The Acadiana Advocate 12-03-2025 by The Advocate

State unveils biggest marsh-building project

Land rebuilt on the edge of Lake Borgne

BY MIKE SMITH Staff writer

to rebuild land rapidly washing away along the edge of Lake Borgne.

The ribbon-cutting for what is officially known as the Lake Borgne Marsh Creation Project came with the state facing scrutiny over its coastal restoration program following the cancellation of two high-proﬁle river di-

La. shrimpers fighting for survival

Rising costs, cheap imports create struggle despite tariffs

BY JAKE ALLELO

Contributing writer

Despite the Trump administration’s tariffs on countries supplying the U.S. with almost all of its shrimp, Louisiana shrimpers say they are still ﬁghting to survive. Rising fuel costs, cheap imported shrimp and new industrial developments along the coast are threatening the livelihoods of ﬁshermen who have supplied Louisiana tables for generations, said Acy Cooper, president of the Louisiana Shrimp Association.

Louisiana’s top agriculture ofﬁcial agreed, saying recently that the state’s shrimping industry is in crisis.

“The price of local shrimp has been driven

ä See SHRIMPERS, page 6A

version projects and looming funding shortfalls. But the completion of the major marsh-building effort in a spot frequented by legions of southeast Louisiana ﬁshermen and duck hunters was a celebratory moment despite the blustery, cold weather for the event

Trump: Guard heading to N.O.

Deployment planned in coming weeks

BY SOPHIE KASAKOVE Staff writer

National Guard members will arrive in New Orleans within weeks, President Donald Trump said Tuesday following a request by Louisiana Gov Jeff Landry for a monthslong, federally funded deployment aimed at tamping down on crime in the city Speaking at a Cabinet meeting, Trump conﬁrmed that the National Guard would be deployed to New Orleans “in a couple of weeks.”

“We’re going to New Orleans pretty soon,” Trump said. “Gov. Landry — great guy, great governor — he’s asked for help in New Orleans.” Trump conﬁrmed his plans after Landry said on Monday that he had received a commitment from Trump to send the National Guard to New Orleans “before Christmas.” “He said, ‘Don’t worry Jeff, we’ll have them there in two weeks,’” Landry said at an event commemorating victims of the vehicle-ramming attack on Bourbon Street on Jan. 1.

Johnson faces rough month in Congress

Speaker in ‘triage’ mode as he deals with health care, stocks and more

BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer

WASHINGTON Congress returned to Capitol Hill this week facing a huge agenda with no easy solutions. First, Congress has to ﬁgure out how to postpone an end-of-themonth deadline that would double health insurance costs for 24 million working Americans. It also needs to approve annual spending on

ments in college sports. And there are just 12 scheduled work days — 11 in the Senate — before this year’s session ends Dec. 18. Even once that’s done, Congress must pass spending bills before Jan. 30 or the government could shut down — again. At the center of it all is House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from the Shreveport area who leads a GOP majority of only two votes. And that majority includes unruly caucus members who are defecting on issues ranging from releasing the Epstein ﬁles to sanctions on Russia.

Johnson says he is in “triage” mode every day “I had my feelings surgically removed back in the ’80s, so they

See JOHNSON,

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By J SCOTT APPLEWHITE Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-Benton, is facing a full agenda as Congress returns to work this week. ä

page 4A

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER Gov. Jeff Landry speaks during the public lighting of a memorial Monday for the victims of the Bourbon Street terror attack.

Located at a crossroads of the state’s coastal challenges, it also provided another lesson in Louisiana’s complex land loss crisis, the Hurricane Katrina memorial cross at Shell Beach rising

Visitors get a closer look at a marsh-creation area in Lake Borgne.

STAFF PHOTOS By BRETT DUKE

Birds take flight over a marsh-creation area of the Lake Borgne Marsh Creation Project in St. Bernard Parish on Tuesday.

ä See PROJECT, page 8A

Hasenfus, key figure in Iran-Contra affair, dies MADISON, Wis. Eugene Hasenfus, who played a key role in unraveling the Iran-Contra affair after his CIA-backed supply plane was shot down over Nicaragua in 1986, has died.

Hasenfus died on Nov 26 in Menominee, Michigan, after a nine-year battle with cancer, according to his obituary He was 84.

Hasenfus was born Jan. 22 1941, in Marinette He served with the Marines in Vietnam and continued a private career in aviation before he became a key ﬁgure in the Cold War’s Iran-Contra scandal in 1986.

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan authorized the CIA to support the anti-communist rightwing guerrilla force known as the Contras who were working against the Sandinistas in the Nicaraguan government. Congress cut off all military assistance to the Contras in 1984.

Months before the cutoff, top ofﬁcials in Reagan’s administration ramped up a secret White House-directed supply network to the Contras. The operation’s day-to-day activities were handled by National Security Council aide Oliver North. The goal was to keep the Contras operating until Congress could be persuaded to resume CIA funding

The secrecy of North’s network unraveled after one of its planes with Hasenfus on board was shot down over Nicaragua in October 1986. Three other crew members died, but Hasenfus parachuted into the jungle and evaded authorities for more than 24 hours.

Hasenfus said after his capture that the CIA was supervising the supply flights to the Contras. At first, Reagan administration officials lied by saying that the plane had no connection to the U.S. government.

Hasenfus was convicted in Nicaragua of charges related to his role in delivering arms to the Contras and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega pardoned Hasenfus a month later and he returned to his home in northern Wisconsin.

Man hurls Molotov cocktails at L.A. building

LOS ANGELES A 54-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of throwing Molotov cocktails at the Los Angeles Federal Building, authorities said Tuesday Nobody was hurt.

Security guards heard a man yelling derogatory comments about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside the downtown building on Monday, according to a statement by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security He then hurled two incendiary devices at the guards, the department said.

“Fortunately, the bottles were not lit and did not catch ﬁre and there were no injuries or damage to federal property,” the DHS statement said.

FBI agents arrested Jose F. Jovel, of Los Angeles, said bureau spokesperson Laura Eimiller Singer, publisher disavow use of work

WASHINGTON — Pop singer Sabrina Carpenter and the publisher of the beloved children’s character Franklin the Turtle are disavowing the Trump administration’s use of their music and imagery to support its agenda. Responding to the use of her song “Juno” in a video montage depicting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, Carpenter tweeted Tuesday: “this video is evil and disgusting Do not ever involve me or my music to beneﬁt your inhumane agenda.” In the caption for the clip, the White House quoted Carpenter’s lyrics “Have you ever tried this one? Bye-bye.” On Monday, Franklin the Turtle publisher Kids Can Press condemned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s post on X featuring a manipulated image showing Franklin aiming a bazooka at boats. Hegseth posted the image with the caption “Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists.”

U.S.-Russia talks on Ukraine productive

But work remains, Putin adviser says

By The Associated Press

Talks between Russia and the U.S. on ending the nearly four-year war in Ukraine were productive, but much work remains, Yuri Ushakov, a senior adviser to President Vladimir Putin, told reporters.

Putin met U.S President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner in the Kremlin in talks that began late Tuesday as part of a renewed push by the Trump administration to broker a peace deal. Both sides agreed not to disclose the substance of the talks.

Ushakov called the five-hour conversation “rather useful, constructive, rather substantive,” but added that the framework of the U.S. peace proposal was discussed rather than “speciﬁc wording.”

Putin’s aide also said that “so far, a compromise hasn’t been found” on the issue of territories, without which, he said, the Kremlin sees “no resolution to the crisis.”

“Some of the American proposals seem more or less acceptable, but they need to be discussed. Some of the wording that was proposed to us doesn’t suit us So, the work will continue,” Ushakov said.

There were other points of disagreement, although Ushakov did not provide further details “We could agree on some things, and the president conﬁrmed this to his interlocutors Other things provoked criticism, and the president also didn’t hide our critical and even negative attitude toward a number of proposals,” he said.

The meeting came days after U.S. officials held talks with a Ukrainian team in Florida and which U.S Secretary of State Marco Rubio described in cautiously optimistic terms.

At the center of the effort is

Trump’s peace plan that became public last month and raised concerns about being tilted heavily toward Moscow. The proposal granted some of the Kremlin’s core demands that Kyiv has rejected as nonstarters, such as Ukraine ceding the entire eastern region of the Donbas to Russia and renouncing its bid to join NATO. Negotiators have indicated the framework has changed, but it’s not clear how

On Tuesday, Putin accused Kyiv’s European allies of sabotaging

U.S.-led efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

“They don’t have a peace agenda, they’re on the side of the war,” Putin said of the Europeans.

Putin’s accusations appeared to be his latest attempt to sow dissension between Trump and European countries and set the stage for exempting Moscow from blame for any lack of progress.

He accused Europe of amending peace proposals with “demands that are absolutely unacceptable to Russia,” thus “blocking the entire peace process” and blaming Moscow for it He also reiterated his long-held position that Russia has no plans to attack Europe — a concern regularly voiced by some European countries.

“But if Europe suddenly wants to wage a war with us and starts it, we are ready right away There can be no doubt about that,” Putin said.

Russia started the war in 2022 with its full-scale invasion of a sovereign European country, and European governments have since spent billions of dollars to support Ukraine ﬁnancially and militarily, to wean themselves from energy dependence on Russia, and to strengthen their own militaries to deter Moscow from seizing more territory by force.

They worry that if Russia gets what it wants in Ukraine, it will have free rein to threaten or disrupt other European countries, which already have faced incursions from Russian drones and ﬁghter jets, and an alleged wide-

spread Russian sabotage campaign.

Trump’s peace plan relies on Europe to provide the bulk of the financing and security guarantees for a postwar Ukraine, even though no Europeans appear to have been consulted on the original plan. That’s why European governments have pushed to ensure that peace efforts address their concerns, too.

Coinciding with Witkoff’s trip, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy went to Ireland, continuing his visits to European countries that have helped sustain his country’s ﬁght against Russia’s invasion.

Zelenskyy said Tuesday he was expecting swift reports from the U.S. envoys in Moscow on whether talks could move forward, after Trump’s initial 28-point plan was whittled down to 20 items in Sunday’s talks between U.S. and Ukrainian ofﬁcials in Florida.

“The future and the next steps depend on these signals. Such steps will change throughout today even hour by hour I believe,” Zelenskyy said at a news conference in Dublin with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin.

“If the signals show fair play with our partners, we then might meet very soon, meet with the American delegation,” he said.

“There is a lot of dialogue, but we need results. Our people are dying every day,” Zelenskyy said “I am ready to meet with President Trump. It all depends on today’s talks.”

Former Honduras president freed after Trump pardon

He was sentenced in drug trafficking operation

BY CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN and MIKE CATALINI Associated Press

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras Former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández, sentenced last year to 45 years in prison for his role in a drug trafficking operation that moved hundreds of tons of cocaine to the United States, was released from prison following a pardon from President Donald Trump, officials confirmed Tuesday Hernández was released Monday from U.S Penitentiary Hazelton in West Virginia, a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons told The Associated Press. The bureau’s online inmate records also reflected his release.

its of international law and amount to a pressure campaign on Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro.

The Trump administration has carried out 21 known strikes on vessels accused of carrying drugs, killing at least 83 people. The administration has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and asserted the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, similar to the war against al-Qaida following the Sept. 11 attacks.

Ana García thanked Trump for pardoning her husband via the social platform X early Tuesday

Speaking to reporters Tuesday outside her home in Tegucigalpa, she thanked Trump for pardoning her husband and drew a parallel between the two men.

Man charged in D.C. shooting pleads not guilty

2 National Guard members were shot

BY MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press

WASHINGTON A man accused of shooting two National Guard troops near the White House pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to murder and assault charges during his ﬁrst appearance before a judge, appearing remotely by video from a hospital bed. Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who was also shot during last Wednesday’s confrontation, said through an interpreter that he was in pain and couldn’t open his eyes. A court-appointed defense attorney entered Lakanwal’s plea on his behalf during a brief hearing in Washington, D.C.

Lakanwal is charged with first-degree murder assault with intent to kill and illegal possession of a firearm in the shooting that killed Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and wounded Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24. Another National Guard member heard gunshots and saw Beckstrom and Wolfe fall to the ground as Lakanwal fired a gun and screamed, “Allahu Akbar!” according to a police report filed in court on Tuesday Lakanwal chased after and shot at another Guard member before troops detained him as he tried to reload his gun, the report says. D.C. Superior Court Judge Renee Raymond ordered Lakanwal held without bond. His case is due back in court on Jan. 14. Beckstrom and Wolfe were deployed with the West Virginia National Guard for President Donald Trump’s law-enforcement surge in the nation’s capital, which has flooded the city with federal agents and troops since August.

Authorities were investigating a possible motive for what they described as an ambushstyle attack.

A prosecutor, Ariel Dean, described the shooting as a “shocking crime” and said it appears that Lakanwal “traversed the city to some extent” before approaching the troops and shooting them.

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The release of Hernández — a former U.S. ally whose conviction prosecutors said exposed the depth of cartel inﬂuence in Honduras — comes just days after the country’s presidential election. Trump defended the decision aboard Air Force One on Sunday, saying Hondurans believed Hernández had been “set up,” even as prosecutors argued he protected drug trafﬁckers who moved hundreds of tons of cocaine through the country.

The pardon also unfolds against the backdrop of Trump’s aggressive counternarcotics push that has triggered intense controversy across Latin America. In recent months, U.S. forces have repeatedly struck vessels they say were ferrying drugs north, a series of lethal maritime attacks that the administration argues are lawful acts of war against drug cartels — and that critics say test the lim-

“Today the whole world realizes that, like they did with President Donald Trump, the same Southern District, the same prosecutor created a political case,” García said.

She said Hernández called her Monday evening to say he was in the ofﬁce of the prison head and had been told he will be released. García said Hernández is in an undisclosed location for his safety, but that he plans to address the Honduran people on Wednesday

Hernández’s attorney Renato Stabile said in an emailed statement he also would not share the former president’s current location.

García said the process to seek a pardon began several months ago with a petition to the ofﬁce of pardons. Then on Oct. 28, Hernández’s birthday, he wrote a letter to Trump. He announced he was pardoning Hernández last Friday

“My husband is the president who has done the most for Honduras in the ﬁght against organized crime,” Garcia said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ALEXANDER KAZAKOV

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Russian Presidential foreign policy adviser yuri Ushakov, attend the talks with U.S special envoy Steve Witkoff, back to a camera, at the Senate Palace of the Kremlin in Moscow on Tuesday.

Hasenfus

Hernández

JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON

Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

Hegseth cites ‘fog of war’ in defending boat strike

BY KONSTANTIN TOROPIN Associated Press

WASHINGTON Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday cited the “fog of war” in defending a follow-up strike on an alleged drug-carrying boat in the Caribbean Sea in early September

During a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Hegseth said he did not see any survivors in the water saying the vessel “exploded in ﬁre, smoke, you can’t see anything. This is called the fog of war.”

Hegseth also said he “didn’t stick around” for the remainder of the Sept. 2 mission following the initial strike and the admiral in charge “made the right call” in ordering the second hit, which he “had complete authority to do.”

Lawmakers have opened investigations following a Washington Post report that Hegseth issued a verbal order to “kill everybody” on the boat, the ﬁrst vessel hit in the Trump administration’s counterdrug campaign in the Caribbean and eastern Paciﬁc Ocean that has grown to over 20 known strikes and more than 80 dead.

The U.S. also has built up its largest military presence in the region in generations, and many see the actions

as a tactic to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to resign.

While several legal experts have told The Associated Press they believed the second strike violated peacetime laws and those governing armed conflict, the Pentagon’s own manual on the laws of armed conﬂict also speciﬁcally cites striking survivors of a sunken ship as being patently illegal.

“Orders to fire upon the shipwrecked would be clearly illegal,” the manual says.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday distanced himself from the secondary strike, which the news report said killed two survivors who were clinging to the wreckage.

Trump said he “didn’t know anything” and that he “still hasn’t gotten a lot of information because I rely on Pete,” referencing Hegseth, when asked if he supported the second strike.

“I didn’t know anything about people I wasn’t involved in it,” he added Hegseth, sitting next to Trump at the Cabinet meeting, said Trump has empowered “commanders to do what is necessary which is dark and difﬁcult things in the dead of night on behalf of the American people.”

Police testify in Mangione trial

Bodycam footage played in court

BY JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press

NEW YORK Video shown in court Tuesday documented how police approached, arrested and searched Luigi Mangione at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s — moments that underlie key questions about what evidence can and can’t be used in the case surrounding the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The footage was taken on Dec 9, 2024, five days after Thompson was gunned

down on a New York City sidewalk. Officers’ body cameras captured the roughly 20 minutes between police approaching Mangione at the restaurant and telling him he had the right to remain silent During that time, they asked his name, whether he’d been in New York recently and other questions, including: “Why are you nervous?”

The Altoona, Pennsylvania, officers were initially skeptical about a 911 call reporting that the much-publicized suspect in Thompson’s killing might be at the McDonald’s — so dubious that a supervisor offered to buy Ofﬁcer Joseph Detwiler a hoagie at a local

eatery if the tip panned out.

Yet once he met Mangione and saw his face, Detwiler was convinced, all the more so after the man gave what police soon realized was a fake name and phony New Jersey driver’s license. But police suggested they were simply responding to loitering concerns at the eatery, they made conversation about a steak sandwich, and Detwiler even whistled along as “Jingle Bell Rock” played in the background.

“Just trying to keep things normal and calm, make him think that nothing was different about this call than any other call,” Detwiler explained in court.

But however casual the tone at times, ofﬁcers also patted Mangione down and pushed his backpack away

$6.25B donated to create ‘Trump

BY THALIA BEATY Associated Press

from him out of “a safety concern” about what might be in it and what he might do, according to Detwiler After about 15 minutes, with over a half-dozen officers in the restaurant, Detwiler warned Mangione that he was being investigated, was believed to have given a false name and would be arrested if he repeated it. Mangione then disclosed his true identity Ofﬁcers asked why he had lied. “I clearly shouldn’t have,” he responded, explaining that “that was the ID I had in my wallet.” Minutes later, an officer read Mangione his rights, while adding that he was “not in custody at this point.” A compliant Mangione was frisked again and then handcuffed.

Accounts’

Billionaires pledge investment incentive for families with children AP PHOTO

NEW YORK Billionaires Michael and Susan Dell pledged $6.25 billion Tuesday to provide 25 million American children 10 and under an incentive to claim the new investment accounts for children created as part of President Donald Trump’s tax and spending legislation.

The historic gift has little precedent, with few single charitable commitments in the past 25 years exceeding $1 billion. Announced on GivingTuesday, the Dells believe it’s the largest single private commitment made to U.S. children.

Its structure is also unusual. Essentially it builds on the “Trump Accounts” program, where the U.S. Department of the Treasury will deposit $1,000 into investment accounts it sets up for American children born between Jan. 1, 2025 and Dec 31 2028

The Dells’ gift will use the “Trump Accounts” infrastructure to give $250 to each qualiﬁed child under 11.

Michael and Susan Dell pledged $6.25 billion Tuesday to provide 25 million American children 10 and under an incentive to claim the new investment accounts for children, called ‘Trump Accounts.’

“We believe that if every child can see a future worth saving for, this program will build something far greater than an account. It will build hope and opportunity and prosperity for generations to come,” said Michael Dell, the founder and CEO of Dell Technologies whose estimated net worth is $148 billion, according to Forbes.

Though the “Trump Accounts” became law as part of the president’s signature legislation in July, the Dells say the accounts will not launch until July 4, 2026. Michael Dell said they wanted

to mark the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence.

“We want these kids to know that not only do their families care, but their communities care their government their country cares about them,” Susan Dell told The Associated Press.

Under the new law, “Trump Accounts” are available to any American child under 18 with a Social Security number Account contributions must be invested in an index fund that tracks the overall stock market. When the children turn 18, they can withdraw the funds to put toward their education, to buy a home or to start a business.

The Dells will put money into the accounts of children 10 and younger who live in ZIP codes with a median family income of $150,000 or less and who won’t get the $1,000 seed money from the Treasury Because federal law allows outside donors to target gifts by geography, the Dells said using ZIP codes “was the clearest way to ensure the contribution reaches the greatest number of children who would beneﬁt most.”

The Dells hope their gift will encourage families to claim the accounts and deposit more money into it, even small amounts, so it will grow over time along with the stock market.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By

President Donald Trump listens as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on

Mangione

can’thurt my feelings,” Johnson said on apodcast last week hosted by Katie Miller,the wife of Stephen Miller,atop aide to President Donald Trump

“That has been the key to this job because when you’re in atime as we are right now, when youhave averysmall margin, if Icarried grudges or if Ireturned ﬁre to somebody who’scriticizing me the agenda would grind to ahalt becauseatthe end of the day,Igot to get every member to yes. Literally,I have aone- or two-vote margin on any given day,” Johnson said.

Some in the national media have begun to question whether Johnson is up to the job, with 11 months left before all 435 House members face election again on Nov.3

The Hill notedthat the abrupt resignation of MAGA ﬁrebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., “sets off a political grenade” for Johnson. Politico published anarticle headlined, “Why Mike Johnsonis losing control of the House.” Punchbowl News, an online news outlet for political insiders, calls it “the toughest stretch” of Johnson’s career

The New York Times described Johnson as “beleaguered” and overwhelmed by his workload.

Johnson disagrees.

“Despitethe unrelenting streamofpalace intrigue stories that ﬁll the pagesof your publications, House Republicans remain united and focused on delivering results for our constituents,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday He pointed out that Republican majorities this year passed 331 pieces of legislation, including large tax cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, along with reduced business regulation and increased border security.Also approved was legislation that cut appropriations already approved by Congress and codiﬁed 67 of Trump’sexecutive orders.

This is not the first time in his two years holding the gavel that Johnson has been under ﬁre. He fended off an effort to remove him last year,and earlierthis year,a group of House Republicans tried to block Johnson’sreelection as speaker One marker of current discontentisthe numberof “discharge petitions” being

circulated and approved.

Normally, Johnson and hisHouse leadership decide when floor votes are held.

But if 218 House members signa petition, avote must be held whether leadership wants it or not.

The petitions are extremely rare andalmost always fail to ﬁnd enough supporterswillingtochallenge leadership.But enough disgruntled Republicans joined the Democrats before Thanksgiving to force Johnson to hold avote on the public release of theJeffreyEpstein ﬁles.

Aslate of other“discharge petitions,” which represent rebellionsagainst Johnson’s leadership, arebeing circulated that would require floor votes on punishing members of Congress for alleged ethics infractions, regulating how members trade stocks and bonds, sanctioning Russia and extending Affordable Care Act marketplace tax credits.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters Monday that all buttwo Democrats, 212 total, have signed adischargepetitiononextending theObamacaretax credits.

Thatmeans sixmoresignatures are necessary before Johnsonhas no choice but to holdavote for an issueon which Republicans ardently disagree Democrats want athree-

year extension to avoid punishing so manypeople’s pocketbooks while Congress addresses health care costs.

Many conservative Republicans,however,have railed against the Affordable Care Act for 15 yearsand say they want to use this opportunitytorevamp Obamacare to lowerhealth care costsratherthan extending subsidies that go to insurance companies.

Asignificant cadre of moderateRepublicans,particularly those whosit in competitive districts, don’t want to wade intothe 2026 midterm electionswith a signiﬁcant portion of their constituents paying twice as much, sometimes more, each month forhealth insurance.

Moderatesare suggesting some concessionsbeadded to the extensions, such as putting acap on household incomes that qualify for the tax credits. Those subsidies are paid to insurance companiestocover thegap between whattheycharge for policies andwhatworkers whose employers don’toffer insurance can afford.

The Trump White House last weekﬂoated the possibility of extending the tax credits with some concessions but quickly dropped the ideaafter Johnsonsaid that conservatives would never go along.

“So now Mike Johnson

wants to act like he’sthe speakerofthe House?” Jeffries said, adding that Trump’splan was worthyof consideration.

House Majority Leader SteveScalise, theJefferson Republican whoissecond in command after Johnson, is meetingwith committee chairs and GOPmoderates to explore possible routes.

“We’regoing to continue to work on health care proposals to ensure thatfamilies have choices and lower premiums,” Scalisesaid Tuesday Families, he said, “don’t have to be forced into a plan that the government tells them they have to be

Featherweight Scooter

in that’stoo expensive for them anddoesn’tworkfor their family.”

Meanwhile,the Senate has scheduled avote next week on extending the enhanced tax credits that help cover the cost of health insuranceonthe Affordable Care Act marketplace. Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., acknowledgedto reporters Mondaythata small group of senators are negotiating apossible plan, but nothing yet has been agreed upon. Thune doubted that the vote would getthe necessary support from 60 senators to pass the extension legislation on to the House. So muchwill fall on Johnson to ﬁnd the combination of Obamacare changesand, perhaps, extensions that 218 representatives can support.

“When pressure gets turned up really high and then thestakes are so high and the votes are so tight, I just try to sit down and listen to everybody andﬁgure out what theirprimaryneed is and how we can meet that,” Johnson said on the podcast.

“It’skind of aforeign thing on Capitol Hill, because people aren’tused to that. It was jarring to people in the beginning when Iwas handed the gavel, but it’sbecome part of what we do now and people expect that.”

Email Mark Ballard at mballard@theadvocate. com.

GUARD

Continued

In September,Landryrequested that the federal government pay for 1,000 Louisiana National Guard members to support law enforcement in Louisiana cities through theend of ﬁscal year 2026.

Neither the governor nor the president said how many Guard members would come to NewOrleans, though Landry said Monday that theywould remaininthe city through Mardi Gras, which next year is Feb. 17. That’sless time than Landry requested. The governoralso said he expected to know howmany Guard membersthe government would pay for “within the next week or so.”

Noel Collins, aspokesperson for the Louisiana National Guard,declinedtocomment.

Mayor-elect Helena Moreno said onTuesdaythattheNationalGuard’s efforts would not address the city’s primary publicsafety needs.

“If we’re really working on the same goalofgoing after the very most violent offenders in the city of New Orleans, the National

Guarddoesnot help us for that,” Moreno saidatanews conference at theGreater New Orleans Foundation on Tuesday Instead,Morenosaid, thecity needs more money forcrime prevention efforts and to hire probation andparoleofﬁcers andfederal prosecutors.

Moreno also said that“it is importantto recognize that we’ve hadsigniﬁcant decreases in violent crimes”and said that she would “continue to have that dialogue and conversation with the governor.”

Karen Boudrie,a spokesperson forthe New Orleans Police Department, said that the department stands by astatement shared in October that referred to the Louisiana National Guard as “the sons and daughters of our state.”

“Wehave along-standing relationship built on trustand ashared commitment to public safety.The National Guard has worked well with us in the past, and we anticipate that samelevel of strongcollaboration as they join our ongoing efforts,” the statement said.

Trump hasmade acontroversial push in recent months to deploy the Guardand other federal agents to cities likeChicago and Washing-

pricesand adwindlingworkforce, Louisiana shrimpers at thetimecheered Trump’s tariffs.

down on the dock to about almost $1/pound and the shrimpers will not survive,” said Agriculture andForestryCommissioner Mike Strain.

According to Louisiana Economic Development, the seafood industry contributes $2.4 billion annually to the state’seconomy, supports about 15,000 jobs statewide and provides 40% of the shrimp production in the United States. Athird of the Louisiana fisheries’ dockside value,which is the amount ﬁshermen earn when selling to wholesalers, is from shrimp.

Yetinthe past year,domestic shrimpers have been paid as little as 25 cents per pound, according to Cooper That drop is largelydue to asurge in cheap, imported shrimp from areas like China, Vietnam, India and Indonesia, where industrialscale harvesting and low safety standards driveprices down.

The Trump administration earlier this year placed tariffs on shrimp imported from India andEcuador— the largest shrimp-producing countries in the world —along with Vietnam and Indonesia.

After decades of plunging

How muchthose tariffs will aidthe U.S. shrimping industry remainstobeseen.

According to the Southern Shrimp Alliance,94% of all shrimp —and all seafood in the U.S.— is imported.

Key trade and government actionscould grant local ﬁshermen areprieve from their struggles, he said

“Slow down theimports and cap them outwithmore testing to give us some leeway,” Cooper,alifelong shrimperfrom lower PlaqueminesParish, said. “The countryonlyconsumes1.5 billionpoundsof shrimp, andyet last year we brought in 1.7billion pounds. Youbring thesupply down and bring thedemand up, andyou do thatbyadding a cap.Ifyou allow ustocatch more, guess what?Wecan sell them.”

Cooper said the problem with foreign imports goes beyond low prices; it’salso aboutfood safety.Ofthe billionsofpounds of shrimp entering the U.S. each year, only asmall percentageis tested for contaminants.He worries that some ofitmay contain dangerousbacteria.

“I have to say that food safetyought to be the No. 1priority in this country, automatically,”hesaid.

“Wejustsaw that radio-

KAREN BOUDRIE, spokesperson for

Police Department

ton, D.C., to crack down on crime andimmigration.The president ﬁrst suggested Sep. 3that he could sendthe National GuardtoNew Orleans, sparking strong state and local reactions.

Landry saidthenthathewould “take President Trump’shelp from New OrleanstoShreveport.”

Weekslater,Landry ofﬁcially requestedthat Trump’sadministration fund the deployment of Guard memberstomultiple Louisiana parishes.

LouisianaNationalGuard members were recently in New Orleans for the51st annual Bayou Classic, in what has become anew standard forsecuring sections of downtown during major events.Guard mem-

active Walmart shrimp. You’re talking about 2% of the shrimp coming in has MRSA, abacteria that antibiotics cannot kill. Two percent of 2billion is 20 million pounds of shrimp that they’re letting in and not even testing.”

It’sthoseimports, combined with rising fueland equipment costs,have put manylocal shrimpers in crisis, Cooper said.

“When Ibought my first engine, it was $10,000,” he said. “That same engine nowisaround $50,000. You have day-to-day operations that yougot to takecare of and still have enough money left over to live (on the boat) for ﬁvemonths, sixmonths, yeah, and it just hasn’tbeen working. It doesn’tworkat all.”

Many ﬁshermen, like Cooper,are being forced to take real risks just to stay aﬂoat, and safetyhas becomeone of thebiggest concerns for shrimpers trying to keep their boats running on shrinking budgets.

“Wecan lose everything we have becausewecan’t pay our bills,” he said. “Now we’re going out withmultiple broken equipment because we don’thavethe money to replace (it). I’ll bring aman on my boat, if somethingbreaks because I didn’tmaintain it, and Ihurt himorkillhim,thenit’son me.”

bers worked with state and local lawenforcement to establishan “enhanced security zone” from Friday through Sundayincluding checkpoints, bagsearches anda ban on coolers.

Landry commendedthateffort on Monday.Underthe newfederally funded deployment, the Guard would operate daily “in New Orleans and other cities under which violent crime is causing citizens not to feel safe in theircommunities,” he said.

Trump hasagreed to fund the latestdeployment nearlytwo years after Landry and the state Legislature coughed up $3 millionto sendLouisiana Guard members to theU.S-Mexico border,atTrump’s request Tuesday’s announcementalso came as separate plans for immigration sweeps by U.S. Border Patrol have alreadysparkedoutcry in the New Orleansarea. Landry discussed the National Guard’s arrival at an event in theFrench QuarteronMonday as about 100 people gathered just half amile away to protest the impending immigration raids.

It is unclear whereinthe city theNationalGuard would focus,

The state’senvironmental decline, Cooper said, has also been brought aboutby large-scaleindustrialfuel plants, shrinking the natural habitats shrimp rely on to reproduce and grow

In CameronParish, Venture Global’sCalcasieu Pass, a432-acre, liqueﬁednatural gas liquefaction and export

but the Guard has typically concentrated its efforts on the touristheavy French Quarter Christian Pendleton, chair of the security committeeand general manager of Brennan’sRestaurant, said thathebelievedthatbecause “New Orleans has along history with the National Guard …the sight of the National Guardisnot as shocking in New Orleans as it is in other cities.”

Ideally,the deployment would lift pressureonthe short-staffed New Orleans Police Department, Pendleton said.

Erin Holmes, director of Vieux Carré Property Owners, Residents and Associates, aFrench Quarter neighborhood advocacygroup, said she believes that the consistent presence of Guard members in the neighborhood is unnecessary Holmes said that while “wewant to be safe” she believes the “physical presence of uniforms and guns is unnerving fora neighborhood that is knownfor letting your hair downand celebrating.”

“Itdoesn’tnot feel like NewOrleans or the French Quarter,” she said.

Staff writerBlake Paterson contributed to this report.

facility,isone example of how development is eating away at the coast.

Cooper feels that environmental dangerismuchmore lethal than industry and business undercutting and could lead to thedwindling of the shrimppopulation.

“Without the estuaries, we don’thave anything because that’swhere they go to grow up and get ready to moveout. We have to have estuaries.”

“They’re closing it off and building land, and then every timethey do something like that, they take up breeding area because our estuaries are our main sourceofshrimp,”hesaid.

just behind the ceremony Local and state officials highlighted the newly built marsh’simportance as abuffer for storm surge among other ecosystem beneﬁts.

“Over3,000acres—3,170 acres to be exact —15million cubic yards,” Gordon Dove, chair of the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, toldan audience of local, state and federal ofﬁcials of theproject’ssize. “And it’sall about construction, construction, construction.”

Earlier estimates put the totalcostofthe projectat $115 million, paid for with fundsrelated to the2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill’sfines and settlements. Ofﬁcialssaidthe ﬁnal amount wasslightly below that. Construction began around four years ago. It is locatedalong the southeastern shore of Lake Borgne, near the popular Campo’sMarina and Hopedale Marina, launching points for generations of anglers. In astark sign of how the area has changed, remnants of what used to be aroad can still be seen along one edge of the project, its path now atop sinkingmarsh and cut off from the mainland.

The project has been an important part of the state’s 50-year coastal master plan

The marsh it addressed includes ahighly eroded section of shoreline between Lake Borgne and the Mississippi RiverGulf Outlet shipping channel

The shipping channel, commonly knownasthe MRGO, cut through the marsh when it wasdug and helped usher in saltwaterintrusion.Those forces fused with other factors tearingat Louisiana’sfragile coastline, includingsubsidence and sealevel rise.The channel, blamed for worsening storm surge during Katrina, is now closed off with arock dam.

“Byany measure —on scale, engineeringcomplexity, environmental value —this project stands as oneofthe greatest achievementstodate completed by CPRA,”saidMichael Hare, thecoastal authority’sexecutivedirector Designand engineering work forthe project was

carried outbyCovingtonbasedDuplantis Design Group, while Mike Hooks LLC, basedinWestlake, handled construction.

Building the new land essentially involvedagiant hose spewing mud to replenish what has been lost. From aspot afew miles out in LakeBorgne, sediment was pumped by pipe between containment dikes outlining the project areas, the pipe movedthroughout the process to spreadthe sediment After it settled,moresediment followed until the entireareareached the height of healthy marsh, explained Joe Guillory,ofDuplantis. Green cordgrass has sprouted from the newly settled mud, taking theshape of south Louisiana coastal marsh. The design life of the project is 20 years —standard for such projectssince they erodelike the rest of Louisiana’s coast— though it is expected to last signiﬁcantly longer To be sure, theproject experienced some complications. Onesection of marsh hadtobeleft outofthe plans becausethe landowner declinedtoparticipate, Guillory said.

Diversions canceled

The statehas lostaround 2,000 square milesofland over thepast century, amounting to around afootball ﬁeld every 100 minutes, or aboutthe sizeofDelaware. In recent years, it has used billions in fines and settlementmoney related to the BP spill for large-scale restoration projects, but thosedollarsrun dry at the end of 2031.

More than half of the money for projects in the state’s annual coastal plan for ﬁscalyear2026comes from BP funds.

Dove saidthe state hopes to build projectswith the remaining BP funds thatwill lastfor several decades to come.Henamedprojects suchasconstruction of a land bridge using dredged material in Barataria Basin, where land loss has also been extreme.

But the coastal agency underGov.JeffLandry has faced withering criti-

cism from manycoastal advocates for canceling the $3 billionMid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, which broke ground in 2023, and the companion Mid-Breton diversion.Both were intended to funnel Mississippi River water and sediment to rebuild lost wetlands, but faced strong opposition from thecommercial ﬁshing industry and others over the sharp changes they would bring to area waters.

Around $619 millionin BP fundshad alreadybeen spent on Mid-Barataria.

Dove said he hopestorecoup aportion of the money by generating interest on remaining funds.

Landryand Dove say they preferprojectsusing dredged sediment since they build land faster with more predictable results at alower cost.

Those favoring the diversions saytheymimic the way Louisiana was built in the ﬁrst place, working with nature to address the state’s land loss.

Dove has spoken of replacing Mid-Barataria with asmaller-scale diversion that would cause less disruption to commercial ﬁshing, accompanied by marsh buildingwithdredgedsediment. The idea would essentially revive an older state plan authorized in 2007, but would almost surely need to be updated to reﬂect new conditions.

The coastal agency has sent aletter of intent to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the project and is waiting for aresponse, Dove said. Corps spokesman RickyBoyett conﬁrmed the letter had been received, but said the agency was analyzing the next steps that must be taken given how dated the project is.

“Weare working to determine the necessary permissions and funding required to resume work under the program,” he said. “Wecurrently do not have adecision timeline.”

STAFFPHOTO By BRETT DUKE

Marsh Creation Project in St. Bernard Parish on

STAFF FILE PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Aphoto from2023shows the land whereanearlier incarnation of Campo’sMarina

Survey:Downtownopposes parade route

Newcourseisshorter,eliminatessomepublicspaces

BY STEPHENMARCANTEL Staff writer

Anew survey shows that downtown Lafayette businesses, residents and propertyowners oppose aproposed change adding JeffersonStreet to the city’s2026 Mardi Gras parade route.

The survey,conducted by Downtown Lafayette Unlimited,received 155 responses, of which81 were from Downtown Lafayette

Lafayette native paving way in racing

Montgomery says she realized herpassion at theage of 10

BY JOANNA BROWN Staff writer

It takes an uncommon amount of discipline to become arace car driver.It’snot an easy sport to break into, requiring access to cars, tracks, specialized crewsand money —lots of money

Complicating matters, Louisiana is not acenter of the racing industry.For Louisiana kids whodream of getting into racing, they typically start with dirt tracksand gokarts, which is the path that Sarah Montgomery took when she realized her passion for motorsports at the age of 10.

The Lafayette native attended her ﬁrst IndyCar event and started racing herself, all before getting her driver’slicense. The passionstayed with herthrough high school and college, and by the time Montgomery graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette with amarketing degree, she was aprofessional racer who had finished top 10 in points for her rookie year

“I just had that drive in me as ayoung kid to not quit on something,” she said. “When Ifirst started, Iwas the only female in anyraceIcompetedin. Now, it’s growing alot.” Montgomery is still driving, now as amember of the all-female AE Victory Racing team. Theteam is currently competing in endurance races in aToyota Supra sportscar for the 2025 season, with abroader mission to develop female racers and inspire young women to getin the driver’sseat.

“The ﬁrst race Iever sawwas one of Danica Patrick’sﬁrst IndyCar races,” said Montgomery.“It gotmehooked. It made me realize it was something Icould do.

“Unfortunately,women areunder the spotlightalot more than the guys. When Danicaraced in NASCAR and spun out, it wasthe talk of the town. We’re under the microscope alot more than anyone else is, but at the end of theday,I just want people to know me as a damn good driver.” Racing is an unusual sport in that it’sdifﬁcult for drivers to progress up the competitive ladder without sponsorship. Montgomery and her father started by knocking on doors across Acadiana to pursue sponsors, and LafayetteTravel was one of the ﬁrst organizations to support her races.

They are now her longest-running sponsor,with TeamOneLogistics, an oilﬁeld services company also from Lafayette. “I think it’s really cool to represent Lafayette anytime I’m on the track,” Montgomery said.

On the necessity of sponsors, Montgomery stated, “racingisall

Unlimited members, according to aDowntown Development Authority news release. Downtown Lafayette Unlimited is amemberbased nonproﬁt that operates underthe Downtown LafayetteInc umbrella.

Theroutechange would mean all Mardi Gras parades would roll through theheart of downtown viaJefferson Street, starting near Evangeline Thruwayand ending near theCajundome. Thenew

route would be shorter thanthe current routeand eliminatesome public spaces for paradegoers to watch the processions.

Mayor-President Monique Boulet’sproposal to change the parade routehas drawn support and opposition, withmost concerns voiced so far surrounding safety and displacement of residents who live on or near themain strip.

The first question asked residentsifthey supported moving

theMardi Gras parade route to Jefferson Street for 2026. Around 53% of respondents said they did not support the change announced by Boulet in October.Around 37% of residents supported the route change, with 10% being unsure.

Thesamequestion was asked to the public respondents, with 65% saying they don’twantthe changed route.

Asecondquestion askedwhether downtown businesses should have

formal representation in decisions impacting Mardi Grasand major downtown events, to which77% said yes. Around 12%ofrespondents said no, with 11% unsure.

“Not surprisingly, Downtown residents and business owners, even those whoagree with the decision to move the route this year, believe that Downtown should have aformal voice in the process,” Downtown Development Authority CEOKevin Blanchard wrote. “That’sbecause they

ABOVE: Shoppers Oliver,left, and Naomi Credeur,right, hunt for the perfect tree while shopping at Pollard’s RiversbandChristmas Tree lot on Ridge Road on Friday in downtown Lafayette.

RIGHT: An employee carries atree that was picked out by a customer

BY JA’KORI MADISON Staff writer

Buddhist monks on a120-day

“Walkfor Peace”have reached Louisiana as part of their 2,300mile walk to Washington, D.C.

Traveling withtheir dog, Aloka, more than adozen monks aremaking theirway from FortWorth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., to “raise awareness of peace,loving-kindness, and compassion acrossAmerica andthe world,” according to the Walk for Peace Facebook page.

On Tuesday morning, the group continued their walk into Alexandria as they headed towardPineville They noted on social media that todayisameaningful stop with plans to gather with the community foraPeace Gathering in Rapides Parish.

“It is really cold this morning. We just stopped at agas station fora breakand are now heading to Main St. Buddha Garden and Kees Parkfor the Peace Gathering,”a spokespersonsaid on the Facebook page. Thejourney begininlateOctober and they plan to travel through 10 statesbefore reaching Washington, D.C.Sofar,

ALafayette police ofﬁcer has been placed on administrative leavefollowing adomestic violence arrest. Officer Curtis Oakes was arrestedTuesday in connection with an allegeddomestic violence incident th at occurredathis homeonMonday, according to aLafayette Police Department announcement. Oakes was placed on administrative leave, and aformal internal affairs investigation has been launched into theallegations. “Weare committed to acom-

prehensive and transparent review of this matter and will cooperate fully with thecriminal investigation. Our priority remains ensuring the victim’s best interests andupholdingthe public’strust,”apolice spokespersonwrote. 1injured on I-10 after Thanksgiving shooting Onepersonsuffered agunshot injury and an Estherwood man was chargedwithattempted murder in an alleged road rage incident on Thanksgiving, accordingtothe Acadia Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce. Lu iz Mo ra le s, 38 ,o f

STAFFPHOTOSByBRAD KEMP

The Mississippi River’sconnection toLouisiana is existential.

The river built the land on which many of us reside. As long as there have been humans here, it has been acrucial source of food and water as well as acritical conduit of commerce

The last century saw Louisianans not just utilize the river,but attempt to control it through asystem of levees, gates and spillways aimed at preservingthe beneﬁts of its might while mitigating the dangers.

And for the most part, those efforts paid off. The levees have held back high rivers, the gatesofthe Old River Control Structure have prevented the Mississippi from shifting its course west down the Atchafalaya Basin and the spillways have helped relieve pressure downstream when the water level gets too high.

But those structuresare aging. When they were built, theories and models of river behavior and hydrology were very different

And the unintended consequences have mounted.

The levee system, for example, has directed land-building sediment out into the deep Gulf of Mexico, speedingcoastal erosion and, ironically,worsening storm surge ﬂooding.

And the increasingly frequent openings of the Bonnet Carre Spillway —including a record 123 days in 2019 when an estimated 10 trillion gallons of water poured through have created problems for ﬁshers in Mississippi. There, freshwater from the river,along with its pollutants, has ﬂowed through Lake Pontchartrain out the Rigolets and into the Mississippi Sound, killing dolphins and oysters and impacting the local economy

All of these issues are expertly and clearly laid out in aseries of stories in this newspaper by environmental reporter Mike Smith. His three-part series on the Mississippi River takes adeep and human-centric dive intothe beneﬁts and challenges of living along one of the world’sgreat waterwaysinthe 21st century

One conclusion is inescapable: It’shigh time that the river’smanagement by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is reviewed and revised to be more comprehensive.

We hope to see the Corps resume a$25 million, ﬁve-year comprehensive river study despite apause created when the Trump Administration pulled funding for it. We have repeatedly emphasized its importance and called on our lawmakers to support it

The study is sorelyneeded, and we hope it will take into account the input of all the people who rely on the river fortheir livelihoods, from farmers to tugboatdeckhands and everyoneinbetween.

But the study’sconclusions will be worth little if they are consigned to areport and then put on the shelf. They must be followed up with investment, commitmentand action to ensure maximum beneﬁt for —and minimal impact on —the surrounding environment,people and industries.

The Mississippi River is not going anywhere, and neither are we. But that doesn’tmean we can’t improve the relationship.

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE

WELCOME. HERE AREOUR

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

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

TO SEND US A LETTER, SCANHERE

Arecent article in The Advocatedescribes U.S.Sen. Bill Cassidy’sproposal to replace Democratic efforts to extend theenhanced tax credits for the Affordable Care Act that expire Dec. 31.

Cassidy is proposing that, rather than extend the tax credits, we give qualiﬁed ACA beneﬁciaries a$2,000 annual Flexible Spending Account that can be used to lower ACA premiums by increasing their deductible amounts to lower their premium cost.Without the extension of theACA tax credits, premiums for 2026 will increase 200% to 300% or more since healthinsurers will lose thetax credits and have to increase premium rates and deductibles.

Insurance deductibles and premiums are opposing forces in health care, not unlike aseesaw.Ifdeductibles go up, thepremiumgoes down, and vice versa. Healthinsurers will increase deductible and premium costs to offset the loss of the tax credit revenue. The current tax credits allow ACA beneficiaries to purchase policies with low premiums. Beneficiaries are being notified that

Have we sunk so low as anation as to be amused when the president of the United States addresses veteran reporter Catherine Lucey as “Piggy?”

Have we strayed so far from our “Christian” values and common decency as to accept,without comment, the president publicly mocking the physical disability of reporter Serge Kovaleski?

Have we fallen so far from understanding and compassion as to approve the terminationof16-year FBI employee David Maltinsky for displaying afolded Pride ﬂag given to him by FBI ofﬁcials and approved by his supervisors?

Have we grown so confused as to accept the president’sorder to charge six mem-

premium increases for2026 will be significantly higher if the tax subsidies are not renewed by Congress. The increased cost of ACA insurance, even with a Flexible Spending Account, will result in manycurrent beneficiaries dropping their coverage. For manyyears, Louisiana has been ranked first or secondnationally in healthcare costs and last in health care outcomes. Louisiana wasranked last in the2025 “Medicare Scorecard,” which evaluates states on access, quality,costs and population health. The U.S. health care system spends significantly more per capitathan other high-incomecountries,yet ranks last or near-last in overall performance, health outcomes, life expectancy,infant mortality and access due to cost. Congress needs to continue the health care subsidiesand spend the next 10 years creating anational health system that is aright, not aprivilege forthose who can afford it.

RICHARD WILLIAMS Baton Rouge

bers of Congress with “seditious behavior, punishable by death”for theirencouragement of the U.S. military to uphold the Constitution and defy illegalorders?

Have we grown so spineless andmorally corrupt as to wait forthe president’s approval before doingthe right thing and voting for apedophile’s recordstobereleased so thatthe victims’ voices may be heard and the destruction of their young lives be vindicated?

It is indeed adark day when we place party before principles, vindictiveness before values and the almighty dollarbefore human decency and respect.

CATHERINE ALTAZAN Port Allen

As both an IT consultant and a member of the Louisiana House Select Committee on Homeland Security,I seeevery day how America’stechnological leadership is tiedtoour economic prosperity andour national security

Fromprotecting ourenergy pipelinesand ports to creating jobs forLouisiana families, technology is nowthe backbone of both opportunity and defense

But ouredge is underpressure.China hasinvested more than$2.8trillioninadvanced computing, AI andquantum research,aiming to overtake the United States as the global tech leader Russia andIranare escalating cyberattacksonU.S. infrastructure.These are notdistant threats; theyreach into our daily lives, oureconomy and even ourdemocracy.

The good news is thatAmerica is moving.

Recentfederal efforts to cutred tape,modernize data infrastructure andstrengthen supply chains show what’spossible when policyaligns with innovation. Here in Louisiana, we can be part of that push. Our universities, small businesses andenergy sector can all help powerAmerica’sedge if we createthe right environment for themtothrive Winning the AI race isn’tsimply abouteconomics. It’sabout whose valueswill be written into the digitalarchitecture of the future.

There is hope for our country in the aftermath of the political shutdown war We now have an opportunity to evaluate our representatives’ take on the health care issue. They have an opportunity to articulate what their stand is and why,instead of ducking theissue under loyaltytoparty Iurge you to call or email your representative about this now.Before the

next election, please give serious consideration towhat issues are important to you. Question the candidates and vote forthe issues rather than the party Your issues are likely not the sameas mine. Iamhopeful that acrack in loyalty to party will allow moving forward with loyalty to each other JANE METCALF Baton Rouge

Will it be freedom, openness andopportunity or surveillance, censorship andcontrol? Louisiana hasa role to play,but the nationmust lead We should build, not burden, the innovators who will deﬁne the future.

REP.JOSH CARLSON Louisiana state representative, District 43

Burnsiswrong aboutthe Iroquois

Fewdocumentary ﬁlmshavethe natural authorityofaKen Burns production.

The narrator of his works, Peter Coyote, is as close as we havetoday to “the voice of God,” the phrase once associated withlegendary CBS anchor Walter Cronkite at the height of broadcast news. This makes it especially outrageous that Burns feeds the viewers of his new epic documentary,

“The American Revolution,”achildish canardatthe outset. Burns implies thatthe Iroquois Confederacy, aunion of sixIndiantribes in New York State, crucially inﬂuenced the founding of the United States. This is anice fairy tale, but hasnoconnection to reality,and Burns andhis colleagues —who worked on their project foradecade —had time to verify the claim.

At the beginning of the ﬁlm, the narrator intones that “long before 13 British colonies made themselves into theUnited States,” the Iroquois had“a union of their own that theycalled the Haudenosaunee —ademocracy that had ﬂourished for centuries.

We are told that Benjamin Franklin “proposed that the British colonies form asimilar union,” the so-called Albany Plan.

He printed afamous cartoon of a chopped-up snake illustratinghis point with the legend, “Join or Die.” Thenarrator continues, “Twenty years later, ‘Join or Die’ would be arallyingcry in themost consequentialrevolution in history.”

There’smuch to unpack in thispassage, which is carefully constructed to be misleading without being ﬂagrantly false (although it doesn’tquitesucceed).

It is true that the Iroquois forged an enduring confederacy,but this was hardly aunique contribution to political practice. History is littered with other examples. Greek city-states forged aconfederacy against Persia in 478 B.C.

The ﬁlm suggests aconnectionbetween astatement made by Iroquois leader Canassatego recommending a union, on the one hand, and Franklin,

Filmmakersfromleft, DavidSchmidt, Sarah Botstein and Ken Burns directed ‘The AmericanRevolution’ for PBS

on theother,but this is will-o’-the-wisp stuff.

Canassatego sharedhis opinion at a1744 conference over the Treaty of Lancaster, anegotiation between the Iroquois andseveral colonies. For his part, Franklin cited the Iroquois having aconfederacy in one sentence in a1751 letter about the possibilityofacolonial union. That’sit.

It’snot truethat the 1754 Albany meeting,bythe way,was the prelude to the world-historical events 20 years later.The conference was not formed in opposition to Britain.Rather,itwas afunction of British colonial policy, which sought to keep theIroquois from allyingwith France in what would becomethe Seven Years’ War.

The idea was that by uniting thecolonies, it’d bepossible to better regulate, andsmooth over,colonial relations with the Iroquois.

Regardless, theIroquois had no role in our constitutional history.Asthe scholar Robert Natelson has noted, the Iroquois don’tshow up as amodel in the 34-volume “Journals of the Continental Congress,” thethree-volume collection “The Records of the Federal Convention” (inother words, theCon-

stitutional Convention),orthe more than 40-volume “Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution.” As for theIroquois confederation being ademocracy,it’slaughable agitprop. There were no elections;leaders were selected by women elders, whose status was hereditary In an interview with theTVprogram “Amanpour &Company,” Burns said that the contribution of the Iroquois led him to believe he had “tocenter” the story of Native Americans. Surely,it’s theopposite—hewanted to center the Native Americans, so he played up the Iroquois story It’sbad history one way or the other “The American Revolution” has been praised by The New York Times for seeking tostrip away what Burns calls “the barnacles of sentimentalityand nostalgia” around the event. Actually, thefilm creates new barnacles more congenial to an audience that wants romanticized history about oppressed groups, but not about our own story So it goes in eliteopinion two hundred and fiftyyears after the greatest event in the modern era.

Rich Lowry is on X, @RichLowry

Dick Cheney,alwaysunintimidated

The word that bestdescribes how formerVice President Dick Cheney, who wielded the responsibilities he undertook in public affairs over along career begunimprobablyearly inlife and extended into years of repudiation by his fellow partisans, is “unintimidated.”

He was unintimidated by his rise to become White House chief of staff at age 34 in 1975, after ﬂunkingout of Yale University and not ﬁnishing his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin (while his wife, Lynne Cheney,earned hers).

Cheney,who died lastmonth and was eulogized in aceremony to which the current president and vice president were not invited, rose after being awarded an American Political Science Association fellowship in Washington. There, he favorably impressed two bosses who were elected to Congress at ages 28 and 30 William Steiger,who, before his death at age 40, pushed acapital gains tax cut through a2-1 Democratic House, and Donald Rumsfeld, who became former PresidentRichard Nixon’santipoverty program chief and former President Gerald Ford’s chief of staff. Still in his 30s, Cheney remained unintimidated by the travails of his patrons and his country —the forced resignationofNixon in August1974, the evacuation of U.S. troops from the embassy in Saigon in April 1975, the unveiling of Ford’sWIN (WhipInﬂation Now) buttons in October 1974. He seemednomore impressed than intimidated by hisWest Wing ofﬁce near the president’s, nor his dutiesdealingwith eminences such as former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger He was undaunted as well by what many regarded as inevitable American decline.Iremember aconversation shortly after President Ronald Reagan’sinauguration in 1981, in which he expressedworry aboutovercoming Soviet advancesabroad andbudget

On April 23, 2020, aman poured gasoline around the Illinois state government building in Chicago and set it on ﬁre. The man,identiﬁed as Lawrence Reed, age 44, wassaid to be angry because he had not received his monthly government Supplemental Security Income check.

According to the Chicago news site CWB Chicago, Reed went inside the building, knownasthe Thompson Center,and asked a worker at atrain kiosk where his check was. Reed leftand came back about an hour later and asked the samething. Then, according to CWB Chicago, Reed “allegedly returned athird time at 2:10 p.m.with twored containers. Witnesses reported seeing him walkalong the north wall of the Thompson Center while pouring aliquid from the containers. Fire investigators later determined the liquid wasgasoline Reed set the liquid on ﬁre while people were plainly visible inside the building.”

Even then, police and the larger justice system in Chicago were very familiar with Lawrence Reed. CWB Chicago reported that Reed was“on probation fortwo criminal damage to property convictions” and had “seven felony and 11 misdemeanor convictions as well as two pending misdemeanor cases.” He was also “awaiting trial forallegedly punching two womeninthe face at random in the Loop on Feb. 28, 2020.”

Even with that record, Reed did not receive any time behind bars forsetting the ﬁre at the Thompson Center.Instead, he was sentenced to mental health probation.

Fast-forward to Aug. 19, 2025, just three months ago. Reed wasreceiving treatments in the psychiatric wing of MacNeal Hospital in the suburbs of Chicago. He approached a social worker at anurse’sstation. This, again, is from CWB Chicago: “As asurveillance camera recorded everything, the social worker wasspeaking with Reed when he became irate and slapped the victim in the face with an open palm.Her vision wentblack, and she lost consciousness forseveral seconds. One of the victim’s co-workers rushed over and helped the victim walk downtoher ofﬁce, and the victim wasthen taken to the emergency room.”

deficits and stagflation at home. As a Reagan backer,during theIran-Contra affair,hedefended the administration’s right to conduct foreign policy —aharbinger offuturestands in future controversies —and he was elected House minority whip after former President GeorgeH.W.Bush was elected in 1988. Bush’sunexpected failure to get John Tower, afellow Texan, confirmed as defensesecretaryhad twopivotal consequences. One was the naming of Cheney, at age48, as defensesecretary The other was the election by an 87-85 margin of Newt Gingrich, 46, to succeed Cheney as whip, which put him in line to push aside former MinorityLeader Robert Michel and lead Republicans to their first House majority in 40 years in 1994. Whether Cheney’stalentswould have produced thatresult is uncertain; in any case, Republicans have won House majorities in threequarters of the elections since.

More immediately consequential was Cheney’sappointment. Unintimidated, despite his lack of military service, he assembled Operation Desert Shield and coolly fired theAir Force chiefofstaff for an unauthorized interview on the eve of Operation Desert Storm. His White House, congressional andnational security experience made himanatural choice as head of former President George W. Bush’s vice presidential selection committee and,after dueconsultation, for the vice presidential nomination itself. Only fourmen served eight years as vicepresident before1950; three made well-known comments about the insignificance of the office, andthe fourth was known for his alcoholism. But since 1950, there have been five vice presidents whoserved eight years; three of them (Nixon, H.W.Bush and Joe Biden)were later elected president in their own right, and afourth (Al Gore) won thepopular votefor the office Cheney was theodd man out, yet he was arguably the most consequential

vice president of the ﬁve. After the9/11 attacks, he pressed hard for aggressive measures to protect America from terrorism,arguing that enhanced interrogations and military action to remove theSaddam Hussein regime in Iraq were justiﬁed if there was even a1% chance of preventing aterrorist attack that, in anuclear age, could have been orders of magnitude greater than 9/11. He acted on this conviction, unintimidated by theprospect of widespread opposition and of adecline that, in fact, occurred in his job approval. In most ideological quarters, Cheney’srecommendations, implemented with W. Bush’ssubstantial but not total approval, were, if not acrime, then ablunder.But even if, as in all wars, mistakes weremade, “regime change in Baghdad also brought blessings,” wrote The Wall Street Journal’s Barton Swaim Buildingonthose blessings has been, ironically,President Donald Trump, who has routinely called the Iraq Wara mistakeand has been full of scorn for Cheney.Yet it is impossible to imagine thesuccess of Trump’sAbraham Accords and bombing of Iran’snuclear facilities if theHussein regimewere still in place; history may record it was necessary to takeout theterrorist regimeinIraq before taking out the terrorist regimeinIran. Trump’ssuccessful foreign policies may owe more to Cheney than either would feel comfortable admitting. Let me closeonapersonal note. When Iran into Cheney,heoften recalled playing high school football for Casper against Worland quarterback Grant Ujifusa, who later created “The Almanac of American Politics”and enlisted me as aco-author.With both now gone, Ican’thelp thinking that playing high school football on cold —maybe freezing —Wyoming fall Friday evenings may leave you unintimidated by anything you face later Michael Barone is on X, @MichaelBarone.

The social worker wasdiagnosed with a corneal abrasion, aserious concussion and a chipped tooth. Later,doctors determined she had “optic nerve bruising” and was“experiencing headaches and nausea daily and has been experiencing memoryissues,” in the words of a prosecutor quoted by CWB Chicago.

So what to do with the suspect? By 2025, Reed had amuch longer criminal record than his already extensive record from 2020. Prosecutors laid it out forCook County Judge Teresa Molina-Gonzalez: 72 arrests, eight felony convictions, seven misdemeanor convictions —a total of 32 years in and out of the criminal justice system

“The defendant poses areal and present threat to the safety of, especially this victim [the social worker], whoever else wasworking in the hospital that day,and the community as awhole,” the prosecutor told Molina-Gonzalez, whoappeared to be leaning toward setting Reed free again, this time with an ankle monitor

The prosecutor was practically begging Molina-Gonzalez to put Reed behind bars. But the judge wasunmoved. “Thank you,” she said. “I understand your position, but Ican’tkeep everybody in jail because the state’sattorney wants me to.” And so Reed walked free, again, after another violent crime.

Fast-forward to today.Reed is ﬁnally in jail, charged in aNov.17attack in which police say he doused ayoung woman with gasoline while on board aChicago Ltrain. Police say Reed then lit her on ﬁre, all the while shouting, “Burn alive, bitch!” The woman, 26-year-old Bethany McGee, suffered severe burns and is in critical condition. If she survives, she will face years of painful rehabilitation.

What to makeofall this? Molina-Gonzalez got her way; Reed wasfree to board the train with his bottle of gasoline, ready to attack. And the public wasleft to contemplate the obvious fact that Reed should have been incarcerated long ago, and also the fact that Molina-Gonzalez represents something that has gone terribly wrong in the American system of justice. Asociety that will not take Lawrence Reed off the streets will not protect the public.

Byron York is on X, @Bryon York.Email him at byronyork@yorkcomm.com.

PROVIDED PHOTO By STEPHANIE BERGER

Byron York

Michael Barone

Rich Lowry

understand the historically critical role that Downtown has played in making largescale community events successful.

Athird question asked whether businessesand residents supported an ordinance that would give the Lafayette City Council the authority to approve route changes after stakeholder review

The majority of responses, at 54%, saidthey wouldsupport an ordinance. Around 30% of respondents said they do not supportthe ordinance,with 16% unsure

The fourth question asked if businesses expecttoremain open during parades. Around38% said they would close, 27% said they would remain open and 35% were unsure.

Changesspark debate

Thechangefromthe previous route to Jefferson Street has caused heated debates betweenBoulet and council member Kenneth Boudreaux. It’sled to Boudreaux successfully introducing an ordinance that seeks to create anine-person committee and give the City Council authority to approve any modiﬁcations to routesand activities. The council is expectedto

vote on amending theoriginal 1999 ordinance thatcreated the Mardi Gras Activities Advisory Committee at Tuesday night’scouncil meeting.

Last Monday,Boulet hosted acommunity meetingto discuss concerns about the parade routewhich Boudreaux called productive, thoughheaddedthe audience was mostly made of up of krewemembers.”I think that we wereable to hear from someadditional people on this issue,”Boudreaux said atthe time. “I’m still concerned that we’re putting parade before people.”

Boudreaux has continued to take to social media to reiterate hisconcerns about the newroute and to ask those hesees as being impacted to show up for meetingsand share their viewpoints.

Boulet argued after last week’smeeting that acommitteemight slip into governmentoverreach regarding Mardi Gras. “I think there is arole with the administration and thecouncil, but Ithink we have to be real careful on creatingcommittees or creatingbureaucracy that is involved in an event that we actually don’tfacilitate or organize,” Bouletsaid.

Email Stephen Marcantel at stephen.marcantel@ theadvocate.com

PROVIDED PHOTO

Agroup of Buddhist monks, along with their loyaldog,Aloka, journeyaspartof‘Walk for Peace’, a120-day, 2,300-mile trekfrom FortWorth, Texas, to Washington, D.C.

PEACE

Continued from page1B

according to reports, the monks have visited variousTexas citiesontheir trek, including Austin and Houston, often walking along roads and highways whilebeing escorted by law enforcement or by avehicle trailing behind them.

The Pineville Police Department hosted aPeace Gathering from 10 a.m. to 1p.m. Tuesday at Kees Park. An optional 2-mile walk began at the Bud-

BLOTTER

Continued frompage1B

Estherwood, has been charged with two counts each of attempted firstdegree murder and aggravatedobstruction of ahighway of commerce. Awhite pickupwas seen driving erratically on Interstate 10 in eastern Acadia Parishat2 a.m. Thanksgiving Day,according to aSheriff’s Officenews release. The truck was allegedly “brake checking” another vehicle,blocking theirpath, and eventually stopping the vehicle by blocking its way The driver of the truck got outand fired several shots at the stopped vehicle,whereone of theoccupants was shot, ofﬁcials said. As the victims ﬂed from the scene, the suspect

RACING

Continuedfrom page1B

about who can bring the most moneytoracewhatever car theywant,with you in that seat.

“Back in the day, Iwas racing outofmyown pocket with sponsors I’d found, against guys with their parents’ wallet and another car in the trailer if something happened. It made me abetterdriver who takes care of my equipment, becausethere are no otheroptions if somethinggoes wrong. The hardestthing in racing is just not thinking aboutit, so youcan go fast.”

While keeping up with the racing schedule and working full-timeinIndianapolis, Montgomery has recently starteddedicating more time to coaching other womendrivers. Femaledrivers are still in theminority, but thesport is now at aplace where women are more representedthan ever before in managementteams and in the driver’sseat. At this point in her career,Montgomery is able to use her experience to encourage

other women entering the rookie pipeline, ready to drive fast andrace past barriers.

“That’s thelegacy Iwant, to help and teach people to be better than Iam,”she said. “AsI’m gettingolder in this sport, I’m notsure howmuchmore time I

have to drive. Butlooking back at it, it’sreally special knowing I’ve worked so hard to get to this point. Young Sarah would be so in awe.”

Email Joanna Brown at joanna.brown@ theadvocate.com.

dha Garden located on 506 Main St

Organizers saythe event wasopen to alland intended as an opportunity for thecommunitytocome togetherinunity andrespect. “Their journey is apowerful reminder of hope, compassion, and unity,”Pineville police said in anews release. Supporterscan track the monks’ day-to-dayjourney through alive map shared on the Walk for Peace Facebook page.

EmailJa’kori Madison at jakori.madison@ theadvocate.com

continued to pursue them, policesaid. The victims enteredawell-lit business andthe suspect fledthe area.

Investigatorsidentified the driver of the vehicle as Morales, who waslocated laterthe same dayand was arrestedwithout incident, ofﬁcials said Thevictimwas treated at alocal hospitaland has beenreleased Morales was booked into the Acadia Parish jail, where he is being held withoutbail.

LOTTERY MONDAY,DEC. 1, 2025 PICK 3: 1-6-7

PICK 4: 8-9-6-1

PICK 5: 1-4-7-6-7

POWERBALL: 5-18-2647-59 (1)

Unof

Lafayette,LA70508 Telephone: (337) 521-7338 Email: kpsam@ lpssonline.com

TheLPSBSelection Re‐viewCommittee will evaluate only the firms that arelicensedunder LA.R.S.37:2150-2192 for theclassification of Building Construction andhaveobtainedthe official RFQpackage for this solicitation from the Purchasing andProcure‐ment CoordinatorKristieSam,orthe LPSB websiteat. https://www lpssonline.com/ departments/businessservices/purchasing, and Centerline at www.cen terlinebidconnect.com

terlinebidconnect.com Theoriginaland SIX(6) copies of theSOQ,per Section4 of theSOQ datedNovember18, 2025 shallbedelivered to the Lafayette Parish School Board(LPSB)atthe Of‐ﬁce of Purchasing,202 RueIberville,Lafayette Louisiana70508. TheSOQ submissionsfor this projectwillbeac‐cepteduntil 2:00 pm on Thursday,December 18, 2025. SOQsubmissions that have notbeen received by theaforementioned deadline date andtime will be rejected.Addi‐tionally,failure to submit allofthe information stipulated perSection 4 –Response Instructions of theRFQ,dated November 18, 2025, shallbeconsid‐ered non‐responsive and will result in theSOQ submission beingre‐jected AMandatory Pre‐Pro‐posalConferencewillbe conductedat9:00amon Thursday,December4 2025 at 202 RueIberville, Lafayette,LA70508 in the LPSS School Boardroom All ﬁrmsinterestedin submitting aSOQ in re‐sponse to theRFP arere‐

Theoriginaland SIX(6) copies of theSOQ,per Section4 of theSOQ datedNovember18, 2025 shallbedelivered to the Lafayette Parish School Board(LPSB)atthe Of‐ﬁce of Purchasing,202 RueIberville, Lafayette Louisiana70508. TheSOQ submissionsfor this projectwillbeac‐cepted until 10 A.M. on Thursday,December18, 2025.

SOQsubmissions that have notbeen received by theaforementioned deadline date andtime will be rejected.Addi‐tionally,failure to submit allofthe information stipulated perSection 4 –Response Instructions of theRFQ,dated November 18, 2025, shallbeconsid‐ered non‐responsive and will result in theSOQ submission beingre‐jected AMandatory Pre‐Pro‐posalConferencewillbe conductedat10:30 am on Thursday,December4 2025 at 202 RueIberville, Lafayette,LA70508 in the LPSS School Boardroom All ﬁrmsinterestedin submitting aSOQ in re‐sponse to theRFP arere‐quired to attend.SOQ’s submittedby ﬁrmswho do notattend the MandatoryPre‐Proposal Conferencewillbere‐jected SOQRespondents,their consultants, sub‐consul‐tants, or otherparties representing thepro‐posedteamfor this solic‐itationmay notcontact anyLPSBCMARSelection Committeemembers concerning this project from thedateofthe so‐licitation until afterthe date of theselection LPSB andthe LPSB CMAR SelectionCommittee, re‐servethe righttoreject anyorall timely submit‐tedSOQsinresponseto

y p y tecsdgovla.tylerportico com/va/vendor-access/ registration or in theof‐fice of thePurchasingDi‐visionatthe Lafayette ConsolidatedGovern‐mentBuilding, locatedat 705 West University Av‐enue,Lafayette Louisiana,until 11:00 am CentralTimeonthe 23rd dayofDecember, 2025 forthe following: Eight(8) 69kVVoltage Transformers forVarious Substations andwill, shortlythere‐after,beopenedand readaloud in theOffice ofPurchasinglocated at 705 West University Av‐enue,Lafayette,LA. Bids receivedafter theabove specified time foropen‐ing shallnot be consid‐eredand shallbere‐turnedunopenedtothe sender. Biddersmay at‐tendthe bidopening in person, butare highly encouragedtovirtually jointhe bidopeningsvia Zoom usingthe following link: https://us02web zoom.us/j/82190109837? pwd=O0BhcCtZfPFKeDc ZJXraCqs3qxMuDT.1. In accordance with Louisiana RS 38:2212 electronicBidsmay be submitted on Vendor Ac‐cess(https://lafayettecs dgovla.tylerportico.com/ va/vendor-access/ registration).Official Bid Documents areavailable onVendorAccess (https://lafayettecsdgov la.tylerportico.com/va/ vendor-access/ registration). Forques‐tions relatedtothe elec‐tronicbidding process, pleasecallMorgan Broussard at 337-2918263. Biddersmay

Montgomerystandsinher uniform.

PROVIDED PHOTOSByEVANO’HARA AND ALEC GAMINO

Race car driver Sarah Montgomery’scar speeds along the track.

SPORTS

SIGNINGS OF TIMES

BY KOKI RILEYand WILSON ALEXANDER Staff writers

Alot was revealed duringLaneKifﬁn’s introductory news conference Monday. Kifﬁn channeled his inner Ed Orgeron hinted thatNick Saban told him to take the LSU job and said on numerous occasions the job is the best inAmerica.

He evendiscloseda conversation he had with Gov.Jeff Landry,adiscussion that helpedsealthe former OleMiss coach’sdecision to leavethe Rebels just before the start of their College Football Playoff runand take over LSU, abitter conference rival.

“I can sumitupbysaying this:This placeisdifferent,” Kifﬁn said. “Having

watched this place for along time, having been on theother sidelines in this stadium, this place is different, and that’swhy we’re here.Wehavealot of work to do with that, but I’m very grateful for the opportunitytolead one of the elite programsinall of sports.”

Whiteexpects UL mentobounceback

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

The struggles have not let up for the UL men’sbasketball team ahead of its 6p.m. Wednesday game against Lamar Cardinals in Beaumo nt, Texas.

UL coach QuannasWhite’steam is looking to rebound from a1-7 start.

“We’ve had abad start tothe season,” White said. “We’ve struggled. That’spart of it. I’m still extremely optimistic about turning this thing around.” White said he has metwith each player since Friday’s home loss to previously winless Jackson State.

“Again, we’ve got some highcharacter guys in that locker room,” White said. “They stillbe-

lieve. Yes, they’re alittledown, but that’spart of it.That’spart of coaching.It’sachallenge for us, andwe’re looking forward to it.” Whitesaid he received some encouragementhimself from a friend in recent days.

“He said, ‘Quannas, if you knew you would start out 1-7, wouldyou stillhavebecomea head coach?’and Iwould say, ‘Absolutely.’ ”White said. “You justhave to grow.All of our goals are still in front of us.”

TheCajuns are trying to avoid asecondstraight season of starting 1-8. Another loss wouldmeanthe program’s third 1-8start since the 201011 season, Bob Marlin’sﬁrst season. TheCardinalsare 4-2 this season, including a79-66 win over UL-Monroe.

Vergeof despair

NewLSU AD Ausberry helped save potentially disastrous coaching search

National ridicule. That’swhat LSU and Louisiana was subjected to in the wake of the Brian Kelly ﬁring. Not because of Kelly’s ﬁring, but because of the chaos that ensued.

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

The UL Ragin’ Cajunsare planning to follow up Saturday’s 30-27 overtime win over UL-Monroe with aproductive start to the early signing period Wednesday.

The Cajuns started theweek with 20 commitmentsand hope to add afew more withsome lastminute acquisitions.

The expected signing class is headlined by two local standoutsin BraylonWalker andLuke Green of Lafayette Christian. The duo has the Knights as the No. 1seed in the Division III select playoffs and will face Dunham at homeat7 p.m. Friday in the state semiﬁnals.

“We’re very excited,” LCAcoach Matt Standiford said. “I think (UL defensive coordinator) coach (Jim) Salgado and his staff have done a

great job. They’ve been really honest throughoutthe wholeprocess.”

Walker is adual-threat quarterback for Lafayette Christian,but theCajuns recruited him as acornerback. He has thrown for 1,821 yardswith 27touchdowns and seven interceptions while rushing for959 yards and 11 more scores on 127 carries this season.

Standiford said Walker covers the opponent’s topreceiver when needed. Walker also played alot of cornerback during LCA’s 7-on-7 summer circuit.

“I really see him ﬂourishing at corner,” Standiford said. “First of all, he’sgot ahighfootballIQ. Being aquarterback, he really understands what the receiver is trying to do. Then his athleticism just jumps off thescreen. He’s moreof aman cover guy.” Afterdoing hisquarterback

drills,the 6-foot, 170-pound Walker routinely moves over withthe receivers to work on hand-eye coordination drills.

Listed at 6-2, 180 pounds, Green is astrong safety forthe Knights, leading the defense with 93 tackles through 11 games.

“But his coverage skills have improved morethan anybody on our defense this year,too,” Standifordsaid. “He’sjust been agreat run stopper for us. He shutsdown anything in the alleys.” Standiford foresees Walker being really good on special teams, especially as apotential return specialist

“I hope he getsachance to return some kicks and punts, because he’sdangerous with the ball in his hands,” he said.

The governor madeinﬂammatory statements. The new LUSpresident cast doubt as to whether the new athletic director wasinfact going to be the AD moving forward. Then, as things seemed to be calming down, the school announced it wastrying to ﬁre Kelly forcause, thus trying to nullifyhis enormous buyout.

Pundits and message board posters from coast to coast laughed at the Louisiana way of doing things and opined that LSU never would be able to land atop-shelf coach. What high-powered candidate would want to subject themselves to such meddling and uncertainty? That observation may have been acorrect one at the time, but circumstances change. Acoaching search, like ateam at the start of along season, is not aphotograph of amoment in timeunchanging. If that wasthe case, the LSU team that wonatClemson to open the season would have wound up in the College Football Playoffand Kelly would still be the coach.

What changed? Well, Gov. Jeff Landry went quiet with public comments about the LSU football situation, though he did talk to and apparently reassured new coach Lane Kiffin during the hiring process. NewLSU president Wade Rousse clarified his position on new athletic director Verge Ausberry,saying he wasthe full-time AD going forward. LSU reversed its untenable plan to try to fire Kelly for cause, saying instead that he was indeed fired without cause (translation: he didn’twin enough) and that it would owe him his full $54 million buyout. LSU also said it will hold Kelly’sfeet to the fire in that he must makeall attempts to find employment, but that doesn’tchange the buyout situation. Personally,I doubt Kelly ever will coach again, and not because as his lawyers claimed LSU madeitimpossible forhim to do so.

But ﬁnally,LSU landed its man in Kifﬁn, the top target of the entire 2025 coaching carousel.

That of course launched another uproar with Kifﬁnleaving Ole Miss on the cusp of acertain appearance in the CFP,but that’snot LSU’sfault. NCAA schools could get together and create a rule that says schools can’thire coaches from ateam until the season is over as was the case when the Saints had to wait to hire then-Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore after the Super Bowl. But NCAA schools

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

NewLSU football coach Lane Kiffinpumps his fist while talking about his response to LSU fans cheering along theroute fromthe airport to football operations on MondayatTigerStadium

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP

UL guard Dorian Finister,shown here earlier this season, has had to playmuch more pointguard this season than originally expected

PHOTO By ROBIN MAy Lafayette Christian quarterback Braylon Walker is expected to signwith UL on

Rabalais

Ausberry

Tackle’s inﬂuence on Dallas defenseundeniable

BY SCHUYLERDIXON

Associated Press

FRISCO,Texas Quinnen Williams disregardsthe notion that the standout defensive tackle’sarrival in atrade is the best explanation for adramatic turnaround by the defense of the Dallas Cowboys. Teammates and coaches agree —to a point.

“When you open up the personnel report and you seeQuinnen Williams’ name, you’re like, ‘Ah... What am Igoing to do about this?’ ”said coach Brian Schottenheimer,going silent while mouthing the expletive in his thought. “I thinkthat’sreal. When you pay a lot of attention to him, it gives alot of other guys alot of opportunities to showcase their talent.”

Here’sthe reality

Dallas is 3-0 since giving the New York Jets a2027 ﬁrst-round draft pick, asecond-rounder next year and underperforming defensive tackle Mazi Smith to acquire Williams at the trade deadline.

On top of that,the Cowboys (65-1) go into Thursday night’svisit to Detroit having given up 21.7 points per game (essentially a touchdownbelow their average) and 69.7 yards rushing pergame (not much more than half their average).

Dallas beat both of lastseason’s Super Bowl teams back-to-back, first 24-21 over reigning champion and NFC East rival Philadelphia when the defense gave the Cowboys three fourth-quarter chances to take the lead and the offense finally cashed in with a game-ending ﬁeld goal. The winning drive came after Osa Odighizuwa’sthird-down sack of Jalen Hurts.

Theother pieces

The defensive revival isn’t as simpleasWilliams coming aboard.

The returnsfrom injury for starting safeties Malik Hooker and Donovan Wilson along with the season debuts of linebacker DeMarvion Overshown and rookie cornerback Shavon Revel coming off 2024 knee surgeries have helped. So has the other trade dead-

line addition, former Cincinnati linebacker LoganWilson, whose veteran presence has improved the communication of ﬁrst-year defensive coordinator Matt Eberﬂus’ calls.

Those are amongthe reminders Williams has for anyone suggesting his arrivalchanged everythingfor theDallas defense.

“I wasn’there before. Idon’t really know what was going on before Igot here,” Williams said. “But since I’ve been here, everybody’sjust been ﬁring on allcylinders when it comes down to doing their jobtothe best of their ability and feeding off each other,learningfrom each other,pushing each other,holdingeach other accountable.”

Immediate impact

Still, theeffect of Williams has beenundeniable,right from the start. In the ﬁrst half of his Dallas

debut at LasVegas, Williamshad ﬁve pressures,the most in ahalf by aCowboys defensive tackle in at least seven years, according to NFLNextGen Stats.Hehad 1 1/2 sacks against theRaiders.

“Justwatch him play.Simple as that,” quarterback Dak Prescott said. “Guy that Iknow, as Isaid before, playing against, he’sa game-wrecker and now being on the same team as him and getting an opportunity when I do watch those guys over there, it’snodifferent. The rest of the guys arestepping up and making playswhenhe’sgetting doubleteamed.”

Williams joined Dallas after spending allofhis ﬁrst six seasons with the Jets, who drafted him thirdoverall in 2019. Jadeveon Clowney,a12-year veteran who sacked Patrick Mahomes twice in last week’s31-28 Thanksgiving win over Kansas City,signed as a

free agent early in the season. Defensive tackle Kenny Clark wasthe player Dallasgot in the tradethat ultimately led to the Williams deal, when the Cowboys sentstar passrusher Micah Parsons to Green Bay fortwo ﬁrstround picks aweek before the season started. Clark hadspent allofhis ﬁrst nine seasons with thePackers.

AddOdighizuwa, afifth-year player who signed an $80 million contract extensioninthe offseason,and Dallasnow leansona strong core of veterans to go with promising edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku.

“Myplan was to comehere and play great football and executeand just learn the defense and learnthe guys around me,” Clowney said. “Getting Quinnen just made it that muchmore special. He came in from Day One, been leading since he got here.”

Parsonsmakinghistory in ﬁrst season with Packers

BY STEVE MEGARGEE Associated Press

GREEN BAY, Wis.

MicahParsons has pressured quarterbacks at a rate to rivalany playerinthe NFL in his ﬁrst season with the Green Bay Packers.

Now his sack totals are starting to reﬂect that.

Parsons enters Green Bay’s Sunday showdown against the NFC North-leadingChicago Bears (9-3) with six sacks during the Packers’ three-game win streak, bringing his season total to121/2 He’sthe first player with at least 12 sacks in each of his first five seasons since at least 1982, when the NFL made sacks an official stat. Parsons remains focused on reaching his next milestone.

“How Ican get to six?” Parsons said. “That’sthe mindset. Once you do six, how do you get to seven?How do we keep improving? How do Icontinue to get better? Understanding how teams are goingtocome out and attack me and how do Isay,‘It don’tmatter.’” That approach has Parsons doingeverything the Packers (83-1) could have imaginedwhen they landed him from Dallas for twoﬁrst-round picksand threetime Pro Bowl defensive lineman Kenny Clark. The Packers gave Parsons afour-year,$188 million contract with $136 millionguaranteed, making him the highestpaid non-quarterback in league history Parsons has responded by bothering quarterbacks no matter how opponents try to contain him. He leads the league with 70 quarterback pressures, accordingtoNFL Next Gen Stats.

“He’sa special, specialfootball player,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “I haven’tseen too many

guys like him.” While Parsons hasbeen botheringquarterbacks consistently all season, it wasn’tnecessarily apparent fromhis sack totals early on Parsons had21/2 sacks through hisﬁrst ﬁve games.Hehad acareer-high three sacks in a27-23 victoryatArizona on Oct. 19, then hadjustone over Green Bay’s next three games. Sacks have come in bunches lately.Hehad 11/2 against the New York Giants, two against Minnesota and 21/2 at Detroit. Parsonsranks thirdinthe league in sacks, behind Cleveland’sMylesGarrett (19) andthe New York Giants’ Brian Burns (13).Healready has the highest single-season sack total for any Packer since Za’Darius Smith also had 121/2 in 2020. TimHarris has thePackers’ single-season record with 191/2 sacks in 1989. Measuringhimselfagainst the greatest players drives Parsons, whohates losing

“I used to wrestle and Iused to always breakdowncryingwhen Ilost thesewrestling matches, Parsons said. “My dad’slike, ‘It’s OK.You’regoing to get another match.’ And Iwas like, ‘No, it’s not, Dad! Youdon’tunderstand.’ We worksohard. We have goals and dreams. If I’mgoing intothis wrestling tournament, Iwant to be No. 1. Idon’t wanttobethird placeonthe podium. Iwant to smile and look down at the rest.” Parsons maintains that competitiveness even when he’s off the field. Parsons says the only time he’saprima donna is when it comes to board games.

“I’ve gotcertain family members thatdon’teven want to play unless they’re on my team because they eithermight get kicked out or excluded from the rest of the activitiesfor theweek if they go againstme,” Parsons said.

Parsons’ favoriteboard games include Scattergories, Codenames,Connect 4and Taboo.

“I probably haven’tlost in Con-

LSU womentop initial NCAA NET rankings

TheNCAAreleased itsfirst NET rankings this week andthe No. 5 LSU women’sbasketball team is leading the way. The predictive system doesn’t take opponents into account, and the Tigers haven’tplayed astrong scheduletostart theseason,with seven of their eight games coming against Quad4 teams(the lowestranked group). KimMulkey’s squad set an NCAA record by scoring morethan100 points in each of itsfirst eight games,which has inflated the numbers. There’s alot of basketballleft to be played, and LSU could face achallenge Thursday when the Tigers visitDuke. LSUalsowill surely get tested in the Southeastern Conference. UConn, Texas and UCLA are behind LSU in the NET.

Serena Williams denies she’sreturning to tennis

Serena Williams threw cold water on the idea that she might be preparing to return to tennis,writing on social media Tuesday that she is “NOT coming back” after a spokesman for theInternational Tennis Integrity Agencysaidthe 23-timeGrand Slam champion had registered with the sport’sdrugtesting body That is the ﬁrst step that would be required by aplayer seeking to come out of retirement.

The 44-year-old Williamshas not competed sincebidding farewell at the 2022 U.S. Open. It was not clear whenorwhere —orevenif—Williams actually will play again, and she later posted:“Omg yall I’mNOT coming back. This wildﬁre is crazy.”

RelieverWilliams signs three-year deal with Mets

Free agentrelieverDevin Williamsagreed to athree-year contract with the New York Mets late Monday night. Williams spent last season with the New York Yankees, going 4-6 witha career-worst4.79 ERAand 18 saves in 22 chances. He lost the closer’sjob, regained it and lost it againbeforeﬁnishing the year with four scoreless outings during the American League playoffs The 31-year-old right-hander is atwo-timeAll-Star whotwice won the Trevor Hoffman NL Reliever of theYear Award with theMilwaukee Brewers while Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns wasrunning that team Milwaukee traded Williamsto theYankees for pitcher Nestor Cortesand inﬁelder Caleb Durbin last December

Steelerspickuprecently released receiver Thielen

nect 4inlike ﬁve years,” Parsons said.

Parsons draws inspiration from athletes in other sports suchas basketball players Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett and boxer Andre Ward.

At leastone sport apparently remainsa mystery to him

Packers defensive coordinator

Jeff Haﬂey brought up the idea of Lambeau Field playing Metallica’s“EnterSandman” when Green Bay’sdefense takes the fieldlate in games, just as the NewYork Yankees did forHall of Fame reliever Mariano Rivera.

Haﬂey said the parallel works because both Parsons and Rivera areoutstanding closers. Parsons has eight sacksinthe fourth quarter or overtime, the most of any NFLplayer this season.

“(Rivera) walkedout of the bullpen, and everybody started screaming and going crazy,and youknewthe game was over,” Haﬂeysaid. “Whetheritwas three outs or one out or whatever it was, he was going to put them down.”

When Hafley brought up the idea to Parsons, the star pass rusher needed ahistory lesson on Rivera.

“Honestly,the only person I knew was thegreatest closer was Iron Mike (Tyson),” Parsons said. “Baseball was neverreally my thing.”

Parsons has warmed up to the idea. He likes being seen as an elitecloser because he prides himself on staying strong and being ready to make one more play at theend of games.

“You’vegot to trickyourself to be like, ‘I’ve got one more,’”Parsons said. “AndI think that’skind of what life’sabout, the consistent growth to like, ‘I gotone morein me.Ican keep going, one more.’

Adam Thielen didn’tstay out of work long. The Pittsburgh Steelers signed the veteran wide receiver to theirpractice squadTuesday,a day after he was released by the Minnesota Vikings so he could pursue moreplaying timeelsewhere. Thielen, 35, had just eight catches for 69 yards in his return to Minnesota, where he starred from 2014-22 before atwo-year stint with Carolina.

TheSteelers(6-6) have struggled in the passing game with neither Roman Wilson norCalvin Austin becoming consistent contributors alongside DK Metcalf Pittsburgh also promoted cornerbackAsanteSamuelJr. from thepractice squadand released six-timePro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay

Durkin to remain in positionasAuburnDC

DJ Durkin is staying at Auburn as defensive coordinator under new coach Alex Golesh.

Goleshannounced the move Tuesday as an “easy call” aday after being unclear about Durkin’s future with the Southeastern Conference program

“Our relationshipgoesback more than 20 years to our roots in Ohio,” Goleshsaid. “Wehave worked with some of thesame men,and we’ve competed against each other in this great league. We are fortunate to retain one of the top defensive minds in college football here on the Plains.” Durkin servedasAuburn’sinterim coach forthe last three games after Hugh Freeze’sﬁring. Auburnranked31stnationally in total defense and 12th in rushing defense.

AP FILE PHOTO By DAVID BECKER

Cowboys defensivetackle Quinnen Williams looks on before agameagainst the Raiders on Nov. 17 in Las Vegas.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By PAUL SANCyA Packers defensivelinemen Micah Parsons,right, and KingsleyEnagbare celebrate asackagainst theLions during agameonThursdayinDetroit.

Poor shooting keeps UL women winless

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

It was supposed to be a game to get the UL women’s basketball team off the schneid.

Instead, Tuesday’s 72-47 loss to East Texas A&M in front of 5,046 mostly screaming children in the 12th annual Education Game in the Cajundome came with more frustration.

The Cajuns dropped to 0-8 on the season while the visiting Lions improved to 3-3.

Again, it wasn’t very difﬁcult to figure out what the obstacles to winning were for the Cajuns, who will try again for their first win against Morehead State at 4 p.m. Sunday in the Cajundome.

“We tried, we came out and played man and then played our zone, 2-3 zone, 3-2 zone, and we really didn’t have an answer for them,” UL coach Garry Brodhead said.

UL made only 25.8% of its 62 field-goal attempts compared with the Lions making 48.1%. East Texas A&M nailed 61.5% of its 13

TE Jeremiah Birdlow, 6-3, 225, Slidell

WR Kristion Brooks, 6-2, 176, Zachary

attempts from 3-point land while the Cajuns missed all nine of their 3-point attempts.

“We didn’t shoot the ball well, we didn’t defend well,” Brodhead said.

“I don’t think we did anything. The only thing that I think I did well is I got some people to come to the game.

“It’s kind of disappointing because you want to kind of grow the game by showing them a good game, and we did not show them a good women’s game.”

UL was outrebounded 42-35 and was way behind in assists 16-4. The Cajuns did commit fewer turnovers with 12 compared with 17 for East Texas A&M.

“We don’t spend a lot of time in the gym,” Brodhead said. “We need to spend more time in the gym (outside of practice).”

True freshman guard Amijah

Price showed some spunk, ﬁnishing with a team-high 18 points to go along with ﬁve rebounds, four steals and one assist.

Price was one of three doublefigure scorers along with Imani Daniel with 12 points and ﬁve re-

UL COMMITMENT LIST

OL Gunnar Goodwin, 6-3, 282, Kossuth, Miss.

OL Anthony Shaw, 6-5, 290, Oak Grove, Miss.

OL David Baker, 6-4, 356,Warren Easton

DT Xavier Waters, 6-0, 328, Houston,Texas

OT Jayden Michael, 6-4, 330, Lutcher

DE Ty Dominique, 6-2, 229, St.Augustine

DB Roderick Bingham 5-11, 161, Plaquemine

DB Edrick Williams, 5-11, 161 Daphne,Ala.

LCA

Continued from page 1C

Standiford said he can see Green putting on more weight and playing linebacker down the road Green is one of four safeties committed to the Cajuns, along with Edrick Williams from Daphe, Alabama, Roderick Bingham from Plaquemine and Jayden Reed from Neville. Neville and Plaquemine have been pipeline programs for the Cajuns over the years.

Walker is one of two cornerbacks committed so far with Julius Harper from Jeff Davis County Mississippi, being the other one.

The signing class is expected to include three interior offensive linemen and potentially a fourth. Gunner Goodwin of Kossuth, Mississippi, Anthony Shaw of Oak Grove, Mississippi, and David Baker from Warren Easton in New Orleans appear to be in, while

RABALAIS

Continued from page 1C

won’t do that because that means ceding power to a commissioner or some governing body Ausberry was asked Monday at Kifﬁn’s introductory news conference about LSU plucking the Ole Miss coach in such a situation He answered as the LSU athletic director should.

“That’s not our fault,” Ausberry said. “I had to protect LSU’s interests. It was the best for LSU.”

Five weeks elapsed from when LSU ﬁred Kelly to hiring Kifﬁn

Five weeks may be a blink in most of our lives, but in coaching search terms it’s almost an eternity Five weeks allowed LSU to go from disarray and dysfunction to landing the coach Florida wanted to hire and Ole Miss badly wanted to retain. Kifﬁn intimated there was a fourth team in his mix. Was it Auburn? Penn State?

UL MEN

Continued from page 1C

“Talented,” White said of Lamar. “They’re a really good team. They want to get up and down in transition — a lot of isolation. They’re a really talented, long team. They can really score and a tough team physically.”

Lamar leads the all-time series 46-38, with Beaumont typically being a nightmare for the Cajuns, who are 8-34 all-time at Lamar The Cardinals handled UL 74-45 in Lafayette last December but UL has won six of the last 10 meetings.

“I didn’t schedule any easy games this one was already on the books,” White said. “That’s part of it. If you want to play where you want to play in March, you’ve got to

bounds and Mikaylah Manley with 11 points and seven boards.

East Texas A&M was paced by Rezo Po with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting, followed by Cora Horvath and Tiani Ellison with 18 points apiece.

After trailing by 17 midway through the third quarter, the Cajuns closed the quarter well to narrow the Lions’ lead to 46-37 with 42.9 seconds left in the quarter

But Ellison responded with four points in the ﬁnal 42 seconds to get the lead back to double ﬁgures, and UL never threatened again.

“We’re giving them a lot of opportunity to try to get better, you know,” Brodhead said. “We’ve got some kids that just don’t play hard and don’t believe in what we’re doing, so you don’t play them.”

Brodhead said true freshman Arionna Patterson could be back for Sunday’s game, but Georgia Southern transfer Jazmyne Jackson isn’t expected back anytime soon with a foot injury

Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@ theadvocate.com.

DB Luke Green, 6-2, 180, Lafayette Christian

DB Jayden Reed, 5-10, 175, Neville

CB Braylon Walker, 6-0, 170, Lafayette Christian

CB Julius Harper, 6-2, 175, Jeff Davis County, Miss.

LB Devin Franklin, 6-4, 203, Oak Grove

LB Harrison Kidder, 6-0, 198, Catholic-BR

P Mason Golding, 6-2, 190, Perth,Australia

DE Jordan Pinnock, 6-5, 236, University High

OT Jai Vale Fredericks, 6-5, 316, Daphne,Ala.

RB Ke’Rynn Smith, 5-7, 173, Holy Cross

Jakolby Jones of Copiah-Lincoln Junior College remains uncommitted

The commitment list also includes Holy Cross running back

An NFL team? He declined to say It doesn’t matter now Kifﬁn is at LSU, and Ausberry landed him. From where LSU started this process, it seemed impossible, but Ausberry wasn’t deterred.

“LSU,” Ausberry said Oct. 31, “is not broken. Our job is to get the best football coach there is. Whatever it takes to get that person here, we will do.”

That day, after LSU for the ﬁrst time since 1955 parted with its football coach and athletic director in the same week, Ausberry’s words sounded empty But, with the experience of four prior LSU coaching searches behind him, he navigated through the turbulence and landed the Lane plane.

Kifﬁn was asked what Ausberry said in their initial 80-minute meeting that helped sell him on the fact that LSU was where he needed to be.

“ ‘I’m going to leave you alone

play these games.”

In the loss to Jackson State, the Cajuns made only 31.4% from the ﬁeld, 18.5% from 3-point land and 50% from the line For the season, UL is shooting 37.9% from the ﬁeld, 26.9% from 3-point land and 66.4% from the line.

The only players averaging in double figures are Jaxon Olvera (11.9 pts, 4.4 rebs) and Dorian Finister (11.0 pts, 4.6 rebs). That doesn’t include Jamyron Keller, who averaged 17 points over the ﬁrst two games before a foot injury sidelined him.

UL also has been without his backup in Karris Bilal, as well as senior Louisiana Tech transfer

Sean Elkinton from the start.

Their absence has forced Olvera and Finister to play more point guard.

“They re not used to being in

LSU

Continued from page 1C

What wasn’t clarified during his 36-minute news conference was a pressing deadline that will go a long way in shaping the longterm future of LSU under Kifﬁn Who is in charge of constructing LSU’s 2026 recruiting class leading into the start of the early signing period Wednesday? And what infrastructure is in place to sign the Tigers’ 15 commitments or bring in additional players to their small recruiting class?

“That is our number one focus right now,” Kifﬁn said, “is to sign the best class that we possibly can Wednesday.”

To say that LSU’s front office and coaching staff are in flux is an understatement. Along with the coaching staff it already has in place from the previous regime under Brian Kelly, Kiffin also has brought in multiple offensive assistant coaches and staff members from Oxford to Baton Rouge.

Ke’Rynn Smith (5-7, 173) who rushed for more than 1,300 yards and 21 touchdowns this season and 3,256 yards and 47 scores in his career

and let you coach the team,’ “ Kifﬁn said. “ ‘We’re going to give you everything to win, and I’m going to leave you alone and go coach the team and bring us championships.’

“Verge isn’t really long-winded in those meetings, as some other people (are). He gets right to the point. I really like that. He sparked my interest from the ﬁrst time I talked to him.

Ausberry is the first LSU athletic director who played football for LSU, someone who actually bled on the field in Tiger Stadium. Someone with whom Kiffin could relate, especially with his passion for LSU.

There is no guarantee Kifﬁn will win championships at LSU. Every coaching hire is a spin of the roulette wheel

But it’s far better than the chance LSU would get a coach of his caliber when this process started. For that, Ausberry deserves a tremendous amount of credit.

those positions, bringing the ball up versus pressure, then trying to get us into an action,” White said. “That’s just not some of these guys forte. It plays a huge part in it not having a guy to do that.

“That point guard position is critical. These guys are doing the best job that they can, they’ll get better at it, and we’ll ﬁgure it out.

Lamar is led by four double-ﬁgure scorers in Andrew Holiﬁeld (15.3 pts, 6.2 rebs), Rob Lee (14.2 pts, 2.5 rebs), Braden East (10.7, 7.0 rebs) and Jayden Gambrell (10.0 pts, 2.0 rebs).

The Cardinals are averaging 77.2 points per game while giving up 64.8. UL is only averaging 57 points a game while giving up 72.8.

Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@ theadvocate.com.

Six of those former Ole Miss employees signed term sheets with LSU on Monday including offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Charlie Weis Jr., co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Joe Cox, wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator George McDonald, senior executive director of player personnel Mike Williams, head of strength and conditioning Nick Savage and offensive analyst Sawyer Jordan.

Besides Williams, none of those names are likely to drastically shape LSU’s 2026 recruiting class, but McDonald and Cox may bring in a recruit or two of their own.

Cox was the lead recruiter in landing four-star tight end JC Anderson’s pledge for the Rebels, and he flipped Tuesday to LSU amid Cox’s move. Corey Barber, a four-star wide receiver, decommitted from Ole Miss the same day Kiffin announced his decision to come to LSU. Barber, per On3 Sports, has emerged as a target for LSU after McDonald, his lead recruiter at Ole Miss, came to Baton Rouge.

Anderson is the first tight end committed to this LSU class, and the Tigers are losing a lot of wide receivers this offseason while having just two freshman wideouts on its current roster Kiffin also brought general manager Billy Glasscock, senior associate athletic director for football operations Thaddeus Rivers and defensive analyst Chris Kiffin with him on the flight to Baton Rouge. Glasscock, Rivers and Chris Kiffin haven’t signed deals with LSU yet, but Glasscock and Rivers will likely play a big role in LSU rebuilding its roster around Kiffin’s image. How do those new faces, signed or soon to be signed, mesh with what LSU already has in place from a coaching and front office perspective? That’s a question that has yet to be answered.

“(Kiffin) brought his general manager, and they’re putting that together right now,” LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry said. “… My job is to help him manage and get the win, and give him the resources That’s (with) all our coaches (that) we have in our building. That’s my job as athletic director.”

The most notable holdover staff member when it comes to recruiting is Frank Wilson. Wil-

UL guard

son has helped lead the charge in landing LSU’s top commitments for its 2026 class, including fivestar defensive linemen Lamar Brown and Richard Anderson. Wilson’s recruiting expertise and understanding of Louisiana high schools make him a strong candidate to remain on Kiffin’s staff. He worked under Kiffin as a wide receivers coach at Tennessee and was seen meeting with the new coach Sunday night. Kiffin also needs to hire a running backs coach, and Wilson easily could slide into that open role. There hasn’t been any indication of whether Corey Raymond, the secondary coach and a key recruiter from the last staff, will stay in Baton Rouge and work under Kiffin But besides Chris Kiffin, no defensive staff members made their way to LSU from Ole Miss, paving the way for much of Kelly’s defensive staff including defensive coordinator Blake Baker — to stay and work under Kiffin As for LSU’s existing player personnel staff, Kiffin already has worked with two key members of the Tigers’ front office. General manager Austin Thomas and assistant general manager Kevin Bolden both worked at Ole Miss under Kiffin Thomas worked for Kiffin at Tennessee and Southern Cal before he was the Ole Miss chief of staff in 2022 and 2023 Bolden was the coordinator of recruiting strategy from 2022-24 at Ole Miss. Both men, at least on the surface, seem like natural fits to work under Kiffin. However, Thomas and Kiffin’s relationship soured after Thomas left Ole Miss for LSU, sources told The Advocate, and the additions of Glasscock, Williams and Rivers would make for a very crowded front office if Thomas or Bolden stayed.

“He’s going to put a great staff together, and (when) he ﬁnalizes (the) staff, whoever it is, I don’t know that yet,” Ausberry said “He’s going to get those names to us and work with their representatives and get the best people in here, have the best staff out there to compete.”

Some of these questions for Kiffin, particularly with his front office, won’t have to be answered until the transfer portal opens Jan. 2. On Monday, his exuberance about the portal opening in a month was more than apparent.

“I have zero concern about the interest of players with that, because I know what the interest was of players nationally to come play for us where we were just at,” Kiffin said, “and now when you put that with this stadium and with that logo, I mean, (it) makes me want to get on the phone right now.”

LSU has one more game left in 2025, a bowl game that will be announced Sunday But the construction of the 2026 roster begins with Wednesday’s early signing period.

“We have big-picture thinking, too. We’re not reaching, or we’re not signing kids because they’re from this school or that school or any of that stuff, OK?” Kifﬁn said. “We’re going to sign the best players that we can on Wednesday.”

Email Koki Riley at koki.riley@ theadvocate.com. For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate. com/lsunewsletter

PHOTO By ROBIN MAy

Lafayette Christian safety Luke Green, shown here racing downﬁeld for a touchdown on an interception return earlier this season for the Knights, is expected to sign with UL on Wednesday.

Amijah Price shoots against East Texas A&M forward Tiani Ellison during the Cajuns’ 72-47 loss Tuesday in the Cajundome.

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP

Ole Miss loses coach but moves up in CFP rankings

BY EDDIE PELLS Associated Press

Ole Miss lost a coach but gained a spot in the College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday, moving to No 6 despite the sudden departure of Lane Kifﬁn to LSU.

Undefeated Ohio State and Indiana remained at 1 and 2 in the rankings, while Georgia moved to third and Texas Tech rose to No. 4. The rest of the top 12: Oregon, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Alabama, Notre Dame, BYU and Miami, with the flip-flop between the Tide and Irish an eyebrowraiser as the season heads into its final week before the playoffs.

The final rankings come out Sunday, the day after a slate of conference title games determines the ﬁve automatic qualiﬁers for the 12-team bracket. The playoffs start Dec. 19 and end a month later with the title game outside Miami.

As newsy as the selection committee’s decision was not to dock Ole Miss for losing its coach something it has the latitude to do — was Alabama’s move up one to No. 9 at the expense of Notre Dame, which fell to 10. Both teams are 10-2 Committee chair Hunter Yurachek called the decision the product of “one of the strongest debates we’ve had in the room since I became a member of the committee.”

One key factor, he said, was

Alabama’s 27-20 win at archrival Auburn on Saturday a tougher opponent than Stanford, which the Irish beat 49-20 over the weekend “That was enough to change the minds of a couple committee members,” Yurachek said.

The move gives Alabama a better chance to make the 12-team bracket even with a loss Saturday to Georgia in the SEC title game, which would be the Tide’s third this season And now Notre Dame ﬁnds itself in a precarious position on the bubble despite a 10-game winning streak But not as precarious as Miami, which remains at No. 12, still behind Notre Dame despite a win over the Irish in the season opener

Unbeaten WCA faces state’s

BY MIKE COPPAGE Contributing writer

Top-seeded Westminster Christian has already made football history this season at the Opelousas school, but the Crusaders haven’t paused to reﬂect yet.

Westminster reached the semiﬁnals for the ﬁrst time and will host No. 5 Ascension Catholic and the state’s leading rusher, Trevin Simon, at 7 p.m. Friday in a Division IV select playoff game.

“It’s been a good year, but the job isn’t done,” said WCA coach Byron Porter, whose team had to face two district rivals in the postseason in Opelousas Catholic and St. Edmund. “The kids have bought in and are playing hard. It’s a good thing to see.”

WCA (12-0), which has scored in all three phases the past two weeks, is led offensively by quarterback Stephen George, running back Kyle Horde and receivers Damien Thomas, Evan Lemon and Gavin Frith.

George, a senior four-year starter, has passed for just under 2,000 yards and 26 touchdowns and is second in rushing behind Horde with 601 yards on 72 carries and nine scores. Horde has 1,252 rushing yards on 121 carries and 17 TDs. Freshman Cayden Brown has added 306 yards and three TDs.

“We have to come out and just be us,” George said. “Every play treat it like it’s our last play. Go hard every play and get the job done.”

Thomas, Frith and Lemon have combined for 22 TD catches and are all averaging at least 25.7 yards per catch. Of Thomas’ 21 receptions, 12 have been for TDs. Frith has ﬁve interceptions on defense, where Lemon is the thirdleading tackler behind Horde and

linebacker Jack Hunt. Thomas has seven interceptions.

“The kids aren’t selﬁsh,” Porter said. “They get just as much joy throwing a block for someone. We don’t have any egos. That’s part of the reason we’re experiencing success so fast.”

The Bulldogs (10-2), who lost in the semiﬁnals as a No 2 seed last year to Ouachita Christian, defeated another of WCA’s league rivals in the quarterﬁnals in No. 4 Catholic of Pointe Coupee.

Simon, who could break the state single-season rushing record this week, ran for 398 yards and ﬁve touchdowns in the 50-42 shootout. The senior is only two rushing touchdowns away from establishing a new state single-season record in that category as well.

“He’s the real deal,” Porter said of Simon. “He can run it. He deﬁnitely has our attention. They’re a good team with a good tradition. Ascension Catholic has always kept solid backs, dating back to

Germaine Williams.”

If it comes down to special teams, WCA kicker Mac Proffitt has a game-winning ﬁeld goal under his belt from the regular-season game against Opelousas Catholic. Horde has been playing with an injured shoulder, but he hasn’t missed a game. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound junior ranks fourth in receiving (11-248, TD) and has a team-high 116 tackles. Matt Lalonde has 11 sacks. Conner Payne, Omar Guillory and Austin Thomas have combined for 12 sacks. Hunt has 17 tackles for loss. “Kyle is banged up, but he’s a tough guy,” Porter said. “He does what he needs to do He’s going to show up, play and give 100 (percent).”

Ascension Catholic has won eight straight games since beginning the year 2-2 with losses to Loreauville and Dunham. The Bulldogs won state titles in 1941, 1973 and 1992 and ﬁnished as runner-up in 1991, 2017 and 2018.

SCOREBOARD

Penalties-Yards 4-30 3-30 Time of Possession 26:34 33:26 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—N.Y. Giants, Singletary 12-68 Tracy 10-36, Dart 4-20, Gillan 1-(minus 13) New England, Henderson 11-67, Stevenson 12-40, Maye 6-12. PASSING—N.Y. Giants, Dart 17-24-0-139. New England, Maye 24-31-0-282. RECEIVING—N.Y. Giants, Robinson

Singletary 3-34, T.Johnson 3-29, Slayton 2-41, Hodgins 1-4, Tracy 1-(minus 3). New England, Henry 4-73, Boutte 4-35, Stevenson 3-40, Douglas 3-33, Diggs 3-26, Hollins

Henderson 3-19, K.Williams 1-33 MISSED FIELD GOALS—New England, Borregales 45. Pro basketball NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE

22 run (Slayton pass from Dart), 14:54. NE—FG Borregales 23, 2:14. A—64,628.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ROGELIO V SOLIS

Coach Lane Kiffin reacts to an official’s call during the second half of Ole Miss’ game against

Starkville, Miss.

IN A GOOD LIGHT

Catholic clergy are ecstatic about Rosalía’ssongs of faithinnew album

BY JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press

BARCELONA, Spain AndRosalía said, “Let there be Lux.” Rosalía, the global Spanish pop star lovedbymillions for fusing ﬂamenco withLatin hiphop and reggaeton, has amazed her fans with aradical shift. The singer and songwriter’s new album, “Lux” (“Light” in Latin),isunabashedly spiritual. Fifteen songs, sungin13 different languages, including fragments inLatin, Arabic and Hebrew, areladen with ayearning forthe divine.

And it is receiving praise from on high.

Xabier GómezGarcía, bishop of Sant Feliu de Llobregat which includes Rosalía’shometownofSant Esteve Sesrovires near Barcelona,was oneofthe ﬁrst church leaders to laud her work in an open letter to his flock. Rosalía’sgrandmother regularly attends mass in Sant Esteve Sesrovires, according to the diocese.

IMAGE FROM COLUMBIA RECORDS

In an interview with TheAssociated Press, Gómezsaid that while some of hersongswere “provocative,” Rosalía “speaks with absolute freedom and withouthang-upsabout what she feels God to be, and the desire, thethirst (to know God).”

“When Ilistened to ‘Lux’ and Rosalía speaking about herthe context of her album andthe creativeprocess, Ifound myselffaced witha process and awork that transcended the musical. Here wasaspiritual search through the testimonies of women of immense spiritual maturity,” he said. From her opening lyrics sung over piano and mournfulcello, “Who could live betweenthe two/First love the world and later love God,” Rosalía announces that this album is arupture from its Grammy-winning predecessors.“El mal querer (¨The Bad Loving” in Spanish) and “Motomami “had established Rosalía as one of the leadingartists in the Spanish music world with her experimental urban beats. Despite —orthanks to —its diversityofstyles andsong forms,ranging fromclassical strings,snippets of electronica with acameo by Björk, aboys’ choir from athousand-year-old monastery,anaria-like song in Italian, aPortuguese fadoand, of course, modern ﬂamencoand hip-hop beats, “Lux” is offtoa powerfulstart among listeners. It has four songs in Spotify’s Top50global chart forthis week, more than any artist, including Taylor Swift. Madonna has declared herself afan of “Lux,” andcomposer Andrew LloydWebberhas lavishly calleditthe “albumofthe decade.”

Turninginwards Rosalía, 33, has said that after her success in more popular music forms, she let her longheld longing for the spiritual guide her in making “Lux.”

ä See 'LUX', page 6C

Cornand crabmeat bisque

‘Thisplace makesme HAPPY

Live musicand meatballsthe waygrandma made them,Artmosphere reopensinLafayette

BY JOANNABROWN Staff writer

If you’re looking to experience thenew Artmosphere, start with the sauce. The downtown Lafayette musicvenue hasa meatball and gnocchi dish on the menu that features an uncommonly delicious red sauce —the kind you stop and eat with aspoon when you thinkno one’slooking. The rest of the menu showcases the kind of bar food that encourages you to stay for awhile. Options like chili dawgs, loaded tots, meatball subs and jalapeño spring rolls arethere to be ahearty accompaniment to beer,friends and music, according to chef Marcela Bennett.

She and her husband, Justin Bennett, purchased the storied venue in thespring. SincethenArtmospherebeenquietly openinthe quirkyhouseat902 Johnston St., hostingbands,trivia nights and singles’ events in therefurbished structure. They held agrand openingon Nov. 21, with downtown and communityleaders and menusamples that spoke to Marcela Bennett’s bona fides.The Houston native built herculinary careerinNew York, working at restaurants like Butter underFoodNetwork chef

Alex Guarnaschelli.

After meeting andworking in New York City—Justin Bennett is anativeBrooklynite, and theson of ablues musician— thecouple decided ﬁve years ago tosettle in Lafayette, aplace they hadcome to know and love during trips down southtosee Marcela’sfamily

The bar and performance space hasproven to be the perfect spot foranentrepreneurand chefto display their talents.

“Artmosphere wants to be alive musicvenue,” said Marcela Bennett. “It wants to be the event bar So if you’re here,you should be hanging outhere for awhile. It’s nota fastfoodtypeofthing.We wantyou to have agoodbase for drinking and enjoying yourself.”

The meatballs areJustin’sgrandmother’srecipe, and they are also used to makeameatball po-boy,on

ä See RETURN, page 6C

PHOTOSByROBIN MAy

The newArtmosphere owners, Marcela and Justin Bennett, celebrate the grand opening and ribbon-cutting Nov. 21 in Lafayette.

Chef Marcela Bennett’smeatball sub is servedupatthe grand opening of Artmosphere.

aLanglinaisbun.“We callit bar food with aheart,” said Justin Bennett, who grew up eating meatballs out of a zip-closebag while spending hours in his dad’sstudio.

Bennett said that Lafayette has taken them in while embarkingonthisnew journey with Artmosphere —and in turn, they plan to use the business to support Acadiana’scultural community.Aportion of all Artmosphere T-shirt and meatball and dumpling sales will go to KRVS, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette pub-

BEST

gorgonzola vinaigrette, romaine lettuce, pistachios, crispy prosciutto and cucumbers.

Writing about the dishes now makes me want to order them again for lunch

—Lauren Cheramie, features coordinator Grits bowl

n Scratch Farm Kitchen, 2918 Johnston St., Lafayette

For abreakfast on the go, Iwant something that will fill me up and give me energy without weighing me down. Everything at Scratch Farm Kitchen, located across from Moncus Park in Lafayette, fits that bill. With afresh, farm-to-table concept and focus on whole ingredients, they achieve mind-blowing flavors while feeding you with the very best. One busy Saturday morn-

‘LUX’

Continued from page5C

“In the end, in an age that seems not to be the age of faith or certainty or truth, there is more need thanever for afaith,ora certainty,or atruth,” she told reporters in Mexico City lastmonth

She said that she was guided by the concept that “an artist doubts less of his vocation when he works in the service of God than when he works in the service of him or herself.”

Rosalía apparently has not had arevelatory “cometo-Jesus” momentcommon among evangelical believers in America. Like many Spaniards, she grew up in aonce staunchly Catholic Spain that has quickly secularized in recent decades, especially among the younger generations, leaving churches mostly to elderly parishioners. Even her early musicﬂirted with medieval religious poetry,includingone video clip from 2017 when she set apoem by 16th-century Spanish poet Saint John of the Cross to music.

While embracingCatholicsymbols andexpressing afascination with female saints, Rosalía seems to eschew strictly organized practice anddraws inspiration from other religions, as well. “Lux” responds to that diversity of interest, at one point quoting aSuﬁ poetess.

“I have read much more than Idid years ago,reading many hagiographies of feminine saints from around the world,” she said. “They accompaniedmethroughout this process.” Her style has also morphed. Gone are the hiphop fashion and long fake nails Rosalía sported only afew years ago when she took theLatin Grammysby storm. Contrast that now

that they were bringing anew eratothe longstanding venue. However, they also recognized that as the old house started drawing customers again,evenmore people were excited to seethe original name come back, with all the memoriesitholds.

lic radio stationknown for promoting traditional and contemporaryCajun and zydeco sounds. For atime, the Bennetts considered changing Artmosphere’sname, recognizing

“I think it’svaluable to maintain the historic name and build on and emphasize thegood parts of its history,” said Justin Bennett. “Lafayette needs places like this to be revitalized, and it’simportanttoustodothat.This place makes me happy,and Iwant to keep thatenergy going.”

Email Joanna Brown at joanna.brown@ theadvocate.com.

ing, that’sexactly what I wanted from my breakfast. This heartybowl of grits, bacon, egg, cheese and anythingelse fresh from thefarm that day wasmore than just delicious —itset me up to have aproductive, and fun,Louisiana fall Saturday

—Joanna Brown, staff writer

Loaded burger

n Solera—Restaurantand Wine Bar, at 4205 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge

The burgeratSolerais loaded with all the good

with herlookonthe “Lux” album cover,where she is dressed inasolid white nun’sveil with her armsapparently trappedinsidea white top, her gaze averted.

Joiningthe fanclub

Despite thepotentially controversial move of comparing Godtoanobsessed lover in the song“Dios es un stalker” (“God Is aStalker” in Spanish),Rosalía has won over theequivalent of the Vatican’sculture minister Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça,prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Cultureand Education,told Spanish news agencyEFE this month that Rosalía has detected awider dissatisfaction with the secular world.

“When acreator like Rosalíaspeaksofspirituality,” he said, “it means that she captures aprofound need in contemporary culture to approach spirituality, to cultivate an inner life.”

Amongthe songs about faith,Rosalía foundthe time to deliver tuneslike “LaPerla” (“The Pearl” in Spanish) that dishesout scorn for a former lover

That deft mix of both high and pop culture is part of the allure of “Lux,” saidJosep Oton,professor of religious history for the ISCREB theologyschool in Barcelona.

“She has succeeded in making popular music with very deep cultural roots,” Oton told the AP.“Anyone can listento it, and people with differentbackgrounds can take away different things. It is pop music, but it is profound.”

Interpreting ‘Lux’

“Lux” canbeintimidating for listeners, bothdue to its elaborate orchestration and smattering of esoteric lyrics that Rosalíawas inspired to write afterreading medieval mystical poets and their accounts of undergoing a

Reusingcards as placemats

Dear Heloise: Ihave ahint for reusing Christmas cards. When my children were young, we would takethe Christmas cards that we had received, and they would cut out circles using awide-mouthed canning ring. Then we would put them on clear contact paper and cut them to thesize of aplace mat (overlapping them so that there was no space showing). Then we put on another layer of contact paper We could enjoy the beautiful cards every time we used them. We did the samething withbirthday cards. My daughter even did this with thecards that she and her husband received for their wedding. They now use them for their anniversary dinner My husband and Ireally enjoy your hints. It’samazing how manywehave used in our over 50 years of marriage! Keep up the great work. —Lois P.,inMichi-

By The Associated Press

gan’sUpperPeninsula

Arrive alive

things. The Solera double cheeseburger features gooey,melted aged cheddar creole mustard, onions, bacon jam and asunny side up egg. Although Imust admit Irequested no pickles on my burger,the bacon jam added the perfect amount of tanginess to contrast with the hearty brioche bread and runny egg yolk that coated the burger It was agreat option if you’re hungry for aclassic, juicy,perfectly-cooked burger

—Margaret DeLaney, healthcoordinator

transformative union with God through deep prayer and meditation.

In the exhilarating “Reliquia” (“Relic”inSpanish), Rosalía compares herself to female saints, listing the partsofher body and life she has left in cities around the world as relicsfor others’ keeping. Her “Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti,” (“My Christ Weeps Diamonds”in Italian),brims with theextravagant Baroque image of the jewels dripping fromthe eyes of the Messiah.

In “Divinize,” Rosalía sings of the “divina buidor” (“divine emptiness” in Catalan),acentral concept of medieval mysticism which focused on howthe soul must experience abandonment to open aspace where God can enter Victoria Cirlot,professor of humanities at Barcelona’s Pompeu Fabra Universityand expert in medieval feminine mystical tradition, liked“Lux”for its ability to introduce complex religious concepts to the general public, while noting it is “a minimalist” sample of themystical tradition.

Cirlot said themoving “La Yugular” (“TheJugular” in Spanish) is rich in mystical thought becausethe throat, the home of the voice and thebreath, is associated in manyreligious traditions as the body’sdoor to the divine.

But, forCirlot, it’sthe entire packagethatmakes “Lux” so impactful.

“Rosalía is not just agreat singer;she is agreat actress, and herbodylanguage is full of these mystical gestures likecontorting her face in an expressionofecstasy, of staring into nothing,” Cirlot said. “And then we have her amazing voice, which creates asense of ﬂight.”

AP writer Berenice Bautista contributed from Mexico City

Dear Heloise: Iwanted to write in about drivers’ attitudes and distractions. I wasdriving on I-95 when abig pickup truck passed me. As soon as his rear bumper cleared my front bumper,hestarted pulling in, completely forgetting that he had a20-foot ﬂatbed trailer closely following him.I wassuddenly driving at 70 mphonthe paved shoulder.Luckily,itwas not on anarrow bridge. —AnAvid Reader, via email Avid Reader,distracted drivers are dangerous drivers. Driving is an overlearned activity,and all too often, I’ve seen drivers scrolling though messages on their cellphones, reading the newspaper,and turning around to talk to someone in the back seat. Iknow that along drive can be exhausting at times, but if it’sboring, stop

TODAYINHISTORY

Today is Wednesday, Dec. 3, the 337th day of 2025. There are 28 days left in the year

Todayinhistory: On Dec. 3, 1984, acloud of methyl isocyanate gas escaped from apesticide plant operated by aUnion Carbide subsidiary in Bhopal, India, causing an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 deaths and more than 500,000 injuries. Also on this date: In 1947, theTennessee Williams play “A Streetcar Named Desire” opened on Broadway In 1967, asurgical team in Cape Town, SouthAfrica, led by Dr Christiaan Barnard,

performed the ﬁrst human heart transplant on Louis Washkansky,who lived 18 days with the donated organ from a25-year-old woman whohad died in a trafﬁc accident.

In 1989, U.S. President George H.W.Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev concluded two days of positive bilateral discussions in Malta in asymbolic end to the Cold War.

In 2015, Defense Secretary Ash Carter ordered the armed services to open all military jobs to women, removing the ﬁnal barriers that had kept women from serving in combat.

somewhere foracup of coffee, or pull over and get out of the car.Walk around if there’senough room somewhere before starting to drive again. —Heloise Little greenmen?

Dear Heloise: Irecently took aroad trip, and Isaw aUFO hovering over the New Mexico desert. Igot out and took aphotograph of it, but when Ishowed it to my sister and brotherin-law,they didn’tthink it was aUFO. In fact, they’re moreinclined to think that it wasacloud or maybe someexperimental craft from amilitary base. Do you think there’slifeon other planets? —Jerry,in Nebraska Jerry,I really don’tknow what kind of lifeisout there in the galaxy,but a great manypeople believe that we are not alone. I’m keeping an open mind on this one. Readers, what do you think? —Heloise Send ahinttoheloise@ heloise.com.

In 2024, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, trying to overcome an opposition-dominated legislature that blocked his agenda. Yoon was later impeached, removed from ofﬁce and rearrested in July 2025 after his conservative party lost a special election to choose his

TheAmerican RedCross ofLouisiana is hereall year.

Local 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.

Continued from page5C

STAFF PHOTO By JOANNA BROWN

The gritsbowlwithanegg and bacon from Scratch Farm Kitchen in Lafayette

STAFFPHOTO By LAUREN CHERAMIE

The sensation salad with seared tuna from Ruffino’s

PHOTO By ROBIN MAy Chef and co-owner Marcela Bennett’s jalapeño spring rolls dish is servedupat Artmosphere

Hints from Heloise

Bethehelp Louisiananeeds redcross.org/louisiana

sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Selfimprovement projects will be uplifting. Consider how you want to present yourself to others and what new look will boost your confidence and help you achieve it.

cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Push forward. Reaching out to a cause that concerns you will open doors and promote opportunities to connect with those who can help you achieve your longterm goals.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Be honest with yourself and others. Don't hide from reality when it's necessary to face facts to rectify problems. Set high standards and do your utmost to live up to them.

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Put everything in place before you begin. Recognize your strengths and weaknesses, and don't hesitate to call in an expert when necessary. You'll achieve your desired results if you are conscientious.

ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Tally up what you owe and make a point to pay down debt. Lifestyle changes that promote good health, positive relationships and enriching experiences are favored.

tAuRus (April 20-May 20) You may crave change, but first put a solid plan in place to ensure you aren't wasting time or money. Do your due diligence, and you'll put your mind at ease and feel confident following through with your plans.

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Distance yourself from people trying to pressure you into something you don't want to do. Communication is your best route forward if you want to get things done.

cAncER (June 21-July 22) Engage in conversations, interviews, networking and getting your word out there. Life is about doing, enjoying and rewarding yourself for doing things your way.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) What you learn and engageintodaywillhelpyoureachyour chosen destination. Nurture meaningful relationships using communication, kind gestures and compromise.

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Money, contracts and getting what you want in writing are essential. Impatience, neglect or letting your emotions lead you astray will be costly.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Keep doing the work until you discover the right balance mentally, physically and financially. Timing is crucial, along with experience and showmanship.

scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Go ahead and show off, but first make sure you know what you're doing. Use a unique approach, and rewards for your creative input will be yours.

By Andrews McMeel Syndication

FAMILY CIrCUS

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

toDAy's cLuE: s EQuALs B

CeLebrItY CIpher

For better or For WorSe peAnUtS zItS

FrAnK And erneSt

SALLY Forth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon dooneSbUrY

bIG nAte

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers1 to 9inthe empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s PuzzleAnswer

THe wiZard oF id

BLondie

BaBY BLueS Hi and LoiS

By PHILLIP ALDER

Nathan Myhrvold is amultitalented person. He used to be the chief technologyofficeratMicrosoft,isco-founderof Intellectual Ventures,and is the principalauthorof“ModernistCuisine.”When discussingplanning ahead, he said,“Fail to meet your responsibilities at work, and you get fired. Ignoreyour car’sgas gauge, and you get stranded. If you don’t watch your entries, you mayget stranded —asthe original declarer did in this deal. South was in fourhearts. West led the diamond ace: five, nine, three. Next, West cashed the diamondking:eight,six,jack.Then,West continuedwiththediamondqueen.What shoulddeclarer have done now?

Southseems to havenumerous winners: one spade, six hearts and six clubs. What couldpossibly go wrong? DespitehavingseenEastplayhigh-low to show adoubleton, declarer ruffed the third diamond on the board. East overruffed and accurately shifted to the spade queen. Southwon withdummy’s ace, but suddenly realized that he was stranded on the board.Hecouldnot get back to his hand to draw trumps without conceding aspade trick, whichwould have been his fourth loser. Even playing on clubs could nothavehelped, unless East had started with all six missing heartsand at leastthree clubs

Too late, declarer realized that he shouldhave discarded from the dummy attrickthree.EvenifWesthadswitched to aspade, South couldhave wononthe board, drawntrumps, and runthe clubs Have you ever runout of gas?Have you ever run out of entries? If so, you have lots of company, including me.

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

Previous answers:

word game

InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of fourormore letters. 2. Words that acquire fourletters by the addition of “s,”such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3 Additional words made by adding a“d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit wordsare not allowed toDAy’s WoRD unsEEInG: un-SEE-ing: Failing to observe something.

Average mark 17 words

Timelimit 40 minutes

Can you find 30 or morewords in UNSEEING?

yEstERDAy’s WoRD —cHRonIc

inro iron

wuzzles

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

hidato

mallard fillmore

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Wall Street holds as bitcoin stabilizes

The U.S. stock market held steady on Tuesday as both bond yields and bitcoin stabilized. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% following its ﬁrst loss in six days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 185 points, or 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.6%.

Boeing soared 10.1% and was one of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500 Chief Financial Ofﬁcer Jay Malave said the plane maker expects growth next year in an underlying measure of how much cash it produces. MongoDB also helped lead the market and jumped 22.2% after the database company delivered stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. United Natural Foods climbed 4.6% after reporting a stronger proﬁt than expected. They helped offset a 6.8% drop for Signet Jewelers, which gave a forecast for revenue in the holiday shopping season that fell short of analysts’ expectations. The jeweler said it’s expecting “a measured consumer environment.”

Another potential warning about U.S. shoppers’ strength came from the chief financial ofﬁcer of Procter & Gamble, the giant behind Tide detergent and Ivory soap. Andre Schulten said the landscape for U.S. consumers is “volatile” at the moment, though still within the company’s expectations. Procter & Gamble slipped 1.1%.

In the bond market, Treasury yields calmed following their jumps the day before The 10year yield edged down to 4.08% from 4.09% late Monday, while the two-year yield eased to 3.51% from 3.54%.

Bitcoin, which tumbled below $85,000 on Monday as bond yields worldwide marched higher, pulled back above $91,000. Ford sees dip in November sales

Ford Motor Co.’s U.S. sales fell almost 1% year-over-year in November as an aluminum shortage affected F-Series production and electric vehicle sales plummeted 61% without the federal plug-in vehicle tax credit.

Total sales declined 0.9% to 164,925 vehicles for the month. Dealer services provider Cox Automotive Inc. forecasted U.S. sales for the industry would fall to 1.27 million in November, down 7.8% from last year. Two fewer selling days, the end of the federal EV tax credit and higher vehicle prices from tariffs affected the total.

Sales of F-Series pickups, the country’s best-selling trucks and the Dearborn automaker’s profit engine, fell 9.6%. Multiple ﬁres at an aluminum sheet plant in New York halted electric F-150 Lightning production and disrupted Super Duty and F-150 volumes. Ford expects to make up for the lost production next year with an added shift at Dearborn Truck Plant and additional workers at the Kentucky plant.

Global economy expected to grow

The world economy has proven surprisingly durable in the face of President Donald Trump’s trade wars, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Tuesday, upgrading its outlook for global and U.S. economic growth this year

The 38-country OECD now forecasts that the world economy will grow 3.2% this year, down a tick from 3.3% in 2024 but an improvement on the 2.9% it had predicted for 2025 back in June The organization, which does economic research and promotes international trade and prosperity expects global growth to slow to 2.9% next year

The OECD also raised its forecast for U.S. growth this year to 2%, up from the 1.6% it had forecast in June Still, even with the upgrade, the American economy — the world’s largest — would have grown considerably more slowly than it did in 2024 (2.8%)

THEADVOCATE.COM/news/business

It joins suit against Trump administration

BY PAUL WISEMAN AP economics writer

WASHINGTON Costco is joining other companies that aren’t waiting to see whether the Supreme Court strikes down President Donald Trump’s most sweeping import taxes. They’re going to court to demand refunds on the tariffs they’ve paid.

The specialized U.S. Court of International Trade in New York and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington ruled earlier this year that Trump’s biggest and boldest im-

port taxes are illegal.

The case is now before the Supreme Court. In a Nov 5 hearing, several of the high court’s justices expressed doubts that the president had sweeping power to declare national emergencies to slap tariffs on goods from almost every country on earth.

If the court strikes down the tariffs, importers may be entitled to refunds on the levies they’ve paid.

“It’s uncertain whether refunds will be granted and, if so, how much,” said Brent Skorup, a legal fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute. “But the possibility has prompted many companies — including Costco to file actions in the U.S Court of International Trade to get in line, so to speak, for

potential refunds.”

Trump claims that he has an almost unlimited right to impose tariffs — a power the Constitution gives to Congress, under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act — but has now lost twice in court.

Trade lawyer Joyce Adetutu, a partner at the Vinson & Elkins law ﬁrm, said that Costco is trying to “make sure that if and when the Supreme Court overturns the IEEPA tariffs, which could come as late as the summertime, they have the judgment in place” and can collect a refund. In a complaint filed last week with the trade court in New York, Costco said it is demanding the money back now “to ensure that its

right to a complete refund is not jeopardized.

The operator of warehouse-sized stores expressed concern that it might struggle to get a refund once its tariff bills have been ﬁnalized — a process called “liquidation” — by the Customs and Border Protection agency, a process Costco says will start Dec. 15.

Importers have 180 days after liquidation to protest the tariff bills. Costco worries that “their timeline might be whittled away depending on how long it takes to get a Supreme Court decision,” Adetutu said. Revlon and canned seafood and chicken producer Bumble Bee Foods have made similar arguments in the trade court. Prada buys Milan fashion rival Versace for $1.4 billion

A SOLID START

Early data reveals shoppers are buying, but staying focused on what they want

BY ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP retail writer

NEW YORK The nation’s shoppers may feel gloomy about the economy, but they certainly were in the mood to shop over the five-day Thanksgiving weekend that wrapped up on Cyber Monday As Wall Street analysts and retailers sift through the data from the weekend — the unofficial start to the season and a good barometer of shoppers’ financial health and the strength of the economy — the figures show that shoppers went online and in stores to scour for deals on everything from TVs to clothing. But all that economic uncertainty did affect spending. Shoppers were very focused and selective, some malls reported.

Of course, the weekend looks a lot different from 15 years ago, when shoppers camped out in the wee hours of the morning and fought in store aisles for doorbusters like TVs. Shoppers are still heading to stores, but the biggest growth is online, which now accounts for 30% of total holiday sales.

That’s up from 15% in 2012, according to the National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group.

Adobe Analytics reported Tuesday that so-called Cyber Week the five-day period from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday — brought in $44.2 billion online overall, up 7.7% year-over-year, bolstered by record spending online during Black Friday

On Cyber Monday consumers spent $14.25 billion, up 7.1% and making it again the year’s biggest online shopping day

National Retail Federation’s CEO Matt Shay said Tuesday that shoppers wall off the winter holidays from all the economic noise, building a moat around the season.

“The holidays is really very much an emotional purchase,” Shay said. “Families plan for it. They invest in it. And as a component of the holidays, the ﬁve-day Thanksgiving weekend is really the psychological kickoff of the holidays.”

Based on the group’s survey of shoppers from the weekend, Shay called the period a “very solid beginning” to the holiday season.

The group still expects sales over November and December of between $1.01 trillion and $1.02 trillion That would be up 3.7% to 4.2% more than last year

Record traffic

Software company Salesforce reported that for Cyber Week — it measures from Nov 25 through Monday — global online sales increased to $336.6 billion, up 7% compared with the year-ago period U.S. online sales increased to $79.6 billion, up 5% year for that week, compared with the year-ago period.

The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, reported on Tuesday that more than

235,000 people visited the iconic center on

Black Friday, making it the busiest Black Friday on record in the mall’s history The trafﬁc number was up 8.5% compared with the same day on 2024 and nearly 2% above pre-pandemic 2019, the mall said.

Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks in-person and online spending, reported Saturday that overall Black Friday sales excluding automotive rose 4.1% from a year ago. The retail sales indicator, not adjusted for inﬂation, showed online sales jumped by double digits — 10.4% — while in-store purchases inched up 1.7%.

Still, shoppers were laser-focused.

William Lewis, marketing director of Westﬁeld Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey, noted on Black Friday that, “People are deﬁnitely buying.” But Lewis noted that shoppers are more targeted and have done their homework ahead of time on social media or store sites.

Generous discounts

Ahead of the Thanksgiving weekend, promotions didn’t come as early as last year or were more muted, according to some malls and analysts.

But for the big weekend, retailers ramped up discounting to be in line with last year’s sales event, according to Adobe and big malls like Mall of America.

But if shoppers were dilly dallying about buying a speciﬁc sweater and waiting for the prices to go down after this weekend, that may not be the best strategy Discounts won’t improve on many items, and stores

came into the season with leaner inventory amid an uncertain economy, analysts said. Vivek Pandya, Adobe’s director of Adobe Digital Insights, noted that prior to the Thanksgiving weekend kickoff, discounts on average ranged from 10% to 17% and then accelerated to an average range of 18% to 30% for the holiday kickoff.

But he expects that retailers will likely pull back from those discounts and will hover a little above what shoppers saw to the runup of Black Friday. The exception would be poor-selling seasonal items, which need to be sold before Dec. 25, Pandya said.

AI tools

Shoppers are using AI tools to track prices or get gift recommendations, though the usage is still modest. On Cyber Monday AI trafﬁc to U.S. retail sites — measured by shoppers clicking on a link — increased by nearly eightfold, according to Adobe. From Nov 1 through Dec. 1, AI trafﬁc is up nearly ninefold, it said.

The services were used most in categories including video games, appliances, electronics, toys, and personal care products, according to Adobe.

Salesforce reported that across Cyber Week, AI and agents inﬂuenced 20% of all orders, accounting for $67 billion in global sales.

In the U.S., AI and agents drove 17% of orders, or $13.5 billion in sales. The ﬁgure encompasses everything from a ChatGPT query to AI-supplied gift suggestions on a retailer’s website.

BY COLLEEN BARRY Associated Press

MILAN The Prada Group closed the purchase of Milan fashion rival Versace in a $1.375 billion cash deal that puts the fashion house known for its sexy silhouettes under the same roof as Prada’s “ugly chic” aesthetic and Miu Miu’s youth-driven appeal. The highly anticipated deal is expected to relaunch Versace’s fortunes, after middling post-pandemic performance as part of the U.S. luxury group Capri Holdings. Prada said in a one-line statement that the acquisition had been completed after receiving all regulatory clearances. Capri Hold-

ings, which owns Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo, said the money would be used to pay down debt.

Donatella Versace welcomed the deal in an Instagram post, which also marked the birthday of the brand’s late founder, her brother, Gianni Versace.

“Today is your day and the day Versace joins the Prada family I am thinking of the smile you would have had on your face,” she wrote in a post that also featured a 1996 photo of Gianni Versace with Miuccia Prada.

Prada heir Lorenzo Bertelli is set to steer Versace’s next phase as executive chairman, in addition to his roles as group marketing director and sustainability chief.

The son of co-creative director Miuccia Prada and longtime Prada Group chairman Patrizio Bertelli has said he doesn’t expect to make any swift executive changes at Versace, although he also noted that the company, which is among the top 10 most recognized brands in the world, has long been underperforming in the market. Prada has underlined that the 47-year-old Versace brand offered “signiﬁcant untapped growth potential.”

The appeal of the deal is that it combines “the minimalist Prada (with) a maximalist Versace,” said Luca Solca, managing director for the luxury sector at the Sanford C. Bernstein research ﬁrm, meaning

that the brands don’t compete for the same customers.

Versace is “long past its heyday,” Solca said. “The challenge and the opportunity is to make it relevant again They are going to have to invent something which is going to make the brand attractive desirable and interesting again.”

Versace already has begun a creative relaunch under a new designer, Dario Vitale, who previewed his ﬁrst collection during Milan Fashion Week in September He was previously head of design at Miu Miu, but his move to Versace was unrelated to the Prada deal, executives have said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ANGELINA KATSANIS

A man takes a photo of Rockefeller Center in front of Saks Fifth Avenue on Friday in New york.