The Advocate 11-30-2025

IN TRADITION

ABOVE: GramblingState Tigersrunning back Tony Phillips Jr.tries to avoid atackle by the SouthernUniversity Jaguarsduring the secondhalf of the 52ndannual Bayou Classic game at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on Saturday LEFT: Southernfanscelebrate after atouchdownagainstGrambling State during Saturday’sgame.

STAFF PHOTOSBySOPHIA GERMER

ä SEECOMPLETE COVERAGE OF THE BAYOUCLASSICGAME. PAGE 1C

‘You geta newlease on life’

La.veteranspushing forpsychedelicassisted treatment

BYSAM KARLIN Staff writer

Retired Maj. Gen. Glenn Curtis spent adecades-long career climbing the ranks of the Army, deploying in 2004 to Iraq and returning home to eventually serve as the leaderofthe Louisiana National Guard under two governors dur-

ing major hurricanes, floods and other disasters.

Buthefound himselfinunusual territory earlierthisyear, as he trekked alongside other veterans to aclinic in Mexico. They all sought thesame opportunity: a chance to ingest apowerful psychedelic from Africa calledibogaine,which is illegal in the U.S Curtis and his son hadtraveled toTijuana aspartofanongoing pilgrimage of militaryveterans, many of them former special

ä See VETERANS, page 9A

Kevin Murnane, fromleft, Frances Vest and Dr.Shawn McNeil stand in the room where participants join in astudy investigating psilocybin as atreatment for methamphetamineaddiction at the TreatmentResistant Neuropsychiatric IllnessLaboratoryinShreveport.

Plansslow fornew BR bridge

BY HALEYMILLER Staff writer

Traffic angst is commonplace in the Baton Rouge area.

Fordecades,city officials andthe state Department of Transportationand Development have floated ideas forimproving the situation. Potential solutions have ranged from the more modest, like widening roadways, to the grandiose, suchasbuilding aBaton Rouge loop.Somewhere between is the “bump,” which would attempt to divert truckers to theold Huey P. Long Bridge and away from the Horace Wilkinson Bridge that carries Interstate 10 over the river Since 2020, one project hascarried perhaps the most excitement andmomentum: anew Mississippi River crossing south of Baton Rouge, connecting La. 1onthe westbank to La. 30 on the east bank.

Butfunding, location andeventhe extent to which anew bridge actuallywould alleviate traffic in the Capital Region remain stubborn questions for consultants, DOTD officials and parish leaders as the project navigates the environmental review phase.

“I really feel like it’sgoing to be achallenge to get that bridge built,” said Fred Raiford, Baton Rouge director of transportation and drainage and the mayor’sdesignee on the Capital Area Road and Bridge District. “I think it will. When? Who knows?”

Researcherspay special attentiontocalfnutrition

BY HALEYMILLER Staff writer

In the Information Age, even cowsaren’t safefrom data collection.

Researchers at the Southern University Agricultural Research Station monitor calves using ahard plastic pill containing sensors, which sits in the animal’sstomach, tracking heart rate, temperature and the amountoftime it takes forthe bovine to regurgitate and reswallow its food.

The work is part of the Ag Center’s“smart ranching” approach to raising what it calls Southern UniversityNatural Beef,orSUN Beef. Researchers track the cattle’shealth with key data points, paying special attention to nutritioninthe first 60 days of life,to

ä See BEEF, page 8A

NO.153

101ST

HolidayHours Mon-Fri 10am-6pm Saturday10am-5pm

STAFF PHOTO By JILLPICKETT

BRIEFS

African Union suspends Guinea-Bissau after coup

DAKAR, Senegal The African Union suspended Guinea-Bissau following a military coup, saying it won’t tolerate unconstitutional changes.

In a resolution adopted by the AU Peace and Security Council on Friday, the organization reiterated it has “zero tolerance on unconstitutional changes of government.” It moved to “immediately suspend the Republic of Guinea-Bissau from participating in all activities of the Union, its organs and institutions, until constitutional order is restored in the country.”

Speaking to The Associated Press on Saturday evening, former President Umaro Sissoco Embaló’s chief of staff said the ousted leader traveled to the Republic of the Congo overnight and arrived Saturday morning Embaló had previously arrived in neighboring Senegal on Thursday on a flight chartered by the Senegalese government.

On Saturday, the president of the Transitional Republic, Gen. Horta Inta-a, appointed a new 28-member government, most of whom are allies of the ousted president.

The military takeover Wednesday came after presidential and legislative elections on Sunday Incumbent President Embaló and opposition candidate Fernando Dias each claimed victory.

Airlines adopt software fix for Airbus A320

An aircraft heavily used by commercial airlines around the world needs a software fix to address an issue that contributed to a sudden drop in altitude of a JetBlue plane last month, the manufacturer and European aviation safety regulators said Friday.

Airbus said an analysis of the JetBlue incident revealed intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls on the A320 family of aircraft.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency issued a directive requiring operators of the A320 to address the issue. The agency said this may cause “short-term disruption” to flight schedules.

Mike Stengel, a partner with the aerospace industry management consulting firm AeroDynamic Advisory, said the fix could be addressed between flights or on overnight plane checks.

“Definitely not ideal for this to be happening on a very ubiquitous aircraft on a busy holiday weekend,” Stengel said.

Diplomatic efforts to end war continue

U.S. officials meet in Florida with their Ukrainian counterparts

BY ISOBEL KOSHIW Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine Russian drone and missile attacks in and around Ukraine’s capital killed at least three people early Saturday, officials said, as the country’s representatives traveled to the U.S. to work on a renewed push to end the war

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X that the delegation, headed by national security chief Rustem Umerov, was on its way to “swiftly and substantively work out the steps needed to end the war.” A U.S. delegation is then expected to travel to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the second half of next week.

The Kyiv City Military Administration said two people were killed in the strikes on the capital, and a woman died, and eight were wounded in a combined missile and drone attack on the broader Kyiv region, according to the regional police.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that 29 people were wounded in Kyiv, noting that falling debris from intercepted Russian drones hit residential buildings. He also said the western part of Kyiv had lost power

U.S. President Donald Trump last week released a plan for ending the nearly fouryear war The 28-point proposal heavily favored Russia, prompting Zelenskyy to quickly engage with American negotiators. European leaders, fearing for their own future in the face of Russian aggression, scrambled to steer the negotiations toward accommodating their concerns.

Trump said Tuesday that his plan to

end the war had been “fine-tuned” and that he’s sending envoy Steve Witkoff to Russia to meet with Putin. He suggested he could eventually meet with Putin and Zelenskyy, but not until further progress has been made in negotiations.

Trump administration officials were meeting in Florida this weekend with their Ukrainian counterparts. The meeting was set to include U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, according to a U.S. official who requested anonymity to describe meeting details not made public Zelenskyy will travel to Paris on Monday for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Macron’s office said the two leaders will “discuss the situation and the conditions for a just and lasting peace, in continuity with the Geneva discussions, the American plan, and in close coordination with our European partners.”

In Russia, a major oil terminal near the port of Novorossiysk stopped operations Saturday after a strike by unmanned boats damaged one of its three mooring points, according to a statement from the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which owns the terminal.

Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, confirmed that Ukraine had carried out the attack.

“Naval drones managed to destroy one of the three oil tanker berths of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium in the Novorossiysk area,” he wrote on Telegram.

Meanwhile Kyiv and its western allies say Russia is trying to cripple the Ukrainian power grid and deny civilians access to heat, light and running water for a fourth consecutive winter, in what Ukrainian officials call “weaponizing” the biting cold.

Marines in Haiti face gangs that have U.S. guns

BY JIM WYSS Bloomberg News (TNS)

Additional U.S. Marines being sent to Haiti to defend the embassy from gang attacks face a grim reality: They’re increasingly being targeted by American-made, militarygrade firearms.

Haiti doesn’t manufacture weapons and has been under an arms embargo since 2022, but it’s awash in guns. And the Government Accountability Office says 90% of all weapons in Haiti used in a crime were US sourced.

It’s not just handguns.

During a chaotic shootout on the outskirts of Haiti’s capital this month, police killed seven gang members and captured a Barret M82 .50-caliber sniper rifle, which is manufactured in Tennessee.

“That is a true military weapon,” said Jonathan Lowy, president of Global Action on Gun Violence, which has been working with foreign governments to try to stem the flow of U.S. weapons. “It has a range of a mile. It can shoot down helicopters and can pierce reinforced concrete. It can cost around $10,000. That is not a weapon that a law abiding gun owner protecting their home or hunting deer is looking to buy.”

And yet any 18-year-old with a clean record can purchase one in most U.S. states. Homeland Security Investigations in Miami flagged a “substantial increase” in gun trafficking to Haiti and the Caribbean earlier this year including sniper rifles, .308 rifles — considered “battle rifles” — and at least one belt-fed machine gun. The agency didn’t respond to requests for comment. The chaos in Haiti — where gangs now control more than 85% of the capital and have forced 1.4 million to flee their homes — comes as Washington is flooding the southern Caribbean with military assets in what it claims is a push to stop drug traffick-

ing and put pressure on Venezuela.

But for many leaders in the region, it’s U.S. weapons that are the worry Of the 10 nations and territories with the highest per-capita murder rates globally, eight are in the Caribbean, according to World Bank data. That’s no coincidence, Lowy said in an interview

The U.S. “is the one country in the world that is both the major manufacturer and seller of civilian small arms and combines that with some of the weakest gun laws in the world,” he said. “You have this perfect storm that makes it easy for gun traffickers.”

Joseph Harold Pierre, an economic and political analyst in Haiti, was stuck in Cap-Haitien last week because domestic air travel was shut down after gangs shot a local airliner He said that many Haitians blame the U.S. for allowing guns to flow into the country, but he said local authorities are also complicit. An American rifle can sell for 50 times its retail price in Haiti, making it a lucrative business that has corrupted industry and politics, he said.

On Monday, the U.S. State Department imposed visa restrictions on Fritz Alphonse Jean, a member of Haiti’s transitional presidential council, “for supporting gangs and other criminal organizations.” Jean has denied those accusations, but he’s just one of several private sector and political actors who have been sanctioned in recent years for allegedly working with criminal groups.

“The main problem is not the guns themselves but that there is no political will to control them,” Pierre said.

On Nov 13, U.S. Marines guarding the American embassy exchanged fire with suspected gang members. None of the soldiers were injured, but the Embassy said it was bringing in more Marines to secure the diplomatic compound, which has been attacked in the past.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By EFREM LUKATSKy

People hide in an underground pedestrian crossing during Russia’s night missile and drone attack Saturday in Kyiv, Ukraine.

TrumpsaysVenezuelanairspaceshouldbeviewedasclosed

Countryaccuses himofmaking a‘colonial threat’

BY JOSH BOAK and GABRIELA MOLINA Associated Press

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. President Donald Trump on Saturday said that the airspace “above and surrounding” Venezuela should be considered as “closed in its entirety,” an assertion that raised more questions about the U.S. pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. His government accused Trump of making a“colonial threat” and seekingtoundermine the South American country’ssovereignty

The White House did not respondtoquestionsabout what Trump postedonhis Truth Socialplatform, and it was unclear whether he was announcing anew policy or simply reinforcing the messaging around his campaign against Maduro, whichhas involved multiplestrikesin

the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean on small boats accused of ferrying drugs aswellasabuildup of navalforces in the region. Morethan 80 peoplehave been killedinsuch strikes since early September

TheRepublicanpresident addressed his call for an aerial blockadeto“Airlines, Pilots, DrugDealers, and Human Traffickers,” rather than to Maduro. Venezuela’sgovernment said it “forcefully rejects” Trump’sclaim about closing the airspace andthat it was a“colonialthreat” intended to underminethe country’s “territorialintegrity,aeronautical securityand full sovereignty.”

TheForeignMinistry said “such declarationsconstitute ahostile, unilateral and arbitrary act.”

The statement alsosaid that U.S.immigration authorities had unilaterally suspended biweekly deportation flights of Venezuelan migrants

Following negotiationsbetween thetwo governments,

more than13,000 Venezuelans have been deported to Venezuela this year on dozens of chartered flights, thelatest of which arrived lateFridayinCaracas,the capital, accordingtoflighttracking data.

International airlineslast week began to cancel flights to Venezuela after the Federal Aviation Administration told pilotstobecautious flying around the country because of heightenedmilitary activity

The FAA’sjurisdiction is generally limited to the United States andits territories. The agency does routinely warnpilotsabout thedangers of flying over areas with ongoing conflicts or military activity around the globe, as it did earlier this month with Venezuela

The FAAworks with other countriesand the International CivilAviation Organizationoninternational issues. The FAAand ICAOdid not immediately respond to requests for comment Saturday

Trump’sadministration

Trumpofficials,judge to face offoverflights to El Salvador

BY SUDHIN THANAWALA Associated Press

Twoplanes carrying Venezuelan migrants out of the U.S. were midaironMarch 15 when afederal judge in Washington orderedthe Trump administration to turn them around.

Instead, the planes landed in El Salvador hours later, touching off an extraordinary power struggle between the judicial and executive branches of the U.S government over what happened and why the judge’s order went unexecuted.

That fight entered acritical phase Friday when U.S. District Judge James Boasberg relaunched an investigation to determine whether the Republican administration deliberately ignored his instruction, letting the planes continue onto El Salvador The judge previously concluded it did and threatened to have the responsible official or officials prosecuted on acontempt charge. The administration has denied any violation. But an appeals court threw Boasberg’sdecisionout. The contempt probe appeared dead until in yet another twist, alarger panel of judges on the same appeals court ruled on Nov.14that the investigation could proceed. Criminal contemptinquiries are alast resort, former federal judge told The Associated Press in an interview Monday conductedonZoom.

“The judgehas to believe that some line may have been crossed that you can’t ignore,”said Fogel, who spent 20 years on the bench in Northern California before retiring in 2018.

Fogel said the issues raised by Boasberg’scontempt probe —whether the migrants weredeprived of their due process rights and whether the court’sauthoritywas flouted —meet that standard. “Whatever actually happened, Ithink it would be very hard for him to just let it go,” the judge said.

On Friday,Boasberg ordered the administration to submit declarations by Dec. 5from all officials involved in the decision notto returnthe flightstothe U.S He said he will then decide whether to seek testimony from witnesses.

The declarations should detailthe officials’ roles in the decision, the judge said in the brief order Justice Department attorneys had urged him to abandon the probe, but Boasberg said he must determine whether Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem or anyone else “should be referred for potential contempt prosecution.”

“In other words, the Court mustdecide if: (1)the court order was ‘clear and reasonably specific’; (2) ‘the defendant violatedthe order’; and (3) ‘the violation was willful,’”hewrote.

In acourt filing on Tuesday,Justice Department attorneys said Noemdecided the migrants aboard the flights couldbe transferred to El Salvador afterreceivingadvice from the HomelandSecuritydepartment’s acting general counsel, Joseph Mazzara. Mazzara had received legal advice about the planes from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blancheand Principal Associate Deputy Attorney GeneralEmilBove, accordingtothe filing.

The judge’sdirective to return them was made verbally in court but not included in hiswritten order,government attorneyssaidinthe court filingonTuesday That order blockedthe administration fromremoving “any of the individual Plaintiffsfromthe United States for 14 days,” but said nothingaboutthe flightsalready airborne.

The two planes had already departed U.S. territory andairspace, so the migrants aboard them had alreadybeen“removed” and therefore fell outside of the court’sorder,Justice Department lawyerssaid in thecourt filing Afederal appeals court

judge said in August thatthe administration’sinterpretationofBoasberg’sorderwas plausible. The order “could reasonably have been read” as only prohibiting thegovernmentfrom “expellingdetainees from United States territory,” wroteGregory Katsas, ajudge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Katsas was appointedbyPresident Donald Trump.

Afterthe March15ruling, Trump deridedthe judge as a“troublemaker and agitator” and called for his impeachment.Boasberg was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Barack Obama and currently serves as the chief judge of thefederal court for the District of Columbia.

In July,the Justice Departmentfiled amisconduct claimagainst him, alleging he told Chief Justice John Roberts and other federal judges in March that the administration would trigger aconstitutional crisis by disregardingfederal court rulings.

Boasberg has framed the contempt inquiry as an effort to uphold the Constitution, which he says requires compliance withjudicial orders.

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has soughttoratchet up pressure on Maduro. The U.S.governmentdoes not view Maduro as thelegitimateleader of theoil-rich but increasingly impoverishedSouth American nation and he faces charges of narcoterrorism in theU.S. U.S. forces have conducted bomber flights near Venezuela andthe USSGerald R. Ford, America’smost advanced aircraft carrier was sent tothe area. The Ford rounds off thelargest buildup of U.S. firepower in theregioningenerations With its arrival, the“Operation Southern Spear” mission includes nearly adozen Navy ships and about 12,000 sailors and Marines.

There are bipartisan calls for greater oversight of the U.S. military strikesagainst vessels in the region after The Washington Post reportedthat Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued averbal order for all crew memberstobekilled as part of the Sept. 2attack on suspected drug smugglers.

Republican Sen. Roger

Wicker of Mississippi, chairman of theSenate Armed Services Committee, and itstop Democrat, RhodeIsland Sen. Jack Reed, said in ajoint statement late Friday that thecommittee “willbe conducting vigorous over-

sighttodeterminethe facts related to these circumstances.”

Trump’steam has weighed both military andnonmilitary options with Venezuela, includingcovertactionby the CIA.

PelicanCreditUnionmarkedamilestoneonNovember 20,2025,asleaders,members,andlongtimesupporters gathered in Downtown BatonRouge to celebratethe grandopening of thenewly renovatedPostalBranch— thefirstlocationtoproudly showcase Pelican’sfully refreshedbrandidentity.Theribbon-cuttingceremony honoredboththe branch’s legacy andthe evolutionof Pelicanasitcontinues to grow,innovate, andserve communitiesacrossLouisiana ABranchwithDeepRoots andaBrightFuture PostalCreditUnionofBatonRougewasestablished in 1931 andholds thetitle as thefirstcreditunion to servethe BatonRouge community. Whilethe branch is nowenteringa newera underPelican’s umbrella,its name andheritageremainintentionally preserved. “It’simportant for us to keep pieces of whowe areand ouridentityaswemoveforward,” said Jeff Conrad,Chief ExecutiveOfficerofPelican Credit Union. “Wenever want to become an institutionso largethatweforgetour roots.”

Acommemorative photocollage of thePostal Credit Unionisondisplay in thebuilding’smain lobby, alongwithanAmericanflag that wasgifted to thecreditunion in 2003 by Hewitt Townsend,a formerPresident of theBoard of Directors. ANew Look foraCreditUnion in Motion

ThePostalBranchisalsothe very first Pelican location to fullydebut theorganization’snew logo andbrand colors.Pelican takesanintentional and active approach to creating positive impact in the communitiesofLouisiana andlooks forwardto servingunder abannerthatresonates with thecredit union’sdynamic spirit

“Our previous logo showed abirdperched,but being themoversand shakersthatweare,werecognize a pelicaninflight is much more representative of our personalityand whereweare going,”saidLeigh Porta, Chief Growth Officer. Technology,Convenience &the HumanTouch

In addition to beautifulnew interiors, thePostal Branch offersBaton Rougemembers thesameup-todate accesstotechnologythatPelican provides statewide—includingonlinebanking,the MyPelican mobile app, andITMs(InteractiveTellerMachines) whichextendbranchservice hours. Keepingatthe forefrontofmodernconvenience is paramountfor Pelicanbut so is preserving genuine humanconnection.

“Ifit’s2AM andyou want to transfer moneyto your grandchild,you candothat. Butifyou want to come into abranchand greetour beautifulpeople, you canstill do that,” Conrad said.“We also have acall center where youcan call andreach astaff member.”

ForPelican andits members, thesechanges are welcomed with open arms.Asthe wheelofprogress turns, credit unions like Pelicanunderstandthe value of theservice they provideand adapttofitthe needs of thecommunity.Creditunionsare member-owned not-for-profitfinancialinstitutionsand areled by an

electedBoard of Directorswho volunteertoserve theirfellowmembers

“Nothingismorerewarding than hearingthe Postal Credit Union’sBoard of Directorssay this hasbeena positive change andthatthe members andemployees arehappy,” said Porta. “That’sthe wholepoint—topreserveservice to themembers.” ACreditUnion CommittedtoLouisiana With 19 branches across thestate—and more to come—Pelican’s leadersemphasizedthatthislaunch is anotherstepinamuchlargervision. “Our goal is to servethe entire stateofLouisiana,” said Porta. “Every newbranch, everynew parish, everynew relationship is just astepinthatdirection.” PelicanwelcomesbothlongtimePostalmembers andnew faces to experience thebeautifully updated space, thecomfortingfamiliarity of itsstaff,and the expanded benefitsavailable Andofcourse, thenew Postal Branch also shares in thebelovedPelicantraditionofhavingcomplimentary hotcoffee available everyday,withthe additional treat of freshlybaked chocolatechipcookies on Fridays. Thelobby is open from 8:30AM to 4:30PM,Monday throughFriday. “We’re here,we’re open,pleasecomecheck it out, said Porta, welcomingall to stop by Formoreinformation on PelicanCreditUnion visit: www.pelicancu.com

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By Stevie Cavalier

Officials and members of the public agree on the need for some kind of outlet for I-10 traffic, which has worsened in the region because of population growth following Hurricane Katrina, as well as preexisting problems like road design and city layout.

Of the three bridges in the Baton Rouge metropolitan area the I-10 bridge experiences the highest traffic volume, leading to severe congestion and deteriorated infrastructure, according to a 2023 planning investigation conducted for the DOTD by Atlas Technical Consultants.

For many observers, reducing the amount of semitrucks on the bridge often nonlocal traffic — is a solution within reach. The assumption goes that trucks would route south to a different crossing if it were available.

But Raiford and other officials emphasized that pressure on the Horace Wilkinson Bridge is not limited to truckers hauling goods across state lines. Locals are also highly reliant on I-10 they said.

“I know for a fact when people want to go downtown, what do they do?” said J.H. Campbell Jr., chair of the Capital Area Road and Bridge District. “They jump on the interstate to go downtown because we don’t have a lot of north-south arteries in Baton Rouge.”

A new bridge would not necessarily be the silver bullet for Baton Rouge’s traffic woes, Raiford said.

“I think it will help reduce the volume,” Raiford said.

“Is it going to be the salvation? No. But I think the level of service will be better.”

Deate over bridge location

The bridge proposal is in the environmental review process under the National Environmental Policy Act. Atlas Technical Consultants, the consulting firm working with the government on the

project, and DOTD have until mid-September to share their findings of the environmental impacts of three potential bridge sites, all located in Iberville Parish.

The three corridors were narrowed down from 32 possible options.

“A lot of work’s gone into the three alternatives that are being fed into our (National Environmental Policy Act) environmental process,” DOTD Secretary Glenn Ledet said. “We believe that this will help alleviate traffic congestion and also provide that connectivity across the river.”

One corridor under consideration, the northernmost of the placements, has generated significant opposition The crossing would bisect and partially destroy an old-growth cypress forest known as Plaquemine Point,

which the owners say contains a thriving ecosystem of rare species and trees over 200 years old.

DOTD officials have not publicly indicated their preferred location, which will be announced next fall. In emails previously reported by The Advocate, consultants expressed a desire to minimize effects to property owned by the chemical company Shintech. While the other placements would affect utility infrastructure and pipelines, the option that bisects Plaquemine Point includes undeveloped Shintech land.

If sizable environmental impacts are identified during the review of the preferred location, DOTD must undergo a more rigorous, time-consuming evaluation called an environmental impact statement.

“If they do find significant impacts, that could take the process through a longer duration,” project manager Christina Brignac said. Funding up in the air

If all goes according to plan for the DOTD with the environmental review, officials must still determine how to pay for the bridge.

The most recent cost estimate for the project is $2 billion, according to Ledet. Of that price tag, $400 million is currently accounted for Ledet said project leaders are considering a publicprivate partnership model in the form of a toll bridge, wherein a private partner could finance construction and be repaid over time, possibly through toll revenue.

“Looking at the tolling feasibility and then really completing a total funding plan

is obviously something that is a priority as we start this environmental process,” Ledet said. “The work that we do on these large projects can be complex, but I think working through this process, you’ll hopefully see a lot of emphasis put into the project delivery side.”

But some officials have cast doubt on the idea of a toll bridge and whether it would then have the desired outcome of diverting traffic from the Horace Wilkinson Bridge.

“Tolls can be expensive,” Campbell said. “And then, are people willing to pay the toll, or will they just continue to drive and end up back on Wilkinson or Sunshine?” Raiford was dubious, too, about a private partner shouldering the costs of construction.

“You can’t have tolls to

By

cover it all, because nobody’s going to do that,” Raiford said. “There’s no reason or justification for somebody to say, ‘I want to make that investment.’”

Along with a privatesector deal, many of those involved in the project are holding out hope for federal dollars. Campbell emphasized that it would be in the federal government’s best interest to alleviate pressure on I-10, the country’s southernmost interstate highway I-10 makes the Horace Wilkinson Bridge “critical in interstate commerce,” he said.

But without a funding plan, the proposal for a new bridge is no more a reality than the abandoned Baton Rouge loop project.

“It’s under the tree for Santa Claus,” Campbell said.

STAFF PHOTO

MICHAEL JOHNSON

Traffic from Interstate 10 rolls over the Horace Wilkinson Bridge in Baton Rouge on Monday.

Shoppers turned outinbig numbersfor BlackFriday

Billionsofdollars spentdespite widereconomic uncertainty

BY WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS Associated Press

NEW YORK Despitewider

economic uncertainty hovering above this year’sholiday season, shoppers turnedout in big numbers for Black Friday —spending billions of dollars both in stores and online. Adobe Analytics, which tracks e-commerce, said U.S consumers spent arecord $11.8 billion online Friday, marking a9.1% jump from last year.Traffic particularly piled up between the hours of 10 a.m. and2 p.m. local time nationwide, when $12.5 million passed through online shopping carts every minute

Consumers also spenta record$6.4 billion online on Thanksgiving Day,per Adobe. Topcategories that saw an uptick in sales across both days included video game consoles, electronics and home appliances. Shopping services powered by artificial intelligence and social media advertising have also particularly influenced what consumers choose to buy,the firm said. Meanwhile, software company Salesforce estimated that Black Friday online sales

BEEF

Continued from page1A

produce beef for the Southerncampusthattheysay is free from hormones and growth implants.

“If you want to own cows, you’re not there every day,” Dr.Mallory Tate, aveterinarian with the Ag Center, said about the goal of the project. “You canmanageit from your laptop.”

The researchersare experimenting with artificial intelligence and health monitoring technology to improve calf nutrition and empower consumers to know more about their food. So far, SUNBeef provides steaks, roasts and ground beef for the university cafeteria, with plans to eventually sell beefproducts locally Students get involved in the project by helping raise the cattle. Clyde Bagley,the Ag Center’svice chancellor of research, said he also wouldlike to start processing the beef at Southern’s meat plantwhen renovations are complete.

“You eat our beef in the Southern University cafeteria, that’sthe farthest it’s everbeenfrom itsmama,” Bagley said.

In addition to medical information gleaned fromthe sensor placed in the cows’ stomachs, the scientists track the cattle’slocations with ageotag and employAI to analyze different camera

totaled$18 billioninthe U.S. and$79 billionglobally.And e-commerce platformShopify said its merchants raked in arecord $6.2 billion in sales worldwide on Black Friday At its peak, sales reached $5.1 millionper minute— with topcategoriesincludingcosmetics andclothing, according to the Canadian company MasterCard SpendingPulse, which tracks in-person and onlinespending, reported that overall Black Friday salesexcluding automotive rose 4.1% from ayear ago. The retail sales indicator whichisnot adjusted for inflation, showed online sales jumped by double digits (10.4%), while in-store purchases inched up 1.7%.

Michelle Meyer,chief economist at theMasterCard Economics Institute, said consumers are “navigating an uncertain environment” this holiday season “byshopping early,leveraging promotions, andinvesting inwishlist items.”

Black Friday is far from the sales event that created midnight mall crowds or doorbuster mayhem just decades ago. More and more consumers haveinstead turned to online deals to make post-Thanksgiving purchases from the comfortof their own homes —oropt to stretch outspending across longer promotions now offered by retailers

In-store traffic has dwindled over the years. Initial

data from RetailNext, which measures real-time foot traffic in physical stores, found that U.S. Black Friday traffic fell 3.6% compared to 2024. Still,the firmnoted that was “notably better” than asharper 6.2% declineitsaw in the days leading up to Thanksgiving.

Sensormatic Solutions, which also tracks store traffic,found that in-store retail visits dipped2.1% —but said that was in linewith expectations and trends already seen this year.Trafficover the week of Black Friday was up nearly 57% compared tothe week prior,per Sensormatic.

“Black Friday has really turned into like afull week event, or even further,”said GrantGustafson,head of retail consulting andanalyticsatSensormatic Solutions. And“Black Friday is really

SouthernUniversity Agricultural Research Station in Baton RougeonMonday.

angles and estimatetheir weight.

About80animals are considered SUN Beef cows Bagley said

“The No. 1factor that’s relatedtobeef tenderness is age,” Bagley said.“Becausewedosuch agood job raising them, these calves arebeing harvested at 14 months of age.”

The data collected also givesresearchers awindow intostress factors, Bagley said. Acalfthat runs fast outofthe chute indicates distress,whichtranslates to lower weight and less tendermeat.

“Weknowwhentolook for those kind of things and try to reduce thosestressfactors,” Bagley said.

CriticaltoSUN Beef is theall-natural label, which means the cows are locally raised and are hormone- and antibiotic-free, Bagley said. He envisions shoppers scanning aQRcodeatthe grocery store to learn aboutthe sourceoftheir beef, down to the health data foraspecific cow

“Everybodywants to knowmore aboutwhere their things arecoming from,” Bagleysaid.“The nice thing about it is if you knowthatIwas aproducer it makes me more sensitive, because Ionly wanttoproducegood stuff if you’re going to knowmyname and where my farm is. There’s alot of good parts to allof this.”

the start of just areally and critical stretch for retailers,” he added— noting that the weekendfollowingThanksgiving, as well as thedays leadinguptoChristmas next month, will alsobesome of the busiest in terms of instore traffic.

Meanwhile, in termsofecommerce, Adobe expects U.S. shoppers to spend another $5.5 billionSaturday and$5.9 billiononSunday— before reaching an estimated $14.2 billionpeak on Cyber Monday,which would mark yetanotherrecord. Still, rising prices could be contributing to some of those numbers. President Donald Trump’sbarrage of tariffs on imports have strained businesses andhouseholds alike over the last year.And despite spending more overall, Salesforce found U.S. shoppers purchasedfewer items at checkout on Black Friday (down2%fromlastyear) Ordervolumesalso slipped 1%,the firmnoted,asaverage selling prices climbed 7%

This year’sholiday spending rush arrivesamid heightened economic uncertainty forconsumers. Beyond tariffs, workers acrosspublic

and private sectors are also struggling with anxieties over job security —amid both corporate layoffs and theafter-effects of the43-day government shutdown. An uptick in budget-conscious behaviorcan also be seen in store traffic. While Sensormatic doesn’ttrack spending, “wedotrack consumer footsteps,” Gustafson notes —and “consumers are thinking alittle bit harder about their purchases” this year,heexplains, “to make sure that they’re getting their very best deals.” For the November-Decemberholidayseason overall, the National Retail Federation estimates U.S. shoppers will spend more than$1trillion for the first time this year.But therate of growth is slowing —with an anticipated increase of 3.7% to 4.2% yearoveryear, compared to 4.3% in 2024’sholiday season.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Acalf stands in a field with cows that are grazing at the

ASSOCIATED

forces operatives who face debilitating symptoms from traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder and other conditions. Former NFL players andother armed forces members have also sought outpsychedelics like ibogaine, arootlong used in religious rituals in Gabon, Africa.

Curtis said he hadanintense experience while on the psychedelic, which he described as watching someone “weld” his neck back together.The next day, at the Ambio Clinic thatoffers “psychedelic-assisted treatment,” he took another hallucinogenic: DMT

By the end of the trip,he saidhefelt dramatic improvements to his PTSD and traumatic brain injury symptoms,which he heard from others who also traveled to the clinic this spring. He formed anonprofit to help Louisiana veterans access the same treatment. And by October,hetold astate Senate task force about his experience.

“You get anew lease on life you never had before,” Curtis said. “There’ssomuch peace and tranquillity associated with it, it’shard to even describe.”

An unlikely coalition of veterans, former professional athletes and government officials, including former Texas Gov.RickPerry,have pushed for access to psychedelics like ibogaine. The movement recently culminated in Texas lawmakers setting aside $50 million to study the drug,in hopes of receiving approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use to treat addiction and other ailments.

Now,Louisiana maybe next in line.

Earlier thisyear,state Sen Patrick McMath, R-Covington, formed atask force to explore “alternative therapies” for veterans. At ameeting last month, Curtis and ahost of other combat veterans told lawmakers that ibogaine andotherpsychedelics gave them resultsthattraditional pharmaceuticals neverdid.

Some concerns about the drugs remain. Academic researchers in a2024 study warned that ibogainerequires “careful patient screening and monitoring because of significant safety issues.” They said that while studies show “promising” findings, ibogaine carried potential for heart damage and poor reactions with other drugs,particularly with opioids.

And another 2021 review of studies involving ibogaine found that while the drug showed beneficial impacts on trauma-related psychological problems and substance use disorders, data also showed some severe medical complications and death associatedwithits use Researchers are studying whether administering magnesium alongside ibogaine canstemthe heart problems, butmany say more research is needed.

The Louisiana Legislature could debate the topic as

Participantsinastudyinvestigating psilocybin as atreatment for methamphetamine addiction receive theirdose and are observedinthe room shown here on Nov. 18 at the Treatment Resistant Neuropsychiatric Illness LaboratoryinShreveport.The room is lit as it would be for astudyparticipant.

soon as next spring, deciding whethertojoina growing list of states that are funding research on psychedelics or otherwiseexpanding access to arangeofdrugs, including psilocybin and MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy.Researchers at LSU Health Sciences Center Shreveport are already running trials to see if psilocybin, ahallucinogen found in certain mushrooms, cantreat methamphetamine addiction

It took yearsofadvocacy before the Republican-dominated Legislature agreed to set up amedical marijuanaprogram. Advocates forpsychedelic treatments acknowledge that expanding access to those therapies may similarly face along road to becomingreality

“I knowit’snot going to be an easy pull to get it across thefinish line,” Curtis said in an interview.“I’dliketosee some type of legislation come in, at least for trials.”

‘Verypromising’

Ibogaine advocacy took off in theUnited Statesafter Howard Lotsof, then 19, ingested it in 1962 while trying to get high. He’d been living in New York and addicted to heroin,and reported an experience so powerful he said it cured his addiction.Hespent the rest of hislifetryingto expand access to thedrugas amedical treatment.

Butwhile the federal government at one point approvedits useinclinical trials in the1990s, ibogaine has not becomewidespread. The potentialfor heart issues has led to alack of studies on its use. Ahandful of peoplehave died overthe years from cardiac problems brought on by thedrug

“It was looking very promising as apossibletherapeutic,”said Jennifer Mitchell, aneurology professoratthe University of San Francisco and an expert on psychedelics. “It’sjustevery once in a while, you’d have adeath.” Psychedelics have shown “incredible” efficacy,Mitchell said, but the federal government has hesitated to approve them for clinical use.

The U.S. classifies ibogaine as aSchedule Inarcotic, meaning it has no medicinal value and is in the same category as heroin. Thatlabel hasalso limited clinical trials on it.

heart risks, Murnane said. Andwhile more study is needed, Murnane said early indications arethat psilocybin may offer similar results without the cardiac risk.

Last year,psychedelic proponents were hopeful the U.S. Food andDrug Administration was finally prepared to approve MDMA as atreatment forPTSD,which would have been alandmark moment in expanding access to the drug.

But the FDA, in something of asurprise, decided not to approve thedrug, citing problems with the ability to have alegitimate placebo

groupand conflicts of interest, among other things.

Murnane said there are legitimate concerns around approval of such drugs. It can be difficult to conduct atruly double-blind study because it is difficult to simulate the drug’seffects on aplacebo group. But giventhe crisis faced by many veterans, he questionedwhetheritmatters if positive results from the drug areplacebo effectsor not.

“Many veterans are not getting their mental health needs met,” he said. “We have to find away to do that.”

In arecent Stanford Universityobservational study researchers monitored patients at Ambio, the clinic in Mexico where Curtis went. The study’sauthors reported dramatic improvements in thepatients, whilesuggesting magnesium administered alongside ibogaine could help preventheartarrhythmia concerns.

While the federal government hasn’tembraced psychedelics, some states have And Mitchell said they’ve largely been left alonebythe feds when it comes to studying and even opening access to certain drugs. In the case of ibogaine,Mitchell said the Stanford study was encouraging, but the drug needs more trialswhere participantsare screened or treated for cardiacissues.

“This is aremarkably bipartisan issue,” shesaid. “Both sides seem to be into this idea that there should be some novel ways to treat these horrible conditions.” Momentum in Louisiana

Thecoalition pushing for access to psychedelicsmay have found an important ally in Louisiana.

McMath, who chairs the state Senate’sHealth and Welfare Committee, passed aresolution at the end of the2025 legislative session creating the task force to explore “alternative therapies” for veterans. The move was prompted by friends of his who served in special forces andwho sawresults from taking ibogaine or psilocybin, the hallucinogen found in certain mushrooms, he said in an interview McMath saidhe’snot yet sure exactly whatwill come out of the task force. But he said he wants theLegislature to consider ways to open up access to psychedelicsthat arehelping veterans, amid rising suicide ratesamong former troops.

“We’ve got to acknowledge this treatment saves lives,” McMath said.

Psilocybin, in particular, mayface fewer hurdles to access in Louisiana.

That’sbecauseresearchers are already studying the drug in trials at LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport

Researchers there have recruited study participants from addiction treatment

centers in the region. The participants, who are addicted to methamphetamine, go through aseries of screenings beforeentering adosing room and taking a25mg dose of psilocybin, sourced from manufacturers in Canada.

Dr.Kevin Murnane, who is leadingthe study, said three participants are currently enrolled,and he aims to enroll 10 to 20 in the coming monthsasa pilotphase. Eventually,heplans to expand to a100-person clinical trial.

“It’s very early in the process,” Murnane said. “But veryearly results areincredibly encouraging.”

LSU Health is amongmany research institutions studyingpsychedelics.Researchers all over thecountry have conducted ahost of clinical trials on thedrugs, manyof themwith encouraging results.

Murnanesaid he’s especially interestedinthe potential forpsychedelicsto helppeople addicted to meth, which is agrowing problem in Shreveport, where his lab found meth is ubiquitous in wastewater Meanwhile, ibogaine faces significant barriers to federal approval becauseofthe

support. Local impact. TheAmerican RedCross in Louisiana serves4.65millionresidentsacrossall64parishesandextendshopeto communitiesacrossthenationandaroundtheworld.Whenyousupportyour localRedCross,youmakeadirectimpactinyourcommunity Poweredbygenerosity. TheRedCrossisnotagovernmentagency.Wearea501(c)(3) nonprofitthatreliesonthepowerofvolunteersandthegenerosity ofdonorstocarryoutourhumanitarianmission. RedCrosssupportersprovideabeaconofhope.Fromhelping duringdisasters,toprovidinglifesavingtrainingandsupporting militarycommunities,theRedCrossistherewhenhelpcan’twait.

STAFF PHOTO By JILLPICKETT

Northwestern to paygovernment$75Mtorestore federalfunding

By The Associated Press

Northwestern University has agreed to pay $75 million to the U.S. government in a deal with the Trump administration to end aseries of investigations and restore hundreds of millions of dollarsin federal research funding

President Donald Trump’s administrationhad cutoff $790 million in grants in a standoff that contributed to university layoffs and the resignation in September of Northwestern president Michael Schill. The administration argued the school

had notdone enough to fight antisemitism. Under the agreement announcedFridaynight, Northwestern will make the payment to the U.S. Treasury over thenextthree years. Among other commitments it also requires the university to revoke the so-called Deering Meadow agreement, whichitsigned in April 2024 in exchange for pro-Palestinian protesters ending their tent encampment on campus. During negotiations, interim university president Henry Bienen said Northwestern refused to cede controlover

hiring, admissions, or its curriculum. “I would nothave signed this agreement withoutprovisions ensuring that is the case,” he said.

The agreement also calls for Northwestern to continue compliance withfederal anti-discrimination laws, developtraining materials to “socializeinternational students” with the norms of acampus dedicatedtoopen debate, and uphold acommitmenttoTitle IX by “providing safe and fair opportunities forwomen,including single-sex housing for any woman, defined on the basis

of sex,who requests such accommodations and all-female sports, locker rooms, and showering facilities.”

Education SecretaryLinda McMahon said the dealcements policy changes that will protect people on campus from harassment and discrimination.

“Thereformsreflect bold leadership at Northwestern andtheyare aroadmapfor institutionalleaders around the country that will help rebuild public trust in our collegesand universities,” McMahon said.

Trumphas leveraged gov-

Trumpwants to terminateBiden’s autopendirectives

BY MICA SOELLNER Bloomberg News (TNS)

WASHINGTON President Donald Trumpsaidheisterminating every document former PresidentJoe Biden signed with an autopen in his latest move to eradicate his predecessor’slegacy

In aTruth Social post Friday,Trump accused Biden of signing “approximately 92%” of documents through theuse of an autopen. The president threatened perjury charges against Biden if he claims he consented to the use of the mechanical pen to sign papers

“The Autopen is not allowed to be used if approval is not specifically given by the President of the United States,” Trumpsaidinhis post.

Trump allegedBiden’s staff used the autopen illegally and that the former president wasn’tincontrol of his own presidency when the tool was being used.

It isn’tclear what legal pushback Trump could receive from trying to nix Biden’spast orders or how federal agencies that have been impacted by the former president’spolicies will respond.

Trump has ramped up his

Calif. mall reopens after3shot

BY JASON GREEN and KYLE MARTIN

The MercuryNews(TNS)

SAN JOSE, Calif. Westfield Valley Fair reopened at noon Saturday after ashooting Friday night sent three people to the hospital and hundreds running for their lives on one of the busiest shopping days of the year

The incident,which police said was potentiallygangrelated, happened around 5:40 p.m. Friday on the second floorofthe upscale mall, just outside of Macy’s, according to San Jose Police Sgt. Jorge Garibay

The victims —identified as aman, woman and 16-year-old girl —were taken to hospitals with at least one gunshot wound each,he said. The injuries were not life-threatening.

Garibay described the shooting as an “isolated incident.”

“This was not targeted at unsuspecting shoppers,” he told reporters gatherednear the scene on Friday While the motive and circumstances surrounding the shooting remain under investigation, Garibay said it appeared to have stemmed from adispute between the male victim and the suspect. The other victims —the woman and teen —werenot involved in the initial altercation. The suspect left the scene before officers arrivedand remained at largeSaturday. No description wasreleased. Police asked the public to avoid the area whileofficers evacuated and clearedthe mall.

Social media posts from mallgoerscaptured the chaos insideValleyFair after shots were fired, with some patrons taking shelter where they could and others rushing toward the exits

Other posts included footageofofficers running through an eerily empty mall with guns drawn.

attacksonBiden’s useofthe autopen since he took office in January.House Republicansalso unveiled areport earlier this yearregarding Biden’suse of theautopen,

saying it showed he wasn’t mentally fit to be president This week, Trumpjoked a pair of Thanksgiving turkeys pardoned by Biden were “null and void” becauseofhis

use of an autopen. The president alsoreplaced Biden’s portrait in theWhiteHouse’s presidential “Walk of Fame” with aphoto of an autopen signing adocument.

ernment control of federal research money to push for reformsatelite colleges he hasdecried as overrun by “woke” ideology

The fine agreed to by Northwestern is the secondlargest behindColumbia, which agreed in July to pay the government $200 million to resolve aseries of investigations and restore its funding. Brown and Cornell also reached agreements with thegovernment to restore funding following antisemi-

tism investigations. Harvard remains in negotiations with the federalgovernment over itsdemands for changes to campus policies and governance. The IvyLeague school sued over the administration’s cutsto itsgrant money andwon acourt victoryinSeptember when afederal judge orderedthe government to restore federal funding, saying theTrump administration“usedantisemitism as asmokescreen.”

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When thesenatural cushions between your back-bones called spinal discs-becomeinjured or wear outfrom strain,poorposture,oraging -theybegin to degenerate andlosetheir abilitytoabsorbshock

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EDUCATION

Early education centers struggling

BY ELYSE CARMOSINO Staff writer

Rochelle Wilcox has long touted the importance of early childhood education.

A nearly 30-year veteran in the industry, Wilcox opened her first day care inside her house in New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward in 2004. After Hurricane Katrina devastated the city, her husband used his retirement savings to finance a new center, which the couple opened in New Orleans’ Gentilly neighborhood a year later under the name Wilcox Academy

Since then, Wilcox has managed to open two more day care centers in the area for children as young as 2 months and afterschool care to kids up to 10 years. The expansion is a rare feat in Louisiana, which has seen the number of child care options for local communities dwindle in recent years.

The majority of the state’s child care centers face a financial crisis, with nearly 8 in 10 providers saying in a recent survey that they are unsure if they can keep their doors open for the next six months, according to a recent report by the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children. Most pointed to a rapid rise in insurance and supply costs as the reason why.

Wilcox says her own premiums have more than tripled in just a few years, forcing her to reduce the maximum pay she offers her most experienced staff.

“Centers are closing,” said Wilcox, who co-founded For Provid-

Rochelle Wilcox

ers By Providers, which supports and advocates for early education providers. “Parents are not getting what they need and our children are not entering school prepared.”

To ease the burden on providers, Wilcox argues, Louisiana must direct more state funding to early childhood education. That would help providers hire more workers, raise salaries and expand the number of children they can serve, she said The Advocate | The Times-Picayune recently spoke with Wilcox about why affordable early child care is vital for families and how to better support providers. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity

Why is early education so important for young children?

Early care and education is about social emotional learning and skills. You’re giving them the

tools, the language they need to manage their feelings. You’re reacting to what they need socially as well as academically

It’s important that when kids get to K-12 (schools), they’re good citizens. They understand boundaries. They can talk and tell somebody when they’re frustrated. They can be advocates for themselves instead of using their hands because they don’t have the words to articulate how they’re feeling.

Providers can also let parents know if their children aren’t meeting their milestones. We can catch it early, and early intervention is key The earlier we get them that intervention, the less likely they are to need it when they get to K-12. Sometimes a kid is behind but it isn’t caught until they’re in kindergarten, and at that point, the intervention they need can take longer

What are the biggest challenges you’re currently facing as an early education provider?

(Our centers) used to pay $16$25 an hour, but we had to lower that to $16-$23 an hour because we just can’t afford it, mostly because our insurance has tripled. Across our three early learning centers, our general liability insurance alone went from about $6,700 a year to $21,000. It’s unmanageable.

In New Orleans, we’re blessed because there are several public funding sources, including a millage tax (passed in 2022) that generates about $21 million annually for early childhood education. We’re also part of the Early Head

Start program (federally funded early education for children under 3 from low-income families), and we take private pay, so I’m able to make it work by using all of that funding to subsidize the things we need inside of our centers.

Other parishes don’t have that kind of funding. There are some that literally just survive on private pay and Child Care Assistance (a state program that helps low-income parents pay for child care).

How are early education providers being impacted by rising costs?

What we’re seeing is that providers are not paying themselves. They’re paying their staff, then they’re trying to pay all of their bills. If there’s anything left, then they’ll take maybe an owner’s draw or a small stipend for themselves. I say all the time, “What business do you go into that you are expected to still live in poverty?”

Most of our providers across the state are living in poverty because they see the need in the community and want to help. They know this is about brain development. They know this is something that’s going to get our economy working, yet nobody respects that.

Why is state funding for early education so crucial?

There are centers that are struggling because they can’t charge families what they need to because families can’t afford it.

The true cost of care for an infant is about $20,000 a year Sometimes it’s even more than

WE’RE ASKING EXPERTS ACROSS THE STATE HOW TO TACKLE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES FACING LOUISIANA SCHOOLS. HAVE AN IDEA?

what it would cost for a semester in college. But on average, we can’t charge that. We might charge $12,000 a year or $10,000 or $8,000, but you can’t run an early learning center off those margins.

Child care, in some instances, can be over 50% of a parent’s salary It’s one of the highest expenses for a family And so, without financial help, parents have to decide: Do I stay home and educate my little person, or do I go back to work and see half my salary taken by child care?

What can be done to ease the burden on child care centers?

Corruption,negligenceprobedinHongKongfire

BY CHAN HO-HIM and HUIZHONGWU Associated Press

HONG KONG Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades has raised questions about corruption and negligence in the renovations of the apartment complex where at least 128 people died.

An intense fire brokeout at Wang Fuk Court complex in Hong Kong’snorthern suburbs Wednesday afternoon,withflames covering seven of the eight towers. The complex was home to some 4,800 residents, some of whom had raised safety concerns about the renovations more than year before the fire.

Police on Wednesday arrested three men from aconstruction company on suspicion of manslaughter and gross negligence. They were released on bail butthen arrested by the Independent Commission Against Corruption, theauthoritysaid Saturday night, pointing to their leadership role in the renovations. ICAC had also previously arrested seven menand one woman associated with the project.

Police have not identified the company wherethe suspects worked, but documents posted to the homeowners

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO By CHAN LONG HEI HongKong Chief ExecutiveJohn Lee, center,and other officers observe amoment of silence Saturdayfor the victims of the deadly fire thatstarted Wednesday at Wang FukCourt,a residentialestate in the TaiPodistrict of Hong Kong’sNew Territories.

association’swebsite showed that thePrestige Construction &Engineering Company was in charge ofrenovations. Officials also said they were investigating the materials used, both the netting on the scaffolding and the foam panels covering windows, andtheir role in theblaze.

For almosta year, some residents at the Wang Fuk Court complex had been raising safety concernstoHong Kongauthoritiesabout the scaffolding materials being used in the renovation project, according to documents

reviewed by theAP, specifically about the netting that covered the scaffolding.

Hong Kong’slabor departmentinastatementonSaturdayconfirmedithad received such complaints,adding that officials had carried out 16 inspections of Wang FukCourt’srenovation project since July 2024, andhad warned contractors multiple times in writing that they must ensure they met fire safety requirements.The city even carried outaninspection as late as one week before thefire.

The labor department said it hadreviewed theproduct qualitycertificate of the netting andthat it was in line withstandards, but thatthe safety netting had not been the previous target of inspections.

Preliminary investigations showedthe fire started on a lower-level scaffolding net of oneofthe buildings. It then spread rapidlyasthe foam panels caught fire,said ChrisTang, the city’s secretaryfor security “The blaze ignitedthe foam panels, causing the glass to shatter andleading to aswift intensification of the fire and its spread into the interior spaces,” Tang said.

The labor department said later on Saturday that three prosecutions were brought againstthe companyover breaches of safety regulations for working at height in the construction andconvictionsintwo of thecases resulted in fines of totaling $3,850. The company also was finedthreetimes in 2023 for separate violations unrelated to the TaiPoproject

First responders also found that some firealarms in the complex, which housed manyolder people, did not sound when tested, said Andy Yeung, the director of Hong Kong Fire Ser-

Award-winningplaywrightStopparddies

BY JILL LAWLESS Associated Press

LONDON British playwright TomStoppard,a playful,probingdramatist who won an Academy Award for the screenplay for 1998’s “ShakespeareinLove,” has died. He was 88.

esties” in 1976; “TheReal Thing” in 1984; “TheCoast of Utopia” in 2007; and “Leopoldstadt” in 2023.

Fringe Festival in 1966 and wasstagedatBritain’sNational Theatre, then run by Laurence Olivier,before moving to Broadway

vices.Hedid notspecify how manywere not working or if any of the others were. It took firefighters aday to bring the fire under control, and it wasnot fully extinguished until some40hours after it started. Crews prioritized apartments from whichtheyhad receivedemergency calls during the blaze but were unable to reach in the hours that the fire burned out of control, Derek Armstrong Chan, adeputy director of

Hong Kong Fire Services, told reporters. Twelve firefighters were among the 79 people injured in the blaze, and one firefighter waskilled. Outside abuilding close to the sceneofthe fire where family members came to identify loved ones from photographs, people placed bouquets of white roses, lilies and carnations. “More than 128 innocentlives, what did they do wrong?” asked asign placed among the flowers.

In astatement Saturday, United Agents said the Czech-born Stoppard —often hailed as the greatest British playwright of his generation —died “peacefully” at his home in Dorset in southwest England, surrounded by his family

Stoppard biographer Hermione Leesaidthe secret of his plays was their “mixture of language, knowledgeand feeling. It’s those three things in gear together which make himsoremarkable.”

“He will be remembered for his works, for their brilliance and humanity,and for his wit, his irreverence, his generosity of spirit and his profound love of the English language,” they said. “It was an honor to work with Tom and to know him.”

Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger was among those paying tribute, calling Stoppard “a giant of the English theater,both highly intellectual and very funny in all his plays and scripts. Brain-teasingplays

Over asix-decade career, Stoppard’sbrain-teasing plays for theater,radio and screen ranged from Shakespeare and science to philosophy andthe historic tragedies of the 20th century Five of them wonTony Awards for best play: “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” in 1968; “Trav-

Thewriter was born TomásSträussler in 1937 to aJewish family in Zlín in what was then Czechoslovakia.His father was adoctor for the Batashoe company, andwhen Nazi Germanyinvaded in 1939 the family fled to Singapore, where Bata hadafactory In late 1941, as Japanese forces closed in on the city state, Tomas, his brother and their mother fled again, this timetoIndia. Hisfather stayed behind andlater died when his ship was attacked. In 1946 his mother married an English officer, Kenneth Stoppard, and the family moved to threadbare postwar Britain. The 8-year-old Tom“put onEnglishness like acoat,” he later said, growing up to be aquintessential Englishman who loved cricket and Shakespeare Tragedyand humor

He wrote plays for radio andtelevision including“A Walk on the Water,”televised in 1963, andmade his stage breakthrough with “Rosencrantzand Guildenstern Are Dead,” which reimagined Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”from the viewpoint oftwo hapless minor characters. Amix of tragedy and absurdist humor,it premiered at theEdinburgh

Astream of exuberant, innovative plays followed, including meta-whodunnit

“The Real Inspector Hound” (first staged in 1968); “Jumpers” (1972), ablend of physical andphilosophical gymnastics, and “Travesties” (1974),which set intellectuals including James Joyce andVladimir Lenincolliding in Zurich during World WarI He often playedwith timeand structure. “The Real Thing” (1982) was a poignant romantic comedy about love anddeception that featured plays within a play,while “Arcadia” (1993) moved between the modern era and the early 19thcentury,where characters at an English country housedebated poetry,gardening and chaos theory as fate had its way with them.

Stoppard beganthe 21st century with “The Coastof Utopia” (2002), an epic trilogy about pre-revolutionary Russianintellectuals, and drewonhis own background for “Rock ’n’ Roll” (2006), which contrasted the fates of the1960s counterculture in Britain and in Communist Czechoslovakia.

Stoppard also wrote many radio plays, anovel, television series including “Parade’sEnd” (2013) and many film screenplays. These included dystopian Terry Gilliam comedy “Brazil” (1985), Steven Spielberg-directed war drama “Empire of the Sun”(1987), Elizabethan rom-com “Shakespearein Love” (1998) —for which he

and MarcNorman shareda best adapted screenplay Oscar —code breaking thriller “Enigma” and Russian epic “Anna Karenina” (2012) He also wroteand directed a1990 film adaptation of “Rosencrantz &Guildenstern are Dead,” andtranslated numerous works into English.

Stoppard alsohad asideline as aHollywood script doctor,lending sparkletothe dialogue of movies including “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” and theStar Wars film “Revenge of the Sith.”

Stoppard

LOUISIANAPOLITICS

La.seniors should bracefor higher Medicare costs

Mark Ballard

WASHINGTON Soaring health care costs willbetop of the agenda when Congress returnsto work Monday afternoon aftera weeklong Thanksgiving holiday Lawmakers will mostly be trying to find some path to avoid doubling insurance premiumsinthe AffordableCare Act marketplace for 24.3 million working Americans, 292,994 of whom live in Louisiana. The extended credits expire on Dec. 31. Republicanswant to revamp Obamacare, which they claim has failed to lower health care costs. Democrats favor extending tax creditsthat help low-income workersand small businesses pay for insurance before wading into needed fixes.

Meanwhile, workerswho buy their insurance through their employers are likelytosee their 2026 policy costs climb by about 7%, according to most reports. One rising healthcare cost that apparentlyisnot receivingattention is the coverage relied upon by almost everyone older than65, and some people withdisabilities. Last week, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that the cost of Medicare premiums would increase by 9.7% in 2026 for 67.6 million beneficiaries —949,495 of whom live in Louisiana.

This year’sMedicare openenrollment period continues through Dec. 7, and the data suggestsLouisiana’s seniorswill face steep challenges paying those increased costs.

Standard Medicare Part B, which covers outpatient and phy-

Bill Cassidyquestioned about RFK Jr.’sactions

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidyhas spent the last week on the political media circuit hawking hishealth care proposal.

Capitol Buzz STAFF REPORTS

Those covered by Medicare will see premiums increase by 9.7% in 2026, according to areportfrom the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. That includes 949,495 peopleinLouisiana.

sician services, will cost $17.90 more in 2026, rising to $202.90 per month. Thedeductible Part Bbeneficiariespay before benefits kick in is increasing to $283, which is $26 more.

CMS blamesinflation and increased demandfor medical services. Health carecosts Americansabout8%more in 2024 than the previous year,the federal datashows. Increases in Medicare premiums, which help fund theentitlement’s expenses, are not new —it hashappened just about every year sincethe beginningin1970 when manyoftoday’sseniors begantheirworking life and started contributingtoSocial Security and Medicare. Part Bthen cost $4

amonth.

Annual increases are so common that few Louisiana elected officials and senior advocates would venture apublic comment This year’sprice hike is noteworthy because 2026 will be the second-largest annual spike in history,and the biggest since 2016. For seniors, mostofwhom live on fixed retirement incomes, this year’shigher costs will significantly cut into the annual cost of living adjustment, called COLA, that better aligns Social Security benefitswith inflation. PartBincreases will turn the$56 average monthly COLA increase for 2026 to $38.10. About 7million people last

year spent 10% of theirincome on Medicare Part Bpremiums, reported KFF, aSan Franciscobased health care policy analysis group begun by the Kaiser shipbuilding family in 1947, but independent of the Kaiser Family Foundation’s holdings since 1985. The increased costs forMedicare premiumsand higher deductibles effectively lowers theannual COLA way below the current inflation rate, putting a financial strainonthe elderly, particularlythose with low and middle incomes, KFFsays. It will hit Louisiana seniors harder

About 14.2% of the state’spopulation over the age of 65 —the national averageis10% —lives in

poverty,making less than $21,150 annually foracouple, according to America’sHealth Rankings, areport compiled by the United Health Foundation, aprivate health care study group based in Minnesota and associated with the insurance giant, UnitedHealth Group Inc.

As manyas6%ofLouisiana adults older than 65 simply went without medical care because of the cost, according to the 2025 State Medicare Scorecard released in October.That is the highest rate in country and nearly four times morethan the 1.6% in Vermont.

That report card is published by the Commonwealth Fund, a NewYork City-based foundation that studies health care and supports manyhospitals and medical schools. The Commonwealth Fund was formed in 1918 by principal investors in what then wascalled Standard Oil of New Jersey

Millions of seniors in 2026 will struggle to payfor food, transportationand utilities, according to National CommitteetoPreserve Social Security and Medicare. NCPSSM is aWashingtonbasedadvocacy group founded in 1982 by thenU.S. Rep. James Roosevelt, D-N.Y., the eldest son of Franklin andEleanor Roosevelt.

“An almost $18 premium increase may not sound huge on paper,but forpeople on fixed incomes, it’sabig chunk of their limited budgets,” Anne Montgomery,NCPSSM health policy analyst, said in ablog. “This premium jumpwill really pinch older Americans where it hurts.”

Email Mark Ballard at mballard@theadvocate.com.

But reporters are taking the opportunity to question Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, about his reaction to recent actions of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr As chair of the Senate Health Education Labor & Pensions committee, Cassidy helped confirm Kennedy, aprominent opponentofvaccinations. He did so based on aseries of promises —several of which RFK Jr.has failed to fulfill. Agastroenterologist, Cassidy strongly supports vaccines. Cassidy didn’tcall out Kennedy or even mention his name when the nation’shealth chief canceled $500 million in fundingtodevelop mRNAvaccines or when Kennedy ruled only the elderly and people at high risk should get the COVID vaccine. Whenever asked about Kennedy straying from of his pledgesnot to undermine vaccinations, Cassidy advocates parents and patients consult with their physicianabout the need for aparticular vaccine.

The latestoath that went sidewayswas theCenters for Disease Controland Prevention, which is part of Kennedy’sDepartment of Health& Human Services. The CDC lastweekposted on its website that despite well-established science,vaccines might cause autism.

“Helied to you,” CNN’sJake TappersaidSundayto Cassidy

“You want meto be on the record saying something negative,” Cassidy responded. “I don’tthink the tit for tat is what peopleare allabout.”

Cassidy told POLITICO: “Vaccines have no role with autism.”

Cassidy wrote on X: “Weneed to understand the real causes of autism. Studies show there’sagenetic predisposition when amom who’s pregnant is exposedtoenvironmental toxins whichcan increase achild’sriskofautism. It’sdeeply troubling that, according to HHS officials, they appeared to have canceledhundreds of millions in research on autism genetics. Redirecting attentiontofactorswe definitely knowDONOT causeautism deniesfamiliesthe answers

theydeserve.”

On Tuesday,the healthdepartment tapped Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abrahamtobethe CDC’ssecond-highestranking official. Aformer congressmanand gubernatorial candidate, Abraham forbade theLouisiana Department of Health from promoting vaccinations and has said he’d support investigating thelink between vaccines and autism

Cassidy noted Wednesday that he’sknown Abraham for along time.

“I am hopeful that thetwo of us as doctors can continue to engage in science-based conversations to protect children, including vaccinating children to prevent measles, whooping cough and hepatitis,” Cassidy said.

Garret Graves co-chairs newAIindustry group

Former Baton Rouge U.S. Rep. GarretGravesisco-chair of a newly launched AI Infrastructure Coalition.

AIIC is pushing artificial intelligence policies and supporting President Donald Trump’sAIActionPlan.

Released in July,Trump’splan is aroad map of targeted incentives and streamlined regulations to help build the emerging industry around computerslearning and performing tasks on their own without specifically being pro-

grammed by humans.

“America faces acritical choice: win the AI race against China and reap the rewards —orallow China to exportthe technology of the future,” Gravessaid in astatement withco-chair formerArizona U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. “Victory demands an all-hands effort to securethe energy and regulatory environment needed for continued prosperity.”

ensure that we can power (data centers) in away that’sreliable and affordable.”

Meta is building a$10 billion artificial intelligence data center on 2,250-acres of Richland Parish. Project Hyperion is expected to create about 500 well-paying jobs in the northeast Louisiana region, where more than half the population struggles to afford basic necessities.

The Coalition’s membersare companies from semiconductor manufacturers, datacenter operators, developers and other aspects needed to cultivate artificial intelligence. The idea is for the companies to work together to shape the future of AI policy Entergy,ExxonMobil are part of the group as is Google and Meta.

AIIC also aimstorespond to growing criticism about how the nascent AI industry is being formed.

Twodays after the group’s launch at an exclusive soiree near the White House, Graves was on FoxNews saying: “The Trump administration is exactly right. They have put an AI Czar in place, they’ve got executive orders in place, and are aggressively pursuing areversal of the flawed Biden administration energy policies to

But the effort also has drawn sharp questions.

To attract the project, Louisiana legislators reworked tax incentives without producing an official cost estimate. Entergy is building new electricity generators to service the facility,for which all its utility customers will be expected to pay

During his decade representing south Baton Rouge and environs, Graves developed areputation for getting in the weeds of complex issues. AWhite Republican, he stepped down in January after choosing not to run for reelection in 2024.

The Louisiana Legislature chose to redraw his 6th Congressional Districtwith amajority of Black voters who tend to favor Democratic candidates.

The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whetherthe Legislature’s redistricting complied with the Constitution. The high court will decide the redistricting case by June.

Cassidy

Graves

Kennedy

German far-rightparty sets up youthwing

BY DANIEL NIEMANN and GEIR MOULSON Associated Press

GIESSEN, Germany— Aconfi-

dent far-right Alternative forGermany setupits new youth organization on Saturday even as thousands of protesters converged on the western city of Giessen, where the party held its meeting, some of them clashing with police.

Aconvention of the antiimmigration party,known by its German acronym AfD, started more than two hours late after groups of protestersblockedortried to block roads in and around the city of around 93,000, delaying many delegates’ arrival

Officers used pepper spray after stones were thrownat them at one location, police said. They also used water cannons to clear ablockade by about 2,000 protesters after they ignored calls to leave. They did so again Saturday afternoon as agroup tried to break through barriers toward the city’sconvention center Police said up to 5,000 officers were deployed. They put the total number of demonstrators at more than 25,000 and said that alarge part of thevarious protests went peacefully AfD’sleaders assailed the protests as the meeting opened. “What is being done out there —dear left-wingers, dear extremists, you

Policeof

need to look at yourselves —issomethingthat is deeply undemocratic,” partycoleader Alice Weidel said.

She said that oneAfD lawmakerwas attacked.Police saidthat alawmaker had beeninjurednear Giessen but didn’tgive details.

Generation Germany

Thenew youth organization’s predecessor,the Young Alternative, alargely autonomous group with relatively loose links to theparty,was dissolved at the end of March after AfD decided to formally cut ties withit.

AfD wants to have much closer oversight over the newgroup, named GenerationGermany and open to all party members under 36, whose statute was approved Saturday AfDfinishedsecond in Germany’snational election in February with over 20% of the vote and is now thebiggestopposition party

The party,with whichmainstream parties refuse to work,has continuedtorisein polls as Chancellor Friedrich Merz’scoalition government has failed to impress voters. Germany’sdomesticin-

telligence agency had concluded that the Young Alternative was aproven rightwing extremist group. It later classified AfD itselfas such agroup, but suspended the designation after AfD launched alegal challenge. In aruling last year rejecting acall for an injunction against the Young Alternative designation, aCologne court argued thatpreserving an ethnically defined German people and the exclusion if possible of the“ethnically foreign” was acentral political idea of the group. It also pointed to agitation

against migrants andasylum-seekers, and links with extremist groups such as the IdentitarianMovement. In June, ahigher court ended the appeal process, noting that the Young Alternative had been dissolved.

AfD’sother co-leader,Tino Chrupalla, said the party mustlearn from past mistakes.

“Some benefited fromthe young, from theirability to mobilize, but didn’thavethe well-being and future of this youth sufficiently in sight,” he said. “Weshouldhave taken more care of the young new hopes in our party; it will be different in the future.”

He addedthatthe young activists must “put themselves at the party’sservice.”

Anti-establishment force

It’stypical for German parties to have youth wings, whichare generallymore politically radical than the parent parties. It remains to be seen whetherthe new AfD youth organization will be more moderate thanits predecessor,with significant continuity expected.

Jean-Pascal Hohm, a 28-year-old state lawmaker from the eastern region of Brandenburg, was elected unopposed as Generation Germany’sleader. He told delegates he had been the “proud chairman” of the Young Alternative in his homestate. Hohm is considered aright-wing extremist

by the regional branch of the domestic intelligence agency,a designationherejects as politically motivated, German news agency dpa reported.

Kevin Dorow,adelegate from northern Germany, said he also waspreviously active in his localYoung Alternative branch.

“The newformation means aboveall continuing what the Young Alternative started —being atraining ground, attracting young people …and above all bringing them into politics forthe good of the party,” in which they could take on offices at somepoint, he said. He said he hadn’t seenany “driftinaradical direction” in the Young Alternative. AfD portrays itself as an anti-establishment force at atimeoflow trust in politicians. It first enteredthe national parliament in 2017 following the arrivaloflarge numbers of migrants in the mid-2010s. Curbing migration remainsits signature theme, but it hasshown atalent forcapitalizing on discontent about other issues too. That was reflected in leaders’ confident tone Saturday.

Five of Germany’s16 states hold regional elections next year.Two are in theex-Communisteast, where the party is strongest.

“Wewill get the majority of mandates; we will provide our first governor,” Weidel said.

Georgian opposition figure arrested over allegedarson attempt

By The Associated Press

Georgian authorities detained aprominent opposition figure Saturday on suspicion of trying to setfire to theTbilisi City Court office building, the Interior Ministry said. AlexanderElisashvili,also known as Aleko, broke into thecourt chancellery building in the Georgian capital at dawn by smashing awindow with ahammer,then poured gasoline on the perimeterof the office, the ministry said

in aFacebook statement. The 47-year-old, who founded the Citizens party andwas formerly an opposition lawmaker,had afirearm andinjureda courtofficial during his arrest, according to the ministry Video released by authorities appeared to show ahandgun on theground, a bottle ofgasoline, alighter and shatteredglass. Footage also showed Elisashvili with visible bruises under his eyes. The Associated Press couldn’tindependently ver-

ify the footage.

Elisashvili’slawyer,Giorgi Kevkhishvili, said that the politician “has serious injuries on his face. He has been severely beaten.”

TheCitizens party,which belongstothe Lelo-Strong Georgia coalition, is one of three main opposition groups in thecountry Georgian authorities have intensified pressure on opposition parties. The governing Georgian Dream party haspetitionedthe Constitutional Court to ban the three

Snowstormsweepsthrough Midwest

By The Associated Press

Amajor snowstorm in the Midwest and Great Lakes brought winter to some Thanksgiving travelers,and forecasters said the northeast U.S. could get its own early winter storm this week.

Winter storm warnings and advisories extended from Montana to Ohio, the National Weather Service said. Forecasters warned there could be airport delays andslowed traffic with snow falling at more than an inch per hour in some areas

The storm dumped more than 8inches of snow on northern Iowa by Saturday morning, and at least that much was expected in Chicago, elsewhere in Illinois, and in Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan.

AirportsinChicago and St. Louis reported delays of about an hour in the morning, according to FlightAware.com, as oneofthe busiesttravel days cranked up afterThanksgiving Iciclesformed at aslant on aChicago pier thanks to the wind, and Lake Michigan’s waters were choppy with whitecaps.Motorists drove cautiously along snowy and slushy roads.

Snow-covered roads and slow travel were reported across Iowa andnorthern Illinois andIndiana.

WestboundInterstate 70 nearTerre Haute, Indiana, was closed around noon after at least 45 vehicles crashed, Indiana State Police said on social media. No one was seriouslyinjured, andofficials estimated

that it would takesix hours to reopen the highway.Trooperswerealso helping people in the eastbound laneswho were sliding off theroad, Sgt. MattAmes said.

Snow fell in Ann Arbor, Michigan, while No. 1Ohio Stateplayed 15th-ranked Michigan in their traditional season-ending rivalrygame.

Meteorologists saidthatso far,forecast conditions did not meet blizzard warning criteria —winds of at least 35 mph, visibilities of less than aquarter mile and lasting morethan three hours. Forecasterssaidanother winter stormwas becoming morelikely Monday and Tuesday,withfreezing rain and ice in the Appalachians andmoderatetoheavy snow possible in the interior Northeast.

main opposition groups. Several opposition leaders are jailed, in exile or facing criminal charges, which opponents sayare politically motivated Elisashvili’sarrest came theday after crowds of demonstrators gathered in Tbilisi on Friday to mark 365 days of nonstop protests

against the government’sdecision to halt talks on joining the European Union.

Carrying drums,whistles, placards and flags,thousands of protesters marched along Rustaveli Avenue, the city’scentral thoroughfare. The daily protests began on Nov.28, 2024,whenPrime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced the country was halting talks on joining the EU

The GeorgianDream party has tried to curb the movementbytightening rules on public assemblies, as well as passing awave of laws targeting rights groups, nongovernmental organizations and independent media.

DPAPHOTO By BORIS ROESSLER

ficers and demonstrators clash in Giessen,Germany, on Saturdayasthe far-right Alternativefor Germany’snew youth organization wasset to kick offits founding convention.

THE GULF COAST

LIGHTING UP THE NIGHT

Mississippi Coast’s largest Christmas lights display opens for business

BY POET WOLFE Staff writer

The day after Thanksgiving, nearly 2 million lights will illuminate Gulfport’s Jones Park and its nearby harbor in a show billed as Mississippi’s largest holiday display

The annual Harbor Lights Winter Festival runs through Dec. 31, closing only on Christmas Eve, with hours from 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Launched in 2015, the event has grown in both scale and attendance, reflecting the Mississippi Gulf Coast’s broader tourism boom in recent years And this year, the city is expecting even larger crowds, especially now that Gulfport the state’s second largest city — is one of five stops along the Amtrak Mardi Gras Line that debuted this summer

The festival has long drawn in locals and tourists from nearby cities like New Orleans, about a 90-minute drive away But in recent years, it’s attracted visitors from as far as northern Mississippi and Mobile, Alabama, according to Ravin Floyd Nettles, the community and marketing manager for the City of Gulfport.

“It’s an attraction not only for Gulfport, but for the entire Coast,” Nettles said, “Families really just taking the opportunity, especially on a weekend, with kids to come and celebrate that Christmas magic.

Since October, the city has been building out the display, filling Jones Park with glittering red and green tunnels, a new light figure shaped like a crab, a massive glowing ornament and “dancing” Christmas trees that move in sync to holiday music. There will also be carnival rides, warming booths and food and beverages made by local vendors, including a pizzeria, a mobile coffee bar and a candy shop.

The event plays a significant role in the local tourism economy, draw-

ing visitors to boutique hotels and downtown restaurants, as well as other seasonal attractions at the Mississippi Aquarium and TrainTastic, a train museum, in Gulfport.

“There’s just things for everybody to do to enjoy,” Nettles said, “And let that little magic go throughout the night after you leave the festival as well.”

Because of its regional draw she recommends visiting Monday through Thursday to ease parking headaches and to bypass the long lines of children waiting to meet Santa.

Free parking is available at the Coast Transit Authority parking garage, where shuttles will take guests to and from the show every 15 to 30 minutes at no cost.

Tickets must be reserved online. Admission is $15 for adults on weekdays and during the week after Christmas; $5 for children ages of 4 and 12; and free for children 3 and under Adult tickets cost $20 on Fridays and Saturdays, except after Christmas. Email Poet Wolfe at poet. wolfe@theadvocate.com.

BY MARY PEREZ Sun Herald

Two family-run Southern eateries closed this month after years of feeding po-boys and catfish to generations of hungry diners.

“After nearly 35 years of serving the Coast, I have made the difficult decision to close the Deli,”

Rena’s Deli owner Rena Simmons posted on Facebook. Her last day was Nov 20 at the sandwich shop tucked downtown near Biloxi City Hall at 131 Lameuse St.

Thirty minutes away in Jackson County, Crazy Sisters Catfish Cabin on Mississippi 57 in Vancleave closed Nov 3. The restaurant moved in 2022 from a small place on Ball Park Road to the big log cabin on the highway, about a 10 minute drive from Ocean Springs.

People in south Mississippi say they want more family restaurants with good, Southern cooking. But keeping them going is a challenge, with new restaurants opening every week to add to the competition and food prices high. Rena’s Deli was open for lunch only Monday through Thursday, and Crazy Sisters was open Thursday through Sunday

Rena’s Deli

It was a hard decision to close, the owners said, and many of their fans stopped in for one last meal and to say goodbye.

Biloxi Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich saluted Rena (pronounced Rene) Simmons with a proclamation that spelled out how important her business was to the city

“Rena’s Deli was more than a lunch spot — it was a slice of Biloxi’s story,” he said. “In a city that’s changed and rebuilt time and again, Rena’s Deli remained steady — a reminder that good food, good people and a little Gulf Coast charm never go out of style.” Simmons opened in 1991 and “thought to myself, if I can just make it 10 years, I would be so happy,” she said recently on Face-

book “I would’ve never guessed that my tiny little restaurant would become a Biloxi staple for the next 34½ years.”

More than 100 people replied to her announcement, talking about their favorite sandwich and the red beans and rice special on Monday

“Not only has Rena’s Deli had the best lunch but the most wonderful people,” one person commented.

“It’s simple, it’s small, but a lot of love is shown in this place,” another said.

Rena’s Deli was described as “a word-of-mouth” place with 25 seats and a Biloxi lighthouse mural on the wall in a 2003 Biloxi Sun Herald article.

“My philosophy is quick-andeasy,” the owner said. “We’re here for people in a hurry because most people who work downtown have only a half-hour for lunch. It’s about 50-50 for those who take out and those who eat in.”

Crazy Sisters Catfish Cabin

Tara Herrin said she waited too long to increase prices on the menu at Crazy Sisters Catfish Cabin as food costs continued to rise.

“That’s

Still, Herrin had to make the “emotional”

SUN HERALD PHOTO By HANNAH RUHOFF

The Gulfport Harbor Lights Festival is the largest holiday lights show in Mississippi.

BY NICOLE WINFIELD, ANDREW WILKS and SUZAN FRASER Associated Press

ISTANBUL Pope LeoXIV visited Istanbul’siconic Blue Mosque on Saturdaybut didn’tstop to pray,ashefocused more on bolstering ties with Orthodox patriarchs and promoting courageous stepsfor Eastern andWestern churches to be united.

Leo took his shoes off and, in his white socks, toured the 17th-century mosque, looking up at its soaring tiled domes and the Arabic inscriptions on its columns as an imam pointedthem out to him.

The Vatican had saidLeo would observe a“brief moment of silent prayer” in the mosque, but he didn’t An imam of the mosque, AsginTunca,saidhehad invited Leo to pray,since the mosque was “Allah’s house, but the pope declined.

Later,Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said: “The pope

experienced his visit to the mosque in silence, in aspirit of contemplation andlistening, with deep respect for the place and thefaith of those whogather there in prayer.”

Leo, history’sfirst American pope, was following in thefootstepsofhis recent predecessors, who all made high-profilevisits tothe Sultan Ahmed Mosque, as it is officially known, in agesture of respect to Turkey’sMuslim majority.

Site visits raisequestions

But thevisits have alwaysraised questionsabout whether thepope would prayinthe Muslim house of worship,oratthe very least pausetogather thoughts in a meditativesilence.

When Pope Benedict XVI visited Turkeyin2006, tensions were high because Benedict had offended many in the Muslim world afew monthsearlierwith a speech inRegensburg, Germany that waswidelyinterpretedaslinking Islam and violence.

The Vatican added avisit to the Blue Mosque at the last minute in abid toreach out to Muslims.He observed amoment of silent prayer, headbowed,asthe imam prayed next to him, facing

east. Benedictlater thanked him “for this moment of prayer” for what was only the secondtime apopehad visited amosque, afterSt. John Paul II visited one briefly in Syria in 2001. There were no doubtsin 2014 when Pope Francis visited the Blue Mosque: He stood fortwo minutes of silent prayer facing east his head bowed, eyes closed and hands clasped in front of him. TheGrand Mufti of Istanbul, RahmiYaran, told thepopeafterward,“May God accept it.”

With Leo, though, even the Vatican seemed caught off guard by his decision not to

Palestiniandeath toll surpasses70,000

BY WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press

DEIRAL-BALAH,Gaza Strip The Palestinian death toll has surpassed 70,000 since the Israel-Hamas war began, Gaza’sHealth Ministry said Saturday,while ahospital said that Israeli fire killed two Palestinian children in the territory’ssouth.

The toll hascontinuedto rise after the latest ceasefire took effect Oct. 10. Israel still carries out strikes in response to what it has called violations of the truce, and bodies from earlier in the war are being recovered fromthe rubble.

The Health Ministry says the Palestinian toll is now 70,100. The ministry operates under the Hamas-run government. It is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community Staff at Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies of the children in southern Gaza, said the brothers, ages 8and 11, died when an Israeli drone struck close toa school sheltering displaced people in the town of Beni Suhaila. Israel’smilitary said it killed two people who crossed into an Israeli-controlled area, “conducted suspicious activities” and approached troops. The statement didn’tmention children. The military said it also killed another person in aseparate but similar incident in the south.

At least 352 Palestinians have been killed across the territory since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas

took effect on Oct.10, according to Gaza’sHealth Ministry,whichdoesn’tdifferentiate between civilians andcombatants.

Israel says its strikes are aimed atmilitantsviolating thetruce. Both Israel and Hamas have accusedthe other of violating the deal. Hamas again urged mediators on Saturdaytopressure Israel to stop what it called ceasefire violationsinGaza AU.S. blueprint outlining the future ofGaza, which has been devastated by more than two yearsofwar, is still in the early stages.

Theplantosecureand governthe territory authorizes an international stabilization force to provide security,approves atransitional authority to be overseen by U.S. President DonaldTrump andenvisions apossible futurepath to an independent Palestinianstate.

Thewar began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which around 1,200 people werekilled and more than

250 others were taken hostage. Almost all of the hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals.

The remains of two hostages, one Israeli and aThai national, are still to be returned. Israelis rallied again Saturday night in TelAviv for their return.

Israeli forces have pushed forward on anumber of otherfrontsinthe region in recent weeks.

Syrianofficialssaid that Israeli forcesraided aSyrianvillage on Friday and opened fire when they were confronted by residents, killing at least 13 people.

Israel saiditconducted the operation to apprehend suspects of amilitant group planning attacks in Israel, andthatthe militants opened fired at troops, wounding six.

Israel also has escalated strikes in Lebanon, saying it’stargeting Hezbollahsites andasserting that the militant group is attemptingto rearm

pray.The Holy See had to correct the officialrecord of the visit after it originally kept the planned reference to him pausing for prayer Speaking to reporters after the visit, theimam Tuncasaidhehad told the pope: “It’s not my house, not your house, (it’sthe) house of Allah.” He said he invited Leo to worship “But he said, ‘That’sOK.’” “He wanted to see the mosque, wanted tofeel (the) atmosphere of the mosque, Ithink. And was very pleased,”hesaid.

DeclarationonEastertalks

In theafternoon, Leo

prayed with the spiritual leader of the world’sOrthodox Christians, Patriarch Bartholomew,atthe patriarchal church of SaintGeorge. There, they prayed the doxology,ahymnofpraise and glory to God, and signed ajoint declaration vowing to take courageous steps on the path to unityincluding to find acommondate for Easter

Eastern and Western churches split in the Great Schism of 1054, adivide precipitatedlargely by disagreements over the primacy of the pope. While ties have warmed, they remain dividedand other schisms have formed.

“It is our shared desire to continue the process of exploringapossiblesolution for celebrating together the Feast of Feasts every year,” the joint statement said, referring to Easter

The Vatican said in his remarks to the patriarchs gathered,Leo pointedto the next Holy Year to be celebrated by Christians, in 2033 on the anniversary of Christ’scrucifixion, and invited them to go to Jerusalem on “a journey that leads to full unity.”

Leo’sfinal event wasa Catholic Mass in Istanbul’s

Volkswagen Arena forthe country’sCatholic community,who number 33,000 in a country of morethan 85 million people, most of whom are Sunni Muslim Renato Maraiwas among agroup of 26 visitors from Florence, Italy,who traveled to Istanbul to see the pope. “It’swonderful to see him on his first foreign trip, areally importantmomentfor our group,” he said. Tarcin Unlu, meanwhile, wasamong many Turkish attendees, arecent convert to Christianityfrom Islam. “I becameChristian because Ithought it was the best religionfor me butmyfamily is definitelynot happy,” Unlu said.

Herfriend,Rodrick Nuel, originally fromNigeria’s Biafra region but now living in northern Cyprus, said the papal visitsenta “a powerfulmessage forthe global Christian community.”

“Also,asTurkeyis99.9% Muslim and just 0.1% Christian, it shows the pope is reaching out to other religions as well,” he added. Leo is scheduled to fly

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ABDEL KAREEM HANA Agirlcarries bread as she walks past destruction left by Israeli air and ground operations in Gaza City,GazaStrip, on Saturday

BY SOPHIA TAREEN and COLLEENSLEVIN Associated Press

CHICAGO Apair of snowy owls spotted along aLake Michigan beachhas drawn curious crowds and sparked happy speculation about how long the arctic birds of preywill call Chicago home.

Word of the two owls has circulated on birder forums in the nation’sthird-largest city for abouta week, according to the Chicago Ornithological Society.While snowy owls aren’trarein Chicago, their frequency varies widely eachwinter Generally,ahandful are reported around December, but sometimes there aren’t any “Their nomadic nature makes them hard to study or even figure out patterns,” Edward Warden, the society’spresident, saidrecently.“Where they’re going is

anybody’s guess.” This year,two birdshave been seen at abeach and pier near the Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary on the city’s NorthSide.Athird one was briefly spotted at abeach a few miles south, according to theChicagoOrnithological Society Thepair arrived abit earlier than the birds usually do and have stayed longeras well, prompting questions about whether this will be the year of apossible “irruption,” or boommigration.In previous years, that’swhen adozen or more have shown up in Chicago.

Recently,wellover 100 people came out to aconcretepier that juts out into thelake to catch aglimpse. Among them was Sean Clark, abirder and photography enthusiast.

“They were coming and goingall day long.It’samazingthat thebirdsare accepting of that many people,” he said.

The

falconsthatswooped down

wasable to capture on his camera. The owls’ yellow eyes grew wide andthey flappedtheir large wings but stayed put.

Snowy owls live north of the Arctic Circle duringthe summer.Insome years, someofthe owls stay north while others migrate to southern Canada and the northern half of the United States in the winter,according to experts. On aglobal scale, they’ve beenconsidered“vulnerable”— one step from endangered —by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. In Chicago, the birds eat arange of things, including small mammals or waterfowl, according to the Chicago Ornithological Society Alan Hougton came to see the owls, his first time since he started birding five years ago. “Itwas awesome,” he said.

owls did seem rattled, however,bysome peregrine

near them,something Clark

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByERIN HOOLEy

Asnowy owlrests on apier on

21 near Montrose Point Bird

City seeksto endban on comicbooksales to kids

Officialsin Sacramento want to getrid of 1949 ordinance

BY SOPHIE AUSTIN Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. On a recent day at Sacramento native LechoLopez’s comic shop in thecity, his5-yearold nephew readhis first word aloud: “bad.” It was from agraphic novel.

There wasirony in that being his first word, because Lopez credits comic books with many positivethings in his life. That is why he supports repealing acity ordinance dating backto1949 that bars the distribution of many comic books to kids andteens.Itisnot enforced today

“It’sasilly law,” said Lopez, who has ared-andblack tattoo of the Superman logo on his forearm, in an interviewathis store, JLA Comics. “A lot of good things come out of comic books.”

ACity Council committee unanimously voted earlier this month to advance the repeal and designate the third week of Septemberas“Sacramento Comic Book Week It now heads to the fullcouncil for avote. The ban prohibits distributing comic books prominently featuring an account of crimethat show images of illegalactssuch as arson, murder or rape to anyone under 18. In the mid-20th century, as comic books were on the rise, fears spread over their impact on children, with some arguing they could lead to illiteracyorinspire violent crime. The industry decided to regulate itself, and local governments from Los Angeles County to Lafayette, Louisiana passed bans to shield certain comics from young people. While some cities like Sacramento still have those laws on thebooks, they are rarely if ever enforced.

Now,proponents of repealing the Sacramento law say

it is necessarytoreflectthe value of comics and help protect againstamodern waveofbook bans.

Comic book author Eben Burgoon,who started apetition to overturn Sacramento’sban, saidcomics “have this really valuable ability to speak truth to power.”

“These antiquated laws kind of setupthisjeopardy where bad actors could work hard to make this medium imperiled,” he said at a hearing recently held by the city council’sLaw and Legislation Committee. Sacramentoisagreat placetodevote aweek to celebratingcomics,Burgoonsaid. The city hasa “wonderful” comicbook community,hesaid,and hosts CrockerCon, acomics showcaseata local artmuseum, every year Sam Helmick, president of the American Library Association, said “there is no good reason”tohavea ban such as Sacramento’s on the books, saying it “flies in the face of modernFirst Amendmentnorms.”

The movement to censor comics decades ago was not an aberration in U.S. history, saidJeffTrexler,interim director of the ComicBook Legal Defense Fund, which

Barn whereEmmettTill killed to open as memorial

BY SOPHIE BATES Associated Press

The barn in Mississippi where 14-year-old Emmett Till was tortured and killed will open to the public as a“sacred” memorial site by 2030, the new owner announced.

The Emmett Till Interpretive Center disclosed late Sunday that it had purchased the barn located in arural area outside the city of Drew, aided by a$1.5 million donation from television producer and writer Shonda Rhimes.

“Wethink thatwhere the worst harmshave happened, the most healing is possible,” ETIC Executive Director Patrick Weems said The center plans to open the barn as amemorial ahead of the 75th anniversaryof Till’slynching in 1955.

TwoWhite men publicly confessed to thekilling after being acquitted byan all-White jury in Mississippi later that year,but aJustice Departmentreport released in 2021saidatleastone more, unnamedperson was involved in Till’sabduction. Experts who’ve studied the case believe others partici-

pated, froma half-dozen to more than14. Till was abductedfrom hisgreat-uncle’shome on Aug. 28, 1955, after theChicago teenager was accused of whistlingata White woman in arural Mississippi grocery store. According to accounts, the men took Till to the barn, where they tortured and killedhim. His body was later foundinthe Tallahatchie River. At Till’sfuneral, his mother insisted on an open casket so the public could see the state of her son’sbattered body.Itwas apivotal moment in theemerging Civil Rights Movement.

Weemssaid hehopesopening the barn to thepublic will encourage peopletoask questions about adarkchapter in American history

“Have we done enough? Is there justice yet?Has our society moved in the direction of humanrightssothat this sort of thing never happens?” Weemssaid. Thecenter will have the barn under 24-hour surveillance, andthe property will beequippedwith floodlights and security cameras, Weems said,callingthose measures precautionary

fights to protect the freespeech rightsofpeople who read or make comics.

NewYork, forexample, createda commission in the 1920s dedicatedtoreviewing films to determine whether theyshould be licensed for public viewing, based on whether they were “obscene” or “sacrilegious” and could “corrupt morals” or “incite crime,” according to thestate archives.

“Every time there’s anew medium or anew way of distributingamedium, there is an outrage and an attemptto suppress it,” Trexler said.

The California Supreme Court ruled in 1959 that a Los Angeles Countypolicy banning thesale of so-called “crime” comic books to minors was unconstitutional because it was too broad. Sacramento’sban probably doesn’tpass muster for the samereason, Trexler said.

There is not alot of recent research on whether there is alink between comic books andviolent behavior, said ChristopherFerguson, a professor of psychology at Stetson University in Florida.But, he said, similarresearch into television and video games has not shown alink to clinically relevant

changes in youth aggression or violent behavior.”

Leafing through comics

like EC Comics’“Epitaphs from the Abyss” and DC’s andMarvel’scollaboration “Batman/Deadpool,” Lopez showed an Associated Pressreporter imagesof characters smashing the windshield of acar,smacking someone across the face and attacking Batman using bows and arrows—the kinds of scenes thatmight be regulatedifSacramento’s ban wereenforced.

But comics withplotlines that include violence can contain positive messages, said Benjamin Morse, amedia studies lecturer at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

“Spider-Manisa very mature concept,”saidMorse, who became an “X-Men” fan as akid andlater workedat Marvelfor 10 years. “It’sa kid who’slost his parents, his uncle dies to violence and he vowstobasically be responsible.”

Lopez’smother bought him his first comic book, “Ulti-

mateSpider-Man #1,” when he was around 9years old, he said. But it was “Kingdom Come,” acomic featuring DC’s Justice League, that changed his life at ayoung age, with its “hyperrealistic” art that looked like nothing he had ever seen before,he said. He said hisinterestin comic books helped him avoid getting involved with gangsgrowing up.Theyalso improved his reading skills as someone with dyslexia. “The only thing that I wasreally able to read that helped me absorb the information was comic books because you had avisual aid to help youexplain what was going on in the book,” Lopez said. And acomic book can offer so muchmore, Burgoon said at this month’shearing. “It makes imaginative thinkers,” he said. “It does notmakewidespread delinquency.Itdoes not make societal harm.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By SOPHIEAUSTIN

Lecho Lopez shows comic books at his store, JLA Comics, on Nov. 18 in Sacramento,Calif.

New details revealed in murder-suicide

Authorities say man stalked woman

was released that evening.

BY QUINN COFFMAN Staff writer

On Nov 6, the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office received an order to hold Steven Heinrich, 27, for violating his probation from a conviction in Westchester County, New York. Heinrich had been convicted in New York for violating a protective order against a girlfriend. He was in jail in East Baton Rouge Parish for allegedly battering another girlfriend, Stasy Charles, a 23-year-old LSU student, the previous day

Smitty’s Supply execs indicted in beating

Man allegedly attacked for raping relative of the arraigned

BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD

Staff writer

Two executives of Smitty’s Supply plant were recently arraigned with two other men for a 2024 incident where they allegedly beat a man the day before his arrest in a rape case involving one of their relatives.

The court appearance came three months after the Tangipahoa Parish oil and lubricant plant exploded and caught on fire, causing the evacuation of hundreds of residents and bringing on accusations of environmental violations.

A group of men, including the president and vice president of the Roseland plant, were arraigned Nov 18 in the Tangipahoa Parish Courthouse after a grand jury indictment from the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office. Chad Tate, Edgar Smith and Jeremy Hudson were indicted on charges of aggravated battery and false imprisonment with a dangerous weapon. The grand jury also indicted Seth Tate for simple battery for the same reported incident, according to court documents.

The Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office website reports Chad Tate as Smitty’s president and Smith as vice president. All four men are Tangipahoa Parish residents.

The indictment stems from an October 2024 incident involving alleged battery victim Terry Boyd, a Roseland resident, court documents report.

Boyd faces charges of first-degree rape as well as sexual battery of a minor under 15 years old in a case involving a relative of one of the men accused of beating him, according to parish court documents. The reported beating occurred the day before Boyd was

ä See INDICTED, page 2B

But when the parish jail received the order, Heinrich’s bail had been posted nine minutes earlier, and he

After hearing of his release, authorities in Westchester County called in a welfare check on Charles the morning of Nov 7. She allegedly told officers she was aware of Heinrich’s release, and he had not contacted her Six days later, Heinrich returned to Charles’ apartment and stabbed her to death before lighting himself on fire, authorities say Heinrich arrived at Charles’

apartment building about 2 a.m. Nov 13. She was seated in her vehicle in the parking lot when Heinrich began ramming his vehicle into hers, police say Charles’ roommate, Krystal Weber, 30, heard the noise from her bedroom. Weber said she thought a car had run off the road and went out to see what was going on, she said in an interview with The Advocate. She saw Heinrich back into

Charles’ car, she said, but did not yet realize that Charles was actually in her vehicle and went to put on her shoes.

Heinrich then exited his vehicle and walked to the driver’s door of Charles’ vehicle, where she was sitting.

“When I walk back outside, he’s trying to pull her out of the car,” Weber said. “It looks like he’s hit-

‘It’s like heaven opening up’

The Lincoln Theater, a major cultural and performing arts hub for Black people in Baton Rouge

will reopen next month after more than a decade of effort to revitalize the site.

Civil

BR theater that once hosted Black music legends set to reopen next month

BY IANNE SALVOSA Staff writer

After more than a decade of effort to revitalize a center of Black culture in Baton Rouge, the Lincoln Theater will reopen next month.

The performance venue that once hosted live performances from music legends such as James Brown, Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald has been remodeled into the Louisiana Black History Hall of Fame Museum and Cultural Center at the Lincoln Theater The museum and cultural

ä See THEATER, page 2B

artist’s rendering

Ex-LSU President William Jenkins dies at 88

BY QUINN COFFMAN

Staff writer

William Jenkins, who twice served as LSU president including during a crucial transition period in 2012, has died at 88. In addition to being a long-standing leader of both the Baton Rouge campus and the larger LSU system, Jenkins was an academic who served as the dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine and coauthored more than 60 scientific articles.

A Saturday social media post from LSU announced Jenkins’ death, describing him as a “consummate Tiger a visionary leader and a beloved member of the LSU family whose life and career shaped our university for decades.” “Today we remember and celebrate a remarkable life defined by service, compassion, leadership, and unwavering dedication to LSU and to the people of Louisiana. May his legacy continue to inspire future generations of Tigers,”

LSU’s statement read. Born in 1937 on a farm in South Africa, Jenkins earned his veterinary medicine degree at the University of Pretoria before coming to the U.S. to earn his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri in 1970. He first came to LSU in 1988 to serve as dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine after years as an educator at Texas A&M, according to the School of Veterinary Medicine. During his time as an educator Jenkins lectured more than 200

times nationally and internationally He specialized in veterinary pharmacology, therapeutics and physiology In addition to Jenkins’ articles, he co-authored a textbook on veterinary pharmacology In 1993, Jenkins became provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs before eventually serving as chancellor in 1996. As chancellor, Jenkins led the strategic reorganization of the

ä See JENKINS, page 2B

PROVIDED PHOTO Former LSU President William Jenkins has died at 88, the school announced Saturday.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

during the

Rights Movement,

ä See DETAILS, page 3B

RENDERING PROVIDED By LOUISIANA BLACK HISTORy HALL OF FAME

An

shows the Louisiana Black History Hall of Fame Museum and Cultural Center at the Lincoln Theater

Pilotkilledincrash ‘wentabove andbeyond’

Flight instructor hadbig influence on others

BY ANITALEE Sun Herald

Professional pilot Taylor Dickey,30, had abig influenceonothers before her life ended Monday, when the Cessna Skyhawk she was aboard plunged into Lake Pontchartrain.

She had worked since June 2024 as acontract flight instructor with Apollo Flight Trainingand Aircraft Management, based at Million Air terminal at the Gulfport-BiloxiInternational Airport.

Dickey and her young student, who has not been officially identified, flew out of Gulfport at 5:43 p.m. Monday,according to FlightAware Aviation Co.

The Lakefront Airport in New Orleans, where theywere headed, lost track of the Cessna about 4 miles north of the airport.

Asearch for the plane was suspended Wednesday afternoon.It is unclear whether Dickey or the student was piloting the plane because they trade seats during trainingflights

The student,a Navy Seabee, alsohad built up aconsiderable numberof hours, saidMark Carastro, Apollo’sowner Dickey moved to Biloxi to go to work as acontractor at Apollo in June 2024. Herparents also relocated from North Carolina to Biloxi,saidDickey’sfriend and fellow pilot Alice Furr,ofOcean Springs.

“Weknow that God is good, even when we have to walk through the valley. Taylorloved flying. She loved seeing God’sbeauty flying over the ocean and bays. Seeing the sunsets andthe sun rises. Peggy loved hearing her tell us about it “… Best of all, knowingthat shetrusted Jesus brings us great peace and great hope, and knowing that we will seeher again …”

Taylor Dickey wasall aboutsharing the professionshe loved, especially with other women and girls.

LinkedIn profile, “I focus on supportingthe growth anddevelopmentofaspiring pilots.”

Dickey hadrecently organized thechapter’s GirlsinAviation Day at Trent Lott Airport. She also helped out fellowApollo instructorFurr, whoserves as theNOLA Chapter president of The NinetyNines Inc. International Organization of Women Pilots.

Dickey,achapter member,volunteered in the spring for the organization’sLet’sFly Now! event that took on free flightswomen and girls interested in aviation.

losing Dickey He said that she and her family are just “very special people.” Carastro realizedthatDickey and her student did not survive the plunge into LakePontchartrain when U.S. Coast Guard searchers showed him aphotograph of the debris field late Monday evening. He also knewfrommarkings on the debris that the plane wasApollo’sCessna.

Both Dickey andher parents, Randy and Peggy Dickey,shared her strong Christianfaith,said Apollo owner Michael Carastro, who verified her identity with their permission. Her parentswere too griefstricken to speak Friday.But Randy Dickey, whoisalso apilot, sent atext messagethat he said Carastro could share:

“Taylordid some great things, and she was really loved,” said AliceFurr,who met Dickeythrough Apollo. “She madeanimpact.”

She saidthatDickey always stepped up to volunteer foraviation events and was afounding member andchapter president of theBayou Beacons Chapter of Women in Aviation International.

“As adedicated certified flight instructor,” she wrote on her

“I could always count on herto volunteer for any events,” Furr said.“Taylor always went above and beyond forher students and foranyoneinaviation.”

Furr described Dickey as “passionate and dedicated.” Dickey even tookstudents on tours of the airport’sair traffic control tower,although she was not paid to do so.She was easygoing and a friend to everyone she met, Furr said.

Carastro is also devastatedover

The CoastGuard suspended its search on Wednesday afternoon, having received assistance from multiple agencies. TheFederal Aviation Administration and NationalTransportationSafetyBoard are investigating the crash.

“Tohave such abright future gone is just absolutely devastating to everyone in the Apollo family and to her family,” Carastro said.

The Sun Herald, basedinBiloxi, covers theMississippiGulf Coast and is anewspartner withNOLA.com |The TimesPicayune.Readmore at www sunherald.com.

N.O.’s Audubondoubles annual membership price

Some decryzoo’s ‘tonedeaf’ statement defending increase

BY CHAD CALDER Staff writer

The Audubon NatureInstitute is facing abacklash from some members after doubling the price of its annual membership, whichallows families to visit thezoo,the aquarium and other attractionsthroughout the year

Audubon issued astatement on social media Thursday morning defending the increase, which hadcome to light as members became aware of the changesas they showed up on Audubon’sweb page for its 15% off holiday sale

The price of afamily membership is now $425 for two adults and two children and$500for two adults and up to four children.Individual and dual memberships are $125 and $240, respectively,and it now costs $625 for akrewe mem-

INDICTED

Continued from page1B

bership.

The changes applyfor gift memberships and takeeffect uponrenewal.

The previous pricing is no longer indicated on thesite, though members said theprice of their family memberships doubled without notice

Megan Olsen, who lives in the French Quarterwithher husband and threechildren, said her family have been members foradecade and last paid $247, including taxes and fees, for amembership that wouldnow cost $527 with taxes and fees.

Olsen saidher family has prioritizedtheir membership as a“welllovedexpense” and used it to bring visiting family and friends to Audubon attractions,calling it “part of ourtraditions.”

“The insane price hike is unexpectedand their messaging is tone deaf,” shesaid.“Better,morehighly rated zoos cost significantlyless and offer straightforward benefits: fair-cost accesstoaday at the zoo or aquarium.”

THEATER

Continued from page1B arrested. Boyd, who is stillgoing through criminal court proceedings on those charges, filed acivil lawsuit in early October seeking damages against the group of men. The civil lawsuit claims Boyd’s injuries included fractures to the eye and nose,lacerationsto the scalpand face, an abrasion to the chest and more.

Aspokesperson with the AttorneyGeneral’sOffice saidit would not be providing comment on the indictments of the four suspects in the beating

JENKINS

Continued from page1B

main campus administrationto make it more efficient and responsive, efforts that were majorfactors in the later crafting of LSU’s Flagship Agenda, according to the veterinary school.

In 1999, Jenkins became the fourth system president of LSU. Histenure was marked by challenges, including the destruction of LSU institutions in New Orleans in the aftermath of HurricaneKatrina in 2005.

While faced with afiscal crisis

center will have its softopening in mid- to late December,with the exact date to bedetermined.

“It’slikeheaven opening up,” said Peggy Bates, assistant directorofthe museumand thehallof fame’sboard chaplain.

Bates saidthe museum will showcase accomplishmentsofthe Black communityinLouisiana and the hall of famewants it to become aplace of history education.Itwill includeexhibitsongovernment and politics, religion,education andarts andentertainment.

The hall of fame plans forthe theatertoremainasaperfor-

anddeep budget cuts that disrupted academic programs and forced the furloughs of thousands of LSU employees, Jenkins pressedfor calm and reflective responses to thecalamities from state educationofficials, according to abio fromthe School of Veterinary Medicine.

These actions led to the rapid reopeningofthe university system’s urban research campus and its healthcare professional schools in NewOrleans.

While retiring as president emeritus in 2007, Jenkins returned to assist the universityasinterim president and chancellor during the “crucial transitional period” of

Audubon said in its statement that the increase reflectscurrent economic realities and will improve members’experience, noting the price has been largely unchanged for adecade. Audubonsaidcriticalexpenses including insurance, animal care and nutrition, veterinary care, medical supplies and habitat maintenance have increased considerably during this time. And memberships cover

mance venuefor concerts and productions. There are also plans to host an arts contestfor local students to competeinpoetry, music and public speaking.

Over the past couple of years, the refurbishment included replacing the roof, updating the electrical and plumbing system, adding asprinklersystem and other renovations to make the original theater compliant with the Americanswith Disabilities Act. The theater’sstagewas expanded six feet out and additional stage entrances were added,accordingtoahallof fame newsletter.The museum is a two-story addition onto the original structure. The project costmore than $4 million,with $760,000 coming from the city-parish’sOffice of

2012 to 2013 when the school faced millionsofdollars in budget cuts.

Jenkins earned anumber of academic, charitableand public service awards during his tenure:

n Communicator of the Year awarded by thePublic Relations Association of Louisiana

n Distinguished Alumnus given by theUniversityofMissouri n Communication and Leadership Award,presented by the regionalchapter of Toastmasters International n VisionofExcellence Award 2000 by theNew OrleansRegional Chamber of Commerce andthe New OrleansChapter of MetroVision

The Audubon Nature Institute in NewOrleans is facing backlash fromsome members after doubling the price of itsannual membership.

more thanhalfofanimal care costs.

“These changes will help better support operation of our facilities and animal care and will offer more benefitsfor Audubon members,” the statement said.

Commenters to Audubon’spost announcing thechanges,while understanding of thecost to care for animals and paytheir keeper and zoostaff, were frustrated about the lack of warning and just how steep

Community Development.

The theater’siconic marquee will not make an appearance until after the opening to protect the signage. The marqueewas taken down in 2021 as part of its rehabilitation andwas put back onto the building after being restored but hadtoberemoved again due to vandalism,Bates said.

In the1950s and ’60s, the Lincoln Theater was one few venues in Baton Rouge that welcomed Black performers and audiences. But the theater fell into disrepair and closed in the 1980s. It reopened fora few years in the early 2000s.

The Louisiana Black HistoryHall of Fame purchased the property in 2009with help from theLegislature and Preserve Louisiana. In 2010, the National Register of His-

n Honorary doctorate fromhis alma mater,the University of Pretoria, bestowed on JenkinsinSeptember 2000

n Volunteer of the Year Award by the Southern Economic Development Conference in 2004.

“Dr.Jenkins wasamentor,a bridge-builder,and abelieverin thepower of higher education and its ability to transform lives, the university’sSaturday statement read. “He leaves behind alegacy visible in the strength of LSU’s institutions, the excellence of its academic and veterinary medicineprograms, and the countless students,faculty,and staffwhose lives he influenced.”

theincrease is.Some complained of high salaries on the upper end of management at Audubon.

Onecommenter,who saidher family would not be renewing, noted familiesusedtobeable to have onefreeguest come with them, which nowcosts an extra $100.

“On topofthe massive increase in cost,” Olsen agreed,“Audubon is nickel-and-diming the addition of agrandparent or babysitter to the tune of an additional $100. It’s outrageous.”

Audubon said the new membership cost pays for itself within two visits, though another commenter noted it shouldn’tcost afamily of four that much to go to thezoo for asinglevisit, “especially in acity with notoriously low wages.”

Auduboncouldn’tbereached to answeradditionalquestions Saturday morning.

Audubon’smemberships provide free year-round admittance to the zoo, the Audubon Aquarium and Audubon Insectarium, plus access to more than 30 member-exclusive events.

toricPlaces named the theater as ahistoric landmark.

Bates said she hopes the reopeningofthe theaterspurs otherredevelopment in Old South Baton Rouge,which wasvibrantbefore the construction of Interstates 10 and 110 dividing the community Down the road from thetheater, construction is ongoing for the renovationofthe HotelLincoln, a historic property thatwelcomed Blackguests, includingmanyof the same performers that entertained audiences at the Lincoln Theater.The hotel will become amixed-use development with apartment units and retail space. “Itwas once athriving portion of town, but it began to becomeless involved as the community started to change,” she said.

Jenkins is survived by his wife Peggy,his four childrenand their grandchildren.

LOTTERY

FRIDAY, NOV. 28, 2025

PICK 3: 6-7-9

PICK

Unof

T. Dickey

STAFF FILE PHOTO By JOHN McCUSKER

BROUSSARD

STRETCHING into the spotlight

Zoosiana welcomes newest addition with baby giraffe Cabrini

BY STEPHEN MARCANTEL Staff writer

Zoosiana recently welcomed a new member to the zoo’s evergrowing family

On Nov 13, the crew celebrated the birth of Cabrini, a female baby reticulated giraffe. And she’s already making waves, bringing a crowd of curious children and parents to get a gander at the longnecked mammal.

Cabrini’s birth comes about a year after the Broussard-based zoo introduced two baby pygmy hippos. The hippos, by the way, are doing great, said Zooisana Director Matt Oldenburg.

The baby giraffe is the first of the third generation of giraffes born at the zoo and is a daughter of longtime resident Josie, who learned she was having a girl after Cabrini’s father, George, was given a paintbrush and created a makeshift pink gender reveal painting.

Cabrini was named after a 30year crew member Cabrini Broussard, who goes by Ms. Bea, Oldenburg said

“To have my name carried by such a beautiful, gentle new addition is a tribute I will cherish forever,” Broussard told her team. “It reflects not just my years here, but the relationships, the memories and the shared commitment that make this zoo feel like home.”

Cabrini’s birth was flawless and required no intervention, said Oldenburg. weighing about 150 pounds and standing 6 feet, 5 inches. Mom and daughter even share similar heart-shaped spots on their coats.

“Baby hit every milestone she was expected to hit on time and perfectly,” Oldenburg said. “You want the baby to stand up within about an hour or two of being born. She stood up at 90 minutes. You want baby to start nursing within about two hours of being born. She stood up and immediately started nursing. Flawless execution.”

She will nurse from her mother over the next six months, as mom slowly begins to wean her off, zoo officials said. She’s expected to reach maturity at 5 to 6 years old,

reaching around 10 feet tall within a year Josie has been a great mother, Oldenburg said, adding that mom has been very attentive and is slowly showing Cabrini the ropes. But for the time being, Cabrini appears far more comfortable sticking close by to mom, only taking brief moments to trot around.

“She’s going to get more independent, more and more confident, and so you’ll see her venturing around the big yard a little bit more. Right now, she’s kind of staying close to that barn. That’s her comfort zone,” Oldenburg said. Female giraffes tend to stick together in the wild, usually with one male present, forming tight familial units. Giraffes live much longer in captivity, reaching up to 30 years old, compared to around 8 to 10 years in the wild.

“You can expect a mom, daughter, aunts and cousins, all out in a natural environment to live together indefinitely,” Oldenburg said. The giraffes have become a fan favorite of the zoo, Oldenburg said, with Cabrini certainly sure to steal some of the spotlight for a while. Email Stephen Marcantel at stephen.marcantel@ theadvocate.com.

Man dies after being found shot multiple times, BR police say

CRIME BLOTTER staff reports

A 22-year-old man died early Saturday after he was found with multiple gunshot wounds in a vehicle, Baton Rouge police reported. Officers were dispatched to the 4600 block of Divincenti Drive about 12:15 a.m. They found Kyland Hamilton inside a vehicle suffering from a several gunshot wounds, according to a police news release.

Denham Springs man killed in head-on crash

DETAILS

Continued from page 1B

ting her, like he’s punching her.” Weber said that once Charles heard her nearby she began to call for help.

“That’s when he turned around and started to come towards me with a knife,” Weber said.

Weber ran back inside and called 911. Police records say Heinrich stabbed Charles multiple times, then fled the scene in his own vehicle and drove into oncoming traffic.

Heinrich struck another vehicle head-on, not far from the parking lot where Charles still lay While still seated behind the wheel, Heinrich then lit himself on fire, according to police records.

Officers were able to extinguish the flames and transport Heinrich to a hospital, where he died of his injuries the following day

Weber left the building and found Charles in the parking lot.

Weber said she tried to keep the 23-year-old conscious until an ambulance arrived. Charles was taken to a hospital, where she died during surgery

“She didn’t deserve to die like that,” Weber said. “I don’t understand, we’ll never understand it, why he wasn’t in jail already?”

‘Losing her mind’

Weber said Charles’ death was the final escalation of months of stalking and harassment from Heinrich.

When Weber moved in two months ago, Charles had just returned from a trip to New York to see Heinrich. She brought back a busted lip and a twisted ankle, Weber said. Opening up to her roommate,

A Denham Springs man was killed Friday afternoon in a head-on crash on La.

Hamilton was transported to a hospital, where he later died from his wounds, officials said. The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information related to the incident is urged to contact the Violent Crimes Unit at (225) 389-4869 or Capital Area Crime Stoppers at (225) 344-7867.

1019 in Livingston Parish, according to State Police.

John Cason, 55, was driving north just south of Amite Church Road when his 2015 Mazda 3 crossed the center line and crashed into an oncoming 2017 Nissan Altima, authorities said Louisiana State Police troopers arrived on the scene shortly after 4 p.m. Cason was unrestrained at the time of the crash and sustained severe injuries, according to troopers. He was transported to a hospital where he died of his injuries. The driver of the Nissan was wearing a seat belt and sustained moderate injuries, officials said. Impairment is not suspected in this case, but standard toxicology samples were taken and submitted for analysis, police said.

Charles told Weber that Heinrich had caused the injuries and that she had called the police while in New York.

“She said that she made the comment that she just wanted to die if he doesn’t go to jail,” Weber said, recounting the conversation.

Weber said Charles tried to break things off with Heinrich after that trip, but he wouldn’t accept it, and allegedly started harassing her with hundreds of anonymous texts and calls Heinrich would also allegedly text Charles’ family and co-workers with violent, hateful and sexually explicit messages regarding Charles, Weber said.

Weber said Heinrich would follow Charles, adding that Charles began to miss school and work to avoid him.

After Charles’ death, Weber said she found two AirTag GPS trackers hidden in the 23-year-old’s car “She was losing her mind be-

cause of what he was doing,” Weber said.

In October, Charles filed for a protective order against Heinrich with an East Baton Rouge Parish family court, but after she missed a court date, it was never issued.

Weber first saw Heinrich in person the night of Nov 5, when he was arrested for allegedly battering Charles Coming home, Weber said she saw Heinrich in handcuffs and Charles sitting in the back of an ambulance with a cut on her hand.

Charles was taken to the hospital and also given a summons for battery of a dating partner, while Heinrich was taken to jail.

After the two had left, Weber said she found a kitchen knife stashed in Heinrich’s luggage.

Could have stopped a year ago Dominque Ramkaran’s daughter also dated Heinrich for a similar

It is unclear at this time what caused Cason’s Mazda to cross into oncoming traffic, troopers said.

period of time over the past year and a half. Ramkaran, of Peekskill, New York, said the system failed both Charles and her daughter by not taking Heinrich’s stalking and harassment seriously

According to Ramkaran, Heinrich made hundreds of calls and anonymous messages through text and with fake social media accounts over a period of months to her daughter’s family, friends and employer

These messages were similarly violent, bigoted and sexually explicit. At one point Heinrich allegedly slashed Ramkaran’s daughter’s tires and spray-painted an epithet on her car

“She would not go outside. Anytime she did anything, he would find out,” Ramkaran said, including following her to work.

“She changed her number, he got her new number He was so consumed with her for a year and a half while he was talking to Stasy.”

Friends of Ramkaran’s daughter reached out to Stasy to warn her about Heinrich, and alerted the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office when they learned he had been arrested in Baton Rouge.

“My daughter could have been Stasy in any way, shape or form, but I feel like the only thing that saved us is that you have to be buzzed into my building,” Ramkaran said.

Ramkaran said police and prosecutors in New York didn’t believe their claims and dragged their feet to prosecute Heinrich.

“I’m very disappointed in how everyone dropped the ball in this situation, because this could have stopped a year ago,” Ramkaran said.

Normal bond for type of case

East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore said there

are systemic hurdles, like a high volume of cases, that can slow down action being taken in domestic cases. Domestic violence takes up onethird of Moore’s office’s workload, he said, roughly between 12,000 and 15,000 each year

On Nov 6, when Heinrich was put in front of Commissioner Kina Kimble for a bail hearing on his battery of a dating partner arrest, the court heard eight other domestic violence cases. Heinrich’s bail was set at $2,500 by Kimble, and a protective order was issued against him on Charles’ behalf.

“I’m not blaming this one on her,” Moore said, referring to Kimble.

“It was within the normal realm of what most judges would have set under the circumstances.”

Those circumstances include the fact that the officer who responded to Charles’ place the night of Nov 5 could not determine an aggressor, and that Heinrich had no violent prior offenses.

In interviews with police, Charles did not say she was in fear of her life from Heinrich, Moore said.

“Had she said something to the contrary, and we learn that information, you can always revisit the bond,” Moore said.

Both Moore and Suzanne Hamilton, executive director of Capital Area Family Justice Center, acknowledged that it is difficult for abuse survivors to seek help for themselves.

Records from the District Attorney’s Office and the Family Justice Center show that domestic violence-related homicides are trending up in 2025.

“It’s the most predictable, unpredictable crime,” Hamilton said. Email Quinn Coffman at quinn. coffman@theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK Cabrini, an 11-day-old giraffe, shares a moment with her mother Josie, on Monday at Zoosiana in Broussard

Guests visit the giraffe enclosure.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON Vehicles are parked in the lot on Nov. 22 where Stasy Charles was killed on Old Hammond Highway in Baton Rouge.

Brooks,Samuel Foster

Obituaries and ValerianSmith, had fourchildren: Lynn Smith Whitfield, KimberleighButler-Smith,Valerian Edward Burler-Smith, III and Shawne Devall Langston Emery.

Samuel Foster Brooks, 63, passed away November 21, 2025. Sam was bornin New Iberia, La. He lived most of his life in Washington, DC, and returned to Baton Rouge in 2024. Sam graduated from Baton Rouge Magnet High School in 1980assalutatorian of his class. From there, he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from Vanderbilt University in 1983, where he graduated summa cum laude. While at Vanderbilt, he was amemberofPhi Beta Kappa and was aHarold Stirling Vanderbilt Scholar. He studied abroad his junior and senior years at the University of Leeds and Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Once returning stateside, Sam attended Harvard Law School as aHarry S. Truman Scholar.While there, he wasanarticles editor for Harvard International Law Journal. He graduated from Harvard cum laudein 1987. After spending a year as alaw clerk for The Honorable Robert Yock in U.S. Claims Court, he then went on to obtain his LL.M. in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center in 1993. Sam worked as atax attorney formany yearsatseveralprestigious firms in Washington, DC. He then worked for Deloitte &Touche, LLP; as a solo legal practitioner; and for the District of Columbia Department of Health. He ended his career at the U. S. Department of Transportation in the Civil Rights Division, where he worked until his retirement earlier this year. He was an avid traveler, alove which beganduring his junior year abroad. His many travels led to his voracious exploration of five of seven continents. His travels always included exploring local favoritesaswell as 5-star restaurants. Hisbrilliant mind and gregarious personality ledhim to easily make connections wherever he went. Sam is survived by his parents, Rick and Millie Brooks; his sister, Beth Brooks Morrison; his niece, Rachael Morgan (Steven); his nephew, Zachary Morrison; as well as agreat-nephew and three great-nieces. Aprivate service washeld for the family. Amemorial service to celebrate Sam's life will be held at afuture date. Memorial contributions may be made to the Unified Jewish Congregation of Baton Rouge or an organization of your choice.

The universally characterized, force of nature, Valeria Jean Butler, affectionately and respectfully called "Miss Jean" by many, passed away to her well-deserved heavenly rest on Sunday, November 23rd at 10:31 PM. It wasa just reward for aconsequential life dedicated to excellence in service as a way of professional,community, familial, and social life. Ever vital and vibrant, she was dispensing wit, wisdom, joy and encouragement until the very end. Ms. Butler's life and work were exemplary of the service tradition into which she was born on September 22, 1931, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.She was the first of four daughters of Dr. Leo Stanley Butler, awidely admired physician who served South Baton Rouge both medicallyand civically for more than 50years, and Estelle Wilhemina Devall Butler, who was also dedicatedtofurthering the wellbeing and welfare of the community.

After graduating from Southern University Laboratory Schoolat15, Ms. Butler attended Howard UniversityinWashington, D.C., as had herfather There she metand soon after graduation, married Dr. Valerian Edward Smith, who had completed Dental School at Howard. Valeria

Cannon, Judith Clare 'Judy'

Like her parents, Ms. Butler was involvedearly on in outreach to uplift others.She was avolunteerdriverduring the historic Baton Rouge Bus Boycott, the blueprintfor the later Montgomery Boycott Her efforts to advancecivil and human rights,because of her belief in the inherent worthiness of others,continuedthroughout her life. Ms. Butlerwas also known forher glamourand impeccable style and was named to National Best Dressed Lists.Inthe 1960's she decided topursue a career in fashion. Toward that end, she attended LaboratoryInstitute of Fashion Merchandising in New YorkCity, where upon graduation, she was offeredanexecutive position atMacy's HeraldSquare, the flagshipMacy'sstore in NewYork

Not wantingtouproot her children,she returned to Baton Rouge.Her career path took an unexpected turn whenshe enteredthe field of housing. For the next thirty years, she had an steadfast commitment to providing adequate and affordable housing,particularlyfor the un and under-housed, and first time home buyers. The culminationofthis dedicationwas as Presidentofthe Louisiana Housing Finance Agency (LHFA), now Louisiana Housing Corporation (LHC). In that capacity she was nationally recognized as oneofthe firstand few experts in tax credit incentivizedprivate/public partnershipswithnon-profit and for-profit real estate developers. She initiated and institutedmany housing finance programsfor affordablehousing, which were the first in the nation, includingtax exempt bonds to finance affordable housing developments. Becauseofthis, Ms. Butler workedwith the IRS and US Congress to develop the legislationfor the enactment of these taxcredit programs. As atribute to her transformativetenure, theboardroom at the former LHFA, now LHC building on Quail Drive in Baton Rouge,which she painstakingly developed from site selection to the last design detail, is named the V. Jean Butler Board Room. In her socialand civic affiliations, she was a founding (charter)memberofthe Baton Rouge Chapter The Links Incorporated, amemberofAlpha Kappa Alpha Sorority,a former memberofthe NAACP, the Carrousels, Inc., and was instrumental in establishing Jackand Jill of America, Inc. in Baton Rouge.A womanofgreat and enduring faith, she is attached to both the Renew Church, under the leadershipofRev.Miriam McFarland, and the Times of Refreshing Ministeries (The Fresh Church) of her daughter and son-in-law, PastorShawne and Bishop Calvin Emery Jean was predeceased by her parents, Dr. Leo S. Butlerand Estelle Devall Butler;her son,Valerian E. Butler-Smith, III; her sisters, Elayne Butler Bryant and Shirley Butler Pierce; and her niece andnephew, William Carlton Washington, II and Carla Washington Himes. She leaves to mourn her immeasurable loss and celebrate the giftofher life, herchildren: Lynn Whitfield, Kimberleigh Butler-Smith,and Shawne Smith Langston Emery (Calvin);grandchildren Victoria Holbrooke Langston, Elizabeth Ashland Devall Langston, Martin Andrew Langston; and Grace Victoria Gibson; sister, Hedi MarieButler; nieces SherriBryant Moore, SharonBryantZimmerman; DonnaPierce Lazarkchik,AliciaWilliams, and AlysonAzodeh; nephews Dr. D'Orsay D. Bryant,III, Duane D. Pierce, Leighton B. Bryant, and Clifton F. Nelson, III.; sisterin-law Thelma Smith Williams; and brother-inlawDr. D'Orsay D. Bryant, Jr.

Aserviceofthanksgiving and celebrationofthe life and legacy of V. Jean Butler willbeheldonSunday, December 7th at Living Faith Christian Center, 6375Winbourne Avenue, Baton Rouge:3:00 PM Viewing 4:00 PM Service. Arrangements entrusted to Rabenhorst. Read more aboutthe extraordinary life of Valeria Jean Butler at Rabenhorst Funeral Home Obituaries: www.rabenhorst.com

Judith"Judy" ClareCannon, 82, anativeand resident of Baton Rouge, entered eternal life on November 24, 2025, at her home, surrounded by loved ones, after alengthy illness. Judywas aloving sister, aunt,and friend. She was a1962 graduateof Saint Anthony HighSchool and attended Baton Rouge Draughn Business School. Judywas asupervisorat Audubon Insurance followedbyAIG. She enjoyed spending timewith family,doing jigsaw and crossword puzzles, traveling and was an avid LSU sports fan. Judyissurvivedbyher sister, Theresa Cannon of Baton Rouge; brother, DavidCannon (Gale) of Ruston; nephews, AllenCannon (Pamela), and EricCannon(Marilyn); and numerous nieces and nephews. Preceded in death by parents, Lawrence and Essie Cannon; sister, Charlotte Hollier;sister-in-law, CherylH Cannon; and nephew Jason Hollier.Visitation willbe held at Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church on Tuesday, December 2, 2025, from10:00 a.m. until Mass of ChristianBurial at 12:00 p.m. Interment to followatRoselawn Memorial Park. Special thankstoher caregivers Tyanne Anderson, Madison Danna,Dr. John Marston, and Hospice of BatonRouge.Inlieuof flowers,donations may be madetoSt. JudeChildren's Hospitaloryourfavorite charity.

NedJoseph Dufour, born on December 18, 1938, passed away on Monday, November 24, 2025, at the ageof86. Nedwas born in Mansura, Louisiana. He graduated withhis Bachelor'sdegree in civil engineering. He also went on to join theAir National Guard of Louisiana. Nedwas a member of St.Thomas More Catholic Church. Ned is survivedbyhis daughters, D'ette Dufour Lowe (Brent)and Rachel Dufour Ceruti (Ron); son, Todd JosephDufour (Erin); grandchildren, Garrett Lowe (Haley), AdeleLowe Doescher(Scott), Christopher Dufour, NickDufour, MeredithLowe Faul (Montgomery), AngelaLowe Nolen(Austin), Mary ThereseLowe, KateDufour, and Sofia Ceruti; and 8great-grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his wife of 58 years, Irma Denoux Dufour; parents, Louis and Hariette Dufour; son, Paul Louis Dufour; and grandchild,Joseph Ceruti. The family would like to give aspecial thanksto GardenviewAssisted Living staff, and Carpenter Houseand St. JosephHospice Staff.Visitation will take place at St.Thomas MoreCatholic Church on Tuesday, December 2, 2025, beginning at 9:00 AM until Mass of ChristianBurial at 11:00 AM. Burial to follow at Resthaven Gardens of Memory. Family and friends may signthe online guestbookorleave apersonal notetothe family at www.resthavenbatonroug e.com.

Hilda ThorsbyBaker Evans passed away on November 25, 2025, in BatonRouge.She was born in Beeston, Nottingham, England on November 3, 1933. She wasraisedduring WorldWar II She metand married GeraldBaker and had threechildren, Melvyn Baker (Ann), Debra Elkins (Tim), and Tracy Langlois (John). She then married Delbert Delano Evans and had 2stepchildren, Dena Petty(Todd)and Randy Evans She left behindher grandchildren, Derek (Jessica), Britney (Brock), Lindsey (Dylan), Andrew, Trace (Chelcie), Gabriel,Bryce (Jordan), and Lexie. Hilda lovedlife and lovedtotravel. She has been around theworld morethanonce.

Special thanks to Audubon Hospice, and her caretaker, our sisterPam Martin andher dear friend Ann Arnold Agraveside service for Hildawillbeat1:00 pm Friday, December 5, 2025, at Resthaven Gardens of Memory, 11817 Jefferson Hwy, Baton Rouge, LA 70816.

Areception willfollow at 17912 Heritage Estates Dr., Baton Rouge, LA 70810.

Anative of Iowaand longtime residentofAkron, Ohio, andBaton Rouge Louisiana, Mary Reed Focht Groves died in Baton Rouge on November 6, 2025, at the age of 88. She attendedthe Universityof Iowa, whereshe met her futurehusband, Larry Focht, andlater finished herdegree at LSU. After theirmarriage,Maryand Larry moved to Baton Rouge andstartedtheir familybeforesettling in Akron,where they were active members of WoodlandUMC. Mary returned to Baton Rouge when she marriedher second husband, Frank Groves, in 2001.

Pecoraro, Anthony Joseph

Janette NelsonGreene passed away on Monday, November 24, 2025, at the ageof86. She wasborn April5,1939, in Foules, Louisiana to LeoIthaniel Nelsonand Mary Daisy Egloff Nelson. Janette graduated from Sicily Island HighSchool in 1957. She metthe love of her life, Albert S. Greene,Jr. and togethertheycreated abusiness, Acoustical Specialties &Supply, LLCand a loving and devotedfamily. Albert oftenmentioned it was Janette's consistent support of him and their company, oftenasa silent partner working as the bookkeeperand any other position that needed to be filled,thatmadethemso successful. Her commitment to her husband, their business, and especially theirfamily were unwavering,always making everyone feellikethey were her onlypriority. She is preceded in death by her parents; her son Albert Nelson Greene;her granddaughter Danielle Elizabeth Wright; and her siblings. LeoNelsonJr.,Loveless Nelson, Dorothy Stogner,Ada Lea Nelsonand Janice Case. Janette is survived by her beloved husband of 67 years, Albert S. Greene Jr.; their daughters,Robin Wrightand her husband Richard and Donna Phillips and her husband Steve; their grandchildren, Rebekah Phillips Puryear and her husband Dustin, and Joel Phillips. She is also survivedbytheir stepgrandsons, Cooperand Luca Puryear; as well as numerous other loving family and friends. The family wouldliketogivespecial thankstoTami Tucker and thewonderful caregivers of Cast ALine Care LLC, for their around-the-clock care that allowed Janette and Albert to stay home togetherintheir later years, and to theamazing staff and nurses at Hospice In His Care. Relatives and friends are invitedto attend theFuneral Service at 2:30 p.m. on Monday, December 1, 2025, at Resthaven FuneralHome, 11817 Jefferson Highway in BatonRouge.A Visitation willbeheldatthe funeral home beginning at 1:30 p.m. Entombment willfollowinthe Chapel of Eternal Faith Mausoleum at Resthaven Gardens of Memory. For those so desiring, memorials in honor of Janette NelsonGreene may be madetoLouisiana Family Forum (https://lafa milyforum.org/donate/). Family and friendsmay sign theonline guestbook or leave apersonal note to h f il h

Mary enjoyed backpackingwith herfamilyinthe mountains, cooking,baking, sewing, knitting,collectingBelleek china, and wearing hermatching rings, earrings, and necklaces of almost every known gemstone. An avid bridgeplayer, hercompetitive streakextended beyondcardgames to board games, especially Scrabble. She lovedwatching sports, whether it wasthe LSUTigers, the Iowa Hawkeyes, or hergrandchildrencompeting

Mary is survived by her threechildren,James (Nancy) Focht, Gary (Lisa) Focht, Kathleen(Mark) Fortney; six grandchildren, Christopher, Caroline, Michael, Stephen (Kara), Matthew,Jared; onegreatgrandchild,Oliver;a stepson, Frank D. Groves; two step-grandchildren,Sara andMark; six step greatgrandchildren, Greyson Juliette,Nora, Adaline, Charlotteand Hudson.She is also survived by three sistersand abrother,Marilyn (Errol)McAlexander, Linda (Ed) Binic,Vickie (Jim) Nicoll,Dick (Patsy) Reed

Marywas preceded in death by herparents, Richard andFernReed; husband of 41 years, LawrenceG.Focht;and second husband, Frank R. Groves.

The familythanksthe caregivers andnursesat St.James Place whowere kind andattentiveto"Ms. Mary."

Amemorial service will be held on Thursday, December 18, at St.John's United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge,with avisitationfrom10:00 a.m. until theservice at 11:00.

Vernon "Super Vern LeBlancJr., alifelongresident of Gonzales, Louisiana, passed away peacefully on November 22, 2025. Born on September16, 1958, to Edith Gautreau LeBlanc andVernonJoseph LeBlancSr. Funeral serviceswill be

AnthonyJoseph"Peck" Pecoraro,86, was born December 2, 1938 in Baton Rouge,LAand passed away from Alzheimer's disease on November 24, 2025 surroundedbyhis wife, Ameliaand family. Anthony wasa 1957 graduate of Catholic High School, whereheexcelled in football. Upon graduation he washonored to serve his countryinthe AirForce from 1957-1961. It was therethat he mastered his love of carpentry.Hemet thelove of hislifeAmelia in 1962 and theyweremarried June 15, 1963. Anthony wasa proudmember of St Alphonsus Church and foundingmember of St Louis King of France Church.Hewas also a member of Knights of Columbusand Carpenters Local Union1098. Anthony wasa devout Catholic and devoted husband and father. He retiredfromDSM Copolymerin2000 after a long andfulfilling career as acarpenter.Heissurvived by hisloyal anddevoted wife, Amelia(Parr) Pecoraro, hisson WayneAnthony Pecoraro (Tena), daughters Annette Pecoraro Chauvin(David), Barbara Pecoraro Lively andVicki Pecoraro Sunseri (Chris). He is also survived by his 10 grandchildren: Justin Chauvin,BrittanyLively Davis (Jeremiah), Chase Broussard, LaurenLanglois (Matthew), Christian Pecoraro(Shelby), Jeremy Lively, Hayden Chauvin, Cameron Pecoraro, Taylor Farajallah (Alex)and Brooke Occhipinti(Brad), and hisgreat grandchildren Stephen Langlois, Skylar andScarlettOcchipinti andLeo Farajallah. Anthonywas preceded in death by hisparents PaulineMaggio Pecoraro, Joseph Alphonse Pecoraro andhis belovedsister JoLouise Pecoraro. Anthony wasa giftedcarpenter Oneofhis greatest joys wasthe beautiful gazebo he crafted, aplace that reflected both hisskilland hisgentlespirit.Heenjoyed golfing, fishing, bowling, dancing and watchingLSU andSaints football. He lovedgardeningand sharing hiscrops with familyand friends. He took pride in hisSicilian heritage andbeing an F.B.I. (Full Blooded Italian). One of hisbiggest achievements is livingtobethe oldest livingPecoraroin hisfamily. He will be rememberedasanhonest humbleman,with agentle soul. Anthonyloved cookingItalian meals and makinghis famous banana nut breadand banana pudding for hisfamilyand friends. Oneofthe traditions dearest to hisheart wasmakingItalian cookies each year, aritualpassed down from hismother.A visitation will be held on Tuesday, December 2, 2025, from 9:45 am to 11:00 am at St.Alphonsus Liguori Catholic Church locatedat 14040 GreenwellSprings Rd., GreenwellSprings, LA, followed by aMass of Christian Burial at the same location.Interment will follow at Greenoaks Funeral Home &Memorial Park, locatedat9595 Florida Blvd,Baton Rouge,LA. Thefamilywould like to

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Evans, Hilda Thorsby Baker

Groves, Mary Reed Focht

Greene, Janette Nelson

Dufour, NedJoseph

Butler, Valeria Jean

LeBlanc Jr., Vernon 'Super Vern'

extend their heartfeltappreciation to the devoted caregivers and nurses from Hospice of Baton Rouge and Home Instead Aspecial thank you to Brianna Brown, Jackson Brandt, and Kim Harris, for their compassionate care and dedication to ourfamily. Inlieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Alzheimer's Association Baton Rouge, acause that was close to Anthony's heart.

Tregre, Kenneth J. Kenneth J. Tregre passed awayonSunday, November 23, 2025, at OLOL Regional Medical Center after abrief illness. He was 81, born on February 15, 1944, and aresident of Baton Rouge. ACelebration of Life will be held ata later date. He is survived by abrother, George Tregre; nephews and nieces, Todd Tregre, Debbie T. Guidry, Erin T. Cavalier Madeline C. Felker, Chad Coen, and Stephen Coen; and many loving friends. He is preceded in death by his parents, Joseph A. Tregre and Gladys Bienvenu Tregre; brother and sisterin-law, Terry Tregre and Jean CockerhamTregre; sister and brother-in-law, Sheila T. Coen and Edward Coen; and nephew, Devin A. Tregre. Donations in his memory can be made to Cat Haven of Baton Rouge.

Vincent S. Vaccaro, of Baton Rouge, passedaway peacefullyonSunday, November 23, 2025. Born on September 2, 1935, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Josephine and Sam Vaccaro, Vincent lived alife marked by devotion—to his family, his work, and those he served. He was a proud veteran of the United States Army, where he served for three years. After completing his service, he began along and fulfilling career as abarber, a calling he embracedfor more than 60 years. Even when he laterworked for theEast Baton Rouge Parish School Board, Vincent remained, at heart and in spirit, "a barber always." Vincent loved fishing, visiting with friends, and spending time with the familyhecherished above all. His warmth, humor,and kindness left alasting impression on everyone who met him. He waspreceded in death by his parents, Sam and Josephine Vaccaro, andhis sisters Josephine (Mada) LaDart, Anne Jarreau,and Jeanette Musacchia. Vincent is survived by his loving wife of 67 years, Betty Webb Vaccaro; his son Michael Vaccaro; and his daughters Donna Vaccaro Schang (Donald) and TessaVaccaro. He leaves behind three grandchildren—Branden Schang (Kelly), Gavin Vaccaro, and PaigeVaccaro Harper (Cody)—as well as three great-grandchildren, Abbygayle and Zoey Schang and Nathan Liebert. Visitation will be held on Tuesday, December 2, at Rabenhorst Funeral Home on Florida Blvd. from 5:00-8:00 p.m. Additional visitation will take place Wednesday from 9:30-11:00 a.m. at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, followed by an 11:00a.m. Mass of Christian Burial. Committal will

followat2pm at Colonial Cemeteryin Independence,LA.

White,Mark Steven

Mark StevenWhite passed awayonWednesday, November 26, 2025,at the ageof71. He was born May20, 1954,inBaton Rouge, Louisiana,the only son of HarryHardy White and Emma Melancon White. Agraduateof Istrouma High School, Mark enteredlaw enforcement at 18. He retiredafter 30 years of dedicated service to the Baton Rouge Police Department, earning the rankofCaptain. Mark was amember of the Baton Rouge Union of Police and along-time parishioner at St. Aloysius CatholicChurch. Heisprecededindeath by hisparents and his sistersLinda Mitchell, Janet Larson and Deborah White;and his best friends, Ronnie and Kay Rabalais. Mark is survived by his devotedwife of 33 years, Laura Tolivar White,whom he affectionately referred to still as 'his bride'; their loving childrenand spouses, Adamand Nick White, Ben and Brittany White, and Lauren and DanielDupont; and their beloved grandchildren: Elijah, Madison, Noah, Parker, Peyton, Easton, Matthewand Emma Katherine; as well as numerous otherfamilyand friends. The family would like to recognizeFidelis Residential Care Homes and Compassus Hospice and Palliative Carefor theircompassionate and professional care of Mark; we are forevergrateful. Mark was aself-educated man who thrivedonknowledge. He knew something about everything, be it politics,religion, sports -the conversationwouldmost definitely be met with a hearty debate- andhetraditionally always came out on top, so much so thatthe family joke was when he got something wrong, asit was so rare,they would mark the day on the calendar. His easygoing personality benefitedcountless traffic violators. Mark was always willing to give people asecond chance,issuing more warnings than tickets. He was thelifeof the party and truly never met astranger, thatwas nevermore evident than when the guest listkeptincreasing forLauren's wedding!His family was the center of his world. Retirementgavehim the opportunity to spend more time with his children as they grew. He enjoyedbeing able to volunteer at school, even taking rolesinthe cafeteria when he could. Mark was the foundation of his family, the love that he and Laura had forone another was evident toall that knewthem. While therewillnever have been enough time, we willforever cherish the countless memories. Relatives and friends areinvited to attend the Funeral Mass at 11:00a.m. on Tuesday,December 2, 2025,atSt. AloysiusCatholicChurch, 2025 StuartAvenue in Baton Rouge. AVisitation willbe held at the church beginningat9:30 a.m. Interment willfollow at Resthaven Gardens of Memory. Family and friends may sign the online guestbook or leave apersonal notetothe familyatwww.resthavenbaton rouge.com

IN LOVINGMEMORYOF

Andrelle LaShawnBurns

Nov30, 1975 -Aug 17, 2021

We miss youmore today than yesterday, but not as much as tomorrow.

Forever in our hearts Safe in His arms... Lovingly remembered by

-Your Mother (Ma), cousins, aunts, uncles, and bestie

Vaccaro, Vincent S.

OPINION

OUR VIEWS

Hurricane season ends, butFEMAstill needsmajor attention

The official hurricane season ends today, blessedly without asinglesuchstorm making landfall in the Gulf region. In future years, though, we maynot be so unexpectedly lucky,which means thecurrent aimlessnessofthe Federal Emergency Management Agencyisofdeepconcern FEMA merits awell-designed, well-provisioned mission, along with strongleadership.Alas, we have some reservationsabout President Donald Trump’snewest choice to lead FEMA

As his administration began, Trump worried many of us in hurricane country by repeatedly suggesting that FEMA should be disbandedentirely,with the states expected to take up emergency responses on their own. The very idea is ludicrous. We’re allfor devolving authority to states and localities when practical, but disaster relief ranks almost as high asnational defense in terms of being the properprovinceofthe national government.

No matter how well astate prepares for contingencies that anatural disaster might bring, the disaster itself obviously can destroythe very infrastructure and equipment on which states would rely for relief efforts. The nationalgovernment, operating from outsidethe disaster zone so that its preparations themselveswon’t be affected by the calamity,should be organized andready to provide emergencyassistancefor justsuch eventualities.

To his credit, Trump hassomewhat softened his anti-FEMA tone recently.Betteryet,a commissionheappointed to review FEMA operations actually suggested elevating FEMA’s statusby making it astand-alone, Cabinet-level agency rather than asometimes-ignored subsetof a Department of Homeland Security that’smore obsessedwith immigrationenforcement.

Still, Trump’sFEMA haslacked strong leadership. Its first acting director, CameronHamilton, left the job after onlyfourmonths, andhis replacement, David Richardson, resigned on Nov.17after just six months. Richardson’sterm wasmarkedbya widely criticized responseto deadly floods in Texas and by his admission that he didn’teven know such athing as“hurricane season” existed.

Trump’snew choice, Karen Evans,isworrisome in her ownway.Atleast shehas solid management experience asFEMA’s former chief of staff, but her record indicatesshe is more interestedinslashingpersonnel and spending than in the actual, positive rolewith whichFEMA is tasked. Indeed, her nickname is “the terminator” for eliminating grants and worker positions

Granted, FEMA long has been known forwaste and inefficiencies and for bureaucratic slowness in times when dispatch is required. If Evanscan make aleaner FEMA alsowork fasterand more effectively,morepowertoher Still, FEMA’s focus should be less on saving money than on savinglives and helping survivors recover.Wenote thatthis year was thefirst since 2015without ahurricane making landfall. Because experience says the next hurricane season is unlikely to spare us, the whole country needs aFEMAthateffectivelyterminates human distress.

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE AREOUR

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

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

Carbon captureopponents won’tgoaway

The carbon capture insurgency just won’tdie.

Earlier this month,agroup called Save My Louisianafiled alawsuit in Baton Rouge, arguing that the process amounts to a“egregious and overt trampling” of property rights.

AndonNov.17, the Vernon ParishPolice Jury reversed an earlier decision and passed a resolution opposing thepractice.

These latest salvos are an indication of how carbon capture has scrambled conservative and Republican Party politics in this state, because much of theopposition to theprocess comes not from left-wing environmental justice types (though many of them oppose it, too), but from rock-ribbed conservatives in someofthe reddest regions of Louisiana.

thousands of feet underground and is performed by something knownasa carbon injection well, is safe, and that there is no danger of the CO2 leaching upward through theground into water supplies or to the surface.

Butthe opponents, including manylandowners, aren’tbuying it.

They worry about the potential for pipeline failures, or that thecarbon could find its way into local aquifers. Someconservatives say carbon capture is unneeded because climate change is overblown.

Many of those who oppose it are clustered in the central part of the state, where there are anumber of proposed carbon storageareas.

To understand what is going on here, it’simportant to know what exactly is being proposed. Carbon capture and sequestration is an industrial process by which CO2and greenhouse gases produced as byproductsare captured and stored rather than released into theair

Proponents,including industry and business groups, argue that this makes production greener by releasing less CO2. They also contend that thestorage, which typically happens

As theyear comes to aclose, you will often see lists of thetop news stories and personalities. On theOpinion pages last year,westarted afeature called “Louisianan of the Year” to recognize someofthe biggest newsmakers from our state. Andaswedid last year,weare inviting you to participate. We will welcome your letters on thetopic of “Who should be Louisianan of the Year?” until themiddle of December.Feel free to nominate someonewell known or someone who perhaps works behind thescenes.

Earlier this year,itseemed that those who favored expansionofcarbon capture had theupper hand. Following a 2024 federal government decision that gave the state “primacy” in permitting carbon captureprojects, the Legislature rejected Republican-authored bills thatwould have givenlocal governmentsthe righttoveto injection wells, though lawmakers did tighten some rulesinlandowners’ favor Butthe opposition wouldn’tgoaway.

Lastmonth, in response, Gov.Jeff Landry issued amoratorium on new carbon capture permits. Ahandful already in the process werenot affected.

“Local government and citizens, through their local government, have aright to be heard to ensure safety, transparency,and local input,” Landry wrote in his order Notsurprisingly,carbon capture boosters werenot pleased. The movesends the “wrong message,” said David Cresson, of the Louisiana Chemical Association. Others warned of “obstacles” the state was putting in the way of expansion. So what we have here is apitched fight between, essentially,two different conservative constituencies who are both dug in. On the one hand, you have business, industry and economic development types whosee the potential forgrowth. On the other,citizens and officials in manyofLouisiana’sreddest parishes who, in anotable development, echo manyofthe concerns that environmentalists have uttered foryears —and also assert traditional conservative values like property rights and local control.

It’s too early to see how it will all play out. But if this oil and gas state ever turns on its biggest and most powerful industry,wemay point to carbon capture as the spark that ignited the flame.

Email Faimon A. Roberts III at froberts@theadvocate.com.

Ourcriteria as we deliberateon this weighty question is fairly broad. The person must have strong ties to Louisiana. That meansitdoesn’thave to be anative Louisianan —someone who has long lived and worked in the statewould qualify.And Louisiananatives who have madeanimpact in the wider world would also be worthy of consideration even if they no longer live here. Then there is thequestion that has arisen this year about people

who may have strongLouisiana ancestrywho perhaps may or may not have been to thestate, sayacertain head of theCatholic Church. That remains an open question. We welcome your opinions on this issue. This is not aposthumous recognition. We know there are manyLouisianans we have lost throughout the year whohave madeimportant contributions to our state, nation and world. However,wevery much want to recognize someone living who has made an impact in the current year.The biggest question is perhaps whether that impact has to be for good. We take the position that apositive impact is preferable but not required, recognizing one person’s view of positive impact may not be another’s.

Lastly,inorder to keep it fresh, we have decided that someone previously recognized as our Louisianan of theYear cannot be considered in the current year.That meansGov.Jeff Landry,who we deemed madethe big-

gest impact last year,won’tbeonthe list this year We welcomeyour feedback on this question. Surprise us. We want to know whohas been making adifference in your community.Itdoesn’thave to be apolitical or civic leader.Itcould be an artist, entrepreneur,educator or pastor.Wewill publish the best of your nominees alongwith our selections at theend of theyear

Turning to our letters inbox, Ican give you the count forthe week of Oct. 30-Nov.6.Wereceived 69 letters in our inbox during the period. As this wasthe week after LSU’sloss to Texas A&M, it’snot surprising that LSU football wasthe hottest topic of conversation, prompting 10 letters. Next the government shutdownwas aconcern, with four letters on the topic. And because SNAP benefits were in jeopardy during the shutdown, we had an additional four letters on that subject.

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

Arnessa Garrett

Faimon Roberts

COMMENTARY

Oillawsuitsshouldbetaken from statecourts

The interminable lawsuit by Plaquemines Parishagainst the Chevron Oil company,part of an evenmore interminable set of lawsuitsseeking money from oil companies to pay for wetlands loss, will reach yet another inflection point soon, this time at the U.S. Supreme Court. Even this inflection point, though, won’tbe the end of the ceaselesslawfare. What awaste of time. While oil companies absolutely should help pay to mitigate wetlands loss, asignificant portion of which has resulted from oilproduction activity, these lawsuits are the wrong way to make them do it. And this particular lawsuit against Chevron should lose. Moreover,win or lose, anew study says thesuit in the meantime has been really bad for Louisiana’seconomy On Nov.20, the SupremeCourt announced that it would hold oral arguments Jan. 12 in Chevron v. Plaquemines Parish. At issue

are not theactual merits of the plaintiffs’ claims against theoil companies, butthe procedural issue of whether thecases should be adjudicated in federal courts instead of the state courts that so far have ruled against the energyproducers. Still, if Chevron persuades theSupremeCourt to “remove” thecase to federal court, thepracticalresult —inthe words of a Harvard LawReviewarticle —“would be the immediate wipeoutofthe $745 million judgment” that Plaquemines won in astate jury trial in April. The parish would then need to prove itscase all over again in federal court. The rules for “removal” to federal courts are technical and somewhat complicated. The oil companies argue that thecase should have federal jurisdiction because theoil work began under national government instructions to produceand refineoil for use in World WarII. Suffice it to say that Ithink Chevron’sargument is solid —and thatitalso has even

morepersuasive arguments both procedurally and on the merits in their appeal to the Louisiana FourthCircuit Court of Appeal even if the Supreme Court decides the case should remain in statejurisdiction.

In what Iadmit is an overly simplified form, the argument on themerits itself is that oil companies are being asked to pay for activity that was both legal at the time and, in some aspects, specifically approved by government authorities.

The procedural argument, which to me seems compelling, is that the state trial court judge repeatedly prohibited Chevron from even showing to the jury all theactual documents —permits, inspection reports and approvals —that should serve as evidence that it acted legally

In one major instance, thetrial judge completely reversed with neither written analysis nor change in facts —his earlier, sensible, lawful ruling that activities prior to a1980 state law were exempt from one line of legal attack.

How,pray tell, could Chevron’s defense be understood by the jury when thejury wasn’tallowed to see thedocuments supporting thedefense?

Meanwhile, as this case and other similar ones drag on (and on and on and….), anew study commissioned by the conservativePelican Institute think tank says thesuits are bad forLouisiana itself.

The report says the attempts to gain money forstate and parish governments (andfor the trial lawyers whokeep pushing these suits) are actuallycosting the statebothmoney and jobs.

The report by Gavin Roberts, a Ph.D. economist of Weber State University,says the lawsuits have driven oil business away from Louisiana. Production offLouisiana’scoast is downfar more than in the nation as awhole, as is employment, and state mineral revenues have been cut by more than half, meaning aloss of $2.3 billion to state coffers since the suitsbeganinearnest in 2013.

The report, issued Nov. 6, follows a2019 study by the same

economist that laid out an econometric model that, he said, would provide neutral measurements of whether,and how,the suits were affecting the economy Granted, such “what if”scenarios are hard foralayman to adjudge. When does correlation (lawsuits coinciding with diminished economic activity) becomecausation (with the lawsuits actually being the genesis of the slowdown)? Logic, though, does tend to support the reports’ conclusions, and from alayman’s perspective, the actual econometric analysis seems sound.

Either way,asI have argued for morethan adecade, the fairest waytomake oil companies pay forcoastal protection and restoration, and the surest way for the state to actually know the money will come in, is forasmall, forward-looking tax or feefor which both sides dependably can plan, rather than the jackpot justice of dubious lawsuits that never,ever seem to end.

Email Quin Hillyer at quin hillyer@theadvocate.com

Immigration crackdownisnot conservative

Icould fill this column several times over with reasons why the Trump administration’simmigration policies are cruel, unproductive and unfair.

Reading about widespread fears over the U.S. Border Patrol’simminent incursion into Louisiana last weekend, my mind focused on yetanother description for the unprecedented domestic crackdown by those self-describedconservatives in Washington: It’sactuallyanything but conservative.

At least in terms of the values that I’ve always heard conservatives claim to espouse. For one thing, the crackdownis anti-business.

My colleague James Finn recounted an infuriating anecdote about asmall businessman —an entrepreneur who fits the mold of the people the Republican Party says it wants to help —losing abrand-new restaurant and struggling to keep an existing one functioning. In both cases, Julio Machado said hisproblems directly resulted from behavioral changes in response to President Donald Trump’spunishingpolicies in immigrant communities fullof people who work hard and don’t harm anyone.

Machado opened arestaurant to serve alarge such community in Kenner; it lasted less thana year,

U.S. Border Patrol agents detain atruck driver during an immigration enforcementoperationatatruck stop in Illinois.

as job applicantsand customers —whatfew therewere—told him theyare avoiding places that might get raided or saving money forimmigration lawyers or costs associated with deportation of family members. He’salso having trouble filling dishwasher jobs at an existingrestaurant in New Orleans.

“Thelackoflabor,it’skilling me,” Machado said. The crackdownalso harms the sort of community institutions that conservativesbelieve should be strengthened, not weakened.

In schools that serve alarge Hispanic population, Finn reported, fewerkids are coming to class.

That’sentirely understandable, considering the real possibility

of studentsand theirparents being targeted there, or of students coming home to find theirparents gone without any information.

At Our Lady of Guadalupe, which boasts asignificant Central American presence in itscongregation and where New Orleans Mayor-elect Helena Moreno worships, fewer people are showing up to Spanish-speaking services —again, perfectly understandable given the images we’ve all seen of families rippedapart by pumpedup masked men, and of people being detained on the vaguest of pretenses.

“They’re afraid to leave their homes, to go shopping,” the church’spastor,the Rev.Tony Rigoli, said. “That is not away to

live in our country,the land of the free.”

Like thecustomers and workerswho’ve ghosted Machado’s restaurants, these are mostly participants in our economywho are statistically less likely to commit crimes than citizens, who often pay taxes and who don’teven qualify for some of the benefits that those who labelthem adrain claim theyget.When the Border Patrol descended on Charlotte, North Carolina, for asimilar,far-fromthe-actual-border crackdown, CBS News reported, fewer than athird of the people arrested were classified internally by the Department of Homeland Security as “criminals.”

Of all the infuriating developmentsasthe administration has targetedimmigrant communities, one of the worst is the practice of grabbing people who show up to courtorimmigration appointments. Keeping official appointmentswith the government is, on its face, evidence of the person’s attempt to comply with the rules, however confusing and contradictory theymay be. That, back in the day,was another conservative value. Or so Ithought.

Earlier in this wrongheaded escapade, we saw afew reversals around here,when the people targetedwere so sympathetic that someone with the Trump administration’sear intervened. So good for U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise for helping widely loved constituent Donna Kashanianand for U.S. Sen.

John Kennedy forworking to secure arelease from detention for Paola Clouatre, amilitary spouse and momoftwo small children

Yetthese interventions are not proof that the system works but evidence that it doesn’t. Such consideration and sympathy seem available only to the few who manage to find their wayinto the headlines, not the many who are caught up in this mess, knowing that the rule of law might well not apply to them. That’sone more supposedly conservative casualty of this disgraceful chapter in our country’s history

That the Border Patrol is now headed our way hits particularly hard, because Louisiana is aproud melting pot that, on its best days, welcomes all who make life more interesting, more flavorful and more productive. Indeed, as recently as two decades ago, locals celebrated as heroes the immigrant workers who did so muchto put their lives back together after Hurricane Katrina,and in many instances stayed.

Louisiana maybeared state, but turning our backs now,for nothing more than awrongheaded political agenda, isn’tconservative in the least.

In fact, it’sradical. And hypocritical. And downright un-American. And if anyone should get that, it’sthe people who call our kind, welcoming state home.

EmailStephanie Grace at sgrace@theadvocate.com.

NewOrleans isn’tjustsick; it needsmajor surgery

During the New Orleansmayoral campaign, we learned that the citywas facing adeficit of about $65 million. That wasn’tgood.The city’sfiscal health became an important issue, especially for mayoral and City Council candidates —and ultimately for the state, which was looked at as abackstop for its largest city As time went on, however,there were guesses, grumblings and rumors that the deficit might be even larger In time, the estimate climbed, and it’snow $160 million

The city is not healthy

The city is not just sick

The city needs major surgery New Orleans doesn’tneed a visit to the doctorand aprescription for amedicine that will make it feel better.Itneeds ascheduled hospital stay with emergency surgery and atreatment plan. Still, part of being healthy means doing things that continuetomake us healthy,making healthy choices

anddealing withdisease, illness andsickness whenthey arise. New Orleans Mayor-elect Helena Moreno has received a disturbing yet realistic report from Mayor LaToya Cantrell’sadministration laying out more details about thetroubles we’ve seen andtroubles on the horizon. In the 422-page report, some of theitems identified as needing immediateattention include theobvious —budget constraints andsanitation contracts —and some significant needs,including emergency and hazard responses, dealing with state and federal government actions and adecliningpopulation as well as “vulnerable” buildingstock and assets. With thestart of anew year comingsoon,there’salso the matter of how to pay for all of the extra law enforcement help New Orleans needs during the Carnival season. That is achallenge. If you’veever wanted to know more about how New Orleans op-

erates, this is your chance. Youcan get agood overview of the report and some pressing needs by reading astoryreported by this newspaper’sBlake Paterson and Sophie Kasakove afew days ago. If you want toknow more, call up thetransition report and dig in. It’sa lot todigest.I really want toknow more, much more, aboutwhat’s going on, so I used my old Evelyn Wood reading approach to look at the overall subject matter,tolook at the subsections and to determine how long it might takemetoread the report On average, for most of us, reading withregular pacing, it would take at least eight to 10 hours to read the entire document. I’m sure someofyou did better than Idid with Evelyn Wood, so maybe you can read it in as little as five or six hours. If you want touse thefastest path to finish, it might takeyou two hours to adequately skim theentire document If you want ashortcut toget

somekey insights, read the executive summary,read Cantrell’s accomplishments section for memories about somegood times, glance at thefirst pages of each department summaryand jump to projects summary. Warning: There are details such as names, titles,departmentnames, email addresses, street addresses, committee names andzeros where there is no money available for somethings.

It’sgoing to take me sometime to get through this thing, but I thought I’d give you my preliminary impressions. Moreno and her 300-person-plus transition team have been hard at work digging into the city’sfinancial health woes, and now they have an extensive inside analysis. This is no Band-Aid situation. Cantrell handed off atroubled patient in need of an experienced budget and deficit specialists. Unfortunately,that’snot Mayor-elect Moreno. Fortunately,Moreno knew before she got the report that she’d have to build ateam

of specialists whocould jump into the report as soon as it was received so they can provide the chief surgeon with painful, toughto-swallow options to avoid permanent amputations. This is going to hurt.

The city is in fordeep cuts, a reduction of already poor city services and more. Major surgery must be scheduled to remove all or someof what is causing pain and to repair or replace damaged tissue or organs.

Moreno’sproviding her own diagnosis, immediate triage to stabilize the city through the end of the year and asurgery plan to get it into and through the next budget year One of the best things Moreno can do is to be honest, open and specific about what it’sgoing to take forustoget better —and, if she can, prescribe someanesthesia to limit the pain.

Email Will Sutton at wsutton@ theadvocate.com.

Quin Hillyer

Stephanie Grace Will Sutton

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

KiffinWatch dominatesday, despitenoend

NORMAN,Okla. In the longhistory of LSU football, there may never have beensuch an “Awshucks” tag attached toadisappointing come-from-ahead defeat as what took place here Saturday with the Tigers’17-13loss at No. 8Oklahoma.

That’sbecause while LSUwas losing abruising, blustery battle with the Sooners, Tiger fans everywhere had their attentionfixated on trying to win the war for Lane Kiffin.

in termsofits protracted fight withOle Miss for Kiffin’sservices. Butnothing is over until it’sover,isit? If this football season —the one that saw Brian Kelly’sdemise as theLSU coach and prompted the Tigers’ full-court press for Kiffin’sservices in the first place —has taught us anything, it’sthat you can’t takeanything for granted in thered zone.

Scott Rabalais

By Saturday night, it appeared LSU was nearing thatvictory,with sourcesand multiple reports indicating that Kiffin would at some point beleaving Ole Miss to coach the Tigers. In other words,LSU was in the red zone

All of this madefor about 36 hours of enthralling, exhausting and ultimately excruciating theater At first,weall wondered whether there might be someannouncement from Kiffinafter OleMiss beat Mississippi State 38-19 Friday in the Egg Bowl. Then after hisson Knox’s high school playoff game

Friday night. Then following ascheduled meeting (after hot yoga) Saturday morning with OleMiss athletic director Keith Carter that got pushed to Saturday afternoon. Then things got pushed to thefinal tick of Saturday night’s gamebetween Alabama and Auburn, asuddenly relevant set piece in this slowly evolving dramabecause aBama loss in the Iron Bowl would have put Ole Miss in itsfirst-ever SEC championship gamenext Saturday Weaved into all of this melodrama was how bravely LSUcarried the fight to Oklahomaall afternoon, pushing the Sooners’ College Football Playoff hopes to theedge ä See RABALAIS, page 5C

Oklahoma’s bigplay thwarts LSU’s upset bid

BY WILSON ALEXANDER Staff writer

NORMAN, Okla. Frank Wilson stepped off a small stage outside the visitors lockerroom insideOklahomaMemorialStadium and looked at ahandful of media members.

He knew the LSU players had the chance to end arough season on ahigh note if afew thingshad gone differentlySaturday afternoon.

“I wanted it for them,” said Wilson, the LSU interim coach. “They played hard.” LSU led No. 8Oklahoma latein thefourth quarter,but it made acritical defensive mistake and couldn’tdoenough on the offensive side in a17-13 loss. Unable to complete the upset, LSU ended the regular season on a disappointing note as the Sooners likely secured their spot in the College Football Playoff. Locked in adefensive struggle on awindy and cold night, LSU led 13-10 in the fourth quarter.But acoverage bust let wide receiver Isaiah Sategna run wide open down the seam, and he caught a58-yard touchdown with 4:16 remaining. Wilson andthe players made available said they were “notsure” what went wrong without watchingthe film. LSU (7-5, 3-5 SEC) droveinto Oklahoma territory on the ensuingpossession, but sophomore quarterback Michael VanBuren’spass was knocked away as he rolled outonfourth and 2. With the game sealed, Oklahoma played“Set It Off” overthe stadium loudspeakers It wasatoughlossfor ateamthatcame well short of its goals. Playing itsfourth game under Wilson, LSU had chances to knock Oklahoma (10-2, 6-2) out of playoff contention.

LSU intercepted Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer three timesand made it difficult for Oklahoma to sustain drives. The Sooners went 4for 15 on third down and 0 for 1onfourth down. Theyonly averaged

ä See LSU, page 4C

BAYOURELIEF SPORTS

BY TOYLOY BROWNIII Staff writer

Southern entered Saturday’sBayou Classic battle with Gramblingdesperate for aseason-ending victory during one of its worst seasonsin school history The Jaguars’ desperation was rewarded as they took down Grambling28-27 in the 52nd annual Bayou ClassiconSaturday at theCaesars Superdome. They clawed back from 14 points down in the second quarter and took alead for the first time with 7:16 left in the game. The game marks the first time since 2002 that Southern(2-10, 1-7 SWAC) beat Gramblingwithaninferior record in the Bayou Classic, when it won 48-24 under coach Pete Richardson. “Wetriedtoovercomeall our adversities during the courseofthis year, andweput together agood game plan to come in and focus on what we

had to do on the course of the Bayou Classic,” said Southern interim coach Fred McNair,whose team snapped a nine-gamelosingstreak.“My biggest thing to these young men,‘Don’t give up. Don’tever give up. Give up on this with something that you love, you give up on life.’ ” The go-ahead touchdownwas courtesy of Khalil Harris, who pulledin a34-yard pass fromquarterback Cam’Ron McCoy, giving Southern a one-point advantage midway through the fourth quarter

The touchdownwas the second big-time play made by McCoy in the quarter. The juniormoved outofthe pocket to evadepressure andthrew adeep 51-yard pass to Cam Jefferson, who made adiving catch. That driveconcluded with Trey Holly’s 9-yard rushing touchdown that cut Grambling’slead to 24-21 with13:38 remaining.

Southernwide receiver Cam Jefferson celebrates atouchdown against Gramblingduring thesecond halfon Saturday.

AP PHOTO By ALONZO ADAMS

defensiveback Peyton Bowen

BROADCASTHIGHLIGHTS

2p.m.Real

Alabamaescapes Auburn with win

BY MARSHALLDOWNING Associated Press

AUBURN,Ala.— Ty Simpsonand Isaiah Horton connected three times for touchdowns, and No.10Alabama escaped Auburn witha2720 victory in the rivalryknown as the Iron Bowl on Saturday night.

The Crimson Tide advanced to face fourth-ranked Georgia in the Southeastern Conference championshipgame next weekinAtlanta. Alabama (10-2, 7-1) beat Georgia 24-21 on theroad in theregular season.

The Tide were on theropes againatJordan-HareStadium

After leading 17-0 early in the second quarter,they found themselves tied in the waning minutes.

But Simpson found Horton on afourth-and-2 play from the Auburn 6with 3:50 remaining. It was their thirdhookupofthe night, including 6- and 3-yard scores in the first half.

Simpson completed 19 of35 passes for aseason-low 122 yards. Horton finished with five catches for 35 yards, with all three scores coming in the red zone. Alabama won despite totaling 276 yards.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByVASHAHUNT Alabama wide receiverIsaiah Horton, left, grabs atouchdown passinfront of AuburndefensivebackKensley Louidor-Faustin on Saturday in Auburn,Ala.

Alabama’sJam Miller ranfor 83 yards beforeleaving with an injury Ashton Daniels led Auburn(57, 1-7) with 259 passing and 108 yards rushing. Malcolm Simmons hauled in two long passes, includinga 64-yarder fora touchdown

and a66-yarder that set up ascore. Daniels had the Tigers on the movelate, takingadvantage of apass-interference penaltyand

scrambling fora first down on fourth-and-2,but star receiver CamColeman fumbled with33 seconds left.

Top-ranked Ohio Stateremains unbeaten

By The Associated Press

ANNARBOR, Michigan Julian Sayin

threw three touchdown passes, including a35-yarder to Jeremiah Smith on afourth down in the second quarter,and No. 1Ohio State beat No. 15 Michigan 27-9 in adominant performance.

The defending national champion Buckeyes (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten, No. 1CFP) likely earned afirst-round bye in the College Football Playoff. They can keep their top seed with a win against No. 2Indiana (12-0, 9-0, No. 2CFP) in the conference championship game Saturday night in Indianapolis.

Ryan Day should sleep well, a year after losing The Game when histeamwas favoredbyabout three touchdowns. Theupset extendedhis losingstreakinthe seriestofourgames andsparked speculation he might also losehis job.

“We’re going to win with humility,” Day said, chokingup, onthe field in an interview with Fox.

The Wolverines (9-3, 7-2) started strong with twofieldgoals andan interception on the first three possessions of the game, but couldn’t generate pressure when OhioState wanted to pass.

No.12VANDERBILT45,No.18TENNESSEE

24: In Knoxville,Tennessee,Diego Pavia threw for 268 yards and a touchdown and ran for 165 yards andanother score to lead Vanderbilt to awin over Tennessee.

Sedrick Alexander rushed for 115yards andthree touchdowns and Vanderbilt (10-2, 6-2 SEC,No. 14 CFP) generated 582 yards of total offense against its in-state rivalwhile keepingits hopesfor a berth in the College Football Playoff alive.

Joey Aguilar threw for 299 yards and aTDfor the Volunteers (8-4, 4-4, No. 19 CFP). DeSeanBishop had 97 rushing yards and two scores.

NO.13MIAMI 38, NO.24PITTSBURGH 7: In Pittsburgh, Carson Beck passed for 267 yards with three touchdowns and an interception as Miami beat Pittsburgh to keep itsslim hopes for aspot in the ACCtitle game alive, at least for afew hours. The Hurricanes(10-2, 6-2 ACC) need several other outcomes across the league to go their way later Saturday to earn aspotinthe conference championship next week in Charlotte. Beck connected on 23 of 29pass-

Lions centerRagnow fails physical, won’t play in ’25

FrankRagnow’sseasonisover before it started.

The four-time Pro Bowl centerfailed aphysicalbecause of a hamstring strain, days aftercoming out of retirement, the team announced Saturday

The Lionssay Ragnowreported to the team’straining facility Friday and an exam showed he has an injury that will prevent him from playing this season.

The29-year-old Ragnow wasreinstated off the retirement list on Wednesday in amovewelcomed by theLions, whohavemissed him on the offensive line this year.His replacement, Graham Glasgow, was ruledout withakneeinjury forthe gameagainst the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving, a gameDetroit lost. Ragnow stepped away from the gamelast June.

Steelersput LT Jones on injuredreserve list

The Pittsburgh Steelers placed left tackle Broderick Jones on injuredreserve Saturdayahead of a visit from the Buffalo Bills. Pittsburgh alreadyhad ruled Jonesout witha neck injury suffered in the fourth quarter of last week’sloss to the Chicago Bears. Jones now will miss at least the next four gamesfor Pittsburgh(6-5). Andrus Peat will start in place of Jones and will be in charge of protecting Aaron Rodgers’ blindside against the Bills (7-4). Pittsburgh also elevated cornerback AsanteSamuel Jr.tothe 53manroster. TheSteelerssignedthe four-year veterantotheir practice squadearlierthismonth. Samuel had been afree agent after undergoing neck surgery in the spring.

Ramswaive kicker Karty, want him on practice squad

TheLos AngelesRams have waived kicker Joshua Karty,who held the starting job for 11/2 seasons before being replaced by Harrison Mevis earlier this month.

Ohio State widereceiver Carnell Tate, left, runs past Michigan defensive back JadenMangham for atouchdown on SaturdayinAnn

es to finishthe regular season with a74.7% completionpercentage, tops in the FBS and anew program record

No.11BYU 41, UCF21: In Provo, Utah, Bear Bachmeier threw for 289 yards anda touchdown to help BYU beatUCF

LJ Martin added 95 yards and three touchdowns on theground for the Cougars (11-1, 8-1Big 12, No. 11 CFP) who clinched aspot in the Big 12 championship game next Saturday wherethey will face Texas Tech forasecond timethis season.Parker Kingstonadded181 all-purpose yards and twotouchdowns.

No. 8OREGON 26, WASHINGTON 14: In Seattle,Malik Benson had aseason-long 64-yard touchdown catch with 7:55 to go in regulation and Oregon beat Washington to all but cement aspotinthe CollegeFootball Playoff. The wide receivercaught apass from DanteMoore around midfield, split twoHuskies defenders and raced to the end zone to give Oregon (11-1, 8-1Big Ten, No. 6 CFP) a26-14lead.

No.7TEXASTECH49,WESTVIRGINIA 0: In Morgantown, West Virginia, Behren Morton threw for310 yards and three touchdowns, linebacker Jacob Rodriguez scored hissecond offensive TD in as many games, and TexasTech beatWestVirginia in theRed Raiders’ finaltuneup before theBig 12 championship game

Texas Tech (11-1, 8-1 Big 12, No. 5 CFP) had already clinched aspotin thetitle game againstNo. 11 BYU in Arlington, Texas, when Arizona

State lost to Arizona on Friday night. But the Red Raiders had plenty of motivation,needing awin over the Mountaineers to continue their trajectory toward at least hostinga first-round home game in the College Football Playoff. No. 17 VIRGINIA 27, VIRGINIA TECH 7: In Charlottesville, Virginia, J’Mari Taylor became thefirst Atlantic CoastConference running back since 2021 to run foratouchdown and throwfor ascore in the same gameasVirginia beat Virginia Tech to clinch aspot in the conference championship game.

Taylor ran for 80 yards and a score and quarterback Chandler Morris threwfor 182 yards and ran8 yards for atouchdown as the Cavaliers beat the Hokies for just the second timeinthe last 21 meetings between theschools Virginia (10-2, 7-1 ACC) turned an interception off adeflected pass on Tech’s firstpossessionintoa touchdown and never looked back.

No.24TULANE 27,CHARLOTTE 0: In New Orleans,Jake Retzlaff ranfor two short scores,settinga Tulane single-season record for touchdowns rushing by aquarterback,and the Green Wave clinched atie for first place in theAmerican Conference with avictoryoverstruggling Charlotte.

Thevictoryalso ensured Tulane would host the American title game next week. The league uses the College FootballPlayoff rankings as atiebreaker in the standings, and Tulane (10-2, 7-1, CFP No. 24) was the conference’sonly team withsuch aranking.

Tulane will host North Texas,

which along with Navy finished theregular season in athree-way tie withTulane atop the American. North Texas beat Navy this season. No.19USC 29,UCLA10: In Los Angeles, Makai Lemon caught a32yard touchdown pass after being benched for thefirstquarter,and King Miller rushed for124 yards and two scores in USC’swin over UCLA JaydenMaiavapassed for257 yards and hit Lake McRee with aTDpass in the fourth quarter for the Trojans (9-3, 7-2 Big Ten), who finishedanunbeaten season at the Coliseum by pulling away from theirarchrivalstowin the crosstown showdown for the third timeinLincoln Riley’sfour years as coach.

Late Friday

No.2 INDIANA 56, PURDUE 3: In West Lafayette,Indiana,Kaelon Black had twotouchdownruns andFernando Mendoza andRoman Hemby each ranfor scores as Indiana beat rivalPurdue, completing the first perfect regular season in school history and securing aBig Tenchampionship game berth. Indiana celebrated by hoisting the Old OakenBucket in the series’100th trophy game,whileCurt Cignettibecamethe first Indiana coach sinceBoMcMillinin193435 to winhis first two matchups againstPurdue. Purdue(2-10, 0-9) endured more misery in the coldest gameever played at Ross-AdeStadium, with akickoff temperature of 24 degrees Fahrenheit.The Boilermakersclosed coach Barry Odom’sfirst season witha 10th straight loss andposted their second straight winless season in conference play, the first since 1919-20.

No. 16 TEXAS27, No.3 TEXASA&M 17:

In Austin, Texas, Arch Manning threw atouchdown pass and ran for the clinching scorelateinthe fourthquarter and Texas beat Texas A&M to spoil theAggies’ undefeated season and knock themout of the Southeastern Conference championship game.

Manning’s 29-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Wingo in thethird quarter gave Texas (9-3, 6-2 SEC, No, 16 CFP) a13-10 lead in what had been atight,defensive game. His 35-yard run up the middle on thirddown with 7:04 left to play put the Longhorns up 27-17.

The Rams (9-2) made the move Friday before traveling to face Carolina on Sunday Los Angeles replaced Karty with Mevis three games ago, and Mevis has made13straight extra points and twofield goals without amiss, stabilizing the Rams’ chaotic kicking unit.

The Rams arehoping to re-sign Karty to their practice squad, coach Sean McVay said Friday He missed only three of his 34 field-goal attempts last season, but Karty missed five of his 15 fieldgoal attempts and missedthree extra-point attempts, sometimes because of pressure and blocks, before gettingbenched this season

Orioles acquire reliever Helsley on two-year deal

The Baltimore Oriolesadded Ryan Helsley to theirbullpenon Saturday,agreeingtoa two-year contract withthe free agent reliever

The 31-year-old Helsley has an opt-out after one season. Baltimore has been active as it looks to bounce back from alastplacefinishinthe AL East this year.The Orioles wonthe division in 2023 and madethe playoffs as a wild card in 2024. Outfielder Taylor Ward wasacquired in atrade with the Los Angeles Angels on Nov.18.

Helsleybecame oneofbaseball’s best relievers while spending his first six-plus seasons with St. Louis. The right-hander went3-1 with a3.00ERA and21saves with the Cardinals last year before he was traded to the Mets.

Hawks guard Young set to miss two more weeks

Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young is expected to missatleast twomoreweeksashecontinues his recovery from asprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee.

The Hawks on Saturday said Young continues to makegood progress after missing one month after the injury on Oct. 29 in a117112 win at Brooklyn. The team said Young will be reevaluated in two weeks. At the time of the injury,the Hawks said an MRI showed Young avoidedananteriorcruciate ligament injury Young alreadyhas missed 15 games. He would miss at least seven additional games if his rehabilitation continues two more weeks.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By RyAN SUN

Arbor,Mich.

SOUTHERN28, GRAMBLING27

THREEAND OUT: TOyLOy BROWN’STOP

EXCELLENTRUN GAME

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RESILIENCE

For the first time since Aug. 30, Southern celebrated awin.The victorycame in agamethat practically embodied the challengesSouthern faced this season It trailed aftergoing down 14-0 in the first period. Grambling made standout offensiveplaysthat appeared to demoralize Southern. Instead of bowingout, theJaguarsplayedharder and smarter in big moments, such as Cam’RonMcCoy’s 34-yard TD throwfor the go-aheadscore. Southern mademistakes but continued to fight.

2

Thestrength of the offense wasalways supposed to be therunning game. In the biggest game of theseason, the Jaguars’tailbacks, along withtheir offensiveline, stepped up the most.Southernhad 204 rushing yards to Grambling’s 85. BayouClassic MVP Barry Remo invigoratedhis unit on the second offensiveplayofthe third quarter.His 51-yardtouchdownrushchangedthe tenor of thegame. Southerndoesn’t win without the sophomore’s 14.3 yards per carry.

3

STORYBOOK ENDING

Southern’s undisputedleader,CkelbyGivens, was the playertoofficially ice thegamewithafumble recovery with32seconds left.The reigning SWAC DefensivePlayerofthe year thought his senior year would see aconference championship game and aCelebration Bowl appearance.While that didn’t happen, Givensremained committed. Despite not having aSWACtitle aftermaking two championship game appearances, he still ended his four-year career at Southern meaningfully.Heneverlost to Grambling

RIGHTING THESHIP

Underinterim coachMcNair, Jaguarswin theone game that mattersmost

recovered.

The drive home Fred McNair made each day from Southern University’s practice facilitywasn’talways easy since he took over as the Jaguars’ interim head coach.

There was alot for McNair to ponder as he tried to rally ateam that fell way below expectations this season.

So low,infact, that head coach Terrence Gravesgot fired afterseven games.

So low,the programwas on the verge of having its worst seasonin90years.

The noise around theprogram’sdismal season was blaring as loudasthe Human Jukebox’strumpet section.

“Many nights Ihave driven home from the stadium to the housetryingtothink of some encouraging wordsfor thenext day,” McNair said. “Countless hours and nights Ididn’tsleep just worrying about this program and where it’s going to go. Worried about these young men and the things they havetodotostay above water.”

Saturday was sink or swim for theJaguars.Theyhad one last chance to save a few scraps from aroughseason.

They delivered witha stunning 28-27 victory over rival Grambling in the 52nd annual BayouClassic at Caesars Superdome.

Continued from page1C

McCoy got the start Saturday,his first since Oct. 11 when the Jaguars fell 45-14 at Bethune-Cookman When McNair wasasked about his quarterback’splay,hesaid he was happy with how McCoy rose to the occasion.

“I was always trying to teach them, you know,get rid of theball early,” McNairsaid. “I thought he did agreat job at times in getting rid the ball, and for the touchdown pass he threw,itwas on time. So I’mverypleased with theway he stepped inand threw the football, and also he ran the football.” McCoy finished with 148 yards passing and atouchdown,completing 6of18passes. Southernnearly cost itself the game after it was penalized for running into Grambling kicker Josh McCormick on a54-yard field goal

When you hear coaches speak at the Bayou Classic press conference on the Monday before thegame, you’re guaranteed to hear at least one of them say “throw the records out the window.”

Well, Southernwould have been glad to throw its record out thewindow.The Jaguars had won just one game before Saturday. Their lone other win came way back in late August against SWAC cellar dweller Mississippi Valley State.

So it’sunderstandable why Southern fansand players erupted theway they did when Jaguars defensive end Ckelby Givenspounced on afumble with32secondsleft to seal the win. Youwould have thought theJags had punched aticket to theSWACtitle game, which is what the expectationswere when theseason began. They were picked to win theconference’swest division, but thingswent off therails early and they never quite

attempt,giving the Tigers another set of downs. But the Southern defenseresponded to keep Grambling(7-4, 4-4) out of theend zone leading to asecondfailed field goal attempt by McCormick from 43 yards out with 2:18remaining. On the next possession,Southern had athree-and-out after after takingoveratits own 26-yard line with 2:13 left. After aSouthernpunt, Grambling tookoveratits own 37 with 1:58 remaining.The Jaguars finally put the game to rest when defensive endCkelbyGivens recovered afumblebyGrambling running back Andre Crews with 32 seconds left. Demetrios Walker was credited with the forced fumble. The turnover allowed Southern to avoid becomingthe first Jaguars team since 1935 to finish the season with just one win. McCoy struggledearly to connect with hisreceivers. In his first fourdrives, there were three three-and-outs

Butbeating Grambling made abitter season atad bit sweeter.Italways does, as Southern players reminded everyone in the Dome who stuck around forthe postgamecelebration.

Southern finished 2-10, but it wasanother record that was posted on awhite board that was paraded around the field. It simply read “4-0,” which is how the Jaguars have fared over the past four seasons in the Bayou Classic.

With thewin, Southern avoided what would have been its first one-win season since 1935. Grambling finished 7-5, an improvement from last season when it went 5-7 in Joseph’sfirst season.Joseph says his team is heading in the right direction.

Jaguar Nation is hoping the samecan be said about Southern this timenext season as it tries torebound from atrying 2025.

It’ll be up to former NFL running back great Marshall Faulk to get them back on track. Faulk is expected to be officially named Southern’shead coach any day now

Faulk,whose football journey took him from Carver High School in New Orleanstothe ProFootball Hall of Fame, knows athing or two about what it takes

Thedefense kept the Jaguars in the game, putting pressure on the Grambling backfield. AfterGreysonLaFleur had afourth-down sack on Southern’s40-yard line during Grambling’sfirst drive, Jerome Wallace had athird-down sack to end Grambling’snext drive. Earlier in the possession, Wallace blewupanend-around play for aGrambling receiver The Tigers eventually reached the end zone in the first quarter Freshman quarterback Hayden Benoit threw aslant pass to wide receiver AndrewFrazier, who broke aSouthern tackle for a70yard reception and was brought down by safety ElijahWest9 yards from theend zone. Grambling went into ahurry-up offense and instantly earned atouchdown with a9-yardpass to Baron Miles for atouchdown with 3:44 left in thefirst quarter McNairtemporarily took McCoyout andreplacedhim with junior Ashton Strother with 23

to be agood running back. So he will love having the duo of Barry Remoand Trey Holly,two backs whowill give him something to work with. Remo(seven carries, 100 yards) and Holly (18 carries, 61 yards) combined for161 yards and three touchdowns in the Bayou Classic. The Jaguars now have bragging rights with Grambling forthe next 365 days. But in Baton Rouge, the standard is so much higher.They don’twant to just dominate the Tigers. They want to dominate the SWAC.

It’s atall task, but one Faulk will be up forbased on somewords he spoke at his Hall of Fame induction in 2011 —the words of wisdom his father had imparted to him

“Ifyou are ever traveling on aroad and there are no speed bumps, you are headed foradead end,” Faulk said in that speech 14 years ago. “Lifeisachallenge.”

Southern had plenty of speed bumps this season. And getting back on track can be achallenge.

Just ask McNair,who wasable to do it in the one gameSouthern fans wanted to winthe most.

Email RodWalkeratrwalker@ theadvocate.com.

seconds left in thefirst quarter Strotherhad started the previous five games Strother threw apass high on thirdand 15 from his own 25-yard line. The ball wastipped by Jefferson with onehand and intercepted by Grambling’sTyrell Raby,who was broughtdownatthe Southern 28-yard line. Grambling took advantage of theturnover when Benoit came up with awell-throwntouchdown pass to the right side of theend zone to wideout Keith Jones. The Tigers took a14-0 lead at the 10:52 markofthe second quarter Grambling’sfirstsizable mistake helpeddeliverSouthern’sfirst score. With 9:31 left in the second period, Strother escaped the pocket from his own43-yard line on second and8.When Strother wasfully outofbounds, defensive linemanBryce Cage tackledhim withhis shoulder on the front of Strother’s helmet. Grambling was charged a15-

yard personal foul penalty, which landedSouthern on the Grambling 41. Strother remained on the ground forseveralminutesbut managed to walk to his own sideline. He was seen walking around on the sideline in the second half McCoy re-entered and on his first play,hecompleted his second pass in his first eight attempts to Harris fora27-yard gain. In the red zone, Southern relied on Holly,who punched in a2-yard touchdownup the middle.Southern trailed 14-7 with 6:52 left in the secondquarter. Grambling took a17-7 lead after a39-yard field goal with 4:39 left in the half Southern tailback Barry Remo injected enthusiasm into his team on the second play of its first drive after halftime. The sophomore ripped off a51-yard rushing touchdown, breaking four tackles in the process. After the extra point, Southern cut its deficit to 17-14. Remo finished with seven carries for107 yards and atouchdown.

Rod Walker

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Southerninterim head coach Fred McNair signals on the field during the second half of the 52ndannual BayouClassic against Grambling on SaturdayatCaesars Superdome.

OKLAHOMA 17, LSU 13 BOX SCORE

LSU wastes another stellar defensive effort

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

LSU had chances to pull off an upset Saturday in its 17-13 loss to Oklahoma because its defense forced three turnovers and seven punts. Its offense, however, just kept failing in key moments — as it has all season Because the Tigers (7-5) scored only 13 points on Saturday, they finished the regular season without a single game in which they scored more than 25 points against an FBS opponent for the first time since 1978, when Division I split into two levels.

1-2,

1-1. Oklahoma, Sategna 9-121, Kanak 6-54, Burks 4-61, Jav.Gibson 3-66, Helms 1-16. MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.

Buren runs during the second half of a game Saturday in Norman, Okla., against the Sooners.

LSU picked up only 198 total yards against the No. 8 Sooners (10-2) 113 passing and 85 rushing. It picked up just nine first downs and converted only 2 of 14 third-down tries. The Tigers also punted nine times.

At halftime, LSU’s leading passer was a wide receiver — ZavionThomas He completed a 17-yard pass to tight end Bauer Sharp in the first quarter on a trick play

The play was one of just four on which the Tigers gained at least 15 yards.

The offensive struggles were one of the primary reasons why coach Brian Kelly and offensive coordinator Joe Sloan were fired after an Oct 25 loss to Texas A&M — and why Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin emerged as the primary focus of the search to find Kelly’s successor

The Tigers began their loss to Oklahoma ranked 14th among SEC teams in total offense and 15th in scoring offense. The only time they scored more than 25 points this season was when they put up 56 points in a Week 4 win over Southeastern Louisiana of the FCS.

Entering the last week of the regular season, LSU was one of only four FBS teams that had scored at least 25 points only one time this year

Saban talks Kiffin

Former LSU and Alabama coach Nick Saban said Saturday on “College Gameday” that he thinks Ole Miss should let Kiffin coach in the postseason even if he accepts the head coaching job at LSU.

Kiffin said on Friday after the Rebels defeated Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl that he’d seek advice from Saban and longtime NFL coach Pete Carroll as he tries to come to a decision between Ole Miss and LSU.

“I think Lane’s decision is going down to one thing,” Saban said, “and that thing is just what (Marty Smith) said. Where is the place that I can recruit the best players? And I think one of Lane’s apprehensions is that he’s had to use the portal to build his team at Ole Miss each year

“And at LSU, he could probably recruit better talent and then just supplement his team by need with the portal. That’s probably the dilemma that he has, as well as his loyalty to his team that he’s coaching now that he wants to be able to continue to coach. It’s a tough thing.”

Curne injured

Freshman offensive lineman Carius Curne limped off the field during pregame warmups on Saturday, and an LSU spokesperson said he was out with a leg injury

The Tigers were already missing two offensive linemen for their game against Oklahoma — center Braelin Moore and right tackle Ory Williams Moore suffered a mid-foot sprain last week against Western Kentucky, according to the team’s radio broadcast. He was ruled out Wednesday

Curne started each of LSU’s last four games at left tackle in place of Tyree Adams, the redshirt sophomore who underwent tightrope surgery for a high-ankle sprain he suffered in the Tigers’ Oct. 18 loss to Vanderbilt. Adams returned to the field on Saturday He started at left tackle next to left guard Coen Echols, center DJ Chester, right guard Josh Thompson and right tackle Weston Davis That reworked group didn’t help the LSU offense find a rhythm. The Tigers, in yet another disappointing showing, averaged only 2.9 sack-adjusted yards per carry Delane, Weeks return Both linebacker Whit Weeks and cornerback Mansoor Delane returned to the field Saturday. Both stars were active for LSU’s win over the

Hilltoppers last week, but Weeks played only the first half, while Delane didn’t log a single snap. Delane revealed on Nov 19 that he’s been battling a core muscle injury for most of the season. Weeks said on Tuesday that he had broken his surgically repaired ankle late in the Tigers’ Sept. 27 loss to Ole Miss. He played through that injury two weeks later in a win over South Carolina, then sat the next four contests. On Saturday, Weeks recorded two tackles. Delane had five. Series history

Until Saturday, LSU never had played a game at Oklahoma. The Tigers and the Sooners had met four times before – twice in the Sugar Bowl (1950 and 2004) once in the Peach Bowl (2019) and once in Tiger Stadium (last season). The 2004 meeting between the two teams doubled as that season’s BCS title game. LSU won 21-14 to take home its second national championship. Oklahoma now has two wins in the series’ five matchups.

2.7 yards per carry But Mateer also had seven completions of more than 15 yards, and LSU only turned one of his turnovers into points.

“I would say it was frustrating, but it’s football,” LSU running back Caden Durham said “Stuff’s going to happen, and we’ve got to bounce back.”

Playing what has been the best defense in the SEC without multiple starting offensive linemen, LSU had just 198 total yards. It went 2 for 14 on third down and averaged 3.6 yards per play Still filling in for injured senior Garrett Nussmeier, Van Buren went 14 of 25 for 96 yards with one touchdown and an interception in his third straight start.

“We were going to do the things to allow the game to be in the balance at the back end of it,” Wilson said. “That may not have required us to drop back every play and try to launch it. They did and it cost them three interceptions Unfortunately, we didn’t cash in on all of them.”

The game followed a similar script to so many others this season for LSU. The defense kept the score close, but the offense could not capitalize on enough of its chances. On Oklahoma’s opening drive, LSU senior defensive end

to win,” Guillory said. “Everyone counted us out. We felt like only the people in this locker room felt like we could win. It wasn’t necessarily weird It was like giving your all at something and not finishing, not accomplishing your goals.”

AP PHOTO By ALONZO ADAMS

LSU quarterback Michael Van

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ALONZO ADAMS

Oklahoma linebacker Owen Heinecke, right, tackles LSU running back Ju’Juan Johnson during the first half on Saturday in Norman, Okla.

1

DEFENSECOMES TO PLAY youknewifLSU was going to have achanceinthis game the Tigers were going to have to rely heavily on their defense. LSU intercepted John Mateerthree times, the second by AJ Haulcy to set up aMichael VanBuren to Zavion Thomas touchdown pass.Afourth-downstop near midfieldalsoset up asecond-quarter fieldgoal.TheTigers finallyhad ahugecoverage bust late in thegametoallow the winningOUscore.

2

OFFENSE STRUGGLES AGAIN

Considering Oklahoma had the best defense LSU faced allseason paired with ahowlingnorth wind makingdownfield passingdifficult, it wasn’tsurprising theTigers had difficulty movingthe ball onceagain.LSU managed just 198 total yards, but it took advantageofthe defensivesetups to do just enough to stayinthe game until the end.Afamiliarrefrain, the Tigers managed just three points on their firsttwo trips inside the OU 10.

TOUGHNESS DESPITETROUBLES

3

Certainly this 2025 season has not been what LSU wantedorhopeditwould be. But despite all the firings, issuesand injuries, theTigersdeserve praise fornevergiving up afterBrian Kelly was fired Oct.26. Saturday’s near-upsetmade LSU2-2 in thepost-Kelly partofthe season, and 1-4 in road games,all against ranked teams.Again, not stellar,but underthe circumstances, something to build on for whatevercomes next.

‘UNBREAKABLE’BOND

Baker’sdefense puts on ashowfor next head coach

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

LSU defensive coordinator BlakeBaker’sunit didn’thave much to play foron Saturday in Norman,Oklahoma

The Tigers’ season had already gone off the rails. No CollegeFootball Playoff appearance. Anew coach was on his way. Allwhile being pairedwith an offense that had disappointed week afterweek LSU had littletoplay for against Oklahoma, facing aSoonersteam that was a win away from clinching its spot in the CFP. And yet, it was LSU —and specifically, Baker’sdefense —that playedasif it wasasingle victory frommakingthe playoff for most of Saturday’s game,not Oklahoma

LSU received little help from its offense again, butthree interceptions the second of which set up LSU’slone touchdown —were enough to nearlyupset the Sooners in a17-13 defeat.

Despite the loss, it was still thekind of performance that may leave Tigerfans wondering how LSUcan retain Baker as the defensive coordinator moving forward, whether Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin becomes the next coach or not.

“Blake Baker and our defensive staff put those guys in position to dowhat they do well,” LSU interim coach Frank Wilson said. “They did so,they took to coaching. They bought in, and theyplayed compliments of one another.”

LSU’soffensehad just 66 totalyards at halftime. Sophomore quarterback Michael VanBuren had 7passing yards on four completionsinthatspan, finishing the game completing14of25throws for 96 yards.

Despite its offenseproducing next to nothing,LSU’sdefense held Oklahoma to 155 yards in the first half. The group forced three turnovers, aturnover on downs and five punts beforethe Sooners found the end zone.

LSU’sdefense didn’tcrack untilthe end of the third quarter when ascreen pass to wide receiver Deion Burks against ablitz turned into a45-yard touchdownthattied the score at 10.

“The game is important forus, and our intent always is towin the game,” Wilson said. “But forour footballteam, thebond,the brotherhoodhas been unbreakable through all that they’ve been

RABALAIS

Continued from page1C

of extinction. It wasn’tuntil an enormous coverage bust on a 58-yard John Mateer to Isaiah Sategna touchdownpass with 4:16 left that the Tigers’ fatewas sealed. Within moments, theattention of all whofollow or cover LSU football turned from what would have beensomethingofa season-salvaging upset back to Kiffin Watch 2025

I’m just surprised the internet didn’tcrash from people clicking on their refreshbuttons from Tioga to Tupelo and well beyond, trying to figure out whether there was word on Kiffin’sdecision In the interest of full disclosure,

through, and they’ve been through quite alot. They haven’tgiven up on one another.”

The interceptions proved to be key for the Tigers, thesecond of which setup LSU’s lone touchdown. SeniorsafetyAJ Haulcy’sinterception early in the third quarter was returnedfor 42 yards, setting up afour-play,33-yard touchdown drive that handed LSUa10-3 lead.

LSU’sfirstinterception from redshirt junior linebackerHaroldPerkins also placedthe Tigers in aprimespot to score, but VanBuren threw an interception on first andgoal to hand the ball right back to theSooners. The Tigers’ third takeaway —freshman cornerbackDJ Pickett’ssecond interception in as many weeks —prevented the Sooners from addingatleast three points.

“Wewantedtogoout thereand make astatement,” fifth-yearseniordefensive tackle Jacobian Guillorysaid. “We wanted to take as much pressure off the offense as we did.”

LSU’sdefense played with speed,physicality and was well-coached from start to finish.But two mistakes prevented the unitfrom throwing atrue gem.The first error was the Burks touchdown. The sec-

Ijust hitthe refresh button on my computer as well. AndI’m checking everysocial-media notification on my phone just in case it’s

TheKiffin Notification.

After theOklahoma game, there was no senseofpanic from the LSU camp about Kiffin, but no sense of certainty,either Dispatches from national sports mediaoutlets keptfloating out on thechilly November air,but collectively this is all they said:

“Lane is leaving Ole Miss, unless he isn’t.”

And on and on andonitwent. I’mfairly certain thefolks in Punxsutawney are going to rename GroundhogDay to Lane KiffinDay (Hit refresh button, internet just froze, but still no final word). This is obviously thehangup:

ond mistake cost theTigers the win.

Leading by afield goal with less than five minutestoplay, abusted coverage allowed widereceiverIsaiah Sategna to run wide open downfield foraneasy 58yard score. The touchdown proved to be thefinal nail in LSU’scoffin.

“I’m notreally sure,” sophomore cornerbackPJWoodland said when asked about what happened on the go-ahead touchdown. “Wejusthave to go back and watch film on it, but I’msure it was a little simple mistake.”

Saturday was stilla playoff-worthy performance from LSU’sdefense, aunit that has played to that standard formost of theseason. LSU entered Saturday fourth in theSoutheasternConferencein pointsallowed per contest. It was also in the tophalf of the SEC in yards allowed per gamethrough theair and ground. Much of that credit should go to Baker,especially given the subpar circumstances in which those results have been produced.LSU upgradedits talent defensively over the offseason, but it’salso a credit to Baker that it has seen improved play from returning contributors—Guillory andWoodland come to mind —while Pickett has emerged as astar freshman.

Kiffin wants the LSU job, but he wants to coach Ole Miss in the postseason almost as much. Ole Miss would rather never utter thewords “Hoddy Toddy” again than do that, though even acompromised Kiffinprobably would give theRebels their best hope to advance in the CFP Things got so stemwinding Saturday waiting for Kiffinnews, LSU fans actually wereinthe distastefulposition of rooting for Alabama to beat Auburninthe Iron Bowl so that OleMisswould not get to go to the SEC championship game, adetour that threatened to prolong the Kiffin marathon. That didn’thappen, though, as Alabama held on for a 27-20 victory The one thingabout all this high-priced delay of gameiswhat

“DJ is aphenomenal player,”Woodland said.“He’s an excellentplayer, goingto workeach andevery day, watchingfilm together,just building upon each other.” LSU is set to lose the majority of its starters on defense this offseason. Senior cornerback Mansoor Delane has arguably been the best cornerback in college football. Fifth-year senior defensive tackle BernardGoodenand Guillory have played consistently well on theinterior of the defense. Perkins’ speed will likely be missed. But if Baker has proved anything in this lost season,it’sthathe’sthe right man to rebuild the unit next year around the likes of Pickett and Woodland. Whether Kiffin —orwhoever is the Tigers’next coach —agrees is still anybody’sguess.

“We’ll bring the team in on Monday and do all those important things, exit interviews,ifyou will, theback endof theseason,”Wilsonsaid.“To have real conversations with student athletes, andwhatwill become asigning day, followedbya portal(window). And how do we manage and love on and protectour team andadvise themproperly as they move forward? And so, no, it doesn’tstop forusatall.”

has been true about this whole saga since LSU fired Kelly on Oct. 26 and swiftly madeKiffin its top target.Kiffin had anearly infinite number of chances to end it all by signing acontract extension to stay at Ole Miss. He never did, and in the end, Ole Miss has to admit one painful but obvious thing: He’sjust not that into you. (Hit refre …no, I’dbetter not).

As for the Oklahomagame, the Tigers put the appropriate coda on this season that started with thepromise of a17-10 winatthenNo. 4Clemson and ended up going nowhere.

LSUplayers never gave up, never just mailed it in, but never could quite put it all together, either.The offense scored three pointsonits first twotrips to the

Oklahoma10-yard line, but later took advantage of aJohn Mateer interception to set up its lone touchdownofthe day The LSU defense picked off Mateer twoother times but couldn’t pick up Sategna when it counted. LSUisn’tanawful team,but at 7-5, therecordistelling. For thefirst time sincethe NCAA Division I-A/I-AA split in 1978, LSUhas gone andentire regularseason without scoring more than 25 pointsagainst aI-A/FBS opponent.Thatsaysasmuch aboutthe Tigers’ flawsasanything. And howmuchtheyneed Kiffin.

Let me just click that refresh button one moretime.

Email Scott Rabalais at srabalais@theadvocate.com

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTOByALONZO ADAMS

Oklahoma running back Tory Blaylock runs the ball between LSU safety Tamarcus Cooley,left, and cornerbackMansoor Delane for a firstdownduring the first half on SaturdayinNorman, Okla.

OUTDOORS

State effort targets better opportunities on bass

BY JOE MACALUSO Contributing writer

Now that cold fronts are taking care of the duck and goose hunters — yes, there are many more ducks in our state now than at this time last season — and deer hunters are enjoying chilly mornings in their stands, it’s good to know that fishermen both in freshwater and along the coast are enjoying their outdoor time, too

Even as early as Tuesday, waterfowl hunters noticed a new influx of ducks and another late-in-the-week cold front held the promise of more birds.

Hunters need to have the proper licenses and, in some cases, special stamps and certificates to be legal.

For now, reports about terrific sac-a-lait catches and sporadic trout and redfish hauls pique fishermen’s interests while working the oxbow lakes and the coastal marshes and lakes.

For bass fishermen, the news from Wildlife and Fisheries is Inland Fisheries Section biologists and managers have heard your pleas.

Earlier this month, the agency announced the first steps in “... developing the state’s first ever stakeholder-driven Black Bass Management Plan.”

The stated target is the conservation, management and increased fishing opportunities for largemouth, spotted and Florida-strain bass across our state. It’s about time There is little argument that bass are our state’s most popular sport fish and just about evert corner of Louisiana benefits from the economic effect bass fishermen bring to their locales.

This new plan, Wildlife and Fisheries folks said, establishes “... a long-term vision for managing these iconic species and the diverse bass fishing opportunities that make Louisiana truly special.”

It calls for setting up a Stakeholder Working Group, a collaboration of fishermen, guides, tournament organizers and conservation organizations as a companion to the newly announced “comprehensive black bass angler survey”

MONDAY-TUESDAY

STATE COMMERCIAL FISHING

LICENSE RENEWAL: 9 a.m.-

noon & 1-3:30 p.m., LDWF office, 1025 Tom Watson Road, Lake Charles. Also: Wednesday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-noon & 1-3:30 p.m., LDWF office, 200 Dulles Drive, Lafayette; Dec.

8-10, 8 a.m.-noon & 1-3:30 p.m., LDWF office, 2045 Lakeshore Drive, Suite 438, New Orleans; Dec. 15-17m 8 a.m.-noon & 1-3:30 p.m., LDWF office, 468 Texas Gulf Road, Bourg. Call (225) 765-2898.

THURSDAY LA. WILDLIFE & FISHERIES COMMISSION MEETING: 9:30 a.m., Joe Herring Room, state Wildlife and Fisheries headquarters, Quail Drive, Baton Rouge. HUNTING SEASONS

DOVES: South Zone, through Nov. 30 & Dec. 13-Jan. 11; North Zone closed.

DEER/MODERN FIREARMS: Through Nov. 30, State Deer Areas 3, 7, 8 & 10, still-hunt only

DEER/MODERN FIREARMS: Dec. 1-Jan. 4, State Deer Areas 3, 7, 8, with/without dogs

DEER/MODERN FIREARMS: Through Dec. 2, State Deer Area 2, still-hunt only

DEER/MODERN FIREARMS: Dec. 3-Jan. 11, State Deer Area 2, with/without dogs.

DEER/MODERN FIREARMS: Through Dec. 5, State Deer Areas 1, 4 & 6, still-hunt only

DEER/MODERN FIREARMS: Through Dec. 5, State Deer Areas 5 & 9, bucks only except either-sex take allowed Nov. 30.

DEER/MODERN FIREARMS: Dec. 6-Jan. 4, State Deer Areas 1 &4, with/without dogs.

PROVIDED PHOTO

Lucas Ragusa, left, and Duane Pittman show their winning bass at the Media Bass Team Championship on Sam Rayburn Reservoir earlier this year Earlier this month, the Inland Fisheries Section announced the first steps in “ developing the state’s first ever stakeholder-driven Black Bass Management Plan.

GET EVENTS IN FOR 2026 CALENDAR

Jan. 5 is the deadline for submitting activities and events for The 2026 Advocate Outdoors Calendar scheduled to be published Jan. 11.

Please include the event’s name/title, time, date and location including the site, address and city Also include all fees, age limits or skill requirements, beneficiaries for fundraising events, and full name of the contact person with the area code & phone number and/or email address. Email: jmacaluso@theadvocate.com

to develop a list of priorities for bass fishermen for the 10-year management plan.

The angler survey went online Nov 19. It invites bass fishermen to the agency’s website: surveymonkey com/r/YC78TGP The survey will accept input through Dec. 7.

Wildlife and Fisheries biologist Zane LeBlanc (email: zleblanc@wlf.la.gov) is heading up this program.

Flounder

The season on flounder opens Monday after six weeks of a closed season. Coastal reports during the closed season holds the promise of flounder on the table until the water temperatures get too cold

Young hunters

Wildlife and Fisheries is teaming with the Louisiana Wildlife Federation to gather

DEER/MODERN FIREARMS: Dec. 6-Jan. 18, State Deer Areas 5 & 9, with/without dogs, bucks only except either-sex take allowed Dec. 6-7 & Dec. 13-14.

DEER/MODERN FIREARMS: Dec. 6-Jan. 18, State Deer Areas 6, with/without dogs.

DUCKS/WEST ZONE: Through Dec. 7, includes coots & mergansers. GEESE: Through Dec. 7, West Waterfowl Zone. Includes Canada, blue, snow & Ross’ & specklebellies. Take of Canada geese prohibited in portions of Cameron & Vermilion parishes.

SNIPE: Through Dec. 7, first split, statewide.

DUCKS/EAST ZONE: Through Dec. 8, includes coots & mergansers.

GEESE/CONSERVATION ORDER: West Zone, Dec. 8-19; East Zone, Dec. 9-19, first segments. Limited to take of blue, snow and Ross’ geese only. No daily nor possession limits. Hunters allowed to use electronic calls and shotguns capable of holding more than three shells.

RAILS/GALLINULES: Through Jan. 7, statewide.

DEER/ARCHERY: Through Jan. 15, State Deer Areas 3, 7, 8 & 10. Either-sex take allowed.

DEER/ARCHERY: Through Jan. 31, State Deer Areas 1, 2 & 4. Either-sex take allowed.

DEER/ARCHERY: Through Feb. 15, State Deer Areas 5, 6 & 9, either-sex take allowed.

QUAIL, RABBITS & SQUIRRELS: Through Feb. 28, statewide, private lands only. AROUND THE CORNER

LSU men cruise to title in Florida

BY LES EAST Contributing writer

LSU’s first road trip of the season went quite well.

The Tigers won their first game away from the Pete Maravich Assembly Center by defeating Drake 7162 on Friday in the Emerald Coast Classic, then routed DePaul 96-63 on Saturday night to win the championship in Niceville, Florida. Pablo Tamba scored 14 points; Max Mackinnon, Mike Nwoko and Jalen Reece had 13 each; Dedan Thomas and Robert Miller scored 12 each; and Rashad King added 11 to lead LSU (7-0), which shot 69% from the floor

Forward Jalen Reed, who’s averaging 9.5 points and 5.7 rebounds this season, didn’t play after leaving Friday’s game late in the second half with a lower-leg injury

The Tigers won their five home games by an average of 28 points, and the smallest margin was 17. Head

coach Matt McMahon said after Friday’s nine-point win that the team’s inability to “put away” Drake, which beat Georgia Tech 84-74 to claim third place on Saturday, “was good for us.”

The championship game looked a lot more like the home games against outmanned opponents, although it was LSU’s first game against a power-conference opponent. DePaul entered the game with a 5-2 record.

The Tigers led by 28 points at halftime and expanded the lead to as many as 35 points in the second half.

The next benchmark for the Tigers comes Wednesday night when they play on an opponent’s home court for the first time as they face Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, as part of the ACC/ SEC Challenge.

LSU, which trailed for just 14 seconds against Drake, never trailed

against DePaul. The Tigers’ fast start was triggered by consistently scoring inside and sharing the scoring load.

They scored the first six points of the game and led by six four more times before expanding the lead. Mackinnon scored five points, Thomas converted a three-point play and King became the seventh LSU player to score as the lead reached 27-10 midway through the first half.

Kruz McClure, who scored a team-high 22 points for DePaul, made a jumper to end a three-minute scoring drought for the Blue Demons, but the Tigers pushed the lead to 18. CJ Green made a 3-pointer for DePaul, but LSU went on a 13-3 run to take a 4318 lead. The margin grew to 50-22 at halftime as eight Tigers scored and the team shot 68% from the floor, 57% on 3-pointers and 80% on free throws.

Joe Macaluso

entries for the 2025 Youth Hunter of the Year Award contest.

A panel of judges will select one boy and one girl 15 and younger (at the time of his or her hunt during 2025) from Louisiana who “... best represented the joy, thrill and camaraderie of hunting.”

To enter, the young hunter must complete and submit an application, then submit a photo from the hunt and short story written by the youth detailing the hunt. Only one submission per youngster and previous winners are not eligible. Apply on the federation’s website at lawildlifefed.org/ youth-hunter The deadline is Jan. 30.

Agents academy

Wildlife and Fisheries is accepting applications for its 38th Enforcement Academy set to begin in March.

DEC. 10: BUGS & BEERS: 6:30 p.m., Skeeta Hawk Brewing, 455 N. Dorgenois Street, New Orleans. Fly tying. Open to the public. Email A.J. Rosenbohm: ajrosenbohm@ gmail.com. Website: neworleansflyfishers.com

DEC. 11: JUNIOR SOUTHWEST

BASSMASTERS AWARDS BAN-

QUET: 7 p.m., Seminar Room, Bass Pro Shops, Denham Springs. Call Jim Breaux (225) 772-3026.

DEC. 11: RED STICK FLY FISHERS BANQUET: 7 p.m., Broadmoor Methodist Church, Sharp Road at Mollylea Drive, Baton Rouge. Email Brian Roberts: roberts.brian84@ gmail.com Website: rsff.org

FISHING/SHRIMPING

SHRIMP: Fall inshore & outside waters open statewide.

OPEN RECREATIONAL SEASONS: Gray triggerfish; lane, blackfin, queen and silk snappers & wenchmen among other snapper species; all groupers except closed for goliath & Nassau groupers in state/federal waters.

CLOSED SEASONS: Red snapper; flounder (recreational/ commercial take closed through Nov. 30); greater amberjack; bluefin tuna; gag, goliath & Nassau groupers in state/federal waters. Commercial greater amberjack season closed. LDWF UPDATES CLOSED: Hope Canal Road/ boat launch (Maurepas Swamp WMA, levee construction).

ROAD CLOSURE: Section of La. 975 through Sherburne WMA closed through June 12, 2026 (replace bridge) access from U.S. 190 and I-10 open.

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

The first month of the season is almost over, and the LSU women’s basketball team is still waiting for its first real challenge of the year None of the first eight mid-major teams on its schedule provided it Not Tulane. Not Georgia Southern. And definitely not Washington State — the 1-7 team from the zombie Pac12 that flew down to the U.S. Virgin Islands and picked up its first win of the season on Friday when it beat Miami-Ohio 71-67.

Their prize for that victory? The right to get blown out by the No. 5 Tigers (80), who cruised to a 112-35 win on Saturday to take the Reef Division of the Paradise Jam tournament and close the first chapter of their fifth season under coach Kim Mulkey Next up for LSU is the marquee matchup of its nonconference slate: an ACC/SEC challenge road game against Duke. That matchup will tip off at 8 p.m. Thursday The Tigers should have confidence they can win. They’re riding one of the best starts to a season in

women’s college basketball history Until Friday, no NCAA team had ever scored at least 100 points in seven consecutive games. LSU became the first when it beat Marist 113-53 in its Paradise Jam opener That game shook out much like the six that preceded it — and the one against Washington State that followed it.

When Flau’jae Johnson drove the lane late in the first quarter, cradled the ball, ripped through one defender and flipped a layup past another, LSU’s lead climbed to 20. The Tigers went on to take a 29-8 advantage into the second, a 54-17 lead into halftime and an 84-32 differential into the fourth. Johnson, a senior, was one of six LSU players to score in double figures. She finished with 16 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Mikaylah Williams added 12 points, five rebounds and two assists. MiLaysia Fulwiley tallied 12 points, five assists and two steals.

LSU also received productive nights from forward ZaKiyah Johnson — a freshman who notched 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting — and point guard Jafa Richard, a sophomore who

followed up her 11-point showing on Friday with a season-best 14 points on Saturday The Cougars shot only 27% from the field and turned the ball over 31 times.

LSU scored 25 more points on Friday alone (113) than it allowed across both games it played in the tournament (88). Duke should, at least, hold the Tigers under 100 points. Last season, on a per-possession basis, the Blue Devils were one of the 10 stingiest defensive teams in the country They reached the Elite Eight, nearly snuck into the Final Four and began this year as an AP preseason top-10 team. But Duke has struggled to start the season. It has already dropped five games — to No. 15 Baylor, No. 21 West Virginia, South Florida, No. 2 South Carolina and No. 3 UCLA. A loss to LSU would give the Blue Devils a fourth straight defeat and drop their record to 3-6, giving them a steep hill to climb once ACC play begins in January LSU has played a much lighter schedule. That’s part of the

Corsen-

(Tarul 2, Bruschuk 1, Fischer 1, Williamsen 1) Technical Fouls: None Marist 5 9 20 19 — 53 LSU 21 37 31 24 113

A_2,224

Officials_Jeffrey Smith, Rod Creech, Cynthia Do Men’s state schedule Thursday’s games None scheduled. Friday’s games Southeastern 76, Garner-Webb 68 Tulane 82, Nicholls 72 Jackson State 51, UL 45 LSU v71, Drake 62 Saturday’s game LSU 96, DePaul 63 Southeastern 69, Navy 65 Louisiana Tech 83, Alcorn 58 Southern 75, Northwestern State 73 Men’s national scores EAST Army 81, Manhattan 78, OT Bowdoin 75, MIT 68 Bowie State 70, District of Columbia 63, OT Buffalo 71, Canisius 53 Colgate 85, SUNY-Oneonta 50 Columbia 92, Sarah Lawrence 44 Daemen 74, Clarion 64 Dartmouth 87, Saint Peter’s 61 Detroit Mercy 70, Niagara 66 Farmingdale State 75, Wesleyan (CT) 73 Gannon 95, Virginia State 53 Glenville State 86, Seton Hill 76 Harvard 56, Bryant 53 Hofstra 78,

PHOTO By RANDy BERGERON

SAINTS GAMEDAY

FOUR THINGS TO WATCH

ESTABLISHTHE RUN

ROSTERS INJURY REPORT

OUT:

QUESTIONABLE:

FIXRED-ZONEWOES

Nothingelsewillmatterifthe Saints don’t solvetheir issues in thered zone.OrshouldI saythe dead zone,since theoffense seems to dieonceinside the20-yard line.The Saints havescored touchdowns just 34.5%ofthe timesthey’ve reachedthe red zone,which easily rankslastin theleague. They scored 58% last season,sothe drop-off has been significant under first-year coachKellenMoore.The Saints missed on aTDfromthe 1-yard line on twodifferent drives in last week’s loss againstthe Falcons. That can’thappenand beat the Dolphins.

Thisone maybeeasier said than done for aSaints offense that averages just 91.5 yardsrushing per game. It’ll be even more difficult since Alvin Kamara (knee/ankle)will be out. The Saints will have to rely on rookie Devin Nealwith adoseofTaysom Hill. Thegoodnewsisthe Dolphins aren’t greatatstopping the run, yielding 142.6 yards rushing per game, which also ranks 29th.Theygaveup172 yards on the ground in their last game twoweeksago againstthe Washington Commanders.But theyheld Bills RBJames Cook to just 53 yards the week beforethat

STOP THERUN

Miamirunning back De’Von Achane is theNFL’s fourth-leading rusher with 900yards.His 5.5yards per carryaverage ranks thirdinthe league.It’ll be averylongday for theSaintsifAchane is gettingyards in chunks like that.BackupRBOllie Gordon came in andrushedfor 45 yardsinthe Dolphins’last game to go with Achane’s 120 yards. TheSaintsdid adecent jobagainst AtlantaRBBijan Robinson (14carries,70yards) last week andanevenbetterjob againstCarolinaRBRicoDowdle (18carries,53yards)the game before that.They’ll need asimilar effort Sunday.

CREATE TURNOVERS

Snatching turnovers is possible against Miamiquarterback Tua Tagovailoa, whoistied with Raiders QB Geno Smithfor the league lead with 13 interceptions Saintssafety Justin Reid gotapick-six against the Falcons, the Saints’ lone touchdown of the game.The struggling offense coulduse all the help it can getfrom Brandon Staley’sdefense.Winning the turnoverbattle and giving the offense favorable field position would makethings easier.It’ll help if Saintsedgerushers Cam Jordan and Chase young can spend some time in Tagovailoa’sface and force him to makebad throws

1 2 3 4 Rod Walker

Saints offenseneeds leader in worstway

If you’ve been watching theNew Orleans Saintsthis season, you know their offense is less than stellar.

It’sthe holidayseason,soI’m trying to be kind here.

The Saints rank last in the NFL in scoring andhavemanaged to score just onetouchdown in the first quarterall season. Never have we felt further away from theDrew Brees-Sean Payton days than we do now.

Myriadreasonsexist as to why the unit is so bad, starting with thepersonnel.The quarterbacks areinexperienced,and the skill-position players lack explosiveness. Throw in an inconsistent interior offensive line,some shoddy execution andcurious play-calling by coach Kellen Moore, and, well, you have arecipe forananemic offense.

Butthere’sanother,less conspicuous issue that hasconspired to undermine the unit. It’scalledleadership,and the Saints havestruggled to find it on offense.

It’snot that theSaints don’thavegood people on that side of theball. Thereare plenty of them there. It’sjust that that Saints’ best offensive players have not always been their best leaders. And their best offensive leaders have not always beentheir best players. It tends to work best when youhaveboth,withBrees beingthe shining example. Truth be told, this hasbeen an issue forthe Saints for acoupleofyearsnow While the defense has enjoyed stalwart leadership from Demario Davis, Cam Jordan, Tyrann Mathieu andnow Justin Reid, the offense has struggled to find like-mindedleaders.

Chris Olave is aterrificplayer,but he’s quiet, more of alead-by-example type Ditto TaysomHill andAlvin Kamara. They’ve never been vocal, rah-rah guys. They lead with their play,production and daily presenceatpractice andingames. What’smore, Hill andKamarahavesuffered through subpar seasons andare on thewrong side of 30 with their best years likelybehind them.

Injuries to Kamara andErikMcCoy andthe recenttrade of BrandinCooks has exacerbated thesituation.Those were the three offensive captains. Now, they’re allout. Cook was released.McCoy is out for the season with atornpectoral muscle. And Kamara is sidelined by a balkyknee.

Thatleaves agapingvoid in leadership andexperience. Tight end Juwan Johnsonisthe only offensive starter olderthan27, andhejustturned 29 in September.The offensive starting lineup against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday is expected to have three rookies and three second-year players.

But opportunity often exists in chaos, and the unusualcircumstances could force some of theyoung Saints to step up andgrow up in ahurry Rookie quarterback Tyler Shough and young tackles Kelvin Banks and Taliese Fuaga were captains in college. All three have been leadersontheir respective teams at previous levels. It’stheir time at this level.

“It’sall aboutopportunity for these guys,”Moore said. “... The voices are starting to rise, andI think that’sagood thing. Those guys are finding their space, howtheycan lead,and their ownpersonality andtheir own situation. Obviously, it’s going to be an important development thing for ourroster as we continue to grow.”

The obvious choice is Shough. One of the reasons the Saints liked Shough so much as adraft prospect was his strong leadership traits. Behind the scenes, he’s quietly asserting himself with teammates and coaches. With Kamara, McCoy and Cooksout of thepicture, he should become even morecomfortable in a leadership role. It’stime for him to take command.

To this point, Shough admirably has

been ago-along, get-along guy.Hefully understands and appreciates the hierarchy of the locker room and his place in it as arookie. But the offense is in desperate need of someone to take command. He might not feel ready,but the offense needs him to take charge.

“You have to (lead) in your ownway,” Shough said. “That’ssomething Ireally believe in, just being yourself. I’m hoping to do everything Ican to kind of voice all those things (as aleader). I’ve just been trying to take advantage of every opportunity and communicate the best Ican.” Shough’solder teammates say he has started to earn their respect with his confidence and comportment.

“You feel his presence,” Hill said. “You feel confident with him in the huddle. He knows what’sgoing on. He has put the time and energy into learning the system and understands the intricacies of what’sgoing on. He has areally positive, great presence in the huddle and at the line of scrimmage. As afan base, you can feel that. As ateammate and in the locker room, you feel that as well.”

Improving the leadership on offense should be atop priority in the offseason. Ideally,the Saints will find aveteran player or twoinfree agency to fill the void the way Davis and Reid have done on defense. It should also be top of mind in the draft.

Shough, Banks and Fuaga are anice core to build an offense around, but it can’tstop with them.

LUKE JOHNSON

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Saints quarterback

Shough throws apass against the Atlanta Falcons at the

DIVING IN

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GERALD HERBERT

Saints safety JustinReid runs an interception backfor atouchdownasAtlanta Falcons wide receiver

David Sillstries to make atackle in the first half of agameNov.23atthe Caesars Superdome.

Prairieville native Reid hasemerged as ‘anincredibleleader’ with Saints

BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer

In three seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, Justin Reid won two straight Super Bowls. He made athird. The safety won so many games duringthose years that he became well-versed on the standardittakes to perform at such ahigh level week in and week out. In those three years,the Chiefs lost only 11 regular-season games.

Reid’sfirst season with the New Orleans Saints has been decidedly different.

“I’ve always been aguy who likestodive in where I’m at,” Reid said

That dive is why Reid hasn’tregrettedsigning with the Saints, monthsafterheinked athreeyear,$31.5million deal to join his hometown team. Yes, the losses —alreadynineofthem ahead of Sunday’sgame against the Miami Dolphins —have frustrated the Prairieville native. Andsure, the money probably helps. But in his eight years in the NFL, Reidhas realized he finds enjoyment in the journey.His four seasons with the Houston Texans might have, insome ways, provided as many valuable lessonsashis three with the Chiefs.

And he’sready to share with whoever’swilling to listen.

“Justin is an incredible leader,” coach Kellen Mooresaid.

“He’sveryvocal, very passionate,” rookie JonasSanker said.

During aseason thathas been as rough as many on theoutside expected,Reidhas emerged as an important voice in the team’s locker room.The 28-year-old captainhas not let the whiplash of goingfrom adynastytoa rebuild affect how he approachesmaking an impact for his new teammates. Instead, Reid is focusedonthe momentsthatshape games Take last week’sloss to the Atlanta Falcons.As fast as NewOrleans’ defensestartedagainst its divisional rival, Reid said he could tell that the Saints were “flyingaround so quickly”thatthe Falcons would eventually try ascreen passto gash the unit. And so, Reid warnedthose around him —and sure enough, he was right. In the fourth quarter,Atlanta’sBijan Robinsonbroke free on second-and-23 fora32-yard gain that helped ensure the Falcons neverlostthe lead. To Reid, the Robinson play wasn’ta reflection of the Saints failing to listen to him. It was more of an example of how the Saints can use themoment to grow

“The NFL is the toughest sport in theworld, man,” Reid said. “I think Ibring some perspective, because I’ve lived almost everysideof the coin. Having areally good team that didn’tmake it through theplayoffsmy first two years, to ateam that struggled in my thirdand fourth year,to a dynastic team those next three years, to the season we’re in right now

“I felt that gives me alot of perspective on wherewe’re at and what we need to work on and continue to build. Ijust try to share that with the guys.”

This is where Reid wanted to be. During free agency, he seriously considered offers from three teams: The Saints, the TennesseeTitans and the Eagles. Of those, the Eagles would have provided Reid an opportunity to contend for another

championship. Philadelphia, after all, beat KansasCityinthe SuperBowl andislooking to go back-to-back. But theallure of theSaintswas too much to pass up. It wasn’tjust that the money was right, or that his family memberstexted him to come home. Rather,asReid mulled the decision, he discussed hischoicewithhis brotherEric— a former LSU star who went on toplay for seven years in the NFL.

They lovedthe ideaof“having the whole state on lock,” Justin said. Therewas anostalgia playing forthe black andgold, andReidalsoloved theidea that his newborn daughter could grow up around hercousins andthe rest of the family

“It just made sense,” Reid said.

Thesentimental value of the move hasn’tquieted Reid’simpact —especially on the field. As much as the safetyhas provided as aleader this season, Reid has reinforced those words with his play.Hescored NewOrleans’ lone touchdown against theFalcons on apick-six, displaying an impressivecutback afterthe interception to get into theend zone.

Defensive coordinator Brandon Staley said Reid’sperformance was the fourth straight game in which thesafety hasplayedata“really high level.” That also provides an example for Sanker and therest of the safeties on how to play, Staley said.

“He’s just oneofthese glue intangible guys that every defense would love to have,”the coordinator said.

Sanker agrees. By playing across from Reid, therookie said he’sable to learn so much from watching how theveteran “doesn’thesitate” on plays. He said he’s seen how Reid will recognize plays pre-snap andthentry to limitthose. Reid’s warning of Atlanta’seventualscreen was the kind of thing that happens every week with the safety,Sanker said.

Reid said playerscan’t be effectiveleaders without earning it with their play.But this, too, explains why his signing has been so crucial for the Saintsthis season.

Beforethe season,the Saints namedeight captains. In thelast two weeks, two —Brandin Cooks and Blake Grupe —have been released during unproductive campaigns. Anothertwo, AlvinKamaraand Erik McCoy,are sidelined with injuries. Thatleaves Reid, alongsnapper (Zach Wood)and twolong-time staples (Cam Jordan, Demario Davis). Jordan andDavis have also played well in 2025 but could be in their last year withthe Saints. In his first year with the franchise, Reid has perhaps provided aglimpse of thenext era.

Andif, for whatever reason, Reidis somehownot on the roster by thetime the Saintshave turned things around, he’ll still have helped get them there.

“His focus, his details, the way he plays, theway he prepares it’sreally,really special,” Mooresaid.

“He’s aguy that you just want to show alot of young guys,justsay,‘Hey, watch this guy.’ …He is the perfect example of what it means to be.

STAFF PREDICTIONS

JEFF DUNCAN

DOLPHINS 20,SAINTS16: Amonth ago, this looked like a winnable game,but theDolphinshave come aliveinrecentweeks andare playingwellonbothsides of theball. TheSaintstookamajor step back againstthe Falconslastweekand will need to create some turnoverson defensetopulloff theupset

LUKE JOHNSON

DOLPHINS 23,SAINTS14: It wouldnot surprise me if rookie TylerShoughplays well enough to netthe Saints theirthird winof theyear. This is awinnablegame, even fora team goingthrough a season likethe onethe Saints are, butI’m still notgoing to pick New Orleans. Ilearned my lesson last week

MATTHEWPARAS

DOLPHINS 16,SAINTS10: Dolphins defensive coordinatorAnthony Weaver interviewedfor theSaints’ coaching joblastoffseason,and he hashis unit playingextremely well as of late —evenafter theteamtradedone of itstop pass rushersinJaelanPhillips. That should be enough to swingthis one.

RODWALKER

DOLPHINS 24,SAINTS13: It’s hard to pick theSaintsafter watching the performanceagainst theFalcons TheDolphins, winnersofthree of theirlastfour, aretrendinginthe rightdirection

took

Saints safety Justin Reid STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

agameagainst the Kansas

TOPTOPICS FORWEEK13

Texans stillchasing Colts

TheHouston Texans havewon three straight thanks largelytoasuffocating defensethatincreasinglyhas cranked up thepressureon quarterbacks.On Sunday, theTexanswill seeiftheycan take that show on theroad againstDaniel Jones andthe Indianapolis Colts. Joneshas hadseven turnovers andbeensacked15times in the last four games. He’s also dealing with asorelower leg. Houstonhas wonthree straightinthe series and thelasttwo AFCSouth titles.Awin Sundaywould cutthe Texans’twogame deficitinthe division race in half aftera slow start.

5 2 1 3

Bucs trytosnapskid TheTampa BayBuccaneersopenahome standwiththree gamesin18days whilelooking to snap athree-game losing streak to stay atop theNFC South. QuarterbackBaker Mayfieldisdealing with aleftshoulder sprain andhis status is uncertainsoTampa Bay mighthavetofaceArizona with backup TeddyBridgewater taking thesnaps Cardinalsbackupquarterback Jacoby Brissett makeshis seventhstart filling in forthe injuredKyler Murray. He has played well,thoughthe Cardinalsare 1-5 in hisstartsand havelosteight of nine overall. BucRBBucky Irving is expected to play

Niners face QB Sanders, Browns

TheSan Francisco49ers arelooking fortheir third straight winand to go into theirbye week with momentum when they travel to Clevelandtofacethe Browns on Sunday. QB BrockPurdy struggled in hissecondstart back from a toeinjury, butthe Niners endedup beating Carolina 20-9.Shedeur Sanderswill make hissecond startafter he became the firstBrownsrookieQB to winhis NFLdebut in 30 years. All-Propass rusher MylesGarrett is trying to become the first player with at leastthree sacksinthree straight games. Clevelandistryingtowin twostraightfor firsttimesince 2023

Rams collidewithPanthers

LosAngeles Ramsquarterback Matthew Stafford hasbeennearlyunstoppable this season.Heleads theleaguewith30 TD passes.OnSunday, he facesaCarolina Panthers secondarythat couldbemissing three keyplayers.Cornerback Jaycee Horn,who had twointerceptions against SanFrancisco’s BrockPurdy on Monday night, is in theconcussionprotocoland backup CoreyThorntonwentoninjured reservewithabrokenleg this week.Also, safety Tre’VonMoehrig is facing aonegame suspension forpunching49ers wide receiver JauanJenningsinthe groin. The Rams areplus-12 in turnover differential whilethe Panthers areminus-3

Broncos, Commanders on streaks

TheDenverBroncos havewon eightgames in a row, whilethe Washington Commanders have lost sixina row. Both teamswill putthose streaksonthe line Sunday nightwhenthe Broncos face theCommanders. Each team is coming offa byeweek andexpects to be relatively healthyfor thegame, though the Commanders will be withoutquarterback Jayden Daniels, whocontinues to recoverfromanelbow injury.Denvercontinues its fightfor thetop spot in theAFC with theNew EnglandPatriots, as the Broncosenter Sunday’sgameahalf-game back in theAFC 5 4

Wiggle room disappearing forSteelers, Bills

BY WILL GRAVES AP sportswriter

PITTSBURGH There are many, many things Mike Tomlin loves about coachingfootball. Theurgency created by the limited number of chances to compete is near the top of the list.

“You get 17 opportunities tostate acase for yourself,” thelongtime Pittsburgh Steelers coachsaid And 11 of them are already gone for both Pittsburgh (6-5) and the Buffalo Bills (7-4), who visit Acrisure Stadium on Sunday in agame with playoff-like stakesfor two clubs who haven’talways looked like the playoff teams bothexpected to be when the season began Pittsburgh has dropped fourof six, while the erratic Bills have been chasingNew Englandmost of the season and could see their half-decade run atopthe AFC East all but end with athird loss in four games.

“Weunderstand wherewe’re at,” Buffalo quarterback andreigning NFL MVP Josh Allen said. “At the same time, we havefull confidence in ourselves. But ultimately it comes down to executing on game days. We’vehadsomegood, we’ve had some bad throughout the year.” Thelatest episode of “bad” came aweek ago in Houston, where Allen absorbed acareer-high eight sacks. Now he faces aPittsburgh defense that he has toyed with at times during his career.Allen is 4-1 against theSteelers, includinganeasy victory in the opening round of the 2023 playoffs in which he passed forthree touchdownsand ranfor another

Not much has changed for either side since that meeting. Allenremains asingularforce, though the lack of helpfromhis supporting cast at times is one of the reasons the Bills findthemselves looking up at New Englandinthe standings as December looms.

WhilePittsburgh hasswitched quarterbacks severaltimes in the interim, with Aaron Rodgers getting the OK to return this weekend aftersitting outalosstoChicago with abroken left wrist last Sunday, howitfares against the Bills will rely heavily on whether its star-laden but underperforming defense can finally wrangle Allen.

The Steelers didn’tdomuch of it against the Bears, who took advantage of apoorgame planand apairofPittsburgh turnovers to become thefifth team to reach 31 points against the Steelersthis season.

Thereistimetoturnthings around, but the wiggle room that Pittsburgh enjoyed while getting off to a4-1 start is gone.

“It’s starting tohead intothat December area,” Steelers inside linebacker Patrick Queen said. “You kind of start getting that feeling. The airgetsalittle thin. It’scutthroat time.”

ASSOCIATEDPRESS

Cleveland Browns defensiveend MylesGarrett warms up before a game against the Newyork Jets on Nov. 9inEast Rutherford,N.J

BY JOE REEDY AP sportswriter

Myles Garrett is not thinking about whether he can break theNFL’s single-seasonsack record The ClevelandBrowns AllPro pass rusher is convinced it’samatter of when. Garrett leadsthe league with 18 sacks and needs five in Cleveland’sfinal six games to surpass the 221/2 by Pro Football Hall of FamerMichael Strahan, who did it in 2001 with the New York Giants, and Pittsburgh pass rusher T.J. Watt, who tied it in 2021.

“I don’teventhink aboutit as awant —Ijust think about something that I’mgoing to knock down,” Garrett said Friday as the Browns prepare to host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.“It’salready been written in my mind that it’sgoing just how far I’m goingtotake it. So, just going to go out there and do what Ido,

and whatever numberIend up at.” Garretthad four sacksin last weekend’s24-10 win over theLas VegasRaiders and wasnamed the AFC Defensive Player of the Week.Hehas 14 sacksover thelastfive games, surpassing Strahan’s121/2 in 2001 forthe most in that span since sacks became an official stat in 1982. His 18 sacks are also acareer-high and team record. His previous markwas 16 in 2021 and 2022.

Garrett also knows how manysacks he wants to end up withatthe endofthe season. He told reporters, “It’swritten on my tape, so if y’all fortunate enough to seeit, thenyou all will know.”

Associated Press photos of Garrett fromCleveland’sNov 9gameagainst the New York Jets and last week against the Raiders show the number 25 written on Garrett’sright wrist tape.

PHOTOByADAMHUNGER

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ED ZURGA

IndianapolisColts quarterback Daniel Jones warmsupduring

City ChiefsonNov.23 in KansasCity,Mo.

THE VARSITY ZONE

Quarterfinals provide surprises, records

BY JACKSON REYES Staff writer

The long road to the Caesars Superdome is nearing its end, with schools needing to clear just one more hurdle to reach the state title game.

Here are three takeaways from the quarterfinals of the high school football playoffs for Baton Rouge-area schools:

Zachary continues surprising run

The Broncos are no strangers to deep playoff runs. Zachary has won four state titles since 2015, with its most recent in 2021 Zachary finds itself back in the Division I nonselect semifinals, but this run has been different.

The Broncos (9-3) lost three of their last four games of the regular season and entered the playoffs as the No. 13 seed.

After beating Salmen 48-15 in the first round, the Broncos have turned into road warriors. Zachary then upset No. 4 Denham Springs 44-21 in the regional round.

The Broncos faced No 5 Central in the quarterfinals. The Wildcats beat Zachary 35-33 when the teams met in the regular season at Zachary High School.

Down 27-24 in the rematch, Zachary quarterback Michael Kirby scored on a 4-yard keeper with just 11 seconds left to send his Broncos to the semifinals in a 31-27 win.

Zachary trailed 21-14 at the break but used a big defensive showing to fuel the comeback. Now, Zachary will face No. 1 Ruston (10-2) with a chance to make it to the Division I nonselect state title.

More records for Simon One week after Ascension Cath-

olic senior running back Trevin Simon broke his school’s singleseason rushing record, he sent his team to the Division IV select

BY JACKSON REYES Staff writer

Around this same time last year, the University High football team watched the high school playoffs from home. The Cubs were ruled out of the 2024 Division II select playoffs after a judge sided with the LHSAA, which ruled two of U-High’s players who transferred from Liberty were ineligible to compete. University was on pace for a No. 2 seed, but it had to forfeit its wins from the regular season.

Now, one year later, University High is just one win away from a trip to the Superdome for a chance to win a state title. The No. 4 Cubs (10-2) defeated No. 5 Madison Prep 32-30 in the Division II select quarterfinals on Friday

“We’ve been hungry for this,” senior Lamar Brown said. “They took it away from us last year We’ve just

been playing with a chip and playing for that 2025 class.” Brown, the No. 1-ranked player in the nation, forced a fumble with less than a minute left in the game to seal the win for the Cubs.

The Cubs now go on the road to take on No. 1 St. Charles (11-1) in the semifinals.

“We’re ready to prepare for it,” Brown said. “We’ve got to get that trip to the Dome.”

Cubs coach Andy Martin was proud of how his team played in the win over the Chargers. He gave credit to Madison Prep for how the Chargers competed in the quarterfinal. Forced turnovers were huge for University High. The Cubs recovered four fumbles and also grabbed one interception. U-High scored 16 points off the turnovers.

“When we had to make big plays, we got a few turnovers,” Martin said “When it came time to step up, they

did it. That’s a big part for us.” Every time Madison Prep scored or ripped off a big play, the Cubs found a way to answer The U-High offense had big touchdown runs by senior running back Sage Ingram, and quarterback Ethan McGlynn found Lawson Dixon for a 60-yard touchdown.

“We just played off each other really well,” Martin said. “When the defense needed a break, the offense went on a long drive. They hit some big plays when the momentum was getting down.” Martin is excited for the seniors, who will get to close out their high school career with a chance to book a trip to the state title game.

“I could rattle off a million things on what they do,” Martin said “The unselfishness of this senior class. They’ve been a great group of guys, and they’re going to leave a great legacy behind.”

semis and added a few more records in the process. No. 5 Ascension Catholic (10-2)

defeated No. 4 Catholic-PC 50-42 in the quarterfinals. Simon ran for 400 yards on 40 attempts and five rushing touchdowns.

Simon’s five touchdowns give him 51 rushing touchdowns on the season and 53 total touchdowns. He broke Germaine Williams’ school record of 48 rushing touchdowns set in 1987. His 53 total touchdowns break Chad Elzy’s school record of 50 set in 2023. Simon has 3,401 rushing yards on 266 attempts. The Bulldogs will take on No. 1 Westminster Christian in the semifinals. While a trip to the Dome will be the focus, Simon could make history in the game.

Former Leesville running back Xavier Ford rushed 332 times and set state single-season records

with 3,467 yards and 52 touchdowns in 2024. Simon would need 67 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns to set state records.

Other notable results

No. 5 Plaquemine (12-1) blew past No. 13 Cecilia 47-28 to make it to the Division II nonselect semifinals. The Green Devils have won 12 straight games after a Week 1 loss to Zachary In the Division I select quarterfinals, No 4 Catholic-BR (10-2) used a big second half to defeat No. 5 Alexandria 44-6. The Bears will get a rematch of last year’s semifinal, taking on No. 1 Edna Karr (12-0). Edna Karr has won 11 of its 12 games by double figures. Catholic lost a narrow game to the Cougars last year 21-19, and will look for redemption to reach the Division I select state title.

STAFF PHOTOS By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Catholic defensive back Harrison Kidder, left, and teammates celebrate after a turnover by Alexandria in

third quarter of a Division I select quarterfinal game on Friday at Memorial Stadium.

Catholic quarterback Baylor Graves, center, makes a move as Alexandria defensive lineman Peyton Hobbs, right, gives chase.

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

University High quarterback Ethan McGlynn, center, scrambles in the pocket against Madison Prep in a quarterfinal playoff game on Friday

Trustisn’t given.It’searned. Just like athletes on the field, ourdoctors earn it every day through commitment, precision and passion.Whether you’repushinglimits or recoveringfrom them,you can trust the team that understands both.

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PROVIDED PHOTO FROM THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

FortSt. Jean Baptiste State Historic Site commemorates thefortcommissioned by French commandant and Natchitoches founder Louis Antoine Juchereau de St. Denis. St. Denisestablished the Natchitoches sitein1714, and the fort’s constructionwas completed in 1716.

What was Louisiana’s first settlement?

BY ROBIN MILLER Staff writer

Had it been arace, Louis Juchereau

de St. Denis would have won thegold. The people of Natchitoches know him as St. Denis, the founder of their city.A bust of the French commandantcan be found on the Cane River side of Natchitoches’ bricked Front Street directly across from the LouisianaSports HallofFame. In 1714, St. Denis set upa tradingpost, marking the official beginningofthe settlement that would become the City of Natchitoches. Still, the date 1714 piqued Walker Lasiter’squestion.

“Does Natchitoches predate New Orleans?” the New Orleans resident asked Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne deBienville didn’tset up shop forwhatwould becomeNew Orleans until 1718, four

Thequiet arrivalofa Louisianafall, seen throughthe places we love most

SCENES OF THESEASON

A

BY JANRISHER| Louisiana culture editor

Louisianafall doesn’tshowupwith fanfare. There are no dramatic leaf shows, no sweater weather on command. But for those payingattention, there’sa moment —a singlemorning, usually —whenyou step outsideand think, “Oh. It’s happening.”

Suddenly, thesun feels kinder. The sky looks bluer.The breeze remembers its manners. Eventhose who avoid theoutdoors emerge to gather on porches, docks, trails and tailgates.

Thisisthe season whenLouisiana breathes again. Gumbo is in theair —and thestate feelsmostlike itself.

The newspaper’sphotographers worked to capture that slow, subtle shift: fishermen testingthe water, birds changing their patterns, families reclaiming parks and backyards. They’re ordinary scenes, but each holds alittlespark of the season proof that even in aplace wherefall tiptoes in, it still changes everything. ä More photos. Page 4D

One of my favorite holiday stories is “Good Housekeeping,” aBailey White public radio commentaryfrom some years back. It’sabout White’scomic struggle to clean up herelderly mother’s house for Thanksgiving, achallenge complicated by the elder White’spassion for saving everything Over the course of an exhausting weekend, the house slowlysurrenders its strange keepsakes, which includea turtle skull, “some deadly appliances from the

ä See AT RANDOM, page 4D ä See CURIOUS, page 4D

STAFFPHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK

fishermanheads out on LakeMartin under the light of anearly full moon just before sunrise in St.Martin Parish.

STAFFPHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS Apairoflonghorns graze at Sagrera Farms.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON Abald eagle lands at its nest located on River Road in Baton Rouge.

STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK

SamArvie, of IDI Workspaces, fillsa bowl with gumbo duringthe second annual Superintendent’sGumbo Cookoff in Lafayette.

STAFF PHOTO By HILARySCHEINUK

LSU takes the field before kickoff between the Tigers and the Gators on Sept.13inBaton Rouge.

Veterans ceremony

Gathered at a ceremony honoring seven U.S military veterans employed by Community Coffee are, far left, Donna Saurage, third-generation CC owner; fourth from left, Matt Saurage Sr., chairman of the CC board; and, in no particular order, veterans Terry Alwood, Lawrence Braud, Edward McGruder, Douglas Miller, Stephen Morgan, Brannon Vaughan and Chris White

Community Coffee honors 7 with medals for military service

Community Coffee, partnering with the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs, recognized seven employees with the Louisiana veterans honor medal during a Nov 18 ceremony at the company’s home office in Baton Rouge.

Retired U.S. Air Force Col. Charlton Meginley, secretary of the LDVA, presented the medals to Community Coffee team members in appreciation of their service and dedication to the U.S. and Louisiana. Medal recipients included Terry Alwood, Lawrence Braud, Edward McGruder, Douglas Miller, Stephen Morgan, Brannon Vaughan and Chris White “As a family-owned company deeply rooted in Louisiana, we are proud to partner with the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs to honor the bravery of our employees who have served,” said Matt Saurage Sr., chairman of the board, who spoke at the event. “Their dedication reflects the values our company has upheld for more than a century: service, community and giving back to those who make Louisiana stronger.”

White Light Night

The Elizabethan Gallery hosted its annual ‘Fall Art Show’ in conjunction with White Light Night on Nov. 21. The large show features work from more than 20 artists and in various mediums. Shown are, from left, Carol Creel, Pat Wattam, Cathy Smart, Dana Mosby, Heather Connole, gallery manager Heidi Bergeron, Carol Hallock, gallery owner Liz Walker, Sue Garner, Mariana Lano, Dee Dee Wilbert and Claire Pasqua. Attending but not shown are Keith Douglas, Diego Larguia, Andrea Phillips and Betty Efferson.

Recognition

Sarah

the

At Baton Rouge Gallery

Baton Rouge Gallery, 1515

Dalrymple Drive, is showing exhibits by artist members

Sarah House and Craig McCullen through Dec. 21 Gallery hours are from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. There will be an artists’ reception from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Dec. 3 and an ARTiculate artists talk at 4 p.m. Dec. 7. Admission is free. Visit batonrougegallery.org.

‘Rudolph’ tickets

Tickets are on sale for Playmakers of Baton Rouge’s production of “Rudolph the Red-

Nosed Reindeer,” opening Dec. 5 in the Reilly Theatre Tower Drive, LSU campus.

Tickets are $30 for adults and $20 for students and children. Visit playmakersbr.org. At LSU MOA

The LSU Museum of Art in the Shaw Center for the Arts, 100 Lafayette St., is showing “The Sculpture of Scott, Payton, Hayden, and Bechet” through Jan. 25, and “A Bayou State of Mind” through Jan. 4. Visit lsumoa.org.

‘Home for Christmas’

Tickets are on sale for UpStage Theatre’s production of

ON THE ARTS AND CULTURE SCENE

“Home for Christmas,” opening Dec. 6 on its stage at 1713 Wooddale Blvd., Baton Rouge.

Tickets are $27. Visit upstagetheatre.biz.

‘Elf’ at Sullivan

Tickets are on sale for Sullivan Theater’s production of “Elf,” opening Dec. 4 on its stage at 8849 Sullivan Road, Baton Rouge.

Tickets are $28-$29. Visit sullivantheater.com.

‘Miracle on 34th’

Tickets are on sale for Ascension Community Theatre’s production of “Miracle on 34th Street,” opening Dec. 11

on its stage at 823 N. Felicity St., Gonzales.

Tickets are $18-$33. Visit actgonzales.org.

Holiday Brass

Tickets are on sale for the symphony’s annual Holiday Brass concert at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 4 at St. Joseph’s Cathedral, 401 Main St., Baton Rouge.

Tickets are $40. Visit brso.org. ‘Nutcracker’ tickets

Tickets are on sale for Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre’s annual production of “The Nutcracker — A Tale From The Bayou,” set for four performances

on Dec. 20-21 in the Raising Cane’s River Center Performing Arts Theater, 240 St. Louis St., Baton Rouge.

Tickets are $55.85-$83.30 plus taxes and fees. Visit batonrougeballet.org.

Cangelosi ‘Nutcracker’

Tickets are on sale for the Cangelosi Dance Project’s annual “Holiday Nutcracker,” set for two performances on Dec. 20 at the Dunham School’s Brown-Holt Theatre, 11111 Roy Emerson Drive, Baton Rouge.

Tickets are $25-$45. Email cangelosidp@gmail.com or visit cangelosidanceproject. com.

PROVIDED PHOTO

PROVIDED PHOTO

PROVIDED PHOTO

Retirees Club

The LSU Faculty & Staff Retirees Club held its meeting on Nov. 10, with social time, at the LSU Lod Cook Alumni Center Guest speaker was Robin Miller, features writer at The Advocate. Gathered are, from left, Joe and Brenda Hutchinson, Miller and Don Schneider

PROVIDED PHOTO

Holliday-James was recognized by Our Lady of

Lake Health System as a 12year breast cancer survivor at the Southern University-FAMU football game on Oct. 25. Shown are, Holliday-James, left, and Larry A James Jr

PROVIDED PHOTO

‘Revolution’ premiere Standing under the portrait of Spanish Governor Bernardo de Gálvez at the Old State Capitol on Nov. 16 are, from left, State Rep. Mike Bayham, OSC director Mary Durusau, and LPB president and CEO Clarence ‘C.C.’ Copeland. They were among an audience of about 160 who attended the premiere event of the PBS docuseries ‘The American Revolution.’

TRAVEL

Ride therails forthe holidays

9historictrain journeys in theSouth

BY CHERÉ COEN Contributing writer

It’salways fun to ride the rails of ahistoric train, especially during themed rides where robbers board in old western attire or there’s a mystery to be solved during the two-hour excursion. This time of year,it’sall about the North Pole and Santa. Here are nine Southern train rides that transportpassengers on exuberant holiday outings.

DollywoodExpress:Pigeon Forge,Tennessee

Family friendly Dollywood isa joy any time of year but especially magicalatChristmas duringits SmokyMountain Christmas. Visitors may wander througha winter wonderland glowing with more than six million lights —sometimes with snow Plus,Santa pays avisit,theatrical performances have aholiday theme, and visitors may ride the adorned Dollywood Express and sing asong or two. Theauthentic coal-fired steam enginepulls the open-air passenger carsthrough afive-mile excursion around the park. Learn more at dollywood. com.

Grapevine, Texas

The Christmas CapitalofTexas, with its1,400 holiday-inspired events from now until NewYear’s, includes Santa’sNorth PoleExpress that rolls from the town’s depot and back for atwo-hour holidayride.

Grapevine Vintage Railroad includes Christmas singalongs, specialmoments with Santaand his elves and visits withMrs. Claus during boarding. The train rolls through Dec. 30,except for Dec. 24, 25 and 26. Find out more at grapevinetexasusa.com/christmas-capital-of-texas/north-poleexpress.

TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER

By ChristopherElliott

Americus,Georgia

The Savannah, Americus &Montgomery railroad cars have been restored for aridefrom the train’s original route from Cordele to Plains with astopinAmericus,Georgia

Passengers relax in climate-controlled carsfromGeorgia Veterans State Park, across Lake Blackshear, through Americus and on to Plains, where passengers mayenjoy atwohour exploration of Pres.Jimmy Carter’s hometown.

On Dec. 5-6, the train becomes the Candy CaneExpress.For aone-hour holiday ride, the SAM Shortline offers its Cordele Holiday Train with Santa and hot chocolate. For more information,visit www.samshortline.com.

BlueRidge,Georgia

TheBlue Ridge Scenic Railway leaves the quaint town of Blue Ridge, about two hours northofAtlanta,totravel through the Appalachian foothills of North Georgia to McCaysville,Tennessee.

ThroughDec. 24, thehistoric rail cars turn festive forthe annual onehour Holiday Express. Passengers listen to holidaymusic and areading of “The Night Before Christmas,” visit with Santa Claus and enjoy hot chocolate and other snacks available for purchase inside the concession car.For information, visit brscenic.com/holiday-special-rides.

BransonScenicRailway: Branson, Missouri

The Branson Scenic Railway transformsintoThe Polar Express during theholidays, traveling from downtownBranson and back on select dates from through Jan. 3. The special holiday excursion is arecreation of the children’s storyinwhich passengersreceive goldentickets for theride and enjoy hot chocolate from dancingchefs, areading of the ChrisVan Allsburg book and aspecial gift from Santa. For tickets and

information,visit bransontrain.com/ the-polar-express/ GreatSmoky MountainsRailroad: Bryson City,North Carolina

The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad rolling outofBryson City hosts its Polar Express Train Ride through Dec. 31. Kids —and perhaps parents, too —don pajamas andenjoytreats, dancing and, of course, avisit with gift from Santa. The train routinely runs through the Great SmokyMountains National Park, Nantahala National Forest and over Fontana Lake with sights to seesuch as historic trestlesand structuresand roaring rivers. Find out more at gsmr.com.

TennesseeValleyRailroad: Chattanooga, Tennessee

The Tennessee Valley Railroad

takes passengers on historic routes throughout the Chattanooga area and during the holidays offers numerous special railroad excursions. There’saChristmas Dinner Train, a Nightcap withSt. Nick for adults, an afternoon Christmas Tea, rideswith Santa andmore. There’s even train rides for NewYear’s.

See the full listattvrail.com.

HeartofDixie Railroad Museum: Calera,Alabama

The official railroad museum of Alabama, located in the center of the state,features trains,two restored depots, railroad artifactsand memorabilia and outdoor railroad cars, locomotives and cabooses. During theholidays, themuseum runs thehour-and-a-half PolarExpress with sweettreatsand Santa and Mrs. Claus on weekends through Dec. 20. For tickets and in-

formation, visit hodrrm.org/northpole-express.

WesternMarylandScenic Railroad’sPolar ExpressTrain Ride:Cumberland, Maryland Cumberland’sScenicRailroadoffersaPolar Express ride andtries to tie the experience as much to the popular Christmas movie that’s based on the children’s book. There’s asceneinthe film in which the train races down steep, roller coaster-like tracks that hug mountaincliffs, andMaryland’s train ride likens it to the Cumberland Narrows. During the film’s rooftop scene whenthe tunnel appears, riders along the train route can experience the “Brush Tunnel.” The one-hour train ride rolls through Dec. 23. For more information, visit wmsr.com/the-polarexpress-train-ride.

Christopher Elliott

After Aer Lingus cancels James Jones’ flight from Paris to Philadelphia, he requests afull refund. The airline shorts him by $744 and then it stops respondingtohis emails. What can he do to get the money back?

Q: My wife andIwere scheduledto flyfrom Paris to Philadelphia. Aer Lingus canceled the flight due to “operational issues” and told me to request a refund.I paid $5,246 for the tickets,but the airline only refunded $4,502.

I’ve emailed repeatedly about the missing $744 and keep getting new case numbers with promises to “contact me soon.” It’s been weeks with no resolution.What can I do? —James Jones, Naples, Fla.

A: When an airline cancels a

flight forreasons within its control, passengers are entitled to afullrefundunder European consumer regulations. ButAer Lingus left you in afinancial holding pattern. EU Regulation 261/2004, the European consumerprotection law, requires an airlinetofully refund you within seven days if you paid by creditcard.Aer Lingus’ partial refund andradio silence violate bothits contractual obligations and EU consumer protections.

Here’swhat should have happened: Aftercanceling your flight,Aer Lingusneeded to promptly refundthe full $5,246 withoutyou havingtoask. Instead, it shortchanged you by $744 and ignored your follow-ups —aclassic airline runaround. Airlines often bank on travelers

giving up, but EU rules don’tlet them off the hook. When you pay with acredit card, achargeback for themissing amount could pressure Aer Lingus to act (a step worth considering if this happens again).

Ican’tbelieve the airline would do this to you. The tickets you purchased were pricey businessclass fares. Aer Lingus should have bent over backward to help you, considering your value as a customer

Youdid the right thingbydocumentingevery interaction. Paper trails are critical. Still, when companies stonewall, escalating to executives is key.I’ve published contact details for Aer Lingus’ leadership team on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org. Apolite but firm email tothese decision-

makersoften breaks the logjam It looks like you tried the contacts,but they ignored you.

I’ve reviewed the correspondence between you and Aer Lingus, which, frankly,I find frustrating. The airline offered you afull refund, which you accepted, and then it failed to follow through. Instead of acoherent answer to your repeated question,itjust kept sending you new form responses with new case numbers.

If anything, your case is a reminder to always check your airline refund. Never assume that just because theairline offered you arefund that you will receive all of it —orany of it. Check your credit card statement to make sure you received everything. So why did Aer Lingus short you by $744? Based on the emails it sent you, it looks like it might have broken out taxes into a separate charge. Aer Lingus might have also recalculated your refund based on currency fluctuations. It’s difficult to know for certain. Iasked Aer Lingus about your refund, but it would not tell me whyitwithheld the $744. What it would say —orrather do —isfixthis foryou. After I reached out to Aer Lingus on your behalf,itrefunded the $744 it owed you.

Christopher Elliott is the founderofElliott Advocacy,a nonprofitorganization that helps consumers solvetheirproblems. Email himatchris@elliott.org or get help by contacting himon hissite.

PROVIDED PHOTO

The Polar Express Train Rideroutinely rides through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Nantahala National Forest and over Fontana Lake.

SCENES OF THE SEASON

CURIOUS

Continued from page 1D

years after the establishment of St. Denis’ post. This not only makes Natchitoches the oldest settlement in Louisiana but the oldest in the Louisiana Purchase Territory, a fact often emphasized by the city The treks to both Natchitoches and New Orleans actually began in 1701 — at the same time.

“St. Denis and the brothers Bienville and (Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d’Iberville) were all part of France’s original expedition coming up the Mississippi River from Mobile in 1701,” said Logan Schlatre, director of programming for the Cane River Creole National Historic Park in Natchitoches. When they got to the mouth of the Mississippi River, Sieur d’Iberville Bienville went back to France to get more supplies and left his younger brother and St. Denis to make the rest of the trip St Denis eventually broke away to travel up the Red River At that time, the Natchitoches area was inhabited by the Natchitoches Indians, who made up what Schlatre calls a “confederacy, loosely based on a series of Native American tribes.”

“The way that we try to interpret things here is that this is the traditional or the original Creole colony for Louisiana, which means that we have to start back with

AT RANDOM

Continued from page 1D

early days of electricity, and an old mechanical milking machine with attachments for only three teats.”

I don’t think of myself as a pack rat in the White family tradition, although hoarders rarely recognize their worst tendencies. All of this came to mind as Thanksgiving approached this year and nudged me to look around our own house with fresh eyes. Visitors

Continued from page 1D

Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville was a French explorer who, with his brother, Pierre LeMoyne d’Iberville, explored Bayou St John in 1699. He established the settlement that evolved into New Orleans in 1719.

the Native American peoples who make up a large portion of the culture,” Schlatre said. “The people that live here are part of what we call ‘the Caddo’ in culture, dating back to about 700 or 800 AD. And by about 1000 AD, they have their own solidified culture.” Schlatre explained that the Caddo people had contact with the French through St. Denis as a part of the expedition to explore Louisiana. While the Natchitoches Tribe inhabited the northwest Louisiana

were coming, and it wouldn’t do to have an avalanche when an in-law opened a broom closet — or a trip to the emergency room if a guest tripped on a stack of paperbacks on the way to the dinner table. In advance of the holidays, my wife and I took a couple of days off to declutter Clearing cabinets, bookshelves and nightstands, I was struck by the odd sediment that settles within a home as the river of time flows through its rooms. I thought about White’s mother and my mother, too, who was what you

territory settled by St Denis, such tribes as the Houma, Bayougoula, Biloxi, Choctaw, Quinipissa, Acolapissa and Pascagoula inhabited the Mississippi River deltaic plain and adjacent coastal regions.

Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne Bienville, meanwhile, ran into several obstacles in his exploration many of them spurred by politics back in France — before finally establishing New Orleans.

“Disillusioned and preoccupied with other matters, France grants a commercial monopoly to financier Antoine Crozat for the development of Louisiana (in 1712),” writes New Orleans author Richard Campanella for the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans. “Crozat hopes to discover gold and silver, raise tobacco and trade with Spain, while the French Crown is content to unburden itself of Louisiana.”

Campanella, also a geographer and associate dean for research with the Tulane School of Architecture, created a detailed timeline of New Orleans’ founding in his article, “What led to the founding of New Orleans in 1718?” for the center’s bimonthly July 2018 edition of Preservation in Print commemorating the city’s 300th anniversary

The timeline points out how Crozat became disillusioned with his exploration of Louisiana, opening the way for John Law and his newly formed Company of the West’s 25-year charter to develop the territory

might call an accumulator After she died in 2008, we found 32 pairs of scissors when we emptied her house. She’d lose one pair within the tangle of her household, then buy a replacement, which would eventually sink into the multitude of her belongings and require yet another pair of scissors in its place. Am I this bad? I hope not, although I did come across four sets of pliers in our broom closet when my wife and I were tidying things up. A dozen rolls of Scotch tape

“The Company of the West, according to its ledger, ‘resolved to establish, thirty leagues up the river a burg which should be called La Nouvelle Orléans, where landing would be possible from either the river or Lake Pontchartrain’ (on Sept. 9, 1717),”

Campanella writes. ”The name of the envisioned city aimed to flatter the project’s royal sponsor, Philippe, the Duke of Orleans, without whom Law’s venture would have been impossible.”

In the winter of 1718, Bienville received orders to move to the new destination and began preparing six vessels with supplies and a crew of 43 men for the voyage.

“In late March or early April, Bienville’s expedition anchors off today’s upper French Quarter to begin work on New Orleans,” Campanella writes. ‘“Bienville cut the first cane,’ recalled one colonist of that undated moment. Afterward, 30 workers, all convicts, proceeded to clear the ‘dense canebrake’ probably around present-day 500-600 Decatur Street, at a time when the river flowed closer inland.” New Orleans sculptor Angela Gregory’s monument of Bienville now stands at 400 Decatur St., only a couple of blocks from the founder’s landing.

Back in Natchitoches, St. Denis began working to establishing trade with the Spanish at nearby Los Adaes. Los Adaes State Historic Site now commemorates the Spanish fort site along La. 6, some

surfaced from the dim corner of a kitchen cupboard, along with other artifacts. I found three dog brushes for our terrier, who died in 2020. It was surprising to learn that I own seven bottles of glue, nine flashlights (each one broken), a coach’s whistle, eight switch plates, nine padlocks (four with keys),

21 miles west of Natchitoches.

“The French governor (Antoine de la Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac) sent St. Denis to talk with Father (Francisco) Hidalgo, a missionary who worked with the Tejas (Texas) Indians, who insinuated that he would help open up trade between the French and the Spanish,” Schaltre said. “So it was St. Denis’ job to establish a trading post then go find the Spanish to begin opening up that trade network. That’s what led to him arriving in late 1714, and commissioning the construction of a barracks for the 40 soldiers that he has under his command and a storehouse for all the trade goods, their food and things like that.” Those barracks would become Fort St. Jean Baptiste in 1716. A state historic site within Natchitoches city limits commemorates this fort with a full reproduction of the original, though the historic site doesn’t stand on the original fort site.

“The fort moved a few times,” Schlatre said.

Today, according to 2020 census data, more than 37,000 people live in Natchitoches, while New Orleans has more than 383,000 residents.

Do you have a question about something in Louisiana that’s got you curious? Email your question to curiouslouisiana@ theadvocate.com. Include your name, phone number and the city where you live.

FILE PHOTO

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

The sun sets over the Mississippi River on Nov. 16 in Baton Rouge.

STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK Farmers harvest sugar cane in a field on West Congress Street in Duson.

STAFF PHOTO By JOHN BALLANCE

The Greater Baton Rouge State Fair is a fall staple in the area.

STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK Musicians perform in a morning Cajun music jam in Moncus Park on Nov. 15 at the Lafayette Farmers and Artisans Market.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Cattle graze in a field off River Road in Baton Rouge.

PHOTO By ROBIN MAy

Chilly fall weather doesn’t stop people from enjoying the water on Lake Bigeaux at Cypress Cove

STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK

A paddleboarder makes his way over the surface of the water as the sunrise glow illuminates the morning fog on Lake Martin

Knock Knock to hold

Holly Jolly PJ Party

FYIBR staff reports

Families are invited to kick off the holiday season at Knock Knock Children’s Museum’ s Holly Jolly PJ Party from 9a.m. to 11 a.m.on Dec. 6. The museum will transform into aWonderful Winterland filled with festive fun, hands-on play and holiday cheer Guests can glide across the Sneaux Figure Skating Rink in fuzzy socks, take aim in the Faux Snowball Toss and get swept up in the Confetti Blizzard. Children can also write letters to the NorthPole, make seasonal crafts and snap photos with Santa himself. To top off the morning, enjoy acozy cup of hot chocolate, breakfast treats and doughnuts, plus freshmade omelets courtesy of the Louisiana EggAssociation.

All 18 Learning Zones will be open for exploration, offering joyful opportunities for self-motivated, handson learning through play

Don’tforget your PJsand fluffy socks for the full festive experience —noshoes allowed on the “ice.” The HollyJolly PJ Partycosts $9 for members and $18 for nonmembers. Children under age 2are free. Contact Susie Lynch, Knock Knock marketing and communications manager,with any questionsor for more details at slynch@ knockknockmuseum.org or (225) 831-1646.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

Jada Lewis, 3, paintsdifferent colored balloons as her mom, Amelia Levi, cheersher on during a2024 Knock Knock Children’sMuseum holidayevent.

Hilltop Arboretum symposiumset

Friends of Hilltop Arboretum has announced the theme of the 2026 annual Symposium, “Designing with Nature:Functional,Sacred, and Sustainable Landscapes,” which will take place from 9a.m. to 1p.m. Jan. 31 atthe East Baton RougeParish Main Library on Goodwood.

This year’skeynote speaker,Jessi Bloom,abest-selling author,award-winning ecological landscape designer and ISA Certified Arborist, will share insights on creating functional, regenerative landscapes rooted in ecological and permaculture principles, while exploring howgardenscan serve as sacred and healing spaces.

Bloom is the founder of N.W.Bloom Ecological Services, recognized nationally as aleader in sustainable

landscape design, construction andlandmanagement.

Bloom is the author of “Practical Permaculture for Home Landscapes, Your Community and the Whole Earth andCreating Sanctuary: Sacred Garden Spaces, Plant-Based Medicine,and Daily Practices to Achieve Happinessand Well-Being,” and heraward-winningdesigns have been featured in multiple magazines.

Following Bloom’stalk, attendees can explore a self-guided SanctuaryGarden Showcasewithlocal expertsand vendors demonstrating permacultureand sanctuary-inspired principles. Participants can visit themed areas, meet experts anddiscover inspiring ways to apply these concepts at home.

Early registrationcontinuesthrough Dec. 31.The cost is $75 for members, $85 for nonmembers and $45 for students.

By The Associated Press

TodayisSunday,Nov.30, the 334thday of 2025. There are 31 days left in the year

Todayinhistory: On Nov.30, 1999, an estimated40,000 demonstrators clashed withpolice as they protested against theWorld Trade Organization as the WTO convened in Seattle.

Also on this date:

In 1782, theUnited States and Britain signed preliminary peace articles in Paris for ending theRevolutionaryWar;the Treaty of Paris was signedinSeptember 1783.

In 1936, London’sCrystal Palace exhibition hall was destroyed by amassive fire.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton signed the Brady Bill, which required a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases and background checks of prospective buyers.

TODAYINHISTORY

In 2004, “Jeopardy!”fans saw KenJennings end his 74-game winning streak as he lost to real estate agent NancyZerg.Years later, Jennings becamethe host of “Jeopardy!”

In 2012, Israel approved the construction of 3,000 homes in Jewish settlements on occupied lands, drawing swiftcondemnation from Palestinians a day after their successful bid forrecognition by the United Nations.

In 2013, actor Paul Walker,star of the “Fast & Furious” movie series, was killed in asingle-car accident north of Los Angeles; Walker’sfriend Roger Rodas, whowas driving the car,also died. Walker was 40 years old.

In 2018, former President George H.W.Bush, a WorldWar II hero who rose through thepolitical ranks to thenation’s highest office, diedathis Houston home

at theage of 94; his wife of morethan70years, Barbara Bush,had diedinApril. In 2024, Syrianinsurgents took over mostofAleppo, thecountry’s largest city, facing littleornoresistance from government troops. The insurgents would capture the capital of Damascusdays later in December as President Bashar al-Assad fledthe country, ending his family’sdecadeslong rule of Syria. Today’sbirthdays: Filmmaker WoodyAllenis90. Filmmaker RidleyScott is 88. Historian andscreenwriter Geoffrey C. Ward is 85. FilmmakerTerrence Malick is 82. Playwright David Mamet is 78. Actor Mandy Patinkin is 73. Singer Billy Idolis70. Historian Michael Beschloss is 70. Comedian Colin Mochrieis68. ActorfilmmakerBen Stiller is 60. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noemis 54. Singer Clay Aiken is 47.

Dear Miss Manners: Itook a long cross-country flight, during which Iwas assigned the middle seat. The gentleman seated by the window insisted on asking me about my relationship with Jesus, showing me photos on his cellphone and trying to engage me in conversation, whileI was very pointedly trying to watch amovie. The flight was full, so moving to adifferent seat was not an option. Iprovided short, politeresponses and tried to focus on my movie without encouraging further conversation, but kept getting interrupted. What response would be best to effectively shut down conversation without offending the other person?

Gentle reader: Whenyou say you were very pointedly watching the movie, Miss Manners understands you to mean that, in spite of the brevity of your answers, your lack of engagement and the unspoken revolt inside your head, you were still relying on awell-intentioned person to take ahint. This man was not, and did not. The next step would

therefore have beentosay “Please excuse me, but I would liketowatch the movie.” While this maynot come naturally to the demure who are wary of being explicit, it is sometimes necessary Dear Miss Manners: Iwas taught from ayoungage that when aclose friend or family member has experienced aloss, theappropriate thingtodoistobethere for support. Depending on theperson,this might include sharingstories about thedeceased,bringingover acasserole, helpingwith child care, holdingtheir hand while they cry, or whatever thegriever needs. Ihavetried to bethere for my friends, not only because of this lesson, but because Igenuinely want to helpthemata difficult time.

However,when Iexperiencedaloss, Iwas shocked that others had very different reactions to my situation.Though there were afew friendswho did support me, many made it clear from dayone that they weren’temotionally available.

One had experienced herown recent loss, and I understood shewas emotionally taxed herself. But theothers’ lack of support shocked me. These were

close friends I’d known for years who seemingly had no interest in supporting me. Iwas told that what Iwas asking was presumptuous, unkind and insensitive; that Ineeded to recognize that everyone has their own burdens and do not want the responsibilityofmine; that Ineeded to seek out aprofessional’shelp, asupport group and maybe medication to “get over it.”

Iwasn’tasking for hourslong phone conversations or for friends to become my therapist. Isimply wanted alittle support nowand again. Is that too much to ask?

Gentlereader: New (and unpleasant)asisyour realization, you need only look to themany cliches about fair-weather friends to recognize that theproblem itself is ancient —soancient, in fact, it may even predate theidea that one could pay aprofessional to listen to one’sproblems.

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

Examining the Gilded Age through eyes of teen girl

BY DOUG GRAHAM Staff writer

“A Girl’s Life in New Orleans: The Diary of Ella Grunewald 1884-1886,” edited by Hans Rasmussen, LSU Press, 161 pages Ella Grunewald’s life as a Louisiana teenager should sound familiar to many: school, church, a large family, membership in several clubs and a busy social calendar including parades and concerts. She was also a talented musician who spent hours practicing piano and often performed in public.

But her life in New Orleans toward the end of the 19th century was far different from her modern peers.

Illness and death were all too familiar in the Crescent City in the Gilded Age, fire was an everpresent danger, travel about town could be more arduous, and communication did not come at the touch of a button.

Ella left behind a gift that reveals a glimpse into that life, which is presented in “A Girl’s Life in New Orleans: The Diary of Ella Grunewald 1884-1886.”

The book includes a diary of her last two years of high school, as well as a log of her family’s trip to Europe in 1890 when she was 22 years old.

She describes all parts of her life as part of an affluent upper-middle-class family Her father Louis Grunewald, was a dealer of sheet music and musi-

cal instruments before opening Grunewald Hall, a combination concert hall and music store near Canal Street. This gave Ella regular exposure to the theater, and she describes the performances of some of the period’s most famous plays, musicals and performers.

Her upbringing also included graduation from the Southern Academic Institute a private school that had four members of its graduating class in April 1886.

It was an unusual level of education for New Orleans teens at the time.

Ella writes about everyday life, including meals with her parents, conducting chemistry experiments at school, meetings of the St. Cecelia Society (a musical club), attending lectures, and experiences like riding tricycles, which apparently was a rare treat for the time

A main event in her life was the World’s Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition, which opened in New Orleans in 1884.

She describes making many trips to the event, marveling at displays of fossils, stuffed animals and birds, garments from around the world, as well as works of art.

The second section of the book consists of Ella’s description of her family’s trip to Europe in May and June 1890 The travel diary covers stops in Italian cities like Milan, Pisa Rome Naples and Venice The young

La. setting, strong lead, loads of secrets add up to another

BY JUDY BERGERON Staff writer

“Everybody needs a little escape,” says Jennifer Moorhead.

The Louisiana author gladly gifts that to readers in the pages of her second thriller, “Poison Wood.” Shreveport resident Moorhead’s first riveting riddle, “Broken Bayou,” published in July 2024, quickly became an Amazon bestseller Leaning in to that successful formula a Louisiana setting both scenic and sinister, a strong female protagonist and no shortage of secrets — Moorhead crafted “Poison Wood” not as a followup to “Broken Bayou,” but as a companion book. Both stand alone, although the author does elevate a character from the first book, crime reporter Rita Meade, into the lead role for “Poison Wood.”

“I’m nursing a scotch at the sleek, backlit motherof-pearl bar at the Serai hotel in Miami Beach when I first hear whispers of a body being found,” Rita relates in “Poison Wood’s” opening. “I’m always listening for whispers like that. My ears are trained to home in on words like bloody and crime.”

woman gives details of the sites and experiences, including a journey up the side of Mount Vesuvius that sounds fairly arduous. The trip continued into Bavaria, and Ella gives a glowing review of a passion play the family attended in Munich, which she describes as “soul-stirring.”

Tragically, this is the last entry in her diary, as she died less than two weeks later of malaria which she contracted while in Italy It was hinted at with her earlier description of receiving a dose of quinine, a treatment for the disease. She was 22 years old.

The final part of the book includes touching memorials to her in local newspapers and descriptions of her funeral.

The book, edited by Hans Rasmussen, offers comprehensive notes that give readers further insight into the events and people included in Ella’s writing. The notes also offer a few corrections to Ella’s observations without stepping on her writing. The publishers say the transcription reproduces the diary exactly as written, making it feel even more real.

While the history of New Orleans has been well documented, this diary offers a firsthand view from someone who lived it as a teenage girl, making it a rare record and a worthwhile one to experience.

Email Doug Graham at doug. graham@theadvocate.com.

page-turner

immersed in the sights, smells and sounds of Louisiana every day, and I love sharing those things in my writing.”

JENNIFER MOORHEAD

tivals.

Moorhead says she’s immersed in story inspiration all around her semi-rural north Louisiana homestead.

“I live on a wild piece of property where I get to experience swamps, woods and trails as well as all of the critters that live in those places,” she says. “I’m immersed in the sights, smells and sounds of Louisiana every day, and I love sharing those things in my writing.” Moorhead fell in love with creative writing after taking a poetry class at LSU.

“I didn’t pursue it much then,” she recalled in 2024. “It would be years later, in a continuing education class on creative writing, that I learned my love for writing novels.” When she’s working on a book, Moorhead said she attempts to write every day

“If the words aren’t flowing, I find it’s best to walk away and let my subconscious work on it a little. I like to write in the mornings, and I have an office in my house, but I can write anywhere — the kitchen, a coffee shop, outside on the porch,” she said.

The news brings Rita right home, on the case, and reliving her unfortunate stint as a student at the school, where her friend had disappeared years before. That was one of the many mysterious occurrences at the boarding school that even-

Meanwhile, back in the Bayou State, a local historical preservation society discovers a human skull while cleaning up an abandoned all-girls boarding school, Poison Wood Therapeutic Academy for Girls. Located deep in the Kisatchie National Forest, the school is turning 100 and a celebration is being organized, thus the sprucing up and surprising skull finding.

tually led to its closure. Researching Louisiana boarding schools for her book was how Moorhead stumbled upon this abandoned girls’ school in the Kisatchie Forest and secured the backdrop for her story The eerie, two-story structure is depicted in the book’s cover illustration. Inside the old

school, the author said she saw writing still on the chalkboards, files strewn about and demolished stairs. For Rita, suppressed memories, emotions and secrets rise to the surface as she revisits the old school and her past. As

the investigation expands, her own family tree enters the picture, taking a turn readers never saw coming. Will she get to the bottom of all this and finally get some closure on her long-lost friend? Cozy up with this page-turner and find out.

Moorhead, a general studies graduate of LSU, is not only an author but also a filmmaker The three indie short films she’s written and produced have all made the top 20 at the Louisiana Film Prize and won awards at global fes-

“It’s all about word count for me. I have a word count I like to reach every day When I reach it, I’m done for the day.”

Moorhead is currently counting words for her third book. And the protagonist this time? Still a mystery.

Email Judy Bergeron at jbergeron@theadvocate. com.

PROVIDED PHOTO

Jennifer Moorhead

FOOD

Tryshrimpand corn soup forcozyseason

BY JOYHOLDEN Staff writer

One of my favorite soups to order in town is shrimp and corn soup. When Igot “Chef Celeste’s Louisiana Kitchen” cookbook by Celeste Gill, Iturned to thefirst recipe, shrimp and corn soup, and Ifelt it was time to finally tryiton my own.

I’m also hoping that, by cooking this recipe, I’ll coax the weather into some cooler temperatures that call for arich and creamy soup.

Detroit native chef Gill came to the “soulful kitchens” of Baton Rouge andintegrated Louisiana flavors into her growing repertory of culinary dishes. In addition to cooking professionally,owning restaurantsand conducting cooking demonstrations, Gill lovesto teachand mentoryounger chefs, including studentsinEast Baton Rouge Parish public schools and inmates at local prisons

“Through the simple act of preparing and sharing ameal, connections are forged, stories are exchanged and bondsare woven,” Gill wrote in her cookbook’s introduction.

For 20 years, until 2023, Gill coordinated the Main Street Market cooking demonstrations in downtown Baton Rouge. She also closed her two bistros in 2024 to shift into teaching through media. This cookbook is one of her media ventures to spread her cooking knowledge. In the introduction, she writes, “I want to empower cooks of all levelstore-createin their own kitchens what Iconsider remarkable dishes.” Gill’sshrimp and corn soup recipe is fairly simple. The only thing Idid differently was substitute chicken stock instead of the shrimp stock because Idid nothave any on hand, nordid Ihave time to peel any shrimp. Iadded asmidgeofthe water Iused to defrostthe shrimp to the chickenstock for alittle depth of shrimp flavor

Oneother small departure from Gill’srecipe: Iused more garlic than shecalled for and added some garlic salt to the seasonings. Ilearned from this experience to prepthe shrimp and cut the vegetablesbefore starting to melt thebutter in thepot. Doing acouple of stepssimultaneously is possible, but Iwould advise giving yourself about 30 minutes of set upprior to heating up your pot.Thisway,you cangive each task your fullattention. Istronglyrecommend using fresh sweet corn off thecob for that extra sweetness, but canned corn could work in apinch. The

recipe calls for one cup, and I used two full corn cobs, but I could have used one more, honestly

Here’stohoping this recipe yields somesweater weather

Shrimp andcornsoup

Serves 6 Recipe is by Celeste Gill,featured in “Chef Celeste’sLouisiana Kitchen”

2tablespoons vegetable oil or butter

1cup freshly cut cornoff the cob

1/4 cup chopped celery

2tablespoons chopped yellow onion

2tablespoons chopped green bell pepper

2tablespoons chopped green onion

2tablespoonsroasted garlic

4cups heavy cream 1pound shrimp, cleaned and chopped 2tablespoons all-purpose flouror1 teaspoon cornstarch 1/4 cup shrimp stock 1/2 pound whole31/35 shrimp, cleaned 1teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cayenne pepper

Forserving: crackersortoast

1. Heat oil or butter in astockpot setovermedium-highheat. Add corn, celery,onion, bellpepper, green onion and garlic. Cook until everythingistender, aboutseven minutes.

2. Stir in cream andchopped

shrimp and cook on medium heat 20 minutes, stirring constantly

3. Thoroughly whisk together the flour and shrimpstock, then whisk into the soup. Add the 1/2 pound whole shrimp. Cook an additional 10 minutes.

4. Add seasonings and cook an additionalfive minutes. Serve hot with crackers. Tip: Cooked diced potatoes make anice addition to this soup. Youcan also use this soup to toppasta or a baked potato. This shrimp and cornsoup is savory,creamy and alittle sweet. For more spice, feel freetoadd alittle heat to the soup.

put—without dentalinsurance, there maybe an importantgap in your healthcare coverage.

STAFFPHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

ARTS &CULTURE

Exhibitpaintspicture of Hitler’s culturewars

part, she said.

Doug MacCash

The must-see NewOrleans art exhibit of the fall isn’twhere you’d expect it. “Degenerate! Hitler’sWar on Modern Art,” acollection of small avant-garde drawings, paintingsand sculpture by modern European masters, can be found among the antique airplanes and tanks of The National WWII Museum.

The “Degenerate!” show may not cover war per se, but the exhibit simmers with the historical irony of the early Nazi era that led to the cataclysmic 1939-45 conflict. Specifically, it illuminates the time that Adolf Hitler produced one of the most popular art exhibits in history —ashow that was meant to be apropaganda coup, but backfired spectacularly

It was 1937, and the Nazis were envisioning their conquest of Europe. In the meantime, Der Führer, who’d once been an aspiring landscape painter,turned his attention to what he saw as the downfall of German art. Hitler had come to believe that modernism was the wrong path. Many of the artists of the era sought to authentically portray the pointless horror of the First World Warand the humiliating deprivation and desperation that followed. The art may have been honest, but it was the antithesis of the dreamy vision Hitler had for the fatherland.

As WWII Museum curator Erin Clancy explained during apreview of the exhibit, Hitler hated the new,audacious styles and blamed the phenomena on his favorite

PROVIDED PHOTO

Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler’swatercolor ‘Lissy,’ of 1931, luridly captures the desperationofDepression-era Germany. It was alevelofsocial realism that the Nazis could not abide.

scapegoats. Inhis view, expressionism,cubism, surrealism andsuchwere the product of communists, Jews, foreignersand the insane.InNazi-speak, modernismwas “degenerate ”

The Nazis didn’tjust burn books, Clancysaid, they confiscated and destroyed objectionable artworks as well. Butintheir zeal to eradicatemodernart, they inadvertently celebrated it.

To make the point that modern art did notproperly reflectGerman values,Hitlerand his minions orchestrated apair of enormous exhibits in Munich. One celebratedthe neoclassicism,romantic realism and nationalismthatthe Nazis felt appropriate for their burgeoning Third Reich. The other was ahuge collectionof“degenerate” worksbyinternationalstars such as Picasso, Matisse and Chagal, as wellas home-grown Germanartists such as Otto Dix, Paul Klee, George Gross, Käthe

Kollwitz, Ernst Kirschner and others,thathad been confiscated from German museums

Weirdly,Emil Nolde, whoseexpressionist work was considered as degenerateasany in theshow,had long been achampion of the Naziparty

The “degenerate” artexhibit was meant to ridicule and dismissmodernaesthetics. Anytimethe word art was used in thedisplay,it was put in quotation marks

More than2million Germans flocked to the twin exhibits. Molly Dubin, the chief curator of the Jewish Museum of Milwaukee, wherethe “Degenerate!” showoriginated,said the audacious avant-garde art was the main draw

“One of the greatest ironies,” Dubin said, “is that the Nazis’enthusiasm to suppress modernart fueled interest.” The “Degenerate!”show was “hugely” morepopular thanits highminded traditional counter-

“You tell people something is corrupt and immoral, and people will cometosee what’s causing suchafuss,” Dubin said. In away,the Nazi’s1937 “Degenerate!” artshow was asymbolic preview of what was to come. As curator Clancy put it,“If you can conceive reasons toeradicateart, you can probably figure out how to eliminate people.”

Modernism survived the Nazis. By sensationalizing the styleshedespised, Hitler probably just added to the mystique of the audacious avant-garde artists, manyof whom fled the country Soon, German influences,

such as the “less-is-more” philosophy of the Bauhaus school of design, cameto dominate global architecture. Likewise, the absurdism of German dadaists such as Max Ernst inspired generations of future conceptualists. And as late as the 1980s, GermanExpressionism remained amodel for passionate young painters from Berlin to NewYork City and beyond.

All New Orleans artists and art lovers should put a trip to the WWII Museum on their not-to-miss list. The show is afeast of intimate artworks that even veteran museumgoers have probably never seen. Plus, the staff of the museum added a

NewOrleans-oriented component to the show

Though jazz music was officially verboten, the Germanpeople loved the auditory contraband. The last room of the “Degenerate!” show is devoted to jazz’s paradoxical popularity “Degenerate! Hitler’sWar on Modern Art” continues through May 10 at The National WWII Museum, 945 Magazine St. Open daily 9a.m.to5 p.m. Admission to the museum starts at $26. Fortickets andmore information visit the museum website.

Email Doug MacCash at dmaccash@theadvocate. com.

‘HE WASA BIG-PICTURE GUY’

BY STEPHANIERIEGEL Staff writer

When Jim Bernhard sold TheShaw Group to CB&I in 2013, somethought he might retire.

Then nearing 60, Bernhard had grown his companyfrom asmall BatonRougebased pipe fabricationcompany into a publicly traded powerhouse with25,000 employees, $6 billion in annual revenues and aglobal footprint in industrial infrastructure,energy and disaster mitigation services.

‘‘He focused alot of time andeffort on the state. He could have gone anywhere. He stayedheretotry to makeitbetter for the people who lived here. That will live on foralong time.

’’JerryHebert, CEO of Grace Design Studios

Already one of thewealthiest andmostsuccessful businessmeninLouisiana, it wouldn’thave been unreasonable if he had opted to kick backinhis retirement —orpursue asecond act in politics, where he was aninfluential Democratic Party donor Instead, Bernard assembled ateamofhis top executives from Shaw and went on to buildBernhard Capital Partners. The private equity firm, with $5.5 billion under management, is now the largest between Houston and Atlanta and one of the fastest growing in the country

Over the past decade, the firm has launched five funds,raisingmoney from large institutional investors and amassing aportfolio of 21 companies.

Today,Bernhard Capital’scompanies have 20,000 employees, nearly as many as The Shaw Groupdid at itspeak

In the wake of Bernhard’sdeathon Nov.16, those who knew and worked with him have been reflecting on the size and scope of whathe created during acareer that spanned nearly five de-

BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer

Chanel Sellers woreabandana overher noseand mouth to block out the dust and mold. Gloves protected her hands from rusty nails and at least one brown recluse spider as she dug through dusty boxes in ashed at aLafayette estate sale last March. She was about to give up when she spotted the day’sprize:awaddedup but otherwise intact M.C. Escher-style Grateful Dead T-shirt from the 1990s. The experience wasn’t as dramatic as, say,Indiana Jones finding theHoly Grail.But in Sellers’ line of work, it was still atriumph. Afteryears of experience, she knew she’d be able to buythe rare

cades. To build acompany of The Shaw Group’s stature wouldbea feat for anyonetoaccomplish in their lifetime.

Bernhardessentially did it twice.

“He was abig-picture guy,” said Lenny Lemoine, President and CEO of The Lemoine Company,aBaton Rougebased construction firmthatBernhard Capital acquired in 2019 and has since tripled in size. “Whatsomeofusconsider large scale was, to Jim, just what it should be.”

The story of howBernhard builtThe ShawGroup is well known. He founded the company as apipeand steel fabricator in 1986 and it quickly grew,expanding into construction and, eventually, energy services.Inthe 1990s,hetook thecompany public,branching intonew geographic marketsand sectors like di-

saster management and nuclear power

Among its 30 acquisitions over the years were IT Group, Stone &Webster, and Westinghouse Electric Corp.

When he sold the company for$3 billionincashand stock, CB&Ipaida 70% premium relativetothe company’s stock price, which, at the time, was one of the largest premiums everpaid fora public company,records show Less well known is what Bernhard Capital does and how significant its impact is, notably in Louisiana, where10 of its portfolio companies are based and 18 others have apresence. Together, they include nearly7,000 Louisianabased employees. Bernhard Capitalstarted outa little more than adecadeago with an initial investmentfundand four companies

—Epic Piping, apipe fabricator; ATC Associates, an environmental consulting firm;Bernhard, LLC, acommercial constructionand engineeringfirm; and, Brown and Root, formed when Bernhard Capitalacquired Wink Engineering and the industrialservices group from Houston-based KBR. Thefundexceeded itsinitial $750 milliontarget and its four companies began to grow exponentially.Bernhard LLC, in 2016, acquired four more companies, including the firm founded by Jim Bernhard’sgrandfather in 1919,BernhardMechanical.The new, larger companyprovideda varietyof energy-related services, as wellasmechanical and electrical construction and

ä See BERNHARD, page 2E

shirt forafew dollars and resell it for hundreds in her Lafayette store— Frenchy’s HouseofVintage —oronane-commerce platform like eBay It’sall in aday’swork for Sellers andother vintageclothing dealers during the post-pandemic vintage craze, which has seen usedapparel pricesrise, ways to sell multiply and competition intensify Since2021, theglobal secondhandapparel market has grown from about $150 billion to more than $250 billion, as young clothes shoppersprioritize sustainability and affordability,CNBC recently reported. In 2023 alone, theU.S.apparel resale grew at seven times therate of the retail industryoverall, supporting about 25,000 resale stores in

the U.S. and agrowing number of e-commerce platforms. Social media and technology have fueled the trend. In Louisiana, the vintage clothing boom has helped launch new vintage stores and brought more resellers to estate salesand thrift stores looking for the hidden gems that will fetch big bucks on the resale market

Sellers, who left her accounting job at an oiland gascompany to work in vintage, sees her choice as away to make aliving while keeping clothes out of landfills.

“Unlike today’s‘fast fashion,’ all the money is staying here: the original owner of the clothes, the estate sale company,the reseller and members of the vintage community are alllocal,” said Sellers.

“It’slike farming clothes, andI’m

STAFF FILE PHOTO

Jim Bernhard, chief executiveofficer of Bernhard Capital Partners, is interviewedinhis office in downtown BatonRougein2018.

STAFFFILE PHOTOByBRETT DUKE

Former Shaw Group CEOJim Bernhard stands outside the companyheadquarters in Baton Rougein2005.

PHOTO By ROBIN MAy

Chanel Sellersarranges racks of clothes in her shop, Frenchy’sHouse of Vintage, in Lafayette on Nov. 21.

Proposed50-year mortgage is aterribledeal

The Trump administration has been exploring the idea of offering a50-year mortgage as away to make homeownership more affordable.

In asocial media post this month, Bill Pulte, the nation’s top housing official, confirmed that the administration was “indeed working” on the proposal with the potential to be “a complete game changer.” Agreed. But not in agood way True, ahalfcentury mortgage means monthly payments are lower than amore traditional 30-year loan. But there are no real “savings,”asmore of those payments would be earmarked for interest. Meaning it won’thelp families build generational wealth. It’smore like being aperpetual renter

Arecent analysis by LendingTree summarized the trade-offs with stretching mortgage payments over five decades. It would probably carry ahigher interest rate —the typical 30-year loan is now just above6%— and bor-

VINTAGE

Continued from page1E

buying fromlocal farmers.”

The number of vintage shops in New Orleans has grown from ahandfulbefore the pandemic —including stalwarts like Miss Claudia’sonMagazine Street and Glue onOak Street —toatleast 23 today, according to amap of the scene published this month by Carly Turner,owner of Southern Kitsch Vintage. Other cities around thestatehavewelcomed new vintage stores of their own at asmallerscale.

Manyother vintage dealers sell used clothes at pop-up events, in booths at multi-vendormarketplaces or on e-commerceplatforms likeeBay,Etsy, TheRealReal and Whatnot.

In August, the first Louisiana Vintage Fest attracted40vendors andmore than 2,000 attendees to theHouse of Bluesinthe French Quarter.Other national touring thrifting and vintage events are making stopsinthe state as well.

None of this would be happening without the buyers,who are embracing vintage clothes for a variety of reasons,including nostalgia, rebellion and quality of construction. Still othersare buyingsecondhand to save money or to prevent textile waste.

“Studies show we canstop making clothes for acrazy number of years and we would still have tons of clothing,” saidAiden Heap, owner of 90s Kid’sCloset, aNew Orleans vendor of Y2K fashion. “There’ssomuch waste.” Secondhand clothing stores aren’tnew.Shoppershavehunted forbargainsatthriftorconsignment stores for generations. The differentiatorfor vintagestores, their owners say,iscuration. Resellers acquire items from aspecific era or mix items from different decades to evoke amood “It’snot just about trying to get something cheap,” said ChrisOlsen, co-owner of the Vice &Graft and Swamp Rags vintagestores in the French Quarter and organizer

BERNHARD

Continued frompage1E

maintenancefor clients that included state office buildings, hospitals and LSU. (Bernhard Capital sold Bernhard in 2021, which has since rebranded as ENFRA.)

Bernhard Capital launched more funds and raised more money

It acquired local architecture and construction companies, like Grace Design andLemoine, both of which have since expanded into new services and markets.

More recently,ithas branched into regulated utilities. Itnow owns seven natural gas, water and wastewaterutilities, with another utility deal in New Mexico pending regulatory approval. Among its holdings is Delta Utilities, which purchased Entergy’snaturalgas business earlier this year andnow operates from corporate offices in downtown New Orleans, serving 800,000 customers and employing nearly 900 workers

“We’re anationalcompany,” said Jeff Jenkins, who got his start under Bernhard at Shaw and co-founded Bernhard Capital with him. “Obviously,weare

rowers would end up paying significantly more interest over the loan’sduration.Asaresult, they would accumulateequitymore slowly than with current mortgage options. “I totally get the allure of lower monthlypayments,” said Matt Schulz, chief consumer finance analyst at LendingTree. “But the truth is, in the long run, thedifference in costs is justsohigh that it’shard to ignore.”

Schulzdid the math on a30yearand a50-year mortgage on a $500,000 loan

To simplify the comparison, LendingTreeusedthe sameunderlying interestrate. Butthe longer the loan term, the more lenders typically charge borrowers to offset thehigher risk of defaultand theeffects of inflation over alonger period.

Let’slook at thenumbers.

Aborrower takes out a30-year mortgagefor $500,000 at 6.1% interest. The monthly payment not including taxes and insurance —would be$3,030, according to LendingTree. The homeowner would pay $590,791 in total interest.

With a50-year mortgage, the paymentswould drop to $2,669.

That $361 difference could be used to help withother financial priorities, such as building an emergency fund or contributing to aretirement account.

However,the total interest paid would amount to astaggering $1.1 million —220% of the original balance.

The same calculation applies regardless of where rates are. At alower rate of 4%, for example, a $500,000 loan over 50 years would cost $657,121 in total interest, compared with $359,348 for a30year loan.

If thatweren’tbad enough, it would take longer to build up any equity. Keep in mind thatinthe early years of your mortgage, most of your monthly payments go toward interest rather than reducing the original loan balance. The longer it takes to build equity,the fewer options you’ll have to access thatmoney if you need extra funds.

After 10 years of a30-year mortgage, LendingTree found, aborrower would have paid off about $80,000 of the $500,000 loan, or 16% of the original balance. Butwith a50-year mortgage, you would have paid only about $21,000, roughly 4% of the way through paying off that balance.

“Home-owning has been one of the best waystobuild wealth traditionally …and the difference in how quickly you can build that equity between a30-year and 50-year mortgage is really significant,” Schulz said. This also makes abig difference if you want to apply forahome-equity loan, which carries alower rate than acredit card, he added.

“If you don’tbuild that equity you just don’thave that option,” he said.

Another challenge: You’re asking borrowers to foresee their financial situation 50 years from now.The truth is that personal and professional circumstances can change significantly over such along period. A50-year mortgagecan be financially problematic for families whohave to sell their homesooner than they expect because of ajob loss or family reasons. In those cases, manyborrowers might end up upside down on theirmortgage, meaning they owe morethan the homeisworth. Even with aconventional 30year mortgage, it can already takeeight to 10 years to break even on the money spent purchasing the home, said Simon

PamelaWood helps acustomer duringa bag sale at her

of Louisiana VintageFest. At the moment, Y2Kfashion from the early 2000s is the most popular category, retailers say. “Thedemand is out of control, whether it’s forfairy girly stuff, or goth looks, or beaded low-rise jeans,” Sellers said.

TurneratSouthern KitchVintage also has leaned into turnof-the-century fashions along with hercollections from earlier decades.She has abootleg Ozzy Osborne/MotleyCrueshirt that probably sold in aconcert parking lot for $20 when it was first made.

Nowit’sgoingfor $500. Heap started sellingY2K clothes from hisparents’ garage in Abita Springs in 2018. Now his Uptown shop,filled with musicand sports

concentrated across thesouth but our footprintisnational.”

Doing deals as aprivate equity

firmbetter suited Bernhardthan running apublicly traded company.AtShaw,hefamously disliked theshort-term focus on quarterly earnings, the investor calls andthe tiresomequestionsabout everydecision At Bernhard Capital, he could take alonger-term approach.

“Being private, it is not about quarterly earnings and revenues but buildinggreatcompaniesto last forever,” Jenkins said.

Granted, private equity firms are just as focused on creating returns for their investors as are publicly traded companies;theyjust do it differently.And Bernhard Capital hasproven adept at it. Over the past decade, it has “exited” or sold sixofits companies, mostrecently Brown &Root, with aseventh recently announced

Though the size of the exits are notpublic, PitchBook hasranked its funds among thebest performinginthe country in total returns, whichhaveaveraged20% netreturns.

Those who knew andworked with Bernhard say oneofthe reasons he was so successful was that

gear,attracts local students, professional athletes and online personalities Pamela Wood’sSet aSpell store, meanwhile, takes the curation to thenext level. Astylistfor TV shows like “Queen Sugar,”she keeps track of her customers’ sizes and style preferences andessentially acts as apersonal shopperas she combs thriftstore bins from coast to coast.

She opens her shop, arenovated corner storeinCentral City,once amonth for abag sale and vintage celebration.

All this demand for vintage clothes and other items has changedthe dynamic at estate sales, whereretireesare now joined by 20-somethings.

he understood businesses much better than most.

“He was one of the smartest guys Iever met,” said Jerry Hebert, CEOofGraceDesignStudios,the BatonRouge-based architecture and design firm that Bernhard Capital acquired in 2022 and subsequently quintupled in size.

Hebertremembers that in 2017, he called Bernhard, whom he knew only casually at the time, seeking to “pick his brain” about growing the firm.They met for lunch at the City Club in Baton Rouge and Bernhard spent morethan an hour giving Hebert advice.

“Bythe time we weredone, Irealizedhethought awhole different way,” Hebertsaid. “Wewere trying to makealiving. He was trying to grow companies.”

Fiveyears later,Bernhard Capital offered to buy amajority share in the firm.Inthe years since, Grace Design has acquired seven more firms around the country andnow has24offices with 480 employees.

“Hewas focused on making our business thebest it could be,”Hebert said.

Lemoine, who watched Bernhard diversify and grow his Baton Rouge-based construction compa-

Blanchard, adean’sprofessor at Georgetown University’sMcDonough School of Business and an expert in consumer finance.

There’salso the very real possibility that people won’tbeable to take advantage of the monthly savings. Will they save moreor reduce debt? Or will they use it to spend more?

“Tofully leverage the lower payments from a50-year mortgage requires people to be really good with their money and fully anticipate the risks,” Blanchard said. “And if it’shard on a30-year mortgage, it’sgoing to be harder on a50.” And here’ssomething else to consider: Will introducing this extraordinarily expensive product ultimately increase homeownership rates?

“It’simportant to point out that this really delays the point at which you actually start to own your home,” Blanchard said. Despite the longer loan term,a 50-year mortgage isn’tlikely to makeowning ahome any more accessible or affordable.

Email Michelle Singletary at michelle.singletary@washpost. com.

She said there’sbeen an influx of collegekidsand youngcouplesin hershops andather sales, which shepromotesonInstagram and TikTok. The increased interest meansincreased competition.

“There aresomanystores,”she said. “It usedtobemeand Goodwill and the Salvation Army.” All of the state’svintage vendors have twoatleast things in common:hard work and low margins.

“These are lifestyle businesses,” said Chris Olsen, the Vintage Fest organizers. “You’re not going to get rich off of them.”

He said that’s why he’s diversifying, opening his own estate sale companyand launching theevent series.

Chanel Sellers said people sometimescomplain aboutresellers marking up prices, but they don’t understand the work involved in getting an item onto astore’s shelves.

“I’ll drive three hours there and back,thenwash clothes, steam them, researchthemand price them,” she said. “That’sontop of rent,” she said. “You can’timagine thetime it takes —and Iusually leave sales with black fingernails.”

Rafael Monson, second-generationowner of the Metairie estate salecompany Ages Ago, said he usedtodonate unsold clothes to thrift stores, but now he’sgot options.And instead of selling everything at on-site estate sales, he’ll sometimesbring ahouse’s contents to his warehouse, where he can sell items one by one online. He ships 30 to 40 boxes weekly

Kay Morrison, owner of theOccasional Wife,said the vintage boom helpedher grow herbusiness. Starting in 2007witha declutteringand organizing service, she hasexpandedtorunning a handful of sales every weekend and overseeing six consignment stores around the region.

ny from $400 million in revenues in 2019 to about$1.2 billiontoday, saidanother reason forBernhard’s success was his “relentless drive to keep pushing.”

“Most people had no clue of just howambitious and how fearless he was,” Lemoine said. While domineering —intimidating, to some —with abig personality,Bernhard knew where not to tread,and how to let the companies he bought and built continue doing what madethem attractive in the first place. He was an executive, notamicromanager,amentor with sound advice.

“He hadagreat sense of where he could influence something,” Lemoine said. “He would sitback andwatch you, but when you needed histouch, he loved helping think about putting organizations together.”

Bernhard’sdeath, local business leaders say,leaves avoid in a Louisianaeconomic landscape that haslost severalcorporate headquarters and, by extension,their executives in recent years. But Bernhard Capital’s Jenkins said its companieswill continue growing.

“Weare just getting started,” he said. “Weare only 12 years old. We have an amazingteamthat

Claudia Baumgarten, owner of MissClaudia’s on Magazine Street, has theperspective of someone whohas been in business since the 1990s.She’s seen many shops come and go, so she’scheering for this newwaveofoperatorsevenas she worries if they’re prepared for what’stocome.

“A lot of stores that used to be here have closed because rents aretoo high andsummers here are impossible,” she said. “I have endured by selling costumes and being able to help customers who always seem to need something by tomorrow.”

For her part, Turner at Southern Kitsch said money isn’ther primary motivator “I’m areally badcapitalist,” she said. “I want to makesure my customers have agood experience, andaslongasI can paythe bills, I’mhappy.”

Email RichCollins at rich. collins@theadvocate.com

has been together since the beginning.”

The firm’slatest fund has a$2 billiontarget, its largest yet, records filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission show Bernhard Capital is small comparedtonational heavyweights like Blackstone, which hasmore than $1 trillion under management. But it hasestablisheditself as a “middle market” player,roughly defined as firms with between$6 billion and $10 billion under management —with afocus on energy services and infrastructure.

“Webuild great companiesinthe middle market and the larger PE firmstake them to the next level,” Jenkins said.

As Bernhard Capital continues to do that, those who worked with Bernhard saidhis legacy will live on in thedeals, the investments and the jobs they create.

“He focused alot of time and effort on the state,” Hebert said. “He couldhavegoneanywhere. He stayed here to try to make it better forthe people who lived here. That will live on foralong time.” Email Stephanie Riegel at stephanie.riegel@theadvocate. com.

STAFF PHOTO By RICH COLLINS

NewOrleans vintagestore Set aSpell

Michelle Singletary

THE COLOR OF MONEy

TALKING BUSINESS

ASK THE EXPERTS

Growth presents challenges for Wright Group

Future products focus on protein blends

BY ADAM DAIGLE Acadiana business editor

Nestled in the flat farmlands of southern Acadia Parish is a company that is responsible for most of the nutrients you’ll find in breakfast cereal, sports drinks and supplements.

The Wright Group has grown to become a global leader in nutritional blends and enriched products 135 years after it was founded in Crowley by an Indiana rice farmer

Ask current president and CEO

Salmon L. “Sam” Wright IV about the company’s history, and he’ll show you a museum-type display inside. Wright, the great-grandson of founder Salmon L. “Sol” Wright, bought the company 21 years ago.

“We’re very unique,” Wright said.

“We’re actually the last original family with a business like this. All the other families we competed against over the years have sold out to foreign corporations. We’re the last homegrown American company like this.”

The Wright Group has offices in California and Ohio and recently bought the former Wholesale Electric headquarters in Lafayette for $5.5 million. It also has a presence in China, Mexico, Australia, Brazil and across Europe.

The Wright Group is growing and has challenges along with that growth, which is one reason why Wright wants to raise more awareness of what the company does. He recently hosted area mayors, state legislators and other public officials to take a tour of the company

Among the products on the way:

A rice flour that is high in protein and low in sugar and a high-protein sports drink in conjunction with LSU that “could be their next Gatorade,” he said.

In this week’s edition of Talking Business, Wright talks about how

PHOTO By BRAD KEMP Salmon L. ‘Sam’ Wright IV is CEO of The Wright Group, a firm founded in Crowley that is a global leader in nutritional blends and enriched products.

finding employees has become a significant hurdle, the protein phenomenon in the U.S. and how he initially did not get involved with the family business after he graduated from college.

This interview has been edited for clarity

The company expanded in the 1950s to provide custom vitamin and mineral premixes.Tell me a bit about the nutritional side of the business. In 1994, we were awarded all of the Kellogg (cereals) fortification. We make custom nutrient premixes that these companies add to their product in the process.

So all of those nutrients in (them) come from one of our facilities. Our bandwidth is anything that has nutrients or protein or anything that’s added to food or dietary supplements anything from pet food to pharmaceutical application. What’s been the challenge for you in finding employees?

The mayor of Crowley pointed out that 46% of the population here lives in poverty. Most of the housing in Crowley doesn’t (make) code, but the city can’t enforce that because they would have to demolish half the town. Before

they can provide good labor to us, they’ve got to fix that problem but also educate. A lot of these kids can’t make it to school. There’s a big problem in these rural areas where businesses want to provide jobs, but the labor is not meeting the standard. What can you do as an employer to mitigate the issue? When you get an employee over here, you have to start over and raise them all over again. Or you have migrants that can’t speak English and don’t understand what you’re trying to get them to do. That’s a common complaint from

Q&A WITH SALMON L. ‘SAM’ WRIGHT IV

all the industries in town. The solution that the Legislature came up with was prison labor, where they bus Angola prisoners to work for a day and bus them back. The FDA will not let us do that.

Protein is a big buzzword in prepared foods nowadays.What’s the deal with protein? Why is there such a surge in customer demand? Ozempic and Wegovy the weight loss drugs. What happens is your body loses 60% water and 40% muscle. So you need to hydrate, and you need to consume more protein and fiber. If you just consume protein, you have constipation. You need a fiber element. With our new Wright Pro custom protein blends, we’re mixing protein, fiber and hydration nutrients so that you can take that and add it to any food.

Tell me about your background. How did you take over the business from your dad and mold it to what it is today? I have a degree in industrial engineering, and I was hired on with UPS in 1984. After about six years, they threw me into operations, and I got a call from my dad. He said, “Look, I need your help.” So I came back in 1989 and just basically learned the business from the ground up. I took it over as president in 2003 and bought the company from the family in 2004. It’s been me and trying to maximize what we have here and then look for opportunities to grow Is your son, Sloan, the next in line to run the company?

He came on this year He’s only been with us for about three months. He’s getting married in March, and he’s got the monkey to have No. 6 (generation).

Email Adam Daigle at adaigle@ theadvocate.com.

AROUND THE REGION

50 Cent betting $50 million on Shreveport

Rap mogul’s investment could shape city’s future

BY JONAH MEADOWS Staff writer

After years of unsuccessful attempts at revitalizing Shreveport’s historic downtown, internationally renowned rap artist Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is promising to transform the area into an entertainment district that will serve as the headquarters of his film and television production empire.

Over the past two years, Jackson has spent millions buying up historic buildings downtown, negotiated leases for two city-owned facilities for events and film production, secured a special taxing district for his properties and received approval for his planned designs of a strip of nightclubs and venues along the riverfront.

Recently, the public got its first look at some of those plans, which local regulators described as having a “high energy” vibe akin to “casinos, clubs and themed entertainment venues.”

It’s a project that Jackson has said will cost at least $50 million and has already put Shreveport on the map in new ways, bringing big stars to town for an entertainment festival Humor & Harmony that Jackson produced in 2024 and hopes to bring back next year

The rap mogul has also become something of a celebrity ambassador for his new home base, promoting the north Louisiana city relentlessly — he recently encouraged New Yorkers dismayed by Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral victory to consider Shreveport

“I just want to say, in a short period of time, I’ve come to like the people of Shreveport in a different way, like it feels like a home away from home for me, and it will eventually be home, because I have so

much work here,” Jackson told the city council in March. Jackson’s ambitious plans have been broadly met with open arms in a community hungry for new investment. But as the project timeline has slipped in recent months, some have raised questions about over-reliance on a single investor to save the city’s downtown.

State Sen Sam Jenkins, a Democrat whose district includes downtown Shreveport, urged city leaders to “just be careful how far we go and begin to look at some performances based upon what we’ve already pledged or promised to do.”

Jackson, 50, burst onto the rap scene in the early 2000s, when he was discovered by Eminem and Dr Dre. His debut album, “Get Rich or Die Trying,” established him as one of the industry’s biggest stars.

He co-founded the rap group “GUnit” — short for Guerrilla Unit — starred in movies, produced video games and netted a reported $100 million from the sale of Vitaminwater to Coca-Cola. Along the way, he filed for bankruptcy in 2015, emerging two years later to ink a $150 million deal with premium cable network Starz, for which he produced the popular “Power” franchise. He has since gone on to own his own streaming television channel, premium liquor brand and clothing label. Since 2023, he’s had his sights set on Shreveport, where his G-Unit Film and Television Louisiana has spent at least $3.4 million acquiring nearly a dozen downtown properties.

G-Unit Film and Television also secured leases for a pair of cityowned properties: Millennium Stu-

dios, a 70,000-square-foot vacant former sound stage, and Stageworks, a 77,000-square-foot sports and event venue.

Under the terms of the 30-year leases, G-Unit’s monthly rent for both is $400. Jackson has also said he plans to build a permanent “G-Dome” on property he owns downtown, though Mayor Tom Arceneaux has since indicated the facility may not be complete in time for a second Humor & Harmony festival in March.

In order to support 50 Cent’s ambitions to create a hub for film, television, sports and entertainment — much as Tyler Perry has done in Atlanta — the Shreveport City Council recently established a new special taxing district encompassing G-Unit’s properties. Purchases of goods and services inside the district are subject to

a supplemental 2% tax. That extra revenue goes into a trust fund dedicated exclusively to projects that support the entertainment industry or that create at least $1 million of investment or 10 new full-time jobs.

Mike Busada, a Shreveport bond attorney who helped draw up the district, said there is no guarantee that G-Unit will be successful in rejuvenating the area. But even if the effort fizzles out, taxpayers won’t have to spend anything on it unless they choose to patronize a business inside the new taxing zone.

“He goes and spends $20 million and isn’t able to make a restaurant successful, he gets nothing, but we get a new building,” Busada told the City Council in September “And so that’s the thought process here. If you believe you can do it we will incentivize you.” Jenkins, the state senator, has questioned the wisdom of putting so many of the city’s proverbial eggs in one basket. Jenkins said last year he applauded the city’s relationship with 50 Cent but called for “due care” when it comes to public property

“It may not be prudent to tie up the vast majority of city assets with any one investor,” Jenkins said.

In response, a majority of members of the Shreveport City Council issued full-throated endorsements of G-Unit following Jenkins’ remarks. Jackson also fired back on social media, suggesting Jenkins “must not want things to turn around in Shreveport.”

Jackson’s real estate broker, Gerod Durden, said it’s important to put what Jackson is trying to do in context.

“Without him, we don’t have nobody else in line that even would think about Shreveport,” Durden said. “People’s like, ‘Hey, man, you think one person gonna save Shreveport?’ I was like, ‘Hey he’s not trying to save Shreveport.’”

The Shreveport-Bossier City Advocate staff contributed reporting.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By JILL PICKETT

Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson, center, attends a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Aug. 8, 2024, in Shreveport to signal the start of the Humor & Harmony Weekend.

NATION &WORLD

McDonald’s losing itslow-incomecustomers

Economists call it asymptom of the starkwealthdivide

BY SUHAUNA HUSSAIN

Los Angeles Times (TNS)

In the early 2000s, after asevere slump, McDonald’sorchestrated a major turnaround, with the introduction of its Dollar Menu.

The menu,whose items all cost $1, illustrated just how important it was to markettolow-income consumers —who value getting the most bang for their buck. Coming at atime of flagging growth, tumbling stock andthe company’sfirst report of aquarterly loss, the Dollar Menu reversed the fast-food giant’sbad fortune. It paved the way for three years of sales growth at storesopen at least ayear and ballooned revenue by 33%, news outlets reported at the time.

But no longer Industry-wide, fast-food restaurants have seen trafficfrom one of its core customer bases, low-income households, drop by double digits, McDonald’schief executive Christopher Kempczinski told investors earlierthis month. Meanwhile, traffic from higher earners increased by nearly as much, he said.

The struggle of theGolden Arches in particular longsynonymous with cheap foodfor the masses —reflects alarger trend upending the consumer economy and makes “affordability” ahot policy topic, experts say McDonald’sexecutives say the higher costs of restaurantessentials, such as beef and salaries, have pushed food prices up and driven away lower-incomecustomers who already are being squeezed by the rising cost of groceries, clothes, rent and child care. With prices for everything rising, consumer companiesconcerned about the pressures on lowincome Americans include food,

automotive andairline businesses, amongothers, analystAdamJosephson said. “Thelist goes on and on,” hesaid “Happy Meals at McDonald’s areprohibitivelyexpensive for some people, because there’sbeen so much inflation,” Josephson said. Josephson and other economists say the shrinking trafficoflowincomeconsumers is emblematic of alarger trend of Americans diverging in their spending, with wealthier customers flexing their purchasingpowerand lowerincome shoppers pulling back —what some call a“K-shaped economy.”

Arecent earningsreport from Delta offers yet another illustration. While Delta’smain cabin rev-

enue fell 5% for the June quarter compared to ayear ago, premium ticket sales rose 5%,highlighting thedivide between affluent customersand thoseforced to be moreeconomical.

At hotel chains,luxury brands areholding up better than low-budget options. Revenue at brands including Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton andSt. Regis is up 2.9%this year, while economyhotels experienced a3.1% decline for the same period according to industry tracker CoStar “There areexamples everywhere you look,” Josephson said. Consumer credit delinquency ratesshowjusthow much lowincome householdsare hurting, with households that make less

Beyond Boundaries.

Thehealthcareindustryhas asingle constant:change.

As thefastest growingsectorofthe American economy, theindustryisalwaysinastate of change in responsetomacroeconomic forces,the public’s demandfor high-quality andaccessible health care,and fiscalconstraints.Wehelpour clients successfully navigateachallenging andconstantly evolving business andregulatorylandscape as they create,and respond to,new delivery models to meet thesenew challenges.

William

H. Hines Managing Partner

than$45,000 annually experiencing “huge year-over-year increases,”evenasdelinquency rates for high- and middle-income households have flattened and stabilized, saidRikard Bandebo, chief strategy officer and chief economist at VantageScore. AfterCOVID-19-related stimulusprograms ended, thesehouseholds were the first to experience dramatically increased delinquency rates, andhaven’t had adip in delinquencies since 2022, according to data fromVantageScore on 60-day,past-due delinquencies from January 2020 to September 2025.And although inflationhas come down from itspeak in 2022, people still are struggling withrelatively higher prices and “astro-

nomical” rent increases, Bandebo said.

Areportreleased this year by researcherswith Joint Center forHousing Studies at Harvard University found that half of all renters, 22.6 millionpeople, were cost-burdened in 2023, meaning they spent morethan 30% of their income on housing and utilities, up 3.2 percentagepointssince 2019 and9 percentage points since 2001. Twenty-seven percent of renters are severely burdened, spending more than 50% of their incomeonhousing.

As rents have grown, the amount families have left after paying for housing andutilitieshas fallen to record lows. In 2023, renters with annual household incomes under $30,000 had amedianofjust$250 per month in residual income to spend on other needs, an amount that’sfallen 55% since 2001, with the steepest declines sincethe pandemic, according to the Harvard study

“It’sgetting tougherand tougher everymonth for low-income households to makeendsmeet, Bandebo said.

Prices at limited-service restaurants, which include fast-food restaurants, are up 3.2% year over year,atarate higher than inflation “and that’sclimbing,” said Marisa DiNatale, an economist at Moody’s Analytics.

On top of that, price increases becauseoftariffs disproportionately affect lower-incomehouseholds, because they spend agreater portion of their income on goods rather than services, which are not directly impacted by tariffs. Wagesalsoare stagnating more forthese households compared to higher- andmiddle-income households, DiNatale said.

“Ithas always been the case that more well-off people have done better.But alot of the economicand policyheadwinds are disproportionately affecting lower-income households, and [McDonald’slosing low-income customers] is areflection of that,” DiNatale said.

Evolving LegalLandscape Shapes Digital Healthcare Innovation andCompliance.

Digitalhealthcareinthe United States is continuously shaped by acomplex patchwork of federaland statelawsand regulations.

Federallawsgovernprivacy,while federal agencies regulate medicaldevices and certainsoftware. Telehealth rulesvaryby state, though Medicare andmanystates have expanded coverage andlicensure flexibility,and oversightcomes from multiple agencies. However, challengespersist regardingthe regulation of AI,cross-state telehealth practices, cybersecurity, anddata notcovered by federallaw,sopolicymakers continue to pursue reformstoensure innovationaligns with patientprotections

Ourfirm is proudtohelpleadthe wayforward forLouisiana healthcare providersand supportcompanies as they undergo digitaltransformationand navigate this evolving andcomplex legal andregulatoryenvironment.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILEPHOTO By GENE J. PUSKAR

McDonald’sexecutivessay the higher costs of restaurant essentials, such as beef and salaries, have pushed food prices up and driven away lower-income customers.

AllisonBell Nadiadela Houssaye

Staff report

South Louisiana businesses have recently announced the following promotionsand new hires.

BatonRouge

RenitaWardWilliams has been named vice chancellor of institutional affairs and strategic planningfor Baton Rouge Community College. She will oversee human resources, governance, policy development and institutional strategy while managing external legalaffairsand leading compliance oversight. Ward Williams spent the prior two years workingfor theLouisiana Community and Technical CollegeSystem as chief compliance,regulatory and legal affairs officer

The Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Foundation elected three new memberstoits board of directors.

Dr.Sheldon Johnson, Carl“Mike” Schexnayder and Kenith “Ken” Woodall are each set to serve threeyear terms on the nonprofit’sboard Nine new boardcertified health care providers with acombined 181 yearsofexperience this month jo in ed FM OL Health |Our Lady of the Lake Physician GroupUrology: Drs. Angelo Annaloro Jr , Henry“Drew” Hollier Thomas “Tom” Wills, Stephen “Randy” Vick, James “Jimmy” Morris, Mark Posner, nurse practitioner MichelleGenre,and physician assistants Johanna De Silvia and Alicia Vick Seth Gold has been appointed Medicaid director of theLouisiana DepartmentofHealth. Gold previously served as astaffer for the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce and ahealth-policyadviserfor former U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, ROhio.

NewOrleans

PEOPLE IN BUSINESS

Morton Jensen has been appointed to the role of chiefoperating officer of PortNOLA, wherehe’ll be tasked with overseeing port operations anddelivery of the Louisiana International Terminal. Most recently,Jensen was terminal investment director for TerminalInvestment Ltd. in Geneva, which is one of Port NOLA’s financial partners for the planned newViolet terminal.

Boys Town Louisiana announced twonew members of itsboard of directors: Torry Dean,the operations director for the Junior League of NewOrleans who also sitson the boards of New OrleansOpera Associationand the Grambling State University National Alumni Association, and Jacinta Massey,the diversity andinclusion director and Title IX/ADA coordinator for Nunez Community College.

DarrylCanon has been promoted to become hotel managerofHyatt Regency New Orleans and general managerofHyatt House New Orleans/Downtown. Canonbegan his Hyatt career 23 years ago in New Orleansand returned in 2016 to oversee sales and events. Thenational disaster recovery nonprofit SBP announced two leadership changes: ReeseMay,amember of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Task Force on ReformingDisaster Response andRecovery,was promoted to chiefoperatingofficer from chiefstrategy and innovation

Askthe Fool: Stockexpectations

officer;and Lauren Darnell,previously theexecutive director of the Made in New Orleans Foundation and Love Your City program director was hired as chief of staff.

The Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine announced its first-ever team of associate deans.They include: Dr.Rajiv Gala,associate dean foreducation andacademicaffairs; Dr.Brian Moore,associate dean forclinical affairs; Dr.Eboni PriceHaywood,associate dean for health equityand public health; Dr.Tamika Webb-Detiege,associatedean for student affairs, RandalLangford and Edward Phillips,co-associate deans for finance andadministration; Drs. Nneka Ifejika and Kaneisha Bailey Akinpelumi,co-interim associatedeans for research.

DePaulCommunity Health Centers announced the hiring of six newhealthcare providers. Darielle Santiago willwork in adult primary care at DCHC Gentilly; Shani Campbell will work in adult primary care at DCHC Metairie; Drs Emily Vigour and JenniferO’Sullivan will bothwork in pediatricsatDCHCs in Algiers andHarvey; Dr.Genesis Ricard will work at DCHC Carrollton; and Danielle Ragsdale,anemergency nurse recognized as oneofLouisiana’s

“Great 100 Nurses,” will work in urgent care at DCHC Algiers. The Metairie law firm Larzelere Picou Wells Simpson Lonero, including partners JayLonero and MorganWells,will merge with the New Orleans firm Mouledoux, Bland, Legrand &Brackett, whosename will be retained forthe combined defense firm.

BayouParishes Nicholls State University has appointed two adjunctfaculty membersasinstructors in its new Master of Business Administrationprogram in human resources. Claire Pitre,a labor and employment attorneywith Jackson Lewis,will teacher aclass on labor andemployment law,while human resources consultant Casey Boudreux will teach aclass on strategic HR management. Around Louisiana

The Louisiana Endowment for theHumanities announced four newboard members. They are: LeighAnne Chambers,auniversity administrator from Bossier City, Becky Gottsegen,anartist from Baton Rouge, Stephanie Halphen,anaccountant certified in financial forensicsfromLafayette,and Drew Tessier,a senior director of public affairs from BatonRouge.

Some stocks rise on good news about the companywhile others don’t.Why? T.H.,Venice,Florida It all depends on what investors have been expecting. For example, if they’ve expected earnings to grow by 12% and the company reports 10% growth, the stock might drop. Somenews may already be baked into the stock price, too. Acompany’s shares might jumpwhen it announces plans to enter China, but not movemuch once it actually does open its first China location. Not all newsisreally news.

Can Igive stock certificates forsingle shares as holidaypresents to my grandkids? —J.P., Lubbock,Texas Yes, but it’snot necessarily the best move. It’scertainly great to introduce young people to investing by giving them some skin in the game, but these days, many companies no longer issue paper certificates, as trading is widely conducted electronically.Ifa company still produces paper certificates, you might ask it —oryour brokerage, which is usually simpler —for one, but the fee could be several hundred dollars. And cashing in apaper certificate is a hassle, too. Some websites, such as GiveAShare.com, will sell you certificates for single shares of stock, but they might charge you muchmore than the share actually costs. Another way to give shares of stock to kids is by transferring one or more shares of stock(s) you ownfrom your brokerage account to an account belonging to them. If they’re minors, they’ll need custodial accounts, with aparent or other adult serving as custodian. However you go about it, consider starting with companies they know and admire —perhaps Apple, Lululemon, Nike, Starbucks, Ulta

Chambers Gottsegen

Halphen Tessier

Boudreux

ONE BIG QUESTION

What are best and worst tax incentives?

BY JONAH MEADOWS Staff writer

Tax incentives are one of the most controversial tools in the economic development tool kit

Proponents, including economic development officials, business leaders, developers and industry executives, say without tax breaks, it wouldn’t make financial sense to do certain deals, build job-creating plants or revitalize old buildings.

Critics charge that most incentive programs give lucrative tax breaks to private industry and wealthy companies at the expense of tax rolls and the environment. They say the giveaways often haven’t paid for themselves and have mixed job results

In 2023, Louisiana provided more than $500 million in tax incentives including $150 million to the Quality Jobs Program, $134 million to the Motion Picture Investor Tax Credit and $86 million to the Rehabilitation of Historic Structures Tax Credit, according to the Department of Revenue. The return on that investment depends on how you slice the numbers In this installment of One Big Question, an occasional feature where we pose the same question to experts with diverse perspectives, we ask: What have been the best economic development incentives in Louisiana, and what have been the worst?

The following answers have been edited for brevity

MICHAEL HECHT

President and CEO, Greater New Orleans, Inc

Probably the best example of an incentive that I can think of is the historic tax credits that have allowed downtowns to be rebuilt not just in New Orleans but across Louisiana and across the country — that otherwise would not have been economical to adaptively reuse, because that’s an incentive that definitively passes the “ifnot-but-for” test, and the result is catalytic.

The enterprise zone tax credit, or the EZ program, is an example of an incentive that has not worked, because the income and franchise tax credits and the sales tax rebate was not significant enough to change behavior And so it simply ended up incentivizing investment that would have happened already, and it did not catalyze new investment that was not financially viable otherwise.

JAN MOLLER

Executive director, Invest in Louisiana

The one that I think is the worst is really ITEP the Industrial Tax Exemption Program. We have a nonelected state board giving away local property taxes with little to no input from the local citizens and elected officials, who are, in many cases, losing tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue. We are literally giv-

ing tax breaks to companies that make investments that kill jobs. I think the LED Fast Start program is one that is good, because it’s smaller, it’s customized and it’s focused on providing customized training and workforce development for specific needs. In general, the best economic development incentive that Louisiana or any state could have is an educated, highquality workforce, strong reliable infrastructure, safe streets, good schools and the kind of communities where people want to move in.

DANIEL ERSPAMER

CEO, Pelican Institute for Public Policy

We are generally skeptical of economic development programs that put the government in the position of picking winners and losers. However, in analysis of the existing programs, we would say the broadest base and most open

opportunities are the best. And the best investments tend to be things like pre-site selection and efforts that are about identifying the best opportunities for businesses to come here. The worst, I would say is likely the film tax credit. While it is certainly fun to have movies and TV shows filmed in our state — and they likely still would be this is an incentive that has largely gone to out-of-state companies through the trading of these credits. And it’s hard to point to any long term, real economic impact on actual workers and citizens of Louisiana.

PATRICK BUTTON

Tulane University economics professor; Connolly Alexander Institute for Data Science executive director

One type of incentive that tends to work well is one that’s very tar-

geted. It could be targeted toward some kind of barrier to being able to enter a market — that could be that you aren’t able to come up with a capital financing, or you’re a small business and you’re trying to manage the paperwork process, anything that can help with some of those barriers can allow people to enter a market when they otherwise wouldn’t be able to. Less effective have been: most incentives in general. My research and other research tend to show that tax incentives to the film industry don’t tend to create a local film industry or lead to significant amounts of jobs. There’s similar research on, say, incentives for million-dollar plants to relocate. It tends to be the case that the only time that those incentives seem to matter might be at the final stage, where the business is deciding between two top places that they would have gone to anyway

SUSAN BOURGEOIS

Secretary, Louisiana Economic Development

The good and the bad might be two sides of the same coin: our tax policy Prior to November of last year, that was on the bad side. Businesses looked at that and both the complicated nature of our tax policy and then the actual financial burden, was a real deterrent for companies growing, locating and expanding in Louisiana. We can do incentives all day long, but at the end of the day you need to get the fundamentals and that’s a fundamental.

The flip side of that, for the good — and the statistics are bearing this out is the changes that we made last November are moving us dramatically up the rankings, and rankings matter We just moved from 29th to 10th in the country for corporate tax policy and favorability. At the end of the day, I always like to call our incentives sort of like a coupon at the end that pushes a deal over the line, but our tax policy gets us deals.

The Science-Backed Compromise That Protects Louisiana’sCoast and Its Menhaden Industry

Submitted article

Brought to youbythe Louisiana Commercial Fishing Coalition,LLC Louisiana’scoast has always demanded balance. Our working waters support thousands of families and drivemorethan $419 million in annual economic output At the same time, our state is home to some of America’smost productivecoastal ecosystems.Decisions about howweprotect these waters must be rooted in science, grounded in local experience, and shaped through compromise.

Thatiswhy the Louisiana Wildlifeand Fisheries Commission’snew Noticeof Intent (NOI) to adjust menhaden buffer zones deserves to be understoodfor what it truly is: a science-guided compromise thatstrengthens protections in the most sensitivepartsofourcoastwhilerefiningrules inareaswherefishinghashistoricallyoccurred and cancontinue safely without harming the resource.

Science at the Center of the Commission’s Work

The Commission directed the Louisiana DepartmentofWildlifeandFisheries(LDWF) staff to conduct arigorous analysis of existing buffer areas and identifywhereprotections should be strengthened and wherehistoric fishing accesscould be responsibly restored. The result is aplan that actuallyexpands the buffer zone by morethan 4percent, from 264 to 276squaremiles,while refining boundaries to makethemmoreenforceable and morealigned with ecological needs Under the NOI:

• ProtectionsincreasearoundtheChandeleur

Islands and Isle Dernieres

• Technicalupgrades,including GPS coordinates, clarified language, and reorganized zones,makeenforcement clearer

Open-wateraccessisrestoredinhistoric

fishing areas wherescience showsminimal environmental risk. This is precisionregulation thatexpands protections wheretheymattermost and relies on data,not politics,todetermine where fishing canoccur responsibly

Addressing Concerns with Facts,Not Fear

Some organizations have argued thatany adjustmenttonearshorebuffersrepresents a step backward.But Louisiana’sown data tells adifferentstory

The state’s $1 million taxpayerfunded bycatchstudy shows that:

Reddrumharvestedbythe menhaden

fishery accounts for only 3.4percent of all reddrum landingsinLouisiana

Total bycatchacrossall species remains belowthe 5percentstatutory cap established by the Legislature.

•Areas reopened underthe newNOI show no measurable impact on reddrum recruitmentorpopulation health

Louisiana canprotect its most sensitive fisheriesandsupportoneofitsmostimportant working-waterindustries at thesame time.

AFleet ThatHas Already Modernized for Today’sChallenges

Louisiana’smenhaden industry has spent the past severalyearsinvesting heavily in safer, moresustainable equipment. Thoseinvestments,totalingmorethan $6.5 million, include:

• Spectraand Plateena net technology, which is significantly moredurable than traditional nets and helps preventtears and accidental releaseevents.

• Hose-endcagesystemsthathavereduced incidentalreddrummortalityby24percent.

• Newprotocols forrapid response, spill containment, crew training, and reporting. Theseactions representone of themost significantvoluntarymodernizationprograms of anycommercial fishery in the Gulf. And theyreflectthe fleet’scommitmentto continuous improvement, even beyond what regulation requires The Commission’sNOI mirrorsthis same philosophy. It improves protections wheretheyare most neededwhile allowing responsible, science-supported fishing where risksare minimal.

ProtectingPeopleand aWay of Life Formanyparishes,the menhaden sector is not an abstract industry.Itisaneconomic backbone. More than2,000 Louisianans work in thefishery and its supply chain. Local businesses,including machinists, truckers,

welders, processors,and equipmentsuppliers, depend on the fleet’soperations

Theseare year-roundjobswith benefits, supporting families in communities that have seen manyother industries disappear Menhaden fishing hasanchored thesetowns forgenerations,providing stable livelihoods while powering essentialsupply chains such as U.S. aquaculture, pet food, and animal feed. ProtectingLouisiana’scoast means protecting thesepeople as well.

Building aPathForwardTogether

The futureofour coast cannot be built on division.Itmust be built on shared stewardship.Weremain committedto working with the Commission, LDWF staff, legislators, conservationgroups, charter captains,recreationalanglers, andscientists to improve transparency,enforcement, and public trust This is howresponsible management works. It is built through dialogue, data,and accountability, not confrontation.

ACoast Protected, ACommunitySustained The Commission’sNOI is nota victoryfor anyone group.Itisapragmatic step forward thatacknowledges Louisiana canprotect its fragilehabitatsand preserveits workingwaterheritage. It recognizes thatscience, not rhetoric, must guide our choices.And it reflects the realitythatcompromiseisnot weakness. It is howLouisiana has always movedforward Our coast is worth protecting. So are the people who depend on it.This proposal does both.

The crew sets up a scene during filming in Lafayette in 2020.

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BATONROUGE PROBATENO. 2008114 DIVISION "A SUCCESSIONSOFTHE VIRGINIA LEEWOOD FORET& FRANKSEBASTIAN FORET, JR NOTICE OF APPLICATION FORAUTHORITY TO SELL REAL ESTATE PROPERTY AT PrivateSALE NOTICE IS GIVENthat CHERRYLYNNE FORET RIGGS,Administratrixof the Succession of VIR‐GINIA LEEWOODFORET has petitioned this Court for authoritytosellreal estatepropertybelong‐ing to thedecedentVIR‐GINIA LEEWOOD FORET atprivate sale in accor‐dance with Article3281 ofthe LouisianaCodeof Civil Procedureasfol‐lows: Thefollowing described property, includingdece‐dent'sundivided onehalf(½) interest therein, tobesoldfor

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STAYING FOCUSED

LSU associate professor uses virtual reality to help students with ADHD

BY MARGARET DeLANEY Staff writer

Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder can be debilitating for some students. Common symptoms include difficulty staying on task or being organized — making it almost impossible for students to complete assignments on time.

In 2023, an estimated 15.5 million of American adults over the age of 18 had a diagnosis of ADHD, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Half of those diagnosis happened in adulthood.

Computer science and engineering associate professor David Shepherd is out to change that — or at least help make completing tasks, assignments and homework easier for students

Nestled in the digital media center at LSU, at the end of a long hallway lined with glass offices chock full of charts, graphs, equations and scribbled ideas in dry-erase ink, sits Shepherd’s virtual reality lab where he works with two doctorate students.

Type 1.5 diabetes isn’t a myth

Though lesser known, disease fairly common

BY MARGARET DeLANEY Staff writer

Type 1.5 diabetes isn’t a myth. It shares features of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes — it develops in adults, like Type 2, but involves an autoimmune process, like Type 1. Because symptoms often appear gradually, it’s commonly mistaken for Type 2 diabetes.

Also known as Latent Autoimmune Disease in Adults, Type 1.5 diabetes an autoimmune disease that attacks the pancreas causing insulin resistance. It typically develops in adults between 30 and 50.

“Over the past years, it’s become clear that there is a Type 1.5 diabetes in adults that’s a little bit different than Type 2 and Type 1,” said Dr Joseph Heneghan, an internist at Ochsner Health Center in Prairieville.

Even though many people haven’t heard of it, Type 1.5 is fairly common. Studies suggest that between 4% and 12% of people who initially receive a Type 2 diabetes diagnosis end up having LADA. To put that in perspective, about 530 million adults worldwide have Type 2, according to the Cleveland Clinic

Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease that attacks the pancreas that creates insulin, is typically diagnosed in the teenage years or younger Patients with Type 1 lack sufficient insulin, a chemical in the body that tells consumed sugar to go into cells.

When there is excess sugar in the body that can’t go into cells, those sugars stay in the blood vessels, causing damage and inflammation. Typical treatment for patients with Type 1 diabetes are injections of insulin in various forms.

Type 2 diabetes is categorized as insulin resistance, where a patient is producing insulin, but an overconsumption of sugar overwhelms the insulin-producing pancreas and the body cannot produce enough insulin to react to sugars in the body

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON Dr Joseph Heneghan stands in an examination room at the Ochsner Health Center in Prairieville.

STAFF PHOTOS By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Ph.D student Fatemeh Jamalinabijan adjusts the Meta Quest 3 virtual reality headset that is being used in the LSU College of Engineering’s study on reducing ADHD symptoms.

BLOWN AWAY

N.O. glassblowers teach doctors, health care workers to make glass hearts, cups and ornaments

BY MARGARET DeLANEY Staff writer

For more than 60 years, Jean Blair has become very familiar working with doctors in several hospitals around the country But rather than in the hospital setting, Blair takes them to her office, filled with hot furnaces, torches, blowpipes, paddles, jacks and sheers.

Blair is the founder of the New Orleans School of Glassworks and Printmaking Studio two blocks from The National WWII Museum in downtown New Orleans. Whenever the stars align and schedules meld, Blair and her team at the Magazine Street studio host doctors, surgeons, nurses, technicians, physician assistants and more to take a moment out of their busy lives saving people and make some art of their own.

From cups to glass hearts to Christmas ornaments, guests can make it in the studio.

Blair started this project 40 years ago, around the time she opened shop After moving to New Orleans from New York City where she worked for Time Life, she connected with John Ochsner, the founder of the Ochsner hospital system.

“(He) asked me to photograph for his slide lectures in the operating room of his heart surgeries and transplants,” Blair said.

Since that time, Blair has grown to appreciate the health care community and has made it her mission to show that appreciation to health care workers in New Orleans and around the country

“One of our specialties has been inviting doctors and their staffs in to show them that blowing glass is similar to surgery,” Blair said “The use of instruments you use to maneuver the molten glass into shape without touch-

ing it is similar to using medical instruments.”

Blair and her team have hosted Dr Nieca Goldberg, a cardiologist from New York University Lagoon Hospital, who made glass hearts, thoracic surgeons who made glass lungs and other surgeons who have made glass brains and glass livers during their time in the studio.

Depending on availability, Blair hosts health care workers as often as she can

to thank them for their knowledge and “TLC” with patients every day

“Having been involved with hospitals for so many years, I have noticed a tremendous need to thank the doctors and the hospital working staff for the generosity given to so many of the patients,” Blair said. “You only have to be a patient — or relative of a patient — to realize the numerous people that come in and out of your room who are responsible for taking care of you.”

In November, Blair invited eight colleagues and team members of Dr Katrina Wade, a surgical oncologist at Ochsner Hospital. The doctors and colleagues become captivated with what they are able to create while blowing glass, according to Blair

Email Margaret DeLaney at margaret.delaney@theadvocate. com.

ADHD

Continued from page 1X

This month, the team of three received a total of $1.8 million in grant funding to continue to study how virtual reality spaces can assist students with ADHD in completing their homework and staying on task

The overall grant is in collaboration with Joshua Langberg, Rutgers University chief wellness officer and Department of Clinical Psychology professor

The study is a clinical trial, combining efforts with the LSU Student Health Center to find 200 students to participate.

Originally from Richmond, Virginia, Shepherd and Langberg came up with the idea to use virtual reality to increase the productivity of software engineers at Virginia Commonwealth University in 2020. It wasn’t until a student with ADHD noted the possible benefits of the program for doing homework and staying focused that the team switched focus.

“Software engineers get interrupted all of the time,” Shepherd said. “We thought VR headsets could make it so that even if (software engineers) are working in open cubicles, they’re not that in-

terrupted.”

The virtual reality space was created to reflect a good working environment with a simulation of a computer screen with only the current assignments and tasks visible on the screen. Shepherd brought the program with him to LSU when he joined the university two years ago. Now, two doctoral students work with him to sort through new case studies, address glitches in the gaming-like system and compile data from homework sessions.

How it works

The virtual reality program uses coding to detect when students are going off-focus in multiple one-hour study sessions The technology tracks keyboard strokes, mouse activity and eye movement to track productivity

The first 10 minutes of each study session begin with reading comprehension and a series of questions about the content in order to gauge the level of productivity a student has going into the session. For the next 40 minutes, students are doing their actual homework on an uninterrupted screen. No notifications. No popups. No ads No opportunities to get distracted. According to Shepherd, students cannot use the virtual reality goggles for more than two ses-

sions in one day “It defeats the purpose,” he said.

Another unofficial symptom of ADHD is hyper fixation — an intense focus on one topic, activity food or television show that can cause a person to become oblivious to the passing of time.

It’s also common for students with ADHD to zone out, or daydream, when trying to focus.

“That’s pretty easy to detect because there’s no keyboard, no mouse activity,” Shepherd said. “If you have the headset on, we can detect that nothing is happening. We look for that in order to nudge them back on track.”

At the end of the session, there is a self-reported survey to assess a student’s cvoncentration, motivation and effort.

“We plan to compare the selfreported data to the objective data that we collect on our end,” Shepherd said.

Fatemeh Jamalinabijan is the data collector She looks at screenshots taken every minute of each session. The grant’s aim is to get 200 students with ADHD to participate in the clinical trial at the end of a three-year period. That’s 2,400 one-hour sessions and 144,000 screenshots to look over Matheus Costa created the study work environment and finds and fixes bugs in the system if the need arises.

“They both put some blood, sweat and tears into this project,” Shepherd said.

Going forward, if the clinical trial proves to be a success, Shepherd predicts that it could become an accommodation provided by some universities for students with ADHD.

“If you are in a dorm room especially you could have one of these VR sets to make your homework situation better,” he said. “The headsets are just going to get lighter and higher-res. I think that’s going to be a legitimate avenue of getting homework done in a noisy place within a year or two.”

Email Margaret DeLaney at margaret.delaney@theadvocate. com.

STAFF PHOTOS By SOPHIA GERMER ABOVE: Surgical oncologists of Ochsner Hospital learn how to glass blow at New Orleans Glassworks Studio. LEFT: Owner Jean Blair helps Paris Wade, 9, hold a pallet for her mother, Dr Katrina Wade.

Dr Katrina Wade heats up glass to make a cup as surgical oncologists of Ochsner Hospital try out glassblowing at New Orleans Glassworks Studio.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Ph.D student Matheus Costa uses hand gestures to demonstrate the computer setup the LSU College of Engineering is using for a study on reducing ADHD symptoms for students using virtual reality headsets.

EatFit LiveFit

Brutti ma buoni: Ugly but good, andperfect forholidaygifting!

Theholidaysareatimeforsharing love,laughterand,ofcourse, cookies!Thisseason,whynottrya treatthat’sascharmingasitisindulgent? bruttimabuoni,Italianfor“uglybut good,”arebite-sizedchocolatedelights withareputationthatfarexceedstheir humbleappearance.Inspiredbythelittle treatsservedafterdinneratDomenica insideTheRooseveltHotelinNew Orleans,thesecookiesareasweetending toanymealorathoughtfulhomemade giftforfriendsandfamily.

Whatmakesthisversionspecial? Made withalmondflourandzero-sugarplantbasedsweeteners,theselittlecookiesare naturallylow-carbandgluten-free,soyou canfeelgoodaboutsharingthemwith everyoneonyourlist(naughtyornice) They’rerich,chocolateyandjusttheright sizeforpoppingintoaholidaygiftbag.

BruttiMaBuoniRecipe Makesapproximately40minicookies

2tablespoonsalmondflour 1tablespooncoconutflour ½teaspoonbakingpowder ½teaspoonsalt

3tablespoonsunsweetenedchocolate (100%cocoa),chopped ½cuprounded,darkchocolate(atleast 70%cocoa),chopped

2tablespoonsunsaltedbutter,softened 1wholeegg+1eggwhite, roomtemperature ½cupSwerveGranular

1tablespoonfinelygroundespresso 1teaspoonvanillaextract

½cupstevia-sweetenedsemi-sweet chocolatechips(suchasLily’s),frozen 2tablespoons SwerveConfectioners,sifted

Siftflours,bakingpowderandsaltinto abowl,andsetaside.

Meltbothvarietiesofunsweetened chocolateinadoubleboiler,taking carenottoburnthechocolateonce itismelted.Whiskinbutter.

Inaseparatebowl,whisktogether eggsandSwerveGranularuntil mixturebecomesverythickandpale incolor,approximately6-8minutes. Slowlystirinmeltedchocolate, occasionallyscrapingthesidesof thebowl.Foldinflourmixtureand scrapethebowlagain.

Addespressoandvanillaextractand mixuntilcombined.Donotovermix orthemixturewillgettoocrumbly. Foldinfrozenstevia-sweetened chocolatechips.Spreadmixture ontoaparchment-linedsheetpan. Coverlightlyandrefrigeratefor12 hoursorovernight.

Rollchilledmixtureintoballsabout oneinchindiameter.Pressgentlyto flatten.Placecookiesinthefreezer foratleastonehour.

Preheattheovento350degrees RollbatterinSwerveConfectioners, thenarrangeonabakingsheet.Bake for10-12minutes,untilthecookies areslightlypuffedandfinelinesor cracksappear.Removefromthe ovenandtransfertoparchmentpaper

tocool.SprinklewithadditionalSwerve Confectioners,ifdesired,beforeserving.

MollyKimball,RD,CSSD,isaregistereddietitian withOchsnerHealthandfounderofOchsner’sEatFit nonprofitinitiative.Formorewellnesscontent,tuneinto Molly’spodcast,FUELEDWellness+Nutrition,andfollow @MollykimballRDand@EatFitOchsneronsocialmedia. Emailnutrition@ochsner.orgtoconnectwithMollyor scheduleaconsultwithherteam.

BY THENUMBERS

Perserving(1cookie):35calories,3grams fat,1.5gramssaturatedfat,40mgsodium, 3gramscarbohydrate(2gramsnetcarbs), 1gramfiber,<1gramsugar(0added sugar),<1gramprotein.

Findthisrecipeandmorein“TheEat FitCookbook.”Findlocalretailersor purchaseonlineatEatFitCookbook.com BesuretousepromocodeADVOCATEat checkoutfor10%off

NEARLy 10 MILLION HOMESINTHE U.S. ARERUN By SINGLE-PARENTS

Thecurrent population survey estimates there were 9.8 million oneparent households in 2023in the U.S. The percentage of children living in single-parent households nearly tripled between 1960 and 2023,increasing from 9% to 25%.

Almost aquarter of Americanchildren under the ageof18livewith one parent and no other adults —more than three times the rate of children in other countries around the worldwho live under the same circumstances. The global averageofsingle-adult households, excluding the U.S.,hovered at 7% in 2019, according to aPEW Research Center study.

These parishes had the lowest percentageofsingle-parent households, in ascending order: n Cameron, 12% single-parenthomes; n Plaquemines, 14% single-parent homes; n Livingston, 21% single-parent homes;

DIABETES

Continued from page1X

“Thatsugar hangingonthe blood vessels causesalot of information and damage, which then leads to heart attacks and strokes,” Heneghan said. Typical treatment for Type 2diabetesinoralmedication.Medicinal options, like Metformin, can work for ashort periodfor patients with Type 1.5, but do not work in the long run to treat LADA.

Over time, as the autoimmune process progresses, patients typically lose insulin production and eventually requireinsulin therapy, like those with Type 1diabetes. Symptoms of Type 1.5 are similar to Type 1, including: n being verythirsty n needing to pee more often,

n Beauregard, Jefferson Davis and Vernon, 22% single-parent homes; n Ascension and Lafourche, 25% single-parent homes;

n Grant and St. Martin, 26% singleparent homes.

Theseparishes had the highest percentageofsingle-parent households, in descending order: n East Carroll, 75% single-parent homes;

n Madison, 59% single-parent homes; n Claiborne, 57% single-parent homes;

n Concordia, 54% single-parent homes;

n St.Helena and Tensas parishes, 53% single-parent homes; n Orleans, 50% single-parent homes; n Winn, 49% single-parent homes; n West Feliciana, 47% single-parent homes; n Morehouse, 46% single-parish homes.

n losing weightunexpectedly n blurred vision, n fatigue, n or itchy,dry skin.

Diagnosis of Type 1.5 typically involvesblood tests thatcheck for diabetes-related autoantibodies and C-peptide levels to measure insulin production. Doctors may recommend additional lab tests to rule out other causes or confirm autoimmune involvement. If antibodiesare present and insulin levels are low,the patient likely has LADA rather than Type 2diabetes.

“Autoimmune diseasesdorun in families,”Heneghan said. “If your parentshad an autoimmune disease, and someone who’shad any autoimmune disease is thenmorelikely to get asecond autoimmune disease.”

Astatewide concern

Diabetes, as awhole, is on the

rise in Louisiana.In2022, there were over half amillion Louisiana adults who had been diagnosed with diabetes at some point in their lives, according to data from the Centersfor Disease Control and Prevention. On average, 13% of Louisiana adults hadadiabetes diagnosis —higher than theU.S. average at 11.6%. People withdiabetes areathigh risk of heart disease, stroke and other serious complications, the CDC says —including kidney failure, blindness and lower-limb amputations. Diet, according to Heneghan, is asignificant preventive measure to reduce the risk of developing Type 2diabetes. Both Type 1and Type 1.5 aregenetic, autoimmune disorders.

“There’ssomuchprocessed food these days, so we’re seeing

really highrates of diabetes,” Heneghansaid. “I always tell patients,think of George Washington.Can youpicture George Washington with aCoke and aTwinkie?

Probably not.”

Email Margaret DeLaney at margaret.delaney@theadvocate. com.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

The Louisiana Health section is focused on providing in-depth, personal accounts of health in the state.This section looks at medical innovations, healthdiscoveries, state and national health statistics and re-examining tried and true methods on ways to livewell.

Health editions will also profile people whoare advancing healthfor thestate of Louisiana. Do youhavea healthstory? We want to hear from you. Email margaret.delaney@ theadvocate.com to submit healthquestions,stories and more

BROUGH TT OY OU BY

Molly Kimball RD,CSSD

Staff reports

Pennington receives $10.9M renewal

Following a competitive review process, the National Institutes of Health funding for Pennington

Biomedical’s Metabolic Basis of Disease Center of Biomedical Research Excellence was renewed for an additional five years This Phase II renewal builds on the momentum achieved since the center’s establishment in 2020, enabling continued support for young scientists who are focused on the mechanisms through which nutrition and metabolism contribute to health.

Applications open for 2nd round of HERO Fund

The Louisiana Department of Health announces the application period for the second round of the HERO Fund. Approximately $6 million will be distributed among recipients.

The fund, which provides matching two-year grants to health care training and education programs, helps grow the health care workforce pipeline in Louisiana. The application period will close Jan. 16.

Tulane researcher awarded $2.7M grant

Tulane University School of Medicine researcher Dr Jia Fan has been awarded a $2.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to improve how doctors identify and treat infections caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria, a growing public health concern worldwide.

NTM infections, which can cause serious lung and soft-tissue diseases, are notoriously difficult to diagnose and treat. Treatment varies by species, and delays or inaccuracies in diagnosis can lead to ineffective therapies, drug toxicity or the emergence of drugresistant strains.

Fan’s lab is developing an advanced diagnostic platform called MycoID, which uses mass spectrometry and machine learning to identify NTM species and predict how they’ll respond to antibiotics. The technology analyzes tiny differences in the proteins secreted by bacteria, known as peptide sequence variants, to distinguish between closely related species and even subspecies.

Our Lady of the Lake welcomes new providers

FMOL Health | Our Lady of the Lake Physician Group Urology has welcomed nine new boardcertified providers. The following providers join the group from Baton Rouge Urology and have a combined 181 years of experience:

n Dr Angelo Annaloro Jr

n Dr Henry “Drew” Hollier

n Dr Thomas “Tom” Wills

n Dr Stephen “Randy” Vick

n Dr James “Jimmy” Morris

n Dr Mark P Posner

n Nurse practitioner Michelle Genre

n Physician assistant Johanna De Silvia

n Physician assistant Alicia Vick

LSU recognizes Dr. Neil Maki for critical milestone

Orthopedic history was made in Thibodaux in 1989, when Dr Neil Maki, a clinical associate professor of orthopedics at LSU, developed and performed the first intra-articular arthroscopic Bankart suture repair technique. This groundbreaking advance offered a safer, more effective alternative to existing surgical methods for shoulder instability

Maki presented his pioneering work to the 1990 American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, where it drew national attention His technique was later published in Orthopedics Today, Orthopedic & Sports Medicine News and in renowned surgeon

Dr Lanny Johnson’s textbook on shoulder arthroscopy

Maki’s suture-based approach demonstrated clear advantages over metal staples, including reduced complications and improved healing potential.

This innovation became the foundation for later advancements in arthroscopic shoulder surgery — paving the way for the use of suture anchors, suture passers and modern arthroscopic knot-tying instrumentation and techniques.

Ochsner LSU Health welcomes specialists

Ochsner LSU Health in Shreveport welcomes four new specialists, expanding care in the region and surrounding communities:

n Dr Adam Blancher, an ear, nose and throat doctor joins Ochsner LSU Health’s Ambulatory Care Center at 1606 Kings Highway;

n Dr Chelsea Gertze joins as a board-certified and fellowshiptrained hospitalist and will see patients at Ochsner LSU Health’s Academic Medical Center at 1541 Kings Highway;

n Dr Hans-Magne Hamnvag, a pathologist, will see patients at Ochsner LSU Health’s Academic Medical Center;

n Dr Sara Mohamed, who went to medical school in Alexandria, Egypt, is a neonatologist and will see patients at Ochsner LSU Health’s St. Mary Medical Center at 1 St. Mary Place.

Health Notes is an occasional listing of health happenings around Louisiana. Have something you’d like to share? Contact us at margaret delaney@theadvocate.com.

Kids with autoimmune diseases find joy at camp

BY SHELBY LUM and LAURAN NEERGAARD Associated Press

A doctor advising sleepaway camp? That’s how a 12-year-old diagnosed with lupus found himself laughing on a high-ropes course as fellow campers hoisted him into the air

“It’s really fun,” said Dylan Aristy Mota, thrilled that he got a chance at the rite of childhood thanks to doctors reassuring his mom that they’d be at this upstate New York camp, too. Dylan felt good knowing if “anything else pops up, they can catch it faster than if we had to wait til we got home.”

It may sound surprising but diseases like lupus, myositis and some forms of arthritis — when your immune system attacks your body instead of protecting it don’t just strike adults. With the exception of Type 1 diabetes, these autoimmune diseases are more rare in kids but they do happen.

People often ask, “Can kids have arthritis? Can kids have lupus?” said Dr Natalia Vasquez-Canizares, a pediatric rheumatologist at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, which partnered with Frost Valley YMCA last summer so some of those youngsters could try a traditional sleepaway camp despite a strict medicine schedule and nervous parents.

“Imagine for an adult, it’s difficult. If you have that disease since you’re young, it’s very difficult to, you know cope with,” she said.

Special challenges for kids

The younger that someone is

when certain illnesses hit, especially before puberty, the more severe symptoms may be. And while genes can make people of any age more vulnerable to autoimmune conditions, usually it takes other factors that stress the immune system, such as infections, to cause the disease to develop.

But genes are more to blame when disease strikes early in life, said Dr Laura Lewandowski of the National Institutes of Health who helps lead international research into genetic changes that fuel childhood lupus.

Symptoms among children can be sneaky and hard to pinpoint.

Rather than expressing joint pain, a very young child might walk with a limp or regress to crawling, Vasquez-Canizares said.

“Before, I looked like everybody else, like normal,” Dylan said Then, “my face turned like the bright pink, and it started to like get more and more red.”

His family thought it must be allergies, and Dylan recalled many doctor appointments before being diagnosed with lupus last January

Treatment has unique challenges, too. Medicines that tamp down symptoms do so by suppressing young immune systems — just as they’re learning to fend off germs. They can also can affect whether kids build strong bones.

Research underway to help kids

But there are promising treatments in development. Seattle Children’s Hospital recently opened the first clinical trial of what’s called CAR-T therapy for pediat-

ric lupus. Those “living drugs” are made by reprogramming some of patients’ own immune soldiers, T cells, to find and kill another type, B cells, that can run amok. Tests in adults with lupus and a growing list of other autoimmune diseases are showing early promise, putting some people in long-term, drugfree remission.

And occasionally a mother’s autoimmune disease can harm her child, such as a rare fetal heart defect that requires a lifelong pacemaker if the baby survives. Dr Jill Buyon at NYU Langone Health is studying how to block that defect — and just reported a healthy girl born to a mom with mild lupus.

“This is a rare example where we know the exact point in time at which this is going to happen,” allowing a chance at prevention, said Dr Philip Carlucci, an NYU rheumatology fellow and study co-author

What happens: A kind of antibody, found in lupus, Sjögren’s and certain other autoimmune diseases, can damage the heart’s ability to beat properly if enough crosses the placenta during key cardiac development. Some treatments can lower but not eliminate the risk. Buyon’s team is testing if a drug used to treat a different autoimmune disease could better shield the fetus.

Kelsey Kim jumped at the experimental treatment in her last pregnancy, “partly in the hopes of saving my own baby and partly in the hopes of saving other people’s babies and saving them from the pain that I had experienced.”

Breaking down fiber, the latest and greatest food fad

Number of new products looking to cash in on trend rises

BY DEE-ANN DURBIN Associated Press

U.S. consumers who have had their fill of finding protein added to everything from cereal to ice cream are about to meet the next big food fad: fiber

Americans have been boosting their protein intake for years; even Pop-Tarts and Starbucks are selling protein-enhanced products. But the number of new products promoted with high or added fiber saw a big uptick in the U.S. this year, according to market research team Mintel. Hundreds of videos on social media celebrate the benefits of dietary fiber and share recipes to help viewers get more of it.

There’s even a term for trying to meet or exceed the recommended daily fiber intake: fibermaxxing

“I think fiber will be the next protein,” PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta said during a recent conference call with investors Consumers are starting to understand that fiber is the benefit that they need.” Fiber’s benefits

Unlike muscle-building protein, fiber isn’t sexy It’s a carbohydrate found in plants that your body can’t break down. It helps feed gut bacteria and move food through the digestive system.

“Folks don’t want to talk about it at a dinner party,” said Debbie Pe-

titpain, a registered dietitian and a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. There are two main types of fiber Soluble fiber dissolves in water and forms a gel-like material that feeds gut bacteria It’s found in foods like oats, peas, beans, apples and carrots. Insoluble fiber doesn’t dissolve in water and moves food through the digestive system. It’s found in whole wheat flour, popcorn, wheat bran, nuts, green beans and potatoes. Studies have shown that fiber lowers cholesterol levels, regulates blood sugar and promotes weight loss, since high-fiber foods tend to make eaters feel more full. It may also protect against heart disease, diabetes, diverticulitis

and colon cancer, according to the American Heart Association. Petitpain said rising use of GLP1 weight loss drugs could be one reason for the renewed focus on fiber, since GLP-1s naturally slow digestion, and fiber can prevent constipation She said fiber has seen similar spikes in interest when people wanted to alleviate symptoms from high-fat diets like Atkins or keto. How much fiber do we need?

Most people in Western countries could use more fiber because their diets are low in vegetables, fruits and whole grains, said Sander Kersten, director of the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University

Under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s guidelines, adults should aim for 14 grams of fiber for every 1,000 calories they consume. That’s about 25 grams of fiber for women and 38 grams for men each day Petitpain said Americans generally only get about two-thirds of that amount.

For reference, 1 cup of raspberries contains 8 grams of fiber, while a banana contains 3.2 grams, according to the USDA One-half cup of avocado contains 5 grams of fiber and 1 cup of lima beans contains 13.2 grams. Fiber One, a bran cereal, packs 18 grams of fiber into a serving of two-thirds of a cup.

Good ways to increase fiber

Kersten said long-term studies about the benefits of fiber have looked at the consumption of whole foods and not packaged products with added fiber

“The way it is consumed as an additive and part of a diet that doesn’t contain a lot of fiber may be different than a naturally fiberrich diet,” Kersten said “You can eat a very processed, Western diet and consume foods that are enriched, but we don’t know if it confers the same benefit.”

Whole foods also help the body in other ways, Petitpain said. An apple contains 4.8 grams of fiber as well as water, vitamins and minerals, for example. Here are some recommendations from the Mayo Clinic for adding fiber to your diet:

n Choose a breakfast cereal with 5 grams or more of fiber a serving.

Top it with a sliced banana or berries. n Choose breads with at least

2 grams of fiber per serving and try other grains like brown rice, whole-wheat pasta and quinoa.

n When baking, substitute wholegrain flour for white flour Add wheat bran to muffins and cookies.

n Try to eat five or more servings of fruit and vegetables daily If you eat canned fruit, make sure it’s canned in fruit juice and not syrup, and make sure canned vegetables are low in sodium.

Think twice about fibermaxxing

There is no defined upper limit for fiber intake, Kersten said But increasing fiber can cause painful gas and bloating, especially if it’s done quickly

Petitpain said people should increase their fiber intake gradually and drink plenty of water

“You’re feeding gut bacteria a food, and you can’t break it down. You rely on them, and if you give them second, third and fourth servings, there’s not enough of them to handle the extra load,” Petitpain said.

Certain populations should also be extra careful about their fiber intake, Petitpain said.

People who are sensitive to gluten or allergic to foods like soy, shellfish or psyllium husk should read labels carefully since some foods with added fiber contain those ingredients.

More broadly, Kersten questions the trend of focusing on one nutrient, whether it’s protein or fiber

“We don’t need nutrients, we need foods. Ultimately, what you want to be striving for is a healthy diet, and you should choose foods that are considered to be an important part of a healthy diet,” he said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By MATT ROURKE

Ethan Blanchfield-Killeen, 11, center right, of yonkers, N.y who has a form of juvenile idiopathic arthritis plays a game of paint tag at the Frost Valley yMCA sleepaway camp in Claryville, N.y in July

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By DEE-ANN DURBIN Cereal bars promoting fiber sit on a shelf at a Kroger grocery store in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Holidayheart health: Ochsner providers outlinesymptoms to watchfor andways to de-stress

By Amanda McElfresh amcelfresh@theadvocate.com

Thisstory is brought to you by OchsnerHealth.

The holidays areaseason of joy, connection and celebration, but they canalsobeone of the most stressful times of the year foryour heart.Ochsner Health has tips to followand triggersto avoid thatwill help keep your heart strong this season and beyond.

“The holidays canbehectic forall of us.It’sachangeinroutine. Our stresslevel canbeelevatedwith travel plans,work and family events,and it canlead to an increase in heart rate and blood pressure, which cancauseheart problems,” said Randy del Mundo,MD, FACP,primary care specialist,Ochsner Health Center –Prairieville. “During the holidays,we aresobusy, and individuals maynot be paying attention to heart symptoms,such as being tired or fatigued. Thesesymptoms maybeoverlooked or just chalked up to the busyseason.

RandydelMundo,MD,FACP

Statistics from the Centers forDiseaseControl and Prevention showthatanAmericandies of aheart-relateddiseaseevery 60 seconds Heart diseaseisthe leading causeofdeath in Louisiana,and the state ranksfifth in the nation in heart attack death rates. National research alsoshows thatmoreheart attacks happen in December and January than at anyother time of year

Michael L. Bernard, MD,section head of electrophysiology, Ochsner Medical Center–New Orleans,said his team often sees ariseinheart rhythm disturbances around the holidays,which is sometimes referred to as “holidayheart.”

“Atrial fibrillation (AFib) is the most common arrhythmia in adults.Itistypically triggered by excessstressand pressureput on the heart by triggerssuch as lack of sleep,stress, alcohol and dehydration,”Dr. Bernardsaid. “In addition, holidayfoods areoften high in fat, sugar and salt,which tend to raiseblood pressureand put morepressureonthe heart.Wesee alcohol have an effect,aswell. Alcohol calms the body initially but eventually raises blood pressureand causes fluid retention and dehydration. Some alcohol levels canlead to a transientstunning of the heart —when the heart temporarily weakens due to the direct toxic effects of alcohol— which canlead to other cardiac problems.”

in the jaworleft arm. However, women aremorelikely to experience other symptoms thatcan be mistaken forcommon ailments,likeindigestion or exhaustion.

“Women with heart diseaseoften have fatigue, nausea or aburning sensation in the chestthatcan be mistaken foracid reflux,”Dr. Williams said. “Thesesymptoms areoften non-specificormimic other diseases.”

MichaelL.Bernard,MD

Dr.Williams said anyone who experiences commonheart attack symptoms should seek medical care immediately.Iftheir symptoms areatypical, she urged people to consider whether theyoccur during times of heightened activity.

“If someone notices that they don’tfeel well, have aburning sensation, become nauseous or sweat profusely when they do an activity, thatcan be asign of aserious heart problem and is something theyshould be concerned about,” she said. “Also, if you have tried treating acid reflux with overthe-countermedications and don’tsee any improvement, thatisanother sign thatit mightnot be acid reflux. It maybesomething else.

Dr.Williamsalsosuggested practicing gratitude, journaling, going forwalks and carving out quiet time as ways to reduce stress.

weeks, thosehormones persist.Theycan increaseblood pressure and blood sugars, which put astrain on the heart.”

Dr.Fontenot said he encourages people to stick to the basics during the holidays in order to maintain wellness. That means adhering to aregular sleep schedule, staying well-hydrated, limiting alcohol, eating smaller portion sizes and practicing mindfulnessand restful hobbies Exerciseisalsoimportant, even if it is not especially vigorous

Dr.Bernardsaid the good news is that there areseveral steps people cantaketo keep their hearts healthyduring the holidayseason. Moderation is key, especially when it comes to alcohol. Dr.Bernardrecommends limiting alcohol to no morethan twodrinksper dayorabstainingaltogether and choosing creativealcohol-freedrinks instead. Scheduling time forphysical activityand rest is alsoimportant. People who strugglewith mental health areurged to keep their provider’s contact information closeby, so it is easily accessible if needed.

Dominique Williams,MD, director of the Women’sCardiovascular Clinic at Ochsner Medical Center –NewOrleans,said part of the challengeisrecognizing symptoms early,especially among women, who mayexperience different warning signs than men. Dr.Williams said women maynotice classicsymptoms of heart problems, such as chest pain, shortness of breath or pain

“Wetreat the holidayseason as aspecial time, but don’tforgetyour normal health routines,” Dr.Bernardadded.

JeffreyD.Fontenot,MD, primary care specialist,Ochsner Health Center -Broussard,said one of the most common mistakes people makeistossing out healthyhabits entirely once theholidayseason starts and telling themselves they’ll getback on track after the newyear.Dr. Fontenot said prolonged periods of excessiveeating and drinking, lessexerciseand ahectic schedule canhaveboth short-term and long-term effects on aperson’sheart health.

“Sometimes we getsohung up on trying to makesureour holidays look likea Hallmark movie,”hesaid. “Thatexpectation canput alot of stresson people. Cortisol is one of our stresshormones,and we know thatincreased cortisol levels raiseblood pressure. When stresspersists forseveral days or

“Yoga, Pilatesorbody weightexercises aregoodfor our physical and mental health, and theycan be done indoors,”hesaid. “You don’thavetobeoverly ambitious.Even lightexercisehelps.”

As the leading healthcareprovider in Louisiana,Ochsner professionals areprepared to provide the best cardiac care in the state.Dr. del Mundo said seeking medical treatmentevenfor mild symptoms gives doctorsmoretime to assess heart disease and risk factors. It alsoprovides an opportunitytodiscusslong-term lifestyle changes relatedtoweight, exerciseand keeping blood pressure,blood sugarand cholesterol in check. If necessary,areferraltoacardiologist canbeeasily facilitated.

“We[primary care specialists] arethe quarterbacksofheart health,”hesaid. “Talk to us about symptoms you have been experiencing. We canguide you, as well as make individual assessments concerning heart disease.”

Dr.Williams said thatcareisincreasingly

Theholidayscanbehectic forallofus.It’sachange inroutine.Ourstress levelcanbeelevated withtravelplans,work andfamilyevents,and itcanleadtoanincrease inheartrateandblood pressure,whichcancause heartproblems.

RandydelMundo,MD,FACP PrimaryCareSpecialist OchsnerHealthCenter-Prairieville

informed by the latest research, including howcardiovascular problems aredifferent between men and women, and the role that hormones playinheart health.

“Everyone at Ochsner has an increased awarenessabout heart diseaseand apassion fortaking care of all patients,” she said. “Our doctorsare very well-aware of everything thatcomes with the holidayseason, as well as whatthe most recentresearch tells us.Weare heretohelp.”

Therewards. Theawards.

OchsnerChildren’swasnamedthe#1children’shospitalinLouisianaand rankedamongthenation’sbestinpediatricCardiology&HeartSurgery andGastroenterology&GISurgerybyU.S.News&WorldReportforthe 5thyearinarow.ButtherealprizeisseeingkidslikeWells,IslaandLawson healthyandhappy

Meetyourexpertcareteamatochsner.org/childrens

WellsR.

IslaR.

LawsonR. HeartProcedure PediatricPatient

FACE TO FACE

youngadultslookbeyondcomputerscreens to meet newpeople

BY LEECUTRONE

Contributing writer

Some young adults are trading digital platforms and algorithms for old-school, in-person ways to meet people.

Nationwide, participation in adult sports leagues and speed dating events are on the rise in Louisiana, too.

In New Orleans at 7p.m. on aWednesday in October,dozens of women from Playnola’sLadies Kickball League were on thefieldatWisnerPlayground. The league has 120 members, primarily in the 20sto40s agerange. The evening’s attendance also included significant others, kidsand spectators, some ensconced in folding chairs near the infield.

After severalhours of play,Wisner Wednesdays end across the street at Grits Bar for postgame drinks.

“Thereare competitive peopleout there, and there are people putting on tennis shoes for the first time,” said Caitlin Carrère, agregarious millennial and longtime league player.“It’smore about the camaraderie, and you meet new people.”

Millennial Caroline Charbonnet, proprietor of the recently openedDa Weenie’s hotdog barlocatedinMick’s IrishPub in MidCity, said theeventsare an outlet for socializing and sports.

“Weput our phonesinour bags and have funonthe field andatthe barafter,”Charbonnet said.

The same week, coed soccer,men’s flag football, coed softball and volleyball wereamongthe adult leagues scheduled at locations around theCrescentCity. Weekly games are at night toaccommo-

date players’ work schedules and other adult responsibilities.

Camp Kent, co-ownerofPlaynola,a sports and social club with the marketingtag “WeDoSocial,” saysthe growth of adultsports leaguesinNew Orleans is on parwithother cities in theUnited States. Kent noted that the number of participants“exploded” after the pandemic as peoplewere eager to get back out into the world and socialize.

Away fornewbies to meet

More recently,numbers have leveled off as some playersage out of the organization’starget demographic —postcollege adultsages 23 to 45 —and as the metro area’spopulation has declined.

Butparticipation remains strong.

Playnolaisthe largest of theadult sports league companies in NewOrleans with roughly 4,000 participantsannually andaroster of leagues in all four seasons.Itoffersmen’s,women’sand coed leagues and has arange of sports, all of which emphasize inclusivity and fun.

“Thirty percent of our players are new to New Orleans,” saidKent, alifelong New Orleanian. “A lot of people use (league sports) to meet people.”

League sports deliver the mind-body benefits of physical activity along with themental and social benefits of human connection. Participants say friendships,datingrelationships,businesscontacts, clientsand even marriages come out of the leagues. Engaging in ashared interest makes them aprime source for meeting potential partners andgives new meaning to “playing thefield.”

Sarah Jane Lowery, editor of the La-

dies Kickball newsletterand amemberofmultiple leagues over the years, met her boyfriendoffive years through ClubWAKA’s coed dodgeball.

Steven Galliotoand Kerry Portie, both members of volleyball leagues, met on opposing teams randomly selected through atournament at Coconut Beach Sand Volleyball Complex in Kenner

They began playing on the same team and are now engaged. Gallioto says unlikedating apps,which often dead-endin onlineinteraction, leagues “give you an opportunitytomeet face to face.”

“It’sahuge community,” said Gallioto, who knows of many couples who met through volleyball. “You’vegot to seeit to understand.”

Sevencouples metplaying Pickleball

The Exchange Pickleball +Bar owner Renée Melchiode sees thesame thing happening at herfacility where drinks are servedcourtside.

The Exchange holds “open play,” which brings together everyone from locals to tourists. The venue has seen the sport expand beyond theover 50 crowd to younger players. Their largest growing age demographic is 25 to 35.

“I have seven couples who met playing pickleballatThe Exchange,” Melchiode said. “I think it’sthe ideal opportunity to meet people in real time rather than swiping left and right.”

While some leagueorganizations head to neighborhood bars for after-party mingling, afew have on-site watering holes. Coconut Beach,the largest sand sports complex in the country in Kenner, hasa restaurant/bar with tropical island mojo.

Of thefacility’s20volleyball courts, 13 are used forleagueswhichplayfive nightsa week during thespring, summer and fall seasons

Volleyball director Mick Stein says Coconut Beach has adouble advantage for socializing: it’s home to an easy-to-learn, fun sport where players can “talk face to face across thenet,” as well as arestaurant/bar where spectators can watch and where“people stick around” after In thecapital city

In Baton Rouge,Mango’sBeach Volleyball, now in its 30th year,offers a similar combination: sand, sun, palm trees, 13 beach volleyballcourts, friendly league sports anda beachy bar with an outdoor deck overlooking the courts. Owners Timand Tina Bourgeois say 11 skill levels and afamily-friendly,laidback atmosphere draw everyone from Olympic team playersKristen Nuss and

ä See FACE, page 2Y

LONG STORy SHORT

Last week, shortly after Ihad been negotiating with my own calendar like it wasahostage standoff, Istumbled on the idea of aholiday “not-to-do list.” In the days since, Ihaven’tbeen able to shake the idea out of my mind. I’ve been considering what I could cross off my season before it even begins. The key,I decided, is to get specific. Saying “I will not overplan” sounds nice, but it doesn’tchange anything. Saying “I will not make plans forTuesday,Wednesday or Thursday evenings” is something Ican actually follow.I’m claiming that one forDecember with the only exception of Dec. 31, when we have our annual Long Dinner with friends.

With the guiding question of “What specific choices will make the next month better?,” afew itemspresented themselves quickly:

n On my days off, Iwill not plan anything to do before 10 a.m.

n Iwill not wearuncomfortable shoes simply because they are cute.

n Iwill not play kickball.

n Iwill not keep buying gifts forone or the other of our daughters just because Iwant to make sure things are even. (I’m not sure they notice —I just sleep better believing the scales are balanced.)

Curious about how others dealt with the sametug-of-war between expectations and sanity,I asked friends what they were cutting out this year

In NewOrleans, Amanda Self said, “I will not rush everyone into the car after breakfast to travel house to house forChristmas dinners to appease the masses.”

Angi Davis, in Lafayette, said, “I will not buy any gifts from Amazon.”

In Baton Rouge, Kathy Perry said, “I will not waituntil Christmas Eve to wrap all the presents.” Idecided to ask the samequestion to folks in the newspapers’ newsrooms: Joy Holden said, “NoElf on the Shelf.”

Matthew Albright said, “My notto-do list is to do Christmas at the beach. Iwas told ‘Hey,wegot a great deal on abeach house,’ and responded, ‘Yes, and you know whyyou got agreat deal on a beach house in December?’”

Jennifer Brownsaid, “I will not talk politics with anyone.”

Matt Bruce said, “I will not go into debt. And forthe love of God, no matching onesie jammies this Christmas.”

Jerry DiColo said, “I will not wake up before 6a.m. Christmas morning.”

Friends MichelleLeonardand TiffanyDelcour celebrate apoint as

STAFF PHOTOSBySOPHIA GERMER

People gather at the ExchangePickleball +Bar for aFriendsgivingand pickleball open playrecently in NewOrleans.

an Rishe

ASK THEEXPERTS

Habitatleaderworks toward ‘front porchculture’

Building newhomes, saving older ones

BY LAUREN CHERAMIE

Staff writer

Melinda Taylor began her Habitat for Humanity career in 1993 as executive director of the Hattiesburg Area Habitat for Humanity in Mississippi. Since 2000, she has been the executive director of Lafayette Habitat for Humanity Under her leadership, Lafayette Habitat has built or rehabilitated more than 150homes in partnership with local first-time homebuyers who would otherwise have been unable to purchase ahome of their own.The organization is dedicated to creating vibrant neighborhoods and supporting resident-led revitalization initiatives in Lafayette’surban core. Taylor believes that thelongterm solutions forpoverty,health disparities and economic inequality are rooted in healthy and resilient communities.

This interview was edited for length and clarity

Beyond building homes, what programs does Habitat for Humanity Lafayette offer? Homeownershipisour key focus with Habitat,but we’re moving into home preservation. In addition to building new homes, we have been repairing homes as we are able to get differentsources of funding to cover repairs.

This year,wegot alargegrant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to repair up to 65 homesoverthe

Melinda Taylor has servedas executivedirector ofLafayette Habitatfor Humanity since 2000.

course of the next three yearsto address critical buildingsystems

We’re focusedonLafayette’s urban core neighborhoods —onthe north side of Lafayette in neighborhoods that have been historically disinvested in Our approach is alwaystogoin listening, asking, “Whatdoyou wantto see us do, and what are the things we’re doing that you would like to see us do differently?”

Oneofthe things we consistently hear is, “Why can’tyou help us address some of these deferred maintenance issues with older homes and preserve homeownership?”

One thing thataffects allofus

Q&A WITH MELINDATAyLOR

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF LAFAyETTE HABITAT FOR HUMANITy

in the realm of homeownership development and preservation is climate change —and we’re increasingly seeing longtime homeowners who are having dramatic increases in their insuranceescrow and arestruggling to make theirpayments.

We’re approachingitinacouple of ways.First, we trytokeepour homeownershipopportunitiesaffordable, and we do that by being the lender for the homeswebuild. We also collect the funds to put in their escrow account to pay their taxes andinsurance. We’re building homes to fortified standards as well, in particular fortified roofs. With anew focus on homepreservation, arethere anynew constructionmethods that Habitat is using that focus on sustainability?

We’vereallychanged theway we build over thelast 15 years to where thesidingweuse is wind resistant. Again, we’re using that fortified technique in allofour homes. With that certificate, you can get alower rate on homeowners insurance. We operate aReStore location, which is another sustainabilityfocused aspect of our operation. Alot of people need an affordable source for buildingmaterials and home goods if they’re reestablishing themselves in housing, getting anew home or improving an existing one. ReStore exists to serve that market. We also partner with theLafay-

ette Consolidated Government when they do their hazardous wastedisposal days. We receive used paint andsellitatthe store

What volunteeropportunities are you most in need of rightnow?

We have opportunities both at theconstruction site and at the ReStore. We’reespecially interested in getting more volunteer groups andindividuals to help at the store, because it’s amassive undertakingtomanage the volume of goodsthat comethrough.

On our construction sites, we have at least onevolunteer house going most of the time. Those are good opportunities for businesses or organizations thatwant to do a team building day.

Being apartofbuilding ahouse from startto finish offers an incredible sense of accomplishment.Whathavevolunteers told youabout the experience and what it means to them?

For one, people get to know our homeowners. Whatever thoughts they may have hadabout the neighborhoodswhere we build or thepartners we build with, frequently they comeawaywith a different perspective

Alot of folkshave not been in some of the neighborhoods where we’re building,and when they meet ourhomeowners, they’re consistently impressed with the level of hardworkand dedication they have. Alot of our homeowners are singlemoms, and many of ourvolunteers have told me,

“I don’tknowhow theydoit. I couldn’tbalance everything that they’rebalancing withkids and sometimes more than one job.” To come back andsee the house when it’sfinished is another thing. It’sgreat to be able to see, at the endofthe day, thatyou did something. That something is physically on alot thatwasn’tthere before youstarted. Youcan’tbeat thatsatisfaction.

What is theimportanceofafamily living in aneighborhood, surrounded by neighbors who aretheretohelp?

That’s arealstrengthofLafayette’score neighborhoods, their front porch culture

Youhearstories from older folks from when they were growing up —theycouldn’tget away with anything, because as soon as they did something after school, somebody else would telltheir parents. Their parents would knowbythe time they got home because therewas this cohesive culture of people looking out for each other,neighbors helping neighbors.

In the core neighborhoods, you see astrong neighborhood fabric being built thatisgratifying. Thathappens naturally with Habitatbecause we try to build severalhousestogether.Wetry to acquireseveralhomes in the same general area so that we cancreate asetting wherethat alchemycan happen between neighbors.

Email Lauren Cheramieat lauren.cheramie@theadvocate. com.

Taryn Kloth Brasherto“people

who’ve never held avolleyball before.” They’ve seen an uptick in the number of young adult players.

“We’re usuallythe 25- to 60-year-olds, butweare getting more and more of the 20-yearolds,” TimBourgeois said.

Other ways that adults ditch their screens in favorofin-theflesh meet ups are bike social clubs, which organize group rides and events. Baton Rouge has multiplebike social resources with events throughout the month, and bartrivia nights where teams take part in friendly competition.

Speed dating, enjoying asurge of renewed interest in the United States, is also gaining traction at the local level. Content creator and entrepreneur Hannah Wilson started Nola Speed Dating in April 2024, hosting events for a variety of demographics at locations around the city.The business has thedistinction ofbeing billed as the No. 1attended speed dating in the U.S. on Eventbrite. Wilson met her boyfriend through Hinge but regularly sought outacross-section of groups and events whensingle andisafierce proponent of tryingthingsoutsideofone’s comfort zone.

“The goal is to give peoplean-

other way to meet people,” Wilson said.“Online dating is anew landscape for us. It’s always better, in my experience, to broaden your circle as much as you can.”

In an era of remotework and datingapps,Wilson sees speed dating as abetter return on one’s investment of time, effortand money

“I’ve gone on plenty of dates

where Icould tell within five minutes if Iwanted to be there or not,” shesaid. “A speed dating event is five to 15 dates instead of one. It’salittle betteruse of your time.” In October,Wilson, aChicago transplant who attended LSU andnow calls New Orleans home, expanded the business to BatonRouge underthe name

RedStick Speed Dating.The inaugural eventdrew11men and 14 women. Wilson says that the events vary,but even when attendees are nervous, “after one or two dates,they enduphaving fun.”

“Even if youdon’t meet someone, you might makeafriend,” Wilsonsaid. “It’sall aboutgetting out and making connections.”

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RISHER

Continued from page1y

After DiColo shared his not-to-do list item,I told him about my own trick forsleeping until asemi-reasonable hour on Christmas morning without missing the magic. When my daughters wereinelementary school —about the same age as his children are now —I started alittle holiday ritual. After bedtimestories and final prayers, I’dmake adramatic show of putting Scotch tape across their bedroom door to the door jam.(Bathroom access remained, of course.) The tape had to stay intact until Ipeeled it off in the morning. It worked every time.

Ihope the DiColo household finds alittle extra rest and maybe even someextra fun because of it. Listening to everyone reminded me that, as full as this season gets, we still get to decide what we carry and what we set down. Anot-todo list won’tuntangle every knot in December,but it might give us back alittle peace, alittle sanity alittle room to movethrough the month like actual humans instead of holiday pack mules.

Turns out, mostofusare protecting the samething: asliver of breathing room,alittle space to be ourselves in amonth that tries hard to swallow us whole.

We’re allowed to step out of the current now and then. And you? What are you adding to your not-to-do list this year?

PROVIDED PHOTO Content creator and entrepreneur Hannah Wilson hosted aRed Stick Speed Dating event Tuesday,Nov.18

PROVIDED PHOTO

Mobile unitsoffer communityoutreach

Vans help residents applyfor assistance in BatonRouge

BY MORGAN KING

Contributing writer

In October,Sharon Stephens

drove acommunity outreach van to the retirement office in downtown Baton Rouge to assistsenior citizens with electricitybills.

As the driver of one of the mobile units intended to broaden the reach of social services across East Baton Rouge Parish, Stephens has already seen the impact of her work.

“Arriving at the site, the excitement on people’sfaces when they pull up makes me smile,” Stephens said.

She drives one of the two large vans rolled out about 18 months ago to help BatonRouge residents apply for assistance for payment of rent, mortgages,medical services, utility bills and more.

The mobile units are aproject of the Metro-Parish Division of Human Development &Services and the Office of Social Services

They assist people who don’thave access to the agencies’ officesbecause of transportation or other accessibility challenges

These mobile units provide LowIncome Home Energy Assistance Program for householdsthat are eligible for home energyservices basedonincome. And Community Service Block grant provides sustainabilityresources,including rent,mortgageand medication payments.

Applications for assistance are provided by the unit, but recipients must come prepared with required documents

Pamela Stokes, program administrator for the Office of Social Services, said they have received an abundance of applications since thetwo mobile units have served the community

“Not everyone has access to community centers,sothesemobile units brought resources directly to them,” Stokes said.“That

impact made possible through CSBG federal grants (Community Service Block Grants) for emergencyassistance is essential to our work.”

Stephens said social mediapromotion has helped spread the word.

Forinstance, one stop at the Main Library of the East Baton Rouge Parish Public Libraryon Goodwood Avenue brought in over 350 applications. Six to eight assistants accompanied themobile unit to help at that event because of the turnout.

“When we place it on socialme-

dia,it’sshareda lot,” Stephens said. “When they see we will be in acertain location, it helps us because they alsosee what documentation they need to bring with them.”

The units are equippedwith WiFi andprinters to help workers verify information while people fill out their applications. Stephens said the workers can even print electronic check stubs, which makes for one less steptoworry about, Stephens said.

The office hasalso partnered with the Gardere Initiative to visit the Gardere neighborhood once

each quarter,Stokes said.

MurelleHarrison, Gardere Initiative’sexecutive director,said the lack of regular public transportationmakes the mobile units especially helpful.

Harrison said she hasdiscussed with East Baton Rouge parish representatives how to leverage the resources andfunding in the communities.

“Wereally appreciate this collaboration. It’sbeen very helpful forustouse this resource,” Harrison said She said 59% of the Gardere community members are econom-

ically stressed, even though they exceed thefederal government’s poverty threshold. She said energy bills have been high and program assistance helps those whoare low-incomeorona fixed income makethese payments.

To follow the mobile units, visit facebook.com/cityofbatonrouge. This story was reported and written by astudent withthe support of the nonprofit Louisiana Collegiate News Collaborative, an LSU-led coalition of eight universities funded by the HenryLuce and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur foundations.

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STAFFPHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

PamelaStokes, program administrator for the Office of Social Services, and Sharon Stephens, driver,stand together in frontofthe Metro-Parish Division of Human Development mobile unit recently at the EBR Parish Main Library.

FAITH & VALUES

Religious photographer’s work displayed in exhibition

BY ADELLE M BANKS Contributing writer

A new exhibition of the work of Gordon Parks, a photographer renowned for documenting African American life, turns its focus on Parks’ exploration of Black religion and spirituality

“Although Gordon Parks’s personal religious beliefs vacillated across his lifetime, he applied a working knowledge of Black religious culture with a commitment to humanism as an approach to documentary photography and photojournalism,” reads the introductory wall text for “Temples of Hope, Rituals of Survival: Gordon Parks and Black Religious Life” at Howard University in Washington.

The exhibition, which runs through Dec. 1, is a collaboration between the Gordon Parks Foundation and Howard, whose Moorland-Spingarn Research Center acquired a collection of 244 of Parks’ photos from the foundation in 2022.

The more than 40 photos and artifacts on display at Howard highlight the life and leaders of the Black church, the Nation of Islam and broader Black spirituality over the course of Parks’ half-century of work as a photographer, in which he became a chronicler first of Black working people and street life and later of the Civil Rights Movement. Parks, who died in 2006 at age 93, also made his mark as a filmmaker, musician and writer

The exhibition also includes images of Watson, a member of a Spiritualist church in Washington, receiving an anointment in one and, in the other, caring for children in view of a home shrine that features saintly figures and a Bible.

In a recent interview, Melanee C. Harvey, an associate professor at Howard who has made Parks a focus of her scholarship and who curated the exhibition, said that, before his arrival in D.C., Black photographers there, notably those at the Scurlock Studio, preferred posed portraits. Parks, she said, chose “a different approach, of him documenting it as he’s witnessing it, versus the more studio business approach.”

Mostly self-taught, Parks captured the lives of Americans while working for the Farm Security Administration in the 1940s as the agency sought to aid farm-

ers and migrant workers in the wake of the Great Depression. He moved on to work for prominent magazines, including Ebony and Vogue, before he became a staff photographer for Life magazine for more than 20 years.

It was while he was working for Life that Parks produced a 1953 series of photos exploring the ministry of the Rev Ernest Franklin Ledbetter Sr and his Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago, a more than 100-year-old church on the city’s west side. “They had a stately structure, it was filled to the brim every Sunday, and they had a lasting impact in terms of the social gospel ministries,” said Harvey, who edited a book containing the series that will be released in December

Parks’ photos show Ledbetter, known for his dramatic sermons, preaching from the pulpit to the packed sanctuary of the large church. In one, his arms are outstretched as a white-uniformed usher stands at a distance behind him at attention, her left arm tucked behind her “It is a temple of hope to thousands of Negro people caught in the backyard of this vast city,” Parks wrote in an unpublished essay about the church. “It is a haven in a world of unending trouble. It offers leadership and a powerful-preaching minister.”

Harvey said Parks also recorded images of women doing the more prosaic work of ministering to people on Chicago’s streets. One woman Beatrice Williams, “would go around the community and minister to the drunks, the children, those marginalized in society,” said Harvey, with Parks trailing her with his camera. Ariel Rainey, a visitor to the exhibition from Chicago, said

the images reminded her of decades past in her hometown and stories of church life she heard from her mother “The Malcolm Xes, the Ledbetters and all these different people were actually in our community,” said Rainey, an activist who has supported innercity mothers who have lost their young children to gun violence. “And that’s what these pictures are showing. We have to go to the people.”

Life’s editors had sought for years to get images of the growing Nation of Islam movement, based in Chicago, and Parks was able to get permission from Elijah Muhammad, leader of the racially centered Muslim sect and a mentor to Malcolm X. Muhammad agreed only after Parks declined Muhammad’s offer of half a million dollars to leave Life and instead produce a movie about the movement.

The exhibition includes images from the 1960s of Malcolm X with leaders such as the Rev Adam Clayton Powell Jr., then-pastor of New York City’s Abyssinian Baptist Church, and talking with his hand on the shoulder of a man at Temple No 7 Restaurant in Chicago.

“He becomes so close to Mal-

colm X to the point where Gordon Parks is actually the godfather of one of Malcolm X’s daughters,” Harvey said. “Gordon Parks travels with Malcolm X to Chicago to Brooklyn, to Harlem and also Los Angeles to photograph the Nation.”

Having gained Malcolm X’s trust, Parks used the relationship to gain access to other figures and a wider Black culture. “He had a methodology of connecting with an individual that served as his kind of tour guide through this community,” Harvey said. Watson and Ledbetter served in those roles in the ’40s and ’50s, respectively

Many of the images, Harvey pointed out, are without title, allowing the viewer to discern the story they have to tell by closer examination. She drew attention to a 1956 color photo showing two women talking, with one inside a church and the other standing at its window

“Here we see two women look like they’re maybe gossiping or just exchanging important community information, but then when you look closer, you see that the woman inside the church is actually breastfeeding,” she said. “These very intimate, life-

sustaining things happen in that space.”

The exhibition includes examples of Parks’ films and poetry, such as a 1984 poem titled “Homecoming” with its reference to the divine. “Gordon Parks was a Renaissance man photography, filmmaking, and he also was an avid poet,” said Harvey “He ends this poem by saying: ‘My hope now is that each of us can find what GOD put us here to find – LOVE!’”

The exhibition includes two selfportraits, as well as a group picture outside a Fort Scott, Kansas, church when Parks was 9. Harvey has identified it as an African Methodist Episcopal congregation.

Harvey said she appreciated what she called “the serendipity of timing” that the exhibition opened in the current sociopolitical times of the nation.

“At a time where, especially in Washington, D.C, we’re experiencing a lot of gestures to change history, to whitewash history, this type of exhibition is kind of necessary,” she said. “It’s like serendipity or just perfect timing that this is offered as a kind of guidebook or a salve for this kind of moment.”

Libyan biologist collaborates with fishing communities

Scientist’s goal is to protect angel sharks

BY IBTISAM AGFEER

Contributing writer

A mountain headquarters might seem a curious choice for a marine biologist. But to Sara Almabruk, it’s the ideal base from which to work on saving one of the most endangered species in the Mediterranean: the angel shark.

Wearing a sky-blue bracelet painted with images of sharks, Ms. Almabruk enthusiastically shows off the new home of the Marine Biology in Libya Society, where the walls are decorated with fish models and handmade fishing nets. Ms. Almabruk is the general director of the group, which also includes a team of bright young researchers.

“This is where we’ll have the training halls,” she says, smiling as she gestures. “Here’s the office overlooking the balcony so the youth can relax. And here’s the lab — it still needs organizing, but you can see it’s taking shape.”

From this new headquarters, to which the group moved this summer, Ms. Almabruk is strategizing how to ensure the survival of Mediterranean angel sharks. She describes the bottom-dwelling sharks as “custodians of the seafloor” whose robust presence can indicate a healthy ecosystem But they are endangered in Libyan waters because of overfishing, bycatch, habitat loss, weak enforcement of environmental laws, and the species’ low reproduction rate of only six to seven young in a lifetime. Through information reported by divers and commercial fishers on social media and collected from coastal field visits, Ms. Almabruk and her team monitor data on the species and raise awareness

Researcher Sara Almabruk studies an angel shark specimen at the offices of the Marine Biology in Libya Society Ms. Almabruk describes the bottom-dwelling sharks as ‘custodians of the seafloor,’ whose presence is one indicator of a healthy ecosystem.

among fishers that their trawling nets could inadvertently drag up large numbers of sharks. The team’s project focuses on building trust with fishing communities through dialogue and education rather than condemnation.

“When angel sharks disappear, it often signals deeper ecological stress,” Ms. Almabruk says. “Protecting angel sharks means protecting the foundation of coastal livelihoods and ecological integrity.”

An unlikely interest

The sea was never part of Ms. Almabruk’s childhood in the rugged Shahat region of northeastern Libya, and she didn’t plan to become a marine biology researcher In 2003, she enrolled in medical school but left three years later and joined the zoology program at Omar Al-Mukhtar University in Al-Bayda. By 2014, she had com-

pleted her master’s degree in fish biology It wasn’t until 2018 that sharks captured Ms. Almabruk’s research interest A diver reached out to her inquiring about the identity of a group of sharks he had photographed. The image prompted her to contact a friend in Greece, who identified the three fish as Mediterranean angel sharks and expressed amazement that they were sighted in Libyan waters.

“This is where my learning journey about this creature began its environment, behaviors, and classification on the Red List of endangered species,” says Ms. Almabruk, referring to an inventory maintained by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

She discovered that three types of the shark exist in Libya. Fishers refer to them as shakatli, spotted shakatli, and thorny shakatli. They are also called safin in some areas.

Though she lacked financial support or an established formal partnership with other researchers, Ms. Almabruk took her first steps documenting the presence of angel sharks in Libya. “I used social media to connect with fishermen, asking them to share photos and experiences with the species when they encountered it in their nets,” she explains.

In 2019, Ms. Almabruk attended a regional workshop on angel sharks in Tunisia, where she met members of the Angel Shark Conservation Network. A year later she helped start the Marine Biology in Libya Society This enabled her to secure initial funding from the Save Our Seas Foundation, a prominent nonprofit, to conduct what she says was Libya’s first comprehensive research project on angel sharks.

Assembling a team of six researchers and marine field enthusiasts, Ms. Almabruk then formed partnerships with organizations throughout Libya to study the shark’s populations Facebook groups became treasure troves of information as divers and fishers posted images and footage of fish they encountered.

Ms. Almabruk’s team then expanded its data collection to the ports of Benghazi, Tripoli and Misrata. She says that the data has shown notable concentrations of the species specifically in the Gulf of Sidra. “This finding completely contradicted the prevailing belief before 2020 that this species was nearly extinct in the Mediterranean,” she adds proudly After five years of persistent work, Ms. Almabruk and her team identified the gulf as a vital breeding ground for angel sharks and documented more than 50 individuals between 2020 and 2021. A national database has been created to track the sharks.

The project also has taught fishers how to recognize the species and how to release the sharks caught in their nets.

Community engagement

At her Al-Bayda headquarters in the Green Mountains, about 12 miles from the Mediterranean coast, Ms. Almabruk places an angel shark specimen on a table and begins examining it carefully, describing its parts with obvious affection, turning it gently, and then lifting it up with a broad smile. She knows every detail of the specimen by heart. With flattened bodies and winglike fins, angel sharks resemble rays but are truly sharks — ambush predators that lie buried in sandy seabeds, waiting to surprise their prey Local fishers have embraced Ms. Almabruk’s conservation message. Ali Qanabi, a fisherman from Misrata, says that angel sharks have reappeared after years of absence and that local fishers have stopped selling them because of awareness campaigns led by Ms. Almabruk and her team. “Fishermen no longer deliberately target the species, and it’s lost its commercial value due to reduced market demand,” he says. Fawzi Dahan, from the nonprofit Bado Environmental Association for Marine and Wildlife Protection, notes an active partnership that developed with Ms. Almabruk’s team after a seminar. “We’ve made strides in raising awareness, like fishermen throwing back sharks they caught,” he says. “But amateur fishermen continue to use destructive fishing tools.”

Ms. Almabruk retains hope, despite the challenges.

“We achieved a lot with only social media,” she says. “I’m confident we’ll protect those angel sharks.”

PROVIDED PHOTO Photographer Gordon Parks in the late 1980s

PHOTO By ADELLE M. BANKS

Melanee C. Harvey curated the ‘Temples of Hope, Rituals of Survival: Gordon Parks and Black Religious Life’ exhibition at the Howard Museum in Washington, D.C.

PROVIDED PHOTO

SUNDAY, November 30, 2025

CURTIS / by Ray Billingsley

SLYLOCK FOX / by Bob Weber Jr

GET FUZZY / by Darby Conley

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE / by Chris Browne

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM / by Mike Peters

ZIGGY / by Tom Wilson

ZITS / by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

SALLY FORTH / by Francesco Marciuliano & Jim Keefe

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE /byStephan Pastis

grams

directions: Make a 2- to 7-letter word from the letters in each row Add points of each word, using scoring directions at right. Finally, 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. “Blanks” used as any letter have no point value All the words are in the Official SCRABBLE® Players Dictionary, 5th Edition.

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 words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

todAY's Word — idoLAtrY: eye-DAHLih-tree: The worship of a physical object as a god.

Average mark 50 words Time limit 60 minutes Can you find 63 or more words in IDOLATRY?

ken ken

instructions: 1 -Each rowand each column must contain thenumbers 1through4 (easy) or 1through6 (challenging) without repeating 2 -The numbers within the heavily outlinedboxes, called cages, must combine using thegiven operation (inany order)toproduce the target numbersinthe top-left corners. 3 -Freebies: Fillinthe single-boxcages withthe numberinthe top-left corner

instructions: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 gridwith several given numbers. The object is to placethe numbers 1to 9in theempty squares so that each row,each column and each 3x3 boxcontains the same number only once. The difficultylevel of the Conceptis Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday

directions: Complete thegridso that numbers 1–132 connect horizontally, vertically or diagonally

Sudoku

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

wuzzLes

The fallback

North’s three-heart bid promised some useful values. It was stronger than four hearts South tried a spade cue bid and then bid slam when North could cue bid four diamonds. South won the opening trump lead and liked his chances. There was no certain entry to dummy, but a 3-2 club split would solve all his problems. He could get to dummy with the fourth round of clubs and discard his low spade on dummy’s ace of diamonds.

super Quiz

Take this Super Quiz to a Ph.D. Score 1 point for each correct answer on the Freshman Level, 2 points on the graduate Level and 3 points on the Ph.D. Level.

SUBJECT: BIBLICAL CHARACTERS

(e.g., The central figure of Christianity Answer: Jesus Christ.)

FRESHMAN LEVEL 1. He received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. Answer________

He built an ark. Answer________ 3. He killed the giant Goliath. Answer________ 4. He sinned in the Garden of Eden.

South cashed another heart, drawing trumps, and then cashed the king and queen of diamonds. He cashed the ace of clubs, intending to play three rounds of the suit, but he paused when East played the 10 on the first club. Might clubs be splitting 4-1? Declarer took precautions by leading a low club instead of the king. Should both opponents follow suit, he could claim. West won with the jack but found himself end-played. He had to play a spade or a club, providing an entry to dummy either way It wasluckyforSouththatWestwas

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23-Dec. 21) Evaluate your home environment, finances and health. Incorporate a positive lifestyle. The time you spend with someone you love will enhance your relationship.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Stop hesitating. Check out the possibilities and enforce positive changes that will make your life easier your relationships better

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Expect to face interference, making it essential to abide by the rules and regulations to avoid financial and physical setbacks. Avoid taking

out of diamonds, but if West had a diamond to play, South would have discarded his remaining low club on the ace of diamonds and fallen back on the spade finesse for his contract.

Tannah Hirsch welcomes readers’ responses sent in care of this newspaper or to Tribune Content Agency inc., 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, Ny 14207. E-mail responses may be sent to gorenbridge@ aol.com. © 2025 Tribune Content Agency

risks that could compromise your physical well-being.

PISCES (Feb 20-March 20) Enforce the changes you want to make, and follow through. Don’t expect everyone to agree with your plans, but be willing to leave detractors behind if necessary

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Energy and enthusiasm will lead to knowledge and better choices. Interact, engage, ask questions and pursue positive change. Say no to temptation and indulgence.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Clearing a space specifically for a project you

want to pursue will encourage you to stop procrastinating. Make an effort to communicate your feelings for someone using both words and gestures.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Indulge in activities that are conducive to meeting new people or developing a closer connection to someone you love.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Participation and interaction will lead to opportunities for positive lifestyle changes. Think outside the box, use your imagination and be the one to make things happen.

This apostle was originally named Simon.

He is considered

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Consider new ways to promote what you have to offer, and you’ll find a way to combat boredom. Social events, romance and challenging yourself physically will boost your ego.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Keep tabs on what’s happening at home and with meaningful relationships. It’s best to nurture any signs of discontent before they grow into something unmanageable.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Focus your energy on rearranging your space to promote better workouts, healthier habits and increased produc-

tivity Make changes that attract positive people and outcomes, fostering love and affection.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Share your story and engage in activities that raise your level of awareness. Personal gain, interaction and initiating change are featured. The effort and energy you put out will pay off.

The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2025 by NEA, inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

goren Bridge

Answers to puzzles

1. Moses. 2. Noah. 3. David. 4. Adam.5.Peter 6. Joshua. 7. Solomon.8.Abraham. 9. Jacob 10. Methuselah. 11. Paul. 12. Isaac. 13. Samson. 14. Jonah. 15. Seth

SCORING: 24 to 30 points —congratulations, doctor; 18 to 23 points—honorsgraduate; 13 to 17 points —you’replenty smart, but no grind; 5to12points —you really shouldhit the booksharder;1point to 4points —enroll in remedial courses immediately; 0points who reads thequestions to you?

Cryptoquote Answer

Saturday's Cryptoquote: People who love to eat are always the bestpeople. —Julia Child

word GAme Answer super quiz

sudoKu Answer jumble Answer

Crossword Answers

sCrAbble Answers

wuzzles Answers

Ken Ken Answers hidAtoAnswers

jeFF mACnelly’sshoe/ by Gary Brookins &Susie MacNelly

FoXtrot/ by BillAmend

dustin /bySteve Kelley&JeffParker