The Advocate 12-03-2025

Stateunveils biggest marsh-buildingproject

Land rebuilt on theedge of Lake Borgne

BY MIKE SMITH Staff writer

Thestate’sbiggest marsh-building project ever completedwas unveiled Tuesday in St.BernardParish,where enough sediment to fillthe Superdome three times over wasusedtorebuild landrapidly washing away alongthe edge of Lake Borgne.

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

Speaker of the House MikeJohnson, R-Benton, is facing afull agenda as Congress returns this week.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

version projects and looming funding shortfalls. Butthe completionofthe major marsh-buildingeffort in aspot frequented by legions of southeast Louisiana fishermen and duck hunters was acelebratory moment despite the blustery,cold weather for the event

BY MARKBALLARD Staff writer

WASHINGTON Congress returned to Capitol Hill this week facing ahuge agenda with no easy solutions.

Located at acrossroads of the

coastal challenges, it also provided another lesson in Louisiana’scomplex land loss crisis, the Hurricane Katrina memorial crossatShell Beach rising

ä See PROJECT, page 9A

First, Congress has to figure out how to postpone an end-ofthe-month deadlinethatwould doublehealth insurancecosts for24millionworking Americans. It also needstoapprove annualspending on military

Trump: Guard heading to N.O.

BY SOPHIEKASAKOVE Staff writer

NationalGuard members will arrive in New Orleans within weeks, President DonaldTrump said Tuesday, followingarequest by Louisiana Gov.Jeff Landry for a monthslong, federally funded deployment aimedattamping down on crimeinthe city Speaking at aCabinetmeeting, Trump confirmed that the National Guard would be deployed to NewOrleans“in acouple of weeks.” “We’re going to New Orleans pretty soon,” Trump said. “Gov.Landry —great guy,great governor —he’sasked forhelp in New Orleans.”

Trumpconfirmed his plansafter Landry said on Monday that he had received acommitment from Trumptosend the National Guard to New Orleans“before Christmas.” “He said, ‘Don’tworry Jeff, we’ll have themthere in twoweeks, Landry said at an eventcommemorating victims of the vehicle-ramming attack on BourbonStreet on Jan. 1.

Deployment planned in coming weeks ä See GUARD, page 8A

construction; consider sanctions on Russia; andregulate “name, image, and likeness” payments in college sports. And there are just 12 scheduled workdays —11inthe Senate —before this year’ssession

ends Dec. 18. Even once that’sdone, Congress must pass spending bills before Jan. 30 or the governmentcould shut down—again. At thecenter of it all is HouseSpeaker MikeJohnson,

ä See JOHNSON, page 8A

156

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STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER Gov. Jeff Landryspeaksduring the public lighting of amemorial Mondayfor the victims of the Bourbon Street terror attack.

state’s

Visitors geta closer look at amarsh-creation area in LakeBorgne.

STAFF PHOTOSByBRETT DUKE

Birds take flight over amarsh-creation area of theLakeBorgne Marsh CreationProject in St. BernardParish on Tuesday

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.

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.

Hasenfus

Hernández

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.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON

Hegseth cites ‘fog of war’ in defense of follow-up 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 said 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 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.”

Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said earlier in the day that all of the strikes have been “presidentially directed and the chain of command functions as it should.”

“At the end of the day, the secretary and the president are the ones directing these strikes,” Wilson said while speaking to handpicked outlets at the Pentagon.

The Trump administration has suggested that the admiral overseeing the operation made the actual decision to conduct a second strike. Trump called him an “extraordinary person” on Tuesday and said “I want those boats taken out, and if we have to, will attack on land also, just like we attack on sea.”

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BY GEOFF MULVIHILL and DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump’s administration warned on Tuesday that it will withhold money for administering SNAP food aid in most Democratic-controlled states starting next week unless those states provide information about people receiving the assistance.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday that the action is looming because those states are refusing to provide data the department requested such as the names and immigration status of aid recipients. She said the cooperation is needed to root out fraud in the program. Democratic states have sued to block the

requirement, saying they verify eligibility for SNAP beneficiaries and that they never share large swaths of sensitive program data with the federal government.

States and the federal government split the cost of running SNAP, with the federal government paying the full cost of benefits.

After Rollins’ remarks a USDA spokesperson later explained that the agency is targeting the administrative funds — not the benefits people receive.

Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia previously sued over the request for information, which was initially made in February A

San Francisco-based federal judge has barred the administration, for now from collecting the information.

The federal government last week sent the states a

letter urging compliance, but the parties all agreed to give the states until Dec. 8 to respond.

“We have sent Democrat States yet another request for data, and if they fail to comply, they will be provided with formal warning that USDA will pull their administrative funds,” the USDA said in a statement Tuesday Federal law allows the USDA to withhold some of the money states receive for administering SNAP if there’s a pattern of noncompliance.

But “there’s never authority to withhold the SNAP benefits and, in this case, there’s also no authority to withhold the administrative funding,” said David Super, a law professor at Georgetown University who has studied the food aid program for several decades.

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President Donald Trump listens as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

Bodycamfootage showninMangionetrial

BY JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press

NEW YORK Video shown in court

Tuesday documentedhow police approached,arrestedand searched

Luigi Mangione at aPennsylvaniaMcDonald’s moments that underlie key questions about what evidence can and can’tbeused in the case surrounding the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

a911 call reporting that the muchpublicized suspectinThompson’s killingmight be at theMcDonald’s —sodubious that asupervisor offeredtobuy OfficerJoseph Detwiler ahoagie at alocal eatery if the tip panned out

The footage was taken on Dec. 9, 2024, five daysafter Thompson was gunned down on aNew York City sidewalk.

Mangione

Officers’ body cameras captured the roughly 20 minutes between police approaching Mangione at the restaurant andtelling himhehad the right to remain silent.

During that time, they asked his name, whether he’dbeeninNew York recently and other questions, including: “Why are you nervous?”

The Altoona, Pennsylvania, officers were initially skeptical about

Yetonce he metMangioneand saw his face, Detwiler wasconvinced, all themoresoafter the man gave what police soon realized was afakename and phonyNew Jersey driver’slicense.But police suggested they were simply responding to loitering concernsatthe eatery,they made conversationaboutasteak sandwich,and Detwilerevenwhistled alongas“Jingle BellRock” played in the background.

“Justtryingtokeepthings normal and calm, make him think that nothing was different about this callthan any othercall,”Detwiler explainedincourt.

But however casual the tone at times, officersalsopatted Man-

gione down and pushed his backpack away from him —out of “a safetyconcern” about what might be in it andwhathemight do,according to Detwiler

Afterabout 15 minutes, with over ahalf-dozen officers in therestaurant, Detwiler warned Mangione that he wasbeing investigated, was believedtohave givena false name and would be arrested if he repeated it.Mangione then disclosed his true identity.Officersasked whyhe had lied.

“I clearlyshouldn’thave,” he responded, explaining that “that was the ID Ihad in my wallet.”

Minutes later,anofficer read Mangione his rights, while adding thathewas “notincustody at this point.” Acompliant Mangionewas frisked again and then handcuffed. as “I’ll Be Home forChristmas” wafted from the restaurant’s speakers.

DetwilertestifiedMangione was in investigative “detention” at that point, thenwas arrested afew minutes later on aforgery charge re-

lated to his false ID. Mangione, 27, the Ivy League-educated scion of awealthy Maryland family,has pleaded notguiltyto state andfederal murder charges.

The statecharges carry the possibility of life in prison, while federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.Neither trial has been scheduled.

Mangione’slawyers want to keep jurors at both eventualtrials from hearing about hisalleged statementstolaw enforcement and about items authorities said they seized from hisbackpack. The objects include a9mmhandgun that prosecutors saymatches the oneused in the killing and anotebook in whichtheysay Mangione described his intent to “wack” a healthinsurance executive.

The ongoing hearing, which could extendtonext week, pertains only to the state case. If thedefense gets its way,prosecutors’ case would take amajor hit.

The defense contends that the statements should be suppressed

because officers started asking questionsbeforetelling Mangione that he had aright to remain silent. Mangione’sattorneys argue the backpack items should be excluded because police didn’tget awarrant before searching his bag.

The laws concerning how police interact with potential suspects before reading their rights or obtaining search warrants are complex and often disputed in criminal cases. In Mangione’scase, crucial questions will include whether he believedhewas free to leaveatthe point when he spoketothe arresting officers, and whether there were “exigent circumstances” that merited searching hisbackpackbefore getting awarrant.

Detwiler testified that he neither told Mangione he couldn’tleavenor mentioned the New York shooting. Defense lawyers, however,have argued that officers “strategically” stood in away that prevented him from leaving even before he was told he was being arrested.

BY THALIA BEATY Associated Press

NEW YORK Billionaires Mi-

chael and Susan Dell pledged

$6.25 billion Tuesday to provide 25 million American children10and underan incentive to claim the new investment accounts forchildren created as part of President Donald Trump’s tax and spending legislation.

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

Its structure is also unusual. Essentially,itbuilds on the “Trump Accounts” program, wherethe U.S. Department of the Treasury will deposit $1,000 into investment accountsitsetsupfor 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.

“Webelieve that if every childcan see afuture 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,” saidMichael Dell the founder and CEO of Dell Technologies whose estimated net worthis$148 billion, according to Forbes.

Though the“TrumpAccounts” became lawaspart of the president’ssignature legislationinJuly,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.

the stock market

There is apolitical benefit for Trumpand fellow Republicans. The accounts will become available in the midst of amidterm election, providing money to millions of voters —and acampaign talking point to GOPcandidates —atacritical time politically.The $1,000 deposits are slated to end just after the2028 presidential election.

‘Trump

“Wewantthese kids to know that not onlydotheir familiescare, buttheir communities care, their government, their countrycares about them,” Susan Dell told The Associated Press. Under thenew law, “Trump Accounts” are available to any American child under 18 with aSocial Security number.Accountcontributions mustbeinvested in an index fund that tracksthe overallstock market.When the childrenturn18, they can withdraw the fundstoput toward their education, to buy ahomeortostarta business.

TheDells will put money into the accounts ofchildren 10 andyounger wholive in ZIP codes with amedian family income of $150,000 or less and who won’tget the $1,000 seed money from the Treasury.Because federal law allows outside donors to target gifts bygeography,the Dells said using ZIP codes “wasthe clearest way to ensure the contribution reachesthe greatest number of children who would benefit most.”

TheDellshope theirgift will encouragefamilies to claimthe accounts anddeposit more money into it, even smallamounts, so it will growover time along with

At the White House on Tuesday,Trumppraised the Dells saying their gift was, “truly one of the mostgenerous actsinthe history of our country.”

Trump said many companies and many of his friends would also be donating, adding “I’ll be doing it,too.”

Brad Gerstner,aventure capitalist,who championed this legislation,saidthe accounts will give all children renewed hope in the American dream.

“It’shard to give effective dollarsaway at scale, particularly to the country’s neediestkids in away that you have confidence that thosedollarsare going to compound with the upside of theU.S. economy,” said Gerstner, who is also the founder of Invest America Charitable Foundation, which is supporting the Treasuryin launching theaccounts

“Fundamentally,weneed to include everybody in the upside of the American experiment. Otherwise, it won’t last. And so,atits core, we think it can re-energize people’s belief in free market, capitalistdemocracy,” Gerstnersaid of the accounts

About 58% of U.S. households held stocks or bonds in 2022, according to theU.S. Securitiesand Exchange Commission, though the wealthiest1%owned almost half thevalue of stocks in that same year andthe bottom50% owned about 1% of stocks

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In September, Landry requested that the federal government pay for 1,000 Louisiana National Guard members to support law enforcement in Louisiana cities through the end of fiscal year 2026. Neither the governor nor the president said how many Guard members would come to New Orleans, though Landry said Monday that they would remain in the city through Mardi Gras, which next year is Feb. 17. That’s less time than Landry requested. The governor also said he expected to know how many Guard members the government would pay for “within the next week or so.”

Noel Collins, a spokesperson for the Louisiana National Guard, declined to comment.

Mayor-elect Helena Moreno said on Tuesday that the National Guard’s efforts would not address the city’s primary public safety needs.

“If we’re really working on the same goal of going after the very most violent offenders in the city of New Orleans, the National Guard does not help us for that,” Moreno said at a news conference at the Greater New Orleans Foundation on Tuesday Instead, Moreno said, the city needs more money for crime prevention efforts and to hire proba-

JOHNSON

Continued from page 1A

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 can’t hurt my feelings,” Johnson said on a podcast last week hosted by Katie Miller the wife of Stephen Miller, a top aide to President Donald Trump

“That has been the key to this job because when you’re in a time as we are right now, when you have a very small margin, if I carried grudges or if I returned fire to somebody who’s criticizing me, the agenda would grind to a halt because at the end of the day, I got to get every member to yes. Literally I have a one- 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 noted that the abrupt resignation of MAGA firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., “sets off a political grenade” for Johnson. Politico published an article headlined, “Why Mike Johnson is 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.

tion and parole officers and federal prosecutors. Moreno also said that “it is important to recognize that we’ve had significant decreases in violent crimes” and said that she would “continue to have that dialogue and conversation with the governor.”

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

“We have a long-standing relationship built on trust and a shared

Johnson disagrees.

“Despite the unrelenting stream of palace intrigue stories that fill the pages of 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’s executive 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 earlier this year, a group of House Republicans tried to block Johnson’s reelection as speaker

One marker of current discontent is the number of “discharge petitions” being circulated and approved.

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

But if 218 House members sign a petition, a vote must be held whether leadership wants it or not.

The petitions are extremely rare and almost always fail to find enough supporters willing to challenge leadership But enough disgruntled Republicans joined the Democrats before Thanksgiving to force Johnson to hold a vote on the public release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

A slate of other “discharge petitions,” which represent rebellions against Johnson’s leadership, are being circulated that would require floor votes on punishing members of Congress for

commitment to public safety. The National Guard has worked well with us in the past, and we anticipate that same level of strong collaboration as they join our ongoing efforts,” the statement said.

Trump has made a controversial push in recent months to deploy the Guard and other federal agents to cities like Chicago and Washington, D.C., to crack down on crime and immigration. The president first suggested Sep. 3 that he could send the National Guard to New Orleans, sparking strong state and local reactions.

Landry said then that he would “take President Trump’s help

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 but two Democrats, 212 total, have signed a discharge petition on extending the Obamacare tax credits. That means six more signatures are necessary before Johnson has no choice but to hold a vote for an issue on which Republicans ardently disagree.

Democrats want a threeyear extension to avoid punishing so many people’s pocketbooks while Congress addresses health care costs.

Many conservative Republicans, however, have railed against the Affordable Care Act for 15 years and say they want to use this opportunity to revamp Obamacare to lower health care costs rather than extending subsidies that go to insurance companies. A significant cadre of moderate Republicans, particularly those who sit in competitive districts, don’t want to wade into the 2026 midterm elections with a significant portion of their constituents paying twice as much, sometimes more, each month for health insurance.

Moderates are suggesting some concessions be added to the extensions, such as putting a cap on household incomes that qualify for the tax credits. Those subsidies are paid to insurance companies to cover the gap between what they charge for policies and what workers whose employers don’t offer insurance can afford.

The Trump White House last week floated the possibility of extending the tax credits with some conces-

from New Orleans to Shreveport.”

Weeks later, Landry officially requested that Trump’s administration fund the deployment of Guard members to multiple Louisiana parishes.

Louisiana National Guard members were recently in New Orleans for the 51st annual Bayou Classic, in what has become a new standard for securing sections of downtown during major events. Guard members worked with state and local law enforcement to establish an “enhanced security zone” from Friday through Sunday including checkpoints, bag searches and a ban on coolers.

Landry commended that effort on Monday Under the new federally 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 their communities,” he said.

Trump has agreed to fund the latest deployment nearly two years after Landry and the state Legislature coughed up $3 million to send Louisiana Guard members to the U.S.-Mexico border, at Trump’s request.

Tuesday’s announcement also came as separate plans for immigration sweeps by U.S. Border Patrol have already sparked outcry in the New Orleans area. Landry discussed the National Guard’s arrival at an event in the French Quarter on Monday as about 100 people gathered just half a mile

sions but quickly dropped the idea after Johnson said that conservatives would never go along.

“So now Mike Johnson wants to act like he’s the speaker of the House?”

Jeffries said, adding that Trump’s plan was worthy of consideration.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, the Jefferson Republican who is second in command after Johnson, is meeting with committee chairs and GOP moderates to explore possible routes.

“We’re going to continue to work on health care proposals to ensure that families have choices and lower premiums,” Scalise said Tuesday Families, he said, “don’t

away to protest the impending immigration raids.

It is unclear where in the city the National Guard would focus, but the Guard has typically concentrated its efforts on the touristheavy French Quarter Christian Pendleton, chair of the security committee and general manager of Brennan’s Restaurant, said that he believed that because “New Orleans has a long history with the National Guard the sight of the National Guard is not as shocking in New Orleans as it is in other cities.”

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

Erin Holmes, director of Vieux Carré Property Owners, Residents and Associates, a French Quarter neighborhood advocacy group, said she believes that the consistent presence of Guard members in the neighborhood is unnecessary Holmes said that while “we want to be safe” she believes the “physical presence of uniforms and guns is unnerving for a neighborhood that is known for letting your hair down and celebrating.”

“It doesn’t not feel like New Orleans or the French Quarter,” she said.

Staff writer Blake Paterson contributed to this report.

Email Sophie Kasakove at sophie.kasakove@theadvocate. com.

have to be forced into a plan that the government tells them they have to be in that’s too expensive for them and doesn’t work for their family.”

Meanwhile, the Senate has scheduled a vote next week on extending the enhanced tax credits that help cover the cost of health insurance on the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., acknowledged to reporters Monday that a small group of senators are negotiating a possible plan, but nothing yet has been agreed upon.

Thune doubted that the vote would get the necessary support from 60 senators to pass the extension

legislation on to the House. So much will fall on Johnson to find the combination of Obamacare changes and, perhaps, extensions that 218 representatives can support.

“When pressure gets turned up really high and then the stakes are so high and the votes are so tight, I just try to sit down and listen to everybody and figure out what their primary need is and how we can meet that,” Johnson said on the podcast “It’s kind of a foreign thing on Capitol Hill because people aren’t used to that. It was jarring to people in the beginning when I was handed the gavel, but it’s become part of what we do now and people expect that.”

STAFF FILE PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Soldiers with the Louisiana National Guard were deployed to New Orleans in the days leading up to this year’s Super Bowl.

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

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

Earlier estimates put the total cost of theproject at $115 million, paid for with funds related to the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill’sfines and settlements. Officials said thefinal amount wasslightly belowthat. Construction began around four years ago.

It is located along 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 areahas changed, remnants of what used to be aroad can still be seenalong one edge of the project, its path now atop sinkingmarsh andcut 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 River Gulf Outlet shipping channel.

The shipping channel, commonly known as the MRGO, cut through the marsh when it was dug and helped usher in saltwater intrusion. Those forces fused with other factors tearingat Louisiana’sfragile coastline, including subsidence and sea level rise. The channel, blamed for worsening storm surge during Katrina, is now closedoff with arock dam.

“By any measure —on scale, engineering complexity,environmental value —this project stands as one of the greatestachieve-

mentstodate completed by CPRA,” said Michael Hare, the coastal authority’sexecutivedirector Design and engineering work forthe project was carried out by CovingtonbasedDuplantis Design Group, while Mike Hooks LLC, based in Westlake, handled construction.

Building the new land essentially involved agiant hose spewing mud to replenish what has been lost. From aspota fewmiles out in LakeBorgne, sediment waspumped by pipe between containment dikes outliningthe project areas, thepipemoved throughout theprocess to spread the sediment.After it settled, more sedimentfollowed until the entire area reached the heightofhealthy marsh, explainedJoe Guillory, of Duplantis.

Green cordgrass has sprouted from the newlysettled mud, taking theshape of southLouisiana coastal marsh. Thedesign life of the project is 20 years —standard forsuchprojects since theyerode like the rest of Louisiana’s coast —though it is expected to lastsignificantly longer

To be sure, theproject experienced some complications. Onesection of marsh had to be left out of the plans because thelandowner declined to participate, Guillorysaid

Thestatehas lost around 2,000square miles of land over the past century amountingtoaround afootball fieldevery 100 minutes, or about the size of Delaware. In recent years, it has usedbillions in finesand settlementmoney related to theBPspill for large-scale restoration projects, but thosedollars run dry at the end of 2031.

More than half of the money for projects in the state’s annual coastal plan for fiscal year 2026 comes from BP funds.

Dove said the statehopes to buildprojectswiththe remaining BP funds that will last for several decades to come.Henamed projects such as construction of a land bridge using dredged material in Barataria Ba-

sin, where land loss has also been extreme.

But the coastal agency under Gov.Jeff Landry has faced withering criticism from many coastal advocates for canceling the $3 billion Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, which broke ground in 2023, and thecompanion Mid-Breton diversion. Both were intended to funnel Mississippi River water and sediment to rebuild lost wetlands, but faced strong opposition from the commercial fishing industry and others over the sharpchanges they would bring to area waters.

Around $619 million in BP funds hadalreadybeen spent on Mid-Barataria. Dovesaidhehopes to recoup aportion of the money by generating interest on remainingfunds.

Landry and Dove say they prefer projects using dredgedsediment since they build land faster with more predictable resultsat alower cost.

Thosefavoringthe diversionssay they mimicthe way Louisiana was built in thefirst 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 building withdredged sediment. 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 CorpsofEngineers on the project and is waiting fora response, Dovesaid.Corpsspokesman Ricky Boyett confirmedthe letter hadbeen received, but said the agency wasanalyzing the next steps that must be taken givenhow dated theproject is “Weare working to determine the necessary permissions andfunding required to resumework under the program,” he said.“We currently do nothave adecision timeline.”

STAFFPHOTO By BRETT DUKE

Aribbon-cutting ceremonymarks the completionofthe LakeBorgne Marsh Creation ProjectinSt. Bernard Parish on Tuesday.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Aphoto from 2023 shows the land where an earlier incarnation of Campo’sMarina near Shell Beach and Lake Borgne had been reduced to apatchworkofdrowning marsh grass.The project unveiled Tuesdayaddressed partof thearea.

More than 1,300deadincatastrophic flooding

Search efforts continue in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand

BY BINSAR BAKKARA and NINIEK KARMINI Associated Press

BATANG TORU,Indonesia— Emergency crews raced to reach survivors and recover more bodies Tuesdayasthe deathtollfromlastweek’s catastrophic floods and landslides surged past1,300 in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand, with nearly 1,000 people missing. Days of heavy monsoon rains inundated vast areas, leaving thousandsstranded and many clinging to rooftops andtrees waiting for help. Thefloodingand landslides killed at least 1,347 people: 753 in Indonesia, 410

in Sri Lanka, 181 in Thailand andthree in Malaysia, authorities said Tuesday.Sri Lanka’sPresident Anura Kumara Dissanayake said it’s too earlytodetermine the exactnumberofdeadinhis

country In Indonesia, the hardesthitnation, rescuers struggled to access villages on Sumatra island, where roads have beenwashed outand bridges collapsed.Atleast 650 people remain missing, according to the country’sNational Disaster Management Agency Helicopters and boats have been deployed, but officials warn that worsening weather anddamaged infrastructure are slowing operations. It was the deadliest in Indonesia since a2018 quake and tsunami in Sulawesi killed more than 4,300people Floods and landslides in North Sumatracarriedaway millionsofcubicmeters of felledtimber,officialssaid,

sparking public concernthat illegallogging may have contributedtothe disaster

Batang Toru, the lush forestedarea, hasturnedinto a wasteland of brokenlogsand shattered homes.Roadshave vanished, replaced by rivers of sludge “This is not just anatural

Deadly high-risefire raises fearsabout safety elsewhere

Tragedycould be ‘tip of an iceberg’

BY CHAN HO-HIM Associated Press

HONG KONG Uncomfort-

able questionsare being raised over who is to blame for Hong Kong’sdeadliest blaze in decades.

As the territory mourns over the high-rise apartment fire that killed at least 156 people, anger and frustration are mounting over building safety lapses, suspected construction corruption and lax government oversight. But bigger issues are at play

Some political analysts and observers say the tragedy could be the “tip of an iceberg” in Hong Kong, a city whose skyline is built on high-rise buildings. Suspicions of bid-rigging and use of hazardous construction materials in renovation projects acrossother housing estates have left many worried the disastercould be repeated Police and the city’santicorruption body have arrested 15 people so far in the investigation of the renovation project at the Wang Fuk Court apartment complex where the fire broke out on last week.

Those detained include scaffolding subcontractors, directors of aconstruction company and aconsultancy

“The question (one) should be asking, really is that, what happened at Wang FukCourt, can it happen elsewhere?” said Steve Tsang, directorof the SOAS China Institute in London.

Hong Kong officials initially said tests of green netting covering bamboo scaffolding at thehousingcomplex in suburban TaiPoshowed that it met fire safety codes, but highly flammable foam panels used to seal windows

during the repairs, aidedby strongwinds, caused the blaze to spread swiftly between seven of theeight towers in thecomplex.

But on Monday,Eric Chan, Hong Kong’schiefsecretary said that sevenof20additional samples collectedlater fromthe site failed to meet safetystandards. Authorities said there was evidence contractors cut costs by using cheaper substandardnetting alongwith standard materialstopad theirprofits,after atyphoon in July damaged some of the netting originally installed.

Some fire alarms failed to sound when the firestarted, residentsand officialssaid.

“It did open aPandora’s box,” said JohnBurns, an honorary professor of politics and public administration at theUniversity of Hong Kong

“You’ve gotall of these issues which have been swept underthe table,” Burns said.

“Because of allthatwenow know —or believe we know —about bid-rigging, collusion,corruption, no fire alarms, government negligence, all of these things have come out.”

As aprecaution, authoritiessuspended work on renovations at 28 other projects managed by the same constructioncompany.With residents of high-risesworried, contractors were removing foam boards and netting usedtocover scaffolding at other projects Thenetting “isnot aone particular estate problem. It’s amuch wider general problem,” said Tsang of SOAS.

Government oversight also has been questioned. ResidentsofWang Fuk Courthad been voicingsafety concerns to theauthorities about construction materials such as netting used in the renovations, according to documents reviewed by TheAssociated Press.

The LaborDepartment said it reviewed netting’s product qualitycertificate and found it “in line” with standards.

It also said it had conducted 16 inspections at the complexsincelastyear —most recently about aweek before thefire—and hadwarned contractorsrepeatedly they had to ensuretheymet fire safetyrequirements.

disaster, it’sa human-made crisis,” said Rianda Purba from the Indonesian EnvironmentalForum, an activistgroup. “Deforestation and unchecked development have strippedBatangToru of its resilience. Withouturgent restoration and stricter protections, these floods will

become the new normal.”

Aweek after flash floods and landslides swept through West Sumatra, survivors were still awaiting newsof their loved ones.

Zahari Sutra held photos of his missing wife andtwo daughters aged 4and 2, as he pleaded forhelpwithrescuers in Sikumbang village in Agam district. “Other victims have been found why not my family?”

The 38-year-old farmer said he dropped his motorbike and ran forhigher ground whenrising waters blocked his path to home last Thursday. He said the raging currentswallowed his home. He wadedthrough the water shouting for his wife and daughters, but there was only silence.

As darkness fell, he found hiseldest,a 5-year-old girl covered in mud, but safe. Fearing more floods, Sutra clung to alycheetree with

his daughter until dawn, when the full scope of the disaster wasrevealed: all homes were gone or buried under tons of mud.

“I carried my daughterand went for help,” he said. “My only prayeristofind my wife and children.”

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres expressed hiscondolences for victims families on Tuesday and said the U.N. is “in close contact with authorities in all four countries and stands ready to support reliefand response efforts,” according to spokespersonStéphane Dujarric Military-ledrescueteams in Sri Lanka scoured flooddevastatedareas for336 people still missing in the aftermath of Cyclone Ditwah, the Disaster Management Center saidTuesday.Roads were blocked by landslides andbridgeshavecollapsed, making access difficult.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By REZA SAIFULLAH

Ahouse is buried under mud in avillageaffected by flash flooding in Pidie Jaya,Aceh province, Indonesia, on Tuesday

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO By NG HAN GUAN

Aman consoles awoman at the site of last week’sdeadly fire atWang FukCourt, aresidential estate

BY MIKE BALSAMO and STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS Federal authorities are preparing a targeted immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota that would primarily focus on Somali immigrants living unlawfully in the U.S., according to aperson familiar with the planning.

The move comes as President Donald Trump again on Tuesday escalated rhetoric about Minnesota’ssizable Somali community,saying he didnot want immigrants from the east African country in the U.S. because “they contribute nothing.”

The enforcement operation could begin in the coming days and is expected to focus on the Minneapolis–St. Paul area and people with final orders of deportation, the person said. Teams of immigration agents would spread across the Twin Cities in what the person described as adirected, highpriority sweep, though the plansremain subject to change.

The prospect of acrackdown is likely to deepen tensions in Minnesota —home to the nation’slargest Somali community.They’ve been coming since the 1990s, fleeing their country’slong civil war and drawn by Minnesota’sgenerous socialprograms

An estimated 260,000 people of Somalian descent were living in the U.S. in 2024, accordingtothe Census Bureau’sannual American Community Survey. The largest population is in the Minneapolis area, home to about 84,000 residents, most of whom are American citizens. Ohio, Washington and California also have significant populations.

mali militant group al-Shabab, an affiliate of al-Qaida thatholds partsofrural Somalia and often has targeted thecapital, Mogadishu. Lastmonth, Trumpsaid he was terminating Temporary Protected Status for Somali migrantsinMinnesota, alegal safeguard against deportation for immigrants from certain countries. Areport produced for Congress in Augustput thenumber of Somalis covered by theprogram at just 705 nationwide.

Minnesota Democratic Gov.Tim Walz saidTuesday that anyone committing fraud shouldgotoprison, but he criticized the Trump administration’sactions.

Democraticvicepresidential candidate. Trump has claimed immigrantsfrom Somalia were“completely taking over the once great State of Minnesota.”

Treasury SecretaryScott Bessent said in asocial media post Monday that his agency was investigating allegations that taxdollars mayhavebeendiverted AlShabaab.

Jaylani Hussein, aSomali American who is executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Councilon American-Islamic Relations, said his group has heard of “less thana dozen” immigration arrests within the Somali communityinrecent days.

that50% of the community wasborn in the U.S.

Trump has become increasingly focused on Somalians living in theU.S., saying they“have caused a lotoftrouble.” Community leaders say Trump has inflamedtensionsand revived fears of profiling.

Thepresidentsaid during aCabinet meetingonTuesday that Somali immigrants aretoo reliantonthe U.S. social safety net andadd little.

“I don’twantthem in our country,”hesaid. “Their country is nogood forareason.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Freypushed back against Trump’sdepiction of Somalis, sayingit“violatesthe moral fabricofwhat we stand by in this country as Americans.”

“They have started businesses andcreatedjobs. They haveaddedto thecultural fabric of what Minneapolis is,” Frey saidTuesday The mayor vowed thatthe city’spolice officers, many of whom areSomali, will not work with any federal agents doingimmigration enforcement, saying “it’snot their job.”

“TargetingSomalipeople means that due processwill be violated, mistakes will be made,and let’sbeclear it means that American citizenswill be detained for no

other reason thanthe fact that they look liketheyare Somali,” he said. “That is not nowand will neverbea legitimatereason.”

Hundreds of people are expected to be targetedin the operation,the person said. As with previous immigrationoperations, socalled incidental arrests are possible,meaning people who aren’ttargeted but lack legal status could also be detained, theperson said.

The person spoke on the conditionofanonymity to discuss internal deliberationsthathavenot been publicly disclosed. The operation was first reported by The New York Times

Homeland Se cu rity spokesperson Tr icia McLaughlin said theagency would not discuss “future or potential operations.”

“What makes someone atarget of ICE is not their race or ethnicity,but thefact thatthey are in thecountry illegally,” McLaughlin said.

Trump andother officials in his administration have used increasingly harsh language in recent days against Somalis living in the U.S., after aconservative news outlet, City Journal, claimed that taxpayer dollarsfrom defraudedgovernmentprogramshave flowed to theSo-

“Sitting on thesidelines andthrowing out accusations —and let’sbevery clear,demonizing an entire population andlying to people about the safety and securityofthis state— is beneath that,” said the 2024

But Hussein said around 95% of Somalis in Minnesota areU.S. citizens, so the numbers of those at earlier stagesofthe immigration process are a“pretty small” proportionofthe community.Hesaid they estimate

“Webelieve this is political rhetoric and an attack againstour community,” Hussein said. “But additional ICE agents means additional pressure on the wider immigrant community,” he said. Husseinsaidthe reported crackdown planisyet another example of the Trump administration“demonizing the Muslim community.” And he said it’snot new that when somebody in thecommunity commits acrime, the entire community will get accused. He said that’sbeen true of other ethnic groups through American history Minneapolis CityCouncil member Jamal Osman, who is Somali American, promisedthatthe city will stand up forits immigrants.

“Our community has lived through fear in the past,” he said. “And we are notgoing to let us divide that.”

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO By LEILA NAVIDI Minneapolis MayorJacob Freypushed back against President DonaldTrump’sdepiction of Somalis on Tuesday, saying it ‘violates the moral fabric of what we stand by in this countryasAmericans.’

Suspectpleaded guilty on Monday

BY SOPHIE BATES Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. Aman who pleaded guilty to killing a University of Mississippi graduate student was sentenced to atotalof50years in prison with 10 years suspended on Tuesday Sheldon “Timothy” HerringtonJr. pleadedguiltyto second-degree murder and tamperinginthe death of Jimmie “Jay” Lee, agay man who was prominent in the LGBTQ+ community.Herrington, 25, entered the plea on Monday at the beginning of his second trial.

Herrington, who isalso an Ole Miss graduate, was originally charged with capital murder,but prosecutors agreed to reduce the charge to second-degree murder He was sentenced to 40 years with 10 years suspended, meaning he will serve 30 years, for second-degree murder.Hereceived another 10 yearsfor tampering. The sentences will run consecutively for 40 years total, and he will be subject to 10 years of post-release supervision.

Aafram Sellers, Herrington’sattorney, said the decision to plead guilty will hopefully bring closure to both familiesand allow the healing process to begin

“Tim, by pleading guilty, took responsibility and that starts his process of redemption,” Sellers said.

Prosecutors have alleged Herrington and 20-year-old Lee, who disappeared in July 2022, hadasexualrelationship. They claim Herrington, who was not openly gay,killed Lee to keep their relationship secret.

“All of this happened to cover something up, and everyone found out anyways,” said Gwen Agho, the deputy chief assistant district attorney at the Hinds County District Attorney’sOffice Agho, who assisted with the case, called the killing atragedy both for Lee and Herrington.

“If he had felt that same love and acceptance that Jay’sfamily providedto him,” she said of Herrington. “Maybe we wouldn’tbehere today.” Sellers said he disagrees with the state’stheory of the case, adding that Herrington’sfamily has been supportive and would support him no matter what.He alsodoubts Lee would have “outed” Herrington

“That’sjust not who he was,” Sellers said. “The state andIcan disagree on that narrative.”

Stephanie Lee, Jay Lee’s mother,broke down during anews conference after the sentencing, recallingthe day her son didn’tanswer his phone.

“I knew.I knew in my heart,” she said, thanking law enforcement for their work on the case.

Lee’sfather announced he hispushing to pass abillin his son’shonor.Hesaid the bill would prevent phone,social media and communication companies from refusing to give law enforcement, parents or guardians the login information for accounts belonging to individuals who are age 21 or younger and declared missing.

He said law enforcement had difficulty getting his son’slogin information from Apple. Had the information been provided more quickly,hebelievesHerrington

6:03 a.m. from aspotnear Herrington’sapartment, law enforcementtestified. Accountsbelonging to Herrington andLee hadpreviously exchangedsexually explicit messages, they said.

Herrington was later captured by surveillance video jogging out of aparking lot where Lee’scar wasfound. He wasarrested two weeks later Lee had been pursuing

amaster’sdegree. He was knownfor his

pression through

and makeup and often performed in dragshows in Oxford,according to asupport group called Justice for Jay Lee.

wouldhave had less time to hide his son’sbody Deer hunters stumbled upon Lee’sskeletal remains in February of this year, roughly21/2 yearsafterhe was last seen, according to Mississippi Today. The remains were found in awooded area in CarrollCounty. Herringtonis from neighboring Grenada County.After Lee’sdisappearance,Herringtonwas seen picking up ashoveland wheelbarrow at hisparents’ house, authorities said. The discovery of Lee’s remains came acouple of months after ajudge declared amistrialina capital murder case againstHerrington.

During the first trial, prosecutorsclaimed Herrington killed Lee after the two had asexual encounter Campus cameras showed Lee leaving his apartment shortly before 4a.m. the day he disappeared. He returned 40 minutes later,beforeleaving again just before 6a.m. Prosecutorsallege Lee had been at Herrington’sapartment, andwhen Lee left,he wasupset.Herrington, they said, invited Lee back and searched “how long does it take to strangle someone” online beforeLee arrived. The final text message from Lee’sphone was sent to asocial media account belonging to Herringtonat

PROVIDED PHOTO Sheldon ‘Timothy’ Herrington Jr.pleaded guilty Monday in the2022 deathofUniversity of Mississippi student Jimmie ‘Jay’ Lee in Oxford, Miss. He wassentenced Tuesday

Settler outposts spread among West Bank villages

Palestinians warn of rise in rapid violent attacks

BY JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press

TURMUS AYYA,West Bank The fear is palpable in this Palestinian village. It’s clear in how farmers gather their harvests quickly how they scan the valley for movement, how they dare not stray past certain roads. At any time, they say, armed Israeli settlers could descend.

“In a matter of minutes, they get on their phones. They gather themselves, and they surprise you,” said Yasser Alkam, a PalestinianAmerican lawyer and farmer from the village of Turmus Ayya. “They hide between the trees. They ambush people and beat them up severely.”

In recent months, Alkam says Turmus Ayya has weathered near-daily attacks by settlers, especially after they set up an outpost that the anti-settlement watchdog group Peace Now says is on his village’s land.

Alkam says he can’t reach his own fields for fear of being assaulted. In a particularly gruesome attack, he watched a settler beat a Palestinian woman unconscious with a spiky club.

The fear is shared throughout the West Bank. During October’s olive harvest, settlers across the territory launched an average of eight attacks daily, according to the United Nations humanitarian office, the most since it began collecting data in 2006. The attacks continued in November, with the U.N. recording at least 136 more by Nov 24.

Settlers burned cars, desecrated mosques, ransacked industrial plants and destroyed cropland. Israeli authorities have done little beyond issuing occasional condemnations of the violence. The attacks have

surged since the war in Gaza

erupted two years ago

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the attackers as a minority that did not represent most settlers in the West Bank, where settlements are considered illegal by most of the international community But their continued expansion of outposts — conducted in public with seemingly few legal repercussions and the violence have cemented a fearful status quo for their Palestinian neighbors.

While driving in fields east of Turmus Ayya on Oct. 19, Alkam saw Afaf Abu Alia, a grandmother from a nearby village, harvesting a grove of olive trees. They were loaned to her after the Israeli military bulldozed her own 500 trees this year, she said.

She worked until she heard yelling in Hebrew Settlers descended on the road nearby. Suddenly, one ran toward her with a club.

“The monsters started beating me,” she told The Associated Press three weeks after the attack. “After that, my memories get all blurry.”

Video of the attack obtained by the AP shows a settler beating Alia with the jagged club, even after she was motionless. She was hospitalized for four days, requiring 20 stitches on her head, she said.

Asked for comment on the attack, the military said its troops and police had “defused” a confrontation in which Israeli civilians were torching vehicles and using violence

Police arrested a man named Ariel Dahari for beating Abu Alia. An Israeli court charged him later with terrorism.

Dahari is being represented by Honenu, an organization that provides legal aid to settlers, who say the West Bank is part of the biblical Jewish homeland and often cast attacks as self-defense.

According to an article about Dahari on the group’s website, he has received at

Israel receives remains handed over by militants

At least four killed in Gaza

BY WAFAA SHURAFA, MEGAN JANETSKY and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip Israel on Tuesday said it had received remains handed over by Palestinian militants in Gaza to the Red Cross. They were believed to be one of the two hostages still in the territory: an Israeli and a Thai national. Israel’s government said the “findings” were taken for forensics testing. Palestinian media said they were discovered in Gaza’s northern town of Beit Lahiya. The remains of 26 hostages taken in the Hamasled Oct. 7, 2023, attack that

triggered the war have already been returned since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire began on Oct. 10. Israeli fire killed at least four Palestinians in Gaza on Tuesday, according to local hospitals. An Israeli drone strike killed a videographer in the south, said officials at Nasser Hospital, which received the body Mahmoud Wadi was killed in Khan Younis, the hospital said. Wadi owned a drone photography company that once specialized in filming occasions like weddings. More recently, it posted footage of Gaza’s destruction.

Another man was shot dead near the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, according to Al-Awda Hos-

pital. A third was killed by Israeli fire in the Gaza City neighborhood of Zeitoun, and a boy was killed by an artillery strike on a house east of Gaza City that also wounded 10 others, according to Al-Ahli Hospital. The Israeli military said in a statement that troops operating in Gaza had killed three people it said posed a threat when they crossed into areas Israel controls there. It said troops fired on two people in southern Gaza and one in northern Gaza. It was not immediately clear if they were the same casualties reported by hospitals. The army had no immediate comment on the report of an artillery strike east of Gaza City

least 18 administrative orders since 2016 that included house arrest and confinement to his town in Israel.

He told the Israeli news site Arutz Sheva in 2023 that he had been kicked out of the territory twice. It is not clear how he was able to return.

Palestinians and human rights workers say Israeli soldiers and police routinely fail to prosecute attacks by violent settlers. Their sense of impunity has deepened under Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a settler, and Defense Minister Israel Katz, who in January released settlers from administrative detention, Israel’s practice of detaining individuals without charge or trial.

The number of investigations opened into settler violence since 2023, Ben-Gvir’s first year in office, has plummeted, according to a report by Israel’s Channel 12 TV that cited official police data. Police opened only 60 investigations into settler violence in 2024, compared with 150 cases in 2023 and 235 cases in 2022, the report said.

About 94% of all investigation files opened by Israeli police into settler violence from 2005 to 2024 ended without an indictment, according to Israeli rights group Yesh Din.

Since 2005, just 3% of those investigations led to convictions.

Dahari told Arutz Sheva that he was determined to stay in the West Bank.

“We will not give up our grip on our land because of one order or another We will continue to build it and make it flourish everywhere,” he said, adding that he hoped “the security establishment” would “invest all its resources in the war against the Arab enemy, who is the real enemy of us all.”

When reached by the AP, Dahari’s lawyer, Daniel Shimshilashvili, sent a statement from Honenu, saying there was “slim evidence” against Dahari.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By LEO CORREA

Palestinian youths gather after Friday prayers to inspect a mosque torched and defaced overnight by Israeli settlers in the West Bank village of Deir Istiya.

BY NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE

Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday shared for the first time what he was thinking when the votes started going his way during the conclave that elected him, saying he resigned himself to the inevitable and put the rest in God’s hands.

“I took a deep breath. I said ‘Here we go Lord. You’re in charge and you lead the way,’ ” Leo told reporters during a wide-ranging airborne news conference coming home from his inaugural trip to Turkey and Lebanon Leo fielded questions for a half-hour, responding easily in English, Spanish and Italian about a variety of church and international news. He hinted at behind-the-scenes discussions about Hezbollah and Israel in Lebanon, urged dialogue rather than U.S. military threats on Venezuela and discussed his hopedfor future travels in Africa and South America, among other topics.

But it was his remarks about the conclave and his papal learning curve that shed new light on Leo the man and what makes him tick. His responses, after seeming timid with the media early in his pontificate, showed he is much more comfortable now, is paying close attention to what is being reported about him, and that he has a good sense of humor about it.

Leo was asked what he was thinking when he saw a huge crowd of people at one of his events in Lebanon, where it seemed as if the size had taken him by surprise. Leo suggested that wasn’t necessarily the case

“My face is very expressive but I’m oftentimes

“I

just hope I never get tired of appreciating everything that all these young people are showing.”

POPE LEO XIV

amused by how the journalists interpret my face,” he said. “It’s interesting Sometimes I get really great ideas from all of you because you think you can read my mind or my face.”

“You’re not always correct,” he added, to laughs.

More instructive to understanding what he’s thinking, Leo said, would be to read up about his spirituality

Beyond St. Augustine, the fifth-century theologian who inspired his religious order and is Leo’s most-frequently cited church father, Leo recommended a book “The Practice of the Presence of God,” by a 17th-century Carmelite friar, Brother Lawrence.

“It describes, if you will, a type of prayer and spirituality where one simply gives his life to the Lord and allows the Lord to lead. If you want

to know something about me, that’s been my spirituality for many years,” he said.

“In midst of great challenges — living in Peru during years of terrorism, being called to service in places where I never thought I’d be called to serve I trust in God,” he said.

That held true in the May conclave, he said, when the former Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected in a remarkably fast four ballots on the second day of voting.

According to cardinals who participated, it was clear already by the third ballot that morning that the votes were going his way and that Prevost would be elected history’s first American pope.

“I resigned myself to the fact when I saw how things were going and I said ‘This could be a reality,’” Leo said.

Speaking to a reporter who is about to retire, Leo said he had had different plans for his future.

“Just a year or two ago, I too thought about retiring some day,” he said. “You’ve received that gift apparently Some of us will continue to work.” In Lebanon, Leo had a taste

of what it’s like to be a pope on the road, and he said the

enthusiasm of young Catholics was “awe-inspiring.”

“I think to myself, ‘These people are here because they want to see the pope.’ But I say to myself, ‘They’re here because they want to see Jesus Christ and they want to see a messenger of peace,’” he said. “Just to listen to their enthusiasm and to hear their response to that message is something that I think is that enthusiasm — is awe-inspiring.”

“I just hope I never get tired of appreciating everything that all these young people are showing,” he said.

On international issues

n Leo urged the United States to pursue dialogue and even exert economic pressure on Venezuela’s leaders to achieve its goals, rather than threats of military action.

n “The voices coming from the United States

change, with a certain frequency at times,” he said. “I believe it’s better to look for ways of dialogue, perhaps pressure — including economic pressure but looking for other ways to change, if that’s what the United States wants to do.”

n Leo said he hopes to make his second trip as pope to Africa next year, visiting several countries but especially Algeria because of its important role in ChristianMuslim relations and its significance to St. Augustine, who inspired his religious order

n Leo also said he hoped to visit three countries in Latin America in either 2026 or 2027: Argentina, Uruguay and Peru, where he lived for two decades as a missionary Argentina especially has been waiting for a papal visit after Pope Francis never went home after his 2013 election.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ALESSANDRO DI MEO Pope Leo XIV speaks with

visit to Turkey and Lebanon on Tuesday.

Firstbig snowstorm strikesNortheast

Schoolsclose,traffic slows, causing disruption

BY PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press

PORTLAND,Maine— The first major storm of the winter covered parts of the Northeastand mid-Atlantic with snow and ice Tuesday,making roads hazardous, disruptingtravel and closing schoolsassome areas braced for several inches of heavy snowfall.

Thestorm coulddeliver up to a foot of snow as well as wind and heavy rain to statesincluding Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts and Maine, although parts of the region were spared the predicted high totals.Storm warnings and weatheradvisories werein place throughout the day

“It looks like winter wonderland at the moment,” said JohnMarino in NewYork’sCatskill Mountains, which could get up to 8inches of snow.Asco-owner of aski shop he said he’sgrateful that several inches had already accumulated by Tuesday afternoon, awelcome bonus as the season gets intogear

Hundreds of flights were delayed and roads turned hazardous before sunrise, slowing commutes. In West Virginia, atractor-trailer driver wasrescued unhurt when hiscab dangled offa bridgefor several hours after losing control in snowy conditions early Tuesday, news outlets reported.

The storm came just as theMidwest began to escape the snow and ice that snarled travel afterthe Thanksgiving holiday. Chicago

O’Hare International Airport set arecord for its highest single calendarday snowfallinNovember, with more than 8inches, according to the weather service. The previous record was set in 1951.

“It’sgoing to be the firstsnowfall of the season for many of these areas, and it’sgoing to be rather significant,” said Andrew Orrison, ameteorologistatthe National Weather Service.

Meteorological winter,which covers December throughFebruary,isused by climatescientists forconsistent recordkeeping and differs from the astronomical sea-

sons foundonmost calendars. The National Weather Service warned that snow and ice would make travel dangerous in coastal Maine fromTuesdaymorning untilWednesday morning andurged residents to delay trips if possible. Several Northeaststates also shut schools and as thesnow began fallingbefore dawn, making roads

slippery duringthe morning commute. Numeroushighway crashes were reported. Thefirst wallop of December snowbrought back anew tradition inNew Hampshire, where residents were invitedtosubmit namesfor the state’ssecondannual name-a-plow competition.

“Wehave orange snowplows just

waiting for the perfect name,” the Department of Transportation saidonsocial media. Last year’s top name was Ctrl-Salt-Delete. This season’s winnerswillbeannounced in January

Thesnowstorm sweeping the mid-Atlantic and Northeast beganasaweaker system over the central U.S. but strengthened as it neared the coast, said Ashton Robinson Cook at the weather service’s Weather Prediction Center

Thesekinds of stormsare uncommon but not“toofar outof the realm of possibility,”hesaid.

The next system could also bring winter weather to themid-Atlantic through Friday and Saturday Winter weatheradvisoriesremained across Ohio on Tuesday,as theicy conditionssnarledtraffic and shuttered schools. Snowfall overnight left accumulations of 3 to 5inches in somesouthern parts of thestate, according to the National Weather Service.

Aportion of Interstate 70 West through Cleveland had to be closed as acrash was cleared, while highways around Columbus saw dangerous slowdowns.

Raccoon goes on drunken rampage

Animal brokeinto closed liquor store

By The Associated Press

The masked burglar broke intothe closed Virginia liquor store early on Saturday and hit the bottomshelf, where the scotch and whisky were stored. The bandit wassomething of anocturnal menace:Bottles weresmashed, aceiling tile collapsed and alcohol pooled on the floor

The suspectacted like an animal because,infact,he’sa raccoon On Saturdaymorning, an employee at the Ashland, Virginia-area liquor store found the trash panda passed outonthe bathroom floor at the end of his drunkenescapade.

“I personally like raccoons,” said Samantha Martin, an officer who works at the local animal control.

“Theyare funny little critters. He fell through one of theceiling tilesand went on a full-blown rampage, drinking everything.

Martin said she took the raccoon back to the animal shelter, though she had her fair share of gigglesalong the way

“Anotherday in the life of an animalcontrolofficer,Iguess,” she said.

TheHanover County Animal Protectionand SheltercommendedMartinfor handling the break-in, andconfirmed the raccoon hadsobered up.

“After afew hours of sleep andzerosignsofinjury (other than maybe ahangover and poor life choices), he was safely released back to the wild, hopefully having learned that breaking and entering is not the answer,”the agency said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By CALEB JONES

Aperson walks adog in the snowinPortsmouth, N.H., on Tuesday

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByMATTROURKE

Vehicles slowly move during astorm on Interstate 78 in Kutztown,Pa., on Tuesday

Project may emit more than planned

Air Products proposal changes carbon capture numbers

BY DAVID J MITCHELL Staff writer

A controversial plan to store CO2

deep under Lake Maurepas was intended to greatly limit greenhouse gas emissions from a nearby industrial plant, but a new proposal raises the possibility that significantly less will be sequestered.

The company’s revised proposal to state regulators has the poten-

tial to allow the hydrogen and ammonia plant in Ascension Parish to become one of the largest industrial emitters of greenhouse gases in Louisiana during its first years of operation Air Products, the company behind the project, has battled nearly four years of community opposition over plans to inject and permanently store CO2 and other greenhouse gases from the

complex under Lake Maurepas. It says the injection would prevent 95% of those greenhouse gases from reaching the atmosphere, where they would otherwise add to climate change.

But, just months after receiving the state’s blessing for air emissions based on that low-carbon vision, Air Products has asked for a do-over

The proposed change could allow

the Louisiana Clean Energy Complex to become among the top 25 industrial emitters of greenhouse gases in the state, based on LSU and federal annual emissions tallies since 2012.

The company says the new proposal would merely give the plant the flexibility it needs to operate, adding that its carbon capture goals remain the same.

But it comes at a time of deep uncertainty for the emerging carbon capture industry. Louisiana has paused new permit applications in

the face of residents’ opposition, and criticism has grown louder over lucrative federal tax credits for the projects.

Some environmental groups, which have opposed carbon capture projects because they claim they won’t live up to the storage rates being promised, speculated the air permit changes indicate the company is trying to hedge its bets.

The company has already

HOLIDAy HUSTLE

private

out of state and handpicks the selection he sells every year

Trial set for man accused of murder

Our Lady of the Lake employee fatally shot outside hospital

BY MATT BRUCE Staff writer

The Iberville Parish man accused of fatally shooting an Our Lady of the Lake employee outside the Baton Rouge hospital is slated to be tried for murder next spring. Five weeks after Roland Domino, 61, was cleared to stand trial,

District Judge Tarvald Smith set his trial to begin May 11. That decision came during a short hearing Tuesday morning inside the 19th Judicial District Courthouse. Domino was indicted on charges of second-degree murder and possession of a stolen firearm tied to the March 19 killing of 58-year-old Patricia Jackson. According to police, Domino confronted Jackson as she was leaving work and shot her multiple times in the parking lot of The Lake’s Regional Medical Center off Essen Lane.

The midafternoon shooting set off a manhunt that ended hours later, when authorities captured Domino Now the Grosse Tete man faces the prospect of a mandatory life sentence if he’s convicted of murder After two doctors evaluated Domino and found no signs of major mental illness, Smith declared him competent to proceed to trial during an Oct. 23 hearing. Prosecutors have turned much of the evidence over to Domino’s

ä See TRIAL, page 2B

NYC pizza eatery opening on Siegen

Restaurant taking former Blaze Pizza space

TIMOTHY

and Monmouth, New Jersey

BLOTTER staff reports

Chad Hughes, a Baton Rouge developer and restaurateur was arrested Monday on counts of theft and issuing bad checks for his alleged role in the fraudulent purchase of a trailer Hughes, who co-owns Ivar’s Sports Bar and Grill bar and was the owner of the recently closed Bengal Tap Room and Happy’s establishments, allegedly failed to pay the $20,000 price for a trailer and dumpsters and later couldn’t be reached for months by the seller Baton Rouge police were first contacted

4 by a

who said

on

had

for

Marketplace and

contacted by Hughes regarding

allegedly

on a

and

and

on

Thruway hotel to complete the sale. Hughes allegedly issued a check for $20,000 to the other man, who then deposited it into his bank account, according to an affidavit for

Hughes’ arrest. However, the seller later told police that the check from Hughes bounced due to insufficient funds, according to arrest documents. The seller contacted Hughes, who acknowledged the issue with the check and allegedly stated that he would issue a new check in a few days, according to police. Since that conversation, the seller has made multiple attempts to contact Hughes through

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

James Smith, left, and Andy Estain pull to

A’s Christmas Trees on Perkins Road in St. George. Owner Estain grows

Monks’ 2,300-mile peace walk

Groupon

120-daytrekto

Washington, D.C.

BY JA’KORI MADISON Staff writer

Buddhist monksona120day “Walk for Peace” have reached Louisiana as part of their 2,300-milewalkto Washington, D.C.

Traveling with their dog Aloka, more than adozen monks are making their way from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., to “raise awareness of peace,lovingkindness, and compassion across America and the world,” according to the Walk for Peace Facebook page. On Tuesdaymorning,the group continued their walk into Alexandria as they headed toward Pineville.

They noted on social media that today is ameaningful stop with plans to gather

CARBON

Continued from page1B

delayed the complex’sstartup by two years to 2028or 2029 for financial reasons, according to areportfrom RBN Energy,anindustry consulting and analytics

firm.

Air Products has said it is trying to “derisk” the $4.5 billion complex by finding buyers for its low-carbon products before newspending commitments. It also wants to sell the complex’s proposed ammoniaplant and carbon capture pieces —and potentially thecompany’srights to state-owned underground storage areas.

“It’sall about making it a more valuable property for them to sell off,” said Darryl Malek-Wiley,asenior organizerfor the Sierra Club’s environmental justice program in Louisiana Partialstorage efforts

In the new permit request

filed in late September,Air Products wants permission to emit up to 2.16 million tonsofgreenhouse gases per year,along with increases in some toxic chemicals. The maximum estimate is nearly half of the total that Air Products had planned to inject under Lake Maurepas annually, or more than 5.5 million tonsper year Dependingonthe year, the projected maximum greenhouse gas emissions in the air would be on par with the ExxonMobil refinery and chemical complex power plant in Baton Rouge, Entergy’s power plant in St. Charles Parish and Dow Chemical in Plaquemine, the LSU and federal emissions tallies show Air Products told the stateDepartment of Environmental Qualitythat

with the community for a Peace Gathering in Rapides Parish.

“It is really coldthis morning.Wejuststopped at agas station for abreak and are nowheadingtoMainSt. Buddha Garden and Kees Park forthe Peace Gathering,” aspokesperson said on the Facebook page

The journey begin in late October and they plan to travel through 10 statesbefore reaching Washington, D.C. Sofar,accordingtoreports, the monks have visited various Texascitiesontheir trek, including Austin and Houston,often walking along roads and highwayswhile being escorted by law enforcement or by avehicletrailing behind them.

ThePinevillePolice Department hosted aPeace Gatheringfrom 10 a.m. to 1p.m. Tuesday at Kees Park. An optional 2-mile walk began at the Buddha Garden located on 506 Main St.

Organizers say the event

when the company is commissioning the plant, it won’tbe able to inject CO2 underground forupto25% of thetime and that thisinability could last in the first few years. For the other 75% of the time,the company says itwill be able to injectunder Lake Maurepas, as promised In astatement, an Air Productsspokesperson said the permit alterations don’treflect achange in the complex’sdesign. It’s an effort to create“additional operationalflexibility forthe facility,ensuring amorereliable supply of low-carbon ammonia and low-carbonhydrogenproducts,” even in the event “the off-site carbon capture operation isunavailable.”

“The 25% would be the maximum downtime allowedunder the newpermitfor thecarbonsequestration operation,”said Christina Stephens, the companyspokeswoman.

“Our intention is to operate thefacilitywith carbon capture operationaltothe maximum extent possible, capturing95% of ouremissions.”

She addedthe changes would “also account for thepossibilitythatvarious aspectsofthe facilitymay start up on slightly differentschedules.”

Greg Upton, executive director of theLSU Center for Energy Studies, said he could not commentdirectly on AirProducts, but said such companies oftensee economic value in ensuring optionsremain available.

“Theselargecapital investments are made spanning decades, andsobecausethere’suncertainty over lots of factors,companies think of what’scalled a‘realoption.’And a‘real option’issimplythe following: I’m going to build into my capital plans the ability

PROVIDED PHOTO

Agroup of Buddhist monks, along with their loyaldog, Aloka, journeyaspartof‘Walk for Peace,’a 120-day, 2,300mile trek from FortWorth, Texas, to Washington, D.C.

was open to all and intended as an opportunity forthe community to come together in unity and respect. “Their journey is apowerful reminder of hope, compassion, andunity,” Pineville police said in anews release.

Supporters can track the monks’ day-to-day journey througha live mapshared on the Walk for Peace Facebook page.

to do thingsinthe future, even if Imight or might not exercise that option,” he said.

AirProductsoptions

Despite industry enthusiasm for carbon capture and scientific backing of itssafety, the concept has faced resistance from landowners, residents and local leaders.

ForAir Products’ plans, a mix of environmentalists, Lake Maurepas fishermen and crabbers, residents, legislators and some parish council members have opposed the project for safety,aestheticand environmentalreasons. Those include the visual impact of platforms andwell sites on the lake’ssurface, lake-bottomdredging, wetlands destruction and what they see as groundwaterthreats.

Thecompany andindustryadvocates say theyare the victims of misinformation,defendingcarbon capture as safe andeffective, with minimal disruption to Lake Maurepas and no real threat to drinking watersources because of the depth of the wells.

In arecent hearing for the U.S. Army CorpsofEngineers and state coastal permits,locallegislators called for an extensiveenvironmental analysis that wouldinclude not only Air Products’ plans but also the cumulative impact of other carbon capture projects in the region. The workcould take two years.

These officials alsopointed to recent Southeastern Louisiana University research showing that lake waters have heavy metal contamination that’slikely also in lakesediments. They said that could be stirred up by dredging for theunderwater pipeline network.

On land, thelines would also destroy afew hundred

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team of public defenders. During Tuesday’s hearing, attorneys told the judge they’reawaitinga coroner’sreport and data from the victim’s cellphone Smith set aFeb.19hearingfor the opposingsides to argue pretrial motions anddocketed the case for trialinMay Domino pleaded not guilty by reasonofinsanity to the charges, accord-

BLOTTER

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Rouge to anew location after,according to court filings, thebusiness’s 3rd Street landlord filed apetition to evict him for bounced rent checks

Third arrestmade in fatal home robbery

Athirdarrest hasbeen made in ahomicide inves-

acres of high-value cypress and tupelo swamps in the Maurepas Wildlife ManagementArea.

The company says it has takenstepstominimize the impact of the well and pipeline network through the use of the same right of way formultiple lines and with acurtain to limit the spread of dredged sediments

Gov.JeffLandryhas also instituted atemporary moratorium on new undergroundcarboninjection permit applicationstoprioritize areview of existing applications. Six projects were fast-tracked under the order,but Air Products’ permitwasn’tone of them.

Earthjustice seniorattorneyLaurenGodshall noted that AirProducts is having to “passionately defend theproject”amidthese headwinds,while alsolookingtosell off pieces of the complex.She addedthat “it feels like cheating, in a way, to promise blue/clean energy”and thenpursue an airpermitthatwould allow optionsfor so much CO2 emission

In aNov.6earnings call, AirProducts CEO Eduardo Menezes saida permit with the abilitytoemitCO2 is a keytonegotiationstofind partners forthe carbon capture andammonia pieces of the complex.

Thecompany’s“potential counterparts asked us to have the flexibility of running the plant on agray mode if something happens with the CO2 sequestration that we did not expect to do or still do notexpect to do because the CO2 is abig contributor for the project,” Menezes said “Gray mode”means emitting wastecarbon dioxide into the air

Public storage

In an October 2021 deal with the state, AirProducts

ing to courtrecords

Investigators said the fatal shooting stemmed from adomestic dispute. According to reports fromthe Baton Rouge Police Department, Domino waited for Jackson in the parking lot by her car When she came outside, he arguedwithher and then shot Jackson multiple times.

Jackson died after being taken back intothe hospital to be treated.

Co-workers told police Jackson had been receivingthreatsfroma former partner,and witnessesre-

tigation fromDecember 2022 in which a21-yearold was killed during an attempted robbery.

CharlesAites,26, was booked intothe East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on a count of first-degree murderfor hisinvolvement in thedeathofTimothy Chapman, 21.

The killing occurred shortlyafter 7p.m.the evening of Dec. 20, 2022, at theBroadmoor Plantation apartments in the 10000 block of FloridaBoule-

gained exclusive rights to nearly 122,500 acres of underground storage beneath Lake Maurepas, thenearby Maurepas Swamp Wildlife ManagementAreainSt. James Parishand Lake Sabine in Cameron Parish. Lake Maurepas and the wildlifemanagement area are nearest to AirProducts’ complex proposed forSorrento. In theearningscall, Menezes said Air Products started out trying to develop its own CO2 storage space underground so the companycould benefit from federal 45Q tax credits. The company is now tryingtoeffectively contract out the carbon capture and storage portion of the project, he said.

That wouldmean selling thestorage area —known as “porespace” —and have that company provide the service of sequestering the CO2 under Lake Maurepas or elsewhere.

Even if theproject falls through, the CEO said, the company could try to “monetize”the pore space in some other way Under thestate deal, Air Productscan transfer its rightsbut only after approval from the State Mineral andEnergyBoard or the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Patrick Courreges, a spokesmanfor thestate Department of Conservation and Energy,said no company has approached the department or the Mineral Board about such a transfer.Akey concernfor thestate will be who pays what’sowed under the deal and whowill be responsible if aproblem occurs.

“Such transfers have been relatively routine for decades,” he said.

DavidJ.Mitchellcan be reached at dmitchell@ theadvocate.com.

ported seeing aman who matched Domino’sdescription. Baton Rouge officerscaptured him hours later,walking across the Mississippi River Bridge carrying ahandgun andthreateningtokill himself.

The status of Domino’s relationship with Jackson at the timeofthe shooting is not clear,but court records show he shared at leasttwo childrenwith her

Email Matt Bruceat matt.bruce@theadvocate. com.

vard. Detectives believe Chapman was shot during arobbery attempt at thecomplex.

Twoothers,Shaylea Thompson and Jeremiah Hayes, have been previously arrestedinconnection with their involvementinthiscase, according to arelease from BRPD. Court records show bothwere indicted in this casefor robbery and for principal to murder

BUSINESS

BRIEFS

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%)

Costco wants full refund on paid tariffs

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 import 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.

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

BY COLLEEN BARRY Associated Press

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.

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.

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.”

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

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-

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 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

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. Prada buys Milan fashion rival Versace for $1.4 billion

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.

Shrimpingindustryfightingtosurvive

BY JAKE ALLELO Contributing writer

Despite the Trump administration’stariffs on countries supplying the U.S. with almost all of its shrimp, Louisiana shrimpers say they are stillfighting to survive.

Rising fuel costs, cheap importedshrimp and new industrial developments along thecoast are threatening thelivelihoods of fishermen whohavesupplied Louisiana tables for generations, said Acy Cooper,president of the Louisiana Shrimp Association

According to Louisiana EconomicDevelopment, 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,isfrom shrimp.

Yetin the past year,domestic shrimpers have been paid as little as 25 cents per pound, according to Cooper.Thatdrop is largely due to asurge in cheap, imported shrimp fromareaslike China, Vietnam, India and Indonesia, where industrial-scale harvesting and low safety standards drive prices down.

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

After decades of plungingprices and adwindling workforce, Louisianashrimpers at the time cheered Trump’stariffs.

How much those tariffs will aidthe U.S. shrimping industry remains to be seen. According to the Southern Shrimp Alliance, 94% of all shrimp— and all seafood in the U.S. —is imported.

Key trade andgovernment actions could grant local fishermen areprieve from their struggles,he said.

“Slow down the imports and cap them outwith more testing to give us some leeway,”Cooper, a lifelongshrimperfrom lower Plaquemines Parish, said. “The country onlyconsumes 1.5 billion pounds of shrimp, and yet last year we brought in 1.7 billion pounds. Youbring thesupplydown and bring thedemand up,and you do that by addinga cap. If you allow us to catch more, guess what?Wecan sellthem.”

Cooper said the problem with foreignimports goes beyond lowprices;

it’s also aboutfood safety. Of the billions of pounds of shrimp entering the U.S. each year,only asmall percentage is tested for contaminants. He worries that some of it maycontain dangerous bacteria.

“I have to say that food safety ought to be the No 1priority in this country, automatically,” he said.

“Wejustsaw that radioactive Walmart shrimp. You’re talking about2% of the shrimp coming in hasMRSA, abacteria that antibioticscannotkill. Two percent of 2billion is 20 million pounds of shrimp that they’re letting in and noteven testing.”

It’s those imports, combinedwithrisingfueland equipment costs, have put manylocal shrimpers in crisis, Cooper said “WhenI bought my first engine,itwas $10,000,” he said.“Thatsame engine now is around $50,000. Youhave day-to-day operationsthatyou gotto take care of andstill have enough money left over to live (onthe boat)for five months, six months, yeah, and it justhasn’tbeen

working. It doesn’twork at all.”

Many fishermen,like Cooper, arebeing forced to take real risksjustto stayafloat, and safety has becomeone of the biggest 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’regoing outwith multiple broken equipment becausewedon’thave the money to replace (it). I’ll bring aman on my boat, if something breaks because Ididn’tmaintain it,and I hurt him or kill him, then it’sonme.”

The state’senvironmentaldecline,Coopersaid, has alsobeen brought about by large-scale industrial fuel plants,shrinking the natural habitatsshrimp rely on to reproduce and grow

In CameronParish,Venture Global’sCalcasieu Pass, a432-acre, liquefied natural gas liquefaction and export facility,isone exampleofhow development is eating away at the coast. Cooper feels that environmental danger is much more lethal than industry and business undercutting and could lead to the dwindling of the shrimp population.

“They’re closingitoff and building land, and then every time they do something like that, theytake up breeding area because our estuaries are our main source of shrimp,”hesaid. “Without the estuaries, we don’thaveanything becausethat’swherethey go to grow up and get ready to move out. We have to have estuaries.”

Vaccaro, Vincent

St.Alphonsus Catholic Church at 11:00am.

Obituaries

Blanchard,Pamelia

Martha 'Pam'

Pamelia "Pam" Martha Blanchard anative and resident of Plaquemine,LA.

Born November 7, 1940, and passed away Sunday, November 30, 2025. Afuneral mass will be held at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, Plaquemine on Thursday, December 4, 2025, at 10am, celebrated by Father Lawrence Martin. Interment will be at Grace Memorial Park, Plaquemine. Pam is survived by her sisters; niece, Tessa Ramagost and husband Jay, their children, Gage and Jaylyn Ramagost; niece, Randi Castle and husband Robby, their children, Brooklyn, Caitlyn and Brayden Castle; numerous cousins and friends. Preceded in death by her parents, Burton and Octavia BabinBlanchard; and godchild, David Rivet. Please share sympathies, condolences, and memories online at www.wilbertservices.com.

"A womanofdignity knows that her worth is not defined by society's standards, butbyher own strengthand character."

Jackolyn W. Durrett, a beloved and kind-hearted soul, passedawayon November 22, 2025,atthe ageof88. Shewas alongtime resident of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and was known for her faithful dedicationtoher community and family BornonSeptember 25, 1937,inMeridian, Mississippi,Jackolynpursued a Master Degree in Social Work from Louisiana State University (LSU). Her passionfor helping others was evident in hercareer and her personal life.

Jackolyn was an avid readerand amemberof several book clubs, where she sharedher love forliterature with friends and fellow enthusiasts. Her commitment to her faith was demonstratedthrough her active participation as amemberofThe First MethodistChurch.

Jackolyn is survived by her children, Douglas (Suzie) Durrett of Zachary, Louisiana,and Suzanne (David)Mott of Roswell, Georgia. Her legacy continues through her grandchildren, Whitney Strong,MasonMott, and SarahMott, and herfourgreat-grandchildren. She is also survived by her twobrothers, Bobby Walkerand Mike Walker, and herlifelong friend Ann Smith. Shewas precededin death by her parents, NolanJamesWalkerand Hazel Walker; her husband, Joseph Durrett; and her newbornchild, Phillip Durrett.

Jackolyn'slifewas a testament to herloving nature and her unwavering dedicationtothose she cherished. She will be deeply missedbyall who knew her Relatives and friends areinvited to the chapel of Rabenhorst Funeral Home fora memorial visitation

on Saturday, December 6, 2025 beginning at 10:00AM until thememorial service beginning at 12:00PM In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be madetothe charityof your choice.

Julius Patrick Langlinais was bornand raised in NewIberia, Louisiana, and settled downinBaton Rouge. Julius passed away on Saturday, November 29, 2025, of apulmonary embolism. He went to New IberiaSenior High(NISH), USL,and graduated from LSUwith aPhD in Physics. Julius worked in theoil industrywith Conoco and Superior Oil. He joined the academicworld at LSU withthe department of PetroleumEngineering, rising to AssociateDeanwith theCollege of Engineering. Julius lovedtotravel, especiallytoEurope.Heloved his French heritage. He was fluent in Cajun French and spoketoanybody with aFrench background Julius and Betty also visited France, Italy, England, Amsterdam, and even Russia. Theirfavorite travel companions were Mike and PatVeazey.Julius was generous with his time and enjoyed helping people.He lovedbirdwatching with Betty and outsmarting the squirrels. Julius is preceded in deathbyhis parents, Clifford and Zulmae Langlinais. He is survivedbyhis wife of 59 years, Betty Musumeche (his high schoolsweetheart); his brother, Ernest Langlinais (Jan); daughters Michelle Flechas (Ricky) and Laura Goldman (Eric); grandchildren Meaghan Smith (Max), Maddie Flechas, Robert Flechas, Camille Goldman, and Chloe Goldman; and great-grandchild Brooks Smith. In lieu of flowers,the family re-

quests donations to St. JudeChildren's Hospital. Visitation at St.Aloysius, 2025 Stuart Ave,Baton Rouge, La 70808 on Thursday, December 4th, 2025 from 9:30 a.m. until 11 a.m. followedimmediately by theFuneral Mass. Burial to follow at St.George Cemetery Mausoleum.

McGeheeIII,Charles G. AnativeofBaton Rouge and resident of Lettsworth, he passed away on Friday, November 28, 2025 at 5:55 am PointeCoupeeGeneral Hospitalatthe age of 76. He was aretired Farmer and Manager of Pointe Coupee Elevator.Heissurvivedbyhis wife of 10 years, CharlotteCenac McGehee; sons, Charles G. McGeheeIVand wife Emily,Justin Cenac; daughter, PatsyCarter; grandchildren,Ben McGehee, Kyler Austin, Kenley and Chandler McGehee. He is preceded in deathbyhis parents, Charles G. McGehee Jr. and Celina Argrave McGehee, brother, Donald McGehee.A visitation will be held at Niland'sFuneral Home in NewRoads on Thursday, December 4, 2025 from5 pm until 7pm, followedbycremation.

foundhome. Scott wasa 28-year resident of New Orleans. He worked for a number of yearsatthe TulaneUniversity School of PublicHealth and Tropical Medicine andhad recently retired. Scott wasanavid gardener, whoparticularly enjoyed bringing anemic plants backfromthe brink. He lovingly caredfor the communitycats that lived in hiscourtyard,particularly thelateCow.Scott wasunapologetically political andpassionate about protectingcivil rights. He is preceded in death by his partnerand spouse of 40 years, Scott Vincent, his mother, Mary McRae, his sisters, LaneMcRae and Frances McRae, andhis brother, RustyMcRae. He is survived by abrother, Russell McRae, asister Leigh Cagle, andnumerous nieces, nephews, friends andneighbors.

Acelebration of Scott's life will be held at Bourbon Pub, 801 Bourbon Street, NewOrleans,Louisiana 70116, at 5PMon Thursday, December 4. For those whowish,donations may be made either to Tomato Foster Club and KittenRescueortothe Human Rights Campaign in hisname. Youcan also honor Scott's memory and passion for civilrights by writing to yourstateand federal officials demandingthattheyprotect LGBTQIA+ rights.

tion will begin at 5PM with theservice startingat 6PM.

Young, Samuel L.

Samuel Louis Young Enteredintoeternal rest at OurLady of Lake Regional MedicalCenteron November 29, 2025. He was a64-year old native and residentofBaton Rouge Louisiana. Viewingat Miller &Daughter Mortuary on Saturday, December 6, 2025 at 9:00 am untilCelebrationofLife Service at 10:00 am conducted by Brother DerekHollins;interment at Southern Memorial Gardens. Survivors includehis siblings, Isaac(Ann)Hughes, King George,Virginia; Willie, Jr., Clark(Stephanie) andJimmy(Deloris) Young,Linda(Terry) Johnsonand Joyce(Ronald)Bates, all of Baton Rouge;Joseph(Dinnah)Young andLorraine(Terry)Turner, Zachary, Louisiana; nieces, nephews, otherrelatives andfriends; preceded in death by hisparents, Mable and Willie Young,Sr.

Larry Dale Tidwell, Sr Born March30, 1946 went to be with hissavior November 27, 2025. Survived by his wife of 60 years Emma JaneBridges Tidwell. Children Larry Dale Tidwell, Jr (J.J.),David Tidwell (Margaret) and Kellye Glover (Wesley). 8 grandchildrenand 4greatgrandchildren. Familyand friends are invited to attenda Memorial Service on Thursday, December 4, 2025 at JourneyChurch, 17407 Greenwell Springs Rd. Greenwell Springs, LA 70739. VisitaSUBSCRIBE TODAY Reporting you can trust on stories that matter McRae,RobertScott Robert Scott McRaedied suddenlyonWednesday, November 12. Scott grew up in Rockmart,GAand resided in Atlanta, GA for anumber of years, whereheworked at theHeathGallery and met hishusband and partner of 40 years, Scott Vincent.The twomovedto NewOrleans in 1997 and

Poirrier Jr., Victor Resthaven FuneralHome, 11817 Jefferson Hwy,Baton Rouge, LA at 11am

Langlinais, Julius

Robert,Patsy

St.Angela Merici Church,901 Beverly Garden Dr Metairie,LAat noon.

McGehee III,CharlesG

Tidwell, Larry

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

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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-

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

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

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

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. 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

airporttofootball operations on MondayatTigerStadium.

SIGNINGS OF TIMES

With acoachingstaff in flux,LSU settoink firstrecruitsunder

BY KOKI RILEY and WILSONALEXANDER Staff writers

Alot was revealed during Lane Kiffin’s introductory news conference Monday Kiffinchanneledhis innerEdOrgeron, hinted that Nick Sabantoldhim to take the LSU job and said on numerous occasions the job is the best in America.

He even disclosed aconversationhe had with Gov.Jeff Landry,a discussion that helped seal the former Ole Misscoach’s decision to leave the Rebels just before the start of their College Football Playoff run and take over LSU, abitter conference rival.

“I cansum it up by saying this: This place is different,” Kiffin said.“Having

BY TOYLOYBROWN III Staff writer

With four weeks of the college basketball season complete,LSU is off to one of the best starts in the country

LSU (7-0) is 19th in the first release of the NET rankings, which is atool that the NCAA Tournament selection committee uses. The Tigers face Boston College at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday

With LSU playing better than it has in four years under coach Matt McMahon, it’s only fair for fans to have questions. Questions were sent to @tj3rd on X.

How effective will we be without the services of (Jalen) Reed? Seemslike the system we were running wasmost effective when he wasin. —@Yofrench-

watched this place fora long time,havingbeen on theother sidelines in this stadium, this place is different,and that’s whywe’re here.Wehavealot of work to do with that, butI’m very gratefulfor the opportunity to lead one of the elite programs in all of sports.”

Whatwasn’tclarified during his 36-minute news conference was apressing deadline that will go along way in shaping the long-term future of LSU under Kiffin.

Whoisincharge of constructing LSU’s 2026 recruiting class leading into the start of the earlysigning periodWednesday? Andwhatinfrastructureisinplace to sign the Tigers’ 15 commitments or bring in additional players to their small recruiting class?

ä LSU at Boston College, 6:15 P.M.WEDNESDAy,ACCN

bread

After this question was sent, the program announced Tuesday that Jalen Reed suffered a season-ending Achilles tendon injury. This happened Friday during the second half of LSU’s win over Drake. This was to his left leg, which isn’tthe same one that had atorn ACL last season. Reed will be sorelymissed because he has the best face-up driving game in the frontcourt. He was doing an excellent jobrebounding and is afine defender.Healsoisone of the team’s main leaders, as he’s been with the program longer than anyone. Not having

ä See LSU MEN, page 4C

Vergeof despair

NewLSU AD Ausberry helped save potentially disastrous coaching search

National ridicule That’swhatLSU andLouisiana were subjected to in the wake of the Brian Kelly firing. Not because of Kelly’s firing, but because of the chaos that ensued.

Kiffin

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

To saythat LSU’sfrontofficeand coaching staff areinflux is an understatement. Alongwiththe coachingstaff it already has in place from the previous regimeunderBrian Kelly,Kiffin also hasbrought in multipleoffensive assistant coaches and staff members from Oxford to Baton Rouge

Six of those former Ole Miss employees signed term sheets with LSUonMonday, including offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Charlie Weis Jr., co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach

ä See LSU, page 5C

Saints need Shough to findconsistency

BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

This is not rocketscience: The New Orleans Saints offense goes as quarterback Tyler Shough goes. There were moments of brilliance from the rookieSunday against the Miami Dolphins, and those cannot be dismissed because those flashesofhighlevel traits are evidence thatthe Saints can build around him. But momentsare not enoughtowin NFL gamesconsistently. The Saints entered halftime with 63 net yards of offense. They went three and out on their first three drives, Shough

FILM REVIEW

was sacked and lost afumble on the fourth play of their fourth drive, then they went threeand outagain on their fifth drive. It took 32 minutes of game time for the Saints to gain more than 10 yards on anoffensiveplay Thesluggish startcertainly wasn’tall on Shough, who did not get much help from his teammatesorhis play-calling head coach —the strip-sack,for instance, came on aplay where the Saintshad asix-man protection, plus receiver Devaughn Vele chipping at the line of scrim-

ä Saints atBuccaneers, NOON SUNDAy,CBS

mage —but Shough played an important role when it came to thedrives stallingout. Therewere two clear opportunities early in the gamefor Shough to connect on passesthat would move the chains on third downs,but poor ball placement cost the Saints both chances. Facing athird and 7onthe opening drive, Shough madethe right decision from aclean pocket to throw to Mason Tipton, who was running apivot route to the field side of theformation.But the throwcame in low,forcing

Tiptontogotothe ground to catchit. He wastouched down 2yards shy of the marker On theensuingdrive, Shough again made thecorrect read when he saw tight endJuwan Johnson sit down in ahole in the Dolphins’ zone coverageonthirdand 4. This time the ball sailed high and toward the middle of the field, allowingMiami linebacker Tyrel Dodson to make aplay on the ball. Dissecting ball placement is nitpicky,but thosethird-down plays are critical even without thebenefit of hindsight. Better

ä See SAINTS, page 4C

The governor made inflammatory statements. The newLSU president castdoubt as to whether the newathletic directorwas in fact going to be the AD moving forward. Then, as things seemed to be calming down, the school announced it wastrying to fire Kelly for cause, thus trying to nullify his enormous buyout.

Pundits andmessage boardposters from coasttocoastlaughed at the Louisiana wayofdoing things and opinedthatLSU never would be able to land atop-shelf coach. What highpoweredcandidate would want to subject themselves to such meddling anduncertainty?

Thatobservation may have been acorrect oneatthe time, but circumstances change.Acoaching search,like ateamatthe start of a long season,isnot aphotograph of a moment in time unchanging. If that was the case, the LSU team that won at Clemson to open the season would have wound up in the College Football Playoff andKelly would still be the coach Whatchanged? Well, Gov.Jeff Landry went quietwith public comments aboutthe LSU football situation, though he did talk to and apparently reassured new coach Lane Kiffin during the hiring process. New LSU president Wade Rousse clarified his positiononnew athletic director Verge Ausberry,saying he wasthe full-time AD going forward. LSU reversedits 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 owehim his full $54 million buyout. LSU also said it will hold Kelly’sfeet to the fire in that he must make allattempts to find employment, but thatdoesn’tchange the buyout situation. Personally,Idoubt Kelly ever will coach again, and not because as his lawyers claimed LSU made it impossible forhim to do so But finally,LSU landedits man in Kiffin, the toptargetofthe entire 2025 coaching carousel.

Thatofcourse launchedanother uproar with Kiffin leaving Ole Miss on the cusp of acertain appearance in the CFP,but that’snot LSU’sfault. NCAA schoolscould get together andcreatearule that says schools can’t hire coaches from ateam until the season is over,aswas the case when the Saints hadtowaittohire then-Philadelphia Eaglesoffensive coordinatorKellenMooreafter the SuperBowl. But NCAA schools won’t do that, because that means ceding powertoacommissioner or some governing body Ausberry was askedMondayat Kiffin’sintroductory news conference aboutLSU plucking the Ole Miss coach in such asituation. He answeredasthe LSU athletic director should.

“That’snot ourfault,” Ausberry said. “I hadtoprotect LSU’sinterests. It was the best forLSU.” Five weeks elapsedfrom when LSU firedKelly to hiring Kiffin. Five weeks may be ablink in most of our lives, but in coaching search terms it’salmost an eternity.Five weeks allowedLSU to go fromdisarray and dysfunctiontolanding the coach Florida wantedtohire and Ole Miss badly wanted to retain. Kiffin intimated there was afourth team in his mix. WasitAuburn? Penn State? An NFL team? He declined to say. It doesn’tmatternow.Kiffin is at LSU, andAusberry landed him. From where LSU startedthis process, it seemed impossible,but Ausberry wasn’tdeterred.

“LSU,”Ausberry said Oct. 31, “is notbroken. Our job is to getthe best footballcoach thereis. Whatever it

STAFF

PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

NewLSU football coach Lane Kiffinpumps his fist while talking about his response to LSU fans cheering along theroute from the

Scott Rabalais

Ausberry

Tackle’s influence on Dallas defenseundeniable

BY SCHUYLER DIXON Associated Press

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

“When you open up the personnel report and you see Quinnen 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 showcasetheir 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 toacquire 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 theiraverage) and 69.7 yards rushing per game (not much more than half their average).

Dallas beat both of last season’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 simple as Williams coming aboard.

The returns from injury for starting safeties MalikHooker and Donovan Wilsonalong 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 Eber-

flus’ calls.

Those are among thereminders 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 Dallas gotinthe 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 all of his 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 wastocome here 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 gettoseven?How do we keep improving? HowdoIcontinue to getbetter? Understanding how teams are goingto come out and attack me and howdoIsay,‘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 inleague history Parsons has respondedbybothering 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 has been botheringquarterbacks consistently all season, it wasn’tnecessarily apparent fromhis sack totals early on Parsons had21/2 sacks through hisfirst five games. He had 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 and21/2 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. Measuringhimself against the greatest players drives Parsons, who hates 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’t understand.’ We work so hard. We have goals and dreams. If I’mgoing intothis wrestling tournament, Iwant to be No. 1. Idon’t wanttobethird placeonthe podium.I want 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’saprimadonna 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 activities for the week if they go againstme,” Parsons said.

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

“I probably haven’tlost in Con-

LSU women top 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 NewYork 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 theMilwaukeeBrewers while Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns was running 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 remains amystery 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 quarterorovertime,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 beingready to make one more play at theend of games.

“You’vegot to trickyourself to be like, ‘I’ve got one more,’”Parsonssaid. “And Ithink 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 wasreleased 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 thepassing game withneither Roman Wilson norCalvin Austin becoming consistent contributors alongside DK Metcalf Pittsburgh also promoted cornerbackAsanteSamuelJr. from thepractice squadand released six-timePro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay

Ex-Saints KGrupe signed to Colts practicesquad

Blake Grupe is getting asecond chance.

The formerNew OrleansSaints kicker was signed Tuesday to the Indianapolis Colts’ practice squad, the NFLNetwork reported. Grupe reportedly impressed in aworkout, and Indianapolis neededa new kicker after waiving Michael Badgley

NewOrleans released Grupe after he missed twocostly kicks in a loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Grupe is 18 of 26 on field goals this year

The Saints replaced Grupe with Charlie Smyth, the Ireland native whoresided on their practice squad and beat out Cade York to kick Sunday Smyth had anotable debut, making a56-yard field goal and attempting an onside

AP FILE PHOTOByDAVID BECKER

Cowboysdefensivetackle 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 asack against the Lions during agame on ThursdayinDetroit.

OleMissmoves up in CFPrankings

BY EDDIE PELLS Associated Press

Ole Miss lost acoach but gained aspot in the College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday, moving to No. 6despite the sudden departure of Lane Kiffin toLSU.

Undefeated Ohio State and Indiana remained at 1and 2in 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 eyebrowraiserasthe season headsinto its final week before the playoffs.

The final rankings come out Sunday,the day after aslate of conference title games determines the five automatic qualifiers for the 12-team bracket. Theplayoffs start Dec. 19 and end amonthlater with the title game outside Miami. As newsy as the selection committee’sdecision was not to dock Ole Miss for losing its coach something it hasthe latitude to do —was Alabama’smoveup one to No. 9atthe expense of Notre Dame, which fell to 10. Both teams

are 10-2.

Committeechair HunterYurachek called the decision the productof“one of the strongest debates we’ve had in the room since Ibe-

came amember of the committee.”

One keyfactor,hesaid, was Alabama’s 27-20 winatarchrival Auburn on Saturday— atougher opponent than Stanford, which the

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFFRANKINGS

Irish beat 49-20 over the weekend.

“Thatwas enough to changethe minds of acouple committee members,”Yurachek said.

Themove givesAlabamaa better chance to makethe 12-team bracket even with aloss Saturday to Georgia in the SEC title game,

which would be the Tide’sthird this season. And now, Notre Dame finds itself in aprecarious position on the bubble despite a10-game winning streak. But not as precarious as Miami, which remains at No. 12, still behind Notre Dame despite awin over the Irish in the season opener In another movethat could have ahuge impact, the committeeput James Madison of the Sun Belt ConferenceatNo. 25 —higher than unranked Duke, whichplays No.17Virginiafor theAtlantic Coast Conference title.

If Duke and James Madison win, then James Madison could deny the ACC an automatic bid. Those go to the five best-ranked conferencetitlists, with no guarantee to the Power Four leagues. The SEC, Big Tenand Big 12 will earn spots, while the American from the Group of Five seems to have aholdonone of those, withNo. 20 Tulane and No. 24 North Texas slated forthat title gameFriday It meansthe fifth andfinalwilleither go to the ACC or the Sun Belt, where James Madison plays Troy on Friday forthe championship.

Michigan Statehires Fitzgerald with 5-year,$30Mcontract

BY LARRYLAGE Associated Press

EAST LANSING, Mich. Pat Fitzgerald spoke with eight schools about potentially coaching their football teams, looking for the best place to resume his career,beforechoosing Michigan State.

The former Northwestern coach and All-America linebacker signed an incentive-laden, five-year,$30 million contract to leadthe Spartans back to relevance.

“It was almost ano-brainer for me when the opportunity was presented,” the 51-year-old Fitzgerald said Tuesday Fitzgerald willmake $5 million guaranteed in his firstyear and will be paid at least $500,000 more in each of the following four seasons. If he helps Michigan State win seven games in any of his first three

seasons, an extra year and$500,000 will beadded to his contract. If the Spartans simply win six games or more in the regular season, he will earn a$500,000 bonus; seven wins would give him an additional $1 million, and an eightwinseason would triggera $1.5 millionbonus. Fitzgerald would make more than $1 million in bonuses if Michigan State wins anational championship —for thefirsttimesince 1952, accordingtoThe Associated Presspoll —and $400,000 forleading theschool to its first Big Ten championship since 2016. It won’tbeeasy to reach any of those incentives.

Michigan State fired Jonathan SmithonSunday after he was 9-15 and4-14inthe Big Ten, giving him more than $30 milliontobuy out the rest of his contract. Twotop play-

ers, standoutreceiver Nick Marsh and running back Makhi Frazier, plan to enter the portal.

Fitzgerald lost his job at Northwestern in July 2023 after a17year run at his almamater due to ahazing scandal.

“That knocked me down,”he said.“That rocked me to thecore.”

Fitzgerald sued theschool for $130 million for wrongful termination and reached asettlement in August after theschool said “there was no direct evidence that Coach Fitzgerald was aware of the hazing” in its investigation.

On what he called asabbatical, Fitzgerald visited with NFLand college teams to prepare for his next opportunity

“I’ve been dreaming about this day for along time,” he said, choking up. “There will be no moremotivated coach.”

Kentucky hiresOregonOCStein

By The Associated Press

LEXINGTON, Ky Kentucky has hired Oregon offensive coordinatorWill Stein as its new coach, bringing home someonewhose father played for the Wildcats and who grew up watching them play Athletic director Mitch Barnhart announcedthe hiring Monday nighthours after Kentucky fired Mark Stoops, who had been the Southeastern Conference’s longest-tenured coach at 13 seasons with the Wildcats until Monday morning.

“Will Stein brings an outstanding track recordof developing elite quarterbacks and leading some of the most dynamic and successful offenses in college football,” Barnhart said in astatement late Monday night.

The statement noted Stein and his familysat in section 128, row 13, at the football stadium now called Kroger Field.

“His deep connectionto Kentucky,having grown up attending games in our stadium, gives him aunique passion for this program and this community,” Barnhart said. “Weare thrilledto have him leading the Wildcats onto the field next fall.”

This will be the first head coaching job for Stein, 36. The Louisvillenative won three Kentucky high school titles at Trinity and walked on at Louisvilletoplay quarterback. His father,Matt, played at Kentucky for coach Jerry Claiborne.

Stein recalled growing up in Kentucky and sitting in the stands for Wildcats games withthisjob only a dream now come true. He thanked Oregon coachDan Lanning and the Ducks staff for their mentorship and the trust placed in him by Kentucky officials.

“Now,Ican’twait to get started and make Kentucky proud,” Stein said.

Stein has spent the past three seasons as offensive coordinator and quarter-

backs coach at Oregon Steinplans to coach with thefourth-ranked Ducks (11-1) at No. 6inthe latest CFP rankings with the final bracket announced Sunday. Oregon’s offense with Stein ranks ninth in the nation scoring38.2 pointsa game. The Ducks are 13th in total offense with 465.2 yards per game witha nice balance averaging 218.4 yards rushing and 246.8 passing yards pergame. Kentuckytargeted Stein not just because of his ties to the state or the university through hisfamily.Stein has worked with aHeisman Trophy finalisteach of thepast two seasonsinquarterbacks Bo Nix andDillonGabriel. Both started games in the NFL as rookies.

“He is an outstandingdeveloper and coach of young talent, somethinghehas proven repeatedly in his career already as aquarterbacks coach andoffensive coordinator at an elite level,” Kentucky president Eli Capilouto said. “And he has a deepand abiding passionfor this place. It runs deep with himand hisfamily.” Barnhart said Monday morningthatKentucky had started anational search for Stoops’replacement, and

it wrappedvery quickly Barnhart also promised Kentucky will be investing to recruitnot only an elite head coach but playersand support staff along withfully funding revenue-sharing and facilities.

Stein walked on at Louisville for Steve Kragthorpe between 2008 and 2009 and Charlie Strong from 20102012, capping histenure with aSugarBowlwin over Florida.

He went into coaching as agraduate assistant in 2013 at Louisville helping with quarterbacks before working withwidereceivers as aquality control coach in 2014. He joined Strong at Texasasa qualitycontrol coach in 2015 and 2016, then coached quarterbacks in 2017.

Stein was offensive coordinator and assistanthead coach at Lake Travis High School in 2018 in 2019 before going to UTSA. He was promoted to co-offensive coordinator and coached quarterbacks in 2022, helping UTSA rank ninthnationally in total offense.

Kentucky is the sixth SEC program to change coaches this season,joiningAuburn, Arkansas, Florida,LSU and Ole Miss.

You knowhim well.Scotthas been covering LSU since 1992. He is theauthor of three highly acclaimed booksonLSU and was chosen as an LSU Expertfor ESPN’s SEC 150 Documentary

Each Monday,Scottwill puthis thoughts on the last week’sgameand thenextweek’sgame into avideo essayplacing the game in its context anddrawing historical parallels.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ROGELIOSOLIS

Coach Lane Kiffi

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTOByROBIN BUCKSON Michigan State president Kevin M. Guskiewicz, fromleft, newfootball coach PatFitzgerald and athletic director J. Batt pose with ajerseyduring anewsconference on TuesdayinEast Lansing,Mich.

AP FILEPHOTO

Will Stein, pictured in 2011 when he was aquarterback at Louisville, washired as Kentucky’snew football coach after Mark Stoops was fired Monday

Pels lose heartbreaker in OT to Timberwolves

BY LES EAST

Contributing writer

Anthony Edwards scored 44 points and Julius Randle had six key points in overtime against his former team as the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 149-142 on Tuesday night in the Smoothie King Center

Trey Murphy had 33 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Saddiq Bey scored 22. Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen had 21, Jose Alvarado added 14, and Jordan Hawkins had 10 for the Pelicans (3-19).

Rudy Gobert had 26 points and 13 rebounds, former LSU player Naz Reid scored 18, Jaden McDaniels scored 17, Randle had 16, and Donte DiVincenzo 15 for the Timberwolves (13-8).

These teams will meet again at 7 p.m Thursday in the Smoothie King Center Randle made two free throws to give the Timberwolves a one-point lead early in overtime. He added a layup after a Fears’ miss, then Edwards scored on a layup after a Pelicans’ turnover pushed the lead to 137-132 with 2:48 left.

Fears had eight points and an assist as New Orleans extended its 10-point halftime lead to 82-67 early in the third quarter

Edwards scored 16 points during the last 7:39 of the quarter, and Minnesota closed within 103-100 at the end of the third quarter He scored

the Wolves’ first six points of the fourth quarter and they took a onepoint lead.

Minnesota held a three-point lead before the Pelicans went on a 9-0 run to take a 118-112 edge. The Wolves pulled even at 125-125 on a 3-pointer by Edwards with 1:49 left.

Bey made two free throws and Queen made a dunk to put the Pels up four, but McDaniels made a jumper and Fears missed on a drive, leaving New Orlans with a two-point lead.

Minnesota called a timeout with seven seconds left and Edwards drove in for a layup to tie the score at 129-129 with 2.3 seconds left. Queen missed on a drive at the buzzer

The Pelicans never led in the first quarter but they did force three ties, the last at 18-18. Edwards scored six points and Mike Conley three during a 9-0 run by the Wolves. Alvarado’s basket ended the run, and he added a 3-pointer to get New Orleans within four points before Minnesota held a 31-25 lead at the end of the first quarter

The lead changed hands seven times and the score was tied five times in the second quarter before the Pelicans finished with a surge. Bey scored seven points, Murphy had five and Alvarado made a 3-pointer during a 15-0 run.

Gobert’s three-point play trimmed the lead to 68-58 at halftime.

Denham Springs boys nab fifth straight soccer shutout

BY WILLIAM WEATHERS

Contributing writer

Denham Springs soccer coach

Sean LeBlanc wanted his team to maintain perspective going into Tuesday’s matchup with reigning Division I state champion St Paul’s.

“Playing St. Paul’s anytime is a big match,” LeBlanc said. “I told the boys we would not win state today, and we will not lose state today It was just a measuring stick.”

No. 2 Denham Springs scored twice in the first half and added three more goals, powered by a hat

trick from striker Anthony Howard for a 5-0 victory over No. 5 St. Paul’s at Yellow Jacket Stadium.

“That’s not what we came out here for,” Howard said. “It’s good we got the win, but we ultimately want to get to the (state) finals and win that, and this team’s just in the way and we’ve got to take them out.”

Denham Springs, a state quarterfinalist a year ago, broke through in the last 13 minutes of the opening half against a brisk wind and a temperature of 42 degrees. Midfielder Eliel Sabio deposited a loose ball from the 6-yard box in

front of the goal — the first shot on goal for either team in the the 27th minute.

The Yellow Jackets (5-0-0) made it 2-0 in the 32nd minute when Howard regained possession after a defender fell down. Howard buried a 22-foot shot in the air and into the left side of the net.

“Being able to score into the wind and create quality chances I thought was important, especially before half to give us a bit of momentum,” LeBlanc said. “I felt there were a few goals coming. We were playing well, and defensively we were causing them a lot

Williamson expected to miss multiple weeks with an injury

Staff report

New Orleans Pelicans star forward Zion Williamson has been hit with yet another injury

Williamson has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 right hip adductor strain, the team announced late Tuesday afternoon

According to an ESPN report, Williamson will miss “an extended amount of time” and will be re-evaluated in three weeks

It’s unclear when Williamson suffered the injury

Prior to Tuesday night’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Pelicans interim coach James Borrego was asked when the injury occurred.

“I don’t have any more information as far as when it happened,” Borrego said. “I can say I learned of it this morning as well. The information was brought to me this morning. We had it imaged and we all know the results of that. Beyond that, I don’t have any more information. We are taking this hour by hour, day by day.”

The Duke product missed Sunday’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers for what the team listed as left

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throws in either scenario would have given the Saints a new set of downs near midfield, and who knows what happens then?

Because once Shough got rolling, he made some exceptional plays, both within the structure of the offense and in the scramble phase

This is how Shough’s first six pass attempts went in the second half: A 14-yard sideline throw to Vele from the pocket, a 14-yard sideline missile to Vele thrown on the run while scrambling, a 17-yard touchdown to Chris Olave (also made possible by Shough extending the play

Pelicans forward Zion Williamson

the game against the Boston Celtics from the bench at the Smoothie King Center on Oct. 27 Williamson is expected to miss multiple weeks because of an injury.

hamstring injury management. That absence was expected considering the Pelicans played the Golden State Warriors the night before and Williamson hasn’t played in back-to-back games since October of last season. Williamson didn’t appear on Monday’s injury report, but he appeared on it Tuesday afternoon with this latest injury

It’s the latest blow for the Pelicans, who fired coach Willie

with his legs), another 14-yard strike to Vele from the pocket with pass rusher Bradley Chubb bearing down on him, a ripped 12-yarder into a tight window to Vele again, and finally an on-time, on-target throw on an in-breaker to Johnson that allowed him to gain yards after the catch for an 11yard gain

Shough has the tools at his disposal to be a really good starting quarterback in the NFL, but it’s on both him and the Saints to unlock those tools more consistently

Numbers to know

56 — Charlie Smyth’s 56-yard field goal is the second longest ever by an NFL kicker on his first career attempt. The record belongs to former Falcons punter Michael Koenen, who hit a 58-yard-

LSU MEN

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of problems. I felt it was a matter of time.”

Denham Springs’ defense registered its fifth straight shutout with Zachary Jakob (one save) in goal. The Jackets have outscored opponents 28-0 and limited the Wolves to four of seven shots on goal.

“On a lot of their goals, they got it down in deep,” said St. Paul’s coach Sean Moser, who has led the Wolves (3-3-0) to 11 state titles. “We were mis-clearing, and it would bounce to a kid, he would put it in.” Denham Springs, which had 12

his presence makes the team worse, no matter how you slice it.

As devastating as this news is, LSU does have the most depth at his position. Mike Nwoko, Pablo Tamba and Robert Miller are all off to solid starts and have the requisite size to battle good competition. They will all have to level up their games and be ready for more minutes. Marquel Sutton is another option who can play more power forward with his solid 6-foot-9 frame.

If they lose to (Texas) Tech and beat SMU, do you think they can still get in the Top 25? @propeaceful

Assuming LSU beats Boston College on Wednesday, the Tigers would be in a prime position to make the AP Top 25. No. 19 Texas Tech (6-2) is the most talented nonconference team LSU will face and SMU (80) is a legit top-45 team on KenPom

The straightforward answer is that LSU is likely to miss the cut if that scenario were to happen. Usually, when a team makes the Top 25 for the first time, it has an overwhelmingly strong week.

er in 2005 and also famously had a punt blocked by Steve Gleason a year later

-0.82 The Saints offense had a -0.82 Expected Points Added per play in the first quarter against Miami. Put another way, every play they ran decreased their chances of scoring by almost a full point.

7/8 — After recording just 81 net rushing yards on 27 carries against Miami, the Saints now have failed to top 90 yards rushing as a team in seven of their last eight games (the lone outlier being a 122-yard day against Carolina). On the season, the Saints are averaging just 90.7 yards per game on the ground, worse than all but three teams.

Observations

• Growth isn’t linear, and that’s

The more nuanced answer is that voters might be more lenient if LSU falls to Texas Tech in a close game played at a neutral site in Texas. The case also would be helped by a double-digit win against SMU in a neutral-site game in New Orleans.

Are they a tournament team in your opinion? — @larry_thigpen

Before answering, it has to be acknowledged that LSU’s schedule has been easy It hasn’t faced a top-100 team yet on KenPom. Also, the Reed injury is a major hit. With that being said, the way the Tigers have beaten lower-level teams has been impressive. Their fatal flaws from last year lack of size and weak point guard play — have become the team’s biggest strengths. There is too much season left to guarantee a tournament berth. But as of right now, LSU certainly has the talent.

Who’s gonna end up being the playmaker when (Dedan) Thomas sits for a rest? Do you think freshman PG Jalen Reece is ready for that role? How do you think he’s doing so far as backup PG? — @larry_thigpen

Jalen Reece is LSU’s clear backup point guard. His start was shaky, but he picked it up a ton against DePaul with 13 points and six assists on Saturday Reece’s role is to keep the

something to keep in mind with Kool-Aid McKinstry, who has had his share of ups and downs in his second season. But the highs are really, really good. He was excellent against Miami, catching as many Dolphins passes as the receivers he covered, and his chase-down tackle on fourth down late in the game was a phenomenal effort on his part.

• Loved the call from Kellen Moore with the game on the line to run four verticals on second and 1 and give Olave a chance to win the game, loved the throw from Shough and after watching the replays, I thought Olave should have come down with that pass — even if there was an added degree of difficulty navigating the defensive back. Did not love the execution

of 14 shots on goal, increased its lead to 3-0 in the 65th minute when Sabio found Jorden Moore wide open in front of the goal.

Howard got his hat trick in the last five minutes of play, scoring on a right side run in the 75th minute and his penalty kick, following a foul in the box, went into the right corner of the net in stoppage play “We’re going to get better, St. Paul’s is going to get better,” LeBlanc said. “It’s a one-off. You don’t put too much into it. You take it for what it was. We had a very good day, and we keep it moving.”

offense above water when Thomas isn’t playing. The freshman has been solid overall. His specialty is limiting turnovers, as he has 17 assists to just five turnovers. If he can maintain that type of ball security he will be good enough as a backup floor general. The real test will come when he sees better defenses in the Southeastern Conference.

Thoughts on what the rotation at the wing positions will look like come SEC play? — @LSUfanChristian The wings in the rotation are Max Mackinnon, Rashad King and PJ Carter You could also include Sutton, but he’s more of a pure forward with 3-point range. When SEC play arrives, Carter and King will battle for minutes off the bench since Mackinnon has done enough to be a 25-minuteper-game player It seems King’s varied scoring package and defense are more equipped to affect the game than Carter’s. But if LSU is starved for 3-pointers, Carter is a dead-eye shooter that McMahon will keep on the floor They can also play together so it’s too early to predict what will happen.

Email Toyloy Brown III at Toyloy.brown@theadvocate. com

on the next play on third down from Shough, who bailed too early and then made a panicked throw Hated the fourth-down sneak call.

• Vele was a real differencemaker, which begs the question: Why weren’t the Saints giving him these opportunities all year? It’s a question the team hasn’t had a good answer for despite having had many chances at answering it. Vele was doing all the things everyone thought he could add as a big-bodied weapon who can make difficult, contested catches.

• The Saints really need to take a look under the hood of their rushing offense this offseason. The backs haven’t had much of a chance to break off explosive runs.

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Pelicans guard Saddiq Bey dunks the ball against Minnesota Timberwolves guard Terrence Shannon during the first half of a game at the Smoothie King Center on Tuesday.

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

watches

Texas Tech head coach McGuire gets new deal

By The Associated Press

LUBBOCK, Texas Texas Tech has reached an agreement on a new contract with coach Joey McGuire only days before the No. 5 Red Raiders play in the Big 12 championship game, and then almost certainly the 12-team College Football Playoff.

The school said Tuesday that the deal will extend McGuire through the 2032 season and include a significant pay raise. The new contract will be finalized in the coming days.

McGuire, who is 34-17 in his four seasons, will make $6.5 million next season, with increases of $100,000 per year and topping out at $7.1 million for the 2032 season, according to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. McGuire can also earn up to $1.2 million in bonuses each year

“I’ve said it countless times but my family and I love Lubbock, this university and this fan base,” McGuire said in a statement. “We expect to continue to elevate this program where appearances in the Big 12 title game, like this Saturday, and the College Football Playoff are expected on an annual basis.”

Texas Tech (11-1) plays No 11 BYU (11-1) on Saturday after making the Big 12 championship game

for the first time in the league’s 30 seasons. The Red Raiders moved up one spot to No. 4 in the penultimate CFP rankings Tuesday night, which would put them in position for a first-round bye if they remain in the top four when the final rankings come out Sunday They appear to be a lock for a playoff spot no matter the outcome of the Big 12 game, and would host a firstround game if they finish fifth through eighth.

McGuire’s new contract will replace a $26.6 million, six-year deal that he got in 2022 at the end of his first season That deal also included annual $100,000 increases, and was set to peak at $4.6 million in 2028.

“We believe the future of Texas Tech Football has never been brighter under coach McGuire’s leadership,” athletic director Kirby Hocutt said. “Our success this season is not a one-year plan. We fully intend to be an annual contender in the Big 12 Conference with our eyes on the College Football Playoff each and every season. We have the right leader in Coach McGuire to keep elevating this program, and this contract extension is a reflection of our investment in sustaining this success for years to come.”

RABALAIS

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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 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.’

LSU

Continued from page 1C

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

Agent: LSU’s top two recruits won’t sign early

Staff report

The top two prospects committed to LSU football’s 2026 recruiting class have decided not to sign during the NCAA’s early signing period, their agent told Rivals on Tuesday night.

Both University High star Lamar Brown and Edna Karr standout Richard Anderson — the pair of fivestar defensive linemen who could serve as the pillars of coach Lane Kiffin‘s first LSU freshman class — are still committed to the Tigers. Rivals reported, however, that they want to see Kiffin finalize his staff before they officially sign.

“They’re staying committed to them,” their unnamed agent told Rivals, “and they want to see how committed they are. They’re staying committed, but we don’t know what the future holds.”

With the playoff committee releasing updated rankings (Tuesday night), I wanted it to be known that after conversations with LSU, we are allowing Charlie to return to Ole Miss to coach the team during the playoffs,” Kiffin said in a statement before the CFP rankings release.

Weis already has signed a three-year, $6 million deal to become the LSU offensive coordinator according to a copy of his term sheet obtained Monday by The Advocate. He would owe an estimated $5.7 million if he left LSU before March 31 because of a clause in his deal.

on the staff, LouisianaSports.net reported Tuesday Spanos has worked at Ole Miss for the past three seasons. He has experience as the defensive coordinator at UCLA and UConn, where he also served as interim coach in 2021. Recruiting roundup

Three-star offensive lineman

“Verge isn’t really longwinded 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.

For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/lsunewsletter

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 recruit-

Kiffin has most of his offensive staff in place. But it’s unclear as of Tuesday evening, if Kiffin will retain interim coach Frank Wilson, defensive coordinator Blake Baker or any of the other defensive coaches from Brian Kelly‘s staff.

Wilson is a key recruiter, especially for New Orleans-area prospects.

“They had relationships with the old staff, with Blake (Baker) and Frank (Wilson). They want to get a chance to build a relationship with the new staff,” Brown and Anderson’s agent told Rivals.

Weis to coach Ole Miss

LSU offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr will lead the Ole Miss offense during the College Football Playoff, it was announced Tuesday

Weis, who has been the Rebels offensive coordinator since 2022, was among several assistants to follow head coach Kiffin to LSU

He will return to Ole Miss for the CFP to help new head coach Pete Golding and the remaining staff there.

Ole Miss was No 6 in the CFP rankings released Tuesday night after finishing the regular season with an 11-1 record.

ing is Frank Wilson. Wilson has helped lead the charge in landing LSU’s top commitments for its 2026 class, including five-star 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

More coaches join LSU is hiring Ole Miss offensive analyst Dane Stevens as its quarterbacks coach and expects to pull several other staff members away from the Rebels, according to multiple reports Tuesday Stevens spent this season as a passing game specialist with Ole Miss. He worked under Kiffin from 2022-23 as a senior analyst and assistant quarterbacks coach helping coach future first-round pick Jaxson Dart He then spent a year as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at West Georgia before returning to Ole Miss.

It’s unclear who will play quarterback for LSU next year LSU has to find a new starter to replace senior Garrett Nussmeier, who is out of eligibility Michael Van Buren, a sophomore who started the past three games, has said he wants to return to LSU. Redshirt freshman Colin Hurley was away from the team the last month of the regular season.

LSU does not have a quarterback committed in the 2026 recruiting class ahead of the beginning of the early signing period Wednesday It is expected to look for at least one quarterback in the transfer portal.

LSU is also expected to bring over defensive analyst Lou Spanos and analyst Donnie Both for roles

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 un-

Ryan Miret and four-star tight end JC Anderson have flipped their commitment from Ole Miss to LSU, both recruits revealed on social media Tuesday Anderson attends Mt. Zion High in Illinois and is the No. 11 tight end in the nation, per the 247Sports Composite. He had been committed to Ole Miss since July

Then-Ole Miss tight ends coach Joe Cox was his lead recruiter Cox, who has since made the move to Baton Rouge with Kiffin, now brings a coveted tight end recruit with him.

Miret attends Miami Southridge High in Miami and is the No. 69 offensive linemen in the country, according to the 247Sports Composite.

LSU lost pledges from four-star wide receiver Kenny Darby, threestar offensive lineman Jalan Chapman and three-star wide receiver Kervin Johnson on Tuesday All three recruits are from Louisiana and confirmed their intentions to decommit from the Tigers on Tuesday Darby is the No. 9 player in Louisiana, per the 247Sports Composite, and had been committed to LSU since June. Chapman is the No. 30 player in the state, and Johnson flipped his pledge from LSU to Ole Miss.

Johnson and Darby were two of three LSU commitments at wide receiver The Tigers still have a pledge from four-star wideout and Destrehan High star Jabari Mack

Staff writers Wilson Alexander, Koki Riley and Reed Darcey contributed to this report.

til 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

ASSOICATED PRESS PHOTO By JUSTIN REX

Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire walks out on the field during a timeout during the second half of a game against Central Florida on Nov. 15 in Lubbock, Texas.

STAFF PHOTO By SCOTT THRELKELD

Richard Anderson of Edna Karr sacks Alexandria quarterback Karsen Sellers in the first half of the Division I select football state championship at the Caesars Superdome on Dec. 14.

SCOREBOARD

94 puntreturn (Borregales kick), 5:17. NE—Boutte 3pass from Maye (Borregales kick), 1:00. Second Quarter NYG—Slayton 30 pass from Dart (Koo kick), 12:46. NE—K.Williams 33 pass from Maye (Borregales kick), 3:29. NE—FGBorregales 30, 1:48. NE—FGBorregales 28, :00. Fourth Quarter NYG—Singletary 22 run(Slayton pass from Dart), 14:54. NE—FGBorregales 23, 2:14. A—64,628. NYGNE First downs1421

vs.North Texas(11-1) American Conference Championship at New Orleans,7 p.m. FARWEST BoiseSt. (8-4) vs.UNLV(10-2),Mountain West Championship at Boise,Idaho, 7p.m.

Saturday’s games

SOUTH Jackson St. (9-2)vs. Prairie View (9-3),SWAC Championship at Jackson, Miss., 1p.m. Alabama (10-2) vs.Georgia (11-1),SEC Championship at Atlanta, 3p.m. Virginia (10-2) vs.Duke(7-5),ACC Championship at Charlotte,N.C 7p.m.

MIDWEST W. Michigan (8-4)vs. Miami (Ohio) (7-5) MACChampionshipatDetroit, 11 a.m. Ohio St. (12-0) vs.Indiana (12-0),Big Ten Championship at Indianapolis, 7p.m. SOUTHWEST TexasTech (11-1) vs.BYU (11-1), Big 12 Championship at Arlington, Texas, 11 a.m. FCSPlayoff Glance Second Round Game 3atBethlehem, Pa.: Lehigh (12-0) vs Villanova (10-2), 11 a.m. Game 6atMacon, Ga.: Mercer (9-2) vs South Dakota (9-4), 11 a.m. Game 1atFargo, N.D.: N. Dakota St.(12-0) vs.IllinoisSt. (9-4), noon Game 4atStephenville, Texas: Tarleton St (11-1) vs.North Dakota (8-5), noon Game 5atMissoula, Mont.: Montana (11-1) vs.S.Dakota St. (9-4), 1p.m. Game 7atNacogdoches,Texas:S.F.Austin (10-2) vs.AbileneChristian(9-4),1 p.m. Game 8atBozeman, Mont.: Montana St.(102) vs.Yale (9-2), 1p.m. Game 2atDavis, Calif.: UC Davis (8-3) vs Rhode Island (11-2),9 p.m. College basketball Men’s state schedule Monday’s games Southern 101, Louisiana Christian 48 Incarnate Word 71, McNeese 67 Tuesday’s games Tulane 65, Grambling63 Creighton 96, Nicholls 76 Wednesday’s games LSU at Boston College, 6p.m. Louisiana Tech at GeorgiaSouthern, 6p.m. Mississippi Valley St.atUL-Monroe, 6:30 p.m. UNO at Memphis, 7p.m. Tulane65, Grambling 63 GRAMBLING (3-5) Ballard2-5 1-2 7, Coffee2-5 1-25,Lane3-6 2-2 8, Munoz0-2 0-00,Jones5-8 2-412, Ward 5-10 5-6 18, Muttilib 3-8 3-411, Franklin 1-10-0 2, Edwards 0-3 0-00.Totals21-48 14-20 63. TULANE (6-2) Middleton 1-70-0 2, Ringgold 1-6 1-33,Brumbaugh 4-11 7-817, Williams 7-11 1-217, Woods 3-11 6-6 13, Daniels 0-0 0-00,J.Moore3-5 1-2 7, Greene 2-3 0-0 6. Totals 21-54 16-21 65. Halftime: Grambling31-30. 3-PointGoals:

Lauren Cheramie

BONVIVANT

Bon vi·vant /noun/ asociable personwho has cultivatedand refined tastes, especially with respect to food and drink

Newdrinksonthe block

Starting Tuesday,Dec. 9, enjoy two seasonal drinks at Ruffino’sRestaurant,18811 Highland Road, Baton Rouge. The Dom’s Inferno is made with bourbon, Amaro Montenegro, simple syrup and Angosturabitters. The Lombardy is made with spiced pear,amaro, lemon, honey,orange bitters, egg white and atouch of nutmeg.

PROVIDED PHOTO

Starting Tuesday, enjoytwo seasonal drinks, Dom’sInferno and The Lombardy, at Ruffino’s Restaurant, 18811 Highland Road, BatonRouge.

Learnsomething new Food science workshop:5p.m. Friday,Dec. 12, at LSU’sAnimal and Food Sciences Laboratories, 39 Forestry Lane, Room 145, Baton Rouge Mix, bake and decorate your way through the world of food science and join ahands-on holiday workshop wheregingerbread meets chemistry.The LSU AgCenter Food Innovation Institute and School of Nutrition and Food Sciences will explore the science behindthe popular seasonal treats. Registration is $60, which includes ingredients and cooking supplies, available for purchase at lsuagcenter.regfox.com/holiday-gingerbread-decorating.

Wine andspirits

Réveillon dinner:6p.m. Thursday,Dec. 18, at The Stockade Bed and Breakfast, 8860 Highland Road, Baton Rouge Enjoy the FrenchCreole tradition of aRéveillon dinner,amulti-coursedinner with wine pairings. The menu features shrimp and okra gumbo, New York strip steak and white chocolate espresso bread pudding. Tickets start at $151.10 per person, available for purchase at littlebylittle. ticketspice.com/rveillon-dinner-at-the-stockade-bed-andbreakfast.

New Year’sEve wine dinner: 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 31, at Soji, 5050 Government St., Baton Rouge Ring in the new year at Soji with asix-course wine dinner, paired with wine and sake for each course, and apre-dinner reception. Complimentary Champagne will be available for the duration of the courses. Tickets start at $185 per person, available for purchase at www.exploretock.com/sojimodern-asian-baton-rouge/ event/579942.

Mark your calendar

Food and wine pairing:6 p.m. to 8p.m. Thursday,March 26, at Red Stick Spice Company, 660 Jefferson Highway,Baton Rouge

BR CHEFSAND RESTAURATEURSREVEAL

BY MADDIE SCOTT Staff writer

Sometimesthe best waytoeat good food is to eat other good food right before. That’sthe beauty of appetizers.

We asked someofthe city’schefs and restaurateurs what their favorite startersare in Baton Rouge, with the caveat that they couldn’t pick from their own restaurant or business.

Here’swhat they had to say:

JasonLopez n NINO’S

Thebest appetizers are theones that start the meal off on agood foot. For Lopez, that’sthe crab fingers at Louisiana Lagniappe.

“There’ssomethingspecial about thecrab fingers at Louisiana Lagniappe,” he said.

“They’re fresh and light— exactlythe kind of appetizer you want to share around the table. The sweet crab, the richness

of theolive oil, andthe brightness of the herbs come together in a way that feels both simple and elevated. It’s the kind of dish that goes perfectly with aglass of wine or an ice-cold beer andsetsthe tone fora great meal.”

Michael Johnson n LSU ATHLETICS

Johnson, the executive chef of LSU Athletics, said he loves the arancine at Gino’s, adish he’sordered for threegenerationsfrom the Marino family.The appetizer is stuffed withground meat, sauce,

peas and parmigiano cheese.

“I’ve been knowntoreplace an actual entree by simply ordering multiplesofthe tasty little delights,” he said. “Never hasthe taste wavered nor the experience be anything less than the feeling of getting ahug from your grandma.”

Every bite makes him remember the first time he ever tried the dish, andhesayshebelievesthatattaching amemory to food is something special.

Jay Ducote n CHEF ANDCULINARYPERSONALITY

When it comes to appetizers, Ducote likes the wings fromDanny’s Dive Bar,chef Danny Wilson’s new venture.

“These whole jumbo wings are brined in sweet tea, smoked, then fried to order,” he wrote.“Choose your poison from their lineup of scratch-made sauces. From first bite to late night,

STAFF PHOTO By LAUREN CHERAMIE

Arancine from Gino’sinBaton Rouge

STAFFFILE PHOTOByTRAVIS SPRADLING

Chargrilledoysters are readiedfor

Mansurs on the Boulevard tent during the 2019 Baton Rouge Oyster Festival.

Lopez

Ducote

Reusingcards as placemats

Dear Heloise: Ihave ahint for reusing Christmas cards. When my children were young, we would take the Christmas cardsthat we had received, and they would cut out circles using awidemouthed canning ring. Then we would put them on clear contact paper and cut them to the size of aplace mat (overlapping them so that there was no space showing).Then we put on another layer of contact paper

ing how manywehave used in our over 50 years of marriage! Keepupthe great work. —LoisP., in Michigan’sUpperPeninsula

Arrive alive

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

The sensation salad with seared tunafrom Ruffino’s

and fun, Louisiana fall Saturday

—Joanna Brown, staff writer

Loaded burger

n Solera

—Restaurant and Wine Bar,at4205 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge

Hints from Heloise

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’samaz-

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 —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 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 Sendahinttoheloise@ heloise.com.

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 feedingyou with thevery best

APPETIZER

Continued from page1D

these wings nevermiss.”

Scott Ricci

n DRAGO’S

As the managerofDrago’sinBaton Rouge, Ricci is around alot of oysters. He said they’re his love language.

“I’llconfess something that might get me in trouble,” Ricci said. “When Iam off the clockand out on the town, my guilty pleasure is thecharbroiled oysters from Mansurs on the Boulevard.” The oysters are asolid second to Drago’s, he said, but

BONVIVANT

Continued from page1D

Red Stick Spice Company and Martin’sWine and Spirits are partnering to offer a hands-on cooking class with

One busy Saturdaymorning, 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,

are his go-to when wanting to treat himself

Hue Tran

n BLUE STORE CHICKEN

Tran says her appetizer pickisthe Hawaiian seafood salad from Sushi Yama on Perkins Road. The di sh includes mango, asparagus, avocado,tomato, crab stick andassorted sashimigrade fishwith cilantro, lime juice, sea salt,whitetruffle oil, Sriracha chili, sesame seed andsmelt roe. “I always go there to eat this plate as an appetizer,”

wine pairings. Participants will learn about wine, food andhow theypairtocreate aflavorexperience.The menu includes oyster mushroom pinxto pairedwith Colome Torrontes, hot shrimp remoulade paired with Arca NovaVinho VerdeRosé and

The burger at Solera is loaded with all the good 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

Tran wrote. “It has avery good mixture taste of citrus and spicy to it.”

Brad Johnson n THE QUEEN BATONROUGE

Downtown at Blend,Johnsonenjoys the caprese flatbread.

He said the dish is asimple,shareable itemthatcan pair with anyglassofwine or cocktail. The ingredients, including mozzarella, basil, tomato andolive oil, are fresh, and it’stoasted to perfection on acrisp flatbread, “which makes it absolutely scrumptious.”

“The table-sided drizzle of balsamicgives it thestandouttouch,finishing it with a wonderfully fresh and bold flavor profile,” he said.

more. Ticketsare $165 per person, available for purchaseatredstickspice.com.

If you have an upcoming food event or akitchen question, emaillauren. cheramie@theadvocate. com. Cheers!

shock, leading people to put offorevengowithout care. Simply put—without dentalinsurance, there maybe an importantgap in your healthcare coverage.

Medicare doesn’t pay fordental care.

That’s right.Asgood as Medicare is, it wasnever meanttocover everything. That means if you wantprotection, youneed to purchase individualinsurance.

Early detection canprevent smallproblems from becoming expensive ones.

The best way to preventlarge dental bills is preventivecare. TheAmerican Dental Association recommends checkups twice ayear.

STAFF PHOTO By LAUREN CHERAMIE

STAFF PHOTO By JOANNA BROWN

The grits bowl with an eggand bacon from Scratch Farm Kitchen in Lafayette

Tran

Usehumor to shoo colleagues outofoffice

Dear Miss Manners: As part of my job as anews reporter, Ispend agreat deal of time on the telephone. The conversations Ihave requirea lot of concentration. Often, Ihave been waiting all day to hear from someone and am up against astrict deadline when he or she finally calls. Imust answer when the phone rings. Many times, other members of the staff tend to congregate in my officeand chat —sometimes including me in the conversation, and other times just gathering and talking near the fax machine, which happens to be in my office. When the phone rings and Ibegin talking, my coworkers do not decrease the volume of theirown conversations (which are not professional in nature) and do not leave the room Iamleft stuttering on the phone and unable to focus on what Iamhearing. How should Ihandle this situation? Most of the time it is impossible to ask the person to hold on while I request that my co-workers keep it down. And unfortunately,mypiercing glare hasn’tbeen very successful in stopping the problem. Gentle reader: Makethree

signs that you can hold up when gettingonthe phone.The first reads, “Quiet, Please. Important Source.” Thesecond says, “Quiet, Please. Less Important Source,But Still Need to Hear.” The last reads, “Quiet Please. None of Your Business.”

By The Associated Press

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

TODAYINHISTORY

traffic accident. In 1979, 11 people were killed in acrush of fans at Cincinnati’sRiverfront Coliseum,where the British rock group The Who wasperforming.

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

In addition to this —but equally important —Miss Manners recommends recruiting afellow reporter or two who are willingtohelp shoo people out when the sign goes up. These signs shouldbe used in order —and you can improvise after you’ve gone through the first three. Butdon’t maketoo many The idea istoamuse people enoughtoengage their sympathyasfellow reporters —but not so much that they make aspecial trip to see what you’llthink of next Dear Miss Manners: Iliketo entertain using vintage crystal glassware. But if theglasses are clinked together when doing atoast, they can easily break So how do Istop thetable or crowd from doingwhat seems like such anatural, warm gesture?

Ioften find myself holdingmybreath and joining

in, as Ihate to kill joy at my own party,even at the expense of expensive crystal! Luckily,almost any piece can be replaced these days, but couldn’tyou find away for me to save these gorgeous glasses and horrified guests?

Gentlereader: If we use the crystal and, Miss Manners agrees, we cannot stop the toasting, thesolution is to separatethe two. The key to doing this is multiple wines served at different stages of the meal that will, of necessity,require aswitch of glassware. At whatever time toasts are likely to be made—presumably toward the end of the meal —put out the glassware you can sacrifice without tears. Ahasty guest who tries to toast too early can be asked with asmile if they would not mindwaiting. (Miss Manners realizes this solution presumes you are hosting aformal dinner party, but this seemed like a safe assumption.)

Send questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners. com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail com; or through postal mailtoMiss Manners, Universal Uclick,1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

Friend doesn’twantto plan everygathering

Dear Harriette: My friend expects me to handle every single detail whenever we hang out: choosing the activity,making the reservations,checking hours and figuring out travel time. The moment we decide to do something, she defaults to, “You pick!” or “Just tell me where to go!” I’ve told her multiple times, in clear and honest ways, that Idon’tenjoy being the one in charge of all the planning every time. I’ve explained that it stressesmeout because I feel responsible for making sure everything goes smoothly,and it wouldreally help if we could take turns or at least decide things together.She laughs it off, says I’m “better at it” and continues to lean on me like it’smypermanent role in our friendship. At this point, hanging out sometimes feels less like spending time with afriend and more like coordinating an event for someone who won’tlift afinger to help. I love her and enjoy our time together,but I’m starting to feel taken for granted and mentally exhausted

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 who had died in a

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

In 1991, American hostage Alann Steen was freed by Shiite Muslim extremists in Lebanon. Steen was kidnapped from Beirut University College in January 1987. (He died in 2018.)

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.

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 successor Today’sbirthdays:

before we even meet up. I don’twanttobeharsh, but I don’tknowhow to make her understand that thisisn’t sustainable for me. How do Iget her to takemy feelingsseriously andstep upsoour friendship feels like an equal partnership, not aone-sided planning committee? —Step It Up Dear StepItUp: Be willingtohaveyour next adventure fail.

Tell heryou aren’t goingtoplan anything. Ask her to take the reins to makeithappen.Leaveeverythingtoher other than your agreed-upon time and placetomeet.Resistjumping in to makeanything happen. See if she rises to theoccasion. If she does not, address the disaster that youare facing.Tell her that ifshe is unwilling to do anything to make your activities together happen, you cannot continue to participate. Hopefully,thiswill gether to makeaneffort.

Dear Harriette: This entire yearhas been astruggle for me.I’m afreelancer,and business is down dramatically.Ican hardly pay my bills. Irarely talk about

it, but the holidays are approaching, and Icannot show up theway Iusually do withgiftsfor everyone. I barely have thecash to get to my hometown tobewith thefamily

The thingis, everyone thinksofmeasthe successful one, theone who moved to thebig city and madeit. Ihaven’tmade athing this year other than more debt How can Imanage expectationswith family without having to explain my situation?Ijust want tobewith them. Idon’twant to be interrogated —Lean Times

Dear Lean Times: Contact the member of your family you are closest to and explain your situation —atleast thekey points. Share that you are excited to see them, but you can’tplay Santa this year.Times are tight, and you just don’thave it. If you can, bring something for theyoung children in thefamily.Ifthat’s out of reach, don’tsweat that either.Your presence will certainly make your family happy.You have to be OK with that. Your attitude can serve as their guide.

Send questions to askharriette@ harriettecole.com.

Harriette Cole

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.

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

And erneSt

SALLY Forth

beetLe bAILeY

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon

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

Bridge

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.

©2025 by NEA,Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

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

yEstERDAy’s WoRD —cHRonIc

Can you find 30 or morewords in UNSEEING? chic chin chino choir choric cinch coin coir conch conic corn horn rhino rich noir nori icon inch inro iron

wuzzles

loCKhorNs

marmaduKe

Bizarro

hagar the horriBle

Pearls Before swiNe

garfield

B.C.

PiCKles

hidato

mallard fillmore

Louisianastate laws Afterthisperiod, records maynolongerbeavail‐able 165935-nov15-dec5-21t $3,277.89

p p thenext forty-five (45) days.The public is in‐vitedand encouraged to submit writtencom‐mentstothe Louisiana Department of Environ‐mental Quality, Office of theSecretary,Legal Divi‐sion,PostOffice Box 4302, BatonRouge Louisiana70821-4302, At‐tention: BrandonB Williams,Attorney.All commentswillbecon‐sideredbythe Depart‐ment of Environmental Qualityinreachinga de‐cision onwhether to make thesettlement final. Termsand conditions of theproposedsettlement agreementmay be re‐viewed on theDepart‐ment of Environmental Quality'swebsite at www.deq.louisiana.gov by selectingAbout LDEQ Enforcement, andSettle‐ments. Thedocument mayalsobeviewedat, andcopiesobtained from,the LouisianaDe‐partment of Environmen‐talQuality,Public RecordsCenter, Room 127, Galvez Building,602 NorthFifth Street,Baton Rouge, Louisiana70802. To requesta copy of the proposed settlement, submit acompleted Public Record Request Form (DEQ Form ISD0005-01).The form andin‐structions forcompletion maybefound on theDEQ Websiteatthe following address: http://deq.louisiana.gov/ assets/docs/General/Pub licRecordsRequestForm. pdf.orbycalling theCus‐tomerService Center at 1-866-896-5337. Pursuant to La.R.S 30:2050.7(D),the Depart‐ment of Environmental Qualitymay hold apublic hearingregarding this proposed settlement wheneitherofthe fol‐lowing conditions are ) i

g met: 1) awritten request forpublichearing has been filedbytwenty-five (25) persons, by agov‐ernmentalsubdivision or agency,orbyanassocia‐tion having notlessthan twenty-five (25) mem‐bers whoresideinthe

Qualityat(225) 219-3985. 168944 Dec. 3, 1t $369.95

cial

of Permitsand Compliance,P.O.Box 44487, BatonRouge,LA 70804-4487. Applications maybeinspectedduring b i h

Charles, CalcasieuParish C20250120 LDWF EnhancementofSouth Pass 49 Artificial Reef Offshore Louisiana SpecialPublicNoticeSection307 (c)(3)(B) of theCoastal Zone Man‐agementAct of 1972, as amended(CZMA), re‐quires that oiland gas explorationand develop‐ment in federalwatersof theOuter Continental Shelf(OCS) be conducted in amannerconsistent with Louisiana’sState andLocal CoastalRe‐sourcesManagementAct of 1978, as amended(La R.S. 49: 214.21-214.41), andthe regulationsof theLouisiana CoastalRe‐sourcesProgram (LCRP) TheCZMArequirespub‐licopportunity forcom‐ment on projects under review.Commentersmay review informationmade availablebythe Bureau of OceanEnergyMan‐agement(BOEM)and Bu‐reau of Safety andEnvi‐ronmentalEnforcement (BSEE) on specificOCS Plansat https://www.data.bsee. gov/Plans/Plans/Default aspx andfor pipelineapplica‐tionsat https://www.data.bsee. gov/Pipeline/PipelinePer mits/Default.aspx TheLouisiana Depart‐ment of Conservation andEnergy(OPC) re‐viewsExploration Plans andDevelopment Opera‐tion andCoordination

Documentssubmitted to theBOEM, andPipeline Rights of Waysubmitted to theBSEE, forprojects in OCSwatersoffshoreof Louisiana. Comments on theseplans aresolicited from anyinterested party. Plansmay be in‐spectedduringbusiness hoursat 617 N. 3rdSt. BatonRouge,LA. Send commentsto, Office of Permitsand Compliance Attn.M.Hogan, P. O. Box 44487, BatonRouge,LA, 70804, or to Mark Hogan@la.gov.Com‐mentsmustbereceived within 15 days of the date OPCreceivedthe applicationfromBOEM. Formoreinformation contactMarkHoganat (225) 219-9530 or (800) 267-4019. 168983 Dec. 3, 1t $35.78 g COUNCILtoshow cause whythe structureshould notbecondemned Date:Thursday,Decem‐ber11th, 2025 Time: 5:30pm Public hearings will be held at theWestBaton RougeParishGovern‐mental Building,880 N. Alexander, Port Allen, LA 70767

NOTICE WBRNOTICEOFPUBLIC HEARING: CONDEMNATION Pursuant to Parish Code Chapter109-42 “Derelict Structures”, thefollow‐ingpropertieshavebeen condemnedbythe Parish President. Address: 1RosedaleRd Owner: NishaNorthern LegalDescription:LOT 5 MURPHYTRINSQ5 OF THEBURBRIDGE TR 52A27 CB46 E47 APUBLIC HEARINGwill be held by theWest BatonRouge PARISH COUNCILtoratifythe condemnationorder.The ownerofthe structure mayappeal thedecision of theParishPresident by appearingatthis meeting of thePARISH h PUBLIC NOTICE NOTICE OF OPPORTUNITY FORPUBLIC COMMENT ON PROPOSED SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTBETWEEN THELOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITYAND CINTAS CORPORATIONNO. 2 TheLouisiana Depart‐ment of Environmental Qualityand Cintas Cor‐poration No.2 (Respon‐dent), Agency Interest Number 120567, have en‐teredintoa proposed settlement agreement, Settlement Tracking No SA-AE-25-0058, concern‐ingthe State'sallega‐tionsofenvironmental violations by Respondent at itsfacilityinEast BatonRouge Parish Louisiana, whichallega‐tionsare

stockLaw (Article III,

APUBLIC HEARINGwill be held by theWest BatonRouge PARISH COUNCILtoratifythe condemnation order. The ownerofthe structure mayappeal thedecision of theParishPresident by appearingatthis meetingofthe PARISH COUNCILtoshowcause