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M o n d ay, d e c e M b e r 29, 2025

‘If we don’t act now, this is going to be gone’

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Hundreds reporting chemtrail sightings in La. New law requires DEQ to track reports

BY SAM KARLIN Staff writer

STAFF PHOTOS By JAVIER GALLEGOS

Irene Marti Gil, LSU AgCenter Aquatic Germplasm and Genetic Resources Center engagement director, left, and yue Liu, associate director, hold crawfish recently at the center.

LSU AgCenter scientists work in aquatic lab to preserve native species with frozen DNA

BY HALEY MILLER Staff writer

How can scientists preserve native Louisiana species, boost the state’s aquaculture industry, improve extreme weather resilience and advance cancer research?

The answer lies with something like frozen fish, it turns out.

At the LSU AgCenter

Aquatic Germplasm and Genetic Resources Center, a group of 40 undergraduates, graduate students, staff and faculty members specializes in using liquid nitrogen to freeze and preserve the sperm, eggs and embryos of fish, frogs, salamanders, shrimp, oysters, crawfish, algae and other aquatic species.

An axolotl is displayed at the LSU AgCenter Aquatic

ä See LAB, page 4A Germplasm and Genetic Resources Center.

The reports are alarming.

Angry residents say the Louisiana skies are being sprayed with chemicals, creating “tic-tac-toe” shapes up above, or in one case, an “Acura logo.”

The supposed culprit: chemtrails, a long-debunked conspiracy theory that scientists say is not accurate.

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, the agency charged with regulating the state’s expansive petrochemical industry among other sectors, has collected more than 400 such reports since just this summer, when the Republicanled Legislature passed a bill requiring it to track such reports.

A handful of Republican state lawmakers have encouraged their constituents to write in, propping up the conspiracy theory that the condensation trails airplanes leave behind are, in fact, dangerous chemicals or heavy metals.

The new law passed by the Legislature did more than require DEQ to collect such reports. It also banned climate geoengineering and cloud seeding, which are real technologies designed to combat climate change or generate greater precipitation for agricultural or other purposes. Neither is used in Louisiana, according to state and federal regulators.

The debate about chemtrails among state lawmakers prompted a clash over long-standing farming practices, nascent climate technology and outright conspiracies. And as a result, the state environmental regulator is now required to collect reports of such alleged activities.

Records show that more than 400

ä See CHEMTRAIL, page 4A

Trump says Ukraine and Russia are ‘closer than ever’ to peace President meets with Zelenskyy in Florida

BY WILL WEISSERT, ELISE MORTON and SEUNG MIN KIM Associated Press

PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump on Sunday insisted Ukraine and Russia are “closer than ever before” to a peace deal as he hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his Florida resort, but he acknowledged that negotiations are complex and could still break down, leaving the

WEATHER HIGH 53 LOW 48 PAGE 12C

war dragging on for years.

The president’s statements came after the two leaders met for a discussion that took place after what Trump described as an “excellent,” two-and-a-half-hour phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose invasion of Ukraine launched the war nearly four years ago. Trump insisted he believed Putin still wants peace, even as Russia launched another round of attacks on Ukraine while Zelenskyy flew to the United States for the latest round of negotiations.

“Russia wants to see Ukraine succeed,” Trump said during a late af-

ternoon news conference following the meeting with Zelenskyy, whom he repeatedly praised as “brave.”

Trump and Zelenskyy both acknowledged thorny issues remain, including whether Russia can keep Ukrainian territory it controls as well as security guarantees for Ukraine to ensure it’s not invaded again in the future. After their discussion, they called a wide group of European leaders, including Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, and the leaders of Finland, France, Germany,

ä See UKRAINE, page 4A

President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shake hands Sunday during a news conference at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ALEX BRANDON Beach, Fla.

Classified .....................4B Deaths .........................4B Nation-World ................2A Comics-Puzzles .. 9C-11C Living............................7C Opinion ........................2B Commentary ................3B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C

101ST yEAR, NO. 182

2A ● Monday, December 29, 2025 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Girl, 13, missing since October found safe

A missing 13-year-old girl from Kentucky has been rescued outside Washington, D.C., from a kidnapper after going missing more than two months ago, authorities said Sunday.

Wynter Wagoner disappeared from Orlando, Kentucky, on Oct. 14. She was found Friday at a home in Silver Spring, Maryland, police said.

Christian Alexander Delgado, a 37-year-old Silver Spring resident, was arrested and accused of kidnapping Wagoner, Montgomery County police said in a press release. He was held in Maryland pending his extradition to Kentucky.

Police did not release any information about Wagoner’s condition, saying only that she had been “transported to an area hospital for evaluation.” Delgado surrendered without incident, authorities said.

Wagoner’s family had pleaded for months for help finding her.

In mid-October, they said she’d been at a foster home for about a year before disappearing that month. Authorities did not say why Wagoner was in foster care.

“She is safe and that’s about all the information we can give at this time,” Wagoner’s father, Dustin, told Lexington, Kentucky, NBC affiliate WLEX.

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1 killed in helicopter collision Officials say two choppers crashed midair in New Jersey

BY CHRISTINE FERNANDO and MINGSON LAU Associated Press

HAMMONTON, N.J. — Two helicopters crashed midair in New Jersey on Sunday, killing one person and critically injuring another, authorities say.

Hammonton Police Chief Kevin Friel said rescuers responded to a report of an aviation crash at about 11:25 a.m. Video from the scene shows a helicopter spinning rapidly to the ground. Police and fire crews subsequently extinguished flames that engulfed one of the helicopters.

The Federal Aviation Administration described the crash as a midair collision between an Enstrom F-28A helicopter and Enstrom 280C helicopter over

IMAGE PROVIDED By WPVI-TV/6ABC

Authorities look over the scene Sunday after two helicopters crashed in Hammonton, N.J. Hammonton Municipal Airport.

Only the pilots were on board each aircraft. One was killed, and the other was transported to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Sal Silipino, owner of a cafe near the crash site, said the pilots were regulars at the restaurant and

would often have breakfast together. He said he and other customers watched the helicopters take off before one began spiraling downward, followed by the other.

“It was shocking,” he said. “I’m still shaking after that happened.”

Hammonton is a town of about

EMTs deliver baby on side of highway

BY LINCOLN ANDERSON New york Daily News (TNS)

Knife attack in Suriname kills at least 9 people PARAMARIBO, Suriname — A knife attack outside Suriname‘s capital of Paramaribo killed at least nine people, including five children, police said Sunday.

Officials said the victims included the attacker’s children and neighbors who came to their aid. Local media reported the victims were located at multiple homes.

The attack took place in Richelieu in the Commewijne district about 15 miles east of Paramaribo. Neighbors said the attack began after the suspect, a 43-yearold man, had an argument over the phone with his wife, with whom he no longer lived.

The neighbors said that after the suspect’s wife said she would not pick up the children, but would instead send someone else for them, the suspect attacked his kids with a knife and also went after neighbors in their homes.

In a statement Sunday, Suriname’s Police Corps said the suspect attempted to attack police officers who arrived on the scene and he was injured during his arrest. He is now recovering in a hospital.

Police said a sixth child and another adult were seriously injured in the attack and were being treated at a hospital.

Thai and Cambodian diplomats meet in China BEIJING — Top diplomats from Thailand and Cambodia kicked off two days of talks in China on Sunday as Beijing seeks to strengthen its role in mediating the two countries’ border dispute, a day after they signed a new ceasefire.

The ceasefire agreement calls for a halt to weeks of fighting along their contested border that has killed more than 100 people and displaced over half a million in both countries.

President Donald Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed to a July ceasefire, suggested Sunday that the fighting between Thailand and Cambodia “will stop momentarily” and boasted that the U.S. “has become the REAL United Nations.”

In a post on his social media site from his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump wrote that both sides “will go back to living in PEACE” and referenced his past comments about helping to broker a ceasefire that largely hasn’t held.

China has welcomed the ceasefire announcement, which freezes the front lines and allows for displaced civilians to return to their homes near the border.

China also announced $2.8 million of emergency humanitarian aid for Cambodia to assist the displaced. The first batch of Chinese aid, including food, tents and blankets, arrived in Cambodia on Sunday, Wang Wenbin, Chinese ambassador to Cambodia, wrote on Facebook.

15,000 people located in Atlantic County in the southern part of New Jersey, about 35 miles southeast of Philadelphia. The town has a history of agriculture and is located near the Pine Barrens, a forested wilderness area that covers more than 1 million acres.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will be investigating the crash, Friel said.

Investigators will likely first look to review any communications between the two pilots and whether they were able to see each other, said Alan Diehl, a former crash investigator for the FAA and NTSB. “Virtually all midair collisions are a failure to what they call ‘see and avoid,’ ” Diehl said. “Clearly they’ll be looking at the out-ofcockpit views of the two aircraft and seeing if one pilot was approaching from the blind side.”

Although it was mostly cloudy at the time of the crash, winds were light and visibility was good, according to the weather forecasting company AccuWeather.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By OMAR ALBAM

Protesters from the Alawite religious minority demonstrate Sunday, two days after a bomb in an Alawite mosque in Homs killed eight people and wounded 18 during Friday prayers, in Latakia, Syria.

4 dead, dozens injured in Syria during clashes Alawites fight with counterdemonstrators

BY OMAR ALBAM

Associated Press

LATAKIA, Syria — Clashes broke out on Syria’s coast between protesters from the Alawite religious minority and counterdemonstrators Sunday, killing at least four people and injuring dozens of others, health officials said.

The clashes came two days after a bombing at an Alawite mosque in the city of Homs killed eight people and wounded 18 others during prayers. Thousands of protesters gathered in the coastal cities of Latakia and Tartous, and elsewhere.

Officials have said that preliminary investigations indicate that explosive devices were planted inside the mosque in Homs, but authorities haven’t publicly identified a suspect in Friday’s bombing.

A little-known group calling itself Saraya Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on its Telegram channel, in which it indicated that the attack intended to target members of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam whom hard-line Islamists consider to be apostates.

Sunday’s demonstrations were called

for by Ghazal Ghazal, an Alawite sheikh living outside of Syria who heads a group called the Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and the Diaspora.

An Associated Press photographer in Latakia saw pro-government counterprotesters throw rocks at the Alawite demonstrators, while a group of protesters beat a counterdemonstrator who crossed to their side. Security forces tried to break up the two sides and fired into the air in an attempt to disperse them.

Syria’s state-run television reported that two members of the security forces were wounded in the area of Tartous after someone threw a hand grenade at a police station, and cars belonging to security forces were set on fire in Latakia.

The state-run SANA news agency said 60 people were wounded by “stabbings, blows from stones, and gunfire targeting both security personnel and civilians.”

The country has experienced several waves of sectarian clashes since the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a lightning rebel offensive in December 2024 that brought to an end nearly 14 years of civil war. Assad, an Alawite, fled the country to Russia.

During the rein of the Assad dynasty, Alawites were overrepresented in government jobs and in the army and security forces.

Second-in-line at LDS Church dies

BY HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY — Jeffrey R. Holland, a high-ranking official in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who was next in line to become the faith’s president, has died. He was 85.

Holland died early Saturday morning from complications associated with kidney disease, the church announced on its website.

Holland, who died in Salt Lake City, led a governing body called the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, which helps set church policy while overseeing the many business interests of what is known widely as the Mormon church.

He was the longest-

tenured member of the Quorum of the Twelve after President Dallin H. Oaks, making him next in line to lead the church under a long-established succession plan. Oaks, 93, became president of the church and its more than 17 million-strong global membership in October.

Henry B. Eyring, who is 92 and one of Oaks’ two top counselors, is now next in line for the presidency.

His death leaves a vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve that Oaks will fill in coming months, likely by calling a new apostle from a lower-tier leadership council. Apostles are all men in accordance with the church’s all-male priesthood.

Holland grew up in St. George, Utah, and worked for many years in education administration before his call to join the ranks of church leadership. He served as the ninth president of Brigham Young University from 1980 to 1989 and was a commissioner of the church’s global education system.

Under his leadership, the Provo university worked to improve interfaith relations and established a satellite campus in Jerusalem. The AntiDefamation League later honored Holland with its “Torch of Liberty” award for helping foster greater understanding between Christian and Jewish communities.

NEW YORK — Two emergency medical technicians helped deliver a baby on the side of a Bronx highway in the middle of Friday night’s big snowstorm, according to an FDNY post on X. EMTs Henry Garcia and Rachel Rosado from FDNY EMT Station 3 responded to a call for a woman in labor. They quickly realized, though, the baby was arriving sooner than expected.

As the baby’s head began to emerge, the cool-headed medics pulled over to safely deliver the child on the side of the Bronx River Parkway.

Garcia was experienced in child delivery, already having a few under his FDNY EMT belt. Meanwhile, it was a first for Rosado while on the job. Yet the two partners worked together seamlessly, chalking their teamwork up to their excellent communication.

“This was my first delivery, and communication is what made it possible,” Rosado said.

“Once we realized it was an imminent delivery, everything clicked. We bounced off each other and delivered the baby instantly with no complications.

My partner guided me through every step, and we worked together to make sure the baby and mother were safe. Despite the circumstances, it turned into a beautiful delivery, and it’s something I’ll never forget.”

“This was my third delivery, and I know how important communication was in that moment,” Garcia said.

“I told my partner that the second (the woman) felt uncomfortable or noticed crowning, we would pull over. Once that happened, we made the call to pull over on the Bronx River Parkway and deliver the baby right there. Everything went smoothly because we trusted each other and stayed focused on doing what was best for the mother and baby.”

This was the 91st baby delivered by FDNY Emergency Medical Services in New York City in 2025.

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Rain floods displaced Palestinians’ camps lll

BY WAFAA SHURAFA and SALLY ABOU ALJOUD Associated Press

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Winter rain lashed the Gaza Strip over the weekend, flooding camps with ankle-deep puddles as Palestinians displaced by two years of war attempted to stay dry in tents frayed by months of use.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled for an expected meeting on Monday with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida about the second phase of the ceasefire. The first phase that took effect on Oct. 10 was meant to bring a surge in humanitarian aid for Gaza, including shelter.

In the southern city of Khan Younis, blankets were soaked and clay ovens meant for cooking were swamped. Children wearing flip-flops waded through puddles.

Some people used shovels or tin cans to remove water from tents.

Others clawed at the ground to pry collapsed shelters from the mud.

“Puddles formed, and there was a bad smell,” said Majdoleen Tarabein, displaced from Rafah in southern Gaza. “The tent flew away. We don’t know what to do or

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JEHAD ALSHRAFI

Palestinians receive donated food at a temporary camp for displaced people on the beach near the port of Gaza City, Gaza Strip, on Sunday. where to go.”

She and family members tried to wring muddy blankets dry by hand.

“When we woke up in the morning, we found that the water had entered the tent,” said Eman Abu Riziq, also displaced in Khan Younis. “These are the mattresses.

They are all completely soaked.”

She said her family is still reeling from her husband’s death less than two weeks ago.

“Where are the mediators? We don’t want food. We don’t want anything. We are exhausted. We just want mattresses and covers,” said Fatima Abu Omar as she tried

to prop up a collapsing shelter.

At least 12 people, including a 2-week-old infant, have died since Dec. 13 from hypothermia or weather-related collapses of war-damaged homes, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government.

Emergency workers have warned people not to stay in damaged buildings, because they could collapse. But with much of the territory in rubble, there are few places to escape the rain. In July, the United Nations estimated that almost 80% of buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged.

Since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began, 414 people have been killed and 1,142 wounded in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry.

The overall Palestinian death toll from the war is at least 71,266.

The ministry, which does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its count, is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community.

The Israel-Hamas war began with the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 that

killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.

Humanitarian deliveries into Gaza are falling far short of the amount called for under the U.S.brokered ceasefire, according to aid organizations and an Associated Press analysis of the Israeli military’s figures.

The Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid said in the past week that 4,200 trucks with aid entered Gaza, plus eight garbage trucks to assist with sanitation, as well as tents and winter clothing. It refused to elaborate on the number of tents. Aid groups have said the need far outstrips the number that have entered.

Since the ceasefire began, around 72,000 tents and 403,000 tarps have entered, according to Shelter Cluster, an international coalition of aid providers led by the Norwegian Refugee Council.

“People in Gaza are surviving in flimsy, waterlogged tents and among ruins,” Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the top U.N. group overseeing aid in Gaza, wrote on social media. “There is nothing inevitable about this. Aid supplies are not being allowed in at the scale required.”

Turning Point USA turns resources toward Vance for 2028

BY MICHAEL WILNER Los Angeles Times (TNS)

When Charlie Kirk was killed by an assassin this fall, Republican leaders credited the organization he founded for enabling President Donald Trump’s return to power.

Now that organization is mobilizing behind Vice President JD Vance.

Uninterested in a competitive Republican primary in 2028, Turning Point USA plans to deploy representatives across Iowa’s 99 counties in the coming months to build the campaign infrastructure it believes could deliver Vance, a Midwesterner from nearby Ohio, a decisive victory, potentially short-circuiting a fractious GOP race, insiders said.

It is the latest move in a quiet effort by some in Trump’s orbit to clear the field of viable competitors.

Earlier this month, Marco Rubio, the secretary of state previously floated by Trump as a possible contender, appeared to take himself out of the running.

“If Vance runs for president, he’s going to be our nominee, and I’ll be one of

the first people to support him,” Rubio told Vanity Fair.

After Kirk’s widow, Erika, endorsed Vance on stage at Turning Point USA’s annual conference in Arizona last week, a straw poll of attendees found that 84% would support Vance in the coming primaries. Yet, wider public polling offers a different picture.

A CNN poll conducted in early December found that Vance held Vance a plurality of Republican support for 2028, at 22%, with all other potential candidates, such as Rubio and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, registering in single digits.

The remaining 64% told pollsters they had “no one specific in mind,” reflecting an open field with plenty of room for other figures to gain ground.

While a recent Gallup poll found that 91% of Republicans approve of Vance’s job performance as vice president — an encouraging number entering a par-

tisan primary — only 39% of Americans across party lines view him positively in the role, setting Vance up for potential challenges should he win the nomination.

Potential presidential candidates on both sides of the political aisle are expected to assess their chances over the next year, before primary season officially kicks off, after the midterm elections in November.

Closing out the Turning Point USA conference, Vance called for party unity amid escalating conflicts among right-wing influencers over the acceptability of racism and antisemitism within Republican politics.

“President Trump did not build the greatest coalition in politics by running his supporters through endless, self-defeating purity tests,” Vance said. “Every American is invited. We don’t care if you’re white or Black, rich or poor, young or old, rural or urban, controversial or a little bit boring, or somewhere in between.”

Charlie Kirk, he added, “trusted all of you to make your own judgment. And we have far more important

work to do than canceling each other.”

Vance’s remarks drew criticism from some on the right for appearing to tolerate bigotry within the party. The vice president himself has been subjected to racist rhetoric, with Nick Fuentes — a far-right podcaster who has praised Adolf Hitler — repeatedly directing attacks at Vance’s wife and children over their Indian ancestry.

“Let me be clear — anyone who attacks my wife, whether their name is Jen Psaki or Nick Fuentes, can eat s***,” Vance said in an interview last week, referring to President Biden’s former press secretary. “That’s my official policy as vice president of the United States.”

In the same interview,

Vance praised Tucker Carlson, another far-right podcaster who has defended Fuentes on free speech grounds, as a “friend of mine,” noting that he supported Vance as Trump’s vice presidential pick in 2024.

Trump has floated Vance as his potential successor multiple times without ever explicitly endorsing his nomination, calling him “very capable” and the “most likely” choice for the party.

“He’s the vice president,” Trump said in August. “Certainly he’s doing a great job, and he would be probably favored at this point.”

Several of Trump’s most ardent supporters have pushed the president to seek a third term in 2028, despite a provision of the Constitution, in the 22nd Amend-

ment, barring him from doing so.

Trump himself has said the Constitution appears clear on the matter. But Steve Bannon, an architect of Trump’s historic 2016 campaign and one of his first White House strategists, continues to advocate a path forward for another run, reportedly disparaging Vance as “not tough enough” to lead the party to victory.

“He knows he can’t run again,” Susie Wiles, the president’s White House chief of staff, told Vanity Fair in a recent profile of her. “It’s pretty unequivocal.”

Trump, who will be 82 when he is slated to leave office, has told Wiles he understands a third term isn’t possible “a couple times,” she added.

Dream Address Awaits

Winter storm threatens to bring blizzards and ice to parts of U.S.

BY LEAH WILLINGHAM and JEFF MARTIN Associated Press

A powerful winter storm was sweeping east from the Plains on Sunday, driven by what meteorologists describe as an intense cyclone that is expected to impact much of the country with a mixture of snow, ice, rain and strong winds.

“Part of the storm system is getting heavy snow, other parts of the storm along the cold front are getting higher winds and much colder temperatures as the front passes,” said Bob Oravec, a lead forecaster at the National Weather Service office in College Park, Maryland.

“They’re all related to each other — different parts of the country will be receiving different effects from this storm.”

Snow and strengthening winds spread Sunday across the Upper Midwest, where the National Weather Service warned of whiteout conditions and possible blizzard conditions that could make travel impossible in some areas. Snowfall totals were expected to exceed a foot across parts of the upper Great Lakes, with up to 2 feet possible along the south shore of Lake Superior.

In the South, meteorologists warned of severe thunderstorms expected to signal the arrival of a sharp cold front — sometimes referred to as a “Blue Norther” — bringing a sudden plunge in temperatures and strong north winds that will end days of record warmth

MINNESOTA STAR TRIBUNE PHOTO By JERRy HOLT

Heavy snow falls Sunday along Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis. around the region.

The snowy holiday season in the Upper Midwest and Northeast comes as springlike warmth continues in much of the nation’s midsection and South, where record high temperatures had Santa sweating in recent days.

The high temperature in Atlanta is forecast to be around 72 degrees on Sunday, continuing a warming trend after climbing to 78 to shatter the city’s record high temperature for Christmas Eve, the National Weather Service said. Numerous other record high temperatures were seen across the South and Midwest on the days after Christmas.

But that record heat is quickly coming to an end, forecasters say.

A cold front is expected to bring rain to much of the South late Sunday night into Monday, bringing much colder weather by Tuesday.

The abrupt change will drop the low temperature in Atlanta to 25 by early Tues-

day morning. The colder temperatures in the South are expected to continue through New Year’s Day. In Dallas, Sunday temperatures in the lower 80s could drop down to the mid 40s. In Little Rock, high temperatures of around 70 on Sunday could drop down to highs in the mid-30s on Monday.

“We’re definitely going back towards a more winter pattern,” Oravec said.

Over the next 48 hours, the cyclone is expected to produce heavy snow and blizzard conditions in the Midwest and Great Lakes, freezing rain in New England, thunderstorms across the eastern U.S. and South, and widespread strong winds.

The storm is expected to intensify as it moves east, drawing energy from a sharp clash between frigid air plunging south from Canada and unusually warm air that has lingered across the southern United States, according to the National Weather Service.

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4A ● Monday, December 29, 2025 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Continued from page 1A They strive to improve genetic storage technology, with profound implications for cancer and disease research, biomedical studies and the ability of communities to conserve their native species following natural disasters.

“The AGGRC’s goal is to preserve Louisiana’s identity and culture in aquaculture, to make sure it’s passed down to future generations,” Engagement Director Irene Marti Gil said. “If we don’t act now, this is going to be gone.”

The crippling drought that Louisiana faced in 2023 is the type of severe weather event from which the aquatic center hopes to help insulate aquaculture in the future. AgCenter economists estimated nearly $140 million was lost during that crawfish season as a result of the drought.

The aquatic center experiments with the best ways to cryogenically preserve the crawfish gene pool and the genetic code of other species. Scientists send the material to be held longterm at the repositories at the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Animal Germplasm Program in Fort Collins, Colorado.

“We do have a more frequent unstable climate

UKRAINE

Continued from page 1A Great Britain and Poland.

Zelenskyy thanked Trump for his work. “Ukraine is ready for peace,” he said.

Trump, Putin to speak Trump said he’d follow the meeting with another call to Putin. Earlier Sunday, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said the Trump-Putin call was initiated by the U.S. side, lasted over an hour, and was “friendly, benevolent and businesslike.” Ushakov said Trump and Putin agreed to speak again “promptly” after Trump’s meeting with Zelenskyy.

But Ushakov added that a “bold, responsible, political decision is needed from Kyiv” on the fiercely contested Donbas region in eastern Ukraine and other matters in dispute for there to be a “complete cessation” of hostilities.

In overnight develop-

CHEMTRAIL

Continued from page 1A of the reports received by DEQ allege that condensation trails long left by airplanes are the long-debunked “chemtrails.”

“This garbage has been going on here for years,” one resident reported to the state system. “At some point We the People need a Say about this …We are being poisoned and Our tax dollars are funding this.”

Another resident in Metairie in October wrote, “Very typical aerial dispersions of aerosols in lines or trails … some in straight lines, some in long narrow crosses and one in the shape similar to the auto emblem for an Acura vehicle. As usual they remained in place and gradually spread out to form cloudlike areas. Some shut off at certain points as the valve was turned off on the tank that was being utilized.”

This summer, President Donald Trump’s administration sought to dispel the chemtrails theory and published webpages addressing chemtrail conspiracy theories and explaining how condensation trails work.

The Environmental Protection Agency calls chemtrails “a term some people use to inaccurately claim that contrails resulting from routine air traffic are actually an intentional release of dangerous chemicals or biological agents at high altitudes for a variety of nefarious purposes, including population control, mind control, or attempts to geo-

yue Liu, Aquatic Germplasm and Genetic Resources Center associate director, holds a crawfish. environment, whether it be drought, flood, temperature change,” aquatic center Associate Director Yue Liu said. “If we study the crawfish now, we may find disease-resistant type of crawfish, or maybe droughtresistant type of crawfish, or maybe a certain type of crawfish that grows larger and bigger, tastes better and easier to peel.”

The aquatic center also houses axolotls, shrimp, oysters, catfish, gar and other aquatic species.

In addition to genetic storage, the scientists study the species for their utility in biomedical research. Aquatic animals are starting to replace lab monkeys and rats in some studies, Liu said.

“It’s a quarter-million dollars just to have those monkeys in the laboratory,” Liu said. “And they’re like ba-

bies. You have to take care of them, give them Popsicles, play Netflix. But nowadays, especially the past 10, 20 years, scientists have been moving into aquatic species.”

Despite the tanks of catfish and shelves of live axolotls, the aquatic center is not an aquatic animal zoo or a bank for their DNA. Its focus is on developing technology to allow others to cryogenically preserve the genetics of those animals.

And it offers the technology essentially to anyone, via an open-source library where individuals and labs around the world can download and 3D print the designs at minimal cost. The aquatic center is among the first in the world to advocate an open-source hardware concept of this kind, according to staff.

ments, three guided aerial bombs launched by Russia struck private homes in the eastern city of Sloviansk, according to the head of the local military administration, Vadym Lakh. Three people were injured and one man died, Lakh said in a post on the Telegram messenger app.

The strike came the day after Russia attacked Ukraine’s capital with ballistic missiles and drones on Saturday, killing at least one person and wounding 27, Ukrainian authorities said.

Explosions boomed across Kyiv as the attack began in the early morning and continued for hours.

Trump said, however, that he still believes Putin is “very serious” about ending the war.

“I believe Ukraine has made some very strong attacks also,” Trump told reporters as Zelenskyy stood by his side. “And I don’t say that negatively. I think, you probably have to. I don’t say that negatively. But I think, he hasn’t told me that, but

engineer Earth or modify the weather.”

Still, the EPA’s efforts have not dissuaded at least one state lawmaker. State Sen. Valarie Hodges, a Denham Springs Republican, recently told residents to report sightings of “chemtrails” to the state. That advice appears to have prompted an uptick in reports. Hodges didn’t respond to messages for this story.

“Have you noticed strange white trails crisscrossing our skies lately? Many residents across our state are reporting heavy chemtrails, contrails, geoengineering, and cloud-seeding activity — and now there’s a new Louisiana law addressing it,” Hodges posted on Facebook, prompting hundreds of comments. “Our skies belong to We the People, not to corporations, contractors, or agencies experimenting with our weather. Let’s document, report, and demand transparency.”

Louisiana for decades had a process for permitting cloud seeding, a practice of releasing tiny silver iodide particles into clouds to enhance precipitation. It is used in nine mostly arid states, but it was never used here, likely because Louisiana has abundant rainfall.

A handful of studies have suggested silver iodide is not harmful, though questions remain about whether the prolonged use and accumulation of the compound may cause health or environmental problems.

Jennifer Finley, spokesperson for the state Department of Agriculture and Forestry, said, “No license

STAFF PHOTOS By JAVIER GALLEGOS

A 3D-printed fish keychain holder decorates a pillar on Dec. 18 in front of a wall full of 3D printers used at the LSU AgCenter Aquatic Germplasm and Genetic Resources Center.

“It’s so exciting to see how much they can do with the 3D printers, because one of the goals is to democratize science by making it more affordable, more attainable, easier to access,” Marti Gil said.

The scientists hope to improve the replicability of cryopreservation research, Liu and Marti Gil said. Unlike traditional intellectual property, they develop technology that might not be a finished product but can be improved on by the next researcher.

“What we want to do is help the communities to cre-

ate their own repositories,” Marti Gil said. “That is the only way that we are going to preserve the species.”

The aquatic center is also a highly collaborative, interdisciplinary environment, Liu said, bringing in engineering and biology students but also non-STEM majors.

They assign students to tasks that might push them out of their comfort zone — a biology student working with the 3D printer, for example.

“We try to get all the students exposed to all the different interdisciplinary sectors,” Liu said.

there have been some explosions in various parts of Russia. It looks to me, like, I don’t know. I don’t think it came from the Congo.”

Trump noted that it was possible that the negotiations will fall apart.

“In a few weeks, we will know one way or the other, I think,” Trump said. “We could have something where one item that you’re not thinking about is a big item, breaks it up. Look, it’s been a very difficult negotiation.

Very detailed.”

The face-to-face sit-down between Trump and Zelenskyy underscored the apparent progress made by Trump’s top negotiators in recent weeks as the sides traded draft peace plans and continued to shape a proposal to end the fighting. Zelenskyy told reporters Friday that the 20-point draft proposal negotiators have discussed is “about 90% ready” — echoing a figure, and the optimism, that U.S. officials conveyed when Trump’s chief negotiators met with Zelenskyy in Berlin earlier

this month.

During the recent talks, the U.S. agreed to offer certain security guarantees to Ukraine similar to those offered to other members of NATO. The proposal came as Zelenskyy said he was prepared to drop his country’s bid to join the security alliance if Ukraine received NATO-like protection that would be designed to safeguard it against future Russian attacks.

publicly acknowledging the difficulty of ending the conflict. Long gone are the days when, as a candidate in 2024, he boasted that he could resolve the fighting in a day.

Indeed, on Sunday, Trump referred multiple times to the complexity of settling the conflict.

After hosting Zelenskyy at the White House in October, Trump demanded that both Russia and Ukraine halt fighting and “stop at the battle line,” implying that Moscow should be able to keep the territory it has seized from Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said last week that he would be willing to withdraw troops from Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end the war, if Russia also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces.

was ever issued under the law just repealed.”

The state’s new law also bans solar geoengineering, a technology that does exist but is still in its infancy. It’s a highly contentious source of debate among climate scientists and advocates, some of whom believe that spraying compounds high into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight could help mitigate the effects of climate change. Louisiana has felt the effects of climate change particularly acutely, with worsening hurricanes, rising heat-related deaths and more.

A 2016 study surveying the world’s leading atmospheric scientists debunked the theory that “chemtrails” are harmful chemicals being released from high-flying aircraft. Surveys have found a small share of Americans believe in the theory, which the study’s co-author Steven Davis said grew with widespread adoption of the internet. Davis said at the time that the study is important to establish basic scientific facts, such as refuting the chemtrails theory.

State Sen. Mike Fesi, R-Houma, sponsored the bill to ban cloud seeding and climate geoengineering.

Fesi The bill removed the state’s ability to permit cloud seeding activities and required DEQ to receive and monitor reports of alleged spraying of chemicals into the air at over 1,000 feet. Fesi declined interview requests for this story.

Throughout the legislative debate, Fesi repeated debunked theories that people are spraying hazardous chemicals in Louisiana to modify the weather or climate, though he offered no evidence. Republicans easily passed the measure into law, over the objections of Democrats who noted that much of the debate centered around the debunked “chemtrails” theory.

Meagan Molter, spokesperson for the Department of Environmental Qual-

‘Intensive’ weeks ahead Zelenskyy also spoke on Christmas Day with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. The Ukrainian leader said they discussed “certain substantive details” and cautioned “there is still work to be done on sensitive issues” and “the weeks ahead may also be intensive.”

The U.S. president has been working to end the war in Ukraine for much of his first year back in office, showing irritation with both Zelenskyy and Putin while

LSU sophomore Jade LeCesne, a natural resource ecology and management major, was entrusted with testing the motility of frog sperm cells and organizing data related to the cryogenic container, developed by the aquatic center and available to other labs to 3D print.

“Each student worker does a little bit of everything, whether it’s lab work, whether it’s testing what our researchers are doing or if it’s doing the husbandry, like feeding the animals,” LeCesne said. “We’re very hands-on. Everybody helps out everybody else.”

well as the Crimean Peninsula, illegally annexed in 2014, to be recognized as Russian territory. He also has insisted that Ukraine withdraw from some areas in eastern Ukraine that Moscow’s forces haven’t captured. Kyiv has publicly rejected all those demands.

The Kremlin also wants Ukraine to abandon its bid to join NATO. It warned that it wouldn’t accept the deployment of any troops from members of the military alliance and would view them as a “legitimate target.”

Putin also has said Ukraine must limit the size of its army and give official status to the Russian language, demands he has made from the outset of the conflict.

Ushakov told the business daily Kommersant this month that Russian police and national guard would stay in parts of Donetsk — one of the two major areas, Putin’s demands along with Luhansk, that Putin has publicly said he make up the Donbas region wants all the areas in four — even if they become a dekey regions that have been militarized zone under a procaptured by his forces, as spective peace plan.

ity, said the agency didn’t ask for the bill and that the new law doesn’t require the agency to do anything other than receive the reports.

With a real environmental hazard, such as a chemical spill, the agency follows up on reports and responds to the hazard. But the new “chemtrails” reports are simply logged in the system.

“These are strictly for data collection,” Molter said.

“It does not interfere with our daily regular duties we have by law to go and inves-

tigate things that are actually in our purview, like spills.

We have a team whose whole job is to take these calls and reports and go out and investigate.”

The agency set up a separate system to receive reports of chemtrails and has tried to make clear to residents that they should report oil spills or other emergencies through normal channels.

“It is our job to take any and all reports from concerned citizens,” she said.

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Oldest National Park Service ranger dies Betty Reid Soskin, 104, raised awareness about untold stories

By The Associated Press RICHMOND, Calif. — Betty Reid Soskin, who rose to national fame as the oldest National Park Service ranger and used the spotlight to talk about the African American experience during World War II, has died. She was 104.

Her family and the park service announced her death through social media, saying she was surrounded by loved ones at her home in California when she died Dec. 21. They did not release a cause of death.

“She was a powerful voice for sharing her personal experiences, highlighting untold stories, and honoring the contributions of women from diverse backgrounds who worked on the World War II Home Front. Thank you for your service, Ranger Betty,” the park service said in a statement.

When she was 85, the longtime community activist was hired as an interpretive ranger at the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, California. The site at a for-

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By BEN MARGOT

National Park Service Ranger Betty Reid Soskin, who worked at the Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, Calif., died Dec. 21 at 104. mer shipyard and other parts of the working-class city honors American civilians, including the women who worked in war-related industries, who worked on the homefront during the war.

Soskin helped plan the park while working as a state legislative aide. She played a key role in shaping and designing the park by ensuring that it included the oftentimes overlooked contributions of Black men and women.

They include the 202 Black

sailors who were killed in the July 1944 explosion at Port Chicago, on the northeastern flank of San Francisco Bay, where they were assigned to a segregated unit, loading munitions onto cargo ships bound for the Pacific Theater. Unsafe working conditions led 50 survivors of the blast to refuse loading munitions.

They were court-martialed and convicted of mutiny in a trial that exposed systemic racial inequality in the Navy.

As a Black woman, Soskin

worked as a clerk for the allBlack boilermaker’s union in Richmond. She advocated for telling the stories of the “non Rosies” who didn’t get to help build the battleships because of the color of their skin.

“Rosie the Riveter represents the white woman’s experience on the homefront during the war, but as a woman of color, I was never recognized for my work,” she wrote in an October 2020 essay for Newsweek.

“I had never understood

that I had been involved in the building of the ships.

Because at the time, I was 20 years old. I didn’t realize what my role was until I began to go back and recount it for others. It was rather amazing.”

Those who got to meet Soskin during visits to the park took to social media to say it was an honor and that she was an amazing woman.

Born in 1921, Soskin wore many hats throughout her life — a mother, daughter, musician, author, political activist, wife, record store owner, songwriter, painter, grandmother, great-grandmother, prolific blogger and more, as her family recounted.

Her family posted on social media that she had led “a fully packed life and was ready to leave.”

She had just celebrated her birthday with a visit to Betty Reid Soskin Middle School in El Sobrante, California, in September, cheers erupting as she waved to excited children.

In 1995, Soskin was named Woman of the Year by the California State Legislature and about a decade later she received the National WWII Museum’s Silver Service Medallion.

She explored her nine decades of living through extraordinary moments of

history in her 2018 autobiography “Sign My Name to Freedom: A Memoir of a Pioneering Life.”

Her experiences included opening Reid’s Records, an influential Black-owned record store in Berkeley with her first husband, Mel Reid, and being the first Black family to live in suburban Walnut Creek.

Someone burned a cross on their lawn, she wrote, but her family refused to move.

She pointed out that the same community that tried to drive her family away elected her 20 years later to serve as a delegate to the 1972 Democratic National Convention.

“That is how fast social change occurred,” she said.

At the park, her weekly lectures drew large audiences. They also garnered national attention, including the chance to introduce thenPresident Barack Obama at the Christmas tree lighting ceremony in 2015. In 2008, Glamour Magazine named her one of its women of the year.

“I became a ranger when most people retire so I had no idea what it required of me, but it opened up a lot of opportunities that would have been closed to me otherwise,” she wrote in her essay.

She retired on March 31, 2022.

Brigitte Bardot, sex symbol turned animal-rights activist, dies

BY THOMAS ADAMSON and ELAINE GANLEY Associated Press

PARIS — Brigitte Bardot, the French 1960s sex symbol who became one of the greatest screen sirens of the 20th century and later a militant animal-rights activist and far-right supporter, has died. She was 91.

Bardot died Sunday at her home in southern France, according to Bruno Jacquelin, of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the protection of animals. Speaking to The Associated Press, he gave no cause of death, and said that no arrangements had been made for funeral or memorial services. She had been hospitalized last month.

Bardot became an international celebrity as a sexualized teen bride in the 1956 movie “And God Created Woman.” Directed by then husband Roger Vadim, it triggered a scandal with scenes of the long-legged beauty dancing on tables naked.

At the height of a cinema career that spanned more than two dozen films and three marriages, Bardot came to symbolize a nation bursting out of bourgeois respectability. Her tousled, blond hair, voluptuous figure and pouty irreverence made her one of France’s bestknown stars, even as she struggled with depression.

Such was her widespread appeal that in 1969 her features were chosen to be the model for “Marianne,” the national emblem of France and the official Gallic seal.

Bardot’s face appeared on statues, postage stamps and coins.

Bardot’s second career as an animal-rights activist was equally sensational.

She traveled to the Arctic to blow the whistle on the slaughter of baby seals. She also condemned the use of animals in laboratory experiments, and she opposed Muslim slaughter rituals.

“Man is an insatiable pred-

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

French actress Brigitte Bardot poses with a huge sombrero she brought back from Mexico as she arrives at Orly Airport in Paris on May 27, 1965. Bardot died Sunday at age 91. ator,” Bardot told The Associated Press on her 73rd birthday, in 2007. “I don’t care about my past glory.

That means nothing in the face of an animal that suffers, since it has no power, no words to defend itself.”

In 1985, she was awarded the Legion of Honor, the nation’s highest recognition.

Turn to the far right Later, however, she fell from public grace as her animal protection diatribes took on a decidedly extremist tone. She frequently decried the influx of immigrants into France, especially Muslims.

She was convicted and fined five times in French courts of inciting racial hatred, in incidents inspired by her opposition to the Muslim practice of slaughtering sheep during annual religious holidays.

Bardot’s 1992 marriage to fourth husband Bernard d’Ormale, a onetime adviser to far-right National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, contributed to her political shift. She described Le Pen, an outspoken nationalist with multiple racism convictions of his own, as a “lovely, intelligent man.”

In 2018, at the height of the #MeToo movement, Bardot

said in an interview that most actors protesting sexual harassment in the film industry were “hypocritical,” because many played “the teases” with producers to land parts.

She said she found it “charming to be told that I was beautiful or that I had a nice little ass.”

embody the hedonism and sexual freedom of the 1960s.

The film was a box-office hit, and it made Bardot a superstar. Her girlish pout, tiny waist and generous bust were often more appreciated than her talent.

“It’s an embarrassment to have acted so badly,” Bardot said of her early films. “I suffered a lot in the beginning. I was really treated like someone less than nothing.”

Bardot’s unabashed, offscreen love affair with costar Jean-Louis Trintignant eradicated the boundaries between her public and private life and turned her into a hot prize for paparazzi.

Bardot never adjusted to the limelight. She blamed the constant media attention for the suicide attempt that followed 10 months after the birth of her only child, Nicolas. Photographers had bro-

‘Difficult’ upbringing Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot was born Sept. 28, 1934, to a wealthy industrialist. A shy child, she studied classical ballet and was discovered by a family friend who put her on the cover of Elle magazine at age 14.

Bardot once described her childhood as “difficult” and said that her father was a strict disciplinarian who would sometimes punish her with a horse whip.

Vadim, a French movie producer who she married in 1952, saw her potential and wrote “And God Created Woman” to showcase her provocative sensuality, an explosive cocktail of childlike innocence and raw sexuality.

The film, which portrayed Bardot as a teen who marries to escape an orphanage and then beds her brotherin-law, had a decisive influence on New Wave directors Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut, and came to

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ken into her house two weeks before she gave birth to snap a picture of her pregnant.

Nicolas’ father was Jacques Charrier, a French actor she married in 1959.

Bardot soon gave up her son to his father, and later said she had been chronically depressed and unready for the duties of being a mother.

Bardot married her third husband, West German millionaire playboy Gunther Sachs, in 1966, and they divorced three years later.

With the exception of 1963’s critically acclaimed “Contempt,” directed by Godard, Bardot’s films were rarely complicated by plots. Often they were vehicles to display Bardot in scanty dresses or frolicking nude in the sun.

Bardot retired to her Riviera villa in St. Tropez at the age of 39 in 1973 after “The Woman Grabber.”

Middle-aged reinvention She emerged a decade later with a new persona: an animal rights lobbyist. She abandoned her jet-set life and sold off movie memorabilia and jewelry to create a foundation devoted exclusively to the prevention of animal cruelty.

She attacked centuries-old French and Italian sporting traditions including the Palio, a free-for-all horse race, and campaigned on behalf of wolves, rabbits, kittens and turtledoves.

Bardot once said that she identified with the animals that she was trying to save.

“I can understand hunted animals, because of the way I was treated,” Bardot said.

“What happened to me was inhuman. I was constantly surrounded by the world press.”

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BY JOSIE ABUGOV Staff writer STAFF PHOTOS By BRAD BOWIE

Cakes and pies fill a display case at the grand opening of Sugar Du Jour bakery in downtown Lafayette.

New bakery sweetens downtown life Sugar Du Jour opened just before Christmas

BY JOANNA BROWN

Staff writer

A crowd of people gathered at the corner of Vermilion Street and Lee Avenue just before Christmas to welcome downtown Lafayette’s newest business — a small-batch bakery called Sugar Du Jour.

Owner Heather Steven, a retired teacher who spent 15 years in the math department at Acadiana High School, said she started baking biscuits with her grandmother when she was just 2 or 3 years old. She founded Sugar Du Jour as a cottage business that reflects her lifelong passion for baking, with a focus on sweet dough pies, cake squares, wedding cakes and other treats.

The shop at 415 Lee Ave. is her first brick-and-mortar business, and Steven created a cozy space perfect for doing homework, meeting friends or simply relaxing with coffee and a confection — the kind of bakery that feels like an extension of home.

“It was always in my heart to be downtown, because I wanted to be accessible to a lot of people,” said Steven. “That’s my thing.

I want to reach as many people as possible and have

Owner Heather Steven speaks during the grand opening. them feel the love and joy that we give.”

Sugar Du Jour’s grand opening was attended by community leaders, government officials and Steven’s large family, who helped her manage a line that stretched down the sidewalk after the ribboncutting. Customers said that they were hoping to try items like her red velvet or Biscoff butter crunch cake squares before they sold out.

In his remarks to the crowd, District 5 City Council member Kenneth Boudreaux noted that the “timing could not be better” for a new business at that

“I want to reach as many people as possible and have them feel the love and joy that we give.”

HEATHER STEVEN, owner of Sugar Du Jour intersection — right across the street from the site of a future 83-room hotel.

There’s been a lot of activity at Lee and Vermilion this year. Magnolia Pantry, a cafe specializing in teas, lemonades and sweet and savory pies, opened one block away in the historic Sans Souci building in August. In July, construction officially started on Hotel

Lafayette, where Don’s Seafood and Steakhouse stood for more than 70 years.

Boudreaux also pointed out that Lafayette’s Mardi Gras route will continue to run next to the bakery, something that Boudreaux advocated for this fall when Mayor-President Monique Boulet proposed moving the route to Jefferson Street.

After years of juggling a home-based business while working and caring for family full-time, Steven said that this step is a scary one — but her community’s unflinching support has seen her through.

Like many residents of warm climates, the brown lizards scurrying around New Orleans have a worse temper in extreme heat.

According to a new study from Tulane University researchers, these invasive brown anoles grow more aggressive toward their native green counterparts as temperatures rise. The research helps provide an explanation for why the green lizards many New Orleanians remember from their childhood have seemed to become scarce recently.

The combative behavior of the brown lizards — such as pushups, changing colors and biting — makes life harder for the green lizards. In the face of a warming climate, the new research published in October in the Journal of Thermal Biology bodes poorly for the comparatively mild-mannered green lizards, the only anole native to North America.

“The invasive species will be at even more of an advantage as temperatures warm and might be more successful at displacing the native species,” said study co-author Alex Gunderson, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Tulane.

The brown lizards were also recently found to have the highest blood lead levels ever documented in a vertebrate, a discovery that came out of the same Tulane lab that researched the lizards’ aggression. While lead is known to increase aggression in other animals and humans, it is unlikely that the lead is emboldening the brown lizards, Gunderson said.

“Lead doesn’t seem to affect them at all,” Gunderson said.

But what is affecting the brown lizards is hotter weather — and these conditions are imperiling the green lizards.

Over the course of three summers, Ph.D. student Julie Rej collected brown and green female anoles near the Tulane campus, then placed pairs of the two species in enclosures of varying temperatures, from mild spring weather to the 100-degree conditions expected to become more common as the climate warms.

The researchers selected only females for the experiment because both the brown and green female lizards exhibit more aggression toward the other species than their male counterparts, Rej noted.

At each tested temperature, the brown lizards were more aggressive than the green ones, and the difference in temper worsened with the temperature. Under the hottest conditions, the brown lizards expressed their most aggressive behavior.

“As temperatures rise, it’s kind of unknown what’s going to happen to (the green anoles)

ä See LIZARDS, page 4B

ä See BAKERY, page 4B

Hurricane forecasters adopt AI models Technology used for the first time

BY KASEY BUBNASH Staff writer

After a merciful lack of hurricanes in the U.S. in 2025 and an unusually quiet Gulf, the Atlantic hurricane season wasn’t too memorable in Louisiana. But the season will be remembered for something else: advances in artificial intelligence.

For the first time in its 70 years of existence, the National Hurricane Center incorporated AI weather model guidance in its hurricane forecasts this season, technology researchers believe could help

improve forecast accuracy while using fewer resources.

The hurricane center isn’t alone. Its move toward AI coincides with a broader push at its parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to incorporate the new technology into all kinds of weather forecasts.

NOAA, which also oversees the National Weather Service, announced last week that it had launched three new AIdriven weather forecasting models that NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs called “a significant leap forward” for American weather forecasting.

Wallace Hogsett, a science and operations officer at the NHC, said hurricane re-

searchers have been tracking the progress of several upand-coming AI-driven weather models for some time. But it was only in 2025 that some of them, including one from Google DeepMind, became consistently operational.

The AI models that were folded into forecasts showed promise, but Hogsett said AI is just one of many tools scientists use to attempt to solve the riddles of the atmosphere.

“There are a lot of tools that we use,” he said, “and no matter how good a model is, there is always going to be a critical role for our forecasters in terms of distilling all that information and communicating the risk to people to keep them safe.”

The way AI-based models operate is different from those traditionally used in hurricane forecasting, but the goal is ultimately the same, Hogsett said: predict where a hurricane will go and how intense it will be.

Hogsett said traditional numerical weather prediction models work by solving the equations of the atmosphere, a process that takes time to complete and is computationally intensive.

AI-driven models instead train themselves on decades of historical data and produce forecasts based on patterns identified in that data, Hogsett said.

ä See HURRICANE, page 4B

STAFF FILE PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

According to a new study from Tulane University researchers, invasive brown anoles grow more aggressive toward their native green counterparts as temperatures rise.

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

Immigration raids are no way to repay hard workers

Illegal immigrants chose this fate for themselves and their children The article on Dec. 13 titled “Student absences jump during sweeps” omits what is always omitted when liberals talk about illegal immigration, namely the word illegal.

The article points out correctly the anguish and anxiety felt by illegal immigrant families during the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions in the New Orleans metro area. While most people are sympathetic and empathetic, we should remember that these parents did it to themselves — that is, rather than enter the U.S. through a legal port of entry, following the legal process, they chose to shortcut the process and enter illegally, bypassing the U.S. law. They chose to be illegal immigrants. Their choice limits my sympathy and empathy.

In addition, a thinking person will realize that all these illegal immigrant students place a huge extra burden on the public education system. They require additional teachers, classroom and building facilities, janitorial staff, breakfast and lunch meals, books and related materials, laptop computers, etc. — all paid for by the taxes of the U.S. citizens and the legal immigrants of our community. (I am a retired teacher myself, and therefore very familiar with the burdens placed on the education system and its teachers.)

The U.S. has immigration laws and processes for a reason — all countries of the world do so. We want legal immigrants. We need legal immigrants. But millions of illegal immigrants place a huge burden on our country and its laws. It is no wonder that so many U.S. citizens resent the imposition of the burden these millions of illegal immigrants cause. Even though most of them are probably fine folks who merely want a better life than is available in their home country, they choose the life of a criminal when they shortcut the system and sneak into the U.S. They, and we all, should not forget that they did this to themselves.

JIM STEPHENS Slidell

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As we witness Border Patrol raids/arrests and profiling people who are Latino, let us remember who came to New Orleans’ rescue after Katrina.

It was about a third government, a third nonprofits and a third Latino workers. They all came to New Orleans to rebuild roofs, kill the mold and collect the trash. We owe these people our everlasting gratitude, not fear. Seventy percent of the people arrested have no criminal record. That is the real crime.

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Anti-abortion activist Caleb Buck, left, argues with abortion-rights activist Nadine Seiler outside the Supreme Court in 2024.

VANCE LEVESQUE New Orleans

Take the political detox challenge Our nation is currently politically hyperpolarized, threatening the continuing internal peace of our democracy.

This has been caused in large part by partisan news and social media bubbles that each portray the other side not as “wellintentioned but mistaken” but as “knowingly evil.”

This mutual demonization is false, toxic and dangerous. It is false because there are relatively few actual Marxists on the left and relatively few actual fascists on the right.

It is toxic because this hatred is dissolving the social connections that bind our society together, including families and friendships.

It is dangerous because demonization leads to violence, including possibly worst-case scenarios of civil war or even genocide.

We need to realize again that reasonable, informed, decent people can profoundly disagree on most moral, political or religious questions. Thus, we can agree to disagree peacefully and respectfully.

If you think “the other side” is “evil” because they disagree with you, you are trapped in a political bubble. If so, try the “Political Detox Challenge.”

Turn off the news. Get off social media. Go outside in the sun and fresh air. Engage in your favorite nonpolitical activities. Spend time with friends and family talking about anything but politics. Call out your own side if they demonize. If you discuss politics with someone who disagrees, don’t judge or persuade. Just listen to understand. Show humility and grace toward them: Realize you might be mistaken, then empathize with them and find shared, common values. You can even read self-help books or get counseling if you need help ending your absolutist, all-or-nothing, us-versus-them thinking.

In short, to restore the health of our democracy, don’t choose left or right; instead, choose humanity over hate.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU head coach Brian Kelly listens to a question in the post-game news conference on Oct. 25.

LSU learned nothing from Brian Kelly breakup

RICK SWANSON retiring political science professor, UL Lafayette

Hard to see how LSU has learned a lesson from the Brian Kelly fiasco.

We guaranteed 80% of this new contract — even more than for Kelly.

There is no offset for salary earned at his new school. Kelly is required to look and has an offset.

We are paying whatever bonus he would have gotten from the school he left days away from a berth in the CFP. And, like the mistress who convinces the cheater to leave, we will be shocked when he does that to us for whatever suitor comes along in the future.

Hopefully, we can get into the playoffs and maybe win a championship before the inevitable ugly divorce.

Keeping momentum at Michoud is key The “space race” is heating up, with growing debate over how the U.S. should build and maintain a durable advantage in space.

Within this conversation, it is essential to recognize a major asset located in New Orleans East: the Michoud Assembly Facility.

Michoud is one of the country’s most sophisticated manufacturing campuses. It is where the Saturn V rockets were built, where the Space Shuttle External Tank was produced and where NASA and its partners assemble key components of the Space STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRETT DUKE Launch System, the backbone of America’s next era of space exploration. Congress reaf- People tour NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility firmed this work through the One Big Beauti- in New Orleans. ful Bill Act, securing missions through Artemis V and retaining the SLS as a pillar of America’s return to the Moon and beyond. ties and a highly-trained workforce, MAF is For greater New Orleans, the “space uniquely positioned to support NASA’s fustakes” couldn’t be higher. Michoud supture and the fast-growing commercial space ports thousands of jobs, generates hundreds sector. Michoud is open for business and ready to write America’s next chapter of inof millions of dollars in economic activity and anchors an ecosystem in aerospace, novation, provided we commit to its current composites and advanced manufacturing. mission and long-term potential.

Continued investment at Michoud diversiAmerica’s future in space and advanced manufacturing relies on assets like Michoud. fies our economy, creates high-skill careers To remain competitive, the next NASA adfor residents and strengthens the nation’s industrial base — when increasing domestic ministrator must support centers like MAF, production is vital. invest in their growth and ensure they reLooking ahead, Michoud represents an main cornerstones of national capability and unmatched industrial opportunity. With over regional opportunity.

800 acres of development area, deepwater MICHAEL HECHT access, world-class manufacturing capabilipresident and CEO, Greater New Orleans, Inc.

CHRIS MORTON Slidell

We can’t afford to extend ACA subsidies There have been several articles and letters recently about the extension or lapsing of Obamacare/ACA subsidies, but no mention was made of the immense cost of the program to American taxpayers.

If cost were not considered, I, and everyone else, would be in favor of such benefits. However, such programs are not being paid by today’s taxpayers, but the cost is being kicked down the road to future generations, as the U.S. spends about 35% more each year than its revenues, creating massive deficits and adding to the massive federal debt.

If today’s taxpayers were asked, or forced, to pay for the Obamacare subsidy extension out of their own pockets, they would overwhelmingly refuse. It’s easy to let some unknown taxpayers pay the bill in years to come.

Trump’s words and actions don’t line up While President Donald Trump’s masked shock troops are sweeping hardworking members of our community off the streets, roofs and workplaces in and around New Orleans, take a minute to reflect on the estimated 1,800 criminals Trump, also a felon,

has granted clemency and pardons this year.

This includes his most recent, the Honduran ex-president convicted of trafficking drugs into the U.S. The hypocrisy is mind-bending.

JEFF ANDERSON New Orleans

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COMMENTARY For 2026, predicting a new senator, an empty-handed governor and more I’m long since done with school, but I still think of the end of the year as report card time. It’s when I brew a big pot of coffee, summon the courage to look back at my previous yearend column and see how much I got right, and wrong.

Bottom line: I Stephanie didn’t exactly ace Grace the test, but I didn’t flunk either.

I was correct that U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Benton, would manage to hold on to the House speaker’s gavel throughout 2025 — for want of a viable alternative, if nothing else — and also that shepherding the GOP’s narrowest of majorities wouldn’t be much fun.

I didn’t quite nail the specifics, though. I predicted that Johnson would be forced to work with Democrats to get anything done, and that President Donald Trump wouldn’t always have his back.

Turns out that the House managed to pass the few significant measures it passed along party lines, and that he and Trump remain thick as thieves.

That doesn’t mean Johnson ends 2025 in good shape though, as his loyalty to the man from Mar-a-Lago is starting to create cracks in the House’s fragile GOP wall. For 2026, I predict Johnson will still hold the speakership — again, who else? — but that he’ll preside over a legislative mess, a slew of departures from frustrated members and a Democratic blowout at the polls come November.

I was wrong about the fate of another Louisiana member of Congress, Garret Graves of Baton Rouge, who lost his seat to redistricting but looked like he might be headed for the Trump administration as head of FEMA. Maybe it was just wishful thinking on my part, a hope that Trump might actually surround himself with at least a few subject matter experts rather than performative sycophants. My bad.

I also figured that U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy would emerge as one of the most interesting politicians to watch in Washington, although I probably underestimated just how Shakespearean his 2025 trajectory would be.

Having risen to chair the Senate committee that oversees health and other matters, the Baton Rouge gastroenterologist’s first and defining move was to support Trump’s nomination of noted conspiracy theorist Robert F. Ken-

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON

Republican members of Congress reach to shake hands with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-Benton, center bottom, after Johnson signed President Donald Trump’s bill of tax breaks and spending cuts, on July 3 at the Capitol in Washington.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, attends a hearing in October.

nedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

Despite Kennedy’s promise to Cassidy that he wouldn’t undermine the vaccine protocols that the senator understands to be lifesaving, Kennedy has thumbed his nose at him and the entire medical establishment and done just that.

Meanwhile, Cassidy showed his desperation to get reelected with every awkward embrace of Trump, hoping to erase the memory of his principled 2021 vote to convict the president in his second impeachment. It hasn’t worked, and Cassidy continues to take heat from those still angry over that and also those who were counting on him to remain

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Mayor-elect Helena Moreno speaks during the inauguration celebration news conference in New Orleans on Dec. 12. a bulwark against the president’s voluminous transgressions. And a new party primary system debuts in 2026, which will force Cassidy to face not just a Republican primary but a likely party runoff against one of the many MAGA candidates already campaigning against him.

I don’t see how he can survive that, even with the help of unaffiliated voters who might be angry that he’s now caving but still figure he’s better than any of the alternatives. So I’m predicting that Louisiana will have a new incoming Republican senator this time next year.

On the local front, it wasn’t

much of a stretch to predict that, with Mayor LaToya Cantrell under federal investigation (and as of August, indictment) and visibly checked out, New Orleans voters would look to put the “strong” back into the strong mayor system.

They did just that, choosing Helena Moreno’s competencebased campaign over several opponents’ plays to make the race about identity politics. Now Moreno has to deliver more — and more quickly — than even she’d imagined before we all learned about the devastating budget deficit she’ll face when she’s sworn in on Jan. 12.

So will New Orleans be turning a corner a year from now?

Judging by how Moreno’s team is already tackling the difficult tasks ahead and her strong relationships with those who can help, including in Baton Rouge, I’m going to predict a “yes.”

I’m not sure I can say that about the city just up the Mississippi River, though. A year ago, Baton Rouge voters chose a newcomer as mayor, but in 2025, Sid Edwards couldn’t win voter support for the big tax proposal that would have helped the city fiscally weather the secession of St. George. Edwards is an experienced coach, but unlike Moreno’s,

his team still has a lot of on-thejob training to do.

I also predicted last December that Gov. Jeff Landry, who demonstrated in his first year that he likes to move fast and break things, would slow down.

Well, sort of. His big 2025 initiative, four hastily written constitutional amendments that would have revamped state tax and budget laws, among other things, went down to humiliating defeat at the hands of voters. A rejection that decisive has ramifications, including the loss of a governor’s ability to bend legislators to his will, so look for less gubernatorial strong-arming when the Legislature meets this spring.

But Landry in 2025 continued to go big in areas where he didn’t need legislative buy-in, an approach that mirrors Trump’s — and that has caused just about as much controversy. Just to name two examples: Landry’s public interference with LSU’s coaching and athletic management raised eyebrows throughout college sports, and his reversal of major, long-planned river diversions threw the state’s longstanding, bipartisan commitment to coastal restorations into question.

And as the year closed, the governor was bizarrely setting his sights abroad as Trump’s newly announced “special envoy” to Greenland, with a mission, as the governor put it, to “make Greenland a part of the U.S.” Never mind that Landry has no diplomatic background or skills, that the people of Greenland have no interest in being annexed and that Denmark has no interest in ceding it.

So let’s call this the easiest 2026 prediction of all: That Landry will return to Trump empty-handed.

Beyond that, I’d add a word of caution for the governor, who has already sunk to 39% approval in one recent poll. Louisiana votes reliably Republican these days, but that doesn’t mean voters won’t turn on a Republican leader who spends so much time trying to play on the national (let alone international) stage that he neglects the state.

Just ask Bobby Jindal, who remains in the political doghouse a decade after he left office. If Landry gets too taken with being part of the Trump administration — even on a “volunteer” basis — he might just join his predecessor there in 2026.

Email Stephanie Grace at sgrace@theadvocate.com.

We have reached the Emily Litella moment on climate change some anodyne comment and had It’s been a cold winter so far been propounding an absurd in the Midwest and much of the theory, and dismissed it with a Northeast, early-in-the-season hurried, “Never mind.” snow even in Washington, D.C., Playing the Litella role this and temperatures falling to freezOctober was Bill Gates, who, as ing and below in much of the a mega-philanthropist, South. Come to think of it, makes serious efforts to North America’s 2024-25 gauge whether the causes winter was pretty cold, too. to which he has contribIt’s gotten to the point that “polar vortex” is a phrase uted have been worth the on just about everyone’s money. Although “climate lips. change will have seriMichael ous consequences,” he Of course, you are surely Barone said, using the two-word aware — as those of us with doubts about ineviphrase that replaced global warming as it was becomtably disastrous global warming were often told — that there’s a ing apparent that Earth wasn’t difference between weather and uniformly warming in line with climate. Weather is anecdote, clipredictions, “it will not lead to mate is a longstanding trend. And humanity’s demise. People will the longstanding trend in climate, be able to live and thrive in most we have been told this entire past places on Earth for the foreseequarter-century, is toward a hotable future.”

Numbered also among the conter climate all over the world, with multiple catastrophic conse- verts — the use of religious metaquences. phor is not accidental; more beNow, we seem to have reached low — is Breakthrough Institute an Emily Litella moment — the research director Ted Nordhaus. moment when, on the now half“I used to argue that if the world century-old “Saturday Night kept burning fossil fuels at curLive” program, the befuddled rent rates, catastrophe was virtucharacter realized that she had ally assured,” he wrote this fall misheard and misinterpreted in The Free Press. “I no longer

believe this hyperbole.”

He pointed out that the demographic and physical factors on which he based his predictions two decades ago have not come to pass, and that despite measurable warming, some of which is attributable to human activity, people have adapted, and any damage has been well short of catastrophic.

Meanwhile, the undermining of hyperbolic scenarios has, as Wall Street Journal economics reporter Greg Ip wrote recently, led the likes of Canadian Prime Minister (and former British central banker) Mark Carney and BlackRock DEO Larry Fink to downplay the risks of climate change, as most American voters have done some time ago.

In all this, I see elements of religious conversion. Advocates of drastic action to address global warming climate change tend to be secular in religion but religious in their devotion to their cause. We have sinned, with our SUVs and corporate jets frying the Earth; we must atone by reducing our (or others’) standards of living; we must faithfully perform daily rituals, adjusting our

thermostats and sorting our trash for recycling.

For many Americans of a certain age, any change in the climate they remember from the summer when they were 16 is a change for the worse, just like any change from the playlist of songs they remember from that glorious summer.

But my impression is that those musical offerings are, like the baby boomer generation, getting scarcer, and certainly the demand in the political marketplace for restoration of that golden summer’s weather climate seems to have grown weaker too.

This is operating within a larger cultural trend, an increasing skepticism of science and scientists. Earlier this month, as a Wall Street Journal editorial was among the few to emblazon, the journal Nature retracted a study that projected climate change could lead to a 62% economic decline by 2100. You can almost hear Litella saying, “Never mind.”

Such shoddiness seems amusing, at least until you consider the “replication crisis” in which scientists have been unable to

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replicate the results of dozens of peer-reviewed and journal-published experiments, some of them famous like the Stanford prison experiment.

And then there was the effort, successful during the COVID-19 crisis, by National Institutes of Health official Dr. Anthony Fauci, to suppress the now generally accepted theory that the virus spread because of a leak from the lab in Wuhan, China, whose gainof-function research, deliberately strengthening viruses, was subsidized despite a ban by former President Barack Obama in 2014.

So, the public’s skepticism of science and scientists is not surprising, though it’s surely having some unfortunate effects. People can see that expert recommendations, pushed by teachers unions, to close schools despite children’s negligible COVID-19 risk have resulted in long-lasting learning loss. And they are seeing one prominent preacher after another of environmental doom from climate change suddenly saying, like Litella, “Never mind.”

Michael Barone is on X, @MichaelBarone.

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New suit filed over Belle Chasse tolls Plaquemines Parish wants collected fees returned

BY LARA NICHOLSON Staff writer

there since 1967. It is the main thoroughfare in and out of Belle Chasse.

In a first-of-its-kind contract for the state, Plenary paid about $70 million of the construction costs in exchange for 30 years of tolls and fees.

But unforeseen delays — like reconstruction of some portions of the bridge due to sinking pavement — also led to fines of $10,000 per day that totaled over $3 million. As of October, Plenary was still being fined $5,000 per day for failing to finish a nearby roadwork project.

The tolling system states Plaquemines Parish residents with a GeauxPass account should pay 25 cents each time they cross the bridge, and drivers without a GeauxPass account would pay $2.26.

But some motorists say they’ve taken on bills in the thousands already, and local business owners say their foot traffic has come to a halt. According to the lawsuit, customer service to remedy the charges was also poor to nonexistent.

In four months of operations, the bridge billed out $5.2 million in tolls and $6.8 million in administrative fees, the complaint says.

The lawsuit claims that those amounts put Plenary on track to make $35.9 million by the end of its first year, and over $1 billion by the end of 30 years.

The parish government says the tolling system has hit their pocketbook, too, as a result of reduced tax revenues.

Gov. Jeff Landry suspended the tolls in October to renegotiate the 30-year bridge contract. Plenary spokesperson Angi Noote said that a final agreement has not yet been reached.

Plaquemine Parish’s lawsuit joins another lawsuit by motorists seeking class-action status, filed in the 25th Judicial District Court last October.

Plaquemines Parish has filed a new lawsuit asking a judge to block the state and its contractor from reinstating “negligent and abusive” tolls on the Belle Chasse Bridge.

The parish government filed suit against the state Department of Transportation and Development, bridge operator Plenary Belle Chasse and its tolling subcontractor, Kapsch TrafficCom, in the 25th Judicial District Court last week, seeking an injunction on bridge tolls and the return of all tolls and fees collected from May to October of this year.

According to the parish, the lawsuit was filed because the state and Plenary “were unable to reach an agreement” on how to fix the toll system.

“Our priority remains protecting the interests of Plaquemines Parish and we look forward to reaching a fair and equitable resolution with the State and Plenary,” the parish wrote in a statement.

Tolls have been suspended since October.

The lawsuit alleges that Plenary, through its subcontractor Kapsch, has been charging Belle Chasse Bridge motorists with exorbitant tolls and fees, like a $25 administrative fee that applied to roughly 86% of transactions this year.

It also says that the state illegally delegated its powers to a private entity, denied motorists an appeal process, and failed to intervene sooner on the toll system.

DOTD and Plenary both declined to comment on the lawsuit Tuesday.

The state built the new fourlane, $170 million bridge on La. 23 in partnership with Plenary to replace the previous smaller Email Lara Nicholson at vertical-lift bridge that had been lnicholson@theadvocate.com.

HURRICANE

Continued from page 1B “So it’s a very different way to produce a forecast, and there’s some pros and cons to both approaches,” he said.

The AI models are significantly faster and use a fraction of the computing resources that traditional models require. One AI model NOAA just launched, for example, is touted as using just 9% of the computing resources required by its traditional counterpart.

But Hogsett said because AI models are trained on older data, they tend to produce lower-resolution imagery that offers less detail.

They can also be a “black box,” he said. It’s not exactly clear how they reach the conclusions included in their

final products.

Still, AI-based models showed promise in hurricane forecasting in 2025, according to a seasonal report preview recently released by the NHC, though many of the models are still under development and are not consistently available to forecasters. The Google DeepMind model performed particularly well, according to the report, producing some of the most accurate track and intensity forecasts for catastrophic Hurricane Melissa.

The NHC teamed up with Google early in the 2025 season via a cooperative research and development agreement that allows federal hurricane forecasters to use the DeepMind model while supplying Google developers with the historical weather data necessary to the model’s operations.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

A new Tulane University study has found the invasive Cuban brown anoles, left, have grown more aggressive toward native green anoles.

LIZARDS

Continued from page 1B because we know the brown anoles will have that competitive edge with becoming more aggressive,” said Rej, whose dissertation last year included the published study as a chapter.

Gunderson explained that aggression exists “on a scale,” including bobbing their bodies up and down in a kind of pushup, extending their throat fan with a flash of color and ultimately biting another lizard.

All of these behaviors are like fighting words, signals to the green anoles that the brown lizards could take them out if they wanted.

“The idea is that by acting

more aggressive, you essentially communicate, ‘I’m going to hurt you, I’m going to win, so just go somewhere else and let me have this space,’” Gunderson said.

‘Everyone’s daily life’

anoles.

“A lot of studies that we do as scientists are sort of out in the middle of nowhere and people don’t have a lot of context for them, but in this case, it’s something that’s just part of everyone’s daily life here,” Gunderson said.

The findings aligned with a broader pattern that invasive species perform better than their native counterparts in warming environments, Gunderson said.

The brown anoles are native to Cuba and the Bahamas and made their way to the region via boat traffic to Florida.

The invasive species has been in New Orleans for at least 30 years.

The brown anoles are already displacing the green ones, leading the native species to perch higher off the ground in areas where the brown lizards live.

These patterns might explain why the brown lizards are easier to spot in New Orleans backyards, sidewalks and parks, but it made collecting the green lizards more difficult for Rej. That is, until she found that they clustered in certain bushes in Audubon Park, which is where Rej ended up catch- Email Josie Abugov at josie. ing the majority of the green abugov@theadvocate.com.

“I feel like we’re just Hogsett said the NHC’s scratching the surface of official forecast guidance how we’re going to use these is generally based on scienlong term,” Hogsett said. tists’ analysis of some conglomeration of those model A tool in the toolbox predictions.

“I think (AI models) will be Regardless of how successful AI models become, a tool in our toolbox,” HogHogsett said prediction sett said. “Not the tool, but models in general are just they will be a tool that we one piece of an intensive use.” weather forecasting proNOAA’s new models cess.

At the hurricane center, Here’s how NOAA’s three Hogsett said forecasters new AI-based weather prestart by collecting satellite diction models work and data, ground-based obser- how they compare: n Artificial Intelligence Global vations from weather stations, buoy readings and Forecast System (AIGFS): This Hurricane Hunter aircraft AI-based weather forecast data. That allows scientists model uses a variety of data to assess a hurricane’s size, sources to deliver improved intensity and position, in- weather forecasts more formation that then feeds quickly and efficiently than into the weather prediction its traditional counterpart, models. There are dozens in some cases using 99.7% of such models operated fewer computing resources, by agencies around the according to NOAA. It also demonstrates “a significant globe.

LOTTERY

reduction” in tropical storm SATURDAY, DEC. 27, and hurricane track errors at longer lead times.

2025 n Artificial Intelligence Global PICK 3: 0-8-6 Ensemble Forecast System (AIGEFS): PICK 4: 9-3-8-3 This AI-based, 31-member PICK 5: 3-8-4-7-6 ensemble system provides a EASY 5: 14-25-27-30-37 range of probable forecasts to meteorologists and deciLOTTO: 7-22-27-34-38sion makers rather than a 39 single forecast while using POWERBALL: 5-20-34just 9% of the computing 39-62 (1) resources of the traditional GEFS. Early results also Unofficial notification, show improved perforkeep your tickets. mance over the traditional GEFS, according to NOAA. n Hybrid-GEFS (HGEFS): A 61-member, hybrid “grand Funerals Today ensemble” that combines the new AI-based AIGEFS Bagwell, David Fountain Memorial Funeral Home, with NOAA’s traditional 1010 Pandora Street in Lafayette, at 11 ensemble model. NOAA of- a.m. ficials said initial testing shows this first-of-its-kind Penny, John Delhomme Chapel of the Flowers, approach consistently out- 1011 Bertrand Drive in Lafayette, at 11 performs both the AI-only a.m. and physics-only ensemble Trahan, Robert systems.

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Maurice at Noon.

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Vincent Pierre, municipal and constituent services adviser for Lafayette Consolidated Government, speaks during the grand opening of Sugar Du Jour in downtown Lafayette.

BAKERY

Continued from page 1B “Not one thing in that bakery was prepared without my family, and not only blood family,” Steven told the crowd on Saturday. “This isn’t my first go at trying to get my bakery going. I’ve tried three or four

times, but this time, they said, ‘You’re not gonna stop.’

“It was my time to step out in faith. It’s a huge step, but God said, ‘I got you.’”

Steven already plans to expand Sugar Du Jour’s breakfast offerings with scratch-made biscuits, cinnamon rolls and croissants, and Mardi Gras menu items will include a special king

cake-style pound cake. Customers can check the shop’s Facebook page for holiday hours, and afterwards, Steven expects to be open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, and closed on Sundays and Mondays.

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

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M o n d ay, d e c e M b e r 29, 2025

SAINTS

TITANS

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JUST FOUR FUN RECORD: 6-10 UP NEXT: AT ATLANTA FALCONS, TBD SUNDAy

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By STEW MILNE

Saints wide receiver Kevin Austin celebrates his 10-yard touchdown with a teammate on Sunday in Nashville, Tenn. The score gave the Saints the lead for good.

Shough outdazzles QB Ward as Saints extend winning streak

Undeniable rookie should have wrapped up some hardware Sunday

BY MATTHEW PARAS

It’s indisputable.

Undeniable.

Tyler Shough is the next Offensive Rookie of the Year award winner for the New Orleans Saints.

He still has one game to play in what has fast become the best rookie season by Jeff a quarterback in franDuncan chise history, but the league might as well alert the engraver. The competition is all but over after Shough’s spectacular performance Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.

Staff writer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — If Tyler Shough thought about his last year in college during Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans, the New Orleans Saints quarterback couldn’t be blamed.

It was only last fall when Shough and the Louisville Cardinals got into a shootout with Cam Ward and the Miami Hurricanes. On that day, Ward dazzled. He unleashed one terrific throw after another, buying time in the pocket and ripping off heaters when forced outside of it. Shough

tried to keep pace, and while his performance was more than respectable, Ward made his case for why he deserved to be the first overall pick in that year’s draft.

So there Shough was again Sunday, watching as Ward spun his way out of trouble and making passes only a few could make. The Saints quarterback again found his way into a shootout.

But this time, it was Shough who couldn’t be stopped.

Shough threw for 333 yards and rallied the Saints to a 34-26 win over the Titans. The Saints trailed by 10 points

ä See SAINTS, page 4C

In leading the Saints to their fourth consecutive victory with a stirring 333-yard, two-touchdown effort, Shough upstaged Cam Ward — his more heralded and decorated rookie classmate — and stamped himself as the clear favorite to earn the prestigious award when it is presented at the NFL Honors show February in San Francisco.

The victory was the third dramatic come-from-behind win authored by Shough in the last month and improved his record as a starter to an impressive 5-3.

ä See DUNCAN, page 5C

Bowl loss brings relief, promise of better days HOUSTON — In the end, there was relief.

Hurt? Yes. Frustration? Yes. But the 2025 season is now, mercifully, over. A 7-6 season that cost Brian Kelly his job but not his millions, that cost athletic director Scott Woodward his authority but not his millions, that Scott a fair chunk of Rabalais held the college football world in suspense before Lane Kiffin finally signed on to be LSU’s coach, is history.

If Ole Miss would do the reasonable thing and lose Thursday to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, ending the obligation of a cross section of Kiffin’s LSU staff to coach the Rebels in the College Football Playoff, then this Lane Train truly could start flying down the tracks.

Kiffin popped by Saturday night to watch from the sideline and do a couple of second-quarter

cameos on ESPN and the LSU radio network as the Tigers lost to hometown Houston 38-35 in the Texas Bowl at NRG Stadium.

He witnessed LSU giving a better accounting of itself than what was expected of the Tigers, who scored north of 25 points against an FBS opponent for the first time in the entire ever-loving season.

It still wasn’t enough against the Cougars. Blame the opt outs.

Blame injuries. Blame the transfer portal. Blame the million little flaws that have cropped up to kneecap LSU throughout a season that began with high hopes but ended with an overwhelming desire to …

Just. Move. On. Saturday couldn’t have started better for the Tigers, who bolted to a 14-0 lead thanks to Barion Brown’s game-opening, 99-yard kickoff return touchdown — the first time LSU ever started a bowl game with one of those. The Tigers got a stop, then Michael Van

Buren found tight end Trey’Dez Green on a 23-yard touchdown pass for a 14-0 lead.

The favorite was stunned but not knocked out. LSU was faster with players like Brown. LSU was more talented with players like Green, who put a helpless defensive back on his waist like he was a rebound-swiping power forward on a 4-yard touchdown catch midway through the third quarter that tied the Texas Bowl 21-21.

But LSU couldn’t keep pace.

A defense that glued the Tigers together most of the season was down six starters Saturday. Their absence was like a levee breach.

Houston quarterback Conner Weigman, last seen against LSU getting benched in 2024 at Texas A&M in favor of Marcel Reed, skillfully found the weaknesses in the Tigers’ armor. He completed 75% of his passes for 236 yards and Houston’s first four

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU offensive lineman Braelin Moore, left, hugs offensive lineman Bo Bordelon as the Texas Bowl ends just after midnight on Sunday morning ä See RABALAIS, page 2C at NRG Stadium in Houston.

2C ● Monday, December 29, 2025 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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What’s next for LSU football?

Major roster overhaul likely, but some familiar faces could stay

BY WILSON ALEXANDER

HOUSTON — Lane Kiffin stood near the sideline at the beginning of the Texas Bowl and watched his new team for a little while. He spoke to former Texas quarterback Vince Young and former LSU receiver Malik Nabers while he was down there, waved to fans, then went upstairs for a couple of broadcast interviews before leaving NRG Stadium.

The next time LSU plays, Kiffin will be the coach for the 2026 season opener against Clemson.

The last thing that needed to happen before the Kiffin era began was the Texas Bowl on Saturday night, a 38-35 loss to No. 21 Houston. LSU finished 7-6 for its third season in the past six years with less than eight wins.

LSU hired Kiffin because it believes he can win a championship, but a lot of work needs to be done to get there. Kiffin already has crossed off a major checklist item by assembling his coaching staff, and they are preparing for the transfer portal to open from Jan. 2-16. Let’s look ahead to what comes next for LSU.

SEMMERING, Austria — After dominating the first four World Cup slaloms this season, Mikaela Shiffrin has only just managed to keep her winning streak intact ahead of the 2026 Olympics.

Not that Sunday’s night slalom in Austria, the final event of the calendar year, could make the American ski star particularly happy.

Shiffrin came from behind in the first run to edge out world champion Camille Rast of Switzerland, but then slammed race conditions on the Panorama course, saying “it was not safe to ski,” she told Austrian TV. Mild weather affected the course and organizers attempted to harden its surface by injecting water and salt , but the surface broke on an increasing number of spots during the afternoon run.

Kyrgios beats Sabalenka in ‘Battle of the Sexes’

A ‘big emphasis’ STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU offensive tackle Solomon Thomas, right, celebrates a first-down run with running back Harlem Berry during the Texas Bowl on Saturday in Houston. shirt sophomore Paul Mubenga and redshirt freshman Ory Williams planning to transfer, at least six of LSU’s 15 scholarship offensive linemen will enter the transfer portal.

It’s not surprising amid a coaching change for a position group that struggled so much to go through this kind of upheaval.

Missed evaluations and a lack of development piled up over the past few years, and the offensive line needs a dramatic reset.

But the number of departures means Kiffin and his staff will need to sign several starters and add playable depth. That’s a lot in one offseason.

Better defensive depth

In a recent interview with The Advocate, Baker said one of the things LSU has to do going into next season is “close that gap between our starters and our backups.” His point about the depth was evident in the Texas Bowl, O-line turnover when LSU played without six deAt this rate, Moore might be the fensive starters.

Houston controlled the clock, only starting offensive lineman who’s back next year. With red- ran for 201 yards and completed

RABALAIS

Continued from page 1C touchdowns, justly earning MVP honors.

“That was a big blow to our football team,” LSU interim coach Frank Wilson said. “It’s not an excuse. It’s the reality of where we are.”

The Tigers were penalized nine times for 95 yards to Houston’s four times for 29 yards. That included a weak pass interference flag on LSU corner Ja’Keem Jackson. Wilson erupted — perhaps with the full force of the season’s frustration fueling his emotions — drawing a rare unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on a head coach. That set up a 7-yard Weigman to Tanner Koziol touchdown pass with 0:04 left before halftime.

“I was willing to fight for a win,” Wilson said.

The will was there for LSU on Saturday night, and all season, but the flesh was weak. From beginning to end, the Tigers were never the team we thought they would be. There is some-

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — San Francisco star tight end George Kittle missed the 49ers’ key game for playoff positioning on Sunday night against the Chicago Bears with an ankle injury.

Kittle missed the full week of practice after getting hurt Monday night in a win against Indianapolis and was unable to go in a game the 49ers (11-4) needed to win to have any chance at winning the division title.

San Francisco did get receiver Ricky Pearsall back after he missed last week’s game with a knee injury.

Kittle is a key part of both the run and pass game for the 49ers.

The Niners’ running game has improved since Kittle returned after missing five games early this season with a hamstring injury.

Shiffrin slams course conditions amid streak

Staff writer

During a midgame interview on LSU radio, Kiffin said the staff has a “big emphasis on keeping Whit Weeks. That’s a big priority for us.” Weeks, a junior linebacker and captain, has been training away from the team since the end of the regular season, but he was on the sideline for the Texas Bowl in sweats.

Weeks played in only eight games this season as he dealt with an ankle injury, and he was ejected for targeting early in one of them. It was not the year he expected to have, but he has done enough during his career to potentially get picked on Day 2 of the NFL draft if he leaves now. There was some internal confidence that LSU could keep Weeks after defensive coordinator Blake Baker returned. But at this point, his future is unclear.

Only two other draft-eligible starters, redshirt junior center Braelin Moore and redshirt sophomore safety Tamarcus Cooley, have yet to announce their plans for next season. They both played in the Texas Bowl, and it would likely help their draft stock to return.

TE Kittle misses key 49ers game against Bears

thing noble about their fight, but moral victories don’t win bowl games or advance you in the College Football Playoff.

“I’m proud of our football team,” Wilson said. “Proud that they competed to the best of their ability.”

Wilson spoke before the game about how these Tigers would have a bond that would carry through their lives. But someone is breaking up that old team of theirs. Wilson is part of the wholesale trade of coaches and front office personnel going on between LSU and Ole Miss — 19 at latest count. He’s set to become the running backs coach of the Rebels after the CFP, while Kevin Smith leaves Ole Miss to coach that position in Baton Rouge.

Hard feelings will simmer all offseason until the Tigers and Rebels play Sept. 19 in Oxford, in what has to be the most anticipated LSU-Ole Miss game since Billy Cannon roamed Baton Rouge. The rivalry is going all Spinal Tap (“This one goes to 11”) again.

For now, the focus shifts to recruiting and the transfer por-

75% of its passes. LSU couldn’t get off the field on third down or make stops in the red zone, two areas that had been a strength.

It didn’t get enough pressure on quarterback Conner Weigman, even with Baker’s exotic blitz packages, and the backup linebackers struggled.

The Texas Bowl exposed the flaw, but it might not have changed much about the offseason plan. LSU already knew that was a problem. It still needs to find three or four defensive linemen, at least one linebacker and a safety in the transfer portal.

Offensive rebuild Sophomore quarterback Michael Van Buren reiterated after the bowl game that he wants to stay on the team. He said he has talked to Kiffin and the new staff, but while he wants to return, it’s not definitive yet. LSU is preparing to go after multiple transfer quarterbacks, including a highlevel starter, and that could affect Van Buren’s future.

In four games as the starter, Van Buren completed 61% of

Houston 38, LSU 35 LSU Houston

14 7

First Quarter

0 14

7 7

14 10

— —

35 38

LSU—Ba.Brown 99 kickoff return (Ramos kick), 14:46.

LSU—T.Green 23 pass from Van Buren (Ramos kick), 10:48.

HOU—A.Thomas 8 pass from Weigman (Sanchez kick), 6:08.

Second Quarter

HOU—A.Thomas 4 pass from Weigman (Sanchez kick), 11:05.

HOU—Koziol 7 pass from Weigman (Sanchez kick), :04.

Third Quarter

LSU—T.Green 4 pass from Van Buren (Ramos kick), 9:31.

HOU—Frederick 2 pass from Weigman (Sanchez kick), 4:42.

Fourth Quarter

LSU—K.Parker 6 pass from Van Buren (Ramos kick), 14:54.

HOU—FG Sanchez 25, 7:42.

HOU—Connors 20 run (Sanchez kick), 2:23.

LSU—Z.Thomas 3 run (Ramos kick), 1:15.

tal. Kiffin bemoaned the state of college football with the wild transfer portal about to officially open on Friday for two weeks.

Two weeks that will shape the team he has to work with next season.

“I tell our coaches and fans, you’ve got to get used to being uncomfortable,” Kiffin said during the game.

Good advice, but the expectation is that Kiffin will find a way to make the whole thing work to

his passes for 786 yards with six touchdowns and two interceptions. He also ran 33 times for 105 yards with sacks included. He’s the only scholarship quarterback who might return.

“I’m going to sit back and see what happens,” Van Buren said.

“Baton Rouge is where I want to be.”

LSU also has to rebuild the running back room and find proven wide receivers. Though others could emerge, only redshirt sophomore Kyle Parker looks ready to contribute. It wouldn’t hurt to sign another established tight end to complement Trey’Dez Green, though that may not be a priority.

At running back, LSU needs to keep freshman Harlem Berry.

He may be the only active player at the position who comes back, depending on sophomore Caden Durham.

Berry finished his freshman year with 491 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 104 carries.

He also caught eight passes for 32 yards. He showed a lot of potential, though he needs to work on ball security.

First downs Total Net Yards Rushes-yards Passing Punt Returns Kickoff Returns Interceptions Ret. Comp-Att-Int Sacked-Yards Lost Punts Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yards Time of Possession

LSU 17 344 24-77 267 2-10 4-151 0-0 17-27-0 4-24 3-42.333 1-1 9-95 22:39

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

HOU 30 437 46-201 236 0-0 1-21 0-0 28-37-0 0-0 3-39.667 0-0 4-29 37:17

RUSHING—LSU, Berry 3-45, Van Buren 11-24, Z.Thomas 2-4, Johnson 3-4, Durham 5-0.

Houston, Connors 16-126, Weigman 13-56, Butler 8-21, Carlisle 2-6, Sneed 2-3, (Team) 3-(minus 3), A.Thomas 2-(minus 8).

PASSING—LSU, Van Buren 17-27-0-267.

Houston, Weigman 28-37-0-236.

RECEIVING—LSU, Parker 7-68, T.Green 4-80, Hilton 3-67, Ba.Brown 2-37, Z.Thomas 1-15.

Houston, Koziol 9-76, A.Thomas 8-66, Connors 3-12, K.Young 2-32, Sneed 2-28, Frederick 2-3, Broussard 1-12, Butler 1-7.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—LSU, Ramos 44.

LSU’s advantage. A bowl game few, if any, were eager to see the Tigers play in clears the deck for the question everyone has had since Kiffin arrived: How much can he win in 2026, and can it be enough to get LSU into the CFP? For the Tigers, there is relief that is the only thing to focus on now.

Email Scott Rabalais at srabalais@theadvocate.com

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Nick Kyrgios won the latest version of the “Battle of the Sexes” in tennis, beating top-ranked women’s player Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 6-3 in an exhibition match that represented light entertainment rather than another landmark moment for gender equality.

There was laughing and joking between the players, some underarm serves and over-the-top grunting on shots.

Kyrgios, the 2022 Wimbledon runner-up, faced the disadvantage of Sabalenka’s side of the court being nearly 10% smaller in an attempt to level the playing field.

Kyrgios was drenched in sweat by the time he clinched victory off his third match point and the pair were all smiles at the net.

Marlins finalize $13M, 1-year deal with reliever

MIAMI — The Miami Marlins finalized a $13 million, one-year deal with right-handed reliever Pete Fairbanks on Sunday.

He gets a $1 million signing bonus, a $12 million salary and the chance to earn $1 million in performance bonuses for appearances.

The 32-year-old made a careerhigh 61 appearances with Tampa Bay last season, going 4-5 with a 2.83 ERA. He set a career high with 27 saves in 32 opportunities, while giving up seven home runs and 45 hits in 60 1⁄3 innings.

Fairbanks also finished last season ranked third among American League relievers in games finished (48) and seventh in saves.

He spent the past seven seasons with the Rays and went 20-22 with a 2.98 ERA.

Reliever Harvey agrees to 1-year contract with Cubs

CHICAGO — Right-handed reliever Hunter Harvey agreed to a oneyear contract with the Chicago Cubs, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Saturday.

The addition of Harvey is the latest move in a bullpen makeover for the Cubs, who have added Phil Maton, Hoby Milner and Jacob Webb and re-signed Caleb Thielbar.

The 31-year-old Harvey was slowed by injuries last season with the Kansas City Royals. He pitched in 12 games and was 1-0 with 11 strikeouts in 10 2⁄3 shutout innings.

The 22nd overall pick in the 2013 draft by Baltimore, Harvey is 1011 with a 3.11 ERA in 182 games with 201 career strikeouts in 185 innings with the Orioles, Washington Nationals and Kansas City.

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Monday, December 29, 2025 ● 3C

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LSU women cap nonconference slate with romp over Alabama St.

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP

UL guard De’Vion Lavergne grabs a loose ball during the Cajuns’ win over Norfolk State on Sunday in the Cajundome.

Cajuns men start winning streak

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

The UL men’s basketball team is trying to bring in the new year with a winning streak.

The Ragin’ Cajuns built upon a road win over UL-Monroe the previous weekend with a convincing 63-54 home victory over Norfolk State on Sunday in the Cajundome.

For the second straight game, the Cajuns led from the tip to the final buzzer to improve to 3-11.

“I kept telling out guys, it only takes one,” UL coach Quannas White said. “It only takes one to change everything. In the big scheme of things, what did we really lose? You know, we still got everything ahead of us, and I think that’s how you got to approach it.

You never give up.”

UL will strive for a third straight win at noon Wednesday against South Alabama in the Cajundome in its third Sun Belt game after splitting the first two.

Milan Mejia began each half with a 3-pointer to get the Cajuns going in the right direction. Mejia finished with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from 3-point land.

“I think it’s just the work that I put in,” Mejia said. “I feel like I put in a lot of work and just trying to carry that over every single day into practice and then extra shooting with our coaches.”

The Cajuns knocked down 10 3-pointers in the game.

“I don’t really think it has anything to do with offense,” Dorian Finister said. “I think our defense really just translates to offense.

The harder we play, you know … with basketball you get in what you put into it. So as long as you play hard, the rest will take care of itself.”

Finister finished with a team-high 15 points to go along with nine rebounds, two assists and two steals.

“Coach tells us that we’re resilient,” Finister said. “He was telling us that before the game, and after the game. I mean, I know that we all knew it would happen. It was just, you know, a matter of time.

It’s happening now, and we’re going to keep this ball rolling.”

The third double-figure scorer for the Cajuns was Jaxon Olvera with 11 points, three rebounds and two assists.

Finister, Olvera and De’Vion Lavergne continue to do the bulk of the ballhandling, and that part of the offense has improved dramatically. For the second straight game, the Cajuns had fewer than 10 turnovers with only seven.

“It comes from practice,” Finister said. “If you don’t take care of the ball and you turn it over, you’ve got to run. So we just make sure that we value the ball like it’s a million dollars.”

UL led 10-3 in points off of turnovers.

“I just think experience is the best teacher,” White said. “These guys have been experiencing playing games and getting more comfortable and then watching film. We spend a ton of time watching film.

Those guys buy into all of that.”

Lavergne also contributed four rebounds, two steals and a gamehigh eight assists.

The defense also played a big role, limiting Norfolk State (6-10) to 31.5% from the field compared with 41.2% for the Cajuns. That essentially was the difference in the game, because both teams made 11 free throws and UL only had one more 3 than the Spartans.

“I really feel like we’ve improved all around on the defensive side,” Finister said. “I mean, everybody is just out there having fun and doing their thing and just playing for one another. I think that’s what kind of helps us get over that hump.”

The LSU women’s basketball team took a weeklong break between its past two games, but it didn’t return on Sunday with any rust to knock off.

Instead, the No. 5 Tigers (140) routed Alabama State 109-41 in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, punctuating their most dominant nonconference slate of the past five seasons with yet another lopsided victory. LSU has now hit the century mark 11 times this year and earned six wins of at least 60 points.

No other Division I team has more than six 100-point showings or four 60-point victories.

“This team, they’re fun to be around,” coach Kim Mulkey said.

“They’re fun to coach. We know what we face (in) the second part of our season, and there are gonna be some tough times, but the joy for those young ladies — it’s not just winning.”

The Hornets lost their hopes of playing a competitive game in the first quarter. All 10 of LSU’s active players saw the floor in the first 10 minutes of action, and nine of them scored, which allowed the Tigers to bring a 28-6 lead into the second quarter.

The only suspense that lingered into the last three quarters was the question of whether LSU would hit the century mark again.

Its frontcourt helped it get there. Freshman forward ZaKiyah Johnson returned to the floor after sitting out the previous game and tallied 17 points. She entered off the bench behind Amiya Joyner and Kate Koval — the pair of transfer post players who combined to score 42 points and grab 16 rebounds.

Koval tallied a career-high 23 points and 11 rebounds to post her fourth double-double of the season. Joyner added a seasonhigh 19 points, five boards and two steals. South Carolina transfer guard MiLaysia Fulwiley scored only five points, but she assisted a career-high 11 shots and forced eight turnovers.

Freshman guard Bella Hines also chipped in 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting to pair with five rebounds and a career-high five steals.

“I feel like everybody on this team can hoop,” Koval said. “Everybody can step up and have a night, so I feel like it just shows that whatever the season throws at us, everybody’s able to step up when they need to.”

The Tigers missed 11 of the 13

PHOTO By PATRICK DENNIS

LSU forward ZaKiyah Johnson goes up for a jump shot as Alabama State’s Caylee Simpson defends on Sunday at the PMAC. 3-pointers they tried, but because they converted 34 of their 57 layup attempts, they still shot an efficient 52% from the field and finished with 74 paint points.

Alabama State, on the other hand, hit only 29% of its shots.

Each of LSU’s past three opponents — and seven of its 14 — have now converted less than 30% of its field-goal attempts.

“Every team has a different personality,” Mulkey said. “They just do. Because new pieces come in every year, and it’s my job to figure it out.

“And I haven’t had to figure anything out with this team. Because they just figure it out for themselves.”

Freshman forward Grace Knox scored a career-high 25 points in LSU’s previous win, but she was not with the team on Sunday.

Mulkey said her absence was planned and that she’ll rejoin the Tigers on Monday.

LSU is still undefeated in December under Mulkey. Because they beat Alabama State on Sunday, the Tigers improved to 66-2 in the nonconference games

they’ve played across the past five seasons. No other Division I team has more nonconference wins across that stretch. Their only losses came to Florida Gulf Coast in 2021 and Colorado in 2023.

LSU can now turn its attention to SEC play. Its first game is a home matchup with No. 11 Kentucky that will tip off at 7 p.m.

Thursday.

The Tigers did not play a ranked team in their first 14 games, but they will in January, February and March. Eight of their 16 SEC matchups are against opponents ranked in the latest edition of the AP Top 25 poll.

LSU won at least 12 league games in each of Mulkey’s first four seasons in Baton Rouge. A similar number of wins would likely give the Tigers a top-four NCAA Tournament seed for the fifth year in a row.

With the nonconference slate in the rearview, LSU can now begin collecting the wins it can use to attain that status.

Email Reed Darcey at reed. darcey@theadvocate.com.

NFL ROUNDUP

LSU men hope ‘X factor’ Burrow, Bengals breeze past Cardinals is beginning to emerge

By The Associated Press

BY TOYLOY BROWN III Staff writer

Dedan Thomas and Marquel Sutton gave the same answer when they were separated briefly at the Southeastern Conference media day in Birmingham, Alabama, earlier this year.

The LSU starters, 21 days before the season opener, both called Rashad King the team’s “X factor.”

“I feel like he’s gonna surprise a lot of people,” Thomas said. “He can just score the ball in so many ways, and he’s very physical when he has the ball. He’s a big, strong guard, and he can guard the ball really well. Just a dog.”

King proved why his teammates believe he can be a crucial factor in the team’s success in LSU’s 104-90 win against Prairie View last Monday. The Northeastern transfer had a season-high 13 points and three blocks, making 5 of 9 field goals and 2 of 5 3-pointers in 20 minutes.

The Tigers (11-1) want him to build off of that performance in their final nonconference game against Southern Miss at 7 p.m.

Monday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

LSU coach Matt McMahon raved before the season about how King was among the top shooters in drills during the offseason. Although his 26.7% 3-point shooting this year doesn’t reflect proficiency, King’s talent and size (6-foot-6, 217 pounds) are vital as LSU tries to reach the NCAA Tournament, McMahon said.

“Rashad is a really important player for us,” McMahon said. “We know what’s coming when we get to SEC play. I was really excited to see him take a step forward, and I’ve been challenging him to quit

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

looking at the offensive numbers.

We need him on the defensive side.

He gets three block shots (last Monday). I thought he was really physical on that end of the floor.

“We were plus-15 when he was in the game, and so hopefully he’ll take some confidence from this as we move forward.”

Before his season-best game, King had one double-digit scoring performance (11 points against Drake) and had played at least 20 minutes in just three contests.

He’s averaging 4.8 points on 35.8% shooting from the field in 15.3 minutes per game.

King arrived at LSU after being the second-leading scorer in the Coastal Athletic Association, averaging 18.5 points along with 6.1 rebounds and shooting 44.9% overall. Adjusting to a different role as a supplementary scorer off of the bench is something the LSU coaching staff understands takes time.

Against Prairie View, King picked his spots well and made shots without dribbling much. He had a pair of floaters, including one coming after a cut. The standstill 3-pointers he hit contributed to LSU’s 3-point success, as it was 7 of 19.

McMahon likes seeing the shots fall, but he doesn’t want King to fixate on it since he can be effective without scoring. Just as much as McMahon and the rest of the team believe in King’s scoring chops, they know his defensive intensity is essential.

“Rashad is a spark,” Sutton said.

“He’s a really good player, and he can do a lot of things for us.”

CINCINNATI — Ja’Marr Chase caught two touchdown passes from former LSU star Joe Burrow, who threw for 305 yards as the Bengals beat the Arizona Cardinals 37-14 on Sunday.

Chase finished with seven catches for 60 yards and became the first player in NFL history with at least 80 receptions, 1,000 receiving yards and seven TD catches in each of his first five seasons.

Burrow passed for 300 yards or more for the 28th time, tying Andy Dalton for the most in franchise history.

“He’s playing like I know Joe to play,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “It’s fun to watch. We all just want to finish the season the right way.”

Chase Brown rushed for 101 yards and two TDs as the Bengals (6-10) improved to 3-2 since Burrow returned from toe surgery.

For Arizona (3-13), Trey McBride had 10 catches, giving him 119 this season to break the NFL single-season record for a tight end. He surpassed Zach Ertz’s 116 receptions in 2018.

PATRIOTS 42, JETS 10: In East Rutherford, N.J., Drake Maye threw a career-high five touchdown passes before getting the rest of the game off in the third quarter, New England scored a TD on its first six drives and the Patriots finished the regular season undefeated on the road.

Rhamondre Stevenson had a TD run and catch for the Patriots (133), who moved closer to winning the AFC East title for the first time since 2019.

Maye was 19 of 21 for 256 yards and a 157.0 quarterback rating with TD tosses to Stevenson, Stefon Diggs, Austin Hooper, Hunter Henry and Efton Chism before

being lifted by coach Mike Vrabel for Joshua Dobbs with 5:31 left in the third quarter. Maye joined Tom Brady (11 times) and Drew Bledsoe (twice) as the only New England quarterbacks to reach 4,000 yards passing in a season.

Meanwhile, it was another embarrassing showing in the home finale for the Jets (3-13), who have lost four in a row and have two straight seasons with multiple losing streaks of at least four games.

BROWNS 13, STEELERS 6: In Cleveland, Shedeur Sanders threw for 186 yards and a touchdown, Cleveland’s defense kept Pittsburgh out of the end zone and the Browns held on for a victory, preventing the Steelers from clinching the AFC North.

Pittsburgh (9-7) will host the Ravens to close the regular season with the winner getting the division and the AFC’s fourth seed in the playoffs.

The Browns (4-12) snapped a four-game losing streak, along with a seven-game skid in division games.

Sanders completed 17 of 23 passes, including a touchdown and two interceptions as he improved to 2-4 as a starter.

JAGUARS 23, COLTS 17: In Indianapolis, Trevor Lawrence ran for two scores, Cam Little kicked a tiebreaking 42-yard field goal with 6:58 left, and the Jacksonville Jaguars moved within one victory of their first AFC South title since 2022.

The Jags (12-4) won their seventh straight game one day after two-time defending division champ Houston beat the Los Angeles Chargers to remain in contention for the title.

Jacksonville’s Liam Coen became the first coach in NFL history to take over a four-win team and win 12 games the next season.

The Jags kept 44-year-old Colts quarterback Philip Rivers winless in three games since he returned to the league following a five-year retirement. Rivers was 16 of 28 for 135 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Indy (8-8) has lost six straight after starting 7-1.

SEAHAWKS 27, PANTHERS 10: In Charlotte, N.C., Zach Charbonnet ran for 110 yards and two touchdowns, and the Seattle Seahawks turned two third-quarter Carolina turnovers into TDs. Sam Darnold threw an interception in the end zone but finished 18 of 27 for 147 yards with a touchdown for the Seahawks.

Jaxson Smith-Njigba added nine catches for 72 yards as Seattle (13-3) won its sixth straight.

Bryce Young was limited to 54 yards on 14-of-24 passing and threw an interception for the inconsistent Panthers (8-8).

DOLPHINS 20, BUCCANEERS 17: In Miami Gardens, Fla., rookie quarterback Quinn Ewers threw for 172 yards and two touchdowns, including a 63-yard toss for his first career score, as the Miami Dolphins beat the slumping Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Tampa Bay (7-9) has lost four straight games and seven of eight. The Bucs’ past four losses have all been by one possession.

Despite three turnovers and being outgained 145-53 on the ground Sunday, Tampa Bay pulled within three after a threeplay, 91-yard drive that Baker Mayfield capped with a 4-yard TD pass to Mike Evans with 54 seconds left.

A busted coverage by the Dolphins led to a 59-yard reception

by Chris Godwin that set up the score, but Miami (7-9) recovered the ensuring onside kick to end Tampa Bay’s comeback attempt.

4C ● Monday, December 29, 2025 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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SAINTS 34, TITANS 26

BY THE NUMBERS

SAINTS NOTEBOOK

New Orleans 34, Tennessee 26 New Orleans 0 10 10 14 — 34 Tennessee 6 14 3 3 — 26 First Quarter Ten—FG Slye 50, 9:10. Drive: 4 plays, 3 yards, 1:34. Tennessee 3, New Orleans 0.

Ten—FG Slye 38, 4:31. Drive: 7 plays, 47 yards, 3:05. Key Play: C.Ward 38 pass to Dike on 3rd-and-2. Tennessee 6, New Orleans 0.

Second Quarter Ten—Okonkwo 43 pass from C.Ward (Slye kick), 12:57. Drive: 7 plays, 64 yards, 4:09. Key Plays: Mullings 4 run on 3rd-and-1; C.Ward 4 pass to Dike on 3rd-and-6. Tennessee 13, New Orleans 0.

NO—FG Smyth 56, 5:53. Drive: 13 plays, 44 yards, 7:04. Key Plays: Pettis kick return to New Orleans 18; Shough 4 pass to Olave on 3rd-and-3; Estime 4 run on 3rd-and-2; Shough 16 pass to Olave. Tennessee 13, New Orleans 3.

NO—C.Young 33 fumble return (Smyth kick), 3:51. Tennessee 13, New Orleans 10.

Ten—Ayomanor 7 pass from C.Ward (Slye kick), :16. Drive: 10 plays, 80 yards, 3:38. Key Plays: C.Ward 11 pass to Jefferson; C.Ward 4 pass to Ayomanor on 3rd-and-2. Tennessee 20, New Orleans 10.

Third Quarter NO—Olave 19 pass from Shough (Smyth kick), 10:39. Drive: 10 plays, 74 yards, 4:26.

Key Plays: Pettis kick return to New Orleans 26; Shough 7 pass to Olave on 3rd-and-4; Shough 30 pass to Johnson. Tennessee 20, New Orleans 17.

Ten—FG Slye 28, 7:20. Drive: 7 plays, 55 yards, 3:14. Key Plays: Pollard 25 run; C.Ward 34 pass to Kinsey. Tennessee 23, New Orleans 17.

NO—FG Smyth 57, 1:51. Drive: 9 plays, 27 yards, 5:29. Key Plays: Pettis kick return to New Orleans 34; Shough 18 pass to Pettis.

Tennessee 23, New Orleans 20.

Fourth Quarter Ten—FG Slye 58, 12:50. Drive: 11 plays, 25 yards, 4:01. Key Play: C.Ward 12 pass to Ayomanor on 3rd-and-9. Tennessee 26, New Orleans 20.

NO—Austin 10 pass from Shough (Smyth kick), 6:26. Drive: 4 plays, 80 yards, 2:23.

Key Plays: Estime 12 run; Shough 60 pass to Olave. New Orleans 27, Tennessee 26.

NO—Estime 32 run (Smyth kick), 3:54. Drive: 4 plays, 64 yards, 1:10. Key Play: Shough 23 pass to Johnson on 3rd-and-1. New Orleans 34, Tennessee 26.

A—56,269.

NO Ten FIRST DOWNS 16 18 Rushing 5 5 Passing 11 12 Penalty 0 1 THIRD DOWN EFF 5-11 5-15 FOURTH DOWN EFF 0-0 2-3 TOTAL NET YARDS 423 336 Total Plays 52 72 Avg Gain 8.1 4.7 NET YARDS RUSHING 103 108 Rushes 23 28 Avg per rush 4.478 3.857 NET YARDS PASSING 320 228 Sacked-Yds lost 2-13 4-23 Gross-Yds passing 333 251 Completed-Att. 22-27 21-40 Had Intercepted 0 0 Yards-Pass Play 11.034 5.182 KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB 7-6-6 7-3-2 PUNTS-Avg. 3-32.0 3-50.333 Punts blocked 0 0 FGs-PATs blocked 0-0 0-0 TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE 148 40 Punt Returns 2-22 1-7 Kickoff Returns 5-126 1-33 Interceptions 0-0 0-0 PENALTIES-Yds 6-84 4-35 FUMBLES-Lost 2-1 2-1 TIME OF POSSESSION 28:19 31:41 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—New Orleans, Estime 14-94, Shough 4-6, Hull 2-3, Hill 3-0. Tennessee, Pollard 18-85, C.Ward 2-10, Dike 1-7, Mullings 1-4, Spears 6-2.

PASSING—New Orleans, Shough 22-27-0-333.

Tennessee, C.Ward 21-40-0-251.

RECEIVING—New Orleans, Olave 8-119, Johnson 4-95, Austin 4-52, Pettis 3-53, Matavao 2-10, Estime 1-4. Tennessee, Dike 4-55, Ayomanor 4-37, Okonkwo 3-55, Jefferson 3-46, Pollard 2-10, Kinsey 1-34, Martin-Robinson 1-9, Proche 1-5, Helm 1-1, Spears 1-(minus 1).

PUNT RETURNS—New Orleans, Pettis 2-22.

Tennessee, Dike 1-7.

KICKOFF RETURNS—New Orleans, Pettis 4-97, Hull 1-29. Tennessee, Dike 1-33.

TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS—New Orleans, Taylor 7-2-0, McKinstry 4-2-0, Stutsman 3-30, Werner 3-2-0, C.Young 3-1-1.5, Riley 3-1-0, Sanker 3-0-0, Jordan 2-3-1, Williams 2-1-1, Bullard 2-1-0, Ridgeway 2-1-0, Shepherd 2-1-0, Reid 1-1-0, D.Davis 0-6-.5, Godchaux 0-2-0, Granderson 0-1-0, Rumph 0-1-0. Tennessee, Gray 9-3-0, Simmons 4-3-1, Baker 4-1-0, Brooks 4-1-0, Hall 4-0-0, Harrell 3-1-.5, Elam 2-0-0, Hooker 2-0-0, Sweat 1-3-0, Barton 1-2-0, Key 1-1-0, Lynch 0-1-.5, Jones 0-1-0, Joseph-Day 0-1-0, J.Ward 0-1-0.

INTERCEPTIONS—New Orleans, None. Tennessee, None.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—New Orleans, Smyth 43.

OFFICIALS—Referee Adrian Hill, Ump Roy Ellison, HL Derick Bowers, LJ Julian Mapp, FJ Tra Boger, SJ Clay Reynard, BJ Greg Steed, Replay Bob Hubbell.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GEORGE WALKER IV

Tennessee Titans interim coach Mike McCoy greets New Orleans Saints linebacker Demario Davis after Sunday’s game in Nashville, Tenn.

Davis sets new mark, then injured

BY LUKE JOHNSON AND MATTHEW PARAS Staff writers

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Demario Davis, 36, has a new career high in tackles as he’s now up to 137 on the year.

But it remains to be seen whether he can add to that number before the season is over.

The Saints linebacker suffered a calf injury Sunday, sitting out most of the final drive of the game. He was replaced by rookie Danny Stutsman, exiting the field with 1:37 left.

“I know he wasn’t (voted) in the Pro Bowl, but he’s a Pro Bowl linebacker each and every year,” coach Kellen Moore said. “He remains a special player.”

The Saints close the season with a Week 18 matchup in Atlanta against the Falcons.

Moore said Davis, who had six tackles against the Titans, did not go into the injury tent because of how late it occurred in the game.

“The communication did kind of have to adjust there,” Moore said.

“We did bang a timeout just to settle everything down there and make sure everything was good to go after one play once we made that transition.”

Austin’s moment AP PHOTO By GEORGE WALKER IV

Saints wide receiver Chris Olave runs with the ball against Tennessee Titans cornerback Kaiir Elam in the first half Sunday in Nashville, Tenn. The Saints won 34-26.

SAINTS

Continued from page 1C at halftime, but the quarterback carved up Tennessee through the air and the New Orleans defense settled into a rhythm.

Ward also was fantastic as he finished with 251 yards and two touchdowns on 21-of-40 passing, putting together a performance that was better than the box score indicated. But Shough was even better. The Saints second-rounder missed just five passes, completing 22 of 27 attempts for a careerbest 81.4% completion percentage.

The end result provided the Saints their sixth win of the year — one more than last season. In Kellen Moore’s first year, his team has won four straight. And with each performance, it seems like the Saints have found their quarterback of the future.

Sunday didn’t seem headed that

With the game on the line in the fourth quarter, Kevin Austin knew the ball was going to come his way — a sentence that would have been wild to imagine at several points of this season.

Austin, the wide receiver who has been released by the New Orleans Saints three times this year

way.

Even for a team used to starting slow all season, Sunday’s outing against the Titans was brutal.

While the defense didn’t give up an opening-drive touchdown, that was one of the only positives.

The Saints again struggled to run the ball without Alvin Kamara and with a decimated interior offensive line. Those two factors put the Saints in unfavorable situations, such as third-and-5 on New Orleans’ opening series — when Titans star defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons easily pierced through the line of scrimmage and forced a Shough fumble. New Orleans recovered — but the ensuing punt made things worse.

Kai Kroeger shanked a punt that went just 17 yards, the first of several special-teams disasters.

The Saints were fortunate to hold the Titans to a field goal after Kroeger’s mistake, though Charlie Smyth would soon commit his own gaffe when he missed a 43-yard

highs in receptions (four) and receiving yards (52), giving New Orleans another viable receiving option outside of Chris Olave and Juwan Johnson.

“I just stay positive through everything,” Austin said. “Whether I’m playing that week or I’m not playing that week, I study the same, I work out the same, I keep the same mindset every week so that when I hear my name called, I’m ready.”

and spent most of his career on practice squads, hauled in the goahead touchdown late in a 34-26 win against the Tennessee Titans.

The play was the result of a check that rookie quarterback Tyler Shough made at the line of scrimmage when he noticed the leverage of Tennessee’s coverage structure.

“Once he saw that, I knew it was coming to me,” Austin said.

Austin stemmed his route toward the boundary to get in proper position, then snapped it off toward the pylon in the front corner of the end zone. Shough delivered the pass over defensive back Kemon Hall‘s head, and Austin hauled it in to give the Saints a 27-26 lead with 6:22 to play.

For someone who finished his college career with Notre Dame in 2021 and has spent the ensuing four seasons scrapping for a roster spot, he picked a good time to make his first NFL touchdown catch.

“I’m just excited to be out there doing the best I can to help us win,” Austin said.

Injuries and roster attrition have thrust Austin into his current role in the offense. He began the year on the practice squad, making a brief appearance on the active roster when Devaughn Vele missed time with an injury. Even after the Saints traded Rashid Shaheed and released Brandin Cooks, he had to bide his time.

But an injury to Vele that landed him on injured reserve opened a door, and Austin has been making the most of his shot.

In addition to his first career touchdown, Austin set career

Demario Davis, 36, has a new career high in tackles as he’s now up to 137 on the year.

But it remains to be seen whether he can add to that number before the season is over.

The Saints linebacker suffered a calf injury Sunday, sitting out most of the final drive of the game. He was replaced by rookie Danny Stutsman, exiting the field with 1:37 left.

“I know he wasn’t (voted) in the Pro Bowl, but he’s a Pro Bowl linebacker each and every year,” coach Kellen Moore said. “He remains a special player.”

The Saints close the season with a Week 18 matchup in Atlanta against the Falcons.

Moore said Davis, who had six tackles against the Titans, did not go into the injury tent because of how late it occurred in the game.

“The communication did kind of have to adjust there,” Moore said.

“We did bang a timeout just to settle everything down there and make sure everything was good to go after one play once we made that transition.”

attempt on the ensuing possession. Another error meant another Titans field goal, putting New Orleans in a 6-0 hole early.

But the true surprise of Sunday’s game, at least early on, was how the Saints’ passing defense appeared to completely relapse after looking like one of the league’s best units of late.

Ward torched the secondary repeatedly. On fourth-and-2, the No. 1 overall pick found tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo wide-open in space for a 42-yard touchdown.

Okonkwo punished Kool-Aid McKinstry for attempting a strip in the open field by plowing right through the cornerback on his way to the end zone.

The coverage was a glaring weakness that ruined any momentum the Saints generated.

For a moment, it did seem like the Saints were about to turn the tide. Defensive end Chase Young, in what might be the best play of his career, not only sacked Ward,

but ripped the ball straight out of his hands and ran it all the way back for a 33-yard touchdown.

Suddenly, the Saints only trailed 13-10.

But Ward, even as a rookie, wouldn’t let mistakes go unnoticed.

On third-and-14, the Miami product recognized a receiver deep down the field and aired it out to draw a 50-yard pass interference penalty on Justin Reid. Two plays later, Ward hit Elic Ayomanor in the end zone for a touchdown with 13 seconds left in the half. Saints cornerbacks Alontae Taylor and Quincy Riley appeared to have a miscommunication on the play, leading Ayomanor to spring open.

The Saints, as they have for most of the season, continued to fight. They opened the second half with an efficient nine-play, 74-yard drive that ended with a 19-yard touchdown to Chris Olave.

Then the defense started to step up. Ward was still able to move the ball through the air, but New

Davis exits early

Injury update

The Saints already were shorthanded at tight end going into Week 17, then they lost another on their first offensive play.

New Orleans opened the game with three tight ends on the field and Taysom Hill at running back.

Hill took the opening carry, then rolled up on the back of tight end Jack Stoll‘s legs after being tackled.

Stoll left the field with the medical training staff and was carted to the locker room with a knee injury after an examination on the sidelines. He was declared out before the end of the first quarter.

Earlier in the week, the Saints placed tight end Foster Moreau on injured reserve and signed rookie Moliki Matavao to take his place. Another tight end, Zaire Mitchell-Paden, missed Sunday’s game with a knee injury.

Special teams gunner Michael Davis also left Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury after a collision on a punt in the second quarter.

He did not return.

Odds and ends Saints punter Kai Kroeger hit an ugly 17-yard punt in the first quarter that nearly made it into the first row of the stands. The short punt allowed Tennessee to take a 3-0 lead despite not gaining a first down on the ensuing drive. … After being outscored 6-0 in the first quarter, the Saints now have been outscored 115-29 in the opening quarter this season. … New Orleans finished with 103 net rushing yards, only its fourth time topping the century mark in the last 12 games.

Orleans held Tennessee to backto-back field goals — opening the door for Shough and Co. Shough and the Saints didn’t buckle even when it wasn’t perfect in the second half. Take, for instance, Dante Pettis’ fumble on his way to the end zone. For a moment, the veteran wide receiver appeared headed for an easy touchdown, but as he was running, the ball was stripped and the Titans recovered it for a touchback.

But the Saints weren’t fazed.

Shough engineered a four-play, 80yard drive, hitting Olave on a 60yard strike and then finding Kevin Austin for a 10-yard touchdown to give the Saints a 27-26 lead.

The Saints created even more breathing room on their ensuing drive, with running back Audric Estime breaking free for a 32-yard touchdown.

Email Matthew Paras at matt. paras@theadvocate.com

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Monday, December 29, 2025 ● 5C

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SAINTS 34, TITANS 26 THREE AND OUT: ROD WALKER’S TOP THREE TAKEAWAyS FROM THE SAINTS’ FOURTH CONSECUTIVE WIN

1

SHOUGH AND AWE Football fans in New Orleans (or Nashville, Tennessee, for that matter) have plenty to be optimistic about for the future. The rookie quarterbacks at Nissan Stadium showed that their teams have found their leaders. Tyler Shough had another stellar game, beating No. 1 overall draft pick Cam Ward. Shough completed 22 of 27 passes for a career-best 333 yards and two touchdowns. He’s now 5-3 as a starter and has back-to-back 300yard games. He is doing it with plenty of backup weapons and a makeshift offensive line. I’ve said it in this space before and I’ll say it again: The Saints have their guy.

2

STEPPING UP Props to the Saints who stepped up in a time of need. you always hear teams talking about a next-man-up mentality, and boy did the Saints show that Sunday. Kevin Austin caught his first NFL touchdown pass, putting the Saints ahead 27-26 in the fourth quarter. Austin finished with four catches for 52 yards, stepping in for a team that was without injured receivers Mason Tipton and Devaughn Vele. The Saints backfield is without Alvin Kamara, Kendre Miller and Devin Neal, but Audric Estime stepped up. He finished with 94 yards on 14 carries. Not bad for a back signed to the practice squad two months ago.

3

NO QUIT The last time the Saints won four games in a row, they had a guy named Drew Brees playing quarterback. The year was 2020, and the Saints haven’t been to the playoffs since. The 2025 Saints won’t make the postseason, but it’s been a pretty significant turnaround considering they started 1-8. Kellen Moore kept things together, and the Saints have gone on an impressive run. They have a chance to finish the season on a five-game winning streak and get to seven wins. That would mean a road win over the rival Atlanta Falcons. I’m not sure if you could ask for a better finish to this season than that.

Estime reaches standard RB’s second-half performance opens up Saints offense

Sept. 7

L

20-13

Sept. 14

L

26-21

Sept. 21

L

44-13

Sept. 28

L

31-19

Oct. 5

W

BY LUKE JOHNSON

26-14

Staff writer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The standard wasn’t being met.

That was the message being relayed in the visiting locker room at Nissan Stadium on Sunday during the halftime break. It applied across the board for the New Orleans Saints, but the rushing offense was especially substandard. When the first half came to a close, quarterback Tyler Shough was pacing the team with 8 yards rushing.

And that’s about the time everything clicked for Audric Estime.

“That’s what we did: We came out in the second half and played … to our standard, played physical,” Estime said.

Estime — who signed with the active roster only in November, and who had all of 41 yards rushing to his name this season — played a massive role in sparking the Saints’ furious finish with 12 carries for 88 yards and a massive touchdown in the second half.

“Man, he went crazy, bruh,” right tackle Taliese Fuaga said. “And it’s a good feeling because you can open up a lot of stuff with that.”

New Orleans has tried a lot of things to open up its rushing attack this season, often with middling results. But with Estime surging, the New Orleans offense took off in the second half. Of the Saints’ 423 net yards against the Titans on Sunday, 331 came in the second half. The Saints averaged 11 yards per play in the final two quarters.

“Once we got (the run game) going, it definitely turned it loose,” Fuaga said. “We emphasized that you’ve got to come out the second half smoking, and we did.”

Estime got things rolling right away with four carries for 18 yards on the opening drive of the second half — a nine-play, 74-yard march that culminated in a Shough touchdown pass to Chris Olave.

That set the stage for what was to come. Given some opportunities, Estime ran hard behind his blocks, break-

RESULTS

Oct. 12

L

25-19

Oct. 19

L

26-14

Oct. 26 ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOHN AMIS

Saints running back Audric Estime, left, celebrates his touchdown with running back Evan Hull against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday in Nashville, Tenn. ing several tackles. At one point, he even hurdled a Titans defender to tack a couple of extra yards onto his runs.

“He’s just a physical, physical runner,” Saints coach Kellen Moore said.

He consistently kept the Saints ahead of the chains. Seven of his 12 secondhalf carries gained at least 6 yards. And then, that big run popped.

Estime looked like he was bottled up when the play started. The left side of the offensive line was clogged, forcing Estime to jump backward and look for a crease.

“It wasn’t the prettiest look, but we made it work,” Estime said.

He saw the opening, and once he did, he was through it in a blink.

He used his 227-pound frame to bully through the last line of the Titans defense and raced for a 32-yard score that put the Saints up by eight points late in the fourth quarter.

“All I remember is we’re blocking, me

and Juwan (Johnson) are right there, and I’m seeing it on the peripheral like, ‘Damn, this is going to be a loss,’ ” tackle Kelvin Banks said. “Then I saw him bounce out … he breaks that tackle and he’s gone.”

Estime’s touchdown run was the longest run by a Saints running back this season and second on the team only to Shough’s 34-yard touchdown against the Buccaneers earlier this season.

“He’s kind of sneaky,” Shough said.

“He’s sneaked up on us. He’s been kind of that stout, kind of that power back, and he’s making elusive plays all over the field. He’s agile. He’s really smart in pass (protection). He stepped up in a short amount of time.”

Estime is technically fourth on the depth chart, but injuries have taken their toll on the backfield this season.

Regular starter Alvin Kamara missed his fifth straight game, and the two other backs on the initial 53-man roster,

Devin Neal and Kendre Miller, will both end the season on injured reserve.

For Estime, a performance like the one he delivered Sunday was especially meaningful. He had a nice rookie season with the Denver Broncos last year, but he found himself living life on the edges of an NFL roster. He didn’t make Denver’s team out of training camp, then spent part of the season with the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad.

He ultimately landed in New Orleans, signing to the practice squad in October after Miller’s injury. Banks remembered thinking it was a good signing at the time.

“I remembered him from college and I was like, ‘He was a damn good running back in college,’ ” Banks said. “I already knew what he could do.

“He just proved it.”

L

23-3

Nov. 2

L

34-10

Nov. 9

17-7 W Nov. 23

L

24-10

Email Luke Johnson at ljohnson@ theadvocate.com.

Nov. 30

DUNCAN

Continued from page 1C “He’s obviously having a really special season,” Saints coach Kellen Moore said. “For him to navigate this, the momentum we’re kind of carrying as we go through this journey together is really, really special. Tyler is doing some special stuff.”

Granted, Moore is prone to hyperbole. He regularly tosses verbal bouquets to his players like he’s throwing beads from a Mardi Gras float. But in Shough’s case, the words “phenomenal,” “special” and “awesome” are applicable.

His 142.7 passer rating was the fifthhighest in a game by a rookie quarterback in the past five seasons and the 13th-best by a rookie QB since 2000.

He’s the first rookie QB to record back-to-back 300-yard passing games since C.J. Stroud in 2023.

Perhaps most impressive of all, he’s the only Saints quarterback other than Drew Brees to pass for more than 300 yards and complete more than 80% of his passes in a game.

Brees managed to do it twice in his storied, soon-to-be Hall of Fame career. Shough did it in his eighth NFL start.

“Awesome, awesome game,” Moore said. “The composure to navigate some stuff early. Big play after big play. He’s obviously having a special season.”

If Shough doesn’t join Alvin Ka-

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GEORGE WALKER IV

Saints quarterback Tyler Shough lies on the turf after being sacked in a game against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday in Nashville, Tenn. mara, Rueben Mayes and George Rogers to become the fourth player in franchise history to win the Offensive Rookie of the Year award, it will be the biggest injustice since the NOLA No-Call.

He started the day as the second choice by Vegas oddsmakers to win the award behind Carolina Panthers receiver Tetairoa McMillan, but Shough will enter the final week of the season as the clear favorite after McMillan recorded just one catch for 5 yards in a home loss to the Seattle Seahawks. While McMillan’s overall numbers — 66 catches, 929 yards and seven touchdowns — certainly merit

consideration, Shough has distinguished himself from his classmates with his franchise-altering performance over the last month.

Moore tries to maintain an even keel as head coach, especially after games, but Shough is playing at such a high level and with such uncommon moxie and composure that the 37-year-old coach can no longer bridle his enthusiasm. You can hear the excitement in his voice when he discusses his young signal-caller and his potential.

While Moore declined to discuss Shough’s candidacy for the Offensive Rookie of the Year award, he did refer

to the rookie from Louisville as a “bigtime quarterback,” who along with Ward is going to be doing big things in the NFL “for a really long time.”

“We’re fortunate to have Tyler,” Moore said.

Shough’s teammates are just as bullish.

“He’s a great leader,” running back Audric Estime said. “I know he just started (eight) weeks ago. If you didn’t know that, you would think he would have been the starter for the past three years. He’s a great guy, and I’m just excited to see the trajectory of the team behind him.”

Added rookie left tackle Kelvin Banks: “It brings a lot of confidence knowing you have a guy at quarterback who can make plays, no matter the circumstance.”

True to form, Shough deferred when asked about his individual performance after the game. Instead, he talked about teammates and credited others for the “great team win.”

“The ultimate goal is to win and come together as a team, and I feel like we’ve been able to do that and how do we keep replicating it?” Shough said. “So for me, that’s my constant goal. And everything else that comes with it is part of it.”

For Shough, “everything else” is going to include the Offensive Rookie of the Year award. He’ll have to wait another six weeks to officially accept the award during Super Bowl LX week, but he won it on Sunday.

L

21-17

Dec. 7

W

24-20

Dec. 14

W

20-17

Dec. 21

29-6 W

Dec. 28

W

34-26

Jan. 4 Falcons TBD

6C ● Monday, December 29, 2025 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

STM sharpshooter Cook roasts Ellender

BY MIKE COPPAGE Contributing writer

A bit of extra shooting on Christmas paid off handsomely for the host St. Thomas More Cougars in the quarterfinals of the Sunkist Shootout.

Matthew Cook made 7 of 8 3-pointers and finished with 29 points for the Cougars in a 59-39 win over Ellender on Saturday night.

“On Christmas night, I came to do some setup (for the tourney) and I just sent a text message — ‘If anyone wants to come shoot, come shoot’ — and I had two guys come to shoot: Tucker Arceneaux

and Cook,” coach Danny Broussard said.

Cook, who was 6 for 6 from 3-point land in the second half, hit three of the long-range shots during a 15-0 run by the Cougars in the third quarter that saw a 27-20 advantage expand to 42-20.

“Pablo Meija holds the Sunkist record with eight or nine threepointers,” Broussard said of the 1992 all-state player, who was at the game Saturday. “Cook will probably break it. He’s only a junior.”

Once Ellender (6-8), which has no seniors and was led by sophomore guard ZiKy White with 13 points, rallied to get within 42-35,

Cook drained three more from beyond the arc. JM Charbonnet (four points, seven assists) added a bucket to send the Cougars into Sunday’s semifinals vs. Neville, a 62-49 winner over St. John XXIII. “I got in the gym on Christmas Day when coach Danny sent the text about getting some shots up,” said Cook, one of five new starters from last year’s 30-plus win Division I select state runner-up squad.

“I saw it as an opportunity. Came in, kept shooting and working on my shot. It just felt good. Yesterday felt good, today felt good, and it’s all glory to God that (shots) were falling.”

LG Carbo sank 5 of 6 field goals

en route to 11 points. Ryan Robinson added six points. Charbonnet made both field goal attempts and had a steal for STM (7-4), which shot 80% from the field in the third quarter and well over 60% for the game.

“It’s a very young team,” Broussard said. “A very inexperienced team. They just don’t have any moments being a major contributor.

It’s a whole new thing for us.

“Five new news starters, and we’re finally starting to see some things. I was a little disappointed in our performance earlier in the year, but now I think we’re starting to share the ball more. When this team does that, I think we can be

pretty good.”

In the first quarter on Saturday, the Patriots took an 8-3 lead. After STM took a 15-10 lead, the Patriots got a 3 before two buckets by Carbo pushed STM’s lead to 20-13.

Landen Ortte and Xarian Babineaux also chipped in a basket.

“In the first half when we weren’t getting much going, Carbo had some big plays that kept up our lead,” Broussard said. “Ellender locked down on us in the first half.

We had trouble scoring. I thought our press was really good. It hasn’t been really good lately, but we worked on some good aggressive traps. We got that tonight. I was pleased with our press, for sure.”

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL GLANCE STM Sunkist Shootout (Boys at St. Thomas More)

Friday’s Games

Teurlings 60, Menard 29 Lafayette Renaissance 48, St. Louis 35 Ellender 55, Sulphur 43 Lafayette Christian 47, Shaw 41 Neville 59, Vandebilt 40 St. John XXIII 75, Church Point 66 (OT) St. Thomas More 71, Terrebonne 47 Westgate 69, Catholic-NI 41 Defense carries Lafayette Renaissance to win in Sunkist opener

Saturday’s Games

Shaw 52, St. Louis 47 Catholic-NI 53, Menard 30 Vandebilt 63, Church Point 28 Sulphur 64, Terrebonne 47 Westgate 52, Teurlings 41 Lafayette Renaissance 36, Lafayette Christian 21 St. Thomas More 59, Ellender 39 Neville 62, St. John 49 STM Cougars ride hot shooter to Sunkist win St. Thomas More 59, Ellender 39 ELLENDER (39) Travonte Alridge 4, Jordan Williams 7, Chavez Collins 2, Kieren Mosley 3, Bernie Dunmilesa 9, Viky White 12, Deuce Nicholl 2. Totals: 14-39 (6-19) 5-8.

ST. THOMAS MORE (59) John Michael Charbonnet 4, Matthew Cook 29, Ryan Robertson 6, Michael Lacour 4, Xarian Babineaux 2, LG Carbo 11, Landon Ortte 1, Will Brupbacher 2.

Totals: 23-36 (8-16) 5-9.

Ellender 8 81 3 10 — 39 STM 5 17 18 19 — 59 3-pointers — STM: Cook 7, Carbo 1; ELL: Williams 1, Mosley 1, Dunmeilsea 3, White 1.

Total Fouls: STM 12, ELL 11.

Lafayette Renaissance 36, Lafayette Christian 21 LAFAYETTE RENAISSANCE (36) Turbo Gordon 6, Evan Ledoux 2, Arsenio Charles 4, Xavier Baker 11, Bubba Etienne 10, Cayman Washington 3.

Totals: 12-32 (5-11) 7-10.

LAFAYETTE CHRISTIAN (21) Josh Wilson 10, Graham Comeaux 4, Kerrance Vallot 4, Christian Glenn 3. Totals: 7-36 (1-16) 6-8.

LRCA 9 10 8 9 — 36 LCA 6 10 0 5 — 21

3-pointers — LRCA: Gordon 2, Baker 2, Washington 1; LCA: Glenn 1. Total Fouls: LRCA 8, LCA 10.

7 p.m. – Boys championship game Northwest Holiday Classic (Boys, girls at Northwest High)

Shaw 40, Catholic-NI 37 (OT) Vandebilt 45, Sulphur 39 Teurlings 59, Lafayette Christian 47 Ellender vs. St. John XXIII St. Thomas More vs. Neville Westgate vs. Lafayette Renaissance

Douglass 49 ,North Central 36 (boys) Washington-Marion 71, Beau Chene 36 (boys) Northwest 78, Livonia 43 (boys) Karr 82, Eunice 43 (boys) Opelousas 84, Ville Platte 72 (boys)

3 p.m. – Shaw vs. Vandebilt 4:30 p.m. – Teurlings vs. St. John-Ellender winner 6 p.m. – Third place game 7:30 p.m. – Championship game Darrell Mitchell Holiday Classic (Boys, girls at St. Martinville)

Ville Platte 53, Scotlandville 47 (girls) Northwest vs. Central Lafourche (girls) Beau Chene 61, Eunice 48 (boys) Ville Platte vs. Livonia (boys) Washington-Marion 62, David Thibodaux 44 (boys) Northwest vs. Douglass (boys)

Sunday’s Games

Monday’s Games

Friday’s Games

Lafayette High 74, St. Martinville 36 (boys) Rayne 69, Loreauville 39 (boys) Westgate 42, Beau Chene 18 (girls) Comeaux 53, Breaux Bridge 45 (boys) St. Martinville vs. New Iberia (girls) Northside 50, Cecilia 47 (boys) Comeaux uses winning formula in close games to another win

Saturday’s Games

New Iberia 47, Comeaux 37 (boys) Rayne 58, Franklin 46 (boys) Peabody 78, Northside 39 (boys) Westgate 55, Cecilia 35 (girls) Cecilia 58, Loreauville 20 (boys) Breaux Bridge vs. New Iberia (girls) Breaux Bridge 57, St. Martinville 43 (boys) Northside learns lessons in loss to powerhouse Peabody

Friday’s Games

Saturday’s Games

Sunday’s Games

1:30 p.m. – Girls consolation bracket semifinals 3 p.m. – Peabody vs. Ville Platte (girls) 4:30 p.m. — North Central vs. Northwest-C. Lafourche winner (girls) 6 p.m. – Karr vs. Washington-Marion (boys) 7:30 p.m. – Opelousas vs. Northwest (boys)

Monday’s Games

Noon – Girls consolation finals 1:30 p.m. – Beau Chene vs. TBA 3 p.m. – Girls third place game 4:30 p.m. – David Thibodaux vs. TBA 6 p.m. – Girls championship game 7:30 p.m. – Boys championship game Vermilion Catholic Yuletide Classic (Boys, girls at Vermilion Catholic)

Friday’s Games

Northside 47, Comeaux 44 (boys) Cecilia 58, Breaux Bridge 43 4 p.m. – St. Martinville vs. Westgate (girls) 5 p.m. – New Iberia vs. Rayne (boys) 6 p.m. – Girls consolation game 6:30 p.m. – Lafayette High vs. Peabody (boys)

Southside 57, Basile 13 (girls) Ascension Episcopal 55, Crowley 46 (boys) Erath 39, Lafayette Renaissance 36 (girls) Avoyelles 70, Erath 52 (boys) Acadiana Renaissance 45, ESA 27 (boys) Vermilion Catholic 49, Delcambre 12 (girls) Vermilion Catholic 52, Delcambre 46 (boys) AES Blue Gators continue smooth transition to new coach

Noon – New Iberia vs. Westgate (girls) 2 p.m. – Franklin vs. Cecilia (boys) 3:30 p.m. – Boys third place game 5 p.m. – Girls championship game

ESA 44, Delcambre 37 (boys) Erath 45, Crowley 44 (boys) Notre Dame 68, Kaplan 33 (boys) Southside 69, Kaplan 49 (girls)

Sunday’s Games

Monday’s Games

Saturday’s Games

Avoyelles 51, Acadiana Renaissance 45 (boys) Vermilion Catholic 50, Erath 21 (girls) Abbeville 70, Vermilion Catholic 50 (boys) Vermilion Catholic 50, Erath 21 ERATH (21) Kayleigh Perro 8, Ali Bouillion 4, Rylin Perro 3, Irion Ardoin 4, Ryleigh Fobbs 2.

Totals: 8 (1) 2-10.

VERMILION CATHOLIC (50) Camille Simon 2, Zoei Thibodeaux 8, Jolie Broussard 1, Anna Boudreaux 6, Evelyn Vincent 2, Bree Thomassee 14, Sara Ellen Hagle 9, Brylynn Broussard 8.

Totals: 22 6-10.

Erath 2 5 5 9 — 21 VC 20 9 13 8 — 50 3-pointers — Erath: R. Perro 1. Total Fouls: Erath 11, VC 16.

Abbeville 70, Vermilion Catholic 50 ABBEVILLE (70) J. Campbell 2, C. Gray 16, K. Fletcher 2, C. Samuels 18, K. Vital 11, J. Joiner 8, N. Badon 12, W. Rideau 1. Totals: 20 (7) 9-11.

VERMILION CATHOLIC (50) Dominick Gautreaux 10, Austin Nguyen 4, William Simon 8, Ty LeBlanc 7, Tre Hebert 8, Ian Boudreaux 5, Beckett Brantley 8. Totals: 18 (1) 11-21.

Abbeville 15 18 23 14 — 70 VC 6 10 17 17 — 50 3-pointers — ABB: Samuels 2, Vital 3, Joiner 2; VC: LeBlanc 1. Total Fouls: ABB 19, VC 15.

Notre Dame 68, Kaplan 33 KAPLAN (33) Ethan Campbell 3, Rashad Boudreaux 4, De’Maurion Cormier 8, Connor Stubblefield 12, Floyd Francis 1, Kevin Small 3, Grayson Broussard 2. Totals: 10 (2) 7-16.

NOTRE DAME (68) A. Hoffpauir 16, Ty Savant 26, L. Frank 13, L. Swacker 5, B. Hetzel 8. Totals: 23 (4) 10-19.

Kaplan 8 2 16 7 — 33 Notre Dame 14 20 18 26 — 68 3-pointers — KAP: Cormier 1, Stubblefield 1; ND: Savant 2, Frank 2. Total Fouls: KAP 15, ND 12.

11:30 a.m. – Delcambre vs. LRCA-Basile winner (girls) 1 p.m. – Boys consolation game 2:30 p.m. – Girls third place game 4 p.m. – Boys third place game 5:30 p.m. – Southside vs. Vermilion Catholic (girls) 7 p.m. – Boys championship game Beal and Hebert Invitational (Girls at Teurlings Catholic)

Monday’s Games

1 p.m. – DeRidder vs. Breaux Bridge 2:20 p.m. – North Vermilion vs. Jeanerette 3:40 p.m. – Church Point vs. Carencro 5 p.m. – St. Thomas More vs St. Charles 6:20 p.m. – Teurlings vs. Iowa

Tuesday’s Games

1 p.m. – Teurlings vs. Jeanerette 2:20 p.m. – St. Charles vs. DeRidder 3:40 p.m. – St. Thomas More vs. Iowa 5 p.m. – North Vermilion vs. Carencro 6:20 p.m. – Teurlings vs. Church Point Kendall/Brad Fontenot Holiday Shootout (Boys, girls at St. Edmund)

Saturday’s Games

Mamou 38, Elton 37 (girls) Westminster 64, Elton 28 (boys) St. Edmund 51, Pine Prairie 41 (girls) Pitkin 50, Sacred Heart-VP 49 (boys) Lacassine vs. Sacred Heart-VP (girls) Lacassine 72, Iota 54 (boys) Basile vs. St. Edmund (boys)

Monday’s Games

Monday’s Games

9 a.m. – Elton vs. Sacred Heart- VP (boys) 10:30 a.m. – St. Edmund vs. Mamou (girls) Noon – Iota vs. Basile-St. Edmund loser (boys) 1:30 p.m. – Pine Prairie vs. Elton (girls) 3 p.m. – Westminster vs. Pitkin (boys) 4:30 p.m. – St. Edmund vs. Lacassine (girls) 6 p.m. – Lacassine vs. Basile-St. Edmund winner (boys) 7:30 p.m. – Iota vs. Sacred Heart-VP (girls)

Tuesday’s Games

9 a.m. – Boys consolation game 10:30 a.m. – Boys third place game Noon – Sacred Heart-VP vs. Elton (girls) 1:30 p.m. – Boys consolation finals 3 p.m. – Lacassine vs. Mamou (girls) 4:30 p.m. – Boys championship game 6 p.m. – Pine Prairie vs. Iota (girls)

11:30 a.m. – Erath vs. Basile (girls) 1 p.m. – Erath vs. ESA (boys) 2:30 p.m. – Kaplan vs. Vermilion Catholic (boys) 4 p.m. – Ascension Episcopal vs. Notre Dame (boys) 5:30 p.m. – Avoyelles vs. Abbeville

Tuesday’s Games

SCOREBOARD Odds

Pro basketball

Sports Betting Line NFL

NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE

Monday

Atlantic Division

FAVORITE LA Rams

OPEN 8½

TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 7½ (49½) at ATL

College Football Monday

Birmingham Bowl FAVORITE OPEN Ga Southern 3½

Tuesday

TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 7½ (59½) App St.

Independence Bowl FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG La Tech 6½ 9½ (51½) C. Carolina Music City Bowl FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG Tennessee 8½ 2½ (61½) Illinois Alamo Bowl FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG USC 5½ 6½ (55½) TCU

Wednesday

ReliaQuest Bowl FAVORITE OPEN Vanderbilt 3½ Sun Bowl El Paso, Texas FAVORITE OPEN Duke 1½ Citrus Bowl FAVORITE OPEN Texas 4½ Las Vegas Bowl FAVORITE OPEN Utah 13½ Cotton Bowl FAVORITE OPEN Ohio State 9½

Thursday

Orange Bowl FAVORITE OPEN Oregon 1½ Rose Bowl FAVORITE OPEN Indiana 6½ Sugar Bowl FAVORITE OPEN Georgia 6½

Friday

Armed Forces Bowl FAVORITE OPEN Texas State 6½ Liberty Bowl FAVORITE OPEN Navy 6½ Duke’s Mayo Bowl FAVORITE OPEN Mississippi St 2½ Holiday Bowl FAVORITE OPEN Arizona 1½

TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 4 (46½) Iowa TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 3 (49½) Arizona St. TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 7½ (48½) Michigan TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 14 (50½) Nebraska TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 9½ (42½) Miami (FL) TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 1½ (52½) Texas Tech TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 7 (48½) Alabama TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 6½ (56½) Ole Miss TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 13 (58½) Rice TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 7 (54½) Cincinnati TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 3½ (53½) W. Forest TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 3 (51½) SMU

NBA Monday

FAVORITE Milwaukee at WASHINGTON at BROOKLYN Denver at TORONTO at HOUSTON Minnesota at SAN ANTONIO at OKC New York at PORTLAND

LINE 2½ OFF OFF 3 OFF 14½ 4½ 4½ OFF 9½ OFF

O/U UNDERDOG (226½) at CHAR (OFF) Phoenix (OFF) Golden St. (244½) at MIAMI (OFF) Orlando (221½) Indiana (238½) at CHICAGO (242½) Cleveland (OFF) Atlanta (240½) at N.O. (OFF) Dallas

COLLEGE BASKETBALL Monday

FAVORITE at SACRED HEART

LINE 1½

UNDERDOG Merrimack

NHL Monday

FAVORITE LINE at OTTAWA -218 at CAROLINA -181 at FLORIDA -134 Edmonton -126 -114 Buffalo at CALGARY -136 -155 at UTAH at COLORADO -244 at VEGAS -133 at ANAHEIM -202 Vancouver -123

W L Pct 22 9 .710 19 11 .633 18 14 .563 16 13 .552 10 19 .345

GB — 2½ 4½ 5 11

Orlando Miami Atlanta Charlotte Washington

W L Pct 18 14 .563 17 15 .531 15 18 .455 11 20 .355 6 23 .207

GB — 1 3½ 6½ 10½

Detroit Cleveland Chicago Milwaukee Indiana

W L Pct 24 7 .774 17 16 .515 15 16 .484 13 19 .406 6 26 .188

GB — 8 9 11½ 18½

Central Division

WESTERN CONFERENCE Southwest Division San Antonio Houston Memphis Dallas New Orleans

GB — 3 8 12 16

Oklahoma City Denver Minnesota Portland Utah

W L Pct 26 5 .839 22 9 .710 20 12 .625 12 19 .387 12 19 .387

GB — 4 6½ 14 14

W L Pct 19 10 .655 18 13 .581 16 15 .516 9 21 .300 8 23 .258

GB — 2 4 10½ 12

Pacific Division L.A. Lakers Phoenix Golden State L.A. Clippers Sacramento

Saturday’s Games

LINE +179 +151 +113 +105 -106 +115 +129 +199 +112 +167 +103

0 .375 396 472 0 .250 259 361

y-Denver x-L.A. Chargers e-Kansas City e-Las Vegas

W 13 11 6 2

L 3 5 10 14

T Pct 0 .813 0 .688 0 .375 0 .125

PF PA 382 308 365 321 350 314 227 420

y-Philadelphia e-Dallas e-Washington e-N.Y. Giants

W 11 7 4 3

L 5 8 12 13

T Pct 0 .688 1 .469 0 .250 0 .188

PF PA 362 301 454 477 332 434 347 422

Carolina Tampa Bay e-Atlanta e-New Orleans

W 8 7 6 6

L 8 9 9 10

T Pct 0 .500 0 .438 0 .400 0 .375

PF PA 297 364 364 397 307 360 289 364

NATIONAL CONFERENCE East

South

North

y-Chicago x-Green Bay e-Minnesota e-Detroit

W 11 9 8 8

L 4 6 8 8

T Pct 0 .733 1 .594 0 .500 0 .500

PF PA 387 354 388 344 328 330 4623977

x-Seattle x-San Francisco x-L.A. Rams e-Arizona

W 12 11 11 3

L 3 4 4 12

T Pct 0 .800 0 .733 0 .733 0 .200

PF PA 443 279 392 320 457 299 321 414

e-Eliminated from playoffs x-clinched playoff spot y-clinched division Thursday’s Games Dallas 30, Washington 23 Minnesota 23, Detroit 10 Denver 20, Kansas City 13

Saturday’s Games

Houston 20, L.A. Chargers 16 Baltimore 41, Green Bay 24

Sunday’s Games

Cincinnati 37, Arizona 14 Cleveland 13, Pittsburgh 6 Jacksonville 23, Indianapolis 17 Miami 20, Tampa Bay 17 New England 42, N.Y. Jets 10 New Orleans 34, Tennessee 26 Seattle 27, Carolina 10 Miami 20, Tampa Bay 17 N.Y. Giants 34, Las Vegas 10 Philadelphia 13, Buffalo 12 Chicago at San Francisco, n

Sacramento 113, Dallas 107 Phoenix 123, New Orleans 114 Orlando 127, Denver 126 Houston 117, Cleveland 100 Brooklyn 123, Minnesota 107 Miami 142, Indiana 116 Milwaukee 112, Chicago 103 Utah 127, San Antonio 114 New York 128, Atlanta 125 Oklahoma City 129, Philadelphia 104 Toronto 141, Golden State 127, OT Boston at Portland, 5 p.m.

Memphis at Washington, 5 p.m.

Detroit at L.A. Clippers, 8 p.m.

Sacramento at L.A. Lakers, 8:30 p.m.

Rate Bowl

Phoenix Minnesota 20, New Mexico 17

First Responder Bowl Dallas UTSA 57, FIU 20

Saturday’s games Military Bowl

Annapolis, Md. East Carolina 23, Pittsburgh 17

Pinstripe Bowl

Pro football

Bronx, N.Y. Penn St. 22, Clemson 10

NFL AMERICAN CONFERENCE

Boston Army 41, UConn 16

Fenway Bowl

Pop-Tarts Bowl

y-New England x-Buffalo e-Miami e-N.Y. Jets

L 3 5 9 13

T Pct 0 .813 0 .688 0 .438 0 .188

PF PA 452 310 446 357 337 386 292 468

x-Jacksonville x-Houston e-Indianapolis e-Tennessee

W 12 11 8 3

L 4 5 8 13

T Pct 0 .750 0 .688 0 .500 0 .188

PF PA 433 329 366 265 436 374 277 437

Pittsburgh Baltimore

W 9 8

L 7 8

T Pct PF PA 0 .563 371 363 0 .500 400 372

South

North

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)

Orlando, Fla. No. 12 BYU 25, No. 24 Georgia Tech 21

Arizona Bowl

Tucson, Ariz.

Fresno St.18 Miami (OH) 3

New Mexico Bowl

Albuquerque No. 23 North Texas 49, San Diego St. 47

Gator Bowl

Jacksonville, Fla. No. 25 Missouri vs. No. 20 Virginia, n

Texas Bowl

Houston LSU vs. No. 21 Houston, n

Monday’s games

Lavergne 38 3-8 0-1 1-4 8 1 7 Mejia 25 4-8 0-0 0-1 1 1 12 Olvera 27 3-10 3-6 1-3 2 1 11 Evans 15 1-1 0-0 0-3 1 2 2 Bilal 8 2-5 0-0 0-0 0 0 5 Woodson 6 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Ratliff 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 200 21-5111-15 7-29 15 12 63 Percentages: FG .412, FT .733.

3-Point Goals: 10-27, .370 (Mejia 4-8, Olvera 2-6, Finister 1-2, J.Lewis 1-3, Lavergne 1-3, Bilal 1-4, Woodson 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 5. Team Turnovers: None.

Blocked Shots: 5 (Jones 4, Evans).

Turnovers: 7 (Jones 2, Evans, J.Lewis, Lavergne, Mejia, Olvera).

Steals: 6 (Finister 2, Lavergne 2, Jones, Mejia).

Technical Fouls: None.

Norfolk State 25 29 — 54 Louisiana 33 30 — 63 A_2,454 (11,550).

State women’s schedule

Saturday’s games

Sun Bowl

No games scheduled.

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

Sunday’s games

Citrus Bowl

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

Las Vegas Bowl

Texas 120, Southeastern 38 LSU 109, Alabama State 41

Monday’s games

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

UNO at UTRGV, 4 p.m.

Nicholls at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 5 p.m.

McNeese at Incarnate Word, 6 p.m.

Dillard at UL, 6 p.m.

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

Tulane at UTSA, 1 p.m.

College Football Playoff

Tuesday’s games

Wednesday’s gae

Stephen F. Austin at Northwestern State, TBA

FCS Playoffs

Thursday’s games

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)

College basketball State men’s schedule

Saturday’s games

No games scheduled.

Sunday’s games

Kansas State 94, UL-Monroe 85 UL 53, Norfolk State 42

Monday’s games

Centenary at Grambling, TBA Southeastern at Incarnate Word, 5 p.m

Detroit Northwestern 34, Central Michigan 7

W 13 11 7 3

Dec. 30

College football GameAbove Sports Bowl

Milwaukee at Charlotte, 6 p.m.

Phoenix at Washington, 6 p.m.

Denver at Miami, 6:30 p.m.

Golden State at Brooklyn, 6:30 p.m.

Orlando at Toronto, 6:30 p.m.

Atlanta at Oklahoma City, 7 p.m.

Cleveland at San Antonio, 7 p.m.

Indiana at Houston, 7 p.m.

Minnesota at Chicago, 7 p.m.

New York at New Orleans, 7 p.m.

Dallas at Portland, 9:30 p.m.

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

Southern at Illinois, 2 p.m.

McNeese at Michigan, 6 p.m.

Friday’s games

Monday’s Games

Birmingham Bowl

Monday’s Games

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

Sunday’s Games

East UNDERDOG Columbus N.Y Rangers Washington at WINNIPEG at ST. LOUIS Boston Nashville Los Angeles Minnesota San Jose at SEATTLE

10 12

West

W L Pct 23 8 .742 19 10 .655 15 16 .484 12 21 .364 8 25 .242

Northwest Division

6 4

West

New York Boston Toronto Philadelphia Brooklyn

Southeast Division

e-Cincinnati e-Cleveland

Tuesday’s game

Wednesday’s games

Stephen F. Austin at Northwestern State, TBA Tulane at East Carolina, 11 a.m.

UL-Lafayette at South Alabama, noon UNO at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 3:30 p.m.

Nicholls at Texas-Rio Grande Valley, 4:30 p.m.

Thursday’s games

Southern Miss at UL-Monroe, 4 p.m.

UL 63, NORFOLK STATE 54 FG

FT

Reb

NOR

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS

UL

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS

Ellis 18 1-3 0-0 0-2 2 1 2 Morris 18 1-1 0-0 1-3 0 1 2 Jamison 27 2-12 3-4 0-2 3 1 7 Leaks 37 4-13 4-8 1-8 4 1 16 McComb 35 4-14 0-0 0-3 0 3 11 Jenkins 22 2-6 4-4 1-3 0 1 9 K.Lewis 21 2-3 0-0 1-4 0 4 4 W-Forde 18 1-1 0-0 1-1 4 2 3 Deeng 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Baines 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Totals 200 17-5411-16 5-26 13 14 54 Percentages: FG .315, FT .688.

3-Point Goals: 9-23, .391 (Leaks 4-9, McComb 3-8, Wright-Forde 1-1, Jenkins 1-2, Jamison 0-3).

Team Rebounds: 8. Team Turnovers: 1.

Blocked Shots: 1 (K.Lewis).

Turnovers: 9 (Leaks 3, Jenkins 2, McComb 2, Jamison, Morris).

Steals: 4 (Jamison, Leaks, McComb, WrightForde).

Technical Fouls: None.

FG FT Reb Jones J.Lewis Finister

23 22 35

2-3 3-7 3-8

0-0 0-0 8-8

1-4 2-5 2-9

0 1 2

0 5 2

4 7 15

Northwestern at Nicholls, 1 p.m.

South Alabama at UL – Monroe, 1:30 p.m.

Prairie View at Southern, 2 p.m.

Troy at UL – Lafayette, 4 p.m.

Texas Southern at Grambling, 6:30 p.m.

Kentucky at LSU, 7 p.m.

No. 5 LSU 109, Alabama St. 41 FG

FT

Reb

LSU

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS

ASU

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS

Joyner 17 8-9 3-3 3-5 2 0 19 Koval 20 8-15 7-9 6-11 0 2 23 F. Johnsn 17 4-11 0-0 0-2 2 2 9 Richard 22 2-8 2-2 2-3 4 1 6 Williams 21 5-7 1-2 1-4 3 0 11 Yarnevich 19 2-4 0-0 1-2 2 3 4 Bourrage 20 1-6 0-2 1-3 1 0 2 Fulwiley 21 2-6 1-2 0-6 11 1 5 Hines 23 5-9 2-3 3-5 2 1 13 Z. Johnsn 20 7-9 3-4 2-6 1 2 17 Team 0 0-0 0-0 0-6 0 0 0 Totals 200 44-8419-27 19-53 28 12 109 Percentages: FG .524, FT .704.

3-Point Goals: 2-13, .154 (F.Johnson 1-3, Hines 1-4, Richard 0-2, Bourrage 0-3, Fulwiley 0-1) Blocked Shots: 3 (Fulwiley 2, Koval 1) Turnovers: 13 (Williams 3, Joyner 2, Bourrage 2, Fulwiley 2, Z.Johnson 2, Koval 1, Richard 1) Steals: 27 (Fulwiley 8, Hines 5, Richard 3, Joyner 2, F.Johnson 2, Yarnevich 2, Bourrage 2, Koval 1, Williams 1, Z.Johnson 1) Technical Fouls: None FG FT Reb McClendon22 2-5 0-1 0-7 0 2 5 Peterson 18 2-2 0-0 1-5 0 4 4 Franklin 14 2-4 0-0 1-2 0 5 5 Reid 31 1-14 1-2 1-4 4 1 3 Smith 8 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Bryant 11 0-3 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Osei 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Ponder 15 0-1 0-0 1-3 1 1 0 Pooler 21 3-7 1-2 3-6 1 4 8 Puckett 5 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 W-Norman 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Flowers 16 1-9 0-2 0-0 1 0 2 Scott 24 3-5 0-0 1-4 0 3 7 Simpson 9 2-4 0-1 0-0 1 2 5 Team 0 0-0 0-0 2-3 0 0 0 Totals 200 17-59 2-8 10-34 10 25 41 Percentages: FG .288, FT .250.

3-Point Goals: 5-27, .185 (McClendon 1-2, Franklin 1-2, Pooler 1-3, Scott 1-2, Simpson 1-2, Reid 0-9, Smith 0-1, Bryant 0-2, Flowers 0-4) Blocked Shots: None.

Turnovers: 36 (Reid 8, Smith 5, Ponder 4, Flowers 4, McClendon 3, Peterson 3, Scott 3, Puckett 2, Simpson 2, Franklin 1, Bryant 1) Steals: 6 (McClendon 3, Peterson 2, Reid 1) Technical Fouls: None Alabama St. 6 8 10 17 — 41 LSU 28 25 28 28 — 109 A_11,170 Officials_Daniel Drake, Kevin Pethtel, Angelica Suffren

LIVING

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

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M o n d ay, d e c e M b e r 29, 2025

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ALZHEIMER’S Q&A

Comfort, attention key to consider in hospice care When is it time to consider hospice care?

passion on her feet. But unlike most of us, she made that footwear herself: Corcoran is a shoemaker who makes handcrafted shoes to order in her Pike Place Market studio, Leolo Shoes. They are not inexpensive — her bespoke shoes, crafted specifically for the customer’s foot and to

Hospice care is a type and philosophy of care that centers on the palliation of a terminally or seriously ill patient’s pain and symptoms and attending to that patient’s emotional and spiritual needs. At end-stage Alzheimer’s disease, the goal of hospice is to keep that person as comfortable as possible.

Hospice care is provided by a team of professionals, which may include a medical director, the person’s attending physician, nurses, social workers, counselors, clergy and home health aides. Once hospice care is ordered by the physician, and the person is enrolled in that care, the team meets regularly to evaluate and coordinate a plan of care.

One member of the team is always available, 24 hours a day, to address issues and concerns. Hospice care can be offered at the person’s home, in a nursing home or assisted living facility, where the person resides or an in-house hospice care facility.

Hospice services only accept people who are terminally ill, and Alzheimer’s disease is a terminal illness.

Since the span of Alzheimer’s disease can run from seven to 20 years, it is often difficult to know when the person warrants hospice care. Generally, an individual with Alzheimer’s is ready for a hospice referral when they become severely impaired in function, (no longer can walk or feed themselves); when the person has become incontinent; when they experience frequent choking episodes or have difficulty in breathing, are unable to speak or communicate meaningfully (limited to about a half dozen or fewer intelligible words), or have significant weight loss.

With the progression of the disease, comorbid conditions are also associated in the late stages such as aspiration pneumonia, urinary tract infection, septicemia and decubitus ulcers. There could also be comorbid conditions that significantly impair the affected person’s health and functionality, which includes cardiovascular disease or congestive heart failure, lung disease, strokes, diabetes, renal failure and cancer.

The decision for hospice is made when the goals of the person and family members are palliative and not lifeprolonging. The criteria for acceptance into Hospice Care includes: n The person must be diagnosed by a licensed physician as having end-stage Alzheimer’s, with limited life-expectancy (six months or less). n The person must live within the specific geographic boundary of the individual hospice service. n The family/caregiver of the affected person must consent to hospice services.

Medicare, Medicaid and many private insurance policies cover hospice-care costs.

ä See SHOEMAKER, page 8C

ä See HOSPICE, page 8C

QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITy/TNS PHOTO

Quinnipiac University faculty members Brian O’Neill, from left, Karen Majeski and Chetan Jaiswal stand with graduate student Michael Ruocco on Nov. 20 as Ruocco demonstrates AccessiMove. The faculty/student team helped develop the technology, a hands-free mobility tool powered by facial gestures and artificial intelligence, which recently earned Quinnipiac its first U.S. patent.

ACCESSibility GRANTED Professors and students create software that helps people communicate and move. It reads your face

BY LIVI STANFORD

Hartford Courant (TNS)

HARTFORD, Conn. — Observing a young man in a wheelchair with motor impairment struggle to communicate with his parents profoundly affected Chetan Jaiswal.

Jaiswal is an associate professor of computer science at Quinnipiac University.

After meeting the boy at an occupational therapy conference in 2022, Jaiswal decided that more could be done to help individuals connect with their loved ones using technology powered by artificial intelligence, or AI. “We are computer scientists,” Jaiswal said. “We can do better.

Technology should help people

who actually need it. Technology shouldn’t just be created to be rich.

You need to create technology that can help the people who can actually use it on a daily basis.”

Joining with colleagues, Karen Majeski, associate professor of occupational therapy and Brian O’Neill, associate professor of computer science, at Quinnipiac, the three worked together with students Michael Ruocco and Jack Duggan to develop the university’s first patented software hands-free input system using AI with communication entirely through facial gestures to help provide more independence for those with limited mobility.

Using a standard webcam, AccessiMove uses head-tilt detec-

tion, wink/gesture recognition and facial-landmark tracing to enable individuals to make command inputs and move the cursor on a computer screen or other device.

“This benefits a lot of people, especially people with disabilities and motor impairment,” Jaiswal said. “They can actually use their face to interact with a computer and do a number of things that we take for granted.”

The professors are looking for partnerships, collaborators and investors to develop the product across communication technologies including the health care field.

“We have so many health care industry partners in the East Coast,

ä See SOFTWARE, page 8C

Shoemaker wears her passion on her feet

BY MOIRA MacDONALD The Seattle Times (TNS)

SEATTLE — If you are in love with shoes, like Leanne Corcoran is, you think a lot about what’s on your feet. You might often ponder Oxfords versus pumps, or the balance of beauty and comfort, or why it is that your favorite shoes often wear out, no matter how

“Shoemaking is almost spiritual. If you’re not present with the process, you’re going to mess up.”

LEANNE CORCORAN

well you try to take care of them.

Shoes can be the punctuation mark of an outfit, a literal reason to kick up your heels, a source of joy. They shield our feet from the pavement and take us where we need to go; they speak, in clomps or taps or whispers, keeping us company as we walk.

Corcoran, a 55-year-old Seattleite, is someone who wears her

8C ● Monday, December 29, 2025 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Bone bruising is localized area of microfractures Dear Doctors: I slipped and slammed my shin on the metal ledge of a moving van. I could still move my toes, turn my foot, stand on it and walk, so I figured it wasn’t a break. A few days later, a big lump showed up, with lots of swelling and bruising. Could it be it actually was broken?

Dear Reader: The bone you injured is known as the tibia. It is the second-longest bone in the body — and one of the strongest. Its unique triangular shape provides the structural support needed to bear the weight of the body while standing and in motion. The three distinct borders of the bone, along with their adjacent surfaces, serve as attachment points for muscles and connective tissue.

Dr. Elizabeth Ko Dr. Eve Glazier ASK THE DOCTORS

Due to its size and heft, the tibia requires a high-energy force to cause a break. This might be a car accident, a fall from a height or a blunt force or twisting injury in a contact sport. Osteoporosis can also play a role. But in a healthy adult, the mishap you described is not likely to have resulted in a fracture. However, and this is

TODAY IN HISTORY

By The Associated Press Today is Monday, Dec. 29, the 363rd day of 2025. There are two days left in the year.

Today in history: On Dec. 29, 1890, the Wounded Knee massacre took place in South Dakota as more than 250 Lakota people were killed by U.S. troops sent to disarm them.

Also on this date: In 1940, during World War II, the German Luftwaffe dropped incendiary bombs on London, setting off what came to be known as “The Second Great Fire of London.”

In 1989, dissident and playwright Václav Havel assumed the presidency of Czechoslovakia. In 1993, he would become the first president of the newly independent Czech Republic after Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved.

In 2021, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted in

SOFTWARE

Continued from page 7C especially in Connecticut, whether it is Yale Hospital, Hartford Hospital,” Jaiswal said. “All of us are wanting what is best for our patients, especially for those patients that can’t help themselves.

They need assistance. They need help to live a better life. We are looking up to those partners who want to make a difference in the world for the people who need it.”

Majeski described the software system, explaining that an individual’s facial gestures become like a computer mouse tool dictating commands.

O’Neill said the camera is focused on the bridge of your nose, explaining that when an individual moves the bridge of his or her nose one direction it is signaling to the computer to go in a particular direction.

Jaiswal said, for example, that a left, right, up, down head tilt is tracked to any event such as opening chrome or restarting the computer. Eye blinks, he said, are tracked to mouse/keyboard clicks.

With the technology running on similar devices it is adaptable in long-term care centers, education, rehabilitation, remote learning, and assistive home-care environments, according to Jaiswal.

Jaiswal noted that it is not only limited to computers. It can also be used with wheelchairs, he explained.

“A person with a disability can sit in the chair and just use gestures to move the wheelchair,” he said. “If you look up the chair goes forward, if you look down, the chair goes backward.”

He said it could also benefit seniors in assisted living facilities, helping them to go from point A to point B with a wheelchair using facial gestures that inform the AI technology.

O’Neill said the software couldn’t be used without the assistance of AI.

HOSPICE

Continued from page 7C In choosing a hospice provider, you would want to consider the provider services and reputation, if the staff is specifically trained in Alzheimer’s disease, the plan of care developed by the staff, and if the hospice provider is licensed by the state or accredited by a licensing organization such as the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

People with Alzheimer’s dis-

New York of helping lure teenage girls to be sexually abused by the late Jeffrey Epstein; the verdict capped a monthlong trial featuring accounts of the sexual exploitation of girls as young as 14. (Maxwell would be sentenced to 20 years in prison.)

In 2024, Jimmy Carter, a Georgia peanut farmer who was elected president in the years after the Watergate scandal and served one tumultuous term starting in 1977, died at age 100.

After his presidency, Carter worked tirelessly as a global humanitarian, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

Today’s birthdays: Actor Jon Voight is 87. Actor Ted Danson is 78.

Actor Patricia Clarkson is 66.

Filmmaker Lilly Wachowski is 58. Actor Jennifer Ehle is 56. Actor Jude Law is 53. Actor Mekhi Phifer is 51. Actor Diego Luna is 46. Actor and producer Alison Brie is 43. Actor Jane Levy is 36.

Actor Dylan Minnette is 29.

AI is used to track the face gestures in real time, Jaiswal said.

The system “also enhances accessibility in the gaming industry, enabling inclusive gameplay and new hands-free interaction styles for slower-paced, strategy, simulation, or narrative-driven games,” according to information on the system.

The idea, Majeski said, is for children who have mobility issues to interact with objects in their environment.

“We are talking about gaming literacy for learning,” she said.

“If it is a toy and they can’t turn the button on could you help us hack that toy so he could turn that button with the whole hand grasp? If it is a computer can you help us to connect something to the computer to get him to be able to do those actions?”

Majeski said the team conducted trials with students, Ruocco and Duggan, to make sure the software works if someone is wearing glasses or has a stiff neck. They found it to be successful in all those situations, she said.

The software is calibrated to the person’s range of motion.

“There is money behind bringing it to the market so even if there is a source option for people with disabilities we still need funding to bring it to a place where it is an open source option for people with disabilities to use it on their own,” she said.

O’Neill explained the simplicity of the software.

“This is not using special hardware,” he said. “It is not using a fancy webcam. It is using the webcam built into any tablet or any phone.”

Jaiswal said it is his hope that the technology becomes an everyday use for people that need it and for people who may want to use it for convenience.

“The technology is useful in hospital settings,” he said. “Patients can use facial gestures to communicate in a hospital setting, especially for patients who can’t speak.”

ease deserve, and are entitled to, the option of hospice and palliative care. To find more about hospice care programs, visit the Louisiana/Mississippi Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (lmhpco.org) or the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.

Dana Territo is an Alzheimer’s advocate and author of “What My Grandchildren Taught Me About Alzheimer’s Disease.”

She hosts “The Memory Whisperer.” Email her at thememorywhisperer@gmail. com.

important, bones are susceptible to other types of impact injuries.

These include bone bruises.

Based on your symptoms, it’s possible that this is what happened.

A bone bruise occurs when force strikes the bone hard enough to cause damage to its surface structure. Rather than a break in the bone, as happens in a fracture, a bone bruise is a localized area of microfractures. Depending on the severity of the injury, these can reach into multiple layers of bone tissue. Symptoms of a bone bruise include the pain, bruising and localized swelling that you described. But unlike a fracture, a bone bruise does not impair the integrity of the bone. That means it does not need to be stabilized.

The word “bruise” in this type of injury can be misleading. Even though you are able to stand and walk, the damage to the bone can be substantial. The swelling and bruising and tenderness of a bone bruise can take weeks to subside.

During that time, you need to dial down your activity level, regularly elevate the affected limb and avoid percussive movement. You can also use anti-inflammatory medications to manage pain. The structure of the bone itself needs to heal as well. This can take a surprisingly long time — up to three to six months, or even longer.

It would also be wise to check in with your health care provider to rule out other possible injuries.

These include a deep bruise that

may benefit from a guided healing process; a cortical fracture, which is a break in the outer layer of the bone; or a hematoma, which is a collection of blood outside of a vessel. Your doctor will ask for details of how the injury happened and assess swelling, pain and mobility. If they suspect a more serious injury, they may recommend imaging tests. The goal is an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment to head off any long-term problems.

Send your questions to askthedoctors@mednet.ucla. edu, or write: Ask the Doctors, c/o UCLA Health Sciences Media Relations, 10880 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1450, Los Angeles, CA, 90024.

Practice extension cord safety has multiple outlets. An electrician Dear Heloise: Regarding the recent can give advice on this subject hint suggesting we plug in extenmatter. — Francis W., Hickory, N.C. sion cords behind heavy pieces of furniture for future use.

Rough towels This can be a serious safety hazard if proper precauDear Heloise: I have read your hints/advice for over tions are not taken. Any 50 years and thank you! such cords can be a hazard I sure hope that you can to young children or pets if help me. they play with or chew on Hints from When my sweet mother them. They should also be Heloise passed away, I became rated for heavy duty and the owner of her many as short as possible. Light duty cords, if used with devices or beautiful towel sets. These have tags from Wamsutta Suprima appliances that draw significant current, will heat up, creating a po- or Cannon. Unfortunately, while these towels absorb, they are stiff tential fire hazard. Longer-length and feel rough when drying off. cords increase this effect. They I have tried adding vinegar to are also inefficient due to the voltthe wash, baking soda to another age drop that will occur. Today, most power cords of all types have wash, vinegar and baking soda together to the wash, fabric softa tag attached that give the rating in watts and/or current. You should ener to the wash, and even fabric know the wattage or current draw softener sheet in the dryer to no of anything you are plugging into avail. What is the answer? an extension cord before using Do towels lose their “softness” one. This is especially important over time and with many washwhen using an extension cord that ings? Should I just donate these

SHOEMAKER Continued from page 7C

their specifications, begin at $2,200 — but are made for the long haul.

“They will last forever,” said Corcoran, on a recent fall morning at her studio (wearing, for the record, a dapper-looking pair of her own black Oxfords). “My background is in sustainability; I am not about fast fashion.”

Making a pair of shoes from scratch is an elaborate and lengthy process, changed little over the centuries. A shoemaker first takes meticulous measurements of the client’s feet and modifies a last (a foot mold) based on those measurements. The shoe’s design is translated into a pattern, which is used to cut the leather; the upper is then brogued (the engraved lines of decoration seen on many shoes, particularly Oxfords) and handdyed. The two pieces of the upper are sewn together, and there’s a trial fitting at this point.

Once adjustments are made, the upper is attached to the sole with small nails or thread, followed by a steel shank, welt and cork filler, then the outsole and hand-stacked heel. Finishing touches include polishing, laces and final details. Each pair takes about a week to make, as everything is done by hand; there are no high-tech shortcuts in traditional shoemaking. There’s no question that a handmade pair of Corcoran’s shoes is an investment, but the price reflects the many hours of handwork, the high-quality leather and laces, the attention to detail, the personalized fittings.

You can buy designer shoes priced at $2,000-plus at Nordstrom, but they won’t be custom-made for your foot.

Sandra Schumann, the Seattlebased director of development for a climate institute at Harvard University, owns two pairs of Corcoran’s shoes and feels they are well worth the price. “Wearing a pair that’s been shaped precisely to your foot is an experience like no other,” she wrote in a text. “Every detail, from the leather to the colors, feels thoughtfully chosen … You feel as though the shoe is part of you, a natural extension of who you are.”

Corcoran’s clientele is wideranging, with a nearly 50-50 malefemale split, ages spanning from the 30s to 90s, and occupations including construction workers, executives, chefs, musicians and doctors.

Though Corcoran has a lessexpensive line of shoes manufactured in Portugal to her specifications and sold in her shop ($700), all of her bespoke shoes are made right there in her studio. Leolo Shoes, on the south end of Pike

Place Market at 93 Pike St., No. 103, is two adjacent but very different rooms, each smelling of warm leather. The first is an inviting, conventional shop, with shoes arrayed on shelves alongside numerous other wares: belts, bags, socks, key fobs, shoe-care products, shoehorns.

It’s the second room where the magic happens, on and around three scarred work tables. An enormous grinding machine, in a green that matches a pair of cheerful Oxfords on display, lurks in a corner; a bouquet of scissors and other tools blooms in a pot on a side table. Lengths of leather, in a rainbow of colors, hang on the wall, as do a dizzying variety of cutting tools. Several sewing machines, as if poised for battle, punctuate the room’s perimeter, but many of the tools on the tables are simple: pencils, hammers, glue pots.

Corcoran hasn’t spent her entire adult life making shoes; she’s one of those people who figured out her bliss a little later, crafting her first pair at the age of 46. But a love for shoes has been a constant through the years: She remembered playing with her parents’ shoes as a child, and being fascinated by their form. As a teen, she’d buy shoes at Goodwill and “paint them and do weird things to them and sell them back to my friends.” This didn’t seem like a career, though, at least not then. After an MFA in painting and a move to Seattle in 2000, Corcoran worked in the art world, at galleries and Seattle Art Museum, and as an interior designer while raising her two daughters.

But the siren call of shoes eventually won out, nearly a decade ago. Her then-spouse, noticing that Corcoran was unhappy in her work, asked her what she really wanted to do. “And I said, I want to make shoes. I just want to make shoes. She just said do it, go do it.”

If Corcoran’s life were a movie, this is where the happy-ending montage would come in.

It takes a while to learn to make shoes from scratch: Corcoran began with a sandal-making class and studied shoemaking at Seattle’s Pratt Fine Arts Center, traveling to Santa Fe, New Mexico, for an extensive workshop with the teacher, Jessica Brommer (who now teaches shoemaking classes at Leolo Shoes). But she was, for a long time, “just a hobbyist, but a passionate hobbyist.” Eventually, Corcoran built an art studio in her backyard, practicing with leather and tools, “and then the pandemic happened and I was back there every day.” Once she started actually making shoes and selling them to friends, she pulled in her mother, Maurine Corcoran, to help with sewing, which was a nice way for them to spend some time together.

towels? Thank you for advising me. — T. Bing, Klein,Texas T., if your towels are dried outside on a line they will indeed be stiff after drying. Use a dryer and either dryer balls or sheets to soften. If your towels are gray, it could be your detergent or that you are using too much laundry soap. If the towels are white, you could also use just a little bleach. If this doesn’t work, maybe it’s time for a few new towels. — Heloise

Carton date Dear Heloise: Mary in Minnesota says she always writes the date on the end of the egg carton before it goes into the refrigerator.

There is already a date on the end of the egg carton. The three digit number between 000 and 365 is the number of days in the year.

For instance, 032 is Feb. 1. New Year’s Eve is 365 (or 366 in a leap year.) — Ronald P. Email heloise@heloise.com.

(Maurine still helps out at the shop, one or two days a week.)

The next step was a leap of faith: After a visit to Pike Place Market with visiting family, Corcoran thought, “What a cool place this would be to have a shop.” She put in an application and soon opened her business in a yellow storefront on Western Avenue in 2021. It was about a quarter of the size of her current space (that enormous grinder needed to stay in Corcoran’s garage, with the shoes traveling from work to home), but it was a start. A year ago, she reopened in the current space — larger, brighter and with much more foot traffic.

On a recent morning in the studio, several other workers were busy with shoemaking projects alongside Corcoran, their conversations punctuated by the constant pounding of hammers or the screech of the grinder. Shoemaking is a noisy art; hammering is needed to get leather seams to lie flat, while the grinder smooths edges. Shoemaker Emma Owens was carefully crafting a pattern for an elegant green-heeled shoe.

(Corcoran plans to expand the shop’s selection of higher heels; currently, most of the shoes sold are low-heeled variants on Oxfords and derbies.) Tyler Andersen, an apprentice, was working on a project to upcycle old sneakers into handbags. Master shoemaker Arthur Derkach meticulously dabbed fuchsia paint on a pair of whimsical pink-and-green Oxfords. All of them looked uncannily focused.

“Shoemaking is almost spiritual,” Corcoran said. “If you’re not present with the process, you’re going to mess up.”

Corcoran’s shoes all use real leather; vegan leather, she says, “is just not the same … When somebody creates something that has all of those properties that leather has, I will be the first person in line for it.” Her leather, she said, is sustainably sourced from tanneries with high environmental standards. It’s a policy at Leolo Shoes to minimize waste: all leather scraps are saved in a bin to be donated to Our Fabric Stash, a Pike Place Market fabric store, which includes them in grab bags.

Her profession is surprisingly appropriate for Seattle, Corcoran said. “I hadn’t anticipated it or thought it through, but it’s a really good place to be a bespoke shoemaker,” she said. “There are so many people who have problems with their feet, skiers and dancers and soccer players, cyclists, all wearing those constricting shoes, a lot of bunions.” Shoemaking has been an unexpected and late-arriving career, but it’s been a joy, Corcoran said. Sometimes, a shoe looks like a dream — and vice versa.

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Monday, December 29, 2025 ● 9C

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FrAnK And erneSt

bIG nAte

zItS

For better or For WorSe

zodIAC CAPRICoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Awareness and acceptance will help you decipher what's best for you. Put your talents, experiences and connections to good use, and you'll reach your objective.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Refrain from making promises that eat up your time or cost you. A tense situation can give you the push you need to initiate the changes necessary to head in a positive direction. Weigh the pros and cons.

PIsCEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Refuse to let anyone intimidate or push you in a direction that favors them more than you. Participate in situations and plans that offer you something in return.

ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Keep life simple. A minimalist attitude will help you ward off debt and stress. A strategy is necessary to avoid making poor choices. A hasty act will lead to regret. tAuRus (April 20-May 20) An open mind will lead to knowledge that can shape what's yet to unfold. Live and learn as you go, and you'll acquire inner peace, gratitude and a clear vision of prospects and lifestyle changes.

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Confusion will set in if you listen to people who don't share your agenda. Don't fear heading in a different direction. Stick to the plan that offers the greatest potential.

CAnCER (June 21-July 22) Take the plunge and make things happen. Opportunity is within reach, and the potential for

positive change will encourage you to step outside your comfort zone.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Take whatever steps are necessary to ensure your happiness. Be aware of your surroundings and those you allow into your inner circle. Trust in yourself, not in hearsay.

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Network, learn as you go and embrace what you encounter. Misinformation or hidden costs are apparent if you aren't diligent getting what's agreed upon in writing.

You can make gains by setting high standards.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) You'll be walking a tightrope at home and at work.

Leave nothing unfinished or unsaid to avoid setbacks. It's necessary to oversee what's happening or do it yourself.

Avoid risks. sCoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Handle relationships with care. Joint ventures or shared expenses require thought, planning and signatures to avoid adverse ramifications. Read the fine print. sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Overspending to impress will not buy favors. Your best investment is in yourself, your lifestyle and your space. Avoid unnecessary purchases or penalties.

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: s EQuALs u

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon FAMILY CIrCUS

dooneSbUrY

10C ● Monday, December 29, 2025 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

CurTiS

Hi and LoiS

lll

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.

Saturday’s Puzzle Answer

BaBY BLueS

BLondie

THe wiZard oF id

nea CroSSwordS

La TimeS CroSSword

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Monday, December 29, 2025 ● 11C

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B.C.

Bridge

By PHILLIP ALDER Frank Stewart, a syndicated columnist, has self-published “What’s Your Call?”

Each of the 14 chapters starts with two pages of information about the bidding topic being discussed. Then there are numerous quiz questions on left-hand pages with the answers on the right-hand pages. The material is based on Standard American. Stewart is not a supporter of two-over-one game-force, especially for irregular and inexperienced partnerships.

Most advice is mainstream, but I did disagree with one answer. If you open one diamond, the next player overcalls three spades, and partner doubles, Stewart thinks that is for penalty. I believe the double should say that responder has too many points to pass, but has no better call available. Opener typically passes with a balanced hand or bids with distribution.

In this deal from the book, who is to blame for reaching five spades?

Over three spades, South had three choices: pass; four spades; or something else, which suggests a slam. Four clubs was a control-bid (cue-bid). Next, North reasonably control-bid four diamonds, his club queen looking like a working card. Then South erred — he should have

garfield

Pearls Before swiNe

hagar the horriBle

bid four spades, positively proclaiming that he had no heart control. North would have passed, and the deal would never have seen the light of day.

The auction telegraphed the killing heart lead. East won with his ace and returned the suit. Later, East scored the diamond king to defeat five spades. © 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 — BuCKRAM: BUK-rum: A stiff fabric of cotton or linen used as

Bizarro

marmaduKe

garment linings.

Average mark 10 words Time limit 20 minutes Can you find 17 or more words in BUCKRAM? sAtuRDAy’s WoRD — soLICItous scoot scout silo silt situs slit slot soil solicit solo soloist

soot soul stoic stool suit oculist olio oust licit list loco

locus locust loot loss lost lotic lotus lust clot clout coil

colitis colt cool cost coulis cult cuss cutis toil tool toss

loCKhorNs hidato Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

today’s thought “Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31

We were created by God for God. Find your purpose in life by surrendering your all to the Lord Jesus. — G.E. Dean

12C ● Monday, December 29, 2025 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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ALMANAC

AIR QUALITY

LAFAyETTE THROUGH 5 P.M. SUNDAy

YESTERDAY

TEMPERATURE

High/low Normal high/low Record high Record low

GOOD

79°/65° 63°/44° 81° in 1984 20° in 1925

MAIN POLLUTANT Particulates

READING 29

TODAY

PRECIPITATION

GOOD

24 hours through 5 p.m. Sun. 0.11” Month to date (normal) 7.54” (4.40”) year to date (normal) 72.37” (62.25”)

MAIN POLLUTANT Ozone

SUN AND MOON Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today

7:03 a.m.

5:17 p.m.

12:56 p.m.

1:45 a.m.

SOURCE: AIRNOW.GOV

FULL

LAST

NEW

FIRST

JAN 3

JAN 10

JAN 18

JAN 25

THE NATION AND WORLD Today City

LOUISIANA FORECAST

RIVER STAGES MISSISSIPPI

Monroe 50/31

Shreveport 51/30

Jackson 47/29

Longview 49/29

Many 50/28

Hattiesburg 53/30

Alexandria 52/32

Memphis Vidalia-Natchez Red River Landing Baton Rouge Donaldsonville Reserve New Orleans OHIO

Cairo COMITE

Near Olive

Baton Rouge 52/33 Beaumont 56/37

Port Arthur 55/37

Lafayette

AMITE

Near Darlington Denham Springs Port Vincent

New Orleans 56/36

Lake Charles 56/35

TICKFAW

Montpelier Holden

Houma 56/35

ATCHAFALAYA

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

TIDES HIGH

Lake Pontchartrain (Tchefuncte River) 3:28a Shell Beach 9:08p South Point, Marsh Island 1:36p Cypremort Point 5:08p Grand Isle (Barataria Pass) 5:11p Mississippi River (Southwest Pass) 4:36p Wine Island 6:19p

First FT. LOW

FT.

HIGH

0.3 1.1 1.3 1.5 0.8 1.0 1.0

-0.1 -0.1 -0.4 0.1 -0.3 -0.3 -0.3

--------9:02p 1.2 -----------------

2:46p 7:16a 3:35a 7:36a 3:40a 2:12a 4:42a

Second FT. LOW

FT.

--------4:30p 1.2 -----------------

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

Simmesport Melville Krotz Springs Butte La Rose Bayou Sorrel Morgan City

FLOOD STAGE 24-HOUR STAGE CHANGE

34 48 48 35 27 22 17

-0.70 14.30 17.10 5.60 3.00 2.50 1.60

-0.87 +1.68 +1.30 +0.50 none +0.40 -0.35

40

12.00

-1.89

19

-1.42

-0.01

18 29 8

-0.93 10.26 1.42

-0.01 -0.03 -0.04

13 15

2.04 0.93

-0.01 -0.03

47 34 29 20 12 6

4.58 3.01 2.88 2.30 2.00 1.62

+0.12 +0.07 +0.19 +0.31 -0.30 +0.27

Austin Boston Dallas Fairbanks Honolulu Las Vegas Louisville Miami Nashville

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

Tuesday

Hi

Lo

W

Hi

Lo

W

City

52 49 49 -22 80 58 32 81 36

41 22 32 -26 70 40 19 61 21

c r c s sh s pc pc c

56 25 55 -16 78 57 32 72 37

35 21 39 -32 70 44 25 49 26

pc c pc sn sh s s pc s

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

45 90 58 39 39 68 46 39 82 71 50

38 69 47 28 33 49 42 32 65 62 46

c pc sh c c s c pc s s r

43 90 57 36 42 67 45 38 80 72 52

32 70 46 26 28 50 34 26 62 63 43

c pc s s pc pc pc s pc pc pc

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

-10

-0s

0s

Minor

Major

Minor

6:19a 12:08a 6:45p 12:32p 7:07a 12:53a 7:36p 1:22p 8:00a 1:44a 8:31p 2:15p 8:57a 2:41a 9:30p 3:13p 9:58a 3:42a 10:31p 4:14p 11:01a 4:45a 11:33p 5:17p 12:04p 5:49a ---- 6:19p

Tuesday

Lo

W

Hi

Lo

W

56 78 58 74 44 63 30 71 76

36 45 28 52 20 27 18 61 45

c s r s sn sh s s s

50 60 34 75 27 42 35 73 59

37 39 26 53 21 26 27 60 40

s pc c pc sf s s s pc

66 44 52 69 39 25 71 39 56 31 55

53 40 33 50 7 20 47 32 42 25 41

pc c pc s sn sn pc s pc s s

62 44 52 61 11 22 73 41 57 29 57

42 31 31 42 3 6 47 26 42 20 41

pc pc pc pc c c pc s s s s

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

SOLUNAR TABLE

Major

Today

Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.

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 Tue. Wed. Thu. Fri. Sat. Sun.

Hi

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

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