SAVE $ 21 1
HIGH PROTEIN
LB
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PREVIOUSLY FROZEN
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
1
$ 78 LB
SAVE 3
HIGH PROTEIN
$ 50 LB
Ground Fresh Several Times Daily! DOLLAR STRETCHER
90% Lean Ground Sirloin
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4
$ 99 LB
SAVE 51 ¢
HIGH PROTEIN
20 grams protein per can 5 OZ CAN
Starkist Chunk Light Tuna
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88 ¢
SAVE 91 ¢
10 - 14 grams protein per serving 5.3 OZ
Chobani Greek Yogurt
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88 ¢
Prices good at all New Orleans, Gretna, Kenner, Metairie, Marrero, Slidell, Mandeville and Covington stores December 31st, 2025 - January 7th, 2026.
OLE MISS AVERTS OVERTIME FIGHT WITH GEORGIA 1C
N O L A.C O M
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F r i d ay, J a n u a ry 2, 2026
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N.O. wakes to peaceful New Year’s morning
Health anxiety on the rise
More accessible data can mean more worry BY EMILY WOODRUFF Staff writer
STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
Family members of Hubert Gauthreaux gather under the ‘Second Line in the Sky’ memorial on Thursday, a year after the New year’s Day attack on Bourbon Street that took his life. ä Tiger Family of attack victim revisits Bourbon Street one year later Bech’s 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 Louisi-
ana 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 “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.
family continues his legacy. PAGE 10
ä See BOURBON, page 10A
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 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
ä See ANXIETY, page 8A
Hurricane forecasters adopt new AI models BY KASEY BUBNASH Staff writer
After a merciful lack of hurricanes in the U.S. in 2025 and an unusually quiet Gulf, the Atlantic hurricane season wasn’t too memorable in Louisiana. But the season will be remembered for something else: advances in artificial intelligence. For the first time in its 70 years of existence, the National Hurricane Center incorporated AI weather model guidance in its
WEATHER HIGH 73 LOW 65 PAGE 6B
hurricane forecasts last season, technology researchers believe could help improve forecast accuracy while using fewer resources. The hurricane center isn’t alone. Its move toward AI coincides with a broader push at its parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to incorporate the new technology into all kinds of weather forecasts. NOAA, which also oversees the National Weather Service, announced last
week that it had launched three new AI-driven weather forecasting models that NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs called “a significant leap forward” for American weather forecasting. Wallace Hogsett, a science and operations officer at the NHC, said hurricane researchers have been tracking the progress of several up-and-coming AI-driven weather models for some time. But it was only in 2025 that some of them, including one from Google DeepMind, became con-
sistently operational. The AI models that were folded into forecasts showed promise, but Hogsett said AI is just one of many tools scientists use to attempt to solve the riddles of the atmosphere. “There are a lot of tools that we use,” he said, “and no matter how good a model is, there is always going to be a critical role for our forecasters in terms of distilling all that information
ä See FORECASTERS, page 8A
Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................2B Nation-World................2A Comics-Puzzles .....3D-6D Living............................1D Opinion ........................4B Commentary ................5B Metro .........................1B Sports ..........................1C
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.
13TH yEAR, NO. 143