The Advocate 12-29-2025

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

Hurricane forecasters adopt AI models Technology used for the first time

BY KASEY BUBNASH 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.

They strive to improve genetic storage technology, with profound implications for cancer and disease research, biomedical studies and the ability

An axolotl is displayed at the LSU AgCenter Aquatic

After a merciful lack of hurricanes in the U.S. in 2025 and an unusually quiet Gulf of Mexico, 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 AI-driven 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 researchers 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

ä See LAB, page 5A Germplasm and Genetic Resources Center.

ä See AI MODELS, page 5A

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 the negotiations are complex and

WEATHER HIGH 53 LOW 31 PAGE 8B

could still break down, leaving the war dragging on for years.

The president’s statements came after the leaders met for talks following what Trump said was 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 afternoon news conference as he stood with Zelenskyy after their meeting. He repeatedly praised his counterpart 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

ä See UKRAINE, page 5A

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

Classified .....................6C Deaths .........................9A Nation-World ................2A Comics-Puzzles .....3C-5C Living............................1C Opinion .....................10A Commentary .............11A Metro ...........................8A Sports ..........................1B

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

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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: 2 choppers crashed midair in N.J.

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 Hammonton Municipal Airport.

Only the pilots were on board each

IMAGE PROVIDED By WPVI-TV/6ABC

Authorities look over the scene Sunday after two helicopters crashed in Hammonton, N.J. 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 resident Dan Dameshek told NBC10 that he was leaving a gym when he heard a loud snap and saw two helicopters spinning out of control.

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.

“Immediately, the first helicopter went from right side up to upside down and started rapidly spinning, falling out of the air,” Dameshek told the TV station.

“And then it looked like the second helicopter was OK for a second, and then it sounded like another snap or something ... and then that helicopter started rapidly spinning out of the air.”

Hammonton is about 35 miles southeast of Philadelphia.

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.”

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.

Good Samaritan covers pet owners’ medical bills

BY JOHN AGUILAR

The Denver Post (TNS) DENVER — Adam Wilson’s week was bad — and getting worse.

On Monday, the Denver man said goodbye to his elderly cat at Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital. Three days later, he found himself with his dog, injured in a Christmas Eve fight with another dog, at the same facility to patch up a worrisome bite wound.

It was Christmas morning and Wilson was retrieving his credit card to pay the upfront $200 emergency room fee when things suddenly took a very merry turn.

“This man walks up and says, ‘Nope, nope, nope — let me cover that,’ ” Wilson recounted Friday in a phone interview.

“He told me that no one should ever have to be here on Christmas dealing with their pet. I was stunned, I was speechless.”

And it didn’t stop there. Wilson said he offered to cover the bill of the next pet owner to walk through the doors at the Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital in a “pay-

it-forward” goodwill gesture. But the good Samaritan, seated in the waiting room and armed with a stack of moneyfilled envelopes, wouldn’t hear of it. “‘Nope, nope — I’m going to cover this too,’ ” Wilson recalled the man saying. “‘I’m just here trying to help people out.’ ” The man covered around $2,400 in vet bills for pet owners visiting the Wheat Ridge emergency room on Christmas Day, according to a receptionist working the Christmas shift at the animal hospital.

She asked that her name not be used.

“It was very surprising,” she said.

“I have never witnessed something so heartfelt in my life.”

The man, who insisted on remaining anonymous, paid a $300 bill for one devastated woman who brought in her dog to be euthanized, the receptionist said.

“It’s one of those things you hear about, or see on social media, but never expect to actually see in real life,” she said. “It was overwhelmingly heart-warming.”

Wilson’s dog is back at home with a couple of sutures on its left side.

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 a Fire Department of New York 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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The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Monday, December 29, 2025 ■ 3A

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

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 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

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. 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 Is-

rael 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 interna-

tional 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.”

Though the ceasefire agreement has mostly held, its progress has slowed. Israel has said it refuses to move to the next phase while the remains of the final hostage are still in Gaza. Hamas has said the destruction in Gaza has hampered efforts to find remains.

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 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 Vance approve of Vance’s job performance as vice president — an encouraging number entering a partisan 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

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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 Amendment, 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.

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LAB

Continued from page 1A 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 craw-

UKRAINE

Continued from page 1A European leaders, including Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, and the leaders of Finland, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Poland.

Zelenskyy said Trump had agreed to host European leaders again, possibly at the White House, sometime in January. Trump said the meeting could be in Washington or “someplace.”

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

Trump said he’d follow the meeting with another call to Putin. Earlier Sunday, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said the TrumpPutin call was initiated by the

AI MODELS

Continued from page 1A 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.”

Different methods 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.

“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 us-

fish 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 long-term 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 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 babies. 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.

“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 create 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.

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.”

U.S. side 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.

Both leaders identified deciding the future of the Donbas region as a major sticking point.

Trump said the parties were inching closer to agreement. “That’s a very tough issue but one that I think will get resolved,” he said.

Zelenskyy said: “Our attitude is very clear. That’s why President Trump said this is a very tough question and, of

course, we have with Russia different positions on it.”

Trump said, however, that he still believes Putin is “very serious” about ending the war, even as Russia continued striking targets in Ukraine as Zelenskyy traveled to the U.S. Trump said, “I believe Ukraine has made some very strong attacks also.”

He held out the possibility that negotiations could still 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.”

Trump and Zelenskyy’s sit-down underscored the apparent progress made by Trump’s top negotiators in recent weeks as the sides

traded draft peace plans 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 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.

Zelenskyy also spoke on Christmas Day with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and

Jared Kushner, Trump’s sonin-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 publicly acknowledging the difficulty of ending the conflict. 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 the negotiations.

After hosting Zelenskyy at the White House in October, Trump demanded that both Russia and Ukraine halt fighting and “stop at the bat-

tle 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.

Putin has publicly said he wants all the areas in four key regions that have been captured by his forces, as 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.

ing 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.

“I feel like we’re just scratching the surface of how we’re going to use these long term,” Hogsett said.

ful AI models become, Hogsett said prediction models in general are just one piece of an intensive weather forecasting process.

At the hurricane center, Hogsett said forecasters start by collecting satellite data, ground-based observations from weather stations, buoy readings and Hurricane Hunter aircraft data. That allows scientists to assess a hurricane’s size, intensity and position, information that then feeds into the weather prediction models. There are dozens of such models operated by agencies around the globe.

Hogsett said the NHC’s official forecast guidance is generally based on scientists’ analysis of some conglomeration of those model predictions.

“I think (AI models) will be a tool in our toolbox,” Hogsett said. “Not the tool, but they will be a tool that we use.”

computing resources, according to NOAA. It also demonstrates “a significant reduction” in tropical storm and hurricane track errors at longer lead times. n Artificial Intelligence Global Ensemble Forecast System: This AIbased, 31-member ensemble system provides a range of

probable forecasts to meteorologists and decision makers rather than a single forecast while using just 9% of the computing resources of the traditional GEFS. Early results also show improved performance over the traditional GEFS, according to NOAA. n Hybrid-GEFS : A 61-member,

hybrid “grand ensemble” that combines the new AIbased AIGEFS with NOAA’s traditional ensemble model.

NOAA officials said initial testing shows this first-ofits-kind approach consistently outperforms both the AI-only and physics-only ensemble systems.

NOAA’s new models

Here’s how NOAA’s three new AI-based weather prediction models work and how they compare: n Artificial Intelligence Global Forecast System: This AI-based weather forecast model uses a variety of data sources to deliver improved weather forecasts more quickly and efficiently than its tradiA tool in the toolbox tional counterpart, in some Regardless of how success- cases using 99.7% fewer

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Winter storm’s effects spread across 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 taking aim at 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.

Waves on Lake Superior

MINNESOTA STAR TRIBUNE PHOTO By JERRy HOLT

Heavy snow falls Sunday along Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis. will likely top 25 feet by dawn Monday, with towering waves also projected for the other Great Lakes, forecasters said.

“Since the infamous Edmund Fitzgerald storm in ’75, we’ve had zero major incidents on the lake,” said Ben Warren, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Marquette, Michigan.

Forecasts have improved substantially since 29 people perished when the Edmund Fitzgerald iron ore freighter

was swallowed by Lake Superior on Nov. 10, 1975. The weather service had forecast waves of up to 16 feet shortly before the Edmund Fitzgerald sank.

The National Weather Service warned of “dangerous wind chills” as low as minus 30 degrees in North Dakota and into Minnesota from Sunday night into Monday.

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 around the region.

The snowy holiday season in the Upper Midwest and Northeast comes as springlike warmth continued in much of the nation’s midsection and South amid record high temperatures.

The high temperature in Atlanta was around 72 on

Memo: Bomb suspect targeted political parties because they were ‘in charge’

BY ERIC TUCKER Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The man accused of placing two pipe bombs in Washington on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol told investigators after his arrest that he believed someone needed to “speak up” for people who believed the 2020 election was stolen and that he wanted to target the country’s political parties because they were “in charge,” prosecutors said Sunday.

The allegations were laid out in a Justice Department memo arguing that Brian J. Cole Jr., who was arrested earlier this month on charges of placing pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Democratic and Republican national committees, should remain locked up as the case moves forward.

The memo provides the most detailed government account of statements Cole is alleged to have made to investigators and points to evidence, including bomb-mak-

ing equipment found at his home after his arrest, that officials say connects him to the act. The homemade bombs did not detonate and were discovered Jan. 6, the afternoon that rioters supporting President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol in an effort to halt the certification of his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Cole denied to investigators that his actions were connected to Congress or the events of Jan. 6, the memo says. But after initially disputing that he had any involvement in the pipe bombs, prosecutors say, he confessed to placing them outside the RNC and DNC and acknowledged feeling disenchanted by the election results and sympathetic to claims by Trump and some of his allies that the contest had been stolen.

According to the memo, he told agents who interviewed him that if people “feel that, you know, something as important as voting in the federal election is being

tampered with, is being, you know, being — you know, relegated null and void, then, like, someone needs to speak up, right? Someone up top. You know, just to, just to at the very least calm things down.”

He said “something just snapped” after “watching everything, just everything getting worse” and wanted to do something “to the parties” because “they were in charge,” according to the Justice Department’s memo.

It says that when Cole was asked why he had placed the explosives at the RNC and DNC, he responded, “I really don’t like either party at this point.”

Cole was arrested on the morning of Dec. 4 at his Woodbridge, Virginia, house in what law enforcement officials described as a major breakthrough in a nearly five-year-old investigation.

His lawyers will also have an opportunity to state their position on detention ahead of a hearing set for Tuesday in Washington’s federal court.

Protesting students in Serbia urge support for early election they hope will oust Vucic

BY JOVANA GEC Associated Press

BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbia’s protesting university students on Sunday collected signatures throughout the country for their request for an early parliamentary election that they hope would oust the autocratic government of President Aleksandar Vucic from office.

Braving freezing weather, the students set up nearly 500 stands in dozens of cities, towns and villages in the Balkan country for residents to sign the election demand, which isn’t a formal petition.

Students have said that Sunday’s action was meant to put further pressure on Vucic

and as a test of support.

Young protesters have been at the forefront of a nationwide movement against Vucic’s populist rule in Serbia. More than a year of street protests first started in November 2024 after a train station disaster that killed 16 people.

The concrete canopy collapse in the northern city of Novi Sad was widely blamed on alleged rampant corruption and disregard of construction and safety rules during renovation work at the station. No one has been held responsible for the tragedy.

Vucic has refused to schedule an immediate early vote, but has suggested that it

could be held sometime next year. Both parliamentary and presidential elections are otherwise due in 2027.

“We have stands that serve to connect with the citizens,” said Igor Dojnov, a student manning one of the points in central Belgrade.

Youth-led protests during the past year have shaken Vucic more than ever during his 13-year-long tenure.

Serbia’s populist prime minister resigned in January, and Vucic later launched a crackdown on protesters that also drew international criticism.

While street protests have subsided, discontent with Vucic’s government is believed to be widespread.

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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 Tuesday morning. The colder temperatures in the South are expected to persist 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 East 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.

It follows thousands of flight delays and cancellations across the Northeast and Great Lakes regions earlier this weekend due to snow, as thousands took to the roads and airports during the busy travel period between Christmas and New Year’s. Delays and cancellations continued Sunday.

California was experiencing a fairly dry weekend after powerful storms battered the state with heavy rains, flash flooding and mudslides.

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METRO NEWS

McNeese fraternity accused of hazing

FA-LA-LA-LA FOG

Kappa Sigma chapter suspended; two students arrested

BY MEGAN WYATT Staff writer

New members of the Kappa Sigma fraternity at McNeese State University were subjected this fall to “physical, psychological and emotional hazing” involving alcohol that resulted in two arrests and the suspension of the university’s chapter, according to records.

An Oct. 2 hazing incident, which remains under investigation by the McNeese Police Department, involved pledges being forced to eat an unknown mixture of items until they were nauseated and being hosed down with water, according to documents The Advocate obtained through a public records request.

The records shed new light on why the fraternity was suspended from campus, after university officials announced an investigation in October but shared few details at the time about what happened.

“The Kappa Sigma Fraternity of McNeese State University has been severely hazing pledges,” one complainant wrote. “The videos speak for themselves, showing proof of physical and mental hazing done to new members during their pledge process.”

The university did not provide The Advocate with the videos or photos included in complaints.

Two students, Brailyn Trent Davis and Carl J. Joseph Jr., were arrested Oct. 8 on one count each of criminal hazing.

Their cases have not yet been sent to the District Attorney’s Office. A misdemeanor charge of criminal hazing carries a penalty of up to a $1,000 fine, up to six months in jail or both.

Although another complainant wrote that Kappa Sigma pledges were waterboarded as part of the “physical and mental abuse,” McNeese spokesperson Tanya Brewster said the students were actually sprayed with a hose.

“McNeese State University takes all allegations of hazing seriously,” Brewster said. “In an anonymous report of hazing by the Kappa Sigma fraternity, the word waterboarding was used. The university’s investigation did not uncover any evidence of waterboarding.”

McNeese Dean of Student Support and Advocacy Meghan Olinger sent a cease-and-desist letter to the fraternity on Oct. 7.

Kappa Sigma’s acting president, whose name was redacted in records, wrote in a letter to Olinger that the organization takes accountability and apologizes for “the harm that this alleged hazing incident has caused not only for our fraternity and its new members but at McNeese State University as a whole.”

The fraternity proposed a plan of action in the aftermath. Its suggested steps included: removal of the executive committee and pledge education team; suspension of all involved in the Oct. 2 incident; expulsion of members found guilty of hazing charges; an increase in anti-hazing training and code of conduct meetings; additional alumni involvement; and an increased focus on community service and philanthropic causes.

“Along with these self-proposed immediate steps, we are undergoing and conducting an internal investigation into the matter in order to identify practices and actions contrary to the Kappa Sigma Code of Conduct and the values of this beloved fraternity,” the acting president wrote. “We realize fully the gravity of such a situation and it is our sincere hope that through this commitment to restoration we can rebuild our trust with the community, McNeese State University and those individuals affected by these events.”

McNeese officials have yet to decide on a longterm punishment for the fraternity. They will take Kappa Sigma’s internal steps into consideration as they decide on a course of action and complete the university’s investigation, Olinger wrote in a letter to the fraternity.

McNeese’s Theta-Rho chapter of Kappa Sigma has been operating for more than 60 years.

Kappa Sigma chapters at other Louisiana universities have also landed under investigation in recent years: LSU police opened a hazing investigation this fall into their Kappa Sigma chapter. And the University of Louisiana at Lafayette chapter had its charter revoked in 2017 after a sleep-deprived pledge struck and killed a graduate student in his car.

The McNeese chapter also faced suspension during the 2021-22 school year for initiating new members who did not meet the college’s minimum 2.5 grade-point average requirement, providing false documentation to McNeese’s Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life and denying the allegations after a complaint was made by the president of another fraternity, according to records. The suspension was lifted a month early because of Kappa Sigma’s “valiant philanthropic efforts” performed during the suspension period.

The fraternity’s recent hazing incident is the first McNeese has investigated since 2018, when the local Phi Mu sorority chapter was put on probation for psychological hazing, and all of its members were required to undergo education and training and complete 12 hours of community service.

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

Signage on Airline Highway warns southbound drivers of dense fog on Christmas Day in Baton Rouge.

Zachary pedestrian struck along Plank Road

BY MATT BRUCE

Staff writer

A pedestrian was struck and killed while walking along Plank Road in Zachary on Saturday night, according to State Police.

State troopers said a motorist was driving a Ford Fusion

northbound along Plank Road near Wilmore Drive around 7 p.m. when the car ran over Leon McKneely, a 68-yearold Zachary man walking in a northbound lane of the state highway.

Troopers weren’t sure what caused the vehicle to hit McKneely. He died at the

scene from his injuries. The driver was uninjured.

Investigators didn’t suspect any impairment by the Ford’s operator, but routine toxicology samples will undergo lab analysis as troopers continue to investigate the crash.

State Police advised people to maintain awareness of

their surroundings on the roadways, urging pedestrians to wear reflective gear and only cross at well-lit intersections. Pedestrians should follow those safety precautions when walking near traffic, particularly at night, State Police said in a news release Sunday.

Aggressive lizards threaten native species And heat makes it worse, research shows

BY JOSIE ABUGOV

Staff writer

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 mildmannered 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

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. 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

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 catching the majority of the green 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.

expressed their most aggressive behavior.

“As temperatures rise, it’s kind of unknown what’s going to happen to (the green anoles) 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 Email Josie Abugov at josie. fan with a flash of color and ul- abugov@theadvocate.com. timately biting another lizard.

All of these behaviors are like fighting words, signals to the green anoles that the brown LOTTERY lizards could take them out if SATURDAY, DEC. 27, 2025 they wanted.

PICK 3: 0-8-6 “The idea is that by acting more aggressive, you esPICK 4: 9-3-8-3 sentially communicate, ‘I’m PICK 5: 3-8-4-7-6 going to hurt you, I’m goEASY 5: 14-25-27-30-37 ing to win, so just go someLOTTO: 7-22-27-34-38-39 where else and let me have POWERBALL: 5-20-34-39this space,’ ” Gunderson said.

62 (1)

‘Everyone’s daily life’ The brown anoles are already

Unofficial notification, keep your tickets.

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Monday, December 29, 2025 ■ 9A

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Brigitte Bardot, 1960s sex symbol, dies

BY THOMAS ADAMSON and ELAINE GANLEY

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

Durham, Nelie

First United Methodist Church of Hammond, 2200 Rue Denise in Hammond, at 2 p.m.

Pickering, Ruby

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 best-known 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 predator,” 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.

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Obituaries Domino, Ann Marie

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.”

‘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 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 broken 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.

“I was looking for roots then,” she said in an interview. “I had none to offer.”

In her 1996 autobiography “Initiales B.B.,” she likened her pregnancy to “a tumor growing inside me,” and described Charrier as “temperamental and abusive.”

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

Among her films were “A Parisian” (1957); “In Case of Misfortune,” in which she starred in 1958 with screen legend Jean Gabin; “The Truth” (1960); “Private Life” (1962); “A Ravishing Idiot” (1964); “Shalako” (1968); “Women” (1969); “The Bear

And The Doll” (1970); “Rum Boulevard” (1971); and “Don Juan” (1973).

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.”

As fans brought flowers to her home Sunday, the local St. Tropez administration called for “respect for the privacy of her family and the serenity of the places where she lived.”

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.

Depression sometimes dogged her, and she said that she attempted suicide again on her 49th birthday.

Her activism knew no borders. She urged South Korea to ban the sale of dog meat and once wrote to U.S. President Bill Clinton asking why the U.S. Navy recaptured two dolphins it had released into the wild.

She attacked centuriesold 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.”

She was preceded in death by her father, Paul Domino Sr.; and her grandparents, Alfonse and Frances Gosserand, and Jessie and Victoria Domino.

Dr. Ann Marie Domino's legacy of love, strength, and dedication will forever remain in the hearts of those who knew her.

Visitation Tuesday December 30, 2025 at St. Aloysius Catholic Church 9:30am until Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00am.

Burial at Southern Memorial Gardens. A viewing (wake) will be held from 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM on 2025-12-30 at St. Aloysius Catholic Church , 2025 Stuart Ave.

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.

Je'Rome Harris Jr.; her devoted mother, Mary Domino; four siblings, Paul Domino Jr. (Carrie), Carol Henderson (Fred), James Domino Sr. (Sylvia), and Denise Davis; along with a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives, and dear friends.

Dr. Ann Marie Domino was born on March 3, 1970, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to the late Paul Domino Sr. and Mary Domino. She was baptized at an early age at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church and later attended St. Aloysius Catholic Church, where her faith continued to be nurtured.

Dr. Domino began her academic journey at Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, enrolling in 1988. Through dedication and perseverance, she earned her undergraduate degree, master's degree, and doctorate, accomplishments that reflected her passion for education and service.

She was employed as a Program Monitor with the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, where she served faithfully until her health declined.

Beyond her professional achievements, Marie cherished time spent with her family and found great joy in creating lasting memories with those she loved.

A mass of christian burial will be held at 11:00 AM on 2025-12-30 at St. Aloysius Catholic Church, 2025 Stuart Ave. A burial will be held at Southern Memorial Gardens , 3012 Blount Rd., Baton Rouge, LA.

HOME DELIVERED EVERY DAY

On December 23, 2025, Dr. Ann Marie Domino peacefully entered into eternal rest. She will be deeply missed by her family, friends, and all who were blessed to know her.

She leaves to celebrate and cherish her memory her two beloved children, Jardin Domino and

THEADVOCATE.COM/SUBSCRIBE

For the latest news, sports and entertainment, download the Advocate app

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 Holland 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 longestablished 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 lowertier 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, the Utah-based faith’s flagship school, 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 Anti-Defamation League later honored Holland with its “Torch of Liberty” award for helping foster greater understanding between Christian and Jewish communities.

Oaks, also a former BYU

president, reflected Saturday on his more than 50 years of friendship and service with Holland, calling their relationship “long and loving.”

“Over the last three decades as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, he lifted the weary, encouraged the faithful and bore a powerful witness of the Savior — even through seasons of significant personal trials,” Oaks said.

Holland was known as a dynamic orator whose sermons combined scholarship with tenderness.

In 2013 he spoke to church members about supporting loved ones with depression and other mental illnesses, sharing openly about times when he felt “like a broken vessel.”

Holland is widely remembered for a 2021 speech in which he called on church members to take up metaphorical muskets in defense of the faith’s teachings against same-sex marriage.

The talk, known colloquially as “the musket fire speech,” became required reading for BYU freshmen in 2024, raising concern among LGBTQ+ students and advocates.

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10A ■ Monday, December 29, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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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

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

published identifying name and the writer’s city of residence. The Advocate | The Times-Picayune require a street address and TO SEND US A LETTER, phone number SCAN HERE for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor, The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@theadvocate.com.

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.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By AMANDA ANDRADE-RHOADES

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.

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The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Monday, December 29, 2025 ■ 11A

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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

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE ARE OUR GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name, occupation and/or title and the

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.

writer’s city of residence. The Advocate | The Times-Picayune require a street address and phone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor, The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@theadvocate.com.

TO SEND US A LETTER, SCAN HERE

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SAINTS

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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.— Tyler Shough smiled when asked whether he thought about his last year in college during Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans. How could the rookie not?

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. Shough tried to keep pace, and while his performance was more than respectable, Ward came away with the win and made his case for why he deserved to be the first overall

pick in the 2025 draft.

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

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 at halftime, but Shough carved up Tennessee (3-13) through the air and the New Orleans defense settled into a rhythm.

ä See SAINTS, page 4B

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 5B

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 2B at NRG Stadium in Houston.

2B ■ Monday, December 29, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The 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 1B 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

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

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

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.

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 portal. 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 STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON season.

“I tell our coaches and fans, LSU running back Caden Durham hits the hole against the Houston you’ve got to get used to being Cougars in the first quarter of the Texas Bowl on Saturday in Houston. uncomfortable,” Kiffin said The Cougars won 38-35. during the game.

Good advice, but the expectation is that Kiffin will find a one is breaking up that old would be. There is something noble about their fight, but moral team of theirs. Wilson is part of way to make the whole thing work to LSU’s advantage. A the wholesale trade of coaches victories don’t win bowl games bowl game few, if any, were and front office personnel goor advance you in the College eager to see the Tigers play in ing on between LSU and Ole Football Playoff. clears the deck for the question Miss — 19 at latest count. He’s “I’m proud of our football everyone has had since Kiffin set to become the running team,” Wilson said. “Proud that backs coach of the Rebels after arrived: How much can he win they competed to the best of in 2026, and can it be enough to the CFP, while Kevin Smith their ability.” get LSU into the CFP? leaves Ole Miss to coach that Wilson spoke before the game For the Tigers, there is relief position in Baton Rouge. about how these Tigers would that is the only thing to focus on Hard feelings will simmer all have a bond that would carry now. offseason until the Tigers and through their lives. But some-

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 Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Monday, December 29, 2025 ■ 3B

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LSU women romp to victory in final nonconference game Tigers thump Alabama State, hit 100 points for 11th time this season

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU guard Rashad King keeps his dribble while working against Prairie View guard Tai’Reon Joseph in the first half of their game on Dec. 22 at the PMAC. King had a season-high 13 points in the game.

LSU men hope ‘X factor’ is beginning to emerge

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

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

to quit 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.”

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 PHOTO By PATRICK DENNIS the first 10 minutes of action, and nine of them scored, which LSU forward ZaKiyah Johnson goes up for a jump shot as Alabama allowed the Tigers to bring a 28-6 State’s Caylee Simpson defends on Sunday at the PMAC. Johnson lead into the second quarter. scored 17 points off the bench in the win.

The only suspense that lingered into the last three quarters was the question of whether that whatever the season throws LSU is still undefeated in DeLSU would hit the century mark at us, everybody’s able to step up cember under Mulkey. Because when they need to.” again. they beat Alabama State on The Tigers missed 11 of the Sunday, the Tigers improved to Its frontcourt helped it get there. Freshman forward Za- 13 3-pointers they tried, but 66-2 in the nonconference games because they they’ve played across the past Kiyah Johnson converted 34 of five seasons. No other Division returned to the their 57 layup I team has more nonconference floor after sitthey wins across that stretch. Their ting out the pre“I feel like everybody on attempts, still shot an only losses came to Florida Gulf vious game and this team can hoop.” efficient 52% Coast in 2021 and Colorado in tallied 17 points. from the field 2023.

She entered off LSU FORWARD KATE KOVAL and finished LSU can now turn its attention the bench behind with 74 paint to SEC play. Its first game is a Amiya Joyner and points. home matchup with No. 11 KenKate Koval — the A l a b a m a tucky that will tip off at 7 p.m. pair of transfer post players who combined to State, on the other hand, hit only Thursday. score 42 points and grab 16 re- 29% of its shots. Each of LSU’s The Tigers did not play a ranked past three opponents — and sev- team in their first 14 games, but bounds.

Koval tallied a career-high 23 en of its 14 — have now convert- they will in January, February points and 11 rebounds to post ed less than 30% of its field-goal and March. Eight of their 16 SEC matchups are against opponents her fourth double-double of the attempts. season. Joyner added a season“Every team has a different ranked in the latest edition of the high 19 points, five boards and personality,” Mulkey said. “They AP Top 25 poll.

LSU won at least 12 league two steals. South Carolina trans- just do. Because new pieces fer guard MiLaysia Fulwiley come in every year, and it’s my games in each of Mulkey’s first four seasons in Baton Rouge. A scored only five points, but she job to figure it out.

“And I haven’t had to figure similar number of wins would assisted a career-high 11 shots anything out with this team. Be- likely give the Tigers a top-four and forced eight turnovers.

Freshman guard Bella Hines cause they just figure it out for NCAA Tournament seed for the fifth year in a row. also chipped in 13 points on themselves.”

With the nonconference slate in 5-of-9 shooting to pair with five Freshman forward Grace Knox rebounds and a career-high five scored a career-high 25 points in the rearview, LSU can now begin steals.

LSU’s previous win, but she was collecting the wins it can use to “I feel like everybody on this not with the team on Sunday. attain that status. team can hoop,” Koval said. “Ev- Mulkey said her absence was erybody can step up and have a planned and that she’ll rejoin the Email Reed Darcey at reed. night, so I feel like it just shows Tigers on Monday. darcey@theadvocate.com.

Pelicans’ glass cleaning far from spotless during lost weekend

BY ROD WALKER

Staff writer

Late in the first quarter Saturday night, the New Orleans Pelicans stood around and watched the Phoenix Suns snatch four offensive rebounds on one possession.

It was that type of game — well, actually two games — for the Pelicans, who lost to the Suns on backto-back nights in the Smoothie King Center.

The offensive rebounds told the story, especially in the first half.

Phoenix grabbed 12 offensive rebounds in the first half Friday and 18 in the first half Saturday.

“Just get the damn ball,” wing Trey Murphy said. “That’s it.

There is no real practice for it.

Just get the ball. Simple as that.”

The Pelicans got better in the second half both nights. Phoenix had six offensive rebounds in the second half Friday and four in the second half Saturday. But it’s still a disturbing trend to get beat on the boards so often to start the game.

“In that first half, they killed us,” forward Zion Williamson said. “When you look at the end of the game, those are the small nuances that affect the game. Last game (Friday), it was free throws (25 of 42). This game it was offensive boards.

ä Knicks at Pelicans 7 P.M. MONDAy, WAFB

sure, we definitely need to fix it.”

Pelicans interim coach James Borrego said the team will have to take more of a rebound-bycommittee approach to improve in that area.

“Defensive rebounding has been an issue for us since (Jonas) Valanciunas left,” Borrego said.

“Bottom line. We lost that presence, that size, that physicality on the boards. Little by little, we’ve been trying to chip away the defensive rebounding. This isn’t a new phenomenon. The boards have been an issue for us all year.

It was an issue for us last year.

“There’s got to be physical presence to this thing. It takes five guys. We don’t have one guy that’s going to go gobble up every rebound. We don’t have that guy.

It’s going to have to be a collective effort.”

The Pelicans (8-25) are on a three-game losing streak. Prior to this slide, they had won five games in a row and seemed to be turning things around.

“We’re not happy at all,” Murphy said. “Obviously, we didn’t feel like the winning was a fluke.

And we don’t feel like this losing streak is us, either. So we have to get back on track.”

It starts on the glass.

“It’s hard to win in the NBA. If we want to win, we have to be better at those things. We have to do the small things as well.”

Williamson knows the Pelicans can be better at rebounding.

“It was definitely an effort thing,” he said. “We didn’t put a lot of effort there. They outhustled us.”

The Suns’ offensive rebounding led to 30 second-chance points Saturday.

The Pelicans can’t waste any time resolving the issue. They host the New York Knicks on Monday night at Smoothie King Center. The Knicks are the fourth-best offensive rebounding team in the league, averaging 14.1 per game.

They are led in that category by Mitchell Robinson. The Chalmette High alum averages a league-best 4.7 offensive rebounds per game, and he had eight in a victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Christmas Day. “We better (fix it) or it’s going to be even worse with him coming to town,” Murphy said of Robinson. “Especially with him playing back in his hometown. He’ll probably be even more energetic and Email Rod Walker at rwalker@ ready to rebound the ball. So for theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Pelicans forward Zion Williamson, right, scores against the Phoenix Suns on Friday at the Smoothie King Center.

4B ■ Monday, December 29, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The 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 1B The end result provided the Saints (6-10) their sixth victory — one more than last season. In Kellen Moore’s first year, his team has won four straight and with each performance increasingly has solidified the idea that the franchise has found its quarterback of the future.

“What everyone just watched was two quarterbacks who are probably going to be big-time quarterbacks in our league for a really long time,” Moore said.

“We’re fortunate to have Tyler.”

To say the Saints were left impressed with Ward is an understatement. Though his box score of 251 yards on 21-of-40 passing with two touchdowns might not suggest a strong outing, New Orleans realized how tough it was to bring the 23-year-old down. The Saints sacked Ward four times, but it could have been much higher if not for the magicianlike way Ward

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

escaped at the last second. Chase Young even compared Ward to Patrick Mahomes, the Kansas City Chiefs superstar known for doing the same thing.

As good as Ward was, Shough was even better. The second-round draft pick missed just five passes (22 of 27), good for a career-high completion percentage of 81.5%.

Every time New Orleans needed a response, Shough delivered.

And the Saints needed that response often. Much of the team’s play in the first half was not to its standards, Moore and several others said. The Saints committed the type of mistakes that led them to a 1-8 record to start the year.

Pick a phase of football and the Saints botched it. There was a 17yard shanked punt, followed by a 43-yard field goal miss. There was a 43-yard touchdown on a broken tackle that Kool-Aid McKinstry likely won’t want to rewatch, and then the 50-yard pass interference penalty that set up another easy touchdown at the end of the first half.

But throughout the year, and es-

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.”

pecially during this winning streak, the Saints have shown they’re willing to fight. New Orleans’ first big punch landed in the second quarter when Young climbed over Ward’s back, stripped the ball right out of his hands and ran it back for a 33yard touchdown.

The Titans would answer with a score of their own, but the tone was set.

“My dad used to tell me when I was a kid, ‘Take the ball out of his hand!’ ” Young said. “And for that split second, it hit me. I was like, ‘Man, the ball is right there, I can take it.’ ” There was another reason the Saints had confidence that the game was far from over: They knew they had Shough.

He already had shown his teammates that he was capable of rallying them, leading them to two game-winning drives since taking over the starting job in November.

Audric Estime said he sees a poise in Shough that inspires. The Saints running back said Shough has a quality that makes him want to “run through a brick wall.” And

he wasn’t alone in that sentiment.

Chris Olave gutted through a back injury this week in part because he wanted to play with Shough.

“I’m trying to get Tyler that (Offensive) Rookie of the Year, too,” Olave said with a smile.

Shough undoubtedly moved closer to that achievement with his performance against the Titans, which is especially telling since his first start didn’t happen until the second half of the season.

After halftime, Shough engineered the Saints’ latest comeback to near perfection. He led with a nine-play, 74-yard drive that ended with a 19-yard strike to Olave, which cut Tennessee’s advantage to three. He didn’t panic when Dante Pettis fumbled a 32-yard completion and the Titans recovered in the end zone for a touchback.

And he finally got the Saints the lead with a four-play, 80-yard series in which he hit wide receiver Kevin Austin for a 10-yard touchdown. That play was set up by a 60yard strike to Olave, who finished

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.

with 119 yards on eight catches.

“You lock in the quarterback position, your team has a chance,” Saints safety Justin Reid said.

Ward tried his hardest to answer.

When the Saints went up eight points on a 32-yard Estime rushing touchdown, the Titans quarterback still hung tough. Just before the two-minute warning on fourth down, Ward appeared to have a near-miraculous completion to former Tulane running back Tyjae Spears as Ward was falling that would have put his team in scoring territory. But the call was overturned on replay assist when a closer camera angle showed that Ward’s knee had touched the ground moments before the throw.

Even if Ward had rallied the Titans and tied the game, Shough would have been ready to compete.

And the Saints know it, too.

“I love playing with these guys,” Shough said. “I feel like we could play a whole other season right now.”

Email Matthew Paras at matt. paras@theadvocate.com

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Monday, December 29, 2025 ■ 5B

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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 1B “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 first Saints quarterback since Drew Brees to pass for more than 300 yards and complete more than 80% of his passes in a game. Jim Everett is the only other Saints quarterback to do it.

“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 Kamara, Rueben Mayes and George Rogers to become the fourth player in

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. 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 distin-

guished 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

6B ■ Monday, December 29, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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Morris aims to ‘mimic’ Rams’ winning ways

BY CHARLES ODUM Associated Press

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GENE PUSKAR

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, center, scores a touchdown during the second half of a game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday in Buffalo, N.y.

Eagles hang on to beat Bills as Buffalo flubs 2-point try Allen’s throw sails past open receiver with 5 seconds left

BY JOHN WAWROW Associated Press

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Josh Allen sailed a 2-point conversion attempt wide of open receiver Khalil Shakir in the back of the end zone with 5 seconds remaining, and the Philadelphia Eagles hung on for a 13-12 win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

Dallas Goedert caught a 1-yard touchdown pass, Jake Elliott hit field goals of 28 and 47 yards, and the Super Bowl champion Eagles barely avoided squandering a 13-0 fourth-quarter lead.

Linebacker Jalyx Hunt had two of Philadelphia’s four sacks and a team-leading three quarterback hits.

Defensive tackle Jalen Carter made a major contribution in his return after missing three games with a injuries to both shoulders.

Carter got his hand up to block Michael Badgley’s extra-point attempt after Allen’s 2-yard touchdown run with 5:11 left.

Allen scored on a tush push on fourth-and-goal to pull the Bills within one point with 5 seconds remaining. The Bills thought they had a touchdown one play earlier, but Dawson Knox was ruled short

of the goal line after a replay review.

Rather than playing for overtime, coach Sean McDermott opted to go for 2. Allen dropped back in the pocket and had a defender in his face when he let loose a pass that was about a foot wide of Shakir. The Bills then tried an onside kick that Goedert recovered.

The NFC East champion Eagles (11-5) are assured of at least the conference’s third seed entering the playoffs.

Buffalo (11-5), which clinched a playoff berth last week, dropped to the No. 7 seed in the AFC. New England clinched its first AFC East title since 2019 with the Bills’ loss.

A matchup between Super Bowl contenders and two of the NFL’s top running backs turned into a defensive struggle played in a persistent drizzle.

The Bills were scoreless through three quarters before Allen — who’s already led three fourth-quarter rallies this season — tried to mount another incredible comeback.

Allen went 16 of 25 for 172 yards in the second half and finished 23 of 35 for 262 yards. With his two rushing scores, the 29-year-old Allen increased his career total to 301 (passing, rushing, receiving) and became the first player to reach 300 before turning 30.

Jalen Hurts threw a 1-yard TD

pass to Goedert with 35 seconds left in the first quarter. That was set up when Allen lost a fumble, with Jihaad Campbell recovering at Buffalo’s 45.

Goedert’s touchdown was his team-leading 11th of the season and set the single-season team record for tight ends — one more than Pete Retzlaff had in 1965.

Hurts finished 13 of 27 for 110 yards, while Saquon Barkley was limited to 68 yards rushing on 19 carries.

Before the fourth quarter, the Bills’ best scoring chance ended when Allen was stopped just short of the goal line while attempting to convert a fourth-and-goal from the 3 late in the third.

Allen had difficulty finding open receivers.

That was particularly evident in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter with Buffalo facing third-and-8 at Philadelphia’s 27. Allen rolled to his left trying to buy time, then reversed his field to escape pressure before Hunt brought him down for a 19yard loss. Allen slammed the ball to the turf several times before getting up.

The Eagles’ offense, meantime, evaporated in the second half.

Not including its game-closing kneel-down, Philadelphia combined for one first down and 17 yards of offense on five secondhalf possessions — all ending with punts.

ATLANTA — Raheem Morris is trying to coach the Atlanta Falcons to play like the Los Angeles Rams.

The records show Morris has found the Rams’ success is difficult to duplicate.

Coach Sean McVay’s Rams (114) will try to improve their playoff position when they face the Falcons (6-9) on Monday night.

Los Angeles is tied with San Francisco for second place in the tough NFC West while Atlanta playoff drought has been extended to eight seasons.

Morris was the Rams’ defensive coordinator under McVay from 2021-23. Morris has five assistant coaches, including offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, who also served on McVay’s staff.

“We definitely mimic and mock a lot of things that they do and want to continue to do that,” Morris said of the Rams.

The Falcons’ lost season could endanger the coaching future of Morris, who is 14-18 in his two years.

Back-to-back wins over Tampa Bay and Arizona show players haven’t quit on Morris. A win over the Rams could make a stronger case for Morris to be given a third season in Atlanta.

The Rams are trying to rebound from a 38-37 overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Los Angeles leads the NFL in scoring and total offense. Matthew Stafford tops the league in touchdown passes (40), yards passing (4,179) and passer rating (112.1). Puka Nacua’s 114 receptions are the most in the NFL. Meanwhile, the Falcons have won three of five games with Kirk Cousins at quarterback since losing Michael Penix to a season-ending knee injury. Bijan Robinson leads the league in scrimmage yards.

Morris acknowledged there is “definitely a balance” in choosing when to try to follow the Rams’ model.

“You steal what you steal from the Rams and you move on and you form your own identity and you form your own stuff within your own building,” Morris said. “But it takes time to do those things with everybody.”

Draft incentive The Rams have more on the line than just improving their playoff position. They also can improve their 2026 first-round NFL draft pick by beating the Falcons.

The Falcons traded their 2026 first-rounder to the Rams in this year’s draft in order to select edge rusher James Pearce at No. 26 overall. Entering this week’s games, that trade gives the Rams the No. 11 overall pick. The Rams could move into the top 10 by beat-

ä Rams at Falcons 7:15 P.M. MONDAy, ESPN

ing the Falcons.

The Falcons drafted Pearce after taking another edge rusher, Jalon Walker, at No. 15 overall. Pearce and Walker lead NFL rookies in sacks with 8 1/2 and 5 1/2, respectively. The Falcons rank second in the league with 50 sacks after ranking next to last last season with 31.

The Falcons also acquired a third-round pick used for safety Xavier Watts in last year’s trade with the Rams. Watts has three interceptions to tie for the lead among NFL rookies. Morris says the Falcons are still happy with the trade.

“So, us getting X (Watts) in the third and James Pearce joining for a first-round pick, sign me up,” Morris said.

Puka producing The Rams have mostly run their passing offense through one receiver under McVay. Nacua is taking that emphasis to levels not seen since Cooper Kupp’s triple crown season in 2021.

Nacua is averaging 8.14 receptions on 10.36 targets per game. He has 28 catches for 573 yards and four touchdowns the past three games.

Nacua’s big plays have increased since Davante Adams aggravated a hamstring injury against Detroit on Dec. 14.

“Certain games present more opportunities than others,” Stafford said. “We had a lot of plays and a lot of snaps the last couple of games, which just by sheer volume you’re going to have more attempts at it.

We were able to connect on some of those and make some big plays, but same stuff he’s always done.”

Cool opportunity Robinson said preparing for the Rams feels different “just because the familiarity with everybody over there.”

“It’s a cool opportunity,” Robinson said. “We’re playing arguably the best team in football. For our guys to go shoot their shot and cut it loose on Monday night against a great opponent, I think is a cool challenge.”

Holiday commute The Rams left their facility in the San Fernando Valley to practice at SoFi Stadium this week because of heavy rain and gusty winds throughout Southern California.

On Wednesday, that had them traveling on the 405 freeway past Los Angeles International Airport, one of the more notorious stretches of holiday traffic in town.

“It was not too bad on the way down here, though,” Stafford said.

“The bus got here in about 45, 50 minutes, so we’ll take it.”

NFL ROUNDUP

Burrow, Chase connect on 2 TDs as Bengals roll Cardinals

By The Associated Press 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 singleseason 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

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By KAREEM ELGAZZAR

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, right, hands the ball off to running back Chase Brown on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals in Cincinnati.

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 (133) 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 quarter-

back 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 three-play, 91yard 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.

GIANTS 34, RAIDERS 10: In Las Vegas, a major win came out of the Raiders’ loss to the New York Giants — a clear shot at the top pick in next year’s NFL draft.

Las Vegas (2-14) will secure the top pick with a loss next week to Kansas City, and quarterback Geno Smith is unlikely to play because of a high ankle sprain. The Raiders’ skid reached 10 games, which matches last season’s streak for fifth-longest in franchise history.

The Giants (3-13), who snapped a nine-game losing streak, could still wind up with the top pick if they lose to Dallas next weekend and the Raiders beat the Chiefs.

Interim coach Mike Kafka got his first win after losing his first five games.

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Monday, December 29, 2025 ■ 7B

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SCOREBOARD Odds

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

Sports Betting Line NFL Monday FAVORITE LA Rams

OPEN 8½

TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 7½ (49½) at ATL

Birmingham Bowl FAVORITE OPEN Ga Southern 3½

TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 7½ (59½) App St.

College Football Monday

Tuesday

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

ASU

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

NBA

Monday

FAVORITE Milwaukee at WASHINGTON at BROOKLYN Denver at TORONTO at HOUSTON Minnesota at SAN ANTONIO at OKC New York at PORTLAND

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

Monday

FAVORITE at SACRED HEART

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

LINE 1½

NHL

Monday

FAVORITE LINE at OTTAWA -218 at CAROLINA -181 at FLORIDA -134 Edmonton -126 Buffalo -114 at CALGARY -136 at UTAH -155 at COLORADO -244 at VEGAS -133 at ANAHEIM -202 Vancouver -123

UNDERDOG Merrimack

UNDERDOG Columbus N.Y Rangers Washington at WINNIPEG at ST. LOUIS Boston Nashville Los Angeles Minnesota San Jose at SEATTLE

LINE +179 +151 +113 +105 -106 +115 +129 +199 +112 +167 +103

Pro basketball

W 22 19 18 16 10

L 9 11 14 13 19

Pct .710 .633 .563 .552 .345

GB — 2½ 4½ 5 11

Orlando Miami Atlanta Charlotte Washington

W 18 17 15 11 6

L 14 15 18 20 23

Pct .563 .531 .455 .355 .207

GB — 1 3½ 6½ 10½

Detroit Cleveland Chicago Milwaukee Indiana

W 24 17 15 13 6

L 7 16 16 19 26

Pct .774 .515 .484 .406 .188

GB — 8 9 11½ 18½

WESTERN CONFERENCE Southwest Division

San Antonio Houston Memphis Dallas New Orleans

W 23 19 15 12 8

L 8 10 16 21 25

Pct .742 .655 .484 .364 .242

GB — 3 8 12 16

Oklahoma City Denver Minnesota Portland Utah

W 26 22 20 12 12

L 5 9 12 19 19

Pct .839 .710 .625 .387 .387

GB — 4 6½ 14 14

L.A. Lakers Phoenix Golden State L.A. Clippers Sacramento

W 19 18 16 9 8

L 10 13 15 21 23

Pct .655 .581 .516 .300 .258

GB — 2 4 10½ 12

Northwest Division

Saturday’s Games

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

Sunday’s Games

Oklahoma City 129, Philadelphia 104 Toronto 141, Golden State 127, OT Portland 114, Boston 108 Washington 116, Memphis 112 Detroit at L.A. Clippers, n Sacramento at L.A. Lakers, n

Monday’s Games

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.

Army 41, UConn 16

Minnesota at Chicago, 7 p.m.

New York at New Orleans, 7 p.m.

Dallas at Portland, 9:30 p.m.

Pop-Tarts Bowl

Orlando, Fla. No. 12 BYU 25, No. 24 Georgia Tech 21

Pro football

Arizona Bowl

Tucson, Ariz.

Fresno St.18 Miami (OH) 3

NFL AMERICAN CONFERENCE East

New Mexico Bowl

Albuquerque No. 23 North Texas 49, San Diego St. 47

y-New England x-Buffalo e-Miami e-N.Y. Jets

W 13 11 7 3

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 e-Cincinnati e-Cleveland

W 9 8 6 4

L 7 8 10 12

T Pct 0 .563 0 .500 0 .375 0 .250

PF PA 371 363 400 372 396 472 259 361

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

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

South

North

West

East

New York Boston Toronto Philadelphia Brooklyn

Southeast Division

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By EAKIN HOWARD

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy passes against the Chicago Bears during the first half of a game on Sunday in Santa Clara, Calif. The game did not end by press time.

NATIONAL CONFERENCE

NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE

Pacific Division

Atlantic Division

TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 3½ (53½) W. Forest

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Central Division

NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE

TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 7 (54½) Cincinnati

LINE 2½ OFF OFF 3 OFF 14½ 4½ 4½ OFF 9½ OFF

Atlantic Division

Hockey

TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 13 (58½) Rice

TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 3 (51½) SMU

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS

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

South

North

West

e-Eliminated from playoffs x-clinched playoff spot y-clinched division Thursday’s Games

Gator Bowl

Jacksonville, Fla. No. 25 Missouri vs. No. 20 Virginia, n

Texas Bowl

Houston 21 Houston 38, LSU 35

Monday’s games

Nashville, Tenn.

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

Alamo Bowl

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

ReliaQuest Bowl

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

(ESPN)

Sun Bowl

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

Citrus Bowl

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

Las Vegas Bowl

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

College Football Playoff

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

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

Jan. 5

Dallas 30, Washington 23 Minnesota 23, Detroit 10 Denver 20, Kansas City 13

College basketball

Houston 20, L.A. Chargers 16 Baltimore 41, Green Bay 24

Saturday’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

Kansas State 94, UL-Monroe 85 UL 63, Norfolk State 54

State men’s schedule No games scheduled.

Sunday’s games

Monday’s games

Southern at Illinois, 2 p.m.

McNeese at Michigan, 6 p.m.

Tuesday’s game

Centenary at Grambling, TBA Southeastern at Incarnate Word, 5 p.m

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.

Monday’s Games

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

College football Friday’s games

Thursday’s games

GameAbove Sports Bowl

Men’s national scores

Southern Miss at UL-Monroe, 4 p.m.

Detroit Northwestern 34, Central Michigan 7

Sunday’s games EAST

Rate Bowl

Phoenix Minnesota 20, New Mexico 17

Boston College 72, Le Moyne 64 Bryant 95, Worcester State 59 Harvard 78, Colgate 69 Saint Joseph’s 87, Arcadia 65

First Responder Bowl Dallas UTSA 57, FIU 20

SOUTH

Austin Peay 110, Fisk 59 Charleston Southern 77, Richmond 72 Columbia 90, North Florida 82 Florida Gulf Coast 84, Fort Lauderdale 43 George Mason 83, Pennsylvania 79 Georgia State 110, Columbia College 72 Georgia Tech 89, Florida A&M 65 High Point 123, Pfeiffer 64 Liberty 97, Florida International 94, OT Longwood 92, Averett 49

Saturday’s games Military Bowl

Annapolis, Md. East Carolina 23, Pittsburgh 17

Pinstripe Bowl

Bronx, N.Y. Penn St. 22, Clemson 10

Fenway Bowl

Boston

Carolina N.Y. Islanders Philadelphia Washington New Jersey N.Y. Rangers Pittsburgh Columbus

GP W L OT Pts GF 37 23 11 3 49 126 39 21 14 4 46 111 36 19 10 7 45 111 38 20 13 5 45 121 38 20 16 2 42 106 40 19 17 4 42 104 36 15 12 9 39 110 37 16 15 6 38 112

GA 108 108 102 106 114 107 119 127

WESTERN CONFERENCE Central Division

FAR WEST

Colorado Dallas Minnesota Utah St. Louis Nashville Winnipeg Chicago

SMU 110, Cal State Fullerton 63 Sam Houston 117, College of Biblical Studies 57 Texas Tech 87, Winthrop 57

State women’s schedule

Music City Bowl

GA 101 127 129 118 118 120 130 126

SOUTHWEST

Independence Bowl

FCS Championship Nashville, Tenn.

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

Sunday’s Games

Kansas State 94, Louisiana-Monroe 85 North Dakota 88, Dakota State 56 Saint Louis 114, Principia 33 South Dakota 85, Mount Marty 61 St. Thomas 105, North Central (MN) 59

Dec. 30

Dec. 31

Saturday’s Games

MIDWEST

New Mexico State 104, University of the Southwest 33 Northern Colorado 86, Colorado 81 San Diego 66, Pacific 54 UC Davis 108, Pacific Union College 52 Washington State 67, Portland 62

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

(ESPN)

GP W L OT Pts GF 38 22 13 3 47 126 39 22 14 3 47 122 38 20 12 6 46 127 37 20 15 2 42 119 37 19 14 4 42 116 37 18 14 5 41 124 39 20 18 1 41 123 37 17 15 5 39 122

Metropolitan Division

Louisiana 63, Norfolk State 54 Mercer 122, Baptist University (FL) 49 Morehead State 115, Alice Lloyd 65 Presbyterian 91, Truett-McConnell 64 Radford 87, Shenandoah University 44 Wofford 88, Union (KY) 54

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

Birmingham Bowl

Tampa Bay Detroit Montreal Florida Buffalo Ottawa Boston Toronto

Pacific Division

Saturday’s games

No games scheduled.

Sunday’s games

Texas 120, Southeastern 38 LSU 109, Alabama State 41

Monday’s games

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.

Tuesday’s games

Tulane at UTSA, 1 p.m.

Wednesday’s gae

Stephen F. Austin at Northwestern State, TBA

Thursday’s games

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.

Women’s national scores Sunday’s games EAST

MIDWEST

Clemson 97, Chicago State 44 Illinois 83, Purdue 73 Iowa 99, Penn State 76 Michigan State 70, Rutgers 64 Missouri 71, Kansas City 67, OT Ohio 96, Wilberforce 64 Saint Louis 132, Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis 53 UCLA 82, Ohio State 75 UConn 94, Butler 47

SOUTHWEST

Arkansas State 81, Arkansas 72 Sam Houston 110, Dallas 38 Texas 120, Southeastern Louisiana 38

FAR WEST

Cal State Fullerton 110, La Sierra 22 California 91, Cal Poly 50 Gonzaga 87, Loyola Marymount 80, 2OT Grand Canyon 79, San Jose State 59 Oregon State 74, San Francisco 65 Pacific 85, Seattle 66 Portland 63, Saint Mary’s 59 Santa Clara 68, San Diego 46 Stanford 82, Cornell 50 Washington State 66, Pepperdine 63

No. 5 LSU 109, Alabama St. 41 FG

FT

Reb

3-3 7-9 0-0 2-2 1-2 0-0

3-5 6-11 0-2 2-3 1-4 1-2

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS 2 0 2 4 3 2

0 2 2 1 0 3

Saturday’s Games

N.Y. Islanders 2, N.Y. Rangers 0 Buffalo 4, Boston 1 Carolina 5, Detroit 2 Washington 4, New Jersey 3, OT Toronto 7, Ottawa 5 Minnesota 4, Winnipeg 3, OT Tampa Bay 4, Florida 2 St. Louis 3, Nashville 2 Chicago 4, Dallas 3, SO Los Angeles 6, Anaheim 1 Calgary 3, Edmonton 2 San Jose 6, Vancouver 3 Colorado 6, Vegas 5, SO

Monday’s Games

Austin Peay 73, Berry 38 Florida 82, Furman 66 Georgia State 85, LaGrange 55 Georgia Tech 79, Wofford 63 Kentucky 80, Hofstra 42 LSU 109, Alabama State 41 Memphis 107, Rust College 63 Miami (FL) 77, Stetson 45 Mississippi State 112, Samford 54 Morehead State 115, Kentucky Christian 36 Ole Miss 64, Alcorn State 44 South Carolina 96, Providence 55 Vanderbilt 109, Stonehill 50 West Georgia 81, Brewton-Parker College 46

8-9 8-15 4-11 2-8 5-7 2-4

GP W L OT Pts GF GA Vegas 36 17 8 11 45 115 110 Anaheim 38 21 15 2 44 130 132 Edmonton 39 19 14 6 44 132 131 Los Angeles 37 16 12 9 41 97 97 San Jose 38 18 17 3 39 115 132 Seattle 35 15 14 6 36 89 107 Calgary 38 16 18 4 36 101 115 Vancouver 37 15 19 3 33 106 128 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. Top three teams in each division and two wild cards per conference advance to playoffs.

Columbus 4, N.Y. Islanders 2 Tampa Bay 5, Montreal 4, SO Pittsburgh at Chicago, n Toronto at Detroit, n Philadelphia at Seattle,n

SOUTH

LSU

GA 85 105 102 112 133 124 111 117

Sunday’s Games

Duke 71, Syracuse 51 George Washington 63, Coppin State 49 New Hampshire 64, New Haven 59 Saint Joseph’s 108, Arcadia 38 Seton Hall 75, Xavier 55 Vermont 61, Dartmouth 59

Joyner 17 Koval 20 F. Johnsn 17 Richard 22 Williams 21 Yarnevich 19

GP W L OT Pts GF 37 28 2 7 63 148 39 25 7 7 57 139 39 23 10 6 52 121 39 18 18 3 39 116 39 15 16 8 38 98 37 16 17 4 36 105 36 15 17 4 34 106 37 14 17 6 34 103

19 23 9 6 11 4

Columbus at Ottawa, 6 p.m.

N.Y. Rangers at Carolina, 6 p.m.

Washington at Florida, 6 p.m.

Edmonton at Winnipeg, 6:30 p.m.

Buffalo at St. Louis, 7 p.m.

Boston at Calgary, 8 p.m.

Los Angeles at Colorado, 8 p.m.

Nashville at Utah, 8 p.m.

Minnesota at Vegas, 9 p.m.

San Jose at Anaheim, 9 p.m.

Vancouver at Seattle, 9 p.m.

Transactions Major League Baseball

National League MIAMI MARLINS — Agreed to terms with RHP Pete Fairbanks on a one-year contract.

HOCKEY

National Hockey League BOSTON BRUINS — Reinstated D Michael Callahan from injured reserve and sent him to Providence (AHL). Reinstated F Matej Blumel from long-term injured reserve and sent him to Providence.

BUFFALO SABRES — Sent D Ryan Johnson and F Isak Rosen to Rochester (AHL).

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS — Reinstated F Mathieu Olivier from injured reserve. Placed D Zach Werenski on injured reserve.

MINNESOTA WILD — Acquired F Boris Katchouk from Tampa Bay in exchange for F Michael Milne. Sent D David Jiricek to Iowa (AHL).

NEW JERSEY DEVILS — Sent F Angus Crookshank to Utica (AHL).

NEW YORK RANGERS — Sent F Brett Berard to Hartford (AHL).

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS — Placed F Danton Heinen on waivers. Reinstated F Blake Lizotte from injured reserve.

SEATTLE KRAKEN — Reinstated F Jared McCann from injured reserve.

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING — Placed D Ryan McDonagh on injured reserve. Reinstated F Brandon Hagel from injured reserve.

Recalled F Maxim Groshev from Syracuse (AHL). Sent D Steven Santini to Syracuse.

SUNDAY’S FAIR GROUNDS RESULTS First Race - $19,000, Maiden Claiming $20,000, 2 yo, Six Furlongs Tiz Mary’s Comet (Mgnn) $16.40 $7.60 $5.40 I Got the Hint (I. Castillo) $5.20 $3.40 Respectheconnect (M. Pedroza, Jr.) $4.60 Finish Time: 1:12.42 Exacta (7-6) $34.30; Superfecta (7-6-4-5) $81.14; Trifecta (7-6-4) $101.55 Second Race - $16,000, Claiming $12,500, 3 yo’s & up, Six Furlongs Big Nickel (C. McMahon) $16.80 $8.00 $4.20 Deal of Faith (M. Murrill) $8.20 $4.80 Angelic Knight (B. Curtis) $2.80 Finish Time: 1:12.40 Daily Double (7-2) $89.50; Exacta (2-7) $73.50; Superfecta (2-7-3-1) $80.95; Trifecta (2-7-3) $154.20

Third Race - $18,000, Claiming $15,000$10,000, 3 yo’s & up, Six Furlongs About to Set Sail (Pedroza) $3.80 $2.40 $2.10 My Royal Princess (D. Magnon) $12.80 $6.40 Platinumus Maximus (M. Murrill) $4.60 Finish Time: 1:12.17 Daily Double (2-8) $17.90; Exacta (8-3) $60.70; Superfecta (8-3-7-4) $135.13; Trifecta (8-3-7) $164.45; Pic 3 (7-2-8) $112.75 Fourth Race - $19,000, SOC $10,000-$5,000, 3 yo’s & up, Five And A Half Furlongs Briterdayzahead (S. Vives) $34.20 $6.80 $4.40 Guile (B. Curtis) $2.20 $2.10 Julia’s Warrior (C. McMahon) $5.20 Finish Time: 1:04.84 Daily Double (8-8) $23.10; Exacta (8-2) $28.90; Superfecta (8-2-5-6) $74.94; Trifecta (8-2-5)

$121.60; Pic 3 (2-8-8) $146.85 Late Scratches: Treaty Fifth Race - $28,000, SOC $30,000, 3 yo’s & up, One And One Sixteenth Miles Flamingpropsitin (Cstllo) $52.80 $17.20 $9.00 Mary’s Boy Bolt (M. Pedroza) $5.00 $4.20 $3.20 Edgerton (A. Concepcion) Finish Time: 1:42.45 Daily Double (8-4) $339.70; Exacta (4-6) $105.90; Superfecta (4-6-9-10) $137.79; Trifecta (4-6-9) $188.85; Pic 3 (8-8-4) $357.10; Pic 4 (2-8-8-4) $2,272.50; Pic 5 (7-2-8-8-4) $38,864.50 Late Scratches: Cobblestone Bridge Sixth Race - $28,000, SOC $25,000-$12,500, 3 yo’s & up, One Mile Seventy Yards Next Level (J. Graham) $11.40 $3.40 $2.80

Glen Airy (B. Hernandez, Jr.) $2.20 $2.10 Interlock Empire (C. McMahon) $3.40 Finish Time: 1:42 Daily Double (4-5) $240.70; Exacta (5-3) $11.10; Superfecta (5-3-8-4) $15.47; Trifecta (5-3-8) $20.85; Pic 3 (8-4-5) $934.65 Late Scratches: Now and Later Seventh Race - $56,000, AOC $50,000, 3 yo’s & up, One And One Sixteenth Miles Mo Expectations (Cncpcn) $5.00 $3.60 $2.80 Sophie’s Cruiser (I. Castillo) $9.80 $6.20 Pisciotta (GB) (B. Hernandez, Jr.) $3.40 Finish Time: 1:41.92 Daily Double (5-6) $31.30; Exacta (6-8) $27.40; Superfecta (6-8-10-3) $55.72; Trifecta (6-8-10) $37.65; Pic 3 (4-5-6) $218.50 Late Scratches: Peak Earnings (GB), Classic

Performer Eighth Race - $15,000, Claiming $5,000, 3 yo’s & up, Six Furlongs Honor His Half (M. Murrill) $2.80 $2.20 $2.10 $3.80 $2.80 Where’s Aunt J (S. Vives) Steal Me Over (E. Murray) $2.60 Finish Time: 1:12.28 Daily Double (6-6) $5.20; Exacta (6-3) $14.20; Superfecta (6-3-8-1) $16.26; Trifecta (6-3-8) $20.25; Pic 3 (5-6-6) $21.20; Pic 4 (4-5-4/6/92/5/6/9) $384.60; Pic 5 (8-4-5-4/6/9-2/5/6/9) $4,320.30; Pic 6 (8-8-4-5-4/6/9-2/5/6/9) $3,254.30 Late Scratches: Copper Moon, She Has It All, Emilyhasherturn

8B ■ Monday, December 29, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

lll

Baton Rouge Weather TODAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

Clouds, then sun - 10%

Mainly sunny

Sunny

Partly sunny

Mostly cloudy 20%

Mostly cloudy 20%

HIGH

HIGH

HIGH

HIGH

LOW

53° 31°

LOW

49° 27°

HIGH

LOW

HIGH

55° 33°

LOW

65° 49°

ALMANAC

LOW

72° 56°

LOW

71° 47°

TEMPERATURE

80°/59° 63°/42° 80° in 2021 18° in 1904

PRECIPITATION

THE NATION

Longview 49/29

TODAY

GOOD

GOOD

READING 43 MAIN POLLUTANT Particulates

MAIN POLLUTANT Particulates

SOURCE: LOUISIANA DEQ AND AIRNOW.GOV

RIVER STAGES FLOOD STAGE 24-HOUR STAGE CHANGE Memphis 34 -0.70 -0.87 Vidalia-Natchez 48 14.30 +1.68 Red River Landing 48 17.10 +1.30 Baton Rouge 35 5.60 +0.50 Donaldsonville 27 3.00 none Reserve 22 2.50 +0.40 New Orleans 17 1.60 -0.35 MISSISSIPPI

OHIO 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

2.74 0.93

-0.02 -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

COMITE

Near Olive AMITE

Near Darlington Denham Springs Port Vincent TICKFAW

Montpelier Holden ATCHAFALAYA

Simmesport Melville Krotz Springs Butte La Rose Bayou Sorrel Morgan City

-0s

0s

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

Jackson 47/29

Baton Rouge 53/31

Lafayette 53/35

Beaumont 56/37 Port Arthur 55/37

Hattiesburg 53/30

Alexandria 52/32

Many 50/28

AIR QUALITY YESTERDAY

-10

Monroe 50/31

Shreveport 51/30

24 hours through 5 p.m. Sun. 0.04” Month to date (normal) 6.36” (4.72”) year to date (normal) 59.66” (61.34”)

Cairo

The cold front has finally passed through! Expect highs near 53 degrees in the morning, followed by falling temperatures. It will be a very breezy day with sustained winds 10-15 mph and gusts up to 25 mph. While we will start off with clouds, partly sunny skies will emerge by the afternoon. Very cold air will move in during the overnight hours. Expect lows in the lower 30s with freezes expected along and north of the 10/12 corridor. A chilly day will follow with highs not leaving the 40s. The coldest air of this cold snap will arrive New year’s Eve. Many locations will have the 20s with some areas east and north of Baton Rouge having the mid-20s. Don’t forget the four P’s: people, pets, pipes and plants.

AROUND THE REGION

BATON ROUGE THROUGH 5 P.M. SUNDAy

High/low Normal high/low Record high Record low

Weather News by Meteorologist Balin Rogers

New Orleans 56/36

Lake Charles 56/35

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

Houma 56/35

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

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

TIDES HIGH

FT.

LOW

FT.

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

0.3 1.1 1.3 1.5 0.8 1.0 1.0

2:46p 7:16a 3:35a 7:36a 3:40a 2:12a 4:42a

-0.1 -0.1 -0.4 0.1 -0.3 -0.3 -0.3

----- --------- ----9:02p 1.2 4:30p 1.2 ----- --------- --------- --------- -----

SUN AND MOON Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today

FT.

LOW

FT.

TODAY City

Hi

Lo W

TUESDAY Hi

Austin Boston Dallas Fairbanks Honolulu Houston Las Vegas Louisville Miami Minneapolis

52 41 c 49 22 r 49 32 c -22 -26 s 80 70 sh 57 39 c 58 40 s 32 19 pc 81 61 pc 10 0 s

56 35 pc 25 21 c 55 39 pc -16 -32 sn 78 70 sh 55 37 pc 57 44 s 32 25 s 72 49 pc 32 11 sf

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

45 90 58 39 39 68 46 39 82 71 50

43 90 57 36 42 67 45 38 80 72 52

SOLUNAR TABLE

7:01 a.m.

5:13 p.m.

12:52 p.m.

1:42 a.m.

FULL

LAST

NEW

FIRST

JAN 3

JAN 10

JAN 18

JAN 25

MAJOR

MINOR

MAJOR

TODAY City

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

TUESDAY

Hi

Lo W

Hi

Lo W

36 56 78 58 74 44 63 30 71 76

21 c 36 c 45 s 28 r 52 s 20 sn 27 sh 18 s 61 s 45 s

37 50 60 34 75 27 42 35 73 59

26 s 37 s 39 pc 26 c 53 pc 21 sf 26 s 27 s 60 s 40 pc

66 44 52 69 39 25 71 39 56 31 55

53 pc 40 c 33 pc 50 s 7 sn 20 sn 47 pc 32 s 42 pc 25 s 41 s

62 44 52 61 11 22 73 41 57 29 57

42 pc 31 pc 31 pc 42 pc 3 c 6 c 47 pc 26 s 42 s 20 s 41 s

THE WORLD

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

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Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.

Ohio State is at home in Cotton Bowl “We know the last time we stepped on the field, we left something on the field. So this time, we got to leave everything out there.”

BY STEPHEN HAWKINS AP sportswriter

Defending national champion Ohio State is in the Cotton Bowl for the third year in a row, while Miami is already returning to Texas just more than a week after being in the state for a win in its College Football Playoff debut.

Both teams were set to arrive in North Texas on Sunday, three days before their New Year’s Eve matchup in the first of the four CFP quarterfinal games.

The third-ranked Buckeyes (121) are three weeks removed from their 13-10 loss to undefeated No. 1 Indiana in the Big Ten championship game on Dec. 6. They still got the second seed and a firstround bye in the 12-team playoff, providing an extended break but also more time to ponder missing out on a conference title.

“We had to take a step back because that loss kind of hurt,” Ohio State cornerback Lorenzo Styles said. “We had to feel that pain, but then it’s like everything we want is still in front of us.”

Now it’s win or go home for the Buckeyes, the only team to appear in five of the last seven CFPs — all since Ryan Day became head coach. It is their seventh overall, which began by winning the inaugural CFP championship game at the end of the 2014 season in the same stadium where the Cotton Bowl is played.

“We know the last time we stepped on the field, we left something on the field,” linebacker Sonny Styles said. “So this time, we got to leave everything out

SONNy STyLES, Ohio State linebacker

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By RyAN SUN

From left, Ohio State Buckeyes defensive end Caden Curry, linebacker Sonny Styles and wide receiver Brennen Schramm celebrate after the team’s win against Michigan on Nov. 29 in Ann Arbor, Mich. ä Miami vs. Ohio State, 6:30 P.M.WEDNESDAy, ESPN

there.”

CFP first-timer No. 10 Miami (11-2) got an at-large berth even without making the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game, and that league’s champ

being left out of the field. The Hurricanes had a three-week gap between their regular seasonending win at Pittsburgh and CFP debut, which they won 10-3 at seventh-seeded Texas A&M on Dec. 20.

Now they will be about 200 miles from College Station to play the Buckeyes, who will have

more time off than the Hurricanes had between their games.

Miami coach Mario Cristobal isn’t sure if there is any advantage, or disadvantage, to those time gaps between games for either side.

“You can never tell. That’s gone back and forth in so many different ways over the years. And I think if you could put it in a

bottle and sell it, you would be a billionaire,” Cristobal said. “The bye weeks and the extra time off, sometimes it’s been great for people, and sometimes it hasn’t.

And then vice versa as it relates to playing. ... I don’t think there’s an exact predictor of success or non-success as it relates to time off.”

This will be only the second time Ohio State and Miami play in a postgame game. It comes nearly 23 years after the Buckeyes’ double-overtime win in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 3, 2003, that denied the Hurricanes their second consecutive national championship. They haven’t won one since.

Ohio State won its sixth AP national championship last season, when the Cotton Bowl was a CFP semifinal game. The Buckeyes didn’t have a first-round bye in the first year of the 12-team playoff and their 28-14 win over Texas in the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys was their third win last postseason, before then beating Notre Dame for the national title.

The Cotton Bowl wasn’t one of the playoff games two years ago, the last in the four-team format.

The Buckeyes lost that one to Missouri..

Southern adds three more assistants to coaching staff

BY TOYLOY BROWN III

Staff writer

A pair of former NFL players and a staff member from Colorado will join Marshall Faulk’s first Southern coaching staff.

Former LSU and NFL player Bennie Logan will coach the defensive line; former NFL player Donald Penn will oversee the offensive line; and Josh Covington, who worked with Faulk at Colorado, will coach the running backs, a university official confirmed to The Advocate on Sunday.

Logan attended LSU from 200912 and started 25 games on the defensive line. He ended his college career with 107 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks.

The Coushatta native was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles with the 67th overall pick in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Logan played for the Eagles for four years and then spent a season with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2017 and the Tennessee Titans in 2018.

Logan most recently was an assistant coach at Catholic High

School. At LSU, he wore the coveted jersey No. 18 in 2012. It is tradition that the player who wears that number is someone considered one of the team leaders with high character.

Penn played in the NFL for 13 seasons and started at left tackle in 189 games.

The California native went undrafted in 2006 after playing at Utah State for four years. He started his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2007-13), then played for the Oakland Raiders (2014-18) and Washington (2019).

Penn previously worked with the Jacksonville Jaguars offensive line in the summer of 2024 as part of the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship.

Covington followed Faulk from Colorado, where the Pro Football Hall of Fame player was a firstyear running backs coach under Deion Sanders. Covington helped in the tight ends room last season.

He also brings prior experience coaching at the HBCU level, as he was an offensive analyst for North Carolina Central during the 2024 season. Covington

worked under coach Trei Oliver, who was the Southern defensive coordinator from 2016-18.

The rest of the Southern coaching staff includes Curtis Johnson as general manager/assistant head coach, Ken Merchant as offensive coordinator, Todd Lyght as defensive coordinator, Ben Miles as tight ends coach and Anthony Balancier as defensive backs coach.

Southern has four former NFL players who played at least six seasons on its coaching staff: Faulk, Lyght, Logan and Penn.

LIVING

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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 2C

ä See HOSPICE, page 2C

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 2C

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

2C ■ Monday, December 29, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The 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 1C 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 1C 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 1C

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 Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Monday, December 29, 2025 ■ 3C

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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

4C ■ Monday, December 29, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The 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 Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Monday, December 29, 2025 ■ 5C

lll

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

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

lll

classifieds.theadvocate.com Search Search& &Place PlaceAds AdsOnline Onlineatatclassifieds.theadvocate.com classifieds.theadvocate.com* Call * Call -Friday Us Monday-Friday 8AM-5PM at 225-383-0111 8AM-5PM at 225-383-0111

Merchandise

MISC FOR SALE LADIES SMALL BLACK LEATHER COAT LIKE NEW $40 225-752-7273

AREA 4

MISC FOR SALE Sm Solid Black Throw Pillows Many Available! Each $5 225-752-7273

AREA 4 NO CREDIT CHECK/LEASE! Fully furnished apartments ALL BILLS PAID including premium cable & WIFI. Pet Friendly. Stay where you're appreciated! Call 225-434-4161

Baton Rouge Rental AREA 3

5364 Jackson 2BR's 1BA, Rent $500, Dep $300 225-357-6436

WANT TO BUY I buy old bourbon bottles. Wild Turkey, Weller, Old Grand Dad etc.

Call or text $300 (225)456-3434

AREA 5 655 North St. Subsidized eff Apts cpabr.org 225-383-5551.

TDD/TTY /711RELAY

FREE RENT 225-351-7449

HAPPY HOLIDAY

AREA 5 1 & 2 BR Apts, W/D, C A/H, Starting at $850/mo Deps vary 225-315-0930

AREA 5 1BR $550, 2BR $650 Tigerland. $500 Deposit. 225-475-1737

225-388-0111

DEADLINE ...........RUN DATE

Pets / Pet Services Directory PETS • SUPPLIES • SERVICES • OBITUARIES • LOST & FOUND

DOGS Yorkshire Terrier - Small Yorkie pup‐ pies, $1400-F, $1200-M (225) 304-1045

Auctions

PUBLIC NOTICE --A 1972 Chevrolet Corvette, VIN: 00001Z37T4S414265 is being held at Insurance Auto Auctions, 5978 High‐ way 75, Carville, LA 70721, 708-492-7282. Un‐ less claimed within 60 days of November 13, 2025 it will be dismantled or sold at auction to highest bidder.

Out‐ standing charges must be paid in order to re‐ move vehicle.

171835 Dec. 26, 29, 2t $122.84

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

PUBLIC NOTICE --ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS Sealed bids will be re‐ ceived for the Gas Utility District #1 of East Baton Rouge, by GD Architec‐ ture, LLC until 2:00 P.M., JANUARY 27, 2026, at the following address: GD Architecture, LLC 3112 Valley Creek Drive, Suite H Baton Rouge, LA 70808 (O) 225/383-3915 ANY PERSON REQUIRING SPECIAL ACCOMMODA‐ TIONS SHALL NOTIFY GD ARCHITECTURE, LLC, OF THE TYPE(S) OF ACCOM‐ MODATION REQUIRED NOT LESS THAN SEVEN (7) DAYS BEFORE THE BID OPENING. For: Gas Utility District #1 of East Baton Rouge – Office Addition and Inte‐ rior Renovation GD Architecture Project #: 25002 Complete Bid Documents for this project are avail‐ able in electronic form.

They may be obtained without charge and with‐ out deposit from Letter‐ man’s Blueprint and Sup‐ ply through their online public plan room at the following URL: https:// www.centerline.co/ bidding/login Printed copies are not available from the De‐ signer, but arrangements can be made to obtain them through most re‐ prographic firms. Plan holders are responsible for their own reproduc‐ tion costs. Questions about this procedure shall be directed to Gary Dunn at: PHONE (225) 383-3915.

All bids shall be accom‐ panied by bid security in an amount of five per‐ cent (5.0%) of the sum of the base bid and all al‐ ternates. The form of this security shall be as stated in the Instructions to Bidders included in the Bid Documents for this project.

The successful Bidder shall be required to fur‐ nish a Performance and Payment Bond written as described in the Instruc‐ tions to Bidders included in the Bid Documents for this project.

A NON-MANDATORY PREBID CONFERENCE WILL BE HELD at 10:00 am on JANUARY 14, 2026 at the GUD#1 Ad‐ ministration Building (1633 Greenwell SpringsPort Hudson Road, Zachary, LA 70791).

Bids shall be accepted from Contractors who are licensed under LA. R.S. 37:2150-2192 for the classification of Building Construction. Bidder is required to comply with provisions and require‐ ments of LA R.S. 38:2212(B)(5). No bid may be withdrawn for a pe‐ riod of forty-five (45) days after receipt of bids, except under the provisions of LA. R.S. 38:2214. The Owner re‐ serves the right to reject any and all bids for just cause. In accordance with La. R.S. 38:2212(B) (1), the provisions and requirements of this Sec‐ tion; and those stated in the bidding documents shall not be waived by any entity. The Owner shall incur no obligation to the Contractor until the Contract Between Owner and Contractor is fully executed.

171160 Dec. 22, 29, 2025, Jan. 5, 2026, 3t $988.95 PUBLIC NOTICE --ADVERTISEMENT REQUEST FOR BID BID #50016-10348 A.O. WILLIAMS MODULAR CAMPUS OWNER: SOUTHERN UNUVERSITY AND A&M COLLEGE BATON ROUGE CAMPUS

Fri, Dec 26 - 3pm................ Wed., Dec 31 Fri., Dec 26 - 3pm............... Thurs., Jan 1 Fri., Dec 26 - 3pm............... Fri., Jan 2 Tues, Dec 30-3pm ............... Sat/Sun Jan 3, 4 Wed., Dec 31 - 3pm ............ Mon., Jan 5 Fri., Jan 2 - 3pm ................. Tues., Jan 6

DISPLAY ADS 24 HOURS EARLIER

WANT TO BUY Old Records 33's, 45's & 78's. All types of music. Call 985-259-1889

Public Notices

EARLY DEADLINES FOR OUR ADVERTISEMENTS

Place a Classified ad?

DOGS CKC YORKIES or SHORKIES - (yorkies are with papers) all are vet checked w/shot and worming, will meet in Gulf‐ port $700 (334) 467-3416

ROOMS FOR RENT Furnished Rooms. $125/wk. $500/mo.

225-933-7560

The Classified Advertising Department will be closed on Thursday, January 1 to observe the New Year’s holiday

PLACE YOUR PET SERVICES INFORMATION IN THE PET SERVICES DIRECTORY TODAY! • IT IS FAST AND EASY! • CALL 225-383-0111

CAMPING GEAR Camp Tent 9x9 Dome, Canopy, Slp Bag, 2 Lant, 2 Burner Stv, 48qt Ice Chest & All Access. Retail for $375 selling for $275 225-610-8411 after 2:00pm

MOBILE HOME 1, 2 & 3 BR mobile homes, $675 & up 6061 Plank Rd. CALL 225-978-4653

CATS RAGAMUFFIN & RAGDOLL KITTENS www.CatsByFrancy.com/kittens $700up! Reg. Shots & Guaranty 337-230-3150

PRINT ADVERTISING

WORKS

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

H/S Project Number 25022 BID OPENING DATE AND TIME: January 23, 2026 at 10:30 AM

made payable to South‐ ern University. Any per‐ formance bond furnished shall be written by a surety or insurance com‐ pany currently on the U.S. Department of the Treasury Financial Man‐ agement Service list of approved bonding com‐ panies which is pub‐ lished annually in the Federal Register, or by a Louisiana domiciled in‐ surance company with at least an A-:VI rating or higher in the latest print‐ ing of the A.M. Best's Key Rating Guide or by an in‐ surance company that is either domiciled in Louisiana or owned by Louisiana residents and is licensed to write surety bonds.

tractor’s license number, bid number, bid opening date and time.

classification of 72000000 Building & Construction, 72130000 General Build‐ ing Construction, 712136000 Commercial or Industrial Construction, 300000000 Structures, Building, Construction, MFG COMP; 30230000 Portable Structures; 30231600 Portable Pre‐ fabricated Commercial and Industrial Struc‐ tures; 300000000 Struc‐ tures, Building, Construc‐ tion, MFG COMP; 30200000 Pre-Fabricated Structures; 30201700 Pre‐ fabricated Commercial and Industrial Structures

Sealed bids will be re‐ ceived by Southern Uni‐ versity, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in the Pur‐ chasing Department, 8100 James L. Prestage Drive, PO Box 9543, J. S. Clark Administration Building Annex, South Entrance, First Floor East, Baton Rouge, LA 70813.

Bids will be opened and read aloud in a public meeting in the Southern University Purchasing Department.

MAIL, HAND-DELIVER OR ELECTRONIC SUBMITTAL TO PURCHASING DEPARTMENT NO LATER THAN 10:30 AM-ON JANUARY 23, 2026

Electronic submittal: Use link to submit bid online: http://www.sus.edu/bid certification Bidders are solely re‐ sponsible for ensuring timely delivery of their bids. The Southern Uni‐ versity Purchasing De‐ partment is not responsi‐ ble for any delays caused by bidders’ chosen means of delivery. Failure to meet the bid deadline submittal date and time shall result in rejection of bid.

Architect Firm: Holly & Smith Architects 2302 Magazine Street New Orleans, LA 70130 Ph.504-585-1315 Emails: rohit@hollyan dsmith.com trent@hollyandsmith. com ALL BID SPECIFICATIONS AND ADDENDA CAN BE OBTAINED BY ACCESSING THE LA STATE PROCURE‐ MENT WEBSITE https://wwwcfprd.doa. louisiana.gov/osp/lapac/ pubMain.cfm.

(Search by bid # 50016-10348) We highly recommend registering your com‐ pany with Louisiana State Procure‐ ment/LAPAC Mandatory Pre-Bid Con‐ ference & Site Visit: Janu‐ ary 6, 2026 at 10:30 AM Conference & Site Visit Location: Physical Plant Building (Southern Uni‐ versity Campus) Physical Plant Department Benjamin H. Kraft Building-515 James L. Hunt Street Southern University Campus Baton Rouge, LA 70813 Site Telephone No. 225-771-4741 or 225-771-6241 Participants shall be in attendance by 10:30 a.m. and sign sheet provided by the Purchasing De‐ partment.

No surety or insurance company shall write a performance bond which is in excess of the amount indicated as ap‐ proved by the U.S. De‐ partment of the Treasury Financial Management Service list or by a Louisiana domiciled in‐ surance company with an A-:VI rating by A.M. Best up to a limit of 10 percent of policyholders' surplus as shown by A.M. Best; companies autho‐ rized by this Paragraph who are not on the trea‐ sury list shall not write a performance bond when the penalty exceeds 15 percent of its capital and surplus, such capital and surplus being the amount by which the company's assets ex‐ ceed its liabilities as re‐ flected by the most re‐ cent financial state‐ ments filed by the com‐ pany with the Depart‐ ment of Insurance.

In addition, any perfor‐ mance bond furnished shall be written by a surety or insurance com‐ pany that is currently li‐ censed or authorized to do business in the State of Louisiana. The bond must be received within twelve (12) working days from the date of notifica‐ tion.

Bidders shall include the following envelopes of choice: company’s name, address, Louisiana con‐

You may place your ad 7 days a week, 24 hours a day online at www.theadvocate.com or call Monday-Friday 8am-5pm

Bids may be withdrawn by written, telegraphic fax notice or email and received at the address or email address desig‐ nated in the Invitation to Bid prior to the time set for bid opening, as recorded by date stamp at the Purchasing Office.

Bids received after clos‐ ing time will be returned unopened. Evidence of authority to submit the bid shall be required in accordance with R.S. 38:2212(a)(1)(c) and/or R.S. 39:1594(c)(2)(d).

The Southern University System is a participant in the Louisiana for the Small Entrepreneurships Program (the Hudson Ini‐ tiative) and the Louisiana Initiative for Veterans and Service-Connected Disabled VeteransOwned Business Small Entrepreneurships. Bid‐ ders are encouraged to consider participation. A list of certified vendors and additional informa‐ tion can be obtained http:// from website www.ledsmallbiz.com.

Potential participants may also register at this website.

Any questions concern‐ ing bid documents, please contact Mary Jane Spruel, Assistant Di‐ rector of Purchasing at (225) 771-2800 or email to maryjane_spruel@subr. edu and the Architect Firm.

No bid may be with‐ drawn for a period of forty-five (45) days after receipt of bids, except under the provisions of LA. R.S. 38:2214. Bidder is required to comply with provisions and require‐ ments of LA R.S. 38:2212(B)(5).

The University reserves the right to reject all bids and to waive any infor‐ malities incidental thereto.

Bids shall be accepted from Contractors who are licensed under LA. R.S. 37:2150-2192 for the

SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY & A&M COLLEGE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER Linda A. Antoine, Director of Purchasing DATES ADVERTISED 12/12/2025, 12/19/2025 & 12/29/2025 169976 Dec. 12, 19, 26, 3t $323.43 PUBLIC NOTICE --BIDS TO BE OPENED: 1/27/26 @ 11:00 AM CST Notice to Proposers Notice is hereby given that sealed proposals will be received by the Recreation and Park Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge (BREC) until Janu‐ ary 27, 2026 at 11:00 AM local time in Room 1501, BREC Administration Building, 6201 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70806 for: RFP No. 241 – Request for Proposal for Liberty Lagoon Waterpark Waterslide Refurbishment Proposals received after the above specified time will not be considered.

Proposals will be opened immediately after pro‐ posal opening time in Room 1501 of the Admin‐ istration Building. All in‐ terested parties are in‐ vited to be present.

Copies of the Request for l b b

225-383-0111 Public Notices Bids/Proposals p q Proposal may be ob‐ tained from the Purchas‐ ing Division, 6201 Florida Blvd, Room 1501, Baton Rouge, LA 70806 or tele‐ phoning 225-272-9200, ex‐ tension 1422. The right to reject any and all propos‐ als and to waive irregu‐ larities and informalities is reserved.

BREC is an equal oppor‐ tunity employer and en‐ courages the participa‐ tion of Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE) in all of its pro‐ jects.

Proposers/ Prospective Contractors are strongly encouraged to make positive efforts to utilize minority sub‐ contractors for a portion of this project.

Proposers are requested to include in their pro‐ posal a description of plans for minority partic‐ ipation under this Con‐ tract as suppliers or sub‐ contractors.

All questions concerning the Solicitation and Con‐ tract Documents must be received in accordance with the Schedule of Events cited in the Solici‐ tation documents and as further defined in the Proposer Inquiry Periods section of the same doc‐ ument. *Note: BREC has elected to use LaPAC, the state’s online electronic bid posting and notification system, in addition to its standard means of ad‐ vertising this require‐ ment. LaPAC is resident on State Purchasing’s https:// website at wwwcfprd.doa.louisiana. gov/osp/lapac/pubMain. cfm and is available for vendor self-enrollment.

In that LaPAC provides an immediate e-mail no‐ tification to subscribing bidders that a solicita‐ tion and any subsequent addenda have been let and posted, notice and receipt thereof is consid‐ ered formally given as of their respective dates of posting. Though not re‐ quired if receiving solici‐ tation and addenda no‐ tices from LaPAC, BREC will mail addenda to all

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

vendors contacting our office and requesting to be put on our office Ven‐ dor Listing for this solici‐ tation.

RECREATION AND PARK COMMISSION FOR THE PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE /s/ Janet Simmons, BREC Interim Superintendent THE ADVOCATE BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA To be Published # Times: 12/24/25, 12/29/25 and 1/5/26 171601-dec 24-29-jan 5-3t $140.64 PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS PROFESSIONAL AVIATION PLANNING, CIVIL ENGINEERING, and RELATED SERVICES Notice is hereby given that the St. Mary Parish Government is request‐ ing qualification state‐ ments from professional planning and engineer‐ ing firms interested in performing certified planning and profes‐ sional civil and related engineering services at the Harry P. Williams Memorial Airport in Pat‐ terson, Louisiana.

If funded, projects will be limited to Rehabilitation of Runway/Taxiway, Parking Lot Improve‐ ments, Rehabilitation of the North Apron, Edits to the Airport Layout Plan, and General Administra‐ tion Services. Design and Implementation are gen‐ erally dependent upon FAA and/or DOTD fund‐ ing.

The selection process will be in accordance with FAA Advisory Circu‐ lar 150/5100-14E and DOTD standards. In the execution of the work, the firm may be required id d i i i

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

y q to provide administrative services, ALP updates, cost estimates, grant management services, preliminary plans, final construction plans and specifications as well as to assist with construc‐ tion administration.

Firms interested in per‐ forming these services shall furnish a statement of qualifications on Fed‐ eral Standard Form 330 (SF 330). A separate SF 330 shall be submitted by the prime for each sub consultant. Copies of FAA AC 150/5100-14E and SF 330 are attached to the RFQ Package and elec‐ tronic versions are avail‐ able from the FAA and DOTD Division of Avia‐ tion.

y trative experience on avi‐ ation projects will not be counted as staff design experience and should not submit as such. Plan‐ ners shall be AICP certi‐ fied. Engineers and sur‐ veyors shall have rele‐ vant professional li‐ censes issued by the State of Louisiana.

You may request the RFQ Package from Kaitlan Ri‐ vere, Federal & State Grants Administrator or Gary Hebert, Purchasing Agent by sending your company info and your contact info to krivere@ stmaryparishla.gov or ghebert@stmaryparis hla.gov.

The criteria and weight‐ ing factors to be used by the Sponsor in evaluat‐ ing responses will be as follows: 1. Staff familiarity with current DOTD and FAA aviation planning, pave‐ ment, drainage, electri‐ cal, lighting, navaid, ob‐ struction, air space, con‐ struction at public air‐ ports, and other applica‐ ble standards as well as experience in typical General Aviation projects with a value of 1 – 5 points.

2. Aviation planning, civil engineering, other re‐ lated staff experience (e.g., surveyors, inspec‐ tors, etc.), and grant ac‐ quisition and administra‐ tion capabilities of key personnel to be assigned to the project with a value of 1 – 10 points.

This experience should include master planning; property and topographi‐ cal surveys; runway, taxi‐ way, and apron restrip‐ ing; and/or other miscel‐ laneous pavement im‐ provements. Principals of firms with only adminis‐ i i i

3. Key personnel’s pro‐ fessional qualifications and experience and availability for the pro‐ posed project; their repu‐ tation and professional integrity and compe‐ tence; and their knowl‐ edge of FAA regulations, policies, and procedures with a value of 1 – 5 points.

4. Familiarity with the de‐ velopment concerns of the Harry P. Williams Air‐ port, the environs of the site, compliance issues, and an understanding of potential problems, and the sponsor’s special concerns with a value of 1 – 10 points.

5. History of assisting with the acquisition of FAA and DOTD aviation grant funds as well as other sources of funding for airfield improvements (list airports, grant pro‐ jects, and grant amounts) and the admin‐ istration of same with a value of 1 – 10 points.

6. Firm size relative to the magnitude of typical general aviation projects similar to those listed, demonstrated ability to meet schedules and deadlines, and evidence to make good faith ef‐ forts to meet airport DBE goals with a value of 1 – 5 points.

7. Location of firm rela‐ tive to airport with a value of 1 – 5 points.

8. Responsiveness to Re‐ quest For Qualifications with a value of 1 – 5 points.

9. Maximum points are 55.

Firms with demonstrated experience, competence, and qualifications perti‐ nent to the requirements d h i ffi i

When you need the news.

Wherever you read the news.

Bidders must visit the site and be familiar with the local conditions under which the work is to be performed. No ad‐ ditional compensation will be granted because of unusual difficulties, which may be encoun‐ tered in the execution of any portion of the work.

Inquiries will be ac‐ cepted until January 16, 2026 by 10:30 AM. In‐ quiries shall be submit‐ ted to Linda Antoine at linda_antoine@subr.edu Responses to inquiries will be posted on LAPACLA State Procurement website on January 20, 2026 by 10:30 AM Any person requiring special accommodation should notify the Pur‐ chasing Office of the type(s) of accommoda‐ tion required not less than seven (7) days be‐ fore the bid opening date. Additional contact is Wilbert Rossett, South‐ ern University Safety De‐ partment at wilbert. rossett@sus.edu or 225771-3101.

5% Security All bids must be accom‐ panied by bid security equal to five (5%) per‐ cent of the sum of the base bid and all alter‐ nates if applicable and must be in the form of a certified/official check, cashier’s check or bid bond, made payable to Southern University and A & M College. Surety represents that it is listed on the current U.S. Department of the Trea‐ sury Financial Manage‐ ment Service list of ap‐ proved bonding compa‐ nies and that is listed thereon as approved for amount equal to or greater than the amount for which it obligates it‐ self in this instrument.

No bid bond indicating an obligation of less than five percent (5%) by any method is acceptable.

Performance & Payment Bond Successful Proposer shall be required to fur‐ nish a performance (surety) bond.

The amount will be deter‐ mined during contract negotiations for the pe‐ riod the contract is in ef‐ fect. The Bond should be

possible

The newspaper of record for Baton Rouge

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Monday, December 29, 2025 ■ 7C

lll

Legal Notices Jury Type: Petit

Legal Notices

Legal Notices

Judge: Elizabeth A. Engolio

Legal Notices

Legal Notices

Date: Monday, February 2, 2026

ACALDO, TERRY D

1491 HWY 75 SUNSHINE, LA 70780-3213

ALEXANDER, HANNAH NICOLE

59430 STONEWALL DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7419

ALEXIS, GLORIA BROUSSARD

23030 TURNER ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2339

ANDERSON, TYRIAH ANAIJH

25270 PATUREAU LN PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5905

ANGERON, ROBIN STERLING

62275 STERLING PL PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-6018

ANTHONY, DARRIUS J

3640 EVERGREEN DR ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-4648

ARBUCKLE, SHAQUILLA R

15325 HARRIS ST ROSEDALE, LA 70772

AUTIN, ANTHONY LOUIS

25329 DICKINSON RD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4415

BABIN IV, SIDNEY PAUL

58921 OBIER AVE PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3425

BATISTE, THERESA DORSEY

76675-A ROSEDALE RD ROSEDALE, LA 70772

BATTISTE, BRANDY SCHENTRIEL

27420 HWY 405 PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-6908

BATTISTE, SHIRLEAN MARIE

58460 BARROW ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4208

BATTISTE, THANE ENELL

58235 BAYOU RD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2567

BAYHAM JR, DENNIS STUART

23800 HWY 386 GROSSE TETE, LA 70740-3707

BAYHAM, RICHARD TROY

23905 HWY 386 GROSSE TETE, LA 70740-3708

BAYHAM, SHAWN JOSEPH

77885 MCBAY DR GROSSE TETE, LA 70740-3527

BEADLE, WADE

33529 BAYOU SORREL RD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7220

BELL, DERINESHA TASHAE

56575-B YOUNG ST BAYOU GOULA, LA 70788-3029

BILLIOT, MADYSON OCTAVYA MAREE

6320 HWY 74 ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-4552

BLANCHARD, JENEE LEJEUNE

24345 KIRTLEY DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5510

BOBO, LISA

5895 HWY 75 CARVILLE, LA 70721

BONSTAFF, WILL D

18480 HWY 77 GROSSE TETE, LA 70740

BOOKSH, MILES CHEESEMAN

18450 HWY 77 GROSSE TETE, LA 70740

BOUVAY, AMBER JAVELLE

25165-A PATUREAU LN PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5904

BOUVAY, MACARTHUR

33095 BOWIE ST WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2313

BRACKEN SR, KENNETH J

56850 BREAUX ST BAYOU GOULA, LA 70788-3034

BRAUD, BYRON DAVID

58935 ISLAND DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7435

BREAUX, LILLIAN M

33270 BOWIE ST WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2715

BROUILLETTE, LANDON LARUE

5575 ROSE DOWN AVE ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-5211

BROUSSARD, IRENE FLORENCE

59840 CLIFTS COVE DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764

BROWN, LORA M

61880 BAYOU JACOB RD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5519

BROWN, VINCENT ALLEN

11310 HWY 76 MARINGOUIN, LA 70757

BURGESS, CAROL A

57742 ERWIN DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4420

BURNHAM, RONDA D

29215 HWY 75 PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-6102

BUSINELLE, MELISSA RODRIGUE

24715 KIRTLEY DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5506

BUTLER JR, CHARLES

58400 BARROW ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4274

BUTLER III, PERCY L

58545 ALLEN ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764

CAMBRE, DENNIS JAY

1330 AGATHA ST SUNSHINE, LA 70780-3219

CAMPO, RICHARD JAMES

24552 PECAN MEADOW DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-6055

CANELLA, JENNA VAUGHN

28350-A HWY 405 PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7901

CARLIN, DIANA CAMPER

58815 IRON FARM RD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3027

CASTEX, LESLIE BRAUNINGER

8850 MANCHAC RD ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-5810

CAZES, DEBBIE ORTIS

24662 EISENHOWER DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3925

CEDOTAL, HANNAH NICOLE

20130 TONI LN PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5308

CEDOTAL, MARLENE SANCHEZ

36325 HWY 69 WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-4704

CHASTEEN, EMILY NICOLE

25765 WINTER ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-6324

CHAUFFE, MARY ANN BERMEJO

76965 BIG DEE DR GROSSE TETE, LA 70740

CHAUVIN, BROOKE ALYCE

76745 HURDLE RD ROSEDALE, LA 70772

CHRISTOPHE, YOLANDA YOUNG

23985 TAYLOR ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3040

CLEMENT, BERT GERVIAS

38260 HWY 75 PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7723

CLEMENT, CARL FRANCIS

1030 BEEHIVE DR ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-5116

COLE, PHILIPPA DIETRICE

58470 W W HARLEAUX ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3136

COLEMAN, CARZETTE MARIE

32365 MAGGIO ST WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2429

COLEMAN, MORGAN ELIZZABETH

76705 ROSEDALE RD ROSEDALE, LA 70772

COLEMAN, SHELINDA D

23229 NADLER ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2420

COLLIER, JUD WAYNE

38883 BAYOU PIGEON RD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7743

COLLINS, DIESHA WASHINGTON

11515 FLINTSTOCK ST MARINGOUIN, LA 70757

COLLINS, FRANKIE BROOKE

58340 ROBERTSON ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3518

COLLINS, NATHANIEL

55245 MOSS ST WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2615

CONEY, UNITAS LYNETTE

57711 DESOBRY ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3759

COPE, CHRISTINA COURTNEY

22960 AIDAN RD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5239

CORBIN, NICOLE SHANTEL

570-A BAYOU PAUL LN ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-5404

CORBIN, WILBERT

1770 RAVIER LN SUNSHINE, LA 70780-3518

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58790 MERIAM ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2948

HILL, TRAVIS LEE

20195 DANIEL LN PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764

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HOLLINS IV, EDWARD LIONEL

59040 NATHAN GEORGETOWN ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3073

HOLLOWAY, HAMPTON S

955 LAURIE LN # 2 ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-5009

HUGHES, MOGEN DAVID

78655 HURDLE RD ROSEDALE, LA 70772

HUTCHINS, HUNTER ALEXANDER

22940 GUY ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2309

JACKSON, MARCUS KEITH

31985 LACROIX RD WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-3621

JACKSON, PETRA EMEFA

10510 CHURCH ST MARINGOUIN, LA 70757

JACKSON, ROY E

23960 LEVY ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3146

JAMES, CARLISHA MICHELLE

22990 JACOB ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2319

JAMES, EMANUEL

77225 LANDRY DR # 13 MARINGOUIN, LA 70757-3242

JAMES, IESHA ELYSSE

77135 IBERVILLE DR MARINGOUIN, LA 70757-3701

JAMES, LEONARD

58240 MERIAM ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2814

JAMES, MADELINE FAYE MCELROY

22785 AIDAN RD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5254

JENKINS, CHARLES

59215 RIVER WEST DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-6552

JOFFRION, CHASITY LEBLANC

36885 HWY 69 BYPASS WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-4450

JOFFRION, KRIS GRIFFIN

23150 NADLER ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2421

JOHNSON, AELINA KAY

32635 LEONA AVE WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2515

JOHNSON, TIARA YEARNELL

340-B BAYOU PAUL LN ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-5406

JOLISSAINT, MATT DAVID

32722 GRACIE LN PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7113

JONES, CARLSON RAY

77925 BELMONT LN MARINGOUIN, LA 70757-3003

JONES, DERVIN WAYNE

55140 AUCOIN ST WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2701

JONES, JOYCELYN MICHELLE

23860 PUNCHY WILSON ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3456

JONES, MARIETTA L

66420 STAMPLEY DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7310

JORDAN, BRIAN TERENCE

58610 IRON FARM RD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3024

JOSEPH, IRISH S

58115 OZONE LN PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2264

KAHN, CARRIE CHRISTINE

1950 MEADOW OAK DR ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-5217

KELLY, RODRICK DEON

56945 CPL HERMAN BROWN JR DR BAYOU GOULA, LA 707883118

KING, JEREMY WAYNE

1345 MIGUEL AVE ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-5346

LAFONT, JENNA LYNN

2285 BAYOU PAUL LN ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-4933

LAGARDE, TERRY LEE

76880 ROSEDALE RD ROSEDALE, LA 70772

LANAUX, MAKAYLA BREANNA

24920 BRUCE ST # A PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-6043

LANDRY III, ALBERT L

24121 DUNN ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764

LANDRY, CHAD VINCENT

57650 AUGUSTA RD WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-3202

LANDRY, MRS LEE

38735 HWY 75 # A PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7728

LANDRY, PAULETTE CHARLET

36455 HWY 69 WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-4705

LANDRY, RUSS MARLIN

58660 DELACROIX AVE PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3528

LANDRY, SUSAN ELIZABETH

58660 DELACROIX AVE PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3528

LASSEIGNE, BONNIE OUBRE

16824 HWY 77 ROSEDALE, LA 70772-3710

LAULAND, DENAY ELIZABETH

29850 HWY 75 PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-6108

LAWRENCE, DEBORAH ANN

58429 NATS ALY PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2885

LAYMAN, LORI WHITE

6850 BAYOU PAUL RD ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-5601

LEBLANC, CHLOE ROSE

58365 HYMEL ST WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-4202

LEBLANC, LAURA EMILY

79925 HURDLE RD ROSEDALE, LA 70772

LEBLANC, MICHAEL THOMAS

110 SOUTH CLUB AVE ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-4438

LEBLANC, TODD J

36325 FIFTY FOOT RD WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-4419

LEE JR, ISIAH CLAYTON

57765 LINDBURG ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4133

LEE, MELANIE GAUTHREAUX

24355 HOLLY DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3849

LEONARD, TOBEY JAMES

24555 PECAN POINTE DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-6054

LEPPO, HANNAH TEER

58035 LABAUVE AVE PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3233

LEWIS, BOB ERIC

57735 HAASE ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3327

LITTLES, JEQUARIUS TERRELL

77075 GARNER LN GROSSE TETE, LA 70740

LODGE, INDIANNA LETRE

4965-B MARYLAND ST ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-4251

LOFARO, LESLIE NICOLE

1965 HWY 75 SUNSHINE, LA 70780-3414

LUU, HEATHER LYNN

32250 PAPET ST WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2004

LYONS, MARLA BERGERON

20075 SALLIE DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5321

MAJOR II, WAYNE D

76680 ARTHUR RD ROSEDALE, LA 70772

MANGUNO JR, FRANK DAVID

59735 THOMAS ROSS DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764

MARCANTEL, JANICE BOUDREAUX

24160 TECHE ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4600

MARINO, ERIC ALLEN

26030 WINTER ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-6327

MARIONNEAUX, JEAN CLAY

16544 HWY 77 ROSEDALE, LA 70772

MARSHALL SR, STEPHEN LEE

58533 CAPATIN T T HARRIS ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3157

MARTIN, CARNESHIA

56754 CPL HERMAN BROWN JR DR # B BAYOU GOULA, LA 70788-3152

CROCHET, DARON G

1399 HWY 75 SUNSHINE, LA 70780-3109

MARTIN, CONNIE BOURGEOIS

58950 BAYOU RD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2910

CROCHET, LYNN JOSEPH

23920 KIRTLEY DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5540

MAYEUX, KARL MITCHELL

24255 KIRTLEY DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5543

CRUZ, CRYSTAL LYNN

33115 HWY 75 PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7110

MCGINNIS, KARI J

24065 KIRTLEY DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5541 57665 REVILLETOWN DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7501

5355 MORRIS ST CARVILLE, LA 70721-2224

MCNELL, CANDICE BRIEON

DANDRIDGE, TAMALA R

31851 LACROIX RD WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-3620

MELANCON, LISHA MADERE

22330 TALBOT DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5216

DANIELFIELD, TREMAINE JARVOR

4975 MARYLAND ST ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-4251

MELLION JR, LAWRENCE ANATOLE

24825 RYLANDER ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4245

DANIELS, DEMETRIEL MONIQUE

5623 POINT CLAIR RD CARVILLE, LA 70721

MENDOZA, BLAISE JOSEPH

17380 HWY 77 GROSSE TETE, LA 70740-3009 32983 GRACIE LN PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7115 58545 DELACROIX AVE PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3525

CUSHENBERRY, SHAMIKA YOLANDA

DAVID, TRACEY COMEAUX

22270 HWY 77 GROSSE TETE, LA 70740-3620

MENDOZA, JOANN DIAMOND

DAVID, TRAVIS JOHN

57963 GOVERNMENT ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2307

MICHELLE, BRENNAN JOSEPH

DAVIS, ALICE REDDITT

3680 MAGNOLIA DR ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-4643

MILLAR, KAREN DERMENSTEIN

24340 KIRTLEY DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5510

DAVIS, NANCY ANN

57930 CASTRO ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4306

MITCHELL, CLARENCE NEAL

58455 CAPTAIN T HARRIS ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3141

DAVIS, PAULA B

59056 NATHAN GEORGETOWN ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3073

MOLDEN, LEROY

56754 CPL HERMAN BROWN JR DR #C BAYOU GOULA, LA 70788-3152

MOLLIERE, WANDA D

56435 HWY 404 WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-4318

MONROE, JOSEPH ANDERSON

58352 MERIAM ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2818

DICKERSON, CARMAINE DEMBY

58867 CAPTAIN T HARRIS ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3005

DICKERSON, SHELIA HARDIN

58661 MERIAM ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2941

DORSEY, JALAYA KYRIELLE

55050 TASSIN DR WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2342

DOWNS, DESIREE GAUTHREAUX

56210 HWY 404 WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-4316

MOORE, GREGORY P

22740 JADE DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5229

MORALES, COURTNEY TAYLOR

25252 TENANT RD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-6531

DUCHARME, AIMEE LYNN

18510 HWY 77 GROSSE TETE, LA 70740

DUNN, KITTY LOU

66200 STAMPLEY DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7312

DUNN, LIAM MYLES

59775 THOMAS ROSS DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5271

DUPREE, QUNONNA PAUL

11010 3RD ST MARINGOUIN, LA 70757

EVANS, COURTNEY MAURICE

4970 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR PKWY ST GABRIEL, LA 707764207

MOSS, ALENA R

58990 POSTELL AVE PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3430

EXNICIOUS, VANSHELL SHELITA

1960 WILLOW BEND RD ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-5353

NEWELL, DEVIN BRYAN

5530 MAGNOLIA SPRINGS PKWY #A CARVILLE, LA 70721-2101

FABRE, KRYSTAL J

58913 POSTELL AVE PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3429

NEWELL, JADE MARIAH

1925 ROLLINGWOOD DR ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-5358 20675 SIDNEY RD GROSSE TETE, LA 70740-3416 33475 BOUDREAUX ST WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2705

MORALES, STEPHANIE FERRELL

25865 WINTER ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-6325

MORGAN, KENTLY RAY

58505 WARE DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4247

MOSBY, ALMA LEE

58531 NATS ALY PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2888

MOSBY, KARSTEN

24859 PATUREAU LN PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5901

695 BAYOU PAUL LN ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-5410

NICHOLS, FAITH LOUISE

FOSTER, DANA L

1061 RIVER RD SUNSHINE, LA 70780-3102

OBEAR, ENGA CATINA

FRIENDSHIP, CLARENCE ORLANDO

5410 VALENTINE LN ST GABRIEL, LA 70776

OBEAR, FABRAIN O

1625 BESSON LN SUNSHINE, LA 70780-3525

FULLER, CHANELL

6100 MARGARET DR # 14 ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-4650

OGLESBY, CATHY ANN

33065 HWY 75 PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7109

GAUDET, JOHN A

63615 BAYOU JACOB RD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5609

OSTEWART, JOHN M

57735 PLAQUEMINE ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2535

GEORGE, THALYN JARRELL

57226 LABAUVE AVE PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3334

PALERMO, JOANN E

59345 EMMA AVE PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3449

GEORGE, TROY DEION

5750 OAK TRACE DR ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-4715

PARKER, DEITRON KEIONTRAY

22775 BLAKENEY LN PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5234

GLOVER JR, CURTIS LEE

33520 BOWIE ST WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2719

PARKER, TYLER ONEAL

59149 MAPLE ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3815

GORDON, MYKAYLA DESHOIN

1315 ASPHODEL DR ST GABRIEL, LA 70776

PERRITT, WILLIS WAYNE

12070 SPARKS LN MARINGOUIN, LA 70757-4005

GREEN, ERIC J

1125 ETTA DR ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-5619

PERSILVER, ANGELLE FELARISE

54905 BABIN DR WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2202

GREEN, KIMBERLY LARAY

13415 HWY 411 MARINGOUIN, LA 70757

PILATE, KENESHIA NECOLE

11705 SPARKS LN MARINGOUIN, LA 70757-4002

GREEN, MATTHEW ALLEN

5405 SMITH ST ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-4240

PIZZOLATO, JULIA ANN

23420 SEMINARY ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2544 24305 CHURCH ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3734

FLEMING, LARRY AMBROSE

GRIESHABER, NONA ANN

58200 MAIN ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2520

PROVO, BELINDA GAIL

GRIFFIN, SHEYENNE AUTUMN

62675 BAYOU RD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5919

PRYER, LAURA A

78205 WHEELOCK LN MARINGOUIN, LA 70757-3631

HALL, DARLA DANIELL

58515 HOMESTEAD DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5205

PUCKETT, JASMINE J’NAE

57945 JOFFRION ST # 4 PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2046

HARRIS, LARRYNISHA MARIE

4719 MARYLAND ST ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-4249

PURNELL, TRAVIS DEAN

58420 PLAQUEMINE ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2638

30140 HWY 75 PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-6111

REDDITT, BRITTANY NICOLE

5430 WILLIAM RD ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-4226

HECK, ALDEN MICHAEL

58166 MAIN ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2518

REPP, TIMOTHY ANTHONY

25325 COMMODORE ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4407

HENDERSON, LISA PAUL

57900 TROSCLAIR ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2336

RICHARDSON, JOHNNY RAY

2155 ELMCREST WAY ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-5354

HEBERT, STACY ANN

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RIERA, LILLIAN COLLINS

58250 LABAUVE AVE PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3120

THOMAS, CHLOE JOSIE ELIZABETH

58739 JETSON AVE PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4237

RILEY, ALLEN FREDERICK

57749 TRUE HOPE LN PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4500

THOMAS, KENNETH RAY

78340 WHEELOCK LN MARINGOUIN, LA 70757

RINEHART, MARTY LANE

35075 RICHLAND RD WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-3805

THOMAS JR, KEVIN WAYNE

32775 ADAMS DR WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2601

RINEHEART, ANGELA LEE

60285 AMY LN PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5301

THOMAS, SHANE TRESS KEAIRA

4755 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR PKWY ST GABRIEL, LA 70776

RITTER, FRANKLIN JAMES

58665 IRON FARM RD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764

THOMAS, STEVENSON TYLER

55430 MARQUE ST WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2115

RIVET, GARY JAMES

25735 WINTER ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-6324

THOMPSON, DANIELLE W

23715 CALVIN ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2803

RIVET, MANDY B

32965-B HWY 75 PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7108

TILLMAN, JA’NAIYA

57616 ELI CRAIG ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4542

ROBERTSON, CHARLENE

77215 AUGUSTA AVE ROSEDALE, LA 70772

TOBISON, NICOLE ELISE

1735 SHADOWBRUSH WAY ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-5350

ROBISON, KALA GREEN

775 RIVER RD SUNSHINE, LA 70780-3203

TOUSSANT, CONTINA RENA

77545 PECAN ST MARINGOUIN, LA 70757

ROGERS, ASHLEY L

58115-B NICHOLAS ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2231

TRIPLETT, MICHAEL RASHAD

6610 HWY 74, # 1207 ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-4570 30245 GRANNYLEE DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764

ROMIG, JAMES TROY

11651 HWY 76 MARINGOUIN, LA 70757-3918

TROQUILLE, SUNNY YARBROUGH

ROTH, LAUREN BURLEIGH

31235 HWY 1 WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-3114

TULLIER, JESSE J

23355 KIRTLEY DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5534

ROUSSELL, CHARLES ARTHUR

59820 AVERY JAMES DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5269

TULLIER, RANDALL J

58435 BELLEVIEW RD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3912

RUSS, ELOISE

62215 3RD ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-6001

TURNER, DONNA CHRISTMAS

25345 PATUREAU LN PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5906 37405 HWY 75 PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7715

RUSS, L TONYA THOMAS

57860 TROSCLAIR ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2352

VAUGHN, ALICE AUCOIN

RYDER, KALEIGH ISABELLA

24220 FERDINAND ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3632

VERRET, BOYD

62600-A BAYOU JACOB RD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5527

SANCHEZ JR, ANTHONY R

2175 BAYOU PAUL LN ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-4932

VERRET, LALANDE HENDRY

58630 DELACROIX AVE PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3528

SANCHEZ, RHODES L

58327 FORT ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3109

VESSEL, DARRIUS JACOBY

22825 BLAKENEY LN PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5233

SANCHEZ JR, RUDY ANTHONY

63410 BAYOU JACOB RD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5607

VONTREES, ROSE

32330 RAY ST WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2002

SANCHEZ, SYDNEY ELIZABETH

31815 ALOYSIA RD WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-3613

WALKER, ZURI ELEXONDRI

6610 HWY 74 # 407 ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-4566

SAURAGE, ALEXEI LEIGH

25384 CLEMENT ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4406

WARD JR, RICHARD JOSEPH

78965 MUSSON LN MARINGOUIN, LA 70757-3905

SCOTT, BRENDA

22914 WEST ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2209

WARE, MOSES E

6835 BAYOU PAUL RD ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-5608

SENECA, BRANDON P

57840 COMEAUX ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2042

WASHINGTON, DEMOND

24626 PECAN PLACE DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3804

SETTOON, DONNA O

8550 MANCHAC RD ST GABRIEL, LA 70776

WATKINS, SHANTEL O

58226 COURT ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2806

SHELL, TYNERA DEANISE

23620 ASH ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2960

WATTS, SOFIA GONZALEZ

63670 OLD HWY 77 PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5619

SHUMAN, DUSTIN ALLEN

25120 STASSI RD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5911

WESLEY, TYRI ALISE

32910 ADAMS DR WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2606

SIMMONS, CAROL GRAY

58785 MERIAM ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2947

WHITE, DENEEN S

24820 VESSELS ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4338

SIMMONS, TERRY WAYNE

14425 HWY 77 ROSEDALE, LA 70772

WHITE, LINDA ANN

10325 RAILROAD DR MARINGOUIN, LA 70757

SIMONEAUX, BARBARA LEONARD

58665 HYMEL ST WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-4205

WILLE, BRANDON STEVEN

76340 HUNTERS RUN ROSEDALE, LA 70772

SINGLETON, FELICIA TAMEKA

32955 OLANO ST WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2335

WILLIAMS, BASHEBA G

22815 JADE DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5230

SKIDMORE, GARY L

58750 JETSON AVE PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4238

WILLIAMS, DAJUAN MARQUISE

5465 POINT CLAIR RD CARVILLE, LA 70721-2108

SLEDGE, CAROLYN ROSE

59246 NATHAN GEORGETOWN ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3071

WILLIAMS, DORETHA T

24820 ALEXANDER ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4270

SMITH, ASHLEY DANYELLE

10755 CENTER ST MARINGOUIN, LA 70757

WILLIAMS, JASON DEMONDE

11085 HWY 77 MARINGOUIN, LA 70757-3503

SMITH, KATHERINE LASSERRE

17240 HWY 77 GROSSE TETE, LA 70740

WILLIAMS JR, JOSEPH

24160 CHURCH ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3733

SMITH SR, KENDRICK WAYNE

57730 DESOBRY ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3756

WILLIAMS SR, LAWRENCE BENNY

5560 MORRIS ST CARVILLE, LA 70721

SPARROW, KOLBY JEVONTE

31970 LACROIX RD WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-3621

WILLIAMS, TALACEY SHANTELL

23910 JACKSON ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3030

SPENCER, AARON

6610 HWY 74 # 1004 ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-4569

WILLIAMS, TARSAR DELL

6220 HWY 74 ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-4553

SPRIGGS, KENDRICK JARMA

23440 WILBERT ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2652

WILSON, KERRY

24680 HEBERT ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4017

STEIN, STEVI SONNIER

23949 SHERWOOD DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3433

WILSON, TRAYVONTE D

33910 BOWIE ST WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2733

STEIN, TIFFANY LAWHON

24255 TECHE ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4605

WITT, JUDITH MEREDITH

23875 KIRTLEY DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5539

STEVENSON, SHAMYRA BRIANA

57385 CPL HERMAN BROWN JR DR BAYOU GOULA, LA 707883122

YOUNG, CYNTHIA FITTS

STEWART, BRANDON WARDELL

57345 CPL HERMAN BROWN JR DR BAYOU GOULA, LA 707883122

SUMMERS, JAMAL M

24230 CHURCH ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3735

TATNEY, NAOMI MALAYSIA

58395 BAYOU RD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764

TEZENO, SAMUEL GREGORY DEON

1775 BESSON LN SUNSHINE, LA 70780

THIBODEAUX, KALEB MIKEL

10390 HWY 77 MARINGOUIN, LA 70757-3033

THIBODEAUX, KIM JOSEPH

58365 ISLAND DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7427

Public Notices Bids/Proposals q noted having sufficient technical, supervisory, and administrative per‐ sonnel to ensure expedi‐ tious prosecution of work are desired for con‐ sideration. In responding to the items listed, it is important to be specific and concise and to as‐ sure that planning and design projects which are referred to as having been accomplished by your staff are projects which were accom‐ plished by your person‐ nel included in the SF 330.

The successful firm will be required to execute a project specific agree‐ ment and, if a project is funded, a standard DOTD engineering services agreement in confor‐ mance with all Parish, DOTD, and FAA guide‐ lines, standards, and as‐ surances. The St. Mary Parish Government en‐ courages participation by disadvantaged busi‐ ness enterprises in all bids and proposals to the extent possible.

The Parish affords minority and women owned busi‐ ness enterprises full op‐ portunity to submit an indication of interest in response to this invita‐ tion and will not discrim‐ inate against a firm on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, age, or na‐ tional origin in awarding a contract.

The SF 330 (one original and three copies) shall be delivered to the office of the St. Mary Parish Government which is lo‐ cated at 500 Main St., 5th Floor Courthouse Bldg, Franklin, Louisiana 70538.

Firms wishing to apply must submit a fully com‐ pleted SF 330 as failure to provide all information requested may result in the submission being considered non-respon‐ sive, and the firm will not be given a total score in the evaluation process.

Statements of qualifica‐ tions will be accepted until 10:00 a.m. on Thurs‐ day, January 8, 2026.

Questions regarding this project should be pre‐ sented to Mr. Gary Hebert, Purchasing Agent, at 337-828-4100, ext. 5010 or ghebert@stm aryparishla.gov St. Mary Parish Govern‐ ment Sam Jones Parish President Advertise: Baton Rouge Advocate: Monday De‐ cember 29, 2025 & Janu‐ ary 5, 2026 169682-dec 29-jan 5-2t $124 PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE TO BIDDERS SP# 929 Sealed bids will be re‐ ceived by the Procure‐ ment Section of the Divi‐ sion of Administration, 1201 N. 3rd. St., 2nd.

Floor, Suite 2-160, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at 10:00 A.M. for the follow‐ ing: RFx No. 3000025744, STRIPING MACHINE TRUCK - DOTD, 01/08/26 Bid proposal forms, in‐ formation and specifica‐ tions may be obtained by accessing the bid num‐ ber in LaPac at www.doa.

Louisiana.gov/osp or from the procurement section listed above. No bids will be received after the date and hour specified. The right is re‐ served to reject any and all bids and to waive any informalities.

NEWS 24/7 ON

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Tom Ketterer Director of State Procurement FAX (225) 342-8688 171591-dec 29-1t $11.48 PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE TO BIDDERS SP# 931 Sealed bids will be re‐ ceived by the Procure‐ ment Section of the Divi‐ sion of Administration, 1201 N. 3rd. St., 2nd.

Floor, Suite 2-160, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at 10:00 A.M. for the follow‐ ing: RFx No. 3000025745, ME‐ CHANICAL SWEEPER TRUCK - DOTD, 01/08/26 RFx No. 3000025747, AS‐ PHALT DISTRIBUTOR TRUCK – DOTD, 01/08/26 RFx No. 3000025749, HER‐ BICIDE TRUCK – DOTD, 01/08/26 RFx No. 3000025662, BAD BOY BN Lawn/Golf/Turf – Statewide, 01/20/26 Bid proposal forms, in‐ formation and specifica‐ tions may be obtained by accessing the bid num‐ ber in LaPac at www.doa.

Louisiana.gov/osp or from the procurement section listed above. No bids will be received after the date and hour specified. The right is re‐ served to reject any and all bids and to waive any informalities.

Tom Ketterer Director of State Procurement FAX (225) 342-8688 171833 Dec. 29, 1t $14.05

PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE TO PROPOSERS SP# 930 The State of Louisiana, Division of Administra‐ tion, Office of State Pro‐ curement, announces its intention to participate in the NASPO ValuePoint Request for Proposal (RFP) for Small Package Delivery Services which was released by the State of North Carolina on December 5, 2025. The RFP is scheduled to close on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, at 2:00 PM, East‐ ern Time. The RFP num‐ ber is DPC-1472182913MT. The RFP is now available on North Carolina’s pro‐ curement system web‐ site using the following link: https://evp.nc.gov/solicit ations/ The RFP posting informa‐ tion is also available on the NASPO ValuePoint website at: https://naspovaluepoint. org/solicitation-status/ 171592-dec 29-1t $11.48 PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE TO PROPOSERS SP# 932 Sealed proposals will be received by the Office of State Procurement, 1201 North Third Street, 2nd Floor, Suite 2-160, Baton Rouge, LA until 10:00 AM CT on 02/04/2026 for So‐ licitation Number Doc1925776585 - Request for Proposal (RFP) for DBE Supportive Services for Regions A and B for LADOTD. The RFP may be https:// accessed at portal.us.bn.cloud.ariba. com/dashboard/public/ appext/comsapsbncd iscoveryui#/RfxEvent/ preview/1110000941?anI d=ANONYMOUS No proposals will be con‐ sidered after the date

YOUNG, SHERMA

and hour specified. The right is reserved to reject any and all proposals and to waive any infor‐ malities.

q Q cations must be received in accordance with the Schedule of Events and Procedures for Ques‐ tions/Clarifications as cited in the RFQ docu‐ ment.

Full information may be obtained upon request from the above address or by telephoning Dexter Stewart at (225) 389-3259, Ext. 3264, or via email dsstewart@brla.gov.

Non-Mandatory Pre-Sub‐ mittal Meeting will be held on Wednesday, Jan‐ uary 7, 2026, at 1:00 p.m.

CT. Refer to the RFQ doc‐ ument for further infor‐ mation.

Any vendor who would like to listen to the open‐ ing of this bid can access the following link, at the date and time of this bid opening:

BREC is an Equal Oppor‐ tunity Employer.

The Submitter is encouraged to utilize minority partici‐ pation in this contract to the extent possible through the use of small, disadvantaged and women-owned busi‐ nesses as suppliers or subcontractors.

Join by phone +1-408-418-9388 United States Toll Access code: 263 373 080 (followed by the # but‐ ton)

NOTICE TO QUALIFIERS The Recreation and Park Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge (BREC) is seeking Statements of Qualifica‐ tions (SOQ) from highly qualified architectural firms interested in pro‐ viding complete archi‐ tectural design services for the project described below.

Statements of Qualifica‐ tions for this project will be accepted by the Recreation and Park Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge (BREC) until Thursday, January 29, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. CT in Room 1501 of BREC Ad‐ ministration Building, 6201 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70806 for: Request for Qualifications No. 238 CONSTRUCTION MANAGER at RISK FOR A NEW CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER AT CITYBROOKS COMMUNITY PARK Statements of Qualifica‐ tions shall only be sub‐ mitted on the attached BREC Standard Qualifica‐ tions Form BREC-AE. Fail‐ ure to submit all of the information on BREC Standard Qualifications Form BREC-AE shall be considered non-respon‐ sive and may result in the Qualifications State‐ ment being rejected.

Only those firms that have obtained the official RFQ package for this pro‐ ject will be considered. If the applicant is a joint venture, each prime firm is required to obtain an RFQ package. Submittals received after the above specified time will not be considered. All inter‐ ested parties are invited to be present. BREC re‐ serves the right to reject any or all proposals for just cause and to waive any informalities.

Copies of the solicitation, docu‐ complete RFQ ments, and subsequent addenda shall be ob‐ tained from the Purchas‐ ing Division, 6201 Florida Blvd., Room 1501, Baton Rouge, LA 70806, or by telephoning 225-272-9200, ext. 1581. All vendors shall contact our office and request to be put on our office Vendor Listing for this solicitation. to re‐ ceive notification of ad‐ denda. BREC will mail and/or email addenda to all registered vendors.

BREC has elected to use LaPAC, the state’s online electronic bid posting and notification system, in addition to its stan‐ dard means of advertis‐ ing. LaPAC is resident on the Office of State Pro‐ curement’s website at LaPAC Public Menu (louisiana.gov) and is available for vendor selfenrollment. In that LaPAC provides an immediate email notification to sub‐ scribing bidders that a solicitation or RFQ and any subsequent addenda have been let and posted, notice and re‐ ceipt thereof is consid‐ ered formally given as of their respective posting dates.

All questions concerning the Request for Qualifi‐ b i d i

RECREATION AND PARK COMMISSION FOR THE PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE /s/ Janet Simmons, Interim Superintendent THE ADVOCATE BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA To be Published Times: 12/29/2025 01/05/2026

57475 CPL HERMAN BROWN JR DR BAYOU GOULA, LA 707883123

171844-600002-Dec. 29-1t $ 1,226.61

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

PUBLIC NOTICE ---

58765 IRON FARM RD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3062

Juror Count: 300

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

171959 Dec. 29, 1t $11.48

58765 DELACROIX AVE PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3529 BARBARA

YOUNG, TODD M

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Tom Ketterer Director of State Procurement Phone (225) 342-8010

FRANCES

Two and

171756-dec 29-jan 5-2t $111.28 PUBLIC NOTICE --VOUCHER# 26-090900 BIDS TO BE OPENED: 01/14/26 NOTICE TO BIDDERS Electronic or sealed bids will be received by the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge, Purchasing Divi‐ sion, City Hall Building, Room 826, 222 Saint Louis Street, 8th Floor, Baton Rouge, La. until 11:00 A.M. CST, January 14, 2026 for the following: A26-90900 Temporary Labor Service for Building Maintenance and Construction Official bid documents are available at Central (https://www.

Bidding centralauctionhouse. com/rfpc10656-city-ofbaton-rouge.html) or by request from the City of Baton Rouge at dsstew‐ art@brla.gov.

Bids shall be submitted electronically via www. centralbidding.com or on the solicitation bid forms furnished by the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge prior to the bidding deadline.

Electronic bids for the solicitation will be down‐ loaded by the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge, Pur‐ Division and chasing paper bids will be opened. Beginning as soon as feasible after the bid closing time all the names of vendor submit‐ ting bids will read aloud.

Note: The City-Parish has elected to use LaPAC, the state's online electronic bid posting and notifica‐ tion system, in addition to its standard means of advertising this require‐ ment. This Invitation to Bid is available in elec‐ tronic form at the LaPAC https:// website wwwcfprd.doa.louisiana. gov/osp/lapac/dspBid. cfm?search=departm ent&term=102.

Bids, amendments to bids or request for with‐ drawal of bids received after time specified for bid openings shall not be considered for any cause whatsoever.

Inquiries will be received up until 5 pm CST on Jan‐ uary 7, 2026.

Alternate numbers to call if number above is not available, which may occur due to network traffic (use the same Ac‐ cess Code, followed by the # button): United States Toll (Boston) +1-617-315-0704 United States Toll (Chicago) +1-312-535-8110 United States Toll (Dallas) +1-469-210-7159 United States Toll (Denver) +1-720-650-7664 United States Toll (Jacksonville) +1-904-900-2303 United States Toll (Los Angeles) +1-213-306-3065 These numbers will pro‐ vide you with live audio access to this bid open‐ ing.

171602 Dec. 29, 2025,, Jan. 5, 2026, 2t $95.78

Legal Notices

PUBLIC NOTICE --(NOTICE OF INTENTION TO INTRODUCE RETIRE‐ MENT BILL – HLS 26RS297) Public notice is hereby given, as provided by Section 29(C), Article X of the Constitution of Louisiana, that there will be introduced at the forthcoming session of the Legislature of Louisiana, to be con‐ vened on March 9, 2026, a bill relative to state and statewide retirement systems; to provide rela‐ tive to legislative staff attendance at executive sessions of any state or statewide retirement system board or commit‐ tee meeting; and to pro‐ vide for related matters.

172043-DEC 29-30-2T $ PUBLIC NOTICE --(NOTICE OF INTENTION TO INTRODUCE RETIRE‐ MENT BILL – HLS 26RS302) Public notice is hereby given, as provided by Section 29(C), Article X of the Constitution of Louisiana, that there will be introduced at the forthcoming session of the Legislature of Louisiana, to be con‐ vened on March 9, 2026, a bill relative to the Fire‐ fighters' Retirement Sys‐ tem and the Municipal Employees' Retirement Systems; to provide rela‐ tive to membership in the systems; to provide relative to full or partial dissolution; to provide relative to payment of unfunded accrued liabil‐ ity; and to provide for re‐ lated matters.

172044-DEC 29-30-2T $43.96

Legal Notices

PUBLIC NOTICE --(NOTICE OF INTENTION TO INTRODUCE RETIRE‐ MENT BILL – HLS 26RS308) Public notice is hereby given, as provided by Section 29(C), Article X of the Constitution of Louisiana, that there will be introduced at the forthcoming session of the Legislature of Louisiana, to be con‐ vened on March 9, 2026, a bill relative to the Asses‐ sors' Retirement Fund; to provide relative to costof-living adjustments; and to provide for re‐ lated matters.

172016-DEC 29-30-2T $39.96 PUBLIC NOTICE --PUBLIC HEARING The Louisiana Depart‐ ment of Insurance hereby gives notice of a public hearing to be held on January 16, 2026, re‐ garding the conversion of Louisiana Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Com‐ pany from a mutual in‐ surance company to a stock insurance com‐ pany pursuant to La. R. S. 22:237.6. The public hear‐ ing is being held for the purpose of hearing evi‐ dence to determine if the Plan of Reorganization submitted by Louisiana Farm Bureau Mutual In‐ surance Company (1) properly protects the in‐ terests of the policyhold‐ ers as such and as mem‐ bers; (2) serves the best interests of policyhold‐ ers and members; and (3) is fair and equitable to policyholders and members as required by La. R.S. 22:237.6. The pub‐ lic hearing shall be con‐ ducted in accordance with La. R.S. 22:237.6, Rule I of the Louisiana Department of Insurance, and the Administrative Procedures Act. The public hearing will be held by the Louisiana Department of Insurance on January 16th, at 10:00 a.m. in the Poydras Hear‐ ing Room, Poydras Build‐ ing, 1702 North Third Street, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. If you are in‐ terested in participating in the public hearing, you have the option to make comments or provide ev‐ idence. You can do this by submitting your com‐ ments or evidence in writing to David Cald‐ well, Louisiana Depart‐ ment of Insurance, P.O. Box 94214, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9214, by close of business, January 9, 2026, by 4:30 p.m. Com‐ ments or evidence re‐ ceived by January 9, 2026, will be posted on the Louisiana Depart‐ ment of Insurance web‐ site at https://www.ldi. la.gov/public-hearingand-rulemaking-notices.

The provided link directs to the public hearing no‐ tices page of the Louisiana Department of Insurance website. This page contains announce‐ ments and information regarding upcoming pub‐ lic hearings conducted by the Louisiana Depart‐ ment of Insurance. Users can access documents, notices, and other rele‐ vant information related to these proceedings. It is recommended to visit the website directly for the most up-to-date in‐ formation from the Louisiana Department of Insurance on this public hearing. Interested per‐ sons may appear at the public hearing to provide comments or evidence as well.

Timothy J. Temple i i f

Legal Notices

y p Commissioner of Insur‐ ance Louisiana Department of Insurance 169449-DEC 29-31-3T $117.76 PUBLIC NOTICE ---

Public Notices Sex Offenders

Hair Color: BLACK Eye Color: BROWN Scars/Tattoos: Louisiana 172041, Dec 28-29 $250.00

PUBLIC NOTICE (NOTICE OF INTENTION TO INTRO‐ DUCE RETIREMENT BILL) Public notice is hereby given that there may be introduced at the session of the Legislature to be convened on March 9, 2026, a bill relative to the Sheriffs’ Pension and Re‐ lief Fund; to provide for membership in the fund; to provide for an effec‐ tive date; and to provide for related matters.

172092-dec 28-29-2t $122.84

Public Notices Sex Offenders

I, KENNETH James MACK aka Kenny, have been convicted of 14:78 - Incest. Date Convicted: 08/19/2003.

My Address is: 4359 SHERWOOD ST BATON ROUGE, LA 70805

172038, Dec 28-29 $250.00

I, Dwight JOSEPH WILTZ aka DIGHT WILTZ , have been convicted of 14:80 Carnal knowledge of a juvenile. Date Convicted: 03/23/2006.

Details: Offenders victim was a 16 year old female. 15:542 Failure to Register/Notify as a Sex Offender. Date Convicted: 08/26/2016.

Louisiana 172008, Dec 28-29 $250.00

Race: BLACK Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 5/23/1974 Height: 6' Weight: 195 Hair Color: BLACK Eye Color: BROWN Scars/Tattoos:

172006, Dec 28-29 $250.00

Louisiana

Race: WHITE Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 3/2/1968 Height: 5' 9 Weight: 175 Hair Color: GRAY Eye Color: BROWN Scars/Tattoos:

TRACY AVE BATON ROUGE, LA 70814

Louisiana

Race: BLACK Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 11/23/1970 Height: 5'5" Weight: 160 Hair Color: BLACK Eye Color: BROWN Scars/Tattoos:

My Address is: 2206 ADELLA ST, Apt #2, BATON ROUGE, LA 70802

Public Notices Sex Offenders

I, TYRA Lashay DYSON aka TYRA DYSON aka TYRA L DYSON, have been convicted of 14:43 - Simple Rape Sexual Motivation. Date Convicted: 10/02/2025.

14:89 - Crime Against Nature. Sexual Motivation. Date Convicted: 10/02/2025.

My Address is: 15820 LOUSSIER DR ZACHARY, LA 70791 Race: BLACK Sex: FEMALE Date of Birth: 5/25/1997 Height: 5'1" Weight: 220 Hair Color: BLACK Eye Color: BROWN Scars/Tattoos: Louisiana 172013, Dec 28-29 $250.00

I, Monique Laray Colter Spikes, have been convicted of 14:43.1 Sexual Battery. Date Convicted: 10/10/2011.

My Address is: 6050 LOTUS ST BATON ROUGE, LA 70812 Race: BLACK Sex: FEMALE Date of Birth: 2/11/1991 Height: 5'5" Weight: 165 Hair Color: BLACK Eye Color: BROWN Scars/Tattoos: Louisiana 172025, Dec 28-29 $250.00

Public Notices Successions

PUBLIC NOTICE --Notice is hereby given that Jill K. Kindler, Dative Executrix of the Succes‐ sion of Richard Evans Echols, Dt. P-106563, Sec. 26, 19th JDC, has peti‐ tioned for authority to sell all of the succes‐ sion’s interest in Lot 118, Parkwood Terrace, Sec‐ ond Filing; said property to be sold at private sale, less expenses, in accor‐ dance with the applica‐ tion filed in the said pro‐ ceedings. Any legatee, heir, creditor, or interest owner who opposes the proposed sale must fur‐ nish his opposition within seven (7) days from the day on which the last publication of this notice appears.

169585 Dec. 8, 29, 2t $43.98

I, John Williams, have been convicted of 14:42(A) - Rape in the 1st Degree. Date Convicted: 09/08/1969.

My Address is: 5121 BRIGHTSIDE VIEW DR BATON ROUGE, LA 70820 Race: BLACK Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 2/8/1945 Height: 6' Weight: 225

I, TORIANO JERMAINE SIMS aka JERMAINE SIMS aka JERMAN SIMS, have been convicted of 14:43.1 Sexual Battery. Date Convicted: 03/22/1999.

My Address is: 9138

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