The Advocate 11-24-2025 by The Advocate

Flu levels in Louisiana highest in the nation

Health officials say Louisiana’s high levels of flu activity are a reminder to get vaccinated

Cases on the rise heading into heightened season

BY EMILY WOODRUFF Staff writer

Louisiana is heading into ﬂu season and the Thanksgiving holiday with the highest flu activity level in the country And while the number of severe cases of the illness at hospitals remains low, doctors are seeing signs that the respiratory virus season will get into full swing soon.

New federal data released Friday shows the percentage of medical visits for ﬂu symptoms in Louisiana climbed to 3.9% in the week ending Nov 15, almost double the national rate and the highest level recorded in any state.

Each week, the CDC ranks states on a 14-point scale based on the number of people who visit the doctor for a fever, plus a cough or sore throat.

Louisiana is at level 7. Almost every other state is under level 3, except for Colorado, which is at level 4. Almost 100 people were admitted to the hospital for the ﬂu last week in Louisiana, compared to 39 at the beginning of November

Dr Michael Bolton a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, said Louisiana often sees ﬂu activity rise before much of the country It’s not always clear why — or if a worse ﬂu season will follow

as a result.

But he said the timing should serve as a reminder to get vaccinated, especially after last year’s difﬁcult pediatric season. Nearly 300 children died nationally, close to half of them without underlying health conditions. Most of those children had not received a ﬂu shot.

“The ﬂu vaccine is a vitally important piece of your health care plan,” Bolton said. “I can’t underscore that enough.”

There’s also another reason the ﬂu may be spreading faster One strain of the ﬂu, known as H3N2, picked up

ä See FLU, page 4A

Judges lining up for open Louisiana Supreme Court seat

BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer

BY JA’KORI MADISON Staff writer

The race to replace Justice Will Crain on the Louisiana Supreme Court has begun even before Crain has left the position to become a federal judge.

Crain’s nomination by President Donald Trump was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday on a party-line vote, setting him up for ﬁnal conﬁrmation by the full Senate sometime soon.

In the meantime, ﬁve judges in Crain’s Supreme Court district along Interstate 12 are expressing varying degrees of interest in running for his seat after it becomes vacant.

The potential candidates so far are Judges Brian Abels, William Burris, Blair Edwards, Vincent Lobello and Britain Sledge.

Also expressing interest has been Christopher Walters, deputy executive counsel for Gov Jeff Landry, who played a key role in the election of the last justice elected to the state Supreme Court. The judges and Walters are all Republicans. Two judges mentioned as potential candidates for Crain’s seat said they have ruled out running. They are Allison Penzato, a judge on the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal, and Alan Black, a judge on the 22nd Judicial District Court. The Supreme Court district covers Livingston, St. Tammany, Washington, Tangipahoa and St. Bernard parishes and a smidgen of Orleans Parish.

“It’s a heavily Republican district with a very suburban tilt to it centered along I-12,” said John Couvillon, a pollster and demographer in Baton Rouge.

Couvillon noted that Trump won the district with 73% when he ran for president in 2020 and 2024, and business owner Eddie Rispone, a Republican, won 58% of the district when he narrowly lost the 2019 governor’s race to John Bel Edwards.

Trump nominates Crain to federal court ä See JUDGES, page 4A

Zachary schools go back to drawing board

Bid fails to redirect taxes for teacher raises

BY CHARLES LUSSIER Staff writer

Years ago, in the early days of educational independence, Zachary voters readily agreed multiple times to raise their property taxes to upgrade the older school buildings they’d inherited from the East Baton Rouge Parish school system and build new ones.

build schools like Copper Mill Elementary The reallocation of the existing tax would have used the money to dramatically raise the pay of school employees, upgrade technology and fund building repairs. The proposal, dubbed Zachary Forward, was narrowly defeated, losing by 175 votes out of more than 4,400 cast. If 88 voters had changed their minds, it would have passed.

After 22 years in existence, almost all of them at the top of state academic rankings, Zachary voters aren’t so willing to tax themselves for their not-so-new, but still A-rated school district. That became clear after the Nov 15 defeat of a proposal to redirect taxes that were used to

“We will continue to prioritize competitive pay and beneﬁts for our employees,” Zachary school leaders posted on social media that Saturday night, soon after the results were in. “We respect the decision of our voters, and we are grateful for the conversation this initiative inspired.”

Ben Necaise, Zachary’s superintendent — its third in 22 years — said priorities have changed since

STAFF FILE PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Necaise

Crain

PHOTO PROVIDED By ROSEANNA SALES

Waylon Bourgeois secured 12th place in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association world standings, officially punching his ticket to his first National Finals Rodeo.

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

Airlines cancel flights to Venezuela amid tensions

CARACAS International airlines increasingly canceled ﬂights to Venezuela on Sunday after t he

U.S. Federal Aviation Administration warned pilots to use caution when ﬂying in the country’s airspace because of worsening security and heightened military activity

Marisela de Loaiza, president of the Airlines Association in Venezuela, told The Associated Press that six carriers have indefinitely suspended flights: TAP, LATAM, Avianca, Iberia, Gol and Caribbean. Turkish Airlines suspended flights from Nov 24 to 28 Colombian President Gustavo Petro wrote Sunday on X that “there must be regular flights to all Latin American countries and from Latin America and the world.”

“Countries are not blocked, because blocking countries means blocking people, and that is a crime against humanity,” Petro added.

On Friday, the FAA warned pilots that unspecified threats “could pose a potential risk to aircraft at all altitudes” as well planes taking off and landing in the country and even aircraft on the ground.

Houthi court sentences 17 people to death

CAIRO A Houthi-controlled court in Yemen’s capital convicted 17 people of spying for foreign governments and sentenced them to death in the latest development in a yearslong Houthi crackdown on local staff from foreign agencies.

The Specialized Criminal Court in Sanaa handed down the verdict on Saturday, according to the Houthi-run SABA news agency

The people convicted were part of “espionage cells within a spy network afﬁliated with the American, Israeli and Saudi intelligence,” said the court, which handed down a death sentence by ﬁring squad in public.

The court also sentenced a man and a woman to 10 years in prison, while another defendant was acquitted.

Saturday’s verdict can be appealed, said Abdulbasit Ghazi, a lawyer representing some of the defendants who were convicted.

The defendants were accused of “spying with foreign countries in a state of enmity with Yemen during the 2024-2025 period,” SABA reported.

Prosecutors said the defendants collaborated with intelligence officers from Saudi Arabia, Britain and the United States, as well as Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, SABA reported.

Woman in 2014 Slender Man stabbing is missing

MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin woman who admitted to nearly stabbing a classmate to death in 2014 to please the online horror character Slender Man is missing after she cut off an electronic monitoring device and left a group home, authorities said Sunday Madison police issued an alert Sunday for Morgan Geyser, now 23, saying she was last seen around 8 p.m. Saturday with an adult acquaintance.

“If you see Geyser please call 911,” the alert said, adding that she had cut off a “Department of Corrections monitoring bracelet.”

Geyser was placed in a group home this year after being granted conditional release from the Winnebago Mental Health Institute. She was sent to the psychiatric institute in 2018 after pleading guilty to attempted ﬁrst-degree intentional homicide in a deal with prosecutors to avoid prison.

Geyser’s attorney, Tony Cotton, said Sunday that he did not know what happened with his client and urged Geyser to turn herself in.

U.S., Kyiv report progress in talks

Scant details emerge on talks to end Russia’s war in Ukraine

BY MARK CARLSON, KATIE MARIE DAVIES and WILL WEISSERT

Associated Press

GENEVA Top U.S. and Ukrainian ofﬁcials said Sunday they’d made progress toward ending the RussiaUkraine war but provided scant details after discussing the American proposal to achieve peace that has sparked concerns among many of Washington’s European allies that the plan is too conciliatory to Moscow

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said high-stakes talks in Geneva were “very worthwhile” and constituted the most productive day in “a very long time.”

“I feel very optimistic that we can get something done,” Rubio said.

But he offered very little information on what was discussed. He also downplayed a Thursday deadline set by President Donald Trump for Ukraine to respond to the plan, saying simply that officials want to see fighting stop as soon as possible and that officials could keep negotiating Monday and beyond. He said that higher-level officials may eventually have to get involved.

“This is a very delicate moment,” Rubio said of what still needed to be worked out. “Some of it is semantics, or language. Others require higher-level decisions and consulta-

tions. Others, I think, just need more time to work through.”

The 28-point blueprint drawn up by the U.S. to end the nearly four-year war has sparked alarm in Kyiv and European capitals. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said his country could face a stark choice between standing up for its sovereign rights and preserving the American support it needs.

The Ukrainian leader has vowed that his people “will always defend” their home.

The proposal acquiesces to many Russian demands that Zelenskyy has categorically rejected on dozens of occasions, including giving up large pieces of territory

In a subsequent statement Sunday night, the White House said the Ukrainian delegation “affirmed that all of their principal concerns security guarantees, long-term economic

development, infrastructure protection, freedom of navigation, and political sovereignty — were thoroughly addressed during the meeting.”

It added that the Ukrainians “expressed appreciation for the structured approach taken to incorporate their feedback into each component of the emerging settlement framework.”

The White House said changes made to the proposal now reﬂect “their national interests” and provide “credible and enforceable mechanisms to safeguard Ukraine’s security in both the near and long term.”

But language of such positive steps came only after concerns about the original, Trump-endorsed deal intensified. A bipartisan group of U.S. senators said Rubio told them Saturday that the plan had originated with Russia and was actually a “wish list” for Moscow rather than a serious push for peace.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that he’d spoken to Trump and made clear there were some parts of the plans key European nations could agree on but others where they could not.

The story published Sunday about the 2026 East Baton Rouge Parish budget had an incorrect date for the vote. The Metro Council will vote on the document on Dec. 10.

The Advocate regrets the error

Forces launch first strike in months on Beirut

BY FADI

TAWIL and KAREEM CHEHAYEB

Associated Press

HARET HREIK, Lebanon Israel on Sunday struck Lebanon’s capital for the ﬁrst time since June, saying it killed Hezbollah’s chief of staff Haytham Tabtabai and warning the Iranbacked militant group not to rearm and rebuild a year after their latest war

The strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs killed ﬁve people and wounded 25 others, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.

Hezbollah confirmed Tabtabai’s death. Earlier it said the strike, launched almost exactly a year after a ceaseﬁre in the Israel-Hezbollah war, threatened an escalation of attacks — just days before Pope Leo XIV

is scheduled to visit Lebanon on his ﬁrst foreign trip.

“We will continue to act forcefully to prevent any threat to the residents of the north and the state of Israel,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said.

The military instructed residents in northern Israel near the Lebanese border to continue with daily routines, indicating that it did not anticipate a military response from Hezbollah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ac-

cused Tabtabai of leading Hezbollah’s efforts to rearm.

Israeli airstrikes over southern Lebanon have intensiﬁed in recent weeks while Israel and the United States have pressured Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah Israel asserts that the group is trying to rebuild its military capabilities.

The Lebanese government, which supports disarming Hezbollah, has denied those claims. It also says troops have deployed to the south but that its cash-

Mamdani stands by Trump criticism despite friendly Washington meeting

By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON New York City Mayor-elect Zohran

Mamdani didn’t back down in an interview that aired Sunday from past criticism that President Donald Trump acted like a despot and a fascist after a surprisingly friendly White House meeting between the two men. The newly elected democratic socialist and the Republican president have fiercely criticized each other in the past. Trump called Mamdani a “100% Communist Lunatic” in a social media post following the incoming mayor’s election victory and Mamdani has said Trump

was attacking democracy Yet the two political foils emerged smiling after the meeting Friday and spoke of shared goals.

Pressed about his past criticism during a “Meet the Press” interview conducted Saturday, Mamdani said his views remained unchanged.

“Everything that I’ve said in the past, I continue to believe,” Mamdani said.

“And that’s the thing that I think is important in our politics, is that we don’t shy away from where we have disagreements, but we understand what it is that brings us to that table, because I’m not coming into the Oval Ofﬁce to make a point or make a stand. I’m

coming in there to deliver for New Yorkers.”

Trump had brushed aside Mamdani’s criticisms Friday and even jumped in on his defense several times. When a reporter asked if Mamdani stood by his comments that Trump is a fascist, Trump interjected before Mamdani could fully answer the question.

“That’s OK. You can just say yes. OK?” Trump said. “It’s easier It’s easier than explaining it. I don’t mind.”

Asked about the fascist criticism on “Meet the Press,” Mamdani said, “That’s something that I’ve said in the past I say it today

Trump has set a Thursday deadline for Ukraine to respond to the plan but also suggested it could slide if there was proof of real progress. He also said that the plan was not his ﬁnal offer — without offering further details on what that meant.

“UKRAINE ‘LEADERSHIP’ HAS EXPRESSED ZERO GRATITUDE FOR OUR EFFORTS, AND EUROPE CONTINUES TO BUY OIL FROM RUSSIA,” Trump posted on his social media site Sunday morning. After Trump’s post, Zelenskyy cheered U.S.-led efforts on security while also stressing that “the crux of the entire diplomatic situation is that it was Russia, and only Russia, that started this war.”

“Ukraine is grateful to the United States, to every American heart, and personally to President Trump,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on Telegram, adding, “We thank everyone in Europe.”

“It is important not to forget the main goal – to stop Russia’s war and prevent it from ever igniting again,” he added. Before convening with U.S. ofﬁcials, Yermak and his team also met with national security advisers from the U.K., France and Germany The allies have rallied around Kyiv in a push to revise the plan.

“I told him that we are fully in line with Ukraine, that the sovereignty of this country must not be jeopardized,” Merz said in an interview with DW Rubio called the U.S. proposal a “living breathing document” that would continue changing. He also made, clear though, that any final product — once it’s ready — will still have to be presented to Moscow: “obviously, the Russians get a vote here.” The head of the Ukrainian delegation, presidential chief of staff Andrii Yermak, said of the talks, “We have made very good progress and are moving forward to a just and lasting peace,” he said. The rosy assessment of what was discussed deﬁed Trump himself. Before talks began, the president blasted Ukraine for a lack of gratitude for U.S. military assistance while shying away from criticizing Russia.

Israel says it killed senior Hezbollah official

strapped army needs more resources.

Hezbollah has not attacked Israel since the ceaseﬁre began. In December, it ﬁred a couple of rockets that landed on open territory near an Israeli military base and called it a “warning.”

Tabtabai had been the apparent successor of Ibrahim Aqil, who was killed in September 2024 in Israeli attacks that wiped out much of Hezbollah’s senior leadership, including longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah. Tabtabai also had led Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Unit In 2016, the U.S. designated him as a terrorist, calling him a military leader who led Hezbollah’s special forces in Syria and Yemen, and it offered up to $5 million for information about him.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MARTIAL TREZZINI

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, center and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, await talks with the Ukrainian delegation Sunday at the U.S Mission to International Organizations in Geneva

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By BILAL HUSSEIN Civil defense workers inspect the damage Sunday after an apartment building was hit during an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh in the southern suburb of Beirut.

Pope calls for release of kidnapped students, teachers

Some pupils escaped after Saturday attack

BY CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press

ABUJA, Nigeria Fifty of the 303 schoolchildren abducted from a Catholic school in north-central Nigeria’s Niger state have escaped captivity and are now with their families, the school authority said Sunday, as the pope called for the immediate release of those still missing.

The schoolchildren, aged between 10 and 18, escaped individually between Friday and Saturday, according to the Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chair of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Niger state and the proprietor of the school.

A total of 253 schoolchildren and 12 teachers are still being held by the kidnappers, Yohanna said in a statement.

“We were able to ascertain this when we decided to contact and visit some parents,” he added.

Meanwhile, 38 worshippers kidnapped during a deadly church attack in central Nigeria’s Kwara state have regained their freedom, Kwara Gov AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq said in a statement.

Gunmen had attacked the Christ Apostolic Church in Kwara’s Eruku town on Tuesday killing two people and taking others hostage. Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, in a separate statement, attributed the freedom of the worshippers to “the efforts of security agencies” without giving further details.

Nigeria has been reeling from a spate of attacks in the past weeks, raising tension in the West African nation grappling with widespread insecurity

Five officers were also killed in Nigeria’s northeast region after gunmen am-

St. Mary’s School, a Catholic institution in Niger state’s remote Papiri community on Friday

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the abductions and Nigerian authorities have not shared any update on rescue efforts. It was not immediately clear where the Niger state children were being held or how they managed to return home.

The Niger state school is located near a major road linking the towns of Yelwa and Mokwa, and is in a region of Nigeria where armed gangs often operate out of vast forests that connect different states and conﬂict hot spots.

the schoolchildren and staff of the school, saying at the end of a mass in St Peter’s square on Sunday that he was “deeply saddened” by the incident.

“I feel great sorrow, especially for the many girls and boys who have been abducted and for their anguished families,” the pontiff said. “I make a heartfelt appeal for the immediate release of the hostages and urge the competent authorities to take appropriate and timely decisions to ensure their release.”

bushed a tactical team responding to a farmer-herder conﬂict, police said on Sunday Two other police ofﬁcers suffered injuries.

The ambush occurred on Saturday in Sabon Sara village located in the Darazo

area of Bauchi state, police spokesperson Ahmed Muhammed Wakil said in a statement

The Niger state pupils and students were seized together with their teachers by gunmen who attacked the

“As much as we receive the return of these 50 children that escaped with some sigh of relief, I urge you all to continue in your prayers for the rescue and safe return of the remaining victims,” Yohanna said.

Pope Leo XIV called for the immediate release of

School kidnappings have come to deﬁne insecurity in Africa’s most populous nation, and armed gangs often see schools as “strategic” targets to draw more attention. At least 1,500 students have been seized in Nigeria since the famous kidnapping of the Chibok schoolgirls more than a decade ago, and many of the children were released only after ransoms were paid.

Bolsonaro says ‘hallucinations’ led him to violate ankle monitoring

BRAZIL

BY GERALD IMRAY, MOGOMOTSI MAGOME and MICHELLE GUMEDE Associated Press

JOHANNESBURG The Group of 20 summit in South Africa ended Sunday with the glaring absence of the United States the next country to lead the bloc — after the Trump administration boycotted the two days of talks involving leaders of the world’s richest and top developing economies.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa declared the summit in Johannesburg closed by banging a wooden gavel on a block like a judge would, in a G20 tradition. The gavel would normally be handed over to the leader of the next country to hold the rotating presidency but no U.S. ofﬁcial was there to receive it.

The world’s biggest economy boycotted a summit meant to bring rich and developing nations together over President Donald Trump’s claims that South Africa is violently persecuting its Afrikaner white minority The White House said it intended in a last-minute decision for an ofﬁcial from its embassy in South Africa to attend the G20 handover But South Africa refused that, saying it was an insult for Ramaphosa to hand over to a junior embassy ofﬁcial. In the end, no U.S. delegation was accredited for the summit, according to the South African Foreign Ministry.

South Africa said the handover would happen later, possibly at its foreign ministry Trump has said the U.S. will hold next year’s summit at his golf club in Doral, Florida.

This gavel of this G20 summit formally closes this summit and now moves on to the next president of the G20, which is the United States, where we shall see each other again next year,” Ramaphosa said as he closed the summit, making no reference to the U.S. absence in his speech.

The first G20 summit in Africa also broke with tradition on Saturday by issuing a leaders’ declaration on the opening day of the talks, when declarations usually come at the end of the summit.

The declaration was signiﬁcant in that it came in the face of opposition from the U.S., which has for months been critical of a South African agenda for the group that largely focused on climate change and global wealth inequality focuses the Trump administration derided. Argentina said it also opposed the declaration after Argentine President Javier Milei — a Trump ally — also skipped the summit.

Other G20 nations, including China, Russia, France, Germany, the U.K., Japan and Canada, backed the declaration, which called for more global attention on issues that speciﬁcally affect poor countries, such as the need for financial help for their recovery efforts after climate-related disasters, finding ways to ease their debt levels and supporting their transition to climatefriendly green energy sources.

“South Africa has used this presidency to place the priorities of Africa and the Global South ﬁrmly at the heart of the G20 agenda,” Ramaphosa said.

After his speech, Rama-

phosa was hugged and congratulated by other leaders for hosting a summit largely overshadowed by the U.S. boycott, and he was heard in a hot-mic moment that was not meant to be broadcast saying: “It was not easy.”

South Africa championed its G20 declaration as a victory for the summit and for international cooperation in the face of the Trump administration’s “America First” foreign policy However, G20 declarations are general agreements by member countries that aren’t binding, and their long-term impact has been questioned. Also, while the declaration included many of South Africa’s priorities, some concrete proposals didn’t make the document. There was no mention of a new international panel on wealth inequality, similar to the United Nations-appointed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which South Africa and others had called for

The G20 was formed in 1999 in response to the Asian ﬁnancial crisis and is made up of 19 rich and developing economies, the European Union and the African Union, but some have questioned its effectiveness in helping solve the most prominent global crises, like the RussiaUkraine war and tensions in the Middle East

The 122-point Johannesburg declaration made just one reference to Ukraine in a general call for an end to global conﬂicts and the summit appeared to have made no difference to the nearly four-year war, even as leaders or high-level delegations from all the major European nations, the EU and Russia sat in the same room for the G20 gathering.

BY MAURICIO SAVARESE and LUCAS DUMPHREYS Associated Press

BRASILIA, Brazil On his ﬁrst

full day in jail, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro told a judge on Sunday he had violated his ankle monitoring the day before at his house arrest because of a nervous breakdown and hallucinations caused by a change in his medication.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the 70-year-old leader’s preemptive jailing Saturday for he is considered a ﬂight risk. Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison in September for attempting a coup to

remain in the presidency after his 2022 electoral defeat.

“(Bolsonaro) said he had ‘hallucinations’ that there was some wire tap in the ankle monitoring, so he tried to uncover it,” assistant judge Luciana Sorrentino said, as reported in a Supreme Court document published on Sunday shortly after her online meeting with the former president.

Sorrentino added that Bolsonaro told her he “did not remember having a breakdown of this magnitude in another occasion,” and speculated it might have

been caused by a change in his medication last week. He once again denied that he intended to escape. The document also says Bolsonaro also told the judge he hadn’t been sleeping well and was feeling “a certain paranoia” that stimulated his curiosity into opening the ankle monitoring device.

“(Bolsonaro) said he was with his daughter his elder brother and an aide at his house and none of them saw what he was doing to the ankle monitoring,” the document says. “He said he started to touch it late at night and stopped around midnight.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By SUNDAy ALAMBA

People stand Saturday near a display of newspapers on the street of Lagos with headlines on gunmen abducting schoolchildren and staff of the St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School in Papiri, Nigeria.

RODEO

Continued from page1A

and college, with some even competing professionally

“Wedid it all,” Bourgeois said. “My dad gave us the opportunity to try whatever we wanted.”

His two older brothers eventually focused on baseball and football, leavingthe bareback riding lane wide open for Waylon, which he says he stepped into without hesitation.

His ﬁrst real taste of bareback riding came during

JUDGES

Continued from page1A

Behind-the-scenespolitics

Races for the seven-member Supreme Court typically become highly political, although much of the action usually takes place behind the scenes.

Crain quietly played arole in drawing the current lines when the state Legislature redistricted the Supreme Court in 2024, for the first time in 27 years. Politicalinsiders said Crain pushed to take Jefferson Parish outof his Supreme Court district to eliminatepossible challengers from there.

About half thevoters in Crain’sdistrict nowlivein St. Tammany Parish, with most of the others livingin Tangipahoa and Livingston parishes.

The current map for the Supreme Court is tilted to the right, with onlytwo Democrats, Justice Piper Grifﬁn of New Orleans and Justice John Michael Guidry of Baton Rouge. Chief Justice John Weimer is apolitical independent.

In recent years, Supreme Court races have typically boiled down to one candidate backed by business groups, with the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry playing the lead role, and another candidate backed by trial lawyers and the Baton Rouge-basedCarmouchelaw ﬁrm, which sues oil and gas companies.

hissophomore year of high school at apractice rodeo in Mississippi. He slipped away to ride afew horses under thewatch of hisuncle andcamehomemorehooked than ever, even though he returned with abroken wrist. It wasalso themoment he realized justhow hardonthe body bareback riding could be Even theinjury didn’t slow himdown.“Once Igot cleared, Iwent tomyfirst high school rodeo,” Bourgeoissaid. “That was it. The rest is history.” Hisdetermination earned himarodeo scholarship to

McNeeseState University, wherehis talents andpassion continued to grow.His professional career ofﬁcially began in 2022, but amajor turning point came when he started traveling with two of thesport’stop bareback riders: Rocker Steiner and Cole Franks in adocuseries known as “Hell on Wheels,” which followed the trio’slife on the road. The experience was eye-opening, according to Bourgeois. “Riding withRocker and Cole really helped enhance what Ialready had in me,” he said.“Iwas physically strong, but Ihad to get there

mentally.Those guys helped me get there.”

By 2024,Bourgeois had earnedmorethan $100,000 in ProRodeo competition,a total that would have secured an NFR qualiﬁcation in many past seasons. But he ﬁnished 18th, just three spots shy of the cutoff. Determined not to miss another chance, he worked harder and committed fully mentally,physically and spiritually “I was always on ahorse, doing something Ilove,” he said. “I love the cowboy perspective. Iliked being around horsesand cattle. I alwaysknewI wanted to rodeo.”

The effort paid off. By the end of the 2025 season, Bourgeois secured 12th in the PRCA world standings, ofﬁcially punching his ticket to his ﬁrst National Finals Rodeo. As he prepares forthe NFR, set for Dec. 4-13 in Las Vegas, Bourgeois said the feeling is equal parts excitement and purpose.

“Now Iknow that I’m ready andIbelong,” he said. “I’ve got one thing on my mind: Go over there and win.”

Email Ja’kori Madison at jakori.madison@ theadvocate.com.

newmutations over the summer.Those changes allowthe strain to “evade immunity alittle better,” said Bolton. For example, someone who hadthe ﬂu last year may nothave protection against this strain, though it’sunclear if it will spread in Louisiana. This updated H3N2 strain has driven rapid increases in cases in the United Kingdom,Japan and Canada.New CDC data showsitnow makes up more than half of flu samples tested in the United States. The current U.S. ﬂu vaccine still teaches thebody to recognize H3N2 and is expected to provide at least partial protection againstthe strainand reduce the risk of severe illness.

With Thanksgiving approaching, Dr.Julio Figueroa, infectiousdisease expert at LSU Health New Orleans, said increases in ﬂu numbers are expected.

“It’snot going crazy yet, but nowisthe time to get yourﬂuvaccine,” Figueroa said.

According to state data, children ages 2to4and 5to11make up thelargest percentage of visits to emergencydepartments for flu, making up more than 10% of visits for each group.

Dr.Margot Anderson, a pediatric hospitalistand infectious disease specialist at Manning Family Children’s, said her team is already treating hospitalizedchildrenwith both ﬂu and RSV,another seasonal respiratory virus.

“The poll showed awideopen race,” Wilfong said.

State Sen. Patrick McMath, R-Covington, Livingston Parish President Randy Delatte, Washington ParishPresident Ryan Seal,Livingston Parish AssessorJeffTaylor andScottPerrilloux, the district attorneyfor Livingston, Tangipahoa and St. Helena parishes, all said they have received calls frompotential candidates.

Whoare thecandidates?

Of the potentialcandidates, Edwards and Burris have beenthe mostactive so far in trying to line up support.Both said they intend to run forCrain’sseat.

Landry played the lead role in thelast election of a justice, when Cade Cole, an attorney and tax court judge in Lake Charles, was elected unopposed last year. Landry createdthe vacancy that Cole ﬁlledbyencouraging then-Justice Jimmy Genovese to apply to be presidentofNorthwestern State.The chair of the board that chose Genovese wasa Landry appointee whoshortened the selectionprocessin away that favored him ScottWilfong, apolitical consultant whohas worked forCarmouche, saidarecent poll ofpotential candidates for Crain’sseat gavenoone more than 11% of the vote to any candidate. Wilfong polled 400 Republican and no-party voters.

Edwards, 57, joined the 1stCircuit CourtofAppeal ayear ago after serving as ajuvenile judge for 16 years forTangipahoa, Livingston and St. Helena parishes. Her husband, Daniel, served as sheriff of TangipahoaParish for 20 years until his retirement in 2024,and her brother-in-law,John Bel Edwards, served as governor from 2016-24.

“I’ve somewhat laid the groundworkwiththe elected ofﬁcials withthe sheriffs and district attorneys,” she said.

Burris, 44, was elected as a district court judge serving St.Tammany and Washington parishesin2017 andwas reelected in 2020.

“I’m just getting ducks in a row to be readytogo,” Burris said.

Lobello,55, hasbeen adistrict court judgesince 2020 and, like Burris, serves St. Tammany and Washington parishes.

“I’m considering running,” Lobello said.“I’vebeen receiving and making phone calls.”

Abels, 56, was elected in 2019 as adistrictcourt judge serving Livingston, Tangipahoaand St. Helena parishes.

“I’m stronglyleaning toward it,”hesaid.

Sledge,45, waselected as aHammondcity judge in 2022 for the7th Ward, which covers Hammond south to Manchac. He handles misdemeanors and civil suits for less than $50,000.

Sledge saidit’spremature to discuss his possiblecandidacy before Crainbecomes a federal judge.

There is somelegal uncertainty whether Burris, Lobello, Abelsand Sledge would have to foregoreelection next year if they run for Crain’sseat.

Walters, 41, handled civil mattersand criminal prosecutionsinthe AttorneyGeneral’s Office for eight plus years beforemoving onto the governor’sstaff when Landry became governor He is seriously considering the race.

“Iamspeaking with conservative leaders from acrossthe state and am encouraged by their support,” said Walters, who lives in TangipahoaParish.

Louisiana’sSupreme Court hasthe ﬁnalsay on state legal matters, although the justices hear aboutonly 6% of thecases appealed to them. The justices also handle disciplinecases involvinglawyersand judges and administer the courtsystem

The sevenjustices run for 10-year terms, with oneup roughly every two years.

Whoever wins Crain’sseat next year would ﬁllthe ﬁnal twoyears of histermand then have to run forreelection in 2028.

Qualifying for Crain’sseat is scheduled forFebruary Undernew rulesapproved by Landry andthe Legislature last year,Supreme Court races are subject to theclosed primary system. Under it, the ﬁrst party primarywould take place in May. If no candidate won more than50%,the toptwo ﬁnishers would competein asecond party primary in

June. The winner of each party’sprimary would face off next November,along with any no-party or thirdparty candidates who qualiﬁedfor the race. This meansthatCrain’s successor might not be seated until afterthatNovember election.Inthe meantime, the Supreme Court would select apro tempore justice to replace. If the court follows custom, it would choose atemporary justice recommended by Crain. Early speculation hascenteredonPenzato.

Waylon Bourgeois competes at arodeo event.

Changes at cybersecurity agency spark midterm worries

BY STEVE KARNOWSKI and JULIE CARR SMYTH Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS Since it was created in 2018, the federal government’s cybersecurity agency has helped warn state and local election ofﬁcials about potential threats from foreign governments, showed ofﬁcials how to protect polling places from attacks and gamed out how to respond to the unexpected, such as an Election Day bomb threat or sudden disinformation campaign

The agency was largely absent from that space for elections this month in several states, a potential preview for the 2026 midterms

Shifting priorities of the Trump administration, staffing reductions and budget cuts have many election ofﬁcials concerned about how engaged the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency will be next year, when control of Congress will be at stake in those elections.

Some officials say they have begun scrambling to ﬁll the anticipated gaps.

“We do not have a sense of whether we can rely on CISA for these services as we approach a big election year in 2026,” said Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat who until recently led the bipartisan National Association of Secretaries of State.

The association’s leaders sent a letter to Homeland Se-

SCHOOLS

Continued from page 1A

the district’s early days.

“Twenty years ago, it was our facilities,” Necaise said “Today, it’s our people. We want to invest in our people.”

Once one of the highestpaying districts in Louisiana, Zachary has struggled to keep pace as other school districts significantly increased their pay

Zachary Forward would have helped If it had passed, much of the estimated $8.5 million raised would have funded a $10,000 pay raise for teachers and a $5,000 raise for support staff

Starting teacher salaries would have increased from $52,022 to $62,022 a year.

Only Plaquemines and St. Charles parishes have higher starting salaries.

Zachary leaders promised that improving employee pay won’t stop, though it could take much longer “We will eke out a little more compensation as we can, here and there,” Necaise said.

Tough electorate

Zachary was not the only Louisiana school district that had trouble at the Nov. 15 polls.

Voters in Calcasieu Parish handily defeated an $83 million school bond proposal; they approved a smaller $12

curity Secretary Kristi Noem in February asking her to preserve the cybersecurity agency’s core election functions Noem, whose department oversees the agency replied the following month that it was reviewing its “funding, products, services, and positions” related to election security and that its services would remain available to election ofﬁcials.

Simon said secretaries of state are still waiting to hear about the agency’s plans.

“I regret to say that months later, the letter remains very timely and relevant,” he said.

CISA, as the agency is known, was formed under the ﬁrst Trump administration to help safeguard the nation’s critical infrastructure, from dams and power plants to election systems. It has been undergoing a major transformation since President Donald Trump’s second term began in January

Public records suggest that roughly 1,000 CISA employees have lost their jobs over the past years. The Republican administration in March cut $10 million from two cybersecurity initiatives, including one dedicated to helping state and local election ofﬁcials.

That was a few weeks after CISA announced it was conducting a review of its election-related work, and more than a dozen staffers who have worked on elections were placed on administrative leave. The FBI also disbanded a task force on

million bond Caldwell Parish voters overwhelmingly rejected a new 1-cent sales tax for upgrading facilities, athletics and extracurricular activities.

Jefferson Davis Parish schools managed to pass a half-cent sales tax for improving employee pay but only by 130 votes.

Tax renewals, though, passed across the state, including in four school districts, including West Baton Rouge Parish. Zachary’s proposal should have been an easier sell since it was similar to a tax renewal.

“You will pay the same property tax rate you pay now,” proclaimed promotional literature for the proposal.

For now By rejecting the proposal, Zachary residents will pay lower school taxes in the future.

The school construction bonds approved two decades ago initially required Zachary property owners to add 36 mills to their annual tax bills, making it one of the highest-taxed communities in the Baton Rouge region for education

The last Zachary school was built in 2013, and the bonds have been steadily paid down ever since. Voters currently pay only 24 mills to cover those bonds, 12 mills less than at the beginning, and will pay less and less in the future.

Over the course of the next eight years, (24 mills)

foreign inﬂuence operations, including those that target U.S. elections.

CISA is still without an official director Trump’s nomination of Sean Plankey, a cybersecurity expert in the ﬁrst Trump administration, has stalled in the Senate.

CISA officials did not answer questions seeking speciﬁcs about the agency’s role in the recently completed elections, its plans for the 2026 election cycle or staffing levels. They said the agency remains ready to help protect election infrastructure

“Under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Noem, CISA is laser-focused on securing America’s critical infrastructure and strengthening cyber resilience across the government and industry,” said Marci McCarthy, CISA’s director of public affairs.

She said CISA would announce its future organiza-

will be down to zero,” Necaise said.

The failed proposal would have kept the tax rate at 24 mills. As current construction bonds were paid off, Zachary would redirect tax proceeds to increase pay, improve technology and repair buildings.

Another negative influence on Zachary voters was the controversial Thrive proposal, which was also defeated on Nov 15.

Thrive would have taken taxes that currently go to the library mosquito abatement, and used that money to plug a big hole in the city-parish budget that was prompted by the recent formation of the city of St. George.

Zachary voters were dubious. All but two of Zachary’s 20 voting precincts said no to Thrive. By contrast, the Zachary school tax proposal won in half of those same 20 precincts; it was defeated only because 61% of early voters voted no. Future uncertainty

Zachary leaders will begin meeting soon to decide what comes next now that Zachary Forward has been defeated. One option, Necaise said, is to return to voters with a revamped proposal, perhaps focused just on improving employee compensation.

Necaise said he’s also looking at ways to save money by improving efﬁciency

“Everything is going to be

tional plans “at the appropriate time.”

Christine Serrano Glassner, CISA’s chief external affairs ofﬁcer, said the agency’s experts are ready to provide election guidance if asked.

“In the event of disruptions or threats to critical infrastructure, whether Election Day-related or not, CISA swiftly coordinates with the Office of Emergency Management and the appropriate federal, state and local authorities,” she said in a statement.

California’s top election security agencies said CISA has played a “critical role” since 2018 but provided little, if any, help for the state’s Nov. 4 special election, when voters approved a redrawn congressional redistricting map.

“Over the past year CISA’s capacity to support elections has been signiﬁcantly diminished,” the California secretary of state’s ofﬁce said in a

statement to The Associated Press. “The agency has experienced major reductions in staffing, funding, and mission focus — including the elimination of personnel dedicated speciﬁcally to election security and foreign inﬂuence mitigation.”

“This shift has left election ofﬁcials nationwide without the critical federal partnership they have relied on for several election cycles,” according to the ofﬁce.

CISA alerted California officials in September that it would no longer participate in a task force that brought together federal, state and local agencies to support county election offices. California election officials and the governor’s Office of Emergency Services did what they could to fill the gaps and plan for various security scenarios.

In Orange County, California, the registrar of voters, Bob Page, said in an email that the state offices and other county departments “stepped up” to support his ofﬁce “to ﬁll the void left by CISA’s absence.”

Neighboring Los Angeles County had a different experience. The registrar’s ofﬁce, which oversees elections, said it continues to get a range of cybersecurity services from CISA, including threat intelligence, network monitoring and security testing of its equipment, although local jurisdictions now have to cover the costs of some services that had been federally funded.

on the table,” he said. He noted, though, that the Zachary school budget has little slack in part due to relatively low state funding for school operations, funding that has increased little since Zachary gained its independence. Zachary schools also lack not only a dedicated source of money for salaries, but also for facilities.

Necaise said it’s a mistake to assume Zachary has no facility needs, given the upgrades it made in its early years. He pointed to Copper Mill Elementary, which was built in 2006.

Some other states that held elections this month also said they did not have coordination with CISA. Mississippi’s secretary of state, who heads the national association that sent the letter to Noem, did not directly respond to a request for comment, but his ofﬁce conﬁrmed that CISA was not involved in the state’s recent elections.

In Pennsylvania, which held a nationally watched retention election for three state Supreme Court justices, the Department of State said it is also relied more on its own partners to ensure the elections were secure. In an email, the department said it was “relying much less on CISA than it had in recent years.” Instead, it has begun collaborating with the state police, the state’s own homeland security department, local cybersecurity experts and other agencies. Simon, the former head of the secretary of state’s association, said state and local election officials need answers about CISA’s plans because officials will have to seek alternatives if the services it had been providing will not be available next year In some cases, such as classified intelligence briefings, there are no alternatives to the federal government, he said. But there might be ways to get other services, such as testing of election equipment to see if it can be penetrated from outside.

“Those are the experiences you can’t replace,” he said.

Email Charles Lussier at clussier@theadvocate.com.

“That school is 20 years old,” he said. “We just replaced the roof. We need to work on the (heating and air).” The superintendent said he is striving to preserve as many of the extensive arts and athletic options as he can for students in Zachary

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By

Arrest made in discovery of body offScenic Highway

An arrest was made Friday in ahomicide casefrom late September in whichthe victim’sbody wasfoundin abushy area behind abusiness on Scenic Highway Deandre Swayzer,36, was arrested and booked into the East BatonRouge Parish Prisonon a count each of second-degree murder and illegal use of weapons.

Police were called to abusiness in the 2700 block of Scenic Highway the morning of Sept. 19 about areport of abody Later,authorities identiﬁed the victim who had agunshot wound as James Critney,25.

Detectives believe Critney and Swayzer were in an altercation prior to the shooting. Part-time substituteaccused of inappropriate behavior

Apart-time substituteteacher with the East Baton Rouge Parish SchoolDistrict was ﬁred after being arrested on accusations of forming an inappropriate relationship with astudent.

Chloe Ephron,24, was booked intoEast Baton Rouge ParishPrison on Thursday on acount of indecent behavior with ajuvenile.

After allegations of the relationship came to light, law enforcementwas immediately notiﬁed in accordance with district policy, the school system saidina statement.

“Protecting the safety and well-beingof our students is our top priority.Any behaviorthat violatesthis trustisunacceptable and will not be tolerated,”the statement read. “Wewant to reassure our families and community that we remain committed to maintaining asafe learningenvironment andholding allemployeestothe highest standards of conduct.”

One arrested, two killed in separate crashes in BatonRouge Twopeople died and oneperson was arrested in two separate crashes in the Baton Rouge area on Friday,accordingtoState Police.

Shortly before 8p.m. Friday, troopers with State Police responded to atwo-vehiclecrash in Prairieville in which a2007FordF-150 attempted to make aleft-hand turn onto Muddy Creek Road while a2025Yamahamotorcycle approached westbound on La. 42.

The motorcycle, driven by 20-year-old Matthew Shields, of Prairieville,struckthe F-150 as the truck attempted to completea leftturn across the westbound lane, trooperssaid Shields was wearing aproper helmetbut suffered serious injuries andwas transported to ahospital, wherehewas laterpronounced dead.

Thedriver of theF-150,45-year-oldDanny Tabor,ofPrairieville,was properly restrained and uninjured.

Tabor was booked into the Ascension Parish jail on acount each of negligent homicide, failure to yield on aleftturn, driving under suspension, no insurance and expiredmotor vehicle inspection.

Impairment is not suspected, but routine toxicologytests were taken for both Tabor and Shields.

Earlier Friday,about 12:45 p.m., State Police responded to acrash involving apedestrian on Plank Road and Rolling Acres Drive in Baker Thepedestrian, 73-year-oldHezzieMcCaleb, was walkingnorthbound on Plank Road near the center line of the street.

A2016 Chevrolet Silverado was traveling in the same direction andstruckthe pedestrian, who suffered serious injuries and was pronounced dead on the scene

Impairment is not suspected, but aroutine toxicology testwas takenfrom the driver and the results are pending.

Better biking

Cranksgiving is an event where cyclists ride for a food drive beneﬁtingthe Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank. Thedrive’sscavenger hunt had cyclists rideto local grocery stores and purchase nonperishable food items before returning to the Electric Depot to drop off their donation

Droughtconditionsfallonsouthwest La.

Last measurable rain wasinlateOctober

BY COURTNEY PEDERSEN Staff writer

After nearlyamonthwithout measurable rainfall, southwest Louisiana is experiencing droughtlike conditions. While thesouthwestcorner of Calcasieu Parish and all of Cameron Parish are dealing with abnormally dry conditions,the remainder of Calcasieu is seeing moderate drought conditions, accordingtoThursday’s U.S.

Drought Monitor map. Historically,the impactsfrom dryconditions include an increase in grass ﬁres. Moderate drought conditions can lead to reducedcrop planting and yields and to increased ﬁre risk, according to theDrought Monitor Thelast measurable rain in the Lake Charles area wasjustover 2inches Oct. 25-28, according to LakeCharles meteorologist Andrew Tingler,ofthe National Weather Service.Sofar in November, Lake Charles has received only traces of rain Twoinchesisonpar with the amount of rainfall across the

region,whichaveraged1 to 4 inches over the past30days, according to theWeather Service

“Theseamounts areroughly 25%to50% of normal,” the statement reads. “Therefore, well below normal to below normal precipitation hasoccurred in widespread fashion across the region over thepast 30 days.” However, theregiononFriday experienced acoldfront, which is expectedtobring light to moderaterain possibly between 0.01 and0.25inches. “A second, stronger front will move across theregionatthe

start of the week,bringing more rain,” thestatement reads.“Rainfall totals with thesecond system are expected to be around 0.50 to 1inchesofrain.Neither system will be adrought buster but will help alleviate impacts acrossthe region.” Temperaturesare expected to be abovenormal for the next several weeksand rainfall is expected to be below normalfor the same time period.

“Drought conditionsare expected to persist and expand acrosssoutheast Texas and southwest Louisiana,” the statement reads.

ABOVE: Event organizer Tina Ufford explains the setup for Cranksgiving Riders would gather food donations in area grocery stores and returntodrop them off.

LEFT: Rider TerryAlost empties food donations onto atable.

STAFFPHOTOSByMICHAEL JOHNSON

Bikeriders gather to startthe Cranksgiving ride from the ElectricDepot on Sunday in Baton Rouge.

ChicagoDHS crackdownleaves lawsuits,investigations, anxiety

Residentswrestle with aftermath of immigrationaction

BY SOPHIA TAREEN and CHRISTINEFERNANDO Associated Press

CHICAGO Chicago has entered what many consider anew uneasy phase of aTrump administration immigration crackdown that has already led to thousands of arrests.

While aU.S. Border Patrol commander known for leading intense and controversial surges moved on to North Carolina, federal agents are still arresting immigrants across the nation’sthird-largestcityand suburbs

Agrowing number of lawsuits stemming from the crackdown are winding through the courts.Authorities are investigatingagents’ actions, including afatal shooting. Activists say they are not letting their guard downincase things ramp up again, while many residents in the Democratic stronghold wherefew welcomed thecrackdown remain anxious.

“I feel asense of paranoia overwhen they mightbeback,”saidSantani Silva, an employee at avintage store in the predominantlyMexicanneighborhood of Pilsen. “People are stillafraid.”

For more than two months, the Chicago area was the focus of an aggressive operation led by Gregory Bovino, aBorder Patrol commander behind similar efforts in Los Angeles and soon Louisiana.

Armedand maskedagents used unmarked SUVs and helicopters throughout the cityof2.7 millionand its suburbs to target suspected criminals and immigration violators.Arrestsoften led to intense standoffs with bystanders,fromwealthy neighborhoods to working-class suburbs.

While the intensityhas died down in the week since Bovino left, reports of arrests still pop up. Activists tracking immigration agents said they conﬁrmed 142 daily sightingsatthe height of the operation last month. The number is now roughly six aday

“It’snot over,” said Brandon Lee with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. “I don’tthink it will be over.”

Bearing the brunt of the operation hasbeen Broadview,aChicago suburb of roughly 8,000 people that has housed aU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcementprocessingcenter for years. Protests outside the facility have grownincreasinglytense as federal agents used chemical agents thatarea neighbors felt. Broadview policealso

Andrea Melendez,owner of PinkFlores Bakeryand Cafe, says business is bouncingback after federal immigration enforcement released its grip on Chicagoneighborhoods.

launchedthree criminalinvestigations into federal agents’tactics

Community leaders took theunusual step of declaring acivil emergency last week, after Bovino left the area, and moving public meetings online.

Broadview MayorKatrinaThompson said the community has faced bomb threats, death threats and violent protests becauseofthe crackdown.

“I will not allowthreats of violence or intimidationtodisrupt theessential functions of our government,”Thompsonsaid

TheU.S. Department of Homeland Security hastouted morethan 3,000 arrests, but the agency hasprovided details on only afew cases whereimmigrants without legal permission to liveinthe countryalsohad acriminal history

TheTrump administration takes to social media to post photos of supposed violent criminals apprehended in immigration operations, but thefederal government’sown data paintsa differentpicture

Of 614 immigrants arrested anddetainedinrecentmonths around Chicago,only 16, less than 3%, had criminal recordsrepresenting a“high public safety risk,” according to federal government data submittedtothe court as partofa 2022 consent decree about ICEarrests.Those recordsincluded domestic battery and drunken driving.

Ajudge in the cases saidhundreds of immigrant detainees qualify to be released on bond, though an appeals court has paused their release. Attorneys say many more cases will follow as they get details from the government about arrests.

“None of this hasquite added up,” saidEdYohnkawith the American Civil LibertiesUnion of Illinois, which hasbeeninvolvedinseveral lawsuits

Christmastree retailersfindlots to like at Pa.auction

BY MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press

MIFFLINBURG,Pa.— Christmas went on the auction block this week in Pennsylvania farm country,and there was no shortage of bidders

About50,000Christmas trees and enough wreaths, crafts and other seasonal items to ﬁll an airplane hangar were bought and sold by lotsand on consignmentat theannual two-day event put on at the Buffalo Valley Produce Auction in Mifﬂinburg.

Buyers from across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic were there to supply garden stores, corner lots and other retail outlets for the coming rush of customers eager to bring home atree—most commonly aFraser ﬁr —or to deck the halls with miles of greenery

Bundled-up buyers were out in chilly temperatures to hear auctioneers hawk boxes of ornaments, bunches of winterberry,cotton branches, icicle lights, grave blankets, red bows and tree stands. It was nearly everything you would need for Christmas except the food and the presents.

Americans’ Christmas tree buying habits have been evolving for many years. These days homes are less likely than in years past to have atree at all, and those that do have trees are more likely to opt for an artiﬁcial tree over the natural type, said Marsha Gray with the Howell, Michigan-based Real ChristmasTreeBoard,

anational trade group of Christmas tree farmers.

Cory Stephens was back for asecond year at the auction after hiscustomers raved about the holiday decor he purchased there last year for A.A.Co. Farm, Lawn &Garden, hisstore athree-hour driveaway in Pasadena, Maryland. He spentnearly $5,000 on Thursday.

“It’sincredible, it’s changedour wholeworld,” Stephens said. “Ifyou know what you’relooking for, it’s very hard to beat the quality.”

Ryan Marshall spent about $8,000 on various decorations for resaleatWard’s Berry Farm inSharon, Massachusetts. Among his purchases were three skids of wreathsat $29per wreath —and he expected to double hismoney

“The quality’sgood,and it’saplace that youcan pick it out yourself,” he said.

Gray said her group’sresearch shows the main reasonpeople pick arealtree over an artiﬁcial tree “is the scent.They want the fresh scent of areal Christmas tree intheir home.” Having children in the house also tends to correlate withpicking afarm-grown tree, she said.

An Augustsurveybythe Real Christmas Tree Board found that 84% of growers did not expectwholesale prices to increasethisseason.

Buffalo Valley auction manager NeilCourtney said

FuneralsToday

Bernhard Jr., James St.GeorgeCatholic Church,7808 St George Drive, at noon.

Blouin, James St.Thomas More Catholic Church 11441 Goodwood Dr BatonRouge,LA at 1pm

Jackson, Rebecca Hall Davis& Son, 9348 Scenic Hwy at 10am.

untilservice at 3:30 PM. Burial will take place at Port Hudson National Cemetery in Zachary, LA, on Wednesday, November 26, 2025, beginningat11:00 AM.A full obituaryisavailabletoviewatwww.resth avenbatonrouge.com.

Michel,Linda SaintPhilomena Catholic Church at 11 a.m. Robinet, Murle

Prophit, Peter FirstUnitedMethodist Church,930 North Boulevard, at 11 a.m.

Obituaries

Bargas Jr., Gordon L.

“Whatwas this all about? What did this serve? What did any of this do?”

The number of lawsuits triggered by thecrackdownisgrowing, including on agents’use of force andconditions at theBroadview center.Inrecent days,clergy membersﬁleda lawsuit againstthe Trump administration, alleging they were being blocked from ministering inside afacility

Federal prosecutors have also repeatedly dropped charges against protestersand other bystanders, including dismissing charges against awoman who was shotseveral times by aBorder Patrol agent last month.

Meanwhile, federal agents arealso under investigation in connection with the deathofasuburbanman fatally shotbyICE agentsduring atraffic stop. Mexico’spresident hascalled for athorough investigation, while ICE has said it did notuse excessive force.

An autopsy report,obtained recently by TheAssociated Press, showed SilverioVillegas González died of a gunshotwound ﬁred at “close range” to his neck. The death was declared a homicide.

In October,the body of the 38-yearold father who spent two decades in the U.S. was buried in thewesternMexico state of Michoacan.

Many of theonce bustling business corridors in theChicago area’slargely immigrant communities thathad quieted down were seeing abuzz again with some street vendorsslowly returning to theirusualposts

AndreaMelendez,the owner of Pink Flores Bakeryand Cafe, said she has seen an increase in salesthisweekafterstrugglingfor months.

“Asa new business, Iwas abit scared when we sawsales drop,” she said. “But this weekI’m feelinga bitmore hope thatthings may get better.”

Buyers bid for holiday decorations

ValleyProduce Auction in Miffl

farm-grown tree prices seem to have stabilized, and he sees hope that the trend toward artificial trees can be reversed.

“Long story short —we’ll be back on top of the game shortly,” Courtneysaid. “The live tree puts thereal Christmas in your house.”

Asurvey by atrade group, the National Christmas Tree Association, found thatmore than 21 million farm-grown Christmas trees were sold in 2023, with median price of $75. About aquarterof them were purchased at a “choose-and-cut” farm,one in ﬁve from achain store, and most of the rest from nurseries, retail lots, nonproﬁt sales and online.

IN

LOVING MEMORY OF Ramona Bynum

Nov 24, 1954 -Sep 20, 2020

Though this time of year is nevereasyfor Brooke and I, we manage to muddle throughguided by the strength and courage we learned so lovingly from you!Even though thetears continue to fall as we constantly reminisce, laugh, and talk about all thethings we miss -yourwittyways,your laugh, your love and how you were just always there forbothofus. Your beauty, yourstrength, yourcaring heart, and thelove you showed, stillplays its part Though now our hearts may achewithloss,yourmemory guides us through. We will always love you and will be forever grateful to God for thetimeonthisearth we had with you.Weknowthere'sa celebration going on in Heaven foryou today.

HappyBirthdayMom! Our forever Queen! Your girlsand grandkids are stillholding on strong: Bridgette,Brooke, Bria, Harper, and Drakealong with yourtwo sonsinlove, Brian and Jerome.

Gordon L. Bargas, Jr died November 21, 2025 surroundedbyfamily. He was92yearsold. He was born July 22, 1933 in Baton Rouge on 14th Street. Gordon is survivedbyhis wife of 54 years, Marie "Mimi" Gary Bargas, andhis children Gordon "Trey" Bargas III (Valerie) and Dorothy "Dottie" Bargas Roesler (Greg) andfourgrandchildren Briggs, Anna-Marie, andReedBargas andGrant Roesler. Also survivinghim are hisbrother Al Bargas (Carlisa) numerous nieces, nephews, and theirspouses, as well as an extended Bargas familyinTexas. Gordon waspreceded in death by hisparents Gordon L. Bargas Sr., and Dorothy Holley Bargas and hisyoungest son Charles WiltonBargas. Special thanks to hisstepmother Adeline KleinpeterBargas, histwo grandmothers Elise Holley and Lavinia Bargas andhelpful friends J. Wyatt "Jimmy" Morris andRolfe McCollister, Sr.Gordon wasa Navy Veteranservingfouryearsfrom19511953 including during Korea. He workedhis way through LSUwith help fromthe G.I. Billand graduated with aBSdegree in Januaryof1959. Gordon and Mimi owned and operated Ruby'sRestauranttogether for 25 years andalso owned andoperated apartmentsinthe LSUarea for over 50 years. Relatives andfriends are invited for thevisitation at RabenhorstFuneral Home, 825 Government St.onNovember28, 2025 beginningat 8:30AM untila Eulogyservice beginningat9:30AM. In lieu of flowers, please considercontributions to Catholic High School and/ or St.Joseph'sAcademy.

LaCour, Maurine Bordelon

MurleRobinsonRobinet surroundedbyher loving familyonSunday, November16, 2025 at herhomein LaPlace, LA.Daughter of thelateLeontineV.and John H. Robinson,Sr. Belovedwife of thelateLanard Joseph Robinet. Mother of Antionette Robinetand Monica Robinet Joseph (Felix, III)of LaPlace, LA,Bernadette RobinetPickett (Juan)of Houma,LA, Medria Robinet Gauff (Errol)ofHammond, LA andJacinta RobinetBell (David) of LaPlace, LA.SisterofEvelyn R. Tellis (Claude), Alfred Robinson, Jackie Robinson(Blanca), LawrenceRobinson, the lateGeraldineR.Jones, John Robinson,Jr., Donald C. Robinson,Benajamin R. Robinson andBurnell JeromeRobinson. Sister in law of McLouis Robinetof Oak Park, Ill. Grandmother of Felix C. Joseph, IV,Jessica WhitneyPickett, Hailey Elizabeth Gauff and David "Jake" Bell. Great Grandmother of GiannaRose Dotson andMicah Paul Joseph.Alsosurvived by a host of nieces, nephews, otherrelativesand friends. Age 87 years. Anative of Houma,LAand resident of LaPlace, LA.Relatives and friends of thefamilyalso priests and parishioners of St.JoanofArc Catholic Church andall neighboring churches are invited to attend theFuneral Mass at St.JoanofArc Catholic Church,529 West 5th Street,LaPlace, LA on Tuesday, November 25, 2025 at 12:00 Noon. Dominic Arcuri ,Celebrant. IntermentStPeter Cemetery Reserve, LA. Visitationat theabove namedchurch from 10:00 AM until Mass Time. SERVICED BY ROBOTTOM

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ERINHOOLEy

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MATT SLOCUM

ThursdayatBuffalo

inburg,Pa.

Witnessing ICE raid firsthand raises concern

My family immigrated to this countryfrom Eastern Europe to escape persecution and enjoy abetter life in aland they had never seen. Their journeywas not easy,but they worked incredibly hard peddling goods until they could own their ownstores. It’s unbelievable to think of what my great-grandparentswentthrough so my family could have afuture in this country

Many are still dreamingofcoming to America to workhard and create abetter life for their families. Meanwhile, the news around immigration enforcement in this country is sad, overwhelming and easy to tune out. Iadmit that some days Ishut out the news, stay in my bubble and focus on my life. However,that bubble burst afterIwitnessedpeople being kidnapped in broad daylight. While Iwas in the parkinglot at Lowe’sinMetairie, my friend and Isaw men aggressively shoving people to the ground, andwerealized we were witnessing an ICE raid. These supposedgovernment ofﬁcials wore masks and shoved their victims into unmarked cars with Mississippi plates. Irepeatedly asked the masked men what agency they were with. They responded that they did nothave to tell me, while pulling their masks up higher

The New Orleans community cannot be OK with this. We must demand due process. Regardless of political leanings, we sharean obligation to stop people from beingsnatched off the street. History tells us that without resistance, this doesn’tend here If we say nothing and do nothing, this could soon verywellhappen to you or me. Now is the time to ask yourself what you can do to make sure your actions match your values.

ANNA HERMAN Metairie

Religiousspeech must be protected

If ateacher were to display a poster in aclassroom that says, “Thou shaltnot steal,”theywould feel thefull weight of thestate come down upon them.

If, however,they wereinstead to displayaposterthatsaid, “Don’tsteal,” no problem

The difference is the very deﬁnition of freedom.

WILLIAM M. FAULKNER Slidell

Rousse andDaltonthe rightchoices to leadLSU

Earlier this month,the LSUBoard of Supervisors made themonumental decision to hire Wade Rousseaspresident of the LSU Systemand James Dalton as executive vice presidentand chancellor of the campus in Baton Rouge. Iamconfident that these men, whoare both highly qualified and bring unique talents and skill sets to these roles, will lead Louisiana’sflagship universityto unparalleled heights.

As athree-time graduateofLSU who grew up aroundthe campus and knows what it truly means to bleed purple and gold, Iunderstand the anxietyand uncertaintythatmany of my fellow alumni and Tiger fans have felt over thepast few weeks as our institution hasseen tremendous changes

Forweeks, Ihave said that we need to let the selection process play out. LSU has been an unstoppable force for decades, and just as alargeship can endure stormy seas, our

ﬂagship can endure through turbulent times. Now,wehave new captains at the helm, ready toguide us to places we never thought imaginable. Iwant to encourage every alumnus, student and fan toget involved with the great thingshappening at LSU and be apart of building abrighter future forthe university.

Itruly believe that with the selection of President Rousse and Executive Vice President Dalton, we have two leaders who deeply understand LSU’smission to serve thepeople of Louisiana, possess the vision to achieve long-term success and the drive to push our proud institution to winateverythingwedo.

Iamthrilled to see all that our university accomplishes —and as always, Geaux Tigers!

DIXON WALLACE MCMAKIN state representative, District68

Connecting ruralhospitals to networks should be apriority

Loyola hasno reason to shun Turning PointUSA chapter

Just as Iwas about to forgive my alma mater,Loyola University,for inviting the president of Planned Parenthood to give the address at the law school commencement a fewyears ago and presenting former Sen. Mary Landrieu an honor after she voted with Democrats on an abortion bill by sending them a donation, Iread the Oct. 29 article regarding the denial of ofﬁcial status of aTurning Point USAchapter at Loyola.

The newspaper reported “Loyola’sstudent government association denied astudent request to charter acampus chapter of Turning Point USA, citing alack of alignment between the Jesuit university’svalues and someof TPUSA’s positions.”

Iﬁnd that statement without merit. Exactly what positions did the SGAhave in mind? Could they be that “God created man in his image, maleand female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27) or “Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes agrave offense.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2272) and “Since it must be treated from conception as aperson, the embryo must be defended...” (ibid, 2274)? Iwould like to know what evidence there is that Charlie Kirk madeanyone uncomfortable because of his or her race.

Charlie Kirk’sTPUSA wants young people to dialogue on issues of the day.Universities should allow students to hear different sides of issues. Kirk promoted Christianity,following Jesus Christ. He encouraged young people to get married and have children. He challenged students to get involved in the issues of the day.Patriotism is avirtue he promoted. He advocated capitalism, love of our Constitution and treasuring our form of government.

Loyola University,dothe right thing, give TPUSA ofﬁcial status. PATRICIA ARNOLD Slidell

OUR GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name and the writer’scity of residence.The Advocate |The Times-Picayune require astreet address and phone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor,The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@theadvocate.com. TO SEND US ALETTER SCAN HERE

As 33 Louisianarural hospitals teeter on the brinkofclosure, patientstraveling hours for specialized care face an invisible barrier: arrivingasmedical ghosts. When rural Louisianans seek emergency cardiac care in New Orleans or cancer treatment in Baton Rouge, their complete medical histories —diagnoses, medications, dangerous drug allergies andprior treatments —sit locked in disconnectedcomputer systemsmiles away Louisiana faces the second-highest per capita rate of at-risk ruralhospitals in America. But the connectivitycrisis is even worse than theclosure crisis: Only 7ofthese 33 hospitals participate in Qualiﬁed Health Information Networks (QHINs), meaning79% will have patient records trapped in disconnectedsystemswhen they close. Nearly 60% of rural hospitals nationwide cannot electronically exchange health information with outsideproviders, compared to just 15% of urban facilities.

When arural patient from Coushatta or Mamou arrives at aBaton Rouge emergency room, doctors often start from scratch, reordering expensive imaging, risking dangerous drug interactions and delaying time-

In his commentary “Anchor’s ouster speaks volumes,” columnist Will Sutton attributesMichelle Miller’sdeparture to “White conservative, Republican values having a grave impact on news media.” However,available datasuggestsa differentexplanation. Pew Research’s2024–2025 review found that only 63% of Americans say they get their news from television even

sensitive treatments. Medical errors from incomplete patient information cause an estimated 80,000 deaths annually,with rural patientsdisproportionately affected.

The solution exists. QHINs already connect thousands of health care providers nationwide, withquery volume growing 21% monthly to reach 66 million queries by March 2025.

Implementation costs run $50,000-$150,000 per facility. Through theRural Health Transformation Program,Louisianawill receive at least $500 million over ﬁve years. Connecting all 33 vulnerable hospitals would cost just $1.65 million to$4.95 million —less than 1% of available funding. New Mexico achieved 89% information exchange rates within 18 months by tyingfunding to QHIN participation.

Louisiana’srural healthequity requires morethan keeping facilities open —itdemands digital infrastructurethat works equally well for all communities.

AMY DOMANGUE

Metairie master’sinpublic health degree candidate from Harvard

occasionally,and an even smaller share regularly watch morning shows —39% of whom are age 65 or older.Overall, network news audiences have been steadily declining, suggesting that such departures are likely driven by economic factors rather than political inﬂuence.

MARTHA SMITH Mandeville

We need abetter remedy when Congress refusestowork

Kudos to Christine Dill Forrest forher letter,“Trust in government eroding —for good reason.” But she leftout akey problem of our current situation. While Congress refused to do its job, our congressmen werebeing paid. While social service budgets were going unfunded, Congress was collecting its salaries. While air travel safety was being jeopardized and our soldiers were going unpaid, Congress was getting paid to sit on its hands. Congress is supposed to be acenter of debate and compromise, and it is needed to keep the president in check.

My advice? Cut off salaries but require them to sit in their chambers until they finally decide to do the job we elected them to do. Then, fire them all. Find aseemingly honest person and vote her/him into office. If that person does not know how to do the job, fire them and find another candidate.

Thank you, Christine, forarticulating our biggest national problem LOU SOILEAU Rayne

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

LSU President Wade Rousse speaks during anewsconference alongsideExecutive Vice President James Dalton at the LSU Foundation buildingonNov.4

TURKEY DAY

JoeAlford, Baton Rouge

Nice! We received 719 entriesinthisweek’sCartoon Caption Contest. From gatorbites to alligator shoes, thesewerecleverand deliciouslyfunny! Our winnersentinagreat punchline that brought it all back to Louisiana.Well played, everyone As always, when we have duplicate entries, and we always do,wepick the earliestsent in Happy Thanksgiving! Walt

MARTHA STARNES,KENNER: “This is my first Thanksgiving …iseveryone always this nervous?”

DAVID M. PRADOS,METAIRIE: “Thatmust be Turkey alaKelly,roasted and done.”

SUSAN NEWKIRK, LAFAYETTE: “I am so thankful that no one has thought of gatorduck-en yet.Amen.

THOMAS McNULTY,SLIDELL: “I don’t mean to be snappish, but Ihopethat’s notGator Bites.

GARYSTEWART,BATON ROUGE: “If that’s cousin Al in there, there’sgoing to be trouble.”

SCOTT SIMONSON, HARAHAN: “Pass me aleg…. No, your leg!”

BRAD WESTON, POLK,FLA.: “I know what you’re all thinking —how did my stuffing turnout so fabulous?”

ERNEST GREMILLION,TALLAHASSEE, FLA.: “I sure hope Troy Landry didn’t pick the main course.”

JEFFERYL.HARTZHEIM, FUQUAYVARINA, N.C.: “Just so youall know… I wore my stretchyhide.”

DAVID A. BLANCHET,LAFAYETTE: “Eat up! Ilovemyguests stuffed after Thanksgiving dinner.”

EDWARD LASCELLE, PINEVILLE: “Grampa,are those newalligator shoes you’re wearing?”

STUART CLARK, LAFAYETTE: “y’all mentionedleftovers.What the heck is a leftover?”

BOBUSSERY, NEWORLEANS: “But Ijust hadturkey,though alot rarer.”

ERIN PLAUCHÉ, NEWORLEANS: “That better not be one of my cousins in a sauce piquant under there!”

VANCE LEVESQUE, NEWORLEANS: “EveryThanksgiving, I’m so glad my tailis toobig forthe oven!!”

MARIANO HINOJOSA, BATONROUGE: “I’m so hungry Icouldeat ahost, err, horse.

D. SABRIO, METAIRIE: “Don’tput your elbows on the table. It’sbeen aweek since my last meal.”

STEPHEN R. BARRY, NEWORLEANS: “See ya later… turkey.”

MICHELE STARNES,KENNER: “I canhelp carve, but results mayvary.”

TOMWAFER, BATONROUGE: “Pass me thefootballcoach, please.”

ANTHONY CHRISTIAN CINQUEMANO, NEWORLEANS: “you guyseat turtles too!”

MILES MURPHY (AGE 11), BATON ROUGE: “Can somebodypass me the old man?”

DEEDEMONTLUZIN, NEWORLEANS: “I gotpromoted fromthe kiddytable because theysaidy’all are more tasty.”

JIM WILLIAMSON, MANDEVILLE: “Thank youfor the turkey.Now,what are youfolks eating?”

RAYAUTREY,MORGANCITY: “OK! Iknow Ididn’t getaninvitation, but who’sgoing to makemeleave?”

CORKYWILLHITE, NEW ORLEANS: “1 stuffed turkey +6 stuffed humans =avery happygator.”

LYNN WISMAR, KENNER: “Amazing! you guyscelebrate Thanksgiving just likeus: Eatabird –makeamess –takeanap!”

Airportfeudturns into politicalwar

COLUMBIA,S.C. Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina hasmade several names for herself —some of which can’t be printed —inpart by rejecting the bless-your-heart paradigm of thepolite Southern belle in favor of the congresswoman’sapparentlymore profane personality In 1999, she was the first female to graduate from The Citadel’s Corps of Cadets. She was the first femaleRepublican elected to Congress from South Carolina Polls show her in adead heat in the Republican gubernatorial primaryrace with Lt. Gov.Pamela Evette, aself-made millionaire who served twoterms alongside retiring Gov.HenryMcMaster Evette has been an unfailingly loyal supporter of President DonaldTrump —a necessity in this state —whereas Mace has run hot and cold. An Evette political ad, titled “Never Trump Nancy,” features Mace saying shedoesn’t believe Trump has afuture in the GOP.The ad also saysMace hosted afundraiser for Republican Trump critic and former Wyoming congresswoman Liz Cheney This raises Mace’sstatus in my eyes, butshe has predictably changedher tune on Trump. Though she hascalled herself “Trump in high heels,” Trump once referred to her as “crazy Nancy Mace.” Lately,Mace has become apopular villain on social media. She can’tseem to stop immersing herself in embarrassing confrontations and highlighting them against her best interest. Last month, she becameembroiledin adispute with law enforcement officers at Charleston International Airport. Mace was running late for her flight and called ahead to request officers meet her at her silver BMW uponher arrival and escort her quicklytoher gate. A

misunderstanding apparently about the color of thecar resulted in ofﬁcersnot meeting her and, in ahuff not seen since Hurricane Hugo blew through, Mace marched towardthe Transportation SecurityAdministrationcheckpoint,where she was stopped.

Video footage shows Mace talking to TSA agents as airport policeapproach her.Whatever transpired next unleashed arage in Mace thatwould get most of us arrested. “Inappropriate and profane” washow the nice ofﬁcers described her behaviorintheir reports.

Mace reportedly said theofﬁcers were “f****** incompetent,” and “this is no waytotreataf****** U.S. representative.” Mace claimed airport security would never treat Sen. TimScott, R-S.C., this way,which is true because Scott, whose disposition is so sunny Earthhas beenknowntocircle him, would never behave as Mace did. This is pureparanoia. Sure, we’retalking about South Carolina, where politicians might challenge each other to a duel— but they haven’tbeen known to recruit airport cops to hassle elected ofﬁcials.

Abefuddled Scott promptly defended airportsecurityofﬁcers. Fellow Sen. Lindsey Graham of SouthCarolina postedhis support for ScottonX,while also managing to mentionthe $40 million he hasdirected to Charleston Countyfor airportimprovements.

Maceﬁred back, challenging the manhoodofboth senators and exclaiming that “REAL MEN PROTECT WOMEN.” Then things started getting really weird. As of aweek ago, Mace had posted onlinemorethan 100 times in her own defense.She is now talking about adefamation suit against American Airlines

and CharlestonInternational Airport for trying to ruin her reputation. In aposton X, she even threatened South Carolina AttorneyGeneral AlanWilson, who is alsoacandidate in the Republican gubernatorial primary

Though Mace is plainly her own worst enemy,some perspective might be useful. When you’re in thepublic eye, criticismispartofthe bargain. But social media has made random,anonymous verbal mob assaultsroutine. Insults are especially nasty towardwomen. You shrug themoff, but over timethese ambushes accumulateand congeal into something globular and frightening, like an alien occupation of the psyche that taunts and nibbles away at the human host. Without astrong, healthy ego, it’s ashort trip to paranoia, self-doubt and emotional dysfunction

The easiest pathfor Mace weeks ago was asimple apology that would have won her praise and votes:“I’m sorry, Iwas out of sorts, pleaseforgive me.”

We’reall messessometimes,and most people will forgive othersgiven half a chance. Instead, Mace escalated. “They” are trying to takeher down, she insists, becauseshe’sworking for “YOU.” Mace has no idea how unhinged she sounds to the Piggly Wiggly checkout line. Honestly,Ifeel sorry for Mace. She’s solid on some issues Icareabout —animal welfare, for one —but she has acted out toomany times to be seriously consideredfor governor.Voterssee through the dramaand recognize Mace for what she is: apublic servant of worth and accomplishment, who desperately needs abreak from the pressures of public ofﬁce.

Email Kathleen Parker at kathleenparker@washpost.com.

Former ﬁrst lady Michelle Obama says America is not ready forafemale president. In aseries of recent interviews promoting her new book, Michelle Obama points to the losses of KamalaHarris and Hillary Clinton as evidence of what she regards as sexism Recall that similar things wereonce said about John F. Kennedy,that America was not ready foraCatholic president. More recently somesaid America wasn’t ready foraBlack president. And yet in 2008, 43% of White voters voted for Barack Obama. In 2012, it was39%. Michelle Obama’scomments continue the focus on identity politics, rather than the substance of one’sideas and policies. What difference does it make(to quote Hillary Clinton in adifferent context) about one’srace or gender? Harris lost not because she is awoman, but because somethought she could not articulate what she believed in a language they could understand. Clinton lost because somefound her “unlikeable.” Michelle Obamaisfrom amiddle-class background anyone might ﬁnd admirable, even enviable. She grew up in atwo-parent home. AGoogle search notes that “After excelling in public schools, she earned a sociology and African American studies degree from Princeton University and alaw degree from Harvard Law School. She then becamealawyer in Chicago, where she met her future husband, Barack Obama, before dedicating her career to public service in roles at Chicago City Hall and the University of Chicago.”

One might think with such aresume she would be praising anation that gave her the opportunity to rise to such ahigh level. Instead, recall her comment after her husband waselected president: “For the ﬁrst timeinmyadult lifetime, Iamreally proud of my country.And not just because Barack has done well, but because Ithink people are hungry forchange. And Ihave been desperate to see our country moving in that direction.”

How sad is that —for her,not forher country? She seemstohave chips on both shoulders. She is always criticizing someone or something, but to what end?

Women hold morepolitical offices in America than ever before. Someare strong and competent conservatives. Others are drowning in the sewer of identity politics. AWall Street Journal editorial quotes Seattle mayor-elect Katie Wilson: “I will appoint acabinet of exceptional leaders whose lived experiences reflect the diversity of Seattle’sBlack, Indigenous, Asian and Pacific Islander,Latinx/ Hispanic, and People of Color communities as wellasthat of women, immigrants and refugees, 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, people with disabilities, people of all faith traditions, and residents from every socioeconomic background.”

Notice the absence of any reference to capabilities or policies. This is the dead end of identity politics.

Japan recently elected the country’sﬁrst female primeminister,who seemspopular and competent. Being female, though, does not mean women are necessarily better at leading nations than men.The female former primeminister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, has been sentenced to death in absentia (she ﬂed to India after her ouster) by aspecial court forher role in the killing of 1,400 protesters whoparticipated in nationwide demonstrations last year

This isn’treally about gender and race. When aBlack or female Republican is running forofﬁce against awoman whois White, female and aDemocrat (I give you the recent election forgovernor in Virginia), liberal, Black and female Democrats mostly vote forthe White women.

ANew York Post letter writer said this about Harris: “Weare not ready to vote foracandidate whodid not winone presidential primary.Weare not ready to vote foranindividual whowas selected for the vice presidency based on identity,not qualiﬁcations. We are not ready to vote for acandidate appointed by former President Joe Biden.”

Afemale presidential candidate with the policies of the late British PrimeMinister Margaret Thatcher would likely get support from mostconservative Republicans. Iwould be among them.

Email Cal Thomas at tcaeditorstribpub. com.

Kathleen Parker

Cal Thomas

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REALITY CHECK

Saints buried in avalancheofown mistakes,falltoarchrival Falcons

BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

In agame they lost by 14 points, the New Orleans Saints turned four legitimate scoring chances —including two drives that reached the Atlanta Falcons’ 1-yard line —into three points. There is no way to pickapart the Saints’ ninth loss in 11 trieswithout coming back to the team burying itself under the weight of its own mistakes. Afumble on the openingdrive; two missed field goals;zerotouchdowns in three red zone opportunities. All culminating in a24-10 loss. “Red zone’sonme,” coach Kellen Moore said. “We’re not getting it done. It’sassimple as that.”

Ateam that was comingoff abye —coming on the heels of its best performance of theseason —was hoping it hadfound something to build upon andcould turn what has been arough 2025 into something thatlooked more hopeful by theend of the season. Hope was hard to find Sunday. Theresult felt likeatired story that has played out so often this season, one that left the Saints bemoaning missed opportunitiesatthe end of the game. Themistakesstarted early.Afteranimpressive three-and-out sequence by theSaints defense to start the game, New Orleanshad achance to makeastatementdrive when it

ä See SAINTS, page 4B

The New OrleansSaints might have indeed found their quarterback in Tyler Shough. Now,ifthey could just ﬁnd an offense to go with him. It certainly wasn’tpresent Sunday in theSuperdome in their 24-10 loss to theAtlanta Falcons. The Saints’ offensive performance against their longtimearchrivals was truly offensive to watch, an effort worthy of aSchwegmann’s paper bag. With Drew Brees calling the game from the Fox Sports broadcast booth, the Saints put on an offensive display so ugly the future Hall of Famer probably couldn’trecognize it.

How ugly wasit? Let us count the ways. They ran 78 plays and failed to record asingle gain of morethan 18 yards. Their twolongest runs were by aquarterback (Shough) and receiver (Mason Tipton), 11 yards each. They didn’thave asingle run of longer than 6yards by arunning back. They converted just five of 16 third downs and only two of five fourth downs. They committed two turnovers and allowed five sacks. And if the anemic production and

NewOrleans mighthavefound its quarterback, butoffense is still lost ä See DUNCAN, page 5B

Jeff Duncan

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Saints quarterback Tyler Shough is sackedbyAtlanta Falcons defensivetackle Brandon Dorlus during the firsthalf of the game Sundayatthe Caesars Superdome. The Saints lost 24-10.

1:30

2:30

3:30 p.m. Temple vs. UC-San Diego ESPNU

3:30

Verstappen’s 5th F1 title within reach

Norris, Piastri disqualified in Las Vegas

BY JENNA FRYER Associated Press

LAS VEGAS A ﬁfth consecutive Formula 1 championship is within Max Verstappen’s reach following the disqualiﬁcations of contenders Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri after Saturday night’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Verstappen won the event for the second time in three years to close the gap on Norris to just 42 points with two races remaining. But three hours after the race concluded, the FIA summoned McLaren to see the stewards for failing inspection.

The measured thickness on the skid wear on the McLarens failed to meet the minimum thickness requirements Skid wear is the wear on the protective plank on the underside of the cars, and Lewis Hamilton was disqualiﬁed for the same infraction earlier this year

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said the infraction stemmed from the cars bottoming out during the race at levels they did not do during practice — leading to excessive contact with the ground. Stella said the damage to both cars was “accidental” and that “the FIA noted the breach was unintentional, there was no deliberate attempt to circumvent the regulations, and mitigating circumstances also existed.”

He also apologized to Norris and Piastri.

“We apologize to Lando and Oscar for the loss of points today, at a critical time in their championship campaigns after two strong performances from them all weekend,” Stella said. “While this outcome is extremely disappointing, we remain fully focused on the last two races of the season.”

The DQs made for a wild swing in the standings as both Norris and Piastri were stripped of all points earned in Las Vegas. Norris went from 30 points up on Piastri and 42 points up on Verstappen to just

24 points up on Verstappen and Piastri, who holds the tie-breaker for second in the standings based on his win total.

Verstappen has won the last two races in Qatar, where F1 races next week, and four of the last ﬁve at Abu Dhabi, where the season will end Dec. 7. It’s an incredible comeback for the Dutchman, who seemed out of contention over the summer Even after winning Las Vegas for the second time in three years, Verstappen wasn’t thinking about the championship.

“I mean, it’s still a big gap. But, you know, we always try to just maximize everything that we’ve got,” he said three hours before the McLarens were called to see the FIA. “ This weekend, that was first. The upcoming weekends we’ll again try to win the race. And at the end of Abu Dhabi, we’ll see where we end up.”

Verstappen was by far the biggest winner in Las Vegas, an event he hated before he’d ever turned in a lap. He won for the second time in four races, second time in three years of the Las Vegas Grand Prix

as the four-time reigning Formula 1 champion continued to claw his way back into the title picture with a Saturday night victory on the streets of Las Vegas.

His displeasure with the event has stemmed from the bright spotlight promoters place on celebrities and parties instead of the actual competition. But when it comes time to get in the car, no matter how Verstappen feels about the event, he seems to excel.

“Some people like more show added. Some people like different kinds of tracks as a fan also,” he said. “I also have my opinions about what I like. Some weekends I like more than others. I still like to be in Vegas, but I’m personally less of a showman. I’m not really into that probably But I get it, you know, it’s part of the calendar If you’re in Vegas, it needs to be like this.”

Las Vegas was the 69th victory of Verstappen’s career It was his eighth consecutive podium, F1record eighth win in the United States, and he beat points leader Norris by more than 20 seconds. Verstappen started second but

took control of the race in the very ﬁrst turn when Norris made an aggressive move to cut in front of him at the start but wound up sliding wide of the turn in his McLaren.

“I let Max have a win,” Norris lamented. “Let him go. Let him have a nice race. I just braked too late. It was my (mess) up.”

Verstappen moved to the lead and George Russell darted past Norris into second.

It was the 150th career start for Norris, which tied the McLaren record with David Coulthard. He will become McLaren’s most tenured driver next week in Qatar with his 151th start.

But after his slip in the ﬁrst turn, Norris found himself stuck back in third, and teammate Piastri fared no better as the Australian lost two spots on the start to drop from fifth to seventh. The two McLaren drivers have swapped the lead in the driver standings all season.

Norris finished second before the disqualification and Russell was third Russell moved to second.

‘Worst’ season continues for Hamilton

BY MARK ANDERSON Associated Press

LAS VEGAS Lewis Hamilton had every reason to feel good about the effort he put in Saturday night, but as a seven-time Formula 1 champion, his bar is too high for moral victories.

So even though he quickly moved from the back of the pack in the Las Vegas Grand Prix, even rising to ﬁfth midway through the 50-lap race, Hamilton took little solace in ﬁnishing eighth.

It was, no matter how he got there, another loss.

“I feel terrible. Terrible,” Hamilton said. “It’s been the worst season for me ever No matter how much I try, it just keeps getting worse.” He crossed the line in 10th but gained two positions when Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were disqualiﬁed.

“Lewis had a great start from (20th position), recovering very well,” team principal Fred Vasseur said.

Hamilton came into the weekend looking for answers after his hyped move from Mercedes to Ferrari fell well short of expectations in the English driver’s ﬁrst season with the team. He hasn’t won this season, nor has teammate Charles Leclerc, which drew the ire of Ferrari executive chairman John Elkann after an especially disappointing race two weeks ago when both drivers failed to ﬁnish the Brazilian Grand Prix.

“It’s important that our drivers focus on driving and talk less,”

Elkann said. Ferrari dropped from second to fourth in the constructors’ standings in Brazil, where the team remains with two events to go after Las Vegas. The series moves on to Qatar and then ﬁnishes in the United Arab Emirates.

“Now there are still two races to go and our target is still to try and win a race before the end of the season,” Vasseur said.

Elkann couldn’t have been pleased by the way the Las Vegas race began for Hamilton. He qualiﬁed Friday night in 20th and last place. Hamilton wound up starting 19th after Yuki Tsunoda was found to have made modiﬁcations when none were allowed.

“That was a really disappointing qualifying session,” Hamilton

said shortly afterward. “After (practice session No. 3), I felt we had good pace in the car but the wet conditions didn’t work in our favor today Visibility was poor and we were unfortunate to be hampered by a few yellow ﬂags, which meant I couldn’t put a proper lap together in my last three attempts.” Hamilton’s disappointing results have even sparked speculation whether the 40-year-old should retire. With seven titles, he is tied with Michael Schumacher for the record, and Hamilton is ﬁrst in victories (105) and podium appearances (202). Hamilton was especially dominant between 2017 and 2020, winning four championships in a row, the last three

Thitikul wins another $4M prize at Tour Championship

NAPLES, Fla. — Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand capped off her best year with the biggest cash prize in women’s golf, holding off an early challenge from Pajaree Anannarukarn and closing with a 4-under 68 to win the CME Group Tour Championship by four shots Sunday for another $4 million payoff.

Thitikul won for the third time this year on the LPGA Tour and one last birdie on the ﬁnal hole at Tiburon Golf Club gave her the lowest scoring average in tour history

Thitikul started with a six-shot lead over Nelly Korda, the American she replaced at No. 1 in the women’s world ranking this year

The victory assured her winning LPGA player of the year and the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average, the two biggest awards in women’s golf.

Ohtani’s bat from historic season sells for $300K

LAGUNA NIGUEL Calif. — A bat used by Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani to hit ﬁve home runs during the 2024 season, when he became the ﬁrst major league player to hit 50 homers and steal 50 bases, was sold at auction for $300,000.

The second home run ball Ohtani hit out of Dodger Stadium during his historic performance in Game 4 of this season’s National League Championship Season went for $270,000.

The items were among those sold at SCP Auctions’ fall premier sale that closed Saturday Two home run balls hit by the Dodgers in Game 7 of their World Series victory over the Toronto Blue Jays also sold.

Italy victorious at Davis Cup for third straight year

BOLOGNA, Italy Italy remains the king of the Davis Cup — and didn’t even need Jannik Sinner this time. Matteo Berrettini and Flavio Cobolli were the stars for the Italians without the absent Sinner, both winning their singles matches to earn an unassailable 2-0 lead over Spain in the ﬁnal on Sunday It’s a fourth Davis Cup title for Italy and a third in a row The last nation to win three straight titles was the United States, which won ﬁve on the bounce from 1968-72.

The second-ranked Sinner, who led Italy to men’s tennis biggest team trophy the past two years, opted out of playing this week, preferring to prepare for next season instead. No. 8-ranked Lorenzo Musetti wasn’t playing, either Spain was also without its star player, top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz.

Rangers, Mets agree

on Semien-Nimmo trade

seasons ending with 11 victories each.

It’s greatest-ever stuff, a conversation in which Hamilton ﬁrmly planted himself.

But then it all began to fall apart after what would have been a record eighth championship at the season-ending 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Hamilton was primed to win the race, but a series of controversial events helped hand the victory to Max Verstappen, who hasn’t let go of the title since in winning the past four Mercedes and Hamilton protested the Abu Dhabi result to no avail.

Whether that result got into his head or there were other factors at play, Hamilton hasn’t been the same since. The driver who has posted six double-digit win seasons failed to cross the finish line first in 2022 and 2023. He finally broke through with wins last year in England and Belgium but finished seventh in the standings, actually a step back from third in 2023. That also was his final season at Mercedes, and moving to Ferrari presented hopes of reigniting his career

It just hasn’t happened.

Beyond failing to win a race this year, Hamilton has not even made the top three or taken a pole position. He has just one pole over the past four years. No wonder Hamilton even on a night when he got more out of the car than expected, was still searching for answers.

“I’m trying everything Everything,” Hamilton said. “In and out of the car.”

ARLINGTON,Texas The Texas Rangers and the Mets have agreed on a trade that would send Gold Glove second baseman Marcus Semien to New York in exchange for outﬁelder Brandon Nimmo.

Nimmo, who has played all 10 of his big-league seasons with the Mets, just completed the third season of the $162 million, eight-year contract he got after becoming a free agent for the ﬁrst time after the 2022 season. The 32-year-old left-handed hitter is due annual salaries of $20.25 million each season through 2030.

Semien has three seasons and $72 million remaining on the $175 million, seven-year contract he signed with the Rangers in December 2021. The 35-year-old Semien won his second Gold Glove this season, even though he missed the ﬁnal 51/2 weeks of the season.

Dallas Wings again win WNBA draft lottery

The Dallas Wings won the WNBA draft lottery for the second consecutive season on Sunday night.

The Wings, who drafted Paige Bueckers No. 1 last year, had a 42% chance to secure the top pick again.

“This is a integral piece, a core piece,” Dallas general manager Curt Miller said. “In recent draft classes you see what consecutive No. 1’s can do.”

Earlier this month, the Wings hired longtime college coach Jose Fernandez to lead the franchise.

“Exciting times with our young core and new facilities and new coach,” Miller said. “Great moment.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ERIC GAy

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain drives during the Formula1 Las Vegas Grand Prix on Saturday in Las Vegas.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOHN LOCHER

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands celebrates after winning the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix on Saturday in Las Vegas.

PRO FOOTBALL

Chiefs rally from 11-point deficit to beat Colts

By The Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Patrick Mahomes threw for a season-high 352 yards while rallying the Kansas City Chiefs from an 11-point deficit, their defense forced the Indianapolis Colts to go threeand-out on its final four possessions, and Harrison Butker banged through his fifth field goal of the game from 27 yards to give Kansas City a 23-20 victory that just might have kept its playoff hopes alive

“All ﬁve of our losses felt like this game, where there were plays we could make and we didn’t,” Mahomes said afterward.

“You can talk about it all day, but until you prove it, it doesn’t. We proved today we could make the plays.”

Kareem Hunt ran 30 times for 104 yards and a score Rashee Rice caught eight passes for 141 yards including two important ones on the tying drive in regulation and another in OT to set up Butker’s ﬁeld goal. And their defense held the league’s No. 1 offense to just 255 yards, easily the Colts’ worst output all season.

“The part I liked the best was the support the guys gave each other,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “Nobody ﬂinched Nobody was hanging their head. It wasn’t happening. They came out and they played and they did it when it counted.”

Now, the Chiefs (6-5) have some life heading into a short week. They visit Dallas on Thanksgiving Day

JAGUARS 27, CARDINALS 24: In Glendale, Arizona, Trevor Lawrence threw three touchdown passes, Cam Little kicked a 52-yard ﬁeld goal in overtime and the Jacksonville Jaguars overcame a turnover-ﬁlled performance to beat the Arizona Cardinals. Jacksonville got the ball first

in overtime and after a promising drive stalled, Little made his kick with 7:46 left. Earlier this season, he set an NFL record with a 68-yarder.

Arizona had a chance to tie or win, but Jacoby Brissett’s fourthdown heave to Xavier Weaver fell incomplete The Cardinals elected to go for it on fourth instead of attempting a 60-yard ﬁeld goal.

SEAHAWKS 30, TITANS 24: In Nashville, Tennessee, Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks bounced back quite nicely from their ﬁrst road loss this season.

Darnold threw for 244 yards and two touchdowns and the Seahawks beat the Tennessee Titans for their ﬁfth win in six games.

BEARS 31, STEELERS 28: In Chicago, Caleb Williams threw for three touchdowns and Chicago beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in a matchup

of division leaders.

Aaron Rodgers, the Bears’ old nemesis, was sidelined with a broken left wrist He wore a brace when he practiced Friday but the Steelers (6-5) went with Mason Rudolph in his place and fell into a ﬁrst-place tie with Baltimore in the AFC North.

PACKERS 23, VIKINGS 6: In Green Bay, Wisconsin, Emanuel Wilson always believed he could make it in the NFL even while he was breaking into the league as an undrafted free agent from Division II Fort Valley State. Wilson rushed for a career-high 107 yards and two touchdowns while ﬁlling in for the injured Josh Jacobs to back up a dominating performance from Green Bay’s defense as the Packers trounced the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings (4-7) hadn’t ﬁnished

McCaffrey’s dual-threat ability transforms

BY JOSH DUBOW AP pro football writer

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The San Francisco 49ers had a productive offense under coach Kyle Shanahan for a while when the team made the big deal to acquire Christian McCaffrey from Carolina three years ago. The addition of one of the NFL’s best dual-threat backs ever elevated that offense to another level that will be on display for the Panthers (6-5) when they face the 49ers (7-4) on Monday night for the ﬁrst time since that trade in 2022.

ä Panthers at 49ers, 7:15 P.M.MONDAy ESPN

“Just seeing how our offense has evolved since getting Christian, the things that we’ve done here the last th ree years that we ne ver did just because of the ability of Christian and what he can do in the pass game,” star tight end George Kittle said. “It’s pretty incredible. Just seeing the evolution of our offense has been really cool.” When the Niners acquired McCaffrey for four draft picks in what he described as a “bittersweet” trade in October 2022, the team was in a bit of a rut on offense, ranking 10th in the league in yards per play and 19th in scoring. San Francisco moved into the top five in both categories once McCaffrey stepped into the starting lineup in his second game, when he pulled off the rare feat of running for a touchdown, catching a TD pass and throwing for a score in a win over the Rams.

“We knew it would be exciting to get a player like him,” Shanahan said. “Since we got him, I think players evolve offenses. Always when you get certain types of players, that’s when offenses change. You always want to attack defenses and stuff and there’s only so many ways to do it, but when you get different types of players, offenses expand, and I think he’s changed our offense since he’s gotten here.” McCaffrey has done that by being at least as big of a threat as a receiver whether on routes out

the 49ers’ offense

of the backﬁeld or when lined up wide or in the slot, as he is as a runner McCaffrey, the son of former NFL star receiver Ed McCaffrey, takes great pride in his receiving ability even if he never ofﬁcially played wide receiver

“It was always something that I worked on my whole life,” he said.

“I always played running back. I never played receiver, but I was fortunate enough to be on teams, even in little league, where they would throw the ball to me. And so it was kind of always a natural thing and I enjoyed doing it. It was another way to get the ball in my hands.”

McCaffrey helped lead the 49ers to the NFC title game his ﬁrst season. The Niners then made the Super Bowl the following year when he led the NFL with 2,023 yards from scrimmage and 21 TDs on the way to being selected AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year

His 2024 season was derailed by injuries but McCaffrey is back in good form this season, leading the NFL with 1,439 yards from scrimmage as he is on pace for another season with 1,000 yards rushing and receiving.

“A guy like Christian who is an unbelievable running back, but then he’s also a really good receiver So, who do you dedicate to him?” asked 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. “A lot of times you’re having to dedicate

a linebacker to him. I’ve said it a long time ago that it’s starting to catch up a little bit, but I felt like the evolution of the running back far outpaced the evolution of the linebacker.”

McCaffrey is one of ﬁve players ever with at least 5,000 yards rushing and receiving and has set an NFL record with 17 career games with at least one TD run and one TD catch. He leads the NFL this season with 1,439 yards from scrimmage and ranks tied for second with 11 TDs. He ranks second in the league with 74 catches, ninth with 732 yards receiving and his 80 ﬁrst downs rushing and receiving are tied for the most by any player through 11 games since Arian Foster had 91 in 2010. That should put a major stress on a Carolina defense that will be without linebackers Trevin Wallace and Christian Rozeboom.

“You do have to respect the variety of routes that Christian McCaffrey can run from the backﬁeld and split out,” Panthers coach Dave Canales said “He’s got a pretty developed route tree out there. From a run game standpoint, it’s going to require just good team ﬁts, good team football and rallying to tackle. We know he can make moves and make miss at times, so we respect all those things, but again, it’s going to come down to our fundamental execution.”

carries.

LIONS 34, GIANTS 27: In Detroit, Jahmyr Gibbs ran for a 69-yard touchdown on the ﬁrst snap of overtime and had a career-high 264 yards from scrimmage along with three scores, lifting the Detroit Lions to a much-needed win over the New York Giants.

Giants coach Mike Kafka went for it on fourth-and-goal from the 6 with his slumping team leading by three points, instead of kicking a short ﬁeld goal that would have forced Detroit to score a touchdown. Winston threw an incomplete pass to Theo Johnson to end a 14-play, 86-yard drive that took nearly seven minutes off the clock.

a half with as few as 4 yards of total offense since at least 1991, which is as far back as Sportradar’s research goes on the subject.

RAVENS 23, JETS 10: In Baltimore, Maryland, Derrick Henry scored two third-quarter touchdowns and the Ravens recovered from a sleepy first half to beat the New York Jets for their fifth straight victory Baltimore has gone from 1-5 to 6-5, and Pittsburgh’s loss to Chicago left the Ravens in a firstplace tie with the Steelers in the AFC North. It wasn’t a terribly convincing performance by the Ravens, who have struggled to beat the Browns and Jets (2-9) the past two weekends. Lamar Jackson went 13 of 23 for 153 yards and didn’t look as mobile as usual after dealing with knee and ankle issues recently Henry was held to 64 yards on 21

COWBOYS 24, EAGLES 21: In Arlington, Texas, Brandon Aubrey kicked a 42-yard field goal as time expired after Dak Prescott rallied Dallas from a 21-point deficit and Dallas beat Philadelphia in a mistake-filled thriller The Cowboys (5-5-1) converted on their third tiebreaking chance of the fourth quarter to extend Prescott’s home winning streak against NFC East opponents to 19 in their first game at AT&T Stadium since the death of defensive end Marshawn Kneeland.

BROWNS 24, RAIDERS 10: In Las Vegas, Browns rookie Shedeur Sanders passed for 209 yards and a touchdown in his NFL starting debut and Myles Garrett had three of Cleveland’s 10 sacks in a victory over Las Vegas, the ﬁfth straight loss for the Raiders. The Browns (3-8) ended a threegame skid while starting their 42nd quarterback since the franchise’s return in 1999. Sanders replaced fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel, who’s in the concussion protocol, and ended a 17-game losing streak by Cleveland QBs making their ﬁrst start.

BY JOE REEDY AP sportswriter

CINCINNATI — Drake Maye passed for 294 yards and a touchdown, Marcus Jones returned an interception 33 yards for a score and the AFCleading New England Patriots rallied from an early 10-point deficit and extended their winning streak to nine with a 26-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday Hunter Henry had a career-high 115 receiving yards, including a 28-yard TD catch, on seven receptions, for New England (10-2) — which has won at least nine straight for the first time since 2015. But the Patriots fell behind 10-0 early in the second quarter before rallying. It was their first doubledigit deficit since the second half of their opener against Las Vegas. Andy Borregales’ 52-yard field goal, his fourth of the day gave the Patriots a 26-20 lead with 1:51 remaining.

Former LSU standout Will Campbell suffered a knee injury with 4:58 left in the third quarter of the game and did not return. He was carted into the locker room with a towel over his head.

Joe Flacco drove Cincinnati to the New England 26, but a fourthdown pass with 18 seconds remaining intended for Mike Gesicki was incomplete. Cincinnati (3-8) has dropped eight

of nine since quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a turf toe injury in a Week 2 win against Jacksonville. The former Tigers star practiced this week and is expected to return for the Thanksgiving night game at Baltimore.

Ja’Marr Chase, who came in leading the league with 79 receptions, served a one-game suspension for spitting on Pittsburgh’s Jalen Ramsey last week. The Bengals also lost Tee Higgins, who suffered a concussion with 4:50 remaining. Flacco completed 19 of 37 passes for 183 yards with a touchdown to Mitchell Tinsley and interception. Chase Brown had 19 carries for 107 yards.

Geno Stone returned an interception 33 yards for a touchdown for the Bengals. Evan McPherson kicked two ﬁeld goals, including a team-record 63-yarder on the last play of the ﬁrst half.

Maye completed 22 of 35 passes, including his TD throw to Henry — who had his third career 100-yard receiving game — during the second quarter that got the Patriots within 10-7.

New England then took the lead

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ROSS D FRANKLIN

San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey runs against the Arizona Cardinals during a game on Nov. 16 in Glendale, Ariz

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By CAROLyN KASTER New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye throws a pass ahead of Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Myles Murphy on Sunday in Cincinnati.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By CHARLIE RIEDEL

Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker kicks a game-winning field goal against the Indianapolis Colts during overtime on Sunday in Kansas City, Mo.

FALCONS 24, SAINTS 10

Former TE Graham honored at game

Tipton 3-22, Kamara 2-4, Pettis 1-14, Stoll 1-7. PUNT RETURNS—Atlanta, Agnew 1-5. New Orleans, Pettis 3-10. KICKOFF RETURNS—Atlanta, Agnew 2-74, Drummond 1-25. New Orleans, Tipton 1-75, Pettis 2-48. TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS—Atlanta, Alford 9-1-0, Elliss 7-2-0, Deablo 6-2-0, Bates 6-1-0, Hughes 6-0-0, Watts 5-1-0, Terrell 3-0-0, Dorlus 2-2-1.5, Onyemata 2-1-0, Street 1-4-0, Floyd 1-2-0, Pearce 1-1-1.5, Orhorhoro 1-0-1, Walker 1-0-1, R.Harrison 1-0-0, L.London 1-0-0, Ebiketie 0-1-0. New Orleans, D.Davis 6-5-0, Taylor 5-1-0, Sanker 4-3-0, Reid 3-4-0, Stalbird 2-1-1, Jordan 2-0-1, McKinstry 2-0-0, Rumph 2-0-0, C.Young 1-3-1, Stutsman 1-2-0, Bresee 1-1-0, Werner 1-1-0, Godchaux 1-0-0 Riley 1-0-0, Shepherd 0-2-0, Bullard 0-1-0, Granderson 0-1-0, Williams 0-1-0. INTERCEPTIONS—Atlanta, Watts 1-0. New Orleans, Reid 1-49. MISSED FIELD GOALS—New Orleans, Grupe 47, Grupe 38. OFFICIALS—Referee Brad Rogers, Ump Bryan Neale, HL Patrick Turner, LJ Kevin Codey FJ Joe Blubaugh, SJ David Meslow, BJ Greg Yette, Replay Denise Crudup.

took over at its 42-yard line for its ﬁrst drive.

The second play of that drive was designed to be a play-action pass, with quarterback Tyler Shough faking a handoff to Alvin Kamara. Shough never had a chance to throw the ball; his fake glancing off Kamara’s elbow, jarring the ball free. The Falcons recovered in good enough ﬁeld position to kick a ﬁeld goal after gaining just 1 yard in the next three plays.

“It was a fluke deal,” Shough said. “It sucks. I wasn’t trying to give him (the ball). It’s on me at the end of the day; I’ve got to make sure I can hang onto that.”

Even then, New Orleans was poised to brush off the mistake, as Mason Tipton took the ensuing kickoff and raced down the left sideline 75 yards, advancing the ball to Atlanta’s 16-yard line and delighting the home crowd

That is where the warts started to show The ﬁrst play, a direct snap to Taysom Hill, was snuffed out for no gain.

Falcons defensive lineman Brandon Dorlus beat Cesar Ruiz to sack Shough for a 7-yard loss on second down. Shough’s third-down screen to Alvin Kamara went for just 2 yards. The Saints sent Blake Grupe out for a 38-yard ﬁeld goal, and he pushed it wide to the right of the up-

BY LUKE JOHNSON AND MATTHEW PARAS Staff writers

Just like old times, moments before kickoff, Jimmy Graham raised a ﬁst in the air and got the New Orleans Saints fans into a frenzy right before kickoff against the Atlanta Falcons by leading the Who Dat Chant. Graham, who was honored as the team’s Legend of the Game Sunday and served as guest captain, always relishes a chance to come back to the place that he will always consider home.

“I became a man in this city,” Graham said. “I grew in this city I learned football in this city. Everything I have in my life, truly, is because of the New Orleans Saints and this city.”

Graham spoke to reporters a couple of hours before the game.

He walked into the team’s press room, just across the hall from his old locker room, alongside team owner Gayle Benson, team president Dennis Lauscha general manager Mickey Loomis and senior vice president of football operations Khai Harley And one other, of course: Drew Brees was there for Graham, too. Graham became emotional when asked what it meant to him to have Brees who served as

rights, the ﬁrst of his two misses on the day Grupe has now missed eight ﬁeld goals in 11 games this season.

“It’s a frustrating one,” Moore said when asked about Grupe’s misses. “Obviously, the biggest and most important thing is we’ve got to go through this whole process to understand how this happened today.”

Especially frustrating, because as the Saints offense struggled to ﬁnd its footing, the defense was giving it a chance. Chase Young and Cam Jordan had sacks. Atlanta’s ﬁrst three possessions gained 11 net yards. Atlanta went on one extended drive, ending in a Kirk Cousins touchdown pass to David Sills, but on the next possession, Justin Reid answered it by plucking a tipped pass out of the air and racing 49 yards for a touchdown to make it a 10-7 game.

New Orleans just had to get something going offensively Atlanta kicked another ﬁeld goal with 1:56 remaining in the ﬁrst half, and New Orleans had an opportunity to wrest control of the game because it was getting the opening kick of the second half.

But this has been a season of what-ifs.

The two-minute drill started off well. Shough connected on his ﬁrst four passes, going for 6, 8, 16 and 6 yards to push New Orleans inside the Falcons’ 30-yard line. But, after an incompletion, Shough felt backside pressure on third-and-4 and made an ineffective flip toward

the color commentator for Sunday’s Saints-Falcons game on the FOX broadcast — in the room.

“Drew is like a brother to me, and I always wish I had more time with him, because of what could have happened,” Graham said.

There was a time Brees and Graham formed one of the NFL’s most lethal duos. One of the NFL’s most precise and proliﬁc passers had the ultimate matchup machine at his disposal, a 6-foot-7 former basketball player who quickly established himself as one of the NFL’s premier pass catchers.

When Graham wrapped up his second season his star was already fully realized: 99 catches, 1,310 yards, 11 touchdowns. It was the start of one of the greatest four-year runs by any tight end in NFL history before a contract dispute dissolved the relationship between Graham and the Saints for eight seasons.

It’s funny for Graham to think about that now that his playing career is done. He arrived to the Saints as an extremely raw prospect who effectively had to learn how to play the game after spending only one season as a college football player at the University of Miami.

He chuckled, recalling the ﬁrst

time he stepped into a huddle with Brees and the rest of the Saints’ collection of impressive talent.

“And he said something that sounded like Spanish to me, and he said it so quickly,” Graham said. “I just looked at him in his eyes like a deer, because I had no idea about these rules, no idea about these words. And he tells me, ‘Just do a 10-yard out and get open.’ I did, and he threw me the ball.”

Kamara leaves early

With 2:25 remaining in the ﬁrst quarter, Alvin Kamara caught a short pass near the sideline and went down awkwardly when his former teammate, Falcons linebacker Kaden Ellis, wrapped him up in a tackle.

Kamara went into the blue injury tent on the Saints sideline for an evaluation and brieﬂy looked OK, standing on the Saints’ sideline with his helmet on. But he never returned to the game.

The Saints running back exited during the ﬁrst half to the locker room for further evaluation, and as the second half began, he was officially ruled out for the remainder of the game with a knee injury

Kamara ﬁnished the game with three carries for 11 yards and two catches for 4 yards.

Devin Neal for an incomplete pass. Grupe trotted onto the field hoping to cut the deficit to 3 points, but he missed — again, pushing it right and Atlanta snuck in a field goal drive before halftime for a 16-7 lead.

To open the second half, the Saints looked like they found some life offensively They covered 74 yards in 14 plays, eating up more than seven minutes of game clock. They leaned heavily on the run game and found themselves with ﬁrst-and-goal at the 8. On third-and-goal from the 2, Shough had a “run-pass-run” option, in which he could have handed the ball off, thrown it, or run it himself if the pass was not there. Atlanta covered up his receiver,

so he took off but stumbled and was stopped. Moore kept the offense on the field on fourth-and-goal and turned to Hill. The Saints tried to go against their tendencies, having Hill roll right as if it were a quarterback sweep, only to pass the ball over the defense’s head. But Atlanta was ready for it. Hill’s pass was deflected, and even if it was clean, there was nobody to throw to. Again, the defense had the offense’s back, forcing a three-andout. And again, the offense came up short.

Taking over at their own 41, the Saints slogged through a 15-play drive that needed two fourth-down

New Orleans went into the game with only two active running backs — Kamara and rookie Devin Neal. Neal handled the majority of the workload for the remainder of the game, while Taysom Hill pitched in with a few running back snaps.

No Fuaga

Taliese Fuaga practiced twice on a limited basis in the lead-up to Sunday’s game as he looked to return from an ankle injury

But ultimately he couldn’t go. Fuaga, the Saints’ normal starting right tackle, missed his second straight game because of the ailment, and the Saints will have to wait another week to see if he can make his return to the ﬁeld.

Without Fuaga, the Saints again started Asim Richards — the swing tackle that they acquired from the Dallas Cowboys in late August.

Fuaga entered the weekend listed as questionable Coach Kellen Moore said Friday that the team would have to see how Fuaga would respond closer to the game. The 2024 first-round pick has missed a total of three games this season. In addition to his ankle issue, Fuaga dealt with a knee and back injury that kept him out of a Week 3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

conversions to once again make it deep in Atlanta territory Shough came close to breaking the seal with a ﬁrst-down scramble but was tackled inches shy of the goal line. A second-down run by Hill was stuffed for no gain. On third-andgoal from the 1, they went back to the well with Hill again.

This time the play never got off — at least not in any functional way Lined up in the shotgun, Hill could not corral a high snap from center Luke Fortner He was able to pick the ball up and avoid the turnover, but was penalized for intentional grounding after throwing the ball away This time, at least, Grupe made the chip-shot field goal on fourth down.

“I wish I could have that one back, secure the snap and get into the end zone,” Hill said. “... That was a disappointing play At the end of the day, it was a disappointing game.”

The dam eventually broke for the Saints defense, and Cousins effectively put the game on ice after the Saints’ last failure at the 1-yard line. He converted a second-and-23 with a dump-off to Bijan Robinson that turned into a 32-yard gain, then found former Tulane

STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE

Taysom Hill is brought down by Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle David Onyemata during the second half of their game on Sunday.

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Former Saints tight end Jimmy Graham, left has a laugh with former Saints quarterback Drew Brees before the start of a game against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday at the Caesars Superdome.

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Saints quarterback Tyler Shough reacts after being sacked in the fourth quarter by the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday at the Caesars Superdome.

FALCONS24, SAINTS 10

1FOOL’S GOLD (AND BLACK)

Remembertwo weeks agowhen theSaints went to Carolinaand gotawin? Thenyou looked at the remaining schedule and sawa slate of winnable games and thought the Saints may just go on arun and winfour or five of their lastseven games. Well, think again. It’s probablynot happening The Saints reverted back to their old ways Sunday and looked likethat dreadful team that yousaw formost of the first 10 weeks of the season. When the season is overand we look back at thegame inCharlotte, we’ll see that game was an outlier and not the daythe Saints turned the corner

NO ‘O’

Kellen Moorewas hired because he was supposed to be an offensiveguru.It was hardtotell Sunday by theway theSaintsstruggled when theyhad the ball.The Saints’lone touchdowncame from thedefense when Justin Reid returned an interceptionfor ascore in the second quarter.It’stoo badthe offense didn’t do its share of thelifting.The playcallingwas questionableattimes (likethe Taysom Hill pass on fourth-and-goal fromthe 1) Theexecution wasn’t great either (bad snap on third-andgoal fromthe 1).Tyler Shough’snumbers (30 of 43, 243 yards, 1interception) were OK, but none of it matters when the team doesn’t reach the endzone

JUST FOR KICKS

Blake Grupe had anotherrough day. Grupe missedwhat should have been achip-shot 38-yard fieldgoal in the firstquarter and then a47-yard fieldgoal in the final minuteofthe first half

Both were wide right. He ended up making a33-yarder in the fourth quartertoend his drought.For theseason, Grupehas made 18 of 26 fieldgoals (69%). Before Sunday, Grupe seemed to have gottenback on track after aslowstart. He had made sevenofhis last eight coming into Sunday. But his missescost theSaints six points. It wouldn’t hurttogivepractice-squad kicker Charlie Smyth ashot.

Kickingmiscues adding up

Saints’faith in kicker Grupeisn’t paying off

BY MATTHEW PARAS

Staff writer

If Sunday was hislast time in the home lockerroomatthe Caesars Superdome, Blake Grupe spent his ﬁnal few moments literally packing hisbag

To be precise, the New Orleans Saints kicker loaded items into asuitcase. The frustration on his face —fresh off missing two kicks in a24-10 loss to the AtlantaFalcons —was evident. Across the hall, his coachdidn’t rule outthe possibility of Grupe losinghis job.And as that was happening,Grupe turned around once he was ﬁnished at his locker to speak with reporters.

Is he worried about getting cut?

“I mean, what’sthat going to do for me?”Grupe said, shaking hishead. “There’snothing that is going to positively impact myself. Why wouldI think about that?”

It would be only natural if hedid

The Saints willtake ahard look at whether akicking change needs to be made after Grupe sailed two of his three attemptswide right against the Falcons. Grupe missed from distances of 38 and 47 yards thatshouldbeautomatic for his profession. But the problem for Grupe and theSaints thisseason is that the kicker has hardly been that. Grupe’srough outing Sunday now puts him at 18 of 26 on theyear No kicker has missed more field goals than Grupe this season Throughout Grupe’sstruggles, the Saints had generally stayed patient. But coach Kellen Moore’stone shifted afterthe latestmeltdown

“It’sanimportant thing we’llhave to evaluate,” Moore said.

This was the risk the Saints faced when the team chose to stick with Grupe as long as they did. Thelonger NewOrleans stuck by him, the longer itrisked Grupe’sproblems costing them agame. Yes, on point margin alone, Grupe’s missed kicks did not coverthe totaldeficit of Sunday’sloss.But theyundoubtedly swung the tenor of theSaints’loss —nomatter how much quarterback Tyler Shough and Grupe’sotherteammates tried to deﬂect the blame. Shough saidthe missed kicksare “really on us as an offense,” because theSaints failed to convert in the red zone. And while he has apoint —New Orleans went 0-for-3 inside the 20 and

DUNCAN

Continued from page1B

shoddy situationaloffense weren’t badenough, their red-zoneoffense was even worse. In three trips inside the Falcons’ 15-yardline, including consecutive drives to the Atlanta 1-yard line to startthe second half, theSaintsmanaged to comeaway with atotal of three points.During the twomaddening sequences that ended at the Falcons’ goal line, theSaints ran nine plays from inside theFalcons’ 8 and failed to gain more than 3yards on any of them.

“It’sfrustrating,” Saints coach Kellen Moore said. “We’re not getting it done.Ultimately, it’sonme. It’s as simple as that.” Indeed, of all the rookies on the Saints roster,the ﬁrst-year head coach might be performing the worst of the bunch.

Some of Moore’splay calls made you scratch your head andremember that he is still learning on thejob. And unfortunately for Moore, he doesn’t have Saquon Barkley or Justin Herbert or CeeDee Lamb around to bail himout of abad call like hedid at his previous coaching stops. Losing

badlyneeded touchdowns —the Saints wouldhave been tied at halftime if both attemptshad been good. Andifthe Saints had been even with the Falcons instead of constantly having to chase, that wouldlikely have affected how both coachingstaffs called the game.

Grupe’ssecond miss, his47-yarder, was especially deflating. The Saints hadapromising drive stall out just before halftime, and after Grupe’swoes, the Falconsused the ﬁnal52seconds of thequarter to tack on another ﬁeld goal,takinga16-7 lead.

“I have no idea what it’slike to be a kicker,” defensive end Cam Jordan said.

“I assume it’sa mindset thing. When you have agreat kicker and he starts missing, I’ve seen it happen multiple times. I understand (there’s) amental aspect to it all, one Ican’t relate to. Ijust expect them …just to do their jobs.

“When ateammate is in arut or something like it, you can’tdoanything but uplift them. Youhave to ﬁnd away as ateammateorasateam to ﬁgure out

veteranrunning back Alvin Kamara to aknee injury midway through the ﬁrst half didn’thelp matters, but the Saintsand Moore have tobebetter, especially in the game’skey situations like thirddown andred zone.

“Certainly,we’d like to feel like we can score from the 1-yard line, even thoughthat’satough yard to gain down there,” said veteran utility back TaysomHill, who was forced into emergency duty at running back after Kamara went down. “Nobody feels goodabout this game. It’s Week 12, and we should have it ﬁgured out by now. On this day, having an inexperienced rookie quarterback was well downthe listofSaints’ problems.

Shough’schallenge against an attacking Falcons defense that enteredthe game ranked second in the leagueinsacks was already difﬁcult enough. But the Saints’ shoddy overall execution, inconsistent blocking and circumspect play-calling only exacerbated things for Shough, who was making just his third NFL start.

He botched an exchangewith Kamaraand lost afumble on his second snap of the game, gifting an early ﬁeld goaltothe Falcons. He ended the day by throwing thethird interception of hisnascentcareer

how to get yourself out of ahole.”

At hislocker,however,Grupe wasinsistentthathis struggles hadnot been the result of his mentality.Hesaid he feelshis preparation is great, including howhegoes aboutcorrecting his mistakes. And that process has led to results —inpractice.Grupe missed only onekickintraining camp—ona day it was raining —and he has seeminglybeen just as accurate during the week in the regular season. But his accuracy isn’ttranslating to games.

“I oweittoliterally everybody to be better,” Grupe said. “But Idon’thave a lot of answers right now.”

If theSaintsreplace him,itremains to be seenwhether they would sign someoneoff thestreet or turn to Charlie Smyth —the Ireland native who hasspent the last two seasons on the team’spracticesquad. Askedabout Smyth, Mooresaidhe’sina “developmental role” and added he’dbepartof theevaluation process.

In between theturnovers, there were enough decent moments to give Saintsfans hope that Shough can be theguy theteam builds around going forward. Butinthe end, his 30-of-43, 243-yard passing effort wasn’tnearly

There’salso no guarantee, of course, that the Saints will cut Grupe this week.The team’s brass has stuck by the 27-year-old ever since he beat out WilLutz during training camp in 2023. Coaches have cautioned that teams can releasekickers toosoon,only to see them thrive elsewhere.

Ironically,that’shappening with Lutz in Denver. The Broncos and Lutz reportedly agreed to athree-year extension Friday.Lutz has made 88.6% of his ﬁeld-goal attempts over histhree seasons in Denver,including 17 of 20 in 2025.

But Grupe hasn’thad the same level of consistency.Instead, the Saints have clung to hope that the third-year player could turn acorner Days earlier,Saintsspecial-teams coordinator Phil Galiano knocked on the wooden lectern in front of him during his news conference when it was pointed out that Grupe had made his last eight ﬁeld goal attempts. Knocking on wood might nothave been enough to save Grupe’sjob.

good enough to overcome the rest of the team’s offensive inefﬁciencies.

“Not good enough,” Moore said of the overall offensive performance. “It waschoppy.…There will be better days, certainly.”

With anew head coach, new quarterback and new offensive scheme, growing pains wereexpected from the Saints offense this season. But it’sbeen an even bigger struggle than anyone expected.

The 10-point scoring output marked the sixth consecutive gameinwhich the Saints failed to break the 20-point mark. Their highest scoring output was26points against the New York Giants on Oct. 5, and that effort was accomplished thanks to adefensive touchdown.

The impotent offense forces the Saints into aperpetual gameofcatchup. The Falcons gamewas the seventh timein11contests that the Saints failed to lead forasingle minute.

“Itwas adisappointing day,” Hill said. “Wehad plenty of opportunities, and we didn’tcapitalize. It’s ahard thing to swallow at this point.”

It is indeed. It’s an even harder thing to watch.

Email JeffDuncanat jduncan@theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTO By DAVIDGRUNFELD

Saints coach Kellen Moore walkson the sideline near the end of agame against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday at the Caesars Superdome.

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Saints kickerBlakeGrupe watches his first missed field goal against the Atlanta Falcons during the firsthalf of the game on Sundayatthe Caesars Superdome. Grupemissed twoofhis three field goal attempts on Sunday.

Oregon is back in thetop fi

BY ERIC OLSON AP collegefootball writer

Oregon returned to thetop ﬁve of The Associated Press Top25 college football poll Sunday, ﬁveAtlantic Coast Conference teams were ranked for the second time this season and Georgia Tech took the biggest fall after its second loss in three games.

OhioState, Indiana and Texas

A&M remained the top three teams for asixth straight week, and Georgia was No. 4for the second week in arow Oregon jumped over idle Mississippi to No. 5, its highestranking since it was No. 3inthe Oct. 5poll. The Ducks strengthened theirCollegeFootball Playoff resume with a15-pointvictory over then-No. 16 Southern California, extending their winning streak to ﬁve games. Mississippi was followed by Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Alabama.

Ohio State is No. 1for a13th straight week going into its game at No.15Michigan.The Buckeyes received 58 first-place votes and were 53 points ahead of Indiana, which was listed first on seven voters’ballots. Texas A&Mgot theremaining firstplace vote. Miami, which beat Virginia Tech by 17 points on the road, moved up aspottoNo. 13 and was the highest-rankedoffive ACC teams. Virginia climbed twospotstoNo. 17.Georgia Tech,beaten 42-28 at home by Pittsburgh, dropped eight rungs to No. 23. Pittsburgh, which has three losses, was one spot behind the twoloss Yellow Jackets. No. 25 SMU re-entered the poll for the first time since Sept. 2. No. 20 James Madison of the Sun Belt Conferenceremained the highest-ranked Group ofFive

Oregon

Saturday in Eugene, Ore.

team in the AP poll. The Dukes, up onespot from aweekago,came from behind to beat Washington State24-20.

No.21North Texas of the AmericanConference was one spot ahead of Tulane. The Green Wave were the onlyGroup of Five teamin theCFP selection committee’srankings last week, at No. 24.

Rivalryweekawaits

AfterarelativelycalmWeek 13, rivalry week awaits and offers the final opportunityfor contenderstomakeacase for the CFP. Texas A&M and Georgia look to punch theirtickets to Atlanta for the SEC championship game

with wins againstin-state foes Texas and GeorgiaTech.

In the Big Ten, Michigan hosts No.1OhioState. Awin by the Wolverines couldbeenough for them to earn an at-large bid, but it’safeat no teamhas accomplished this season. Virginia aims to clinch an ACC Championship gameappearance with awin against VirginiaTech, and SMUhopes for the same outcomeagainst Cal. The door opens if either team loses, and eyes will turn to Miami vs. Pitt. Michigan benefits from USC’s loss Michigan beat Maryland 45-20 this week, while USC dropped 42-27 to Oregon.

Quietweekend leaves top of Week 13 poll intact

The combination helped move the Wolverines up anotch to fourth in theBig Ten, behind Ohio State, Indiana and Oregon. USC fell to ﬁfth.

Michigan also moved up three spots in the AP Top25, coming in at No. 15.The Wolverines await rival Ohio State. Awin against the reigning National Champions and playoff front-runners could carry an under-the-radar Michigan team to the College Football Playoff.

Michigan has won their past four against the Buckeyes. Utah dropstoNo. 14

Utah fell one spot in the rankings to No. 14 after narrowly escapinganupset loss to Kansas

State on Saturday night.

The Utes scored two touchdowns and notched an interception in the ﬁnal three minutes of the game to overcome a10-point deﬁcit and win it 51-47.

Utah was the second team out of the 12-team CFP bracket in Tuesday’srankings. Thecommittee ranked theUtes No.12, butthe projected fourth and ﬁfth highest-ranked conference winners —Miami and Tulane —took over the No. 11 and 12 seeds.

Five ACCteams crackthe rankings

Five ACC teams arefeatured in the AP Top25this week, which added SMU and Pitt to the rankings.

At No. 13, Miami holds the the ACC’stop spot, while Virginia trails at No. 17. Georgia Tech fell to No.23, Pitt ranksNo. 24 and SMU rounds out the rankings at No. 25. Wins by SMUand Pitt knocked Houston and Missouri out of the rankings.MissourilosttoOklahoma andHouston dropped to TCU.

NorthDakotaSt.

Week 13 of the college football season happened to be the least eventful slate of the year.Three of the top six teams didn’t even play (Indiana, Texas Tech and Georgia), and the only team in my top 10 that faced a ranked opponent was Oregon As aresult, Imade aton of changes to the bottom of my poll based on some notable results in the ACC and Big 12, but otherwise kept mostlytruetowhat Ihad last week.

Here’s my AP Top25pollfollowing Week 13 of the college football season.

My AP Top25 poll afterWeek13

1. Indiana, 2. Texas A&M, 3. Ohio State, 4. Georgia, 5. Texas Tech, 6. Oklahoma, 7. OleMiss, 8. Alabama, 9. NotreDame, 10. Oregon, 11. BYU, 12. Utah, 13. Miami, 14. Texas, 15. Southern Cal, 16. Vanderbilt, 17. Tennessee, 18. Michigan, 19. SMU, 20. Pittsburgh, 21. Missouri, 22. Arizona State, 23. Arizona, 24. Washington, 25. Iowa Just missed: Virginia, Louisville, Georgia Tech, North Texas

Smallchanges to top15

Reﬂective of the quiet week, I made only two changestomytop 15. Iﬂipped Oklahoma and OleMiss and slidUSC down two spots after losing to Oregon. Nothingelse felt worth changing, although Iconsidered slidingOregonupasaresult of its big win. Ikept the Ducks where they’re at because IthinkNotre Dame’s wins have been slightly more impressive on the whole.

Why move Oklahoma past Ole Miss despite the Rebels beating the Sooners earlier in the year? The answer comes down to the Sooners’ superior slate of victories, amargin that greweven more this week when Oklahoma took down Missouri at home. Oklahoma holds wins over Michigan, Alabama, Missouri and Tennessee, and though Ole Miss has one fewer defeat and beatthe Sooners,its next best win is over Tulane. It would alsobeeasier to argue for the Rebels if they had been consistently blowing out their inferior competition, but

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables walks the sidelineduring agame against AlabamaonSaturday in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

close winsoverWashington State, LSU, Kentucky,Arkansas and even Floridadisplay how relatively fragile their resume is. USCdroppingfrom No. 13 to No. 15 has less to dowith the loss this week than it does with Texas andMiami holding more impressive victories than the Trojans. I still chose USC over Vanderbilt because Iprefer theTrojans’ top wins(aconvincinghomewin over Michiganand ahome win against Iowa) over Vanderbilt’s(aclose home win against Missouriand a home winover LSU)

SMU, Pittsjumpintotop 20

SMU’sresounding win over Louisville this week, when combinedwith its victory over Miami earlier,gives the Mustangs the best resumeamong ACC teams notnamed Miami. They already have three losses, but Iwouldn’t consider anyofthemtobeparticularlyembarrassing.Baylor is on the vergeofmaking abowl game, TCU beat Houstontoearnits seventh win last night and Wake Forestis8-3. Pittsburgh does have areally bad defeattoWest Virginia, but thePanthers’ resume outside of that looks alot better after taking down GeorgiaTech convincingly on theroad this week. Alopsided

loss to Notre Dame last week showed that their ceiling is pretty low,but Ilike how they’ve easily taken down everyone besides Louisville in their ACC schedule. Both Pittsburgh andSMU hold better wins than anything Missouri —the team right behind them —has accomplished this season

Othernotes

The last ﬁve spotsinmypoll were Frankensteined together Missouri stayed above Arizona State on thestrength of beating Mississippi Stateeasily.The Sun Devils’ loss to the Bulldogs really hurt themwhenI compared ASU’sresume with Missouri’s Arizona followed ASUafter takingdown Baylor with ease this week. TheWildcats lack awin over arankedteam —ASU’s win over TexasTech is better than anything Arizona hasdone, even though the Red Raiders were without theirstarting QB —but they took BYU to double overtime and onlylost to Houstonby three. They clearly deserve a spot in thepoll. Washington and Iowa earned thelast two spotsafter the Huskies bounced back from their loss to Wisconsin withadominant road win over UCLA, and Iowa squeaked past Michigan State.

TheAssociated Press INDIANAPOLIS Defending national champion North Dakota State will lead arecord-tying six teams fromthe Missouri Valley FootballConference intothe Football ChampionshipSubdivision playoffs. The MVFC champion Bison (12-0) on Sunday were named the No. 1seed in the 24-team playoffs and will be makingtheir 16th consecutive appearance. The ﬁeld is madeupof11automatically qualifying conference champions and 13 at-large selections. The ﬁrst round begins Saturday withunseeded teams paired with teams seeded 9-16 primarily according to geographical proximity.The championship game is Jan.5 at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. North Dakota State has won 10 of the last 14 FCS titles. The Bison beat St. Thomas-Minnesota 62-7 on Saturday to extend their winning streak to 16 games.

Montana State (10-2), the runner-up to NDSUlast year,earned theNo. 2seed after beating rival Montana 31-28toclinch theBig

Sky Conference championship.

Montana (11-1) is the No. 3seed. Tarleton State (11-1) of theUnited Athletic Conference is the No. 4seed.

Patriot League champion Lehigh (12-0) is No. 5, Southern champion Mercer (9-2) is No. 6, Southland championStephenF Austin (10-2) is No.7and the Big Sky’sUCDavis (8-3) is No. 8. The topeight seedsreceive aﬁrst-round bye andwill play their second-round gameat home.

TheIvy League is participating in the playoffs for the ﬁrst time. Yale,whichdefeated Harvard 4528 forthe Ivytitle, earned the automaticbid andthe Crimsonare in as an at-large team.

First-round games: Illinois State (8-4) at Southeastern Louisiana(9-3);Central Connecticut State (8-4) at Rhode Island (10-2); Harvard (9-1) at Villanova (9-2); North Dakota (7-5) at Tennessee Tech (11-1);New Hampshire (8-4) at South Dakota State (8-4); Drake (8-3)atSouth Dakota (8-4); Lamar (8-4)atAbilene Christian(8-4); andYale(8-2) at Youngstown State (8-4).

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By VASHA HUNT

Koki Riley

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Top teams ﬂock to Players Era tournament

BY MARK ANDERSON Associated Press

LAS VEGAS The Players Era

boldly announced its intentions last year to be the premier earlyseason college basketball tournament destination, guaranteeing at least $1 million in name, image and likeness money to each of the eight participating teams Now in its second year the Players Era that begins Monday is undeniably the place to be, having blown by the Maui Invitational and other such events with a ﬁeld loaded with teams that could be playing deep into March.

Half of the 18-team field is in The Associated Press poll, including No. 2 Houston and No. 7 Michigan. The inaugural women’s ﬁeld is smaller in numbers, but three of the four schools — No. 2 South Carolina, No. 3 UCLA and No. 4 Texas — are in the top four of the AP Top 25.

“You look at the teams in this field, and it’s high level everywhere you turn,” Michigan men’s coach Dusty May said. “Every night is a challenge. Testing ourselves early to see where we are will be rewarding.”

The Houston men’s team is back for the second year in a row, and the Cougars’ decision to play in last year’s inaugural event persuaded other teams to commit. Houston went on to play for the national championship, coming within a possession of cutting down the nets.

Why are the Cougars back in Las Vegas? It’s pretty simple.

“They’re giving us $1 million,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “That’s why we’re there, and I would say that’s why all the teams are there. We didn’t sign up for this to have a tournament where we could play each other We signed up for this because they’re giving us $1 million. If they decided to put a court down at some vacant lot and they’d give us $1 million, I’d go play there, too.

“It saves us from having to go ask somebody else for the money There is a thing called donor fatigue.”

For organizers, the key was backing up their promises that they could pay the teams while at the same time not breaking the bank. They won’t release ﬁnancial details, but event co-founder and former AND1 CEO Seth Berger said organizers “are really happy with” where the tournament stands from a ﬁnancial standpoint.

Michigan

reacts after the team’s win against Middle Tennessee on Wednesday in Ann Arbor, Mich.

“I think the most important thing that the teams had to know from last year that, one, Players Era could operate a ﬁrst-class event and we did,” Berger said. “The second thing was the promises that we made to the athletes that we were

going to bring guaranteed NIL opportunities and actually fulﬁll the obligations and pay the kids for the NIL activations were going to be true.”

He said not only have teams bought in, but so have their sup-

Fudd’s 24 points leads No. 1 UConn past Utah

BY JIM FULLER Associated Press

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Azzi Fudd had 24 points and a career-high eight rebounds in three quarters as topranked UConn cruised past Utah 93-41 to ﬁnish as the only undefeated team in the Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase.

Blanca Quinonez had 21 points and ﬁve rebounds off the bench while Sarah Strong added 15 points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots in 20 minutes. Allie Ziebell had a season-high 10 points for the Huskies (6-0), who improved

to 47-1 at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Fudd finished with 55 points in the two games after scoring a season-high 31 points in Friday’s win over No. 6 Michigan. Utah (3-3) came into the game ranked in the top 25 in 3-pointers per game. The Utes didn’t make their first shot inside the 3-point line until Brooke Walker’s jump with 7:36 left in the first quarter Fudd, Strong and Quinonez combined for all the points during UConn’s 14-0 run to push the lead to 19 points After a 3-pointer by Walker the Huskies scored the final eight points of the first quarter to take a 32-8 lead. Even with

the Huskies shooting just 36% from the ﬁeld in the second quarter UConn led 44-19 at halftime.

Lani White had nine points and Walker scored with eight for Utah. UConn’s pressure defense rattled the Utes, with Utah committing three turnovers in the first 3:40 UConn had seven steals and 18 points off turnovers in the first half. The Utes had just one field goal in the first 6:46 in the first meeting between the programs. The Huskies came up with steals on three consecutive possessions early in the third quarter Fudd’s two 3-pointers keyed a 20-0 run to push the lead to 41.

porters, with ticket sales seven times higher than last year

“They’re insanely amazing,” Berger said. “I literally am not overstating it.” The Maui Invitational was for many years the prime destination for such events, and there would have been a time in the not-toodistant past that a team wouldn’t have dreamed of backing out.

But that’s what UNLV did in February The Runnin’ Rebels went from playing in paradise to staying home on “the ninth island,” a title given to Las Vegas because of the heavy inﬂux of Hawaiians.

Teams certainly don’t go to Maui for the money It often is a net loss for those making the trip, but the payoff is the tropical experience and competing in a field full of ranked teams. This year, No. 25 N.C. State is ranked in this year’s eight-team ﬁeld that begins play Monday, and Southern California is the only other team even receiving votes. Attempts to reach an ofﬁcial at the Maui Invitational for comment were unsuccessful.

Like Maui, Las Vegas can sell the atmosphere to teams as well as the money and the strength of the ﬁeld.

“Man, I’m super excited,” Michigan preseason All-American Yaxel Lendeborg said. “Just being able to play in Vegas in general is amazing. It’s like playing in New York.” Las Vegas will use two venues MGM Grand Garden Arena and Michelob Ultra Arena — that are about a ﬁve-minute drive apart on the Strip.

The men’s part of the event begins with prescheduled games Monday and Tuesday On Wednesday, the championship and thirdplace game will take place, with other teams competing in consolation games that day and on Thanksgiving.

The women play two semiﬁnals Wednesday with the title and consolation games on Thursday “I think everybody looked at this week when it came out and went, ‘Whoa, what an opportunity,’ ” UCLA women’s coach Cori Close said “I don’t have to work very hard to motivate (her players).”

BY BETH HARRIS Associated Press

LOS ANGELES Angela Dugalic scored 20 points to lead four players in double figures and No. 3 UCLA routed Southern 88-37 on Sunday The Bruins (6-0) tuned up for their second trip to Las Vegas in two weeks. They swept ranked North Carolina and South Florida in the WBCA Challenge last time.

This week, they’ll face No. 4 Texas and play either No. 2 South Carolina or Duke in their other game

Kiki Rice added 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists, Lauren Betts had 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting and six rebounds and Lena Bilic hit four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points and six rebounds. DeMya Porter scored eight points to lead Southern (1-4) in its second visit to Pauley Pavilion this year The Jaguars lost to the Bruins by 38 points in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in March, with UCLA advancing to the Final

Four The Bruins led 49-9 at halftime after shutting out the Jaguars 27-0 in the second quarter. It was UCLA’s first scoreless quarter since Dec. 5, 2021, against San Jose State. Their defense forced the Jaguars into missing all of their 13 shots while committing five turnovers and grabbing just four rebounds. In one sequence, Betts blocked a shot, Gabriela Jaquez stole the ball and Dugalic hit a 3-pointer, one of the four that she and Bilic combined to make in the second. UCLA outscored Southern 39-0 starting at the end of the first and ending early in the third. That’s when Jaylia Reed stopped the drought with a 3-pointer — her team’s second of the game. Southern managed 12 points in the third, when Dugalic scored UCLA’s final seven points for a 7221 lead going into the fourth.

AP PHOTO By RyAN SUN

forward yaxel Lendeborg

ASSOCIATED PRESS

PHOTO By NELL REDMOND

South Carolina guard Ta’Niya Latson listens to coach Dawn Staley during a game against Winthrop on Wednesday in Columbia, S.C. South Carolina is playing in the Players Era Tournament this week.

AP PHOTO By ETHAN SWOPE UCLA forward Gabriela Jaquez, right, is defended by Southern during a game Sunday in Los Angeles.

AP PHOTO By STEVEN SENNE

UConn guard Azzi Fudd, left, drives toward the basket as Utah guard Brooke Walker defends in the first half of their game Sunday in Uncasville, Conn.

Valimaki holds on for 1st PGA Tour title

BY DOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer

ST SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Sami Valimaki became Finland’s first PGA Tour winner on Sunday when he closed with a 4-under 66 for a oneshot victory in the RSM Classic, the final event of the year, which saw hopes rise and fall over the final hour at Sea Island Valimaki, who had two runnerup finishes over the past two seasons, used putter from below the green on the 16th and then holed an 18-foot putt putt. He was steady over the closing holes even as the wind abruptly changed direction with a little more force late in the day Far more dramatic was everything going on in front of him. The top 100 in the FedEx Cup standings — down from 125 players in previous years — have full PGA Tour cards for a 2026 season when the fields will be smaller Ricky Castillo shot 28 on the front nine and closed with a 62, and when he finished, it looked like that would be enough for him to move from No. 135 inside the top 100. But then Max McGreevy holed a 30-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 63, moving him into second place alone.

That bumped Castillo down to No. 102 by fewer than 10 points Right after McGreevy holed his putt, Lee Hodges had a 10foot birdie attempt that narrowly

missed and cost him a chance to move into the top 100 The par for a 66 left him at No. 101 in the FedEx Cup standings by about two points. When the RSM Classic ended, the players at Nos. 95 to 100 going into the ﬁnal event were unchanged.

And there was Valimaki, a twotime winner on the European tour who was runner-up two weeks ago in Mexico. Now he has a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour and is assured of playing the ﬁrst two $20 million signature events of 2026

by ﬁnishing at No. 51 in the FedEx Cup.

“It has been a long road, of course,” Valimaki said. “I feel like it’s a really tough year even when I kind of played decent golf, and then to keep pushing and ﬁnd some

SCOREBOARD

48, N. Arizona 28 NCAA 2025 FCS Playoff glance First Round Saturday, November 29 Southeastern La. vs. Illinois St., noon Rhode Island vs. Central Conn. St., 11 a.m. Villanova vs. Harvard, 11 a.m. Tennessee Tech vs. North Dakota, noon Youngstown St. vs. Yale, 11 a.m. Abilene Christian vs. Lamar University, noon South Dakota vs. Drake, noon South Dakota St. vs. New Hampshire, noon Second Round Saturday, December 6 North Dakota St. vs Southeastern La.-Illinois St.-winner, noon UC Davis vs. Rhode Island-Central Conn. St.-winner, 2 p.m. Lehigh vs. Villanova-Harvard-winner, 11 a.m. Tarleton St. vs. Tennessee Tech-North Dakota-winner, noon Montana St. vs. Youngstown St.-Yale-winner, 1 p.m. SFA vs. Abilene Christian-Lamar Universitywinner, noon Mercer vs. South Dakota-Drake-winner, 11 a.m. Montana vs. South Dakota St.-New Hampshire-winner, 1 p.m. Quarterfinals North Dakota St.-Southeastern La.-Illinois St.-winner vs. UC Davis-Rhode Island-Central Conn. St.-winner, TBA Lehigh-Villanova-Harvard-winner vs. Tarleton St.-Tennessee Tech-North Dakotawinner, TBA Montana St.-Youngstown St.-Yale-winner vs. SFA-Abilene Christian-Lamar Universitywinner, TBA Mercer-South Dakota-Drake-winner vs. Montana-South Dakota St.-New Hampshirewinner, TBA Semifinals North Dakota St.-Southeastern La.-Illinois St.-UC Davis-Rhode Island-Central Conn. St.-winner vs. Lehigh-Villanova-HarvardTarleton St.-Tennessee Tech-North Dakotawinner, TBA Montana St.-Youngstown St.-Yale-SFAAbilene Christian-Lamar University-winner vs. Mercer-South Dakota-Drake-MontanaSouth Dakota St.-New Hampshire-winner, TBA Championship Monday, January 5 Semifinal winners, 6:30 p.m. Pro golf The RSM Classic par scores

good grooves in the last few tournaments, it feels amazing.”

McGreevy, who already had his card locked up, moved up to No. 60 to also qualify for a pair of signature events to start next year His ﬁnish bumped Jordan Spieth, who did not play this fall, from the 60th spot, meaning Spieth will need sponsor exemptions for Pebble Beach and Riviera.

McGreevyplayed with freedom knowing he didn’t have to worry about playing for his card.

“I never felt that nervous,” he said. “I felt like I was playing to win. Luckily, my best golf came out at the end of the year.” Nico Echavarria shot 65 to tie for fourth and moved into that No. 5160 slot for signature events on the West Coast.

Sam Stevens made a hole-in-one on the third hole with a 9-iron over a bunker to a front pin and wound up with a 63 to join an 11-way tie for seventh place. He already was set for all the signature events. On his mind at No. 48 in the world ranking was staying in the top 50 at year’s end to earn a spot in the Masters.

It’s too close to call, as it is for Johnny Keefer, the Korn Ferry Tour player of the year who came into the week at No. 50. Both were in that big tie for seventh and ﬁgure to move up a few spots, with tournaments still to be held in Australia and South Africa the rest of the year

-17

-16

68b-67a-67a-65a—267 -15

Buckley 66a-64b-70a-67a—267 15 Trey Mullinax 65a-68b-70a-64a—267 15 Henrik Norlander 65a-67b-71a-64a—267 -15 Andrew Putnam 61a-69b-69a-68a—267 15

69b-62a-68a-68a—267 -15

Sigg 66a-62b-72a-67a—267 15

-13 Chan Kim 66b-68a-69a-66a—269 13 Chris Kirk 70b-64a-68a-67a—269 -13 N. N. Moller 65a-69b-67a-68a—269 13 M. Riedel 64b-67a-72a-67a—270 12 Auto racing

F1 Gran Premio de Mexico results Sunday At Hermanos Rodriguez Racetrack Mexico City Lap length: 4.00 kilometers (Start position in parentheses) 1. (1) Lando Norris, Great Britain, McLaren, 71 laps, 1:37:58.574, 25 points. 2. (2) Charles Leclerc, Monaco, Ferrari, 71, +30.324 seconds, 18. 3. (5) Max Verstappen, Netherlands, Red Bull Racing, 71, +31.049, 15. 4. (9) Oliver Bearman, England, Haas, 71, +40.955, 12. 5. (7) Oscar Piastri, Australia, McLaren, 71, +42.065, 10. 6. (6) A. Kimi Antonelli, Italy, Merc., 71, +47.837, 8. 7. (4) George Russell, Great Britain, Mercedes, 71, +50.287, 6. 8. (3) Lewis Hamilton, Great Britain, Ferrari, 71, +56.446, 4. 9. (11) Esteban Ocon, France, Haas, 71, +75.464, 2. 10. (16) G Bortoleto, Brazil, KICK Sauber, 71, +76.863, 1. 11. (10) Y. Tsunoda, Japan, R. Bull Rac., 71, +79.048. 12. (17) A. Albon, Thailand, Williams, 70, 1L. 13. (8) I. Hadjar, France, Racing Bulls, 70, 1L. 14. (19) L. Stroll, Canada, Aston Martin, 70, 1L. 15. (18) Pierre Gasly, France, Alpine, 70, 1L. 16. (20) F. Colapinto, Argentina, Alpine, 70, 1L. 17. (12) Carlos Sainz Jr., Spain, Williams, did not finish, 67. 18. (14) Fernando Alonso, Spain, Aston Martin, did not finish, 34. 19. (13) Nico Hulkenberg, Germany, KICK Sauber, did not finish, 25. 20. (15) Liam Lawson, New Zealand, Racing Bulls, did not finish, 5. Driver Standings 1. L. Norris, G. Britain, McLaren, 357 points. 2. Oscar Piastri, Australia, McLaren, 356. 3. M. Verstappen, Neth., Red Bull Racing, 321. 4. G. Russell, Great Britain, Mercedes, 258. 5. Charles Leclerc, Monaco, Ferrari, 210. 6. Lewis Hamilton, Great Britain, Ferrari, 146. 7. Andrea

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MIKE STEWART

Sami Valimaki celebrates on the 18th green during the final round of the RSM Classic golf tournament on Sunday in St. Simons Island, Ga.

Howcan Imusterasense of gratitude as acaregiveramidthe arduous journey of Alzheimer’sdisease?

For some caregivers, it is difﬁcult to invoke gratitude, to have athankful spirit during the journey of Alzheimer’s disease with aloved one. And, combined with the seemingly endless disasters and devastations, and things knownand unknowntous, these life’s difﬁculties pull us into often disordered lives and makeit nearly impossible to see how we’re supposed to have feelings of gratefulness as Thanksgiving nears. It is normal to have some form of guilt or shamefor not feeling the emotion of thankfulness. The day-to-day responsibilities of caring fora loved one with Alzheimer’sare overwhelming and stressful, and feelings of gratitude, most often, are the last thoughts on the caregiver’smind at the end of the day

BY CAROLYNTHOMPSON Associated Press

Slime, that gooey, sticky and often-homemade plaything, was enshrined intothe National Toy Hall of Fame on Thursdayalong withperennial bestselling games Battleship andTrivial Pursuit

Each year,the Hall of Fame recognizestoys that have inspired creativeplayacross generations, cullingits ﬁnalists fromamong thousands of nominees sent in online Voting by thepublic and apanel of expertsdecides which playthings willbeinducted.

Milton Bradley’sBattleship, a strategy game that challenges players to strikeanopponent’s warships, and Trivial Pursuit, which tests players’ knowledge in categories like geography and sports, have each sold morethan 100 million copies over several

decades,accordingtothe Hall of Fame. Battleship started as apenciland-paper game in the1930s, but it was Milton Bradley’s1967 plastic editionwith fold-up stations and model ships that becameahit with the public. Its popularity crested when Universal Pictures and Hasbro, which nowownsMilton Bradley,released the 2012 movie, “Battleship,” looselybased on the game.Battleship was also among

theﬁrst board games tobecomputerized in 1979, according to the Hall of Fame, and now thereare numerous electronic versions. TrivialPursuitlets players compete aloneorinteams as they maneuver around aboardanswering trivia questions in exchange for wedges in agame piece. Canadian journalists Chris Haney and Scott Abbott came up with thegamein

Historical associationreclaimsRockwellsketches

BY JONATHAN J.

Acknowledging and journaling these feelings will help the emotions ﬂow and also help in identifying the areas that need healing. Additionally,writing, naming and embracing all these emotions can bring new perspectives, and the caregiver might see many aspects of his or her situations that are blessings —ones to be thankful for Hope and gratitude can spring through the recognition of these blessings in addition to providing the endurance and encouragement through the worst of caregiving times. Great blessings are often released through acceptance; acceptance of the loved one’s disease and its progression and acceptance that lifewill never be the same, though still purposeful, nonetheless.

Finding particular meaning in caring forthat loved one with Alzheimer’sand then appreciating the personal growth that comes from being strong in the wake of this difﬁcult journey can help the caregiver on the road to feeling grateful and offering thanks foreach momentofthe day with his or her loved one.

Discoverthat gratitude happens in the joy of the present moment. Yes, life is not the same, but have you noticed your loved one’ssmile lately? Have you cherished that touch, aglimmer in the eyes, the spontaneous laughter,orperhaps a familiar melody sung together?

Finding those small moments of joy in everyday living and meaningful activities can create new relationships with family members and friends and generate alasting bond between the caregiver and the care receiver.And those moments that seemed so completely insigniﬁcant afew months ago can suddenly become simple joys. Little things can emerge that offer hope and aspirit of gratefulness.

In this season of Thanksgiving, amid great challenges with the Alzheimer’sjourney,and other lifedifﬁculties, we can

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By JEFF BAENEN

Astrid Rubens demonstrates the elasticity of homemadeslime in her kitchen in St.Paul, Minn., in 2017.

PROVIDED PHOTO By EVyN MORGAN/THESTRONG NATIONAL MUSEUM OF PLAy Trivial Pursuit, Battleship and Slimewill be inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame for 2025 in Rochester,N.y

Speech-languagetherapyhelpful forreceptive aphasia

Dear Doctors: Isuffered astroke about ayear ago and have completed outpatient rehab. Ihave been having aproblem understanding speakers at an event. Ihear the sounds but can’tunderstand all the words. Do you know if this is common? Is there any therapy or exercisesthatcan help?

Dear reader: Thecondition you have describedisknown as receptive aphasia. Alsocalled Wernicke’saphasia, it affectsthe ability to comprehend,and sometimesto produce, spoken or writtenlanguage. Receptive aphasia is estimated to occur in between 20% and 40% of people whohave suffered an ischemic stroke. This is astroke in which aclot,air bubbleorfragment of debris slows or blocks blood ﬂow to the brain Other possible causes include non-stroke brain injuriesand cer-

Dr.Elizabeth Ko Dr.Eve Glazier ASK THE DOCTORS

tain neurological disorders, but these are less common Receptive aphasia can develop when an interruptionofblood ﬂow damagestissues in aspeciﬁcarea of the brain. Known as Wernicke’sarea, it is located toward theback of the left side of thebrain,near theauditory cortex.This region is key to helpingusprocess and understand spoken andwritten language. Wernicke’sarea is essentially the

brain’stranslation center,where therandom sounds of speech are decoded and transformed into meaningful language. People livingwith receptive aphasia may beneﬁt from aform of treatment known as speechlanguage therapy.It’sdesigned to help improve or regain theability to understand and use spoken and written language. This form of rehab works by retraining the brain through exercises that focus on language drills, repetition, question-and-answer practice and guided conversation. Therapists often incorporate drawings, photos,videos and other visual aids. The goal is to improve comprehension and strengthen communication skills. While speech-language therapy can be effective, the results are highly individual. Outcomes de-

Difficultiescooking forone

Dear Heloise: Iam102 years of age and live by myself. Cooking for one is difﬁcult. Ihave containersthat hold aserving of mac and cheese, sliced roastand gravy,meat sauce, etc. One pound of ground meat pats out to ﬁve or six patties. Iplace them on acookie sheet to freeze, then put them in abaggie for future use. I spreadhamburger buns on sheet, and when they’re individually frozen, Ireturn them to the bag and put them back in the freezer.One cup of cooked rice can be divided into serving amounts and placed in appropriate-sized baggies. These are just afew ways to have ready-to-warm-andserve meals. Itruly save

money and leftoverfood to my advantage. Thanks for your informative column. Ruth B.,via email Supportyourlocal libraries

don’tlike cooking,but one of us needs to do it,and it’s easier for me. My husband does many other household and outside jobs that Ido not do.

pend on the location of abrain injury and the extent of damage to thetissues of Wernicke’sarea.

The person’sage, as wellastheir overall health, can also inﬂuence success. So can the frequency and intensity of the therapy.Studies show this therapy is mosteffectivewhen practiced intensively, between 20 and 50 hours total.

That includes sessions with a therapist and practice at home.

And, as with anyrecovery process, support is important from family,friends and health care professionals. People whohave someoneinvested in their recovery,even clinical staff, tend to makemore progress than those who try to do it alone.

To engage in this type of therapy,you’ll wanttowork with aspeech-language pathologist. They will assess your condition,

design apersonalized treatment plan, oversee your sessions and track your progress. Speech-language therapy has been shownto be effective even when delivered remotely.Soifyou can’tﬁnd an experienced therapist nearby,you can explore virtual options. Receptive aphasia can have aprofound effect on quality of life, but with skilled therapy and steady support, manypeople makemeaningful progress. We hope you’re able to connect with atherapist who’sthe right ﬁt for you.

Send yourquestions to askthedoctors@mednet.ucla. edu, or write: Ask theDoctors, c/oUCLA HealthSciences Media Relations, 10880 Wilshire Blvd.,Suite 1450, Los Angeles CA, 90024.

FOMO in Englishclass

Dear Heloise: The Friends of theSpringﬁeldGreene County Library in Missouri hastwo major book sales each year When Iwas there for thelast one, they had about20local yearbooks that were set outfor purchase. People need to check in with and support theirlocal libraries, or we are going to lose them. —Ann, via email

Cookingfor two

Dear Heloise: My husband is aceliac and avegetarian. Iamneither of those things,soIhave tocook separate meals for us. I

HALL OF FAME

Continued from page1C

1979 and eventually sold the rights to Hasbro. Frequently updated, specialty versions have emerged for young players, baby boomers and other segments and an online daily quiz keeps players engaged, chief curator Chris Bensch said.

Slime’sappeal is more about squish than skill It was introduced commercially in 1976 and has beenmanufactured under various brand names, but it is even more accessible as a do-it-yourself project. The internet offers avariety of recipes using ingredients like baking soda, glue and contact lens solution.

To solve theproblem of having to makeseparate meals andmydisliking to cook, Icook my meals and makethem intoTVdinners. Iusually keep about seven different kinds of meals in thefreezer for myself. This way,Ican have what Ilike quickly and not have to be cooking all the time.

Icook one or two recipes for him each week. Ialways keep atray of fresh, cutup vegetables and fruits available. It works for us. Thanks for your column. I read it every day —Carol B., via email

Send ahinttoheloise@ heloise.com.

ATrivialPursuitgameis displayedatthe ToyFair in New york’s Javits Center in 2023.

“Though slime continues to carry icky connotations to slugs and swamps —all part of the fun forsome —the toy offers meaningful play,” curator Michelle ParnettDwyer said, adding that it’s also used forstress relief andbuilding motor skills. Thehonorees will beon permanent displayatthe Hall of Fame inside The Strong National Museum of Play inRochester,New York.

ROCKWELL

Continued from page1C

“I can’ttell you how personally thrilled Iamthat the White House Historical Association preserved this piece of White House history,” said Anita McBride, who sits on the association’s board of directors.

The White House Historical Association’swinning bid was $5.8 million. Its total cost to reclaim the art, including the buyer’spremium paid to the auction house,was $7.25million

The price tag is by far the most ever paid by the association, which holds avast collection of art, furniture and other items as part of itsmission to help the White House collectand display artifacts that represent American his-

GRATITUDE

Continued from page1C

tory and culture. BeforeFriday, the most the association had paidfor an artifact was $1.5 million for“The Builders,” by African American artist Jacob Lawrence, in 2007, McBride said. Thatwork depictshardworking men in orange,red andbrowntones, and hangs in the White House Green Room

The sketches are Rockwell’sonlyknown collection of four interrelatedpaintings thatheconceived to tell a story,according to Heritage Auctions, the Dallas-based auctionhouse that soldthem Theseries was created in 1943 andpublished in the SaturdayEvening Post. Theassociation will share more “about thefuture of this signiﬁcant andhistoric work,” its president, Stewart McLaurin, said in astatement

This year’s inducteeswere voted in over other nominees including the games Catan and Connect Four, the Spirographdrawing device, the “StarWars” lightsaber, Furby andTickleMeElmo. They also beat outclassics including scooters,cornhole and snow

“Welook forward to utilizing this acquisition to teach White House history for generations to come,” he said.

Matthew Costello, the association’schiefeducation officer,told The Associated Press in atelephone interview this week that officials haddiscussedputting the sketches on display at The People’sHouse:AWhite House Experience. The association opened the interactive White House education center in September 2024. The White House Historical Association wascreated in 1961 by first lady Jacqueline Kennedy to help preserve themuseum quality of theinterior of theWhite House andeducate thepublic. It is anonprofit, nonpartisanorganization that receives no government funding.

best. Perhaps American poet Maya Angelousums up gratitude best in one of her many quotes: “The ship of my life mayormay not be sailingoncalmand amiable seas. Thechallenging days ofmyexistence may or may not bebrightand promising. Stormyorsunny days,glorious orlonely nights, Imaintain an attitudeofgratitude.IfI insist on beingpessimistic, there is always tomorrow.TodayI am blessed.” Dana Territo is an Alzheimer’s advocate and author of “What My Grandchildren Taught Me About Alzheimer’s Disease.” She hosts“The Memory Whisperer.” Emailher at thememorywhisperer@ gmail.com.

Dear Miss Manners: Iama high school senior who usually sitswith my friend Oliver in English class. I’veknown him for about a year and we get along very well and hang out outside of school since we only have one class together

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

We don’tactually talk much in this class. I’venoticed he has difﬁcultyfocusing so he can’tbedistracted from his schoolwork and our usual shared activities aren’treally something to be doing in class.

Inoticed today that the table behind where Oliver and Isit has about ﬁve people and they were having apretty amazing conversation for mostofclass. Icould hear them making somevery witty remarks about the current assignmentand they talked alot about TV shows Ienjoy I’d like to ask theteacher

if Ican movetothe fun table but Idonot want Oliver to feel like Iwant to avoid him or don’t enjoy his company, he’sjust abit boring in comparison. How should Itell Oliver about my decision without him forming anxiety over it? Also Idon’t want him to feel leftout as only one other person sits at our current table and she doesn’treally talk to either of us.

Gentle reader: As arule, Miss Manners considers herself an advocate for any Gentle Reader whohas sought her advice. Not,of course, if the intention of the query is to justifyrudeness or to be combative.

But yours is neither Rather,itisthe laudable intention of preventing your pleasure from resulting in another’sdesolation.

Sendquestions to Miss Manners at herwebsite, www.missmanners. com; to heremail, dearmissmanners@gmail. com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

So far, Miss Manners is with you. But hold on a minute. Your complaint about Oliver is that he doesn’t talk in class much. He concentrates on the subject matter.Soitwould be alot morefun to join the hilarious group that isn’tpaying attention. And you are appealing to agrown-up to help you? How about applying someofthat sensitivity to others? Youmight begin with the teacher —who, frankly,should have broken up that table of wits; then the students whoare interested in the subject; and perhaps your own parents, whotrusted that you were in school to learn.

Family debateswhether dadtreated kids differently

Dear Harriette: My younger brother and Igrew up in thesame house but had very different experiences with our father.Askids, Ialways felt like Dad was harder on me. He was quick to criticize and slow to show affection while my brother seemed toget the best part of him Now that we’re adults, Ithought we could ﬁnally talk about it,but every time Ibring it up, my brother shutsdown or getsdefensive. He insists I’m exaggerating, defends our father’sbehavior and sometimes even turns it back on me, saying I’m being “too sensitive” or “still holding agrudge.” My brother seemsunwilling to understand my point of view.I’m not trying to tear downour dad, but Ifeel so isolated. Even my dad insists that he treated us the same—no exceptions. How do Imake peace with the fact that my own family may never acknowledge my feelings in this way? —Split Decision Dear Split Decision: Your family is stuck in its way of being. They cannot see beyond the moment and are not willing, at least right now,toconsider your perspective. That’sOK. Find somebody else to talk to —namely atherapist.

By The Associated Press

Harriette Cole

SENSE AND SENSITIVITy

Today is Monday, Nov.24, the 328th day of 2025. There are 37 days left in the year

Todayinhistory: On Nov.24, 1963, Jack Ruby shot and mortally wounded Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy,inascene captured on live television.

Also on this date:

In 1859, Britishnaturalist Charles Darwin published “Onthe Origin of Species,” which explained his theory of evolution by meansof natural selection.

In 1865, Mississippi becamethe ﬁrst Southern state to enact laws that came to be known as “Black Codes” aimed at limiting the rightsofnewly freed Blacks;other states of the former Confederacy soon followed.

In 1971, ahijacker call-

ing himself “Dan Cooper” (but whobecame popularly knownas“D.B. Cooper”) parachuted from aNorthwest Orient Airlines 727 over the Paciﬁc Northwest after receiving $200,000 in ransom;his fate remains unknown.

In 1974, the bone fragments of a3.2 million-yearold hominid were discovered by scientists in Ethiopia; the skeletal remains were nicknamed“Lucy.”

In 2014, it was announced that agrand jury in St. Louis County,Missouri, had decided against indicting Ferguson police ofﬁcer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown; the decision enraged protesters who set ﬁre to buildings and cars and looted businesses in the area where Brown had been fatally shot.

In 2021, three White men were convicted of murder in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery,the Black man

Youare at the perfect point in your lifetotalk about your past and present with aprofessional whocan help you process your feelings and experiences. This is how you can free yourself from whatever pain you are holding onto. That doesn’tmean that you will resolve how you were treated as achild with your brother.Your family maynever be able to see whatyou are saying or talk about the past, but you can and should evaluate your life, process your experiences and develop healthy ways to live today,regardless of how they behave.

Sendquestions to askharriette@ harriettecole.com.

whowas running through aGeorgia subdivision in February 2020 when they chased and shot him In 2023, Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police ofﬁcer convicted of murdering Black man George Floyd, was stabbed by another inmate and seriously injured at afederal prison in Arizona. He was subsequently transferred to another prison. Today’sbirthdays: Basketball HallofFamer Oscar Robertson is 87. Former NFLCommissioner Paul Tagliabue is 85. Rock drummer Pete Best is 84. ActorcomedianBilly Connolly is 83. BasketballHallof Famer andformer Detroit mayor DaveBing is

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By RICHARD DREW

Hints from Heloise

sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Make domestic adjustments that offer freedom to pursue exciting avenues. It's OK to be different and to take the road less traveled. Be true to yourself.

cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Proceed with a passionate and positive attitude, and you will gain momentum, support and a chance to demonstrate your potential. Someone you encounter will interest you personally.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Pay attention to money, expiration dates and keeping your personal documents current. Be good to yourself, live within your means and enjoy life's simple pleasures.

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Get in the game, share your thoughts and engage in your community. Do all the above with a positiveattitudeandasmileonyourface,and something good will transpire.

ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Think twice before you react to something. Situations may not be as they appear. Offering support and a positive response will help you navigate your way to the truth and justice.

tAuRus (April 20-May 20) The sky is the limit when you put your mind to achievingyourgoals.Partnershipsandcreative pursuits look promising and enriching. A change will spark your interest.

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Listen, absorb and change what's necessary to keep the peace and to ensure you get to finish

what you start. How you navigate your way through situations will determine your success.

cAncER (June 21-July 22) Interacting will play a crucial role in determining how muchyouaccomplishandhowmuchhelp you receive. Utilize your charm, knowledge and networking skills to enhance your confidence and foster leadership.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Immerse yourself in events that challenge you in positive ways.Leavenotimeorroomforself-pity. Trust your instincts and act on them.

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Speak up and deal with unfinished business. Social or networking events can lead to opportunities and a deeper understanding of who you are and how to achieve your goals. LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Keep your head down, your heart protected and your mind on what you want to achieve. Trust your ability to adapt quickly, your intuition to pick up on unsavory interactions and your innate charm to counteract negativity.

scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Letting your leadershipqualitiesshinewillencourage opportunities. Partnerships look promising. Education will lead to increased income.

By Andrews McMeel Syndication

FAMILY CIrCUS

Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present. Each letter in the cipher stands for another.

toDAy's cLuE: L EQuALs H

CeLebrItY CIpher For better or For WorSe

bIG nAte

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. The object is to place the numbers1 to 9inthe empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Saturday’s PuzzleAnswer

THe wiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS CurTiS

Bridge

By PHILLIP ALDER

Trey Parkerand Matt Stone, the cocreators of “SouthPark,”wrote thisline for that show: “Sometimes what’s right isn’t as important as what’sprofitable.”

At the bridge table,usually what is right will be profitable. In this deal, Southisinfour spades. West leads the heart queen. Howshould declarer plan the play? DidWest have amoreprofitablelead?

Note South’s two-heartrebid. Do not miss the opportunity to show amajor. North rebid two spades because he had a maximumminimum;ifSouthwasstrong enough to bid athird time, North’s hand would be worth game. Then, when South didcontinue with three diamonds, North mentioned his heart feature.

South starts with five losers: two heartsand three diamonds. He has nine winners: sixspades, twohearts andone club. There are various chances for a 10thtrick: hearts might be 3-3, but that is unlikely, especially given the opening lead; or East might have thediamond ace-king. (Even if diamonds are3-3, declarer will probablyloseone heart and three diamonds.) More profitable, though,istorememberthatanytimeyou can get aruff in theshorter trump hand, it is probably the right lineofplay.

Declarer should take the first trick on theboard, discardadiamond on the club ace, and continue with another heart. If Eastcould ruff, South would probably fail. Here, though, East follows. Declarer winswithhis ace and leads another heart. When back in hishand, South ruffs his last heart withdummy’s spade queen. Then he should silently thank Westfor not finding atrump lead.

wuzzles

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

Previous answers:

word game

InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of fourormore letters. 2. Words that acquire fourletters by the addition of “s,”such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3 Additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit wordsare not allowed toDAy’s WoRD LuXuRIEs: LUK-shuh-rees: Indulgences.

Average mark13words Time limit 20 minutes Can you find 17 or morewords in LUXURIES?

sAtuRDAy’s WoRD —WonDERs

today’s thought

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that Iwill pour out my spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your oldmen shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:” Joel2:28

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

hidato

mallard fillmore

IBERVILLE PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES PUBLIC HEARING, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2025 PROPOSED ORDINANCES

The Parish Council of Iberville Parish, State of Louisiana, held aPublic Hearing in the Council Meeting Room, 58050 Meriam Street, Plaquemine, Louisiana, on the 21st day of October,2025 at 6:00 P.M. pursuant to a Notice of Public Hearing published on the 29th day of September,2025 in The Advocate and posted on the Iberville Parish website.

The Council Chairman, Steve C. Smith, called the meeting to order at 6:00p.m. followed by the roll call with the following Council Members in attendance: Shalanda L. Allen, District 1; Chasity B. Easley; District 2; Thomas E. Dominique, Sr District 3; Freddie Frazier,Sr.,District 4; Steve C. Smith, District 5; Nadia Jenkins, District 7; Terry J. Bradford, District 9; Chasity Martinez, District 10; Charles Dardenne, District 11; Matthew H. Jewell, District 12.

Absent: Markins, Morgan.

Councilman Pierce arrived after roll call.

Chief Administrative Officer-Dwayne Boudreaux, Chief Operating OfficerRandall Dunn, and Legal Counsel- Nedi Morgan werealso in attendance.

Mr.Dunn read the following ordinances in entirety

ORDINANCE 1 ORDINANCE TO ADOPT UNIFORM WATERAND SEWER RATES WITHIN THE PARISH OF IBERVILLE

ORDINANCE 2 ORDINANCE PROVIDING FORTHE INCURRING OF DEBT AND ISSUANCE OF[NOT EXCEEDING

$9,000,000] OFLIMITED TAXBONDS(LIBRARY) OF THE PARISH OF IBERVILLE, STATEOFLOUISIANA, AND PROVIDING FOROTHER MATTERSIN CONNECTION THEREWITH

•Jennifer Seneca, the Director of the Iberville Parish Libraries, came beforethe Council to give abriefpresentation on what her long term goals arefor thelibraries throughout the Parish. She presented the Council with project renderings of reflecting the interior reconfigurations of the Plaquemine and White Castle branches. The East Iberville renderings werenot created because they areexploring other options when it comes to upgrading that facility.(Acopy of the presentation is available upon request in the Parish Council office.)

The floor was opened to comments and questions. Therewas no opposition to this ordinance from the public.

Therebeing no further business to be conducted, the hearing was adjourned at 6:17 p.m.

/s/ MACY W. OURSO /s/ STEVEC.SMITH COUNCILCLERK COUNCIL CHAIRMAN IBERVILLE PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES

REGULAR MEETING, TUESDAY,OCTOBER 21, 2025

The Parish Council of Iberville Parish, State of Louisiana, met in Regular Session, in the Council Meeting Room, 2nd Floor,Courthouse Building, 58050 Meriam Street, Plaquemine, Louisiana, on the 21st day of October 2025.

The Council Chairman, Steve C. Smith, called the meeting to order at 6:30p.m. followed by the roll call with the following Council Members in attendance: Shalanda L. Allen, District 1; Chasity B. Easley; District 2; Thomas E. Dominique, Sr District 3; Freddie Frazier,Sr.,District 4; Steve C. Smith, District 5; Raheem T. Pierce, District 6; Nadia Jenkins, District 7; Terry J. Bradford, District9;Chasity Martinez, District 10; Charles Dardenne, District 11; Matthew H. Jewell, District 12. Absent: Markins, Morgan.

Parish President- Chris Daigle, Chief Administrative Officer-Dwayne Boudreaux, Chief Operations Officer-Randall Dunn werealso in attendance.

Aquorum was present and due notice had been posted and published in TheAdvocate newspaper on the 16th day of October,2025. The Pledge of Allegiance followed.

Council Chairman Smith called for anyone wanting to make public comments to register with the Clerk. No one registered to speak. ADDENDUM

A) None. PRESENTATIONS AND APPEARANCES

A) Proclamation for 2025 International Acadian Festival

•The Proclamation was read aloud by Parish President Chris Daigle and presented to Grand Knight Ed Reeves. He thanked the Council and encouraged everyone to come out to the Acadian Festival.

B) Resolution of Recognition for Reverend Marcus O’Bear,Sr.

•Parish President Chris Daigle read the Resolution of Recognition and presented it to Reverend Marcus O’Bear,Sr. and his family

C) Resolution of Recognition for Doris Steele

•Council Matt Jewell read the Resolution of Recognition for Doris Steele and will presenting it to her at alater date.

D) Presentation from ExxonMobil to Iberville Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness

•Michael Smith with ExxonMobil came before the Council to present Iberville Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Director Clint Moorewith acheck for $10,000

E) Presentation by John Diez for Manufacturing Month

•Parish President Chris Daigle read aProclamation for Manufacturing Month in Iberville Parish and David Cresson, the President of the Louisiana Chemical Association, came beforethe Council and thanked the Council to recognizing Manufacturing Month in Iberville Parish and continued support of industry

F) Recognition of Civic Center staffbyJoe Richard&Eddie Cedotal

•Joe Richardand Eddie Cedotal came beforethe Council to personally recognize Josh Johnson and the entirestaffofthe Civic Center for their hardworkand dedication to ensuring every event that takes place thereiswell staffed and the facility is clean.

G) IPRD Update from Director Erik Willis

•Parks and Rec Director ErikWillis came beforethe Council to give apresentation of what is happening within Parks and Rec and what their plans arefor the future. He stated that their main goal is to provide quality recreational programs for both adults and youth throughout theParish.

•Heacknowledged the hardworkofhis crews that go throughout the Parish to maintain the 15 parks and buildings across the Parish.

•Hestated that they introduced some new programs over the last few years and they have seen an increase in participation each year.Healso stated they arelooking for more adult programs and looking to expand facilities. (A copy of the presentation is available upon request in the Parish Council Office.)

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Upon amotion by Councilwoman Jenkins, seconded by Councilman Jewell, it was moved to wave the reading of the minutes of September 23, 2025 –Regular Meeting, September 23, 2025 –BoardofReview and approve as written. The motion having been duly submitted to avote was duly adopted by the following yea and nay votes on roll call:

YEAS: Allen, Easley,Dominique, Frazier,Pierce, Jenkins, Bradford, Martinez, Dardenne, Jewell.

NAYS: None.

ABSTAIN: None.

ABSENT:Markins, Morgan.

The motion was declared adopted by the Chairman.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

President Daigle reported on the following:

•President Daigle started by recognizing the following for their years of service, Blake Canella, 22 years; Ralph ‘Dave’ Keller

22 years; Latoya Melancon, 15 years; Sylvia Sanchez,10years; Shaun Bordelon, 5years; and David Hall, 28 years.

•Hestated that the HWY 1fromJubilee to MSAlighting project has been permitted and thereare waiting on Entergy for plans and installation. The restoration project on Bayou Jacob is still underway and still working to get it done.

•Hestated that thereare numerous upcoming events, October 22, Boo on Belleview; October 29 &30, SafetyTown at the Civic Center; November 11, Veterans Day; November 13, Annual Senior Thanksgiving Luncheon, and November 24, Gobble Wobblefor Autism.Also,the Master Plan meetingswill begin on November 4 andend on November 19. Every Thursday on the Iberville Parish Government Facebook page they will be posting all community events that aretaking place that coming weekend.

FINANCIALREPORT

Finance Director,Randall Dunn stated that the Council has received their budget to actual financial statements and if they have any questions please call him. He stated thatthe Council received their proposed budget and he is looking forwardtothe Budget Hearing in early November.He stated that this week the Parish was made awarethat alegislator was going to be putting up abill at the upcoming session in 2026 for state centralizedsales tax collection. The past administration opposed state centralizedsales tax collectionand he wanted to ensurethat the current Council was in oppositionofstate centralized sales tax collection. He asked the Council to affirm IPCResolution 2021-007. Motiontoadd the affirmation of IPCResolution2021-007 to the agenda, the motionwas made by Councilman Dominique, seconded by Councilman Dardenne, this item will be added at New Business D.

YEAS: Allen, Easley,Dominique, Frazier,Pierce, Jenkins, Bradford, Martinez, Dardenne, Jewell

NAYS: None.

ABSTAIN: None.

ABSENT:Markins, Morgan.

The motion was declared adopted by the Chairman OLD BUSINESS

ORDINANCE IPC# 015-25

ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR THE INCURRING OF DEBT AND ISSUANCE OF NOT EXCEEDING $7,100,000 OF LIMITED TAX

BONDS (LIBRARY) OF THE PARISH OF IBERVILLE, STATE OF LOUISIANA, AND PROVIDING FOR OTHER MATTERS IN CONNECTIONTHEREWITH

WHEREAS,the Iberville Parish Council (the “Parish Council”), acting as the governing authority of the Parish of Iberville, State of Louisiana (the “Parish”), (i) is nowreceiving revenues derived from the levy and collection of aspecial ad valorem tax of 3.99 mills (such rate being subject to adjustment from timetotimedue to reassessment) authorized at an election held on March28, 2015, which the Parish is authorized to impose and collect each year through 2025 (the 2015 Tax”), and (ii) will receive revenues derived from the levy and collection of aspecial ad valorem tax of 4.00 mills (such rate being subject to adjustment from timetotimedue to reassessment) authorized at an election held on May3,2025, which the Parish is authorized to impose and collect beginning 2026 and ending with the year 2040 (the “2025 Tax,” and together with the 2015 Tax, collectively, the Taxes”); and WHEREAS,pursuant to and in accordance with the foregoing, the Parish now desires to incur debt and issue not to exceed Seven Million One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($7,100,000) of Limited TaxBonds (Library) (the Bonds”), in the manner authorized and provided by Part II of Chapter 4ofSubtitle II of Title 39 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended (the Act”), forthe purposes of making capital expenditures to improve, equip, and furnish the IbervilleParish Public Library and its branches (the “LibrarySystem”), and paying the costs of issuance of the Bonds; and WHEREAS,the Bonds shallbespecial and limited obligations of the Parish, secured solely by and payable from the Taxes, and shallnot be a pledge of the general creditorany other revenues of the Parish other than the Taxes; and WHEREAS,the capital expenditures to be funded with proceeds of the Bonds, when made, willsupport the maintenance, operation, and administration of the Library System; and WHEREAS,the Parish has no outstanding bonds or other obligations of any kind or naturepayable from or enjoying alien on the revenues of the Taxes hereinpledged; WHEREAS,the maximum amount of principal and interest due in any year on the Bonds does not exceed seventy-five percent (75%) of the income estimated to be realized from the Taxes; and WHEREAS,the Parish desires to sell the Bonds to the Purchasers (hereinafter defined) thereof and to fixthe details of the Bonds and the terms of the sale of the Bonds, pursuant to the Term Sheet attached hereto; NOW,THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the IbervilleParish Council acting as the governing authority of the Parish, that: ARTICLE I DEFINITIONS AND INTERPRETATION

SECTION 1.1. Definitions.The following termsshall have the following meanings unless the context otherwise requires: “Act”shall mean Part II of Chapter 4ofSubtitle II of Title 39 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended, and other applicable constitutional and statutory authority Additional Parity Bonds”shall mean any pari passu additional bonds which may hereafter be issued pursuant to Section9.1 hereof on aparity with the Bonds.

“Bond”or“Bonds”shall mean any or allofthe Limited TaxBonds (Library), Series 2025, of the Parish, issued pursuant to this Bond Ordinance, as the same may be amended from timetotime, whether initially delivered or issuedinexchange for, upon transfer of, or in lieu of any previously issuedBond.

BondObligation”shall mean as of the date of computation, the principal amount of the Bonds then Outstanding.

BondOrdinance”or“Ordinance”shall mean this ordinance, as it may be amended and supplemented as herein provided.

“BondRegister”shall mean the registration books of the Paying Agent in which registration of the Bonds and transfers of the Bonds shall be made as provided herein.

Business Day”shall mean aday of the year other than aday on which banks located in New York,New York and the cities in which the principal offices of the Paying Agent arelocated arerequired or authorized to remainclosed. Code”shall mean the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and all regulations promulgated thereunder

Costs of Issuance”shall mean allitemsofexpense, directly or indirectly payable or reimbursable and related to the authorization, sale and issuance of the Bonds, including but not limited to printing costs, costs of preparation and reproduction of documents, filing and recording fees, initial fees and charges of any fiduciary,legal fees and charges, fees and disbursements of consultants and advisory professionals, placement agent fees, costs of credit ratings, fees and charges for preparation, execution, transportation and safekeeping of the Bonds, costsand expenses of refunding, premiums for the insurance of the payment of the Bonds, if any,and any other cost, charge or fee paid or payable by the Parish in connection with the original issuance of Bonds.

Executive Officers”means collectively the Parish President and the Council Chairman and Clerk of Council of the Parish of Iberville, Stateof Louisiana.

Fiscal Year”means the Parish’sone-year accounting period determined from timetotimebythe Parish Council as the fiscal year of the Parish, currently being the year ending each December 31. Government Securities”shall mean direct obligations of the United States of America, or obligations the timely payment of principal of and interest on which areunconditionally guaranteed by the United States of America, which arenon-callableprior to their maturity and

registeredbonds, numberedR-1 upward,with one Bond for each Purchaser,inthe aggregateprincipal amount of $7,100,000. The Bonds shall be dated the date of delivery thereof, andeach shall mature in installments as set forth in Section 5.2ofthis BondOrdinance. The Bonds shall bear interest from the date thereof or from the most recent Interest Payment Datetowhichinterest hasbeen paid or duly provided for,payableoneach Interest Payment Date, at the interest rate of 4.50% per annum, andshall matureonMarch 1, 2040. The principal of andinterest on the Bonds shall be payable by wire transferorotherform of electronic payment in accordance with the written account instructions provided by the Owneror, with the Owner’swritten consent, by such other commercially reasonable method of payment, directly to the Ownershown on the BondRegister, provided, however,that principal of the Bonds at finalmaturity shall be payable at the designated office of the Paying Agent upon presentation andsurrenderthereof. Notwithstanding anything in this Ordinance to the contrary, prior to the Maturity Dateorthe earlierpaymentinfull of the Bonds, payments of principal of andinterest on the Bonds will be payable without presentation andsurrenderhereof. Each Bonddeliveredunderthis Ordinanceupon transferof, in exchange for or in lieuofany otherBonds shall carry allthe rights to interest accrued andunpaid, andtoaccrue, whichwerecarried by such other Bonds, andeach such Bondshall bear interest (as herein set forth) so neithergainnor loss in interest shall result from suchtransfer exchange or substitution. Except as otherwise provided in this Section, Bonds shall bear interest from date thereof or from the most recentInterest Payment Date to whichinterest hasbeen paid or duly provided for,asthe case maybe, provided, however,thatifand to the extentthatthe Parish shalldefault in the payment of the interest on anyBonds due on anyInterest Payment Date, thenall such Bonds shall bear interest from the most recentInterest Payment Datetowhichinterest hasbeen paid on the Bonds, or if no interest hasbeen paid on the Bonds, from their dated date. The person in whose name anyBond is registeredatthe close of business on the RecordDatewith respect to an Interest Payment Date shall in allcases be entitledtoreceive the interest payable on such Interest Payment Datenotwithstanding the cancellation of suchBond upon any registration of transferorexchange thereof subsequent to such Record Dateand prior to such Interest Payment Date. ARTICLE III GENERAL TERMS ANDPROVISIONS OF THE BONDS

SECTION 3.1. ExchangeofBonds; Persons Treated as Owners The Parish shallcause books for the registration andfor the registration of transferofthe Bonds as provided in this BondOrdinancetobekept by the Paying Agent at its designated corporate trust office, andthe Paying Agent is hereby constitutedand appointedthe registrarfor the Bonds. Any Bonds presentedfor registration of transferorexchange shall be accompaniedbya writteninstrument or instrumentsoftransfer in form satisfactory to the Paying Agent, duly executedbythe Ownerorhis attorneyduly authorized in writing. The Bonds may be transferred, registeredand assignedonly on the BondRegister, andsuchregistration shall be at the expense of the Parish.A Bondmay be assignedbythe execution of an assignment form on the Bonds or by other instruments of transferand assignment acceptabletothe Paying Agent. Anew BondorBonds will be delivered by the Paying Agent to the last assignee(the newOwner) in exchange for such transferred andassigned Bonds afterreceipt of the Bonds to be transferred in proper form. Suchnew BondorBonds shall be in the denomination of $100,000, or anyintegralof$5,000 in excessthereof. Neitherthe Parish nor the Paying Agent shall be required to issue,register, transferorexchange anyBonds during aperiod beginning at the opening of business on aRecord Dateand ending at the close of business on the Interest Payment Date. No service charge to the Owners shallbemade by the Paying Agent for anyexchange or registration of transferofBonds. The Paying Agent may requirepaymentbythe person requesting an exchange or registration of transferofBonds of asum sufficient to cover anytax or othergovernmentalchargethatmay be imposedin

have held such office or that at the time when such Bond shall be delivered such person may have ceased to hold such office.

SECTION 3.5. Registration by PayingAgent.No Bond shall be valid or obligatory for any purpose or entitled to any security or benefit under this Bond Ordinance unless and

acertificate of registration on such Bond substantially in the form set forth in Exhibit Bhereto shall have been duly executed on behalf of the Paying Agent by aduly authorized signatory,and such executed certificate of the Paying Agent upon any such Bond shall be conclusive evidence that such Bond has been executed, registered and delivered under this Bond Ordinance.

SECTION 3.6. Recital of Regularity.This Parish Council, having investigated the regularity of the proceedings had in connection with this issue of Bonds, and having determined the same to be regular,the Bonds shall contain the following recital, to-wit:

“It is certified that this indebtedness is authorized by and is issued in conformity with the requirements of the Constitution and statutes of Louisiana.”

ARTICLE IV SINKING FUND; PAYMENT OF BONDS

SECTION 4.1. Sinking Fund.(a) Thereishereby created aspecial fund known as Parish of Iberville, State of Louisiana, Limited TaxBonds (Library), Series 2025 Sinking Fund,” said Sinking Fund to be maintained with the regularly designated fiscal agent bank of the Parish. From the proceeds of the Taxes received by the Parish in aFiscal Year,the Parish shall deposit in the Sinking Fund at least one (1) day in advance of the date on which each payment of principal and/or interest falls due, funds fully sufficient to promptly pay the principal and/or interest so falling due on the Bonds, and any Additional Parity Bonds theretofore issued and outstanding in such Fiscal Year.The depositoryfor theSinking Fund shall transfer from the Sinking Fund to the Paying Agent or Owners, as the Parish may direct, funds fully sufficient to pay promptly the principal and interest falling due on such date.

(b) It shall be specifically understood and agreed, however,and this provision shall be apart of this contract, that after the funds have actually been set aside out of the revenues of the Taxes for anyyear sufficient to pay the principal and interest on the Bonds for that year,and all required amounts have been deposited in the aforesaid Sinking Fund established for the Bonds, then any annual revenues of the Taxes remaining in that year shall be free for expenditurebythe Parish for the purposes for which the Taxes is authorized.

(c) All moneys deposited with the regularly designated fiscalagent bank or banks of the Parish or the Paying Agent under the terms of this Ordinance shall constitute sacred funds held in trust for the benefitofthe Ownersofthe Bonds and shall be secured by said fiduciaries at all times to the full extent thereof in the manner required by law for the securing of deposits of public funds.

(d) All or any part of the moneys in the Sinking Fund shall be invested or secured in accordance with the provisions of the laws of the State.

SECTION 4.2. Payment of Bonds.The Parish shall duly and punctually pay or cause to be paid as herein provided, the principal of and the interest on the Bonds, at the dates and places and in the manner stated in the Bonds according to the true intent and meaning thereof.

ARTICLE V PAYMENT OF BONDS

SECTION 5.1. Optional Prepayment of Bonds.The Bonds are subject to prepayment in whole or in part on and after March 1, 2028, at the option of the Parish, at the prepayment price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the Bond to be prepaid plus accrued interest on such principal amount, if any,tothe prepayment date.

Official notice of such call of all or any portion of the Bonds for optional prepayment will be given by accepted means of electronic communication, not less than twenty (20) days prior to the

below: Date

ADDITIONAL PARITYBONDS

SECTION 9.1. Issuance of Additional Parity Bonds.The Parish shall issue no otherbonds or obligations

interest thereon, mayberefunded, andthe refunding bonds so issuedshall enjoy complete equality of lienwith the portion of the Bonds whichisnot refunded, if there be any, andthe refunding bonds shall continue to enjoy whatever priority of lienover subsequent issuesmay have been enjoyedbythe Bonds refunded; provided, however,thatifonly aportion of the Bonds outstanding is so refundedand the refunding bonds requiretotalprincipal and interest payments during anyyear in excessofthe principal and interest whichwould have been required in such year to pay the Bonds refundedthereby,thensuchBonds maynot be refunded without the consent of the Ownerofthe unrefundedportion of the Bonds issuedhereunder(provided such consent shall not be required if such refunding bonds meet the requirements set forth in clause (b) of this Section).

(b) Additionalbonds maybeissued on andenjoy afull andcomplete parity with the Bonds with respect to the Taxes, provided that: (1)the highest amount of the combinedprincipal andinterest requirements for anyfutureFiscal Year on the Bonds andthe said additionalbonds maynot exceed 75% of the revenues estimatedtoberealized by the Parish from the levy of the Taxes in the year in whichsuchadditional bonds areissued; and (2)the revenues of the Taxes actually received by the Parish in each of the prior two(2) Fiscal Years prior to the issuanceof such additionalbonds is greater

*Final Maturity

*Final Maturity ARTICLE VI APPLICATION OF BOND PROCEEDS

SECTION 6.1. Application of Bond Proceeds.The proceeds derived from the sale of the Bonds shallbedeposited by the Parish with the Paying Agent or its fiscal agent bank or banks in aspecial fund, hereby established and which may or may not be held in aseparate bank account known as “Series 2025 Limited TaxBonds (Library) ConstructionFund.” The proceeds of the Bonds deposited in such fund and any earnings thereon shallbeused only for the purpose for which the Bonds areissued. ARTICLE VII SUPPLEMENTAL BOND ORDINANCES

SECTION 7.1. Supplemental Ordinances Effective With Consent of Owners.Any modification or amendment of the Bond Ordinance or of the rights and obligations of the Parish and of the Owners of the Bonds hereunder,inany particular,may be made by asupplemental ordinance, with the written consent of the Owners of amajority of the Bond Obligation at the timesuch consent is given. No such modification or amendment shall permit achange in the terms of maturity or prepayment of the principal of any outstanding Bond or of any installment of interest thereon or areduction in the principal amount thereof or in the rate of interest thereon without the consent of the Owner of such Bond, or shall reduce the percentages of Bonds the consent of the Owner of which is required to effect any such modification or amendment,orchange the obligation of the Parish to levy and collect taxes forthe payment of the Bonds as provided herein, without the consent of the Owners of allofthe Bonds then outstanding, or shallchange or modify any of the rights or obligations of either the Paying Agent without its written assent thereto. For the purposes of this Section, Bonds shallbedeemed to be affected by amodificationoramendment of the Bond Ordinance if the same adversely affects or diminishes the rights of the Owners of saidBonds. Asupplemental ordinance, upon the filing with the Paying Agent of acertified copy thereof,shallbecome fully effective in accordance with its terms.

ARTICLE VIII

TAXCOVENANTS; CONTINUING DISCLOSURE

SECTION 8.1. TaxCovenants.The Parish covenants and agrees that, to the extent permitted by the laws of the StateofLouisiana, it will comply with the requirements of the Code to in order to establish, maintain and preserve the exclusion from gross income”ofinterest on the Bonds under the Code. The Parish shall not take any action or fail to take any action, nor shall it permitatany time or times any of the proceeds of the Bonds or any other funds of the Parish to be used directly or indirectly in any manner,toacquireany securities or obligations the acquisition of which would cause any Bond to be an “arbitrage bond”asdefined in the Code or would result in the inclusion of the interest on any Bond in gross income under the Code, including,without limitation, (i) the failuretocomplywith the limitationoninvestment of the proceeds of the Bonds, (ii) the failure to pay any required rebate of arbitrageearnings to the United States of America, or (iii) the use of the proceeds of the Bonds in amanner which would cause the Bonds to be private activity bonds

covenants, agreements or conditions on its part in the BondOrdinance, anysupplemental ordinance or in the Bonds containedand such default shall continue for aperiod of forty-five (45) days afterwritten notice thereof to the Parish by anyOwner; or (d) if the Parish shall file apetition or otherwise seek reliefunderany Federal or State bankruptcy laworsimilarlaw; then, upon the happening andcontinuanceofany EventofDefault the Owners shall be entitledtoexercise allremedies available at lawand at equity,including mandamus or othercivil proceeding to compel performance of alldutiesofthe officialsofthe Parish,including levying andcollecting the Taxes andthe proper segregation of the revenues of the Taxes, andshall be entitledtoexercise allrights andpowers for which provision is made underLouisiana law.

ARTICLE XI CONCERNING FIDUCIARIES

SECTION 11.1. Paying Agent; Appointment and Acceptance of Duties.The Parish will at alltimesmaintain aPaying Agent having the necessary qualifications for the performanceofthe duties described in this BondOrdinance. The designation of CitizensBank&Trust Company in the City of Plaquemine,Louisiana,asthe initialPaying Agent is hereby confirmed andapproved. The Paying Agent shall signify its acceptance of the duties andobligations imposedonitbythe BondOrdinanceby executing anddeliveringtothe Executive Officers awritten acceptance thereof. The Parish Council reserves the righttoappoint asuccessor Paying Agent by filing with the Person thenperforming suchfunction acertified copy of an ordinancegiving noticeofthe termination of the agreementand appointing asuccessor andcausing noticetobegiven to each Owner. Furthermore, the Paying Agent mayberemovedbythe Parish at anytime for anybreach of its duties set forth herein, affective upon appointment of asuccessor Paying Agent as set forth above. Every Paying Agent appointedhereundershall at alltimesbea trust company or bank organized anddoing business underthe laws of the UnitedStates of America or of anyState,authorizedundersuchlawstoexercise trust powers, andsubject to supervision or examination by Federal or State authority

ARTICLE XII MISCELLANEOUS

SECTION 12.1. Defeasance.Ifthe Parish shallpay or cause to be paid to the Owners of allBonds thenoutstanding, the principal andinterest become due thereon, at the timesand in the mannerstipulatedtherein andinthe BondOrdinance, thenthe covenants, agreements andother obligations of the Parish to the Owners shallbedischarged andsatisfied. In such event, the Paying Agent shall, upon the request of the Parish execute anddelivertothe Parish allsuchinstrumentsasmay be desirable to evidence such discharge andsatisfaction andthe Paying Agent shall pay over or deliver to the Parish allmoneys, securities andfunds held by thempursuant to the BondOrdinancewhichare not required for the payment of Bonds not theretoforesurrenderedfor suchpayment. Bonds or interest installmentsfor the payment of whichmoneyshall have been set aside andshall be held in trust (through deposit by the Parish of funds for such payment or otherwise) at the maturity date thereof shall be deemed to have been paid within the meaning andwith the effect expressed above in this Section. Bonds shall be deemed to have been paid, prior to their maturity,within the meaning andwith the effect expressed above in this Section if theyhave been defeased pursuant to Chapter 14 of Title 39 of the Louisiana Revised Statutesof1950, as amended, or anysuccessor provisions thereto. SECTION 12.2. Evidence of Signatures of Ownersand Ownership of Bonds.Any request, consent, revocation of consent or

President, or if not accepted, upon the expiration of the time set forth in the Home Rule Charter

SECTION 12.10. Execution of Documents.Inconnection with the issuance and sale of the Bonds, the Executive Officers areeach authorized, empowered and directed to execute on behalf of the Parish such documents, certificates and instruments as they may deem necessary upon the advice of bond counsel, to effect the transactions contemplated by this Bond Ordinance, the signatures of the Executive Officers on such documents, certificates and instruments to be conclusive evidence of the due exercise of the authority granted hereunder

SECTION 12.11. Post-Issuance Compliance.The Executive Officers and/or their designees aredirected to establish written procedures to assist the Parish in complying with various State and Federal statutes, rules and regulations applicable to the Bonds and arefurther authorized to take any and all actions as may be required by said written procedures to ensurecontinued compliance with such statutes, rules and regulations throughout the term of the Bonds.

SECTION 12.12. Audit; Budget. The Parish shall provide the Owner of the Bonds upon his, her,orits request with the following items:

(a) the Parish’sannual audited financial statements as soon as available after the Parish’sFiscal Year end; and (b) the Parish’sannual operating budget for aFiscal Year as soon as available following the beginningofsuch Fiscal Year

SECTION 12.13. Waiver.Noconsent or waiver,express or implied,to or of any breach or default in the performance of any obligation hereunder will constitute aconsent or waiver to or of any other breach or default in the performance of the same or anyother obligation.

SECTION 12.14. No Separate Rating; No CUSIP.The Bonds shall not be (i) assigned aseparate rating by any municipal securities rating agency (ii) registered with The Depository Trust Companyorany other securities depository,(iii) issued pursuant to any type of offering document or official statement, or (iv) assigned aCUSIP number by Standard&Poor’s CUSIP Service.

ARTICLE XIII SALE OF BONDS

SECTION 13.1. AwardofBonds.The Parish hereby accepts the Term Sheet of the Purchasers for the Bonds, which Term Sheet is attached as Exhibit Ahereto, and any Executive Officerishereby authorized and directed to execute the Term Sheet on behalf of the Parish. As acondition to the delivery of the Bonds to the Purchasers, each Purchaser will executea standardletter,acceptable to it and the Parish, indicating it has conducted its own analysis with respect to the Bonds and is extending credit in the form of the Bonds as avehicle for making acommercial loan to theParish.

The foregoing ordinance which was previously introduced at the meeting of the Iberville Parish Council on September 23, 2025 and acopy thereof having been published in the official journal on September 29, 2025the public hearing on this ordinance held on the 21st day of October 2025, at 6:00 p.m., in the Council Meeting Room, 58050 Meriam Street, Plaquemine, Louisiana, was brought up for final passage with amotion by Councilwoman Jenkins, and seconded by Councilman Bradford, having been duly submitted to avote,the ordinance was duly adopted by the following yea and nay vote on roll call:

YEAS: Allen, Easley,Dominique, Frazier,Pierce, Jenkins, Bradford, Martinez, Dardenne, Jewell. NAYS: None.

ABSTAIN: None.

ABSENT:Markins, Morgan.

The ordinance was declared adopted by the Chairman on the 21st day of October,2025.

ORDINANCE IPC# 016-25

ORDINANCE TO ADOPT UNIFORM WATER AND SEWER RATES WITHIN THE PARISH OF IBERVILLE

WHEREAS,inorder to remain eligible to receive grant funding from the State of Louisiana for futurewater line improvements, the Parish is required to adopt water and sewer rates that arecapable of sustaining the operations of the Parish’swater/sewer systems; and WHEREAS,due to arecent water rate study performed by the firm Eisner Amper,pursuant to the LouisianaDivision of Administration’sWater Sector Program, it was determined that the Parish’scurrent rate structure is below asustainable average, and that the Parish will not be eligible for futureState funding unless its rates areincreased to asustainable average; and WHEREAS,inorder to maintain eligibility for futureState funding, the Parish must increase its rates to levels that meet the parametersofthe Division of Administration’sWater Sector Program; and WHEREAS,the State of Louisiana will allow the Parishtosatisfy the Water Sector Program’srequired 1.15 sustainability factor, through the Parish’s dedication of aportion of its 2/3 cent perpetual sales tax revenue to make up the current shortfall in water and sewer rate revenue; and WHEREAS,asopposed to one large rate increase in 2025, the Parish will, over the next three (3) years, incrementally raise its water and sewer rates to meet the 1.15 sustainability level; and WHEREAS,during the time period in which the Parish is incrementally raising rates to meet the Water Sector Program sustainability level, the Parish will dedicate aportion of its sales taxes revenue for water/sewer infrastructuretomake up forthe current shortfall in water and sewer rate collections. THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED

For purposes of this Section, the following termsare defined as follows: Residential: Property that is specificallyused as adwelling for individuals or households. Residential properties areprimarily intended for personal use by asingle family. Examples: Singlefamily homes, camps, etc.

Multi-Residential: Property that is specificallyused as adwelling for individuals or households, but which propertyhas separate units or lots and one master meter that feeds multiple units/lots. Examples: Apartment complexes, RV parks, mobilehome parks, townhomes, condos, duplexes, etc.

Commercial: Non-residential property that is primarily used for business or income-generating purposes, such as churches, gas stations, stores, offices, schools, hospitals, etc.

Industrial: Property that is primarily used for industrial purposes, and which has awater meter size of 4” or larger

Examples: Chemical plants, power plants, refineries, warehouses, manufacturers, etc.

Government: Hunt Correction Center and Louisiana Correctional Center

Wholesale: Village of Gross Tete and Rosedale.

Effective February 1, 2027, Section25-4 “Water Rates” shallreadas follows: Sec. 25-4 –WaterUsage Rates The Parish hereby adopts the following Water RateSchedule, which Rate Scheduleshall be used to calculatethe water bills payable by the Parish’swater customers, based upon the classification of the property

WaterRateSchedule

Residential:

/0 –10,000 gallons $42.79 Per thousand gallons thereafter $5.83

Government: Base Rate /0 –2,000 gallons $40.19 Per thousand gallons thereafter $5.83

Wholesale: Per thousand gallons $3.21

For purposes of this Section, the following termsare

Chemical plants, power plants, refineries, warehouses, manufacturers, etc.

Government: Hunt Correction Center and Louisiana Correctional Center Wholesale: Village of Gross Tete and Rosedale. Effective February 1, 2027, the base rates set forth above may also be adjusted by the Parish President,

thatisspeci

usedasadwelling for individuals or households. Residential properties areprimarily intendedfor personal use by asingle family.Examples: Single family homes, camps, etc.

Multi-Residential: Property thatisspecifically usedasadwelling for individuals or households, but whichproperty hasseparateunits or lots andone mastermeter thatfeeds multiple units/lots. Examples: Apartmentcomplexes, RV parks, mobile home parks, townhomes, condos, duplexes, etc.

Commercial: Non-residential property thatisprimarily usedfor business or income-generating purposes, such as churches, gas stations, stores, offices, schools, hospitals, etc.

Industrial: Property thatis primarily usedfor industrialpurposes, and whichhas awater metersize of 4” or larger Examples: Chemical plants, power plants, refineries, warehouses, manufacturers, etc.

Government: Hunt Correction Centerand Louisiana Correctional Center.

Wholesale: Village of Gross Tete andRosedale

Effective February 1, 2028, the base rates set forth above may be adjustedannually by the Parish President, based upon anyincrease in the ConsumerPrice Index (“CPI-U South”), in excessof2.9%, from the prior year. Effective February 1, 2029 andextending thereafter, the then-current waterrates maybeadjusted annually by the Parish President, based upon anyincreases or decreases in the ConsumerPrice Index (“CPI-U South”) from the prior year

SECTION 2. Section 25-5 of Article IofChapter 25 (Waters andSewers) of the CompiledOrdinances of the Parish of Iberville is hereby enacted to read as follows, in accordance with the following implementation schedule:

Effective December 1, 2025, Section 25-4 “Sewer Rates” shall read as follows: Sec. 25-5– Sewer Rates The Parish hereby adopts the following Sewer RateSchedule,which RateSchedule shall be usedtocalculate the sewer bills payable by the Parish’s Bayou Goula,Dorseyville,Patreau Lane,ChoctawMobile Home Park andTimberlanes Subdivisions.

Residential: Base Rate0-2,000 gallons $21.79 sewer rate Perthousand gallons thereafter$5.09 sewer rate

Multi-Residential: Base Rate0-2,000 gallons $21.79 sewer rate Perthousand gallons thereafter$5.09 sewer rate

Note thatfor multi-residential locations, the base rate andper gallon amounts arebased on the numberofindividualunits/lots within the multi-residential development.

Effective February 1, 2027, Section 25-4 “Sewer Rates” shall read as follows: Sec. 25-5– Sewer Rates The Parish hereby adopts the following Sewer RateSchedule,which RateSchedule shall be usedtocalculate the sewer bills payable by the Parish’s Bayou Goula,Dorseyville,Patreau Lane,ChoctawMobile Home Park andTimberlanes Subdivisions.

Residential: Base Rate0-2,000 gallons $24.23 sewer rate Perthousand gallons thereafter$5.88 sewer

Note

multi-residential development.

Effective February 1, 2027, the base rates set forth above may be adjustedannually by the Parish President, based upon anyincreases in the ConsumerPrice Index (“CPI-U South”), in excessof2.9%, from the prior year.

Effective

The Parish hereby adopts the

RateSchedule shall be

the

by the Parish’s Bayou Goula,Dorseyville,Patreau Lane,ChoctawMobile Home Park andTimberlanes Subdivisions.

Residential: Base Rate0-2,000 gallons $26.68 sewer rate Perthousand gallons thereafter$6.67 sewer rate

Multi-Residential:

Note thatfor multi-residential locations, the base rate andper gallon amounts arebased on the numberofindividualunits/lots within the multi-residential development.

Effective February 1, 2028, the base rates set forth above may be adjustedannually by the Parish President, based upon anyincreases in the ConsumerPrice Index (“CPI-U South”), in excessof2.9%, from the prior year.

Effective February 1, 2029 andextending thereafter, the then-current sewer rates may be adjustedannually by the Parish President, based upon anyincreases or decreases in the ConsumerPrice Index (“CPU-USouth”) from the prior year

SECTION 3. Duringthe three (3)year time period in whichthe Parish will incrementally raise its rates to asustainable level, the Parish shalldedicate, from the 2/3centperpetualsales taxrevenue,the following amounts to the waterand sewer departments, to achieve necessary 1.15 sustainability factor: Fiscal YearDedication to Water DedicationtoSewer

2025 $655,000.00 $260,000.00

2026 amounts necessary to achieve 1.15 sustainability factors

2027 amounts necessary to achieve 1.15 sustainability factors

Should the incrementalrateincreases reach the State’s required sustainability factor,prior to the expiration of the three (3)year period, the amount of salestaxes dedicated, in this section, shall be

and acopy thereof having been published in the official journal on September 29, 2025 the public hearing on this ordinance held on the 21st day of October,2025, at 6:00 p.m., in the Council Meeting Room, 58050 Meriam Street, Plaquemine, Louisiana, was brought up for final passage with amotion by Councilman Bradford,and seconded by Councilwoman Jenkins, having been duly submitted to avote, theordinance was duly adopted by the following yea and nay vote on roll call:

YEAS: Allen, Easley,Dominique, Frazier,Pierce, Jenkins, Bradford, Martinez, Dardenne.

NAYS: Jewell.

ABSTAIN: None.

ABSENT:Markins, Morgan.

The ordinance was declared adopted by the Chairman on the 21st day of October,2025.

NEW BUSINESS

1) New Business

A) Introduction of Ordinances

1) Ordinance to adopt the fiscal year 2025 Operating and Capital Improvement Budget and the Amended 2024 Operating and Capital Improvement Budget for the Iberville Parish Council Upon amotion by Councilwoman Jenkins, seconded by Councilman Dardenne, it was moved that apublic hearing be held on Tuesday, November 18, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. on the introduced ordinances.

The motion having been duly submitted to avote, was duly adopted by the following yea and nay votes on roll call:

YEAS: Allen, Easley,Dominique, Frazier,Pierce, Jenkins, Bradford, Martinez, Dardenne, Jewell.

NAYS: None.

ABSTAIN: None.

ABSENT:Markins, Morgan.

The motion was declared adopted by the Chairman on 21st day October 2025.

B) Motion to schedule aspecial Budget Hearing on Wednesday November 5, 2025

Upon amotion by Councilman Pierce, seconded by Councilwoman Martinez, it was moved to schedule aspecial Budget Hearing on Wednesday,November 5, 2025 at 6:00 pm. The motion having been duly submitted to avote was duly adopted by the following yea and nay votes on roll call:

YEAS: Allen, Easley,Dominique, Frazier,Pierce, Jenkins, Bradford, Martinez, Dardenne, Jewell.

NAYS: None.

ABSTAIN: None.

ABSENT:Markins, Morgan.

The motion was declared adopted by the Chairman on 21st day October 2025.

C) Trick or Treat schedule for 2025

Motion For 2025 Trick or Treat HoursinThe Unincorporated Areas of Iberville Parish

Upon amotion by Councilman Frazier,and seconded by Councilman Bradford, it was moved to adopt the 2025 Trick or Treat Schedule for the East &West Banks’ Unincorporated Areas of the Parish for Friday,October 31, 2025 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. The motion having been duly submitted to avote was duly adopted by the following yea and nay votes on roll call:

YEAS: Allen, Easley,Dominique, Frazier,Pierce, Jenkins, Bradford, Martinez, Dardenne, Jewell.

NAYS: None.

ABSTAIN: None.

ABSENT:Markins, Morgan.

The motion was declared adopted by the Chairman on the 21st day October,2025.

D) Motion to affirm IPC Resolution 2021-007, Resolution in Opposition to the Proposed Constitutional Amendment to Provide for Centralized Sales and Use TaxtobeAdministered by The State

roadside de‐bris andout of cart pickup is scheduledfor theweek of November 10th.

of Louisiana Department of Revenue

Upona motionbyCouncilman Jewell, and seconded by Councilman Bradford, it was moved to affirm IPCResolution 2021-007. The motion having been duly submitted to avote was duly adopted by the following yea and nay votes on roll call:

YEAS: Allen, Easley,Dominique, Frazier,Pierce, Jenkins, Bradford, Martinez, Dardenne, Jewell.

NAYS: None.

ABSTAIN: None.

ABSENT: Markins, Morgan.

The motion was declared adopted by the Chairman on the 21st day October,2025.

RESOLUTION COMMITTEE REPORT

The Resolution Committee met on Tuesday,October 21, 2025 at 6:17 p.m., followed by the roll call with the following Resolution Committee Members onlyinattendance: Jewell,Dardenne, Pierce, Jenkins, Martinez, Frazier,Dominique.

Absent:Markins, Morgan.

The following resolution was read aloud by Mr.Boudreaux:

A) Resolution to authorize IbervilleParish President Chris Daigleto enter into an intergovernmental agreement on behalfofIberville Parish with East Baton Rouge Parish, Ascension Parish, and the City of St.George to prepareahydrologic and hydraulicmodel forsubmittal to the Louisiana office of community development in support of project funding under the Louisiana watershed initiative to restorethe lower end of Bayou Manchac and to realign the mouth of wardcreek to reduce flooding

B) Resolution authorizing the IbervilleParish President to sign and receive any documentation relative to the receipt of onetimefunding of $100,000 and $25,000 awarded by the Stateof Louisiana outlined in Louisiana Act 461 of the 2025 legislative Regular Session

Councilman Dardenne made arecommendationtoforwardthe resolutions to the regular meeting, seconded by Councilwoman Martinez. The recommendation having been duly submitted to avote was duly adopted by the following yea and nay votes on roll call by ResolutionCommittee

Members only:

YEAS: Jewell, Dardenne, Pierce, Jenkins, Martinez, Frazier,Dominique.

NAYS: None.

ABSTAIN: None.

ABSENT: Markins,Morgan.

The recommendation was declared adopted by the Chairman to forward these itemstothe regular meeting.

During the Regular Meeting:

RESOLUTION IPC #2025-032

RESOLUTION TO AUTHORIZE IBERVILLE PARISH PRESIDENT CHRIS DAIGLE TO ENTER INTO AN INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT ON BEHALF OF IBERVILLE PARISH WITH EAST BATON ROUGEPARISH, ASCENSION PARISH,AND THE CITY OF ST.GEORGE TO PREPAREAHYDROLOGIC AND HYDRAULIC MODEL FOR SUBMITTAL TO THE LOUISIANA OFFICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN SUPPORTOFPROJECT FUNDING UNDER THE LOUISIANA WATERSHED INITIATIVE TO RESTORETHE LOWER END OF BAYOU MANCHAC AND TO REALIGNTHE MOUTH OF WARD CREEK TO REDUCE FLOODING

WHEREAS the “Louisiana Watershed Initiative” was created under the Louisiana Office of CommunityDevelopment as Executive Order JBE1816 as aresult of $1.2 billion in funding secured by the U.S. Congress after the 2016 Great Flood forthe purpose of mitigating risks; WHEREAS the Louisiana Watershed Initiative Round 2funding provided aspecial funding allocation of $100 milliontothe Amite River Basin Commission for eligible local and regional watershed projectsinthe most impacted and distressed areas in the seven parishes of the Amite River Basin;

WHEREAS the seven parishes of the Amite River Basininclude Ascension, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Livingston, St.Helena, and St. James Parishes, of which Ascension, East Baton Rouge, and IbervilleParishes comprise the Bayou Manchac Watershed within the Amite River Basin;

WHEREAS the newly created City of St.George was established as amunicipalityafter the 2016 Great Flood, the City’s entire southern boundary consists of Bayou Manchac from the Mississippi River to the Amite River,and the City suffered extraordinary flood losses during the 2016 Flood and numerous disasters beforeand since;

WHEREAS the Amite River BasinCommission has prioritized $30 million of the $100 milliontobeobligated to the Bayou Manchac Restoration and Ward Creek Realignment Project;

WHEREAS the Louisiana Office of CommunityDevelopment recommends that individual parishes in the Amite River Basinsubmit “Hydrologic and Hydraulic” (H&H) Models and full project applications under the sponsorshipofthe Amite River BasinCommission for transformational projects of regional impact;

WHEREAS East Baton Rouge Parish, Ascension Parish (onbehalf of the East Ascension Consolidated Gravity Drainage District No. 1), Iberville Parish and the City of St.George recognizethe benefitofthe Bayou Manchac Restoration and Ward Creek Realignment Project and desireto enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement to submit the full application to the Louisiana Office of Community Development for consideration; WHEREAS all parishes agree that East Baton Rouge willbethe project lead and local sponsor for the Bayou Manchac Restorationand Ward Creek Alignment Project;

WHEREAS it is acknowledged and agreed that each parish will participate through an Intergovernmental Agreement by contributing one fourth (1/4) of the cost incurred by East Baton Rouge for the H&H Model

PUBLIC NOTICE

November 10, 2025 Town of Brusly Brusly,Louisiana Theregular meetingof theTownofBruslywas called to orderthisdate, November 10, 2025, at the Brusly Town Hall, at 6:30 p.m.,byMayor Rhodes CouncilMemberChustz ledthe Pledge of Alle‐giance.A roll call deter‐minedthe followingofﬁ‐cialspresent: Mayor: Scot Rhodes CouncilMembers:Daigle, Young,Chustz,Kershaw Town Attorney: Thomas Acosta,Jr. Absent:Tassin Recognitions & Commendations: None Amotiontoapprove the minutesofthe Town’s regularmeetingofOcto‐ber13, 2025, typo correc‐tion,was made by Coun‐cilMemberKershaw; seconded by Council Member Chustz.Mayor

Mr.TobyFrugé of Owen & White, gave abrief drainage study update on theAlleneSt. Basin. Planning andZoning Committee: None

FinanceCommittee: MayorRhodesnoted that the“Budget to Actual Comparison Report”for October, is availablefor CouncilMembers to re‐view MayorRhodesinvited Ms.KimberlyPaultopre‐sent herapplicationsfor ClassA Beer andLiquor Licenses forCafé Oasis. Aftera briefdiscussion a motion to approvethe applications wasmade by CouncilMember Young;secondedby CouncilMemberKer‐shaw.Mayor Rhodes re‐questedMs. Paul sign a copy of theliquorlicense ordinanceoutlining ex‐plicit requirements for ClassA license. Mayor Rhodes opened the ﬂoor forpubliccomment Hearingnocomments, themotionpassedwith a unanimous vote

PersonnelCommittee: None Recreation Committee: None Police Committee: None Governmental Affairs Committee: None ConsiderationofVetoed Ordinances: None Hearing& FinalActionon Ordinances: None Introduction of Ordinances: None Resolutions: MayorRhodesread aloudResolution8 of 2025, SurplusItems.A motion to approveReso‐lution 8of2025, declaring andapproving alistof surplusitems andequip‐ment forsaleordisposal, wasmadebyCouncil Member Daigle;sec‐ondedbyCouncil Mem‐berChustz. Mayor Rhodes opened the ﬂoor forpubliccomment Hearingnocomments, themotionpassedunani‐mously

MayorRhodesread aloud Resolution 9of 2025, in supportofthe preservation of St.Fran‐cisHall. Amotiontoap‐provewas made by CouncilMemberKer‐shaw;secondedby CouncilMemberChustz MayorRhodesopened the floor forpubliccom‐ment.Hearing no com‐ments, themotion passedunanimously Police Department Report: ThePoliceDepartment Report forthe monthof Octoberwas givenbyOf‐ficerKeeganAllen. There were (25) Agency As‐sists, (9)Alarms, (1)Ani‐malProblems, (2)as‐saults,(1) childcustody exchange,(3) Controlled Substances,(1) Damaged Property,(7) Distur‐bances,(1) DUI,(1) Em‐bezzlement,(2) Family Disturbances,(3) Fraud, (1)Harassment, (2)Juve‐nile Problems,(13) Med‐ical,(2) Mental Subjects (4)NoInsurance Tows (1)ObstructPolice, (4) OrdinanceViolations, (3) Public Service, (6)Suspi‐cious, (1)Theft,(7) Traf‐ficAccidents, (8)Traffic Problems,(6) Unlocks, (5)Warrants, (1) WeaponsOffense and(4) WelfareChecks. Forthe month, therewere195 totalcitations and232 vi‐olations

FlockActivity: 1Felony WarrantArrest. DroneActivity:Assisted in ﬁndinga missingper‐son. Mayor’sReport: MayorRhodesthanked MayorPro-TempDaigle forsitting in forhim while outofTownlast month. MayorRhodesre‐minded everyone of the November 15thelection whichhas 4tax renewal on theballot. TheMayor reminded allofﬁcials that ethics andsexual harassment training needed to be completed before theend of the year.Mayor Rhodes wished everyone a HappyThanksgiving. RemarksofPersonal Privilege: Ms.Tammy Martin,Direc‐torofWBR Parish Li‐brary, gave abrief pre‐sentationabout theLi‐brary taxrenewal which ill b h b y will beontheNovember 15thBallot. Announcements: Veteran’sDay Programat

andtosubmit the full project application as required by the Louisiana Office of Community Development for the Louisiana Watershed Initiative $30 million allocated by the ARBC project funding, andeach of these partners will reimburse East Baton Rouge Parish accordingly for these costs. NOW,THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THEIBERVILLE

PARISHCOUNCIL AS FOLLOWS:The Iberville Parish

Transmission of Child Porn.DateConvicted: 8/26/2010. State Equivalent:14:81.1Pornography Involving Juveniles. My Addressis: 20103 EASTWOOD DR ZACHARY, LA 70791

Race:BLACK Sex: MALE

the Chairmanonthe 21st day of October,2025.

RESOLUTION IPC #2025-033

RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THEIBERVILLE PARISHPRESIDENT TO SIGNAND RECEIVEANY DOCUMENTATION RELATIVE TO THERECEIPT OF ONE-TIME FUNDING

of aParish-Wide

funds for

required LA

33:106 andthe purchase of aLucas Chest Compression Systemfor FireDistrict#2respectively NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED,bythe Iberville Parish Council, as follows: That Chris Daigle,Parish President, be andishereby authorized to sign any andall documentation relative to the receipt of one-time funding from the State of Louisiana in the amount of $100,000 and$25,000 as outlinedin the Louisiana Act461 of the 2025 Legislative RegularSessiondesignated for public use by the Iberville Parish for the developmentofa Parish-Wide Community Master Planasrequired by LA RS 33:106 andthe purchase of Lucas Chest CompressionSystemfor FireDistrict#2, respectively andis hereby authorized to negotiate,onthe terms andconditions thathemay deem advisable, acontract with the State of Louisiana,and to execute said documents on behalf of the Iberville Parish Council, andfurther thathebeauthorizedtodoall things thatare necessary to implement, maintain, amendorrenew said documents.

The above resolution wasduly adopted in regularsessiononthis 21st day of October,2025 by the following votes on roll call:

YEAS: Allen, Easley,Dominique, Frazier, Pierce, Jenkins, Bradford, Martinez, Dardenne, Jewell.

NAYS: None

ABSTAIN: None

ABSENT:Markins, Morgan.

The resolution wasdeclared adopted by the Chairmanonthe 21st day of October,2025.

PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT

a) Approve Consideration of re-subdivision for SandraAndre Upon amotion by CouncilmanDardenne, seconded by Councilman Bradford, it wasmovedtoapprove as is. The motion having been duly submitted to avote,was duly adopted by the following yea andnay votes on roll call:

YEAS: Allen, Easley,Dominique, Frazier, Pierce, Jenkins, Bradford, Martinez, Dardenne, Jewell.

NAYS: None

ABSTAIN: None

ABSENT:Markins, Morgan.

The motion wasdeclared adopted by the Chairmanonthe 21st day of October,2025.

BOARDS &COMMISSIONS REPORT

None

ANNOUNCEMENT

None

DISCUSSIONS

None

ADJOURNMENT