The Acadiana Advocate 11-28-2025

THANKS,FULL

ABOVE: Bailey’sTandoori Grill owner Ema Haq chats with Thanksgiving Day guests in Lafayette on Thursday.Haq said around 1,600 delivered, picked up and dine-in mealswill havebeen served by the end of his annual Thanksgiving Day meal offering to the community BELOW: Volunteers fill plates with Thanksgiving meals at Bailey’sTandoori Grill on Thursday STAFF PHOTOSByLESLIEWESTBROOK

BYPOET WOLFE and MARTHA SANCHEZ Staff writer and Sun Herald

After an hourslong Gulfport City Council meeting, newly elected council member CarrissaCorbett would change out of her black dress and leopard-print coat and into aT-shirt and jogging pants before heading to a

community center to host her weekly line dancing class.

Once there, Corbettcollects canned goods the dancers bring to stock afood pantry for residentswho lost food stamp benefits after the government shutdown. And during dancebreaks, she slipsinquestions: Are y’all getting out and voting? Are y’all talking to your nieces and nephews aboutvoting?

Leaning into informal, unscripted settingslike this one to connect with voters, shesaid, is helping Democrats alongthe Mississippi

Gulf Coastgain traction in a traditionally red state.

“Justhaving casual conversation,”Corbett said, sitting in her office on arecent Tuesday night. “Noone wants someone to comeinand talk over their heads.”

Her effort reflectsa broader push by Democrats across theGulfCoast to make electionsmore competitive as newcomers from acrossthe country moveinto coastal cities and thepopulation rises and diversifies.

Thatshift was evident this summer in Gulfport, when

Sonya WilliamsBarnes, a Democrat and former state representative, lost to Republican attorney HughKeatingbyjust 840 votes in a contentious mayoralrace that drew an unusually high turnout. Andearlier this year, local politics showed signs of change when Corbett flipped aRepublican-held council seat,defeating incumbent R. LeeFlowers with about 63% of the vote. On astatewidescale, Democrats this month won two

OneGuard member shot in D.C. dies

Second in critical condition; Afghan national charged in ambush attack

BY BEN FINLEY,ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. President Donald Trump said that one of the two West Virginia National Guard members shot by an Afghan national near the White House had died, calling the shooter who had worked with the CIA in hisnative countrya “savage monster.”

As part of his Thanksgiving call to U.S. troops, Trumpsaid that he had just learned that Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, had died, while Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, was “fighting forhis life.”

“She’sjust passed away,” Trump said. “She’snolonger withus. She’slooking down at us right now.Her parents are with her.”

The president calledBeckstrom an “incredibleperson, outstanding in every single way.”

Trumpused the announcement to say the shooting wasa “terrorist attack”ashecriticizedthe Biden administration for enabling Afghans who

Former president of Peru sentenced for conspiracy

LIMA, Peru Peru’s Supreme Court sentenced former President Pedro Castillo to 11½ years in prison for conspiracy to commit a rebellion in 2022, when he tried to dissolve the Congress as lawmakers prepared to impeach him.

A special panel of the highest court also banned Castillo, 56, from public office for two years. He has been in custody since being arrested in December 2022.

Two of Castillo’s former ministers were also sentenced to 11½ years in prison for the same crime. One of them is ex-Prime Minister Betssy Chávez, who was granted asylum by Mexico and remains inside the Mexican embassy in Peru’s capital, Lima.

The Peruvian government severed diplomatic relations with Mexico over the asylum to Chávez.

This is the second Peruvian expresident sentenced this week.

A different court on Wednesday sentenced former leader Martín Vizcarra to 14 years in prison after finding him guilty of taking bribes while serving as governor of a southern state.

Castillo promised to be a champion of the poor when he took office in 2021, becoming the first president in the nation’s history to come from a poor farming community He assumed the presidency without any political experience.

Castillo was replaced by his Vice President Dina Boluarte, who in October was also removed from office after a deeply unpopular government and amid a crime wave affecting the South American nation. The current president is José Jerí, who was the Congress leader American architect

Robert A.M. Stern dies

Robert A.M. Stern, a prominent figure in American architecture who designed notable museums, libraries and residences, died Thursday, according to a statement from the firm he founded. He was 86. The statement did not specify a cause of death, but said Stern “died comfortably at his home.”

Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1939, Stern founded the Robert A.M. Stern Architects firm, now known as RAMSA, in 1969. He gained acclaim for his decades of work and style, which blended postmodernism with contextual design, drawing inspiration from historic and traditional styles.

He was widely known for 15 Central Park West, a luxury condominium featuring a recognizable limestone exterior in Manhattan bordering Central Park. The building opened in 2008. Stern’s works also include the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, the Gerald R Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan and Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resorts in Florida.

Kessler twins, dancers in ’50s and ’60s, die BERLIN Alice and Ellen Kessler, twin dancers and singers who launched their career in the 1950s and performed with Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra and Harry Belafonte among others, have died, police in Germany said Tuesday They were 89. The death of the twins in Grünwald, a prosperous suburb of Munich where they shared a house was reported by German newspaper Bild and news agency dpa on Monday, without named sources. Munich police on Tuesday confirmed the deaths, saying in an emailed statement that it was a “joint suicide.”

The Kessler twins learned to dance at a young age and joined the Leipzig Opera children’s ballet. In 1952, when they were 16, their family fled to West Germany, where they danced in a revue theater in Düsseldorf. In 1955, the sisters were discovered by the director of the Lido cabaret theater in Paris, where their international career took off.

In the 1960s, the Kessler twins toured worldwide. They turned down an offer to appear with Elvis Presley in “Viva Las Vegas” in 1964 for fear of becoming defined by musical films in America, dpa reported.

At least 83 dead in Hong Kong fire

BY CHAN HO-HIM and HUIZHONG WU Associated Press

HONG KONG Firefighters battled for a second day to extinguish a blaze at a high-rise apartment complex in Hong Kong on Thursday, as the death toll rose to 83 in one of the deadliest blazes in the city’s modern history

Rescuers holding flashlights were going from apartment to apartment at the charred towers as thick smoke poured out from some windows at the Wang Fuk Court complex, a dense cluster of buildings housing thousands of people in Tai Po district, a northern suburb near Hong Kong’s border with the mainland.

Officials said firefighters were still working on a handful of apartments and trying to enter all of the units in the seven towers to ensure there were no further casualties.

“Our firefighting operation is almost complete,” said Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of Fire Services Operations. Firefighters were working hard “to prevent the debris and embers from flaring up. What’s next is the search and rescue operation,” he added.

It was unclear how many people remained missing or trapped Authorities did not provide updates on the missing people or how many were still inside the ravaged buildings Thursday during a news conference.

Video showed rescuers searching in some apartments in the dark. Orange

flames were still seen from inside several windows, though the whole complex was now largely a blackened ruin.

Firefighters have been trying to control the flames since midafternoon Wednesday, when the fire was believed to have started in bamboo scaffolding and con-

struction netting and then spread across seven of the complex’s eight buildings.

Chan said the blaze spread “exceptionally fast” across the towers, and emergency workers struggled to gain access inside. “Debris and scaffolding were falling from upper floors,” he told reporters. “There are also other reasons like high temperature, darkness (and) emergency vehicle access was blocked by fallen scaffolding and debris, making our access to the building very difficult.”

More than 70 people were injured, including 11 firefighters, the Fire Services Department said. About 900 people were evacuated to temporary shelters overnight.

Resident Lawrence Lee was waiting for news about his wife, who he believed was still trapped in their apartment

“When the fire started, I told her on the phone to escape. But once she left the flat, the corridor and stairs were all filled with smoke and it was all dark, so she had no choice but to go back to the flat,” he said, as he waited in one of the shelters overnight.

Three men, the directors and an engineering consultant of a construction company, were arrested on suspicion of manslaughter Police have not directly named the company where they work.

“We have reason to believe that those in charge of the construction company were grossly negligent,” said Eileen Chung, a senior superintendent of police. Police on Thursday also searched the office of Prestige Construction & Engineering Company, which the AP confirmed was in charge of renovations in the tower complex. Police seized boxes of documents as evidence, according to local media Phones for Prestige rang unanswered.

Soldiers in Guinea-Bissau announce new junta leader

Deposed president flees after disputed election

BY CHINEDU ASADU and ASSANA SAMBU Associated Press

BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau Soldiers in Guinea-Bissau on Thursday announced a new junta leader, cementing a forceful takeover of power that began after a disputed presidential election and led to deposed President Umaro Sissoco Embaló departing for neighboring Senegal.

The military high command in the West African nation inaugurated Gen. Horta Inta-a as the head of the military government, which will oversee a one-year transition period, according to a declaration broadcast on state television.

Embaló, meanwhile, arrived in Senegal with a flight chattered by the Senegalese government which has been “in direct communication with all concerned Guinea-Bissau actors,” Senegal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, as the country promised to work with partners to restore democracy in Guinea-Bissau.

Guinea-Bissau, one of the world’s poorest countries, has been dogged by coups and attempted coups since its independence from Portugal more than 50 years ago, including a coup attempt in October.

The country of 2.2 million people is known as a hub for drug trafficking between Latin America and Europe, a trend that experts say has fueled its political crises.

Hours after the opposition called for protests against the coup and to demand the publication of election results earlier scheduled for Thursday, the military authorities issued a statement banning public protests and “all disturbing actions of peace and stability in the country.”

In an earlier statement, Inta-a, who

was the army chief of staff until the coup and a close ally of the deposed president, said: “The inability of political actors to stem the deterioration of the political climate ultimately prompted the intervention of the armed forces.”

The military authorities earlier said Embaló and other prominent people arrested during the coup were in good health and would remain in custody It was not immediately clear the terms of Embaló’s departure to Senegal.

The Chairperson of the African Union Commission Mahmoud Ali Youssouf condemned the coup, calling for unconditional release of Embaló and other detained officials and for the respect of the electoral process.

The opposition alleged Embaló had fabricated the coup to avoid an election defeat in Sunday’s closely contested presidential vote. The military takeover and the reported arrest of Embaló were “fabricated” to disrupt election results, according to his rival Fernando Dias, who, like Embaló, claimed to have won the vote.

The Associated Press could not independently verify the claims by Dias, a member of the Social Renewal Party.

Dias, 47, said in a video statement that he escaped custody “through a back door” after reports he was arrested by soldiers He vowed to fight back.

“Umaro lost the elections, and instead of accepting the result, he fabricated a coup d’état,” Dias said. “Once again, we, we have been the target of a false coup d’état. We will liberate ourselves.”

The military officers who announced they had deposed the president cited the “discovery of an ongoing plan to manipulate electoral results,” according to a spokesperson, Dinis N’Tchama, who was flanked by others during the televised statement.

Trump barring S. Africa from next G20 summit

Next year’s event will be held at his Florida golf club

BY JOSH BOAK Associated Press

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he is barring South Africa from participating in the Group of 20 summit next year at his Miami-area club and will stop all payments and subsidies to the country over its treatment of a U.S. government representative at this year’s global meeting.

Trump chose not to have an American government delegation attend last weekend’s summit hosted by South Africa, saying he did so because its White Afrikaners were being violently persecuted. It is a claim that South Africa, which was mired for decades in racial apartheid, has rejected as baseless.

The Republican president, in a social media post, said South Africa had refused to hand over its G20 hosting responsibilities to a senior representative of the U.S. Embassy when the summit ended.

“Therefore, at my direction, South Africa will NOT be receiving an invitation to the 2026 G20, which will be hosted in the Great City of Miami, Florida next year,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

“South Africa has demonstrated to the World they are not a country worthy of Membership anywhere,” he said, “and we are going to stop all payments and subsidies to them, effective immediately.”

South Africa said it considered the U.S. decision to appoint a local embassy official for the G20 handover an insult. The ceremony instead happened at its Foreign Ministry building after the summit “as the United States was not present at the summit,” a statement from South African President Cyril Ra-

maphosa’s office said.

The statement said Ramaphosa “noted the regrettable statement by President Donald Trump on South Africa’s participation in the 2026 G20 meetings.” It also pushed back against Trump’s widely rejected claims that Afrikaner farmers are being killed and having their land taken away saying that Trump “continues to apply punitive measures against South Africa based on misinformation and distortions about our country.” In some ways, Trump views next year’s G20 summit as personal, given that he announced it will be at his golf club in Doral, Florida.

This year’s summit in Johannesburg, the first held in Africa, was boycotted by the United States, a G20 founding member and the world’s biggest economy The meeting’s declaration, giving more attention to issues that affect developing countries, went unsigned by Washington, and the Trump administration expressed its opposition to South Africa’s agenda, especially the parts that focus on climate change.

The U.S. has now taken over the rotating presidency of the G20, leaving the impact of the South African declaration unclear Trump has claimed that White Afrikaner farmers in South Africa are being killed and that their land is being seized. The South African government and others, including some Afrikaners themselves, say Trump’s claims are the result of misinformation.

Last month, the Trump administration announced it would restrict the number of refugees admitted annually to the U.S. to 7,500, with most of the spots reserved for White South Africans.

Afrikaners are South Africans who are descended mainly from Dutch but also French and German colonial settlers who first came to the country in the 17th century

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ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By CHAN LONG HEI

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire that broke out Wednesday at Wang Fuk Court, a residential estate in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong’s New Territories, on Thursday

Trump criticizes program that brought Afghan refugees to U.S.

BY JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press

The man accused of shooting two National Guard members in Washington is one of about 76,000 Afghans brought to the United States after the chaotic withdrawal of the U.S. from their country as the Taliban took over, authorities said.

The program, called Operation Allies Welcome, was created after the 2021 decision to leave Afghanistan following 20 years of American intervention and billions of dollars of aid.

Democratic President Joe Biden, who oversaw the withdrawal started by his predecessor Republican President Donald Trump — said the U.S. owed it to the interpreters and translators, the fighters and drivers and others who opposed the Taliban to give them a safe place outside of Afghanistan.

But others — including Trump and many Republicans said the

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worked with U.S. forces during the Afghanistan War to enter the U.S. The president has deployed National Guard members in part to assist in his administration’s mass deportation efforts.

Trump suggested that the shooter was mentally unstable after the war and departure from Afghanistan.

“He went cuckoo. I mean, he went nuts,” the president said. “It happens too often with these people.”

The suspect charged with the shooting is Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29. The suspect had worked in a special CIAbacked Afghan Army unit before emigrating from Afghanistan, according to two sources who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation, and #AfghanEvac, a group that helps resettle Afghans who assisted the U.S. during the two-decade war Jeanine Pirro, the U.S attorney for the District of Columbia, declined to provide a motive for Wednesday afternoon’s brazen act of violence which occurred just blocks from the White House.

Pirro said that the suspect, Lakanwal, launched an “ambush-style” attack with a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver The suspect originally faced charges of assault with intent to kill while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. Pirro said that “it’s too soon to say” what the suspect’s motives were. The charges could be upgraded, Pirro said.

FBI Director Kash Patel said the shooting is being investigated as an act of terrorism. Agents have served a series of search warrants, with Patel calling it a “coastto-coast investigation.”

The rare shooting of National Guard members on American soil, on the eve of Thanksgiving, comes amid court fights and a broader public policy debate about the Trump administration’s use of the military to combat what officials cast as an outof-control crime problem

Trump issued an emergency order in August that federalized the local police force and sent in National Guard troops. The order expired a month later But the troops have remained in the city, where nearly 2,200 troops currently are assigned, according to the government’s latest update.

refugees were not properly vetted in a resettlement process they said was as chaotic and poorly planned as leaving the country to the Taliban.

“This individual — and so many others — should have never been allowed to come here. Our citizens and service members deserve far better than to endure the ongoing fallout from the Biden administration’s catastrophic failures,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe said.

Accused shooter worked with CIA

The accused shooter, identified by law enforcement officials as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, worked with the CIA “as a member of a partner force in Kandahar,” Ratcliffe said in a statement Thursday. It didn’t specify what Lakanwal did for America’s spy agency

The Kandahar region in southern Afghanistan was in the Taliban

The Guard members have patrolled neighborhoods, train stations and other locations, participated in highway checkpoints and been assigned to pick up trash and guard sporting events

The Trump administration quickly ordered 500 more National Guard members to Washington following Wednesday’s shooting

The suspect who was in custody also was shot and had wounds that were not believed to be life-threatening, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity

Suspect worked with CIA A resident of the eastern Afghan province of Khost who identified himself as Lakanwal’s cousin said Lakanwal was originally from the province and that he and his brother had worked in a special Afghan Army unit known as Zero Units in the southern province of Kandahar A former official from the unit, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said Lakanwal was a team leader and his brother was a platoon leader. The cousin spoke to The

heartland of the country and saw fierce fighting between the Taliban and NATO forces after the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 following the al-Qaida attacks on Sept. 11. The CIA relied on Afghan staff for translation, administrative and front-line fighting with their own paramilitary officers in the war Little is known about Lakanwal’s four years in the U.S. or why he drove across the country from his home in Bellingham, Washington.

After leaving Afghanistan, tens of thousands of those seeking resettlement ended up in sprawling airconditioned tent villages at military bases like Joint Base McGuire-DixLakehurst in central New Jersey, Fort McCoy in Wisconsin or at Fort Bliss in Texas.

After months of health screenings and background checks many were resettled in established Afghan

Associated Press on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. He said Lakanwal had started out working as a security guard for the unit in 2012, and was later promoted to become a team leader and a GPS specialist

Kandahar is in the Taliban heartland of the country It saw fierce fighting between the Taliban and NATO forces after the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 following the al-Qaida attacks on Sept. 11. The CIA relied on Afghan staff for translation, administrative and front-line fighting with their own paramilitary officers in the war

Zero Units were paramilitary units manned by Afghans but backed by the CIA and also served in front-line fighting with CIA paramilitary officers. Activists had attributed abuses to the units. They played a key role in the chaotic U.S withdrawal from the country, providing security around Kabul International Airport as the Americans and others fell back during the Taliban offensive that seized the country

CIA Director John Ratcliffe said in a statement that Lakanwal’s relationship with the U.S. government “ended shortly following the chaotic

communities in northern Virginia and the surrounding Washington area, as well as Northern California and Texas. States where between 1,000 and 3,000 have settled include Arizona, New York, Florida, Georgia, Colorado, Nebraska and Pennsylvania, according to State Department data.

Trump stopped aid

Trump’s executive order shortly after taking office in January suspending federal funding for resettlement agencies made it tougher to help refugees with basic necessities like food and rent, handcuffing the mostly religious groups that help them.

The president, who has described Afghanistan as “a hellhole on earth,” already planned to review every Afghan who entered the country under Operation Allies Welcome and reiterated that goal after Wednesday’s shooting.

“If they can’t love our country

evacuation” of U.S. service members from Afghanistan. Lakanwal, 29, entered the U.S. in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden administration program that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after the U.S. withdrawal from the country, officials said. Lakanwal applied for asylum during the Biden administration, but his asylum was ap-

we don’t want them,” Trump said in a message released on social media, adding that the shooting was “a crime against our entire nation.” Trump also used his message to attack refugees from Somalia who have settled in Minnesota, saying they are “ripping apart that oncegreat state.”

It’s part of this administration’s goal both to deport people in the country illegally and close the country to most refugees. Trump said he wants to remove anyone “who does not belong here or does not add benefit to our country.”

One of the Afghans who made it to the U.S was Mohammad Saboor, a father of seven children worked as an electrician and A/C technician with international and U.S. forces for 17 years. He resettled earlier this year in California and told The Associated Press he looked forward to sending his kids to school and giving back to the country that took his family in.

proved under the Trump administration, #AfghanEvac said in a statement. The initiative brought roughly 76,000 people to the U.S., many of whom had worked alongside U.S. troops and diplomats as interpreters and translators. It has since faced intense scrutiny from Trump and his allies, congressional Republicans and some government

watchdogs over allegations of gaps in the vetting process, even as advocates say there was extensive vetting and the program offered a lifeline to people at risk of Taliban reprisals.

Lakanwal has been living in Bellingham, Washington, about 79 miles north of Seattle, with his wife and five children, said his former landlord, Kristina Widman.

Lakanwal

National parkstoraise fees forinternational tourists

BYHALLIE GOLDEN and MATTHEW DALY Associated Press

WASHINGTON TheNational Park Service said Tuesday it is going to start charging the millions of international tourists who visit U.S. parks eachyearanextra $100 to enter some of the most popular sites, while leaving them out of fee-free days that will be reserved for American residents.

DEMOCRATS

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special elections for state Senate after court-ordered redistricting gave Black voters more electoral power,breaking the Republican supermajority and offering the party arare boost in Mississippi. Corbett described thewinsasa“blue wave,” saying that recent federal shifts such as funding cuts and furloughsofgovernment workershad galvanized many voters

Crossing politicallines

Before this year,signs suggested Mississippi’s politics might be evolving. In the 2023 governor’s election, Republican Gov.Tate Reeves won reelection by 50.9% of the vote to DemocratBrandon Presley’s 47.7%, the closest gubernatorial race since 1999

Along theMississippi coast, though, Reeves led Presley by 17% in Harrison County, 26% in Jackson County and 44% in Hancock County

Some Democrats say these tighter races may suggest voters are more opento crossing political lines. Others believe elections are driving stronger civic engagement, regardlessofpolitical leanings. And Searcy Taylor,aDemocrat and president of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., said increasing voter turnout is helping Democrats.

“If we’reunified and we actually get the people out,” she said, “we can do this.” Republicans along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, however,argue that lower Republican voter turnout is partly behind the region’s subtle shifts. Pete Wilson, chairofthe Harrison County Republican Party,said the coast’slong conservative history has produced a sense of voter apathy

“People don’t go to the polls because they think, ‘Oh,what’sthe use?We’re just going to win anyway,’” Wilson said. That did not appear to be

Theannouncement declaring“America-first entryfee policies” comes as national parks deal withthe strain of amajor staff reductionand severe budget cuts, along with recovering from damage during the recent governmentshutdown and significant lost revenue due to fees not being collectedduring that time.

The feechange will impact 11 national parks, including Grand Canyon,

the case for Democrats in Gulfport’smayoral race, he added, notingthatkey political figures, includingStacey Abrams, visited the coast to encourage turnout.U.S. Sen. TimScott, of South Carolina, also visited Gulfport during the race to campaignfor Republicans

The turnout surgedto 13,007 voters —a significant jump compared with the previous mayoral election.WilliamsBarnes captured46.81%ofthe votes to Keating’s53.19%. In the 2021 Gulfport mayoral race, when 4,204 residents cast ballots,RepublicanMayor Billy Hewes won with 63.27% of the total vote.

‘Someone whowillbegood’

Others believe thatmany votersin localelections no longerfeel compelled todefine theirpolitical leaning at all. Len Blackwell, aretired attorney andDemocrat who lives in Gulfport, said voters in south Mississippi seem to be amix of devoted Republicans and also some Democrats,who Blackwell suspectssometimes are quietabout their political preference. But he also said many who vote in local races may not place much emphasis on party.

“They just wantsomeone who will be good,” he said. Signs of that shift are also emerging in other parts of the region.A Democrat running to fill former Rep. Matt Gaetz’scongressional seat in the conservative Florida Panhandlelast spring lost to aRepublican but carried Escambia County,which includes Pensacola,for the first time in decades.

On the Mississippicoast, TomCarpenter,vicechair of theHarrison County Republican Party,is“cautiouslyoptimistic” abouthis party’sfuture.Hesaid Republicans need tobemore deliberateabout hosting community-oriented events to reconnect with voters, especially those less inclined to turnout.

“If we get ourpeople to realize that they need to get out, and they need to talkto neighbors, andthey need to discuss things,and

Yellowstoneand Yosemite, according to the U.S. Departmentofthe Interior

As part of the changes, which are set to takeeffect Jan. 1, foreign touristswill also see theirannual parks pass pricejump to $250, while U.S. residents will continue to be charged $80, according to thedepartment’sstatement.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in aposton the social platform Xthat

so on and so forth, Ithink we will continue in the right direction,” Carpenter said, adding that the focusshould remain on jobs, education and security In Bay St. Louis, City Council member Nancy Moynan, who flipped aRepublican-held seat earlier this year,agrees that voters remain driven by keyissues —insurance prices, city services and thechallenges of rapid population growth. She described seeing “a better blending of political views” as more residents move in from out of state.

“If you align your thoughts andyour feelings with acandidate who happens to be of adifferent politicalparty,peopleare much more apttocross political parties,”Moynan said. “Because they found somebody that canspeak theirvoice.”

Email PoetWolfe at poet. wolfe@theadvocate.com.

thechanges make sure U.S. taxpayers who support the park service“continue to enjoyaffordable access, while international visitors contribute their fair share to maintaining and improving our parks for future generations!”

AWhite House post on Xlayingout theincreased fees ended with thephrase, “AMERICANS FIRST.”

Theannouncementfol-

lows aJuly executive order in which President Donald Trumpdirected the parks to increase entry fees for foreign tourists.

The U.S. Travel Association estimated that in 2018, national parks and monuments saw morethan14 million international visitors. Yellowstone reported thatin2024, nearly 15% of its visitors werefrom outside the country,whichwas

down from 30% in 2018. The money madeoff the new fees will help support thenational parks,including with upgrading facilitiesfor visitors andmaintenance, according to the statement. The “resident-only patrioticfee-freedays”next year includeVeteransDay, which was oneofthe parks’ eight free days open to everyone in 2025.

in the Federal Register,orby a Louisiana domiciledin‐surance companywithat least an A-Rating in the latestprintingofthe A.M. Best’sKey Rating Guide towrite individual bonds uptoten percent(10%) ofpolicyholders’surplus asshown in theA.M Best’sKey Rating Guide, orbyaninsurance com‐panyingood standing li‐censedtowrite bid bonds which is either domiciledinLouisiana or ownedbyLouisiana resi‐dents.The bidbondshall beissuedbya company licensedtodobusiness inLouisiana.The certi‐fied check, cashier’s check,orbid bond shall begiven as aguarantee thatthe bidder shallexe‐cutethe contract,should itbeawarded to him, in conformitywiththe con‐tract documentswithin ten (10) days No contractor maywith‐drawits bidprior to the deadlinefor submission ofbids. Withdrawal of bidsthereaftershall be allowedonlypursuantto LAR.S.38§2214.C.Other‐wise, no bidder may withdrawhis bidfor at least forty-five (45) days after thetimescheduled for thebid openingof bids. Each bidshall be submitted only on the bid form provided within the specifications. The successfulbidderwillbe requiredtoexecute per‐formanceand laborand materialpayment bonds inthe full amount of the contractasmorefully definedinthe biddocu‐ments.Nocontractors may withdraw hisbid for atleast forty-five (45) daysafter thetime

PHOTO PROVIDED By HANNAH RUHOFF/SUN HERALD

Carrissa Corbett campaigns outside OrangeGrove Community Center in Gulfport,Miss., on June 3for City Council representing Ward 6.

anyone willing to write him apolicy

That forced Braud to get insurance from the state’s insurer of last resort, Citizens, which charges him north of $12,000 ayear for home insurance, triple what he paid with Lighthouse. His flood insurance —aseparate system handled by the federal government—has soaredaswell.

“My house has gone from affordable when Imovedin to unaffordable now,” Braud said. After the rash of insurer failures, the number of people forced to turn to Citizens for insurance skyrocketed from about35,000toa peak of 140,000 in the summerof 2023,the organization’s data show But more than two years later, and despitechanges in state laws and insurance regulations from Insurance Commissioner TimTemple, the number of Louisiana homeownerswithCitizens insurance remains stubbornlyhigh. Andthe amount of money those people— and residents with private carriers —are paying for insurance has not come down significantly Citizens, anonprofit controlled by aboard of state officials and insurance executives, has tried to get people off its rollsand onto the books of private insurers.

But while it has sent 30,000 people to private insurers through aprocess called depopulation,its total number of policieshas only fallen by about 18,000, or 13%, since the peak. In all, the number of policies is still up more than 200% since Ida.

The halting recovery underscores the enduring nature of Louisiana’sinsurance crisis, which continues to crush homeowners in south Louisiana. It also raisesquestions about whether Louisiana will everreturn to the point whenonlyasmall shareof properties are covered by Citizens, or whether tens of thousands more people will be stuck long-term with the insurer of last resort. Before the storms began hitting in 2020, only 35,000 homeowners—largely withthe riskiestpropertiesinthe state were on its rolls.

Carolyn Kousky,executive director of the nonprofit Insurance for Good, said insurers of last resort like Louisiana Citizens are importantbackstops to the cyclical nature of insurance, where storms, inflation and the reinsurance marketcan affect prices. But they can’t “magically make insurance cheaper in high-risk areas,” she said. The solution should be building homes that can better withstand hurricanes and other perils, which are becoming worse because of climate change.

“That risk of southern Louisiana is the fundamental challenge,” she said. “It’s so much harder to solve and it’sonly getting worse.” Braudhas thought about turning to adifferent type of insurance, known as the

lation,”shedding policies in bulk to privatecarriers. That’show Citizens rapidly decreased its policy count in theyears after Katrina.

andelected officialsbelieve it’simportant for the market to send price signals that encouragepeopleinthe riskiestparts of thecountry to fortifytheir homes or move.

is nota desirable insurer

By law,itmust charge 10% more thanprivate insurers, along-standing policyaimed at encouraging homeowners to find coverage elsewhereif they can.

Butafter watching the dramaticrise in policies, Republican state lawmakersand Temple agreed last year to suspendthe 10% surcharge for three years to give homeowners areprieve. Democraticlawmakershad initially pushedfor thesuspension.

Temple said that change maybeencouraging some people to remainonCitizens, whichsometimes offers better terms on deductibles and coverage than privatemarket policies.

But the process has been halting at times. After dumping 10% of its policies about ayear ago, the rolls for Citizens climbed by about 4% since.

One company, Cimarron Insurance, was set to take outnearly 9,000policies next month. But the company dropped out abruptly before the Citizens board certified the latest round this month. Templesaid he didnot know why, andthe company didn’trespond to messages seeking comment.

BenAlbright, headofthe Independent Agents and Brokers Association of Louisiana, said the Citizens policy count hasn’tmoved down as quickly as he would like, somethingheblamed partly on thesuspensionofthe 10% surcharge. He alsosaid that until larger players enter the market,somepolicyholders and agentswill hesitate to getinsurance from smaller companies, fearful of areprise of the failure of 12 insurers in recent years.

“Ifyou can be with atrillion dollar company that’s AM Best A-rated,that’s the best-case scenario,” he said “There’s not alot of those writing in south Louisiana.”

In themeantime, Kousky said Louisiana andother states should embrace solutions like fortified roofs.

Arecent report by Kousky and other researchers on insurers of last resort around the country found other states aretaking several stepstomakehomes more resilient.Thoseinclude requiring Citizens to put fortified roofs on the homes of

policyholders whenthey’re paying fora newroof after aloss. Alabama, Mississippi and North Carolina have versions of that policy,but Louisiana does not. Such policies can also help get people off the rolls of theinsurer of last resortby making their homemore desirable for insurers to cover, she said.

“North Carolina, Alabama, when theyinvest in home fortification, that’sactually a takeout plan,” Kousky said. “Onceyour home is fortified, you’re moreinsurable in the private sector.”

“surpluslines” market, as areprieve. Thoseinsurers traditionallycover hard-toinsure propertylike antique automobiles, but have capturedasmall but growing share of the homeowners as well. The tradeoffisthat thecompanies aren’tbacked by the stateguaranty fund, meaninghomeowners may not have any recourse if they go insolvent. As of now,that’s nota risk Braud is willing to take.As he and his wife picture their future, they wonder whether they can afford to stay at their Mandeville home longterm.

“Wemovedinherehoping this would be our forever home;thiswould be our last home,” Braud said. “Now,we’re really looking at that option of, do we need to movenorth of I-12, where presumably insurance rates are alittle lower? Andwhat doesthat look like?”

‘Not as fast as anyone wants’

After HurricaneKatrina, Citizenshad asimilar explosion in policies. Butthe insurancecrisisfollowing themostrecentspate of storms since 2021 has been far worse in scope. Four yearsafterIda,Citizens’ policies are still more thandoublewhat they were before. And while Citizens has moved thousands of peopletoprivateinsurers through depopulation, where private carriers take policies in bulk, asignificant number of peoplehave come onto therolls of Citizensin the meantime. In normal times, Citizens

Plus, some agents and policyholdersare hesitant to move to one of thesmall insurers thatare writing policies in Louisiana, especially after12insurersthat were mostly small and undercapitalized went bellyup in recentyears. Many of thecompanies mostactive now in southLouisiana don’t have the “gold star” of ratings from AM Best, aratings agency,and are instead rated by Demotech,which researchers have found offers alessringing endorsementoffinancial health.

Another factor: The private insurance marketisnot bringing widespread relief.

Temple said he still believes aseries of laws and regulations fromthe past twoyears will succeed in inviting morecompetition and benefiting themarket by making it easier for insurers to raise rates and drop policyholders. Butwhile Louisiana has not seen huge rate hikesthis year,rates arestill projected to tickupbyabout 4% in 2026.

He also said he expects Louisiana will eventually get back to thepoint where only around 35,000people are coveredbyCitizens. As of November,more than three timesthat amount were on therolls.

“It’snot as fast as anybody wants,” Temple said. “But people are starting to see the success of the2024 reforms.”

Hesitanceand risk

Citizenshas gone through several rounds of “depopu-

Kousky,who haspublished ahost of research on disaster insurance, said reformingthe nation’s property insurance system is tricky On the one hand, inviting competition into the market is good forconsumers.On theother hand, going too far in making life easy on insurance companies can hurt consumers when it comes timefor insurerstopay claims.

The bigger challenge for a place like southLouisiana is thatit’sincreasingly risky to live here as climate change brings more powerful hurricanes, morerainfall and warmer waters in theGulf, Kousky said.

And the prospect of afederal solution raises sticky questions. Forinstance, many insurancescholars

Pope makesfirst foreignstop

Leoencourages

BY NICOLE WINFIELD,SUZAN FRASER, SERRA YEDIKARDES and ANDREWWILKS Associated Press

ANKARA, Turkey Pope Leo XIV encouraged Turkey to be asource of stabilityand dialogueinaworld riven by conflict, as he opened his first foreign trip as pope on Thursday with aplea for peace amid efforts to end wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

Turkey to be force forstability,peace ASSOCIATED

The American pope emphasized amessage of peace as he arrived in Ankara, welcomed on the tarmac by a military guard of honorand at the presidential palace by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Speaking to Erdogan and the country’sdiplomatic corps at alibrary in the palace complex, Leo praised Turkey’shistoric role as a bridge between East and West, at the crossroads of religions and cultures.

“May Turkey be asource of stability and rapprochement betweenpeoples, in service of ajust and lasting peace,” he said, speaking in frontof agiant globe. “Today, more than ever,weneed people who will promote dialogue and practice it with firm will and patient resolve.”

Leo’svisit comes as Turkey,acountry of more than 85 million people of predominantly Sunni Muslims, has cast itself as akey intermediary in efforts to end the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza Ankara has offered to take part in the stabilization force in Gaza to help oversee afragile ceasefire. Israel, which has had rocky relations with Turkey for years, accuses Ankara of supporting Hamas and has ruled out any role for Turkish troops in astabilization force.

Leo didn’tcite the conflicts specifically,but he quoted

Pope Leo XIV walksThursdayasheiswelcomed upon his arrival at EsenbogaInternational AirportinAnkara, Turkey,marking thebeginning of his first foreigntrip.

his predecessor,Pope Francis, in lamenting thatthe wars ravagingthe world today amount to a“third world war fought piecemeal,” with resources spent on armamentsinstead of fighting hunger and poverty andprotectingcreation.

In hisaddress, Erdogan saidthe Palestinian issue is central to achieving peace in the region and praised what he describedasthe Vatican’s “steadfast stance” on it Word aboutvaluing women

The speech was closely watched, since the first speech of any popetrip sets the tone forhis visit. That’s allthe more true for this first tripabroad forthe first Americanpope, who will be deliveringall hisremarks in Turkey inEnglishinadeparture for theItalian-centric Vatican.It was thus significantthat Leo also commented on theplightofwomen in Turkey

“Women, in particular, through their studies andactive participationinprofessional,cultural and political life, are increasingly placing themselves at theservice of your community and its positive influenceon the in-

ternational scene,” Leo said.

“Wemust greatlyvalue then the important initiatives in this regard, which support thefamily and the contributionthat women maketoward thefull flowering of social life.”

Women’s rightsactivists continue to denounce Erdogan’s2021 withdrawal from theIstanbul Convention, a landmark European treaty signed in Istanbulin2011 to protect women from violence. Critics say the move weakened safeguards.

Historic anniversary

Themainimpetus for Leo to travel to Turkeyisto markthe 1,700thanniversary of the Council of Nicaea, an unprecedented gathering of at least 250 bishops from around the Roman Empire. It happenedatatime when theEastern and Western churches were still united. They split in theGreat Schismof1054, adivide precipitated largelybydisagreements over the primacy of the pope.

Thevisit will alsoallowLeo to reinforce the church’srelations with Muslims.Leo was duetovisit theBlueMosque and preside over an inter-

faith meeting in Istanbul

Speaking to reporters on board his plane, Leoacknowledged thehistoricnature of his first foreign trip andsaidhehas been looking forward to it because of what it means for Christians andfor promoting peace in theworld.

“And to invite all people to cometogether to search for greater unity,greater harmony,and to look for the ways that allmen andwomen can truly be brothers and sisters in spite of differences,inspiteofdifferent religions, in spite of different beliefs,” he said.

Leo alsoshared somemore light-hearted moments with reporters.

“Tothe Americanshere, happyThanksgiving!” he said to the80orsoreporters who are travelling aboard the papal plane. “It’sa wonderful day to celebrate.”

He was gifted abaseball bat once owned by legendary White SoxplayerNellie Fox, and apair of White Soxbranded slippers and socks.

The latter gift was areference to Leo’squiplast week that he only wears white socks, aplay on words about his beloved baseball team.

PRESS PHOTO By KHALIL HAMRA

Council to consider Holy Rosary lease

Plan for Northeast library branch gains momentum

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

The Lafayette Parish Council is expected Tuesday to consider approving agreements to lease property near Holy Rosary Institute on which to construct a Northeast Regional Library branch

Guilty verdicts returned in two slayings

BY KRISTIN ASKELSON Staff writer

The need for a library in northeast Lafayette, a socioeconomically challenged area where many residents have no personal transportation, was on hold for years. Finally, it appears to be nearing a reality In August, the Parish Council gave Mayor-President Monique

Boulet the authorization to negotiate with the land owners to lease several acres of land that’s part of the former Holy Rosary Institute, a school for Black students that closed in 1993. The resolution the council is expected to consider Tuesday approves a cooperative endeavor

agreement, ground lease agreement, memorandum of lease agreement and various other agreements between the parish and Holy Rosary Land Holdings. Holy Rosary Land Holdings is a nonprofit corporation based in New Orleans that is owned and operated by Catholic nuns. According to the proposed agreements to be voted on Tuesday, the parish would lease

RUNNING FOR A CAUSE

Juries in two parishes returned guilty verdicts in two separate murder cases last week. Both cases were prosecuted in the 16th Judicial District, where District Attorney Michael Haik III announced guilty verdicts in the slayings of Brian Gibson Jr and Nicole Hamilton. In the Gibson case, a jury found 38-year-old Anthony Quint Hills, of Jeanerette, guilty of seconddegree murder in Gibson’s 2021 shooting death.

Gibson was putting gas in his vehicle at a Baldwin gas station when Hills fired seven shots at the gas station. Two hit Gibson, and he died of his wounds. Hills fled the scene but the shooting was captured on surveillance video. Hills claimed he was shooting at someone else, but after a three-day trial the jury found him guilty He now faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence.

ä See VERDICTS, page 4B

Longtime meteorologist Ed Roy dies

Lafayette man was businessman, ex-Parish Council member

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

One man shot at gas station; woman killed by boyfriend Roy

Ed Roy, 76, of Lafayette, a meteorologist, businessman and former Parish Council member, has died. His son, Courtney Roy, made the announcement Tuesday morning on Facebook. While in high school, Roy took flying lessons and became a flight instructor Roy grew up in the Grand Coteau area and worked in the 1960s at a few local radio stations. He graduated from what is now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He later worked as a meteorologist at KATC-TV3 in Lafayette for more than 20 years in the 1970s into the 1990s. After leaving the TV station, he started his own commercial weather business, Ed Roy Limited, providing forecasts tailored to those

ä See ROY, page 4B

ABOVE: Runners race along Camellia Boulevard on Wednesday during Camellia Crossing in Lafayette. Camellia Crossing, a 5K and 1-mile Gleaux Run, is a family event that benefits survivors and

Groups sue over ammonia plant permits

Existing Ascension air pollution cited

BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT Staff writer

Clean Hydrogen Works an air permit and a permit required for large facilities building in areas that meet or exceed federal air quality limits. That company

intends to construct Ascension Clean Energy, an ammonia plant that utilizes carbon-capture and sequestration technology near Donaldsonville and the community of Modeste. The lawsuit was filed Monday by the Donaldsonville-based Rural Roots Louisiana and the New Orleans group Louisiana Bucket Brigade. It asks the court to vacate LDEQ’s approval of the two permits, remand the matter back to the agency and stay all activities authorized by the permits Among the allegations, the groups say the department failed to fully consider the cumulative air pollution impacts for communities in the area.

“LDEQ’s failure to consider the cumulative impact on air quality from the overwhelming indus-

trial development in the area means that it failed to fully consider whether the communities within five miles of the ACE project site will be disproportionately affected by CHW’s permitted emissions,” the lawsuit states.

LDEQ did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday In a statement on behalf of Clean Hydrogen Works, TJC Group project manager Blanche Gallagher wrote that the company was still reviewing the lawsuit and couldn’t comment. She said Clean Hydrogen Works is “confident in the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and their rigorous review of Ascension Clean Energy’s air permit application.” “Ascension Clean Energy re-

mains committed to the highest standards of community engagement and environmental protection,” she added. Among the multiple allegations, the complaint contends that LDEQ didn’t follow a requirement that emerged from a landmark 1984 Ascension Parish court case. From that case — known as Save Ourselves the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that LDEQ must “determine that adverse environmental impacts have been minimized or avoided as much as possible consistently with the public welfare.”

In the lawsuit, Rural Roots argued that LDEQ failed to meet this requirement by relying on

STAFF PHOTOS By BRAD BOWIE

AI literacy is Louisiana’schance to lead

Louisiana is in afight for its future. U.S. Census data show more than 317,000 residents have left Louisiana’smajor metro areas since 2005.Many of the people Iknow who left have advanced degrees from leading institutions. Those are the very people we need to build a competitive economy People aren’tleaving becausethey want to. They’re leaving because we aren’tleading.

Artificial intelligenceliteracy is Louisiana’schance to lead. The field is new,sostateshaven’t caught up yet. We also have forward-thinking leadershipatthe Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. BESE passed one of thenation’sfirst AI education resolutions and established an AI work group to drive statewide strategy I’m launching LaLeadsAI.org

to push that momentum forward. The initiativefocuses on deliveringAItools to more Louisiana public school students, training more educators to smartly use AI and helping state organizationsadvance AI education AI in education is still in its early formation. The standards aren’tset, the models aren’tdefined, and no state has fully claimed leadership.

This is therare window where early movers get to shape the rules, set the benchmarks and establish thepipelines everyone else will follow.IfLouisiana steps in now —with clarity,coordination and urgency —wecan define thetrajectory of AI literacy rather than inherit whatever other states create.

Ourmomenttolead will not be available for long. Utah is hostingstatewide AI

summits andproducing thousands of AI-powered lessons. Massachusetts is investing over $100 million to build state-run AI infrastructure. New York is committing $275 million to launch their AI Institute. North Carolina adopted an AI innovation index to measure progress statewide. These states aren’twaiting. They’re building. They’re attracting talent. And they’re showing what happens when leadership commits to the future.

Louisianacan do thesame.

July Fourth lands at the momentwhen summer is in full swing and teachers begin preparing for the next school year.It’s thenatural deadline for putting real structure in place.

If Louisiana sets thegroundwork for AI literacy before the July Fourth fireworks pop, we start the fall with momentum instead of moredelay.Leading AI literacy meansintroducing leading programs into our state. Some

University innovation helps to powerLa.,but afederal plan couldput stop

In arecent interview,Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick claimed taxpayersget “zero” from the money they invest in university research. To remedy this perceived injustice, the secretary has proposed an audacious solution: the federal government seizing half of patent royalties for inventionsit helps fund.

As ascientist at LouisianaState University —one whosefederally funded work could soon save the cattle industry millions —Ican assure him the return on investment is far from zero. Taxpayers benefit immensely from federally supporteduniversity science,not just in the form of lifeenhancing products, but through high-paying jobs, economic prosperityand tax revenues. More importantly,the process by which ideas born in the laboratory aretransformed into useful products such as medicines,consumer electronics or Google. And this has worked extraordinarily well for decades Lutnick’sproposalwould laywastetothis system,leaving Louisiana’s economy without one of its greatest sourcesofeconomic growth and job creation.

to that

states haveadopted one or two of these ideas. Louisiana can lead if we have all four in place by July Fourth.

Fourachievable steps would would put Louisiana at the front of the national AI movement.

First,adopt astatewide AI Literacy measure. Usenational frameworks like the AI Innovation Index so Louisiana can set aclear bar and improve against it annually.Fund participation across school systems.

Second, approve ahigh-quality AI industry-based credential. The credential is already being developed with LED, the LSU Gordon A. Cain Center forSTEM Literacy,BRACand GNO Inc. The WorkforceInvestment Council simply needstoapprove it at its next meeting.

Third, expand Louisiana’sgenerative AI tools library.Restricting teachers to three approved AI tools ignores reality —86% of studentsalready use ChatGPT

The BESE AI Committee, chaired by Louisiana Tech President Jim Henderson, is building asafe adoption framework. LDOE only needs to adopt it when submitted to BESE on March 10.

Fourth, establish the Louisiana Innovation Institute. Modeled after New York’sapproach, the Institute would fund grants, review technology policy and manage an educational AI tools clearinghouse.

Core funding should come from the state, with philanthropic and private partners supporting the work.

If we take these four steps by July Fourth, we can start to stem the brain drain and position this state as anational AI leader.Ifwe don’t, other states will continue to outpace us —and we’ll lose more of the very people capable of building our future.

Blake Bertuccelli-Booth is atechnology expert from NewOrleans.

Lethistory repeat itself to fixLa. auto insurance

commercialization. Without that partnership, this vaccinewould be sitting in auniversity lab freezer Louisiana’seconomy depends on precisely this kind of innovation. The state’s cattle sector alone contributes more than $767 million each year.Breakthroughs developed here keep our farmers productive, our food supply stable and our universities competitive. And my vaccine is just one example. In 2023, LSU secured 35 patents, placing the university in thetop 100 nationwide. Recent patents include algae-based bioplastics that could strengthen Louisiana’sgreen-manufacturing sector,aferal-hog toxicant to protect farms and ageneticallymodified herpes virus that could treat cancer That’swhy I’mtroubled by Secretary Lutnick’sproposal. If Washington seizes half the royalties on university patents it helps fund, it would breakthe bridge between university research and privateinnovation.

The system of technology commercialization that Lutnick has attacked was created four decadesago by alittle-known law called the Bayh-Dole Act. The 1980 reform allows universities, like LSU, to patentdiscoveries made with federal support andlicense them to companies capable of turning them into products.

Before Bayh-Dole, Washingtonkeptthose patents and nearly all of themgathered dust. Out of some 28,000 federally-funded patents, fewer than 1,400 ever reached the private sector That changed with the Bayh-Dole Act. And today,academic tech transfer generates more than 25,000 invention disclosuresand 9,000 licenses each year.Since 1996,ithas driven $1 trillioninGDP and supported6.5 million jobs nationwide

I’ve seen the benefits of thisprocess firsthand. My lab at LSU’sSchool of Veterinary Medicine developed avaccineagainst bovine respiratory disease, which kills millionsof calves every year Using funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, we modified thebovineherpes virustotrigger immunityagainst multiple pathogens at once The result could save up to 8millioncalves each year and spareranchers more than $1 billion in losses.

Thanks to the processBayh-Dole made possible, LSU patented my discovery and licensed it to astartup in SouthDakotawilling to take on the costly task of testing and

Universities already spend monthsnegotiatinglicensing agreements with private companies. Those talks are complex because schools and inventors must agree on how to divide future royalties. Bayh-Dole requires universities to share royalties with the inventor and reinvest back into the research cycle. At LSU, inventors receive 40% of royalties from their discoveries, and another 17% flows back to their departments,funding graduate stipends, newequipment andfuture research.

When licensing slows down, the entire innovation pipelinestarts to break. Universities are willing to spend time and resources filing patentsbecause they are hopeful they can recoup funds with royalties —many schools barely break even. Butcompanies won’t agree to license without patent protection. If fewer deals are signed, schools lose their incentive to patent discoveries. Projectsthat could create jobs in Baton Rouge or save cropsinLafayette might never get off the ground.

Supportersofthe proposal claim the government could increase returns by taking royalties directly.The oppositeistrue.The taxes generated by products, companies and industries born under Bayh-Dole far exceed what any royalty grab could yield.

Louisiana’sscientists and students prove that taxpayer-funded research already delivers aremarkable return. The last thing Washington should do is upend amodel that’s paying dividends.

Shafiqul Chowdhury is aprofessor of veterinary virology at Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine.

Successfulreforms targeting medical malpractice in 1975 and workers’ compensation in 1991 solvedLouisiana’sinsurance crises of those times. Putting the current auto liability crisis into that historical context may help provide apath for the present. In 1975, Louisiana enacted medical malpractice reform legislation aimed at addressing theescalating costs and diminishing availability of medical malpractice insurance. The legislationintroduced acap on noneconomic damage andlimited awards for pain and suffering to $500,000, while allowing unlimited economic damages

This reform was designedtostabilizethe medical malpracticeinsurance market, reducethe burden on healthcare providers and ensure that patientsstill had access to necessary medical services.Atthe same time, legislatorscreated an underwriting entity,the Patients’ Compensation Fund (PCF), to spur the market. Today, this insurancemarket is stable, competitive and healthy

In 1991, Louisiana passed comprehensive workers’ compensation reform legislation aimed at addressing therising costs and inefficiencies within the system and adisappearing insurance market. The reforms included changes to the benefit structure, such as limiting the duration of temporary total disability benefits and establishing amore streamlined processfor resolving disputes. This took adjustment of claimsout of the open courts andinto astable adjudication process. Litigationwas curtailed significantly and workers’ claims were resolvedquickly.Atthe same time, legislators created an underwriting entity,the Louisiana Workers’ CompensationCorporation (LWCC) to spur the market. Today, this market is alsostable, competitive and healthy

Under legislative mandate,the PCF and LWCC began writing insurance andboth succeededquickly in the improved environments established by thecorresponding legal reforms. Both sponsored by the state, neither has created afinancial burden on the state. The success of the LWCC is particularly notable. It attracted dozens of insurance companiestoLouisiana, creating an enduring, competitive

market for workers’ compensation insurance.The LWCC model has been so successful, the entity has returned hundreds of millions of dollars to policyholders over the years.

Akey elementofpastlegislation was easing of rate regulation. This allowedthese state-sponsored underwriting entitiestolead the commercial markets to lowerrates to competefor business in an improved environment. By contrast, onepiece of legislationin2025 gave the Department of Insurance the authority to demand lowerrates without the reforms and structuralchangesusedtosolve the priorinsurance crises. This will not work.

But, following asuccessful playbook from the past, ourlegislators can pass legislationin2026 to,first, establish acap on noneconomic damages.Similartothe medical malpracticereforms, implementing acap on noneconomic damages in automobile liability cases will help stabilize insurancepremiums by reducing the potentialfor unnecessarily large jury awards.

Second, theyshould streamline claims processing by implementing a mandatory adjudication process for auto liability claims outside the traditionalcourt system, like the process in Louisiana’s workers’ compensationsystem, to improve the overall experience forpolicyholders and claimants.

Third, theyshould create an underwriting entity,like aPCF or an LWCC, to spur the market in abetter environment establishedbythe first two reforms. By adopting legalreformsand sponsoring an underwriting entity, Louisiana legislators can fix auto liability in Louisiana, just like they fixed medical malpracticeliability and workers’ compensation in the past.

André Comeaux is abusiness insurancebroker basedinLafayette.

André Comeaux

STAFF FILE PHOTO

COMMENTARY

ISSUE OF THE WEEK THEBAyOU CLASSIC

In the annualshowdownatthe Caesar’s Superdome known as the BayouClassic, Southern University and Grambling State University footballteams face off on the field each year on the weekendafter Thanksgiving Butthe event has becomemuch more than that to the thousands of fanswho flocktoNew Orleans to celebrate one of the greatHBCU traditions in the country.Amongthemare loyalalumniofbothschools whohavebeen coming tothe event foryears, even decades.We asked theheadofthe alumni association at both schools what makesthe BayouClassic so important to their membersand whytheir school’s alumninetworksand traditions have remained strong through generations. Hereare their perspectives:

Achanceto‘honorthe legacy of thosewho came before’

For many,itisafootball game. For me, it’sfootball,Black pageantry,traditionand pride. My journey with the Bayou Classic began as afirst-generationcollegestudent and student-athlete at GramblingState University.And today,asanalumna, executive, national alumni presidentand global ambassador for HBCU culture, the Bayou Classic remains adefining part of my identity Growing up in Opelousas, Icame from acommunity of passionate Grambling and Southern fans That pride ran deep —loud, proud, generational. Iearned an athletic scholarship to Gramblingand became an All-SWAC volleyball athlete, learning what it meantto wear the Grambling brandwith dignity,discipline and purpose. AsGramblinites —GramFam —we never onlyrepresent ourselves but alsoour university, our family and, in many ways, ourentire race. My first Bayou Classicasastudentis etched in pride. Walking into the Superdome, seeing the sea of Black faces, tradition, excellence, music and joy —Iunderstood instantly that this wasbigger than football. Iwatchedupperclassmen carry themselves withconfidence, alumnireturn home withfierceloyalty,celebrities stroll the sidelines, the bands fillthe atmosphere with funk and New Orleanswelcome us withopenarms as tens of thousands arrived every Thanksgiving weekend,makingitfeel like afamilyreunion

tion was an opportunity to honor the legacy of those who came before me. The Bayou Classic taught me that excellence is not optional; it is expected. The pride, dignity andresponsibility Iexperienced as astudent-athlete continuetoguide me in every spaceIoccupy today In corporate America, theBayou Classic has taken on anew dimension, with many Fortune 500 sponsors recognizing the potential brand visibilitythis audience provides.

Eventhas always offered ‘bridgebetween generations’

ing future generations.

As acorporate executive, Iwear my HBCUpride boldly,educating colleagues around the world about Grambling, HBCUs and the significance of this cultural institution. I brag about thelegendary coach EddieRobinson —his historic wins and leadership, which shaped generations of Black athletes and leaders. Ialso brought my corporate organization, Microsoft, to experience the Classic firsthand, exposing global colleagues to the brilliance, tradition and economic impact of HBCUs. The economic impact of the Classic to Louisianaishuge, supporting local businesses, tourism and thecity’shospitality industry every year.Sharing theBayou Classic with others became one of my ways of giving backand creating pathways for opportunities for students and alumni alike.

There’sa certain energy that fills the air when the Southern University Jaguars takethe field. It’s morethan football. It’s family,legacy and pride allwoven into one blue-and-gold experience. For generations, the Bayou Classic has been more than arivalry; it’sbeen areunion. It’s where we gather to celebrate our culture, our excellence and our unshakable belief in thepower of historically Black colleges and universities.

My excitement for Southern started long before thebig game in New Orleans for me. It began on “The Bluff” in Baton Rouge. That pulse was first felt through my father,Carlton Jones Sr., aman who believed deeply in the power of Southern University.Heused to say,“If Ican just get youtoSouthern, doors will open.”

He was right.

The pageantry was unmatched. Black celebrities, entertainers and influencers filled the city.The parade showcased ourculture at its brightest. The MissBayou Classic Pageant brought alevel of Black royalty and glamour rivaling Miss Universe.Othershave tried to replicatethe Classic, but it is nearly impossible toimitate the culture of New Orleans and the energyof bringing two powerhouseHBCUs together. The Greek shows, whereIlater servedas ajudge as amember of AlphaKappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., displayed the precision, pride and excellence of Black Greek-letter life, along with the presence of thefull Divine Nine and representation from other HBCUs, highlighting unity andBlack excellence across our campuses.

And, of course, the Battleofthe Bands where Icould brag aboutthe World Famed Tiger Marching Band —remainsone of the most iconic musical showdownsinthe country As astudent-athlete, Iquicklylearned the obligation to represent Grambling well. Every game, every event, every interac-

Game-day traditions remain someofmy favorite moments:I look forward to doing thewaveinthe Superdome, singing my alma mater after the game and teasing— or beingteased about —the losers of this rivalry.Inthe end, we remain friends, but for fourquarters, it’sGSU!

TheBayou Classic also serves as arite of passage, setting thetone for all other sports throughout the year.Itinstills school pride, unityand asense of legacy to be carried by others. What theBayou Classic meant to me as astudent —identity, representation, pride, community —itstill means today,but witheven greater clarity. Supporting the Classic meanssupporting ourstudents,our culture and our future. Today, as aproud alumna, the Bayou Classic continues to influence my life. It represents legacy,pride and unity.It reminds us alumni of our obligation to support ouralma mater —through mentoring, givingand advocacy.The Bayou Classic shapedmylife. It shaped my leadership. Anditcontinues to shape generations of GramFam who proudly carry its legacy forward

Tammy Richardson is president of the GramblingUniversityNational Alumni Association.

As ayoung kid, Iremember tagging along with my father to A.W.Mumford Stadium towatch the Jaguars practice. Iwasn’tjust watching football—Iwas watching pride, purpose andpossibility.I saw how the players carried themselves, how theband moved with precision, and how theentire campus seemed alive with energy and unity.That love forSouthern was planted early,and it’s been growing strong ever since.

This year will be especially meaningful as my son, Carlton III (Tre), attends his first Bayou Classic alongside his older sisters, Colby and Celina. Sharing this experience with them and watching them take in the sightsand sounds that Igrew up loving is something I’ve looked forward to for years. Ican already picture their eyes lighting up as the Human Jukebox takes the field, and the crowd erupts in blue-and-gold pride.

The Bayou Classic has always been a bridge between generations, and now my children will see firsthand what makes this weekend such acornerstoneof Southern Universitypride. That’sthe true beautyofthis event; it connects the past, celebrates the present and inspires thefuture allinone unforgettable weekend.

The Bayou Classic itself began in 1974, when Southern University and Grambling StateUniversity officially turned their rivalry intoanationally recognized event in New Orleans. Over the decades, the Bayou Classic has grown into morethan just asporting event —ithas becomea defining experience for students, alumni and the wider community,creating traditionsthat honor our history while inspir-

Now, as national president of the Southern University Alumni Federation, Isee that samepassion and pride come alive every year at the Bayou Classic. It’s more than football —it’safamily reunion. Our alumni are our greatest constituents and the backbone of Southern University’s continued success. Their involvementdirectly shapes the experience and matriculation of current students —through scholarships, mentorship, recruitment and unwavering support at every level. At the Bayou Classic, that connection is on full display —bridging generations and strengthening the Jaguar legacy year after year Ialso want to recognize the incredible workofSouthern University’s leadership, whose vision and guidance help makethe Bayou Classic apremier event year after year.Equally important are our students, faculty and staff. Their dedication, talent and hard work bring energy,excellence and pride to every aspect of the celebration.

Iencourage every alumnus to consider how you can give back to Southern. Your time, resources and involvement matter Whether it’sthrough mentoring students, supporting scholarships or helping with campus initiatives, your engagement strengthens the experience forevery Jaguar and reinforces the legacy of excellence that has defined Southern University forgenerations. Alumni impact isn’t just about what you’ve achieved —it’s about the doors you help open forothers and the opportunities you create forthose whofollow in your footsteps. This year’sBayou Classic theme, “Built forBig Moments,” couldn’tbemore fitting. As we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Superdome, we also honor the resilience, spirit and excellence that both Southern and Grambling continue to represent —onand off the field, in the city of NewOrleans and across generations. From the roar of the crowd to the precision of the marching bands, the Bayou Classic captures the heart and soul of our culture while uniting alumni, students and fans in celebration of tradition, achievement and community Because in the end, the best way to keep afamily together is to keep getting together.Nowhere is that truth morealive than at the Bayou Classic.

Carlton Jones Jr.isnational president of the SouthernUniversity Alumni Federation.

STAFFPHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Grambling State University TigerMarching Band and the Human Jukebox,ofSouthernUniversity, performduring the BayouClassic Battle of the Bands at CaesarsSuperdome in NewOrleans in 2024.

Tammy Richardson GUEST COLUMNIST

Carlton Jones Jr GUEST COLUMNIST

Caesarsplans N.O. revitalization project

BY ANTHONY McAULEY Staff writer

When Caesars New Orleans cut the ribbon on its $435million transformation last October —complete with agleaming 340-room hotel towerrisingabove Convention Center Boulevard and amarble-lined foyer presided over by a 15-foot Julius Caesar —the company bet big that an upmarket reboot would reset its fortunes and anchora new era for the lower Canal Street corridor Ayear later, thenumbers suggest that wager is paying off. But for general managerSamir Mowad, the New Orleans nativewho has overseen the rebrand and construction blitz over his five-year tenure, the next phase of Caesars’ evolution isn’tinside the casino at all.

It’sjust outside the door, along the 500 block of Fulton Street —astretch he calls “a glaring opportunity.” Fulton Street,unlike the casino itself, is property Caesars actually owns.And while it boasts long-running mainstays likeManning’s and Ruth’s Chris, the corridor has never quite lived up to its potential. TheDowntown Development District has done its part with specialevent programming, butlast year’sclosure of the Gordon Biersch brewpub left an unmistakable vacancy —and, in Mowad’swords,“abig hole.”

“Wecould just go out and fill it,” he said. “But we’re working to make sure all the pieces are complementary,sothat Fulton Street becomes more of adestination and not just aplace to stop.”

What exactly that looks like, he won’tyet say.But he hints at the scale of Caesars’ ambition by pointing west: to The LINQ in Las Vegas, a broad, buzzing promenade with dozens of food-and-beverage concepts and arotating mix of immersive “experiences” —from a500-foot observation wheel to interactive art spaces, zip lines, and constantly programmed live entertainment. Fulton won’tbethat big, Mowad says, but theidea is similar: more energy,more reasons to come, more reasons to stay.Also, atunnel under Poydras Street to draw players into the casino Apivotal year

The vision for Fultonis shaped in partbywhatCaesars experienced in itsfirst year after the makeover.It’s also shaped by howmuchis now gathering around lower Canal Street. Mowad, who also serves on several civic boards including the Audubon Nature Institute, sees billions of dollars in adjacent investment pulling visitors

ROY

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working in the oil field in the Gulf of Mexico. He sold that business in 2001. Roy,around 2006, started abusiness called Global

toward the riverfront like a tide

“TheFrench Quarterwill always be top of the bill,” he said.“But there’sa real gravitational pullnow toward this endofCanalStreet and the RiverDistrict. From the Four Seasons, to Spanish Plaza and the new Delacroix, to the new1,000-room Omni ‘headquarters’hotel planned for the convention center it’s transformative.”

Inside Caesars, the transformation was also dramatic. The bottomtwo floorsof the newhotel wing host an exclusive 54-room Nobu“hotel within ahotel ”including adozen suites, one of the quiet success storiesofthe renovation. Upgradesto the 115,000-square-foot gaming floor rolled out steadily throughlast year: aWorld Series of Poker room, asupersized Caesars Sportsbook wrapped arounda147-foot wall of TVs,and thetwostory Noburestaurant that connectsdirectly to the new tower

The casino’sfoodofferings have been tweaked as well. Emeril’s Brasserie, at the Canal Street entrance, underperformed expectations and was recently retooled as Emeril’sKitchen,with a heaviertilt toward Louisiana classics andall-dayservice, Emeril’sspokespersonMimi Henken confirmed.

The12,000-square-foot food court— anchored by conceptsfromNina Compton,Bobby Flay and Buddy Valastro —has becomea reliable traffic driver. And the octagonal center bar,Octavia, exploded in popularity during football season, Mowad said.

Solidyear, if ‘choppy’ one

Theperformance metrics reflect steady momentum. From June 2024 toJune 2025, visitation grew 15% to 2.7million guests, while gaming revenue rose 12% to $270 million,according to Louisiana State Police, which tracks gaming data.That kept Caesars on track for its required$65 millionannual state fee. July through October has looked even stronger: visitorsare up 27% at justover 1millionand gamingrevenuesare up 21%at $91million.

YetMowad calls the year “choppy,” apatchwork of peaks and valleys. Thehorrificterrorist attack on Bourbon Street early in the year hit the city’spsychehard. TheSuper Bowl surge the following monthhelped the city bouncebackbut underscored the volatilityofthe tourism calendar

“We’ve seen weeks where it feels like the old days, and we’re super busy,” he said. “Then August, September come, footballisstarting, and it’sabit slow.It’sbeen

Data Fusion. He obtained a license to become aprivate investigator and expanded the business.

He also served four years on the Lafayette Parish Council, one of themas president. Funeral arrangements are pending.

ups and downs.”

Buckingthe market

Despite thesurge in Caesars’ visitors, New Orleans’ broader hotel market has been soft in 2025. STR,the industry analytics firm, reportscitywideoccupancy is down roughly 10% from last year’shighs, boosted particularly by theTaylor Swift weekend in the autumn. Caesars, though, hasmanaged to outperformthe market.

Itsresiliencereflects both itsshift upmarket and the distinct economics of casinohotel loyalty programs, STR hotel analyst Colin Sherman said.

“Casino operators reward bothgambling and spending,” Sherman said. “Theyoffer a wide varietyofproperties, andthe perks —especially for high rollers —are unique. Freesuites, event tickets, exclusive services —you don’t get thatelsewhere.”

Visitors to New Orleans are morelikelytogamblethanthe national average for holidaymakers,withleisuretravelers much more likely,according to New Orleans &Co.

“Gambling still ranks as one of the city’smidtier attractions and hasanaboveaverage propensity score, meaning visitors to New Orleans engage in it at a slightly higher rate than the averageU.S.traveler,” said Kelly Schulz,spokesperson for New Orleans &Co. About 16% of leisure travelers visiting NewOrleans said they’re likely to gamble, versus 6% nationally

Sherman said New Orleans is seeing thesame bifurcation affectingnational hospitalitymarkets: high-end properties areholding up, while middle- andlower-tier hotels struggle.

“Hoteliers are really going forthat‘experiential’ traveler,” he said. “So, they’ll come to New Orleans forall the history andculture,but alsobecausethey’re going to Caesars and maybe taking in aTaylor Swift concert.

He pointed tothe “blowout”weekend Las Vegas just experienced hosting itsthird annual Formula 1car race as evidenceofthe demand for big-ticket experiences in tourist destinations. Hotel occupancy was 98% and room rateswereup200% from the previous year,reflecting the

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big-spender crowd that follows the glamour sport

Aturning point

For Mowad,the biggest change maybemorepsychological than economic: national perception of New Orleans

He says guests arenoticing, and commenting on, the city’simproving public safety conditions

“We’re about to have the safest year sincesomething like 1972,” Mowad said. “We feel that. You’rewaiting for the national market or national news to catchup. Conventioneersare coming out and telling us how safe it feels, how awesome the city is. That matters.”

Recentmajor events helped reinforce that impression. In July,Caesars saw a surge of visitors around UFC 318 at theSmoothieKing Center, whichfeatured a BMF title fight between Max Holloway and Lafayette native Dustin Poirier

“Itwas likeaminiSuper Bowl for the city and the casino,” Mowad said.

Events like that —and the newly announced Hondo Rodeo next spring —are the product of closer coordination among the state, city and hospitalityleaders, he said.

Thenextfrontier

That direction now leads straight to Fulton Street. Mowad sees itsredevelopment not as asideproject but as the next essential piece of Caesars’long-term strategy: creating an activated, cohesivedestination district that links Canal Street, the emerging River District, the ConventionCenter andthe casino-hotel complex.

If Caesars succeeds, FultonStreet could become the connective tissue between New Orleans’legacy attractions and its rapidly evolving waterfront. And for Mowad, whosetenurehas been definedbyone of thelargest privatehospitality investments in city history,itrepresents achance to shape the next chapter

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acost-benefit analysis the groups allege is “overly optimistic and speculative.”

“There is nothing in the permits which indicate that thelucrative jobs touted by CHW will be awarded to the people mostaffected by itspollution—members of the fence line communities,” it stated. The companysaysit plans to create roughly 1,200 temporaryjobsand 350 permanent roles, with the permanentpositions having an average salary of $116,375. The groups also allege LDEQ failedtofully consider cumulative air pollution impact across all emissions and facilities.

Donaldsonville is home to theworld’slargest ammonia plant,and thelawsuit highlightsexisting ammonia emitters in the area. According to the document, 26 existing facilities within 10 milesofModeste reported emitting 6,795 tonsofam-

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In the Hamilton case, aSt. Martin Parishjury unanimously convicted 57-year-old Linus Shelvin, of Lafayette on acharge of second-degree murder after aweeklong trial.

Hamiltonwas Shelvin’s girlfriend, and he was accused of killing her then dumping herbody offMills Highwaynear Breaux Bridge. Ajoint investigation of the St. MartinParishSheriff’s Officeand theLafayette Police Department led to Shelvin’sarrest.

Key evidence presented at trial showed that Shelvin initially lied to law enforcement about seeing Hamilton that night, but investigators found surveillancevideoshowing

Featherweight Scooter

monia in 2024. Ammonia, whichisused as fertilizerand is considered apotentialclean fuel forshipping, comes with health risks. A2016 report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency states low-level, chronic exposure can lead to respiratory problems, wheezing and coughing.High, short-term exposure can cause serious burns to the mouth, lungs and eyes.

The lawsuit contends the air quality modeling conducted forthe project considered only the ammoniaemissions of the planned facility,failing to include existing and other planned ammonia plants nearby

“Despite the immense amountsofammonia alreadybeing emitted near theCHW site, theair quality modeling conducted forthe ACEProject exclusively considers ammonia emissions from the facility itself,with no consideration of cumulative pollutant emissions from existing and proposed facilities,” the document stated.

her arriving at his house. Shortly after that, he disabled the camera that was directed at his house. Investigators also trackedHamilton’svehicle traveling to Mills Highway, near where apasserby later found her body Hamilton’svehiclewas abandoned in Lafayette, within walking distance of Shelvin’shouse. Surveillance cameras caught someone wearing the same clothes Shelvin was wearing walking in the area at the time thecar wasabandoned Her blood wasfound in the car,and also in Shelvin’s house. Hissentencing is set forMarch 31.

LSU agrees to pay Kelly’s full buyout

Former Tigers coach is now expected to drop his lawsuit, ending

BY WILSON ALEXANDER Staff writer

LSU sent former coach Brian Kelly written confirmation that he was fired without cause Wednesday night and agreed to pay his nearly $54 million buyout as long as he satisfies a requirement to try to find another job.

LSU sent a letter, which was obtained by The Advocate, exactly one month after Kelly was dismissed Oct 26 in the midst of his fourth season. Kelly is now expected to drop his lawsuit against the LSU board of supervisors, ending their legal standoff. Kelly, 64, will be owed the liquidated damages from his contract over the next six years. The letter from new LSU president Wade Rousse stated Kelly must “make goodfaith, reasonable, and sustained efforts” to find a new job in coaching, administration or media.

If Kelly does, according to a mitigation clause in his contract, LSU would have to pay only the difference between his new salary and the $9 million he’s owed annually through 2031. According to the letter, LSU expects Kelly to “maintain reasonable documentation” of his search for employment, including interviews and job offers.

Kelly’s attorneys said in one of two letters to LSU officials last week that he would agree to withdraw his lawsuit if he received written confirmation that he was fired without cause and owed his full buyout according to a copy of the letters obtained by The Advocate.

LSU fired Kelly the day after a 49-25 home loss to Texas A&M, and then-athletic director Scott Woodward said in a public statement the decision was related to Kelly’s

BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

One of the priorities for the New Orleans Saints this Thanksgiving was to figure out who their starting kicker would be for their Week 13 game against the Miami Dolphins

The Saints waived starting kicker Blake Grupe this week amid his season-long struggles, and will now choose between two options to fill his spot this week: The recently signed Cade York and the untested Charlie Smyth. York, who played his college football at LSU, had been waiting all season for an opportunity after a winding road that put him in five different NFL uniforms his first three seasons. Smyth, an Ireland native who joined the Saints through the International Player Pathway (IPP), has never attempted a kick in a meaningful American football game of any kind. Both of them kicked at a tryout Tuesday and both kicked again at Thursday’s practice. The Saints will have to decide by Saturday which one to elevate from the practice squad to the game-day roster

“They both kicked the ball really well and made making a decision very difficult,” said special teams coordinator Phil Galiano. “We haven’t made a final decision yet, but both guys did a really good job today.” York said he’d had three different opportunities to try out for teams this season. He received his latest call to come in for a workout when he was four hours into a 14hour drive from Wyoming, where he went to see his little brother’s senior day game, to his Dallas-area home.

He pulled into his house around 3 a.m. Monday, and was in New Orleans to audition for one of those elusive jobs on Tuesday “I texted my (physical trainer) and said, ‘Hey, I need to come in and get refreshed because I’ve been driving and flying a lot,’” York said. “Luckily, things went well (Tuesday) when I got here and kicked.”

That’s just the latest entry in what has been an interesting career for York.

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

Once his high school career at North DeSoto ended in the semifinals after the 2023 season, Lake Bates figured his playing days were over. The safety knew he was pretty good at football.

After all, he was the District 1-4A Defensive Most Valuable Player and also earned Defensive MVP honors on the ShreveportBossier City Advocate All-Prep Team. But the 5-foot-10, 170-pounder didn’t have any offers, so he planned to attend UL as a student.

Just before the February signing day, though, North DeSoto coach Dennis Dunn called UL coach Michael Desormeaux about a walk-on candidate he might want to consider Fast-forward to November of 2025 and it was a pretty good move on the Cajuns’ part to accept Bates as a walk-on.

“He’s a good player,” said Desormeaux,

whose Cajuns (5-6, 4-3) host UL-Monroe (3-8, 1-6) at 2 p.m. Saturday “He’s a good player, and I think it starts with his savviness. It starts with his football knowledge that he’s worked really hard to accumulate. He can line people up. He knows where he’s supposed to be.” In a short period, the redshirt freshman has also proven he can tackle.

“He tackles really well,” Desormeaux added “He’s not as big maybe as what you ideally look for, but the guy makes plays he’s got to play.”

Bates certainly has when UL’s season was on the brink of disaster After primarily being a special teams performer

STAFF FILE

PHOTO By BRAD KEMP

safety Lake Bates, right, tackles on a punt return during a game against Marshall on

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

LSU coach Brian Kelly walks on the sideline in the first half of a

against Southeastern on Sept.

to

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in that game,” Bates said. “The coaches prepared me. Iwas with the twos all week, so Iknew there was achance.”

After the suspensions in the aftermath of the postgamefight, UL’s secondary was impacted and Bates was named as astarter against Arkansas State.

“I would say the biggest thing is taking mentalreps at practice

LSU

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performance. Woodward and the school parted ways four days later after he received publiccriticism from Gov.Jeff Landry,who called Kelly’sbuyout a“liability.

Although the two sidesinitially indicated awillingness to negotiate areduced settlement, they hit an impasse acouple of weeks later.Kelly filed apetitionfor declaratory judgment on Nov.10, seeking aruling that he was fired without cause and entitled to his entire buyout.

In the filing, Kelly’sattorneys claimed unspecified LSU officials took the position he had not been “formally terminated,” Woodward did not have the authority to fire himatthe time andhecould be

SAINTS

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He was so good at LSU that he declared for the draftfollowing his junior season —ararity fora kicker,but adecision that panned out when the Cleveland Browns selected him in the fourth round of the 2022 draft. But things have beendifficult since.York made 75 %ofhis field goals as arookie with the Browns, ranking 30th among qualifying kickers. The Browns released York in trainingcamp the following year,starting ajourney that ledhim to Tennessee, NewYork, back to Cleveland, Washington and Cincinnati

He got caught up in tryingto be perfect. At one point, while he was with the Giants,hesaidhe strained his quad because he was trying to kick the ball too hard, which landed him on the injured reserve.

“I tried listening to alot of voices, tried to be perfect, and at times it resulted in really great momentsand great kicks,” York said. “And at times Iwas so hard on myself and let so many voices in that it resulted in some bad kicks.”

But his last stint, with the Bengals last year,was the bestYork hasbeenasa professional.He made nine of his 11 attempts with along of 59 yards. But with Cincinnati already havingestablished kicker Evan McPherson on the roster,York chose to see what other opportunities he had in front of him.

As the 2025 season progressed, he allowed himself to think about what those other opportunities might look like. He admitted he never visualized himself in New Orleans, but something struck him when he stepped ontothe turf at the team’sfacility

“I realizedhow many cool moments I’ve had in New Orleans,” York said.

This is where he waswhen LSU offered him ascholarship, and it’salso where he won anational title with the Tigers to cap an undefeated 2019 season, among other things.

“It was asurreal moment look-

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when you’re not in,” Bates said.

“You’ve gotto look at theguysin front of youand seewhat they’re doing,and put yourself in that situation andtheir situation, so you’re ready whenyourtime comes to actually goin.”

Apparently,Bates is pretty good at that process, because he delivered seven tackles during the Cajuns’dramatic 34-30 road win overArkansasState to keep the season alive.

“I think Idid agood job of tackling kind of,but Imiss afew key tackles that Ishouldhavemade,

firedfor cause. Kelly’srepresentatives pushedback against all three points and said LSU didnot followthe proper procedures in hiscontract for afiring for cause. Thelawsuit did not specify the grounds LSU had for firingKelly forcause,which would have taken theschooloff thehook forhis full buyout.

LSU board member John Carmouche told Kelly’sattorneys last Thursday he had spoken to several other board memberswho wanted to confirm in writing that Kelly had been fired without cause, according to the letters. During aboard meetingthe next day, Rousse was given the authority to sendKelly writtennoticeoftermination

“Under Article VII, Section 1(L) (3)of the BoardofSupervisors Bylaws, any personnel action relatingto varsityathletics coaches with asalary over $250,000 re-

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but Ithink Idid my job from the standpoint of like being in the right position at theright time,” Bates said.

Despite it being his first start hisexpectationswerehighand there wereafew plays Bates would love to do over

“There were some key plays that Imissed,”hesaid. “I missed that sack on third down Ishould have had that. Then I missed the tacklethatsprung along run. Those are thetwo plays that still stick with me about that game.”

quires boardapproval,” LSU said in astatementafter themeeting. According to theletters, Carmouche asked Kelly’sattorneys last week to withdraw the lawsuit before LSUsentwritten confirmation he had been fired without cause. They declined.

In oneofthe letters last week, Kelly’sattorneys said, “LSU’s conduct, including itsfailure to confirm that Coach Kelly was terminated without cause and its unsupportedallegations of misconduct on the part of Coach Kelly,has made it nearly impossible for Coach Kelly to secure other football-related employment.”

Kelly has expressedtosome close to him that he wantstoreturn to coaching in the future.

Kelly rejected lump-sum settlementoffers of $25 million and $30 millionthe dayhewas fired,both of which included the elimination

Saints kickerCharlie Smythmakes afield goal kick after the team scored against theDenverBroncos during apreseasongame on Aug. 23 at the Caesars Superdome.

ingbackand seeingall thecool stuffthat had happened here,”

York said

Butifhe’sgoing to geta chance to kick in aSaints uniform, he will have to prove he’sa better option than theman the Saints have had in-housefor thelast 18 months.

Smyth grew up playing Gaelic football in Ireland, but he showed enough promise after barely learning the game for the Saints to sign him to acontract through the IPP.Hehas not yet appeared in agame and has shown signs of hisinexperience in the form of inconsistency during training camp practices, but he’s also shown signs of massive talent. What is unclear is how he’s

developedbehind the scenes. Andeven theSaints, who see him every week, wanted tosee how he’d perform in adifferent setting: When York andJustin Tucker came in for aworkout on Tuesday,Smyth kicked along with them.

Galiano said the Saints included Smyth in the workout to geta closer look at howheperformed in acompetitive atmosphere— something that wasnot lost on Smyth. “From my point of view, that was my first time doing aworkout like thatwhere you’re going up against other guys with potentiallya spot on theline,”Smyth said. “It was acool experience, andI was happy with howI handled it. Ijust focused on myself,

Saints’ Olave, Kamara did not practiceThursday Twoofthe New Orleans Saints mostimportantoffensive players werenot on the field forthe team’s Thanksgiving practice. Wide receiver Chris Olave missedThursday’spractice with abackinjurythatpoppedup Wednesday. Running back Alvin Kamara missedhis secondconsecutive practice with aknee injury thathesufferedinthe first quarter of the loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Olave hasplayedineach of the Saints’ first 11 games this season and he leads the team in every major statistical receiving category with69catches (on 108 targets) for734 yards and 4touchdowns. Kamara appears likely to miss the Saints’ game against the Dolphins, which would be the first gamehehas missed this season.

Nothing, though, will be as memorable for the defense and theentire UL roster than the goalline stop on the game’sfinal play to preserve the 34-30 win.

“It was surreal,” Bates said. “It was definitely agreat feeling.

“I’m just grateful that (defensive coordinator) coach (Jim) Salgado gave me thechance to play on defense,” he said. “It’sjust a great feeling having that team win and being apart of it.”

Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@theadvocate.com.

of themitigation clause, according to documents obtained by The Advocate. Before he filed the lawsuit,Kelly’sattorneys said in communications to LSU officials he would be open to negotiations if he received writtenconfirmation he was fired without cause and owed his full buyout.

LSU’sdecision Wednesday came as the school triestohire Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, who has becomethe primary target in the search forKelly’ssuccessor. Kiffin is weighing offers from LSU, Florida and Ole Miss. An announcement about his future is expected Saturday,the dayafter the Egg Bowl againstrivalMississippi State. Reed Darcey contributed to this report.

Email WilsonAlexander at walexander@theadvocate.com.

stuck to my ownprocess and swing thoughts.”

Smythisgratefulfor thechance to earn the right to be on the field, but he is somewhat conflicted about it, too.

“There’sa part of youthatisa competitor who wants to play on Sundays, but there’salso the part where me and Blake have spent 18 months together and have grown to have apretty good friendship,” Smyth said. “So it was astrange day,strange emotions, but excitement for an opportunity to competenow.”

Because he hasbeen developing behind thescenes, it’sdifficult to gauge the progress Smyth has made. The only timehe’skicked in apublic setting this year has been in training camp, when he enduredseveralrough weeks before appearing to right the ship as camp closed.

He did take therare opportunity to getsome personalcoaching during the season: Earlier this month,Smyth wasaway from the team for aweek working with kicking coach MorganLineberry in Dallas —where he said he actually worked with York forafew days.

“Wewanted to gethim alittle more technical work withsomebody that we trustedand who we think does areally good job,” Galiano said. “... I’m by no means an expert in the actualkicking and punting aspect. And there’speople, and there’snot alot of them, but there’sa handful throughout theU.S. that are really good at it and can break it down even better.”

Smyth said he made some adjustments in that time that have him feeling good about where he is as aprofessional kicker.Now he just has to wait to see if he can show what he can do on the field.

“I come over here, Iwant to play,” Smyth said. “Obviously,I didn’tplaythe sport before, so it’staken time to make some adjustments and improvements on things, andIfeellike I’m in a pretty good spot right now.I’m really excited forthe opportunity to compete (Thursday) and see where that takes us.”

Email Luke Johnsonat ljohnson@theadvocate.com.

Astros finalize coaching staff for 2026 season

HOUSTON— The Houston Astros have thefinal pieces of their coaching staff in place for next season after hiring Ethan Katz as an assistant pitchingcoach andTim Cossins as catching instructor on Wednesday Katzjoinsthe Astros after serving as thepitching coach for the Chicago White Sox since2021. During his tenure there, theWhite Sox ranked third in theAmericanLeaguein strikeoutsper nine innings.He workedfor the Giants in 2020 after coaching in theminor leagues for the Giants, Mariners and Angels. Cossins comes to Houston after spending parts of the last seven seasonsasthe Orioles’ major league field coordinator and catching instructor.Hehas worked with catchersfor parts of thelast19 seasons, including in the minor leagues forthe Marlins and Cubs.

Giants rookie QB Dart clearsconcussion protocol

EAST RUTHERFORD,N.J.— Jaxson Dart has cleared concussion protocol,paving the way forthe rookie quarterback to startfor the New York Giants at NewEngland on Mondaynight after missing the past twogames Dart was concussedNov.9at Chicagoand didnot finish that loss to the Bears. He was afull participant in practice Wednesday,which wasthe final step for himgetting cleared Thursday The 22-year-old first-round draft pickout of Ole Miss hasthrown for10touchdowns and run forfive morewith just three interceptions in his first seven NFLstarts. JourneymanJameisWinston started in Dart’splace the past two weeks. The Giants are2-10 andhavebeeneliminatedfrom playoffcontention.

Jays, pitcherCeaseagree to 7-year,$210M deal

Free-agentpitcher Dylan Cease andthe Toronto Blue Jayshave agreed to a$210 million, sevenyear contract, aperson familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Wednesday night. Theperson spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because thedeal was pending aphysical and had not been announced.

Cease would join aterrific rotation with the reigning American League champions. The righthander,who turns 30 next month went8-12 with a4.55ERA in 32 starts last season for the San Diego Padres. He struck out 215 batters and walked 71 in 168 innings. His numbers on themound slippedthis year but he still reached 32 starts forafifth straight season.

Two-time major champion Zoellerdies at 74

FuzzyZoeller, atwo-time major champion and one of golf’s most gregarious characters whose career was tainted by aracially insensitive jokeabout TigerWoods, has died, according to alongtime colleague. He was74. Acause of death wasnot immediately available. Brian Naugle, the tournament director of the InsperityInvitationalinHouston, said Zoeller’sdaughter called him Thursday with the news.

Zoellerwas thelastplayertowin the Masters on his first attempt, athree-man playoff in 1979. He famously waved awhite towel at WingedFoot in 1984 when he thought Greg Norman had beat him,only to defeat Norman in an 18-hole playoffthe next day Zoellerwas awarded theBob Jones Award by the USGA in 1985.

STAFF FILEPHOTO By DAVIDGRUNFELD

Southside counting on rushing attack vs. Ruston

MATTHEW LOUVIERE

Contributing Writer

Southside has spent the last two seasons building toward these moments.

The Sharks, powered by one of the state’s most explosive rushing attacks, will travel to Hoss Garrett Stadium to face top-seeded Ruston in the Division I non-select quarterfinals. It is a rematch of last year’s playoff meeting a 49–7 Ruston win that still lingers in the team’s memory

Both teams enter Friday night’s game with nine wins and a clear sense of identity Ruston brings a bruising, clock-draining ground game that overwhelmed Westgate a week ago.

Southside brings the three-headed rush of quarterback Parker Dies and running backs Justin Williams and Kollen Francois, a combination that produced more than 500 rushing yards last week And both teams arrive believing they are built for Thanksgiving football.

“It didn’t matter who we played,” Southside head coach Jess Curtis said after last week’s win. “At this level, it’s the final eight teams in 5A football. You are going to line up against the best. We are excited for the opportunity to play four more quarters.”

Friday’s matchup will test the Sharks’ blueprint and Ruston’s championship pedigree in a game likely to hinge on ball security, discipline and which offensive front takes control first.

The Sharks are coming off a 56–42 win over No. 9 Terrebonne,

a game that drifted far outside their usual script. Southside lost two kickoffs, struggled with fielding punts and briefly surrendered the lead during a chaotic stretch in the third quarter But the running game never wavered.

Dies rushed for 203 yards and four touchdowns. Francois added three scores on 123 yards. Williams and Shamar Broussard combined for nearly 200 more. Curtis called it the team’s sloppiest performance of the season, but just surviving is not the goal this week. Southside needs the cleanest version of its offense to push the No. 1 seed

Dies enters Friday with more

Loreauville has tall task ahead vs. Sterlington

MATTHEW LOUVIERE

ContributingWriter

Winners of six straight and playing their most complete football of the season, the No. 7 Loreauville Tigers know exactly what awaits them Friday night in Monroe: a heavyweight quarterfinal showdown with second-seeded Sterlington, one of the state’s most consistent and physical programs.

The Tigers (7-3), fresh off a dramatic 42-39 win over Church Point in the regional round, will travel into a hostile environment to face the Panthers (9-2), whose only losses came to Class 5A powers Ouachita Parish and Neville before rolling past No. 15 Donaldsonville, 71-26, last week.

For Loreauville head coach Terry Martin, the challenge is both obvious and enormous.

“Everybody understands just how good they are,” Martin said. “They’ve won state championships Their only two losses were to really good 5A schools, and both of them are still in the quarterfinals. The kids realize that. It’s a tall task.” But Martin has seen enough football, and enough postseason chaos, to know better than to walk in defeated.

“On any given night, something can go wrong for one team and right for the other,” he said. “We’re thankful to still be playing. If we’re disciplined, play with great effort and are in the right places, we like our chances to hopefully be in the game late. If we’re not fundamentally sound, it won’t be a good night.”

Loreauville’s path to the quarterfinals looked far from certain in September

The Tigers opened 1-3 with losses to Erath (34-19), Vermilion Catholic (29-26) and Jeanerette (20-6), while working through major scheme changes on offense, a rebuilt identity, and a heavy list of early injuries, including a seasonchanging setback to senior quarterback Blake Delcambre.

Since the Week 4 loss to Jeanerette, Loreauville hasn’t dropped a game, wresting the District 7-2A title away from rival Catholic High and winning in every style possible: low-scoring slugfests, shootouts and last-possession grinders.

The Tigers’ comeback victory over Church Point last week was a microcosm of that evolution. Facing one of the most fundamentally sound defenses they had seen this season, Loreauville made significant schematic adjustments, including shifting heavily toward zone-run concepts and demanding sharper perimeter blocking from its receivers. It paid off.

“I thought Church Point’s defensive backs read the counter and power game really well, so we made a pretty big change and went with a lot more zone runs,” Martin said.

“And our receivers Blaze Romero, Kadyn James and Jaden Blackwell

blocked better than anybody I saw all year That made a huge difference.”

Few players in Louisiana have worn more hats than senior quarterback Blake Delcambre, who has quietly become one of the most versatile dual-threat threats in the entire state.

Delcambre enters the quarterfinals with 851 yards passing, 1,015 yards rushing, 13 touchdowns and 32 touchdowns, including two touchdowns from kick returns.

He has also been a two-way contributor in the secondary while handling explosive-play duties on special teams

Early in his career Martin said Delcambre had a harder time bouncing back from mistakes. Not anymore

With Sterlington known for its physical downhill defense and size advantage, Delcambre’s decisionmaking and composure may be Loreauville’s best chance at landing the “one out of 10” upset Martin referenced.

“When windows of opportunity come, he’s going to have to throw it well,” Martin said. “I expect they’ll challenge us to do that.”

Delcambre is far from alone in powering Loreauville’s surge.

Junior wide out Kadyn James is the Tigers’ top receiver with 23 catches for 334 yards. Quintin Taylor is also a consistent red-zone threat with 12 receptions for 122 yards and four touchdowns. Taylor and James give Loreauville other reliable options when defenses focus on Delcambre.

Anchoring the defensive revival are two standouts in junior linebacker Eli Landry (104 tackles, 10 TFL, 1 sack, 1 INT, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery) and sophomore defensive lineman Christopher Jones (64 tackles, 13 TFL, 6 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries)

Landry’s potential return from concussion protocol could be a game-changer.

Loreauville will remain without powerful running back Thomas Carter and star defender John David Judice, both of whom are out for the season. Martin confirmed Carter underwent surgery this week.

The Tigers have weathered injuries all season, but the possibility of Landry’s return would provide a timely boost against a Sterlington offense that scored 71 points last week.

“They do everything well,” Martin said “They’re really physical on both sides of the ball. Their defensive line and linebackers are really good. We know what we’re walking into.”

But Loreauville has seen enough this season to believe they belong.

“We’re just going to go over there and give it a shot,” Martin said.

“Nine times out of 10, the better team wins. We’re hoping this is that one time out of 10.”

than 1,400 total yards and 21 touchdowns. Williams has 1,347 yards and 23 scores. Francois has 751 and nine. Together, they give Southside the ability to eat the clock, flip field position and shorten games against high-powered opponents.

If Southside protects the football, it has the tools to make Ruston uncomfortable. If not, the consequences can come quickly Last season is proof.

Ruston delivered one of the most complete performances of the postseason last week, pounding Westgate 51–13 and holding the Tigers to one meaningful scoring drive More impressive, the Bearcats did it without star running back Dalen Powell, who remains out with a bro-

ken ankle. In his place, junior Kohl Gray produced a breakout performance with 142 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries. Quarterback Sam Hartwell, also a junior, added 90 rushing yards and three total scores while completing all of his passing production to five-star tight end Ahmad Hudson, who holds college offers from nearly every program in the country Ruston ran for 302 yards and controlled the ball for nearly 30 minutes. After the game, head coach Jerrod Baugh said the response was exactly what he wanted after a sluggish start to the week.

“I didn’t think we had a very

good practice on Tuesday and I got into them about it,” Baugh said. “As the week went on, I thought we got focused on what needed to get done. Our experienced kids know what is at stake this time of year.”

Ruston is at its best when its offense shortens the game, its special teams create extra possessions and its defense forces opponents into uncomfortable situations. Westgate found that out early last week when a fumbled kickoff, an interception and a blocked punt contributed to a 35–7 halftime deficit

Southside knows those mistakes cannot happen on the road in a quarterfinal.

When the teams met last postseason, the Sharks struck early with a 10-yard touchdown run to tie the game 7–7. Ruston responded with four straight touchdowns before halftime, capitalizing on an onside-kick recovery a short field and an interception to seize full control of the game

Ruston gained 326 yards of balanced offense. Southside was held to 115.

Curtis has cited last year’s loss as a reminder of how slim the margins become in November

“We have a blueprint for how we win football games,” Curtis said. “We didn’t follow it for much of last week and still found a way From here on out, we have to follow the blueprint.”

That blueprint centers on long drives, winning the line of scrimmage and minimizing possessions for the opponent. In many ways, Southside must beat Ruston at its own style.

and

Blue Gators riding momentum into quarterfinals playoff game

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

When the Ascension Episcopal Blue Gators travel to Lake Charles to meet No. 3-seeded Hamilton Christian for Friday’s

7 p.m. Select Division IV state quarterfinals at Washington-Marion, the key to success isn’t a huge mystery

Running the show is quarterback Javon Vital, who is being recruited by programs such as LSU, USC, UCLA, and Houston.

“I’d think he’s probably the best all-around athlete that we’ve played this year,” Ascension coach Jay Domengeaux said. “People have had trouble stopping him all year long. He throws it pretty well and he probably runs it better than he throws it.”

At a smaller school, though, the star athlete checks a lot of boxes.

“He’s a force on special teams,” Domengeaux said. “He can hurt you catching punts and stuff like that. It’s a cliché, but clichés are clichés because there’s a lot of

truth in them. We have to limit the big play You can’t give up the 60yard touchdown run. We have to make them drive down the field. We’ve got to do pretty much every cliché you can come up with.”

Another big part of keeping Vital from taking over the game is for the Blue Gators’ offense to control the clock.

“We don’t run the veer or anything like that, but we do like to control the clock with a running game and a short passing game,” Domengeaux said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean we’re going to run the ball a lot more than we usually do.”

Quarterback Branon Mitchell is the middle of all of that with 872 yards and 11 touchdowns passing the ball, as well as another 401 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.

The ground attack is largely carried by running back Andre Abshire (126-799, 11 touchdowns).

“Defensively, they’re going to play seven in the box with five across the front, similar to what we Lafayette Renaissance and

Kentwood did,” Domengeaux said.

The Blue Gators (10-1) are hoping that tight wins late over those two quality programs will help.

“I think wins like that are always good for your confidence,” Domengeaux said. “Truthfully the kids haven’t had trouble all year long believing in themselves, but wins like that reinforce that you’re doing the right things. When you beat a team like Kentwood, which is historically successful, it goes something to you.”

The winner of his matchup will meet the Ouachita ChristianRiverside Academy winner in the state semifinals next Friday

The Warriors are 10-0 on the season after defeating St. Frederick 27-14 in the regional round, while the Blue Gators squeaked past Kentwood 17-14. Hamilton Christian’s only competitive game in the regular season was a 28-21 win over Elton.

Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@ theadvocate.com.

PHOTO By MATTHEW LOUVIERE

Justin Williams is hoping to continue Southside’s potent rushing attack at No. 1 Ruston on Friday.

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD BOWIE

Getyourholiday on at theseBaton Rougeand Lafayetteareaevents. Thefun’s alreadybegun.

TBY JUDYBERGERON| Staff writer

he Baton Rouge and Lafayette areas are bursting with holiday spirit, fromlights to parades, “Nutcrackers,” music and multiple opportunities to see Santa. And don’tforget Ice Skating on the River,aseasonal Cirque show,“Winter Wonderettes” and loads of more Christmas fun. Allevents are in Baton Rouge unlessindicated. Don’t see your event listed?Please emailred@theadvocate.com so we can include it online.

Merry,Merry!

NOWTHROUGH DEC.25

n MAGIC OF THE HOLIDAYS: Tanger Outlets, 2100 S. Tanger Blvd.,Gonzales. Celebrate with festivedecor bright traditions,Santa moments and themedfestivities. https:// www.tanger.com/gonzales

NOWTHROUGH DEC.30

n LOUISIANA LIGHTS: half-hour starttimesbetween 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m closes 10 p.m. Windrush Gardens, LSU Rural Life Museum, 4560 Essen Lane. Elaborate holiday display where youcan wander through enchanting garden rooms illuminated with dazzling lights, where nature blends with artistry Special eventsinclude Mistletoe &Moss on Dec.3,Barks &Bright Night,Dec. 10;and University Night,Dec.17. General admission, $24.76; kids3 and younger, free. https://www.lsu.edu/rurallife/. n ZOOLIGHTS: 5:30 p.m.-9p.m. (admission gates close at 8p.m.), Baton Rouge Zoo, 3000 ZooCircle, Baker. Presented by Our Ladyofthe Lake Children’s Health. Magical wonderland of twinkling lights and animal encounters. Closed Christmas Eve and ChristmasDay.Adults/teens, $5; seniors, $4; Zoomembers, $3 per person; children (2-12), $3; children (1 and younger), free. brec.org.

NOWTHROUGH DEC.31

n HOLIDAY LIGHTS: nightly,Baton Rouge General-Bluebonnet, 8785 Picardy Ave. Thousands of sparkling lights, festivemusic and afew surprises. Park in theBluebonnet campusslots near display. Free. n MERRIEST MILE: 6p.m.-10p.m., Livingston Parish Fairgrounds, 19869 Fairgrounds Road, Livingston. Magical experience withdazzling lightsand festivemusic. $30

PROVIDED PHOTO

The Lafayette ConcertBand will present‘Sounds of the Season’ at 3:30 p.m. Sunday,Dec. 14, at Lafayette HighSchool, 3000 W. Congress St Lafayette. Admission is free.

and up for standardvehicle.the merriestmile.com.

FRIDAY n BALLERINAS AT THE CASTLE: 1p.m.-2 p.m., Louisiana’sOld State Capitol, 100 NorthBlvd. Live demonstration from Baton Rouge BalletTheatre’s “The Nutcracker dancers, followedbyaspecial mini-ballet lessonfor children Free. https://louisianaoldstatecapitol.org/

SUNDAY

n LAND OF THE SWEETS “NUTCRACKER” TEA: 2p.m., LodCook Alumni Center,3838 W. Lakeshore Drive, LSU.Kids andaccompanying ä See HOLIDAYS, page 6C

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON Jesse and GretaTate pose for a picture withPapaNoel, played by Stan Guidry, at ‘A Rural Life Christmas’ at the LSU Rural Life Museum in 2024.

adults can meet dancers from “The Nutcracker —A Tale from the Bayou,” refreshments, kids’ crafts, holidayphotos. $65. givebutter.com.

n MARIACHI BIG BAND CHRISTMAS SHOW: 2p.m. Manship Theatre, 100Lafayette St. With Grammy-nominated Mariachi Herencia de México. Family-friendly.$20 and up. manshiptheatre.org.

TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY, DEC.2-3

n COOL WINTER NIGHTS,HOT

JAZZ: 7:30 p.m., Manship Theatre, 100 LafayetteSt. Featuring Brian Shawand Willis Delonywiththe Cool Winter Nights jazz ensemble in aprogram of new arrangements and holidayfavorites. Also aspecial remembrance for the Rev. Greg Daigle; special guest, Sasha Masakowski. $40-$60. manshiptheatre.org.

THURSDAY,DEC.4

n HOLIDAY BRASS SERIES:

7:30 p.m., St. Joseph Cathedral, 412 North St. Concert featuring full Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestrabrass and percussion performing holiday favorites. $40.brso.org

FRIDAY,DEC.5

n SANTAINTHE SENATE:

6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Louisiana’s Old State Capitol, 100 North Blvd.Families can snap their ownphotos with Santa beneath the glowing stained glass, while little ones enjoy hands-on holidaycrafts and aChristmas movie in the historic House chamber. Free. eventbrite.com.

n “NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (1993)”: 7:30p.m., Manship Theatre, 100Lafayette St. Film screening of the family holidaymusical from Tim Burton. $5. manshiptheatre.org.

n HOLIDAY BRASS SERIES:

7:30 p.m., The Mallory,5747 Commerce St.,St. Francisville. Concert featuring full Baton Rouge SymphonyOrchestrabrass and percussion performing holidayfavorites. $35. brso.org.

FRIDAY-SUNDAY, DEC.5-7

n ANNUAL HOLIDAYSHOPPING EVENT: 10 a.m.-5 p.m., LSU Museum Store, first floor, ShawCenter for the Arts, 100 Lafayette St. 20% off all items; museum members get 25% off. Plus, free gift wrap and achance to enterraffle for afreehousehold membership for afamily of four. lsumoa.org.

SATURDAY,DEC.6

n HOLLYJOLLYPJPARTY:

9a.m. to 11 a.m., Knock Knock Children’s Museum,1900Dalrymple Drive. Glideacrossthe Sneaux FigureSkating Rink (in fuzzy socks),takeaim in the Faux Snowball Toss, get swept up in the Confetti Blizzard, write letters to the North Pole, makeseasonal crafts and snap photos with Santa. Also have hot chocolate, breakfast treats, doughnuts, and freshmade omelets from the Louisiana Egg Commission. $9 members; $18, nonmembers; under age 2, free. https:// knockknockmuseum.org.

n BRUNCH WITH SANTA: 9a.m. and 11 a.m.,The Legacy at Bonne Esperance 1655 Sherwood Forest Blvd. Members: $20, adults; $5, children. Non-members:$30, adults; $12, children. Jaredm. thelegacy@gmail.com.

n SHAKESPEARE IN THE LIBRARY: 10 a.m., Delmont Gardens Branch Library,3351 Lorraine St. LouisianaShakespeareCompanywill perform “A Christmas Carol.” Forages 5-11. Free. https://www.ebrpl. com/.

n TEDDYBEAR TEA: 2p.m., Louisiana Art &Science Museum, 100 S. RiverRoad. Bring afavorite stuffed friend for the festiveevent perfect for children and their cuddly companions. Teas, treats and

more. Limited spots; member, $50; nonmember, $75. blackbaudhosting.com n CIVIC ORCHESTRA OF BATONROUGE HOLIDAY CONCERT: 3p.m., Main Library at Goodwood, 7711 Goodwood Blvd. In addition toseasonal favorites by LeroyAnderson and the orchestra’s annual performanceof the “Hallelujah Chorus,” this year’s concert will featureProkofiev’s “Peter andthe Wolf,” narrated by ClayAchee.Free. https://www.ebrpl.com/

n WALKER CHRISTMAS PARADE: 3p.m., from Walker High School alongBurgess Avenue,turn rightontoLa. 447 North, rightonFlorida BoulevardtoPalmetto and back to the school.

n CHRISTMASINTHE PARK: 4:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Sidney Hutchinson Park, 13750 Ball Park Road, Walker. Santa, activitiesfor kids,hot chocolateand amovie at 6:20 p.m. and Christmas treelighting at 8p.m.

n GREATER LAFAYETTE CHRISTMASPARADE: 5p.m., Main Street from Second Street to 11th Street. Theme is “Christmases Past, Present and Future.”

n JINGLE JEEPIN’ PARADE &CHRISTMAS MARKET: 5:30 p.m rolling from the West BatonRouge Convention and Visitors Bureau,2750 N. Westport Drive,Port Allen. westbatonrouge.net

DEC. 6-20

n BOOKS AND MUSIC WITH KIDS ORCHESTRA: various timesand EBR Parish Library locations.A “Nutcracker Suite” freezedance, jingly bells and the book “TheBoy Who Said Wow.”https:// www.ebrpl.com/.

SATURDAY,DEC.6-25

n COCA-COLACHRISTMAS: A MONTH OF MAGIC: Louisiana Art &Science Museum, 100 S. River Road. An immersive, family-friendly celebration featuringlarger-than-life Coca-Cola boxdisplays and joyful programming each Saturday. lasm.org.

SUNDAY,DEC.7

n ARURAL LIFE CHRISTMAS: 11 a.m.-5 p.m., LSU RuralLife Museum, 4560 Essen Lane. A19th-century Louisiana Christmas eventwith live music, skilled artisans, storytellers,costumed reenactors and Papa Noël. Ages 0-3, free; ages 4-11, $6; ages 12and older, $12. https://www.lsu edu/rurallife/.

n WASSAILING IN WINDRUSH: 5p.m.-7:30 p.m., Windrush Gardens, LSU Rural Life Museum, 4560 Essen Lane. Wander thebeautifully illuminated gardens, enjoyfireside gatherings, sip andsavor seasonal foodand drink inspired by centuries-old holiday customs, livetraditionaland seasonal music. General admission, $65; friends & docents,$60. https://www lsu.edu/rurallife/. n SANTA’SBLOCK PARTY: 2p.m., Manship Theatre,

TODAYINHISTORY

By The Associated Press

Today is Friday,Nov 28, the 332nd day of 2025. There are 33 days left in the year.Today is Thanksgiving in the United States.

Todayinhistory: On Nov.28, 1925, the Grand Ole Opry (known then as the WSM Barn Dance) debuted on radio station WSM in Nashville, Tennessee; it continues today as the longest-running radio broadcast in U.S. history Also on this date: In 1520, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reached the Pacific Ocean after passing through the South American straitthat now bears his name. In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British

Prime MinisterWinston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin met in Tehran, Iran, for thefirst time to discussAllied cooperation during World WarII. In 1961, halfback Ernie Davis, of Syracuse University,became thefirst Black collegefootball player to be namedwinner ofthe HeismanTrophy In 2001,EnronCorp., once the world’slargestenergy trader, collapsedafter would-berescuer Dynegy Inc. backed outofan$8.4 billiontakeoverdeal.(Enron filed for bankruptcy protectionfourdays later.)

In 2022, Payton Gendron, aWhite gunmanwho massacred 10 Black people at aBuffalosupermarket, pleadedguilty to murder

100 Lafayette St.Inconjunction with Free First Sunday, therewill be free photos with Santa, Christmas carolers, face painting,“Manship Kids HolidayArt Exhibit”reception, LSU Museum of Art’s kids’ craft activities (1 p.m.4p.m.), book mobile, art vendors. manshiptheatre.org.

n “SANTA’SLITTLE HELPERS: ANEW HOLIDAY MUSICAL”: 2p.m., Manship Theatre,100 Lafayette St.Anhourlong original musical. $20. manshiptheatre.org.

n HOLIDAY BRASS SERIES: 4p.m grounds of Houmas House and Gardens, 40136 La. 942, Darrow. Concert featuring full Baton Rouge SymphonyOrchestrabrass and percussion performing holidayfavorites. In case of inclement weather, the concert will be movedindoors. $50. brso.org.

THURSDAY,DEC.11

n GROOVIN’ ’ROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE: 7:30 p.m., Manship Theatre, 100 Lafayette St.Arevue of holidayhits from the’70s, ’80sand ’90s with MikeEsneault. $35-$55. manshiptheatre.org.

DEC.11-30

n SKATING ON THERIVER: varioustimes, Raising Cane’s River Center Arena, 275 S. River Road. 75-minute ice skating sessions. Closed Dec. 12-13, 18-20 for hockey and Dec. 25for Christmas. $28 and up. https://raisingcanesrivercenter.com/.

FRIDAY.DEC.12

n HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE:

6p.m.-8 p.m.,West Baton RougeMuseum,845 N. Jefferson Ave.,Port Allen. Scavengerhunt, Santa’s Workshop, music,hot cider,gingerbread and more. Free. https://westbatonrougemuseum.org/.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY, DEC.12-13

n GEORGE BELL AND FRIENDS: HOLIDAY JAZZ: 7:30 p.m. Manship Theatre, 100 Lafayette St.For the12th annual event, Bell will be joined by George Bell &Friends veterans and other supporting artists from his past shows Special guest, QuianaLynell. $61.25. manshiptheatre.org.

FRIDAY-SUNDAY, DEC.12-14 AND19-21

n “THEWINTER WONDERETTES”: 6:15 p.m. Friday (opening night gala), 7:30 p.m., all other performances except 2p.m. on Sunday, Citédes Arts, 109 Vine St., Lafayette. Musical comedy featuring holiday favorites. Gala, $35; other performances, $25. https:// www.citedesarts.org/.

SATURDAY,DEC.13

n DISCOVERYDAY:NATCHITOCHES LIGHTS: 10 a.m.2p.m Capitol Park Museum, 660 N. Fourth St.Learn about the Natchitoches holiday lights, build your owndecorativelight garland, and enjoy discounted museum admis-

sion. Free. louisianastatemuseum.org.

n SCREENING OF “THE POLAR EXPRESS”: noon-2 p.m., Irene W. PenningtonPlanetarium at Louisiana Art&Science Museum, 100 S. River Road. Also hotcocoa in the Bert S. Turner Family Atrium,time to explore LASM’s galleries. Each guest will also get acomplimentary sleigh bell, just likethe one featured in the film. General admission+$5, adults; $2, children. lasm.org.

n “HOME FORTHE HOLIDAYS”: 2p.m., Raising Cane’s River Center Theatrefor Performing Arts, 240 St.Louis St. Holidayfavorites for theentire family.$25-$80. brso.org.

n DENHAM SPRINGS CHRISTMAS PARADE: 2p.m along Range Avenue from Denham SpringsHighSchool to Veterans Ave. Presented by Denham SpringsKiwanis with the theme “Glitter, Glow & Mistletoe.”https://dskiwanis. org/christmas-parade/.

n UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATER MURDER MYSTERYPARTY: 3p.m Pride-Chaneyville Branch Library,13600 PridePort Hudson Road. Wear your ugly sweater and takepart in this holidaywhodunnit. Free. https://www.ebrpl.com/.

SATURDAY-SUNDAY, DEC.13-14

n “THE NUTCRACKER”: 7p.m Saturdayand 2p.m.Sunday, Heymann Performing Arts Center,1373 S. CollegeRoad, Lafayette. aLafayette Ballet

Theatreproduction. $36.50 and up.heymanncenter.com.

n DRIVE-THRU NATIVITY: 5p.m.-7 p.m WatsonBaptist Church, 35831 Cane Market Road, Denham Springs.Free. (225) 667-8818.

n TRI-PARISH’S“THE NUTCRACKER”: 6p.m. Saturday and 2p.m. Sunday,Independence Park Theatre, 7800 Independence Blvd. ATri-Parish Balletproduction. Saturday’s performance (admission a nonperishable food item) benefits theGreater Baton Rouge Food Bankand the CommunityHands food pantryatFirstUnited Methodist Church, Denham Springs Sunday admission, $25, in advance; $30, at thedoor.

SUNDAY,DEC.14

n CREOLE CHRISTMAS & HOLIDAY FAIR: noon-5 p.m., Magnolia Mound Museum+ Historical Site, 211 Nicholson Drive.Traditional songs in French and Spanish, period demonstrations, folk crafts, local vendor booths and bonfire. Free. brec.org

n “SOUNDS OF THE SEASON”: 3:30 p.m., Lafayette High School, 3000 W. Congress St., Lafayette. An ugly Christmas sweater holiday concert presented by theLafayette Concert Band. Free.LIGHT UP THE HOLIDAYSFUNDRAISER: 6p.m., PoydrasCenter,New Roads. Presented by theArts Council of PointeCoupee and featuring musicians James Linden and Jim Hogg. Food drink and art market. Members, $60; nonmembers, $75; students, $30. artscouncilofpointecoupee.org

SUNDAYS, DEC.14 AND21

n JINGLE BELL BRUNCH: 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Heidelberg Ballroom, Hilton Capitol Center,201 Lafayette St. Brunch buffet withahot chocolate bar, 2included mimosas, photos withSanta, sugar cookie decorating, Toys for Tots Drive.General admission, $49.19; children 2and younger, free. eventbrite.com.

FRIDAY,DEC.19

n NIGHTAT“THE NUTCRACKER”: 6p.m.-10 p.m Raising Cane’s RiverCenter Theatre for Performing Arts, 240 S. Louis St. Afundraiser for the Baton Rouge BalletTheatre and exclusiveviewing of “The Nutcracker —ATale from theBayou” dress rehearsals. Also, small bites, beer,wine achampagne toast, sweets, ameet-and-greet withparty scenecharacters and music

by theBaton Rouge Symphony Orchestra. $150. givebutter.com.

FRIDAY-SUNDAY, DEC.19-21

n “AMAHL &THE NIGHTVISITORS”: 7:30 p.m.Friday-Saturday, 3p.m. Sunday,Manship Theatre, 100 Lafayette St. Presented by OpéraLouisiane, and based on Italian folk tales of theNativity and Epiphany. $31.50-$61.50. manshiptheatre.org

DEC.19-23

n ADULCIMERAND DRUMS HOLIDAY CONCERT: various timesand EBRParish Libraries. Madam Dulcimerand Lady Chopsare teaming up to bring livelyholiday music. Free, butregistration maybe required. https://www.ebrpl com/.

SATURDAY,DEC.20

n “HOLIDAY NUTCRACKER”: 1p.m. and4 p.m Brown-Holt Theatre, The Dunham School, 11111 RoyEmerson Drive.Presented by CangelosiDance Project. $25 and up.cangelosidanceproject.com.

n BOOK OR MOVIE:HOLIDAY EDITION: 2p.m., Greenwell Springs Road Regional Branch Library,11300 Greenwell Springs Road. Adultsare invited to read thebook “A Christmas Carol” and then watch “Scrooged” (1988, PG-13) at thelibrary and give your thoughts. https://www ebrpl.com/.

SATURDAY-SUNDAY, DEC. 20-21

n “THENUTCRACKER —A

TALE FROM THE BAYOU”: 2p.m. and6 p.m., Raising Cane’s RiverCenter Theatre for Performing Arts, 240 St. Louis St. The classic ballet withanadded Louisiana flair presented by theBaton Rouge BalletTheatre. $40-$95. ticketmaster.com or

TUESDAY, DEC.23

and hate-motivated terrorism charges in an agreementthat gave him life in prison without parole.

Today’sbirthdays: Recording executive Berry Gordy Jr.is96. Football Hall of Famer PaulWarfield is 83. Former “LateShow” band leader PaulShaffer is 76. Actor Ed Harris is 75. Actor S. Epatha Merkerson is 73. Actor Judd Nelson is 66. Film director Alfonso Cuarón is 64. Rock drummer MattCameron is 63. Comedian and talk show host Jon Stewart is 63. Actor Colman Domingo is 56. Musician apl.de.ap (Black Eyed Peas) is 51. Actor Mary Elizabeth Winstead is 41. R&B singer Trey Songz is 41. Actor Karen Gillan is 38. Actorrapper Bryshere Gray is 32.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov.23-Dec. 21) Conversations can easily turn into emotional battlegrounds. Choose your words carefully. Afinancial opportunityis apparent, along with acommitment.

CAPRICORN(Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Emotions and money will clash today. Revising how you present your skills will help you gain professional ground. Look for an opportunity and seize the moment.

AQUARIUS (Jan.20-Feb. 19) Don'thesitate when you canachieve so much. Take advantageofevery situationthat comes your way. It'stime to identify what's holding you back.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Distance yourself from thosewho try to corralyou in an undesirable direction. Take charge of what's important to you.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Don'tstop when momentum is building. Achange is heading your way that you won't want to miss. Invest time and money in yourself, your skills and updates that will help you advance.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Set the pace and stick to your plans. Take control andmake demands.It's up to you to call theshots if you want to get things done your way and on time.Share your longterm plans and bring them to life.

GEMINI (May21-June 20) Mixed emotions will quickly lead to an argument if you aren't willing to compromise. Change is likely, but with ahealthy attitude and a

little charm, you can bypassnegativity and gain support.

CANCER (June 21-July22) It's up to you to initiate change. Thestars are aligned, and the timing is right. Aconfident and positive attitude will help younavigate your way forward.

LEO(July 23-Aug.22) Bypass controversy, talks and those trying to redirect you. Focus on physical activities, a healthy diet and socializing with people who upliftyou. Choose healthy living over indulgent behavior.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Change what you don't like or need anymoreand focus on what you do. Achange may look inviting, but it's up to you to shape it into somethingthat fits and suits your needs.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Simple, discreet and doable will be the way to go today. Too much of anything can backfire, leaving you to pick up the pieces or pay for something you don't need or want

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Look, see and do. An open mind, adisciplined attitude and aunique perspective will help you gainthe support and confidence you need to promoteand launch your plans.

The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. ©2025 by NEA, Inc., dist.ByAndrewsMcMeel Syndication

CeLebrItY CIpher

For better or For WorSe

peAnUtS

SALLYForth

beetLe bAILeY

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place thenumbers1to9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box containsthe same number only once. The difficulty level of theSudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’sPuzzle Answer

THe wiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS

Hi and LoiS

CurTiS

BY PHILLIP ALDER

Kin Hubbard, ajournalistand humorist who died in 1930, said, “No matter how much strong black coffee we drink, almost any after-dinnerspeech will counteract it.”

Thisdealcentersontheblacksuits,one stronger than the other. Would you prefer to be in four spades or five clubs?

Let’sassume that South is in four spades and West leadsadiamond. East wins with his10and continues withthe diamondace.HowshouldSouthcontinue after ruffing?

The auction is difficult. South might rebid three clubs, not two hearts, because his hearts are so weak —but we love majors. North’s three diamonds is a game-forcing cue-bid. Then, whenSouth showsclubsupport,Northmightwellbid game in that suit

Five clubsmakes unless East leads atrump, which is feasible whenSouth showsathree-suited hand. But if East starts with the diamond ace before shiftingtoaclub,Northwinsinhishand,ruffs adiamond in thedummy (South), plays a heart to his ace, ruffs another diamond, leads aheart to the king, draws trumps, tries unsuccessfully to drop the spade queen and claims, conceding oneheart.

In fourspades, South should plan on losing two spades and one diamond. He drawstwo rounds of trumps andturns to theclubs. West ruffs thethird round and leads adiamond, butSouth ruffs,plays a heart to the king anddiscardsaheart on the next club. Thecontract makes. Did younotice that Eastmissed anighimpossibledefense?Ifhehadshiftedtoa heartattricktwo,itwouldhaveremoved akey dummy entry.Try it and see. ©2025 by NEA, Inc.,dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

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

Previous answers:

word game

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

toDAY’sWoRD IMPoRts: im-PORTS: Brings from aforeign or external source.

Average mark 26 words Time limit 40 minutes

Canyou find 35 or more words in IMPORTS?

YEstERDAY’sWoRD— scARIER

sung

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles hidato

mallard