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“Until we find a way to get outside influences out of the lives of our high school athletes, we’re going to continue struggling with this.”

J.T. CURTIS, football coach at John Curtis Christian School

High school athlete endorsement rules eyed

Health anxiety on the rise

More accessible data can mean more worry

BY EMILY WOODRUFF

Staff writer

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

The Zachary Broncos take the field for the District 4-5A game against Catholic in November in Baton Rouge. A 22-person legislative task force involving Louisiana lawmakers, lawyers, college athletic administrators, coaches and student athletes has been empaneled to study the effects of paid endorsements and salaries for the state’s high school and college players.

Abi Caswell got an Oura ring to make her life easier.

The 30-year-old owner of Batter a bakery wanted a way to track her menstrual “It’s a catch-22. cycle without waking up evIt’s good information. ery morning take her But sometimes to temperature.

I just want a It was easy. cocktail without No alarms refeeling like I’m minding her to take her temburning the no world down.” perature, thermometer.

But then came ABI CASWELL, owner of Batter a the scores. A sleep score, an bakery activity score, a body stress score, even a “readiness” score to measure how prepared her body was for the day.

If she had a single cocktail, the ring knew. If she ate dinner later than normal, her sleep score wobbled. If she worked out harder than usual, she wasn’t as “ready” the next day. It got to the point she couldn’t sip on a cocktail without

ä See ANXIETY, page 4A

Task force includes coaches, lawmakers, lawyers and students

BY JOSEPH CRANNEY Staff writer

With elite high school football and basketball traditions stretching from Shreveport to New Orleans, the new pay-theplayers era that allows kids to profit from paid endorsements has led to big business in Louisiana, and some athletes are bringing home six-figure in-

comes before they even graduate.

But it’s also spawned a host of concerns around a lack of financial protections for young athletes and who can claim a stake in the money they’re now allowed to earn.

Those concerns were a key focus this year of a 22-person legislative task force involving Louisiana lawmakers, lawyers,

college athletic administrators, coaches and student athletes.

The group was empaneled to study the effects of paid endorsements and salaries for the state’s high school and college players.

They began shortly after a landmark NCAA settlement in June that allowed college athletes to begin collecting salaries directly from their universities

this season. For the past four years, college athletes could earn money through outside endorsement deals but not directly from their schools.

Over the course of five meetings, the panel zeroed in on the so-called “NIL” era in high school sports, named for the money that athletes have been

ä See ATHLETE, page 4A

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Abi Caswell, 30, wears an Oura ring for health tracking while decorating cupcakes at her Batter a bakery location on Baronne Street in New Orleans.

At least 40 dead, 115 injured in New Year’s fire at Swiss Alpine bar

BY JAMEY KEATEN, STEFANIE DAZIO and JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland — About 40 people were killed and another 115 injured, most of them seriously, after a fire ripped through a bar’s New Year’s celebration in a Swiss Alpine resort less than two

WEATHER HIGH 75 LOW 64 PAGE 6B

hours after midnight Thursday, police said.

Authorities did not immediately have an exact count of the deceased.

The Crans-Montana resort is best known as an international ski and golf venue, and overnight, its crowded Le Constellation bar morphed from a scene of revelry

into the site of one of Switzerland’s worst tragedies. The country will hold five days of mourning.

Valais Canton Police Cmdr. Frédéric Gisler said during a news conference that work is underway to identify the victims and inform their families, adding that the com-

ä See FIRE, page 5A

Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................3B Nation-World................2A Comics-Puzzles .....4D-6D Living............................1D Opinion ........................4B Commentary ................5B Metro .........................1B Sports ..........................1C

Police officers inspect the area where a fatal fire broke out at Le Constellation bar and lounge during a New year’s celebration in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland.

KEySTONE PHOTO By JEANCHRISTOPHE BOTT

101ST yEAR, NO. 186

2A ■ Friday, January 2, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Trump delays tariffs on furniture, cabinets

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed a New Year’s Eve proclamation delaying increased tariffs on upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities for a year, citing ongoing trade talks.

Trump’s order signed Wednesday keeps in place a 25% tariff he imposed in September on those goods, but delays for another year a 30% tariff on upholstered furniture and 50% tariff on kitchen cabinets and vanities.

The increases, which were set to take effect Thursday, come as the Republican president instituted a broad swath of taxes on imported goods to address trade imbalances and other issues.

The president has said the tariffs on furniture are needed to “bolster American industry and protect national security.”

The delay is the latest in the roller coaster of Trump’s tariff wars since he returned to office last year, with the president announcing levies at times without warning and then delaying or pulling back from them just as abruptly.

The Trump administration on Wednesday also signaled it may back away from a steep tariff proposed on Italian pasta that would have put the rate at 107%.

The U.S. had threatened to add a heavy tariff on Italian pasta makers after the U.S. Commerce Department launched what it said was a routine antidumping review based on allegations that the pasta makers sold product into the U.S. at below-market prices and undercut local competitors.

lll

Russia: Drone strike kills 24 Tensions between two nations continue to spike

BY ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine — A Ukrainian drone strike killed 24 people and wounded at least 50 more as they celebrated the New Year in a Russian-occupied village in Ukraine’s Kherson region, Russian officials said Thursday, as tensions between the two nations continue to spike despite diplomats hailing productive peace talks.

Three drones struck a cafe and hotel in the resort town of Khorly on the Black Sea coast, the region’s Moscow-installed leader Vladimir Saldo said in a statement on Telegram. He said that one of the drones carried an incendiary mixture, sparking a blaze.

Ukrainian officials did not immediately comment on the claim of a strike. The attack could not be independently verified by The Associated Press.

The attack was condemned by a number of Russian officials. Valentina Matviyenko, the chair of Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, said that the strike “strengthened” Russia’s resolve to quickly achieve its goals in its almost four-year invasion of Ukraine.

The strike “once again demonstrates the validity of our initial demands,” Matviyenko said.

The statement follows claims from Moscow that Ukraine launched a long-range drone attack against one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s official residences in northwestern Russia on Tuesday. Kyiv has denounced the claims as a “lie.”

Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Thursday that its specialists had accessed the navigation system in one of the drones it claimed was used in the attack and used its data to confirm that Putin’s

residence was the drone’s final destination. The claim could not be verified as the ministry did not share evidence on the findings, but officials said that it would transfer the data to U.S. officials “through established channels.”

On Wednesday, Russia’s Defense Ministry also released a video on Wednesday of a downed drone it said was involved in the attack.

The nighttime clip showed a man in camouflage, a helmet and a Kevlar vest standing near a damaged drone lying in snow. The man, his face covered, talks about the drone. Neither the man nor the Defense Ministry provided any location or date and neither the video nor its claims could be independently verified.

Kyiv has called the allegations of an attack on Putin’s residence a ruse to derail ongoing peace negotiations, which have ramped up in recent weeks on both sides of the

Flooding hits Gaza tent camp, killing 1

BY JULIA FRANKEL and TOQA EZZIDIN

Associated Press

Filing challenges ban on gender-affirming care WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is facing a new legal complaint from a group of government employees who are affected by a new policy going into effect Thursday that eliminates coverage for genderaffirming care in federal health insurance programs.

The complaint, filed Thursday on the employees’ behalf by the Human Rights Campaign, is in response to an August announcement from the Office of Personnel Management that it would no longer cover “chemical and surgical modification of an individual’s sex traits through medical interventions” in health insurance programs for federal employees and U.S. Postal Service workers.

The complaint argues that denying coverage of gender-affirming care is sex-based discrimination and asks the personnel office to rescind the policy.

“This policy is not about cost or care — it is about driving transgender people and people with transgender spouses, children, and dependents out of the federal workforce,” Human Rights Campaign Foundation President Kelley Robinson said in a statement announcing the move.

The complaint, filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, includes testimonies from four current federal workers at the State Department, Health and Human Services and the Postal Service who would be directly affected by the elimination of coverage.

At least 7 reported killed in Iran protests DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Widening demonstrations sparked

by Iran’s ailing economy spread Thursday into the Islamic Republic’s rural provinces, with at least seven people being killed in the first fatalities reported among security forces and protesters, authorities said.

The deaths may mark the start of a heavier-handed response by Iran’s theocracy over the demonstrations, which have slowed in the capital, Tehran, but expanded elsewhere. The fatalities, two on Wednesday and five on Thursday, occurred in four cities, largely home to Iran’s Lur ethnic group.

The protests have become the biggest in Iran since 2022, when the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody triggered nationwide demonstrations. However, the demonstrations have yet to be countrywide and have not been as intense as those surrounding the death of Amini, who was detained over not wearing her hijab, or headscarf, to the liking of authorities.

Atlantic.

In his New Year’s address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that a peace deal was “90% ready” but warned that the remaining 10%, believed to include key sticking points such as territory, would “determine the fate of peace, the fate of Ukraine and Europe, how people will live.”

Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said Wednesday that he, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner had a “productive call” with the national security advisers of Britain, France, Germany and Ukraine “to discuss advancing the next steps in the European peace process.”

“We focused on how to move the discussions forward in a practical way on behalf of (Trump’s) peace process, including strengthening security guarantees and developing effective deconfliction mechanisms to help end the war and ensure it does not restart,” Witkoff said in a post on X.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By HEATHER KHALIFA

Mayor Zohran Mamdani reacts Thursday after speaking during his inauguration ceremony in New york.

Mamdani promises to govern ‘audaciously’ Upon inauguration, mayor revels in ‘new era’ for New york City

BY ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE Associated Press

NEW YORK — Zohran Mamdani became mayor of New York City on Thursday, taking over one of the most unrelenting jobs in American politics with a promise to transform government on behalf of the city’s striving, struggling working class.

Mamdani, a Democrat, was sworn in at a decommissioned subway station below City Hall just after midnight, placing his hand on a Quran as he took his oath as the city’s first Muslim mayor.

After working part of the night in his new office, Mamdani then returned to City Hall in a taxi cab around midday Thursday for a grander public inauguration where U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the mayor’s political heroes, administered the oath for a second time.

“Beginning today, we will govern expansively and audaciously. We may not always succeed, but never will we be accused of lacking the courage to try,” Mamdani told a cheering crowd.

“To those who insist that the era of big government is over, hear me when I say this: No longer will City Hall hesitate to use its power to improve New Yorkers’ lives,” he said.

Throngs turned out in the frigid cold for an inauguration viewing party just south of City Hall on a stretch of Broadway known as the “Canyon of Heroes,” famous for its ticker-tape parades.

Throughout the ceremony, Mamdani and other speakers hit on the theme that carried him to victory in the election: Devotion to using government power to lift up the millions of people who struggle with the city’s high cost of living.

Mamdani peppered his remarks with references to those New Yorkers, citing workers in steel-toed boots, halal cart vendors “whose knees ache from working all day” and cooks “wielding a thousand spices.”

“I was elected as a democratic socialist and I will govern as a democratic socialist,” Mamdani said. “I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed ‘radical.’ ” Before administering the oath, Sanders told the crowd that most of the things Mamdani wants to do — including raising taxes on the rich — aren’t radical at all.

“In the richest country in the history of the world, making sure that people can live in affordable housing is not radical,” he told the crowd. “It is the right and decent thing to do.”

Mamdani was accompanied on the stage by his wife, Rama Duwaji. The previous mayor, Eric Adams, was in attendance, sitting near another former mayor, Bill de Blasio.

Actor Mandy Patinkin, who recently hosted Mamdani to celebrate Hannukah, sang “Over the Rainbow” with children from an elementary school chorus. The invocation was given by Imam Khalid Latif, the director of the Islamic Center of New York City. Poet Cornelius Eady read an original poem called “Proof.”

In addition to being the city’s first Muslim mayor, Mamdani is also its first of South Asian descent and the first to be born in Africa. At 34, Mamdani is also the city’s youngest mayor in generations.

At the watch party on Broadway, onlookers stood shoulder to shoulder gazing up at several jumbotrons and singing and dancing to stave off the cold, with some passing out hot cocoa and hand warmers. Many described feeling as though they were witnessing history.

Among them was Ariel Segura, a 16-year-old Bronx resident, who had arrived five hours earlier to secure a place near the front of the crowd.

“I’m out here fan-girling a politician, it’s kind of crazy,” he said, wiping away tears as Mamdani concluded his speech.

“Now it’s time to hold him accountable.”

In a campaign that helped make “affordability” a buzzword across the political spectrum, Mamdani ran on a focused platform that included promises of free child care, free buses, a rent freeze for about 1 million households and a pilot of city-run grocery stores.

JERUSALEM — The U.N. said Thursday that a Palestinian boy in the Gaza Strip drowned in floods that engulfed his tent camp, with videos showing rescuers trying to pry his body out of muddy waters by pulling him by the ankle. It was the latest sign of the miseries that winter is inflicting on the territory’s population, with many left homeless by the devastation from two years of war.

Health officials also reported the death of another 9-year-old boy in Gaza Thursday, but the circumstances were not clear.

Meanwhile, in the West Bank, Israeli forces carried out a sweep of arrests, seizing around 50 Palestinians, many from their homes, a Palestinian group representing prisoners said.

As 2026 begins, the shaky 12-week-old ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has largely ended

large-scale Israeli bombardment of Gaza. But Palestinians are still being killed almost daily by Israeli fire, and the humanitarian crisis shows no signs of abating. At least three Israeli soldiers have died in Gaza since the ceasefire came down, killed by militant attacks or explosive detonations.

UNICEF said Thursday that 7-year-old Ata Mai had drowned Saturday in severe flooding that engulfed his tent camp in Gaza City. Mai’s was the latest child death reported in Gaza as storms, cold weather and flooding worsen already brutal living conditions.

Almost the entire population of more than 2 million people have lost their homes, and most are living in squalid tent camps with little protection from the weather.

UNICEF said Mai had been living with his younger siblings and family in a camp of around 40 tents.

They lost their mother earlier in the war.

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The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Friday, January 2, 2026 ■ 3A

defends energy, Health insurance Trump health in new interview subsidies expire lll

BY MICHELLE L. PRICE

Millions of Americans to see steep hikes

BY ALI SWENSON Associated Press

NEW YORK — Enhanced tax credits that have helped reduce the cost of health insurance for the vast majority of Affordable Care Act enrollees expired overnight, cementing higher health costs for millions of Americans at the start of the new year.

Democrats forced a 43day government shutdown over the issue. Moderate Republicans called for a solution to save their 2026 political aspirations. President Donald Trump floated a way out, only to back off after conservative backlash.

In the end, no one’s efforts were enough to save the subsidies before their expiration date. A House vote expected in January could offer another chance, but success is far from guaranteed.

The change affects a diverse cross-section of Americans who don’t get their health insurance from an employer and don’t qualify for Medicaid or Medicare — a group that includes many self-employed workers, small-business owners, farmers and ranchers.

It comes at the start of a high-stakes midterm election year, with affordability — including the cost of health care — topping the list of voters’ concerns.

“It really bothers me that the middle class has moved from a squeeze to a full suffocation, and they continue to just pile on and leave it up

to us,” said 37-year-old single mom Katelin Provost, whose health care costs are set to jump. “I’m incredibly disappointed that there hasn’t been more action.”

The expired subsidies were first given to Affordable Care Act enrollees in 2021 as a temporary measure to help Americans get through the COVID-19 pandemic. Democrats in power at the time extended them, moving the expiration date to the start of 2026.

With the expanded subsidies, some lower-income enrollees received health care with no premiums, and high earners paid no more than 8.5% of their income.

Eligibility for middle-class earners was also expanded.

On average, the more than 20 million subsidized enrollees in the Affordable Care Act program are seeing their premium costs rise by 114% in 2026, according to an analysis by the health care research nonprofit KFF. Those surging prices come alongside an overall increase in health costs in the U.S., which are further driving up out-of-pocket costs in many plans.

Some enrollees, like Salt Lake City freelance filmmaker and adjunct professor Stan Clawson, have absorbed the extra expense.

Clawson said he was paying just under $350 a month for his premiums last year, a number that will jump to nearly $500 a month this year. It’s a strain for the 49-year-old but one he’s

willing to take on because he needs health insurance as someone who lives with paralysis from a spinal cord injury.

Others, like Provost, are dealing with steeper hikes.

The social worker’s monthly premium payment is increasing from $85 a month to nearly $750.

Health analysts have predicted the expiration of the subsidies will drive many of the 24 million total Affordable Care Act enrollees — especially younger and healthier Americans — to forgo health insurance coverage altogether.

Over time, that could make the program more expensive for the older, sicker population that remains.

An analysis conducted last September by the Urban Institute and Commonwealth Fund projected the higher premiums from expiring subsidies would prompt some 4.8 million Americans to drop coverage in 2026.

But with the window to select and change plans still ongoing until Jan. 15 in most states, the final effect on enrollment is yet to be determined.

Provost, the single mother, said she is holding out hope that Congress finds a way to revive the subsidies early in the year — but if not, she’ll drop herself off the insurance and keep it only for her 4-year-old daughter. She can’t afford to pay for both of their coverage at the current price.

U.S. military strikes 5 more alleged drug boats, killing 8

BY BEN FINLEY Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military said Wednesday it struck five alleged drug-smuggling boats over two days, killing a total of eight people while others jumped overboard and may have survived.

U.S. Southern Command, which oversees South America, did not reveal where the attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday occurred. Previous attacks have been in the Caribbean Sea and in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

A video of Tuesday’s attack posted by Southern Command on social media shows three boats traveling in a close formation, which is unusual, and the military said they were in a convoy along known narco-trafficking routes and “had transferred narcotics between the three vessels prior to the strikes.” The military did not provide evidence to back up

the claim.

The military said three people were killed when the first boat was struck, while people in the other two boats jumped overboard and distanced themselves from the vessels before they were attacked. Southern Command said it immediately notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate search and rescue efforts.

Southern Command’s statement did not say whether those who jumped off the boats were rescued.

Calling in the Coast Guard is notable because the U.S. military drew heavy scrutiny after U.S. forces killed the survivors of an attack in early September with a follow-up strike to their disabled boat.

Some Democratic lawmakers and legal experts said the military committed a crime, while the Trump administration and some Republican lawmakers say the follow-up strike was legal.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump defended his energy and health in an interview with The Wall Street Journal and disclosed that he had a CT scan, not an MRI scan, during an October examination about which he and the White House delayed offering details.

Trump, in the interview, said he regretted undergoing the advanced imaging on his heart and abdomen during an October visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center because it raised public questions about his health. His physician said in a memo the White House released in December that he had “advanced imaging” as a preventative screening for men his age.

Trump had initially described it as an MRI but said he didn’t know what part of his body he had scanned. A CT scan is a quicker form of diagnostic imaging than an MRI but offers less detail about differences in tissue.

The president’s doctor, Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, said in a statement released Thursday by the White House that Trump underwent the exam in October because he planned to be at Walter Reed to meet people working there. Trump had already undergone an annual physical in April.

“President Trump agreed to meet with the staff and soldiers at Walter Reed Medical Hospital in October. In order to make the most of the President’s time at the hospital, we recommended he undergo another routine physical evaluation to ensure continued optimal health,” Barbabella said.

Barbabella said that he asked the president to un-

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ALEX BRANDON

President Donald Trump speaks during a Monday news conference at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. dergo either a CT scan or MRI “to definitively rule out any cardiovascular issues” and the results were “perfectly normal and revealed absolutely no abnormalities.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Thursday that the president’s doctors and the White House have “always maintained the President received advanced imaging” but said that “additional details on the imaging have been disclosed by the President himself” because he “has nothing to hide.”

“In retrospect, it’s too bad I took it because it gave them a little ammunition,” Trump said in the interview with The Wall Street Journal published Thursday. “I would have been a lot better off if they didn’t, because the fact that I took it said, ‘Oh gee, is something wrong?’ Well, nothing’s wrong.”

The 79-year-old became the oldest person to take the oath of office when he was sworn in as president last year and has been sensitive to questions about his health, particularly as he has repeatedly questioned his predecessor Joe Biden’s fitness for office.

Biden, who turned 82 in the last year of his presidency, was dogged the end of the his tenure and during his abandoned attempt to seek reelection over scrutiny of his age and mental acuity.

But questions have also swirled around Trump’s health this year as he’s been seen with bruising on the back of his right hand that has been conspicuous despite a slathering of makeup on top, along with noticeable swelling at his ankles.

The White House this summer said the president had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, a common condition among older adults.

The condition happens when veins in the legs can’t properly carry blood back to the heart and it pools in the lower legs.

In the interview, Trump said he briefly tried wearing compression socks to address the swelling but stopped because he didn’t like them.

The bruising on Trump’s hand, according to Leavitt, is from “frequent handshaking and the use of aspirin,” which Trump takes regularly to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.

U.S. forces attacked two more boats on Wednesday, killing five people who were allegedly smuggling drugs along known trafficking routes, Southern Command said in a separate statement.

It did not provide evidence of the alleged trafficking or reveal the body of water in which the attacks occurred.

Videos posted with the statement on social media showed a boat in the water and explosions.

The latest attacks bring the total number of known boat strikes to 35 and the number of people killed to at least 115 since early September, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration.

President Donald Trump has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and asserted that the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.

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4A ■ Friday, January 2, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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ANXIETY

Continued from page 1A wondering how it would affect her.

“It’s a catch-22,” she said. “It’s good information. But sometimes I just want a cocktail without feeling like I’m burning the world down.”

Caswell is young, ambitious and busy. She runs two bakery locations in Hammond and downtown New Orleans, just launched an at-home product line and works long hours.

She didn’t consider herself anxious about her health before wearing the ring. But seeing her scores fluctuate every day changed how she experienced that stress.

The spectrum Her experience is increasingly common. Even people who feel healthy and do most things “right” are living with more health information than ever before. Wearables, tests, ChatGPT, Google and scans can offer reassurance, but they can also raise questions that don’t have clear answers.

Clinicians say they’re seeing more patients who are physically healthy but increasingly unsettled by the signals their bodies, their devices and their internet scrolls send back.

What was once called hypochondria is now more commonly referred to as health anxiety and officially known as illness anxiety disorder. It exists on a spectrum.

On one end are people who notice a symptom and briefly wonder whether it’s worth checking out.

On the other are those whose fear of illness becomes persistent, intrusive and disruptive enough to require treatment or medication.

Most people fall somewhere in between.

“What matters isn’t whether someone worries about their health,” said Shannon Seymour, a licensed professional counselor in New Orleans. “It’s what they do with that worry.”

ATHLETE

Continued from page 1A allowed to earn since 2021 through endorsements or other use of their name, image and likeness.

Under the task force’s recommendations, which will be forwarded to lawmakers in January, the state would require that anyone other than a parent who helps high schoolers negotiate endorsement contracts must register as an agent with the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office. That requirement is already in place for professional sports agents in Louisiana.

The agents would also be subject to background checks and required to complete training.

Lawmakers could craft the changes to allow high schoolers to recoup any money paid to an unlicensed agent, said Harry J. “Skip” Philips Jr., assistant chief deputy attorney general.

“You’d try to get back as best you can the ill-gotten gains, as it were, and give it to the student athlete,” Philips said during the task force’s December meeting.

“I’m not sure we’ve fixed this problem altogether,” Philips added, but the changes give authorities a mechanism for pursuing what Phillips called “renegaders,” or people posing as professional

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Abi Caswell, 30, owner of Batter a bakery, decorates cupcakes while wearing an Oura ring she uses for health tracking. Clinicians say they’re seeing more patients who are physically healthy but increasingly unsettled by the signals their bodies, their devices and the scrolls send back.

A headache or stomach pain can trigger uncertainty, which leads to monitoring, Googling and reassurance-seeking. That can come in the form of asking a spouse, “Do you think I have cancer?” (It’s nearly always a fear of cancer, Seymour said), frequently making doctor’s appointments or taking a lot of health tests.

That behavior makes people feel better in the short term, but affirms the anxiety underneath over the long term.

“Reassurance feels helpful in the moment,” Seymour said. “But it keeps the cycle going.”

In Louisiana, that cycle is shaped by context. Cancer rates are high.

Environmental exposure is talked about in scientific reports and the news. Everyone knows someone who has that one-in-a-million story of tragic illness.

health, with wellness influencers building massive followings on social media and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. popularizing the phrase “Make America Healthy Again.” Websites that offer information on symptoms and possible causes are a click away.

Kelsey Brown, a licensed professional counselor in New Orleans, sees health anxiety most often in children, who came of age during the pandemic and its constant messaging about sickness, risk and responsibility. Kids may interpret health as a moral obligation, Brown said. Some kids start to worry they could hurt people or kill their grandparents just by hugging a friend and passing along an illness.

Kids are also turning to search engines and social media for health advice that isn’t always backed by evidence, she said. They start taking supplements or diagnosCultural focus ing themselves based on a TikTok Beyond wearables and tech, cul- video.

On the other end, some people ture is increasingly focused on

agents in order to reap the benefits.

The panel’s chair, Rep. Rashid Young, D-Homer, said in an interview that the recommendations are meant to be a starting point, and lawmakers are welcome to add revisions.

“This is sort of one of those building-a-plane-as-we-fly type of situations,” said Young, a former linebacker and strong safety at Grambling State. “We’ll see how it works. If we need to come back and adjust, I think everybody is open to doing that.”

The task force didn’t recommend any specific NILrelated changes to state law regarding college athletics, other than a resolution that would study the “funding structures of athletic departments” and “evaluate the financial implications of NIL activities.”

The panel did recommend a list of best practices for Louisiana college athletic departments, including educating athletes on “available mental health resources” and to “carefully consider Title IX implications” when deciding how to dole out college athlete salaries.

LSU has said 90% of the $18 million it has earmarked in salaries will go to football and men’s basketball players. The university — and all others in the state — have rejected public records re-

quests to turn over salary data per individual athlete.

The task force turned its attention to high school agents after J.T. Curtis, football coach at John Curtis Christian School in River Ridge, told the panel of “rampant” problems among the state’s premier football schools.

Adults with no professional certifications or backgrounds in the law swoop in to secure representation from Louisiana’s top recruits, some as young as 12 or 13 years old, Curtis told the panel.

“Until we find a way to get outside influences out of the lives of our high school athletes, we’re going to continue struggling with this,” Curtis said during an August meeting.

In the task force’s final meeting in December, Curtis called the panel’s recommendations “a good beginning.”

Historically, Louisiana has one of the nation’s largest shares of high school football players who are recruited by Division I colleges.

In the upcoming 2026 class, eight football players from Louisiana high schools are ranked in the Top 200, according to 247 Sports. In 2025, it was nine.

For athletes under the age of 17, the task force recommended legislation requiring them to deposit a portion of their compensation into a trust account, which they’d have access to later as an

avoid talking about their health entirely when they have health anxiety. They don’t trust doctors or won’t go to get anything checked out, Brown said.

Anxiety as uncertainty

wrist is your new doctor,” Spitalnick said. “I don’t think that’s an effective use of these devices.”

Leigh Anne Schenck, 46, knows the fear of that uncertainty well.

Years ago, she drove herself to the emergency room more than once, worried she was having a stroke.

She had physical signs: numbness in her face, tingling in her hands, dizziness and a certainty that something was wrong. The ER tests were normal. A followup with her primary care doctor resulted in a referral to a psychiatrist, who diagnosed her with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

“I was shocked,” said Schenck, a mom of two who works at a church and is a writer for New Orleans Mom. “When I thought of OCD, I thought of cleaning.”

Instead, she learned, her OCD took the form of intrusive healthrelated thoughts. A headache became a brain tumor. A fever in her child became an emergency in her mind.

The increased anxiety came after a number of deaths in her family in a short amount of time, which she thinks kicked it off.

Medication and therapy helped quiet the spiral. She learned to stop feeding it by staying off Google, resisting constant checking and sitting with uncertainty instead of trying to eliminate it.

Too much information is not useful for people with anxiety, said Seymour. If you feel something is wrong, see a doctor — but if everything checks out, make that the endpoint, not the beginning of an investigation into your health, she said.

Caswell still wears her ring a year and a half later. She notices the scores. But she’s able to digest it as useful information rather than a diagnosis.

“It is a nice tool, and it should be marketed like that,” she said. “It’s not the end-all, be-all.”

Dr. Josh Spitalnick runs a national group therapy gathering for people with health anxiety. The common thread, he said, is an intolerance of uncertainty. Fear leads to rituals like ruminating, replaying conversations with doctors or repeated testing.

Spitalnick has seen patients who take COVID tests nearly every day.

He has treated women who take five or six pregnancy tests per day, sometimes without even having had intercourse. He has observed people using wearables to prove or disprove that something is wrong.

The fear itself isn’t silly, but the response to it, unchecked, can take over someone’s life.

“Now that Christmas gift that Email Emily Woodruff at you wear around your finger or ewoodruff@theadvocate.com.

adult.

The account could be drawn from “under specified conditions, such as educational expenses or milestone events, while maintaining safeguards to prevent misuse,” per the task force’s adopted language.

The task force also recommended the Louisiana High School Athletic Association adopt a formal set of NIL bylaws that it would police among the state’s members.

They include prohibiting athletes from endorsing products associated with

alcohol, cannabis, tobacco, adult entertainment and gambling.

The rules would allow schools to prohibit students from NIL activities if they interfere with classes, practices, games or competitions.

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FIRE

Continued from page 1A munity is “devastated.”

Thirteen of the wounded were Italian citizens, and another six Italians are unaccounted for, Italy’s ambassador to Switzerland, Gian Lorenzo Cornado, told state-run RAI television.

Beatrice Pilloud, Valais Canton attorney general, said it was too early to determine the cause of the fire. Experts have not yet been able to go inside the wreckage.

“At no moment is there a question of any kind of attack,” Pilloud said.

She later said the number of people who were in the bar is “currently totally unknown,” adding that its maximum capacity will be part of the investigation.

“For the time being, we don’t have any suspect,” she added, when asked if anyone had been arrested over the fire. “An investigation has been opened, not against anyone, but to illuminate the circumstances of this dramatic fire.”

Gisler said the priority until further notice would be identifying the victims, and added that “this work will have to take several days.”

Celebration turns tragic Axel Clavier, a 16-year-old from Paris who survived the blaze, described “total chaos” inside the bar. One of his friends died and “two or three” were missing, he told The Associated Press.

He said he hadn’t seen the fire start, but did see waitresses arrive with Champagne bottles with sparklers, he said.

Clavier said he felt like he was suffocating and initially hid behind a table, then ran upstairs and tried to use a table to break a Plexiglas window. It fell out of its casing, allowing him to escape.

He lost his jacket, shoes, phone and bank card while fleeing, but “I am still alive and it’s just stuff.”

“I’m still in shock,” he added.

Two women told French broadcaster BFMTV they were inside when they saw a male bartender lifting a female bartender on his shoulders as she held a lit candle in a bottle. The flames spread, collapsing the wooden ceiling, they told the broadcaster.

KEySTONE PHOTO By JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT

A floral tribute Thursday sits near the area where a fire broke out earlier that morning at Le Constellation bar and lounge during a New year’s celebration in CransMontana.

the time of prayer, unity and dignity,” he said. “Switzerland is a strong country KEySTONE PHOTO By ALESSANDRO DELLA VALLE not because it is sheltered Police officers inspect the area Thursday where a fatal fire broke out at Le Constellation bar and lounge during a New year’s from drama, but because knows how to face them celebration in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland. The Crans-Montana resort is best known as an international ski and it with courage and a spirit of golf venue. mutual help.”

Geir Moulson in Berlin and Graham Dunbar in One of the women de- mare,” said Reynard. day in office, said many indescribable violence and Geneva contributed to this Italian Foreign Minister emergency staff had been distress.” scribed a crowd surge as report. people frantically tried to Antonio Tajani was plan- “confronted by scenes of “This Thursday must be escape from a basement ning to go to the site on nightclub up a narrow flight Friday given the significant of stairs and through a nar- number of Italians involved.

Three of the wounded row door.

Another witness speaking were being transported to BFMTV described people from the Sion hospital in smashing windows to es- Switzerland to Milan’s Nicape the blaze, some grave- guarda, the Italian civil proly injured, and panicked tection agency said. parents rushing to the scene in cars to see whether their In the heart of the Alps children were trapped inIn a region busy with tourside. The young man said he ists skiing on the slopes, the saw about 20 people scram- authorities have called on bling to get out of the smoke the local population to show and flames and likened what caution in the coming days he saw to a horror movie as to avoid any accidents that he watched from across the could require medical restreet. sources that are already One of the people unac- overwhelmed.

With high-altitude ski counted for was an Italian, Giovanni Tamburi, whose runs rising nearly 9,850 feet mother Carla Masielli is- in the heart of the Valais resued an appeal for any news gion’s snowy peaks and pine about her son and asked the forests, Crans-Montana is media to show his photo in one of the top venues on the hopes of identifying him, World Cup circuit. The reaccording to RAI. sort will host the best men’s “We have called all the and women’s downhill rachospitals but they don’t give ers, including Lindsey me any news. We don’t know Vonn, for their final events if he’s among the dead. We before the Milan-Cortina don’t know if he’s among the Olympics in February. The missing,” she wailed. “They town’s Crans-sur-Sierre golf don’t tell us anything!” club stages the European The injured were so nu- Masters each August on a merous that the intensive picturesque course.

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Pope Leo ushers in 2026 with plea for peace Pontiff singles out countries bloodied by war

BY NICOLE WINFIELD

Associated Press

ROME — Pope Leo XIV opened 2026 on Thursday with a plea for peace, singling out in particular countries “bloodied by conflict” and families wounded by violence.

Leo celebrated a New Year’s Day Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica and then delivered a special noontime prayer from his studio overlooking the piazza, which was full of pilgrims and tourists on the bright, chilly day.

Leo noted that Jan. 1 marks the church’s World Day of Peace and used the occasion to issue a prayer.

“Let us all pray together for peace: first, among nations bloodied by conflict and suffering, but also within our homes, in families wounded by violence or pain,” he said.

After a busy Christmas season, Leo has a few days of rest before he celebrates the church’s Epiphany holiday on Jan. 6. On that day too, he officially closes out the 2025 Holy Year, the once-every-quarter-century celebration that brought millions of pilgrims to Rome.

Immediately thereafter, he is to preside over a two-day meeting of the entire College of Cardinals, the princes of the church who elected him pope, as well as those who are over age 80 and didn’t participate in the conclave but still remain part of the college.

Leo is resurrecting a tradition largely eschewed by Pope Francis to convene cardinals every so often to seek their counsel on how to govern the 1.4 billionstrong Catholic Church.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO

Pope Leo XIV reads the homily as he celebrates Mass on New year’s Day in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By CHRISTOPHE ENA

A light show is projected on the Arc de Triomphe as fireworks explode Thursday during New year’s celebrations on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

World welcomes new year Thunderous fireworks, fanfare, tight security mark celebrations

BY TED SHAFFREY and HALLIE GOLDEN Associated Press

NEW YORK — From Sydney to Paris to New York City, crowds rang in the new year with exuberant celebrations filled with thunderous fireworks or light shows, while others took a more subdued approach.

As the clock struck midnight in Japan, temple bells rang and some climbed mountains to see the year’s first sunrise, while a light show with somersaulting jet skis twinkled in Dubai. The countdown to 2026 was projected onto the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, while in Moscow people celebrated in the snow.

In New York City’s Times Square, revelers braved frigid temperatures to celebrate with the famed New Year’s Eve ball drop.

In Rio de Janeiro, crowds packed more than 2 miles of the city’s Copacabana Beach for concerts and a 12-minute fireworks show, despite high tides and large waves that rocked barges carrying fireworks.

Other events were more subdued. Hong Kong held limited celebrations following a recent fire at an apartment complex that killed 161 people. Australia saluted the new year with defiance less than a month after its worst mass shooting in almost 30 years.

There was disaster in the Swiss resort town of Crans-Montana, where a fire at a bar in the early hours of the new year was pre-

terrible crime.”

Shadows of war, disasters Indonesia scaled back festivities in solidarity with communities devastated by floods and landslides in parts of Sumatra a month ago that killed over 1,100.

Fireworks on the tourist island of Bali were replaced with traditional dances.

Hong Kong rang in 2026 without fireworks over Victoria Harbor after the massive fire in November. Façades of landmarks were turned into countdown clocks and a light show at midnight.

And in Gaza, Palestinians said they hope the new year brings an ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By AJIT SOLANKI end to the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

People release balloons Thursday as they gather to celebrate the new “The war humiliated us,” said year in Ahmedabad, India.

Mirvat Abed Al-Aal, displaced from the southern city of Rafah. sumed to have killed dozens of white and blue, to mark the counAround Europe people. try’s upcoming 250th birthday.

A few miles away in a decomIn Paris, revelers converged Ball drop in New York City missioned subway station, Zohran around the glittering ChampsCrowds bundled up against the Mamdani was sworn in as mayor Élysées avenue. Taissiya Girda, a chilly temperatures cheered and during a private event just after 27-year-old tourist from Kazakhembraced as the New Year’s Eve midnight Thursday. stan, expressed hope for a calmer ball covered in more than 5,000 2026. crystals descended down a pole More security in Sydney “I would like to see happy people and confetti fell in Times Square.

A heavy police presence moni- around me, no war anywhere,” she Revelers wearing tall celebra- tored crowds watching fireworks said. “Russia, Ukraine, Palestine, tory hats and light-up necklaces in Sydney. Many officers openly Israel, I want everybody to be had waited for hours to see the carried rapid-fire rifles, a first for happy and in peace.”

In Scotland, where New Year’s the event, after two gunmen tar12,350-pound ball drop.

The festivities also included geted a Hannukah celebration at is known as Hogmanay, First MinTones and I performing John Bondi Beach on Dec. 14, killing 15. ister John Swinney urged Scots Lennon’s “Imagine” just before An hour before midnight, vic- to follow the message of “Auld midnight. tims were commemorated with a Lang Syne” by national poet RobPolice in the city had planned minute of silence, and the crowd ert Burns and show small acts of additional anti-terrorism mea- was invited to show solidarity with kindness.

Greece and Cyprus turned down sures at the ball drop, with “mo- Australia’s Jewish community.

New South Wales Premier Chris the volume, replacing traditional bile screening teams.” It was not in response to a specific threat, ac- Minns had urged residents not to fireworks with low-noise pyrocording to NYPD Commissioner stay away from festivities, saying technics in capitals. Officials said extremists would interpret small- the change was intended to make Jessica Tisch.

Moments after the ball dropped er crowds as a victory: “We have celebrations more welcoming for it rose again, sparkling in red, to show defiance in the face of this children and pets.

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The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Friday, January 2, 2026 ■ 7A

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Chief justice: Constitution remains ‘firm and unshaken’

BY LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By CAROLINE BREHMAN

Rain comes down on a float Thursday at the 137th Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif.

WASHINGTON — Chief Justice John Roberts said Wednesday that the Constitution remains a sturdy pillar for the country, a message that comes after a tumultuous year in the nation’s judicial system with pivotal Supreme Court decisions on the horizon.

Roberts said the nation’s founding documents remain “firm and unshaken,” a reference to a century-old quote from President Calvin Coolidge. “True then; true now,” Roberts wrote in his annual letter to the judiciary.

The letter comes after a year in which legal scholars and Democrats raised fears of a possible constitu-

tional crisis as Republican President Donald Trump’s supporters pushed back against rulings that slowed his far-reaching conservative agenda.

Roberts weighed in at one point in March, issuing a rare rebuke after Trump called for the impeachment of a judge who had ruled against him in a case over the deportation of Venezuelan migrants accused of being gang members.

The chief justice’s Wednesday letter was largely focused on the nation’s history, including an early 19thcentury case establishing the principle that Congress shouldn’t remove judges over contentious rulings.

He also called on judges to “continue to decide the cases before us according

to our oath, doing equal right to the poor and to the rich, and performing all of our duties faithfully and impartially under the Constitution and laws of the United States.”

While the Trump administration faced pushback in the lower courts, it has scored a series of some two dozen wins on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket. The court’s conservative majority has allowed Trump to move ahead for now with banning transgender people from the military, clawing back billions of dollars of congressionally approved federal spending, moving aggressively on immigration and firing the Senate-confirmed leaders of independent federal agencies.

Rain washes out , s a r G i d r a M f e Taste o Th iconic Rose Parade Baked Fresh Daily Snow squalls hit Midwest and Northeast

By The Associated Press Rain poured down on the iconic Rose Parade on Thursday for the first time in 20 years, as flood warnings and evacuation orders in Southern California joined snow squalls and frigid temperatures in the country’s midsection to mark the first day of 2026.

Marching bands, floats and throngs of spectators were soaked by one to two inches of New Year’s Day rain at the 137th Rose Parade in Pasadena. The mercury stood at a chilly 58 degrees Fahrenheit at the 8 a.m. start of the parade.

Across the country, in New York City, hats and gloves were as necessary as noisemakers at the city’s New

Year’s Eve ball drop, where temperatures near freezing appeared to be the coldest in 10 years.

Hundreds of thousands of people gather along the nearly 6-mile route in Pasadena, where the two-hour parade kicked off. Millions more watch on national television.

Organizers at the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, the group that organizes the parade ahead of the Rose Bowl college football game, said they made only small changes to accommodate the weather, such as the tops being up on convertibles carrying grand marshal Earvin “Magic” Johnson and other VIPs. Rain forecasts for the Rose Parade, which had been dry for 20 years, grew all week.

On Thursday, the National Weather Service issued a flood watch for all California counties and a coastal flood advisory through Sunday afternoon along much of the

Pacific Coast near San Francisco.

Meanwhile, residents in the areas hit hardest by last year’s devastating Los Angeles-area wildfires were under evacuation warnings.

In New York City, the sun came out ahead of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s inaugural celebration, but other areas of the Northeast and Midwest were hit by an Alberta clipper storm and trailing Arctic front that brought snow squalls and high winds.

Conditions varied widely — from snow showers to heavier squalls — from Wisconsin through northern Illinois and Michigan and into northern New Jersey, southeastern New York and New England.

About a quarter of flights were delayed out of both San Diego International Airport and Boston Logan, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware.

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PARIS — Actor George Clooney and his wife Amal Clooney were granted French citizenship because “they contribute, through their distinguished actions, to France’s international influence and cultural outreach,” the French government said Wednesday, defending their naturalization that was questioned by a junior French minister.

The naturalizations of the Kentucky-born star of the “Ocean’s” series of heist movies, his wife and human rights lawyer Amal Clooney,

and their twins Ella and Alexander were announced last weekend in the Journal Officiel, where French government decrees are published.

Marie-Pierre Vedrenne, a junior minister at the Interior Ministry, expressed misgivings Wednesday that some of the Clooneys’ new French compatriots may think that the star couple was granted special treatment.

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1Bn

New Louisiana laws go into effect Insurance rules changed; tax code adjusted

BY JULIA GUILBEAU

insurance rules and make changes to the tax code.

While a majority of the newly Dozens of new laws passed by passed acts went into place on the Louisiana Legislature during Aug. 1, at least 21 laws began on its 2025 regular session are now New Year’s Day. Here is a list of all of the new in effect with the start of the new year, including many that change laws now in place, according to the

Staff writer

Louisiana Legislature’s website:

Insurance-related laws Act 15: bars drivers responsible for at least 51% of an accident from receiving a damage award to cover their injuries Act 19: requires insurance com-

panies to give trucking companies a 5% discount when they install dashboard cameras on their large trucks Act 85: prohibits insurance companies from passing on the cost of certain advertising expenses to customers Act 476: protects policyholders from rate increases tied to lapses in insurance coverage in some cases

Act 466: changes the rules for how medical costs are considered in personal injury lawsuits Act 429: requires insurance companies to notify the state Department of Insurance if they cease, pause or resume writing policies in a particular region Act 227: requires health insurance companies to cover integrative

ä See LAWS, page 2B

ELECTION 2026

Special elections set for May 16

BESE, Supreme Court seats on primary ballot

BY PATRICK WALL Staff writer

STAFF PHOTOS By JAVIER GALLEGOS

Parents Gabrielle and Gerard hold their newborn baby Blossom, who was born at 12:01 a.m. Thursday. Blossom was Woman’s Hospital’s first baby of the year.

RIGHT ON TIME Meet Blossom: Baton Rouge’s first baby of 2026

BY JOY HOLDEN

Staff writer

On a clear and brisk New Year’s Eve, the first baby of 2026 in Baton Rouge was born at 12:01 a.m. Thursday to loving parents Gabrielle and Gerard at Woman’s Hospital. They named her Blossom for “becoming something new.”

“It’s crazy because it’s the new year, so it’s like she’s the first. It’s gonna be the beginning of the new year, our new life, a new season,” Gerard said.

Baby Blossom arrived about a week early from her due date and weighed 6 pounds, 3.8 ounces and measured 19 inches. Mom and baby are both doing well.

Gabrielle said her daughter’s arrival was quick yet right on time.

She is the hospital’s first baby of the year. To mark the occasion, Woman’s presented a gift basket to the family that was filled with books, baby essentials and a “New Year Baby” onesie. With approximately 8,000 babies born each year at Woman’s, Blossom is the first of many memorable arrivals expected this year.

As of Thursday afternoon, Woman’s had delivered more than 406,000 babies since it first opened in 1968, nearly six decades ago.

Blossom has two older brothers and one older sister. The parents said the sister can’t wait to welcome the new baby

Parents Gabrielle and Gerard hold their newborn baby Blossom, who was born at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday. because she is sick of being the only girl.

Gerard said he is looking forward to having conversations with his new daughter when she can answer.

Mom’s hopes for Blossom are a happy, loving and healthy first year.

When asked about expectations for Blossom, Gerard said his daughter al-

ready “has a lot of hype behind her” and he hopes “she keeps her momentum up.”

The parents said that they can’t wait to start this new life off with her.

“One day when she’s old enough to see this,” Gerard said, “she’ll know how much we love her and we were excited and happy that she’s here.”

New Orleans-area voters will cast ballots in May for a new state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education member to replace Paul Hollis, who stepped down this month to lead the U.S. Mint.

A special primary election will be held May 16 for the vacant board seat representing District 1, which covers parts of Jefferson, Orleans, St. Tammany and Tangipahoa parishes, the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office said Tuesday. Primary elections for a vacant state Supreme Court seat and a U.S. Senate seat also will be held that day.

If no candidate gets a majority, a runoff will take place June 27 before the Nov. 3 general election.

In the meantime, Gov. Jeff Landry is expected to appoint an interim member to replace Hollis, said Ronnie Morris, the board’s outgoing president. A spokesperson for Landry declined to comment Tuesday on when the governor will announce his interim pick for BESE, whose 11 members set statewide education policy.

Hollis, a former Republican state lawmaker who was elected to BESE in 2023, resigned from the board on Dec. 19 after the U.S. Senate confirmed him as the 41st director of the U.S. Mint. The winner of the special election will serve the remainder of Hollis’ term, which ends in 2028.

Hollis said Tuesday that it was an honor to serve on BESE. “Setting policy and visiting so many classrooms over these years has been both productive and rewarding,” he said in a text message, adding that he was thrilled by Louisiana students’ recent gains on national reading and math tests. “With a solid educational foundation, our children can do anything, and I am so pleased to see the incredible progress.”

Voters in the May primary election will also choose a replacement for former state Supreme Court Justice Will Crain, who gave up his seat this month to become a federal judge.

Also on the ballot is a high-profile U.S. Senate race, in which Sen. Bill Cassidy is running for reelection.

ä See PRIMARY, page 2B

Suspect arrested in BR shooting that left 2-year-old in critical condition A man has been arrested in con- booked into the East Baton Rouge nection with a shooting Wednes- Parish Prison on six counts of atday in Baton Rouge that tempted first-degree murleft a 2-year-old girl hosder and illegal use of a weapon. pitalized in critical condi- CRIME The shooting occurred tion with a head wound, BLOTTER around 2:40 p.m. Wednesaccording to authorities. staff Landrick Ruffin Jr. was reports day in the 2500 block of apprehended by homicide 79th Street. detectives with the Baton According to police, one Rouge Police Department, with of the victims was driving in the assistance from the East Baton 1500 block of Harding Boulevard Rouge Sheriff’s Office. He was when she observed a vehicle she

believed had been stolen from her during a previous incident.

She followed the vehicle to the 2500 block of 79th Street, where the suspect fired multiple shots, striking her vehicle and injuring the toddler.

The driver took the child to the Fourth District station to seek assistance. The girl was taken to a hospital and is in critical condition with a head wound.

Deputies with the Sheriff’s Of-

fice located the suspect vehicle, conducted a traffic stop and detained Ruffin.

Baton Rouge Mayor Sid Edwards’ office put out a statement saying that identifying and apprehending suspects in the shooting was a top priority for the Police Department.

Ruffin has a prior arrest history that includes gun charges and possession with intent to distribute Schedule I narcotics.

4th suspect arrested in BR barbershop shooting

A fourth person has been arrested in connection with a fatal October shooting at a Baton Rouge barbershop that killed a bystander after a fight broke out, police said.

Reginald Grimes, 18, was captured by the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force and booked into

ä See BLOTTER, page 2B

2B ■ Friday, January 2, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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N.O. roadwork deadline extended FEMA grants six-month extension

BY BEN MYERS Staff writer

The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday approved a six-month extension to a spending deadline for $1.7 billion in grants that fund New Orleans road construction, ensuring that work on dozens of city blocks can continue at least through midyear.

The extension came on the last day of the current spending period, which had already been extended at least three times.

It’s a huge relief for Mayor-elect Helena Moreno and residents living on torn-up streets, where continued roadwork relies on the city’s access to roughly $500 million in grant funds that haven’t been spent. Without the extension, the cash-strapped city would have needed to pay for the work out-of-pocket or let projects idle.

Still, six months is well short of the three years city officials sought in their August request. Officials say some recent projects just getting underway won’t be finished until 2028.

“We live to fight another day. It was going to be a really hard pill for us to swallow if all of sudden there

was that hard end today,” Moreno told reporters on Wednesday.

In the approval letter, acting Regional Administrator Arsany Thomas also hinted that future extensions are possible, on condition the city provide written updates on the status and timetable for projects underway. Status reports to FEMA are due on March 1 and May 1, according to Thomas’ letter.

“We have to do a series of reporting around these projects as we move them forward to be considered for further extensions. So I read that as there is an opportunity for further extensions,” Moreno said.

In a written statement, FEMA officials said the agency provided “a limited extension” to allow for “the orderly completion of clearly defined remaining work.”

“This action reflects FEMA’s commitment to accountability, clear timelines, and appropriate oversight, while avoiding open-ended extensions for a disaster that occurred more than two decades ago,” the statement said.

FEMA noted it has awarded about $13.5 billion to Louisiana for Hurricane Katrina recovery projects, some of which are still open more than 20 years later.

“While progress has been made over time, several projects have not yet initiated construction, others lack defined completion timelines, and some completed projects have not been submitted for closeout in accordance with regulatory require-

ments,” FEMA said.

FEMA did not immediately respond to a request for a list of those projects.

Municipal Auditorium’s fate FEMA allocated the road money to City Hall and the Sewerage & Water Board in a 2016 settlement over Katrina damage to city roads.

A handful of other outstanding Katrina projects — most notably the Municipal Auditorium — were not included in the extension, though the fate of more than $30 million approved for the auditorium wasn’t immediately clear on Wednesday.

The Municipal Auditorium settlement was finalized in 2017, but work didn’t begin until August 2025, after years of arguing between Mayor LaToya Cantrell and community activists on long-term plans for the buildings, a cultural landmark that has deteriorated in the two decades since Katrina.

The auditorium is now undergoing a $43 million roof repair and remediation project. Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s outgoing administration sketched out plans to finish off the roof portion with city capital funds, and halt or cancel interior and exterior work if the FEMA money was cut off. Eventually, community leaders hope to turn the auditorium into a multiuse cultural center as part of a master plan for the surrounding Armstrong Park.

“Hopefully, we’ll get some more indication as to whether or not we’ll be able to continue to spend that

money and get an extension on that project. If not, I’ll have to figure out another path to continue with the repairs,” Moreno said.

Uncertainty over the latest FEMA deadline also stoked concern and confusion at City Hall this month. Cantrell’s deputies initially told Moreno’s transition representatives that stop-work orders could be issued on roads projects, but Cantrell reversed course and said work would continue through Moreno’s inauguration no matter what.

That risked depleting the city’s fragile general fund, prompting Louisiana Legislative Auditor Mike Waguespack to warn that he might block future withdrawals from an emergency payroll fund. The payroll fund, which Waguespack oversees, was set up in November with a $125 million in state-approved revenue bonds after the city ran out of cash.

Waguespack told City Council members on Dec. 23 that FEMA had indicated it would approve a six-month extension, but only for certain projects that had a clear path to completion.

He said city, state and federal officials had been in talks over which projects would continue and which would be canceled. The approval letter doesn’t include a list of approved projects, and it wasn’t clear if those had been finalized.

Staff writer Blake Paterson contributed to this report.

LAWS

Continued from page 1B cancer treatments, including acupuncture, scalp cooling systems and cryotherapy.

Tax-related laws Act 423: authorizes a credit for taxpayers who make a donation to public schools that receive a letter grade of “D” or “F” Act 411: changes parts of the process for the assessment, payment and allocation of ad valorem taxes Act 283: makes a property tax exemption for personal airplanes with an operating empty weight of less than 7,000 pounds Act 266: changes the tax rate for certain cigars Act 104: increases the deduction of the assessed value of real estate, improvements, buildings, furniture and fixtures owned by the bank when calculating the ad valorem tax on bank stock Act 251: grants an individual income tax deduction for certain amounts a taxpayer receives through hardship distributions from retirement accounts Act 454: makes changes to the School Readiness Tax Credit Act 376: establishes the WorkBased Learning Tax Credit for businesses that employ apprentices, interns, and youth workers Act 282: allows university laboratory schools to participate in the student tuition organization tax credit program.

Others

N.O. wakes to peaceful New Year’s morning Family of attack victim revisits Bourbon Street

BY BEN MYERS Staff writer

The first few hours of 2026 were more peaceful in New Orleans than one year ago, with local authorities reporting no incidents of fatal violence overnight as French Quarter revelers rang in the new year under the watch of nearly 800 local, state and federal law enforcement personnel — including hundreds of Louisiana National Guard troops.

The mostly calm night was a thankful contrast to the start of last year, when a pickup driver intentionally sped down Bourbon Street in the early morning hours, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more. Family members of victims gathered underneath the hanging “Second Line in the Sky” memorial on Bourbon Street to mark the anniversary.

Local officials said they would take no chances this year, with an

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

The ‘Second Line in the Sky’ memorial lights up Bourbon Street in the 300 block during New year’s Eve night in New Orleans on Thursday.

“enhanced security zone” in downtown and French Quarter areas that included traffic redirection and bag searches.

“We have gone the extra mile to ensure the safety again of our residents as well as our visitors,” Mayor LaToya Cantrell said at a

news briefing this week.

Bourbon Street and the French Quarter were lively overnight Thursday as revelers rang in the New Year, dancing, having cocktails and hoping to run into Don Lemon. But emotions were also high.

The family of attack victim Hubert Gauthreaux visited Bourbon around 3:15 a.m., exactly a year after he was killed in the terror attack. The 21-year-old from Gretna was an oilfield worker who loved the Chicago White Sox and his sister, Brooke. He was struck last year after walking a friend back to her hotel.

The four-day, statewide mourning period also began at 3:15 a.m., and Gov. Jeff Landry asked that flags be flown at half-staff, and everyone across the state wear green and yellow in remembrance.

New Year’s Eve was not completely free of critical emergencies. The New Orleans Fire Department responded to two fires within an hour of one another, including a blaze at an Algiers apartment complex that displaced 18 people.

The Fire Department responded to that fire on West Park Court shortly after 1 a.m., and about 45 minutes later responded to another call at a home on State Street Drive in Uptown. No injuries were reported from either fire.

The New Orleans Police Department also reported at least one shooting shortly after midnight, in the 5100 block of Westlake Drive in New Orleans East. The female victim suffered a gunshot wound to the arm and was taken to the hospital in a private vehicle.

Heightened security continued through the Sugar Bowl.

City officials, including Mayorelect Helena Moreno — who takes office Jan. 12 — will then turn their attention security preparations for Carnival, which lasts through Fat Tuesday on Feb. 17.

The deployment of 350 National Guard troops is scheduled to end on Feb. 28. Gov. Jeff Landry requested the deployment, which Moreno and other local officials have welcomed.

Email Ben Myers at bmyers@ theadvocate.com.

Closed U.S. 90 bridges face additional delays Project still without funding, officials say

BY MARTHA SANCHEZ Sun Herald

The plan to fix five deteriorating bridges on U.S. 90 at the Mississippi-Louisiana state line is stalled again because a federal program that could fund the project has not reopened since the government shutdown in the fall, a lawmaker said.

Louisiana state leaders intended to apply for the money in late 2025.

The state’s transportation department has estimated it will cost between $150 million and $350 million to reopen the bridges, which have been closed for more than

BLOTTER

Continued from page 1B East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on a count of second-degree murder, Baton Rouge police said in a news release.

The victim, 29-year-old Marvin Tolliver, an employee of the Fade District barbershop on Platt Drive, died at the scene of the shooting, which happened shortly before 6 p.m. on October 15.

Three other people were previously arrested and charged for their alleged involvement in the shooting.

Sylvester Bouligny III was arrested on a count of principal to seconddegree murder, and Travis Kenny Jr. and Gregory Stewart were both arrested on a count each of seconddegree murder.

three years.

Now lawmakers say they hope the grant program will open in January. “We share your frustration,” state Rep. Stephanie Berault, R-Slidell, said earlier in December.

“We are hopeful this will get done soon.”

The 3-mile stretch from Pearlington, Mississippi, into Louisiana closed in May 2022 after inspectors realized the 1930s-era bridges were not safe. Louisiana lacks the money to replace them and does not know when they will reopen.

The dilemma is keeping communities on the state line frustrated.

Local businesses in Pearlington are losing customers who can no longer reach the small town. Residents are worrying over the loss of a hurricane evacuation route. Mississippi

drivers who commute to Slidell and New Orleans have lost a detour that many once used when crashes closed two-lane Interstate 10.

Progress seemed possible last summer. State Rep. Brian Glorioso, R-Slidell, announced on social media in August that the state would submit a federal grant application to replace four of the five bridges.

“Louisiana should be guaranteed to get this grant based upon the information we have been provided,” he said in August.

Now, Berault said, “unfortunately we’re just waiting to see what the federal government does with that program.”

The effort to get money through the funding source, called the Bridge Investment Program, could be helped by two influential Loui-

siana leaders in Congress: House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Mississippi and Louisiana are also working together to repair the East Pearl River Bridge, which must allow rocket equipment to pass to the Stennis Space Center. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development is creating several designs for rebuilding the other bridges so it can “move immediately” once it gets funding, said Daniel Gitlin, a spokesperson.

“The amount of money that becomes available, and when it becomes available, will dictate the project,” he said. “The positive news is that once funding does become available, we have positioned ourselves to be ready to move forward.”

According to arrest records, Bouligny had paid a $150 nonrefundable deposit for a tattoo appointment the previous day at the barbershop on Greenwell Springs Road, but showed up late.

When the tattoo artist told Bouligny that he could either reschedule or wait until the artist was finished with another client, Bouligny left.

He allegedly traveled to the Glen Oaks area, picked up two men and returned to the barbershop, according to the arrest report. Witnesses told investigators that the two men accompanying Bouligny were armed.

After Bouligny was arrested on Oct. 16, he identified Kenny, his cousin, as one of the two men he brought to the barbershop “so he would not get jumped,” Kenny’s arrest records show. Later, Kenny identified Stewart in a lineup as the

third male involved, according to Stewart’s arrest records.

At the barbershop, Bouligny demanded a refund for his tattoo, but the artist refused. While Kenny and Stewart waited in the other room, Bouligny allegedly punched the tattoo artist, according to police records.

“While the tattoo artist and defendant fought in the tattoo room, several gunshots were fired inside the barbershop” before Bouligny fled on foot, according to the arrest report.

vealed that a 2022 Ford F-550 flatbed tow truck was traveling south on La. 19 near Thompson Creek Road some time before 2 p.m. For reasons still under investigation, the truck traveled off the right side of the roadway, reentered the roadway, crossed both lanes of travel, and exited the left side of the roadway, where it struck a tree and overturned.

The driver, who was unrestrained, was ejected from the vehicle, suffered serious injuries, and was taken to a hospital for treatment. A juvenile front-seat passenger, who was also unrestrained, suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead on the scene, State Police said.

Impairment is not suspected; however, routine toxicology samples were obtained and will be submitted for analysis. This crash remains under investigation.

15-year-old killed Tuesday in East Feliciana crash A single-vehicle crash Tuesday on La. 19 at Thompson Creek Road in the Norwood area claimed the life of a 15-year-old passenger, according to Louisiana State Police.

The preliminary investigation re-

Act 473: expands tax deductions to cover costs associated with retrofitting homes to meet “fortified home” standards Act 387: requires that online short-term rental platforms show renters a line-by-line itemization of all assessments, fees, and taxes owed Act 162: requires the Board of Ethics to record and livestream its meetings Act 501: increases the fee amount charged by the insurance commissioner for licensing and other services Act 77: expands the rules that the Louisiana Department of Health can establish for hospitals.

PRIMARY

Continued from page 1B Under Louisiana’s new closed party primary system, Republican and Democratic Party candidates can sign up to run by paying a filing fee during the Feb. 11-13 qualifying period. Third-party candidates must submit petitions by Jan. 30 signed by qualified voters in their districts to make it onto the ballot.

Typically, candidates for BESE or the state Supreme Court would need to garner at least 1,000 signatures. However, because the seats opened just a few weeks before the petitionfiling deadline, Landry issued executive orders this month reducing the number of required signatures for those races to 150.

It remains to be seen whether Landry will appoint an interim BESE member before the board meets on Jan. 13-14, and BESE member Simone Champagne is sworn in as the board’s new president.

LOTTERY

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 31, 2025 PICK 3: 8-4-2 PICK 4: 1-8-3-3 PICK 5: 5-9-0-3-8 EASY 5: 1-9-19-30-33 LOTTO: 4-12-14-24-25-38 POWERBALL: 11-18-21-24-38 (26) Unofficial notification, keep your tickets.

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Churchwell, Carol

Charlet Funeral Home, Inc at 3pm.

Fortune, Romelle

Bethany World Prayer Center North at 10am.

pallbearers Robert E. Marler, Bo Bienvenu, Timothy Mayeau and Aaron Reed.

Grover, Rebecca 'Noon'

Kron, Rose

St. Thomas More Catholic Church, 11441 Goodwood Boulevard, at 11 a.m.

Napper II, James

Jefferson United Methodist Church at 1pm.

Ponthier, Myra

First Baptist Church of Zachary at 11am.

He is preceded in death by his first wife, Barbara Eloise Kimble, granddaughter, Savannah Ringe, parents, Versie and Bertha Kimble, siblings, A.D. Kimble, Versie Kimble, Jr. and Louise Thibodeaux.

He loved spending time with his family, refurbishing old tractors and working on all types of machinery/vehicles. Share sympathies, condolences, and memories at www.CharletFunera lHome.com.

Roan, Emily

St. Joseph Baptist Church, 2510 Tennessee St. at 10am.

Wright Hall, Julia

Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, 2800 Wyandotte St., Baton Rouge, LA at 11am.

Obituaries Cavalier, Leroy

Leroy Cavalier gained his Heavenly Reward on December 19, 2025. Leroy leaves to cherish his loving memories, his daughters, Sherilyn Taylor, Phala Cavalier-James (Donell), Rochalette Moore (Raymond Jr), and Vanisha Cavalier; 11 grandchildren; 2 great grandchildren; 5 Sisters; 1 brother in law; 3 brothers and sisters in law.

A host of nieces and nephews, aunts and cousins. Viewing Friday, January 2, 2026, Hall's Celebration Center, 9348 Scenic Highway, Baton Rouge, LA., 3PM to 5PM. Funeral Saturday, January 3, 2026 at 10AM at Renew Church of Baker, 8160 Pettit Rd Baker, LA. Officiated by Pastor Miriam C. McFarland. Entombment Heavenly Gates Mausoleum.

Chambers, Jason

Jason Michael Chambers was born on February 15, 1971, and passed away on December 23, 2025.

A celebration of his life will be held on January 10, 2026, at 11:00 AM at Greenwell Springs Baptist Church.

Family and friends are invited to attend and honor his memory.

Duke, Audrey Marie LeBlanc

Audrey passed away on December 27th, 2025, at 6:08pm at the age of 98.

She was born in New Orleans, a native of Port Allen and resident of Baton Rouge. Audrey was a wonderful loving wife, mother and friend. She went to school in Port Allen and was on the basketball team. She later went on to become a nurse. She loved life and all those in it. She loved getting together with friends and family, holidays, dancing and spent hours with her Mom crocheting. She brought joy to many people with her love and care for all. Her family was her pride and joy. She also valued her precious friendships like no other.

Audrey is survived by her son Ensley Duke, granddaughters, Holly Lejeune(Patrick) and Jacquline Kilcrease(Chantz), greatgrandchildren Michael, Madalyn, PJ, Amelia, Kayland, Annabelle, Warren and Willa, and her brother Charles J. LeBlanc and wife Carolyn and beloved nieces and nephews. Audrey was preceded in death by her husband, Wiley F. Duke Jr, her parents, Leonie and Edith Theriot LeBlanc; her three sisters, Anna Mae LeBlanc, Ida Mae Ettienne and Lois Marie Smith, her brother Irvin J LeBlanc.. Visitation will be at St. Aloysius Catholic Church on January 3, from 10:00am until Mass time of 11:00am.

Burial will follow at Greenoaks Memorial Park, in Baton Rouge, then reception gathering. Pallbearers will be Jensen Esneault, Patrick Abadie, Rene McDonald, Chantz Kilcrease, Jeff Betz and Chris Swaggerty. Honorary

Entered into eternal rest on December 14, 2025 at the age of 85. Survived by her daughter, Gwendolyn Bailey Briggs; brother, Eugene Minor; brother-inlaw, Ned Grover. Preceded in death by her husband, Melvin 'Billbo" Grover; son, Calvin L. Bailey. Visitation Friday, January 2, 2026, Hall's Celebration Center, 9348 Scenic Highway, Baton Rouge, LA., 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm. Visitation continues, Saturday, January 3, 2026, 9:00 am until religious service at 10:00 am.

Reverend Ernest Ford, Sr. officiating. Interment Saint John Baptist Church #1 Cemetery, Woodville, MS. Funeral Service Entrusted to Hall Davis and Son. www.halldavisandson.com

Hogan, Shirley Nunnally

Shirley Ann Nunnally Hogan, a resident of Baton Rouge, LA. passed away on December 26th, 2025, at the age of 89. Born in Whitton, AR, Shirley is survived by her sons Ronald (Kathleen) Hogan of San Antonio, TX and Donald Hogan (Jerri) of Baton Rouge, LA; grandsons Christopher (Hyde) Hogan, Drew (Kristen) Hogan, and Jeffrey Higgs; great-grandchildren Addison Hogan, Kit Hogan and Dani Hogan; and a host of dear nieces and nephews.

Shirley was proceeded in death by her parents, siblings, and her beloved daughter Kathryn Ann Hogan Higgs.

Shirley attended Broadmoor United Methodist Church, remaining a member until her passing.

Shirley was the Manager of Baton Rouge Police Supplies for 34 years, working up to her most recent illness. She was beloved by many customers and members of the law enforcement community in the State of Louisiana.

In lieu of Flowers, memorial donations can be made to Broadmoor United Methodist Church https:// broadmoormethodist.org/ A visitation will be held from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM on 2026-01-04 at Greenoaks, 9595 Florida Blvd.

A funeral service will be held from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM on 2026-01-05 at Broadmoor United Methodist Church, 10230 Mollylea Dr.

Kimble, James Edward

James Edward Kimble "Jimmy", a resident of Slaughter, passed away on Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. He was 88 years old, a US Army Veteran and a retired Maintenance Superintendent from Capital Transportation Corporation (CTC) where he worked for over 40 years. Visitation will be at Charlet Funeral Home in Zachary on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026 from 2pm until service at 4pm conducted by Scott Wright. He is survived by his wife of 27 years, Margo Kimble, 3 daughters, Glenda Louviere and husband, Ray, Teresa Bright and husband, Eric, and Laura Ringe and husband, Jeff. 2 sons, James Michael McDonner and wife, Kelli and Nicholas William McDonner and wife, Ashley. 10 grandchildren, Samantha (Donnie), Timothy, Steven (Camille), Tyler, Tami, Grace, Lily, Kennedy, Raegan (Carson) and Kylie. 6 great grandchildren, Emma, Crew, Hollis, Stella, Jax and Elijah, due Jan. 2026.

Langlois, Charles Leon 'Pete'

Charles Leon "Pete" Langlois passed away at his home in Greenwell Springs on Monday, December 29, 2025. Born in Baton Rouge on May 5, 1937, he was 88. He was a retired carpenter and was also a veteran of the United States Army (PVT (P) E2) stationed at USATC INF Fort Jackson South Carolina. He was a member of St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, member of the Knights of Columbus (3rd and 4th Degree), and was a graduate of Catholic High School in Baton Rouge (Class of 1955). Pete was preceded in death by his parents, Frank V. Langlois, Sr. and Mary Enola Langlois; his wife of 56 years, Audrey Duplessis Langlois; brothers: Frank V. Langlois, Jr. and John William Langlois, Sr.; three sons: Charles Leon Langlois, Jr., Christopher Langlois, and Jeffrey Langlois; and granddaughter, Mikki O'Neal. He is survived by his daughter, Stephanie L. O'Neal (Gary); son, Paul E. Langlois; sister, Sybil LeSage; five grandchildren: Megan O'Neal Rhodes (Ryan), Ashley Williams, Blake Christopher O'Neal (Mikayla Gerald), Zachary Paul Langlois (Sierra Yoder), and Jordan Hinckley; and four great-grandsons: Eli James and Jack Michael Rhodes, and Nathan Charles and Mack David O'Neal. Visitation will be on Friday, January 2, 2026, from 5pm until 8pm at Rabenhorst Funeral Home East, 11000 Florida Blvd.

Visitation will resume on Saturday morning at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, 14040 Greenwell Springs Rd, at 10am until Mass of Christian Burial at 11am, celebrated by Rev. Michael J. Moroney. Burial will follow at Greenoaks Memorial Park. Pete's family thanks the staff and caregivers at Heart of Hospice for their care and comfort in his last days.

Quimby, Ernest Edward

Ernest Edward Quimby Jr., known as Dr. Ed Quimby, passed away peacefully on Friday, December 26th at The Crossing Clarity Hospice in Baton Rouge.

He was a Rayville High School graduate (1961), an All-State baseball pitcher, and later a minor league relief pitcher in the San Francisco Giants organization. Dr. Quimby earned his Doctorate of Dental Surgery from LSU Health School of Dentistry in 1976 and practiced dentistry in Baton Rouge for over 40 years, serving his community with love and dedication. He is survived by his wife, Suet Winnie Quimby; daughters, Dr. Keleigh Q. Lascari, DDS and Kendahl C. Quimby, BCO, FASO; and grandchildren, Mason Swenson, Cohen Lascari, and Jack Lascari. Visitation will be held on January 3, 2026, at 11 a.m. at BrownHolley Funeral Home.

Ragusa, Ben P.

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.

Serrett, Darrell W.

Darrell W. Serrett Sr., a resident of Zachary, LA, passed away Christmas morning on Thursday, December 25, 2025 at the age of 82 surrounded by his loving family. He was born on November 15, 1943, in Baton Rouge, LA, where he began his journey in life as part of a young military family. This offered him the opportunity to travel widely, allowing Darrell to visit and live in many new places around the world.

These experiences shaped his character and broadened his perspective from a young age. Darrell is survived by his wife of 49 years, Sandra Strickland Serrett; four daughters, Melissa Doucet of Zachary; Francelle (Chip) Guillet of Baton Rouge; Brittney (Sal) Peraino of Versailles, KY; Ashley (Blaine) Courville of Draper, UT; three sons: Darrell W. (Cheryl "Tootie") Serrett Jr. of Zachary; Michael Serrett of Plaquemine; and Jeffrey (Roberta) Serrett of Zachary; two sisters: Karen Serrett of Calgary, Canada; Laurie Serrett (Blaine Falcon) of Port Allen; one brother, Michael Serrett of Monroe, GA; four nephews and nieces: Nik Serrett; Brynt (Kayla) Rushing; Erin Duncan; and Emily Serrett; seventeen grandchildren: Trey, Justin, Kyle, Rebekah, Jake, Alec, Ava, Amber, Kacie, Logan, Reese, Cohen, Lawson, Brooks, Giorgio, Margo and Mila; and three greatgrandchildren: Raylan, Oliver and Caleigh with 3

more expected in 2026. He was preceded in death by his parents, Stonewell and Gladys Serrett, and his son -in-law, Kenneth Doucet.

Serving as pallbearers will be Chip Guillet, Blaine Courville, Sal Peraino, Trey Dispensire, Justin Serrett, Kyle Serrett, Jake Serrett, Alec Serrett and Logan Guillet. Darrell worked at Exxon Plastics for 35 years both in the US and overseas and upon retirement, began volunteering at Plains Presbyterian Church as a Deacon and later Chairman of the Cemetery Committee. With more free time on his hands, he continued his love of travel with Sandy and friends no matter the destination. He also enjoyed cheering on his grandchildren at their sports and various activities. Darrell never missed watching the LSU tigers nor a high school class reunion to catch up with his friends. He was a proud member of the self-proclaimed ROMEO Men's Club (Retired Old Men Eating Out) with his lifelong friends from Exxon who met weekly for lunch. Darrell also cherished every fishing trip and golf outing with his three beloved sons. He was always up for dinner and road trip adventures with close friends especially his Community Fellowship Group from church as well as his annual men's trip to the horse races in Hot Springs, AR. Darrell may have been a man of few words, but he loved big and was fondly referred to as "one of the good guys" from those who knew him best. He leaves behind an unwavering legacy of hard work, steadfast character, strong moral compass, a grounded sense of responsibility, and above all, faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Relatives and friends are invited to join the family for visitation at Plains Presbyterian Church located at 22929 Old Scenic Hwy, Zachary, LA on Saturday, January 3, 2026 from 9:00 a.m. until the funeral service at 11:00 a.m. officiated by Rev. Campbell Silman. Immediately following, he will be laid to rest at Plains Presbyterian Memorial Gardens in Zachary, LA. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to the Plains Presbyterian Memorial Gardens. Please reach out to Plains Presbyterian Church for any memorial donations.

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OPINION lll

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

Energy workers can drive America forward Last year reminded America of it honors the workers on the a timeless truth our grandparents ground. Energy workers are understood: When you empower America’s competitive edge, not a the people who fuel your footnote. When policies renation, prosperity follows. spect their grit and reduce In 2025, energy policy regulatory burdens, prishifted from a defensive vate investment surges, position to bold offense creating high-wage jobs under new leadership. and revitalizing communiThe results reverberated ties.

Scott across America at the gas Third, domestic energy Angelle funds true conservation. pump.

GUEST We are thankful for the This isn’t a talking point, COLUMNIST it’s fiscal reality. The contributions of the Gulf of America builders, fabGreat American Outdoors ricators, boat captains, engineers Act channels up to $1.9 billion and offshore crews that helped to annually from federal energy revenues to restore national make these results possible, all parks, wildlife refuges and public in an energy basin that is one of lands, with much of it sourced our planet’s most productive and environmentally responsible pro- from responsible oil and gas producing provinces. duction in places like the Gulf of When policymakers treat doAmerica.

Fourth, emissions reductions mestic oil and gas as a strategic stem from innovation, not manasset rather than a liability, communities thrive, jobs multiply and dates. The United States has families breathe easier. slashed greenhouse gas emissions I drew six lessons from 2025: by approximately 17% below First, reliability is a core value, 2005 levels, even as oil and gas not mere rhetoric. Americans output grew, thanks to American judge policy by outcomes: lights ingenuity in cleaner technologies that stay on and bills that don’t and efficient practices. break the bank. Efforts to bolster Fifth, the Gulf of America is grid resilience and invest in criti- a leader in low-carbon intensity production, displacing dirtier forcal infrastructure underscored that dependable, affordable doeign alternatives while lowering worldwide emissions. mestic energy, rooted in oil and Sixth, permitting reform is esgas, is the bedrock of family stability and economic growth. sential policy. Overregulation, reSecond, an “all-of-the-above” dundant reviews and protracted strategy succeeds only when timelines stifle wells, pipelines

PROVIDED PHOTO

An offshore supply vessel works alongside the Hess Gulfstar oil platform at the Tubular Bells field. and grid expansions.

Moving forward, we need to continue playing offense.

Momentum demands focus and action. To secure 2025’s gains, we must aggressively tackle challenges, especially in the Gulf of America. Predictable lease sales, stable timelines and globally competitive fiscal terms to attract investment maintain environmentally advantaged production and sustain the ports, shipyards and service firms that underpin Loui-

siana’s middle class.

We must secure the entire energy chain, from molecules to electrons, by integrating pipelines, refineries, power plants and transmission as unified assets for resilience. Our workforce is a strategic priority: Vocational training, veteran transitions, maritime skills and apprenticeships are vital.

Progress is fragile. Every contractor bidding projects, shipyard hiring crews and offshore worker

eyeing schedules knows clarity will quickly evaporate if we return to energy defense. We are reminded that there are no wealthy low energy consuming nations on the planet. In many ways, energy consumption has become a proxy for human prosperity.

Given that America has experienced six recessions from 1973 to 2019, all preceded by spikes in energy prices, it should not be debatable that American energy, including that from the Gulf of America, represents the best opportunity to achieve national energy dominance while curbing global emissions, supercharging the economy with family-sustaining wages and vibrant Main Streets and fortifying security by powering homes, hospitals and defenses without foreign reliance. We call it Balancing the 3Es: environment, energy and economy.

When unleashed, American energy workers have demonstrated the ability to play offense by delivering secure, clean, affordable energy. In 2025, equilibrium returned and rekindled our spirit.

In 2026, let’s lock it in.

Scott Angelle is former lieutenant governor of Louisiana and former director of the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.

He is the founder of USA Energy Workers.

There’s a missing piece in state’s fight against diabetes

Optimism about U.S. comes from persistence, not our perfection

Diabetes isn’t just a growing national con- staggering.

Diagnosed diabetes costs Louisiana an escern — it’s a crisis in Louisiana.

More than 14% of Louisiana adults have timated $6.9 billion annually. diagnosed diabetes, significantly higher Americans with diabetes have medical than the national average of 8.5%. Each expenses more than 2.5 times higher than year, nearly 40,000 Louisianans are diagthose without. But when patients receive nosed with diabetes, which was the seventh preventive oral care — especially treatleading cause of death in the U.S. in 2023. ment for gum disease — overall health care Too often, discussions about this costs drop. alarming trend focus solely on mediOne study showed that periodontal treatment reduced overall health cal treatments, lifestyle changes or care spending by 12% to 14%, dethe rising use of GLP-1 medications.

But there’s a critical part of the pending on insurance type. diabetes story we’re overlooking: Another indicated that providing oral health.

Damien nonsurgical oral health care for gum That’s why I want to shift the condisease could reduce the chance of Cuffie tooth loss by 34% and save individuversation on this expensive health GUEST burden; we need to tackle this with a COLUMNIST als roughly $6,000 annually on health new lens. As a general dentist workcare costs. And even a 1% drop in high blood sugar levels can reduce ing specifically with medically comtotal diabetes-related health care costs by promised patients, I’ve seen firsthand how 13%, according to another study. poor oral health both amplifies the risks of All of this underscores the need to broaddiabetes and worsens health outcomes. And yet, the connection between these two isen how we diagnose, treat and educate. If Louisiana hopes to reverse its troubling sues is not widely understood. diabetes trend, we must embrace a more While periodontal disease doesn’t cause diabetes or vice versa, the two can influence comprehensive approach — one that breaks down the silos between dental and medical each other. care.

Diabetes weakens the body’s ability to Dentists are uniquely positioned to detect fight infection, making people more suscepsigns of diabetes — even before a physician tible to gum disease, which itself can fuel does. inflammation and make blood sugar harder A 2011 study at the Columbia University to control.

College of Dental Medicine dental clinic High blood sugar also increases the showed dentists correctly identified 73% of amount of sugar and acid in the mouth, acpatients who had diabetes or prediabetes. celerating tooth decay and leading to dry That’s an immense opportunity to intervene mouth, which in turn traps bacteria and early, especially when over a third of people food debris. with diabetes are unaware they have it.

The result? More serious infections, The rise in diabetes among both children impaired chewing and nutrition and a draand adults over the past two decades is a matic increase in tooth loss. wake-up call.

And the data is striking: Having diabetes Tackling this epidemic requires not just increases the risk of gum disease by 86%, medication or lifestyle changes, but a shift while adults over age 50 with diabetes are 46% more likely to have fewer than 20 teeth in how we view the whole person — includand 56% more likely to suffer from severe ing their mouth. tooth loss. And the impact goes far beyond Let’s start in the dental chair. And condental function. Missing teeth can affect sider this the next time you visit the dentist: mental health, job prospects and overall It may do more than save your smile. It may well-being. Worse still, this decline can be save your life. entirely preventable with routine dental care.

Damien Cuffie is the dental director for DenThe financial implications are equally taQuest in Louisiana.

Editor’s note: A version of this commentary first aired on WBOK 1230AM.

anomalies. They were defining tests. And at each turning point, progress was pushed forward by ordinary people — people who As this year came to a close, I refused to surrender the promise wanted to end on a note of confiof freedom and justice for all.

Progress did not arrive quickly, dence — confidence in our counquietly or without sacrifice. But try, confidence in our people and confidence in the democratic ide- it arrived because the majority als that have guided us for nearly of Americans ultimately chose principle over fear and inclusion two and a half centuries.

There are voices today predict- over division.

That is the enduring ing the collapse of democstrength of this nation. racy, warning that authoriNot blind optimism, but tarianism is inevitable and hard-earned resilience. suggesting that the AmeriNot perfection, but a can experiment is nearing shared belief that we its end. I am not among them. I have listened careNorman can — and must — do fully to the mood of this Robinson better. Democracy has always been noisy, concountry — in conversaGUEST tions, in communities and COLUMNIST tentious and fragile. Yet across generations — and it has proven remarkI find that the majority of ably durable because it is Americans remain deeply comsustained by citizens who undermitted to the ideals established stand that its survival depends by our forefathers in the Constion their participation, vigilance and courage. tution and the Bill of Rights.

So as we look to the future, I Those who fear that the greatremain hopeful. est social experiment in the hisNot because the challenges tory of mankind is on the brink of before us are small, but because dissolution may not be students of our history. This nation has en- our capacity to confront them has been proven time and again. dured some of humanity’s darkWe are held together by the quiet est chapters and survived them decency of millions who still — not because we were perfect, believe in the rule of law, the but because we were persistent. dignity of every human being We began with the near destruction of Native American na- and the promise of equal justice tions. We endured the moral stain under that law.

And as we continue this unfinof slavery, followed by a brutal civil war that tested whether this ished journey, we would do well union could survive at all. We to remember the words written lived through the cruelty of Jim by theologian Theodore Parker Crow, the exclusion and demoniand made popular by Martin Luther King Jr.: “The arc of the zation of immigrants, the sysmoral universe is long, but it tematic suppression of women’s bends towards justice.” voices and the ongoing struggle for equal access to the ballot for communities of color.

Norman Robinson is a former These injustices were not TV anchor and speaker.

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COMMENTARY IN FOCUS | THE FUTURE OF NEW ORLEANS

‘I see so much opportunity’ As a new mayor is set to take over, what does New Orleans need most?

The newspaper recently invited four New Orleans leaders to talk about their plans and expectations for next year and beyond.

Mayor-elect Helena Moreno, City Council President JP Morrell, Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams and GNO, Inc. President and CEO Michael Hecht joined columnist Stephanie Grace last month for the panel, which can be viewed in full at https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=j8M4CcgMHvk. The following is an excerpt of their conversation, edited for length and clarity.

Grace: Political campaigns usually focus on the big things candidates want to do, and then eventually reality sets in. Helena, reality set in for you immediately. Given that, what can we expect in your first year?

Moreno: I actually get this all the time. People ask me, “Helena, with the budget crisis that you’re dealing with now, can you really get these things done?” And the answer is yes.

Remember that many of the things I talked about during the campaign, as far as providing better services for the people of the city, really didn’t have a lot to do with money. They had to do with better coordination, better collaboration, better management, better oversight. That piece doesn’t need any money. The other piece was that there needed to be better partnerships and better collaboration with the state and with our City Council, and those are also things that I can bring to the table. In fact, if anything, because of better collaboration with the state, we could probably get more money coming in.

And one of the big things that I talked about was creating a street maintenance program and bringing a lot of the work in-house.

How do we reduce our contracting costs, and by getting those reductions, find efficiencies? All those things are still possible. I see so much opportunity.

Grace: JP, New Orleans traditionally has a strong mayor, but the council has certain specific responsibilities, including overseeing the budget. What can the council do to keep this from happening again?

Morrell: I do think the council has tremendous authority, but the challenge we’ve had is that when we came in, we tried to expand our oversight via ordinance. But one thing I realized is that I had a fundamental misunderstanding of how the council’s relationship with the budget worked coming from the Legislature.

The Legislature is in a similar role as the council, but in the state Constitution, the Legislature has teeth; when a budget is passed, the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget has to approve any effort by the governor to move money around or spend money that is not budgeted. What we began to identify very early on is that there are no guardrails on the mayor of New Orleans.

Once a budget is passed, there is nothing that prevents any mayor from moving money around without council approval, because the charter essentially says the mayor and the CAO can reconcile the budget at any given point to address obligations.

So something we’ve already worked on, and that is going to go to voters in May, is a charter amendment to say that if a mayor wants to spend money that is not in the budget, they have to come back to the council.

Grace: Jason, a DA’s office traditionally gets involved in cases after someone’s been arrested, but you’ve got several initiatives aimed at getting at the root of

STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE

New Orleans Mayor-elect Helena Moreno, far left, speaks as City Council President JP Morrell, columnist Stephanie Grace, District Attorney Jason Williams and Greater New Orleans Inc. President and CEO Michael Hecht listen during a forum on the future of New Orleans hosted by The TimesPicayune and NOLA.com on Nov. 9. crime, which is another existential issue for the city’s future.

Why are you taking them on?

Williams: Rahm Emanuel famously said you should never let a crisis go to waste. And we’ve had a crisis long before this budget crisis.

We put screeners in each police district so that we got better police reports and better evidence, and you started seeing us win more cases in court. At the same time, what Desmond Tutu told us was that we can’t just keep pulling people out of the river; sometimes we have to go upstream and figure out why they’re falling in. So our NO DICE program is working with folks inside of City Hall, whether it’s getting street lights up, whether it’s cleaning up a park so that the drug dealers don’t come back after they’re arrested. We got to a point where we realized that police and prosecutors are not what makes us safe. It’s a group lift.

Grace: Michael, let’s shift to the private sector. What is ready to bear fruit?

Hecht: There are so many projects that I’m excited about. The Charity Hospital redevelopment

by Tulane is a total game-changer.

It’s almost an urban blind spot right now. It’s not even blight; you don’t even see it. If you look at what happens when other schools go into their downtowns, the revitalization, the research that it generates, the amenities…

The River District. I know there are some questions now about how it’s going to play out, but we are going to get it done. Going downriver to the old Naval Support Activity base, finally getting that redeveloped into hundreds of units of affordable housing and a new lab which is, in my opinion, the best incubator for construction and tech firms in the country.

Then further downriver, the Louisiana International Terminal.

It keeps Louisiana in the shipping game because the new, bigger vessels are too tall to get under the Crescent City Connection, but the one neighborhood that stands to benefit the most is New Orleans East, because all the trucks are going to come out the new road. That whole area is going to be distribution, manufacturing and logistics.

that got done. Helena, you talked about this in your campaign.

What’s next?

Moreno: I talked about having Super Bowl-level services, not just when there’s a big event coming to town. And what I meant was that, as we were getting ready for Super Bowl, Michael led a team of city agencies and outside groups and made sure that we were troubleshooting all of the different issues, whether it was a whole set of street lights that wasn’t working or ensuring that Poydras Street got done in record amount of time. I’ve talked about a coordinating council to create Super Bowl-level all the time. What I haven’t told Michael yet is that I would like him to be part of it.

Grace: One question for you, Michael, and the DA as well, is what do you need from the mayor and the council to be successful?

Williams: Well, I would say money, but we know that’s off the table for a little while.

What I need from these guys is something that they were just talking about. When there is foot traffic, when there are families walking up and down Canal Street, when there are families playing in parks, when there’s visibility, that makes the criminal element uncomfortable. That is a city reclaiming the commons for themselves and choosing a side.

I need us as a city, as city leaders, as business leaders and community leaders, to develop a public wellness strategy so that we will never be the murder capital again. And then the whole country is going to look at New Orleans as a blueprint for what public safety is.

Grace: Michael, I assume crime is something you get asked about.

Hecht: It’s absolutely one of them, but let me frame this in terms of four things that will drive prosperity and ultimately population growth for us. One is economic opportunity. So having a mayor and a council that want to fix licensing and permitting is critical, as is having leadership that we can bring a business prospect to that will inspire confidence. The second thing is quality of life, not only safety from violence, but also from the weather.

The third thing is affordability, so working on affordable housing, doing things like the fortified roof Super Bowl services for all? program to bring down insurance Grace: Let’s talk Super Bowl. Mi- cost, matter.

The fourth thing that ties it all chael, you were appointed by Gov. together is what I’m particularly Jeff Landry to coordinate work

excited about. That is the ability to tell a story and create a vision of what the future of the city looks like. We have not told that story well, and I think we can now start telling it better.

Looking to the future Grace: What does New Orleans look like in two years? Is the budget stabilized? What projects are coming online?

Morrell: My goal in two years, first off, is to not be going to the state begging for revenue bonds, to get the budget in a place where it is self-sufficient and where we have efficient services for the amount of money people are paying in tax dollars. When you look at the growth of the budget, even before COVID when it exploded in size, it is kind of difficult to explain how it could have grown to the size it had and services not improved at all. And I think the challenge is, if and when we grow the budget, there are benchmarks to say that if we’re going to raise your sanitation fee, here’s what you’re going to get in exchange, or if we are going to advocate for a drainage fee, here is why we’re doing it. Here’s how this will potentially lower your taxes.

Moreno: In two years, I want the perception of the city to be changed to the positive, where we are now looking like a very transparent and accountable government, one that is very fair and transparent around contracting, a government that works toward operational excellence, one that is budgeting to ensure that every single taxpayer dollar is being spent correctly, where we are making proper investments to what Jason was talking about in prevention to ensure that we have a safer city. We’ve been doing that, and to continue down that path is critically important.

And so that, to me, will be success in two years, if people are feeling this different vibe and are seeing a new type of City Hall.

Williams: So brick and mortar, two years from now, there’s a DNA lab so that we’re not only testing murders and rapes but also car burglaries, so we can connect the dots between people that are going from different areas. It’s in process.

Also, I just renovated a bathroom. It took way too long to get that permit. We’ve got to make sure that it’s not this hard for people to do small things with their homes. That’s going to have

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a ripple effect.

Hecht: I think in two years we will have Super Bowl-level infrastructure across a majority of the city with a commitment to get the rest done.

Grace: How about in 20 years?

Williams: We have art, we have culture, we have architecture.

We have Armstrong Park, which is this beautiful asset at the edge of the French Quarter that leads into Treme. We’ve got Canal Street, which is our Champs Elysees, which we’re not using upper floors of, and we haven’t had a strategic plan for a long time. Imagine if those areas were bustling with locals, with visitors. Now people are talking about New Orleans in a way they haven’t in a very long time.

Hecht: A lot of the things we’re talking about doing now are fixing what’s broke, literally and figuratively, filling the potholes.

If we’re going to achieve the vision that we’re articulating in 20 years, it means that over the next eight years we’re going to have to change the systems so that regardless of who is in office, we are going to organically do the right thing because the incentives are right, the laws are right.

Morrell: I think to that end, when you look over the next 20 years, the goal is the groundwork that will be laid during this administration with this council to create a New Orleans that operates differently than it’s operated for the last 50-60 years. In a functional city, you should not have ups and downs. The fact that we’ve had multiple new administrations that have had to come in and furlough employees for multiple months, that tells you the city is functionally dysfunctional. If you can’t convince people that the city will be functional regardless of who is the mayor, that is a huge barrier to long-term investment.

Moreno: To look at where we’re going to be in 20 years and where we want to be, you need to take a look at successful cities across the country and where they were 20 years prior.

There’s a couple things that come into play. One is that the city services are good and that it’s easy to live in these cities. Number two, people feel safe. And then number three is that there’s opportunity overall. People have to move there to get a job, because it’s where the opportunities are. That’s how you transform the city in 20 years.

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

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6B ■ Friday, January 2, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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Baton Rouge Weather TODAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

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Breezy, showers - 30%

Showers, clearing - 20%

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Mostly sunny

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75° 64°

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74° 45°

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ALMANAC

WEDNESDAY Weather News by Chief Meteorologist Dr. Josh Eachus

Warm

LOW

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76° 57°

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77° 59°

AROUND THE REGION

THE NATION

BATON ROUGE THROUGH 5 P.M. THURSDAy

TEMPERATURE

High/low Normal high/low Record high Record low

70°/36° 62°/42° 84° in 2022 19° in 1984

PRECIPITATION

Longview 78/50

TODAY

MODERATE

MODERATE

READING 73 MAIN POLLUTANT Ozone

MAIN POLLUTANT Ozone

Port Arthur 77/63

FLOOD STAGE 24-HOUR STAGE CHANGE Memphis 34 -3.90 +0.31 Vidalia-Natchez 48 16.70 -0.13 Red River Landing 48 19.80 +0.40 Baton Rouge 35 7.50 +0.30 Donaldsonville 27 3.90 +0.10 Reserve 22 2.60 -0.21 New Orleans 17 1.60 +0.07 MISSISSIPPI

OHIO 40

14.66

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-0.97 10.16 0.45

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none -0.01

47 34 29 20 12 6

5.96 4.02 3.63 2.96 2.00 2.19

+0.47 +0.53 +0.36 +0.49 -0.40 +0.28

COMITE

Near Olive AMITE

Near Darlington Denham Springs Port Vincent TICKFAW

Montpelier Holden Simmesport Melville Krotz Springs Butte La Rose Bayou Sorrel Morgan City

New Orleans 73/65

Lake Charles 76/62

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

Houma 74/67

Forecasts and graphics, except WBRZ forecasts, provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2026

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

TIDES HIGH

FT.

LOW

Lake Pontchartrain (Tchefuncte River) 5:55a Shell Beach --South Point, Marsh Island 5:14p Cypremort Point 8:49p Grand Isle (Barataria Pass) 8:42p Mississippi River (Southwest Pass) 7:53p Wine Island 9:50p

0.7 --1.8 1.4 1.2 1.6 1.5

6:01p -0.5 11:49a -0.7 6:50a -1.5 10:56a -1.1 7:11a -0.9 5:27a -1.1 8:13a -1.1

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41 c 65 pc 52 pc 25 pc 52 c 16 pc 39 c 28 c 59 c 61 pc

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30 pc 53 r 60 pc 27 pc 53 pc 20 c 33 r 27 pc 60 c 64 pc

75 40 51 72 12 17 63 40 60 32 47

54 s 29 s 41 c 42 pc 2 c 15 c 44 pc 29 sh 55 r 22 sn 35 sh

69 38 52 73 7 30 63 38 61 24 50

47 s 26 s 42 c 44 pc 1 pc 23 c 44 pc 25 s 53 c 19 sn 37 s

THE WORLD

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

Today Sat. Sun. Mon. Tue. Wed. Thu.

Lo W

74 45 s 30 22 pc 67 42 s -36 -45 s 80 68 sh 78 50 s 56 46 pc 42 26 pc 78 59 s 21 6 c

SOLUNAR TABLE

7:02 a.m.

5:15 p.m.

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ATCHAFALAYA

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Baton Rouge 75/64

Lafayette 78/66

Beaumont 80/61

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0s

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Alexandria 79/56

Many 79/51

SOURCE: LOUISIANA DEQ AND AIRNOW.GOV

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AIR QUALITY YESTERDAY

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Monroe 77/52

Shreveport 79/53

24 hours through 5 p.m. Thu. 0.00” Month to date (normal) 0.00” (0.21”) year to date (normal) 0.00” (0.21”)

Cairo

Friday will feel significantly different. As moisture moves in from the Gulf, it will feel a touch more muggy as temperatures climb into the mid-70s. The arrival of this warmer air will come with the next chance for rain, as isolated showers and maybe a few rumbles of thunder will be possible. It’s also going to be a very breezy day with wind gusts potentially topping 25 mph. The weekend will begin mild in the mid-60s. A weak cold front will push through on Saturday morning. Ahead of it, some lingering showers will be possible through about midday. Keep an umbrella handy early. By the afternoon, showers will exit and skies will clear. Temperatures will be slow to fall behind the front, and highs will still make it into the mid-70s.

MINOR

4:10p 5:13p 6:15p 7:15p 8:10p 9:02p 9:50p

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

39 90 55 37 39 65 39 39 73 64 50

33 sh 71 pc 44 c 28 sf 31 c 48 c 30 pc 29 pc 51 c 53 s 37 pc

37 88 56 33 36 65 37 35 78 63 52

31 sn 71 s 46 c 25 pc 30 sf 48 s 28 s 28 sn 53 s 59 s 37 s

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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SPORTS

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

Kentucky stuns LSU in SEC opener

|

F r i d ay, J a n u a ry 2, 2026

OLE MISSS

39 9

1Cn

G GEORGIA

3 34

SWEET VICTORY

Wildcats topple Tigers with last-second 3-pointer

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

The start of the LSU women’s basketball team’s SEC opener looked much like the nonconference contests it played this season. A hot start led to a quick double-digit lead.

But a game against Kentucky is no tuneup. The No. 11 Wildcats taught the No. 5 Tigers (14-1) that lesson quickly on Thursday, when they visited the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, gave LSU its first close battle of the season and prevailed 80-78 on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

Senior guard Tonie Morgan hit the gamewinner. In the contest’s waning seconds, Mikaylah Williams gave LSU a 78-77 lead when she drew a foul on a 3-point try and buried all her free throws. But then Kentucky called a timeout and set up a shot for Morgan, who stepped back into a 3-pointer on the left wing and drained it in front of LSU forward Amiya Joyner. She finished with 24 points and 12 assists on 7-of-10 shooting.

“Came off the screen,” Morgan said, “didn’t like what I saw. I saw the time running down. I was like, ‘I gotta make a play,’ and did a little step back, it went in, and that was it.”

In nonconference play, LSU faced unranked Duke and a string of mid-major opponents, while Kentucky gave itself a more difficult schedule. The Wildcats (14-1) split the pair of contests they played against ranked teams in November, beating No. 13 Louisville and losing to No. 7 Maryland.

Kentucky showed that mettle on Thursday.

ä See SEC, page 2C

STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE

Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss throws the ball against the Georgia Bulldogs during the first half of the 92nd Sugar Bowl on Thursday at the Caesars Superdome.

Ole Miss outlasts Georgia to claim a spot in CFP semifinals

BY LES EAST

Contributing writer

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU guard Flau’Jae Johnson makes a move to the hoop against Kentucky forward Teonni Key on Thursday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

Trinidad Chambliss passed for 362 yards and two touchdowns, and Harrison Wallace caught nine of those passes for 156 yards and a touchdown to lead Ole Miss to a dramatic victory over Georgia Thursday night in the Sugar Bowl.

Kewan Lacy rushed for 98 yards and two touchdowns, and Luke Carneiro kicked two record-setting field goals and the game-winner.

And the Ole Miss defense made it a complete performance by holding Georgia to one second-half touchdown, and the No. 6 Rebels defeated the No. 3 Bulldogs 39-34 in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the 92nd Allstate

Sugar Bowl on Thursday night in the Caesars Superdome.

Georgia tied the score with 56 seconds remaining, but Chambliss connected with De’Zhaun Stribling, who finished with 122 receiving yards, for a 40-yard completion on third-and-5 to set up Carneiro’s 47-yard field goal with six seconds left.

The Rebels added a safety on the ensuing kickoff when a Georgia lateral hit the pylon.

Chambliss, who led Ferris State to the Division II national championship last season before transferring to Ole Miss, completed 30 of 46 passes to help the Rebels (13-1) win their seventh consecutive game and avenge

ä See SUGAR BOWL, page 6C

Rookie QB Shough impressing Saints with his leadership skills

BY LUKE JOHNSON

ä Saints at Falcons NOON SUNDAy, FOX

Last week’s game against the Tennessee Titans offered a special experience for New Orleans Saints rookie quarterback Tyler Shough.

He and fellow rookie quarterback Cam Ward went through the game wearing a microphone for NFL films. It was a “dream come true” for Shough, who said he used to watch the NFL Films Mic’d Up segments on YouTube in class.

But the experience was more than a signal of his arrival in the NFL — it was also instructive.

NFL Films sent some of the rough film to Shough, and he started breaking it down the way he might with the all-22 game film.

“How (am I) interacting with my teammates on the sideline?” Shough said. “How does that look and sound?”

Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Atlanta Falcons will be Shough’s ninth NFL start. He has quickly established himself as the future hope of the franchise, having played a large role in driving the

four-game win streak the team is riding into Week 18.

Though his play between the whistles has been the engine for that excitement, the Saints are enamored with the leadership qualities Shough has displayed in this debut season.

“Until you’re up in front and leading the group, you’re not going to see that part of it,” coach Kellen Moore said. “He’s taken on a leadership role each and every week.”

Moore likes the way Shough processes things quickly and moves on, good or bad.

The level-headedness and next-play mentality breeds positivity and optimism on the sidelines, the coach said. And it also comes in handy on the field.

There was a play last week where Shough pulled the ball on a read-option and was stuffed on the ensuing run. It was the wrong decision.

“That play happened and it’s over — you

Staff writer

ä See SAINTS, page 3C

LSU ready to sparkle in annual exhibition meet

BY SCOTT RABALAIS Staff writer

Konnor McClain STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Showtime is back in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

Well, at least the dress rehearsal.

The LSU gymnastics team has its first chance to sparkle in the PMAC on Friday night with the program’s annual Gymnastics 101/Open Mike ä Gymnastics Night exhibition meet.

101/Open Mike The event begins at 6:30 p.m. and will be Night 6:30 P.M. streamed live on SECFRIDAy, SECN + Network+. There is no admission charge.

Typically, this meet has been held in December. But with LSU still three weeks away from its regular-season home opener Jan. 23 against Kentucky, and in an effort to grow excitement and attendance for the exhibition, coach Jay Clark decided to push

ä See LSU, page 2C

2C ■ Friday, January 2, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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HH

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL Noon Rice vs. Texas St. ESPN 3:30 p.m. Navy vs. Cincinnat ESPN 7 p.m.

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Dolphins hire Aikman as consultant in GM search

MIAMI — The Dolphins have hired ESPN NFL analyst and former Dallas Cowboys star quarterback Troy Aikman as a consultant to assist in their general manager search, a league source said Thursday.

Aikman, who recently began working in the role, will remain ESPN’s lead NFL commentator while assisting owner Stephen Ross in the Dolphins’ search for a new GM. Aikman will discuss candidates with Ross, participate in interviews and serve as something of a sounding board. He already has made calls around the league and shared initial thoughts with Ross.

He is not a candidate for the GM job and will not be joining the Dolphins on a full-time basis, the source said.

Baltimore QB Jackson says he’s playing vs. Pittsburgh

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Southern guard Demonnie Lagway races upcourt with the ball after the turnover by Prairie View guard Ja’nya Polk in the second period on Thursday, at the F.G. Clark Activity Center.

Late surge carries SU women in SWAC opener

BY CHARLES SALZER Contributing writer

The final score of Southern’s Southwestern Athletic Conference opener on Thursday against Prairie View was close to what the Jaguars were looking for, but the way they got there was not.

Southern led Prairie View by two points early in the fourth quarter before putting the game out of reach with a 19-2 run. Instead of a tight finish, Southern coasted in the closing minutes to a 70-55 win in women’s basketball action at the F.G. Clark Activity Center.

“We were sluggish,” coach Carlos Funchess said. “We missed a lot of easy shots, and some nights it’s going to be like that. It was a grind. It’s like I tell them, you can’t get frustrated when you miss easy shots. You have to take good shots and

SEC

Continued from page 1C LSU, at times, struggled to defend and rebound against the Wildcats, who shot 43% from the field and fought for a 16-board edge on the glass. The Tigers pulled down only four offensive rebounds. Kentucky grabbed 17, which turned into 18 second-chance points.

LSU’s four post players — Koval, Joyner, and freshmen Grace Knox and ZaKiyah Johnson — combined to grab 13 rebounds. Kentucky forward Teonni Key, a 6-foot-5 senior, pulled down 16 boards by herself.

“I’m just stunned that we got outrebounded like we did,” coach Kim Mulkey said. “That literally was the difference in the game.”

Williams tallied 26 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while Flau’jae Johnson notched 15 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Sopho-

LSU

Continued from page 1C it to January.

“We started the season last year on Jan. 3,” Clark said. “This gave us an opportunity to put this on Friday night, which we never do.

Hopefully, more fans can come out and enjoy the fanfest with their kids and get a sneak peek and see more of the (LSU gymnasts) than when we start competing. They will definitely see more routines.”

In a regular dual meet a team has 24 routines: six each on vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor.

grind it out.”

Southern (5-7, 1-0 SWAC) led 4947 after Prairie View’s C.J. Wilson made one of two free throws two minutes into the fourth quarter.

The Jaguars then made nine of their next 15 shots as they built a 70-49 lead.

Prairie View (2-10, 0-1) scored the game’s last six points in the final 90 seconds of play. Southern got big baskets from sophomore post player DeMya Porter, who scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

“DeMya didn’t play her ‘A’ game but she got some hustle buckets,” Funchess said. “She kept some balls alive and she did some good things defensively. She’ll continue to get better because there’s going to be nights when those shots she missed are going to fall.”

MyKayla Cunningham also scored 14 points, Zaria Hurston had 13 and D’Shantae Edwards

finished with 10. Defensively, Southern had 17 steals and forced 25 Prairie View turnovers.

Funchess credited Southern’s defense for wearing down Prairie View. The Panthers had three players play more than 33 minutes in the game, including Wilson, who led her team with 11 points.

“We came out strong and really stuck with our game plan except for the fourth quarter,” Prairie View coach Tai Dillard said. “We’re really trying to work on finishing and having a strong group on the floor at the end.”

Southern extended an eightpoint halftime lead to 38-28 early in the third quarter. Sparked by Crystal Schulz’ 3-pointer, Prairie View responded with an 8-0 run.

The Jaguars went on to take a 4944 lead entering the fourth quarter.

“I thought eventually they would start wearing down because of

the way we subbed,” Funchess said. “We kept fresh bodies in the game and kept ball pressure on them. Once you get to the fourth quarter your legs get tired. I don’t care who you are, when you’re playing 30-plus minutes you’ll get fatigued.”

Southern started slowly in the first quarter. The Jaguars made just one of their first seven shots as they fell behind 5-1.

They took their first lead at 6-5 after Cunningham’s steal and basket with six minutes left in the quarter.

Edwards converted back-toback three-point plays to end the first quarter helping the Jaguars take an 18-11 lead to the second.

Southern led by 10 points twice in the second quarter before settling for a 32-24 halftime lead.

The Southern women return to action on Saturday when they host Texas Southern at 2 p.m.

more point guard Jada Richard and Joyner, a senior transfer forward from East Carolina, each chipped in 14 points. Richard connected on two of the four 3-pointers she tried.

Notre Dame transfer center Kate Koval fouled out in the fourth after tallying only two points and two rebounds in the 17 minutes she played. South Carolina transfer guard MiLaysia Fulwiley scored just two points on 1-of-6 shooting in the 17 minutes she played off the bench.

In the first half, LSU rode a hot shooting start to an early 14-2 lead.

Kentucky, though, quickly found a way to create open looks in the halfcourt. In one eight-minute stretch of the first half, the Wildcats hit 11 of the 14 field goals they took, preventing the Tigers from igniting their transition offense.

LSU then strung together some stops. Johnson banked in a difficult runner through contact.

Williams buried a free-throw line

jumper. At halftime, the game was tied at 41.

Then Williams, Johnson and Richard started making difficult shots — enough to give LSU a 6560 lead by the start of the fourth quarter. The two teams then battled through more lead changes and more ties before Morgan settled things on her last-second shot. The Tigers missed all six field goals they took across the last five minutes of the game.

“I think we got some of the looks we wanted,” Williams said. “I think our biggest thing is the four offensive rebounds. I don’t know if you’ve watched coach Mulkey for a long time, but that’s something that’s unrealistic, so that’s something we just have to go to the drawing boards and grit our teeth and put our big girl clothes on and go rebound.”

Before Thursday, LSU was 29-3 at home against SEC opponents under Mulkey, but it had dropped all six games it’s played — either

at home, on the road or on a neutral site — against league teams ranked in the top 12 of the AP Top 25 Poll.

Mulkey was also 5-0 in games she’s coached against Kentucky second-year coach Kenny Brooks before Thursday’s contest. The two crossed paths in the semifinal round of the 2023 Final Four, when Brooks was coaching Virginia Tech.

Before Thursday’s game tipped off, new LSU football head coach Lane Kiffin accompanied Mulkey down the tunnel and onto the floor.

The crowd greeted him with a standing ovation.

The Tigers will play on the road in four of their next five games.

The first of those matchups is a clash with No. 12 Vanderbilt that will tip off at 4 p.m. Sunday.

Since this is an exhibition, Clark anticipates more than 40 routines spread across the four disciplines.

The Tigers have been doing routines in their palatial practice gym through the fall and the holidays.

But this is the first opportunity they will have to perform in their home arena.

“You just want to get them out of this environment (in the gym) and get them under the lights in that space,” Clark said. “See who competes. It’s hard to mimic that in your gym.”

The Tigers won a share of the SEC regular-season championship and the SEC championship meet in 2025, then earned their first-ever

No. 1 seed in the NCAA championships. LSU reached the national semifinals but came up short of returning to the NCAA final, which it won for the first time in 2024.

The Tigers begin 2026 ranked No. 2 in the preseason coaches’ poll, behind reigning NCAA champ Oklahoma and just ahead of SEC rival Florida.

LSU has 21 gymnasts on this year’s roster and most of them will be cleared to compete, with a couple of potential exceptions.

Clark said fifth-year senior Chase Brock will likely be held out as she continues to recover from an Achilles injury. Sophomore Kailin Chio, the 2025 NCAA vault

champion and SEC freshman of the year, tweaked an ankle in a recent practice and may also be held out, Clark said.

“I know what she can do,” he said.

In addition to Chio, LSU’s other leaders this year will include junior Konnor McClain, the 2021 U.S. nationals all-around champion; 2024 U.S. Olympic alternate Kaliya Lincoln, a sophomore; and junior Madison Ulrich, a three-time AllAmerican at Denver.

A children’s fanfest begins at 5 p.m. in front of the PMAC with face painting, pictures with LSU gymnastics trophies, giveaways and gymnastics lessons.

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

For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/lsunewsletter

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Lamar Jackson says he’s expecting to play when the Baltimore Ravens take on the Steelers in Pittsburgh for the AFC North title Sunday night.

“A hundred percent,” the star quarterback said. “I’m going to be out there.”

Jackson returned to practice Wednesday and was a full participant, but he didn’t talk with reporters at the podium until Thursday. He said he’s feeling good after missing last weekend’s game at Green Bay because of a back injury.

That was the fourth game this season Jackson has missed, the first three because of hamstring problems.

The Ravens need a win this weekend to make the playoffs after they entered the season as a popular Super Bowl pick.

Lynx’s Collier to undergo surgery on both ankles

MIAMI — Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier will have surgery on both ankles and is expected to be sidelined four to six months, including the upcoming Unrivaled season, the 3-on-3 women’s basketball league announced Thursday.

The 2024 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year suffered a sprained right ankle during an August game against the Las Vegas Aces and missed several weeks. She then hurt her left ankle in Game 3 of the WNBA semifinals against the Phoenix Mercury.

Unrivaled, which Collier cofounded with fellow WNBA star Breanna Stewart, said a “joint team of medical staff” determined that surgery on both ankles would be needed for Collier.

Green Bay to start QB Tune in regular-season finale

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Clayton Tune will start at quarterback for Green Bay in its regular-season finale Sunday at Minnesota with the Packers intending to rest Jordan Love as he prepares for the playoffs.

Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Thursday that Love has cleared concussion protocol, but isn’t expected to play against the Vikings (8-8). Green Bay (9-6-1) already is locked into the NFC’s No. 7 playoff seed, so Sunday’s game has no postseason implications.

Love hasn’t played since taking a helmet-to-helmet hit in the second quarter of a 22-16 overtime loss at Chicago on Dec. 20.

Love said he’s doing enough in practice that he shouldn’t feel rusty when he starts the Packers’ playoff opener.

Michigan set to hire Beck as offensive coordinator

New Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham’s staff is starting to take shape, and he has his coordinators in place.

Jason Beck, 45, who was Whittingham’s offensive coordinator/ quarterbacks coach at Utah, is joining him at Michigan as offensive coordinator. Whittingham confirmed the hire Thursday during an interview on ESPN’s GameDay. Whittingham, who spent the last 21 seasons as Utah’s head coach, was officially introduced as Michigan’s head coach Sunday. And Jay Hill, most recently BYU’s defensive coordinator, will be Michigan’s defensive coordinator, multiple national outlets reported Thursday.

Beck’s offense ranked No. 4 nationally averaging 482.9 yards a game, was second in rushing, (266.3) and fifth in scoring, averaging 41.2 points.

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Friday, January 2, 2026 ■ 3C

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NFL

Blood clot to sideline Olave for finale

Saints wide receiver expected to be fully recovered in about a month

BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer

Saints wide receiver Chris Olave was diagnosed with a blood clot in his lung and will miss Sunday’s season finale against the Atlanta Falcons, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed.

Olave was reportedly expected to be discharged from the hospital Thursday after the issue was detected early. But the blood clot will prevent Olave from playing this weekend, meaning he’ll miss his first game of the season. On Instagram, Olave posted a picture of himself in a hospital bed while flexing. He wrote that his “bounce back” was on the way.

Saints coach Kellen Moore said Olave is in “great hands” with the Saints’ medical staff.

“Obviously, (it’s) fortunate for Chris, they’re able to get ahead of this and identify something and

make the necessary steps to build a plan moving forward,” Moore said.

New Orleans.Football was the first to report the news on Olave.

ESPN reported Olave would recover in about a month.

Olave missed practice Wednesday with what the team said was an illness. The 25-year-old had been dealing with a back injury for the past month, though he responded with some of his best games of the season. In his past two games, Olave recorded 148 and 119 yards receiving for a combined three touchdowns.

The former first-rounder was in the midst of a career year. After contemplating retirement because of last season’s concussion issues, Olave bounced back with 100 catches for 1,163 yards and nine touchdowns in 2025.

After last weekend’s win over the Tennessee Titans, Olave said it was one his “main goals” to play in all

17 games for the first time in his career, adding it would mean a lot.

Instead, Olave will finish with 16 — tying his previous best. But his health, in this case, takes priority.

“The game of life is a lot more important,” offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier said, later adding, “Love Chris. Love the season he’s had and everything he’s done for us. We’re all with him.”

Olave is now one of the latest athletes to deal with a blood clot. Patriots defensive tackle Christian Barmore was diagnosed with several blood clots before the 2024 season, causing him to miss the first 10 games, and then he was again shut down for the last three. Barmore has played in 16 games this season.

Los Angeles Rams tackle Alaric Jackson and Kansas City Chiefs guard Trey Smith also dealt with the issue, but have had sustained notable careers.

In the NBA, Victor Wembanya-

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By JACOB KUPFERMAN

Saints wide receiver Chris Olave celebrates after scoring ahead of Carolina Panthers safety Lathan Ransom on Nov. 9 in Charlotte, N.C. ma, Ausar Thompson, Damian Lillard and Chris Bosh also dealt with blood clots, shutting them down for extended periods. Bosh was forced to medically retire because of the issue.

But Olave’s case, according to the reports, isn’t expected to be as severe. ESPN reported that the wide receiver should be ready to participate in the team’s offseason program.

Burrow hoping to bring change for Bengals in ’26

SAINTS NOTEBOOK

BY CHARLIE GOLDSMITH Associated Press

CINCINNATI — Joe Burrow is in unfamiliar territory.

For the first time in his NFL career, the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback is preparing for a Week 18 start knowing that no matter what, the season ends Sunday.

Burrow was injured in 2020 and ‘23. The Bengals made it to the Super Bowl in 2021 and the AFC championship game in ‘22 along with being in contention for a playoff spot up until the last game in 2024.

“Obviously, you want to win a Super Bowl, you want to win MVPs, you want to be in the playoffs every year,” the former LSU star said.

“My goals at this point are just going out and playing as good as I can and continuing to improve, finding ways to continue to be great and continue to find self improvement.”

The Bengals (6-10) close out

the season at home against the Cleveland Browns (4-12). While the Bengals defense has struggled this season, Burrow also missed more than half of the season because of a toe injury that required surgery.

During the offseason, as Burrow works to get stronger, the front office will also need to strengthen the roster. Burrow said that he has a great line of communication with the front office and ownership.

“I think my job is to No. 1, play as well as I can. No. 2, continue to improve, and No. 3, be the conduit between coaching staff, front office and the locker room,” Burrow said.

“Relay feelings that players have, relay sentiments in the locker room because coaches and front office, they aren’t down there every day and they don’t understand a lot of the things that go on in the locker room. I think (as a) quarterback, your job is to relay some of those things.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GEORGE WALKER IV

Tennessee Titans interim coach Mike McCoy greets Saints linebacker Demario Davis after Sunday’s game in Nashville, Tenn. Davis, 36, said Thursday he will continue his career next season.

Saints LB Davis to return for his 15th NFL season

BY MATTHEW PARAS and LUKE JOHNSON Staff writers

Every year before the season begins, Demario Davis maps out a few goals to help inform his decision of whether he can keep playing.

So when the Saints linebacker hit 137 tackles this season, one better than his previous high with one game remaining, it was the latest indicator that returning for a 15th season would be an easy choice.

“I’m excited that this would probably be the earliest that I know I want to continue to play,” Davis said.

Davis said Thursday that he’s “looking forward to returning” for another year, even as his contract is up with the Saints after the season concludes. New Orleans closes the year at Atlanta on Sunday.

Davis, 36, said he’s treated the past six seasons as a one-year decision of whether to continue his career. Sometimes, he said, the choice was “very challenging” as he’d be worn down at the end of the season. This year was different.

“I feel like I’m accelerating through the finish line,” he said.

“It’s like, that’s a good feeling to have and to know you’re planning on doing it again.”

The feeling is partly why Davis didn’t treat New Orleans’ Dec. 21 win over the New York Jets as his potential final home game with the franchise, or feel sentimental toward the moment. He’s been that way since college, he said, when he didn’t go into his last year at Arkansas State as a “final season tour.”

There’s also the matter of his contract. Davis, who has a base salary of $6.5 million this season, will be a free agent if he and the

Saints don’t work out a new deal before March. His contract is set to void and leave nearly $14.3 million in dead money next season if a new deal isn’t reached.

But Davis didn’t sound worried.

“We’re in a game where contracts do matter, but that’s such a small part of your career,” he said.

“That happens in a little small window in the offseason, once every other year or every couple years.

And when that time gets here — man, in 14 years, that’s always worked itself out. It has always worked itself out.

“I’ve never had to really negotiate a contract. They’ve always negotiated themselves. So when that time gets here, that’s very low on my concern meter right now. I’m focused on finishing the season strong.”

Banged-up Saints The first day of the new year started with unfortunate Saints injury news, and it didn’t get much better as the day progressed.

Star wide receiver Chris Olave was diagnosed with a blood clot in his lung Thursday, and will not play in the season finale against the Falcons.

When practice began later that afternoon, he was one of nine players not present during the open media viewing period.

That list also included running back Alvin Kamara, who has not practiced since he injured his knee in the first matchup against the Falcons on Nov. 23.

Other players not practicing Thursday were receiver Mason Tipton (knee), cornerback Michael Davis (shoulder), tight ends Zaire MitchellPaden (knee) and Jack Stoll (knee), and defensive linemen Bryan Bresee

(knee), Nathan Shepherd (knee/ankle) and Davon Godchaux (NIR-rest).

Starting guards Cesar Ruiz (ankle) and Dillon Radunz (knee) were upgraded with Ruiz being listed as a full participant after missing the past two games with his injury.

Davis (calf) was a limited participant, and quarterback Tyler Shough (hip) was a full participant for the second straight day.

One and done?

After turning around the Saints defensive fortunes in his first season as defensive coordinator, Brandon Staley could be a name to watch in this year’s head coach hiring cycle.

The New York Giants and Tennessee Titans have already fired their head coaches, and other jobs will come open Monday after the end of the regular season.

“It’s definitely a dream of mine (to be a head coach), it always has been,” Staley said. “With that said, I think I’m living the dream right now. Being the Saints’ defensive coordinator is one of the top jobs in the NFL. I’m very lucky to be here and I love this franchise.”

Staley had some success in his first stint as a head coach, leading the Los Angeles Chargers to a 1915 record in his first two seasons with a playoff berth.

Los Angeles fired him after he got off to a 5-9 record in his third season.

The Saints offered him his first coordinator job since his firing, and Staley has orchestrated a resurgent season. Heading into Week 18, New Orleans ranks ninth in total defense and 16th in scoring defense — an improvement over a 2024 team that ranked 30th and 19th in those categories.

SAINTS

Continued from page 1C

never get it back, you never get to change it,” Moore said. “I know the (play) he’s talking about. He tried to pull the ball on first down.

It happened. The next play, he threw a touchdown. So I would say he handled it pretty well.”

Leadership is one of those topics that came up early in Shough’s starting tenure. While he’s older than usual rookies, he was still a first-year player stepping into an important role on a team that already had a number of veteran leadership voices in the locker room.

His comments then were the same they are now: The most important thing Shough can be, in his opinion, is himself.

“You can’t be fake; everyone is going to see through that, especially grown men.” Shough said. “ ... You’ve got to be real with everybody. That takes time. I’ve been able to slowly, step by step, earn the respect of the guys I’ve been working with. “... Kellen does a really good job of allowing this team to be playerled. He’ll say his two cents after a game or practice and allow somebody else to break it down or have something to say. That’s really cool, because we’re the guys on the field, we’re driving it.”

It helps that Shough has been nails on the field.

Since he took over as the starter in Week 9, Shough ranks among the NFL’s top eight passers in rating (97.2, 8th) yards per game (249.2, 7th), completion percentage (69.2%, 3rd), and interception rate (1.5%, 8th).

He’s been exceptional during the Saints’ four-game win streak — especially late in games.

Shough has compiled a 115.2 passer rating in the fourth quarters of the last four games, and his 413 fourth-quarter passing yards rank second in the NFL during that span. Three of those four wins came with Shough leading a go-ahead drive in the final quarter.

Following the latest fourth-quarter comeback against the Titans last week, during which Shough completed five of his seven passes for 164 yards and a touchdown (rating: 153.3) in a 14-point fourth quarter, offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga said, “We have belief.”

“Tyler right now is playing with so much confidence,” Fuaga said.

“I don’t see him being fazed at all in any moment of that game. He’s just like, ‘We’ve just got to pick it up. We’re fine. We’re good.’ A confident quarterback like that — he’s giving us confidence out there. Everybody’s buying in right now.”

And the NFL Films segment showed that. In the clip disseminated after the game, Shough is shown speaking with receiver Chris Olave about the amount of man coverage Tennessee was playing, and that he wants Olave to “run by him” the next time they saw it. The next clip features Shough firing a touchdown to Olave against man coverage.

That is an example of what Shough describes as his “thermostat leader” style.

“I want to control the temperature and the feel of the offense,” Shough said. “I don’t want to just go with the flow of it; I want to make sure we’re operating at a level or we’re kind of chunking along. A lot of times, a lull or silences are not a great thing. We’ve got to make sure we’re constantly communicating, good and bad.”

Then, after Shough’s go-ahead touchdown to Kevin Austin in the fourth quarter, the NFL Films cameras caught fellow rookie Torricelli Simpkins saying “keep lighting they a** up” to Shough.

Being himself may be the key to Shough’s leadership abilities, but he knows it’s built on more than that.

He’s been around the block. He backed up Justin Herbert at Oregon, the first of three college stops.

He arrived in New Orleans and had to wait for his turn behind the scenes. He can pull from all of that to help inform his leadership style.

But the biggest thing he’s learned, he said, is this: “Whenever you have success on the field, there’s a natural element of earned respect.”

4C ■ Friday, January 2, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

lll

Imai signs 3-year contract with Astros

BY RONALD BLUM AP baseball writer

Right-hander Tatsuya Imai and the Houston Astros have agreed to a $54 million, three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not been announced.

Imai gets a $2 million signing bonus and salaries of $16 million this year and $18 million in each of the final two seasons. He can earn an additional $3 million in performance bonuses this year: $1 million each for 80, 90 and 100 FILE PHOTO By KyODO NEWS innings.

Tatsuya Imai, a right-handed pitcher from Japan, went 10-5 with a 1.92 His 2027 and 2028 salaries would ERA last season with the Pacific League’s Seibu Lions. escalate by the amount of perfor-

mance bonuses earned in 2026, which could raise the deal’s value to $63 million over three years.

Imai can opt out after the 2026 and 2027 seasons.

Under the posting agreement between Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball, a deal must be finalized by 4 p.m. Friday.

Imai receives the third-highest average annual value for a Japanese pitcher entering Major League Baseball behind Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s $27.08 million with the Los Angeles Dodgers in a deal that started in 2024 and Masahiro Tanaka’s $22.14 million with the New York Yankees in a contract that ran from 2014-20.

A 27-year-old righty, Imai went 10-5 with a 1.92 ERA last year with the Pacific League’s Seibu

Lions. He struck out 178 batters in 1632⁄3 innings.

Imai is 58-45 with a 3.15 ERA in eight seasons with Seibu, with 907 strikeouts in 963 2/3 innings.

He is a three-time All-Star.

Imai pitched eight innings of a combined no-hitter against Fukuoka on April 18. He struck out 17 against Yokohama on June 17, breaking Daisuke Matsuzaka’s previous team record of 16 from 2004.

Under MLB’s posting agreement with NPB, Seibu will get a posting fee of $9,975,000 from the Astros and a supplemental fee of 15% of any earned bonuses, salary escalators and exercised options.

Imai joins a rotation projected to include Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier and Lance McCullers Jr.

SCOREBOARD Odds

Georgia Southern 29, Appalachian State 10

Saturday

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG at TAMPA BAY 3 3 (43½) Carolina Seattle 4½ 1½ (47½) at SAN FRAN

Sunday

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG at MINNESOTA 1½ 7½ (35½) Green Bay at CINCINNATI 8½ 7½ (44½) Cleveland at HOUSTON 4½ 10½ (39) Indianap. at JACKSONVILLE 4½ 13½ (47½) Tennessee at ATLANTA 5½ 3½ (44½) N. Orleans Dallas 1½ 3½ (51)at NY GIANT. at LA RAMS 4½ 7½ (46½) Arizona at NEW ENGLAND 2½ 10½ (45½) Miami at BUFFALO 9½ 6½ (38½) NY Jets Kansas City 6 5½ (36½) at L. VEGAS at DENVER 2½ 12½ (37½) LA Char. at PHILADELPHIA 4½ 4 (39) Wash. at CHICAGO 1½ 3 (50½) Detroit Baltimore 3 3½ (40½) at PITT

College Football Friday

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG Armed Forces Bowl Texas State 6½ 15½ (57½) Rice Liberty Bowl Navy 6½ 7½ (54½) Cincinnati Duke’s Mayo Bowl Mississippi St. 2½ 3 (53½) Wake Forest Holiday Bowl Arizona 1½ 2½ (52½) SMU Duke’s Mayo Bowl Miss. St. 2½ 3 (53½) Wake Forest

NBA

Friday

FAVORITE LINE at WASHINGTON OFF San Antonio 5½ at NEW YORK 6½ at CLEVELAND 13 Orlando 4½ Portland 1 at MILWAUKEE OFF at PHOENIX 11 at GOLDEN STATE OFF at LA LAKERS OFF

O/U UNDERDOG (OFF) Brooklyn (241½) at INDIANA (245½) Atlanta (235½) Denver (237) at CHICAGO (242½) at NO (OFF) Charlotte (228½) Sacramento (OFF) Oklahoma City (OFF) Memphis

COLLEGE BASKETBALL Friday

FAVORITE LINE UNDERDOG New Mexico State 1½ at FLORIDA INT. at MERRIMACK 4½ Mount St. Mary’s Fairfield 4½ at CANISIUS Sacred Heart 4½ at NIAGARA at WESTERN KENTUCKY 4½ Sam Houston at IONA 1½ Siena at MICHIGAN 22½ USC Robert Morris 2½ at DET. MERCY Quinnipiac 6½ at MANHATTAN at MCNEESE 15½ Lamar Jacksonville State 1½ at DELAWARE at LIBERTY 8½ Kennesaw State Marist 3½ at SAINT PETER’S at MIDDLE TENNESSEE 5½ Louisiana Tech Oregon 2½ at MARYLAND Louisville 8½ at STANFORD Ohio State 9½ at RUTGERS at MISSOURI STATE 2½ UTEP at NEBRASKA 1½ Michigan State at IOWA STATE 16½ West Virginia at GONZAGA 23½ Seattle U at WASH. STATE 1½ Loyola Mary. at SAN FRANCISCO 11½ San Diego at SANTA CLARA 19½ Pepperdine at SAINT MARY’S (CA) 22½ Portland at PACIFIC 4½ Oregon State at CAL 3½ Notre Dame

NHL

FAVORITE Vegas at FLORIDA Minnesota at VANCOUVER

LINE UNDERDOG -151 at ST. LOUIS -144 N.Y Rangers -128 at ANAHEIM -193 Seattle

LINE +126 +121 +107 +160

College football

Independence Bowl Louisiana Tech 23, Coastal Carolina 14 Music City Bowl Illinois 30, Tennessee 28 Alamo Bowl TCU 30, No. 16 Southern Cal 27, OT

Wednesday

ReliaQuest Bowl No. 23 Iowa 34, No. 13 Vanderbilt 27 Sun Bowl Duke 42, Arizona St. 39 Citrus Bowl No. 14 Texas 41, No. 18 Michigan 27 Las Vegas Bowl No. 15 Utah 44, Nebraska 22

College Football Playoff

Dec. 29

Birmingham Bowl

W L 13 3 11 5 7 9 3 13

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .813 .688 .438 .188

PF PA 452 310 446 357 337 386 292 468

W L 12 4 11 5 8 8 3 13

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .750 .688 .500 .188

PF PA 433 329 366 265 436 374 277 437

W L 9 7 8 8 6 10 4 12

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .563 .500 .375 .250

PF PA 371 363 400 372 396 472 259 361

W L 13 3 11 5 6 10 2 14

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .813 .688 .375 .125

PF PA 382 308 365 321 350 314 227 420

W L 11 5 7 8 4 12 3 13

T 0 1 0 0

Pct .688 .469 .250 .188

PF PA 362 301 454 477 332 434 347 422

W L 8 8 7 9 7 9 6 10

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .500 .438 .438 .375

PF PA 297 364 364 397 334 384 289 364

UL-Monroe 61, South Alabama 44 Southern 70, Prairie View 55 Troy 80, UL 54 Texas Southern 61, Grambling 58 Kentucky 80, LSU 78 Sam Houston at Louisiana Tech, 6:30 p.m.

Saturday’s games

Arkansas State at UL-Monroe, noon Lamar at McNeese, 1 p.m.

Northwestern State at Nicholls, 1 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin at Southeastern, 1 p.m.

Nicholls at Northwestern State, 1 p.m.

Prairie View at Grambling, 2 p.m.

Tulane at Wichita State, 2 p.m.

Texas Southern at Southern, 2 p.m.

East Texas A&M at UNO, 2 p.m.

South Alabama at UL, 3 p.m.

Southern Miss at UL, noon Texas State at UL-Monroe, 2:30 p.m.

LSU at Texas A&M, 3 p.m.

East Texas A&M at Nicholls, 3 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin at Southeastern, 3:30 p.m.

UNO at Northwestern State, 3:30 p.m.

Prairie View A&M at Grambling, 4 p.m.

Texas Southern at Southern, 5 p.m.

Southern at Lamar, 6 p.m.

National scores

Thursday’s games EAST

Dartmouth 107, Elms 43

SOUTH

Georgia Southern 82, Coastal Carolina 81, OT Lipscomb 76, Jacksonville 57 Northern Kentucky 81, IU Indianapolis 72 Samford 78, VMI 58 Southern Miss 87, Louisiana-Monroe 73 Stetson 70, North Alabama 67 Tennessee-Martin 67, Western Illinois 60 UNC Greensboro 77, Chattanooga 72

MIDWEST

Green Bay 72, Purdue Fort Wayne 54 Illinois State 73, Evansville 47 Lindenwood 77, Morehead State 64 North Dakota 72, Oral Roberts 61 Oakland 85, Youngstown State 83 SIU-Edwardsville 59, Southern Indiana 55 South Dakota State 84, Omaha 69 Southern Illinois 75, Valparaiso 70 Wright State 76, Milwaukee 70

Central Arkansas 65, Stetson 43 Duke 100, Boston College 49 Florida Gulf Coast 51, North Alabama 44 Georgia Tech 95, Notre Dame 90, OT James Madison 84, Georgia State 64 Lipscomb 67, North Florida 65 Louisiana-Monroe 61, South Alabama 44 Louisville 91, SMU 58 Marshall 87, Coastal Carolina 85, OT Mississippi Valley State 74, Alabama A&M 72, OT North Carolina 71, California 55 North Carolina State 74, Stanford 46 Old Dominion 87, Georgia Southern 84, 2OT Ole Miss 79, Georgia 62 South Carolina 83, Alabama 57 Southern University 70, Prairie View A&M 55 Tennessee 76, Florida 65 Tennessee-Martin 86, Western Illinois 78, 2OT Troy 80, Louisiana 54 UNC Greensboro 114, Carolina 35 Wofford 89, Southern Wesleyan 43

MIDWEST

SOUTHWEST

Little Rock 51, Tennessee Tech 44 Vanderbilt 88, Arkansas 71

FAR WEST

Abilene Christian 81, Utah Tech 51 Cal State Fullerton 62, UC Santa Barbara 61 California Baptist 85, UT Arlington 64 Denver 64, North Dakota 57 Oregon 87, Northwestern 54 UC Irvine 82, Cal State Bakersfield 63 UC San Diego 75, Cal Poly 54 Utah Valley 74, Tarleton State 49

FAR WEST

Portland State 95, Weber State 90, OT UC Davis 89, Cal State Northridge 80 UC Irvine 81, Cal State Bakersfield 77

Women’s state scores, schedule Wednesday’s games

Stephen F. Austin 76, Northwestern State 71

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Oklahoma City San Antonio Denver Houston L.A. Lakers Minnesota Phoenix Golden State Memphis Portland Utah Dallas L.A. Clippers Sacramento New Orleans

W 29 24 23 21 20 21 19 18 15 14 12 12 11 8 8

L 5 9 10 10 11 13 14 16 18 20 20 22 21 25 27

Pct GB .853 — .727 4½ .697 5½ .677 6½ .645 7½ .618 8 .576 9½ .529 11 .455 13½ .412 15 .375 16 .353 17 .344 17 .242 20½ .229 21½

Houston 120, Brooklyn 96 Miami 118, Detroit 112 Philadelphia at Dallas, n Boston at Sacramento, n Utah at L.A. Clippers, n

Friday’s games

Brooklyn at Washington, 6 p.m.

San Antonio at Indiana, 6 p.m.

Atlanta at New York, 6:30 p.m.

Denver at Cleveland, 6:30 p.m.

Charlotte at Milwaukee, 7 p.m.

Orlando at Chicago, 7 p.m.

Portland at New Orleans, 7 p.m.

Sacramento at Phoenix, 8 p.m.

Oklahoma City at Golden State, 9 p.m.

Memphis at L.A. Lakers, 9:30 p.m.

Late Wednesday

Chicago 134, New Orleans 118 NEW ORLEANS (118)

Bey 6-16 2-2 16, Williamson 12-19 7-9 31, Queen 4-7 1-2 9, Fears 2-8 0-0 5, Murphy III 6-15 0-0 15, Looney 1-5 0-0 2, Peavy 2-4 1-1 6, Missi 1-3 1-3 3, Hawkins 2-7 0-0 5, Poole 6-14 10-10 26. Totals 42-98 22-27 118.

CHICAGO (134)

Illinois 73, Maryland 70 Indiana State 88, Valparaiso 78 Iowa 86, Nebraska 76 Marquette 67, Xavier 54 Michigan State 80, Indiana 60 Morehead State 51, Lindenwood 50 South Dakota State 67, St. Thomas 49 Southern Indiana 70, SIU Edwardsville 55 West Virginia 79, Kansas 72

Okoro 8-10 6-8 24, Smith 5-11 3-3 14, Vucevic 7-13 1-2 17, Buzelis 8-17 1-4 19, T.Jones 7-7 5-6 20, Terry 0-3 0-0 0, Williams 4-8 2-2 12, Huerter 4-9 3-5 13, Carter 1-3 0-0 3, Dosunmu 3-11 4-4 12. Totals 47-92 25-34 134.

New Orleans 32 30 28 28 — 118 Chicago 36 31 30 37 — 134 3-Point Goals—New Orleans 12-38 (Poole 4-10, Murphy III 3-11, Bey 2-7, Fears 1-2, Peavy 1-2, Hawkins 1-4, Looney 0-1, Queen 0-1), Chicago 15-43 (Okoro 2-4, Williams 2-4, Huerter 2-5, Vucevic 2-5, Dosunmu 2-6, Buzelis 2-9, T.Jones 1-1, Carter 1-2, Smith 1-5, Terry 0-2). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—New Orleans 46 (Looney 10), Chicago 49 (Smith 14). Assists—New Orleans 25 (Murphy III 5), Chicago 33 (T.Jones 12). Total Fouls—New Orleans 24, Chicago 18. A—20,527 (20,917)

Transactions FOOTBALL

National Football League MIAMI DOLPHINS — Signed QB Cam Miller to the active roster.

NBA conference glance

Central Arkansas 85, Florida Gulf Coast 83 Texas-Arlington 63, California Baptist 51

.457 9½ .412 11 .333 13½ .323 13½ .250 16 .176 19

Thursday’s games

Pro basketball

SOUTHWEST

19 20 22 21 24 28

Golden State 132, Charlotte 125 Atlanta 126, Minnesota 102 Orlando 112, Indiana 110 Cleveland 129, Phoenix 113 Chicago 134, New Orleans 118 San Antonio 134, New York 132 Denver 106, Toronto 103 Oklahoma City 124, Portland 95 Washington 114, Milwaukee 113

SOUTH

Saturday’s games

16 14 11 10 8 6

Wednesday’s games

Bryant 45, New Hampshire 31 Fairfield 72, Canisius 43 Maine 73, UMass Lowell 65 Manhattan 60, Saint Peter’s 45 Merrimack 72, Rider 54 Quinnipiac 80, Iona 54 Sacred Heart 84, Niagara 53 Siena 69, Mount St Marys 59 St. John’s 75, DePaul 58 Vermont 72, Albany 56 Villanova 74, Creighton 64 Wake Forest 74, Pittsburgh 55 Wisconsin 70, Rutgers 63

Lamar at McNeese, 6 p.m.

Louisiana Tech at Middle Tennessee, 6:30 p.m.

Atlanta Milwaukee Charlotte Brooklyn Washington Indiana

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Friday’s game

National scores

Friday’s games

AFC

Nicholls State 66, UTRGV 56

Thursday’s games

EAST

Southern Miss 87, UL-Monroe 73

NFL glance

Carolina Tampa Bay e-Atlanta e-New Orleans

Bowl glance

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.

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.

Thursday’s game

Pro football

y-Philadelphia e-Dallas e-Washington e-N.Y. Giants South

PF PA 470 289 434 358 481 326 335 451

Tulane 79, East Carolina 70 South Alabama 63, UL 58 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 83, UNO 69 Stephen F. Austin 74, Northwestern State 64 Nicholls 71, Texas-Rio Grande Valley 69

Monday Frisco, Texas Illinois State (12-4) vs. Montana State (13-2), 6:30 p.m., ABC

East

Pct .813 .750 .688 .188

Wednesday’s games

Final

NFC

W L T x-Seattle 13 3 0 x-San Francisco 12 4 0 x-L.A. Rams 11 5 0 e-Arizona 3 13 0 e-Eliminated from playoffs x-clinched playoff spot y-clinched division

Men’s state scores, schedule

Montana State 48, Montana 23 Illinois State 30, Villanova 14

y-Denver x-L.A. Chargers e-Kansas City e-Las Vegas

PF PA 425 396 388 344 328 330 462 397

College basketball

FCS glance Semifinals

Pittsburgh Baltimore e-Cincinnati e-Cleveland West

Pct .688 .594 .500 .500

Sunday’s games

Quarterfinals Wednesday At Cotton Bowl, Arlington, Texas No. 10 Miami 24, No. 3 Ohio St. 14 Thursday At Orange Bowl, Miami Gardens, Fla. No. 5 Oregon 23, No. 4 Texas Tech 0 At Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Calif.

No. 1 Indiana 38, No. 11 Alabama 3 At Sugar Bowl, New Orleans No. 6 Ole Miss at No. 2 Georgia, n

x-Jacksonville x-Houston e-Indianapolis e-Tennessee North

L 5 6 8 8

Carolina at Tampa Bay, 3:30 p.m.

Seattle at San Francisco, 7 p.m.

Armed Forces Bowl Texas State vs. Rice, noon (ESPN) Liberty Bowl No. 22 Navy vs. Cincinnati, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN) Duke’s Mayo Bowl Mississippi St. vs. Wake Forest, 7 p.m.

(ESPN) Holiday Bowl No. 21 Arizona vs. SMU, 7 p.m. (FOX)

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

W 11 9 8 8

Saturday’s games

Friday

East

T 0 1 0 0

y-Chicago x-Green Bay e-Minnesota e-Detroit West

Dec. 30

NFL

Friday

North

HOCKEY

GB — 1½ 4 5½ 6 6 6½ 6½ 8½

National Hockey League COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS — Placed F Miles Wood on injured reserve.

EDMONTON OILERS — Assigned F Max Jones to Bakersfield (AHL).

NEW YORK RANGERS — Recalled Fs Brett Berard, Justin Dowling and Anton Blidh from Hartford (AHL). Placed F Conor Sheary on long-term injured reserve. Assigned F Brennan Othmann to Hartford.

Also Ran: Starmetal, Ogilvy (IRE), Moral Man, Strong, Chasing Gray, Leonardo, Mountain Grandeur.

Race Time: 1:36.40 Daily Double (3-1) $73.10; Exacta (1-3) $18.50; Superfecta (1-3-5-10) $128.81; Trifecta (1-3-5) $45.15; Pic 3 (7-3-1) $85.95

Time, Sight, Pharoah’s Dynasty, I’m Wide Awake.

Late Scratches: One True Gentleman, Silver Halo Race Time: 1:02.87 Daily Double (5-11) $37.40; Exacta (11-4) $27.30; Superfecta (11-4-1-5) $187.95; Trifecta (11-4-1) $141.30; Pic 3 (1-5-11) $60.90

Detroit New York Boston Toronto Orlando Miami Philadelphia Cleveland Chicago

W 25 23 20 20 19 19 17 19 16

L 9 10 12 15 15 15 14 16 17

Pct .735 .697 .625 .571 .559 .559 .548 .543 .485

THURSDAY’S FAIR GROUNDS RESULTS POST TIME: 12:45 p.m.

5-7) $9.70; Trifecta (3-6-5) $13.35

Track Condition: fast

First Race — Purse $14,000, Claiming $5,000, 3 yo’s & up, One Mile Seventy Yards

3-Dixie Doctor (Rea H.) $10.00 $4.60 $3.40 1-No Rematch (Loveberry J.) $3.60 $2.40 2-Oliverio (Lopez P.) $3.00 Also Ran: Peyton’s Day, Dan d’Oro, Tsuperman.

Race Time: 1:44.91 Exacta (3-1) $17.30; Superfecta (3-1-2-6) $16.68; Trifecta (3-1-2) $21.85

Second Race — Purse $19,000, Maiden Claiming $20,000-$15,000, 3 yo, Six Furlongs

3-Pr. Celine (Pedroza, Jr. M.) $3.60 $2.60 $2.10 6-Honor and Obay (Loveberry J.) $5.60 $3.40 5-Veronicaforthewin (Lopez P.) $3.00 Also Ran: Lyla’s Golden Gal, Geaux Geaux Tiger.

Late Scratches: Mya Papaya, Pam’s Friend Race Time: 1:13.16 Daily Double (3-1) $5.20; Daily Double (3-3) $13.10; Exacta (3-6) $11.40; Superfecta (3-6-

Third Race — Purse $15,000, Claiming $5,000, 4 yo’s & up, Six Furlongs

7-Gold Plus (Lopez P.) $3.80 $3.00 $2.80 6-Zoom Erin (Riquelme J.) $6.00 $4.00 2-In Your Life (Hernandez H.) $5.40 Also Ran: Ruby the Destroyer, Simona’s Choice, Emilyhasherturn, Dixie Morning, Huntleigh, Shorty Mac. Race Time: 1:12.22 Daily Double (3-7) $4.10; Exacta (7-6) $10.20; Superfecta (7-6-2-5) $155.26; Trifecta (7-6-2) $37.45; Pic 3 (3-3-7) $17.50; (3-1-7) $8.20 Claimed: Zoom Erin ($5,000.00, Owner: M and M Racing (Mike Sisk), Trainer: Jonathan Wong)

Fourth Race — Purse $19,000, SOC $10,000-$5,000, 4 yo’s & up, One And One Sixteenth Miles

7-Boitano (Concepcion A.) $4.00 $2.60 $2.40 1-Red Road (Curtis B.) $7.80 $4.80 2-Brit’s Wit (Ortiz J.) $3.20 Also Ran: All in Sync, Prowling Tiger, Z Z’s Prince, Ben Dreaming, Parrot Head, Fortuity, Big Scully.

Late Scratches: Skip the Line, Notion, Publius, Sendero Race Time: 1:43.12 Daily Double (7-7) $4.70; Exacta (7-1) $15.60; Superfecta (7-1-2-12) $64.61; Trifecta (7-1-2) $29.40; Pic 3 (3-7-7) $3.60

Fifth Race — Purse $54,000, Maiden special weight, 4 yo’s & up, One Mile

3-Cajun Movie. (Chavez O.) $27.80 $6.60 $5.00 6-Vineaux (Ortiz J.) $2.60 $2.40 2-Ayden’s Edge (Hernandez C.) $11.40 Also Ran: Top Notch Protocol, Such a Pickle, Who Is Chief, Rescue Squad, Lightning Twirl.

Race Time: 1:40.70 Daily Double (7-3) $30.80; Exacta (3-6) $35.70; Superfecta (3-6-2-1) $80.27; Trifecta (3-6-2) $146.85; Pic 3 (7-7-3) $39.45; Pic 4 (1/3/47-7/9/11/13/14-3) $66.45; Pic 5 (3-1/3/4-77/9/11/13/14-3) $426.30

Sixth Race — Purse $30,000, Maiden optional claiming $50,000, 3 yo, One Mile

1-High Go (Curtis B.) $7.60 $4.60 $3.60 3-Fast Connection (Castillo I.) $5.20 $3.80 5-Shakin My Head (Concepcion A.) $4.40

Seventh Race — Purse $55,000, Allowance, 4 yo’s & up, Six Furlongs

5-Hay Evabody (Curtis B.) $5.60 $3.20 $2.20 4-Trust Fund Philly (Ortiz J.) $3.20 $2.20 2-Sweet Darlin (Castillo I.) $2.10 Also Ran: Terra Bella, Arijana’s Pearl, Miss Maximus, Shan’s Quest.

Race Time: 1:10.37 Daily Double (1-5) $13.70; Exacta (5-4) $8.10; Superfecta (5-4-2-6) $3.92; Trifecta (5-4-2) $6.15; Pic 3 (3-1-5) $116.55

Eighth Race — Purse $55,000, Allowance, 4 yo’s & up, Five And A Half Furlongs

11-Unbeatable (Ped., Jr. M.) $17.20 $7.80 $5.40 4-Vesture (Concepcion A.) $3.40 $2.60 1-Mega Magic (Graham J.) $6.60 Also Ran: Sassi D, Hit That Review (IRE), This

Ninth Race — Purse $14,000, Claiming $5,000, 4 yo’s & up, Six Furlongs

4-G. Hermoso (Loveb. J.) $17.00 $9.20 $6.60 1-Shawn’s Solving (Murray E.) $12.80 $7.00 2-Crigler (Pedroza, Jr. M.) $5.80 Also Ran: Tap the Tequila, Stone Alliance, Colt’s Brim, Baby’s Last Dance, Saberman, Josan.

Race Time: 1:13.18 Daily Double (11-4) $87.20; Exacta (4-1) $99.60; Superfecta (4-1-2-7) $338.16; Trifecta (4-1-2) $320.70; Pic 3 (5-11-4) $167.85; Pic 4 (1-5-11-4) $571.35; Pic 5 (3-1-5-11-4) $10,089.30; Pic 6 (7/9/11/13/14-3-1-5-11-4) $16,232.96 Attendance: Handle: $0

FRIDAY’S FAIR GROUNDS ENTRIES POST TIME: 12:45 p.m.

First Race, $19,000, Maiden Claiming $20,000, 4 yo’s & up Six Furlongs 01 Custom Ride (M Pedroza, Jr.) 02 One Grand Slam (C Hernandez) 03 Bandido Deal (C McMahon) (D Magnon) 04 Romeo Spikes 05 Closing Agent (P Lopez) 06 Blesseduponastar (B Curtis)

5-1 9-2 9-5 5-2 8-1 9-2

Second Race, $15,000, Claiming $5,000, 4 yo’s & up Six Furlongs 01 Bourbon Boss 02 Oncoming Train 03 Twirling Roses 04 Boss’ Dialin In 05 Flipping Fish 06 Whiskey and Easy

(P Lopez) 3-1 (H Rea) 8-1 (M Murrill) 6-1 (E Nieves) 5-2 (C McMahon) 7-2 (J Riquelme) 10-1

07 Honor That Dude

(J Mudd)

8-1

(B Curtis) (M Pedroza, Jr.) (B Hernandez, Jr.) (J Rodriguez) (A Concepcion) (C McMahon) (J Ortiz121 (J Loveberry121

3-1 12-1 7-2 6-1 8-1 10-1 4-1 6-1

Third Race, $28,000, Claiming $30,000, 4 yo’s & up One And One Sixteenth Miles

01 Calibrate 02 Tahoe Run 03 S. in Adriane 04 Mr McGregor 05 Manfredi 06 Masteroffoxh.

07 Curahee 08 Write Off Jerry

Fourth Race, $22,000, Claiming $15,000, 4 yo’s & up Six Furlongs 01 Swift as I Am 02 Peso in My Pocket 03 American City

(C McMahon) (M Murrill) (J Mudd)

12-1 12-1 4-1

04 Bigfoot Sighting 05 Gavel 06 Upturned Brim 07 Guanare

(J Ortiz) (J Loveberry) (M Pedroza, Jr.) (I Castillo)

5-1 7-2 7-2 5-2

Fifth Race, $22,000, Claiming $15,000, 4 yo’s & up One Mile

01 Golden Bandit (A Concepcion) 02 Even the Wind (M Pedroza, Jr.) 03 Publius (J Rodriguez) 04 Sendero (C McMahon) 05 Deccan Prince (IRE) (I Castillo) 06 Lamplighter Jack (H Hernandez) 07 Duke of Carthania (M Murrill) 08 Gorilla Trek (B Curtis) 09 Half Brother (F Geroux) 10 Bizzee Channel (J Loveberry) 11 I’m Your Man (B Hernandez, Jr.)

12-1 15-1 12-1 15-1 4-1 6-1 20-1 9-2 5-1 3-1 8-1

12 Great Escape

(H Hernandez)

6-1

01 Meroney (M Pedroza, Jr.) (M Murrill) 02 Munnings Catsle 03 Free Scrim (J Loveberry) 04 Yorktown Panther (B Curtis) 05 Hesper (J Ortiz) 06 The Wicked Cat (P Lopez) 07 Clearly Majestic (I Castillo) (D Magnon) 08 Achromedoutcat

8-1 6-1 9-5 4-1 9-2 6-1 12-1 12-1

01 Snare 02 Hitchcock 03 Joe’s Candy

5-1 7-2 3-1

Sixth Race, $55,000, Allowance, 4 yo’s & up Five And A Half Furlongs

Seventh Race, $54,000, Maiden special weight, 4 yo’s & up Five And A Half Furlongs (B Hernandez, Jr.) (J Ortiz) (M Pedroza, Jr.)

04 Ice Wolf 05 Sky Simon 06 Razorcat 07 First Samaritan 08 Urban Ruler 09 Prince Ben

(M Murrill) (J Edison) (P Lopez) (C Hernandez) (J Loveberry) (C McMahon)

9-2 20-1 8-1 20-1 6-1 15-1

Eighth Race, $15,000, Claiming $5,000, 4 yo’s & up, F & M (fillies and mares) One Mile Seventy Yards

01 Midnight Blaze (P Lopez) 02 Bette Davis (H Hernandez) 03 Strawberry Sundae (I Castillo) 04 Lily’s Creed (H Rea) 05 No Cost (E Murray) 06 Foreign Tourist (M Pedroza, Jr.) 07 Roll Gypsy Roll (S Vives)

4-1 4-5 6-1 12-1 15-1 15-1 6-1

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Friday, January 2, 2026 ■ 5C

lll

Indiana routs Alabama for More LSU players set to enter transfer portal its first Rose Bowl victory

BY WILSON ALEXANDER Staff writer

BY GREG BEACHAM AP sportswriter

PASADENA, Calif. — Fernando Mendoza threw three touchdown passes, Indiana’s defense thoroughly throttled Alabama, and the topseeded Hoosiers roared into the College Football Playoff semifinals with a 38-3 victory in the 112th Rose Bowl on Thursday.

Mendoza passed for 192 yards in his first game since winning his school’s first Heisman Trophy, but the hard-nosed Hoosiers (14-0, No. 1 CFP seed) won the Rose Bowl for the first time in school history by dominating the Crimson Tide (11-4, No. 9 CFP seed) at the line of scrimmage.

Indiana scored the game’s first 24 points before pouring it on with fourth-quarter rushing TDs from Kaelon Black and Roman Hemby, wrapping up a jubilant win in the 112th edition of the Granddaddy of Them All. Charlie Becker, Omar Cooper Jr. and Elijah Sarratt caught TD passes, while Black rushed for 99 yards. Indiana outgained Alabama 407-193, steadily delighting a decidedly pro-Indiana crowd that celebrated its long-struggling team’s first Rose Bowl game appearance since 1968 with chants of “Hoosier Daddy?” in the final minutes.

Indiana had not won any bowl game since the Copper Bowl in 1991, but history has been no match for Curt Cignetti and his dominant Hoosiers during the coach’s two transcendent seasons.

The Hoosiers are headed to the Peach Bowl on Jan. 9 for a CFP semifinal rematch with fifth-seeded Oregon, which routed Texas Tech 23-0 earlier Thursday in the Orange Bowl.Indiana beat the then-No. 3 Ducks 30-20 in Eugene last October in one of Cignetti’s most impressive Big Ten victories.

Indiana is two wins away from

LSU redshirt sophomore wide receiver Kyle Parker plans to enter the transfer portal, he said Thursday night, meaning the Tigers will almost completely rebuild the position heading into their first season under coach Lane Kiffin.

Parker emerged as part of the rotation this season with 31 catches for 330 yards and four touchdowns. He finished fifth on the team in catches and yards receiving, and he would have been LSU’s top returning wide receiver with three upperclassmen going to the NFL. Parker caught a career-high seven passes for 68 yards and a touchdown in the Texas Bowl.

A four-star recruit in the 2023 class from Texas, Parker began to get more playing time as a redshirt freshman last year until he suffered a season-ending torn tricep tendon. He could have up to three years of eligibility if he pursued a medical redshirt as a result of the injury.

LSU is expected to pursue multiple wide receivers in the transfer portal, which opens from Jan. 2-16. With Parker intending to transfer, it can bring back four scholarship receivers. Only one of them, redshirt junior Nic Anderson, had more than 10 catches

ASSPCOAyED PRESS PHOTO By KyUSUNG GONG

Indiana wide receiver Elijah Sarratt makes a touchdown catch past Alabama defensive back Dijon Lee during the second half of the Rose Bowl College Football Playoff quarterfinal game on Thursday in Pasadena, Calif. The Hoosiers won 38-3. the first national championship in school history after becoming the first team to advance following a first-round bye in the current 12team playoff format. The first six bye teams — including the first two this season — couldn’t come back strong from an extra-long layoff, but the Hoosiers took care of business while improving to 25-2 under Cignetti.

The Crimson Tide’s second season under Kalen DeBoer ended in the same venue as their final season under Nick Saban two years ago. Alabama was outclassed one week after an impressive road win over Oklahoma, managing just 151 yards before the meaningless final minutes of this blowout.

Ty Simpson passed for 67 yards before backup Austin Mack replaced him in the third quarter.

Mack immediately got the Tide rolling on a 65-yard drive leading to a short field goal, but the Hoosiers responded with two unstoppable TD drives.

Indiana dominated the famous Rose Bowl turf, which stayed

pristine despite nearly 24 hours of steady rain before kickoff. The storms dissipated while the Hoosiers took their first-half lead, and blue skies appeared in the second half.

After the first scoreless first quarter in a Rose Bowl in 26 years, Indiana’s second drive stretched 84 yards and 16 plays over nearly nine minutes before Nicolas Radicic’s 31-yard field goal on the first snap of the second quarter.

Indiana’s defense then stopped Alabama on fourth and 1 at the Tide 34, and Mendoza fired a long, high pass to the leaping Becker four plays later for a 21-yard touchdown.

Simpson fumbled in Indiana territory after a courageous firstdown scramble late in the first half, and the Hoosiers methodically drove for Mendoza’s 1-yard TD pass with 17 seconds left to Cooper, the hero of Indiana’s dramatic victory over Penn State.

After halftime, Mendoza led a steady 79-yard drive ending in his 24-yard TD pass to the leaping Sarratt.

AP sportswriter

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The first thing that Oregon quarterback Dante Moore did after winning the Orange Bowl was salute the thousands of fans who made the crosscountry trip to South Florida.

If the Ducks’ defense keeps playing like this, those fans might be back in Miami before long.

Matayo Uiagalelei caused a fumble to set up an Oregon touchdown, freshman Brandon Finney Jr. had three takeaways — two interceptions and a fumble recovery — and the fifth-seeded Ducks silenced No. 4 Texas Tech’s offense for a 23-0 win in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Orange Bowl on Thursday.

“They’ve earned this opportunity,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “I told them go get their pound of flesh today. They did that today.”

Jordon Davison rushed for two scores, Moore threw for 234 yards and Atticus Sappington kicked three field goals for Oregon (13-1), which will play No. 1 Indiana (14-0)

in the Peach Bowl — a CFP semifinal — on Jan. 9. It’s a rematch of a game from Oct. 11, when the Hoosiers beat Oregon 30-20.

The Oregon-Indiana winner will be in Miami Gardens for the national title game on Jan. 19.

“I believe we have the best defense in the country,” Finney said.

Texas Tech probably wouldn’t argue with that.

Texas Tech — which finished at 12-2 — came into the day second nationally in points per game (42.5) and fifth nationally in yards per game (480.3) but got absolutely nothing going. The Red Raiders turned the ball over four times, were stopped on fourth downs three other times and had four three-and-outs.

“Texas Tech fans, I’m sorry that we let you down,” coach Joey McGuire said. “I hope you’ve enjoyed every second of this year. Man, this was such a special team and I’m so proud of them. Hats off to Dan Lanning. Hats off to the Oregon Ducks. Just an incredible football team ... and I told Dan after the game I hope he wins the whole damn thing.”

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

LSU star Whit Weeks announced Thursday that he will return to the Tigers for his senior season.

Weeks, an All-SEC linebacker, could have declared for the NFL draft, but now he’ll serve as one of the foundational pieces of coach Lane Kiffin’s first LSU defense. He recorded 125 tackles as a sophomore, becoming one of the nation’s top linebackers, but he then suffered a broken ankle in the Tigers’ 2024 Texas Bowl win over Baylor, and injuries limited his effectiveness during his junior season.

“College is too much fun to leave,” Weeks wrote on social media, “and there is no better place in the country to be right now than Baton Rouge, Louisiana. All I want to do is ball in the purple and gold. See you in September.”

In 2025, Weeks, a native of Watkinsville, Georgia, registered only 31 total tackles in eight games. LSU lost three of the four contests he missed after he refractured his ankle in a loss to Ole Miss on Sept. 27.

Kiffin told LSU’s radio broadcast of the Texas Bowl on Saturday that bringing back Weeks was a “big priority.” He had already retained defensive coordinator Blake Baker and the bulk of his defensive staff, which gave the Tigers confidence they could keep key players on defense.

Weeks is one of those pieces.

So far, 17 LSU players have

Tech quarterback Behren Morton — who finished 18 of 32 passing for just 137 yards — was stripped

by Uiagalelei early in the third quarter in Red Raider territory.

Uiagalelei rumbled deep into the red zone and Davison scored one play later to make it 13-0.

Morton threw a red-zone interception early in the fourth quarter and a fourth-down stop from their own 30 midway through the fourth quarter doomed whatever comeback chances existed for the Red Raiders. Davison plunged in from the 1 with 16 seconds left to cap the scoring.

“We had a great game plan,” Morton said. “We just didn’t execute base plays.”

And once again, a CFP bye meant a team went bye-bye.

It was the sixth quarterfinal under this 12-team tournament format that started last year and the sixth time that the team coming off an extended break lost to a team that played a first-round game. That odd streak ended later Thursday, when Indiana — which had a first-round bye — rolled past Alabama 38-3 in another quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl.

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Safety Rogers heads to portal LSU redshirt freshman safety Joel Rogers plans to enter the transfer portal, a source told The Advocate on Thursday.

Rogers, who’s from St. Francisville, played in 14 games over the past two seasons, primarily on special teams and as a backup safety. Rogers has made four career tackles. He has three more years of eligibility.

Rogers is the third LSU safety set to enter the transfer portal when it opens Jan. 2-16, joining redshirt junior Austin Ausberry and junior Javien Toviano.

Dashawn Spears, a sophomore who might start next season, said he would enter the transfer portal Wednesday before changing his mind.

Coming out of West Feliciana High, Rogers was a four-star recruit ranked No. 260 overall in the 2024 class, according to the 247Sports composite rankings.

LSU LB Whit Weeks set to return for senior season

Oregon defense carries the day

BY TIM REYNOLDS

this season.

Parker is the third LSU receiver planning to enter the transfer portal, joining redshirt freshmen Kylan Billiot and Jelani Watkins.

LSU will also lose redshirt junior Aaron Anderson and seniors Zavion Thomas, Barion Brown and Chris Hilton.

LSU now has 20 players set to enter the transfer portal before it opens Friday.

decided to enter the NCAA transfer portal when it opens Friday. Only one of them — defensive tackle Ahmad Breaux — played significant snaps on defense in 2025. Sophomore safety Dashawn Spears entered his name into the portal on Thursday evening but changed his mind a few hours later. Now he’ll return to the Tigers in 2026 and compete for a starting job in the secondary.

Cornerbacks DJ Pickett and PJ Woodland can also return next season, as well as safety Tamarcus Cooley.

On Thursday, five-star freshman running back Harlem Berry agreed to return to LSU for his sophomore season.

Kiffin is expected to target quarterbacks, offensive linemen, wide receivers and defensive linemen in the transfer portal, which will be open through Jan. 16. As things stand, Michael Van Buren is the Tigers’ only scholarship quarterback. He said after the Texas Bowl that he still wants to return to LSU. After the regular season ended on Nov. 29, Weeks started training away from the team.

He attended Kiffin’s introductory news conference on Dec. 2, then watched LSU’s bowl loss to Houston from the sideline in sweats.

Weeks’ older brother, West, is out of eligibility, but his younger brother, Zach, can return to the Tigers for his sophomore season.

Kiffin’s brother, Chris, is LSU’s new linebackers coach and codefensive coordinator.

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6C ■ Friday, January 2, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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OLE MISS 39, GEORGIA 34

THREE AND OUT: ROD WALKER’S TOP TAKEAWAyS IN OLE MISS’ 39-34 SUGAR BOWL VICTORy OVER GEORGIA

1

KING TRINIDAD I’ve had a chance to watch some stellar college quarterback play in the Dome over the years. Joe Burrow.Trevor Lawrence.

Justin Fields. Michael Penix.Add Ole Miss electrifying QB Trinidad Chambliss (30-44-320-2 TDs) to the list.And a tip of the hat to Georgia’s tough-as-nails Gunner Stockton, too. Chambliss surely has LSU fans salivating at the possibility of him following Lane Kiffin to Baton Rouge. Chambliss will have to await the outcome of his request for a waiver for a sixth season of eligibility. But first things first, Chambliss has at least one more game to play when the Rebels face Miami in the semifinals at the Fiesta Bowl.

Assuming Chambliss gets another year, he’ll be a Heisman frontrunner wherever he decides to play.

2

SO SWEET The announced attendance at the Sugar Bowl was 68,371. It would have been one more if former Ole Miss/current LSU coach Lane Kiffin attended. He instead attended the LSU women’s basketball game in Baton Rouge.

Kiffin missed a classic. The 92nd edition of the Allstate Sugar Bowl delivered big time and will go down as one of the better games in the storied history. It was no doubt the best game in the quarterfinal round of this year’s College Football Playoff.

The other three quarterfinal matchups had nothing on this one. The Cotton Bowl, Rose Bowl and Orange Bowl were decided by an average of 22.6 points.This one came down to the final minute.

3

THE RUST FACTOR Maybe it’s best to stay away from one of those top-4 seeds in the College Football Playoffs. We’re two years into the 12-team playoff format and the teams that have had the long layoffs have usually lost. Georgia, which hadn’t played since the SEC championship game on Dec. 6, was the latest victim. Teams with the bye are now 1-7 over the past two seasons. Arizona State, Oregon, Boise State and Georgia all lost after a bye last season. This season, Ohio State, Texas Tech and Georgia (again) all lost. The only exception has been Indiana. The No. 1 Hoosiers thumped Alabama 38-3 earlier Thursday in the Rose Bowl.

Ole Miss’ Carneiro enters record books

NOTEBOOK Rebels kicker breaks field record of Jim Bacon’s 20-yard for Virginia goal mark twice scoop-and-score Tech in the Dec. 31, 1995,

BY ZACH EWING and ROD WALKER

Staff writers

The Sugar Bowl has been around for 92 years, so theoretically records should be hard to come by.

That wasn’t the case until Thursday night at the Caesars Superdome, where Ole Miss and Georgia each set a significant Sugar Bowl record in the first half — in one case two separate times.

Ole Miss kicker Lucas Carneiro set a game record that had lasted 54 years when he kicked a 55-yard fi eld goal in the first quarter. He later hit the game-winner from 47 yards out with nine seconds left in the Rebels’ 39-34 win.

Carneiro then broke his own Sugar Bowl record that lasted all of 15 minutes when he drilled a 56-yarder later on the Rebels’ next drive for a 6-0 Ole Miss lead.

The previous record belonged to Oklahoma’s John Carroll, who kicked a 53-yard field goal in the 1972 Sugar Bowl at Tulane Stadium.

Later in the first half, Georgia’s Daylen Everette scooped up a fumble by Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy and raced 47 yards for a Bulldogs touchdown. It was the eighth fumble return for a touchdown in Sugar Bowl history and by far the longest, more than doubling the previous

game.

Carneiro’s chance at a third 50-plus yard field goal was sabotaged by poor clock management at the end of the first half. Ole Miss tight end Dae’Quan Wright was tackled inbounds at the Georgia 35 with less than 10 seconds left, and the Rebels seemed unsure of whether to spike the ball (it was fourth down) or rush the field goal unit on.

Time expired before Carneiro had a chance.

A little more defense

Lagniappe

The announced attendance was 68,371, a sellout. … This was the first College Football Playoff quarterfinal game out of eight tries in which both teams led during regulation. … Thursday’s game was the first time since the 1963 season that two SEC teams played each other in the Sugar Bowl. In that one, No. 8 Alabama beat No. 7 Ole Miss 12-7. Despite being in the same conference, it was the first game between Alabama and Ole Miss since 1944. … During a secondquarter timeout, there was a tribute to two SEC executives who died in 2025. Roy Kramer, who served as SEC commissioner from 19902002, died in December. Mark ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By GERALD HERBERT Womack, a longtime executive Ole Miss’ Lucas Carneiro kicks a field goal against Georgia during the first half of the Sugar associate commissioner, Bowl on Thursday at the Caesars Superdome. died in October. … The referees for the Sugar Bowl were The four members of this Missouri halfback Johnny Ro- from the Big Ten Conferat the line of scrimmage on ence. The first penalty flag third and 10, the Ole Miss year’s class were: Notre land (1966).

It was a return to the of the night wasn’t thrown defense finally had its stop. Dame quarterback Tom CleAlas, Georgia’s Brett Thorson ments (1973), Ole Miss quar- Dome for Clements, who until the 11:39 mark of the hit a beautiful punt that was terback Bobby Franklin (1960), served as quarterbacks second quarter, a face-mask downed at the 2-yard line.

Alabama linebacker Barry coach for the Saints from infraction against Georgia’s Rasean Dinkins.

Georgia also success- Krauss (1978 and 1979), and 1997-1999. fully faked a punt in the third quarter, with littleused wide receiver Landon Roldan completing a 16-yard pass to Lawson Luckie after a reverse. The Philly Special-type play converted a fourth and 5 and led to a Bulldogs field goal.

When the Rebels and Bulldogs met in the regular season Oct. 18 in Athens, Georgia, they combined for 78 points, 55 first downs, 861 yards … and only two punts, both by Ole Miss in the fourth quarter.

The Sugar Bowl was quite a contrast. The teams combined for three punts by the end of the first quarter and five in the first half, including three forced by Ole Miss.

Rebels coach Pete Golding, who was the team’s defensive coordinator before replacing Lane Kiffin as head coach last month, had repeatedly referenced the fact his unit didn’t force a single punt in the first meeting.

He didn’t have to wait long for that to change in the re- Hall of Famers match. Georgia’s first drive The Sugar Bowl recogdid gain 29 yards and two nized its 2026 Hall of Fame first downs, but when Sunta- class during a pre-game rine Perkins batted down a pass ceremony.

SUGAR BOWL

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Continued from page 1C

a 43-35 loss to the SEC champion Bulldogs (12-2) on Oct. 18 in Athens, Georgia.

Ole Miss will face No. 10 Miami, which defeated No. 2 Ohio State 24-14 in a quarterfinal in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic on Wednesday night, in a semifinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl next Thursday in Glendale, Arizona.

The Rebels, who defeated No. 11 Tulane in the first round in Oxford, Mississippi, improved to 2-0 under Hammond native Pete Golding, who was promoted to head coach from defensive coordinator on Nov. 30 after Lane Kiffin left to become head coach at LSU. The comeback started in the third quarter. The Rebels converted a fourth-and-4 from the Bulldogs’ 44-yard line, and Chambliss connected with Wallace for a 36-yard gain. Two plays later, Lacy ran 7 yards for a touchdown that trimmed Georgia’s lead to 21-19 with 4:51 left in the third.

Ole Miss was poised to get the ball right back as the Bulldogs faced a fourth-and-5 at their 30, but on a fake punt Landon Roldan threw a 16-yard completion to Luckie Lawson. The drive continued until former Ascension Episcopal kicker Peyton Woodring kicked a 37-yard field goal that pushed the lead to 24-19 at the end of the third quarter.

Chambliss threw a 44-yard completion to Wallace, leading to a 5-yard touchdown run

by Lacy and a two-point conversion pass to Wallace to give Ole Miss a 27-24 lead with 11:29 left in the game.

The Rebels got the ball back when Suntarine Perkins sacked Gunner Stockton for a 10-yard loss on fourth-and-2 from the Bulldogs’ 33. Two plays later, Chambliss threw a 13-yard touchdown pass for a 34-24 lead with 9:02 remaining.

Stockton, who passed for 215 yards, threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Zachariah Branch to pull Georgia within 34-31 with 7:03 left. Georgia forced a punt and drove to the Rebels’ 3 before stalling, and Woodring tied the score with a 24-yard field goal with 56 seconds left.

On Ole Miss’ second possession of the game, Carneiro kicked a 55-yard field goal, the longest in Sugar Bowl history, to give Ole Miss a 3-0 lead. His record didn’t last

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Ole Miss Rebels head coach Pete Golding lifts the Sugar Bowl trophy after the Rebels beat the Georgia Bulldogs on Thursday.

long, because the Rebels’ next possession ended with him kicking a 56-yard field goal for a 6-0 lead that held up through the end of the first quarter.

Georgia committed to running right at Ole Miss on its next possession, and Nate Frazier had gains of 13, 6, 9 and 16 yards before Stockton ran 12 yards for a touchdown on the third play of the second quarter to give the Bulldogs a 7-6 lead.

Chambliss answered on the ensuing possession with a 39-yard completion to Stribling, leading to Chambliss’ 3-yard touchdown pass to Luke Hasz. A failed two-point conversion attempt left the Rebels with a 12-7 lead.

On the next possession, Stockton converted a third-and-5, a third-and-13 and a thirdand-12, the last coming on a 26-yard completion to Cash Jones. Stockton sneaked 1 yard for a touchdown on the next play, giving Georgia a 14-12 lead.

On the fourth play of the ensuing possession, Lacy fumbled when he was hit by Elijah Griffin and Georgia cornerback Daylen Everette picked up the ball and sprinted 47 yards for the longest fumble return for a touchdown in Sugar Bowl history, producing a 21-12 halftime lead.

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SHOWS TO WATCH — ACADIANA FRIDAY

LIVE MUSIC: Cane River Pecan Company Pie Bar, New Iberia, 5 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

KYLE & DAVE: Adopted Dog Brewing, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

FRIDAY NIGHT JAM: La Maison de Begnaud, Scott, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Naq’s-n-Duson, Duson, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Prejean’s, Broussard, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Jim Deggy’s Brick Oven Pizza & Brewery, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: The Barrel of Broussard, Broussard, 8 p.m.

SATURDAY

BRIARCLIFF ENTERTAINMENT/TNS PHOTO

Jonathan Majors portrays a bodybuilder who goes off the deep end in ‘Magazine Dreams.’

MOVIE

Continued from page 1D bed and truly tapping into something internal as UFC fighter Mark Kerr. Johnson loses the suave charm that has become his signature and shows vulnerability, and humanity, like never before.

Johnson has always been a star, but “The Smashing Machine” showed his potential as an actor.

H Jonathan Majors, ‘Magazine Dreams’ Back when “Magazine Dreams” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2023, Jonathan Majors’ role as a bodybuilder who goes off the deep end was being touted as his Oscar play. Then a lot of other things happened in Majors’ life, and this movie didn’t see the light of day until a micro release earlier this year, but the work is still scarily effective and deeply powerful, a reminder of his electrifying power on screen.

H Sally Hawkins, ‘Bring Her Back’ From “Paddington” to Mike Leigh’s “Happy-Go-Lucky,” Sally Hawkins is a beam of light, illuminating everything and everyone around her with her bright, effervescent charm. In the Philippou brothers’ dark, dastardly “Bring Her Back,” she weaponizes that charm, going full heel as an evil foster mother performing wicked deeds on her adopted children.

She’s the stuff of nightmares in the best possible way.

H Conner O’Malley, ‘Friendship’ Conner O’Malley has been an unhinged comedy presence since he stole scenes in the first season of Tim Robinson’s “I Think You Should Leave” — he was the “Honk if You’re Horny” guy — and in “Friendship,” he has a volatile onescene appearance where he takes what is already an unglued story and sends it even further. He’s a fantastic comedy disruptor.

H Elle Fanning, ‘Predator: Badlands’ One day I’ll stop talking about how much fun I had watching “Predator: Badlands,” but not today. And one of the reasons for that fun is Elle Fanning, who brings a wholly different energy to “Badlands” than this franchise has ever felt. As an android split at the waist, Fanning — who has a dual role in the film — brings a

sense of bubbliness to “Predator” which, it turns out, was exactly what this chapter needed.

H Danielle Deadwyler, ‘The Woman in the Yard’ and ‘40 Acres’ Danielle Deadwyler, robbed of an Oscar nomination for 2022’s “Till,” gave a pair of sterling performances in two 2025 films that flew under the radar. As a widowed mother with an, er, presence sitting outside her home, she elevates the psychological thriller “The Woman in the Yard,” and in the post-apocalyptic thriller “40 Acres,” she brings grit and determination to a genre exercise.

She’ll get that Oscar nomination soon.

H Vincent Cassel, ‘The Shrouds’ David Cronenberg’s latest was an icy, pitch-black exercise in grief, and Vincent Cassel perfectly played Karsh, the innovator behind a new technology that lets the living watch their deceased loved ones decompose live via cam. The French actor was also basically playing a standin for Cronenberg, and he nailed the filmmaker’s sense of isolated remove, like a visitor among us who’s not quite one of us.

H Julian McMahon, ‘The Surfer’ In Nicolas Cage’s latest psychological freakout, Julian McMahon played Scally, the creepily charismatic leader of a local surf clan who won’t let Cage’s unnamed character surf their waves.

“Don’t live hee, don’t surf hee,” Scally tells him, in his thick Aussie accent. The “Nip/Tuck” vet is magnetic in a role that would end up being one of his last, as he died over the summer after a bout with cancer at the age of 56.

H A$AP Rocky, ‘Highest 2 Lowest’ and ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You’ After going toe to toe with Denzel Washington in Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest” — the two exchanging bars in the crime thriller’s climactic rap battle scene is ridiculously entertaining — A$AP Rocky turns in a totally charming performance as the hotel neighbor of Rose Byrne’s spiraling mother in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.” The rapper’s got a new album due out in 2026, but the screen is where he’s shining brightest.

H Archie Madekwe, ‘Lurker’ It’s not easy playing a convincing pop star on screen — just ask John Malkovich, who’s baffling

performance as a supposedly charismatic pop megastar in “Opus” is just one of that film’s many problems — but Archie Madekwe’s turn as a rising L.A. pop singer in Alex Russell’s psychological thriller, and the way he wields his aura like a weapon, had viewers totally falling under his spell.

H Dylan O’Brien, ‘Twinless’ “Maze Runner” star Dylan O’Brien has been on a hot streak of late, with his turn as Dan Aykroyd in “Saturday Night” grounding him in grown-up fare, and he’s outstanding in a double role as two very different twin brothers in James Sweeney’s dark thriller “Twinless.” The subtleties of his performance pop as you watch him transition between the two parts, and he’s an actor who’s only getting better with age.

H Jason Momoa, ‘A Minecraft Movie’ Jason Momoa seems like he’d be a cool dude to hang out with, but his charisma never quite translated to the screen, and he always seemed like he was winking to the audience before having earned the right to do so. As washed-up child video game champion Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison in “A Minecraft Movie,” he finally married the cool dude with the winking persona, and he was delightful in the part.

H Jai Courtney, ‘Dangerous Animals’ Australian actor Jai Courtney had roles in the “Terminator” and “Die Hard” franchises — in “A Good Day to Die Hard,” he was John McClane’s son! — but he was always like fitting a square peg into a round hole. But he’s a blast as a psycho boat captain gone mad in this shark thriller, where he chews more scenery than a great white.

Turns out the guy just needed some room to go a little bit crazy.

H Pamela Anderson, ‘The Naked Gun’ Pamela Anderson has a softness and a sweetness to her that makes you want to root for her, and as Beth Davenport — aka Miss Cherry Roosevelt Fat Bozo Chowing Spaghetti — in Akiva Schaffer’s “Naked Gun” reboot, Anderson displays her comic chops as well as her willingness to try anything for a laugh. A scene where she scat-raps at a jazz club is one of the funniest bits in a movie packed with hilarious moments.

DON FONTENOT BAND: Fred’s, Mamou, 8 a.m.

CAJUN JAM: Moncus Park, Lafayette, 9 a.m.

SATURDAY MORNING JAM SESSIONS: Savoy Music Center, Eunice, 9 a.m.

CAJUN JAM: Tante Marie, Breaux Bridge, 11 a.m.

CAJUN FRENCH MUSIC JAM: Vermilionville, Lafayette, 1 p.m.

DRUM CIRCLE: NUNU Arts & Culture Collective, Arnaudville, 2:30 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Jim Deggy’s Brick Oven Pizza & Brewery, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Prejean’s, Broussard, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Tap Room, Youngsville, 6:30 p.m.

BAYOU BEATS: Pat’s Atchafalaya Club, Henderson, 7 p.m.

WAYNE TOUPS: Rock ’n’ Bowl, Lafayette, 9 p.m.

SUNDAY

GLENN ZERINGUE: Whiskey & Vine, Lafayette, 11 a.m.

LES FRERES MICHOT: Prejean’s, Carencro, 11 a.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Tante Marie, Breaux Bridge, 11 a.m.

JAMBALAYA ACOUSTIC MUSIC JAM: Tom’s Fiddle & Bow, Arnaudville, 12:30 p.m.

CAJUN JAM: Bayou Teche Brewing, Arnaudville, 2 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

JOHNNY NICHOLAS: Hideaway on Lee, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

PHOTO By ROBIN MAy

Grammy-winning Louisiana artist Wayne Toups will perform at Rock ‘n’ Bowl in Lafayette at 9 p.m.

Saturday.

BLUEGRASS JAM: Cité des Arts, Lafayette, 6:30 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

TUESDAY

KID’S CAJUN JAM NIGHT: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 6 p.m.

TERRY HUVAL & FRIENDS: Prejean’s Restaurant, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

WEDNESDAY

DULCIMER JAM: St. Landry Visitor Center, Opelousas, 10 a.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Park Bistro, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Tap Room, Youngsville, 6:30 p.m.

CAJUN JAM: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

LEIF MECHE: Tap Room, Youngsville, 8 p.m.

THURSDAY

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

JADA AND KEVIN: Tap Room, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

THE HAS BEANS: Hideaway on Lee, Lafayette, 8 p.m.

Compiled by Marchaund Jones. Want your venue’s music listed? Email info/photos to showstowatch@theadvocate. com. The deadline is noon MONDAY PATRICIO LATINO SOLO: Cafe Habana FRIDAY for the following City, Lafayette, 11 a.m.

Friday’s paper.

TODAY IN HISTORY

By The Associated Press Today is Friday, Jan. 2, the second day of 2026. There are 363 days left in the year.

Today in history: On Jan. 2, 2016, a heavily armed group led by brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, beginning a 41-day standoff to protest the imprisonment of two ranchers convicted of setting fires on public land and to demand the federal government turn over public lands to local control.

Also on this date: In 1890, President Benjamin Harrison appointed Alice Sanger as the first female White House staffer at a time of a growing movement for women’s rights.

In 1942, the Philippine capital of Manila was captured by Japanese forces during World War II. In 1959, the Soviet spacecraft Luna 1 launched, becoming the first spacecraft to escape Earth’s gravity.

In 1971, 66 people were killed in a crush of spectators leaving a soccer match at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow, Scotland.

In 1974, President Richard Nixon signed legislation requir-

ing states to limit highway speeds to 55 mph as a way of conserving gasoline during an OPEC oil embargo. (The 55 mph limit was effectively phased out in 1987; federal speed limits were abolished in 1995.)

In 1981, British serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, aka the “Yorkshire Ripper,” was captured after a series of killings bred fear across northwest England between 1975 and 1980. Subsequently convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the killings of 13 women, he died in 2020 at the age of 74.

In 2023, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest after making a tackle during the first quarter of an NFL game against the Cincinnati Bengals, requiring life-saving treatment on the field.

Today’s birthdays: Filmmaker Todd Haynes is 65. Baseball Hall of Famer Edgar Martínez is 63.

Actor-singer Tia Carrere is 59. Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. is 58. Model Christy Turlington is 57. Actor Taye Diggs is 55. Actor Renée Elise Goldsberry is 55. Actorcomedian Dax Shepard is 51. Actor Kate Bosworth is 43. Musician Trombone Shorty is 40. Singerrapper Bryson Tiller is 33.

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SHOWS TO WATCH — BATON ROUGE FRIDAY

KIRK HOLDER: Galvez Seafood, Prairieville, 6 p.m.

MIKE ESNEAULT: Stab’s Restaurant, 6 p.m.

DON POURCIAU & KONSPIRACY: Pedro’s-Siegen, 6 p.m.

MATT TORTORICH: 18 Steak at L’Auberge, 7 p.m.

HENRY TURNER JR. & ALLSTARS: Henry Turner Jr.’s Listening Room, 8 p.m.

WILL WESLEY: Riverbend Terrace II at L’Auberge, 8 p.m.

NEIL CRAIG: Backstreet Lounge, 8 p.m.

PHAT HAT: The Edge Bar at L’Auberge, 9 p.m.

LOUISIANA DOWN SOUTH: Locals Central, 9 p.m.

N’TUNE: The Showroom, 9 p.m.

SATURDAY

JOSIE MENARD & ALEX BLACK: Leola’s Café, 11 a.m.

LEE SERIO BAND: VFW Hall, Gonzales, 2 p.m.

KAITLYN WALLACE: On The Half Shell, Prairieville, 7 p.m.

RHETT GUILLOT: 18 Steak at L’Auberge, 7 p.m.

KATIE & JONNO CAJUN BAND: Ric Seeling Dance Studio, 7:30 p.m.

DENTON HATCHER: Riverbend Terrace II at L’Auberge, 8 p.m.

ACOUSTIC SATURDAYS W/ HENRY TURNER: Henry Turner Jr.’s Listening Room, 8 p.m.

VOYAGE: The Queen Baton Rouge, 9 p.m.

BRIAN & THE BANDITS: Moonlight Inn, French Settlement, 9 p.m.

SUNDAY

ERIC BASKIN: Watermark Hotel, 10 a.m.

ZACHARY MCLAIN: Leola’s Café, 11 a.m.

KIRK HOLDER: On The Half Shell, Prairieville, 11 a.m.

JUSTIN BURDETTE TRIO: Superior Grill MidCity, 11 a.m.

SONGWRITER SUNDAYS: La Divina Italian Cafe, 5 p.m.

LUCY YOES: Pizza Byronz,

PROVIDED PHOTO

PROVIDED PHOTO

Kendall Shaffer, above, and Jeffery Allen Imler will play Classic Vinyls at 7 p.m. Thursday.

5 p.m.

OPEN MIC JAM: Fat Cat Saloon, Prairieville, 7 p.m.

TUESDAY

EDDIE SMITH: On The Half Shell, Prairieville, 6:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY

CAM PYLE: Galvez Seafood, Prairieville, 5:30 p.m.

JOVIN WEBB: BLDG 5, 5:30 p.m.

LSU JAZZ BAND: Classic Vinyls, 6 p.m.

SONGWRITERS OPEN MIC: Le Chien Brewing Co., Denham Springs, 6:30 p.m.

KIRK HOLDER: Bin 77, 6:30 p.m.

SONGWRITERS OPEN MIC W/ HEATH RANSONNET: Coop’s on 621, Gonzales, 7 p.m.

ANDY PIZZO TRIO: Hayride Scandal, 7:30 p.m.

OPEN MIC JAM: O’Hara’s Irish Pub, 8 p.m.

CLASSIC

video leaves the Doors’ native SoCal and heads off Continued from page 1D around the world to draw upon musical contributions from more than 20 musiKrieger and Densmore, cians and dancers from the two surviving mem- eight different countries.

Performers include the bers of the Doors, are the backbone of the video, re- Lakota Drum Group, Lukas visiting the signature guitar and Micah Nelson, Sierra and drums parts more than Ferrell, Rami Jaffee, Boba half-century after they oulay Sissokho, Macarena were originally laid to wax. Montesinos, Guarani AndeFrom there, however, the va Group, Iron Cult Danc-

THURSDAY

KYBALION: El Paso-Sherwood, 6 p.m.

WALT WHITAKER: Backstreet Lounge, 6 p.m.

CHRIS ZONADA: La Divina Italian Cafe, 6 p.m.

KENDALL SHAFFER/JEFFERY ALLEN IMLER: Classic Vinyls, 7 p.m.

BEN BELL & THE STARDUST BOYS: The Brakes Bar, 7 p.m.

HENRY TURNER JR. & ALLSTARS: Henry Turner Jr.’s Listening Room, 8 p.m.

BLUES JAM: Phil Brady’s, 9 p.m.

Compiled by Marchaund Jones. Want your venue’s music listed? Email info/ photos to showstowatch@ theadvocate.com. The deadline is noon FRIDAY for the following Friday’s paper.

ers and Don Was. This global collaboration also highlights Morrison’s iconic original vocal work and Manzarek’s otherworldly keyboard performance (which is as moving and memorable as any keyboard part ever captured in a rock song).

To check out the video, after Jan. 9, search “Playing For Change” “Riders on the Storm” on YouTube.

Unprofessional service provider Dear Heloise: In response to Diane T. in Arizona, I had the opposite happen to me. I had been going to a hairdresser for many, many Hints from years. It was Heloise my hairdresser who started to not be on time.

My time is important to me. I booked appointments on my day off from work.

I am a morning person, but she did not open until 11 a.m., so I was making my appointments for 11 or 11:30. Several times over

the last year that I saw her, she was the one arriving late. She would call me to tell me where she was and why she was late. The reasons she gave did not sit well with me. Plus, she didn’t really apologize. So I have found someone else, who charges half the price.

— Susan L., in New Hampshire Susan, and that’s how it should be. If someone who performs a service does not act in a professional manner, you can always go somewhere else. Maybe it will eventually dawn on your former hairdresser that she is losing customers and a chunk of her

income. — Heloise

Tall people Dear Heloise: I saw Barb’s letter concerning “short people problems.” I’m the tall person she spoke of.

When I am shopping and I see a short person looking at an item on a higher shelf, I ask if I can help them. I say, “Can I help reach something, God gave me this gift so I have to use it!” As she stated, it brings a smile! Being kind brings joy to everyone. — Tall Girl in Iowa Send a hint to heloise@ heloise.com.

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Catch Harrison Ford in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ on the big screen again at the Manship Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Tickets are $5.

AROUND BATON ROUGE FRIDAY-SATURDAY

ICE HOCKEY: BATON ROUGE ZYDECO VS. ATHENS ROCK LOBSTERS: 7 p.m., Raising Cane’s River Center Arena, 275 S. River Road. $25 and up. raisingcanesrivercenter.com.

FRIDAY-SUNDAY

COCA-COLA CHRISTMAS: A MONTH OF MAGIC: Louisiana Art & Science Museum, 100 S. River Road. An immersive, family-friendly celebration featuring larger-than-life Coca-Cola box displays and joyful programming each Saturday. lasm.org.

SATURDAY

BATON ROUGE ARTS MARKET: 8 a.m.-noon, Fifth and Main streets, downtown. Vendors sell a variety of unique, original works of art including pottery, woodwork, textiles, glass, paintings, sculptures, photographs, handmade soaps, handmade toys, jewelry and more. artsbr.org.

RED STICK FARMERS MARKET: 8 a.m.-noon, Fifth and Main streets, downtown. Farmfresh produce, goods, cooking demonstrations. breada. org.

FAMILY-HOUR STARGAZING: 10 a.m., Irene W. Pennington Planetarium at the Louisiana Art & Science Museum, 100 S. River Road. Learn about the stars and constellations in the local nighttime sky, followed by an all-ages show. lasm.org.

“DOG MAN” (2025): 3 p.m., Manship Theatre, 100 Lafayette St. Children’s comedy/action film presented by Films at Manship. $5. manshiptheatre.org.

MONTHLY CONTRA DANCE: 3 p.m.-5:30 p.m., St. Alban’s Chapel, corner of Highland Road and Dalrymple Drive.

Newcomer instruction at 1:15 p.m. Singles and couples welcome. $7 per person; free for first-timers. Louisianacontrasandsquares.com or (225) 803-9194.

SUNDAY

FREE FIRST SUNDAY: Louisiana Art & Science Museum, 100 S. River Road; Old State Capitol, 100 North Blvd.; Old Governors’ Mansion, 502 North Blvd.; Magnolia Mound Museum + Historic Site, 2161 Nicholson Drive; LSU Museum of Art, 100 Lafayette St.; and Cary Saurage Community Arts Center, 233 St. Ferdinand St. and LSU Center for River Studies, 100 Terrace Ave. Free admission to all exhibits and installations, plus reducedprice entry to LASM’s Irene Pennington Planetarium

shows.

TUESDAY

BATON ROUGE CHESS CLUB: 6 p.m.-8 p.m., La Divina Italian Cafe, 3535 Perkins Road, Unit 360. A chance to play and learn; all levels welcome.

Free.

WEDNESDAY

“RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK”: 7:30 p.m., Manship Theatre, 100 Lafayette St. Adventure/ action film presented by Films at Manship. $5. manshiptheatre.org.

THURSDAY

RED STICK FARMERS MARKET: 8 a.m.-noon, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, 6400 Perkins Road. Farm-fresh produce, goods and more. facebook.com/redstickfarmersmarket.

WEEKLY SOCIAL BIKE RIDE: 7 p.m., Geaux Ride, 521 N. Third St., Suite A. Free. fareharbor.com.

ONGOING

ART GUILD OF LOUISIANA: Independence Park Theatre, 7800 Independence Blvd. “A Holiday Retrospective — AGL Member Show 2025,” through Jan. 8. (225) 773-8020 or artguildlouisiana.org.

BATON ROUGE GALLERY CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ART: 1515 Dalrymple Drive. “Surreal Salon 18,” with special guest juror SWOON,” Friday-Jan. 25. batonrougegallery.org.

CAPITOL PARK MUSEUM: 660 N. Fourth St. “Billy Cannon: They Called Him Legend,” through Jan. 10. “Grounds for Greatness: Louisiana and the Nation,” “The Louisiana Experience: Discovering the Soul of America,” “African American History,” “Music and Musicians” and “Mardi Gras,” permanent exhibits.

(225) 342-5428 or louisianastatemuseum.org.

CARY SAURAGE COMMUNITY ARTS CENTER SHELL GALLERY: 233 St. Ferdinand St. “Continuum” by David Bruner, through Jan. 10. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. artsbr.org.

ELIZABETHAN GALLERY: 680 Jefferson Highway. Group show. Call (225) 924-6437 or follow the gallery’s Facebook page.

THE GALLERY AT MANSHIP: 100 Lafayette St. “A New Frame of Mind,” group exhibition that challenges the traditional role of the picture frame, through Jan. 31. Hours are 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday,

9 a.m.-10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday.

LOUISIANA ART & SCIENCE MUSEUM: 100 S. River Road.

“Crossroads & Connections: A Century of the Railway in Baton Rouge,” now in the Republic Finance Gallery.

“Landscapes Along the Railway: The Art of John Cleaveland,” Soupçon Gallery; “Going Places: Transportation Toys of the Past,” Discovery Gallery; and “Shelf Queens: Model Train Masterpieces,” Colonnade Gallery. (225) 3445272 or lasm.org.

LSU MUSEUM OF ART: Shaw Center for the Arts, 100 Lafayette St. “The Sculpture of Scott, Payton, Hayden, and Bechet,” through Jan. 25. “A Bayou State of Mind,” highlighted by the exhibition “The Bayou Collection,” a series of 40 paintings by George Rodrigue, through Sunday. (225) 389-7200 or lsumoa.org.

LSU TEXTILE & COSTUME MUSEUM: Human Ecology Building, Tower Drive, LSU campus.

“Dressing Louisiana Histoires de la mode de la Louisiane,” through March 6. (225) 5785992 or email textile@lsu.edu.

MAGNOLIA MOUND MUSEUM + HISTORIC SITE: 2161 Nicholson Drive. Guided and selfguided tours. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. MondaySaturday and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. brec.org/facility/MagnoliaMound.

OLD GOVERNOR’S MANSION: 502 North Blvd. Open for tours. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday. Free admission. oldgovernorsmansion.com.

OLD STATE CAPITOL: 100 North Blvd. Free. The museum is closed for annual cyclical maintenance and will reopen on Jan. 20. louisianaoldstatecapitol.org.

USS KIDD VETERANS MUSEUM: 305 S. River Road. Displays of a variety of artifacts that celebrate veteran and naval military history. Note: Vessel is in Houma for dry dock repairs. usskidd.com.

WEST BATON ROUGE MUSEUM: 845 N. Jefferson Ave., Port Allen. (225) 336-2422 or westbatonrougemuseum.org.

Compiled by Judy Bergeron. Have an open-to-the-public event you’d like to promote? Email details to red@theadvocate.com.

Deadline is 5 p.m. Friday for the following Friday’s paper.

4D ■ Friday, January 2, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

FrAnK And erneSt

bIG nAte

zItS

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zodIAC CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) You need to give more thought to how you promote and use your skills. Forward thinking is a must and will help you attract input from those striving to meet current demands.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) It's necessary to have a clear outcome before sharing your plans with someone you want to support. A change to your lifestyle or residence will require your physical and financial input.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Take part in events that allow you to use your skills, experience and knowledge to your advantage. Keep the momentum going by setting dates for future gettogethers. Set a tight budget.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Take a breather.

Examine your situation at home and at work and consider the improvements you can implement that can make your life easier. An open discussion will be revealing.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Talk matters through rather than stewing over what's brewing. Have a solution and a backup plan in place to ease your mind.

Make plans with a loved one and share your intentions and long-term goals.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Take pride in what you do and how you look. An energetic approach to health and looking your best will enhance your confidence.

A commitment looks promising, and a unique lifestyle choice is inviting.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) You'll get much farther if you choose to use charm over

criticism. Show compassion, concern and, if possible, hands-on help. Nurture a meaningful relationship.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Put your head down and get whatever job you have lined up for today out of the way. Keeping busy will help you shed any emotional baggage that's weighing you down.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Seize the moment, share your thoughts, network, gather information and consider all your options. Show enthusiasm and make a commitment that will bring you closer to someone special.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) You'll be walking a tightrope when dealing with conflict. Don't start something you cannot finish. Keep situations in perspective and your emotions under control. Busy yourself with self- or home improvements.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) You have more options than you realize, and putting yourself in unique scenarios will spark your imagination and empower you to chase your dreams. Set a budget and begin your adventure.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Review your finances and budget with regard to something you want to pursue. Be careful not to exaggerate or give someone a false impression regarding how you feel or what your intentions are.

The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2026 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

For better or For WorSe 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: N EQUALS D

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon FAMILY CIrCUS

dooneSbUrY

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Friday, January 2, 2026 ■ 5D

lll

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 ■ Friday, January 2, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

lll

B.C.

Bridge

BY PHILLIP ALDER First in print in 2002, “A Treasury of Bidding Tips” by Eddie Kantar (Master Point Press) has been modernized by the author. He has also added a few more tips, bringing the number up to 554.

Look at the South hand. Your partner opens one diamond and East overcalls two clubs. What would be your auction plan?

Tip 303 is: Negative doubles at the oneand two-levels with five- and six-card suits are limited. They show a maximum of 10 high-card points. With more, bid the long suit directly. Think of a negative double followed by a new suit as trying to put brakes on the bidding sequence.

Here, South should double, planning to bid a minimum number of hearts on the next round. North will presumably rebid two spades (not three spades with a probably useless club queen and no guarantee of a 4-4 fit), and South continues with three hearts, which should end the auction.

What happens to the contract after West leads the club two?

East, who can see only three defensive winners, takes two club tricks, then has two feasible defenses. If he shifts to the ace and another spade, declarer gets home by continuing with the ace and queen of hearts; but if South tries the heart finesse, he suffers a spade ruff

garfield

Pearls Before swiNe

hagar the horriBle

and finishes down one. Alternatively, and better here, East continues with a third club. Suppose declarer ruffs on the board and takes the trump finesse.

West wins with the king, puts East on play with a spade, and a fourth club promotes West’s heart 10 to the setting trick. © 2026 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 — AnALoGuE: AN-ih-log: Something similar or comparable to

Bizarro

marmaduKe

something else.

Average mark 21 words Time limit 40 minutes Can you find 34 or more words in ANALOGUE? YEstERDAY’s WoRD — EuPHoRIA euro urea pair pare pareo pear pier pore pour pure hair

hare harp heap hear heir hero hire hoar hoer hope hora

hour opera reap repo ripe rope roue roup aero aper

loCKhorNs hidato Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

today’s thought “I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear: but now my eye sees you. Why I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:5-6 Everyone needs to have a personal life-changing experience with the Lord? Have you?

— G.E. Dean

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Friday, January 2, 2026 ■ 7D

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classifieds.theadvocate.com Search Search& &Place PlaceAds AdsOnline Onlineatatclassifieds.theadvocate.com classifieds.theadvocate.com* Call * Call -Friday Us Monday-Friday 8AM-5PM at 225-383-0111 8AM-5PM at 225-383-0111 AREA 3

Announcements

Merchandise

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

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

Baton Rouge Real Estate For Sale SIGN UP TODAY Public Notices

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

PUBLIC NOTICE --ADVERTISEMENT OF BID THE REPLACEMENT OF PVC NATURAL GAS FACILITIES – PHASE 1 FOR City of Walker Gas Department Walker City Hall 13600 Aydell Lane Walker, Louisiana 70785 The City of Walker, Louisiana is requesting sealed bids for furnish‐ ing all materials and equipment necessary for a PHMSA Natural Gas Distribution Infrastruc‐ ture and Safety Modern‐ ization Grant program.

The project consists of installing approximately 11,660 linear feet of 4inch PE coiled pipe along Courtney Rd. (East and West) and Courtney Cir‐ cle and approximately 10,350 linear feet of 2inch PE coiled pipe with associated fittings and vales along Clark White Rd., Mockingbird Lane, Juniper St., Leach Lane, Huntington Place, Melanie St., and Lotts Lane. Additionally, the project requires the re‐ placement of 57 existing services with 7,000 linear feet of 1-inch PE coiled pipe, 57 service risers, and meter assemblies.

Included in the new gas distribution system is the installation of 4” and 2” PE ball valves, neces‐ sary road bores and ob‐ struction bores. The suc‐ cessful bidder will also be required to furnish in‐ cidentals such as miscel‐ laneous fittings, tracer wire, detector tape, and provide a pressure test meeting PHMSA require‐ ments at 90 PSI on all new piping.

BABA Compliance Notice This project is subject to the Build America, Buy America (BABA) require‐ ments under the Infra‐ structure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). All iron, steel, manufactured products, and construc‐ tion materials used in this project must be pro‐ duced in the United States as outlined in 2 CFR Part 184 and related federal guidance. Bid‐ ders must provide docu‐ mentation demonstrat‐ ing BABA compliance for all applicable materials and components.

Sealed Bids shall be by the City of Walker at the City Hall office located at 13600 Aydell Lane in Walker, Louisiana. Sealed Bids will be received until 10:00 AM Local Time on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, after which time said proposals shall be publicly opened and read aloud.

All proposals must be submitted in a sealed en‐ velope bearing the con‐ tractor’s name, address and contractor’s license number plainly marked on the outside of the en‐ velope and addressed as follows: BID FOR: THE REPLACEMENT OF PVC NATURAL GAS FACILITIES – PHASE 1 FOR City of Walker Gas Department Walker City Hall 13600 Aydell Lane Walker, Louisiana 70785 Eligibility of Bidders to Receive Bidding Docu‐ ments The City of Walker is a participating member of the Louisiana Municipal Gas Authority and thus under ACT No. 176, amending R.S. 33:4546.21, Bidders must be prequalified before obtain‐ ing Bidding Documents.

In order to be pre-quali‐ fied, Bidders must sub‐ mit a copy of their writ‐ ten Operator Qualifica‐ tion and Training Pro‐ gram to ensure compli‐ ance with the certifica‐ tion requirements of 49 CFR Part 192.801 et seq., as mandated by the United States Depart‐ ment of Transportation – Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Admin‐ istration (PHMSA) and the Louisiana Depart‐ ment of Natural Re‐ sources – Pipeline Safety Division.

Specific scrutiny will be given to those individual work‐ men employed by the prospective bidder and their training documen‐ tation regarding the cer‐ tification of workmen to perform “Covered Tasks” on a natural gas distribu‐ tion system. Perspective bidders should be able to show that at least four (4) workmen, one of which must serve in a su‐ pervisory role, have been OQ certified for all cov‐ ered tasks related to PE gas line installations.

Bidders who do not al‐ ready have a current and active OQ program will not be qualified to obtain bidding documents.

In addition, prospective bidders must submit suf‐ ficient evidence of an on‐ going Drug and Alcohol i

AREA 4

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Call Charles for your showing @ 225-266-4078 Roy Carter Realty, 225-357-6436

Anyone knowing the whereabouts of CLYDE M. KENNEDY AND JANNEAL KENNEDY please contact Atty.

Vernon W. Thomas at (225) 388-5265.

172403-12/31-1/1-1/2-3t $85.00 Prime Oil and Tires LLC dba Hop In is applying to the Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control of the state of Louisiana for a permit to sell beverages of high and low alcohol content at retail in parish of East Baton Rouge at the following address 3015 Millerville Rd Baton Rouge, LA 70816 Prime Oil and Tires LLC dba: Hop In Members: Amin Thabata 172531-1/2-1t $112.64

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

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

AREA 2 5723 Hartford Ave. Glen Oaks Area Off Greenwell St., Comp. Updated!

3BR 1.5BA, w/New C H/A New Light Fixtures & Windows Freshly Painted Int/Ext, & Ceramic FLR throughout Call Charles for your showing @ 225-266-4078 Roy Carter Realty 225-357-6436

NEWS 24/7 ON

p the same day and date.

Bids will be accepted only from respective bid‐ ders who have been pro‐ vided bidding documents and shall be submitted on the Bid forms pro‐ vided by the ENGINEER. Contractors are encour‐ aged to view onsite con‐ ditions and become fa‐ miliar with local require‐ ments affecting the work.

Teleconference Call-in In‐ formation

Contract, if awarded, will be on the basis stated herein and in the Instruc‐ tions to Bidders. No bid may be withdrawn for a period of 45 days after bid opening except as provided by law.

Bidders must meet the requirements of the State of Louisiana Con‐ tractor’s Licensing Law, R.S. 37:2151 et seq. Bid‐ ders shall be either li‐ censed under the classi‐ fication of Municipal & Public Works Construc‐ tion, or under the spe‐ cialty classification of Pipe Work (Gas Lines).

In order to be considered a responsible bidder, the lowest three (3) bidders will be required on re‐ quest to provide within 10 days after receipt of bids, the following addi‐ tional documents: 1. Bidders must provide the fully completed At‐ testation Clause Form as required by Louisiana RS 38:2227. (Past Criminal Convictions) 2. Attestation and Affi‐ davit required by LA R.S.38:1212.10C, showing that Bidder is registered with and participates in and utilizes the Status Verification System, also known as “E-Verify” pro‐ gram.

3. Non-Collusion Affidavit as required by LA R.S. 38:2224.

4. Bidders must provide the fully completed Drug Testing Affidavit indicat‐ ing that Bidder complies with the requirements of the PHMSA, Pipeline Safety Regulations, Part 199, regarding the admin‐ istration of an appropri‐ ate Drug Training and Al‐ cohol Mis-Use Program.

5. In addition, as required by the eligibility require‐ ments mentioned above bidders must also be able to provide docu‐ mentation that they have an ongoing Operator Qualification Program, which provides training of employees for per‐ forming “Covered Tasks” on a natural gas pipeline system meeting the re‐ quirements of, Part 192.801 through Part 192.809 of the PHMSA, Pipeline Safety Regula‐ tions. In addition, the training program shall be equivalent and compati‐ ble with that of the Owner’s OQ Training Pro‐ gram, which is based on the training protocols de‐ veloped by the ITS and/or Midwest Energy Association for the Cov‐ ered Tasks applying to Natural Gas Pipeline In‐ stallations. Specific re‐ quirements of the Opera‐ tor Qualification Program are further described in the Supplementary Con‐ ditions of the Project Specifications, which as prescribed by Title 38, Chapter 10, Part II, 2211 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes, shall be consid‐ ered a part of the Bidding Documents.

Questions concerning the contract package may be addressed to Brian Suberbielle at SJB Group, L.L.C. at the ad‐ dress and phone num‐ bers above, or he may be contacted by email at Brian.Suberbielle@ sjbgroup.com.

All proposals must be ac‐ i d i h bid

City of Walker Gas Department S/S Mayor James Watson Advertisement to appear in Baton Rouge Advocate Friday, December 26th Friday, January 2nd Friday, January 9th 171228 Dec. 26, 2025, Jan. 2, 9, 2026 3t $3,234.19

PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE TO BIDDERS SP# 933 Sealed bids will be re‐ ceived by the Procure‐ ment Section of the Divi‐ sion of Administration, 1201 N. 3rd. St., 2nd.

Floor, Suite 2-160, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at 10:00 A.M. for the follow‐ ing: RFx No. 3000025740, Soap Chemicals – DOC/PE, 1/15/26 RFx No. 3000025764, Re‐ conditioned Drums – DOC-PE, 1/21/26 Bid proposal forms, in‐ formation and specifica‐ tions may be obtained by accessing the bid num‐ ber in LaPac at www.doa.

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

Amy Vincent Director of State Procure‐ ment FAX (225) 342-8688 172485-JAN 2-1T PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE TO BIDDERS SP# 934 Sealed bids will be re‐ ceived by the Procure‐ ment Section of the Divi‐ sion of Administration, 1201 N. 3rd. St., 2nd.

Floor, Suite 2-160, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at 10:00 A.M. for the follow‐ ing: RFx No. 3000025765, Plas‐ tic Containers – DOC-PE, 1/15/26 RFx No. 3000025780, Feb‐ ruary 2026 Meat & Cheese – DOC-PE, 1/15/26 Bid proposal forms, in‐ formation and specifica‐ tions may be obtained by accessing the bid num‐ ber in LaPac at www.doa.

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

Amy Vincent Director of State Procurement FAX (225) 342-8688 172557-jan 2-1t $12.34 PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS The City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge will receive elec‐ tronic or paper bids for the construction of the following project: LOBDELL AVE / GOODWOOD BLVD AND LOBDELL AVE / SEVEN OAKS AVE INTERSECTION PEDES‐ TRIAN IMPROVEMENTS CITY-PARISH PROJECT NO. 23-EN-HC-021A PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Pedestrian and Traffic Signalization, ADA Ramps, Sidewalks, strip‐ ing, and associated items of work.

Electronic or sealed bids will be received until 2:00 p.m. Local Time, THURS‐ DAY_ January 22nd, 2026 by the Purchasing Divi‐ sion, Room 826, City Hall, 222 Saint Louis Street, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802. No bids will be re‐ ceived after 2:00 p.m. on h d dd

DOGS CKC YORKIES or SHORKIES - (yorkies are with papers) all are vet checked with shot and worming, shorkies $450 will meet in Gulfport yorkies $600 (334) 467-3416

GET FULL DIGITAL ACCESS

On your phone. On the go.

p p companied with a bid bond or a certified check in the amount of five (5) percent of the total amount bid.

According to Act No. 478, July 9, 1988, Section 1, R.S. 38:2212: Deposits on the first set of docu‐ ments furnished to bona fide prime bidders will be fully refunded upon re‐ turn of the documents no later than ten (10) days after receipt of bids. On other sets of documents furnished to bidders, the deposit less actual cost of reproduction will be refunded upon return of the documents no later than ten (10) days after receipt of bids. No re‐ funds will be given to contractors that have re‐ quested bidding docu‐ ments and returned them prior to the bid and/or do not submit a bid. No refund will be given to contractor that has been awarded the project. Subcontractors qualify for half refund.

ALL PLANS MUST BE RE‐ TURNED IN GOOD CONDI‐ TION, COMPLETE WITH ADDENDA, IN GOOD CON‐ DITION TO QUALIFY FOR REFUND.

PETS • SUPPLIES • SERVICES • OBITUARIES • LOST & FOUND

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

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

g g g Mis-use Program meet‐ ing Part 199 of the PHMSA Regulations plus a list of at least three (3) references from other natural gas distribution system operators whom they have performed work exceeding a value of $250,000 in the past five (5) years.

The City of Walker re‐ serves the right to reject any and/or all bids for just cause. The require‐ ments of this Advertise‐ ment, the Bid Form, and Instructions to Bidders shall not be considered as informalities and will not be waived.

WORKS

Pets / Pet Services Directory

FREE RENT 225-351-7449

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

SJB GROUP, LLC 5344 Brittany Dr. Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70808 (225) 769-3400, office

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

225-933-7560

CLASSIFIEDS.THEADVOCATE.COM

AREA 4

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

A Pre-Bid Conference will be held at 10:00 AM Local Time on Tuesday, Janu‐ ary 13th, 2026, at the Walker City Hall Building, 13600 Aydell Lane, Walker, LA 70785. Atten‐ dance is mandatory, for all qualified bidders are encouraged to attend the Pre-Bid Conference.

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

PRINT ADVERTISING

Baton Rouge Rental

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Copies of the Bidding Documents will be pro‐ vided only to Contractors and Subcontractors who meet the above eligibility requirements. Upon sat‐ isfactory qualification of a perspective bidder, copies of the CONTRACT DOCUMENTS may be ob‐ tained up to 24 hours prior to bid time, upon payment of $100.00 re‐ fundable deposit for each set, from the office of the Engineer listed below.

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

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

TDD/TTY /711RELAY

Bid Openings can be in person or via teleconfer‐ ence.

Join by phone +1-408-418-9388 United States Toll Access code: 263 373 080 (followed by the # but‐ ton) Alternate numbers to call if number above is not available, which may occur due to network traffic (use the same Ac‐ cess Code, followed by the # button): United States Toll (Boston) +1-617-315-0704 United States Toll (Chicago) +1-312-535-8110 United States Toll (Dallas) +1-469-210-7159 United States Toll (Denver) +1-720-650-7664 United States Toll (Jacksonville) +1-904-900-2303 United States Toll (Los Angeles) +1-213-306-3065 Electronic bids and elec‐ tronic bid bonds for the solicitation will be down‐ loaded by the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge, Pur‐ chasing Division.

Beginning as soon as feasible after the bid closing time all elec‐ tronic bids will be down‐ loaded and publicly read aloud along with all paper bids received, if any, in 806 of City Hall immediately after the 2:00 p.m. bid closing.

Bids, amendments to bids, or request for with‐ drawal of quotations, re‐ ceived after time speci‐ fied for bid opening shall not be considered for any cause whatsoever.

Bids shall be firm for a period of sixty (60) days from the date of the opening of bids and no bid shall be withdrawn for any reason during this period of time ex‐ cept as allowed per R.S. 38:2214.C. Official Bid Documents are available at Central Bidding (www.central bidding.com). Electronic Bids may be submitted at Central Bidding (www. centralbidding.com). For questions related to the electronic bidding process, please call Cen‐ tral Bidding at 225-8104814. Paper copies of the plans, specifications and contract documents are on file and may be ob‐ tained from the Public Works and Planning Cen‐ ter located at 1100 Laurel St., Engineering Division, Room 137 or Post Office Box 1471, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70821, upon payment of Ten Dollars ($10.00). (Make checks payable to the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge.)

Fees for plans, specifica‐ tions and contract docu‐ ments are to cover the cost of reproduction and are non-refundable in ac‐ cordance with Louisiana Revised Statutes.

A Certified Check or Cashier's Check, payable to the Parish of East Baton Rouge or a satis‐ factory Bid Bond exe‐ cuted by the Bidder and an acceptable surety, in an amount equal to five percent (5%) of the total bid, shall be submitted with each bid.

Bids shall be received electronically via www. centralbidding.com or on solicitation bid forms furnished by the City of Baton Rouge and Parish East Baton Rouge, and only those bids shall be received by the CityParish which is submit‐ ted by those Contractors in whose names the so‐ licitation bid forms and/or specifications were issued. In no event shall paper solicitation forms be issued later than twenty-four (24) hours prior to the hour and date set for receiv‐ ing proposals.

The City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge has established a Socially and Economi‐ cally Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (SEDBE) program in ac‐ cordance with Revised Statute RS 33:2233.4. It is the policy of the Parish to ensure that Eligible Business Enterprises EBE’s, certified in accor‐ dance with the Parish program, have an equal opportunity to receive and participate in parish contracts.

For this project the EBR Parish Purchasing office has directed a review of the scope of work and has established a mini‐ mum EBE goal of 8% of the contract amount. All Bidders shall achieve this goal or demonstrate good faith efforts to achieve the goal. Good faith efforts include meeting this EBE goal or providing documentation demonstrating that the Bidder made sufficient good faith efforts in at‐ tempting to meet this goal. Only EBE firms cer‐ tified under the Parish

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

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

SEDBE Certification Pro‐ gram at the time of sub‐ mittal of the bid will count toward this EBE goal. To be considered responsive, the apparent low bidder must submit EBE Forms 1, 1A, and 2, and Letters of EBE Certi‐ fication, as appropriate within 10 days after bid opening All Contractors bidding on this work shall com‐ ply with all provisions of the State Licensing Law for Contractors, R.S. 37:2150-2163, as amended, for all public contracts. It shall also be the responsibility of the General Contractor to as‐ sure that all subcontrac‐ tors comply with this law. If required for bid‐ ding, Contractors must hold an active license is‐ sued by the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors in the classi‐ HIGHWAY, fication of STREET AND BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION, and must show their license number on the face of the bid envelope and the Uniform Public Works Bid Form.

In accordance with La. R.S. 38:2214 (B) the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge reserves the right to reject any and all bids for just cause. In accor‐ dance with La. R.S. 38:2212 (A)(1)(b), the pro‐ visions and requirements of this Section, those stated in the advertise‐ ment for bids, and those required on the bid form, shall not be considered as informalities and shall not be waived by any public entity.

For additional informa‐ tion please contact Ms. Jolie Maberry, P.E, Project Manager at Jolie.

Maberry@stantec.com.

171421 Dec. 26, 2025, Jan. 2, 9, 3t $320.26 PUBLIC NOTICE --REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS FOR PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING/DESIGN SERVICES FOR CITY OF CENTRAL STORMWATER SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS Solicitation No: 2026-001 Submission Deadline: Friday, January 30, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. CST The City of Central (“Cen‐ tral”) invites qualified firms to respond to this Request for Qualifica‐ tions (“RFQ”) by provid‐ ing a Statement of Quali‐ fications (“Statement”) demonstrating the firm’s experience with similar projects and professional qualifications.

Central seeks to contract with an Engineering/Design firm licensed in Louisiana and experienced in providing design and construction phase services for the Culvert Replacement Pro‐ ject (“Project”). The full RFQ and specifications can be found at www. centralgov.com and www.centralbidding. com.

Two printed copies of Statement and an elec‐ tronic version in PDF for‐ mat must be submitted to: City of Central Mayor’s Office, City Hall 13421 Hooper Road, Suite 8 Central, LA 70818 Or submitted to: www. centralbidding.com on or before Friday, January 30, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. CST. Respondents are solely responsible for the timely delivery of State‐ ments. Failure to meet the deadline shall dis‐ qualify Respondent.

172306 Jan. 2, 2026, 1t $22.29 PUBLIC NOTICE --To be published three times Legal- Dec. 19th, 26th, 2025 & Jan. 2nd, 2026 THE ADVOCATE BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS The City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge will receive elec‐ tronic or paper bids for the construction of the following project: US-61 SCENIC HWY. (LA-408 HARDING BOULEVARD TO SWAN AVENUE) CITY-PARISH PROJECT NO. 20-EN-HC-0006 PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Grading, earthwork, drainage structure modi‐ fications, asphaltic con‐ crete pavement, lighting, striping, signing, and as‐ sociated items of work Electronic or sealed bids will be received until 2:00 p.m. Local Time, TUES‐ DAY January 13th, 2026 by the Purchasing Divi‐ sion, Room 826, City Hall, 222 Saint Louis Street, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802. No bids will be re‐ ceived after 2:00 p.m. on h d dd

Public Notices Bids/Proposals p the same day and date.

Bid Openings can be in person or via teleconfer‐ ence.

Teleconference Call-in Information Join by phone +1-408-418-9388 United States Toll Access code: 263 373 080 (followed by the # but‐ ton) Alternate numbers to call if number above is not available, which may occur due to network traffic (use the same Ac‐ cess Code, followed by the # button): United States Toll (Boston) +1-617-315-0704 United States Toll (Chicago) +1-312-5358110 United States Toll (Dal‐ las) +1-469-210-7159 United States Toll (Den‐ ver) +1-720-650-7664 United States Toll (Jack‐ sonville) +1-904-900-2303 United States Toll (Los Angeles) +1-213-306-3065 Electronic bids and elec‐ tronic bid bonds for the solicitation will be down‐ loaded by the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge, Pur‐ chasing Division.

Beginning as soon as feasible after the bid closing time all elec‐ tronic bids will be down‐ loaded and publicly read aloud along with all paper bids received, if any, in 806 of City Hall immediately after the 2:00 p.m. bid closing.

Bids, amendments to bids, or request for with‐ drawal of quotations, re‐ ceived after time speci‐ fied for bid opening shall not be considered for any cause whatsoever.

Bids shall be firm for a period of sixty (60) days from the date of the opening of bids and no bid shall be withdrawn for any reason during this period of time ex‐ cept as allowed per R.S. 38:2214.C. Official Bid Documents are available at Central Bidding (www.central bidding.com). Electronic Bids may be submitted at Central Bidding (www. centralbidding.com). For questions related to the electronic bidding process, please call Cen‐ tral Bidding at 225-8104814. Paper copies of the plans, specifications and contract documents are on file and may be ob‐ tained from the Public Works and Planning Cen‐ ter located at 1100 Laurel St., Engineering Division, Room 137 or Post Office Box 1471, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70821, upon payment of Ten Dollars ($10.00). (Make NC-2 checks payable to the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge.) Fees for plans, specifications and con‐ tract documents are to cover the cost of repro‐ duction and are non-re‐ fundable in accordance with Louisiana Revised Statutes.

A Certified Check or Cashier's Check, payable to the Parish of East Baton Rouge or a satis‐ factory Bid Bond exe‐ cuted by the Bidder and an acceptable surety, in an amount equal to five percent (5%) of the total bid, shall be submitted with each bid.

Bids shall be received electronically via www. centralbidding.com or on solicitation bid forms furnished by the City of Baton Rouge and Parish East Baton Rouge, and only those bids shall be received by the CityParish which is submit‐ ted by those Contractors in whose names the so‐ licitation bid forms and/or specifications were issued. In no event shall paper solicitation forms be issued later than twenty-four (24) hours prior to the hour and date set for receiv‐ ing proposals.

The City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge has established a Socially and Economi‐ cally Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (SEDBE) program in ac‐ cordance with Revised Statute RS 33:2233.4. It is the policy of the Parish to ensure that Eligible Business Enterprises EBE’s, certified in accor‐ dance with the Parish program, have an equal opportunity to receive and participate in parish contracts.

For this project the EBR Parish Purchasing office has directed a review of the scope of work and has established a mini‐ mum EBE goal of 14% of the contract amount. All Bidders shall achieve this goal or demonstrate good faith efforts to achieve the goal. Good faith efforts include meeting this EBE goal or providing documentation demonstrating that the Bidder made sufficient good faith efforts in at‐ tempting to meet this goal. Only EBE firms cer‐ tified under the Parish SEDBE Certification Pro‐ gram at the time of sub‐ mittal of the bid will count toward this EBE

CLASSIFIEDS

WORK Public Notices Bids/Proposals

goal. To be considered responsive, the apparent low bidder must submit EBE Forms 1, 1A, and 2, and Letters of EBE Certi‐ fication, as appropriate within 10 days after bid opening.

All Contractors bidding on this work shall com‐ ply with all provisions of the State Licensing Law for Contractors, R.S. 37:2150-2163, as amended, for all public contracts. It shall also be the responsibility of the General Contractor to as‐ sure that all subcontrac‐ tors comply with this law. If required for bid‐ ding, Contractors must hold an active license is‐ sued by the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors in the classi‐ HIGHWAY, fication of STREET AND BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION, and must show their license number on the face of the bid envelope and the Uniform Public Works Bid Form.

In accordance with La. R.S. 38:2214 (B) the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge reserves the right to reject any and all bids for just cause. In accor‐ dance with La. R.S. 38:2212 (A)(1)(b), the pro‐ visions and requirements of this Section, those stated in the advertise‐ ment for bids, and those required on the bid form, shall not be considered as informalities and shall not be waived by any public entity.

For additional informa‐ tion please contact Mr. Joseph Cain III, P.E, Pro‐ ject Manager at joseph. cainsiii@stantec.com.

170907-dec 19-26-jan 2-3t $323.29

Legal Notices

PUBLIC NOTICE --PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE The City of St. Gabriel City Council will hold a Public Hearing Meeting on Thursday, January 15, 2026, at St. Gabriel City Council Chambers – Room 32 – 5035 Iberville Street, St. Gabriel, La 70776 at 6:00 pm.

During the public hear‐ ing, all interested parties will be given the right to appear and be heard on the matters of: 1. Ordinance Adopting Redistricting Plan: City of St. Gabriel Accommodations will be made for persons with disabilities and non-Eng‐ lish speaking individuals provided that a seven (7) day notice is received by the City.

Advertisement Dates: First Ad: Friday, January 2, 2026 Second Ad: Wednesday, January 7, 2026 172489-jan 2-7-2t $26.38 PUBLIC NOTICE --PUBLIC NOTICE Public notice is hereby given, as provided by Section 29(C), Article X of the Constitution of Louisiana, that there will be introduced at the forthcoming session of the Legislature of Louisiana, to be con‐ vened on March 9, 2026, a bill relative to the Munic‐ ipal Police Employees’ Retirement System; to provide relative to disso‐ lution and partial disso‐ lution and the circum‐ stances under which an employer is deemed dis‐ solved or partially dis‐ solved; to provide rela‐ tive to the assessment, calculation, payment, collection, and enforce‐ ment of any related un‐ funded accrued liability charges and/or financial penalties; to provide for definitions; to provide for venue and prescription; and to provide for re‐ lated matters.

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Legal Notices

Publication Dates: January 1, 2026 and January 2, 2026 NOCP 8842 172947-jan 1-2-2t $53.40 PUBLIC NOTICE --STATE OF LOUISIANA STATE MINERAL BOARD BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA LEGAL NOTICE Pursuant to La. Const.

Art. IX, Section 5, as im‐ plemented by L.R.S. 30:129.1, public notice is hereby given that at its meeting commencing at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, January 14, 2026, at the LaSalle Building, 617 North 3rd Street, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the State Mineral Board will consider approval of cer‐ tain Agreements for exe‐ cution involving minerals or mineral rights owned by the State. A full copy of each of the instru‐ ments to effect the pro‐ posed agreements is on file in the office of the State Mineral Board, 8th Floor, at the above ad‐ dress, and available for public inspection by any‐ one desiring to examine same.

The proposed agreements are identi‐ fied as follows: 1. (26-01) An Amendment of Operating Agreement by and between the State of Louisiana, acting through the State Min‐ eral and Energy Board, represented herein by the Department of Con‐ servation and Energy, f/k/a Department of En‐ ergy and Natural Re‐ sources, through the Of‐ fice of State Resources, f/k/a Office of Mineral Resources, and Com‐ stock Oil & GasLouisiana, LLC, whereas said parties desire to amend said Operating Agreement to include a shut-in payment provi‐ sion, affecting Operating Agreement “A0315”, Bossier and Caddo Parishes, Louisiana, with further particulars being stipulated in the instru‐ ment.

2. (26-02) A Settlement Agreement by and be‐ tween the State of Louisiana, acting through its agency, the Louisiana State Mineral and Energy Board, represented herein by the Depart‐ ment of Conservation and Energy, f/k/a Depart‐ ment of Energy and Nat‐ ural Resources, through the Office of State Re‐ sources, f/k/a Office of Mineral Resources, Irene S. Kohn and Joseph J. Mc‐ Dole and Comstock Oil & Gas-Louisiana, LLC, whereas said parties de‐ sire to amicably resolve their dispute for the non‐ payment of royalties and now agree to settle the claims existing among them arising from litiga‐ tion, suspension of royal‐ ties andto provide for the allocation of production related to the HA RB SUFF unit for the Haynesville Zone, Reservoir B, in the Caspiana Field, (Order No. 191-H-48) Bossier and Caddo Parishes, Louisiana, with further particulars being stipu‐ lated in the instrument.

172445-jan 2-1t $56.20 PUBLIC NOTICE --VISIT BATON ROUGE NOTICE OF ADOPTION OF THE 2026 FISCAL YEAR BUDGET DECEMBER 11, 2025 After proper notice, a pe‐ riod for period of inspec‐ tion, and a public hear‐ ing, all pursuant to the Louisiana Local Govern‐ ment Budget Act, the 2026 Fiscal Year Budget of Visit Baton Rouge, a political subdivision of the State of Louisiana was adopted by the Board of Directors of VBR at a public meeting held December 11, 2025 at the Visit Baton Rouge office located at 359 Third Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70802. A copy of the adopted 2026 Fiscal Year Budget is on file at such location.

172451-jan 2-1t $9.19

Public Notices Nat Res Coastal

PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE the La. Dept. of Conservation and Energy, Office of Permitting and Compliance (OPC) has received the following application(s) for a Coastal Use Permit (CUP) in accordance with the State and Local Coastal Resources Management Act of 1978, as amended, (La. R.S. 49:214.21-214.41), and the rules and regula‐ tions of the Coastal Re‐ sources Program. Appli‐ cations for the proposed work may be inspected at 617 North 3rd Street, Room 1078, Baton Rouge, LA or on the OPC web page at: http://dnr. louisiana.gov/index.cfm? md=pagebuilder& tmp=home&pid=591.

Copies may be obtained upon payment of cost of copying. Written com‐ ments, including sugges‐ tions for modifications or objections to the pro‐ posed work and stating the reasons thereof, are being solicited from the public. Comments must be received within 25 days of the date of publi‐ cation of this notice.

Comments should be up‐ loaded to our electronic record, but may be mailed or emailed to the designated OPC Re‐ viewer. All comments must contain the appro‐ priate application num‐ ber and the commenter's full name and contact in‐ formation. Any person may request, in writing, within the comment pe‐ riod specified in this no‐ tice, that a State or Fed‐ eral public hearing be held to consider this ap‐ plication. Requests for public hearings shall state, with particularity, the reasons for holding a public hearing and must contain the name and contact information of the requester. Below are the referenced applica‐ tion(s): *********OPC; P. O. Box 44487, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-4487; Phone: (225) 342-5069; Email: heather.evans@la. gov; OPC Reviewer: CUP Heather Evans; NUMBER: P20250978 Name: Perdido Energy, Llc c/o Coastal Resource Consulting, Llc P. O. BOX 52370 LAFAYETTE, LA 70505 Attn: Jeremy Grif‐ fith Location: Plaquem‐ ines Parish, LA; POB - Lat 29-38-33.71N, Long 89-3402.48W and POE - Lat 2935-09.991N, Long 89- 3215.27W; Section 23 & 26, T16S-R16E; North Black Bay Field. Description: Proposal to install a 6inch bulk line (~22,848' in length) from the North Black Bay Facility to the Central Battery Facility.

Approx. 3,058 cy will be displaced by jetting to bury the line a minimum of 3-ft below the mud‐ line. ********OPC; P. O. Box 44487, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-4487; Phone: (225) 342-4515; Email: se‐ lena.brown@la.gov; OPC Reviewer: Selena Brown; CUP NUMBER: P20230193 (Extended, Revised) Name: Lafourche Parish Government c/o Ducks Unlimited 125 SOUTH‐ PARK ROAD LAFAYETTE, LA 70508 Attn: Scott Gra‐ ham Location: Lafourche Parish, LA; Lat 29-2438.99 N / Long 90-08-56.09 W; Section 20 T19S R23E; Section 21 T19S R23E; Galliano, 70354 Descrip‐ tion: Coastal restoration project consisting of the creation of earthen marsh terraces near Gal‐ liano, Louisiana in Lafourche Parish. This is a continuation of work initiated under P20120215 amended, expired, and continued under P20200204. This new pro‐ ject area was previously fragmented marsh which was converted to open water as a result of im‐ pacts from Hurricane Ida. Approx. 631,368 cy of ma‐ terial will be excavated and placed onsite.

Approx. 204.04 ac of un‐ vegetated water bottoms may be impacted by the proposed activity. REVI‐ SION 1: A request for ex‐ tension of the initiation period has been re‐ ceived. REVISION 2: Total terrace length increased to 70,200 ft. due to a change in the terrace configuration.

Approx.

753,152 cy of material will be excavated and placed onsite.

172483-jan 2-1t $42.92

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