The Advocate 12-31-2025

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W e d n e s d ay, d e c e m b e r 31, 2025

HAVING A BLAST

Area residents prepare to ring in the new year with fireworks

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Northshore officials in dark about possible ICE facility

Report says detention center planned for Hammond

BY WILLIE SWETT Staff writer

ABOVE: From left, Leigh Ann Texada watches as Michael Underwood, 13, and his friend and neighbor Wilson Whittemore, 13, pick out fireworks on Tuesday at Mongo’s Fireworks in Prairieville ahead of New year’s Eve festivities.

RIGHT: Black Cat 7 Lantern parachute fireworks are on display at Mongo’s Fireworks.

STAFF PHOTOS By HILARy SCHEINUK

ä Officials urge caution, offer safety tips for home fireworks. Page 1B

Local officials in Tangipahoa Parish say they have little information about a possible detention facility for people arrested by ICE that The Washington Post has reported could be built in Hammond as part of efforts by President Don- “I do not know ald Trump’s administration any details of to speed up deportations. site location Based on internal docuand/or ments from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, accuracy the Post reported Dec. 24 of the Post that the Trump administraarticle. I tion was planning to build have not seven detention centers received any in industrial warehouses around the country to hold information 80,000 immigrant detain- from the Feds ees, identifying Hammond on a proposed as one of the sites. The censite.” ters would serve as staging grounds for deportation, ROBBy MILLER, the Post reported.

Tangipahoa Parish The warehouse facility president in Hammond would house 9,000 people, the Post said, but it was not clear where the facility would be or when construction would begin. The Post reviewed a draft solicitation for contractors, but it was not final and was subject to changes, the Post said.

“I do not know any details of site location and/or accuracy of the Post article. I have not received any information from the Feds on a proposed site,” Tangipahoa Parish President Robby Miller said in a statement.

Hammond Mayor Pete Panepinto said he had not heard from ICE, the Department of

ä See NORTHSHORE, page 5A

RFK Jr. has dramatically reshaped U.S. health policy in one year Trump’s second term has brought major changes to Health and Human Services

most polarizing changes have taken place within the Department of Health and Human Services, where Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has openly rebuffed the medical establishment as he converts the ideas of his Make America Healthy Again movement into public policy.

Since entering office in FebBY ALI SWENSON ruary, the health secretary has Associated Press overseen a dramatic reshaping of WASHINGTON — In the whirlwind the agencies he oversees, includfirst year of President Donald ing eliminating thousands of jobs Trump’s second term, some of the and freezing or canceling billions

WEATHER HIGH 60 LOW 36 PAGE 8B

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. arrives onstage at the inaugural Make America Healthy Again summit on Nov. 12 in Washington.

of dollars for scientific research.

As part of his campaign against chronic disease, he has redrawn the government’s position on topics such as seed oils, fluoride and Tylenol. He also has repeatedly used his authority to promote discredited ideas about vaccines.

The department’s rapid transformation has garnered praise from MAHA supporters who say they long viewed HHS as

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

ä See HEALTH, page 4A

Business ......................3B Commentary ................7B Nation-World ................2A Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................6B Comics-Puzzles .....4D-6D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C

101ST yEAR, NO. 184

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2A ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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FROM WIRE REPORTS

U.S. commits $480M in funding to Ivory Coast

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — The United States and Ivory Coast signed a health deal Tuesday requiring the U.S. to commit $480 million to the West African nation’s health sector as part of “America First” global health funding pacts that mirror the Trump administration’s foreign policy.

The signing in Ivory Coast’s capital of Abidjan covers areas such as HIV, malaria, maternal and child health, and global health security. It is the latest agreement the U.S. has entered with more than a dozen African countries, most of them hit by U.S. aid cuts.

U.S. aid cuts have crippled health systems across the developing world, including in Africa, where many countries relied on the funding for crucial programs, including those responding to outbreaks of disease.

The new health pact is based on the principle of shared responsibility with Ivory Coast committing to provide up to $292 million by 2030, representing 60% of the overall commitment, according to Ivorian Prime Minister Robert Beugré Mambé.

The Trump administration says the new “America First” global health funding agreements are meant to increase self-sufficiency and eliminate what it says are ideology and waste from international assistance. The deals replace a patchwork of previous health agreements under the now-dismantled United States Agency for International Development.

Analysts say the new approach to global health aligns with U.S. President Donald Trump’s pattern of dealing with other nations transactionally, using direct talks with foreign governments to promote his agenda abroad.

D4vd expected to be indicted in teen’s death D4vd is likely to be indicted by a grand jury for his suspected role in the murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, the teenager whose mangled remains were found decomposing in the singer’s trunk in September, according to a report.

Sources tell TMZ that, contrary to previous reports, the Los Angeles grand jury hearing from witnesses in the case is not merely “investigative” and will indeed vote on whether to indict the 20-year-old “Romantic Homicide” crooner, real name David Anthony Burke. The Queensborn singer has been reportedly considered a suspect in Rivas’ death since at least November.

D4vd was at the start of a world tour when the dismembered remains of 15-year-old Rivas were found in his impounded Tesla on Sept. 8, though it’s believed Rivas died in the spring.

In late November, TMZ reported that the case was officially being investigated as a homicide, though officials were at odds over Rivas’ cause of death.

Earlier this month, the outlet reported that Robert Morgenroth, the head of D4vd’s record label and touring company, testified for the grand jury and was afterwards overheard telling his lawyer that Prosecutor Beth Silverman “was very pushy on why (he) didn’t call police.”

Subway shooting was self-inflicted, police say A man claimed he was shot inside a Manhattan subway station — only for investigators to determine his wound was selfinflicted, cops said Monday.

The suspect ventured into an off-limits section of the 57th Street station in Midtown, where he shot himself in the chest following an argument with a family member Sunday, cops said.

Officers found the suspect nursing his wound on the street above the station, where he told police he was the victim of a shooting, said police.

Medics rushed the suspect to Mount Sinai West for treatment, where his story broke down under further questioning, a law enforcement source told the Daily News.

Gary Grinshtein, 27, was arrested and charged with false reporting, criminal possession of a weapon, reckless endangerment and criminal trespass, cops said.

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Judge blocks defunding of CFPB Agency should continue getting money, ruling says

BY KEN SWEET Associated Press

NEW YORK — The White House cannot lapse in its funding of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal district court judge ruled on Tuesday, only days before funds at the bureau would have likely run out and the consumer finance agency would have no money to pay its employees.

Judge Amy Berman ruled that the CFPB should continue to get its funds from the Federal Reserve, despite the Fed operating at a loss, and that the White House’s new legal argument about how the CFPB gets its funds is not valid.

At the heart of this case is whether Russell Vought, President Donald Trump’s budget director and the acting director of the CFPB, can effectively shut down the agency and

lay off all of the bureau’s employees. The CFPB has largely been inoperable since President Trump has sworn into office nearly a year ago. Its employees are mostly forbidden from doing any work, and most of the bureau’s operations this year has been to unwind the work it did under President Biden and even under Trump’s first term.

Vought himself has made comments where he has made it clear that his intention is to effectively shut down the CFPB. The White House earlier this year issued a “reduction in force” for the CFPB, which would have furloughed or laid off much of the bureau.

The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents the workers at the CFPB, has been mostly successful in court to stop the mass layoffs and furloughs.

The union sued Vought earlier this year and won a preliminary injunction stopping the layoffs while the union’s case continues through the legal process.

In recent weeks, the White House has used a new line of ar-

gument to potentially get around the court’s injunction. The argument is that the Federal Reserve has no “combined earnings” at the moment to fund the CFPB’s operations. The CFPB gets its funding from the Fed through expected quarterly payments.

The Federal Reserve has been operating at a paper loss since 2022 as a result of the central bank trying to combat inflation, the first time in the Fed’s entire history its been operating at a loss. The Fed holds bonds on its balance sheet from a period of low interest rates during the COVID-19 pandemic, but currently has to pay out higher interest rates to banks who hold their deposits at the central bank.

The Fed has been recording a “deferred asset” on its balance sheet which it expects will be paid down in the next few years as the low interest bonds mature off the Fed’s balance sheet.

Because of this loss on paper, the White House has argued there are no “combined earnings” for the CFPB to draw on. The CFPB has op-

erated since 2011, including under President Trump’s first term, drawing on the Fed’s operating budget.

White House lawyers sent a notice to the court in early November, where they argued that the CFPB would run out of appropriations in early 2026, using the “combined earnings” argument, and does not expect to get any additional appropriations from Congress.

In her opinion, Berman said the OLC and Vought were using this legal theory to get around the court’s injunction instead of allowing the case to be decided on merits. A trial on whether the CFPB employees’ union can sue Vought over the layoffs is scheduled for February.

“It appears that defendants’ new understanding of “combined earnings” is an unsupported and transparent attempt to starve the CPFB of funding and yet another attempt to achieve the very end the Court’s injunction was put in place to prevent,” Berman wrote in an opinion.

A White House spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Nearly 25 IS fighters killed or captured in Syria, U.S. says

BY BEN FINLEY and KONSTANTIN TOROPIN Associated Press

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By TED SHAFFREy

Ryan Seacrest and Rita Ora, hosts of ‘Dick Clark’s New year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2026,’ stand in front of the New year’s Eve Times Square Ball on Tuesday in New york.

Police presence increased for Times Square ball drop

BY RONI JACOBSON and THOMAS TRACY

New york Daily News (TNS)

NEW YORK — More cops will be patrolling the Crossroads of the World during Wednesday’s New Year’s Eve celebration as the NYPD starts to employ a secondary screening process for revelers already inside the viewing pens waiting for the ball to drop, police said Tuesday.

Speaking at Times Square with Mayor Eric Adams, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the policing for Wednesday’s New Year’s Eve celebration will be “bigger” than last year’s, featuring more cops, both in uniform and in plainclothes, covering the celebration.

Currently, the NYPD’s Intelligence and Counterterrorism bureaus have found “no credible threats” against Times Square or the celebration, but additional officers will be brought in to conduct a “secondary screening of people inside the viewing pens” if necessary.

“We will have mobile screening teams walking around the pens if we see anything that looks suspicious,” Tisch said.

“We will have teams in place to do appropriate screening.”

Additional cops will also be at the entrances to Times Square, so that people entering the viewing pens can be screened for alcohol and other prohibited items more smoothly, said Tisch, who would not divulge how many cops will be in place as more than 1 million people

stand by to ring in 2026.

“We never tell you the exact numbers.

But rest assured, the entirety of the New York City Police Department is going to be working between Dec. 31 and Jan. 1,” Tisch said. “This is the biggest security event of the year.”

Mayor Adams said that every aspect of the NYPD will be utilized to protect Times Square, including Transit cops, Mounted and Harbor units, drone operators and canine teams.

“While we do not have any specific or credible threats regarding the New Year’s Eve festivities in Times Square, we are continually operating in a heightened threat,” Adams said, adding that some protests are also expected.

“While we acknowledge that the city will respect and protect people’s right to protest,” he said, “ … we will have zero tolerance for interfering with the celebration.”

The NYPD will also deploy “dedicated pickpocket teams, hotel response teams and additional uniform controls to address quality of life and public safety concerns,” Tisch added.

“Intelligence teams will also be monitoring social media for potential threats,” she added.

Adams said he’ll be working as mayor up until the last minute of his term, which will end at Times Square.

After that, he joked, “I’m looking forward to a single malt Scotch and a cigar.”

Seafood thefts make businesses crabby

BY HOLLY RAMER Associated Press

CONCORD, N.H. — Imagine the buffet.

Forty thousand oysters, lobster worth $400,000 and a cache of crabmeat all were stolen in separate incidents within weeks of each other in New England.

The first seafood vanished on Nov. 22 in Falmouth, Maine, where authorities suspect someone stole 14 cages full of oysters from an aquaculture site in Casco Bay. Many of the oysters were full-grown and ready for sale, and together with the cages were worth $20,000, according to the Maine Marine Patrol.

“This is a devastating situation for a small businessman,” said Marine Patrol Sgt. Matthew Sinclair.

The other two thefts happened in Taunton, Massachusetts, about 160 miles away. First, a load of crab disappeared

after leaving the Lineage Logistics warehouse on Dec. 2. Then, on Dec. 12, lobster meat destined for Costco stores in Illinois and Minnesota was stolen by a fraudulent trucking company, according to the broker who arranged the pickup.

“The carrier we hired impersonated a real carrier,” Dylan Rexing, CEO of Rexing Companies, said Tuesday. “They had a spoofed email address. They changed the name on the side of the truck. The made a fake certified driver’s license. It’s a very sophisticated crime.”

Lineage Logistics, Costco and Taunton Police did not respond to requests for comment, but Rexing said police told him about the crab theft from the same warehouse.

That kind of cargo theft has been a problem for over a decade, he said, but has gotten worse in recent years. “It happens every day, multiple times a day,” he said.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military said Tuesday that nearly 25 operatives of the Islamic State group were killed or captured in Syria this month following an ambush that killed two U.S. troops and an American civilian interpreter.

U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, said in a statement on X that 11 missions were carried out over the past 10 days and followed initial strikes against IS weapons sites and infrastructure on Dec. 19, which hit 70 targets across central Syria.

In the operations since, the U.S. military and other forces from the region, including Syria, killed at least seven IS members, captured others and eliminated four weapons caches, U.S. Central Command said.

Targets ranged from senior IS members who were

being closely monitored by military officials to lowerlevel foot soldiers, according to a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.

The official said a growing collaboration between the United States and Syria’s relatively new government meant that U.S. forces were able to attack IS in areas of the country where they previously did not operate. Syrian forces were the driving force behind some of the missions against the militant group this year, the official added.

The latest operations followed a Dec. 13 ambush that occurred near the ancient city of Palmyra while American and Syrian security officials had gathered for a meeting over lunch.

Two members of the Iowa National Guard and a civilian interpreter from Michigan were killed, while three other U.S. troops and members of Syria’s security forces were wounded.

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HEALTH

Continued from page 1A corrupt and untrustworthy and have been waiting for such a disruption. And both Democrats and Republicans have applauded some of the agency’s actions, including efforts to encourage healthy eating and exercise, and deals to lower the prices of costly drugs.

But many of the drastic changes Kennedy has led at the department are raising grave concerns among doctors and public health experts.

“At least in the immediate or intermediate future, the United States is going to be hobbled and hollowed out in its scientific leadership,” said Lawrence Gostin, a Georgetown University public health law professor who was removed from a National Institutes of Health advisory board earlier this year with a letter that said he was no longer needed.

“I think it will be extraordinarily difficult to reverse all the damage.”

HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon denied any threat to scientific expertise at the agency and lauded its work.

“In 2025, the Department confronted long-standing public health challenges with transparency, courage, and gold-standard science,” Nixon said in a statement. “HHS will carry this momentum into 2026 to strengthen accountability, put patients first, and protect public health.”

The overhaul comes alongside broader uncertainties in the nation’s health system, including Medicaid cuts passed by Congress this year and expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies that are putting millions of Americans’ insurance coverage in jeopardy.

Here’s a closer look at Kennedy’s first year leading the nation’s health agency:

Vaccine views ripple After many years spent

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By MARK SCHIEFELBEIN

President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Sept. 22 as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., left, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz look on. publicly assailing vaccines, Kennedy sought during his confirmation process to reassure senators he wouldn’t take a wrecking ball to vaccine science. But less than a year later, his health department has repeatedly pushed the limits of those commitments.

In May, Kennedy announced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women — a move immediately questioned by public health experts who saw no new data to justify the change.

In June, Kennedy fired an entire 17-member CDC vaccine advisory committee — later installing several of his own replacements, including multiple vaccine skeptics.

That group has made decisions that have shocked medical professionals, including declining to recommend COVID-19 shots for anyone, adding new restrictions on a combination shot against chickenpox, measles, mumps and rubella and reversing the longstanding recommendation that all babies receive a hepatitis B shot at birth.

Kennedy in November also personally directed the CDC to abandon its position that vaccines do not cause autism, without supplying

any new evidence to support the change. While he left the old language on the website to keep a promise he made to Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, he added a disclaimer saying it remained because of the agreement.

Public health researchers and advocates strongly refute the updated website and note that scientists have thoroughly explored the issue in rigorous research spanning decades, all pointing to the same conclusion that vaccines don’t cause autism.

Kennedy has promised a wide-ranging effort to study environmental factors that potentially contribute to autism and in an Oval Office event with Trump in September promoted unproven and in some cases discredited ties between Tylenol, vaccines and the complex brain disorder.

Kennedy reconfigures HHS Within two months of taking office, Kennedy announced a sweeping restructuring of HHS that would shut down entire agencies, consolidate others into a new one focused on chronic disease and lay off some 10,000 employees on top of 10,000 others who had already taken buyouts.

While parts of the effort are still tied up in court, thousands of the mass layoffs were allowed to stand.

Those and voluntary departures significantly thinned out the sprawling $1.7 trillion department, which oversees food and hospital inspections, health insurance for roughly half of the country and vaccine recommendations.

Kennedy also has fired or forced out several leaders at HHS, among them four directors at the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration’s former vaccine chief and a director of the CDC whom he had hired less than a month earlier.

On top of staffing cuts, he has overseen significant cuts to scientific research. That includes NIH slashing billions of dollars in research projects and the termination of $500 million in contracts to develop vaccines using mRNA technology.

Amid the cuts, Kennedy has proposed or funded some new research on topics related to his MAHA goals, including autism, Lyme disease and food additives.

MAHA gains momentum Kennedy started using the phrase “MAHA” on the campaign trail last year to describe his crusade against toxic exposures and childhood chronic disease, but 2025 was the year it became ingrained in the national lexicon.

In his tenure so far, the health secretary has made it the centerpiece of his work, using the MAHA branding to wage war on ultra-processed foods, pressure companies to phase out artificial food dyes, criticize fluoride in drinking water and push to ban junk food from the program that subsidizes grocery store runs for lowincome Americans.

The idea has even spread beyond Kennedy’s agency across the federal government.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has appeared with Kennedy to promote fitness with pull-up displays.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy teamed up with

Kennedy in early December to announce $1 billion in funding for airports to install resources like playgrounds and nursing pods for mothers and babies.

And Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin recently announced he is working toward unveiling a MAHA agenda with health-related goals for his own department.

MAHA has earned widespread popularity among the American public — even as it has endured some administration foibles. In May, for example, HHS faced scrutiny for releasing a MAHA report that contained several citations to studies that didn’t exist.

But to the extent that the initiative has included calls to action that aren’t based on science — such as urging distrust in vaccines or promoting raw milk, which is far more likely than pasteurized milk to lead to illness — critics say it can be dangerous.

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N.O. crime numbers down for third straight year

BY JOHN SIMERMAN and MISSY WILKINSON Staff writers

On a balmy September afternoon in Central City, Danny Allen was canvassing for the Ubuntu Village New Orleans Peace Ambassadors program when he heard a nearby dice game turn heated.

Seven or eight young men had been gambling for a pot of a couple hundred dollars. After one player won the money and tried to walk away, another had a different idea.

“You gonna’ put my (expletive) money back,” the loser said.

The threat made Allen’s “antennae go up,” he said. A Calliope projects native and director of the intervention program, Allen has made defusing potentially deadly conflicts his life’s work. Another advocate shot him a look: “This could go left,” Allen recalled. He and his team pulled the young man aside.

“You say you do this to take care of your grandmother.

So are you going to risk doing life in Angola for a dice game?”

Nobody went to the hospital or jail that day. And while it’s impossible to mea-

sure success by tallying the crimes that never happened, it marked a win in a year seemingly full of them.

The killing, shooting and brazen robberies that surged for three years beginning in early 2020 were set to fall for a third straight year in 2025, according to data from analyst Jeff Asher’s RealTime Crime Index and from the watchdog Metropolitan Crime Commission.

A fatal shooting before dawn Monday on Chef Menteur Highway marked the 120th murder in New Orleans this year, by Asher’s count.

By comparison, police recorded 265 murders in New Orleans in 2022, when the city’s murder rate led the nation.

With a few days left in a year that began in a brutal spasm of violence, when a Houston man mowed down 14 people on Bourbon Street hours into the year, the city was on the verge of a 55-year low in killing.

The previous low came in 2019, with 121 murders in New Orleans.

New Orleans often exaggerates national crime trends, but it fell “largely in line with the national trend this year” with violence,

Asher said. His index shows murders across the country fell at historic rates of about 20%, beating out an estimated 15% decline from 2024.

According to Asher, the city joins a group of others — Detroit, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Oakland, California, among them — that were poised to record their lowest murder totals in a half century.

A spokesperson said the New Orleans Police Department would offer a year-end crime update later in the week. The department has not provided final 2025 crime data, and its recent public reporting has lapsed during a belated transition to a new FBI reporting system.

According to crime commission figures, carjackings and armed robberies fell dramatically along with killings in 2025, while nonfatal shootings fell slightly this year compared to 2024.

Property crimes also declined, with burglaries and auto thefts down by more than half since 2023, according to the commission.

After the Jan. 1 terror attack on Bourbon Street, an onslaught of law enforcement at all levels engulfed the city through the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras, and

the Post reported few weeks before being sent NORTHSHORE cilities, the Trump administration to the larger warehouses.

Continued from page 1A

Homeland Security “or any other entity” about “such a facility.” Similarly, Hammond City Council member Carlee Gonzales said she did not have any information about the facility.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told The Washington Post she could not confirm their reporting. A spokesperson for Gov. Jeff Landry said Tuesday the office had no comment.

It was not clear from The Washington Post article if the facility would be within Hammond city limits.

“I don’t even know where they would put a warehouse with that many people,” Tangipahoa Parish Council member Louis Joseph said.

He questioned why local officials were not informed about the reported plans.

Joseph said he was reminded of the tragically fatal evacuation of a warehouse in Independence where nursing home owner Bob Dean had housed over 800 patients during Hurricane Ida. The largest new commercial construction project permitted by Tangipahoa Parish government in the past three months was 7,541 square feet in Kentwood, according to weekly reports of new building permits on the parish website. Similar data was not immediately available on the city of Hammond’s website, but The Times-Picayune submitted a public records request for city permit data.

Trump has sought to expand the country’s immigrant detention capacity and already repurposed some of the nation’s prisons for that purpose, including the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

Congress has appropriated an additional $45 billion for immigration detention centers.

The large detention warehouses, which would also be in Virginia, Texas, Arizona, Georgia and Missouri, would all be close to major logistics hubs, the Post article reported. Interstate 55 and Interstate 12 intersect in Hammond, which is also home to the New Orleans Air and Marine Branch of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Rachel Taber, an organizer with the New Orleans-based immigrant advocacy group Unión Migrante, said it was “emblematic of the cruelty of this system” that immigrants were “going to be stored inhumanely in warehouses as if they were products and not human beings.”

In addition to the seven large-scale warehouse fa-

One of the locations for was also planning to build 16 smaller warehouses, where those 16 small warehouses up to 1,500 immigrant detain- was listed as Port Allen, the ees would be processed for a Post reported.

violence waned citywide, reaching a decades low of two reported murders in February.

In a statement Tuesday, newly sworn U.S. Attorney David Courcelle credited “collaborative policing” among local, state and federal agencies and “the cultivation of positive relationships with the public” among the contributors for broad declines in crime.

“The intention of these combined and team-based efforts is to replicate the positive outcomes of the past year and to continue this positive momentum,” Courcelle said.

The positive end-of-year metrics come as National Guard members began a deployment in the city under a federal request by Gov. Jeff Landry. The deployment of “up to 350 Louisiana Nation-

al Guard members” will run through Feb. 28, a Pentagon statement said last week.

In his September request for the Trump administration to activate 1,000 Louisiana National Guard troops, Landry cited “a convergence of elevated violent crime rates in Shreveport, Baton Rouge and New Orleans coupled with critical personnel shortages within local law enforcement.”

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6A ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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China flexes blockade capabilities near Taiwan

BY JOHNSON LAI and KANIS LEUNG Associated Press

TAIPEI, Taiwan — China’s People’s Liberation Army staged a second day of largescale military drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, unleashing a live-fire show of force as part of what it called “Justice Mission 2025” to demonstrate its ability to deter any external support for the island it claims as part of its sovereign territory.

Taiwanese officials said some of China’s live rounds landed closer to the island than before.

The maneuvers increased tension around the Taiwan Strait as 2025 drew to a close, but the impact extended beyond military pressure into everyday life.

Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration was notified that seven temporary “dangerous zones” had been set up around the strait.

Xinhua, China’s official news agency, posted a commentary late Monday saying the drills sent an unequivocal message: That Beijing is always ready to prevent anything that tries to split Taiwan from China. Each escalation, it said, would be met with stronger countermeasures.

“By currying favor with the United States through obsequious loyalty gestures and promoting arms pur-

chases, the DPP is binding the entire island of Taiwan to its catastrophic secessionist chariot, disregarding public opinion,” it wrote, referring to Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party.

The PLA’s Eastern Theater Command sent destroyers, frigates, fighters and bombers to the waters to the north and south of the island to test its ability in sea-air coordination and blockading. Its ground forces carried out long-range, live-fire drills in the waters to the island’s north. They also organized live-fire training alongside simulated long-range joint strike with air, navy and missiles units, in the waters to Taiwan’s south, achieving what command spokesperson Li Xi called “desired effects.”

Hsieh Jih-sheng, deputy chief of the general staff for intelligence at the Taiwanese Defense Ministry, said some of the 27 rockets detected in the waters near Taiwan fell within its 24-nautical-mile line. “The landing points of rounds definitely were closer to Taiwan compared to the past,” he said.

“This is a message it deliberately wants to convey.”

He condemned the drills.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it had detected 130 aircraft, including fighters and bombers, 14 military ships and eight other official ships around the island between 6 a.m. Monday and 6 a.m. Tuesday. Its forces kept monitoring and deployed aircraft, navy ships and coastal missile systems in response. Ninety of the Chinese aircraft crossed the median line of the strait.

A Chinese military balloon was also spotted, it said.

The ministry later said it detected 71 aircraft, 13 military ships and 15 coastal guard and official vessels as of 3 p.m. Tuesday, in addition to four other warships in the western Pacific. A total of 941 flights were affected by the drills, it said.

“The military power is not necessarily the strongest, but the scale of the drills has become larger each time compared to the last,” Hsieh said. He accused Chinese forces of trying to influence public morale and undermine trust in the Taiwanese military and government.

China has vowed to seize the island, by force if necessary. Beijing sends warplanes and navy vessels Aircraft, balloon detected toward the island on a nearTaiwan President Lai Ch- daily basis.

Chinese Defense Ministry ing-te said Tuesday his territory would act responsibly spokesperson Zhang Xiaoby neither escalating con- gang said the drills served flict nor provoking disputes. as a stern warning to “Tai-

First Black woman elected to Iowa Senate Services of Iowa and a member of the West Des Moines City Council, becomes the first DES MOINES, Iowa — Democrat Renee Hard- Black woman elected to the Senate.

A GOP win would have given the party a man was elected to the Iowa state Senate on supermajority again, months after a Tuesday in a holiday-week special Democrat flipped a Republican seat election, denying Republicans’ bid in an August special election. to reclaim two-thirds control of the Senate Republicans left Des Moines chamber. last spring with a supermajority, Hardman bested Republican Luwhich allows the party to easily concas Loftin by an overwhelming margin to win the seat representing firm Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds’ parts of Des Moines’ suburbs. It beappointments to state agencies and commissions. Now, Republicans will came vacant after the Oct. 6 death of Hardman have to get support from at least one state Sen. Claire Celsi, a Democrat.

Hardman, CEO of nonprofit Lutheran Democrat to approve Reynolds’ nominees.

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Last week, Beijing imposed sanctions against 20 defense-related U.S. companies and 10 executives, following a Washington announcement of large-scale arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $10 billion.

Under U.S. law, Washington is obligated to assist Taipei with its defense, a point that has become increasingly contentious with China over the years.

Beijing slams Japan On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump said that while he was not informed of the military exercise in advance, neither was he particularly worried about it. He touted his “great relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping and suggested he didn’t think Xi

was going to attack Taiwan.

The Taiwan issue also heightened China-Japan tensions. Beijing has expressed anger at a statement by Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, saying its military could get involved if China takes action against the democratically ruled island.

There remains widespread overall suspicion in China about Japan that goes back generations to when imperial Japan brutally took over parts of China in the years before World War II. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi slammed both Japan and Taiwan’s “pro-independence forces.”

“Japan, which launched the war of aggression against China, not only fails to deeply reflect on the numerous crimes it committed, but its current leaders also openly challenge China’s territorial sovereignty, the historical conclusions of World War

II, and the postwar international order,” he said Tuesday during an event in Beijing.

China, Wang added, “must be highly vigilant against the resurgence of Japanese militarism.”

China and Taiwan have been governed separately since 1949, when the Communist Party rose to power in Beijing following a civil war. Defeated Nationalist Party forces fled to Taiwan, which later transitioned from martial law to multiparty democracy.

Chen Wen-chin, chairman of the Keelung District Fishermen’s Association in Taiwan, said the group started radio broadcasting every hour from Monday to inform fishermen about where China’s exercises took place, urging them to avoid danger.

“The Chinese military exercises have prevented fishermen from fishing, which is their livelihood,” Chen said.

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Israel halts operations of humanitarian groups Organizations didn’t meet its new rules for working in Gaza

BY MELANIE LIDMAN and SAM MEDNICK Associated Press

JERUSALEM — Israel on Tuesday said it had suspended more than two dozen humanitarian organizations, including Doctors Without Borders and CARE, from operating in the Gaza Strip for failing to comply with new registration rules.

Israel says the rules are aimed at preventing Hamas and other militant groups from infiltrating the aid organizations. But the organizations say the rules are arbitrary and warned that the new ban would harm a civilian population desperately in need of humanitarian aid.

Israel has claimed throughout the war that Hamas was siphoning off aid supplies, a charge the U.N. and aid groups have denied. The new rules, announced by Israel early this year, require aid organizations to register the names of their workers and provide details about funding and operations in order to continue working in Gaza.

The new regulations included ideological requirements — including disqualifying organizations that have called for boycotts against Israel, denied the Oct. 7 attack or expressed support for any of the international court cases against Israeli soldiers or leaders.

Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs said more than 30 groups — about 15% of the organizations

saving assistance,” said Shaina Low, communications adviser for the Norwegian Refugee Council, which has also been suspended.

“Not being able to send staff into Gaza means all of the workload falls on our exhausted local staff,” Low said.

Some aid groups say they didn’t submit the list of Palestinian staff, as Israel demanded, for fear they’d be targeted by Israel, and because of data protection laws in Europe.

“It comes from a legal and safety perspective. In Gaza, we saw hundreds of aid workers get killed,” Low explained.

The decision not to renew aid groups’ licenses means offices in Israel and East Jerusalem will close, and organizations won’t be able to send international staff or ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ABDEL KAREEM HANA aid into Gaza.

Palestinians pass along a street surrounded by buildings destroyed during Israeli air and ground operations Tuesday in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City, Gaza Strip. operating in Gaza — had failed to comply and that their operations would be suspended. It also said that Doctors Without Borders, one of the biggest and best-known groups in Gaza, had failed to respond to Israeli claims that some of its workers were affiliated with Hamas or Islamic Jihad.

“The message is clear: humanitarian assistance is welcome — the exploitation of humanitarian frameworks for terrorism is not,” Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli said.

Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French acronym MSF, said Israel’s decision would have a catastrophic impact on their work in Gaza, where they

support around 20% of the hospital beds and a third of births. The organization also denied Israel’s accusations about their staff.

“MSF would never knowingly employ people engaging in military activity,” it said.

‘Exhausted local staff’ While Israel claimed the decision would have limited impact on the ground. the affected organizations said the timing — less than three months into a fragile ceasefire — was devastating.

“Despite the ceasefire, the needs in Gaza are enormous and yet we and dozens of other organizations are and will continue to be blocked from bringing in essential life-

Accusations of exploitation

According to the ministry, the decision means the aid groups will have their license revoked on Jan. 1, and if they are located in Israel, they will need to leave by March 1.

They can appeal the decision.

The Israeli defense body that oversees humanitarian aid to Gaza, COGAT, said that the organizations on the list contribute less than 1% of the total aid going into the Gaza Strip, and that aid will continue to enter from more than 20 organizations that did receive permits to continue operating.

“The registration process is intended to prevent the exploitation of aid by Hamas, which in the past operated under the cover of certain international aid organizations, knowingly or unknowingly,” COGAT said in a statement.

This isn’t the first time Israel

has tried to crack down on international humanitarian organizations. Throughout the war, Israel accused the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, of being infiltrated by Hamas, using its facilities and taking aid. The United Nations has denied it. UNRWA, the top U.N. agency working with Palestinians, has denied knowingly aiding armed groups and says it acts quickly to purge any suspected militants.

After months of criticism from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right allies, Israel banned UNRWA from operating on its territory in January. The U.S., formerly the largest donor to UNRWA, halted funding to the agency in early 2024.

NGOs say Israel vague Israel failed to confirm that the data collected from the new regulations wouldn’t be used for military or intelligence purposes, raising serious security concerns, said Athena Rayburn, the executive director of AIDA, an umbrella organization representing over 100 organizations that operate in the Palestinian territories. She noted that more than 500 aid workers have been killed in Gaza during the war.

“Agreeing for a party to the conflict to vet our staff, especially under the conditions of occupation, is a violation of humanitarian principles, specifically neutrality and independence,” she said.

Rayburn said organizations expressed their concerns and offered alternatives to submitting staff lists, such as third-party vetting, but that Israel refused to engage in any dialogue.

Tatiana Schlossberg, grandchild of JFK diagnosed with leukemia, dies at 35

BY MARC LEVY and SARAH BRUMFIELD Associated Press

Environmental journalist Tatiana Schlossberg, one of three grandchildren of the late President John F. Kennedy, has died after she was diagnosed with leukemia last year. She was 35.

Schlossberg, daughter of Kennedy’s daughter, Caroline Kennedy,

and Edwin Schlossberg, revealed she had terminal cancer in a November 2025 essay in The New Yorker.

A family statement disclosing her death was posted on social media Tuesday by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.

“Our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning. She will always be in our hearts,” the statement said. It did not disclose a cause of

death or say where she had died.

Schlossberg told of being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in May 2024 at 34. While in the hospital for the birth of her second child, her doctor noticed her white Schlossberg blood cell count was high. It turned out to be acute

myeloid leukemia with a rare mutation, mostly seen in older people.

In the essay, “A Battle With My Blood,” Schlossberg recounted going through rounds of chemotherapy and two stem cell transplants and participating in clinical trials.

Schlossberg also criticized policies pushed by her mother’s cousin, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in the essay, saying policies he

backed could hurt cancer patients like her. Her mother had urged senators to reject his confirmation.

“As I spent more and more of my life under the care of doctors, nurses, and researchers striving to improve the lives of others, I watched as Bobby cut nearly a half-billion dollars for research into mRNA vaccines, technology that could be used against certain cancers,” the essay reads.

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ELIMINATE BACK PAIN AND SCIATICA

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Nothing’s worse than feeling great mentally, but physically feeling held back from life because you hurt and the pain just won’t go away. We understand what it feels like tolive in pain, because we see it every day. We are Dr. Scott LeBlanc and Dr. Dana LeBlanc of LeBlanc Spine Center.

We’ve helped hundreds of patients with disc herniations and sciatica leave our office pain free.

When cushions in your back joints, called discs, get injured or wear out, they begin to degenerate and cause pain.

Bulging and herniated discs begin to form, pressing on the nerve roots. The most common invasive treatment for disc herniations is surgery.

Even with health insurance the patient is left with their own portion of the bill, in excess of $10,000 - $15,000, and sometimes more.In addition, the recovery time and missed work can be anywhere from 3 to 6 months, not to mention the obvious severe risks associated with all surgeries.

Before You go Under the knife And Opt For Spinal Surgery...

You should seriously consider a less invasive approach called spinal decompression. Non-surgical spinal decompression is a new technology that has been proven to help disc herniations. It creates a vacuum effect on the disc, which pulls the disc back into its normal position and brings in a fresh blood supply to promote healing.

Proof This Treatment Works While non-surgical spinal decompression is a rather new treatment, there’s plenty of research to back up its claims.

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“We thus submit that decompression therapy should be considered first, before the patient undergoes a surgical procedure which permanently alters the anatomy and function of the affected lumbar spine segment.”

-Journal Of Neuroscience Research “86% of the 219 patients who completed the therapy reported immediate resolution of symptoms.”

-Orthopedic Technology Review “vertebral axial (spinal) decompression was successful in 71% ofthe 778 cases” -Journal of Neurological Research “good to excellent” relief in 86% of patients with Herniated discs” -The American Journal of Pain Management “decompression therapy reported a 76.5% with complete remission and 19.6% with partial remission of pain and disability: -Rio Grande Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery Another study presented at the American Academy of Pain Management in 2007 showed...

“Patients reported a mean 88.9% improvement in back pain and better function...No patient required any invasive therapies (e.g. epidural injections, surgery).”

As you can see, spinal decompression has a high success rate. What this means for you is that in just a matter of weeks, you could be back on the golf course, enjoying your

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• You’ll get to see everything first hand. We’ll answer all of your questions about spinal decompression and will let you know if this amazing treatment will be your back pain solution, like it has been for so many other patients.

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I came to LeBlanc Spine Center with severe neck pain that radiated from the top of my head down into my shoulders. I had been dealing with it for about a year, and the pain had gotten unbearable. Before coming here, my doctor had only recommended massages and Tylenol, but they didn’t give me real relief.

Since starting care, I’m about 90% improved. The staff here is awesome truly friendly and supportive - and the results from the treatment have made such a difference in my life. Being able to live without that severe pain is so refreshing. I’ve noticed improvements in everything - sleeping, mobility, tension, and just overall how I feel day to day. I definitely would, and already have, recommended LeBlanc Spine Center to anyone suffering with back or neck pain.

Diane Fritts

(Retired) Hometown - Baton Rouge, LA

When I came to Dr. LeBlanc, I was having lower back pain, right hip, and thigh pain. I had been suffering between 6-to-12 months. Since beginning Spinal Decompression treatments, I can now walk farther, sleep better and drive with less pain. I have more mobility and less tension. I would recommend LeBlanc Spine Center- I am treated excellent by the staff, and what I like most about the care here is they are professional and precise!

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CALL TODAY! I came to LeBlanc Spine Center because I had been suffering with extreme back pain and leg pain for several weeks. I had tried other treatments, massage, NSAIDs and Tylenol, but I was still in pain.

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My treatment appointments are not long, and the treatment is painfree. Since beginning treatment at LeBlanc Spine Center, I am now able to do all of my previous activities and work without pain. I also have more range of motion. I would highly recommend LeBlanc Spine Center!

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Wild hogs wreak economic havoc for Miss. agriculture

BY KATHERINE LIN Mississippi Today

John Parker Campbell describes the wild pigs on his family farm as “a constant headache.”

Hogs will eat up corn and peanuts that have just been planted, damaging acres of crops in a night. Some years the hog damage is worse than others but it has been a problem since his father started farming in Copiah County in the 1990s.

In Mississippi, wild hogs create around $60 million to $80 million in damage every year, including eating crops and damaging property.

Farmers, researchers, the state and the federal government are trying to fight the infestation, but it’s a neverending battle for landowners.

“Farmers have enough stress as it is. They don’t need this modern-day locust,” said Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Andy Gipson.

Campbell and his father use traps and have an elec-

tric fence around their property to keep the hogs out.

The fence has been effective, although the feral pigs have broken through parts of it before. However, it was expensive to initially put up and costs thousands of dollars each year to maintain.

“You have to know that they’re out there,” said Campbell. “We keep an eye on our fields but you can get busy and then go a couple days without looking and they can just do a tremendous amount of damage.”

The wild hog population has grown over the past 40 years, not just in Mississippi, but across the United States. In the 1980s they lived in 17 states, now they can be found in 35. Previously, it was thought they cost the U.S. $2 billion a year but new research indicates that number is actually over $3 billion.

Wild pigs are not native to the United States. The first population was escaped livestock brought to the Americas by European settlers.

Later, Eurasian boars were imported for hunting and

joined the wild hog population. With no natural predators and plenty of land, water and food, their numbers have grown.

While some owners successfully deterred pigs by using electric fences, the only way to manage the larger population is by killing the hogs.

Mississippi was the first state to launch a statewide wild hog-control program in 2020. The program provides education and traps to landowners.

The program operates with a budget of $183,000 a year, which mainly goes to staff salaries and maintenance of smart traps and cameras.

The program has four application cycles with each cycle receiving between 35 and 40 applications.

There are a number of ways to reduce the pig population, including using traps, aerial gunning and poison.

While wild hogs are considered nuisance animals and can be hunted year round, hunting is relatively ineffective at controlling the larger population.

Aerial gunning in Mississippi is only used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It also has limited use as the pigs can easily run into the trees for cover, whereas in places like Texas, there is more open and flat land. While there is ongoing research into the use of poisons, including contraceptives, it’s challenging to make sure that other animals don’t eat them.

Trapping is one of the most common methods and is preferred as it requires less time and effort than other methods. A new study from Mississippi State University looked at the economic benefits of trapping.

The average landowner in the study had an estimated $20,000 in hog damages per year. It showed that reducing a local pig population can lead to less damage and $300-$4,000 in savings per pig the next year for land

owners. But combating the wild hog problem is an expensive and constant battle.

The study involved intense, dedicated hog removal through Delta Wildlife, a conservation nonprofit.

Jody Acosta, Delta Wildlife’s nuisance- and invasive-species program manager, and his team set up and monitor traps around the Delta. While the team is experienced and knowledgeable, Acosta is clear that the job is not about the glory of hunting but about pest management.

Some of the trap doors will only close when a Delta Wildlife team member remotely pushes a button. So they work around the clock, often late at night, checking the live video feed of the traps. Once they successfully trap a group of pigs, a Delta Wildlife worker quickly makes their way to the trap so they can dispose of

the pigs and reset the trap.

The study estimates that it would cost a land owner about $200 per pig if they outsourced every part of trapping. Strickland, one of the study’s authors, acknowledges that “it’s absolutely a big number” but says that the average landowner would likely pay less.

Despite the initial sticker shock, Strickland said the study shows that pig removal results in a “positive return on investment” and that government programs are economically viable.

Long term, Strickland thinks it’s possible to reduce the wild pig population through a concerted effort and investment. He urges farmers and landowners to take wild pigs seriously even if there’s only a few on their property at the moment.

“The problem will only get worse and worse,” said Strickland.

Take Your Lifee BACK!

Conn. police help rescue bald eagle that flew into power lines and fell

BY STEPHEN UNDERWOOD Hartford Courant (TNS)

A bald eagle is recovering after being rescued after striking power lines, officials said.

In a Facebook post by Connecticut State Police, early Monday morning a bald eagle was seen in the area of Ravine Road and Route 32 in Mansfield, Connecticut, when witnesses say that it flew into power lines and fell straight to the ground.

State police said several vehicles stopped and confirmed the bird of prey was still alive. According to state police, one person immedi-

ately stopped and stayed to help protect the bald eagle from traffic until officers arrived, likely saving it from getting hit by a car.

A Mansfield resident trooper with Troop C in Tolland, along with a Connecticut-licensed falconer, stopped to assist.

“Together, the eagle was safely contained and kept calm until transport arrangements were made. The bald eagle was then transported

by Horizon Wings to Tufts Wildlife Clinic for evaluation and care,” state police said.

The bald eagle was first declared an endangered species with the passage of

the federal Endangered Species Act in 1973. Populations eventually began to recover over the years due to the ban on DDT use, successful reintroduction programs of fostered chicks and fledglings, and habitat and nest protection measures.

In 2007, the bald eagle was taken off the federal Endangered Species List, showcasing its comeback.

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Kennedy Center cancellations grow

BY MEG KINNARD Associated Press

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ROBERT F. BUKATy

An ice fisherman starts his auger before drilling a hole in the ice on Long Lake on Tuesday in Harrison, Maine, after a freezing rainstorm Monday.

Extreme Midwest cold follows winter storm

BY HOLLY RAMER and JULIE WALKER Associated Press

Now comes even more frigid weather in the U.S. Midwest.

Extreme cold with nearzero degree wind chills descended upon parts of Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and Wisconsin, forecasters said Tuesday, even as utilities worked to restore power to thousands of customers after heavy snow and strong winds pummeled parts of the Midwest, Great Lakes and the Northeast this week.

The cold front follows a system that barreled across the Midwest and parts of the Great Lakes with strong winds and a mix of snow, ice and rain. Forecasters said it intensified quickly enough to meet the criteria of a bomb cyclone, a system that strengthens rapidly as pressure drops.

Nick Korstad, who lives in the Big Bay Point Lighthouse on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Lake Superior, called the storm the strongest he has seen since he moved there in 2018, with gusts up to 75 mph rattling the house as waves pounded the cliffs below. The storm knocked out power for about 40 hours, darkening the lighthouse beacon and forcing him to rely on oil lamps and fireplaces.

“When winds reach this magnitude, the entire house rumbles, the windows flex

and you can feel the pounding of the waves against the sandstone cliff,” Korstad said Tuesday.

Wisconsin’s forested Northwoods region will see temperatures drop as low as minus 10 degrees, said Cameron Miller, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Wisconsin.

“On New Year’s Eve wind chills could be down to the negative 20-25 degree range there,” Miller added.

Nationwide, nearly 74,000 customers were without power Tuesday, with more than a third of them in Michigan, according to Poweroutage.us.

Frigid air will spread across much of the eastern two-thirds of the country, the weather service said, powering the lake-effect “snow machine” in areas downwind of the Great Lakes.

In New Jersey, an animal shelter scrambled Tuesday to line up foster homes for at least 30 dogs after snow damage to some of its kennels. Snow from a weekend storm apparently tumbled from a neighboring roof onto roofing that covered rear sections of about a quarter of the roughly 125 kennels at the Associated Humane Societies’ shelter in Newark, social media manager Olivia Gonzalez said.

Repairs can’t begin until the animals move elsewhere.

After a social media appeal, two dogs were settled in fos-

ter households, though six new stray dogs came into the shelter, Gonzalez said.

Snow totals in some areas of western and upstate New York could reach up to 3 feet this week, forecasters said. Strong winds on Monday knocked down trees and power lines across the region.

Video posted on social media showed people struggling to walk in the wind.

Just south of Buffalo in Lackawanna, Diane Miller was blown off the front steps of her daughter’s house and landed in some bushes. She wasn’t seriously hurt.

“I opened her door and the wind caught me, and I went flying,” Miller told WKBWTV. Temperatures across parts of the Northeast will be below normal heading into New Year’s Day, said weather service meteorologist Andrew Orrison.

Cold is the norm this time of year in Alaska — but it’s been “unusually cold for unusually long for December” in Fairbanks, said weather service meteorologist Jacob Troyke. Temperature readings late this month have plunged as low as minus 48 degrees.

Road crews have struggled to keep up with the snow in Juneau, Alaska’s capital. The city shattered a December monthly snowfall record of 54.7 inches set at its airport in 1964, receiving more than 63 inches so far.

The Kennedy Center is ending the year with a new round of artists saying they are canceling scheduled performances after President Donald Trump’s name was added to the facility, prompting the institution’s president to accuse the performers of making their decisions because of politics.

The Cookers, a jazz supergroup that has performed together for nearly two decades, announced their withdrawal from “A Jazz New Year’s Eve” on their website, saying the “decision has come together very quickly” and acknowledging frustration from those who may have planned to attend.

Doug Varone and Dancers, a dance group based in New York, said in an Instagram post late Monday they would pull out of a performance slated for April, saying they “can no longer permit ourselves nor ask our audiences to step inside this once great institution.” Those moves come after musician Chuck Redd canceled a Christmas Eve performance last week.

The announcements amount to a volatile calendar for one of the most prominent performing arts venues in the U.S. and cap a year of tension in which Trump ousted the Kennedy Center board and named himself the institution’s chairman. That led to an earlier round of artist pushback, with performer Issa Rae and the producers of “Hamilton” canceling scheduled engagements while musicians Ben Folds and Renee Fleming stepped down from advisory roles.

The Cookers didn’t mention the building’s renaming or the Trump administration but did say that, when they return to performing, they wanted to ensure that “the room is able to celebrate the full presence of the music and everyone in it,” reiterating a commitment “to playing music that reaches across divisions rather than

AP PHOTO By JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON

Demonstrators, including Nadine Siler, of Waldorf, Md., dressed in a frog costume, hold up signs in front of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts on Dec. 20 in Washington.

deepening them.”

The group may not have addressed the Kennedy Center situation directly, but one of its members has. On Saturday, saxophone player Billy Harper said in comments posted on the Jazz Stage Facebook page that he “would never even consider performing in a venue bearing a name (and being controlled by the kind of board) that represents overt racism and deliberate destruction of African American music and culture. The same music I devoted my life to creating and advancing.”

Richard Grenell, a Trump ally whom the president chose to head the Kennedy Center after he forced out the previous leadership, posted Monday on X, “The artists who are now canceling shows were booked by the previous far left leadership,” intimating the bookings were made under the Biden administration.

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Saudi Arabia bombs Yemen city over weapons shipment

BY JON GAMBRELL Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia bombed Yemen’s port city of Mukalla on Tuesday after a weapons shipment from the United Arab Emirates arrived for separatist forces in the wartorn country, and warned that it viewed Emirati actions as “extremely dangerous.”

The bombing followed tensions over the advance of Emirates-backed separatist forces known as the Southern Transitional Council.

The council and its allies issued a statement supporting the UAE’s presence, even as others allied with Saudi Arabia demanded that Emirati forces withdraw from Yemen in 24 hours’ time.

The UAE called for “restraint and wisdom” and disputed Riyadh’s allegations. But shortly after that,

it said it would withdraw its remaining troops in Yemen.

It remained unclear whether the separatists it backs will give up the territory they recently took.

The confrontation threatened to open a new front in Yemen’s decade-long war, with forces allied against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels possibly turning their sights on each other in the Arab world’s poorest nation.

It also further strained ties between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, neighbors on the Arabian Peninsula that increasingly have competed over economic issues and regional politics, particularly in the Red Sea area.

Tuesday’s airstrikes and ultimatum appeared to be their most serious confrontation in decades.

“I expect a calibrated escalation from both sides.

The UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council is likely

to respond by consolidating control,” said Mohammed al-Basha, a Yemen expert and founder of the Basha Report, a risk advisory firm.

Airstrike hits Mukalla A military statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency announced the strikes on Mukalla, which it said came after ships arrived there from Fujairah in the UAE. “The ships’ crew had disabled tracking devices aboard the vessels, and unloaded a large amount of weapons and combat vehicles in support of the Southern Transitional Council’s forces,” the statement said.

“Considering that the aforementioned weapons constitute an imminent threat, and an escalation that threatens peace and stability, the Coalition Air Force has conducted this morning a limited airstrike that tar-

ICE doesn’t plan to detain man again as long as judge’s order banning it stands

BY TRAVIS LOLLER

Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — U.S. immigration officials do not plan to detain Kilmar Abrego Garcia again as long as a judge’s order banning it stands, according to a Tuesday court filing.

The plans by President Donald Trump’s administration are the latest in the saga over the Salvadoran citizen’s case that has become a lightning rod for both sides of the immigration debate as he fights to remain in the U.S. after a mistaken deportation to his home country, where he was imprisoned.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement did make clear they would detain Abrego Garcia if the order was lifted, Liana Castano, assistant director for field operations, wrote in the filing.

Trump officials have accused Abrego Garcia of being a member of the MS-13 gang, but he has vehemently denied the accusations and Abrego Garcia has no criminal record. The administration brought him back to the U.S. in June under a court order, but only after issuing an arrest warrant on human smuggling charges in Tennessee.

A Justice Department push to indict Earlier Tuesday, a newly unsealed order in the criminal case against Abrego Garcia revealed that high-level Justice Department officials pushed for his indictment, calling it a “top priority,” only after he was mistakenly deported and then ordered returned to the U.S. Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty in federal court to the human smuggling charges. He is seeking to have the case dismissed on the grounds that the prosecution is vindictive, arguing the Trump administration is targeting him as punishment for the embarrassment of his mistaken deportation.

To support that argument, he has asked the government to turn over documents that reveal how the decision was made to prosecute him in 2025 for an incident that occurred in 2022.

Abrego Garcia had recently been in immigration custody for three months before Xinis ordered his release on Dec. 11.

In her Dec. 11 order, Xinis found that immigration officials had no viable plan to remove Abrego Garcia from the U.S. and said he could not be held indefinitely. She issued a separate order barring ICE from re-detaining him, at least for the time being. After a hearing on the issue, Xinis ordered the government to file the brief they released Tuesday outlining whether they planned to detain Abrego Garcia again.

Abrego Garcia’s human smuggling case stems from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee where he was pulled over for speeding with nine passengers in the car. He was ultimately allowed to leave with only a warning. The case was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations, but there is no record of any effort to charge him until April 2025, according to court records.

The newly unsealed Dec. 3 order from U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw compelled the government to provide some documents to Abrego Garcia and his attorneys.

geted weapons and military vehicles offloaded from the two vessels in Mukalla,” it added. It wasn’t clear if there were any casualties.

The Emirati Foreign Ministry hours later denied it shipped weapons but acknowledged it sent the vehicles “for use by the UAE forces operating in Yemen.”

It also claimed Saudi Arabia knew about the shipment ahead of time.

The ministry called for “the highest levels of coordination, restraint and wisdom, taking into account the existing security challenges and threats.”

The Emirati Defense Ministry later said it would withdraw its remaining troops from Yemen over “recent developments and their potential repercussions on the safety and effectiveness of counter-terrorism operations.” It gave no timeline for the withdrawal. The UAE

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bian state,” the channel said.

The attack likely targeted a ship identified as the Greenland, a vessel flagged out of St. Kitts. Tracking data analyzed by the AP showed the vessel had been in Fujairah on Dec. 22 and arrived in Mukalla on Sunday. The second vessel could not be immediately identified.

Separatists advance Mukalla is in Yemen’s Hadramout governorate, which the council seized in recent days. The port city is some 300 miles northeast of Aden, which has been the seat of power for antiHouthi forces after the rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014.

Saudi Arabia targeted the council in airstrikes Friday that analysts described as a warning for the separatists to halt their advance and leave the governorates of Hadramout and Mahra.

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Claims of a ‘vindictive’ prosecution Earlier, Crenshaw found that there was “some evidence” that the prosecution of Abrego Garcia could be vindictive. He specifically cited a statement by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Fox News that seemed to suggest that the Department of Justice charged Abrego Garcia because he had won his wrongful deportation case.

Rob McGuire, who was the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee until late December, argued that those statements were irrelevant because he alone made the decision to prosecute, and he has no animus against Abrego Garcia.

In the unsealed order, Crenshaw writes, “Some of the documents suggest not only that McGuire was not a solitary decisionmaker, but he in fact reported to others in DOJ and the decision to prosecute Abrego may have been a joint decision.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee released a statement saying: “The emails cited in Judge Crenshaw’s order, specifically Mr. McGuire’s email on May 15, confirm that the ultimate decision on whether to prosecute was made by career prosecutors based on the facts, evidence, and established DOJ practice.”

The email referenced was from McGuire to his staff saying Blanche “would like Garcia charged sooner rather than later,” according to Crenshaw’s order.

The order also shows that Aakash Singh, who works under Blanche in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, contacted McGuire about Abrego Garcia’s case on April 27, the same day that McGuire received a file on the case from Homeland Security Investigations.

On April 30, Singh said in an email to McGuire that the prosecution was a “top priority” for the Deputy Attorney General’s Office, according to the order.

On May 18, Singh wrote to McGuire and others to hold the draft indictment until they got “clearance” to file it. “The implication is that ‘clearance’ would come from the Office of the Deputy Attorney General,” Crenshaw writes.

broadly withdrew its forces from Yemen years earlier.

Yemen’s anti-Houthi forces not aligned with the separatists declared a state of emergency Tuesday and ended their cooperation with the UAE. They issued a 72-hour ban on border crossings in territory they hold, as well as entries to airports and seaports, except those allowed by Saudi Arabia. It remained unclear whether that coalition, governed under the umbrella of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, would remain intact.

The Southern Transitional Council’s AIC satellite news channel aired footage of the strike’s aftermath but avoided showing damage to the armored vehicles.

“This unjustified escalation against ports and civilian infrastructure will only strengthen popular demands for decisive action and the declaration of a South Ara-

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Buddhist monks persist in peace walk despite injuries

By The Associated Press ATLANTA — A group of Buddhist monks is persevering in their walking trek across much of the U.S. to promote peace, even after two of its members were injured when a truck hit their escort vehicle.

After starting their walk in Fort Worth, Texas, on Oct. 26, the group of about two dozen monks has made it to Georgia as they continue on a path to Washington, D.C., highlighting Buddhism’s long tradition of activism for peace.

The group walked its latest segment through Georgia on Tuesday from the town of Morrow to Decatur, on the edge of Atlanta. Marking Day 66 of the walk, the group invited the public to a Peace Gathering in Decatur on Tuesday afternoon.

The monks and their loyal dog Aloka are traveling

N.C.; and Richmond, Virginia, on their way to the nation’s capital city.

The group has amassed a huge audience on social media, with more than 400,000 followers on Facebook. Aloka, who is named after a Sanskrit word meaning enlightenment, has its own hashtag, #AlokathePeaceDog. The group’s Facebook page is frequently updated with progress reports, inspirational notes and poetry.

“We do not walk alone.

We walk together with every person whose heart has opened to peace, whose spirit has chosen kindness, whose daily life has become a garden where understanding grows,” the group posted recently.

ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION PHOTO By ARVIN TEMKAR The trek has not been Buddhist monks on a ‘Walk for Peace’ pass through Trilith in Fayetteville, Ga., on their way without danger. Last month outside Houston, the monks from Texas to Washington, D.C., on Monday. were walking on the side through 10 states en route ing days, they plan to pass Athens, Georgia; Charlotte, of a highway near Dayton, to Washington, D.C. In com- through or very close to Greensboro and Raleigh, Texas, when their escort ve-

Fraud alleged at Minn. day care centers

By The Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS — A surge of federal officers in Minnesota follows new allegations of fraud by day care centers run by Somali residents.

President Donald Trump has previously linked his administration’s immigration crackdown against Minnesota’s large Somali community to a series of fraud cases involving government programs in which most of the defendants have roots in the east African country.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel both announced an increase in operations in Minnesota this week. The move comes after a right-wing influencer posted a video Friday claiming he had found that day care centers operated by Somali residents in Minneapolis had committed up to $100 million in fraud.

Tikki Brown, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families, said at Monday news conference that state regulators took the influenc-

er’s allegations seriously.

Noem posted on social media that officers were “conducting a massive investigation on child care and other rampant fraud.”

Patel said the intent was to “dismantle large-scale fraud schemes exploiting federal programs.”

Minnesota has been under the spotlight for years for Medicaid fraud, including a massive $300 million pandemic fraud case involving the nonprofit Feeding Our Future. Prosecutors said it was the country’s largest COVID-19-related fraud scam and that defendants exploited a state-run, federally funded program intended to provide food for children.

In 2022, during President Joe Biden’s administration, 47 people were charged. The number of defendants has grown to 78 throughout the ongoing investigation. So far, 57 people have been convicted, either because they pleaded guilty or lost at trial. Most of the defendants are of Somali descent.

Numerous other fraud cases are being investigated, including new

allegations focused on child care centers.

In news interviews and press releases over the summer, prosecutor Joe Thompson estimated the total loss from all fraud cases could exceed $1 billion. Earlier this month, a federal prosecutor alleged that half or more of the roughly $18 billion in federal funds that supported 14 programs in Minnesota since 2018 may have been stolen.

Trump’s immigration enforcement in Minnesota has focused on the Somali community in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, which is the largest in the country.

About 84,000 of the 260,000 Somalis in the U.S. live in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. The overwhelming majority are U.S. citizens. Almost 58% were born in the U.S and 87% of the foreign-born are naturalized citizens.

Among those running schemes to get funds for child nutrition, housing services and autism programs, 82 of the 92 defendants are Somali Americans, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Minnesota.

hicle, which had its hazard lights on, was hit by a truck, Dayton Interim Police Chief Shane Burleigh said.

The truck “didn’t notice how slow the vehicle was going, tried to make an evasive maneuver to drive around the vehicle, and didn’t do it in time,” Burleigh said at the time. “It struck the escort vehicle in the rear left, pushed the escort into two of the monks.”

One of the monks had “substantial leg injuries” and was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Houston, Burleigh said. The other monk with less serious injuries was taken by ambulance to another hospital in suburban Houston. The monk who sustained the serious leg injuries was expected to have a series of surgeries to heal a broken bone, but his prognosis for recovery was good, a spokeswoman for the group said.

Leaders discuss U.S.-led peace efforts in Russia-Ukraine war

By The Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine — Leaders from Europe and Canada held talks Tuesday on U.S.-led peace efforts to end the nearly four-year war between Russia and Ukraine, as Moscow and Kyiv sparred over Russian claims, denied by Ukraine, of a mass drone attack on a lakeside residence used by President Vladimir Putin.

The virtual meeting included European leaders as well as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, heads of European institutions and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, according to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

“Peace is on the horizon,” Tusk told a Polish Cabinet meeting.

But he added: “It is still far from a 100% certainty.”

It was the first meeting of European leaders since U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his Florida resort on Sunday.

Zelenskyy on Tuesday announced plans for upcoming meetings with officials from about 30 countries, dubbed the Coalition of the Willing, which support Kyiv’s effort to end the war with Russia on acceptable terms.

National security advisers from those countries aim to meet in Ukraine on Saturday, followed by a meeting of the countries’ leaders next Tuesday in France, he said on social media.

“We are moving the peace process forward,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who attended Tuesday’s talks, said in a post on X. “Transparency and honesty are now required from everyone — including Russia.”

His pointed reference to Russia came after Russian and Ukrainian officials exchanged bitter accusations over Moscow’s allegations that Ukraine attempted to attack the Russian leader’s residence with 91 long-range drones after Trump’s talks with Zelenskyy.

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Strolling along

1bn

BR sets dates for New Year’s garbage pickup

BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER

Staff writer

Baton Rouge will not collect curbside garbage, recycling and out-of-cart items on Jan. 1 because of the New Year’s holiday, MayorPresident Sid Edwards’ office said in a news release Tuesday.

Collection will resume on the next regular pickup day.

The North Landfill and Starwood Court Collection Facility will also be closed on New Year’s Day. Residents needing to recycle items can use the Republic Services drop-off center at 7933 Tom Drive, which is open 24 hours a day, including the holiday period.

The East Baton Rouge city-parish government will close early Wednesday and will remain closed Jan. 1-2.

Safety officials urge caution with fireworks

BY CHARLES LUSSIER Staff writer

A walker strolls north along the levee in downtown Baton Rouge on Monday.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Another arrested in student’s death A second man has been arrested in the shooting death of a 21-year-old Southern UniCRIME versity student during home BLOTTER invasionaearlier staff this month, Bareports ton Rouge police said.

Baton Rouge police homicide detectives, with the assistance of the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force, arrested Quen’Braylon Dunn, 21, for his alleged involvement in the shooting death of Donovan Pugh.

Dunn was booked into East

Baton Rouge Parish Prison on counts of first-degree murder, home invasion and armed robbery.

Zion Buck, 20, was booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on Dec. 17 on counts of first-degree murder, home invasion and armed robbery for his alleged involvement in the shooting. Detectives believe Dunn and Buck were attempting to rob the victim of narcotics.

Pugh was fatally shot during a Dec. 4 break-in shortly before 6 p.m. in the 7800 block of Scenic Highway. Pugh, a New Orleans resident, was a sopho-

more at Southern.

2 arrested in home arson that killed 2 cats Two men were arrested in connection with a house fire that injured one person and killed that person’s pet cats, according to the St. George Fire Department.

Lerico Walker and Dvante Artrelle Dotson have been booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on counts of aggravated arson, attempted firstdegree murder and aggravated cruelty to animals after allegedly intentionally setting fire

to some furniture at a house on Elm Row Lane in St. George on Dec. 15.

The Fire Department responded to calls about a structure fire at the address around 7:30 a.m. Dec. 15 and found flames visible from both the front and back of the two-story house, according to St. George Fire Department.

Crews were able to get the fire under control in just under an hour. The victim, who managed to escape and was rescued by a neighbor from the garage, suffered injuries from smoke

ä See BLOTTER, page 2B

Iberville boat launch gets $2M upgrade

BY IANNE SALVOSA Staff writer

The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority wrapped up a $2 million improvement project on a popular Iberville Parish boat launch this month.

Bayou Pigeon, located off La. 75, provides access to the Atchafalaya Basin for commercial and recreational use.

The coastal agency-funded project added five additional boat launches, making seven total spots for boaters and anglers to enter the waterway, in an effort to alleviate conges-

tion and increase access for both the general public and fishermen.

“The Atchafalaya Basin is a tremendous recreational and economic asset for Louisiana,” coastal agency board Chair Gordon Dove said in a release. “The Bayou Pigeon Boat Launch Improvement Project reflects our commitment to working with our parish partners to enhance critical infrastructure that supports both local economies and access to our natural resources.”

The project also added Americans with Disabilities

Act-compliant parking spaces, upgraded spaces for trailers and new floating piers and walkways.

The agency began work on the refurbishments earlier this year and maintained public access on the boat launch during construction. The area is popular for fishing, crawfishing and wildlife viewing, while also serving as a way to transport equipment and oil and gas industry workers, according to a release.

The boat launch improvement is part of the agency’s Fiscal Year 2027 Annual Plan, a $1.27 billion project

to restore and improve Louisiana waterways with 260 projects in the works or in planning.

“By combining recreational enhancements with coastal protection and restoration, this project strengthens the local economy while preserving access to Louisiana’s natural landscapes for generations to come,” agency Executive Director Michael Hare said in a release. “It supports local businesses, improves public access, and reflects our commitment to environmentally and economically sustainable outcomes.”

Shooting off fireworks to celebrate the new year is a tradition that has been traced back to seventh-century China, but safety officials urged caution lest these celebrations go terribly wrong.

In 2024, there were 11 deaths due to fireworks and about 14,700 people who had to be treated in emergency rooms thanks to fireworks injuries, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

In the Baton Rouge area, East Baton Rouge Parish has gone so far as to prohibit setting off personal fireworks. Violators face up to a $500 fine or up to six months in jail.

Ascension, Iberville, Livingston, Pointe Coupee, Tangipahoa, West Baton Rouge and West Feliciana parishes allow home fireworks, though many municipalities within those parishes do not.

Louisiana’s Office of the State Fire Marshal recommends families skip setting off fireworks themselves and instead watch them from a safe distance at organized public fireworks displays, such as downtown Baton Rouge’s annual New Year’s Eve firework extravaganza over the Mississippi River.

Many Louisianans, however, are undoubtedly going it alone. More than 600 state-permitted retail fireworks stands began selling their explosive products in mid-December. State law allows them to remain open through 11:59 p.m. Jan. 1.

State law also specifies what kind of fireworks they can and can’t sell. Examples of legal fireworks include traditional Roman candles and bottle rockets. Prohibited items include cherry bombs and sky lanterns.

Here are safety tips recommended by the State Fire Marshal: n Keep fireworks at least 200 feet from buildings, vehicles and flammable debris. n Never let children handle fireworks; offer safe alternatives like glow sticks. n Light one firework at a time and monitor with a hose or bucket of water nearby. n Soak used fireworks before disposing them; never toss them dry into the trash. n Individuals drinking or using drugs should avoid using fireworks altogether.

The American Pyrotechnics Safety and Education Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting fireworks safety and education, offered its own safety tips: n Carefully read and follow the instructions on each firework. Pay attention to recommended safety distances and guidelines. n Have a bucket of water, hose or fire extinguisher nearby to quickly extinguish any potential fires. Also, consider having a firstaid kit on hand.

ä See FIREWORKS, page 2B

2B ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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STAFF PHOTOS By ENAN CHEDIAK

Tourists and revelers walk down Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Sunday.

One year later, Bourbon Street carries on amid the grief The party continues long after New year’s Day attack

BY JENNA ROSS Staff writer

Jennifer Jones was a rainbow in motion. Each inch of her outfit, from the parasol she was waving above her head to her stepping, twirling, kicking feet was covered in colorful feathers, tulle or beads.

It was 5 p.m. and a bit of light remained in the sky, but the party had already started on Bourbon Street.

Jones was bopping to R&B pumped from an empty bar, to a beat blasting from a passing car, to a wisp of a tune from a tourist’s cellphone.

But earlier that Sunday evening, stepping onto her city’s most famous street, her thoughts had turned dark. The New Orleans resident was remembering the events of a year ago, when a man had barreled his truck down this iconic stretch of bars and restaurants, commerce and commotion, killing 14 people and injuring more.

Jones squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. “Something was completely off about the energy of the city that night,” she said. “I was down by the river, and at midnight, when we were counting down, it was like, look-over-your-shoulder energy.”

Looking over her own shoulder, now, Jones caught sight of the twinkling canopy of pink, red and purple flags suspended over the street, a memorial called “Second Line in the Sky.” Tourists behind her were snapping selfies with the memorial as a backdrop.

But when Jones looks at the flags, she sees the faces of those who died, the families she prayed for, the second-

Louis Usea advertises to passersby for the Beach on Bourbon while wearing a shark suit. lines where she danced.

Barricades, brass bands On a recent night along Bourbon Street, with New Year’s Eve and the Sugar Bowl approaching, there was a tension in the way buskers and sports fans, locals and tourists were thinking about last year’s attack, if they were thinking about it at all. The celebration beside the grief. The party beside the pain.

Just after 6 p.m., police arrived in a golf cart with swirling lights. A pair of officers jumped out, pulling temporary barricades into place. They moved from intersection to intersection, jumping, pulling, drilling.

The barricades were a security measure, but revelers quickly found other uses for them. A drunk woman straddled one. A couple, watching a brass band, rested their fluorescent green hand grenade cocktails on another. A man hopped onto a yellow one, dancing, his hips shaking, his tongue out.

Near the intersection of Bienville Street, a couple paused to look down at the barricades and up at the lights. Cynthia Becker, a sixth-generation New Orleanian and Boston Univer-

sity professor, was with her husband, Addi Ouadderron.

They were in town for a friend’s 60th birthday brunch. The city felt different than it did even in the summer, Becker said, with storefronts empty, houses for sale and the French Quarter quiet.

“New Orleans is the pits right now,” she said. “In my opinion, it’s really gone down.”

She thinks that has less to do with concerns over another terrorist attack than with President Donald Trump’s policies hurting international tourism. But she noted that some of her friends won’t come down to Bourbon Street anymore.

It’s just too upsetting.

‘I’m used to it’ By 6:30 p.m., young kids were still commonplace, riding on their fathers’ shoulders. Other kids drummed buckets, men set up chess sets on folding tables and a tarot card reader lit a candle. Bars competed for customers with crass signs, 3-for-1 drink specials and throbbing bass lines.

The stretch between Christmas and New Year’s Eve is slow every year, a bartender at an empty daiquiri place noted, declining to give his name. As the

BLOTTER

FIREWORKS

inhalation. The fire killed the victim’s two pet cats.

Fire investigators responded to the scene and determined the fire was arson. Officials said the investigation revealed Walker and Dotson intentionally ignited living room furniture inside the residence, causing the fire to rapidly spread throughout the structure.

n Keep pets indoors and away from the fireworks to prevent them from becoming frightened or injured. Steer clear of using fireworks near wildlife habitats. n Be mindful of weather conditions. Strong winds can affect the trajectory of fireworks, increasing the risk of accidents.

Continued from page 1B

Continued from page 1B

Jennifer Jones dances with some street performers playing by one of the street barricades. machines spun icy sugar behind him, he questioned whether the National Guards would make people feel safer — or just kill the vibe.

Miguel Cidranes leaned against the door at the Beach on Bourbon, watching as his co-worker, a man in a puffy blue shark suit, danced in the street with a sign: “NO COVER.” Cidranes checks driver’s licenses, then pats patrons down, feeling for weapons. On New Year’s Eve, the bar might add to those checks, waving metal detectors, he said, speaking the day before officials announced plans for heightened security in the district.

“You don’t want somebody in the bar, drinking with a gun on them,” he said. “That’s a problem.”

Cidranes had been working at the Tropical Isle a year ago, when ShamsudDin Jabbar, a military veteran from Houston inspired by the Islamic State, swerved onto the sidewalk and barreled down the

n Know the local emergency services contact number and be prepared to use it if necessary.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill has issued a broader set of safety tips for New Year’s, many of them focused on responsible drinking, including not drinking and driving.

Murrill urges Louisianans to abide by local laws regarding fireworks. Another Murrill recommendation: “Never point or throw fireworks towards people,

street. Police shut down the corridor, confining tourists and workers. But Cidranes said he wasn’t scared.

“I’m used to it,” he said.

“I’m from here.”

‘Feel for those people’

As the details emerged over days and weeks, Fraser was glued to her TV and her phone. She returned to New Orleans, her happy place, in February, visiting the makeshift memorial, trying to process it all.

“Those people that lost people,” she said, fanning her face as she teared up, “you just feel for them.”

Despite the sadness, despite the fear, the trio decided to return this year for New Year’s Eve. Violence, especially gun violence, can happen anywhere, they said, describing a man who showed up to their local grocery store with a sawed-off shotgun.

“You can’t let someone that’s going to do something stupid stop you from doing things in your life,” Fraser said.

They had beads to hand out and a band to see, so they continued down Bourbon Street, their arms around each other’s shoulders.

Down the street, at a table in the front window of the Drinkery, were a trio of women giggling over martinis. Monica Fraser was in town from Arkansas, where “there’s not crap to do,” with her two friends, retirees Becky Burks and Cheryl Neelon.

They sported beads, a boa and “fun meter” buttons that, over the course of the day, had been inching closer to “max.”

Last year at this time, they’d been staying at the Royal Sonesta on Bourbon, passing by, over and over, the cherry picker that Jabbar would eventually crash into, ending his rampage. On New Year’s, they’d gotten back to their room around 2 a.m. before the hotel was evacuated.

They weren’t sure what Contact reporter Jenna was happening and wouldn’t Ross at jenna.ross@ be for hours. theadvocate.com.

animals, vehicles, houses or flammable materials.”

Murrill also warned people not to shoot guns in the air, an explosive but potentially deadly New Year’s tradition in parts of Louisiana: “Celebratory gunfire is against the law in Louisiana. Anyone found firing a gun into the air is subject to being arrested.”

Email Charles Lussier at clussier@theadvocate.com.

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Meta buys startup AI agent Manus

DETROIT — Meta is buying artificial intelligence startup Manus, as the owner of Facebook and Instagram continues an aggressive push to amp up AI offerings across its platforms.

The California tech giant declined to disclose financial details of the acquisition. But The Wall Street Journal reported that Meta closed the deal at more than $2 billion.

Manus, a Singapore-based platform with some Chinese roots, launched its first “general-purpose” AI agent earlier this year. The platform offers paid subscriptions for customers to use this technology for research, coding and other tasks.

“Manus is already serving the daily needs of millions of users and businesses worldwide,” Meta said in a Monday announcement, adding that it plans to scale this service — as Manus will “deliver generalpurpose agents across our consumer and business products, including in Meta AI.” Xiao Hong, CEO of Manus, confirmed that it would continue to sell and operate subscriptions through its own app and website.

Some of Manus’ initial financial backers reportedly included China’s Tencent Holdings, ZhenFund and HSG.

Gmail users can swap email address names Google has finally answered users’ cries, allowing Gmail users to swap out embarrassing teenage email addresses.

Gmail account holders can now change their existing @ gmail.com address while retaining their data and services.

Once changed, old email addresses will remain active, and users will continue to receive emails sent to both the old and new addresses.

Saved data connected to earlier addresses, including photos, messages and emails, will not be affected.

The ability to change Google Account email addresses is gradually rolling out to all users, Google noted on its support page.

Gmail users who want to switch to more anonymous email addresses or felt burdened by the email addresses they chose as kids celebrated the update on social media.

Members of the transgender community and others who have changed their names were also happy as the new options let them distance themselves from their former names.

Competing services such as Microsoft Outlook have long allowed users to easily change their primary address by adding an “alias.”

Google only allows accounts that end in @gmail.com to make changes, and the new address must also end in @gmail.com.

Tesla broadcasts downbeat sales Tesla took the unusual step of publishing a series of sales estimates indicating the outlook for its vehicle deliveries may be lower than many investors were expecting.

The carmaker posted estimates to its website showing analysts on average expect the company to deliver 422,850 cars in the fourth quarter, down 15% from a year earlier. That compares with a Bloombergcompiled average of 440,907 vehicles, an 11% drop.

While Tesla’s investor relations team has compiled sales estimates and shared averages selectively with analysts and investors for years, the company hasn’t published the figures in the past.

Tesla’s sales plunged early in the year as the company retooled production lines at each of its assembly plants for the redesigned Model Y, its most popular vehicle.

That period also coincided with Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk playing a polarizing role in the Trump administration.

S&P 500 6,896.24 -9.50 -0.14%

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30-YR T-BONDS 4.81 0.01 0.17%

Analysts predict a stock rally in ’26 There’s optimism among the angst

BY ALEXANDRA SEMENOVA and SAGARIKA JAISINGHANI Bloomberg News (TNS)

At the big banks and the boutique investment shops, an optimistic consensus has taken hold: The U.S. stock market will rally in 2026 for a fourth straight year, marking the longest winning streak in nearly two decades.

There’s plenty of angst about the risks to the bull run that’s pushed the S&P 500 Index up some 90% since its October 2022 low. The artificial intelligence boom could turn to bust. The economy — and the Federal Reserve’s interestrate decisions — could defy ex-

pectations. And President Donald Trump’s second year could bring even more unanticipated shocks than his first.

But strategists are marching in lockstep optimism, with the average year-end S&P 500 forecast implying another 9% gain next year.

Not a single one of the 21 prognosticators surveyed by Bloomberg News is predicting a decline.

“The pessimists have just been wrong for so long that people are kind of tired of that schtick,” said veteran market strategist and longtime bull Ed Yardeni. He expects the S&P to finish next year at 7,700 — up 11% from Friday’s close — yet even he finds the lack of dissent a little concerning.

“That’s where my counter instincts come out: Things have been going my way for so long that it is

kind of worrying that everyone else seems to have become optimistic,” he said. “Pessimism is on the out right now.”

The sentiment was reinforced by the market’s volatile year, when early 2025 selloffs unleashed by DeepSeek’s potential challenge to U.S. AI companies and Trump’s chaotic trade war threatened forecasters’ optimistic targets.

As the S&P 500 slid toward a bear market by tumbling almost 20% from mid-February through early April, strategists slashed their forecasts at the fastest pace since the COVID-19 crash — only to wind up bumping them back up as stocks staged one of the swiftest comebacks since the 1950s.

The massive investment in AI — which has been poured into datacenter construction and high-pow-

ered computer chips — has continued to push up the five tech giants that were responsible for nearly half of the S&P 500’s advance this year.

If the Wall Street forecasters are correct in 2026, stocks are heading for their longest stretch of annual gains since the lead-up to the Global Financial Crisis.

Like virtually everyone else, the analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. were surprised by the turmoil that swept through stocks early this year.

By April, when Trump’s trade war rocked markets, they abandoned the positive outlook they had heading into 2025. They became the most bearish among the strategists tracked by Bloomberg, predicting the S&P would end 2025 down 12%.

ENTERING A NEW ERA

Legendary Warren Buffett steps back as Greg Abel to guide Berkshire Hathaway

BY JOSH FUNK Associated Press

OMAHA, Neb. — Greg Abel faces the challenge of taking over Berkshire Hathaway from the legendary Warren Buffett later this week.

Many regard Buffett as the world’s greatest investor after he grew Berkshire from a struggling New England textile mill that he starting buying up for $7.60 a share in 1962, to the massive conglomerate it is today with shares that go for more than $750,000 a pop. Buffett’s personal fortune of Berkshire stock is worth roughly $150 billion even after giving more than $60 billion away over the past 20 years.

Berkshire for decades has routinely outpaced the S&P 500 as Buffett bought up insurance companies like Geico and National Indemnity, manufacturers like Iscar Metalworking, retail brands like Dairy Queen, major utilities and even one of the nation’s biggest railroads, BNSF. Along the way, Buffett bought and sold hundreds of billions of dollars of stocks and profited handsomely from his famously long-term bets on companies like American Express, Coca-Cola and Apple.

Berkshire has struggled to keep that pace in recent years because it has grown so huge and also struggled to find new and significant acquisitions. Even this fall’s $9.7 billion acquisition of OxyChem probably isn’t big enough to make a difference in Berkshire’s profits.

Investors will be watching closely to see what changes Abel might make in Berkshire’s trajectory, but don’t expect any seismic shifts.

Buffett isn’t going anywhere and Abel has already been managing all of Berkshire’s noninsurance businesses since 2018. Buffett will remain chairman and plans to continue coming into the office each day to help spot new investments and offer Abel any advice he asks for.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTOS

Berkshire Hathaway’s Greg Abel, at left with a stockholder, has already shown himself to be a more hands-on manager than Warren Buffett, but he still follows the Berkshire model of autonomy for acquired companies.

Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett’s personal fortune of Berkshire stock is worth roughly $150 billion even after Some changes are likely giving more than $60 billion away over the CFRA Research analyst Cathy Seifert said past 20 years. it is natural for Abel to make some changes in the way Berkshire is run. Taking a more traditional approach to leadership with nearly 400,000 employees spread across dozens of subsidiaries makes a lot of sense, she said.

But Berkshire operates under an extremely decentralized structure that trusts its executives with significant decisions. Everyone associated with the company has said there are no plans to change that.

The world learned that Abel was to become the designated successor at Berkshire in 2021 when Buffett’s longtime business partner, the late Charlie Munger, assured shareholders at an annual meeting that Abel would maintain the company’s culture.

Part of Buffett’s sales pitch to company

founders and CEOs thinking of selling their companies has always been that Berkshire would largely allow them to continue running their companies the same way as long as they delivered results.

“I think the investment community would likely applaud Greg’s management style to the degree that it sort of buttons things up,” Seifert said. “And if it helps performance, that can’t really be faulted.”

Abel plays an active role Abel has already shown himself to be a more hands-on manager than Buffett, but he still follows the Berkshire model of autono-

my for acquired companies. Abel asks tough questions of company leaders and holds them accountable for their performance.

Abel did announce some leadership changes earlier this month after investment manager and Geico CEO Todd Combs departed, and Chief Financial Officer Marc Hamburg announced his retirement. Abel also said he’s appointing NetJets CEO Adam Johnson as manager of all of Berkshire’s consumer, service and retail businesses. That essentially creates a third division of the company and takes some work off of Abel’s plate. He will continue to manage the manufacturing, utility and railroad businesses.

Abel will eventually face more pressure to start paying a dividend. From the beginning, Berkshire has held the position that it is better to reinvest profits rather than making quarterly or annual payouts to shareholders.

But if Abel can’t find a productive use of the $382 billion cash that Berkshire is sitting on, there may be a push from investors to start paying dividends or to adopt a traditional stock buyback program that would boost the value of shares they hold. Currently, Berkshire only repurchases shares when Buffett thinks they are a bargain, and he hasn’t done that since early 2024.

Still, Abel will be insulated from such pressure for some time since Buffett controls nearly 30% of the voting power in the stock.

That will diminish gradually after his death as his children distribute his shares to charity as agreed.

Interest rate cut a close call for some Fed officials, minutes show

BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP economics writer

WASHINGTON — Some Federal Reserve officials who supported cutting a key interest rate earlier this month could have instead backed keeping the rate unchanged, minutes released Tuesday show, underscoring the divisions and uncertainty permeating the central bank.

At their Dec. 9-10 meeting Fed officials agreed to cut their key interest rate by a quarter point for the third time this year, to about 3.6%, the lowest in nearly three years. Yet the move was approved

by a 9-3 vote, an unusual level of dissent for a committee that typically works by consensus.

The minutes underscored the deep split on the 19-member policymaking committee over what constitutes the biggest threat to the economy: weak hiring or stubbornly elevated inflation. If a sluggish job market is the biggest threat, then the Fed would typically cut rates more. But if still-high inflation is the bigger problem, then the Fed would keep rates elevated, or even raise them. Just 12 of the 19 members vote on rate decisions, though all participate in discussions.

The minutes showed that even some Fed officials who supported the rate cut did so with reservations. Some Fed officials wanted to wait for more economic data before making any further moves, the minutes said. Key economic data on jobs, inflation, and growth were delayed by the six-week government shutdown, leaving Fed officials with only outdated information at their meeting earlier this month.

The minutes don’t identify specific officials. But how they vote is public, and two policymakers dissented in favor of keeping rates unchanged: Jeffrey Schmid, the

president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, and Austan Goolsbee, president of the Chicago Fed. The third dissent was from Fed governor Stephen Miran, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in September and favored a half-point cut.

At its December meeting, the Fed also released quarterly economic projections, which also showed the extent of the divisions on the Fed committee. Seven officials projected no cuts in 2026, while eight forecast two or more reductions. Four supported just one cut.

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Funerals Today Gros, Marilyn

Ascension of Our Lord Catholic Church in Donaldsonville at 11 a.m.

Obituaries Deville, John Brandon

ALEXANDRIA - Memorial services for John Brandon Deville, 41, will be held Saturday, January 3, 2026, at 1:00 P.M. in the LaVille Funeral Home Chapel. Visitation will begin at 10:00 A.M. and continue until the time of services.

Brandon, a resident of Alexandria, passed away Friday, December 26, 2025, at CHRISTUS St. Frances Cabrini Hospital.

Brandon was a cherished son, brother, grandson, and family member whose life touched many hearts. He will be lovingly remembered by his father and stepmother, John and Brigitte Deville of Grand Prairie; siblings, Scotty Campbell of Baton Rouge, Christopher Deville of Alexandria, and Emmeline Deville of Las Vegas; his maternal grandmother, Beverly Hebert of Baton Rouge; aunts, Liz Wiley and husband Gary of Denham Springs, and Karen Deville of Baton Rouge; uncle Kenny Campbell and wife Geri of Baton Rouge; along with numerous cousins and other family members who loved him dearly.

rooted, resilient, and guided by purpose.

Wanda devoted her career to protecting others, beginning at Alford Alarm before moving into security work at Earl K. Long Hospital. She later served in the Security Department at ExxonMobil's Baton Rouge facility, where her dedication and steady presence became her hallmark until retirement.

A woman of deep Christian faith, Wanda lived her beliefs through compassion, loyalty, and the unwavering care she offered to family and friends. She loved mysteries, trivia, dogs, travel, and collecting elephants—small joys that reflected her curiosity and vibrant personality. Christmas was her season of delight, and her legendary punctuality was known to all who loved her.

Wanda is survived by her children, Lisa (Carroll) Higdon of Geneva, Florida, and Byron (Emily) Halliburton of Sarasota, Florida; her grandchildren Morgan (Alex) Clawson, Jacob Higdon, and Caleb (Sarah) Higdon; and her great grandsons Raylan and Sawyer Clawson. She also leaves her sisters Judy Fox and Deborah Plain of Hagerstown, along with many nieces and nephews who will remember her warmth and spirited humor.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Carl and Opal Nalley; her brothers Carl "Buddy" Nalley and Kenneth Nalley; and her sisters Sheila Nalley and Sharon Holland.

A private family burial will be held at Queen of Angels Cemetery in Winter Park, Florida. In honor of Wanda's memory, donations may be made to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Ragusa, Ben P.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Diana Campbell; grandparents, Elliott and Laura Deville and Bill Hebert.

Brandon's family would like to extend a special and heartfelt thank you to the Louisiana Special Education Center School in Alexandria for the wonderful, compassionate care they provided to their beloved Brandon for many, many years.

Halliburton, Wanda

Wanda N. Halliburton, 75, passed away on December 19, 2025, in Hagerstown, Maryland. Born August 25, 1950, in Atlanta, Georgia, Wanda carried with her the quiet strength and steadfast spirit of a true Southern woman—-

Ben P. Ragusa, Jr attended Sacred Heart Elementary School and Baton Rouge High School. He played baseball and football, until all the other guys were bigger than he was.

As a young child, Ben worked in his father's grocery store, eventually working as a butcher in the store.

Ben Jr left high school and enlisted in the Navy, earning his high school diploma while at sea. Ben Jr was stationed on aircraft carriers as a flight deck signal man. He spent months at sea In the Cuban blockade. Ben was on shore leave in Norfolk, VA when President Kennedy was assassinated...The chaos of MP's rounding up ALL the sailors in the bars and establishments in Norfolk and the resulting flood of ships leaving the docks

with or without tugboat assistance was surreal.

Ben returned to Baton Rouge and opened his own neighborhood grocery store.

Ben met Patti Thomas on a blind date and told her that he was going to marry her at the end of their first date.

Ben started to look for a sales career. IBM and Xerox both wanted to hire him, but required a college degree, both offered to pay for the education. Ben could not take time to go to school; he had a growing family to support. Ben took an Interview with a company called Lanier.

The opportunity sounded right! Ben accepted the copier sales job with Lanier in late 1967. Ben quickly became the #2 sales rep for Lanier in the U.S., he never could beat Chuck Foreman, in Florida, they became great friends.

Ben ascended the ranks of Lanier winding up at the Atlanta HQ in the fall of 1977. Ben eventually left the company as Exec VP of Worldwide Sales (#3 in the Company).

In 1988, Ben and George DeBenedetto founded OMNI Business Products, a Toshiba copier dealer, in Atlanta. Jeff dropped out of LSU to Join the family business and Ed Doyle left Lanier and moved from New Jersey to Join OMNI. In 1994, Ben sold OMNI to Toshiba and Ben, Ed, & Jeff founded Applied Business Concepts, (ABC) in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. ABC now employs over 30 people and operates in all of South Louisiana with locations in Baton Rouge, Kenner, and Lafayette.

Ben supported Cure SMA, Tunnel to Towers, Folds of Honor, Wounded Warrior Project, Samaritan's Purse, St. Jude Hospital, and The Cannata Gala, as well as several Local Charities, Churches, and Schools.

Ben is preceded in death by his Beloved Wife, of 59 years, Patricia Thomas Ragusa. His Parents: Ben P Ragusa, Sr and Mary Ann Grasso Ragusa. His Siblings: Peter Anthony Ragusa and Angie Ann Ragusa Cates. Ben is Survived by His Siblings: Phillip Manuel Ragusa and Myrtle Jean Ragusa David.

His Children: Jeffrey Wayne Ragusa, Sr (57) and Stephanie Ragusa Charpentier (54) His Grandchildren: Madeline (28), Elizabeth (28), Jeffrey, Jr (27), Patricia (26), & Megan (24).

Relatives and friends are invited to Sacred Heart Catholic Church on Wednesday, January 7, 2026 for a visitation beginning at 10:00 AM until a Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 AM followed by a committal service at Resthaven Gardens of Memory.

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Salter, Josephine Pence 'Jo'

Josephine "Jo" Pence Salter, 96, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, passed away peacefully at St. James Place. Born in Hubble, Kentucky, Jo lived a life marked by courage, independence, and devotion to family. Jo proudly served her country as a Lieutenant Junior Grade registered nurse in the United States Navy. Following her honorable discharge, she met the love of her life, Leslie Phillip Salter, Jr., in Houston, Texas. The couple began their family in Baytown, Texas, before relocating to Baton Rouge in 1958, where they founded L P Salter Company, a successful independent manufacturer's representative firm. A woman of remarkable determination, Jo earned her private pilot's license to prove to her pilot husband that she could master the skies just as he had. Her interests reflected her vibrant spirit: she found joy in painting, tending her garden, losing herself in books, and connecting with friends through PEO, Pollard Planters, and the Baton Rouge Aircraft Pilots Association. Jo is survived by her three children: Susan Salter Newman and her husband Thomas of Baton Rouge; Phillip Salter and his wife Gina Mercer Salter of Beaumont, Texas; and Leslie Salter of South Carolina. She leaves behind five cherished grandchildren—Blake Newman,

in May 2026. 2 brothers, Gary Doyle and wife, Joyce and Darrell Doyle. 2 fur babies, Toby and Lil Bit.She is preceded in death by her parents, Thomas and Margarette Doyle. Pat was a graduate of Southeastern Louisiana University Nursing. She was a dedicated nurse for many years. She enjoyed being with her family on the river, being with her friends at the casino and hunting for unusual rocks. She will be greatly missed by her family and friends. A Memorial Service will be held at a later date. Share sympathies, condolences, and memories at www.CharletF uneralHome.com.

Tynes, Patricia Dell Doyle

How to place an Obituary Notice EMAIL:

obits@theadvocate.com OR CALL FOR MORE INFORMATION:

225-388-0289

How to place a Memorial Ad

Patricia Dell Doyle Tynes, a resident of Clinton, passed away on Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. She was 76 years old and was retired from the State of Louisiana where she worked as a Registered Nurse for over 35 years.

She is survived by her husband, Ronald L. Tynes. A son, Ron E. Snyder and wife, Carolyn. A grandson, Hunter Snyder and wife, Megan and a great granddaughter, Harlan Dell, due

An “In Memory Of” ad, is a way to pay tribute to your loved one.

This remembrance is often printed on the anniversary of a loved one’s death.

The deadline is two days prior to the day you want your ad to appear.

TO PLACE A MEMORIAL AD GO TO: obituaries.theadvocate.com, click submit an obituary and select create a memoriam.

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Christopher Newman, Harrison Salter, Merideth Hebert, and Bradley Hebert—as well as one great-grandchild, Blair Newman. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Leslie Phillip Salter, Jr.; her parents, Adam and Peachie Baughman Pence; and eight siblings. A private graveside service celebrating Jo's remarkable life will be held at a later date. Interment will take place at Port Hudson National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes memorial donations to Methodist Children's Home (https://lumcfs.org/) or Shriners Children's Hospital (https://www.shrinersc hildrens.org/en).

Please share your memories and condolences at www.wilbertservices.com.

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OPINION

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

OUR VIEWS

IN MEMORIAM 2025

The lives they led inspire all of La.

As 2025 comes to a close, we remember those Louisianans we lost this year whose lives and stories changed our world in big and small ways.

The tragedy on Bourbon Street on Jan. 1 claimed the lives of 14 people, 10 of whom were natives or residents of this state. They were students and parents, friends and neighbors, sons and daughters who lit up so many lives. We are sorry that we will never know what they might have contributed to our future.

The state also lost some political titans this year, including J. Bennett Johnston, a Democrat who represented Louisiana for 24 years in the U.S. Senate; E.L. “Bubba” Henry, a state House Speaker in the 1970s who was instrumental in the constitutional convention of 1973; Louis Lambert, who served in either the state Senate or the Public Service Commission every year except two from 1972 to 2004, and Jay Batt, a Republican businessman who served on the New Orleans City Council for four years.

Also in the political realm, pollster Verne Kennedy and environmental activist William “Willie” Fontenot, who worked behind the scenes, will be missed.

In our Capitol City, other than politicians, few figures loomed larger than televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, who died July 1 after running one of the largest international ministries from his Baton Rouge headquarters before his well-publicized fall from grace in the 1980s.

The business community mourned visionary leaders like Jim Bernhard, who built The Shaw Group to a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Baton Rouge, and Joe C. Canizaro, an influential real estate developer whose projects changed the skyline of downtown New Orleans.

Our prolific music community lost some singular talents including, Tommy McLain, the king of swamp pop in the 1950s and ’60s; songwriter and guitarist Tony Haselden, who was responsible for some of LeRoux’s biggest hits; Lillian Bouttél’Etienne, the jazz and gospel singer who was a musical ambassador in Europe for her New Orleans hometown; Cajun fiddler Ellis Vanicor of the Lacassine Playboys and bluesman Leroy Williams, better known as Guitar Lightnin’ Lee. The music community also grieved Sidney Smith, the New Orleans photographer who documented the careers of the Allman Brothers, Paul McCartney and Led Zeppelin.

Louisiana is a place that honors its food traditions. So we remember those who contributed to promoting and preserving our foodways, including New Orleans baker Steve Himelfarb, known as “the cake man;” Merline Hebert, who ran Lafayette’s beloved Creole Lunch House; Tom Fitzmorris, the longtime restaurant critic and author; and Pableaux Johnson, a New Orleans photographer and foodie famous for his red beans.

In the arts, noted Baton Rouge photographer A.J. Meek, who captured Louisiana landscapes and people, and Auseklis Ozols, a Latvian-born artist who founded the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts, leave a lasting legacy.

And we would be remiss not to acknowledge one loss that hit close to home: Doug Manship, former publisher of The Advocate, contributed much to journalism in our state and beyond.

There are so many others who gave their time and talents to making our communities better who defy categorization, such as former Mr. America Red Lerille, who operated a Lafayette fitness club for decades, and Mary Jane Marcantel, who was a neighborhood advocate in Baton Rouge’s Spanish Town and the first paralegal in Louisiana. Then there’s the meteorologist from New Orleans, John McCarthy, whose name should probably be known more widely. His weather fascination led him to help develop an alert system for airports around the country that likely has saved thousands of lives. Think of him the next time you get on a plane.

These lives and so many others that we don’t have space to list here show that the wealth of this great state is truly in its people. We lost some remarkable ones in 2025. Now, it’s up to the rest of us to fill the void they leave.

YOUR VIEWS

Corporate partnerships a lifeline for community Access to quality health care should never be a privilege — it’s a fundamental right. Yet, for thousands of Louisiana residents, barriers such as cost, lack of insurance and transportation make even basic care unattainable.

At Love Impact Coalition, we work tirelessly to bridge that gap through free one-day clinics offering dental, vision and medical services statewide.

These events provide everything from eye exams and prescription glasses to dental cleanings, extractions, maternal health education and cancer screenings — all at no cost to patients.

But this work cannot happen in

isolation. It requires a community of partners who believe in health equity and are willing to invest in it. That’s why support from companies like ExxonMobil is so critical. Earlier this year, ExxonMobil stepped up as a premier sponsor for our Baton Rouge Free Health Clinic at the River Center, helping us serve over 600 patients in a single day. Their commitment went beyond financial contributions — they provided volunteers, English language interpretation services for attendees and donated 25 laptops through the Capital Area Corporate Recycling Council to strengthen our digital ac-

cess for events. Additional funding from ExxonMobil will allow us to expand our reach with events in Opelousas and two more Baton Rouge area clinics in 2026.

These partnerships are more than sponsorships; they are lifelines for the individuals who need them most. When businesses invest in health initiatives, they help create a ripple effect — improving health outcomes, fostering trust and building stronger, more resilient neighborhoods.

DONNA COLLINS-LEWIS president/executive director, Love Impact Coalition

State should be asking tough questions, not just cheering on Hyundai plant I am tired of LED Secretary Susan Bourgeois referring to the proposed Hyundai steel plant in St. James Parish as a “clean” steelmaking operation, as she did recently during an interview on LPB. There is simply no such thing.

According to the industry publication Steel Technology, these are some of the sources of toxic waste from steelmaking: n Steel slag: Generated in steelmaking processes such as basic oxygen furnaces and electric arc furnaces. n Dust and sludge: Fine particles and sludge are collected from air pollution control systems and water treatment facilities. n Spent refractories: Worn-out materials from linings of furnaces and other high-temperature processing units. n Gases: Emissions such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides.

Not to mention a host of dioxins and furans, whose scientific names you can’t

even pronounce, that are byproducts of electric-arc furnace processes.

If all this were taking place in Richland Parish, where the new Meta data center is being constructed, it might not be such a concern. But this plant will be located on the Mississippi River, from which numerous downriver communities draw their water.

Steel-making is very different from the industries that are located there now. Yet, there is not a single mention of an environmental management plan or waste disposal plan in any of the glowing pronouncements by state officials.

Air and water are two of our most precious natural resources, and both are being put at risk by this new steel plant.

It is time to drop the rah-rah and start preparing to manage what could be a very different and difficult newcomer to Louisiana’s Ruhr Valley.

BILL HUEY Baton Rouge

Hegseth’s acts should shock the conscience My father piloted a B24 Liberator heavy bomber on 45 combat missions over the Pacific during World War II. Among numerous other atrocities perpetrated by the Japanese military, it was always on the mind of every U.S. airmen that if they were fortunate enough to not be shot in their parachutes in the event they had to parachute out of their stricken aircraft and they made it into a life raft to float helplessly in the vast Pacific, they would be strafed and killed by Japanese fighter pilots.

After the war, the U.S. signed and ratified the Second Geneva Convention of 1949, which specifically forbids “intentionally killing defenseless, shipwrecked

or incapacitated participants in the water.”

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has announced that the video of the disabled alleged drug boat being hit a second time

by U.S. forces, killing the two survivors hanging on to the side, would not be released. He told reporters, “Of course we’re not going to release a top secret, full, unedited video of that to the general public.”

I’m not even slightly surprised at Hegseth’s decision not to release the video, as it would be hard to see it as anything other than exactly what it is.

JIM WRIGHT Baton Rouge

LSU coaching saga exposed what state’s business, political elite care about Where are we as a society?

What is it that we value? Where we put our money is a good indicator of our values.

I have always been a huge college ball fan and especially a LSU Tiger fan. But I can’t help but feel we (we being our entire athletic-crazed society) have lost our way.

While families are struggling to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads, state entities, business leaders, alumni, etc., were willing to invest millions (millions!) to bring “the best” football coach to LSU and to pay off fired coaches.

Many of these same business owners and state leaders worked to defeat a minimum wage bill in Louisiana in 2024.

So while the new coach is guaranteed a salary of more than a million dollars/month, Louisiana’s hourly wage earners are guaranteed no more than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.

Is it any wonder that Louisiana consistently ranks as one of the states with the highest poverty rate? “Let them eat cake” is attributed to Marie Antoinette when she was told her peasant subjects were without bread to eat. While the source of the quote is questionable, the sentiment for where we are as a society is apt to our current situation here in Louisiana.

NELL AUCOIN NAQUIN Baton Rouge

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The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ 7B

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COMMENTARY

STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE

Jari Honora is a family historian at the Historic New Orleans Collection in New Orleans.

2025 LOUISIANAN OF THE YEAR

JARI HONORA

Historian connected pope’s heritage — and our own — to the world It wasn’t just another day in May for historian and genealogist Jari Honora and Catholics across the world. Beloved Pope Francis had died. Cardinals were in Rome meeting in a conclave to decide who would follow as pope.

Since there was no C-SPAN gavel-togavel coverage, no livestream and no audio feed, the masses had no idea what was happening as the cardinals did what cardinals do when they have to choose someone from their ranks to lead the world’s more than 1.4 billion Roman Catholics.

There were rumors and speculation about which cardinal might be elevated. Maybe someone who hailed from the growing Catholic populations in places like Africa and Asia.

Maybe someone from Rome to return the papacy to classic Italian roots.

But on May 8, after white smoke wafted from the Vatican in the traditional sign of that a new pope has been selected, Cardinal Dominique Mamberti announced from a Vatican City balcony that Cardinal Robert Prevost, a native of Chicago who had spent much time in Peru, was the choice of the conclave. He would be called Pope Leo XIV. Prevost.

That’s a French-sounding name, Honora thought.

Striking paydirt Within minutes, he was online researching the new pope’s ancestry. It’s what he does as a family historian at the Williams Research Center of the Historic New Orleans Collection. Soon, Honora realized he was on to something, a find that led this Louisianan to international acclaim.

Using his knowledge of Census records and other historical documents, Honora quickly discovered that the new pope had New Orleans and Louisiana Creole roots.

Not only was this new pope the first from the United States, but his family history reflected the complex currents of migration and reinvention that is the American story.

And surprisingly, it wasn’t his father’s side, which bore that French-sounding name, but his mother’s side where those Louisiana connections lay buried.

“Our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, has Creole of color roots from New Orleans on his mother’s side!” Honora posted on his

Facebook page soon after the announcement. “What a great connection for our local population!”

As the news circled the globe, Honora was soon being sought for interviews with far-flung news outlets.

Others built on the pope’s family tree, but nothing changed in the basic outlines that Honora discovered.

The pope’s mother, Mildred Martinez, was the daughter of Joseph Martinez and Louise Baquié, who hailed from New Orleans’ 7th Ward. In the 1900 Census, they are described as Black, and in some records, Joseph Martinez’s birthplace is listed as Haiti.

Honora found a marriage license indicating that the pope’s maternal grandparents were married in 1887 at Our Lady of Sacred Heart on Annette Street in the 7th Ward. Mildred Martinez’s older siblings were born in New Orleans.

But by the time the family migrated — sometime between 1910 and 1912 — to Chicago, where the pope’s mother was born, they were listed as White in records.

The impact of the find In 2025, there were plenty of Louisianans who made important contributions, but no other Louisianan had the kind of global impact that reminded us why our state and its unique place in history matter so much.

It may be hard for some to imagine today as we wrestle with out-migration, coastal erosion and other challenges, but New Orleans was a bustling crossroads for a significant part of our country’s history. Newcomers, immigrants and others looking for a better life mixed here like nowhere else.

Especially for free people of color, it was one of the few places that offered the opportunity to build vibrant communities and economies.

That the grandparents of a pope came from this Louisiana tapestry is more than fitting. In a state that has more than 1 million Catholics, Pope Leo’s heritage is a source of pride. We look forward to the pope’s first American tour, where we hope Louisianans can welcome him to his ancestral homeland with the joie de vivre we’re known for.

On a more personal level, the discovery of the pope’s lineage has led to several

branches of his family who were divided by time, space and race, rediscovering their common ties — at least once over a meal. What could be more Louisiana than that?

Historian’s history Honora had the ability to uncover the pope’s roots so quickly because he is steeped in Louisiana history and culture.

Honora was 9 years old when he asked his grandmother about her grandparents.

The two of them often had familial ancestry conversations, and Honora’s curiosity about genealogy developed at the New Orleans Main Library as he researched alongside others who were many years older.

A certified genealogist, one of only three Black genealogists in the country to achieve that rank, Honora isn’t just looking at the family trees of celebrities. He has helped many families around the state learn about their roots — particularly those who have questions about their Creole heritage.

A New Orleans Uptown native, he graduated from St. Augustine High School and Tulane University. After researching his own family history since his childhood, Honora knows that his Louisiana heritage has roots along Bayou Lafourche and the German-Acadian coast, dating back more than two centuries.

As he researched the pope’s family history, Honora discovered that the leader of the Roman Catholic Church has an immigrant background that is truly universal, with Black Creole, French and Italian heritage.

Honora’s quick, deep research uncovered a colorful papal family history that engaged communities across the state. It also prompted reflection on the nature of race, migration and what history gets told — all things that have come under scrutiny in recent years.

Honora’s work makes him our Louisianan of the Year because it opened a new lens not only on our history, but also on our present-day dilemmas.

It reaffirms that looking for connections with others rather than differences is the better way to honor our ancestors. The pope’s story has much to teach us. We are grateful to historians like Honora who help us unlock the lessons of the past.

At the end of the year, the Editorial Board recognizes Louisianans who have made significant contributions to their fields, our country and the world in 2025. Tuesday, we announced our four runners-up for Louisianan of the year. you can read about them online in the Opinions section.

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

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

TO SEND US A LETTER, SCAN HERE

8B ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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Baton Rouge Weather TODAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

Sunny

Mainly Sunny

Isolated Showers - 30%

Partly Sunny 10%

Mainly Sunny

Mainly Sunny

HIGH

HIGH

HIGH

HIGH

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LOW

60° 36°

LOW

68° 52°

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75° 60°

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69° 45°

ALMANAC

LOW

67° 47°

LOW

72° 52°

TEMPERATURE

51°/35° 62°/42° 82° in 2021 14° in 1917

PRECIPITATION

THE NATION

Longview 65/41

TODAY

GOOD

MODERATE

READING 43 MAIN POLLUTANT Particulates

MAIN POLLUTANT Particulates

SOURCE: LOUISIANA DEQ AND AIRNOW.GOV

RIVER STAGES FLOOD STAGE 24-HOUR STAGE CHANGE Memphis 34 -3.40 none Vidalia-Natchez 48 16.50 +0.87 Red River Landing 48 19.30 +0.90 Baton Rouge 35 6.90 +0.60 Donaldsonville 27 3.80 +0.40 Reserve 22 2.73 +0.03 New Orleans 17 1.60 -0.20 MISSISSIPPI

OHIO 40

11.90

+0.39

19

-1.41

none

18 29 8

-0.94 10.24 0.89

-0.02 -0.01 -0.27

13 15

2.72 0.89

-0.02 -0.01

47 34 29 20 12 6

5.08 3.19 2.99 2.13 1.70 1.81

none -0.30 -0.15 -0.50 -0.60 -0.05

COMITE

Near Olive AMITE

Near Darlington Denham Springs Port Vincent TICKFAW

Montpelier Holden ATCHAFALAYA

Simmesport Melville Krotz Springs Butte La Rose Bayou Sorrel Morgan City

0s

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

Hattiesburg 60/35

Alexandria 64/38

Many 64/38

Baton Rouge 60/36

Lafayette 61/40

Beaumont 66/42

New Orleans 59/42

Lake Charles 62/41

Port Arthur 64/45

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

Houma 61/39

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 FT.

LOW

FT.

HIGH

FT.

LOW

FT.

Lake Pontchartrain (Tchefuncte River) 4:11a 0.6 Shell Beach 10:21p 1.5 South Point, Marsh Island 3:34p 1.8 Cypremort Point 7:00p 1.9 Grand Isle (Barataria Pass) 6:41p 1.1 Mississippi River (Southwest Pass) 5:59p 1.5 Wine Island 7:49p 1.4

HIGH

4:12p 9:47a 5:06a 9:15a 5:15a 3:38a 6:17a

-0.4 -0.5 -1.2 -0.4 -0.7 -0.9 -0.9

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SUN AND MOON Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today

TODAY City

Austin Boston Dallas Fairbanks Honolulu Houston Las Vegas Louisville Miami Minneapolis

Hi

THURSDAY

Lo W

Hi

70 40 s 33 27 c 66 43 s -38 -44 pc 82 70 sh 67 44 s 56 45 pc 39 31 pc 65 47 s 26 0 sn

LAST

NEW

FIRST

JAN 3

JAN 10

JAN 18

JAN 25

MAJOR

7:56a 8:53a 9:54a 10:57a 12:00p 12:34a 1:33a

MINOR

MAJOR

1:40a 8:27p 2:37a 9:26p 3:38a 10:27p 4:41a 11:29p 5:45a ---6:47a 1:01p 7:46a 1:58p

TODAY City

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

THURSDAY

Hi

Lo W

Hi

Lo W

48 59 58 34 70 30 51 43 71 59

32 s 42 s 40 s 29 c 58 c 14 sn 34 s 26 pc 62 sh 49 s

48 67 66 33 67 19 52 36 66 66

38 s 54 s 45 s 22 pc 58 sh 14 sf 30 pc 29 pc 56 sh 51 s

62 41 50 69 15 19 67 39 50 24 55

43 s 33 s 29 s 41 pc 3 c 7 sn 50 c 32 s 34 pc 19 c 42 pc

70 43 46 71 6 14 66 38 54 33 49

50 pc 35 pc 39 pc 43 s -3 sn -1 c 51 sh 35 c 45 c 29 c 40 c

THE WORLD

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

Today Thu. Fri. Sat. Sun. Mon. Tue.

Lo W

74 54 pc 31 16 pc 70 56 pc -36 -47 s 82 72 sh 75 64 pc 52 44 sh 39 28 c 69 53 s 12 5 pc

SOLUNAR TABLE

7:01 a.m.

5:14 p.m.

2:22 p.m.

4:04 a.m.

FULL

N O R T H A M ER I CA’S

MINOR

2:11p 3:09p 4:10p 5:13p 6:15p 7:15p 8:10p

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

46 90 54 37 42 70 40 39 72 72 55

40 c 73 pc 41 r 34 sn 33 s 55 pc 33 pc 33 c 60 c 62 c 44 pc

43 91 55 37 41 68 43 39 73 72 52

36 r 72 pc 39 pc 34 sn 33 c 53 pc 32 pc 35 c 54 c 55 s 44 r

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

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

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Sunshine will dominate from start to finish on New year’s Eve, with temperatures climbing from the 20s in the morning to near 60 by the afternoon. Clear skies will persist as 2026 arrives. If celebrating outdoors, grab an extra layer. Temperatures will drop through the 40s in the evening, reaching the low 40s by midnight. Temperatures will moderate for the first few days of 2026. Morning lows will climb out of freeze territory starting on New year’s Day. Highs will moderate too, rising into the upper 60s on Thursday and mid-70s

by Friday. The warmup comes ahead of another cold front, which will bring a handful of showers and storms Friday and Friday night. Don’t expect a major drop in temperatures into the weekend once it passes.

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SPORTS

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

‘It was extremely difficult’

|

W e d n e s d ay, d e c e m b e r 31, 2025

1cn

Echo Chambliss

Coach Weis talks ‘emotional’ decision to join Kiffin at LSU

Charlie Weis Jr. grew up in a football family, his famous father having been an NFL offensive coordinator and head coach at Notre Dame during a 40-year coaching career.

But when the younger Weis Scott was faced with Rabalais the rapid-fire decision of whether to follow Lane ä A look at Kiffin from Ole the Sugar Miss to LSU or Bowl QB stay and coach matchup. the Rebels, he drew a blank PAGE 3C when trying to think of someone’s experience to draw upon.

“I was thinking, ‘Hey, who has gone through something like this?’ ” Weis said Tuesday during the Allstate Sugar Bowl media day at the Sheraton New Orleans. “I mean, honestly, I don’t know anybody. When you’ve got to make decisions within one hour, it was extremely difficult.”

Ultimately, Weis got to do both, something denied Kiffin by the Ole Miss administration. While there was a report Tuesday from Yahoo Sports

ä See RABALAIS, page 3C

PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Ole Miss offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. talks with reporters during Allstate Sugar Bowl media day on Tuesday.

PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss answers a question during Allstate Sugar Bowl media day on Tuesday at the Sheraton Hotel in New Orleans. Chambliss and the No. 6 Rebels take on No. 3 Georgia in a College Football Playoff game on Thursday in the Sugar Bowl.

Despite surrounding noise about his 2026 status, Ole Miss QB focused on CFP

BY JEFF DUNCAN

ä Georgia

Trinidad Chambliss isn’t thinking about 2026 right now.

He has more pressing matters at hand, like trying to win a national championship for the Ole Miss Rebels.

But while the star quarterback focuses on the present, a rematch with Georgia in the Allstate Sugar Bowl quarterfinal game of the College Football Playoff on Thursday at the Caesars Superdome, his future hangs in the balance.

The outcome of his waiver re-

7 P.M.THURSDAy. ESPN

Staff writer

vs. Ole Miss.

quest to the NCAA for a sixth season of eligibility will be one of the biggest stories of the offseason, a transaction that directly will affect the 2026 SEC and CFP race. The immediate future of the Ole Miss football program — along with that of one of its main rivals, LSU, where former Rebels coach Lane Kiffin now resides — might hinge on the

Saints’ Olave coming up big

decision.

“I can’t put too much thought into that,” Chambliss said Tuesday during a Sugar Bowl media session at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown New Orleans. “I’m just focused on the game right now, but hopefully we’ll get an answer shortly after.”

Given Chambliss’ star power and potential free agent status, it was no surprise that he was the center of attention at the Sugar Bowl media event. A steady stream of reporters approached the podium during his one-hour session to inquire about the status of his waiver request.

Some, presumably from Mississippi markets, even apologized for having to repeatedly ask about it.

The genial and thoughtful Chambliss did his best to politely deflect questions about the topic and his future. But eventually, he opened up on the matter, saying he is confident he will be granted an extra year of football once the NCAA returns to business in early January.

“I feel like my case is very strong,” Chambliss said. “I don’t see a reason why they should

ä See CHAMBLISS, page 3C

Work pays off for LSU defense in win Tigers stifle USM in dominating victory

WR wrapping up strong season

BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

BY TOYLOY BROWN III

The numbers say a lot about what Chris Olave has meant to the ns Saints this season.

After another strong performance against the Tennessee Titans in which he caught eight passes for 119 yards and a touchdown — his third straight game with a scoring grab, and his second straight with more than 115 yards receiving — Olave ä Saints among the NFL leaders in recepat Falcons. ranks tions (100), receiving yards (1,163) and NOON SUNDAy, receiving touchdowns (nine).

FOX “He’s unbelievable, man,” quarterback Tyler Shough said. “I think his greatest strength is his steadiness. He shows up every single day.”

All are career highs for the No. 11 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. But considering what Olave has been through, they do not necessarily reflect what is truly important to him.

That may be better encapsulated by the number 16, as in 16 games played, which is exactly how many games his team has participated in this season. And it’s a safe bet that when the 17th game arrives Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, Olave will add to that total.

This is important because of his history.

“It’s going to be my first time in my NFL career playing 17 (games),” Olave said. “It means a lot. One of my main goals this year was to play all 17, playing through injuries, playing through all that. I’m super grateful.”

It was around this time last year that Olave was weighing his football mortality at 24 years old. He endured multiple concussions in his 2024 season, which was cut short by the final concussion in his eighth game.

Those injuries were not a new phenomenon, dating back to his college days at Ohio State.

Concussions are scary. Even as Olave has tried to

LSU basketball players were itching to return to the practice court after a few days off for Christmas break.

Coach Matt McMahon said his players’ excitement to get back to work stemmed from a desire to sharpen a defense that gave up a season-high 90 points against Prairie View on Dec. 22.

“I thought our guys came back from Christmas break really hungry,” the fourth-year coach said.

“I think there was some disappointment, some things that happened on the defensive side of the ball in our last game before the break.”

The heightened focus in that area before LSU’s final nonconference game produced the desired results as the team took down Southern Miss 90-62 on Monday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

Dedan Thomas said the coaching staff made defense a priority in practice.

“The coaches were really on us,” said Thomas, who had 22 points and 12 assists against Southern Miss. “Credit to (Prairie View), they made some really big shots. I mean, they really pushed us. So this whole week after the Christmas break, we

Staff writer

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO

Saints wide receiver Chris Olave pulls in a 19-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Shough in the third quarter against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday in Nashville, Tenn.

put them in the past, they have sometimes come to revisit him — as was the case earlier this season, when the Saints played in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the first time since the injury that ended his 2024 season.

Olave suddenly felt anxious when he took the field, a sensation he wasn’t prepared for that day. Thankfully, his support system was there to help ease him back to neutral, and he followed with a 104-yard effort in the win. “(My father) was out there solo in the stands by himself,” Olave said after that game. “I had to go talk to him pregame and just to loosen up my mind.

It helped me a lot.”

There have been other injuries. More of the regular, physically nagging ones.

He’s cropped up on the injury report with an ankle issue this season. He has had to navigate a back injury throughout this season, one that flared up late last week in the days before the game.

Normally, Olave tries to sleep in on game day, but

ä See OLAVE, page 5C

“I thought our guys came back from Christmas break really hungry.”

MATT McMAHON, LSU coach

ä LSU at Texas A&M. 3 P.M. SATURDAy, ESPNU

just knew that we had to prove that we’re actually a really good defensive team.

“I feel like we played a lot better at the 3-point line, especially.”

The defensive connectivity was evident on the perimeter and around the basket, as LSU allowed 30.6% shooting overall, 3 of 14 from the 3-point line and registered a season-high 11 blocks.

The biggest defensive star was center Mike Nwoko, who had a career-high five blocks to go along with 22 points and six rebounds.

“Probably my favorite stat from the game,” McMahon said of Nwoko’s five blocks. “We’ve really challenged him to provide that rim presence for us. (He) was really aggressive, coming over and fixing some things that went wrong for us on the defensive end. So I thought he was fantastic on both ends of the court, and that’s what we’re going to need as we go into SEC play.”

ä See LSU, page 4C

2C ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS On TV MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL 11 a.m. Wake Forest at NC State ESPN2 11 a.m. Tulane at East Carolina ESPNU 1 p.m.

Virginia at Virginia Tech ACCN 1 p.m.

Stony Brook at William CBSSN 1 p.m.

Clemson at Syracuse ESPN2 1 p.m.

Rice at Tulsa ESPNU 3 p.m.

Georgia Tech at Duke ACCN 3 p.m.

North Texas at Memphis ESPN2 3 p.m.

Wichita St. at UAB ESPNU 4 p.m.

UConn at Xavier PEACOCK

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DePaul at Villanova FS1 St. John’s at Georgetown FS1 WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL 11:30 a.m. Ohio St. at Purdue BTN 1 p.m.

UCLA at Penn St. PEACOCK 2 p.m.

UConn at Providence PEACOCK COLLEGE FOOTBALL 11 a.m. Iowa vs. Vanderbilt ESPN 1 p.m.

Arizona St. vs. Duke CBS 2 p.m.

Michigan vs. Texas ABC 2:30 p.m. Nebraska vs. Utah ESPN 6:30 p.m. Miami vs. Ohio St. ESPN

IN BRIEF

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BOYS IIHF HOCKEY noon Switzerland vs. Slovakia 2:30 p.m. Czechia vs. Latvia 5 p.m.

U.S. vs. Sweden 7:30 p.m. Canada vs. Finland NBA noon Golden State at Charlotte 2:30 p.m. Phoenix at Cleveland 6 p.m.

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NHLN NHLN NHLN NHLN NBATV NBATV NBATV WAFB FS2 FS2

Ohio St., Miami clash in Cotton Bowl

BY STEPHEN HAWKINS AP sportswriter

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Cotton Bowl has certainly gotten much more significant for Ohio State during three trips in a row to the game.

This time, the second-seeded Buckeyes (12-1) are defending national champions as they get ready to play College Football Playoff first-timer Miami (11-2, CFP No. 10 seed) in a quarterfinal game there Wednesday night. The Cotton Bowl last January was a CFP semifinal game when Ohio State beat Texas for the third of four wins needed last postseason for a sixth AP national title.

As for the first of those appearances in North Texas two years ago, that was the last season before the CFP expanded from four to 12 teams and when it wasn’t the Cotton Bowl’s turn as one of the playoff games. The Buckeyes arrived then coming off a regular season-ending loss to rival Michigan after a 10-0 start. Their starting quarterback (Kyle McCord) had transferred and NFL-bound All-American receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. opted out of playing in what was a 14-3 loss to Missouri.

“Just more stakes than the first game I’ve ever played in here. ...

Now it’s a bowl game with the playoffs on the line, so it just means more,” senior receiver Carnell Tate said Monday on the field at AT&T Stadium.

“It wasn’t CFP, so I felt like the job was not accomplished. We kind of fell short of our initial goal, and then when we played here, our quarterback ended up transferring. It was a whole lot of stuff going on,” senior cornerback Davison Igbinosun said. “It was definitely a tough game. It really didn’t feel like a typical Ohio State game, and then here last year and back in the playoffs, and that was a great game.”

Ohio State hasn’t played since losing 13-10 to No. 1 Indiana in the Big Ten Championship Game matchup of undefeated teams on Dec. 6, and still got a first-round bye.

Miami, which is 24 years removed from its last national title, made its CFP debut with a 10-3 win in the first round at No. 7 seed Texas A&M on Dec. 20. The Hurricanes made the 12-team playoff field even after not making the Atlantic Coast Conference title game

FRISCO, Texas — The Cowboys waived cornerback Trevon Diggs on Tuesday, ending a tumultuous final season a game early in a Dallas career that never lived up to the promise of a 2021 All-Pro performance that included 11 interceptions.

The move came five days before Dallas’ season finale Sunday at the New York Giants, with the Cowboys (7-8-1) already guaranteed to miss the playoffs for the second year in a row. Diggs will be a free agent after clearing waivers.

The season began with Diggs playing in the opener, earlier than expected coming off the recovery from his second major knee surgery in two years.

Diggs’ departure was a culmination of factors, including performance and off-field issues.

Patriots WR Diggs denies allegations in assault case

Patriots star Stefon Diggs is facing criminal charges in connection with an alleged assault and strangulation that the wide receiver “categorically denies,” according to the organization and multiple published reports.

“The New England Patriots are aware of the accusations that have been made regarding Stefon Diggs,” the organization said in a statement Tuesday morning. “Stefon has informed the organization that he categorically denies the allegations. We support Stefon.”

Diggs is charged with felony strangulation or suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery charges, according to court documents. An arraignment is set for Jan. 23, two days before the AFC championship.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JAy LAPRETE

Ohio State receiver Carnell Tate runs a route during a game on Oct. 4 in Columbus, Ohio. The reigning national champion Buckeyes face Miami on Wednesday in the CFP quarterfinals. ä Miami vs. Ohio State. 6:30 P.M.

QBs on championship teams

and that league’s champ (five-loss Duke) not getting a bid.

When the Hurricanes left Dallas after a 26-20 overtime loss at SMU on Nov. 1, their second loss in three games after a 5-0 start, they weren’t even sure they would make the playoff. Now they are back in Texas for their second playoff game in a row and with another five-game winning streak.

“That was a low point for us in the season, and in that locker room, it was as simple as a decision has to be made,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said Monday. “It came down to the simplicity of taking all the clips of us in our first five games and putting it on a reel and just letting it play. No audio, no one’s talking, no nothing. Just shut the lights, remind ourselves of who we are. And there’s nothing more powerful than the power of choice.”

Heisman Trophy finalist Julian Sayin with Ohio State and Miami’s Carson Beck have both been part of national championship teams.

Now the two most accurate FBS passers are trying to win a title as a starting quarterback.

Sayin was the Buckeyes backup last year behind Will Howard. Beck transferred to Miami after being at Georgia from 2020-24, when he was a youngster on the Bulldogs’ backto-back national championship teams in 2021 and 2022 — he did get some late snaps in that second title game, a 65-7 romp over TCU. The Cotton Bowl will be the first CFP game for Sayin, the sophomore who has thrown for 3,323 yards with 31 TDs and six interceptions. He has completed 78.4% of his passes (279 of 356). Beck made his first CFP start going 14-of-20 for 103 yards and a touchdown on a windy day in College Station. He has completed 74.5% of his passes (277 of 372) for 3,175 yards, 26 TDs

WEDNESDAy, ESPN.

and 10 interceptions.

Back-to-back chances Miami’s last shot at back-to-back national championships ended in a double-overtime loss to Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 3, 2003, before most of the current players were born and the only other time these teams have met in a bowl game.

Ohio State, which won the first CFP national championship at AT&T Stadium at the end of the 2014 season, is now trying to win consecutive national titles for the first time. The Buckeyes are in their seventh CFP overall, and are the only team to appear in five of the last seven — all of those since Ryan Day became their head coach.

The only other time the Hurricanes played in the Cotton Bowl was at the end of the 1990 season, their last as an independent before moving to the Big East. They beat Texas 46-3 in Cotton Bowl Stadium.

Michigan prepares for Longhorns amid turmoil ä Michigan vs. Texas. 2 P.M.

BY PHILIP ROSSMAN-REICH

Associated Press

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Michigan Wolverines’ present and future were in the same hotel room Sunday morning. Bringing those two together will be the big challenge in the coming months.

The shadow around the program has centered on the firing of head coach Sherrone Moore on Dec. 10 for what the school said was an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.

The team had to push on and prepare for the Citrus Bowl matchup Wednesday against No. 14 Texas amid all the changes.

“We talk about always being a player-led team, and, obviously, it sucks to have our leader go out,” running back Jordan Marshall said, “but I truly believe everything happens for a reason, and we will get stronger from that moment.”

No. 18 Michigan hired former Utah coach Kyle Whittingham and introduced him Sunday. He met with his new team briefly at their Orlando hotel Saturday.

With all the noise, the Wolverines are trying to focus on the game.

“I have one job right now, and that is what (athletic director) Warde (Manuel) told me to do, is to love and care for the kids,” Michigan interim coach Biff Poggi said last week before Whittingham’s hire.

“Right now, it’s not about winning a game, it’s not about auditioning, it’s about focusing on these kids

Cowboys waive CB Diggs, ending career with Dallas

WEDNESDAy, ABC.

Wolverines are slated to travel to Austin in 2027.

Coaching change

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By STEPHEN SPILLMAN

Texas quarterback Arch Manning looks for a receiver during a game against Texas A&M on Nov. 28 in Austin, Texas.

it going. I feel like I have a lot more football left to play, and excited to QB battle still be part of this team.”

Michigan freshman Bryce UnThe highlight of the Citrus Bowl will be the battle of the quarter- derwood threw for 2,229 yards, nine touchdowns and six intercepbacks.

Arch Manning led Texas to a 9-3 tions, adding 323 yards rushing and record in his first year as a starter, five rushing touchdowns. finishing with 2,942 yards passing, 24 touchdowns and seven intercep- Battle of blue bloods tions. He announced he will return Michigan and Texas are two of to Texas next season, foregoing the the most-decorated programs in college football. But they have met NFL draft.

“I felt like I developed a lot this only twice before. year, especially towards the back Texas won both matchups, the half,” Manning said. “I want to keep last 31-12 at Michigan in 2024. The

and their families.”

Texas is undergoing its own coaching change.

The Longhorns fired defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski, among other coaches, and hired former Florida and South Carolina coach Will Muschamp to replace him.

The Longhorns finished eighth in the SEC in total defense, giving up 335.7 yards per game.

Linebackers coach Johnny Nansen will serve as the defensive coordinator for the Citrus Bowl.

Opt-outs As has become the norm in college football bowl games, both teams will have several key optouts from the game.

Michigan will be without leading pass rushers Derrick Moore and Jaishawn Barham, who are opting out to prepare for the NFL draft.

Texas will be without leading rusher Quintrevion Wisner and second-leading receiver Deandre Moore Jr., who will both enter the transfer portal. Texas linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. and defensive back Michael Taaffe will also opt out to prepare for the NFL draft.

LIV Golf still waiting on world-ranking decision

LIV Golf will end the year with no decision whether the Official World Golf Ranking will approve the 54-man league to receive ranking points like golf’s other tours around the world.

The OWGR also said tournaments that are played over 54 holes or even 36 holes will have a reduction in points compared with standard 72-hole events.

OWGR chairman Trevor Immelman had said two weeks ago one hurdle was the vast majority of LIV players were invited to join instead of earning their way, as is the case with the other 24 tours that are part of the OWGR system.

An update sent Wednesday said only that the board continues to evaluate the application the Saudifunded league submitted in June.

Southern hires ex-LSU staff member as assistant

Marshall Faulk plans to hire LSU staff member Aman Anand as the special teams coordinator on his Southern coaching staff, a source confirmed to The Advocate.

Anand was a senior special teams analyst at LSU this past season after joining the program in January. He has previous coaching experience at Southwestern Athletic Conference schools Grambling and Texas Southern.

Anand was not retained by new LSU coach Lane Kiffin, who hired Joe Houston as his special teams coordinator. Houston spent the past two seasons at Florida.

Anand spent the 2024 season as the special teams coordinator at Grambling. That year, Grambling led the SWAC in kickoff return yardage.

Marlins acquire outfielder Ruiz from Dodgers trade

LOS ANGELES — The Miami Marlins acquired outfielder Esteury Ruiz from the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night in a trade for minor league right-hander Adriano Marrero.

The speedy Ruiz led the American League with 67 stolen bases for the Athletics in 2023. He is a career .241 hitter during four major league seasons with four teams, but excels as a baserunner and a defender.

The Dodgers acquired Ruiz from the A’s last April, and he was a little-used reserve when he was in the majors for the back-to-back World Series champions. Ruiz batted .190 in 19 games for Los Angeles, largely playing as a defensive replacement or a pinch runner.

The Marlins designated infielder Eric Wagaman for assignment to make room on their 40-man roster.

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The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ 3C

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Sugar Bowl QBs seized their moments

BY LES EAST

Contributing writer It was less than 13 months ago that Gunner Stockton was an understudy as a Georgia quarterback.

At the same time, Trinidad Chambliss was leading Ferris State to the Division II national championship.

No one could have foreseen then that Stockton would be leading the Bulldogs and Chambliss would be leading Ole Miss into a CFP quarterfinal in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Thursday night in the Caesars Superdome.

“I don’t think anyone had that on their bingo card,” Chambliss said with a smile at Sugar Bowl nedia day on Tuesday.

Both quarterbacks seized their opportunities, evolved throughout this season and are primary reasons why the No. 3-seeded Bulldogs and No. 6-seeded Rebels are competing for a CFP championship.

Georgia was grooming Stockton, then a redshirt sophomore, to eventually succeed Carson Beck as the starting quarterback, but Beck suffered an injury to his throwing arm on the final play of the first half of the 2024 SEC championship game with the Bulldogs trailing Texas 6-3.

“We realized at halftime that Gunner was going to be our guy,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said.

“And as much as you say: ‘Well, he’s new, he hasn’t done it, woe is me’, you say there’s a reward in this, and the reward is the experience you get moving forward.”

Stockton experienced quite a bit in a short period of time. He guided the Bulldogs to a touch-

PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Gunner Stockton talks with reporters during the Allstate Sugar Bowl media day at the Sheraton Hotel of New Orleans on Tuesday. down on the first possession of the third quarter, and they ultimately prevailed against Texas 22-19 in overtime.

Beck was unavailable for the CFP and Stockton made his first start against Notre Dame in last year’s Sugar Bowl quarterfinal, but Stockton’s first start didn’t go according to plan.

The game was postponed from Jan. 1 to Jan. 2 after the deadly terrorist attack on Bourbon Street early on New Year’s morning. “(There was) just a bunch of uncertainty,” Stockton said, “and we really didn’t know what was going on, so it was crazy last year.”

CHAMBLISS

Continued from page 1C deny it, quite frankly. I mean, I have a lot to back up what I’m stating, what I’m putting in front of them, so it’s just up to the NCAA.” Chambliss’ case is complicated.

That’s why he recently hired prominent attorney Tom Mars to handle it.

Mars has extensive experience in NCAA eligibility cases and is an expert at navigating the thicket of mindnumbing NCAA bylaws and byzantine legalese.

Ole Miss filed a waiver petition for Chambliss to receive a sixth year of eligibility Nov. 16. He is seeking a medical redshirt for the 2022 season when he was at Ferris State, an NCAA Division II program in Michigan, where he started his collegiate playing career after taking a traditional redshirt season in 2021.

Chambliss said he was unable to play games in 2022 because of a respiratory condition that ultimately led to surgery to remove his tonsils.

ESPN reported last week that there were indications the NCAA needed more information before making a decision.

Chambliss’ representatives reportedly submitted 91 pages of medical records to the NCAA to substantiate his case.

RABALAIS

Continued from page 1C that Kiffin was considering attending the Sugar Bowl with his new local bestie, Gov. Jeff Landry, Weis on Thursday is coaching Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl, site of its College Football Playoff quarterfinal showdown against Georgia. When the Rebels’ run ends, Weis will do a Clark Kent phone booth wardrobe change and join Kiffin full-time at LSU. “It’s been really emotional and really difficult. But it felt really good after we beat Tulane,” Weis said, referring to Ole Miss’ 41-10 victory Dec. 20 in Oxford. “It kind of felt like a little bit of a release, like, ‘OK, I’m glad I’m here, getting to coach the team, getting to be here for the players.’

“This is everything I dreamed of when I got into the coaching profession.”

Weis’ days are spent game-planning and practicing. Nights are spent recruiting for LSU. The controversial college football calendar delivers a doubleheader of enormous proportions with the CFP quarterfinals followed by Friday’s start of the twoweek transfer portal. Those 14 days largely will define the kind of team LSU will have in 2026.

Weis is one of six Ole Miss staff members who chose to follow Kiffin to LSU but are still coaching the Rebels through the playoffs. The others are running backs coach Kevin Smith, tight ends coach Joe Cox, receivers coaches George McDonald and Sawyer Jordan, and assistant

Stockton passed for 234 yards and a touchdown, but No. 2-seeded Georgia lost to the No. 7-seeded Fighting Irish 23-10.

“He capitalized on that experience,” Smart said. “He got a ton of bowl practice. He got to develop earlier. He played against one of the top defenses in the country in this game, and he’s gotten better.

“He’s the leader of our team.

He’s the guy, the catalyst that makes us go with his legs and his arm, and the players play hard for him.”

Stockton finished seventh in voting for the Heisman Trophy, one spot ahead of Chambliss. Stock-

ton has completed 70.7% of his passes for 2,691 yards, 23 touchdowns and five interceptions. He has rushed for 442 yards and eight touchdowns.

“I didn’t have that much confidence (last season),” Stockton said. “It’s crazy how much I’ve grown in a year. I feel more comfortable and more confident.”

Chambliss showed his confidence by entering the transfer portal after experiencing a third national championship in four seasons at Delta State, though his first as a starter.

Ole Miss coach Pete Golding said he noticed “a quiet confidence” in

Mars reportedly sent Ole Miss a seven-page letter, which has since been forwarded by the school to the NCAA Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement, which will decide Chambliss’ fate. At stake for Chambliss, according to Mars’ letter, are millions of dollars as one of the top returning quarterbacks in college football next season.

“I feel like I deserve another year,” Chambliss said. “I’ve only played three seasons of college football, and I feel like I deserve to play four.”

Chambliss finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting this season after leading Ole Miss to one of the most successful seasons in school history.

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound senior completed 66.6% of his passes and threw for 19 touchdowns while rushing for 506 yards and eight touchdowns.

He passed for a touchdown and ran for two more in a 41-10 victory over Tulane in the CFP first round.

Before that game, he told reporters in Mississippi that he hasn’t decided where he will attend college if his waiver request is successful.

“I’d have to consider what the best situation is for me,” he said. “What I feel most comfortable with. Who I trust the most.”

Ole Miss is expected to fight hard to keep him. But LSU, which will have a wide-open quarterback situation in the wake of Garrett Nussmeier’s

departure, also will be interested. In addition to Kiffin, the Tigers will have Chambliss’ current offensive coordinator, Charlie Weis Jr., on staff next season.

Chambliss said he has not communicated with Kiffin since he left Ole Miss for LSU last month. He said his parents and representatives also were not talking to the Tigers new head coach.

“I don’t think that’s even allowed right now,” he said. “I liked coach Kiffin a lot. I didn’t have a problem with him. He brought me in here, took a chance on me, recruited me in the portal. So yeah, I mean, I hope that me and coach Kiffin’s relationship grows from here on out.”

Meantime, Chambliss’ future will continue to dominate discussions at water coolers and online message boards throughout the region.

Chambliss laughed incredulously when asked whether he was aware of the interest his situation has created among fans and media.

He said he regularly receives texts and direct messages on social media about the situation. As much as he tries to tune it out, he said the outreach is impossible to ignore.

“For sure,” he said. “People text me, DM me. So yeah, I definitely get texts about that.”

He was asked whether a lot of those texts are coming from LSU fans.

“A lot of fans have texted me,” he said with a smile.

“It’s been really emotional and really difficult. But it felt really good after we beat Tulane. It kind of felt like a little bit of a release, like, ‘OK, I’m glad I’m here, getting to coach the team, getting to be here for the players.’ ”

nearly 500 yards total offense.

Weis explained that he’s called most of the plays under Kiffin since 2019 at FAU, though Kiffin is always highly involved in the process.

“A lot of it is maybe before the series,” Weis said. “He’s just got such an unbelievable feel for the game, too. He’s got moments where he sees something, recognizes it and says, ‘Hey, Charlie, get to this.’ It’s certainly a collaborative effort, for sure.”

Weis emphasized more than once that the decision to follow Kiffin to LSU instead of staking it out on his own was a difficult one.

“But at the end of the day, you know, I think I owe a lot to coach Kiffin and the things he’s given to me in my career,” Weis said. “He’s brought me along and given me opportunities to come here to Ole Miss and Alabama. And we just have a really good relationship. We have a system that kind of works. I was excited to continue to do that.”

Yes, it kind of works, all right. Like Pontchartrain is kind of a lake. The Rebels rank second nationally averaging 498 yards per game and 10th with 37.5 points per game.

In the end, the opportunity to run the offense at LSU was the clincher for Weis.

“It’s been incredible just to see the resources available at LSU and the things that they have to help us build the best coaching staff and the best roster that we possibly can put together to go bring a championship,” Weis said. “I played in Tiger Stadium a bunch of times and not won many games there. So it’s exciting to be able to go to a place like that.”

CHARLIE WEIS JR., Ole Miss offensive coordinator quarterbacks coach Dane Stevens.

“At the end of the day, you find a way to do your job,” Smith said. “My priority is LSU, but my job is to finish this run with these players, and I’m going to do what I said I was going to do.

“It may be a little unorthodox, but you just find a way to get it done.

Coach Kiffin has been really good about it. Pete (Golding, the new Ole Miss head coach) has been really good about it. We’re here and we’re focused on winning this next game.”

A total of 19 coaches, staff members and support personnel — including Kiffin and now former LSU interim coach Frank Wilson — have swapped sides of the border between the Tigers and Rebels. Players are certain to be trading allegiances as well once the green flag drops on the portal window.

Both Weis and Smith started coaching with Kiffin at Florida Atlantic — Smith in 2017, Weis in 2018 — before following him to Ole Miss. There was plenty of speculation as to how Weis would perform as a play-caller against Tulane while working without the Kiffin net, but the Rebels piled up

Chambliss when he arrived.

“He didn’t say a lot,” Golding said. “He just kept his head down and worked extremely hard, was preparing for his opportunity.”

Chambliss said he didn’t know what that opportunity would be because the Rebels had been grooming Austin Simmons to be their starter for two years.

“I knew Austin was their guy at the beginning of (preseason camp),” Chambliss said. “I had to compete for that job. I was going to put my best foot forward and stay locked in all the meetings and the most attentive in the meetings and see where the chips fall.”

Golding, who was promoted from defensive coordinator after head coach Lane Kiffin left for LSU last month, noticed that Chambliss’ “competitive character” was “out of this world” when the newcomer led the second-team offense against the first-team defense in scrimmages.

Simmons injured an ankle at the end of a win at Kentucky in the second game of the season, and Chambliss started the next week against Arkansas. He has completed 66.7% of his passes for 3,298 yards, 19 touchdowns and three interceptions. He has rushed for 506 yards and eight touchdowns.

“I think it speaks volumes of his confidence,” Golding said, “to know, ‘Hey, I’m going to come in here, I’m going to learn it, and whenever I get my opportunity, however that comes, I’m going to be ready for it and not lose it.’ And that’s what he did.”

“Sometimes I’ve got to pinch myself,” Chambliss said, “and realize, ‘Dude, you’re at Ole Miss, you’re playing in the SEC,’ and now I’m at the Sugar Bowl.”

Louisiana Tech rallies for a win in Independence Bowl Associated Press

Music City Bowl

Trey Kukuk followed his fourth-quarter touchdown pass with a big run to set up Andrew Burnette’s go-ahead plunge in a 17-point fourth quarter, and Louisiana Tech rallied to beat Coastal Carolina 23-14 on Tuesday to win the Independence Bowl in Shreveport.

Louisiana Tech (8-5) trailed 14-6 heading to the fourth quarter before Kukuk and Marlion Jackson teamed up for a 52-yard score on a firstdown pass. The two-point pass failed and Louisiana Tech trailed 14-12 with 11:45 remaining.

Louisiana Tech forced a punt that Dedrick Latulas returned 25 yards to the Chanticleers’ 49-yard line before an unnecessary roughness penalty was tacked on. Kukuk raced 29 yards to the 5 on first down, and Burnette ran it in from a yard out two plays later. Kukuk passed to Burnette for two points for a 20-14 lead with 8:09 remaining.

Tad Hudson threw a 20yard touchdown pass to Dominic Knicely in the first quarter and a 16-yarder to Robby Washington in the second to put the Chanticleers up 14-3 at halftime.

Louisiana Tech improves to 9-5-1 in 15 bowl games. Coastal Carolina fell to 2-4 in six appearances, all since 2020.

ILLINOIS 30, TENNESSEE 28: In Nashville, Tennessee, David Olano kicked a 29-yard field goal as time expired as Illinois beat Tennessee in the Music City Bowl.

Illinois (9-4) posted the first back-to-back nine-win seasons in program history along with winning the first game between these programs.

Olano’s winning kick was his third field goal of the game. Luke Altmyer threw for 196 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score. Leon Lowery recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown, and Illinois had four sacks.

Tennessee (8-5) finishes the season having lost two straight and held to a seasonlow 278 yards of total offense.

The Vols also missed out on a fourth straight season with at least nine wins.

The Fighting Illini helped the Big Ten stay undefeated this bowl season, improving to 6-0.

Tennessee trailed by as many as 10 points twice but took a 28-27 lead when Joakim Dodson returned a kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown with 4:58 left.

Illinois smothered a Tennessee offense that ranked inside the top 10 nationally for yards per game.

Notice is hereby given pursuant to Article 7, Section 23(C) of the Louisiana Constitution and R.S. 47:1705(B) that a public hearing of Central Community School System in East Baton Rouge Parish will be held at its regular meeting place in the School Board Conference room of the School Board Office, located at 11576 Sullivan Road, City of Central, LA 70818 on Monday, February 9, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. to consider levying additional or increased millage rates without further voter approval by adopting the adjusted millage rates after reassessment and rolling forward to rates not to exceed the prior year’s maximum. The estimated amount of tax revenues to be collected in the next year from the increased millage is $9,716,297 and the amount of increase in taxes attributable to the millage increase is $ 952,892.

4C ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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BASKETBALL Top Pelicans stories of 2025 weren’t pretty I apologize to any New Orleans Pelicans fans reading this.

I’m pretty certain you don’t want to relive 2025 all over again. It’s been a rough year, and that’s putting it nicely.

The Pelicans play one more game in 2025, a New Year’s Eve road tilt against Rod the Chicago Bulls.

Walker But before we flip the calendar to 2026, let’s look back at the topfive stories for the Pelicans in what was a year of change.

1. Griffin’s firing STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

Southern coach Carlos Funchess will turn his attention to SWAC play as the Jaguars open league action Thursday by hosting Prairie View.

Southern women ready to take on SWAC foes

BY CHARLES SALZER Contributing writer

As the Southern women’s basketball team gets ready to defend its Southwestern Athletic Conference regular-season title, the Jaguars coaching staff has a simple message for its team: It’s go time.

Southern (4-7) finished a tough nonconference schedule before Christmas with a two-game trip to Texas. The trip featured competitive losses at No. 22 Baylor and SMU. Now the Jaguars will turn their attention to league play.

“We had a message for the team after the SMU game,” Southern coach Carlos Funchess said. “Now it’s money time. Now it’s time to go win a championship, and it started as soon as we got back. We want to, hopefully, start building toward regular-season and tournament championships.”

The road to a conference championship will begin Thursday when Southern hosts Prairie View at 2 p.m. at the F.G. Clark Activity Center. The Panthers (2-9) are in their first season under coach Tai Dillard, a former Houston assistant. Southern completes its first week of conference play at 2:30 p.m. Saturday against Texas Southern.

“We’ll take it one game at a time,” Funchess said. “We just want to be ready for Prairie View. We’ll get back to basics and just try to be ready for that one.”

Funchess’ approach emphasizes defense, and he always goes deep into his bench to keep his players fresh. The Jaguars have 10 players who average 14 or more minutes per game.

Sophomore post player DeMya Porter has emerged as one of the leaders, averaging a team-best 9.9

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Southern forward DeMya Porter is fouled by Prairie View’s Nyam Thornton on Feb. 15 at the F.G. Clark Activity Center. Porter has emerged as a leader for the Jaguars, averaging 9.9 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. ä Prairie View at Southern.

2 P.M.THURSDAy

points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

Jaylia Reed has made 24 3-pointers and averages 8.4 points, and Zaria Hurston adds 8.2 points. Jocelyn Tate, who leads the team in steals and is second in assists, has averages of 6.7 points and 5.0 rebounds.

Prairie View offense is not as balanced as Southern, but the Panthers will bring in the SWAC’s top two scorers. C.J. Wilson averages 15.7 points while Crystal Schultz scores 15.5. Wilson also pulls down 6.8 rebounds.

Southern is coming off of a pair of losses in which the Jaguars took

early leads only to trail throughout the last three quarters.

“I thought in the Baylor game (a 77-60 loss), we were in it but we gave up too many offensive boards,” Funchess said. “They’re a quality opponent. At the time, I think they were No. 15 in the country, but we were solid.”

Baylor had 18 offensive boards and outrebounded Southern 45-34.

Reed made three 3-pointers and led Southern with 11 points, while Porter and Jestiny Dixon each scored 10. Defensively, Southern had 10 steals and forced 19 turnovers.

SMU defeated Southern 74-62 by answering every run the Jaguars could muster.

SEC standings Vanderbilt Georgia LSU Alabama Arkansas Missouri Oklahoma Texas A&M Tennessee Auburn Florida Kentucky Texas South Carolina Mississippi State Ole Miss

Conference All games W L Pct. W L Pct. 0 0 .000 13 0 1.000 0 0 .000 12 1 .923 0 0 .000 12 1 .923 0 0 .000 10 3 .769 0 0 .000 10 3 .769 0 0 .000 10 3 .769 0 0 .000 10 3 .769 0 0 .000 10 3 .769 0 0 .000 9 3 .750 0 0 .000 9 4 .692 0 0 .000 9 4 .692 0 0 .000 9 4 .692 0 0 .000 9 4 .692 0 0 .000 8 4 .667 0 0 .000 8 5 .615 0 0 .000 8 5 .615

STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

LSU guards Rashad King, left, and Jalen Reece defend against Southern Miss guard Chiante’ Tramble on Monday night at the PMAC. LSU, which a big play.

“They beat us baseline. I think a week ago that would have been a layup against our team, but Mike Nwoko came over and did a great job off the baseline and sealing it off, and Max made the perfect ro-

tation that got us that breakaway layup.”

LSU isn’t satisfied with just one good defensive performance. The Tigers want to carry it over to 2026 when Southeastern Conference play begins.

coach. One of the biggest stories in 2026 will be what Dumars decides to do with the position. Will he stick with Borrego or bring in his own guy?

Green, who was just starting his fifth season, finished with a 150-190 record. He went 23-77 in his last 100 games. He wasn’t dealt the best hand as injuries plagued his teams year after year. But in the end, it wasn’t just that the Pelicans were losing, but more about how they were losing.

4. Bringing Zion back One of the first big decisions Dumars made came in his first month on the job. That’s when he made it clear that his plan was to continue building around Zion Williamson.

The first six seasons of Williamson’s career in New Orleans had been plagued by injuries. In fact, he played in just 214 of a possible 472 games since coming to New Orleans. Many people were ready to move on from Williamson, but Dumars wasn’t one of them.

“Expectations. Accountability.

That’s our plan going forward with Zion,” Dumars said about Williamson back in May. Williamson entered this season in the best shape of his career, but he’s played in just 18 out of 34 games this season. The rest of this season will tell us a lot about Williamson and his future in New Orleans.

5. Draft night

In a search that was as fast as the time it takes Jeremiah Fears to get from one end of the court to the other, Benson hired Louisiana native and Hall of Famer Joe Dumars to replace Griffin.

Dumars was named the new executive vice president of basketball operations just two days after Griffin’s dismissal.

It was clear that Benson and her staff already had their guy picked out. Dumars’ name had come up in the past in reports about taking over the front office. Now it’s up to him to bring some success to New Orleans like he did in Detroit when he was an executive in the early 2000s.

The Pelicans selected Fears, a guard from Oklahoma, with the No. 7 pick. They were scheduled to pick again at No. 23, but Dumars and his assistant Troy Weaver saw someone they coveted and moved up to get him, giving up a lot in the process.

The Pels traded up with the Atlanta Hawks to draft Derik Queen, a versatile forward from Maryland.

In exchange, the Pelicans gave up their first round pick for 2026. It’s a move that has been heavily scrutinized and rightfully so. Fortunately for the Pelicans, Queen has been better than most thought. It took him just 25 games to record his first triple-double.

The Pelicans also drafted Micah Peavy, whose strength is his ability on the defensive end, in the second round. It’s a draft class that could help make sure the Pelicans’ future isn’t quite as gloomy as 2025 was to them.

3. Green’s firing Seven months after firing Griffin, the Pelicans fired head coach Willie Green. Dumars gave Green just 12 games before making a change. The Pelicans started the season 2-10 and Dumars had seen enough.

He named assistant coach James Borrego the interim head

Email Rod Walker at rwalker@ theadvocate.com.

Nuggets star Jokic out with knee injury AP basketball writer

Continued from page 1C

6 P.M.WEDNESDAy,WAFB

2. Hiring of Dumars

BY TIM REYNOLDS

LSU

Nwoko, a Mississippi State transfer, was asked about his five blocks in 26 minutes.

“I was just jumping, to be honest,” he said. “I kind of just went up and blocked the ball. There really wasn’t much to it, and shout out to my guys, they really put me in a position to go up and block those shots.

They weren’t fouling, so I was able to go up there and get the ball and block it.”

Max Mackinnon also raised his defensive level, as the 6-foot-6 guard was active as a team defender. His best moment was a passing-lane steal that he took to the other end for a layup.

“It was a great rotation that he made,” McMahon said. “That was

Change starts at the top. A day after the Pelicans finished one of the worst seasons in franchise history, Gayle Benson fired executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin.

“This was a difficult decision, but one that I feel is necessary at this time to bring a fresh approach to our front office and build a culture that will deliver sustainable success, on and off the court,” Benson said April 14.

Griffin spent six seasons running the show in New Orleans.

There were some highs (like the 49-win season) and some lows (like last year’s 21-win season).

Griffin’s first draft pick was Zion Williamson, an obvious No. 1 choice back in 2019. Griffin also was responsible for bringing in key pieces such as Herb Jones, Trey Murphy and Jose Alvarado.

But the Pels never could put it all together on a consistent basis.

ä Pelicans at Bulls.

MIAMI — Nikola Jokic is only going to miss a few weeks, which is surely cause for the Denver Nuggets to take a giant sigh of relief.

The Nuggets’ superstar center was diagnosed with a hyperextended left knee, the team said Tuesday, adding that the threetime MVP will be re-evaluated in four weeks.

It’s an obvious blow to the already short-handed Nuggets — but is not a season-ending issue nor one that would require surgical repair. If Jokic misses a month, that means he would be sidelined for about 16 games but could be playing again before February’s NBA All-Star Game.

The 6-foot-11 Jokic — considered by many to be the best player in the world right now — got hurt with about three seconds left in the first half of Denver’s 147-123 loss in Miami on Monday night.

Jokic entered Tuesday ranked fifth in the NBA in scoring this season at 29.6 points per game, plus leads the league with averages of 12.2 rebounds and 11 assists per contest. The only other player in NBA history to aver-

age at least 12 rebounds and 11 assists over a full season was Oscar Robertson for the Cincinnati Royals in 1961-62.

“Obviously, it’s part of the game,” Nuggets guard Jamal Murray said Monday night after the game — speaking before the team got the word on the severity of Jokic’s injury. “But we never want to see it happen. ...

Next man up. We’ve got to focus on what’s in here.”

Denver has five games left on a seven-game road trip, one that resumes Wednesday when the Nuggets visit the Toronto Raptors.

Jokic was alone under the basket and appeared to step forward to help Denver’s Spencer Jones defend a drive by Miami’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. as time was about to expire in the second quarter. While backtracking, Jones stepped on Jokic’s left foot and it seemed the center’s knee buckled a bit.

Jokic collapsed to the court, grabbing at the knee. He was helped to his feet, then made his way to the locker room under his own power but with a pronounced limp.

Denver has been playing without three would-be starters in Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun and Cam Johnson.

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ 5C

lll

Strong local flavor among HOF finalists List includes Brees, Evans, Manning, Wayne

BY JEFF DUNCAN Staff writer

The Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026 could have a strong New Orleans flavor.

Four of the 15 modern-era finalists announced by Hall of Fame officials Tuesday have local ties, including former New Orleans Saints standouts Drew Brees and Jahri Evans, and New Orleans natives Eli Manning and Reggie Wayne.

Joining the quartet in the finalist group are: n Seven players — Willie Anderson, Torry Holt, Luke Kuechly, Adam Vinatieri, Terrell Suggs, Darren Woodson and Marshal Yanda — who advanced to the finalist stage a year ago. n Three candidates in their first year of eligibility in Larry Fitzgerald, Frank Gore and Jason Witten. n Kevin Williams, a defensive tackle who played his final season in New Orleans in 2015, is a finalist for the first time in his sixth year of eligibility.

The 15 finalists will be considered for induction by a 50-member selection committee at its annual meeting prior to Super Bowl LX. Finalists must receive at least 80% support from the selection committee to join the Class of 2026. The Class of 2026 will be an-

Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026 modern-era finalists Offense (10) QB (2): Drew Brees, Eli Manning RB (1): Frank Gore WR (3): Larry Fitzgerald, Torry Holt, Reggie Wayne TE (1): Jason Witten OL (3): Willie Anderson, Jahri Evans, Marshal Yanda Defense (4) DB (1): Darren Woodson LB (2): Luke Kuechly, Terrell Suggs (also DE) DL (1): Kevin Williams Special teams (1) K (1): Adam Vinatieri

nounced at the NFL Honors show Feb. 5 in San Francisco.

Five other finalists — Ken Anderson, Roger Craig and L.C. Greenwood (seniors); Bill Belichick (coach); and Robert Kraft (contributor) — also are candidates for the Class of 2026. Voting on these five is conducted separately as its own group distinct from the modern-era players. A minimum of one person and a maximum of three from these combined categories may be elected under the Hall’s current bylaws.

Brees is trying to become the first Saints player to be elected on the first ballot of his Hall of Fame candidacy. He would join Rickey Jackson (Class of 2010), Willie Roaf (2012), Morten Andersen (2017) and Sam Mills (2022) on the list of Hall of Famers who played the majority of their careers in New Orleans.

Brees led the Saints to their only

Super Bowl title in 2009 and is the only player in club history to win the league’s Offensive Player of the Year Award, which he did in 2008 and 2011. He was a 13-time Pro Bowler and retired as the NFL career leader in completion percentage at 67.7%. His 80,358 career yards passing rank second to Tom Brady.

For 11 seasons, Evans anchored one of the most prolific offenses in NFL history and became one of the most decorated offensive linemen ever for the Saints. He was named to the NFL All-Decade Team for the 2010s and earned first-team All-Pro honors four times. He was inducted into the Saints Ring of Honor last season.

Evans has been a finalist the last three years.

Manning passed for more than 57,000 yards and 366 touchdowns during his 16-year career with the Giants. A first-round draft pick in 2004 out of Ole Miss by the thenSan Diego Chargers, Manning was quickly traded to the Giants, where he led the club to six playoff appearances, three NFC East titles and two Super Bowl wins.

Manning, a former Isidore Newman standout, was a finalist last year, his first year of eligibility.

He is trying to join older brother Peyton to become the first set of brothers to be inducted into the

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL DeMOCKER

Giants quarterback Eli Manning and Saints quarterback Drew Brees talk after the Saints beat the Giants 33-18 on Sept. 30, 2018, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Both players are finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026.

Hall of Fame. Peyton Manning was inducted in 2021.

Wayne, who starred at John Ehret High School, is a finalist for the seventh consecutive year. He had 14,345 yards on 1,070 receptions with 82 touchdowns for the Colts from 2001-14. He ranks 10th alltime in both receiving yards and receptions, and was a six-time Pro Bowler. He earned first-team AP All-Pro honors in 2010. He didn’t miss a game between 2002-12, and his streak of 189 consecutive

games played is the third-longest by a wide receiver in NFL history.

The Class of 2026 can consist of three to five modern-era players under the Hall of Fame’s bylaws.

In addition to 15 modern-era finalists, the selection committee will discuss three senior finalists, a coach finalist and a contributor finalist as potential members of the Class of 2026.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026 will be enshrined in August.

NCAA tries to clarify eligibility stance

By The Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA said Tuesday it would not grant eligibility to any player who had signed an NBA contract after Baylor’s midseason addition of a 2023 draft pick who had been playing professionally in Europe prompted criticism from coaches across college basketball.

The Bears announced the signing of 7-footer James Nnaji of Nigeria on Christmas Eve. He could make his debut Saturday in Baylor’s Big 12 opener at TCU. Nnaji was the first pick of the second round, 31st overall, by the Detroit Pistons 21/2 years ago.

His draft rights have since been traded to Boston, then Charlotte and most recently the New York Knicks in October 2024.

The 21-year-old Nnaji, who was playing in Europe before he was drafted, hasn’t been on an NBA roster. He was 18 when he was drafted.

International players with varying backgrounds, including professional leagues, have played college basketball for years. With players now getting paid under name, image and likeness deals, college teams have added players from the NBA’s developmental G League.

The NCAA said players wouldn’t be eligible if they signed regular NBA contracts or two-way deals that involve G League affiliates.

But the association said that won’t necessarily apply to G League

players without NBA deals, or other professional leagues in the U.S. and elsewhere.

“As schools are increasingly recruiting individuals with international league experience, the NCAA is exercising discretion in applying the actual and necessary expenses bylaw to ensure that prospective student-athletes with experience in American basketball leagues are not at a disadvantage compared to their international counterparts,” NCAA president Charlie Baker said in a statement released by the association. “Rules have long permitted schools to enroll and play individuals with no prior collegiate experience midyear.”

Arkansas coach John Calipari said he wasn’t criticizing Baylor’s Scott Drew or others trying to add players amid a shifting college landscape. But he said a rule should clearly disqualify any NBA draft pick.

“I don’t blame coaches,” Calipari said. “Let me give you this, real simple ... If you put your name in the draft — I don’t care if you’re from Russia — and you stay in the draft, you can’t play college basketball. Well, that’s only for American kids. What? If your name is in that draft and you got drafted, you can’t play, because that’s our rule. But that’s only for American kids. OK.” Drew defended the move by pointing to other undrafted international players who are playing college basketball right now. Nas-

tja Claessens, a 2024 third-round WNBA draft pick, is averaging 10.6 points in 11 games for the Kansas State women this season.

“Until we get to collective bargaining, I don’t think we can come up with rules that are agreeable or enforceable,” Drew said. “Until that, I think all of us have got to be ready to adjust and adapt to what’s out there. Early on, when it first came out with G League players, I wasn’t in favor of that either. But again, we don’t make the rules and as we find out about things, we’re always going to adapt to put our program in the best position to be successful, because that’s what we get paid to do.”

The NCAA said court rulings in lawsuits challenging eligibility standards are making its rules difficult to enforce. Attorneys for Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, who is suing for more eligibility, latched on to Baylor’s signing of Nnaji to try to bolster their argument.

“While the NCAA has prevailed on the vast majority of eligibilityrelated lawsuits, recent outlier decisions enjoining the NCAA on a nationwide basis from enforcing rules that have been on the books for decades — without even having a trial — are wildly destabilizing,” Baker said in the statement.

“I will be working with D-I leaders in the weeks ahead to protect college basketball from these misguided attempts to destroy this American institution.”

OLAVE

Continued from page 1C he arrived much earlier than usual to Nissan Stadium last Sunday — nearly five hours before kickoff — to get treatment before he took the field and torched the Titans.

“I’m hurting right now,” Olave said after the game. “Just a lot of treatment, just trying to stay on top of it.”

The injuries have piled up and led to other questions from the outside about whether he was too slightly built to withstand the punishment of a brutal game, and about whether he is worth an investment from the Saints when his contract expires at the end of next season.

The questions have changed to a degree. The numbers suggest he is one of the NFL’s premier receivers, but there are anecdotal counterarguments — the missed opportunity at a go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter against Miami a few weeks ago being the latest data point suggesting Olave falls somewhere short of the nebulous elite category.

But considering where he has been in the last year and change, maybe it is a better idea to reframe the questions and start to wonder how far he has come since last year, when he faced uncertainty about his future as an athlete.

Olave did not make the Pro Bowl

Catholic defensive back Blaine Bradford lines up against Destrehan on Sept. 5 at Memorial Stadium.

STAFF FILE PHOTO

By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Catholic-BR, Zachary players named all-state

BY JACKSON REYES Staff writer

Three Baton Rouge-area players were named to the LSWA Class 5A all-state team, which was announced Tuesday.

Catholic-BR earned two honorees, one on offense and one on defense. Senior offensive lineman Blaise Thomassie was selected after helping block for an offense that rushed for 2,500 yards. He is a Stanford signee.

Bears senior defensive back Blaine Bradford also was selected. The Ohio State signee finished 2025 with 60 tackles (49 solo), two tackles for loss and one interception.

Zachary High School had one player named to the all-state team.

Senior linebacker Dylan Shelmire was honored after he finished the season with 112 tackles, 29 tackles for loss, 13 sacks, 21 QB hurries, four forced fumbles, four PBUs and one fumble recovery.

LSWA CLASS 5A ALL-STATE TEAM Offense Pos. Player WR Chantz Babineaux WR Easton Royal TE Ahmad Hudson OL Brooks Brown OL Ty George OL O’Ryan Mosley OL Leon Noil OL Blaise Thomassie QB Peyton Houston RB Malachi Dabney RB M.J. Dade RB Tre Garrison ATH John Johnson PK Asher Murray

School Carencro Brother Martin Ruston Ruston West Monroe Terrebonne Edna Karr Catholic-BR Evangel Christian Destrehan Ouachita Edna Karr Edna Karr Byrd

Ht. 5-11 5-11 6-8 6-4 6-3 6-3 6-4 6-5 5-10 5-9 5-5 5-11 5-11 5-10

Wt. 200 190 242 216 330 305 270 290 200 185 161 190 190 176

Class Sr. Jr. Jr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Jr. Jr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr.

Wt. 330 320 275 224 200 215 215 240 207 196 200 185 185 155 175

Class Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr.

Defense Pos. Player School Ht. DL Richard Anderson Edna Karr 6-4 DL Dylan Berymon Ouachita 6-2 DL Darryus McKinley Acadiana 6-3 DL Ra’Keem Potts Ruston 5-10 LB Jeffrey Curtis John Curtis 5-9 LB Damari Drake Evangel Christian 6-0 LB Dylan Shelmire Zachary 6-0 LB Xzavier White Alexandria 6-1 DB Blaine Bradford Catholic-BR 6-1 DB Julian Burns Neville 6-3 DB Aidan Hall Edna Karr 6-2 DB Hayward Howard Edna Karr 6-2 P Owen Oliver Terrebonne 5-10 ATH Wydell Clark Ouachita 5-9 RS Kenny Darby Airline 6-0 OUTSTANDING OFFENSIVE PLAYER: Peyton Houston, Evangel Christian OUTSTANDING DEFENSIVE PLAYER: Richard Anderson, Karr COACH OF THE YEAR: Benjy Lewis, Ouachita

Honorable mention

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Saints wide receiver Chris Olave scores a touchdown on a 23-yard pass from quarterback Tyler Shough as New york Jets safety Dean Clark follows on Dec. 21 in the Caesars Superdome. this year. His numbers, while exceptional, probably will not land him on an All-Pro team at the conclusion of the season.

His best shot at postseason recognition may come in the form of Comeback Player of the Year, though a superb 2025 season from Christian McCaffrey to help power the 49ers toward the top of the NFL standings may render that moot.

Limited to four games last season, McCaffrey leads the NFL

with 2,069 scrimmage yards and has an outside chance at recording 1,000 yards as a rusher and receiver for the second time in his career.

But even if the postseason accolades don’t come, Olave has come a long way from the version that took the field at the start of this year. He has put many of the questions to bed.

Email Luke Johnson at ljohnson@theadvocate.com.

Charley Abraham, Evangel Christian; Quincy Adams, Terrebonne; Cameron Allen, Southside; Jayden Anding, Ruston; Bo Armstrong, Barbe; Isaias Avalos, Acadiana; Cooper Babin, St. Amant; Tadan Bingham, Terrebonne; Jamieon Brown, Lafayette; Romeo Brown, Karr; Tyree Bruer, Bonnabel; Gary Burney, Parkway; Ethan Cabos, Jesuit; Jake Cain, Natchitoches Central; Andre Campbell, Captain Shreve; Geo Carter, Thibodaux; Marvin Causey, Bonnabel; Alvin Celestin, Terrebonne; Mason Coleman, Terrebonne; Emanual Collins, Southside; Montrell Conner Jr., Ouachita; Cody Corales, St. Paul’s; Vashaun Coulon, St. Augustine; Brandon Craig, Haughton; Tyray Darensburg, Chalmette; Trez Davis, West Monroe; Ashton Dawson, Evangel Christian; John Russel Demoss, Catholic-BR; Shawn Devers, Captain Shreve; Colin DiBetta, Acadiana; Ty Dominique, St. Augustine; Derrick Dunbar, Covington; Jeremiah Epps, Airline; Mister Finney, Carencro; Carlos Flemings Jr., Slidell; Cameron Florent, Destrehan; Alex Fontenot, Alexandria; Gabe Ford, Prairieville; Zaiden Foster, Liberty; Eli Fung, Alexandria; Travis Gallien, Acadiana; Tony Gladney, Parkway; Syre Gilmore, St. Augustine; Da’Jean Golmond, Denham Springs; Da’Sean Golmond, Denham Springs; Ian Gray, Byrd; Jelandon Gray, Barbe; Malik Grayson, Neville; Chris Green, Parkway; JaKyrin Griffin, Alexandria; Jordin Griffin, Barbe; Savoy Guidry, Holy Cross; E.J. Hanney, Sam Houston; Graham Harris, Central; Mitch Harris, Archbishop Rummel; Dylan Henry, Mandeville; Da’John Howard, Salmen; Carlin Kinchen, Archbishop Rummel; Braylen Jackson, Airline; Royaun Jackson, Huntington; Quincy Jackson, Bonnabel; Connor Jarreau, Thibodaux; Jake Jarreau, Central; Ethan Johnson, Haughton; Roderick Johnson, Parkway; Jermiah Jones, Thibodaux; Harrison Kidder, Catholic-BR; Ethan Kimmie, Zachary; Sawyer Kuypers, Barbe; Micah Levy, East Ascension; Jeremy Lowe, Natchitoches Central; Prentice Mackyeon, John Curtis; Brady McCluskey, Brother Martin; Jabari Mack, Destrehan; DeAndre Mansfield, Ouachita; Kevin Martin, Karr; Brysten Martinez, East Ascension; Van Martinez, Neville; Christian Maxie, Byrd; Brandon Mays, Captain Shreve; Tyrone Morgan, Woodlawn-BR; Jayden Miles, Catholic-BR; Josiah Morgan, Ruston; Damiere Mouton, Southside; Brenton Paul, Denham Springs; Bryon Perrilliat, Riverdale; Jaedon Phillips, Warren Easton; Jamarcea Plater, Captain Shreve; Christian Ponti, West Monroe; Dylan Post, St. Paul’s; Dalen Powell, Ruston; Jayden Reed, Neville; Parker Robinson, Neville; Karsen Sellers, Alexandria; Andrew Shofstahl, St. Paul’s; Albert Simien, Sam Houston; Ke’Rynn Smith, Holy Cross; Owen Smith, Natchitoches Central; Bennett Speer, Evangel Christian; Jackson Speer, Evangel Christian; Jaden Terrance, Archbishop Rummel; Xavier Villamor, Benton; A.J. Washington, Ouachita; Miguel Whitley, St. Augustine; Greg Wilfred, Karr; Justin Williams, Southside; Kason Williams, Alexandria; Ray’Quan Williams, St. Augustine; Mason Willis, West Monroe; Keithon Womack, Central; Eric Veal, McDonogh 35; J.D. Yates, Airline; Ze’Land Young, Neville; Marques Zenon, Mandeville.

6C ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

lll

SCOREBOARD High school basketball Girls Episcopal Classic

South Beauregard 87, Doyle 54 Woodlawn 56, Dominican 38 Episcopal 53, Kenner Discovery 42 Istrouma 57, St. Scholastica 40

Odds NFL Saturday

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG at TAMPA BAY 3 2½ (44) Carolina Seattle 4½ 1½ (49½) at SF

Sunday

FAVORITE OPEN at CINCINNATI 8½ Dallas 1½ at JAX 4½ at HOUSTON 4½ at ATLANTA 5½ at MINNESOTA 1½ at LA RAMS 4½ at NE 2½ at CHICAGO 1½ Kansas City 6 at DENVER 2½ at PHIL 4½ at BUFFALO 9½ Baltimore 3

College Football

TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 7½ (44½) Cleveland 3½ (51½) at GIANTS 12½ (47½)Tennessee 10½ (39) Indianapls 3½ (43½) N.Orleans 6½ (36½) Green Bay 7½ (46½) Arizona 10½ (45½) Miami 3 (50½) Detroit 5½ (36½) at VEGAS 12½ (37½) Chargers 7 (41) Washington 7 (38½) NY Jets 3½ (41½) at PITT

Wednesday

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG ReliaQuest Bowl Vanderbilt 3½ 5½ (46½) Iowa Sun Bowl Duke 1½ 3½ (49½) Arizona St. Citrus Bowl Texas 4½ 7 (48½) Michigan Las Vegas Bowl Utah 13½ 14½ (51½) Nebraska Cotton Bowl Ohio State 9½ 9½ (40½) Miami (FL)

Thursday

Orange Bowl Oregon Rose Bowl Indiana Sugar Bowl Georgia

Friday

1½

2½

(51½) Texas Tech

6½

7

(48½)

Alabama

6½

6½

(55½)

Ole Miss

14½

3

(53½)Wake Forest (52½)

LINE 7 3½ 3½ 5½ 1½ 1½ 7½ 10½ 15½

FAVORITE at FURMAN Lamar at NC STATE Tulane at LEHIGH at FLORIDA ATLANTIC South Alabama at NAVY Wofford at TULSA at OLD DOMINION at MONMOUTH Radford Clemson at DAYTON Bucknell

Rice

(54½) Cincinnati

College basketball Wednesday

(57½)

7

2½

NBA

Wednesday

2½ Charleston (SC) 14½ NJIT 7½ at LA SALLE 10½ St. Bonaventure 3½ at VIRGINIA TECH 9½ Texas State 11½ at GARDNR-WBB 10½at UNC ASHEVILLE 4½ at HAMPTON 6½ at LAFAYETTE 8½ at LONGWOOD 4½ at N.C. A&T 23½ Georgia Tech 2½ at RICHMOND 11½ North Texas 20½ St. Joseph’s (PA) 13½ Georgia State 2½ Wichita State 9½ UMKC 8½ at NTHWSTN ST. 3½ UNO 12½ at XAVIER 4½ Nicholls 13½ DePaul 12½ Drexel 8½ at GEORGETOWN

Pro football NFL Glance AMERICAN CONFERENCE East

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

W L 13 3 11 5 7 9 3 13

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .813 .688 .438 .188

PF 452 446 337 292

PA 310 357 386 468

W L 12 4 11 5 8 8 3 13

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .750 .688 .500 .188

PF 433 366 436 277

PA 329 265 374 437

W L 9 7 8 8 6 10 4 12

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .563 .500 .375 .250

PF 371 400 396 259

PA 363 372 472 361

W L 13 3 11 5 6 10 2 14

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .813 .688 .375 .125

PF 382 365 350 227

PA 308 321 314 420

NATIONAL CONFERENCE

Armed Forces Bowl Texas State 6½ Liberty Bowl Navy 6½ Duke’s Mayo Bowl Mississippi St. 2½ Holiday Bowl Arizona 1½

FAVORITE Golden State Minnesota Orlando at CLEVELAND New Orleans at SAN ANTONIO at TORONTO at MILWAUKEE at OKLAHOMA CITY

at ELON at PENNSYLVANIA George Mason at VCU Virginia at TROY Charleston Southern High Point Towson Colgate Winthrop Northeastern at DUKE George Washington at MEMPHIS at SAINT LOUIS at MARSHALL at UAB at DENVER SFA at TEXAS A&M-CC UConn at UT RGV at VILLANOVA at UNC WILMINGTON St. John’s

SMU

O/U UNDERDOG (233½) at CHARLTT (243½) at ATLANTA (225½) at INDIANA (236½) Phoenix (244½) at CHICAGO (238½) New York (224½) Denver (231) Washington (234) Portland

LINE UNDERDOG 4½ Mercer 2½ at E. TEXAS A&M 9½ Wake Forest 1½ at E. CAROLINA 4½ Army 15½ UTSA 3½ at UL 6½ Boston U. 1½ at W. CAROLINA 13½ Rice 1½ Appalachian St. 1½ Campbell 1½ at S.C. UPSTATE 2½ at SYRACUSE 17½ Fordham 1½ at HOLY CROSS

East

W L 11 5 7 8 4 12 3 13

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

T 0 1 0 0

Pct .688 .469 .250 .188

PF 362 454 332 347

PA 301 477 434 422

W L 8 8 7 9 7 9 6 10

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .500 .438 .438 .375

PF 297 364 334 289

PA 364 397 384 364

W 11 9 8 8

T 0 1 0 0

Pct .688 .594 .500 .500

PF 425 388 328 462

PA 396 344 330 397

L 5 6 8 8

W L T Pct PF PA x-Seattle 13 3 0 .813 470 289 x-San Francisco 12 4 0 .750 434 358 x-L.A. Rams 11 5 0 .688 481 326 e-Arizona 3 13 0 .188 335 451 e-eliminated from playoffs; x-clinched playoff spot; y-clinched division

Monday’s Game

Kansas City at Las Vegas, 3:25 p.m.

L.A. Chargers at Denver, 3:25 p.m.

Miami at New England, 3:25 p.m.

N.Y. Jets at Buffalo, 3:25 p.m.

Washington at Philadelphia, 3:25 p.m.

Baltimore at Pittsburgh, 7:20 p.m.

LATE MONDAY Atlanta 27, L.A. Rams 24

Saturday, Jan. 3

Pro basketball NBA Glance EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division

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

Sunday, Jan. 4

Cleveland at Cincinnati, noon Dallas at N.Y. Giants, noon Green Bay at Minnesota, noon Indianapolis at Houston, noon New Orleans at Atlanta, noon Tennessee at Jacksonville, noon Arizona at L.A. Rams, 3:25 p.m.

Detroit at Chicago, 3:25 p.m.

Oklahoma City Denver Minnesota Portland Utah Pacific Division

YEAR-END

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SUNROOMS

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SCREEN ROOMS

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W 23 19 20 17 10

L 9 12 14 14 20

Pct .719 .613 .588 .548 .333

GB — 3½ 4 6½ 12

W 18 18 15 11 7

L 15 15 19 21 24

Pct .545 .545 .441 .344 .226

GB — — 3½ 6½ 10

W 24 18 15 14 6

L 8 16 17 19 27

Pct .750 .529 .469 .424 .182

GB — 7 9 10½ 18½

W 23 20 15 12 8

L 9 10 18 22 26

Pct .719 .667 .455 .353 .235

GB — 2 8½ 12 16

W 28 22 21 14 12

L 5 10 12 19 19

Pct .848 .688 .636 .424 .387

GB — 5½ 7 14 15

WESTERN CONFERENCE San Antonio Houston Memphis Dallas New Orleans Northwest Division

Carolina at Tampa Bay, 3:30 p.m.

Seattle at San Francisco, 7 p.m.

Monday’s Games

L.A. Rams 0 0 17 7 — 24 Atlanta 7 14 3 3 — 27 First Quarter Atl—B.Robinson 4 pass from Cousins (Gonzalez kick), 6:16.

Second Quarter Atl—Bates 34 interception return (Gonzalez kick), 8:30.

Atl—B.Robinson 93 run (Gonzalez kick), 1:28.

Third Quarter LAR—FG Mevis 35, 11:08.

Atl—FG Gonzalez 56, 7:46.

LAR—Ferguson 27 pass from Stafford (Mevis kick), 5:06.

LAR—Verse 73 blocked field goal return (Mevis kick), :31.

Fourth Quarter LAR—Nacua 11 pass from Stafford (Mevis kick), 2:52.

Atl—FG Gonzalez 51, :21.

A—69,313.

LAR Atl First downs 16 15 Total Net Yards 363 345 Rushes-yards 20-115 33-219 Passing 248 126 Punt Returns 3-23 0-0 Kickoff Returns 3-80 4-93 Interceptions Ret. 0-0 3-66 Comp-Att-Int 22-38-3 13-20-0 Sacked-Yards Lost 3-21 0-0 Punts 2-45.0 5-49.2 Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0 Penalties-Yards 4-35 7-42 Time of Possession 30:15 29:45 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—L.A. Rams, K.Williams 13-92, Corum 6-18, Rivers 1-5. Atlanta, B.Robinson 22-195, Allgeier 10-23, Cousins 1-1.

PASSING—L.A. Rams, Stafford 22-38-3-269.

Atlanta, Cousins 13-20-0-126.

RECEIVING—L.A. Rams, Parkinson 6-53, Nacua 5-47, Smith 4-67, K.Williams 3-38, Ferguson 2-54, Mumpfield 2-10. Atlanta, B.Robinson 5-34, Sills 3-37, Mooney 2-35, Pitts 2-16, D.London 1-4.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—Atlanta, Gonzalez 37.

Southwest Division

Atlanta 27, L.A. Rams 24

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

PATIO & PORCH ENCLOSURES

W 20 19 17 10 8

L 10 13 16 21 24

Pct .667 .594 .515 .323 .250

GB — 2 4½ 10½ 13

Phoenix 115, Washington 101 Milwaukee 123, Charlotte 113 Miami 147, Denver 123 Toronto 107, Orlando 106 Golden State 120, Brooklyn 107 Minnesota 136, Chicago 101 Houston 126, Indiana 119 Oklahoma City 140, Atlanta 129 Cleveland 113, San Antonio 101 New York 130, New Orleans 125 Portland 125, Dallas 122

Tuesday’s Games

Philadelphia 139, Memphis 136, OT Boston at Utah, n Detroit at L.A. Lakers, n Sacramento at L.A. Clippers, n

Wednesday’s Games

Golden State at Charlotte, noon Minnesota at Atlanta, 2 p.m.

Orlando at Indiana, 2 p.m.

Phoenix at Cleveland, 2:30 p.m.

New Orleans at Chicago, 6 p.m.

New York at San Antonio, 6 p.m.

Denver at Toronto, 6:30 p.m.

Portland at Oklahoma City, 7 p.m.

Washington at Milwaukee, 7 p.m.

LATE MONDAY

N.Y. Knicks 130, New Orleans 125 FG FT Reb NEW YORK Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS Anunoby 37:05 8-22 6-6 2-11 1 3 23 Diawara 17:49 7-9 0-0 0-1 0 0 18 Towns 29:58 4-9 2-2 2-12 4 4 12 Bridges 34:50 3-5 0-0 1-5 10 2 6 Brunson 35:32 10-23 3-3 0-3 10 1 28 McBride 18:27 4-8 4-4 2-3 2 2 14 Yabusele 15:52 3-5 0-0 1-2 1 2 9 Clarkson 13:13 3-6 2-2 0-2 1 0 9 Kolek 12:12 2-5 1-2 1-2 5 1 7 Hukporti 11:40 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0 McCullar Jr. 8:58 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 Jemison III 4:24 1-1 0-0 1-1 0 1 2 Totals 240:00 46-95 18-19 10-42 35 19 130 Percentages: FG .484, FT .947.

3-Point Goals: 20-44, .455 (Brunson 5-10, Diawara 4-4, Yabusele 3-4, Kolek 2-4, Towns 2-4, McBride 2-5, Clarkson 1-3, Anunoby 1-8, Bridges 0-1, McCullar Jr. 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 6. Team Turnovers: 1.

Blocked Shots: 4 (Towns 2, Anunoby, Bridges).

Turnovers: 8 (Anunoby 2, Yabusele 2, Bridges, Brunson, Clarkson, Kolek).

Steals: 8 (Anunoby 3, Bridges 2, Diawara 2, McBride).

FG FT Reb NO Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS Bey 36:34 9-21 4-5 2-6 6 3 26 Williamsn 28:51 11-16 10-12 3-5 2 2 32 Queen 28:30 3-13 1-2 2-9 6 2 7 Fears 22:11 2-5 0-0 0-4 4 0 4 Murphy III 38:17 8-16 0-0 0-6 2 1 21 Poole 25:50 7-14 8-8 1-3 1 2 26 Looney 23:58 1-3 0-0 5-9 3 1 2 Missi 14:21 1-2 0-0 3-6 2 0 2 Hawkins 11:45 1-3 0-0 0-2 1 2 2 Peavy 9:44 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 2 3 Totals 240:00 44-96 23-27 16-50 27 15 125 Percentages: FG .458, FT .852.

3-Point Goals: 14-36, .389 (Murphy III 5-10, Bey 4-10, Poole 4-10, Peavy 1-1, Hawkins 0-1, Fears 0-2, Queen 0-2).

Team Rebounds: 8. Team Turnovers: 1.

Blocked Shots: 8 (Looney 2, Queen 2, Williamson 2, Hawkins, Poole).

Turnovers: 11 (Bey 2, Murphy III 2, Queen 2, Williamson 2, Fears, Hawkins, Missi).

Steals: 6 (Bey 2, Williamson 2, Fears, Queen).

New York 37 35 24 34 — 130 New Orleans 41 34 28 22 — 125 A: 17,041 (16,867). T: 2:24.

College football Bowl glance Dec. 29

Birmingham Bowl Birmingham, Ala. Georgia Southern 29, Appalachian State 10

Dec. 30

Independence Bowl Shreveport, La. Louisiana Tech 23, Coastal Carolina 14 Music City Bowl Nashville, Tenn.

Illinois 30, Tennessee 28 Alamo Bowl San Antonio No. 16 Southern Cal vs. TCU, n

Dec. 31

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

(ESPN) Sun Bowl El Paso, Texas Arizona St. vs. Duke, 1 p.m. (CBS) Citrus Bowl Orlando, Fla. No. 14 Texas vs. No. 18 Michigan, 2 p.m. (ABC) Las Vegas Bowl Las Vegas No. 15 Utah vs. Nebraska, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN) College Football Playoff Quarterfinals At Cotton Bowl, Arlington, Texas No. 10 Miami at No. 3 Ohio St., 6:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Jan. 1

College Football Playoff Quarterfinals At Orange Bowl, Miami Gardens, Fla. No. 5 Oregon at No. 4 Texas Tech, 11 a.m.

(ESPN) At Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Calif.

No. 9 Alabama at No. 1 Indiana, 3 p.m. (ESPN) At Sugar Bowl, New Orleans No. 6 Ole Miss at No. 2 Georgia, 7 p.m. (ESPN)

FCS Playoffs Monday

FCS Championship Nashville, Tenn.

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

College basketball State men’s schedule Tuesday

Grambling 90, Centenary 58 Incarnate Word 79, Southeastern 70

Wednesday

Tulane at East Carolina, 11 a.m.

South Alabama at UL, noon Stephen F. Austin at Northwestern State, 3:30 p.m.

UNO at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 3:30 p.m.

Nicholls at Texas-RGV, 4:30 p.m.

Thursday

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

Friday

Lamar at McNeese, 6 p.m.

Louisiana Tech at Middle Tennessee, 6:30 p.m.

LATE MONDAY LSU 90, Southern Miss 62

SOUTHERN MISS (7-7): Binet 2-5 0-0 4, Weeks 3-10 6-8 12, Brumfield 1-6 2-2 4, Carruth 0-4 0-0 0, Lewis 3-7 1-2 9, Izay 5-8 1-2 11, Hart 0-5 6-6 6, Diagne 3-6 2-2 9, Tramble 0-1 1-2 1, Cowherd 0-1 0-0 0, Paymon 2-6 2-5 6, Brandon 0-2 0-0 0, Patino 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-62 21-29 62.

LSU (12-1): Nwoko 10-13 2-4 22, Sutton 3-10 3-4 9, Tamba 3-3 2-3 9, Mackinnon 6-16 0-0 15, Thomas 8-11 4-4 22, Miller 0-0 2-2 2, Reece 0-2 3-6 3, Carter 1-4 0-0 3, King 0-2 0-0 0, Mosley 1-1 0-0 3, Zipper 0-0 2-2 2, Bobbett 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-62 18-25 90.

Halftime—LSU 41-30. 3-Point Goals— Southern Miss 3-15 (Lewis 2-3, Diagne 1-4, Brumfield 0-1, Cowherd 0-1, Patino 0-1, Paymon 0-1, Hart 0-4), LSU 8-26 (Mackinnon 3-9, Thomas 2-2, Mosley 1-1, Tamba 1-1, Carter 1-4, King 0-2, Reece 0-2, Sutton 0-5).

Rebounds—Southern Miss 34 (Binet, Weeks, Lewis, Izay, Hart 4), LSU 42 (Tamba 15).

Assists—Southern Miss 12 (Lewis 4), LSU 19 (Thomas 12). Total Fouls—Southern Miss 22, LSU 22. A—7,995 (13,215).

State women’s schedule Tuesday

UTSA 65, Tulane 63

Wednesday

Stephen F. Austin at Northwestern St., 1 p.m.

LIVING

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

|

W e d n e s d ay, d e c e m b e r 31, 2025

1dn

Lauren Cheramie BON VIVANT

Ring in the new year with a wine dinner Bon vi·vant /noun/ a sociable person who has cultivated and refined tastes, especially with respect to food and drink.

New food on the block Brew Ha-Ha, 711 Jefferson Highway, Baton Rouge, debuted a new menu item: a sausage, egg and cheese griddle sandwich.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

The Cuban Sandwich Crisis is served with pork rinds at Iverstine Butcher.

PROVIDED PHOTO

Sonny’s BBQ is offering new power plates — protein-packed meals.

Start out 2026 strong at Sonny’s BBQ, 12475 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge, with new power plates — protein-packed meals: n Pork Power Plate: halfpound pulled or sliced pork (54 grams of protein) n Turkey Power Plate: halfpound smoked turkey (63 grams of protein) n Chicken Power Plate: halfsmoked chicken (50 grams of protein) Try the Lombardy at Ruffinos, 18811 Highland Road, Baton Rouge, made with St. George spiced pear, Lazzaroni Amaro, lemon juice, honey syrup, nutmeg and orange bitters.

New Year’s Eve dinner At Soji: 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Dec. 31, at 5050 Government St., Baton Rouge Ring in the new year at Soji with a six-course wine dinner, paired with wine and sake for each course, and a pre-dinner reception. Complimentary Champagne will be available for the duration of the courses.

The menu features samosas, shrimp Thai curry risotto, a seared nigiri platter, umami flank steak and more. Tickets start at $185 per person, available for purchase at www.exploretock.com/sojimodern-asian-baton-rouge/ event/579942.

At 1717 Kitchen and Cocktails: seatings at 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 31, at 1717 River Park Blvd., Baton Rouge, inside The Queen.

Enjoy a prix-fixe menu at 1717 Kitchen and Cocktails, with an amuse-bouche, starter, entree and dessert. At midnight, The Queen will host a floor-wide Champagne toast, with complimentary Champagne distributed throughout the casino. Dinner is $70 per person.

If you have an upcoming food event or a kitchen question, email lauren.cheramie@ theadvocate.com. Cheers!

CUBAN LINK

BY LAUREN CHERAMIE Staff writer

As a small Cajun child in Morgan City, I was raised on the Louisiana delicacies.

On my kitchen table at home — and in many of the restaurants in town — there was gumbo, fried fish, jambalaya, crawfish, pralines and andouille sausage.

But there was one restaurant, Latin Corner, where I had my first bite of something different — a Cuban sandwich. It was tangy. It was mouthwatering. It was something I never had before. I think Latin Corner is where my love for sandwiches originated.

A good Cuban sandwich includes layers of ingredients between two slices of

STAFF FILE PHOTO By JOHN BALLANCE

Maxwell’s Market’s Cuban sandwich adds salami, which is traditionally in a Tampa, Fla.-style Cuban sandwich.

On a quest to find the best sandwich in BR

pressed Cuban bread, a loaf that has a crispy crust and soft, airy inside. Traditionally, the sandwich is made with Swiss cheese, ham, pork, pickles and yellow mustard, then buttered and toasted until the cheese melts.

What results is a harmony of textures and salty flavors.

In October, I tried the “Cuban Sandwich Crisis” from Iverstine Butcher, and it was delectable. In my quest to find the best Cuban sandwiches in Baton Rouge, I turned to readers and received four more recommendations: City Pork, Elisa’s Cuban Coffee & Kitchen, Jed’s Local and Maxwell’s Market.

ä See CUBAN, page 2D

THE BEST THINGS WE ATE THIS WEEK

Variety is the spice for this week’s selections Staff report

Pimento cheese balls at Eliza; fried green tomatoes at Parrain’s

n Eliza, 7970 Jefferson Highway, Baton Rouge;

Parrain’s, 3225 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge

PROVIDED PHOTOS By RANDy BERGERON

Pimento cheese balls at Eliza

We usually sail past the appetizers, saving room and calories for the main event (entree). However, two recent occasions have prompted us to pay more attention to that first column on menus.

A pimento cheese lover since childhood, Eliza’s pimento cheese ball appetizer sounded too good to pass by. It was scrumptious, from the three spheres’ light, slightly crunchy exterior to the cheddar cheese and sambal oelek (Indonesian chili paste) within.

Balancing out the slight spiciness of the chili paste was a satisfyingly sweet hibiscus pepper jelly dipping sauce.

A sprinkling of fresh parsley flakes com-

Fried green tomatoes at Parrain’s pleted the attractive presentation.

I see this dish as a pleasing add-on to drinks at the inviting bar after work.

Meanwhile, Parrain’s fried green tomatoes appetizer also deserves your attention.

The four lightly breaded and fried tomato

ä See BEST, page 3D

2D ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

lll

CUBAN

wich, but it was nice to have the dipping sauce on the side, which was heavy on the vinegar.

Continued from page 1D

Jed’s Local Over the last three months, I’ve tried all of them (quite the taxing job, I know). Each one was a little different from the next.

Some chefs used regular mustard, while others fancied Dijon.

Even the bread differed at each restaurant.

What’s surprising, at the end of this food tour, is I’m not tired of the Cuban sandwich. Maybe that’s my own palate, or maybe it’s because the chefs in Baton Rouge know what they’re doing when it comes to this savory sandwich.

If I missed a Cuban sandwich that you love, let me know by emailing lauren.cheramie@ theadvocate.com.

672 Jefferson Highway Jed’s Local approaches the Cuban sandwich with a different technique. Instead of distinct layers, the kitchen wraps the ham around the pulled pork, and the other ingredients — pickles, Swiss cheese and Creole mustard — surround the meat combination.

This folding method gives each bite of the sandwich a balanced flavor profile, getting a little bit of every ingredient each time.

Much like the City Pork Cuban, I would’ve liked more mustard on the sandwich and more seasoning on the pork. But the bread on this sandwich was golden and crispy, yet soft on the inside.

Each bite was a crunch and then a soft endeavor into the cheese and mustard.

Iverstine Butcher 7731 Perkins Road Iverstine Butcher set the bar high on my first stop. Piled with house-smoked ham and pulled pork, the sandwich there overflows with Swiss cheese, mayonnaise, mustard and pickles on a hot-pressed Cuban loaf. Every single bite offers a new burst of flavors — whether it be tangy pickles and mustard or smoky pulled pork — and the bread is near perfect.

I ate the first half of the sandwich and put the other half in the refrigerator for lunch the next day. An hour later, on the phone with a friend, I asked out loud, “Should I have that other half of my sandwich?”

I did.

STAFF PHOTOS By LAUREN CHERAMIE

The Cuban sandwich from City Pork is made with pulled pork, ham, Swiss cheese, mojo sauce and house pickles.

Maxwell’s Market 6241 Perkins Road and 7620 Corporate Blvd.

Maxwell’s takes a side in the great Cuban sandwich debate.

Their kitchen adds salami, which is traditionally in a Tampa, Floridastyle Cuban sandwich. Many in Tampa insist the sandwich includes salami, while those in Miami argue that it should never be there.

In Baton Rouge, Maxwell’s was the only one to put salami on their Cubans out of the six places I tried. The kitchen also puts its own spin on the sandwich by adding turkey and Monterey jack cheese, along with roast pork, ham, pickles, mayonnaise and Creole mustard. The bread was

Jed’s Local approaches the Cuban sandwich with a different technique.

Instead of distinct layers, the kitchen wraps the ham around the pulled pork. warm and softer than most, and it was sturdy enough to hold all of the components together.

Nothing fell out of the sandwich while I ate it.

In a nice contrast of flavors, the ham was sweet while the mustard and pickles added a punchy touch. I’ll admit it: I enjoyed the

addition of salami.

City Pork 7327 Jefferson Highway and 18143 Perkins Road If City Pork sold its mojo sauce by the jar, I’d buy it. The sauce, acidic and tart in the best way, is accompanied by pulled pork,

The Cuban sandwich from Elisa’s Cuban Coffee & Kitchen is layered with roasted pork, smoked ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard. ham, Swiss cheese and house pickles on this Cuban — served with crunchy, seasoned house chips.

The sandwich is thick, piled with layers of pulled pork and ham, and there’s a good mix between the sweet flavors of the ham and the smoky pork. I would have appreciated if there were more mojo sauce on the sand-

Elisa’s Cuban Coffee & Kitchen Food truck with varying locations When I saw that the mustard on this Cuban sandwich was as bright yellow as a canary, I knew I was in the right place.

Elisa’s food truck often hops around to breweries, markets and other events in the city, but it’s generally parked in downtown Baton Rouge 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Monday through Friday at 452 North St. near Main Street Market. Each week, the social media page posts its weekly planner with locations.

On the menu, there’s coffee, juices, soft drinks, breakfast items, a midnight sandwich, Cuban hamburger, steak sandwich and Cuban sandwich. The coffee, particularly the cappuccino, is fantastic.

The Cuban sandwich, dare I say, is phenomenal.

Layered with roasted pork, smoked ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard, the meat on the sandwich is soft, tender and flavorful.

Each bite offers a symphony of flavors, but if you’re craving more, the sandwich is also served with a side of vinaigrette. The mustard is zesty, but the ham is sweet, delivering an umami punch.

Email Lauren Cheramie at lauren.cheramie@theadvocate. com.

TODAY IN HISTORY

By The Associated Press Today is Wednesday, Dec. 31, the 365th and final day of 2025. This is New Year’s Eve. Today in history: On Dec. 31, 1879, Thomas Edison first demonstrated his electric incandescent lights for the public by illuminating some 100 bulbs in and around his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey.

Also on this date: In 1904, New York’s Times Square saw its first New Year’s Eve celebration, with an estimated 200,000 people in attendance.

In 1972, baseball player Roberto Clemente, 38, was killed when a plane he chartered and was traveling on crashed shortly after takeoff from Puerto Rico while carrying relief supplies for earthquake-devastated Nicaragua.

In 1985, singer Rick Nelson, 45, and six others were

killed when fire broke out aboard a plane that was taking the group to a New Year’s Eve performance in Dallas.

In 1995, the syndicated comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes,” created by Bill Watterson, came to an end after a 10-year run.

In 1999, Russian President Boris Yeltsin resigned, making Prime Minister Vladimir Putin acting president.

In 2019, the health commission in the central Chinese city of Wuhan announced that experts were investigating an outbreak of respiratory illness and that most of the victims had visited a seafood market in the city; the statement said 27 people had become ill with a strain of viral pneumonia, which would eventually be known as COVID-19.

In 2022, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who had become the first pontiff in 600

years to resign as pope, died at age 95.

In 2024, a power blackout hit nearly all of Puerto Rico as the U.S. territory prepared to celebrate New Year’s, leaving more than 1.3 million people in the dark. A private utility company said more than 700,000 clients had their lights back on by later that night.

Today’s birthdays: Actor Anthony Hopkins is 88. Rock musician Andy Summers (The Police) is 83. Actor Ben Kingsley is 82. Filmmaker Taylor Hackford is 81. Fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg is 79. Actor Tim Matheson is 78. Actor Bebe Neuwirth is 67. Actor Gong Li is 60. Author Nicholas Sparks is 60. Businessman Donald Trump Jr. is 48.

Singer-rapper PSY is 48. Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri is 46. Olympic gymnastics gold medalist Gabby Douglas is 30. Actor Hunter Schafer is 27.

YEARS

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The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ 3D

Raise a glass (of water) to freedom lll

Dear Miss Manners: At a company holiday party, one of my colleagues decided not to partake of the wine that was offered. During a round of toasts, she was admonished — in a good-natured way — by co-workers, for raising her Judith water glass. They Martin said toasting someMISS one with water is MANNERS bad luck.

Aside from the luck angle, is there an etiquette rule covering what is in the glass used during a toast?

Gentle reader: Technically — a qualifier Miss Manners uses to emphasize that there are more important issues to consider — technically, tradition does say that you are not supposed to toast with water.

But now the more important issues: First, it is rude to correct another person’s manners. And

second, in a work environment, when you may not know every co-worker’s personal situation, it is also foolish to draw attention to someone abstaining from alcohol.

Whoever did the admonishing will find that claiming it was good-natured will be of no help to them as a defense for their infractions.

Dear Miss Manners: One of my friends endlessly plays with the food she does not want to eat, without ever signaling by the position of her cutlery that she has finished. So all of her fellow diners have to watch her shift the items to and fro, waiting for her to eat them.

Once, a waitress finally asked if she had finished, and my friend was offended by the “impertinent” question.

Since asking if she has finished is not an option, apparently, how can I politely make her stop playing with her food? It is unnerving

to watch.

Gentle reader: Other people seldom behave exactly the way we would wish. However, etiquette strictly limits our ability to correct such annoyances for a very basic reason: We would then have to reciprocate — and who knows what we are doing that others find irritating.

Miss Manners therefore offers three gentle suggestions. 1. When you are the meal’s host, you can offer to clear a plate, simply explaining you were trying to be helpful when caught out. 2. You can disrupt the fidgeting by passing her items such as bread, or by asking if your friend would like to order something else. Or, 3. You can go on with the conversation and try not to notice.

Dear Miss Manners: I received a frosty email from an administrator at a performing arts institution where I teach, taxing me with not having responded to an invitation to an event.

In fact, I had tried to respond, but the language and mechanics of the response form were so confusing that it was actually impossible to decline (which was what I needed to do).

The administrator noted that faculty had been asked to state whether we wished to “request an RSVP,” by which he meant “a complimentary ticket.”

While I know it can be obnoxious to correct other people’s language use, I am confident that my adored Miss Manners can thread this needle adroitly.

Gentle reader: While she appreciates the adoration and deplores the incoherent instruction you received, Miss Manners feels compelled to point out that for all the possible responses you suggest, you omitted the obvious one: apologizing.

They asked you to attend — or at least to tell them if you were unavailable — and you failed to do so. They made that difficult

and expressed themselves inarticulately, but you knew what they meant.

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

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Continued from page 1D slices are taken to the next level by being topped with a well-seasoned crawfish ravigote, sweet and tangy balsamic reduction drizzle and garnish of fresh green onions and parsley.

— Judy Bergeron, Features assistant editor

Turkey cranberry melt from La Madeleine

n 2207-I Kaliste Saloom Road,

Lafayette

Sometimes I get a craving for a sandwich. With no Publix around (it really is the superior place for a sub), I turn to La Madeleine.

My go-to recently has been the turkey cranberry melt, a seasonal item I can’t get enough of.

It comes with roasted turkey breast, cranberryapple stuffing, provolone cheese, mayonnaise and cranberry sauce all on a cranberry roll. It comes with a side and costs about $10.

It’s quick and delicious.

And if you have some time to spare, eating your meal inside by the fireplace makes it that much cozier.

— Ashley White, education reporter

STAFF PHOTO By ASHLEy WHITE

The turkey cranberry melt at La Madeline

Book Your Afternoon Tea Service PlantryCafe.com | 5454 Bluebonnet Blvd. info@plantrycafe.com | 225-505-7411

Red Curry and Tom Yum Soup from Thai Pepper

n 5958 Florida Blvd., Baton

Rouge

Being from Louisiana, I love spice. But menu items often claim to be spicy with an underwhelming guise.

Not when it comes to Thai Pepper.

This was the first time I have had a red curry. I ordered my food to-go, selecting the spice level option as hot.

I also got one of my favorite kinds of soup, Tom Yum, which is a refreshing, lemongrass soup with

STAFF PHOTO By MADDIE SCOTT

Red Curry, Tom yum Soup and Rice from Thai Pepper mushrooms and cilantro.

The curry was comprised of chicken, eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers and basil, and the coconut base was creamy and popped with flavor.

Thai food never disappoints, and it always hits the spot when I’m craving something light but comforting.

— Maddie Scott, features reporter

The American Red Cross of Louisiana is here all year.

Local support. Local impact.

The American Red Cross in Louisiana

serves 4.65 million residents across all 64 parishes and extends hope to communities across the nation and around the world. When you support your local Red Cross, you make a direct impact in your community.

Powered by generosity.

The Red Cross is not a government agency. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that relies on the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors to carry out our humanitarian mission.

Red Cross supporters provide a beacon of hope. From helping during disasters, to providing lifesaving training and supporting military communities, the Red Cross is there when help can’t wait.

Be the help Louisiana needs. redcross.org/louisiana

4D ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

FrAnK And erneSt

bIG nAte

zItS

For better or For WorSe

lll

zodIAC CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Set standards that will carry you where you want to go. Life choices begin with you and your ability to make things happen. Let desire lead the way.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Make your surroundings more inviting or userfriendly. How you organize and set up workstations for projects will affect your productivity. Stick to your plans and budget.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Don't neglect or underestimate the extent of a job or project. If you take something on or make a promise, fulfillment will be necessary to protect your reputation.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Take a unique approach to personal money management, and you'll find a way to make your dollars stretch. Don't trust someone else to handle your finances or possessions.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Do what you enjoy doing most, and you'll gain momentum and insight into how you want to spend your time. Home improvements offer adequate space to pursue your dreams.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Explore new possibilities. Visit places of interest and consider making a move if it justifies the means. Listen to your heart, not to what others try to lead you to believe.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Don't put off what requires your attention now. The

sooner you put your chores behind you, the better you will feel. Change will make room for a new adventure.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Check your motives before you engage in something questionable. An opportunity will turn into a lesson if you aren't specific regarding what you are willing to contribute.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) You can have fun if you mix and mingle today and if you don't make promises you'll regret. Stick to the basics and map out your game plan with precision and detail.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Stick close to home, protect what you've worked so hard to achieve and put your energy into tying up loose ends. Avoid traps, review information and take ample time to respond.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Consider your options and embrace what you find most appealing. Personal and professional partnerships can improve if you communicate openly and honestly regarding what you are willing to contribute.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Be sure to stick to what's feasible. Be diligent and inquisitive when an offer seems too good to be true. Ask questions and opt out if you sense a hidden agenda or cost.

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: y EQUALS M

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon FAMILY CIrCUS

dooneSbUrY

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ 5D

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CurTiS

Hi and LoiS

Sudoku InstructIons: Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers.

The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

BaBY BLueS

BLondie

THe wiZard oF id

nea CroSSwordS

La TimeS CroSSword

6D ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

lll

B.C.

Bridge

BY PHILLIP ALDER The book “Bridge Crosswords” by Jeff Chen (Master Point Press) is what it sounds like: 52 crosswords with a bridge theme, although most of the clues are not bridge related. The crosswords vary in complexity from easy (Monday New York Times level) to challenging (Thursday NYT difficulty).

And you will probably enjoy “Bridge Table or What’s Trump Anyway?” by Maggy Simony (Booklocker.com). The author looks primarily at social bridge, but many famous players are mentioned.

There is only one deal included — see today’s diagram. It purportedly cost John Bennett of Kansas City his life on Sept. 29, 1929. He and his wife, Myrtle, had been playing a “friendly” session against neighbors Myrna and Charles Hoffman. It first appeared in The Bridge World magazine and is surely an invention.

After a very light opening bid, an overcall and a thin jump to four spades, West led the diamond ace, then shifted to the club jack. Declarer won in his hand and took the percentage play in trumps, cashing the king and ace. Now he had to go down. Mrs. Bennett, realizing that her husband could have won 10 tricks, made some uncomplimentary comments about his ancestry. Mr. Bennett leant across the table and slapped his

garfield

Pearls Before swiNe

hagar the horriBle

wife. She went into the bedroom, came out with the family gun, and killed her husband.

However, she walked free from the court because she was charged with murder one, which requires the crime to be premeditated, which this clearly was not. She should have been charged with manslaughter. © 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 — tInsEL: TINT-sel: Threads or strips of a material used to

Bizarro

marmaduKe

produce a sparkling appearance.

Average mark 21 words Time limit 35 minutes Can you find 28 or more words in TINSEL? YEstERDAY’s WoRD — CAnVAssInG caning canvas casing caving acai acing again angina assign avian naan

vain vang vinca visa saga sang sans saving scan sign sing

snag gain

loCKhorNs hidato Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

today’s thought “Why let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”

1 Corinthians 10:12

Pride can hurt us. Let’s humble ourselves before the Lord. He will take care of His own.

— G.E. Dean

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ 7D

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

Baton Rouge Rental

Announcements Anyone knowing the whereabouts of CLYDE M. KENNEDY AND JANNEAL KENNEDY please contact Atty.

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NEWS 24/7 ON

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Q tionnaire) for persons or firms interested and qualified to provide pro‐ fessional engineering services for the Kenner Laketown Park and Har‐ bor Improvements pro‐ ject (Council District 4).

g y implementing an am‐ phitheater, walking trails, children’s play spaces, and green infra‐ structure meadows. The scope of services antici‐ pated for the project cur‐ rently needed is to final‐ ize design plans and per‐ form construction ad‐ ministration and resident inspection services. Jef‐ ferson Parish anticipates the project will require the following supplemen‐ tal services/disciplines: coastal engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, building ar‐ chitect, landscape archi‐ tect, geotechnical ser‐ vices, land surveying, and resident inspection.

Public Notices

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

PUBLIC NOTICE ---

Deadline for Submissions: 3:30 p.m., January 29, 2026

PUBLIC NOTICE SOQ #25-047 Provide Professional Engineering Services for The Kenner Laketown Park and Harbor Improvements Project The Parish of Jefferson, authorized by Resolution No.147477, is hereby so‐ liciting Statements of Qualifications ((TEC) Pro‐ fessional Services Ques‐ i i ) f

General The intention of the pro‐ ject is to revitalize the Kenner lakefront area by educating citizens about the benefits and risks of living near the water, as well as investing in structural and green in‐ frastructure projects to manage future risk by i l i

Compensation

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

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Compensation for the re‐ quired design services will be made on an hourly rate basis or a fixed fee basis, or a com‐ bination of both, depend‐ ing on scope and com‐ plexity of the work. The Parish reserves the right to determine the method of payment (hourly or fixed) for each individual assignment.

Agreement for Jefferson Parish. A copy of Attach‐ ment “A” may be ob‐ tained by calling the Jef‐ ferson Parish Depart‐ ment of Capital Projects at (504) 736-6833.

For fixed fee work, the fee shall be negotiated with the firm by the Jef‐ ferson Parish Depart‐ ment of Capital Projects and shall be mutually agreeable to both par‐ ties.

Compensation for sup‐ plemental services, if re‐ quired, shall be in the form of a “lump sum” or hourly rate for each sup‐ plemental service, which shall be mutually agree‐ able to the Parish and

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

CLASSIFIEDS WORK

For hourly rate work, the firm shall be compen‐ sated by the appropriate Jefferson Parish Depart‐ ment on the basis of their certified and item‐ ized burdened rate in ac‐ cordance with guidelines established in Attach‐ ment “A” to the Standard Professional Services

HAPPY HOLIDAY

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

FREE RENT 225-351-7449

Pets / Pet Services Directory WANT TO BUY I buy old bourbon bottles. Wild Turkey, Weller, Old Grand Dad etc.

Call or text $300 (225)456-3434

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

225-933-7560

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

AREA 3

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

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

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

the Consultant.

All costs associated with this project shall be sub‐ ject to Jefferson Parish review and approval.

Minimum Requirements for Selection The persons or firms under consideration shall have at least one (1) principal who is a li‐ censed, registered pro‐ fessional engineer in the State of Louisiana. A sub‐ contractor may not be used to meet this re‐ quirement. (Section C. of TEC Professional Ser‐ vices Questionnaire); 1. The persons or firms under consideration shall have a professional i h f h j

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

225-383-0111 Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

p in charge of the Project who is a licensed, regis‐ tered professional engi‐ neer in the State of Louisiana with a mini‐ mum of five (5) years’ ex‐ perience. A subcontrac‐ tor may not be used to meet this requirement.

(Section K. “PROFES‐ SIONAL IN CHARGE OF PROJECT:”; of TEC Profes‐ sional Services Question‐ naire);

j volves more than one discipline. (Section D. of TEC Professional Ser‐ vices Questionnaire).

2. The persons or firms under consideration shall have one (1) em‐ ployee who is a licensed, registered professional engineer in the State of Louisiana in the applica‐ ble discipline involved. A subcontractor may meet this requirement only if the advertised Project in‐ l h

With regard to the ques‐ tionnaire, Principal means the sole propri‐ etor of the firm, or one who shares an owner‐ ship interest with other persons in the firm, in‐ cluding but not limited to, a partner in a partner‐ ship, a shareholder in a corporation, or a mem‐ ber of a limited liability corporation.

Evaluation Criteria The following criteria will be used to evaluate each firm submitting a State‐ ment of Qualifications:

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

1) Professional training and experience in rela‐ tion to the type and mag‐ nitude of work required for the particular project – (Maximum points awarded shall be 35).

2) Size of firm, consider‐ ing the number of profes‐ sional and support per‐ sonnel required to per‐ form the type of engi‐ neering tasks, including project evaluation, pro‐ ject design, drafting of technical plans, develop‐ ment of technical specifi‐ cations and construction administration – (Maxi‐ mum points awarded shall be 10).

3) Capacity for timely completion of newly as‐ signed work, considering the factors of type of en‐ i i k

At the Matrimonial Part 51 of the Supreme Court of the State of New York held in and for the County of Queens, at the Courthouse located at 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica, New York on the 12th day of December 2025.

PRESENT: HON. JODI ORLOW, J.S.C. ________________________x TAMALY CHAKRABARTY, Plaintiff, -against-

Index No.: 1244/2024 ORDER FOR ALTERNATIVE SERVICE

SHAMAR CHAKRABARTY, Defendant. ________________________x Upon the reading and filing of the affidavit of the plaintiff, Tamaly Chakrabarty, the affidavit of process server Scott Frank, along with a copy of the results from the Investigative Report, United States Postal Service, Department of Defense, Department of Motor Vehicles, social media search, undeliverable e-mail attempt to defendant at chakrabartyshamar80@gmail.com, and non-responsive text message to defendant at 347-615-5191 and it appearing therefrom to the satisfaction of the Court that the plaintiff has a good and meritorious cause of action against the defendant for a divorce and that the plaintiff has not and cannot locate the defendant with due diligence within or outside the State of New York, and that service cannot be made any other prescribed method. Further based on the results of the investigation, defendant’s last know address was in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Now upon the motion, of the plaintiff, Tamaly Chakrabarty, it is hereby ORDERED, that service of the Summons, Verified Complaint, and all required matrimonial notices in the above entitled action, be made by publication thereof in accordance with CPLR §313, CPLR §316 and Domestic Relations Law §232, in one newspaper which will be in the English Language to wit: The Advocate, published in East Baton Rouge Parish, the State of Louisiana, once a week for three consecutive weeks, together with a notice to the defendant and a brief statement of the object of the action, said newspaper being designated as most likely to give notice to the defendant; and it is further ORDERED that a copy of the Summons, Verified Complaint, this Order, all required Matrimonial notices, and papers on which the Order is based shall additionally be text messaged to the defendant at 347-6155191; and it is further ORDERED that the first publication and the text message to the defendant of the Summons, Verified Complaint, along with all required Matrimonial Notices, shall be made within thirty (30) days of the date of this order; and it is further ORDERED that the Summons, Verified Complaint, this Order, all required Matrimonial notices, and papers on which the order is based, shall be filed on or before the first day of publication; and it is further ORDERED that the Court being satisfied that a place where the defendant would receive mail cannot with due diligence be ascertained, the mailing of the copies of the Summons with Notice and Matrimonial Notices, pursuant to CPLR Section 316(b), to the defendant shall be discarded.

This constitutes the decision and order of this Court.

Dated: December 12, 2025 Hon. Jodi Orlow, J.S.C.

171073-597166-dec 20-27-jan 3-3t $ 10,395.00

8D ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

SIMPLE ELECTRIC

Professional work • Lic/Ins/Bond.

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MILITARY DISCOUNTS

STOP ALL LEAKS! CARPENTRY & PAINTING Lic/Ins. 225-205-9537 *Senior Citizen Discount

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Call 225.925.0610 Reasonable Rates for Quality Work!

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The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ 9D

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Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

yp gineering task, current unfinished workload, and person or firm’s avail‐ able professional and support personnel – points (Maximum awarded shall be 20).

4) Past Performance on a project in which the per‐ son or firm assisted a governmental entity in dealings with Disaster Recovery and any other projects relating to CDBG – (Respondent should provide a list of com‐ pleted Disaster Recovery projects and/or similar CDBG projects for which firm has provided verifi‐ able references) (Maxi‐ mum points awarded shall be 10).

5) Location of the princi‐ pal office – Preference shall be given to persons or firms with a principal business office as fol‐ lows: (A) Jefferson Parish, including munici‐ palities located within Parish (15 Jefferson Points); (B) Neighboring Parishes of the Greater New Orleans Metropoli‐ tan Region, which in‐ cludes Orleans, Plaquem‐ ines, St. Bernard, St. Charles and St. Tammany Parishes (12 Points); (C) Parishes other than the foregoing (10 Points); (D) Outside the State of Louisiana (6 Points). Lo‐ cation of the principal of‐ fice shall only factor into the evaluation criteria if adequate competition (two or more firms that

are responsive and re‐ sponsible) are located within Jefferson Parish (Maximum points awarded shall be 15).

6) Adversarial legal pro‐ ceedings between the Parish and the person or firm performing profes‐ sional services, in which the Parish prevailed or any ongoing adversarial legal proceedings be‐ tween the Parish and the person or firm perform‐ ing professional services those in‐ excluding stances or cases where the person or firm was added as an indispens‐ able party, or where the person or firm partici‐ pated in or assisted the public entity in prosecu‐ tion of its claim. (In the event that the person or firm fails to provide ac‐ curate and detailed in‐ regarding formation legal proceedings with the Parish, including the absence of legal pro‐ ceedings, the person or firm shall be deemed un‐ responsive with regard to this category, and zero (0) points shall be awarded) - (Maximum points awarded shall be 15).

7) Prior successful com‐ pletion of projects of the type and nature of engi‐ neering services, as de‐ fined, for which firm has provided verifiable refer‐ ences - (Maximum points awarded shall be 5).

Project will include fed‐ eral disaster and re‐ siliency funds and there‐ fore will include associ‐ ated federal require‐ ments, including Section 3, as applicable. State‐ ments of Qualifications from minority, femaleowned, and local firms / individuals are invited.

Code Ordinance, Section 2-928)

Statement of Qualifica‐ tions, but shall be sub‐ mitted prior to contract approval.

Each firm’s lowest and highest score shall be dropped and not count towards the firm’s score.

Only those persons or firms receiving an overall cumulative score of at least seventy (70) per‐ cent or greater, of the total possible points for all categories to be as‐ signed by the participat‐ ing technical evaluation members, committee shall be deemed quali‐ fied to perform these professional services.

The person or firm sub‐ mitting a Statement of Qualification ((TEC) Pro‐ fessional Services Ques‐ tionnaire) must identify all subcontractors who will assist in providing professional services for the project, in the profes‐ sional services question‐ naire. Each subcontrac‐ tor shall be required to submit a ((TEC) Profes‐ sional Services Question‐ naire) and all documents and information included in the questionnaire.

(Refer to Jefferson Parish

All persons or firms (in‐ cluding subcontractors) must submit a Statement of Qualifications ((TEC) Professional Services Questionnaire) by the deadline. The latest pro‐ fessional services ques‐ tionnaire may be ob‐ tained by contacting the Purchasing Department at (504) 364-2678 or via the Jefferson Parish web‐ https://www. at site jeffparish.gov/27/ Government. This ques‐ tionnaire can be ac‐ cessed by clicking on the + next to “Doing Busi‐ ness in Jefferson Parish” on the website and click‐ ing on “Professional Ser‐ vices Questionnaires”.

Submissions will only be accepted electronically via Jefferson Parish’s eProcurement site, Cen‐ tral Bidding at www.cen tralauctionhouse.com or www.jeffparishbids.net.

Registration is required and free for Jefferson Parish vendors by ac‐ cessing the following link: www.centralauct ionhouse.com/registratio n.php.

No submittals will be ac‐ cepted after the dead‐ line.

Affidavits and Insurance are not required to be submitted with the

Disputes/protests relat‐ ing to the decisions by the evaluation commit‐ tee or by the Jefferson Parish Council shall be brought before the 24th Judicial Court.

ADV: The New Orleans Advocate: December 31, 2025 and January 7, & 14, 2026.

171181-dec 31-7-14-3t $466.81

Legal Notices

PUBLIC NOTICE --PUBLIC HEARING The Louisiana Depart‐ of Insurance ment 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‐ d d i if h

Legal Notices

Legal Notices

p p g 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.

y y 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‐ page of the tices 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‐ from the formation Louisiana Department of Insurance on this public hearing. Interested per‐ sons may appear at the public hearing to provide comments or evidence as well.

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 Baton Rouge, Street, 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, ill b d

Timothy J. Temple Commissioner of Insur‐ ance Louisiana Department of Insurance 169449-DEC 29-31-3T $117.76

WBR Legal Notices

WBR Public Notices

WBR Legal Notices

PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING West Baton Rouge Public Notice Notice Is Hereby Given To All Citizens Of The Parish Of West Baton Rouge, State Of Louisiana, And To All Other Interested Persons, Of The Introduc‐ tion At The Regular Meet‐ ing Of The West Baton Rouge Parish Council Of Proposed Ordi‐ The nance(s) Introduced By Title December 11, 2025 As Set Forth Hereinafter.

y Time 5:30 pm Public hearings will be held at the West Baton Rouge Parish Govern‐ mental Building, 880 N. Alexander, Port Allen, LA 70767

Publish The Advocate December 31, 2025 171298-dec 31-1t $17.91

Reporting you can trust

An Ordinance to Amend Chapter 22 Elections, Sec. 22-59 Polling Places to Relocate Precinct 21 and 22 from Erwinville Community Center to the Caneview K-8 School, 5217 McLin Rd., Port Allen, La 70767.

A PUBLIC HEARING will be held by the West Baton Rouge Parish Council relative to the re‐ zoning requests.

Date: Thursday, January 8, 2026 i

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2 ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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Emily Abraham

Allyce Alexander

Cynthia Anderson

Nancy Askew

Baton Rouge, LA 9/23/1932-11/19/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baton Rouge, LA 1/6/1994-9/27/2025 Chauvin Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 9/6/1951-9/23/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Carlsbad, CA 11/2/1928-10/17/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Deborah Adams

Debra Alfaro

Charles Anderson Jr.

Paula Assaf

Metairie, LA 10/5/1950-9/9/2025 Tharp Sonthiemer Funeral Home

Denham Springs, LA 4/29/1955-10/27/2025 Brandon G. Thompson Funeral Home in Denham Springs

Birmingham, Alabama 5/27/1944-12/1/2025 Ridout's Southern Heritage

Covington, LA 12/23/1946-9/14/2025 E.J. Fielding Funeral Home in Covington

Helen Adams

Amy Allen

Joseph Antie Jr.

Vernon Aucoin

Los Alamos, NM 10/18/1935-9/24/2025 Rivera Family Funerals & Cremations in Taos, NM

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 10/9/1978-12/9/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Bueche, LA 11/1/2025 Wilbert Funeral Home

Patterson, LA 10/10/1952-10/8/2025 Hargrave Funeral Home in Morgan City

Sheila Adams

Susan Allen

Kathryn Anzalone

Oliver Aucoin Sr.

Baton Rouge, LA 8/19/1944-10/4/2025 Seale Funeral Service in Denham Springs

Baton Rouge, LA 5/20/1923-11/18/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Independence, LA 10/22/1935-11/12/2025 McKneely Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 11/14/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

James Aguillard

Meghan Amacker

Dianne Arceneaux

Mary Augustus

Ventress, LA 11/8/1947-12/11/2025 Niland's Funeral Service in New Roads

Zachary, LA 1/15/1996-11/17/2025 Miller & Daughter Mortuary in Zachary

Gonzales, LA 3/3/1953-11/16/2025 Ourso Funeral Home in Gonzales

Baton Rouge, LA 1/10/1947-10/26/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

John Albano

Lenora Amedee

Phyllis Ardoin

Wilfred Austin

Gonzales, LA 10/19/1940-11/12/2025 Ourso Funeral Home in Gonzales

Baton Rouge, LA 3/22/1939-9/27/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Ragley, LA 2/3/1947-11/13/2025 Matthews Funeral Home

Lafayette, LA 3/10/1935-11/16/2025 Fountain Memorial Funeral Home in Lafayette

Barbara Albarez

Louis Amedee

Joseph Ardoin Jr.

Morris Babin

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 12/7/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 9/3/1931-9/26/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

St Francisville, LA 2/9/1952-10/31/2025

St. Gabriel, LA 12/16/1941-11/7/2025 Williams & Southall Funeral Home in Napoleonville

Charles Albert

Annie Anderson

Wilda Armato

Brenda Badeaux

Zachary, LA 8/20/1964-12/12/2025 Charlet Funeral Home in Zachary

Zachary, Louisiana 8/24/1947-12/3/2025 Richardson Funeral Home of Clinton

Chenal, Louisiana 10/28/1947-10/9/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baton Rouge, LA 1/23/1947-10/19/2025 Seale Funeral Service in Denham Springs

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ 3

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Memory IN LOVING

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Helen Badeaux

June Barrett

Fabian Bercegeay

Merilyn Black

Spring, Tx 6/8/1947-11/28/2025 Niland's Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, LA 6/10/1931-11/13/2025 Harry McKneely & Son Funeral Home

St. Amant, Louisiana 8/27/1935-4/14/2024 Church Funeral Services

Baton Rouge, LA 12/11/1942-11/22/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Michael Bahm

Robert Barry

Donna Bergeron

Pamelia Blanchard

Walker, LA 8/8/1951-10/17/2025 Seale Funeral Service in Denham Springs

Baton Rouge, LA 3/16/1936-10/5/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baton Rouge, LA 6/28/1958-11/4/2025 Niland's Funeral Service in New Roads

Plaquemine, LA 11/7/1940-11/30/2025 Wilbert Funeral Service Plaquemine

Clarence Bailey

Maurice Bean

James Bernhard Jr.

Roy Blank Sr.

Sunshine, LA 5/14/1928-9/28/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 8/20/1970-10/25/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, LA 4/9/1954-11/16/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Gramercy, LA 9/14/1930-9/27/2025 Rose Lynn Funeral Home

Joseph Bajoie Sr.

Beulah Behrnes

Margaret Berthelot

James Blouin

Glynn, LA 11/8/2025 Hall Davis and Son

Baton Rouge, LA 2/11/1936-10/1/2025 Seale Funeral Home in Denham Springs

Addis, LA 5/15/1929-11/16/2025 Wilbert Funeral Service Plaquemine

Baton Rouge, LA 11/15/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Brandon Baker

Mary Bell

Norris Berthelot

Kenneth Blue

Baton Rouge, LA 3/17/1971-10/1/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baton Rouge, LA 10/4/2025 Miller & Daughter Mortuary in Zachary

Plaquemine, LA 11/1/1950-12/12/2025 Wilbert Funeral Service in Plaquemine

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 3/1/1971-11/9/2025

Bruce Bannerman

Bennie Bell

Benjamin Beshears Sr.

Shirley Bond

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 10/6/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Zachary, LA 1/1/0001-10/9/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, LA 7/22/1938-11/27/2025 Miller & Daughter Mortuary in Zachary

Denham Springs, LA 9/14/1979-10/28/2025 Harry McKneely & Son Funeral Home in Hammond

Gordon Bargas Jr.

Charles Bennett

Robert Bethley

Eugene Bonnecaze

Baton Rouge, LA 7/22/1933-11/21/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

St. Francisville, LA 10/10/2025 Charlet Funeral Home

Woodville, MS 1/16/1939-11/18/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, LA 1/24/1940-10/10/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

A. Troy Barksdale

Jestina Bennie

Patricia Bewick

Hattie Booker

Saint Francisville, LA 12/26/1940-10/12/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 6/7/1941-10/8/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Walker, LA 3/3/1952-11/6/2025 McLin & Manley Funeral Home and Cremation Service in Walker

Baton Rouge, LA 9/29/1925-11/16/2025 Desselle's Funeral Home

4 ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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Karen Bossier

Gervais Bouser

Charlene Brock

Betty Browning

Rosedale, LA 5/17/1962-10/30/2025 Niland's Funeral Service in Livonia

Walnut Creek, CA 3/24/1932-10/12/2025 Alta Vista Cremation & Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 9/28/1934-11/26/2025 Winnfield Funeral Home of Baton Rouge

Central, LA 10/9/1946-11/21/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Jo Boswell

Vivian Boutte

Samuel Brooks

Charlotte Browning

Billings, MT 7/8/1936-9/5/2025 Michelotti-Sawyers Mortuary & Crematory

Napoleonville, LA 8/19/1950-11/3/2025 Williams & Southall Funeral Home - Napoleonville

Baton Rouge, LA 2/25/1962-11/21/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Denham Springs, Louisiana 10/20/1936-11/1/2025 Seale Funeral Service Denham Springs

Marie Boudreaux

Dan Bowden

Carolyn Broussard

Constance Brown Polk

Livonia, LA 1/28/1934-12/9/2025 Niland's Funeral Service in Livonia

Baton Rouge, LA 10/5/1955-12/10/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 10/14/1942-11/13/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 3/28/1962-10/25/2025 Winnfield Funeral Home of Baton Rouge

Bishop St. Theresa Boulanger

Pamela Bowers

Edsel Brown

Raymond Bueche

Central, Louisiana 8/15/1946-9/30/2025 Seale Funeral Service Denham Springs

Woodville, MS 6/13/1931-11/28/2025 Newman Funeral Home in Centreville, MS

Baton Rouge, LA 11/15/1951-10/9/2025 Seale Funeral Service Denham Springs

Mildred "Duddie" Bourg

Walter Hardy Bozant

James Brown

Troy Bunch

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 8/6/1933-9/27/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 3/17/1929-12/2/2025 Seale Funeral Service in Denham Springs

Denham Springs, La 7/30/1939-10/17/2025 Church Funeral Services

Fort Myers, FL 5/6/1947-11/13/2025 Baldwin Brothers

Baton Rouge, LA 12/7/1947-10/21/2025 Verrette's Pointe Coupee Funeral Home in New Roads

Barbara Bourgeois

Jimmy Bradley

Jared Brown

Louella Burton

Slaughter, LA 10/11/1945-10/5/2025 Charlet Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 3/12/1934-9/8/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Marrero, LA 7/7/1987-7/28/2025 Wilbert Funeral Service in Plaquemine

Baton Rouge, LA 10/2/2025 Miller & Daughter Mortuary in Zachary

Darren Bourgeois

Kelvin Brady

Joshua Brown

Mary Ann Burton

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 11/13/1962-11/2/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 3/31/1966-10/22/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, LA 2/28/2004-11/3/2025 Wilson-Wooddale Funeral Home - Baton Rouge

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 6/23/1937-11/17/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Ronald Bourgeois

Wayne Brian

Joyce Brown

Thomas Burton

Baton Rouge, LA 12/17/1943-10/26/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Denham Springs, LA 11/3/1961-12/3/2025 Church Funeral Services

Gonzales, LA 3/4/1926-11/19/2025 Ourso Funeral Home in Gonzales

Baton Rouge, LA 1/2/1931-10/30/2025 Church Funeral Services

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ 5

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Memory IN LOVING

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Kim Butler

Bobby Calvery

Joseph Castille

New Orleans, LA 6/17/1962-10/20/2025 Heritage Funeral Directors

Greenwell Springs, LA 1/15/1948-9/25/2025 Seale Funeral Service Denham Springs

Baton Rouge, LA 4/16/1978-11/30/2025 Church Funeral Services

Maria Siebert Cherbonnier Baton Rouge, Louisiana 11/29/1946-11/13/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Valeria Butler

Harold Cannon

Michael Cazes

Geoffrey Choppin

Baton Rouge, LA 9/22/1931-11/23/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baton Rouge, LA

Port Allen, LA 3/16/1956-11/24/2025 Wilbert Funeral Service in Plaquemine

Baton Rouge, LA 7/26/1955-10/30/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Greenoaks Funeral Home

Sherman Bynum

Judith Cannon

Merle Chabreck

Marvin Christensen

Plaquemine, LA 11/24/2025 Pugh's Mortuary

Baton Rouge, LA 10/8/1943-11/24/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 1/4/1934-11/6/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baton Rouge, LA 9/9/1939-10/11/2025 Church Funeral Services

Percy Cage

Nellie Carpenter

Gloria Chaney

Olevia Clark

Baton Rouge, LA 5/1/1946-10/25/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Jackson, LA 10/23/2025 Charlet Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 11/17/1938-10/24/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

New Orleans, LA 10/14/2025 Williams & Southall Funeral Home

Vera Caillais

Samuel Carraway

James Chaney Sr.

Marshall Clegg

4/10/1939-10/24/2025 Baker Funeral Home

Mandeville, LA 8/5/1947-10/24/2025 E. J. Fielding Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 12/10/1930-10/29/2025 Wilson-Wooddale Funeral Home

Zachary, LA 1/7/1943-10/20/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Walter Cain

Clyde Carter

Betty Chapman

Linda Clouatre

Napoleonville, LA 9/30/2025 Williams & Southall Funeral Home in Napoleonville

Baton Rouge, LA 12/31/1952-12/6/2025 A. Wesley's Funeral Home

Gonzales, LA 6/8/1943-10/10/2025 Ascension Funeral Home

White Castle, LA 12/28/1949-12/7/2025 Wilbert Funeral Service Plaquemine

Judy Calhoun

Dorothy Carter

Alfred Chatman Jr.

Bertha Coates

Baton Rouge, LA 10/28/1939-10/14/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Zachary, LA 5/8/1933-10/16/2025 Richardson Funeral Home of Clinton

White Castle, LA 10/3/2025 Demby & Son Funeral Home in Donaldsonville

Baton Rouge, LA 9/3/1950-10/19/2025 Charles Mackey Funeral Home

Michael Califf

Olivia Carter

Sheila Cheatham

Gloria Coffey

Prairieville, LA 1/24/1954-11/27/2025 Church Funeral Services

Baton Rouge, LA 12/23/1944-10/30/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Clinton, LA 5/4/1958-10/5/2025 Richardson Funeral Home in Clinton

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 12/12/1940-11/15/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

6 ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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Samuel Collins

Edward Coulter

Carolyn Daigle

Henry Davis

Clinton, LA 10/8/2025 Charlet Funeral Home in Zachary

Baton Rouge, LA 12/13/1967-11/12/2025 Wilson-Wooddale Funeral Home - Baton Rouge

Plaquemine, LA 2/27/1942-12/5/2025 Wilbert Funeral Service in Plaquemine

St. Amant, LA 1/7/1944-12/4/2025 Church Funeral Services

John Constantine

Bobby Courtney

Donald Daigle

Sherri Davis

Baton Rouge, LA 1/7/1974-11/22/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baton Rouge, LA 4/24/1958-11/5/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, LA 10/28/1941-11/10/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Walker, LA 1/22/1964-10/9/2025 Richardson Funeral Home of Louisiana

Robert Cook

Brad Critney

Mamie Daniel

John Dawson

Baton Rouge, LA 11/4/1942-11/10/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, LA 6/30/1985-11/19/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Walker, LA 12/17/1942-12/3/2025 Seale Funeral Service in Denham Springs

Baton Rouge, LA 1/15/1953-10/11/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Marvin Cooper

Quencia Cross

Todd Daniels

Gail DeLee

Saint Amant, Louisiana 3/4/1943-10/2/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Thibodaux, LA 9/22/2025 Williams & Southall Funeral Home

Montgomery, AL 4/2/1970-11/6/2025 Charlet Funeral Homes, Inc Zachary

Clinton, LA 2/2/1938Charlet Funeral Home in Clinton

Merle Cooper

Norris Cummings

Danny Daniel

Doris Delone

Baton Rouge, LA 11/10/1922-11/4/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baton Rouge, LA 12/4/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, LA 11/12/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Plaquemine, LA 11/28/1958-10/9/2025 Pugh's Mortuary in Plaquemine

Janice Cope

Joann Cunningham

Peggy David

Suzanne Dendy

Port Allen, Louisiana 12/5/1957-10/28/2025 Westside Leitz-Eagan Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 1/15/1943-9/27/2025 Gertrude Geddes Willis Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 10/30/1941-12/7/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baton Rouge, LA 12/22/1947-11/9/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Dale Cordell

Joyce Cutrer

Doris Davis

Doris Dent

Covington, LA 9/14/1950-10/15/2025 E.J. Fielding Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 11/16/1930-12/8/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Liberty, Mississippi 6/6/1941-11/12/2025 Brown Funeral Hme

St. Gabriel, LA 10/2/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Kerry Cothern

Todd D'Aquin

Eldon Davis

Grace Dessert

Baton Rouge, LA 3/2/1955-12/6/2025 Church Funeral Services in St. Amant

Baton Rouge, LA 10/23/1955-10/30/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Chipola, LA 6/13/1936-10/26/2025 McKneely Funeral Home

Gonzales, LA 7/26/1933-10/17/2025 Ourso Funeral Home Gonzales

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ 7

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Memory IN LOVING

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Gerald Dicharry

Allison Dudley

Erik Dyhrkopp

Celestine Ervins

Denham Springs, Louisiana 11/20/1941-9/23/2025 Seale Funeral Service Denham Springs

Baton Rouge, La 1/8/1988-10/31/2025 Desselle's Funeral Home

Ann Arbor, Michigan 4/23/1965-4/27/2025 Hosmer-Muehlig Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 10/20/1947-10/21/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Rose Ann Dileo

Ned Dufour

Susan Easterling

Central, LA 9/2/1940-11/1/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 12/18/1938-11/24/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Clinton, LA 10/5/1961-12/5/2025 Charlet Funeral Home in Zachary

Janell Dillard

Kristi Dunbar

Irma Easterly

Baton Rouge, LA 2/27/1947-10/23/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 10/24/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Ethel, LA 7/26/1933-12/4/2025 Charlet Funeral Home in Zachary

Jeremiah Doody

James Duncan

Patricia Ebert

Baton Rouge, LA 1/17/1940-11/18/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Denham Springs, LA 5/31/1940-11/28/2025 Seale Funeral Service Denham Springs

8/21/1952-10/1/2025 Wilbert Funeral Service in Plaquemine

Douglas Doremus

Laynetric Dunn

Velma Edgens

Baton Rouge, LA 2/9/1942-10/15/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Plaquemine, LA 7/7/1973-11/17/2025 Pugh's Mortuary in Plaquemine

Central, LA 5/18/1936-12/5/2025 Baker Funeral Home

Harry Dotson

James Dupre

Bobby Efferson

Maringouin, LA 8/31/1967-12/6/2025 A. Wesley's Funeral Home

Port Allen, LA 9/28/1942-10/30/2025 A. Wesley's Funeral Home in Maringouin

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 12/9/1936-10/13/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

James Douglas Jr.

Bernadette Dupuy

Franklin Endom

Baton Rouge, LA 10/8/2025 Hall Davis and Son

Baton Rouge, LA 10/18/1980-10/18/2025 Seale Funeral Service Denham Springs

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 7/15/1938-12/3/2025 Church Funeral Services

Johnny Downs

Jackolyn Durrett

Thomas Ensminger

Baton Rouge, LA 3/8/1942-10/30/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 9/25/1937-11/22/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Greenwell Springs, Louisiana 1/28/1946-11/29/2025 Seale Funeral Service Denham Springs

Irene Estay St Rose, LA 4/1/1950-10/4/2025 Church Funeral Services

Eva Evans Baton Rouge, LA 8/7/1947-12/5/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Hilda Evans Baton Rouge, LA 11/3/1933-11/25/2025 Ascension Funeral Home

8 ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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IN LOVING

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Moses Evans

Jimmy Fleming

Mary Fryoux

Evelyn Gautreaux

Baton Rouge, LA 12/5/1963-12/2/2025 Miller & Daughter Mortuary

Slaughter, LA 10/12/2025 Charlet Funeral Home Clinton/Zachary

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 6/12/1935-11/14/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 5/21/1929-11/30/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Debra Ewing

Catherine Flentroy

Mary Gainey

James George

Batchelor, La 7/29/1954-10/12/2025 Niland's Funeral Service

Baker, LA 12/17/1928-11/8/2025 Miller & Daughter Mortuary

Baton Rouge, LA 11/25/1936-11/30/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Gulf Breeze, FL 9/16/1934-9/28/2025 Rose Lawn Funeral Home

David Fabre

Dr. Thomas Flynn

Lillie Gallagher

Jefferson Gerald

Prairieville, LA 6/13/1957-10/28/2025 Church Funeral Services in St. Amant

St. Francisville, LA 9/15/1936Charlet Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 5/24/1937-10/12/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baton Rouge, LA 4/18/1934-11/7/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Sharon Fairchild

Marcus Fontenot

Mark Gaspard

Gerald Boudreaux

Woodville, MS 7/19/1947-10/8/2025 Seale Funeral Service in Denham Springs

Baton Rouge, LA 7/24/1994-12/3/2025 Memorial Gardens Funeral Home in McComb, MS

Baton Rouge, LA 2/15/1963-12/9/2025 Church Funeral Services

Plaquemine, LA 11/25/1939-10/21/2025 Wilbert Funeral Home

Connie Fauver

William Fontenot

Ronald Gathe

Tracy Germany

Zachary, LA 3/21/1949-11/6/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 11/26/1942-11/23/2025 Church Funeral Services

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 6/23/1952-11/4/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Denham Springs, LA 11/1/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Alvin Favorite

Debbie Forbes

Leslie Gatz

Elbert Getridge

Vacherie, LA 8/10/1948-11/9/2025 Kennedy Funeral Home in Raceland

Baton Rouge, LA 9/20/1963-12/1/2025 Charlet Funeral Homes, Inc Zachary

Baton Rouge, LA 1/10/1947-9/29/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Lewisville, TX 7/11/1942-10/9/2025 Winnfield Funeral Home

Marta Finalet

Eric Francewar

Anthony Gauthier

Darrell Giddens

Baton Rouge, LA 11/14/1944-11/15/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

League City, TX 11/12/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 5/27/1951-11/9/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Jackson, MS 8/30/1935-11/5/2025 Wright and Ferguson in Flowood, MS

Alice Fisher

Mary Fremin Albarado

Paulette Gautreau

Dr. M Girod

Clinton, Louisiana 9/27/1940-10/26/2025 Mercy Funeral Home

Plaquemine, LA 3/21/1964-10/14/2025 Wilbert Funeral Service in Plaquemine

Gonzales, LA 2/16/1949-10/4/2025 Church Funeral Services in St. Amant

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 2/17/1941-10/14/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ 9

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Memory IN LOVING

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Rev. Dr. Bianca Grant

Janette Greene

Bennie Guillory

Richard Hardenburgh

Nashville, TN 12/22/1978Demby & Son Funeral Home in Donaldsonville

Greenwell Springs, Louisiana 4/5/1939-11/24/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Plaquemine, LA 10/24/2025 Wilbert Funeral Home

Gonzales, LA 10/7/1936-11/15/2025 Ourso Funeral Home in Gonzales

Dorothy Grant

Charles Griffin

William Gully

Brenda Harelson

Baton Rouge, LA 1/7/1945-10/16/2025 Winnfield Funeral Home of Baton Rouge

Denham Springs, LA 10/26/1987-11/27/2025 Miller & Daughter Mortuary in Zachary

Denham Springs, LA 11/17/1935-10/31/2025 Seale Funeral Service in Denham Springs

Gonzales, LA 7/15/1942-9/27/2025 Ourso Funeral Home Gonzales

Loretta Grant

Frank Griffin

George Guttner

Gary Harrell

Donaldsonville, LA 7/31/1952-11/24/2025 Demby and Son Funeral Home in Donaldsonville

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 1/2/1934-11/14/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 8/31/1946-9/27/2025 Church Funeral Serivces

Denham Springs, Louisiana 3/17/1959-10/27/2025 Seale Funeral Service Denham Springs

Florance Graves

Henry Grim

Archie Hall

Jackson Harris

Plaquemine, LA 9/4/1929-10/13/2025 Wilbert Funeral Service in Plaquemine

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 7/30/1951-12/1/2025 Richardson Funeral Home of Clinton

Gonzales, La 7/21/1931-9/30/2025 Church Funeral Services

Baton Rouge, LA

Louise Grayer

Mary Grimball

Shirley Hall

Johnny Harris

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 7/30/1930-11/6/2025 Richardson Funeral Home of Clinton

Gonzales, LA 4/12/1941-12/12/2025 Ourso Funeral Home Gonzales

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 2/10/1936-11/27/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 10/1/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

All Texas Cremation in Plano, TX

Jimmy Green

Dianna Gros

William Hall III

Robert Harrison

Baton Rouge, LA 9/16/1962-10/10/2025 Charles Mackey Funeral Home

Zachary, LA 10/22/1947-11/15/2025 Charlet Funeral Homes, Inc Zachary

Abbeville, LA 8/29/1942-11/30/2025 Cypress Funeral Home & Crematory in Maurice

Port Allen, LA 11/14/1948-10/25/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Marie Green

Mary Groves

William Hamilton

Robert Hartman

Bayou Goula, LA 11/10/1945-12/7/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, LA 3/7/1937-11/6/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baton Rouge, LA 9/5/1933-12/3/2025 Church Funeral Services

Banner Elk, NC 10/4/1957-8/31/2025 Barney Hampton Funeral Home

DeLories Greene

Gilbert Guidry

John Hardee

Dwight Hartz

Baton Rouge, LA 6/16/1940-11/10/2025 Church Funeral Home & Crematory

Baton Rouge, LA 4/22/1943-10/11/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baton Rouge, LA 4/4/1943-10/13/2025 Ascension Funeral Home in Gonzales

Jackson, LA 11/2/2025 Charlet Funeral Home

10 ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

Memory

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IN LOVING

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Hugh Hartzog

Sylvia Hebert

Shanese Hightower

Rev. Walter Howard

Baton Rouge, LA 4/5/1947-11/8/2025 The Church Funeral Home

Metairie, LA 10/5/1932-11/28/2025 L.A. Muhleisen & Son Funeral Home in Kenner

Addis, LA 2/6/1974-10/13/2025 Demby & Son Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 10/6/1949-11/11/2025 Miller & Daughter Mortuary

David Harvey

Henry Henderson Jr.

Susan Hilbun

Betty Hudson

Winter Park, FL 12/21/1932-8/22/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Plaquemine, LA 10/24/1950-10/2/2025 Roscoe Mortuary in Plaquemine

Baton Rouge, LA 9/11/1970-10/22/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Homes East

Baker, LA 11/20/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Jeffery Haynes

Lynn Hendry

Craig Hill

Donovan Hudson

Baton Rouge, LA 10/26/1964-9/22/2025 Desselle's Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 7/29/1946-10/20/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baton Rouge, LA 3/26/1959-10/25/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 8/13/1961-11/5/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Albin Hebert

Alton Herbert

Shirley Hipps

Evelyn Ibert

New Roads, LA 12/30/1930-11/17/2025 Niland's Funeral Service

Belle Rose, LA 7/22/1991-11/20/2025 Williams & Southall Funeral Home - Napoleonville

Ponchatoula, Louisiana 9/23/1950-10/9/2025 LN Hughes Funeral Services, LLC

Baton Rouge, LA 11/24/1934-10/12/2025

Lloyd Hebert

Judith Hettinger

Doris Hodges

Jennifer Ingram

Gonzales, LA 10/15/1948-10/5/2025 Ourso Funeral Home in Gonzales

Baton Rouge, LA 8/26/1943-11/28/2025 Church Funeral Services

Baton Rouge, LA 4/14/1941-10/1/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Gonzales, LA 12/22/1950-11/24/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Mary Hebert

Floyd Heurtin Jr.

Janie Holiday

Bradford Isaac

Baton Rouge, LA 1/8/1947-11/14/2025 Church Funeral Services

Baton Rouge, LA 10/21/1955-10/6/2025 Church Funeral Services and Crematory

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 5/18/1930-12/1/2025 Winnfield Funeral Home of Baton Rouge

Baton Rouge, LA 10/23/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Rickey Hebert

Courtney Higginbotham

Nell Holton

Beverly Jackson

Plaquemine, LA 10/10/1963-10/15/2025 Wilbert Funeral Service in Plaquemine

Gonzales, LA 4/7/1978-11/25/2025 Ourso Funeral Home in Gonzales

Gonzales, La 10/8/1939-11/7/2025 Ourso Funeral Home Gonzales

Greenwell Springs, LA 9/24/1954-10/24/2025 Seale Funeral Service Denham Springs

Robert Hebert

Bliss Higgins

Angela Houston

Gail Jackson

St. Amant, LA 7/20/1938-9/21/2025 Church Funeral Services

Baton Rouge, LA 2/25/1958-11/12/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Maringouin, LA 9/7/1966-10/5/2025 A. Wesley's Funeral Home in Maringouin

St. James, LA 3/9/1954-10/14/2025 Demby & Son Funeral Home in Donaldsonville

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ 11

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Memory IN LOVING

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Rebecca Jackson

Olivia Johnson Tucker

Marion Jones

Alice Kennedy

Baton Rouge, LA 2/17/1923-11/16/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 6/12/1950-11/16/2025 MJR Friendly Service Funeral Home - Denham Springs

Thibodaux, LA 10/2/2025 Williams & Southall Funeral Home in Thibodaux

Baton Rouge, La 70816 7/23/1954-9/21/2025 LSU FACES Lab

Justin Jefferson

Alice Jones

Robin Jones

Emile Kennedy III

Baton Rouge, LA 11/5/2025 Miller and Daughter Mortuary

Baton Rouge, LA 7/24/1947-10/8/2025 A. Wesley's Funeral Home in Maringouin

12/26/1957-10/20/2025 Church Funeral Services

Lewisville, TX 7/29/1961-11/11/2025 Simple Cremation in Dallas, TX

Tammy Jeffery-Green

Alivia Jones

Marlys Karsh

William Koenig

Addis, La 10/29/1965-11/5/2025 Pugh's Mortuary

Baton Rouge, LA 2/25/1952-10/31/2025 Church Funeral Services

Baton Rouge, LA 6/7/1942-10/12/2025 Ascension Funeral Home

Youngstown, Ohio 10/26/2025 Wilbert Funeral Home

Edwin Jewell Jr.

Antoinette Jones

Charlene Kaufman

Willie Kimble

Baker, La 2/9/1948-10/1/2025 Niland's Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, LA 4/13/1940-11/15/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Walker, LA 10/6/1931-11/30/2025 LSUHSC

Port Allen, LA 9/15/1934-11/23/2025 Ourso Funeral Home Gonzales

Christine Johnson

Betty Jones

John Kay

LisaBeth Kirby-Jones

Gonzales, LA 4/3/1970-9/26/2025 Lawson-Rollins Purple Shield Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 5/7/1933-11/24/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 11/22/1944-10/30/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Salisbury, NC 10/2/1965-11/17/2025 Church Funeral Services

Melissa Johnson

Elmer Jones

Roy Keller

Barbara Kliebert

Thibodaux, LA 10/17/2025Williams & Southall Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 10/16/2025 Miller and Daughter Mortuary

9/13/1947-10/5/2025 Church Funeral Services

Vacherie, LA 10/18/2025 Thibodaux Funeral Home

Vivian Johnson

Ernest Jones

Lee Kelly

Judge William Kline Jr.

Baton Rouge, LA 2/2/1920-11/23/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, LA 4/4/1931-12/1/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, LA 4/5/1938-10/22/2025 MJR Friendly Service Funeral Home

Clinton, LA 7/27/1929-11/2/2025 Charlet Funeral Home in Clinton

James Johnson Sr.

Jo Ann Jones

Elizabeth Kelso

Philip Korosec

Baton Rouge, LA 1/14/1944-9/29/2025 Wilson-Wooddale Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 4/5/1946-10/8/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, LA 10/21/2025 Miller and Daughter Mortuary

Biloxi, MS 10/12/1940-10/3/2025 Reed Funeral Home in North Canton, OH

12 ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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INofLOVING MEMORY those who are forever in our heart

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ 13

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Memory IN LOVING

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Katherine Krieg

Blake Landry

Kathleen Lawrence

Lillian Ledet

Baton Rouge, LA 4/11/1952-11/20/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Pierre Part, LA 2/18/1982-12/10/2025 Ourso Funeral Home Donaldsonville

Watson, La 11/11/1959-12/3/2025 Seale Funeral Service Denham Springs

Gramercy, LA 11/5/1930-10/20/2025 Rose Lynn Funeral Home

David Lacap

Eurline Landry

Rosie Lawrence

Shirley Lee

Baton Rouge, LA 1/1/0001-1/1/0001 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Port Allen, LA 2/25/1937-10/2/2025 Seale Funeral Service Denham Springs

Baker, LA 10/26/2025 Miller & Daughter Mortuary in Zachary

Baton Rouge, LA 3/14/1923-11/15/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service in Port Allen

Geraldine LaCombe

Genevieve Landry

Elizabeth LeBlanc

Leonard LeFore, Sr.

Gonzales, LA 10/10/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Donaldsonville, LA 12/28/1940-12/9/2025 Ourso Funeral Home Donaldsonville

Port Allen, LA 2/3/1935-11/16/2025 Wilbert Funeral Service in Port Allen

Livingston, LA 10/16/1928-11/15/2025 Ascension Funeral Home

Maurine LaCour

Winifred Landry

Ida LeBlanc

Jerome Leggio

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 7/31/1937-11/20/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Baker, LA 3/1/1932-10/14/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Bayou Pigeon, LA 1/17/1939-10/14/2025 Wilbert Funeral Service in Plaquemine

Baton Rouge, LA 9/23/1935-10/1/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Louis Lambert

Julius Langlinais

Ivy LeBlanc

Leo LeJeune Sr.

Sorrento, Louisiana 12/21/1940-9/27/2025 Ourso Funeral Home Gonzales

Baton Rouge, LA 9/5/1945-11/29/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

New Orleans, LA 9/5/1945-9/26/2025 Edmond Fahey Funeral Home

Brusly, LA 4/4/1938-10/22/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Colleen LaMotte

John Langlois

Louis LeBlanc

Frank Leon

Baton Rouge, LA 12/11/1936-10/17/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

5/24/1944-11/5/2025 Niland's Funeral Service in New Roads

Sorrento, LA 5/15/1939-10/15/2025 Ourso Funeral Home in Gonzales

Grand Coteau, LA 3/29/1935-10/17/2025 Niland's Funeral Service

Michel Lanaux Sr.

Mary Laurent

Melinda LeBlanc

Alice Leonard

Abita Springs, LA 8/16/1939-10/24/2025 E.J. Fielding Funeral Home in Covington

Plaquemine, LA 12/3/1939-11/4/2025 Wilbert Funeral Service in Plaquemine

Baton Rouge, LA 8/11/1955-11/16/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 2/15/1945-11/13/2025 Desselle's Funeral Home

Robert Lanclos

Eugene Lawrence

Vernon LeBlanc

Jerome Levy

Fairhope, AL 12/27/1962-9/25/2025 Endswell Funeral Home in Hillsborough, NC

Ocala, FL 9/11/1937-11/5/2025 Roberts of Ocala

Gonzales, LA 9/16/1958-11/22/2025 Church Funeral Services

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 12/2/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

14 ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

Memory

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IN LOVING

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Charles Lewis

Charles Livous

Mary Mahaffey

J. Marion Matherne

Geismar, LA 1/20/1945-10/19/2025 Ourso Funeral Home Gonzales

Baton Rouge, LA 3/28/1951-9/19/2025

Baton Rouge, LA 10/2/1924-11/4/2025 Charlet Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 8/2/1924-10/27/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Mary Lewis

Sherryl Lott

Almena Major

Richard Mathews

2/20/1928-9/30/2025 Baker Funeral Home

Baker, LA 1/21/1954-9/28/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, LA 10/28/1936-10/4/2025 Richardson Funeral Home in Clinton

Denham Springs, Louisiana 11/9/1972-10/24/2025 Seale Funeral Service Denham Springs

Nancy Lewis

Paul Loup

Norman Major

Ralph Mayer

Atlanta, GA 7/28/1941-11/10/2025 HM Patterson & Son Oglethorpe in Brookhaven, GA

Hurley, MS 11/8/1955-11/14/2025 Heritage Funeral Home

New Roads, La 7/23/1932-11/1/2025 Niland's Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, LA 12/8/1951-12/2/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Willie Lewis

Felicien Loup Jr.

Daniel Manget III

Gerald Mayers

Baton Rouge, LA 11/7/1938-11/4/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Vacherie, LA 11/4/2025 Rose Lynn Funeral Home in Lutcher

Pace, FL 7/13/1935-10/6/2025

St Amant, Louisiana 2/21/1953-10/14/2025 Church Funeral Services

Dennis Lewis, Sr.

Elaine Lovett

Thomas Manzullo

Anita McAdams

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 8/15/1946-9/21/2025 Winnfield Funeral Home of Baton Rouge

Donaldsonville, LA 8/25/1946-11/3/2025 Ascension Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 12/6/1942-12/5/2025 Resthaven Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 10/8/1942-12/1/2025 Central Funeral Home in Central

Howard Lewis Sr.

Suzette Lowe

Gloria Marcell

Rodlyn McAdams

Gonzales, LA 3/27/1972-11/20/2025 Richardson Funeral Home of Jefferson in River Ridge

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 2/3/1950-10/20/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Geismar, Louisiana 6/2/1938-11/14/2025 Lawson-Rollins Purple Shield Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 2/8/1970-10/18/2025 Central Funeral Home

Audrey Lilly

Joanna Mack-McKinley

Theodore Marciante

Marion McCaleb

Central, LA 11/6/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 12/13/1961-12/1/2025 Desselle's Funeral Home

Lafayette, LA 10/15/1940-10/6/2025 Delhomme Funeral Home in Lafayette

Baton Rouge, LA 8/23/1942-10/28/2025 Charles Mackey Funeral Services

John Link

Barry Maggio

Jerrell Martin

Maxine McCall

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 12/27/1957-10/16/2025 Winnfield Funeral Home of Baton Rouge

Pierre Part, LA 11/4/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Fordoche, LA 9/25/1940-9/28/2025 Niland's Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, LA 9/22/1925-10/5/2025

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ 15

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Memory IN LOVING

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Michael McCalop

Robert McRae

Mary Jane Miley

Audrey Monceret

Baton Rouge, LA 12/9/1957-10/13/2025 Winnfield Funeral Home of Baton Rouge

New Orleans, LA 7/2/1963-11/12/2025 Jacob Schoen & Son

Port Allen, Louisiana 4/14/1941-11/6/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Walker, LA 5/28/1930-12/8/2025 Church Funeral Services

Barbara McCleary

Charles Medlen

Mark Millsom Sr.

Linda Monies

Baton Rouge, LA 6/24/1937-12/6/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Plaquemine, LA 10/18/2025 Wilbert Funeral Service in Plaquemine

Rancho Bernardo, CA 7/7/1937-5/11/2025 Affordable Funeral Solutions in San Diego, CA

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 2/24/1941-11/14/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Julius McCraine

Gary Meise

Troy Milton

Mary Monroe

Jasper, Arkansas 2/2/1947-10/14/2025 Coffman Funeral Home of Jasper

Baton Rouge, LA 8/9/1965-10/21/2025 Taylor Funeral Home

Walker, La 5/16/1963-10/16/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Tallahassee, Florida 1/26/1930-11/5/2025 Bevis Funeral Home

Charles McGehee III

Laura Menard

Leon Minor

Richard Monroe

Lettsworth, La 4/8/1949-11/28/2025 Niland's Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 9/1/1962-12/6/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

St. Francisville, LA 5/20/1957-12/7/2025 Miller & Daughter Mortuary in Zachary

Port Allen, LA 10/6/1956-11/6/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Ellis McGinnis III

Camille Menzie

Mervin Mitchell

John Monroe III

Addis, LA 10/24/1951-11/20/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, LA 12/13/1927-11/10/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

St. Francisville/Jackson, LA 2/29/1952-12/5/2025 St. Francisville Funeral Home in St. Francisville

Baton Rouge, LA 11/13/1941-11/5/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Mark Mckenzie

Brenda Merchant

Norma Mitchell

Christopher Moody

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 8/9/1983-11/18/2025 Seale Funeral Service Denham Springs

Denham Springs, LA 2/4/1979-12/2/2025 Church Funeral Services

Baton Rouge, LA 12/29/1930-11/30/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Hammond, LA 8/26/1954-10/10/2025 Brandon G. Thompson Funeral Home - Hammond, LA

John McKinley

Linda Reck Michel

Barbara Mitchell Kees

Catherine Moore

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 10/17/1937-12/6/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Labadieville, LA 8/16/1941-11/19/2025 Ordoyne Funeral Home in Thibodaux

Greenwell Springs, La 10/1/1944-10/8/2025 Church Funeral Services

Belle Rose, LA 9/28/2025 Williams & Southall Funeral Home

Frank McKnight Jr.

Linda Gail Michel

Beola Molden Rogers

Joseph Moore

Geismar, LA 10/27/2025 Miller & Daughter Mortuary in Zachary

Gonzales, LA 9/17/1949-12/1/2025 Ascension Funeral Home in Gonzales

Plaquemine, LA 1/21/1950-10/20/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, LA 5/4/1948-10/27/2025 Mercy Funeral Home

16 ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

Memory

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IN LOVING

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Marvin Morgan

Robert Neff

Delores Nicholas

Dr. James Ourso

Prairieville, LA 1/17/1938-11/21/2025 Ourso Funeral Home in Gonzales

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 11/2/1961-9/24/2025 Carney and Mackey Funeral Home

Port Allen, Louisiana 1/1/0001-11/10/2025 Roscoe Mortuary

Baton Rouge, LA 10/22/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Jerelyn Mouch

Ardra Neldare

Richard Nicholas

Joyce Overton

Baton Rouge, LA 11/19/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 10/28/1930-11/3/2025 Professionl Funeral Services

Maringouin, LA 2/3/1957-10/5/2025 A. Wesley's Funeral Home in Maringouin

Darlene Mouille

Brenda Nelson

Sandy Nicholas

Leland Overton

New Roads, la 2/26/1956-11/17/2025 A. Wesley's Funeral Home

Plaquemine, LA 4/6/1947-10/2/2025 Roscoe's Mortuary

Amite, LA 9/11/1944-10/15/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

10/17/2025

12/24/1957-9/24/2025 Demby & Son Funeral Home

Clemon Mullins

Frank Nelson

James Nicholson

Valerian Owens

Greenwell Springs, LA 6/22/1943-11/12/2025 Church Funeral Services

Klotzville, LA 10/22/2025 Williams & Southall Funeral Home

Mt. Juliet, TN 6/25/1937-10/19/2024 Smith Family Funeral & Cremation Services in Murfreesboro, TN

Baton Rouge, LA 1/15/1980-11/11/2025 Miller & Daughter Mortuary

Faye Mary Mumphrey

Grace Nelson

Frank Noble Jr.

Sharon Page

Denham Springs, LA 9/28/1931-11/13/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baton Rouge, LA 9/29/2025 Miller and Daughter Mortuary

Prairieville, LA 11/19/1948-11/16/2025 Ourso Funeral Home in Gonzales

Decatur, GA 10/6/1942-11/13/2025 Leaf Cremation

Richard Murphy

Mary Nesbit LaCour

Yvette Noil

William Paine

Baton Rouge, LA 5/7/1954-11/19/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baton Rouge, LA 10/16/1928-10/23/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 7/28/1965-10/21/2025 Winnfield Funeral Home of Baton Rouge

Baton Rouge, LA 4/13/1956-10/28/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

George Naill

Robert Nettles

Edna Oliver

James Parent Sr.

Fort Bragg, California 4/18/1946-12/4/2025 Fred Young

Houston, TX 10/24/1938-11/18/2025 Bradshaw - Carter Memorial & Funeral Services

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 1/5/1930-11/18/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 7/3/1931-11/2/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Gloria Naquin

Brandon Nicholas

Michael Orona

Janice Parrino

Plaquemine, LA 4/11/1938-9/28/2025 Wilbert Funeral Service Plaquemine

St. Gabriel, LA 3/12/1991-9/30/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, LA 12/1/1976-10/7/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Denham Springs, LA 5/7/1934-11/29/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ 17

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Memory IN LOVING

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Joseph Patin

Claude Penn Jr.

Kay Pittman

Byron Pruitt

New Roads, LA 1/14/1947-12/2/2025 Niland's Funeral Service in New Roads

McComb, MS 12/30/1937-12/9/2025 Seale Funeral Service in Denham Springs

Baton Rouge, LA 9/4/1942-10/3/2025 Church Funeral Services

Central, LA 11/17/1950-12/3/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Lena Patin

James Percy

Charles Pixley

Mary Purpera

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 9/23/1956-10/4/2025 Winnfield Funeral Home of Baton Rouge

Alexandria and Pineville, LA 12/15/1942-11/5/2025 John Kramer & Son Funeral Home in Alexandria

Baton Rouge, LA 8/17/1939-10/31/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Gonzales, LA 11/22/1938-10/11/2025 Ourso Funeral Home Gonzales

Mildred Patin

Larry Perdue

Victor Poirrier

Rosemary Rachal

Baton Rouge, LA 7/12/1932-10/3/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baton Rouge, LA 4/5/1943-10/5/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Prairieville, LA 2/26/1939-11/28/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Port Allen, La. 8/18/1943-10/15/2025 Church Funeral Services

Samuel Patrick Sr.

Supt. Sterling Perkins Sr.

Ronald Polozola

Paula Ramagos

St. Francisville, LA 10/5/2025 Charlet Funeral Home Clinton/Zachary

Walker, LA 12/30/1940-11/1/2025 Richardson Funeral Home

Denham Springs, LA 7/27/1951-12/6/2025 Seale Funeral Service Denham Springs

Madisonville, Louisiana 1/1/0001-1/1/0001 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Gordie Pattan, III

Velma Phillips

Ethel Poole Murphy

Ricardo Ramos Sr.

Port Allen, LA 10/24/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, LA 5/27/1943-10/13/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Maringouin, LA 5/10/1937-12/1/2025 A. Wesley's Funeral Home

Boerne, TX 8/20/1944-11/26/2025 McNutt Funeral Home in Conroe, TX

Ann Pearce

Robert Picard

Frank Porter, Sr.

Lonnie Randall Sr.

Baton Rouge, LA 11/1/1941-11/29/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Scott, Louisiana 5/27/1953-10/10/2025 Delhomme Funeral Home Lafayette

Baton Rouge, LA 11/15/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Youngsville, LA 3/12/1934-9/27/2025 Louisiana Funeral Services & Crematory in Broussard

Anthony Pecoraro

Jarett Picou

Peter Prophit

Lisa Raynal

Baton Rouge, LA 1/1/0001-1/1/0001 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Maurepas, LA 2/16/1986-12/2/2025 Church Funeral Services

Baton Rouge, LA 1/30/1945-11/14/2025 Church Funeral Services

Baton Rouge, LA 12/18/1957-10/6/2025 Seale Funeral Service in Denham Springs

Catherine Pegues

Sherman Pierson

Myrthie Provost

Linda Rey-Cambric

Baton Rouge, LA

Denham Springs, LA 10/6/1958-10/9/2025 S.L. Booker Family Funeral Services, LLC.

Port Allen, LA 9/29/1935-10/4/2025 Wilbert Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 10/17/1941-11/11/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

18 ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

Memory

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IN LOVING

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Delores Rhodes Stalling

Jacqueline Robert

Murle Robinet

Hannah Rose

Baton Rouge, La 2/1/1933-9/23/2025 Desselle's Funeral Home

Donaldsonville, LA 9/21/2025 Ourso Funeral Home Donaldsonville

LaPlace, LA 11/19/1937-11/16/2025 Robottom Mortuary in Reserve

New Orleans, LA 9/26/2007-10/14/2025 Rhodes Funeral Home

Odelia Richard

Patsy Dixie Robert Gulfport, Mississippi 10/28/1932-11/25/2025 Saint Angela Merici Catholic Church

Rhonda Robinson

Percy Ross

Batchelor, LA 3/9/1948-10/15/2025 A. Wesley's Funeral Home in Maringouin

Olga Riegel

Peyton Robert

New Orleans, Louisiana 12/25/1944-9/28/2025 Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 1/3/1932-12/12/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Ann Riffel

Darrion Robertson

Baton Rouge, LA 12/25/1926-10/2/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baton Rouge, LA 8/3/1983-10/29/2025 Wilson-Wooddale Funeral Home - Baton Rouge

Arthur Riffel

Dorothy Robertson

Baton Rouge, LA 10/8/1951-11/3/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baton Rouge, LA 5/25/1941-9/26/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Deputy Charles Riley

John Robertson

Gonzales, LA 1/3/1992-10/6/2025 Ourso Funeral Home in Gonzales

Grosse Tete, LA 1/6/1940-11/15/2025 Schaffer Family Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 8/18/1959-10/8/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Alfred Robvais Lutcher, LA 9/24/1939-11/5/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Irene Rodrigue White Castle, LA 9/7/1938-10/19/2025 Ourso Funeral Home in Gonzales

Baton Rouge, LA 11/2/2025 Miller & Daughter Mortuary in Zachary

Nelson Rouillier Gramercy, LA 10/26/2025 Rose Lynn Funeral Home in Lutcher

Sentoria Roundtree St. Francisville, LA 10/5/2025 Miller and Daughter Mortuary

Guy Russell John Ropp Ruston, LA 3/13/1930-12/10/2025 Blanchard-St. Denis Funeral Home in Natchitoches

Worthington, MN 5/23/1953-9/17/2025 Benson's Funeral Home, Worthington, MN

Sam Taylor II Gregory Rosaya Baker, LA 7/24/1961-11/13/2025 A. Hamilton Platinum Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, LA 11/9/2025 Miller & Daughter Mortuary

Jane Riner

Mollie Robertson

Joel Sanders

Baton Rouge, LA 3/1/1935-9/27/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baton Rouge, LA 9/23/2025 Wilson-Wooddale Funeral Home - Baton Rouge

Baton Rouge, LA 8/23/1954-12/7/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Faryl Robert

Tommy Robertson

Rosalie Sanders

Gonzales, LA 11/5/2025 Ourso Funeral Home in Gonzales

Plaquemine, LA 3/9/1952-10/6/2025 Wilbert Funeral Service Plaquemine

Thibodaux, LA 10/19/2025 Williams & Southall Funeral Home in Thibodaux

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ 19

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Memory IN LOVING

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Dorothy Sarradet

Guy Schexnaydre

Josie Sellers

Margaret Sigur

Brusly, LA 1/27/1939-11/16/2025 Wilbert Funeral Service Plaquemine

Gonzales, LA 1/9/1967-10/10/2025 Ourso Funeral Home in Gonzales

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 2/1/1937-10/15/2025 Winnfield Funeral Home of Baton Rouge

Houston, Texas 5/19/1961-11/6/2025 Earthman Hunters Creek Funeral Home

Randolph Saucier

Scott Schiffer

Yvonne Sharon

Jennifer Simlin

Baton Rouge, LA 4/24/1939-11/17/2025 Central Funeral Home

Covington, LA 1/26/1964-11/6/2025 Bagnell & Son Funeral Home

Plaquemine, LA 8/2/1941-11/12/2025 Wilbert Funeral Service Plaquemine

San Antonio, TX 3/26/1957-10/6/2025 Lewis Funeral Home

Leonard Saurage II

Joan Demers Schouest

Blaine Sheets

Evelene Simoneaux

Baton Rouge, LA 3/26/2025-11/4/2025 Church Funeral Services

Marietta, GA 1/6/1941-9/23/2025 Neptune Cremation Service

Gonzales, LA 6/18/1957-12/2/2025 Ourso Funeral Home in Gonzales

Belle Rose, LA 10/16/2025 Williams & Southall Funeral Home

Joe Saxton Sr.

Pat Scivicque

Holly Sheets

Lawrence Sims Sr.

Zachary, LA 2/24/1932-9/30/2025 Charlet Funeral Home

Denham Springs, LA 10/15/1928-10/15/2025 Church Funeral Services

Prairieville, Louisiana 9/27/1971-10/16/2025 Church Funeral Services

Thibodaux, LA 10/12/2025 Williams & Southall Funeral Home

Arthur Schexnayder

Deloris Scott

James Shelton

Helen Skolfield

St. James, LA 1/14/1940-10/17/2025 Church Funeral Services

Baton Rouge, LA 7/23/1947-11/17/2025 Miller & Daughter Mortuary in Zachary

Maurepas, LA 5/15/1941-10/20/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Mandeville, LA 8/3/1934-10/13/2025 E.J. Fielding Funeral Home in Covington

Barbara Schexnayder

Derrien Scott

Clifton Sherman

Charla Smith

Baton Rouge, LA 4/26/1939-10/7/2025 Ourso Funeral Home in Gonzales

Maringouin, Louisiana 3/6/2008-10/16/2025 A. Wesley Funeral Home

Donaldsonville, LA 4/19/1948-9/23/2025 Ourso Funeral Home in Donaldsonville

Baton Rouge, LA 7/31/1991-10/23/2025 Richardson Funeral Home of Clinton

Harold Schexnayder

Ethel Scott

Andrew Shread

Glynn Smith

White Castle, LA 4/7/1933-11/8/2025 Wilbert Funeral Service Plaquemine

Baton Rouge, LA 10/15/1946-10/20/2025 Richardson Funeral Home of Clinton

Baton Rouge, LA 7/9/1982-10/8/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 11/20/1936-10/20/2025 Lafond-Ardoin Funeral Home in Opelousas

Angela Schexnaydre

Mary Scott

Donna Sibley

James Smith

Convent, LA 10/12/2025 Rose Lynn Funeral Home in Lutcher

Baton Rouge, LA 12/27/1947-11/13/2025 Semien-Lewis Mortuary

Denham Springs, LA 1/31/1952-10/15/2025 Immaculate Conception Catholic Church

Donaldsonville, LA 9/24/2025 Brazier-Watson Funeral Home in Donaldsonville

20 ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

Memory

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IN LOVING

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Jeffery Smith Jr.

Jane Staples

Annis Tarver

Diana Thatcher

Baton Rouge, LA 4/30/1976-10/1/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, LA 12/23/1926-9/30/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baton Rouge, LA 12/26/1938-10/4/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Port Allen, LA 10/19/2025 Wilbert Funeral Home

Donis Southworth

Lorraine Sterling

Juanita Tate

Bette Smith Theis

Baton Rouge, LA 5/10/1935-11/12/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Fordoche, LA 9/16/1945-11/15/2025 A. Wesley's Funeral Home in Maringouin

Denham Springs, LA 4/5/1930-11/17/2025 Seale Funeral Service in Denham Springs

Baton Rouge, LA 10/17/1930-10/14/2025 Farrar Funeral Home

Helen Spears

Thomas Stewart

Billy Taylor

Roma Theriot

Baton Rouge, LA 11/18/1932-10/27/2025 MJR Friendly Service Funeral Home in Denham Springs

Plaquemine, LA 8/25/1951-10/31/2025 MJR Friendly Service Funeral Home - Denham Springs

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 4/10/1933-9/26/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 12/2/1934-10/11/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Calvin Thierry

Thomas Spradley

Annie Stringer

Jesse Taylor

Baton Rouge, LA 9/30/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Shreveport, LA 12/21/1939-10/20/2025 Rose-Neath Funeral Home in Shreveport

11/1/2025 Miller & Daughter Mortuary in Zachary

Baton Rouge, LA 2/2/1934-10/28/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Ronald Squyres

Glenda Stubbs

Carnelius Teasett

Bonnie Thomas

Baton Rouge, LA 5/20/1959-10/29/2025 Church Funeral Services

Greenwell Springs, LA 9/19/1946-11/20/2025 Charlet Funeral Homes, Inc Zachary

Baton Rouge, LA 2/21/1989-11/15/2025 Miller & Daughter Mortuary in Zachary

Baker, LA 7/9/1934-9/28/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Huey Stafford

Patricia Sugar

Harvey Templet

Clarence Thomas

Gloster, MS 6/13/1936-11/14/2025 Brandon G. Thompson Funeral Home - Hammond, LA

Hammond, Louisiana 3/17/1943-10/17/2025 Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home

Gonzales, LA 11/23/1938-10/27/2025 Ourso Funeral Home Gonzales

Prairieville, LA 4/18/1938-12/1/2025 Williams & Southall Funeral Home - Napoleonville

Nolen Stafford

Christine Sutton Fjeldsjo

Larry Templet

Dorothy Thomas

Baker, LA 4/29/1941-11/28/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 7/18/1976-11/21/2025 Encounter Church

Gonzales, LA 2/25/1952-12/1/2025 Ourso Funeral Home in Gonzales

Zachary, LA 3/4/1939-12/3/2025 Miller & Daughter Mortuary

Melvin Stansberry Sr.

Barbara Talbot

Peggy Terry

Idella Thomas

Baton Rouge, LA 4/14/1934-11/1/2025 Winnfield Funeral Home

Maringouin, LA 2/20/1927-11/15/2025 Niland's Funeral Service in New Roads

Austin, TX 1/1/0001-9/26/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Denham Springs, LA 7/23/1934-10/21/2025 MJR Friendly Service Funeral Home

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ 21

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Memory IN LOVING

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Ruth Thomas

Ina Lee Tortorich

Jacqueline Vail

Patricia Vernon

Baton Rouge, LA 12/13/1928-9/25/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baton Rouge, LA 11/9/1934-11/4/2025 Central Funeral Home

Pride, Louisiana 2/19/1935-10/2/2025 Seale Funeral Service Denham Springs

Clemson, SC 6/7/1936-9/25/2025 Duckett-Robinson Funeral Home

Janet Thomas Savoy

Valerie Trahan

James Valenti

Margaret Vick

Baton Rouge, LA 11/14/1963-11/13/2025 Richardson Funeral Home of Clinton

Dallas, TX 9/1/1935-11/8/2025 Geesey-Ferguson Funeral Home - Crowley

Baton Rouge, LA 5/13/1954-9/27/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Dallas, TX 4/9/1933-10/8/2025

Louis Thomassie

Kenneth Tregre

Richard Valenti

Donald Vicknair Sr.

Gonzales, LA 8/3/1935-12/3/2025 Ourso Funeral Home Gonzales

Baton Rouge, LA 2/15/1944-11/23/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baton Rouge, La 5/31/1961-9/19/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Greenwell Springs, LA 3/5/1939-12/3/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Jessie Thompson

Donald Trusclair Sr.

Wanda Vance

Deborah Vidrine

Baton Rouge, LA 12/5/1934-11/15/2025 Seale Funeral Service Denham Springs

Baton Rouge, LA 11/29/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Clinton, LA 7/30/1938-12/6/2025 Baker Funeral Home

New Roads, LA 6/20/1951-11/15/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Lois Thompson

Marie Turner

Jeanne Van Netta

Leo Waddell

Baton Rouge, LA 11/21/1933-9/23/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baton Rouge, LA 3/14/1952-11/15/2025 A. Hamilton Platinum Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, LA 10/3/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 10/14/1948-10/3/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Morris Thompson

Spencer Turner

Sandie Van Oss

Marlon Walker

Belle Rose, LA 4/10/1942-11/9/2025 Williams & Southall Funeral Home - Napoleonville

Baton Rouge, LA 2/27/1971-10/14/2025 Richardson Funeral Home of Clinton

Baton Rouge, LA 8/11/1943-10/9/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Cary, North Carolina 4/9/1969-10/17/2025 Winnfield Funeral Home of Baton Rouge

Larry Tidwell

Mary Turpin

Aline Vaughn

Lawrence Warren

Pride, LA 3/30/1946-11/27/2025 Ourso Funeral Home Gonzales

Baton Rouge, LA 11/5/1925-11/14/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 12/11/1948-10/25/2025 Desselle's Funeral Home

Tylertown, MS 12/9/1951-11/2/2025 Moore Funeral Services Hattiesburg

Wilmer Todd

Vincent Vaccaro

Glenda Vaughn

Leslie Washington

Thibodaux, Louisiana 11/27/1938-10/12/2025 Landry's Funeral Home Labadieville

Baton Rouge, LA 9/2/1935-11/23/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baker, Louisiana 1/11/1962-10/3/2025 A. Hamilton Platinum Funeral Service

Addis, LA 10/8/2025 Demby & Son Funeral Home in Donaldsonville

22 ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

Memory

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IN LOVING

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Robert Washington Sr.

Lisa White

Zadie Williams

Louis Wright

Jackson, LA 12/14/1940-12/1/2025 Richardson Funeral Home in Clinton

Baton Rouge, LA 11/16/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

Darrow, LA 11/27/1940-11/12/2025 Lawson-Rollins Purple Shield Funeral Home in Gonzales

Baton Rouge, La 10/14/1948-11/7/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Dorothy Young

John Watson

Mark White

Sandra Wills

Clinton, La 12/19/1947-11/17/2025 Richardson Funeral Home of Clinton

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 5/20/1954-11/26/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 8/24/1945-12/2/2025 Seale Funeral Service in Denham Springs

Lawrence Watson Sr.

Betty White Chambers

Jeredean Wilson

Donaldsonville, LA 10/19/2025 Brazier-Watson Funeral Home

Baton Rouge, LA 3/8/1941-10/12/2025 Desselle's Funeral Home

Zachary, LA 4/30/1947-12/1/2025 Richardson Funeral Home of Clinton

Bennett Wells III

Larry Wiesepape

Olivia Wilson

Baton Rouge, LA 10/24/2025 Miller & Daughter Mortuary in Zachary

Baton Rouge, LA 4/25/1939-11/20/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Thibodaux, LA 10/24/2025 Williams & Southall Funeral Home

Sandra Wendt-Rogillio

Rev. Roosevelt Wilkerson

William Wilson

Rosedale, LA 7/31/1952-11/25/2025 A. Wesley's Funeral Home in Maringouin

Baker, LA 10/29/2025 Miller and Daughter Mortuary

Baton Rouge, LA 7/16/1935-11/9/2025 Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Funeral Home

Barbara Werling

Classie Williams

Bobbie Wood

Baton Rouge, LA 9/9/1928-10/14/2025 Rabenhorst Funeral Home & Crematory - Government Street

Baton Rouge, LA 10/1/1930-10/18/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Zachary, LA 2/18/1932-10/5/2025 Charlet Funeral Home in Zachary

Terry Whitaker

Rosa Williams

Shirley Woodson

Donaldsonville, LA 10/18/2025 Williams & Southall Funeral Home in Donaldsonville

Humble, TX 11/13/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Baton Rouge, LA 11/24/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

George White

Thelma Williams

Clifton Wright

Lafayette, LA 9/22/1951-11/1/2025 Martin & Castille Funeral Home

Port Allen, LA 7/30/1944-10/15/2025 Hall Davis & Sons Funeral Service

Gray, LA 9/25/2025 Williams & Southall Funeral Home

Brusly, LA 7/10/1940-9/30/2025 Pugh's Funeral Home in Plaquemine

Samuel Young Baton Rouge, LA 7/25/1961-11/29/2025 Miller & Daughter Mortuary

Birdean Young Bates Plaquemine, LA 11/1/1939-12/5/2025 A. Hamilton Platinum Funeral Service

Richard Zabbia Ponchatoula, LA 3/21/1948-10/30/2025 Harry McKneely & Son Funeral Home in Hammond

Leonard Zeringue Jr. Prairieville, LA 11/18/1953-10/1/2025 Ourso Funeral Home in Gonzales

Rhonda Zimmerman Baton Rouge, LA 10/22/1956-11/25/2025 Greenoaks Funeral Home

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The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ 23

IN LOVING MEMORY...

24 ■ Wednesday, December 31, 2025 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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IN Memoriam

A tribute to our lost loved ones...