off Louisiana’sGulf coast, leading to acclaim from state officials. Trump’splanwill “boost domestic exploration and production in the Gulf of America and provide much-needed predictability,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson.Under provisions Scalise inserted into the law, Louisiana will get alargerportionofthe millions of dollars the federalgovernment shares with states from the bids and royalty payments. The 11thNationalOuterContinentalShelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, when enacted, would replace the existing five-year plan
ä Trump administration announces drilling off California, Floridacoasts. PAGE 16A
ä See GULF, page 13A
But the district overall made strides.Its 2025 performance score, which is based on academic results from the 2024-25 school year,increased by about two points, and the district moved up from aC last year to aB.The statewide averageratingalso slightly improved this year, growing less than apoint from last year
NewOrleans areaschool performance scores The official 2025 grades arebased on 2024-25 school year performance data.The unofficial simulatedgradesshowhow districts would do under the state’srevisedrating system,which takeseffect in 2026 Source:Louisiana Department
Frederick Douglass High School teachersErica Bogan, left, and Jarvis Dillard, center,along with Assistant Principal Je’Marcus AkeemWelchcelebratethe school’sacademic achievementwith the Zulu Tramps at an assembly on Thursday Staffgraphic
advise on individuals’rights
JAMES FINN Staff writer
Federal agents equipped with megaphones descended on aMetairie apartment complexThursdayand urgedpeople to come outfor questioning, spurring immigration advocates to adviseresidentsthat agents need awarrant signed by ajudge to enter someone’shome. That guidance, delivered by New Orleansarea advocacy group Union Migrante and other advocates on social media, came as
See OPERATIONS, page 9A
STAFF
PHOTO By BRETT DUKE
Archbishop GregoryAymond leavesfederal courtafter testifying on Thursday.
STAFF PHOTO By DAVIDGRUNFELD
BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS
Death toll reaches33 in Israeli strikes in Gaza
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza— Israeli strikes in Gaza’ssouthern city of Khan Younis earlyThursday killed five people, hospital officials said, bringing the death toll from airstrikesin the Palestinian territory over aroughly 12hour period to 33,mostly women and children. The strikes have been someofthe deadliest since Oct. 10 when aU.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect.
The renewed escalation came after Israel said that its soldiers had come under fire in Khan Younis on Wednesday.Israel said that no soldiers werekilled and that the military responded with strikes. Four Israeli airstrikesontents sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis late Wednesday andearly Thursday killed 17 people, including five women and five children, according to officials at Nasser Hospital In Gaza City,two airstrikes on abuilding killed 16 people, including seven children and three women, according to officials at the Al-Shifa hospital in the northern part of the city where the bodies weretaken.
The Hamas militant group condemned the Israeli strikes as a“shocking massacre.” In a statement, Hamasdenied firing toward Israeli troops.
Ex-congressional staffer accused of faking attack
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP,N.J.— A former staffer for aRepublican congressman claimed she was attacked by three armed men who tied her up, slashed her and scrawled an anti-President Donald Trump statement on her stomach,according to authorities. Butfederal prosecutors are now accusing her of making the whole thing up and staging the bloody scene, including hiring someone to cut her skin.
The 26-year-old woman, who worked for U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew,ofNew Jersey,made her initial court appearance Wednesday on chargesthatshe conspiredtoperpetrate ahoax and made false statements to federal law enforcement
The woman and afriend stagedthe fake attack July 23 at anature preserve in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey,according to theU.S. Attorney’sOffice. The friend called 911 saying the attackers had agun, knew the woman’sname and that she worked for VanDrew,astrong supporter of Trump.
Responding police found the woman lying in awooded area with her shirt pulled over her headand her hands and feet zip tied, according to prosecutors. She had several cuts on her face, neck, chest and shoulder, while slogans criticizing Trump and VanDrew were written with black marker on her stomach and back.
The woman later repeated her claimsabout the attack while being interviewed by police and FBIagents, accordingto prosecutors. But authorities allege thestory soon started to unravel when they searched the woman’sMaserati and found zip ties and duct tape inside.
Stepbrothersuspected in cruise ship death
TITUSVILLE, Fla. The 16-yearold stepbrother of the Florida highschool senior who died this month on aCarnival cruise ship has been identifiedasa suspectinher death, according to court documents filed by his parents. The disclosures —contained in motions filed in an ongoing custody dispute —offer the clearest public indication that federal investigators are scrutinizing amemberofthe victim’s ownblended family
The documents show both parents acknowledgingthat their middle child —identified in court only by his initials “T.H.” —isunder FBI investigationinconnectionwith thedeath of Anna Kepner,ahighschool cheerleader from Florida’s Space Coast. Her death aboard the ship has drawn international attention and remains shrouded in uncertainty.Neither the FBI nor Carnival hassaid publicly how Kepner died,whether acrime occurred, or what led agents to focus on the teen.
DHSsaysCharlotte crackdowncontinues
Sheriff said immigration operationwas over
BY GARYD.ROBERTSON and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. Afederal immigration crackdown centered around North Carolina’s largestcity of Charlotteappeared to be tapering off Thursday,local law enforcementleaders said, but aHomeland Security official insisted the arrests would notlet up.
The North Carolina operation that beganlast weekend was themost recent phase of Republican President Donald Trumps aggressive mass deportation effortsthathavesentthe military andimmigrationagents into Democratic-run cities —from Chicago to Los Angeles.
“The operationisnot over anditisnot ending anytime soon,” said Department of Homeland SecurityspokespersonTricia McLaughlin. Both the localsheriff and police department said earlier in the day that thecrackdown, whichhas resulted in hundreds of arrests, appeared to be over less than a week after it began. Federal officials have offered few details about those arrested, or when and whereagents will show up next.
Buteven as confusion swirled over whether OperationCharlotte’sWeb was on or offinNorthCarolina, immigration enforcement actions are taking placenationwide,oftenwith far less media atten-
tionthan theBorder Patrol surges. In one example, the Department of Homeland Security said Thursday that Immigration andCustomsEnforcementhad arrested roughly 3,500 people over asix-week span in Houston.
Mecklenburg County SheriffGarryMcFadden saidina statement that federal officials confirmed thatthe U.S. Customs andBorder Protection operation ended, but thatagentswould continue operating as theyhave in the past.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg policeposted on social media Thursdaythat it received “reliable information” thatBorder Patrol personnel involved with theoperation had departed that morning.
Another statementattributed toanunnamed HomelandSecurity spokesperson said that federal agencies “continue to target some of the most dangerous criminal illegal aliens as Operation Charlotte’sWeb progresses,”and that about370 people have been arrested over the past five days Federal agents are expected to descend next on New Orleans for operation “Swamp Sweep,” amonthslong crackdown in southeast Louisiana. As manyas 250 federal troops could arrive as soonas Friday for theoperation expected to kick off at the beginning of December
In North Carolina, agents —someheavily armed in tactical gear andunmarked vehicles —have carriedout arrests in the Charlotte area and near the capital cityof Raleigh.
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles,aDemocrat, said Thursday she was hopefulthe enforcement operation was winding down.
U.S.,Russiadrawuppeace plan forwar in Ukraine
Proposal includes major concessionsfromKyiv
BY ILLIA NOVIKOV,AAMER MADHANI and CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press
KYIV,Ukraine President Donald Trump’s planfor ending the war in Ukraine would cede landtoRussiaand limitthe size of Kyiv’smilitary,accordingtoadraftobtainedThursday by The Associated Press.
The proposal, originating from negotiations between Washington andMoscow, appeared decidedlyfavorable to Russia, which startedthe war nearly four years ago by invadingits neighbor.Ifpast is prologue, it wouldseem untenable for Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyrZelenskyy,who has opposed Trump’sprevious calls for territorialconcessions.
There has also been resistancefrom Europeanleaders, who arelikely to decry theU.S.peace push as rewardingRussian President Vladimir Putinfor his aggression,leaving him emboldened ratherthan defeated.
Forexample, the proposal would not onlybar Ukrainefromjoining NATO but wouldalsoprevent the alliance’sfuture expansion. Such astep would be asignificant victory forMoscow,which views NATOasa threat.
Putin would also gain ground he has beenunable to win on thebattlefield. Underthe draft, Moscowwould hold all the easternDonbasregion, even though approximately 14% still remains in Ukrainian hands.Ukraine’smilitary,currently at roughly 880,000 troops, would be reduced to 600,000.
The proposalopens the door to lifting sanctionsonRussiaand returning it to what was formerly known as the Group of Eight, which includes manyofthe world’s biggest economies. Russia was suspended from theannualgathering in 2014 following itsannexation of Crimea, astrategi-
cally important peninsula on the northern coastofthe Black Sea that is internationally recognized as partofUkraine.
TheU.S.team begandrawing up the plan soon after U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff held talks with Rustem Umerov, atop adviser to Zelenskyy,according to asenior administration official who was not authorized to commentpublicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.The official addedthatUmerov agreed to the majority of the plan, after making several modifications, and thenpresented it to Zelenskyy U.S.Army Secretary Dan Driscoll was also in Kyiv on Thursday and discussed the latest draft with Zelenskyy,according to asenioradministration official. Zelenskyy offered ameasured statementon social media aboutitbut didnot directly speak to thesubstance of the proposal.
“Our teams —ofUkraine and the United States —will workonthe provisions of the plan to endthe war.Weare ready for constructive, honest and swiftwork,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Trump’sspecial envoyto Ukraine, KeithKellogg, has informed the White House he’llleavehis post in January, according to two senioradministrationofficials.
Kellogg was initially named special envoyfor Ukraine andRussiaduring Trump’spresidentialtransition. But his role shrunkasWitkoff, arealestatedeveloper turned diplomat,emerged as the president’s chief interlocutor with Putin and his advisers.
Under the proposal, Russia would committomakingnofutureattacks,something the WhiteHouseviews as aconcession. In addition,$100 billioninfrozen Russian assets would be dedicated to rebuilding Ukraine.
However,handing over territory to Russiawould be deeplyunpopular in Ukraine. It also would be illegalunderUkraine’s constitution.Zelenskyy has repeatedly ruledout such apossibility.
President Donald Trump on Thursday accused half adozen Democratic lawmakers of sedition “punishable by DEATH”after the lawmakers —all veterans of thearmed services and intelligence community —called on U.S. military members to uphold the Constitution and defy “illegal orders.”
The90-second videowas first postedearly Tuesday from Sen. Elissa Slotkin’s Xaccount. In it, the six lawmakers —Slotkin, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, andReps. Jason Crow,Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander and Chrissy Houlahan—speak directly to U.S. service members, whom Slotkin acknowledges are“under enormous stress and pressure right now.”
“TheAmericanpeople need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution,” Slotkin wrote in the Xpost. Along with the Michigan senator, the otherlawmakersappearing in thevideo are seen as possible future aspirants forhigher office, who now,thanks to the video’swide exposure, have elevated their own political profiles.
Trump on Thursday repostedmessagesfromothers about the video, amplifying it with his ownwords. It marked another flashpoint in thepolitical rhetoric that at timeshas been thematic in hisadministrations, as well as among someinhis MAGA base. Some Democrats accused him of acting like aking andtrying to distract from thesoon-to-be-released files about disgraced financierand sexualabuser Jeffrey Epstein.
With pieces of dialogue spliced together from different members, the lawmakers introduce themselves and their background. They go on to say the Trump administration “is pitting our uniformed military against American citizens.” They call for service members to “refuse illegal orders” and “standupfor our laws.”
Although the lawmakers
didn’tmention specific circumstances in the video, its release comes as theTrump administration continues attempts at deployment of National Guard troops into U.S. cities for various roles, although somehave been pulledback,and othersheld up in court.
Troops, especially uniformed commanders, have aspecific obligation to reject an order that’sunlawful, if they make that determination. However,while commanders have military lawyers on their staffs to consultwithinhelping make such adetermination, rank-and-file troops who are tasked with carryingout those orders are rarely in a similar position. Broad legalprecedence holds that just following orders, colloquially known as the“Nuremberg defense” as it wasusedunsuccessfully by senior Nazi officials to justify their actions doesn’t absolve troops. However the U.S. military legal code, known as the Uniform Code of Military Justice, will punish troopsfor failing to follow an order should it turn out to be lawful.
On Thursday, Trump reposted to social mediaan article about the video, adding his owncommentary that it was “really bad, and Dangerous to our Country.”
“SEDITIOUS BEHAVIORFROM TRAITORS!!!” Trump went on. “LOCK THEM UP???” He called for the lawmakers’ arrest and trial, adding in aseparate post that it was “SEDITIOUSBEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH.”
Asked during aWhite House briefing on Thursday aboutthe intent of Trump’s messages, press secretary Karoline Leavitt instead honed in on the Democrats’ message, whichshe posited “perhaps is punishable by law.” Leavitt went on to say that anyincitementto“defy the chain of command, not to follow lawful orders” is “a very dangerous thing for sitting members of Congress to do, and they should be held accountable, and that’swhat the president wants to see.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MATT KELLEy
U.S. Border Patrolcommander at largeGregoryBovino takes aphone call on Monday in Charlotte,N.C.
Respectfor Cheney from Bush, Biden, past VPs
Trumpexcluded from funeral
BY CALVIN WOODWARD Associated Press
WASHINGTON They gath-
ered at the Washington National Cathedral on Thursday
—former presidents, vice presidents, sworn political foes and newfound friends
—inashow of respect and remembrance for Dick Cheney,the consequential and polarizing vicepresident who became an acidicscold of President DonaldTrump.
Trump, who has beenpublicly silent about Cheney’s death Nov.3,was not invited to the memorial service.
Twoex-presidents came:
Republican George W. Bush, who eulogized the man who served him as vice president, and Democrat Joe Biden, who once called Cheney “the most dangerous vice president we’ve had probably in American history” but now honors his commitmentto his family and to his values.
“Solid and rare and reliable,” Bush said at the service of his vice president, praising aman whose talent and restraint” exceeded his ego. “Smart and polished, without airs.”
Bush and others noted the understated demeanor of aman who nevertheless wielded great influence in
government. “Above all,” Bush said, “I wanted someone with the ability to step into the presidency without getting distracted by the ambitiontoseekit.”
Among the eulogists, Liz Cheney,the eldest daughter, onlyobliquely addressed what amounted to afatherdaughter feud with the president —a manher dad had called a“coward” for trying to overturn his loss in the 2020 election
Shespoke of herfather’s conviction that when confrontedwitha choice betweendefendingthe country and apolitical party, the country must come first. “Bonds of party must always yield to the singlebond we share as Americans,” she said.
Liz Cheney is aformer high-ranking Housemember whose Republican political careerwas shredded by aMAGA movement angered by her investigation of the Jan.6,2021, riot at the Capitol. Thursday,she chose not to speak directlyof Trump. She spoke of seeing clouds in the shape ofangels just before her fatherdied.
Moments beforethe servicebegan, figures of recent but now receded power mingled: Bush and Bidenand their wives sitting in arow together,former Vice Presidents Kamala Harris and Mike Pence chatting side
bearer team arriveThursday with the casket of former Vice PresidentDick Cheneyatthe Washington National Cathedral in Washington.
by side in their pew with Al Gore and Dan Quayle together behind them.
Biden greeted Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, the former longtime Senate leader,and his wife,former labor and transportation secretary ElaineChao. Behind themsat Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi,who spent timetalking withanother formerHouse speaker,Republican John Boehner. All gathered among the soaring interior columns of the grand cathedral known as “a spiritual homefor the na-
tion.”
Others delivering tributes at Thursday’sfuneral were Cheney’s longtime cardiologist, Dr.Jonathan Reiner; former NBC News correspondent Pete Williams,who wasCheney’sspokesmanat thePentagon; and several of theformer vice president’s grandchildren.
“I’m happy to report that Ihaven’t given many eulogies,” Reinersaid in his remarks. “Nobody wants a doctor who is great at funerals.”
Reiner recalled doctors
telling Cheney decades ago, after thefirst of multiple heart attacks, that he should abandonhis political ambitions then. Yethekept winning elections as aWyoming congressman for years after that.
Cheney,hesaid, wasalways the “calmest person in the room.”
Cheneyhad livedwith heart disease for decades and, after the Bush administration, with aheart transplant. He died at age 84 from complications of pneumonia andcardiacand vascular disease, his family said.
Trump’svice president, JD Vance, on stageatanother event in the morning, was askedabout Cheney andsaid: “Obviously there’s somepolitical disagreements there but he was a guy whoserved his country We certainlywishhis family allthe best in this moment of grieving.” Vance was also not invited to thefuneral,according to a person familiar with the details whowas not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity
The White House lowered its flags to half-staff after Cheney’sdeath, as it said thelaw calls for, but Trump did notissue the presidential proclamation that often accompanies the death of notable figures, norhas he commented publicly on his passing.
The deeply conservative Cheney’sinfluence in the Bush administration was legendary and, to his critics, tragic.
He advocated for the U.S. invasion of Iraq on the basis of what proved to be faulty intelligence and consistently defended the extraordinary tools of surveillance, detention and inquisition employed in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Bush credited him with helping to keep the country safe and stable in aperilous time.
Investigators: CrashedUPS planehad cracks in engine mount
BY JOSH FUNK and ED WHITE Associated Press
Federal investigators
released dramatic photos
Thursday of an engine flying off adoomed UPS cargo plane that crashed two weeks ago in Kentucky,killing 14 people, and said there was evidence of cracks in the left wing’sengine mount
Aseries of six photos showed the rear of the en-
gine starting to detach before it flewupand over the wingasflames erupted.The next imageshows the wing engulfed byfire as the burningengine flies aboveit. The last image shows the plane starting to get airborne.
But the MD-11 plane only got 30 feet off the ground, theNational Transportation Safety Board said, citing theflight data recorder in its first formal but prelimi-
nary report about the Nov.4 disaster in Louisville,Kentucky Threepilotsonthe plane werekilled along with11 more people on the ground near Muhammad Ali International Airport
The NTSB said the plane was notdue yet foradetailed inspection of keyengine mount partsthat had fractures. It still needed to complete nearly7,000 more
takeoffs andlandings. It was lastexaminedinOctober 2021.
“ItappearsUPS was conducting this maintenance within therequiredtime frame, but I’m sure the FAAisnow going to ponder whether that time frame is adequate,” formerfederal crash investigator Jeff Guzzetti told The Associated Pressafter reading the report
It’snot clear when the cracks started to develop on the 34-year-old plane and whether they could have been missed in that earlier inspection. Another aviation expert, John Cox, described fatigue cracks as “normal wearand tear on an aircraft.”
He said ametal part, like the engine mount that vibrates every timethe plane flies, will eventually develop
cracks. Coxnoted it’s just a question of how often those parts need to be inspected and what maintenance is required. The NTSB report revealed the first newdetails since board member Todd Inman briefedreporters on Nov 7. He saidthe cockpit voice recorder capturedanalarm bell going off about37seconds afterthe UPScrew called fortakeoff thrust.
BY MIKE STOBBE Associated Press
NEW YORK ACenters for Disease Control and Prevention website has been changed to contradict the longtime scientific conclusion that vaccines do not cause autism, spurring outrage amonga number of public health andautismexperts.
The CDC “vaccine safety” webpage was updated Wednesday,saying “the statement ‘Vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim.”
The change is the latest move by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to revisit —and foster un-
certainty about —long-held scientific consensus about the safety of vaccinesand other pharmaceutical products. It was decried by scientists and advocates who have long been focused on finding the causes of autism.
“Weare appalled to find that thecontent on the CDC webpage‘Autism and Vaccines’ has been changed and distorted, and is nowfilled with anti-vaccinerhetoric and outright lies aboutvaccines and autism,” the Autism Science Foundationsaid in astatement Thursday. Widespread scientific consensus and decades of studies have firmlyconcluded there is no link between vaccinesand autism.“Theconclusion is clear andunambiguous,” saidDr. Susan Kressly,presidentofthe American
AcademyofPediatrics, in a statement Thursday “Wecall on the CDC to stopwasting government resources to amplify false claims that sow doubt in one of thebest toolswehaveto keep childrenhealthyand thriving:routine immunizations,” she said.
The CDC has,until now, echoed the absence of alink in promoting Food andDrug Administration-licensed vaccines.
Butanti-vaccines activists —including Robert F. Kennedy Jr who this year becamesecretary of Health and Human Services —have long claimed there is one.
It’s unclear if anyone at CDC was actually involved in thechange, or whether it was done by Kennedy’sHHS, which oversees the CDC.
Whycallaroundandwaitforquotes? WithHouseFly,youseerealprices,compare trustedlocalservicepros,andbookinstantly fromyourcomputerorphone. No guesswork.Nocalls. No surprisefees.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByMATTROURKE
Former presidents, front rowfrom left, GeorgeW.Bush, withLaura Bush; and JoeBiden, with Jill Biden, look on as ajoint services body
“This is what real progress looks like,” said NOLA Public Schools Superintendent Fateama Fulmore at anews conference Thursday.“Our students are growing, our schools are improvingand our community is strengthening.”
Fulmore noted recent challenges the district has faced —a $50 million budget deficit, superintendent turnover and uncertainty over federalfunding —and commended schools for making academic progress “even whenthey weremaking tough decisions with less resources and uncertaintyin their funding.”
The district’sprogress may be short-livedafter the state shifts next yearto arevamped rating system, whichputs more weighton test scores and students’ academic growth. Under the new system, the New Orleans school district would have earned aC,according to unofficial simulated scores released by the state Department of Education to preview the coming changes.
More than half of New Orleans schoolswould have earnedthe same gradeunder the new system, but nearly 94% of the city’shigh schools wouldhave earned lower letter grades, the simulated scores show.Leah Chase wouldhave been the lowest-scoring elementary schoolifthe grading system were in effect this year
Fulmore acknowledged a possible “stark” adjustment period under the revisedaccountability system, butsaid schools will meet the new standards.
“Our momentum andour progress positions us to meet this high bar,” she said.
On Thursday morning, Frederick A. Douglass High School students streamed into the auditorium for an all-school meeting. Principal Towana Pierre-Floyd said she had some important news to share.
“You are nowan A!” she exclaimed, and the room erupted with cheers. Teachersset offconfetti and the stage curtainfellawayto reveal Mardi Gras Indians anda band to help the school celebrate.
Once among New Orleans’ worst-performinghigh schools,Douglass wasone of several open-enrollment high schools to earnA’s this year
Others included Edna KarrHigh Schooland Eleanor McMain Senior High School,both operatedby InspireNOLA. Ben FranklinHighSchooland Willow School, whichare selective admissions,were amongthe highest-scoringhighschools in the state.
TravisHill School, an alternative school located in NewOrleans’ juvenile detentioncenter, earned 10 points more than lastyear andaB
SophieB.Wright Institute of Excellence, which earned an A, boosted its score by 14 points from last year and wasrecognized by the state as one of themost-improved high schoolsinthe state. NewOrleans Centerfor CreativeArts, astate-authorized school in New Orleans,
scored more than 12 points higherthanlastyear,earning an Aand the same most improved recognition.
At theother endofthe spectrum, two schools earned F’s: Martin Luther King Charter School, which closed its high school after last school year but still operates aK-8 school, and EinsteinCharter at Sherwood Forest.
The newgrading system that launches next year emphasizes improvement on statetests. For high schools, it increases theweight given to end-of-year tests while de-emphasizing graduation rates andmeasures of college readiness, such as ACT scores.
Therevised system won’t significantlyalter the grades of many elementary andmiddle schools. Under thenew system, 36 New Orleans schools would have retained thesame grade based on their performance data from2024-25, according to thestate’ssimulated scores.
But nearly every high school in the city —except high-performingBen Franklin High School and The WillowSchool—would dropat least one letter grade. (Com-
received an Athis year but would have received aDunder the new system.Frederick Douglass High School, which earned an A, would drop to aC.Four schools would have received F’s.
By contrast,three schools —Edward Hynes Charter School —UNO,Homer Plessy Community School and Einstein Charter at Sherwood Forest —would have seen their letter grades improve under the newsystem
Jamar McKneely,CEO of InspireNOLA, said the charter school operator is reviewing adjustments that will help schools meet the revised standards.
While he expects someinitial declines, McKneely said, “I do think in time we will have the sameoutcomes.”
NOLA Public Schools is in the process of revamping its Charter School Accountability Framework, the rating systemthe districtusesin its charter renewal process, to reflect the new state accountability system
Districts across the metro New Orleans area improved or held steady from last year to this year
St. Tammany Parish schools scored less than a point belowits 2024 score, maintaining aBgrade. Jefferson Parish earned twomorepointsthanlast year,earning another B. St. Charles Parish public schoolsearned less than a point morethan last year, moving up to an A. St. John the Baptist schools grew five points fromlast year but remained in Cgrade range. St. Bernard dipped twopointsfrom last year but maintaineda B grade. Plaquemines Parish schools, the highest scoring metro-area district,grew four points andearnedanA “Weare proud of the progress ourdistricthas made over the past several years,” St. Tammany Parish School Board President Matt Greene said in astatement, adding that thedistrictis “poised for growth and continued success.”
bination K-12 schools would all maintain their grades under thenew system.)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement sent atransgender immigrant being held in Louisiana to Mexico despite amonths-old judge’sorder blocking her deportation there because she would be at risk of being torturedorkilled, according to court records.
Britania UriosteguiRios, 47, was removed fromLouisiana to Texas on Nov. 11, and then takenacross theborder to Mexico, according to alawsuit filed in federal court Monday by her attorneys.
An official for the Department of Justice admitted ICE removed Uriostegui Rios “inadvertently” andsaidshe wouldbeallowed back into the U.S. if she could makeittoa bordercheckpoint, according to emails filed withthe lawsuit.
ICE said it would takeher back into custody upon entry.Her attorneys hadrequestedthat she be released on an order of supervision, per theemails In court documents, legal advocates describe how Uriostegui Rios went into hiding after returning to Mexico and was terrified of making it backtothe border safely due to her gender identity
Oneadvocate stated that ICE deported Uriostegui Rios without her medications, identification,money or acellphone.
Lawyers for Uriostegui Rios described her case as an example of abroader problem as President Donald Trump’sadministration aggressively tries to ramp up deportations.
“If Defendants had not been caught by counsel red-handed, violating the judicial decree at issue, Britania would be just another
North Carolina, have shown thatthe agency will likely focusonworksites andpublicspaceslikebusinesses in New Orleans.
residents gird for U.S. Border Patrol agents to stage a sweeping immigration operation in the coming weeks across southeast Louisiana.
“You don’thave the duty to go out unless theyhave awarrant,and they are trying to knock at your location with alegal warrantsigned by ajudge,” said Cynthia Ceballos, aMetairie-based immigration attorney,ina video posted Thursday by Union Migrante.
The apartment complex operation was not partof the impending Border Patrol immigration sweeps, which are set to launch soon in the New Orleans region.
Aspokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service said the agency had been tryingto serve afelony warranton adomestic violence suspect, but the person was not there.
Still, the reaction among advocates andlawyers highlighted anxietywithin majority-Hispanic immigrant communities around New Orleans ahead of the Border Patrol’sarrival.And it underscored advice circulating among immigration attorneys, their clients, Hispanic community hubs and businesses about what rights residents have and how to exercise them when federal agents arrive in their communities.
Immigration attorneys have hammeredthe messagetoclients thatthey have the right to remain inside homes unless BorderPatrol or other federal agents confirm they have signed warrants for their arrests.
Attorneys have alsoadvised business owners of their right to denyfederal immigration agents access to nonpublicareas, such as kitchensand offices, if they lackwarrants JeremyJong,aNew Orleans-based immigration attorney,said Border Patrol’s recent large-scaleraids in Chicago and Charlotte,
Rarely in those cities did Border Patrol agents have warrants to enter worksites or businesses, Jong said. Instead,agents frequently relied on consent from business ownerstoallowentry into nonpublic areas.
“Verylittleofwhatthey did in Chicago was, like, ‘Oh, we have awarrant and we’regoing into your business,’”Jong said. “Or,they threaten you until you give consent and let them into your business.”
Jong said he’sreceived aflurry of inquiriesfrom clientssince news broke of theimpending Border Patrol operation. Some have told him they plan tostay home as much as they can, Jong said, which he noted won’t be an option for most forthe full duration of Border Patrol’spresence. The Associated Press reported the agency’stime in New Orleansisexpectedtolast months.
“People are still going to have to gotowork,” hesaid.
BorderPatrol has played acentral role in an escalating immigration crackdown from President Donald Trump’sadministration, which has included highprofileraids in Charlotteand Chicago.Inthose cities, the agency’stactics drewfierce criticism andprotests.
Border Patrol has tapped NewOrleans as the next destination of itscity-by-city crackdown
Even as theDepartment of HomelandSecurityhas declined to confirmthe existence of thependingBorder Patrol operation, preparations have rippledacross the city
On Wednesday, Mayorelect Helena Moreno said hertransition teamispreparing guidancefor residents who are “concerned” aboutBorder Patrol’spresence in the city.Anxiety aboutthe operation also rippled through at least one local school this week.
casualty (the number of which at this juncture remains unknown) of amass deportation campaign running roughshod of the law at innumerable turns,” they said in thelawsuit.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not answer multiple questions about Uriostegui Rios’ case, including about howthe deportation occurred and why she was being detained.
Instead, in astatement, Tricia McLaughlin,the agency’s deputy secretary,emphasized Uriostegui Rios’criminalrecordand said the mix-up did not mean she would be allowed to stay in the U.S.
“The end result will be thesame —Rios will not be able to remain in theU.S.and will be removed,” McLaughlin said.
Uriostegui Rios would be sent to adifferent country,according to McLaughlin.
InspireNOLA CEO Jamar McKneely said he and other school leaders have fielded calls and emails from concerned parents asking if they can switch to virtual learningoptions andasking about what protections the school can offer students.
InspireNOLA runsseven charter schools around New Orleans,including Andrew Wilson Charter School, which hasone of thehighestpopulations of students learning English of any school in the city
In January,the Department of Homeland Security said federallaw enforcement wouldnolongeradhere to guidelines thatpreviouslyprotected churches, courthouses, schools and bus stops from immigration actions, prompting fear from parents aboutsending their students to school.
In Charlotte, more than 27,000students were reportedabsent on thefirst dayU.S.Immigration and Customs Enforcementbegan immigration raids in the city,according to the Charlotte Observer
McKneely saida noticeable number of students did not attend school Thursday, though he declined to share anumber
“Our parents have elevated concerns,”hesaid.
Staff writers Marie Fazio and Lara Nicholson contributed tothis report.
In astatementincluded in the court filing,anICE official said Uriostegui Rios hadmultiple criminal convictions, including a2009 conviction of sexual solicitation anda 2023 conviction of assault with adeadly weapon.
Uriostegui Rios cametothe U.S. in 2003 and becamealawful permanent resident in 2012, according to the statement. Ajudge ordered her removed to Mexico on March 14 but simultaneously blocked that removal underthe Convention Against Torture, the official said.
It is common forimmigration judges to issue deferred removal orderswhen immigrants are at riskofbeing persecutedor harmed in theirhomecountry
The ICEofficialsaid the agency had tried to remove Uriostegui Rios to multiple thirdcountries, including Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador.Costa Rica and Honduras both rejected theapplication,hesaid.
Uriostegui Rios’ case is the second prominent example in recent weeks of the federal government sendinga Louisiana ICEdetainee to another country after being ordered not to do so.
In October,officials put Chanthila Souvannarath on aplane to Laos the day after ajudge temporarily blocked his deportationbecause of his American citizenship claim. In court filings, government lawyers saidthey did not learn of the judge’sorder untilhours after they put him on the plane.
Souvannarath was taken to a Laos jail, according to his lawyers, whosaid in court documents that he is only abletocontactthem when he is occasionally allowed to borrow aguard’sphone. They have asked ajudge to order him returned to the United States.
Uriostegui Rios was detained by ICEinApril 2024 and sent to Winn Correctional Center,anICE facility in Winnfield, in June, according to court records.
Jeffersondistrict’sperformance
BY ELYSE CARMOSINO Staff writer
The JeffersonParish School District slightly grew its state performance score, earning aB grade for the second year in arow, according to school and district ratings released Thursday by the Louisiana Department of Education.
The district’sscore improved by more than3 points, rising to 77.2 this year under the state’sschool accountability system, which is basedonstate test scores, graduation rates, ACT scores and other data from the 2024-25 school year Five Jefferson Parish schools, all selective magnet schools, ranked among the state’shighest-achieving schools. Another three were among the state’smost improved.
“Wekeep our students the focal point of tions,” said James district’ssuperinte of schools. “The we’reputtingi and we’re seeing is reaffirming ing the right work.”
Last year,J ish earned its nearly adecade, it the sixth most school district just behind Orleans and bringing nearly in line with wide average. But that hard-won ress could soon siana rolls out er gradingsyste which is expec the scores of schools around Jefferson Paris would fall to aCu new system, based lated ratings the cation Department Thursday.The simulated grades apreview of mightdowhent ing system takes The updated
es greater emphasis on student growthand putsmuch more weight ontest scores than graduation rates or post-graduation readiness measures, like the ACT High schools are expected to see the biggest gradedrops.
Of JeffersonParish’s 71 schools, 16 schools —mostly high schools —would have seen their grades decrease hadtheybeenevaluated underthe new system.Nine schools, allelementary or grades K-8, wouldhave seen their gradesincrease. Therest would have seen no change.
Next year,Jefferson Parish will likely “drop alettergrade, and Ithink most districts across thestate are going to see the same thing,” Gray said.“Butwe’re also seeing progress in the simulated scores, which shows we’re on the rightpath.” As the state’slargest and most diverse school district
both moved up to aDthis year Tenotherschools also improved by one letter grade: Marie B. Riviere Elementary,Ralph JBunche Elementary,PaulJ.Solis Elemen-
School Jefferson Parish schools on the state’stop-performing list: n Metairie Academy n Gretna
improvedbymorethan12 points this year.Head of School Claire HeckermanWhitehead said her staff used anumber of tried-andtrue techniquestodrive student growth, like giving weekly quizzes to track student learning and intervening if astudent showed signs of falling behind. While Laureate kept its Cgradethis year,itisprojected to rise to aB under the
released under the President Joe Biden administration.
The current five-year plan sharply curtailed development of oil and gas deposits in the Gulf and elsewhere as part of the former president’sefforts to address climate change.
Trumpproposes to hold 34 offshore oil and gas lease sales between the years 2026 and 2031. His five-year plan also wouldopen up waters off California andFlorida, as well as in the Arctic.
The federal government estimates 68.8 billion barrels of oil and 229 trillion cubic feet of natural gas are yet to be discovered on the outer continental shelf.
Environmentalists opposethe plan. Increased “drillingputs coastal economies, communities and wildlife at risk,” said Taryn Kiekow Heimer,ofthe Natural Resources Defense Council.
At aclimate conferenceinBrazil held by the UnitedNations, which called for aphaseout of fossil fuels, California Gov.GavinNewsom said his state opposes drilling off its Pacific coast and that any attempt to do so is “dead on arrival.”
But Louisiana relieson oiland gas exploration and productionfor jobs and funds to counteract the state’sdisappearing marshlands
Much of the offshore activity is organized out of Port Fourchon, which
AYMOND
Continued from page1A
past incidents of abuse.
Grabill told Aymond that ifthe plan is confirmed, the “non-monetary” provisions of the settlement will not just be policy but law
“IfIconfirm these plans, Iam goingtoissue an orderofthe court and these remedies will have the force and effect of law,” shesaid
The settlement has the support of the archdiocese and more than 96%ofabuse survivors as well as commercial creditors.Agroup of bondholders and one insurance companyopposeit.
MuchofAymond’s75minutes on the witness stand Thursday wasunder cross examination by an attorney for the bondholders, whoquestioned his knowledge of church finances and why the archdiocese is not paying off its $30 million debt to the bondholders.
“Weonly have so muchtogive and when that runs out you’re in adifficult position,” Aymond said.
Aymond’ssuccessor,Co-Adjutor Archbishop James Checchio, is scheduled to take the stand Friday.Clergy abuse survivors will have an opportunity to testify after Thanksgiving.
has felt the impact from the lack of offshorelease sales,said Greater Lafourche Port Commission Executive Director Chett Chiasson.
“This new five-year plan brings back thecertainty we need to regain our energyindependence,
strengthen our local economywith good-paying jobs and deliver more resources for our hurricane protection projects,” Chiasson added. Lafourche ParishPresident Mitch Orgeron, whoseconstituents include many in the energy indus-
try, agreed, saying, “Weare set to receive millionsmoreinrevenuesharing dollars to protect and rebuild our coast for years to come.”
The InteriorDepartment’sBureau of Ocean Energy Managementreported in September man-
aging 2,073 active offshore oil and gasleases covering about11.2 millionacres —production that accounts for roughly 15% of the nation’sdomestic oil output.
The NationalOcean Industries Association, aWashington-based trade association for offshore energy interests, says the Gulf produces nearly2 million barrelsof oil per day
“A clearleasingschedule gives companiesthe certainty to invest, strengthenssupplychains, bolsterscommunities,and keepsthe U.S.competitiveinarapidly evolving global energy landscape,” said NOIA President Erik Milito.
“The Trump administration’sdraft five-year offshore leasing planputs Louisiana to work,” said Louisiana Mid-Continent Oiland GasAssociation President Tommy Faucheux. “President Trump is creating jobs, strengthening energy security and delivering vital funding to restore Louisiana’scoastline.”
GNO Inc. President Michael Hechtadded: “Notonly will this plan solidify billions in economic impact, including high-wage jobs for our region over the next five years, but it also offersthe stability this industry needs to continue to invest and grow forthe future.” Public comments about Trump’s proposal will begin to be taken for 60 days once the planisofficially released on Monday
Email Mark Ballard at mballard@theadvocate.com.
ThetrialisscheduledtoendDec.4.
Thetestimonycame more than five anda half years after Aymond placed the local church under Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection amid agrowing number of clergysex abuse lawsuits. At the time,somethree dozen abuse suits had been filed against the archdiocese in state court. In theyearssince,660 clergy abuse claims have been filedin the federal bankruptcy case. Aymond has long maintainedthat the archdiocese wasnot insolvent when he filed for Chapter 11 but that thebankruptcycourt process was the most equitable way to handle what was, effectively,a mass tort case.
Under questioningonThursday by hisown attorney,Pat Vance, Aymond said filing bankruptcy was a way “to walk with the survivors and alsotogive ajust amount of money to them forthe suffering they had been through …Also in order to afford the amount we would have topay.”
Twosurvivors in the courtroom, who have been watching the trial since it started Monday, shook theirheads in apparent disagreement
He went on to say that the case, one of the longest-running and most contentious of the40church
bankruptciesaround the U.S., has been “challenging and painful.”
“Ithas lasted averylong time and we hope thatjustice can be done and this put to rest,” he said.
Much of histestimony came under cross examination by bondholderattorney Christopher Marx, whogrilled Aymondonhow much he knewabout the provisionsof theplan and thevalue of church assets that, Marx suggested, could sweeten the pot for the bondholders. Under the proposed settlement, thebondholders would get $3 millionofsome $30 milliontheyare still owed on a$40 million loan they madetothe archdiocese in 2017.
Marx showed Aymondacopy of thebondholders’ loanagreement andread aportion that said, “the corporation is required to use all itsavailable resources to make loan payments underthe loan agreement.” Why,hecontinued, was the archdiocese not using all its resources to pay that debt?
“Itsays available resources,” Aymondreplied. “Wecan’tgive what we don’thave.”
Several times during thegrueling crossexamination Aymond said he couldn’tanswer or was not thebest person to explain the finer pointsofarchdiocesan finances or
thesettlement. Because the plan is overwhelmingly approved by the all the parties except thebondholders,the confirmation is what is known as a“cramdown” process, where thecourt is expected to force the bondholders to accept it.
Much of their questioning during thetrial, however,lays the ground work for an appeal.
AfterMarx’squestioning, Grabill directedseveral questions to Aymond, seeking his commitment that the archdiocese would continue to follow the requirements of thenon-monetary provisions even long after all the abuse survivors in the case are paid.
“I need to understand how in fact they work and how Iamgoing to be able to enforce them,” Grabill said. “Wewant to make sure the nonmonetary remedies represent acommitment.”
Aymond replied that the provisions represent “a firm commitmentmoving forward.”
“Wesee this as avery strong commitment. This was done in good faith,” he said.
For several abuse survivors in thecourtroom,the testimonydid not bring much-needed closure they have hoped for.
“Itiswhat it is. We don’tget a choice in thisbankruptcy.Wehave
to accept this,” said Richard Coon, who was first abused as a10-yearold and later raped at age 15 at St. Philip Neri. “The bankruptcy court is notinthe business of administering justice. Her role is making sure the archdiocese survives this economic hard time and is able to thrive.”
Earlierinthe day, an expert claimsevaluator explained how the value of an abuse claim was determined. Katie McNally,managing director at the Chicago consultancyStout,saidher firmevaluated 626 claims filedinthe case, looked at estimated damages if they had gone to trial and worked back fromthere,coming up with arange of what claimswould be worth at trial. Survivors are expected to receive anywhere from afew thousand dollars to morethan $500,000 depending on the severity of the trauma inflicted on them. An independent third-party selected by the committee of abuse survivors and approved by the court will evaluate each claim after the settlement is confirmed anddetermine how much the claimant is entitled to receive.
Email Stephanie Riegel at stephanie.riegel@theadvocate. com.
• 6cupsofcrumbledcornbread (I bake then letstale for 3or4daysbeforeuse)
• 3cupsofwhite bread stale
• 3/4of1cup vegetableorchicken stock 3eggsbeaten
• 11/2 cupsofchopped onion
• 11/2 cupschopped celery
• 1bellpepperchopped
• 1bunch of greenonion chopped
• 1bunch of parsleychopped
• 1lb. pork sausage 1lb. of bacon (I use JimmyDeanmaple or sage)
4. Gently mixinthe stockand eggsintothe bowl with therestofthe ingredients.
5. Put mixtureintoalarge,greased baking dishand bake at 325degrees foranhour. Youcan addextra breadcrumbsand afew pats of butter on topfor acrisp look
• 1large head of freshcauliflower
• 2/3cup of Monterey Jack cheese shredded 2/3cup of sharp cheddar cheese shredded 1/2cup of imported Parmesan-Reggiano cheese shredded
• 1/2cup heavycream
• 2tbsp oliveoil or butter
• 2or3clovesofgarlic
• Salt,black pepper andalittlewhite pepper to taste
1. Cutcauliflowerintofloretsand arrangeitinagreased baking dish. In adoubleboilerheat thecream,add sauteed garlic andlet simmer on lowfor no more than 10 minutes.
2. Next add half of theMontereyJackand Cheddarcheeseand stir abit,thenadd half of the Parmesan-Reggiano cheese
3. Simmer,constantlystirring with awhisk,until it meltsand is asmoothsauce (mediumto thickconsistency,not runny).Pourthe cheese sauceoverthe Cauliflower.
4. Then topwiththe remainingshreddedcheesemixturesand then topwiththe ParmesanReggiano before puttingitinthe oven.Cover with foil,bakeat325 degreesfor 35-45minutes(untilcaulifloweristender).Thenremovefoiland bake at 350degrees for10 minutesorunitl cheese is
andatasty brownontop
5. Foranaddedtwist youcan add an ounceoftriplesec in thecheesesauce,orevensome
2 2LLiters iters
&
8
Katoen Natie starts $25M BR expansion
Katoen Natie has started construction of a $25 million expansion of its North Baton Rouge Polymers Terminal, a move that will create 13 new jobs
The expansion of the operation is expected to add nine indirect jobs and retain the 29 current workers at the warehouse and distribution facility off Airline Highway, according to Louisiana Economic Development.
The Belgian company has operated the plastics storage, packaging and distribution center since 2017. The expansion, scheduled to begin operations in a year, will involve building a 300,000-square-foot warehouse to store and repackage titanium dioxide. Titanium dioxide is a white pigment used in coating, plastics and other industrial applications.
To get Katoen Natie to expand its operations, LED offered the company incentives, including FastStart, the department’s workforce recruitment and training software, and a $200,000 performance-based grant for site infrastructure improvements.
U.S. home sales rise in October on lower rates
Sales of previously occupied U.S homes increased last month to the fastest pace since February as lower mortgage rates helped pull more homebuyers into the market.
Existing home sales rose 1.2% in October from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.10 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday Sales climbed 1.7% compared with October last year
The latest sales figure topped the roughly 4.09 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet October’s home sales were likely limited by the federal government shutdown, which could have delayed some transactions that would have closed last month.
The national median sales price increased 2.1% in October from a year earlier to $415,200, an all-time high for any October on data going back to 1999. Home prices have risen on an annual basis for 28 months in a row
The U.S. housing market has been in a slump since 2022, when mortgage rates began climbing from historic lows.
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes sank last year to their lowest level in nearly 30 years.
Verizon cutting more than 13,000 jobs
NEW YORK Verizon is laying off more than 13,000 employees in mass job reductions that arrive as the telecommunications giant says it must “reorient” its entire company
The job cuts began on Thursday, per to a staff memo from Verizon CEO Dan Schulman In the letter, which was seen by The Associated Press, Schulman said Verizon’s current cost structure “limits” the company’s ability to invest — pointing particularly to customer experiences
“We must reorient our entire company around delivering for and delighting our customers,” Schulman wrote. He added that the company needed to simplify its operations “to address the complexity and friction that slow us down and frustrate our customers.”
Verizon had nearly 100,000 full-time employees as of the end of last year, according to securities filings. A spokesperson confirmed that the layoffs announced Thursday account for about 20% of the company’s management workforce, which isn’t unionized.
Verizon has faced rising competition in both the wireless phone and home internet space — particularly from AT&T, TMobile and other big market players. New leadership at the company has stressed the need to right the company’s direction
Big swings keep rocking market
U.S. stocks drop sharply after erasing a morning surge
BY STAN CHOE Associated Press
NEW YORK Jarring swings keep rocking Wall Street, and U.S. stocks erased a big morning gain to drop on Thursday as the market remains skittish following weeks of doubts and erratic moves.
After initially soaring toward what seemed like its best day since
May with an early surge of 1.9%, the S&P 500 erased all of it and fell 1.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 386 points, or 0.8%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 2.2%.
The sharpest losses again hit what used to be the market’s biggest winners. Nvidia, cryptocurrencies and other areas that had soared with nearly relentless momentum, as traders feared missing out on more gains, forced the market lower Bitcoin dropped below $87,000, down from nearly $125,000 last month.
The market had been shaky com-
ing into Thursday largely because of twin worries: Nvidia and other superstar stocks caught up in the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology may have simply shot too high, and the Federal Reserve may be done delivering the invigorating cuts to interest rates that Wall Street loves.
Nvidia initially appeared to tamp down the worries about a bubble for AI stocks after reporting a big profit for the summer, along with a forecast for coming revenue that easily cleared analysts’ expectations. By delivering strong profits and indicating more are coming,
Nvidia can justify its stock’s price gains and make it look less expensive.
Given Nvidia’s forecasts, “it is very hard to see how this stock does not keep moving higher from here,” according to analysts at UBS led by Timothy Arcuri. They also said “the AI infrastructure tide is still rising so fast that all boats will be lifted.”
Nvidia jumped to an early gain of 5% but then dropped to a loss of 3.2%. Because it’s the biggest company in the U.S. market by value, Nvidia’s stock has more pull on the S&P 500 than any other company’s
Trump administration announces drilling off California, Florida coasts
BY MATTHEW DALY and MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press
WASHINGTON The Trump administration announced on Thursday new oil drilling off the California and Florida coasts for the first time in decades, advancing a project that critics say could harm coastal communities and ecosystems, as President Donald Trump seeks to expand U.S. oil production.
The oil industry has been seeking access to new offshore areas, including Southern California and off the coast of Florida, as a way to boost U.S. energy security and jobs. The federal government has not allowed drilling in federal waters in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, which includes offshore Florida and part of offshore Alabama, since 1995, because of concerns about oil spills. California has some offshore oil rigs, but there has been no new leasing in federal waters since the mid-1980s.
Since taking office for a second time in January, Trump has systematically reversed former President Joe Biden’s focus on slowing climate change to pursue what the Republican calls U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. Trump, who recently called climate change “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world,” created a
National Energy Dominance Council and directed it to move quickly to drive up already record-high U.S. energy production, particularly fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas. Meanwhile, Trump’s administration has blocked renewable energy sources such as offshore wind and canceled billions of dollars in grants that supported hundreds of clean energy projects across the country Even before it was released, the offshore drilling plan met strong opposition from California Gov Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who is eyeing a 2028 presidential run and has emerged as a leading Trump critic. Newsom pronounced the idea “dead on arrival” in a social media post. The proposal also is likely to draw bipartisan opposition in Florida. Tourism and access to clean beaches are key parts of the economy in both states.
The administration’s plan proposes six offshore lease sales between 2027 and 2030 in areas along the California coast.
It also calls for new drilling off the coast of Florida in areas at least 100 miles from that state’s shore. The area targeted for leasing is adjacent to an area in the Central Gulf of Mexico that already contains thousands of wells and hundreds of drilling platforms.
The five-year plan also would compel more
than 20 lease sales off the coast of Alaska, including a newly designated area known as the High Arctic, more than 200 miles offshore in the Arctic Ocean.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in announcing the sales that it would take years for the oil from those parcels to get to market.
“By moving forward with the development of a robust, forward-thinking leasing plan, we are ensuring that America’s offshore industry stays strong, our workers stay employed, and our nation remains energy dominant for decades to come,” Burgum said in a statement.
The American Petroleum Institute said in response that the announced plan was a “historic step” toward unleashing vast offshore resources. Industry groups have pointed to California’s history as an oil-producing state and say it already has infrastructure to support more production.
Sen. Rick Scott, a Florida Republican and Trump ally, helped persuade Trump officials to drop a similar offshore plan in 2018 when he was governor Last week, Scott and fellow Florida Republican Sen. Ashley Moody co-sponsored a bill to maintain a moratorium on offshore drilling in the state that Trump signed in his first term.
U.S. employers add surprisingly solid 119K jobs in September
BY PAUL WISEMAN AP economics writer
WASHINGTON U.S. employers added a surprisingly
22,000 as originally reported. Altogether, revisions shaved 33,000 jobs off July and August payrolls. The economy had also shed jobs in June, the first time since the 2020 pandemic that the monthly jobs report has gone negative twice in one year And more than 87% of the September job gains were concentrated in two industries: health care and social assistance, and leisure and hospitality
troubling details in the delayed report. Labor Department revisions showed that the economy lost 4,000 jobs in August instead of gaining
“We’ve got these strong headline numbers, but when you look underneath that you’ll see that a lot of that is driven by health care,” said Cory Stahle, senior economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab. ”At the end of the day, the question is: Can you support an economic expansion on the back of one industry? Anybody would have a hard time arguing everybody should become a nurse.”
The unemployment rate rose to 4.4% in September, highest since October 2021 and up from 4.3% in August, the Labor Department said Thursday The jobless rate rose partly because 470,000 people entered the labor market — either working or looking for work — in September and not all of them found jobs right away The data, though late, was welcomed by businesses, investors,
policymakers and the Federal Reserve. During the 43-day shutdown, they’d been groping in the dark for clues about the health of the American job market because federal workers had been furloughed and couldn’t collect the data. The report comes at a time of considerable uncertainty about the economy The job market has been strained by the lingering effects of high interest rates and uncertainty around Trump’s erratic campaign to slap taxes on imports from almost every country on earth. But economic growth at midyear was resilient.
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By JENNy KANE
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum speaks in June during the annual Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference in Anchorage, Alaska.
Federaljudge nominees from La.advance
Crain, VanHook getpastSenate committee
BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer
WASHINGTON —The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday recommendedthe full Senate confirm two Louisiana nominees for lifetime appointments to the federal bench. Without discussion, the committee for warded the nominations of State Supreme Court Justice William J. Crain, who was nominated to sitinthe Eastern District headquartered in New Orleans, and Alexander C. VanHook, former acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, to become afederal judge in that district, which sits in Lafayette, Shreveport, Monroe and Alexandria.
from litigants before his court and accused him of being overly favorable to the oiland gas industry in hisrulings.
Crain replied Louisiana elects its judges andcampaign contributions are handled by aseparatecommittee so that candidates don’tknowfromwhomthe donations came. He added that his rulings follow the law
Though nothing was said fororagainst eithernomineeinThursday’s meeting, Crain’s nomination was forwarded on a strict party-line vote of 12-10.
Their nominations now will be put on the calendar for consideration by the full Senate.
“My guess is they’ll be confirmed maybe after Thanksgiving, before they (the Senate) break for the holidays at the end of December,” said Carl Tobias, aprofessor at theUniversity of Richmond School of Law who closely follows federal judicialnominations. “Ifnot,itwould be then when they come back in early January.But I think they’llbeconfirmed pretty soon.”
That Democrats on the committee didn’tspeak out Thursday against Crain came as something of a surprise. The committee hearing started out with the chair,Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, andIllinoisSen Dick Durbin, the highestranking Democrat on the panel, sniping at eachother over the quality of judicial candidates chosen by Republican President Donald Trump.
Grassley said astudy showed that nominees from Trump’sfirst term operated on the bench productively andindependently. Durbin countered that when Republicans took over in January as the majority on the committee, they votedto end the decades-old practice of seeking the opinions of the American Bar Association, the nation’spreeminent professional legal organization.
During the committee hearing in October,Democrats closely questioned Crain about contributions his campaign accepted
To bi as no te d that Crain was a trial lawyer for 23 years, then ajudge on the statelevel for 16 years before being nominated to the federal bench
“Democrats probablydidn’tthink he was so bad that theycouldscore points,” Tobias said. “So, as theysay,they kept their powder dry for some other folks.”
Crain was elected to the Louisiana SupremeCourt in 2019 after spending a decade as judge onthe state’s1st CircuitCourt of Appeal and on the22nd Judicial District bench covering the communities on thenorth shore of Lake Pontchartrain.
ABogalusa native, Crain graduated from LSU in 1983, then received his jurisdoctoratein1986 from LSU’sPaul M. Hebert Law Center
He practiced law for two decades before running for the bench
VanHook was recommendedon16-6vote.
“That’s aprettystrong vote,”Tobias said. “He was apretty strong candidate is my sense. He was acareer prosecutor typeand that probably served him well.”
VanHook spent 25 years in Shreveport asanassistant U.S. Attorneyfor the Western District of Louisiana focusingonpublic corruption, organized crime, drug enforcement prosecutions, money laundering, white-collar crime and asset forfeitures. He became acting U.S. Attorney in January and stayed in that capacity until Trump chose Zachary A. Keller forthe position andlater nominated VanHook for thefederal bench
He graduated in 1993 from Centenary College of Louisiana in Shreveport, then got his lawdegree from thePaulM.Hebert LawCenter at LSU in 1997.
Email Mark Ballard at mballard@theadvocate com.
Washington,Terrance
continued from Claudis Williams; and twosisters, Clara Robinson and AnnieMae Tanner. Funeral Nov. 22, 2025. Visitation8 AM.Service 10 AM. F.F.M.B.C 426 Lamarque, NOLA 70114. Interment McDonoghville, 520 Hancock,Gretna, 70053. Professional ArrangementsMurray Henderson FuneralHome, 1209 Teche,NOLA70114.
Terrance Washington entered eternalrestathis residence on Friday,No‐vember14, 2025, at theage of61. He wasa native of Avondale, LA anda resi‐dentofHarvey, LA.Ter‐rance wasa graduate of SouthernUniversityatNew Orleans,and TexasSchool ofElectriciansobtaininga bachelor’sdegree. He was a former employee with AvondaleShipyardasan electrician andcrane oper‐ator. He wasa member of SecondStJohnMissionary Baptist Church where he servedfaithfully.Beloved fatherofTerranceL.Con‐ner,TeriyakiConner, and Terrion AlexanderYoung (Danny).Grandfather of the late Nicholas Ratliff, Jr Son of thelateJohnRubit and EthelM.Washington. Brother of Charmaine Washington, Adrian Kelly Iris Ponson,Marie Sigler, JoAnn Michelle,Pearl Rubit,and thelateAnas‐thesiaJohnson,Lavina Rubit,and Joan Washing‐ton-Surgent.Terrancewas survivedby12grandchil‐drenand ahostofnieces, nephews,cousins,other relatives andfriends.Rela‐tives andfriends of the familyare invitedtoattend the CelebrationofLifeat Davis Mortuary Service230 MonroeSt. Gretna,LAon SaturdayNovember22, 2025, at 10:00a.m. Visita‐tionwillbegin at 8:30a.m. until servicetimeatthe above-named parlor.Inter‐ment: Woodlawn Park MemorialCemetery-West‐wego, LA.Toviewand sign the guestbook,pleasego towww.davismortuaryse rvice.com.FaceMasks Are Recommended
On Nov. 7, God fulfilled His promise and called His faithful servant Deacon Willie J. Williams home. He leavestocherish his memory, his devoted wife Elvera McNeal Williams; their son Herbert McNeal Williams Sr. (Portia); hisgrandchildren Ashley, Herbert Jr. (Madeline), and Kourtney; his great-grandchildren Herbert, IIIand Maddox; his sisters Diana (Randolph) Johnsonand Brenda(Sylvester) Young; his brothers George, Mathew (Joyce), and Warren (Ouida); and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins,extended family, and friends. He was preceded in death by his belovedparents, Mathew and Lizzie Spears Williams; four brothers, Ellis, Emory, Moore, and
SarahLee Gibbs Williams,83, anativeof Pinckneyville,Mississippi passedawayonNovember 11, 2025 in OchsnerHospi‐tal,Jefferson,LA. Shewas precededindeath by her husband,Michael Williams; herparents,Beatrice Simms Gibbs andSinclair
MoneyGibbs;siblings, Everlyn Jackson, Fannie Lawrence, RichardRobin‐son,Charity Morris Lyons, AnnieBea Webster, and LulaJohnson.She leaves behindpreciousmemories toher children,Toren Gibbs,ShongylaLynne Williams,Shanita Williams Michelle Williams,and Nichele Williams;four grandchildren;and one great grandchild.She is alsosurvivedbya host of nieces, nephews, andother relatives andfriends.A Celebration Servicehonor‐ing thelifeand legacy of the late SarahWilliamswill beheldatResurrection MissionaryBaptist Church, 6978 Martin Drive, NewOr‐leans,LA70126 on Satur‐dayNovember22, 2025 at
Crain
VanHook
DEATHS
Williams,Sarah LeeGibbs
Williams, Deacon Willie James
Driverless car service coming to N.O.
Waymo vehicles to be rolled out downtown
BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer
Waymo is bringing its fully autonomous ride-hailing service to New Orleans.
The California based subsidiary of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, announced in a Nov. 20 blog post its plans to launch ser-
vice in the city after a successful test run earlier this year The post didn’t say when the service would begin, but other media reports said Waymo will activate a fleet of about a dozen electric vehicles next month.
The vehicles will first be operated with human “specialists” in the driver’s seat before switching to self-driving mode.
“We’ve been working with them for a year,” said Josh Fleig, chief innovation officer at the state’s economic development agency, who said he originally cold-called Waymo to roll out the welcome mat. “Everyone was so excited
A jogger runs along the Mandeville lakefront as the setting sun glows through Spanish moss-covered
shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain on Wednesday
Mosquito agency defends spending
$4M helicopter, $8M lab scrutinized
BY WILLIE SWETT Staff writer
St. Tammany Mosquito Abatement
The
less than a month after Sims and a group of business leaders presented a 29page report to the Parish Council’s Government Efficiency Committee on the St. Tammany Mosquito Abatement District’s finances The report questioned the prudence of some of the agency’s investments, including a $4 million helicopter for mosquito spraying and an $8 million building with a new lab. Caillouet said Tuesday that the lab has sped up his agency’s work. By testing in-house, he has a guaranteed one day turnaround time from collecting trapped mosquitoes to
Community leaders launch
‘People’s Transition Team’ Group to monitor progress on key election issues
BY BLAKE PATERSON Staff writer
As Mayor-elect Helena Moreno’s transition ramps up, a coalition of community leaders is launching its own transition to hold the mayor-elect and other elected leaders accountable for the promises they made on the campaign trail. The “People’s Transition Team,” an initiative of the nonprofit Together New Orleans, will focus on four issue areas identified by city residents the group surveyed — cost of living, public works, jobs and energy Over the next two months before elected officials’ Jan. 12 inauguration, the organization will develop a plan for those officials to tackle the issues in their first 100 days in office. In April, Together New Orleans plans to publish a report card, grading the mayor-elect and council members on their performance. The group said it has raised the funds needed to mail the report card to 50,000 registered voters. At a news conference outside City Hall on Thursday Shawn Anglim, a pastor at
on
The ‘People’s Transition Team,’ an initiative of the nonprofit Together New Orleans, will focus on four issue areas identified by city residents the group surveyed — cost of living, public works, jobs and energy.
First Grace United Methodist Church and leader with Together New Orleans, said the old-fashioned approach, “where you go cast a ballot, and then you go sit in the bleacher seats and you either boo or cheer your elected officials,” hasn’t worked. “Together New Orleans
Callihan sentenced in murder-kidnapping case
BY WILLIE SWETT Staff writer
Daniel Callihan, the man who killed a Loranger mother and kidnapped her two daughters before killing one of them and leaving her body near Jackson, Mississippi, was sentenced to two life sentences by a federal judge in New Orleans.
U.S. District Judge Lance Africk handed down the sentences on Wednesday to Callihan, 38, for one count of kidnapping resulting in death and one count of transporting a minor across state lines to engage in criminal sexual activity Callihan pleaded guilty to the two counts in August. That brings the total number of life sentences Callihan now faces in state and federal prison for the crimes to six, after he pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder Judge hands down two life sentences
STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
oaks on the
Waymo, the driverless car company, is planning to fully launch its service in New Orleans soon.
ä See WAYMO, page 2B
Life sentence tossed in 2008 murder case
La. Supreme Court says woman is ‘factually innocent’
BY JOHN SIMERMAN Staff writer
The Louisiana Supreme Court this week agreed to a new trial for Cheri Hayden, after an appeals court declared her “factually innocent” in the 2008 death of a grandmother in the parking lot of Laborie’s Grocery Store in Marrero. Hayden, 61, has been serving a life prison sentence for murder in the killing Patricia Landry, a 63-year-old civilian employee of the Air Force Reserve’s 926th Fighter Wing stationed in Belle Chasse, during a purse-snatching Prosecutors argued that Hayden was behind the wheel of a truck
and Michael Coe was a passenger during the Feb. 23, 2008, robbery gone awry Authorities claimed Hayden and Coe were there to meet up with a crack dealer when they pivoted. Under the felony murder doctrine, a jury unanimously convicted Hayden and Coe of second-degree murder and each received a mandatory life sentence.
Matthew Vinet, the owner of the truck, was in the vehicle during the crime and testified against Hayden and Coe. He pleaded guilty to attempted obstruction of justice and was sentenced to eight years. Hayden knew Vinet but had an alibi, claiming that she was bathing at her father’s house and preparing food for a birthday party she attended that afternoon for her granddaughter
Restaurant kept workers’ tips, investigators say
Chopsticks Buffet in Gretna fined $1,188
BY MICHELLE HUNTER Staff writer
The Department of Labor said a Gretna restaurant violated federal law by keeping $81,681 worth of tips meant for servers, a problem that local advocacy groups say is all too common in the industry Chopsticks Buffet on the West Bank Expressway allegedly ran afoul of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and its tip pooling provisions by pocketing the credit card tips of 12 workers, the Labor Department announced Tuesday
The department’s investigation also identified an employee who was paid only in tips and denied about $1,435 in earned minimum wage. The Department of Labor assessed a $1,188 civil penalty against the restaurant.
Ben Xiao, a manager at Chopsticks, said Wednesday that the restaurant’s owners had been unaware of the regulations barring employers and managers from keeping any portion of an employee’s tips.
Under federal rules, employers must directly pay tipped workers at least $2.13 per hour Chopsticks’ owners were paying between $8 and about $10 an hour, according to Xiao. Workers kept the cash tips. But the credit card tips were kept by the restaurant, a move they thought was OK because workers were being paid above the $2.13 minimum, Xiao said.
The investigation reviewed records for the past two years, Once made aware of the violations, the restaurant’s owners cut checks to workers for the tips that had been kept, according to Xiao.
“You have to do what the law says,” Xiao said.
Wrongly keeping an employee’s tips is considered a civil matter not a criminal one under federal law, according to Andrea Agee, a director at Workplace Justice Project, a New Orleans organization that advocates and litigates on behalf of low-wage workers.
“It’s absolutely wage theft, and it’s one of the most prevalent forms of wage theft in the restaurant and hospitality industry,” Agee said. “We hear a lot about it, especially in New Orleans But the issue doesn’t always get high-
Continued from page 1B
a second approach,” he said “You gather 50-plus faith, unions, civic institutions deeply rooted in the city they love, and they get very, very clear about what they want to see change.”
The People’s Transition effort is a part of a broader push by Together New Orleans and its member institutions to “do democracy differently” and take on a more assertive role in shaping local government Its kickoff caps work that began in March 2024, when the organization’s delegates agreed to start a listening campaign to figure out the most pressing issues facing the city’s residents. More than 1,500 people participated in small group meetings, and the organization eventually settled on the four focus areas.
Innocence Project-New Orleans — now Innocence & Justice Louisiana — found contradictions and recantations after interviewing witnesses. Some of them claimed that Vinet’s far younger girlfriend at the time, Jessica Billiot, had confessed to driving the truck. Billiot has not been arrested or charged in the killing.
Judge Stephen Enright of the 24th Judicial District in Gretna denied her claims, but a state appeals court ruled in 2023 that Hayden’s attorney fell woefully short in preparing for her trial and awarded her a new trial.
The Supreme Court reinstated her conviction a year ago, however, returning the case to the appeals court for decisions on Hayden’s other arguments.
CALLIHAN
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PROVIDED PHOTO
The U.S Department of Labor said Chopsticks Buffet violated federal law by keeping more than $81,000 in staffers’ tips.
lighted.”
Many cases go unreported or unpursued Federal authorities don’t usually have the resources to commit to smaller or individual claims of such theft, she said.
Workers also often don’t have the time or money to obtain private representation. Court costs and attorney fees usually exceed what it’s possible to recover, leaving few lawyers incentivized to take on such a case, Agee said.
The Workplace Justice Project is the only agency in the state that represents low-wage workers on a free or sliding fee scale, Agee said.
Fear of retaliation can also be an issue.
“They don’t want to pursue a claim because they’re afraid of not being able to find other work in the industry,” Agee said “The New Orleans hospitality industry is very small and close-knit. They do not want to be known as someone who causes trouble for an employer.”
Other than a state law governing final paychecks for employees, Louisiana doesn’t have any other wage laws, relying solely on the federal Fair Labor Act, according to Workplace Justice Project CoDirector Erika Zucker It’s the employers responsibility to know the laws and properly follow them, she said.
For more information about the Workplace Justice Project or to seek help from their organization, visit https://www.wjpnola.org.
For more information about the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and tip pooling regulations, visit the agency’s fact sheet on the matter at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/15-tippedemployees-flsa.
Email Michelle Hunter at mhunter@theadvocate.com.
In the coming months, four teams focused on the issue areas will develop a plan to teach the public about various problems and potential solutions. The teams will present the plan at various congregations, unions, schools and neighborhood groups next year
The transition also plans to meet with subject matter experts to figure out what steps newly elected leaders can take in their first 100 days. They will then develop benchmarks that will form the basis of the scorecard.
“We asked one very important question: What is one thing our city needs to change?” said Katie Jacob, a pastor at Grace Lutheran Church
The work also comes after the group’s delegates in July ratified a ”People’s Platform.” At an assembly in September, Moreno and six of the seven incoming council members vowed to support the platform. (Council member Lesli Harris, who ran unopposed, didn’t
What resulted was a blunt repudiation of the state’s case against Hayden by the state 5th Circuit Court of Appeal. The court found prosecutors elicited false testimony from an investigator who testified at Hayden’s trial that Billiot was never a suspect. And it cast shade on the lone remaining eyewitness against Hayden, saying the woman had first reported that the driver of the truck was a young girl in her 20s in sunglasses. Hayden was 45 at the time.
A “cumulation of errors deprived her of fundamental fairness and due process,” the appeals court wrote. “Her conviction cannot stand under these circumstances.”
The Supreme Court’s vote was split. Chief Justice John Weimer and Justices Cade Cole, Piper Griffin and John Michael Guidry
agreed to deny the state’s writ. Justices Jefferson Hughes, William Crain and Jay McCallum voted to grant it.
“She’s feeling pretty awesome. She started crying on the phone,” said Jee Park, executive director of Innocence & Justice Louisiana Park said Hayden was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer several years ago and received radiation in prison.
Park praised the court for keeping intact an “incredibly thoughtful and thorough decision that lays out exactly why and how Cheri Hayden is innocent.” She said she was preparing to ask Enright to free Hayden on bond pending a decision by District Attorney Paul Connick’s office on whether to retry her for the crime
“The case remains open therefore we do not comment,” Connick’s office said in a statement.
in Tangipahoa Parish and to counts of capital murder kidnapping and sexual battery in Mississippi.
At a plea hearing in August in federal court, Africk said Callihan committed an “evil, depraved, callous act.” He suggested the family’s desire to not have the surviving child testify may have shielded Callihan from the death penalty Africk ordered on Wednesday that Callihan serve his two life sentences in federal prison consecutively to his life sentences in state court, according to a news release from the U.S. District Attorney’s
SPENDING
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treating hot spots.
He argued the helicopter allows more selective application of larvicides and adulticides and is a new standard for mosquito abatement
“What’s at stake with this conversation is the same-day mosquito control service that you’re used to, it’s that proactive public health approach,” Caillouet said.
In an interview Wednesday Sims pointed to the council report’s finding that the new lab tests mosquito samples for diseases at a rate of $12 per test, while the lab at Louisiana State University, which the district previously used, costs $5.50 per test. Sims also criticized the costs of the salaries and benefits for personnel at St. Tammany’s lab.
WAYMO
Continued from page 1B
when they called recently to say they’re going to make it happen.”
Waymo tested its vehicles in the city in February and again in May with human drivers in the vehicles studying traffic patterns, pedestrian habits and other nuances of New Orleans streets.
The company plans to begin service in the city’s downtown neighborhoods before expanding to the entire city and suburbs. It will add more vehicles a combination of Jaguar I-PACES and Geely Zeekr RTs — as demand grows.
Waymo currently serves customers in Austin, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Fran-
attend the assembly.)
The platform calls for banning traffic camera tickets, rapidly fixing potholes and paying city contractor invoices quickly, among other changes. It also calls for the passage of a proposal pending before the City Council to use $30 million from a settlement with Entergy to create battery-powered networks, or “microgrids,” across the city that would equip homes, small businesses, churches and other institutions with battery power walls. The proposal has faced opposition from Entergy which argues the money would be better spent on its own resilience programs. Moreno, at a news conference Thursday, said she couldn’t remember off the top of her head every aspect of Together New Orleans’ platform, but that she “fully supports” Together New Orleans’ microgrid proposal. The council is expected to vote on the proposal at a Dec. 10 committee meeting.
Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Africk also ordered Callihan to pay $260,000 in restitution to the family of the victims. Callihan killed Callie Brunett, 35, in Tangipahoa in June 2024, and kidnapped her two daughters. The body of one of the daughters, 4-year-old Erin, was later found near Jackson, Mississippi. The other was found alive nearby In September in state court in Amite in Tangipahoa Parish, Judge Brian K. Abels, of the 21st Judicial District, sentenced Callihan to two life sentences after he pleaded guilty to the two first-degree murder counts.
At that hearing, the sister of Burnett, Brandi Hosch, said Callihan deserved worse than a life behind
“We’re not arguing with your scientific method, we’re arguing with your spending to execute that scientific method,” Sims said.
The council report floated the idea of consolidating mosquito abatement with parish government. But Caillouet argued that the benefit of an independent taxing district is that “there is no politician between your dedicated tax dollars and the service that you’ve dedicated those funds for.”
He said the district is lowering its property tax and taking steps to reduce inefficiencies by sharing resources with other government agencies.
In February, in part sparked by concerns over the parish’s insufficient funding for its criminal justice system, Sims and the Parish Council looked at reducing potential inefficiencies in parish government by reviewing various
cisco and is planning expansions to Minneapolis, Tampa and New Orleans. When the service is up and running in New Orleans, riders will be able to schedule a pickup by downloading the Waymo smartphone app.
When the company announced plans to test its service in New Orleans in February, there were plenty of jokes about self-driving cars meeting their match with New Orleans’ infamously bad streets and worse drivers, but the company said the experiments were successful. Waymo touts data that shows its vehicles are involved in fewer crashes with injuries than vehicles operated by humans.
A spokesperson said Waymo’s autonomous driving technology
“One of the promises I made is that I would get this done before the end of my term,” Moreno, who currently serves as council vice president, said. “This is really transformative It’s a new, out of the box way of thinking. We would be leading on this climate initiative.”
Moreno gave an update on her own transition efforts on Thursday at New Orleans East Hospital, ahead of a meeting of a transition committee focused on policy issues affecting New Orleans East and the Lower 9th Ward.
The mayor-elect said she wants to focus on retaining existing businesses with dedicated personnel at City Hall to help address issues like utility bills and illegal dumping while also pushing to recruit new businesses to the area. She said her team is trying “untangle” legal issues to help spur the redevelopment of the former Lake Forest Plaza site and that she wants the city to sell blighted
bars, but that the family did not want Burnett’s surviving daughter to have to see Callihan inside a courtroom again.
Then, in Mississippi, Callihan pleaded guilty in state court in Jackson to capital murder kidnapping and sexual battery and received two life sentences.
Callihan will be serving the life sentences imposed in Tangipahoa Parish first, per an agreement between the prosecutors and the defense, according to Kerry Cuccia, Callihan’s defense attorney Cuccia said in an interview Thursday that he had been informed that Callihan has been released by the federal government to the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections.
agencies’ finances, starting with Mosquito Abatement.
The following month, voters shot down a proposal for a tax dedicated to fund some criminal justice agencies. Sims’ office, as well as the northshore judges and the jail, are now expected to receive 30% cuts in parish funding in 2026 and even higher the following year
Caillouet acknowledged the parish is a financial “crunch.”
“We’ve never been against Mr Sims or funding public safety fully,” he said on Tuesday Rather, Caillouet said he was “against the process” the parish and Sims took to review Mosquito Abatement’s finances.
Mosquito Abatement has separately filed a lawsuit against the parish over the review and a bar complaint against Sims, whose office is technically the district’s legal representative.
uses an array of sensors — including lidar, cameras and accelerometers — to identify road hazards such as potholes and puddles. In the same way applications like Apple Maps or Google Maps can warn human drivers about road hazards, the Waymo technology shares the location of detected potholes, providing its fleet with advance notice. The data helps the autonomous vehicles avoid hazards when it is safe to do so, the spokesperson said. Originating in 2009 in Mountain View, California, as the Google Self-Driving Car Project, Waymo has come to dominate the “robotaxi” market, claiming more than 4 million paid autonomous rides last year while its competitors Tesla, Amazon and General Motors lag behind.
property on Old Gentilly Road that once housed an incinerator
Finally, she said she wants the redevelopment of the Six Flags site “to move a lot faster,” and that her administration plans to continue the work of the stalled New Orleans East Renaissance plan, which Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration put the brakes on earlier this year, by folding it into another ongoing study
Hayden
Michael
Ardis,
Barriere,
Pollard,Evangelia St Tammany
Cynthia Honaker
Beaudette,Paul Rabalais,Francis Connell, Frank West Bank Curtis Sr., James DavisMortuary Ewell, Rosanna
Frank, Essie Curtis Sr., James Fulgham, Joseph Gasper,Juanita Galmore,Percy Jones, Myrna
Michael Ardis, alifelong resident of New Orleans, Louisiana, was called home on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, at the age of 71. He passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by love.
Michael graduated from George Washington Carver High School in New Orleans and went on to earn an Associateof Science degree in Motor Vehicle Technology from Delgado Community College.Hededicated his life to service—both to his country and his community. Michael proudlyserved in the United StatesArmy from September 1974until his honorabledischarge in August 1979,achievingthe rank of StaffSergeant (E6). His commitment to his country was unwavering, and he was asource of inspirationtoall who knew him.
Born on October18, 1954, Michael wasthe beloved son of the late Lillie and Willie C. Ardis,Sr. He is survived by his devoted wife, SylviaGuyton Ardis, and his loving daughtersNedra Ardisand SidraArdis-Moore(Justin). He also leavestocherish his memoryhis adored grandchildrenSenedra Wollfarth (Jake), Sierra and Se'kiraArdis, Justin and Saniyah Moore, and Samad Washington,along with two great-grandchildren, Jake and Judah Wollfarth.
Michael is lovingly rememberedbyhis siblings Marian ArdisClarke,Willie C. Ardis, Jr.(Carolyn),and L. Fay Ardis Arbuthnot (Donald). He was preceded in death by his siblings GailArdisShorty,Larry Ardis, and GlynisArdis Jones.
He is also remembered by his brothers-in-law Malik Rahim and Tyrone L. Guyton, and was preceded in death by his parents-inlaw, Lubertha Johnson and Eugene Guyton.
Michael leaves behind a host of nieces, nephews, great-niecesand nephews, and great-great-nieces and nephews, as wellasa loving circle of extendedfamily and dear friends.
Michaelwillberemembered forhis strength, kindness, and unwavering devotion to his family. His legacy of love and service willcontinue to liveonin the many liveshetouched
Aspecialthank you to the East Jefferson Hospital 7th Floor nursing staff and theHeartofHospicefor their care and compassion.
AFuneral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, November22, 2025 at 11:00 AM, in the Chapel of WestsideLeitz-Eagan FuneralHome, 5101 WestbankExpressway, Marrero, LA 70072. Visitationwillbefrom9:00 AM until the Mass. Acommittal servicewill followat RestlawnPark Cemetery and Mausoleum, 3540 US90, Avondale,LA70094.
Barriere, Cynthia MarieHamilton
CynthiaMarie Hamilton Barriereentered thegates ofheavenonNovember13, 2025, surrounded by her beloved family. Shewas bornonSeptember 28 1948, to theunion of the lateJames Calvin Hamilton & thelateAlmaTheresa DollioleHamilton. Shewas the eldest of threechil‐dren. Cynthiawas anative ofNew Orleans, anda graduateofJosephS Clark’s classof1966. Nurs‐ing washer passion. She workedfor CharityHospi‐tal,TulaneUniversityHos‐pital,and St.Margaret Daughter’sHomeinNew Orleans.In1967, Cynthia was unitedinholymatri‐monytoRonaldF.Barriere Sr. Shewas aloving motherto five children She wasblessedwithsev‐enteen grandchildren, and ninegreat-grandchildren Sis.Barrierewas atrue servant of Godand enjoyed being in thepresenceof the Lord.She fellow‐shippedatSovereign Hope Apostolic Fellowship.She leavestocherish hermem‐ories:One aunt,Emma An‐thony,one sister,JoanAnn Hampton, herhusband, RonaldF.BarriereSr. five children: Kismit B. Bougere,RonaldF.Barriere Jr. (Deandrea),KimetaB Riley (RonaldSr.), Ronson F.Barriere, andDaleTheresa Venible (Sylvester),sixteen grand‐children, nine great-grand‐children, twobrothers-in law,two sisters-in-law,two Godchildren Keisha Bertrill Hampton, andNoelJeffer‐son anda host of cousins, nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. Sheispre‐ceded in deathbyher par‐entsthe late JamesCalvin Hamilton& thelateAlma Theresa Dolliole Hamilton, one sister Dale-Theresa Hamilton, onegrandson Romin Ferrel Barriere,her grandparents, MilfordP DollioleSr. &Hilda Poree Dolliole, andFlorence Tuta”Johnson-Davis & James Hamilton.All arein‐vited to celebrateher life and legacy on Saturday, November22, 2025, at Apostolic Outreach Center 8358 Lake Forest Blvd., New Orleans,Louisiana.Visita‐tionstartsat9:00am, and the servicewillstart at 10:00 am.Interment,St. Louis Cemetery No.3 at 3421 EsplanadeAve., New Orleans,La. 70119. Guest‐book Online:www.anewtra ditionbegins.com(504)2820600. Linear BrooksBoyd and DonavinD.BoydOwn‐ers/FuneralDirectors
and Andrew. Also his sisters Rhondaand Robinand abrother Peter.Paulwill be buried in agraveside ceremony at RedStar Cemetery located at 2155 MormonTrail NW,Wesson, MS 39191 on November 29, 2025 at 11:00AM.Tohonor Paul's life and in memory of him go forth and be a peacemaker untothe world and helpsomebody. On behalf of Paul and his family much gratitude is giventoall who called Paul afriend or an acquaintance or workedwithhim professionally. Enjoy Life andStay Happy and keep love forall in your heart. God be with you'til we meetagain.
"Whetheryou knowitor not, Frank's thereasonyou love Snake and Jake's. Frank created an atmosphere that was notonly inclusive butalso fostered themost unlikely connections imaginable.Hewas a freak, and he madefreaks welcome."(Astatement from DaveClements+ Tony Tocco, founders of Snake and Jake's, on the passing of Frank Connell)
If you've ever come within 10 yards of thecorner of 3rd &Constance over thepast 20 years, there's a~98.5% chance youmet Howard Francis Connell.But we all called him Frank. Whether youloved him or didn'tknowwhat the hell to think of him, Frank died November 1st,2025, at 65, prompting asurgeof tributes to thebeloved, cantankerous, and widelyacknowledged"rolling visitors bureau," "pain-in-theass,"and "ún-elected mayor"ofNew Orleans' Irish Channel
He's survivedbyhis older brothers, Stephen& Mark Connell;his nephew, Charles; &his cousins on theClementsside, Michael, Lillian, Julie, Dana, &Lisa.Frank is preceded in death by his parents, Charles "Buck" Connell and Joan Connell,his uncle BillClements, &cousin Jennifer ClementsChilds.
BornSept.15thin Arlington, VA, Frank grew up competing on thehigh schoolswim team and spending timewith his pet skunk, Jason.
Upon leaving home, Frank madea living as a stagehand &worked for legendary shows, including ElvisPresley, thelive recording of "The Load Out/Stay" by Jackson Browne at Merriweather Post Pavilion, &LiveAid in Philadelphia. He was a whitewater raft instructor on theChattoogaRiver in theearly80s, where he met his lifelong friend Joan Kurczaba.
Parasol's. Frank was acaring neighbor,a thoughtful friend, an unorthodox soul, &just therightamount of crazy. Therest of us freaks'll miss him, &are torn up he wascalled backso soon. But...we suppose whoever'srunning the showupthere figureda couple of blocks of Paradise coulduse alittle trouble.. GO, LEROY, GO!!! (If you would like to celebrateFrank's life. There'll be aparty at Frank's "Office"or"ClubFrankie," (3rd &Constance) on Saturday, November 22nd, at 2:00 pm.)
Curtis Sr., James
JamesCurtis, Sr.de‐partedthislifeatresi‐dence on Sunday,Novem‐ber 16, 2025, at theage of 67. He wasa native of New Orleans,LA, aformerresi‐dentofAvondale, LA and presently residing in Mar‐rero, LA.James wasa grad‐uateofJohnH.Martyn HighSchool andemployed asa Mobile Coordinator withChildren’sHospital. James wasa member of Fresh StartBaptist Cathe‐dral, where he served as a deacon. Loving husband of Kim Curtis.Devoted father ofNakishiaCurtisand James Curtis,Jr. Sonofthe lateBostonCurtisand Sweetie B. Curtis.Grand‐son of thelateLoveCurtis, Katie FultzCurtis, Walter Lofton, Sr., andMaryJohn‐son Lofton.Beloved brother of Howard Curtis, Sr.,Hazel C. (Clarence) Chaffin, Josephine(Derick) Curtis, Maxine Curtis,and Donna Curtis Clark. Also cherishinghis memories are 3grandchildren,and a hostofaunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, other relatives, and friends.Relatives and friends of thefamily, also pastors,officers,and members of FreshStart Baptist Cathedraland all neighboring churches are invited to attend theCele‐bration of Life at Fresh Start BaptistCathedral, 1542 PailetAvenue,Harvey, LAonSaturday, November 22, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. BishopSeanElder,officiat‐ing.Visitationwillbegin at 8:30a.m.until servicetime atthe church.Interment: Will be private. Arrange‐ments by DavisMortuary Service,230 Monroe St., Gretna, LA.Toviewand signthe guestbook, please gotowww.davismortua ryservice.com.Facemasks are recommended
Professional Service entrustedto caringstaff of Hobson Brown Funeral Home 134 Daisy Street Garyville,La70051 985-535-2516
Fulgham, Joseph
Hobson BrownFH
Frank, Essie
Paul JosephBeaudette died on November 14, 2025 in Oregonwhere he had livedfor twoyears. Paul was bornonApril 6, 1953 in Southbridge Massachusetts and grew up in Oxford Massachusetts.Heattended Delgado in Louisiana where he met his wife and they were married on June 61973. Paul and his wife livedinIowa, Missouri Pennsylvania, Missouri, and then finally ended up in Louisiana. He lovedthe outdoors and was happiest when he was hunting or fishing or just walking in thewoods.Heenjoyed many different kindsof jobs, some were building campsordecks or porch tops or shedsorwhatever family or friendswouldask of him. He was anaturalat handsonand ajack of all trades. Paul'sprofessional jobwas an orthotist-prosthetist forover fifty years. He is loveddeeplybyhis family and will be greatly missed. He is preceded in death by his parents Albert JosephBeaudette and Roselyn Edith Mitchell Beaudette.Heissurvived by his wife of fifty-two years: Judith (Judy) Kay McDavid Beaudette,two daughters Amy LaPorte (Nathan) and Lisa Dickinson (Jimmy), and six amazing grandchildren. They are Landon, Abigail, London, Noah, Hannah,
Frank also spent time near Atlanta,working in clubsand befriending the likesofMichelleMalone, The IndigoGirls, and The Black Crowes, relationshipshecarriedhis entire life Soon after, Frank wound up in NewOrleans, where, as abartender, he was foundational to helping Snake &Jakes become THE NewOrleans late-night institution. After leaving NOLA for D.C.in2004, he bumped into acolumnist at his favorite bar, The Raven, & became thesubject of a22 -weekseries in the Washington Post titled "The Adventures of Frank," which chronicled therise andfallofthe RedBean, a Mexicajun jointheopened with his cousin, Mike Clements. Frank returnedtoNew Orleans, wherehelived out therest of his days. Around theIrish Channel, thename "Frank" is most commonly pairedside-byside with thename "Leroy,"his dog,who'd famouslyrip Frank around in his wheelchair at browraising speeds through the jaggedUptownstreets. Legend has it, Frank & Leroyonce torethrougha schoolzonesofast the NOPDissued them a speedingcitation. Frank lovedLeroy more than anything &missedhis best friend bitterlyafter he passed on Nov. 22nd,2019. NowFrank's gone, &his absence will stickout like amissing corner-piece to thelargerpuzzle that is thecity of NewOrleans, whether that's alack of his trademarkHalloween Beans come late October, acrippling plummetinPBR tallboyfutures,oranempty corneracross from
Ewell, Rosanna With sadnessweshare the passingofRosanna Ewell, on November 10, 2025. Please visitwww.rho desfuneral.comtoview service information, sign onlineguestbook,send flowersand sharecondo‐lences.
On Friday, November 7, 2025, at thetenderage of 90 years old. God call Minister Essie MaeLestrick Frank to hereternal restingplace.she leaves to cherish herpreciousmemorytoher seven children, grandchildren,great grandchildren, andahost of nieces, nephews, otherrelatives andfriends. Essie waspreceded in death by herhusbandPeter Frank herparents Vera Clark and Nelson Lestrick, hersiblings.
Homegoingcelebration will be held on Saturday, November 22, 2025, at 1:00p.m. at Milesville Memorial Church of God in Christ 129 Apple St Laplace, LA 70068, Her Son Bishop Ronald Frank, Officiant. Visitation on Saturday, November 22, 2025, from 11:00am until service time (ONLY). IntermentSt. John Memorial gardens, Laplace La 70086
Joseph Fulgham, affec‐tionately knownas“Jerry,” beloved husband, devoted father, cherishedsibling and faithfulservant of God, was born on December 19 1935, in Birmingham,Al‐abama.Hepassedaway peacefully on November 14, 2025, at theage of 89 withhis familylovinglyby his side.Hewas thesec‐ond youngestofeleven childrenborntothe late MaggieCampbell and James “Doc”Fulgham Jerry accepted Christ at an early ageand carrieda deep,unwavering faith throughouthis life.Asa young man, Jerry experi‐enced history firsthand. He proudly andcourageously marched alongsideDr. MartinLutherKingJr. and other civilrightsleaders in Alabama.Heattended WestfieldHighSchool and, inhis earlytwenties, made one of thebiggest moves ofhis life—relocatingto Buffalo, NewYork, in searchofbetteropportuni‐tiesand to escape theJim Crowera in theSouth.In Buffalo, while workingat Sisters of CharityHospital, Jerry found theloveofhis life. He sought after and won theheart of Corine Lewis,and sixty-twoyears ago November 22nd, she becamehis bride. To this union,three children were born. Corine remained the cornerstone of hisworld Jerry worked tirelesslyin Buffalo, NY,often holding two jobs at atime, 2of which were Wonder Bread and Dunlop Tires. Shortly after thebirth of theirthird child,Jerry andCorinebe‐camehomeownersintheir twenties, becoming the firstAfrican American fam‐ily to move into theircom‐munity. Jerry’s dreamwas simplebut powerful:to givehis children ahome witha yard anda pool,and toprotect them from some ofthe crueltiesofthe world.Inthe early1970s, Jerry approached Corine and said,“My brother needsme; we aremoving toNew Orleans.”Their new journey took them to Al‐giers,where Jerryhelped his olderbrother,Elbert, run Skatelandinthe Cutoff With threechildrenand a commitmenttofamily, Jerry embraced this new chapter wholeheartedly. When theskating business ended,Jerry became ase‐curityofficerfor Schweg‐mannBrothers’ GiantSu‐permarkets. Thefamily moved to Gretna,Louisiana (TheGreen), where Jerry workedhis wayuptoChief ofSecurity, apositionfrom which he laterretired Jerry hadmanytalents,but his greatest passionwas singing.Hesangina fourpersonquartet in Buffalo and even hadthe opportu‐nitytoopenfor theleg‐endarySammy DavisJr. His heartfor musicfol‐lowed himthroughouthis life. He dedicatedcount‐lessyears to singinginthe choirsofGreater St Stevens,Regular Baptist Church,LifeCenterCathe‐dral, and finally,his beloved church,Greater ZionfieldFamilyWorship Center. When he wasn’t providing forhis family, he was singingfor theLord. Jerry’s warmth,dedication, and quietstrengthwillbe deeply missedbyall who knewhim.Heopenedhis door to anyone who needed alittleextra help Numerousfamilymembers and friendsofhis daugh‐tersfound asafe havenin his home during their times of need.Jerry loved tofeed people;ifyou were hungry, youcould always dependonhim to make sureyou were takencare of. He lovedhis familypro‐foundly—not only hiswife and children,but also the grandsons he helped raise ashis own, as well as his manyniecesand nephews. Hewas preceded in death byhis parents, Maggie and James “Doc”; hissisters Beatrice, LeelaMae,Marie Gertie, WillaDean, and Johnnie Lee; hisbrothers Otis, Willbert,Elbert, and James;his grandson Court‐ney;and nephewsRoo‐seveltand Ralph, whomhe consideredbrothers. Jerry leavestocherish hismem‐ory hisdevoted wife Corine; daughtersErica, Tiris,and Omegia;grand‐sonsKenneth and Matthew;one great-grand‐daughter, Italie Bauman; niece Veronica;and ahost ofnieces, nephews, family, and friendswho lovedand appreciatedhis generous
Gasper,Juanita JonesSr.,Sherman
Connell, Frank
Beaudette,Paul Joseph
Frank,Essie Mae
4B ✦ Friday, November 21, 2025 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune heartand comforting spirit. Hislegacyoffaith commitment, andlovewill continue to inspireall who wereblessed to know him. Relatives andfriends,also pastor, officers andmem‐bersofGreater Zionfield FamilyWorship Center and all neighboringchurches are invitedtoattendthe Celebration of Life on Sat‐urday,November22, 2025 atGreater ZionfieldFamily Worship Center,636 EleventhStreet,Westwego, La, beginning11am, Pastor SamuelTravisJr.,officiat‐ing.Church visitation 9am until servicetime. Profes‐sionalservice entrustedto LittlejohnFuneral Home Cal K. Johnson, ManagerFuneralDirector. Info:504940-0045.
PercyGalmore age69, nativeofHouma,LAand residentofTerrebonne, passedawaypeacefully on November7,2025. He leavestocherish hismem‐ories,his wife;Debra W. Galmore,his children, Percy Kentrell Galmore, Khyri T. Galmore; hissib‐lings,MollieDiggs,Helen Brown (James), AlineJohn‐son andthe late Rosa Lee James.Heispreceded in death by his; parents, Her‐man andOleviaGalmore; his siblings,Shirley McKin‐ley Toney, Alfred Diggs, LesterGalmore,Ricky Gal‐more, FreddieGalmore, ClaudeGalmore,Lionel Diggs andgrandparents, Harry andRubyMcKinley and Freddie& EllenGal‐more. Relativesand friends ofthe familyare invitedto attendthe Celebrationof LifeService on Saturday November22, 2025, at Beautiful Zion Baptist Church, 120 HialeahAve., Houma,LA70363at10:00 a.m.Visitationfrom9:00 a.m.until 10:00 a.m. Inter‐mentDeweyvilleCemetery, Houma,LA. Youmay sign the guestbook on http:// www.gertrudegeddeswilli s.com. Gertrude Geddes Willis-Terrebonne Funeral Home, Inc. in charge (985) 872-6934.
JuanitaEdith Gasper, age 77, enteredpeacefully intoeternal rest at herres‐idenceonFriday, Novem‐ber 7, 2025. Shewas ana‐tiveand resident of Harvey LA. Juanitawas agraduate ofLincoln High School,and she attended Southern Uni‐versity BatonRouge and StraightBusinessCollege She retiredfromWitco after many yearsofservice asa secretary. Juanitawas a faithfulmemberof Evening Star Baptist Church, where shesang withthe Mass Choir, Women Chorus,and partic‐ipatedwiththe newmem‐bersclass. Beloveddaugh‐ter of thelateThomas, Jr and Gladys Gasper.Grand‐daughterofthe late Victo‐ria Triche,ThomasGasper, Jr. Olivia Ellisonand Ben‐jamin Coleman. Loving sis‐ter of Thomas (Roxie) GasperIII,Michael (Janice) Gasper, Sr Olivia (Gerald K)Jones,Joann (Robert) Daughtery,and the late Graylon Gasper andBrian Gasper. Nieceofthe late EmeldaColeman,Beulah GasperRoussell, Martha GasperSumner, Louise GasperSimon,LillieFisher Curley, MildredFisher McCoy,ForestCustard,Mil‐ton Simon, EmileGasper, LionelColeman,Rev ErnestRoussell, andJulius Simon.Juanita is also sur‐vived by herdevoted cousinToniBurras-Boyer and ahostofnieces, nephews,cousins,other relatives andfriends.Rela‐tives andfriends of the family, also pastors, offi‐cers, andmembers of Evening Star Missionary Baptist Church,Progres‐siveChurch, NewBethel Baptist Church,Metaphysi‐cal InstituteofScience,Je‐hovah WitnessKingdon Hall, andall neighboring churchesare invitedtoat‐tendthe HomegoingCele‐bration at EveningStar MissionaryBaptist Church 817 Grefer Avenue,Harvey, LAonSaturday, November 22, 2025, at 10:00a.m. Pas‐
torKeith PaaulStewman, officiating. Visitation will begin at 8:30a.m. until ser‐vicetimeatthe church.In‐terment:Evening Star Cemetery#2-Gretna,LA. ArrangementsbyDavis MortuaryService,230 Mon‐roe St.Gretna, LA.Toview and sign theguestbook, pleasegotowww.davismo rtuaryservice.com.Face Masks AreRecommended
Hilliard,KhalebReginald
Baby Khaleb Reginald Hilliard, born June 3, 2025 passedawayonNovember 7,2025 at TexasChildren's HospitalinHouston,TX. Beloved sonofChervon Hilliard. BrotherofKarter Haralson. Grandson of the lateReginaldHilliardSr. and KimHilliard. Also sur‐vived by ahostofother rel‐ativesand friends. Mass of Christian Burial will be heldonFriday, November 21, 2025 for10:00 a.m. at Estelle J. Wilson Funeral Home, Inc.,2715 Danneel Street,New Orleans, LA 70113. Visitation from 9:00 a.m.until 10:00 a.m. Dea‐con Lawrence Houstonof‐ficiating. Interment: Mt OlivetCemeteryand Mau‐soleum, 4000 Norman Mayer Ave.,New Orleans, LA70122. Arrangements entrusted to EstelleJ.Wil‐son FuneralHome, Inc., 2715 DanneelSt. NOLA 70113. Information: (504) 895-4903. To sign online guest book,pleasevisit www.estellejwilsonfh.com.
Warren Jackson, Sr., age 62, native of Bogalusa,LA and resident of Houma, LA passedawaypeacefully on Wednesday,November12, 2025. He leaves to cherish his memories,his wife BerthaNixon Jackson, bonus mother,RuthPayne; his children,Marcus Kinchen of Baker, LA,Anto‐nio JacksonofBaton Rouge,LA, Ernest and Akeen NixonofHouma,LA, TunesiaJackson of Hous‐ton,TX, Quinyawna Land (Jacob) of BatonRouge,LA, Dacoble EnnisofBaton Rouge,LA, Shelby Dicker‐son of Plaquemine,LA, QuintellHarvey(Christo‐pher) and Asia Williams (Ron) of Houma, LA;broth‐ers-in-law, Steven Nixon (Michell) of Lake Charles, LA, AllenNixon (Wanda)of Houma,LAand Corey Nixon (Samaria)ofNorfolk, Virginia; sisters-in-law BrendaLivas,AnnieNells (Williams), Constance Nixon,Debra Boyd (Charles Sr.). of Houma, LA;a beloved cousin Yolanda HarveyofBogalusa,LA; godchild, KiaraJones of Houma,LA; 23 grandchil‐drenand host of nieces, nephews andrelatives Warrenenjoyed spending his leisuretimewith friends,Matthew Clay James Brown, Steven Branch, BrianNixon,Rev TroySmith andMelvinHite. Heisprecededindeath by his parents, AngelBeal, Guadette Brooksand John Jackson;his son, Warren EdwardJackson,Jr.,his mother-in-law Minerva Nixon,sister, Wendy (McHenry) Morris, brother, Bryon Jackson; brothersin-law, HenryLivas,Sr. Micheal Nixon, Sr.and Larry Nixon; godbrother FredrickCulbert and grandparents, Edward Beal and IdaH.Thomas. Rela‐tives andfriends of the familyare invitedtothe Celebration of Life Service on Friday,November21, 2025, at BeautifulZionBap‐tistChurch,120 Hialeah Ave., Houma, LA 70363 at 11:00 am.Visitationfrom 10:00 am to 11:00am. Pri‐vateBurial. Gertrude Ged‐des Willis-Terrebonne Fu‐neral Home is in charge of arrangements. You may signthe guestbookon www.gertrudegeddeswilli s.com.
MyrnaFayeCarterJones transitionedtoher heav‐enlyhomeonSaturday, November8,2025, at the age of 66. Shewas anative ofNew Orleans, LA anda lifelongresidentofKenner, LA. Myrnawas a1976 grad‐uateofGrace King High School andcontinued her studies at Southern Univer‐sityA&M College, Baton Rouge,earning aBachelor ofScience in Family and ConsumerScienceswitha concentration in Child De‐velopment.She wasem‐ployedasaneducatorwith the JeffCapHeadstart Pro‐gramfor 37 years, helping young children grow,learn and discover theirpoten‐tial. Hergentlespiritand joyfulenergymadeher classroom aplace of warmth, laughter,and love. AfterretiringinJuly of2022, Myrnacontinued serving hercommunity through variousoutreach committees.Myrna will al‐waysberememberedfor her kindness, herradiant smile,and herwillingness tohelpothers. Whether through herwork, her church,her community,or her family, shelefta last‐ing imprintofcompassion and joy. Belovedwifeof39 years to thelateFred Jones,Jr. Loving daughter ofthe late RogerC.Carter, Sr. andDorothy Lewis Carter. Granddaughterof the late Freddieand Ollie DyerLewis.Devoted sister ofKathy (Louis,Jr.)Fa‐vorite, Roger(Francis) Carter, Jr., Kimberly Carter, and thelateFaybian Carter. Cherishedniece of Elsie Lewis(hergod‐mother),and Marvin (Rose)Lewis of Modesto, CA. Doting aunt of JoiEu‐gene, Jovan(Bruce, Jr.) Williams,JadaEugene, Tedrick Carter,Lawryn (Jevine)Haley,LaShai(An‐thony)Cadogan,Jonathan Carter, Omeker Johnson, Devonta Riley, andRay Pookie”Jones.Daughterin-lawofthe late Fred Jones,Sr. andElnaIrvin Jones.Sister-in lawof Danny Jones. Myrnaisalso survivedher godchildren Dominique Reese, Tai Jones,and ahostofgreat nieces, greatnephews, close family, friends, and formerstudentswho will carry hermemoryintheir heartsforever.Relatives and friendsofthe family, alsopastors,officers,and members of NewBirth Cathedral of GloryMin‐istries,Morning Star Mis‐sionary BaptistChurch,Pil‐grimBaptist Church,and all neighboringchurches; members of Supporters of WashingtonElementary and OldKennerCivic Asso‐ciation;employees of Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice;formerstaff and studentsofJeffCap Head‐start andWashingtonEle‐mentary School areinvited toattendthe Celebration ofLifeatNew BirthCathe‐dralofGlory Ministries,301 ClayStreet,Kenner, LA on Saturday, November 22, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. Pastor RichmondEdwards,Sr.,of‐ficiating. Viewingwillbe heldfrom8:30a.m.- 10:00 a.m.Onlyatthe church.In‐terment:Jefferson Memor‐ial Gardens-St.Rose, LA ArrangementsbyDavis MortuaryService,230 Mon‐roe St Gretna,LAToview and sign theguestbook, pleasegotowww.davismo rtuaryservice.com.Face masks arerecommended
ShermanJones,Sr. age 85, enteredpeacefully into eternal rest on Friday,No‐vember14, 2025. He wasa nativeofHazelhurst,MS and aresidentofMarrero LA. Shermanwas aretired employeewithWestern Wireline in BelleChasse, LAafter 40 years. He was anavidwrestling fan,and loved fishing, traveling, and watching theNew Or‐leans Saints.Beloved hus‐bandofthe late Bobbi ElaineJones.Devoted fa‐therofDebra Lynn, Judy Ann (Willie),Christopher Gerald, Mark Anthony, SeanReynard,and thelate Wanda Marieand Sher‐man, Jr.Brother of Marie,
Lorraine,James,and the lateErinestine, Hurteszen, Georgia,MattieMae, LouAnna,Sylvester,Theo‐dus,Johnny, Ray, Daniel, and Herman.Brother in law ofCarnell Bridges, also survivedby12grandchil‐dren, 19 greatgrandchil‐dren, 4great greatgrand‐children, anda host of nieces, nephews, cousins, other relativesand friends. Relatives andfriends of the family, also pastors, offi‐cers, andmembers of New ZionChristian Family Wor‐shipCenter, andall neigh‐boringchurches arein‐vited to attend theCele‐bration of Life at NewZion Christian Family Worship Center5040 Taravella Lane Marrero,LA, on Saturday November22, 2025, at 10:00a.m. Pastor Carnell Bridges officiating. Visita‐tionwillbegin at 8:30am until servicetimeatthe above namedchurch.In‐terment:St. John theBap‐tistCatholicChurch Ceme‐tery-Edgard,LA. Arrange‐ments by DavisMortuary Service 230 Monroe St Gretna, LA.Toviewand signthe guestbook,please gotowww.davismortua ryservice.com.FaceMasks Are Recommended
In 1935, Sarah Goins Laguna was born to Claude and Stella Goins on a sharecropper's farm in East Texas. She attended Abilene ChristianUniversity, where she majored in Education, worked in theschool cafeteria, and was amember of theTexas Club In 1956, Sarah married Albert Laguna, and they moved to Dallas, where their four children were born. In 1968, thecompany Albert was working for relocated thefamily to New Orleans, whereAlbert and Sarah became lifelong, active members of the Hickory Knoll Church of Christ
Sarah supported Albert in his ministry as agospel preacher and in his secular workinthe fire protection industry. She served with him as he preachedthe gospel in SouthLouisiana and when he went on missiontripstoArgentina, Honduras, Panama, the San Blas Islands, and the Philippines
Sarah was ahomemaker, bible schoolteacher, and Kindergarten Teacher at theHickory Knoll Church of Christ School. She also served as Secretary and TreasurerofMerit Sprinkler Company.
Sarah wasa godlywoman, devoted wife, loving mother, grandmother,sister, and friend. Her life and 51-yearmarriageprovided alovingfoundation forher family and ahopefulexampletoeveryone around her. She willberemembered forher kindness, her love of sweets, and her bright smile.
Sunday, November 16, 2025, at theage of 90, Sarah Laguna woke up in heaven. She wasthe loving mother of Gary (Victorine) Laguna,Randy (Jacqueline) Laguna, Alan (Gina) Laguna,and Cynthia (Darrell)Hutson. Grandmother of Holly Laguna Christensen, Ryan Laguna,Elise Laguna, AlexisLaguna, Lauren Laguna,Haley Hutson MaCrady, Hope Hutson, and Hayden Hutson. Greatgrandmother of Gillyan ChristensenStone, Kendall ChristensenPentecost, Lola Christensen, Naomi Laguna,GwynethLaguna, and MaddisonMire.GreatGreat Grandmother to Jack Stone
She is preceded in death by her beloved husband, Albert Laguna, her parents, Claudeand Stella Goins, and her siblings Delbert Goins, MildredGoins Harrison, and Helen Goins.
On Friday, November 21, 2025, relatives and friends are invitedtoattend a Celebration of Life at the Hickory Knoll Church of Christ at 2201 Hickory Avenue in Harahan, Louisiana. Viewing willbe from10:00 AM to 11:00 PM Funeral Services will follow with theburialatthe Garden of Memories Cemetery at 4900 Airline
Drive inMetairie, Louisiana. Lynch, DeloresCox
Latimore,Althea
Mrs. Althea W. Latimore passedawaypeacefully on November6,2025, sur‐rounded by herbeloved family. Born in NewOr‐leans on October21,1932, Mrs.Latimorewas the cherished daughter of the lateFredWilliamsand the lateMarie H. Matthews and thebeloved step‐daughterofPleasantS MatthewsSr. Mrs. Lati‐moregraduated from Gilbert Academy, affiliated withDillard University and graduated from Southern UniversityinBaton Rouge, La.,where shestudied Edu‐cation. Shewas marriedto the late Jack V. Latimore of DaytonOhio. Shewas a lifetimememberofUnion BethelAME Church,where she served as church sec‐retaryfor 50 years. She was preceded in deathby her sonJon V. Latimore, sisterFrederica W. McGhee, brother, Pleasant S.MatthewsJr. Sheleaves tomourn threechildren: Bennetta Latimore,Flo‐rence L. Alexanderand James Latimore (Mareta) ofGarland,Tx. Eleven grandchildren:Michael Thomas(Danisha),Clifton Thomas, Leatrice Latimore Jones (Tyrone),April Do‐nato(Jay),Nadia Latimore, Chauntella Blackwell, Jamal Williams,Jon Lati‐moreJr. OngelLatimore, LonnieHarrell and TabauchgrickHarrell. Sis‐ter-in-law: ElizabethHarris ofHouston,Tx. Also sur‐vived by thirty-eight great grandchildren,two greatgreat grandchildrenand a hostofnieces, nephews, cousins andfriends.Rela‐tives andfriends of the familyare invitedtoattend the HomegoingCelebration ofLifeService forAlthea LatimoreonSaturdayNo‐vember22, 2025 for12:00 noon.Visitationwillbe heldfrom10:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon at UnionBethel AME Church 2321 Thalia Street,New Orleans, La 70113 Rev. KeithJ.Sanders, Pastorofficiating. Inter‐ment: Mt.OlivetCemetery. 4000 Norman MayerAve New Orleans, La.70122 ArrangementsEntrusted ToEstelle J. Wilson Funeral Home, Inc. 2715 Danneel St NOLA70113. Information: (504) 895-4903. To sign on‐lineguest book please visit www.estellejwilsonfh.com
Alfred Lewis, Jr., age84, was born on December 15 1940 native of Houma, LA and resident of Larose,LA passedawaypeacefully on Saturday, October25, 2025 athis daughter Tammy Lewis PrestonHomein Baton Rouge, LA.Alfred Lewis waswidowed andhe leavestocherish hismem‐ories;his children,Tammy Lewis Preston, Kentrell Crowell, Ava“Sue" Cora Lewis,DoraAnderson, JacquelineHartman,Billy Ann Lewis, Leslie Lewis, Craig Lewisand Rickey Lewis.Heisprecededin death by his; Children,Jer‐maine Lewis, ToyLewis and Alfred LewisIII; his parents,AlfredLewis,Sr. and CynthiaLee. Relatives and friendsofthe family are invitedtoattend the Celebration of Life Service onSaturday, November 22, 2025 at Gertrude Geddes Willis-Terrebonne Funeral Home, 617 Bond St Houma,LA70360 at 2:00 p.m.Visitationfrom1:00 p.m.until 2:00 p.m. Inter‐mentDeweyvilleCemetery. You maysignthe guest book on www.gertrudeged deswillis.com.Gertrude GeddesWillis-Terrebonne FuneralHome, Inc. in charge(985) 872-6934.
DeloresCox Lynch,83, passed away peacefully whilesurrounded by loved ones on November 6, 2025. Sheisa native of Panama Cityand longtime resident of Lafitte, LA. Thebeloved daughterofHubertand Adelaide Cox. Sheissurvived by hersisters, Dianneand TinaCox. Alovingmother,preceded in death by herchildren, James(Jimbo),Teresa, and Debbie,survived by Harold (Skip), Daniel, Beverly, Jill Kim, andHubert(Huey). Proudgrandmotherand great grandmother.She wasa loverofanimals and found room for homeless pets all of herlife. Cooking washer passion.She lived simply so others could have more. Shewill be missed immensely. In lieu of flowersplease make a donation to an animal charity. Privateservicesto be held at alater date.
age84was born on September 13,
She passedawaypeacefully, embracedbyher devoted familyonTuesday,October 28, 2025. Shewas born and raisedinNew Orleans, Louisiana,she laterlived in Washington, D.C.,before settlinginAtlanta,Georgia She wasa dedicatedentre‐preneur andbuilt twosuc‐cessful business with her latehusband.She wasalso known forher impeccable style andgracefulpres‐ence, sheloved classical music, flowers, Creole cooking, andexperiencing the arts throughplays and liveshows.Her life was beautifully wovenamong the threecitiesshe lovedNew Orleans, Washington D.C., andAtlanta -each shaping herspirit, her work, andher legacy.She leavestocarry forthher legacyJoy Curtis and Angel Morris; grandchil‐drenTyroneMorris, Levon Coachman, JoyMorris, and TreasureCurtis; greatgrandsonD’AngeloCoach‐man;sisterBarbara Ann Sanders;nephewJenerio Sanders (Michele Sanders) and ahostofextended familyand friends. The MercadelFamilywillfor‐evercherish hermemory. She wasprecededindeath byher husband Gerald Morris, andher parents JosephEdwardBrazley and AlmedaMercadel. Rela‐tives andfriends of the familyare invitedtoattend the Mass of ChristianBur‐ial on Saturday,November 22, 2025, at St.Raymond & St. Leothe GreatCatholic Church,2916 ParisAvenue, New Orleans, LA 70119 at 10:00 a.m. Visitation from 9:00a.m.until 10:00 a.m. Private Burial.You may signthe guestbookon www.gertrudegeddeswilli s.com. Gertrude Geddes Willis FuneralHomeInc in charge(504) 522-2525.
Galmore, Percy
Laguna, Sarah Goins
Morris, Geraldine MarieBrazley
GeraldineMarie Brazley Morris, of theMercadel Family,
1941.
JacksonSr.,Warren
Gasper,Juanita Edith
JonesSr.,Sherman
MosleyMorris,Carolyn Ann
Carolyn AnnMosley Morris,a native andresident of NewOrleans,LA, passedaway on Sunday November 9, 2025 at the age of 81. Beloved wife of thelateRonald Charles Morris,Sr. Loving motherofRonald Charles Morris, Jr., Jermaine Kelvin Morris; andTyrone Charles Morris. Grandmother of four grandchildrenand one great-grandchild. Carolyn wasbornon April 9, 1944 to lateparents, Eunice andCarey Mosley,Sr. Sheispreced-
ed in death by her husband, RonaldCharles Morris Sr.; brothers, William Rodney Mosley, Minister Keith Mosley, Sr.; and niece/godchild, Danielle Joy Raines. Carolyn was aproud 1961 graduateofL.B Landry High School. She also attended Southern University New Orleans. Carolyn was employedby the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Regional Counsel for over 20 years until her retirement after Hurricane Katrina. Leaving to cherish her memories are her loving sons: Ronald Charles Morris Jr. (Regina) Jermaine KelvinMorris, and Tyrone Charles Morris (Tammy); four grandchildren and one great-grandchild; siblings: Carey Mosley Jr., Michael Mosley (Gaynell), Arnold Mosley Sr. (Stassi), Debbie Mosley Butler, Pamela Mosley Allison,Gregory Mosley (Tammy), and Cedric Mosley (Cheryl); sisters-inlaw: Glenda M. Foley, Vanessa Morris; brothersin-law: Versie Morris Jr., Felton Morris Sr., Ralph Morris Sr. (Pamela); godchildren: Troy Lynn Cosse and Terral Butler. Relatives and friends of the family, also pastors,officers,and members of St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church, Olive Branch Baptist Church, Hosanna Fellowship, and all neighboring churches; employeesofMatrix Service, United WayofSoutheast Louisiana, Abba Counseling Service, U.S. Postal Service, Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Regional Counsel, are invited to attend the Celebration of Life at Second Highway Baptist Church, 1533 Haydel Dr., Marrero, LA on Saturday, November 22, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. Rev. Christopher J. Arvie, Sr. is the officiant Visitation will begin at 8:00 a.m. until service at the church. Repast at American Legion, 4101 Patriot Street, Marrero, LA. To view and sign the guestbook please go to www.respectoflife.com
Adevoted husband,fa‐ther, andgrandfather Alwin “Bob”O’Neil, Jr passedawaypeacefullyon Monday, November 17, 2025 surrounded by hislov‐ing family. Born in Plaque‐mine, Louisiana, Bobwas the sonofthe late Alwin O’Neil, Sr.and AlineGrass Hegraduated from Francis T.NichollsHighSchool and attended LouisianaState University. In addition to his parents, Bobwas pre‐ceded in deathbyhis daughter, TheresaO’Neil, and hissister, GraceO’Neil, and herhusband,Larry.He issurvivedbyhis beloved wifeof63years,Linda,and their four children:Randy Lori, Kevin(Diane),and Brian.Heisalsosurvived byhis grandson,Connor O’Neil(Desiree).Bob proudly served in the Louisiana National Guard and hada lifelong passion for jazz music. He espe‐cially lovedThe Four Fresh‐men andThe BeachBoys and wasa member of The FourFreshmenSociety fan clubfor more than 50 years.A dedicatedaccoun‐tantthroughouthis career hehas travelledonmany foreign tripsfor work Whileworking at Tidewa‐ter Marine,a supply vessel TheO’NeilTide”,was named in hishonor.Bob enjoyed playingtennisat Green AcresCountry Club and frequently partici‐pated in varioustourna‐ments andJCCA. He was alsoanenthusiasticsports fan anda loyalsupporter ofLSU athletics. Bobwill berememberedfor hislove offamilyand friends, his laughter, andhis remark‐ableabilitytomakeeach momentcount with his wonderful senseofhumor His legacy is oneof warmth, joy, anddevotion. Familyand friendsare in‐vited to attend services at Our Lady of Divine Provi‐dence,8617 W. Metairie Av‐enue, Metairie,LA70003 on Saturday, November 22, 2025. Visitation will be held from9:00a.m.to11:00 a.m followed by aMemor‐ial Mass at 11:00 a.m. To order flowersoroffer con‐dolences, please visit www.gardenofmemorie smetairie.com.
Parker,Carolyn Spriggens
CarolynSpriggens Parker,79, of New Orleans, passedawayonNovember 11, 2025. Shewas born on October 11,1946, in New Orleans,Louisiana to Mabel Spriggens Weber and raised by Harper Weber.Carolyn worked as a chef in severalNew Or‐leans hotels andwas ade‐voted activist forthe Lower 9th Ward,All Congrega‐tions Together,and the HolyCross Neighborhood She gained national recog‐nitionasthe subjectofthe documentary “I’m Carolyn Parker,”which chronicled her return to theLower Ninth Ward after Hurricane Katrina.She wasalsoa de‐voted parishionerofSt. David Catholic Church Known forher warmth humor,and generosity, Carolyn lovedfeedingpeo‐ple,talking with neighbors and friends, and filling every room with laughter She is survived by hertwo children, Rahsaan Malcolm Parker, andKyrah Julian; one brother, Robert (Diane) Spriggens Sr.; onesister, CherylSanchez;and two grandchildren,KingstonJu‐lian, andBradleigh Burton She wasprecededindeath bythe love of herlife, HaroldM.Julian; her mother, MabelSpriggens Weber;stepfather, Harper Weber; grandmotherMary Spriggens;her aunt,Lula Lee; sixbrothers—James Hicks,JohnnyHicks,Ray‐mond Spriggens,Mansell Spriggens,Narcisse Weber, and Daniel Weber; and three sisters—Mary Ann Spriggens,Donna Grant, and Lula MaeHarvey. Guestbook Online:www anewtraditionbegins.com (504)282-0600. Linear BrooksBoydand Donavin D.BoydOwners/FuneralDi‐rectors
PerkinsJr.,DeWitt Hayward'De-Poet'
DeWitt Hayward“DePoet” Perkins, Jr.entered eternal rest on Wednesday, November5,2025, at the age of 75. DeWittwas born onNovember1,1950, in Oakland,California. DeWitt was educated in California atOakland High School, and he attended theUni‐versity of California at Hay‐ward. He worked forPSA Air in California forover17 years andafter hismoveto New Orleans, LA,he workedfor over 13 years for theMen’s Wearhouse where he excelled as one ofthe company’stop sales associates. DeWitt’s gifted passion waswriting po‐etry, andhewas always willing to sharehis gift witheveryonehemet.He issurvivedbyhis devoted wife, Cecilia BrelandPerkins, hisdaughterShar-
De PerkinsHerr(Jon),his grandson, Bryson,one sis‐ter,SandraP.Frazier, nephew: Robert Hadden and nieceRyanPerkins Also, survived by hisstep‐daughter, KenyaB.Hill (Stephen) andtheir chil‐dren, Breland, Stephen, Jr and Liana. DeWitt waspre‐ceded in deathbyhis par‐ents, DeWitt Hayward Perkins,Sr.,and Lucille WashingtonPerkins.Fam‐ily andfriends areinvited toattend theCelebration ofLifeService on Saturday, November22, 2025, at 11:00 a.m.atCornerstone United Methodist Church,5276 Bullard Avenue,New Or‐leans,LA70128. Rev. Clifton C.Conrad, Sr., officiating. Guestbook Online:www anewtraditionbegins.com (504)282-0600. Linear BrooksBoydand Donavin D.BoydOwners/FuneralDi‐rectors
Evangelia Marie Smith PollardonSaturday, November 8, 2025 at OchsnerMedical Center, Jefferson, LA.Daughter of Bradford Smith, Sr. and the late Linda Mae Posey Smith. Bonusdaughterof MaMa Shirley Smith.Wife of Gordon Pollard. Mother of GorgeliaChapa (Richard) and Jackie Pollard. Sister of Terrence Wayne Posey, Angelique Smith, NazarellPosey, Bradford Smith,Jr.,Bessie Jackson (Chris), Dominica Jackson (Murphy), Jordan Zeringue,Rydell Ursin, and Willie Jerome "Jerry" Ursin (Keva). Grandmother of Mia Marie Chapa. Also survivedbya host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. Age57years. AnativeofNew Sarpy, LA and aresident of LaPlace, LA.Relatives and friendsof thefamily,also pastors, officers and members of St Matthew Baptist Church and allneighboring churches are invitedtoattend thefuneralservice at St MatthewBaptist Church, 604 E. S. Johnson Street,New Sarpy, LA on Saturday, November 22, 2025 at 11:00 AM. Rev Albert Bailey, Pastor, Officiating.Interment St John Memorial Garden Cemetery, LaPlace,LA. Visitation at theabove named church from9:00 AM until servicetime SERVICED BY ROBOTTOM
Louisiana, forthe past 48 years,passedawayon Tuesday,November11, 2025, in Slidell. Franciswas borninMarksville, Louisiana,the sonofFelix JosephRabalaisand Ethel Mae GoudeauRabalais. Francis wasprecededin death by hiswife, Darlene Marie CookeRabalais; a brother,RolandJosephRa‐balais; andone sister,Ber‐niceBordelonJuneau.Heis survivedbychildren, Lloyd Francis Rabalais of Slidell, Louisiana,Donna Rabalais QuallsofBurleson, Texas; grandchildren,KoréQualls Kim,MitchellQualls, Matthew Qualls,Liezl Qualls, DylanDewenter and Jace Rabalais;nieces, nephews,and otherrela‐tives.Relatives andfriends ofthe familyare invitedto attendthe funeral. Funeral Serviceswillbeheldat Honaker FuneralHome, 1751 GauseBlvd. West (in ForestLawnCemetery) Slidell, Louisiana, on Satur‐day,November22, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. Friendsmay visit atthe funeralhomeonSat‐urday,beginning at 9:00 am. Burial will be in Forest LawnCemetery. Please visit www.honakerforestla wn.comtosignguestbook ArrangementsbyHonaker FuneralHome, Inc.,Slidell LA.
Richardwas born August 16, 1945, to Earl andCarrie SandolphinNew Orleans. She wasthe second born of five children.Barbara was baptized at an early age by Rev. HenryA.Hills She wasrearedinParadis onOld SpanishTrail. Bar‐baraheard thevoice of Jesus say, “Welldone, “My good andfaithfulservant,” and took theMaster’s handonNovember13, 2025, surrounded by her lovingfamilyasshe re‐ceivedher crown. Barbara was educated in theSt. Charles Parish school sys‐tem.She graduatedfrom GeorgeWashingtonCarver HighSchool in theclass of 1963. Barbaraattended Katie’s School of Beauty Culture andBarbering in New Orleansafter graduat‐ing high school.She then attended Southern Univer‐sityinBaton Rougetopur‐sue adegreeinnursing Barbara beganher career asSecretary at Boutte School,thentransferred to Killona School,and shere‐tired as Senior Secretaryof Student Services at St Charles Parish School Board in 2007 with 41 years ofservice.Duringher years asSeniorSecretary,she bondedwithPam Dufrene who waslikea sister to her.She marriedHardinA Richard in 1968, andtothis union twochildrenwere born, Nichelle Lynn and Shane AnthonyRichard Barbara became mother to Verena(Cookie)Stewart, Iris Carter,the late Jacque‐lineBradley,Melvin(Ellis) Richard,Spencer Lee, and HardinRichard,Jr. Shewas a second mother to Shelly Cummings-Young,and also a foster mother to Tara Ed‐wards andIngridBrown Her favorite scripturewas Psalm 23:4. Herfavorite songwas Safe in Arms by VickieWinans. Barbara grewinher faith underthe leadershipofPastors Henry A. Hillsand Albert Charles at FirstBaptist Church of Paradis. Barbara later joined NewHope Community Church in Ken‐nerunder theleadershipof
Pastor Mark Mitchell. She attended NewOrleans Baptist TheologicalSemi‐naryunder theleadership ofPastorMarkMitchell and received herdiploma inbiblicalteachingin2001 Also, underthe leadership ofPastorMarkMitchellat New Hope Community Church shecompleted the school of leadership devel‐opmentonDecember15, 2013, andpreachedfor her Ministerial licenseand re‐ceiveda certificate on Oc‐tober 14, 2014. Barbarawas faithfulinministry. Bar‐baraleavestocherish her memories, herchildren, Nichelle L. Ingram and Shane A. Richard; sister Carolyn (Charles)Winston; grandchildren,DurwynA Richard,ShantaJ.Gilbert, DarianM.Smith,Lloyd D. Richard,KylaT.Richard, TylaC.Richard,and Juvon S.Gales;great-grandchil‐dren, GraysonRichard, CharlieeBelvin, Mariah Zyrie,Jasai,Loyal,and Lylah Richard, A’Miya Lock‐ett, Marcus Joseph,Jr.,Je‐remiah, Ryland,Ryder,and Rayelle Richard, Ha’Keem Lewis,DiorLumar,and Gi‐anna Gales; adopted brother LarryKelly;god‐childrenElaineSandolph, Twyla Scott-Clary, Joshua Varnado,and thelate Sonya Cummings, anda hostofnieces, nephews, cousins,and friends. She was preceded deathbyher parents,Earland Carrie Sandolph; brothers,Marvin and LarrySandolph; sister, Jovanna A. Varnado; sisterin-law, JanetB.Sandolph; brother-in-law, LouisM Varnado,and bonus chil‐dren, Jacqueline Bradley, Melvin(Ellis)Richard Spencer Lee, andHardin Richard,Jr. Family and friends areinvited to at‐tendthe CelebrationofLife Service on Saturday,No‐vember22, 2025, at First Baptist Church Paradis, 14571 OldSpanish Trail, Paradis,LA70080. Finalvis‐itation will beginat9:00 until 10:45 a.m. Service time will be at 11:00 a.m.
COMMEMORATINGTHE5th ANNIVERSARY
On November 21, 2020, Dr.Walter Harris,Jr.,joinedtheheavenlychoirof angelsafterlivingalifeofexcellencein servicetoGod.Walterwasanextraordinaryhusband,anincrediblefather,a wonderfulbrother,adedicated son, a steadfastfriend,andaremarkablecolleague.Hebroughtwarmthandjoyto everyone he encounteredand will be sorely missed ThoseclosesttoWalter miss hishilarious comedictiming, soulfulsinging,smoothdancing at parties, andhis wealth of wisdom After hispassing, aclosefriendofthe familydescribedWalteras“abeautiful manblessed by Godwitha beautiful mindand abeautiful voice, whichhe notonlyusedfor praise to hisMaker butalsotospeak wordsofkindness, justice,and truthtohis fellow human beings.”While Walter neverbragged, he did beam with pride when we boastedofhis hard-earnedaccomplishments (and handsomeness), so wewilldothatnow. WalterwasbornonJanuary27,1947, in Selma, Alabama.Hewas identified as agifted musician at ayoung age. He wasencouragedbyhis parentsto hone hisskillsbyparticipating in the choiratEbenezerBaptist Church Born of hisloveoftraditional hymns andAfricanAmericanspirituals,Walterearnedhis master’s anddoctoral degrees in music at MichiganState University.While there, he became a classicallytrained pianoaccompanist, vocalist,andperformer. Walter’s talents as amusicianand performerweresignificant.Heperformed throughout thecountry with hiscollege,civic,and otherchoral groups, andalsoperformed internationallywithseveralchoralensembles. Walter performedbassbaritoneoperatic roles in variousworks, including Mozart’s Die Zauberflöteand Don Giovanni,and frequentlyinMenotti’s Amahl andthe NightVisitors. Walter wasaprolificpianoaccompanist,havingaccompaniedhundredsofprofessionalandamateursingersandinstrumentalistsinsoloperformances. Walter beganhis career in higher educationadministration at hisundergraduate alma mater, Knoxville College, in Tennessee, in 1969,where hespent11yearsinvariouspositions includingChair of theDepartmentof Arts andMusic,DirectorofChoral Activities, andDirectorofthe DivisionofArtsandHumanities. AresidentofthePhoenixmetropolitan area from 1980 to 2000, Walter spentthe next 20 yearsatArizona StateUniversity(ASU) in Tempe, whereheheldvarious teaching and administrative positions. As aprofessor,Waltertaughtintheareaofmusic historyandhadaparticularinterestin themusic of AfricanAmericans and itsrelationshiptothe music of Africa He carried out fieldresearchinthe countries of West Africa,including Ghana,Togo, Nigeria, andSenegal. As an administratoratASU,herose throughthe administrative ranksto becomeAssistantDean,ActingDean andAssociate Deanofthe Collegeof FineArts. He waslater namedAssistantVice PresidentofAcademic
Affairs andeventuallyVice Provostof Academic Affairs,apositionheheld foreight years. Throughout this time, hiscommitmentenabledhimtomentorhundredsofstudents andfaculty members. Throughout these20years, Walter joyfullyservedasthe minister of music forSouthminster Presbyterian Church.For hismanyprofessional achievements, Walter’s lifelong passionwas workingwithnonprofessionalchurchchoirsandhelpingthem bringa deeper spirituality to worship throughmusic Walter then served as Provostand Vice Chancellor forAcademicAffairsand ProfessorofMusic at North Carolina CentralUniversity. In 2002, he wasappointed SeniorExecutive Fellow at theUniversityofNorth Carolina(UNC) System Office in ChapelHillwhereheworkedwiththe Office of Public Affairs andUniversity Advancementonstate andfederal issues pertinenttohighereducation Lastly,from2003 untilhis retirement in2018,WalterservedLoyolaUniversity NewOrleans firstasProvost and Vice PresidentofAcademicAffairs andlater as aDistinguishedProfessor of Music.Walterhelpedleadthe universityout of thechallenging season followingHurricane Katrinaand the leveefailuresofNew Orleansin2005. Heledtheuniversitythroughthatdifficultchapterwithfaith,perseverance, andexpertise Walterwasdeeplyrespectedandwas knownfor hissteadydemeanor, his wisdom andleadershipexperience hisfaithfulchurchmanship,and his warm andwelcomingspirit. In addition to hisdedicationtohighereducation,Waltercontributed to every communityhelived in with active civicengagement. Overtheyears,Walterhasservedon anumberofnational, regional,and localarts, education, andcivic committees, boards,commissions,and accreditingbodies including premier organizationssuchas: AlphaAlpha BouléNew Orleans, asubordinateof theGrand BouléSigma Pi PhiFraternity; AlphaPhi AlphaFraternity, Inc.; Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary; American BarAssociation; American Choral Directors Association;International Congress of Voice Teachers;Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra; Military andHospitaller Order of St.Lazarus of Jerusalem GrandPrioryofAmerica;National AssociationofTeachersofSinging; National Public Radio affiliate KJZZ; National Public Radio affiliate WWNO;NewOrleansYouthOrchestra; OutstandingEducators of America;PresbyterianAssociation of Musicians; Phoenix Boys Choir; Phoenix Symphony Orchestra; St.Charles AvenuePresbyterianChurch;and,the Southern AssociationofColleges and SchoolsCommissiononColleges.
Walter is preceded in deathbyhis parentsWalter(Sr.) andArie(Bailey) Harris,his sistersSusie (Harris) EdwardsandDelia(HarrisMelton)Norfleet,andhisbrotherMichaelHarris.
Walter is survived by hislovingwife Dr.Henrietta Augustus Harris, and histwo devoteddaughters andthree adoring grandchildren: Ayana(Harris) Teter, herhusband Aaron, and their children Evangeline, Naomi, andEzra (Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania); andAskala(Harris) Calhounand her husbandDestry(FortWorth,TX).He will be greatlymissedbyhis sisters ShirleyGreen (Henry),Marie Sturdivant(Charles),DorysGreen,Marjorie Cannon,and countlessnieces, nephews,cousins,andfriends In 2018, as aretirementgift forher husband, Dr.Henrietta Augustus HarrisestablishedtheDr.WalterHarris, Jr.Endowed ScholarshipatLoyola University NewOrleans in honorof herhusband’sdedicationtoLoyola,its students,andthepursuitofhighereducation. Thescholarship wascreated specificallyfor talentedminoritystudents enrolledinLoyola’sCollegeof MusicandMediawhodemonstratefinancialneed.Tocelebrate Walter’s life andhis dedicationtohelping others please consider agift to theDr. WalterHarris, Jr.Endowed Scholarship. Giftscan be made onlineat: http:// giving.loyno.edu/harrisorvia mail to TheDr. Walter HarrisScholarship Loyola University NewOrleans,7214 St.CharlesAvenue,Box909,NewOrleans,LA,70118. Followinghis passing, Dr.Henrietta Augustus Harrisworkedclosely with theAmistad Research Center at Tulane University to safeguardher husband’slegacy. This effortensures that scholars,music enthusiasts, and studentsofgospeland spiritualmusic cannowaccessthevaluablecollection stored at theCenter. Youcan learn more here:https://www.amistadresearchcenter.org/blog/preserving-thelegacy-of-dr-walter-harris-jr DuetoCOVID restrictions at the time,Walter’sremains were inurned in thecolumbarium at St.Charles Avenue PresbyterianChurchinNew OrleansonSunday, January10, 2021, andhis memorial servicewas held at St.Charles Avenue Presbyterian ChurchonTuesday,June29,2021. More information canbefound andcondolences canbesentthrough theDignity Memorial Websiteat https://www.dignitymemorial.com/ obituaries/new-orleans-la/walter-harris-9914321. Thefamilyalsorequestsyourparticipation in learningpreventative measures forcardiovasculardisease, whichclaimsone in four lives, by visitingwww.LegacyWeLead.com. “Somelives go outinsong,
Pollard, Evangelia
Richard, Barbara Jean Sandolph
BarbaraJeanSandolph
See more DEATHS page
O’Neil Jr., Alwin'Bob'
OPINION
National debt is thebiggest risk U.S. faces
What is the largest risk investors face today? The answer may be surprising. There are many possible answers: inflation, interest rates, high stock valuations, global warming, artificial intelligence and nuclear war All are certainly risks; however, Isuggest atwodimensional approach to risk, considering the probability as well as the severity of each risk. Take nuclear war,amajor risk since World WarII. The severity is high and could bring the end of civilization, butwhat is the probability? There are many opinions on this, but for the last 80 years it has remained in check, so the probability must be something less than 100%. There is one risk that has a 100% probability of occurring and aseverity that could bank-
David Thomas GUEST COLUMNIST
rupt the country That risk is the national debt Approaching $40 trillion, the interest expense alone is $900 billion per year, surpassing thenational defense as the highest discretionary budget item. Ironically,wemust borrow more money to pay the interest on the money we have already borrowed.
We do this by printing money, which Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman said is the majorcause of inflation. Friedman researched inflation back to the Romans who inflatedtheir currency,the silver denarius coin, by diluting thesilvercontent.Hardtopay your Roman legions with diluted denarius. Although with much larger deficits recently,the debt has been growing at 8% for 100 years. At
8%, the debt doubles every nine years, so at that rate, thedebt will be $80 trillion in nine years, $160 trillion in 18 years, etc. Assuming a5%interestrate, the annual interest expense on the debt will be $4 trillion in nine years, and $8 trillion in 18 years.
The total budget today is only $5.2 trillion, and we borrow an additional $1.8 trillion as deficit spending, which adds to the debt. Both political parties participate in thespending. Ourrecent deficit spending is particularly shocking.
According to theU.S. Treasury Department, from 2020-2025, the U.S. deficit spending was $12.4 trillion, which is larger than the spending for the Civil War, World WarI,World WarII, Vietnam, Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan wars in today’sdollars combined.
At some point,the interestexpensealone for thedebt may re-
It’s time to end40years of race-based districting
quirethe entire budget, leaving no money for allthe othersocial services.The discretionary budget is only 40% of the total budget and ignores the entitlement programs of Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security andSNAP,which are 60% of the total budget. I always assumedthis debt would be aproblem for ourgrandchildren, but these numbers suggest otherwise.
The best analogyfor this situation is an insidious, fast-growing financial cancer.Unfortunately there is no financial chemotherapy.Itmeansthe country has to go underthe scalpel and cut spending in ordertocut the debt. It is ahard pill to swallow and political suicide for politicians to even touch this. We Americans have grown accustomed to the wasteful spending andwill vote them outofoffice.
Elon Musk stressedthe loom-
ing possibility of aU.S. bankruptcy with DOGE. He received severe backlash. The government shutdown was over an additional $1.5trillionofdeficit spending, which hadbeen removed from the budget, but some members of Congress wanted it added back in. The spending backlash gotmuchwider, shutting down the government. Glad60% of the senators finally came to their senses.
The probability of this risk is 100% because it is already here. The severity is mounting andwill go up each year until we admit it andreverse course,orface the consequencesofbankruptcy like the SovietUnionexperienced when it collapsedin1991.
David Thomasisaninvestment managementconsultantat EquitasCapital Advisors in New Orleans.
Sexual violence crisis is easing,but it’s notover
Jack Park GUEST COLUMNIST
On Oct. 15, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Louisiana v. Callais. The Supreme Court has off-ramps that it can take to decide this case without reaching the constitutional question of whether Louisiana’scongressionalmap violates the 14th or 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Even so, future redistricting litigants are likely to raise it if the court does not address it in Callais.
The Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965, but redistricting litigation like this case is the product of the 1980s in two significant ways. It remains mired in that decade, 40 years on. Change is needed.
First, in 1982, Congress amended the Voting Rights Act to add an “effects” test that has come to dominate redistricting litigation. These “effects” replaced astandard that required “intentional discrimination” fordistricts to be ruled invalid.
Second, in “Thornburg v. Gingles,” in 1986, the court set out athree-part test for identifying when amajorityminority district should be created.
The first of those factors is whether the minority population is sufficiently large and geographically compact to form amajority in asinglememberdistrict.
Those “Gingles” tests were then supplemented by a“totality of the circumstances” test consisting of seven “typical factors” and three factors drawn from case law.One such factor is the state’shistory of discrimination in the voting registration process, which Louisiana Solicitor General Benjamin Aguinaga observed the states “can never outrun,” even when minority voter participation is roughly equal to that of the majority Another “typical” factor that recurs every redistricting cycle is “the extent to which members of the mi-
noritygroup in the stateor political subdivision bear the effects of discrimination in such areas as education, employment and health, which hinder their abilitytoparticipate effectively in thepolitical process.”
None of these Gingles inquiry “factors” can be found in the Voting RightsAct
Even so, in the Allen v. Milligancase from Alabama in 2023, the Court rejected Alabama’sattempt to modify the Gingles standard.
ChiefJustice John Roberts, joinedbyJustices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Kentanji Brown Jackson, ruled thatAlabama’s position conflicted withthe court’s precedent.
Justice BrettKavanaugh, writing for himself on this issue, thought it was up to Congress to change theGingles standard. Even so, at the close of his opinion, Justice Kavanaugh suggested that even if race-based districting couldbeimposed in 1982, there should be alimit to its use.
Four justices dissented. Thomas, joinedinfull by Justice Neil Gorsuch and in part to differing extents by Justices Amy ConeyBarrett and Samuel Alito,criticized the “logically unbounded totality-of-the circumstances inquiry.”Alito,joined by Gorsuch, suggested thatthe case could be decided under Gingles, with reversal following
becauserace predominated in thedrawing of the second majority-minority district.
Twoyears later,inCallais, Kavanaugh asked Janai Nelson,lawyer for the Robinson parties, how long thecourt should continue to allow the “intentional useofrace,” observing that race-based remedies were“permissible for atime” but could not be “indefiniteand should have an end point.” Nelson twice asserted that there should not be atime limit
Gingles has been in effect for almost 40 years, and minorities arestill saidtolag themajority,even though race-based redistricting has been facilitated during that time.
That suggests thelack of acausal link between the creation of majority-minority districts andactual change. Maybe theissueispolitical, not racial.
The answer is to jettison race in redistricting. Interpret the first Gingles factor in arace-neutral way so that districts are drawn where people live. Some of those districts will be majorityminority,but race will have nothing to do withtheir creation.
Jack Park is an attorney who has participated in redistricting litigation in Alabamainthe 1990, 2000, and 2010 redistricting cycles.
Louisianaisseeing progress in the fight against sexual violence, but the latest data showwestill have along way to go.
According to theLouisiana Study on Violence Experiences across the Lifespan (LaVEX 2025), released this week by The Newcomb Institute, nearly half of Louisiana adults (47%) have experienced someform of sexual violence in their lifetime.
That’sabout 1.7 million people —our friends, colleagues and neighbors. Onein10adults, or roughly 350,000 Louisianans, experienced sexual harassmentorassault in the past year alone.
Sexual violence in Louisiana mostoften takes theform of sexual harassment, but the moresevere forms —physically aggressive harassment, sexual exploitation and forced sex are not uncommon. In the past year alone, about 32,500 Louisiana women experienced sexual exploitation by being pressured or coerced into sex in exchange for money,housing or opportunities, and 18,000 womenwere forced into sex against their will.
There is, however,reason forcautious optimism. Since 2023, sexual violence has declined forboth women and men.Amongwomen, past-year rates fell from 17% to 13%; among men,from 14% to 8%. These reductions suggest that prevention education, workplace reforms, university initiatives and community advocacy may be beginning to makeanimpact. In the past decade, schools and workplaces across Louisiana have strengthened policies to prevent sexual misconduct. Universities have expanded Title IX compliance and survivor support. Advocacy and awareness campaigns have improved public understanding of consent and accountability Increased visibility of survivor voices and community action has also shifted social norms, reducing tolerance forharassment and exploitation.
Verbaland cyber sexual harassment, while theymay not involve direct physical contact, also cause serious emotional and psychologicalharm.
Taken together,these findings make clear that sexual violence is not asingle act,but aspectrum of behaviors that undermine safety,dignity and well-being across our state, especially for women and girls.
More than 6in10women in Louisiana report lifetime experiences of sexual violence, compared with 3in 10 men. While much sexual harassment occurs from strangers and in public places, severe sexual violence against women is mostoften committed by partners (48%) or acquaintances (51%), where severe sexual violence against men can often come from family members (27%). These findings challenge thecommon belief that sexual assault is mainly acrime of strangers. In Louisiana, it is far moreoften aviolation of trust —occurring in homes, workplaces and community settings. The mental health consequences are serious.
Nearly half of women (48%) and 4in 10 men (38%) who experienced sexual violence reported symptomsofanxiety or depression. Suicidal thoughts were reported by 13% of womenand 7% of men, yet only asmallshare sought help. The silence surroundingthese experiences remains one of our greatest barriers to recovery and prevention.
Yetsustaining that progress will require confronting apersistent gap in how Louisiana invests in solutions. Much of the state’sviolenceprevention funding rightly supports domestic and intimate partner violence programs, but as noted above, sexual violence is not limited to intimaterelationships. Many survivors are harmed by acquaintances, family members or strangers.
Without dedicated attention and resources forthese formsofsexual violence, Louisiana’sprogress will stall. Prevention and support efforts must extend beyond the homeand into workplaces, schools and community spaces where these things occur
Sexual violence is not just acriminal or legal matter.Itisasocial and public health issue that affects mental well-being, economic stability and community trust. Each act of harassment or assault leaves lasting damage, both forindividuals and forthe communities that surround them.Continued investment in prevention education, survivor support and mental health services will not only reduce harm but strengthen Louisiana’sresilience and stability
Progress is possible, as the LaVEX data show The challenge now is ensuring that Louisiana’scommitment to ending sexual violence keeps pace with the scope of the problem,and that every survivor,regardless of where or how they wereharmed, is seen, supported and safe.
AnitaRaj,a public health researcher basedinNew Orleans, is executive director of TheNewcomb Institute.
Anita Raj GUEST COLUMNIST
ASSOCIATEPRESS PHOTO By CLIFF OWEN
Louisiana Solicitor General Benjamin Aguinaga, right, joins Attorney General Liz Murrill as theyspeak withthe media after departingthe SupremeCourtonOct. 15 in Washington, D.C.
COMMENTARY
ISSUE OF THE WEEK THEEPSTEIN FILES
The sagaofconvicted sexoffender Jeffrey Epstein, whodied in prison, continues to have far-reaching implications as politicians face public pressure to release more information related to the case.While then-candidate Donald Trumppledged to release all the Epstein files if elected, hisadministration later changed course, dismissing the furor as ahoax.This week, the House advanced adischargepetition to force avote to require theJustice Department to releasethe files, winningsupportfrom somebreakawayRepublicans despite the president’s opposition.The measure passed theHouseoverwhelmingly after Trumpdropped hisobjections. Rep. ClayHiggins, R-Lafayette, was the sole no vote.The Senate sent the bill to Trump, whosigned it.What does this continued wranglingoverthe Epstein filesmeanfor Trump’spresidency and for both political parties? Here are two perspectives:
Case exposes divisions in unityof MAGA
He’sback!
Just when you might havethought we would not have the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to talk aboutanymore, he plunged back into headlines —and hisformerclose friend and associate, President Donald Trump, was not happy about it. Epstein is asore subject forTrump and hisloyalists in Congress,but it wasnot always thus He was arrested in 2019 and charged with sex trafficking,but he died in asuspected suicide in prison while awaiting trial. Duringthe Biden interregnum, Trump supporters developed various conspiracy theories aboutEpstein and the Democratic administration’ssupposed efforts to hush up theJustice Department’s investigation, including suppressing an Epstein client list. After Trump was reelected, his attorney general, Pam Bondi, promised to publish the “list,” evenavowing that it was sitting on her desk. Then, when it became clear that anymeaningful release of files relating to the Epstein investigation would likely embarrass or even implicate Trump, MAGAwas forced to do an about-face.
was “almostnonexistent” between 2010 and 2019.
An exchange of particular interest was from 2011, in which Epstein wrote to Maxwell, “i want you to realize that that dogthat hasn’tbarked is trump.. VICTIM spent hours at my house withhim,, he has never oncebeen mentioned.” (Appalling punctuation is Epstein’s.) Maxwell replied, “I’ve been thinking about that...”
For his part,Trumppushed back, accusing Democrats of bringing up Epstein to “deflect”from their handling of the government shutdown.
Which brings us back to Massie’s petition, which as theHouse went into recess was one vote short to go through. For months, Speaker Mike Johnson held up swearing in a newlyelected Democratic member from Arizona, Adelita Grijalva, by keeping the House in recess, simply to prevent the petition from gaining its 218th signature.
Yetinorder to end the government shutdown, Congress had to reconvene and Johnson had to swear in Rep.Grijalva.
Epstein’sresentment toward Donald Trump
There’snodoubt Jeffrey Epstein thought he was avery,very smart guy “He always thought he wasthe smartest person in theroom,” said one associate. Another said Epstein “thought he was smarter than the next guy.” In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to procurement of aminor for prostitution; his defense asked for leniency based on his “unique intellect.”
that Trumpwas living rent-free in Epstein’shead. “The emails suggest that Trumpremained afixation forEpstein,” CNNwrote, “as he’sfrequently mentioned numerous times over aspan of nearly adecade —including long after their friendship ended.”
The problem was thatahandfulofRepublicans did not wish to move along with their eyes averted. When the longsummer recess in Congress began in July, Rep. Thomas Massie, the maverick Republican of Kentucky,had almostadozen members of the House from his sideofthe aisle ready to sign on to adischargepetition that would allow the Epstein Files Transparency Actout of committee and onto the House floor for avote.
Things took aturn for theworse for Trump recently when Democratsonthe House Oversight Committee released more than 20,000 pages of Epstein’s emails, which were received from Epstein’sestate. The Democratic committee members highlighted several emails that mentioned Trump, and journalistsspent days poring overthe trovetogain insight into Epstein’sties to Trump andotherluminaries.
Among the insights revealed were that Epstein and his convicted associate,Ghislaine Maxwell, coordinatedtheir public response to a2015 lawsuit broughtbyan anonymous woman who later was revealed to be Virginia Roberts Giuffre. Giuffre died by suicideinApril2025. Maxwell told the JusticeDepartment this year that her relationshipwithEpstein
Meanwhile, theWhiteHouse leaned on thedissident GOP lawmakers, warning them that signing on to thedischarge petition would be “a very hostile act.” Among the Republicans who had broken from their usualMAGA loyalties before the recess were three famously conservative Republican women.
Thestalwarts were Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Lauren Boebert of Colorado, astaunchly conservative trio whosaid they saw theEpstein affair as too sordid to ignore.
Despite the administration’sbest efforts, which included corralling Boebert in ameeting in the White House Situation Room, the three Republican women held firm. The vote on Massey’sbill took place Tuesday
The “Epstein files” have emerged from thefoggyprecinctsofconspiracy theory and now raise genuine concerns about an administration that has not been shy about using thepowers of office to persecuteits political adversaries.
The allegations and victims deserve to be taken seriously —and so do abuses of power —regardless of which partyor which exalted dignitary is affected. The public has aright to see theEpstein files. EmailClarence Page at clarence47page@ gmail.com.
Someone withsuch high self-regard can become deeply disturbed if afriend or associate, or aformer friend or associate, achieves more, makes moremoney,and rises higher up society’sladder than the person who feels he is thesmartestguy in the room.ReadingthroughEpstein’semails released by Republicans on the House Oversight Committee, one gets the impression that Epstein wastroubled by thesuccess of his former friend Donald Trump, as he watched Trumptake a wildly improbable path from successful developer to television star to president of the United States. At the sametime, of course, Epstein was pleading guilty to sex crimes, struggling to recover,and then finding himself charged with even moreserious sex crimes. Suicide in a jail cell was in his future while Trump was in the White House.
By the way,remember when Elon Musk, breaking with Trump, breathlessly announced that Trumpwas “in the Epstein files?” Of course Trumpisinthe Epstein files; he’s all over this set of Epstein files because he wassodeeply in Epstein’shead. Trumpwill be in other Epstein files, too, because Epstein apparently could not stop thinking and talking about him
“President Trump’slong friendship with Jeffrey Epstein came to an apparent end in the mid-2000s,” wrote The New York Times.“But Mr.Epstein remained intently focused on Mr.Trump for years afterward, seeking to exploit theremnants of their relationship up until his arrest on federal sex-trafficking charges in 2019.” As Trumprose, the Times said, Epstein tried to regain statusby“casting himself as the ultimate Trumptranslator.” But the smartest guy in the room was fuming over the success of someone he feltwas so clearly inferior to himself.
“Your world does not understand how dumb[Trump] really is,” Epstein wrote to former Treasury secretary and Harvard president Lawrence Summersin May 2017, Trump’sfourth month in office. When, in July 2017, former Obama WhiteHouse counsel Kathryn Ruemmler wrote, “Trumpistruly stupid,” Epstein replied with aone-word answer: “Duh.” It would be an understatement to note
Finally,one problem with reading the Epstein emails today is that Epstein was, in the words of one recent assessment in The Atlantic, a“notorious liar.” It is reasonable to take Epstein’s statements of opinion at face value he appeared to really think Trumpwas dumb—but not his statements of fact. So when Epstein says that victim Virginia Giuffre“spent hours at my house with [Trump],” there’snocompelling reason to believe him.Giuffre, now dead, wrote abook that said no such thing about Trump, and she also testified under oath that Trump“didn’tpartake in any sex with us [and] never flirted with me.” Giuffresaid she never saw Trumpand Epstein together.She was asked, “Did you ever see Donald Trump at Jeffrey’shome?” and answered, “Not that Iremember.” In addition, she said she did not remember seeing Trump at Epstein’sisland, or his house in New Mexico, or his house in NewYork. So what to makeofit? First, even though he wasafriend of Epstein’sfor several years up to around 2004, there is still no evidence linking Donald Trump to any wrongdoing. And second, Trump is nevertheless everywhere in the Epstein files because Jeffrey Epstein was out of his mind with resentment toward aformer friend whonot only succeeded in business but becamepresident of the United States, even as Epstein raced toward ruin.
Byron York is on X, @Bryon York. Email himatbyronyork@yorkcomm. com.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByROD LAMKEy
U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky,speaks during anewsconference regarding the release of the JeffreyEpstein files, on Capitol Hill on Sept. 3.
Clarence Page
Byron York
with meteorologist DamonSingleton
If you’re tired of the fog then the news is good.Expect partlytomostly cloudyskies and spotty showers and scatteredraininparts of Southeast Louisiana insteadofdensefog.Keep the umbrella with youtoday,atleastuntilthe lateafternoon and evening. Temperatures this afternoon will rise to the lowtomid-80s with southerly winds. So,expect awarmand humid daywithawarmSaturday to follow. Overnight Fridayinto Saturdaymorning,expect fog to return,weekend rain chances willremain at 20% or less.
Pastor Mark Mitchell, New HopeCommunity Church officiating. Pastor Justin C. Robinson, FirstBaptist ChurchofParadis,host Pastor. Intermentwillfol‐low at Mt.AiryMemorial Park, 13635 OldSpanish Trail, Boutte,LA70039 Guestbook Online:www anewtraditionbegins.com (504)282-0600. Linear BrooksBoydand Donavin
D.BoydOwners/FuneralDi‐rectors
Mr.Louis Robinson,Sr. entered into eternalrest onNovember14, 2025 Louis wasbornand raised inNew Orleansand gradu‐atedfromJohnMcDo‐nough Senior High School Upongraduation, Louisen‐tered theU.S.Armywhere hereceivedanhonorable discharge.Shortly after his militarydischarge,Louis began hiscareerasa letter carrier forthe U.S. Postal Service where he retiredin 2008. Oneofhis greatest joysinlifewas spending timewithhis grandchil‐dren. Louisisprecededin death by hisparents Eliza‐bethand EdwinRobinson, Jr. andhis brothers Edwin, III andCalvinRobinson. Louis leaves to cherishhis memorieslong-time com‐panionand friend LeeTo‐liver,his children:Kearston (Albert)Cado, Kashawn Robinson-Hobbs, andLouis (La'Kreshia)Robinson, Jr.; his grandchildren: Brijuhn, Jadyn,& Albert Cado,Jr., Jonathan& JourdanHobbs, and Alaijiah,Aaliyah,& As‐siahRobinson, hissisters: VerliaRobinson-Cum‐mings,Elizabeth Shephard and DeborahShephard, and ahostofniecesand nephews.Louis wasa dedi‐cated member of theJohn McDonough Senior High School Alumni Association and theNationalAssocia‐tion of Letter Carriers
UnionBranch# 124. Fu‐neral services will be held Saturday, November22, 2025, for1:30p.m.atThe BoydFamilyFuneralHome located at 5001 Chef Menteur Hwy.,New Or‐leans,LA70126. Visitation willbegin at 12:30p.m.In‐terment is private. Guest‐book Online:www.anewtra ditionbegins.com (504)2820600. Linear BrooksBoyd and DonavinD.BoydOwn‐ers/FuneralDirectors
Shelling,Mercedes'Mert'
Mercedes "Mert" Shelling, age78, entered eternal rest on Thursday, November6,2025. Daugh‐ter of thelateAlonzo ShellingSr. andMercedes Shelling. Spouse of thelate Leroy Carter.Motherof Penny Jones(Gregory) Michelle Audrict(Corey), Ungel Shelling,and the late Leroy Shelling.SistertoDe‐lores Frank, Gloriajean Smith (Sid), Sheila Ceasar, SharonShelling, Cassandra Dixon (Michael), George Shelling, Donald Lionel Shelling, Walter Shelling Keith Shelling (Rita),and David Shelling (Janet). Sis‐ter-in-lawofCentrell Carter-Brownand Chevelle Carter. Sheissurvivedby6 grandchildren,ArianePolk, Corey Audrict, Jasmine Shelling, CeyonceAudrict, JadeCopelin andJordan Copelin,7 great-grandchil‐dren, 1great-great-grand‐child anda host of nieces, nephews,cousins,other relatives andfriends.She ispreceded in deathbyher sisters,Catherine Smith Villiere, andDiane Shelling brothers, Alonzo Shelling Jr.,BoydShelling, and Charles Shelling.Relatives and friendsofthe family are invitedtoattend the Celebration of Life Service for Mercedes Shelling at HolyAnointedHouse of PrayerBaptist Church,1447 Senate Street,New Or‐leans,LA70122 on Satur‐dayNovember22, 2025 for
10:00 a.m. Visitation from 9:00a.m.until 10:00 a.m. service time.PastorLionel Roberts officiating. Inter‐ment: Private. Arrange‐ments entrustedtoEstelle J.WilsonFuneralHome, Inc.,2715 Danneel Street NOLA70113. Information: (504) 895-4903. To sign on‐lineguest book,please visit www.estellejwilsonfh. com
Spears,Christopher With sadnessweshare the passingofChristopher Spears, on Wednesday, No‐vember12, 2025. Please visit www.rhodesfuneral. com to view serviceinfor‐mation, sign online guest‐book,sendflowersand share condolences. Showers, Ruby
Ruby Showersentered eternal rest on Sunday,No‐vember9,2025, at age83. A nativeofNew Orleans, La., Rubywas alongtimeresi‐dentofNatchez,Miss. Rubywas agraduateofthe class of 1961 at McDo‐nough #35HighSchool and began hercareer at Mercy HospitalinNew Orleans, La and retiredafter 61 years asa TelemetryTechnician. RubyLeave to cherishher memory: herson,Darrick Jones Sr.(Jacqueline Jones); DeborahMarie Jones theone shecalled her only daughter,four grandchildren Darrick Jones Jr Damien Jones, Jireh Jones, andDarius Jones;one sister,Lurla Perry anda host of other relatives andfriends.She isprecededindeath by her parents,Andrewand Mat‐tie Williams;three brothers AndrewWilliamsJr.,Lowell Williams,MelvinWilliams; and onesisterBarbara Pratt. Alovingmother, grandmother,godmother, and aunt,she will be truly missed. Family andfriends are invitedtoattend the Homegoing ServiceonSat‐urday,November22, 2025 at10:00 a.m. at TheBoyd FamilyFuneralHome, 5001 ChefMenteur Hwy, New Orleans,LA70126. Visita‐tionwillbegin at 9:00 a.m. PastorBennieScott, offici‐ating.Interment will follow atRestlawnCemetery, 3540 US90, Avondale,LA70094 Guestbook Online:www anewtraditionbegins.com (504)282-0600. Linear
Sunraa, Sarone With sadnessweshare the passingofSaroneSun‐raa, on November 5, 2025 Pleasevisit www.rhodesf uneral.comtoviewservice information,signonline guestbook,sendflowers and sharecondolences
Thomas,Anna With sadnessweshare the passingofAnna Thomas, on November 3, 2025. Please visitwww.rho desfuneral.comtoview service information, sign onlineguestbook,send flowersand sharecondo‐lences.
Thomas,DonaldRay
Donald RayThomas, of New Orleans, La passed awaypeacefullyonNo‐vember14, 2025, at theage of66. Donald washardworking anddedicated.He spent 34 yearsworking (in his office as he wouldcall it)asa truckowneropera‐
continued from love he shared,and the memorieswewillcherish forever.Professionalser‐viceentrusted to Littlejohn FuneralHome, CalK.John‐son,Manager-Funeral Di‐rector.Info: 504-940-0045.
tor, where he wasknown for disciplineand adapt‐ability which ledtowin‐ningnumeroussafety awards. Despitehis many responsibilities, he wasa man of integrity, kindness, & laughter andhelefta lasting impact on anyand everyonewho knew him. Donald’shobbiesand in‐terests helped define who hewas.Heenjoyed travel‐ing,bowling,cooking and grilling, butmostofall his lovefor trucking was something he wasproud of and shared with hischil‐dren, leavinga mark on us thatwillnever fade. Don‐ald is survived by his spouse, VendoraThomas; his daughters, Alicia Thomas, Nina ThomasBoatner (Teddy); bonus childrenQuantera, Lin‐nette,Keith,and Herbert; his grandchildren, Tajah, Alejah, Tre, Meagan, Mason,and Taysom;his great-grandsonArias;his brother Dewery;his sisters Darlene,Reitha, and Dorothy,aswellasmany friends andextendedfam‐ily memberswho will miss him dearly.Hewas pre‐ceded in deathbyhis par‐ents, Dewery Thomas and Georgia Reaux; andhis great-grandsonAce Fuen‐mayor.A celebrationoflife willbeheldonSaturday, November22, 2025 begin‐ning11amatNew Orleans Triumph B.C.,840 Fats DominoAve., NewOrleans, LA70117. We find comfort inknowing that Dad's legacylives on throughthe lessons he taught us,the
Walker Jackson, Myrtle Beverly
Myrtle BeverlyWalker Jackson passedaway 11/ 12/2025. Born 6/26/1961 to the lateMerlin and Dorothy Walker. Leaves behind husband Webster Jackson Funeral Nov. 22, 2025. Service 10 AM.TrueHope Church,1228 Cohen Marrero,70072. Interment Christian Social, 403 WestbankExpy, Gretna, LA 70053. FULLOBIT: https://www .murrayhendersonfuneralh ome.com/?fh_id=12624
Professional Arrangements Murray Henderson Funeral Home, 1209 Teche,NOLA70114.
DEATHS
Robinson Sr., Louis
SPORTS
Jokicseesabit of himselfinPel ki Q
BY RODWALKER Staff writer
For anyone wondering how Derik Queen got that “Baby Jokic” nicknamethat’sdisplayed on his profile page on the Basketball Reference website,the answer came Wednesday night as he sharedthe court with Nikola Jokic himself.
While Jokic and the Denver Nuggetsgot the 125-118 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans,a20-year-oldrookie was showing offasimilar skill set to arguably the best player in the world.
Queen stuffed the stat sheet with acareerbest 30 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
“That was an impressive first go at Jokic,” Pelicans interim coach JamesBorregosaid
Borregoanticipated the matchup before thegame tipped off.
“He’slookeduptothis guy formany years, andhe’ll get acrack at him tonight,” Borrego said pre-game. “It’sawesome goingagainst the guy youhavegreat respect for and youmimic your game after.This can’t be agoout there and be in awe of this guy.You’ve got to go out there and compete against him. You’vegot to go impose your will and be aggressive.”
Queen did just that, andBorregowasn’t theonlyone impressed.
So wasJokic.
“He’sanamazing player,” Jokicsaid.
“You can see some similarities (to me). I
don’twantpeopletosee him he’s somethinglike me. He’s a player to have his own story.” It’sastory that started un week with Queen’sbreakou mance of 26 points, seven re and four assists in aloss to the landTrailBlazers, butforget that breakoutperformance. real one came Wednesday aga Jokic, the three-time MVP w some have compared Queen’s g to. The way Jokic described Q after thegame, it almost sou like Jokic was describing hims “He’sgood,” Jokic said. “H some moves.He’sdefinitely He’sunorthodox. He hasgre and afeel for the game. He’s It’sgood to see somebody diffe
and tell him good enough folding last t perforbounds Portbout The inst hom ame ueen nded elf e has crafty at touch really good rent ”
Themostimpressivepartabout what theNew Orleans Saints did to Bryce Young is what theCarolina Panthers quarterback did next.
Last week against the Atlanta Falcons, Young threw for acareer-high 448 yards— seven daysafterthe Saints held him to 124 yards. NewOrleansalso heldits NFCSouthrival to just seven points, aseason-low
“I feel like we had agreat plan,”Saints cornerback KoolAid McKinstry said. “Weunderstoodthe assignment. We had great energy.”
Defensive coordinator Brandon Staley said theperfor-
BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer
mance was his unit’sbest of theyear,and it was hard to argue otherwise. Before Carolina, the defense hadplayed well in spurts but occasionally looked overmatched. TheSaints’ problems couldbeattributedtothe bumps and bruises that come with learning anew system, though it wouldn’ttell thewhole story.The qualityofopposition mattered, too. The Saints have faced sixofthe league’stop 12 offenses by expected pointsadded (EPA) per play this season, astat thatmeasures efficiency.The results haven’tbeen pretty, either.The SeattleSeahawks hung44points, 37 of which were allowed by the defense.The Los Angeles Rams scored
ä See SAINTS, page 5C
Howard’s expected return paired with Williams, Rodgers will give Wave an edge
BY GUERRYSMITH
Contributing writer
Tulane certainly missedspiritual leader Sam Howard last Saturday against Florida Atlantic, but the twolinebackers whostarted in his place madehuge plays in the 35-24 victory
ChrisRodgers stuffedquarterback Caden Veltkampinside the 1-yard line as he tried to score on afourth-down keeper in the second quarter.Makai Williams tackled American Conference catch leader Easton Messer fora6-yard loss on fourth-and-3 in the third quarter
ä Tulane at Temple 2:45 P.M. SATURDAy,ESPNU
Those stops helped guarantee the GreenWave (8-2, 5-1) would remain tied at the top in the American Conference in the loss column.
“I sawthe running back shake in front of the quarterback, so Iknew they were going to runthe QB,” Rodgerssaid of hisone-onone tackle, which preserved a21-10 lead. “I just knifed through, and that gave us alot of momentum on offense and defense.”
Williams, ajunior whoentered the season with nine career tackles, followed up on a personal-best 10 stops against Memphis with six moreonSaturday
“It’scool to see aguy like Makai Williams step up,”Tulane coach Jon Sumrall said. “He was primarily aspecial teams player last year as atrue sophomore. The last few weeks, he’splayed significantly more snaps, and it’sbeen fun to see his growth and development.”
Howard probably will return against Temple(5-5, 3-3), giving Tulane athree-headed monster as long as he stays healthy.He made five tacklesinthe first half at Memphis in hisreturn from afractured fibula that sidelined him foronly twogames, but he exited with abruise to the sameleg late
ä See TULANE, page 5C
LSU senior cornerback Mansoor Delane is playing through “a core muscle injury” that he’sdealtwith sinceWeek 4ofthis season, Delane told reporters this week. Theinjury hasaffected Delanetothe point where he was not supposed to finishlast Saturday’s game against Arkansas. The Virginia Tech transfer had to ask LSU secondary coach Corey Raymond to insert him back into the gamefor what turned outtobethe Tigers’finaldefensive possession. “I really was supposed to be out the rest of the game,but then Iwas like,‘Nah,’” Delane said. “‘They’re about to throw the ball. Ineed to be in there with the group.
I’m about to play in this gameright now We can’tlose this one.” Delane’sdecision to return paid off for the Tigers. He batted down quarterback Taylen Green’sthird-downpasstoset up a48-yard field goal attemptthatwas missed. After the kickwas no good, the LSU offense salted away the final 5:08 to secure a23-22 win.
“(Coach Raymond) was like, ‘If you can go,you can go. If youcan’t,you can’t.’ And Iwas just like, ‘Let’sdoit.’ Andthen when Iwent in the game, Iwas like ‘DJ (Pickett), PJ (Woodland), somebody get out.’
“I was taking medicine and Iwas lettingthings kick in and whatnot,warming up the wholetime,” Delanesaid. “But by
ä See DELANE, page 5C
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By RUSTy JONES
Carolina Panthers running back Rico Dowdle is tackled by Saints safety Jonas Sanker,cornerback Alontae
Justin Reid duringtheir game on Nov. 9inCharlotte, N.C.
STAFFFILE PHOTOBySCOTT THRELKELD
LSU soccer’s 2nd-round NCAA match postponed
The LSU soccer team’s secondround NCAA Tournament game on Thursday was pushed back a day because of the weather forecast in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Tigers (14-5-4) and Iowa Hawkeyes (12-4-4) now will play at 3 p.m. Friday at the Vanderbilt Soccer Complex. The winner will advance to take on the the survivor of Vanderbilt-Clemson, which was pushed back to 6 p.m. Friday, in the NCAA quarterfinals at 2 p.m. Monday in Nashville.
LSU’s new ‘warrior’ to face old team
BY TOYLOY BROWN III Staff writer
Marquel Sutton catapulted for an offensive rebound after a teammate’s missed free throw
The 6-foot-9 LSU forward dodged a box out of one UNO player on his right and then ripped the ball away as he soared above another UNO player from his left. Sutton was fouled as he crashed to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center floor and was rewarded with two free throws that he made. The hustle play happened when LSU had a 25-point lead with 10:47 left in the game.
Sutton’s motor is nonstop. Coach Matt McMahon describes the Omaha transfer as a “warrior” for how he “lives in the gym” and plays so hard.
Sutton calls his will the “dog” in him. Early into his LSU (4-0) career, the fifth-year senior has been called upon to score and hustle as he is averaging 15.8 points, 9.8 rebounds and is shooting 42.3% from 3-point range.
He plans on continuing the strong play when he faces his former team, Omaha (2-3), at 7 p.m. Friday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center
“It’s gonna be crazy, because I played with most of those guys for the past three years, and now I have to play against them,” Sutton said. “So it’s gonna be surreal, but I’m excited and ready to play ‘em.” Last season, Sutton became the first Omaha player to earn Summit League Player of the Year honors and led the Mavericks to their first NCAA Tournament berth after they were picked to finish eighth in the conference preseason poll.
LSU assistant coach Jalen Courtney-Williams has been blown away by Sutton’s singular focus to do whatever it takes to win since he arrived on campus.
“He is full throttle all day, every day, every drill,” Courtney-Williams said. “He treats it all like the rep that’s going to change his life. It’s so fun coaching dudes like that.”
While the path to Baton Rouge materialized after a dream third season at a mid-major, just as crucial to the 22-year-old’s journey was his time as an unknown high school player from Tulsa, Oklahoma, with a couple of junior-college offers.
His dad, Marques Sutton, informed his son that his journey wasn’t going to be seamless.
“If you’re waiting on the easy bus, I said, ‘You’re gonna be standing outside for years,’ ” Marques Sutton said. “ ‘Get on this hard bus. Learn how to deal with things when they’re hard.’ ” Sutton is the epitome of a late bloomer in game and physicality
cess and squashed his potential chance of earning a late Division
I offer
He entered his freshman year at Will Rogers High School in Tulsa at 5-7 The younger Sutton grew to 6-2 at the start of his sophomore year 6-5 as a junior and 6-7 as a senior
Along with having a slender frame that could be pushed around, he had to develop his skills. He played on the freshman and junior varsity teams his first two years.
“It’s just like a deer that was out there,” Marques Sutton said.
“They got these long legs, and they got to learn how to walk.
That’s how it was for Marquel.”
Marquel Sutton became a starter on varsity as a junior, and his skill gap shrank once he started working with Ed Daniels, a former overseas pro and basketball trainer
That helped lead to his breakout high school senior season, averaging 20 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks and three assists. But his season was cut short because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This ended any hopes of playoff suc-
One coach who saw Sutton was Bill Muse of Connors State. The 34-year Cowboys coach was impressed with his talent and grit Sutton committed to the Oklahoma junior college, which was about an hour from where he lived.
His tireless work ethic not only remained but also grew stronger as he had sights on making it to Division I. The blue-collar manner he played with is also a reflection of what he saw in the people in his life.
He watched his dad raise two sons and four daughters as a single father for most of his life.
Marques Sutton, 48, spent many nights working late throughout his kids’ lives, making a living as a professional barber at Tee’s Barbershop and as a barber instructor
Marquel Sutton drew inspiration from his grandmother, Dorothy Sutton-Jones, who is in her 45th year of working at American Airlines. The work ethic she still displays never prevented her from being a pillar for the family She actively helped raise Sutton
and his siblings, and she taught them the value of love and faith in God.
Relentlessness is the Sutton way Those examples and continued growth helped him average 16.6 points and 9.1 rebounds in his one season at Connors State.
Extra seeds of motivation are still planted by his dad, who used to off him $20 for every dunk he achieved early in high school. Marques Sutton has since sent texts before college games that motivate and challenge his son to play with the same tenacity he had in Tulsa.
Muse is proud of Sutton’s dedication to getting better and stronger now in a sturdy 230-pound frame.
His dad is pleased with how his son embraced his difficult path and achieved playing at the highest level of college basketball.
“He dealt with adversity ever since juco,” Marques Sutton said.
“He didn’t cry about where he was at. He gutted it out. He said, ‘All I need is a chance, Dad, all I need is an opportunity I can show people what I can do.’ And that was the best choice that he could have made.”
LSU hits 100 point-mark again to beat Alcorn State
Tigers become first SEC team to score 100 points in six straight games
BY REED DARCEY Staff writer
The LSU women’s basketball team defeated Alcorn State 112-49 on Thursday in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, becoming the first team in SEC history to score at least 100 points in six straight games. With the win, the No. 5 Tigers (6-0) also tied the NCAA record for consecutive 100-point outings. Louisiana Tech has that record, which has stood for over 40 years. The Lady Techsters set it in 1982 — during coach Kim Mulkey’s
playing career
LSU hit the century mark in its first four games with relative ease. It scored at least 108 points in each of its wins over Houston Christian, Southeastern Louisiana, Georgia Southern, and Charlotte.
The fifth 100-point game, however, was a bit harder to attain.
On Monday, the Tigers faced Tulane on the road and won 101-71. A late 13-2 run, which they threw together across the last four minutes of the game, got them over the mark again, allowing them to tie the SEC record that their national title team set at the start of the 2022-2023 season.
LSU’s win over Alcorn State shook out more like the first four games of the season. The Tigers raced out to an early 20-point lead, then kept adding to that advantage throughout the game.
They hit the 100-point mark at the 4:24 mark of the fourth quarter, a point at which they led by 59 points. Against the Braves, LSU shot 58% from the field and 6 of 16 from 3-point range. Five contributors scored in double figures, including the star trio of Flau’jae Johnson, Mikaylah Williams and MiLaysia Fulwiley Fulwiley finished with 18 points and five steals, while Williams added 15, and Johnson notched 18 of her own. Sophomore center Kate Koval — a Notre Dame transfer who came off the bench for the first time this season on Thursday scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Against Tulane, she missed all four of her field-goal tries, then tallied only two points and two rebounds in 17 minutes of action.
Mulkey slotted East Carolina transfer Amiya Joyner into the starting lineup in Koval’s place, and she scored nine points on 2-of-3 shooting, to pair with nine rebounds and two steals.
LSU also received a nice contribution from freshman forward Grace Knox. She scored 12 points in the 18 minutes she logged off the bench.
Every scholarship player saw the floor on Thursday, with the exception of senior guard Kailyn Gilbert. She was not spotted in warm-ups before the game began or on the bench after it tipped off.
LSU will next fly down to the U.S. Virgin Islands to play in the Paradise Jam Tournament. If the Tigers defeat Marist next Friday, then they’ll take on either MiamiOhio or Washington State on Saturday
LSU thumped Houston Christian 4-1 Friday to start the NCAA Tournament with Sariyah Bailey, a freshman forward from Canada, leading the way with two goals. LSU’s lone loss in the last 12 games came Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament championship game, which was decided on penalty kicks.
Mariners set date to retire LHP Johnson’s number
Hall of Fame left-hander Randy Johnson will have his No. 51 retired by the Seattle Mariners during a pregame ceremony on May 2, the club announced Thursday In June, the Mariners said Johnson’s No. 51 would become the fifth number retired by the franchise, joining Ken Griffey Jr (No. 24), Edgar Martinez (No. 11) and Ichiro Suzuki, who had his No. 51 retired this summer All MLB teams have retired Jackie Robinson’s No. 42. Johnson went 130-74 with a 3.42 ERA across 10 seasons with the Mariners.
“I’m happy that my contributions over the 10 years that I was there are being acknowledged now,” the 62-year-old Johnson said via Zoom in June. “It’s been a long time, that’s for sure.”
Baylor athletic director Rhoades resigns after leave
Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades resigned Thursday, a week after he took a leave of absence for personal reasons. Rhoades also stepped down last week from his role as chairman of the College Football Playoff selection committee.
Linda Livingstone, the school president, said in a letter Thursday that Rhoades had informed her of his decision to step away from his position at Baylor After Rhoades took his leave of absence, the school said it was investigating unspecified allegations against him. The status of that investigation, or if it is still ongoing, was not immediately clear after he left the job.
The school said last week that allegations against Rhoades did not involve Title IX, studentathlete welfare or NCAA rules violations.
Browns extend DE Wright’s contract by three years
Defensive end Alex Wright has agreed to a three-year contract extension with the Cleveland Browns on Thursday worth $33 million, including $21 million guaranteed. Wright, a third-round pick in the 2022 draft, is in the final year of his rookie contract. He is third on the Browns with three sacks and is tied for seventh with 23 tackles along with eight quarterback pressures. Wright missed most of last season after suffering a triceps injury
“He is a physical presence in the run game. He’s got great size. You know, some of our best plays on the edge are Alex taking on pullers and knocking tight ends back. And, those are things we really value,” defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said.
Lee shoots 64 to open $4M quest on LPGA Tour
NAPLES, Fla. Somi Lee decided to change her putting grip to be like Lydia Ko and it paid off in a big way Thursday in the CME Group Tour Championship, where the South Korean opened with an 8-under 64 for a two-shot lead in the chase for a $4 million payoff. Lee began to pull away when she went down one club to a 5-iron because of the warm conditions and set up an eagle on the par-5 17th. Even so, she was two shots clear of former U.S Women’s Open champion Allisen Corpuz. Jeeno Thitikul, the No. 1 player and frontrunner for LPGA player of the year, had six birdies in her round of 67, tied with three other players.
STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON
LSU forward Marquel Sutton takes a shot against Florida International in the first half of their game on on Nov. 13 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center
ä Omaha at LSU 7P.M. FRIDAy, SECN+
STAFF PHOTO By DAVIDGRUNFELD
Ringgoldadjusting well to new role with Tulane
BY GUERRYSMITH
Contributing writer
Tyler Ringgold had an off night in the Tulane men’s basketball team’s22-point loss to UNO last Friday,but coach Ron Hunter refrained from getting on him aboutit.
The truth is, Ringgold has filled avoice left sincethe tragic drowning of uniquely versatile center Gregg Glenn in July Ringgold, a6-foot-8 redshirtsophomoreproduct of SouthernLab, is playing center for thefirst time in his life. Despite his height he preferred to hang out on the perimeter ayear ago, when he averaged 3.6 points and 11 minutes off the bench.
In his first three games this year, he scored 41 points on 15-of-27 shooting (55.5%) with 15 rebounds. Tulane (31) will be counting on him bouncing backfrom a1-of5performance against the Privateers when it faces perennialNCAA tournament participant Utah State (4-0) at noon Fridayinthe Charleston (South Carolina) Classic (ESPN2).
The winner of that game will play the winner of Friday’ssecond game between Davidson-Boston College on Sundayat8 p.m.The losers will face off at 5:30.
“He (Ringgold) is still learning because now he’s being game-plannedfor, which had never happened,” Hunter said. “He’sgot to
figure out when to takethe shots and when to pass, but if youtold me thatinthe first four games his progression wouldbethis good and then he’d hit awall, I’dtakeit. We all know we aremissing abig piece, and what he’s done to help us get through hasbeen amazing. There are going to be some highs and lows.”
The high came at UL on Nov.11. Whilehis teammates werestruggling to make shots, Ringgold sank 7of9,repeatedly finishing at the rim on drives against slower post defenders as the Wave erasedasix-point second-half deficit in a66-62 victory.
“I’m willing to do whatever theteam needs,”he said.“If theyneed me to go play in the post more or they needme to play on the top of the key,I’ll do whatever helps us win.”
Pointguard Rowan Brumbaugh, the preseason American Conference player of the year,already hasdeveloped chemistry with Ringgold and believes they will mesh even betterasRinggoldbecomes more comfortable in hisnew role.
“Tyler’sbeen great,” Brumbaugh said. “Obviously,hegot put inanunprecedented situationplaying the5,but he’s really coming alongand playing incred-
ible. I’m glad to have him as my big man. There’slittle ins and outs he’slearning, but he’sdoing an amazing job.”
Ringgold will have his hands full against Utah State (4-0), which has reached the NCAA tournament five times in the past six years andwas picked second in the Mountain West conference preseason media poll. At least the Aggies offer some familiarity. They play amatchup zone defensesimilar to Hunter’s, and point guard Kolby King averages 10.3 points off theirbench.
Tulane was King’ssecond stop in afour-year,fourschool tour that began with St.John’sand includedButler lastseason. He started for the Wave but hasbeen a reserve everywhere else.
“It’s almostlikelooking in the mirror,”Hunter said. “Theyplay thatmatchup like we do for 40 minutes. They areprobably oneofthe better teamsonour schedule.Itwill tell us alot about where we are.”
The game will also reveal how quickly Ringgold can recover from his first rough outing.
“He didn’tplaya lot last year,but instead of whining about it and transferring, he stayedand he fought,” Hunter said. “Tosee him rewarded is absolutely great because he put in the work. He’s getting alot of confidence.”
PELICANS
Queen shot 12 of 18 from the floor and became the first rookie in franchise history to score 30 points with at leastfiverebounds and two blocked shots in agame.
The Pelicans’ 13th overall draft pick also became one of just two rookies to have 30 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals in 31 minutes or less in agame. Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs was the other one two seasons ago. Wembanyama did it in his 66th NBA game. Queen did it in his 15th game.
Even more impressive is that Queen is playing this well despite not going through training camp or playing in the preseason.
He tore aligament in his left
wrist in aSummer League gameinLas Vegasand missed all of the preseason.
Youwouldn’thave known it by the way he attacked the basket against Jokic. He also knocked down a3-pointer, hissecondofthe season
Queen,who playedat Maryland, had one 30-point game in college against Michigan. Now he has his first oneinthe NBA.
Is he surprised it cameso soon?
“After Igot afew games under my belt, Iwas like, ‘It’s kinda easy,’ “Queensaid Jokic was his usual dominant self, finishing with 28 points,12assistsand 11rebounds before fouling out with 2:44 remaining. Jokic hadnineturnovers.
“Just alittle bit of pressure on both ends,” Queen said aboutthe matchup. “On the defensive end, trying to turn him over.And on the
Lakers fireBussbrothers afterownership change
BY GREG BEACHAM AP sportswriter
LOSANGELES Joey Buss
andJesse Buss arenolonger working in the LosAngeles Lakers’ frontoffice after the franchise’srecent ownership change,a person with knowledge of the movetold The Associated PressonThursday
The person spoke to the AP on conditionofanonymity because the Lakers didn’t publicly announce the firings of the two children of longtime Lakers owner Jerry Buss, who died in 2013. The Lakers are also overhauling the scouting staff that worked with the brothers. TheBuss brothers confirmedtheir departure in a statement issuedtoESPN, although bothwill retain their inherited minorityownership stakes under new controlling owner Mark Walter Jesse Buss was an assistantgeneral manager,while Joey Buss was the Lakers’
alternate governor and vice president of research and development.
“Weare extremelyhonored to have been part of this organization forthe last 20 seasons,” Joey and Jesse Buss saidintheirstatement. “Thank you to Laker Nation for embracing our family every step of the way. We wish thingscould be different with the way our time ended with the team. At times like this, we wish we could ask our Dadwhat he would think about it all.” Jerry Buss hadatleast seven children, and six of themworkedfor the Lakersatsomepoint during his ownership. Jeanie Buss became the Lakers’ governor when their fatherdied. Jim Buss wasthe Lakers’ executive vice president of basketball operations until Jeanie ousted her brother in 2017, also firing general manager Mitch Kupchak andturning over thebasketballsideof
the business to Magic Johnson and current general manager Rob Pelinka. Walter finalized his purchase of acontrolling stake in the Lakers three weeks agoina sale initiallyannounced in June and conducted witha$10 billion franchise valuation.Jeanie Buss will remain the Lakers’ governor for the foreseeable future, but the Lakers are now primarily ownedbyWalter, thebillionaire owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Joey and Jesse Buss have been involved in the Lakers’ scouting and player development operations for many years, and they’ve been praised for their roles in the Lakers’ successful drafts and free-agent signings. Perhaps sensing theupcoming changes in the Lakers’ leadership structure following the decision to sell the team,the brothers launched an investment firminSeptember dubbed Buss Sports Capital.
offensive end, just going at him trying to get him in foul trouble.”
Queen really startedpaying attention to Jokic’sgame last year
“When Igot to college—becauseIknewIwasgoingtoget (to the NBA) —I watched him alittle bit more,” Queen said.
Jokic said he notices some similarities.
“I thinkI’m alittle bit taller,” said Jokic, who at 6-11 is 1inchtaller. “ButI think there is that style. Crafty. I can see it.”
Jokic, in his11thNBA season, has playedin759 games. Queen has played 15.
“I just gotta keep on building,” he said. “(This was) definitely aconfidence booster because he’sathree-time MVP and an NBA champion. I’ve just gotta keep on going. Don’tget too high. Don’tget too low.Just keep on getting better every day.”
ASSOCIATEDPRESS FILEPHOTO By EVAN VUCCI
Los Angeles Dodgers ownerand chairman Mark Walter speaksduring aceremonyto honor the Major League Baseball 2024 WorldSeries Champion team in the East Room of the White House on April 7inWashington.
Tulane forward Tyler Ringgold strips the ballfrom UNOforward Panagiotis Pagonis during agame on Nov. 14 at Fogelman Arena. Ringgoldhas beenadjusting to his newrole with Tulane.
SWITCH CLICKS
St. Aug D-lineman Dominique excels after position shift
BY CHRISTOPHER DABE Staff writer
St. Augustine senior Ty Dominique had to learn a new position when five-star defensive lineman
Jahkeem Stewart abruptly left the school just days before the season began last year
At first, things did not go so well
Dominique has the build of a defensive end with his 6-foot-3 frame and long arms, but he was moved to the middle of the line so he could fill the position vacated by Stewart, who is now at Southern Cal.
He struggled at the new position, where “stuff was happening too fast,” Dominique said Fast forward to this season, and Dominique has become a versatile lineman capable of playing equally well at multiple spots along the line — something that helped him earn a UL commitment long before his senior season began.
Dominique is the only senior defensive line starter on a thirdseeded St. Augustine (9-1) team that will host No. 14 Acadiana (8-3) in the second round of the LHSAA Division I select playoffs Friday at Tad Gormley Stadium. He frequently plays defensive end but will move to the inside when coach Robert Valdez wants speedier players at all four defensive line positions.
“I think we got a very athletic speed guy in the interior with him,” Valdez said. “He’s long, speedy, and he has a lot of football IQ.” He also has lots of experience.
Dominique became a varsity starter three games into his sophomore season when a senior in front of him went down with a season-ending injury Dominique played until he broke his tibia and fibula in a Week 9 game.
He returned healthy as a junior
AREA PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
and expected to settle in as a defensive end until Stewart left to enroll at Edna Karr and graduate early as a midyear college enrollee.
The abrupt change made Dominique a defensive tackle with little
preparation before the season opener against McDonogh 35. Frustrated over having only one tackle in that game, Dominique watched video from the game and decided he needed to be quicker off
the snap. He ended the next game with “three or four” tackles for loss and “a couple of pressures,” he said. Dominique felt like a muchimproved player by midseason,
LHSAA tweaks Catholic League in latest proposal
BY CHRISTOPHER DABE Staff writer
Edna Karr may remain in District 9-5A as Chalmette makes a return to the district and Warren Easton moves to a district that consists largely of Jefferson Parish public schools, in the latest districting proposal from the LHSAA sent to school administrators Thursday
This proposal is in response to appeals made at the second classification meeting Monday in Baton Rouge A third meeting at which appeals may be presented will occur Dec. 3. The next two-year districting cycle will run from fall 2026 through spring 2028.
An earlier proposal had Karr leaving 9-5A, commonly known as the Catholic League, and joining a district with Jefferson Parish public schools. Karr submitted an appeal that asked to remain in 9-5A beyond this season. Karr has a powerhouse football program that has won the outright 9-5A title in all four seasons since the Cougars joined the district for the first time for the 2022 season. Chalmette most recently
played in the Catholic League in the early 2010s and currently resides in a district with St. Tammany Parish schools. The Owls also spent several seasons in a district with Jefferson Parish schools.
A shift for Easton would come after the Eagles went 0-14 in district games over two seasons in 9-5A after previously being a Class 4A power that made frequent runs to the state finals and semifinals.
The LHSAA heard 31 appeals from across the state during the second classification meeting, during which Karr, Easton, Chalmette and Jefferson Parish public schools all made separate appeals.
The deadline for the next round of appeals is Dec. 1.
“The schools have the ability to come in and say, ‘Hey, this doesn’t work and here’s the reason why,’ ”
LHSAA assistant executive director Michael Federico said Monday. “The board listens to that because they’re the ones who are ultimately making the decision and they listen to their people.”
Under the new proposal, District 9-5A would include Brother Martin, Chalmette, Holy Cross,
Jesuit, John Curtis, Karr, Rummel and St. Augustine, plus all-girls schools Chapelle, Dominican and Mount Carmel
Easton would be placed in a district with Bonnabel, East Jefferson, Higgins, John Ehret, Riverdale and West Jefferson, plus Ben Franklin, which does not play for district honors in football.
Other notable changes in the latest proposal include Northlake Christian being placed in District 10-2A after previously being placed in 112A with Newman and Country Day, among others, in an earlier proposal
Another change has Covenant Christian and Houma Christian joining 11-2A, which would make that a five-team football district that also includes Fisher Haynes Academy made an appeal to be placed in a 3A district that included three other Jefferson Parish schools but instead remained in 10-3A with Booker T. Washington, Cabrini, De La Salle, Livingston Collegiate, Morris Jeff and Sacred Heart.
Contact Christopher Dabe at cdabe@theadvocate.com
all the while helping then-senior teammate Warren Roberts — now at Tulane get “all the sacks,” Dominique said.
“Once I mastered that midseason last year, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m good,’ ” Dominique said.
Not everything has played out to perfection. Valdez still needles Dominique over his missed sack with the score tied 7-7 against Edna Karr last season.
The playful ribbing is so that “I don’t miss another sack,” said Dominique, who remembered how the Karr running back on that play “went the other way, and I’m like, ‘It’s a free sack.’ “I missed it and then they scored off that drive. So, it was just …” Dominique, with eight sacks over the past two seasons, has drawn several double teams this season, and “other guys are benefiting because he has become the primary focal point of the other team’s blocking,” Valdez said. He plays on a defense that includes other senior starters with middle linebacker Chad Jones and senior safety Syre Gilmore along with defensive backs Larry Johnson, Tyrone Mathieu and Clinton Hill.
The position change turned out to be the best thing for Dominique. Although he was nervous about it at the time, being forced into a more versatile role caught the attention of college coaches and boosted his recruitment.
“I tell the younger guys that, too: Don’t just say you play D-end; say you play defensive line,” Dominique said.
“Say you could play anywhere from the ‘5’ to the ‘3’ to the ‘zero,’ ” Dominique said as he listed the numbers that correlate to different gaps between offensive linemen. “You say you can do that because coaches love to see it. They love to see versatility.”
Showcasing that versatility is what made the college-bound Dominique a better player It also helped as St. Augustine earned a high seed ahead of what could be a deep playoff run.
Donald ‘fulfilled’ with playing career as Rams prepare to honor him
BY DAN GREENSPAN
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES Aaron Donald’s
commitment to pursuing greatness made him a Super Bowl champion, a Los Angeles Rams legend and one of the best defenders in NFL history Donald h as shown the same resolve in retirement, shifting his full focus to family and off-field ventures after stepping away from football in March 2024 despite still being able to play at an elite level.
“I’m fulfilled,” Donald said during a visit to the Rams’ training complex this week “I’m happy with where I’m at in my life right now and what I’m doing, and obviously everything I do I strive for greatness. I felt like I checked that off of football, and in the next chapter of life, just transitioning all that into what I’m trying to do and build right now I love the game of football. I just don’t love playing the game of football anymore.”
The Rams will recognizing Donald at halftime of their game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday night, with the first 60,000 fans in attendance receiving a bobblehead that captures Donald pointing to his ring finger as he did on the field in the Super Bowl after forcing a fourth-down incompletion to secure a 23-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium in February 2022.
The bobblehead also features a small goat wearing Donald’s No. 99 jersey a cheeky nod to the future Hall of Fame defensive tackle’s “greatest of all time” resume: 111 career sacks, 176 tackles for loss and unparalleled ability to disrupt the game as an interior lineman despite not having the height and weight typically associated with the position.
“Obviously on the football field, he was as dominant as you could be, whether that was practice or in games,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “He forced the hand of the offense more than any
player I’ve ever played against or with, which was incredible to be around.”
The celebration comes after Donald had his jersey retired by the University of Pittsburgh last Saturday Donald was an All-American and the Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year with the Panthers and won multiple awards, including the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award and Outland Trophy
This eight-day period has left the 34-year-old Donald reflecting on his unlikely path to superstardom. He described the past week as “emotional, overwhelming at times, but I’ve been enjoying it.”
“I’ve been taking it all in,” he continued. “Thinking about the journey of everything I had to do to get myself to a certain point and to be able to accomplish the things I was able to accomplish in college and in the pros It’s been emotional for sure, but to be able to be here with my family, my loved ones, people that played a huge part of my success in pushing me to where I’m at today.”
Donald said his wife and four children are the main reason he has been able to cleanly separate from the game. He has also thrown himself into charitable ventures as well as teaming with NBA champion Giannis Antetokounmpo in a sports drink company
Those pursuits haven’t kept Donald from his legendary workouts. He has also made himself available to the current crop of Rams defensive linemen, sharing pass rush tips or breaking down video with tackle Kobie Turner and outside linebacker Jared Verse among others. Those little interactions have allowed Donald to stay connected to the parts of football he enjoyed most during his 10 seasons with the Rams.
When it comes to game day, however, Donald is perfectly happy with his new vantage point.
“I put my Rams shirt on or my Rams sweatsuit, and I might have some chicken wings,” Donald said.
“It’s a lot different than my normal Sundays when I played, but I’m enjoying the new Sundays I’m having with the family and watching my Rams play.”
PROVIDED PHOTO
St. Augustine defensive lineman Ty Dominique reacts after a play during a game against John Curtis on Nov 8 at the Shrine on Airline.
STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
Edna Karr
Donald
WR Tipton will get chance to impress
BY MATTHEW PARAS AND LUKE JOHNSON Staff writers
Before he was granted his release from the New Orleans Saints, Brandin Cooks gave Mason Tipton a heads-up that the move was in the works. The two wide receivers had developed a close friendship as teammates, and so the conversation didn’t catch Tipton by surprise Tipton said he had “an idea” that Cooks wanted out.
“He was like, ‘Look, little bro, it’s that time,’ ” Tipton said.
“That time” also means a lot for Tipton.
“Naturally, Tipton is going to play a ton of football now,” Saints coach Kellen Moore said.
A second-year wideout from Yale, Tipton has played just 60 snaps this season and does not have a catch. But after being buried on the depth chart, the 25-yearold will get a chance to show what he can do in an expanded role and see if he can build on what was a productive summer In three preseason contests, Tipton recorded 158 yards on eight catches with one touchdown. He burned defenders with crafty double moves and game-changing speed. Tipton performed so well that quarterback Tyler Shough called him the MVP of training camp But when the season started, Tipton still was the fifth receiver in the team’s pecking order That meant he was hardly going to see the field.
“It wasn’t easy but it’s professional football, bro,” Tipton said.
“It’s the business side of things, and that’s just how it goes, man So at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is when the opportunities come, that you’re ready, and that’s how I am. That’s how I’ve been treating it.
SAINTS
Continued from page 1C
34. The Buffalo Bills ended up with 31. Only one of New Orleans’ eight losses has come against a team currently under 500.
The Saints took their lumps early, but they believe they’ve benefitted from the slate “in a big way,” Staley said.
“(We’re) battle tested, for sure,” said Staley, who called the quality of competition “premium” through 10 games “Our guys have gotten a really good taste of what it’s like to compete at the highest level.”
To Staley, the Panthers game was an example of the Saints putting it all together He was proud of the team’s tackling, specifically with how the defense eliminated space in the lead-up to the tackles. Staley said his players
flourished at the point of attack, then had several players ready to pounce to stop the play Staley even called their tackling elite,” a phrase the coordinator rarely has used in a news conference setting this year
One game, of course, isn’t proof the Saints have turned around their defense.
But quietly, the Saints are tied for 10th in fewest yards allowed
“I’m just ready to take it.”
Tipton believes he’s in a better position to seize the moment this time around. A year ago, the Saints inserted Tipton into the lineup after they were decimated by injuries, but the undrafted rookie didn’t take advantage. He finished the year with just 14 catches for 99 yards in 11 games.
That experience, he said, gave him perspective. He realized how long an NFL season can be and that he had to “keep his mind right” to be ready
He also credited Cooks, who gave him advice every week.
“He’s doing it at a high level for a long time, man,” Tipton said of Cooks. “I’m just super thankful for him But as we all know, things move on. I’ve been preparing for this the whole season.”
Jimmy’s return
Goal posts beware: Jimmy Graham will be back in the Caesars Superdome this week.
The Saints’ great is returning Sunday for the rivalry game against the Atlanta Falcons to serve as the Legend of the Game.
He’ll be in the building at the same time as his longtime quarterback, as future Hall of Famer Drew Brees also will be present as the color commentator for the Fox broadcast.
Graham spent only six of his 13 NFL seasons with the Saints split over two stints, from 2010-14 and again in 2023 but he established himself as one of the best skill position players in franchise history
New Orleans drafted Graham in the third round of the 2010 draft, seeing potential in a former college basketball player who had only one season of high-level college football on his resume.
He quickly established himself as one of the NFL’s most dangerous
per game And, as pointed out by Fantasy Life’s Ian Hartitz, they’re the only NFL team this year to not allow a player to reach more than 100 yards receiving in a game. Some of that may be explained by opposing offenses not needing to push the pace when holding significant leads throughout the game, but according to Next Gen Stats, the Saints still rank 14th in defensive EPA per play
The Saints also have made meaningful strides in areas that plagued them last season. After giving up an explosive play rate of 11.6% in 2024, the 10th-highest in the league, the Saints have cut it to just 8.6% in 2025 — the fourth-lowest. The run defense, as inconsistent as it has been, ranks 21st in yards allowed after ranking 31st last year
Coach Kellen Moore said over the last month, he’s seen the secondary start to gel, and Staley agreed. Though the Rams’ outing was particularly “tough” for the group, Staley said it was a useful game for teaching the secondary how it needed to play The coordinator noted the little things their cornerbacks and safeties have done better of late, from using their eyes to playing with the right technique. The secondary has established veterans such as Alontae Taylor and Justin Reid, but a trio
TULANE
Continued from page 1C
in the second quarter
“I feel really confident in his availability,” Sumrall said. “Last week he was cleared to play, but I need to do right by our players.
I’m a dad or a big brother or an uncle to these guys before I’m a coach. We bring them in as family and treat them like family We didn’t play him because it didn’t feel quite right.”
Healthy returns
Tulane’s health ticked up this week with wide receiver Garrett Mmahat and running back Maurice Turner practicing at full strength for the first time in a while.
Mmahat, a Brother Martin product, has played in only one game, making two catches in the first half against East Carolina. He was sidelined by separate leg injuries before and afterward, but Sumrall said Wednesday he definitely would play against Temple.
Turner, a redshirt junior transfer from Louisville who was Tulane’s top running back entering the season, rushed for 86 yards on 14 carries in the opener against Northwestern but has been limited to nine carries for 29 yards since then by an ankle injury missing five games entirely His return would give the Wave a deep backfield, complementing Javon Gordon (408 yards, 94 carries), Jamauri McClure (144 yards, 26 carries), Arnold Barnes (195 yards, 43 carries) and Zuberi Mobley (184 yards, 39 carries).
toire against Florida Atlantic.
After catching a pass from Jake Retzlaff in the third quarter, he leaped over a defender attempting a submarine tackle near the end of a 25-yard gain and kept going. Retzlaff subtracted style points.
“He didn’t even land it, so I don’t know what leaping ability he actually has,” Retzlaff said “That’s the first time I’ve seen him airborne, period. Great players make plays like that, so that was fun to see.”
Bohanon, a redshirt senior, also had a 29-yard touchdown grab for the first points of the game on a fourth-down fade. After making 24 receptions for 315 yards and zero touchdowns in his first four years with the Wave, he has a team-best 31 catches for 417 yards and two scores in his final season.
Lagniappe
tight ends. In his second season Graham caught 99 passes for 1,310 yards and 11 touchdowns for the Saints’ record-smashing 2011 offense. That was the start of something big, as Graham averaged 89 receptions for 1,099 yards and 11 touchdowns from 2011-14.
New Orleans traded Graham to the Seattle Seahawks after the 2014 season because of a contract dispute. But Graham came out of retirement to play one more season for New Orleans in 2023, when he turned four of his six catches into touchdowns.
He ranks among the franchise leaders in every major receiving category, and he owns every major receiving record by a tight end in franchise history
Fuaga practices
Saints tackle Taliese Fuaga returned to practice Thursday, participating in his first session since suffering an ankle injury that kept him out of the team’s Nov 9 win over the Carolina Panthers.
Fuaga got hurt during a Nov 2 loss to the Los Angeles Rams and was replaced by Asim Richards The 23-year-old has missed a total of two games this season, also sitting out Week 3 against the Seattle Seahawks with a back and knee injury
The Saints officially listed Fuaga as limited.
If he can play Sunday, it would boost an offensive line that has been down three starters. Center Erik McCoy suffered a season-ending biceps injury in an Oct. 19 loss to the Chicago Bears, and the Saints traded left guard Trevor Penning to the Los Angeles Chargers earlier this month.
With Fuaga back, the Saints had near-perfect practice attendance Thursday, as Davon Godchaux — who took his planned weekly rest day — was the only player to sit out.
of young players in McKinstry, rookie cornerback Quincy Riley and rookie safety Jonas Sanker also are coming on fast.
“Man, we’re just getting to know each other,” said McKinstry a 2024 second-round pick.
“We’re knocking out those kinks. We’re building chemistry I feel like that’s important. Being able to play with your brother and not being able to play with a teammate, those are two different things.”
McKinstry said the defense took pride in facing top offenses early in the season, adding that the unit learned from each experience. The losses, he said, didn’t break the Saints. Reid, in his eighth season, said the defense wants to test itself against the best.
“We’ve seen a lot of talented offenses,” Reid said. “We just get to use that experience to build, especially (having) so many young players getting valuable experience playing on the field, playing against these high-caliber offenses. As a defense, as a team, we continue to take strides week in and week out.
“We’re just continuing to build this thing the way we want to build it.”
Email Matthew Paras at matt paras@theadvocate.com
“He (Turner) honestly looked the best out of all of them yesterday,” Sumrall said after Thursday’s walk-through practice. “He’s available. Probably Javon will start.”
Nice hops
Tulane receiver Bryce Bohanon, who excelled in the long jump and the triple jump for his high school track team, decided to add high jumping to his reper-
Lincoln Financial Field, the home of the Philadelphia Eagles and Temple, is the only American Conference road venue where Tulane has never won with more than one opportunity The Wave lost 49-10 in 2015 and 29-21 in 2019. Temple coach K.C. Keeler who was at Sam Houston State from 2014 to 2024, accomplished one thing former Tulane coach Willie Fritz never managed as his predecessor with the Bearkats. winning an FCS championship in 2020. Fritz lost title matchups in 2011 and 2012.
DELANE
Continued from page 1C
that time, (in that) situation in the game, it was like, you knew they were going to pass the ball. And I felt like I couldn’t let my teammates down.” Delane didn’t clarify whether the injury will require offseason surgery or how it will affect his draft preparation Delane is a projected first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. He did say that it’s an ailment he’ll have to address once the season is over
“It’s hard to rehab. It’s more so like, just go (play) as much as you can,” Delane said. “It’s a hard little issue to deal with I think it’s more mental for me. It’s just being able to fight through it, being able to play.”
Delane hopes he can stay on the field for the rest of the season.
“I’ll handle all that stuff with my agent,” he said. “And (now) working through some with the trainers right now just putting myself in the best position (to play). But we have to see how it all plays out.”
Email staff writer Koki Riley at koki.riley@theadvocate.com
NUSSMEIER OUT, WEEKS PROBABLE VS. WKU
LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier will not play Saturday night against Western Kentucky, interim coach Frank Wilson said.
Nussmeier recently aggravated an abdominal injury,Wilson has said, and he did not play last week in a 23-22 win over Arkansas.
“He will not participate,”Wilson said.“He will be out for the game.”
With Nussmeier out, sophomore Michael Van Buren will start for the second straight game.Van Buren went 21 of 31 for 221 yards and one touchdown against Arkansas. He also rushed 10 times for 36 yards.
LSU plays Western Kentucky at 6:45 p.m. inside Tiger Stadium.
LSU linebacker Whit Weeks is “probable” to play against Western Kentucky, Wilson said Thursday.Weeks missed the past four games with an ankle injury. He did not practice fully Thursday and has continued to wear a walking boot, but Wilson said he does not feel as sore.
“He’s had a good week of practice ushering in and out and popping around,”Wilson said.“I thought he showed tremendous progress. He’s talking and feeling the right way In what
and how much, I’m not sure, but right now, I
say he’s probable.”
capacity
would
Wilson Alexander
STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane breaks up a pass intended for Arkansas wide receiver Raylen Sharpe forcing the Razorbacks to attempt a field goal in the fourth quarter on Nov 15 at Tiger Stadium. Delane has been playing with an ailment he’ll have to address once the season is over.
STAFF FILE PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER Tulane wide receiver Bryce Bohanon catches a pass to score a touchdown against Army on Oct. 18 at yulman Stadium.
STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRETT DUKE
Saints wide receiver Mason Tipton runs the ball against the New England Patriots in the first half of a game on Oct. 12 at the Caesars Superdome.
n The Carousel Gardens at City Park will be adultsonly Saturday(ugly sweaters optional)for JINGLE BELLS AND BEER, the annual evening of unlimited rides, beers and a previewofCelebration in the Oaks. Food and entertainment are partofthe fun that starts at 7p.m.,with tickets starting at $40 neworleanscitypark org
MBYKEITH SPERA Staff writer
annie Fresh is not normally atuxedoguy As the producer behindCash Money Records’ million-selling andinthe case of Juvenile’s“400 Degreez,” multimillionselling —albums, his attire tends more toward sports jerseys andsneakers. But he’ll make an exception Fridayatthe Orpheum Theater when he joins the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra for his first symphonic collaboration. If he didn’twear atuxedo, “I would be cheatingthe audience,” he said recently.“It is asymphony Even though it’sa differenttheme, Iwant to keep some of it traditional.”
Much of the show won’tbe. Fresh will DJ two sets of classic— not classical —hits, accompanied by the Louisiana Philharmonic. Following the LPO’ssuccessfulconcerts withBig Freedia, the queendiva of bounce, it was perhaps inevitable that the orchestra would solicit another collaborator from the world of New Orleans rap. Fresh is one of the genre’sarchitects but was still surprisedtoget the call
“I neverwould havethought I’d have acollab with an orchestra. Ido have alittle classic components to some of my music, but Iwouldhave neverthought in abillion years that Iwould be doingthis
“Freedia opened the gates up.
Now it’smyturn andmytwist on it.”
OpportunityfromAllen Toussaint
Born ByronOtto Thomas,Fresh grewupinthe 7th Ward. Long before he became oneofthe most successful producers in the history of
See MANNIE FRESH, page 2D
n Abenefitfor Bridge House/GraceHouse, SOBER FEST from 11 a.m. to 5p.m. Saturday at The Broadside, 600 N. Broad St., features a family-friendly dayof entertainment, food vendors and foodtrucks, plus activities forkidsand even anew KidsStagefor music. Admission starts at $10 and goes to help the work of the alcohol and drug-free recovery.A memorial ceremony will be held. bridgehouse.org
BY KEITH SPERA Staff writer
The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra isn’tgoing anywhere. TheLPO recentlyannounced that it has signed a10-year lease with the Orpheum Theater.Aspart of the agreement, the LPO and the Orpheum have partnered to form anonprofitthatwillraisefunds for both the building and the orchestra. Theideaistopreservethe ornate architectureofthe Orpheum —whichfirst opened in theCentral Business District in 1921 andunderwent an extensive renovation following Hurricane Katrina —and the LPO’sability to present classical music with contemporary appeal. “This partnership allowstwo elite organizationstonot just survive,but
See ORCHESTRA, page 3D
STAFF FILE PHOTOByCHRISGRANGER MatthewKraemer conducts the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra at the Orpheum.
BY RODNEY HO
ATLANTA— TylerPerry hasspread his fictional wings in recentyears beyond Atlanta,taking ahistorical trip to Europe during World WarII (Netflix’s“The Six Triple Eight”), tackling White House shenanigans in Washington (BET’s “The Oval”) and digging into the cosmetics world of Chicago(Netflix’s“BeautyinBlack”). Nowhe’slocated amovie largely to thesnow-cappedmountains of Colorado for the romanticfilm “Finding Joy” on Amazon,which came out last week.
See FILM, page 3D
STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
Producer and DJ Mannie Fresh, whocrafted most of Cash MoneyRecords’ hits, poses in frontofa mural of the late DJ Wop.
STAFF FILE PHOTO By TEDJACKSON Cash MoneyRecords’ Mannie Fresh, foreground,and, left to right in back row, B.G.,Juvenile, Lil Wayne, Turk and Bryan‘Baby’ Williams, pose for aphoto on Sept.28, 1999, in NewOrleans.
NewOrleans music, he was ateenageDJatblock parties andclubs DJing ran in the family —his father went by DJ Sabu.
Agroup from California hired himtocontribute some DJ-style scratching to arecordingsession at Sea-Saint Studios. The Californians ended up quitting the session early.Sea-Saint’s owner, future Rock &Roll HallofFame producer,songwriter and pianist Allen Toussaint, offered Fresh the remaining studio time.
He called his buddy Gregory D, who hurried over to Sea-Saint. With Allen’sson Reginald Toussaint engineering, Fresh and Gregory Dwrote and recorded “Buck Jump Time” that night.
Thanks to Allen Toussaint, Fresh had produced his first recording session. He and Gregory Dreleased their first album as aduo, “Throwdown,” in 1987.
At Club Rumors in the 9th Ward he shared DJ duties with KLC future producer for Master P’sNo Limit Records —and DJ Duck. Looking to set himself apart, Fresh started bringing his 808 drum machine to theclub, adding his own beats over the records he was spinning.
“I started doingmyown things instead of mimicking other people’ssongs. Istarted programming some of my own, original drums.” Beats he crafted populatedother local rappers’ songs; his reputation as abeat-master grew
In the early 1990s, he met Bryan “Baby” Williams, akaBirdman, cofounder of Cash MoneyRecords. WilliamsenlistedFresh as the rap label’s in-house producer With Fresh, Cash Money becameacashmachine.Lil Wayne,
Juvenile, B.G. andTurk —both individually and as the HotBoys —sold millions of albums. So did theBig Tymers, Fresh’sduo with Birdman.
As aproducer,Fresh paid attention to words and phrases that resonatedwithaudiencesatCash Money shows —such as “get your roll on”— then recycled them as hooks in new songs.
“Bling Bling” came to Fresh in his sleep. “I was making up the hook as Iwas sleeping. Ihad to get up andrecord it because it kept playing over and over
He originally intended “Bling Bling” to be aBig Tymers song. Instead, he gave it to B.G., who hadn’t yetscored amainstream hit
“Because B.G. was so dark and street …hedid not have thatmainstream appeal. We were like, ‘How do we get sales out of him? How do we get themasses to pay attention to him?’ Iwas like, ‘This (‘Bling, Bling’) will be thesong that will do it for him.’
He was right.
“Mysecret sauce was, Ialways
tried to make it true. Iwanted the song to sound like exactly what the mood was that day.”
WeezyAna reunion
Eventually,the Cash Money rostersplinteredover money disputes and lawsuits. “Typical music business stuff,” as Fresh puts it. Butthe music they made in the 1990sand early 2000s endured.
In the summer of 2023, Juvenile, Freshand aliveband appeared on National Public Radio’s “Tiny Desk” concert series. Theywere joined by Jon Batiste and Troy “TromboneShorty” Andrewswho, as ayoungster, playedtrumpetand trombone on Cash Money recordings in exchange for wrestling tickets.
Juvenile and Fresh also teamed up for asuccessful national tour Fresh, Williamsand mostHot Boys took part in the2024EssenceFestivalofCulture’s celebration of Cash Money at the Caesars Superdome.
Months later,the classic Cash Money crew —Fresh, Williams and, for the first time in 14 years, all four Hot Boys —reunited at a
sold-out Smoothie King Center for LilWayne’s 2024 LilWeezyAna Fest. It wasanemotionalnight.After yearsofestrangement, “youlose focusonwhat(themusic)meantto people,”Fresh said.“Ithink all of us took for granted that this (music) meantthat much to this city.”
During WeezyAna Fest, Fresh saw fans “crying and embracing this like it was the Beatles or something. It wasarush of feelings.
“Wehadn’tdonethese songs together for forever, so Ireally didn’tknow how it was gonna be received. To see the emotion and the love …I waslike,‘This is really important to this culture.’”
From BeeGeestoBarry White
More recently,Fresh has been on the road with the Cash Money Millionaires and comedy troupe 85 South.
His DJ set with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra at the Orpheum will consist of everything from the Bee GeestoBarry White to Cash Money classics, including Juvenile’s“Back That Azz Up.” Working out arrangements for such varied material with the LPO wasn’teasy
“Someofthe songs were recorded flat, somewere recorded sharp. How do we make that merge?” Fresh said. “If Iplay an old Bee Gees song, it might be off afew semi-tones just because of theway it wasrecorded.Usfinding themix to make all that work was tedious.”
He wanted the setlist to be “true to Louisiana,soI pickeda lotof songs that we grew up on. Songs that your parents played when they wascleaning the house.
“Other places always try to turn the page and be like, ‘That’sold.’ Not to us.Welovethe samesongs our parents played and our grandparents played.”
At the Orpheum, he’ll likely accentuate his tuxedo with anice pair of Air Jordans. He hopes the audiencealso dressesupand gets down.
“Usually when you think of an orchestra or something classical, you’re well-behaved andyou’ve gottosit there.This is notthat. You can get up and dance and have a good time.
“Please let your hair down. Have fun. This is notgoing to be that traditional thing. It’sgoing to be a NewOrleans twist to it.”
Email KeithSpera at kspera@ theadvocate.com.
FILM
Continued from page1D
The Rocky Mountains are notforeign turf for Perry despite his New Orleans roots and longtime residence in Atlanta: He built avacation logcabin in JacksonHole Wyoming, in 1995.Ina 2019 interview with Ellen DeGeneres, he recounted meeting agrizzly bear and amoose in his backyard.
Youwill see amoosein
“FindingJoy,” which centers around Joy (Shannon Thornton), afrustrated NewYork City fashion designer whose boss steals her designs and calls them her own.
To make mattersworse, she is terrible at picking partners and flies to Colorado for aman who is clearly not that into her Finding out she has been had, Joy tries to fly back to New York City,but an impending snowstorm means no flights are available. So she rents atwo-wheel ve-
ORCHESTRA
Continued from page1D
thrive,” LPO board president Bernie Jaffe said in anews release.“The Orpheum’shistory and acousticsprovide an unparalleled state for our musicians, and together we will ensure that this jewel of New Orleans remains abeacon for world-class performance.”
The new agreement doesn’tmeanthat the Orpheum will be the only place to hear the LPO, as evidencedbyits schedule for its 2025-26season.
The orchestra kicked off the first weekend of the current season with two concerts, one of which —a performanceofVerdi’s Requiem with a200-voicechoir on Sept. 27 —was at the Mahalia Jackson Theater The other opening weekend concert, on Sept. 26, reunited the LPO with Big Freedia, New Orleans “Queen Diva” of bounce music, at the Orpheum.
The LPO will perform selections from Handel’sMessiah alongside classical Christmas music at Fuhrmann Auditorium in Covington on Dec. 4. The next night, the LPO presents asimilar holiday program at the Orpheum.
On Dec. 12, the LPO will create alive movie
hicle to drivebacktoNew York City andgets trapped in thestorm. Sheendsupin an isolated cabin owned by Ridge (Tosin Morohunfola), who harbors his own personal issues regardinghis late momand estrangement from his dad
Gettingtoknowyou
Ridgehas no phone or internet access andshoots rabbits andother animals forfood. Trappedby the storm for aweek,Ridge and Joy are forced to get to know each other
“She is sharing space with someone used to being by themselves,” said Thornton, whofirst worked withPerry in his 2024 thriller“Mea Culpa” in asupporting role.
“It feels like she’sdisruptinghis peace, and there are moments where she doesn’t seem very grateful.”
But since thisisa romance their guards eventually go down and Joy’sskepticism melts along with her heart.
In themeantime, her close friendsAshley (Brittany S.
soundtrack during ascreening of “The Muppet Christmas Carol”atthe Mahalia Jackson Theater On Jan.8,the LPO assembles atthe New Marigny TheateronMarais Street for aclassical programof Strauss’sPerpetuum Mobile, Schreker’sKammersymphonie andMozart’s Symphony No. 39. Earlier this month, thenonprofit announceda $250,000 donation from the Frank F. Stewart Jr Foundation to supportthe ongoing concert series at the New MarignyTheatre,a more intimate space where the audience is often seated in the round.
Looking ahead to spring 2026, the LPO will join legendary Meters bassist GeorgePorter Jr.atthe New Orleans Jazz &Blues Market in Central City on April8 as part of the orchestra’s“MarketNights” concertseries. Beyond classicalN.O
TheLPO hasenjoyed success with collaborationsoutside of the classical genre.
In 2024, the LPO won the Grammy Award for best regional roots music album for “Live: OrpheumTheater Nola,” acollaborationwith progressive Cajun band the Lost Bayou Ramblers. (In arareGrammy tie, Buckwheat Zydeco Jr.& theLegendary Ils Sont Partis Band
Hall) andloose-lipped,potsmoking Littia(newcomer Inayah) can’treach her andbegin hunting forher, worried she mightbedead. Their scenes are largely set up for comic relief.
Earth, wind and fire?
“The three of us are earth, wind andfire,” said Hall, who lives in Atlanta. “Joy is the wind. Littiaisthe fire.I’m the earth, the reasonable one.”
Thornton, who alsostars in theStarz drama“P-Valley,” had to endure no shortage of chilly outdoor scenes, including acomedic oneinan outhouse and one involving her getting stuck outside her car as the snowstormbears down on her
“They hadthis huge fan andmyhairisgoing every which way,” she said Thornton said she enjoyed working with Perry.“He’s aman in charge. He knows what he wants. He comes in on amission and you can only respect that. He’s also so tall!” (Perry is 6foot, 5 inches.)
also was named awinner in the regional roots music category for“NewBeginnings.”)
“Live:Orpheum Theater Nola,”available via streamingservices such as Spotify and AppleMusic, was recorded Jan. 15, 2023, when the LPO and the Ramblers shared astage for the first time.
The LPO’scollaborations withBig Freedia have been hugely popular.Continuing in the classical/hip-hop hybrid mode, the LPO will perform for the first time withMannie Fresh, theproducer of most of Cash Money Records’ hits, at theOrpheum on Friday, Nov.21. Freshwillpreside over twoDJsetsculled from variousmusicalgenres, accompanied by the LPO.
The orchestra, which is ownedand run by its membermusicians, hasalso strengthened itsties beyond New Orleans.
In January,the LPO and theLafayette-based Acadiana Symphony Orchestra announced anew strategic collaboration. MatthewKraemer, the LPO’smusic director andprincipal conductor,is nowthe AcadianaSymphony’sartistic adviser as well.
But hisprimary role is with the LPO, just as the LPO’sprimary home is the Orpheum Email KeithSpera at kspera@theadvocate.com.
By The Associated Press
Today is Friday,Nov.21, the325th day of 2025. There are 40 days left in theyear
Todayinhistory: On Nov.21, 1980, 85 people died, mostfrom smoke inhalation, after a fire broke out at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Also on this date:
In 1920, on “Bloody Sunday,” the IrishRepublican Army killed 14 suspected Britishintelligence officers in theDublin area; Britishforces responded by raiding asoccer match, killing 14 civilians.
In 1980, an estimated 83 million TV viewers tuned in to the CBS prime-time soap opera “Dallas” to find out “who shot J.R.” (The shooter turned out to be J.R. Ewing’ssister-in-law, Kristin Shepard.)
In 2017, Zimbabwe’s
93-year-old president, Robert Mugabe, resigned; he wasfacing impeachmentproceedings and had been placed under house arrest by the military.His resignation ended a37year rule beginning with Zimbabwe’sindependence in 1980.
In 2021, an SUV sped through barricades and into marchers in aChristmas parade in the Milwaukeesuburb of Waukesha, killing six people and injuring severalothers. A judge the following year sentencedDarrell Brooks Jr.tolife in prisonwithout parole forhis conviction on first-degree intentionalhomicide and other counts.
In 2022, NASA’s uncrewed Orion capsule reached the moon,whipping around the far side and buzzing the lunar surface on an orbit that broke the record fordistance
Featherweight Scooter
Thomas is 88. Basketball Hall of Famer Earl Monroe is 81. Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois is
AMAZON/TNS PHOTO By CHIPBERGMANN
Shannon Thornton andTosin Morohunfola find love while stuck in asnowstormin‘TylerPerry’s Finding Joy.
scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Get out and meet and greet. Social events will broaden your outlook and help you connect with upward and mobile individuals. Stop sitting back when you have so much to offer.
sAGITTARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) It's necessary that the changes you wish to make start and stop with you. Stay on top of your budget, stick to the rules and set a routine that contributes to a healthy lifestyle.
cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) How you proceed will depend on the type of impact you want to have and how much time and effort you want to contribute. Put time aside for personal gain, growth and self-improvement.
AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) You'll face opposition and interference. Take this as a sign to rethink your current position and where you see yourself heading. It's time to let go of what's no longer working for you and move on.
PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Use your intelligence and your ability to follow through to pursue your dreams. Monitor every move; set a budget, time and place to launch your plans. Put emotions aside.
ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Apply yourself, concentrate on learning and gain insight into situations and pursuits you want to explore. Thoughts followed by actions will lead to satisfaction, peace of mind and a new lease on life.
TAuRus (April 20-May 20) Timing, organization and keeping things small are
in your best interests. Clearing your space will have an emotional impact on how you feel about yourself and your future.
GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Stop secondguessing yourself and follow through. Too much information can lead you down the wrong path. Hit the reset button, take a deep breath and start again.
cAncER (June 21-July 22) The less you have hanging over you, the easier it will be to have fun. Consider what makes you happy and follow the path most likely to put a smile on your face.
LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) A hands-on approach will get you where you want to go. Put your energy where it counts, and do not hold back. Play to win, and success will be yours. Set aside differences when unity is essential.
VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) A touch of genius, imagination and a little class will help you outshine any competition you encounter. Your persistence and patience can help you adjust to whatever comes your way.
LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Share your feelings, thoughts and considerations with people who can broaden your awareness, but don't expect others to do the work for you. Put your desires to the test.
Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present. Each letter in the cipher stands for another.
ToDAy's cLuE: I EQuALs B
CeLebrItY CIpher
SALLY Forth
beetLe bAILeY
Mother GooSe And GrIMM SherMAn’S LAGoon
Sudoku
InstructIons: sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. Theobject is to place the numbers 1to9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of thesudoku increases from monday to sunday.
Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer
nea CroSSwordS
THewiZard oF id
BLondie
BaBY BLueS
Hi and LoiS
CurTiS
By PHILLIP ALDER Bridge
Darin Weinberg a research sociologist, said, “It matters not whether you win or lose; what matters is whether I win or lose.”
That is a good mantra for everybody, although no one wins all of the time.
In bridge, winning and losing tricks in the right order is often important In this deal, after the most common auction of all,Southisinthreeno-trump Westleads a fourth-highest heart four. How should declarer play?
South has five top tricks: four spades andoneheart.Healsoseemstohaveseveral establishable tricks: one or two in hearts, one or two in diamonds and three in clubs. What could go wrong?
Well, the original declarer, expecting the opening lead to be away from the king, played low from the board. He planned to win with his jack, drive out the club ace and coast home with at least oneovertrick However,Southwassadly disappointed. East produced the heart king, then accurately shifted to the diamond four.
When declarer drove out the club ace, West returned his second diamond and East took four tricks in the suit for down two. Now let’s try winning the first trick and playing on clubs. What happens?
The contract succeeds. South has four spades,oneheartandthreeclubs.IfWest
marmaduKe
Bizarro
hagar the horriBle
Pearls Before swiNe
garfield
B.C.
PiCKles
mallard
dIrectIons: make a 2- to 7-letter word from the letters in each row. add points of each word, using scoring directions at right. Finally, 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. “Blanks” used as any letter have no point value. all the words are in the Official sCraBBlE® players Dictionary, 5th Edition.
GramS Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer
ken ken
InstructIons: 1 Each row and each column must contain the numbers 1 thorugh 4 (easy) or 1 through 6 (challenging) without repeating. 2 The numbers within the heavily outlined boxes, called cages, must combine using the given operation (in any order) to produce the target numbers in the top-left corners. 3 Freebies: Fill in the single-box cages with the number in the top-left corner. HErE is a
