The Advocate 12-25-2025

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‘It’s just a matter of time’ New Alzheimer’s drugs offer patients hope

BY EMILY WOODRUFF Staff writer

STAFF PHOTOS BY JAVIER GALLEGOS

Ethan Melancon, right, and Dario Scalco sit together in rocking chairs on the front porch of their home on Friday.

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

ä See DRUGS, page 3A

is a house decked to the halls, but

Stakes huge for La. in coastal erosion case

not with typical Christmas decor.

BY MARK BALLARD

Beauregard Town abode pays homage to family, history

I

Staring at her golf gear in her garage in Destrehan three years ago, Diane Roussel couldn’t understand why she couldn’t find a pair of gloves.

She rifled through her golf bag. There were no right-hand gloves. How could she have a dozen left-hand gloves and not a single pair? Her husband found her there, searching.

“You never had pairs,” he Roussel told her, gently. “Golfers wear one glove.”

Of course, Roussel knew that. She had been a golfer for decades.

Later that year, her whole extended family celebrated Christmas and her birthday.

It was the biggest gathering they’d had as a family to celebrate, “just an amazing day,” Roussel said.

BY MADDIE SCOTT | Staff writer n Baton Rouge’s Beauregard Town

Staff writer

Ethan Melancon and his partner,

Dario Scalco, sat on their front porch in their winter sweaters in rocking chairs Friday morning, enjoying the chilly weather. Through the front door, New Orleans jazz filled the house, complementing the curation of historical and natural homages to Melancon’s Louisiana heritage. ä See HOME, page 4A

A tea set decorates a kitchen countertop in Ethan Melancon’s home.

Melancon scavenges Facebook Marketplace, estate sales and antique shops across the state for Louisiana treasures that fit the home’s aesthetic.

WASHINGTON — Once again, the U.S. Supreme Court is wading into a Louisiana legal fracas that could have far-reaching implications for the rest of the nation.

Already on their plate this term, the nine justices are sorting whether Louisiana’s voting map for the U.S. House is constitutional and whether the state’s prison system is liable for violating the religious freedom of a prison inmate.

Now, come Jan. 12, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on a case that could have major implications on multimilliondollar lawsuits involving the oil and gas industry and coastal erosion.

ä See COASTAL, page 4A

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Classified .....................6D Deaths .........................3B Nation-World ................2A Comics-Puzzles .....3D-5D Living............................1D Opinion ........................4B Commentary ................5B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C

101ST YEAR, NO. 178

2A ■ Thursday, December 25, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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Judge blocks administration effort to strip security clearance

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Ship death suspect says he doesn’t recall anything

VIERA, Fla. — A 16-year-old boy being investigated in the death of his stepsister on a Carnival cruise ship last month has no recollection about what happened, according to text message exchanges between his parents filed in a custody court case in Florida.

The boy’s mother told her exhusband that the teenager kept repeating that he didn’t remember anything when asked, according to court documents obtained this week by local media.

Anna Kepner’s cause of death was “mechanical asphyxia,” according to a copy of her death certificate obtained by ABC News, which said the 18-yearold “was mechanically asphyxiated by other person(s).”

Mechanical asphyxia is when an object or physical force stops someone from breathing.

Kepner had been traveling on the Carnival Horizon ship with her father, grandparents, stepmother and her stepmother’s two children, including the 16-year-old boy.

The teen’s 16-year-old stepbrother has been identified as a suspect in her death, according to court documents filed by his divorced parents over custody of their youngest child in Brevard County. The disclosures offer the clearest public indication that federal investigators are scrutinizing a member of the victim’s own blended family.

3 arrested in $14 million gift card fraud scheme DALLAS — State investigators say a monthslong scheme drained millions from unsuspecting shoppers — until it ended with three arrests this week.

The Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center has arrested three men accused of operating a gift card fraud operation that authorities estimate caused about $14 million in losses, according to a news release.

Kristians Petrovskis, Romualds Cubrevics and Normunds Ulevicus are suspected of gift card cloning. Investigators say the men had more than 400 gift cards in their possession at the time of their arrests.

According to authorities, the scheme involved stealing inactivated gift cards from store kiosks, opening the packaging and copying the card numbers.

The cards were then resealed and returned to store displays.

Once a customer purchased the card and loaded money onto it, the suspects allegedly monitored the balance and quickly drained the funds.

Investigators said the men told officers they typically targeted about 10 stores a day, seven days a week, and had been carrying out the scheme since May. Authorities linked the suspects to recent cases in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Central Texas and along the Gulf Coast.

Moscow explosion kills 3 in area of other bomb An explosion in Moscow on Wednesday killed three people, including two police officers, Russian investigators said, days after a car bomb killed a highranking general not far away.

An official from Ukraine’s military intelligence, known as the GUR, told The Associated Press that the attack had been carried out as part of an agency operation. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Russian authorities did not comment on who may be behind the attack. Since Moscow invaded nearly four years ago, Russian authorities have blamed Kyiv for several assassinations of military officers and public figures in Russia. Ukraine has claimed responsibility for some of them.

On Wednesday, two traffic police officers were approaching a suspicious individual when a device detonated, Russia’s Investigative Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said in a statement. The officers and another person standing nearby died from their injuries.

The Interior Ministry named the officers as Lt. Ilya Klimanov, 24, who joined the Moscow police in October 2023, and Lt. Maxim Gorbunov, 25.

BY JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY MINGSON LAU

Investigators work around Bristol Health & Rehab Center and surrounding rubble after a gas explosion the day prior on Wednesday in Bristol, Pa.

Investigators sift through nursing home wreckage

BY MINGSON LAU, MARC LEVY and MARK SCOLFORO

Associated Press

BRISTOL, Pa. — Construction crews worked to clear the rubble of a Pennsylvania nursing home Wednesday, a day after a powerful explosion killed two people, hospitalized 20 others, sent flames shooting out and collapsed part of the building.

Searchers accounted for everyone who was thought to be missing, Bristol Police Chief Charles Winik said.

Two had been reported dead on Tuesday evening, but responders were still trying to locate others in hospitals or the wreckage of the Bristol Health & Rehab Center that exploded hours earlier.

Nineteen people were still hospitalized, one in critical condition, he said. An investigation into the cause and origin was underway with support from federal agencies, he said.

Authorities did not immediately identify the deceased, but said one was a resident and one was an employee. Both were women, they said.

The blast at the 174-bed nursing home in Bristol Township, about 20 miles northeast of Philadelphia, happened shortly after a utility crew responded to reports of a

gas odor at the facility on Tuesday afternoon, authorities said. Investigators were examining whether a gas leak caused the explosion, a finding officials cautioned remains preliminary.

On Wednesday, workers were using heavy equipment to clear sections of collapsed roof and walls to help investigators gain better access, Winik said.

Emergency responders from across the region had evacuated residents and dug through debris amid flames, smoke, a strong smell of gas and even a second explosion, officials said.

Fire Chief Kevin Dippolito described a chaotic rescue in which firefighters found people trapped in stairwells and elevator shafts and pulled residents from windows and doors. Two people were rescued from a collapsed section of the building and one was resuscitated at a hospital.

Willie Tye, who lives about a block away, said he was watching a basketball game when he heard a loud boom.

“I thought an airplane or something came and fell on my house,” he said. When he went outside, he saw “fire everywhere” and people fleeing the building.

State records show the facility was cited for multiple violations during its most recent inspection

in October by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, including failing to provide accurate floor plans, properly maintain stairways and fire extinguishers on one level.

Inspectors also cited the facility for lacking required smoke barrier partitions designed to contain smoke across floors.

Medicare’s overall rating of the facility is listed as “much below average,” with poor ratings for health inspections in particular.

The local gas utility, PECO, said its crews were responding to reports of a gas odor when the explosion occurred. The company said it shut off natural gas and electric service to the facility to protect first responders and nearby residents. “It is not known at this time if PECO’s equipment, or natural gas, was involved in this incident,” the utility said in a statement.

Investigators from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission went to the scene. A utility commission spokesperson said a determination that a gas leak caused the explosion cannot be confirmed until investigators examine the site.

Musuline Watson, who said she was a certified nursing assistant at the facility, told WPVI-TV that staff smelled gas over the weekend but did not initially suspect a serious problem because there was no heat in that room.

Zelenskyy open to free economic zone in eastern part of Ukraine Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov But any peace plan must said Wednesday that Moscow would set out its position based on information rebe put to vote, he says ceived

by Russian presidential envoy

BY SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters that he would be willing to withdraw troops from the country’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end Russia’s war, if Moscow also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized, free economic zone monitored by international forces.

The proposal marks the clearest indication yet of the compromises the Ukrainian leader would be willing to make on the Donbas region, control of which is a major sticking point in peace negotiations.

A similar arrangement could be possible for the area around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power Zelenskyy plant, which is currently under Russian control, Zelenskyy said.

He said that any peace plan would need to be put to a referendum.

Zelenskyy spoke to reporters Tuesday to describe a 20-point overarching plan that negotiators from Ukraine and the U.S. hammered out in Florida in recent days, though he said that many details are still being discussed.

Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal of its troops from land it has seized. In fact, Moscow has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas — an ultimatum Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk — the two areas that make up the Donbas.

Kirill Dmitriev, who met with U.S. envoys in Florida over the weekend. Peskov declined to share further details.

Zelenskyy said that figuring out control of the Donbas region is “the most difficult point.”

Meanwhile, on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the U.S. has proposed creating a consortium with Ukraine and Russia, in which each party would have an equal stake. Zelenskyy countered with a proposal for joint venture between the U.S. and Ukraine, in which the Americans would be able to decide how to distribute their share, including giving some of it to Russia.

Zelenskyy acknowledged that the U.S. has not yet accepted Ukraine’s counterproposals.

Creating a free economic zone would require difficult discussions on how far troops would be required to move back and where international forces would be stationed, Zelenskyy said, adding that it should discussed at the leaders level.

The working U.S.-Ukraine draft also proposes that Russian forces withdraw from the Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Sumy and Kharkiv regions. Zelenskyy envisions that international forces could be located along certain points of the contact line to monitor the implementation of the agreement.

“Since there is no faith in the Russians, and they have repeatedly broken their promises, today’s contact line is turning into a line of a de facto free economic zone, and international forces should be there to guarantee that no one will enter there under any guise — neither ‘little green men’ nor Russian military disguised as civilians,” Zelenskyy said.

WASHINGTON — A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a March presidential memorandum to revoke the security clearance of prominent Washington attorney Mark Zaid, ruling that the order — which also targeted 14 other individuals — could not be applied to him.

U.S. District Judge Amir Ali in Washington granted Zaid’s request for a preliminary injunction, after he sued the Trump administration in May over the revocation of his security clearance. Zaid’s request called it an act of “improper political retribution” that jeopardized his ability to continue representing clients in sensitive national security cases.

The March presidential memorandum singled out Zaid and 14 other individuals who the White House asserted were unsuitable to retain their clearances because it was “no longer in the national interest.” The list included targets of Trump’s fury from both the political and legal spheres, including former Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, New York Attorney General Letitia James, former President Joe Biden and members of his family.

The action was part of a much broader retribution campaign that Trump has waged, including directing specific Justice Department investigations against perceived adversaries and issuing sweeping executive orders targeting law firms over legal work he does not like.

In August, the Trump administration said it was revoking the security clearances of 37 current and former national security officials. Ordering the revocation of clearances has been a favored retributive tactic that Trump has wielded — or at least tried to — against high-profile political figures, lawyers and intelligence officials in his second term.

Zaid said he represented an intelligence community whistleblower whose account of a conversation between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy helped set the stage for the first of two impeachment cases against Trump in his first term.

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The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Thursday, December 25, 2025 ■ 3A

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DRUGS

Continued from page 1A Three days later, a friend texted.

“How was your Christmas?”

Roussel couldn’t remember.

There “was just a hole” where the memory should have been.

She sought out a doctor to understand what might be wrong. After cognitive testing and a spinal tap, Roussel, then 66, learned she had biological signs of early Alzheimer’s disease.

She pleaded with God for it to be something else. “I’d rather you give me every kind of cancer you have in the book than this,” Roussel said. “I don’t want to lose who I am.”

But there was a sliver of hope.

She qualified for a newly approved drug, lecanemab, that was shown to slow down the progression of the disease.

Eighteen months later, Roussel had a follow-up brain scan. The biomarkers that typically indicate Alzheimer’s had normalized. She felt a brain fog lift and hasn’t had any more dramatic losses in memory. In a conversation with her doctor, Dr. James Rini at Ochsner Health, she heard a word rarely associated with the irreversible disease, which for decades has had no treatment shown to alter its course.

“Remission,” she said.

STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER

Diane Roussel hugs her husband, Black, at their Destrehan home on Dec. 15. After a devastating Alzheimer’s diagnosis, she began infusions of lecanemab, a newly approved drug for Alzheimer’s disease. Thirty-six infusions later, she has seen her biomarkers return to healthy ranges and her Remission and Alzheimer’s Rini described Roussel as an cognitive function improve. Her doctor calls it a remission from Alzheimer’s, previously unheard of.

uncommon but instructive case in the transforming fight against Alzheimer’s disease.

Since it was first identified more than a century ago, Alzheimer’s was viewed as a one-way decline, treated with medications that eased symptoms but did not change its course until the recent approval of anti-amyloid drugs in 2023 and 2024.

Roussel is one of a small number of patients treated early enough that both imaging and biomarker evidence of Alzheimer’s pathology have receded to undetectable levels.

“From all objective ways that we have to measure this disease right now — our serum biomarkers or PET scans or MRIs or cognitive testing — there is no evidence that it’s there,” Rini said. “If she came to my clinic right now, I’d say, ‘You don’t have this.’ ” At the same time, he knows that Roussel did have it. So he borrowed language from oncology, calling it a partial remission, like you might for stage 4 cancer.

Rini said this example is not a promise of what is typical for patients, but a glimpse of what may be possible when Alzheimer’s is caught and treated at exactly the right moment, in exactly the right patient.

Promise and limits Alzheimer’s is caused by a buildup of abnormal proteins, known as amyloid and tau, that slowly disrupt and kill brain cells, breaking the communication networks needed for memory, thinking and daily function.

Dr. Demetrius Maraganore, a neurologist at Tulane University and LCMC Health, explains it to pa-

tients by comparing it to the roots of oak trees and the cement used to patch New Orleans sidewalks.

Brain cells are shaped like trees, with branching extensions that allow them to communicate. In Alzheimer’s, amyloid accumulates between brain cells, as if cement was poured around the roots of trees to fix sidewalk cracks. If cement is poured at the base of the tree, it weakens the tree, interfering with its ability to receive nutrients.

As amyloid causes brain cells to weaken, another protein, tau, tangles inside the cells themselves, accelerating their decline. Once those brain cells die, they cannot be replaced.

Now, two new drugs, lecanemab, and donanemab, which were approved by the FDA in 2023 and 2024, can remove amyloid. They aim to interrupt the chain reaction that leads to cell injury and the spread of tau tangles, which are more closely tied to cognitive decline.

Lecanemab, sold as Leqembi, is made by Eisai and Biogen. Donanemab, sold as Kisunla, is made by Eli Lilly. The drugs alone cost about $26,000 to $32,000 a year. Medicare covers them for patients with early Alzheimer’s who meet strict criteria, though access can be limited by the need for frequent scans, infusions and specialist care.

In clinical trials, both drugs slowed cognitive and functional decline in people with very early Alzheimer’s disease. They do not cure Alzheimer’s, do not rebuild damaged brain cells and do not work for everyone.

There is an extensive screening

process for who qualifies for the drug, so only about 5% of those who go through the screening process qualify, said Maraganore. Even in those people, sometimes the drugs simply don’t work. In others, they might barely slow the progression of symptoms.

Dr. Ronald Petersen, a Mayo Clinic neurologist who directs an Alzheimer’s disease treatment clinic, said it is important for patients to understand that the drugs typically do not end the memory and thinking problems that accompany Alzheimer’s. When they talk to patients about the drugs, they do so with caution.

“One, these drugs don’t stop the disease,” Petersen said. Two, they don’t make you better, but we do think they slow down the rate of progression.”

But there could be exceptional cases.

“If you get to somebody who has modest amount of amyloid and maybe just a nickel’s worth of tau, that might be the perfect sweet spot,” he said.

The drugs are the only ones proven to alter the underlying biology of the disease. For decades, Alzheimer’s drugs were targeted at symptoms. And despite debate in the field over the root cause of Alzheimer’s, “the data speak for themselves” for the modest effectiveness of these drugs, Maraganore said.

lifting of brain fog. The potential side effects of the drugs — brain swelling and microbleeds — were worth it for her.

“I live life big,” said the retired IT manager. She’s got holiday lunches with friends on her schedule, and she’s babysitting her “granddog” this week for her grandson while he’s out of town. She cares for her husband, who had a cascade of health issues around the time she was diagnosed.

In addition to the drug, Roussel also changed her lifestyle. She went to a sleep clinic, changed sleep medications and got a CPAP machine, since sleep is shown to be when the brain repairs itself. She shifted her eating toward a Mediterraneaninspired MIND diet, which emphasizes vegetables, whole grains, fish and olive oil. She also changed her cholesterol medication to one less associated with cognitive side effects.

Under medical supervision, she began taking several supplements.

She had always golfed, but added regular walking, aiming for at least 30 minutes of exercise five days a week.

She credits her faith with getting her through treatment and keeping her optimistic. Unlike decades of failed Alzheimer’s drugs, this one arrived at exactly the right moment, just as she received her diagnosis. It gave her hope.

“That was a little seed I had from the very beginning,” Roussel said.

‘There’s hope’ “And it just grew and grew.”

About 12% of Louisiana’s 65-plus Roussel describes a before-andafter when it comes to the drug population has Alzheimer’s disease, treatment: mid-conversation blank- amounting to almost 100,000 people. ness that used to startle her, and a A lot of them don’t talk about it be-

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cause of the stigma of the disease.

But Roussel sees her experience as carrying a purpose.

“I was meant to have Alzheimer’s so I could talk about it,” she said. “So I could tell people they need to get tested, and that real progress is being made.”

‘A matter of time’ Roussel, now 69, will transition to a lower-dose maintenance injection designed to prevent amyloid from reaccumulating.

Long-term answers remain limited.

“We don’t know if it’s going to come back,” Rini said. “We monitor closely, because this is essentially ongoing clinical research in real time.”

But the future is bright for a field that just a few years ago had almost nothing to offer patients.

Lecanemab and donanemab have been shown to slow the progression of the disease 27% to 35%.

“There’s a place for these drugs,” Maraganore said. “But I also know that better things are going to come.”

Maraganore pointed to an oral drug in development, taken once daily, that he said has shown 50% to 75% slowing of disease progression at one year in clinical trials and is now being reviewed by regulators in Europe.

“Right now we’re peddling in Kitty Hawk trying to fly across the ocean, but soon we’re going to be sitting in first class in jumbo jets,” he said. “It’s just a matter of time.”

Email Emily Woodruff at ewoodruff@theadvocate.com.

4A ■ Thursday, December 25, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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HOME

with black paint, a color traditional to many Acadian fireplaces, he said. The project started out of spontaneity.

“One day, I got a wild hair, and I was like, ‘I just want to rip this off and see what’s behind it.’”

Melancon found the brick fireplace original to the house. He and his godfather built the mantel in October.

Continued from page 1A Melancon was born in Thibodaux and has roots dating back to France and Canada. He believes the best holiday decoration honors what matters most during the season: family and tradition.

“Christmas and Mardi Gras do this to me,” he said. “It’s when we’re able to pull back to our heritage and different stories of family members gone past, just like how people did it then.”

Vintage frames hold history on the walls. Porcelain vases circa 1800 sit on the mantle. Oyster shell ornaments hang from the Christmas tree and from almost every angle in the house — a plethora of art pieces nodding to Napoleon Bonaparte can be spotted.

“I love the era of furniture he created,” Melancon said about the French emperor. “He just brought so much glitz and glam to France.”

For Melancon, it’s never mind the hardships the diminutive military leader brought to so many — Bonaparte had fabulous taste.

The turn of the 19th century, when Bonaparte ruled France, was also the era when New Orleans became the engine of Louisiana, Melancon said, so a lot of the house’s furniture and decorations are sourced from a time when French pieces were imported up through the Mississippi.

The cypress home’s wooden floors, the white slatted ceiling’s rustic beams and original brick fireplace give a peek at the abode’s bones.

They complement the carefully curated charming antiques residing inside. It’s the kind of house where guests swivel 360 degrees upon entering, a house where a

COASTAL

Continued from page 1A The court isn’t looking directly at a $745 million Plaquemines Parish jury verdict against Chevron USA that found the company liable for damage that partially caused Louisiana’s coastline to recede. But it will be deciding whether the case was correctly heard in the 25th Judicial District Court in Pointe a la Hache — or if it should have been heard in the U.S. District Court in New Orleans, 50 miles up La. 39.

If a majority of the six conservative and three liberal justices back Chevron’s arguments, the verdict probably will be thrown out and the case would be retried in federal court.

More broadly, the court’s interpretation will decide whether local juries nationwide can hold large corporations responsible for damage caused in local communities or if those lawsuits should be heard in federal court to shield companies from local bias.

The debate is also unusual in that it pits Louisiana government against the oil and gas industry. State leaders typically defend that sector because of the enormous role it plays in the state’s economy.

Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, intervened in support of the lawsuit when he was attorney general, with the support of then-Gov. John Bel Edwards. The two have usually been political foes.

Attorney General Liz Murrill, who repeatedly battled the Biden administration on the same side as the oil and gas industry, has continued the fight, despite fierce criticism from Republicans and even President Donald Trump.

“Fighting for responsible energy policy does not re-

A love of history

STAFF PHOTOS BY JAVIER GALLEGOS

Ethan Melancon dubbed his home ‘the House of Palmetto,’ an abundant Louisiana plant used for shelters by Native Americans and Acadians. tour feels destined.

Natural touches of tradition Melancon forages around the neighborhood in early mornings, gathering palmetto leaves, kumquat stems from his friend’s tree, pink camellias and Japanese plum stems. He displays the flora because natural elements and textures give a nod to the native land.

“I like to use just natural elements that the Acadians and Creoles would’ve used,” he said.

He even dubbed his home “the House of Palmetto,” an abundant Louisiana plant used for shelters

by Native Americans and Acadians, he said. It’s his favorite native

quire us to ignore environmental impacts,” Murrill wrote in a Sept. 19 op-ed.

As head of a Baton Rougebased trade group, Tommy Faucheux, president of the Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association, leaves no doubt where the state’s fossil fuel companies stand.

“The high court has the opportunity to uphold fair and consistent application of the law and to help preserve legal stability for the energy industry that fuels America’s economy and breaths the life into Louisiana’s communities,” he said last week.

The energy industry, including its support services, accounts for more than 300,000 jobs in Louisiana and contributes about $3.5 billion annually to the state treasury.

Who gets to decide?

Plaquemines Parish and the state of Louisiana claimed Texaco, which Chevron bought in 2000, failed to apply for the proper permits required under a 1980 state law and didn’t remove production equipment, fill in waste pits, and restore “as near as practicable” the canals dredged upon abandoning an oil field.

The company also didn’t obtain the permits for dumping wastewater into the marshes, according to the lawsuit.

Chevron had a raft of responses in denying responsibility. But the key one for the Supreme Court was that Texaco had contracted with the U.S. military during World War II to deliver high-octane gasoline for the war effort when the damage took place. Oil companies performing work for the federal government should have their disputes heard in federal court, Chevron argues.

“Production and refining generally go hand-in-hand, and that was particularly true in the unique context of World War II. The nation could not have massively ex-

that, like this Santa Claus,” Melancon said, pointing to a porcelain St. Nick sitting on the mantel. “He has seen better days. He has been glued, super-glued, quadrupleglued.”

The Santa is the most mainstream Christmas decor in the house (other than the Christmas tree); however, it still enhances the theme of honoring the past. Santa, An old Santa Claus figurine passed down by Ethan Melancon’s a gift from his grandmother, holds scroll featuring a list of family grandma displays faded names of anames that Melancon’s godfather family members. wrote.

The same godfather also helped him build the kitchen’s wrapplant.

“I really try and bring in a lot around mantel, a conglomeration of family history and things like of old and new cypress, finished

panded its aviation gasoline refining without massively expanding its production,” Chevron’s lawyers wrote the Supreme Court on Dec. 15.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit — based in New Orleans and considered one of the nation’s most probusiness benches — sided with Plaquemines Parish in ruling that the federal government didn’t instruct oil companies “relating to” finding crude in Louisiana. Without that direction, or “casual nexus,” the case couldn’t be removed to federal court.

Jurors held the oil giant 25% responsible for $2.7 billion in damages. The jury awarded $575 million to compensate for land loss, $161 million to compensate for contamination and $8.6 million for abandoned equipment.

nance is threatened when state and local governments seek to regulate energy beyond their constitutional or statutory authorities,” Trump wrote in his order. “When states target or discriminate against out-of-state energy producers by imposing significant barriers to interstate and international trade, American energy suffers.”

The jury’s verdict was enough for the American Tort Reform Association to dub Louisiana on Dec. 9 as the nation’s fourth-ranked “Judicial Hellhole.”

“At this point, after more than a decade of legal fights, between runaway verdicts and deep political entanglements, Louisiana’s coastal litigation saga is no more than a vehicle for jackpot justice to line the pockets of a few wellconnected trial lawyers,” said

Melancon and Scalco have been together for about a year. They’ve bonded over their mutual love for history.

Based on research, they believe their home was built in the 1850s.

Melancon, with Scalco’s help, scavenges Facebook Marketplace, estate sales and antique shops across the state for Louisiana treasures that fit the home’s aesthetic.

The oldest piece in the house is a French side table from the early to mid 1700s, a housewarming gift Melancon received from an antique dealer. The second-oldest item is a glass-blown hurricane globe from 1790, sitting in a corner of the kitchen.

When Melancon first walked into the house in 2024, the building’s charm told him that it had good bones. He bought it shortly thereafter, making it the first house he’s owned.

“The thing that sold me on it was its age,” he said. “I always wanted an old house. I always wanted something with history and a story to it. That’s how I decorate. Everything has a story.”

He remembers where and when he bought almost every piece in the home — why he bought it and how it made him feel.

And on this Christmas morning, Melancon and Scalco will be surrounded by the family that inspired the home’s warmth and glow.

Tiger Joyce, president of the association, a confederation of businesses seeking to limit civil lawsuits.

Still, Louisiana leaders have not been persuaded.

While John Bel Edwards was governor between 2016 and 2024, he spent $15 billion on projects to combat coastal erosion. He also directed the state to intervene in the Plaquemines Parish lawsuit and similar actions filed in other parishes.

Notwithstanding Chevron’s “insinuations to the contrary, there is no reason to doubt the fairness or impartiality of the Louisiana citizens serving on parish juries. Louisiana is the nation’s second largest producer of oil and gas. Coastal residents are hardly hostile to the industry,” Edwards wrote in a brief filed with the Supreme Court.

In June, Gov. Jeff Landry pressed for amendments to a state Senate bill that gives state regulators a strong hand in determining court-ordered cleanups of old oil fields.

Landry testified before a legislative committee about the energy companies wanting carbon capture incentives, arguing that the oil and gas industry was being hypocritical.

“You can’t say that litigation is so bad in this state that you will not conduct activity on one side of the equation and yet in the very next moment say, ‘Guess what? I need some help from you all to do the same types of activities on this side in the same litigation environment,’” Landry said.

Email Mark Ballard at mballard@theadvocate. com.

Unusual political lines A half-dozen Republican senators wrote a Supreme Court brief opposing Louisiana’s position. Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr castigated Murrill for supporting lawsuits filed by parishes against energy corporations, calling the “legal theory in these cases a house of cards.”

Barr and another former Republican U.S. Attorney General, Michael B. Mukasey, then filed their opinions with the Supreme Court.

“When it comes to assigning liability for coastal erosion in Louisiana, no local judge or jury can act as a neutral, disinterested fact-finder when there is a deep pocket sitting in the defendant’s chair responding to a lawsuit brought by the local government,” Barr and Mukasey wrote.

President Donald Trump has also bashed the lawsuit.

Trump issued an April 8 executive order criticizing state lawsuits seeking penalties hours after the Pointe a la Hache jury found Chevron liable.

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During this season of love and joy, of believing and giving, we wish you and your family a holiday filled with the spirit and compassion of Jesus Christ, whose birth we celebrate. Thank you to our team members for embodying the Spirit of Healing and showing the world how we healthcare joyfully and authentically all year long.

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6A ■ Thursday, December 25, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

Inmates have family Christmas Landry lll

Texas prison allowed children to celebrate holiday with their fathers

BY MARÍA RAMOS PACHECO The Dallas Morning News (TNS)

DALLAS — The last time Karley Alejo spent Christmas with her dad was when she was 3 years old.

Now 16, Alejo walked into the gym at the Sanders Estes Unit, trying to make eye contact with her father, Julian Alejo, who was wearing a white inmate uniform and a red Christmas hat.

Julian Alejo, 43, who is serving a 30-year sentence for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon, was one of 27 inmates at the Sanders Estes Unit selected to participate in the Christmas with Dads event organized by Trinity Restoration Ministries on Dec. 19.

This south Dallas nonprofit organization operates a faith-based re-entry program for individuals transitioning out of Texas prisons.

For the first time since Sanders Estes Prison was established 36 years ago, its gym was transformed into a holiday village for inmates to celebrate Christmas with their children.

“This makes it more authentic and personal. Being able to open gifts and not having to just take them home and talk about them,” said Karley Alejo. “You get to actually be here, to make memories with your family here. It’s amazing.”

Inmates and volunteers pushed the gym equipment to the side to make room for four Christmas trees surrounded by presents, a red carpet, long tables set up with crafts, books, board games, a face-painting booth and food.

For a couple of hours, the gym was filled with laughter, shouts, prayers and the sound of children running around. Christmas music played in the background while children sat on their dads’ laps.

At one point, Santa showed up, and families took photos with him. The portraits were just like any family would take during the holidays. Still, the tall walls, tiny windows, and the wired patio, along with the surveillance cameras, were reminders of where the celebration was being held.

On two occasions, all the dads left the gym for the mandatory headcount before returning to be with their children.

‘It’s about the kids’ For Karley Alejo, living all these years with her dad has shown her how incarceration affects families and how society sees the inmates.

“I just feel like a lot of the time, people believe that if you’re in prison, you did something awful, and you can’t change, and that nobody’s gonna forgive you, and you’re just here,” Karley Alejo said. “But a lot of the time, a lot of people don’t want that from themselves. They might have made a mistake when they were younger or older, but all the people here have families.”

Shagala Taylor, 50, decided to take Friday off from work to visit her brother, Larry Taylor, and bring his 8-year-old twins, Champion and Reagyn.

Larry Taylor, 43, who is serving a 45-year sentence for murder, was surprised by his son. The boy ran toward Larry Taylor to be picked up by “Daddy.”

After setting him down, Larry Taylor did the viral ‘floss dance’ with him. He gave his daughter and sister big hugs. Then, they sat down to wait for their turn to be

suggests college football changes

BY MATTHEW ALBRIGHT Staff writer

DALLAS MORNING NEWS PHOTOS BY AZUL SORDO

Larry Taylor, an inmate at the Sanders Estes Unit prison in Venus, Texas, plays with his 8-year-old twins, Champion and Reagyn, during a Christmas with Dads event Dec. 19.

Price was amazed by how the gym was transformed into a holiday party for the children to celebrate Christmas.

“I am so glad I said yes to this because I can see a lot of lives are being touched,” Price said, adding that some of the inmates were serving 12-, 15- and even 45year sentences. “For the kids to be able to come in here and sit with them and open a present in front of them, that touches me.”

‘Those little things’

Lamar Simpson, an inmate at the Sanders Estes Unit prison in Venus, Texas, holds his sleeping 2-year-old son, Jamari, during a Christmas with Dads event Dec. 19. called out for breakfast.

“Sometimes people don’t understand because in their mindset, ‘Adults knew what they were doing,’ but at the end of the day, it’s not about the adult, it’s about the kids of the incarcerated individuals,” Shagala Taylor said.

“You have to get out of that mindset and bring it down to the kids’ level, understanding how they’re feeling. Got to have empathy and sympathy. I wish there were more programs out here like this.”

Shagala Taylor added the regular visits are tough for the kids.

They last two hours, and there’s no physical contact. Sometimes there are crayons and books, but still, the kids get bored and don’t understand why there isn’t a playground or why “Daddy” can’t pick them up or sit them on his lap.

“At the end of the day, it’s about the kids. They didn’t have a choice to be part of it. Ground the adults but not the kids,” Shagala Taylor said.

Following the example Around 200 volunteers came together to create the one-of-akind event, the result of months of planning, said Richard “Chico” Smith, executive director of Trinity Restoration Ministries.

The congregation from Lakepointe Church in Rockwall provided approximately 60 volunteers and covered most of the event’s expenses. Volunteers from Tem-

plo Betania in Dallas also participated by helping with decorations, serving food and greeting the families.

“Jesus told us not to forget about the incarcerated,” said volunteer Carmen Vazquez, 52. “He set an example for us to serve everyone, especially those who need us the most.”

With a radio in one hand and a sheet detailing the seating organization and event details, Robin Stephens, a 22-year-old program administrator at the prison, coordinated the event and ensured all guests and inmates followed the prison’s protocols.

Stephens saw the event as an opportunity for the inmates to feel hopeful and stay motivated.

Brodgrick Price, the senior warden at Sanders Estes in Venus, 30 miles southwest of Dallas, approved the “Christmas with Dads” event to support the inmates’ rehabilitation. He had no budget for it, and that’s where the nonprofits and volunteers stepped in.

Price believes in providing inmates with the tools to be successful while incarcerated and, upon release, to rebuild their lives, “bringing people to change the thought process through a rehabilitative approach versus a punitive one,” Price said. “A lot of times, when somebody gets in trouble, people want to punish them, versus getting to the root cause of why the person is acting out.”

Adrian Casares was catching his breath after running behind his two sons. His 6-year-old wanted to kick the soccer ball, and his 3-year-old was trying to dribble a basketball.

Casares, 33, is serving a six-year sentence for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. As soon as he knew about the event, he signed up. He has had good conduct and earned “trusty level status.” He’s now the barber of the officers.

His wife, Gracey Turner, 23, drove about two hours from Temple to bring the kids to spend the day with their dad. During the whole ride, kids kept asking, ‘When are we gonna see Daddy?’

In past holidays, Casares, his wife and their kids used to make “Christmas crack,” similar to Cracker Jack snacks, with peanuts, sugar, and other ingredients.

Then watch movies and open gifts in the morning.

“That’s something I miss the most for sure, those little things,” Casares said. “I’m just taking it step by step, trying to change everything about myself for my family, my kids.”

For Turner, the hardest thing about her husband being incarcerated is raising the children alone.

The event allowed them to have a family holiday, like they used to.

She said this will be a memory her kids will remember.

They made crafts, shot Polaroid photos and collected animalshaped balloons and bags of gifts.

The celebration lasted only a few hours. By the end, the Christmas trees and hats were put away by the inmates, the tables had been cleared, and the gym returned to its usual function.

The dads returned to their cells.

Gov. Jeff Landry has penned an op-ed arguing that a “broken system” for college athletics is responsible for unreasonable spending on football by universities — and the drama around LSU hiring former Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin.

“I had no idea how broken college athletics is until very recently, when I was pulled into LSU’s football program,” Landry wrote in RealClearPolicy, a national domestic policy publication. “I learned way more than I ever wanted to know about how college football operates and frankly, the way the sport is run is a complete mess.”

Landry called for centralized governance to determine when players sign, when they can transfer, how coaches move and “set spending caps, so schools aren’t spending themselves into insolvency.”

He also suggested unifying college football’s media rights, which he said would bring in more revenue to be distributed proportionally across conferences.

“This is a national crisis, not a local one. And only Washington has the authority to create a real solution,” Landry wrote. “We need the President to urge Congress to pass targeted legislation that will fully fix this broken system.”

Landry made national sports headlines with fiery comments in October after former LSU coach Brian Kelly was fired. He blasted the size of coaches’ contracts and buyouts, and publicly rebuked then-athletic director Scott Woodward, who parted ways with the school soon after.

LSU went on to hire Kiffin on a seven-year, $91 million contract, which pays more per year than Kelly’s deal.

In the op-ed, Landry criticized the college football recruiting calendar, which he said “forces teams to make coaching and roster decisions during a tight in-season window each year.” The early signing period for high school prospects was from Dec. 3-5, and the transfer portal opens Jan. 2-16.

“A school that loses a coach late in the season may have only days to find a new one before high school recruits sign and college players jump into the transfer portal,” he wrote. “This compressed timeline is what causes schools to pay huge buyouts and poach other schools’ coaches before the season is over.”

Kiffin and Landry spoke during the hiring process.

Acknowledging the drama that came with plucking a coach from a playoff-bound team, Landry wrote: “It makes no sense. But to those critical of LSU’s coaching search and my role in it, I say: don’t hate the player, hate the game! We did what we had to.”

Contact Matthew Albright at malbright@theadvocate.com.

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The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Thursday, December 25, 2025 ■ 7A

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Is there a Santa Claus?

DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.

Papa says, ‘If you see it in “The Advocate” it’s so.’ Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

– VIRGINIA O

In 1897, eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon put this eternal question to the editorial department of a New York Newspaper, The Sun, and editor Francis P. Church’s response has answered it for all time. We take pleasure in sharing this Christmas classic each year in continuance of a custom begun generations ago by our founder, Mr. Wm. B. Reily, who dedicated it annually to curious children everywhere.

Commensurate with the times, we have taken the liberty to update the editor’s response.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.

Oh, how dull the world would be without Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith, poetry, or romance to make existence tolerable. We should have no enjoyment except in sight and sound? The eternal light of childhood, which fills the world, would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in gravity! You might get your papa to put cameras on all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa, but what would that prove even if they did not see him? Nobody sees Santa, but that is not proof that there is no Santa Claus.

The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor adults see.

Have you ever seen the wind? Of course not, but you have seen leaves blow, and flags fly, and it all affects you. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the unseen and unseeable wonders in the world.

You only have to believe to receive the blessings of Christmas.

Only faith, love, and a childlike outlook will reveal the glory beyond what is seen in the physical world.

Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world, there is nothing else so remarkable as dreams that can come true. No Santa Claus?

Thank God he lives, and he lives forever. He will continue to make people happy and ensure holiday giving is the best part of our lives.

– Excerpted from a letter written by Francis P. Church, editor of The Sun, to Virginia O’Hanlon, New York City, 1897 * Updated for the times

Merry Christmas from

We take pleasure in updating this message for the children of a new generation. The message is a continuation of a custom begun many years ago by our Great-Great-Grand Father, Wm. B. Reily, who dedicated it annually to each succeeding generation of questioning youngsters.

8A ■ Thursday, December 25, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

lll

Thousands flock to Bethlehem for Christmas Celebration had been subdued during war

BY MELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press

BETHLEHEM, West Bank — Thousands of people flocked to Bethlehem’s Manger Square on Christmas Eve as families heralded a muchneeded boost of holiday spirit. The giant Christmas tree that was absent during the Israel-Hamas war returned on Wednesday.

The city where Christians believe Jesus was born had canceled Christmas celebrations for the past two years. Manger Square instead had featured a Nativity scene of baby Jesus surrounded by rubble and barbed wire in homage to the situation in Gaza.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Catholic leader in the Holy Land, kicked off this year’s celebrations during the traditional procession from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, calling for “a Christmas full of light.”

Arriving in Manger Square, Pizzaballa said he came bearing greetings from Gaza’s tiny Christian community, where he held a pre-Christmas Mass on Sunday. In

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY NASSER NASSER

Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Catholic clergyman in the Holy Land, arrives at the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, Wednesday in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. the devastation, he saw a desire to rebuild.

“We, all together, we decide to be the light, and the light of Bethlehem is the light of the world,” he told thousands of people, Christian and Muslim.

Despite the holiday cheer, the impact of the war in the Israeli-

occupied West Bank is acute, especially in Bethlehem, where around 80% of the Muslim-majority city’s residents depend upon tourismrelated businesses, according to the local government.

The vast majority of people celebrating were residents, with a handful of foreigners. But some

residents said they are starting to see signs of change as tourism slowly returns.

“Today is a day of joy, a day of hope, the beginning of the return of normal life here,” said Bethlehem resident Georgette Jackaman, a tour guide. She and her husband, Michael Jackaman, another guide, are from Christian Bethlehem families that stretch back generations.

This is the first real Christmas celebration for their two children, aged 2½ and 10 months.

During the war, the Jackamans pivoted to create a website selling Palestinian handicrafts to support others who lost their livelihoods.

The unemployment rate in the city jumped from 14% to 65%, Bethlehem Mayor Maher Nicola Canawati said earlier this month.

A visitor from France, Mona Riewer, said that “I came because I wanted to better understand what people in Palestine are going through, and you can sense people have been through a very hard time.”

Friends and family cautioned her against coming due to the volatile situation, but Riewer said being in Bethlehem helped her appreciate the meaning of the holiday.

“Christmas is like hope in very

dark situations, a very vulnerable child experiencing harshness,” she said.

Fadi Zoughbi, who previously worked overseeing logistics for tour groups, said his children were ecstatic to see marching bands streaming through Bethlehem’s streets.

The scouts represent cities and towns across the West Bank, with Palestinian flags and tartan draped on their bagpipes. For the past two years, the scouts marched silently as a protest against the war.

During the previous two years, the heads of churches in Jerusalem urged congregations to forgo “any unnecessarily festive activities.”

They encouraged priests and the faithful to focus on Christmas’ spiritual meaning and called for “fervent prayers for a just and lasting peace for our beloved Holy Land.”

Santas were everywhere as the traditional parade returned to Nazareth in northern Israel, revered by Christians as the place where the archangel Gabriel announced to Mary she would give birth to Jesus.

The hilltop town filled with children. Some starred in live Nativity scenes, and others lined the route waiting for floats and candy under a bright, warm sun.

‘God gave us this gift — the best gift ever’ nai in Los Angeles where Ryu was sure in her abdomen got worse, rectly invading any organs,” Abdominal pregnancy born.

“I mean, this is really insane.” and Lopez figured it was finally Ozimek said. “It looked like it was Lopez, a 41-year-old nurse who time to get the 22-pound cyst re- mostly implanted on the sidewall has 1-in-30,000 odds lives in Bakersfield, California, moved. She needed a CT scan, of the pelvis, which is also very

BY LAURA UNGAR

Associated Press

Suze Lopez holds her baby boy on her lap and marvels at the remarkable way he came into the world.

Before little Ryu was born, he developed outside his mom’s womb, hidden by a basketballsized ovarian cyst — a dangerous situation so rare that his doctors plan to write about the case for a medical journal.

Just 1 in 30,000 pregnancies occur in the abdomen instead of the uterus, and those that make it to full term “are essentially unheard of — far, far less than 1 in a million,” said Dr. John Ozimek, medical director of labor and delivery at Cedars-Si-

didn’t know she was pregnant with her second child until days before giving birth.

When her belly began to grow earlier this year, she thought it was her ovarian cyst getting bigger. Doctors had been monitoring the mass since her 20s, leaving it in place after removing her right ovary and another cyst.

Lopez experienced none of the usual pregnancy symptoms, such as morning sickness, and never felt kicks. Though she didn’t have a period, her cycle is irregular and she sometimes goes years without one.

For months, she and her husband Andrew Lopez went about their lives and traveled abroad.

But gradually, the pain and pres-

which required a pregnancy test first because of the radiation exposure. To her great surprise, the test came back positive.

Lopez shared the news with her husband at a Dodgers baseball game in August.

Shortly after the game, Lopez began feeling unwell and sought help at Cedars-Sinai. It turned out she had dangerously high blood pressure, which the medical team stabilized. They also did blood work and gave her an ultrasound and an MRI. The scans found that her uterus was empty, but a nearly full-term fetus in an amniotic sac was hiding in a small space in her abdomen, near her liver.

“It did not look like it was di-

Learn more. Laugh more.

Live more.

dangerous but more manageable than being implanted in the liver.”

A 2023 medical journal article by doctors in Ethiopia described another abdominal pregnancy in which mother and baby survived, pointing out that fetal mortality can be as high as 90% in such cases.

On Aug. 18, a medical team delivered the 8-pound baby while she was under full anesthesia, removing the cyst during the same surgery. She lost nearly all of her blood, Ozimek said, but the team got the bleeding under control and gave her transfusions.

“It was really, really remarkable,” Ozimek said.

Since then, Ryu — named after a baseball player and a character in

PROVIDED PHOTO

Suze Lopez and her son, Ryu

the Street Fighter video game series — has been healthy and thriving. His parents love watching him interact with his 18-year-old sister, Kaila, and say he completes their family.

With Ryu’s first Christmas approaching, Lopez describes feeling blessed beyond measure.

“I do believe in miracles,” she said, looking down at her baby.

“God gave us this gift — the best gift ever.”

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Landry designates mourning period First four days of January will honor 14 lives lost on New Year’s Day Bourbon Street attack

BY KASEY BUBNASH

Gov. Jeff Landry announced as the state readies for the first anniversary of the Jan. 1 tragedy.

An executive order from The first four days of 2026 will be a designated mourning period Landry, signed on Friday, manacross Louisiana in honor of the dates that flags at the State Capi14 lives lost in the New Year’s tol and other state buildings be Day attack on Bourbon Street, flown at half-staff from Jan. 1

Staff writer

through Jan. 4 from sunrise to sunset, Landry said late Monday.

The executive order also asks that churches, public buildings and other institutions with bells ring them 14 times at 3:15 p.m. on Jan. 4 after a brief moment of silence. All Louisianans are

encouraged to incorporate green and yellow — “representing harmony, renewal and happiness,” according to the order — in memorials honoring the victims and in lighting displays at homes or businesses during the mourning period.

“We will never forget,” Landry wrote in a statement posted to social media platform X on Monday.

The commemoration comes after 14 people were killed and dozens more were wounded early on

ä See MOURNING, page 2B

LIVINGSTON PARISH

Growing coffee business to open cafe French Settlement Roasting began over a decade ago

BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD Staff writer STAFF PHOTOS BY JAVIER GALLEGOS

The historic St. Mary’s Chapel, located just south of the Sunshine Bridge in St. James Parish, has deteriorated over the years.

Now, a group hopes to save it, beginning with some much-needed repairs next year.

‘WE GREW UP IN THAT CHURCH’

Group aims to preserve 150-year-old chapel in St. James Parish

BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT Staff writer

A small chapel sits a few hundred feet back from the levee just south of the Sunshine Bridge in Union, an east bank community in St. James Parish. A cemetery lies behind the church, and a large sugar cane field extends beyond the graves.

The roughly 150-year-old St. Mary’s Chapel shows its age in certain areas: chipped paint, missing stained glass windows and water damage inside. The chapel’s slate roof is falling away, revealing the original cypress shingles beneath it.

It closed in 1998 due to dwindling attendance in a largely rural area. Yet it has continued to stand — through summer heat and hurricanes — and one group now hopes to repair it to its full glory.

Friends of St. Mary’s Chapel has raised more than $160,000 for repairs, some of which are set to begin next year. While more money is required for full-scale

ä See CHURCH, page 2B

Spencer Chauvin points to holes in the roof while describing the structural issues of the historic St. Mary’s Chapel in St. James Parish on Dec. 12.

Judge in hot water over ‘$100 bill handshake’

A coffee brand founded in a small Louisiana town and now available in grocery stores, on LSU’s campus and even in Washington, D.C., is working on a new venture: its first cafe.

French Settlement Roasting Co. was founded by Billy and Shannon LaGrange, of French Settlement, over a decade ago, using a popcorn popper to roast coffee.

Now, the couple operates a full-scale roasting facility in Holden, supplies more than 20 locations with their product, has a mobile coffee truck and are currently preparing to open their first brick-and-mortar cafe.

The coffee business, known for its “Bloody Angola” and “Jet Fuel” blends, expects to start building the store at the beginning of 2026 and open it by the summer.

The location in Maurepas, next to Diversion Pizza and Sarita’s restaurants, plans to serve coffee, tea and breakfast food.

“It took off. Everybody wanted the coffee. Everybody who tries it buys it.

That’s still the model,” Billy LaGrange said.

Parish President Randy Delatte in August named the coffee brand the “official coffee of Livingston Parish.”

“It’s a veteran-owned, homegrown success story that brings pride to Livingston Parish. When something made right here in our community is being enjoyed on the Senate floor in Washington, that’s worth celebrating,” Delatte said in the August proclamation.

Delatte was referring to U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, who has supported the local coffee business for years and has even brought it to Washington, D.C., during Senate meetings.

French Settlement Roasting Co. began when Billy LaGrange, while working at a nuclear power plant, sought a cup of coffee that actually tasted good to him.

“I used to hate coffee,” he said.

Eventually, he realized he could make it himself and began roasting coffee

ä See COFFEE, page 2B

of ethical rules when told him to take his family to the perception ‘that a little bit of La. Supreme Court handful he pocketed a $100 bill from a lunch, according to another grease on the wheels will make man who’d asked him to sign judge’s assistant, who reported them turn smoother,’ which correcommends it. Reeves initially turned down rodes the image of the judiciadocuments.

30-day suspension The commission on Dec. 18 the money, but then accepted it ry,” the commission wrote.

recommended a 30-day unpaid suspension for Reeves to the Louisiana Supreme Court, the Staff writer only body that can discipline Accepting a “hundred-dollar- state judges.

The man who gave the cash to bill handshake” should cost a Louisiana judge a lot more, ac- Reeves, Tim Tomlinson, called cording to the state commission the judge in June 2023 and they that recommends discipline for met at the Concordia Parish courthouse as Reeves was leavjudges.

The Louisiana Judiciary ing town so he could sign a petiCommission found that Judge tion to probate a will, according John Reeves of the 7th Judi- to the commission’s findings.

Afterward, Tomlinson handed cial District, in Concordia and Catahoula parishes, violated a Reeves a folded $100 bill and

BY JOHN SIMERMAN

after Tomlinson said, “Lunch is on me,” the commission found.

Reeves expressed remorse over the incident, telling the commission he “knew right away that it was wrong of him to accept the money and that he should not have done so,” the commission wrote.

“I did what I have done,” he testified. “I have an unbelievable record, and this is not like me.”

A 10-year veteran jurist, Reeves “agreed that he created

In its 18-page findings, the commission referred to Reeves’ actions as “corrosive,” “illadvised” and “an utter failure to uphold the exacting ethical standards imposed upon judges.”

Along with a month off without pay, it is seeking $3,100 from Reeves in costs for its investigation.

James Boren, an attorney for Reeves, said he had not yet digested the ruling and had no immediate response.

STAFF PHOTO BY JAVIER GALLEGOS

French Settlement Roasting Co. owners Billy and Shannon LaGrange stand in front of their coffee roaster, nicknamed ‘Lotta Gold,’ at their roasting and packaging facility in Holden on Dec. 16.

2B ■ Thursday, December 25, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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Fleurty Girl to move Metairie store Funeral set for jazz New location violinist Michael Ward will double He will lie in state at Gallier Hall

store’s space

BY RICH COLLINS

BY KEITH SPERA

Staff writer

The owner of the Fleurty Girl boutique shops is purchasing a building near the corner of West Esplanade Avenue and Causeway Boulevard and plans to move her Metairie flagship store.

The 5,000-square-foot building, at 3212 W. Esplanade Ave., is more than double the size of the current Metairie Fleurty Girl store in the Lakeside Plaza strip mall on Severn Avenue, across from Lakeside Shopping Center. The building has been under contract since October and is scheduled to close in two weeks, according to Lauren Haydel, Fleurty Girl founder and owner.

Haydel said rising rents at her current location, where she’s served customers for 13 years, drove her to look for a place of her own. She jumped when the longtime home of a Double M Feed garden and pet supply store became available.

“Unless you own your buildings, there are things that can change that are beyond your control,” said Haydel, who plans to move in 2027. “We needed to do something to secure us to be here for the long haul.”

She’s buying the Double M Feed location, which closed on Dec. 20, from the store’s owners, brothers Cory and Blaine Strander, who have owned the property since the mid-1990s. The Stranders operate two other Double M Feed locations in the metro area, as well

Staff writer

STAFF FILE PHOTO BY BRETT DUKE

Lauren Haydel, the owner of the Fleurty Girl boutique shops, is purchasing a building near the corner of West Esplanade Avenue and Causeway Boulevard and plans to move her Metairie flagship store. as a multistate feed manufacturing business.

Haydel said the lease at her Severn location ends in 2028.

She’ll keep it open while renovating the new building.

“It will be the biggest store we have, so we want to make sure it’s the best in-store experience ever,” she said.

Haydel said the acquisition of the West Esplanade Avenue property will mean she owns about half of the buildings she operates in.

Haydel launched Fleurty Girl in 2009 from a house on Oak Street in Uptown New Orleans. Over the last 16 years, she has grown the business to nine locations, stretching from Baton Rouge to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Haydel’s knack for marketing and promotion, demonstrated last year when

The altar at St. Mary’s Chapel is seen on Dec. 12.

CHURCH

Continued from page 1B repairs, the planned work aims to repair the roof, replace the front doors and do additional work to prevent further deterioration.

Eventually, the organization aims to get the chapel placed on the National Register of Historic Places and have it available for weddings, funerals and an occasional Mass.

“Beneath the sun-induced wrinkles and-rain-pelted blotches, her elegance remains, crying for a dab of makeup and perhaps even a hint of gloss,” a 2022 article by the Diocese of Baton Rouge stated. “St. Mary’s Chapel stands proudly on River Road in Union, shuttered but with the voices and images of 150 years of memories etched in her charming interior.”

Spencer Chauvin, who lives nearby and has helped lead the work, said money from the land’s sugar cane and leasing the batture to a boat company offsets most of the annual costs.

“What we’re doing now is going out for capital. We need a roof. We

MOURNING

need all these other things: windows, air conditioning,” he said.

“If we can raise enough capital, the fixed costs are sort of sustainable.”

Records dating back to 1860s Chauvin, a descendant of one of the men who helped build the chapel, knows its story well. While a marker out front sets the chapel’s official opening in 1875, Chauvin said a ledger book found in his home shows payments related to the construction beginning in 1868.

“My grandfather’s grandfather was contracted — he and his uncle — to design and build this, and his book starts in 1868,” he explained.

“And then you can see all the gentlemen’s names that helped build it. They were making, like, a dollar a day.”

The chapel was expanded beyond its initial frame over the years, he said, and close examination of the floor shows where the additions occurred.

“It took them quite a while to do all this,” he said. “Reading through that book, you can see the years pass by while they’re work-

concerns about gaps in security plans for the iconic street and has Continued from page 1B prompted heightened law enforcement there and at major events across the city.

Most recently, New Orleans ofJan. 1, when Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove down Bourbon in a rented ficials said they would challenge pickup and ran down revelers who the federal threat level assigned had been celebrating the new year. to the upcoming Sugar Bowl and Without security barriers de- New Year’s Eve festivities, with ployed, Jabbar was able to drive the aim of getting increased feddown three city blocks before he eral support for security efforts. crashed and was ultimately killed Landry’s executive order is only by police. The attack sparked the latest effort to honor the lives

she decorated each one of her locations in honor of a different Taylor Swift album before Swift’s Caesars Superdome shows, have been key to the brand’s growth.

The stores sell T-shirts and other New Orleans-inspired goods, including tote bags, jewelry, decorative objects and kitchen accessories.

One popular item this holiday season is a Christmas ornament that commemorates the historic January 2025 snowstorm.

“The daughter of the woman we buy those from lost her job before the holiday season,” Haydel said.

“She was able to work making them instead. That’s the kind of thing that happens when people support local businesses.”

Email Rich Collins at rich. collins@theadvocate.com.

The funeral plans for New Orleans smooth jazz violinist Michael Ward include a special honor reserved for prominent musicians and other local dignitaries.

His body will lie in state at Gallier Hall, 545 St. Charles Ave., from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 2, in the second-floor grand ballroom.

His funeral is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 3, at Household of Faith Family Worship Center, 9300 I-10 Service Road in New Orleans East. Visitation starts at 8 a.m. The funeral service is at 10 a.m.

He will be buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery. Boyd Family Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Ward, who was 60, died of a heart attack on Dec. 15.

A native of San Antonio, he earned a jazz studies degree from Southern University in Baton Rouge, where his mentors included modern jazz clarinetist Alvin Batiste. After graduation, he moved to New Orleans.

In a city whose musical culture is more closely associated with trumpets and pianos, Ward built a career with a blue, electric violin.

He specialized in “smooth jazz,” a predominantly instrumental subgenre that edges into contemporary R&B and funk territory.

He used original compositions and popular songs by the likes of Earth, Wind & Fire as launching pads for his violin’s improvisational flights of fancy.

His career first took root at Pampy’s Creole Kitchen on North Broad Street and, later, Vincent’s City Club in New Orleans East and Club Nexus on Elysian Fields Avenue.

His recorded output spanned five albums, starting with 1996’s “Just Me.” He traveled internationally for concerts in India, Italy, South Africa, Brazil and elsewhere. At the height of his touring, the prolific performer spent three weekends each month on the road.

In recent years, Ward’s primary circuit spanned Texas, the Gulf Coast and his adopted hometown.

He could be found at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, at Sweet Lorraine’s and at commu-

STAFF FILE PHOTO BY SCOTT THRELKELD

Musician Michael Ward, 60, died of a heart attack on Dec. 15.

His funeral is set for Saturday, Jan. 3, at Household of Faith Family Worship Center, 9300 I-10 Service Road in New Orleans East.

Visitation starts at 8 a.m. and the funeral service is at 10 a.m. nity events and fundraisers.

For decades, Ward participated in the annual Bayou Classic festivities. On Nov. 29, he performed at a Bayou Classic after-party at Café Istanbul in the New Orleans Healing Center on St. Claude Avenue.

In addition to his music career, he taught for a time at O. Perry Walker High School.

He maintained a much longer side career in law enforcement.

He was an Orleans Parish deputy in the motorcycle division and a Delgado Community College police officer who often worked details on film sets.

His careers overlapped when he donated his time to perform at the sheriff department’s annual Thanksgiving dinner at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

In 2022, he launched a new project with two of his seven children. He and his violinist sons Shaun and Cortes formed a trio called All Strings Attached. They released a Christmas album and an original single called “Whatcha Say.” For years, Michael Ward and Houston-based saxophonist Kyle Turner, one of his closest friends, performed at each other’s annual birthday concerts.

Ward’s final performance turned out to be Turner’s birthday show Dec. 7 at the Eldorado Ballroom in Houston.

Email Keith Spera at kspera@ theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTO BY JAVIER GALLEGOS

ing on it. I mean, they didn’t build this thing in 3 months like they could today, or a year, because all this stuff is handmade.”

‘You see the ghosts’ Beyond the historic significance, it holds deeply personal significance to those involved in the project.

Chauvin held his wedding there in 2009, filling it almost to capacity.

Fran Stein Fleniken, who helped the group raise funds, said the chapel was the center of her life growing up in Union.

“The church was always really special to my mom. We grew up in that church,” she said. “I mean, literally grew up in that church.”

A distant relative of Chauvin, she said that relatives on both sides of her family helped work on it and that it was the community’s center growing up.

“Everybody in that community, when you went to church on Sunday, everybody had their place where they sat,” she said. “And when we go in there now to clean the church and that kind of thing, you see the ghosts of all those people and where they used to sit.”

lost in the New Year’s Day attack as its first anniversary approaches.

On Dec. 1, a group of locals unveiled a temporary memorial on Bourbon called “Second Line in the Sky,” which features lights and handcrafted flags bearing the names and images of those killed in the attack. It will be on display through Jan. 18.

Email Kasey Bubnash at kasey. bubnash@theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTO BY JAVIER GALLEGOS

French Settlement Roasting Co. owner Billy LaGrange pulls up one of his first coffee roasting machines at their roasting and packaging facility in Holden on Dec.16.

COFFEE

Continued from page 1B with a popcorn popper. People around him also wanted the coffee he made, so he eventually decided to upgrade to a small roaster and then, eventually, the full-scale roaster the business uses now.

The LaGranges began selling the coffee grounds at local farmers markets and have now expanded to grocery stores in Livingston and Ascension parishes and cafes in Baton Rouge like City Pork LSU. “That’s probably one of the biggest ones, I think. When we got it, it was like, ‘Oh, cool!’ ” Shannon LaGrange said about serving their coffee on LSU’s campus.

Shannon LaGrange said a lot of the feedback they receive comes from people who originally couldn’t drink coffee due to taste or other factors.

She said one customer who was going through chemotherapy couldn’t drink coffee because the medicine changed her taste buds.

“She found us when she was going through chemo … nothing

tasted good. But she could drink our coffee all day long,” Shannon LaGrange said.

The couple runs every aspect of their business, from roasting the coffee to making deliveries, all while they still keep their day jobs working at an Entergy plant and in health care, respectively.

Along with keeping their jobs the same, the LaGranges have also never changed the price of their coffee to remain affordable.

“Everything in the world went up, and coffee, in general, in the last six months, went up double.

But yet we’re still at the same price,” Billy LaGrange said.

LOTTERY

TUESDAY, DEC. 23, 2025 PICK 3: 3-1-8 PICK 4: 4-6-9-2 PICK 5: 9-0-4-5-0 MEGA MILLIONS: 15-37-38-41-64 MEGA BALL: 21 Unofficial notification, keep your tickets.

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Thursday, December 25, 2025 ■ 3B

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Obituaries Pickering, Ruby Nell Ficklin

Ruby Nell (Ficklin) Pickering was born on November 4, 1936 in Gonzales, Louisiana and was called home, surrounded by her family, on December 19, 2025 at the age of 89. Ruby Nell was born in Gonzales in 1936 to Guy Smith Ficklin and Ruby Mary Broussard.

She graduated from Istrouma High School in 1955 and married Lloyd

Pickering on September 3, 1955. Together they raised four children and started their own company, American Construction, Demolition, & Asbestos Abatement. If asked, she would say that her life revolved around her family and her church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Ruby Nell was active in Relief Society and in the Young Women's program and was known for her quiet, loving service.

Ruby Nell was preceded in death by her husband, Lloyd Pickering, her parents Guy Ficklin and Ruby Mary Broussard, and her siblings Jackie Duke and Dwayne Chaney. Ruby Nell is survived by her sister Kathleen Armond, her four children and their spouses Marsha (Clay) McIntyre, Karen (Phil) Reis, Guy (Tammy) Pickering, and Rodney (Beth) Pickering, her twelve grandchildren (Jason McIntyre, Derek McIntyre, Michelle Hughes,

Christopher Pickering, Kristin Corroa, Philip Reis, Lloyd Pickering, Rachel McCollough, Janel Pickering, Ashley Swan, Amber Pickering, and Rodney [Boopy] Pickering), her thirty-five great-grandchildren and four great-greatgrandchildren. She was a true matriarch to her family, beloved by them all and leaves behind a legacy of service. The viewing will be held at Resthaven Funeral Home located at 11817 Jefferson Hwy., Baton Rouge, LA 70816 on Monday, December 29, 2025 from 9:00 a.m. with services starting at 10:00 a.m. Burial to follow at the Pickering Family Cemetery located at 20715 Old Scenic Hwy., Zachary, LA 70791. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Greater Baton Rouge Area Food

Bank or the Make a Wish Foundation.

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OPINION

4B ■ Thursday, December 25, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M/opinions

OUR VIEWS

The hope of Christmas endures season after season Editor’s note: We publish a version this editorial, with some variations, each Christmas.

Today, as the Christian world marks another Christmas, we pause and remember the sons and daughters, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters who cannot be with us today because they are serving in our military far from home.

The world’s strife is never all that distant from us. A grinding war in Ukraine has cost thousands of lives as it approaches the fouryear mark. The crisis in the Middle East has stretched on more than two years now, leaving destruction, death and starvation in its wake.

Though a peace plan has been signed, true peace remains elusive.

Yet every Christmas gives us reason to hope.

That first Christmas, the one recorded in the New Testament, must not have looked very promising at first. It involved the story of a poor Jewish child born into a world dominated by a ruthless Roman Empire that often treated human life quite cheaply. A later chapter of the story, which chronicled a cruel crucifixion, is testament to that.

But what endures is the message of that first Christmas and the teachings the small boy born in a manger would offer as he grew to manhood.

Those teachings, which affirm the value of love and charity, still resonate with Christians and those of other faiths, and even with many of those who claim no faith at all.

We embrace hope today because the Christmas story encourages us to look for hope in unlikely places.

The Bethlehem described in the Gospel of Luke seemed just such a place: “And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, Bethlehem ... to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife being great with child.

“And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, ‘Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people ... And this shall be a sign to you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.’ ” Today, we renew our hope for peace and good will, and we wish our readers a merry Christmas.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE ARE OUR GUIDELINES: Letters are published

identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’s city of residence.

The Advocate | The Times-Picayune require a street 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.

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YOUR VIEWS

Technology, ingenuity are way to cut health care costs I woke up yesterday with a fever, congested lungs and aching all over. I thought I had the flu, but I’m not stupid enough to just take some painkillers and tough it out. I texted Rhonda, my Amazon “med tech” and gave her my symptoms. Her AI app asked me a bunch of questions, which I immediately answered. Then Rhonda asked me to collect breath samples in the standard Amazon containers. She already had my vitals from my smart watch. The drug store picked up my samples within the hour.

Two hours later, Rhonda called to discuss my condition and give me the diagnosis. Once I agreed, she ordered the proper medicines, which arrived within two hours, and within about five hours of realizing I was sick, I was on my way back to recovery. If I don’t recover quickly, Rhonda will call in the specialists.

Now this didn’t really happen, and I didn’t wake up with a disease. But

We need to urgently address our debt crisis

millions of Americans did. And they had to wade through our dysfunctional medical bureaucracy to get an appointment, travel to the clinic, get tests done and finally after days of trying, get some treatment.

And in addition to the glacially slow service they received, they will have to endure the outrageous cost of supporting this outdated, inefficient, bloated system.

Instead of our politicians constantly fighting over how to fund this outdated system, why can’t they get busy developing a modern system that will use the technology and logistics we already have to better serve our people’s healthcare needs at a cost of less than half of what is currently spent for this service? We need to work on this new system in a big hurry before this old antiquated system breaks us financially.

I seriously worry about the America we are leaving for our children and grandchildren. We are spending (have spent) their future. America’s financial deficit is reaching (or maybe already exceeds) $40 trillion.

What’s even more alarming is that our legislative/governmental officials are doing nothing to solve this “nation-crippling” problem.

Admittedly, solutions aren’t easy and it could be career-ending for those who try. That’s the problem.

Our officials would rather work on “their positives” rather than help our nation heal. Yes, it means addressing military spending, social security, Medicare, Medicaid and so many other programs because without solutions, our children and grandchildren will drown in debt they are unable to address. The interest alone is more than most nations spend on their budget. We are a proud nation, but we are losing our flexibility when we keep involving ourselves in so many other nations’ problems without addressing our own. Solutions will hurt, but we need to leave our nation in better shape than the one we are in, and that will take courage.

JACK HARRIS Baton Rouge

Lowry column shows what happens when our historical vision is narrowed Syndicated columnist Rich Lowry argued that documentarian Ken Burns is wrong to highlight the Iroquois Indians’ influence on the Constitution, calling it “romanticized history” not based on “historical truth.” When I wrote to Lowry questioning why he didn’t include any references to the fact that, in 1988, Congress recognized the significant influence of the Iroquois Confederacy on the U.S. Constitution (HCR 331), he responded, “I didn’t have space to get into the resolution but would have said it was wrong and historically illiterate.”

Historically illiterate from the culturally dominant historian’s (conqueror’s) perspective, which fails to acknowledge the influences of the conquered?

Historically illiterate because it is not “written down” in the history books of conquerors who had the resources to write and distribute the material while the conquered had none?

The Iroquois Great Law of Peace, an ancient, orally transmitted document, can be traced back to 1142. It united five (later six) nations with principles like separation of powers, checks and balances and a democratic gover-

nance, emphasizing peace, unity and sustainability. Lowry tries to diminish this accomplishment in several ways.

Focusing on the dates, he specifically identifies the establishment of Greek city states against Persia in 478 BC, ignoring that previous confederacies were fundamentally different. The Great Law of Peace established principles of peace, diverse input, consensus and collective responsibility whereas the goal of the Greek confederacy was a military alliance that excluded outsiders, demanded political uniformity and required governing bodies to follow the same political ideology and policies without opposition. Sound familiar?

What we need is discourse that opens us to the possibility of everything, moving us beyond rigid dominant class opinions that narrow our vision and repress diversity and innovation.

It is time to consciously reframe problems to include diverse viewpoints and broader possibilities, and imagine an inclusive future. The whole world is watching.

CHARLES HARGON Baton Rouge

Handelsman’s contributions will be terribly missed Like many of your readers, I have been a big fan of Walt Handelsman’s cartoons for a long time. In fact, when I open the newspaper, I usually go right to the Metro section to see what he has provided for us that day.

I appreciate how he truly captures the reason for what he has drawn, even after an event that might have just happened.

I will miss his daily works of art and his insight.

DONNA CAIRE Abita Springs

MANDY CHOCHELES Metairie

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COMMENTARY IN FOCUS RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS

This Christmas, we asked faith leaders to share what makes the season significant to their congregations.

Let us embrace God’s desire to be with us The meaning of all our life’s choices Having just arrived in New Orleans comes from knowing, loving and servlast month, I guess I am the new kid on the block, and I am grateful to be able to ing Him. There is no substitute. Even share a few words about Christmas and though many have tried, and still try what this celebration means. to find, a substitute, the truth is God’s greatest desire is to be that there is none. We place our with us. It is true. hope and trust in One, Jesus, He made each of us, knit us who comes to us anew on Christtogether in our mother’s womb, mas. and He desires to be with us here We have to let our Christmas and forever. That is why He sends celebration soak in, deeply, so His Son to us; that is why we have Most Rev. that the Christmas Season may Christmas. God desires to be with James F. continue to live in our hearts us! throughout the year. Let us celChecchio This is such a wonderful time ebrate the arrival of our Savior GUEST of year as we celebrate this event with all our hearts. Let’s make which changed our world forever — COLUMNIST an effort to share the hope we the birth of our Savior. Yes, Jesus’ have from Jesus with everyone coming changes everything. Christwe encounter each day. As we mas is also the reminder that the answer look around our world we know there is a need for hope. Let us recommit to to the world’s problems and our own needs is found in one person, the person nourishing this hope in our own lives who is at the center, the very heart of all through encountering Jesus, especially in our gathering to worship on Sundays. reality: Jesus.

My brothers and sisters, there is no thing, no person, no possession in this world that can take the place of knowing Christ, born to us, and loving Him. May this new year be a blessed time for us all, a time of deepening our commitment to Jesus and being His presence in our world. This will change our world and make it a better place, the place that God created it to be.

I am delighted to now be living with you in southeastern Louisiana. I am grateful for the warm welcome you have given me and the joy with which Christmas is celebrated here. I am grateful to be working with all people of good will, and grateful that Jesus has put us together on this blessed mission!

Know of my prayers for a blessed Christmas and a happy, healthy and holy 2026 for all!

Most Rev. James F. Checchio is the coadjuter archbishop of New Orleans.

A caroler holds a candle during an event in Jackson Square in New Orleans during the holiday season.

STAFF PHOTO BY ENAN CHEDIAK

Nativity story reminds us that a light shines in darkness our world would look if he had not come.

There is a story written many years How different our Christmas would be. ago about a young boy who is studying But in fact, “The Lord is come!” the Bible with his dad the night before This is the meaning of Christmas. It Christmas. They are reading in the Gosisn’t just about the presents or the tree, pel of John, and some words that Jesus or the family celebrations, but says stick out to the young boy: it’s about God’s only Son being “If I had not come” in John 15. born into the world as a light The boy falls asleep with this in a dark place. That’s how the on his mind, and he has a dream.

Gospel of John begins by saying, In the dream, he wakes up in an“The light shines in the darkness, ticipation of the presents he has Josh Elder and the darkness has not overwaited for, but there are no presents. There is no Christmas tree, come it.”

GUEST no time with family, no holiday.

Every year at St. Timothy on COLUMNIST He sees all the businesses open the northshore, we gather on and asks them why they are open Christmas Eve, dim the lights, on Christmas, and they reply, light the candles and sing “Silent “What is Christmas?”

Night.” It is a special moment, where The young boy thinks to go to church, we recognize the truth that Jesus has, in for certainly if Christmas is anywhere, fact, come into the world. it will be there. Rather than a full But it is more than that. church singing songs and celebrating, It is more than just a fact of history. the young boy finds a vacant lot with a It’s more than just a circumstance. We sign, and on that sign it reads, “If I had light the candles and hold them ournot come.” selves because Jesus has also been born Oh, how different the story would be into our hearts. The candles we light if Jesus had not come. How different represent the real presence of God in all

who believe.

In my own life, before I came to know Jesus, I lived as though he had not come and I lived in a great deal of darkness.

But one day, God woke me up and the light of Christ came into my life and into my heart, and saved me from the darkness.

Although that day wasn’t on Dec. 25, that day was Christmas for me. Every year when we light the candles, I am reminded of that. I am reminded that Jesus did not only come as a light over 2,000 years ago, but that he has come today for you and for me.

Christmas is about Jesus coming into the world, but it’s even more personal; it’s about Jesus coming for each and every individual. This Christmas Eve at St. Timothy, we once again dimmed the lights, lit the candles and sang “Silent Night” as we remembered that the “Lord is come” for you and for me. This is what Christmas is all about.

Josh Elder is the senior pastor at St. Timothy on the northshore.

The true spirit of Christmas is in the giving of hope For more than 20 years, the spirit of Christmas has come alive each December at Greater Liberty Baptist Church at 1230 Desire St. in New Orleans.

Established in 1853, Greater Liberty Baptist Church has long stood as a pillar of faith, service and leadership in the community. One of its most meaningful outreach efforts is Christmas on Desire Street, which has a clear and compassionate purpose: to bring joy, peace, love, happiness and hope to children and families in the Lower and Upper 9th Ward communities.

Christmas on Desire Street was created to meet both spiritual and practical needs during the holiday season. Each year, the church collects toys, monetary donations and essential items to ensure that The Rev. every family who comes Calvin through its doors leaves Woods with gifts and encouragement. For many families, GUEST COLUMNIST this outreach has become a trusted source of support and a reminder that they are seen, valued and not forgotten.

At its core, Christmas on Desire Street is a holistic community initiative guided by clear goals that extend beyond Christmas Day. These goals include providing leadership, sharing love and offering consistent community support rooted in faith. Through servant leadership, church members and volunteers model compassion, responsibility and hope, helping to strengthen families and inspire future generations.

The ministry also emphasizes networking and fellowship, connecting families with church leaders, community partners and local resources that support longterm growth and stability. These relationships foster unity and collaboration throughout the neighborhood. By creating a welcoming and joyful atmosphere, Christmas on Desire Street brings people together to celebrate the season in a spirit of togetherness and mutual care.

Education and empowerment are also central to the vision of this ministry.

Christmas on Desire Street supports tutoring and academic encouragement, reinforcing the importance of learning, mentoring and positive role models for children and youth. In addition, the program promotes financial literacy, sharing biblical principles of stewardship, budgeting and wise decision-making to help families build confidence and stability beyond the holiday season.

Greater Liberty Baptist Church also holds a special place in the cultural history of New Orleans.

The church was featured in the classic 1951 American Southern Gothic film “A Streetcar Named Desire,” adapted from Tennessee Williams’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play. A scene filmed in the church forever connects Greater Liberty Baptist Church to the rich heritage of Desire Street.

As community needs continue to grow, Christmas on Desire Street continues to expand. This year, the ministry introduces a clothing ministry, providing cleaned and gently used clothing for individuals and families in need. Christmas on Desire Street 2025 took place on Dec. 20 at 9 a.m., welcoming families from across the community to share in this special celebration.

Christmas on Desire Street is more than an annual event; it is faith in action.

Through leadership, love, fellowship, education and empowerment, Greater Liberty Baptist Church remains a beacon of hope on Desire Street, demonstrating that the true meaning of Christmas is found in giving, service and the love of Christ.

Rev. Calvin Woods is pastor of Greater Liberty Baptist Church.

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6B ■ Thursday, December 25, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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Baton Rouge Weather TODAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

Clouds, sun; fog, warm

Warm with some sun

Very warm

Clouds; showers 20%

Mostly cloudy and cooler

Partly sunny

HIGH

HIGH

HIGH

HIGH

LOW

75° 59°

LOW

78° 61°

HIGH

LOW

79° 60°

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79° 44°

ALMANAC

LOW

HIGH

54° 31°

National Summary by AccuWeather

Christmas starts with dense fog. Later this afternoon, fog will give way to partly cloudy skies. Temperatures will climb into the 70s. More fog returns tonight with lows in the upper 50s. Skies become partly cloudy Friday with highs back in the 70s. Warm and muggy weather continues into the weekend before a front pushes through Sunday night.

Cooler weather will return for next week.

LOW

48° 30°

AROUND THE REGION

THE NATION

BATON ROUGE THROUGH TUESDAY

TEMPERATURE

High/low Normal high/low Record high Record low

79°/58° 63°/43° 83° in 1931 8° in 1989

PRECIPITATION

Tuesday Month to date (normal) Year to date (normal)

Longview 78/64

GOOD

GOOD

READING 48 MAIN POLLUTANT Nitrogen oxide

MAIN POLLUTANT Nitrogen oxide

SOURCE: LOUISIANA DEQ AND AIRNOW.GOV

RIVER STAGES FLOOD STAGE 24-HOUR STAGE CHANGE Memphis 34 -2.50 +1.77 Vidalia-Natchez 48 11.49 -0.15 Red River Landing 48 15.94 -0.16 Baton Rouge 35 5.41 -0.19 Donaldsonville 27 2.99 -0.61 Reserve 22 1.90 +0.04 New Orleans 17 1.36 -1.00 MISSISSIPPI

OHIO

Cairo

40

16.89

-1.36

19

-1.37

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18 29 8

-0.88 10.49 1.84

-0.04 -0.10 +0.02

13 15

2.82 1.06

-0.01 -0.02

47 34 29 20 12 6

4.53 2.93 2.84 2.04 2.50 1.58

-0.13 -0.08 -0.05 -0.01 -0.10 -0.09

COMITE

Near Olive AMITE

Near Darlington Denham Springs Port Vincent TICKFAW

Montpelier Holden ATCHAFALAYA

Simmesport Melville Krotz Springs Butte La Rose Bayou Sorrel Morgan City

0s

10s 20s 30s 40s 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s 100s 110s

Baton Rouge 75/59

Lafayette 78/63

Beaumont 77/64 Port Arthur 74/65

Hattiesburg 76/58

Alexandria 77/64

Many 76/62

AIR QUALITY TODAY

-0s

Jackson 77/60

0.00” 6.32” (3.74”) 59.62” (60.36”)

YESTERDAY

-10

Monroe 74/64

Shreveport 79/65

New Orleans 74/61

Lake Charles 75/64

Shown are areas of precipitation and high temperatures for the day.

Houma 76/61

Forecasts and graphics, except WBRZ forecasts, provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2025

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

TIDES HIGH

FT.

Lake Pontchartrain (Tchefuncte River) 10:10a 0.5 Shell Beach 4:42a 1.2 South Point, Marsh Island 9:11p 1.3 Cypremort Point 11:11p 1.3 Grand Isle (Barataria Pass) ----Mississippi River (Southwest Pass) 11:33p 0.8 Wine Island 1:00a 0.9

LOW

SUN AND MOON Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today

FT.

9:44p -0.1 2:28p -0.2 10:58a -0.2 3:02p 0.2 10:42a -0.2 9:10a -0.2 11:44a -0.2

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Austin Boston Dallas Fairbanks Honolulu Houston Las Vegas Louisville Miami Minneapolis

Hi

Lo W

79 65 pc 41 13 c 79 63 pc -15 -28 pc 83 69 pc 81 66 pc 67 48 r 65 59 sh 80 63 pc 35 31 i

FRIDAY Hi

82 66 pc 23 21 pc 84 64 s -10 -39 c 83 66 pc 81 67 pc 62 46 sh 68 52 c 81 63 s 37 33 c

SOLUNAR TABLE

6:59 a.m.

5:10 p.m.

10:48 a.m.

10:34 p.m.

FIRST

FULL

LAST

NEW

DEC 27

JAN 3

JAN 10

JAN 18

MAJOR

3:07a 3:56a 4:43a 5:28a 6:15a 7:03a 7:56a

MINOR

9:19a 10:07a 10:54a 11:40a 12:04a 12:49a 1:40a

MAJOR

TODAY City

Nashville New Orleans Orlando Philadelphia Phoenix Pittsburgh Raleigh St. Louis San Diego Tampa

FRIDAY

Hi

Lo W

Hi

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71 74 80 47 74 44 70 64 68 79

61 pc 61 pc 57 s 26 pc 58 sh 28 sh 44 pc 57 c 58 r 59 s

72 78 78 33 73 42 51 69 64 77

57 c 61 pc 56 s 29 sn 56 c 37 i 48 c 45 s 55 sh 59 s

67 42 46 70 25 31 69 38 58 36 57

50 c 35 s 29 c 47 pc 0 c 28 sn 49 pc 28 s 46 sh 32 c 48 c

67 43 47 68 6 33 67 39 57 38 52

54 pc 36 s 29 c 44 s 2 c 24 c 48 pc 30 s 43 pc 30 pc 37 pc

THE WORLD

The solunar period schedule allows planning days so you will be fishing in good territory or hunting in good cover during those times. Major periods begin at the times shown and last for 1.5 to 2 hours. The minor periods are shorter.

Today Fri. Sat. Sun. Mon. Tue. Wed.

Lo W

MINOR

3:30p 9:41p 4:18p 10:29p 5:05p 11:17p 5:53p ---6:41p 12:28p 7:32p 1:18p 8:27p 2:11p

Amsterdam Bangkok Barcelona Berlin Brussels Cairo Dublin Frankfurt Havana Hong Kong Jerusalem

32 94 53 29 33 71 44 36 81 67 59

26 s 74 s 49 r 18 s 24 s 54 pc 39 pc 29 s 58 pc 54 pc 41 s

36 89 57 33 37 70 45 39 82 61 58

29 s 73 pc 50 sh 29 pc 27 s 54 pc 41 s 29 s 57 pc 58 pc 46 pc

Kuwait City London Madrid Mexico City Montreal Moscow New Delhi Paris Rome Stockholm Tokyo

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SPORTS

T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M

|

T h u r s d ay, d e c e m b e r 25, 2025

SAIN T S AT T I TANS • NOON SUNDAY • CB S

1cN

Vagabond QB Finley explains search for 7th home

BY WILSON ALEXANDER Staff writer

STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID GRUNFELD

Saints quarterback Tyler Shough takes a picture with fans before a game against the New York Jets at the Caesars Superdome on Sunday.

Singing his praises

Saints fans falling in love with Shough’s embrace of city, winning ways

BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer

Enough people had sent Tyler Shough the remix featuring his name that, by the time the New Orleans Saints quarterback was asked whether he had heard it, the rookie broke into a smile and started singing the hook.

“We getting Shough’d tonight, we getting Shough’d tonight,” the 26-year-old sang, bobbing his head. “Yeah, I had like 40 people send me that.”

A remix of Atlanta rapper Gunna’s “wgft” — the acronym stands for what you’d imagine, including the word that rhymes with the quarterback’s last name — the song made by two Saints fans has become an anthem since X users uploaded it earlier this month.

The song is one of the many ways the city of New Orleans, and fans of the black and gold all over, have come to embrace the 26-year-old as he’s led the Saints on a three-game winning streak ahead of Sunday’s road matchup against the Tennessee Titans.

The reception wasn’t always that warm. Shough’s second-round selection in April received a heavy dose of skepticism and criticism, even among the team’s diehard fan base that questioned his age, pedigree and the Saints’ choice to pass on Shedeur Sanders.

But now? The reaction to Shough can be measured by the sound — not just of a song, but of the screaming fans who

STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID GRUNFELD

Saints quarterback Tyler Shough finds room to run against the New York Jets during ä See SHOUGH, page 3C the first half of the game at the Caesars Superdome on Sunday.

When TJ Finley decided to enter the transfer portal for the sixth time earlier this month, he saw some of the jokes made about him.

Things were posted in response on social media such as job application sites and a clip from the ending of “Saving Private Ryan” when Matt Damon’s character morphs into an old man. The most common reaction seemed to be: Shouldn’t he move on?

Finley doesn’t think so. At least not yet. The former LSU and Tulane quarterback knows it’s unprecedented to try to play for seven schools in seven years, but he wants to push his football career as far as he can. The 23-year-old has three young sons, and he still sees the sport as the best way he can provide for them.

“I set a high standard of what I want to do and what I want to accomplish in my life,” Finley said, “and I’m not stopping until I get there, no matter how it looks.”

Since signing with LSU as a threestar quarterback in the 2020 class out of Ponchatoula High, Finley has become a college football journeyman. He has attended LSU, Auburn, Texas State, Western Kentucky, Tulane and Georgia State, and now he plans to apply for a seventh season of eligibility through a medical redshirt.

Finley said he left Georgia State after playing in seven games this season because “what they want to do identity-wise, offensively, doesn’t match my skill set.” He hopes to find one last team with a pass-heavy offense, wanting to prove himself before he turns pro. Finley feels determined to try to reach the NFL. “I think the gifts that God has given me, and the talent that God has given me in the football aspect, it would be a disservice to him to just give up, right?”

Finley said. “And I think the number one lesson that I’mma always harp to my boys is no matter the situation, no matter the circumstances and all of that, you never give up, right?

“As long as the opportunity presents itself, and you have that opportunity, you never give up until someone makes you or your body literally can’t go anymore.”

The beginning of Finley’s career was pretty typical in the transfer portal era.

In three seasons at LSU and Auburn, he

ä See FINLEY, page 3C

Thornton thriving in new basketball role at LSU Staff writer

ä Southern Miss at LSU, 7 P.M. MONDAY, SECN+

Little Debbie Honey Buns were an essential food at Ruth Moore’s house, at least for Marcus Thornton.

Before the Baton Rouge native became a basketball star at LSU and played eight years in the NBA, he spent most of his weekends growing up at his cousin’s home, eating his favorite snack.

Moore, whom Thornton calls his aunt since he’s the same age as her son, has seen every step of the 6-foot-4 guard’s journey and still receives visits from Thornton, now 38.

Not only does Thornton still have a sweet tooth — now red velvet cake is his dessert of choice — but he is back at LSU, this time on the sidelines. Thornton has been a men’s basketball staff member focused on player development since August.

“When he texted me and told me about it,” Moore said, “I was like, ‘Oh, my goodness, this is full circle for him, as well as his family.’ We are so proud of him.”

Thornton helps LSU (11-1) players refine their skills on the court and serves as a mentor off of it.

“Everything I’ve learned and

been blessed to have been around this game, man, it’s my duty now to give these guys, you know, the answers to the test,” Thornton said.

Coaches and players are ecstatic to have LSU’s last Southeastern Conference Player of the Year (2008-09) as a resource in all things basketball and navigating life. The same work ethic he possessed to reach his dreams after starting at Tara High School and then Kilgore College, a junior college in Texas, he now applies to player development.

Every day, including days off from team practice, he’s helping point guard Dedan Thomas get in extra work on the practice court.

He does similar things for other players and constantly answers players’ questions.

“He’s been really effective in our player development program,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said.

“Lives in the gym, really hungry to help our players get better, and investing a lot of time with them.

So he’s been a great addition to the program.”

After Marquel Sutton and Max Mackinnon scored 23 and 22

BY TOYLOY BROWN III

points, respectively, in a win over SMU at the Smoothie King Center, McMahon reminded them that Thornton had 30-plus-point games in the same arena for the then-New Orleans Hornets.

Flaunting his old stats is the one thing Thornton isn’t going to do since his humility is just as striking as his passion for the sport. He said his alma mater was the only place where he felt comfortable sharing his wisdom.

“This place here helped me become the basketball player I am, helped shape the man I am,” Thornton said. “So I feel like I couldn’t do it no other place and I had (other) opportunities to, and it just ain’t feel right. I wouldn’t feel right at all if it wasn’t LSU.” The chance to work for the team was a “no-brainer” for Thornton, who said it felt like everything aligned for this chapter of his life.

After the NBA, he played a couple of months in China and the NBA G-League, with his final season coming in 2022 with the Motor City Cruise. While he hasn’t signed any retirement papers, he knew his basketball-playing days were over.

He transitioned into the next phase of life by dedicating himself

STAFF FILE PHOTO BY HILARY SCHEINUK

LSU support staff member Marcus Thornton coaches during practice on ä See THORNTON, page 3C Sept. 24 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

2C ■ Thursday, December 25, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

lll

Are the Cowboys as close as First-year coaches working quickly Jones says?

BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS

On TV 11 a.m.

NBA Cleveland at New York

ABC

1:30 p.m. San Antonio at Oklahoma City 4 p.m.

Dallas at Golden State 7 p.m.

Houston at L.A. Lakers 9:30 p.m. Minnesota at Denver

ABC ABC ABC ABC

NFL noon Dallas at Washington 3:30 p.m. Detroit at Minnesota 7:15 p.m. Denver at Kansas City

NETFLIX NETFLIX PRIME

Super Bowl in their first year Chicago, New England aswinana NFL head coach.

Chicago, New England and Jacksonville have andWhile Jacksonville are having noteclinched playoff spots worthy turnarounds, the two No. 1

seeds from a year ago have fallen flat and both could miss the playoffs.

BY JOSH DUBOW Kansas City already has been AP pro football writer eliminated and Detroit needs to Chicago, New England and Jack- win two games and hope Green sonville were all fighting for draft Bay loses twice to get in.

The Lions and Chiefs both won positioning at this time a year ago, with the three teams finishing off 15 games last season. Only two of seasons that left them at the bot- the previous seven teams to win at least that many games missed the tom of the NFL standings.

The disappointing 2024 seasons playoffs the following season, with led to coaching changes that have Carolina doing it in 2016 after gopaid immediate dividends, with ing 15-1 and New England in 2008 the Bears, Patriots and Jaguars all following a 16-0 regular season clinching playoff berths this week when Tom Brady injured his knee in the first year of the new regimes. in the opener.

The work done by Ben Johnson in Chicago, Mike Vrabel in New New overtime rules England and Liam Coen in JackThe NFL’s new overtime rules sonville is impressive but far from provided a first this past week, with unprecedented. This marked the Seattle becoming the first team to 20th straight season that at least win an overtime game with a walkone team made the playoffs with a off two-point conversion.

This is the first regular season coach in his first year on the job, where a team scoring a touchdown according to Sportradar.

In that span, there has been an on the opening possession of OT average of just over two first-year doesn’t end the game, as the NFL coaches who have led their teams expanded a rule first put in place to the postseason each year, with in 2022 for the playoffs that guarthe three this season tied for the anteed both teams the opportunity second most. for at least one possession.

There were an NFL-record five That change proved important first-year coaches who made the for the Seahawks, who responded playoffs in 2022 when Minnesota’s to the touchdown drive by the Kevin O’Connell, Miami’s Mike Los Angeles Rams to open overMcDaniel, the New York Giants’ time with one of their own. That Brian Daboll, Tampa Bay’s Todd prompted coach Mike Macdonald Bowles and Jacksonville’s Doug to go for two and the win rather Pederson all did it. than extend the game as sudden Johnson, Vrabel and Coen will death, and Seattle converted for try to join some more elite com- the 38-37 win.

It was the third time this season pany: Eight coaches have made it to the Super Bowl in their first full that a team went for two and the season with a team. Four of those win after both teams scored touchcoaches won it all, with Denver the downs in overtime, with the Raidlast to do it in the 2015 season un- ers failing in Week 9 against Jackder Gary Kubiak. The others were sonville and Washington missing in Jon Gruden in 2002 with Tampa Week 13 against Denver.

There have been 14 OT games in Bay, George Seifert in 1989 with San Francisco and Don McCaffer- all this season, with only one lastty in 1970 with the Baltimore Colts. ing longer than two drives. Dallas Gruden and Kubiak had coached and the New York Giants combined other teams, meaning Johnson and for five possessions in Week 2 beCoen will try to join McCafferty fore the Cowboys won 40-37 on a and Seifert as the only coaches to field goal.

BY TIM COWLISHAW

The Dallas Morning News (TNS)

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY NAM HUH

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson watches during a game against the Green Bay Packers on Saturday in Chicago.

Four were decided when the team that started with the ball scored first and the second team couldn’t match, and four others where the team that got the ball first failed to score and then allowed a game-winning score on the next drive.

There was also one tie in Week 4 when Dallas made a field goal on the opening possession and Green Bay used the rest of the 10-minute period on a drive that ended with a game-tying field goal.

Tank bowl The “showdown” between the NFL’s only two-win teams when Las Vegas hosts the New York Giants on Sunday will be a rarity — and an important game when it comes to draft order.

This will be just the fourth time since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, according to Sportradar, that the two teams with sole possession of the worst two records in the league meet in a game in the final two weeks.

The loser of the game Sunday in Las Vegas will “win” the right to pick first with another loss in

Week 18, with a potential prize of Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza or the chance to trade down for a haul of picks.

The previous three late-season showdowns for the top pick didn’t provide a great prize to the team that ended up No. 1.

In 1981, New England lost the season finale to Baltimore and ended up with defensive lineman Kenneth Sims, who had 17 sacks in eight seasons and never made a Pro Bowl.

In 1980, the winless Saints beat the three-win Jets in Week 15 after already clinching the top pick in the draft. New Orleans picked running back George Rogers, who had a solid career, but wasn’t nearly as good as the three Hall of Fame defenders who went in the top eight of that draft: Lawrence Taylor, Kenny Easley and Ronnie Lott.

The first time it happened came in 1971 when Buffalo lost to Houston in Week 15 to clinch the top pick. The Bills took defensive lineman Walt Patulski, who lasted just five seasons.

Lions, Vikings suffering through letdown seasons

BY DAVE CAMPBELL

AP pro football writer

MINNEAPOLIS — The Detroit Lions can’t win the NFC North after taking the last two titles. The Minnesota Vikings were eliminated from playoff contention before they took the field two weeks ago.

The 29 wins these division rivals combined for last season are a distant memory now, the latest example of how quickly trajectories can shift for teams in this league from year to year.

The Lions and Vikings were a natural pair for one of the league’s three showcase matchups streaming on Christmas Day, with highscoring offenses and plenty of star power, but the holiday movies might bump this game back a bit in the queue for some Netflix subscribers given the current state of the two teams. The earlier matchup on Thursday between the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Commanders looks like an even bigger letdown, with both NFC East rivals eliminated from contention for the playoffs.

The Lions, at least, have a chance to return to the postseason even if they need help.

The roadmap is simple: Beat Minnesota on Thursday and Chicago next week and have Green Bay lose its last two games, against Baltimore on Saturday and at Minnesota in Week 18.

After reaching the NFC championship game for the 2023 season and logging a franchise-record 15 wins last season, the Lions (8-7) are in trouble after losing at home to Pittsburgh last week for their first two-game losing streak in more than three years.

“We haven’t had that feeling. It’s creeping in on us now,” quarterback Jared Goff said. “We’ve got to find a way.”

and coverages too quickly in Seattle. “It’s a good feeling to be in the huddle with the guys and see the fruits of your labor.”

Lions struggling to run the ball The rushing attack that fueled Detroit’s success over the previous two seasons has lagged this year. The offensive line lost two starters from 2024 who weren’t adequately replaced, and injuries have had members of this season’s group in and out of the lineup.

Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, as a result, haven’t been nearly as productive, and the play-action passing game Goff is so good at hasn’t been quite as effective, either.

Last week, the Lions netted just 15 rushing yards for their lowest total since 2016. They’re 0-6 this season when failing to reach 100 rushing yards, including the Nov. 2 loss at home to Minnesota.

“It’s very difficult to control ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY RYAN SUN anything if you can’t control the run game,” coach Dan Campbell Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff passes during a game against the said.

Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday in Detroit.

ment in this rocky season.

Brosmer got a most difficult assignment in his first career start on Nov. 30 at Seattle against one of the NFL’s best defenses, with J.J. McCarthy sidelined by a concussion and Carson Wentz done for the year following shoulder surgery. Brosmer threw four interceptions in a 26-0 loss to the Seahawks that was the first shutout for the Vikings in 18 years.

This time, with McCarthy unavailable because of a hairline fracture in his throwing hand, Brosmer gets to play at home against a far more vulnerable defense — with the invaluable expeVikings turn to Brosmer again rience from Seattle ingrained in Undrafted rookie Max Brosmer his mind.

“My dream for a long time has has been preparing in this shortened week for his second start at been to play in the NFL, and for quarterback for the Vikings (7-8), me mentally to define myself by yet another unexpected develop- one game wouldn’t be fair to the

younger me watching me play football in the NFL,” Brosmer said.

With three starters in its secondary on injured reserve, including star safeties Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph, the Lions defense has fallen apart. It allowed the Steelers three different 45-yard touchdowns last week, two rushing and one passing.

Brosmer, on the other hand, relieved McCarthy for the second half against the New York Giants and helped the Vikings win their third straight game, without any of the turnovers that crushed them against the Seahawks.

“It’s all about finding little ways to improve on your craft and improve with the guys you’re playing with,” said Brosmer, who successfully told himself to slow down his process after reading the routes

Lions on a losing streak The Lions had won 15 straight times after a loss to match the league’s longest such streak with Denver (1984 to 1988) and Baltimore (2009 to 2012), according to Sportradar data, until their late rally fell short in the wild finish last week against Pittsburgh.

This is the first time Detroit has dropped consecutive games since starting 1-6 in 2022 during Campbell’s second season.

The stars go dark for Vikings The Vikings were one of only three teams that didn’t have at least one Pro Bowl selection, just the third time in franchise history that has happened — following 1983 and 2014. Last season, the Vikings had seven players honored while winning 14 games.

DALLAS — Jerry Jones is very familiar with the fact that it has now been 30 years since his team scaled the highest heights. He’s well aware of the chart that shows the Dallas Cowboys have gone twice as long as any team in the NFC without reaching the conference title game.

“I’m looking forward to next year and getting back to that championship game maybe beCommentary and yond,” Jones said. “And then I’ll be right at the top of the list of how long it’s been.

Right at the top. And this will all go away.”

It will be months before we know how many buy into that level of Cowboys optimism for 2026. In Jerry’s words, the offense is very good with Dak “and I think we have the bones of a heck of a defense.”

Seems more like bones is all that will be left when their opponents finish with them in 2025. Having surrendered 454 points and threatening to become the first Dallas team ever to allow 30 per game, the Cowboys are just four behind the awful Cincinnati defense for most points allowed.

Jerry sees his willingness to change as a reason for even more optimism. But to frustrated fans, it can seem like nothing ever really changes here except for the fact that this club set a record. It’s going to be the first in Cowboys history to finish top five in total offense and points scored and miss the playoffs. Not really the place where you want to be making history.

But the thing I struggle with the most is the sense that it’s a fluke that Dallas hasn’t advanced deep into the playoffs for 30 years. At Brian Schottenheimer‘s introductory news conference, Stephen Jones referred to it as “this so-called drought.” Jerry has talked many times about this team having been “around the rim” during this run as if they were the Buffalo Bills just butting their heads up against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Reality says something different.

Reality says the Cowboys have not been very good.

Yes, there are a number of teams with worse won-loss percentages over this 30-year period. Dallas, especially, under Jason Garrett as head coach, has mastered the art of the 8-8 season. And with the Commanders on Christmas Day and the Giants next Sunday finishing out the schedule, the Cowboys stand a reasonable chance of becoming the NFL’s second 8-8-1 team in the days of the 17-game schedule.

What matters in professional sports is playoff performance.

That’s what kills Cowboys fans, the fact that their team could go to the NFC Championship Game 16 times from 1966-1995, the start of the Super Bowl era, and then take a big goose egg for the next 30 years.

And the idea that the Cowboys have been close?

The ”Dez caught it” argument got them close. If Bryant is ruled to have caught a touchdown in Green Bay 11 years ago, then the Cowboys are close to a trip to Seattle for the title game. But more than four minutes remained in a game Dallas would have led either 27-26 or 29-26. The Packers had scored on their last three drives. That was a close call, but it’s not a done deal that the Cowboys would have won the game without the overturn.

More Aaron Rodgers‘ magic stopped the Cowboys a week shy of the NFC title game in 2016. And a 21-17 loss at home to New York in 2007 (the first of Eli Manning’s two unlikely Super Bowl runs) stalled that season. The other divisional losses — Carolina (26-17) in 1996, Minnesota (34-3) in 2009 and the Rams (30-22) in 2018 — did not go down to the wire.

For the 30-year run, Dallas has won five playoff games. Same number as Joe Burrow, who gave the Cowboys a 25-year head start before his first playoff game. The Cowboys’ five playoff wins place them 13th in the NFC, ahead of only Washington, Chicago and Detroit.

Not a place of honor.

If you recognize the history of the Cowboys franchise that Jones initially built strongly upon during Jimmy Johnson’s time here, these 30 years represent a drought that longtime fans and former players can’t even imagine is actually happening.

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Thursday, December 25, 2025 ■ 3C

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SHOUGH

Continued from page 1C roared for the quarterback as he was the last player to be introduced out of the tunnel last weekend at the Caesars Superdome.

It can be seen in Section 135, where a group of longtime seasonticket holders cling to Shoughthemed, handwritten posters as hard as they cling to the idea the Saints finally have found a franchise quarterback.

It can be found in the team store an hour before kickoff of Sunday’s win over the New York Jets, where fans snaked around long lines to purchase the jersey of the man who represents real hope he’ll be a mainstay for years to come.

“This kind of QB purgatory we’ve been in (since Drew Brees retired) from — I’m not talking smack about anybody — but from (Teddy) Bridgewater to Jameis (Winston) to (Trevor) Siemian to just down the line … I’m ecstatic,” said Justin Day, a 32-year-old Saints fan from Alexandria who now lives in Jackson, Missouri.

“I think he’s him. I think you can build around him. You’ve got him on a rookie deal, let’s go.

“Next year is going to the top.”

Wearing a white No. 6 Shough jersey, Day said he didn’t need much convincing to be sold on the quarterback. A hard-core fan who has named his three sons Brees, Colston and Mathieu, Day liked Shough in the lead up to the draft. When he watched the rookie’s preseason debut, he decided he needed to purchase Shough’s jersey as soon as possible. He wore it to Sunday’s home finale, when he made the 81/ 2-hour drive from Missouri for a weekend birthday trip that included attending games for the Pelicans and Saints.

Today, a lot of Saints fans may be reluctant to admit they were out on Shough’s selection on draft night.

But 18-year-old Taylor Damore, in line waiting to purchase the rookie’s jersey, is willing to confess he thought No. 40 was too high for Shough.

“We don’t need another QB — he’s our guy,” Damore said.

All it took for Damore to be sold was Shough’s performance against

STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID GRUNFELD

Saints wide receiver Chris Olave celebrates his 23-yard touchdown after catching a pass from Saints quarterback Tyler Shough, right, against the New York Jets at the Caesars Superdome on Sunday.

STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID GRUNFELD

Saints fans, including Larry Rolling with the sign, celebrate a touchdown

by Saints wide receiver Chris Olave late in the game against the New York Jets at the Caesars Superdome on Sunday. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, when the Louisville product rushed for two touchdowns in an upset win.

That game also fostered a belief in Trey Harris and his 9-year-old son,

Treyton.

Harris said his son was too young to fully appreciate Brees, but is now old enough to sit through entire games — and has become ob-

Gayle Benson and to participate in various charity outings.

Shough said he wouldn’t do as much as he’s done if he felt like it interfered with his preparation for winning games, nor does he play football to just gain fans’ approval.

But Shough repeatedly has said becoming part of the community is a “priority,” wanting to give back such as franchise staples Demario Davis and Cam Jordan.

“I’m just trying to embrace the city, the culture as much as I can, do my job and have fun,” Shough said.

Shough’s approach is another reason why Saints fans have come around. They’ve been charmed by the way he has become one of their own, from sharing stories about eating chargrilled oysters at Drago’s to his truck getting a flat from a pothole.

It wouldn’t be possible without his performances. Those only have added to the mania. For the past few weeks, longtime season-ticket holder Larry Rolling — known as “The Sign Man” for his signs at each game — has unveiled a Shough-inspired pun for observers to see in the front row. Last weekend, he went with “Shough it, three in a row.” Before that, it was “Shough Dat.” Rolling, who has held his tickets for 46 years, said the Saints’ most recent home game was the first time in a while that the Dome’s energy felt like the Brees era again.

“It’s a new vibe in town and we love it,” Rolling said.

In the same row, Sue Cuenca, a season-ticket holder of 47 years, held a sign inspired by the remix she heard Shough sing two weeks ago after beating the Carolina Panthers. It read: “We getting Shough tonight.”

Shough has spent pretty much his whole life hearing his last name — pronounced shuck — used as a cheap, easy pun.

But those using it will have to be forgiven. The possibilities are practically endless.

Saints fans are finding that out these days in more ways than one.

“I love the fact that everyone is on the Shough wagon,” Cuenca said. “Even though they weren’t earlier, they are now.”

sessed with Shough. Soon after the Tampa Bay game, when he saw a sale for a gold Shough jersey, Harris sent his wife a link suggesting they get Treyton one for Christmas.

She purchased two, one for her husband and another for Treyton.

The pair wore them to the game Sunday. “(There’s) not a day that goes by that he’s like, ‘What about Tyler Shough, daddy?’ ” said Harris, a 41-year-old season-ticket holder from Newton, Mississippi. “He’ll just walk up to me and say his name. It’s so cool being able to share that experience with him.”

As promising as he has looked through seven starts, there are no guarantees Shough will be The Guy. Football can be a cruel sport, and a player’s trajectory can change at any moment.

But Shough takes the responsibility seriously. Since he was named the starter in November, he has seen the reception and what it means to excite a city. He has been pulled in a number of directions, including being asked to Email Matthew Paras at matt. attend a Pelicans game with owner paras@theadvocate.com

FINLEY

Continued from page 1C

STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU men’s basketball support staff member Marcus Thornton yells from the bench area in the second half of a game against Prairie View on Monday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

THORNTON

Continued from page 1C to fatherhood.

“I had my daughter in 2016, my son came in 2021, so just being a dad and loving every minute of it,” Thornton said. “Between that time and coming back here, I was able to get to all my daughter’s games, get all my son’s stuff that he had going on, and it’s no better feeling than being here and being present at everything. That goes a long way with kids.”

Thornton didn’t have to relocate when he took the job at LSU. During his NBA career, he returned home to train during the summers and had a home in the area. Assistant coach Jalen Courtney-Williams said that when he played at LSU, he remembered Thornton playing in runs during the NBA offseason.

Courtney-Williams said he envies this batch of LSU players a bit because of what Thornton provides.

“He is for them what I wish that he was for me,” CourtneyWilliams said. “We didn’t get a

ton of time to pick his brain. He would kind of share as much perspective as he could in short moments. But around him now, his brain now it’s like, I’m a kid again.”

The current players at LSU know how fortunate they are to have Thornton accessible to them.

“It’s just great to learn from someone of his caliber,” LSU center Mike Nwoko said. “Someone who has been a vet for a long time. Obviously, he knows the game, so just picking his brain all the time and just learning new things from him. It means a lot.”

A future in coaching is something Thornton is willing to explore when the time is right.

He said he’s focused now on being hands-on in player development.

“He’s a worker, and when he commits to something, he puts his all into it, and he approaches it with a level of dedication and swagger it takes to be successful,” Courtney-Williams said.

“He’s definitely impacting our team. I think if coaching is the route that he wants to take in his future, I think he’ll be great at it.”

threw for a combined 2,199 yards with 12 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He transferred to Texas State as a redshirt junior for more playing time and had his best season yet, completing a career-high 67% of his passes for 3,439 yards with 24 touchdowns and eight interceptions.

He picked up a business marketing degree and sports coaching certificate along the way. After that, his career path broke away from the norm.

Finley became a father when his twin boys were born in October 2023 in Louisiana. After the season ended, he talked to the Texas State coaches about NIL compensation, telling them “it’s just not feasible for me unless y’all could come up with something that we could do to better my situation.”

He entered the transfer portal the day after former Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura joined Texas State. Finley landed at Western Kentucky, and de Laura withdrew from Texas State a week later.

“That was really just a decision that I made based off me having to provide for my boys, right?” Finley said. “I wasn’t gonna be able to sustain our lifestyle for not only myself, but for my boys, with no money. I would have just packed it up and went and worked at UPS or something like that. Just the money and the NIL aspect of it was a big factor.”

Finley had two years of eligibility at that point because his freshman year did not count because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and he took a redshirt year at Auburn. He didn’t expect to use both of them.

He was named to the 2024 Senior Bowl watch list and won Western Kentucky’s starting job. But during the third game of the season, he said he tore every ligament in his right ankle and suffered a fractured fibula.

“I was expecting myself to follow that up with an amazing 2024 season to put myself in a good position to be able to declare and either get drafted late or be a high priority free agent,” Finley said. “And that was just taken from me.”

The injury required two surgeries, ending his season and giving him the case for the medical redshirt he currently is seeking.

Meanwhile, Western Kentucky went to the Conference USA championship and the Boca Raton Bowl.

Finley believes if he had stayed healthy and posted similar num-

STAFF FILE PHOTO BY HILARY SCHEINUK

LSU quarterback TJ Finley warms up on the field before kickoff against Alabama on Dec. 5, 2020, at Tiger Stadium. bers as the year before, he would be with an NFL team by now.

Instead, Finley entered the transfer portal again. With his boys living in Ponchatoula, he said he only saw them three or four times while he played for Western Kentucky.

He wanted to play closer to home, and Tulane needed quarterback depth. The match made sense for both sides until Finley was arrested on April 2.

Finley was charged with illegal possession of stolen things worth $25,000 or more after police linked the license plate of his Dodge Ram to a truck stolen in Atlanta. Finley was suspended indefinitely and entered the transfer portal again later that month. He recognized “making some bad decisions off the field cost me that opportunity.”

Finley said he received a bill of sale and registration after buying the truck on Facebook Marketplace, but he later realized the title didn’t match those documents. At the time, his attorneys claimed he was the victim of a “scam.” He was referred to diversion after a court appearance, which came with 13 sessions of decision-making counseling.

“Now looking back at it, it would have been 100 times easier to go to a dealership and put a big down payment on the same exact truck or something like that,” Finley said. “But instead, I tried to take a shortcut and get it a cheaper way and not having to go through a bank and all of that type stuff and

own it.”

Meanwhile, Finley’s third son was born in February and lives with him in Atlanta. He split time between Atlanta and New Orleans while playing for Georgia State. He was able to see his twins more, but by pursuing another season of college football, he may move farther away again. He expects the decision about where to play next won’t align with proximity to his family.

“For me to give them the lifestyle that I want to give them, I think I have to just really take a risk,” Finley said. “Take a risk going to a place that might not be so close, but it’s a perfect opportunity for me to go and toss the pigskin around and be the guy for a while. That’s where my mindset is now, and any and every opportunity that opens the door, I’m taking very seriously.”

Finley said he has gotten calls from teams, but he declined to discuss them before the transfer portal opens Jan. 2. He described entering the portal as “scary at times because you won’t always have those opportunities,” but he sees the system as a way to give players another chance. He wants one more.

“New opportunity, right?” Finley said. “To go in and compete and prove yourself. And that’s what it’s about at the end of the day, just knowing who you are as a man, knowing who you are as a person, and putting all your chips on black.”

4C ■ Thursday, December 25, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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Broncos eye AFC West title; Chiefs play out string ä Broncos at Chiefs.

BY DAVE SKRETTA AP sportswriter

7:15 P.M. THURSDAY, PRIME

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Denver Broncos are in the enviable position of spending Christmas night at Arrowhead Stadium, the home of one of their biggest rivals, with an opportunity to close in on an AFC West title and perhaps land the No. 1 seed and first-round playoff bye.

It’s a position the Kansas City Chiefs know well.

Normally, they’re the ones with all those things to play for this time of year.

But things have flipped upside down this season. The Broncos (12-3) are barreling toward Thursday night’s matchup knowing that a win coupled with a loss or tie by the Chargers in their game Saturday against Houston would secure them the division title.

Kansas City (6-9) is just trying to survive with a third-string quarterback and a roster that is littered with injuries.

“You just have to keep winning. Whatever it takes to win the game,” Broncos quarterback Bo Nix said. “It doesn’t really at this point matter what it looks like. All the cool, flashy stuff can have already happened, but now it’s just who has more points.”

The Broncos did in their first meeting against the Chiefs, a 22-19 victory in November. But they did

“Any time you step into Arrowhead it’s fun. You feel the love, you feel the energy,” defensive tackle Chris Jones said. “We are playing for something greater than yourself. There’s a lot of kids, probably, a lot of first-timers there because of a Christmas game, a lot of people who paid their hard-earned money. You owe it to them to give your all and play your best and show up for the fans.”

week’s loss in Tennessee. It’s been quite a journey for the former South Dakota State quarterback, who was cut by the Chiefs in training camp last year and spent the next eight weeks flying around the country for practice squad tryouts.

“It’s hard to play in the NFL. It’s hard to stick on a roster,” Oladokun said. “But it really motivated me. Really made me look in the mirror to see what I needed to get better at. I said, ‘If I get another chance, I won’t let it slip.’ ”

Arrow-dome Stadium?

Their game against Denver will be the first since the Chiefs anDenver cornerback Patrick Sur- nounced Monday that they will ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY JACK DEMPSEY tain II earned his fourth Pro Bowl be leaving their aging home in honor this season, one more than Missouri for a $3 billion domed Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix looks to pass against the his father earned during his NFL facility to be built across the state Jacksonville Jaguars during the first half on Sunday in Denver. career from 1998-2008. The Bron- line in Kansas. They will continue cos matched the Ravens, 49ers and to play at Arrowhead Stadium not this past week, when Jackson- they can get.

Seahawks with a league-leading through the end of their lease in Patrick Mahomes tore two liga- six selections.

January 2031. ville dealt them a humbling 34-20 “I have bragging rights now,” defeat in Denver that snapped the ments in his knee two weeks ago.

Broncos’ 11-game winning streak. Backup quarterback Gardner Min- Surtain said with a laugh. “He Final farewell “This game specifically — every shew tore a ligament in his knee can’t say too much now. I think it’s Travis Kelce could be playing one of these players understands last week in a lopsided loss to lowly definitely great for the legacy and inside Arrowhead Stadium for the the significance of where we’re Tennessee, which means journey- great for the Surtain lineage. It’s final time Thursday. He has yet to at with two games left in the sea- man Chris Oladokun will start for something I dreamed of, but I’ll announce his retirement, but the keep perfecting my craft and keep tight end appears to be leaning that son,” Broncos coach Sean Payton the first time in his career. way, and a decision is expected said. “I think for both teams on a The Chiefs are missing their two on holding that name strong.” shortly after the end of the season. short week, there are defenses and best offensive tackles, their top two “He’s been great,” coach Andy offenses maybe, plays that neither cornerbacks and their best wide re- Let Chris cook of us got to use in the first game ceiver to a variety of injuries.

While Oladokun will make his Reid said. “He’s everything you that still may apply. So that helps.”

That doesn’t mean the reigning first NFL start on Thursday night, want from a player representing The Chiefs will take all the help AFC champions have quit, though. he did play the majority of last an organization.”

Like father, like son

SCOREBOARD Odds

West

NFL Saturday

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG at CHARGERS 1½ 1½ (39½) Houston at GREEN BAY 1½ 2½ (40½) Baltimore

Sunday

FAVORITE Seattle Jacksonville Tampa Bay New England Pittsburgh New Orleans at CIN at LAS VEGAS at BUFFALO at SAN FRAN

OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 1½ 7½ (42½) at CAR 1½ 6½ (47½) at INDY 1 5½ (46½) at MIAMI 1½ 13½ (42½) at NY JETS 2½ 3½ (33½) at CLE 3½ 2½ (39½) at TEN 4 7 (53½) Arizona 2½ 1½ (41½) NY Giants 1½ 1½ (43½) Philadlph 3 3 (52½) Chicago

College football Friday

GameAbove Sports Bowl Northwestern 12½ 10½ Rate Bowl Minnesota 3½ 2½ First Responder Bowl UTSA 8½ 8½

Saturday

Military Bowl Pittsburgh 6½ Pinstripe Bowl Clemson 3½ Fenway Bowl Army 3½ Pop-Tarts Bowl BYU 3½ Arizona Bowl Fresno State 3½ New Mexico Bowl North Texas 5½ Gator Bowl Missouri 7½ Texas Bowl Houston 1½

Monday

Birmingham Bowl Ga. Southern 3½

Tuesday

Orange Bowl Oregon Rose Bowl Indiana Sugar Bowl Georgia

Jan. 2

1½

8½

(46½)

UConn

4½

(55½)

Ga. Tech

4½

(42½)Miami (OH)

2½

(55½) S. Diego St.

6½

(48½)

Virginia

2½

(41½)

LSU

4½

(59½) App. State (50½) C. Carolina (60½)

Illinois

(57½)

TCU

(46½)

Iowa

3½

(49½) Arizona St

7½

(45½)

Michigan

(50½) Nebraska

9½

(42½) Miami (FL)

1½

(52½) Texas Tech

6½

(48½)

Alabama

6½

6½

(56½)

Ole Miss

10½

(59½)

Rice

6½

(53½) Cincinnati

2½

(56½)

W.Forest

2½

(51½)

SMU

Pro football NFL glance AFC

East

x-New England x-Buffalo e-Miami e-N.Y. Jets South x-Jacksonville Houston Indianapolis e-Tennessee North Pittsburgh Baltimore e-Cincinnati e-Cleveland West x-Denver x-L.A. Chargers e-Kansas City e-Las Vegas

NFC East

y-Philadelphia e-Dallas e-Washington e-N.Y. Giants South Carolina Tampa Bay e-Atlanta e-New Orleans North x-Chicago Green Bay Detroit e-Minnesota

W L 12 3 11 4 6 9 3 12

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .800 .733 .400 .200

PF 410 434 317 282

PA 300 344 369 426

W L 11 4 10 5 8 7 3 12

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .733 .667 .533 .200

PF 410 346 419 251

PA 312 249 351 403

W L 9 6 7 8 5 10 3 12

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .600 .467 .333 .200

PF 365 359 359 246

PA 350 348 458 355

W L 12 3 11 4 6 9 2 13

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .800 .733 .400 .133

PF 362 349 337 217

PA 295 301 294 386

W L 10 5 6 8 4 11 2 13

T 0 1 0 0

Pct .667 .433 .267 .133

PF 349 424 309 313

PA 289 454 404 412

W L 8 7 7 8 6 9 5 10

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .533 .467 .400 .333

PF 287 347 307 255

PA 337 377 360 338

W 11 9 8 7

T 0 1 0 0

Pct .733 .633 .533 .467

PF 387 364 452 305

PA 354 303 374 320

L 4 5 7 8

Houston at L.A. Chargers, 3:30 p.m.

Baltimore at Green Bay, 7 p.m.

Sunday’s games

Arizona at Cincinnati, noon Jacksonville at Indianapolis, noon New England at N.Y. Jets, noon New Orleans at Tennessee, noon Pittsburgh at Cleveland, noon Seattle at Carolina, noon Tampa Bay at Miami, noon N.Y. Giants at Las Vegas, 3:05 p.m.

Philadelphia at Buffalo, 3:25 p.m.

Chicago at San Francisco, 7:20 p.m.

Pro Bowl rosters

6½

Armed Forces Bowl Texas State 9½ Liberty Bowl Navy 3½ Duke’s Mayo Bowl Mississippi St 2½ Holiday Bowl Arizona 1½

Saturday’s games

(59½) Florida Int’l

(48½) Penn State

16½

Dallas at Washington, noon Detroit at Minnesota, 3:30 p.m.

Denver at Kansas City, 7:15 p.m.

Monday’s game

3½

4½

Thursday’s games

(47½) N. Mexico

(57½) E. Carolina

Dec. 31

Jan. 1

C.Mich

7½

Independence Bowl Louisiana Tech 9½ 8½ Music City Bowl Tennessee 8½ 2½ Alamo Bowl USC 6½ 4½

ReliaQuest Bowl Vanderbilt 4½ Sun Bowl Duke 1½ Citrus Bowl Texas 5½ Las Vegas Bowl Utah 14½ Cotton Bowl Ohio State 9½

(43½)

W L T Pct PF PA x-Seattle 12 3 0 .800 443 279 x-San Francisco 11 4 0 .733 392 320 x-L.A. Rams 11 4 0 .733 457 299 e-Arizona 3 12 0 .200 321 414 e-eliminated from playoffs; x-clinched playoff spot; y-clinched division

L.A. Rams at Atlanta, 7:15 p.m.

AFC Offense

QUARTERBACK: Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills; Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers; Drake Maye, New England Patriots RUNNING BACK: De’Von Achane, Miami Dolphins; James Cook, Buffalo Bills; Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts FULLBACK: Patrick Ricard, Baltimore Ravens WIDE RECEIVER: Ja’Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals; Nico Collins, Houston Texans; Zay Flowers, Baltimore Ravens; Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos TIGHT END: Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders; Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs OFFENSIVE TACKLE: Joe Alt, Los Angeles Chargers; Garett Bolles, Denver Broncos; Dion Dawkins, Buffalo Bills OFFENSIVE GUARD: Quinn Meinerz, Denver Broncos; Quenton Nelson, Indianapolis Colts; Trey Smith, Kansas City Chiefs CENTER: Creed Humphrey, Kansas City Chiefs; Tyler Linderbaum, Baltimore Ravens

Defense

DEFENSIVE END: Will Anderson Jr., Houston Texans; Maxx Crosby, Las Vegas Raiders; Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns INTERIOR LINEMAN: Zach Allen, Denver Broncos; Chris Jones, Kansas City Chiefs; Jeffrey Simmons, Tennessee Titans OUTSIDE LINEBACKER: Nik Bonitto, Denver Broncos; Tuli Tuipulotu, Los Angeles Chargers; T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh Steelers INSIDE LINEBACKER: Azeez Al-Shaair, Houston Texans; Roquan Smith, Baltimore Ravens CORNERBACK: Christian Gonzalez, New England Patriots; Derek Stingley Jr., Houston Texans; Pat Surtain II, Denver Broncos; Denzel Ward, Cleveland Browns FREE SAFETY: Jalen Ramsey, Steelers STRONG SAFETY:Kyle Hamilton, Baltimore Ravens; Derwin James Jr., L.A. Chargers

Special teams

LONG-SNAPPER: Ross Matiscik, Jacksonville Jaguars KICKER: Cameron Dicker, Los Angeles Chargers PUNTER: Jordan Stout, Baltimore Ravens RETURN SPECIALIST: Chimere Dike, Tennessee Titans SPECIAL-TEAMER: Ben Skowronek, Steelers

NFC

Offense

QUARTERBACK: Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks; Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys; Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams RUNNING BACK: Jahmyr Gibbs, Detroit Lions; Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers; Bijan Robinson, Atlanta Falcons FULLBACK: Kyle Juszczyk, San Francisco 49ers WIDE RECEIVER: Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams; George Pickens, Dallas Cowboys; Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks; Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions TIGHT END: George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers; Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals OFFENSIVE TACKLE: Penei Sewell, Detroit Lions; Trent Williams, San Francisco 49ers; Tristan Wirfs Tampa Bay Buccaneers OFFENSIVE GUARD: Chris Lindstrom, Atlanta Falcons; Tyler Smith, Dallas Cowboys; Joe Thuney, Chicago Bears CENTER: Drew Dalman, Chicago Bears; Cam Jurgens, Philadelphia Eagles

Defense

DEFENSIVE END: Aidan Hutchinson, Detroit Lions; DeMarcus Lawrence, Seattle Seahawks; Micah Parsons, Green Bay Packers INTERIOR LINEMAN: Jalen Carter, Philadelphia Eagles; Leonard Williams, Seattle Seahawks, Quinnen Williams, Dallas Cowboys OUTSIDE LINEBACKER: Brian Burns, New York Giants, Jared Verse, Los Angeles Rams; Byron Young, Los Angeles Rams INSIDE LINEBACKER: Zack Baun, Philadelphia Eagles; Jack Campbell, Detroit Lions CORNERBACK: Jaycee Horn, Carolina Panthers; Devon Witherspoon, Seattle Seahawks FREE SAFETY: Kevin Byard III, Chicago Bears; Antoine Winfield Jr., Tampa Bay Buccaneers STRONG SAFETY: Budda Baker, Arizona Cardinals

Special teams

LONG-SNAPPER: Jon Weeks, San Francisco 49ers KICKER: Brandon Aubrey, Dallas Cowboys PUNTER: Tress Way, Washington Commanders RETURN SPECIALIST: Rashid Shaheed, Seattle Seahawks SPECIAL-TEAMER: Luke Gifford, San Francisco 49ers

Pro basketball

Pro hockey

NBA glance

NHL glance

EASTERN CONFERENCE

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Atlantic Division

New York Boston Toronto Philadelphia Brooklyn Southeast Division Orlando Miami Atlanta Charlotte Washington Central Division Detroit Cleveland Chicago Milwaukee Indiana

W 20 18 18 16 9

L 9 11 13 12 19

Pct .690 .621 .581 .571 .321

GB — 2 3 3½ 10½

W 17 15 15 10 5

L 13 15 16 20 23

Pct .567 .500 .484 .333 .179

GB — 2 2½ 7 11

W 24 17 14 12 6

L 6 14 15 18 24

Pct .800 .548 .483 .400 .200

GB — 7½ 9½ 12 18

W 22 17 14 12 8

L 7 10 16 19 23

Pct .759 .630 .467 .387 .258

GB — 4 8½ 11 15

W 26 21 20 12 10

L 4 8 10 18 19

Pct .867 .724 .667 .400 .345

GB — 4½ 6 14 15½

W 19 16 15 8 7

L 9 13 15 21 23

Pct .679 .552 .500 .276 .233

GB — 3½ 5 11½ 13

WESTERN CONFERENCE Southwest Division San Antonio Houston Memphis Dallas New Orleans Northwest Division Oklahoma City Denver Minnesota Portland Utah Pacific Division L.A. Lakers Phoenix Golden State L.A. Clippers Sacramento

Tuesday’s games

Charlotte 126, Washington 109 Brooklyn 114, Philadelphia 106 Cleveland 141, New Orleans 118 Toronto 112, Miami 91 Milwaukee 111, Indiana 94 Chicago 126, Atlanta 123 Dallas 131, Denver 130 Minnesota 115, New York 104 San Antonio 130, Oklahoma City 110 Phoenix 132, L.A. Lakers 108 Memphis 137, Utah 128 Orlando 110, Portland 106 Detroit 136, Sacramento 127 L.A. Clippers 128, Houston 108

Wednesday’s games No games scheduled

Thursday’s games

Cleveland at New York, 11 a.m.

San Antonio at Oklahoma City, 1:30 p.m.

Dallas at Golden State, 4 p.m.

Houston at L.A. Lakers, 7 p.m.

Minnesota at Denver, 9:30 p.m.

Cleveland 141, New Orleans 118 Late Tuesday

CLEVE. Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS Bey 26:08 5-13 0-0 0-3 2 0 11 Murphy 26:26 6-12 0-0 1-3 5 2 14 Queen 25:11 7-14 5-6 0-7 5 2 21 Fears 27:13 3-11 4-5 0-4 5 0 11 McGwns 30:36 3-7 1-2 3-7 3 3 8 Alvarado 25:24 2-4 0-0 0-2 2 3 6 Hawkins 21:34 2-5 2-2 2-3 1 2 7 Willimsn 20:55 9-15 8-9 3-5 1 2 26 Peavy 13:44 2-4 0-0 1-2 0 0 5 Missi 12:48 3-3 1-1 1-2 2 1 7 Matkovic 10:01 1-6 0-0 2-5 0 1 2 Totals 240 43-94 21-25 13-43 26 16 118 Percentages: FG .457, FT .840.

3-Point Goals: 11-26, .423 (Alvarado 2-3, Queen 2-3, Murphy III 2-5, Hawkins 1-2, Peavy 1-2, Fears 1-3, McGowens 1-3, Bey 1-5).

Team Rebounds: 7. Team Turnovers: None.

Blocked Shots: 2 (Missi 2).

Turnovers: 16 (Fears 3, Williamson 3, Alvarado 2, Hawkins 2, Murphy III 2, Matkovic, McGowens, Missi, Queen).

Steals: 10 (McGowens 3, Alvarado, Fears, Missi, Murphy III, Peavy, Queen, Williamson).

Technical Fouls: None.

FG

FT Reb

CLEVE. Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS Merrill 25:43 7-12 2-2 2-6 7 2 22 Wade 24:53 4-10 0-0 1-5 4 2 11 Allen 26:17 6-9 1-2 1-9 3 4 14 Garland 28:34 4-9 0-0 0-1 8 0 10 Mitchell 29:40 11-16 3-4 1-4 4 4 27 Tyson 24:39 8-13 0-0 3-6 2 4 18 Hunter 24:07 5-13 0-0 0-2 1 1 10 Porter Jr. 22:17 4-8 2-2 2-8 8 0 12 Bryant 21:43 6-8 1-1 4-7 1 3 15 Proctor 8:18 0-5 0-0 0-1 2 1 0 Tomlin 3:49 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 2 Totals 240:00 56-105 9-11 14-49 40 21 141 Percentages: FG .533, FT .818.

3-Point Goals: 20-49, .408 (Merrill 6-10, Wade 3-8, Bryant 2-2, Porter Jr. 2-4, Tyson 2-4, Garland 2-6, Mitchell 2-6, Allen 1-1, Tomlin 0-1, Proctor 0-3, Hunter 0-4).

Team Rebounds: 8. Team Turnovers: None.

Blocked Shots: 6 (Bryant 2, Hunter, Porter Jr., Tomlin, Tyson).

Turnovers: 13 (Garland 3, Mitchell 3, Proctor 2, Allen, Hunter, Merrill, Porter Jr., Wade).

Steals: 8 (Hunter 2, Porter Jr. 2, Merrill, Mitchell, Proctor, Tomlin).

Technical Fouls: None.

New Orleans 22 38 31 27 — 118 Cleveland 32 37 41 31 — 141 A — 19,432 (19,432). T— 2:09.

Atlantic Division GP W Detroit 38 22 Montreal 37 20 Tampa Bay 36 20 Florida 36 20 Ottawa 36 18 Boston 38 20 Buffalo 36 18 Toronto 36 16 Metropolitan Division GP W Carolina 36 22 Philadelphia 36 19 N.Y. Islanders 37 20 Washington 37 19 N.Y. Rangers 39 19 New Jersey 37 20 Pittsburgh 36 15 Columbus 36 15

Monday’s games Birmingham Bowl

Birmingham, Ala. Georgia Southern vs. Appalachian State, 1 p.m. (ESPN)

L OT Pts 13 3 47 12 5 45 13 3 43 14 2 42 13 5 41 17 1 41 14 4 40 15 5 37

GF 120 123 117 117 119 122 112 115

GA 122 124 95 114 113 126 117 121

L OT Pts 11 3 47 10 7 45 13 4 44 13 5 43 16 4 42 16 1 41 12 9 39 15 6 36

GF 121 111 107 117 104 103 110 108

GA 106 102 104 103 105 110 119 125

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Central Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA Colorado 36 27 2 7 61 142 80 Dallas 38 25 7 6 56 136 101 Minnesota 38 22 10 6 50 117 99 Utah 39 18 18 3 39 116 112 Nashville 36 16 16 4 36 103 121 St. Louis 38 14 16 8 36 95 131 Winnipeg 35 15 17 3 33 103 107 Chicago 36 13 17 6 32 99 114 Pacific Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA Vegas 35 17 8 10 44 110 104 Anaheim 37 21 14 2 44 129 126 Edmonton 38 19 13 6 44 130 128 Los Angeles 36 15 12 9 39 91 96 San Jose 37 17 17 3 37 109 129 Seattle 35 15 14 6 36 89 107 Calgary 37 15 18 4 34 98 113 Vancouver 36 15 18 3 33 103 122 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. Top three teams in each division and two wild cards per conference advance to playoffs.

Tuesday’s games

Toronto 6, Pittsburgh 3 Detroit 4, Dallas 3, OT Florida 5, Carolina 2 N.Y. Islanders 2, New Jersey 1 N.Y. Rangers 7, Washington 3 Buffalo 3, Ottawa 2, OT Montreal 6, Boston 2 Nashville 3, Minnesota 2, OT Colorado 1, Utah 0 Edmonton 5, Calgary 1 Philadelphia 3, Chicago 1 Vegas 7, San Jose 2 Seattle 3, Los Angeles 2

Wednesday’s games No games scheduled

Thursday’s games No games scheduled

College football Dec. 20 College Football Playoff

First round No. 10 Miami (Fla.) 10, No. 7 Texas A&M 3 No. 6 Ole Miss 41, No. 17 Tulane 10 No. 5 Oregon 51, No. 19 James Madison 34

Dec. 22

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl

Washington St. 34, Utah St. 21

Tuesday’s games Boca Raton Bowl

Louisville 27, Toledo 22

New Orleans Bowl

Western Kentucky 27, Southern Miss 16

Frisco Bowl

Ohio 17, UNLV 10

Wednesday’s game Hawai’i Bowl

Honolulu Cal vs. Hawaii, n

Friday’s games GameAbove Sports Bowl

Detroit Central Michigan vs. Northwestern, noon (ESPN)

Rate Bowl

Phoenix New Mexico vs. Minnesota, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)

First Responder Bowl

Dec. 30 Independence Bowl

Shreveport Coastal Carolina vs. Louisiana Tech, 1 p.m.

(ESPN)

Music City Bowl

Nashville, Tenn.

Tennessee vs. Illinois, 4:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Alamo Bowl

San Antonio No. 16 Southern Cal vs. TCU, 8 p.m. (ESPN)

Dec. 31 ReliaQuest Bowl

Tampa, Fla. No. 13 Vanderbilt vs. No. 23 Iowa, 11 a.m.

(ESPN)

Sun Bowl

El Paso, Texas Arizona St. vs. Duke, 1 p.m. (CBS)

Citrus Bowl

Orlando, Fla. No. 14 Texas vs. No. 18 Michigan, 2 p.m.

(ABC)

Las Vegas Bowl

Las Vegas No. 15 Utah vs. Nebraska, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN)

College Football Playoff

Quarterfinals At Cotton Bowl, Arlington, Texas Miami at No. 3 Ohio St., 6:30 p.m. (ESPN)

FCS Playoffs Semifinals Illinois St. 30, Villanova 14 Montana St. 48, Montana 23

Jan. 5

FCS Championship Nashville, Tenn.

No. 2 Montana St. (13-2) vs. Illinois St. (12-4), 6:30 p.m. (ESPN)

New Orleans Bowl Late Tuesday Western Kentucky 27, Southern Miss 16

W. Kentucky 3 3 7 14 — 27 Southern Miss 7 6 3 0 — 16 First quarter WKU — FG Cannon 31, 11:43.

USM — Chapman 35 pass from Braxton (Wilbanks kick), 4:06.

Second quarter WKU — FG Cannon 30, 11:10.

USM — FG Wilbanks 25, 3:10.

USM — FG Wilbanks 29, :00.

Third quarter WKU — McIvor 11 run (Cannon kick), 6:57.

USM — FG Wilbanks 41, 1:36.

Fourth quarter WKU — Hart 1 run (Cannon kick), 7:51.

WKU — Parrish 54 run (Cannon kick), 3:38.

A — 16,693.

WKU USM First downs 18 21 Total Net Yards 422 377 Rushes-yards 33-155 36-119 Passing 267 258 Punt Returns 0-0 3-22 Kickoff Returns 0-0 1-30 Interceptions Ret. 1-28 2-33 Comp-Att-Int 22-40-2 24-48-1 Sacked-Yards Lost 3-13 3-36 Punts 6-45.667 7-38.286 Fumbles-Lost 1-1 3-0 Penalties-Yards 8-74 12-100 Time of Possession 31:24 28:36 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING — W. Kentucky, Parrish 7-65, McIvor 8-48, Hart 8-28, La.Wright 5-11, Tisdale 5-3. Southern Miss., Pittman 10-55, Briggs 5-36, J.Carter 6-18, M.Jones 4-11, Braxton 9-9, Hawkins 1-0, (Team) 1-(minus 10).

PASSING — W. Kentucky, McIvor 12-19-1-199, Tisdale 9-20-1-65, C.Flowers 1-1-0-3. Southern Miss., Braxton 24-47-1-258, Page 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING — W. Kentucky, Henry 7-126, Hutchinson 5-(minus 1), Jai.Mack 3-29, Meyers 2-65, Barry 2-32, West 1-12, Tisdale 1-3, Hart 1-1. Southern Miss., B.Brown 4-48, Chapman 3-50, M.Davis 3-36, J.Carter 3-29, J.Hayes 3-25, S.King 2-24, Pittman 2-14, Metcalf 2-6, Chester 1-19, Morris 1-7.

MISSED FIELD GOALS — Southern Miss., Wilbanks 48.

Dallas FIU vs. UTSA, 7 p.m. (ESPN)

College basketball

Annapolis, Md. Pittsburgh vs. East Carolina, 10 a.m. (ESPN)

Ohio State 89, Grambling 63

Saturday’s games Military Bowl

Pinstripe Bowl

Bronx, N.Y. Clemson vs. Penn St., 11 a.m. (ABC)

Fenway Bowl

Boston UConn vs. Army, 1:15 p.m. (ESPN)

Pop-Tarts Bowl

Orlando, Fla. No. 12 BYU vs. No. 24 Georgia Tech, 2:30 p.m.

(ABC)

Arizona Bowl

Tucson, Ariz.

Fresno St. vs. Miami (OH), 3:30 p.m. (CW)

New Mexico Bowl

Albuquerque No. 23 North Texas vs. San Diego St., 4:45 p.m. (ESPN)

Gator Bowl

Jacksonville, Fla. No. 25 Missouri vs. No. 20 Virginia, 6:30 p.m.

(ABC)

Texas Bowl

Houston LSU vs. No. 21 Houston, 8:15 p.m. (ESPN)

State men’s schedule Tuesday’s game

Sunday’s games

UL-Monroe at Kansas State 1 p.m.

Norfolk State at UL, 2 p.m.

Men’s national scores Tuesday

EAST Army 95, Binghamton 85, OT Marshall 102, West Virginia Tech 52 St. John’s 85, Harvard 59 SOUTH Campbell 102, Green Bay 79 Kentucky 99, Bellarmine 85 UCF 85, Florida Atlantic 80 MIDWEST Missouri State 70, Lindenwood 65 FAR WEST Cal State Bakersfield 64, Idaho 63 Loyola Marymount 83, Morgan State 56 Saint Mary’s 63, Northern Iowa 58 UCLA 97, UC Riverside 65

State women’s schedule

Sunday’s games

Southeastern at Texas, 1 p.m.

Alabama State at LSU, 3 p.m.

LIVING

T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M

|

T h u r s d ay, d e c e m b e r 25, 2025

1dN

Puff Pastry Spanakopita Makes 16 large pieces

STAFF PHOTOS BY SOPHIA GERMER

For a New Year’s Eve party, try these recipes for café brulot punch, oyster bisque and puff pastry spanakopita Hosting a New Year’s Eve party can be stressful. Is there enough Champagne? What else will people want to drink?

And these days, there are more options than ever. Beside spirits with alcohol, there are non-alcoholic spirits, nonalcoholic beer and More non-alcoholic wine. recipes, And that’s just in the drinks depart2D ment.

If you are making the food, you don’t want same old things to nibble on even if you’re just inviting friends. So here are some suggestions for easy-to-make foods that aren’t hard to serve. But they do pack a lot of flavor, which is my standard for party food.

An easy thing to serve is a soup.

You can keep it warm in a CrockPot and let people serve themselves — a mug is the perfect container.

Try this Oyster Bisque. It isn’t made with cream, but with broth

Liz Williams TIP OF THE TONGUE

and buttermilk. Because of the other ingredients, you don’t have to break the bank on the oysters, but you won’t lose the flavor and the richness.

It also has spinach, mushrooms and a hint of Herbsaint or absinthe, which should evoke the richness of Oysters Rockefeller.

It holds well in the Crock-Pot, and because you don’t have to make individual hors d’oeuvres, it comes together quickly.

Also easy to make are Puff Pastry Spanakopita. Make them from frozen puff pastry that you just have to thaw and roll out. The filling can be made with frozen chopped spin-

ach, and you can even find feta that has been pre-crumbled.

Puff pastry is much easier to work with than filo — less fragile and more flexible — yet yields great flavor results. And this recipe makes easy-to-pick-up party food that will go with anything.

If you want an interesting twist on the serving table — still selfserved, not labor intensive — try the Café Brulot Punch with Cinnamon Ice Cream. Make the Café Brulot ahead of time, you can reheat it right before putting it into the punch bowl.

Embrace the cinnamon basis of the drink by adding small scoops of Cinnamon Ice Cream. There is a recipe to make it yourself, but if you’re running behind, take a container of good vanilla ice cream and add one tablespoon of cinnamon to a half-gallon carton.

No one will judge you.

Preheat the oven to the recommended temperature on the puff pastry package.

1 package of frozen puff pastry 1 pound frozen chopped spinach ¼ cup olive oil 1 onion, finely chopped 1 cup celery, finely chopped 6 ounces crumbled feta cheese 1 tablespoon dried oregano 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg Zest of 1 lemon 1 egg 1. Defrost the frozen puff pastry and set aside. Defrost and drain the spinach. It is not necessary to squeeze the spinach. Add the olive oil to a skillet over medium heat.

When the oil begins to shimmer, add the onion and cook for 6 to 7 minutes.

Add the celery and cook another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the cheese, oregano, pepper, nutmeg and lemon zest. Stir well and set aside off heat.

2. On a kitchen counter lightly dusted with flour, place a one of the pieces of defrosted dough. Lightly flour a rolling pin. Roll out the dough, enlarging the rectangle. Flip the dough over and roll again until it is approximately 10 by 10 or 11 by 11 inches.

3. With a knife or a pizza cutter, cut the dough down the middle and then again perpendicular to the first cut.

Cut the 4 squares into 8 with 2 more cuts. There should be 8 squares. Repeat with the second sheet of dough.

4. Divide the filling into 16 portions of equal size. To make each canape, place the prepared portion onto the middle of the square of dough. Pull the corners up and pinch them together on the diagonal. They may come undone in the oven, but that is not a problem. Repeat until all of the little pies are finished. Place them on an unbuttered sheet pan or two.

5. Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon of water. Brush the surface of the dough with the egg wash. Place the sheet pan or pans in the oven. Cook according to package directions until the crust begins to turn a golden color. Remove from the oven. Before serving, return them to the prewarmed oven for up to 5 minutes.

Serve immediately.

ä See PARTY, page 2D

CHRISTMAS WITHOUT MISTLETOE?

What to know about once-common La. tradition Kissing under the mistletoe is a time-honored tradition.

ILLUSTRATION BY DOUG MacCASH

BY DOUG MacCASH

fear is getting caught off guard and smooched by, say, your aunt who wears lipstick as shiny as a Consider the mistletoe, those lit- candy apple and smokes Marltle green sprigs of leathery leaves boro Silver Kings. with white berries that people hang at Christmastime, in doorways and Vikings, Druids and virility near the holiday punchbowl. AcHow did the whole kissing under cording to tradition, you’re allowed the mistletoe thing get started? to kiss anyone you happen to find Well, according to our exhaustive under the mistletoe. And they’re research … OK, about 20 minutes of Googling … it may have begun not supposed to refuse.

The mistletoe custom has to with a lurid tale from Norse mydo with romance and familial af- thology about the god Baldr, who fection. The childhood mistletoe was killed by a spear made of mis-

Staff writer

tletoe, by the evil god Loki.

See, Baldr’s mother Frigg, the goddess of love, had made a pact with all the plants and animals of the earth to help protect Baldr. But there was a loophole, because mistletoe isn’t really “of the earth,” per se (more about that later).

Anyway, when Baldr came back to life, the mistletoe was evermore associated with amore. Or something like that.

ä See MISTLETOE, page 2D

2D ■ Thursday, December 25, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

lll

Fixing unwanted creases in sheets

Oyster Bisque This recipe was inspired

by Lee Bailey and his wonderful entertaining books. Makes 1 gallon. ½ stick unsalted butter 2 onions, finely chopped 5 cloves garlic, minced 1 pint oyster mushrooms, sliced (or use shiitake or portobello) 96 ounces chicken stock, unsalted if possible (3 32-ounce boxes) 3 tablespoons flour 32 ounces (1 quart) buttermilk Zest of 1 lemon ½ pound of fresh spinach or fresh arugula 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 1 tablespoon Herbsaint or your favorite absinthe 1 pint raw oysters with their liquor 1 bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped, for garnish 1. Melt the butter in the soup pot and heat over medium heat until the butter is sizzling and you can smell it. Add the onions and stir.

Cook until they are soft, stirring occasionally, to ensure they cook evenly, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Add the sliced mushrooms and stir again, cooking another 5 minutes.

STAFF PHOTOS BY SOPHIA GERMER 2. Pour about 8 ounces of the stock into a glass. Add the flour and stir well. Add the stock to the pot and pour in the flour slurry. Stir. As the mixture begins to heat and thicken slightly, add the buttermilk. Stir again. Allow to come to a low simmer.

3. Add the lemon zest and stir. Add the spinach, nutmeg, and Herbsaint and simmer for 3 minutes. (The recipe can be made ahead of time, up to this point.)

4. About 15 minutes before you are ready to serve, add the raw oysters with their liquor. Allow to cook about 5 to 7 minutes, depending on how cold the oysters are when adding them. Transfer to a Crock-Pot set on low, if you will be putting it on the table.

If you are keeping it on the stove, use a heat diffuser to keep the milk from scalding.

5. Right before serving, add the chopped parsley and let people serve themselves.

Café Brulot Punch Makes 1 gallon of punch

Café brulot punch with cinnamon ice cream

PARTY

Continued from page 1D And if you saved the column from November, you can make more chocolate bark, break it into smallerthan-usual pieces, and let it beckon from a silver plate for those who want a pop of sweetness to celebrate the new year.

Liz Williams is founder of the Southern Food & Beverage Museum in New Orleans. Listen to “Tip of the Tongue,” Liz’s podcast about food, drink and culture, wherever you hear podcasts. Email Liz at lizwillia@gmail.com.

MISTLETOE

Continued from page 1D

Then there are the ancient Druids, who dug the way mistletoe stayed green in the winter when everything else went dormant, implying vitality. Some online sources say the little white seeds symbolized virility.

How vital, virile mistletoe became a Yuletide tradition is anybody’s guess.

In any event, by the time of the American Revolution, mistletoe had become a lusty part of Christmas celebrations in jolly ol’ England and thereby, the American colonies. But, the plant was here long before the whole holiday kissing business.

A green vampire Did you know that mistletoe is native to Louisiana?

And that you might have some in your yard or in your neighborhood right now, without even knowing it?

Stealth is one of the things that mistletoe has in common with vampires. As the clever Loki knew, mistletoe doesn’t live on the earth like normal plants. Nope, it lives way up in the tops of trees where it blends in with the other foliage. It’s only when winter comes and the leaves fall off the trees that you can spot the mistletoe plants.

Look up in the bare branches of trees in February and you may see these dark clumps of green. Most leafy trees are deciduous, right? But not mistletoe; it’s evergreen.

How does it live way up in the trees like that? This brings us to mistletoe’s main Lestat-like characteristic.

According to Hallie Dozier, LSU associate professor of renewable natural resources, mistletoe has these fang-like projections called hausto-

Use your favorite coffee to make this punch, but I always use coffee and chicory, because it is New Orleans after all.

About 30 cups of fresh, warm coffee 1 3-inch cinnamon stick The peel of 1 orange cut from the orange in a spiral The peel of 1 lemon cut from the lemon in a spiral 30 whole cloves ½ cup sugar 2 cups brandy (Brandy is traditional in this drink, but you can substitute rum or bourbon if you prefer it. It still will taste delicious and festive.)

1 cinnamon ice cream (recipe below) 1. Place the punch bowl where you want to serve it. Add the hot coffee. Add the cinnamon stick to the coffee. Prepare the orange peel and the lemon peel.

Stud each length of peel with the cloves. Place them into the punch bowl in a decorative manner. Add the sugar to the hot mixture and stir to dissolve. Add the brandy or other liquor.

2. To serve, allow the guests to ladle the coffee brulot into punch cups. Top with a scoop of cinnamon ice cream.

Cinnamon Ice Cream 2 cups (16 ounces) cold heavy whipping cream 1 (14 ounces) can chilled sweetened condensed milk 1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Gently fold the condensed milk into the whipped cream. Add the vanilla extract and cinnamon and mix it in.

2. Place the mixture into a loaf pan. Cover with plas1. Place the whipping tic wrap directly on the surcream in the chilled bowl face of the ice cream and of a mixer and mix at me- place it into your freezer dium speed until stiff. for at least 6 hours.

rium, that it uses to “punch them through the winter.”

The birds wipe the seeds roots into the vascular system” of trees, where it sucks from the fat-rich fruits off their beaks and otherwise, up water and nutrients. uh, deposit them on the Don’t eat the berries limbs of trees, sowing future Mistletoe is a partial para- generations of mistletoe. site, Dozier said. It sips the sap of host trees, but it can Mistletoe hunting also photosynthesize like Dozier said that the misa regular, less lazy plant. tletoe we have in Louisiana, That’s how mistletoe can called Phoradendron leu“do a dirty” to an innocent carpum, is part of the Santree, as Dozier put it, with- talaceae family. She said it out killing it. Dozier said it “tickles” her that the sciwould probably take “a re- entific term has Santa in it, ally heavy load” of freeload- though it seems to be just a ing mistletoe to compromise coincidence.

Nonetheless, Santa brings a healthy tree.

Sometimes, she said, the us back to Christmastime. amount of mistletoe “can get There’s long been a market so heavy that,” even in win- for mistletoe around the ter, a deciduous tree “looks holidays among aspiring like it has a canopy.” Dozier kissers. But how does one said if you’re concerned harvest something that’s 40 about mistletoe damaging or 50 feet up? Well, based your trees, just be sure your on a handful of informative trees are “happy, healthy YouTube videos, one blasts plants,” and you shouldn’t the plant out of the trees have anything to worry with a 20-gauge shotgun. Or a semi-automatic .22. about.

Dime stores, grocery Dozier reminds us not to eat the little white mistle- stores and florist shops used toe berries. They’re poison- to sell little snips of fresh ous, though “not usually mistletoe in cellophane lethal,” Dozier said. Accord- packages. But it doesn’t ing to WebMD, “studies seem as common anymore have shown that few people — they didn’t have any at the have symptoms after eat- Dollar Tree store on Canal ing the berries or leaves of Boulevard, and they have American mistletoe, and no EVERYTHING. It may be patients observed by these that the kiss-ambush game has fallen out of fashion. studies died.”

Or not. Down at the ChristBut, online medical advice aside, let’s steer clear of mas Quarters holiday supply mistletoe berry consump- shop on Decatur Street, one can buy palm-sized balls of tion anyway, shall we?

Whatever their effect plastic mistletoe for $16.99, on humans, Tammany making it unnecessary to Baumgarten, the president blast away into the winter of the Louisiana Native sky with a shotgun. SalesPlant Society, points out that person Kim Greer said that the plants aren’t at all dan- mistletoe remains a must. gerous to birds and certain “You have to have a kiss uninsects. Just the opposite. der the mistletoe,” she said.

“Mistletoe is a host plant “It’s not Christmas without for the Great Purple Hair- mistletoe.” streak butterfly, which is gorgeous,” she wrote. Plus, Editor’s note: A version “many species of birds use of this column first ran in the fat-rich fruits to sustain 2023.

minutes. This will put air in Dear Heloise: My obserthe mixture. You will have vations with top sheets very fluffy eggs or a fluffy having unwanted creases omelet. — Bob, in Lafayette in the wide top hem is that they are more Tossing salad readily rectified if the sheet has Dear Heloise: I don’t not yet been used use salad tongs to or washed. This toss salad, only to way, the unwanted serve it. The tongs crease fold does not can be rough and Hints from can tear the letstart to wear thin.

Heloise tuce leaves. I toss If the crease comes back after the salad with my the sheet gets wet, ironed hands. — Minnie R., in Texas and put to use, then it may Toenail tamer be necessary to repeat the process, then stitch Dear Heloise: As I get older, down the length of folded my toenails are thicker fabric to keep the layers and harder to cut. While permanently fixed in their I shower, I close the tub position. For wetting the stopper and let my feet fabric, I use a spray bottle soak. Then my nails are filled with tap water. — easier to cut. — Marion D., in Charles Dainton, via email Harvey Cedars, New Jersey

Fluffy scrambled eggs

Shoe guru

Dear Heloise: You recently had a reader ask how to make fluffy scrambled eggs. Purchase an inexpensive malt mixer. Add a little milk and blend for 2

Dear Heloise: Whenever I prepare for my return trip home, I always wipe down the soles of all my shoes with disposable antibacterial wipes before placing

them in a plastic bag and packing them back in my suitcase. This prevents any dirt and germs from getting on my other items.

— Debbie, in New Hampshire

Grapes and raisins Dear Heloise: In a recent column, someone suggested a little red box of raisins as a healthy snack for children. However, please be careful if you have dogs or cats. Grapes and especially raisins are toxic to them. Even a small amount (as little as one raisin in some pets) can cause severe kidney failure and/or death.

Contact your vet immediately if they ingest grapes or raisins as this can be a medical emergency. Please educate your children, or better yet, for the safety of your pet, choose a different healthy snack. — Barbara, in East Aurora, New York Send a hint to heloise@ heloise.com.

TODAY IN HISTORY

By The Associated Press Today is Thursday, Dec. 25, the 359th day of 2025. There are six days left in the year. This is Christmas Day. Today in history: On Dec. 25, 1776, Gen. George Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River for a surprise attack against Hessian forces at Trenton, New Jersey, during the American Revolutionary War. Also on this date: In 1066, William the Conqueror was crowned King of England.

In 1818, “Silent Night (Stille Nacht)” was publicly performed for the first time during the Christmas Midnight Mass at the Church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria.

In 1868, President Andrew Johnson granted unconditional pardons to “every person who directly or indirectly” supported the Confederacy in the Civil War. In 1926, Hirohito became emperor of Japan, succeeding his father, Emperor Yoshihito.

In 1989, ousted Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena were executed following a populist uprising.

In 2009, passengers aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253 foiled an attempt to blow up the plane as it was landing in Detroit by seizing Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who tried to set off explosives in his underwear. (Abdulmutallab later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison.)

In 2021, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, the world’s largest and most powerful space telescope, was rocketed aloft from French Guiana in South America on a quest to see light from the first stars and galaxies and search the universe for signs of life.

Today’s birthdays: Football Hall of Famer Larry Csonka is 79. Country singer Barbara Mandrell is 77. Actor Sissy Spacek is 76. Former White House adviser Karl Rove is 75.

Actor CCH Pounder is 73.

Singer Annie Lennox is 71. Country singer Steve Wariner is 71. Model and businesswoman Helena Christensen is 57. Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is 54. Actor Jeremy Strong is 47.

Dream Address Awaits

addressbatonrouge.com

Visit us today and take the first step toward finding your perfect address.

DRE#01901536 This website is a marketing and information program that sends all inquiries to state-licensed real estate professionals.

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Thursday, December 25, 2025 ■ 3D

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FrAnK And erneSt

bIG nAte

zItS

For better or For WorSe

zodIAC cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Put your energy where it counts, please the ones you love and gain satisfaction through acts of kindness and showing concern.

A kind word is worth more than any lavish gift.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Refuse to let an unexpected change or delay weigh you down. Choose to think standing up, and a comeback will be as easy as 1-2-3.

Choose insight and wisdom over lavish actions.

PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Sit back and enjoy the moment. The less you say and the more you are grateful, the better.

It's time to make fond memories, not to bring up past regrets.

ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Strive for peace. Put your differences aside and consider all that you are grateful for.

It's all about mind over matter; choose tolerance over your need to be right. tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Go the distance to spend time with loved ones. By opening your heart, your doors or your mind to the possibilities, something good will unfold.

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Keep an open mind, but set boundaries. How you give back will determine how you feel at the end of this festive day. Let your intellect lead the way. Words matter. cAncER (June 21-July 22) Take care of personal business and health concerns, and map out your day to ensure you

don't miss any family fun. A partnership will grow more intense, and set the stage for an exciting future.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) You will achieve the most if you are hyped and ready to please the ones you love. Put on your happy face and let the kid in you out to play. Be the social butterfly, the lover, the provider and the glue.

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Wear your heart on your sleeve, and you'll make a difference to anyone you converse with. Positive change comes from kind words, honesty and a helping hand.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Pick and choose wisely. Sometimes less is more. Take on only what you can handle, and give 100% to accomplish your intent. Sign up for what you know you can manage. scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) You may feel stretched with all the hustle and bustle; however, if you embrace the moment with passion and sincerity, you will get swept up into the magic. sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Be careful; someone will try to sweet-talk you into something you really don't want to do.

Be the master of the conversation and become the entertainment.

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

WonderWord

peAnUtS

SALLY Forth

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

toDAy's cLuE: K EQuALs c

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon FAMILY CIrCUS

dooneSbUrY

4D ■ Thursday, December 25, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

CurTiS

Hi and LoiS

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Sudoku InstructIons: Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers.

The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the 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.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

BaBY BLueS

BLondie

THe wiZard oF id

nea CroSSwordS

La TimeS CroSSword

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Thursday, December 25, 2025 ■ 5D

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B.C.

Bridge

By PHILLIP ALDER W. Bruce Cameron said, “Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.”

At the bridge table, you hope that everything you need to count accurately can be. In today’s deal, it is East who needs to count, aided and abetted

by West.

South is in four hearts. West leads his fourth-highest club. How should East plan the defense?

South had a minimum two-heart response. He planned to rebid three hearts to invite game, but when North supported hearts, this increased the value of South’s hand, so he bid game.

Why did West lead a club instead of a diamond? Because it was his stronger suit — and because I peeked at the full deal and saw that a diamond lead would kill the defense!

East should realize that almost certainly his side has to take either three clubs and one diamond or two clubs and two diamonds — but which?

First, East must find out whether South started with two clubs or three. East wins the first trick with his club king and cashes the club ace. Here, West follows with his two, showing that he began with five clubs. Now East must try for two diamond tricks — how?

If West has the diamond king, it does not matter; but in case South has the king

garfield

Pearls Before swiNe

hagar the horriBle

and West the queen, East must shift to a low diamond. Now the only question is: Will South guess correctly?

Note that if West had started with only four clubs, his second card would have been higher than the three. Then East would have cashed the diamond ace before leading a third club. © 2025 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

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

PiCKles

Previous answers:

mallard fillmore

word game InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3.

Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

toDAy’s WoRD — REJoIcED: rih-JOYS’D: Felt great joy or delight.

Bizarro

marmaduKe

Average mark 23 words Time limit 35 minutes Can you find 30 or more words in REJOICED? yEstERDAy’s WoRD — sHItAKE sake saki sate seat shake shea sheik site skat skate skit

stake steak hake haste hate heat heist hike ikat take task

teak this kite kith east

loCKhorNs hidato Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

today’s thought “And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented to him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh.” Matthew 2:11 Wise men still give their best to Jesus. — G.E. Dean

6D ■ Thursday, December 25, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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classifieds.theadvocate.com Search Search& &Place PlaceAds AdsOnline Onlineatatclassifieds.theadvocate.com classifieds.theadvocate.com* Call * Call -Friday Us Monday-Friday 8AM-5PM at 225-383-0111 8AM-5PM at 225-383-0111

Announcements ANYONE knowing the whereabouts of any property owner, heir or other related person, in regard to the properties listed below, please contact the East Baton Rouge CityParish, Department of Development – Neighborhood Revitalization Office at 225-389-8680.

1319 N 49TH ST LUCILLE FLEMING 1106 W GARFIELD ST THE ESTATE OF ROBERT LEE GINN JR 10288 WHITE OAK DR ETM ENTERPRISES, LLC 2462 AUBIN LN AUBIN PROPERTIES, LLC 1143 W GARFIELD ST BROTHERS & OTHER PROPERTIES, LLC 425 S 17TH ST EDDIE G ROBINSON 1713 SPAIN ST PELICAN CONSTRUCTION GROUP, LLC 2525 NORTH ST RAY J'S COLLEGE OF HAIR, LLC 2517 SPAIN ST JOSEPH ALEXANDER, SR 8273 RAINBOW DR TRIMANI ANTHONY RILEY, SR 11606 SEWANEE DR JASMINE R SLAN 6130 CRESTWAY AVE ECLECTIC HOME DESIGNS, LLC 2825 WASHINGTON AVE ADRIENNE S VICTORIAN 11404 STAN AVE ROBINS RENTALS, LLC 904 N ACADIAN THWY E DON LEWIS WHITFIELD 7435 BANBURY CT LUCILLE HARRINGTON 341 N 23RD ST EMERSON J RUSSELL 2343 ERIE ST C/O ROBERT W MORGAN 388 W JOHNSON ST ROBERT HENDERSON 805 ARCADIA DR RONALD G. BATES 1217 N 44TH ST WILMA JACKSON MCCLAIN 702 CORMORANT ST RANDALL HARVEY 2162 75TH AVE THOMAS GUERIN, JR 338 S 12TH ST ALAN W JUDERJAHN 1143 NORTH ST BATON ROUGE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD 1826 THERON ELVIN STERLING 1806 THERON ELVIN STERLING 5748 HENDERSON AVE GEORGE L SEVERAN CO MAVIS DURR 753 FLICKER LEON WALKER, JR 5470 SATINWOOD DR CAREY FORD

3681 GREENTREE CATRICE SCOTT 10625 BERTHA ST JERONIMA S CRUZ 1724 HARCO PSB CREDIT SERVICES, INC 5432 MADISON AVE JAMES W WILLIAMS 1595 N 44TH LINDA HAWKINS GRIFFIN 226 W POLK MITCHELL W AND JULIA MAE W ROBINSON 1944 ARIZONA ST CONRAD ENTERPRISES, INC 706 N 19TH ST COLLIS B TEMPLE, JR. 1902 HEMLOCK ST DAVID J EVERITT 288 NANCY DR TIFFANY O PRATER 6325 CELIA AVE REGGIE J DAVIS, JR 3336 AMARILLO ST IRIS M. MONTGOMERY 3808 HOLLYWOOD ST CANDANCE LEDET 4612 BYRON ST JACKIE J PUTMAN 5912 LINDEN ST ROBYN KIRKLAND 343 LOFASO ST FRANK G. SMITH, III. 1453 N 46TH ST DWANDA MICHELLE GAGE 1031 N 40TH ST LINDA SUE RAY 1217 N 44TH ST WILMA JACKSON MCCLAIN 10588 GOODWOOD BLVD SUZETTE PEARL GASTON 171213-Dec 22-28, 7t $2,818 Anyone knowing the whereabouts of Rachel Hebert, please contact Creighton B. Abadie, Attorney, at (225) 924-5150.

171726-Dec 24-26, 3t $85

Notice of Self Storage Sale Please take notice Radiant Storage Baton Rouge - Sullivan located at 8691 Sullivan Rd. Baton Rouge LA 70818 intends to hold an Auction to enforce its privilege against the following parties at the facility for default of payment of Rent. The sale will occur as an online auction via www.storagetreasures.com on 1/6/2026 at 10:00AM. Unless stated otherwise the description of the contents are household goods, furnishings and garage essentials.

Arika Shaffett unit #94/95. This sale may be withdrawn at any time without notice. Certain terms and conditions apply.

170530-Dec 25, 1t $143.94 Notice of Self Storage Sale Please take notice Red Door Storage located at 2010 Church St., Zachary LA 70791 intends to hold an Auction

to enforce its privilege against the following parties at the facility for default of payment of Rent. The sale will occur as an online auction via www.storagetreasures.com on 1/6/2026 at 10:00AM. Unless stated otherwise the description of the contents are household goods, furnishings and garage essentials.

Christina Phillips units #E153 & #E165. This sale may be withdrawn at any time without notice. Certain terms and conditions apply.

170529-Dec 25, 1t $137.68 Advertising Looking to promote your services or find a new hire? Deliver your classified message statewide for as little as $265 per week through the Louisiana Press Association’s Classified Network. Pre-payment required. To learn more, email advertising@lapress.com or call 225-344-9309.

Miscellaneous We Buy Houses for Cash AS-IS! No repairs. No fuss. Any condition. Easy process: Call, get cash offer and get paid. Call today for your fair cash offer: 1-225-545-1983 Struggling with debt? If you have over $15,000 in debt we help you be debt free in as little as 24-48 months. Pay nothing to enroll. Call Now: 1-877-773-1742 Donate your car, truck, boat, RV and more to support our veterans!

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Industry-leading comprehensive warranty - 7 years ($849 value.) Proudly made in the U.S.A. Call Briggs & Stratton 1-844512-5930.

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It’s not just a generator. It’s a power move.

Home Services PEST CONTROL: PROTECT YOUR HOME from pests safely and affordably. Roaches, Bed Bugs, Rodent, Termite, Spiders and other pests.

Locally owned and affordable. Call for service or an inspection today! Have zip code of property ready when calling! 1-877728-0264 DIRECTV- All your entertainment.

Nothing on your roof! Sign up for Directv and get your first three months of Max, Paramount+, Showtime, Starz, MGM+ and Cinemax included. Choice package $84.99/mo. Some restrictions apply.

Call DIRECTV 1-866-734-0452 Dish Network: Get DISH Satellite TV + Internet! Free Install, Free HD-DVR Upgrade, 80,000 On-Demand Movies, Plus Limited Time Up To $600 In Gift Cards. Call Today! 1-855-654-8207

Reporting you can trust on stories that matter

NEWS 24/7 ON

HAPPY HOLIDAY

The Classified Advertising Department will be closed on Thursday, December 25 to observe the Christmas holiday

EARLY DEADLINES FOR OUR ADVERTISEMENTS

DISPLAY ADS 24 HOURS EARLIER

You may place your ad 7 days a week, 24 hours a day online at www.theadvocate.com or call Monday-Friday 8am-5pm

225-383-0111

NURSING FACULTY-PART-TIME: OPEN RANK [Off-Campus Instructional Site: Baton Rouge] LSU Health New Orleans School of Nursing is seeking a highly motivated individual to join our faculty as a school of nursing excellence within an acade‐ mic health sciences center environ‐ ment. Our nursing faculty have the op‐ portunity to educate future nurses at the BSN, MN/MSN, DNS and DNP level, including state-of-the-art simulation laboratories; conduct nursing & inter‐ disciplinary research; engage in fac‐ ulty practice, including our nurse-run clinics; pursue entrepreneurial and consultative activities; and serve as a nursing leader and development of leadership skills through our Emergent Nurse Leader Program. We invite you to submit your curriculum vitae for the following teaching positions: Adult Health, Mental Health, Medical Surgi‐ cal, Pediatrics, Community Health, Pri‐ mary Care (FNP), and Women’s Health.

Part-time [0.50FTE] This position is lo‐ cated at our Off-Campus Instructional Site: Baton Rouge in Baton Rouge, LA. Minimum Qualifications • Master's Degree in Nursing, limited exceptions; Doctorate Degree required for Assistant Professor or above.

• Louisiana Registered Nurse (RN) li‐ censure (by start date) Preferred Qualifications • Doctoral Candidates pursuing a ca‐ reer in Nursing Research • Advanced Practice Certification (APRN)

WANT TO BUY I buy old bourbon bottles. Wild Turkey, Weller, Old Grand Dad etc.

Call or text $300 (225)456-3434

WANT TO BUY Old Records 33's, 45's & 78's. All types of music. Call 985-259-1889 FURNITURE Queen Bed w/Hollywood Frame w/Maple Headboard, Innerspring Matt (2) Box Spr.$400 (225) 658-8456 CAMPING GEAR Camp Tent 9x9 Dome, Canopy, Slp Bag, 2 Lant, 2 Burner Stv, 48qt Ice Chest & All Access. Retail for $375 selling for $275 225-610-8411 after 2:00pm

Baton Rouge Rental

To apply to this posting, click on the following link: https://lsuhsc.peopleadmin.com/ postings/21194 AREA 3

5364 Jackson 2BR's 1BA, Rent $500, Dep $300 225-357-6436

AREA 4 FREE RENT 225-351-7449 AREA 4 NO CREDIT CHECK/LEASE! Fully furnished apartments ALL BILLS PAID including premium cable & WIFI. Pet Friendly. Stay where you're appreciated! Call 225-434-4161 AREA 5 1 & 2 BR Apts, W/D, C A/H, Starting at $850/mo Deps vary 225-315-0930

AREA 5 1BR $550, 2BR $650 Tigerland. $500 Deposit. 225-475-1737

AREA 5 655 North St. Subsidized eff Apts cpabr.org 225-383-5551.

TDD/TTY /711RELAY

Pets / Pet Services Directory PETS • SUPPLIES • SERVICES • OBITUARIES • LOST & FOUND

PLACE YOUR PET SERVICES INFORMATION IN THE PET SERVICES DIRECTORY TODAY! • IT IS FAST AND EASY! • CALL 225-383-0111

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EDUCATION

LSU Health New Orleans seeks candi‐ dates who will contribute to a climate where students, faculty, and staff of all identities and backgrounds have equi‐ table access and success opportuni‐ ties. As an equal opportunity employer, we welcome all to apply without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, na‐ tional origin, physical or mental disabil‐ ity, genetics, protected veteran status, military status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by fed‐ eral, state, or local laws. LSU Health New Orleans is also designated as a State As a Model Employer (SAME) agency and provides assistance to per‐ sons needing accommodations or with the accessibility of materials. Forthose seeking such accommodations or as‐ sistance related to this search, we en‐ courage you to contact the Office of Human Resource Management (HRMADA@lsuhsc.edu).

Home Improvement BATH & SHOWER UPDATES in as little as ONE DAY! Affordable prices - No

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DOGS CKC YORKIES or SHORKIES - (yorkies are with papers) all are vet checked w/shot and worming, will meet in Gulf‐ port $700 (334) 467-3416

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EVERY DAY

CATS RAGAMUFFIN & RAGDOLL KITTENS www.CatsByFrancy.com/kittens $700up! Reg. Shots & Guaranty 337-230-3150

DOGS Adorable CKC Reg. Teddy Roosevelt Terriers (short legged Rat Terriers) Rdy for Christmas $400 call (225)251-2380 DOGS AKC German Shepherd pups. Ready 12/23. $800 Kentwood 985 244-0173

DOGS Cairn terriers - 2 females shots and wormed 8 months old. $150.00 (985) 222-4354

DOGS Yorkshire Terrier - Small Yorkie pup‐ pies, $1400-F, $1200-M (225) 304-1045

ROOMS FOR RENT Furnished Rooms. $125/wk. $500/mo.

225-933-7560

GET FULL DIGITAL ACCESS

DOGS German Shepard - CKC German Shep‐ ard Pup 11 Months Old Female Born 12/24/24, very affectionate with a lot of energy, looking for good home $1500 808-292-0842 DOGS Labradoodle - F1B CKC pups Brown Merle, Blue Merle, Black 1 male & 5 fe‐ males $1200 - $1600 Avail for pickup 12/18, (504) 231-9118

MOBILE HOME 1, 2 & 3 BR mobile homes, $675 & up 6061 Plank Rd. CALL 225-978-4653

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SIMPLE ELECTRIC

Professional work • Lic/Ins/Bond.

40+ years experience No job too smalll/large Call 225-921 2633

CALL FOR SPECIAL PRICING! INSTALL NEW ROOFS, J-W METAL, ROOFING* SHINGLES, FLAT, & REPAIRS.

MILITARY DISCOUNTS

STOP ALL LEAKS! CARPENTRY & PAINTING Lic/Ins. 225-205-9537 *Senior Citizen Discount

40 years experience

House calls | NoFixNoPay $125 First Visit - 1 Computer

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Swimming Pool Fill-In’s FIBERGLASS - GUNITE - LINER 20 Years of Experience - Licensed and Insured

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We are your go to company for your Gutter and Patio Top installations

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CALL 225-305-3776 FOR YOUR FREE ESTIMATE

Call 225.925.0610 Reasonable Rates for Quality Work!

Quality Care Q

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• All Types Roofing & Repairs • Fllashings • Sheet Metal • Dry Wall • Painting • Masonry • Carpentry C • Flooring • Electrical Spe cialty Ventilation and Insulation

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Most stumps $20.

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tree trimming/flower bed clean up/flower bed designs/irrigation/ lighting pathways/prune & mulch/weeding/drainage/sod/pergola deck/power washing/stump grinding/consulting available

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ON ALL TV’S THAT NEED REPAIR WHEN BROUGHT INTO THE SHOP!!

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WINTER SPECIAL YEAR-ROUND HOLIDAY

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Professional Chimney Sweep & Inspections Chimney Cleaning • Pest Guards New Chimney Cap Installation • Fire Box Crack Repair Insured

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To advertise here, please call 225-383-0111

8D ■ Thursday, December 25, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate Public Notices

Legal Notices

Legal Notices

below on or before Janu‐ ary 4th, 2026, during the hours of 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM.

PUBLIC NOTICE --EARLY NOTICE AND PUBLIC REVIEW FOR LOWER BAYOU CONWAY DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS To: All interested Federal, State, and Local Agen‐ cies, Groups, and Individ‐ uals This notice is to inform the public that the As‐ cension Parish Govern‐ ment, acting under HUD 24 CFR Part 58, has con‐ ducted an evaluation as required by Executive Or‐ ders 11988 (Floodplain Management) and 11990 (Protection of Wetlands) and in accordance with 24 CFR 55.20, Subpart C. This evaluation is in‐ tended to determine the potential effect that the proposed activities within floodplains and wetlands may have on the human environment for the Lower Bayou Con‐ way Drainage Improve‐ ments project.

Ascension Parish Gov‐ ernment proposes to im‐ plement flood hazard mitigation measures within the Lower Bayou Conway Watershed. The project is located at 30° 10’ 31.22” N, 90° 52’ 20.04” W in Sorrento, LA. The proposed project in‐ cludes culvert replace‐ ments and the installa‐ tion of a detention pond and pump station. These improvements are essen‐ tial to protecting sur‐ rounding communities from hazardous flooding, safeguarding infrastruc‐ ture, and supporting un‐ interrupted local com‐ merce. Existing under‐ sized culverts will be re‐ placed with wider cul‐ verts to allow for in‐ creased drainage capac‐ ity. A new pump station will increase the sys‐ tem’s hydrologic capac‐ ity and allow higher vol‐ umes of stormwater to be conveyed more effi‐ ciently. The detention pond will provide critical additional stormwater storage.

The proposed project will require excavation of canals segments where existing widths are insuf‐ ficient to convey stormwater or to accom‐ modate the construction of the detention pond.

Disturbances along canal banks will be minimized, and impacts to wetlands will be avoided to the maximum extent practi‐ cable. Excavated mater‐ ial will be transported to an upland disposal site off LA Highway 22.

There are three primary purposes for this notice.

First, individuals and groups who may be af‐ fected by activities in floodplains and wetlands —or who have an interest in protecting these nat‐ ural resources—must be given the opportunity to express their concerns and provide relevant in‐ formation. Second, an ef‐ fective public notice pro‐ gram helps educate the public about floodplains and wetlands and en‐ hances Federal efforts to reduce risks associated with temporary impacts to these areas. Third, as a matter of fairness, when the Federal govern‐ ment determines it will participate in actions taking place in flood‐ plains, it must inform those who may be put at a greater or continued risk.

Written comments must be received by Carrie Schott, ELOS Environ‐ mental, on behalf of the Ascension Parish Gov‐ ernment, at the address

Carrie Schott Project Manager/ Environmental Scientist ELOS Environmental, LLC 607 W Morris Ave Hammond, LA 70403 cschott@elosenv.com December 18th 2025 170421 Dec. 18, 25, 2025, Jan. 1, 2026 3x $1,553.40 PUBLIC NOTICE --R3MEB6LC4S1000171 EA‐ HORA is stored at 44179 Conway Street, Louisiana 70778. If all current charges are not paid and vehicle claimed by the owner by January 9, 2026, a permit to sell may be obtained.

170805 Dec. 24, 25, 2t $67.18

WBR Public Notices

WBR Public Notices Sheriff Sales

SHERIFF'S SALE JOHN DEERE CONSTRUC‐ TION & FORESTRY COM‐ PANY VS. CORRENT SER‐ VICES, INC. DOCKET NO: 50567 18TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT PARISH OF COURT POINTEE COUPEE STATE OF LOUISIANA By virtue of a Writ of SEIZURE AND SALE, di‐ rected by the Honorable The 18th Judicial District Court, for the Parish of West Baton Rouge, in the above entitled and num‐ bered cause, I have seized and proceed to sell by public auction, on the front steps of the West Baton Rouge Court‐ house, 850 8th Street, Port Allen, Louisiana on WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2026 at 10:00 A.M., the described following property, to wit: ONE JOHN DEERE MODEL 750L CRAWLER DOZER SE‐ RIAL NUMBER 1T0750LX‐ ASF472972 This property is stored at: DOGGETT/JOHN DEERE 10110 DARADELE AVENUE BATON ROUGE, LA 70816 (225) 291-3750 Terms of Sale: Cash to the highest bidder WITH benefit of appraisement and according to law.

Attorney for the Plaintiff: Roedel, Parsons, Blache, Piontek & Fontana, Pisano 8440 Jefferson Highway, Suite 301 Baton Rouge, LA 70809 (225) 929-7033 Judicial Advertise‐ ment(s) will appear in THE ADVOCATE on the date(s) of: December 25, 2025.

JEFF BERGERON, SHERIFF PARISH OF WEST BATON ROUGE BY: ANGIE DELAUNE, DEPUTY SHERIFF $48.30 SHERIFF'S SALE U.S. BANK NATIONAL AS‐ SOCIATION, NOT IN ITS CAPACITY INDIVIDUAL BUT SOLELY AS TRUSTEE MERRILL LYNCH FOR FIRST FRANKLIN MORT‐ GAGE LOAN TRUST,

WBR Public Notices Sheriff Sales

MORTGAGE LOAN ASSETCERTIFICATES, BACKED 2007-2 VS. SERIES SAMUEL SELDERS, A/K/A A. SELDERS SAMUEL DOCKET NO: 48352 18TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT WEST BATON COURT ROUGE PARISH STATE OF LOUISIANA By virtue of a Writ of Seizure and Sale, di‐ rected by the Honorable The Eighteenth Judicial District Court, for the Parish of West Baton Rouge, in the above enti‐ and numbered tled cause, I have seized and proceed to sell by public auction, on the front steps of the West Baton Rouge Courthouse, 850 8th Street, Port Allen, Louisiana on WEDNES‐ DAY, JANUARY 28, 2026 at 10:00 A.M., the following described property, to wit: One certain lot or parcel of ground together with all buildings and im‐ provements thereon, and all the rights, ways, privi‐ leges, servitudes, appur‐ tenances and advan‐ tages thereunto belong‐ ing or in anywise apper‐ taining, being situated in the Parish of West Baton State of Rouge, Louisiana, in that subdi‐ vision known as Antonia Plantation Estates Subdi‐ vision, and designated on the official plan thereof, on file and of record in the office of the Clerk and Recorder of the Parish of West Baton State of Rouge, Louisiana, as lot number sixty-seven, said subdivi‐ sion, said lot having such measurements and di‐ mensions and being sub‐ ject to such servitudes as are shown on said subdivision map.

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WBR Public Notices Sheriff Sales g g all the buildings and im‐ provements thereon, and all of the rights, ways, servitudes, privileges, appurtenances and ad‐ vantages thereon be‐ longing or anywise ap‐ pertaining, situated in the Parish of WEST BATON ROUGE, State of Louisiana, in that subdi‐ vision known as COHN SUBDIVISION, and being designated on the offi‐ cial plan of said subdivi‐ sion, on file and of record in the office of the Clerk and Recorder of said Parish and State, as LOT NUMBER FOURTEEN (14) FIFTEEN (15), AND SQUARE TIIIRTY (30), said subdivision, said lot hav‐ ing such measurements dimensions and and being subject to servi‐ tudes as shown on said subdivision map.

THE MUNICIPAL ADDRESS IS 561 6TH STREET, PORT ALLEN, LA 70767 Terms of Sale: Cash to the highest bidder WITH‐ OUT benefit of appraise‐ ment and according to law.

Attorney for the Plaintiff: Dean Morris, LLC 1505 North 19th Street Monroe, LA 71207 (318) 388-1440 Judicial Advertise‐ ment(s) will appear in THE ADVOCATE on the date(s) of: December 25, 2025 and January 22, 2026.

JEFF BERGERON, SHERIFF PARISH OF WEST BATON ROUGE BY: ANGIE DELAUNE, DEPUTY SHERIFF $58.07

Having a municipal ad‐ dress of 4747 Evergreen Drive, Port Allen, LA 70767 Terms of Sale: Cash to the highest bidder WITH‐ OUT benefit of appraise‐ ment and according to law.

Attorney for the Plaintiff: The Law Offices of Her‐ schel C. Adcock, Jr. PO Box 87379 Baton Rouge, LA 70879 (225) 756-0373

SEVEN DAYS

Judicial Advertise‐ ment(s) will appear in THE ADVOCATE on the date(s) of: December 25, 2025 and January 22, 2026.

JEFF BERGERON, SHERIFF PARISH OF WEST BATON ROUGE BY: ANGIE DELAUNE, DEPUTY SHERIFF $59.42

HOME DELIVERED

SHERIFF’S SALE TIB THE INDEPENDENT BANKERSBANK, N.A. VS. RICHARD DALE BARNETT, JAMES KEITH BARNETT, MICHAEL ANDREW BAR‐ NETT,COLETTE BARNETT NEELY, A/K/A COLETTE R. BARNETT NEELY, APRIL BARNETT GREMILLION DOCKET NO: 49141

That certain lot or parcel of ground, together with ll h b ildi d i

Legal Notices

Legal Notices

Legal Notices

Legal Notices

PUBLIC NOTICE Department of Conservation and Energy Office of Permitting and Compliance Louisiana Regional Landfill Company Commercial, Class I Nonhazardous Waste Disposal Well Allen Parish, Louisiana Docket No. IMD 2025-12 Application No. 43577 Pursuant to provisions of the laws of the State of Louisiana and particularly Title 43 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950 as amended, and provisions of Statewide Order No. 29-N-1 and Statewide Order No. 29-B, notice is hereby given that the Department of Conservation and Energy has prepared a Draft Permit for the application referenced below and that the secretary will conduct a public hearing to solicit comments on the Draft Permit. The hearing will be held in the Allen Parish Civic Center, located at 609 Tiger Lane, Oberlin, Louisiana, at 6:00 pm on January 15, 2026.

At such hearing, the secretary or designated representative will give any interested person the opportunity to present testimony, facts, or oral or written comments relative to the Draft Permit prepared in response to an application by: Louisiana Regional Landfill Company 1158 Landfill Road Oakdale, LA 71463 Louisiana Regional Landfill Company has applied to the Department of Conservation and Energy for a permit to drill, construct, and operate one new Commercial, Class I Nonhazardous Waste Disposal Well in Section 19, Township 02 South, Range 02 West, of Allen Parish for disposal of industrial, nonhazardous liquid wastes and exploration and production (E & P) waste fluids. The proposed well will be identified as LRLC Well No. 001. Waste disposal is proposed to occur initially at a depth of 6,824 feet to 7,544 feet below ground level (bgl) within a disposal zone of 6,699 feet to 7,599 feet bgl. The base of the lowermost underground source of drinking water (USDW) at the specific facility location occurs at an approximate depth of 2,150 feet bgl A copy of the Draft Permit, fact sheet, application or other information concerning the application may be obtained by writing to Katelyn Roshto, Office of Permitting and Compliance, 617 North 3rd Street, 8th Floor, Baton Rouge, LA 70802 or by calling (225) 342-5515. The Draft Permit and fact sheet are also available for inspection between 8:00 A.M. and 4:30 P.M., Monday through Friday in the Department of Conservation and Energy, Rm. 817, of the LaSalle Building, 617 North 3rd Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70802. In addition, the application package is available at the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy website.

Interested parties may also submit written comments at any time prior to or during the public hearing.

Written comments concerning the application must be received by the Department of Conservation and Energy no later than 4:30 P.M., January 16, 2026. Submit all comments to: Katelyn Roshto, Office of Permitting and Compliance, 617 North 3rd Street, 8th Floor, Baton Rouge, LA 70802. Comments may also be e-mailed to info@la.gov. Please reference: Louisiana Regional Landfill Company Class I, Application Number 43577, Docket No. IMD 2025-12.

All persons having interest in the aforesaid shall take notice thereof.

LOUISIANA OWNED

18TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT WEST BATON COURT ROUGE PARISH STATE OF LOUISIANA By virtue of a Writ of Seizure and Sale, di‐ rected by the Honorable The Eighteenth Judicial District Court, for the Parish of West Baton Rouge, in the above enti‐ and numbered tled cause, I have seized and proceed to sell by public auction, on the front steps of the West Baton Rouge Courthouse, 850 8th Street, Port Allen, Louisiana on WEDNES‐ DAY, JANUARY 28, 2026 at 10:00 A.M., the following described property, to wit:

Legal Notices

By order of: Dustin H. Davidson Department of Conservation and Energy In accordance with Act 393 of the 2023 Louisiana Regular Section, accommodations will be provided upon request to people with disabilities in order to access this public hearing. To request an accommodation for this hearing, please contact Maranda.Rispone@la.gov.

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168197-587297-dec 16-25-jan 1-3t $ 5,197.50

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