ABOVE: Aman lights acandle on themenorah on Sunday duringthe MenorahLighting ceremony at SpanishPlazainNew Orleans. TheHanukkah menorahsignifies themiracle of oil that burned for eight days and is lit each night for eight nights
ABOVELEFT: Aman pins arose to asmall cardboard menorah in commemoration of survivors of antisemitism.
ABOVERIGHT: Amother and daughter huddle together in the cold during the ceremony.
Chiefjustice’s bidtoreducejudges’ payrejected
Weimer says total compensation needstobemore transparent
BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer
Chief Justice John Weimer has lostanother battle in his lonely crusade to hold down judicial pay Astate entity known as the Judicial Compensation Commission rejectedWeimer’sarguments last week, instead voting overwhelmingly to recommend
apay raise of at least $25,000 next year for judges.Louisiana Supreme Court judges currently earn $195,000 per year, while trial judges make $176,000 It marked the latest defeat for Weimer in his yearslongefforttosave taxpayers moneyby paying judgesless.
Weimer’s campaign haswon him few fans among judges or among the other six justicesof the state Supreme Court.
in the overall state budget.
But he is offering no sign that he’s giving up, even though other judges say he is tilting at windmills, andthe amount of money at stake is equivalent to pennies
“The pennies becomedollars, and the dollars become millions over aperiod of time,” Weimer told members of thecompensationcommittee, in countering the judges’ view In an interviewafterward, Weimer said, “I’m attemptingtoapply the disinfectant of sunshine on how judges are beingpaid beyond their salaries so thepublic can have atrue picture.”
Weimer’srole as chief justice —aposition he hasheld since January 2021 as thelongestserving member on thehigh court —means he’sthe top judge
in Louisiana. So critics are loath to speak out against him. Butother judges andjustices do challenge him in public meetings. “Why nothave ajudiciary that is paid ajust compensation?” associate Supreme Court Justice John Michael Guidry told the compensation commission in asking themtoreject Weimer’s frugal view.“Judges arenot coming here tryingtoget anything other than something that’salivable, affordable wage for what they do. They could be making awhole lot more money in the privatepractice of law.”
Despite Mayor-elect Helena Moreno’scampaign promises to beef up city services, her proposed $1.6 billion budget for the city of NewOrleans makes it clear thatthe beleagueredpublic works departmentnextyear will remain as depleted as ever As acandidate, Moreno was consistent in herpositionthatthere wasnobigger problem facing New Orleans than the deplorable condition of its streets and other infrastructure, and the city’schronic failuresin maintaining them “And that’swhy within my first 100 days of office, my main focus is to get our city services right and to get them back,” Moreno said during atelevised debate in September.“Making sure that our street lights stay on, that our traffic lights stay on, that we get areal street maintenance program.” Moreno promised to hire 100new city maintenanceworkers, akey step toward bringing New Orleans in line
Abudget deficit that suddenly materialized. Complaints that his predecessor hid the problem An unappetizing set of choices to balance the budgetbyeithercutting government benefits or raising taxes and fees —orsomecombination of the two. Warnings that the government would run out of money without immediate action. That’sthe dire situation that Buddy Roemer inherited when he waselected governor in 1987. The steps he took to stop the financial hemorrhaging in Louisiana holdlessonstoday,because Mayor-elect Helena Moreno is grappling with asimilar situation now in New Orleans.
Weimer
STAFF PHOTOSByENAN CHEDIAK
BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS
BROWN UNIVERSITY
China warns against Japanese
militarism
China warned against a return of Japanese militarism at a memorial ceremony Saturday honoring victims of a wartime massacre, while refraining from directly criticizing Japan’s leader amid escalating tensions between the two nations
Speaking at a ceremony in Nanjing, Politburo member Shi Taifeng recounted the violence of the Japanese capture of the city in December 1937. He said that under the leadership of the Communist Party, China had then beaten the invaders and become a great nation.
Shi, who heads the party’s powerful organization department, also said that any attempt to revive “militarism” and undermine the postwar order would fail. While he didn’t mention Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi by name, that’s likely a reference to the view in China that her push for stronger national defense reflects a desire to revive the country’s past militarist policies
“History has proven and will continue to prove that any attempt to revive militarism, challenge the postwar international order and undermine world peace and stability is doomed to failure,” said Shi at the gathering of about 8,000 people.
This year is the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, with Beijing hosting a mass military parade in September to celebrate Japan’s defeat and exit from the continent.
China claims that 300,000 people were killed after the fall of Nanjing, which was the capital of the Republic of China. That claim for the number of dead is disputed by some historians.
Flight near Venezuela avoids ‘midair collision’
WASHINGTON A JetBlue flight from the small Caribbean nation of Curaçao halted its ascent to avoid colliding with a U.S. Air Force refueling tanker on Friday, and the pilot blamed the military plane for crossing his path.
“We almost had a midair collision up here,” the JetBlue pilot said, according to a recording of his conversation with air traffic control. “They passed directly in our flight path. They don’t have their transponder turned on, it’s outrageous.”
The incident involved JetBlue Flight 1112 from Curaçao which is just off the coast of Venezuela, en route to New York City It comes as the U.S. military has stepped up its drug interdiction activities in the Caribbean and is also seeking to increase pressure on Venezuela’s government.
“We just had traffic pass directly in front of us within 5 miles of us — maybe 2 or 3 miles — but it was an air-to airrefueler from the United States Air Force and he was at our altitude,” the pilot said. “We had to stop our climb.” The pilot said the Air Force plane then headed into Venezuelan air space. The Pentagon referred The Associated Press to the Air Force for comment. The Air Force didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Schumer announces split with husband
Person of interest detained in shooting
BY KIMBERLEE KRUESI, AMANDA SWINHART and HOLLY RAMER Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A person of interest was in custody Sunday after a shooting during final exams at Brown University that killed two students and wounded nine others, though key questions remained unanswered nearly 24 hours after the attack
The attack Saturday afternoon set off hours of chaos across the Ivy League campus and surrounding Providence neighborhoods as hundreds of officers searched for the shooter and urged students and staff to shelter in place.
The lockdown, which stretched into the night, was lifted early Sunday, but authorities had not yet released information about a potential motive.
Col. Oscar Perez, the Providence police chief, said Sunday afternoon that the person in custody was in their 20s and that no one has been charged yet Perez, who previously said the person was in their 30s and that no one else was being sought, declined to say whether the detained person had any connection to Brown.
The person was taken into custody at a Hampton Inn hotel in Coventry, Rhode Island, about 20 miles from Providence, where police officers and FBI agents remained Sunday, blocking off a hallway with crime scene tape as they searched the area.
The shooting occurred as final exams were underway Brown canceled all remaining classes, exams, papers and projects for the semester and told students they could leave campus, underscoring the scale of the disruption and the gravity of the attack.
As police scoured the area for the shooter, many students remained barricaded in rooms while others hid behind furniture and bookshelves. One video showed students in a library shaking and wincing as they heard loud bangs just before police entered the room to clear the building.
College President Christina Paxson teared up while describing her conversations with students both on campus and in the hospital.
“They are amazing and they’re supporting each other,” she said at a news conference. “There’s just a
lot of gratitude.”
The gunman opened fire inside a classroom in the engineering building, firing more than 40 rounds from a 9 mm handgun, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. Two handguns were recovered when the person of interest was taken into custody and authorities also found two loaded 30-round magazines, the official said. One of the firearms was equipped with a laser sight that projects a dot to aid in targeting, said the official, who was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke to AP on the condition of anonymity
One student of the nine wounded students had been released from the hospital, said Paxson. Seven others were in critical but stable condition, and one was in critical condition.
Durham Academy, a private K-12 school in Durham, North Carolina, confirmed that a recent graduate, Kendall Turner was critically wounded. The school said her parents were with her Providence leaders said residents would notice a heavier police presence, and many area businesses announced Sunday that they would remain closed. A scheduled 5K run was postponed for a week.
Mayor Brett Smiley said he visited some wounded students and was inspired by their courage, hope and gratitude. One told him that active shooting drills done in
high school proved helpful.
“The resilience that these survivors showed and shared with me, is frankly pretty overwhelming,” he said. “We’re all saddened, scared, tired, but what they’ve been through is something different entirely.”
Investigators were not immediately sure how the shooter got inside the first-floor classroom at the Barus & Holley building, a seven-story complex that houses the School of Engineering and physics department. The building includes more than 100 laboratories, dozens of classrooms and offices, according to the university’s website.
Emma Ferraro, a chemical engineering student, was in the lobby working on a final project when she heard loud pops. Once she realized they were gunshots, she darted for the door and into a nearby building where she waited for hours.
Eva Erickson, a doctoral candidate who was the runner-up earlier this year on the CBS reality competition show “Survivor,” said she left her lab in the engineering building 15 minutes before shots rang out.
The engineering and thermal science student shared candid moments on “Survivor” as the show’s first openly autistic contestant. She was locked down in the campus gym following the shooting and shared on social media that the only other member of her lab who was present was safely evacuated.
Hamas confirms death of top commander
By The Associated Press
JERUSALEM Hamas on Sunday confirmed the death of a top commander in Gaza, a day after Israel said it had killed Raed Saad in a strike outside Gaza City
The Hamas statement described Saad as the commander of its military manufacturing unit. Israel had described him as an architect of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war in Gaza, and asserted that he had been “engaged in rebuilding the terrorist organization” in a violation of the ceasefire that took effect two months ago.
Israel said it killed Saad after an explosive device detonated and wounded two soldiers in the territory’s south.
Hamas also said it had named a new commander but did not give details, adding that it had the right to “respond to the occupation’s aggression.”
The strike on Saturday west of Gaza City killed four people, according to an Associated Press journalist who saw their bodies arrive at Shifa Hospital. Another three were wounded, according to Al-Awda hospital. Hamas in its initial statement described the vehicle struck as a civilian one.
Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused each other of truce violations.
Israeli airstrikes and shootings in Gaza have killed at least 391 Palestinians since the ceasefire took hold, according to Palestinian health officials. Israel has said recent strikes are in retaliation for militant attacks against its soldiers, and that troops have fired on Palestinians who approached the “Yellow Line” between the Israeli-controlled majority of Gaza and the rest of the territory
On Sunday, Israel’s military said it had killed a “terrorist” who crossed the line and approached troops in Gaza.
Israel has demanded that militants return the remains of the final hostage from Gaza and called it a condition of moving to the second and more complicated phase of the ceasefire That lays out a vision for ending Hamas’ rule and seeing the rebuilding of a demilitarized Gaza under international supervision
Comedian Amy Schumer says she and her husband, chef Chris Fischer, have decided to end their marriage Schumer, an actress, author and writer, announced the planned split in a social media post on Friday
Schumer
“Blah blah blah Chris and I have made the difficult decision to end our marriage after 7 years,” Schumer wrote. “We love each other very much and will continue to focus on raising our son. We would appreciate people respecting our privacy at this time. Amicable and all love and respect! Family forever.” Schumer and Fischer were married in February 2018 in Malibu, California. Their son was born in May 2019.
The two starred together in the Food Network show “Amy Schumer Learns to Cook” and the HBO miniseries “Expecting Amy” that documented her difficult pregnancy
Storm drops heavy snow in Northeast
By The Associated Press
A weekend storm sent temperatures plunging well below zero in the Midwest and dumped heavy snow on parts of the Northeast on Sunday, creating many airport delays and slick roads as the Pacific Northwest braced for more rain after days of flooding and mudslides.
The storm began Saturday and brought up to several inches of snow in the New York-New Jersey metro area, the region’s first significant snowfall of the season. Light snow fell over parts of New England. The storm was expected to weaken by Sunday night, followed by arctic conditions with overnight windchill temperatures at or plummeting below zero degrees.
Crews and contractors were out plowing and treating roads in New Jersey, where the state Department of Transportation advised people to avoid unnecessary travel. Salt spreaders and plows
worked overnight to clear snow from roads and bike lanes, the New York City Department of Sanitation posted online. Pennsylvania temporarily reduced speed limits on interstates to 45 mph.
There were over 1,000 flights delayed and more than 100 cancellations at U.S. airports due to the weather, according to the flight tracking site FlightAware.
Meanwhile, a blast of arctic air swept south from Canada and into parts of the northern U.S The National Weather Service in Chanhassen, Minnesota, said Sunday was the coldest morning of the season so far It was minus 10 at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, with temperatures as low as minus 22 in some communities.
In the Pacific Northwest, which has seen catastrophic flooding that has forced thousands of people to evacuate, more rain and wind was expected in the region as early as late Sunday forecasters said.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By STEVEN SENNE
A bouquet of flowers rests on snow Sunday on the campus of Brown University in Providence, R.I., not far from where a shooting took place Saturday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ADAM
Attack on Australian Hanukkah eventkills 15
Authorities sayfather,
BY KRISTEN GELINEAU, CHARLOTTE GRAHAM-McLAY and RODMcGUIRK Associated Press
SYDNEY Twogunmen opened fire during aHanukkahcelebrationonSydney’s Bondi Beach, killing 15 people, including achild, officials said Monday,inwhat Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called an act of antisemitic terrorism that struck at the heart of the nation. The shooters were father and son, authorities said.
The massacreatone of Australia’smost popular beaches followed awave of antisemitic attacks that have roiled the country over the past year,although the authorities didn’tsuggestthose and theshooting Sunday were connected. It was the deadliest shooting in almost three decades in acountry with strict gun control laws.
One gunman, a50-year-old man, was fatally shot by police. The other shooter,his 24-year-old son, was wounded and was being treated at ahospital, said MalLanyon, New South Wales police commissioner Police saidone gunman was known to security services, butLanyonsaidauthorities had no indication of aplanned attack.
Those killed were between 10 and 87 years old, New South Wales Premier Chris Minnstoldreporters.At least 42 others were being
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Arunning dispute
Twomonths ago, Weimer also personally appeared before an obscure board called the JudicialSupplemental Compensation Fund, but he failed to sway its members into agreeing to pay the Supreme Court for the time its staff takes to administer the fund.
Thechair of thesupplemental compensation fund, district court Judge William Burris, interruptedWeimer three times as the chief justice was making his presentation before Burris added “everyone disagrees with your interpretation.”
Weimer said he was simply trying to fulfill his job obligations. Weimer also noted that Louisiana Legislative Auditor Mike Waguespacksided with him in saying that judges are required to reimburse theSupreme Court for the court’sstaff time in administering the fund.
At stakeisabout $50,000 per year.Paying this money would cost judges about $150 per year in salary and perhaps that much annually once retired.
Twoyears ago,Weimer went to the State Capitol to speak in favor of abillby
treated at hospitalsonMondaymorning, severalofthem in acritical condition.
“What we saw yesterday was an act of pure evil, an actofantisemitism, an act of terrorism on our shores in an iconic Australian location,Bondi Beach, that isassociated with joy,associated with families gathering, associated with celebrations,” Albanese said Monday
“It is forever tarnished by what has occurred.”
The violence erupted at the endofasummerday when thousands had flocked to Bondi Beach,anicon of Australia’s cultural life. They included hundredsgathered for the Chanukahbythe Sea event celebratingthe start of the eight-day Hanukkah festival
Thefestivities included face painting and apetting zoo. Then mayhem erupted. Chabad, an Orthodox Jewish movementthat runs outreach worldwide and spon-
stateRep. JeromeZeringue, R-Houma, that wouldhave reduced the $118 per diem that judges can claim as reimbursement forfood, lodging and other costs incurred while traveling. Weimer wantsjudges insteadtoaccept alower per diem set by the federal GeneralServices Administration.
Then-JusticeWill Crain and then-Justice James Genovese attended the hearing to oppose Weimer The chief justicedisclosed that day that hiscolleagues hadvoted 6-1toaccept the $118 per diem.
Zeringue endeddiscussion of hisbill before the committee took avote, knowing it would lose
Several committee members were confoundedthat the justices were disputing an issue that involved only $150,000 per year,orless than one-tenth of 1% of the judiciary’s $198millionannualbudget.
At the hearing, Weimer also disclosed that the justices opposed him6-1 on whether judges wouldhave to reimburse the Supreme Courtfor its staff’s workin administering the supplemental compensation fund. Should judges getaraise?
Weimer’smost recent effort occurredatthe State Capitol before the Judicial
sors events during major Jewish holidays, identified one of the dead as Rabbi Eli Schlanger,assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi andanorganizer of the event.
Israel’sForeign Ministry confirmed the death of an Israeli citizen, but gave no further details. French President Emmanuel Macron announced aFrench citizen, identifiedasDan Elkayam, was among those killed.
None of the victimshave been publicly named by Australian authorities. The gunmen haven’tbeen officially named either Butstoriesofthe victims began to emerge in local news outlets on Monday. LarisaKleytman told reporters outside St.Vincent’s Hospital that her husband, Alexander Kleytman, was amongthe dead, according to The Australiannewspaper The couple were both Holocaustsurvivors.
Compensation Commission, whichwas created by the Legislature in 1995 to provide recommendations to lawmakersonhow much they should raise judicial pay Beforethen, judges would besiege legislatorswithrequestsfor more pay without any objective standard, said EdwinMurray, then aDemocratic state House member from New Orleans whocurrently chairs the compensation commission. The commission typically meets every two years and receives apay raise recommendation from Loren Scott, aretired LSU economics professorwho now conducts economic analysis for public andprivate entities. Judges pay for Scott’sstudy,which Weimer contended creates a conflict of interest.
Scottalwaysfinds that judges need apay raise to keep up with inflation,and legislators thenhave increased those salaries every time but one in the past dozen years.
Scott’slatest analysis showed that pay raises in Louisiana have notkept pacewithinflationnationally since 1983, his baseline year.Nor have salaries kept pace with raises for judges in the neighboring states of Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi, Scottfound.
Police said emergency services were called about 6:45 p.m., responding to reports of shots being fired Videobyonlookersshowed people in bathingsuits running from thewater as shots rang out
Separate footageshowed twomen in blackshirtsfiring with long guns from a footbridge leading to the beach.One dramaticclip broadcast on Australian television showed aman appearing to tackle and disarm one gunman, beforepointing the man’sweapon at him, thensetting the gun on the ground.
Minns called the man, identified by relatives to Australian media as fruit shopownerAhmedal Ahmed,a“genuine hero.” ArsenOstrovsky,a lawyer attending the Hanukkah ceremonywithhis wife and daughters, was grazedinthe head by abullet.Ostrovsky said he moved fromIsrael to
To keep pace,Scott said, judgesshould receive apay hike from $27,409 to$25,414 nextyear,depending on their position, andanother $15,402 to $13,596 cumulatively over thefollowing three years.
Weimer questioned Scott’s figures, noting thatbecause he focusesonlyonsalaries, hisnumbers didn’tinclude one-time pay raises of about $15,000 peryear for each year that the Legislature awardedjudgesin2024 and in 2025. Stipends are nota permanent partofthe base salary,but theydoraise judges’ retirementpay which is based on theaverageoftheir highest three salaries andtheir length of service. Judgeswho serve 30 years receive their full judicial salary during retirement.
Weimer noted that,because the other justices voted to have the 2024 stipend paid outasalump sum, Genovese collected the full amount andleft before theyear ended to become presidentofNorthwestern State. Then-Justice Scott Crichton collected thefull amount of money but left the bench midway through thefiscal year when term limits forced himout of officeand didn’tworka full year.Those payments are increasing their retirement
Australia two weeks ago to workfor aJewish advocacy group.
“What Isaw today was pure evil, just an absolute bloodbath.Bodiesstrewn everywhere,” he told The Associated Press in an email from the hospital. “I never thoughtwould be possible here in Australia.”
LachlanMoran,32, from Melbourne, toldthe AP he was waiting for his family when he heard shots.
“I sprinted as quickly as I could,” Moran said. He said he heard shooting off and on for about five minutes. “Everyone just dropped all their possessions and everything and were running and peoplewere crying and it was just horrible.”
Albanese vowed the violence would be met with “a momentofnational unity where Australians across the board will embrace their fellow Australians of Jewish faith.”Some of his political opponents andIsrael’sgovernment accused him of not having doneenoughtoprevent such ahorror
Australia,acountry of 28 million people,ishome to about 117,000 Jews, according to officialfigures. Antisemitic incidents, including assaults, vandalism, threats and intimidation, surged more thanthreefoldinthe countryduring theyearafterHamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel launched awar on Hamas in Gaza in response, the government’sSpecial Envoyto Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal reported in July
Last year,the country was rocked by antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.Synagoguesand cars
pay by $5,000 and $2,500 per year,respectively,Weimer said.
The payment “equalized past due discrepancies in judicial salaries,” Crichton said in an interview.“That wasthe opinion of six associate justices and probably 98% of the judges.”
State Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Jonesboro, who chairs theHouse Appropriations Committee, said in an interview before last week’s hearing that legislators were reluctant to give apermanent payraise to judges recently because they were dragging their feet in providing the information fora study to determine whether some judgesdon’thave enough work. The results of that studymight lead legislators to take the controversial moveofshifting judgeships from onepartofthe state to another “How do you keep coming back recommending pay raises whenour population is declining and we have morejudges than surrounding states?” asked McFarland.
Only one memberofthe compensation commission raisedthattype of question last week. It camefromJ.R. Ball, aformer executive editor of theBaton Rouge Business Report, who was appointedtohis position by
weretorched, businesses and homes graffitied and Jews attacked in those cities, where 85% of the nation’sJewish population lives.
Albanese in August blamed Iran for two of the attacks and cut diplomatic tiesto Tehran. Israel urged Australia’s government to address crimes targeting Jews. PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahu saidhewarned Australia’sleaders months ago about the dangers of failing to take actionagainst antisemitism. He claimed Australia’sdecision —inline with scores of other countries— to recognize aPalestinian state “pours fuel on the antisemitic fire.”
“Your government did nothing to stop the spread of antisemitism in Australia and the resultisthe horrific attacks on Jews we saw today,” Netanyahu said. Authorities were notlooking for anyone else in connectionwiththe massacre, said Lanyon. Police pledged a“thorough” investigation, he added. Further inquiries are likely to be announced.
Twoimprovised explosive devices were found at the scene. Bomb disposal experts rendered them safe. Lanyon described them as “rudimentary”devices that would have been detonated by awick rather than aphone or electronically Minns said therewould “almost certainly” be gunlaw changesafter themassacre. The 50-year-old gunman who wasshot dead was found to have six firearms when law enforcementraided the property wherehe’dbeen staying, police said.
Weimer.
Ball questioned why the commission waslooking only at salaries andnot totalcompensation. He noted that raising judges’ pay would cost taxpayers even more because it would mean higher retirement pay for judges. “Ultimately, it’s thetaxpayers of the state that bear the financial burden of when these things get enacted,” Ball said.
Murray then noted state law calls for sheriffs and some parish presidents to automatically receive pay increases whenjudgescollect more. Ball offereda motion to have the commission approve the pay raises recommended by Scottbut alsoto require judges to take the lower perdiemamounts set by the General Services Administration. No other commission membersupported Ball. The commission thenapproved Scott’spay raisefigures, with only Ball dissenting. As the meeting wasending, state Rep.DixonMcMakin, R-Baton Rouge and acommissionmember,said he hopedthe group never meets again,indicatinghe will file legislation to give judges automatic pay increases based on inflation projections.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MARK BAKER
Ultra-conservative candidatewinsinChile
BY ISABEL DEBRE and NAYARA BATSCHKE Associated Press
SANTIAGO,Chile Ultra-con-
servative José Antonio Kast secured athumping victory in Chile’spresidential run-
off election Sunday, defeating the candidate of the leftist governing coalition andsetting the stage for the country’s most right-wing government in 35 yearsofdemocracy With over 95% of thevotecounted Kast won more than 58% of the votes as Chilean voters overwhelminglyembraced his pledge to crack down on increased crime, deport hundreds of thousandsofimmigrants without legal statusand revive thesluggish economy of one of Latin America’s most stable and prosperous nations.
who served as leftist President Gabriel Boric’s popular labor minister, had just over 41% support.
“Democracy spoke loud and clear,” Jara wrote on social media, saying that she called Kast to concede defeat and congratulate him on hissuccessfulcampaign.
Hischallenger, communist candidate Jeannette Jara
Kast’ssupporters eruptedintocheers in thestreet,shouting his name and honking car horns His campaign spokesman, Arturo Squella,declared victory from the party headquarters in Chile’scapital of Santiago.
“Weare very proud of theworkwe’ve done,” he told reporters. “Wefeel very responsible for this tremendous challenge of takingcharge of thecrises that Chile is going through.”
Kast’selection represents the latest in astring of votes that have turfed outincumbent governments across
Latin America, vaulting mainly right-wingleaders to power from Argentina to Bolivia.
On thesurface, thetwo candidates in this tense presidential runoff could not
have been moredifferent, fundamentally disagreeing on weightymatters of the economy,social issues and thevery purpose of government.
Alifelong member of
Chile’sCommunist Party who pioneered significant social welfare measures in Boric’s government and hails from aworkingclass family that protested against the1973-90 military
dictatorship, Jara was adramatic foil to her rival. Kast, in contrast, is adevout Catholic and father of nine whose German-born father wasaregistered member of Adolf Hitler’sNaziparty and whosebrother served in the dictatorship.Hehad previously struggled to win over moderate voters in two failed presidentialbids. His moral conservatism, including fierceopposition to same-sex marriage and abortion without exception, hadbeen rejected by many in the increasingly socially liberal country.The admiration he has expressed for the bloody military dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet also sparkedwidespread condemnationinhis campaign against President Boric four years ago. Butinthe past fewyears fearsaboutuncontrolledmigration and organized crime have roiled the country Enthusiasm for ahardline approach to crimespread, dominating the election and boosting Kast’slaw-and-order platform.
Attacker in Syriawas recent recruittosecurityforces
BY ABBY SEWELL Associated Press
BEIRUT Aman whocarried out an attack in Syria that killed three U.S.citizens had joined Syria’sinternal security forces as abase security guard two months earlier and was recently reassigned amid suspicions that he might be affiliated with the Islamic State group, aSyrian officialtold The Associated Press Sunday
The attack Saturday in the Syrian desert nearthe historic city of Palmyra killed two U.S. service members and one American civilian andwounded three others. It also woundedthree members of the Syrian security
Al-Baba said that Syria’s new authorities had faced shortages in security personnel and hadtorecruit rapidlyafter the unexpected success of arebel offensive last year that intended to capture thenorthern cityof Aleppo but ended up overthrowing the government of former President Bashar Assad.
“Wewere shocked that in 11 days we tookall of Syria and that put ahugeresponsibility in front of us from the security and administration sides,” he said. Theattacker was among
5,000 memberswho recently joined anew divisionin the internal securityforces formed in the desert region known as the Badiya, one of the placeswhere remnants of the Islamic State extremist group have remained active.
Al-Baba said the internal securityforces’leadership had recently become suspicious that there was an infiltrator leaking information to IS and began evaluating all membersin theBadiya area. The probe raised suspicions lastweek about the manwho later carried out theattack,but officials decided to continue monitoring him for afew days to try
to determine if he was an active member of IS and to identify the network he was communicating withifso, alBaba said. He did not name theattacker At thesame time, as a “precautionary measure,” he said,the manwas reassigned to guard equipment at thebase at alocation wherehewould be farther from theleadership and from any patrols by U.S.-led coalition forces.
On Saturday,the man stormed ameetingbetween U.S. andSyrian security officials who were having lunch together andopened fireafter clashing with Syrian guards,al-Baba said. The attacker was shot and killed
at the scene.
Al-Baba acknowledged that the incident was“amajor security breach” but said that in the year sinceAssad’s fall “therehavebeenmany moresuccesses than failures” by security forces.
In the wake of the shooting, he said, the Syrian army andinternalsecurity forces “launchedwide-ranging sweeps of the Badiya region” and broke up anumber of alleged IS cells. The interior ministry said in a statement later that five suspectswerearrestedin the city of Palmyra.
The U.S. has had forces on the ground in Syria for over adecade, with astated missionoffighting IS, with
about 900 troops present there today Before Assad’souster, Washingtonhad no diplomatic relations with Damascusand the U.S. military did not work directly with the Syrian army. Its main partneratthe time was the Kurdish-led SyrianDemocratic Forces in the country’snortheast. That has changed over the past year.Tieshave warmed between the administrations of U.S. President Donald Trump and Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, the former leader of an Islamist insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Shamthatused to be listed by Washington as aterrorist organization.
Zelenskyyoffersto drop NATO bidbut refusestocedeterritory
BY STEFANIE DAZIO and CLAUDIA CIOBANU Associated Press
BERLIN Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday voiced readiness to drop his country’sbid to join NATO in exchange for Western security guarantees, but rejected the U.S. push for ceding territory to Russia as he held talks with U.S. envoys on ending the war Zelenskyy sat down with U.S. President Donald Trump’sspecial envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law JaredKushner
The Ukrainian leader posted pictures of the negotiating table with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz sitting next to him facing the U.S. delegation. Respondingtojournalists’ questions in audio clips on aWhatsApp group chat before the talks, Zelenskyy said that since the U.S. and some European nations had rejected Ukraine’spush to join NATO, Kyiv expects the West to offer aset of guarantees similar to those offered to the alliance members
“These security guarantees are an opportunityto prevent another wave of Russian aggression,”he said. “And this is alreadya compromise on our part.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has castUkraine’s bid to join NATO as amajor
threat to Moscow’ssecurity and areason forlaunching the full-scale invasion in February 2022. TheKremlin hasdemandedthatUkraine renounce the bid for the alliance membership as part of any prospective peace settlement.
Zelenskyyemphasized thatany security assurances would need to belegally binding andsupported by theU.S.Congress, adding that he expected an update from histeam following a meetingbetween Ukrainian and U.S.military officials in Stuttgart, Germany
TheU.S. government said in asocial media postonWitkoff’s account after the fivehour meeting that“alot of progress wasmade.”
Washingtonhas tried for months to navigate thedemands ofeach side as Trump pressesfor aswift end to Russia’swar and grows increasingly exasperated by delays. The search for possiblecompromises hasrun into major obstacles, includingcontrol of Ukraine’seastern Donetsk region, which is mostly occupied by Russian forces.
Putin wants Ukraineto withdrawits forces from the part of theDonetsk region still under its control among the key conditions for peace, ademandrejected byKyiv Zelenskyysaid that the U.S.had floated an idea for Ukrainetowithdraw from
theDonetsk and create ademilitarizedfree economic zone there, aproposal he rejected as unworkable.
“I do notconsiderthis fair,because who will manage this economic zone?” he said. “If Ukrainian troops withdraw 5-10 kilometers then whydoRussian troops not withdraw deeper intothe occupied territoriesbythe samedistance?”
Zelenskyy described the issue as “very sensitive” and insisted on afreeze along theline of contact, saying that“today afair possible option is we stand where we stand.”
Putin’sforeign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov told thebusiness daily Kommersant that Russian police and national guardwould stay in parts of the Donetskregioneveniftheybecome a demilitarized zone under a prospective peace plan.
Ushakovwarnedthata search for compromise could take along time, noting that the U.S.proposals thattook into account Russian demands had been “worsened” by alterations proposed by Ukraine and its European allies.
Speaking to Russianstate TV in remarks broadcast Sunday, Ushakov said that “the contributionofUkrainians and Europeans to these documentsisunlikely to be constructive,” warning that Moscow will “have very
strong objections.”
Ushakov added that the territorial issuewas actively discussed in Moscow when Witkoffand Kushner met with Putin earlier this month. “The Americans know and understand our position,” he said. Merz, who hasspearhead-
ed European efforts to support Ukraine alongside Macron and U.K. Prime Minister KeirStarmer,said Saturday that “the decades of the ‘Pax Americana’ are largely over for us in Europe and for us in Germany as well.”
He warned that Putin’saim is “a fundamental change to the borders in Europe, the restorationofthe old Soviet Union within its borders.” “IfUkraine falls,hewon’t stop,” Merz warnedonSaturday during aparty conference in Munich. Putin has denied plans to restore the Soviet Unionor attack any European allies.
Jara
WORKS
with other cities that don’t struggle as mightily with routine tasks, like repairing traffic lights or filling potholes.
But based on her budget, that’s not happening any time soon. Moreno’s budget proposal includes a 29% cut to the public works department. That budget was approved by the New Orleans City Council on Dec 1, before it was vetoed by Mayor LaToya Cantrell on Friday That means parts of it could still change, though Cantrell didn’t mention public works in her statement explaining her veto.
A representative for Moreno said the cut to public works would merely accounts for the removal of the department’s parking enforcement staff who Moreno is shifting under the purview of the New Orleans Police Department — and that the public works maintenance division isn’t being cut. But there are no budgeted staffing increases, either
That’s the case for most of the city, as Moreno and her team have said reductions and furloughs are necessary to fend off what would have been a roughly $220 million deficit in 2026.
Still, a couple of departments saw a boost under Moreno’s proposal, including the Department of Safety and Permits with a 16% increase, another target for reforms frequently mentioned by Moreno on the campaign trail. The police fire, emergency medical services, sanitation and recreation departments each had their budgets increase or remain roughly the same.
Moreno’s transition staff didn’t respond to detailed
LESSONS
Like Roemer, Moreno is facing a monumental budget crisis on two levels. Not only must she solve a longterm deficit, which will take two or three years, she has had to scramble in the short term to find the money to pay employees and fulfill public contracts. When Roemer was elected in October 1987, he and his top advisers were shocked to be told the next day that the state would run out of money by the time he took office in March. At Roemer’s behest, the outgoing governor, Edwin Edwards, took the unprecedented step of ceding control of the budget to him. Within days, Gov.-elect Roemer began putting together plans to cut spending, raise taxes and borrow money to stanch the bleeding. Moreno, shortly after being elected mayor in New Orleans last month, worked with the New Orleans City Council and state leaders to secure a $125 million loan to allow the city to pay employees and vendors. With outgoing Mayor LaToya Cantrell playing a bystand-
questions about her budget priorities and declined to make Moreno available for an interview
When Moreno unveiled her budget on Nov 30, she acknowledged her campaign promise to hire 100 new maintenance workers. But she still hasn’t said how she plans to do so.
“Right now, we’re outsourcing that to different contractors, and it’s projected that that’s several million dollars extra that we’re spending every year,” Moreno said at the time. “As I scale back the contracts, I’ll build up that workforce.”
er role, Moreno and the City Council approved a reduced budget for next year that includes $150 million in spending cuts to City Hall departments and once-perpay-period furloughs for 14% of the city’s workforce, roughly 700 employees.
Roemer served as the state’s de facto leader before taking office, much as Moreno is doing in New Orleans now “The parallels are pretty direct,” said Steve Cochran, then a top aide to Roemer who went on to work for a variety of environmental organizations.
A sudden budget crisis
Roemer was a fourth-term congressman from Bossier City/Shreveport when he mounted a long-shot campaign to knock off Edwards, who was completing his third term and running for reelection. But Edwards was weakened by corruption scandals and a sharp drop in oil prices that caused jobs and tax revenue to disappear. Two other congressmen and the secretary of state also challenged Edwards.
Roemer was running last until he caught fire late in the campaign with a straighttalking message that played well on TV where he prom-
The need for workers
Few American cities fail more dramatically at maintaining their streets and other infrastructure than New Orleans does.
The Times-Picayune reported in 2024 that it takes the city, on average, nearly a full year to fill a single pothole upon a citizen’s request. Other similarly sized cities can do it within a week or two. Over the last decade, the number of potholes filled annually in New Orleans fell by 35%, the newspaper
ised to end politics as usual, “slay the dragon” (Edwards) and undertake what he called the “Roemer Revolution.”
Roemer ran first on the night of the election. Edwards finished second and announced at 1:30 a.m. that night that he wouldn’t compete in the runoff.
Roemer was suddenly governor Len Sanderson, who now had the responsibility of overseeing Roemer’s transition, met the next day with one of Edwards’ top aides, who said “that the state may go broke, that the state was in worse shape than they had been saying publicly.”
The governor-elect’s first decision was to determine whether he should tackle the budget problem immediately
“A lot of the political voices said, ‘Roemer, stay out of it. It’s Edwin’s problem He’ll own it. Don’t touch this. You didn’t do this,’” Cochran recalled. “Roemer, to his moral and political credit, said, ‘I can’t do that. We’re going to see what we can do to get involved.’”
Roemer got Edwards to agree to hire a business executive named Brian Kendrick to serve as the commissioner of administration, the state’s top budget offi-
found. The number of streetlight outages restored each year fell by 84%. The problems largely come down to staffing, which Moreno has previously acknowledged.
The public works department is responsible for more than 1,500 miles of streets, yet it is down to just one pothole crew In the mid’90s though the city had far less money, the department spent roughly twice as much on its personnel as it does today and employed six times as many maintenance workers.
Public Works Director
cial Kendrick immediately required his approval for any contract worth at least $25,000.
“He said it was like forcing all state spending through a funnel,” Cochran said. “The biggest concern was Edwin letting contracts to his friends on his way out. Brian did a great job.”
Several weeks later, Roemer called for closing the governor’s New Orleans office, shuttering nine driver’s license offices selling two state airplanes and requiring wardens who lived rent-free on prison grounds to begin paying $300 per month. In January 1988, still two months before he would take office, Roemer called for closing 135 of the 760 beds at Charity Hospital in New Orleans.
The following month, Standard & Poor’s dropped Louisiana’s bond rating to the lowest in the country
“It was rough. I mean, it was rough,” said Robert Adley, then a state representative from Bossier Parish who chaired the House Appropriations Committee when Roemer became governor ‘Least fun transition’
Roemer took office on March 14 and called the Legislature into an immediate
Clinton “Rick” Hathaway, who took office in 2023, has said he’d like to have around 200 maintenance workers in the field, around a tenfold increase from current staffing levels.
The city has made some strides under Hathaway. The City Council last December agreed to transfer control of the city’s roughly 72,000 catch basins to the Sewerage and Water Board, relieving Hathaway’s strapped department of an enormous maintenance responsibility
And in October, Hathaway’s department unveiled a new system for scheduling
special session.
After a weeklong session, Roemer had the authority over the next 90 days to cut spending, eliminate entire programs, delay payments of state obligations until the next fiscal year, raise fees for state services and borrow $300 million.
Roemer said he would use his new powers judiciously and “with compassion.”
The Legislature also created a new state agency to refinance $1.3 billion in debts with proceeds from making purchases of certain goods subject to sales taxes.
With additional special sessions Roemer and legislators eventually eliminated the budget deficit. But it became increasingly difficult for Roemer to get lawmakers to agree to make hard decisions.
“We kept driving, thinking we could pull people along with us,” Cochran said. “But we wore people out.”
Stung by a series of missteps, Roemer finished third when he ran for reelection in 1991. Edwards won their rematch, with then-state Rep. David Duke, R-Metairie, a former grand wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, finishing second.
Looking back, Sanderson described Roemer’s time as
repairs, handling service requests and tracking inspections for the city’s more than 54,000 streetlights and traffic signals. That move came after the New Orleans Office of Inspector General criticized the department for failing to timely respond to traffic light outages, which the department has relied on contractors to fix.
Money for streets
The Bureau of Governmental Research proposed a solution in 2017 to the public works department’s budget woes: Take the tens of millions of dollars the city collects in streets-related revenues each year parking tickets, meter collections, towing and booting charges, and other fees — and spend it on streets-related maintenance. As it stands, the city allocates none of that money directly to streets: It’s deposited in the overall general fund for all city departments.
BGR’s president, Becky Mowbray, reiterated her group’s position in a recent interview, describing the proposal as an equitable way to give public works a muchneeded boost.
“New Orleans’ street grid produces revenue for the City of New Orleans in many ways, but little of it goes to street maintenance,” Mowbray said. The public works department’s parking enforcement division alone brought in more than $15 million in parking tickets in 2024, re-
governor-elect as “the least fun transition of all time. We started off in a hole. People didn’t like being told no, not now We had to spend so much time saying no to people.
“That’s not how you want to begin an administration — tell people that we’d have to make cuts. People were interested in jobs and new projects, but everything had to be put on hold.” At the time, Mark Drennen headed the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana and later served as commissioner of administration during Gov Mike Foster’s two terms in office.
Drennen said one lesson that Moreno and her team are applying is “you have to build consensus among the political leadership. You can’t cut enough money out of the budget without severe hardship No solution is going to be pretty, but you need a solution to prevent the devastation of the operations of government.”
Adley served in the state Senate while Moreno was in the state House.
“I think Moreno has the political courage that’s needed,” he said. “Whichever route you take, they are very unpopular decisions. That’s tough. So it won’t be easy.”
NOLA.COM | Monday, deceMber 15, 2025 1bn
Marigny hotel hits latest roadblock
Developers, community activists at odds
BY JONAH MEADOWS Staff writer
The developers seeking to build a controversial hotel on Elysian Fields Avenue in Faubourg Marigny have until Monday to appeal the latest refusal from the city’s landmark commission to authorize their designs.
Meanwhile, members of the neighborhood association that sued the City Council in an at-
tempt to block the project on the former site of the American Aquatic Gardens store have until the end of next week to appeal a Civil District Court judge’s rejection of their lawsuit.
“This has become a situation where no one can satisfy every group,” said Zach Smith, the consultant representing the Baton Rouge-based developers. “Each stakeholder, whether in good faith or bad faith, focuses only on
their own preferences and gives little weight to the hardships created by the requirements of others.”
The hotel, which would be operated by the extended-stay chain Home2 Suites by Hilton, has faced organized opposition from neighbors since the first version of its plan was formally introduced in 2023. Residents have complained it would dwarf nearby historic homes and dimin-
ish their quality of life.
“There’s a reason why this has been denied so many times,” said resident Helen Sierminski. “Every time they come back, they have tiny little tweaks to it, and they’re not listening to the fact that this does not fit into our neighborhood.”
The upcoming deadlines offer the next potential turning points in a dispute that’s spent months wending through New Orleans city government and into Civil District Court.
In March, the council overruled
the recommendation of the City Planning Commission to grant a conditional-use permit to the project. Although council members approved an exception to the maximum square footage permitted on the lot, they declined the developer’s request to make the building 74 feet tall, which is above the 50-foot height limit in the area. In an attempt to reverse the council’s unanimous decision, the Faubourg Marigny Improvement
See LANDMARK, page 2B
Moment of reflection
Mosquito agency drops suit against Tammany council
Abatement millage temporarily lowered
BY WILLIE SWETT Staff writer
St. Tammany’s Mosquito Abatement District has dropped its lawsuit against the Parish Council, bringing an end to a brief legal dispute over a council initiative to save taxpayer dollars. The council started looking into St. Tammany’s mosquito-fighting agency this spring, after forming a transparency committee with northshore District Attorney Collin Sims aimed at finding inefficiencies in government and reducing taxes. The council formed the committee amid concern about major gaps in funding for Sims’ office, northshore judges and the jail, which face 30% reductions in funding in 2026. But the review sparked a heated back-and-forth between Sims and Mosquito Abatement District Director Kevin Caillouet.
On Oct. 23, Sims and a group of business leaders in the parish presented their
report to the council’s Government Efficiency Committee a retooled version of its transparency committee without Sims — and highlighted opportunities they saw for cost-saving. The report questioned recent major investments by the district, including a $4 million helicopter and $8 million lab facility, as well as the cost of salaries and benefits.
Soon after, St. Tammany’s mosquito-fighting agency filed its suit on Nov 5 against the council in state court in Covington, asking a judge to stop the council’s review of the district’s finances. It argued the review was illegal and not authorized by the home rule charter or council resolution.
After the Nov 20 Government Efficiency Committee meeting, Caillouet said it was clear the council was finished with its review At that meeting, the committee presented a series of recommendations for Mosquito Abatement, including reducing its budget by about a third and receiving greater oversight from the council.
Meanwhile, the lawsuit drew criticism from some council members, including
Arthur Laughlin and Kathy Seiden, who cited the lawsuit’s costs to taxpayers as a reason to remove the three remaining members of the district’s board of commissioners in December
The attempt to remove the three members failed, however, and that, combined with the financial review ending, led the board of commissioners on Wednesday to decide to end the lawsuit, Caillouet said in an interview
In a news release announcing the end of the lawsuit, the agency said it had temporarily lowered its millage from 3.1 to 2.27, planned to sell $900,000 in assets in 2026, and had made $507,016 cuts in its 2026 budget, including reductions in benefits.
Council member Joe Impastato said he was happy the district had dropped the suit. “I am also happy that they have started to operate more efficiently,” he said. Sims, too, said he was also glad the lawsuit was dropped and said he hopes it “opens the doorway to effective communication so we can all come together to come up with a solution for all of St. Tammany.”
Man in jailbreak sentenced in Mardi Gras killings
BY MARCO CARTOLANO Staff writer
Derrick Groves, who was convicted on two counts of second-degree murder last year for a brutal 2018 Mardi Gras killing before breaking out of the New Orleans jail with nine others earlier this year, received two life sentences on Friday Judge Dennis Waldron handed down the sentences, to be served consecutively with two maximum 50-year sentences for attempted murder. He also handed out sentences for a litany of lesser charges to be served concurrently In October 2024, Groves was convicted in the deaths of 26-year-old Jamar Robinson and 21-year-old Byron Jackson, who were celebrating the end of the Carnival season when Groves and Kendall Barnes opened fire at a party, reportedly to target another man in attendance. The 28-year-old Groves,
who prosecutors had long described as a Lower 9th Ward drug dealer with a history of violence, also pl ea de d guilty to manslaughter in two se pa ra te cases. He was awaiting se ntencing for seven months before the escape. Groves catapulted to national infamy following the May 16 jailbreak. He was among the escapees with the most violent histories and he was the last caught, spending nearly five months on the run before being apprehended at a home in Atlanta on Oct. 8. He is still facing a charge of simple escape tied to the jailbreak. At his sentencing, Waldron castigated Groves for the acts he was convicted of.
“The defendant’s crimes were clearly egregious in nature,” Waldron said.
Groves, who is being held at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola with the other nine escapees, appeared in court wearing an
orange jumpsuit. He frequently turned in his swivel chair and glanced around the courtroom as Waldron addressed his crimes While Waldron said he respected Groves’ right to a fair trial in the jailbreak case and did not refer to him as an escapee, he was comfortable saying Groves was a fugitive from the law who failed to appear for his court dates He said Groves’ actions mean he will likely be more isolated while serving his lifetime sentences
“He will be a very lonely man,“ Waldron said. Reflecting on Groves’ life leading up to the shooting, Waldron held up a paper with two names he had written on it — Groves’ grandmother Kim Groves and notoriously corrupt New Orleans police Officer Len Davis Davis, who led a drug ring for years, ordered the murder of Kim Groves in 1994 in the Lower 9th Ward. Kim Groves had filed a police brutality report about Davis. Waldron told Derrick Groves he had inflicted the same pain his
Groves last to be found after May escape ä See GROVES, page 2B
STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
Boats festooned with holiday lights take part in the Pontchartrain Conservancy’s annual Lights on the Lake parade Saturday on Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans.
Groves
LSU’s executive contracts show school’s new vision
Rousse, board pursuing major changes for university
BY HALEY MILLER Staff writer
In the past month, the LSU Board of Supervisors has hired two top leaders, given them incentive-laden contracts and restructured how the various campuses they oversee fit together
The moves, board members say, come from a fundamental conviction: LSU needs to level up. They believe the system needs a more unified approach to improve its national prestige and drive major expansions of revenue from both public and private sources.
“These are decisions that don’t come lightly,” LSU Board of Supervisors Chair Scott Ballard said.
“Everyone knows that I have fought to get the rankings of Louisiana, LSU, to where we should be, and we’re not there. We’re working towards that.”
The Board of Supervisors ratified employment contracts with President Wade Rousse and Executive Vice President James Dalton on Thursday, offering the leaders possibly hundreds of thousands in incentives on top of their base salary and ushering in an era of major organizational change at LSU.
“I sincerely believe the work we are going to do in the coming months and years will change the way we educate Louisiana, will drive economic growth in our state and beyond and will push the LSU system to new heights,” Rousse said at the conclusion of the meeting
The contracts establish a $750,000 base salary for both men and an extensive list of incentive payments tied to specific university goals. Incentive compensation could allow the officials to more than double their annual salary, with no earning cap placed on many of the payments.
The priorities laid out in the contracts underscore LSU’s ambitions to achieve national research stature, further centralize the system’s eight campuses and ensure robust private and public funding as uncertainty roils the federal grant landscape.
Following Rousse’s vision for the system, the Board of Supervisors also approved an overhaul of LSU’s organizational structure, which included reinstating the chancellor position at the flagship campus, incorporating the LSU AgCenter, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, LSU Health New Orleans and LSU Health Shreveport into the flagship in Baton Rouge, and shifting reporting lines so all chancellors report to the president.
“It is so, so critical that our sys-
N.O. police seeking info on suspect, motive
Woman killed in Holy Cross area
BY DESIREE STENNETT Staff writer
New Orleans police are investigating after a woman was found dead Saturday on the porch of a home in the 900 block of St. Maurice Street.
The New Orleans Police Department has identified the victim but has not yet released her name as officials work to notify her family Police were called about 5:30 p.m. Saturday to the home in the Holy Cross neighborhood after receiving reports that a person had been shot When they arrived, they found the woman lying on the porch
“Emergency medical technicians arrived on the scene and pronounced the victim dead,” NOPD officials said in a statement Saturday
Wednesday.
tem work as one,” Ballard said.
“It is so critical that we somehow show people that Louisiana can be top 50, then top 25, and as Chancellor Dalton says, number one. And you just can’t do that without becoming an enterprise.”
Enrollment and funding
The objectives outlined for Rousse are more detailed than former President William Tate’s and more targeted at enrollment, state and federal funding and key research distinctions, such as an incentive of $100,000 to secure a National Institutes of Health Clinical Translational Science Award.
At the time of his departure for Rutgers University, Tate was paid the same base salary of $750,000. He was offered fewer metricbased incentives — eight compared to Rousse’s 21.
Board members declined to answer questions on the contracts.
A handful of payments are incremental. For example, Rousse could earn $20,000 for every 0.5% year-over-year increase of each LSU institution’s freshman retention rate, according to his contract. He would be paid $75,000 if state funding for infrastructure hit $50 million in a given year, and $25,000 more for every $25 million in funding beyond that.
Nine of Rousse’s incentives more than a third — are tied to revenue objectives. He will receive extra pay if LSU signs an agreement with Louisiana Economic Development valued at at least $10 million over four years, if federal appropriations total $30 million or more, and if the state provides funding to reduce the disparity
between LSU faculty salaries and peer institutions.
Dalton, as the chief academic officer of the LSU system, shares many of Rousse’s incentives but has a greater focus on research and faculty success in his contract. He’s eligible to be paid $25,000 if total research expenditures increase by 10% over the prior year
Both officials’ contracts reflect LSU’s aspiration to become a Top 50 research university, which was expressed throughout the presidential search in the fall. Rousse and Dalton would receive $100,000 each if LSU achieved the Top 50 ranking among public universities in the National Science Foundation’s Higher Education Research & Development survey Restructuring hesitancy
It isn’t only the contracts that chart a new course for LSU. Rousse and the Board of Supervisors have amended the system’s organizational chart, drawing concern from some of those affected by the changes. In particular, board members said they did not want to lose all authority over institutions in the LSU system outside of the main Baton Rouge campus. The new structure changed the titles of the heads of several specialized research units from “chancellor” to “senior vice chancellor,” and directed chancellors at LSU satellite campuses to report directly to Rousse.
They agreed the board must approve contracts for all senior vice chancellor and chancellor positions, though the president will retain removal power in consulta-
tion with it.
“We have to have the ability to supervise and manage this institution,” supervisor Rémy Starns said in a meeting of the board’s executive committee.
Speaking to the board Thursday, state Sen. Thomas Pressly, RShreveport, called the reorganization a “seismic shift.”
He expressed unease about renaming the chancellor position at LSU Health Shreveport and other research units to “senior vice chancellor” as the system coalesces, saying he fears disempowering local decision-making and reporting to a campus “three and a half hours away with little to no knowledge of our regional needs.”
“I understand the goal of this change, to capture national recognition by placing all of our research institutions under the same name and same system in order to capitalize on the work being done throughout the state of Louisiana,” Pressly said. “I understand that ultimate goal, and I agree with it. But I am concerned with the process, the lack of information being provided to our stakeholders and the implications that this may have to the LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport.”
Rousse and Ballard emphasized that no autonomy would be lost at regional institutions under the new plan.
“Shifts in titles and clear lines of reporting should not be viewed as threats,” Rousse said. “They should be viewed as opportunities. We are building a team that can support you in your efforts to elevate LSU.”
Audubon Aquarium takes in sea turtles
35 being rehabbed from ‘cold stunning’ event
BY CHAD CALDER Staff writer
Audubon Aquarium Rescue is caring for 35 critically endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtles that were injured by the cold in New England last month.
The turtles were part of a large “cold stunning” event in which frigid air and water affected their ability to swim and eat and caused them to wash ashore.
The New England Aquarium initially treated and stabilized the turtles, some of them suffering from dehydration and pneumonia
They were then flown to New Orleans by a plane chartered by Greater Good Charities, and Audubon Aquarium Rescue workers gave each one a physical. Some are still not eating as they should.
“Some of these turtles arrived in rough shape; they will need more extensive rehabilitation than others,” said Gabriella Harlamert, Audubon Aquarium Rescue stranding and rehab coordinator “We are monitoring each of them constantly and are hopeful all 35 of these turtles will heal and return to the Gulf in the spring.”
LANDMARK
Continued from page 1B
Association filed its suit against the city in May, contending that the council illegally granted the zoning variance after District C council member Freddie King agreed to a compromise with the developer
In July, the Architectural Review Committee of the Historic District Landmarks Commission recommended the denial of a revised design for the five-story, 128-room, 81,258-square-foot hotel on Elysian Fields, portions of which would also front Chartres and Royal streets.
That led to the developer’s appeal to the commission to overturn its committee’s recommendation at a Dec. 3 meeting.
Commission staff last week described the project as an “overscaled and poorly articulated behemoth,” and compared it with the Christopher Inn, the ninestory International Style senior apartment building at Frenchmen and Royal streets whose 1970 construction spurred the creation of the FMIA.
“The illogically composed façade and banal use of materials demonstrate a lack of comprehension of the rhythm, scale, and harmony inherent in the surrounding architectural context,” according to the report from HDLC staffer Dennis Murphy Smith said the developers did “everything possible to keep this project viable” and incorporated direction from neighbors, the council and landmark officials Describing the situation as “intractable,” Smith suggested it would be a waste of time for the developers to submit another set of revisions to the commission.
“There are changes that have been asked,” he said, “that are simply infeasible and technically incapable of incorporating without destroying the project.”
Justin Schmidt, the attorney representing nearby homeowners, said the developers are trying to shoehorn in a project with a “ridiculous number of rooms” because they purchased the property without doing due diligence on what was allowed there.
“They are just merely trying to get a denial so they can then go to the City Council and get their approval,” Schmidt said, calling on commissioners to defer, rather than deny, the developer’s appeal. “Because all they’ve decided at this point is: ‘We’re going to go to council member King and get it overridden.’”
The developers, who did not respond to requests for comment, must appeal to the council by Monday if they want to overrule the HDLC decision. Likewise, the neighborhood association is expected to appeal Judge Ethel Julien’s Nov 18 ruling denying its request for the courts to throw out the council’s approval.
That means even if the council once again overrules its advisory commissions, the final decision on the development could come down to an appellate court judge.
Email Jonah Meadows at jonah. meadows@theadvocate.com.
GROVES
Continued from page 1B
family felt to the families of Jackson and Robinson.
Waldron also held up columns by Advocate | Times-Picayune columnist Will Sutton that addressed interest in turning the jailbreak into a movie and the moment when Derrick Groves smiled and blew a kiss during his capture
The judge said he wished Derrick Groves’ life had played out more like an inspirational story of a boy who followed the example set by his grandmother and committed himself to serving others, maybe even becoming a New Orleans police officer and honoring the badge Davis sullied.
“That would have been a beautiful story worthy of Hollywood,” Waldron said.
LOTTERY SATURDAY, DEC. 13, 2025
PICK 3: 6-7-4
PICK 4: 6-7-1-3
It’s not clear if the woman lived at the home where the shooting happened. No other information was released. Police have asked that anyone with information about the shooting or a suspect contact the NOPD at (504) 658-5300 or call Crime Stoppers at (504) 822-1111.
It’s not the first time this has happened Last year, 15 coldstunned Kemp’s ridley sea turtles were flown in from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, for rehabilitation In the meantime, the rescue team has given the turtles names corresponding to rocks and minerals, including Jade, Mica, Opalite, Pebble, Aquamarine, Onyx, Quartz and Coal. Kemp’s ridley sea turtles are the most endangered in the world.
anic and Atmospheric Administration. It is the only entity in Louisiana responsible for the rehabilitation of live marine mammals and sea turtles.
Audubon Aquarium Rescue is authorized to rehabilitate sea turtles by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service and marine mammals by the National
Audubon Aquarium Rescue asks that if anyone sees a stranded marine mammal or sea turtle, live or dead, report it to (877) 942-5343.
Oce-
PHOTO PROVIDED By AUDUBON AQUARIUM RESCUE Staff of Audubon Aquarium Rescue work on Kemp’s ridley sea turtles injured by the cold in the Northeast.
STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS
LSU President Wade Rousse mingles with LSU staff and project partners during the groundbreaking ceremony for the LSU South Quad project, which is adding two new residence halls for freshmen, on
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Barrios,Wanda
Elaine Tansey
In loving memory of Wanda Barrios, who gracedthisworld on May 23, 1937, in NewOrleans LA, anddepartedpeace‐fully on December 9, 2025, inMarrero,LA. Wandawas a beacon of love and strengthtoall whoknew her.Wanda’s journey through life wasmarkedby unwavering dedication to her familyand aspiritof warmththattouched everyoneshe met, but mostofall,her life wasa testament to resilience She wasthe supportive and loving wife of thelate Alvin J. Barriosfor 55 years,and alifelongresi‐dentofMarrero.Raisedby her belovedgrandmother, the late Amelia Richardson Seminary, Wandawas the daughterofthe late Kathryn Landwehr andthe lateWalterSt. Claire Tansey. Shewas the motherofMelonyMouton (Ray),ShayneBarrios (Stephanie),and thelate Nicles“Nicky” Barrios, grandmother of Matthew Molineand Kristen DaltonAdams,great grandmother ofHunter Nicles Adams and Sean Landon Joseph Adams,whomshe raised and lovingly caredfor for eight years. Wandaissur‐vived by herbrother,Ken‐nethLandwehr(Toni). She was predeceasedbyher sisters, LorettaLandwehr
Deaths andFayePalaunch. She was proudtohavere‐ceivedthe St.Louis Award fromthe archdiocese, and was adevoted parishioner ofSt. Joseph TheWorker parishinMarrero where she wasinvolvedinFamily LifeMinistry, CouplesMin‐istry,and served as aEu‐charistic minister andLec‐tor.She performedatJazz Festwiththe SJWchoir.For manyyears,Wanda workedasa secretaryat the Gretna Courthouse for Roy Wilty. In addition to havingsecretarial skills, she learnedcourt report‐ing andsignlanguage. She ownedan antiqueshop, Bartan, loved attending auctions, perusing garage sales andthriftshops as she wasa collectorof china,glassware,and rare items relating to carnival and thedepressionera.In her home,she lovedevery activityfromsewingto hosting pool anddinner parties,and sheenjoyed nothing more than dancing tolivemusic andlaughing withole Al.Wanda also loved travel.Withher hus‐bandAlvin,Wanda traveled extensively in the Caribbean,Europe, Aus‐tralia,Asiaand Central America.Visitationwillbe heldatSt. Joseph The WorkerChurch on Wednes‐day,December17, 2025 from10:00 am to noon,fol‐lowed by amass. Inter‐mentwillbeprivate.Mothe FuneralHomes handled arrangements. In lieu of flowers, please send ado‐nationorfooditems to St Josephthe Worker food pantry. Thefamilywould liketothank GaylePolite, withCompassus,for her lovingcareand devotion Above all, we thankJane Haley with Tranquil Living, for themanyyears of ser‐viceand dedication to Wanda (Aka Sista).These women were ablessing fromGod.ToNicolle Bar‐riosMcGuiness, thankyou for making Wanda’sdying wishcometrue.
Belsom,Patrick John
It is with deepestsor‐row that we announcethe passing of PatrickJohn Belsom, 79, of Metairie, Louisiana.Hepeacefully passedawayonDecember 8,2025. Patwas born in New Orleanson July 3, 1946, to thelateSelma “Nene” PonthieuxBelsom and thelate Leon “Pat” Belsom. He is preceded in death by hiswifeRita MelanconBelsomand his children,David PatrickBel‐
somand Lisa AnnBelsom. Heissurvivedbyhis loving sisters,ElaineBelsom Craig (Michael)and Janice BelsomCorb(John) andhis bestfriendand uncle Gary Ponthieux (Sue). He is also survivedbyhis nieces and nephews,Becky Goodwin, JeffCraig,JaneneGoebel, JenniferCorb, JessicaCorb, JonathanCorb, andAdam Corb. Patwas amemberof the Classof1965 at Fortier HighSchool.After gradua‐tion, he served hiscountry inthe United States Army until 1969, whenhecame hometomarry hishigh school sweetheart, Rita.He thenjoinedthe NewOr‐leans Police Department where he dedicated30 years of servicetothe city ofNew Orleans. Afterretir‐ing from theNOPD, he brieflyworkedatthe Fed‐eralCourthouseand the New OrleansPassportOf‐fice.Hewas amemberof the FederalOrder of Police CrescentCityLodge 2, AmericanLegionPost307 and theVeteransUmpire Association.After theloss ofhis wife andchildren, he began servinghis commu‐nitybyworking with spe‐cialneedschildrenand de‐liveringmeals to theel‐derly.Heenjoyed playing softball, shootingpool,at‐tending theFairgroundsto watch horseracing, and umpiringsoftballgames at local parks. What he most looked forwardtowere meals with friendsand family. He will be missed byall of hisbreakfastand lunchbuddies,and most importantly by hisloving family. Relativesand friends areinvited to at‐tendthe FuneralServices atGardenofMemoriesFu‐neral Home &Cemetery, 4900 AirlineDrive,Metairie, LA70001 on Tuesday, De‐cember16, 2025. Visitation willbegin at 10:00 am with Massat12:00 noon fol‐lowed by inurnment. To order flowersoroffercon‐dolences, please visit www.gardenofmemorie smetairie.com.
Brown, Terrance Devin
Terrance DevinBrown entered into eternalrest onSaturday, November 29 2025 at hisresidence in Grand Prairie, Texas. Ter‐rance wasborntoDiana W. Brown andthe late Vernon E.Brown in NewOrleans, Louisiana.Hewas 52. He is survivedbyhis beloved wifeof24years,AngelaM Brown; hismother, Diana W. Brown; 4sisters,An‐
toinette McGill,Elana Tay‐lor (Rodney),Tiffani& Tiana Brown; 3Aunts, Cyn‐thiaHills (Arthur), Julie Walker(late Fred), and CherylGalle (Floyd); 2 niecesAdrianna and Mikayla;3 nephews, Dwayne, Cameron, and Rashawn; 5Godchildren, TorreyBrown, Ryan Poindexter, Ariel& Jasmine Franklin, andAkela Dab‐ney;his father-in-law, War‐ren Dabney &mother-inlaw,Norma Dabney;a sis‐ter andbrother-in-law, Tiffany& Terry Stansbury. Healsoleavesbehinda hostoffamilyand friends who will continue to cher‐ish hismemory. Terrance was preceded in deathby his father,VernonE Brown; hismaternalgrand‐parents,LeonWalker, Sr.& EvelynGreen Walker;pa‐ternalgrandparents, ThomasBrown, Sr.& Gloria Simpson Brown; 2Aunts, ElaineWalker& Marguerite Robichaux;2 Uncles,Leon Walker, Jr.& Thomas Brown, Jr.Terrancewas ed‐ucatedinthe NewOrleans PublicSchool System where he graduatedfrom Sarah T. Reed High School in1991 andlater attended and graduatedfromSouth‐ern University A& MCol‐legeinBaton Rougeearn‐ing hisBachelorofScience inElectronicEngineering Technology.InMay 2025, hereceiveda Master of Ed‐ucation in Educational Leadershipfromthe Uni‐versity of NorthTexas at Dallasand he holdsa certi‐fication in PrincipalasIn‐structional Leader (Texas EC-12).Relatives and friends of thefamilyare in‐vited to attend afuneral service at St.Peter Claver Catholic Church,1923 St PhilipStreet,New Orleans, Louisiana 70116 on Tues‐day, December 16, 2025 at
10:00 am.Visitationwill
begin at 9:00 am until 10:00 am. Interment: Providence Cemetery. Arrangements entrusted to D. W. Rhodes FuneralHome, 3933 Wash‐ingtonAvenue, NewOr‐leans,LA. Please visit www.rhodesfuneral.com to signthe online guestbook, share memories andcon‐dolenceswiththe family.
Schultz, Kevin Paul
KevinPaulSchultz at theage of 62 years entered into eternal rest peacefully on Wednesday, December 10, 2025 surrounded by the love of hisfourchildren. Survivors include his daughterKelsey Schultz Brasseaux (Jerrod), sons Quinton Schultz (Gabrielle), CullenSchultz (Jacqueline), daughter Mary GraceSchultz,seven grandchildrenand hisformer spouse KimCucullu Schultz.Heisalso survivedbyhis siblings Dr Stuart(Chip) Schultz, Jr (Christine), Richard (Rickey) Schultz(Bridget), Susan Schultz Genovese (Rick), Dennis Schultz (Melanie), and step-brother David Ferry (Maria),
along with manynieces andnephews. Kevinwas preceededindeathbyhis father,StuartGrant Schultz,Sr.,and his mother Miriam Duplantier Schultz Ferry, and his step-father David Stickney Ferry. KevinattendedBrother MartinHigh School and upon graduation attended LSUwhere he obtained a Bachelor's degree in Business and went on to have ahighly successful career in the water purification business.
Avisitation will be held from9:00 AM to 11:00 AM on Saturday, December 20, 2025 at JamesB.Branton Chapel, Brother Martin High School. AMass of Christian burial will follow from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM at JamesB Branton Chapel, Brother MartinHigh School. Familyand friends are invited to join us for this celebrationofKevin's life
It’s time to putsome limitson political parties
Iwas impressed with Philip Frady’sNov.17letter in which he succinctly summarized Republicans as destroying parts of government, whether or not vital, and Democrats as maintaining the status quo, no matter how outdated or calcified. It is unfortunate that the parties have retreated into their ideological corners,makingitdifficult,if not impossible, to reach common ground. Trust is hard to find. The blood sport of one party’swin is only possible when the other loses. The U.S. Constitution leads off with the phrase “Wethe People.” We have lost asense of renewal in that legislative power has, over time, accumulated to party leaders, neutralizing regular representatives through appointments, seniority,rules and procedures.
Our recent and currenthistory of leaders looks like agerontocracy where it is not unusual for elected officials to lack full mentalabilities or to die in office. This rot must be cutout,like cancer
To correct this state ofaffairs, we must break the grip on power to encourage new ideas and enforce turnover of representation and leadership. Ipropose anew Amendment 28 to the U.S. Constitution relating to longevity of service.
1. No person is eligible for federal elective office who will have attained their 75th birthday as of the date they are elected.
2. No legislative electedofficial may serve for more than 18 consecutive years in their respective chamber
3. No SupremeCourt appointee may serve for more than 20 years or serve past their 80th birthday
4. Congressmay make such rules regarding this amendment as it deems appropriate.
Politicians will not willingly give up power.The above may not correct everything,but it’sa start.
TERRI SANTACOLOMA NewOrleans
Take semi-pro sports leaguesout of colleges
Let’sface it, college sports today is not the collegesports of yesterday.With NIL and the open transfer portal, it has become a “semi-professional” occupation. Some“student”athletes are worth millionsand switch universities faster than professional athletes swap teams. With that said, Iwould like to see “the big three” (college football, baseball and basketball) taken out of college leagues and made into farm teams for professional organizations. These professional organizations would have to use the college stadiums and retain thecollegemascots and names. They would paycoachesand staff.
It is not fair to regular universitystudents to have to compete with thecurrent college athlete. Astudent studying chemistry,biologyoragriculture does not have thesame monetary opportunity as someone who can possiblythrow, catch or dribble aball in a
game. Butthat chemistry,biologyoragriculture student might go on to cure diabetes, develop anew system to save wetlands or develop anew variety of grains to feed the world.
Iknow all the funds for the sports foundationsare supposed to be separated from the “general” funds, but Ireally do not believe that is the fact. When LSU or any other universityhas to pay out millions to afired coach and then hires anew coach formillions more, Iknow theuniversity and state taxpayers are on the hook for the payout. So what Ineed from my state is not awinning football team but better civil infrastructure (likestreets and bridges) that is rated at least a“B” level. Ineed the public schools fixed so all statechildren can read, write and do basic math.Ifwecan accomplish that, then we could attract new industry
Imoved to Louisiana acouple of years ago and as amother of two, Icouldn’tbehappier with the“Catahoula Crunch.”The federal government stepping up and enforcing our laws in apartnership with Louisiana’slaw enforcement agencies is exactly what we needtobring order to southeastern Louisiana.
Gov.Jeff Landry has been calling for this kind ofoperation since President Donald Trumpwas elected about ayear ago, making thecase that both state action and federal assistance is necessary in cases where local cooperation is limited or public safetyconcernspersist.
The White House recently ramped up the federal supportthat we so desperately need, includinganupcoming National Guard deployment to assist with state requests, as well as Border Patrol operations. While we
don’thave all the details yet, Trumpseems eager to work with agovernor whoisserious about removing criminal elements from our communities. I’m so sick of symbolic gestures and empty promises. Law enforcementtargeting individuals withdangerous criminal records who are in this country illegally is ano-brainer if we want safe neighborhoods and high-trust communities. Ifully support the federal government enforcing our laws. It’s actually the whole purpose of its existence. By removing those who live here unlawfully,especially those with criminal backgrounds, we uphold therule of law,protect thepublic and send aclear message to would-be lawbreakers. Anything less is an attack on those of us who are still playing by therules.
ANNA CHAPMAN Baton Rouge
Attack on nursing profession couldcome back to hauntus
The Trumpadministration’sdecision that nursing, physical therapy, public health, social work and many other skilled positions are no longer considered professions is as ludicrous as it is insulting. This means that people pursuing these degrees will have extremely limited access to federal loans; formany,this meansthey will not enter these training programs. It is curious what the Trumpadministration thinks is professional. The Oxford dictionary definition of profession is atype of job that needs special training or skills, especially one that needs ahigh level of education. All of these attributes are true of these professions.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, whohas adegree in French and ran the WWE, is considered trained enough to run this very important department. Pete Hegseth, whoholds abachelor of arts and wasatalk show host, runs the Department of War.
Ihave abachelor of science in nursing, amasters in public health and adoctorate in epidemiology and 40 years of experience serving the public. Without loans, which I paid back in full, Iwould not have had this opportunity Ifind this decision supremely insulting. Since the overwhelming majority of these professions are held by women,Ifind this to be a blatant attack on women. Iurge our representatives to reject this political maneuver and remind Congress, where the average age is 58 years, that they may regret this decision when they seek health care and the workforce is not there to help them
Fewwereoutraged
when Obama targeted U.S. citizens deemed threats
OUR GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name and the writer’scity of residence.The Advocate |The Times-Picayune require astreet address and phone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor,The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@theadvocate.com. TO SEND US ALETTER SCAN HERE
Lawmakersconspired on closed primaries
Louisiana’s closed primarysystem for 2026 is apernicious assault on voters. Why should partyaffiliation on thevoter registration form dictate the slateofcandidates I’m allowed to votefor?
Worse, this dictateisa pre-votelimitation even before the slate of candidates is known. Sure,one can make aspecial effort to change theregistration before theelection, but why should voters have to jump through this needless hoop,potentially every election? Whyare choices of candidates across party lines notallowed?
Free and fair?Hardly Party affiliation on the registration form maybeinformative for statistical purposes, but otherwise should merely be relegated to
afootnote.
In this state, Republican affiliation is just over 35%, but Republicans are 70% in the House and 72% in the Senate. It is not hard to believe that something is very wrong.
Both Republicans and Democrats are complicit in their stranglehold of party politics to thegeneral disadvantage of voters. Gov. Jeff Landry and acompliant Legislature madethis change because, at this momentin power,they can, without voter input. Their quest for power knows no bounds as their foot is firmly on thenecks of voters. This is thestuff of authoritarian regimes, like Iran. Shameonthe governor and theLegislature.
JILL
KAPLAN NewOrleans
Regardless of how you feel about the administration targeting suspected drug runner boats in the Caribbean, please consider this. The outrage coming predominantly from the leftisfocusing on these attacks as illegal and potentially warcrimes. However,during the Obamayears, the U.S. governmentconducted drone strikes that resulted in the deaths of Al Qaedasupporting U.S. citizens, notably Anwar al-Awlaki, his 16-year-old son and two others. Calling him an “imminent threat” to the U.S., al-Awlaki was targeted; the other three, while not specifically targeted, were“collateral damage” of drone strikes.
The ACLU called it an “extrajudicial execution” that violated the constitutional rights to due process of U.S. citizens. The ObamaDepartment of Justice argued it was lawfulacts of war. Do you recall the samelevel of outrage?
Iwould argue the case forthe legality of attacking these drug runners is stronger than the targeted killing of U.S. citizens, regardless of their support for terrorists.
JOHN POULOS Baton Rouge
PATRICIA KISSINGER NewOrleans
STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON
The north video board welcomes newLSU head football coach Lane KiffinonDec. 1atTiger Stadium in Baton Rouge.
COMMENTARY
WALT’S CAPTION CONTEST
Is the economy abouttoturn in Trump’s favor?
GIFT GIVING TIME!
What agift! We received758 entries in this final Cartoon Caption Contest.These were just what we were looking for… hilarious,off-the-wall and incredibly creative! Our winner brought home thetop prizewith aquirky, laugh-out-loud takeonthe drawing.Well played, everyone! As always, when we have duplicate entries,and we always do, we pick theearliestsent in.
On apersonal note,asmanyofyou know, Iwill be retiring at the end of December.I started this contest in 2014. Since then, therehavebeen 232 contest winners, almost 7,000 finalistsand literally tensof thousands of punchlines emailedin.
Ihaveread each one of themmyself.With the help of my phenomenal wife, Jodie, we have selected the finalists and winners youultimately read in thepaper
Theentries have come from all overLouisiana, the United States and other countries.Theyhavebeen sent in by young children, students,people of every profession and retired folks, all with aterrificsense of humorand adesire to share their creativity. It has been such apleasure connecting withall of youthrough this contest.With that said, forone lasttime, great job! Happy holidays —Walt
SIDHEBERT,SLIDELL: “WhenIasked for a cubicle, Ididn’t expect this!”
JIM FLOCK, HARAHAN: “I expect everyone to be back at their desk working in the next 15 minutes.And, Julie, see me in my office.
DAVID DELGADO,NEW ORLEANS: “I bet you neverknewshe was aventriloquist!”
CINDY MANSFIELD,PRAIRIEVILLE: “OK! OK! y’all can have Christmas off! Just let me out of here!”
JAMES R. SILVERSTEIN, NEW ORLEANS: “If this doesn’t getmea promotion, nothing will.
BRYANRUIZ(5TH GRADE), PHILLIS WHEATLEY COMMUNITY SCHOOL, NEW ORLEANS: “Atleast put some holes in the box!”
CHARLES THEAUX, PONCHATOULA: “This is definitely going on your performance appraisal.”
RICHARD MILLER, BATONROUGE: “Hey, it’s Brian Kelly.I’ll giveback half the buyout if you letmeout of here.”
BRUCETAMPLAIN, LAPLACE: “I’vetold youa thousand times, my nameisnot Jack.
RALPH STEPHENS,BATON ROUGE: “you cannot simply swap me!!! If youwant a divorce, youare going to have to paya lawyer!!!”
JAYDARDENNE, BATONROUGE: “Here’sa hint: I’m bigger than abreadbox and smaller than Lane Kiffin’scontract.”
SHELBYROTOLO, METAIRIE: “I hope HR has a sense of humor thisyear!”
D. SABRIO, METAIRIE: “This’ll teach me not to take long naps at my desk!”
DON RANDON, GRETNA: “OK …let me out and I’ll increase your bonuses!”
MARTHA STARNES,KENNER: “Help! She’s trying to swap me for ascented candle!”
JIM WILLIAMSON, MANDEVILLE: “OK, youcan have the office withthe window!”
RORY STEEN, LITTLE ROCK,ARK.: “This is why we can’t have nice traditions.”
BRUCEBLANCHARD, COVINGTON: “OK,OK, Ipromise nevertosay,‘Think outside thebox!’ again. Just getmeout of here.”
STEPHEN R. BARRY,NEW ORLEANS: “Relax… It’snot abonus.Those aremuch smaller!”
DAVID TRIPP HANEMAN, METAIRIE: “Whoever opens thispresent gets araise!”
TIM PUJOL, MAUREPAS: “Dammit, Gladys! youcan’t swap your manager!”
GINA VILLAVASO,NEW ORLEANS: “Well, you knowI’m not another coffee mug.
KAREN POIRRIER, LUTCHER: “Point me to the employeebreak room!”
GISELEPRADOS,METAIRIE: “I promise to quit singing ‘Grandma Got Run Over By AReindeer.’”
RICH WOLF,WESTMINSTER, MARYLAND: “I only microwaved fish in the office one time!”
ZORA WHITE (AGE 10), NEWROADS: “Well, that wraps up everything!”
Trump’sobsession with Somali immigrants is sinister
Sometimes one crisisseemstoleadto another for President Donald Trump and he’sgot plenty of trouble brewing.
For months now,Trump’sapproval ratinghas taken abeating for theknock-on effects of the government shutdownand the ongoing Epstein files fiasco
In November,his administration came under fire over newly reported details about the airstrikes on purported drug traffickersin the Caribbean, which seemtoindicatethat wounded people were deliberately killed in violation of the conventions of war.Trump also responded to the shooting of two NationalGuard soldiers in Washington by an Afghani refugee(who had formerly worked with American intelligence in Afghanistan)bysuspending all Afghani immigration cases, leading many critics to decry the move ascollective punishment. Amid all this anguish, Trump took the opportunity at acabinetmeeting to double down on collective punishment against another immigrant group that he doesn’tlike: Somali Americans.
On Nov.21, Trump postedonsocial media that he was revoking Temporary Protected Status for Somalis living in Minnesota.
“They contribute nothing,” Trump told reporters in aramblingtirade in the Tuesday cabinet meeting. “I don’twant them in our country.”
Trump further averred thatthe wartorn East African country from which they fled “stinks” and thatthey are “garbage.” Even for Trump, who onceinfamously dismissed African nations as “shithole countries,” the malevolence and vulgarity of his anti-Somali outbursts was stunning. And whatend did he imagine was being served?
Casting abroad shadowofsuspicion on immigrants, especially from nonWhite and Islamic nations, has been a yearslong patternfor Trump andhis deputy chief of staff for policy, Stephen Miller
But the Somali angle likely hasmuch to do with the recent Trump administration tack of punishing blue states and Democraticpolitical leaders. The largest Somali expatriate community in the U.S. residesin Minnesota,home to Rep. Ilhan Omar and Gov.Tim Walz, two favorite objects of Trump invective.
Some 80,000people of Somali birth or ancestry reside in thestate, andthe vast majority are U.S. citizens.Omar emigratedfrom Somalia in 1995 as achild. Minnesota’s Somali communityhas takenapublic relations hit recently following reports of the U.S. Department of Justice’sprosecution of individuals involvedinawide-ranging scheme to defraud Minnesota and federal government programs during and after the COVID-19pandemic.
As muchas$250 million was bilked by upwardof75defendants,and theDOJ investigation, started during theBiden administration, centersona nonprofit group called Feeding Our Future, which worked with the MinnesotaDepartment of Education and U.S. Department of Agriculture to distributemeals to children. The defendants, who aremostly but notall members of the Somali community,submitted false invoices and meal count sheets, setupbogus programs for autistic childrenand took or gave kick-
backs for participation in the fraud. It’s disgraceful behavior,and it’s good thatthe fraudsters are being prosecuted. However,Trumpcould not help himself from taking theoutrage across theline of collective calumny
Picking up on allegations by Christopher Rufo, asenior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute, and Ryan Thorpe, areporter for the institute’sCity Journal, thatmoney stolen from Minnesota programs has gone to al-Shabab, an al-Qaida-linked militant group that controls parts of Somalia, Trump branded the MinnesotaSomali community “a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity” and vowed to send them “back to wherethey came from.”
Rufo’sclaims, you won’tbesurprised to learn, are unsubstantiated. Aformer U.S. attorneyfor Minnesota told the Minnesota Star Tribune that thedefendants his officeprosecuted “werelooking to get rich, not fund overseas terrorism.”
But Trump and the MAGA faithful never let facts —or, to be charitable,the absence of evidence —get in the way of agood conspiracy theoryabout immigrants.
“Wecan go one way or the other,and we’regoing to go the wrong way,ifwe keep taking in garbage into our country,” Trump said. “IlhanOmar is garbage. She’sgarbage! Her friends aregarbage!”
In response to thepresident,Omar fortunately kept her cool. “I hope,” she said graciously,“he getsthe help he desperately needs.”
From your lips to God’s ear,Congresswoman.
Email Clarence Page at clarence47 page@gmail.com.
Cal Thomas
President Donald Trump gotwhat might be considered some good news recently, though most of the major American media ignoredit. According to aUKDaily Mail/J.L. Partners survey,the president’s approval rating increased from 45% to 47% between Nov.21and Dec.4.The poll included1,000 registered voters who participatedin online surveys; the margin of erroris3.1%, so it could be awash, but at this point anygood news is aplus for the administration.
The administrationalso took credit for lowergas prices,whichitsaidhad fallen to under$3agallon nationwide, except in California,where the average price for agallonofregularis$4.36 as of Dec. 6. State andfederal excise taxesincrease the costtoanaverage of $4.50 for regular, the highest in the nation. Even in California,gas prices arelower than they have been in recentyears.
Democrats areconspiring to make “affordability” their only issue ahead of the midterm elections. Theymay be setting atrapfor themselves, not only because it hasbeen the policies of the previous Republican administrations that have experienced delayedpricedrops, but because what’shappening in the current economy bearsa strong resemblance to another scenario 40 yearsago.
Remember the “misery index?” That was the labelappliedtothe economic policiesofJimmy Carter, who presided over double-digit inflation, double-digit mortgage ratesand double-digit unemployment. Ronald Reagan faced these economicchallenges as he entered office in 1981.
Democrats won 26 seats in the House in the 1982 midterms, padding their majority,largely because prices for everything remained high. Reagan and members of his administrationsaid what is nowbeing said by Trump —thatthings would get betterand thatittook timetorepairthe damage causedbyCarter’sfour years in office.
The repairs would come, but it took nearly allofReagan’sfirst term before voters could feel it. Reagan wasalso confronted with the twin monsters of inflationand stagflation. He cut taxes, eliminated unnecessary regulations and spurredinvestment. By 1984, whenhe ranfor reelection and won in alandslide, it was“Morning in America,”the theme of ahighly effective political ad
President Trump is emulating Reagan by cutting taxes, deregulating and shrinking the size andcost of government. He says his tariffs arebringing in trillions of dollars andhas promised “rebate checks” for the poor andmiddle class.
The UK Daily Mail poll credits the twopoint uptickinTrump’sapproval rating to stabilizing prices,resulting in “spending records over the Thanksgiving holiday, despite concerns over an affordability crisis whichTrump hasbranded a‘Democrat scam.’Black Friday and Cyber Mondaybroke online spending records. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, $44.2 billion was spent online alone,” according to an Adobe Analyticsreport.
In addition, the stock market’supward trend continues, fattening the 401(k) and othermutualfund accounts forretirees andthose still working.
The president hashit the road to “sell” his economicplan, as Reagan did. He should remind voters how we have seen this playout before and the results. He might aska question that should be more thanrhetorical: “Why would you consider returning to power those Democrats and their policiesthatcausedthe economic problems, instead of voting for Republicanswho arestarting to make headway in solving them?”
Democrats andtheir media allieswill try to closevoters’ eyes and urge them to rely exclusively on “feelings.”
Trump andcongressional Republicans should askvotersiftheywish to return to the Carterand Bidenpast, or move forward with Reagan-like policiesthat produced abrighter economic future. Email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub. com. He is on X, @CalThomas.
WINNER: Charles Smith, St. Rose
Clarence Page
Tulane-Ole Miss series has deep rooted history
BY GUERRY SMITH
Contributing writer
The biggest football game in Tulane history is by far the most significant in its oftplayed series with Ole Miss.
Even though the Green Wave (11-2) has faced the Rebels (11-1) 74 times before Saturday’s first-round College Football Playoff at Vaught Hemingway Stadium second in number only to its 98 meetings with LSU and including a first meeting all the way back in 1893 — the matchups rarely contained any national import
Only once, in 1948, have both teams been ranked in the final Associated Press poll during years they played each other Tulane beat the No. 10 Rebels 20-7 at home in October, climbed into the top 20 the following week and ended up No. 13 after crushing LSU 46-0 at Tiger Stadium to complete a 9-1 season. The Rebels did not lose again, finishing 15th at 8-1. Ole Miss leads the series 46-28, or 45-29 if you credit Tulane with a 27-23 win in 1983
College Football Playoff First round Tulane vs: Ole Miss 2:30 P.M. SATURDAy,TNT
it later forfeited because quarterback Jon English was ruled ineligible. The Wave is 3-18 in Mississippi, with the first 31 games occurring in New Orleans.
Here is a historical tour of the series:
Ranked on ranked
Their first 24 meetings came before the advent of the AP poll in 1936, but both teams have been ranked only three times in their 50 subsequent games.
In 1939, No. 9 Tulane beat No. 14 Ole Miss 18-6 at home on its way to the Sugar Bowl, where it lost 14-13 to top-ranked Texas A&M. In 1956, No. 19 Tulane beat No. 6 Ole Miss 10-3 in Jackson, Mississippi, for its first road win against the Rebels. The Wave lost 40-0 to Georgia Tech the following week and never
COMEBACK KIDS
range for the go-ahead kick.
BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer
team’s training staff.
But Shough was cleared to return He had a ballgame to win “It definitely was hurting, but I knew I was good,” Shough said, “as long as I could throw.”
The rookie quarterback led back-to-back scoring drives to pull off a 20-17 victory over the Carolina Panthers, again crushing an NFC South rival’s hopes in a game they needed to create separation in the division. Shough finished with 272 yards on 24-of-32 passing, but it was his fourth-quarter comeback that propelled the Saints to their second straight win The Saints (4-10) have won back-to-back games for the first time all year How did he do it? Well, there’s his arm But Charlie Smyth doesn’t make a 47-yard, game-winning field goal without Shough again taking another bonecrushing hit on a slide that got New Orleans into
With 12 seconds left, Shough took off on a quarterback draw for 4 yards, but after he got to the ground, Panthers safety Lathan Ransom committed a late hit that instantly drew a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty The hit even forced Shough to leave the field, leading backup Spencer Rattler to quickly replace him for a time-wasting throwaway that set up Smyth’s kick.
But Shough was fine He had done his job, getting the Saints into a position to steal the victory After all, the Saints rallied from a seven-point deficit in the
Rookie QB Shough takes hits, Smyth kicks game-winner to upset NFC South rival Carolina ä See SAINTS, page 4C
FILE PHOTO By A.J SISCO
Tulane quarterback Kai Horton scrambles away from Ole Miss defenders during the first half of a game on Sept. 10, 2023, at yulman Stadium. Tulane and Ole Miss will face off in the
rst round of the College Football Playoff.
STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
kicker Charlie Smyth reacts
Carolina Panthers on Sunday at the Caesars Superdome The Saints won 20-17 to upset the Carolina Panthers.
Opposing teams can take space away from Mikaylah Williams. But that kind of tight defense probably isn’t preventing her from draining a difficult shot or hitting an open teammate anymore.
Louisiana Tech learned that lesson Saturday when Williams helped the LSU women’s basketball team find its offensive groove in the Compete 4 Cause Classic and pick up its latest nonconference win Coach Brooke Stoehr liked the way her team defended. Williams was just a step ahead.
“She’s one of the most versatile players in the country,” Stoehr said Williams was last season, too The difference, now is that the star junior has become an even more efficient shooter, an even more active defender and an even more productive playmaker than she was as a sophomore — as she showed when she tallied a season-high 19 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals against the Lady Techsters. The strides Williams has made won’t show up in her per-game averages. This season she is scoring four fewer points per night than last year But that’s because coach Kim Mulkey hasn’t needed to put her on the floor as often as she did a season ago. Through 11 games, Williams is averaging more than 20 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals per 40 minutes More than a dozen Division I players have those averages this season, but none of them are shooting as efficiently as Williams, who’s draining 56% of her field-goal tries and 46% of her 3-point attempts. Williams on Saturday shot 6 of 10 from the field and 2 of 5 from beyond the arc. She either scored or assisted on more than a third
of all the shots LSU made.
“I just feel like once she gets in her groove,” Flau’jae Johnson said, “she’s an unstoppable player
“We all know what she can do on the offensive side of the floor, but it’s also her defense. Tonight, she was getting over screens, she was doing the little things, getting down the floor and stuff like that, and so I just feel like her overall game is becoming more and more dominant.”
Before the season, Williams said she wants to improve how she plays defense. Whatever she did has worked so far The guard already has 21 steals a mark she didn’t hit last year until the Tigers’ 15th and final nonconference game. Williams forced two of those turnovers on Dec. 4 in LSU’s come-from-behind road win over Duke, a game that shook out like the one the No. 5 Tigers (11-0)
played on Saturday against Louisiana Tech LSU got off to a slow start, then corrected course and raced to a double-digit win.
Each night, Williams took over the third quarter Against the Blue Devils, she buried a series of isolation jump shots. Then, two games later against the Lady Techsters, she stepped into a left-wing 3-pointer curled into a baseline jumper and set up two layups for center Kate Koval — each time on a perfectly thrown lob pass down to the rim.
“She’s sharing the ball,” Mulkey said. “She’s really working hard to get better on the defensive end. She just has a presence about her right now that’s better than it’s ever been.”
And that’s only one of the reasons why LSU is playing as well as it ever has since Mulkey’s tenure began. The Tigers will begin the last three-game stretch of their nonconference slate with
the nation’s highest scoring average (109.3 ppg), field-goal percentage (56%), 3-point field-goal percentage (43%), average margin of victory (53.1 ppg) and rebounding rate (65%).
The win over Louisiana Tech was LSU’s worst statistical offensive showing of the season
The Tigers still scored 87 points on 48% shooting. Few teams across the country will be able to match that kind of offensive firepower, especially if Williams keeps improving the way she already has between her sophomore and junior years.
“She’s got great strength.”
Stoehr said. “I mean, her midrange game is really, really nice She can shoot the 3 with great consistency She sees the floor, passes. I just think her versatility is really tough to defend.”
Email Reed Darcey at reed. darcey@theadvocate.com.
LSU men rediscover identity in SMU win Tigers
dominate in the paint against Mustangs
BY TOYLOY BROWN III Staff writer
Marquel Sutton retrieved a pass at the left elbow of the free-throw line. The 6-foot-9 LSU forward drove to the right block, pivoted, shot with his non-dominant left hand and finished an and-one through SMU’s 7-2 defender
The bucket gave LSU a 28-25 lead after the free throw and symbolized a return to the team’s identity: dominance in the paint.
“How could we not?” said Dedan Thomas, who had 16 points and a career-high 12 assists.
The Tigers’ 89-77 victory over SMU on Saturday at the Smoothie King Center was unlike its previous 24-point loss to a ranked Texas Tech team.
“I thought we played more to our identity, who we’ve become as a team,” coach Matt McMahon said “I love the 50 points in the paint.” His star point guard agreed and explained how it lacked that consistent force against Texas Tech
“We just knew that’s not us,” Thomas said. “Didn’t hit shots, weren’t guarding, weren’t talking. And so Coach was really hard on us this week, and we just got better So yeah, it feels great, especially being in our home state.” LSU (9-1) shot 62%, its thirdhighest field-goal percentage of the season, and made 7 of 15 3-pointers in its first Quad One win. Its leading scorer was Sutton with 23 points and 12 rebounds. McMahon said his team’s disappointment was a major motivating factor ahead of the game against SMU (9-2), which he viewed as a
top-25 caliber team.
“What was really important to us was how we were going to respond coming off the performance we were disappointed in,” McMahon said. “(We) challenged our team all week. Think they understood the urgency of the game. They had watched a lot of SMU film just as the staff did, so we had great respect for their team.”
One of the players who had the biggest resurgence was Max Mackinnon. Coming off an 0-of-9 shooting performance, the 6-6 senior proved why he is tasked with being the team’s primary shooter He made 8 of 9 shots for 22 points and made 6 of 7 shots from the
3-point line. “I thought he showed just phenomenal maturity tonight,” McMahon said. “For those who’ve watched our last two games, you know, we struggled to shoot the 3, so for him to come out with six of seven really helped us space the floor.”
Helping Sutton dominate around the basket was graduate student Pablo Tamba, who had his best performance of the season with 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting and 10 rebounds. The 6-7 forward from Spain battled fouls in the previous contest, limiting him to 20 minutes. On Saturday he earned 38 minutes and played like a “junk-
yard dog,” said Sutton. McMahon was asked how the team was able to play at such a high level following a poor outing. The fourth-year coach was straightforward. “Simple answer would be, our offense didn’t stink,” McMahon said. “Tonight, we executed better on the offensive end. We were able to set our defense. We did a much better job of being organized with our defensive schemes there So our offense really helped us there, and then we have really good players. I mean, they’re about the right things. “I thought they really responded.”
Royals trade lefty reliever to Brewers for OF, pitcher
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals traded left-handed reliever Angel Zerpa to the Milwaukee Brewers for versatile outfielder Isaac Collins and right-hander Nick Mears on Sunday
The 28-year-old Collins hit .263 with nine homers and 54 RBIs in 130 games last year, his first full season in the big leagues He made 100 starts in left field, six in right field and two at designated hitter along with a start at second base.
The 29-year-old Mears had a career-best 3.49 ERA for Milwaukee last season. He also has pitched for the Pirates and Rockies.
The 26-year-old Zerpa made a career-high 69 appearances for the Royals last season, when he had a 4.18 ERA. He has proven to be a dependable middle reliever for Kansas City
Veteran pitcher Kelly returns to Diamondbacks
PHOENIX Veteran starting pitcher Merrill Kelly agreed Sunday to return to the Arizona Diamondbacks on a $40 million, two-year deal, according to a person familiar with the move.
The right-hander spent the first 6 1/2 years of his career with the Diamondbacks before the pending free agent was dealt to the Texas Rangers at this year’s trade deadline in July Kelly, 37, was good for both teams, finishing with a combined 12-9 record and 3.52 ERA. Kelly’s return to the desert isn’t a huge surprise considering he’s a Scottsdale native and played in college at Arizona State.
The fan favorite was a key piece of the team that went to the World Series in 2023. He had a 12-8 record and a 3.29 ERA that season.
Germans sweep two World Cup bobsled races
LILLEHAMMER, Norway — Johannes Lochner’s retirement season is shaping up to be his best.
Lochner, who will end his career after the Olympics in February, won a World Cup four-man bobsled race for the second consecutive day on Sunday, leading another German sweep. Lochner’s team was first, Adam Ammour drove to second and Francesco Friedrich crossed the line in third.
The Germans have finished 1-23 in four of the six men’s bobsled races this season and have collected 16 of a possible 18 medals to this point.
Kris Horn was the top U.S. fourman driver Sunday, finishing sixth. Germany also swept the medals in a two-woman race, with Laura Nolte winning, Kim Kalicki second and Lisa Buckwitz third Kaysha Love was fourth for the U.S.
Novak, Coughlin team up, win Thornton Invitational
NAPLES Fla.— Andrew Novak made three straight birdies on the back nine and Lauren Coughlin finished off their 9-under 63 in modified fourballs for a three-shot victory Sunday in the Grant Thornton Invitational, the second team title this year for Novak. They were challenged primarily by Chris Gotterup and Jennifer Kupcho until the par-5 17th at Tiburon Golf Club.
Gotterup and Kupcho both missed the green in tough spots and had to work hard for par Coughlin and Novak finished three ahead of Gotterup and Kupcho (63), Denny McCarthy and Nelly Korda (63), and Michael Brennan and Charley Hull (65). Novak also won the Zurich Classic with Ben Griffin.
Porzingis to miss two weeks; Young nears return
ATLANTA The Atlanta Hawks will be without Kristaps Porzingis for the next two weeks, the team announced Sunday The center has missed seven of the past eight games with an illness and will undergo further evaluations.
Porzingis last played Dec. 5, scoring 25 points in Atlanta’s 134133 loss to the Denver Nuggets. The Hawks acquired Porzingis on June 24 in a three-team trade involving the Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics. Porzingis played for the Celtics for two years. The Hawks will be losing one star and gaining another Trae Young is set to return to action this week after sustaining a right MCL sprain in a late October contest in Brooklyn.
STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
LSU players cheer after a teammate hits a 3-point shot against SMU on Saturday at the Smoothie King Center The Tigers made 7 of 15 3-pointers in the 89-77 win.
STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
LSU guard Mikaylah Williams, right, and Louisiana Tech guard Kaleigh Thompson run back down the court after Williams scored on Saturday at the Smoothie King Center
Tulane’s CFP run led by 5 difference makers
BY SPENCER URQUHART Staff writer
Tulane has reached the College Football Playoff for the first time and there are several Green Wave players who have had strong 2025 seasons. Transfer quarterback Jake Retzlaff has been among the top standouts for Tulane (11-2) this season. The Green Wave is currently riding a five-game win streak, most recently winning the American Conference championship game over North Texas at Yulman Stadium to secure a CFP berth
Listed below are five players who have been the most important difference makers heading into Tulane’s first-round playoff matchup, which is set for 2:30 p.m. Saturday against Ole Miss at VaughtHemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi.
Jake Retzlaff, Quarterback (R-Sr.)
Tulane was tasked with replacing last season’s starting quarterback Darian Mensah, who transferred to Duke, and the Green Wave landed an experienced starter in Retzlaff. A dual-threat quarterback, Retzlaff transferred from BYU in July and has shined in his first season as Tulane’s starting quarterback. Born in Corona, California, Retzlaff was a junior college standout as a freshman and sophomore before transferring to the
better tackle in the American Conference than Graham.
Sam Howard, Linebacker (Sr.)
FBS level. He spent two years at BYU before transferring to Tulane as a redshirt senior and has started all 13 games this season, completing 62.4 percent of his passes for 2,862 yards, 14 touchdowns and six interceptions along with a team-high 610 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns on 118 carries. He set Tulane’s single-season record for most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback.
Derrick Graham, Left tackle (R-Sr.)
Standing at 6-foot-4 and 314 pounds, Graham has started at
left tackle for Tulane the past two years after transferring from Troy A redshirt senior, Graham was at Troy for four years prior to Tulane, and he played for current Green Wave coach Jon Sumrall beginning in 2022. Graham entered the transfer portal after the 2023 season and initially committed to Texas A&M, but he ended up following Sumrall to Tulane instead for the 2024 season. Born in Lake Minneola, Florida, Graham saw playing time as a true freshman at Troy and is now an anchor at left tackle for Tulane, earning all-conference honors the past two years. Sumrall recently said there’s no
Mendoza’s high school, alumni celebrate QB’s Heisman win
BY JORDAN MCPHERSON Miami Herald (TNS)
MIAMI The raucous crowd at Vice Pizza in South Miami fell to a hush as the announcement was prepared to be made.
Nearly 200 people with ties to Christopher Columbus High School — alumni, faculty, administrators, families and friends — were on site to watch one of their own hopefully win one of college football’s most prestigious honors.
And then came the news they were waiting to hear Fernando Mendoza won the 2025 Heisman Trophy
The silence turned into euphoria.
“What a day,” said a jubilant Thomas Kruczek, Columbus’ president. Mendoza, a redshirt junior quarterback for the Indiana Hoosiers, is not only the first Columbus alumnus
TULANE
Continued from page 1C
re-entered the poll In 2023, the No. 20 Rebels beat the No. 24 Wave 37-20 at Yulman Stadium in a game that was much closer than the score indicated. With Tulane quarterback Michael Pratt sitting out due to injury, backup Kai Horton stepped out of bounds just shy of a first down at the Ole Miss 30 on a fourth-down scramble while trailing 20-17 in the fourth quarter The Rebels clinched it with a 56-yard field goal at the 1:53 mark for a 30-20 lead, then scored on a fumble return.
Minus the Mannings
The first football family of New Orleans had very little interaction with Tulane in its time at Ole Miss. Archie Manning never faced the Wave in his three playing years at Ole Miss from 1968-70. Tulane had left the Southeastern Conference in 1966, and the subsequent nine-year gap in the series was its longest until the 21st century Eli Manning redshirted in 1999 when Ole Miss beat Tulane 20-13 in Oxford. A year later, he came off the bench in the fourth quarter of a 49-20 Rebels win at home, going 1 of 5 for 4 yards in his first career appearance. As you would expect, it was his lowest completion percentage and his fewest yards in any college or NFL game.
to win the Heisman. He is also the first Miami native and the first Cuban-American to take home the award, which has been given out annually since 1935 He received 643 first-place votes to clear the field and finish well ahead of Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, who had 189 first-place votes. Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love and Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin were the other finalists.
“Everybody is so proud of him,” Kruczek said before the watch party started Saturday night, adding that Monday will be “HeisMendoza Day” at the school. Mendoza has completed 71.5% of his passes for 2,980 yards and a nationleading 33 touchdown passes with just six interceptions. He led the Hoosiers to a 13-0 record and their first Big Ten championship
Bowled over Tulane’s most memorable moments against Ole Miss have come in bowl seasons. In 1979, the Roch Hontasled Wave crushed the Rebels 49-15 on Nov 10 at the Superdome in front of a crowd of 45,667 and a regional audience on ABC when televised games were a huge deal. The Wave rolled up 536 yards, scoring its most points since its 1953 opener against The Citadel, and intercepted Gretna-born quarterback John Fourcade twice. Tulane jumped into the AP poll at No. 20 and beat LSU 24-13 at the Dome the following week before losing to Penn State 9-6 in the Liberty Bowl. In 1980, Tulane Hall of Fame tight end Rodney Holman broke several tackles after catching a short pass and rambled 40 yards to the Ole Miss setting up a 29-yard Vince Manalla field goal for a 26-24 victory as time ran out in Oxford — beating Fourcade again. It was a spectacular moment for Holman, who went on to 14 years in the NFL Tulane finished 7-5, playing in the Hall of Fame Bowl. In 1987, Tulane beat Ole Miss 31-24 at home along the way to the Independence Bowl for its first postseason appearance since 1980. The Wave nearly went undefeated against SEC teams, beating the Rebels, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State before losing 41-36 to LSU on a lastminute touchdown.
Dry spell
A major reason Tulane and Ole Miss do not have
since 1967. They are the No. 1 seed in the 12-team College Football Playoff.
Indiana has a first-round bye in the playoff and will face No. 8 seed Oklahoma or No. 9 seed Alabama in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1 for its quarterfinal game. Should the Hoosiers win their next two games — the Rose Bowl and then their semifinal, which would be at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta Mendoza and Indiana will play for a national championship on Jan. 19 at Hard Rock Stadium.
“If you told me as a kid in Miami that I’d be here on stage holding this prestigious trophy, I probably would have laughed, cried — like I’m doing now — or both, because this moment, it’s an honor It’s bigger than me,” Mendoza said during the ceremony at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Appel Room in New York.
more memorable history is the Rebels’ glory years corresponded to Tulane’s deemphasis of the program in the 1950s and 60s. The Wave won the school’s first four SEC meetings and six of the first eight but finished 7-18 against the Rebels as league members as the programs went in opposite directions.
Tulane managed to win 10-3 in 1956. Otherwise, the Rebels outscored the Wave 337-72 from 1953 to 1963, when Ole Miss captured five SEC titles and claimed three national championships.
Ole Miss won 97 games in those 11 years. Tulane won 27, failing to score against the Rebels four times from 1957 to 1963.
Tulane last won at Vaught HemingwayStadiumin1988, edging the Rebels 14-9 when both teams finished 5-6. Since then, the Wave has lost seven in a row and the two most recent ones were ugly In 2021, the Rebels gained 707 yards and picked up an SEC-record-tying 41 first downs in a rain-delayed 6121rompattheendofTulane’s nearly monthlong forced evacuation to Memphis because of Hurricane Ida.
This September the Rebels outgained the Wave 548282 in a 45-10 victory that was 45-3 until a late Tulane touchdown. No other team has beaten the Wave as badly at home or on the road since 2018, when fourth-ranked Ohio State won 49-6 in Columbus. Reversing that trend will be paramount if Tulane wants to truly make history in its 75th meeting with Ole Miss.
A key defensive leader at Tulane the past two years, Howard suffered a fractured fibula this season on Oct. 9 against East Carolina but was able to return to the field against Memphis less than a month later He missed just two games and picked up where he left off as an anchor at linebacker, recording three sacks in four games since returning to Tulane’s lineup. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Howard’s college football career began at Austin Peay before transferring to Tulane prior to the 2024 season. He had a breakout season in 2023 and was an all-conference selection at linebacker his final year at Austin Peay before transferring. Howard has recorded 44 tackles and four sacks in 10 games this season for the Green Wave.
Harvey Dyson, Defensive end (R-Jr.)
Dyson has been an impact transfer this season for Tulane, emerging as the top playmaker on a deep Green Wave defensive line. The 6-foot-3, 250-pound redshirt junior spent the past three years at Texas Tech in a rotational role but has experienced a new level of success in his first year at Tulane having established himself as a full-time
starter Dyson is among the leaders for Tulane in several key defensive metrics, and he leads the Green Wave in both sacks (7) and tackles for loss (10.5) Born in Cedar Hill, Texas, Dyson is playing football for a team outside of his home state for the first time and is one of two Tulane players with six or more sacks, along with South Alabama transfer Jordan Norman. Patrick Durkin, Kicker (R-Fr.)
Tulane’s special teams have been a huge strength in 2025, with Durkin named as the American Conference’s special teams player of the year as a redshirt freshman. Born in Plainfield, Illinois, Durkin’s outstanding season as Tulane’s kicker has resulted in him making 24 of 27 field goals (88.9 percent), four of which were from 50-plus yards. He’s also had 66 touchbacks in 77 kickoffs this season, earning freshman All-American honors. Punter Alec Clark has also had a strong season as a redshirt sophomore who transferred to Southern Miss from Marshall last year but flipped to Tulane before the 2025 season. Hailing from Swan View, Australia, Clark is averaging 46.8 yards per punt, which isn’t far off from current Minnesota Vikings punter Ryan Wright’s Tulane record of 47.5 yards per punt in 2021. Guerry Smith contributed to this report.
Michigan search includes ASU’s Dillingham, Mizzou’s Drinkwitz
By The Associated Press
The firm hired by Michigan to search for a football coach to replace Sherrone Moore has contacted representatives for Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham and Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz, according to a person familiar with the situation. MoorewasfiredonWednesday, when the school said an investigation uncovered his inappropriate relationship with a staffer Two days later, Moore was charged with three crimes after prosecutors said he “barged his way” into the apartment of a woman he’d been having an affair with and threatened to kill himself.
College football’s winningest program suddenly needs a coach. After the 35-year-old Dillingham was linked to numerous open jobs last month, he said he was not leaving his alma mater
Two weeks ago, Drinkwitz agreed to a six-year contract that increases his average compensation to $10.75 million annually Michigan is hoping to hire a coach this month, helping its chances of retaining recruits and keeping key players out of the transfer portal in January
Dillingham, who is from Scottsdale, Arizona, graduated from Arizona State in 2013 and started his coaching career as an assistant for the Sun Devils. After coaching at Memphis, he was the
offensive coordinator for Auburn, Florida State and Oregon before returning to Arizona State.
Dillingham orchestrated a quick turnaround, leading the Sun Devils to the Big 12 championship and the College Football Playoff for the first time last year Arizona State was 8-4 this season, improving Dillingham’s record to 22-16 over three seasons. The 42-year-old Drinkwitz is 46-28 in six seasons at Missouri after going 12-1 in a year at Appalachian State. He has built the Tigers into a steady Southeastern Conference program, earning five straight bowl bids.
DeBoer dispels rumors Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer is “very happy in Tuscaloosa” and has no interest in pursuing other jobs, he said in a statement Sunday
With the sudden opening at Michigan, the secondyear coach has stated he will stay at Alabama as the ninth-ranked Crimson Tide prepare for a playoff game at No. 8 Oklahoma.
“I have not spoken and have no interest in speaking with anyone else about any other job,” he said in a statement released through Yea Alabama, the school’s NIL collective. “I am fully committed to this program and look forward to continuing as head football coach at the University of Alabama.” DeBoer has a 19-7 record in two seasons at Alabama after going 10-3 this season. The Crimson Tide was the top team in the SEC during the regular season with a 7-1 conference record, and were selected to the College Football Playoff after missing the 12-team field a season ago.
STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
Tulane quarterback Jake Retzlaff tries to hype up fans during the American Conference championship game on Dec. 5 against North Texas at yulman Stadium The ByU transfer set Tulane’s single-season record for most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback.
AP FILE PHOTO
Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham cheers on his players against West Virginia on Nov. 15 in Tempe, Ariz.
BY
SAINTS 20, PANTHERS 17
THE NUMBERS
RB Neal leaves game with injury
absence.
RUSHING—Carolina, Young 7-49, Dowdle 1649, Hubbard 8-29. New Orleans, Shough 8-32, Neal 7-28, Hull 4-12, Estime 3-11, Hill 2-2, Tipton 1-(minus 4). PASSING—Carolina, Young 15-24-0-174. New Orleans, Shough 24-32-0-272, Rattler 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING—Carolina, Coker 4-71, Legette
2-39, McMillan 2-25, Tremble 2-13, Sanders
2-5, Hubbard 1-9, Ji.Horn 1-7, Dowdle 1-5. New Orleans, Olave 6-85, Vele 5-69, Johnson 4-30, Estime 3-39, Austin 3-33, Stoll 1-7, Tipton 1-5, Neal 1-4.
PUNT RETURNS—Carolina, Etienne 1-16. New Orleans, None. KICKOFF RETURNS—Carolina, Hubbard 2-50, Etienne 1-25, Dowdle 1-23. New Orleans, Hull 3-72, Tipton 1-19.
3-0-0, Werner 3-0-0, Bullard 2-4-0, Riley 2-1-0, Taylor 2-1-0, Bresee 1-2-0, Godchaux 1-1-0, Rumph 1-1-0, Shepherd 1-1-0, Williams 0-2-0.
INTERCEPTIONS—Carolina, None. New Orleans, None. MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.
OFFICIALS—Referee Alex Moore, Ump Terry Killens, HL Dana McKenzie, LJ Tom Eaton, FJ Mearl Robinson, SJ Anthony Jeffries, BJ Terrence Miles, Replay Tyler Cerimeli.
Continued from page 1C
fourth quarter and trailed for most of the afternoon And Shough met the moment. He engineered the goahead drive with 57 seconds left, and perhaps even more impressive than that, he tied the game by leading a seven-play, 83-yard series that saw Shough find Chris Olave in the end zone for a 12-yard score.
The touchdown to Olave was the kind of big-time throw in a moment when teams typically count on their quarterback.
This was why the Saints drafted Shough with the 40th overall pick This was what they saw
“Just a phenomenal performance,” Saints coach Kellen Moore said. “When your best is needed, he showed up.”
But Shough didn’t do it alone. He had help from nearly everywhere.
There was third-string running back Audric Estimé and the offensive line fooling the Panthers defense on a 19-yard screen pass that gave the final drive life. There was the defense that as they have practically all season, kept New Orleans in a game that looked like it could have gone off the rails at any moment. And there was defensive end Chase Young, whose huge first-down
BY LUKE JOHNSON AND ROD WALKER Staff writers
Devin Neal scored a touchdown for the second consecutive week and then he didn’t play another down against the Carolina Panthers.
Neal, the New Orleans Saints rookie running back, finished off a 17-play, 95-yard drive in the second quarter with a 4-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7. Shortly after that, the Saints announced he was dealing with a hamstring injury and was questionable to return. Neal did not play in the second half.
The sixth-round pick out of the University of Kansas was already serving as an injury fill-in for Alvin Kamara, who missed his third consecutive game with ankle and knee injuries.
Neal rushed for 28 yards and the touchdown on seven carries and he added a 4-yard reception.
With Neal sidelined, Audric Estime and Evan Hull handled running back duties for the Saints in the second half.
Long drive
The Saints had amassed just 21 net yards of offense and one first down by the time they took over at their own 5-yard line on the second play of the second quarter By the time Neal crossed the
goal line for a game-tying touchdown, they’d gone 95 yards in 17 plays, eating up more than 11 minutes of game time.
It was the longest drive by a Saints team in terms of time of possession (11:22) since at least the 2000 season, and the longest in terms of the number of plays run since 2013.
New Orleans made several big plays to keep the drive alive. Rookie quarterback Tyler Shough connected with Devaughn Vele for 16 yards to convert a third and 13, then found him again later in the drive for 17 yards on second and 18.
Shough also converted a fourth and 1 from the Carolina 6-yard line with a quarterback sneak to set up Neal’s touchdown.
Porter, Maxie honored
The 2025 Saints Hall of Fame class was introduced before kickoff.
This year’s class was safety Brett Maxie and cornerback Tracy Porter
Maxie played for the Saints from 1985-93, recording 438 tackles and 15 interceptions. His fourth-down tackle against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1987 season helped seal the Saints’ first-ever winning season.
“This is one of the best locker rooms I’ve ever been a part of,” Maxie said. “And the greatest fans ever.”
Porter, meanwhile, played in New Orleans from 2008-2011 and
sack on quarterback Bryce Young effectively set up the punt that gave the Saints the chance to steal the game. But the difference between Sunday’s win and past Saints games was that, previously, the quarterback did not usually come through in moments when his teammates had played well. Not since Drew Brees retired, anyway Derek Carr had only two game-winning drives with the Saints. Rattler has none. Jameis Winston, Andy Dalton and Taysom Hill combined for three in their starts as Saints quarterback. Shough, six starts into his career, now has two game-winning drives — each in the last two games. The quality of opponent in these games matters. The Panthers, like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the
is responsible for one of the biggest plays in franchise history
The Port Allen native recorded 227 tackles and seven interceptions. He picked off a Peyton Manning pass and returned it 74 yards for a touchdown in Super Bowl VLIV to help deliver the Saints their first championship.
Maxie and Porter led the Who Dat chant after the coin toss.
Maxie has ties to both teams that played Sunday He spent two seasons with the Carolina Panthers, including their inaugural season in 1995. His son Adam Maxie, is a pro scout for Carolina.
Reid inactive
Justin Reid will need at least one more week before he’s ready to return to the lineup.
The Saints’ safety was inactive for Sunday’s game against the Panthers. He was questionable coming into the game after practicing in a limited capacity Thursday and Friday
Reid initially suffered the injury on the first play from scrimmage against the Miami Dolphins in Week 13. He returned to play later in that series, but missed the remainder of the game as well as the following week’s win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Safeties Jordan Howden and Terrell Burgess have split the defensive snaps at safety in Reid’s
week prior, were in sole possession of first place in the NFC South and badly needed a win to shore up their chances. Carolina, too, was playing good football of late, having beaten the Los Angeles Rams before its bye week and won two of three since losing last month to the Saints.
But oddly enough, it’s the Saints who are the lone team that hold a winning record in the division. The Saints are 3-2 in the NFC South, while Tampa Bay (2-2), Carolina (2-2) and Atlanta (2-3) would be below them.
All three of those wins have come with Shough at quarterback.
“He’s growing at a rapid pace,” defensive end Cam Jordan said, later adding, “We’re catching our stride.”
Those two things — the Saints catching their stride amid Shough’s growth — aren’t likely a coincidence. While the defense has made plenty of improvements under defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, the Saints’ ability to turn these close games into wins has arguably been driven by Shough becoming more comfortable under center It isn’t always pretty but there are plays and drives that show progress. The 17-play, 95-yard drive that led to New Orleans’ first touchdown? That’s New Orleans showing it can grind a game away, something Shough said the
Kamara (knee/ankle), offensive tackle Asim Richards (ankle), tight end Zaire Mitchell-Paden, defensive back Rejzohn Wright and defensive tackles Khristian Boyd and John Ridgeway joined Reid on the Saints’ inactives list.
Odds and ends
Vele also left the game with a shoulder injury in the second half. There was no official update on his status after the game, but he was in the locker room in a sling. After Panthers receiver Jalen Coker made an athletic toe-tapping catch on the sideline for 15 yards in the first quarter Saints coach Kellen Moore challenged the ruling. The play was upheld after replay, making Moore 0-for-4 on challenges this season But he successfully overturned a completed pass late in the fourth quarter, his first successful challenge as a head coach For the seventh time in 14 games, the Saints did not pick up a first down on their opening drive. And for the ninth time this season, the defense gave up a touchdown on its opening drive the most in the NFL Juwan Johnson made a bobbling circus catch in the first quarter, and joined an exclusive group in the process: Johnson became the third Saints tight end ever to record at least 60 receptions in a season, joining Ben Watson and Jimmy Graham.
Saints felt they needed to do, given how Carolina can control the ball. Shough getting up from hit after hit? That shows his teammates that he can be counted on.
Quincy Riley has seen what it’s like for Shough to win people over Last year before they were drafted by the Saints, the two spent the year at Louisville. The rookie cornerback knows what his quarterback is capable of.
“I was telling someone on the sideline, I think Kool-Aid (McKinstry), ‘I’ve seen Tyler in these moments, so it really don’t surprise me,’ ” Riley said. “I like him in these moments. I bet bank on it.” Winning over teammates is why Shough says he plays the game. Since being drafted he has largely shrugged off the narratives surrounding his entry into the league, such as the concerns about his age or injury history But the 26-yearold wants to win over those in the locker room, so that they have the same belief in him that he has in himself.
In the fourth quarter, Shough exited the medical tent, knowing he was good as long as he could throw His teammates now know, too. “Tyler Shough, man,” Chase Young said. “He’s building, man. He’s just starting to look like that guy.”
Email Matthew Paras at matt. paras@theadvocate.com
STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE
Saints quarterback Tyler Shough runs the ball during the first half of a game against Carolina Panthers at the Caesars Superdome.
STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
New Orleans Saints running back Devin Neal runs for a first down against the Carolina Panthers during the first half of the game on Sunday at the Caesars Superdome.
SAINTS 20,PANTHERS17
THREEAND OUT: RODWALKER’STOP THREETAKEAWAyS FROM SAINTS’UPSET
THE GUY
SHOUGH’S
1
yeah, IknowI said this after TylerShough’s first game against the Panthers back in November when he completed 19 of 27 passes for 282 yards and twotouchdowns in a17-7 victory. Well, I’m evenmoreconvinced nowand youprobably should be too after Sunday. Especially after watching Shough drivethe Saints 78 yards in sevenplays late in the fourth quarter to tie the game 17-17. Shough showed plenty of poise and accuracy on the drive, completing six of sevenpasses.Then he used his arms and legs to setupthe game-winning field goal. He completed 24 of 32 passes for 272 yards anda touchdown—and wasohsoclutch late.
GRITTY EFFORT
2
One thing youcan sayabout the Saints is they haven’t quit on Kellen Mooredespite thestruggles of this season.The Panthers came into the Dome withplenty to playfor,clinging to ahalf-game leadinthe NFC Southoverthe Tampa BayBuccaneers.The Saints didn’t have much to playfor other than tryingtoplayspoiler fora second consecutiveweek.Theyknockedoff the Bucs last week. Nowtheyhavebeaten thePanthers fora second time this season.Theyare 3-1 this season against the two teams jockeying to win the division.That’sasign of progress.And theystill have three winnable games remaining againstthe Jets,Titans and Falcons.
DEFENSE COMES UP
3
The defense continues to step up. The Saints’ defense has held Panthers’ quarterback Bryce young to under171 passing yards everytime it has facedhim.young finishedwith 163 yardsinthis one. But it wasthe Saints’young (defensiveend Chase young) whocameupbig.Chase young sacked Bryce young on first down on Carolina’snext-to-last driveof the game.Thentwo plays later,Chase young chased down Bryceyoung to forcea fourth down.The Saints took advantageand scoredonaCharlie Smyth field goal.The Saints defense,much likeShough, cameup big when it wasneeded.
‘ALWAYSDIALEDIN’
Saints kicker Smythaddsto hislegendwithagame-winner in thirdNFL appearance
BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer
Charlie Smyth didn’t needtowait for his 47-yard field goal to clear the uprights.
Thekickcameoff hisright foot true and the distance didn’tmatter.Assoon as he saw his game-winner was on the right trajectory,heturned to his left —toward the sideline of the team with playoff hopes whom he just saddled with aloss —and raised his arms in celebration.
New Orleans Saints 20, Carolina Panthers 17.
“I think Imight’ve looked at their sideline,” Smyth said. “I probably shouldn’thave done that.”
Informed that he definitely looked at their sideline, Smyth just grinned
“I know Idid,” he said. Who can blame him? In his third professional football game, alittle more than two years after he kickedan American football for thefirst time in hislife, Smythnow hasa game-winner on his résumé.
And, if he wasreally being honest, he was almostwishing the Saints would have made things alittle more difficult on him. Forty-seven yardsis well within his range. Had it not been for an unnecessary roughness penalty afew plays earlier,Smyth waslooking at a62-yard attempt.
“I’ve hit alot of the longer ones in pre-gamerecently,and Isuppose when you get in those moments you get more adrenaline, and for me that means Iget more power in my kicks; that’sthe way Ilike to channel it,” Smyth said. “Forty-seven (yards), we’ll take it alittle easier,but Iwas ready to hit that one if we needed it.” This is the latest entry in what has been amagical story. Smyth came to the United States from Northern Ireland to play American football.He grew up admiring the game from his nativeland, with hisfathersometimes shutting off the WiFi in the house so Smyth could not stay up lateand watch games. He always thought he could do it, thinking aboutthe wayhis Gaelic football skills would translate But dreaming about it and thinking about it anddoing it aretwo different things, especially when the “it”in questioninvolvesmakingkicks like the one he did Sunday
STAFF PHOTO By BRETTDUKE
Saints kickerCharlie Smythkicks a47-yard game-winning field goal against the CarolinaPanthers on Sunday at the Caesars Superdome. The Saints defeated their NFCSouth rival 20-17.
The snap from Zach Wood and hold from KaiKroeger were perfect. And Smyth juststepped up and drilled the kick.
“I know the outside worldwould say there’salot of pressure on you,” Smythsaid, “but Ilike to think Iembrace those moments.”
It’shard to overstate how unlikely this allis. Offthe topofhis head Smyth said it was about 27 months agothat he was teaching the Irish language to students as arecentgraduate. He’d signed up to takeaMaster’s course in Belfast.
But then he learned aboutthisAmerican footballtryout thatwould get him achancetokick at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.And here he is now,doingthis.
“The way things panned out,it’s beena dream scenario,”Smyth said “... To even look at me in the first place when Ihad nofootballexperience,I’m just so grateful to everybody in this organizationtohavemedevelop.I think we’re going to reap the rewards of that now.”
Three gamesinto hiscareer,Smyth has successfully converted four of his five field goal attempts and each of his five extra points. The miss, which came last week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from about the same distance as hisgame-winner,was instructive.
Smyth didn’tblame the downpour he was kicking in last week. He went back and watched it and found atechnical issue that he could correct. And as it happens, he wasabletodoso withformer Saintskicker John Carney,who was in town this week for an alumni event.
There’sa bit of serendipityatplay: Oneofthe peopleresponsible for Smyth’sarrival is his kicking coach, Tadhg Leader,who first got theidea aboutsending Irishmen to thestates to kick after attending one of Carney’s kicking camps in San Diego. That forged arelationship, and Smyth has worked with Carney before.
“Itwas just aperfect week to get working with John and look at the film andeven analyze some of themakes
I’ve had in practice and in games, like, ‘What’sthe ball doing? What way am Ilined up?’”Smyth said. “Just little, small technical things.”
All of that adds up to moments like the one he found himself in Sunday Smyth said he didn’tfeelany nerves going into it. He calls it the “evidence wall,” and he thought back to the first NFLgame he ever played in, apreseason contest against the Arizona Cardinals in which he hit agame-winner. He’d seen evidencethathecould do it. And his teammates had complete faith, too.
“I knew he was gonna knock that down,”Chris Olave said. “That’smy boy right there.”
“Just seeing it on his face, you’ve got to have alittle level of cold-bloodedness to play that position,” Tyler Shough said. “I hadfull confidencein him.Ialmost, you’re willing to see it go in, but Ithink everyone knew what the result wasgoing to be.”
When Smythwas preparingfor thekick, coach Kellen Mooresaidhe never talked to him.Hedidn’twant to botherthe young kickerand intrude on his thoughts. And it didn’tsurprise himatall to seehis teammatesmobbing him in the post-game locker room after Moore delivered agame ball.
“This team loves that guy,” Moore said. “Itwas awesome.”
Smyth, technically,isstill amember of the Saints practice squad. But he is now out of roster elevations, meaning if he is going to continue to playon Sundays, theSaints aregoing to have to sign him to the active roster
At thatpoint, he’llbea full-fledged NFLplayer,who not long ago had never played the game. That it has all happened here in NewOrleans means something to him
“I want to be apart of thisteam, I want to play here,” Smyth said. “I love it here.Itfeels like home here.Ifeel like Ihavetwo homes, NewOrleans and Mayobridge, (Northern Ireland).”
He doesn’twant to count on anything that hasn’thappened yet. But it feels safetosay he’searned that spot.
Email Luke Johnson at ljohnson@ theadvocate.com.
QB Shough is making believersout of everyone
Tyler Shough is him.
If you didn’tknow it before Sunday, you know it now
The New Orleans Saintshavetheir quarterback. Shough is the guy —for the present,the future and everything in between. If anyone doubtedShough’s credentials as the team’sfranchise quarterback, they were eliminated once and for all after the rookie quarterback authored another dramatic, come-from-behind victory on Sunday
showed up.”
Jeff Duncan
One week after upsetting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Shough stuck the dagger in another division leader,the Carolina Panthers, who entered their game against theSaints at the Superdome on Sunday with momentum and motivation
Playing with the confidence and composure of aveteran, Shoughled the Saints to two late scoring drives as they stunned the Panthers 20-17 on Charlie Smyth’sgame-winning 46-yard field goal before adeliriously happy home crowd. “Just aphenomenal performance,” Saints head coach Kellen Moore said. “When your best is needed,he
If Shoughcontinues to play theway he has thepast two weeks, he’sgoing to win alot more games for Moore. Sunday’svictory was extra special because ofthe way it transpired. The Saints never led until Smyth’s game-winner with two seconds left. They were forced to play catch-upfor most of the game, butthey refused to go away Just as they did in aWeek 10 victory over Carolina five weeks ago, the defense held thePanthersatbay and set the stagefor Shough’sheroics.
In thefourth quarter,Shough completed13of18passes for 162 yards andatouchdown, while adding 24 yards onfour timely runs. Hispasser rating in the final period was astellar 118.3. On thefinal two drives, he was 9of11for 106 yards and atouchdown. Overall, hecompleted 75% of his passes (24 of 32) for 272 yards and atouchdown as he thoroughly outplayed Carolina’sBryce Young. And Shough did all of this while playing without starting running backDevin Neal, starting right guardCesar Ruiz and No. 2receiver
Devaughn Vele, who has quickly developed intoShough’sfavorite target All left the game at various times because of injuries.
Andyet, Shough didn’tbat an eye. He surgically dissected the Panthers’ defense withcompletions all over thefield, delivering dimes to four different receivers: Chris Olave, Kevin Austin, Juwan Johnson and backup running back Audric Estimé.
“I was prepared, and we were confident,” Shough said. “Wewere all on the same page, knowing we were going to drive down and score. Everybody was clicking. It was agreat finish.” Shough has recorded two consecutivegame-winning drives to lead the Saintstocomeback wins. That’stwo morethan Spencer Rattler had in his 14 starts and as many as Derek Carr had in his two seasons as the Saints starter
“Tyler Shough, man,” veteran defensive end Chase Young said. “All power to Shough. Whatever he’sdoing, we’ve got to get him to keep doing (it). He’sjust starting tolook like theguy.” Young is thesecond veteran defender to sing Shough’spraises in as manyweeks. Last week, it was De-
mario Davis, saying Shough had the “it” factor.This week, it wasYoung saying he is making believers out of everyone in the locker room,coaches, teammates and support staffincluded. When veteran defenders like Davis and Young endorse your work, you know you’re doing something right.
“Itwas alot of fun,” Shough said. “Wehad played well on the road, and we wanted to show the fans what we could do here. The Panthers are a really good team.That’stwo playoff teamsback to back. It feels like we’re just gearing up.”
The winwas just the second for the Saints at home. Going back to last season, they’ve only won twoof their last 10 games in the Superdome. Thanks to Shough’sperformance, the fans whostuck around until the end in the announced crowd of 70,070 went homehappy
“His steadiness is really special,” Moore said of Shough. “He made somebig-timeplays in this game. As the gamewent on, we got alittle bit of confidence and the crowd got into it and the Dome came to life. It was agood example of what our team is building. Ithought it was big-time.”
NFL ROUNDUP
Rams clinch a playoff berth with win over Lions
By The Associated Press
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA Matthew
Stafford passed for 368 yards and hit Colby Parkinson for two touchdowns, and the NFC-leading Los Angeles Rams clinched a playoff berth with a furious second-half rally for a 41-34 victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday Kyren Williams rushed for two scores and Blake Corum added another TD for the Rams (11-3), who came back from a double-digit deficit shortly before halftime with 20 consecutive points to secure their eighth victory in nine games. Los Angeles is headed to the playoffs for the third straight year and for the seventh time in coach Sean McVay’s nine seasons. After throwing his fifth interception of the season in an inconsistent first half, Stafford ruthlessly led the Rams to victory in the second half. He heard chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!” from the SoFi Stadium crowd after hitting Parkinson for an 11-yard score with 4:49 to play
Amon-Ra St. Brown scorched his hometown team for 163 yards and two touchdowns on 13 receptions for the Lions (8-6). Jared Goff passed for 338 yards and three TDs, but Detroit has alternated wins and losses since Week 5, endangering its hopes for a third straight playoff berth.
RAVENS 24, BENGALS 0: In Cincinnati, the Baltimore Ravens snapped a two-game losing streak as they blanked the Cincinnati Bengals.
Lamar Jackson threw for two touchdowns and the Baltimore defense sacked Joe Burrow three times. Kyle Van Noy and Alohi Gilman teamed up for a 95-yard pick-6 in the fourth quarter that served as the knockout punch, and Burrow was shut out for the first time in his six-year career
EAGLES 31, RAIDERS 0: In Philadelphia, Jalen Hurts rebounded from his worst NFL game to throw
three touchdown passes, Saquon Barkley had a 2-yard touchdown run and the Eagles snapped a three-game losing streak with their first shutout in seven years in a win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Eagles (9-5) were able to get their maligned offense under embattled coordinator Kevin Patullo right against the woeful Raiders and finally showed signs of life with a nice mix of play calling in bitter cold temperatures and topped 21 points for the first time in six games.
TEXANS 40, CARDINALS 20: In Houston, C.J. Stroud threw for 260 yards and three touchdowns and the Texans (9-5) jumped out to a big early lead and cruised to a victory over the slumping Arizona Cardinals.
The Houston Texans have shaken off their awful start to the season with a six-game winning streak that has them in the thick of the AFC playoff race with three regular-season games left.
CHARGERS 16, CHIEFS 13: In Kansas City, Missouri, Los Angeles eliminated Kansas City from playoff contention when Derwin James picked off a pass by Gardner Minshew who had just taken over for the injured Patrick Mahomes — in the closing seconds to preserve a victory over the reigning AFC champions.
Justin Herbert, playing through a broken left hand, threw for 210 yards and a touchdown, and the Chargers (10-4) ensured consecutive 10-win seasons for the first time since 2006-07 by completing a rare regular-season sweep of KansasCity
BEARS 31, BROWNS 3: In Chicago, Caleb Williams threw two touchdown passes and Chicago beat Cleveland in one of the coldest games ever at Soldier Field even though the Browns’ Myles Garrett moved within a sack of the NFL’s single-season record.
The Bears (10-4) heated up early on a day when the gametime temperature was 8 degrees,
scoring two first-quarter touchdowns and breaking the game open with two more in the third. It was just the sort of performance they needed coming off a loss at Green Bay that knocked them from first to seventh in the NFC, with a rematch against their rivals at home next week looming.
BILLS 35, PATRIOTS 31: In Foxborough, Massachusetts, Josh Allen threw three touchdown passes, and James Cook ran for two TDs and caught another as Buffalo rallied from a deficit to beat New England, preventing the Patriots from clinching the AFC East title Allen finished 19 of 28 for 193 yards. Cook ran 22 times for 107 yards for the Bills (10-4), who avoided being swept by a division opponent for the first time since 2019. Buffalo reached 10 wins for the seventh consecutive season.
COMMANDERS 29, GIANTS 21: In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Jacory Croskey-Merritt ran for a touchdown, fellow rookie Jaylin Lane returned a punt 63 yards
to the end zone and Washington ended its season-derailing skid at eight games by beating similarly woeful New York.
The only NFL game this week with no playoff implications has a far bigger bearing on draft positioning. The Giants (2-12) lost their eighth in a row, moving a step closer to the top pick, a lastplace finish in the NFC East and potentially front-office changes, with a coaching search already coming.
49ERS 37,TITANS 24: In Santa Clara, California, Brock Purdy threw three touchdown passes and San Francisco started the stretch run of their season with a victory over Tennessee.
The 49ers (10-4) came back from a bye week and looked extremely sharp on offense against the overmatched Titans (2-12) by scoring on their first five possessions of a game for the first time since the 2021 season.
JAGUARS 48, JETS 20: In Jacksonville, Florida, Trevor Lawrence accounted for six touchdowns, including a career-high five passing, and Jacksonville overwhelmed New York from start to finish in a drubbing Sunday Lawrence completed 20 of 32 passes for 330 yards and didn’t have a turnover for the third consecutive game. His passer rating of 136.7 was the best of his five-year NFL career
BRONCOS 34, PACKERS 26: In Denver Bo Nix tied his career high with four touchdown throws and Denver’s defense stifled Jordan Love in the second half of the Broncos’ win over Green Bay who lost star Micah Parsons to a knee injury With their NFL-best 11th consecutive victory, the Broncos (12-2) clinched a playoff berth and moved a game ahead of New England for the No. 1 seed in the AFC. They stayed two games ahead of the Los Angeles Chargers in the AFC West.
Steelers’ Herbig and Sawyer are ready to try to replace Watt
BY WILL GRAVES AP sportswriter
PITTSBURGH T.J. Watt enjoys be-
ing a mentor Yes, the Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker understands it’s part of the job when you’re among the best in the world at what you do. Still, the perennial Pro Bowler has long leaned into it particularly when it comes to Nick Herbig.
The first tell-tale sign that Watt understood Herbig had the potential to be a difference-maker came during Herbig’s rookie season two years ago.
Asked what makes the undersized Herbig stand out, Watt didn’t point to Herbig’s quickness or tenacity
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By STEPHEN BRASHEAR Indianapolis Colts quarterback Philip Rivers, center walks off the field after throwing an interception against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday in Seattle. ä Dolphins at Steelers, 7:15 P.M. MONDAy, ESPN
Seahawks outlast the Colts 18-16 on Myers’ 56-yard field goal
BY ANDREW DESTIN
AP sportswriter
SEATTLE Jason Myers kicked a franchise-record six field goals, including a 56-yarder with 29 seconds left, and the Seattle Seahawks outlasted 44-year-old quarterback Philip Rivers and the Indianapolis Colts 18-16 on Sunday Rivers threw a touchdown pass after coming out of retirement to make his first start in nearly five years, and he led the Colts into position for Blake Grupe’s goahead, 60-yard field goal with 47 seconds left. That was enough time for Sam Darnold and the Seahawks (11-3). Rashid Shaheed returned Grupe’s kickoff 28 yards to the Seattle 37, and Darnold connected with Shaheed twice for 25 yards to set up Myers. The game-winning drive was Darnold’s third this season and 13th of his career
Desperate to salvage their season after Daniel Jones suffered a season-ending torn Achilles tendon, the Colts (8-6) turned to Rivers, a grandfather who’d been coaching high school football and was a semifinalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
His numbers were pedestrian, but he gave Indy a chance to win. Rivers finished 18 of 27 for 120 yards with a touchdown and an interception, with the pick coming on his final pass as he tried to force the ball down the field with 11 seconds left. Coby Bryant made the interception, his careerhigh fourth this season.
Indy has lost four straight and five of six to fall out of playoff position in the AFC. Seattle kept pace with the Los Angeles Rams atop the NFC West
It was Seattle’s first victory without a touchdown since Dec. 26, 2024, when the Seahawks beat Chicago 6-3.
Myers, the NFL’s points leader entering the day raised his total to a career-high 153. His previous best was 143 points in 2022. In addition to the game-winner he converted from 47, 52, 46, 32 and 30 yards.
Myers’ six field goals were one short of his career high He made seven for the New York Jets on Oct. 14, 2018, in a win over the Colts.
Darnold finished 22 of 36 for 271 yards, and NFL receiving leader Jaxon Smith-Njigba had seven catches for 113 yards.
“He asks the right questions,” Watt has said more than once.
Time to find out if all those “right questions” have led Herbig to the right answers. When Herbig steps onto the frigid Acrisure Stadium turf on Monday night as the Steelers (7-6) host the Dolphins, he’ll do it without Watt nearby for the first time in his three-year career
One of the NFL’s elite pass rushers is out indefinitely after surgery to repair a partially collapsed lung following a dry-needling treatment mishap this week. Enter Herbig and rookie Jack Sawyer, who will both take on an increased workload while Watt recovers.
“I think that he’s prepared not just myself, but a bunch of the younger guys in that sense to be able to take on that larger role, not just as a player but as a leader and bringing that energy and just doing everything that he does right,” said Herbig, whose 6 1/2 sacks this season trail only Watt’s team-leading seven. Herbig is not Watt, but he has shown flashes of being the latest link in Pittsburgh’s long line of chaos-rendering edge rushers, a lineage that includes James Harrison, Greg Lloyd and Joey Porter Sr At 6-foot-1 and 240 pounds, Herbig makes up for his lack of bulk with lightning-quick reflexes and a relentlessness that helped him lead the Big Ten Conference in sacks during his final year at Wisconsin in 2022. He has showcased both on several occasions this year In addition to the sacks, he’s picked off a pass, forced two fumbles and recovered another for a Pittsburgh defense that relies heavily on creating turnovers to make up for
an alarming inability to get stops, particularly against teams such as Miami that like to run the ball.
The Dolphins have won four straight games and five of six following a 1-6 start by putting the ball in running back De’Von Achane’s hands and getting out of the way Achane is averaging 109 yards during Miami’s surge, taking some of the pressure off quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
In that way perhaps, having Sawyer play more might be a benefit.
The fourth-round draft pick out of Ohio State lacks Watt’s pass-rush skills but is adept at setting the edge against the run, something Pittsburgh has struggled to do consistently this season.
“I feel like I’m getting better each week and getting more comfortable with this level each week and the scheme and just trying to help this team win anyway I can,” Sawyer said.
Sawyer saw the field for just three plays last week against Baltimore, though that number figures to spike against the Dolphins as Pittsburgh tries to keep its tenuous hold on its AFC North lead while looking to extend its winning streak for Monday night home games to 23.
That streak began before Herbig or Sawyer or even Watt for that matter — were born.
Sawyer is no stranger to high stakes. He played a pivotal part in the Buckeyes’ run to a national championship last winter and is eager to show he’s not intimidated by
the stakes or the stage.
“I’ve always put on my best games late in the year at Ohio State,” Sawyer said, later adding, “You know, going on with this run, I want to be that guy that they can lean on if they need me and whenever my number is called.”
The potential return of rookie defensive tackle Derrick Harmon might help keep Achane in check.
The first-round pick out of Oregon is questionable after missing the last two games with a knee injury unrelated to the one he sustained near the end of training camp that cost him a couple of games in September
The rushing defense numbers with and without Harmon in the lineup are jarring The Steelers are surrendering nearly 100 yards fewer a game on the ground with Harmon’s No. 99 manning the interior line.
“Derrick is very stout,” longtime Pittsburgh defensive lineman Cam Heyward said. “We’re having guys that are learning and coming along very well.”
The Steelers need that learning curve to start leveling off if they want to reach the playoffs for a third straight season. The finishing stretch beyond Monday night includes a trip to run-heavy Detroit and a visit by Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry and the Baltimore Ravens in Week 18
Whether that game is for a playoff spot or chance to rest will rely heavily on Pittsburgh’s ability to adapt without arguably its best player While the “next man up” mentality has long been an NFL cliche, the Steelers have embraced it.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GENE J PUSKAR Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Jack Sawyer warms up before a game against the Buffalo Bills on Nov. 30 in Pittsburgh.
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By KATIE CHIN
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford throws a pass during a game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday in Inglewood, Calif.
Murphy,Fears lead Pels past Bullsfor second straight win
BY MATT CARLSON Associated Press
CHICAGO Trey Murphy III
scored 20 points with 10 rebounds, rookie Jeremiah Fearsadded20 points and the New OrleansPelicans topped theChicago Bulls 114104 on Sunday night. The last-placePelicans won their second straight followinga sevengame losing streak to improve to 5-22. They’ve beaten the Bulls twice this season.
Zion Williamson scored 18 points, including seven down the the stretch, in his return to the lineup to help the Pelicanspull away late. Jordan Poole had 16 for New Orleans, who outrebounded
Chicago53-43 and outscored the Bulls 60-46 in thepaint
CobyWhiteled Chicago with 20 points, and Kevin Huerterconnectedfor 16off the bench in his return from left adductorstrain as theBulls lostfor theeighthtimein nine games. New Orleans led 76-75 after three quarters. The Pelicans had opened a13-point lead 5:14 into thethird, but Whitestarted connecting and the Bulls useda 16-2 run to get back into thegame. Chicago took athree-point lead earlyinthe fourth. Then thePelicansmuscled back ahead to take control,punctuated by Williamson’sdunkwith 37 seconds left. Williamson, the NBA’s top draft
pick in 2019, most recently missed five games witharight hip adductor strain. Four separate injuries have limited the two-time All-Star to just 11 games this season for the Pelicans. He didn’tstart thisone,but enteredthe game off the bench 4:35 into thefirst quarterand played 26:37 Both teams struggled offensively in achoppy game; New Orleans shot 45.7% and Chicago 41.3%
New Orleans led52-47 at halftimeafter opening anine-point lead late in the second quarter Williamson gotrolling late in the secondquarter, scoring eight of his11first-half points in the final four minutes
Tulane shakes off its setbacks to down UNO
BY DARRELL WILLIAMS Contributing writer
Tulane took controlinthe first quarter,fended offUNO forthe next two quarters, then blew the game wide open with a19-4 run in thefourthinshooting past thePrivateers, 95-71, Sunday at Fogleman Arena. Tulane (4-5), whichwas playing after anine-day break, had experienced back-to-back setbacks andlostfourofits past fivegames. The Green Wave dominated the rebounding, 47-43, including an 18-9 bulge in offensive rebounds.
“It was good to get in the win column; we hadtowaita long time to playagain,”coachAshleyLangford said. “So, I’mreallypleasedwith (Sunday’s) win to give us momentuminour (upcoming) three-game stretch goinginto(American Athletic Conference) play.” Point guard Kendall Sneed led Tulanewith 18 points andfive assists. Power forward Amira Mabry had17pointsand seven rebounds, guardKanija Daniel,lastseason’s national juniorcollege player of the year,had 15 points, and guard CC Mays energizedthe team with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
UNO wasled by ball-hawking point guard Shanihya Brown with 20 points, four assists and six steals. Backcourt mate Brialle Washingtonhad 13 points, four assists and five steals. Forward Jayla Kimbrough scored 10.
“Wejusthad the mindset of being the aggressor on the glass,” saidMays, agraduate player who came from Marshall.“We played teams that were shorter than us, and we lost the rebounding battle. So the emphasis was on the glass. And, we were really grinding during the time off.”
UNO trailed 49-34 at 7:32 of the third quarter but whittledthe deficit to 50-43 two minuteslater.Tulane, however, mostly behind Sneed and Danielbegan driving more effectively,leading to open shots, and the Wave shot to a67-53 lead at the end of thethird.
That gave them alot of momentum entering the fourth quarter, and the Wave, using its depth, turned to its defense to closeout
its crosstown foe. UNO missed its first seven shots of the quarter on the way to 3-of-13shooting. That fueled a19-4run that sealed the victory.At4:47 of the fourth, Tulane had an 86-57 lead.
“I told (the UNO players) at halftime that although we were behind by 10, we were very muchinthe game, theway things were going,” said Privateerssecond-year coach Trelanne Powell. “Itjust seemed like ourfightfizzled out. .Itwas like asnowball effect when (Tulane) started to score points.” Tulane next will play will play at Alabama at 4p.m. Wednesday,its third SEC opponent this season TheWave will return home for its Tulane Holiday Tournament on Dec. 20-21. Tulane will face Delaware Statetoopentournamentplay. The Privateerswill host Incarnate Word on Thursday Tulane had a24-7 rebounding edge and shot 50 percent (14-of-28),but led just 39-29 at halftime. Behind ball-hawking point guard Shanihya Brown,UNO forced 14 turnovers. The Wave scored thefirst two baskets of the game on its way to a24-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.The Privateers, however, stayed even with Tulane in the secondquarter,15-15, continuing its intense man-to-man pressure defense. Turnovers have been an Achilles heel for the Wave. “I told them at halftime that we had14turnovers, which is unacceptable,” Langford said. Tulane finished with 20. “Weplay in a toughconference, so we have to do better.”
STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
Tulane Green Wave guard Kanija Daniel reacts after hitting athree pointer against the North Florida Ospreys during the first halfof the game on Nov. 12 at Devlin Fieldhouse on the Tulane campus
half of agame on SundayinChicago.
If you’re in themarketfor anew vehicle, theremaining weeksofDecembercould be agreat time to buy
BY JOSH JACQUOT Edmunds
If you’re in the market for anew vehicle, the remaining weeks of December could very well be agreat time to buy.Several recurring industry trends converge at year-end, creating favorableconditionsthat can help you save money. The auto experts at Edmundshavecome up withthree keyreasons why December often delivers the opportunity forbetter deals —and what to know to ensure youget the best one Salesquotas, dealerincentives
Manufacturers anddealers operate under annual targets, and December is when they make theirmostconcertedeffort to meet them. According to Edmunds transaction data, December has historically delivered the highest averagediscountsoff the manufacturer’s suggested retail price for both newand used cars.The pandem-
ic somewhat upendedthat, sending new car prices skyrocketing year-round as demand exceeded supply,but that blip haslargely stabilizedsince 2022. Typically,asthe calendar year draws to aclose,automakers
andtheir dealer networks shift intohigh gear,deploying cashback incentives,financing specials andprice cuts to help them meet sales goalsand finish the ä See CAR, page 2D
Is it therapeutic forsomeonewith Alzheimer’sordementia to listen to alot of Christmas carols or musicaround the holidays?
BY HILLELITALIE AP national writer
NEWYORK— Melanie Moore, who runs the Ohiobased Cincy Book Bus, is oneofhundredsofbooksellers who received a pleasant surprise for the holidays: acheckfor $500 from author James Patterson.
“I’ve never takena salary.All profits from the bookstore go to
buybooks for kids in need,” Moore saidin astatement released through Patterson’s publisher,Little, Brown &Company,whichannounced the bonuses Wednesday.“This gift from JamesPatterson will be my very first paycheck!” Over the past 20 years, Patterson has donated millions of dollars to schools, libraries,literacypro-
grams and others in the book community.For the past several years, he hasmadeatradition outofsending $500 checksto600 independent booksellers who have been recommended by peersorpatrons. The list for 2025 ranges from Katie Gabriello, social media coordinator for WhitelamBooksinReading, Massachusetts, to store manager KateCzyzewski of Thunder Road Books in Spring Lake, New Jersey
“I’ve said this before, but Ican’t
say it enough —booksellers save lives,” Patterson said in astatement. “What they do is crucial, especially right now.I’m happy to be able to acknowledge them andtheir hardworkthisholiday season.” Oneofthe world’smost popular and prolific authors, Patterson received an honorary National Book Awardmedal in 2015 for his “Outstanding Service to the American LiteraryCommunity.”
Music has often been described as auniversal language, and studies have shown that music can affect brain waves, brain circulation and stress hormones. Though there are no claims that music can cure adisease, research has shownmusic benefits in anumber of ways: reduces stress and anxiety, helps people sleep better,often helps alleviate pain, improves communication, is away to express feelings, promotes physical rehabilitation and also enhances memory. (American Music Therapy Organization, 2011). It has been showntoassist in memoryand language skills, can curb aggressive or agitated behaviors, and even spark aresponse from anonverbal, late stage Alzheimer’s patient.
Music motivates and inspires and is apowerful and nonthreatening medium and therefore, people with Alzheimer’s react positively,while their moodsare uplifted, and their emotional states are raised. Even the rhythm and structure of the music —with toes tapping and hands clapping —can itself provide aform of exercise.
Christmas music spurs memories in people with Alzheimer’sordementia. Because the brain has music organized through rhythm and melody,it helps those affected remember different aspects and times in their lives. The music during the Christmas season can be joyful and spiritually powerful as well as uplifting and affirming. Alzheimer’sand dementia patients seemingly reconnect with memories triggered by music, and reminiscing with traditional Christmas tunes is very therapeutic, as it can spark much dialogue and interaction with the person.
Keepinmind, however,that there’sanappropriate amount of balance attached to listening to Christmas music. Toomuch can be overwhelming and can cause bouts of anxiety,depression or sadness. Toolittle can rob the person of the joy of the season and opportunities to reminisce about the past and draw out retained memories with others.
Anew study by the British AcademyofSound Therapy suggests that listening to just 78 minutes of music every day is good formental health and quality of life. The Academy even recommends aspecific “formula” needed forapositive outcome: 14 minutes of “uplifting” music to feel happy; 16 minutes of “calming” music to feel relaxed; 16 minutes of whatever you choose to overcome sadness; 15 minutes of “motivating” music to aid concentration; and another 17 minutes of whatever you choose to help manage your anger.Though this formula
ASSOCIATEDPRESS FILE PHOTO By DAVID ZALUBOWSKI
Unsold 2024 F-150 pickups sit in along rowata Ford dealership in Broomfield, Colo.
Congestiveheart failurestartschain reaction in body
Dear Doctors: My husbandis74 and has congestive heart failure. He has what look like burns on his left leg. There is alot of swelling, and his leg is leaking blood and fluid.Hesees acardiologist and has been told he should see avascular surgeon. Why asurgeon? How would that help?
Dear reader: Congestive heart failure is acondition wherethe heart is no longer able to pump blood efficiently.Itstruggles to send enough oxygen and nutrients to the tissues of the body.Thismay be due to mechanicalissues, such as malfunctions in the chambers or valves of the heart. It could also be that the muscle itself is weak. Either way,the result is arange of symptoms. These caninclude shortnessofbreath, weakness and fatigue, irregular
Dr.Elizabeth Ko
Dr.Eve Glazier ASK THE DOCTORS
heartbeat,wheezing,a persistent cough and swellinginthe ankles, feet and legs.
The swelling that you described is acommon effect of heart failure. Known asedema, it is part of achain reaction that begins with the heart’sdecreased pumpingstrength. As blood lingers in the veins, pressure builds up.
This, in turn,forces fluid into the surrounding tissues, acondi-
tion known as peripheral edema. This swelling stretches the skin and causes inflammation. It can makethe skin fragile enough to break open and form theburnlike wounds you’ve observed. This type of weeping wound indicates acritical problem below the surfaceofthe skin. More specifically,itsignals serious circulatory issues. That’swhy your husband is being referred to a vascular surgeon. This specialty focuses on theveins and arteries that carry blood throughout thebody.Avascular surgeon can determine the tests needed to pinpoint thecause of theextreme edema your husband is experiencing. These tests can map and measure blood flow,detect blockages, evaluate valve function and assess how well circulation is
Nestingdishesand silverware
Dear Heloise: Thank you for the time-saving, informative and interesting hints that you and your faithful readershave been providing us with for years. Recently,there have been acouple of suggestions regarding loading the dishwasher,and I would like to add my two cents. As afamily of two, we rinse our silverware and dishes before placing them in the dishwasher as we may not run it for acouple of days. Thanks to my days as amotion and time study analyst, Ilearned how to save time whenever possible, which leads me to my hint: It takes the same amount of time to place an item in the dishwasher regardless of where you place it. If you “nest” the silverware, as well as your dinner plates, breadplates, bowls, etc.,
CAR
reaching thelower limbs. Although the title of this specialty includes the word “surgeon,”itdoesn’tnecessarily mean apatient is being referred fora surgical procedure. Treatment options for this type of edema may include medication to reduce fluid buildup. Compression therapy can be used to improve circulation. There are also minimally invasive procedures designed to restore normal blood flow.Major surgery is considered only when there is severe blockage or when structural problemsinthe veins or arteries cannot be managed in any other way. There is hope if your husband undergoes athorough evaluation by avascular surgeon and then follows up with appropriate treatment.Circulation in his legs and
the edemaand skin wounds can improve. He’ll likely work with additional specialists to manage his congestive heart failure. These mayinclude awound care specialist, acardiologist to monitor heart function and adjust medications, anutritionist or physical therapist to support appropriate lifestyle changes and aprimary care physician to coordinate overall care. This maysound daunting, but congestive heart failure is asystemic condition that benefits from ateam-based approach.
Sendyour questions to askthedoctors@mednet.ucla. edu, or write: Ask theDoctors, c/oUCLA HealthSciences Media Relations, 10880 Wilshire Blvd.,Suite1450, Los Angeles, CA, 90024.
By The Associated Press
you canquicklyunloadthe dishwasher with less motion and use up less time Very rarely is something notthoroughly cleaned
Hints from Heloise
Ihave used this techniquefor years, andnow thehabit of doingsoenables my recently blinded husband to easily unload the dishwasher This helpshim feel useful,whichispriceless. Kathleen, in Foster,Rhode Island
Berrystorage
Dear Heloise: Iwash my berries and store themin therefrigerator in glass jars. They seem to keepfor much longer this way than with other methods. —Nelly B.,via email
Scareawayscamcalls
Dear Heloise: Ijust read the hint fromLoisR., in St. Paul, Minnesota, about stringing along an obvious phone
scam. I’ve done something similar, but what I’ve said is, “Oh, I’m so glad someone called me. I’m so lonely.” It usually resultsinthe caller quickly hanging up! And come to think of it,Ihaven’t had any scam calls since.
Jane L., in Rutland,Vermont
Jamonit
Dear Heloise: When fruits are in season, Ipurchase them. We eat some, then Iput them in my blender and pulverize them. Next, Imeasure how manycups Ineed to make jam. Iput them in bags or containers and put them in the freezer Ionly makeone batch at atime. When I’m ready to makemore, Ithaw thepulp and make another batch. It’sbetter when it’smade fresh instead of having several batches on hand. —Edna H., in Prattville,Alabama
Send ahinttoheloise@ heloise.com.
Today is Monday, Dec. 15, the 349th day of 2025. There are 16 days left in the year
Todayinhistory:
On Dec. 15, 1791, the Bill of Rights, thefirst 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, went into effect following ratification by Virginia.
Also on this date:
In 1890, Hunkpapa LakotaChief SittingBull and 11 other tribe members were killed in Grand River, SouthDakota, during a confrontation with Indian agency police.
In 1939, theCivil War motion picture epic “Gone with the Wind,” starring Vivien Leighand Clark Gable, had itsworld premiere in Atlanta.
In 1944, asingle-engine plane carrying bandleader Glenn Miller,amajor in theU.S. Army Air Forces, disappeared over the English Channel while en route to Paris
In 2011, theflag used by U.S. forces in Iraq was
lowered in aBaghdad airport ceremony,marking the formal end of the American military mission in that country.The war left110,000 Iraqis and 4,500 Americans dead.
In 2013, Nelson Mandela was laid to rest in astate funeral, ending a10-day mourning period forSouth Africa’sfirst Black president. Mandela died on Dec. 5ofthat year at the age of 95.
In 2016, afederal jury in Charleston, South Carolina, convicted Dylann Roof of the racist killings of nine Black church members whohad welcomed him into their Bible study gathering. The following year he would becomethe first person in the U.S. sentenced to death forafederal hate crime, asentence upheld in 2021.
Today’sbirthdays: Singer Cindy Birdsong (The Supremes) is 86. Rock musician Dave Clark (The Dave Clark Five) is 86. Baseball Hall of Fame manager Jim Leyland is 81. Actor Don Johnson is 76. Film and
Continued from page1D
year strong. As acar shopper,you can take advantage of this year-end push. By choosing to buy avehicle in December,you are more likely to encounter adealership willing to make adeal, even if it’sless profitable. It canget evensweeter for you if you canwait until the final week of the month.
Edmunds data shows that the last few days of December —when dealerships are truly up against the wall of bothmonthly and annual deadlines —tend to produce the deepest discounts of the year.Think of it as the auto industry’sversion of aclearance countdown when every sale counts alittle extra Outgoing models,clearance As new-model-year vehicles begin to arrive, many dealerships find themselves with previous model-year vehicles still on the lot. These outgoing models become ripe for discounts because they’re taking up spaceand declining in value. In ahandful of states, dealerships are also required to pay atax on the value of their inventory on thelot as of Jan. 1. This is amassive hidden motivator that drives desperation on Dec. 31, specifically for vehicles that have been on the lot for 90 days or more.
Edmunds highlights that vehicles from the outgoing model year or those un-
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can be practiced by anyone, Alzheimer’scaregivers can create aplaylist of Christmas music following this structure to improve mood and behaviors in their loved ones’ day Additionally,the caregiver can integrate accompanyingChristmas music with familiar and/ or favorite activities of the season. When pairing activities with music, the affected person can develop
dergoing minimal changes often getsteeperincentives. While newmodels are launched year-round these days,Decemberiswhen current-year modelsstill on thelot aretargeted by sales managers as “must-move” inventory.Currently, that means 2025 vehicles will receivethe largest discounts. Accordingly,you can also maximize your savings if youcan be flexible on features, trim or color,sothe deals on carry-over modelscan be substantial.If the vehicle youwant hasn’t changed dramatically from yeartoyear,you may be able to purchase acar that’s essentially the same asa newmodel at alower price. More financingleverage
Beyond pricereductions, December offers an advantageousbackdrop for better financing termsonnew vehicles.Edmunds’research shows thatautomakers and their financing arms often bundle lower interest rates, longer promotional terms or enhanced lease offers at year-end in tandem with their clearance efforts. For example, an automaker might offer special 0% financing oncertain vehicles for well-qualified buyers. Getting0%financing, or even 2%, is abig savings over thestandard financing rate of 6%-7% currently. Dealers eagertoclearout theirnew vehicle inventory before theend ofthe year maybeopentonegotiation on specific vehicles —especially thosethat have been
arhythm that helps them perhaps recall the memory of the activity, which could improve cognitive ability over time. Musical aptitude and appreciationare twoabilities that remain in peoplewith Alzheimer’s long after other abilities have passed; thus, music can have away of reaching the person beyond the disease. Though theholiday season may be challengingattimes, caregivers can aspire to embrace the season, encouragingtheir loved ones to share all their Christmas memories avail-
on thelot forawhile.You can check the days on the lot when youbrowse Edmunds inventory.
For shoppers who have done their homework —secured preapproval, identified the trims they’re willing to consider,and are ready to sign —this timingcan offer bothalower purchase price and alower cost of borrowing. Buyers can gain even more leverage by being strategic: adealer may have several examples of the same model, some of which have been in inventory for an extended period. Each daya car sits unsold costs thedealership more. That creates extramotivationto discount older inventoryor specific vehicles In short, it’snot just about when youbuy,but which specific car you target.The right combination of timing, financingand flexibility can make December dealseven morerewarding.
Edmundssays
December packstogether three powerful forces for buyers seeking the best deals: dealer urgency to hit quotas,clearance of outgoing-model stock and enhanced financing leverage. Make sure to get an early start on the shopping so that youhaveabetter selection and don’tfeel pressured to makeahasty decision.
This story wasprovided to The Associated Press by the automotive website Edmunds. JoshJacquot is acontributor at Edmunds
able to them through the remnantsoftheir inner dwelling of personal memories. Christmas carols and music are giftsthat can tap into and unlock emotions in that still passionate and loving person with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.
Dana Territo is an Alzheimer’s advocate and author of “What My Grandchildren Taught Me About Alzheimer’s Disease.” She hosts“The Memory Whisperer.” Emailher at thememorywhisperer@ gmail.com.
theater director Julie Taymor is 73. Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia is 71.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Focus on change that makes you feel good and encourages you to add to your skills and your aspirations. Take charge; your future is yours to complete.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Emotional excitement will surface, causing confusion and the need to revisit and revamp your plans. Put a timeline together, set your intentions and perfect what you want to reiterate to ensure success.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Think before you speak. A little charm will get you where you want to go, but if you use emotional manipulation, you will face rejection. Know your target and act accordingly.
PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Set guidelines and know your limitations, your attributes and what to share and what to keep secret. Play the long game, and you'll make your way to the winner's circle.
ARIES (March 21-April 19) Don't waste time. Running about and taking care of year-end obligations will put your mind at ease and make your life less stressful.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Leave nothing to chance, and you'll enjoy the hustle and bustle that comes with the festive season. Strive to be joyful and uplifting.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Pay attention to detail when dealing with personal and professional partners. Consider how
WonderWord
you can grab attention and gain interest in what you propose to do or what you can offer others.
CANCER (June 21-July 22) Put one foot in front of the other and take care of business. Make yourself aware of what others are doing and how it will influence the choices you make. Take control.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Get out and mingle. The conversations you have and the people you meet will offer a unique perspective that may not fit your budget or skills, but can be adapted to suit your needs.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Discuss matters openly and follow through with your plans. Don't waste time arguing when compromise is necessary. Timing will be essential to success.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Do whatever it takes to keep up. Don't trust anyone with your responsibilities. Take on or promise only what's feasible. Simplify your surroundings and focus on ways to excel.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Analyze what you face before forging ahead. Acting in haste will turn into an expensive lesson. Patience is a virtue, and doable plans are a necessity if you want to get ahead.
Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present. Each letter in the cipher stands for another.
TODAy'S CLUE: R EQUALS D
CeLebrItY CIpher
beetLe bAILeY
Mother GooSe And GrIMM
SherMAn’S LAGoon
Sudoku
InstructIons: sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1to9inthe empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the sudoku increases from monday to sunday.
Saturday’s Puzzle Answer
BLondie
BaBY BLueS
BY PHILLIP ALDER Bridge
As we approach the holidayseason, let’slookatsomebooksthatmightappeal to the bridge players on your gift list. Some whodunits with abridge theme havebeenwritten.Thebestsofar,inmy opinion, is “Death in Duplicate” by CaroleCoplea(Master Point Press).
Twodeathsoccurduringaduplicateat Kensington Collegeinthe Adirondacks, andthe book coversthe investigation. Today’sdiagram shows theonly bridge deal in the book If this layout occurredduring, say, an 11-table duplicate, there would no doubt be11differentauctions.Here,inparticular,East’sdoublewasbizarreafterhearingherpartnerraisediamonds.Notethat East would havemade five diamonds if shehad guessed spades correctly.
AfterWestledalowheart,South,astudent at thecollege,calledfor dummy’s 10, and East ruffed. She then cashed the spade ace: six, three, five. East, not guessing that thethree was West’s top spadespot,shifted to adiamond.
Declarer wonwithhis aceand ranall of his trumps, bringing everyone down to three cards. North had theheart acequeen-jack and South the spade queennine and heartthree.But what could West keep? He was squeezed. Seeing the need to retain three hearts, West was forced to discard thespade king, hoping his partner had the queen. South now produced that cardand claimed his contract for plus 550 and atop. MasterPointPressbooksareavailable fromthepublisherinprintedande-book
Each Wuzzle is aword riddle which creates adisguised
etc. For example: nOOngOOD
Puzzle Answer today’s thought
themselves to be wise,they becamefools,” Romans 1:22
loCKhorNs
marmaduKe
Bizarro
hagar the horriBle
Pearls Before swiNe
garfield
B.C.
PiCKles
hidato
mallard
dIrectIons: make a 2- to 7-letter word from the letters in each row. add points of each word, using scoring directions at right. Finally, 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. “Blanks” used as any letter have no point value. all the words are in the Official sCraBBlE® players Dictionary, 5th Edition.
ken ken
InstructIons: 1 Each row and each column must contain the numbers 1 thorugh 4 (easy) or 1 through 6 (challenging) without repeating. 2 - The numbers within the heavily outlined boxes, called cages, must combine using the given operation (in any order) to produce the target numbers in the top-left corners. 3 - Freebies: Fill in the single-box cages with the number in the top-left corner. HErE is a
